Hoover's buys e-mail tech firm

From Austin Business Journal website: "Hoover's Inc. acquired e-mail technology of a Visible Path Corp. of Foster City, Calif. The technology will be used in Hoover's Connect, a program that works similar to LinkedIn Corp. by connecting users to potential clients through e-mail address books. Details of how Visible Path staff will be merged with Austin-based Hoover's are still being discussed, says spokeswoman Lisa Glass. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and the purchase will not impact employment. Hoover Connect has been in a testing phase for a year. The program became available as a paid service Wednesday."

Wednesday's Work Whereabouts #3

Here's the deal.

On (some) Wednesdays I post a few online marketing, advertising, creative jobs.

Your end of the deal:
Job seekers: If you apply to one of my posted jobs, please tell them you heard about the job at Adomatica.com.
Job Posters: If you have any openings you would like for me to post, please send them my way. Also, If someone applies for a job and tells you they heard about it at Adomatica.com, please let me know.

That's a fair deal, right?

Here are today's postings:
Engagement Manager - Pluck - Austin, TX
Creative Gigs - Creative Suitcase - Austin, TX

Bazaarvoice lands some Euro Dinero

Austin based Bazaarvoice Inc. announced the landing of a round on funds today. This time the funds are from investment house European Founders Fund and will be used to speed growth in UK and European markets.

Press Release: Bazaarvoice secures funding to accelerate expansion in UK and Europe in 2008

Lance and Foundation to go for profit online

It's been a few years since a yellow rubber bracelet was the must have item, so it is fitting that Lance Armstrong and his namesake foundation are getting back into the for-profit game. Armstrong, LAF, and Demand Media are partnering up to launch the site that will use advertising as its income source. Armstrong and the LAF are taking an equity position in Demand Media. The California-based web site operator will launch the health and wellness site later this year. Demand Media is led be founder MySpace chairman Richard Rosenblatt.

The Austin Business Journal Article can be found here: LAF to launch for-profit Web site

Who's Watching Who #20

That's right folks...Today we are celebrating the 20th (week) anniversary of Who's Watching Who!

Here's a Who's-Who of folks that have contacted us and/or checked-out the blog
and/or called to praise/complain, and/or any combination thereof over the past week:

BBDO NY - Ad Agency Network - World Wide
Hearst - Publishing Empire

Veteran Visitors who came back for more (and more and more):
Crispin Porter + Bogusky - Ad Agency - Miami and Boulder
Google - face it, they are always "watching" us
GSD&M Idea City - Ad Agency - Austin, TX
McGarrah Jessee - Ad Agency - Austin, TX
Marcus Thomas - Ad Agency - Cleveland, OH
Neiman Group - Ad Agency - PA
Ogilvy and Mather - Ad Agency
Porter Novelli - PR Agency - Worldwide
Round Rock Express - Central Texas based Minor League Baseball Team
William Blair and Company - VC ($$$) - Chicago, Il

Been to the blog but don't see your company on the list? Shoot me an email or post a comment. If you email us, make sure you send it from your company email account so that we know it is the real-deal. Let us know what you think and maybe share a bit of info. The ~worst~ that will happen is that you get a free link to your site. Not a bad trade for a bit of good SEO if you ask me. If you don't know what SEO is then please email me sooner rather than later.

McGarrah Jessee - A SEO Test

McGarrah Jessee is an Austin-based advertising agency founded by ex-GSD&Mers Mark McGarrah and Bryan Jessee back in 1996. The point of this post is not to give McGarrah Jessee any extra link juice, but it is to test how well the post will be viewed by Google. The last post I made regarding McGarrah Jessee's recent new business win is coming up in 11th place. It might as well not exist. We'll see if this one does better and how quickly it gets indexed.

Big Agencies and Search?

I just came across this article written by Dave Pasternack on DMNEWS.com:

Why do big agencies even bother with search?

You can and should read the whole article, but here are his main points (and my take on each):

1. Search isn't a huge cash cow (because so many people are just doing it wrong).
2. Search is labor intensive (when you aren't using the right tools and following an efficient process).
3. Search isn't creative (when all your doing it trying to spend your clients money as part of a cost plus model).
4. Google and the other SE's offer no agency discount (because they don't have too. I wouldn't either).
5. Ad agencies can't afford great technology (today, but as with all technology items, prices are always dropping).

