Mar/100
ISM’s Web Makeover
Our fly new look.
Amazing stuff is happening in Image Space Media Headquarters: We've unveiled our new website, logo and our publisher panel PubStop. AND our team is gearing up to head to SXSW Interactive tomorrow. It's an exciting time to be using in-image ads.
But let's break it down a little. Our team has put in a lot of work to make our new website look as beautiful as it does... from back-end developers to content writers, from management on down to us bloggers/ISM cheerleaders. And we're pretty happy with the results.
Here's a run-down of some of the additions to the site:
- Special section for advertisers, including FAQs and information about our content channels.
- For our WordPress, Blogger, and Tumblr friends, step-by-step instructions on how to implement our code on each specific blog platform.
- PubStop! Our exclusive interface for publishers where you can see how many dolla bills you've made, control which ads have images, and just generally have a good time.
- Management bios! Ever wondered what the smiling faces of the ISM team look like? You're in luck!
- A new look! From our beautiful new logo to our poppin' color palette, every aspect of the ISM site is designed to be evocative.
Not to brag, but we think these updates are pretty fly. What do you think? We hope you find them to be an exciting and useful upgrade to ISM's services. Let us know what you think! Post your thoughts in the comments or email info@imagespacemedia.com!
Mar/100
Interview with Image Space Media CEO Jesse Chenard
Our CEO Jesse Chenard, chilling on Mount Kilimanjaro.
Last week we interviewed Image Space Media co-founders Kevin Tung and Raymond Chan and posting Friday Photos that featured the ISM team hard at work preparing for SXSW Interactive. Have you enjoyed getting to know us better? Want to learn more about the ISM team? You're in luck! This week we have a very special interview with ISM CEO Jesse Chenard.
First off, tell us about yourself. What's your sign?
Cancer. My birthday is July 19. I don't really follow astrology enough to know whether or not I'm a typical Cancer. Maybe I am. I'm introverted. You know, affected by the moon.
Awesome. Can you tell us a little about your professional history?
I've spent the last 11 years working on internet stuff. Always start-ups. Every company I've ever worked at has been sold, except for my last one Tremor. Up until recently I've been more focused on streaming video and audio. Now it's advertising.
How did you meet Ray and Kevin?
At TechCrunch in San Fransisco. They were in the demo pit. Kevin grabbed me and said, "Hey, want to see something cool?" And I thought that his idea was pretty interesting - to use the image space to advertise.
At one point I asked him something like, "How will you guys integrate with 3rd-party ad systems like DoubleClick," and he looked at me and said, "What's DoubleClick?" So at that point I suggested that we grab coffee when we were both back in New York, because we were both from here. And then we got together.
Editor's Note: Kevin is now fully aware of what DoubleClick is.
You started off as their advisor and then joined formally as CEO. What made you decide to man the helm at Image Space Media?
Mar/100
Image Space Media’s WordPress Plugin
Are you a WordPress-based publisher? Perhaps, you've been wondering why we haven’t built a plugin for WordPress users.
We have been thinking about how to make things easier for you. Things in the pipeline include a shiny new publisher panel and you guessed it, a brand spankin’ new plugin just for the WordPress community.
Before, implementing our technology was a bit on the technical side for average users. Now setting up our in-image advertising solution through WordPress is simple and easy.
Just install a snippet of our code via our WordPress plugin in your pages. Our system matches relevant ads with your images based on your metadata. Once you’ve activated the plugin you’re ready to start earning money!
Download the plugin here and spread the word!
Mar/100
Publisher of the Week: Concept Cars
This Week, Image Space Media would like to recognize Concept Cars as Publisher of the Week. Do sexy, high-concept cars keep you up all night? Concept Cars is for auto aficionados need the inside scoop on futuristic designs and prototypes. Be sure to check this site often for sneak previews on new hybrid models, concept car reviews, and scoops on the big auto shows!
Mar/100
Interview with ISM Co-Founders Kevin Tung and Raymond Chan
From L-R: Raymond Chan and Kevin Tung, ISM's visionaries.
Kevin Tung, Image Space Media's Chief Operating Officer, and Raymond Chan, the Chief Technology Officer, are long-time friends and ISM's co-founders. We caught up with them to chat about the vision behind Image Space Media, their favorite photographers, and AOL screennames.
First off, tell us a little bit about yourselves. How did you guys meet?
Ray: Do you want the funny story? Back when Kevin and I were seniors in high school, in the AOL days, everyone had AOL account. And Kevin was a cyber-stalker.
Kevin: That's not exactly true.
Ray: Senior year of high school, he started searching through AOL profiles to find incoming freshman at Columbia - the class of 2001. So, fast forward to the first week of school, I was sitting in John Jay cafeteria with a group of friends, and this guy walks up to us and says, "Hey! I'm wisepanda." That was his AOL screen name. Mine was asnchaos.
From there, we hit it off! It helps that Kevin is super laid-back. Fast-forward 10 years and we're working together at Image Space Media!
What were both of you doing before starting Image Space Media? Where did you get the inspiration to start this venture?
Feb/100
First Edition of Friday Photos!
At Image Space Media we're all about the power of a good image. We're in the business of engaging people in images, after all.
