In case you haven’t heard Facebook is allowing user profiles to be indexed and listed in public search engines. A lot of eyebrows have raised, hairy, unkempt eyebrows, at the prospect of this. They are however giving all of their users a one month period to set their profiles to private if they so wish. it seems Facebook is trying to become the official online White Pages. This idea is innocent enough but what do you think is motivating them to do this? Some would say they are trying to improve their SEO rankings, others propose that they are trying to reach a broader audience.

By searching or “googling” a friends name their Facebook listing may come up. The user who searched for them may not have a Facebook account and decide to sign up to get the rest of the info. Once again this raises the issue of privacy, even users who set their profiles to private will still be listed but with substantially less information than users that don’t. Is it a good move to risk alienating long time users to gain a few more? Only time will tell but it will be interesting to watch.

Also, Martha Stewart has launched a Facebook profile, you can see it here. So for anyone who has ever wanted to poke her, here is your chance. I wonder if hers will be set to private? 

I don’t believe it either but it seems to be true. Jeremy Shockey has visited Pepperjam, or is it Triple H?

Actually it is Alan McLaughlin. Alan is one of our Graphic and Web Designers. He has been with us for about 7 months now and has worked on accounts ranging from Dereon to JellyBelly. Previous to Pepperjam Alan worked at a steel mill where he “learned some interesting stuff”. He never says what he learned, he just says it was interesting. Alan attended to Kings College right here in Wilkes Barre, PA. He said he had had it with New Jersey and that he wanted to be somewhere where he could breathe fresh, clean air.

Anyway, Alan is always here working hard, whether it is on a new way to make some graphics, learn new techniques and tricks he is constantly educating himself to get better. (Although sometimes it is just to get better at Guitar Hero).

Meet Alan:

For those of you who don’t know the “rules” behind the Meet the Pepperjam Video Series, here they are:

Every Friday Pepperjam will post a new video interview of a member of our staff - everyone will be included - affiliates managers, executives, search-engine marketing managers, directors, software engineers, assistants, online media buyers, and interns. The person being interviewed won’t know he / she has been chosen until about 30 seconds before the interview - this way you’ll get an unrehearsed, real world look at the employee…hopefully, this will make it interesting and non-corporate, which is what we are known and respected for across the internet marketing industry.

Why are we doing this? Well, I am proud of our team and I think you’ll find them as interesting and intelligent as I do. Also, I’m a student of viral video and the social media space and I want to test the waters as it relates to what corporate america is doing (and not doing) to spread buzz and build next generation work places.

Finally, I just thought it would be cool to put some people in front of a video camera that have never done so before, have a little bit of fun, and see if Pepperjam can spread some additional buzz about why we are the leader in online marketing.

FYI - all videos will also be posted to YouTube. If you think what we are doing is outside-the-box and interesting please blog about it and share the story with the world.

Our previous videos include:

Maura Goodwin
Tara Lou
Dean Karasinski
Kim Noler (dated YouTube founder)
Stephanie Yachim
Roxy (Pepperjam’s English Bulldog)
Kris Jones
Katharine Dempsey
Ken Mohn Jr.
Mandy Foley
Tara DeGiusto
Robyn Martin
Kate Sarnak
Aaron Baker
Michelle Foley
Megan Rogan
Mike Jones
Maggie Oldziejewski
Daehee Park
Leslie Stewart
Trevor Brennan
Brock Siegel
Sarah Hohol
Matt Bradley
Chris Thomas
Nick Jurista
Derek Traver
Amber Sansky
Pepperjam All-Stars (Kris Jones, Mike Jones, Shoemoney, Mediadonis)
Quinn Kavanagh
Jaclyn Francese
John Heil

Other fun Pepperjam Vids:
“What would you do for a One Year Supply of Energy Drink”
Naked Crazy Man Video
Pepperjam Adds Ping Pong Table to Pepperplex
Roxy with the Tony Robbins Beach Ball

The Next Internet Millionaire Episode Three is now available!

Poker Anyone?

Here it is:

Danny Sullivan’s SMX Conference on Social Media Coming to NYC on Oct 16-17th, 2007.

SMX Social Media is a two-day show where marketers will learn to harness the power of consumer engagement. It covers how social media sites such as Digg, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Netscape and others are serving a new and growing audience that wants to discover information based on community interests, voting and sharing.

According to the SMX website, the event is being developed by Search Engine Land editor-in-chief Danny Sullivan and my boy, social media expert Neil Patel of ACS, SMX Social media will get you up to speed on social media search engines and how to reach communities at social media sites in an appropriate and respectful manner.

Registration is limited so CLICK HERE to learn more. If you register for a full-conference pass prior to September 7th the price is $1,095; if you wait until after September 7th the price jumps to $1,295.

From my perspective, while I think the idea of Social Media Optimization (SMO) has died off considerably over the last few months this is still a must attend conference for those businesses seeking to better manage reputation, build web traffic, and participate in community.

The origination of SMO, as it relates to internet marketers, was that you can build tons of “free” web traffic and more importantly, LINKS, by simply creating buzz within social communities such as Digg, Stumbleupon, and MySpace. This idea is very compelling, especially because one viral post on Digg could lead to 1,000 or more backlinks and tens-of-thousands of website visitors…usually within 24 hours. Also, it’s really not that difficult to get to the front page of digg…if you’re a good writer…write for the appropriate audience….AND…if you can get one of the top 50 Diggers to Digg your post.

Anyway, SMO has become a legitimate component of online marketing and should be part of your overall online marketing mix.

SMX Social Media will provide you with the education to better understand the opportunity and implement a strategy for your own business.

I will be in Vegas again (it’s gotta be the 10th time this year) from September 30th through October 3rd attending and speaking at the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) - 2007 Annual Conference.

I will be speaking on an interactive affiliate marketing panel with senior management / executives from Linkshare Corporation and Doubleclick Performics. Learn more HERE.

The Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) is the trade association that represents the leaders of the direct-to-consumer industry—members who maximize revenues through electronic retailing. ERA’s membership consists of the most successful companies around the globe who sell goods and services to direct-to-consumers on TV, online, on radio and through emerging technologies. ERA provides members with relevant, practical and compelling education, outstanding networking opportunities and is defending and supporting the direct-to-consumer industry with cutting edge Government Affairs programs.

If you’d like to learn more about the ERA visit www.retailing.org.

To register for the ERA Annual Convention in Vegas CLICK HERE. Keynote speakers include Donny Deutsch and Arianna Huffington!

The details are as follows:

Tuesday October 2 • 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Venetian, Las Vegas

The interactive Affiliate Marketing discussion will offer sound business strategies for increasing your return on investment through affiliate marketing strategies. Panel experts will provide insights on the compensation methods used, the multi-tier affiliate programs available, and how to attain growth in sales from existing clients and the acquisition of new corporate clients. Whether you are new to affiliate marketing or are looking to revamp your current program – attendees will learn best practices and techniques regarding the value of affiliate shoppers.

Speakers:
Kris Jones, President/CEO, Pepperjam
Chris Henger, VP of Affiliate Marketing, DoubleClick Performics
Brandon Ramos, Director, Member Services, LinkShare Corp.

By the way - I will be attending all events with the infamous Aaron Baker, Pepperjam’s VP of Sales and Marketing. If you are a prospective client and would like to schedule some time to chat please contact Aaron at 570-408-9861.