Archive for Technology

Wired.com and Tone Box Digital

// December 7th, 2008 // No Comments » // Music & Entertainment, Technology

We are a few days into this competition and Tone Box is getting some great exposure and I’ve had some great inquiries from artists and labels. The voting? Well, we are still way behind. The others have taken way off from us. I learned from Wired last week that there was a little “glitch” in the voting system and they are very aware of it.

So what do we do? Nothing. We are going to keep voting and doing this thing with integrity. Tone Box Digital and myself are unwilling to find a way to “beat the system”. We’ve received over a 1000 votes from fans and friends and we are super excited to know we have support in all we do.

What can you do? Keep voting. Spread the word and let’s find a way to win by true votes by the people. Over the next two weeks we have two newsletters going out and a possible feature on a very large music site- This will be more great exposure- it doesn’t mean votes and it doesn’t mean winning but it does mean we are spreading the Tone Box model.

If you are spreading the word, I appreciate all you are doing.  Please make sure you join our Facebook group: “I Voted For Tone Box Digital @ Wired.com“.  Share on the wall how you are spreading the word and you could get a $30 gift card to iTunes, Amazon.com or Starbucks.

Thanks again for all you guys are doing!!!

VOTE FOR TONE BOX DIGITAL HERE!!!

Tone Box Digital

Tone Box Digital and Wired.com : The Story

// December 2nd, 2008 // No Comments » // Music & Entertainment, Technology

Wired and Tone Box

As many of you know Tone Box Digital was chosen as one of the five finalist in Wired.com’s small business program.  The program launched today and I wanted to get the word out.

Tone Box Digital is an indie label and distribution service for the arts.  We currently distribute and market over 25 artists and are working on digital distribution for independent films and shorts.  Unlike the other competitors, Tone Box Digital is funded by one individual.  No backers.  No investors. No deep pockets.  Just one individual, me. That’s not me complaining, I am 100% proud that Tone Box has survived this long and has been making a profit (small as is) since it was launched in late 2003.  What’s the coolest thing about Tone Box?  The best part is that the artists make more money than anyone in the chain.  This gives them the opportunity to make a living at what they do best.

I’d like to ask you to take a minute or two and go vote for Tone Box and all that I am trying to accomplish.

It’s real simple.  Go to this Link.  Check out the video… have a giggle or two at my chattering and then vote!

To vote hit the red button with the arrow above it.  It’s right beside my video to the left.

Thanks for all the support and help over the years.  I couldn’t have done any of this without my friends, family and most importantly the artists that have let me be a part of their music.

Wired.com Interview and Finalists

// November 7th, 2008 // No Comments » // Music & Entertainment, Technology

I just finished my interview/video with Wired.com and have really enjoyed the whole process. Wired.com has started a new small business section on their website and to kick it off they asked for submissions for small businesses that aligned with the Wired mentality. I submitted Tone Box Digital, my indie record label/distribution service to them and truthfully, forgot about it. A few weeks ago I received an email that said I was one of five finalists- wow. As a finalist they flew me to NY to shoot a short video to talk about Tone Box. On December 1st all the videos will go live on Wired.com and you, the public, get to decide who is the winner.

The other finalists are really cool and have some super great ideas! I’m in great company and am honored to be among them.  No matter who wins this thing we are all going to benefit from the exposure. Here are the other finalists and their websites, great stuff and great minds behind them all!

  • Scryve: a collaborative web resource and browser tool combination that provides a resource for environmentally and socially aware Internet browsing. (check out the firefox plugin!)
  • CrowdSPRING : was started to help people from around the world access creative talent, and to help creatives from across the globe find new customers
  • Greenlines: Classic boardshorts made from 100% recycled polyester fabric.

    Every purchase supports your local beach.

  • Livespeakr: The LiveSpeakR™ is a boombox in your pocket! Designed for use with the iPhone and iPod Touch. Designed by a customer, for the customer.
  • and me.  Tone Box Digital-  You can check us out to!

Big Things for Tone Box Digital : Stay Tuned!

// October 20th, 2008 // No Comments » // Music & Entertainment, Technology

Wired LogoSome of you may have seen my twitter last week about Wired magazine.  Tone Box Digital has been selected by Wired to participate in a small biz program very soon.  We don’t know all the details except that we are one of five small businesses chosen…  we are very excited and truly believe this will build some interest and  momentum as we continue to redefine the traditional record label business model.

I’ll be blogging/twittering the experience and will keep you all informed.  I’m going to need all of your help when we get into this thing.

Thanks for all the support over the years, let’s do this… now!

