Articles About Media Search Results

1. The success of the iPhone has rendered the iPod irrelevant. .

   With the success of its new iPhone, Apple is seeing something of a backlash in terms of sales of its iPod ? although these once accounted for nearly 50% of its yearly revenue, early this year sales plummeted sharply.

   Apple upcoming press conference on September 9th has give rise to a frenzy of speculation among the media and Apple aficionados alike ? most believe that Jobs will attempt to reignite interest in the iPod by releasing a new version of the nano and a modified iPod touch.

   (09/05/08 09:00 PM)

2. Rodale Syndicates Print Content to Glam Media. Rodale shall partner with women's online network Glam Media to provide branded articles, slide shows and videos from Women's Health and Prevention magazines, reports MediaBuyerPlanner. The content...

   

   (09/05/08 09:01 AM)

3. Email Nightmare: Carat Staffers Get Talking Points on Job Cuts. An unfortunate email blunder alerted Carat staffers that their jobs could be in peril, and shared with them the specifics on how they would be told of the news, reports MediaBuyerPlanner. The media...

   

   (09/04/08 09:00 PM)

4. The Rich Still Read — at Expense of Other Media. The 2008 Mendelsohn Affluent Survey reveals affluent consumers — those with incomes of over six figures — read print publications just as much as they did five years ago: about 15 per week, reports...

   

   (09/03/08 09:01 AM)

5. Popping the Top on Your Brand's Potential With Social Media: Q&A With Gary Vaynerchuk. There's probably no better case study on how a business leverages social media to connect with customers and grow itself than Gary Vaynerchuk's Wine Library. Here, Gary shares the reasons your company should pay attention to social media, and what impact these tools will have in the years to come. (09/02/08 09:01 AM)

6. Direct-to-Consumer PR Reflects Power of Do-It-Yourself. With the rise of search engines, Wi-Fi, and a Do-It-Yourself mindset, today's consumers are more empowered than ever before. They not only believe that they're entitled to information but also have unprecedented access to information on a global scale. An increasing number of consumers turn first to the Internet when they want to make a purchase?even if the product will be bought offline. That's why any PR strategy focused solely on media gatekeepers is missing a large piece of the market. While there's still value in sending your message via traditional media, more and more prospective customers are doing their own research online, bypassing newspaper, magazines, radio, and TV complet (09/02/08 09:01 AM)

7. Connect with Customers Guerrilla Marketing. Sometimes you have to forgo traditional advertising and sales promotion methods and connect with customers in different ways. Because of the internet, social media and other options, you do not have t... (09/01/08 09:01 PM)

8. Why Social Media Optimization?. SMO or Social Media Optimization is the latest trend in the field of online marketing. From hindsight SMO seems like an inevitable consequence of the rapid growth of social sites on the net as well as... (08/31/08 09:00 AM)

9. How Social Media Marketing Can Build Your Business. In conversation with other marketers, I am often asked how Social Media Marketing is useful to a website. I realize that not everyone understands how social media marketing (SMM) can affect a ... (08/29/08 09:00 PM)

10. Marketing Your Retail Store In The Recession - A Retailer's Survival Guide. The newspapers and media are full of bad news about how the economy is in a recession. They actively promote how bad times are, which only makes it worse for the retailer. As the general public beco... (08/28/08 09:00 PM)

11. June's Top Online Display Advertisers and Ad Publishers. Fox Interactive Media, which owns MySpace.com, was the top display ad publisher, with 15.9 percent of all display ads viewed in June. And Microsoft was the top display advertiser, with 1.7 percent of...

    

    (08/28/08 09:01 AM)

12. Email Marketing and Social Media, Part 1: Adding Social Media to the Email Newsletter. Email is not dying in the midst of the social-media revolution. In fact, the question we should be asking is: How can email marketers best leverage the new social-marketing applications? (08/26/08 09:01 AM)

13. Local Online Media Offer Significant Ad Advantage. Consumers trust advertising on local newspaper, magazine and television websites, and are very likely to take action after viewing ads on these sites, according to the "Local Online Media: From...

    

    (08/26/08 09:01 AM)

14. MuseWorx Marketing OS Uses 'Net to Store Rich Media. MuseWorx announced teh launch of its Marketing Operating System, whose goal is to give marketers a single resource for interactive marketing campaign needs. The service is hosted "in the clouds,"...

    

    (08/26/08 09:01 AM)

15. Biz Resource: Promoting You and Your Online Biz in 140 Characters Or Less. Home Biz Notes: Geekpreneur offers a free Twitter ebook with a difference. If you want to get into using social media for business, this book is a great start. With huge companies like Zappos and SouthWestern using Twitter as major communication and marketing channels, it gives you an idea of the power of Twitter as a social [...]
    (08/25/08 09:00 PM)

16. Sugar Is Sweet Times For A Web Network. Mercury News: A husband and wife team with the serendipitous surname of “Sugar” may have found the recipe for successfully combining content, e-commerce and social networking on a site that attracts a most attractive demographic: women ages 18 to 44. Brian and Lisa Sugar are the founders of San Francisco-based sugarinc.com, an online media company with a [...]
    (08/25/08 09:00 PM)

17. CrowdFire Concert Catalyzes Human Media Mashup. Five dozen bands played to thousands at the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park this past weekend (Aug. 22-24). And the three-day event was well-documented - not by local cable...

    

    (08/25/08 09:01 AM)

18. Tech, Telecom Firms Boast Best Media Reputations. Technology and telecommunications companies nailed down seven of the top 10 slots in the 2008 Q2 Cision Index, a quarterly assessment of how news coverage reflects and helps shape the corporate...

    

    (08/25/08 09:01 AM)

19. "Sites like Twitter and Facebook will never make much money from advertising: social media users are too busy being social to pa.

    Kunz lists several ways in which Twitter could potentially try to make money, and then systematically takes apart each and everyone of these.

    Twitter could ask users to pay ? but once a free service has already been established, it's hard to get them to pony up.

    Twitter could get messages to pay by selling them as product placement ? users would likely rebel if their tweets were hijacked for text ads.

    Twitter could get money from selling user data ? users would definitely rebel and privacy concerns don't make this viable.

    (08/21/08 09:01 PM)

20. ASP = SaaS = Cloud = ?.

    Matt McAdams has a clever blog up titled Up next: telesoftware!  He discusses the rise of our favorite new buzzword (hint: it's "Cloud Computing") and spends some time harkening back to its origin (hint: it's the "Application Service Provider.")

    I was around at the birth of the ASP as the co-chairman of one of the early ASPs (Interliant) which started out life in 1996 as a "web hosting company" (how passe) and evolved in 1997 into an Application Service Provider.  I clearly remember the tech media latching onto the ASP label at the end of the 1990's right alongside prefixing everything with a lowercase e and postfixing everything with ".com". 

    The cynics were simple minded - they simply referred to the ASPs as the return of mainframe - or even better - timesharing.  Interliant enjoyed rapid growth and a brief period of what looked like success before being decimated during the collapse of the Internet bubble.

    Platform-as-a-Service has emerged suddenly with a vengeance.  IBM System/370 anyone?  The S/370 had this nifty thing called "virtual memory", which evolved into VM, which lives on today as the great new "virtualization" trend.

