Dan Soschin

E-mail or Email – Which Spelling is Correct?

Updated October 1, 2014

Both methods for writing “email” are correct. But this highly debated topic was somewhat put to rest recently when the AP Style Guide officially announced it was dropping the hyphen from “e-mail”. And atlas, the world rejoiced. I never appreciated the hyphen in e-mail, so now we can write it (and not be accosted by our editors) without the hyphen.

If you’re looking for more tips on email marketing, you can start here.

Read all the other updates to the style guide here:

http://www.mpdailyfix.com/unfollow-unfriend-retweet-ap-stylebook-adds-another-21-words/
Will the Internet Ever Be Safe?

No.

No, the internet will never be safe.

Erik Saas recently posted commentary on the Sony PSP security breach and how almost immediately after correcting the security hole, another breach was created.

The bottom line here is that the internet will always have security breaches and safety issues. This is primarily a result of two issues:

1. Criminals work at hacking into systems after those systems are created. The builders of the systems can only use the latest system tools and best practices to prevent known types of security threats. They do their best using algorithms and modern techniques to attempt to proactively restrict/reduce potential threats. However, criminals can then develop new ways to compromise these systems. So, the onus is then on the architects to go back and provide patches.

2. Not all systems will be engineered to be perfectly safe. It is too expensive. Companies have to strike the right balance between safety and cost. To lock down certain systems, they might otherwise have to restrict access or features, or even add additional tools, such as software and hardware. These costs can quickly add up, meaning that things you take for granted such as free online gaming, free banking, and other services might not be free.

Education is the key to success. Computer safety is still not taught at any level in the public education system (K-12 or higher ed), with the exception being higher education programs that focus on computer-related majors. This is due to educators not being savvy enough to update scholastic programming, and the fact that most educators don’t understand proper computer safety anyway. The result is that the overwhelming majority of adults don’t understand phishing emails, what the “lock symbol” means in their browser, or that a pop-up add saying “you have a virus” is really just an advertisement.

Until education catches up with modern computing, the criminals will continue to have the upper hand, regardless of how much time and resources are put into locking systems down like Sony’s PSP.
Understanding Google Analytics – Site Search
There are a number of sections (groups of reports and metrics) in Google Analytics that webmasters often overlook. Perhaps it is due to not fully understanding how the reports are actionable, or simply due to the fact the reports are difficult to understand. Regardless, one set of reports, site search, can provide you some fantastic insight into how people are discovering content on your site, what they are looking for, and how well your content is tagged/organized. Addressing all of these topics is a challenging feat, but doing so can pay great dividends. If you can improve your conversion rate on your website by just a few points without spending any more money driving traffic to your site, why wouldn’t you want to get started as soon as possible.

The first place you may want to start is with Google Analytics of course.
1. Start by logging into your account and viewing some of the reports in site search. See what data returns. If you don’t have many visits, then you might not have much to gain here after all.
2. Learn more about these reports in GA’s help center:
3. Another fantastic way to learn about site search is to comb the web for great articles. One I recently came across which is a wonderful article introducing you to the benefits of site search reports was written by Rachel Anderson for the Search Engine Journal. You should definitely bookmark it!
A Facebook Page, Now What?

Businesses, one after another, are creating Facebook pages with the hopes of driving people to “like” them. However, many businesses fail to realize just having a page, and just obtaining likes are on the first steps. You need to drive engagement to captivate your audience and drive the viral nature of the Facebook feed. Without providing meaningful interaction, your Facebook experience will be DOA.

Ilana Rabinowitz wrote a fantastic article with many great examples about engaging with your Facebook followers and increasing comments. I strongly recommend the article as a great place to get started with understanding the importance of doing this and how to get started.
Video Production Tips for Newbies
Derek Gordon makes a great case for using video as part of your content strategy. I recently conducted a webcast on this very topic to train a client’s staff on how they could incorporate video into their content strategy, even if they had never produced a video before. We gave them a series of tips to get started, in an effort to lower the intimidation factor (barrier to entry) and encourage them to get filming.

The bottom line is that you can find a number of free resources online and a good place to start is YouTube, which has a full section on how to get started, tips and tricks.

