iNET Interactive

Web hosting community gets more social

kevin — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:06:10 +0000

Dayton, OH — April 30, 2008 – Introducing the evolution of the Internet’s largest, most influential web hosting community! Web Hosting Talk (www.webhostingtalk.com) announced the launch of its new Enhanced Member Profiles – adding a new layer of social networking for Web Hosting Talks’ community members.

Enhanced Member Profiles enable any Web Hosting Talk registered member to build more credibility and connect more deeply with other web hosting community members by integrating their social networks, building a powerful personal identity and sharing their broader expertise, interests and hobbies with the Web Hosting Talk community.

Now, Web Hosting Talk members can integrate their “outside the community” reputation into their Web Hosting Talk persona by leveraging existing online social media including YouTube, Blog feeds, Diggs, social bookmarks like Del.icio.us, Flickr photos, LinkedIn, forum activity, friend’s list and much more.

Web Hosting Talk is bringing together over 5 million forum posts with an advanced social sharing and communication tool to strengthen its value to the web hosting industry. The new Enhanced Member Profiles offer a unique new way for Web Hosting Talk members to get more engaged with the online community through not only forum participation but to also discover, share and discuss opinions, experiences and insights occurring outside the four walls of Web Hosting Talk. The Enhanced Member Profiles creates greater membership engagement which fosters stronger loyalty within the overall community.

Since its launch in late March 2008, over 4,000 Member Profiles have been created by registered Web Hosting Talk members. Each week, hundreds of additional members are creating their Enhanced Member Profiles as they witness the benefits the first-movers are experiencing. These benefits include:

Building deeper and stronger community relationships.
Adding character to a member’s Web Hosting Talk identity.
Combining a member’s “outside the community” reputation into their Web Hosting Talk identity to build credibility.
Gaining more search engine exposure for a member and their company.
Broadening a member’s online reputation and prominence by leveraging Web Hosting Talk’s authority in the web hosting industry.

Any individual or company interested in setting up an Enhanced Member Profile should visit (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/memberprofiles) to learn more. Registration is required and is free.

“Web Hosting Talk is very excited about the launch and the quick adoption rate of the new Enhanced Member Profiles,” stated Troy Augustine, CEO of iNET Interactive the parent company of Web Hosting Talk. “The Enhanced Member Profiles provide added value for Web Hosting Talk’s members and creates a new social layer on top of forum participation.” Mr. Augustine continues, “It’s just the start though. Over the coming year, Web Hosting Talk will be rolling out additional modules for the Enhanced Member Profiles beyond an already impressive list of social media.”

Web Hosting Talk is a vibrant and active web hosting community. Today it has over 180,000 registered members who have generated over five million posts. Built initially as a message board, Web Hosting Talk has grown to also host a web hosting wiki, web host directory and web hosting news. Web Hosting Talk (http://www.webhostingtalk.com) is considered the largest, most influential web hosting community on the Internet.

About iNET Interactive:

Founded in 2002, iNET Interactive (http://www.inetinteractive.com) embraced social media before the term was coined. Today, iNET Interactive operates some of the most prominent online communities, including Web Hosting Talk and HotScripts.com, for technology professionals and technology enthusiasts. Its vertically-focused communities incorporate user-contributed ratings, reviews, and discussion augmented with professionally-produced content.

Keeping up with Twittering

kevin — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:49:53 +0000

Keeping the pulse on social media and monitoring a company’s online reputation is practically a full time job especially for a smaller company not able to afford full scale applications like BuzzMetrics’s BrandPulse products. I find it particularly difficult to keep track of Twitter which pours out an endless stream of great (and sometimes not so great) content.

David Berkowitz wrote a perfect article targeting my pain on Search Insider about “how to monitor Twitter.” One option he mentioned was FriendFeed. I have heard about FriendFeed and they just received some great press from BusinessWeek but I haven’t tried it out. Its model fits a significant marketplace need for aggregating social networks into a single dashboard. As David explained,

“FriendFeed, an identity aggregator that lets you publish updates from a range of social media sites including Twitter, Flickr, del.icio.us, digg, StumbleUpon, your blog, and dozens of other sources.”

Keeping up with the stream of content though reminds me of a podcast I listened to from Provident Partners who interviewed Gina Bianchini of Ning (a social networking site) and Robert Scoble. The podcast was titled, “Is social networking right for corporate marketing? Two tests will help you decide.” But it was Robert Scoble who mentioned the need for attention management (versus time management) to handle the deluge of user-content generated from social media.

Trying to figure out what’s important to read and how frequent is a main concern both in terms of productivity but also relative to focus. So now someone needs to develop a “need to know” versus “nice to know” filter to weed through the aggregated noise and expose the golden nuggets of required knowledge.

