Posts Tagged ‘lijit’
This is another in our ongoing series of guest posts written by different employees around the office. Charlie was kind enough to help out this time and in case you couldn’t figure it out, he loves his bike. And now, with his bionic knee, he’s an even better rider.
Sure, that sounds too much like a box of chocolates, but, well, nobody would ever accuse me of being original.
- The more skill you have, the more fun you have. The more challenging a trail, the more satisfying it is. If search was easy, it wouldn’t be fun.
- You don’t always know *exactly* where you’re going.
- Sometimes there are crashes, and you have to fix your bike or the web servers:
- You have to keep moving and be able to improvise to get through the most difficult bits.
- You have to suck it up for some long, brutal climbs sometimes.
- Beer is good at the end of the day.
I’ve been riding seriously for 7 or 8 years or so, and over the years have fallen in with a group of people that are great riders, and great friends. We all ride regularly and go on weekend trips together, with different combinations of people every time. I’m not the best rider in the group, but we all like the same kind of difficulty, and are willing to work on the technical sections until we ride them clean.
I’ve known some of the people at Lijit for 15 years. These are among the most technically competent people I’ve ever worked with. We’ve worked together for a variety of different companies, in different product domains and different combinations. We all like to have a tough problem that’s worth solving, and are willing to work on it until we get it done.
That is why I ride with those guys, and that’s why I’m at Lijit.
Sure, that’s a pretty short post, but, well, nobody would ever accuse me of being too vocal. And beer is good at the end of the day.
Tags: Charlie, employee guest post, lijit | View Comments
Yet another BlogHer wrap-up
Jul 23rd
by Tarable in Company, Lijit publishers, employees, events, fun
Micah and I attended BlogHer this past weekend, held in San Francisco. This was my third BlogHer event and they’ve all been unique. With a thousand attendees, the BlogHer organizers did a fantastic job of logistically insuring there was an ample amount of activities scheduled in order to have lots of opportunities to meet other bloggers and learn from them. As a representative of Lijit, it was helpful knowing some bloggers going into the event. On top of that, Lijit was mentioned on two different panels as a useful tool for bloggers. (Yippie!) And to round out our good Lijit vibes, when I told people where I worked, I was greeted with looks of recognition.
From attending a session on why mommyblogging is a radical act (shhhh…it’s because women are telling the truth) to a session on how to pursue your passion, there were intelligent and dedicated bloggers all over. I know that some women were concerned with the high school/sorority aspect of the conference, but for me, it was all about thanking the publishers who are currently using Lijit and following up with those who have yet to install. Building relationships is a HUGE part of my job and BlogHer presents a wonderful space to do just that.
I would never have started blogging if it weren’t for taking a job with Lijit and I love that because we make a blogging tool, it’s a no-brainer for us to have a presence there. (I’m thinking that next year, we might even have to get a booth!) It’s amazing how being social, striking up conversations, and meeting people can take it right out of you. I never realize how hard I work at a conference until I come home, sleep-deprived and with a three-inch stack of business cards.
Micah wrote a post about his experiences as one of the few BlogHims in attendance, while I posted some personal highlights of the trip over here.
In order to share the link love, here are some of the blog publishers that I ran into at the conference who are currently using Lijit:
Schmutzie’s Milkmoney Or Not, Here I Come
califmom
Everyday Goddess
Greeblemonkey
electromute
Send Chocolate
Whiskey In My Sippy Cup
Dirt to Dish
PHAT Mommy
Average Jane
Pause
This Mama Cooks! On a Diet
Scheiss Weekly
Greek Tragedy
Table for Five
contentious
CityMama
Queen of Spain
Mommy Needs Coffee
SecondHand Karl
MOMocrats
A Mommy Story
POP! PR Jots
Her Media
And then, if that isn’t already a great list, we’ve also had some blog publishers sign up as a result of Lijit being at BlogHer. We’d like to welcome these new users…
bad mom
Elkit in Wonderland
Oh, The Joys
happykatie
Alex Year Two
Glossed Over
Moms In The Right
Thanks to all those who gave us great feedback and shared their thoughts about Lijit. We loved having the chance to listen to what you had to say and appreciate your continued support!
Tags: BlogHer08, conference, lijit, publishers | View Comments
I was going to entitle this post “When the Mouse Speaks…” but, by now, we all realize that Chris Brogan is no mouse.
Last week, a day before I left for BlogHer, I was at Techstars listening to the teams’ 45 day demos (quick analysis: 2-3 interesting ideas, no great presenters, a lot of work ahead in a short period of time). As I left to grab a quick dinner with the mentors and the teams, a direct message from Chris buzzed on my phone.
