As mentioned above, we are initially going to be spending a good amount of time researching Facebook’s Messages and Google’s Priority Inbox, but as new stories develop we will be bringing that news to you as well. We are scouring the web so you don’t have to, so be sure to check back regularly for new updates on what’s going on in your industries world.

Trending Topics: Top Right’s Weekly Article Roundup

Two months after it’s announcement, it seems even more users will be offered the opportunity to use Facebook Messages.

This article from the Personal Tech blog on the Fox News website attempts to explain why, despite it’s seemingly endless influence, Facebook may be on the way out (fair warning: it’s based on a good amount of personal opinion, not facts).

Google testing display ads in gmail.

Facebook deals launches page on site.

Facebook has also launched an automated spam blocker within their messages so that blocked activity would be directed “against the specific messages that seemed to be bothering users.”

After careful deliberation, the Top Right Blog has been (slowly) moving from MoveableType to WordPress over the past few weeks.

Though not exactly the seamless transition we were hoping for, we are now up, running, and very excited.

We have a lot to catch up on, trends to follow, and advice for the new year that we want to share, so check back here or follow us on Twitter and/or Facebook.

Happy new year from all of us at Top Right.

Cheers,

The Top Right Team

Unfortunately, I’ve been asked to introduce myself, and I fear that this means I’m making a misstep from the get-go; however, I’m hoping that you’ll forgive my breaking from apparent traditions by allowing me to avoid yet another consistent element to the “new-writer-intro-post”: an overly personal introduction.

For the same reasons you visit this blog are why I’m helping to write it: content.

We’re here to sift through the news, announcements and daily bombardment of email marketing advancements for the online retailer and help get the truly important elements to you.

What’s the next big step to e-marketing?

Is email still relevant and what are the best ways to use it?

Has another monkey been riding backwards on a pig…?!

Well, not that last part. There are other sites for that (which I’ll happily provide for you if you’d like).

So, as far as introductions go: my name is Chase Osthimer, a recent addition to the Top Right team and an avid writer and researcher who is very excited to be here today.

My goal on this blog is exactly what our goal is as a company: To make email marketing for the online retailer easier. I’ve met many of you at IRCE in Chicago and the Yahoo! Small Business Merchant Summit, and it’s been so easy to talk with you all i feel there’s no reason to be super formal: the tone of this blog will reflect that.

Thanks for checking in with us and I hope that the information you find here is as helpful to your business and your peace of mind as we do.

That and the fact that Quova sponsored free beer for the first 100 visitors.

Considering the record numbers SF Beta had achieved at their
last event, we were sure this was going to be well attended. Arriving twenty minutes after the doors opened (and missing our chance at the free beer), the place was already packed.

 Right off the bat I found myself standing next to Christian Perry, the events organizer. I was curious about the events past and it’s future. He explained the origins of SF Beta, from its simple inception, to the event we were currently standing in, surrounded by hundreds of people. He mentioned that his next stop will be Boston, where he’s hoping to do similar events (though, I would imagine, under a different name: B Beta1.0?). 

 Along with having a good number of attendees, SF Beta was far from lacking in the sponsors department as well. As it was hosted at a 111 Minna here in San Francisco, bar culture took over much of the advertising. 1ring, a service for storing information about “things you’re interested in” (as they put it), put coasters on all the bar tops which were served with every drink. 

 GOGRID, who must have been alerted to the slightly dim lighting and layout of the room, opted to employee bright, neon green pens that lit up their demo table and easily attracted attention. I got a brief introduction to their company, who is focused on providing cloud hosting and hybrid hosting.

 As I mentioned above, Quova sponsored free beer, along with sharing a generous portion of wall space via a projector with other event sponsors Hula Networks, bizo, ZeroCater, FoundersCard, and pariSoma Innovation Loft.

 After nearly no time at all, 111 Minna was almost shoulder to shoulder, and while SF Beta and the sponsors were more than pleased, it got to be a bit overwhelming for me. I ducked out the door and back out onto the now rainy streets. Regretting this, I almost opted to run back inside to wait it out, only to realize the half block line waiting to get in. At this point I chalked my first startup happy hour experience a positive one and made a mental note to check the weather next time.

 And get there early if they are offering free beer.

If not, there’s a short video about it on the Facebook blog here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=452288242130&id=20531316728.

The basic breakdown is that Facebook is making “messaging” easier. What Facebook makes clear is that this will not replace email. They simply make email, sms, chat, and messages all connect in one place, all sent by simply typing and pressing “enter.” They’ve reduced the complexity and made it so that sending messages is more like a conversation and less like email.

Does it kill email? No

Does it change the way we interact with email? Yes

The most immediate impact is around inbox management. Facebook, like Google, is also filtering it’s inbox so that certain messages go to specified locations. This is the next step in inbox communications. Google has priority and facebook calls it social, but either way, it means that things are changing.

An “in-depth” review over at insidefacebook shows that a lot of the screen shots and UI of facebook messages are very similar to gmail – http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/11/16/in-depth-review-facebooks-new-message-inbox-product/

Also, it expands on how this might not have any immediate impact, but it does make one point that could be huge for advertisers in the future: “Having a centralized, persistent record of the distributed  conversation will also make Messages useful for organizing groups, perhaps better than Facebook’s Groups product which doesn’t encompass SMS or record Group Chat.”

Over at emarketingandcommerce.com, there are some early predictions that you can digest – http://www.emarketingandcommerce.com/article/what-facebook-messages-means-for-email-marketers/

For now, all we can do is wait to hear more and remain in the middle. Don’t look on in horror as you watch the world as you’ve known it change forever, or remain complacent while you recite old adages like “the only thing to fear is fear itself.”

Like slabs of thinly sliced meat to Lady Gaga, we’re on it. Be on the look out for more posts on the impact of prioritization on email, and even more importantly expect to hear about it from our success team.

-Two Approaches to Get Started With Segmentation, by Stephanie Miller

It seems so simple, but really, just three words were all it took: “Do it anyway.”

The quote above is from an article by Stephanie Miller posted on the ClickZ.com site, and those two sentences were the driving force behind our (finally!) revisiting this blog, and had us face to face with the perfect way to tell our customers and potential clients just how we feel about sending segmented emails.

You see, this poor blog has been dormant for months; waiting for us to find “The Big Post” to revive it, bring it back to life. Our heads full of ideas, we imagined this sort of Frankenstein-like moment, in which characters suddenly spring to life after a long monologue and a lightning bolt, where just moments before they had been completely unanimated.

The role of the lifeless character is easily filled by this blog; however, unlike Hollywood’s desire to trigger outrageous effects or drown the viewer in emotional overdrive, the Top Right blog is being reanimated after reading those three simple words: “Do it anyway.”

It’s so simple. No more waiting, just get started.

The same concept we try to help our customers and potential clients with, that first step to sending segmented emails, was the answer to our own problems all along. Just as we realized that returning to our blog should wait no longer, you too should stop waiting for that big moment, that ideal combination of weather patterns and words, and simply get started.

“Do it anyway.”

Over the course of the next week we will be posting about how easy sending segmented emails can be with Top Right, and how we will make that first step, that big, giant leap into this process, seem like a much more achievable stride.