May 30, 2007
75 Million Votes Up For Grabs
As a small media outlet focused on small businesses and entrepreneurs, My Success Gateway, LLC wanted to interview the 2008 presidential candidates.
I contacted the big six candidates, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards.
If the way the candidates are running their web site businesses is any indication of how they will be running our country in 2008 we are in deep trouble. The first problem is that some of the candidates cannot distinguish between a “small media” inquiry and a potential voter. They ALL want our doantions which is hard currency and they want our votes.
This is where the big problem lies. Try and find any information on the candidates web sites about US Small Businesses, there are only 25,000,000 of them in the United States employing 51% of the work force and providing substantial receipts to the Treasury in terms of tax revenue funding things like the War in Iraq. Try and find anything about senior citizens issues or medicare or the cost of prescription drugs, you will not see it. The good news is we did find 3 mentions about our veterans on McCain’s, Obama’s and Clinton’s web sites.
John Edwards was on the small business committiee when he was in the Senate but right now he seems to be concentrating his efforts on poverty. Mitt Romney was a small business owner and moved to large business. McCain’s camp did say that there was a possibility for an interview which would be great and we will see if it actually materializes and he wants to address the 25 Million small businesses by doing an interview with one of them.
Working with Eric Graham a web site conversion expert we produced a Webinar and reviewed the big six candidate web sites. We were looking for solutions from the candidates as opposed to issues. We were also looking for information on three key groups of people and how the candidates addressed them: Small Businesses, Senior Citizens and Veterans. All three groups add up to over 75 million voters. We thought that the candidates would have some information on these key groups in their web sites. We thought wrong. You will not find much at all. There appears to be a lot of empty suits or web sites all asking for money and votes, not much else.
The solution for the candidates, the media and the American public is this. The candidates put all of their “issues” into an RSS feed going out of their web sites. Next to the “issues” are their positions and SOLUTIONS. Each time they go on the campaign trail they update this content framework and make it available to the different folks who subscribe to the RSS feeds. I’d like to put this challenge out there to all candidates to come up with a top 25 issues/solutions to put into their RSS feeds.
Jim Peake, jim@mysuccessgateway.com, 48 is a PoliticsOnline Contributing Editor, an Entrepreneur, Small Business Owner, Founder & CEO of My Success Gateway, LLC which is an information provider, a “consumer reports” ranking engine & community for entrepreneurs and small business.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 09:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
May 24, 2007
The Web Flexes Political Muscle
The 2008 cycle is showing that Internet companies are becoming a large force in presidential politics.
On July 23rd, both Google and YouTube along with CNN will be the media sponsors for the first DNC sanctioned debate down in Charleston, SC. Last week, MySpace and YouTube both announced online town hall meetings with the Presidential contenders, scheduled for January of 2008. MySpace plans an online primary to its users during the same month. The trend is clear. From Social networking sites to video hubs, these companies want to play a role in the 2008 election.
These internet companies open a new door into presidential campaigns, but this door opens into a world of uncertainty. Campaigns are realizing they must abandon a top-down management style, which means the campaigns lose some control. But the smart campaigns are learning how to harness this new power.
Both Sen. Obama and Fmr. Sen. Edwards are credited with creating online communities to bolster their support. For example, if you go to either of their websites the candidates' pictures are not prominent, but tools to become apart of the team are everywhere. Edwards' and Obama's campaign Web sites are an invitation to a community, and not just a place to learn a biography or a political position.
On the Republican side, Fmr. Gov. Romney and Rep. Paul have successfully ridden at least one internet wave. Romney used YouTube along with his Presidential website to sign up 24,000 supporters in 24 hours. For the past week, Paul has the most YouTube downloads of any Republican contender.
