Archive for January 2005

Disclaimer: I’m paid to talk about Marqui in however manner I would like.

I interviewed Stephen King, CEO of Marqui, last week. In it, he talks about the company’s success with SEO (search engine optimization). Also, Robin Good slashed and diced the company’s SEO white paper. Then, James Paden posted a comment in response to the interview, which in turn, prompted a Marqui blog entry. A lot to read and absorb.

Though it sounds like an unfriendly debate. It’s not. Everyone is passionate about the topic, so it comes out that way.

I’ve been following SEO for a long time, not for my own site, but to understand it as one who writes about effective Web design. One thing I can say for sure… by the time you figure out the latest SEO techniques especially Google’s, they’re outdated and new ones have come in.

I blame the sites who have nothing but keywords and affiliate links on their page for Google’s frequent SEO changes. When I arrive on such pages, I leave immediately. If you want my clicks, then I’d like see see content. It’s my way of “tipping” the site for providing quality content.

If you manage to read the aforementioned postings on SEO, we’d love to hear your opinion on the topic.

January is almost over already. Time to think ahead to Valentine’s Day and my daughter’s birthday. I didn’t get Paul a very romantic gift, but it is something he wanted. I’m afraid if I don’t give it to him soon, he’ll buy it on his own.

I love this Geek Love Poem T-shirt. Something to make you blush. Be cool with this infamous red stapler made popular by Office Space. If you haven’t seen it, stop what you’re doing and go rent it. Don’t wait on Netflix.

This keyboard is cool… literally as it comes in “ice” as well as fire and gold. Hmm, I should think about this for Paul as he works on his laptop in the dark while I’m asleep.

Who cares about G.I. Joe when you’ve got The Cube or Geeky Superheroes. Create your own Dilbert stories.

Just read an article about Booktastic!, a game for bookworms. I’m weak when it comes to books and games. Has anyone played this game? How was it? The game’s home page has links to the article I read in USA Today as well as others.

I had the honor of interviewing Kelly Goto for the second time, two years after the first interview. She has published a new version of her successful book, Web Redesign 2.0: Workflow that Works. In this link, you can read a review of the book.

In the interview, Kelly talks about the release of a new version of her book and the need to move forward with the “new usability.”

Where do you think we’re going with usability? Share your thoughts and watch for a guide update on the topic soon.

Disclaimer: I’m paid to talk about Marqui in however manner I would like.

Stephen King, CEO of Marqui, took a moment to answer questions. And no, this is not the author of horror books. Ya’d be surprised how many Stephen Kings are out there.

How did you decide to go into the CMS business? What is the story behind Marqui’s starting up?

SK: The story actually starts the same day that my last company, Merant, announced it was being acquired by Serena in a $380M deal. I received a call from the folks at Marqui (then called Maestro CMS) asking if I was interested in taking over the CEO role. At the time, the company was focusing more on traditional content management. When I saw how the product was architected, it occurred to me that it was perfect for marketing and communications professionals.

So, I joined the company in July 2004 and we re-launched under the name Marqui in November 2004. It was fortuitous timing really since marketing professionals are starting to get more and more attention in the press as being an underserved market.

Many CMSes, at least the ones I’ve seen, are supposed to make it easier for marketing and non-techies to add content to their Web sites. How is it an underserved market? Or what target audience do most CMSes aim for?

SK: Many CMSes claim that they are easy to use and “marketing person friendly,” but they are still fundamentally geared toward IT people. You can tell by the types of features they promote and the lingo they use. We’re trying to move away from this since by and large most marketing people (particularly in the non-profit sector) still aren’t very comfortable with terms like “configuration management,” “meta tags” or “RSS feeds.”

How did the Payblogger program come about?

SK: It came up during a dinner brainstorming session. Marc Canter and I were discussing how best to reach out to the developer community (a very influential audience in our opinion) and ways to tap into the power of the Web.

Blogs are an excellent way to do both since they can be used to develop an ongoing dialog with specific communities, get real-time feedback, generate new ideas, etc. The whole “payment” part came about since we needed a way to get bloggers’ attention and make it worth their while.

It was obvious this program was going to be controversial. How did you come to decide to pursue it?

SK: Many bloggers already offer advertising opportunities on their sites to help cover their costs so we saw this type of arrangement as the next logical step. The idea has certainly come under fire by critics who claim participating bloggers are jeopardizing their credibility and the credibility of blogs in general, but this simply isn’t the case.

We don’t require bloggers to write only favorable things, they can write whatever they want. We also ask that they display a logo which clearly states they are paid to write about Marqui. How is this any less ethical than advertising or other marketing tactics?

In fact, in many ways we are setting a new standard for honesty since we are so up front about our practices and open to both positive and negative feedback. One of Marqui’s goals is to revolutionize the world of marketing and we see the blogosphere program (and the controversy that goes with it) as directly in line with this.

Since the launch of the payblogger program, what effects has it had on your business other than increasing search engine optimization?

