Ullys' Online World

Sunday, May 12, 2013

The state of eCommerce in china

infographic which comes courtesy of Alibaba...

The state of ecommerce in China

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

The Book about you*

check it out...and check out the new book this month

Monday, May 21, 2012

somereason this has been in my drafts..for more 3years...so no idea if the links even still work,....
but anyways

I've been lately uploading some mixes for my sites (hungama+recessiondjs+service SA) so heres some video Seo sites ive been reading up on;
Feel free to bookmark and Enjoy:

SEO for Video (hosted) Tips & Tutorials

Video Sharing & Youtube Optimization Tips

Video SEO Tips from Friends

General Tips & Techniques

Additional Resources

Helping Your Clients Build an Effective Mobile Strategy

It can be a challenge convincing clients to add new strategies to their existing Web presence.
In a perfect world, a client would simply say, "You’re the expert. You know what’s best. Do whatever needs to be done to make it happen!" But, unfortunately, it just doesn’t work like that.

Granted, we shouldn’t expect smart business managers to implement every new thing just because we tell them it’s a good idea. That wouldn’t be cost effective. But what if you know in your gut that the future of a client’s business may be at stake?
With Google executives saying things like "I believe that in 3 years desktop computers will be irrelevant…" and studies by Gartner stating that "Websites not formatted for the smaller screen will become a market barrier…" the Mobile Web is one of your gut instincts you want your clients to follow. And follow now!
In a state of desperate urgency, you may be tempted to place all diplomacy aside, and just tell it to them straight, perhaps even reminding them of those other times they put off your advice. I like to call this the "Timeline of Lost Opportunities" tactic.

You may very well have clients who respond to that type of pressure, but more likely, you will need to ease your clients into the idea of a full-on Mobile Web strategy.
Below is a plan that can help. I’ve even included graphics in each step since, as the old adage goes, "A picture is worth a thousand different ways of pleading with one’s clients." (Or something like that.)

Step 1: Show Them the Money

The Mobile Web is upon us, whether we like it or not. People are using mobile devices to search, shop and click through on ads at unprecedented rates. And rates that are only expected to grow. Presenting numbers like those shown above, as well as information on how their competitors may already be capitalizing on the Mobile Web, can get your clients listening.

Step 2: Show Them What Their Customers Expect

Mobile device users search the Internet as often as they use apps, so having a mobile-ready website is important. Mobile consumers know what they want from a website, and typically take action once they get there. It’s important that your clients understand that their customers have different expectations of what a mobile website does and provides compared to their existing website. Mobile conversion rates can be impressive, but only if a website caters to the expectations of this mobile audience.

Step 3: Outline Best Practices and Give Them Choices

Once you’ve shown your clients how people use mobile devices, it should become more apparent that they need a mobile version of their website. Mobile website solutions need not be complicated or expensive. Show your clients some options, such as responsive web design or going with a dedicated mobile-optimized version of the site (along with the pros and cons of each) while emphasizing mobile website best practices.

Step 4: Help Them Decide Whether They Need a Mobile App

Mobile app usage is impressive, but while people do spend a lot of time using mobile apps, most of that time is spent on games and social networking. So does your client really need a mobile app? You can help them decide by weighing the pros and cons of mobile app development, and presenting ways they can optimize their mobile website as an alternative.

Step 5: Explain the Marketplace and Mobile App Nuances

A good mobile app strategy should analyze current marketplace trends and weigh the pros and cons of developing native apps versus web apps. Be sure to explain how the mobile marketplace works as well as the difference between native and web apps. This can help your clients make more informed decisions.

Step 6: Show Them Options and Give Them Choices

Mobile app solutions vary in price and complexity. Outline options for your client that include using HTML5 or one of the many do-it-yourself mobile app tools available today. Make your recommendations based on the client’s present and future needs.

Step 7: Introduce Other Mobile Marketing Tactics

The Mobile Web is more than just websites and apps. From QR codes to augmented reality, there are a host of tactics and tools you can implement to help your clients promote their business on the Mobile Web. Help your clients understand the importance of mobile-optimized landing pages. When they are marketing to a mobile audience, it is imperative that clients ultimately send potential customers to landing pages and other sources compatible with the customer’s mobile device.
The goal should be to educate your clients on the "hows" and "whys" of the Mobile Web and to help them understand their options. This approach can ultimately help them make informed decisions as they consider your recommendations.
This article is based on the book, The Bootstrapper’s Guide to the Mobile Web. The graphics used in this article are part of a sharable infographic available at TheBootstrappersGuide.com, where you’ll also find free mobile website, mobile app, and other mobile strategy worksheets.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

