Mike Badger shares his wit, wisdom, and follie on software, the web, and technology at large. Read more about me.
In support of my upcoming Scratch book, I launched a new web site: Scratch Beginner’s Guide. I’ll use it post book updates and support materials, including workshops, assignments, and tips.
For the technically minded, you’ll notice that I settled on Serendipity to power the site. I like it.
Print publications dancing on the edge of existence has become common place. See the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Baltimore Examiner, etc.
Jobsitemagazine.com
At the beginning of 2009, Trades Publishing made the decision to stop publishing several of their Jobsite Magazine titles and go all digital. They bridged the gap by publishing a flip book with a third party service, but that’s really just a stop gap measure.
What they needed was a new web site. Recently, I launched the new Jobsite magazine web site through my day job.
Trades publishes Jobsite Magazine for professional contractors. Jobsite is a family of titles that covers the latest products in floorcovering, concrete, hvacr, painting & drywall, plumbing & heating, and a pro version that incorporates all of them.
They weren’t ready to vanish yet, so they contracted MoJo Active (my day job) to convert their six publications into an online magazine. We launched phase 1 that includes content from the most recent issues and the site weighs in with somewhere north of 6000 pages.
We get so many pages partially because there is a lot of data, but we give several different looks at the data by building pages that list products by manufacturer, category, or tag.
The site is a custom designed content management system (CMS) that we built specifically for Jobsite’s business models. They want to sell advertising, publish their product releases, and bring their advertisers and contractors online.
Jobsite is unique in its content because it doesn’t publish lenghthy how-to articles or feature stories. Their customers are busy contractors who want to find tools. Their content features 150 word product releases with a photo categorized by function.
I don’t normally share my day job adventures, but I’m proud of the work that MoJo Active did on this site. As the project manager/account executive for the project, I feel like I just watched my baby take its first steps.
Going digital will be a tough road. I hope to have positive news to report for Trades in the near future.
You can check out Scratch 1.4rc from the Scratch web site. You can read the full list of features on the download page, but here are the highlights:
Here’s a sample project using the new string features.
I am not michaelbadger.com. Though, he has more hair than I do, and that makes me a tinge upset. Search for me, and this other guy pops up selling some secret to life internet riches program.
Not that I care what the other Michael Badger sells.
I’m on the verge of publishing my second book, and if prospective buyers search for me, Michael Badger, the “other Michael Badger” will run interference.
That’s the way internet rolls.
Marketers, take a few minutes to laugh at yourself and watch this video. The comparisons to dead-tree marketing to digital marketing are a hoot.
Some of my favorite lines from this video are:
It’s not that digital marketing isn’t proven, it’s that I can’t conduct a thorough ROI. I don’t do ROI on the rest of my media mix. But, that’s because they’re proven.
Why would you give paid search credit for a certain conversion when it might just be a spill over of awareness of a USA Today Newspaper ad – that no one looked at?
Got the video from HubSpot
