|
|
About Italy NewBlog collects several stories, news, suggestions, events related to Italy, and furthermore.
Actually, apart from this blog, About Italy is a non-profit sites’ network which is constantly growing. Among them you can find: About Florence, About MIlan, About Mugello, About Rome, About Siena, About Turin, and many others are coming.
The main purpose of this “NewsBlog” is the creation of a place where to collect all the news about Italy by taking them from the net, from real life and from this same sites’ network. You will find here photo and videos, events news, historic tips, and much more about Italy. The authors of this new experiment make us know that NewsBlog is still growing: “Be prepared for graphic and structural changes. We were so impatient to start this new project…during the time we are going to adjust things that don’t work”.
The authors, volunteers bloggers dislocated all around Italy, also invite users to send personal comments and suggestions, and assure that “they will be well appreciated and taken into consideration”.
You just have to follow the development of this project, to read, as they promised, always new and interesting posts!
About Italy NewBlog wants to be a new way of reading and finding news, suggestions, tips, events and much more About Italy. About Italy is a non-commerical webiste and the idea of this NewsBlog is to create a place were collect all the news about Italy, from the net and from our website?s network.
Donagh Kiernan is an acknowledged market leader in technology sales and marketing blog. He has been known to meet challenges and learn from it and eagerly anticipate more challenges that the future will bring. He holds the belief that one must always strive to be the leader in whatever business a person decides to be in.
Early Achievements
Donagh Kiernan established Vistech software in 1994 where it functioned as a sub-contractor for software development services to the software industry. This Cork-based company became one of the more progressive participants in Ireland’s technology boom. Vistech was consistently featured in Delaitte and Touche, Ireland’s Technology FAST 50 from 2000 to 2002. This is largely due to the company’s timely response to market shifts when it focused on the development and delivery of content management products and services.
The company’s flagship product Suite Webcore is credited as the key to its dynamic growth. This particular product made possible the swift deployment of web solutions. Expansion was happening at a very fast rate where turnover and employees are doubled every year. People behind the prestigious Technology Fast 50 Progressive have acknowledged their chosen winners as the perfect exemplification of the phenomenal growth and diversity that is found in the technology sector of the present Ireland.
Vistech software entered discussions with several software development companies for the purpose of pushing the Webcore technology into the international market. The company has used its Webcore toolset on development projects for end-user organizations within Ireland as well as elsewhere. It maintained a product development group separate from the service team to look into other product ambition.
Webcore is a set of tools based on XML and J2EE which simplified the development and management of web applications and publishing of content in multiple formats such as XML, WML, and SMS. Kiernan called it the development platform where its components sit on top of standard applications server environment. The on-line edition of the Sunday Business Post is one of the company’s project references where Webcore was integrated with the newspaper’s legacy publishing system. This enabled content to flow directly from editorial production to the website.
Kiernan believes that Ireland is well positioned to become the hub of the e-commerce world to provide a gateway between the US and Europe. Irish companies are intent on overcoming existing barriers, thus their continuous search for a solution that will provide assistance in sustaining their time in the market. It was a very promising time but Vistech was eventually closed in 2003 after taking a particularly hard hit due to the downturn in the worldwide technology.
Kiernan has since sold and delivered high-caliber IT systems to many well-known organizations, international or otherwise. The most notable names include the likes of Irish Life and Permanent, Heineken Ireland, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and Motorola. He was able to fit together business and technology due to his thorough understanding of all types of business and a fundamental grasp on relevant technology. He was always been up to the challenge of the changing environment of emerging business and has relied on innovations to produce business benefits with the use of technology.
Recent Developments
Donagh Kiernan formed Maidsfield in 2003 out of his strong passion and drive for Irish companies to achieve international status. Maidsfield is a business development consulting company that focuses on driving sales growth. It draws on Kiernan’s expertise in defining, selling and delivering outstanding technology solutions. The long years he spent of generating tangible business advantage through the application of relevant and effective technology is highlighted in his blog.
The founder of Maidsfield is a technology professional with a solid focus on business and sales. He graduated from Cork Institute of Technology in 1989 with a degree in Computer Applications. Prior to his founding of Vistech, he worked with PS Squared and CompuSense with the development of Engineering and Desktop Publishing Products as his main duty while working with customers worldwide.
