When I was a young boy in the early 60's, I would travel south from Duluth to visit the family farm in west central Iowa. While visiting my grandparents, I was enchanted with a series I could watch on an Ames, Iowa TV station, Robin Hood (already in reruns from the 1950's). Fast forward 50 years to 2011 and I've been reintroduced to that series of yore via my Roku box. This amazing device allows me to watch movies on my HDTV via my home's wireless internet connection. Also available … you guessed it! Robin Hood! It's been fun reliving boyhood fantasies … twang … crossbow vs longbow!

However, this post is supposed to be about the history of data transfer, and it is! Today, I pull up my Roku and Netflix menus, and select the evening's entertainment. Within a few moments, the show or movie caches and I'm in business.

Recently, while watching the first season of Robin Hood, I was amazed to learn how each episode used to make its way from England to the United States. At the end of each show is a photograph of a four engine Pan American Airlines prop plane with the statement: This film flown to the United States. In 1955, flying film by plane (commercial passenger jets did not yet exist) rather than shipping it by trans-Atlantic boat was high tech data transfer!

Oh yeah … I still have a crush on Maid Marian, and hate the Sheriff of Nottingham, but that's a blog post for another day! (watch the series online w/o charge)

Click upon any image to view full sized!

I've spent 1/2 of my budget, and the numbers are stabilized such that I can report results. The basic question is, do LinkedIn Member Ads work? My answer, a qualified "yes". Very early on in my experiment I was contacted by an individual who had clicked through to my site, NorthstarNerd.Org. This person was kind enough to let me know my url was misspelled. This example and others lead me to believe I have made contact with viewers, and enhanced knowledge of my site. However, if you look at either of the images given below, I think you'll note two things: (click images to view expanded)

1. My two advertisements that received clickthroughs were somewhat "off the wall" in terms of the headlines / message. My top ad receiving clicks was:
   • Headline: Dr. Seuss Would be Proud!
   • Copy: I do not like Android here or there, I do not like Android anywhere?!
   • Link: http://www.NorthstarNerd.org/
2. Look at the placement of where LinkedIn advertisements appear on one's profile. The ads are quite easy to ignore. Perhaps this is why it took the more unusual "copy" to attract a click. You decide, and then determine what might work for your campaign. However, remember that you never pay for viewing, just clickthroughs.

Original blog post defining the experiment.

I need your support … one tiny click. Become my fan on Facebook!

As some of you know, I've been blogging for almost ten years. During that time I've never taken a dime for my efforts, or hosted any advertisements on NorthstarNerd.Org. My goal is to provide value in my knowledge domain by reviewing web content with a technology focus. A few of my efforts have included:

• Creating and Running the Collaboration Council
• Engineering College Search 2.0
• Engineering Learning Portal
• Lego Robotics
• Run for China (3 schools built)
• Ski Cam Man

And my latest effort, Android for the Business User.

Please let me know you support my efforts, and the fact that knowledge should be free. See the right hand margin immediately to the right of this post … click and become a Facebook Fan! Thank you.