I am going to start this series of post with few questions for you. Here is some data pulled from a Web Analytics tool. This data is for a “Display Ad” campaign: Most of the web analysts today get the following view of display advertising from their Web Analytics tool. Looking at this data and some publicly available information they will get started on the analysis and recommendation. Though some other analysts will say, Wait… I need more information. Google Adwords has done such a great job in providing cost data and almost all of the analysts have dealt with some kind of paid search campaign, so they know that cost of campaign plays a role in the analysis of campaign. So they demand it. Well this is where most of the web analytics tools fell short, cost data generally resides in some other tool and it is not easy to get that data
Excerpt from:
Analyzing and Optimizing Ad Campaigns – Part 1
Over the years, I’ve done a lot of work with form optimization. In this article, I’ll cover some tried and true form optimization tips
See the article here:
10 Form Optimization Tips For Landing Pages
For those so obsessed with social networking, behold the Facebook bed.
This concept by Croatian designer Tomislav Zvonarić is only in model form right now, but his creative vision mixes comfort with functionality.
The “F”-shaped bed touts a Facebook-logoed pillow and a comforter with familiar icons, such as Facebook’s birthday notification image. The logo also appears three times on the bed itself — one on each side, as well on the flat part of the upper curvature of the “F.”
A work area is also built into the space, allowing users to check Facebook updates on their computer while sitting in the upper section of the letter. Other amenities include a keyboard holder, a shelf for a mouse and a slight indentation for a computer screen. In addition, a chair — with a red-colored cover, also featuring a Facebook logo — is nestled into the upper part of the “F.”
The exact size of the model (as seen in the picture) is unknown as of now. If Zvonarić tried to actually produce and sell the beds, it would likely have to be approved by Facebook.
As Facebook continues to pick up popularity — in fact, it’s on target to reach a billion users by August — more businesses are looking to somehow capitalize on the trend.
Earlier this week, it was announced that a nightclub in Brazil called “Facebook” would be coming to the town of Epitaciolândia, near the Bolivian border in the Brazilian Amazon.
“The Facebook concept is about sharing ideas, adventures, friendships, parties and photos with your friends,” the club’s 30-year-old founder Humbert Camacho told The Guardian. “So what we wanted to do was to build a nightclub with this concept, where people could come and share things with their friends, spend a cool night, sharing pictures, experiences and have fun.”
Are you surprised products and businesses are capitalizing on the Facebook brand? And most importantly, would you ever sleep in a bed like this?
Article source: http://mashable.com/2012/01/20/facebook-bed/
 About 400 people gathered in Tahrir Square Thursday to launch a new kind of documentary about the Egyptian revolution.
Instead of putting together a traditional, continuous film, creators of 18DaysInEgypt are asking individuals to submit media they created while living it. Tags those contributors add about the date, their feelings and their location will eventually help connect individual stories.
Jigar Mehta, a Knight Fellow at Stanford University and former New York Times video journalist, originally started the project hoping to pull content directly from Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. But he and co-creator Yasmin Elayat quickly found difficulties in determining context from social media posts.
“We thought, instead of being ahead of contributors pulling content, let’s push them to contribute,” Mehta says.
The first of the site’s contributions came from about 100 photographers, journalists and bloggers who served as beta testers. Elayat and Mehta also had “ambassadors” collect media from people who weren’t connected to the Internet. Thursday was the public contributions launch.
Using a contribution tool, anyone can compile videos, photos, tweets and Facebook posts into a slideshow module for the 18DaysInEgypt website. They then have options to add aforementioned tags and additional text. So far, people have used the tool in a variety of ways, many of them — like a video slideshow of activist musicians — in ways the team hadn’t anticipated.
A concert at the 18DaysInEgypt launch party at Tahrir Square on Thursday.
“The Egyptian edition of the Daily Star has edited a picture of a Kefaya demonstrator in its 19 December print issue,” wrote one contributor. “[it] carefully blurred the anti-Mubarak writings on the Kefaya demonstrator’s poster.”
“One man had the audacity to grope my arse, not once, but twice, within 30 seconds,” wrote another.
“The latest fighting started when a boy who was part of the cabinet sit-in was brutally beaten by soldiers,” wrote a third.