Maidsfield plays an important part in the development of the National Software Center in Mahon, Cork. Its facility houses more than fifty companies including small start-ups and large established organizations. Its reputation for IT excellence in the Cork region has been clearly established as it was confirmed as the communications hub of the Cork Metro Area Network.
Kiernan is an active steering committee member of IT@Cork which is the regional industry organization for suppliers and buyers of information technology. It is a non-profit organization that provides forum for businesses that have a key dependency on IT to facilitate sharing of best practices and networking as well. It likewise supports the promotion of the region to external investors while working with other regional stakeholders for the promotion of IT related opportunities.
A caption from Donagh Kiernan’s blog reads: “Challenges met, lessons learnt and tomorrow’s cliff hangers – things I know and things that just feel right”. This line speaks much of what to expect from his blog. It aims to bring a company to business success through faster growth by means of more sales, higher margins and greater return on investment. He uses the principle of the Maidsfield Business Development which advocates the practical approach in focusing on sales results.
Kiernan believes that every aspect of the organization needs to be geared toward sales. Challenges arise in securing new business or delivering successfully and consistently. Maidsfield Business Development focuses on productization and sales to answer this challenge. This would involve the clear definition of a company’s business product or service offering and pricing structure. It also involves defining the product market or business requirements, marketing collateral, sales approval, presentations, case studies and materials. The focus on the strengths of the organization is expected to win more ideal clients. However, it is not solely about delivering recommendations and documentation. It is about achieving results by actually doing what needs to be done.
The development program is action oriented and results focused. It uses practical solutions while focusing on the strengths for greater effectiveness. It brings a broad network of expertise which the readers can take advantage of through its comprehensive blog.
Arla Foods, Europe’s largest dairy company is the first major Scandinavian company to start blogging externally. Taking the lead is their Danish company, with three (3) different blogs all in Danish. The company hopes to provide information about nutrition and health, the life on a farm and what is happening behind the organization.
Reasons for Blogging
Arla Foods’ corporate blogging is aimed at building long-term relationships by providing a human face to its consumers. Their blogs also wish to present their qualifications in the specific industry they’re in. In the middle of much criticism in Denmark, blogging is a courageous but a logical step to take in countering bad press.
Aside from having to defend itself against accusations of crushing small diary companies in their native home, Arla Foods had to face the widespread boycotts in the Middle East over the Danish caricatures of Prophet Mohammad. The drawings which were published in a Danish newspaper depicted an image of the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse. Islamic traditions prohibit any depiction of the prophet including respectful ones to prevent the use of such images that would lead to idolatry. The offended parties demanded an apology from the Danish government.
The Danish government stood its ground that the issue is primarily on freedom of the press, but Arla Foods was in a more difficult position as it felt the full force of the appeal for a trade boycott of Danish products. Its sales plummeted to zero and it had to lay-off as much as 100 people because of the inexistent demand. For a company that had annual sales as high as $480 million in the area, Arla Foods certainly felt the pressure.
The company has spent over 40 years to build a big business in the Middle East and is not about to give up easily in the face of such a challenge. They have been able to gain an intimate knowledge of the market and have managed to provide their co-operative members a stable income in the process. It came as a shock to see such a big business entity come to a complete stop in all the countries in the region.
The paper that published the said caricatures has already apologized for offending many Muslims even if it were not in violation of any Danish law. The Danish government welcomed this act but reiterated that independent media is not edited by the government and thus it cannot apologize in behalf of the newspaper. The general situation was not positive as the backlash included diplomatic sanctions and Islamic militant attacks and threats.
Arla Foods was seen by many, especially the Danes to have bended its knees too quickly to the offended parties. When it was announced that the boycott of Danish products was to come to an end in a conference attended by Muslim clerics and representatives of Arla, it was widely perceived as a deal that signaled the victory of thuggery and extortion over free speech. The end of the problem in the Middle East was the start of a new problem in Denmark.
