Kiss WebX.0 Kiss Internet

As promised in yesterdays post this article will discuss the key elements of the BlogStorm marketing campaign and how you can apply the same techniques to build links to your site.

Phase One: The Prelaunch
Before your website is viewed by anybody you need to ensure that you have something remarkable. The key aspect to BlogStorm is the link tracker tool which is used by hundreds of bloggers to track links to their blog posts. The tracker gave BlogStorm a unique hook that separated it from all the other internet marketing blogs competing for attention.

We have a lot more tools in testing and hope to launch those within the next few months but the tracker was designed to establish the focus of BlogStorm as a location for bloggers to learn about linkbait and using social media.

In addition we took the time to create a visually appealing design without too many ads. The template also has been fully search engine optimised with unique titles and meta tags and no duplicate content or low value pages.

The code is custom created and designed to be very light on the server. This is important as it means the site can stand up to a front page Digg with no problems at all (it did get a bit slow under the load of 50,000 uniques in 2 hours).

Phase Two: Content
The first four posts on BlogStorm:

Welcome to BlogStorm
How can we improve?
How to use hotlinkers and Google Images to build natural links to your site
Advanced use of Google Analytics and the new interface
The first posts on a new blog set the tone for the rest of your posts. If a reader notices that the posts are low quality then they are unlikely to return to read some more. Usually I work on the principle that if the writer is posting useless tips they are not suddenly going to start posting amazing content.

The Google Analytics Tutorial was quite an in depth article and is useful to most people who run a website. It was written some time ago and then had to be re-written from scratch when Google changed the interface. This turned out to be fortunate as it helped the article gain traction in the social media sites as it was one of the first in depth tutorials concentrating on the new interface.

Phase Three: Launch
The first step is to email your friends and ask them to blog about your new site. It is important to start with the people you think will help you and then work down the list from there. In my case I also contacted famous bloggers with a personal email and ended up being featured on several large blogs resulting in 30,000 visitors in week 1.

There really is no secret to launching a site, its all down to market timing, a good product and hard work.

The key steps are:

Email friends
Email anybody who might be interested (make it personal)
Use social media
Leverage your reputation
Phase Four: Make your readers happy
After you launch a new site it is very tempting to keep churning out linkbait articles but most of your readers don’t want to read this kind of content. I try to limit the linkbait to one post per week on BlogStorm and make sure the rest of the content is actually useful. Of course sometimes good content is also great linkbait which is a win win situation.

Phase Five: Linkbait
If you dedicate one post per week to creating a really strong piece of linkbait your readers will actually start to look forward to it and will welcome your post. Some might even help you seed it on social media sites.

The key aspect in promoting the linkbait articles on BlogStorm was using social media such as StumbleUpon, Reddit, Digg etc.

Other good linkbait hooks we used were shouting about our traffic and links. John Chow gets traffic because he earns lots of money from his blog, BlogStorm sometimes gets traffic because we tell people how many links we got via linkbaiting and how much traffic each bit of linkbait sent to us.

Phase Six: Reputation monitoring
Monitoring your reputation to see what people are saying about your brand is important for any blogger but for a new blogger it is vital. You need to respond quickly to criticism and take action.

Phase Seven: Quality content
When you look past all the self promotion and linkbait articles it is important for a blog to produce quality posts on a regular basis. I like to think anybody reading BlogStorm has a chance to learn something new each week that will help them promote their sites.

Without good marketing nobody would ever find a blog. Without good content nobody will stick around to read it.

Among all China’s blog service providers, who is the leading player? Is it Sina blog which hosts many blogs of celebrities, is it Sohu blog who just open a widget platform, or Tencent’s Q-zone? A report released by Baidu today may answer this question. (Jan. 30th, Update: Interestingly, SearchLab, an research institute established by Baidu and Peking University, deleted the report in its website)

According to the report which review not only blog services but also some social networking services, in terms of traffic, Q-zone is the most visited service, followed by 51.com, Xiaonei.com, Baidu Space, Sina blog, Netease blog, Sohu blog, i-part, MSN Live Space and 360quan.com.