Thinking he was talking about the ads that appear in our search results, and that he had a valid question, I responded with:
To which Chris responded:
Confused, and thinking that the normal ads on our results pages were wonky on his site, I responded with:
(side note: not sure why all the DMs are marked as Chris. I hope you can follow the thread…)
And then a couple of hours later (closer to 1am MST), I got home to a message from Aaron Brazell that Chris had written a post on Lijit and ads, and I should check it out.
Exhausted after a long day, I clicked on the link, and as soon as I saw the picture on the left, smacked myself in the head.
“He was talking about Re-Search!” <SMACK>
Re-search is an interesting feature of Lijit, which about 3/4 of our users have turned on.
To digress a bit, there are four major features of Lijit that we feel help the publisher (and ultimately the reader). They are:
- The search itself. The ability to get a more focused and related search on a blog is of high value to both readers and publishers. For example, a search on my blog, Learn To Duck for “billie” (my dog’s name) will turn up posts, pictures and videos done by me AND people I trust. Which is a different tact than Google, where they attempt to index everything (we index only the things that are important to you), and we assume everything is trusted (Google assumes everything is spam).
- The popular search cloud. The inclusion of the search cloud seems to drive searches. How many searches? It seems to drive 3x-10x of the searches depending on placement and use. The more the readers use the search cloud, then the more publisher content they discover.
- Search statistics. While many publishers have Google Analytics, they have little insight into the search behavior of their readers. Lijit provides an easy way to to see a snapshot of the previous 30 days of search activity.
- Re-Search. Re-search is a box that opens up with your widget or across the top of your site (if you know what you are doing, I believe you can put it in different places) that takes the query just done on a search engine (the box only appears on the approximately 30% of visitors that come from search engines to our publishers) and does a “re-search” on your publication.
Sounds good right?
Except that Re-search only appears when a search is done from a search engine. How many publishers do a search on Google for their own publication and then click through to their site? Probably none.
So, when a publisher does that, they are (sometimes) surprised to see the Re-Search box. As Chris was.
So, rightfully so, Chris wrote a post. And the comments were quite interesting. some positive, some negative. Mack Collier, a social media expert, decided to uninstall and write a blog post about why he was (unfortunately) not going to reinstall.
Todd Vernon, who normally I try to keep away from commenting on posts, jumped into the fray as I left for BlogHer. He listened to what the commenters, and Chris were discussing, and about half way through the day, pulled together a group of folks at Lijit, and decided that 1) we need to do a better job of calling Re-Search out in our signup flow (making it a requirement in the new redesign), and 2) to turn off ads within the Re-Search box, given that according to our users, they are intrusive, and 3) make the ads part of a opt-in ad strategy.
At Lijit, we are in a constant state of learning.
We are trying things, and testing things, and breaking things and failing at things. What makes the process truly rewarding, is that our publishers join us in the process, and they let us know what they think about the things we are doing.
Sometimes our lessons come from the whisper of a mouse, and sometimes they come from the roar of a lion.
So, thank you Chris and Mack, your feedback is invaluable. After all, we will never be what we want to be if we dont stay in a constant state of learning.
Tags: ads in search, chris brogan, learning, lijit, mack collier, micah baldwin, publishers, Todd Vernon | View Comments
This post and pictures accompanying it are courtesy of Colleen, who holds the title of “executive assistant”, but should be called “the great one who keeps our office together”.
A couple of weeks ago, our CEO, Todd, and his wife Lura hosted a summer BBQ for the Lijit crew. It was a great time for everyone to socialize with each other outside of the office. The evening was filled with good company, good food, hilarious conversations and a bit of weak badminton playing. (I know, we can blame the dogs for stealing the birdies, but the only one who really brought their A game was Dan…who is some sort of alternative sports guru and brings his own racket with him to picnics.)
When the Lijit crew is outside of the office and not talking shop, their personalities and creative sides shine through in many ways. Below are photo highlights from the evening:
There weren’t enough badminton rackets to go around, so Manny decided to improvise and use Todd’s security sign. I believe it had further reach than your average racket.
Who knew Todd was a grilling machine?
Leslie sporting her salsa competition trophy
Jeff’s son, who lost a tooth on a toasted marshmallow
How could I not mention Manny’s Sprite-dwarfing muscles?
Badminton action shots
All in all, everyone had a great time and we’re looking forward to next year. Look out Dan…I hear people will be practicing up for a badminton rematch.
Tags: fun times, lijit, summer BBQ | View Comments
We are targeting July 1st for the First Annual 2008 Boulder Sushi Regurge Open (also known as the Quest for Second Place Behind Micah First Annual 2008 Boulder Sushi Regurge Open).
Please comment if you 1) want to participate; 2) want to watch; 3) want to help Tara Social Media this sucker. (Ustream, Twitter, Live Blogging and perhaps some play by play…)
Bring it.
Tags: boulder sushi, lijit, sushi eating contest | View Comments