No longer is the campaign about the candidates, but it is about the candidates’ supporters and what they can accomplish together. In 2004, Howard Dean repeatedly said, “you have the power.” Meaning it was his supporters that propelled him to the front of the pack. Not the media. Not his campaign advisors. But the people combined with the power of the Internet, who believed they could change the country.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 21, 2007
Hillary Plays Catch Up
Through a YouTube video, Senator Clinton asked her online supporters to choose her presidential campaign's theme song.
The choices ranged from U2 to The Temptations. This action created a mild buzz throughout the Web last week, with many people trading song choices and jokes on several listservs and blogs. Despite the interest gained through this internet moment, the campaign may have missed a large opportunity to parlay the extra attention into tangible results. Many bloggers and Web observers pointed out that to vote for your favorite campaign song you did not have to submit an E-mail address or any other personal information. Choosing the Hillary theme song probably brought many new people to the campaign Web site, and the campaign could have missed a moment to chorale many new supporters.
Clinton may be leading all the national polls, but she has fallen behind Edwards and Obama on the Web. The Obama and Edwards campaigns would not have missed this opportunity, and both are using the internet in groundbreaking ways. While Team Clinton uses quick click polls to pick a campaign theme song the Edwards camp is asking supporters to send in videos via cell phones, which are being integrated into actual campaign ads. All the candidates are using YouTube to communicate with online supporters, but Hillary's videos seem overproduced compared to Edwards and Obama. The internet is the home of innovation and ideas, not the place for over produced political videos. Hillary Clinton is the media anointed frontrunner, but on the Net she is playing catch up.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 16, 2007
Ideological Bookends Become Tech Twins
According to Fox News debate watchers, who voted via text message, former Gov. Mitt Romney was the winner of the Republican Presidential Debate.
The surprise was the strength of Congressman Paul's support, who came in a close second. The congressman received 25% of the vote compared to Romney's 29%. The strength of Paul's support was shocking to most of the professional political pundits, who thought Paul was one of the GOP contenders who should be left out of future debates. This was also evident at the Democratic Presidential Debate when the establishment media dismissed Congressman Kucinich. While the press may dismiss Paul and Kucinich their online followers are growing exponentially. According to TechPresident.com Paul's MySpace support has jumped more than 20% this week to over 15,000 "friends”. More astonishing is that Paul's YouTube stats have increased 621.2% this week with 533,314 video downloads. Kucinich's numbers on social networking Web sites and YouTube have seen a similar spike over the past few weeks. Why are these two candidates doing so well online, but so poorly in the minds of the establishment press?
Both candidates represent the fringes of the political spectrum, and both have been able to spark interest because of internet based technology. Without this technology Paul and Kucinich would not be able to reach nearly as many people. This technology shows us that it is possible to reach millions of people without being a top tier candidate or raising tens of millions of dollars. The ultraconservative stances of Paul and Kucinich's far left positions demonstrate the ideological diversity across the Internet. Despite how far apart these two members of Congress are on ideology they have found common ground when it comes to the Internet. These ideological bookends have become tech twins.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,272719,00.html
Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 14, 2007
Campaigns Look to Text Messaging
Text messaging is joining the ranks of MySpace and YouTube as a popular tool of Democratic Presidential candidates.
John Edwards and Hillary Clinton are both using text messaging to build support for their respective campaigns. Over the weekend the Edwards camp launched a new website, www.supportthetroopsendthewar.com, and asked supporters to text the word "Iraq" to show their support. The Clinton campaign is using text messaging to update supporters on the latest news from the campaign trail. Text messaging is just another example of how technology is changing political campaigning. Cell phones and email addresses are becoming the most useful and efficient means for campaigns to stay in touch with supporters.
Text messaging combined with blogs and social networking sites is giving the 2008 presidential campaigns the ability to create a community of supporters, and within these communities supporters are able to organize rallies, house parties, and other events in their local areas across the nation. In 2004, Howard Dean was able to recruit massive amount of volunteers, but the technology at the time did not allow the campaign to efficiently mobilize these supporters. The '08 contenders have learned from the Dean experience, but still struggle to maintain control of this brave new interactive world in politics.
www.supportthetroopsendthewar.com
www.johnedwards.com
www.hillaryclinton.com
Clinton Reaches out to Voters with Text Messages
TLK2UL8R, HILLARY
Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 10, 2007
Richardson Interviewing On YouTube
Thirty-one uploads later Presidential hopeful Bill Richardson has his first big hit on YouTube.