How To Add The Pinterest “Pin It” Button to a Website, WordPress Blog, or ecommerce CMS

There’s a good chance you’ve heard of Pinterest lately. It has been all over the news, as it’s growing like mad, and driving a lot of traffic to ecommerce retailers. If you’re not familiar with Pinterest, it’s a new social network/application that enables users to pin photos to virtual pinboards, organized by topic. Once pinned, other users can view your photos and pinboards, “repin” photos to their own pinboards, comment on photos, and like them. This had led to an explosion of traffic for some websites, especially ecommerce retailers. Many people use Pinterest when researching new purchases, to organize ideas, etc. For example, I just created a pinboard containing the top golf drivers I’m researching for the 2012 season. That’s if I get to play this year. :)

Based on the rapid growth of Pinterest, and all the buzz associated with that growth, I’ve received a lot of questions recently about how ecommerce retailers could get more involved. Also, website owners want to know the best ways to make it easier for Pinterest users to pin photos that are located on their respective websites. So, I decided to write this post to explain various ways to include the “Pin It” button on a website. I will include instructions and information below for how to include a “Pin It” button on a webpage, on a WordPress blog or website, and how to address adding the “Pin It” button to an ecommerce CMS (which is the most challenging of the three).

What is the “Pin It” Button?

Before we hop into the instructions, I’ll quickly cover what the “Pin It” button is. You have inevitably seen Like buttons, Tweet buttons, +1 buttons, etc. as you travel the web. Those social plugins make it easier for users to share content to Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ from websites across the web. Well, Pinterest also wants to make it easier for users to quickly pin content. So, they created the “Pin It” button. In its simplest form, it’s a small button that you can place on a webpage that enables users to quickly pin content to a pinboard, while also showing how many “pins” it has received. You can tailor the code of the “Pin It” button to specify the URL of the webpage, the URL of the image you want users to pin, and the description that populates the “Pin It” form. You can also tailor how the “Pin It” button displays on your webpages.

The “Pin It” button (both horizontal and vertical layout listed below):

Since there are several types of websites, and each brings its own type of installation, I’ll cover a few of the most common methods below. My hope is that the following information and instructions can help you get up and running quickly. Let’s face it, if you make it easier for users to pin content, the greater chance you have of receiving a spike of traffic from Pinterest. Let’s jump in.

Instructions for Adding the Pinterest Button to a Simple Webpage

This is the most basic implementation of the “Pin It” button. Let’s say you have a webpage with a killer photo of your core product. Maybe you don’t have many products, but just sell a handful of core products. If that’s the case, you could use the following instructions to add a “Pin It” button to those product webpages.

Pinterest has created a simple tool on its website to help webmasters create a static “Pin It” button. You can visit http://pinterest.com/about/goodies/ and scroll down to section titled “Pin It” Button for Websites. You will see fields for URL of the webpage the photo is located on, URL of the image located on your servers, and then a description field. The description is optional, but I highly recommend adding that to make it easier for users (since it auto-populates the “pin it” form once the button is clicked). You can also select how the “Pin It” button displays. There is a dropdown that lets you choose if the pin count shows up next to or above the pin button. You can also choose to not show the pin count at all.

Once you enter the required information, Pinterest will generate the code for you below the form. Then you can copy the code and add it to your webpage. There is “Basic” code and “Advanced Code”. The advanced code loads asynchronously, which can help with performance. Also, you should use the advanced code when you want to add several pin buttons to one webpage. You will need to add the resulting code to your webpage (in your html).

Screenshot of what the “Pin It” button form looks like when populated with sample data:

How To Add a Pinterest Button to a WordPress Blog (via a WordPress Plugin)

If you are running a WordPress blog, you are in luck. There are several plugins that you can install that makes it easy to add “Pin It” buttons to your blog posts and pages. I’ll explain two of those plugins below.

The first plugin I’ll cover is called Pinterest Pin It Button, and it provides some great functionality. Using this plugin, you can add “Pin It” buttons to your posts, pages, homepage, archives, etc. In addition, you can choose to show the “Pin It” button either above or below your main content. For even more customization, you can use a shortcode in your post to add the “Pin It” button within your main content. For example, you can use the shortcode [pinit] within your post to add the “Pin It” button within your content (versus just at the top or bottom of the post).

The Pinterest “Pin It” Button plugin settings in WordPress:

The second plugin I’ll cover offers basic “Pin It” button functionality. The Pin It on Pinterest plugin adds a “Pin It” button at the end of your posts, and it enables you to select which image should get pinned, as well as what the pre-populated description should be. Once installed, you will see Pinterest options in your post editor within WordPress.

