Written on November 25th, 2005 at 09:11 am by David Shawver
Amazon ProductWiki
There has been quite a bit of talk in the past couple of days about Amazon starting a wiki - Church of the Customer started it all but the interesting thing is that no one that I can see (including Church of the Customer) seems to have a link to it anywhere. Some say it’s something that only some people can view - but even still I would have expected links it it.
The wiki is called ProductWiki but most people don’t seem to be able to find out where it comes from. Business Week does have a link to a help page explaining what a wiki is but it doesn’t really refer to an Amazon wiki as such.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/wiki/ currently points to an error page for me - but it’s not a ‘this page doesn’t exist’ type error but one that says they are having problems processing the request. So maybe that’s where it is.
Interestingly (and maybe it is connected - and maybe it’s not) if you go to http://www.productwiki.com/ you’ll find a ‘coming soon’ message - in fact whatever is there is coming very soon - midnight tonight in fact. Perhaps this is the new home for Amazon’s ProductWiki or perhaps someone else is capitalizing on what they see Amazon doing.
The page design doesn’t look very Amazon-ish and they tend to keep everything on the one domain so I’m not sure it’s officially Amazon or not but time will tell.
update: a whois on the www.productwiki.com site has no obvious connection to Amazon. It’s registered to Amanie Ismail from Canada. Probably a dead end to that lead.
update II: I’ve just had an IM from Tim Flight who says he can see Wiki links on normal Amazon pages. They also have a description as follows:
You can create Wikis about a many different things on Amazon. For example, you might create a Wiki to describe a particular opera recording. Within that Wiki you could create links to Wiki entries defining words such as “soprano” and “coloratura”.
You can view how a particular Wiki entry has changed over time, to see who has contributed what and when, and you can subscribe to be notified by email of any future updates to Wikis you are interested in.
A list of Wikis you have contributed to appears on your Your Amazon Home and Profile pages.
Interesting. Obviously I’m living in the wrong part of the world (again) to participate in it but it looks like an interesting interaction with customers by Amazon.
Written on November 25th, 2005 at 01:11 am by David Shawver
Using Blog Deadlines to Defeat Bloggers Block
10. Set a deadline
When I was at school and then university one of the things that got my act together the most when it came to writing essays was a looming deadline. I work well under pressure (or maybe I’m just lazy and don’t work well when there is a lack of pressure) so deadlines work very well for me and I set them for myself in my blogging on a regular basis.
Deadlines need to be used with caution (they actually can be the cause of bloggers block for some people) but I find that having posting goals and deadlines helps me to keep fresh content turning over on my blog.
Deadlines can take a number of forms and can range from setting yourself a daily posting goal to starting a series of posts (ie tell everyone that over the next week you’ll write a post per day on a certain topic and you’ve suddenly made yourself accountable to writing something every day - other people waiting for a post can be just the motivation you need).
Another type of deadline that I know a few bloggers use is to have a blog buddy who they keep themselves accountable to by telling them their goals and asking the other blogger to check up on them. I know one blogger who does this same thing with his wife - she reads and counts his posts every night (quality and quantity check) - not to check up on him because she doesn’t trust him - but because he finds that it helps to keep him motivated to know someone is watching with that purpose in mind.
One note of qualification - deadlines suit my personality type but I don’t recommend them for everyone. Try them but if they cause you more stress then they are worth and they decrease the quality of your work rather than increase then give them away and find some other methods to keep you inspired.
Read more of the Bloggers Block Series
Written on November 24th, 2005 at 10:11 pm by David Shawver
Blogger Collaboration - Battling Bloggers Block
9. Collaborate with other Bloggers
Run out of ideas? Find someone who hasn’t to work with.
One of the great things about blogging is the relational aspect of it. The ideas that come when you put your head together with someone else are often quite amazing. Collaboration can happen on many different levels including:
- Guest Blogging - get someone in to write on your blog from time to time to freshen things up
- Blog Swaps - swap blogs with another blogger for a day
- Joint Posts - write on a topic together in a one off way
- Interviews - interview each other
- Joint Blogs - start a blog with someone - split up the work (and rewards) between you
- Blog Network - one of the things I like most about networks is the companionship and new possibilities to work together that they can bring
- Chatting on IM/email - just chatting about your blog, it’s goals and how you’re going with your blog can be a real motivator. If I have an idea for a new blog I quite often do a brainstorming session with another blogger or two around the idea.
- Participate in discussion forums - there are many discussion forums out there which can not only be quite informative but which give opportunity for collaborating around ideas
Rubbing shoulders with other bloggers (and non bloggers) keeps me sane and is one of the main reasons that I’m able to sustain what I do. Without it blogging can become a pretty lonely existence.
Read more of the Bloggers Block Series
Written on November 24th, 2005 at 01:11 pm by David Shawver
Flip an Idea - Beating Bloggers Block
8. Flip an Idea
Sometimes I get stuck on an idea because I’ve only ever looked at it from one angle. What about tackling it from another direction? Flip it!
One of the most memorable discussions I’ve ever participated in here at enternetusers was the day I asked ‘What’s Wrong with Blogging?‘
What I didn’t write on that post was that the idea actually came to me on a day when I was trying to write a post on the topic of ‘What’s Good about Blogging?’ Sometimes when we flip an idea and start arguing a case that we don’t agree with we learn a lot and find new inspiration.
