About marc meyer

Marc Meyer has been a digital marketing consultant for nearly 18 years now. Marc observes, dissects, and disseminates what brands and their customers want, how they want it, why they want it, and how to get it to them via digital means. Marc has held positions ranging from social media lead at Ernst and Young, external social media lead at Accenture to CTO at Emerson Direct and EVP of Sales and Marketing at Marblejar. Currently, Marc is the CMO and Co-founder of Digital Futures Initiative, an educational non-profit geared towards providing curriculum, content, and conversations for children, parents and educators struggling to grasp and understand the rapid pace of all things digital, mobile and social related. Thus, Marc has a unique perspective to offer those who seek his views and thoughts on everything that is digitally relevant as it pertains to all things marketing and technology related and now educational.

Web 2.0 Discussion

Posted on October 16, 2007 by marc meyer

So I’m talking to my friend Randy who works at an inventory optimization software company called Smartops (simple name for a mouthfull of an explanation) about a site of called Howzitsound that really needs in no particular order ….angel investors, a face lift, some marketing, and some people to do the heavy lifting. I mentioned that the site needs to be pushed into the Web 2.0 stratosphere, and in saying that, I asked,”you do know what web 2.0 is don’t you?” Below is our email conversation.

Me:

“on a locallized level… i.e www.howzitsound/pittsburgh.htm Myspace was developed for bands and music fans but morphed into a major big ass social networking site predominantly because of the cool tools associated with creating…”your space” 200 million users and going strong

Randy:

Is this a quiz? From what I know, Web 2.0 is a next step in online networking, where the users create much of the content ie- MySpace, wikipedia, etc. It’s a wave I have not ridden. I know it’s enormously pervasive and popular since everyone seems to have a myspace, but frankly I still feel like it’s a teenager phenomenon and I don’t care to follow. Not to say that I wouldn’t like to have some of the myspace $$

Me:

well you’re somewhat right, but where you are wrong is thinking its a teenager phenomenon, what you will eventually see is that content and content creation will become more interactive and robust than it already has. web 2.0 is more about the tools and apps used as well as the sites that have evolved from it such as a myspace. web 2.0 is more about getting your information and sharing your information and creating it as well, through social networking sites but also individually as well i.e. blogs.

What you will eventually see is that social networking will evolve onto enterprise levels, it already has in some aspects. What it does is, it creates better communication between entities working on a project, or collaboration on a contract, or temporary virtual communities, etc etc. So the easier the tools are, the more apt are the client to embrace the notion. Think Ajax, and xtml..

Him:

Interesting take on it and a valid point. I think your point on it developing to an enterprise level is where more focus needs to be placed. I tend to ignore a lot of the “real” applications because I’m sick to death of everyone talking about their myspace or their blog as if they’re someone who I should be paying attention to just because they have a webpage. Everyone wants to be a celebrity now, and it frustrates the hell out of me.

Sorry for the rant, I think there is tremendous application for the content development tools, I just wish it was limited to people that actually have something to say

Me:

Yea I guess everyone is a pundit and a builder of web pages now even if it is with wizards and what not. so having said all of that, howzitsound/pittsburgh for example would not be totally user generated but could be user driven. i think on a local level a branded sight that i knew i could go to that had THE places to go for live music and possible just cool clubs would far outweigh fucking doing a local search and ending up on myspace or about.com….

Him:

Exactly, if I wanted people’s opinions I’d give it to them. Ha.

I’m still a big fan of the howzitsound concept. keep me in the loop for it

So that’s where we left it. What do you think? Did we get it right? Someone out there needs to give me the definitive explnantion of what web 2.0 will be, or what it is and what form it will eventually take as we go forward.

Social Networks meet Mobile Networks

Posted on October 16, 2007 by marc meyer

As mobile networks and devices continue to evolve and converge into all things digitally possible, doesn’t it make sense that the next big thing should be a social network that is solely dedicated to a mobile network?

