Design & Society – Hacking Design

I love trends and the enormous amount of useless and sometimes relevant data we can access via the Interwebs. Google Trends just released an embedded gadget to track search query volume.

You can edit the search query before you embed the gadget, then your visitors can change search terms and length of time to test out their own terms on your site.

One of the smartest things you can do in tough economic times is maintain your marketing budget. More often than not, cutting spending means cutting marketing, advertising and PR. This is the time to shout the loudest and not in desperation.

Google, provides a few tools and food for thought on how to take advantage of proven and measurable results.  Using their Adwords advertising and Analytics in combination,businesses can see exactly the return on their investment when used properly. The full article is here – Google Adwords: Top Tactics for Tough Times

A few quick takeaways:

1. Focus Ads on specific low cost items or specials -Target your ads
2. Review your advertising groups for performance leaders
3. Negative Keywords – Don’t pay for unnecessary advertising
4. Add more Negative Keywords

Measure your conversions and track them over time. If you have been collecting data for any length of time, measure to a similar time period last year… not last month. Sales are cyclical and tracking trends is more important than small moves.

If you have questions about Adwords, or suggestions on how they have worked for you… leave a comment!

If you missed the Search Engine Strategies Conference – SES in San Jose. Take a look at these live blogs of the event at The SEM Blog. Jason does a great job of covering the panels he attended and the information presented.

Social Media Optimization is something I have been researching lately and this post continues to promote the relevance and tactics for Social Media Optimization and how it converts back to Search Engine recognition.  http://www.thesemblog.com/2008/08/successful-tact.html

Two of my favorite tools together in one. Tumblr and Twitter used as a datamining tool. I am having a tough time figuring out how to play with this, but I am totally intrigued.

http://www.tweetip.com/

http://tweetip.tumblr.com/post/27780274/tweetipfh-a-twitter-tumblr-client-designed-for

http://twitter.com/tweetip

Business Week publishes an article today on Why Twitter Matters.

Some of the best comments from the article run to why we hang on to the mundane comments about what someone is eating, to what they found under the couch. The author points out these are often the same comments we make on the phone and that kind of turned out to be an important tool. But most importantly, this paragraph rocked hard:

Businesses such as H&R Block (HRB) and Zappos are now using Twitter to respond to customer queries. Market researchers look to it to scope out minute-by-minute trends. Media groups are focusing on Twitterers as first-to-the-scene reporters. (They were on top of the May 12 China earthquake within minutes.) Loads of new applications and services are growing around the Twitter platform, leading some to suggest that the microblogging service could become a powerhouse in social media.

We recently had an internal training about emergency communications for our office. Twitter was one of three important processes for handling communications in the event of a local disaster. I find that I use Direct Messaging DM more often that regular tweets (a posted Twitter message) to respond and connect with people I have a relationship with. Some of those relationships are directly from the Twitter community.

Read the article, decide how it fits into your marketing and communications plans.

I spend less and less time actually toting around my laptop these days and more often taking advantage of computers located wherever I am working. One of the tools I am going to integrate into this is Portable Apps. These are tiny open source versions of applications that can run from a small thumb drive, iPod or other portable digital device. Run mail, browsers, backup and encryption programs all from your pocket.

This seems to be a great tool for travel or for emergency planning. I added the Standard Pack, and few choice prizes I discoverd to by thumb drive and I feel much more comfortable leaving my heavy laptop at home for the day.

I found a great post today on Twitter that I immediately retweeted (what you do when you broadcast something to your network) the link. 50 easy things to consider when reducing your carbon footprint. I liked these ideas since they didn’t require radical changes in lifestyle and were based around common sense. Yes, some things like carrying your own shopping bags require a little more planning, but taking steps like this will eventually change ideas and habits of the public at large.

Media and internet networks can have a big impact on changing habits and ideas. There is no sticking your head in the ground anymore with the proliferation of networks, groups and social relationships. You may choose to ignore or make different decisions, but going green is a part of many social network discussions.

http://www.metroactive.com/metro/08.15.07/50-ways-to-go-green-0733.html

This Saturday, if you are in Houston, TX you can get punched! Sucker Punched in a brilliant way. Tim Newton will be the headliner at an Art Show and Exhibit at this cooler than cool store. This night there will be a DJ, light refreshments, T-shirts and the best Dali-esque art this side of Spain.

http://www.creativeleak.com/en/cev/?24  is a peak at Tim’s art and website. Tim is the Creative Director for the Web company I work with, so there is a definite collision of Social Media and Art.

Seesmic is a rapidly growing website building on the video/chat network. I have recently seen traffic and mention of Twhirl among other Twitter friends and followers as a great desktop application for Twitter. Now that didn’t take long did it? Today, Seesmic announces the acquisition of Twhirl. Looks like good times ahead.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/03/seesmic-aquires-popular-twitter-air-client-twhirl/