Last year on a trip back to the US from South Africa, I picked up a magazine about a topic I knew very little about. It is of the common tricks I use to learn about different industries outside of the ones I work directly with – and in this case, the magazine I ended up with was called Farmer’s Weekly. The content was as you would expect, advice for farmers on techniques, information about regulations that will affect their industry and ads for tractors and things like that. In the middle of the issue I picked up was a feature article about what the author called the “Amish Paradox”…
Content Marketing
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Most Topular Stories
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What The Amish Paradox Can Teach You About Marketing
Influential Marketing3 Feb 2012 | 6:01 am -
MYTH: "My buyers are not on the Web"
Web Ink Now5 Feb 2012 | 10:20 amI frequently hear from people that their buyers are not on the Web. This myth is used an excuse not to create a valuable Web site and to avoid creating content. Sorry to deliver a reality check, but the truth is that very few people are offline, particularly when you include lower cost mobile technology. In fact, there are more mobile phones in the world than toothbrushes. Of the 6 billion people on the planet, 4.8 billion have access to a mobile phone. I saw this phenomenon in action this week while on a one-week expedition in the Panamanian jungle. Together with seven other international… -
Content Strategy and Responsive Design
Brain Traffic Blog19 Jan 2012 | 3:03 pmMaybe you’ve heard the term “responsive design.” Maybe you haven’t. Many people think it solely refers to the technical aspects of design, but that’s not exactly the case. Responsive design can have a major impact on your content. I’ll tell you how it works, how it can affect your content, and why you should—and need to—care. What is responsive design? Responsive design is the practice of having one website that adapts to the device it is being viewed upon. Or, more simply: one website for all screens. So, why is it important? If you’ve… -
Queen of Link: Interview with Debra Mastaler
SEO Copywriting7 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amToday we are honored to feature our interview with link-building expert, Debra Mastaler. In business since 2000, Debra shares some of the expertise she’s gained from executing hundreds of link building campaigns with us! Enjoy, as Debra gives her candid take on link marketing – how it’s evolved and where it stands today. Please share a bit of your background with us: When did you start in SEO? What led you to specialize in linking? (or is it “link building”?) I’ve always referred to it as link marketing because of the way I work, but most people call it link building. In… -
Top Design Mistakes That Will Destroy Your Website’s SEO
Straight North Internet Marketing Blog1 Feb 2012 | 6:19 amYou just launched a brand-new website design full of stellar JavaScript navigation, a mind-blowing Java splash page, and fancy imagery throughout the website. Last month, you had an average of 10,000 visitors per week, and now you only have 100. What the heck happened? Whether the site is for delivering daily news or selling fire protective clothing, it must perform well in search engines to be successful. After every re-design, it’s important to perform a site audit to find design errors that may hurt your website’s SEO. A highly-skilled designer can do brilliant things with a…
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The Content Marketing Revolution
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What Can a Super Bowl Ad Buy You in Content Marketing?
6 Feb 2012 | 9:14 amSo, another Super Bowl gone. For those who advertised during the Super Bowl, the average cost of a Super Bowl ad this year was $3.5 million to promote their brand in front of 111 million viewers. For those counting, that’s $116,000 per second. Back in 2008 I looked at how much content marketing you could buy for the price of a Super Bowl ad. Four years ago, the price for a 30-second-spot was $2.7 million (folks, in this market, the economy is working just fine). That bought you A LOT of content. Today, you can buy even more. Here are a few examples. 47 Issues of Your Own… -
Lethal Generosity: The Key To Your Online Content Strategy
2 Feb 2012 | 8:16 pmThe concept of Lethal Generosity was first coined by social media pioneer Shel Israel in 2008. Simply put: Lethal Generosity is the concept that the most generous members of any social media company are the most credible and influential and as such, they can devastate their competition in the marketplace. In short, the company whose representative posts the most tips, links, advice, case studies, best practices that followers find useful will always [rise] to the top, not just in influence but also in search results. The more outbound links you post, the more inbound links you are likely… -
47 Essential Social Media Tools for Content Marketers
1 Feb 2012 | 11:29 amIt’s hard to believe the sheer number of social media tools we use everyday to help grow the Content Marketing Institute and SocialTract, as well as my own personal brand. Since there are so many, I decided to update this post from almost three years ago. It’s amazing the number of social media and content marketing tools that I continue to use, as well as the many that died over the years from lack of use. Which ones am I missing that you cannot live without? [disclaimer: many of the tools below are CMI partner tools] The Basics LinkedIn - Start the practice of connecting… -
McDonald’s Social Media Goes Wrong? Not a Chance
26 Jan 2012 | 6:49 pmYou’d have to be living in a cave not to be aware of the now historic McDonald’s Twitter campaign launched a few days ago. If you’ve been out of it for a while, here’s the CliffsNotes version: McDonald’s promoted a Tweet using the Twitter hashtag #McDStories that went like this: ‘When u make something w/pride, people can taste it,’ – McD potato supplier #McDStories http://t.co/HaPM5G9F‘ (source). The link is a video of McDonald’s potato supplier Frank Martinez and includes a heartwarming story about his life as a potato farmer. -
Tablet Content Marketing: Crazy Stats and Time to Move
25 Jan 2012 | 6:14 amIf you are not up on the latest statistics on the tablet, here are some to chew on: Apple reported first quarter earnings, selling over 15 million iPads during the quarter. This is a 111% increase from the previous quarter. In just under two years, Apple has now sold over 55 million units. According to Pew Internet’s latest findings, the share of Americans who own a tablet computer nearly doubled from December 2011 to January 2012. The number of Americans now owning at least one tablet device is now at 29%. Tablet: The Curl-Up Device Historically in marketing, we have talked about…
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Online Marketing Blog
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Innovative Search Features Drive Engagement – Paul Vellez #OMS12
8 Feb 2012 | 5:30 am"Google taught us how to search." - Paul Vellez Paul Vallez admits that when he started at HP less than a year ago he had just come from Ask.com and was pretty cocky about what he knew. Vallez also shares that he wasn’t very open to new ideas and wanted to step into his new position at a big brand and immediately demonstrate value. What was his approach? 75% Cocky 25% Open to new ideas In Vellez’s presentation he identified what he called “3 Key Learnings” that he shared with the audience for improving the way that your search strategy is implemented for… -
#Optimize This: Online Marketing Summit 2012 Presentation
6 Feb 2012 | 9:21 amI’m headed to (hopefully) sunny San Diego today for the annual Online Marketing Summit conference where I’ll get to present on one of my favorite topics: Optimization. Of course, if you read Online Marketing Blog very often, you’ll know my definition of optimization is a bit different than traditional SEO. My post last Thursday “Are You Optimized?” touched on this. The competition for attendance during the breakout sessions at OMS is really tough during the time slot I’m scheduled for. SAP, Wider Funnel and SAP are all presenting at the same time as… -
Online Marketing News: Facebook IPO, Harmonize with Google+, Pinterest Dominates Traffic
3 Feb 2012 | 6:55 amFacebook in Numbers: Prior to the IPO The big news in social media and business this week is Facebook’s new IPO. This infographic from statista and creative commons shares some very interesting figures about Facebook, before it goes public. Highlights include: In 2012 Facebook is expected to reach: 90% of U.S. Social Network Users & 60% of Internet Users. Assuming a valuation of $100 billion, Facebook would be work 67 to 100x’s it’s estimated 2011 net income. The Social Media Buzz “How to Harmonize Google+ With Your Other Social Platforms” Search Plus has placed even more… -
Essential Shifts in Online Marketing: Are You On Board? Are You Optimized?
2 Feb 2012 | 9:21 amIs your company adaptable? Is your marketing optimized? I think most online marketers get the fact that marketing and communications on the web is a fast changing place and that most companies are structured to move at a slower pace than the digital world is evolving. Take for example, the notion of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It’s been around for about 15 years or so and in just the past few months Google has made the most significant changes ever. Despite the crystal clear focus towards search integration with social, many companies and digital pundits are still skeptical about… -
Blogger Relations: Push or Pull? How to Get Bloggers to Mention Your Brand
1 Feb 2012 | 11:38 amIs Your Blogger Relations Using Push & Pull PR Tactics? Yesterday digital PR maven Adam Vincenzini pinged me about a post he was researching on how brands could make it easier for bloggers to talk about them. It’s a great question because mentions and links from influential content sources are priceless for credibility, awareness and in particular, social SEO. This is a topic close to home because after 8 years of blogging here at Online Marketing Blog attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors, nearly 50k RSS subscribers, 13k blog Facebook Fans and 16k blog Twitter followers,…
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Copyblogger
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The “New” SEO Secret Weapon
8 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amIf you have a web site, you may have noticed one of two things about the traffic you get from search engines. Your search traffic may have dried up overnight, with once-healthy streams turning into a sad little trickle. Or you may have noticed a nice, steady improvement as you’ve climbed higher in the SERPs (search engine results pages), while other sites that used to outrank you suddenly evaporated. There’s a super-secret new ingredient in SEO. It was always a factor, but it’s become even more important recently, as the Google team relentlessly declares war on what they see… -
8 Quick Tips for Writing Bullet Points People Actually Want to Read
7 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amIt’s a Twitterized world, we’re just living in it. Blog posts, Tweets, quick videos, Google+, the Facebook Timeline, and tens of thousands of images pinned to digital boards are flying past us faster than we can read them. Faster than we can even scan them, depending on the time of day. What does this mean for writers trying to cut through it all? At least two things that I can think of: You’d better know how to write a compelling headline You’d better know how to write bullet points that grab (and keep) your reader We’re not telling you to keep your copy short. -
7 Crucial Tactics for Writing a Wildly Successful Guest Post
6 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amWe all know that guest posts grow blogs. But not many people realize that tactical guest posting grows careers. Most bloggers I see pump out these articles while reciting the mantra “quantity over quality”; there’s no real strategy and there are no real long-term benefits. In this post I am going to show you the seven crucial tactics for writing a radically successful guest post. Done right, these strategies will get you more email subscribers, coveted Google ranking positions, and a big head-start on your content marketing goals. Who am I to teach you about guest blogging? -
7 Smashing Social Media Marketing Links
4 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amThis week on The Lede … What really works on Twitter One thing social media copywriters should never do 9 productive social media hacks A reminder of the power of the original social media If you just can’t wait for The Lede every Saturday, and you want even more practical, useable links than the seven we highlight here every week, follow @copyblogger on Twitter. It’s painless. Really. // 9 Social Media Hacks You Need to Embrace Now Mr. Baer makes a good case that though social media is inexpensive in monetary terms, it can get good and costly when it comes to spending your… -
Whether You Call it Blogging or Not, Online Content Still Rules
3 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amWhat if most of the business world stopped blogging tomorrow? Would you stop as well? No, if that happened, you’d find yourself sitting on the opportunity of a lifetime. Social networking sites would explode with likes and retweets and pins and +1s of your original content all day long. This is why the annual “blogging is dead” claim is so dumb. Even if it were true, your continued content production would dominate the web in every way. So, instead of worrying about the latest claimed trend or alarming decline of the moment, stay the course. Original content creation is the…
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Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad
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The Naked Blog: Dress Up Your Words
8 Feb 2012 | 6:13 amWhat can you learn about blog writing and content marketing from the theater? As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve attended local theater productions, including performances on The Naked Stage. (Photos courtesy Stuart Miles) If you’re not familiar with this kind of theater format, the actors read their lines, sitting on stools, dressed in black, without benefit of costumes, scenery, makeup, or movement. Hence the name, Naked Stage: the presentation is devoid of any of the usual visual aids. There’s a narrator to explain the scenes and movements, including sounds, which… -
5 Ways to Get Readers to Respond
1 Feb 2012 | 6:43 amYou spend a lot of time writing content on your blog but if the only comments you get are from people looking for free marketing, maybe it’s time to revise your content strategies. Here’s a guest post from Chris Peterson at Straight North integrated marketing services in Chicago. 1. Your Blog as an Interactive Tool When it comes to effective Web content, it’s no longer enough to post simple text with a graphic. Online newspapers learned that the hard way, but bloggers are discovering ways to use the Web as a means for two-way interaction – increasing the relevance of a blog… -
4 Content Marketing Goals for a Coach Website
26 Jan 2012 | 7:21 amHow should content marketing be used on the home page of your website? What makes good website copy? More specifically, if you’re a professional service provider, like an executive coach, a consultant, a lawyer, health care or financial adviser… how do you create a website that attracts clients and gets potential new leads? No matter what business you’re in, your content must achieve four things. Here are four goals for your online content: Connect immediately (by speaking to your readers’ challenges or problems) Answer questions and educate (by suggesting… -
A Checklist for 2012 Content Marketing Plans
19 Jan 2012 | 5:23 am2012 Content Marketing – how did we get here so fast? I’ve been reviewing my 2011 blog posts, email broadcasts, videos, and taking stock. I hope you’re doing the same, so you’ll get an idea of what’s needed for your own business in 2012. (Photo courtesy Rawich/FreeDigitalPhotos.net) Here’s a checklist for reviewing your 2011 content marketing results so you can know where to spend your time and energy in 2012: What were your most effective blog posts in terms of numbers of page views? Which posts generated the most comments? What email promotional… -
Content Marketing Tasks: Practice Makes Progress
4 Jan 2012 | 6:15 amIf you’ve spent your career avoiding certain marketing tasks because you don’t think you’re any good at them, you struggle each time you try, and you end up with weak results, take heart. Persistence has been touted by poets for a reason. Your brain learns a lot each time you try something, even if you fail. If you stop trying, you’ll walk away with nothing. If you persist, however, the rewards are huge. Example: public speaking. Many small business owners and entrepreneurs including many of my clients love the chance to get up and speak. The larger the group, the…
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Influential Marketing
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The Best And Worst Of Super Bowl Marketing Strategy 2012
6 Feb 2012 | 3:40 amI couldn't help but feel sorry this year for anyone who only watches the Super Bowl ads for entertainment. Perhaps the most defining feature of all the ads this year was how uniformly uncreative and dated they were. Marketers turned to old and obvious gags like girls in bikinis and dogs (lots of dogs) to try and carry their ads. The result was a very disappointing collection of ads for anyone who loves marketing and the hype of Super Bowl advertising. Still, there is plenty of marketing to learn from all the efforts this year, so let's get started in breaking down the strategy behind the ads… -
What The Amish Paradox Can Teach You About Marketing
3 Feb 2012 | 6:01 amLast year on a trip back to the US from South Africa, I picked up a magazine about a topic I knew very little about. It is of the common tricks I use to learn about different industries outside of the ones I work directly with – and in this case, the magazine I ended up with was called Farmer’s Weekly. The content was as you would expect, advice for farmers on techniques, information about regulations that will affect their industry and ads for tractors and things like that. In the middle of the issue I picked up was a feature article about what the author called the “Amish Paradox”… -
The 4 Principles Of Delusional Economics
27 Jan 2012 | 6:59 amWhen it comes to economic theories, there is plenty of fascination in the business world around how to explain what drives business and purchasing activities. Behavioural economics, the field of economics concerned with examining why people behave the way they do when it comes to their purchasing behaviour, is hot right now. Bestselling books like Freakonomics and Predictably Irrational dig deep into the psyche of people to try and explain seemingly illogical actions. My own upcoming book called Likeonomics, to some degree, looks at a similar theme of why we do business with people and… -
FinnAir, Republic Day & Why Celebration Is The Best Marketing Strategy
26 Jan 2012 | 10:28 amA few weeks ago it was my birthday. The day before on a Saturday morning, my two boys came leaping into our room very excited to wake me up. It wasn't so much about my birthday, unfortunately, as it was about getting ready to do their favourite thing on a Saturday morning: going to IHOP for pancakes. And when there is a birthday involved, it is an even bigger deal. Your birthday is a celebration there. They bring over at least 6 of the wait staff to sing their own version of the birthday song to you. You get ice cream for breakfast (what kid wouldn't love that?). People love celebrations -… -
Honda Masters The Art of Marketing Timing
23 Jan 2012 | 8:44 pmEvery year at the start of the new year there is something that most of us do without realizing it. It is related to making new year's resolutions, but it is more about sequencing your long term goals into the order in which you want to achieve them. One example might be saying to yourself, "I want to be married and then have a kid before I turn 35." Life is full of these little promises. So full, in fact, that often we make them to ourselves without even thinking. It raises an interesting marketing question as well. What would it take to get a customer to reevaluate the life sequence they…
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Web Ink Now
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MYTH: "My buyers are not on the Web"
5 Feb 2012 | 10:20 amI frequently hear from people that their buyers are not on the Web. This myth is used an excuse not to create a valuable Web site and to avoid creating content. Sorry to deliver a reality check, but the truth is that very few people are offline, particularly when you include lower cost mobile technology. In fact, there are more mobile phones in the world than toothbrushes. Of the 6 billion people on the planet, 4.8 billion have access to a mobile phone. I saw this phenomenon in action this week while on a one-week expedition in the Panamanian jungle. Together with seven other international… -
The advertising arms race now going to the edge of space
31 Jan 2012 | 5:17 amPerhaps you've seen the video Lego Man in Space that’s gone around recently. It's an interesting time-lapse sequence of a ride on a weather balloon and has generated two million views in five days. Whenever there is a new technology like this, it is inevitable that somebody will use it as a place to sell ads. Enter JP Aerospace, a company that flies a high altitude balloon, carrying ads, to the edge of space and returns photos for the sponsor to use. The JP Aerospace site says: "Creates impact! Gives customers a lasting impression of your logo or message! Provides a dramatic image for your… -
Thinking Right (and Left) about Content Marketing
27 Jan 2012 | 3:11 pmAs I evaluate Web marketing such as blogs and websites, one thing I look for is evidence of both left-brain and right-brain thinking in the creation of the content. This obsession might seem trivial, but I guess my right-brain outlook on life causes me to take a holistic view of content. The right-/left-brain concept is widely credited to have developed from the thinking of American psychobiologist Roger Sperry in the late 1960s. Sperry's Nobel Prize-winning work opened whole fields of psychological and philosophical debate including the idea that there are two different sides of the brain,… -
Playing for Change
23 Jan 2012 | 9:28 amWhen I first saw the original Playing for Change video Stand By Me on YouTube I was moved and fascinated and jumped for joy. Wow. As a music lover and collector of social media success stories, here was both music and social media triumphantly on display and coming together to support a good cause. I talked up the videos via social and in person to everyone I saw. Stand By Me now has 37 million views on YouTube and has sparked a movement. Now, Playing for Change has 15 videos in the Songs Around the World series with a combined 140 million views. If you haven't seen a Playing for Change video… -
Stop SOPA Silliness
18 Jan 2012 | 5:36 amIt didn't work with music: The music industry killed Napster and sued 16-year-olds to protect their dying business model of selling "albums" via top 40 radio. Instead of understanding the immense power of social media like YouTube as a marketing tool to sell single songs (iTunes) and streaming subscriptions (Spotify), the music industry honchos preferred to destroy in a ridiculous attempt to save the status-quo. Listened to top 40 radio recently? It didn't work with email: I get many times more unsolicited (and illegal) email than I did prior to CAN-SPAM. Tons of it from legitimate companies…
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Straight Talk with Nigel Hollis
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Has your brand fallen into a meaning trap?
6 Feb 2012 | 9:18 amI recently came across this McKinsey Quarterly paper by Harvard Business School professor, Teresa Amabile, and co-author, Steven Kramer. The paper proposes four traps by which senior management can accidentally undermine the motivation of their staff. And it makes me wonder if those same traps can undermine a consumer's allegiance to a brand. Based on a multiyear research project, the paper finds that making progress in meaningful work is the single most important factor in ensuring people are motivated to do their job well. The paper also documents four traps which undermine meaning and… -
So what is your brand’s digital share of voice?
2 Feb 2012 | 4:51 amNew evidence presented in this point of view (POV) by Duncan Southgate, Global Brand Director for Digital at Millward Brown, suggests that a brand should maximize both its digital and traditional media share of voice if it wants to grow. Knowing that digital share of voice (SOV) is a driver of growth is important, knowing that you can also measure that SOV is even better because then you can manage it effectively. As Duncan notes, the argument that SOV matters is an established and validated one; there is clear industry evidence that higher TV SOV is likely to lead to increased market… -
Audi gains on desire, sales and price point
30 Jan 2012 | 5:49 am2011 was a good year for Audi in the USA. While BMW and Mercedes-Benz duked it out for the highest number of cars sold, Audi posted a 16 percent increase in sales. Perhaps more important, is that the brand’s average transaction price has closed on its key competition. So what lies behind this improved marketplace performance? Talking to Brandchannel, Scott Keogh, CMO of Audi of America, states: True luxury leadership comes from being the thought leader in the segment, not necessarily the sales leader. He then goes on to cite Audi's promotion of clean diesel drivetrains as one of the reasons… -
Making differentiation meaningful again
26 Jan 2012 | 8:29 amIn a recent Media Post article titled, “TV Brand Names Become Irrelevant,” Aaron Baar states: With so many HDTVs offering the same features (Internet connectivity, high definition, etc.), the brand names are becoming irrelevant. I am sure he is right. Why? Because I had to get up and check whether I own an LG or a Samsung. From memory, all I could have told you was that it’s not a Sony. The BrandZ database also lends credence to Aaron’s statement. The correlation between familiarity with what the brand stands for (Presence) and what brand was bought last is over 90 percent. In other… -
Goodbye purchase funnel, hello loyalty loop?
19 Jan 2012 | 4:33 amMcKinsey & Co want us to think of the consumer purchase journey more as an iterative loop than a simplistic purchase funnel. The idea that the purchase decision journey is not linear has been around for years. I wrote about it in The Global Brand in 2008, referencing Prophet’s Brand Touchpoint Wheel from earlier that decade (click here for a 2003 reference). Don’t get me wrong, I think the McKinsey decision journey is an improvement on the purchase funnel. As I wrote in The Global Brand: A good discipline for developing a customer-centric view is to lay out the different contact…
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Conversation Agent
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Collaboration? You Must be Joking!
8 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amI read this post by Chris Saad the other morning in response to Robert Scoble 's mention in a recent post and I keep thinking about the applicability of its concepts not just for Silicon Valley and the tech community. It applies to marketers and communicators as well. [Posted originally on Google+]<rant>1. lead not just cheerlead - how many times do we copy the same concept over and over, or look at short term payoffs when the opportunities are on the making better promises side of the conversation?2. add to the business DNA - nothing dies, not media companies, not blogging, not… -
What a Difference Five Years Make
7 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amHere I am. Writing from my heart more than my head where all the good ideas are and I get the zinger -- yeah, a personality would be great. Seriously? Kidding. I'm sure it would. And I have one. I can go from Zero to Italian in no time. When appropriate. Why do you care? Because that's just it -- online content should have a style and point of view, to get more personality it needs to have guts, and it needs to have time. Guts don't come from charts and stats, they come from people. Time as in face time, as in skin in the game, as in relationships. Or you're just making the seagull move --… -
How Would You Redesign the Sears Customer Experience?
6 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amAs a regular at Brand Autopsy, I remember the "would you miss" series of posts about brands John Moore wrote a couple of years back. The brands discussed ranged from Denny's, Costco, Ace Hardware, Dairy Queen, Crate & Barrell, BusinessWeek, UPS, Pizza Hut, to Walgreens, Polaroid Instant Film, Advertising Age, The Cheesecake Factory, Chili's, Wells Fargo, and more. One of the brands was Sears -- if Sears went out of business tomorrow, would any of us care? Does Sears provide such a unique product and customer experience that we would be saddened if it didn’t exist? How did Sears do on… -
... then I Discovered I am Actually Funny
5 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amSo, I've been thinking. What I'm doing here with this blog is not working. It's not you, it's me. Somehow I manage to scare you off to some site with LOL cats whenever you open your feed. I'm not inspiring you. Or maybe I am, and you're not telling me. I've tried a couple of things to justify keeping up with producing researched and useful content. That only makes the scraping and copying and rewriting gremlins happy and me poor. They don't link anymore in the sphere, those bastards. This is a departure from my usual writing style, I know. I've been slaving on figuring out an angle for the… -
The Weeds and Trees Links Edition
4 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amDo you have poor information consumption habits? Here's how you can tell -- if you're constantly looking for the next thing or shiny object, you're addicted to the fast growth and short term life of weeds. Some of them are pretty. All the action is up top, yet they don't grow strong. Small roots. On the other end of the spectrum are trees. All the action is underground, so you don't really see it while it's happening -- and at least for a while. Yet, once they grow, trees could be there for decades, stretching upward and providing a welcome respite for generations. Weeds and trees Is a…
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Social Media Darwinism
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What Social Data can Teach You about Audiences
1 Feb 2012 | 12:00 pmMy son is a senior in high school and I am beginning to help him with his search for the right school. One of the aspects of college life that he is looking forward to is belonging to a university with strong school spirit. So to help with this, I suggested that we use football teams as a proxy to find the right environment. With this in mind, we set out to find a simple list of “2011 NCAA Football Rankings” – an easy Google search is there ever was one. I assumed that the top result, ESPN’s 2011 NCAA Football Rankings, would be the perfect match for our search, until I looked at… -
Trust is hard to come by these days
25 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pmFor years I have kept tabs on the Edelman Trust barometer report, which comes out every January in Davos. And this year was no exception. After last year I figured this years report could make an excellent gauge of the economy worldwide! Simply put the report states: Trust is down in every industry and every country across the board by an average of 6%. So what does this mean for marketers and for major brands in an era of social media? Well 2 things … Hidden in the data is the fact that CEOs and Government officials are at the very bottom of the totem pole when it comes to delivering a… -
Brands: It’s not enough to be liked
15 Dec 2011 | 12:00 pmImagine a company that has upscale retail locations around the United States receiving tens of thousands of customer visits. Now imagine not having anyone there to greet and interact with those customers. What’s the point of the storefront? Facebook fan pages are much the same thing. But only 0.2 to 2 percent of fans go back to a page. Why? Because there is nothing going on that interests them. Fan pages are a unique marketing canvas to connect with avid consumers. Yet some brands are terribly underutilizing these pages, making them basically brochureware repositories — essentially… -
How important is real-time data? It’s all relative
7 Dec 2011 | 8:35 amThe speed with which social media spreads ideas and information has led many marketers to place a premium on capturing data in real time. But should real-time data be such a priority? Real time means different things to different people when the term is used as a proxy for recency. To an evolutionary biologist, real time could mean thousands of years of species development data. To a 911 dispatcher, real time is a few seconds worth of critical information from a telephone call. What about marketing and advertising? This notion of “relative real time” extends there, too. To a marketing… -
Making Marketing Agility Cool
23 Nov 2011 | 12:00 pmChief Marketing Officers take pride in being the trendsetters around the corporate corral – the arbiters of hip, the sharpest dressers, the consummate gadgeteers. But when it comes to using data to support decision making, the CMO is likely not to be the smoothest operator. Each year the Marketing team works hard to distill consumer insights into planning documents that will guide its programs in the months ahead. Meanwhile, there are already other departments within corporations that are continually refining their budgets and plans using the latest business intelligence data from…
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Post-Advertising
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Crowdsourced! Eight Ways to Involve Your Most Important Allies
1 Feb 2012 | 3:33 pmBrand-hatched crowdsourcing is nothing new. But constructive crowdsourcing with usable output? Crowdsourcing that evokes a palpable sense of togetherness? That’s new. Steps being taken by nimble branders like Warby Parker and Betabrand to engage (and we mean really engage) fans and enthrall newcomers will soon become tomorrow’s staples for sourcing success. Want in on the unique new ways brands can use advanced crowdsourcing to engage followers? Read on. Each of the eight ideas we’ve carefully chosen has the potential to send your engagement numbers through the roof, as long as requests… -
The Future of (Auto)Mobile Advertising
25 Jan 2012 | 3:23 amGrowing up, all I wanted was a black Pontiac TransAm that spoke to me and helped me fight crime through a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of criminals operating above the law. What I got was a 1985 Peugeot 505s with cigarette burns on the canvas seats and a tape player that didn’t have a reverse button. Cars have come a long way since the “forward-thinking” days of Knight Rider. Cars not only speak to us, they can drive for us, give us directions, and show the kids some Dora the Explorer while en route to a ski trip in Vermont. And this is just the beginning. Like it… -
Is Google’s Social Search the New Normal?