Telemarketing = Spam via phone

It's 7:17 pm and I've already gotten two telemarketing calls:

1. A recorded message asking me if I want to cut my monthly debt related payments asap and be "debt-free in 12 to 18 months". I think the first line it uttered was something like: " If you are not interested, please hit two" - I obviously hit two.

2. Sears - "Are you planning any major remodeling projects in the next 12 months?" No, I'm not and please take me off your call list. I love how they have the "yes, we will remove you from our call list" part of the call scripted just like the rest.

Telemarketing works like high-volume spam email. I did not ask Sears or some unknown credit consolidation company to call me, but I also never told them not to. If they call a few thousands or more folks tonight and a few people bite, the campaign will be profitable/successful.

I'm still holding out for some honorable person from Nigeria to call me needing help with a money transfer.

Who's Watching Who #19

Here's a Who's-Who of folks that have contacted us and/or checked-out the blog
and/or called to praise/complain, and/or any combination thereof over the past week:

Accord Holdings - direct response ad agency - UK
Apple - Steve Jobs likes me!
Aquantive - Digital Marketing - Owned by Microsoft
Tim Ehlen - Game Developer/Engineer - Houston, TX
HP - Worldwide, but I know it was someone in Houston
Mindshare - "Global Media Network"
Round Rock Express - Central Texas based Minor League Baseball Team
Sterling Partners - VC $$ - Baltimore and Chicago
SXSW - Music/Movie/Interactive Conference - Austin, TX
Thomson Financial - business research - Worldwide

Veteran Visitors who came back for more (and more and more):
Crispin Porter + Bogusky - Ad Agency - Miami and Boulder
GSD&M Idea City - Ad Agency - Austin, TX
Ice.com - Online Jewelry Retailer, OR
McGarrah Jessee - Ad Agency - Austin, TX
Marcus Thomas - Ad Agency - Cleveland, OH
Neiman Group - Addicted to Adomatica - PA
Ogilvy and Mather - Ad Agency
Porter Novelli - PR Agency - Worldwide
Viacom - Media and Entertainment - Worldwide
William Blair and Company - VC ($$$) - Chicago, Il

Been to the blog but don't see your company on the list? Shoot me an email or post a comment. If you email us, make sure you send it from your company email account so that we know it is the real-deal. Let us know what you think and maybe share a bit of info. The ~worst~ that will happen is that you get a free link to your site. Not a bad trade for a bit of good SEO if you ask me. If you don't know what SEO is then please email me sooner rather than later.

door64 Online Community

door64 is an online community of high-tech professionals in Central Texas. They're all about helping you become more well-connected through online and face-to-face networking. Check them out today and sign-up...it is FREE and it looks like they have some good happy-hour events.

Job Application Email String

So, this is a bit off the normal topic of my blog, but one of my many duties here at Adlucent is to recruit new folks and I think laughter is a good thing.

A dear friend of mine just sent me this string of emails from a college student looking to land an internship spot at her firm. The names etc have been removed/changed to protect the innocent.

"I am a senior at The University of X, and I am interested in the internship position available through Firm X for spring 2008. As a X major, I have developed a comprehensive understanding of X, Y and Z. However, I realize that actually working in a public setting is critical in integrating the theory and practices learned in the classroom with the actual daily workings of a X firm. It is for this reason I am hopeful that you will consider me for an internship at Firm X this spring. Attached you will find my resume and learn of the experiences that have prepared me to work for a company such as Firm X. Please feel free to contact me to discuss the possibility of an internship in more detail with you. I look forward to speaking with you.

Sincerely,
Student X"

----
Resume was not attached
----

"I am sorry for the inconvenience, but my resume did not get attached appropriately in my previous email. I have successfully attached it to this one and hope that I have not caused any confusion. Once again, I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Sincerely,
Student X"

----
Wrong resume was attached to that email
----

"I am so sorry for the confusion, but upon successfully attaching my resume to the previous email I realized that I inadvertently sent the wrong copy. I am truly sorry for this inconvenience, but I assure you I have attached the correct resume to this document. I understand that this is unprofessional, and I can assure you that I would not let this happen if you were to consider me for this position. Please accept my apologies, and I hope that you would still be willing to speak with me soon.

