Living in “The Cloud”
Recently I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the pros and cons of living in the cloud, so to speak. If you’re not familiar with this term, living in the cloud basically means that you keep most of your important documents, email, etc. with online access so you can access it from any computer and you’re not tied to one desktop.
I’ve moved my email into the cloud for the most part instead of using MS Outlook so heavily at home, and I’m digging it so far. Gmail makes it really easy to do, although, I can’t do it 100% because you’re only allowed 5 additional email accounts coming through Gmail. I’ve begun updating a to-do document in Google Documents, but that’s about my only moves into the cloud so far.
So, to outline it for anyone considering making this move, here’s what I’ve discerned:
Pros:
- Access from anywhere, any computer.
- Centralized services through Google.
- If something happens to one of your computers you don’t have to worry about data stored in the cloud.
- Easier to share documents or data with other people via the internet.
Cons:
- You don’t have control over the technology the data is stored on, so if their servers go down you’re toast.
- There’s always the potential threat (albeit very low) of hacking.
- Some firewalls may prevent access to this data depending on the connection you’re attempting to access it from (slim chance, but there).
- Business and pleasure are intertwined to an extent.
Link Glossary: Reciprocal Link Exchanges
Reciprocal Link Exchanges:
- When two websites swap links to point at each other. Trading links with another website.
There’s a limited amount of success that can be had with reciprocal link exchanges. As one blogger wrote they are “so 1997”. Search engines do not give that much value to reciprocal link exchanges because you are sharing the “link juice” between the two links. A great, legitimate way to get some reciprocal links is to just make some connections with other bloggers and throw links to their sites into your blogroll. If they like you, they may reciprocate.
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Glossary Definition From The Definitive Guide to Link Buying by Patrick Gavin
Amusing Phrases
I’m a total media consumer, so in listening to things and reading this I’ve picked up a couple of highly amusing phrases that I’d like to share with you. It’s Saturday afternoon, not much else is going on! So let’s get a little silly while I share some things that have been absolutely cracking me up in the last few weeks.
“Keep it clean, Jangro’s listening” from the GeekCast (coined by Lisa Picarille I believe)
“It’s tough being a digital gangster” from Sam Harrelson of Affiliate Fortune Cookies
“NSFJ (not safe for Jangro) ” from Todd Crawford on Twitter
“I’d twit me.” from Shawn Collins on Geek Cast
Read MoreLink Glossary: Anchor Text
Anchor Text:
- Anchor text is the text on a page that is linked to another web page or a different place on the current page. When you click on anchor text, you will be taken to the page or place on the page to which it is linked.
This is basically the HTML nuts & bolts for text links. For example, the citation below referencing where this definition came from. Instead of pasting the URL in, it’s linked through the anchor text “The Definitive Guide to Link Buying by Patrick Gavin”. It’s a much more pleasant way to put links out there.
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Glossary Definition From The Definitive Guide to Link Buying by Patrick Gavin
Make Your Business Bloom with PsPrint
Lots of good sales going on this month at PsPrint. The sales are in full swing for spring and it’s time to get the word out about your business. Over the last few months I’ve been reposting some great articles from the PsPrint website about using print marketing to your advantage, so these sales are an awesome time to take advantage of that advise.
- 20% off Brochures
- Brochures are the fastest way for your clients to look up information about your business in a convenient matter without the aid of your website.
- Brochure Printing Made Easy
- Branding with a Shoestring Budget
- 50 4″ x 6″ Postcards for just $14.95
- With prices like these, even the smallest business can promote their products or services. Postcards are also great inexpensive alternatives to party or event invitations. With such a low price for such a small quantity, any mother can send postcards for a proud graduation party.
- Top Six Mistakes to Avoid in Any Postcard Marketing Campaign
- Ninja Marketing Tactics – Postcards
- 5 Proven Tips for Powerful Postcard Marketing
- 15% off Rack Cards
- Rack Cards provide travelers not familiar with the area with highlights of local sights and attractions in hotel lobbies around the country. Rack Cards can effectively advertise restaurants and shops as well to an audience wide open to suggestion.
Effective Email Case Study – Expedia
Checking my email last night I noticed some ingenious, personalized email marketing campaigns that I think more businesses should consider (including my own). I felt the need to share these as case studies. There’s a lot to cover, so I’ll split them up. Hopefully I can continue to do these case studies to give props to what works in marketing and why.
The Company: Expedia.com: I’ve always had great service and luck with Expedia
, so they’re my go-to travel site when referencing flight prices, hotels, etc.
The User History: a few days ago I booked a cruise vacation with some friends out of Port Canaveral, 60 minutes or so outside of Orlando. The trip isn’t for almost a full year, so I wanted to just get an idea of flight prices from Oakland to Orlando. I headed over to Expedia to just check out the price ranges and get a feel for how much I’ll have to put aside for a flight. Since the trip is next February, I don’t plan on actually making this purchase until sometime this summer or next fall.
The Subject Line: Find your flight to Orlando backed by our Best Price Guarantee.
The E-Mail:
The Effectiveness: It’s directing a sale that they’re already running to me, a person who has already shown that they are interested in this particular destination. The email contains just enough text to show that it’s paid attention to my user habits and is offering it’s help without trying to make a super hard sale. The links are targeted and there’s not much in the email that’s off topic (see the Seattle to San Francisco rates in the yellow box – unrelated but I don’t blame them for throwing it out there). I do acknowledge that this may be a total coincidence that I happened to be in the market for a flight to Orlando and this routine email may just be perfectly timed, but at least it shows that they do know their audience.
The Result: I honestly think that I may be a bit more likely to make this purchase sooner than I had anticipated because of this email. I am a little bummed that the sale advertised doestn’t lower the price any more than I’d already found on the website (which was probably a sale price in the first place). I will definitely keep an eye out in regards to their Best Price Guarantee, a service that I never realized they offered until receiving the email.
So in conclusion, email marketing can be effective, even when sending to other marketers. It’s always a great learning experience to pay attention to the emails you get and think to yourself, “What can I learn from this?” and apply what you’ve learned to your own job. It’ll improve your performance and you’ll be better off.
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