Site Redesign / Advertising Questions
A few questions for the regulars:
>
Site Redesign
I want to clean the site up -- its become way too busy, too many things going on. I am thinking about going to a simple tab-based format, moved to my own domain.
You hit a landing page, with 5 or 6 tabs: 1) The Big Picture; 2) The Apprenticed Investor; 3) Digital Media;
What might you like to see for the other tabs? Books? Music? Jobs? Managed Assets? Video? Quant charts? Commodities? Other Research? PDF Library?
Tell me your thoughts, and I will consider this in the new design!
>
Advertising
At this point, the site is almost begging for real advertising. I've experimented with Google ads, and found them irrelevant, kinda ugly, and absurdly non-remunerative.
If I go with a real ad shop, it would allow me to generate real (as opposed to Google's meaningless) advert revenue. From that stream, I would add an editor to fix my typos grammar and semi-colon issues, hire other tech staff, do additional programming, add features, eliminate more spam, and via the LLC lease an absurdly horsepowered vehicle that my wife would never otherwise permit.
I have several ideas as to how to proceed. Before you say go for it, understand what is involved. Any high end advertising firm is going want some things from you people: Real demographic information (age, income, net worth). No names or email addresses, but I know these folks, and they ask for serious personal shit. That's what's required for real ad stuff.
Also, I've never done any SEO work -- but that's another factor they will be harping on.
>
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So? Site redesign? Advertising?
What say ye?
Monday, February 11, 2008 | 06:30 PM | Permalink
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Sure, go for it. Why the hell not?
You draw the traffic, you should prosper from it. I'll be happy to cough up some personal info, but I needs some of my privacy.
Good for you that you have a big, mother-grabbing blog that makes your ambitions doable.
Posted by: steve roy | Feb 11, 2008 6:37:10 PM
"They" want personal stuff? Bye, Bye.
~~~
BR: A survey on the blog about the usual advertising demo stuff. ANONYMOUS. No names, email or IP addresses. Just data . . .
Posted by: Norman | Feb 11, 2008 6:39:19 PM
You're offering to improve the brand and make it more worthwhile to us shoppers. In return we have to give you data that will build a demographic so the brand will improve even more? Sounds fair to me.
Posted by: alnval | Feb 11, 2008 6:44:26 PM
i lie about everything else, why not my personal info?
Posted by: scorpio | Feb 11, 2008 6:55:15 PM
Sounds good to me. It takes an incredible amount of time for you to do this, and the price for me to read all of this great info? So far free. All you need is some info from me? No problem. Listen the people who want to know about me already do so, whats 1 more. Even better is if you can make a few bucks from this. Then its a win/win. Thanks again for all your hard work.
But I ask 1 thing, you will get rid of this stupid spam verifier. its so ridiculous, you cant even read the verification term then when you do, it stills rejects it. then once in awhile, long posts are not allowed.
I like the tab idea, cause i agree this format is getting to busy.
Posted by: B.B. | Feb 11, 2008 7:01:00 PM
I like the absurdly horsepowered vehicle idea.
Maybe an Insights tab for any insightful posts or emails that spur a new discussion (eg: the discussion about Norway)?
Also, the thread "Who do you trust?" gave a pretty interesting thread of consumer sentiment, maybe a tab for that sort of thing.
Personally I enjoy this site a great deal and have made it a part of my college education. I'm excited to see the direction you take it.
Posted by: college kid Ted | Feb 11, 2008 7:05:08 PM
no problem with adds as long as there is no e-mail nor name I don't care about stunning you with my salary
Posted by: rickyny | Feb 11, 2008 7:05:52 PM
check email Barry
Posted by: UrbanDigs | Feb 11, 2008 7:08:21 PM
I think you have some potential on this site for a discussion forum or section of sorts for each posting or just topics etc. If you need any help el cheapo or pro bono let me know. I've done tons of sites and can forward my portfolio/resume to you.
Posted by: kd | Feb 11, 2008 7:08:25 PM
Barry,
I find you site most informative, instrustive, honest. A diamond in the financial information field.
