6 Important Recent Developments in Internet Marketing

Note: This will be my only post for the week, and it’s a quick one. I’m finishing up my road trip and am somewhere in the mountains of  northern or central California as you read this.

A lot has been going on in the past week or so in the internet marketing world. I originally wanted to write about a couple of new things in separate posts, but this way is faster and easier for everyone involved. Here are 6 new things you should be aware of.

1. Recently Tweeted photos now appear in your Twitter profile

Facebook has for the last several years been THE place to share photos with your friends. But Twitter is trying to change that a little bit by making it easier for people to see what photos you’ve tweeted. If you go to any Twitter profile, just look on the right side and you’ll see a little grid of the most recent photos (unless they haven’t tweeted any photos, in which case you’ll see nothing). Here’s mine:

The new photo grid section on Twitter profiles

I’m not sure how many photos it can show there. I’ve only tweeted 4 photos and so it only shows 4 photos.

The real neat part is how we as bloggers and internet marketers can use this. A good photo or infographic thumbnail there could be enough to catch someone’s eye and get them to click through to your blog. Something to think about…

2. Twitter now using t.co for all referrals

The TNW article Twitter Just Got the Respect it Deserves sums up the change better than I can, so I’ll just link to it.

And while we’re talking about Twitter, sorry if you got a spam DM from me a few days ago. Stupid spam. My bad. Still friends?

3. Google’s +1 button now lets you share to circles

Google announced that their +1 button is getting some new useful features. The main one of interest is being able to share a +1′d page with specific circles. Google will be rolling it out to everyone soon, or you can sign up for it now at the Google+ Platform Review page.

Here’s what it looks like:

Share with people in your circles on Google+

I don’t know why this feature wasn’t included from the get-go…

4. Facebook makes big privacy changes

I’m disliking Facebook more and more these days, but they’ve finally come out with some nice “common sense” features. Read Mashable’s Facebook’s Big Privacy Changes: An Overview [PICS] to get the scoop. Of most interest to bloggers is that it’s just easier to choose who sees your status updates. Sweet.

5. There’s a new blogging platform in town

So we’ve got Tumblr, Posterous, WordPress, and blogger, plus Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Do we need more blogging platforms?

If you’re the people behind Jux, the answer is “Heck yes we do!” Jux (man, I wonder how much they had to pay for the jux.com domain name!) s a new blogging platform that emphasis beautiful design. All images are full-width. The fonts are all sexy and sleek.

This looks like a great platform for people who take and share photos or video. For those of us heavy on the text side, it doesn’t seem to be so great. As such, I don’t see myself seriously using Jux anytime soon, but I did set up a dummy blog and added a couple posts. You can check it out here. Also, I looked around, but I couldn’t figure out how much space Jux gives you for your photos and stuff.

6. Here’s a new way to make money blogging or reward your favorite bloggers

And finally, here’s a neat startup that could help put some extra cash in the pockets of bloggers, speakers, and other content creators. It’s not brand new, but it’s newish. Flattr is a “social micropayments” service. It’s essentially an online tip jar. From the Flattr website,

“We all wish there was an easy way to give to those who serve us with free content. Flattr is just that!”

My first question when I saw this was, “Ok, but why wouldn’t I just use PayPal if I wanted to thank or reward someone monetarily?” And I still kind of have that question. This video helps explain the differences, though. You can buy Flattr credits and give them out to people you want to reward for giving you free content. At the end of the month, Flattr distributes the appropriate amount of money to content creators.

They’re trying to change the I-have-never-ever-ever-ever-EVER-pressed-a-donate-button-on-a-blog mindset from the ground up and encourage us to do it more. And I guess that’s not a bad thing.

Final words

I love how there’s always more and more stuff to play with and look at in this internet marking game. I love it, but at the same time I kind of hate it. Sometimes all of the shiny new toys overwhelm me. If you’ve got similar feelings, just remember that there while these shiny objects come and go, things like writing great content and guest posting are time-tested, sure-fire ways to get ahead. If you’re feeling the overwhelm, fall back on those things and then slowly add more on top.

Oh, and I’m sorry I’m so behind when it comes to responding to comments. I swear I’ll respond to them all eventually. There’s just not much of a wi-fi signal in the mountains, you know?

• Which of these new things impresses you the most?
• Which one is the least impressive or interesting?
• What other new significant products, services, or announcements have come out recently?