My name is Dave Collins and I’m a data addict. Actually screw that. I’m proud of it. My name is Dave Collins and I love data. As a company, we measure everything we do. I believe that data is worth more than personal interaction and intuition. I even have an application on my iPhone to track how well I sleep at night. … Read More
Facebook advertising is a waste of money
What a stupid thing to say. Let me rephrase that: We ran a handful of experiments with Facebook advertising and the results were inconclusive. Background: We do a lot of work with Google AdWords, but Facebook really appealed, mainly due to the razor-sharp targeting. With Facebook, for example, we can target people interested in Software Development in the UK and … Read More
Too much marketing leads to madness
When I first started shaving, I tried a Bic disposable razor. It made mincemeat of my face, but never tried to be anything more than the cheap, disposable razor that it was. I remember when the first “twin-blade” razor came out. It was quite interesting because it was new and different, and it actually did seem to shave closer than … Read More
Once an idito, always an idito
You only get one chance to make a first impression. Get it wrong and you’ll never be able to completely shake it off. At best you’ll be the person who walked on stage with toilet paper stuck to his shoe who actually gave a good presentation. But year’s later you’ll still be remembered as the toilet paper guy. If my … Read More
Perfect Website Equilibrium (looking good isn’t enough)
Finding the right company to design or radically overhaul a website is incredibly difficult. It shouldn’t be, but it somehow is. In theory you just need to find someone who can produce what you want for a reasonable price. But all too often you’ll find companies who don’t reply to emails, don’t read the brief you send them, can’t follow … Read More
Interruption versus While-You’re-Here Marketing
Neil Davidson recently wrote an interesting post on Interruption Marketing: Rumors of its Death have been Greatly Exaggerated: “It’s hard to interrupt us, but it can be done. Not by being loud, but by being different. Be witty, tell a story, and tell it to us when we want to be interrupted, and you can leap out from the clutter.“ Google … Read More
Poke the box is bad for you
Seth Godin’s new book, Poke the Box, is annoying me. The main criticism I hear of his ideas is that although they’re  brilliant, they’re not practical. Interesting but not actionable. This is true. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Seth speak twice, speaking with him and grinning like an idiot with him once, and have read most of his books. … Read More
Fewer people are looking for your software. More people are itching.
Google trends never lies. Less people are looking for your software than ever before. And the trend suggests a continuing decline. The reason is simple. They don’t need it. When people have a problem, they go looking for a solution. If people don’t realise they have a problem, they look for pictures of cute animals. And if technology means that … Read More
How much can you crap on your users before they notice the smell?
Many people are concerned by how much information Google have on them. Yet many of these same people share an incredible amount of information with their Facebook friends, and often with friends of their friends. I use Facebook, and think it’s great. But I’m careful to the point of paranoia with what I share. Like AdWords, many of Facebook’s defaults … Read More
How do you compete with free? Quickly!
Napster and Spotify have an uphill battle because of their competition. They compete with your radio, your MP3 collection, your CDs, your dusty record collection, internet radio, illegal downloads, the music collection of your friends, apathy and more. So how do they persuade people to part with their cash? They do it quickly. Their website main pages are classic examples … Read More
