Kenneth Lim» tools

Top 15 Resources For Starting A WordPress Blog

Kenneth Lim — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:00:21 +0000

There are many resources out there that offer best practices, tips, instructions and plug-in advice for WordPress. When I relaunched this blog, I had a chance to take a closer look at a lot of those resources and apply some of them to this blog. Here are the top resources I used/consulted when building this blog:

Security / Administration

Performance

Plug-Ins

I’d also like to share some of the additional plug-ins I use to run this blog:

Disqus (Commenting system)
SexyBookmarks (Social sharing plug-in)

I hope these resources will be as helpful to you as they’ve been to me. Feel free to share any other resources that you think are handy!

Photo credit: Mike Kemp

Real-Time Search

Kenneth Lim — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:29:36 +0000

The real-time stream is consistently bringing new content onto the Web every second, like news updates, status updates, photo and video uploads et cetera. In an effort to keep up, search engines also need to step up their game and provide real-time search solutions. Google is planning in that direction by actively monitoring services like Twitter and its recent introduction of Wave.

However, the need for real-time discovery has opened up the marketplace for new players who can specialize in this field. The best will be able to provide search feedback, keyword monitoring and intelligent recommendations.

Search feedback will give you the real-time results for a certain query, which is particularly useful with current events or trending topics.
Keyword monitoring allows you to monitor real-time activity on the words that are relevant to you. This will also be helpful in your search engine optimization efforts. This could also be a premium option that service providers can monetize on.
Intelligent recommendations help you filter out the clutter by bringing you only the best and most relevant search results. This increases usability by decreasing overload. Furthermore, it’s a monetization opportunity for service providers to offer premium advertising space.

The key will be to find a tool that works for your search needs but prevents you from becoming overloaded.

Consolidation Is The New Distribution

Kenneth Lim — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:29:29 +0000

New social media tools seem to be launching every day. There are different tools that do different things. There are also different tools that do the same thing. It’s difficult to keep an overview of what’s new and what’s useful. The downside of spreading activities over multiple platforms is that you risk losing control of your content. Moreover, people won’t know where to find you and your content.

However, the importance is focus. By focusing your content on a handful of platforms that meet your content distribution criteria, you take (back) control of your content. Understand how each platform contributes to your social media goals and objectives and select the appropriate ones. The power of social media is that your users will spread your content to other platforms for you.

Focus on the most valuable tools. Take control of your content. Let social media do your work.

Protect The Future

Kenneth Lim — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:12:03 +0000

Last month I had the opportunity to visit a presentation and Q&A session with Jeff Immelt. Jeff talked about numerous subjects such as the presidential elections, the economic downturn, corporate social responsibility, and—of course—life as the CEO of General Electric (GE).

He also mentioned “protecting the future”. Every major business decision and business activity was made based on the protecting the future. Many companies capitalize on opportunities in the here and now, generate massive amounts of buzz for a certain (short) period of time, or are focused on quick wins. The question remains, however, whether these initiatives contribute to setting a company up for long-term success.

Using the “protect the future” mantra helps you analyze opportunities and make conscious decisions.

Are your initiatives focused on protecting the future?

Social Media Is The MMA Of Technology

Kenneth Lim — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 13:36:03 +0000

I like Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). While some people see MMA bouts as glorified cock fights, I can appreciate the idea behind it. MMA is what it says it is: a blend of various martial arts.

In the same way, social media can be seen as a blend of various diverse technologies, such as publishing platforms, social networks, web applications and search. Being a proficient social media practitioner requires mastery of multiple disciplines.

Are you a black belt? Go through the various social media disciplines. See where you can sharpen your skills to improve overall performance.

The Evolution of Content

Kenneth Lim — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 14:12:15 +0000

We’ve come a long way in how content is being presented. Whereas content used to be published by predominantly professionals, consumers are now able to publish content themselves. The form of content has also evolved from a more broadcasting-oriented form to a more dialogue-oriented form.

