Comments on: Your Color Almost, But Different: Why Localizing Content Without Personalizing It Is A Bad Idea

By: The Content Wrangler » Blog Archive » Socially-Enabled, Internet-Based, Interactive Reality TV: BLU Is What’s Next!

Mon, 17 May 2010 01:06:25 +0000

[...] Abel, The Content WranglerAs many of our readers know, I’m a big fan of personalized content delivered on-demand: the right content, to the right people, at the right time, in the right format [...]

By: The Content Wrangler » Blog Archive » The Making of a Mashup Compilation: Aurally Volume 1

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:11:16 +0000

[...] products they produce) about content reuse, XML authoring, component content management, and content personalization. I use music mashups as an example because it’s the easiest way to help people understand [...]

By: Deanna

Deanna — Sat, 30 May 2009 16:52:00 +0000

Also, in many systems if you know that your users end goal is to save vast amounts of time, then developing features that enable them to personalize the content arrangement, and manage it regularly, is key.

By: James D Michelson

James D Michelson — Sat, 09 May 2009 14:55:05 +0000

The point here is well taken. If you know something about your current and potential customers, use it! At the very least regional differences can be addressed even if all the data you have is name and address. The real trick is to make your communications with customers a two way interaction. Every time you communicate, solicit feedback and then use that feedback to tailor your messages.

By: Richard Hamilton

Richard Hamilton — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:34:44 +0000

Very interesting, thought provoking post. The question it raises for me is whether there is an important distinction between marketing messages and (for the lack of a better term) documentation, in this area.

That is, if someone has already bought the product, how important is it to personalize the documentation? For a highly technical, highly configurable, expensive product/service, there may be a justification, but otherwise, I’m not sure it’s worth the expense. Again, it’s a question of audience; if your documentation audience needs, and is paying for, a customized doc experience, then you’d better provide it. Otherwise, you may be wasting money.

Thanks for an excellent post that got me thinking.

By: Rock Armstrong

Rock Armstrong — Mon, 04 May 2009 20:50:25 +0000

This is absolutely outstanding, and I enjoyed reading every word. You are such an outstanding writer and really got your point across. As someone who is admittedly not as hyper-connected as most of my friends and colleagues are, I found the information incredibly informative and great fun to read. I’m one of those people who avoid Facebook, Twitter, Naymz, etc like the flu and just socially connect via one site: LinkedIn. So reading this great piece gave me an education.

I’m also someone who does not believe that newspapers will vanish. People enjoy the tactile feeling of a paper, its portability, and the ease of re-reading a story, or silly “letters to the editor.”. I never begin my day without reading the Oregonian (or formerly my dear Los Angeles Times) cover to cover. The day my city’s newspaper would vanish, is the day I’d turn off my e-mail and be reachable only by telephone! I rarely check my e-mail on the weekends, so any way a message can be more personalized is a big plus.

The only “word-smithing” I’d perform, is to change the word “sucks” to something else, such as “falls short,” “fails,” “collapses,” or something else. I think describing anything as something that “sucks” is denigrating to gay people. We’re all heard teens say, “that’s so gay.” For me, it’s like hearing someone say “that’s so nigger” or “that’s so cuntish.” So ditch that word for something better. It isn’t good enough for your quality of writing in the rest of the story, which is top-notch all the way.

I especially enjoyed your humor. I’ve always felt that’s what keeps someone reading on to the next paragraph. Have fun in Atlanta! Your friend, Rock

Rock

By: Emma Hamer

Emma Hamer — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:01:46 +0000

While we may have come a long way (in actual time, that is) from Henry Ford’s famous offer: “You can have the T-ford in any color you want, as long as it’s black”, you’ve nailed the “elephant in the room” with this article.

Q: Would there be a way to educate the Nigerian scammers in these concepts? Then maybe I wouldn’t be singled out as their “Dear Friend” to help them move 28.6 Gazillion Dollars out of their country ... LOL.

But basically, with non-personalized marketing, every email that reaches my Inbox from any vendor is equivalent to the “Dear Friend” emails from “barristers in Kenya/Nigeria/Sierra Leone”. Great post - thanks!