It was a matter of time before social networks were destined to leave the confines of the pc. But with the advent of powerful new mobile devices, the ability to to send round-the-clock updates about what you’re eating, who you’re talking to, and what you just bought seemed inevitable. And of course, why not? These things are important in the fabric of our every day lives. We need to know these things.

Jaiku is one of the many sites that is now geared towards mobile social networks. What might make Jaiku formidable is that it is owned by Google. So it probably has a better than average chance at success.

Jaiku’s main goal is to bring people closer together by enabling them to share their activity streams. An activity stream is a log of everyday things as they happen: your status messages, recommendations, events you’re attending, photos you’ve taken – anything you post directly to Jaiku or add using Web feeds. Perhaps one of the most popular right now is Twitter, which allows users to let people broadcast short text messages from their phones and computers to those of friends and strangers. The gist of these networks is to offer a way to connect with the people you care about by sharing your activities with them via the Web, IM, and SMS – as well as through a slew of cool third-party applications built by other developers using propriatary API’s.

Another one that seems more geared towards a younger demo is Kyte. the difference is Kyte allows anybody to create their own interactive TV channel on their website, blog, social network or mobile phone

With kyte, you create your own live TV shows and broadcast them on your own interactive channel, on your website, blog, social network or mobile phone. You can share your kyte channel with your friends and collaborate with them so that they can also be a part of your shows, by adding their own content, by voting and by chatting live with other viewers. With kyte, you can share your experiences live with the world and be the star, director and producer of your own live TV channel, wherever you are and however you want.

At this point we need to coin a new phrase, “digital voyeuristic exhibitionism”. Where do you think we are headed as social networks converge with all things electronic and media related? Is any aspect of our personal lives off limits now with the broad acceptance of reality based programming? Where do we go from here?

We can learn from Porn, Or If you build it, will they come?

Posted on October 12, 2007 by marc meyer

Let’s look at the numbers first. The monthly search volume for the word, “porn” last month was over 13 million. That’s the number coming from Google, Yahoo and MSN combined. The term sex? Almost 22 million times last month. What does this tell you? Let’s put into perspective real quick. So you know that there is a major housing/mortgage crisis going on right now. It’s been in the news a lot lately. Well, the term mortgage had been searched on a mere 7 million times as of last month. The Iraq war you ask? 189,000 times. I know, how about Britney? She has been in the news too much and the numbers don’t lie. Try 14 million times last month, now that’s more like it.

Ok so the point is this, in the porn industry, the ultra competitive nature drives internet marketers to be on their game. The reason why is for the simple fact that tastes and technology change quicker than the bath water. Think about it, leaving out the fact that porn marketers are shameless and unethical, with over 30 million searches combined for the terms sex and porn, there is money to be made. Lots of it. They know this. They also are accutely aware that they either can change quickly, either with the content or the technology, or be eaten alive. Good porn marketers are better than your average internet marketer because they push the technology as far as they can, and then find new ways after that. They take chances because they have to.

Because attracting eyeballs online is the name of the game internet marketers have to use every tactic and trick to get you there and keep you there. That’s why porn marketers are willing to try any and every new technology to achieve that. They are months ahead in some respects to what some traditional marketers might employ for user attraction and retention.

Starting with the user experience, porn marketers realize that content is king but too much “free” content will make them a pauper, thus the usage of creating crumb trails to the main paid content is the objective. In fact, porn price points for entry are almost nil, but, the usage of a recurring billing model and and the ability to accept any and all forms of payment in any and all currencies make it an ideal business model. Customer service doesn’t really exist in the porn game, except to the extent that they make it difficult to cancel an order, so to dwell on that aspect is a moot point.

Another reason good porn marketers are better, is because they study the competetiton. They recreate what works best, and when that doesn’t work, they test something else, when that quits working they move on. I can point to some normal sites that haven’t changed their GUI in 3 years and still pull a 9% conversion rate. But it always begs the question, what would a new look and feel pull? Guess they’ll never know. Good porn marketers will have days, weeks, months and years of data for you.