    Telesoftware?  Nah - that sounds too much like Telemedicine (what ever happened to that one?)  I think we are going to be talking about "planetary computing" once "cloud computing" runs its course since "Sun computing" has already come and mostly gone.

    

    
    (08/19/08 09:00 PM)

21. If You’re Not Participating in Social Media. This content from: Duct Tape Marketing If You’re Not Participating in Social Media Gone are the days when all you needed to be on the web was a web site. Today you need to think and act in terms of a total web presence. And that means if you’re not participating in social media, you’re not really [...]
    (08/19/08 09:01 AM)

22. Free Podcast Player Widget. This content from: Duct Tape Marketing Free Podcast Player Widget Susan Bratton of Personal Life Media has created the podcast player widget to beat all podcast player widgets. This is really something that I’ve sort of looked for going on several years. There are other players that you can embed on websites and in blog post, but [...]
    (08/15/08 09:00 AM)

23. Text messaging has become a likely alternative to traditional media releases..

    Presdential hopeful, Barack Obama, has cut out the middleman -- the press -- and gone straight to the public with his campaign's latest announcement that his decision for VP will be delivered to people who have signed up for his text messaging program first.

    (08/11/08 09:00 PM)

24. Celebrity Baby Photos and Net Worth: Does Less Income Make Pimping Your Baby More Moral?. Million dollar baby photos have been all the rage since Angeline Jolie brought a pair of ultra-hot, hyperprivileged twins to the world. Santa Angelina usually gets a break from intense media scrutiny, as she and stud hubby Brad Pitt donate exorbitant amounts of cash to needy global causes. What about the rest of celebrities who’ve jumped [...] (08/05/08 09:00 PM)

25. This Week’s Links. Knowledge@W.P. Carey talks about how death makes consumers buy more. Dean Baker says the media is distorting Brazil’s success. This Reuters article urges people to think in gallons per mile, rather than the other way around. Science Daily illuminates how striking is bad for your mental health. Cities are changing their faces: These days, affluent people [...] (08/01/08 09:01 PM)

26. User Generated Advertising. This clever political candidate has produced a unique yardsign. The sign features the candidates’ name and likeness as well as a large white space that allows supporters to fill in their own personal message of why they are voting for him. This is a brilliant application of offline social media and user generated content and gives [...]
    (07/25/08 09:01 PM)

27. Some Thought Leadership on Thought Leadership Marketing. I had the distinct pleasure of presenting to the Reno-Tahoe chapter of the American Marketing Association today. The topic was Thought Leadership Marketing. What a fun group! The deck from the event is below.
    Thought Leadership Marketing

    view presentation (tags: thought leadership marketing)
    
    (07/23/08 09:01 PM)

28. Alltop is Great Listening Device. Before you blog, before you create a social media strategy of any sort, you need to listen. By listen I mean tune into the truckloads of relevant industry content that’s being put out there, filtered and aggregated for your review. If you’re going to do that you want to start by following some of the [...]
    (07/23/08 09:01 AM)

29. Social Search.

    Last week, Me.dium released its Alpha version of Me.dium Social Search.  This coincided with Yahoo!'s launch of BOSS - Me.dium was one of the initial launch partners.  This was picked up by Techmeme and prominently talked about throughout the blogosphere, tech media, and even the mainstream media.

    I've been involved with Me.dium since its first financing and the launch of Me.dium Social Search is a key pivot point as it starts to capitalize on the initial vision of the company.  If you are familiar with Me.dium, you may know of it as a company that has a browser sidebar that enables real time browsing with friends.  This concept started out as a "recommendation service" where the algorithms suggested alternative web sites and people based on how your browsing patterns matched the browsing patterns of your friends and the overall community.

    This was - and is - a pretty neat idea, but it's really hard to do effectively in a browser sidebar. Me.dium built out a lot of backend infrastructure to process a large amount of information in real time, which is necessary to make the algorithms useful across a large user base.  In the process of doing this, it occurred to the team that the sidebar might not be the best way to surface the information and that search might be a better way to deliver its value to the user since Me.dium's collaborative filtering algorithms are an entirely different search algorithm than the PageRank type ones we've gotten used to.

    A group of folks at Me.dium went heads down and starting working on using the stream of data they were getting to turn out a real time social search engine.  Along the way, Yahoo! decided to open up their search engine infrastructure through Yahoo! BOSS and a natural collaboration was born.

    Rather than hold on tight, create a "closed beta", and limit the use and exploration of Me.dium Social Search, they did what I wish more companies would do and went "straight to Alpha".  Even though it's alpha and still evolving rapidly, Me.dium Social Search produces some really interesting search results that correspond to the web pages that people are looking at right now about specific topics. 

    The notion of the Me.dium Sidebar has morphed into a Social Toolbar which, in addition to providing a bevy of social features, also starts including your clickstream in the corpus of data that Me.dium is using for their social search algorithms. Me.dium is fanatical about your privacy and includes a simple one click way in your toolbar to turn Me.dium tracking on and off and never tracks information on secure (via HTTPS) sites.

    Yahoo! has stirred the search pot in an interesting way with BOSS.  Me.dium's going after one particular vector - that of social search - by building on a lot of work they've been doing over the past eighteen months.  I expect you'll hear a lot about The Future of Search in the coming year - I think Me.dium will be one of the companies regularly mentioned in the mix of folks trying new approaches.

    Give Me.dium Social Search a try (simply type your search term into the little box and hit the "I Feel Social" button) and tell us what you think.  And - if you want to go deeper on the ideas, take a look at Robert Reich's (one of Me.dium's co-founders) blog titled Why to hear him riff on search.

    

    
    (07/17/08 09:01 PM)

30. A Practical Use for Twitter. Twitter is all the rage with business folks these days, (if you’re a social media butterfly it’s been the rage for you for about a year and a half) but is it useful? Many business owners find it a bit silly, but still, everybody’s talking about it, right? There are many practical ways to use Twitter depending [...]
    (07/16/08 09:01 AM)

31. Here Comes The Sun and More Daily Stuff.

    If you follow my tweets you know that I am starting to get desperate for some sun.  I could never live in Seattle.  There's a rumor that we'll see the sun in Homer again later today - if it comes out to play I'll post a picture of it (did you hear that Mr. Sun - that's called a blibe ("blog bribe").  Here are some interesting things I've collected over the past few days of my cloud induced web reading.

    Boulder Olympians weigh politics, pollution as they prep for Beijing: I'm really glad I didn't quality for the 2008 Olympic Marathon.  If I had, I'd currently be struggling with whether or not to compete.  I sure hope no one dies.

    Frontier going under the knife: It looks like there might be more to the Frontier bankruptcy than Frontier getting shafted by First Data.  Unlike Southwest, apparently Frontier didn't hedge oil prices (nor - apparently - did any of the other major airlines.)  Oops.  My prediction - Southwest cleans up in the Denver market and United goes bankrupt again.

    Thank you, Adobe Reader 9: Here's a scathing review of everyone's favorite bloatware, Adobe Reader. Oh - it's also sort of a virus if you've ever gotten stuck in the "update - oops - didn't work - try again" infinite loop. I've switched to Foxit Reader - much nicer.

    You Just Dont Get It: Outstanding short post from Mark Cuban. If you tell me that "I don't get it", you are either (a) being lazy or (b) being lazy.  You are also indirectly calling me an idiot, which isn't necessarily a good way to get someone's attention for your idea. 

    Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis: I put this one in the "well duh" category.  The real irony is that the World Bank - through a confidential report - suggests that global food prices are up by 75% due to biofuels, while the US claims the number is only 3%.  Who knows what the real truth is - like most "economic indicators", we will only know what really is going on sometime in the future when we look at back and study the past.  Regardless, don't believe everything you read and hear in the media or from our world leaders.  "Well duh!"

    Dispatches: A Post-Wimbledon Dialogue: I love tennis.  I used to be really good (as a junior) - I'm now able to occasionally torture - but not beat - someone that is a 4.5.  Watching Federer and Nadal play is a joy that harkens back to my childhood watching Borg and McEnroe play (I loved Borg because my game was like his but rooted for McEnroe because I was an angry and volatile tennis player.)  This is a brilliant recap of some genius tennis.

    Electronic Papyrus: The Digital Book, Unfurled: I love my Kindle (I haven't read a physical books since I left for Alaska last week.)  I'm not sure that I love the Readius, but I'm definitely game to try it.

    Time for a run.  The sun is still not out.

    

    
    (07/08/08 09:00 PM)

32. Topspin Media - Another Investment A Long Time in the Making.

    We announced Our Investment in Topspin Media today.  My partner Ryan McIntyre has a long post up titled Topspin, Baby! that describes the history of how the investment came together over the past ten years.  Ian Rogers - the CEO of Topspin who was profiled in TechCrunch a few weeks ago in the article Ex-Yahoo Music GM Ian Rogers Launches Topspin Media has a nice a post up on the Topspin blog titled Old Friends, New Opportunities. 

    Oh - and there is that really cool Billboard cover and article.

    

    As a special bonus, Ryan blogged the text from The Declaration of Independence yesterday.  This seemed somehow fitting when you consider what Topspin is planning to do for music artists.

    

    
    (07/08/08 09:00 AM)

33. Add Interactive Features to Your Site. As web visitors become used to the interactive features found on many social media sites the expectations for such increases for all. Audio, video and the ability to rate, review and comment are on the way to becoming standard features. Small business marketers can take advantage of this trend towards interaction by using some very simple tools [...]
    (07/08/08 09:00 AM)

34. Small business growth through investing.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Since launching MarketingSavant (my social media/digital marketing consulting company) earlier this year, I've been looking at a number of ways to grow the business, outside of hiring people. By growing the business I mean simply the cash base or revenues from the organization. I was caught off guard when another local consulting business owner asked me "so, what's your exit strategy?" Wow, I just kicked this thing off, what do you mean "exit strategy". Of course, I know exactly what he means, but I'd never really given it that much thought. When you're an entrepreneur or an intrepreneuer (someone with an entrepreneurial spirit inside the corporation), you need to have your own exit strategy. For me, I've chosen to pursue an 'education in investing' strategy to help grow my cash reserves while I grow the business. Yes, I know, the market isn't exactly doing well, but that's precisely the time to get in. I look at the stocks and funds that I'm investing in now and thinking back to when I graduated college in 1999... if I had invested even a modest sum then, I'd be doing quite well now. Which brings us to the one thing that I think investing and marketing have in common (I'm sure there are others...but this one is really important... Faith in the future. As marketers, we're always marketing to the future, with faith in that marketing campaign and it's ability to deliver future value. As investors, we're buying stocks and funds with faith in the company's ability to grow into the future. Marketers and investors unite! Doom and gloom does not serve you...it's the faith in the future that keeps both of us afloat and in business. [Inspired by Kevin's post on 'cracks in the retirement nest egg']
    (07/08/08 09:00 AM)

35. Early Computer Animated Movies.

    I'm knee deep in reading The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company, listening to Pink Floyd, and enjoying a perfect Homer, Alaska evening with Amy.  I was an undergraduate at MIT during the Lucasfilm days of what became Pixar and vaguely remember early Media Lab / Project Athena animation stuff and watching super cool computer graphics wizardry post-SIGGRAPHs at the Computer Museum in Boston.  Fortunately, YouTube has all the old classic computer animations online, including The Adventures of Andre and Wally B.

    Awesome! (the animations and the book).  While sneak peaks of this one and other old Pixar shorts are available on the Pixar website, due to the magic of the Internet they are all available on YouTube.

    

    
    (07/04/08 09:00 AM)

36. Coaching Excellence Series Rolls On. My monthly expert interview series continues in July with a live session with David Meerman Scott on Wednesday, July 16th Noon CDT. David is an online thought leadership and viral marketing strategist and author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to use news releases, blogs, podcasts, viral marketing and online media to reach [...]
    (06/30/08 09:00 PM)

37. Face-to-Face Marketing: When Media Alone Is Not Enough. While most people think of public relations as media relations, there are times when either you can't reach your audience through print, broadcast or the Internet, or you need to supplement your media program. That's when you need to think about face-to-face marketing?placing clients directly in front of targeted audiences through informational events structured around their interests. This strategy works well for consumer markets (think cooking demonstrations in grocery stores, hospital-sponsored health fairs, and hotel-sponsored bridal expos). It also works well for B2B companies like construction companies, law firms, or consultancies?businesses that want to showcase the expertise of t (06/24/08 09:00 AM)

38. Talking Groudswell with Charlene Li. Charlene Li, senior analyst with Forrester, stopped by the Duct Tape Marketing podcast to discuss social media and her new book, co-authored with Josh Bernoff, Groundswell. Much of Li’s work at Forrester is in working with very large organizations to help them understand how to use social media, but the funny thing is that most [...]
    (06/23/08 09:00 PM)

39. A Sample Social Media Toolkit. There are countless ways to get into the game with Social Media. Check out these few sample Social Media tools and see how they can be used effectively and efficiently. (06/17/08 09:00 AM)

40. Off to the ALI Social Media Summit in Chicago.

    If you're in Chicago between Monday and Wednesday, drop me a line!

    I'll be presenting at the ALI Social Media Summit in a pre-conference workshop. Check it out:

    How To Use Social Media To Enhance And Improve Your Internal Communications Efforts - And 7 Steps To Take Your Internal Social Media Program To An External Marketing Program

    Some people may think that social and emerging media tools are just for customers. However, they can greatly improve your internal communication, peer networking and knowledge sharing and management initiatives if used properly. This workshop will show you how to leverage the most prominent social media tools to strengthen your internal communications processes and improve the effectiveness of any customer-focused organization. If you're considering social media for customer/external communications, this workshop will also give you specific insights and help you to 'eat your own dogfood' before going headlong into social and emerging media & marketing with your customers and prospects.

    Each attendee will take away:

    • A comprehensive understanding of each and every internal social media tool available to their organization
    • Concrete examples of organizations that are employing these tools
    • A roadmap of where to start and how to progress in your internal social media endeavor
    • Develop the business case to sell internal social media based communication tools to management
    • The seven steps to taking social media from an internal endeavor to an external marketing program
    • A comprehensive workbook which explains how to learn more about each of the tools discussed

    
    

    
    (06/09/08 09:00 AM)

41. Insight for Ad Agencies - Listen or Go Back to Print.

    This is quite possibly the most timely and exciting article I've read as of late (come to think it, this I've been rather busy and this might be the only thing I've read of late...nope, this really is the best).

