Unbelievable.

I glanced around at the Thanksgiving decor and turned to him, “Did we skip over Thanksgiving?  Am I missing something here?”

As it turns out, many people speculate that companies are starting to market Christmas earlier this year with the hopes of increasing their revenue.  As far as I can tell, it just seems as if the Christmas season keeps growing every year. Currently, it’s almost two months long.

But will all of the Christmas music on the radio really be what entices people to spend a little extra cash this holiday season- especially when the American economy is still facing a recession?  I’m not so sure.  Perhaps companies ought to focus their marketing tactics on outlets such as Twitter and Facebook.  However, even this is not a guarantee.

So, what can be done?

Picky, Picky

When it comes to spending, blame it on the economy, but consumers are becoming increasingly picky in what they spend their money on.  The recent recession has taught us many valuable lessons about money, the first of which is that you shouldn’t spend what you don’t have.  Therefore, many businesses are lowering their prices in an effort to boost sales.  To the smarter-than-average consumer, however, this simply tells them that products and services were grossly overpriced to begin with, thus translating into better bargains elsewhere.

I think that, perhaps, the better approach to coax people out of their spending shells is to market lower prices for high quality services and products.  You shouldn’t really need a catchy jingle to attract customers; the price will more than do the job for you. By building trust between consumer and manufacturer, you naturally build business.

Who 

1. It Grows on Trees- This site deals specifically with advertising and marketing so as to make sustainability mainstream to help businesses grow.  Really great read
2. Actuate-This site offers businesses products and services to help with analytics and reporting capabilities, something that most of us utilize every day now.
3. AdScam/The Horror!- Written by George Parker, an advertising consultant, this blog looks at advertising, marketing and its current place in our world today.
4. Net, Blogs and Rock ‘n’ Roll- Written by David Jennings, an independent consultant in online learning and discovery, this blog deals with topics related to social media, books, games, photography, radio, television and blogging.  Definitely stop b to check it out.
5. Digital Audio Insider- Written by David Harrell, this blog deals with the economics of digital music.  You can also follow Digital Audio on Twitter.

Who 

All of this being said, when it comes down to using the Internet and trying to obtain information, what is it that we look for?  For instance, earlier today, I was trying to find information for research on a topic that I was writing about.  However, when I clicked on the first website that came up, I quickly clicked right off because there was WAY TOO MUCH information being presented to me at one time, in one space.

Think about how big your computer screen is.  Now think about how much information you would ideally like to see on that page.  It’s no wonder people who use computers often have headaches.  Web users use the Internet for a variety of everyday functions such as:

• Watching television shows
• Shopping
• News
• Information

That being said, what we want is very simple- so simple, in fact, that it is downright laughable: easy-to-find, clearly stated information that will help us make a judgment as to whether or not the website is credible or not.  Additionally, most often, I find myself curious to know who the “brains” behind the operation is- you know, the person who is actually running the website.  This simply helps to build trust between me knowing that there is an actual person running things- someone whom I can reach in case I have a question or complaint.  What are some things that you look for on a website?

Who 

1. The Prepared Mind- Written by Chris Gee, this blog deals with social media, design and human interactions.  You can also follow Chris on Twitter.
2. Tiara.org- Written by Alice E. Marwick, a PhD candidate in Media, Culture and Communication at NYU, this blog deals with technology, social media, Internet-related topics and a touch of feminism for good measure.  It’s an excellent read if you have the opportunity!  You can also follow Alice on Twitter.
3. Universal Creation 101- Written by Christy Dena, this site covers topics ranging from consultancy, design, production, and assessment of cross-media projects and platforms.
4. FAVRD- really catchy site that is sort of linked in to Twitter.  It takes all of the interesting stuff that shows up on Twitter based on the number of times an item has been declared a “favorite” and throws it up onto this site so that other people can see it.  Really catchy- check it out!
5. Creative Latitude- is a community that unites people from various creative disciplines for the purposes of meeting, connecting and promoting their business(es).

Who 

A few days ago,  one of my good friends sent me a message on Facebook.  I figured that it had been a while since I had spoken with her, so I thought that maybe she was just “catching up”.  Not thinking much else, I opened the message only to realize that it was some sort of virus/spam-related thing.  I quickly sent her a message and emailed the folks at FB to let them know what had happened.  It turns out that someone had hacked into her account and was sending spam messages to everyone.

I shuddered.