Traditional media, such as TV stations and print publishers, are seeing consumption decline as consumers choose consume their content from a more diverse set of channels. Traditional media agencies, such as advertising agencies and PR agencies, are scrambling to keep up and justify their value/existence/involvement. Sometimes, the old business models won’t work in this new day and age, sometimes the talent isn’t available to deal with new media forms or the current regime is reluctant to change or in denial about the consequences. None of these are good reasons to continue “business as usual”. The world is changing and it requires a new approach.

Start preparing yourself to cope with the evolution of content.

25 Things Your Future Colleagues Won’t Know About

Kenneth Lim — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 18:58:21 +0000

As we approach the end of the year, I thought I’d make a post about the incredible technological progress we’ve made. Here’s my overview of things that will draw blank stares from your future colleagues.

Media:

Vinyl records / VHS tapes / Cassette tapes / CDs / LaserDisc / MiniDisc and their playback equipment
3.5” and 5.25” Floppy disks
Film rolls
Standard definition
Encyclopedias and atlases
Phone books
Newspapers and magazines

Hardware:

CRT monitors
Dot-Matrix printers
Typewriters
Answering machines
Rotary-dial telephones

Software:

DOS
Command line interface
WordPerfect
Lotus

Connectivity:

Handwritten postal mail
Payphones
Fax machines
Modems
Pagers
Walkie Talkies

Web:

Portals / Search engines like Altavista and Lycos
Chat programs like IRC and ICQ

And the most frightening thing that will be forgotten is “privacy”.

The Future Of Press Releases

Kenneth Lim — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 16:31:42 +0000

I’ve recently been given a book which describes how to write a press release. I have to admit that—until now—I never paid much attention to press releases. Maybe ignorance was bliss, but I do feel grateful for realizing that most of them are basically full of crock.

This is roughly the basic layout for a press release:

First paragraph: Provides answers to the questions who, what, where and when
Second paragraph: Elaborates on the why and the how
Third paragraph: Adds more context/history to the press release subject
Fourth paragraph: Contains quotes from involved people
Fifth paragraph: Provides some additional (non) essential information

It’s all very elementary but the advent of a more consumer-powered media culture makes the press release seem old-fashioned. While press releases are sent to the media, the media aren’t the target audience. The consumers are and the media are only a channel.

There is a case to be made for renaming “press releases” to “community releases” that spark both consumer (community) involvement and interactivity. People will have questions about your press release. Why not open up a channel towards them and start the dialogue with them? This might sound like more work, but think of it this way: you can focus a large part of the conversation to a single point, a single point that you control.

Empower your consumers to talk to you. Empower them to talk about you.

Will Internet Kill The Video Star?

Kenneth Lim — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 19:29:04 +0000

I’ve basically stopped watching TV for the last two years or so. Most of the TV time has been replaced by the Web. The Web has provided with more value than TV, both from as source of information and source of entertainment.

So is the Web supplanting television in the same way television replaced radio? In short, no. For the last few years, there has been a major convergence trend between all the multimedia channels. This convergence will continue and video will play a larger role on the Web.

New business models will be developed to monetize online video and videos will be used more frequently to attract visitors/fans or drive traffic.

Consider whether your company/brand/product/service can benefit from focusing more on video.

The Redundant Human

Kenneth Lim — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 12:17:05 +0000

Advancement in information and industrial technology has resulted in many new solutions that make human involvement unnecessary. Take travel websites for example. Websites like Expedia, Orbitz and—my personal favorite—Kayak are able to search the web for you to find the best deal for your next vacation.

Where does the good old travel agency come in? Nowhere, really. Some may have their own websites where they provide a similar search service, but the fact is that any human involvement can be cut to zero.

Of course there will still be people who prefer to visit a travel agency. Some travel agencies will continue to exist, but they only do so because they differentiate themselves by offering more than being able to find the best deal for a customer. They offer knowledge and expertise in a special area, like adventure travel, or specialize in a particular niche/audience.

Differentiate. Improve your skills and knowledge, if only to prevent being replaced by a machine.