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  • Stop Obsessing Over SEO

    Stop Obsessing Over SEO

    There’s a big problem with the way some individuals are obsessed with SEO. They are addicted to checking stats, like 10 times a day. They slave for hours over keyword minutia, wanting more clicks and search engine hits.

    All they can think about is their next “fix.” How many backlinks do I have? What PageRank do I have now? Are these links nofollowed? Should I target more keywords?

    Newsflash… SEO is the NOT the “holy grail” of traffic anymore.

    It was until 2006. Search engines were pretty much all there was. If you were looking for something, you either searched for it, emailed some friends, or went to the store and looked.

    Since 2006 I’ve noticed a shift in my traffic. It’s drifted away from SEO and search, to social media and syndication services.

    I’m talking MASSIVE traffic from the YouTubes, iTunes, Twitters, PRWebs and social bookmarking services of the world. One podcast I did snagged over 100,000 downloads, a PDF newsletter 50,000.

    Plus, I get all sorts of traffic from written content in articles, posts, newsletters, whitepapers, ebooks and blog comments. In fact, one single comment on a tech blog drove over 400 visitors to my site in the first hour.

    My advice to those individuals obsessed with SEO? Get your head out of your stats. ;-) SEO has limited clicks, or “inventory” available.

    For example, take a commercial keyword that has 20,000 searches per month. Divide that by a “normal” 1.5% conversion and that’s 300 potential sales for the month. Now split those sales over the top 10 search results and all the paid ads.

    If you’re lucky, you might snag a couple of those sales. Sad huh?

    The solution? Go where the people hang out. That’s the key to getting more traffic.

    Even if you rank for dozens of keywords, here’s a reality check. Unless you own the search engine, you don’t OWN those search results. All it takes is one small change to the search engine algo and… Blammo!

    You got nothing. You’re knocked out of the top 10 results.

    Months of SEO work down the tube. You could be out of business overnight. I’ve seen it happen to hundreds of people. Especially affiliate marketers. Right or wrong, that’s how it is.

    The solution? Be social.

    Don’t wait for people to come to you. Go where they hang out.

    Position yourself as the leader in your niche, or product category. Talk with people. Start participating in the conversations like I teach in my Goobert Social Media Marketing Method.

    A good case in point is Gary Vaynerchuk, with his Wine Library TV and amazing book called Crush It. (Which I’ve listened to three times and highly recommend).

    Gary didn’t rely on search engines at all. He attributes his rapid growth and success to the freely available social media tools, which didn’t even exist two years ago.

    A more subtle everyday example is my friend… He’s looking for an iPhone dock with speakers. Did he search? No.

    He Tweeted. He got got several replies. Took the recommendations. Read the product reviews on Apple and Amazon. And made the purchase decision. All without resorting to a search engine.

     

    The evidence is clear. Since 2006, most people turn to their social networks, videos, podcasts and product reviews for advice. Especially for advice on purchase decisions.

    So if you have any kind or product or service you’re promoting, you’ve got to get a Twitter account and subscribe to Google Alerts. Monitor the conversations about your websites and brands.

    Jump into those conversations when it makes sense to do so. It’s your chance to influence a purchase decision before they resort to a search engine.

    Take a camera and throw together some quick three minute videos for Youtube. Especially if your product, or service is visually oriented, or if it’s a process that you can show people.

    Take people on a virtual tour with the camera. Show the features and benefits. Let the videos help you sell everything from washing machines to GPS units.

    If you sell software, make screen capture videos with Camtasia or Screenflow. Show them how easy your product is to use, and the benefits of using it.

    You could do a telephone interview with an expert and have it recorded. Make it into an MP3 and post it into iTunes for instant traffic.

    Maybe set up a UStream channel and broadcast yourself live. Everyone from musicians to hair salons are jumping on this.

    Video, audio, screencasts, slidecasts, blogging, tweeting, facebooking… it’s all exploding in popularity. It only makes sense to be part of the mediums where people hang out.

    So please…. please… stop obsessing over SEO and your search engine rankings. Stop relying so heavily on search results for traffic.

    Start obsessing over where the people are. What they’re doing online. And where they’re going next. Try to find them earlier in the decision making process, by getting there first.

    Try creating videos, ustreams, podcasts, slide shows, screencasts, blogs, tweets, and commenting on other people’s blogs. That’s where the people hang out and spend the most time online.

