Disqus - Latest Comments for angiehaggstrom

Re: Survey: 52% of media professionals abandon websites when they hit a paywall

Angie Nikoleychuk — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:41:11 -0000

My opinion here is similar to Ryan Sholin's. I think a lot of people have a pre-conceived notion of a paywall. And considering how badly they've been done by a number of the big newspapers (and smaller ones), it's no surprise that people are biased against them.

Of the many newspapers who have turned to a paywall-based structure, some have done exceedingly well while others have failed miserably. I think a lot this stems from misunderstanding paywall conversions. Many see them as being based purely on the content, and this just isn't true. Sure, creating unique, quality content is important, but this only takes care of the interest portion of the sales process. A lot has to happen first. Trust, for example.
Think about it: You click a link expecting to see a really great piece of content and are suddenly told, "Oh sorry. We lied. You have to pay us first." Because you likely aren't familiar with the site, you have no idea if their definition of "quality" and "valuable" matches yours.

Then, there's value. If the only option is a weekly, monthly, or annual subscription, you don't know whether there will be more content that's actually worth paying for. This is marketing 101. If I've never visited a site before, and the only option is to pay for a month's worth of content, am I going to bother? Not likely. I'll get the information some other way. But, the more I keep returning to a site, the more likely I am to give in and give up the cash.

Another big error is targeting the wrong audience, expecting the wrong audience to pay, or failing to consider user intent. If I want to read an article purely for entertainment purposes, I'm not going to be as motivated to buy as I would be if I was using for research, for example.The failing of the newspaper industry has nothing to do with paywalls, in my opinion. It's the fact that they're putting a band aid on an unsustainable and poorly planned business model.

Re: How to Save A Whole Lotta Time Setting Up Your New Laptop

Angie Nikoleychuk — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:30:26 -0000

I sooo wish I'd have thought of this when I got the new iMac and Macbook. Would have made things much easier!

Re: Tell Her Movement - Facebook & Twitter Party

Angie Nikoleychuk — Thu, 05 May 2011 22:39:06 -0000

It's been very interesting.

Re: The Social Media Platform Lifecycle (Part I)

Angie Nikoleychuk — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:53:54 -0000

I absolutely agree Charlie. Banking on a site being there forever is foolish, and basing your business off a single platform is downright stupid. Those famous words 'nothing lasts forever' ring true in the online world as well.

I really think the secret is forming relationships and bonds with your target market. Once you have that relationship, they follow you on other networks, and will invite you to join in when they make a switch.

Re: Rockmelt: My Thoughts and Review

Angie Nikoleychuk — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 01:35:35 -0000

Just a few quick thoughts:

I switched to Rockmelt and now use it for all my Web wandering. The only exception are moments when I need big SEO/dev addons. For that, you just can't beat FireFox.

With Rockmelt, sharing content on any of my social networks is a breeze, particularly now that I've added in the Delicious, Reddit, Digg, and StumbleUpon extensions. They all show up on the right sidebar (All of the extensions available in Chrome work in Rockmelt to my knowledge), so I just give the right one a quick click and I can move on to something else.

The only thing I really hated were the Twitter notifications. They were such a pain in the royal you-know-what, they were the first things to go. I also removed Twitter from the sidebar, but I use Tweetdeck, so it was really just a redundant feature. Other than that, it just has the typical Chrome pitfalls.

Re: Social Media on Fox News – The Future as we know it?

Angie Nikoleychuk — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 04:48:31 -0000

I thought the MySpace addy was a nice touch at the bottom of the screen.

Re: Social Media on Fox News – The Future as we know it?

Angie Nikoleychuk — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 04:48:00 -0000

I thought the MySpace addy was a nice touch at the bottom of the screen.

Re: Social Media on Fox News – The Future as we know it?

Angie Nikoleychuk — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 04:48:00 -0000

I thought the MySpace addy was a nice touch at the bottom of the screen.

Re: Social Media on Fox News – The Future as we know it?

Angie Nikoleychuk — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 04:48:00 -0000

I thought the MySpace addy was a nice touch at the bottom of the screen.

Re: Are Google results pages turning into the new landing pages

Angie Nikoleychuk — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:41:51 -0000

While this really sorta sucks for site owners (Google shouldn't be able to just take my content), I don't necessarily see it as a bad thing. It's simply a matter of using these features to our advantage.

The previews mean site owners are going to need to spend more time focusing on making a quality sites and planning their design/copy wisely instead of throwing something together and SEOing the hell out of it. That being said, I highly doubt it will mean the death of crap sites.

As for snippets, Goog has been pushing the importance of 'user-friendly' snippets for quite a long time. This is just taking Orion one step further. Again, I think the trick is going to be combining clickable content with smart keyword usage. Instead of huge changes in SEO, I think it simply means that Google is giving user behaviour a more prominent role in SEO and marketing. That's the way it should be, isn't it?

In short Peter, I think we're on relatively the same page with all these new fang-dangled toys.

Sorta blows a hole in that '100% paid results' idea a few weeks back, doesn't it? They wouldn't add this feature to their paid results either, I don't think...it would defeat the purpose. *Flashes tin foil* I'd say it almost pushes site owners toward PPC and higher Google profits ;)

Re: Would you stay or leave this company?

Angie Nikoleychuk — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 09:51:00 -0000

The idea that your job is secure and will be there tomorrow is nothing more than an illusion. No matter how long you've worked there, something can always happen, and people should be prepared.