Sincerely,
Student X"

GSD&M Gets a Good Call...Really!

GSD&M, who lost a majority portion of AT&T business last year got a good call this week. They have been tapped to do marketing and advertising for AT&T 411 and 1-800-YELLOWPAGES.

From that Austin Business Journal article on the win:

~"We've had a long, successful relationship with AT&T," says Duff Stewart, president and chief operating officer of GSD&M. "We are honored that AT&T selected us to help drive the marketing efforts that will position AT&T as the premier choice for local search information."~

Congrats to GSD&M!

Google's Indexing of Blog Posts

The SEO side of me has been following the indexing habits of Google as they pertain to blog posts for time now. Google owns Blogger/Blogspot, so it is understandable that they would view "their" bloggers in a favorable light, but Google is truly nice to us these days. I posted in regards to Adlucent being added to OfficeSnapshots.com earlier today and in under 4 hours, the post was indexed.

It is feasible that a well-timed blog post on a news item could get indexed before an online article from the New Work Times. That gives a bit of power to the blogger, don't you think? It is interesting to think about this in the context of Google wanting to give the most relevant results. What I mean by this is that some blogger's post about a news item may be a bit fictional in nature while the New York TImes' piece could have real info and legitimate sources etc.

Ok, enough of my ranting, don't get me wrong, I love that I can get something up on Google within hours.

If you're interested in learning more about Google's indexing of blogs, tools to check when your site or blog is indexed, search engine optimization (SEO), or really anything online marketing related, please shoot me an email.

Who's Watching Who #18

Here's a Who's-Who of folks that have contacted us and/or checked-out the blog
and/or called to praise/complain, and/or any combination thereof over the past week:

DDB Worldwide - Ad Agency
Freescale Semiconductor - embedded semiconductor solutions - Austin, TX
General Motors - One of the "Big Three"
Media General - Communications i.e. newspapers - TV Stations - more
NBC Universal - Media and Entertainment - Worldwide
Ogilvy and Mather - Ad Agency
Publicis Group - Ad Agency Network - Worldwide
Viacom - Media and Entertainment - Worldwide

Veteran Visitors who came back for more (and more and more):
Callaway Golf - Golf Clubs and more - Carlsbad and Austin
Circle 1 Marketing - Marketing Firm - Norwalk, CT
Crispin Porter + Bogusky - Ad Agency - Miami and Boulder
McGarrah Jessee - Ad Agency - Austin, TX
Marcus Thomas - Ad Agency - Cleveland, OH
Neiman Group - Addicted to Adomatica - PA
Porter Novelli - PR Agency - Worldwide
Texas State University - San Marcos, TX

Been to the blog but don't see your company on the list? Shoot me an email or post a comment. If you email us, make sure you send it from your company email account so that we know it is the real-deal. Let us know what you think and maybe share a bit of info. The ~worst~ that will happen is that you get a free link to your site. Not a bad trade for a bit of good SEO if you ask me.

DMA Accepting Nominations

Ok, twist my arm, you can nominate me if you want....

DMA accepting nominations for board of directors

:-)

Behavioral Targeting Firms to Reassess Rules

This recent ClickZ article discusses the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI). The NAI is a group of behavioral targeting stake-holders that is doing a review of their self-regulations (rules) and are also needing to beef-up their membership roll.

Read the article here: Behavioral Targeting Firms to Reassess Self-Regulation Rules

eMarketer CEO to Speak at Austin Event

Geoff Ramsey, Co-founder and CEO of eMarketer, is schedule to speak at the January 24th lunch meeting of the Austin Interactive Marketing Association.

Presentation overview from the Austin Interactive Marketing Association website:

"Predicting the Future: Separating Hype From Reality in 2008

Social networking, online video, virtual worlds, mobile marketing: which of these are fads and which of these techniques are here to stay? eMarketer CEO Geoff Ramsey will cut through the clutter of contradictory statistics about cutting-edge trends to give you clarity and insight about how to optimize your interactive marketing programs. Attendees will get a 30,000-foot view of the digital marketing landscape for the New Year- all supported by hard numbers and case studies from a wealth of researchers and industry trend leaders. Get straight answers on tough questions that will save you time and help shape your marketing strategies."

