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2. ColorZilla tool Mentioned in the Video: Allows you to easily match colors when installing customized widgets and buttons.

3. Our Recent Post on the Mobile SMS/RSS Revolution: “iPhone, Chipmunking, gPhone and SMS - What Do They All Have in Common?”

4. Watch The FeedM8 Video Here

Selected Articles

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An Open Letter to Scribd

Jared Friedman, co-founder of Scribd, left a polite but concerning comment on our “Social Marketing With Scribd” video post.

Here’s what Jared said along with my follow-up:

From Scribd

Jared Friedman on January 13th, 2008 at 4:47 am

Hi there,
I work at Scribd, and we happened to notice this blog post. While I’m glad that you guys like Scribd, I’d like to point out some things about our policies.

Scribd is a website for the noncommercial sharing of documents. By “documents”, we mean things like poems, stories, homework, academic research, magazines, and that sort of thing. We provide the Scribd service free of charge, and don’t advertise on users’ documents. In return, we ask that users not use Scribd for promotion or marketing.

Our users don’t like seeing commercial content on Scribd, and so we have taken measures to protect against it. We don’t allow links on documents anymore, and we filter our content and delete documents which appear to have been created to promote a product or website. Scribd is good for a lot of things, but it’s not a good place to promote your website.

So we wish you the best of luck in your social marketing efforts, but we suggest you try sites other than Scribd to do it.

My response

Jared,

First. let me say that I appreciate your genuine comment and interest in keeping Scribd free from documents that have no value to any potential visitor. (aka spam) I too get frustrated by the amount of “junk” littering the internet, especially in blog comments, social sites and adsense portal pages.

This is not what we do or recommend to anyone. In our definition, social marketing is all about being REAL and becoming part of the community. The “weekly video” that you watch was meant to quickly explain to our loyal readers how to set up a Scribd account in a way that makes sense for social marketers.

You made the point above:

We provide the Scribd service free of charge, and don’t advertise on users’ documents. In return, we ask that users not use Scribd for promotion or marketing.

I would like to challenge you a bit on this based on what I read in your FAQ:

It says:

Can I make money for my work using Scribd?
Not directly. While Scribd does not allow you to charge for access to your work on the site, you can use Scribd to promote your paid work. For example, if you have a blog with ads on it, you can upload one of your best entries to Scribd as a way to get more readership. If you have a book in print, you can upload an excerpt (or even the whole thing!) to Scribd as a promotion. (my italics)

If you noticed, the video illustrated me seting up an account and uploading one post from this blog. I did actually re-read your FAQ before creating the video and thought this would be a legitimate example of an acceptable use of Scribd. In my mind, I was posting an excerpt of my blog as a promotion. I included anchor text links to more valuable and related content (not spam portals or junk sites).

Even more to the point, I am concerned that you are labeling all “internet marketers” as spammers interested in nothing but making money.

In fact, if I do nothing in this post but make this single point I will have succeeded:

Social marketing, even internet marketing is a legitimate business, completely unrelated to spamming and should be given “space” within any database collecting information people are interested in.

I like the concept of Scribd very much. I am amazed by the level of functionality that is built into it and how well each peice works togeteher. I too would hate to see it over-run by crap content.

However, please don’t (as they used to say) “throw the baby out with the bathwater”. There are some folks who are seeking social marketing “how-to” information about marketing who would be thrilled to stumle upon it while browsing Scribd. Instead of being miffed, they would be happy to see an anchor text link to more content that helps them answer real question and solve real problems.

I wish Scribd the best as well and hope to see constructive dialogue regarding the proper use of social networks continue.

Cheers!
Tom Deeter

Web 2.0 Predictions for 2008 (from a pretty smart dude…no, not me)

I just read Doug Karr’s online technology predictions for 2008 and wanted to share his insighful, experienced perspective with you. Doug is a fellow hoosier (that’s what those of that live in Indiana call ourselves…don’t ask why) who publishes one of the few, maybe the only technology + marketing blog worth it’s salt.

As others are suggesting, 2008 will probably see growth in community sites which are tighter and more focused into sub-niches or micro-niches than the MySpaces and Facebooks that peaked in popularity in 2007. Doug shares some of the micro-ventures he is involved in.

But, as is mentioned in Doug’s post, this “micronization” (if that’s a word) is taking palce in other web 2.0 segments as well. Just take a look at Twitter in the micro-blogging arena and Utterz in the video sharing set. Two great examples of “micro-technology” at work.

Anyway, for a great peek into the future, check out Doug’s post: “2008: The Year of Micro“.

5 Most Ridiculous eBay Auctions

eBay is the original social media spot and draws in every version of humanity on the planet. This is a raw social media marketing exhibit showcasing the brilliant marketing chops of some and the complete ineptness of others.

And then there’s the real pioneers… These folks offer products that only the bravest and most delusional would dare attempt to sell. Like a homely 20-something with the voice a buzzard trying out on American Idol, these super-optimists trust the eBay system so much that they dare to purvey products that stretch the imagination of even the most seasoned shopper… See for yourself below.

Exhibit #1

Why doesn’t my doc have either of these? Why “treat” when you can CURE!!

Exhibit #2

I liked the video presentation showing how, with these special specs, you can see a 100 dollar bill through thin white underwear…amazing!!

Exhibit #3

Somehow, this brilliant eBay seller partnered with the restaurant chain Chili’s in some sort of clever before & after scheme… “from little chile to big banana”!

Exhibit #4

If your spouse has this on his/her eBay “bid watch” list you might want to think twice about ..um.. sleeping, eating or starting your car.

Exhibit #5

Skip studying this weekend…Why not graduate TODAY!!!

Did I say I love eBay….