23 Jan 2012 | 11:56 amAdditional reporting by Story’s Director of Audience Generation Cyrus Karimi. In early December, Google updated their search algorithm to provide each user with personalized results—the information Google deemed most relevant to the specific user. The news garnered little chatter in the social media realm. According to Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land, less than 50 news articles and blog posts were written about in its initial week (and only 290 to date). Earlier this month Google made another important change, updating their search algorithm to include personalized search… -
Social As We See It: Digital Trends For 2012
19 Jan 2012 | 3:08 amThis post originally appeared in our January issue of “Live Report from the Future of Marketing,” our monthly Post-Advertising newsletter. Subscribe for free here. In the marketing world, getting in on the ground floor of the latest digital trend can pay huge dividends for users, particularly if they’re brands. But it’s difficult to know exactly which emerging site or app to dive into with both feet. Not every idea pans out, regardless of how much VC funding is acquired. True success depends on widespread adoption of the masses, or at least a dedicated community who simply… -
When Political Ads Attack, Everyone Loses
11 Jan 2012 | 12:58 pmWith additional reporting by Adam Uhrynowski. We’re all familiar with mudslinging in political commercials, debates and speeches. In the recent Iowa caucuses, negative advertising was more apparent than ever. But why do America’s leaders spend so much time pointing out the competition’s flaws and defending their political (and personal) histories rather than promoting themselves? Does it even work? What if brands reverted to this tactic? We’ll answer these questions and more after the jump. In a recent debate, war raged between Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich as the Mitt…
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Conversation Marketing: Internet Marketing with a Twist of Lemon
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SEO exam questions: A sample
7 Feb 2012 | 9:23 amI’m working on a set of SEO test questions at my company. The objective: Figure out each SEO analyst’s strengths and weaknesses, then tailor training to them. I thought I’d share a few. They’re supposed to start off pretty easy and get more difficult: TRUE or FALSE or BOTH: The ‘nofollow’ attribute is good for SEO. When are drop-down menus bad for SEO? Always Never If they cause unnecessary pagerank ‘leaks’. How many times should you repeat a key phrase on a page? Come off it, Ian, there’s no right answer to that. 3% of the total words on… -
Twitter shows up in Google SERPs again
4 Feb 2012 | 11:50 amImportant update: Man, did I get this one wrong. Andy Beard correctly points out that this result showed up because I follow Lucky on Google+, and they have a link to their Twitter profile in their Google+ profile. The result only shows up once in a while, and in my Saturday-morning haze it I mistook it. So, my bad. Very bad. Very, very, very bad. Just saw Twitter start showing up in Google search results pages again, “Plus Your World” style in this search for ‘jeans’. I follow Lucky Brand on Twitter: Twitter Plus Your World Could this mean that Google’s loosing… -
Google Plus will build your search traffic
2 Feb 2012 | 10:40 amGoogle Search Plus Your World builds organic search traffic, big-time. Say what you want about the evil-ness of the whole thing. It’s a huge opportunity, and you need to capitalize on it now. The background I’ve been working for several weeks, researching what seems to get your Plus profile showing up in organic search results—also known as Google Search Plus Your World. Yes, that actually translates to Google SPY World. Sergey, Larry, did you guys pay someone to come up with that? Along the way, I’ve measured the traffic generated by Plus Your World results. The… -
Webinar video now available
1 Feb 2012 | 8:47 pmAll I ask in exchange is your soul. Well. Actually just your e-mail address, if you don’t mind. Click here to sign up and watch the video of the first webinar, ‘Internet marketing 101′. I won’t spam you. Much. -
5 signs you should shut up
29 Jan 2012 | 6:21 pmI’ve had a hard time blogging of late. I feel a little hopeless. Like I’m yelling at the top of my lungs and pointing and saying DON’T WALK INTO THE BURNING HOUSE, but there are 10,000,000 other people writing all forms of idiocy. Luckily, I know lots of folks are still scraping my blog and using it to auto-spam their way into the rankings. So I know someone will read this on seo-top-ranking-business-number-1.com. Spamdication, for the win!!!! If your ‘expert’ blog posts have these issues, please stop publishing, k? 1: You’re a time traveler Yahoo! and…
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Marketing Interactions
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Expectations and Experience are the New Competition
6 Feb 2012 | 1:51 pmFor years, B2B marketers have been worried about competitors' products and solutions. They spent a considerable amount of effort trying to differentiate their features and prove their offering is better than another company's version of something similar. As technology continues to shorten product time-to-market and allow for rapid updates and improvements, it's also enabled marketers to become publishers, applying even more pressure to move faster to produce more information than competing vendors. Online publishing is the new version of one-upping. (Competitor A just… -
Marketing Cloud Computing to Non-Believer CIOs
2 Feb 2012 | 6:16 pmCloud computing is a pretty big deal. It's one of the top priorities for many CIOs. So, it should be a pretty easy process to build a B2B content strategy that helps CIOs make a purchasing decision. Or is it? I subscribe to a lot of newsletters and have a ton of Google Alerts to help me mine for information I use to learn more about the buyers my clients sell to. In my Inbox today was a bonanza of a resource. SearchCIO sent me a link to: Quick take: Why iRobot's CIO doesn't like enterprise cloud computing This resource is a quick interview with Jay Leader, CIO of iRobot, in… -
Why B2B Marketers Must Address Status Quo
31 Jan 2012 | 6:15 pmWhen I do stategic planning workshops with my clients, we get into a lot of discussions about buying stages. Anyone who's followed me for a while or read my book knows that I always start very early in the process with the stage of Status Quo. My definition of status quo is the buyer's current situation. We get to that by answering questions such as: How are they doing what your product enables today? What workarounds may be in place that could be escalating pain? Why should they care about what you're talking about? What would get their attention? What would they need to learn… -
The Content Marketing Continuum: Part 1
29 Jan 2012 | 2:25 pmOnline publishing has changed the game. Yes, the Internet changed everything. You've heard it before. But, what many B2B marketers haven't yet grasped is the shift from start and stop marketing campaigns to approaching online publishing as a Content Marketing Continuum. To make this shift, marketers need a framework, not just the ability to publish content. Marketers are under pressure to create a sustainable buyer experience that results in a profitable outcome. Pushing out stand-alone events or campaigns that stop and start and continuously change in focus is not going to… -
Are Shorter Sales Cycles a Wake-up Call for Marketers?
24 Jan 2012 | 6:47 pmMarketing Sherpa's chart of the week shows the answer to this question. Q. Please select the time period closest to the length of your organization's entire sales cycle, from first lead inquiry to purchase. In the commentary, Jen Doyle states that these results showing shorter sales cycles correlate to the lower deal prices Marketing Sherpa's annual benchmark survey also discovered. But I think there's more at stake here than lower prices. Everyone has been talking about how much time buyers spend self-educating and researching prior to identifying themselves to vendors.
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Brian Solis
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2011 Was the Year of the Mobile Consumer, What’s in Store for 2012? Value.
7 Feb 2012 | 12:10 pmChris Silva, my colleague at Altimeter Group, released a useful report today that I wanted to share with you here. Mobile is important and I believe you know this. However, when we consider mobile, we often think about the experience when and where it begins. But, we often miss the opportunity to lead a more meaningful journey as it may travel from small screen to larger screens across laptops, desktops and beyond. And along the way, we must now determine our role in this journey to provide information, shape decisions, and influence behavior. In Chris’ report, he reminds us that 2011… -
Season 2 Finale: How Yamaha invests in new customer experiences
3 Feb 2012 | 12:52 pmThis is it…the Season Finale! And, what a way to end Season 2 of (R)evolution…. In this episode, Yamaha shares what is by far the most expansive view of disruptive technology’s impact on business infrastructure and culture on the show to date. What you’ll see is a genuine discussion with Jeff Hawley and Rick Williams of Yamaha explore how an already successful business is exploring new opportunities to better define the customer experience before, during and after transactions. It comes down to workflow. Nowadays, it either works for you or works against you. Here,… -
Smartphones, Tablets, PCs, The Devices People Use to Discover Information in Social Media (and when)
2 Feb 2012 | 5:13 pmMy friends over at bit.ly published an interesting graph that reveals the devices as well as the days/times that people use different devices and how and when they consume information. As you can imagine, it’s across the board, but as you can see, there are waves that every device follows, except the desktop. Desktops are of course the devices that we can assume people use during work hours. As such, they are most heavily used on weekdays before noon. Interestingly enough, phone traffic peaks at about the same times, but not to similar effects. What’s also telling is that tablets… -
What’s Love Got to Do with It? The 3P’s of Identity
2 Feb 2012 | 8:16 amGuest post by Allison Cerra, author of Identity Shift With the 2012 Presidential election looming, there’s no shortage of polls to help narrow the field of candidates. I find a recent one from Fox News to be particularly fascinating. Among other questions, Republican primary voters were asked which Republican presidential candidate is most likeable and which they would most trust with a nuclear weapon. While Newt Gingrich scored at the top of the heap in earning the trust vote, he scored only marginally well on the likeability scale. The topic was discussed on the network’s “Fox &… -
Facebook Files S-1 for $5 Billion IPO (revealing stats & revenue)
1 Feb 2012 | 4:38 pmUpdating as this plays out with deeper analysis and links… Just a few moments ago, Facebook officially filed an S-1 for an initial public offering seeking to raise $5 billion. Here are a few key findings… - 845 million monthly active users, year over year growth of 39% - 483 million daily active users as of December, year over year growth of 48% - 425 million monthly mobile users - 100 billion friend connections as of December 31, 2011 - 2.7 billion Likes and comments per day during the last quarter of 2011 - $1 billion in profits in 2011 - $3.7 billion in revenues in 2011,…
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nick burcher
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Clarion Hotel Post 4D projection in Gothenburg
2 Feb 2012 | 4:47 pmAround 10000 people witnessed the spectacular opening event on 26th January 2012 for the new Clarion Hotel Post in Gothenburg, Sweden. The historic building was previously home to the Post Office before being converted to the Clarion Hotel Post and the opening of the hotel was marked with a 4D projection that included fireworks, a follow on concert and a VIP party for 2500 people. Whilst this sort of projection is becoming more commonplace, it is still a great way of making a (lasting) impression and the opening of the Clarion Hotel Post was another great example of it can work! -
David Beckham on Google+ and hanging out live
15 Jan 2012 | 5:41 pmDavid Beckham is now on Google+ and on Thursday January 19th Google+ users can hang out with Beckham after he has participated in a live video Google interview. David Beckham on Google+ Interview questions can be submitted by posting to Google+ with hashtag #GoogleBeckham and the David Beckham Google interview will be posted to YouTube afterwards. The David Beckham Google interview starts at 1700 GMT / 1200 EST / 0900 PST and the Beckham Google + Hangout is scheduled for 1830 GMT / 1330 EST / 1030 PST - more details can be seen in this video: David Beckham is the… -
Moxie 2012 Trends Report from Moxie Interactive
9 Jan 2012 | 4:04 amMoxie Interactive have published their Moxie 2012 Trends report and it contains a host of useful information alongside fascinating predictions for the year ahead. The report description states: "At Moxie, we publish a report each year that analyzes existing trends in order to gain insight into what will break over the next year. It’s an important and interesting exercise, which helps us focus our energies and filter out the noise. We apply ascendant trends to our clients digital marketing efforts and all year long we meet with innovative technology companies in order to get a jump on the… -
Facebook usage statistics by country Dec 2008 - Dec 2011
4 Jan 2012 | 7:35 amI have been collating Facebook usage statistics by country for a few years now and this means it's possible to look at growth in Facebook usage by country from 2008 to the present. Facebook continues to grow across the world and the big story is the Facebook usage growth in so called developing markets such as Indonesia, India, Brazil and the Philippines. The table below shows the top 30 countries by number of active Facebook users according to the data available from Facebook (leave a comment if you want to know statistics for other countries.) Top 30 countries with highest number of… -
Happy New Year 2012 from London! [HD fireworks video and music download]
1 Jan 2012 | 1:49 amHappy New Year from London! Awesome London New Year's Eve fireworks again, kicked off by Jacques Rogge's Olympic announcement and the 'Chariots of Fire theme' before including Adele, Coldplay, the Prodigy, Faithless and all sorts of other tracks mashed together. The London New Year 2012 Fireworks mix was put together by BBC DJ Nihal with Dan Mumford over a month in a Radio 1 studio - you can download the full mix from Nihal's Soundcloud here : http://soundcloud.com/dj-nihal/fireworksmix2012-by-dj-nihal FIREWORKSMIX2012 BY DJ NIHAL by DJ Nihal Happy New Year! Related posts Like this…
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The Toad Stool by Alan Wolk
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Don't Make Me Think: Social TV and the Super Bowl
6 Feb 2012 | 3:13 pmBack in seventh grade, I remember learning about some Renaissance-era British doctor who, in order to study the process of digestion, would swallow food in a linen bag attached to a string that he'd then drag back out of his stomach.So comparatively, my experience using various social TV apps during the Super Bowl in order to report on them, was relatively painless.But still.So few of them were done with any forethought whatsoever. When we are watching TV, it’s generally a pretty immersive experience. We’ll multitask in short bursts, but please do not ask us to decide whether we… -
Social Media Week NYC Panel on Social TV
5 Feb 2012 | 4:10 pmMake sure and reserve a spot ASAP - it's FREE but it is filling up fast.Here are the details:My Social TV App Thinks I'm My Dad: Privacy Issues In The Age of Convergence Thursday, February 16, 5 - 6 PMEdelman Worldwide, 250 Hudson Street While Social TV may be this year’s buzzword, there's one issue that's often overlooked: whose social TV is it?TVs are rarely personal devices. So how do you make sure that Mom and Dad's Cinemax movies aren't posted to their kid’s Facebook walls? And if the whole family is watching together, whose friends is the app tracking?We'll also… -
The VOD Wars
27 Jan 2012 | 10:28 amWhile social TV seems to be garnering the bulk of the buzz these days, the real action is happening in Video on Demand or VOD.VOD was once treated as the ugly stepsister of the industry, with most operators regarding it as a promotional vehicle (hence the proliferation of 5-minute “Making of X” videos on most On Demand channels.)Purchasing broadcast rights from the studios was costly, VOD technology was very unstable and prone to mid-broadcast meltdowns, and, with the ubiquity of DVD rental services, there was very little demand for On Demand.Until, of course, there was.Reed Hasting… -
The Social EPG is the Social TV of Tomorrow
24 Jan 2012 | 11:46 amWhile social TV apps continue to crop up like proverbial weeds, the future of the social TV app will likely be a proprietary social EPG (electronic program guide) provided by the same company that supplies your pay TV service. It will likely come with a companion tablet device too, one your pay TV provider gives you for a low monthly fee, much in the same way they now provide set top boxes. Multiple tablets will mean multiple fees, but most households will want at least one for every adult or teenage member.This model is the obvious next step for an industry that’s waiting and watching as… -
An Apple TV Will Be Just Like An iPhone Because...
10 Jan 2012 | 12:20 amIt will be sold to you at a heavily subsidized price from a service provider looking to lock you in to a multi-year contract.Because Apple can't build their own pay TV service. Nor can they launch an internet only service. Just like the iPhone, someone else owns the pipes: in this case it is likely to be the same company that provides pay TV service.And if you own the pipes, you can make using lots of bandwidth to watch someone else's pay TV service really expensive and inconvenient.If you are Apple, going through a specific pay TV provider allows you to have all the control you had over the…
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Servant of Chaos
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Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week
6 Feb 2012 | 8:09 pmSometimes the week takes off without us holding tightly. So that makes it already Tuesday where I live – and I’m yet to catch up with my long list of Monday to-do items. And I am sure I am not alone, right? I hope that these five great posts from last week help you catch up with your busy life! I’ve often thought that blogs (and all the other social media sites, content and interactions that we produce) – when taken collectively – say more about our lives and reputations than we’d like to admit. Jen Stumbles calls this out explaining just how recruitment is changing right beneath… -
Presentation Trends 2011
5 Feb 2012 | 11:19 pmTake a look back at your presentations from last January/February. Think about how you might do them differently. What would it be – more images? Longer? Shorter? More words? Less video? Personally, my file sizes seem to be getting larger – with higher resolution photos and images blowing out the sizing. I’m using PPTX files – and about 80% of my slides have pictures. This deck on trends from popular web presentation sharing site, Slideshare, provides the details on just what has changed in the last 12 months. Take a look. How do you compare? SlideShare Zeitgeist 2011 View more… -
How Average Is An Average Day on Facebook?
2 Feb 2012 | 10:29 pmWith all the hoopla about Facebook’s IPO, I thought it would be interesting to dig a little below the surface. Brian Solis points out that with 845 million monthly active users and 100 billion friend connections as at December 31, 2011, we’re looking at a valuation of about $5.90 per active user and about 5c per friend. So, for the average Dunbar bound individual, it values your network at around $7.50 (there’s a premium calculation there on your individual active user value). But what does “average” look like in the Facebook world? This infographic from JESS3 provides a nice… -
Who is your Most Valuable Follower?
2 Feb 2012 | 9:31 pmHere is a nice web app for Twitter built by Alexander Taub and Michael Schonfeld. It’s very simple and straight forward, asking “who’s your MVF” – most valuable follower. You login via Twitter and authorise the app to dig around in your follower list, and after a few moments it tells you which of your followers has the largest following. OK, so it’s not necessarily your most valuable, but your most popular – even still, it’s an interesting question to ask of any audience. Mine is @ONECampaign. Who is yours? Find out here. -
Social Media Week and The Social Enterprise Hub at SAP
1 Feb 2012 | 7:18 pmSocial branding, online communities, social business and product integration are big and popular topics at the moment. Every day you will see blog posts, articles, whitepapers, videos and conferences devoted to these topics – yet there is a vast gap between those who can “talk” about social media and those who “do” social media within a business context. During the week February 13-17, 2012, Social Media Week seeks to remedy this with a focus on the business impact of social media. For those near San Francisco, you will be able to attend the “content hubs” hosted by Cisco…
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No man is an iland
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If the email’s legal, it can’t be spam. Can it?
20 Jan 2012 | 2:55 amSometimes it helps to have a “fact” sheet to whisk out when making an email marketing case to colleagues (or yourself). Today’s post fills that role for an issue that often confuses those not directly involved in email marketing… Does compliance with anti-spam law confer immunity from being filtered, marked or even perceived as spam? No. Now for the summary and the evidence… Summary Legal compliance is not the main factor used by those who manage incoming mail (ISPs, webmail services and IT departments) to decide if your email should be delivered to the inbox or… -
Email more popular than beer…and other fun facts
22 Dec 2011 | 5:06 amAs I close down for the holiday break, I though I’d leave you with some lighthearted statistics about email. Something to impress the relatives with. Ready? 1. According to Google Trends, email is more popular than Elvis, the Beatles, chocolate, beer, Justin Bieber and Harry Potter…but not sex. 2. Say you printed out each non-spam email sent in the world on a single piece of standard A4 copy paper: One day’s worth of emails would produce a stack of paper 2,159 times taller than Mt. Everest It would take just over 20 days for the stack to reach the moon In just under 2 hours,… -
Double your sign-up rate? Practical advice for popover forms
20 Dec 2011 | 5:50 amSpiders, scorpions, snakes…and popups. Improvements to browser security largely killed the popup window, but the fear and loathing remains. As a result, email marketers have been reluctant to use “in your face” website sign-up forms that in any way resemble those popups of the past. But times and technology have changed. Is this reluctance to consider more brazen approaches to sign-up forms still relevant and reasonable? With marketers reporting huge sign-up lifts from using them, what are the impacts on user experience? Are there any recommended techniques in this field? I… -
Six approaches for future-proof email marketing
2 Dec 2011 | 2:53 amSo in a terrifying moment of weakness I found myself saying: “It would be nice to get 3000 Twitter followers by the end of the year” Oh dear. Why 3000? Why by the end of the year? Why focus on THAT metric? Why, Mark, why? I’m only human. The seductive appeal of using a random number of followers, likes, +1’s or subscribers as your measure of success is a tricky one to resist. But the mistake led me to ask whether I’ve learned anything over the past 13+ years of online and email marketing. Cue a brief period of panic…followed by a longer period of… -
Did Monty Python write your unsubscribe page? 9 tips to make it better
8 Nov 2011 | 8:48 amAll your calls-to-action are happily driving sales, searches, downloads, donations, phone calls or Facebook love. But not the unsubscribe link. No indeed. This sniveling wretch spends his days sucking subscribers out of your database. (And his nights cavorting recklessly with dental appointments and taxes down the “Needed but not Nice” gin and whisky joint.) As we’ll see, however, unsubscribes are not all bad. And there are good ways and bad ways to manage them. Make it difficult? One school of thought says the best way to keep people on your list is to make it as difficult…
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Content Marketing Today
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Content – A Seven-Step Road Map for Your Content Marketing : MarketingProfs Article
3 Feb 2012 | 12:17 pmContent – A SevenStep Road Map for Your Content Marketing (7 step road map for creating content marketing.)…Via www.marketingprofs.com -
A Social Media Primer For Neophytes-How To Populate Your iPad or Tablet – Town Hall
3 Feb 2012 | 12:15 pmUSA TODAY–A Social Media Primer For Neophytes-How To Populate Your iPad or Tablet Town Hall.There has been an explosion in social media networks over the past ten years. The younger set gets it, and aggressively uses them.Via finance.townhall.com -
How the Third Wave of Media Is Transforming Marketing Content
3 Feb 2012 | 12:14 pmThe third wave of media is here. Here’s what you have to do to transform your marketing content along with it.Via blog.hubspot.com -
Building a Brand for Gen Y [CONVO] | Social Media Today
3 Feb 2012 | 12:13 pmA brand is much more than its name. A great brand will trigger an emotional reaction and, perhaps, a sense of belonging. In social media domains, it should create a motivation to share.Via socialmediatoday.com -
Managing Content Marketing: Expert Interview with Joe Pulizzi
1 Feb 2012 | 10:24 amWhat is content marketing?What makes it different from other types of business communications, and why should local businesses adopt a content marketing… See the video interview below to learn from content marketing guru, Joe Pulizzi: Via www.business2community.com
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Hard Knox Life
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“There’s something happening here…”
14 Jan 2012 | 5:22 pmAs I sit here at our region’s first Startup Weekend, it is clear that there’s something happening here when it comes to Cincinnati’s entrepreneurial scene. That magic is in the air as we watch over 100 people work on launching a startup in just 54 hours. The success of this event builds on the momentum of the last 12 months that includes: Venture for America announced that Cincinnati is going to be part of their inaugural class of 4 cities starting Summer 2012. The Brandery had a busy year as we moved into our new home into Over the Rhine and the Kauffman Fellows named… -
Mark Cuban’s 12 Rules for Startups
17 Dec 2011 | 10:39 amI just finished reading Mark Cuban’s new ebook How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It. Considering it only costs $2.99, there is no reason for you not to go buy it right this minute. While the entire thing is a great read, I particularly enjoyed a chapter at the end entitled “12 Cuban Rules for Startups.”. They include: Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and something you love. If you have an exit strategy, it’s not an obsession. Hire people who you think will love working there. Sales Cure All. Know how your company will make… -
Help Rockfish win iMedia Agency of the Year
15 Nov 2011 | 7:30 amTonight I received the great news that Rockfish is one of ten finalist for the inaugural iMedia Agency of the Year Awards. With iMedia being one of the leading sources of digital marketing news and insight, this is quite the honor. But being nominated doesn’t mean that we are the winner. That title will go to the agency that receives the most votes between now and Friday, November 18th. I am not one to ask for a favor, but this is one of those cases where I will go out on a limb and ask for help. If you have been impressed with the work we are doing at Rockfish, please take the… -
Join our Roundtable on the Future of Digital Marketing
8 Nov 2011 | 7:49 amThis week I am taking part in a fun experiment with a new startup called Roundtable. Roundtable describes itself in the following way: At Roundtable we’re all about empowering meaningful conversations – between thought leaders, between friends, and between curated communities of strangers. It is a really neat concept and one I became interested in after reading a Roundtable on Startup Funding that was hosted a few weeks ago. I decided to jump at the chance to have Rockfish host a Roundtable on the Future of Digital Marketing. After all, we call ourselves a “Digital… -
“Kentucky for Kentucky” – This is a Kickstarter campaign I can get behind
26 Oct 2011 | 6:14 pmThanks for the folks at SocialTimes, I came across one of the coolest Kickstarter campaigns that I have seen yet. ”Kentucky for Kentucky” is aiming to accomplish the following: With your help, we are going to crowd-fund, produce, and air the most epically kick ass Super Bowl 2012 commercial for the great Commonwealth of Kentucky. For Kentucky by Kentuckians. That’s what it means to a be a Commonwealth. It’s a project that Kentuckians all around the world will be proud to be apart of. Join us, become a Kentuckian. While I was not born in Kentucky, I have become an…
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Web Strategy by Jeremiah
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Hey Retailers! Refine That Mobile Marketing Strategy (Altimeter Report)
7 Feb 2012 | 12:01 pmThis latest Altimeter Report, by my colleague Industry Analyst Chris Silva, focuses on how companies must develop a mobile marketing strategy. It sources research from 26 ecosystem contributors including brands, agencies, and technology providers. To learn more about this report, please register for the webinar in which Chris will provide deeper knowledge from the report. This report is powerful in a few ways, it indicates the growth the in space, referencing that 45% of all mobile phone users are carrying a smart phone, and the growth rate for tablets is 23% annually. The report also… -
Five Trends: How Brands Integrated Social, Mobile, and Web into 2012 Super Bowl Advertisements
6 Feb 2012 | 10:39 amBy Altimeter’s Jeremiah Owyang, Brian Solis, and Zak Kirchner Findings: Five Trends Indicate Cross Channel Integration a Mainstay. Super Bowl ads, while only representing the nation’s largest consumer facing ads are a bellwether for advertising trends for the remainder of the year. To best understand these trends, Altimeter Group’s research team analyzed each Ad in real time, and conducted analysis to best understand the advertising trends for 2012. Using Chicago as a middle ground, we reviewed all ads from kickoff till the game clock expired and found that trends out of 87… -
P&G Layoffs Signal Focus on Digital Industry
4 Feb 2012 | 12:49 pmLast week was a tremendous change, giant marketer P&G announces 1600 layoffs as they reduce jobs in various roles, and instead shifting budget to digital marketing. The CEO, when pressed, indicates a strong focus on digital marketing, citing: “In the digital space, with things like Facebook and Google and others, we find that return on investment of the advertising when properly designed, when the big idea is there, can be much more efficient” -Bob McDonald, Chairman-CEO, P&G Yet this is a trend, as P&G had previously cut advertising spend on soap operas on traditional TV,… -
People on the Move in the Social Business Industry, Jan 31, 2011
31 Jan 2012 | 9:32 pmMore jobs are coming in on the Web Strategy job board, see right nav, or see the full listing. In particular, AAA is hiring quite a few community managers, hear from their social strategist, Kim who’s listed below as getting promoted at the firm. Both the submissions on this job announcement board, as well as available social media positions at corporations continue to pour in. In this continued digest of job changes, I like to salute those that continue to join the industry in roles focused on social media, see the archives, which I’ve been tracking since Q4, 2007. People on… -
A Worldwide Salute to Community Managers
23 Jan 2012 | 5:43 amIt’s the third annual Community Manager Appreciation Day (every fourth Monday of Jan) and I’d like to salute the folks working on the front lines at companies big and small leading the charge. These folks are critical in the change as companies have moved from the static website to the dynamic human focused social business we’re seeing across every agency. Charged with the following four key responsibilities: a community advocate, brand evangelist, savvy online communicator, and involved in shaping future products and services they’ve got their hands full. This exciting new role…
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Drew's Marketing Minute
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Crisis communications – don’t wait to create a plan
6 Feb 2012 | 8:10 amDoes your organization have a crisis communications plan that you could actually put into action at this very moment? All of the hubub surrounding the Susan G. Komen decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood and then their reversal of that decision following a 72+ hour firestorm of public outrage should have scared the bejesus out of you. If an organization as large, powerful and well respected as Komen can get into that much hot water — and is that ill-prepared to handle it then what in the world would happen to you if there was an accident on your job site, if your CFO embezzled… -
Don’t add frill until your core is rock solid
2 Feb 2012 | 8:15 amA couple times a month a cleaning company comes into our house and does a deep clean. Every time I walk into the house after they’ve cleaned… the toilet paper rolls and tissues sticking out of the boxes are folded in some sort of origami art. Sometimes, they leave a truffle on the kitchen counter. I get what they’re trying to do. And it’s a lovely little extra. Unfortunately, I also find things like: Every waste basket in the wrong spot (they’ve been cleaning the house for over a year) The back door unlocked or a window left open A few lights left on… -
What you don’t know about your sales funnel
30 Jan 2012 | 7:56 amWe all think and talk about our sales funnel a lot. We’re always saying things like: We need to keep it full. We need to stay active with the prospects that have been in it for awhile. On average, it takes a prospect X months to move through it. And so on…. But consider the statistic to the right. 60% of your sales efforts are what happens before you have actively put someone into the funnel. In other words — it’s not you who is doing the selling. Who is? Your existing customers The customer who left and is working with your competitors Your vendors Your website… -
What’s your purple goldfish?
