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Site Ranking Secrets Revealed in Google's Patent Filings

6/13/2005 By

Intellectual property law is really screwy sometimes. In order to legally protect your IP, you have to make it public (eventually). Google, who has guarded their ranking algorithms so closely for years, has now had to open some of it up to the public. U.S. Patent Application 20050071741, filed September 30, 2003, became public on March 31, 2005, exposing a few ranking secrets that were new even to many industry experts. Some of the surprise things that may affect rankings include:

  • Length of domain registration (longer is better)
  • Number, quality and anchor text of inbound links (more is better, higher quality is better, but re: anchor text, there is such a thing as both too little and too much – you need a balance)
  • Age of links (older is better)
  • Speed with which links are acquired (slower is better)
  • Click-through rates (higher is better, but other issues, such as seasonality, could be considered)
  • Frequency and amount of updates (again, neither extreme is good)

There’s a lot more here to be considered, and the jury’s still out as to how much of this is actually in use, and if so, how much weight each item carries.Read more…

Thanks to Darren Yates for the analysis and Chris Pirillo for the tip.

CORRECTION: The original version of this post stated that the patent was filed on March 31, 2005, when in fact it was filed 18 months earlier and just became public as of that date. Thanks to attorney Douglas Sorocco for the correction. Check out his intellectual property weblog, PHOSITA.

Filed Under: Chapter 05: Building Your Virtual Home, Miscellaneous

Seeking Journalists/Bloggers Interested in Writing Project: Blogs, Social Network Sites, Social Software, and other Online Business Networks

6/12/2005 By

We are seeking one or more people who would like to co-write a series of articles on “social software”: blogs, social network sites, virtual communities, and so on. This is an ideal project for a journalist (or aspiring journalist) interested in learning more about writing, publishing, blogs, social network sites, social software, and other online business networks. These articles are connected with the promotion & marketing of TheVirtualHandshake book and website.

In addition, we are seeking additional bloggers to contribute to the Virtual Handshake blog.

BENEFITS
+ Most important, personal publicity and credibility as an industry expert. If you are a consultant, trainer, or in other ways want to monetize your expertise in this area, writing in this field is perhaps the single most important step you can take to accelerate your client flow.
+ Work with thought leaders and industry leaders in social software.
+ Very positive references (if merited).
+ Compensation: For articles published in magazines/newspapers/etc. (excluding The Virtual Handshake itself), you will receive 100% of compensation from the premier publications in which you are published. You will be paid at standard freelance writer rates. Bloggers contributing to the Virtual Handshake blog itself are not compensated (other than through affiliate programs).

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
+ Learn more about blogs, social software, and online social networks and how businesspeople are using these new technologies
+ Write articles and blog posts around these themes, e.g., “How to Use Online Networks to Become a Dramatically More Effective Salesperson”; “Online Networks for Korean-Americans”; etc.
+ Interview and learn from opinion leaders.

QUALIFICATIONS
+ Experience in writing, journalism, internet marketing, and online social networks highly desirable.
+ Excitement about being part of the team producing an innovative book.
+ Highly motivated self-starter who has a track record of continuous self-improvement, high achievement, and aggressiveness.
+ Strong interpersonal communication skills, adept writing, editing, and presentation skills.
+ Poised, professional demeanor.

INCLUDE WITH DETAILED RESUME
+ Dates/hours of availability.
+ Evidence of writing/communication/editing skills, including writing samples (e.g., articles you have written for a mass market, non-academic audience)
+ Physical location. You can do all of the work on this project remotely. However, if you are in the New York or Austin, TX, area, that is preferable.

HOW TO APPLY
Contact via e-mail only; do not call. Save your resume in Microsoft Word format with the name “Last Name_First Name_Year.doc”, e.g., “Smith_John_2005.doc”. Please make sure that you include all of the information that we request above, or we will not be able to consider your application.

Please send resume and cover letter to Resumes(at)Teten.com with “Writer” and your name in the subject line. For example, write “Writer–Smith John”.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, News, Virtual Handshake Marketing

Who are the A-List?

6/11/2005 By

An A-list blogger is just a traditional influencer, online. One of the key steps in The Virtual Handshake buzz marketing plan is to get copies of the book in front of thought leaders in our target audiences (detailed in the most recent post). If these influencers are interested in The Virtual Handshake, their recommendations will be worth much more than a massive advertising campaign (which we, and most new authors, do not want to pay for).

