Some people don’t “get it”
With the explosive growth of internet retail I always kind of wondered why more traditional retailers weren’t decimating their online counterparts with better websites (with the obvious advantage of better distribution).
Over the past few years we have seen more and more retailers turn to the internet and actually do a pretty good job. I would put Target, Best Buy and (begrudgingly) Walmart on that list.
The bigger question, really, is can old companies adapt and compete when all the rules change? We know from history that some can, and some can’t.
Maurice Levy is a good example of somebody who really gets the new digital era. As the CEO of the 4′th largest advertising company in the world his ability to innovate and maintain his company’s dominance in traditional media should be frightening to would-be competitors. (Note: he has been known to criticize the web 2.0 business model, but come on, who wouldn’t?)
We have a lot of examples, however, of people who really don’t get it - and when I read things like Donald Trump’s assessment of email in the work place I breathe a big sigh of relief…
Checking Adsense on a Palm
If you own a few sites with Adsense you are probably addicted to checking your earnings several times a day. One of the problems I always had was checking Adsense on my Treo - the login boxes would not load.
I finally figured it out. Here are my tips:
1) Change the browser to “Wide Page Mode” as opposed to “Optimized Mode.” It makes navigation a little trickier (you have to scroll in 2 directions), but this was the only way I could login to Adsense.
2) When you try to go back in later it will tell you that your browser is not set to accept cookies even though it is. This only happens after you have logged in once. Go clear your cookies out and reload the page - that should fix it.
3) Develop a Palm Adsense client and I will provide a free, in-depth review on this site.
Sprint wins
…the contest for the lamest cell phone of all time.
(Disclaimer: I use sprint and I like them, but I also hardly ever use my phone for calls, mostly just email. My only theory is that Sprint wants to make their users happy with whatever phone they currently have when they see this thing.)
Apple, keep the politics out of business
It’s really hard when I’m seriously contemplating making the switch to Apple to see that they have dedicated their homepage today to congratulating Al Gore on his recent Nobel prize. Yes, he is on their board - but still, 70% of the homepage is about him instead of their products.
Regardless of your political persuasion I think mixing business and politics is a bad idea. Here is the quote they have on their homepage next to a large picture of the ex-vice president:
Al has put his heart and soul, and much of his life during the past several years, into alerting and educating us all on the climate crisis. We are bursting with pride for Al and this historic recognition of his global contributions.
Check out gthing for a totally unrelated article on why apple is ruining everything. Gthing also has an article about the ozone layer and environment worth reading. Keep in mind that gthing is actually one of those mac users…
I might try a mac, but I will never be a fanboy. My decision to get a mac is will be a vote against microsoft, not a vote for apple 
New look and feel
Well, it’s been a couple years since I launched my blog and figured it was finally time for a change. I like the theme because it’s not busy and seems easy to navigate. Let me know what you think.
When BlogDesk drives me crazy…
I really do like BlogDesk, don’t get me wrong - I think it’s one of the greatest blogging tools available, especially if you want to upload pictures to your post.
My irrelevant post on this site yesterday, however, about a local Utah company reminds me that I do need to be more careful with BlogDesk, however.
By default BlogDesk will post to this site - I have to actually go change the blog I’m posting to if I don’t want the post here. I meant to post to another site but in my haste didn’t notice until this morning that I had posted to the wrong one.
So no, I haven’t gone crazy - just forgot to click a button yesterday
Framingo
I just got around to going through some pictures that I took while visiting some factories in China last October. Yes, this cup actually says “Framingo” on it with a picture of a Pink Flamingo. That’s why we hire awesome copywriters and editors for all of the products we import - any retailer involved with importing should consider doing the same.
Economics at the gas pump
via Cameron’s Effective Wage for Gas at Costco
I studied economics in college and am constantly suprised at how irrationally people value their time - people, for instance, making $50 an hour and willing to spend 15 minutes to save a buck. For an interesting perspective check out Cameron’s post.
The Internet, in my opinion, is a different animal. Some people spend hours and hours to generate an additional $1/day in ad revenue. This ad revenue, however, is usually residual and smart people build up media networks in their spare time that can generate serious income.
I have met numerous people at conferences who started websites for fun on the side while working a real job and ended up making much more online than from their employer within a couple years.
How much do SEO agencies make?
SEOmoz isn’t afraid to tell you how they did in 2006. For those who don’t want to skim the article here are some highlights:
SEOmoz had about $600K in revenue
Rand only made $38K this year (don’t be fooled, his net worth is going through the roof)
They spent just .28% of their expenses on marketing
They made nothing on about 300 referrals to other agencies
They have 20 clients (2 of which are Fortune 500’s)
OS X Rules
OK, I obviously don’t really think that. But because I was too confident in a ping-pong game I am compelled to quote one of my favorite people in the world, Mr. Pernell Ringlebottom:
I was wrong all along. OS X really is vastly superior to Windows in every function, shape and form.
Pernell, nice one but I don’t agree.