To do so we have done several things:

1.    We’ve made nicknames for each starter we send out. Please copy the nickname onto your starters so we can roughly map the travel of the bread starters.

2.    We are asking that you link to our site with your blog, or Facebook page as a means of bookmarking the instructions.

3.    We would also love you to comment on the post to let us know the nickname of your bread starter, who you are, and if you used a different recipe.  For instance, some people prefer to use applesauce instead of oil, and there are a ton of variants on the main recipe online, such as a chocolate version.  These recipes are easily found online, and if you find one you like, please post the day 10 instruction differences in our comment section below, or blog them and post the link to your instructions.   When we revisit this post later in the year, we’ll give kudos and/or links to our favorite recipes.

These steps create goals for our viral marketing campaign.  Beyond building brand recognition, the steps allow us to connect in a meaningful way with professionals in our field, network with prospective business partners for DBS, acquire some links, and hopefully add a few more RSS subscriptions for our blog.  Our ultimate goal is to share our expertise with you, along with some delicious bread that I hope you’ll enjoy.

DBS Viral Marketing Bread Instructions
*Do NOT use anything metal to make this recipe.
*Do NOT refrigerate. Room temperature makes for happy bread.
* It’s normal for air to build up in the bag as the yeast grows. Just let it out when you mash the bag

Day 1:
Do nothing with the starter.
Days 2-5:
Mush the bag
Day 6:
Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Mush the bag
Days 7-9:
Mush the bag
Day 10:
Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Stir. Take out 4 cups and place 1 cup each into gallon zip-locked bags.  Make sure you label the dates correctly to let others know when to add the ingredients (day 1 follows day 10). You’ll also see a nickname written on the bag. Please copy that nickname onto your starter so we can track where the bread is spreading.

Pass the bread and a link to this page to four friends or business associates, or keep one bag for you to repeat this tasty process.  Don’t forget to link and/or comment on our blog post.
For the remaining batter, preheat your oven to 325 degrees and add:
•    1 cup oil
•    1/2 cup milk
•    3 eggs
•    1 tsp vanilla
In a separate bowl combine the following
•    2 cups flour
•    1 cup sugar
•    1-1/2 tsp baking powder
•    2 tsp cinnamon
•    1/2 tsp baking soda
•    1 - Large (5.1 oz) box instant vanilla pudding
•    1/2 tsp salt
•    1 cup nuts (optional)
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix and pour into two well greased and sugared bread pans (mix cinnamon and brown sugar for best results), or one 13×9 inch pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
If you have a question about viral marketing or online marketing in general, please let us know.  And if you’d like a starter of your own, email me with your contact information at clay@dbsinteractive.com.

Clay Marshall

What we saw from the dot-com bubble of the late 1990’s proved overall that a solid foundational business strategy still applies to this industry.  After all, any house built on a foundation where the bricks were laid without mortar is sure to eventually tumble.  This same theory applies to your online business strategy.

So, when we look at a business’s existing website we must see it as not only an additional 24×7 storefront and customer service center, but also a feedback center for everything else that business does.  Additionally, we now have gathering places of our potential audience where we can participate and/or target our consumers exactly. (There is a fine line between the two).

Some of the components for your next online business strategy that need to be taken into consideration, before the first pixels are delineated are:

•    Brand objectives of the company
•    Brand audience
•    Goals of the website
•    E-commerce
•    Customer feedback
•    Scalability needs
•    Usability
•    Search engine marketing
•    E-mail marketing
•    Business blog
•    Social media opportunities/polices
•    Monitoring brand buzz
•    News room press releases
•    Collaboration with traditional advertising

Regardless of your immediate goals, everything you do today regarding the web will affect your goals of tomorrow.  Investing in an online plan up front will prevent you from having to reinvest in the same technologies and will help ensure that the online systems that you are creating are set up to work together. Ultimately, upfront planning will bolster the combination of components rather than overworking an independent system.