How to Add a Pinterest Button to an eCommerce CMS

I mentioned earlier that adding a “Pin It” button to an ecommerce CMS is the most challenging to address. The reason is simple. When you have hundreds (or thousands) of products being handled dynamically by a content management system (CMS), you can’t simply add a static pin it button like we did earlier in the post. The code needs to be dynamically tailored based on the product at hand. There aren’t separate pages for each product within an ecommerce CMS, but instead, the CMS dynamically handles each product via database-driven code. This means you cannot simply ftp product pages to your server for each product you sell on your website. The underlying code needs to determine the right URL’s and description for the “Pin It” button.

In order to add any code to an ecommerce CMS that addresses the specific URL, images within the post, etc., you will need to understand the specific functions and variables that your CMS uses. By the way, even WordPress works this way. WordPress is a CMS, although many people don’t realize this. For example, there is a function that WordPress uses to determine the current URL, and it looks like this:


<?php the_permalink(); ?>

In WordPress, the_permalink() returns the current URL, which can be used to populate the “Pin It” button code. This is the approach you would need to use for your own CMS. The good news is that any reputable ecommerce CMS will provide a reference guide that includes the various functions and variables that can be used. Actually, it’s common to use these functions and variables to perform other tasks.

For example, here is a webpage explaining how to add a pin it button to Shopify. You’ll notice that the example includes variables specific to Shopify for determining the current URL, image URL, and description. Again, your own ecommerce CMS provider should provide similar variables you can use when adding the pin it button to your website.

A “Pin It” button on a Shopify ecommerce website:

My recommendation is to contact your ecommerce CMS provider and track down the necessary code for referencing the current page, images within product pages, and the description you want to use for the image. Once you have that information, you can add the necessary code to your CMS template or theme to handle the “Pin It” button. It will then dynamically pull the correct information for each product page on your website.

Summary – Enable Users to Pin Content Easily

I hope this post helped you understand more about Pinterest, including how to add a “Pin It” button to your website, WordPress blog, or ecommerce CMS. Pinterest is growing rapidly and adding the “Pin It” button to your website can make it easier for users to share your content. This can give you a greater chance of having that content get noticed, shared, etc., which can result in increased traffic, exposure, and sales. And that’s what ecommerce is all about!

I recommend you start thinking about Pinterest today. You should speak with your development team or programmer to see how you can implement the “Pin It” button soon. Pins are waiting. :)

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Who Owns Your Meme? User-Generated Content Ownership on Social Networks

Who Owns Your Meme? User-Generated Content Ownership on Social Networks:

There have been instances of user-generated content (UGC) being reproduced as commercial items, like t-shirts or bumper stickers, without the express permission of the creator. Sometimes, when these items are sold by large corporations like Hot Topic, the creators and social networks can get riled up about the corporations profiting from a network’s creativity and hard work.

Maybe it wasn’t ‘hard’ to draw the rage guy, but you get the point.

Users aren’t clear on whether they still own the copyright to their rage comics, original memes, and other UGC once it’s been published to social sites like Reddit, Digg, or Fark. And sometimes, networks are defenseless against other parties re-posting and recycling their network’s goods.

Wait . . . isn’t that the goal of social networks (sharing, social diffusion, etc.)? It’s clear why this topic is so tricky. Let’s go network by network, and review the Terms of Service and all of those boxes you click accept to without reading, to find out if your content is free game.

TOS

Except as expressly provided otherwise in the Privacy Policy, you agree that by posting messages, uploading files, inputting data, or engaging in any other form of communication with or through the Website, you grant us a royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive, unrestricted, worldwide license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, enhance, transmit, distribute, publicly perform, display, or sublicense any such communication in any medium (now in existence or hereinafter developed) and for any purpose, including commercial purposes, and to authorize others to do so.

LAYMAN’S TERMS

You are sharing with the world. Though you retain a copyright, the content becomes public.

TOS

You retain your rights to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed).

LAYMAN’S TERMS

You maintain copyright, but agree to unreservedly share the content with Twitter.

TOS

You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through yourprivacy and application settings.

For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.

LAYMAN’S TERMS

You maintain ownership of content, but grant unreserved rights to Facebook, and accept that other users will maintain the content even if you delete it on your end.

TOS

For clarity, you retain all of your ownership rights in your Content. However, by submitting Content to YouTube, you hereby grant YouTube a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the Content in connection with the Service and YouTube’s (and its successors’ and affiliates’) business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Service (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels. You also hereby grant each user of the Service a non-exclusive license to access your Content through the Service, and to use, reproduce, distribute, display and perform such Content as permitted through the functionality of the Service and under these Terms of Service.

