EBay's company headquarters on Hamilton Avenue in San Jose, California has just been evacuated due to a suspicious looking package.
The 200+ employees at the online auction's HQ have all been escorted out, the bomb squad escorted in. "One suspicious package was discovered. We immediately evacuated the mailroom...the building remains evacuated at this point," said eBay spokesman Hani Durzy, according to Reuters.
Last year, during Halloween night, a bomb went ka-pow over at eBay's PayPal headquarters, so with good read they're taking today's threat very seriously.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Tips on maintaining and growing an RSS Feed Subscriber base
13 Tips to Maintaining and Growing an RSS Feed Subscriber Base
by S. Housley - Copyright 2007 S. Housley
You have an RSS feed and you have worked hard to get the word out. According to your logs you have subscribers! Now the hard part: how to retain the subscribers to your RSS feed. Follow these simple steps to insure that your subscriber base will grow.
1. Original Content
A consistent stream of original content will do well to earn subscribers loyalty. The best RSS feeds provide content that is compelling and unique. Do not rehash existing content, look for a unique angle or spin if you wish to cover something that is hot in the blogosphere.
2. Quality Over Frequency
A posts quality is far more important than a post's frequency. Readers will tire of rambling or nonsensical posts that contain no real value. Time is precious and there are plenty of feeds and blogs, in order to retain readers provide quality not quantity.
3. Get it Right
Syndication has the power to do damage; misquoting or just plain getting it wrong can affect your reputation and perpetuate incorrect information. Be sure to verify all your RSS feed and blogs information prior to posting.
4. Literate
Blog posts are not instant messages: you should always use proper grammar, correct spelling and punctuation. Your posts are a reflection of your knowledge; content presentation matters and will affect how you are viewed.
5. Griping
Do not constantly gripe, no one likes a whiner. If you are going to complain it is not enough to point out problems, you should offer a suggestion for improvement or specifics on how to solve a problem.
6. Balance
Titles of RSS Feed Items and Headlines of blog posts should relate to the contents of the actual post. There is nothing worse than just tempting readers with information and not following through. Use catchy titles but be sure to follow it with related content. In your actual posts, strike a balance be sure to provide enough information without overwhelming readers.
7. Focus
Regardless of your RSS feeds focus' stay on topic! Your feed or blog posts will generally revolve around a specific theme, don't stray too far or you might lose readers. If your RSS feed has a specific theme, stay true to that theme.
8. Length Matters
Not too long, not too short it is a difficult balance, but your post length does matter! If a post is excessively long consider breaking it up or partitioning it into easy to digest paragraphs or break it up into multiple posts. Post length should be consistent throughout your blog and feed. Try not to vary it too much.
9. Credibility
As a publisher, you want to be viewed as a credible source. Posting or reposting inaccurate information will reduce if not nullify any credibility that you have. Provide credentials when offering an opinion and be sure any factual information is accurate before posting.
10. Link
Include links to any related information in the description field of your RSS feed, this is a great way to supplement content. Outgoing links will also often result in links back to your blog or website.
11. Consistency
It is important to remain consistent, try not to vary too much in your daily posts. Stay true to your formula for content if it is working .
12. Listen to Your Audience
Readers will often communicate what they like and what they dislike about your content. It is important that you stay in tune with what your subscribers like and don't like and make the appropriate accommodations.
13. Advertisements
Do not clutter your RSS feed with advertisements. If you choose to include advertisements in your RSS feed be sure to strike a balance between advertisements and quality content.
Starting an RSS feed or is not difficult to attract readers, it is however difficult to retain readers. By following a few simple unwritten rules you will find your subscriber base swell.
--------------
About the Author: Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software
by S. Housley - Copyright 2007 S. Housley
You have an RSS feed and you have worked hard to get the word out. According to your logs you have subscribers! Now the hard part: how to retain the subscribers to your RSS feed. Follow these simple steps to insure that your subscriber base will grow.
1. Original Content
A consistent stream of original content will do well to earn subscribers loyalty. The best RSS feeds provide content that is compelling and unique. Do not rehash existing content, look for a unique angle or spin if you wish to cover something that is hot in the blogosphere.
2. Quality Over Frequency
A posts quality is far more important than a post's frequency. Readers will tire of rambling or nonsensical posts that contain no real value. Time is precious and there are plenty of feeds and blogs, in order to retain readers provide quality not quantity.
3. Get it Right
Syndication has the power to do damage; misquoting or just plain getting it wrong can affect your reputation and perpetuate incorrect information. Be sure to verify all your RSS feed and blogs information prior to posting.
4. Literate
Blog posts are not instant messages: you should always use proper grammar, correct spelling and punctuation. Your posts are a reflection of your knowledge; content presentation matters and will affect how you are viewed.
5. Griping
Do not constantly gripe, no one likes a whiner. If you are going to complain it is not enough to point out problems, you should offer a suggestion for improvement or specifics on how to solve a problem.
6. Balance
Titles of RSS Feed Items and Headlines of blog posts should relate to the contents of the actual post. There is nothing worse than just tempting readers with information and not following through. Use catchy titles but be sure to follow it with related content. In your actual posts, strike a balance be sure to provide enough information without overwhelming readers.
7. Focus
Regardless of your RSS feeds focus' stay on topic! Your feed or blog posts will generally revolve around a specific theme, don't stray too far or you might lose readers. If your RSS feed has a specific theme, stay true to that theme.
8. Length Matters
Not too long, not too short it is a difficult balance, but your post length does matter! If a post is excessively long consider breaking it up or partitioning it into easy to digest paragraphs or break it up into multiple posts. Post length should be consistent throughout your blog and feed. Try not to vary it too much.