The report said Q-zone has accounted for about 24% of total traffic of QQ.com, Alexa data also shows Q-zone is the No. 1 service in QQ with its 16% shares. Q-zone learns a lot from Cyworld of Korea, and it sells virtual items to monetize traffic. Leveraging on its QQ IM tool, Q-zone becomes very popular among QQ users.

I’m somewhat surprised by the rank of 51.com and Xiaonei.com. However, they are not only blog service, I’m not sure whether Baidu has exclude traffic to other social networking service in 51 and Xiaonei. It is also surprising to know that i-part and 360quan.com can enlisted themselves in top 10.

According to the report, MySpace China ranked 12, but its traffic grows quickly. The report forecasts that MySpace can be one of the top 10 service provider in 2008.

   在所有的中国博客服务提供商中，谁是领先者呢？是新浪博客？因为它拥有许多名人博客。是搜狐博客？因为它开通了一个装饰平台。还是腾讯的QQ空间呢?今天百度发表的一篇报告可能回答这个问题。（上传于一月三是日：有趣的是，由百度和北京大学建立的研究机构SearchLab在它的网站上删除了这篇报告）
 
   这项报告不仅仅回顾了博客服务还包括了一些社会网络服务，在通信量方面,   QQ空间是访问量最大的服务提供商，接下去一次是51.com, Xiaonei.com, Baidu Space, Sina blog, Netease blog, Sohu blog, i-part, MSN空间和360quan.com。
 
   这项报告说QQ空间占了QQ.com24%的访问量，Alexa data也显示QQ空间在QQ网站中占了16%的份额，是他们最重要的一项服务。QQ空间从韩国的赛我网学习了很多，并且通过实质性的项目来盈利。QQ空间由于QQ实时聊天工具的优势，在QQ用户中十分流行。
 
   我对51.com和Xiaonei的排名有些意外。然而，他们并不仅仅是博客服务，我不确定百度是否排除了51和Xiaonei其他社会网络服务所带来的访问量。我也很惊奇的获悉i-part和360quan.com可以跻身前十的行列。
 
   按照这篇报告，中国Myspace排名12，但是它的访问量增长的很快。这篇报告预测Myspace在2008年可能成为前十位的服务提供商。

During the Web's heyday, a profitable Internet company nearing $100 million in annual sales while luring a million new customers a month would have found itself on the IPO fast track. But that's hardly the case for LinkedIn, a professional networking site that has cleared those hurdles and then some.

Instead, LinkedIn is hewing closely to the Web economy's new motto on initial public offerings: Easy does it. Founded in 2003, LinkedIn may not sell shares until some time next year. Likewise, social networking site Facebook, worth $15 billion on paper, may not go public until 2010, a company board member says. People close to Facebook previously suggested an IPO could come as soon as 2009.

Meantime, fast-growing Web startup Slide, which makes popular add-on software for social networks, just banked a new round of investment capital to weather a recession that may hit before its planned IPO in 2009. "In the past, a lot of companies viewed it as their goal to go public," says Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg. "We'll do it when it makes sense for us."

Selling shares doesn't make sense, the thinking goes, as the economy slows and Web companies struggle to wring profit from social network advertising. Add in costs of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which imposes disclosure requirements on publicly traded companies, and it becomes clear why some of the brightest stars in the Internet firmament are going public later rather than sooner.

"All three of these companies would have been public in the late '90s," says Peter Thiel, the former CEO of PayPal and an investor in Facebook, Slide, and LinkedIn. That none of them is public yet "is really a reflection of how radically things have shifted," says Thiel, who's also founder of hedge fund Clarium Capital Management and venture fund The Founders Fund.

Learning From MySpace
And in the run-up to an IPO, all three companies will stay plenty busy trying to prove their worth and fetch as high a market valuation as possible. "I'm pretty sure we can go public on our numbers now if we want to," says LinkedIn co-founder and Chairman Reid Hoffman. "At the moment, I want to take every dollar that I make and put it back into investing and growing the business."

When he and his counterparts do go for the IPO, there's likely to be plenty of appetite. "If Facebook decides to go public, there will be a buying frenzy," says one prominent Valley entrepreneur. Institutional investors who missed out on such stars as MySpace before it sold to News Corp. (NWS) and YouTube before it was snapped up by Google (GOOG) are eager for a slice of this emerging consumer Web, with its millions of engaged, content-generating users.