Another thing that traditional marketers could learn is that porn is as niche based as it has ever been. The more niche based, the better the audience retention is. We will avoid naming for you specific niche examples, but I’m sure you can use your imagination. The bottom line is that the recurring revenue model in this situation is perfect as long as content is updated regularly but still retains the integrity of the niche. If you change the niche, they are gone.

At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Wow this person certainly knows the porn business well.” Actually, I will leave that comment as is. As someone who studies any and all online business models, I would be remiss if I did not look at why the porn business model is so successful. The majority of that success of course will always stem from peoples’ utter facination with sex and the search numbers that support that. But one caveat would be assuming the, “If you build it, they will come…” (no pun intended although it seems very appropo), model. That business model would not last long in the hyper-speed nature of porn business models. At the advent of the internet, it probably worked very well. Now though, you need top programmers and savvy business people who understand the online marketplace backwards and forwards to be successful.

So if you think porn marketers operate in a vacuum and have no clue what they are doing. Rest assured, they are doing things from a technology standpoint, that the rest of the online marketing world would love to learn. Why? What do you think the PPC model might look like in the porn universe? If porn marketers relied on ppc, they would shoot their wad in one day(again excuse the pun) and be out of the business in a week. Instead they have to use not only traditional methods of internet marketing coupled with SEO best practices but they also have to test, test and test and then act at a moments notice.

Although I don’t expect you to rush out and go “study” porn sites, from an internet marketers standpoint. If you should uh.. stumble upon one, do take the time to study the structure and the messaging and the content… and then read the articles.

Search Engines Suck

Posted on October 11, 2007 by marc meyer

Suck.. what you ask? or How? or Why? My first thought was, How ’bout all of your cash if your trying to attract business and you have no clue what you’re doing in PPC land? Or how about just search results in general? Or what about search engine algorithms? Why do they all have to keep changing them? I think that sucks. When they change them, the ripple effect is felt everywhere. Or better yet, whatever happened to finding exactly what you were looking for without bumping into 10 advertisers that were ranked right in front of the result your were looking for? I’d say that would be pretty sucky and a big waste of time!

Or how about how easy it is to find images that are not suitable for children? Why do we need an image search? Why does that need to be a part of a search engines capabilities. I think it sucks that I have to explain that to a child. I’m a big champion of what a child should and should not see or find online, but filters, notwithstanding, The search engines are obligated to do a better job.

I also think it sucks that internet marketers are so tethered to the results of search engines. So much so, that it can make or break a deal, a company, a product and an industry.

You know what else sucks about search engines? I need them. But they need me. They need us. We are the engine, not them. What would happen if we boycotted the search engines? We could have a national boycott the SE’s day. Would work cease? Would time stop? Would we have to revert back to fax machines and yellow legal pads? No, No, No and NO.

Think about it. What we would all do is type in the URL of whatever it was we were looking for and thus the importance of keywords in the title of the domain would skyrocket and supurfulous named sites would either be ingrained forever in our minds and thus we would continue to visit them; and others, alas would disappear. So cars.com, shoes.com, planes.com, these would all have more signifigance. In fact now that I think of it, these all could be Niche-y search engines about that specific item!!!

Wait a minute, I just said Seach Engines suck. Ok, forget about it. I’ve changed my mind. Is niche-y a word? Lastly, speaking of Niche-y. I heard this the other day, “Nietzsche is Peachy but Sartre is Smarter”!

So tell me, what do you think of search engines are they the big brother of the 21st century?

How do we let children surf the web?

Posted on October 10, 2007 by marc meyer

I came across a subject and a website recently that is near and dear to my heart. It is called the Childrens Educational Network. I did not know about it prior to this post though. But the topic has been on mind a lot lately. The reason it is important to me is that I think it is imperative to us, as adults, that we shield children from everything that is bad and wrong with the internet. Given the amount of facetime that pedophiles and internet porn is given, less is given to what is being done about it. Which leads me to this site. I am going to quote liberally here, but I don’t think they will mind…

Club TUKI is the newest web site community for kids designed to teach kids how to be safe and responsible internet citizens.