    1. Position yourself as the leader in your niche. You know your topic better than anyone… or at least you should be trying to.
    2. Show them by participating and producing quality content, that you’re the right person to lead them.
    3. By syndicating your content, you’ll get more qualified traffic than you ever could with the “cold call” of search results.
    4. People will find you from 100 places, not just one or two search engines. So you’ll sleep better at night because you’re not obsessing over SEO.
    5. You’ll have a lot more fun making videos, than begging people to link to you.
    6. You’ll convert double, or maybe even triple the clicks into sales, because of your leadership and influence.

    So ease up on the SEO and get out your video camera instead. Syndicate that video in several media channels and you’ll get all the traffic you need.

  • How to Make Money with Videos

    How to hit the YouTube home page and earn money from your viral videos.

    I was watching a network news journalist interview a teenage girl and her family. Her silly music video generated over 250,000 dollars in the first couple of months alone.

    Now her family is quarter million dollars richer! Not bad for an average teenager, with an average voice, and less than stellar video production.

    How did she do it? With ads in the video.

    As soon as you hit about 1,000 views, Google will ask permission to advertise on your video. When you login to your account you’ll see, “Apply for partnership to take advantage of your popular video.”

    If you can make it into the “Featured” or “Trends” section, you’ve hit the YouTube jet stream. The highly coveted home page, in front of millions of people.

    To get there takes a mighty viral push. You’ll need to wrangle the support of all your social networks, Facebook and Twitter followers. Here’s how…

    SEO for your YouTube video depends on four things:

    – How many views you get
    – How many thumbs up you get
    – How many comments you get
    – How quickly you get all the above

    Keep in mind the following tips…

    A view counts if it’s over 5 seconds long. Make the opening seconds surprise and amaze.

    Tell them in the text under the video, to click on the thumbs up icon, aka the “Like” button. Don’t assume they know what to do.

    Make an emotional appeal to the viewer. Ask them to leave a quick comment. Even if its just a single sentence. Every little bit helps.

    Notes on Viral…

    Most viral videos are funny, amazing, surprising or entertaining. Without one or more of these, your video will sputter on the way to the jet stream.

    How to Optimize Your YouTube Channel…

    – Put your most important keywords in the video title
    – Repeat the keywords in the description and tags
    – Don’t use a fancy design or border around the video
    – Keep the page design simple, with a white background
    – Make sure the video preference is set to auto play
    – Put a clickable links in video’s description (Facebook, Twitter)

    Important Notes from TubeMogul.com
    (The video syndication dudes.)

    TubeMogul’s data shows that video has a short shelf life. They did a case study of 10,000 videos that had at least 1,000 views. The biggest traffic spike came at three days.

    They suggest that you put out a lot of videos, because they peak early. The maximum views come when you do a series of short videos and upload a new one every few days. Thursday afternoon and Sunday evenings are peak viewing times.

    They also suggest that you, “Put the name of your brand in the video title, because some services list only the title. It’s important to be consistent and put out topically related videos, as it increases your overall rankings in Google.”

    Additional Promotion

    In addition to doing the SEO for YouTube, ask your viewers to bookmark you on Delicious. If you make it to their “What’s Hot” home page, you can get a boost of extra momentum.

    Be sure to monitor your keywords using Google Alerts and the Twitter home page. (AKA the Goobert method.) Participate in every discussion about you and your brand. Link to the video everywhere you comment.

    Be voracious thank you note writers. Jot a note every time someone mentions you. Even if its just a couple of words to say thanks. It goes a long way.

    Remember what TubeMogul said, the biggest spike comes at the three day mark. So upload that video and spend the next three days promoting it like crazy, using the strategies I’ve outlined above.

    Who knows, maybe your video will hit the jet stream and go viral. Say yes to Google advertising and one silly video could generate all the coin you need for a lifetime. It happens to others. It could happen to you.

    So be sure to take your video camera along and keep shooting, because you never know when something funny, amazing, surprising or entertaining will happen near you.

  • The Biggest Marketing Mistake

    Are you permission marketing? In other words, are you sending email to people who’ve asked to receive it? There are still a few of you – you know who you are – that don’t get signups from people visiting your site.

    At the very least, I hope the following numbers inspire you. The average reader is worth four dollars per year, as long as they stay subscribed. Some markets are worth more, others less. This is the average.

    So if you built a readership of 10,000, that’s worth an extra 40,000 dollars per year. That’s over and above any website revenues. Does that inspire you?

