Yearly Archives: 2008
Design & Development Ian Lurie20 Feb, 2008
5 Easy Tips for Web Typography
Web typography is an art that I’ve never totally grasped – I have to be honest. But I have learned some basic rules worth remembering: 1: Line Spacing Always use at least 1 full line between lines of text, like this: On my blog, I use 1.5em. Reading online text is a pain – wider… Read More
Portent Staff20 Feb, 2008
QA is Like being a Priest in World of Warcraft
(A quick note: If you don’t know World of Warcraft, skip about 4 paragraphs down. If you do know it, it’s thoroughly worth reading and pertinent. We at Portent love to geek out now and then.) My best friend and her boyfriend recently started playing World of Warcraft, so I’ve reactivated my account after a… Read More
Ian Lurie19 Feb, 2008
Bragging About My Kids, er, Team
The father loves to brag about his kids (as I do). The CEO loves to brag about his team. I’ll spare you the kids. But I do want to introduce some of the team, and brag about their accomplishments. Tracy Beach is our COO and one of our creative leaders. He’s been with Portent since… Read More
Design & Development Ian Lurie19 Feb, 2008
A New Look for Portent Interactive
We just launched a new look for my company, Portent Interactive. I lost the battle to keep my picture the hell off the site. I did win the typographical battle though, so we opted for a larger typeface. We’ve also added a (gasp) blog where the Portent team can dwell on everything from design to… Read More
Ian Lurie16 Feb, 2008
Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm…
Are you kidding me? What web browser should I be using? This is like saying “eat anything except the food”…
Ian Lurie16 Feb, 2008
Social Media Press Release: Are You Contributing?
A few other blogs have picked up my XHTML Social Media Press Release template. Just a couple here: Reed Media DaveFleet.com If you’re using the template and making changes, cool! Please send me your ideas, though, so I can continue to improve it.
Ian Lurie15 Feb, 2008
Truthiness and Getting Fired: What’s an Agency’s Role?
I may be engaging in excessive honesty in this post. If you’re a client, or thinking of becoming one, you’re getting a look at the closest thing to dirty laundry that Portent has. Some folks might tell me this is a bad idea. I disagree – there’s a valuable lesson here. We got fired today.… Read More
Random Ian Lurie15 Feb, 2008
Ignite! Seattle Appearance Cancelled On Account of My Spine
Sorry all. My now infamous burst discs have flared up rather badly. I’m uncomfortable and even grumpier than usual. Rather than show up at Ignite! and babble like a moron stoned on Vicodin, I’ve decided to skip it.
Ian Lurie14 Feb, 2008
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…
Valentine’s Day is the greatest marketing scheme ever created. As a marketer, I can respect that. So I used a Valentine’s Mad Libs creator my company developed to write one to my first professional love, internet marketing: Dear Internet Marketing, My love is like a hot red Google Logo. Your tibia is timelessly beautiful and… Read More
Featured Ian Lurie13 Feb, 2008
Saying Thanks: Internet Marketing Requires an Audience
I wanted to say thanks. One year ago, Conversation Marketing received 3100 unique visits in February. This year, I’ve already got 8,200, and am on track to have 18,000 unique visits in February. Last year, I had 20 RSS subscribers (not tracked in Feedburner, so the graph below doesn’t include it). This year, I have… Read More
SEO Ian Lurie12 Feb, 2008
Beware: Network Solutions SEO Fine Print
Network Solutions lies like George Bush on an aircraft carrier. Or Bill Clinton about his sex life (just to be non-partisan about it). You can’t pin any of them down, but you know damned well they’re pulling a fast one. I got an e-mail from a client today asking: “Why should we pay you $5,000… Read More
Ian Lurie12 Feb, 2008
Internet Bullshit Detector: Speaking at Ignite! Seattle
I’m going to be speaking at Ignite! Seattle next week (February 19). My topic: Build your own Internet Bullshit Detector. I won’t give away too much, but the basic principles will be: Hairstyle is not a feature. If they can’t communicate, run. Bold letters do not increase value. Nor does large type or the ability… Read More
Ian Lurie11 Feb, 2008
Internet Marketing Strategy: A Step-by-Step Diagram
Internet marketing is not SEO. It’s not PPC. It’s not e-mail or web design, or social media. It’s the sum of many parts. Here’s how I see it all fitting together: You can also download a PDF version here. Some Explanation If this is gibberish, you may want to skim through my book, which you… Read More
Ian Lurie10 Feb, 2008
Shoemoney Dislikes 95% of SEOs, Can’t Do Grammar
Truth is, I don’t like 95% of SEOs, either. I make a habit of tearing down the fraudsters whenever possible. But man, Shoemoney, could you get someone to proofread a bit? “Its like people don’t know you can goto a web site without going to a god-damn Search Engine.” Which, when filtered through 6th-grade grammar… Read More
Portent Staff8 Feb, 2008
Welcome to the new Portent Interactive blog.
Oh! A blog! How quaint, you say. There’s most likely millions of blogs out there (I haven’t counted recently) so why would you want to read yet another blog? Especially yet another Internet Marketing blog! Here at Portent, we always strive to do something different. When most people hear “Search Engine Optimization” or “Internet Marketing”… Read More