The TUKI Browser (The Ultimate Kids’ Internet) combines the most fun and safest content on the web for kids, deemed child appropriate based on our content policy. It features interchangeable themes, Internet filter, parental safety controls, safe email, chore reminders, encouraging words and talking animated characters.

You can download the FREE TUKI Browser from the TUKI.com website. Once installed, you can easily swap themes that appeal to different ages, genders and are fun and educational.

What makes this so important is that the alternatives are using a browser that allows children to go almost anywhere. Even with filters on you can still go through doorways and websites and search engines that will provide content to children that is just unacceptable and leads to questions that parents should not have to answer. What ultimately happens is parents are stuck explaining the “why” and the “how come people do things like this” and the “who are” etc etc..Thus, I think it’s unfair that children have to be exposed to these things at such an early period of their lives when instead it should be about being a child, first and foremost. If you agree, help me out and forward this post or at least Digg it.

Google Valuation. Where will it be in one year?

Posted on October 10, 2007 by marc meyer

Google stock closed over 6 bills the other day and you’re probably sitting here thinking, “Why didn’t I get in on the IPO?” Well chances are, you probably thought that $85 a share was too much for your blood back in 04. I think it’s safe to say that Google stock is not for the faint of heart. The shares trade at 28 times 2008 earnings estimates. But it would be unfair to suggest that Google is absurdly expensive given its strong track record of growth during the past few years.

In addition, analysts expect Google’s earnings to increase by 44 percent this year, 28 percent in 2008 and at an average clip of about 34 percent a year for the next five years. That’s a much higher projected growth rate than Yahoo – yet Yahoo trades at 46 times 2008 earnings forecasts.

So the question is, how high can it go? If we look historically at stock prices, the price for one Class A share of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) briefly topped $100,000, SunWest Bank is trading at $2,475 and First National Bank of Alaska is trading at $2,010. So as you can see, Banks not withstanding, there is plenty of room there for Google to grow.

Should you get in now? The answer is yes. Should you borrow to get in? Why not? The stock won’t be backing up. I can’t see Google imploding anytime soon. I can’t see Microsoft or Larry Ellison positioning themselves for a hostile takeover. In fact the only thing that seems logical is to quit kicking yourself for not getting in sooner. Although as a fall back Yahoo doesn’t look to bad either. Personally I think by the end of 2008, Google will be trading at over $700. What do you think it will be at? If you think there was buzz for the iphone, watch what happens when the Gphone comes out!

Do social networks make us less social?

Posted on October 9, 2007 by marc meyer

So I use Facebook and Linkedin, and to a lesser degree even MySpace. I’ve even started to Twitter. I’ve connected with former Co-workers and even some classmates from high school and college. But now what? None of my former classmates from high school live in my town and so there won’t be any connection there. My college classmates have even splintered more. So now what? I made the effort to connect, so I guess now it’s time to network with strangers. How do I feel about this? My first inclination is, what do I hope to get out of it? I might as well cold call people and introduce myself and ask them if they want to be my friend. Well maybe that’s where the beauty of social networking kicks in. I can hide behind the screen and type away without really uttering a word. Pretty social huh?

I’m thinking that there are more people like me out there. We have been drawn to the light of the flame, or by others who have touted it as the NBG(next big thing) and once we got there, we’re like, “Ok, now what”? I don’t want to work “That” hard to connect with people that a) I barely remember b) I barely knew and c) I hardly liked. So what is there to do with my newfound social network?

I think what would be more fun is to have a site that does then and now pics. Now that would be social. We could sit around and do what everyone does at reunions. Whisper behind their backs about how fat and bald they all are, how messed up they are, how much they changed, etc etc. That’s social isn’t it? It’s also a form of networking.