SK: The search engine optimization piece has definitely been the most visible—we went from 2,000 results on Google to more than 250,000 in less than two weeks. We’re already starting to see an increase in inbound leads, which we credit to the blogosphere program as well as some other marketing programs we have in place. We’ve also been able to use the feedback from bloggers to make some adjustments to the Marqui Communications Management Suite (CMS).

The payblogger program is for three months. What are your plans after it ends?

SK: That remains to be seen. So far, it’s surpassed all of our objectives… but we are only halfway through the program. If it continues to do well, we might offer to extend the program or even expand it.

How many sales have there been since the blogosphere program launched? SEO doesn’t guarantee ROI—it’s the orders that come through that make the difference. So businesses will want to know if paying bloggers is paying off in terms of dollars and not just recognition.

SK: It’s too soon to tell whether the program has generated ROI beyond awareness since 70% of our sales close within three to six months of initial contact. We are seeing an uptick in partner awareness, which is a measurement of our original objectives being met: developer awareness. We should know more in the next month or two, particularly since dabble mode (a trial version of the product) will be available and that will increase the number of incoming leads.

Gave me a much needed laugh… for writers and editors: Frank & Ernest. Thanks, Esther.

They shoulda had Inauguration Day here in Texas. The weather is fabulous! A birthday girl can’t ask for nicer weather. The best part of it all is the sweet note accompanying the flowers that I got from Paul.

Thank you for all the wishes. I need all the happiness I can get as my day went downhill big time this afternoon. I can’t talk about it—it has a big time impact on my every day life. I don’t know how I will get through it.

Teresa Gomez writes, “I have a question for you concerning the use of apostrophes. I was an English major in college and I even managed to graduate with a BA in English. However, my son is being taught in his 5th grade class that he must allow a space when writing a word that includes an apostrophe.

“For example, he wrote can’t and was marked down because his teacher requires a space separating the cursive letters where the apostrophe is inserted. Another mother and I discussed this and she agrees with the teacher. Did I miss something in my education requiring this space?”

This is the first I’ve heard of this practice. My daughter is in 5th grade and she writes apostrophes in the same way Theresa and I do… no space. I verified with my daughter and she said her school does it both ways—it doesn’t matter.

I searched my reference books and the Internet. Didn’t see anything pointing out this practice. The few resources I did find indicated there is no space, but the resources weren’t major or well-known resources. Anyone heard anything? Obviously, adding the space is going to lengthen handwriting time and so few people still do handwriting beyond grade school as is.

At the end of each day, I review my Palm’s to-do list. Instead of patting myself on the back for accomplishing several things during the day, I am overwhelmed with the rest of the list. Then again, when do I ever pat myself on the back? Rarely.

If I so much sit down to watch a movie or do a puzzle, I feel guilty because I am not “working” on the things that need to be done instead of enjoying the moment. I do take joy in the little things like my youngest saying a new word, my kindergartener reading and writing words, and my oldest winning her class spelling bee (big shock as she admits she takes after her dad, a lousy speller). But when it comes to fun for *me*, it’s guilt city.

“…if you have ever had the frustrating feeling that your to-do list was longer at day’s end than the beginning when you put in extra time, and you thought $#%&*&^%$, you understand [my] feeling. We call that sickening feeling To-Do-List Frustration (TODLIF).”

This quick ‘n easy-to-read article has helped me change the way I do things. I pick a few things on my to-do list and work to accomplish those and feel a true sense of accomplishment. It is working, but I admit I haven’t followed it every single day. It takes time to create new habits—I’m trying.

The usual disclaimer: Marqui pays me to talk about them.

OK, Nick. Mark this as read and move on. I learned from DL that Nick is ignoring the Marqui postings. I don’t hold it against him. He and everyone else has the right to decide what to read and not read.

There’s been a flurry of activity in the last week or so. Marqui’s blog is finally awake. The latest entry references a competitor who has called the company and its Pay Blogger program, “pond scum.” Thank you, I’ve always wanted a nickname. Could it be the guy is jealous of the publicity Marqui has gotten with its program? I think it’s more than paid for itself. the head lemur and GeekCentral share their opinions of Mr. Calls-us-pond-scum and his claims we’re hiding the fact we’re paid.

Once again. I would’ve NEVER agreed to do this if Marqui said I must say only good things about the company. Pshaw. No matter my financial situation, my honest opinion is not for sale.

DL also reports on the upcoming Blog Business Summit. I hope some of the reports will be in text because it looks like it’s gonna be somethin’ because Marqui will be there as well as its “pond scum” name calling competitor. As you guys know, I can’t benefit from podcasts like the one with Stephen King (not author), CEO of Marqui unless there is a transcript.

I don’t know how I missed this post about the SEO controversy. I like and respect Robin Good. But honestly, his criticism post was too long for me to read. With so much information to read, having the most important points at the beginning would’ve helped. Since we’re being honest here, Robin, what’s up with the hat in your photo? It’s hard to see and looks funky. No offense, Robin.