We figured, however, that it was time to back up our words with evidence. Thus, Friday Photos was born. Every Friday we'll be featuring photos from our team, for many reasons. First, to showcase some photographic talent. Secondly, to show you how awesome the Image Space Media team is.
Our first edition of Friday Photos will probably be the most exotic. Our CEO/resident adventurer Jesse Chenard just returned from a 10-day trip, fulfilling his childhood goal of hiking Mount Kilimanjaro! AWESOME. Let's see the world through Jesse's eyes:
Jesse at Africa's Highest Point!!
Don't you wish this was the view out your window?
Sigh.
A Tanzanian butterfly
MEANWHILE, back in dreary New York, we had our own fun that involved no hiking, beautiful vistas, or exercise. But we have fun, nonetheless! Take a little peek into ISM Headquarters:
Feb/101
Publisher of the Week: DCODE MAGAZINE
This week, Image Space Media would like to recognize DCODE MAGAZINE as Publisher of the Week. DCODE is a hip webzine that features articles on almost anything you can think of...books, DVD's, music, movies, global shopper, global trends, design, health & beauty, style, sex & relationships, and tech stuff!
Click here to visit DCODE MAGAZINE & follow DCODE on twitter here
Feb/100
The Banner Blues: Combating Burnout and Blindness
via Jakob Nielsen for Useit.com
At Image Space Media headquarters, we're all pretty big proponents of online advertising (Cash Rules Everything Around Us, after all). We think it's a great way for publishers to financially support their passions and their expressiveness. And, of course, we believe we provide a unique and game-changing way for publishers to use their unique images to get paid.
But not all online advertising is effective online advertising. And it's not just you, getting sick of seeing the same banner ads above the sites you visit every day - it's a proven phenomenon called Banner Burnout, and it has very real implications for publishers and advertisers.
Let the stats do the talking: A study by DoubleClick found that after the fourth impression, CTR rates for banner ads go from 2.7 percent to less than 1 percent. That's pretty abysmal!
Photo via Flickr user jamescastle3
But before you can even worry about click through rates, there is the critical problem of Banner Blindness to deal with. As you can see from the amazing eyetracking studies shown above, created by Jakob Nielsen, the eye is automatically drawn to areas not dominated by ads. As Nielsen writes, "If users are looking for a quick fact, they want to get done and aren't diverted by banners; and if users are engrossed in a story, they're not going to look away from the content."
To combat the Banner B-problems, advertising experts suggest placing banners with animation, flashing bright colors, and cryptic messages at the top of your site. But what if that's not exactly the style you have in mind for your site? Remember, banner ads are not the only ad solution. These are many great advertising strategies to generate revenue - banner ads, Google AdSense and AdWords, in-text ads, Image Space media ads... Given the number of options in your arsenal, it's important to be tactical about your advertising solutions. How do you want your site to appear visually? Check out our online advertising tag for all of our past coverage of the various ways you can make ads work for your site.
Feb/100
Image Space Media + SXSW 2010 Interactive
Visit Image Space Media at SXSW Interactive Festival March 12-16, 2010!
In just a few short weeks we'll be heading down to the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas. If you're unfamiliar with the event, the annual festival brings together the technology glitterati for five days of panels, showcases, meetups, and parties. Its a great place to connect with industry leaders, learn about new trends in the digital community, and hear about spunky startups -- like us!
We are thrilled to be launching our technology at SXSW! We will exhibiting at the trade show (word on the street we'll have a photobooth on the premise) so if you're attending, be sure to block off time in your schedule to grab a beer and a hot dog at our booth!
We'll also be live tweeting @imagespacemedia and updating our blog during the event. See you there!
Feb/100
The Friendliest Moshpit in the World
Photo via Flickr user kirstiecat
Let's talk about common misconceptions of internet users. One fairly common belief is that the web is full of creepers -- people who post weird things on Craigslist and spend too much time stalking people on Facebook. Or, the internet is perceived to be full of nerds obsessed with 4chan and World of Warcraft. The last, possibly more recent misconceived notion of internet users is that they are plain old oversharers who Tweet, blog, and vlog every banality. The underlying understanding of the internet, based on these web archetypes, is that it is not a particularly earnest or friendly place.
Jonathan Zittrain, a law professor, co-founder of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and open source advocate, begs to differ. He believes that the internet is "made up of millions of disinterested acts of kindness, curiosity and trust." Watch his TED talk, where he illustrates using three examples that the transfer of data over the internet is best understood as crowdsurfing in a crowded moshpit, or as the process of passing a beer from the aisle to its recipient in the middle of the crowded row -- where none of the people in the middle who receive and then pass on the beer have any stake in its arrival but they do it anyway. Ignore the fact that I can't seem to write a blog post without talking about beer and pay attention to Zittrain, especially his example of the Wikipedia entry for Star Wars Kid.
Beyond Wikipedia and CouchSurfing, the inherent friendliness of the internet has very real implications for social media, for marketing, and for the work that we and you would like to accomplish. Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, illustrates how social media, aided with the use of LOLz, can harness the group-consciousness of the internet (his speech is shorter, don't worry).