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Rocketbooming
New Monetization Strategies
The most important takeaways from Rocketboom's Andrew Baron's keynote address
at the Podcast
and Portable Media Expo are that content providers should not only focus on
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and monetization.
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As A Part Of Your Internet Marketing Strategy
Not only are online news patrons just as desirable from a marketing perspective
as their print counterparts, but in many instances, they are even more upscale.
Brandbuilding
with Taglines
When it comes to building your brand, you want to take advantage of every possible
shortcut to help your target market know you…and remember you.
Interview
with Google Analytics' Senior Manager
On Thursday, September 21st I had the pleasure of interviewing Google Analytics'
Senior Manager Brett Crosby. So here's how the conversation went:
Yahoo
Disappoints With Weak Ad Sales
Advertising buyers in the financial and automotive sectors have been tightening
their purse strings, in what is either a cyclical slowdown in ad spending that
will perk up later in the year, or the frightening prospect that contextual search
has beaten display advertising...
Borrell:
Local Ads $7.7B In 2007
Spending for local online advertising should continue to power upward in 2007,
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Warner
Bros Presents Digital Ads
The long-time Hollywood power will expend some energy to focus on short-form marketing
content destined for the Internet and mobile phones.
The
Evolving Four P’s Of Marketing
I'm sure you remember sitting in your marketing class in college when your instructor
blurted something about the Four P's of Marketing. If you weren't paying attention
or perhaps missed class that day, here is a quick review.
Starbucks
Freezes Internet Coupons
A small campaign aimed at bringing iced coffee drinkers to Starbucks in the afternoons
and evenings backfired when their coupons quickly multiplied online.
Speedo
Shows What Podcasting Can Do For Marketing
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them quickly understand the potential benefits of a new-media tool like podcasting,
take a look at what swimwear...
IAC
Stakes A Bet On CollegeHumor.com
Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp picked up the majority stake in ConnectedVentures,
the parent company of naughty humor site CollegeHumor.com.
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The Digital Slob On
Podcasting
Curt Brandao, a.k.a. Digital Slob, comments on integrating podcasting with print
publications, the cost of podcasting, and the impact of Craigslist on classified
advertising... |
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10.10.06
Interview
- FeedBurner CEO Dick Costolo
 By
Manoj Jasra
Dick Costolo is the co-founder and CEO of FeedBurner.
Previously, he co-founded and was CEO of Spyonit.com.
FeedBurner currently serves over 250,000 publishers. Dick was gracious enough
to take some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few of our questions:
[Manoj]: As the visionary leader of FeedBurner and with more than 250,000
publishers and 23 million subscriptions where do you go from here, what is the
organization's goal?
 [Dick]:
Total world domination is the next project on the roadmap, but prior to that,
we have a lot of work to do. Specifically, there are a number of services we want
to offer that will further simplify the process of distributing, tracking and
optimizing text, audio and video feeds. This includes improvements to tracking
and reporting, further enhancements to our existing services like PingShot and
new services that we can't talk about for fear of reprisal from the engineering
team.
We also have big plans to continue expansion of our advertising network.
[Manoj]: How is the integration of Blogbeat coming along? Are you still
on target for the scheduled release date?
[Dick]: We are on track to integrate Blogbeat functionality into FeedBurner's
StandardStats service by the end of the year. Jeff Turner, Blogbeat founder and
now FeedBurner's Lead Developer of Web Analytics has been guiding this project
toward what we like to call "assimilation."
[Manoj]: What are you thoughts on the insight/usefulness that the Blogbeat
data will bring a FeedBurner user's account?
[Dick]: At its most basic level, the integration of Blogbeat functionality
will provide FeedBurner publishers with a more complete understanding of who's
interacting with their content. Specifically, publishers will have the ability
to see how their feed subscribers relate to their site traffic. Ultimately, we
plan to offer insight about how many web site visitors came from your feed, and
other information to help publishers make informed decisions about their content
and marketing strategies.
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[Manoj]: Is there a specific target market for FeedBurner, are you
noticing more individuals from a specific industry using your service?
[Dick]: We consider FeedBurner to be an equal opportunity platform, open
to the full range of content creators. When we first launched the service back
in early 2004, we saw a lot of interest from early adopters and bloggers. By the
middle of 2005, podcasters and video bloggers were burning feeds alongside the
large established media brands like Reuters, Wired and Ziff Davis. This year,
we're seeing more traditional companies jump into the feedburning game including
retailers, consumer packaged good suppliers, government agencies, law firms and
small business owners from around the world. Building an audience online, tracking
subscriptions and ultimately monetizing content seems to be a universal need.
[Manoj]: You recently added the FeedBurner Ad Network where ads can be
placed on a site and/or in the site's feeds. How has that program been for you?
How are bloggers and other content creators responding to the program? Do you
feel competition from others like Yahoo's new program will help or harm your efforts?
[Dick]: The expansion of feed-driven ads on blogs and Web sites was a logical
one for us. Because we're gathering information about a publisher's feed, we are
in a unique position to offer compelling placements of advertising back on the
site. The program has been very successful in terms of our ability to offer richer
ads with more informed and creative placements. For example, advertisers will
be able to attach their message to the "most commented" post or the post with
the most links in Technorati. We have also been able to expand the advertising
network to include podcasters who want to include advertising back on their web
sites.
[Manoj]: What is the team atmosphere like at FeedBurner? What types of
things do you encourage? Can you list the top 5 things you enjoy the most working
at FeedBurner.
[Dick]: There is plenty of feed in team. When it comes to the atmosphere
around here, I say it's 3 parts intensity and 1 part irreverence, with a healthy
dash of brilliance. Since we all sit together in an open room, we are forced to
work together pretty closely. Personally, I enjoy the innovation, the pace, the
work ethic of the team, the music selection (most of the time) and the constant
feedback from our 250,000+ customer base since everyone participates in support
in one way or another.
Interesting stuff, I specifically found the part about the diversity in the target
markets quite fascinating. Thank you Mr. Costolo.
Comments
About the Author:
Manoj has been working in the search engine marketing industry since 2002. He
started out as a software developer but now provides in-depth web site analysis
using web analytics. Manoj is also the author
of Web Analytics World. Web Analytics
is an essential component in developing a successful online campaign. Help convert
visitors into customers by understanding them. |