    Joseph Dumont penned a piece for Imedia entitled "Why Agencies are Failing" in it, he lays out several of his own observations that are founded in a report from Forrester (might be worth the $279 price tag if you're seeking some Forrester Research Therapy for your agency) and compiled from his keen insights into the agency world.

    This article really hits home as it comes at a time when I'm doing a bit of work with a few agencies that I regard with the utmost respect and I can't help but see some of their challenges echoed in this article. Those are the agencies that are truly students of advertising, marketing, customer behavior and have a genuine purpose in this world. They will succeed because they can learn, they can grow and like energy (you know, never at rest) they are always moving and changing and they're on the right path.

    On the other end of the spectrum are agencies who are truly stuck. They're afraid of stepping outside of their comfort zone, afraid to admit that they need help, don't have a mastermind group internally that's challenging their age-old positioning and their clients are suffering as a result by way of crusty old strategies, reheated ideas and basically an ignorance of the end customer that we're all trying to reach. Those agencies will fail a they aren't even on a path - they're standing still.

    Here are a few observations that I took from Joseph's article. I really recommend read though it with you highlighter handy - there are some real nuggets in there. If you're an agency, take this to your next staff meeting and discuss it. It's that important. If you like, buy the Forrester report (and tell me if it was worth it!)

    1. Damnit, get out there and do the hard work to really understand how your client's consumer has changed their habits, where they hang out and what they want to hear from you. Media kits are for armchair advertisers. You need to get out there, listen, react and move. Oh, and get your client's leadership and front line folks on the same page too. Customers are smart. They see through the disorganization.

    2. Watch political marketing. I've said this for years and I'll say it again "the harbingers of the next generation of marketing are working in politics". Watch all 3 candidates and how they leverage the digital space. Also, pay attention to their budgets. They're moving mountains and spending very little (comparatively) online...they reach the masses on TV and the influencers through digital (online) means...it's a great country we live in!

    3. Interactive does NOT mean Internet. It means really in-ter-acting... get people involved, acting and interacting and engaging. Most of what's called "interactive" is anything but.

    4. User generated content is not the holy grail. User generated genuine interest in a brand that excites consumers and pushes their 'loyalty button' is what we're really seeking. There are many UGC campaigns that are bolt on piles of crap... If UGC is not aligned with your brand and the only respondents are professional contestants, you should rethink things a bit. Just because it's cool doesn't mean it's you (or that an agency should sell it to you)

    5. I actually think that we're in pretty good shape - there is BRILLIANT marketing going on out there (just read iMedia, Marketing Sherpa and others to see the kick ass campaigns and strategies that are rocking the marketing world)...but there's always room to do better. Both agencies and internal marketers can't afford to get lazy. The entire profession of marketing is founded on a "faith in the future" perspective! That's why we market - for the future...so hurry up and let's all get there!

    
    

    
    (06/09/08 09:00 AM)

42. Mature Media Never Looked Better. With the rush to capitalize on the new media hype, don’t forget your older, wiser, more mature options. Targeted direct mail, with a telephone follow-up and a useful, information rich, call to action is more effective now than ever. The competition in the mailbox is pretty slim these days, so creating smart campaigns that take advantage of [...]
    (06/08/08 09:00 AM)

43. The Ultimate Social Marketing Question. I’ve been asked to give a lot of talks lately on the fast changing social marketing and media world and the questions I inevitably get from the audience go something like - “Should I use Facebook or LinkedIn?” or “What’s the value of Twitter?” or “How do I combat negative comments on my blog?” In the [...]
    (06/05/08 09:00 AM)

44. Brand New Thinking: Put It in Cultural Context. As marketing managers seek to keep their brands fresh and relevant, many are tempted to jump on the latest trends and fads. You know: online and major media advertising with new imagery... new slogans and taglines... new product packaging... all playing to the latest pop-cult phenomena, hot colors, and new vibes. But is that really the solution? The short answer is "no." (06/03/08 09:00 AM)

45. Insight for Ad Agencies - Listen or Go Back to Print.

    This is quite possibly the most timely and exciting article I've read as of late (come to think it, this I've been rather busy and this might be the only thing I've read of late...nope, this really is the best).

    Joseph Dumont penned a piece for Imedia entitled "Why Agencies are Failing" in it, he lays out several of his own observations that are founded in a report from Forrester (might be worth the $279 price tag if you're seeking some Forrester Research Therapy for your agency) and compiled from his keen insights into the agency world.

    This article really hits home as it comes at a time when I'm doing a bit of work with a few agencies that I regard with the utmost respect and I can't help but see some of their challenges echoed in this article. Those are the agencies that are truly students of advertising, marketing, customer behavior and have a genuine purpose in this world. They will succeed because they can learn, they can grow and like energy (you know, never at rest) they are always moving and changing and they're on the right path.

    On the other end of the spectrum are agencies who are truly stuck. They're afraid of stepping outside of their comfort zone, afraid to admit that they need help, don't have a mastermind group internally that's challenging their age-old positioning and their clients are suffering as a result by way of crusty old strategies, reheated ideas and basically an ignorance of the end customer that we're all trying to reach. Those agencies will fail a they aren't even on a path - they're standing still.

    Here are a few observations that I took from Joseph's article. I really recommend read though it with you highlighter handy - there are some real nuggets in there. If you're an agency, take this to your next staff meeting and discuss it. It's that important. If you like, buy the Forrester report (and tell me if it was worth it!)

    1. Damnit, get out there and do the hard work to really understand how your client's consumer has changed their habits, where they hang out and what they want to hear from you. Media kits are for armchair advertisers. You need to get out there, listen, react and move. Oh, and get your client's leadership and front line folks on the same page too. Customers are smart. They see through the disorganization.

    2. Watch political marketing. I've said this for years and I'll say it again "the harbingers of the next generation of marketing are working in politics". Watch all 3 candidates and how they leverage the digital space. Also, pay attention to their budgets. They're moving mountains and spending very little (comparatively) online...they reach the masses on TV and the influencers through digital (online) means...it's a great country we live in!

    3. Interactive does NOT mean Internet. It means really in-ter-acting... get people involved, acting and interacting and engaging. Most of what's called "interactive" is anything but.

    4. User generated content is not the holy grail. User generated genuine interest in a brand that excites consumers and pushes their 'loyalty button' is what we're really seeking. There are many UGC campaigns that are bolt on piles of crap... If UGC is not aligned with your brand and the only respondents are professional contestants, you should rethink things a bit. Just because it's cool doesn't mean it's you (or that an agency should sell it to you)

    5. I actually think that we're in pretty good shape - there is BRILLIANT marketing going on out there (just read iMedia, Marketing Sherpa and others to see the kick ass campaigns and strategies that are rocking the marketing world)...but there's always room to do better. Both agencies and internal marketers can't afford to get lazy. The entire profession of marketing is founded on a "faith in the future" perspective! That's why we market - for the future...so hurry up and let's all get there!

