New Reality Media

Why Custom Content Makes Sense In IT

Al — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 05:51:09 +0000

One of the reasons we focus on custom content is because, when done properly, it is a powerful marketing tool in today’s media environment. This is particularly so in the IT space, where we have many years of experience. IT decision makers are using the Internet to proactively seek information about IT vendors, applications and real-world examples of organizations using technology to solve business problems. When vendors deliver content that is engaging, credible and useful, they gain a tremendous competitive advantage in capturing the attention of customers, prospects and channel partners. Custom content can be leveraged against a number of business objectives:

Sales Acceleration
Thought Leadership
Brand Development
Channel Development

All of the custom content at New Reality is either produced or supervised by our founders, Al Perlman and Mike Perkowski. We recognize that creating successful custom content is an art: It should be credible and expert-based, yet at the same time it must subtly and deftly deliver a marketing message. Our ability to tell stories and craft expert content, combined with our credibility as IT industry experts, gives us a clear edge in delivering the custom content vendors need in today’s crowded and noisy media environment.

Happy Holidays

Al — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 14:30:14 +0000

We at New Reality Media would like to wish all of our friends and clients a health and happy holiday season and a wonderful new year. 2012 was an exciting year for us as we completed more than 100 white papers and case studies for a wide range of clients in the technology industry. We also enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) our expanded role with Tech Target in helping to manage Custom Content across all areas of the business. We look forward to an equally exciting 2013.

A Success Story in SEO — Our Own

Al — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:51:32 +0000

Our affiliate site Jazz Collector is invaluable as a laboratory in which we experiment and use our experience and knowledge for clients. For example, our experience at Jazz Collector has helped us to create and manage blogs for our clients, as we are now doing with the Think Harder blog for the Portland Cement Association.

So here’s a great lesson we learned in Search Engine Optimization at Jazz Collector. About eight months ago we decided we wanted to focus on one term to improve our rankings in Google. Our traffic was growing solidly, but hardly any of it was coming from Google searches. We spent some time reviewing various terms using the Google External Keyword Tool – the older one, not the new one.

We targeted a few key phrases that would go beyond jazz and bring us deeper into the world of jazz collectors. The ones that were most appealing were “Jazz Records” and “Jazz Vinyl” and we decided we would go after Jazz Vinyl because, in monthly searches worldwide, it outscored Jazz Records by about 15,000 searches. The total for Jazz Vinyl was about 75,000 searches, compared to about 60,000 for Jazz Records. In addition, we felt we had a better chance of moving up on Jazz Vinyl.

When we started, Jazz Collector came up somewhere in the middle of page four on searches for Jazz Vinyl. Our goal was to get onto the first page. So, basically, we started using the term Jazz Vinyl all through the site. Everytime we did a link we tried to incorporate Jazz Vinyl; every time we posted a picture, we used the phrase Jazz Vinyl; we used the term in headlines, in text, in comments, everywhere. And we did it often and consistently. Meanwhile, our overall traffic was continuing to grow.

After about three months we had moved up to the third page on Google, and after about six months we had moved to the middle of the second page. And there we sat, not moving at all. Just a couple of weeks ago we did a Google search and there we were, solidly entrenched in our usual position on the second page of listings under the term Jazz Vinyl. It seemed as if we wouldn’t move, but we did consider our experiment a success since we had at least moved up from page four, where we started.

Well, yesterday we did another search of Jazz Vinyl on Google. Guess what?

Jazz Collector is number one. Yes, number one: Not just on the first page, but the number one Web site when you do a search under the term Jazz Vinyl on Google.

We didn’t hire anyone to do SEO for us, we just focused on the term we wanted and, boom, there we are number one. It’s nice to see that the system actually works the way it’s supposed to.

Developing Content As A Core Strategy

Al — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:33:35 +0000

Interesting article in Ad Age this week about Bank of America spending less money on traditional media outlets and spending more on creating its own content. This is a trend we believe is inevitable as organizations realize they (1) have a greater opportunity to control their own messaging; (2) have a need to keep adding new content to their Web sites and (3) take advantage of the fact that most people find what they are seeking on the Web through search rather than turning to traditional media outlets. In the past couple of months at New Reality Media we have done a wide variety of custom content projects for clients in technology — such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, D-Link and BlueArc — to clients in healthcare and retail. In each case, we’ve been able to bring our expertise in subject matter and content creation to provide significant value to the marketing efforts of our clients.

