You know how ideas sometimes seem to appear in two different places at the same time?
I noticed a case of parallel spontaneous idea creation today when my RSS reader included an entries from John Battelle and Seth Godin.
Battelle is doing a form of liveblogging (or web-enhanced writing as he calls it), where he's adding to the entry throughout the day as a way to watch him think out loud. Today, he posted the third part of a series on Conversational Media & Conversational Marketing (part 1, part 2, part 3). This third post adds a new term: The Conversational Economy. To summarize:
There are two major forms of media these days. There is Packaged Goods Media, in which "content" is produced and packaged, then sent through traditional distribution channels like cable, newsstand, mail, and even the Internet.
The second major form of media, is far newer, and far less established. I've come to call it Conversational Media, though I also like to call it Performance Media. This is the kind of media that has been labeled, somewhat hastily and often derisively, as "User Generated Content," "Social Media," or "Consumer Content."
Godin, on the other hand, posted a short but eerily similar thought:
Tony pointed out a neat idea to me. Some organizations are good at listening. Some are good at talking. A few are even good at both.
But having a dialogue is different. It's about engaging in (sometimes) uncomfortable conversations that enable both sides to grow and change.
Two marketing minds having the same idea in two different places at the same time. Parallel spontaneous idea creation rocks!
I just made my first trades on CNBC's Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge. Unfortunately, I didn't have time yesterday to make them. This means I might have missed yesterday's price movements. Though, according to a comment from B. Hopper, this may not matter, because the prices aren't yesterday's prices. Oh well.
My stock selection strategy here is not what I use for my own real-world portfolio. Since this contest is only measuring the total portfolio value up until May 25th, only short-term growth stocks matter here. So my entire selection is based on quick and (hopefully) big wins. They are mostly in the technology sector, where I have the most domain knowledge.
My initial picks:
- Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH)
CTSH is an IT consulting firm located in India and competes against IBM, Accenture, etc. They reported strong Q4 2006 earnings, just opened their 8th location in India, and are making successful investments in employee retention & recruitment (which is a key business driver for consulting firms).
- Advanced Energy Industries (AEIS)
AEIS develops power conversion & control systems used in plasma-based thin-film processing equipment, such as semiconductors, flat panel displays, and solar cells. Solar cells alone grew over 200% YoY in 2006. They have strong sales, high margins, and high insider ownership, all very positive traits.
- Akamai Technologies (AKAM)
AKAM provides Internet content delivery services, notably speeding up the download time of websites. They've been acquiring competitors and grew their customer base faster than expected. They now have the capability to serve applications and video (against YouTube's provider Limelight).
- ValueClick (VCLK)
VCLK is an online marketing services company. One of their offerings is Commission Junction, their affiliate & search marketing division, which offers services similar to Google's AdSense & AdWords.
- Nam Tai Electronics (NTE)
NTE is a China-based electronics manufacturing & design services provider for OEMs of telecommunications & consumer electronics. They have a low P/E, a high market cap, and is highly rated by many investors, despite being a little-known company.
- Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (COG)
COG is a natural gas producer with operations in the US and Canada. On March 30th, they're doing a 2-for-1 split and raising their dividend payments. That alone is worth a buy, even though consumers don't use as much natural gas during the summer.
- Yahoo! (YHOO)
YHOO is an Internet search and media company. I'm an employee at Yahoo, so hey, I gotta support my peeps!
Last month, Brian Clark over at Copyblogger, questioned the value of the term "linkbait". Linkbait started out as a marketing term to describe "any content or feature within a website that somehow baits viewers to place links to it from other websites." The benefit of getting links from other websites is to increase your website's rank in search engines.
The term has since taken on an almost derogatory connotation, in some people's eyes. At the same time, a whole niche market as arisen to service this desire.
So Clark asked:
Link attraction is crucial. But is "linkbaiting" bad branding for an important skill? I prefer to call what I do viral copywriting, but linkbaiting goes well beyond the written word and can include blog themes, widgets and web applications.
It may be too late to change the tide, but let's take a vote anyway. Let the people speak.
Leave a comment to this post with either:
- Yes, I think the term linkbaiting is OK; or
- No, I think the term linkbaiting is bad.
I saw this as a battle of semantics and buzzwords. The negative connotations of linkbaiting is certainly bad for copywriters and SEO specialists. It's like being known as a "spammer" instead of an "email marketer."
But as a buzzword to help describe it to people outside of the industry? It's potentially good that way. I wrote as much in Copyblogger's comments:
While buzzwords can be annoying, I think they actually can be a helpful semantic platform for describing concepts to people not familiar with the industry.
For example, I was a web developer and have been using a technique called remote scripting since 2001. Then the term "Ajax" was coined, which basically meant the same thing.
Scores of web developers were endlessly annoyed at the popularity of this buzz term. Everyone seemed to be using the term "Ajax" - and many times, inappropriately too.
But then I became an engineering manager and began working with product managers, marketers, and designers who were unfamiliar with this technology. And suddenly, "Ajax" became a useful term. I would correct inappropriate uses and wield it as a tool to help them understand how we could build better web products.
So I think linkbait, while annoying, is a useful buzz word. (But for professionals in the industry, "viral copywriting" is a much better term - just like "remote scripting" is a better term than "Ajax" in the web development industry.)
However, after reading Clark's conclusions, I've changed my mind. Especially for a copywriter or SEO specialist. Or, as Clark phrased it, a social media marketer.
The disadvantages of having a negative connotation outweigh the advantages of having a buzzword that many people loosely understand. Since the majority aren't familiar with, or may misuse the term, why keep it? Why not replace it with a more descriptive and positive term? It's fortunate that this market is still relatively young; such changes in the lexicon hopefully won't be that painful.
Linkbaiter vs social media marketer? Hmmm. Spammer vs email marketer? No contest there. Down with derogatory buzzwords!
The email read: Do you have what it takes to compete in CNBC.com's Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge? Ooo, a challenge!
This started when two buddies and I made a bet to see who could earn the most money out of one dollar, after one year. We started the challenge last December 2006. If I can appreciate that dollar significantly by December 2007, I'll win!
(We're just playing for bragging rights and are going by honor that each of us will keep track of just that single dollar's earnings accurately.)
With all that talk of investing bets, entering the Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge was a no-brainer. Here are the rules:
On March 5th we'll give you $1,000,000 CNBC Bucks to play with. Make your picks on NYSE, NASDAQ, or AMEX and see how big a return you earn on your portfolio. Make up to 50 trades per day.
Each week one player will win $10,000. After ten weeks, only twenty players will make it to the finals for a chance to compete for the Grand Prize - $1,000,000!
You can earn bonus dollars to grow your portfolio. When you register for the contest, you'll have a chance to refer 5 friends. You'll receive an additional $1,000 CNBC Bucks for each one that signs up to play.
Ah. So that's why he referred me. Dammit, he's already $1,000 CNBC Bucks ahead of me.
If anyone else would like to enter this challenge, let me know! C'mon, it'll be fun! Plus, I get an extra $1,000 CNBC Bucks!
Every once in a while, I'll publish my trades & holdings on BizThoughts, so you can see how poorly I'm doing. I'm an amateur investor at best (and am nowhere near as good as someone like, say, a Playboy Playmate). But, heck, it's only CNBC Bucks. And who doesn't love a good challenge?