The name that bloggers all over the internet have given to this supposed new feature is Google Store View. It sounds as good as any name I could come up with except maybe Google Spy View or Google We See You View or even Google Shopping For Lazy People View. Although it is a little creepy to me, I actually think it would be a really innovative step. Certain businesses already offer a virtual tour, but none have the ability to incorporate the tour with Google Maps to make a potentially all consuming shopping experience. Think about it. You are in Google Maps, cruising up the street looking for a house you want to buy or just seeing if you can spot any nefarious behavior that was caught by the street view car, and WHAM! You happen upon a restaurant that you have always wanted to eat at or thought may be a great spot for a first date. Not only do you see the exterior of this fine eatery but you have the option to take a look inside. This would enable you to see for yourself if it is in fact aesthetically pleasing. Maybe you can see if the restrooms are clean, or try to catch a glance of a mouse in the kitchen. Then imagine you have an option to click a reservation book or a menu, or a link appears that goes to the restaurant’s website where you can schedule a reservation, see what food they offer, or check out a wine list. The possibilities go on further than a Google search for “www”.

Would this be a paid service or will Google offer it for free so that they can be one step closer to world domination? Retail stores would be able to benefit from this considerably, especially if somehow the store view was in real time. Do you think I can left-click that fedora before that dude grabs it off the rack?! I know that sounds out there and maybe a little daft, but is it? This is all speculation and when asked, Google commented,” We are always experimenting with new features for Google Maps. We have nothing further to announce at this time.”

Ok Google. For now you can keep us guessing, because we know you like to! But make sure to let me know if you plan on taking pictures in my office because I really need to shave and tidy up a little.

Nathan

2D Animation Examples

• Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd.
• Snow White, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid.
• The Simpsons
• Family Guy
• South Park

2D animation is the traditional animation method that has existed since the late 1800s. It is one drawing followed by another in a slightly different pose, followed by another in a slightly different pose, on and on for 24 frames a second.

Traditionally these were put together in an amazing process where artists drew pencil drawings of every frame of film, then these images were painted onto clear plastic sheets called ‘cels’, and each of the thousands of handrawn and painted cels were photographed one at a time over a hand painted background image and those thousands of images compiled to run as film at 24 frames a second.

Today most 2D animation involves using computer software to one degree or another, from just digitally coloring the cels to be photographed in the traditional method, to doing every single element in the computer.

3D Animation Examples

• Toy Story
• Shrek
• The Incredibles
• Jurassic Park (the dinosaurs)
• The Transformers (the robots)

3D animation (aside from stop-motion, which really is a form of 3D animation), is completely in the computer. Things that you create in a 3D animation program exist in an X, Y & Z world. Instead of a drawing of a globe, I have a sphere that can actually turn 360 degrees.

3D allows you to do things that simply are not possible in 2D animation.

• 3D objects, once modeled, can be treated almost as a physical object. You can light it differently, you can move a camera to look at it from above, or below. In 2D animation EVERYTHING is drawn. “Moving the camera” in 2D means drawing everything from another angle. “Moving the camera” in 3D is simply dragging it to another position to see if you like it better.
• 3D allows you to create realistic objects. You can use textures and lighting to create objects that appear solid, and can even be integrated seamlessly into live video elements.

There are pros and cons about both methods. Which method of animation is best is based the specifics of  what a client needs, but like all animation it lets you do things that would be otherwise implausible or impossible.

If you have spent any considerable time on the internet you have no doubt ran across the term “Podcast”. I see it daily, but like a building I walk by every morning on my way to the office I rarely actually take the time to appreciate it and marvel at its design and many uses. That’s what we are going to do with Podcasting. A Podcast is a digital audio or video file available for download to either a computer or digital audio/video player. Video Podcasts are sometimes called Vodcasts or Vidcasts. Some say that the term itself is a combination of iPod + Broadcast. Others say that while broadcast is certainly a part of the term that POD refers to “Publishing On Demand”, “Programming On Demand”, or even “Personal On Demand” rather than relating to an iPod. I don’t think that it really matters where the name came from except when people see Podcast and directly relate it to an iPod. You can indeed enjoy your Podcasts using an iPod, but it is by no means the only device that supports them, nor are they made specifically for iPods.

How do Podcasts work?