11 Jan 2012 | 1:30 pmGet your free copy of Stan Phelp’s book! A few years ago, I met Stan Phelps, another marketing guy, online (I think he commented on my blog and we started chatting via email) and before I knew it — we were friends. He was just dipping his toe into the blogging waters and I tried to be helpful along the way. Fast forward to today, January 11, 2012. Stan’s first book, What’s Your Purple Goldfish*, is being released today. I’ve read it and know you’re going to love it. Really love it. I’m also very humbled to say that Stan asked me to write the… -
You cannot ignore Google+ for your business
10 Jan 2012 | 12:59 pmGoogle+ cannot be ignored When Google+ emerged last summer, people’s reactions were to be expected. The early adopters were all over it. But for most people who were already suffering from social media fatigue — their response was “oh no…not another site for me to maintain!” And many people simply opted out, not wanting to use/try yet another social networking site. All along, I have been saying that it simply could not be ignored. (like here) Let’s look at time line for those of you who aren’t familiar with how this played out. Summer 2011…
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Seth's Blog
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How do they know you're not a flake?
8 Feb 2012 | 4:43 amBefore your link gets clicked or your proposal gets read, a busy person is going to triage it to find out if it's even worth glancing at. Since everyone is now connected, the new permeability has created a deluge of noise, and just about everyone worth contacting is taking defensive measures. Do I know this person? Did someone I trust send them over? Where does she work? (Ideo? the FDA? The New York Times?) Has she won an award? Is she famous? Are there typos and is the design sloppy? Are they pestering me? Do I already follow this person online? Does music play when I visit the website? Will… -
Horizontal marketing isn't a new idea
7 Feb 2012 | 4:09 amBut it is the new reality for just about every organization. Vertical marketing means the marketer (the one with money) is in charge. Vertical marketing starts at the top and involves running ads, sending out direct mail and pushing hype through the media. Your money, your plans, your control. It might not work, but generally the worst outcome is that you will be ignored and need to spend more money. Horizonal marketing, on the other hand, means creating a remarkable product and story and setting it up to spread from person to person. It's out of your control, because all the interactions are… -
Who is your customer?
6 Feb 2012 | 4:26 amRule one: You can build a business on the foundation of great customer service. Rule two: The only way to do great customer service is to treat different customers differently. The question: Who is your customer? It's not obvious. Zappos is a classic customer service company, and their customer is the person who buys the shoes. Nike, on the other hand, doesn't care very much at all about the people who buy the shoes, or even the retailers. They care about the athletes (often famous) that wear the shoes, sometimes for money. They name buildings after these athletes, court them, erect… -
In search of a timid trapeze artist
5 Feb 2012 | 4:01 amGood luck with that, there aren't any. If you hesitate when leaping from rope to another, you're not going to last very long. And this is at the heart of what makes innovation work in organizations, why industries die, and how painful it is to try to maintain the status quo while also participating in a revolution. Gather up as much speed as you can, find a path and let go. You can't get to the next rope if you're still holding on to this one. -
Will energy consumption stay private?
4 Feb 2012 | 1:45 pmIt's clear that the consumption of energy has external effects that impact more than just the person who is paying for it. Geopolitical, health and economic issues come to the neighbors and nearby citizens of entities that are using a lot of power. It was always straightforward to see who was burning a lot of wood or drove a huge car. It's easy to see when a company has a huge smokestake belching carbon. What happens when sensors make it easy to see how efficient a machine is, how much of a resource is being consumed and how much exhaust is being spewed? What happens when Google maps shows…
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Lies, damned lies and statistics
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Social media plays “modest” role in US election…so far
7 Feb 2012 | 3:32 pmResearch out by Pew shows that when it comes to the major US hard news story of 2012, the Presidential election, voters prefer tried and tested news sources. Only one in twenty (6%) Americans hears about the campaign from Facebook, and while 20% get election news from online news apps or websites, 36% get it from cable TV.Similarly, 41% of Twitter users ‘regularly’ or ‘sometimes’ get election news on Twitter, compared to 40% who never do. Two observations about this study: Pew headlines it by saying “Twitter, Facebook play very modest roles.” I would add… -
Men and dating ads, yes we do look at the pictures 1st
7 Feb 2012 | 3:31 pmGood to see that there is some truth in stereotypes, when it comes to dating ads men look at the pictures and women read the text. This is according to a study by Swedish eye-tracking company Tobii. The results show that men spent 65% more time than women looking at the pictures while women spent 50% more time reading the actual profile. Women also spent longer (84 secs vs 50 secs) on each ad. (via Matthias Mikkelsen) Related articles Tobii’s Eye-Tracking Tech Knows What You’re Eyeing on Dating Sites (allthingsd.com) Tobii eye tracking demo (armdevices.net) Tobii Showcases… -
Study confirms Twitter engagement is on the increase
1 Feb 2012 | 3:15 am‘Study shows that only 27% of Twitter users tweeted during a three month period‘ says a story in The Next Web. My reading of the same piece is very different. Once you put that stat into its proper context, it is not a case of *only* 1/4 using their accounts. Rather, this shows that Twitter user engagement is on the increase. For example, in 2010 RJ Metrics worked out that Twitter’s churn was actually in the region of 83%. And in April I estimated that, based on Business Insider stats, of the 175 million accounts, there were perhaps 20 million truly active human… -
20 free tools to evaluate social media
26 Jan 2012 | 4:28 pmOne of the first resources we created when starting Rabbit in early 2010 was a list of 20 free social media evaluation tools. Not measurement, evaluation. Tools that will give you some form of meaningful data that you can use in reports. And ones that don’t cost anything. Fast forward almost two years and a lot of that list is out of date, with many of the originals no longer being around or having ‘upgraded’ to full paid for services. As a result, it’s time for a refresh. This is by no means an extensive list, there are other tools around in addition to… -
Over 4/10 Europeans are smartphone owners, 1/5 take pictures of products in store
26 Jan 2012 | 4:23 amComscore and Telefonica (the European telecoms giant that owns 02) have come out with a study about the use of smartphones and the Internet in Europe. The research tells us that in the UK (48%) and Spain (48%) almost half of us are now smartphone (as opposed to ‘feature phone’) owners. Across the five biggest EU states, the average is 42%. Other key findings are as follows: Android leads in phone sales, Apple dominates in mobile web traffic Who is bigger, Android or Apple? That depends how you look at it. In terms of smartphone ownership, there are certainly more…
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Find and Convert » Find and Convert Blog OptimizeThis
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B2B Lead Generation Strategies That Fill Your Funnel
2 Feb 2012 | 9:37 amLead Generation is Not One Size Fits All All B2B marketers have a dual objective when it comes to lead generation. They want to fill the top of funnel (TOFU) to build the sales pipeline. A healthy sales pipeline produces viable sales opportunities over the long term. But, marketers also have pressure to produce leads that are sales ready now. These leads move to the bottom of the funnel (BOFU) quickly. When planning inbound marketing lead generation strategies, it’s important to make the distinction between TOFU and BOFU leads. Consider these approaches to both. TOFU Lead Generation… -
Social Marketing 3 Reasons Why It Has Arrived
23 Jan 2012 | 8:50 amSometimes I feel like a dog! One year can be like seven years in Internet speed. Although we’ve been providing SEO services since 2003, I wasn’t one of the earliest adopters of social media, until about 2007. Let’s face it, social marketing was still very young in 2007. It’s hard to believe that was just five years ago! In 2005 Google started talking about how they were integrating search results with social media, but it was very early stage. It wasn’t until October 2009 that Google took a big step forward in social search by indexing content from social media sites such as… -
Search Plus Your World SEO Implications
16 Jan 2012 | 7:59 amGoogle Rocks SEO With Search Plus Your World In case you missed it last week, Google announced a major update to how they deliver search results. The update is called Search Plus Your World. Much is being written about Search Plus Your World. Essentially, it makes search results much more personalized by displaying private content you’ve previously shared with your network through Google+. While Google’s new personalized search raises all kinds of privacy and even anti-trust concerns, I’ll let pundits like Danny Sullivan (and others) cover that aspect of it. I want to comment on the… -
Conference Marketing Lead Generation Tactics in the Digital Age
5 Jan 2012 | 2:19 amEvent marketing has evolved quite a bit during the past 10 years. Today’s marketing budget must be utilized in the most cost efficient ways to do effective lead generation and to deliver real ROI when you exhibit at an industry conference. As my team finalizes plans for Social Fresh East 2012, I would like to share some conference marketing elements that can produce successful lead generation strategies for your next event. Before the Conference Prior to the conference communicate your plans to exhibit at the event through social media. Write one or more blog posts about the topics to be… -
Social Business Becomes Mainstream in 2012
20 Dec 2011 | 3:16 pmTransformation From social Media to Social Business December is the month for predictions for the new year. Generally, I’m not a fan of predictions. While many marketers are predicting the year of mobile for the fifth year in a row, I’m going to take some risk with just one marketing prediction that 2012 will be the year social business becomes mainstream. What is a social business? A true social business has a double meaning. It is one whose culture embodies social from top to bottom. It doesn’t just allow employees to be social, it inspires them to be social because it is the culture…
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Eat Media
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Donald Barthelme’s Digital Ghost
31 Jan 2012 | 4:29 pmThere was a brief pause There was a long pause There was a tremendous pause during which I stumbled through design and content to find meaning There was a pause broken only by the striking of keys, the sound of me leaving said website —Ian -
Content Crossroads
24 Jan 2012 | 12:43 pmI thought my categorization of ‘The two types of content: traffic (SEO) and trust (brand building)’ covered all the bases. Alas, I was mistaken. We have a new type content, one that gives the perception of trust but is actually just a new breed of traffic content. It’s better written, better researched, better positioned SEO fluff – but still SEO fluff. It consists of a perfectly crafted headline and a perfectly crafted tweet to driving me to an article that barely delivers any new or worthy information. On one hand you could say – big win – SEO has matured… -
Eat Media is hiring in 2012
6 Jan 2012 | 12:53 pmWe’re looking to expand. If you’re amazing get in touch. -
Eat Media: Top 5 Mistakes I made in 2011
27 Dec 2011 | 10:27 amMISTAKE #1 Committing to Content Strategy without a Brand StrategyWhen a client is not established yet, or in startup mode, brand strategy is part aspiration and part adventure — these are exciting times. But when you are working with an established company the rules are bit different and excitement is tempered by the stakes being much higher. Early this year we entered into a lengthy content strategy engagement with a large company that admitted it did not have a brand strategy in place — we’re “working on it,” they said. While we did a lot right: conducted internal… -
Three Brand Experiences and the Commitment To Becoming Amazing
4 Dec 2011 | 9:40 pmAs a customer I’ve often stated, sometimes out loud and littered with expletives, “Why did they treat me like that?” As an agency owner I get to ask the more interesting question – “How did they treat me like that.” Interactions with brands, online or in-person, should always exceed the vending machine experience of -put money in-take product out-go home. But often that is exactly the experience we get. I’ve come to believe there are only 3 types of brand experiences: 1- Exceptional experiences you tell people about. – Mailchimp 2-…
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Direct Marketing Observations
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The 3 Levels Of Change Needed To Integrate Social Media
6 Feb 2012 | 3:30 pmIf You have not visited the blog site for the agency, We are Social, make sure you do. It’s a great resource of information. In particular, I was struck by an infograph that was up recently titled, Social Business-Social Media Integration. Within that infograph, I found this: Which one do you think is the hardest? Which is the easiest? Which takes the least amount of time? -
Why Should You Comment On A Blog Post?
3 Feb 2012 | 9:37 amI was reading an article today titled, Behind the Wheels: An all-too-real Cinderella story it had 12 comments. The piece was beautifully written and it was interesting to see what those 12 people had to say. Which got me to wondering: How come useless throw away blog posts and articles have tons and tons of comments and the good stuff gets next to nothing? Part of the question also emenated from this post, Why Your Networking Sucks — And the Secret to Doing it Right which had 30 comments, but also sucked people in, including me, because it held the promise of revealing… -
It’s Time For Retailers To Raise Their Games-Five Quick Reminders
30 Jan 2012 | 2:04 pmThe static website is dead long live the static website According to a study from Accenture, comScore, and dunnhumbyUSA aimed at helping consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers, visitors to CPG brand websites buy 37% more in retail stores than non-visitors to the brand site. The study also concluded, that to maximize impact, website content needs to be updated regularly and contain brand value messaging that both engages visitors while also providing compelling reasons for them to purchase the brand at retail. Without sounding too much like Captain Obvious, here’s what retailers need… -
Chances Are You’ve Met Less Than 5% of the People in Your Social Network
25 Jan 2012 | 8:17 amThe difference between a friend, an acquaintance and the friends and acquaintances we have met online is blurring…Social media would seem to dictate or would assume that I’m supposed to develop or have developed these deep online, networked, connections, i.e. That I have met them. Jay Baer calls it false intimacy. Does it matter that I have not met them? Absolutely not. Or maybe it does… But maybe we should quickly look at what the definition of “connected” is. Check this out: con·nect·ed http://img.tfd.com/m/sound.swf (k-nktd) adj. 1. Joined or… -
Who does Google make it’s money from? A breakdown (Infograph)
23 Jan 2012 | 8:01 am© WordStream, a Google AdWords partner company.
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HubSpot's Inbound Internet Marketing Blog
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Why User-Generated Content Is More Important Than You Think
7 Feb 2012 | 1:33 pmA certain group of consumers has been gaining attention from marketers recently, because of the strong role they play in the purchasing decision; these power purchasers are known as Generation Y. Whether they're part of the target audience to which you sell or not, this group is worth considering as part of your inbound marketing strategy because there's a strong likelihood they either will become part of your target audience in the future, or because they already influence your target audience now. Let's break down who these power purchasers are, some of the interesting demographics and… -
How to Create Marketing Offers That Don't Fall Flat
7 Feb 2012 | 8:16 amIn marketing, offers are the gateways to lead generation. Without them, site visitors have no way of getting converted into leads. They are also a critical tool for nurturing existing leads into a position that makes them more sales-ready. But gosh, isn't the word 'offer' so utterly vague and abstract? What the heck is a marketing offer, and what are the qualities of a good one? Because we see so many marketers get tripped up on this concept, let's discuss exactly what a marketing offer can be, highlight the characteristics of an effective offer, and explain how you can start using them the… -
The Simple Template for a Thorough Content Style Guide
6 Feb 2012 | 11:10 amContent creation is central to your inbound marketing success, but as your volume of written content increases, inconsistencies are also bound to arise. Whether due to lack of clarity in your own head about the style with which you want to write, or disjointed communication across the content creators in your organization, failure to decide upon and document accepted editorial guidelines is a recipe for inconsistent messaging and an incoherent brand experience. That's why most companies that rely on content as a central part of their marketing strategy develop an editorial style guide. When… -
Why You Need Social Media Followers Who Won't Ever Buy
6 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amWhich is better? 50 qualified social media followers, or 1,000 followers, many of whom will never buy from you? The answer may surprise you. In social media, reach is of critical importance. It directly impacts how much your content and messages get shared, it increases your business' ability to get found and generate leads, it can help extend your online footprint as a thought leader, and the list goes on. In other words, in an online world, social reach shouldn't be a trivial factor for businesses leveraging inbound marketing. So, have you figured out what the right answer to our first… -
25 Things You Could Buy With a Super Bowl Ad Budget
3 Feb 2012 | 2:30 pmA 30-second commercial advertisement for Super Bowl XLVI is going for $3.5 million. Can you imagine what you as a marketer could do for your company if you had that kind of budget? If you can't even fathom what you'd do with a marketing budget that big (and just think, this is just one of many campaigns they're running this year!), we've come up with some ideas for how you can better spend that chunk of change. And if you're thinking you'd spend it on a commercial during the Super Bowl, well, maybe these ideas will give you some perspective on just how far $3.5 million can go in the marketing…
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MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog
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The Questions I Would Ask If I Were Marketing Your Business
7 Feb 2012 | 8:53 amAdvice from Internet marketing pundits is becoming like rock and roll was to a previous generation—it sounds like just a bunch of noise. Every blog-as-media-outlet, thought-leader platform, and social technology company’s website screams top 10 ways to do this and how-to posts to do that. And marketing professionals are left trying to filter the wheat from the chaff. The challenge marketing and brand managers face today, however, is not the basic how-tos of social media. They need less of the top five and top sevens and top 10s, and more content that marries the tactical to-dos… -
How to Deliver Your Sales Pitch, So Folks Listen
6 Feb 2012 | 8:56 amA guest post by Sarika Periwal of karmaCRM. Talking is the best tool of a salesperson. The only way that you have face to face of convincing a person to buy a specific product or service is by convincing them that they need it. This includes highlighting the benefits that the product brings to their life to make it simpler. It also means that to be a successful salesperson you need to have impeccable communication skills. However, this is not an inherent skill but one that has to be developed through practice. Here are a few things that you should keep in mind when you next deliver your sales… -
Free Friday: Marketing Smarts Podcasts
3 Feb 2012 | 12:00 pmOn this Free Friday, check out all the free Marketing Smarts podcasts organized neatly on one page for you. Hosted by MarketingProfs own Matt Grant, this weekly podcast features in-depth interviews with bright, engaging marketers. You’ll get insights and advice that will inspire you to pump up your marketing. Podcast topics include: Making the Most of a Mobile Moment (with Tim Hayden of 44Doors) Sally Hogshead and the $500 Cup of Coffee (with author Sally Hogshead) Have You Killed an Innovation Today? (with author and professor David Owen) Calculating the ROI of Social Media (with guest… -
7 Reasons You Need to Love Lead Management
3 Feb 2012 | 9:01 amA guest post by Sarah Goliger of HubSpot. When it comes to converting your leads into sales, lead management is a crucial and powerful tool. Most of your leads will not be ready to engage with a salesperson after their first conversion, but are potentially qualified and require further nurturing and development. Lead management gives you the tools you need to filter out your less-qualified leads and provide them with educational content through targeted lead nurturing campaigns, which will bring them closer to being ready for that sales call. However, this is only one of many functions of… -
6 Customer Experience Lessons to Learn From Netflix
2 Feb 2012 | 11:17 amIn recent months, Netflix made big changes to its service offerings. First, a 60-percent price hike, then an announcement that it was spinning its DVD mail service into a new company called Qwikster, and finally a decision not to split off its DVD service after all. Whatever you think of the changes, I think most of us agree that Netflix could have handled things a bit differently in terms of communications and customer experience. Change is necessary for almost any business. In fact, two of the most important jobs of any marketer are to anticipate customer needs as they evolve over time, and…
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Occam's Razor by Avinash Kaushik
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Google Analytics Tutorial: 8 Valuable Tips To Hustle With Data!
30 Jan 2012 | 4:52 amIt is painfully heartbreaking to realize that a very small tiny number of people who have access to web analytics tools actually use them. I mean really use the tools. Ravage all the features. Exploit every possible button. Produce built-in visualization magic. Poke into the hidden crevices and discover exotic delights. Nourish yourself with the "info snacks" the tool's engineers and product managers cooked up. This post is all about that. When it comes to data analysis, you are usually more likely to see me share guidance on advanced segmentation or custom reports or advanced… -
The 2015 Digital Marketing Rule Book. Change or Perish.
9 Jan 2012 | 4:26 amIt is the season to be predicting the future, but that is almost always a career-limiting move. So I'm not going to do that. It is a lot easier to predict the present. So I'm not going to do that either. Rather, I'm going to share a clump of realities/rules garnered from the present to help ready you for the predictable near future . Now here is the great part… if you follow these rules and act on these insights I believe you'll be significantly better prepared for the unpredictable future. Awesome right? Now here's another surprise: These rules/insights/mind… -
Best Web Metrics / KPIs for a Small, Medium or Large Sized Business
12 Dec 2011 | 4:11 amWe have access to more data than God wants anyone to have. Thus it is not surprising that we feel overwhelmed, and rather than being data driven we just get paralyzed. Life does not have to be that scary. In fact a data driven life is sexiest digital life you can imagine. In this blog post we are going to bring the sexyback. I am going to attempt to significantly simply your life by recommending the critical few metrics you should use to analyze performance of your digital marketing campaigns and website. You'll be able to quickly go from "omg what can I do!" to "omg what… -
Smarter Data Analysis of Google's https (not provided) change: 5 Steps
21 Nov 2011 | 4:22 amIt is astonishingly common that we are asked to analyze the impossible. In perhaps a career-limiting move I'm going to try to do that today (and for a controversial topic to boot!). In this post about an important Google change, I want you to focus less on the data and focus more on the methodology. And – so important – I want you to help me with your ideas of how we can do this impossible analysis better, in the complete absence of data :). So please share your ideas via comments and let's together make a smarter ecosystem. On board? Let's go…. In an effort… -
Data Analysis 101: Seven Simple Mistakes That Limit Your Salary
31 Oct 2011 | 4:42 amData analysis is not easy. It takes years to get good at it, and once you get good at it you realize how much more there is to learn. That is part of the joy. You are always learning. You are always growing. This blogpost is a collection of tips I share with my friends who are just starting out. Each tip is a "simple" mistake that is easily avoided. My hope is that you'll skip them if you are aware of them, and move on to making more important valuable mistakes. :) My plan is to wrap each tip with additional observations, context that will be of value even to those who have…
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Connect the Docs
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ThinkBook
30 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amA man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. - John F. Kennedy Ideas are always powerful. Ideas bring change, progress and most importantly help in human development. So, are you passionate about ideas? ThinkBook is a gift that reminds people of you every time they write down a new idea. My friend Rajesh Setty says this about his cool looking book: “ThinkBook is a notebook designed for smart people AND it’s a business book designed for creative thinkers. It combines the best of both worlds to create a powerful thinking space that restarts and fuels your… -
Social Media & Content Marketing Predictions 2012
27 Dec 2011 | 5:00 amContent Marketing Institute has published marketing predictions from over 80 contributors. FREE Download. No Registration. What are you waiting for? Grab a cup of coffee and browse this reasure trove to get ready for 2012. Social Media & Content Marketing Predictions 2012 View more presentations from Content Marketing Institute Here is the my prediction. -
Annual Content Marketing Retreat 2012
14 Dec 2011 | 5:00 amDo you want to learn what it takes to succeed with content marketing, with a drill down into the latest approaches, tools and services that make measurement, content creation, curation, publication and distribution more effective. Are you ready for the 2nd Annual Content Marketing Retreat in 2012? What: 2nd Annual Content Marketing RetreatWhen: January 26, 2012 at 9:00 AMWhere: Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, Langley, WA Link: Register Now! Russell Sparkman Blog FusionSpark Twitter Fusionspark Content is essential, no matter what the marketing approach is. Ambal Balakrishnan: Russell, it… -
Happy Thanksgiving 2011
24 Nov 2011 | 1:46 pmDear Blogsphere Friends - Have a Happy ThanksGiving surrounded by the love and warmth of family and friends during this wonderful Fall season. I have many, many things to be thankful for during this ThanksGiving....one of the top items on the list is (of-course!) getting to know so many of you in the blogsphere. Thank you, blog readers for reading and engaging on ClickDocuments - Connect the Docs. Thank you, blogsphere friends for putting your ideas and thoughts out there...and educating and influencing me on the changing world of marketing. As your gobbling your turkey or tofu-turkey, browse… -
Managing Content Marketing
26 Oct 2011 | 8:00 amThere have been many blogs, books and other resources that discuss all aspects of content marketing… from the why to the what to the where…but oddly enough, rarely the how. Robert Rose and Joe Pulizzi have partenered to bring us the one and only Managing Content Marketing: The Real-World Guide for Creating Passionate Subscribers to Your Brand. Robert Rose is an expert in content marketing strategy, digital media, and the social Web. Joe Pulizzi is a leading author, speaker and strategist for content marketing. Joe founded the Content Marketing Institute, which…
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SEO Copywriting
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Queen of Link: Interview with Debra Mastaler
7 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amToday we are honored to feature our interview with link-building expert, Debra Mastaler. In business since 2000, Debra shares some of the expertise she’s gained from executing hundreds of link building campaigns with us! Enjoy, as Debra gives her candid take on link marketing – how it’s evolved and where it stands today. Please share a bit of your background with us: When did you start in SEO? What led you to specialize in linking? (or is it “link building”?) I’ve always referred to it as link marketing because of the way I work, but most people call it link building. In… -
3 ways to transform your sucky sales copy into conversions-driving gold
6 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amWelcome back! In this week’s SEO copywriting how-to, Heather builds on her video of last week: How to tell if your sales copy sucks. Realizing there are several more ways to tell that your sales copy sucks, here Heather addresses three more characteristics that mark bad sales copy – and then shares on how to go about fixing them so that your sales content pops off the page. Tune in to learn how refining your website’s tone and feel, sharing specific benefits with your readers, and using keyphrases deftly can transform your sales copy from sucky into… -
Is traditional copywriting dead?