Silicon Valley's venture capitalists are eager for some Web 2.0 slam dunks (BusinessWeek.com, 1/2/08), too. Tech's two big share sales last year were VMware (VMW) and NetSuite (N), business software companies. The M&A market hasn't been much kinder. Among the Valley's new breed of Web companies, only YouTube has fetched more than $1 billion.

Recession-proof?
Yet investors' anticipation of big payoffs from the first batch of post-bubble startups to go public comes amid questions about the vitality of the vaunted Internet ad market. Consumer-focused sites like Facebook and Slide have yet to show they can command a premium for the ads they display. There's also the risk that users will retreat from social networks as they age and settle down. "My social network is built on who my daughter in kindergarten likes to play with," says Konstantin Guericke, CEO of startup Jaxtr, which connects users' social network profiles to their mobile phone numbers. He's also a co-founder of LinkedIn.

Recent comments by Internet bellwether Google have heightened concerns over social networking business models. Investors sold Google shares (BusinessWeek.com, 2/27/08) Feb. 26, after market researcher ComScore (SCOR) reported a decline in ad clicks for Google and Yahoo in January. Google itself said on Jan. 31 that it isn't making as much money as it hoped (BusinessWeek.com, 1/31/08) placing ads on MySpace and other social networks. "For one of these companies to attempt a road show or IPO now, one of the first questions they'd be asked by an investor is, 'Is it true what Google just said?'" says Mark Mahaney, director of Internet research at Citigroup (C). "How's that for a headwind?"

Given the somber mood, the Valley's new IPO hopefuls are girding against the effects of a recession. At the same time, they're looking to expand and boost their market value in the run-up to an offering. "All these companies have massive cash cushions," says Thiel, who predicts Facebook will wait at least two years before an IPO. "They're able to withstand multiyear recessions," he adds. "It's very different than 1999 or 2000."

"Super-applications"
Facebook, which boasts 67 million members and an estimated $150 million in annual sales, is trying to get even bigger. The company hired its first chief operating officer March 4, swiping Google sales star Sheryl Sandberg. And it's in the market for a general counsel and public policy director, according to Zuckerberg. In February, Facebook put Vice-President Matt Cohler in charge of product development. "All these changes are set up to help us scale in the coming years," Zuckerberg says. The company is navigating international expansion and plotting a deeper push into entertainment, hoping to lure musicians and indie filmmakers to build profiles and showcase their wares.

LinkedIn is trying to mine more revenue from its nearly 20 million members. The site already commands some of the highest ad rates on the Web—the average LinkedIn user is 41 and has a household income of $109,000, according to CEO Dan Nye. The gold-plated demographics mean advertisers can aim pitches at big-spending subgroups. "If you want to advertise to CEOs in Silicon Valley, you can do that," he says.

Later this year, the company plans to roll out a new product called the LinkedIn Research Network, designed to let fund managers, lawyers, and other professionals find subject matter experts to help research investments, cases, and other projects. (LinkedIn has a partnership with BusinessWeek.com that includes a tool that lets users find LinkedIn connections at companies mentioned in BusinessWeek articles.)

An overseas expansion into Europe, and potentially China, is already underway. "The LinkedIn strategy is pretty simple," says Hoffman. "Get more professionals aware that there's this tool, and then build super-applications" the company can charge for.

Correct formula
Up Interstate 280 in San Francisco's Web-friendly SoMa district, Slide is trying to make advertising on its widgets more relevant by mining data it collects about the Facebook relationships among users who install them. The company is working on ways to analyze the stated interests of users in a circle of friends, then serve ads that might appeal to them, says Keith Rabois, vice-president of strategy and business development.

Slide plans to use a $50 million investment (BusinessWeek.com, 1/18/08) it took on Jan. 18 from Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price (TROW) to double its 65 employees and stock up on servers in the event of a recession.

It doesn't hurt to have two big mutual funds on board during a pre-IPO road show, adds Finance Vice-President Kevin Freedman. The investment, which values Slide at $550 million, could let it go public when it can fetch the best price, not when it needs the money, according to Rabois. "It is a public-market hedge," he says. "Our revenues could explode, or it could take a longer period of time as we're dialing into the correct formula."