A Podcast works very much the same way as any audio or video media file would. You find one you want, download it, and listen to or watch it at your leisure as many times as you want. The big difference with a Podcast is the ability to subscribe to them and receive them with no effort on your part. Most websites that offer Podcasts also offer you the option to subscribe. These subscriptions are free the majority of the time. To subscribe to a Podcast you use what is called an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feed. You have seen RSS icons on your favorite blogs and most likely have subscribed to some of them. It’s a very efficient and effective way to receive information from desired sources without having to seek it out. You subscribe to an RSS feed and it supplies you with new updates and content via an aggregator or “feed reader”. Podcasts work very much the same way. When you are dealing with Podcasts the aggregator is called a “Podcatcher”. There are several different programs out there that can function as a Podcatcher. The most widely used would be iTunes. If for any reason you are anti-iTunes you can use Juice, Doppler, Media Go, News Fire, or any of the other dozens available. Some Podcatchers are built specifically for certain operating environments, including Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, Linux/Unix, Android, and Palm OS. What these Podcatchers essentially do is scan the RSS feeds you’ve subscribed to and when a Podcast is published, they download it to the specified device. They do the work for you. Each morning you can wake up to a computer or digital audio/video player full of your favorite Podcasts and play them during your commute to work or at the office.

Where Can I find Podcasts?

Podcasts are all over the web and do not take a great degree of effort to find. If you have iTunes then you have access to thousands of them. And they are free! There are no FCC regulations on Podcasting as it is not a live radio transmission so you can find them on any number of topics that may be out of the scope of traditional media. Anyone can make them so you’re likely to find them anywhere. If you have specific interests, a simple Google search will most likely give you multiple results for Podcasts that pertain. Just for giggles I did a Google search for “frog gigging podcast”. The search returned results and a Podcast. Since you have the luxury to access them whenever you want, they can be especially useful for talk radio episodes or news programs that air during a time that conflicts with your schedule. You never have to miss out on the latest news or Buzz because your bedtime or personal obligations kept you from the radio or T.V. You simply go to the company’s website, subscribe to their Podcast RSS Feed, and have them basically delivered to you.

Why not follow Apple and Google’s leads and use Webkit as your core engine? Rebrand it, and maybe cobble on some additional functionality. Most MS users wouldn’t know, wouldn’t care, or who knows, might even be appreciative. No brainer, right?

This would do three things:

1. Result in a superior product, which translates into an improved user experience. *sniff*
2. Save a boatload of development money.
3. Help advance the web, by promoting standards and new technologies.

So again, why? Well, the problem is #3. Microsoft does not really want to advance the web, and Internet Explorer is their weapon of choice in that battle. They of course can’t say that, so they do the doublespeak thing.

It’s highly likely that Internet Explorer is a failed attempt of the classic Microsoft tactic of Embrace, Extend, Extinguish, which had served them well in the past. It didn’t work this time and instead of Microsoft being able to write their own rules, we have this mix of implementations that is holding back the inevitable.

The web is a threat to their core business — the joined at the hip cash cows of the Windows operating system monopoly, and the Microsoft Office monopoly. While they certainly have other revenue streams, they also have competition in those areas, and don’t have the freedom that the twin monopolies give them. Or the profit margins.

Now they can’t ignore the web completely. That’s suicide. They tried that back in the early 90’s. They eventually licensed software that included the BSD (Unix) TCP/IP networking stack (see Microsoft, TCP/IP, Open Source, and Licensing) so they could ”talk” internet talk, and “walk” the internet walk. And they rebranded the Mosaic browser (the same engine used by Netscape) as guess what? Yep. This got them in the game, and allowed them quickly to make up for the past sins of ignoring what everybody else except Microsoft was embracing: the Internet.

The Internet was a threat then, just as it is now. Free and open access to information does not put money in the Microsoft bank accounts. Desktops and Office suites do. While the Internet has the potential to make buggy whips out of both.

So now they profit from a confused, fragmented and inferior Internet landscape. Their customers are dependent on their products to travel the Internet. That master/slave type dependency is critical to preserving their business model and the twin cash cows. So their profit becomes our loss.

Now for those of us that see the web as leading to a better world, and Internet Explorer as one of the barriers, we say … “Mr Ballmer, tear down that steenkin’ wall NOW, and kill that misbegotten *BLEEP*, please!”

You might have a billion or two less in the bank, but we’ll all be better off for it. Even you.

@author Hal

Booth Number:  SJ-139

No doubt about it, the Internet is not kind to the innocent. There’s mischief lurking at every fork in the road.

Many of the common online dangers have a physical presence. They wind up as something on our systems that we can find and remove to regain a warm and fuzzy sense of safety—like a virus or spyware.