The question Hunter Hoffmann and we have been debating: how do we determine who are the A-List influencers (including but definitely not limited to bloggers) in the industries we’re targeting? Some of the research methods we’ve been using include, but are not limited to:

  • Searches on “Entrepreneurship” + blog, “Sales” + blog, etc.
  • Amazon.com searches for Top 30 book titles in each category
  • Technorati.com searches on top blogs by links and traffic
  • Searches for columnists in the major magazines in each category

The tactics we are using can be replicated by anyone else seeking to create buzz.

More to come soon …

Filed Under: Blogging, Chapter 26: Marketing, Miscellaneous, Tips, Virtual Handshake Marketing

Virtual teams are just teams with amplified collaboration needs

6/10/2005 By

Lisa Kimball of Group Jazz observes that virtual teams are just teams with amplified collaboration needs.

What are the top three reasons virtual teams fail? According to Lisa, these are:

1. People lose the sense of the whole. They only see what they are doing and have no way to “look across the room” to see what others are doing. Lack of context kills.
2. Assumptions are not explicitly stated.
3. People don’t enjoy it – they don’t have fun. Without the laughs to go along with the work, it feels less “human” and the lack of personal interaction is dispiriting.

Via Arieanna Foley

Filed Under: Tips

The Virtual Handshake Marketing Train is About to Leave the Station

6/9/2005 By

How can you use online networks to turn a book by first-time authors into a bestseller?

We’ve spent two years researching how people can use online networks to become dramatically more successful. It would only be honest if we used ourselves as a case study. We are now gaining steam in the marketing and promotion of our new book, The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online, with a planned launch date of July 15, 2005. By sharing our experience here, we hope to give you food for thought on how you can best market and publicize what you want to market.

A brief overview of the book for new visitors: The Virtual Handshake is the first mass market book on social software and virtual networks. The Virtual Handshake teaches executives, investment bankers, consultants, and other businesspeople how to use “social software” and online networks to find their next business partner, client, or job.

We’ve written below a brief outline of our marketing approach. If you have any other creative ideas on how to publicize the book, we would greatly welcome them.

We plan to reach out to our audiences via virtual communities, blogs, and all the other relevant social software tools we discuss in our book. Of course, we plan to tread lightly to make sure we are spreading the message to the right people, and respecting the integrity of the communities they have created.

Following is an outline of the marketing plan:

  • Mainstream Media Outreach –

Solicit book reviews and related articles from established media outlets. Long lead time publications (monthly business and technology magazines) are first, followed by weeklies and, closer to the sell date, daily newspapers and online outlets.

  • Influencer/Blogger Buzz Campaign –

Contact Influencers and provide them with copies of The Virtual Handshake to review. Among the influencers we are targeting are people from the fields of Entrepreneurship, Networking, Academe, Executive Recruiting, Sales, Financial Advising, and MBAs. Our goal is to reach the influencers for our target audiences, and have them present the value of the book in their own forum. If you are an influencer and would like to review the book, click here. Our model is the Silicon Valley 100. We are providing step-by-step instructions on how to earn extra income by publicizing the book on your blog or mailing list.

  • Online Communities –

We will approach both online community platforms (MSN Groups, MSN Spaces, LinkedIn, OpenBC, etc.) and targeted online communities (MBA alumni groups, etc.), to promote our book and establish links and information about The Virtual Handshake on their websites. In addition, we will reach out to the leaders of relevant online communities to encourage them to discuss the book.

  • Additional Marketing Activities –

Join blogger networks. Provide extensive free resources on our website: glossary, corporate directory, and a Reader’s Guide which requires you to prove you own the book to enter. Apply for business book awards. Publish a series of special interest articles, e.g., “Online Networks for the South Asian Diaspora”, to raise our visibility within certain special interest communities. Promote linking to our site, for search engine optimization purposes. Deliver keynote speeches at conferences. Are we missing anything major here?

  • Results –

This comprehensive marketing and publicity program is aimed at getting The Virtual Handshake in the hands of influencers, online and offline, and disseminating our message to the target audiences for the book. All of which will help us turn the book into a bestseller.

The marketing team for The Virtual Handshake is also beginning to come together. The lead on this project is Hunter Hoffmann, formerly of Hill and Knowlton and most recently Public Relations Manager for Government Liquidation, LLC (the U.S. military’s online auction provider). Hunter has secured hundreds of media placements in national and local media in his past positions, and will be managing a team of people this summer to promote The Virtual Handshake to traditional media, blogs and other virtual communities. Our team also includes Micaela “Mimi” Owusu and Chris Duncan. If you’d like to join the marketing/PR intern team, click here.

We will be updating the blog regularly over the next few months as the marketing program continues, and evolves. We look forward to your questions/comments/analysis.