LAYMAN’S TERMS

You maintain copyright, but agree to unreservedly share the content with YouTube and users until you delete the content.

TOS

By creating and posting content to Digg, you warrant that you own all rights to the content, agree that the content will be dedicated to the public domain under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication, available at http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ and that you will not object to the use of the content by Digg in any context. To clarify, the above does not apply to the content on external sites linked to by the original submission.

LAYMAN’S TERMS

You maintain copyright, but agree to share it with Digg.

TOS

You agree that you are solely responsible for your own Submissions and affirm, represent, and/or warrant that you own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to use and authorize Fark.com to use all patent trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights in and to any and all Submissions to enable inclusion and use of the Submissions in the manner contemplated by Fark.com. You retain all ownership rights in your Submissions. However, by submitting the Submissions to Fark.com, you hereby grant Fark.com a non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the Submissions in connection with Fark.com and Fark.com’s business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of Fark.com (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels/outlets.

LAYMAN’S TERMS

You maintain copyright, but agree to unreservedly share the content with Fark.

TOS

We do not claim ownership in any “Content” (which means any and all postings, e-mails, messages, recommendations, comments, text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, works of authorship, feedback, bug reports, or other materials) that you post on, deliver to, or otherwise make available to the Services, but to be able to legally provide you with and promote the Services, we have to have certain rights to use such Content in connection with the Services, as set forth below. In return, we also grant you certain use rights to the Content that we (or our licensors) own and use to provide the Services to you and other Users, as set forth below.

By posting any Content on the Services, you hereby grant to us an unrestricted, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully-paid and royalty-free, license (with the right to sublicense through unlimited levels of sublicensees) to use, copy, perform, display, create derivative works of, and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution method (now known or later developed) throughout the world. Additionally, by posting any Content on the Services and making your Content available to others (“Third Parties”) via RSS distribution, you hereby grant to all Third Parties an unrestricted, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully-paid and royalty-free, license (with the right to sublicense through unlimited levels of sublicensees) to copy, display, and distribute such Content in any and all media (now known or later developed) throughout the world. No compensation will be paid with respect to the Content that you submit, upload, post, transmit or otherwise make available through the Services.

LAYMAN’S TERMS

You maintain copyright, but agree to unreservedly share the content with StumbleUpon.

TOS

Your Member Content is yours; AVOS does not claim any ownership rights in your Member Content. By posting, submitting or transmitting any Member Content on or through the Service, you grant us and our third party service providers and partners a worldwide, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, adapt, modify, distribute, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, broadcast, access, view and otherwise exploit such Member Content in any and all media or distribution channels (now known or hereafter created). For example, this license allows us to make your public “bookmarks” and comments available anywhere and everywhere in the spirit of the Service i.e., for use by other Members, our partners and via other media platforms. No compensation will be paid to you with respect to your Member Content as a result of your posting, submitting or transmitting Member Content through the Service.

LAYMAN’S TERM

You maintain copyright, but agree to unreservedly share the content with Delicious.

CONCLUSION

Regardless of the forum or the TOS agreement signed, if you are lawyered-up, there’s still a chance that your UGC can be protected. For example, if a third party wrongfully posts your original content, then the TOS have been violated and are nullified in many cases (think stolen sex tapes).

However, under ordinary circumstances, a good rule of thumb is that if you posted it for free, it is free for general use. Also, under most TOS above and elsewhere, you grant explicit rights to the social network to use the content any which way they please.

Ullys' Online World

Sunday, May 12, 2013

The state of eCommerce in china

The state of ecommerce in China

Saturday, May 26, 2012

social infographics ||

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

The Book about you*

Monday, May 21, 2012

Video SEO 101

SEO for Video (hosted) Tips & Tutorials

Video Sharing & Youtube Optimization Tips

Video SEO Tips from Friends

General Tips & Techniques

Additional Resources

Helping Your Clients Build an Effective Mobile Strategy

Step 1: Show Them the Money

Step 2: Show Them What Their Customers Expect

Step 3: Outline Best Practices and Give Them Choices

Step 4: Help Them Decide Whether They Need a Mobile App

Step 5: Explain the Marketplace and Mobile App Nuances

Step 6: Show Them Options and Give Them Choices

Step 7: Introduce Other Mobile Marketing Tactics

Sunday, March 4, 2012

How To Add The Pinterest “Pin It” Button to a Website, WordPress Blog, or ecommerce CMS

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Who Owns Your Meme? User-Generated Content Ownership on Social Networks

CONCLUSION

Disqus for ully's online marketing

Disqus for ully's online marketing