For the VCs and institutional investors waiting for a Web 2.0 payout, that day can't arrive soon enough.

Ricadela is a writer for BusinessWeek.com in Silicon Valley .

　　导语：《商业周刊》3月6日刊登分析文章指出，随着美国经济逐渐陷入萧条，原本就不着急上市的Web 2.0网站更是慢慢悠悠起来。

　　不要着急 慢慢来

　　在网络繁荣时期，年销售额近1亿美元、月新增用户达100万的互联网公司都可能会选择上市。不过，专业的社交网站LinkedIn虽然已经满足了这样的条件，但它并没有上市的打算。相反，LinkedIn一直恪守着网站IPO(首次公开招股)的格言：不要着急，慢慢来。2003年创建的LinkedIn在明年之前不会考虑出售股票。

　　另外，据Facebook董事会成员透露，这家身价150亿美元的社交网站在2010年之前也不会上市。之前，Facebook相关人士曾暗示其将于2009年进行IPO。

　　同时，凭借为社交网站开发流行插件而发展迅速的Slide原计划2009年上市，但为了平安度过在此之前可能到来的经济萧条期，Slide在不久前刚刚募集了新一轮的投资资金。

　　Facebook CEO马克·扎克博格(Mark Zuckerberg)说：“过去很多公司将上市作为目标，而我们决定在有意义的时候再这样做。”

　　随着经济增速放缓，社交网站公司仅靠广告来维持盈利，越来越多的人认为现在发行股票毫无意义。另外，2002年颁布的《萨班斯法案》(Sarbanes-Oxley Act)对上市公司的披露制度有了更高的要求，这也正好解释了为何互联网界的热门网站都认为晚些上市更好。

　　在线支付网站PayPal前任CEO，同时也是Facebook、Slide和LinkedIn投资人的彼得·蒂尔(Peter Thiel)说：“这三家公司本应该在上世纪九十年代末就上市”，但目前还没有一家上市，“正说明了人们的行事风格有所转变”。

　　学习MySpace的前车之鉴

　　在IPO准备阶段，三家公司全都力争证明自身的分量，以获得尽可能高的市场估值。LinkedIn联合创始人兼董事会主席雷德·霍夫曼(Reid Hoffman)说：“我敢肯定地说，如果想的话，现在就能按照我们的估价上市。不过，我想通过上市将公司全部的价值都体现出来，然后用于再投资，将事业发展壮大。”

　　等到这三家公司上市那一天，将可能引起广泛的追捧。一名硅谷的知名企业家说：“如果Facebook宣布上市，将引起哄抢。”金融投资者曾经错失过几次良机，错过了出售给新闻集团之前的MySpace，又错过了被谷歌吞并之前的YouTube。他们不会放过这次的机会，迫切希望能够从这些拥有千百万忠实用户的网站分得一杯羹。

　　投资者对这些网站上市充满了浓厚的兴趣，都期待着能够获得高额的回报，但现在面临的问题是互联网广告市场的疲软。深受用户青睐的Facebook和Slide还不能确保一定能够从发布的广告中获利。另外，用户随着年龄的增长，家庭相对稳定，将慢慢抛弃社交网站。新兴社交网站Jaxtr的CEO，同时也是LinkedIn联合创始人的康斯坦丁·格瑞克(Konstantin Guericke)说：“我的网站主要是面向青少年，比如那些在幼儿园跟我女儿一起玩的小朋友。”

　　谷歌的悲观论调

　　互联网领头羊谷歌最近的一番评论，引起了人们对社交网站商业模式的高度关注。市场研究机构ComScore 2月26日公布的研究报告显示，一月份谷歌和雅虎的广告点击率下降，此报告一出，投资者卖掉了手里的谷歌股票。谷歌在之前的1月31日表示，其在MySpace和其它社交网站上发布广告的收入不如预期。花旗集团分析师马克·马哈尼(Mark Mahaney)说：“如果哪家社交网站公司打算上市，那投资者的第一个问题肯定是：‘谷歌说的是真的吗？’这种不利的情况下结果会怎样呢？”