Growing your business during an economic downturn

kelly — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:14:19 +0000

It’s happening, and your opportunity is here! If you read my last post, you know that I am a believer in the power of marketing during an economic downturn.

According to a new Downturn Report (PDF), released by Marketing Sherpa, 60% of large companies have already cut their marketing budgets or have a cut planned for 2008. This opens up a window of opportunity for smart marketers. Why? One big reason is that more available ad inventory gives you the opportunity to gain a larger voice and a good reputation in your market.

Advertising and PR are the great equalizers—consumers on the Internet don’t know if you are doing business in a high-rise on Fifth Avenue, or if you and a buddy are working in your garage. The only thing that builds trust in your brands, and ultimately sells them, is good marketing and word-of-mouth advertising. In an economic downturn, take advantage of available media space and stand out from the crowd!

Some Tips to Consider:

“Make sure you’re not spending too much of your budget on marketing overhead that doesn’t translate into impressions and messaging that prospects will actually see. Spending too much of your budget on overhead (creative and agency expenses) isn’t going to drive revenue,” says Jay O’Connor, Sr.VP Worldwide Marketing, NetSuite Inc., in the Marketing Sherpa Downturn Report.
Think about your message and align it with consumers’ pain points. Did anyone besides me watch the movie Mr. Mom about a hundred years ago (actually, just 25 years ago)? There was a little scene where Teri Garr (the mom in the movie who took a job at an ad agency) wrote a campaign for “Schooner Tuna—the Tuna with a Heart.” If you saw the movie, you know where I am going with this. If not—the point openly confronted the fact that people were hurting from a recession, by dropping their prices to help out working families of America. Cheesy? Yes. But, don’t forget about what Tony the Tiger did for Kellogg’s. Be smart with your message and make sure it addresses your customers’ need for good value.
Take advantage of the FREE stuff—there are lots of PR opportunities and ways to manage your reputation that don’t cost anything. One way, which we at iNET are most familiar with, is through participation in the communities you serve. You are an expert in your field, right? Sharing a little bit of that knowledge through a community forum site goes a long way to building your credibility. Plus, hanging out in a forum where people are chatting about their problems and discussing the products they plan to buy is just like having a mini focus group without the expense. People will chat with their friends and colleagues, even during a recession. Turn yourself into a “friend” or “trusted colleague.”
Test your message and measure your ROI. The best thing about Internet advertising is immediacy: you can quickly make changes to messages that aren’t working.

Why should you increase your advertising budget in a recession?

kelly — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:36:29 +0000

Recession—it’s the inescapable word these days, isn’t it? Well, it doesn’t have to be a dirty word. Recession can be a savvy marketer’s best opportunity to get noticed. There are several well-know examples of this. In fact, a recent cover story in Advertising Age, boasts about various brands which were birthed as a result of recession. These include the IBM personal computer in 1981 and the iPod twenty years later. But, one of my personal favorites is the story of the Kellogg’s. brand because it illustrates how a small company can make it big through smart marketing (or it could just be that I love breakfast cereal). Either way, the story goes something like this (don’t quote me on all of the nitty gritty particulars)…

During the Great Depression, Post was the leading cereal brand. In fact it was the only cereal brand people would have thought of at the time. But, due to the Depression, money was tight and sales were falling. Post figured they did not need to continue advertising because they “owned” the market (for cereal) and they needed to cut expense. Cereal was considered a luxury anyway.

Kellogg’s, on the other hand, took advantage of the economy that was suffering. They created a positive ad campaign featuring Tony the Tiger and the very positive and enthusiastic Kellogg’s slogan “They’re GREAT!” They DOUBLED their ad budget, and bought ad spots in newspapers and radio time across the nation. Americans loved Tony the Tiger and the positive message he sent during a very negative time. Kellogg’s brand bucked the trend, and grew quickly, in a time when money was tight by keeping their brand top-of-mind.

Today,Kellogg’s remains a top cereal company in the US—perhaps even the #1 cereal company. Why? Because they unleashed the power of advertising.

What are you doing for your brands?

Concerning community member conversion

chris — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:22:44 +0000

Dennis, the iNET community coordinator, and I had an interesting conversation this morning regarding member conversion rates and our online communities. Conversion rate is a metric that we watch pretty closely here, being the percentage of unique non-members visitors to one of our online message board communities that become members in a one-month period.

Certainly, a lot of factors can affect conversion rate of an online community. We think there are a few key ones that are worth taking the biggest look into:

Quality of content. This one should be the easiest for a prospective member to figure out. If the content on the site is great and attractive, then people will hopefully want to come back for more. If folks find that their questions are being answered, and that the conversation in the community is deep and rich, they might be persuaded to sign up and find a home there.