9. Credibility
As a publisher, you want to be viewed as a credible source. Posting or reposting inaccurate information will reduce if not nullify any credibility that you have. Provide credentials when offering an opinion and be sure any factual information is accurate before posting.
10. Link
Include links to any related information in the description field of your RSS feed, this is a great way to supplement content. Outgoing links will also often result in links back to your blog or website.
11. Consistency
It is important to remain consistent, try not to vary too much in your daily posts. Stay true to your formula for content if it is working .
12. Listen to Your Audience
Readers will often communicate what they like and what they dislike about your content. It is important that you stay in tune with what your subscribers like and don't like and make the appropriate accommodations.
13. Advertisements
Do not clutter your RSS feed with advertisements. If you choose to include advertisements in your RSS feed be sure to strike a balance between advertisements and quality content.
Starting an RSS feed or is not difficult to attract readers, it is however difficult to retain readers. By following a few simple unwritten rules you will find your subscriber base swell.
--------------
About the Author: Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software
Monday, October 01, 2007
UYMG Malaysia - final day.
Final day of UYMG Malaysia.
Stephen gave us more information on traffic generation, how to get articles for our bloggers and more traffic generation.
There were only two speakers :-
1. Sandhan touch on 'Success Navigation System' a road map to our vision for success.
After the break, we had Jaz Lai. He gave information on List Building.
It's a very useful presentation, as most of his stuff goes on auto-pilot to build a list.
It was a very good UYMG covering various aspect of Internet Marketing and ways to change of mindset.
I would recommend this seminar to anyone who is interested in Internet Marketing, and self-improvement..... I definitely is looking forward to next year UYMG Malaysia.
Stephen gave us more information on traffic generation, how to get articles for our bloggers and more traffic generation.
There were only two speakers :-
1. Sandhan touch on 'Success Navigation System' a road map to our vision for success.
After the break, we had Jaz Lai. He gave information on List Building.
It's a very useful presentation, as most of his stuff goes on auto-pilot to build a list.
It was a very good UYMG covering various aspect of Internet Marketing and ways to change of mindset.
I would recommend this seminar to anyone who is interested in Internet Marketing, and self-improvement..... I definitely is looking forward to next year UYMG Malaysia.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
UYMG Malaysia 2007 - 3rd day.
This is the third day. Internet connection was slow so we had problem with some hands-on work.
Anyway the day start off with an inspirational video, and then Stephen gave us more tips on traffic generation.
Followed by the following speakers :-
1. Melissa Heweton touch on the power of Laws of Attraction. It has nothing to do with Internet Marketing instead she provided good information on the Laws of Attraction.
2. After the break another local boy, Patric Chan taught us how to conquer the niche market. He introduced to us the Niche Marketing 2.0. I guess this is a new hype compared to Web 2.0.
3. Ken 'The Storm' Shimizu, a Japanese, residing in Australia, gave us information on leadership.
4. A half an hour tips by Sern Yi on marketing your products on forum. He share with us how we can sell our products in a forum.
A long day, but very informative one!
Tomorrow the final day of the seminar, so stay tune.....
Anyway the day start off with an inspirational video, and then Stephen gave us more tips on traffic generation.
Followed by the following speakers :-
1. Melissa Heweton touch on the power of Laws of Attraction. It has nothing to do with Internet Marketing instead she provided good information on the Laws of Attraction.
2. After the break another local boy, Patric Chan taught us how to conquer the niche market. He introduced to us the Niche Marketing 2.0. I guess this is a new hype compared to Web 2.0.
3. Ken 'The Storm' Shimizu, a Japanese, residing in Australia, gave us information on leadership.
4. A half an hour tips by Sern Yi on marketing your products on forum. He share with us how we can sell our products in a forum.
A long day, but very informative one!
Tomorrow the final day of the seminar, so stay tune.....
Saturday, September 29, 2007
UYMG Malaysia 2007
This is the second day of the UYMG Malaysia 2007. If you to not know what is UYMG, it stands for Unleash Your Marketing Genius, and it is a Internet Marketing seminar by Stephen Pierce.
First day we had speakers such as Mike Filsaime, his bestseller ebook, Butterfly Marketing and Greg Cesar expert on Goolge Adwords. These are excellent speakers!
Second day and Stephen Pierce has given us some tips on traffic generation and positioning ourself in the Internet Marketing arena. There were a mix of speakers such as
1. Dave Lakhani, specialise in the art of persuasion
2. Chris Guerriero, gave us tips on how to be an author of a book/ebook.
3. Inanna Lawton, on conditioning your brain to be successful. We had a short experiment on bring in our sub-conscious mind, and what an experience. We were brought into a 'deep sleep' like to bring in the hungry items into play.
4. Finally a local boy, Jason Tan, taught us steps in setting up a blog. Very useful exercise for newbies.
The seminar will last until Monday, so stay tune for more updates and photos.
First day we had speakers such as Mike Filsaime, his bestseller ebook, Butterfly Marketing and Greg Cesar expert on Goolge Adwords. These are excellent speakers!
Second day and Stephen Pierce has given us some tips on traffic generation and positioning ourself in the Internet Marketing arena. There were a mix of speakers such as
1. Dave Lakhani, specialise in the art of persuasion
2. Chris Guerriero, gave us tips on how to be an author of a book/ebook.
3. Inanna Lawton, on conditioning your brain to be successful. We had a short experiment on bring in our sub-conscious mind, and what an experience. We were brought into a 'deep sleep' like to bring in the hungry items into play.
4. Finally a local boy, Jason Tan, taught us steps in setting up a blog. Very useful exercise for newbies.
The seminar will last until Monday, so stay tune for more updates and photos.