Just how much information was this hacker privy to?  I mean, my friend had her personal cell phone number on there, email account information, home address and a whole slew of other personal information.  But FB isn’t the only culprit in the concern over the safety in social media.  Twitter is another Web 2.0-based technology that has (and still currently) continues to influence the ever-changing shift in Internet culture.  Again, though; who is to blame when someone reveals just a little too much information about themselves on the web?  Have you ever thought about how incredibly easy it would be to get to know a person simply by being a “follower” or because someone forgot to make their account “private:

Who 

1. Uselog.com-Just as the name suggests, this site deals with web usability, usability research, marketing, resources, studies, behaviour, public design and more.  Additionally, it is actually really informative and easy to read. Check it out!
2. Fast Company- Really fascinating site with a TON of information related to technology, design, ethonomics as well as current news.  Definitely worth it to at least stop by. You can also subscribe here.
3. Design & Emotion- Headed by Marco van Hout, this site touches on the emotional experience that people have when they use various products or services.  For this reason, Marco conducts many interviews and places a great deal of focus on the value of relationships.  Really fascinating read! You can also follow Marco on Twitter.
4. Design Droplets-  Written and founded by Ralph Goldsworthy, Design Droplets is an Industrial Design Magazine focused on Australian design. You can also follow Design Droplets on Twitter.
5. Audrey Carr- The personal site of Audrey Carr, director of Digital Strategy at LEO Burnett/Arc Worldwide in Toronto, the topics covered here range from blogging and design to relationships, introspection and social media.  Definitely stop by to check it out.

Who 

If you own a web-based business or even if you have a physical location for your business endeavors but have a website connected with it, you have to figure out a number of things:

1. How your customers are finding out about you…
2. What sorts of questions they’re asking you via your website…
3. What content has peaked their interest…
4. What products or services they are purchasing from you off of your website…

That being said, how on earth do you go about then trying to figure out how to resolve these issues?

Know Your Fan Base

Ok, so maybe customers and fans aren’t exactly the same thing; but if you think about it, they’re similar.  After all, someone who is a repeat customer of your product or service could be referred to as someone who is a “fan” of what you are able to provide them.  Therefore, it is essential to know how your customers operate and think.  For example, if you run a light bulb business and you know for a fact that, based on inventory, no one has purchased red light bulbs in over two years, why would you then want to continue producing red light bulbs?  Similarly, if you know that your customers do or do not like certain aspects of your business, then you don’t have to completely give it up, but you can at least begin to direct your attention and efforts towards some other aspect of marketing your products.

Web Tools & How They Help

On the web, one helpful way to figure out what to start focusing your attentions on begins with the use of web tools.  One particular tool that I will mention is Stat Counter. Stat Counter is a free yet reliable invisible web tracker, highly configurable hit counter and real-time detailed web stats. Additionally, by inserting a simple piece of our code on your web page or blog and you will be able to analyse and monitor all the visitors to your website in real-time!

The really neat thing about stat counter is that it can give you maps, charts, numbers and more- tons of statistical data to help you figure out where  your website needs a little push as well as where you can relax.  Have you ever tried it out before?  What did you think, and how did it help you?

Who 

Knowing Better

It’s one thing to read someone else’s blog or to browse through the Internet and see something that you really find compelling and want to write about.  Heck, you may be thinking to yourself, “They say it so much better than I could even begin to, so I’ll just copy exactly what they have and call it a day.”

Wrong.

It still amazes me to come across a piece of information on one site, think to myself that it seems really familiar, and then realize later that the reason for this familiarity was because it was copied verbatim from another site.  It’s not that difficult to reference something.  Even if you’re unsure about the proper way to reference something on the Internet, referencing where you obtained a certain tidbit of information is MUCH better than not mentioning where you received your sudden knowledge.  It makes you look suspicious- like you’re hiding something.

Dealing with Plagiarism

Unfortunately, there are plenty of unscrupulous people out there waiting to bring you down simply because they’re too lazy to write content themselves.  If this is the case, there are a couple of things you can do:

• Examine the content of what you have written and compare it word-by-word with the content in question.
• Send a non-threatening email, politely asking the blogger or other culprit to kindly remove the article in question from their web site.
• Conduct a “WhoIs” lookup based on the web domain name in order to find the registrar and/or name of the web hosting company so that a formal complaint about copied content can be wagered.

Have any other advice, stories or tips about plagiarism?  We’d love to hear them!

Who 

1. Askmen.com- Neat site for guys to check out.  Everything from news to health advice as well as celeb gossip.  You can also follow them on Twitter.
2. Brand Driven Innovation-Written by Erik Roscam Abbing, founder of Zilver brand driven innovation in Rotterdam, Netherlands; this blog covers issues related to branding, design, media and innovation.  Excellent read. You can also follow Erik on Twitter.
3. Adaptive Path-is the blog for Adaptive Path, a design team.  The blog covers issues related to design, field ethnography, task flows as well as implementation.  Cleverly written and extremely interesting stuff. You can also follow them on Twitter.
4. Noisy Decent Graphics- Written by Ben Terrett, a designer from London, UK.  This blog is about graphic design and also covers other topics such as sustainability, viral marketing, typography and more. You can check out some of Ben’s stuff on Flickr.
5. Good Experience-The brainchild of Mark Hurst, Good Experience is a media company focused on the customer experience as well as making Internet technology easier to use.  Definitely check it out.

Who