    Some complain permission marketing is hard to learn.

    I disagree.

    Permission marketing is easier than ever. It’s not like the old days when you had to figure it out for yourself. Now there’s all sorts of video tutorials and ‘how-to’ guides online.

    Some complain that they don’t like writing. Usually it’s a small minority of folks, in niches they know nothing about. To them writing seems like a job.

    You know what? If you don’t like what you’re doing… quit and get out. Time is the one thing in life you cannot get back. Life is too short to be trading it, for something you don’t enjoy doing.

    On the other hand…

    If you love what you do, you never get talker’s block. So why on earth would you get writer’s block?

    If you don’t like to write, jot down a few notes, then open a video camera and talk.

    What if you’re camera shy? There are alternatives.

    You can report on what’s happened and just summarize what’s already been written. You could source a Youtube video of the week, or the day. Maybe source a quote of the day, a recipe of the day, or even a product recall of the day.

    You can subscribe to the blogs and newsletters in your niche. This is especially important for affiliate marketers, because most major manufacturers have newsletters. You can know ahead of time, about new product releases, and have your advertising ready to go, the minute they hit the stores.

    You could do interviews with experts and have them transcribed through castingwords.com. (That’s how they maintain their position as leaders and experts. They make themselves available for interviews and other media coverage.)

    You can subscribe to Google Alerts and Twitter feeds, (AKA the Goobert conversational marketing method.) Then choose the best content you’ve read and aggregate it back out. You can paraphrase the mood, or comments, interject your own opinion, and fire it back out into the blogosphere.

    As a last resort you can invite, or use, guest articles and posts. Or if you really must, outsource your writing to freelance talent on elance.com or odesk.com.

    So in the end, it doesn’t matter what you send. The important thing is to get started.

    And when you’re ready to start permission email marketing, join me through AWeber, because that way, if you ever need help, I can give you a hand. I’ve been using them to send this newsletter for over 11 years.

    If you’re not permission marketing. You’re eating the appetizer, but leaving the meal on the table. This is the biggest mistake marketers make.

    Promise yourself – starting tomorrow – that you’ll make permission marketing a priority. Make it commitment. Write it on a sticky note and paste it on your monitor right now. Do it!

    And no matter what the economy decides to do, next year will be your personal best.

  • How Super Affiliates Think

    Sell with Relationships

    A customer of mine used to be a sales person for a medical equipment company. She sold everything from rubber gloves to high end items like wheelchairs.

    I convinced her to stop working for someone else. That she’d be happier being her own boss, and selling the same gear as an affiliate marketer.

    Like many affiliates, she struggled at first. She liked writing blog posts, and selling online, but she really missed the daily human contact.

    I suggested that she take her affiliate business offline. She could rekindle the old relationships and not just rely on strangers trolling the web.

    I told her to get proactive. Go where the customers are. Don’t wait for them to come to you.

    Now she’s thinking like a super affiliate. She gets a flyer printed every two weeks and a catalog once every quarter.

    She goes and visits all the retirement homes and long term care facilities in her city. They’re far more likely to buy from her, because they know her and trust her.

    She belongs to a dozen different affiliate programs. That lets her offer a massive inventory, with more makes and models than any competitor.

    She set up an arrangement with the suppliers, so that she uses her own affiliate link when placing orders. How smart is that?

    She went from struggling hopeful to super affiliate, by walking away from the web and knocking on doors. Good old fashioned face to face selling.

    Both parties get what they want. The long term care facilities get a flyer they can look at and order from. She gets to visit the people she missed and multiplied her income by 20X in the process.

    Sometimes you just need to think different. If you spread your advertising across different types media, you can make a mountain of affiliate revenue.

    Sell at the Right Time

    Another customer of mine is an established public speaker. He gets paid a decent sum for the speaking gigs, but he wanted to increase his back end sales.

    I suggested that he set up a computer at the back of the room. That way, people could sign up for his newsletter, or order his products, right after the talk, and all through lunch.

    Now he’s thinking like a super affiliate. He tripled his back end sales, because he sells other people’s courses and books, in addition to his own. He also allows the attendees to book him for future talks on the spot.

    How cool is that. Triple the sales and he’s never out of work. Just by capturing people at the right moment.

    Sell in Bulk

    Another customer of mine, used to sell individual items to consumers. He worked very hard for small commissions.

    The packaging, serving and cleaning supplies he sold, were also used by caterers, restaurants and hotels. I suggested that he try selling to businesses instead of consumers.