I recommend a couple of purchases too:
- A good headset if you are going to narrate video, record Skype, or record a podcast. You don’t need to spend more than $50 on a USB Logitec headset
- A webcam ($50) if your laptop/monitor doesn’t have one already. Of course if you are going to be filming more than just yourself or your screen, you’ll need a video recording device such as a “flip cam”. These can run about $100-$200 for a decent one… They film in HD and have a built in close range microphone as well as storage and transfer the footage via USB. If you get a handheld camera, then you’ll need a tripod too. You can pick one up for about $25.
- For editing, there are some great free tools: Windows Media Maker, Avidemux, Wax, Zwei-Stein
- There are some better tools that do cost a few bucks: Camtasia, Adobe Premiere, Vegas, Final Cut
Tips for filming:
- Location
  - Indoors
  - Quiet
  - No extras (co-workers, friends, family, pets)
  - No background distractions
- Camera Angles
  - Straight or 3/4 front
  - Don’t be too high or too low
- Lighting
  - Directly ahead or 45-degrees on the side
  - No back light (from the windows or sun)
  - Don’t spotlight – not needed and will washout your video
- Audio
  - Quiet room with little/no echo
  - No dogs, babies, phones, TV
  - Do not adjust mic during recording
- You
  - Dress appropriately (no PJs)
  - Relax
  - Be yourself
  - Smile
- Do multiple takes
- Have a lead in (intro) and lead-out (outro)
- Cut out major mistakes >5 seconds (use a transition effect that is simple)
- Fix any major audio issues (software can do that for you
- Don’t worry about the little stuff as you are getting started; that just demonstrates genuine/honest quality of the video
- Keep clips short (under 5 minutes) for best consumption/watching on YouTube, etc.
- Graphics
  - Keep it simple
  - Static slides as necessary between live video
  - Find a simple, clean, professional template
  - Avoid cheesy clip art
- Audio Quality
  - High standards; you must be able to hear the clip perfectly!
  - Avoid cheesy music and sound effects
  - Overlay music is not recommended
  - Playback volume should sound good at 50% level
- Don’t over produce with too many bells and whistles, focus on the content
Special thanks to Noah Shunfenthal for assisting with this presentation.
Ad Targeting Opt-Out Bill – Who Really Wins?

A new bill is working its way through the labyrinth of Capitol Hill with regards to enabling consumers to opt-out of behavioral ad targeting. In other words, advertisers are current able to serve you ads based upon your “online persona” – a collection of sites you’ve previously been to and other generally available information about you (demographics, etc.)

This benefits no one (except for keeping policy makers busy).

This seems a bit silly… the ads will still be served up, and in a non-targeted way. So now, instead of seeing ads for things that you *may actually be interested in*, you’ll see random ads. How does that benefit anyone? Targeted ads benefit the consumer by delivering information about services they may be interested in, and keep advertising costs potentially lower because vendors can only pay for targeting people that are more likely to purchase. Seems like a win-win from my perspective (as someone who is a consumer and who purchases online ads for the products/services I sell.)
Social Communities & Academic Success

Erik Saas for MediaPost writes, “…I maintain there are plenty of ways social networks can be learning aids rather than hindrances.“

As someone who works in higher education, we have seen data that supports this hypothesis. Of course we are working on proving this empirically through collection of additional data (and the subsequent analysis).

Studies that show the benefits of social networking with regards to academic success are continuing to surface. Data suggests that students who leverage communities as part of their academic program, perform better academically. And, (transitively speaking), those that perform better (higher grades) have higher graduation/completion rates. Of course it is up to the school to implement social communities and engage students in a meaningful way – beyond the farmvilles and mafia wars, of course!
Social Media Customer Service Case Study: Revell Models

Augie Ray shares an incredible case study about how Revell Model’s customer service failing to live up to expectations based upon a recent experience of a friend. The case study examines how the company could/should have responded which would have resolved the issue consistent with its stated corporate mission, and also easily rectifying the situation. Instead, it’s now being featured in a case study of what not to do. Oops!
Social Media Policy & Education: Case Study of Australian Defence Ministry

Erik Sass at MediaPost reports that the Australian Defence Ministry is revisiting (investigating) how it should govern social media in light of several recent incidents involving a number of personal, including homophobic remarks in a public forum, streaming sexual encounters without consent, and so on.

This brings to light the fact that probably 99% of the service members are not using social media improperly; it’s just a select few bad apples – clearly spoiling the bunch though. This demonstrates that you need a strong social media policy so that members in your organization know exactly what they can and cannot do; and how to understand and address things construed as “on the fence”. It also underscores how important it is that when launching a social media policy, it absolutely must be accompanied by education. If your employees don’t understand the policy, and you don’t train them to do so, then the policy will be unsuccessful at protecting your organization. However, swift and stern handling of incidents should also be performed to demonstrate that the policy should not be taken lightly.
Groupon: Good or Bad for you business?

Felix Salmon wrote an article, “Grouponomics” for Reuters recently that offers excellent insight into some of the competitive advantages Groupon should be able to leverage over copy cats. Things like localization, personalization and data. Groupon should be able to coach merchants on how to best price their offer based upon their average transaction price and profit margin; as well as volume, seasonality and new customer acquisition metrics.

I’ve been doing a lot of research on this topic – whether doing a Groupon-type offer is good for you business and this article provides a good intro-discussion on this issue.