There is clear dissatisfaction with the current state of marketing among the social media mavens.

• Fred Wilson and Union Square Ventures are looking for companies to invest in to take advantage of this.
• BuzzLogic releases their conversational ad service.
• The Inquisitr moves from AdSense to Technorati Media, indicating a potential shift at b5 Media.
• Lookery is providing demographic information that is relevant to social media providers and shaping ad presentation that way
• A completely off-the-radar person such as myself realizes that there is gold in what holds the attention, and that’s not always the latest and greatest

So what can be done? Jeff Jarvis points out that the problem lies with measurement. I agree, as there is only value in a system where all of the people involved agree on what the metric of record will be, and how it can be validly captured.

Currently CPM is the agreed upon metric. In a feed based online world, how does a CPM model work? And, most importantly, why would I continue to place your ads on my site if all your doing is advertising to people based on the words on the page, rather than who is looking at the page and how often that page is looked at.

In effect, advertisers should be the ones thrying to figure out how to get into the community, get into the conversation. As an advertiser, don’t you want to be where the action is? But how do you find an engaged audience in an online world that makes a sand castle on the beach in a hurricane look stable?

The challenge for advertisers is to be able to find the active communities and conversations effectively. The challenge for content creators and communities is to understand the value of their conversations, the interactions that people who visit the site have with the content.

In effect, a social media advertising model turns the current model on its head. Site owners and community creators gain the benefit of being attractive to advertisers because of the community, not because of the content. And site owners who understand who visits their site, what content most engages them, how they interact with the system will be able to reap the greatest rewards by selling their community as a marketable entity.

And Steven Hodson rounds out the week’s think on communities by throwing out the subversive idea that communities are not always free (as in ‘beer’, not as in ‘land of’). If a community has paid for the privilege of coming together to participate in communal events and discussions, then can’t that become an area for site owners to further control the cost of advertising on their site?

While the benefit of reduced or no marketing content is the benefit of many for-pay communities, this benefit can be used by site owners by saying that an advertiser can have access to the for-pay community at the cost of higher ad rates and smaller ads. The free community is a completely different set of rules, but there are also areas in the free community that are of higher value than others.

In summary, the current model is broken. But there is no way to measure the value of a Twitter stream, a FriendFeed conversation, a Disqus thread, or a Digg rampage. And until there is, we are stuck with an ad model that based on the words on the page, and not the community that created the words.

Tags: ad network, ads, adsense, advertising, advertising model, API, attention, audience, b5 Media, blog, blog advertising, BuzzLogic, BuzzMachine, community, content, control, conversation, current, data, digg, disqus, EAD, feeds, Fred Wilson, friendfeed, HTML, HTTP, IE, IM, information, interaction, interactions, IP, it, Jeff Jarvis, LAN, Lookery, Mac, marketing, measurement, media, metrics, Newest Industry, Om, One, online, online world, pr, social media, social media advertising, social media advertising model turns, social media mavens, social media providers, Steven Hodson, Technorati, The Inquisitr, twitter, Union Square, Union Square Ventures

The idea that blogs generate a personal brand is as old as the “blogosphere”. It’s one of those topics that rages through the blog world every few months. Inexorably the discussion winds its way to the idea that a blog is linked exclusively to the creators of its content. This makes a blog, no matter what side of the discussion you fall on, the online representation of a personal brand that is as strong as a brand generated by an online business.

And just as corporate brands are affected by the performance of their Web sites, a personal brand can suffer just as much when something causes the performance of a blog Web site to degrade in the eyes of the visitors. For me, although my personal brand is not a large one, this happened yesterday when Disqus upgraded to multiple databases during the middle of the day, causing my site to slow to a crawl.

I will restrain my comments on mid-day maintenance for another time.

The focus of this post is the effect that site performance has on personal branding. In my case, the fact that my blog site slowed to a near standstill in the middle of the day likely left visitors with the impression that my blog about Web performance was not practicing what it preached.

For any personal brand, this is not a good thing.

In my case, I was able to draw on my experience to quickly identify and resolve the issue. Performance returned to normal when I temporarily disabled the Disqus plugin (it has since been reactivated). However, if I hadn’t been paying attention, this performance degradation could have continued, increasing the negative effect on my personal brand.

Like many blogs, Disqus is only one of the outside services I have embedded in my site design. Sites today rely on AdSense, Lookery, Google Analytics, Statcounter, Omniture, Lijit, and on goes the list. These services have become as omnipresent in blogs as the content. What needs to be remembered is that these add-ons are often overlooked as performance inhibitors.

Many of these services are built using the new models of the over-hyped and mis-understood Web 2.0. These services start small, and, as Shel Israel discussed yesterday, need to focus on scalability in order to grow and be seen as successful, rather than cool, but a bit flaky. As a result, these blog-centric services may affect performance to a far greater extent than the third-party apps used by well-established, commercial Web sites.

