Hound Dog Blog

Holiday spam en route

2009-11-16T21:22:48-05:00

I'm thankful that I'm going to get a Thanksgiving Holiday spam email before the end of the week.
I can't wait until I receive my first spamalicious greeting!!! I'm eagerly anticipating this phony boloney (or should I say spam) b.s. Last year I got 2, which means more than 2 moronic marketers will concoct this type of message, place it in an automated email queue and broadcast this fiction:

"We believe Thanksgiving is just as important of a Holiday as Christmas and New Year's, that's why we chose to deliver this message of thankfulness for our friendship...you get the idea

Save it for your 'non-friends.' This type of thing is WORSE than spam and even worse than a computer generated holiday card that you didn't even know you sent. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Flag draped coffins

2009-11-15T20:03:34-05:00

I'm sitting here watching 60 Minutes. They opened with a clip of flag-draped coffins of our courageous soldiers.

Am I crazy or wasn't there a time when this wasn't allowed?

The media is now showing our country's heroes come back... in remains... and I have to ask, "For what?"

Thesis for Wordpress is amazing

2009-11-14T15:35:34-05:00

Ok, so after blogging for what feel like a long time, I have to say that the Thesis Theme is amazing and absolutely amazing.

Blogging is fun, enriching, exciting, you've heard it all before... but to have the power that the Thesis Theme gives you is unmatched. I know this may be a conflict of interest since you can't run the Thesis Theme on this site, but it's worth noting that typepad.com also rocks.

In this post, Typepad vs Wordpress I expressed my reasoning for using typepad, which is that it forces me to understand the SEO and how things appear via search—this, in fact is what led me to enrich the business I am in and to repeatedly explain how valuable of a tool blogging can be.

So, if you are thinking about blogging professionally, get on a wordpress.org account and download Thesis. It really is worth it. But there is no reason to do so if you are just experimenting. If you are, wordpress.com will suffice.

Hound Dog Blog Greatest Hits

2009-11-11T22:05:57-05:00

I know it seems self serving, but since I've been blogging professionally (that even seems weird to type), I've discovered all these neat and interesting things I haven't been doing. So, here's one...

To the right you'll see the 'Greatest Hits' or the top visited posts out of the 300 some posts here.

A disclaimer, I have absolutely NO idea why these posts continue to be trafficked, and I can honestly say none - not one of them - did I compose with any more vigor or intensity as this one.

So much for 'Search Engine Optimization,' huh? :)

Lengthy emails and Comic Sans

2009-11-10T22:58:43-05:00

I can't read blog posts that are lengthy. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the same reason I can't read legalese. Short sentences are perfect for the 'click happy folks' like me. More than that... I'm stumblin'... sorry...

Don't get me wrong, I love intellectualism, but it simply has no real place in the blogoshpere, unless of course that is what you are creating.

It goes the same with email. {not spam, in re last post} Three paragraph emails are ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

But... not as ridiculous as the email I got today. It was sent to TENS of Thousands of professionals and it had words and links that were font-faced as such- (and I'm not kidding):

Lorem ipsum ergot sum cum laude http://www2.roman.caesar.et.tu.brutei.com/_utm_eleagre.eeet.ii./an/and when you click there call, me, talk we should.

Really? I mean, I'm not a typesetter, but you have to be kidding me? Should we take this seriously in todays world?

Have you not heard of the pretty-link? or not using Comic Sans anymore, unless, of course you are writing a comic?

Oh my... what do I know, anyway... at least I got a good laugh.

Spam kills permission

2009-11-08T21:07:42-05:00

Social media made permission marketing obvious

All who read this blog are aware of my adulation for the wisdom Seth Godin writes and speaks—sometimes I wonder if he knows how out in front he was with permission marketing.

Facebook— sometimes it seems like everybody is in advertiser. Or, at least, some people always think they have to be ... and this is so far from the truth.

Social media has a way of making us feel as if we are doing something right, even though we might not be.

For me, facebook and twitter were (and still are) places I went while I was alone and slightly confused as to the direction my life was going.