Truthfully, I’m still trying to figure out what to do next. I suppose that I need to maybe elaborate more on my profiles and make them even more accessible than they already are. Which in reality, I’m not wild about, because I really don’t want my data passed around like a church collection plate. But I think I’m a little too far down that road. I suppose it does have networking possibilities, but that will have to be something that I continue to evaluate. To me, networking is of 2 forms: Can you help me get a job or Can I get some business out of you?

Now, I’m not saying that the social networks don’t work on certain levels, it’s just that it might work better on large scale enterprise lavels rather than former classmates and workmates trying to connect after x amount of years apart. In fact for high school and college and large organizations, social networks totally make sense. The question is do the social networks create online social clicks similar to what you might have offline? The data is still out but I would be curious to hear from someone who is knee deep in one to give us their impressions and feedback as to how it has affected them negatively or in a positive way. There has to be some twisted slant already brewing from the advent of these. We don’t need to address the stalkers, the lurkers, and the usual freaks that go to these. Don’t forget the internet is a reflection of our society. To that end, to bad we can’t be made aware of these people online. Picture some type of nondescript, dirty white conversion van as an icon or avatar. That would be sufficient warning.

The bottom line is social networks are here to stay. They just need to be more socially accepting to the average lay person who might not swim in the same circles as everyone else. But still would like to be accepted, would like to enjoy and utilize these networks to some degree. Sort of mirrors life doesn’t it?

DRM, The music business has to change, again.

Posted on October 8, 2007 by marc meyer

I have a friend who has a site called Howzitsound. He wants to change the way we listen to music. But he wants to be unlike all of the others… Where have we heard that before? If you must know, I’m still in favor of changing the way we listen to, access, and share music, as it stands today. But by no means do I think the current model works. The system is still flawed. In fact there is a great blog post about it right here by Ian Rogers, who seems to understand that, we as listeners and purveyors of music are tired of being played<—pun intended.

What my friend wants to do is open up Howzitsound to the best and the brightest, to build the model that works best for them. He wants Howzitsound to contribute something positive to the music industry. Something sustainable. His problem is, he just doesn’t know what it is. What that ideal model is. I got news for him, neither does anyone else. Think things are ok? tell that to the woman who just lost a court case against the RIAA to the tune of<—pun intended, $200,000! Thats right she was made the poster child for anyone who has downloaded music illegally. Oh and she has 2 children too. I’m thinking the 10-20-life law might apply here, what do you think? What message did they send by doing that? Was it necessary?

So back to what would a viable web 2.0 music model look like? What would it need to have in regards to having a large scale buy in<—-pun intended, from all of the labels as well as the current keepers of the keys to the kingdom?

What do users want? What I do know is that what they want, is to play their music on any device, access the music from any site, and have it be compatible with anything; Car, house, device, you name it. They don’t want to have to jump through hoops time and time again, and they want access to the largest catalogue possible. I hear you led Zep and Radiohead fans!

Now I’m getting excited, look how it’s now we and not they… 🙂 We want widgets, we want contextual apps, so that we can listen to similar music, we want to be able to share our playlists and we want it to be affordable. The only problem with that limited wish list is, that like Ian Rogers said, we’ll have to wait, roughly 8 years for even the smallest of miracles in regards to headway.

Tell me what we need to do!!! Lets help my friend at Howzitsound. Someone turn him on to someone else…and lets change the music business again, lets let the users decide for a change!

It’s not about Google, It’s Yahoo… Sorry MySpace..

Posted on October 8, 2007 by marc meyer

Raise your hand if you use or access all three of the aformentioned. Ok, I know we all use Google for something, and we all probably have a Yahoo mail account for some reason, and well MySpace… It’s something all together different, But I bet you have vistied a couple of MySpace pages. Hell, you might even have a MySpace page! If so…My bad..

You see the first 2 sites have a specific purpose whereas MySpace is more “me-time” oriented. The simple fact that we talk about MySpace in the same breath as a Yahoo mail or Google, is in and of itself an amazing phenomenon. Given it’s realtively short history.

