A big part of being able to make money online is understanding what’s going on in the world around you.
When you’re up on current events, you can capitalize on trends, and tie your topic in to some of the major events that are going on in the world around you.
As such, we here at Income Diary have decided to do a weekly “internet news” wrap up so you can keep up with current events in the online world.
What you’ll find below are the top 10 headlines in online news from this past week, and if applicable, a lesson that can be tied into your own business.
This is something very new for us, and we want it to be extremely valuable for you, so please be sure to give us your feedback and let us know if this is something you’d like us to continue doing!
Films as Startups: How Indie Producers Build Buzz
News Article In Question: Mashable.com
More and more indie filmmakers are taking the concept of Minimum Viable Product, and applying it to their films.
Gone are the days of shopping a script around Hollywood waiting to get the Green Light.
Instead, filmmakers will create bite-sized “teasers” to showcase the film’s premise, rally an audience through social media channels, then either seek crowd funding, or shop the film (& audience) to major backers.
While not mentioned in the article, this is exactly how Mortal Kombat Rebirth turned into the series Mortal Kombat Legacy (Nsfw)
Why This Is Important To You:
What this article really emphasizes is that you no longer need “permission” to create.
It also highlights the importance of having an audience. Traditionally, a movie budget is a huge risk, requiring a large upfront investment for production and marketing without guarentee anyone will enjoy the film.
However, when you build an audience first using a smaller budget/production, you can better estimate costs for the full feature, and discover if the project as a whole is viable.
Google Brings More Real-Time Coverage, Google+ Comments To Google News
News Article In Question: Techcrunch.com
Google has expanded real-time coverage to show what people in your circles, journalists, and the subjects of the stories have to say about the event.
As of right now, these updates are only available to the U.S version of Google News.
Why This Is Important To You:
For our U.S readers, this means Google News is making itself extremely relevant as a research source for current events that can be tied into your blog.
The amount of time you’ll have to spend “digging” for various viewpoints surrounding a topic will be reduced significantly. You’ll can also add more context to your stories by incorporating the different viewpoints surrounding the topic.
Kickstarter Project Turns the Ipad into Apple’s first Touch Screen Laptop
News Article In Question: Fastcompany.com
Short version – Brydge turns your ipad into a touchscreen laptop.
Long version – The founders of Brydge saw a very large gap in the “Ipad keyboard” space stating:
“…when it comes to the iPad it felt like every keyboard or case is made from cheap materials, didn’t offer any range of iPad positioning or completely covered the entire iPad. Brydge was designed to complement the iPad, to improve productivity and enjoyment of the device…
Because it’s made of aluminum, the costs to manufacture Brydge are high–we turned to Kickstarter to raise the necessary capital to do manufacturing run. We also wanted to test the market and see if there was room for a high-quality aluminum keyboard.”
They raised over $400,000 in seed money by crowdfunding through Kickstarter.
Why This Is Important To You:
This is another example of people finding a gap, testing their idea, building a group of supporters and getting funded.
Something worth noting however is that their promotional video was extremely well produced, and positioned the product perfectly. This is very important because it shows their potential investors they take their idea seriously, not just pitching a concept from a grainy webcam.
Google Opens Startup Incubator in London
News Article In Question: Google’s Blog
The Internet accounts for 8% of the U.K’s Economy, which is why this partnership between Google, Central Working, Tech Hub, Seedcamp and Springboard, makes perfect sense.
Campus’ 7 story facility has been designed to nurture the startup community in London.
It will provide startups with workspace in an energizing environment and will also host daily events for and with the community. We will run a regular speaker series, alongside lectures and programing, as well as provide mentorship and training from local Google teams.
The co-working space will also feature free wifi and a Google cafe.
Why This Is Important To You:
If you’re in London, you’ll want to get in on this while it’s still early, I can only imagine the sort of relationships that will be formed in a Google owned co-working space.
If you’re not in London however, and you’re still working from home, you should really look to see what’s available for co-working spaces around you.
As someone who has done the “working from home” to “working at the office” transition, I can honestly tell you, being around other motivated business owners every single day helps keep you motivated, and creates valuable connections that you just can’t get when you’re working from home.
Bing Strips Down Search Results, Make’s Google Look “Overloaded”
News Article In Question: Techcrunch
If you can’t beat your competition with technology, you surly can beat them on usability.
At least that’s the philosophy behind Bing’s new redesign, which takes a much more minimalist and streamlined approach.
With Google’s rollout of “Search Plus Your World” and heavy focus of Google+ integration, Google Search feels, dare I say it Cluttered.
Here’s a 30,000 foot view of both engines showing the same search for Make Money Online.
While this particular search doesn’t show all of the different “integrated” properties like video, posts from your friends, images, etc… You can still see a very distinct difference between the two search results.
With many people complaining about the aesthetic of Google’s Search, a redesign was a very smart move on Bing’s part. With a cleaner interface and integration with people’s preferred social network, this could be the beginning of something very good for Bing.