Eventually viewers will be able to click hyperlinks in each of these modules to see others that took place at the same time, with the same person or at the same location — in other words, how the censorship, beating and arse grabbing were connected. It’s a view of storytelling that has gotten some attention, including a grant from the Tribeca New Media Fund.
Mehta and Elayat are working on making the concept available for telling other stories as well. They plan to launch a storytelling platform based on 18DaysInEgypt, GroupStre.am, within the next few months.
Image courtesy of Flickr, Maggie Osama
Article source: http://mashable.com/2012/01/21/18daysinegypt-2/
 There’s no need to go through 30 million pictures posted on Twitter last week when you have our top 10 Twitter pics of the week.
Using a special algorithm developed by our partners at social media search engine Skylines, we’ve narrowed down that plethora of pics to find the diamonds in the rough for you, the most interesting photos from Twitter over the past week.
How do we do it? We focus on the most popular Twitter trends, using hashtags that dominated the discourse on the microblogging service this week.
Our modified algorithm focuses on events and happenings around the world, rather than personalities, which were the focus of our previous algorithm. We’ve abandoned that because it brought us pictures of mostly boy bands, and ended up being a popularity contest rather than a gauge of what people were really thinking and talking about.
So here they are, a week’s worth of Twitter pics encompassing a variety of topics and interests — the results of our digital analysis of more pictures than any army of people could actually look at themselves.
By the way, if you’d like to take a look at the full results of our extensive survey, find it at the Skylines site.
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Article source: http://mashable.com/2012/01/21/top-10-twitter-pics/
Super Bowl XLVI host city Indianapolis has concocted a new way to deal with the madness that comes with managing the world’s biggest annual sporting event. The solution? The Super Bowl’s first-ever social media command center.
A team of strategists, analysts and techies will monitor the digital fan conversation via Facebook, Twitter and other platforms from a 2,800-square-foot space downtown. The station will open on Monday and run through Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5. The team will tweet directions to fans in search of parking, direct visitors to Indianapolis’s best attractions, and stand by to provide information in case of a disaster.
“Social media is just how people interact now,” said Taulbee Jackson, CEO of Raidious, the digital marketing agency that the Super Bowl’s host committee tapped to manage the communications hub. “We felt it was critical to have some horsepower behind that aspect of the Super Bowl here, versus what you might have seen from other Super Bowls.”
Some 150,000 people are expected to flood into downtown Indianapolis — where the game will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium — over Super Bowl weekend.
Advanced search tools and analytics will help Jackson and his team identify fans in need of help by indexing key words and phrases. For example, a fan won’t need to tweet, “where can I find parking?” to get help; Raidious operatives will be able to pick up on a general phrase such as “parking sucks” to offer assistance.
But it won’t be a simple operation. The command center will utilize more than a mile of Ethernet cable and more than 150 square feet of networked screen space. More than 20 people will man the center for 15 hours per day.
Researchers from nearby Ball State University’s Center for Media Design will conduct a study of the command center, analyzing its strengths and weaknesses. Michael Holmes, director of the center’s Insight Research Unit, wrote in an email that the command center is an example of the “the ubiquity of social media and the absolute necessity for companies, organizations and communities to use these tools to improve their relations with their customer, audiences and citizens.”
Both Holmes and Jackson said they would not be surprised if the Super Bowl’s first designated social media warroom sets a precedent for other major events.
“We’re kind of breaking new ground here so we don’t know the exact numbers yet of what we’ll be dealing with, but we should be able to provide that after the game to other cities that have to deal with these types of issues,” Jackson said. “I think a lot of brands will start to see a need for something like this.”
What do you think about the Super Bowl’s first-ever social media command center? Would you like to see major events set up more operations like this? Let us know in the comments.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, LUGO
Article source: http://mashable.com/2012/01/21/super-bowl-xlvi-social-media/
 This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.
An entrepreneur’s life can be a real roller coaster. Having started a few businesses in my career, I thought it would be useful to highlight some of the hard-won experience I’ve learned throughout the process — the kind of advice I wish I’d known when I started my first, or even second, business.
