Today, I witnessed The Art of Marketing. Through a day of lectures from incredibly smart marketers, I was handed threads of ideas, insights, and a handful of aha! moments that not only inspired, but gave me confidence that the beliefs and values that I hold as a marketer are on the right track. Oh, and I also met Seth Godin, one of my heroes. So all in all, it was a pretty killer day. Being the huge nerd that I am, I couldn't wait to get home to reflect on what had transpired. 

Bitcoin has been taking the world by storm, popping up time and time again in the news. And though it's been on our radars so far as something financiers and even the police force should be concerned about (see "Silk Road Shutdown"), not as much has been said about how small businesses and marketers can leverage the trend.

Privacy is a big deal. And in a world where we're increasingly handing over our personal information to large tech companies, it's becoming an even bigger deal.

Most recently, both Google and Facebook have made significant changes to how they handle your privacy and it's had users up in arms. From Facebook's new Graph Search that allows you to narrow in on someone as defined as a "Mother of Jews who like Bacon", to the recent removal of the privacy feature that allows you to hide your timeline from searches, we're becoming more searchable and less capable of protecting our data. I'm still grappling with how to handle the fact that a privacy setting I've had in place for 6 years will now be gone, thanks to the friendly notification seen below.

As I've shared before, people are leaving Facebook en masse due to privacy fears. It's understandable that they questions how their data is being used and fear the ever-changing privacy clauses in their terms and agreements. These are legitimate consumer concerns that companies like Facebook and Google need to consider.

We've seen so many negative campaigns around privacy concerns and the "creepiness" of companies having access to our data. But what about the incredibly powerful functionality of being able to use this data?

Companies can fight back by showing consumers how aggregating their data or even photographing their homes for Google Maps, can provide them with value. Google has already caught on, creating this heartwarming advertisement about a man who found his long-lost family by exploring his home town via Google Maps.

On top of all this, there has been many a news story about families reunited through Facebook. Take for instance, this Texan woman who used Facebook to find her son who she gave up for adoption 22 years ago. As a marketer at Facebook, I would jump on these news stories as opportunities to tell a positive brand story about leveraging the data users provide. Remember that pesky privacy change that forces your timeline to show show up in a search? Perhaps Facebook could leverage a story based on a family that was reunited by a simple timeline search, and build a brand story around how they may never have met without that capability.

The point isn't that these companies should exploit there users, but amidst the privacy war that they must wage against, they can be smart about how they leverage positive stories about the power of their data and network capabilities.

Do you think the benefits of powerful technology can outweigh the privacy concern? Do you think companies can come out the better man by showcasing their brand strengths?

Feel free to share your thoughts or own examples in the comments.

The great thing about building a website that drives high traffic is that it offers opportunities to earn revenue in a variety of ways. And though it's exciting to jump on the monetization train right away (who hasn't been lured by the promise of advertising revenue?), it's important to first evaluate both the opportunities and the risks inherent in each approach to ensure the greatest success.

In this article, I'd like to walk you through a few typical monetization approaches, how they can earn you money, and what you should watch out for as precautions. Let's get started.