Why This Is Important To You:
You might not be able to compete on the exact same terms, but if you’re doing your due diligence with your competitive analysis, you can improve where they are weak, and chip away at their customer base.
Also, timing is everything.
Facebook Let’s You Share Your Organs
News Article In Question: Facebook’s Blog
With the world’s largest social network pushing 1 billion users, they’ve decided to leverage their massive reach for social good.
Today, more than 114,000 people in the United States, and millions more around the globe, are waiting for the heart, kidney or liver transplant that will save their lives. Many of those people – an average of 18 people per day – will die waiting, because there simply aren’t enough organ donors to meet the need. Medical experts believe that broader awareness about organ donation could go a long way toward solving this crisis.
Not only do they allow you to share your Organ Donation status, but for U.S users, you can also Register to Become an Organ Donor right in the platform.
Why This Is Important To You:
Aside from the obvious (if you’re in need of an organ), participating in – or creating your own – social good campaigns gives you a non “self-serving” cause to champion.
Pinstagram! How Two Friends Merged Pinterest and Instagram in Two Days
News Article In Question: Mashable.com
Yes, you read that right… Pinstagram.
For 2012 Doomsday naysayers, this surely has to be a sign, right?
All kidding aside though, Pinstagram takes everything you love about taking photos with Instagram and mashes up the “waterfall layout” of Pinterest to create a visually appealing design for the desktop.
Why This Is Important To You:
This again is another example of a creation that came about from a gap in the market.
Pek Pongpaet and Brandon Leonardo, Pinstagram’s creators, were displeased with the lack of a desktop interface for Instagram, and thought there to be a real need. So far, their users agree.
Also, this is a great demonstration of a Mashup – using two popular platforms and leveraging other’s success, to create their own fame.
What “platforms” (ideas or technology) could you Mashup?
Google Pledges $200 Million to Market Premium YouTube Channels
News Article In Question: Mashable.com
In case you missed it, back in October Google & Youtube invested $100 Million Dollars (insert Dr. Evil Laugh Here) to create a whole slew of Premium Content Channels.
These channels include premium content from Youtube celebrities like MysteryGuitarMan and real celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Tony Hawk, Shaq, and plenty others. Branded channels like Redbull, Slate, The Onion, are only among the few in this ever growing lineup.
Now that you’re caught up…
Google just pledged another $200 Million Dollars to market said premium channels.
Marketing will take place across Google’s Display Network, Youtube, and other branded channels. The goal is to better monetize Youtube, and have more enticing content for both users and Advertisers.
Why This Is Important To You:
As more people are ditching their cable packages, and television networks are losing their advertising dollars, this could mark the beginning of a New Television.
While I could write 2,000 words on that subject alone, what’s really important here is many of the “premium” channels in this new lineup are run by YouTube ”partners”, all of whom started their channel with 0 views and subscribers.
This just goes to show when you focus on quality and building an audience who enjoys your work, you can be a part of something much bigger than you ever imagined.
Google Drive Launches… Google offer’s cloud storage across multiple properties
News Article In Question: Google Blog
Technically last week’s news, but hey, it’s still important.
Google Drive brings together many Google services—documents, spreadsheets, images and more—all in one place so you can easily create, collaborate, and share in real-time.
This description only scratches the surface of what the G-Drive is capable of. For starters, images that are saved in Google Drive can be brought up instantly in Google+. It also saves everything you’re working on automatically, and revisions can be tracked as far back as 30 days. It can also view up to 30 different file types right in the browser, even if you don’t have the original software. For a full list of features, Click Here
Also, storage with Google Drive is less expensive than most other cloud solutions.
Why This Is Important To You:
Location is increasingly less of a restraint when it comes to collaborative projects.
Using the cloud, you can work with anyone in the world without needing to send attachements, revisions, and the like back and fourth, so you can focus on what matters most, your productivity.
Facebook Announces IPO Price at Valuation of $96 Billion
News Article In Question: Business Week
We anticipate that the initial public offering price will be between $28.00 and $35.00 per share.”
Facebook being valued at $96 billion dollars makes the social network the most valuable U.S Internet Company at the time of IPO of all time.
The previous record, held by Google, was valued at $23 Billion when it went public.
Facebook being worth $96 Billion at the time of it’s IPO is significant, because according to this Google is currently worth 158.06B.
Google is 14 years old – Facebook is 8.
Why This Is Important To You:
The Social Network is going public with only a 62 billion dollar gap between it and it’s number one competitor.
This means 3 things.
- “Social” and “The human algorithm” very clearly has a ton of value. We no longer find the news, the news finds us.
- Timing is everything. Mark Zuckerberg said “no” to going public for a number of years. Knowing when the right time to execute is critical for the long term health of your business.
- If you’re a person who likes investing, you should probably get your hands on Facebook stock now while it’s between $28 and $35. Google now trades at over $600/share just to put it in perspective
This wraps up this week’s internet news.
Because this is something new that we’re doing, let us know if you liked the format. Did you like the “Why this is important?” We want to make this the best blog for you as possible, so your feedback on new features like this is very welcomed.
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