    Now he’s thinking like a super affiliate. Sell by the caseload. Same amount of work. Much bigger commissions.

    Now he’s got customers in all corners of the hospitality industry. Everything from motel chains to food factories.

    Things are going so well, he’s considering setting up a warehouse and importing the goods. Then setting up his own affiliate program.

    I told him to keep in mind… that businesses, governments and organizations are run by people. Those people source product suppliers on the internet, just like you do.

    No matter how big the company, it all boils down to one person. They make a purchase decision and place an order online, just like anyone else.

    Consumers order a quantity of one. Businesses order case loads and pallets. Which would you rather get the commission on?

    Sell the Niche

    Another customer could be called the original spice girl. She knows more about cooking spices than anyone I’ve met.

    She didn’t think she could compete in the space though. It was the usual excuses of… too many people already doing it and not enough confidence.

    (If you’d like to discover your passion and learn how to monetize it, download The Uncovery workbook http://www.theuncovery.com .)

    I told her to swallow her fear and doubt. Just do it. She started blogging and selling spices, but not the usual stuff, because I told her to ultra niche it.

    Now she’s thinking like a super affiliate. She’s selling dried peppers flakes and hot sauces, everything from Szechuan to Sassafras. Other people sell spices, but she knows how to thicken your gumbo.

    If you know a lot about something, there are people who want to learn. When you help them by telling, not by selling, they’ll automatically want to buy from you.

    Sell Your Passion

    Another customer of mine owns a small hobby brew place. He helps you make wine and beer on his premises. You bottle it and take it home when its done.

    He wanted to take his “dirt world” business online. To go beyond what he could reach with local advertising.

    He took my advice started putting videos online. He shows you how to mix up the batch, attach a fermentation lock, sterilize and fill the bottles. Short 2-3 minute clips with one key concept in each.

    He uses a basic no-frills hand held video camera. Then dumps the recording into iMovie for a quick edit before uploading them to Youtube.

    He’s positioning himself as the leader in beer making knowledge. That makes people subscribe to his newsletter, shop in his store, and trust him.

    Now he’s thinking like a super affiliate. Instead of stocking massive inventory, he uses affiliate links to sell everything from hops to brewing kits online.

    The videos do the “cold calling” for him. Because of the knowledge he gives away freely, people know they can trust him when it comes to product recommendations.

    So when there’s no customers in his retail store, he’s in the back room on the computer. Busy building an affiliate empire around his passion for beer.

    What are you passionate about? What do you love to do? If you have confidence, you can transfer it to others. That’s a key secret to making a sale.

    Learning How To Sell

    None of these people started as super affiliates. The difference was having someone to talk to. Someone who understands advertising, sales and marketing.

    If you’d like to know more about advertising, sales and marketing, give me a call. Once you’re a Dynamic Media member, I’m just a phone call away.

  • AdSense Account Disabled: What the Hell?!

    AdSense Account Disabled: What the Hell?!

    Every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is turn to my left side, pick up my iPhone, and quickly scan my new e-mail that came in since I went to bed the night before.  It’s a pretty mindless task that I can do while I’m still half asleep.

    But not this past Friday morning.  Nope. I sprung out of bed as you might do when a fire alarm goes off in the middle of the night, or maybe on Christmas morning when you’re 8 years old.  I woke up to this little gem in my e-mail box:

    adsense account disabled

    Keep reading, and I’ll give you the full story.

    The Initial Panic

    Panic was probably the best word to describe my initial reaction when I read this e-mail:

    google adsense account disabled email

    This was no joke – I tried to open my AdSense account only to find a similar message, and nowhere to navigate.  This was one of the things we all fear – having one of our primary online income sources cut off completely.  I was having a great month too – it probably would have been my best AdSense month so far.  Of course, they will be taking away from me what I earned so far this month ($100+) and I’m not sure if my amounts accrued through last month (~$200) will be paid out.

    Over a year of hard work, countless hours, thousands of dollars spent – diminished with a simple flip of the switch.  Yes, my sites are still ranking as they were and still receiving traffic as usual, but the primary means of monetization – the one source of income that was destined to keep growing each month – gone.

    Sure, there are a lot of ways to monetize a site in general, but micro-niche sites by their very nature have a narrow focus, and therefore, limited means of monetization.  No other ad network has so many advertisers competing for all of the long-tail keywords that we target with these sites.  Sure, that doesn’t stop you from using one of them, but ads that are less relevant are sure to experience a lower click through rate and lower cost per click.

