Amy Campbell’s Web Log

A couple of the very interesting findings from the Pew Internet & American Life Internet Use by Region in the United States (August 27, 2003)…

“New England is one of the most wired regions in the United States, with 66% of adults online…”

“…And 89% of New England’s Internet users have gone online to try to find the answer to a question — a higher proportion than in any other region of the country.”

Supporting the content-based, online informational marketing approach that I’m often heard spouting about.

Law firm marketers who have done great work in the past year, should consider entering the Legal Marketing Association, New England Chapter’s Your Honor Awards competition. Non-members are invite to submit entries. Deadline for entry is September 19. Good luck.

Not much to report as I’ve not been very active lately. However, my blog continues to pull viewers as I hover around the 45th spot on the Harvard rankings… a kind of autopilot driven by the power of archives in a world of links and search engines. I haven’t noticed any significant new linkbacks, but I did get one query for a speaking engagement. I’ll try to ramp it up this fall. I’m also getting pretty fluent with the “a href” tag as I blog mainly via Mac without the fancy tools. (we few suffer so)

Just noticed Yahoo!’s index of “law blogs“… it’s a short list. Wonder if they had to pay the $299? That would be so unbloggy.

From today’s NYT (link):

FCC Chairman Powell: “We heard the voice of public concern loud and clear that localism remains a core concern of our public, and thus, I think it is time the commission address it head on.”

Senator Byron Dornan: “It is a very curious strategy for the chairman to change the rules in a way that will dramatically damage localism and then, nearly three months later, propose a process to examine how those rules might affect localism,”

Commissioner Michael Copps: “This proposal is a day late and a dollar short. … We should have vetted these issues before we voted.”

Lately I’ve been using blogs (or web logs) as experiments to test the markets of information. As the web (read Google) evolves, it gets better at rewarding good content. While email systems have trouble routing out spam, Google seems to be doing a good job of it. You can’t “trick” search engines for long before they are on to dubious ranking schemes. So the best way to “optimize” a site for search engine success is the “old fashion way”… you’ve got to earn it. Earn it by writing relevant content.

Write about the right thing* and the world will beat a path to your door. Literally. And weblogs seem to be playing a large role in how information is disseminated among the powers-that-be in netland. (That’s why I’ve launched an entirely new web log, called Big Needle, to use for experiments and selfish acts of search engine optimization, information dissemination and self promotion.)

It’s also interesting to test the markets of information by “info-fishing.” An interesting experiment (you can do yourself at home) to chart the mood of the marketplace is to go to Daypop and track “word bursts” or “news bursts.” It’s also interesting to track what Google pulls on a particular phrase and what Feedster, which searches exclusively web logs with RSS feeds, pulls on the same bait. Which cast pulls in the more valuable fish?

As an optimizer/marketer/snake oil salesman, if you use the right bait (content on your web site), and cast it well (properly tagged and optimized), and have patience to wait… you may get a big bite. Don’t be discouraged by small bites. They all add up and, as we know in the fishy food-chain, little fishes leads to big fishes.

* and optimize it properly.