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TechBrief: Google Content Removal

I’ve seen some chatter in one particular legal-oriented listserv lately concerning content removal. Google does such an extremely efficient job of indexing information that it causes headaches when that information won’t go away.

Fortunately, the good folks at everyone’s favorite search engine provide a tool to deal with these sticky situations. Here’s what you have to do — please note this is the abridged version. If you need extra handholding, you might have to pay your overpriced vendor

You need to have a Google account.
Go into your account and add Webmaster tools.
Add your site and verify it with the necessary files. Verifying you own the site is necessary to access several of the tools. Update: @Bibble has a great blog post addressing the verification process. I suggest checking it out.
In my experience, verification happens quickly. You will now be able to access the Webmaster functions. Go to Tools > Remove URLS.
Check that the file has been deleted from your site
Enter the URL and any other requested information in the tool. Click Submit Removal Request
Wait. If all goes well, the content will be down in a few days.

Removal of URLs should be your last line of defense. Other policy driven approachs include blocking content from indexing or caching. I would suggest asking your Web vendor on how to implement each of these approaches.

Twitter: Thoughts on Use and Branding

Published April 25, 2008 Marketing , Strategy , TechBrief , Technology 3 Comments
Tags: best practices, branding, company use policy, twitter

I’ve been updating the Twitter Brand Index regularly — I’m excited to see new companies, particularly those in the legal industry, establish a presence. In an effort to establish best practices within this new space, the following elements were created after an examiniation of companies in the index. (Note: This is a work in progress; I’ve love to collaborate with others on this initiative.)

The list after the break… Continue reading ‘Twitter: Thoughts on Use and Branding’

Twitter as a Customer Service Learning Lab

Published April 11, 2008 Marketing , Operations , TechBrief 0 Comments
Tags: Customer Service, twitter

I’m sure you’ve heard of twitter and how a lot of people love it (including yours truly). If you haven’t joined the conversation, you need to today. You wouldn’t believe the great comments floating back and forth about twitter as a customer service tool, the transformation of service and how the lines between PR, marketing and sales are blurring.

ReadWriteWeb had a great post covering the various aspects twitter:

There has been a lot of talk lately of companies monitoring social media, be it Twitter, blogs, or social networking sites, for mentions of their company name and responding to customer service issues. Some of this interaction has been in the Twitter community, with Comcast being one of the more active participants as of late. Although in some cases, customers twittered their frustration after failing to receive the support they needed through traditional methods, in many cases, Twitter was the first place the customers vented their frustration, and then were surprised when they received a response from a support rep or company spokesperson.

There are also a number of brands that use twitter, as noted in an earlier blog. Rather than write anything further, go to twitter.com and setup an account. Be sure to follow the general guidance given to all businesses looking to start a conversation: first listen.

Microblogging: A quick-start guide

Published April 5, 2008 Marketing , TechBrief 0 Comments

Most people on the Web are aware of blogs… but there are other avenues for conversations. I’ll even go out on a limb and say it’s far more immediate and relevant than blogs. This trend is called microblogging, defined by Wikipedia as:

a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually less than 200 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, email, MP3 or the web.

How to get started? Pick a site: I use Twitter, but there are alternatives such as Jaiku. Setup an account and start connecting to people — the power of microblogging is within its follower/following model. As you post updates, your followers will see the messages. As you follow others, you will see their comments.

Why is this useful? Two reasons: immediate updates on current news, trends and blogs and; the ability to spread a brand, product or service to an interested community. The other day I had someone ask about a good corporate law firm. I naturally responded my employer. Many other businesses send updates — within twitter, these are called tweets — to followers (i.e. customers).

Once you have the basics down, you can look at applications designed to increase use of this medium. Jeremiah Owyang has a great post on this subject called My Essential Twitter Tools. Check it out!

One last note: tf you decide to tweet, feel free to follow me: @time2simplify.

Social Intel: 3 Links to Review

Published April 1, 2008 Marketing , TechBrief , Technology 0 Comments
Tags: blogging, law firm, maslow, wiki

I love reading digests, but to be honest, I start to glaze after the first three. Who has the time during the day! For those of you that are easily distracted, here’s a short list. Enjoy!

Internet Hierarchy of Needs
Think of this as “Abraham Maslow meets the Web.” Courtesy of @marketingprofs on twitter. What? You aren’t on twitter?!

Wiki’s in the Workplace: From the Creator
Wiki’s are constantly mentioned in marketing technology discussions. I have yet to hear of one that actually goes somewhere!(Cough, in a law firm) Here’s an interview from Harvard Business Review with Wikipedia’s creator, Jimmy Wales. Now go learn something and report back

Blogging: Why the Fuss
Legal marketers: Here’s your overview on blogs from Ron Friedmann. The trend for legal blog is only increasing, according to both Friedmann and Lexblog’s Kevin O’Keefe.

TechBrief: Online Games for Business?

Published March 25, 2008 Law , Marketing , TechBrief 0 Comments
Tags: gaming, law firm, Marketing, widgets

SteveRubel mentioned a new offering via Twitter: The Businessweek Arcade.

You might say “What? Games?” Don’t be surprised. There are significant social elements within gaming, both in-game (ads, product placement) and within ad-hoc communities. I understand South Korea has an intense gaming scene complete with hierarchical chain of command.

Lessons here for law firms? Stroock had a great penguin game out a few years ago. I would suggest using games in context of other social elements, much like Businessweek. Perhaps, make it a widget and get additional coverage.

PS If there’s anyone interesting in hacking out a widget-based game for the legal space, drop me a note.

AT&T Broadband Users: Read Up

Published March 22, 2008 TechBrief , Technology 0 Comments

I just ran across this tidbit: AT&T: More Than 5GB of Data Costs $350/Month + $500/GB

As a WWAN customer, this sucks. I would look at an alternative, but my x61t has a sweet integrated modem.

Silverlight

Published March 12, 2008 TechBrief 0 Comments
Tags: Silverlight, video

I ran across an article on cio.com that talks about the use of Silverlight in the upcoming Olympics. Article. I’ll also provide the link to the Silverlight portal to help bring people up to speed.

My first view into the elegance of Silverlight came about a year ago, when a colleague popped in my office and said “check this out.” Cool, I thought, Microsoft has an alternative to Flash. He then showed me the code required to put it together… I was floored. It is insanely efficient! I can only imagine the complex implementation required to put video together for a global event, but this is something I plan on watching from multiple angles.

Perhaps this will spare viewers the endless heaps of crap used as needless filler. I want to watch the event; if commentary is annoying, the “NBC Cares” segments are the equivalent to fingernails on a blackboard.

For the law marketing readers: care to take a guess which department would jump all over this tech?

Social Media: Basics, Trends and Strategies

Published December 29, 2007 Strategy , TechBrief 0 Comments

Let’s face facts: social media is here to stay. I wanted to contribute my thoughts, following the lead of other people in the blogosphere. The following briefing paper covers social media, applications and emerging trends in the social networking.

The Social Networking TechBrief.

I look forward to your feedback!

Fluent Simplicity