I just got off the phone with a company (who is going to rename nameless) that is in the business of attending trade shows (all industries), then harvesting the trade show database of attendees and marketing the contact database back to attendees for 4 to 5 digits.

This particular company is very successful (the guy said they're doing $2M in revenues) and while their actions might fall under unethical / "black hat" techniques, it made me think about content in a new way.

Most people, when you tell them 'content', they envision hiring a copywriter to write a few articles, buying articles, using automated "article makers", rss feed scrappers and then monetizing on this content using contextual advertising channels such as AdSense, YPN, Kontera and the likes.

But what about phone numbers? names? numbers?

Content is not all about articles. The right pieces of information will be worth a lot to some people and while harvesting some databases is illegal, there is a ton of information out there that is publicly available and not copyrighted.

Cross reference between several pieces of publicly available "content" and you could end up with a site like www.50states.com or www.citysearch.com both big earners using publicly available information.

My point?

Content is not just articles.
And harvesting is not always a no no.

In a previous post, Adrian discussed the basic difference between a forum and a blog.

Today I wanted to discuss an interesting phenomenon we're starting to see more and more - forums looking like blogs.

As Adrian explains, forums are a lot more interactive than blogs, with multiple members contributing and creating dozens of new threads under different subforums every day. Due to the high number of new posts, all forum packages typically share the same user interface - displaying a list of categories with the last thread posted under each category:



Blogs on the other hand, expressing the thoughts and ideas of an individual or small group, typically generate an average of 1 new thread (posting) per day. Frequent blog readers want to see "what's new" right away, without having to click-around through different categories.

Originally conceived by Open Diary, blogs have adapted a different common user interface, showing the most recent post on the front page, with arrows to navigate to previous entries:



Notice how easy it is to read the latest posts on a blog? No clicking around. Readers visit the blog website and simply scroll down to read the latest entries.

This very popular user-interface helps in building strong readership while keeping things simple for your readers.

-- and now Forum owners want the same benefits.

We're starting to see more and more forums modify their front-page user-interface to look like a blog. Specifically - recent posts are displayed on the homepage, thread replies are displayed as comments and categories (subforums) are no longer the focus of the page.

The major benefit of this blog-like interface, beyond giving your forum a "personal feel", comes from the notion that users are just too lazy to click. Studies show web visitors are more likely to scroll down, reading the content of the page before they decide whether or not the site deserves additional clicks. This interface makes it easier to captivate the web visitor and win attention span.

EarnersForum, an online forum where web entrepreneur's and online marketers share advice and insight, is the latest forum to join this new trend. EarnersForum re-launched today with a new interface and enhanced features. Still a forum (with many users contributing the content), one of the most significant changes - EarnersForum now looks a lot more like a blog, with the front page featuring the two recent posts.

See below for the Before and After pictures:



Why are so many forums "crossing over", updating their front-page with a blog-like interface? Simply put - because it works. If you have a forum, I strongly recommend you experiment with this user interface and analyze the impact on page visits and page views per visitor.

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Whether it’s because you don’t have the time, talent or motivation, there are many situations when it just makes more sense to hire someone to write content for your web site. Although hiring someone may seem like an easy enough task, it can be a little more challenging than you might anticipate. Here are five things you need to know before you start your search for a writer:

1. You Always Get What You Pay For
Simply put, if you pay crap, you’re going to get crap in return! You can’t expect to get excellent content when you are only paying two dollars an article. For very basic content articles, you should not be paying less than ten dollars for every three to five hundred word article. For articles that actually require some research and original thought, you should be paying at twenty dollars for articles of the same length.

2. Copy writing and Content Writing Are Not the Same
No matter what anyone tries to tell you, copy writing and content writing are two completely different things. Although the term is misused all the time, copy writing actually means “the process of writing the words that promote a person, business, opinion, or idea.” Basically, copy writing is the art of crafting a written sales pitch. On the other hand, content writers focus on keyword or informational articles for web sites. Although content writers are still important, it’s much easier to find a good content writer than a good copywriter. Therefore, be prepared to pay much more than the rates quoted above if you are looking for quality sales copy.

3. Be Prepared to Say No
No matter how nice a potential writer may seem, if their samples don’t meet your expectations, you need to know how to say no. Paying a writer is an investment, and you want to make sure that you get the best return possible. Therefore, always request multiple samples, and don’t be afraid to pass on an offer after reviewing the samples.

4. Overseas Writers Just Don’t Cut It
This is nothing personal, but it ties in with the three steps above. Although the majority of overseas writers are willing to work for next to nothing, the quality of their work does not match that of native English speakers. English is an extremely difficult language, and if you have not been formally trained in it, writing quality content that sounds natural is virtually impossible. Therefore, unless you find an overseas writer who has actually received a college level English writing education, you should politely pass on their offer.

5. Copyscape
As long as you are paying your writer a decent rate, you should expect original work. The best way to protect yourself from getting ripped off is to run the articles you purchase through Copyscape. Within seconds, Copyscape can determine whether or not the article you received has been plagiarized or not.