I am not claiming that any one of these services in and of themselves causes any form of slowdown. Each has its own challenges with scaling, capacity, and success. It is the sheer number of the services that are used by blog designers and authors poses the greatest potential problem when attempting to debug performance slowdowns or outages. The question in these instances, in the heat of a particularly stressful moment in time, is always: Is it my site or the third-party?

The advice I give is that spoken by Michael Dell: You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Yesterday, I initiated monitoring of my personal Disqus community page, so I could understand how this service affected my continuing Web performance. I suggest that you do the same, but not just of this third-party. You need to understand how all of the third-party apps you use affect how your personal brand performance is perceived.

Why is this important? In the mind of the visitor, the performance problem is always with your site. As with a corporate site that sees a sudden rise in response times or decrease in availability, it does not matter to the visitor what the underlying cause of the issue is. All they see is that your site, your brand (personal or corporate), is not as strong or reliable as they had been led to believe.

The lesson that I learned yesterday, one that I have taught to so many companies but not heeded myself, is that monitoring the performance of all aspects of your site is critical. And while you as the blog designer or writer might not directly control the third-party content you embed in your site, you must consider how it affects your personal brand when something goes wrong.

You can then make an informed decision on whether the benefit of any one third-party app is outweighed by the negative effect it has on your site performance and, by extension, your personal brand.

Tags: app, blog site, blog Web site, blog-centric services, brand, corporate site, disqus, Google, Michael Dell, online, online representation, outside services, personal brand, third-party, third-party applications, third-party apps, Web Performance

Recently there was an outage at a hit-tracking vendor I was using to track the hits on my externally hosted blog, leaving me with a gap in my visitor data several hours long. While this was an inconvenience for me, I realized that this could be mission critical failure to an online business reliant on this data.

To resolve this, I used the PHP HTTP environment variables and the built-in function for converting IP addresses to IP numbers to create my own hit-tracker. It is a rudimentary tracking tool, but it provides me with the basic information I need to track visitors.

To begin, I wrote a simple PHP script to insert tracking data into a MySQL database. How do you do that? You use the gd features in PHP to draw an image, and insert the data into the database.

---

header ("Content-type: image/png");

include("dbconnect_logger.php");
$logtime = date("YmdHis");
$ipquery = sprintf("%u",ip2long($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']));

        $query2 = "INSERT into logger.blog_log values \
               ($logtime,$ipquery,'$HTTP_USER_AGENT','$HTTP_REFERER')";
        mysql_query($query2) or die("Log Insert Failed");

mysql_close($link);

$im = @ImageCreate (1, 1)
or die ("Cannot Initialize new GD image stream");
$background_color = ImageColorAllocate ($im, 224, 234, 234);
$text_color = ImageColorAllocate ($im, 233, 14, 91);

// imageline ($im,$x1,$y1,$x2,$y2,$text_color);
imageline ($im,0,0,1,2,$text_color);
imageline ($im,1,0,0,2,$text_color);

ImagePng ($im);
?>

---

Next, I created the database table.

---

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `blog_log`;
CREATE TABLE `blog_log` (
  `date` timestamp NOT NULL default '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
  `ip_num` double NOT NULL default '0',
  `uagent` varchar(200) default NULL,
  `visited_page` varchar(200) NOT NULL default '',
  UNIQUE KEY `date` (`date`,`ip_num`,`visited_page`)
) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;

---

It’s done. I can now log any request I want using this embedded tracker.

Data should begin flowing to your database immediately. This sample snippet of code will allow you to pull data for a selected day and list each individual hit.

---

$query1 = "SELECT
                bl.ip_num,
                DATE_FORMAT(bl.date,'%d/%b/%Y %H:%i:%s') AS NEW_DATE,
                bl.uagent,
                bl.visited_page
        FROM blog_log bl
        WHERE
                DATE_FORMAT(bl.date,'%Y%m%d') ='$YMD'
		and uagent not REGEXP '(.*bot.*|.*crawl.*|.*spider.*|^-$|.*slurp.*|.*walker.*|.*lwp.*|.*teoma.*|.*aggregator.*|.*reader.*|.*libwww.*)'
        ORDER BY bl.date ASC";

print "<table border=\"1\">\n";
print "<tr><td>IP</td><td>DATE</td><td>USER-AGENT</td><td>PAGE VIEWED</td></tr>";
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result1)) {
        $visitor = long2ip($row[ip_num]);
        print "<tr><td>$visitor</td><td nowrap>$row[NEW_DATE]</td><td nowrap>$row[uagent]</td><td>";

	if ($row[visited_page] == ""){
    	    print " --- </td></tr>\n";
	} else {
    	    print "<a href=\"$row[visited_page]\" target=\_blank\">$row[visited_page]</a></td></tr>\n";
	}

}

mysql_close($link);

---

And that’s it. A few lines of code and you’re done. With a little tweaking, you can integrate the IP number data with a number of Geographic IP databases available for purchase to track by country and ISP, and using graphics applications for PHP, you can add graphs.