　　在悲观的论调下，这些计划上市的硅谷新贵们必须摆脱经济衰退带来的影响。他们都希望在上市准备期增加市场价值。蒂尔预测Facebook至少要在两年后才会进行IPO，并称：“这些公司的实力都很雄厚，能够抵御连续多年的经济萧条。这与1999年或2000年时的情况大不一样。”

　　扩大规模 自身增值

　　Facebook现在拥有6700万的用户，年销售额估计为1.5亿美元，却还在试图壮大。Facebook 3月4号从谷歌挖来销售精英沙里尔·桑伯格(Sheryl Sandberg)担任首席运营官，兼管法律咨询和公共政策；副总裁马特·科勒尔(Matt Cohler)于2月份开始负责产品开发。扎克博格说：“所有的人事变动都是为了帮助公司在未来几年扩大规模。”Facebook已经开始向全球拓展，并计划将触角伸向娱乐领域，希望吸引更多的音乐人和独立电影制作人在Facebook建立档案和发布作品。

　　LinkedIn则希望从2000万用户身上赚更多的钱。CEO丹·尼耶(Dan Nye)表示，LinkedIn用户的平均年龄为41岁，家庭年收入为109，000美元，“如果你想给硅谷的CEO们发广告，来这就对了。”

　　LinkedIn计划在今年晚些时候推出一款名为LinkedIn Research Network的产品，这款产品主要是为基金经理、律师以及其它专业人士设计的，帮助他们寻找客户，开展研究投资、案件咨询及其它方面的业务。

　　LinkedIn已经开始向欧洲乃至中国的海外市场进行扩张。霍夫曼说：“公司的战略非常简单，就是让更多的专业人士认识到LinkedIn的存在”，“发挥更大的作用”。

　　获得投资并非坏事

　　Slide一直在收集那些安装其插件的Facebook用户的数据，并希望通过分析这些数据，使插件的广告更加贴近用户。Slide战略和商业开发副总裁凯思·拉布伊斯(Keith Rabois)表示，公司一直在分析用户及其圈内好友的爱好，以便刊登他们感兴趣的广告。

　　Slide于1月18日从富达基金投资公司和T. Rowe Price投资公司获得了5000万美元的资金，并计划在经济萧条期间将这笔钱用于雇佣更多的员工和购买服务器。

　　负责财务的副总裁凯文·弗里德曼(Kevin Freedman)表示，在上市准备期获得两笔风险投资并不是坏事。拉布伊斯也认为，Slide获得这些投资后，市值将达到5.5亿美元，现在Slide可以等到价钱最高的时候再上市，而不必在需要钱时匆忙上市。

I admit that most of the photos being circulated on the Internet were taken by me. But these photos are very private and have not been shown to people and are never intended to be shown to anyone. These photos were stolen from me illegally and distributed without my consent.

There is no doubt whoever obtained these photos have them uploaded on the Internet with malicious and deliberate intent. This matter has deteriorated to the extent that society as a whole has been affected by this. In this regard, I am deeply saddened. I would like now to apologize to all the people for all the suffering that has been caused and the problems that have arisen from this. I would like to apologize to all the ladies and to all their families for any harm or hurt that they have been feeling. I am sorry. I would like to also apologize to my mother and my father for the pain and suffering I have caused them during the past few weeks. Most importantly, I would like to say sorry to all the people of Hong Kong. I give my apology sincerely to you all, unreservedly and with my heart.

I know young people in Hong Kong look up to many figures in our society. And in this regard, I have failed. I failed as a role model. However, I wish this matter will teach everyone a lesson. To all the young people in our community, let this be a lesson for you all. This is not an example to be set for you.

During my time away, I have made an important decision. I will whole-heartedly fulfill all commitments that I have to date. But after that, I decided to step away from the Hong Kong entertainment industry. I have decided to do this to give myself an opportunity to heal myself and to search my soul. I will dedicate my time to charity and community work within the next few months. I will be away from Hong Kong entertainment industry indefinitely. There is no time frame.

I have been assisting the police since the first day the photos were published and I will continue to assist them. After this press con., I have obligation to help them with their investigation and hope that this case can end soon as everyone I think has the same wish.