According to Wikipedia, a Content Management System (or CMS) is “a computer software system used to assist its users in the process of content management.”

In the online world, a CMS is any software that can help you easily and effectively setup a web site as a blog, social network, Wiki or other popular format. To save you some time, we have compiled a list of the top five online content management systems:

Blog

WordPress

Regardless of what your needs as a Blogger are, WordPress can handle them. WordPress is the simplest and most reliable way to setup a blog. WordPress is a free download, and includes features such as unlimited categories, a built-in search feature, Blogroll and unlimited static pages. The default Wordpress template is written in valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional, and it is fairly simple to find free templates around the internet (or learn to design your own). The most popular feature of WordPress are plugins, which allow you to expand the power of WordPress immensely (don’t miss our list of the six best WP plugins).

Social Network

phpFoX

If you want to launch your own social network, phpFoX is the best CMS for the job. For $300, you can get the full license to phpFoX (they also offer a $39.95 monthly license). phpFoX contains many of the features that have made MySpace so popular, without the messy (often broken) layout issues. phpFoX also includes an instant messenger, live chat, SEO URLs and title tags, advanced search and members shoutbox.

Video Sharing

ClipShare

ClipShare is the easiest way to start your own YouTube like web site. For ninety-nine dollars, you can get everything you need to make your dream of a video web site a reality. ClipShare has hundred of great features, including member profiles, easy video uploads, member to member messaging, custom channels and groups.

Wiki

MediaWiki

MediaWiki is the CMS that powers Wikipedia. MediaWiki is a free CMS that allows you to create a Wiki on any subject that you want. One of the best features of MediaWiki is that when a user edits a page, it is written to the database, but the previous version is not actually deleted. This makes tasks like controlling spam and vandalism a whole lot easier.

Everything Else

Drupal or Joomla

If you need a CMS but don’t feel that you fall into any of the four categories above, Drupal and Joomla are both powerful CMS options. Both of these open source CMS packages can handle anything from basic personal home pages to high-level corporate web applications. Thanks to the active community of each CMS, it is quite easy to find answers to even the most technical of questions.

If you have a WordPress blog, here are six plugins that you shouldn’t be blogging without:

1) Akismet

Simply put, spam comments suck! Akismet was developed by the creator of WordPress to combat this growing issue. Akismet is remarkably good at distinguishing between real comments and spam comments. Although it is included with every download of WordPress, you do need to activate it. Before you activate it, you need to obtain a WordPress.com API Key.

2) Google Sitemaps Generator

In order to receive traffic from Google, you need to ensure that your blog is fully indexed. The easiest way to accomplish this is by submitting a sitemap through Google Web master Tools. This plugin allows you to fully customize and generate a sitemap for your blog.

3) Sociable

Web 2.0 is all about social networking and bookmarking, especially for blogs. Sociable allows you to display unobtrusive social bookmarking icons under each of your posts. These icons make it easy for your visitors to give your posts a nice viral push. The plugin allows you to customize exactly which icons you want to display (anywhere from one to twenty-five).

4) Related Entries

Increase your page views with the Related Entries plugin. This plugin uses the keywords of each post and places a box with five related posts at the bottom of every post.

5) Another Wordpress Meta Plugin

Although Meta tags are not the most important element of SEO by any means, they are still an important factor. This is especially true with WordPress blogs, because without them you can run into duplicate content issues and be banished to Google’s Supplemental Results. This plugin makes it simple to add Meta tags to your home page, posts and categories.

6) AdSense Deluxe

If you plan on using Google AdSense on your blog, AdSense Deluxe is the easiest way to automatically insert ads into your posts. AdSense Deluxe also supports YPN ads!

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Looking to implement a forum on your website? Great! But what forum software package should you go with?

This decision could make or break the success of your forum.

Fortunately, it's an easy one. In our experience, after testing every major forum software available online, there's a clear winner. A forum software package that is so powerful and scalable, it is currently used by 62% of the top 100 forum-driven websites.

Introducing - vBulletin, an ultra scalable, fully customizable, PHP/MySQL commercial ($160) forum package, the top pick for any serious community builder.

Number two on our list is - phpBB. phpBB is free to use, making it a popular entry level solution for many forums. While phpBB doesn't have all the features of vBulletin, phpBB too is PHP/MySQL driven, customizable and includes all the basic features you'll need to launch a community website in a single day. phpBB falls short primarily on scalability, however until you reach about 5,000 active members, you should be okay.

Last but not least is - Invision. A commercial ($149) closed community solution. Invision is more similar to vBulletin in the features department, boosting a neat graphical interface, lots of plugins and great support from the creators. We like vBulletin better because it has a larger community of users who share ideas, exchange plugins and offer ongoing free help.

If your server is Microsoft-powered, you could look into Web Wiz Forums, a popular free ASP forum package. Web Wiz Forums offers all the features you'll need to launch and maintain a successful community. We prefer PHP/MySQL for lower total cost of ownership, easier maintenance and customization. But if you're a die-hard Microsofty, Web Wiz Forum is a great pick.