Hoehn's Musings » squidoo

Led Zeppelin – The Ride

Charlie — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:33:00 +0000

This is what I’m talking about. I love it when people think of new ways to enhance an already great experience. How awesome would it be to go on an intense roller coaster ride that’s specifically choreographed to “Whole Lotta Love.” The best part about this is that the experience is worth talking about, so the idea will spread fairly easily.

I covered this on my Squidoo Lens on how to make better slideshows. An image or video (or in this case, a roller coaster ride) will evoke more powerful emotions from the viewer/rider if the audio complements it. If the images match with the lyrics, it’s even more powerful. If the images are shown at a speed matching the pace of the song, it’s even more powerful. And the more senses you can effectively involve, the greater the experience will be.

Think back on “The Sopranos.” I always thought David Chase was a master at incorporating music into his scenes (just as good as Scorsese). The last scene in the final episode is a great example of this, as was the Seven Souls montage. These songs stand by themselves; they definitely bring out an array of emotion. But when they’re added to the video, everything becomes more intense. Choreographing the right imagery at the right pace is the best way to make your video (or roller coaster ride) more memorable.

Here is another great example of this, as well as one of my own videos.

Lessons learned from Seth, Squidoo, & The Real World

Charlie — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:04:00 +0000

Today, the marketing tribe had its first Skype conference call. Basically, it was about 15-20 of us listening in as Seth gave us his thoughts on the new marketing. It lasted a little over an hour, and was pretty interesting. Some of his advice seemed pretty standard because I’ve read his blog for so long, as well as several of his books. However, it’s very interesting to listen to him speak because he tells a lot of stories about companies that illustrate his points, making it that much more clear.

One of the ideas Seth really tries to drive home is to create something worth talking about. He wants us to create “master lenses” on his Squidoo site. I had made a few lenses, and they hadn’t been doing too well. My partner, Aidan, and I are focusing on the Movie/TV category, so I was trying to think of new ideas. I’d been watching MTV’s “Real World” regularly, so I thought I’d make a biography lens on the craziest cast member, Joey. But a regular bio page isn’t really remarkable; it’s not worth talking about unless you have something really impressive or entertaining…

So I decided to take a different route: I wrote the entire lens from Joey’s exaggerated perspective. Everything I say on the lens comes from Joey’s mouth (according to me). This made my lens much more enjoyable for the reader. It also made it worth talking about, and people are more likely to forward my lens to their friends.

No one cares about the effort you put in. I learned this the hard way. If you’re going to put something on the Internet, people that don’t know you have to recognize right away that your content is going to entertain or be useful to them.

The inefficiencies of the Web

Charlie — Sat, 24 May 2008 06:26:00 +0000

When people are looking for a car, they don’t go to one place. They look in the want ads, they talk to people who buy used cars at auctions, they go to dealerships. When they’re looking for a car on the Internet, it’s the same schtick: they go to AutoTrader, then Cars, then eBay, then Vehix, then Craigslist, then blah blah blah.

The problem with all this is that it takes too long. If I’m looking for a car on the web, I have to repeatedly refine my searches each time to find what I want. I have to peruse through the Craigslist ads, the eBay ads, then compare them to Vehix and AutoTrader. And I can never be sure if I’m even consulting the best sites with the best prices. There could be a great site that no one knows about yet. I’m just using what I think works. This applies to every service and product we search for online.

We have so many choices and we don’t even know if we’re using our most relevant options. This is why I like Squidoo, which has the potential to centralize our choices. The goal of the site is to give people enough info and enough relevant links so that they can get “the big picture” that much faster.

I’m very excited to play a small part in developing this site even further. My partner Aidan and I will be working on the TV & Movies category of the site, developing lenses all summer. Be on the lookout because Aidan is solid, and once I finish this film, we’ll be busting out some quality work.

Don’t diss new ideas

Charlie — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:31:00 +0000

The Squidoo tag project has now reached its deadline. I’m happy to say that a variation of one of my suggestions has reached the top three finalists. I originally proposed “Release your expertise.” It’s now “Unleash your expertise.” Doesn’t exactly rhyme but it sounds more empowering.

Seth imparted this wisdom upon us:

The thing that impressed me the most, overall, was the wacky
boundaryless brainstorming. There were some absolutely terrible
ideas, and yet no one jumped all over them, no one wasted time
quietly dissing them. You stretched boundaries in a bunch of
ways and that’s an extraordinary talent. Don’t lose that… not
next week or in ten years. It’s essential and it’s rare.

Fewer of you got the strategic part. A key part of thinking
strategically when it comes to marketing is to empathize with
the reader. I don’t care if you like something. I don’t care if
I like something. I care about what the market will do. I care
about what the high-influence, listening individual will do.
This is a tough knack to learn, and very difficult to teach. But
with practice, you get it.

I’m amazed at how much effort we put into this little project. We’re going to do some incredible things this summer.