The Digital TV Conversion- Best Video To Help

// October 14th, 2008 // No Comments » // Funny, Technology

This was shared with me this morning…  Great public service announcement for the digital TV conversion coming up February 2009.

wuh, wuh, wuh

Top 9 iPhone Apps

// October 7th, 2008 // No Comments » // Music & Entertainment, Technology

So I’m really digging the iPhone..  granted, the battery consumption is frustrating because it only allows you to use “all” the tools it came with for a few hours- but I’ve adapted for now.  As a business tool and a personal tool this phone has become my 11th finger, my third hand, my second head, my… well, you get the picture.  I’ve found ways to incorporate the iphone into every aspect of my 9-5 life and my independent music night life…

I thought I’d share a few of the tools that I have found to be invaluable.  Please share you favorite apps with me and others who read this!

  1. Evernote-  This app is a great note/to do piece.  I have found myself humming melody lines that were trapped in my head into the voice recorder, making quick notes of stuff to pick up at the grocery store and snapping pictures to remember later (like the name of a wine I had- it also does image recognition)
  2. Fring- This could be an all around app of the future. This social tool incorporates a ton of media sites and communications including Skype.  Yes, Skype.  When we recently made Tone Box completely digital we switched all phones to Skype so now I have it with me every where. Look me up on Skype:  toneboxdigital
  3. Airsharing- This app turns my iphone into a wireless hard drive.  I can take my documents with me everywhere I go.  Works with tons of document formats-  MS Word, Excel, PDF, jpgs, html, rtf, audio files and so many more.
  4. Facebook-  This is a killer app.  Recently updated, the feel of this app is very close to the real Facebook.  I can keep up friends, messages, status, comments and requests.  If we can get flash for the iPhone I can play Mob Wars and we’ll all be in trouble.
  5. Myspace- The reason I like this app is because I hate Myspace but continue to have a presence on there.  I never actually go to myspace anymore.  I can see friend requests and messages from the iphone and not get bogged down into that clunky myspace.
  6. BeatMaker-  This was one of my favorite apps for the plane.  I was able to create loops, edit loops and then dump to my macbook in a usable format.  I haven’t used it in a while because it got removed and the last sync didn’t bring it back!  I’m working on getting it back and will be using it as soon as I do!
  7. Sportacular- I know, this isn’t a business app but it rocks.  Updates often during games and allows me to create a fantasy player list so I can see how my fantasy players are doing from one page!  Saves me time, so it’s beneficial to my business.
  8. Twitterific-  Yes, if you know me, then you know I live on Twitter.  Most of my facebook friends have no idea that Twitter drives my facebook status and I’m not really on Facebook all day!
  9. Oblique Strategies- not new to me but new to the iphone.  Great app with one liners or sayings that can generate thought in almost any situation.

Doesn’t it suck when you are reading a list and it ends at like 9?  or 13?  Who said all lists had to be 3, 5, 10, 20, 50?  :)    Those are my nine.  What is my 10th favorite?  You tell me!!!  What are your favorite apps?

Is Twitter Killing the Blogger Kingdom?

// September 15th, 2008 // No Comments » // Technology, life

I was just thinking about how much less that I blog these days.  I Twitter my random thoughts and structured thoughts more than anything.  Because I twitter, sometimes I feel I don’t need to blog my thoughts because I got them off my chest.

I’m curious how many people blog less because they Twitter?  How many people never blogged before but love to Twitter?

Any patterns?  Just curious if anyone else has thoughts on Twitter vs. Blogging?

Who's Your Interactive or Internet Marketing Guru?

// July 21st, 2008 // No Comments » // Technology

I know the millions of folks who visit my site consider me their personal interactive marketing guru, quit laughing… really.  Who is your interactive/internet marketing guru? What sites do you visit to keep up with the ever evolving internet and interactive world?  I’m going to add a category to the blog roll called Guru and Marketing Sites so send some good stuff to add!

I can’t keep up with them all… so share your Guru in the comments section!

That’s my short list-  I have plenty more in the link list to the right.

Tell me who your guru is…

What is SEO? A Beginner's Guide

// July 16th, 2008 // No Comments » // Technology

I’ve gotten this question a few times and while there are posts all over the Internet, this subject continues to evolve. Here’s my experience with both studying and implementing SEO and ways to use it to increase your site’s traffic.

