Remember when VW launched the New Beetle in 1998? The hype was huge, everyone went out and got one, people were putting flowers in that little spot on the dash and people were even counting how many Beetles they would see a day on the street. They even managed to get Motor Trend’s Import of the Year in 1999. Then mysteriously, in 1999 and 2000, they started breaking down. People kept sending them in for repairs.

Well here we are in 2008 and bam, we’ve got a shinny (every pun intended) product in Chrome with probably the best viral campaign since the iphone and people are very quick to run and love it and install it on all their multiple computers (I was guilty of having it installed on 2 computers inside of 15 minutes of its release and even twittering about it).

I don’t know if Google was bitter with Microsoft getting to Facebook first, or peeved that the inked that search deal, but I have to admit that Google leaving out proper Ajax support for Chrome puzzles me. Facebook (Alexa rank 5, Compete.com rank 15), as well all know and have some to love, is heavily dependent on Ajax. It makes everything wonderful, fun and easy. Google believes Facebook is important giving it a Pagerank of 9 out of 10. I ran a search of people within my network of Israel to see how many people have Google listed as an employer and I got over 500… So you would think that one of the developers, at least, tried checking out his profile on Facebook before the release right?

You would also think that Google being partnered with Mozilla would have led to them taking a page out of their incredible development by releasing a developers edition to get the apps and the add-ons on board.. But no. Google knows best!

The big question is will people now come back to Chrome, or will the next Mini come out to put them away as our oh so beloved Mini did to the VW bug?

The Tel Aviv-Yafo Entrepreneur August Meetup, organized by Mr. Gadi Guy and Ms. Or-Tal Kiriati, will cover different topics around social networking where local entrepreneurs will be able to share in a unique occassion, together with Mr. Pulver, their ideas and techniques, get advice and discuss business models.

Mr. Ophir Cohen, Compucall’s CEO, will also give a lecture about the hottest web marketing trends, prior to Jeff’s speech.
We at Compucall believe that educating and sharing are key for the success of our community.

Web 2.0 is defined as a term which describes the trend to enhance information sharing and users’ collaboration all over the web.
You probably already know that everyone today uses web 2.0 sites in order to increase traffic or to try and strengthen their authority. A link on Digg’s first page is every advertiser’s wet dream (and then some). The thing is, that web 2.0 links, as well as web 2.0 sites, are very dynamic and are constantly changing. Therefore, your results will peak like a really high cliff with a 90 degree drop on the other side- very high but for a short period of time.

When starting to build your SEO strategy plan try to follow the following steps:

1 – List the sites that you want to have presence in. These sites have to target your potential consumers/readers. Keep them on hand because it’s important to be able to measure what you do (remember the first rule of marketing, if you can’t measure it, then don’t do it).

2 – Create an entity that leaves its presence on relevant web 2.0 sites. Another option is create a company profile or a real profile. This entity has to be listed with consistent details and even an image, so it will appear real. If the content on each site is creative, interesting and original (no duplicates!!) then the comments, authority and buzz will follow. You’ve heard the cliché “Build them a field and they will come” right? Wrong. In today’s Web 2.0 world, the cliché should read “Build them a field with a winning team and free beer and dogs, and they will come, but then make sure they keep winning and the food and drink is still free”. These “web 2.0 listings” have to be constantly updated and you always have to look for new sites – Remember the peak principle!
Note: there are many web 2.0 specialists around the web that can create a link bait article which can, for example, take you to the first results in Digg.com. These services are pretty expensive (about $3000 a piece), but sometimes the exposure, traffic and links that you can gain by doing so is invaluable.

3 – Link from your website to your web 2.0 profiles so that everyone will see you have a significant presence on the web. Also, this makes all these listings look more reliable. As a marketing person/company, this activity can give you an added value in the eyes of potential costumers. As a B2C company, this presence looks fresh and different to your potential costumers to be.

4 – Follow your “Web 2.0 listings”, analyze them and improve them accordingly. (remember measure, measure, measure)
Web 2.0 presences are crucial to web marketing professionals, but like everything is marketing – you have to measure it and then optimize accordingly. You also have to be unique and original in everything you do, or as Seth Godin likes to say “Be Remarkable” as always.

A great site that lists most of the top web 2.0 sites is Go2Web2.0.com. You can use it as a resource of sites that might be relevant to what you’re trying to do. They’re a great Israeli initiative (and did you see that Page Rank)?

If you are interested in Web 2.0 packages, further details are provided here.

So low and behold, we finally have the website almost ready and I casually mention the opportunity to blog and interact at a general employee meeting and guess what (insert generic cricket sounds here).

Alright, maybe people are busy and it’s slipped their mind. So bring it back up at the next meeting, explain the benefits of blogging and then going to other blogs and starting to talk to others with your link pointing to our blog or to your blog profile and starting lasting industry relationships that will grow your knowledge and create great connections for the next SMX or SES. People nod. One person sends me a blog post, another contributes title for a blog post and that’s it. Remember there are 20 people here who are more than qualified to chip in.

This should be fun.