The Historian

First let me tell you about Xomba. It is a web site where you can make money online by writing articles or posting bookmarks to web site. You earn a 50/50 share of the money made through Google Adsense, but you have to have an account with Adsense.

Here are my thoughts on how Xomba can increase its the number of users and thus increase its profits.

1.) Better Integration with Social Media Sites

Like most site these days Xomba has all the buttons to help users and visitors link to various social media sites, however it does not allow its writers to integrate their accounts in to their profiles on the Xomba site so that when an author makes a post it is automatically posted to their twitter, facebook status or other social sites. This simple addition will instantly increase the exposure for the writer as well as Xomba. Additionally if Xomba were to add its own URL shortener it could show click through statistics for the writers.

2.) Help Users Maximize Their Profit Potential While Using Xomba

Xomba was created to allow users to easily earn money on things they post. This brings in people with little or no experience in writing and even the use of keywords and other way of self promoting online. Xomba can add weekly, bi-weekly and Posts, Podcast and Webinars to help their users learn to be better at what they do. They can even leverage their top users to assist in these by doing interviews and having them make additional posts on being better at Xomba.

3.) Promote their “Best of the Best” and Featured Writers

The front page of the site shows Xomba Features, these are articles that seems to have received a fair bit of votes over the past few hours , however it does not mention the author and there doesn’t appear to be any place that truly promotes individual writers. Perhaps this could be integrated with the little used “Contests”. And maybe featured writers could up for special weekly, monthly and yearly awards? Who wouldn’t want to win a “Xombie of the Year” award?

Xomba also has a twitter account (@xomba) that is currently updated a few times a day. This feed could be used to instantly promote articles that get a “Featured” status and to point out writers that are really contributing to the Xomba Community. And speaking of community…

4.) Add Real Forums and Build a Community

Admittedly Xomba says it has “forums”, but really they have a feedback and suggestion tool that they are calling forums. Add some real forums and allow your users to build their own Zombie community. These forums can be used to distill ideas, collaborate and to assist new Xombites in getting familiar with Xomba. This alone can help with retention of those users who sign-up but then never make more than one or two posts. Create a “Welcome Team” and have them contact new users to see if they need help.

5.) Catch the Details

There are some things on the site that I just don’t understand and I was unable to find any info on them.

1. What are the “Points” for?
2. How does one get into the Hall of Fame?
3. Who is in the Community Think Tank and how do I contribute.
4. Contests, where are they?
5. Why not advertise that you are on Facebook and Twitter on your homepage?
6. And finally, and this is me being nit-picky, can someone please fix the broken image on the main Help page? 

Full disclosure: Xomba, a local Jacksonville startup, is looking to hire an Online PR Associate. I’ve tossed my hat in to the ring but wanted to go one step further and offer some of my thoughts on increasing the user base for the company.

Here we are on the last day of the social media party on my blog, my Facebook Fan page and my Twitter account. The first post can be found here: Historian’s “Social Media” Party!

I’ve gotten some criticism feedback that suggests that based on this site and specifically the biography I don’t have much that really points out what I bring to “social media”. To that I would say this: “I managed to pop up on your Social radar, right?”. I don’t claim to be an “end all to be all expert”, but I do know about growing web based communities and today that means being “Social”. And I will always take criticism feedback, because I will always be growing and learning.

But as much as this IS about me, it is also about the people that came out to be a part of the Party.

El Drijver Co-Founder Firi Games www.firigames.com

When I met El he was the Lead Game Design for Spellborn Works, the design team behind the Chronicles of Spellborn. We held weekly webinars that were unrivaled in how they directly connected the gamer to the publisher and developer. It was a bold move, but it worked out great. You can find all of them over on my media site: HistoricMedia.net.  He is now starting his own studio Firi Games. Check out the first screenshots on facebook!

Binge Gamer www.bingegamer.net

Binge Gamer, founded in 2008, is not your typical gaming website. Understanding that there are already bunches of other gaming blogs that rehash press releases and game announcements, Binge Gamer aims to provide unabashed commentary on the big news stories of the day, as well as provide readers with some of the offbeat news items that you probably won’t find on some of the larger sites. The Bender podcast combines video game news, theory, reviews, opinions, and curse words :\ We’re the best, listen now.

Paddy ‘DrunkenGamer’ Fellows of www.thirteen1.com

Thirteen1 is a digital flash based magazine that brings out a new completely free issue each month – we cover a lot of the newest games as well as unique pieces such as our soundtrack reviews, rant inn & drinking games.

The Somewhat Comical Adventures of Prickley Pete! www.prickleypete.com

You may be surprised to learn that “The Somewhat Comical Adventures of Prickley Pete!” literally happened overnight. Within twelve hours of blurting out, “Hey, we should do a cartoon with Prickley Pete!” the first episode was already underway. And it will soon becoming to an Xbox 360 as a point-n-click adventure game.