Ease of registration. How hard is it to become a member? How easy is the signup form? How many mandatory questions are there? Is it a visually appealing process? Does the process seem safe and secure. I would argue that the typical vBulletin registration process we use is slightly unwieldly and in need of an UI update. That’s something we’re definitely going to address in our communities soon.

Attitude. This is the most subjective of all. What is the attitude of the community’s members and moderators? The prospective member may take a look at the spirit of the message board, and try to answer some tough questions. Does it seem like members are treated fairly? Do senior members make new members feel welcome and at home? Is the community pretty good at not feeding the trolls? Does the community stay on topic? Are the rules posted and clear? Do the moderators treat everyone with respect? If a member prospect answers any of these with a ‘no,’ they’ll likely second-guess signing up, or if they do–they might not stick around for long.

Emerging patterns in social networking applications

Aaron Forgue — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:53:48 +0000

It doesn’t seem like many web sites are built these days that don’t have some “social networking” aspect. With so many social networks being created, an inevitable echo-chamber of features has formed. These common-thread features are being woven into patterns that will ultimately define what social networking sites are and how to identify them.

Existing patterns

Friend lists and groups - Friends are the bread and butter of social networking (this should be obvious). If your social networking web site isolates users from each other, it is not a social networking site.
Status frameworks - Status updates are quickly becoming a vital part of social networks. Services like Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook have made this very clear. Features such as “message walls” and status updates provide users with ways to keep their networks updated and in the know.
Open data access - Free the data. If you want to spark huge third-party development communities, you’ve got to open up access to your data. Facebook and others quickly figured this out and are now more successful because of the extremely active developer communities.
Media sharing - This is still a murky area that no one has really nailed perfectly, but giving users a way to share their media is essential. Words are great, but pictures, audio and video are even better. As more mobile devices with higher quality cameras (both still and video) enter the market, more users will want to share their media with friends.
Transparency - This is a big one. Most people understand that advertising funds most of the great services available on the web. The most successful social networking applications work in the required advertising without getting in the way of their users and without impeding the flow of information between users. Roadblocks, sleazy ads and interface annoyances will ultimately drive away users. If you need an example of this in action, look at MySpace.

Patterns missing in action

Separation of friends and acquaintances - A huge problem for many users is dealing with casual acquaintances. Are they really friends? Do they belong in my network? You know who these people are: the guy you knew in high school but never once talked to who now wants to be your friend on XYZ network. Do you turn him down and risk being rude, or do you accept is request and start down the slippery slope of diluting your friend list? There needs to be a better way to handle the different levels of friendships that most people maintain.
Friend recommendation - Last.FM, Pandora, Flickr, and YouTube are great at serving up content that you never knew you would like. Why can’t the same be said for social networking sites? Why can’t a recommendation engine be built that recommends people who might be a good fit for you as a friend, even if they aren’t already linked to one of your friends? This is an untapped market.
Friend discovery - Friend recommendation is one thing, friend discovery is something entirely different. Social networks usually end up with fragmented or incomplete circles of friends. Not many social networks to a great job of helping me find my existing friends on their network. Some are getting better at it, but existing friend discovery could be improved.
Credibility indicators - This could be considered a requirement for friend recommendation. Social networks should provide more tools that allow users to judge the credibility of other users. How do I know if this person is a legitimate friend possibility or just someone looking to hock their blog or web site? Indicators that are based on the aggregate actions of a user would be a great feature.

Patterns that should go away

Email systems - Users already have email, stop being redundant. This is especially true when a web site sends an alert to a user’s real email address to let them know that they have new email on their site.
Page view generators - Stop inserting detours that are meant solely to increase page views. “One of your friends is having a birthday today, click here to find out who!” Ugh. (I’m looking at you, MySpace)
Site-specific chat rooms and instant messaging - Again, users already have their preferred way of chatting. Leave it be and stop fragmenting the market further.

Congratulations, Ahmad!

chris — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:51:32 +0000

Congratulations are in order for iNET Product Manager Ahmad Permessur, who graduated today (with honors, I might add) from the University of Mauritius with a degree in Information Technology!

Ahmad is responsible for day-to-day site management of Hot Scripts, as well as a lot of the graphic and user interface design you see on many of the properties on our network.

Congratulations, Ahmad, on all your hard work.

The “Telecommuter’s Toolbox”

chris — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:38:55 +0000

At iNET, one thing we recognize we have to be really good at, now and in the future, is working with remote employees. While we have 12 full time folks in-house, there are 5 more of us that work remotely from home. As we grow, organically and through acquisition, we’ll have to be masters at managing remote staff–since it’s likely not everyone that will join our company will be working here in the office with us.