Added on May 8th to The Richardson For President YouTube Channel, the newest clip has been viewed over 51,000 times. (More than 7 times as many views as the last upload) "Job Interview and Tell Me" is about 2 minutes long and begins with a prospective employer asking:
"Okay, 14 years in Congress, UN Ambassador, Secretary of Energy, Governor of New Mexico, negotiated with dictators in Iraq, North Korea, Cuba, Zaire, Nigeria, Yugoslavia, Kenya, got a ceasefire in Darfur, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times, so... what makes you think you can be president?"
The ad was released on the Web Wednesday, the day before it was scheduled to appear on Iowa televisions. Dave Contarino, Richardson's campaign manager, said the goal of the ad was to "use humor to communicate Governor Richardson's vast record of achievement in public service, foreign affairs and as Governor of New Mexico.
With YouTube viewer comments that range from "a vote four Richardson is a vote 4 illgeal aliens" to "one of the best political commericials ever" only time will tell what impact online video will have for this presidental hopeful.
Richardson Ad: Over-Qualified?
The Candidates on The Web (techPresident)
Richardson4President
Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 08, 2007
Pew Internet Breaks it Down
The latest report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project has some interesting things to say about technology users.
The study found that 85 percent of American adults use the Internet or cell phones, but only about 8 percent deeply utilize modern information and communications tools and services, 49 percent have little to no interest in it.
The report, called "A Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users," construct a classification system of American communication and information technology users.
Pew Internet researcher John Horrigan separates technology users into three categories: elite technology users, moderate technology users, and those with "few technology assets."
According to the report, 31 percent of American adults are elite technology users, and 20 percent are moderate technology users and a 49 percent can be classified as having "few tech assets."
Within the "few tech assets" group, a full 15 percent of the adult U.S. population can be categorized as "off the network" entirely, meaning they use neither cell phones nor the Internet. Another 11 percent of the population doesn't use mobile phones or have online access.
The report splits the elite category nearly evenly between four sub-groups each representing 7 to 8 percent of adult U.S. Americans: omnivores, connectors, lackluster veterans, and productivity enhancers.
For more information and to find out which sub-group you are a part of check out the Pew Study.
A Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 03, 2007
Barack Obama, MySpace or HisSpace?
Barack Obama and his presidential campaign team have taken control of the volunteer created MySpace page listed under his name.
The page was originally created by 29 year old Joe Anthony. Anthony first created the site after hearing Obama's keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. After Obama officially announced his intent to run, his campaign worked with Jones in terms of providing content and sharing access to the friend list that now has 160,000 members.
But in recent months, as the site exploded in popularity, the campaign became concerned about an outsider controlling the content and the responses going out under Senator Obama's name. As Anthony increased the time he was devoting to the page he eventually asked for compensation. The Obama campaign declined to pay the $39,000 Anthony proposed for his work on the site, along with additional fees of up to $10,000.
MySpace reluctantly stepped in to settle the dispute and decided that Senator Obama should have the rights to control the page.
"Apparently, the message here is, as an individual, if you have too big of an impact, you're just a liability. This is how Obama lost my vote, and one of his strongest supporters," Joe Anthony wrote on his personal blog on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the campaign is trying to rebuild Senator Obama's friends network from scratch.
The rights to the 160,000 person network were given to Anthony. As of this posting Senator Obama has just under 22,000 MySpace Friends, which leaves us asking how much exactly are MySpace "friends" worth?
Barack Obama Official MySpace Page
Just An Online Minute... Obama-MySpace Flap Shows Power Of Average Folks Online
HisSpace: Obama Seizes Backer's Site
Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
