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What’s In A Number Anyway? Be Your Brand Not Your Klout!

October 28, 2011 By 21 Comments

"Klout Nerf 2011"

Wednesday October 26th, 2011. A day that will go down in socialsphere infamy! “The Great Klout Nerf!”

I personally joke each time Klout applies a change to their algorithm as it seems they slap some code in without proper testing and tuning. It is “A” benchmark but not “THE” benchmark. A data point does not define who we are or who we engage with each day.

Unfortunately for me I took a 8 point bounce which I do not understand and find humorous. I was happy at my range of 67-70 but overall could care less. I am sad to say that some people ended up being outright nasty to me because of a number that I have no control over. It was the first day I felt sad as a member of the socialsphere. A few people were beating up on me because my Klout went up.

Many of the responses and posts acknowledge that Klout’s algorithm changed and impacted scores but not many discuss what it really means or what the changes may have been.

A very basic definition of an algorithm is a step-by-step procedure for calculations. Most people do not understand or care about algorithms because they seems to techie. That is why I like to “momify” technology topics. In other words how would I explain a concept to my mom so she understands and can explain it to her friends.

In the case of Klout think of their algorithm as a bread recipe and the loaf of bread as your Klout score. They started with a basic set of ingredients using different weightings and measurements and a process for “baking” it all together and produced the initial Klout score. Just like a recipe you can tweak it and yield different results whether they be desirable or not.

It is safe to say that Klout’s recipe was initially weighted heavily on Twitter activity. Over the past few months they have been adding new social networks and applications into the mix. Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and WordPress to name a few. The issue is that Klout has never really given guidance in the form or “release notes” to spell out how those new ingredients affect the final Klout score. Without these release notes we are left to assume which is why people are angry. I consider Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as the primary networks on Klouts list for now. The others seem secondary and some even tertiary in their online impact and influence.

A few questions I have are:

1) Did Klout “buff” weightings on LinkedIn and Facebook activities such as public and private groups? I never felt they gave proper weighting to LinkedIn and Facebook beyond number of friends and connections. I assume the answer to this question would be yes as the only two reasons I can think of for my score going up lie in these two networks.

2) Did Klout “nerf” the weighting of Twitter activity? If so, how and why? I would say yes since most of the outcry is coming from the Twitter users.

3) If someone only has a Twitter account how are they weighted versus another person who uses LinkedIn and Facebook? To Jure Klepic’s point why should spammers like #TeamFollowBack who only reside on Twitter and add zero value carry a score of 77 while a professional who truly engages on and impacts the “Big 3″ social networks suffers in the rankings?

4) How much weight does a network like FourSquare have compared to Twitter?

5) What made one user take a 15 point dive and another an 8 point increase? Give us a few general user scenarios.

6) Did Klout test the new algorithm against a mirror set of data on a non production database before applying the new patch?  Comical that I have to ask this but I have my doubts.

7) Are there variances that appeared after the new algorithm went live that you did not see in testing or expect? If so what are they and are you working to fix them?

It really is not that hard. Blizzard has been making adjustments to their World of Warcraft in game algorithms for years but they are very good at communicating to their community in the form of blog posts, release notes and forums. In other words they engage with their customers.

I could go on and on with questions and suggestions for Klout but in the words of my good friend Daniel Newman, “Who cares?” Klout has never defined the people I engage with online. People matter for reasons that cannot be measured in “Likes” and “Re-Tweets.” Here are a few of my examples.

1. @Fonadlo – he calls it like he sees it and has epic knowledge of and passion for coffee.

2. @MikeHaydon – love of Australia and a fantastic Kangaroo marinade recipe.

3. @JanetCallaway – her simple “Aloha” takes us all to a sunny place.

4. @MargieClayman – wonderful talent for content curation and the beautiful Blog Library she is so lovingly building.

5. @BruceSallan – loves being a dad, hosts #dadchat and of course his hat.

6. @JessicaNorthey – her weekly “Yeeeeehah!” in the form of #CMChat with guest visitors like The Oak Ridge Boys. How cool!