1. Don’t Underestimate a Business Plan
If you’re not seeking outside funding at the start, it’s tempting to forgo writing out a formal business plan. However, taking the time to write out your business plan, forecasts and marketing strategy is a particularly effective way to hone your vision. All planning should center around two essential questions: How is my business serving a particular need or pain point, and does this represent a major market opportunity?
In addition, don’t overlook the exit strategy at the beginning. Do you want your children to take over the company? Do you want to sell it? It’s critical to think about these questions from the start, as the building blocks of your company (such as legal structure) should vary depending on your preferred final outcome.
2. Don’t Get Stuck in the Past
My husband and I launched our first online legal document filing service in 1997, and then re-entered the market with our second company in 2009. While our previous experience certainly gave us a leg up the second time around, we soon realized the market landscape had changed dramatically since our first company. We had to stop dwelling on previous competitors, customer needs and service expectations and write a brand new playbook.
The marketplace and your business plan are living entities; they’re continually in flux. Whether it’s your first company or fifth in a given market, you’ve got to keep asking: What do we need to do today?
3. Don’t Hire Friends
I form bonds quickly and make fast friends with people around me. While I generally consider this a positive trait, it has created some difficult situations when running a business. At times I have been reluctant to let employees go even though I know it’s not a good fit. If things aren’t working out between an employee and startup, it’s time to put feelings aside and trust that the person will find a better situation elsewhere.
Unfortunately, I’ve also learned that people can let you down, ranging from laziness to fraud. I still believe that faith in people is a good thing. However, blind faith can bring trouble.
4. Don’t Dive in Without a Plan
Just like the business plan, it’s critical to think through any initiative you wish to launch. When you’re in the midst of startup fever, it’s easy to get wrapped up with every new idea. However, be careful of losing focus. Moving forward is critical for any startup, and constantly switching directions can impede this forward progress. With each new idea, step back and think how it fits into your company’s overall goal and vision, then create a plan for how to make it happen.
5. Don’t Fall Into a Discount Trap
At the beginning, too many young companies feel the pressure to heavily discount their prices in order to win business. While customer acquisition is important, attracting customers at unsustainable price levels will just result in a race to the bottom. After all, raising your prices on goods and certain services can be a tricky proposition. I’ve learned that you’re better off in the long run focusing on how to bring more value to customers, rather than simply slashing your prices.
6. Don’t Be Afraid to Fail
Soccer coach Sven-Goran Eriksson once said, “The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” An entrepreneur’s path is uncharted and sometimes a little bumpy. It’s easy to get stressed or downright panicked, but you cannot let fear prevent you from following your dreams. Think of it this way: the sooner you fail, the closer you are to discovering what works.
Conclusion
While you can’t guarantee the outcome of any new venture, you can stack the odds in your favor. These are six lessons I’ve learned over time and countless others are out there. If you’re open, you can gain wisdom from everything you try and gather insight from fellow entrepreneurs. What do you wish you knew when you started your first business?
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ineskoleva
Article source: http://mashable.com/2012/01/21/6-things-starting-business/
 The popular social media management application CoTweet will no longer exist after Feb. 15, but we’ve found 7 free or low-cost alternatives that’ll take its place.
What happened to the free Co-Tweet? The service’s parent company, ExactTarget, announced in a blog post this week that it will soon re-christen CoTweet as SocialEngage — a premium-only service the company says will feature enhanced integration and marketing powers. The free version will be gone forever.
CoTweet was a hit with Twitter users, and many consumers of the free option are unhappy. A long string of comments following that ExactTarget blog post showed displeasure at the company for the abrupt move and its opaque pricing information. ExactTarget has not publicly said what it will charge to use SocialEngage, instead inviting former CoTweet users to make direct contact for more details. Existing CoTweet users can also test drive a free trial of SocialEngage until the end of February.
Margaret Francis, ExactTarget’s vice president of social products, declined to elaborate on pricing information in a recent interview with Mashable, beyond that there will varying costs for different levels of service. She said the free CoTweet was scrapped so that ExactTarget could “put all of our resources” behind SocialEngage, and that many of the company’s larger clients are happy about the switch.