The Entertainment Consumer Association www.theeca.com

The ECA is dedicated to providing a wealth of community and affinity benefits to our members.  With membership, you can connect with like-minded gaming fans, explore career and educational opportunities in the business, and more.  Membership can also provide some incredible discounts, trial offers and members-only access; many of which could rationalize the cost of member dues many times over.

If you are a gamer and spend money on enthusiast magazines, online subscriptions, or buy and rent games, these benefits make it so that you would pay far less.  New offers are posted frequently in the Benefits Section

Abel Bascuñana Pons on Facebook

My personal blog on community management, game design reviews, casual games, QA Testing and other game topics at http://stalyangames.wordpress.com/.

Shawn McBroom on Facebook

My Linkedin profile http://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnmcbroom. I spend most of my time working or attending college. Spend my free time learning to create games and playing games.

I want to thank everyone that has joined in to be a part of this little experiment. I should have a post up this week to let you know how it all went.

In case you missed it yesterday… I’m hosting a crazy three-day blog, web site promotion event and social media party on my blog, my Facebook Fan page and my Twitter account. The first post can be found here: Historian’s “Social Media” Party!

I’ve actually had a great turn out, with visitors coming in from all areas.

Scott “Lum the Mad” Jennings: http://brokentoys.org

Scott works as a designer in the computer gaming industry, and comments a lot on his blog-type thing at Broken Toys. I have to tell you that I’ve followed him on and off for years now and I’m quite honored that he felt like I needed to be given the once over.

Pamela  Almand: The Captains’s Voice www.thecaptainsvoice.com

With the confident and authoritative-but-warm voice of a 25-year international airline captain, Pamela  Almand has a smooth elegance…or a “right stuff” drawl that can be low, sultry, and sexy …or warm and friendly with a big smile you can hear! Her signature sound is the low, smoky and sultry nightclub voice with a hint of a teasing smile… or that little bit of vamp in the girl-next-door voice. Yet she can be “Mom” with equal aplomb!

Want a 3D controller for your PC or Mac? Grab the Axelo BAT. 12 buttons, driverless install and dynamic sensitivity. http://axelobat.com/

Melissa Ross: First Coast Connect http://bit.ly/c5uQOn

You can catch her weekdays at 9AM on WJCT as she gets plugged in to everything that’s happening around the First Coast. Join her on First Coast Connect, a program that showcases the issues, trends and newsmakers that have people talking. The one-hour programs airs Monday to Friday at 9am. @MelissainJax

Kapil Bhatt: http://kapzer.com

Check out Game Tester and Blogger Kapil Bhatt’s personal site and don’t miss his portfolio page for the real meat. I worked with him on 2Moons where he served as a Virtual Game Master. He is very hard working and was a pleasure to work with.

Dan Gray: www.bifftheunderstudy.com

His blog, largely focuses on communication within gaming networks but also features commentary on Community Management and the Games Industry as A whole. If you’re interested in improving communication with your community there might be something for you there. I know I have found some very useful suggestions in the past.

Ryan Thompson: http://ryanpaulthompson.com/

Ryan is one of the few gaming people in Jacksonville, FL. He is a Web designer and social media strategist for the games industry and the Dalton Agency. @ryanpthompson

Historian’s Social Media Party

Hey companies, If you’d like to donate a door prize such as an products, T-shirts or anything else, please connect with me as quickly as possible by calling +1 (310) 574-2843 and leaving a voice mail.

Don’t hesitate to connect, leave a comment, or offer me a job.

I want to thank Larry Brauner of http://online-social-networking.com/ for the idea for this event.

If you haven’t heard about LFG Expo yet, @lfgx on twitter, you need to check them out. 

With several MMOs already having individual fan events, we see players who are forced to choose their favorite games or events based on what’s coming up and who they would like to meet with the most. The goal of LFG is to provide the ultimate experience for all MMO and VW fans to come and see what’s new in the world of MMOs as well as meet friends across all games. LFG will have allure no single game or company event can provide: an event for everything MMO related. Developer sessions, special VIP attendee events, game competitions, private screenings, guild meetings and more will combine to draw an incredible numbers of fans.

LFG also offers a cost-effective solution for game developers and publishers to showcase their existing and future MMOs without the added overhead of creating their own events. Games will get exposure to current fans as well as prospective future fans with this unified event. Games will be able to create more brand awareness and connect with the current and future players on a level that all MMO fans will come to love as much as the games themselves.

Stay tuned for more information as it’s released in the coming weeks.

Looking For Group Expo

Another update.. this time adding some of the design work I’ve done of the past couple of years. I need to dig up some of the older stuff and make it available too. You can see it all on my Art & Design Portfolio page.