The company’s websites refer to this move as an active marketing approach. Arla Foods facilitated the printing of the Danish government’s official statement indicating its respect for Islam in a Saudi newspaper. It was followed by a full page advertisement in 25 countries all over the region stating the company’s understanding of the region’s culture and values as well as Islam. Arla Foods has also offered to start humanitarian projects in the Middle East including helping disabled children and cancer sufferers. The company’s move is quite understandable if the business aspect is to be considered. However, altering public perception may need to be given serious attention.
Blogging at Present
In the face of heavy criticism for supposedly trying to appease Muslim fundamentalists, Arla Foods had to find a way to air its side. After successfully putting an end to a boycott in the Middle East region, the threat of the Danish public’s boycotting of Arla products remain. It should be noted that the multinational company has long been criticized and boycotted in Denmark because of their supposed abuse of their dominant market position. They are being accused of trying to eradicate smaller and more ecologically minded dairies and small farmers in Denmark.
Serious image problem is probably the reason why the company opted to launch three blogs. The Danish press regularly features the company’s questionable tactics towards farmers who are uncooperative to them. The problem is not about their products which are considered good by anyone’s standard but the widespread dislike for the company itself.
One blog is handled by a couple of farmers who are shareholders in Arla. Another blog called “Natural Thoughts” is handled by the head of Arla’s Fact and Consumer Center and the chief PR person. These blogs allow comments but not trackbacks. Arla’s blogs are said to be brave and imaginative but still falls short on its purpose.
The company’s head of communication has confirmed that putting up their weblogs is one initiative towards more dialogues in the company’s effort to become more open and communicative. It also seeks to clarify what the company is all about and presents an alternative to the usual presentation of the company in the regular press. The company has seen a new media available to them in the form of blogs.
With the image to being a ruthless giant that bulldozes small dairies as well as their own farmers, Arla recognizes the prevailing strong consumer dislike for the company. They see blogs as a good way to counter this reality as it provides opportunities for dialogue with critics. It is also an open and direct way of communicating by presenting people within the company to put more faces on Arla.
Arla’s blogging cannot come in a more opportune time. To be beset on all sides by a largely captive consumer base, aggressive prosecutors and a skeptical press, it is certainly a difficult challenge to overcome especially if is does not do anything to have itself heard. Danish prosecutors have Arla Foods under indictment for unfair trade practices. Reversing public perception can be a monumental task in this particular situation. Blogs can help the company explain without the controversial news blocking its view. It is a chance for the readers to get “inside” the company instead of simply relying on information provided by the press. If Arla Foods can succeed in their blogging attempts, it could be considered a major breakthrough for blogging in the Scandinavian countries.
We get everyone asking us the same question every single day: “I have a blog, how can I make money with it?” It appears like a good amount of bloggers started blogging without a earning model in mind. If that’s your case, this article will submit you selected ideas on how to profit based on your blog.
Sell Advertising This can be done in several ways. You can offer banner advertising, text links, and contextual advertising. For banner ads, you can find the advetisers yourself or use advertising networks such as BlogAds, Blogsvertise, and BuySellAds. Text link ads are keywords in your posts too you transform into links to your advertisers. Some happy networks are Text-Link-Ads and LinkAdage. Contextual ads are selected established on the content of your post.
They are usually acutely relevant. Unlike banner and text ads, most contextual ad networks pay you for each click the ad gets as opposed to a fixed fee. Some of the most popular networks are Google AdSense and Chitika. Sell Your Own Products If you have several readers and subscribers, write reviews about your own products once in a while.
You don’t want to abuse this or your readers will leave. Email your subscribers and offer them a special deal. You can bidder physical products and downloadable products (i.e. ebooks, videos, and exclusive information). Blogs are a great way to build rapport surrounded by potential clients. Become an proficient in your field. Always be probing and sharing great information. Sales will come without effort if you provide your readers with valuable information and properties see you as an authority in your industry.
Important: make sure that your readers have a real need for what you have to offer them. You also would like to make sure too you are writing for the right audience. Sure, you can undergo a lot of fun blogging on politics, your trip to Europe, or your favorite TV show; but it’s a lot harder to monetize those kind of blogs as opposed to it is to revenue from a blog around a niche you are an expert in and homeowners in your niche actually spend money on what you arrangement (even if they don’t buy it from you yet).