7. @DabneyPorte and @MamaBritt – Diva dust! Nuff said!!!

8. @SeanMcGinnis & @DanielNewmanUV – A passion for creating 12Most. The first true “collaborative blogging community” where anyone can submit a post and have their ideas shared with the world.

9. @MqTodd and @Leowid – the “Tooltime” guys of the socialsphere. They make it fun and easy to understand!

10. @PegFitzgerald – Uber enthusiastic personality that comes through every tweet and makes us all smile ear to ear.

11. @AngelaMaiers – her skill for putting words together to create some of the most touching posts I read is amazing. Stunning command of language and expressing ideas.

12. @JKCallas – Dives deep into the topics he covers and is always open to helping anyone in the socialsphere understand them.

Excellent examples of different forms of influence and none defined by a simple number. Perhaps today is a good day to dump your Klout and find your Flair. Toss the number and define your personal brand.  Let’s call it the “BrandFlair Question.”

Answer this:

If this was your last day on Earth and you had just enough time to tell the world one word that sums you up what would it be? Would you give us a number because you care about your amplification or would you give us something else? Something that matters? Something real?

Got your answer? Good! Now go be your brand, not your number!

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Protecting Your Brand With Trademarks, Copyrights and Patents!

August 31, 2011 By 3 Comments

Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks
 
 
 
 

“Who steals my purse, steals trash . . .;
but he that filches from me my good name
robs me of that which not enriches him
and makes me poor indeed.”

-  Othello,  Shakespeare

 

What is a Trademark?

A trademark can be words, devices, symbols or a composite of any two or more. It can also be sounds, smells, colors, buildings, package shapes. A trademark helps distinguish your goods or services from others. There is no requirement to register a trademark to be protectable but registration does increase protection. Trademark registration is cheap, but it’s not automatic. The cost is on the order of $1000 for a typical application, and an additional $3000-$5000 in prosecution to achieve registration.

Pros: Relatively inexpensive; term is in force so long as used in commerce.

Cons: Non-use, non-enforcement can destroy mark (e.g., Escalator, Linoleum, Kerosene, Cellophane, Thermos, Aspirin, Yo-Yo and Bikini).

What is a Copyright?

A copyright can be literary works, motion pictures and other audio visual works, musical works (including accompanying words), sound recordings, software, plans and designs, semiconductor masks, etc. Registration enables suit against unauthorized copiers in Federal Court and discourages some copiers. Registration is not necessary to use the ©, but is good evidence that you were the first to write, compose, draw or code a particular work.

Pros: Relatively inexpensive, on the order of $1000 for a typical group of registrations, and copyright term is long (life of author + 70 years).

Cons: Thin form of protection; infringement only when expression copied.

Copyright and trademark registrations are “no brainer” business decisions, if they are appropriate. But we need to think hard about patents.  The costs are high so why would we spend that much money for a patent?

Why would I want a patent?

1. To stop others from making, using, or selling your invention.
2. Licensing revenue makes money on your innovation, no matter who is selling it.
3. Marketing the product itself, because we all know that “patented” means “better.”
4. Increasing your company’s valuation.

Apply for a patent immediately unless you want to keep it secret or never want a foreign patent. A patent application should be made within one year (or less) from any public use of invention, offer to sell invention or publication describing the invention. Failure to apply for a patent within one year from any of these events will bar you from ever getting a patent on the invention. The nature of a patent is a complete disclosure of the invention and a 20-year monopoly on it.  Whether this a patent is a good deal, depends on your industry and is determined by pace of change, detectability and reverse engineering.

According to the 2008 Berkley patent survey of entrepreneurs, 76% of venture backed entrepreneurs and 67% of all entrepreneurs say patents are absolutely vital to obtaining funding. In Hsu and Ziedonis’ (2008) fixed-effects regression analysis of 813 financing rounds by 269 American semiconductor firms they found that a doubling of a company’s application stock is associated with a 28% increase in pre-money valuations which translates to a value of $2.3 million per patent in 2008 prices. They also found that the signaling value of patents is greater in earlier financing rounds.