That being said, the friend has work and it's obviously paying a decent amount. Also, there's no mention about what his work prospects are, and since good jobs aren't exactly plentiful, I'd be hesitant to give up an income you can be fairly sure will be there for the next two weeks. I say work it, but if something better (ie with a good contract and pay) comes up, take it.

Re: Taking Time Out for Health Reasons

Angie Nikoleychuk — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:24:04 -0000

Sending tons of good thoughts your way. Hope you feel better really soon. If there's anything I can do for you, please let me know.

Fellow Canuck
Angie

Re: Google Now Corrupting Lingual Identity

Angie Nikoleychuk — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:53:05 -0000

Hi Alan

I did a bit of thinking about this whole spelling fiasco, and decided that I'd write a post in response rather than writing out all 700+ words here. In short, however, I think you and I have slightly different views in this instance. Always good for an informative discussion nonetheless. You can find it here: http://seo.site-reference.c...

Re: Four Ways To Optimize Website Copy and Online Content

Angie Nikoleychuk — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:11:11 -0000

Absolutely Justin. I think the biggest reason for this is that people forget there's a difference between giving information and communicating. Think back to your school days...your history text book or your teacher...which did you like/respect more? Which one did you really learn the most from?

Re: http://www.justinparks.com/car-insurance-spain-linea-directa-taking-the-piss/

Angie Nikoleychuk — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:19:41 -0000

While I'd expect there to be some differences in the price, that is a massive, massive jump. What is so special about Linea Directa that would warrant such a high cost? Sorry, but unless it's something serious, I have and maintain an anti-screw-me-over policy. I don't do it to my clients because I have this thing called morals, values, and respect for my fellow man. Business is business, after all ;)

Re: Car insurance in Spain – Linea Directa taking the piss?

Angie Nikoleychuk — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:19:41 -0000

Re: The Modern Online Content Program — It Just Ain’t What It Used to Be!

Angie Nikoleychuk — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:14:35 -0000

Thanks Justin,

The switch over from traditional article marketing is quite slow (old habits die hard?), but when you look at all the benefits of article placement, there's just no reason not to use it. I think others would be quite pleased with the results; it's simply a matter of finding the right topic/style and site.

Re: “Warning: This is English Domain”… Atoall.com. What the heck?

Angie Nikoleychuk — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:39:39 -0000

I've looked at this with several people and I have to respectfully disagree for two reasons:

First of all, the text is appearing directly ON the page, which you can see http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:lQJlR6lEpk4J:www.speedtv.co...[warning_this_is_english_domain_to_solve_this_problem_submit_site_in_atoall.com.html]&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au

Secondly, these are NOT 404s. These are actual pages: http://www.google.ca/search...

Re: “Warning: This is English Domain”… Atoall.com. What the heck?

Angie Nikoleychuk — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:19:32 -0000

Hi Matt, yes, it was actually another friend of mine who had thought to check the cache of the websites...very scary indeed. It's just a good thing you were paying attention! I'm really shocked that so many big websites have been hacked and don't know it! 15K? Yikes!

Re: Graphic Design for a New Century

Angie Nikoleychuk — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:33:28 -0000

Hi Peter,

You're right. Along with an increase in accessibility, our industries have seen an influx of what I like to call 'I-can-do-it-too's. And unfortunately, it has cheapened are professions something awful. They all figure they can get an article for $20, just like someone thinks they can get a logo or a brochure layout for $20. And it's sad.

As for standardizing, I wonder if the graphic design world would have a lot of the same issues as those in SEO: things change too quickly, who should be in charge, who would be the authority, who would do the policing, what would the consequences be, etc. It is definitely something to ponder.

Re: 7 Things You Didn't Know About Me

Angie Nikoleychuk — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:20:46 -0000

Jeepers Samir. I didn&#39t know we had that much in common! Classical music hehe now you&#39re in trouble :) I&#39m going to make you help me decide what I"m playing for Christmas lol

Re: 7 Things You Didn't Know About Me

Angie Nikoleychuk — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:20:46 -0000

Jeepers Samir. I didn't know we had that much in common! Classical music hehe now you're in trouble :) I'm going to make you help me decide what I"m playing for Christmas lol

Re: Is Quality Copywriting Worth the Expense?

Angie Nikoleychuk — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:28:48 -0000

Hi Frank,

If it got you to consider your own copy, then my work here is done ;) Glad you found it interesting! (And I'm happy to chat with you anytime!)

Re: Is Quality Copywriting Worth the Expense?

Angie Nikoleychuk — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:15:11 -0000

Thanks Glenn, unfortunately so many people never stop to think of these things until it's too late. And lets face it, with so many companies reaching into the same pockets, for the same consumer dollars, there really isn't room for experimenting with copy.

Re: Is Quality Copywriting Worth the Expense?

Angie Nikoleychuk — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:12:03 -0000

Hi mjces,

Validating your services and convincing the client of that isn't easy, but it's the perfect opportunity to stretch your copywriting muscles. What makes you better and different than anyone else? What makes the content you write better than the content generated by machines? What will the customer gain when they hire you as a writer?

The idea is to show that you are a far better option and the client would be doing himself a disservice by not hiring you. By the time you're done telling him about how he'll benefit from hiring you, he'll completely forget about using previously distributed content or any other option he may have been considering. He won't be willing to accept anything less than you.

Once you figure out the information your potential clients need, you need to decided where this information needs to be presented and which format will work best? Will you include it on your website? If so, where? Will you use a client brochure?