Fans and users of the free CoTweet, meanwhile, are left weighing whether to open their wallets for SocialEngage or look elsewhere for other free alternatives. Managers of social media campaigns for tiny companies or non-business clients likely won’t be willing or able to afford an upgrade. User David Beronja captured the mood of many when he posted this comment in response to the ExactTarget blog entry: “Been using cotweet for a long time. Good bye it was nice while it lasted. Time to find something else.”
But what might that something else be?
Here, Mashable offers seven free or low-cost alternatives to SocialEngage. Some offer the full range of scheduling, monitoring and engagement capabilities — while others specialize in one or two. (Existing CoTweet users can also test drive a free trial of SocialEngage until the end of February.)
Scroll through the slideshow below, then get back to us in the comments: What do you think about ExactTarget killing the free version of CoTweet? Which alternatives do you most recommend?
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The popular HootSuite dashboard allows teams to monitor conversations and track the success of campaigns. Its free ad-supported option can be used for up to five social profiles and Pro version costs just $6 per month.
This free app was bought by Twitter last year and is another favorite of social media managers and enthusiasts. Its organized columns, scheduling features and filtering capabilities give users a wealth of options.
Seesmic is free with ads and offers web, desktop and Android applications providing a range of capabilities. Options for iPhone, iPad and Windows Phone 7 are on the way too.
Monthly pricing for Involver reaches into the four figures but the service offers a capable and free basic version as well. The company claims more than 700,000 brands as clients and is particularly useful for people seeking to manage their Facebook presence.
SproutSocial integrates with a number of networks including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Foursquare. It doesn’t have a free option, but does offer a Pro version that supports up to 10 profiles for $9 per month.
Buffer doesn’t offer CoTweet’s full range of capabilities, but it does allow users to schedule tweets and supports both Twitter and Facebook accounts. For $10 per month, users can upgrade to support an additional team member and up to five social accounts.
Like Buffer, GroupTweet doesn’t tackle the entire range of capabilities covered by the now-departing free version of CoTweet, but it does allow an unlimited number of team members to tweet from one account for free. Its premium version adds a few more features including custom filters for just $5 per month.
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The popular HootSuite dashboard allows teams to monitor conversations and track the success of campaigns. Its free ad-supported option can be used for up to five social profiles and Pro version costs just $6 per month.
This free app was bought by Twitter last year and is another favorite of social media managers and enthusiasts. Its organized columns, scheduling features and filtering capabilities give users a wealth of options.
Seesmic is free with ads and offers web, desktop and Android applications providing a range of capabilities. Options for iPhone, iPad and Windows Phone 7 are on the way too.
Monthly pricing for Involver reaches into the four figures but the service offers a capable and free basic version as well. The company claims more than 700,000 brands as clients and is particularly useful for people seeking to manage their Facebook presence.
SproutSocial integrates with a number of networks including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Foursquare. It doesn’t have a free option, but does offer a Pro version that supports up to 10 profiles for $9 per month.
Buffer doesn’t offer CoTweet’s full range of capabilities, but it does allow users to schedule tweets and supports both Twitter and Facebook accounts. For $10 per month, users can upgrade to support an additional team member and up to five social accounts.
Like Buffer, GroupTweet doesn’t tackle the entire range of capabilities covered by the now-departing free version of CoTweet, but it does allow an unlimited number of team members to tweet from one account for free. Its premium version adds a few more features including custom filters for just $5 per month.
Article source: http://mashable.com/2012/01/21/free-cotweet-alternatives/
 We’re back again with another roundup of the top Mashable comments of the week.
In this post, we showcase the week’s best comments on our site. We always look for thoughtful comments that engage the community and drive more conversation, as well as those that make us laugh.
This week, the Mashable community took an interest in coverage of SOPA and Apple’s launch of their new iBook authoring tool. The top comments were loaded with strong ideas and well-supported opinions. Take a look at this week’s top comments on Mashable:
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Chris Anderson shares his opinion on Apple’s new iBooks authoring tool. He says the new system is restricting in some ways and needs improvement.
Comment originally posted on: Why the iPad Won’t Transform Education — Yet
David Alcaraz commented on a Facebook post with his predictions of what will happen when Facebook goes public, which is reported to happen in late May.