While there’s a lot we have to do here to make staff at home feel like one of the team, there’s a lot that remote telecommuters can do to keep their sanity without co-workers to lean on (though that’s not always a bad thing–LOL). I found a great blog post the other day at Lifehack.org, where Thursday Bram describes some of these techniques in The Telecommuter’s Toolbox. If you work from home, or if you think you might want to work remotely, she has some invaluable tips that you might not have considered. Here are a few snips:

The Meal Plan: “Planning ahead of time what we want to eat, from lunches to snacks makes it easier to shop and can help prevent a telecommuter from getting off track by having to focus on what to eat.”
The Insurance Policy: “And even on the off chance that your employer covers your computer under their policy, you’ll need an insurance policy to cover your other stuff at risk for theft (television, etc.).“
The Outside Office: “We’re social critters and we like working with other people around us. Coffee shops serve this purpose, as do libraries, bookshops and co-working locations.”
The Alarm Clock: “Telecommuting is about flexibility, but without setting your ‘hours of operation,’ you may be too flexible to get your work done.”
The Exercise Regimen: “There are a whole slew of health problems desk workers face, most of which can be mitigated by the occasional lap around the block.”
The Business Card: “Many managers think face time is a prerequisite for promotions, not to mention raises. As a telecommuter, it’s up to you to network and build up your options for advancement.”
The Snack Cupboard: “Stocking snacks and drinks in your home office can help you from needing distracting breaks from your work. Even better, you can stock healthier snacks and the flavors you like best.”

iNET Interactive’s expanding management team

kevin — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:10:00 +0000

We have added two new members to the iNET management team in March. iNET is excited to announce the additions of Mark Sancrant, Director of Corporate Development, and Kevin Gold, Director of Internet Marketing to round-out iNET’s management team. Mark and Kevin complete the foundation necessary to execute iNET’s strategic plan. Feel free to check out their bios in addition to the bios of the whole iNET team.

As with every individual iNET member, Mark and Kevin were presented with brand-new 335xi BMWs, a lavish dinner at iNET’s meals-made-to-order cafeteria and the keys to an elaborate high-tech office overlooking a vast tropical rainforest with exotic birds chirping happy tunes. Both Mark and Kevin were astounded while viewing the exclusive iPub (iNET Interactive Pub) in the main lobby of iNET’s corporate office. “Wow” was the only word capable of seeping out from their awe-strucked faces.

(Editor’s note: BMWs, elaborate offices and exclusive cafeterias would be nice but don’t share your dreams with the audience.)

After the week-long festivities celebrating the new members, the iNET team settled into super work mode to kick-off a great second quarter!

Rapid development programming frameworks

Aaron Forgue — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:46:57 +0000

Rapid development programming frameworks have been a hot topic within web developer circles recently. These handy tools set out to automate many of the repeated tasks of developing web applications. But like all trends, critics quickly poke holes in the idea. So what what can you expect from programming frameworks?

The Good:

Much faster development time, especially for prototyping (via scaffolding)
Less time spent on boiler-plate web application functionality (e.g. user authentication, form creation, etc)
Easily maintainable code base a la coding standards and documentation
Consistent code across projects translates into the elimination of the learning curve each time your developers transition to different projects
New hires are either already familiar with the framework (and can start coding immediately) or are easily trained via online documentation and a (usually) active community

The Bad:

Rarely will the framework do everything you want, and often it will do more than you need, this is an inherent problem with one-size-fits-all frameworks
Bloated framework code bases try to be everything to everyone. Do you really need a garage-full of power tools to hammer a single nail?
Since you don’t write and verify every single line of code, there is the possibility of frameworks introducing security risks of which you are unaware (however, there is probably a better chance that an open source framework is more secure, because multiple developers are constantly looking over and improving the code)
Framework vendor lock-in can limit your flexibility. Although you can always switch frameworks for new projects, older projects are tied to the release schedule of the framework provider unless you invest the time to customize the framework yourself.

The Thought-Provoking:

Something to consider is that hardware is cheaper than manpower. In most cases, bloated code leads to slower average load times. However, this is easily overcome by upgrading your server hardware to handle the loads. Since development times are slashed and code maintenance is much easier, you don’t need to hire as many developers. Fewer developers means more cash that can be routed into infrastructure improvements. Ultimately, a few more hard drives and memory is much cheaper than a few more programmer salaries.

Implementation of a standard framework will also have the benefit of focusing your hiring methods and cutting down your new hire training time. For example, instead of searching for generic PHP developers who will need to learn your in-house coding methodologies, you can search for [insert your framework of choice] developers who can hit the ground running on day one.

The decision of whether or not to use a framework for your next project depends entirely on your needs and resources. However, there is definitely a trend in the web development world towards frameworks because of the time-saving benefits that they provide. What are your opinions on frameworks? Leave a comment and let us know!