Blog
Feb. 5, 2010
FeedMagnet at the Verge 2010 Conference
We're powering a live social media stream on dozens of screens at the Verge 2010 conference right now in Austin. 2,100 attendees are able to participate by posting to Twitter, Flickr, Twitpic, yFrog, and other social media sites. Their updates are shown live for everyone to see just a minute or two after they post them. The attendees of the conference are mostly from churches that are experimenting with ways to get their churches more on mission. One way they can do that is by using FeedMagnet with for their churches
Here's an inside look into how we're powering the conference.
Dec. 23, 2009
How Trident's Twitter Experiment In USA Today Can Be Repeated Online
Trident recently ran a full-page ad in USA Today featuring tweets from real people talking about their new Layers gum. They got a bunch of press for it - and it was a pretty effective ad. People trust their peers more than they trust marketers. Seeing a bunch of tweets from real people lends credibility to Trident. If they had used marketing copy to say the same things, it would be less genuine.
This is the benefit of peer endorsement that brands can get from social media. Someone on Twitter responded by saying: "Lightbulbs blowing up over CEO heads across America." I sure hope so - because that same benefit can be had online using FeedMagnet.
Dec. 11, 2009
Mastering Custom Segmentation in Google Analytics
Google has made some major strides in adding new features to Google Analytics over the past year. I used to recommend Google Analytics for basic tracking needs and Omniture (which is expensive) for when custom user tracking or goal conversion was required. After spending some time playing with the new custom variables and segmentation features in Google Analytics, I think I can say that for the vast majority of websites I've worked on - even those run by large enterprise companies with complex requirements - Google Analytics is all you need. And the best part is, it's free.
Nov. 25, 2009
Twitter is a "language we speak"
I just came across this paragraph on the #140conf website:
At the #140conf events, we look at twitter as a platform and as a language we speak. Over time it will neither be the only platform nor the only language. #140conf is not an event about microblogging or the place where people share twitter “tips and techniques” but rather where we explore the effects of the real-time Internet on Business.
I'm 100% on board with this idea.
Nov. 4, 2009
10 free tools every small business should be using
I think most people are aware by now that the world of software is changing - moving from expensive applications that you purchase for each of your computers to online "software as a service" that you pay for monthly. FeedMagnet itself falls in this category of new software. And and as a part of us eating our own dog food, we are running pretty much every aspect of our business with other software-as-a-service apps.
One of the by-products of this new model for software is a plethora of free services that small and startup business can benefit from. Most of these new tools have a "fremium" monetization model - providing a free version of the product and then selling premium features at a monthly cost (this is our plan for FeedMagnet, btw). As a result, there are a number of products that can be used to power your business for free - at least until you grow to the point where you need the more advanced features.
There are a ton of these apps available, but in this post, I'll cover a handful of the ones that are particularly useful for small businesses.
Oct. 29, 2009
Well hello. Thanks for checking us out.
We're just getting started building FeedMagnet and we're super excited about it. FeedMagnet is a new web app that helps businesses harness social media - and do it in a responsible way. We'll be using this blog to let you know about new features we're rolling out, provide a behind-the-scenes look at our development process, and share some of our ideas about the Web in general.