For my own purposes, this is an extension of the Geographic IP database I created a number of years ago. This application extracts IP address information from the five IP registrars, and inserts it into a database. Using the log data collected by the tracking bug above and the lookup capabilities of the Geographic IP database, I can quickly track which countries and ISP drive the most visitors to my site, and use this for general interest purposes, as well as the ability to isolate any malicious visitors to the site.

Tags: analytics, database, graphics applications, hits, HTTP, IP, ISP, online, Perl, PHP, Registrar, rudimentary tracking tool, tracking, traffic, visitors

In today’s Boston Globe, there is an article discussing why Facebook went to the Valley instead of staying in the Boston area (article online).

Having now lived in both areas for nearly equal amounts of time, I can tell you that there are substantial differences between them. People from Boston may violently disagree, but I have found that the innovative spirit of the Valley, the one that drove the creation of the commercial Internet, does not exist here.

I am, however, someone who now laughs at the insular culture of the Valley, a place that still considers itself the center of the Internet innovation universe. I had a chance to meet with a growing Internet firm while I was out there on business last week (not Technorati), and I found the hubris and ego in the meeting that I attended laughable.

I was not laughing at this firm’s success, which has been great. I was laughing at the fact that the mid-level managers that we met with had the gall to effectively state that having their name on our customer list entitled (and yes, entitlement is also a large part of the culture) them to demand a deal that none of our customers get.

I can’t be sure what the sales guy I went with thought, but I left the meetings laughing. This company, which is younger than my youngest son, thought it had more pull with us than the multi-hundred billion financial firms we deal with daily. Thought that it had more pull than the large, first-generation Internet companies that we work closely with.

Yes, Boston does not generally fund and encourage a culture of innovation (yes, there are always exceptions). But those who seek to take the next great idea to the Internet should beware the hubris of the Valley.

Tags: API, book, Boston, business, content, customers, EAD, HTTP, IE, IM, Internet, ISP, it, LAN, live, Om, One, online, Technorati

Today, I want to talk about what happens when you aggressively adopt an online strategy, but leave your print subscribers behind.

I subscribe to a great architecture and design magazine, whose name I will exclude from this discussion, with a fantastic and informative online presence. The archive and articles available to subscribers are a fantastic resource for people just beginning to explore this field.

In February, I noticed that they had updated their site with the most recent issue’s content and cover. I was somewhat miffed, as my print copy had not yet arrived in the mail. Immediate assumption: print copy lost; request re-transmission.

Today, I checked the site, and all of the content for the March 2007 issue is online. And I don’t have my copy of this issue yet.

Based on the response to the e-mail that I sent to the circulation and publishing team, I may be the first person to bring this to their attention.

When you are in the dead-tree print industry, the Web (1.0 and 2.0) are crucial extensions to your existing business model. But the aggressive use of the Web channel to deliver your content to the rest of the world before the print subscribers receive their copies is doing damage to your business.

Subscribers pay extra in order to gain access to your magazine before the rest of the world can get it. This must extend to the Web channel. As a subscriber, knowing that someone can read the contents of the magazine online before I get my chance to look at the print copy is unsatisfactory.

Subscription content infers a level of exclusivity to those who buy the gold ticket. If you give everyone the gold ticket at the same time, then a subscription loses it sense of exclusivity. Then the magazine loses guaranteed revenue. Then the magazine is gone.

Information should be free. I chafe against the subscription gateways as much as the next person. But if you base your entire business on a subscription model, you better not undermine your own subscription business by giving the subscription content away for free.

Tags: magazine, content, subscription, print, Web

Tags: app, attention, business, content, design, EAD, extension, HTTP, IE, IM, information, IP, it, leave, live, media, Om, One, online, online presence, pr, strategy, Technorati, update, web

Just went online and thought I would share the Yahoo TV comments so far.

Rushi’s Ramblings

Jason Blogs

Paul Kedrosky

Dave Winer

RowdyData

Oh, and my comments.

Yahoo, please give us an opt-out on this monstrosity. Or better yet, do a complete rollback.

Technorati Tags: Yahoo, Yahoo+TV, Bad+Design, Web+2.0, Bad+upgrade

Tags: ajax, blog, data, design, HTML, HTTP, it, LAN, live, Om, online, pr, Technorati, tv, web, wordpress

So, we’re packing up the minivan and heading for the idyllic wilds of Maine for the Holiday weekend.