Comment originally posted on: Facebook IPO Hitting in Late May [REPORT]
Donald Wilkins starting a commenting battle between Android phones and iPhones. His comment received a wave of responses from both Android and Apple fanboys, which made for a fun read.
Comment originally posted on: Steve Wozniak: Android Is Better Than the iPhone in Some Ways [VIDEO]
Floatingmonkey brings up a good point about Apple’s new iBook authoring technology. He mentions that users would breach the End-User License Agreement if they were to try to sell their eTextbooks on a third-party site.
Comment originally posted on: Apple iBooks Author App Lets You Make Your Own Books, Free
Jared Elick commented with a pro-Android view on the smartphone market share between Android, Apple, and Blackberry. His comment received multiple responses from Apple users voicing their opinion about Apple’s market share.
Comment originally posted on: How iPhone 4S Is Helping Apple Close in on Android
NickHarleyNZ shares his opinion about the Facebook vs. Google+ debate. Nick’s comment received mixed responses on how people support and do not support Google+.
Comment originally posted on: Larry Page: Google+ Now Has 90 Million Users
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Chris Anderson shares his opinion on Apple’s new iBooks authoring tool. He says the new system is restricting in some ways and needs improvement.
Comment originally posted on: Why the iPad Won’t Transform Education — Yet
David Alcaraz commented on a Facebook post with his predictions of what will happen when Facebook goes public, which is reported to happen in late May.
Comment originally posted on: Facebook IPO Hitting in Late May [REPORT]
Donald Wilkins starting a commenting battle between Android phones and iPhones. His comment received a wave of responses from both Android and Apple fanboys, which made for a fun read.
Comment originally posted on: Steve Wozniak: Android Is Better Than the iPhone in Some Ways [VIDEO]
Floatingmonkey brings up a good point about Apple’s new iBook authoring technology. He mentions that users would breach the End-User License Agreement if they were to try to sell their eTextbooks on a third-party site.
Comment originally posted on: Apple iBooks Author App Lets You Make Your Own Books, Free
Jared Elick commented with a pro-Android view on the smartphone market share between Android, Apple, and Blackberry. His comment received multiple responses from Apple users voicing their opinion about Apple’s market share.
Comment originally posted on: How iPhone 4S Is Helping Apple Close in on Android
NickHarleyNZ shares his opinion about the Facebook vs. Google+ debate. Nick’s comment received mixed responses on how people support and do not support Google+.
Comment originally posted on: Larry Page: Google+ Now Has 90 Million Users
If you haven’t commented on a Mashable article before, check out Mashable Follow, our content curation and social tool, as well as our comment guidelines to learn more. We’d love for you to join the conversation.
Remember to comment on next week’s articles for a chance to be in the top comments roundup.
Article source: http://mashable.com/2012/01/21/top-7-comments-this-week/
Two years ago, a group of Star Wars fans decided to remake Star Wars: A New Hope out of fan-generated scenes. Now, that Star Wars Uncut project has finally come to its full fruition with a Director’s Cut, a two-hour+ YouTube video created entirely by crowdsourcing.
When fans were encouraged by organizer and fan Casey Pugh to recreate the Star Wars movie in 15-second segments, they were given free reign to do whatever they wanted. Out of the thousands of wildly creative scenes, video editor Aaron Valdez and sound designer and mixer Bryan Pugh picked the best of the bunch, putting together this whimsical Director’s Cut, a rip-roaring re-creation of the George Lucas film.
Over the course of a couple of years Casey Pugh has basked in the limelight, even winning a primetime Emmy award in 2010 for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media for his work on this project. Now the Director’s Cut has found its way to YouTube, where it’s already garnered more than 433,000 views since it was first posted on Jan. 18.
Said Casey on his blog, “Star Wars Uncut has always been incomplete without this. I’m very excited and proud to release the entire film. Watch it over the weekend for guaranteed LOLs and nostalgia.”
So sit back, and see if you are more entertained by this crowdsourced version of Star Wars: A New Hope than you were by the original. Then, let us know what you think of this enormous undertaking. Is it awful or amusing? Somewhere in between?
Article source: http://mashable.com/2012/01/21/star-wars-uncut-2/
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