Change is Coming to the Internet

"Change" is a word that's been used a lot over the past couple of years especially with the presidential elections. The idea for the title of this posting was actually taken from a Barack Obama speech but nonetheless, change is not only coming to America (if in fact it's not here yet), it's coming to the Internet and some would actually argue it's already here. So whether you think "change" is the new marketing buzz word that means nothing and just gets people excited about an idea, philosophy, or even in Guerrilla Feed's case, both, change is still different...in every sense of the word.

Over the coming days and weeks, this posting will shed more light on what this "change" really is and why it's so important to not just consumers, but organizations worldwide too. The time has come for organizations to communicate with their target audiences better online with deeper engagement. Just look back on where the Internet was 10 years ago. Do you think anyone knew what a Wiki was back in 1999? Of course not. So what makes people think that Web 2.0 is just another marketing buzz word that means nothing?

Change is indeed coming to the Internet.

Top 5 Elements of a Successful Corporate Blog

I've been looking around online and researching everything. It's a pretty broad statement but if you've had some experience with a start up, you know what I mean. I am no different than everyone when it comes to looking online to find the most relevant information for me to either keep track of as it's updated, or info that I need to find immediately. Put that into a corporate blog context and you have success.

5. Don't make it look like your website
If your website visitor decides to take a stroll over to your blog to see the latest happenings on your company or any type of information that is relevant to them that CAN'T be found on your actual website, this is good. When someone looks at your website, that should actually be step 2 after visiting your blog. Your corporate blog is your entrance, your "Hello world", your bridge to build trust with that prospect or potential partner. Not something for posting something about what you typically charge, on XYZ, etc. See what I mean?

4. Update your blog on a regular basis
In the Information Age, web content becomes critical with the speed of any average person being able to post new content to be viewed by the world. This one is a no brainer but it's still important enough to be included and is still not practiced by many organizations. 5 posts a day? Um..NO. But something reasonable that serves the interests and desires of a loyal following. If you're a company and you don't know what those interests and desires are? You have other things to worry about than reading this blog to get connected better with your readers. Just my opinion :).

3. Get down and dirty with the data
This can be viewed in 2 ways: (1)Using statistics and data to prove a point and (2) Research what other successful blogs are doing. With point (1), it's simple and boils to numbers - people like facts. They like to sound smart. They like to walk in that meeting room and back a statement with facts and data. Too often postings are made and the writer is more worried about selling that product then backing up their statements with the real meat and potatoes.

2. Give people a reason to come back
This is mentioned in a link I previously commented on and I wanted to highlight this key point. This stems from the conventional school of thought that if you leave the ending of a movie or show unexplained or unsolved, the viewer will most likely want to see more (like sequel to a movie or next week's show). Same thing with corporate blogs or really, blogs in general. Leave them on the edge of their seats and give them just enough info to the point where you HAVE to either elaborate on your last posting or meet their expectations with your next one.

AND THE DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....

1. Be personable
This is your reader saying: "Hey, I like you; I feel like I know you even though I'm behinds walls of code and you are too. Will you be my friend please :(?" Not to that extent, but you get the idea. This somewhat goes back to point 5 about how not to make your blog look like your website. If there is a real human being behind your postings to either mention something that happened that day at work which was funny, or something relevant to that--you just reached out and touched your blog reader. Welcome to that connection. There is no price tag on that nor will there ever be.

Twitter API: The Good and the Bad

Welcome to the first posting on Guerrilla Feed's new blog. I promise to take in your requests and post articles that you are looking for and make it a worthwhile experience not just on Guerrilla Feed, but on this blog as well. Now...on to Twitter's API....

The Twitter API looks interesting. A lot of flexibility in terms of integration with two or more site it seems. My only qualm is the apparent limitation on the number of requests to their API. According to Mashable, the Twitter API limits people who are on the whitelist to 20,000 requests per hour. If we are talking about true integration, it seems to me that their is still room for improvement in terms of total freedom and access a website or application can have with Twitter. Bear in mind this article from Mashable was written back in January of this year but based on my research so far, this has not changed.

Twitter's API page however, offer's an olive branch to developers who like to push the envelope and to reach out to Twitter if you are looking for more requests per hour than what is already offered. If you are looking for more information on the Twitter API, I highly recommend reading Twitter API: Up and Running - Learn How to Build Applications with the Twitter API.

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Bonus: Check out how companies like Salesforce.com are using Twitter' API to add value to their current service and product offerings: http://community.intellicore-design.com/blog/2009/3/27/twitter-api-extends-value-of-salesforces-service-cloud.html