I will have connectivity, but frankly, there will be too much going on with five kids, four adults, a dog, and a flock of sheep (no sheep-human interaction! You people are sick!) to be online much.

Tags: connectivity, EAD, interaction, it, online

Over the next 12-18 months, my plan is to move to working from home more. Like, 100% of the time, when I’m not travelling. To help accomplish this, and to free myself from the servitude to the Telcos, I have started to migrate almost exclusively to Skype for my work communication.

In this area, I bought two SkypeIn numbers over the weekend: One for the US, and one for the UK. So, if you want to contact me (oh yeah, I’m beating down the doors to keep people out — NOT!), I can be reached at:

SKYPE NORMAL: stephen.pierzchala
US: +1.508.471.3865
UK: +44 20 8133 3865

If I am online, I will likely be willing to chat; if not, you’ll bounce to my Skype voicemail.

I love Skype.

Did I mention that I love Skype? Oh, ok…

Tags: IE, IM, it, LAN, normal, Om, One, online

Now that I am back on US soil, I have some tips for surviving your trip to London.

1. GSM Phones. If you are one of the millions in the United States who subscribe to a CDMA service (Verizon, Sprint, etc.), invest a few bucks on eBay and buy a low-end, unlocked, tri-band GSM phone. I have used GSM for years, and the unlocked phones give you an amazing advantage — you buy a pay-as-you-go SIM card once you arrive.

   In the UK, incoming phone calls are free. If you have a half-decent office phone system, you should be able to remotely forward your desk phone to your UK number and voila! You have a local number that folks in the US can always reach you at.

2. OYSTER CARD! If you plan to travel anywhere on the London Public Transit system, buy an Oyster card. Same concept as the pay-as-you-go SIM card. And you’re never fussing with change or daily passes for the tube, DLR or busses.
3. Saline Nasal Spray. This seems like a bit in the “too much information” category, but trust me on this one. London’s atmosphere makes New York seem like an untouched Alpine pasture. After one day there, your sinuses will feel and look like the inside of a pool filter after a dust storm. A simple nasal spray takes of this, and often provides a somewhat scary indication of what man does to the urban environment he lives in.

   If you don’t want to pack one with you, you can buy some truly awesome stuff at any Boots — Sterimar. What makes this stuff uniqe is that it is aresol powered. Unlike the wussy atomisers we use over here, this stuff is freakin’ jet-propelled — if it can’t blast the crap out, it’s likely brains.

4. Look to the right. Yeah, we all know that the Brits drive on the other side of the road, but many an American has been nearly killed in the first twelve hours on the ground by using their instincts and not their brains. I am in this group.

   Thankfully, the Brits provide nice warning labels at most crosswalks; look down, and they will tell you which direction to look in to avoid becoming a hood ornament for a Bentley.

5. Change Wallet. Dear lord; you will need one of these or you will blow out every pocket you have. The Brits still use a lot of cash, and like the rest of the world, the lower denominations of their currency are coins, not bills. A solid change wallet is key.
6. Take the red-eye. You will search online and find a multitude of strategies for dealing with jet-lag. I have a simple one — make sure your flight takes you overnight so that you land at Heathrow/Gatwick/Stansted/Dublin/Luton first thing in the morning. For folks on the East Coast or Central Canada, this means flights between 19:00 and 22:00 Eastern. For West Coast folks, it’s a 11-12 hour flight and an eight-hour time change, and Heathrow opens at 07:00, so 11:00-14:00 Pacific is a good range.

These are the top six I can think of rigt now. Comment on your strategies if you have them.

Tags: Canada, cro, GSM, HTTP, IE, IM, information, IP, it, LAN, live, Om, One, online, PHP, pr, search, the other, United States, Verizon

A few years ago, I wrote an article on how GZIP compression improved Web performance. Don Marti at the Linux Journal was a great editor, and eventually, the article ended up in the online version of the Magazine.

At the time, I used Ian Holsman’s webperf.org (now renamed ITScales) to capture the data. Now that I have built my own Web performance monitoring network, I thought I would repeat the experiment.

You can see the comparative results at these locations:

• Wikipedia
• Google News
• Technorati
• Juniper Networks — they own the Redline hardware acceleration device
• F5 Networks — they sell the F5 hardware acceleration device

After I have collected a lot more data, I will be re-visiting the article and commenting on the state of compression technology on the Internet.

If you would like to suggest a site to measure, please leave a comment.

Technorati Tags: HTTP, Web+Compression, Web+performance, GrabPERF, study, HTTP+compression

Tags: compress, compression, data, Google, GrabPERF, GrabPERF.org, gzip, HTML, HTTP, IM, Internet, IP, it, LAN, leave, Linux, Om, online, performance, PHP, pr, Technorati, web, Web Performance, Web+performance, WebPerformance.Org