Author Archive - Ric Dragon

Jim Spanfeller, former CEO of Forbes.com, said at a recent presentation at the Advertising Women of New York that he thinks publishers creating iPad apps to publish content are ridiculous. “There is no reason that their web sites can’t be doing the same thing.”

This is a couple of weeks after the publisher Hearst announced that it would be charging at least as much for the iPad version of its magazines as it does for its  analog versions – perhaps even more.

I don’t think Spanfeller has had a chance to play with some of the new apps and publications. As many iPad users say, there is something different in navigating pages by swiping pages this way and that way.  On a web page, it probably wouldn’t be so swift.  And if you consider the Minority Report style of computer interface that is very likely going to be available soon (see John Underkoffler on Ted.com), you’ll probably agree that these things add up to the notion that we’re going to be seeing real changes to the way we consume online media. (more…)

This quick case illustrates how even a major player in clothes retailing, Eddie Bauer, can make some pretty major gaffes in its Pay per click marketing and site usability – and how the two go hand in hand on a successful site.

I’m just a bit taller, with a bit of a paunch, so when I buy shirts, I need a shirt made for taller men.  Such sizes are becoming more common, but still, it can be a bit difficult to purchase clothing in those sizes. So I hit Google with the search phrase, “tall men’s clothing”.  The Eddie Bauer site comes up at the bottom of the paid results on the right column. (more…)

A Prescription for Ulster County and other communities

Kingston, NY, the county seat of Ulster County, is an hour and a half’s drive up the Hudson River from New York City.  The population hovers just over 23,000.  Back in 1777, it was the capital of New York State – but after the battle of Saratoga, the British came along and burned it to the ground.  Today, the place abounds with pre-revolutionary stone house, artists, technology companies, and is just about the nicest small city you could ask for.  IBM used to be a huge presence in the local economy, but back in 1994, they pulled up stakes and moved out.  The area has never quite rebounded. (more…)

Wordpress is, in my opinion, is one of the great phenomena’s of the Internet phenomenon.  I’m talking about the open source blogging software here, not the hosted blogging platform.  The software has undergone incredible refinement and improvement, primarily from a base of programmers donating their time and expertise.

There are also countless plug-ins and themes (template systems) that developers sell.  Many of them are incredible bargains.  If you consider the potential cost of having someone create custom programming, the availability of plug-ins, both free and for a cost, is simply wonderful.

I first heard about the Thesis theme from my director of SEO, Etela Ivkovic.  Etela had been participating in a webinar being given by an industry expert.  The expert had mentioned that Thesis is the way to go (more…)

I just wrote my first guest blog post – that is, a blog post written by me, posted on SOMEONE ELSE’S BLOG.

Guest blogging has been becoming more popular lately. One of the compelling reasons for guest blogging is that you would get a link back to your own website. And if you’re aware of the basics of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), you know that quality links TO your website are a critical component of SEO. (more…)

When you read a lot of books on a particular discipline, you find that you are often reading the same message over and over again. Because of this, when I pick up a book on online marketing or social media, I do so with a sharp pencil and a ruler, with the full intention of identifying each single nugget of wisdom. It also provides a clue to my co-workers as to what I find interesting, and helps us all to develop a common story.

Now, Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel is a book I bought when it first came out back in September 2009.   And while I did take a stab at it then, I just wasn’t ready for another, what seemed to me at the time, evangelical tome on the benefits and means of social media. I put it down, and it joined the stack-o’books (real photo of said stack to the right) that would join me on my work-acation on Cape Cod. (more…)

Starting your own blog is incredibly easy and inexpensive today.  Many free services exist where you can go, sign up for an account, and abracadabra, you’ve got a blog. And what you typically end up with is a URL that reads something like this: http://dragonwidgets.blogspot.com (of course, Dragon Widgets being our imaginary company name).

This is one of the BIGGEST ONLINE MISTAKES I’m seeing being made by individuals and businesses alike. (more…)

It’s amazing that its been over 10 years since Cluetrain Manifesto was published.  In that collection of essays, several authors argue for the concept of organizations letting down their guard, and opening up communications from behind the corporate citadel. Charlene Li, coauthor of Groundswell, is a well-respected voice in the social media community. In fact, she was an inspiration in the development of our Social Media ROI Calculator. (more…)

For a while now, I’ve been looking forward to what is now day three of a working vacation.  While being a house parent at a string quartet summer camp where my son is attending, I’m spending my days doing what I call “thought work” – reading books and writing on this blog. (more…)

Darn! I left that pile of business cards back home on my dresser.

It would have been an enjoyable exercise to go through them, and recount all of the terrific people I met yesterday at the Hudson Valley Business Edge, an annual b2b day-long conference put on every year in Fishkill, NY. (more…)