When you read this I imagine Foursquare will have taken over the planet, the iPad will now be in shops and the annoying gadget freak in the office will have been through 3 of them already.

A rare quiet night for me last night, which lead me to try and define my career success by punching my name into Google and accessing the search results, then comparing them with my closest peer – like a digital cockfight if you will or as I will coin ‘doing the Google dance’ (copyright)

You will be pleased to know that I succeeded in trouncing my competition ‘according to my benchmarks’, which were based on a complicated set of rules mainly centring around the quantity of content mentioning our names.

I may not have a holiday home somewhere exotic or a brand new car or even a smart flat in town, but what I do have is over 3 pages of Google search results listing me next to brands including WIRED, Saatchi gallery, Haymarket Publishing, Banksy, Olympics, Cadbury and the Prince’s Trust to name a few.

I will be following this up with some top tips on how to ensure you’re making headway in your industry by building your digital brand – but before I do, would anyone reading this current post like to put me to shame with your mentions????

Well, reaction to Google’s new Street-View patent has received a mixed reception from media agencies, brands and advertising experts, but rather than conentrating soley on the patent itself I like the fact it co-incides with the launch of the new Google phone. Why? Bcause I think it means a wealth of possibilities.

What the patent means, if you aren’t familier with it, is that using new software-recognition technology Google can identify individual posters on the side of buildings in ‘Street-View’ and replace it with new information, as a hot-link or through an advertising auction model, which would allow clients to bid for space on unclaimed properties within Google Street-View itself.

Questions have been asked about whether this is the brave new world of advertising, but purely in a new-realty/inventory sense! I think it’s the pre-lude to something much bigger.

Yes this new patent does have its flaws, but regulation would be swiftly imposed  to stop aggressive auction bidding and geo-graphical take overs, but I think this really is only the tip of the iceberg when looking at the wider potential.

Google are planning the dawn of a new digital age and are underway to take a confident step into making Secondlife GOOD!

iPhone app ‘Four-Square’ is a popular social networking tool that’s gathering momentum. It’s the evolution of social media and offers its members real-life perks for engaging with its digital community  through checking in with it, leaving friendly tips, advice and recommendations about where you’ve been and what you’ve done.

It does seem a little benial, but when you think some of the perks could involve secret invitations to gig’s at your favourite bar of a free meal just because your recommended a friend to a particular restaurant already engaged with the platform, you find it becomes a whole lot more addictive.

So, we know their is a large social netorking community out there of all age groups and most ethnicities, we know that reward and loyaly schemes work because they’re a huge business and everyone from Sainsbury’s to ‘The Bean’ coffee bar in shoreditch have them.

We know that more and more people use their phones to organise their life, access the internet, engage with social media, use mapping services and Google Street-View. So the evolution of digital is the amalgimation of all the above – on an easily accesible piece of technology, like the humble phone for instance. 

Roll on the evolution of the the digital space and a step into populated, sexy second-life….

How will it happen?

Well this is only a loose suggestion but; Google push the use of Street-View through the new Nexus One, which will ‘soon’ come with/or be available to download a new technology/software that allows the user to create their own uniquely skinned virtual/social space. A hybrid of true social-networking, meets mapping, meets FourSquare.

Google will supply the mapping, structures and the inventory (in this case real-time ads and maybe in the future demographically targeted ‘opt-in’ adverts). Give it a look and feel that can be altered to suit the users taste, have a Avatar, include the reward system of Four-Square, wrap it all up in an easily accessable widget to allow intergration with existing social media  and you’ve got your own unique virtual reality portal.

I think this could finally bring Second-Life to the masses in a good and useful way.

These are all lame excuses and truthfully I’ve been at a loss for inspiration, so as a result I came up with this guide to help you avoid the blogging blues.

The single most important thing you need to do to build a blog is to post regular content, this guide will help you keep your blog content fresh.

1. How often are you gonna post?

Whether your writing a personal or work related blog it’s important to give yourself a realistic posting target and then announce it on your blog. This helps you manage readers expectations and makes you accountable to them.

I’ve read a lot of articles that suggest updating your blog on a daily basis is the only way to go, but I’m not in favour of this and believe it puts un-needed stress on new bloggers.

First and foremost, it is and always will be quality over quantity, but of course more content = more search engine visitors = more linked content.  So what do you do??

I am still very new to blogging and just finding my feet, but what I’ve noticed from other bloggers varies hugley. It is all down to personal preference. Try and experiment with frequency, length and topic to see what gets the most reads and take note of reader comments. This is invaluable.

Remember these key points:

• Quality – Only post as many times a week as you can put up quality content, but do this regularly. The idea is to give your readers something they can depend on.
• Don’t burn out – Even if you can post a new blog everyday are you going to get bored of it in 6 months. Find a schedule you can stick to, which means a little experimentation.
• What are you readers saying? Make sure you watch your stats and use them to determine your next post.

2. Finding new content

It’s easy to miss new content if you’re not looking for it or not prepared to record it and save it for later. Try and get in the habit of having online and offline means of capturing interesting and relevant data for you to write about later.

Some top tools include:

• A note pad and pen, it may seem obvious but how often do you have these to hand?
• Google RSS reader and Google alerts help me keep up to date with my industries breaking news.
• Delicious with the firefox add-on is great for bookmarking things I find while surfing the net.

3. Find something small and easy you can write about consistantly.

If your blog covers technology write an opinion piece on a new gadget.

If your blog covers your life write about something interesting, funny or crazy that you overheard a friend say that day.

If your blog covers music write about a new song

Summary

These simple suggestions aren’t a cure to all of your blogging struggles but through a combination of preperation, structure and consistency you should be able to see a marked improvement on your ability to keep your blog fresh.

I will be writing about 2/3 posts a week on everything from how to use digital marketing more effectively to which arm rest is yours in the cinema?

If you have any questions please contact me at gdowling@hotmail.co.uk

Tony Blair and his government need to be accountable for their actions!!

Read full Telegraph Article here

The increased penetration of smartphones, useful apps and paid for content are just some of the factors helping to drive the mobile phone market forward.

But beyond the must have apps or latest phones, the mobile internet is fast becoming part of our daily lives, and it’s not just the preserve of the young. According to Comscore – some 3.3million people accessed the internet daily through their phones in October 2009 and another 4.3million doing so at least once a week. 41% were over 35.

Advances made in mobile operating systems have meant the internet is now easier than ever to access the internet on your mobile, and with the rise of smaller and more powerful handsets mobile looks set to pick up where the internet left off.

Imagine round the clock, up-to-date, news, information, entertainment and communication anywhere you can get a signal, on your phone….

It’s not the future, it’s the present and 2010 will see mobile marketing become a more integral part of the marketing mix.

Everything you need to know about mobile in one place

Me and my sandwich board

Wow! it’s super easy to set up a blog and be part of it! and by it I mean the world wide debate and about everything and nothing.

In theory: I will use this blog to provide up-to-the minute information on the fast-paced world of digital marketing, technological innovation and more importantly (as my doctor tells me) a constructive out-let to vent my own thoughts and opinions.

Saturday afternoon down the local high street with my loud-speaker and sandwich board apparantly isn’t the way to do it!

If you are looking for a little help on setting up a blog I couldn’t have done this without the help of Dwayne – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWy4hJgOedU