Sell Your Own Services Blogs work incredible agreeably for consultants and advisers. What better way to establish authority than creating good articles up your field of expertise? And because the gross profit per transaction in professional services is a lot higher than who of retail businesses, you only want a handful of clients to make your blogging efforts worth it. Sell Someone Else’s Products Have you ever heard of affiliate marketing?
It is a very simple system. You promote someone else’s products and get paid a team for every sale you make. Some of the most popular affiliate networks are ClickBank, PayDotCom, CommissionJunction, and ShareASale. Get Paid to Blog There are several ways you can do this. You can get paid to write reviews about other people’s businesses. This is a great service this am able to help you foresee business that pay you for posting about them: PayPerPost. If you are a that much good writer, you can find a blogger job at BloggersForHire and BloggerJobs.
Sell Leads One of our clients has a real estate blog. She has a form in her blog for those who are searching the web for real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and real estate attorneys. Her readers can fill out the form and they get 3 free of charge quotes from what i read in qualified professionals. She then charges them for every lead she sends their way. Sell Merchandise If your readership is full of raving fans, you can sell them merchandise. Not sole they will pay for it but properties will also spread the word right about the blog every time they wear your blog’s t-shirt.
Beg for Money If your readers forward your posts very useful but you do not have anything to sell them, ask for donations. Some blogs are getting really creative about this: “Buy Me a Coffee”, “Buy Me a Beer”, and “Help Me Buy an iPhone” are really nice ways to ask for cash. You can get FREE Internet Marketing Preview Ebook @ http://www.massivecashgenerator2.com.
The Sky News Blog is UK’s first blog site dedicated to a daily news show. Since a blog is similar to an on-line diary where the writer’s thought is posted, how effective would it be when used in relation to news? Sky News is a 24-hour television show in Europe who has for its main competitor, the BBC News-24.
History of Sky News
Sky News first began broadcasting in February 1989 and has transmitted continuous live news ever since. It quickly gained a reputation for journalistic integrity which gave it the much needed prestige despite operating on a shoe-string budget. It has likewise remained unique in an industry where presenters are rapidly hired and fired. Many of its original presenting team remains with the channel.
Other channels have tried to emulate Sky’s standards and methods but were not always successful in doing so. It was the only channel at its league until the launch of the BBC News-24 in November 1997. Sky News filed a complaint with the European Commission which argued that the publicly funded BBC News-24 was unfair and illegal under the European Union Law. However, the commission ruled in favor of BBC stating that the state aid was justified due to the public service remit of BBC.
To be competitive, the Sky Channel launched its Sky News Active which was a 24-hour service providing headlines on demand. Due to its success, the 8-screen video news service was likewise launched which was way ahead of the standard 4-screen. The Sky News Poll was also popular with its new question for each day. It has become common for questions and subjects to change throughout the day depending on news and developments.
Sky News won a 5-year contract to supply news bulletin to the British Terrestrial Channel Five in the year 2005. On the same year, Sky News was relaunched from a brand new studio in West London, replacing the one that has been used for almost 17 years in Isleworth. Along with the transfer came heavy revision of music and on-screen graphics. The station has a very recognizable line like CNN which is read every hour, giving the show name and presenters.
This renowned news broadcaster also has a forum called the Sky News Panel, which is basically an on-line research group. It lets its members express their opinions on various subjects. It makes use of short surveys which would only take minutes to complete. Some surveys are targeted at specific profiles but may be weighted to the UK population where national opinion is needed.
Anchors in the likes of Eamonn Holmes and James Rubin have been secured while experimenting on new schedule and format. Sky News aims to provide a fast moving, highly-produced program that gives everyone a chance to catch up on all the news that matters. Emphasis is given on pace, pictures and people combined with the best footage of the day and sharp reporting from field correspondents.
The Live at Five on Sky News features dedicated spots for sports, showbiz as well as its own weblog. The blog spot is Sky News’ way of taking the time out to hear the reader’s views on the news that have caught their attention. A selection of contributions to the blog is read out daily so that real opinions get on the show.
