I got an email today from Mark over at 45n5.com about his launch of ShowYourAdHere (SYAH). This new site helps you manage and sell your site ads. If you sell ads on your site you may want to consider a service like this.

So how does it work?
As a publisher you sign-up and add your inventory of ads space into the site. You then add a widget to your site where that ad would be placed. You will never need to edit the code on your site again as all administration is then done through the SYAH site. You can manage multiple site and ads all in one management tool now.

Once an ad is approved and sold through the SYAH site it will be automatically added to your site. Payment is accepted through the SYAH site and they take a 25% cut of all sales.

Should you use this service?
I think it is good for a site that is just starting out. This will drive marketers to your site and you can start generating revenue. It may not be a lot of revenue but when your starting out any revenue can be good.

Suggestions
I think the domain is not easy to remember and would suggest they buy a domain that is more brandable. I have one that is suitable if they are interested (marketinghunter.com).

The site design is okay but I am not sure it will drive a lot of high-end advertisers in to the network. I would suggest Mark hire a graphic designer to be the ying to his PHP yang.

What do you think of this type of service?

Walk into just about any cell phone accessory store and you’ll be bombarded with a near limitless supply of Bluetooth headsets. People want to keep talking on their mobile phones without actually using a hand to hold the handset up to the sides of their heads. In fact, this is actually illegal to do while driving in certain states. As such, Bluetooth headsets are more popular than ever, making for a market that is highly competitive.

By far, the very best Bluetooth headset that I have ever used is the Jawbone by Aliph, a company based out of California. The Jawbone is far from being the smallest Bluetooth headset on the market — there are several offerings by Sony Ericsson, Nokia, and Plantronics that are quite a bit smaller — but the technology that goes into the Jawbone is what really sets it apart. It has an active noise shield, as well as a small rubber nub that makes contact with your cheek. In this way, it can sense when you are speaking (based on the vibrations in your jaw), effectively canceling out all other noise.

The net result is that the person on the end of the line can hear your voice in a crystal-clear kind of way, without having to filter through all sorts of background noise. The earpiece is equally impressive, ensuring that you can hear their end of the conversation too. Another major plus is that the Aliph Jawbone is one of the most comfortable headsets to wear, thanks to adjustable ear loops and interchangeable ear buds.

You can find the Aliph Jawbone at many cell phone accessory stores. The MSRP is $150, but you can usually find it cheaper than that.

Congratulations to this weeks geek Joe. This weeks questions are as promised HiFi related…

1.  What does HiFi stand for?

2.  Who was the first musical artist recorded on audio tape?

3.  What is the lowest Hz recorded by music?

4.  Name 3 lossy sound formats?

5.  What does decibels measure?

Another Friday has arrived and it couldn’t have come any sooner. Some of us have endured quite the crazy week, so what better way to kick off the weekend than to read up on how the Japanese have fooled us into loving sushi so much.

You don’t get it? Try hopping over to the blog of Brice Wong where he has discovered an enlightening video on how the connection between the Japanese and sushi is really a joke. If you’ve ever wondered why they insist on the use of chopsticks and how you must sit on the floor while enjoying your sashimi, tonkatsu, and tempura, you absolutely have to watch the video embedded within that post.

On a slightly more serious note, the guy who calls himself King Nomar ponders the balance between search engine success and usability. As you all know, getting yourself ranked for critical keywords is one thing and making for an enjoyable user experience is another. The factors involved for the two may not exactly be the same.

Blogging has become quite the popular endeavor, but many people are starting to spread their wings into podcasting, lifecasting, and video blogging. RockDiesel applauds the recent trend toward the use of videos, listing off a number of pros to video blogging. Posting up a vid or two could bring your blog up to the next level.

Speaking of videos, Stephen Fung is perfectly enjoying his dot com mogul lifestyle, but he just might be making the jump to TV. He’s been to a couple of interviews with the people behind The Lab with Leo, a technology-focused television show starring Leo Laporte. Stephen is auditioning, so to speak, for the spot left vacant by Sean Carruthers.

Although it was posted on ShoeMoney’s blog, one of the most recent articles was actually written by Rebecca Kelley of SEOmoz. She manages to find quite the fascinating connection between SEO and Guitar Hero. If you prefer Rock Band, the analogy applies just as easily.

Last week we talked about the Law of Expansion and how it dilutes your brand. The Law of Expansion says you should not expand out of your current market place because it dilutes your brand and is detrimental to your long term success of your business.

Recently Cheerios launched a new breakfast cereal called Fruity Cheerios. When the commercial came on my 2 kids immediately said look Dad it’s Froot Loops. This is an example of how you should not expand your brand and it appears that Cheerios has been making this mistake for awhile. This will be the 9th Cheerios cereal released. Can you name the other 8 without searching?

Cheerios branding of new products is failing because they keep trying to hold on to their master brand Cheerios. If they really wanted to compete against Froot Loops they should have created a new brand. You see this happen a lot today and is a sign that the owner or board of directors are in charge of the marketing instead of the marketing department.

What brandable name could have Cheerios picked for the new product?

With around a million dot ca domains out there I am sure each of them have their own story. Share your story with CIRA and you can win an Apple Mac.

Like many organizations I am glad to see that CIRA is using social marketing ideas to increase awareness of the dot ca domain. My only concern again is that this contest was emailed to me (see below).

 

Like last time I do not remember saying it was okay to email me contest or promotional details. This time there was an unsubscribe link at the bottom but like before the email was not addressed to anyone.

Did you get the email? If so did you consider it spam?