I would like to use this opportunity to thank the police for their hard work on this case. Thank you. I believe everyone’s priority now (and) my priority now is to stop the suffering and pain, for not letting this…we do not want to let this situation become more out of control. We need to protect all the innocents and all the young from matters like this. In this regard, I have instructed my lawyers to do everything possible within the law to protect all the innocents, victims of this case. I believe that a press statement is being issued as we speak on what my lawyers have advised me to do.

Lastly, I would like to thank everyone for coming here today and listening to what I have to say. I would like to also apologize once again to all the ladies and their families, my family and to everyone in Hong Kong and everyone in our society. I am deeply saddened by this. And I apologize to everyone (who) has to go through this. I would like to also thank you for giving me this opportunity to say what I have wanted to say all along in my heart.

I hope, after today, I can have your forgiveness. With regard to this case, with everything, everything that has happened, I am deeply sorry. I hope you all accept my apology and give me a chance. Thank you.

Earlier this week we started a poll on what online marketing tactics our readers would use most in 2008. The polling plug-in allows for only one choice and over 100 people have responded so far. We’ll keep the poll running for another week or so, but here are the top ten tactics rankings so far out of 35 listed and the percentage of votes for each.

With the vote count at over 150, I’ve updated the top ten as of 02/13/08:

Blogging (27%)
Email marketing (16%)
Search engine optimization (14%)
Pay per click (9%)
Social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn) (5%)
Blogger relations (4%)
Online public relations (3%)
Viral marketing (3%)
Free content (white papers) (3%)
Corporate web site (3%)
The original top ten are here from 02/05/08:

Blogging (25%)
Search engine optimization (14%)
Email marketing (12%)
Pay per click (8%)
Blogger relations (6%)
Online public relations (5%)
Viral marketing (5%)
Corporate web site (4%)
Social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn) (4%)
Webinars/Teleconference (3%)
Blogging really does make sense because it can serve as a platform for so many other tactics including SEO, email (archiving newsletters), blogger relations, PR, viral marketing, a compliment to the corporate site, a touchpoint for social networking and a place to promote webinars.

If you’re a company doing business and/or marketing online and aren’t using a blog in some way, you’re really at a disadvantage. The longer a company goes without a blog of some sort, the greater an advantage their blogging competition will have. Of course, not ALL companies need to have a blog, but the number of qualified reasons not to is getting smaller each day.

I am happy to say that of the top ten tactics listed, TopRank specializes in the top 3 (blog marketing, SEO and email marketing) plus several others.

As mentioned in a previous post, universal search is a hot topic here at SMX West.

My first session of the day: The Blended Search Revolution revealed insights from the major search engines about how they are ‘compiling’ the universal search results and how companies should take advantage of the opportunity.

Universal search leverages new content such as news results, images and videos.

Specifically, David Bailey from Google shared these five tips (some obvious, some maybe not) to take advantage of the specialized results:

1. Publish high quality, well captioned images
2. Create a Google video sitemap
3. Update business listings in local business center
4. Submit your feed to Google product search
5. Create a high-quality company blog

The important item to remember is that this generation of search should not be scary for companies. If you’re not quite ready to submit your videos to YouTube, start with a video site map, as mentioned above. The results may not come as quickly, but at least you’re in the game.

在前一篇译文中我已提到，在西部搜索引擎市场博览会上，全球搜索已成为一个热门话题。

   这是我今天的首个会议：混合型的搜索革命显示出主要的搜索引擎的洞察力，主要是有关怎样搜集全球搜索结果以及公司将怎样来利用这一机会。

   全球搜索关系着新的结果，图片和影像。

   具体点说，来自谷歌的David Bailey与我们分享了这五大因素（其中有的很明显，有的也许不是），来利用这一专业的结果。

1. 发布高质量，附标题的图片
2. 创立一个谷歌影像站点地图
3. 在当地商业中心更新商业列表
4. 提交你的种子到谷歌商品搜索
5. 建立一个高品质的公司博客

   你必须牢记一点，这是非常重要的：当代的搜索是不该害怕公司的。如果你还未准备好上传影像到YouTube，那就从我上文提到的影像网站地图开始。结果也许不会那么快出来，但至少你加入了。