    
    

    
    (05/29/08 09:00 PM)

46. Three Key Determinants of Your Company's Readiness to Plunge Into Social Media. By looking at your company's readiness in conjunction with your market, your competitors, and your buyers, you'll be able to determine what the potential is (or isn't) for social media. What's more, you'll be able to assess where you should be diving in, or what's a realistic starting place. (05/27/08 09:00 AM)

47. Three Factors to Consider Before You Jump on the Social Media Bandwagon. Should your company should start a blog, open a Facebook account, or be on YouTube? Start by taking a giant step backward and assessing the social media landscape as it relates to your market, your buyers, and your competitors. Here are three key factors to consider. (05/20/08 09:01 AM)

48. The Engagement Game. Your media plan likely contains all the usual, well-known media options: TV and radio ads, print ads and outdoor advertising. We've all been going with these options for years, decades in fact. We've always known we wouldn't be fired for nominating them. Just like an IT guy wouldn't be fired for installing an IBM solution. But this security is fast disappearing. One day soon, you might be fired for limiting yourself to these options. (05/20/08 09:01 AM)

49. Identity PR: Reaching the Minds (and Wallets) of Today's Diverse Consumers. Today's diverse consumers are looking for more than just talk. They want companies that are an authentic part of their niche community. They are savvy, skeptical, and tired of spin. They are watching to see how sincere you are in including them?as employees, senior managers, board members, media partners, vendors, and so on... (05/13/08 09:01 AM)

50. Purchase the Marketech '08 Marketing Technology Guide!.
    $19.99
    
    Marketech 08: Using Emerging Media in Marketing - eBook - $19.99
    
    Today's service industry organizations depend on deeper and more relevant customer connections to drive loyalty, retention, referrals and reactivation within their coveted client base. These companies don't just need technology however, they need a systems perspective on how to integrate the ever changing world of social media, social networking and Web 2.0 into their core business infrastructure to meet their customers in their medium, now and in the future.
    
    Purchase Now to Discover:
    • 2008 Emerging Media Vehicles
    • How to Use New Media Vehicles to Your Advantage
    • The Latest Internet & Marketing Technologies that can Impact Your 2008 Marketing Plans

    Your copy of the Marketech 08 Guide PDF will show you how to put these technologies to work for you.

    This guide includes a service-organization perspective that will help you:

    • Utilize relevant marketing & customer service technologies that today's leading service organizations employ to connect with their customers. This includes an overview of tools from social networking via Facebook, organic corporate networks and customer community programs to communication vehicles like blogs, online video and podcasting.
    • Integrate with existing common customer loyalty, retention, referrals and reactivation initiatives.
    • Identify benefits and risks associated with these techniques and technologies such as lower cost to service and increased referrals vs. loss of central control and the increasing customer control of your brand reputation.
    • Discover who's doing this already examples and how is it working for them. We'll look at a myriad of case examples with learning's and action items than any organization can apply.
    This eBook is available as an Instant Download in Adobe PDF  *** Full disclosure: I wrote the e-book as part of a project for the AMA in late 2007 and retained the rights to publish. The response to the guide in my TechnoMarketing sessions and other speaking engagements has been so positive that I've decided to offer the item for sale.
    (04/04/08 09:00 PM)

51. TechnoMarketing on Marketing Matters Live! Today.

    If you've got a free hour from 9-10 PST today, January 9th, we'll be discussing TechnoMarketing on the AMA Radio show Marketing Matters Live! on WSRadio.

    David Kinard is your host and it promises to be a great show! We'll be discussing technology tools in marketing and what's next for marketers. Fun stuff!

    The world of marketing as we know it is rapidly changing all around us. Engaging your customers through the newest media vehicles such as social media, customer communities, blogs, RSS, and podcasts requires a solid foundation steeped in customer understanding, marketing planning and technological prowess. The challenges marketers face today are often compounded by the sheer volume of new media channels and the depth of expertise required to execute well in each channel.

    When you listen in, you will:

    * Increase your knowledge of terminology surrounding the newest technology-centric marketing tools
    * Acquire a better understanding of the most popular technology-driven marketing vehicles currently in use and on the horizon
    * Begin to identify which technology-centric marketing vehicles will work for your customer base and pair those up with your existing marketing strategy

    Who should listen in:

    * Sales and Marketing Executives of any size organization
    * Marketing directors responsible for digital or integrated marketing strategy
    * Anyone involved in customer-facing internet initiatives with their company or clients
    * Ad agency media directors looking for a competitive edge for clients

    

    If you'd like 2 days worth of TechnoMarketing, check into the AMA training series: TechnoMarketing: Using the Tools and Technology of Tomorrow to Reach Your Customers Today
    

    

    
    (04/04/08 09:00 PM)

52. Great example of explaining del.icio.us and Digg on a website. During a social media seminar this week, I mentioned that some websites have areas where they 'explain' what the social bookmarking tools are for visitors who are interested in using them, but who may not know what they are. While basic, this is important if you really want to enable your content for sharing and subscription.
    
    AdAge has a great example of this with their "question mark" next to the "Share & Save (?)" section.
    
    Scroll toward the bottom of this article to see the "Share & Save (?)" section. You'll notice that they not only have the ""Share & Save (?)" section but also a newsletter subscription link at the bottom of their articles. This is a GREAT manifestation of virally enabling and enabling subscription to your brand/content.
    
    http://adage.com/agencynews/article?article_id=123168
    
    Then, click on the question mark and you'll be brought to a section of a page on their site that houses all of their RSS and social sharing information.
    
    http://adage.com/rss#share
    
    For organizations just starting out in social sharing and RSS, AdAge has a great model for how to bring your customers into the fold.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    (04/04/08 09:00 PM)

53. Liberate Your Marketing By Setting Boundaries.
    

    This is the article that I wrote this month for adotas.  The idea here is that so often, marketers are consumed with all of the media and hype around them that we neglect to setup proper boundaries and filters for ourselves and for our teams to ensure that we're truly able to focus on our marketing mission, only letting that which will truly benefit our organization onto the marketing plan.
    

    
    â??Donâ??t fence me inâ?? is the mindset of most marketers and creative members of your team. The last thing we typically want is to have boundaries on our time, creativity and choices. Boundaries, however, are what keep you and I focused on the business of marketing and others focused on sales and still others focused on finance and operations. The ability to set, express, and maintain boundaries is an essential part of any healthy marketing department. Boundaries build â??win-winâ?? relationships by making clarifying needs and limits, while opening the field on what options are available for meeting marketing objectives. More specifically, setting marketing boundaries around both new and legacy marketing tactics allow you to focus on those things that matter and only pursue those ideas that pass through your well-established marketing boundaries, ensuring a higher degree of success.

    What do marketing boundaries look like, and how can you know where and how to set them?

    Peter Block, author of Flawless Consulting, says that â??If you canâ??t say â??no,â?? your â??yesesâ?? donâ??t mean a thing.â?? Thatâ??s so absolutely true. In marketing, if we canâ??t say â??NOâ?? to those things that seem to beg at our budgets and demand our time, weâ??re hamstrung in trying to accomplish those things that weâ??ve already said â??yesâ?? to. In order to keep our yes and no categories in check, there are five key boundary setting techniques that I recommend for all marketers.

    Learn to say The Positive â??NOâ??: Yes, you can say â??noâ?? positively. Knowing that your â??noâ?? answer leads to increased energy and focus on the â??yesesâ?? youâ??ve already committed to. To get a feel for this, look at where you should say â??NOâ?? right now. Sit down right now and identify the emerging demands on your marketing team, plan and budget. Identify 5-10 â??NOâ??sâ?? you need to say. Then, for each, ask yourself, â??What would I be willing to say â??Yesâ?? to in this case?â?? Choose wisely - only what you are willing to do, and can do with the same energy and focus that youâ??ve committed to apply to your existing â??yeses.â??