The patent term starts on the issue date and ends twenty years from the earliest effective filing date. A patent grants you the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing your invention. It prohibits all use, not just copying.

Pros: Strongest form of protection (protects ideas, not expressions); covers innocent infringers; term is reasonable (20 years from filing date).

Cons: Relatively more expensive and time consuming to obtain and potentially could be on the order of $10,000-$15,000 for an application, and an additional $10,000-$25,000 over five years to get the patent to issue.

Note: The information provided in this post is not legal advice and I am not an attorney. If you want legal advice, please contact a licensed Intellectual Property (IP) attorney in your state who is in good standing with your State’s Bar and seek to establish an attorney-client relationship.

 

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Marketing Tips To Get Your Videos Noticed On YouTube

June 21, 2011 By 2 Comments

YouTube Five Stars

If you enjoy viewing videos on YouTube, you will be surprised with how easy it is to use YouTube yourself and drive traffic to your website or blog. YouTube is known to get extremely high volumes of visitors every day. For you, this means videos you post to YouTube may be watched by thousands of people or more! Here are a few ways to market your YouTube videos to attract more and increasing numbers of viewers.

The easiest way to market your YouTube videos is to leverage your “natural market” and let friends, family members, or coworkers know that you have videos available for viewing on YouTube. Since you know these people personally, it is OK to email them the direct links for your YouTube videos, tell them what your videos are about, why you think they would be interested and your YouTube screen name. YouTube allows site visitors to browse through all of their videos or search for something in particular (i.e. screen name, your name) and find one of your videos.

Another powerful way to market your YouTube videos is to embed them into your websites or blogs. YouTube enables you to easily format and copy HTML code that can not only be copied into your site, but also enable other internet users to embed your YouTube videos on their sites. It is a common practice (and one I strongly recommend) for bloggers to insert YouTube videos in their blog posts. A fantastic way to promote your YouTube videos is to write a compelling title and brief blog post about each video you post on YouTube. You want to give viewers a reason to watch your video and at the same time drive traffic to your primary site. Remember you are competing with massive amounts of existing and new content every day.  Once you are happy with your video blog post, publish it to your site. I highly recommend all new content be manually posted or scheduled to post first thing in the morning when people are starting their day. This is when viewers are checking their social sites and your new videos have a better chance at being viewed.   Again, be sure to reach out to viewers in your network and provide them with a personal invitation to watch the new video and the required HTML codes to embed your YouTube video appear in their blog. With a friendly and inviting approach you will be surprised to find that even strangers will be happy to view and use your content as part of their site.

Online message boards are another way to market YouTube videos. There are a large number of online message boards that let you discuss or share anything with other board members. Post links to some of your YouTube videos that other members would enjoy watching. Some online message boards or forums allow you to have a signature. Your signature appears at the end of each of your messages and helps brand your videos and your blog site. If you are active and share quality content your YouTube videos are likely to get more exposure as will your website or blog.

You may be wondering exactly why you should take the extra time market your videos. As previously mentioned, YouTube alone can potentially generate thousands of viewers for your videos. With a little time and effort you can further increase your online popularity. Connecting appropriate YouTube videos to your business can help attract new clients. Most marketing methods available, including the three mentioned in this post are free and easy to do. Using these tactics will only add few minutes to your marketing process and become productive habits in no time.

If you find yourself unsatisfied or unhappy with your current YouTube traffic try one or three of these suggestions. Marketing your YouTube videos is easy and will bring rewarding results.

Filed Under: Featured, Social Media, Social Media & Technology, Youtube Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Apple Sets The Foundation For Innovation With Announcements At WWDC 2011

June 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Apple WWDC 2011 BadgeApple again set the foundation for the next stage of innovation at WWDC 2011 with their announcement of the iCloud, OSX (Lion) and iOS5. Innovation is key this year as Apple has not invented a new device but rather they are moving technology forward and are the one company who has the foundation set to make it successful where other companies have failed.

