Michael Bazelewick 's BestNetTech Comments

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  • On the post: Why Don't Newspapers Realize That Google's Handing Them Quality Leads

    Michael Bazelewick ( profile ), 23 Apr, 2009 @ 09:49am

    Convergence Strategy

    First off I'll declare that I have a commercial convergence solution for traditional newspapers ... Newspapers have the power to be huge internet portals and to earn the associated revenue derived from thousands of additional eyeballs and at the same time, perhaps, enhance the readership experience. (is that a novel idea?)

    Let me explain ... I reside in Toronto, my fave hockey team is the Flames, they played last night in Calgary ... before the game was 1/2 over, local morning papers were on the press ... in this morning's sports section, not a peep ... it's like the game didn't happen. Tomorrow the story will appear in print (why bother)... after some searching of the paper's website, found a single wire story... it was posted at 4:30AM ... I know my paper is related to a major Calgary daily ... where is the local flavor to the story? My initial point was the time I spent searching was a waste of time ... but seems the newspaper is treating web space like newsprint space ... all they did was scrape the wire feed, pasted it, and probably thought ... damn we're good! Post game interviews, video highlights, crowd reactions or whatever ... simple to do. About the searching, can be eliminated with our keyword link system ... simply tag the story with a keyword that is entered at the newspapers homepage and voila! The Flames story page opens directly ... no searching, hassles, time wasting or distractions ... we provide an optional ad message that can be displayed for a few seconds while page is being fetched ... hmm, what is the demographic of someone following the keyword link and what advertiser would like to get a message to that audience? Geez, did the paper just earn some additional revenue with a simple convergence strategy?

    How about Micro news, issue seems to pop up from time to time ... a convergence strategy could score a ton of revenue. Print still caries a panache ... but the major dailies aren't covering neighborhood cat shows. Our premise is simple, readers are invited to submit stories, videos or pictures of local interest for publication. Not the whole story makes it to print ... just a teaser line with a keyword link to the full report on newspaper's website. Chances are The Toronto Star or Calgary Herald are not going to cover little Johnny's house league peewee hockey game. But it is newsworthy to Johnny, his parents, grandparents, teachers, friends and team mates. Who won the grade 6 local spelling bee? The grade 4 school science fair? Proud moms and pops are snapping digital pics like no tomorrow. Micro news provides an outlet for newspapers to bond with readers. Think advertisers might be interested in being associated?

    To get readers to "think link" we even have a couple of games created ... "The Great Digital Race" ... travel the world digitally from your computer looking for keyword clues that get entered to continue the journey ... send players to a new product being introduced ... make the next keyword part of the product information, while playing a game, the ad is working.

    We have hundreds of suggestions on enhancing revenues with a simple convergence strategy ... do publishers think this interweb thingy is going to disappear?

  • On the post: Canadian Newspaper Reinvents The CueCat?

    Michael Bazelewick ( profile ), 15 Apr, 2009 @ 04:24pm

    one more application

    We have also been talking to retailers about 2D barcode shelf talkers ... want more information, simply snap a pic of the 2D barcode and a spec sheet or demo video opens in your mobile browser ... can never find a clerk anyway.

    And to Leigh, the National Post employee, the phone needs to be 2D compliant, meaning it uses the camera as the scanner to fire up instructions to the web browser.

  • On the post: Canadian Newspaper Reinvents The CueCat?

    Michael Bazelewick ( profile ), 15 Apr, 2009 @ 04:17pm

    tip of the iceberg

    We develop offline to internet link systems and applaud the National Post's convergence effort, though we think that keyword links to online updates from a desktop makes sense as well. We also have a 2D barcode solution, just that North America doesn't have enough java enabled phones to accomodate the reader firmware. We have begun discussions with transit operators whereby a rider could take a picture of 2D barcode that in about 10 seconds results in a paid ticket. Similar to mobile solutions airlines are using for boarding passes. In fact West Jet boarding passes that you print yourself have a 2D barcode. Until mouse clicks from the offline world are perfected ... keyword linking remains a simple and effective option.

  • On the post: NBC Universal's Great Idea: Let's Make It Harder And More Expensive To Watch The Olympics

    Michael Bazelewick ( profile ), 15 Apr, 2009 @ 03:40pm

    Loons

    What would you expect from a group that collectively thought the Internet was a passing fad. I spoke with an NBC exec about doing an offline guide with keyword links to various online events ... also thought it would be cool to type in an athletes bib number as a keyword that links to the athletes bio. Created a demo with Deal or No deal case models, type in prefix "dnd" followed by a case models number, our fave is dnd15. Did not even receive the courtesy of a returned email, course maybe the rascal got promoted!

  • On the post: WWII Era Advice On Newspapers Still Relevant Today… If Only Newspapers Would Listen

    Michael Bazelewick ( profile ), 15 Apr, 2009 @ 10:33am

    additional value beyond what they can get elsewhere

    As the founder of an offline to internet keyword link system (and huge convergence advocate) I am totally confused by the newspaper business. Do publishers really think readers enjoy searching their website for additional information or updates. Heck if I'm going to search anywhere, it'll probably be google. Publishers complain they can't monetize their digital assets ... the currency of the web is eyeballs, the more you get, the more you earn. The printed newspaper can drive more eyeballs and at the same time enhance the readers enjoyment ... how about a keyword link from the TV listings directly to a trailer on tonight's episode ... or, a keyword link to the video on how to make perfect gravy. It doesn't have to be rocket science to be effective.

  • On the post: Can A Print Magazine Compete With Internet By Being Slower… But More Analytical?

    Michael Bazelewick ( profile ), 15 Apr, 2009 @ 09:41am

    room for both with a convergence strategy

    We recently launched a keyword link system whereby, a newspaper article in print could be tagged with a keyword link to directly open an online page about THAT particular story, including updates, videos, backgrounders, whitepapers or whatever. The keyword could be typed at the newspapers website ... instead all I see is "for updates, a video or whatever just go to newspaperwebsite.com" ... I'll get right on that, as I have nothing better to do than search for articles!!

    Newspapers and magazines have the power to be the biggest internet portals on the planet ... yet publishers I have spoken with don't get the convergence thing. Had one newspaper exec state "we are still analyzing the relationship between our print readers and internet news readers!" Hello!! I would estimate over 90% of print readers under 50 also have access to the internet. It's not rocket science for a newspaper to tag a story on say a major fire ... Video and updates, type in the keyword: FIRE at ourwebsite.com. One column writer recently had the full URL to a Blu-Ray firmware update page ... the URL was 62 characters! Does the term "URL blindness" mean anything?

    I enjoy reading a newspaper, would be nice if they realized that this Interweb thing is not a passing fad.