As a social network app., MySpace doesn’t appeal to me that much. The technology that surrounds it does, but thats because I’m sorta “tech-y-geeky”. But we need to look at the demographic for MySpace to fully understand the impact of it. It’s geared towards 18-24 year olds, but it extends in either direction as well. i.e. 50 year olds use it and so do 15 year olds. But what it tells you, is that people are starved for self expression. Starved to meet someone or with the hopes that someone wants to meet them. They should call MySpace a Viral network thats connected by social norms. MyViralSpace.

I heard a comment last night on 60 minutes, that the internet is a direct reflection of society. I always knew it, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it is so true. We want to meet other people, we want to be with those people and we want to be rich and we are motivated by things that will pleasure us and we dont want to work for our money, we want to slack off and and we want to have fun. All of the motivators of our off line world transposed online. As if our lives our now 2-D. the online life and the offline. See–>Second Life.

So Yahoo seems to cover it best. Just compare the Google interface with Yahoo. Yahoo is a portal, Google is not. Google is search, Yahoo is more like the place you stop to get your coffee, grab the paper, talk to someone real quick, read your mail, pay a bill, check a score and find out who is sleeping with who before you head to work or start work. Google is for checking for George Clooney’s house pics in Italy, seeing if your old college roomate is in jail, and researching for jobs in a bigger city than the one your currently in. Google is a tool. Yahoo is a resource and MySpace is a nightclub. MySpace is where people go to cruise for others and share their sense of wannabe coolness.

Can all three exist? You betcha, but where they all will stumble is when they think they can do something that the other is doing, and do it better. Google as a portal? Maybe. Google as a social network, no chance in hell. Yahoo as search, holding their own, Yahoo Mash? The jury is still out. MySpace as a search tool, uhhhhh no. MySpace as a portal, well it sorta is, but not in the literal sense.

Ultimately, as they say content is king and thus Yahoo has prevailed up to this point because the content changes daily, hourly etc. MySpace may have some value in it’s ability to mine the data, but as a destination location, not gonna happen. And Google, well Google is as Google was. The bottom line, they all serve an audience that wont’ be going away anytime soon. At least for the next 12 months

Rockies to share postseason payout with Coolbaugh’s widow

Posted on October 5, 2007 by marc meyer

I know that this blog is mostly about Tech issues, but since it’s Friday and this story speaks to the fact that we all think that professional athletes are overpaid, spoiled, and insincere, read the following story…it’s a good read and you might think twice when you assume that all athletes are as I mentioned above. Many thanks to one of my best friends Tim Kaye for turning me on to it. It made my day.

Besides their surprising 14-1 finish to the season, the Colorado Rockies are giving baseball fans another reason to cheer for them this postseason.

The widow of Rockies minor league coach Mike Coolbaugh, who died after getting hit by a line drive this season, will be granted a full share of the team’s playoff winnings after a team vote.

Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said the gesture spoke volumes about the quality of the character in their locker room.

“I was passed on the information that they voted Amanda Coolbaugh a share, a full share, which I found speaks to their awareness, speaks to their passion, speaks to every good thing about them,” Hurdle said.

Coolbaugh, who is 32 and pregnant, won’t attend Saturday’s Game 3 of the NLDS between the Phillies and Rockies at Coors Field. But her two sons, Joseph, 5, and Jacob, 3, will be in attendance and will throw out the first pitch.

“When I heard about what the players did, I almost cried,” Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd said. “This was the players’ idea. I think it’s remarkable.”

Mike Coolbaugh was a first base coach for the Tulsa Drillers. The former major leaguer was killed July 22.

Shaken by Coolbaugh’s death, Rockies first base coach Glenallen Hill now wears a helmet.

Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said awarding the family a share was the right thing to do.

“We’re obviously happy with the decision,” Tulowitzki said on Thursday. “I hope they are, too, and I’m sure they will be.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.