The Sky News Blog
Sky CEO Rupert Murdock has discovered the wonders of the Internet and has placed particular interest on social media and blogging. His interest brought him a step further when he bought various on-line companies including Intermix and http://IGN.com. Not one to be left out from the fun, Sky came out with its first blog in an attempt to connect with its audience. It is widely believed that Sky’s acquisition of Tim Levell, the former editor of the BBC Action Network, had a lot to do with this move. In fact, he has provided some of the posts found in the blog.
The blog is personally led by Sky News at 5 anchorman Jeremy Thompson. It thankfully looks and feels like a real blog which cannot be said for many other things that call themselves blogs. This is actually Sky’s first attempt at blogging but it seems to have succeeded in avoiding the most obvious pitfalls related to it.
This blog is designed to be identifiable and distinct from the channel’s news website offering. Whereas the news website and TV channel delivers news, blogs explain how and why such news are being delivered. This is what is usually referred to as “back channel conversational content”. However, since the launch of the blog coincides with the relaunch of Sky News as a whole, discussion on topics not necessarily thought provoking such as the show’s new set have been occupying considerable space in the blog. Conversations regarding the process of how editorial decisions are arrived at for example are probable discussion of interest to readers.
Large companies and organizations who have managed to establish web presence need to maintain strong control of their blogs. This would necessitate hosting those blogs within their own domain space. Hosting a blog on a third party might not be able to provide seamless integration with the rest of a company’s website. There are important aspects to be considered such as quality control and availability. A site that goes down or begins to bug-out necessarily affects the individual reputation of companies.
The blogosphere is quite partial to personality led blogs. This is one of the reasons why the Sky News blog works. However, it could benefit from more posts written by Jeremy Thompson.
The blog encourages as many people as possible to take part in the discussion of various topics. The company has adopted a light touch policy which essentially allows for any comments as long as it is not offensive, racist or irrelevant. Participants are further encouraged to be constructive, friendly and informative.
Pre-moderating of comments was done during the experimental stage. This is expected to change as the site develops well. The blog is primarily linked to the Live at 5 shows and not the whole channel thus moderation of comments is done during daytime working hours.
Contributors are requested to provide their names, physical address and e-mail address although these details do not get published on the site. It is just a way for the company to determine the intentions of those people who would like to be a part pf their blog. Anonymous postings are not published. Sky News is perceived to have made a very brave move when it plunged head-on towards the blogging world. Whether or not their blog accomplishes something over and beyond the accomplishments of its regular websites would depend on the people handling it and how much they are prepared to meet the changing needs of consumers.
All the hype about the sale of Weblogs Inc. to America Online (AOL) has given rise to the now famous question – How much is your blog worth? In acquiring Weblogs Inc., AOL has provided some concrete metrics to future valuation of blogs. How much will traditional media be willing to pay for a blog? Conversely, how much would you sell your blog for?
AOL-Weblogs Inc. Deal – Benchmark for Future Blog Valuation
Weblogs Inc was established by Jason Calacanis and Brian Alvey in 2003. It is a network of blogs which includes under its wings successful blogs such as Engadget and Autoblog. Jason Calacanis pointed out that Weblogs Inc. earns in excess of $1 million yearly in Google Adsense revenues alone.
AOL purchased Weblogs Inc. for a confidential sum assessed at somewhere between $25 – $40 million. After said purchase, Tristan Louis came up with a blog valuation scheme based on the deal. He created a chart of blog value using the value of each inbound link to Weblogs Inc. as the basis. It is common knowledge that blog readers follow links. Search engines also act as users and primarily determine blog quality rankings based on linkage data thus direct and indirect value links are a great proxy for value measurement. In the blogosphere, conversations that nurture connectivity represented by links and indexes like Technorati give a vantage view of the value of a blog.
Tristan Louis itemized the publicly available data (list of blogs indexed) at Weblogs Inc. network including the number of inbound links (Technorati blog numbers) per blog divided by the purchase price to determine the value of an inbound link to a blog. At the rumored price of $25 million, the estimated value is $ 564 per link. At $30 million, it is $677.57 per link and $903.42 at an acquisition price of $40 million. Interestingly, the consumer segment chalks up the biggest percentage of linkage. Engadget represents over a third of the overall network traffic.