I believed (and still do) that these media channels transcend human relations in a magical way.

That's why any time someone flagrantly misuses my 'news stream' or 'twitter stream' it ticks me off. {sorry for the rant} ... and that is why ...

I HATE SPAM

... a LOT... what's so bad about junk mail is not that it's a useless, time waster, but how many 'defenses,' 'excuses,' and 'validations' that spammer's have. FYI: shameless self promotion is not spam, but it can be. It can be when you lose the human element of the message. Spam (at it's core) is a message. It's a self serving purpose—who likes that? Who wants to buy something from someone that only wants to help themselves? Not me.

ADVERTISING IS NOT BAD

What one person believes is spam is (I presume) important to someone else but this does not make it ok. In fact, this is precisely what makes it so bad. And...

... the argument that you can turn it off if you don't like it has never been more true.

Back in the day when 2 Live Crew and any other form of obscenity was on some media channel, yes, this was true. And today, it is just a fact. In fact, there's never been a time where we've had so many choices.

If you are marketing something and you are spamming (in any form) you are ruining your brand. Not because of so much useless garbage in your junk box, but because we all have our own 'streams' — our own 'channels' that we either broadcast or tune into.

Obviously, I speak for myself here, but why would I spend my time watching something that isn't relevant to me? Interrupting someone while they're communicating with their social network is a mistake—plain and simple.

Personally, I'm proud of duPont Publishing and our social media strategy. It's based upon permission. All day long, I see brands throwing themselves over the bow because they believe a blanket message will translate. Not true... I invite you to look to see our strategy. While it may not be making everyone millionaires (yet), it is a fair and honest message—social media opens up a world of possibilities... it also can be very tempting to put 'the message' on autopilot because you can...

Earned trust and permission marketing is hands down the ONLY way to market something today. If, on the other hand, you haven't learned this yet... I would simply suggest you start with Seth's Blog... from the beginning, that is, if you haven't already lost your fans.

I would invite you to look at our strategy... it is something I am quite proud of.

duPont Homes, duPont Boats, duPont Autos, Blog

Uninspired

2009-11-05T22:14:24-05:00

It drives me nuts to be uninspired. I can't figure out if it's a symptom of 'life' or some type of inherited artistic malady.

In either case, to be uninspired (for me) is unkind on my mental health. Maybe it's because when I'm happy, I'm REALLY happy.

Been working on a corporate blog at work. I'm really jazzed about it. I think it's gonna be huge. It's at Luxury Blog -- take a look... It's a WIP (work in progress), but that's what makes it all the more exciting. Maybe that's why i'm feeling a bit drawn & quartered... maybe all my inspiration is there... in any case, check it out...

Your thoughts and insight are welcome and needed! :)

SEO for jerseys

2009-11-03T21:25:25-05:00

A blog is a website, but a website is not necessarily a blog, unless of course it is--in which case it is both.

Got it? Good. See, I don't even much know the difference except one breathes and acts more like a living organism than another. To this I ask, which would you rather visit? Hmm... TMZ.com made it into a TV show.

More importantly though is this ridiculous SEO silliness. SEO is sort of 'reverse backwards compatible upside down' thinking. For example:

if I'm looking for a new Florida Gator Tim Tebow #15 football jersey, I'm not going to type in "Tim Tebow." Nor would the jersey marketers heavily utilize his namesake. Of course the words "Tim Tebow" would be incorporated in the keywords, but more importantly -- the jersey, the gator quarterback shirt... I could think of them all day long. In fact, I can't imagine someone (even someone new to search) would simply type in Tim Tebow's name to find a souvenir jersey!

Ok - everybody's Googled their name... if you haven't go ahead. The results fluctuate anyway. SEO is only as valuable to the words that get people to your site. Just because Tim Tebow wears a Florida Gator #15 jersey does not mean you'll find it when you type in his name.

"What is the best font to use?"

