Sign Of The Apostrophe

From this sign, I understand that a person named JOB is looking for work.

Suggested reading for the employment agency that posted this sign:

Tags [Outdoor Advertising]
[Look for a Job] [Punctuation]

Contrast for Effective Outdoor Signs

Here's what I don't get:

If I'm using their
laser hair removal
service, why would I
only want 50% of it removed?






This featured sign was not provided by

Where The World Goes For Signs^™

(they'll ensure your signs convey a clear message)

Tags: [Outdoor Advertising] [Portable Billboards]
[Contrast Ratio in Signage] [Signarama]

BlogRush's Traffic Jam

In mid-September, John Reese, internet marketing wizard, released BlogRush. BlogRush is a cooperative syndication widget. It's over there, in the right sidebar. It offers 5 headlines from other blogs with posts on similar topics as mine.

The basic premise is simple. I install the widget and tell BlogRush the general category into which my blog posts fall (Philosophy? Health? Fashion?) Every time a page in my blog is viewed, BlogRush puts one of my post headlines into its rotation and promotes it on another blogger's site.

Each time a reader from Very Random clicks through a headline in the widget, I get a bonus syndication credit in the blogosphere, and the other blogger has added some traffic. BlogRush redeems the credit by adding another headline from my blog to their playlist. Since BlogRush is divided by topic categories, all traffic it generates should be relevant.

There's also an Amway-style slant with BlogRush. Let's say another blogger liked the idea and installed BlogRush on his blog via a link here. Whenever his blog was viewed, he would get a credit and I would get a credit, too. Once his reader clicks through a headline, we would each earn one bonus syndication credit. And so it goes. More referrals in my network means more displays for my headlines.

The best part? BlogRush does all the work. That's ideal for the way I use my blog. I don't have to solicit new friends, work around no-follows, consider flow states or field reports. According to those who have done the math, the algorithm used at BlogRush favors smaller sites.

I'm realistic about BlogRush. My site receives an average of 75 unique visitors (first-time visitor) each week. I'm fairly pleased with that - Very Random is not The Huffington Post!

In the first week, my headlines were displayed 167 times, and 5 new readers came via the widget. Three percent click-thru is considered average performance when it comes to CTRs. (If the reason I kept a blog was to increase click-thrus, I'd put the posts in the sidebar and the sidebar info in the main section!)

Less than 24 hours after the release of BlogRush, some Probloggers (people who make their living by blogging) went ballistic about it. "It's a pyramid scheme" some posts cried, followed by the "Ponzi", "Leaking Readers" and "Violates Terms of Service" camps. Writers with 10,000-plus daily visitors to their site were complaining about delays in getting displays! (How/Where would you look for blogs that might have your headline in the widget?)

Every new technology brings out the hackers, and BlogRush was no exception. Programmers were spoofing impressions on their blogs to amass credits; making the headline widget "invisible", and using it on splogs. Some users went so far as to create new blogs with no posts and kept reloading the page to build syndication credits. I manually blocked some adult content sites from my widget. (I don't want to get a "Not Safe For Work" label!)

So BlogRush became more like blog-stall and moved to a full manual review of its members' blogs. In a broadcast email, John Reese explained that "If a blog does not meet our guidelines and criteria, IT WILL BE REJECTED from the network and not allowed to join ...They will have no access to any BlogRush services...BlogRush needs to only have members that have quality blog content."

There's no information on the criteria they'll use to assess "quality". I've been kicked out of places, sure, but never because I failed to meet quality standards. That would be quite a blow.


Tags: [BlogRush]   [John Reese]
[Blog Syndication]   [StumbleUpon]
[Ariana Huffington]   [Blog Dictionary]

Incidentally, I get Stumble-d-Upon about 60 times per month.

BlogRush Goes to Green

I'd forgotten about BlogRush.

Today, I received this email from John Reese, internet entrepreneur extraordinaire:

Congratulations!
You are receiving this update because your blog has passed our strict
Quality Guidelines and criteria -- we believe you have a high-quality
blog and we are happy you're a member of our network!

Now that I'm in, I went back to check on my stats.

      Your Traffic Today: 54 unique visits
      Your Traffic Last 7 Days: 284

Right now, that's the only data on the BlogRush stats panel, but I can check my referrals through a different analytic tool. I've recorded 8 visits via the BlogRush widget promoting my headline on some other blogs over the past week. I could probably find out the stats since BlogRush launched, but it's not relevant to me. Bottom line: I forgot all about BlogRush, and I still have around 3% CTR.

A month into BlogRush's launch and John Reese's team is still sorting out bugs in the reporting and impression system. Some Probloggers continue to warn their proteges against using the widget, saying it's a bad idea to let your readers discover other blogs.

I don't want to be that protective of my readers.
There are niche blogs, with their pillar posts and corridors of authority; and there's Very Random, a cubbyhole with a hook where I can hang my hat.

Tags: [BlogRush]   [John Reese]
[Andy Beard]   [Problogger]
[Internet Entrepreneurs]
[Blog Traffic]

Do Not Create False Drive Thrus

A recent survey showed that more Americans can accurately list the ingredients in a Big Mac than recall the ten commandments.

In a study of 1000 people, 80% correctly identified the seven elements of the Big Mac; less than 60% remembered 'thou shalt not kill'. Read more...

The survey was completed at the request of the producers of the animated movie The Ten Commandments (Oct. 19).

Kelton Research also found that "survey participants had an easier time remembering the names of the six children on the old TV series 'The Brady Bunch.' "

Imagine how much more dismal the results might have been if Moses hadn't dropped a tablet, reducing the commandments from 15 to ten!

Tags: [Ten Commandments]   [Big Mac]   [Kelton Research]
[The Bible]   [McDonald's]
[Mel Brooks]   [History of the World Part II]

Quizno's Ad In Poor Taste

Have you seen Quizno's ad for the new Chicken Carbonara sandwich?
Click the sandwich poster to watch the 30-second spot.


It focuses on lunch in an office. A staffer declares that he has given up on eating as he rolls an I.V. pole closer to his desk. His colleague tells him that food deserves another chance. He offers the Chicken Carbonara sandwich as proof of a satisfying alimentary experience.

It's not that I'm offended by the commercial, exactly. I rely on intravenous nutrition and hydration because of severe gastroparesis and if I had to choose, I would choose food any day.

Every day.

Tags: [Quizno's]   [Chicken Carbonara Sandwich]   [Lunch]
[Gastroparesis]   [I.V. Nutrition (TPN)]