2 Feb 2012 | 4:00 amIs the latest “Google Plus” news making you think that traditional copywriting is dead – and it’s all about social? I received this note from a talented SEO copywriter: “It’s really true that it’s important to do what one loves – and because I have ADD, I find social campaign management/monitoring, etc. to be extremely difficult, staying on top of Twitter and Google+ and FB and LinkedIn and StumbleUpon and YouTube and and Hootsuite and hash-tags and likes etc. It’s downright painful for me and I’d rather chew glass I’m… -
SEO content marketing roundup, week ending February 1st
1 Feb 2012 | 11:16 amIn this week’s latest and greatest Web-writing news, all is relatively quiet on all fronts as marketers drop the SOPA bone and focus on Google+ and Search+: Content marketers discuss practicalities, strategy and channels; the SEO and search community find ways to either deal with, benefit from, or work around Google’s Search+; and social media marketers share ways to integrate the Google+ platform and use Pinterest. It’s definitely a you+ world out there, and it looks as though it’s here to stay…enjoy! Content Marketing Perhaps the most balanced and comprehensive post to come out… -
SEO Copywriting Certification Grad Alice Zyetz shares her journey
31 Jan 2012 | 5:00 amAlice’s Journey I am a beginning SEO web writer with 30 years of business and technical writing knowledge and experience. As an online web writer certified in SEO, I specialize in copywriting for small businesses. I have an extensive background in training business and technical writers to communicate clearly. My clients have included major aerospace companies as well as businesspeople from a variety of industries. My entrance into training technical people was an accident that may remind you of how you got into the business. Most people don’t start their childhood hoping that when…
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Tippingpoint Labs
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Build On Your Real-life Networks
2 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amWe are just seeing the beginning of a marketing revolution. Forward thinkers like Chef Jody Adams who already see the value of a rising tide lifting all ships have unique opportunities ahead. -
The right partners can make or break a campaign
26 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amGoogle worked with their agency GOOD/CORPS to create a series of videos that promote small business. Not unlike the American Express Plum campaign, the idea is to showcase how Google properties enhance a business and allow it to grow. The challenge, and where the campaign seemingly differs from the American Express campaign and specifically the one with Pink Berry, is do all the partners in the campaign stand united? -
Why Your Brand Should Fight SOPA-like Legislation
24 Jan 2012 | 11:41 amThe old guard don't want to innovate. They would rather attack your ability to connect meaningfully with your audience. -
Is the Elle and Van Cleef & Arpels campaign one to remember?
19 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amPresented as an attempt to recreate the magic felt when falling in love, The Van Cleef & Arpels Love Stories campaign doesn’t evoke a modern day love affair feel. I am lost within it's beautiful scapes and models but wonder what would make a young urban female (audience as defined for this campaign effort) to share the video with friends. By rethinking luxury marketing and opening up the campaign to a wider content creation and brand distribution approach, both Van Cleef & Arpels and Elle Magazine may have garnered a larger return. -
“One Track Mind”: Diverge the track for greater return
12 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amThe traditional one advertiser, one media publisher relationship can hinder a campaign both from a content and distribution standpoint. Brands and publishers must think bigger about the content they create in a way that garners engagement, audience, and ultimately, results. Think about how creating ancillary campaign content created by the sponsoring brands as well as partnering with more than one advertiser, can bring drive interest and untapped eyeballs.
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Brain Traffic Blog
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Conquering Complex Projects
2 Feb 2012 | 3:28 pmComplexity. As a project manager at Brain Traffic, I hear clients use that word a lot. And, for good reason. When you think of everything involved in content strategy, it can get pretty overwhelming. In fact, Dictionary.com defines complex as: Composed of many interconnected parts; compound; composite: a complex highway system. Characterized by a very complicated or involved arrangement of parts, units, etc.: complex machinery. So complicated or intricate as to be hard to understand or deal with: a complex problem. Content projects regularly fit each (and sometimes all three!) of these… -
Don’t Use That Language With Me
26 Jan 2012 | 2:40 pmPerhaps I’m distracted, maybe I’m tired. I’ve read this copy three times and I still don’t know what it’s talking about. I must not be focusing. Maybe I need more coffee … Or maybe, the problem is the copy itself. Ah, yes. I see it now: jargon. Obscure, technical terms I think I should know, because the copy keeps using them, but I don’t (what’s a “drive-by download”?). Words that sound impressive, but may be uncommon, and therefore vague, to a general audience (think “erudite” instead of “well-read”). -
Content Strategy and Responsive Design
19 Jan 2012 | 3:03 pmMaybe you’ve heard the term “responsive design.” Maybe you haven’t. Many people think it solely refers to the technical aspects of design, but that’s not exactly the case. Responsive design can have a major impact on your content. I’ll tell you how it works, how it can affect your content, and why you should—and need to—care. What is responsive design? Responsive design is the practice of having one website that adapts to the device it is being viewed upon. Or, more simply: one website for all screens. So, why is it important? If you’ve… -
Brown Paper Packages
12 Jan 2012 | 2:36 pmA comprehensive content strategy must address a wide range of factors: business goals, audience needs, the competitive landscape, available resources, various platforms and channels, timelines, structural configurations, keywords, migration plans—the list goes on. It can feel like all the unanswered questions might swirl into a funnel cloud and engulf the project. When that happens, what can we hold on to? Sometimes, a metaphor helps. One I find useful is the brown paper package. Let’s go shopping Imagine a retail store. Inside, the shelves are lined with unlabeled packages. -
Tell Us What You Want (What You Really, Really Want)
5 Jan 2012 | 3:03 pmHappy New Year! We hope you have the best year ever in 2012. Especially because the whole world is going to end on December 21, according to the ancient Mayans. Or not. Nobody knows for sure.* Hey, it could happen. There are three things, however, that we DO know for sure: We have AT LEAST eleven more months to rock the Brain Traffic blog. Blogs, like all content, are only successful if it provides value to the user. We’d like you—yes, YOU—to tell us what topics you’d like to see discussed on this blog. That’s right, there are 22 Brain Traffic employees standing…
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Convince and Convert Blog: Social Media Strategy and Social Media Consulting
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Activation, Comfort, and Other Secrets of Online Community Management
8 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amVideo production by my friends at Candidio. Fast, inexpensive, great service. (Abbreviated transcript below. Please watch video for entire interview. Somehow, my side of the video got cut out, so it’s only audio for me!) Jay: Welcome everybody to Convince & Convert. It is Jay Baer joined today by a very special guest, my friend who is the Director of Community and all things fabulous at BlogWorld and also the author of Online Community Management For Dummies, Ms. Deb Ng. Deb, how are you? Deb: I am terrific, Jay. How are you? Jay: I am marvelous. I love your festive red background… -
What Do You Know? Examining the Big 4 Online Answer Sites
7 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amArnie Kuenn is the president of Vertical Measures, a search, social & content marketing company . He is author of Accelerate! Moving Your Business Forward Through the Convergence of Search, Social & Content Marketing. An ideal connection between social media and search might just be “Answer” sites. The essential concept behind an answer site is that visitors can post a question eager to get it answered by someone considered an expert, who is knowledgeable in the subject matter. The response could also be powered by public knowledge with consensus determining the… -
The Only 4 Reasons Agencies Should Care About Their Own Content Marketing
5 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amMimicry is not a strategy. Compulsion is not a strategy. Yet, far too many agencies are devoting resources to content marketing and social media solely because they feel they have to do so. Other agencies have a blog, and Webinars, and an active Twitter feed, so we need some of that too! To what end? What are you really trying to accomplish – as an agency – with all of this content and social media? You’re not selling ads, so website traffic isn’t inherently valuable. Do clicks and retweets or Facebook fans really build your business? Not in a linear way. There are… -
Social Pros Podcast – Super Bowl Social Media Command Center
2 Feb 2012 | 6:24 amThis is Episode 1 of the Social Pros Podcast : Real People Doing Real Work in Social Media. This episode features Taulbee Jackson, CEO of Raidious, the social and content agency that built and is managing the Super Bowl Social Media Command Center. Read on for insights from Taulbee, our “Work It Out” advice segment, and Eric’s Social Media Stat of the Week (this week: The Edelman Trust Barometer). Next week’s guest is Scott Monty from Ford Motor Company. Listen Now Click the play button to listen here: Download the audio file:… -
Why I’m Not Writing a Book This Year
31 Jan 2012 | 6:15 amI was all set to write another book this year. Solo this time, as my book spouse Amber Naslund has her hands full with her new social business consultancy Sidera Works. I loved writing half of The NOW Revolution, and loved even more traveling around North America giving presentations about social media and social business (here are the slides). I spoke in 65 different cities in 2011. It’s a lot of work, but I enjoy it. I was ready to jump back into the fire in 2012, with a nifty new topic, interested publishers, and a plan to use this new book as a real springboard to the future. But…
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PR 20/20 Blog
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Inbound Industry Report: Jan. 30, 2012
30 Jan 2012 | 1:00 pmTop marketing news, articles and tips from the fourth week of January 2012. Marketing Industry Transformation Last week, the CMO Council released a new report on “client/agency effectiveness,” summarized by Scott Brinker (@chiefmartec) in CMOs to Agencies: Adapt or Die. The stat that most stood out to Brinker: “only 9% of senior marketers believe that agencies are evolving to extend services and capabilities in the digital age.” Brinker outlines the actions marketers will take to alleviate this concern; however, many appear to be in the… -
Find Time for Social Media: How To Map Out a Plan for the C-Suite
26 Jan 2012 | 12:45 pmExecutives can no longer ignore the power of social media. The social media policy is in place, the communications department is managing a corporate brand, employees are active, and now it’s time for the C-suite to get active! The challenge for agencies and marketers has shifted from convincing your C-suite about the value of social media, to helping them find the time to make social media a natural part of the day. So many executives still “have trouble finding the time to tweet.” This post breaks down the time commitments needed to set up and maintain… -
Inbound Industry Report: Jan. 23, 2012
23 Jan 2012 | 3:25 pmTop marketing news, articles and tips from the third week of January 2012. Blogging for Business Rand Fishkin (@randfish) shares 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic, an updated version of a post that gained popularity back in 2007. Many of the specific tips offered are relative to one another, and fall into categories such as the following: Visual—Add graphics, photos and illustrations; incorporate great design into your site. Social—Use Twitter, Facebook and Google+ to share your posts, and find new connections; participate in social media sharing communities… -
Pinterest: An Introduction for Marketers
19 Jan 2012 | 1:45 pmMy infatuation with Pinterest, a social bulletin board and image-sharing site, started at my college roommate’s wedding this past September. While she’s always been crafty, she took DIY to a whole new level, creating everything from centerpieces to ceiling drapery. When I asked the secret to her ingenuity, I got a one-word answer—Pinterest. I was intrigued, and apparently not the only one. In joining the site, I was pleasantly surprised to find that many of my friends (more than just my techie, marketer ones) already had Pinboards—or personal online archives of… -
Awareness to Action: Following the Success of the Anti-SOPA Movement
18 Jan 2012 | 11:40 pmCommunications professionals, from marketers to journalists breaking headlines, work with an overarching goal in mind: make people care about you or your cause so much that they take action. Action ranges from encouraging audiences to comment on and share a blog post all the way to making purchasing decisions, but what about when the stakes are higher and sharing information as we know it is at risk? A milestone in the SOPA / PIPA legislation protests hits today as tech giants—including Google, Microsoft, Wikipedia and Reddit—take action and…
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Social Media Explorer
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Get Out of Your Own Way: 5 Excuses Marketers Use to Avoid Social Media ROI
7 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amYou see it everywhere. Management teams and marketers desperately want to understand how social media is delivering to the bottom line. Marketers are getting tons of pressure from their management teams and are desperate for a way to prove their strategies are working. With so many chomping at the bit to get at true return on investment (ROI), how has it remained so elusive? Has social media become the marketing channel that we know we need to have, but can’t demonstrate why? What if Social Media ROI was really simple, but we let a bunch of excuses get in our way of measuring it? -
Empowering Your Employees With Social Media
6 Feb 2012 | 12:00 pmEditor’s Note: This is a guest post by Emily Eldridge, Senior Vice President of Pure. It’s tempting to think that employees’ online discussions about your company should be curbed. Most company policies in the modern workplace exist to protect us from lawsuits – and to ostensibly protect employees from themselves. While it’s understandable to want control over our corporate image, this fear dimishes our employees’ ability to communicate. A stronger approach is to empower our staff to be brand advocates. Advocate for Your Employees Companies should decide whether their… -
How Small Businesses Can Go Big With Social Media Marketing
6 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amIt’s no secret to many of you — it-getters in the sense that you at least read Social Media Explorer and are likely bought in — that social media marketing can have a huge impact on your business. But we still see more case studies from major brands playing in the social channels than we do small businesses. With the fact that 44 percent of small businesses don’t even have a website, much less social media efforts, it’s no surprise that there’s a gap between success cases in small versus medium and large businesses. Small businesses typically face one… -
Integrating Social Media Across The Organization
3 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amOperationalizing social media across the organization is perhaps on of the most challenging aspects of social media for companies and brands. Too many look at social media as a consumer-facing communications channel and forget that departments from HR to research and development and even internal collaboration among divisions can all be helped by social technologies and strategies. We’re addressing that issue at Explore Dallas-Fort Worth in several discussions, one major one led by Zena Weist, Vice-President of Digital Strategy for Edelman. Her experience at brands like Embarq, Sprint… -
How To Hire A Writer For Your Company Blog
2 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amBy now, many social media managers have realized a hardnosed reality: Most subject matter experts within the corporate walls don’t have time (or the skills) to blog. So you have two choices: Write/edit their blogs for them (and give up the rest of your life since writing is very time consuming) Hire a specialist or “real writer” to write for them. That would be a journalist or professional business writer. (I use these interchangeably, even though there are some solid business writers who were never journalists.) Hiring a good journalist has huge advantages — this is…
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Content is Currency
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Keyword Profitability: Making The Most Of Keyword Research
30 Jan 2012 | 12:57 pmWe look for profitability in all walks of life: from investments to entertainment, we are always trying to gain something. Similarly, a hot property on the internet are the searches by millions of users. When our prospects are seeking to find something; we should be ready to offer it to them. But, with thousands of companies offering similar products, how can one gain an advantage? Besides, how does Google decide that your website should be featured on its first or second page of results? We already know that the pages that appear on Google are analyzed and presented based on… -
My Interview on Business Owners Toolkit
30 Jan 2012 | 12:40 pmI was recently a guest on the Business Owners Toolkit, talking about my new book and the importance of content marketing. check it out: http://bit.ly/wbdHEF -
Lessons to Learn from Social Media Mistakes
30 Dec 2011 | 2:14 amIt’s hard to imagine that just a couple of years ago we didn’t have the option to mobile upload a photo while on the go, check in at our favorite restaurant, “poke” that first crush from way back in middle school, or update a status about the latest happenings in our lives. Well, thanks to the phenomenon of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, the world has been forever changed in the ways that we communicate and share information…and it has also changed the way that we do business. If you are trying to build a brand, drive traffic to your website, gain new… -
The Off-Center Approach to Choosing a Niche
19 Dec 2011 | 2:24 pmBy now, most SEO professionals understand the basic guidelines for choosing a niche for their website: Assess your experience with the topic. Assess the popularity of the topic. Assess the existing competition. Assess the profitability of the topic. If you’re not passionate about it, don’t cover it. But in order to make a strong impression (or even survive!) in today’s highly competitive online content environment, you’ll need to get a little more creative and specific. Specificity is one of the most important keys to building a highly useful and accessible blog or… -
Does Your Content Suffer from an Identity Crisis?
27 Nov 2011 | 4:16 pmIt’s human nature to want to fit in. In our day-to-day lives, we’re constantly trying to fit our ideals and personalities into the little sub-groups that society has built for us. We want to be comfortable among our fellow humans, to be regarded as “one of the guys or gals.” But this attitude also pervades the Internet content world. It’s easy to go with the flow when it comes to creating web content. You can simply pick a title that makes sense for your needs, check what other people have done, and make your ideas just different enough to pass a Copyscape…
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TheContentWrangler.com
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Collaborative Authoring and Communication Tools Help Writers, Editors, SMEs Work Together
7 Feb 2012 | 1:27 pmBy David Kowalsky, Guest Editor David Kowalsky Do you ever find yourself overwhelmed with trying to keep track of all the versions of a document that are being sent back-and-forth by you and your work colleagues by email? When opening a document to edit, have you ever had the experience of being frustrated by immediately seeing a message pop up telling you that the document is locked? Many companies have introduced features to their products to alleviate these types of issues, making collaborative authoring– projects where written works are created by multiple people together… -
[Grammar Girl Webinar Followup] The Recording, The Winners, The Slides
6 Feb 2012 | 4:47 pmDuring our recent webinar with Grammar Girl, ten registrants were selected at random to receive a free copy of the best-selling book for writers, “The Grammar Devotional: Daily Tips for Successful Writing from Grammar Girl”. And the winners are…. Howard Gold — Commack, NY Kim McCarty — Dallas, TX Trish Smith — Ottawa, ON Canada Stephanie Welsh — O’Fallon, MO Cindy Clark — Bethesda, MD Amy Silverman — Redwood City, CA Leah Goodman — Portland, OR Meghan Cowell — Burlington, ON Canada Fred Ridder — Bridgewater, NJ Richard… -
Understanding Word of Mouth Marketing
4 Feb 2012 | 10:41 amStraight from the horse’s mouth? Sorry, we could’t resist. This video from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), does a great job of demystifying word of mouth marketing. WOMMA is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing and advocating the discipline of credible word of mouth marketing and promoting word of mouth as a solution to business challenges. -
[Great Ideas Gone Wrong] Unlisted Video: Adobe Photoshop Evangelist Campaign Makes Finding “Hidden Gems” Challenging
31 Jan 2012 | 4:57 pmHere at The Content Wrangler, we love social marketing techniques that engage users and create a desire for interaction with the brand. The Adobe Photoshop “hidden gems” campaign illustrates this point nicely. It’s brief, focused on learning from the customer by asking them what they think in a way that encourages their active participation, and its transparent — everyone will get to see all the entries and judge for themselves the value of the ideas submitted. Adobe offers recognition and real-world rewards for the winner. It’s a win-win for all involved. And,… -
iBooks 2 and iBooks Author: One Week Later, What We’ve Learned — An Executive Round Table with McGraw-Hill, Digital Book World, and Aptara
23 Jan 2012 | 5:51 pmYet again Apple stopped us in our tracks. We awaited each word with bated breath during last Thursday’s unveiling of iBooks2, iBooks Author, and iTunes U. Now what? After a week of social media frenzy, water cooler chatter, thoughtful analysis, and technical digging, it’s time to reflect on what we’ve learned. Join us Thursday, January 26 for a live round table discussion with McGraw-Hill – one of Apple’s education partners; Digital Book World – the publishing industry’s premier digital publishing forum; and Aptara – trusted digital solutions partner to the…
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Rex Hammock's RexBlog.com
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@AmazonMP3s very smart use of Twitter during Superbowl XLVI
5 Feb 2012 | 9:07 pmIf it works like it’s supposed to, this post will be an embed from Storify.com as that service makes it a snap to repost tweets in a situation like this. If you see something below (it will take a few seconds to load), it works. If you don’t see it here, click over to Storify.com/R.: [View the story "@AmazonMP3's smart use of Superbowl tweets" on Storify] -
What time is the Superbowl and thoughts on Facebook and why I blog
5 Feb 2012 | 3:56 pm[Warning: This is a long and rambling post that may or may not make a point.] Superbowl XLVI (46 for you non-Romans) starts at 6:30 p.m. eastern time on the NBC television network. The teams playing are the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. You may be wondering what the heck I’m talking about, but I’ll get to it in a moment. But first, a few thoughts about blogging. Some people who know the most about the social part of the web, the individuals who helped conceptualize and role-model what can be done when everyone is wired, networked and has a simple-to-use… -
Web companies discover a century-old corporate media tradition that’s always new
2 Feb 2012 | 5:03 pmPoultry Tribune, July, 1942 An article by Brian Stelter in today’s New York Times (temporary non-punitive URL: http://nyti.ms/xmYt1L) reports that Tumblr is hiring editors and writers to cover itself.* Quote from the executive editor Tumblr has hired: “Basically, if Tumblr were a city of 42 million (the number of Tumblr blogs that exist) I’m trying to figure out how we cover the ideas, themes and people who live in it.” According to the article, Facebook and Twitter have recently announced efforts with similar goals. In my opinion, the mother of all “reporting about… -
Rexplanation: The internet isn’t just technology. It’s a place and people.
30 Jan 2012 | 9:55 pmPartial map of the Internet based on 1/15/2005 data. [Note: This post is a Rexplanation.] In my opinion, there are two ways people understand the internet. The first way is to understand the internet as something to use. The second way is to think of the internet as something you not only use, but something people are and a place people live and work. Those who use the internet understand it with metaphors related to legacy media and channels of communication or different types of utility and tools. To them, the internet is about reading, viewing, listening, looking-up, sharing, calling,… -
Advice of the day: Stop waiting for your ship to come in (illustration)
24 Jan 2012 | 11:47 am
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Savvy B2B Marketing - Latest Blog Entries
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Savvy Speaks: Tips for Crowdsourcing
8 Feb 2012 | 4:54 amThe rise of social media has made crowdsourcing all the rage. Why read the opinions of just one person when you can get the 4-1-1 from a whole host of experts all in one place? But wrangling all those opinions can be a bit tricky. This week the Savvy Sisters share their best tips for crowdsourcing the pros - like a pro! Heather Ask for a little - Get A Lot! In my other job as Content Director for DemandCon I coordinate with all our conference speakers to contribute to the blog, resource section, webinars, Funnel Facts newsletter, etc. The closer we get to conference time the… -
Savvy Toolkit - The Big 5 Mistakes - How not to make a B2B Website
7 Feb 2012 | 8:01 amThe Savvy Sisters are big fans of the guys at BaseOne in London. They are frequently featured in our Friday Wrap Up and so when they put out this eBook on The Big 5 Mistakes that B2B Companies make on their website, I knew it would be good. It was so good in fact that it was basically a stroll down memory lane for past client projects! The first tech company I ever worked for back in the dot com boom bust era of the late 90's designed employee benefit enrollment portals. Ironically the same challenges I had as a project manager for clients 15 years ago are… -
Savvy Week in Review - February 3
3 Feb 2012 | 8:45 amFebruary is upon us, and the days are getting longer. If you're hungering for ways to fill your time productively, read on for our favorite posts from around the blogosphere. The Essential Guide to Meta Descriptions that Will Get You Found Online by @bradshorr via @Junta42 If you think meta descriptions are nerdy details left to your Web administrators, think again, B2B marketers. Here's why you need to craft them with care -- and some tips on how to do it. Sharing Your Way to B2B Social Media Lead Generation by @jeffreylcohen via @MarketingProfs Here's how you can boost… -
Want to be a Rock Star Guest Poster? Read This!
2 Feb 2012 | 8:54 amWe get a decent amount of Guest Post requests here at Savvy. Early on we thought this was great! The more guest posters the less work for us! Well the joke is on us because managing guest post submissions has become at times more laborious than simply writing the posts! We did all the things the experts suggested. We created Guest Post Guidelines, we created an internal process by which to review and respond to the requests and finally we established an editorial calendar that allowed for one guest post per week on a predictable schedule. We have featured… -
Savvy Speaks: B2B Blogs - Yes, No, or Maybe?