2009-11-01T10:43:34-05:00

Fonts are the key

Fonts are the most critical aspect of web design. More is not always better and less is not always more. For some reason this is the most over developed and overtly misused (and I, too, have been or am guilty of this) design aspect of websites. Too many different fonts on a webpage are a complete turn off—I have no empirical evidence here, but from personal browsing experience, too many different fonts and I'm clicking elsewhere.

Fonts are family

There is a reason why fonts are arranged in a family and it isn't because the font developer was trying to be cute. Fonts are arranged in a way that your eyes and your attention is are best suited. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, but the exceptions only prove the rule. When a font is decorated or hard to discern, you're brain is telling you you're better off with an easier to read font. Thus, just like your 'family,' the idea of a font family is just as important if you are laying out a page or creating a form or designing site or a real estate brochure.

Fonts are your handwriting

Unfortunately, the days of handwritten letters are behind us. Incidentally, it is precisely this that makes the gift of letter writing a skilled and valuable craft in the information age. Even more of a craft is the art of a well crafted email, blog, or website—mainly because that is how most people communicate. This is something that has been somewhat bastardized, mainly because 'non-designers,' like myself, are able to publish them. But, after much experimentation and many articles and books later, I have developed some semblance of an online handwriting (which is not as easy as picking your favorite font, btw, because browsers and operating systems render them differently—see links below about this topic).

Your mother should and does know about fonts

Chances are, if you're my age, your mother grew up reading books and newspapers. That's how she got information, news, etc. So if your mother tells you that it's hard to read, then it is.

For example: Once I had an ad designes for a client on a black background, and my mother told me it was nice, but difficult to read. Obviously, since she is my mother, she was being honest. Just like The Beatles song, Your Mother Should Know... but turns out she's correct. Whether on a computer screen or on a printed page, black backgrounds are difficult to read and hard to focus on.

Use your creativity for the layout

Styling a font in a creative way is ok sometimes, but for the most part, save this for your logo. As in something that is easily identifiable with what you are or will associate with you or with your brand. Other than that, it's not necessary to get creative with fonts—If you read at all about how fonts are designed, you'll understand that they weren't just thrown together because someone at a Grateful Dead concert got artsy-fartsy while selling grilled cheeses in the parking lot—though I wouldn't be surprised if these folks were the ones who DID design them.

Great Font resources

Typeface - Wikipedia article - a good history and summary of the font
Seth's Blog: I love typefaces
Seth's Blog: Fonts and your face
Seth's 7 Font tips - pdf
A List Apart: Text-Resize
Smashing Magazine: 30 Brilliant Typefaces for Corporate Design
dafont.com

A well composed document, website or blog utilizes a creative layout and creative and logical CSS and scripting to bring readers below the fold. No need to reinvent the font.

Tables and forms

2009-10-30T08:06:51-04:00

I just read another blog post about how 'social media' is changing businesses and consumers. And all I can think is that it isn't changing anything. It has changed everything. Period to end.

People resisting the forces of social media (or even more dangerous—businesses) are merely attempting to protect a system using yesterday's business tactics that aren't working (or, at least not as well anymore).

It's ok to not participate. That's the beauty of social media. If you ain't social, you don't have to socialize. But attempting to manipulate and malign the tools is just a plain bad idea. In fact, the forces of social media will effectively nudge you out the door. Sorry, don't mean to be so frank. But it's true.

It's the same thing with the person who was telling me about a fortuitous career ahead of him a a travel agent. Sorry to say, but the internet has changed that business... drastically.

I don't know what my reaction is going to be the next time I hear:

facebook (or twitter) haven't proven themselves yet

I do know one thing though, I'm not going to run to a computer and do a competitive search analysis and line it up on an excel spreadsheet. I may, in fact continue to blog about it, tweet about, and post it to my facebook wall.

Just embrace social media. Not because it's fun. Not because it's viral, but because it's good for business. Maybe not right now. But in a little while it will be... and a table and form-laden static website will be comparable to the pony express.

Sorry, but the need for proof that facebook, twitter, etc are powerful is called denial.