    Establish â??gate criteriaâ?? for new marketing vehicles and ideas: Thereâ??s a tool used in product development called the â??Stage-Gateâ?? method that includes a set of predetermined steps from idea to launch. By implementing a similar set of procedural steps in reviewing new marketing ideas, tools, tactics and technologies you will gain a clear understanding of what you should allow into your marketing mix and whatâ??s destined for the â??NOâ?? pile. Just as you have a systematic process for evaluating candidates that you hire onto your marketing team, you need to establish rigor in what ideas make it onto the marketing plan.

    Equip your team with boundary setting tools: The best boundary setting tools are of little benefit to an organization if all of the information and minute decisions are still run though the head of marketing. When working through the exercise on the â??positive NOâ?? and setting up your gate criteria, walk you team through the process and gather their input. When you get to the next iteration, walk through it with your team again and point out where their input is included. Repeat until complete.

    Transfer ownership of boundaries to your team: Working through step 3, â??equip your team,â?? will set the stage for ownership transfer. Once youâ??ve settled on an initial â??NOâ?? list and have your gate criteria and process established, it should become part of everyoneâ??s job to ensure that everything is vetted through the new process and â??NOâ?? test before it comes up for discussion.  This way youâ??ll have a team thatâ??s always focused on the securing the win for each of your committed â??yesesâ?? but that also knows how to spot a genuine opportunity when it comes along.

    Keep your freedom to choose: When youâ??re not clear on what you should say no to, itâ??s equally challenging on what to say yes to. By setting marketing boundaries, youâ??ll free up your thoughts and energy to focus on what matters most in achieving your objectives, while simultaneously freeing yourself to make smart choices using your new â??power of NOâ?? and ideas evaluation methods.

    Once youâ??ve established boundaries, a system and criteria for new marketing idea review and delegate boundary management to your team, youâ??ll find yourself with more focus, energy and initiative behind those decisions that you have committed to and will have a fool-proof system for staying in step with the newest marketing trends without feeling like youâ??re being carried away on a tidal wave of runaway marketing ideas.

    
    
    (04/04/08 09:00 PM)

54. Business Blog Consulting getting back up to speed.

    

    After a bit of a slow period, the BBC (Business Blog Consulting) is getting back up to speed with a new owner (Stephan Spencer) and renewed enthusiasm.

    As a business blogger and blog/social media consultant, it's great to be part of this team.

    Keep an eye on the developments at BBC!
    

    
    (04/04/08 09:00 PM)

55. A Great Hook. Fortunately, I'm homebound with my new son for the next week, but I was able to get away tonight for a dinner at Salt Lick (best BBQ in TX!) with many bloggers who came to Austin for SXSW. Friends made it such as Charlene Li of Forrester and Groundswell, Shel Israel of Global Neighborhoods (Author of Naked Conversations), Bob Pearsons of Dell (runs Dell's community /conversation / social media team), Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester and Web Strategist, and others. I also met some new folks: Jim Long, an NBC cameraman (great stories !) and Twitter pro at newmediajam, and Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid. If you haven't heard of gapingvoid or Hugh, he is the "Web 2.0" cartoonist on business cards. He is most famous (I think) for this doodle: Hugh explained that some Microsofters replace their standard cards and put this on the back. Microsoft actually hired Hugh to walk the halls of Microsoft and doodle on cards as a culture catalyst. This is awesome on a couple levels: 1) Microsoft recognized that an 'on the edge' cartoonist was capturing the imagination of its employees and embraced it. That they embraced someone who inspired their employees through an emotive cartoon that described what they as a company want to do and what the employees want to do. Talented people work at Microsoft not because they enjoy a big company, but because their talents can make a big change occur. 2) What Hugh has created is an incredible hook for himself,... (03/09/08 09:00 PM)

56. Sole Source Contracts.

    Everyone likes a sole-source contract when their company gets one, but we don't like them too much when they are given to other companies. When other companies get them, it's unfair; when our company gets one, it's a good thing.

    So what's a sole source contract, you ask? Well, according to the Federal Acquisition Regulations, sole-source contracting can occur "when the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source." That means, basically, that an agency can contract with a company without any competition. There are a few in's and out's to this -- you can read about them here.

    I bring this up because I just got finished doing a quick sole source proposal for one of my clients. In this case, the federal agency decided that it needed to have a particular task done, and that the task could only be performed by two people that used to work there. My client had marketed to this agency, and it was "decided" that their company could hire these two people as consultants to perform the work. So the agency issued an RFP to my client, which no other company received. My client then had to respond to this RFP so that the agency would have the proper paperwork to award them the contract.

    Fair? Not really. But of course it happens all the time. Most of the time we only hear about it when there is some type of investigation into possible improper practices and the media gets hold of it. But in reality, lots of companies receive sole source contracts. In many cases, it's just a matter of marketing and knowing the right people in an agency. In other cases, there is really only one responsible source out there, or there is a particularly urgent need for a product or service (another way that agencies can justify a sole source contract).

    That's the lesson (or rant) for today.

    (03/01/08 09:01 AM)

57. Sole Source Contracts.

    Everyone likes a sole-source contract when their company gets one, but we don't like them too much when they are given to other companies. When other companies get them, it's unfair; when our company gets one, it's a good thing.

    So what's a sole source contract, you ask? Well, according to the Federal Acquisition Regulations, sole-source contracting can occur "when the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source." That means, basically, that an agency can contract with a company without any competition. There are a few in's and out's to this -- you can read about them here.

    I bring this up because I just got finished doing a quick sole source proposal for one of my clients. In this case, the federal agency decided that it needed to have a particular task done, and that the task could only be performed by two people that used to work there. My client had marketed to this agency, and it was "decided" that their company could hire these two people as consultants to perform the work. So the agency issued an RFP to my client, which no other company received. My client then had to respond to this RFP so that the agency would have the proper paperwork to award them the contract.

    Fair? Not really. But of course it happens all the time. Most of the time we only hear about it when there is some type of investigation into possible improper practices and the media gets hold of it. But in reality, lots of companies receive sole source contracts. In many cases, it's just a matter of marketing and knowing the right people in an agency. In other cases, there is really only one responsible source out there, or there is a particularly urgent need for a product or service (another way that agencies can justify a sole source contract).

    That's the lesson (or rant) for today.