1 Feb 2012 | 8:25 amOur Savvy friend Mark Schaefer recently reported on his blog, {grow}, about a study done by the Center for Marketing Research that seems to indicate blogging is on the decline with America's fastest growing companies. In today's Savvy Speaks, we give our two cents on how we think blogging is stacking up against other B2B marketing tactics and where it's headed in 2012 and beyond. Heather Don't stop believing (or blogging) I am very bullish on B2B blogging. I believe it is a critical way to provide prospects with a conversational introduction to your…
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Article Writing & Marketing Insights - EzineArticles Blog
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Article Writing: Tools Of The Trade
7 Feb 2012 | 9:00 amWhat’s In Your Article Writing Tool Box? No matter what the job may be, tools can help. Tools can give you extra leverage, help you out of a tight spot, and improve the quality your end-product. Just ask a carpenter how much harder their job would be without a hammer. The same is true for article writing! There are tons of tools that can put you in a better position to achieve your article writing goals. Let’s take a look at the tools you already have in your article writing tool box. Tools Of The Trade 1. You – Your experience, your knowledge, and your expertise are the most… -
Saving Time Article Template
6 Feb 2012 | 9:00 amSave Your Readers’ Time Time is short. Dozens upon dozens of people are out there seeking shortcuts and strategies to speed up any process you can imagine. As an article writer, this creates an incredible opportunity for you to share your time management secrets to an eager audience. Capitalize on this opportunity by using the Saving Time Article Template. Here’s a quick overview of this time-saving template: Pick a Personal Time-Saving Strategy – Originality is the key. The strategy should be something you’ve done yourself so you can give unique insight into how… -
Article Writing Tips to Retweet: January 2012
3 Feb 2012 | 1:00 pmEvery month @EzineArticles provides well over 100 useful tidbits of information, and training – We’ve gathered some of the best ones from January right here. Retweet any of them to enhance your article writing efforts. Just CLICK on to auto-populate your Twitter status field. EzineArticles Tips and Training Snippets Psst! Want to know the secret to success? Stop beating your head on your desk and start writing! Persistence is the key! How do you deliver quality 100% of the time? Be prepared BEFORE you write: brainstorm, outline, and focus! Looking for success? -
Expert Author Showcase: Tiffany Godfrey
2 Feb 2012 | 9:00 amMeet EzineArticles’ Expert Author Tiffany Godfrey in Today’s Author Showcase How do you take on a massive niche like “marriage” and “relationships”? You do what Expert Author and marriage resource specialist Tiffany Godfrey did: You start with your passion, incorporate your experiences, add a dash of personality, and concentrate on what matters most – your reader. Tiffany found her secret to success was to target a specific subset of her niche. “While many people write about marriage, they focus on couples,” Tiffany commented. “For… -
Article Content vs. Real Life: Location Stuffing
1 Feb 2012 | 9:00 amLenny Wordsmith Bungles Top Ten Location stuffing is like handing a tourist a blank map and then telling them to meet you on the corner of Broadway and Main. Not only will the tourist get lost, but they certainly will be wary of trusting you again. If you choose to target an audience or demographic based on a location (instead of a national or even global audience), ensure you are providing the reader with a detailed, unambiguous map that is relevant to your article’s topic. In the 10th episode of the Article Content vs. Real Life series, discover how Late Night Article Writing host…
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Pybop: Exceptional Web Content for Exceptional Businesses
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About That Blog You’re Planning …
26 Jan 2012 | 6:41 pmYeah, that one. The one that seems difficult to get started. Let’s talk about that. But first, a story about tea. I recently had to give up caffeine. Not forever, I hope. But for now, I’ve switched from morning French Roast to tea. I know next to nothing about tea, except that ... continue reading About That Blog You’re Planning … -
Authenticity for the Masses
9 Jan 2012 | 6:57 amI'm getting ready to discuss content strategy for the communications of a CEO of a large organization. How will this strategy capture his personality, his voice, his mission? How will each person who receives the communication -- thousands and thousands of individuals -- feel like this is a personal letter and be compelled to respond? -
Eleven Things I (Re)Learned in 2011
30 Dec 2011 | 4:11 pmIt’s difficult not to think of New Year’s resolutions this time of year. Instead of looking ahead, though, I found myself looking back at all the things I learned (or relearned) this past year. Here are eleven: Sometimes it’s best to take a deep breath and throw process out the window. ... continue reading Eleven Things I (Re)Learned in 2011 -
Pybop Founder (that’s me) to Speak at Confab 2012
18 Nov 2011 | 2:59 pmShelly Bowen is speaking at Confab: The Content Strategy Conference in May 2012. The talk is currently titled (and about): The Magic Layer: The Secret to Every Successful Content Strategy -
Watch a Content Strategist Paint for a Good Cause
10 Nov 2011 | 2:25 pmOn a whim, I volunteered — along with all the top-notch, award-winning creative agencies in San Diego — to decorate a canvas for Ad2 San Diego Cause Marketing Night to benefit My Girlfriend’s Closet, a non-profit organization that clothes teen girls in need. What was I thinking? Watch ... continue reading Watch a Content Strategist Paint for a Good Cause
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Straight North Internet Marketing Blog
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8 Ways to Make Your Website Content Stand Out from the Crowd
7 Feb 2012 | 5:56 amIn today’s Internet-saturated world, there’s no denying the power of the Web. We use the Internet to find and share information, create and build connections, expand influence, launch products, learn, search, grow—and just as we see the value of the Web in our daily lives, so your business recognizes its power on your operations. Ever wonder what the key is to harnessing the Internet’s power to market services, generate new business, enhance operations and more? Simply put: it’s your content. Because of the nature of the Web, online success is writing-based—it relies on effective,… -
Straight North around the Web
2 Feb 2012 | 12:14 pmLinks to Tasty Straight North Posts around the Web Hi there. Here are some recent offsite posts we wrote that hit a variety of SEO, social media, content marketing, and blogging topics. On the Content Marketing Institute blog, The Essential Guide to Meta Descriptions that Will Get You Found Online. Lots of screen shots that show what meta descriptions look like on social media sites and Google SERPs. On Crowdshifter, How a Blog Can Help Your Sales Force. If your company is sales-driven, this article will be of interest. On BlogHer, The Power of Pinterest: Simplicity. Pinterest is the hot… -
Top Design Mistakes That Will Destroy Your Website’s SEO
1 Feb 2012 | 6:19 amYou just launched a brand-new website design full of stellar JavaScript navigation, a mind-blowing Java splash page, and fancy imagery throughout the website. Last month, you had an average of 10,000 visitors per week, and now you only have 100. What the heck happened? Whether the site is for delivering daily news or selling fire protective clothing, it must perform well in search engines to be successful. After every re-design, it’s important to perform a site audit to find design errors that may hurt your website’s SEO. A highly-skilled designer can do brilliant things with a… -
How Often Should You Review Your Internet Marketing Strategy
24 Jan 2012 | 7:43 amInternet Marketing Strategy Requires Ongoing Attention A Strategic Look at Marketing in 2012 Back in December I wrote a post suggesting that companies change gears too often on their marketing. The flip side of this problem, of course, is not changing gears often enough. How do you know when it’s time, as an old manager of mine used to say, to stop beating a dead horse? SEO and Social Media Certain aspects of Internet marketing need to be reviewed on a monthly basis, regardless of your results. In particular, I’m thinking about social media and SEO. Changes in these areas are… -
Font Selection for Web Designers
17 Jan 2012 | 6:17 amLet's Take The Confusion Out Of Font Selection If 95% of web design is written language, then, as a web designer, it only makes sense to do all you can to make that written language effective. It’s no secret that quality design is about much more than looking pretty–it’s about giving users a sense of your brand; communicating information quickly and clearly; and providing a place to offer a clear call to some desired action, be it subscribing, becoming a member or making a purchase–and written language is key to achieving those goals. That’s why font is such a key part…
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The Mythic Marketer
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The “Great Marketing Conversation” Continues – A Baker’s Dozen Answers To Questions
25 Jan 2012 | 12:30 amI was very honored yesterday to get to participate with some extraordinarily smart folks in what was labeled “The Great Marketing Conversation”. It was a webcast hosted by PropelGrowth and sponsored by the DemandGeneration report. Joining me on this webcast were: Mike Volpe – CMO of Hubspot. Ardath Albee – Author and B2B Marketing Queen Extraordinaire Marcus Sheridan – The Amazing Sales Lion (nuff said) What was originally going to be a “Debate” of how content marketing and inbound marketing differed – turned into a wonderfully productive conversation about how to actually… -
What Tim Tebow Teaches Us About Content Marketing
15 Jan 2012 | 11:28 pmSo, over the weekend, I went back and re-read Seth Godin’s All Marketers Are Liars (it was subsequently retitled with the words “tell stories”). Also, like I’m sure a good many of you, I watched the NFL playoff games. But something struck me as I watched the Denver game, the coverage and the steady stream of Facebook posts, Twitter updates and overall restaurant conversation over the weekend. Tim Tebow is a damn good content marketer. Marketing As Storytelling Is Powerful So, big shock – I believe in this wholeheartedly. Now, Seth Godin said it much better in his book than I… -
Context Aware Content Marketing – Somethin’s Got A Hold On Me
12 Jan 2012 | 12:58 amSo, I’m the guest speaker at a Webinar hosted by the folks over at Hippo today. When they asked me to speak – they wanted me to put some thought into how “context” was going to play a role in changing the process of content marketing. Okay – Context Aware Content Marketing. That’s cool. I got it. Now for some strange reason – As I wrote this post – I felt the need to put on some music. And what hit me was Etta James’s Something’s Got A Hold Of Me. I have no idea what this has to do with marketing (other than… well it’s Etta – and it’s just an… -
What’s Your 2012 Story? What Kind Of Hero Will You Be?
30 Dec 2011 | 4:58 pmHappy New Year! So, what will be Your story in 2012? How about your business? Whether you are simply throwing 2012 wishes into your New Year’s fire, making resolutions, or putting the finishing touches on your 100 slide 2012 Go To Market Powerpoint – it’s all the same thing: Crafting your story is knowing what you want – and then accepting the responsibility for making it happen. If you simply state what you want without accepting the responsibility of realizing it/receiving it – you’re simply not authoring your own story. In short (to paraphrase Jagger and Richards)… -
Twas The Night Before A Nutty Christmas – My Wishes For You!
23 Dec 2011 | 5:45 pmFor those that have known me for some time – you’ll recognize this as what I used to send out as my yearly email card. A little fun just before Christmas – celebrating the year that was. This year, I thought I’d move it to my blog. So – without further ado – I give you… Twas the night before Christmas – My wishes for you…. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through our nation no candidate was comfortable with the pre-caucus situation. All our hopes were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that things…
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Jeff Korhan
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Facebook Facts and Your Business
6 Feb 2012 | 1:13 pmPew Internet recently completed a study of Facebook user behaviors that provides valuable insights that can help you more effectively use Facebook to grow your circle of influence – and business opportunities. Facebook Friends are Not Real Friends Men and women especially, and all of us in general, differ on who we consider to be our real friends. Of course, social networking complicates this further. Most of us would agree that our real friends are a small percentage of our Facebook friends, and the Pew study validates this. How does Facebook make this determination? From your social… -
Social Business by Design
1 Feb 2012 | 9:40 pmAs Facebook approaches its public offering, CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg is making one thing very clear. “The world’s information infrastructure should resemble the social graph.” In other words, your business needs to be social by design. Virtually every business in every industry needs to redefine itself around social to be relevant with the changing behaviors of consumers. Define the Purpose of Your Company Every business has a purpose – what some refer to as a higher purpose. It is your mission. It’s something that transcends profits – while also… -
Ambiance for Writers
31 Jan 2012 | 11:55 pmWriting is a skill – one that is highly sought after these days when there is such a thirst for quality online content. If you are a writer you know the challenges – including the distractions. Writers know that getting into and staying within “the zone” (or whatever you want to call it) is essential if you are to accomplish your writing objectives – and meet your deadlines. Think of the times when your writing is marching along to amazing levels of accomplishment, only to be pulled out of your zone. Also consider the circumstances when you are faced with an… -
Personal vs Business Social Media Accounts
29 Jan 2012 | 8:15 pmSmall businesses naturally tend to focus on daily actions that generate results, such as engaging prospects with their sales process, and then efficiently converting that interest into profits. Advertising is a form of media that fits well with the small business mindset. It creates awareness, a sense of urgency, and a desire to take action now. Unlike traditional advertising campaigns, social media takes time to do its job. This is one reason why many small businesses are challenged with using it well. They view it as another form of advertising. This also leads to the temptation to set up… -
Google+ for Small Business: An Interview with Chris Brogan
26 Jan 2012 | 12:37 pmIn this interview, New York Times bestselling author Chris Brogan offers insights into the power of Google+ for small businesses. Google+ is an emerging social network that promises to challenge Facebook – especially in regards to its benefits for businesses. While Google+ is only a fraction of the size of Facebook, it is indeed backed by Google – the corporation that controls 2/3 of all search on the open web. Search results are and will be increasingly influenced by what is shared on the social networks. However, much of the sharing on Facebook is completely invisible to Google…
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Sparksheet
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Behind the Cover: Beckoning Cat
7 Feb 2012 | 2:44 pmSharp-eyed Sparksheet readers may recognize the cloned feline in our latest Feature Article “cover image” as Maneki Neko, the “beckoning cat” whose ceramic likeness is seen in restaurants and shops around the world. They may also be wondering why we used a Japanese icon to illustrate a story about China’s copycat brands. It turns out that the so-called “lucky cat” is frequently mistaken as being Chinese in origin due to its popularity in Chinese communities. But, of course, we’re worldly enough at Sparksheet to know a Japanese cat when we see… -
Shanzhai: China’s Brand Copycats
7 Feb 2012 | 9:18 amCorner of Huaihai and Liulin, Shanghai. Image by beltzner, via Flickr “All war is based on deception.” — Sun Tzu After spending several days in the small towns of Liaoning, a province in China’s northeast, I was looking forward to my night at the Shenyang Marriott. The wide main street that snaked through the city was lined with Chanel, Versace, Gucci and Louis Vuitton boutiques. Our taxi drove past the Kempinski, the Sheraton and pulled into a glittering, golden atrium. My eyes fell upon a brass plaque: It said ‘Welcome to The Marvelot.’ It was nearly 10 p.m. and I was… -
Super Bowl Ad Roundup
3 Feb 2012 | 8:10 amSuper Bowl commercials have always been hyped, but these days brands are looking beyond TV to reach American football fans before, during, and after the biggest sports event of the year. From pre-game contests to post-game hangouts, social media has changed the game for Super Bowl advertisers. The social Super Bowl Goodbye Super Bowl on TV, hello Super Bowl online: NBC and Verizon Wireless are teaming up to provide live streaming of the game for the first time. But given that the 2010 Olympics and World Cup were both available on the net, the real question is: why the wait? Another first is… -
How Social Media Changed the Super Bowl
3 Feb 2012 | 8:07 amAs someone who used to work at a sports bar, I understand the chaos that occurs during the Super Bowl. I had the pleasure of working at Buffalo Wild Wings as a waitress in Chicago in 2007 when the Bears made it all the way to that last game. This was the first time in 21 years that our team made it, and boy did I underestimate the amount of excitement that was in store for me when I walked through those doors. I was being high-fived and hugged by complete strangers as I tried to deliver mozzarella sticks, our usually-quiet phone systems were ringing off the hook, the wings were taken out of… -
Beyond Boomtown: Second Tier Cities in Emerging Markets
1 Feb 2012 | 9:40 amHyderabad, India: Image by byte via Flickr There’s a lot of enthusiasm in the marketing world about engaging in emerging markets – especially at a time when mature markets seem unable to generate anything but gloom. The size of the populations in emerging markets and the rapidity of their growth have big global brands salivating. Many brands are primarily looking to the major cities of the developing world – and in the travel industry often just the largest two or three cities. But there are millions of potential customers in smaller cities and towns who are largely overlooked. In…
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Content Mastery Guide
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What Business Bloggers Can Learn from Journalists
29 Jan 2012 | 3:15 pmAccording to Technorati.com's State of the Blogosphere 2011 report, almost 1/3 of bloggers have worked for the traditional media. That statistic got me thinking about how business bloggers could benefit from a journalism mindset. Hold the schedule sacred Whether it's a daily paper, a weekly column or a monthly magazine, it goes out. On time. With content. I see many bloggers boast about how they only post when they have something fabulous to say. Great, but when you're building online visibility you really can't afford to be absent for too long, or to have your blog/website… -
Welcome to the Blogosphere, Now What?
25 Jan 2012 | 1:45 pmWhen I tell people that I'm a blogging consultant, the usual response is, "Now, that's a job that didn't exist a few years ago!" True enough. And if you're like most business owners, blogging is a strategy that you've never considered, until you started hearing from marketing agencies, web designers and content marketing experts that blogging is not only helpful, but essential. In fact: B2B (those who sell products or services to other businesses) companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those who do not B2C (those… -
Blog Readers Are Your Friends, But...
18 Jan 2012 | 5:43 amMy definition of friend has changed from spending so much time online. I have many friends that I've never met in person, and probably never will. Some friendships began with a five-minute Twitter exchange; others were sparked in person and then deepened online. I've written before about how you want to engage your blog reader as if you're already friends. After all, even as a brand new reader, that person has still come from somewhere. Maybe they found you on Google, "Hey, my friend Google the search engine thought I should meet you because I'm looking for..."… -
You Don't Need to Be First on Google to Attract New Local Clients With Your Blog
2 Jan 2012 | 6:23 pmWhen I read Seth Leonard's article about the Google hoax, I breathed a big sigh of relief. At last someone put into concise words what's been niggling at me for years. "You shouldn’t ignore search engines completely," he writes, "Just don’t break your back trying to game the system." And he goes on to share four great ways get your website seen, which are definitely worth a look. The benefits of blogging extend far beyond attracting strangers via Google and other search engines. Blogging has the power to strengthen your community connections,… -
How FreshBooks Connects via their Blog
2 Jan 2012 | 6:02 amIn the recent How to Write a Blog Post webinar, I highlighted these four blogs as examples of the four different types of blog posts you can write: The Wegman's Fresh Stories blog, for this example of a "how to" post Southwest Airline's Nuts About Southwest blog, for this example of a personal post The Coaching4Clergy blog (my client J. Val Hastings), for this example of a thought leadership post The FreshBooks blog, for this example of a connecting post FreshBooks are innovators in the field of online invoicing, so it's no wonder that their blog is so creative and…
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Inbound marketing, technology, branding, and social media for schools
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Why I’m Quitting Free Cloud Tools
7 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amWhen it comes to Cloud tools – iLove free! In the past, a prerequiste for the cloud tools iLove were that they included a free option. Well today I’m writing to let you know that I’m quitting free and instead looking for value! Nozbe I’m a disciple of the Getting Things Done (GTD) system of time management. The GTD system was introduced by David Allen in his book: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. I highly encourage you to check out the GTD system. I found Nozbe when I was looking for a way to utilize the GTD system online and initial signed up… -
Weekend Update – Feb04
4 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amHappy Social Media Saturday! Listed below are links to interesting things I found on the web this week: cool tools, great blog articles, memorable Tweets – anything that stuck out to me and I think is worth sharing. I encourage you to check them out for yourself. Blog Post: 3 Things Every Executive Should Know About Inbound Marketing - Over the past 12 months our inbound marketing engagements have increasingly caught the attention of C-level executives. In a small business, this is often the owner. In larger companies, it tends to be either the Chief Marketing Officer or the CEO. When I… -
Weekend Update – Jan28
28 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amHappy Social Media Saturday! Listed below are links to interesting things I found on the web this week: cool tools, great blog articles, memorable Tweets – anything that stuck out to me and I think is worth sharing. I encourage you to check them out for yourself. Blog Post: Great Schools Admissions Marketing Just Got Easier - Innovative Marketing Resources, a strategic marketing company based in Shirley, Massachusetts, today announced the release of a new tool used to forecast marketing activity required to meet school enrollment targets. The tool is designed to increase effectiveness of… -
How To Search Twitter For Hashtags Using Hootsuite
26 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amDuring this screencast I will show you how to search Twitter for hashtags using Hootsuite. Sign-Up for FREE Hootsuite Account Blog post at edSocialMedia: Twitter Hashtags For Independent Schools Let me know if you have any questions by posting them in the comments section below. -
Back to the Basics – Fundamentals of Writing
24 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amDedicated logophiles like me fawn over words in the same way classic-car connoisseurs go gaga over a ’67 Shelby Mustang. In the age of social media, words are an invaluable commodity to all professional communicators. After all, revolutionary ideas can be conveyed in 140 characters or less. What if America’s founding fathers had uncorked on Twitter, “We hold these truths to be self-evident – all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”? Now, that’s potent stuff. When posting, be vigilant. Words are an asset,…
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OpenView Blog
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A B2B Marketer’s Guide to Pinterest
7 Feb 2012 | 8:33 amImage via WikipediaSince I last wrote about Pinterest (see: Should Pinterest be part of your B2B social media strategy?) it seems that the new social networking site has gotten even bigger. More and more of my connections on Facebook are pinning away — but don’t just take my word for it. Just last week, Mashable released a study showing that Pinterest is driving more traffic than YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+ combined. Yes you read that right. Combined. (In case you missed it Monetate — which is an OpenView portfolio company — released a great infographic… -
Talent Management: CEOs, Are You Pruning Your People?
7 Feb 2012 | 8:12 amI had a great breakfast with an old friend from M.I.T. He is an entrepreneur and told me about a person that he had working for him that he needed to manage closely.image provided by: fui / FlickrThe person needed his help to organize his tasks and meet his goals and the issue had been going on for a long time.My immediate and strong response was that it is time for him to separate everyone in his organization that needs this help more than one or two times.The reason is simple: Each person in the company needs to quickly get to the point that they can manage themselves and anyone that… -
Prospect Education: Getting a Sales Edge On The Incumbents
6 Feb 2012 | 11:15 amImage provided by: OpenViewPartners.comWhat is a prospect education program?A prospect education program is an initiative that is used to educate prospect customers about a market or a technology early on in the customer buying cycle, so that you can begin a relationship with them while they are just starting to become aware of how a technology or service could help resolve one of their pain points. These types of programs are used in both B2B and B2C markets.Why should startups and expansion stage companies consider a prospect education initiative?Startups and expansion stage companies often… -
Founders: Do You Want to Be Belichick or Brady?