Applying Tristan Louis’s Weblogs Inc, sale, Dave Winer has also sold http://Weblogs.com to Verisign for a rumored price of around $2 million. Blog entrepreneur Nick Denton, founder of Gawker Media has signed a deal with VNU Media to publish Gizmodo (gadget blog) across Europe in six languages. VNU Media is a leading worldwide information and media company which owns ACNielsen, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, among others. With this deal, blog publishing has hit big time.
However, the value of a blog is not calculated based solely on links using AOL’s purchase of Weblogs Inc. Jason Calacanis, the man behind Weblogs Inc., disputed using links alone as proxy for the value of the blog network. He reiterated that the acquisition price was based also on the ever reliable revenue, earnings, management and other metrics.
Tristan Louis based his valuation scheme on links to a blog but he also acknowledged the significance of technology, talented management team, financial performance and growth. There is direct correlation between links, traffic, revenue and earnings capacity of a blog or blog network but it takes sound management to maximize all these potentials.
Value of a Blog – Some Metrics to Consider
How much is your blog worth? There is no one standard gauge yet. But one way to measure the value is to look at certain factors to gain a better perspective on how to measure the future value of a blog.
Aside from number of links as mentioned earlier, traffic level is a key factor in determining blog value. Highly trafficked blogs definitely have a bigger potential for earning compared with those blogs with few readership. A blog’s success is highly dependent on visitors/readers. However, ascertaining the value of traffic is a thorny issue. Some bloggers value traffic anywhere from $3 to $10 per hit a day. From this data, a blog with 2000 unique visitors (page views) would be worth between $6000 to $20,000. The downside to this valuation approach is that some traffic is more valuable than others. A personal blog might have 1000 unique visitors but more difficult to convert to revenue than a blog with 1000 readers that blogs on the topic of digital cameras.
Aside from diverse traffic streams that come from bookmarks, direct links or RSS subscribers will make risk of losing traffic low. Social bookmarking sites are inching their way to becoming prime sources of traffic, with peer referral at times carrying more weight than search results. There are a number of well known bookmarking sites you should link to. Top bookmarking sites include Furl, http://del.icio.us, Diggs, to name a few. By leaving an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed, you can feed you readers’ desire for information. Visitors can get automatic updates whenever you provide new content. Having a fairly good base of bookmarkers and subscribers ensure a steady flow of fans and repeat readers – the all-important traffic.
In the blogosphere as in any other field, revenue or earnings is a major focus. a logical approach to blog valuation would be to base its worth upon current and projected earnings, assuming that your blog is earning something to start with. Again, there are varying views on how to use current earnings to measure a blog’s value.
Some bloggers opine you should expect six to eight months earnings as your blog value. A blog with a daily income of $150 would be worth between $27,000 – $36,000. Still, others determine a blog’s value as being two years of current earnings. A blog earning $150 a day would be worth $108,000. Again, there is a huge disparity between these methods of assessing value. Having diverse streams in the form of multiple affiliate programs also increases blog revenue. An affiliate program is an advertising model in which a blog owner markets via his blog a given product, on behalf of another company. The blog owner is reimbursed a percentage of all sales sold thru his affiliate link. Reimbursement rates can vary from 1% and upwards. Google Adsense is a prime example.
Visitors access blogs throughout the Internet primarily through search engines. If your blog does not have a post appearing in the top ten search engine rankings, the chances of visitors reaching your blog is low. A blog’s presence on relevant search engines is a significant medium for maintaining a blog’s success. Search engine ranking and pages indexed in search engines is critical for generating traffic to a blog. Having your blog among the top results of a search or receiving a high Google PageRank (a system for ranking blog posts) would increase your blog’s overall value.
High quality content will always be a key factor for determining a blog’s value. As has been said time and time again – Content is King. Moreover, search engines can only “read” a blog. What attracts a search engine are the words, the content of a blog that explains, informs, shares and educates readers. Good content increases blog value.
All these aforementioned objective metrics can be considered in assessing the value of a blog. Added to all these, a talented management team behind a blog, its underlying tools and blog technology in use can further help to estimate the future value of a blog.
|
|
