FridayFavourites

FridayFavourites 
Mick Sharpe mines some nuggets today.
Honoured to be included.

#AI   #truthiness   #fridayfavourites   #seo  

Originally shared by Mick Sharpe

Oh, we’re really making an AI

Another Friday the 13th, three this year, maybe we should be worried - ah no that was last week’s news! No time for superstition for me - too much great content to channel focus. Onwards...

I almost fell off my chair during this week’s #RayLunchBunch as the team talked about Gynaecologist bread makers! Yes you really need to catch Generalist or Specialist? (http://goo.gl/5mfWHX) featuring special guest Ryan Hanley articulating some of the points raised by his article Google Has Killed the Generalist and No One Cares (http://goo.gl/2PE5Cb). Ray Hiltz, Randy Bowden, Jessica Dewell, B.L. Ochman and Scott Scowcroft add to the always informative conversation that contains some great marketing strategy - take the confusion away from your potential customers by defining your one solution. When you get them through the door that’s the time to avail them of your other strengths. Do take the time to follow up on the takeout section - some good stuff there. And Happy Birthday Ryan and B.L.

If you’re not a small business don’t let that stop you taking a look at Hangout Mastery for Small Business (http://goo.gl/2LgT0x). The latest Small Business Webtech Show from Marilyn Moore and John Moore features the Master of the Hangout Ronnie Bincer sharing his expertise in his own inimitable way. Excellent introduction into the world of Hangouts and the value for small business owners. Interlaced with many tips that will ease you into to the process. You’ll also become acutely aware of the Cone of Cleanliness - I’ll let you watch through for the explanation of that one.

Also aimed at small business Get an A+ on G+: Helping You Make the Grade on G+ (http://goo.gl/l0rxCd) from Kristoffer Howes is a comprehensive guide to Google+ marketing puiblished on Google+. Originally posted last year this is well worth a revisit. If you’re new here then definitely set time aside to take this on board. The constant flow of new Plussers shows that this resurfacing of older content, either your own or that of others, is very worthwhile particularly considering the time and effort that goes into some of the posts here. There is a lot contained within this work but it’s all broken down into its component chapters and posts so you can digest at your leisure. A very welcome #ThrowBackThursday :-)

In the beginning SEO was rather simple…

I’m always enthralled with the Social Media Today PowerTalk. Right from the powerhouse opening, courtesy of John Ellis, the subject matter and the quality of the guests. In SEO in the Social Media Marketing Age (http://goo.gl/QkDBDj) David Amerland and Alexandra Riecke-Gonzales talk with Bruce Clay of Bruce Clay, Inc. Internet Marketing about the current state of SEO (hint: It’s about as dead as Google+) For those who don’t know Bruce has been in SEO since there was SEO. Top takeaway from this is that you need to have a holistic approach to getting traffic and customers. Your website structure and quality, your marketing, your social media efforts all need co-ordination to bring about benefits. Some really valuable insights into company culture coming through this too - I’ve definitely experienced the unfathomable emphasis on the minutiae that impacts on very little while the major improvements are given little priority. The ever helpful NOD3x has provided a comprehensive #timestamp post for your viewing pleasure (http://goo.gl/EhYf3C).

My continued gratitude for The Mid Week Marketing Mix (http://goo.gl/Xun1dK). If not for this show I would miss a lot of the news of the last two weeks. James Dearsley, Ana Hoffman, Ronnie Bincer and Tom Abbott give us the low down on the latest Google+ changes, decouplings or whatever way you think of the separation of the component parts. Ana continues with Net Neutrality. Good to see this being kept front and centre as it does have the potential to impact on us all. Tom talks us through his upcoming book Social Selling revealing some interesting data about sales teams using social selling and those who don’t. And for your delectation the #timestamp post from The Digital Marketing Bureau (http://goo.gl/Iq1L9e).

James turns up again getting a little geeky about Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality with martin shervington and Travis Taylor on The PYB Show! (http://goo.gl/RXY5GA). James highlights the history and development of VR, what’s being done now and shares his views of what we might see over the coming years. Interesting to hear of  VR being used to remove airline passengers from the source of their trepidation. I’m sure there is much, much more to come.

Staying on the slightly geeky side Ana Hoffman shared a New eye tracking study shows how differently we use Google Search (http://goo.gl/7XG7yu). Always interesting to see how things change over time not only in terms of where people are looking but also how much faster they arrive at their goal now.

That leads nicely into the concept of fast and slow pages, the subject of David Kutcher’s A Slow User Experience and why you should embrace it within your websites and content marketing (http://goo.gl/GZaCzU). The important point I picked up on was providing the reader with something that makes them think. It does work on these pages because you want the reader to take their time and enjoy what you’re providing. It all goes towards building that relationship. Of course you still need to balance that with your fast action pages where conventional wisdom is to avoid any thinking or distraction from the goal.

Thinkers corner

Eli Fennell’s Google's 'Accuracy Rank' a Threat to Truthiness (http://goo.gl/RXEiXp) shares an article exploring the unrest in the anti-science groups about Google’s plans to rank websites according to veracity. Eli makes some sensible points as to where these results are likely to be provided and the comments are enlightening particularly the points about false equivalency raised by Mark Traphagen although I’m making a point of not sailing too far - don't want to drop off the edge!

Gideon Rosenblatt picks up on the same topic from a Fox News broadcast in Knowledge-Based Trust vs. Truthiness (http://goo.gl/s4Nt90). Once again the comments are a rich vein to explore. Gideon’s point that many people want to be told what to believe is something I’ve witnessed on many occasions. This is something that will crop up a few times this year I’m sure.

That segues nicely into Gideon’s megapost Knowledge-Based Trust and the Future of Search and Artificial Intelligence (http://goo.gl/hQ9oiC). Even if you have to bookmark this and come back later do make the effort. A detailed look at the way search is going in light of recent information. As ever a great job from Gideon.

And finally…

It’s all gone to the dogs as Bandit took centre stage in Zara Altair’s Midweek Zap - Doggone it! Entrepreneur Power (http://goo.gl/Y0SQnf) to demostrate the power of an engaged audience. I don’t need any more convincing that Bandit is the big dog in town, t-shirt entrepreneur with a top rate marketing manager in Christine DeGraff. Christine does a grand job of telling the story of Bandit’s rise to the top.


Have a great weekend wherever you are

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Created by Mick Sharpe of Bitingedge