6 Feb 2012 | 10:55 amimage provided by: Andrew Choy / FlickrSunday’s outcome aside, Tom Brady is a great football player. He is the quarterback who leads the offense for the great New England Patriots football team. He calls and coordinates every play and then leads the execution of each play.Bill Belichick is a great football coach. He leads the entire team and is ultimately responsible for making sure the entire team is fully aligned with its mission each week (to win) and each season (to win the Super Bowl). In order for the team to win, he knows that he needs to get the right players, develop… -
What CEOs Can Learn From Bill Belichick…
3 Feb 2012 | 1:24 pmImage via WikipediaAs we know this is Super Bowl week and all the hype that goes with it.However one thing that stands out between the teams playing is the ongoing high level of success the Patriots have had since Bill Belichick became their coach.During the interviews that have been written, I read Kevin Faulk’s response to a question about the Patriots success and Bill Belichick… “His consistency. His determination. His passion for coming in each and every year and having a different mindset to a season, having a different mindset to the team – understanding that it has to…
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SamuraiWriter.com/blog
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Why The IT Blame Game’s a Winner
6 Feb 2012 | 1:48 amIs there a place for humor when marketing IT solutions to technically-savvy prospects and customers? I ask, because many b2b technology sales teams know that ‘geeks’ can be very antagonistic to traditional marketing materials. Many interpret these as “marketing BS” or as poorly disguised “sales fluff”. (That’s why experienced account managers will often bring along a pre-sales SE to customer meetings and conference calls.) Having been in the network infrastructure world I can understand their unease when a vendor’s sales folks arrive to… -
5 Big Content Marketing Mistakes
2 Feb 2012 | 12:01 amToday’s post is about major content marketing mistakes, as revealed by 29 individuals who are experts from the worlds of b2b marketing, public relations, professional speaking, writing and communications. These folks were interviewed by internet entrepreneur, Eugene Farber, who then summarized their answers to the question below in a post on his content strategy hub blog. “What is a common content strategy mistake that business owners make?” Here are five of the major mistakes I identified from the post: 1) Joe Pulizzi is right on the money when he states that: “we… -
IT Content Marketing in Asia-Pacific: Time, Patience and Money…
29 Jan 2012 | 11:53 pmSome years ago a business acquaintance told me of her time as an expat product marketer in the newly established Tokyo office of an IT networking hardware company. The branch grew like crazy, employees worked all hours (leaving at 11:30 pm to catch the last train connection home was not uncommon for the Japanese staff) and business flourished. Two memories remain very clear for her. The first was in response to a customer from the academic world who signed up as an early adopter of the firm’s ethernet NIC products. After some software driver incompatibility problems had been identified… -
Update: How To Get The Best From a Freelance B2B Case Study Writer
10 Jan 2012 | 1:04 amAn earlier post, “Need Input from IT Marketers Who’ve Hired Freelance Customer Success Story Writers ASAP“, introduced a project that fellow success story writer, Pamela DeLoatch (b2bstorytelling.com), were working on. The idea was to create a series of video interviews for b2b marketers interested in how to get the best from a freelance B2B case study writer. Today’s post is an update on that project. Pamela and I got a list of questions together from responses kindly submitted by members of LinkedIn discussion groups, created a general interview script, and then took…
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ideaLaunch
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Google’s Little Secret
7 Feb 2012 | 10:26 amEver since the dawn of time—well, at least since the creation of the uber search engine Google—Internet marketers have tried to crack the code of how to get top billing on searches. Getting the inside scoop on Google’s search algorithm is akin to the Holy Grail in medieval times. Just like in the old Monty Python movie, all kinds of crazy methods and crazier marketers have undertaken the journey to find Google’s Holy Grail. As you know, Google—in their supposed infinite wisdom—reveals bits and pieces to peasants like us on how the algorithms that run their system work. I… -
Three Important Points for Using SEO To Grow Your Reader Base
6 Feb 2012 | 8:50 amAll right, let’s be brutally honest about a few things right off the bat… Everybody’s busy Everybody’s talking Nobody’s listening This is the Internet, and the cold, hard truth of the Internet is that nobody cares who you are or what you’re doing. As amazing as it is to have the opportunity to speak to the masses, everybody in the masses is speaking to the masses, as well. In the past, a talk show host or a news anchor could speak to the people, but today, they can’t speak at, they need to speak with, they need to be a part of the conversation if they… -
3 Huge Flaws in New Writers’ Content Marketing Definition
3 Feb 2012 | 9:05 amMany new content writers approach content marketing with stars in their eyes and self-defeating assumptions. They may rely too much on some web content tools and not enough on others. They may shoot themselves in the foot in their business practices. They may overshoot or underplay their writing voice. These are common mistakes, and there is no reason for anyone to re-invent the wheel. Iffy Web Content Tools Almost every web-marketing guru sells web content tools that they swear will put the finger of God on your marketing campaigns. Some tools are good, some are bad. Some deliver as… -
Using Links to Drive Traffic to Your Site
2 Feb 2012 | 8:40 amLinks are valuable, but odd little creatures. Your linking strategy might suggest you buy inbound links, employ backlinks, use newer note links or simply link your blog comments to other sites to fuel increased traffic to your website. But, even Internet veterans still sometimes wonder what are good links, where do they come from and how can I use them? Here are some easy—not exactly cutting edge—but proven options, to use links to your advantage. Employ social media profiles and blogs. Ok, you veterans realize that this suggestion is not state-of-the-art. Do you want cutting-edge or… -
How Tim Tebow Has Become A More Valuable Keyword Than Football Player
1 Feb 2012 | 8:14 amIt doesn’t matter if you respect Tim Tebow as football player, as a religious person, as a celebrity, or even as a man. You’ve got to respect Tim Tebow as a keyword. In fact, according to the Google Adwords Keyword tool, the term “Tim Tebow” is good for about 550,000 monthly searches. When utilizing organic keyword tactics, there are good reasons why your article or blog may do better with “Tim Tebow” as a keyword than it will with a generic keyword like “football player”. You don’t necessarily have to drop to your knees and…
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Tiny Business, Mighty Profits
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A Staggering Statistic On How We Buy Today (And how to use it for your business)
8 Feb 2012 | 4:50 amTweetOk. It’s logical and all and I (among others) have been preaching it for several years. But I had never seen a stat on this before. 70% of purchases are at the RFP stage before a sales person is called in. That, according to UBM TechWeb. In other words, before a buyer lets you know they are going to buy, they have already done all the research they need to do. I don’t care if you are a B2C company that doesn’t even know what an RFP is, (Request for Proposal, by the way) this should change the way you view your marketing and sales process. Why? Because two things… -
Use This Technique To See How Google Truly Works
1 Feb 2012 | 7:57 amTweetIf you are not doing this, you likely don’t really understand how Google works. Google knows a lot about you. And they are learning more and more each time you search. They have a pretty good idea about things like: What kind of car you are thinking about buying What illnesses you have Whether you are a dog or a cat person Now, with their introduction of Google +, a Facebook competitor, they are adding a social layer. This includeds information like: Are you married? If so, to whom? What is your favorite Thai restaurant? Who are you friends with? And who are they friends… -
The Secret To Becoming Proficient At Absolutely Anything
25 Jan 2012 | 8:39 amTweetMy wife would look at me with pity in her eyes. Me, fumbling around with a socket wrench or (look out!) circular saw. Puzzled. Completely useless. Driving back and forth from my dad’s house with borrowed tools rattling around in my trunk and (if I was lucky) my dad sitting next to me in shotgun. Today, I am proud to say that I am one step above useless as a handy man. Dare I say, approaching a passing grade as a honey-doer. My goal is to become proficient in this area. I’m not looking to become Bob Villa here. I just need to be able to fix a leaky toilet. Here’s how… -
How Anyone Can Become The Smartest Person In The Room
18 Jan 2012 | 4:00 amTweetThis is so easy, so powerful and so true. If you want to become the smartest person in the room. Be silent. Not catatonic silent. Sit up, lean in to the conversation and maintain strong eye contact. But say little. Call it “engaged silence.” There is power in this kind of silence. This is particularly effective if you… listen very carefully to what is being said. Actively process the information in your mind. Then, respond thoughtfully and thoroughly. Apply this to your business and personal life. In sales situations, arguments and debates. You will be… -
How To Leverage The Strength Of A Small Email Marketing List
11 Jan 2012 | 4:00 amTweetI’m sorry. It’s possible that the Internet marketers have led you astray. I’m one of them. Guilty as charged. We talk about building huge email lists with automated “drip campaigns.” We advise our clients to send bulk emails through email marketing software because it is “scalable.” But this isn’t always the best email marketing tactic. Here’s why… The Small List’s Strength Is The Big List’s Weakness There is no question that building an email list within an email software program is a smart move. The email…
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The Content Lab
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Facebook IPO: get ready for a mobile land grab
31 Jan 2012 | 3:34 pmI guess it feels like poetic justice. After years of compelling me to share my private life with the world, Facebook – the company that made the notion of “private lives” feel cute and antiquated – is going public, too. Presumably, we won’t find pictures of Mark Zuckerberg with his mom in the company’s SEC filing, but still – I like the idea of Facebook airing its financial laundry for the entire world to see. But, what happens when the world’s largest social networking site goes public? What does that mean for how Facebook does business, and what does it tell us about the… -
Six reasons why your brand belongs on Tumblr
18 Jan 2012 | 1:22 pmA unique, vibrant social community filled with creative minds, sharing millions of photos, and posts every day doesn’t have marketers knocking down the door to engage with all those users. Why? Because marketers are afraid to take chance at something they’re not used to, something they may fail at. That’s Tumblr’s story. However, brands should strongly consider adding Tumblr to their social marketing programs for six reasons ranging from Tumblr’s dynamic look and feel to its popularity among socially savvy audiences. Tumblr is unique but it’s not scary.It’s a different kind of… -
Beatles fans: beware of iTunes Match
12 Jan 2012 | 10:43 amListen: do you want to know a secret? I’m really not an early adopter. I’m as tantalized by the pastries in the Apple Store as anyone else, but I rarely press my face to the glass in the months before a release. I didn’t have an iPhone until Verizon said I could get one, and I’m mostly content to watch my friends and colleagues struggle with their totally cool, totally unreliable, totally expensive 1.0s. There are exceptions. A big one came in 2001, when I was a music-magazine editor, and a PR team handed me 20 compact discs and an MP3 player that would hit the market months later. I… -
Raytheon Sum of All Thrills: a twist on content co-creation
28 Dec 2011 | 12:51 pmHow would you like to design your own thrill ride? At the Raytheon Sum of All Thrills attraction at Disney’s Epcot theme park, you can do just that. Through Sum of All Thrills, which I visited recently, you use a workstation provided by Raytheon to design a brief but exciting ride that you then experience via a mechanical pod equipped with a virtual reality screen. While sitting in your pod, you twist, turn, and dive according to a path that you’ve designed. Sum of All Thrills is an example of content co-creation, in which the brand and consumer mutually participate in the formulation of… -
Content marketing: the year in review
21 Dec 2011 | 1:51 pmIn 2011, iCrossing made several major investments to show clients how to build connected brands with useful content. In 2012, I expect iCrossing will make content marketing more personal. Here are five highlights from 2011:1. “Brands-as-Publishers” Report In February, iCrossing published a report on how brands can become publishers in real time. Building a Connected Brand: How Brands Become Publishers in a Real-Time Marketing World discusses how companies can use content to become connected brands –- or brands that form close relationships with their audiences by being visible, useful,…
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The Outbrain Blog
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DINKlife Builds a New and Highly Engaged Audience Base (Case Study)
8 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amDINKlife was born out of a need to unite the DINK community (dual income couples with no kids) by providing lifestyle content, events, activities and opportunities tailored for this growing demographic. As a newly launched startup, DINKlife partnered with Outbrain to build a highly engaged audience base by driving high quality traffic to their site. Given their modest marketing budget and an interest in actively managing their campaign, DINKlife used Amplify Self-Serve to amplify their content across Outbrain’s network of premium publishers. With a low daily budget, flexible cost per… -
Armchair Travel: 4 Awesome Examples of Travel Content
7 Feb 2012 | 8:05 amArmchair travel is an art — people love reading about destinations, activities and events even when they’re not directly planning a getaway. Travel sites benefit from having excellent, exciting and fun content on their pages to attract potential travelers and grab a piece of mindshare for when they are ready to prepare for or book a trip. Here are a few sites that are almost as fun to visit as destinations themselves: Alpine Ascents So you’re interested in climbing Mt. Everest or trekking to the South Pole, but you want to get more information first? Check out the website of… -
4 Priceless Personal Finance Content Marketing Examples
24 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amUnless you’re an accountant, financial planner, or perhaps Warren Buffett, personal finance is probably not at the top of your list of exciting topics to read about. But not all personal finance content is boring and inaccessible. Here are a few businesses that show how content can be a relevant, beneficial and effective channel for personal finance companies to pursue in order to find consumers on the web who are likely to be interested in their products or services. Mint This popular online money manager keeps a robust blog that features extensive tips and how to’s for topics… -
What You Can Learn From Tim Tebow (This Week in Content Marketing)
19 Jan 2012 | 8:45 amAnd we’re back — this week with news on house ads, metrics, engagement, and…football? There are content marketing takeaways lurking in the most unexpected of places, if you know what to look for. What Tim Tebow Teaches Us About Content Marketing by The Mythic Marketer No matter what team you root for, Tim Tebow has undeniably struck a chord online. Here’s a look at what has helped him become the topic of so much conversation. Lies, Damn Lies, and Marketing Metrics by iMedia Connection As the saying goes, when you cheat, you’re only cheating yourself. How can… -
Content the Real Thing for Coca-Cola (Videos)
12 Jan 2012 | 8:56 amSocial media has changed the game when it comes to marketing and brand development. It’s no longer what you say, but how you say it. Little wonder that the world’s most iconic brand is taking the lead in engaging its consumers through content. Coca-Cola’s mission for 2012 is “Content 2020,” the brainchild of Coca-Cola’s Jonathan Mildenhall,VP Global Advertising Strategy and Creative Excellence, who recently explained to a panel that “All advertisers need a lot more content so that they can keep the engagement with consumers fresh and relevant, because of the…
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@TMGmedia
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Keep Your Audience on Its Tweet: 4 Keys to Building a Strong Social Following
7 Feb 2012 | 9:46 amIf the presidential election—coming to a polling place near you in November—is the nation’s foremost popularity contest (more than 65 million Americans voted for President Barack Obama in 2008) the ongoing battle for followers on Twitter, from a purely competitive standpoint, isn’t far behind.It has been reported that Twitter has more than 175 million users. But Business Insider says the number of active Twitter accounts (users following 8 or more accounts) is closer to 56 million. Either way, it’s a big number.If the election were decided on Twitter instead of at the ballot box,… -
Resistance is Futile: 10 Statistics to Support Having a Mobile Content Strategy
5 Feb 2012 | 11:30 pmChange is coming, and it’s coming fast.Resistance is futile, as the Borg on Star Trek famously said before assimilating another species into its cybernetic life form.For those in your organization who are resisting the mobile trend or who deny the importance of the mobile web on your content marketing strategy, prepare to be assimilated. Well, not really. But at least prepare to change your focus.As a BtoB Online article explains, the new media model, fueled by the Internet, social media and mobile, is here. In addition to paid (purchased media), marketers are focusing on owned (original… -
Why Literature Matters (Despite What Those Last 50 Million Tweets Told You)
1 Feb 2012 | 11:15 pmIf you’ve ever been inside an elementary school library from the year 1966 onward, you’ve probably laid eyes on the phrase “Reading is FUNdamental” at one point in your life.And it is. Especially if you want to create good content.In order to do that—to engage, entertain, and inform—one has to know how it’s done, and it helps to see it done by people who are better at it than us, or at least, have notched a few hits.If you want to pump out good content, you have to READ good content. And nothing is better than a good book. Literature is full of people who are… -
Serving Up Social Media (When You’ve Already Got a Full Plate)
1 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amLucky me! Last week I was invited to host a Social Media Club of D.C. event and let my true nerd flag fly. My task? Moderate a panel discussion that combined two of my favorite things: food and social media.In the hot seats were three very tech-savvy people from D.C.’s restaurant scene: Jonathan Goldfuss (@ThinkFoodGroup) from Think Food Group, the management company for Jose Andres’ many restaurants; Polly Wiedmaier (@marcelsbeckdc), wife of (and marketing guru for) chef Robert Wiedmaier, of Brasserie Beck, Marcels, and others; and Chef Tony Marciante (@ChefTony) of his namesake… -
4 Myths About Video Content
31 Jan 2012 | 9:55 amMoving pictures can be dangerous. Witness video of me, circa 1988, clad in acid-washed jeans with a shock of hair resembling a dump truck in full tilt.Same thing applies to a new generation of video and the media machine it feeds every second of the day. When it comes to branded video content—or even content used to supplement a story online or on your slick new app—if you have the wrong mission or focus, things can go south faster than a bender in Tijuana.I’ve learned a lot during my first year as someone responsible for providing video content for a TV network. No, it’s not NBC or…
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Brad Capone
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Maximizing Your Brand Presence on Google+
5 Feb 2012 | 6:30 pmRecently, Google+ granted companies the ability to launch brand pages. Its stated goal in doing so was to help users build relationships with any company they “care about.” As Google’s SVP-Engineering Vic Gundotra describes it, “behind every page (or storefront, or four-door sedan) is a passionate group of individuals, and we think you should able to connect [...] -
10 Creative Ways to Use QR Codes for Marketing
2 Feb 2012 | 6:20 pm1. Reinventing the Shopping Experience Global supermarket giant Tesco solved the problem of enticing hard-working, time-strapped Koreans into its stores by bringing the shopping experience to them, with virtual stores based in subways and metro stations. Shoppers were encouraged to browse life-like images of supermarket shelves with their smartphones and scan the QR codes on [...] -
Your Company’s Online Reputation Impacts Employee Recruiting
1 Feb 2012 | 6:16 pmWith unemployment hovering around 9% and underemployment still a painful reminder of the recession, you might think people searching for a job might be happy to receive a job offer from just about anyone. Think again. Candidates are closely scrutinizing the online reputation of potential employers and changing their minds based on what they read [...] -
Google Goggles Marketing
31 Jan 2012 | 6:10 pmAbout a year ago, we launched Google Goggles, an app that enables people to search the web by taking pictures with their mobile devices. Since then, people have used Goggles to search for information about lots of different things: famous paintings, landmarks, products and much more. Today, we’re announcing a Google Goggles marketing experiment. We’re working [...] -
Waiting Between Page Posts Maximizes Engagement
30 Jan 2012 | 6:30 pmThe average news feed post by a Facebook Page receives Likes and comments for 3 hours after being published. To maximize the engagement, impressions, and traffic driven by the news feed, Facebook Page owners should wait at least 3 hours between posts. This new finding from a study by Facebook Page analytics company EdgeRank Checker could help [...]
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George Passwater
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Improve Your Content Marketing Like a Championship NFL Football Team
3 Feb 2012 | 2:57 pmI love all kinds of sports, but now is NFL football time in the US and although my team isn’t in the running, I’m looking forward to watching the big game. While I was watching the playoff games and yelling at the screen, I realized something: championship football is just like content marketing. How? Content marketing is a lot like a championship sporting event – you still have competitors and need to find the right formula that gives you an edge over your opponent. Once that mix is in place, you have what you need to bring home the trophy and more fuel for your content fire. For every… -
Success in the New Year: Plan Out Your Change Or Don’t Get Off the Couch
19 Jan 2012 | 10:16 amChange. We’re entering a New Year and most of what you hear is about is…change. People always make resolutions to do things different in their personal and professional lives. Some want to lose weight, get a better job or even start dating – whatever floats your boat. Now of those who say they’re going to change, more than half will lose steam and quit before three months is up. Why? Is it because they don’t have the determination? They don’t have the time or energy? Sometimes these are factors of them throwing in the towel, but I see a larger reason. They don’t’ sit down and… -
3 Reasons How Your Business Benefits From Content Marketing
22 Dec 2011 | 8:18 am“Our customers don’t pay attention to content, so why should we pay for someone to create it for our business?” Believe it or not, I heard this statement a few weeks ago from a company I interviewed. They didn’t believe content was worth focusing on as an element in their marketing mix. Well, according to eMarketer, 73 percent of businesses rely on their own, branded content, and 41 percent leverage user-generated content and/ or reviews. Based on these statistics, content shouldn’t be an afterthought or something business can ignore — it’s an important piece of any company’s… -
Email Marketing: 3 Ways to Lower Unsubscribes Rates and Prove You Don’t Suck[Video]
1 Dec 2011 | 1:54 pmDoes it freak you out every time someone unsubscribes to your email list? If it does, don’t take it personally. Now this doesn’t mean you suck, but you may want to take a step back and look at what you’re doing. In this video, I go into 3 ways to lower your email marketing unsubscribe rates and prove you don’t suck. For some reason, my embed is freaking out my page, so here’s the link to the video. Let me know what you think with a comment below, ok? http://youtu.be/Ug15r-pMTxg Related posts: Email Marketing: An Essential Part Of Your Content Marketing Toolbox…
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Maastary B2B Marketing Blog
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Revenue: Both a Sales and Marketing Metric
25 Jan 2012 | 7:56 amTwelve days ago I posted the following question on a LinkedIn discussion group. “Why do so many Marketing VPs refuse to have revenue on their goal sheets? Isn't this a necessary component for sales and marketing alignment?” I was surprised by the number (45 at last count), variety, and quality of comments. The comments can be summarized in 3 different positions: 1. Some people see Marketing as nothing more than a support organization for Sales, and easily outsourced.2. Others pointed out the value and importance of strategic marketing roles, such as identifying target… -
6 Sales and Marketing Mix Must-dos for 2012
17 Jan 2012 | 11:07 pm1. Create a Proactive Online Presence The world has moved on, yet many B2B businesses remain anchored in past practice. An old (sales) boss of mine used to say, "We know who are target customers are, we know where they work. Why do we need to advertize or promote? We can just call them. There's only a finite number of them, after all". But that was 20 years ago! Nowadays over 80% of B2B purchases are instigated or investigated using online resources. This makes having a strong and proactive online presence via the Internet, social media and other online information services of paramount… -
9 Secrets to Sales and Marketing Alignment
22 Dec 2011 | 9:52 pmSales and marketing alignment is a key success factor for driving revenue and customer growth. A series of studies by ITSMA* found that solution provider websites are the most frequent source of information, in the early stages of the buying process. This hidden buying process along with economic and competitive pressures is pushing better sales and marketing alignment to the top of many CEO's priority list. Improving Sales and Marketing alignment has been a goal for many years. Unfortunately, it is much easier in theory than in practice. A recent study by the Aberdeen… -
Best Practice: Launch Readiness vs. Relevancy
2 Dec 2011 | 11:50 amEven in "the good old days" when technology marketers assumed their target market simply consisted of the folks who worked and managed "the IT shop", it was a challenge to develop truly compelling product positioning and launch materials. At launch the key requirement was to be ready, on time, with the right set of content and collateral; to satisfy the launch check list. How easy it was for non-technical staff to understand the content, how targeted and relevant to the real decision maker, how well the product was competitively positioned by business value, were all secondary or… -
4 Reasons to Align Marketing and Sales Now
28 Nov 2011 | 11:55 amThe evidence is overwhelming. While relationships remain crucial to the sales process, above all, business customers want a good buying experience and one that leads to the purchase of the right product or solution for them. They want help from someone who really understands their needs. What's more, they want to control both the nature and the pace of their buying process. Already, over 80% of buyers consult online information sources during the buying process. Initially to help them decide what kinds of solutions may be available and which vendors might be able to help. They seek out…
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5 Minutes a Day
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How To Earn Income Without Working For It
23 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amIf you are looking to earn money but are limited on time then you need to learn the basics of passive income. Passive income is income that you don’t have to continually work at to earn. There may be some maintenance but basically you do the job once and then collect income well into the future. Books, CDs and applications are great examples of passive income. You write the book and then collect royalties on it forever. Record a CD and collect royalties on it forever. Develop an exciting game or business application and collect royalties on it forever. Just like your blog or… -
Offer the Solution
16 Jan 2012 | 9:08 amA few posts back I suggested that people buy solutions not features. They have seen all the fancy options that you offer at a dozen other places. It is all information overload. In the end, what your potential customer needs is the answer to ‘Why’ they should choose you. It is easy to get stuck in a rut when you are looking at all the pieces that you have to offer. Think of a car. As an automobile manufacturer you could look all day at every individual piece and share with everyone how wonderfully strong or lasting that particular piece is. But, it is just one piece. Without… -
Make This Year Great by Doing These 3 Things
2 Jan 2012 | 4:00 amUpdate your website A fresh new look may be all you need to be inspired again. Commit to posting at least one blog post per month At least once a month. Once a week is better. Three times a week is best. Help someone in need You don’t have to go far to find someone in need. You may find by helping someone else that you benefit most. -
How To Get Out Of Debt
30 Dec 2011 | 7:52 amOver the last several years many things have had an impact on my life. Four things that I have been blessed with are my kids. They bring me a great deal of joy and I love them dearly. They give me 4 reasons every day to work hard and give 100% in all that I do. Part of my duties as a parent is to pass on any lessons I’ve learned along the way to them. If you are like me, you have struggled financially in your life. There have been ups and downs. Because of this and since money is such an integral part of life I set out on a mission to develop a system that not only I could… -
Sell the Solution Not the Features
28 Dec 2011 | 1:30 amIt is easy to get caught up listing everything your company or website has to offer. We all try to “out-feature” the next guy. My background is in web hosting and we are the best in the world at comparison charts with hosting features. Geeks with lists to the nth detail. So, why aren’t people buying? Truth be told is, especially in the web hosting world, that most companies are so similar that you can change a logo and you would never tell the difference. Everyone has the features. Unless you have a niche (which I hope you aim to have), you are just another convenience store…
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Content Marketing Blog
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Content Marketing Fun News of The Week
3 Feb 2012 | 10:02 amKeeping on top of the ins and outs of content marketing can be a full time job. Wait …content marketing is our full time job! Since we love our job and the news we find, it only makes sense to share. Here are this week’s top 5 content marketing stories of people and companies using content to grow. #5. Content Marketers Make Forbes. Three content marketing leaders topped the Forbes list of 50 social media power influencers (@chrisbrogan, @marketingprofs, @guykawasaki). #4. Facebook is doing it! The IPO is in action. Did you hear about the painter who… -
Social Media Marketing is Not About Marketing…It’s About Sharing
2 Feb 2012 | 1:03 pmThe desire to share information is not new. People have been sharing information since the days of messenger pigeons and telegraphs. You could probably make the case that cave drawings set the foundation for today’s infographics. Parents ask kids to share. Teachers ask students to share. Marketers ask prospects and clients to share. In the business world we share files, contacts and leads. In yoga class we share space. At the dinner table we share stories. Radio, television, the internet…they were all created for sharing information. It’s no wonder… -
6 Ways Pinterest Can Work for Businesses as a Content Marketing Tool
31 Jan 2012 | 10:11 amAah, Pinterest...the addicting, time-evaporating, can’t look away from, new social network where users “pin” their interests on a virtual pinboard, has been catching on like wildfire. Many people are still wondering what it’s all about. According to Pinterest Etiquette, the goal is: “To connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting. We think that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people." Personally, I use Pinterest to create my own magazine of sorts...from style to recipes and home design ideas. In… -
Tiffany’s Gets Clever with Content Marketing for Valentine's Day
26 Jan 2012 | 1:44 pmTiffany & Co. wants to make your Valentine's Day blue, in a good way. The company is making it easy for women send their significant others a special clue for Valentine’s Day. A new “Drop a Hint” button is now featured next to every item on their website. With a simple click, you can send prospective shoppers a friendly email nudge just in time for "won't you be mine." Simply click the "Drop a Hint" button, garnished by a little red heart, next to an item of your choice. A screen will pop up with a customizable email message. Enter your… -
Why Content Marketing Works: Courtesy of Coca-Cola's Content 2020 Plan
19 Jan 2012 | 2:20 pmCoca-Cola’s Content 2020 advertising strategy puts content at the core of its mission: "All advertisers need a lot more content so that they can keep the engagement with consumers fresh and relevant, because of the 24/7 connectivity. If you’re going to be successful around the world, you have to have fat and fertile ideas at the core." If that’s not testament to the value of content marketing, well, you just need to try it for yourself. Coca-Cola even created an internal video to explain the Content 2020 vision, which you can watch here. Content marketing guru…
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Content Marketing for Technology
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The true costs of freelance writing projects
19 Jan 2012 | 12:28 pmIn a tight economy, some companies try to save money on writing projects by outsourcing to other countries, or by using sites like Elance to find inexpensive freelancers. A recent MarketingProfs article discussed the challenges of using sites like Elance. Outsourcing can be a false economy. A friend told me recently that her company was outsourcing all of their documentation work to India to save money, but that the effort will increase the workload on their developers, who must now write exactly what they want to go into the documentation. As a freelance technology writer myself, I have… -
My wish for 2012 in tech: Not too cloud-y
28 Dec 2011 | 9:40 pmHot news for 2012: Frost and Sullivan says that 2012 is the year that cloud computing will go mainstream. by Fractal Artist I don’t know about you, but for me in B2B technology marketing, 2011 was the year that “cloud computing” pushed way past mainstream into the realm of overuse. In the past year, I’ve written about cloud computing, public clouds, private clouds, hybrid clouds, cloud storage and cloud identity. I’ve written multiple pieces describing the myriad benefits of cloud computing. (Does anyone in enterprise IT not know what cloud computing is? -
Real vs. perceived value in technology marketing
1 Dec 2011 | 12:07 pmI’ve been reading Mark Stiving‘s book on pricing (Impact Pricing) and was struck by the concepts of real value and perceived value – and the gap that sometimes lives between them. Real value is what’s actually in the product. In technology markets, it’s what engineering designs into the product. Perceived value is what the customer thinks the value is – and what they buy. Hence it’s very important to pricing. Perceived value may reside in things outside of engineering’s control, or in something considered unimportant by developers. I’ve known… -
Is your website elitist?
16 Nov 2011 | 4:53 pmby peregrinari Have you ever been to a technology website and not been able to figure out exactly what the product or service does (or indeed, if the company is offering a product or a service)? Despite the fact that I’ve worked in the tech industry for a long time, this still happens fairly regularly. Even when I can figure out what the company does, I often cannot determine who they are selling to. Are they selling to the enterprise? The small or midsized business? The consumer? Some combination of the above? It’s usually because the website is so filled with jargon… -
Who are you calling a user?