Filed Under: Chapter 26: Marketing, Chapter 27: Sales, Success Stories, Virtual Handshake Marketing

New Buyout Blog

6/9/2005 By

Tom O’Neill, managing director at Summit Private Capital Group, has launched a Buyout Blog for private equity, a practice that has caught on for venture capital.

Via Private Equity Analyst (free registration) (6/01), via Broadgate Private Equity Smartbrief
.

Filed Under: Blogging, Miscellaneous

Marketing and Media Opportunities in Social Networking and Online Communities—NYC, June 20

6/9/2005 By

I hope to see you at this event:

International Radio & Television Society Foundation, Inc.
Q&A Seminar, June 20, New York

“Marketing and Media Opportunities in Social Networking and Online Communities”

Panelists
Vin Bhat
Principal
[212]MEDIA
ContactSpan, Sportsvite

Manon Bone
Director, Sales
Friendster

Scott Heiferman
Co-Founder and CEO
MEETUP

Cem Sertoglu
Co-Founder and Former CEO
SelectMinds

David Teten
CEO, Nitron Advisors
Co-Author, The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online

Laurel Touby
Founder, CEO, & Cyberhostess
Mediabistro.com

Moderator
Jack Myers
Editor, Publisher
Jack Myers Report and MediaVillage.com

Date: Mon., June 20, 2005
Reception: 6:00-6:30pm
Program: 6:30-7:30pm
Place: NBC, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Mezzanine
Reservations Required.

Social networking is one of the online medium’s most significant recent developments. Several of the companies featured on our panel, not to mention Friendster, MySpace, Craig’s List, and Plaxo are evolving into powerful, vital tools for marketing to specialized groups. Social networks are home base for bloggers, discussion groups, bulletin boards and online networking. Traditional media and marketers are now building vertical branded communities. Our panel will talk about the power and appeal of connecting directly to the interests of individuals and building online communities as marketing networks. Join us to learn what the future holds for this one-to-one marketing vehicle.

No charge for entry. For Reservations Contact Jim Cronin:
International Radio & Television Society Foundation, Inc.
420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 1601, NYC 10170
212-867-6650 x305
jim.cronin@irts.org

Filed Under: Chapter 26: Marketing, Events

How to be an A-List blogger–and what they write about

6/9/2005 By

Adam Weinroth posts an analysis of three A-list bloggers:

* Dave Winer / Scripting.com
* Robert Scoble / Scobleizer
* Steve Rubel / Micro Persuasion

And he finds that most of their (many) posts are simply links to other people, not original content. These bloggers are in large part more DJs than original writers. There is so much data in the Net that any good filter can generate value.

Via Hunter Hoffmann.

Filed Under: Blogging, Chapter 26: Marketing, Success Stories, Tips, Web 2.0 Industry

Google Hacking Mini-Guide

6/9/2005 By

Using search engines such as Google, “search engine hackers” can easily find exploitable targets and sensitive data. This article outlines some of the techniques used by hackers and discusses how to prevent your site from becoming a victim of this form of information leakage.

More…

Via Automatt

Filed Under: Web 2.0 Sites

Launching a Social Software Company Wiki

6/6/2005 By

Following up on Jason Coward‘s post on the open-source redesign of TheVirtualHandshake, we are proud to announce the relaunch of our social software company directory as a wiki. A wiki is a collection of Web pages that are editable by any reader. Wikis use extremely simple linking and formatting commands rather than requiring people to learn HTML.

We have seeded the social software company directory with profiles by Scott Allen and/or me of the following companies:
COMMON.net, Classmates, Company of Friends, Contact Network Corporation, Craigslist, Ecademy, Entopia, IdeaList, JobThread, Knowmentum, LinkedIn, Lockergnome-Pirillo.com, MediaBistro, Meetup, Monster Networking, NetAid, Orkut, Ryze, SelectMinds, Spoke, TheSquare , Topica, Tribe, Value Investors Club, Webmaster World, Yahoo! Groups, eWomenNetwork. Working with our readers, we plan to include profiles of all of the major and some of the minor social software companies, to help guide our readers.

In order to minimize spam on the guide, and improve the average quality of the contributions, we require people to log in and prove that they have a physical copy of The Virtual Handshake book. Once you have a Reader’s ID, you can browse our Reader’s Guide, get free coupons for discounts from major social software companies, read updates to the book, and also make changes and additions to our Social Software Guide .

We welcome and value your feedback on the site.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Web 2.0 Industry, Web 2.0 Sites
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