But there are stealthier threats out there that can sneak past even the best preventatives. It is highly likely that we have all been victimized without ever knowing it.

These stealthy threats lurk in friendly looking web pages. It can either be a legitimate page with hidden, malicious code planted surreptitiously within, or a totally phony page that is dressed up to look just like a legitimate page.

One of the threats posed here is completely silent—theft. The ruse is to make you think you are in a place that is safe and warm. Nothing gets installed on your computer, no signature, no calling card, no apparent risk, nothing to clean up. The malicious code in this case just wants to take information stored in your browser. It wants your cookies and the cookies could contain anything, including a password that protects sensitive information, like from a bank.

So, the real threat is the trust we have mistakenly placed in forged content. Treat all sites as untrustworthy, unless you know the site well and know that you are really on that site.

Here’s the short list of basic self-defense axioms:

· Never go on the Internet when logged on as an administrator. Many malware programs require administrative privileges to be installed. This is a very simple, but effective, precaution.

· Keep your system updated with the latest patches for the system itself and any applications you use while online.

· If using Windows, have firewall, anti-virus and similar products installed and set to update automatically.

· Never open suspicious looking email and never click on any link in an email or web posting that originates from someone you do not fully trust.

· Even if it is someone you trust, be suspicious of forwarded emails. People pass on all kinds of stuff with good intentions, not knowing what it really is.

· Treat unknown websites with the same level of suspiciousness that you do unknown email. Never heard of the site? Anything unusual about what they do or where they are? Are they offering some kind of super deal? Tread softly.

That last one is important and something we are not as tuned in to.

I’ve heard newborn babies wailin’ like a mournin’ dove
And old men with broken teeth stranded without love.
Do I understand your question, man, is it hopeless and forlorn?
“Come in,” she said,
“I’ll give you … shelter from the storm.”

In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation an’ they gave me a lethal dose.
I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn.
“Come in,” she said,
“I’ll give you … shelter from the storm.”

]]> http://www.dbswebsite.com/blog/2009/05/04/shelter-from-the-storm/feed/ http://www.dbswebsite.com/blog/2009/03/19/smm-through-roi-colored-glasses/ http://www.dbswebsite.com/blog/2009/03/19/smm-through-roi-colored-glasses/#comments Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:32:45 +0000 admin http://www.dbswebsite.com/blog/?p=169 Social Media gets a lot of buzz both in and out of the internet marketing world. The news media seemingly makes constant reference to the use of Facebook or Twitter in connecting to large audiences, but most people don’t have a clear idea of how to get a return on investment (or ROI) from Social Media Marketing. So before we get into a sweeping, in-depth conversation about Social Media, we want to give you some perspective on how to initially approach the subject.

The best ROI from Social Media Marketing comes from work that overlaps your SEO and website optimization efforts. This is achieved through communities that relate to your business, such as forums, blogs and resource sites. Social Media is great for humanizing your business in the eyes of relevant communities. If you engage these communities, offering advice and asking for feedback, you can establish yourself as an expert who cares. This work can lead to referral traffic and increased search ranking, feeding nicely into your ROI by bolstering your SEO work. Establishing yourself with users online can also help you build momentum as you expand into broad Social Media Sites such as Facebook, Linked IN, Twitter and others.

Warning—Most Social Media ventures do not create instant returns on investment. However, the metrics we suggest looking at include:

· Referral Traffic Growth

· Increases in the number of links pointing to you site

· Increases in Google Alerts – with mentions of your name or business within the web.

Concerning the use of some of the broad Social Media Sites, we have provided a very brief outline below. Just remember to enter into these communities as yourself and not as your business.

· Facebook- Create Groups that relate to your business. Personal profiles are generally poor for business connection, being used as a more intimate friend development site. Only use if you have a product or service that is entertaining or cultural, or has established support communities.

· Twitter - Twitter is an instant, micro-blogging service that is great for time sensitive information, breaking news, asking and answering questions, and posting informational links. We advise only posting product specials occasionally. Follow@ DBSInteractive for more Twitter related Business Information.

· Linked In - Great for business networking, building contacts and B2B marketing. A must join.

· Myspace – A slightly more public or commercial version of Facebook. Users have a low tolerance of spam and business contact that is not directly related to them. Great for music related business.