Carolime Time

My dad and I just realized we both love the exact same ad: The incredulous fat kid with the red truck! I love him! Read the rest of this entry »

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As some of you may’ve heard, I was interviewed by Dan Delmar Friday night on CJAD radio, in Montreal. I love the guy, we go way back to j-school days at Concordia University, studying journalism. I mean, we are very different from each other in many ways but I think ultimately we share a strong friendship. Read the rest of this entry »

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While reading a Forbes article (via CBC) on attention span and 10 things that erode our attentive abilities, I found myself bombarded by advertisements that would not even let me read the whole article!

Talk about oxymorons!:

http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/15/short-attention-span-forbeslife-cx_avd_1015health_slide_4.html?thisSpeed=15000

It’s only been in the past few weeks that I’ve really come face to face with these methods of pop ups..they’re ads that are difficult to close and taunt you like a schoolyard bully waving his fist in your face.. seriously, these lingering ads have GOT to go cause I would rather go to an independent news site, I’d probably be safer there anyway!

I’m going to go try reading that article again once more..

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As one of my web entrepreneur friends put it, in terms of whether the public can weed through the garbage online and figure out where the truth lies,

“Generally speaking there is a 80 to 20 ratio on the Internet. 20% are intelligent and the 80% are computer illiterate. Thus they are idiots and will fall for any traps.”

It’s like today’s news media. How many people do I see feeding into every bit of the news, never researching their sources, never knowing how much spin there is in everything they’re digesting into their bloodstream?

One time, my aunt called me up, all gung-ho about putting her daughter into acting and modeling. Apparently, my cute and eager cousin was approached by a solicitor at a fair and told she should join their school and talent agency. The price would be upwards of $2000.00.

Seeing as I have a lot of performing experience, my aunt wanted my advice on whether the school is good or not, and whether her daughter was too young. Now, I’ve known fraud. When I was young, in pre-Google times, I researched fraud agencies myself, painstakingly following forums and links till I got to the core of a topic–only to discover I’d been approached by a fraudulent agency.

It’s much easier these days. I simply typed in the name of the performing arts school my aunt mentioned (I can’t remember it right now). The first link was the website of the company itself. The average web-user will click on this site and get buried in the content of the site, its testimonials, and registration page. I simply looked below the first link and came upon threads and comments revealing the company for all it was worth. I promptly called my aunt and told her that this was the case.

The thing is, not everyone will take the time or consider looking further in this manner.

Similarly, we read countless blogs on a topic, and think that because it’s written in blog-style and from a real, live person…that we’re not being tricked.

BLOGS ARE MARKETING TOOLS!!

i just had to say that out loud. it’s pounding in my head. where is quality writing?

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I gotta say, I love it!..and hate it?

It’s the sort of advertising where you’re in the middle of reading something and you are gently coaxed into something else. You might run your cursor over and a word and…ta da! Keyword= advertisement!~ In a sense, it’s reverse advertising. Typically, we may Google something that will lead to this piece of advertising, which is chalk-full of advertising keywords that have baited us into a site. In the case of underlined advertising, we are already at a site when we’re confronted by more advertising. When we scroll over these words, a little box will appear and tell us a bit about that word. Hell, before I realized what it was, I had highlighted a word with my pointer and found a little box to pop up and tell me ‘more’ about this ‘product’ (when words suddenly all become products;)) . Suddenly, I knew where to buy it, had a little blurb as to its use, and could click if I wanted more information.

I think this an excellent method of advertising for those who want to be advertised to. I mean, if I’m looking at a site on skin products because I have really dry skin, I think it’s great that the words I scroll over or highlight will tell me more about a product, or include a link which I can click into for more info or purchase.

It’s not so great, however, when I am looking at something and find myself bombarded by these tiny boxes for every word I scroll over or highlight. I wonder, is there a way to turn off these boxes from showing up on my screen? Sometimes I am reading an article about a band I love, and find the article just keeps popping up with ad hints…annoying!

I do want to learn how to do this, though. Kinda neat:)

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I’ve transferred a lot of my writing to a public blog.

Maybe this isn’t the best way to begin a new venture, but I figure I’ll lay my cards out from the start.

I’ve been writing blogs for years, hah, on those network sites most of the time for friends, and also on some official writing-only sites.

Now, however, I’ve ventured into this whole new territory of self-managed and terrifyingly public domains. It’s like New York City, but sharper skyscrapers.

There are a few points that have drawn me to this big bad blogging thing.

1. I am very involved in web industries (I will not specify to what extent for privacy reasons) and recognize the market potential in such a pastime, especially in light of my contact circle.

2. I write regardless of whether it’s public or private, paid or not. I will write till my eyes bleed and my hands writhe in arthritic fever, even from a box with blank walls. Those walls will be remarkable..

3. I have finally been wooed by the freedom of blogs. I cannot deal so much with corporate news. I read it, but with a grain of salt.

In all fairness, there are even corporate independents that I must not forget. I also take everything they write in their blogs with a grain of salt.

These are the multitude of writers who, when looked at closely, follow unethical practices. Hell, even from a distance, it’s obvious.

I will not name names…I really wouldn’t want to advertise them further…but they’re making a lot of money. They’re “affiliates”.

Sure, they have HUGE followings. And they have a lot of ads on their sites. However, one must ask, can they truly be trusted for what they say?

-often, popular and well-marketed blogs that are making thousands of dollars a month, will do a write up or review for a company. Are these objective, critical articles? Are these actually offering the truth, or is it just a press release that’s regurgitated on the blog of a respected writer?

-there are bloggers who have high traffic venues that may write truthful, creative, and original pieces. mingled between the lines or entries are also those blogs that will make them money–they’ve been recruited by marketing and advertising companies to produce articles on a product or service, for a price. These agencies have requested POSITIVE reviews. Seems a little self-contradicting, no? The average reader will not know which articles are sincere and which aren’t. The onus is on you to choose the right source.

-a lot of bloggers are also simply writing for the sake of keywords. Their stuff may be absolute B/S (sorry, I guess my vocabulary doesn’t go THAT far) , but they want the HITS so their ads will show impressions.

Now, what sets me apart from these people? LOL, I guess, you’re just going to have to trust my integrity. And I won’t write stuff I don’t mean.

Maybe I should tell you a bit about myself..

I am a bit of a journalist, by title..Trained, hired at times, usually self-employed and currently working as a performer. I won’t tell you what sort of performer!:-P Kidding~ anyways, the point is, I have very high expectations of journalistic ethics. I will do my best to uphold them, and if anyone catches me doing otherwise, I give you full permission to call me on it.

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