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Sometimes brilliance comes from using an already made solution
Earlier this week, I began chatting with Alex Choo. Alex runs a popular Wordpress plugin called WP Text Ads (WPTA). Even Killer Startups sent it over to us this week. I've enjoyed speaking with him and learning more about what he is trying to do. He explains it as trying to keep more money in the advertiser's pocket and put more money in the publisher's pocket. Of course, my friends at Text Link Ads (TLA) won't love this idea but I think there is room for both.
One of the suggestions I had for him was to create a directory of sites. Smaller sites have such a difficult time finding advertisers and that is why I think TLA works so well. Advertisers like to visit one place and do all of their shopping at once. Alex had a bunch of concerns which he wrote about on the WPTA blog.
After much thought, Alex came up with the brilliant idea to use del.icio.us to handle the directory. He says:
This is what you need to do.
- Bookmark your blog that runs WP Text Ads on del.icio.us.
- Ensure you have descriptive tags, and fill in the description field.
- Add ‘for-wptextads’ as a tag.
Using this ‘for-wptextads’ tag and other keywords, advertisers will be able to find your blogs on del.icio.us. No login required.
When Alex sent me the details, I was really impressed. Instead of building something from scratch that may or not be workable, he has utilized an already well-known and highly-utilized service to suit his (and his publishers/advertisers) needs. Now he is working on integrating the API and other tools to help the directory grow.
I say brilliance in the title because I think it is. And it's something for you to think about as you grow. When can we leverage tools that are already in use for our own benefit. And by using del.icio.us, Alex may even be able to reap greater rewards.
strange I am logged in now. I am using a CN one. It might be the place I am contracting at. Its happened before but today was the worst. again might just be gremlins in the pipes here.
Cool, glad it's working Darren.. I am trying to look at adding more features to those who subscribe. Right now it's basically the saving of having to input your information everytime and also no cache.
Hey Alex, the way you could do it is just to add a social booking marking element to your site and then people can list their sites there.
also have a spam option so people can tag sites they think are spam or have a link rating which advertisers could use. Only advertisers that have used the site for advertising should be able to rate it also.
Cheers
Darren, the login issue is not a problem, it's a feature :)
Actually, help me out here – are you using OpenID or a Cn login? This is the first I have heard of this issue and want to investigate.
seems like a cool service. Allen, you have a problem with your login system. I log in and then I get logged out when I view a post… You need a mobile version of this site as well :P
Chris,
Thanks for your feedback.
You’re absolutely right. In the current state, anyone can spam. In fact, imagine if I submitted 100 posts with the ‘for-wptextads’ tag!
That’s why future features to this idea will try to solve this problem. What Allen has listed is the basic concept. Whatever future improvements look like, it will not turn away from this social-netork cum tagging concept :)
Alex
I like the idea but I can’t shake the feeling that if it becomes popular, you’ll see spam sites submitted and tagged that will overwhelm the legit listings.
These simple ideas are brilliance
My playlist on these thoughts
http://www.seeqpod.com/music/?plid=39203d1760