Do what you have to do.
Posted by: Lamar | Feb 11, 2008 7:08:32 PM
Only on one condition.
That it is an Arrest Me Yellow Porsche twin turbo with tiptronic... "so Mrs. BP can drive it."
Hell, Fidelity sells my info and I don't even like them! Today I received a 241 page glossy 'Yachts International' magazine.
I do need a custom feed blender for my lil beef critters.
Seriously, I think it is a excellent idea. Your blog is an excellent tool for the pro and the great unwashed alike. Not that I'm like the great unwashed ;-)..
By the way, you don't get into the Porsche. You strap it on. It is a Krouch Wocket! Talk about cruising the hood!
Good luck.
~~~
BR: When we were dating, I taught then Miss Big Picture to drive a stick. Ever since then, she has only driven manual tranny cars (330i is her latest daily driver, and the Z4 M Coupe may be her next dd).
If I told her you said that she would run you off the road, then kick your ass.
As my buddy Jan would say, "Never marry any woman who can't handle a stick."
Posted by: Ross | Feb 11, 2008 7:10:00 PM
I'm not familiar with how the demographic info would be collected, and/or how do you avoid the "I lie about it anyway" comment above.
I'd be happy to tell the truth, anonymously, it would be good for you from an advertiser's perspective.
Posted by: Whammer | Feb 11, 2008 7:11:48 PM
I come here because you have personality and share it. The site reflects that. I don't need another big downtown style site. Leave things the way they are and put your other efforts on the blog roll.
Posted by: DJ Johnson | Feb 11, 2008 7:14:03 PM
1) its yours to do as you please! As long as we get a BP discount card.
2) Have you got the M3 yet, saw a red one the other day, very nice...
3) 35, renter, drives 1989 honda civic, I dare them to try and sell me something...
Posted by: andy in NZ | Feb 11, 2008 7:20:30 PM
If selling ads will allow you to do more with the site & content, and you're cool with the increased time investment necessary to take the site to the next level, then go for it. Getting the hell off TypePad and onto something real is a long overdue move.
Changing domain names can mean a short-term hit to your Google juice if it's not done right, but over the long haul having your own domain will only help you. There's more that could be done to build out your SEO / online presence, but you've already done the hard part -- you have a known and respected web property. At this point, it's about greasing the engine you've already built.
Stay true to your vision for this site, keep telling it like it is, and you'll be fine.
Posted by: lux | Feb 11, 2008 7:21:04 PM
Definitely have tabs for Books and Music. I was initially drawn to this site for your economic and market analysis. But....your eclectic taste in books and music is a real addition to the "technical stuff".
good luck!
Posted by: Philip | Feb 11, 2008 7:23:13 PM
One aspect of the current format that I like is the sequential nature of the "articles". I start at the top of the page, and read downwards until I hit what I read on my last visit.
Tabbing the site will scatter the "new material since my last visit" all over the place. A critical 'critical mass' of the site might be lost.
Regarding ads, hey, your content is excellent, you should benefit from it.
~~~
BR: I thought about that, and I like the sequential approach.
However, if I tab content, I can keep the sequential nature of blog, but allow more content to be built out around the tabbed feature.
Example: The first 3 paragraphs of a book review is on the main site, but the jump is to the book section. All of the book excerpts we've done would be there, in one place. Plus, there is some pretty robust software for discussion groups.
Posted by: Bob | Feb 11, 2008 7:32:32 PM
Forget the editor. The present form is not all that raw, which leaves more for you. No need to raise your break-even, which might lead who knows where over time.
Demographic info: feh. Privacy is all to scarce already and becoming more so. I'd say okay for blind demographic info, except it's too easy to place cookies or read network card ID numbers and then cross track it with al sorts of other web activity.
Would I hold my nose and just accept the loss of privacy? Not sure yet.
Regardless, you are certainly entitled to some renumeration for the valuable service you are providing -- for which we all thank you.
Posted by: steve | Feb 11, 2008 7:34:01 PM
I've grown accustomed to it as is.
