Writings from Force 5 Basecamp

06/09/11

For many of us, the internet is an integral part of our lives. Aside from my personal use to book trips, make online purchases and get directions through MapQuest, my focus is generally how it is used as a tool for businesses. I read about best practices in website building, the latest CMS technology, trends, internet marketing, etc. Recently, I

06/08/11

We see this phrase all the time. But as we dive deeper into the motivations of social network users, we see folks connect with Brands for many different reasons. I have a facebook friend that raves about a particular women’s clothing line. In my opinion, she’s a huge brand ambassador. So much so, that if I needed to purchase a

06/07/11

Whenever I’m asked about Force 5, one of the things I say about our company is that we are“small and smart.” Most people understand immediately what half of that means. We have only a handful of people on our staff – so, we’re small – pretty easy. Small is good these days. That means we don’t carry a lot of

06/02/11

Hungry Twitter Recent news of Twitter purchasing Tweetdeck and cutting off third-party development of Twitter clients has me wondering where Twitter is headed. Twitter has no doubt proved itself as a contender in the online service arena. But can it prove it’s well-carved niche with the likes of Google and Facebook? With the limitation of additional third-party clients and Twitter

06/01/11

I was at a convenience store this past weekend and saw the following sign. So the question that immediately pops into my head is “how is it possible that “Unmatched Pleasure” and “tooth loss” appear in the same ad?” I can’t imagine the marketing challenge involved in trying to sell this product. You have a product that clearly isn’t good

05/27/11

It’s Memorial Day weekend so I thought I would take a picture of the Flag that flies outside our offices here at Force 5.   There is a lot happening this weekend:  Graduations, cookouts, parties and all kinds of outdoor fun.  The famed Indianapolis 500 will run this weekend too.  For many, Memorial Day marks the beginning of a great Summer. I am

05/26/11

Picture the scene.  I’m driving into town toward the University of Notre Dame campus on my way to our offices at Force 5.  It’s a beautiful morning. The weather’s perfect.  As usual, there is a lot of morning traffic.  I stop at an intersection where there is a wonderful digital billboard.  As I sit in my car sipping my morning

05/25/11

The Twykenham Bridge is located just a half a block away from our offices at Force 5.   We’ve been watching this old bridge being renovated with great anticipation.  (Details can be found here in the South Bend Tribune.)  It’s amazing to see what a remodel can do.  With it’s new look, the bridge again inspires confidence in those who transverse it and a sense of wonder in those who view

05/24/11

Google’s recent “Panda” update is getting plenty of notice and discussion on SEO and web marketing sites. This is an algorithm update, the formula Google uses to rank sites—using a variety of areas of your web site. It’s clear that one of the biggest goals for Google’s algorithm update is to provide higher page rankings for quality, rather than quantity,

05/23/11

Force 5 recently wrote about a project we did involving QR (quick response) codes. The campaign, done for Smoker Craft boats, has been a success and a practical application of this new and growing tool. Since the boom in QR codes, I have since seen them on everything from ads in magazines to the lettuce container at the grocery store.

05/18/11

According to a report by Sandvine, Netflix is now the largest source of internet traffic in North America during peak hours. Netflix streaming video service now accounts fro about 29% of peak traffic, overtaking P2P, Bittorrent, and Social Networking. Almost half of internet traffic is Real-Time Entertainment Netflix accounts for 29.7% of Downtream traffic (provided by Sandvine) These numbers show

05/17/11

The Filter bubble by Eli Pariser I was listening to a TED talk yesterday from Eli Pariser, who just wrote the book “The Filter Bubble”.In his talk, he tells of the personalization taking place on the web. Everything is filtered before it gets to us. I have an interest in sailing, and listed that on my facebook. And lo and