When: Thursday, January 24, 2007
Time: 11:30 am - 1:15 pm
Location: University of Texas Club
2180 E. Redman Drive- Austin,TX. 78712 (Directions)

Cost:
$30 Members
$40 Non-Members
Online registration is limited to 100 and closes on 1/22.

To register, please use the AustinIMA registration page found here.

McGarrah/Jessee Sees New Client

In a continuation of proving that I'm not trying to pick on GSD&M, I post this good McGarrah/Jessee news:

McGarrah/Jessee nabs high-end eyewear maker as client

(ok, so you're thinking what does MC-J news have to do with GSD&M, well, Mark McGarrah and Bryan Jessee, both former GSD&M executives, founded McGarrah/Jessee back in 1996: Former GSD&M execs launch new ad company)

Ogilvy & Mather to Make Cuts

I don't want people thinking that I am picking on GSD&M so here is some bad news from a little shop in New York:

Ogilvy to Layoff Between 50 and 100 Staffers

Web Analytics Vendor Report

I recently came across a post/report by Stephane Hamel that shows vendor market share of the major web analytics tools currently available. Not surprisingly, free-to-use Google Analytics reigns supreme with 59%. Omniture comes in second with 19%, while the rest trail behind by at least 10%. This only makes me feel stronger in regards to the need and opportunity for the non-Google vendors to offer a free taste of their products.

Who's Watching Who #17

Here's a Who's-Who of folks that have contacted us and/or checked-out the blog
and/or called to praise/complain, and/or any combination thereof over the past week:

Mauve Software - Ferndown, England

Veteran Visitors who came back for more (and more and more):
Austin American-Statesman - Newspaper - Austin, TX
Crispin Porter + Bogusky - Ad Agency - Miami and Boulder
Ice.com - Online Jewelry Retailer, OR
Neiman Group - Addicted to Adomatica - PA
Porter Novelli - PR Agency - Worldwide
Twentieth Century Fox - Films etc - Los Angeles, CA
WPP Group - Agency Network - Worldwide

Been to the blog but don't see your company on the list? Shoot me an email or post a comment. If you email us, make sure you send it from your company email account so that we know it is the real-deal. Let us know what you think and maybe share a bit of info. The ~worst~ that will happen is that you get a free link to your site. Not a bad trade for a bit of good SEO if you ask me.

GSD&M's Dismile 2007

So, we all know that Austin-based and Omnicom Group owned GSD&M had a rather rough 2007. They lost a few clients and a few battles over new business. The Austin Business Journal recently ran this article: Down, but not out

Side note: GSD&M used to ask job applicants to come up with a slogan or phrase using their GSD&M initials. I recently came across a post or article (I actually don't remember /where was.) that said GSD&M stood for Greed, Sex, Drugs, and Money. Can anyone out there weigh in on the accuracy of that translation?

Protecting Your Online Reputation

Keeping track of and protecting your online reputation has become more and more important as the web has made it much easy for word of mouth (both good and bad) to spread. The following is an interesting Q&A on the topic of managing and monitoring your online reputation: Online Reputation and Brand Identity

HR Folks Should Embrace Web 2.0

"Although many HR leaders may prefer to bar Web 2.0 from the workplace, doing so could leave their organizations at the back of the technology pack."

An interesting article on the use of Web 2.0 technologies in the HR and recruiting world: Putting Web 2.0 To Work

You(Tube) Can't Touch This

MC Hammer is the front man of a group launching DanceJam.com. The site, which will be going up against YouTube, will allow people to submit dance videos that will then be judged by viewers. DanceJam hopes to cash in on the ever growing Internet advertising market, a market that is expected to bring in about $27.5 billion in '08. Hammer's new posse consists of CEO Geoffrey Arone and CTO Anthony Young. Hopefully these guys won't milk Stanley (Hammer's real first name) for all he is worth. Wait, he's not worth much anymore since he filed bankruptcy in the late '90s after going over $14 million in debt partly due to his free-loading posse at the time. MC will be acting as Chief Strategy Officer and has promised to never wear those over sized Hammer pants again.

I think it will be tough for DanceJam.com to pull much traffic from YouTube, but as he said, Hammer is too legit to quit.

Happy New Year 2008

Happy New Year to you and yours.
I wish you all the best in 2008.

It is going to be a great year!