New PCA White Paper on State of the Industry

Al — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:59:28 +0000

We recently completed a White Paper and Web Seminar for the Portland Cement Association focused on the state of the industry heading into 2010. It’s quite interesting and relevant, since PCA is right in the heart of the ongoing debate about rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and using that investment to create jobs. The Webcast can be seen at PCA’s home page. The White Paper is here: Cement Outlook White Paper

Jazz Collector Uncovers Massive Fraud

Al — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:40:13 +0000

Have you been to our affiliate blog Jazz Collector recently? We recently uncovered a pretty serious case of fraud in the jazz collectibles market, to the tune of approximately $130,000. It’s been a great example of community journalism at work and, because we were able to bring the story to light, eBay has filed an official complaint with the police department in Berlin, Germany.

Here’s the background. As part of our normal course of business Jazz Collector follows dozens of eBay auctions on a weekly basis, focused on the rarest jazz vinyl from labels such as Blue Note, Prestige, Norgran and others. The site is gaining popularity and traffic and is one of the fastest-growing jazz blogs in the world. In October we noticed an auction that was beyond the scope of any we had ever witnessed: Approximately 75 of the rarest of the rare jazz records, all in pristine, mint condition. It was overwhelming — and a little bit suspicious as well.

Why suspicious? The records were all beautiful, they were all extremely rare, the pictures were inconsistent and, to top it off, the seller was based in Germany, selling from Brazil and he was quite elusive about answering any specific questions. We decided, along with our Jazz Collector readers, to keep an eye on things. We also reached out to the community to find out if anyone within our audience had purchased from this seller, who went by the name “Nautiluso.” Bingo, our readers responded.

Sure enough, a few weeks later, when the buyers should have received their records, nothing had arrived, anywhere. Buyers began posting negative feedback; customers complained that they weren’t receiving records or, if they had received a package, the contents were bogus — cheap throw-away records, rather than the gems they had paid for. The fraud was clear and we began hounding eBay for answers. They were — and still are — marginally responsive. They take a while to return our calls, they don’t answer all of our questions, they try to push us off. We’re just a little Web site for collectors, after all. But we have persisted and our persistence has forced them to take action. At this point every buyer that we’ve been able to contact has been reimbursed and, as we noted, a criminal complaint has been filed. We’re staying on top of the case to try to determine precisely how the perpetrator was able to pull it off and to make sure all of the victims are properly reimbursed. We’ll post more about it as things develop.

In the meantime, score one for community/citizen journalism.

White Papers: SQL Server Upgrade Series

Al — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:50:25 +0000

We recently completed a four-part series of White Papers for Tech Target and Dell focused on why small and mid-sized businesses should upgrade to SQL Server 2008. The White Papers are available for download here:

Business Strategies

Performance

Availability and Disaster Recovery

Virtualization

What’s in a Name?

Al — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:50:35 +0000

We are often asked how we came up with our name. Mike and I had been in traditional media for many years: In fact, we began working together at the venerable Computer Systems News back in 1979. In the past few years, we built a business built on much more targeted media: In one case, using a blog as the foundation for an integrated media company. All we kept hearing in the traditional media was about the “new reality in media.” We knew this first hand from the work we were doing. So when it came time to start our own business — focused more on custom content and consulting — we decided New Reality was an apt fit. We are finding the “New Reality” concept especially pertinent in the custom content market. But that’s for a later post.

PCA White Paper: Billions At Stake in Paving Market

Al — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:44:51 +0000

The $787-billion economic stimulus package, otherwise known as the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will eventually have a significant impact on the construction industry, although the ramifications will take a little time to be felt. We’ve just completed a compelling White Paper and Webcast sponsored by the Portland Cement Association, which talks about potential savings of billions of dollars for taxpayers, based on the choice of building materials used in the paving of roads during the next several years. It’s a story that is quite under the radar, and our hope is that the work we are doing with PCA will help to bring it to the attention of state and local DOT officials, who will be making tough choices over the next few years on how to spend our tax dollars on infrastructure investment. The White Paper is a Special Report entitled: Dramatic Shift in Paving Costs Could Save Taxpayers Billions. It’s the third Webcast/White Paper package in an ongoing series with PCA, and we think it’s definitely worth reading. You can download a copy of the Webcast at the PCA Website. The white paper is here: Paving White Paper

PCA Podcast: Impact of the Stimulus Plan

Al — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:48:34 +0000

We recently completed a podcast for the Portland Cement Association, featuring an interview with their Chief Economist Ed Sullivan. The podcast is featured on PCA’s home page, which can be accessed by clicking here.