28 Oct 2011 | 11:38 amIt feels like time for a language crusade – so here’s my latest rant: the word ‘user’ when applied to people in technology marketing and writing. When you’re writing about technology from an IT perspective, you need some way to talk about, you know, those little people who use the technology that you’re buying. Hence the term ‘user’. Even apart from the negative connotations, it just seems so impersonal. Worse, it implies a perspective where the important thing is the technology and that the people using it are only secondary. Lately,…
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B2Bbloggers.com
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The Top Three B2B Marketing Themes for 2012
19 Jan 2012 | 10:04 amWhile 2011 was coming to a close, I noticed a slew of articles on what B2B marketers should anticipate this year. Of the 10 or so articles I read regarding B2B marketing predictions for 2012, there were three top themes consistent amongst each article. 1. SOCIAL MEDIA According to an article by Gary Halliwell on iMediaConnection , a wider range of employees and departments will be representing brands on social media in 2012. The employees and departments will increase as companies find broader uses for social media beyond sales, marketing and brand recognition. Some potential broader uses as… -
7 Reasons You Can’t Afford to Ignore Lead Nurturing
12 Jan 2012 | 12:17 pmAs a marketer, your most important job is to generate leads for your business. But what good are those leads if they’re not managed properly? These 7 statistics show that if you’re not taking advantage of lead nurturing, you’re losing customers and revenue, and very quickly. 1. Only 25% of leads are legitimate and should go to sales. 50% are qualified but not ready to buy. (Source: Gleanster Research) Nearly half of your leads will not be ready for a sales call immediately after their first conversion. But that doesn’t mean you should just ignore these leads or throw them… -
There’s More to Pipeline Metrics Than Leads
17 Nov 2011 | 3:51 pmMany marketing organizations use lead volume as the primary way they evaluate program effectiveness. This metric is too limiting. Here’s a common scenario to help illustrate why marketing organizations need to use metrics beyond lead volume when evaluating program effectives and marketing’s contribution. Imagine you have two new customer acquisition programs in play: Program Excalibur produces 100 qualified leads and Program Camelot produces 50 qualified leads. At first glance, it might appear that based on volume or the quantity of qualified leads, that Excalibur is the better… -
Five Steps To Better B2B Lead Generation
9 Nov 2011 | 12:59 pmMany marketers who have discovered tips or tricks about their field keep those items close to their chest. It’s understandable why they would want to preserve these secrets, whether for competitive advantage, job security or simple jealousy. They use these strategies to help create leads for their sales teams, and watch their secret tools or methods mature over time and find ways to improve them or get a little more out of them. A lot of these hidden tools and tricks are around finding ways to pull in more leads to the top of your marketing funnel, whether to increase your social media… -
Social Business Is Spreading, But Is Anybody Listening?
1 Nov 2011 | 6:54 amA recent Gartner survey asked the question “Who is leading social media initiatives in your business?”. 35% of the respondents answered “Marketing.” 10% said “PR.” Nobody said “Sales” or “CRM” teams. The immediate conclusion to this is that companies are still falling short of using social media, and the web to listen. While marketing departments are getting much better at tracking brand in the B2C space, most B2B organizations would most likely hold their hands up and say they still ‘don’t get it.’ There are several reoccurring themes as to why…
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Home Business Infopreneur Resources
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How Will SOPA and PIPA Effect Marketing and Social Media?
27 Jan 2012 | 6:17 amThe "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) and "Protect-IP Act" (PIPA) will have negative consequences for search engine marketing and marketing and social media. The internet has changed the way people communicate, interact, socialize, and conduct business. The world wide web has been a means for democratic institutions to grow, spread, and flourish around the world. In less than a decade the internet has penetrated the lives of most people on the planet. Voices that would otherwise be silenced by oppression and persecution have been given an outlet to communicate with people continents away. The… -
Niche Research is Key to Attracting Visitors to Your Website
2 Jan 2012 | 6:49 amSo you may have found the specific niche market you would like to focus on, you have created the site, created all of the layouts, arranged all the content and put your own personal touch to it. The next action for you is to find out is how to compel people to look at the website you relentlessly worked on for hours. Related posts: Niche Keyword Research Tools are a ‘Must Have’ To find niche market ideas, numerous keyword tracking tools have... The Importance of Keyword Research Services One of the SEO services that companies perform for clients... Don’t Buy Niche Reaper As… -
Video Editing Systems for Your Videos
31 Dec 2011 | 7:43 amThis post is recommendations for video editing software to help you make videos to promote your business. My guest poster, Tyrone Shum, gives his opinion with suggestions on the easiest to use video editing software systems. Related posts: Recording Videos without Having a Camera Phobia I have a great camera phobia myself that I need... How To Add Captions To Your Video Web When you have decided to take part in the production... Basic Video Marketing Tips Online video marketing will help you to make your site... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. -
Choosing the Right Niche for Your Blog
30 Dec 2011 | 7:00 amAs you know already, I use Amazon a lot as an affiliate. Not only on Squidoo, but on other websites as well. This post by guest poster, Darren Courtright, gives some great tips on choosing your niche using both free Google tools and Amazon. I think this is information that you will find most useful in helping you research your next niche market. No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. -
Staying Focused Is the Key to Online Success
29 Dec 2011 | 5:46 amStaying focused is one of the things many people have a difficult time doing, especially when working from home. Related posts: Email Copywriting Success You can easily succeed at email copywriting if you make... The Road to Success Is Paved By Twitter Marketing Mounting a successful Twitter marketing campaign demands that you plan... Simple Tips to Include SEO on Your WordPress Blog Your WordPress blog needs something besides quality content, if you... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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Your Heart's Content
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Increase Email Open Rates With 4 Tantalizing Subject Lines
25 Jan 2012 | 2:54 pmEmail subject lines can make or break your email campaign. Write a compelling subject line, and recipients will take the action you want by opening your email. Write a dud, and your email quickly gets moved from Inbox to Trash folder. All that stands...(read more) -
Project Spotlight: Sponsored Social Media Contests for Dansko
6 Jan 2012 | 3:02 pmSocial media contests are a powerful tool in content marketing. They're a fun way to encourage user-generated content, gather leads, engage customers and get people talking about your products and services. Recently, our client Dansko wanted to harness...(read more) -
5 High-Tech Content Marketing Trends for 2012
23 Dec 2011 | 10:36 amRoughly 9 in 10 organizations rely on content marketing to connect with consumers, according to a survey by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs . Marketing with content clearly has become mainstream, and it's evolving in increasingly sophisticated...(read more) -
3 Corporate Blog Best Practices
14 Oct 2011 | 2:08 pmCorporate blogs are a great way to build a relationship with consumers, communicate your organization's values and rank higher in the search engines. As with any content marketing initiative, there are "best practices" to ensure your organization gets...(read more) -
Capturing Business Travelers With Custom Travel Content
9 Sep 2011 | 3:14 pmWhere are your customers right now? Chances are, a handful of them are in the sky. One in five U.S. adults are expected to take business trips in the next six months, according to the U.S. Travel Association. Custom travel content aimed at business travelers...(read more)
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Jontus Media
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How to Make Your Podcast Stand Out
8 Feb 2012 | 6:35 amDuring the year and a bit that I’ve been podcasting I’ve put a lot of effort into growing it as a marketing channel for my business and I’m pleased with the returns I’m seeing: an increase of over 100% downloads month-on-month, and 40 percent increase in lead generation. If you’re thinking of starting a podcast, getting your podcast noticed requires three key elements: developing the best content you can, developing the best sound quality possible, leveraging your online presence across all the channels your participate in, such as social media, blogging,… -
Strategic Content Marketing
4 Feb 2012 | 5:13 amAre you spending an inordinate amount of time marketing your business online but not seeing the results you want? Maybe you’ve jumped onboard the blogging bandwagon and are producing stacks of content but not generating leads or driving visitors to your site into your sales funnel ? Episode 42 of Online Marketing & Communications looks at actionable strategy you can follow to get the kind of results you’re after by following a more targeted approach to the content you produce. My aim here is to show you that online content marketing doesn’t have to be time consuming to… -
The Best Videos of 2012
2 Feb 2012 | 2:01 pmI teach a course in Text & Communications at Internationella Engelska Gymnasiet, as I’ve mentioned before. As part of a project this year, the students have been required to make videos that market the school’s programmes to 9th graders. A particularly tough audience ! I wanted to showcase four here because I am so proud of the work the students have done. I’ll be posting a couple others when they’ve finished final editing. Playing with Popular Culture This film advertises the Arts Programme at IEGS and uses stop motion technique. It plays with the cultural… -
80% of Business Podcasts Get Results
31 Jan 2012 | 3:25 pmThe big headline this week was how the fastest-growing companies in the US are deserting blogging as a primary social media platform. The news, based on research examining the INC 500 from The Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts, caught my eye initially but then I started to look more closely at the data in the report regarding podcasting. When you look at the type of social media the 500 Inc are using it’s evident that podcasting is the lowest of the low. In the last three years the percentage for podcasting has gone from 12% to 16% and then back down to a… -
Online Marketing Tips for Newbie Consultants
27 Jan 2012 | 11:30 amIf you’ve just registered your company, decided to go out on your own as a consultant, are prepared to embrace online marketing strategy to get you where you want to go, then good for you! That’s awesome and I hope you really achieve what you’re setting out to do. It’s an exciting adventure. No doubt you’re going to set up a website but have you really thought about how you’re going to use it? Is it just going to be a nice, pretty online business card? Something people will find if they know who you are and google your name? Something you will know exists…
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markaguinn.com
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Random Photo 1/16
16 Jan 2012 | 9:38 amThis is a photo I took in the mountains outside of Panama City, Panama. If you ever get the chance to travel to Panama, don’t pass it up! You’ll enjoy a real learning experience in culture, food, art, history, food, engineering, food, nightlife, nature, and food. Oh, did I mention the food?!? Mmmmm. -
Random Photo 1/9/12
9 Jan 2012 | 7:55 amThis photo was taken in Felicity, CA. If you’ve never had the opportunity to visit this amazing little town, it is definitely worth the trip (just don’t go during the summer, because the design of the place is overshadowed by the blistering heat). Designed to be a remembrance of the world’s history, you will walk along rows of historical facts, excerpts from classic literature, and recreations of the world’s most famous artwork all carved in granite. At the beginning of the walk, you’ll see a pyramid that contains Fecility’s self-proclaimed “Official… -
Bending over for Medicare
8 Jan 2012 | 10:52 amI read an article yesterday at Money.CNN.com discussing problems with the U.S.’ healthcare system (“Doctors Going Broke” ). I’ve worked in the medical field in some form or fashion for over 12 years now, and it’s nice to finally see the mainstream media picking up on a problem that healthcare professionals have been screaming about for a long time. Every year, Medicare pays physicians less and less to provide more services. As we’re moving into the age of the Baby Boomers, this is beginning to break the fiscal stability of our private practitioners. Several years ago, I heard from… -
This is just a test…
6 Jan 2012 | 8:50 amYou can ignore this message (unless you really need something to read)… I’m just testing a plugin. -
Creating a 2012 I can be proud of
1 Jan 2012 | 9:24 pmEvery new year, we seem compelled to make New Year’s Resolutions in an attempt to better ourselves and improve the overall quality of life. I still haven’t figured out exactly why we do this. Maybe this is just human nature because, as humans, we are never truly content with where we are or what we have accomplished. We know there is something better, and we constantly strive to make life better for ourselves and our loved ones. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Our ambition and curiosity have pushed us to do some pretty amazing things. For example, someone had the ambition to place a…
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247affiliatemarketing
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Come Find About About This Great Affiliate Marketing Advice!
7 Feb 2012 | 7:55 amCommission Hijack ZERO Click Cash Siphoning Tactic...- NO Article Marketing- NO Facebook Ads/Fan Pages - NO PPC, PPV, CPA- NO Complicated SEO Millions of people use the internet every day to make purchases. Wouldn’t you like to have just a few thousand new customers buy your products? You can, if you make internet marketing a priority in your business. Here are some great tips to help you market online and reach a whole new set of customers. Even though they are print media, business cards are an important part of your Internet marketing strategy. Every time you hand a… -
Essential Internet Marketing For Successful Businesses
7 Feb 2012 | 7:54 amCommission Autopilot Insanely Powerful 2in1 Software Suite!..If you want to make money, as in today, not tomorrow, but today, then download this NOW...Make Money.. Or Its FREE! It’s not enough these days to just put a website on the internet. With millions of sites already existing, if all you do is put up a website, you’re going to have a hard time attracting anyone. Luckily, internet marketing exists to help you get people to notice you online and entice them to buy from you. Here are some great ways to market your business on the internet. Use emails in internet… -
Internet Marketing Made Simple With These Essential Tips
7 Feb 2012 | 7:54 amMobile Money Pages Get Started In 15 Minutes From Now!..Turns an 80 hour process into LESS THAN 2 MINUTES!- Point & click software- Run it with your mobile phone- No hand-coding sites- No website needed Once you turn off the TV and put down the magazines, you’ll realize that the vast majority of people on this planet are simple, ordinary people. But being ordinary doesn’t mean you cannot create an extraordinary business. Using the right internet marketing techniques, you can create a successful business from scratch, and here’s some information on how it can be… -
Tips To Maximize Profit With Internet Marketing!
7 Feb 2012 | 7:54 amDeadbeat Millionaire Traffic and everything all done for you...... with almost nothing left to do but sit back and collect more and more instant paychecks, month after month... A very great skill that can be applied to many of different business scenarios is that of Internet marketing. This marketing strategy can get your business to where you want it to be. Making the money you want can be accomplished. This article will provide you with what you need to know about Internet marketing. A great internet marketing tip is to add the monetary value of any free prizes you are giving… -
Important Tips For Beginner And Expert Internet Marketers.
7 Feb 2012 | 7:54 amMobile Mass Money The BIG Money Online.. Is Not Even Online Anymore...You can get out ahead of the crowd and take advantage of a massive change thats going to make billionaires in the next few years (and whole lot of millionaires besides.) What do you know about internet marketing? Do you have a marketing plan? If you do, do you wish to improve upon it? It’s what you’re using working with your business or against it? Are you sure you are marketing properly? If you cannot answer these questions confidently, look at the tips below. When ordering online, people want…
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Industrial Marketing Today
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Align Industrial Websites with Sales Process
3 Feb 2012 | 2:14 pmIf you want your industrial website to generate qualified leads and drive sales (Who doesn’t?), make sure the site is aligned with your sales process. Without this critical link, your newly redesigned industrial website may be nothing more than eye candy that does very little for your sales. In my daily conversations with manufacturing and industrial companies, I find the mindset is still very much centered on marketing the old way. They want their site visitors to call and their crack sales team will take care of everything to close the deal. Even though these people have read all the… -
Industrial Marketing Content that Helps Buyers
25 Jan 2012 | 1:43 pmIt is very common to find marketing content from manufacturers and industrial companies that is all about how great their products are or that their technology is innovative. Sellers may be too close to the forest to see the trees and firmly believe their marketing content is helpful to their buyers. Buyers can easily find information about your products and that of your competition from their online research. So ask yourself this question, “Is my industrial marketing content really helping my buyers make a more informed decision and is it moving them closer them to a RFQ?” I suspect most… -
Website Evaluation Comes Before Site Redesign
18 Jan 2012 | 9:53 amMany manufacturers and industrial companies consider a website redesign during Q1. The two main reasons are 1) Not showing up in Google search results (SEO – Organic Search Engine Optimization) and/or 2) Not getting enough qualified leads from the website (Traffic and Conversion). You know your industrial site needs a major makeover but diving right into a site redesign without first doing a website evaluation or a site audit can be a costly mistake. Poor SEO and conversions are the symptoms that are obvious to you. Only an in-depth website evaluation can diagnose the underlying causes. -
Internal Links – the Secret Sauce for DiY SEO
10 Jan 2012 | 10:13 amIt is no secret that link building is critical to SEO success. However, some people often ignore internal links because they are just not aware of their SEO benefits. To most do-it-yourselfers (DiY), link building for SEO means external or inbound or backlinks. These are links that originate from another site and point to a page on your domain. Don’t underestimate the SEO power of internal linking. They are not only great for increasing the number of pages indexed by Google but also help you target a larger number of keywords, especially long tail keywords. The number of site pages indexed… -
Create a Content Series for Industrial Marketing
3 Jan 2012 | 10:13 amHappy New Year! This is my first post in 2012 and I want to start the New Year by answering a perennial question about content marketing for manufacturers and industrial companies. The question – what do we write about? The answer – create a content series. Just like popular TV serials, you want to create a series of short blog posts that revolve around a common theme. There are many advantages to this content marketing strategy. The most important ones are: Bite sized content is easier to consume online and on mobile devices Regular doses of short blog posts are good for building…
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Priority Integrated Marketing
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Webinar: How Financial Institutions Are Leveraging Social Media
26 Jan 2012 | 9:22 amLast month, Priority’s Brian Bierbaum presented “How Financial Institutions Are Leveraging Social Media”. I recently interviewed him to hear what he had to say about the presentation. Download audio file (Jim_Brian_December_2010_Webinar_Interview1.mp3) Brian explained to me that he covered a lot of ground, but focused on: Examples and case studies showing how credit unions and banks are using social media on channels such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and Foursquare Various social media tactics that could be employed depending on your bank or credit union’s social maturity… -
SOPA and PIPA: Copyright Protection or Threat to Free Speech?
24 Jan 2012 | 11:54 amWhen Wikipedia chose to “go dark” by shutting down its site last Wednesday, people really took notice. Google took a symbolic stand by blacking out its iconic name on its homepage and many other sites took a stand as well. This online protest (and others that occurred offline) had an impact. Both SOPA and PIPA were shelved indefinitely just two days later. The legislation that was at the heart of this story is two-fold: in Congress, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and in the Senate, PIPA (PROTECT IP Act – Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of… -
Olympic Ban on Volunteers and Social Media
16 Jan 2012 | 9:16 amJason Douglas, Priority’s social media strategist, woke up bright and early last week to speak with a Minneapolis-based radio station about the recent news that Olympic organizers have effectively banned social media for volunteers. Hear his take on the ban and my take on how Olympic organizers could have learned a thing or two from healthcare and financial services marketers. The Olympic Ban If you missed it, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) have created social media rules (that effectively ban social media) for its 70,000… -
2012 and 2013 Hospital Marketing Trends: We Want Your Input!
12 Jan 2012 | 12:01 pmThe Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development is working hard to bring Connections 2012 attendees a line-up of speakers that address topics on top of your to do list for 2012 and 2013. Below are some insights into what I think will be hot topics in 2012 and an opportunity to give your feedback. 2012 Hospital Marketing Trends Below are my two cents. What do you think? Mobile Marketing In 2010, social media was the buzz at conferences around the world, including SHSMD Connections. By 2011, my impression was that most of you had gotten social media policies in place, budgets… -
Credit Union Contest Microsite Engages 33,734 Unique Visitors
10 Jan 2012 | 3:29 pmWhen we started developing a microsite for one of our financial services clients, we anticipated that the contest could go viral. However, we quickly learned there’s no limit to the extent an audience will go to win a contest. Read on for the play-by-play and results. The Contest As part of their “people helping people” philosophy, Michigan Schools and Government Credit Union (MSGCU), created a grant submission program. Each year, they give away a series of “mini grants” to classrooms throughout their community, ranging from $200 to $1,000 in value. In May, MSGCU began…
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Content Mastery Guide
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What Business Bloggers Can Learn from Journalists
29 Jan 2012 | 3:15 pmAccording to Technorati.com's State of the Blogosphere 2011 report, almost 1/3 of bloggers have worked for the traditional media. That statistic got me thinking about how business bloggers could benefit from a journalism mindset. Hold the schedule sacred Whether it's a daily paper, a weekly column or a monthly magazine, it goes out. On time. With content. I see many bloggers boast about how they only post when they have something fabulous to say. Great, but when you're building online visibility you really can't afford to be absent for too long, or to have your… -
Welcome to the Blogosphere, Now What?
25 Jan 2012 | 1:45 pmWhen I tell people that I'm a blogging consultant, the usual response is, "Now, that's a job that didn't exist a few years ago!" True enough. And if you're like most business owners, blogging is a strategy that you've never considered, until you started hearing from marketing agencies, web designers and content marketing experts that blogging is not only helpful, but essential. In fact: B2B (those who sell products or services to other businesses) companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those who do not B2C (those who sell products… -
Blog Readers Are Your Friends, But...
18 Jan 2012 | 5:43 amMy definition of friend has changed from spending so much time online. I have many friends that I've never met in person, and probably never will. Some friendships began with a five-minute Twitter exchange; others were sparked in person and then deepened online. I've written before about how you want to engage your blog reader as if you're already friends. After all, even as a brand new reader, that person has still come from somewhere. Maybe they found you on Google, "Hey, my friend Google the search engine thought I should meet you because I'm looking for..."… -
You Don't Need to Be First on Google to Attract New Local Clients With Your Blog
2 Jan 2012 | 6:23 pmWhen I read Seth Leonard's article about the Google hoax, I breathed a big sigh of relief. At last someone put into concise words what's been niggling at me for years. "You shouldn’t ignore search engines completely," he writes, "Just don’t break your back trying to game the system." And he goes on to share four great ways get your website seen, which are definitely worth a look. The benefits of blogging extend far beyond attracting strangers via Google and other search engines. Blogging has the power to strengthen your community connections, turning them… -
How FreshBooks Connects via their Blog
2 Jan 2012 | 6:02 amIn the recent How to Write a Blog Post webinar, I highlighted these four blogs as examples of the four different types of blog posts you can write: The Wegman's Fresh Stories blog, for this example of a "how to" post Southwest Airline's Nuts About Southwest blog, for this example of a personal post The Coaching4Clergy blog (my client J. Val Hastings), for this example of a thought leadership post The FreshBooks blog, for this example of a connecting post FreshBooks are innovators in the field of online invoicing, so it's no wonder that their blog is so creative and…
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ContentLEAD
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Lead generation main target of SMB content marketing
7 Feb 2012 | 12:17 pmLead generation was named as the key motivating factor in content marketing initiatives by 78 percent of businesses, HiveFire said in a recent release. -
Small business investment in mobile could signal marketing shift
7 Feb 2012 | 11:56 amA report from RapidBuyr.com found that 49 percent of SMBs plan to launch mobile technology throughout their companies this year in hopes of improving operations. -
Super Bowl dominates social media discussion, activity
6 Feb 2012 | 11:01 amTwitter was quite busy on Super Bowl Sunday, with Americans discussing the game, its commercials and everything else relating to the event. -
Generating Likes (and leads!) with Facebook marketing
3 Feb 2012 | 5:42 pmFacebook marketing has become an effective way for small businesses to target new prospects and foster relationships with existing customers. -
Android growth puts greater emphasis on SMB Google search marketing
3 Feb 2012 | 10:28 amMarket research firm comScore found that Google's Android mobile operating system has grown considerably, which should inspire local businesses to place a strong emphasis on mobile search.
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BizChangerZ
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People are 71% More Likely to Purchase Based on Social Media Referrals
31 Jan 2012 | 10:09 amAre you still on the fence about whether to start using social media in your business development plans? Do we really need to keep having this conversation? I know digital marketing is the new kid on the block, but did you know that 71% of people are more likely to purchased based on social media referrals? Let me unpack what this means to you. No matter what kind of business you own, I guarantee you, without a shadow of a doubt, your potential clients are looking for your services online. And guess what else? I promise your competitors are carving out a social strategy right now. Are you… -
Adding Pinterest to Scrolling Social Sharebar
18 Jan 2012 | 2:19 pmModifying plugin code is just about as fun as having a root canal; it all comes down to where you’re adding the plugin, and what social media platform your using. Lucky for you, I am obsessed with modifying plugins and I’m here to make your life easier. Pinterest is the fastest growing social media network to date. Businesses (like yours) should take advantage of this new found fame by incorporating the Pinterest sharing widget to their blog and/or website. Without further ado, here’s how to add Pinterest to Scrolling Social Sharebar. Let’s Get Started! Log into… -
With Mobile, The Degrees of Separation Between Brand and Consumer Vanish
11 Jan 2012 | 7:11 pmConsider for a moment all the various mediums we use to connect and promote our brand with our target audience. We have email, TV, radio, billboards, print media, online banners and events to name a few. Have you ever thought about the degrees of separation between your message and the person you hope it reaches? Now I am not talking about the various lengths we go to in order to ensure our target audience sees our message, I am talking about the actual interaction between brand and consumer. I was watching a presentation the other day put on by Celtra http://www.celtra.com/ about mobile… -
Success in 2012
10 Jan 2012 | 6:40 am2012. The year of growth and recovery. Everyone seems abuzz with what new and exciting things this year will hold. Social streams and blogs are already talking about the iPhone 5 (we wish it was the iPhone SJ), the iPad 3, the expansion of Mobile Marketing and the Red Sox winning the world series (maybe that one is just me being hopeful). With all that chatter, how do you still stand out? How do you find and keep your ideal clients? You know, the ones that are just right for your business, want to stick with you and turn into lifelong advocates? Forget about growth and recovery for a… -
Time to Update WordPress 3.3.1 is Here
5 Jan 2012 | 11:32 amYet again another WordPress update has arrived! From their announcement summary they have fixed several vulnerability issues from version 3.3. “This maintenance release fixes 15 issues with WordPress 3.3, as well as a fix for a cross-site scripting vulnerability that affected version 3.3. Thanks to Joshua H., Hoang T., Stefan Zimmerman, Chris K. and the Go Daddy security team for responsibly disclosing the bug to our security team.” As usual updating of WordPress as easy as a click. When you log into your WordPress admin you should see a link at the top of the page indicating the…
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Jeffrey Orloff
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Overwhelmed by SEO Writers
4 Feb 2012 | 11:22 amI recently had to run an ad on Craigslist to find some writers to contribute to one of the blogs I run for a client. The ad was very specific: Calling all web developers who can share cool tricks, tips and tutorials with others, Developer Drive is seeking web developers who can write 500 – 700 word tutorials for our readers explaining how to do cool things in web development. Not only do you get some great exposure on our site, but we are part of the Smashing Network as well so your work will be seen by a few people. Also, we pay for every published tutorial, $75 for every one we… -
Guest Post Spam
23 Jan 2012 | 1:50 amThere are a few things that are important to anyone who runs a web site. No matter what type of site they own, everyone wants: A high position in the search engine results page for their keywords Relevant visitors who will stay on their site A whole ton of traffic To do this, web site owners seek what are known as backlinks to their web site (or pages within their web site). Backlinks are incoming links to a web site or web page from another web site. There was a time that any incoming link was considered good so people would flood bulletin boards, directories and comment sections with links… -
Guest Post Spam – A True Story
13 Jan 2012 | 7:45 amI am a huge advocate of guest posting as an online marketing strategy. In fact, much of my writing and marketing business consists of writing guest posts for my clients and finding quality blogs to publish them on. And I try to reciprocate as well. For a few of the blogs I run, I have opened up the door to allowing others to contribute with guest posts of their own. So I set up a few ground rules, listed them on a Write for Us page and allowed people to register for the site. Just like I had seen so many times before. Only I made one little mistake. Guest Post Spam Over the years, I have… -
Guest Posting, An Infographic
9 Dec 2011 | 10:02 amI quite frequently laud the benefits of guest posting as a way for businesses to market their website and products. So when I stumbled across this inforgraphic that shows just what guest blogging can do, I had to share it out with my readers. You see, many people forget all the benefits of writing a guest post. You build credibility You reach out to new customers/readers You build back links You receive traffic from the web sites where your guest posts are published The problem many people run into when exploring guest blogging as a marketing strategy is time. They are so busy creating… -
Your Blog Does Not Have Original Content
1 Nov 2011 | 1:59 pmWhen contacting blogs for my clients who I write guest posts for I am often asked the question, “Is the content original.” Since I don’t want to get into an argument about semantics, I always say yes but the question should be, “Is the content unique?” because there is no such thing as original content on the Internet. Just run a search for Top iPad Apps for… and see how many results you get. Or better yet, try searching for there are no new ideas. There are pages of articles discussing this very topic. Fiction writers are taught this early on. When crafting a story, writers of…
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HarrisonAmy
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How To Ask For Testimonials
3 Feb 2012 | 4:12 amWhat’s one of the best ways to prove to new people you are a credible expert? Endorsements from other. Which is what we’re looking at in this Q and A video – this time with natural light and with me getting off my behind to stand up and answer it. This week’s question was from Kate (I call her Liz in the video – I was confused, it doesn’t take a lot) who asked: I’d love to learn how to ask for testimonials ~ Kate (not Liz) So this is what I cover in the video below. Remember, to get a simple but specific testimonial which paints a compelling story… -
Why Fake Experts Are Killing Your Business (And What To Do About It)
29 Jan 2012 | 10:00 pmOkay, this needs to be said: We are drowning in a sea of “experts”. Photo by Kovik With anyone able to call themselves an expert, it’s given rise to the hack job, the wannabe and the self-titled “gurus” who offer shoddy service. “Not me” I hear you say (and I believe you, you’re a Harrisonamy reader ) But here’s the problem… Even as a proper expert, this landscape is dangerous for your business. Because the noise of the mediocre is stomping all over the whispers of talent. Customers are confused Since everyone these days has a website, blog, newsletter,… -
How To Create A Simple Tagline
27 Jan 2012 | 1:26 pmOkay, so in last week’s Fast Copy Friday I asked you if you had any copywriting questions that you’d like me to answer, and you did, and I made a video and then answered a couple more in the blog post. Forgive the video – I was meant to record it with natural light this morning, and in reflection I’d have chosen a waaaay better angle. The kind of angle that makes me look like Kate Moss. Which would have probably meant asking Kate Moss to do the video instead Enough frivolous irreverence, let’s get your questions answered: How Do You Create A Tagline? If you have… -
Harrisonamy Reviews: Engagement From Scratch by Danny Iny. Win A Free Copy.
