Articles by Ian Lurie
Ian Lurie // 26 Nov, 2006
Top Replies by Developers When Something Breaks
We’ve all had a time when a developer tells us that their code is perfect, and something else is wrong. Right? Question is, how do you know whether they’re correct? Well, if the developer’s answer is on this list, you can call their bluff. Trust me.
Ian Lurie // 26 Nov, 2006
Blogging Resources
Neil Patel has a great collection of blogging resources here.
Ian Lurie // 20 Nov, 2006
Knowing When To Stop
Last night my family and I climbed into a Towncar for the ride from Newark Airport to the grandparents’ house. About 15 minutes out, the car’s engine started racing and the ‘check transmission’ light came on. A sure sign that the car’s transmission was about to fall out. The driver, not wanting to lose the… Read More
Ian Lurie // 10 Nov, 2006
What’s a Click Worth?
Everyone should know what a click to their website is worth. And everyone should know they’re spending less than that to get those clicks. Yet almost no one does. Which is sort of like landing an airplane when you’re not sure where the ground is. It’s not too hard, trust me. As an experiment, I… Read More
Ian Lurie // 9 Nov, 2006
Factoid: Search Engine Market Share
In case you’re wondering: Google gets 44.1% of all searches right now. That’s up 7% over last year. Yahoo gets 28.7%. Down 1%. MSN gets 12.5%, down 3%. AOL gets 5.6%. Ask.com gets another 5.5%. All other search engines on earth fight over the remaining 3.6% of available search traffic. So if anyone ever calls… Read More
Ian Lurie // 3 Nov, 2006
Playing On One Buttock
I just watched Benjamin Zander speak about transformation, creativity and his book, The Art of Possibility. He made one point that really stuck with me: A great concert pianist will often sway and lean with their music. They’re lost to it, taking risks and not worrying, right then, about what the audience will think. As… Read More
Ian Lurie // 3 Nov, 2006
This Internet Thing May Work…
I’m at a convention for a client of mine right now. They just announced that the internet generated 9000 new customers for them during a 7-month test campaign run by us. Their last national campaign that did anything – a print ad in a perfectly-targeted magazine – generated 300. These customers cost them about $15… Read More
Ian Lurie // 30 Oct, 2006
Web Site Diets (Fat Free)
Seattle24x7 just published a piece I wrote about simplifying your web site, and why it matters…
Ian Lurie // 30 Oct, 2006
Google, Link Spam and Good Citizenship
Imnotadoctor writes that Google still seems to reward link spammers. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept, link spammers will build a site and then purchase or otherwise collect thousands of links from other, unrelated web sites, for the sole purpose of improving their search ranking. Google frowns (glowers, actually) on this… Read More
Ian Lurie // 30 Oct, 2006
Pyramid Marketing, 2: The Results
A few folks have very astutely asked me whether my test on http://www.mmmzr.com/ generated quality, targeted traffic. The answer is a qualified ‘yes’. So far I’ve received as much traffic in any 24-hour period as I usually get in a week. Average time on the site is down to about 3 minutes from 4 minutes.… Read More
Ian Lurie // 30 Oct, 2006
Pay Per Click: Time of Day Matters
Just finished an experiment with a client. First, this was the situation: They wanted the #1 position for their biggest keyphrase. But they couldn’t afford it – they received too many clicks in the course of the day. We reviewed their site and sales statistics, and noticed that most of their customers arrived at lunch… Read More
Ian Lurie // 28 Oct, 2006
Pyramid Marketing: A Pricey Test
Seth Godin had an article about MMMZR on his site. The concept was so bizarre and so interesting that I purchased an ad. Basically, it’s the ultimate pyramid marketing scheme, gone viral. It was expensive. Really expensive. But, on the other hand, it’s sent as much traffic to this site in the last two hours… Read More
Ian Lurie // 25 Oct, 2006
Great Opt-In Marketing
Holiday Inn shows how opt-in marketing should be done.
Ian Lurie // 25 Oct, 2006
Fear and Marketing Don’t Mix
Marketing is scary. Spooky. It requires leaps of faith. Brian mentioned this today, and pointed me to a post on Seth Godin’s blog. Very insightful. Remember it the next time you’re brainstorming and you stop yourself with a line like ‘but that will never happen’ or ‘but they won’t like that’…
Ian Lurie // 22 Oct, 2006
A Quick Yiddish Lesson
Kvelling, in Yiddish, means ‘gloating’, ‘full of pride’ or the state of being delighted about something. I’m kvelling for a moment: My company was chosen as one of the 100 fastest-growing companies in Puget Sound. Number 48, to be exact. That growth is a testament to my clients, who have worked with us for years… Read More