    This was my initial panic.  Everything was over – my sites were worthless.  Even worse, I didn’t understand how or why this happened to me.  I’ve followed all of Google’s rules.  My traffic was all organic.  And my ad placements, although on the aggressive side, were well within what’s “allowed” and in no way were set up to wrongfully entice clicks (“invalid” clicks).

    So What the Hell Happened?

    As I mentioned above, Google is accusing me of having invalid clicks.  What this basically means is that they believe people were clicking my ads for reasons other than general interest in the ad’s content.

    For example, if you click your own ad or tell a friend to click your ad, these are invalid clicks.  If you put an image or text next to the ad block that says “CLICK HERE >>>> “, any clicks generated would be considered invalid clicks.  You get the idea.

    This of course leaves me baffled because I absolutely did not do any of that.  I know the rules and I know Google is very strict about enforcing them.  I’m not about to risk the status of my account for a $0.68 click.  I’m not an idiot.

    Here’s what I think could have happened:  Someone who reads this blog decided to visit one of the niche sites that I’ve made public here in the past, and decided to click an ad – maybe they did it several times in one visit (also known as “click bombing”), or maybe it was spread over a longer period of time…or it was multiple people who did it one time.  Whether it was to screw me over or “help” me,  I have no idea.  I never noticed any irregular activity, so it never crossed my mind.

    I can’t say with any certainty that this was the cause, but it’s very possible.  Something similar to this happened to Chris Ducker awhile back, and he suspected the same thing.

    I guess the bottom line is, sometimes, transparency comes at cost.  If you read Pat Flynn’s site, you know that after he reported all of his success with his site from the “Niche Site Duel,” copycats started popping up, and probably affected his earnings somewhat (although they are still amazing).

    Apparently, I’m Not the Only One

    Naturally, when I found out my account was disabled, I wanted to take a look around and see if there was some kind big wave of account disabling by Google – although I suspect they disable lots of accounts on a daily basis.

    I came across this thread on the Warrior Forum, and it sounds like there were a lot of people disabled around the same time I was.  Here’s an interesting quote from someone in that thread:

    forum-quote

    Based on this quote and what others in the thread wrote, it does sound like Google recently disabled a lot of accounts for invalid click activity.  I guess I’m not alone, though that doesn’t make me feel any better.

    What’s the Plan Going Forward?

    First of all, I appealed Google’s decision to disable my account. This probably won’t do anything for me, but I’ve read some success stories, so it’s worth a try.  I don’t want to try anything drastic until I know for sure that I can’t get my account back.

    New Monetization for High Traffic Sites

    Although none of my micro-niche sites were clear winners (yet), I am going to take my top sites and find a way to monetize them (how ironic is it that I blogged about my top AdSense sites just days before getting my account disabled?).

    I have a few ideas in mind for alternatives to AdSense, and perhaps if people here are interested, I’ll do a whole blog post about AdSense alternatives.  For my top sites, I want to look at each site on a case-by-case basis – some sites may only benefit from another display advertising network, while certain ones may be better off promoting affiliate products or CPA  (cost-per-action) offers.

    Overall, Take an 80/20 Approach for My Current Niche Sites

    Because AdSense is no longer a viable monetization method for my existing niche sites, some of the sites simply won’t be worth putting any more effort into.  The 20% of my sites that account for 80% of my income will receive most of my focus.  The other 80% won’t be worth the time.   Sites that were only earning $1-5/month with AdSense (which I consider to be profitable) may only earn less than $1/month with another ad network (no longer profitable).

    Now, I still have 8+ months left before I have to renew a lot of these domains, so I don’t want to “waste” any traffic that they are currently receiving.  What I will probably do is pick one ad network to apply to all of these sites (such as Chitika, which I already have some experience using).

    More Focus on Amazon Sites

    For me, Amazon is still a perfectly viable way to monetize my sites, and I still have a handful of sites that had regularly been earning more from Amazon than AdSense each month.  I’ll put more focus on converting traffic for my current Amazon sites, and for any new sites I build, I’ll probably look toward niches where I can easily integrate Amazon affiliate links.

    Create an LLC

    This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and it seems like now is the perfect time to do it.  Because an LLC would be a separate legal entity, I’ll be able to apply for a new AdSense account under the business name (this is perfectly legal/in line with Google’s terms of service).  Unfortunately, I will only be able to use this account for new sites.  I don’t want to risk associating the new account with older sites, in case they are somehow “flagged” now.

