Jamie Low

Blue Turtle Seduction

I’m a big fan of Archive.org; I use it for work purposes frequently, especially when researching an individual website’s history for SEO audits.  Almost every website is archived on a regular basis by a server farm located on the Presidio premises in San Francisco, and the data is provided for free through the Wayback Machine.  This is a super useful tool to help diagnose problems or get a sense what a website looked like before a site redesign, going all the way back to 1996.

But that’s really only the beginning of the treasures stored in the archive; they also keep public (and free) copies of scanned books, movies, images and music.  But until today, I somehow missed this awesome feature; not only can you download and stream live shows, but they now provide an embeddable flash app that allows you to post an entire show anywhere on the web.

Not only can I listen to the latest Blue Turtle Seduction show (and someone is really on top of things… this show is from this past weekend on November 15th in Sebastpol), but now I can share the entire live show here:

How cool is that?  BTS seems to really be ahead of the curve on using the web to help get the word out through fan outreach programs, including it’s “Seduction Squad” feature and the use of some pretty clever apps from ReverbNation, including an interactive tour map.  I suspect that most of these web-widgets are relatively easy to set up, and the synergy of using them together really ties their site together nicely; but this feature really seems to have more potential than most to unlock their content in a way that helps spread the word about their genre-bending music to their fans on the web.

Ouch.  This hurts. The 2009 Elections haven’t even happened yet, and I’m getting slammed in the media for my involvement.

Ok, I’m impressed. MoveOn.org sent out a customized mass e-mail this morning that made me look like the biggest loser.  (Ok, I wasn’t singled out; this was a customized mass email that just stuffed my name into the message.  But this wasn’t just a “Hi Jamie” customization that you might normally expect from a mass email; they somehow managed to edit a newscast that included my printed name on a series of screen banners, a church billboard and even written in “pen” on a cardboard box.  Very impressive work, I gotta say.

Of course, when I say me, I mean we: they must have sent these out to everyone on their email lists.  And taking it one step further, you can stuff anybody’s name you want into this thing to make sure you’re not the only butt of the joke.

In concept, this is viral content at it’s best.  I’ll be surprised if this doesn’t bring down a server somewhere.  I’m a huge fan of personalized content to make a message go viral on the web, but it’s hard to do well.  JibJab made this technique popular with the bobble head “You” videos, and there’s definitely a smell of Onion in the air when you watch it.  But MoveOn doesn’t just try to entertain, it’s attempting to use this medium to spread the word.  While it may not change any minds, or actually achieve it’s stated goal of making more people go out and vote, it will certainly get folks talking about themselves, which is a very popular topic, and an effective way to spread the word quickly.

Well done Peter Koechley and friends, well done.

Update: FAIL.  With no viral “send to a friend” component feature at the end of the video, this thing leaves the viewer with nowhere to go next. Unless I post a link on my own, MoveOn’s viral component comes to a schreeching halt.

Customize your own: http://www.cnnbcvideo.com

If you need an excuse to distract yourself from work next Wednesday, I’m talking shop via webcast with the good folks over at the O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishers group.  On Wednesday, October 14th, at 10:00am PST, I’m talking to Mac Slocum and Scott Harvey about Why Publishers Should Care About SEO.

And for you free-loaders out there, well… it’s free.  (Ok, it’s free for everybody.)  If you want to harass me during the Q&A, you can register here.)

From the O’Reilly TOC blog:

Tools of Change for Publishing will host a free webcast with search engine optimization (SEO) expert Jamie Low on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. eastern (10 a.m. pacific).

Jamie will use a conversational format and live search queries to examine SEO elements and techniques, including:

• how publishers can get ranked for specific queries related to their content
• why some pages earn top spots in search listings and others fail to advance
• how to evaluate SEO strategies that will support real-world business objectives

Slots are limited, so register for free today.

Over the next year, you’ll probably hear me talking about our new startup called Joblr.  I’ve signed on as a founding partner, and we’re working toward a beta launch later this fall.  I’ll explain more about what this is later, once we’re close enough to make the announcements.  But for now, I’m writing this short post for two primary reasons:

1. We’re working to dominate the Google SERP for “joblr” by building out new pages on our own sites, adding profiles on social media sites, and linking back to our branded domain, Joblr.net.  This blog post is a naked attempt at creating original content that will eventually show up somewhere in the top 100;
2. We’re getting a head start on solidifying the Joblr.net domain as the first result in Google for all eternity.  A link from this post (and all the others we’re creating) are already working to make that happen.

So here’s a question for anybody bothering to read this: What’s the first thing you think of when you read the word “Joblr”?  What do you think this could possibly be?

Well, since you’re reading this…

During the day (ok, and late into the night) I’m…

• a Search Engine Marketing consultant, specializing in consulting with in-house web marketing & IT teams. I conduct large-scale site audits, teach a best-practices approach to search engine optimization, and live in a world of phone conferences, screenshots, mind-mapping tools and spreadsheets.
• I’m working with a crew of my friends on a new start up called Joblr…  but I’m not at liberty to discuss that yet…

And lately, I’ve been…

• building out a raised bed garden. (it’s my Best. Garden. Ever.  It’s also my first), and this week, I’m in the “tearing up the old redwood deck that Adam saved from Cindy’s house to recycle the wood and build this thing as organically/cheaply as possible” phase;
• kayaking.  I bought a used EZG playboat, and I’m spending more time trashing myself at Barking Dog and floating along the C2G.  (Special thanks to Mike,  Smokey, Rich, Marky and Emily R. for getting me out of the house more this summer.)
• biking the XtraCycle in the mornings while Emily runs;
• planning our wedding.  Emily and I have been engaged for over a year now, and our deadline is fast approaching… for setting a date.  This is proving the be the biggest challenge we’ve faced this year; we’ve tentatively set the date for May 2nd, but suspect that may change.  Again.
• working with Vinny (and now Emily) on building out a kick-ass SEO crawler application;
• now outlining an webinar for O’Reilly’s Tool of Change for Publishers (not yet announced);

And… a bunch of other stuff.  I’ll get to that later.

I’m in the middle of transferring a number of domains, reconfiguring servers and updating a few Wordpress sites.  So as long as I’m at it, I’m finally cutting the cords with my current web host and setting up shop elsewhere to make managing everything a bit easier (and easier on the pocket book.)

So… what the hell.  I’ve setup a time suck new blog that will allow me to share random crap with people I don’t know.  Read at your own risk.

But that doesn’t mean I’m actually going to use it.  A personal blog? Please. I’ve got plenty to do already.  And for that matter, I’m sure, so do you. What are you doing here?  If you want entertainment, go somewhere else.