Widgets are in the news with stories in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times on their explosive growth.
What is a widget?
Widgets are just ways to display or distribute digital content. Other terms used to describe a Web widget include gadget, badge, module, capsule, snippet, mini and flake.
Web
widgets most often use Adobe Flash or JavaScript programming
languages. They are usually customized with personalized
content-- photos, news, etc--- and are commonly found on blogs, social
networking sites and other personalized pages. Authors range from
professional software designers and developers, to hobbyists, to major
media outlets.
Why should you or your business care about widgets?
* Personalized media.
Widgets are all about customizing content to you and your customers.
Widgets place content and ultimately advertising, in the control of the
people that use them.
* Unlimited unpaid distribution.
Everyone is getting into the distribution of widgets. From major
television studios (NBC, Fox, & CBS) to search engines (Google,
Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL). Almost 2 million people have downloaded
WeatherBug's various widgets and gadgets, including those built for
Vista, Google, Yahoo and Apple. Where else could you advertise your
company to a few million people for almost nothing? (Just the cost of
development).
* Desktops rule.
Want your marketing message heard? Create a desktop widget. Getting
your widget onto someone’s computer screen means your brand is
constantly displayed. Whether it's a permanent home for your logo in
the system tray, the toolbar, the start menu, or a dock area. Every
minute people are using their computers, they could be viewing your
brand in some fashion. Plus, you can provide a constant connection
through which to stream relevant information, messages, alerts, and
offers.
* Images rule.
Face it, we would all rather watch something than read about it.
Widgets are mostly Flash-based, which means that they can carry video.
Mix that with lots of highly attractive consumers who are deeply
engaged in viewing, distributing, modifying and interacting with
widgets and you have a recipe for explosive growth.
* Widgets are addictive & inexpensive to produce.
Spend a few minutes searching the library of widgets available and I
guarantee you will get caught up in widget mania. Of course, before
you can start marketing with widgets, we recommend becoming a user
yourself first. The best place we have found to do that is with Yahoo
Widgets.
Get Started with Yahoo! Widgets? (Yes they are free)
The
Yahoo! Widget Gallery offers over 4,000 desktop Widgets. It is a
desktop application that adds a “dock” to your computer screen. To
start you will need to install a small Yahoo installer file. Then,
when you search the widget gallery for your favorite one, it’s just one
click away. Overall it took me about 2 minutes to download and get it
set up on my desktop. Download one that disappoints you? Just delete
it. Get started here http://widgets.yahoo.com/info/
Yahoo has approved our new SEO Hot Daily Keywords widget for mass distribution. It will help you keep track of the top
searched terms on the web so you can use them in your search campaigns. Or, you can Download it now from our website.
We have posted a ZIP file with the .kon file and a "readme.txt" file
that explains where to put it. Note--you will need to download the
Yahoo desktop first. See the link above.
Other Ways to Market with Widgets
Real estate: clients could receive immediate feedback as to real estate availability
Restaurant: distribute a receipe of the day
Golf course: send "hole of the day" images
Ski Area: Desktop snow and trail conditions
Doctor's Office: Daily pregnancy "to do" lists
Grocery store: top sale prices
Insurance Agent: Home safety tips
Attraction: Live web cam images
Get your own marketing widget, ask us how
Give us a call at 888-215-0820.
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