Another time I flipped an idea was back in March when I ran my first annual enternetusers Underblogger Awards. Again the idea started as a normal Awards post but flipping it to be an award with a twist took it to a more unique place.
Read the rest of the Bloggers Block Series
Written on November 24th, 2005 at 12:11 pm by David Shawver
Apple Australia - Slow and Steady doesn’t win the race!
Almost 4 weeks ago I excitedly rang my local Apple store to place an order for a new dual core powermac. I made a few modifications to the standard configuration so the ETA on it was going to be a little longer than a standard machine. The prediction was 10 days.
Hmmm - so it’s coming up for 28 days and on last report the powermac is in Singapore.
While I love what Apple makes with it’s computers (this is my third - having owned an ibook and powerbook) I’ve noticed that on each occasion of purchasing them that the delivery time has always gone at least a week or two past what I was advised on purchase. I’m not sure if it’s just a localized Apple Australia problem but it’s enough to drive a guy nuts!
I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait but I’m starting to wonder if it’ll get here before Christmas!
Written on November 24th, 2005 at 12:11 pm by David Shawver
Shoutwire
The Zero Boss has a mini review of Shoutwire - a social bookmarking site that is similar to Digg but that covers a wider array of topics (Digg is just technology related).
It could be a useful tool if it takes off.
Written on November 24th, 2005 at 07:11 am by David Shawver
Track AdSense Clicks With Google Analytics
Shawn from Digital Point has developed a piece of javascript that will allow those AdSense publishers who use Google’s Analytics to Track their AdSense Clicks. The stats it gives should shed a bit more light on what pages convert best for Adsense clicks, what sources of traffic click ads more etc.
SEO Book has developed one also. The advantage of it’s one is that it works with Firefox whereas Shawn’s only works with IE.
Written on November 24th, 2005 at 02:11 am by David Shawver
Take Questions - Battling Bloggers Block
7. Take Questions
This is a basic tip that can help you to identify the needs of your readers - simply ask them.
Once again this isn’t rocket science - but it’s amazing what results when you do it.
Start a Question File - I get questions on most of my blogs every day or two from readers wanting information on the topics I cover. Collect questions like this and put them in a file for one of those days when you can’t come up with a topic to write about.
Call for Questions - If you don’t get asked questions by readers normally give them permission to ask you questions. I tend not to do this much these days because the questions tend to come faster than I can answer them at the best of times - but when I first started blogging I Actively sought questions with an ‘ask a question’ link on my blog. Of course if you do this you’d better be willing to answer them. In the early days I also occasionally would go as far as asking specific readers for questions by picking a few from my newsletter and emailing them the offer for me to do a free short consulting job for them as long as I could blog about my answers to their questions.
Ask Your Own Questions - If readers still don’t ask questions - ask some yourself! Some of the best discussions I’ve ever seen on a blog have been the result of the blogger themselves admitting a lack of knowledge on a topic and asking for help.
Creating an environment for questions and answers can really bring your blog alive - especially if you can create a culture where bloggers feel comfortable to ask even the simplest of questions and where bloggers get into the habit of answering the questions of each other instead of just leaving it all up to you.
Read the full Bloggers Block Series
Written on November 23rd, 2005 at 11:11 pm by David Shawver
Google Click-to-Call Advertising
Google are testing a new form of advertising in some parts of the USA - it’s called Click to Call. And is where readers click on a little green phone icon on text ads and Google will arrange a call for you. Advertisers must be paying on a ‘pay per call’ basis. Here’s how Google explains it:
‘We’re testing a new product that gives you a free and fast way to speak directly to the advertiser you found on a Google search results page – over the phone.
Here’s how it works: When you click the phone icon, you can enter your phone number. Once you click ‘Connect For Free,’ Google calls the number you provided. When you pick up, you hear ringing on the other end as Google connects you to the other party. Then, chat away on our dime.
We won’t share your telephone number with anyone, including the advertiser. When you’re connected with the advertiser, your number is blocked so the advertiser can’t see it. In addition, we’ll delete the number from our servers after a short period of time.’
Read more at Google Click-to-Call
The Click to Call ads are only reported to be showing in some parts of the US at this stage in Google’s search results (and not on publishers pages) but if this takes off I guess we can expect to see green little icons on our sites. See the Screen Shot below to see what the ads look like.
Picture from Yardley.ca - he has more on his site.
Written on November 23rd, 2005 at 10:11 pm by David Shawver
Google Page Rank Changes Reported
There are a few murmurings around the web today that Google might be making some adjustments to Page Rank again.
Some are saying that it could just be a partial rollback on the most recent update (that it could have been too extreme) while others say it’s another update in it’s own right. I’m not sure - it seems a little too soon after the last one for it to be a full update but one never knows with Google - some sites are definitely reporting changes but it’s not widespread yet.
You might like to keep an eye on the Page Rank of your page using the Page Rank Prediction tool I have on this previous post. It’s showing a few small adjustments on some of my blogs both up and down on one or two data centers but nothing major yet.
Another couple of days and we’ll know more.
Other posts on Page Rank include:
- Google Page Rank Explained
- Is Google Page Rank Still Relevant
- Page Rank Explained
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