    My micro-niche site plan is not over yet, but I will need to invest the time to create new sites and build them up all over again, for the new AdSense account.  Once I go through the process of setting up the LLC, I’ll probably do a post on it here in case any of you are interested in doing something similar.

    Lessons Learned

    Diversification is Key

    You can follow all the rules, have the most amazing content, and have a 2+ year solid track record (as I did)…but if your income all comes from one source (or mostly one source), you are at risk of having it vanish overnight.  People will always make the argument that as long as your sites are getting traffic, losing AdSense isn’t a big deal because there other ways to monetize.  It’s true that there are other ways to monetize, but I don’t think you can say that it’s easy to replace the income, especially with sites that were designed to make money with AdSense.

    Google will always act in the best interest of their advertisers, NOT their publishers – this is Google’s key income source.  What this means is, if they have any doubt that you’re not good for their advertisers, they won’t hesitate to get rid of you – even if it doesn’t make sense.  You can’t blame them for trying to protect their business.

    If you can diversify your income streams, both by having multiple projects (e.g. different websites) and within those projects, multiple methods of monetizing, you are in a much better position to survive the elimination of one of your projects or income sources.

    Authority Sites are Better? Not Necessarily.

    I bring this up because I don’t think you or I can conclude that micro-niche sites are specifically targeted by Google, in terms of deciding whether or not to disable an account.   Remember, the Google AdSense team is only concerned with their advertisers receiving quality, targeted traffic.  If your micro-niche site is very focused, and receives very targeted organic traffic, Google AdSense likes this.

    Keep in mind, Google AdSense is a separate “team” than the team that handles Google’s search results and ranking algorithm.  Pleasing one doesn’t always mean you please the other.

    With all of this said, I think authority sites will always be “safer” in that they have a stronger foundation and are easier to diversify with various monetization methods (ads, affiliate links, e-mail marketing, etc.) compared to micro-niche sites.   So if your site gets “click bombed” and you lose your AdSense account, the site itself will still continue making money from other sources.

    Conclusion

    While I know this post began in a state of panic, hopefully you’ve seen that I’m actually optimistic overall.  While all of this means I’ll need to do a lot more work, and it may be a little while until I can get my niche site earnings back to where they were (it’ll have to be after tax season), I honestly believe I will look back one day and conclude that losing my AdSense account was one of the best things to happen to my online business.

    I feel refreshed, in some kind of sick and twisted way – I feel more inspired to think “outside the box” and  work smarter with my internet marketing projects.

  • Digital prototypes help university team get $550k+ in technology funding

    The U.S. Dept. of Labor has a program in place, funded by H-1B visa fees, to increase the competitiveness of the American workforce. This program, called Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED), has an initiative under way in the state of Ohio called the Ohio Valley Interactive Technology Alliance (OVITA). OVITA is focused on developing a creative and academically prepared workforce and establishing the region as a center of excellence and innovation in the field of interactive digital technology, which includes the Immersive Internet.

    OVITA works with three state universities — Ohio University, Kent State University and Shawnee State University — as well as community colleges and high schools. As with any publicly-funded initiative these days, leadership has to work very hard to justify how money gets spent. Thomas Stead, the Associate Director for Education for OVITA and former department chair at Shawnee State University, recently shared with me some experiences he has had using immersive technology to positively influence budget decision makers. (more…)

  • Change is under way at ThinkBalm

    Disruptive-thinker-bus-SMALLAt ThinkBalm we’ve had a couple of great years as industry analysts dedicated to covering work-related use of immersive technologies—an early-stage, emerging technology market. We have worked with some terrific people at great client organizations like Altadyn, BP, Chevron, Forterra Systems (now part of SAIC), Linden Lab, Moondus, ProtonMedia, Teleplace, and Tandem Learning. We’ve published nine comprehensive reports spanning market overview, business value, technology selection, barriers to adoption, and best practices—and made this research freely available via our Web site. We launched the ThinkBalm Innovation Community, grew it to more than 470 members, and hosted more than 35 facilitated work sessions, training sessions, and networking events. More than half of our research reports arose directly out of ThinkBalm Innovation Community activities. (more…)

  • ThinkBalm Innovation Community is now Tandem Learning Innovation Community

    After we broke the news that we planned to disband the ThinkBalm Innovation Community, members of the community expressed lots of interest in finding new leadership for the community moving forward. We are excited to announce that effective immediately, Tandem Learning will assume the community management responsibilities of the newly named Tandem Learning Innovation Community.

