I’m pleased to announce that I will be covering some exciting upcoming events in the coming months for Auto Futures where I have been promoted to contributing editor.
I like attending events because I get to learn new technology and meet interesting people. I also like being able to touch, feel, smell and drive new vehicles. If you will be at these events, you can contact me via youcanbookme or phone.
When I attend CES in Las Vegas, where the latest technology is on display, I talk a different language, I call it E2E (Engineer-to-Engineer). At every industry event there are technical words and abbreviations that are required to speak and write about the business.
Yesterday, I decided to take the day off and go to Santa Monica beach. I was expecting a nice quiet walk breathing in the ozone from the ocean. Instead, I came face-to-e-scooter with one of the hottest topics in the transportation industry, the rise of shared, app-based, dock-free e-scooters that are swarming fair weather cities.
Over the years, through affiliate links, I have made as much as $4,000 in one day and up to $20,000 over the Black Friday Cyber Monday season. How did I do that? I found some techniques that really help in propelling affiliate link sales. It is not as simple as just calling a product the best. Good affiliate profits come from compelling writing, providing good reliable information and constantly look for deals and at the numbers.
I learned how affiliate links work the hard way. I spent years crafting articles to see what worked the best and what made the most money. Here of the few of the things I have learned.
Bad writing on the Internet wastes people’s time and money. The massive mega-media universe of neophytes who attempt to demonstrate complex do-it-yourself tasks, sends people in directions that they shouldn’t be going if something was written correctly in the first place. Crowdsourcing of information by amateurs can make writers who understand that small details are essential, absolutely crazy. My latest Odyssey involving a dripping bathtub faucet illustrates the importance of interviewing true experts.There is nothing more powerful than someone who has done something many times and is an expert in the process.
I have been writing about connected cars for some time, but not as long as they have been around. The history of connected cars is fascinating and started in 1996 with Motorola and OnStar. The whole idea was to get help to people who are in car accidents. Last year, I was commissioned by a company in Germany to write a brief history of connected cars. It has taken a while to get the design and software to work but the result is lovely and fascinating.
Writing a review is an art and it is not easy to do if you want to do it well. Reviews require testing, knowledge of the product, knowledge of the reader and patience.
At the LA Auto Show, it became clear that the tech media industry is trying to infiltrate the automotive industry. They are trying to change the rules and it could be very costly to car-oriented websites and media. Let’s see why. CNET a website which started reviewing technology was at the show in full force. Starting off at the Connected Car Expo, CNET had a big media presence with live-streaming the car announcements like they live stream Apple announcements. Car-oriented websites and automakers should beware.
It is very important for a journalist to not only understand the basics of a subject but to ask questions and understand all aspects of a topic. It is even more important, especially dealing with technology because one misunderstanding changes everything.
As technology advances does the trend change the people or do the people create the trends? How important is wireless connectivity for human beings? It seems that we are programmed to do less physical connections and more wireless connections and we are hard-wired to do so.
The case in point is the recent Bluetooth bungle and Apple’s iOS 8-8.2 (iPhone 4S/5/5C/5S/6/6+) that is causing problems with connections with in-car systems, since September.