23 Jan 2012 | 3:01 pmIf you write a blog for your business, or have a newsletter then you probably want to be popular with your audience. It’s unlikely that you would publish content, or do your email marketing hoping to cause as much annoyance to your reader as stubbing their little toe. Instead you want to inspire them, make them laugh perhaps, or help them out by giving away useful advice, and there’s a really good chance that you want to engage your community. Because having any kind of community is great, but having an engaged community is the secret sauce for success if you are selling to an online… -
How To Write A Sales Page (That Sounds Like You)
13 Jan 2012 | 5:31 amOne of the biggest concerns I see with business owners who want to write a sales page, is about sounding natural. You want to be persuasive without being icky and salesy. This is particularly true if you’re a personality entrepreneur. When you look for sales page templates, you’re going to see items to include like “fast action bonuses” or “scarcity”, and “urgency” and it just seems so pushy. I like to show personality entrepreneurs that you can have natural sounding sales copy, even by using a “sales page” structure. So here’s…
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Brafton
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Google top source of traffic for most popular websites, but Bing-powered referrals strong
7 Feb 2012 | 3:00 pmSearch Engine Land received a report from Citi analyst Mark Mahaney that said 23 of the top 30 websites receive most of their traffic from Google. Using the top 30 websites as defined by comScore, Mahaney found that Google delivered 16 percent of all their traffic in January of 2012, compared to 11 percent from Yahoo and 6 percent from Bing. Google-derived traffic among the top sites saw a 1 percent drop compared to January 2011, but Google lost this percentage point without Yahoo or Bing picking up any major ground. Nonetheless, SEO marketers should be quick to note that if these figures… -
Finding killer SEO keywords for content marketing: Part 2
7 Feb 2012 | 2:12 pmWith the guidance of our first blog, Finding killer SEO keywords for content marketing: Part 1, you should have a solid keyword list, and have optimized your site and your content marketing for those terms according to best practices. Whether you're a marketer working for clients or the owner of an ecommerce site, there's no doubt that you're ready to watch your keywords work their magic on your site! Trouble is, where do you begin to track the performance of said keywords, and what tools are out there to help you along the way? Fret not. In this second blog installment covering the world of… -
Report: Mobile content marketing must be ‘touchable’
7 Feb 2012 | 1:41 pmA report from Practical Ecommerce found that content marketing campaigns aimed at audiences likely to own mobile devices must be optimized for smartphone and tablet access. Brafton recently reported that the holiday shopping season was strong for tablet vendors, with the total share of American adults owning the devices (or a slightly less capable variant) jumping from 10 percent to 19 percent. Tablet and smartphone users, many of whom fall into both categories, are now accustomed to touchscreen devices that allow them zoom in and out and scroll through pages with the swipe of a finger. If… -
Bing adds new tool to help marketers boost SEO
7 Feb 2012 | 10:59 amA new component of Bing Webmaster Tools will allow businesses to ensure that any code added to their websites can be accessed and crawled by Bing. Essentially serving as a preview of sorts, the Markup Validation Tool enables developers and marketers to be certain code will have its desired impact before launching it. After entering the code onto the website, webmasters can run the Markup Validator. If there is a problem with the syntax, the Bing crawler will be unable to access and process it properly. Users will see an error message simply telling them to check their code again to ensure… -
Player names, recipes among top searches during Super Bowl
7 Feb 2012 | 9:47 amGoogle released an infographic on Monday that showed food and party ideas were the hottest search terms in the days leading up to Sunday's Super Bowl, and player names took over during the actual game. According to Google, Super Bowl-related search terms reached their peak just as the game kicked off around 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. A majority of the searches took place on PCs and laptops, however, mobile search traffic volume increased in 2012, as did search from tablets. Brafton reported in October that 42 percent of tablet users access their devices when they watch television to…
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Content Gyan: Content Writing, Content Strategy and Content Marketing Blog
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Writing content for non-profit organizations
2 Feb 2012 | 10:31 amWhen writing content for non-profit organizations make sure that your content encourages active engagement and well-directed communication. You have to highlight the fact the organization is making a positive impact and how more community involvement can bring about greater change. He -
Quality content is the best SEO
30 Jan 2012 | 5:30 amYou don't necessarily have to cover every keyword under the sky in order to improve your search engine rankings. Just focus on high-quality content that delivers value to your visitors on an ongoing basis and your rankings will improve naturally. -
It’s not necessary that a native English-speaking person is a better content writer
29 Jan 2012 | 3:44 amA native English-speaking content writer obviously has an edge over a content writer who uses English as his or her second language but this is often an advantage rather than a disadvantage. A person who assumes that he or she knows a particular language often doesn't know as well as the one who knows that he or she has to learn the finer nuances of the language. -
How to create content to engage your prospects
24 Jan 2012 | 10:44 amThe primary purpose of your content is engaging your prospects and you can engage your prospects only when you offer them something really, genuinely valuable through your content. It must hold some meaning. When they have consumed your content they shouldn't feel as if they could have better spent that time doing something else. -
What makes you an outstanding content writer?
20 Jan 2012 | 12:27 pmAs an outstanding content writer you should provide a content solution rather than simply content writing services, provided your client wants it. Content marketing these days doesn't just mean creating compelling content and then submitting it to various search engines and online directories. Content writing and content marketing is a complete dedicated promotional activity including strategy, conceptualization, audience engagement, social networking, analytics, search engine optimization and distribution.
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Content for Biz Blog
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What Do Content and Robust Seniors Have in Common?
7 Feb 2012 | 11:24 amWhen robust seniors were asked to share their top ten tips for productive aging I immediately saw a... -
Five Ways Content Can Boosts Referrals
3 Feb 2012 | 11:42 amAmong B2B marketers, referrals are often the lifeblood of a business. Yet too often, we... -
How to Prioritize Your Content
30 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pmInformation needs to be served quickly and accurately to be effective. Some companies stick to a... -
Take Advantage of “Halo Effect” in Content
28 Jan 2012 | 10:26 amThe halo effect describes how one characteristic can affect the perception of another. If you have... -
How to Write Potent Headlines: A Lesson from David Ogilvy
25 Jan 2012 | 12:33 pmI think advertising man David Ogilvy would have enjoyed online marketing for the instantaneous...
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Content Marketing For Entrepreneurs
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Only The Cool Kids Need Apply — Are You One?
1 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amThe Big ShiftIn a recent teleclass that I led on The 5 Biggest Shifts That Entrepreneurs Must Make When Writing Articles That Attract Clients, I talked a bit about the dramatic SHIFT that is happening on the web right now. Search engines like Google are now taking a very close look at whether or not your content is being shared via social media and ranking your content based on those factors. This shift will significantly shape your online reputation.Uh-Oh Is This High School Again?Okay, so this sounds a little bit like a popularity contest right? Well sort of. The more folks who share, like,… -
17 Mindset Shifts That Will Transform Your Business — In Record Time!
29 Jan 2012 | 7:02 pmFor a very long time, I would compare the success of my business to other business owners in or related to my niche, and it would make me sick (literally)! The big reason is that compared to many coaches and mentors who I started out with in this niche (so around 2005-6), I was on a SLOW learning curve. It took me way longer than I hoped to catch on to and multiply strategies that were working in my business, as well as identify and eliminate ones that weren’t. It was ridiculously frustrating, and I was starting to believe that I wasn’t good enough. I almost quit more than once.So… -
Are You Writing Articles That Attract Your Ideal Clients?
18 Jan 2012 | 8:42 pmAbout two years ago, I worked with a client who wanted help with positioning himself as a go-to authority in his industry. He initially found me through an article I had written somewhere (as most of my clients do) and wanted me to basically perform miracles for him. Okay — I’m a miracle worker sometimes (dusting off my shoulders:), so I took on the challenge.My first job was to take a look at his business and one of the first things that I took inventory of was the types of content he had created and in particular if he was creating content that resonated with his ideal clients. -
How Entrepreneurs Can Quickly Beat Writers Block
15 Jan 2012 | 4:02 pmDo You Have Writers Block?If you are an entrepreneur who shies away from writing articles because you struggle with writer’s block, do not waste your time trying to beat it by using traditional “writers block” books and courses out there. Those are typically written by fiction authors who are trying to help other fiction writers — and that’s a whole different animal!Fiction authors typically write from a purely internal creative place. Entrepreneurs like us, need to also write from an external influence — and that’s solving the problems of our… -
Google Scholar
12 Jan 2012 | 7:00 amWant To Refer To Scholarly Publications In Your Work?Are you in a niche where you’d like to write content that references scholarly content from academic publishers, universities, professional societies, librarians and more? Using these types of references in your work can dramatically add to the credibility of your articles and they are easier to find than you may think. Simply use Google’s search engine for scholarly search: Google Scholar.Want To Be Considered A Scholarly Resource?If you are an educational professional, etc. and would like the content of your site to be…
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Content Strategy Hub
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How to Grow Your Presence with a Formulated Content Mix
8 Feb 2012 | 6:55 amEstablishing a good content mix is very important to try to capture all of the benefits that can possibly come from content marketing. The benefits have been discussed in the past… Attract Traffic Gain Brand Awareness Get More Leads Get More Sales Establish Yourself as an Expert Earn Trust And the list goes on and...How to Grow Your Presence with a Formulated Content Mix is a post from: Content Strategy Hub -
Content Marketing Consultant: Avoiding a House of Lies
7 Feb 2012 | 7:03 amHiring a content marketing consultant can go a long way in the successful implementation of a content marketing process. But is content marketing consulting the right approach for your business? It depends. Of course cost is an issue. And when deciding whether or not to hire a content marketing consultant you have to take two things into account:...Content Marketing Consultant: Avoiding a House of Lies is a post from: Content Strategy Hub -
The Content Marketing Implementation Timeline
6 Feb 2012 | 6:43 amThe rise of content marketing popularity is hard to deny. I’ve already shared an infographic on the topic. And to drive home the point, look at the Google trend for the search term “content marketing”: And yet, not everyone is sold on the idea that content marketing is right for them. I’ve found that this...The Content Marketing Implementation Timeline is a post from: Content Strategy Hub -
Watching the Super Bowl? Get Your Phone Ready!
2 Feb 2012 | 7:44 amLast night, as I had the news, on in the background a statistic caught my attention: nearly half of all Super Bowl watchers watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials! How accurate that is is tough to say. I’m always pretty weary of statistics of any kind. I know how easily they can be...Watching the Super Bowl? Get Your Phone Ready! is a post from: Content Strategy Hub -
Why My Blog Doesn’t Get Many Comments…And Why I Don’t Care
30 Jan 2012 | 9:08 amBack when I first started blogging, I was obsessed with blog comments, and the comment counts on each post. I remember being excited every time I received a notification of a new comment. It felt like progress. It felt like I was doing something that mattered. And of course I got into that mind set. How could I not. Every big, successful...Why My Blog Doesn’t Get Many Comments…And Why I Don’t Care is a post from: Content Strategy Hub
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Ron's Copy-e-Writing Blog
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Freelance Writing Jobs for February 7, 2012
8 Feb 2012 | 6:06 amContent Writing SEO Article Writers (Telecommute) Article Writer – Cell Phone Security (NYC) Comedic Content Provider (Anywhere) Article Writer – Self-help (NYC) Fitness/Health Writer (Online) SEO Content Writer for Criminal Law Firm (San Diego) Freelance Article Writer (Portland/Telecommute) Blogging Jobs Female Bloggers (Telecommute) Blogger for Gift Site (Anywhere) Biotech Blogger with Investment Knowledge (LA) Bloggers – Various Topics Copywriting Jobs Retail Copywriter (San Francisco) Financial Copywriter (San Francisco/Offsite) Agency Freelance Copywriter (Greater Toronto Area)… -
Are You Disinterested or Uninterested?
8 Feb 2012 | 5:57 amThe English language is such a beautiful thing, isn’t it? That is not to say that it is always simple. In fact, even native speakers make mistakes now and then. Even professional writers have their Waterloo. The good thing is that as long as we are open to correction and learning, we can only become better. Today’s grammar post is all about words that are often used interchangeably, often incorrectly. We already took a look at some word pairs that give people problems some time last year. Remember ingenuous and ingenious? This time around, let us take a look at other word pairs. You might… -
Freelance Writing Jobs – 6th Feb
5 Feb 2012 | 11:39 pmContent Writing Freelance Creative Writer for Company Website (Downtown Vancouver) Article Writer for Sporting Goods Site Article Writers (NYC) Online Content Writer – TV (LA) Part-time Content Writer/Editor for Parkinson’s Medical Startup (Remote) Blogging Jobs Tech Bloggers (Anywhere) Lifestyle Blogger (Phoenix) Fitness/MMA Blogger (Costa Mesa) Copywriting Jobs Copywriter – Pharma/HCP (Manhattan) Proofreading/Editing Jobs Freelance Copy Editor (Telecommute) Associate/Senior Editor – Arts (NYC) Spanish Proofreader (Raleigh) Experienced Editor/Proofreader for Manuscript… -
7 Truths About Writers
3 Feb 2012 | 8:17 amA guest post by Joanna Penn from The Creative Penn, one of the Top 10 Blogs for Writers Claiming the word ‘writer’ for yourself can be a big step. You may have been writing all your life but do you actually call yourself a writer? Know Thyself was inscribed on the ancient Greek temple of Apollo at Delphi. People would go there to seek knowledge of the future or to find revelation about themselves. The words were a reminder that the first step to truth is to look inside. Fundamentally, writers write, they put words onto a page or screen. But there are other aspects to writers. Do you… -
Publishing Your First Book – Interview with Danny Iny of Firepole Marketing
1 Feb 2012 | 10:27 amDo you plan to write a book at some point in the future? Writing a book is a big challenge. But there is another hurdle at the end: you have to launch your book. Danny Iny of Firepole Marketing came up with a radical strategy of creating and launching a book when he created Engagement from Scratch. Read about his new strategy in this no-holds-barred interview with Mary Jaksch of Writetodone.com: Q: How did you come up with the idea for the book, “Engagement from Scratch”? A: It started with my own experience building Firepole Marketing, which I started really working on about a year…
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Words That Begin With You
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WTBWY TV: How Much? How Soon? How Often?
30 Jan 2012 | 4:43 amThis is the fourth video in a series on the basics of content marketing. The transcription is below for those of you who can’t stand looking at my ugly mug for five minutes. Transcript: Thanks very much for joining me again, this is Justin P Lambert from Words That Begin With You, Customer-focused Content Marketing. Now the questions that we’re going to review today are: how much? How soon? and How often? The reason being that if you’ve done anything at all with content marketing thus far, you’ve probably already realized this, but it takes a lot of content… -
Is Content Curation Just Organized Theft?
27 Jan 2012 | 5:17 pmCourtesy of cambodi4kidsorg (flickr) Content marketing, inbound marketing, content creation, content curation, content aggregation… Wow. Maybe it should be called “content aggravation”! It seems like there are a million different terms and philosophies floating around now that content marketing has really started hitting its stride in the minds of the average business person, especially in relation to online marketing. So, I wanted to spend some time (maybe a few posts) discussing some of this terminology and trying to explore what it actually means to the average… -
WTBWY TV: How Can You Market With Content?
26 Jan 2012 | 5:55 amThis is the third in a series of videos covering some of the basics of Content Marketing. Please let me know what you think in the comments, as I’ve never done this before! Transcript: Hey, thanks for joining me again. This is Justin P Lambert from Words That Begin With You, Customer-focused Content Marketing. Now, this video’s talking about a pretty broad question and I’m not going to try to cover it completely. You wouldn’t want to sit here that long, and I wouldn’t either. But the question is, how do you go about marketing with content? -
WTBWY TV: Why is Content Marketing So Important?
23 Jan 2012 | 4:06 pmHere’s the second in a series of brief instructional videos covering some basics about content marketing. Enjoy! Transcript: Hi everyone, it’s Justin P Lambert again from Words That Begin With You, customer-focused content marketing. If you watched my first video, it was on the question of “what is content marketing”? This time I’m going to talk about a slightly different question: “why is content marketing so important”? You’ve probably noticed in the last several months, if you’ve been doing any sort of research at all about… -
Do You Still Need a Company Brochure?
21 Jan 2012 | 5:10 amCourtesy of Andrea Balzano (flickr) I’m a member of a LinkedIn group called The Association of Independent Business Consultants and had the opportunity to participate in an interesting discussion recently that got me thinking. I remember back several years ago when I was first considering opening my doors as a freelance copywriter, long before I ever made my first cold call or snagged my first portfolio sample, I felt the need to design, write and print several copies of my company brochure. Don’t laugh too hard. You probably did the same thing. So Carolyn‘s question was:…
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B2B Digital Marketing
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Replacing “Authentic” in Social Media
7 Feb 2012 | 4:02 amAuthentic. You can’t turn around in the social media echo chamber without bumping into this word. The problem is, beyond the social media land of unicorns, authentic isn’t relevant.As I explored in Don’t Be Authentic: Real Social Media Marketing Advice on SpinSucks, we don’t really want to see authentic in social media. It is an idealized view that for most organizations is as unrealistic as it is attractive. (Aaron Wagner makes some great comments about this in the discussion here on Social Media Today as well).Authentic is the wrong objective. What is the right… -
QuinStreet Buys Ziff Davis Enterprise: Is B2B Just Lead Gen Now?
4 Feb 2012 | 7:30 pmAlthough it has not been publicly announced, it appears QuinStreet has purchased Ziff Davis Enterprise, the publishers of eWeek, Baseline, CIO Insight and Channel Insider (not to be confused with Ziff Davis, the publisher of PC Magazine, or ZDNet, which is owned by CBSi).If you follow the B2B technology publishing landscape, you are almost certainly familiar with the Ziff Davis Enterprise brands. However QuinStreet may be a newer name.Here is how QuinStreet introduces themselves on their website: From QuinStreet’s Who We Are page: “Our reputation is built on results after… -
How Not to Manage Email Unsubscribes [4 Awful Examples]
2 Feb 2012 | 5:18 amUnsubscribing should be easy!Let’s face it, email is convenient, but sometimes email marketing sucks. Today’s business buyers are flooded with email they do not want and it seems cannot get rid of.The problem is, publishers and marketers rely heavily on email. In order to keep their subscriber counts high and continue getting their message out through email, they make unsubscribing an ardous process.Here are four examples of unsubscribe process that tell your audience you don’t care what they want, as long as they stay on your email list.1. Forced Email SubscriptionsThe… -
Is Your Business Ready for Marketing?
31 Jan 2012 | 5:18 amBusinesses turn to marketing to drive revenue, but are you really ready?Before investing in marketing you must ensure other key areas of your business are ready first.Your Product or Service. If your offering isn’t ready for the market, your marketing will not solve your problems.Your Sales Organization. If your sales organization is not ready to sell your new offerings, your marketing will not solve the problem.Sales ReadinessIf marketing is driving demand for a new offering but sales is not ready to close on opportunities, the immediate impact of your effort will be lost. The impact… -
Content Marketing Advice: Stop Competing with My Children!
26 Jan 2012 | 2:52 amToday, marketers are locked in a battle for attention. As individuals, we are flooded with more marketing messages than we can consume. Getting our attention requires something exceptional.To date, the currency that purchases our attention is content. Content that is useful and connects with our priorities, content that entertains, content that teaches. Content that offers us something beyond your brand and message.However, content is merely the vehicle. The future of marketing is about attention. Attention that today is focused on our priorities at work and at home. Priorities that include…
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One Spoon At A Time
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Competition Time
6 Feb 2012 | 4:53 amHey everyone I was going to post an article on Tutorial Marketing for you today….that will now come on Thursday. Instead I have a competition for ya…. Here’s the deal….if you’ve been following me on The Spoon for a while you’ll know that my main website is a bass guitar website. And the success of [...] -
5 Reasons Why You Should Use Video In your Content Marketing
30 Jan 2012 | 4:56 amVideo and Content Marketing are two topics that – separately – are hot in 2012, and only going to get hotter as they get bigger. In case you haven’t heard the statistic, Cisco Systems estimates that 90% of web traffic will be driven by video by the end of 2013. And Content Marketing is definitely [...] -
How Bloggers and Content Marketers Can Generate Unlimited Video Ideas
23 Jan 2012 | 5:05 amPaul’s Note – today’s post came about following an exchange of emails with Adrienne from www.AdrienneSmith.net. We got to talking about video and Adrienne asked me if I could help her with something that she was having some problems with. And that something was this: “How do I come up with ideas for videos?” Now [...] -
More Thoughts On Goal Setting – 2012
16 Jan 2012 | 3:09 amNew Year is the time when people set themselves new ‘goals’ – and I’ve done the same. And I’ve written about this process in a couple of places. Firstly, there was a Subscriber Only post here: 2012 Goals – Doubling The Income Of My Main Site And then there was this recent post: Goals Are [...] -
Goals Are For Life…Not Just For New Year!
10 Jan 2012 | 5:22 amSo yesterday I had an exchange on Twitter with Davina Brewer of 3 Hats Communications prompted by the tweet you can see here. If you can’t read it – depending on your screen size and resolution – Davina wrote: Still haven’t finished the Resolutions post. At this pace, I’ll know what I’m shooting for by [...]
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Right Mix Marketing Blog
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6 Small Business Blogging Myths Debunked
5 Feb 2012 | 12:10 pmA lot of small businesses are daunted by the idea of writing for their blog (or starting one if they’re not blogging yet). They’re daunted because they think they have to write all the time. Or those who are blogging already feel like they’re not adding any value to their businesses because their traffic stats are low. Others don’t feel like they have any unique ideas so why bother? Well, let me set your mind at ease by debunking six common blogging myths. This can give you the needed perspective to approach blogging in a more positive way and give your company blog… -
Small Business Social Media Cheat Sheet
31 Jan 2012 | 10:48 amIt’s no longer enough for businesses to just have a website and a company blog. To effectively market online , they need to engage in social media. Using social media platforms, they can connect with their potential customers and industry influencers and share and distribute their content. Getting Started with Social Media Learn the basics via this useful social media cheat sheet, including “how to get started” tips for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Tumblr and Digg. Infographic Source: Flowtown – Social Media Marketing Application -
5 Ways Your Small Business Blog Can Help Your Company Thrive
30 Jan 2012 | 9:51 amBlogging for a small business is different from blogging as a professional blogger (“problogger”) who is making money with advertisements or affiliate products on their site. As a small business, you benefit from your company blog in a variety of ways that make your situation different from an internet marketer or problogger. 1) Credibility The mere existence of a professional-looking web site with information about you, your company and products is a start. Having a nice-looking blog with quality content adds to that impression (“Yes, we’re a real business!”)… -
Creating a Referral Network To Get More Leads
29 Jan 2012 | 9:10 pmGuest post written by Peter Sandeen. The ability to give quality referrals has significant advantages. Not knowing whom to refer to an important contact can seriously undermine your credibility. The same applies to businesses and bloggers alike. Creating a network, of referable businesses, creates the most value to you and your customers – even more than just giving random referrals. In a referral network businesses refer each other as long as there are no better options. It has the obvious benefit of keeping customers inside a circle, which you’re a part of. But that’s not the only… -
Your Company Blog – why it’s still your online marketing hub
17 Jan 2012 | 12:10 pmWith all of the excitement about Facebook, Twitter and now, Google Plus, you might get so distracted that you forget about your blog. Big mistake! Your company blog is the best asset that your company has and should be the hub of all of your online marketing activities. Here’s why your Company Blog is your online marketing hub: 1) You Own It! Your accounts on the social media platforms are not yours. They can be turned off at any moment if it’s considered that you’ve violated their terms of service. 2) It’s Tuesday, Facebook must have changed again The social media…