Since I continuely check if I need to follow up in a thread I posted to - I would appreciate feature like the Canopus (video card) site. It tells you if a new post is added to a thread since your last visit. So you need to be a registered poster for that feature.
I always wondered how a thread disappears into the dark side. No one visited it today? Less than 1% visited it today? Just time to go?
You know what else, if this place goes Huffington busy, I'd be around less. I visit there but hardly post, because 300+ posts. Conversation is tough. So I read the story a few bloggers and split.
As far as ads go you can capture some revenue for your efforts. I like the right side book offers. No movement, small byte size pics for multiple drops in a crunching netneutral world. So your stuff should be on the left side.
Advertisers: the books catch my eye enough without pissing me off the site. Ads in newspapers - only catch my eye if its a picture or BOLD few words.
I think you've got a winner now!
Posted by: Greg0658 | Feb 11, 2008 7:35:24 PM
This blog is essential reading. I've got one foot in business and one still in school, and this is still the most informative reading I do on any given day...
You do what you need to do, just keep the content coming.
Any change that will make the obvious time that you put in to this more worth it to you personally, I say is a good thing. Just don't change the core of site - your perspective.
Posted by: Ryan | Feb 11, 2008 7:37:20 PM
I'm definitely with the "Just Do It" camp, speaking as a Web guy with an interest in what a smart bear has on his mind. Per my Web chops, these are my impressions...
"Tab-based" refers to the presentation level of a navigation interface, no more, no less. From the sound of it, you'd be revising the site's current architecture and moving the navigation footprint closer to the bodycopy - the rest is just bells, whistles, and figuring out the architecture that will be most intuitive for your readers. There's a technique called card sorting (look it up on Google) that's well suited to your goals.
Much of the "clutter" is down to the fact that there's too much stuff, all wrapped within a layout that's constrained by the way Typepad does things. Winnowing down your ancillary stuff and moving to your own hosting environment makes these problems a lot easier to fix.
I recall that you have a Web person of whom you're fond, and none of these comments are intended to disparage the work she's done, rather just to point out that I'd do things differently if it were my account.
As for advertising... the data from your current traffic analysis might get you an interim deal - there are too many domains suggestive of money in your logs for advertisers to ignore completely.
Moving to your own hosting environment and making some minor changes to your RSS feed will give you yet more data to work with.
If you do intend to move forward with this, you'll also need to decide on a publishing platform; I would judge Wordpress and Drupal to be the two best suited to your goals. Wordpress has a reasonable learning curve and lots of plug-ins, but can get melty under high load.
Posted by: ben | Feb 11, 2008 7:37:58 PM
Whatever you do keep the full RSS feeds. In my opinion there is nothing that can drive your blog into obscurity faster than switching to partial feeds.
Posted by: Chris | Feb 11, 2008 7:42:26 PM
Agree with DJ Johnson...
Don't change a thing; it's great the way it is Barry.
I used to love Roubini's site. I stopped going there last month when he started requiring registration.
Hate to see you do the same thing.
But if you have to change the site; I vote for annoying advertising over required registration.
Posted by: Pool Shark | Feb 11, 2008 7:44:21 PM
It's your bar - if I have to rent my seat at the piano, so be it.
Posted by: Winston Munn | Feb 11, 2008 7:44:59 PM
It seems time to grow the blog. Advertising - Is the "high end shop" going to provide relevant ads or just tampons, beer and prescription drugs? Done tastefully, and I think it can be, should be good or at least acceptable. Re real demographic shit - I suppose it is necessary and everyone else sure as hell does it - go for it.
Re redesign - tabbed sounds like an improvement - managed assets; asset allocation; probably some I can't think of. More importantly, effective professional redesign would probably do/permit some good things
Thanks for a great blog
~~~
BR: The run I have seen are: Audi, Fidelity, Cartier, BMW, British Airways, Schwab, Vanguard.
As much as I love Google, the search engine, Google, the advertising agency serves schlock . . .
Posted by: AlB | Feb 11, 2008 7:45:48 PM