First off SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. This is the process (ongoing process) of managing and adapting your site so that search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, ASK and others can find you. The reason SEO is important is because you want to go beyond being found, you want to be found first on that search engine list. The first three/four links on the first page of any search engine is gloryland. This excludes the paid advertising that is found above or on the sidebar of the actual search findings. I’m discussing natural SEO only this round…

Getting started you should know that there are two sides to SEO. On-page and off-page and both are exactly what they say they are. On-page SEO relates to content that is put on and managed in your site. While on-page SEO isn’t weighted as much as off-page SEO you should always start with your on-page SEO. Off-page SEO relates to the incoming links and how the links are ranked from an incoming referral. I’m going to break this down into two sections to cover both on-page and off-page SEO. I’m going to talk a lot about Google specifically because of the massive amount of search traffic they provide. Google currently weighs the off-page SEO around 70-75% in relation to your search engine ranking, a very important piece of the puzzle for sure. The on-page then accounts for the other 25-30%

On-page SEO

The on-page SEO consists of the following (depending on the search engine some are more important than others):

  • An optimized page title. The page title should be consistent with the content on that specific page
  • An optimized URL. Use keywords that are specific to the page when possible in your url.
  • Optimized section/page headings. This one gets skipped a lot! Use the header tag when you title sections of your page, Google looks for a code that is specific to your headings (this is the <h1> tag).
  • Optimized meta data. This content is “behind the scenes” on your website,
    • Keywords: Keywords are not calculated by Google anymore, however they are still important with Yahoo and others. Again, optimize based on content of specific page
    • Description: This is the description of the page. A good description isn’t longer that 2 lines and is specific to its page. The description is read by search engines and will be displayed in search results.
  • Optimized images. When building your site or uploading pics make sure you name the image according to the context that it will be used. Use the “ALT” tag, this is the text that will be displayed if the image doesn’t load correctly, use descriptive words of the image.
  • Optimized content. When writing copy for your pages use keywords you have already defined for that page.
  • Optimize internal links. Use text based links internally. Use these links sparingly to point to important content on your site.
  • Traffic and Analytics. Don’t forget to include tracking scripts or codes to your site. These analytics will help you keep up with what works and what doesn’t. Google analytics is free and very detailed.

You can begin to see the consistency from the start to the end for your on-page SEO. You are making sure the search engine knows everything it can about this page. It let’s the search engine know that this content is legit from the page title to the description to the actual content. KaBam! On your way to high rankings for your pages.

Off-Page SEO

The off-page SEO is more important when it comes to ranking your page, but it cannot exist with out the on-page SEO and this includes content! Off-page SEO is basically incoming links, who is linking to you and how? Search engines use these incoming links to see who is linking to you and why. This validates your content, it basically says you have something worth looking at and Google says “let me see!”.

A quick overview on how links are ranked by Google and other search engines. Search engines give every site a PR Score. This score is based on the incoming links that the site has. The search engine then uses this score to rank the links as they pertain to the sites they are linking to (ranking the outbound link according to the content being linked to). Knowing this, here are some specifics that will affect the ranking of the linked site.

  • The PR score of the referring site and page. If the site linking to your site is CNN then you can bet that Google will increase your off-page SEO based on the quality of that link. If it’s your mom’s cats blog then the incoming page rank won’t count as much.
  • How many links are coming from the referring site? Less links from a specific page (not overall incoming links) means that your site is important to that page thus helping your individual incoming link ranking.
  • Keywords in the link. If the link says “click here” rather than “click here for info on your mom’s cat” then Google won’t understand as well, it just sees “click here”. The second has keywords that are relative about your mom’s cat. If the link takes you to a page about your mom’s cat then guess what? The link has a better ranking because it has the keywords that are specific to the link.
  • Age of links. The longer the link has been around the better.
  • Are the links reciprocal? If the reciprocal links are actually links to quality pages and content that relate to your site and their site then it’s good stuff. However, search engines look down on links that they believe are just link exchanges in an effort to increase SEO. Yes, Google bots are that smart!

Those are some of the basics regarding incoming links and how they are graded.

How to manage or pro actively increase your inbound links.

  • List your site in directories. Some sites to list in: Yahoo.com, DMOZ.org, zoominfo.com or aboutus.org (not comprehensive, there are 1000s of directory sites)
  • Social Media sites are places to also build incoming links. These links are less likely to give SEO credit unless updated and actively maintained with relative content. I would test a few to see if they are giving off the quality of links that you are looking for.
  • Press Releases. Press releases can be a great tool to create inbound links and often times from quality sites. Many PR services have a high PR score resulting in better inbound links.

It’s very important to avoid link farms, paid link engines, link exchanges and the such. This may seem perfectly legit to the average user because you are linking to another site to help them out or so they can help you out. That’s exactly why Google doesn’t like them. Google looks at this as ways to beat the system. Doing this is the quickest way to lower your PR score and fall far into search engine oblivion.

Wow. That’s a lot of writing!!! I’m sure there are things that I over looked or that have changed even since I wrote this but I hope this gives a basic overview of Search Engine Optimization and how it works. Like anything please contact me with questions or leave a comment below.

Too much to read right now? Download this post in PDF format to read later or share!

This post is all drinking from Watercooler Wednesday today @ Ethos!