The first new innovation is Apple’s iCloud technology and App Store.  iCloud is a tool to allow seamless integration into your applications (“not a hard disk in the sky”) whether it’s pages, keynotes, numbers, email and gives you access to those applications and content no matter what device you are using.  No more syncing via wire with your computer to update your Operating System (OS), applications or music library. One library connects to multiple devices without any wire syncing occurring. Users can open documents, edit them and then open that same edited document on their computer, iPad or iPhone. Content is now accessible on all your devices. Apple has not given an official release date but it is expected around Fall 2011.  iCloud is FREE to those who upgrade to Lion, Apple’s next OS.

Which brings me to the next BIG innovation from Apple – OSX Lion. There are over 250 new features but the top ones that Apple touts are Multi-Touch gestures, Mission Control, Full-Screen Apps and Launchpad.  Multi-Touch gestures allows users to use multiple finger gestures on the touch pad to control the interface with their computer, such as full screen swiping and page and image zoom, and three finger swipe down to immediately go to Mission Control feature.  Mission Control gives you a view of apps and windows open on your computer so you can quickly look at what you were doing and where you want to go next on your computer. You can create a dashboard or desktop view that take you to all things relevant to a project you are working on, Apple calls it the “Hub of Your System”.  The next OSX Lion feature is Full-Screen Apps.  In the past with Apple you expanded your app window view to the size you wanted. Now with a simple click in the upper right corner of each app you can expand to the full size of your computer screen or Full-Screen.  This is not a major improvement but something Apple needed to incorporate into their applications. Apple WWDC 2011 - iCloud, Lion OSX, iOS5 Launchpad is a definite improvement on the past method of keeping track of your applications and updating them.  In the past if you moved the applications out of the apps folder then your system update did not locate them automatically to get the latest update and it was sometimes difficult to find your application.  Now with Launchpad, applications are automatically all in one place viewable via icons making them easier to find. You can group applications that fall into a category such as “Productivity” and place all your Word, Excel, PowerPoint apps in a group, just like dragging and dropping apps on the iPad and iPhone to group apps together.  And if that wasn’t enough, the ONLY way you can get this operating system for a mere $29.95 is thru the Mac App Store which now can be on your Mac computer like it is on your iPhone and iPad.  No more CDs and printed manuals. One hundred percent all digital is now how Apple will offer all new applications and this is just the beginning we are seeing from Apple. Expect to see other technology companies take this trend but Apple is leading the way with making the digital method the ONLY method to get the new OS.

Finally, Apple announced the iOS5 which is the new operating system for the iPad and iPhone. Again leading the way with over 200 new features in this update with the top features being Notification Center which is an improved method of announcing new SMS, Mail, Event, and WiFi locations without interrupting your current activity. Other features are iMessage, Reminders, Twitter integration, an improved Camera and Photo Streaming, improving your Safari or browsing experience with the smaller screens on iPad and iPhone with tabbed browsing and Reading List generator. But one of the best items added to this iOS is the fact that you no longer have to sync via wire with your computer EVER. You can upload all updates via the iCloud which in turns updates all your devices.  This is major as there was always some sync issue with documents not matching up on one device and having to connect via wire and move over from your computer to your iPad or even to make sure your music library was updated on all your devices which drives people crazy trying to keep it all organized together.

Other announcements at the 2011 WWDC include:

  1. No new iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 was announced this time.
  2. R.I.P MobileMe – it’s dead and everything now goes into iCloud – all free for up to 5GB and it will update across all your Apple devices.
  3. The Volume up button can now be used to take a photo on your iPhone 4.
  4. A split virtual keyboard on iPad that allows for easier typing.  Our hands thank Apple!
  5. iTunes 10.3 is out. – launch the old one to upgrade.
  6. App Store gets a magazine stand

Apple truly fixed the content sync issue with iCloud, OSX Lion and iOS5 bringing it all together in true Apple form and simplicity and we love it!

 

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