    (02/21/08 09:01 PM)

58. Prioritizing Marketers Top Priorities. This morning I got a research brief from Mediapost summarizing the findings from the Marketing Effectiveness Networking Group (MENG) and Anderson Aanlytics study. This study surveyed marketing executives to identify key trends and strategies of effective marketing. The subject line of the email said: "Marketing Execs Say Basics Are Most Important in 2008". By "basics" I thought they meant strategies such as becoming measurement-oriented, shifting ad portfolio, investing in email infrastructure, build operational data warehouse, and improve web site. However the 'basics' by definition from this study were more customer-centric and more concepts and objectives rather than strategies. And unfortunately for most companies, they're not all that 'basic' in achieving success. 60% of marketing executives said the following 'marketing basics' were important: Customer satisfaction Customer retention Segmentation Brand loyalty ROI I have a copy of the study. To be clear, the study asked marketing executives to choose from over 60 concepts or buzzwords (such as the 5 above) which were then categorized. Other categories, in order of votes, included: SEO (by itself) Personalization: concepts include Data mining, CRM, Lead Generation, Personalization, Ecommerce, Competitive Intelligence Green Marketing: Multicultural / Ethic issues. Breakdown of old media Innovative Branding Viral / WOM: concepts include viral, WOM, blogging New Media: concepts include Web 2.0, Mobile, CGM, Long Tail, Social Networking Macro Economics Tech Strategy Outsourcing Social Issues Other Now, as a marketer, if I participated in this study I may have answered the same way. After all, the 'marketing basics' are overarching objectives. What... (01/02/08 09:00 AM)

59. #1 Lesson from 2007: Using a Sense of Urgency in Marketing. If there's one theme that keeps coming back to me from the past year, it's got the be the proper use (and the ease of misuse, if you're not careful) of a sense of urgency about doing business with you and your company. I'm not talking about the cheezy 'limited time offers' that you see over and over on TV (limited my ass...you mean, limited by your budget for spewing out shitty ads...) but genuine urgency created by inflection points in your business which moves the needle on buyer behavior.

    Keep in mind here that I'm talking mostly about B2B, which, from my perspective, makes this even more exciting. B2C gets all the urgency in the mass media, and sometimes it's a rare day for most B2B organizations to be able to substantiate a genuine sense of urgency within the base of prospects.

    That said, urgency is not for everyone. It's a powerful weapon that's not to be used without forethought and and crisp and clear understanding of not only the immediate implications, but also future consequences of the slippery slope that it can create, as discussed in a concise little bit about urgency in the Marketing Experiments blog.

    So, what's this urgency thing all about and how do you create it?

    I guess that this will be different for everyone, but frankly, the most successful levers that I've found are timing around pricing and production and availability, quotas and caps. I'm keen to hear more about what you think. Again, I'm talking sustainable things here - not just a 50% off sale or something....

    Timing and production to create urgency:

    This is the fun one. A great example is an impending price increase. If you've been doing a great deal of lead nurturing with your base of prospects, this is especially useful because the already know and trust you. On the other hand, if you don't have a base of prospects that you're nurturing, then you're just another average dude with a deal. Seriously, there's a lot of you out there...this type of urgency play almost has to come from a position of trust to be truly effective. Sure, you can impose urgency on a facelist list of prospects, but your conversion will suffer.

    Proper planning improves urgency results:

    Again, you can take this for what it's worth, but like everything I preach about when I talk about thought leadership marketing or 'altruism before capitalism', you can't just wake up one day and say "I need to create a sense of urgency and get more sales." Crap, what's first. Wrong way Charlie. Not going to work. You need to plan this. You need to understand what the next inflection point in your business will be (obsolescence of an old product, price increase across the board, new product design coming out, office move/clearing inventory...something that's almost 'external' to you yet internal at the same time) and work in a sense of urgency into your marketing to coincide with (or, preferably leading up to) the genuine, non "manufactured" inflection point.

    Quotas, caps and limited availability:

    Take a page from event marketers (if any of you are attending sold out football games as we near playoff time, you understand the acute sense of urgency that surrounds ticket prices and the limited availability in stadium seating) and keep an eye on your quota for items, or your geographical territories that are quickly filling up or the number of 'limited edition' items that you can produce in one quarter. From a services perspective, such as social media speaking or marketing consulting (things which I have some familiarity with) the best creator of urgency is the calendar and the limited number of dates you have available.

    This is not the end of the story. There's so much more to this urgency thing (like neuromarketing and buyer behavior) but for now, that's enough.
    
    Action Items:

    What ideas do you have for creating urgency? Please share in comments!

    
    (12/31/07 09:00 PM)

60. 20 Articles on Social Commerce & Word of Mouth. I haven't kept up the pace of posts here compared to previous years. Part of this is because it's been an exciting, busy year. But the other cause is my writing time is fractured between this Decker Marketing blog, our company blog (Bazaarblog) and writing other articles / columns. So, I thought I'd point you to articles I wrote elsewhere over the past year or so that you might find interesting... Some of my columns on iMedia Connection: The Big Idea Behind Social Commerce How to Market Social Media to Execs Get Web Analysis Fundamentals Right Positives About Negative Product Reviews Other articles / interviews: Word of Mouth and Your Business: Bridge the Gap Bazaarvoice's Sam Decker on Fueling WOM Implementation Social Commerce Interview with Sam Decker Sam Decker on Customer Centricity and Culture Selected blog entries from Bazaarblog: Why Customers Write Reviews Can Customers Trust Online Reviews? The NPV of Reviews 16 Insights from Ted Leonsis (AOL) Summary of Answers for "What about Negative Reviews?" New Frame of Reference: Value is in the Quality of Co-Creation 18 Customer-Created Marketing & Merchandising Tactics 10 Clues You have a Marketing ROI Culture "Operationalize" Customer Centricity A Story of Customer Centricity: Discovering Your Customerrs' Perspective Defining Social Commerce The "Waggle Dance" and 7 Steps to Reaching Customer Centricity (12/26/07 09:01 PM)

61. Marketech 08: Using Emerging Media in Marketing.
    Marketech 08: Using Emerging Media in Marketing - AMA Members-Only Webcast
    Today's service industry organizations depend on deeper and more relevant customer connections to drive loyalty, retention, referrals and reactivation within their coveted client base. These companies don't just need technology; however, they need a systems perspective on how to integrate the ever changing world of social media, social networking and Web 2.0 into their core business infrastructure to meet their customers in their medium, now and in the future.
    
    Register now to discover:
    • 2008 Emerging Media Vehicles
    • How to Use New Media Vehicles to Your Advantage
    • The Latest Internet & Marketing Technologies that can Impact Your 2008 Marketing Plans

    You'll also receive a complimentary copy of the Marketech 08 Guide PDF that shows how to put these technologies to work for you.

    This program includes a service-organization perspective that will help you:

    • Utilize relevant marketing & customer service technologies that today's leading service organizations employ to connect with their customers. This includes an overview of tools from social networking via Facebook, organic corporate networks and customer community programs to communication vehicles like blogs, online video and podcasting.
    • Integrate with existing common customer loyalty, retention, referrals and reactivation initiatives.
    • Identify benefits and risks associated with these techniques and technologies such as lower cost to service and increased referrals vs. loss of central control and the increasing customer control of your brand reputation.
    • Discover who's doing this already (examples) and how is it working for them. We'll look at a myriad of case examples with learning's and action items than any organization can apply.

    Date: December 6, 2007

    Times: Session 1 - 10am PST/ 11am MST/ 12pm CST/1pm EST or Session 2 - 12pm PST/1pm MST/2pm CST/3pm EST
    
    Host: The American Marketing Association and Dana VanDen Heuvel, a highly recognized expert on blogging, podcasting, RSS and other interactive marketing trends and a frequent guest speaker at many AMA live training programs, including the recent premier Training Series: Technomarketing event.
    
    

    Register Here for the Marketech 08 Webcast.
    (12/05/07 09:01 PM)

62. Social Media for Small Business? Try Online Review Sites.

    Last week a posted an article on the Perfect Patients blog on "Getting Your Practice In To Online Review Sites." This Tuesday during a presentation to the Milwaukee AMA I was asked about some of the quickest and easiest ways that small business customers can deploy social media (and leverage the power of their customers to help market their business).