Choosing Your Interactive & Internet Partner or Agency

// July 11th, 2008 // No Comments » // Technology

There seems to be a guru or internet marketing expert everywhere these days.  Some are legit and others have gotten that self proclaimed title just because they have been using Myspace since the first week or two it began.  The differences between legit and non-legit online marketers are those that are talking about it and those that are implementing and creating quality traffic and leads.

When I launched an indie record label back in 2004 I knew the only way to survive in the music business was to think outside of the box.  The goal was to compete and market completely online.  This paid off for both myself and the artists.  The royalties and profits were much higher than what they would have been if we had to print/duplicate/store physical product.  Creating online opportunities was the only thing I had.

Recently I’ve taken that experience and translated it successfully for a real estate developer in SC.  I haven’t left the music business but I needed a different challenge mentally!  Since jumping into this world we have already went through 3 different interactive agencies.  I figured I could help spread the love on how to pick your partner or partners and how to make these partnerships last.  Here are some tips to consider when looking for your next interactive partner.

  • Look for a partner not a vendor.  If you find a vendor, then it will be just that.  A partner is someone who will come on and dream with you, never say no to your ideas and will help guide your initiatives.
  • Do research, real digging type of research. Not just on the company but the team members or individual you are hoping to partner with.  Some companies have great portfolios but portfolios don’t always give the whole story.  The creative genius that launched your favorite masterpiece may have moved on already!
  • Spend time with the person or team before you commit. Dinner, golf, drinks, xbox-  basically get to know the person or team, personalities are very important when matching creative minds… this is in all creative scenarios- artists, musicians, thinkers, dreamers and others.
  • If you need more than one person or use multiple agencies, involve all parties.  We have a group that is really pushing the limits with our creative, but I ‘m using a different programmer/software genius to implement.  All parties must communicate and all need to get past that whole competitive push and talk.  One of our former vendors hinted all the time about getting the “rest” of our business.  It got aggravating and most vendors can become long term partners by just sticking to the plans and going beyond the call of duty.  Pushy vendors come off as salesmen who’ll say anything to get your business.
  • Outline duties and expectations up front. If the partner says they can do this and that- have them show you how they plan on accomplishing it.  Make them give examples and most importantly outline milestones and goals to review progress.
  • Make sure they understand the “current” internet and internet marketing. I say current internet because it continues to evolve.  Just because someone can build a website does not mean they know jack about SEO or marketing, two keys in driving quality traffic to your sites.  SEO marketing is huge when it comes to your budget.  I recently cut our Google and Yahoo ad spending by 75% because of proper SEO implementation.  Even with that cut we have continued to increase visitors and traffic with a huge cut in costs.  Natural SEO is the goal, not spending $1000s monthly on paid advertising.
  • Stay up to date with technology. Some figure they aren’t technology minded enough to guide or tell a developer how to work.  However, anyone can keep up with current trends and technologies just by reading a few blogs and source sites.  Make sure your potential partner does the same.  I’ve ran into developers who had no clue what Wordpress was or how it worked, yet they claimed to be blogging experts.  I don’t expect everyone to know the inner workings of Wordpress, but at least know what it is and why people are using it.
  • Use Project Management Software. I use Basecamp for keeping up with projects.  Basecamp is an online project management and collaboration hub.  It’s easy to create projects and assign multiple partners or agencies specific tasks and milestones.  Request an ongoing site like this from your partner so that both parties can stay up to date on progress and needs.

Those are some talking and thought points when searching for an interactive or internet marketing partner/agency.  When you find a few potential partners, here are some questions to keep in mind when discussing the possibilities of work.

  1. How do you or your agency keep up with technology and current trends?
  2. How do you plan multiple projects and how are they prioritized?
  3. What analytic tools do you use and why?  How are those reports translated and delivered to me?
  4. How do you stay ahead of the competition and how can you help my company stay ahead?
  5. In the last year how many times have your over shot your budget?  Came in under budget?  How was it handled and why did it happen?
  6. Can you give me a list of your current projects/clients and permission to contact regarding your work?
  7. How am I supported after a project is done?
  8. Do you blog or twitter?  How do you communicate your expertise to the rest of the internet?
  9. Do you test on the most popular operating systems and web browsers?
  10. Can you develop and support non standard versions of my site or brand? This can be other outlets like mobile apps, GPS based marketing, social marketing placement, mobile versions of a website and anything else you can dream up.

Seems like a lot to think about but there are many companies that are just now getting in touch with their interactive and internet marketing souls and all seem to have the same questions.

I hope this helps!  If your company is looking for an interactive partner or agency and are still uneasy about the process feel free to drop me a line or ask some questions below.

—–UPDATE—–  I just received this via email:  If You Want To Hire A Crappy SEO Firm – Awesome read!

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