    The value of this community is in the membership and the collective wisdom and experience of the group, and Tandem’s focus on new technology, user experience, learning design, and strategic business innovation allows them to touch on the areas of interest that bind our community together. We believe the leadership at Tandem is committed to maintaining the integrity of the community while finding new and exciting ways to add value to everyone who participates.

    Exciting times are ahead for all of us and we’re looking forward to what happens next! (more…)

  • In the name of engagement, InXpo adds game features to its platform

    Computer and video games are big—and they’re on their way to becoming big in the workplace. According to the Entertainment Software Association, people in 68% of American households play computer or video games. And according to the NPD group, a global provider of consumer and retail market research information, the average number of hours gamers spend online gaming has increased to 8.0 hours per week in 2010 from 7.3 hours per week in 2009.

    When you combine this with the fact that people learn—and have always learned—new skills and information by playing games and engaging in competition, it becomes clear that game concepts and mechanics are destined to be transformed into business tools. It is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. Games in the workplace can increase engagement and productivity; help employees set priorities, share resources, and meet goals; facilitate team-building; and help organizations discover untapped leadership skills. (For great insights on these and other aspects of games in the workplace I highly recommend the book Total Engagement (2010) by Byron Reeves and J. Leighton Read. Another great book on the topic is Learning in 3D (2010) by Karl Kapp and Tony O’Driscoll.)

    InXpo recognizes this potential and is dipping a toe in the gaming waters

    InXpo customers deploy the InXpo Virtual Events platform for a wide range of purposes such as trade shows, meetings and conferences, career fairs, learning and training, and persistent virtual offices. Today, InXpo announced a new offering called InXpo Social Suite. This add-on to the InXpo Virtual Events Platform, slated for general availability in early May, will incorporate games and social network integration. The thinking behind this is that by offering increasingly compelling content and activities, InXpo customers (let’s call them hosts) can increase the engagement of users (let’s call them participants), thereby obtaining benefits such as improved knowledge retention, higher customer satisfaction scores, and increased revenues.

    InXpo is working with a game design team from Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy to create a set of lightweight, casual computer games. The first two games InXpo will offer are a trivia challenge and word scramble. InXpo hopes to have 5 or 10 games in its library by the end of the year. Event hosts will be able to configure the games to reinforce learning objectives or advertise event sponsors’ products, for example. The system will track participants’ points and advancement in the game and list high scorers on a leaderboard.

    What it means for business decision makers

    If you are looking for ways to increase engagement—for example, increase the amount of time prospects spend on your Web site or attending your virtual conference or trade show, or retain employees or customers longer—adding games to your interaction portfolio may be a boon. Especially games that have a strong social element and allow people to compete with each other in a fun, challenging way.

    If you feel uneasy about incorporating InXpo’s game elements into live customer interactions, start with internal trials. Perhaps hold an all-hands meeting or a regional sales meeting in the environment and solicit feedback from participants about their experiences with the game technology.

    InXpo’s efforts to incorporate games and game mechanics into enterprise software isn’t new; providers of 3D enterprise immersive software have been offering game mechanics in their products for several years. But the launch of InXpo Social Suite is another sign that the market is driving immersive software toward richer, more engaging environments, regardless of underlying technology.

  • Immersive tech for meetings/conferences must be scalable and easy to use

    In our January “trends” blog post, we predicted that 2010 would be a year of churn in the emerging enterprise immersive software market. It’s only a few months into the year and already a rapid-fire series of events has occurred, setting many industry participants on edge:

    • Forterra Systems was acquired by SAIC (see our February 8, 2010 post about it here).
    • Oracle discontinued funding Sun Project Wonderland (now called Open Wonderland) (see our March 1, 2010 post about it here).
    • Key roles on Linden Lab’s enterprise team were folded into the broader organization and several folks on the enterprise team have moved on, including former general manager Chris Collins.
    • Virtual Worlds Management, the company that has held Virtual World Expo and 3DTLC conferences since 2007, renamed itself Engage Digital Media and has de-emphasized its focus on virtual worlds. The 3DTLC conference and 3DTLC.net blog have been suspended. 3DLTC.net editorial content has been folded back in to VirtualWorldsNews.com.

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