    Try asking your customers to review you online. Huh? How? What?

    It's pretty straightforward. Here's a _ action plan.

    1. Find out which websites that list local businesses in your area have review capability. This is easily done by searching for something like "cityname profession" such as "Green Bay Chiropractor". That will give a good look at what directories rank well for your city. (you'll usually see their results on page 1 or 2 of the results) For our local Green Bay, Wisconsin market, the breakdown looks like this:
    

    
    
    • Google Local
    
    
    • Yahoo Local
    
    
    • Switchboard.com (user reviews sourced from Judy's Book and Insider Pages)
    
    
    • Judy's Book
    
    
    • Insider Pages
    
    
    • Superpages.com (Verizon's yellow & whitepages site)
    
    
    • Citysearch.com (Green Bay version linked to)
    
    

    2. Make up simple cards (postcard or index card size) with the URLs of the most popular review sites on one side an a couple quick points of instruction (like...visit the site, look for the "review" link, post your comments, save) to keep at your counter and to send out with all bills, statements, invoices and the like.

    3. Link to the review sites (and perhaps mention a glowing review, with permission of course) in your e-newsletters that you send to customers.

    4. Enjoy the positive word of mouth and energy that comes from having a great online reputation and a bushel full of great reviews!
    

    
    (11/16/07 09:01 PM)

63. Forrester/BusinessWeek "Who Participates" Chart.

    A nice graphical representation of who's doing what in social media - lots of demographic info:

    You can find the original here:
    http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_24/b4038405.htm

    
    

    
    (11/06/07 09:00 PM)

64. Why, How and Who of Web 2.0. A couple weeks ago I moderated a panel and roundtable for Austin Venture portfolio companies on Web 2.0. As many of the companies were not in the "Web 2.0" bullseye, the discussion focused on the what, why, how and who of Web 2.0. I'll skip the "What" question...here are the some of the other notes: Why? * Analysts read blogs. Reporters read blogs * Empowers customers * Blogs are turning into a trusted media outlet * 78% of online customers trust brands more that have reviews on their site * Marketing (PR) is being Master of Reality (Edelman) * From conversation about your brand, to your brand’s values (ex: Saturn’s findyourdetour.com site) * From monologue to dialogue (how web 2.0 changes marketing’s voice) * Demonstrates your brand’s authenticity * Longer life vs printed articles * Get insight into audience and build relationship * 90 / 9 / 1 rule: 90% read, 9% participate, 1% narcissism (+1% paid participation) * Viral growth via networking and connectivity * Your brand = your Google content * 25% of Google search results is user generated content * C to C marketing (customer to customer) is much more effective * Word of mouth marketing works online because the content is archived while word of mouth marketing offline can be quickly forgotten How? * Keep messaging consistent through channels * Treat online media same as traditional media, but use a different pitch to target each media * Video metadata, and taking advantage of Google’s universal search... (10/30/07 09:00 AM)

65. Three Answers from the Web 2.0 Summit. I couldn't make the Web 2.0 Summit a couple weeks ago, but my colleague Jay Hallberg (Co-founder and VP of Marketing for Spiceworks) was there and answered my top three questions: If I were a brand company.... top three things... that would help my business: 1) Web 2.0 is moving into 'adulthood' and changing industries. There was a general feeling that web 2.0 has grown up. In fact, the Red Herring had a great piece on this: "Is Web 2.0 Growing Up?". Collaborative technologies are solving problems for enterprises and entire industries. It's no longer about whether your CEO has a blog or your company has a wiki. You better be paying attention to how Web 2.0 is helping your competitor or turning your company upside down. Half of the companies featured in the prestigious Launch Pad were "B2B": Cleverset optimizes website revenue, ClickForensics analyzes PPC click fraud, and Spiceworks (my company) has introduced free, ad-supported IT applications. Some of the crowd bemoaned the fact that Web 2.0 is no longer about the next YouTube or Flickr -- it's now about how it's impacting the bottom-line or up-ending industries. If you are still talking about blogs and wikis you may have missed the boat. 2) "Online" is everything. Brian McAndrews who runs Microsoft's ad business really nailed it when said that within 5 years online will be the center of all media, marketing and advertising strategies. It's where people should start. Frankly, it's hard to believe that this isn't already... (10/29/07 09:00 AM)

66. 10 Rules to Live By (Deborah Schultz). I was at the Forrrester Consumer Forum last week. The topic of the conference was social technologies. At a place like that you meet people that have blogs. I try to check out blogs of people I meet, I scan them, and see if something pops out. I met Deborah Schultz, a consultant in the Social Media / Interactive Design, and this post popped out to me where she outlined 10 things she tries to live by. In a busy, transparent world these rules are relevant for a consultant or corporation...they are salient for management and marketing...and some are useful to remember when living your life! Do not ignore your customers, it WILL come back to haunt you Constant iteration is NECESSARY - build in flexibility so you can respond quickly Don't LIE - you can't HIDE the truth anymore Build LISTENING into your DNA (Put it in customer service, marketing, product management - just PUT IT SOMEWHERE) Learn to BALANCE the listening with PERSPECTIVE so you are not constantly in REACTIVE mode. DESIGN matters - Make it EASY (iPhone anyone?) Be CLEAR & CONCISE - who has time for long winded-ness Be EMOTIONAL - tell a story [read this to learn the basics] Be HUMAN - talk like one, act like one. Sounds like a big DUH but it is amazing how easy it is to get lost in complexities when we forget this one. Take a BREAK - and step back to think BIG thoughts Great stuff Deborah! (10/13/07 09:00 PM)

67. New Social Media Presentation Released.

    I'm just putting the finishing touches on a new Social Media/TechnoMarketing presentation that I'm pretty excited about. For those organizations that make the distinction between a 'client' (long term relationship) and 'customer' (transactional relationship), I've developed a program that illustrates how to put the latest tools & technologies in play for your service organization.

    Want more info? Drop me a line!

    Social Media for the Service Industry Enterprise

    Today's service industry organizations depend on deeper and more relevant customer connections to drive loyalty, retention, referrals and reactivation within their coveted client base. These companies don't just need technology; however, they need a systems perspective on how to integrate the ever changing world of social media, social networking and Web 2.0 into their core business infrastructure to meet their customers in their medium, now and in the future.

    This program will provide a focused, service-organization perspective on:
    

    
    
    • What are the relevant marketing & customer service technologies that today's leading service organizations employ to connect with their customers. This includes an overview of tools from social networking via Facebook, organic corporate networks, and customer community programs to communication vehicles like blogs, online video and podcasting.
    
    
    • How do these integrate with existing common customer loyalty, retention, referrals and reactivation initiatives?
    
    
    • What are the benefits and risks associated with these techniques and technologies such as lower cost to service and increased referrals vs. loss of central control and the increasing customer control of your brand reputation.
    
    
    • Who's doing this already (examples) and how is it working for them. We'll look at a myriad of case examples with learning's and action items than any organization can apply.
    
    

    Want more info? Drop me a line!

    Check out my marketing speaker page more info on my other marketing related speaking engagements & programs.

    
    (10/11/07 09:00 AM)

68. 3 More Dates Added for the AMA HotTopic Series | Beyond Marketing 2.0.

    

    Thanks again to all of your who were in New York on the 20th! Due, in large part, to the super-positive feedback that we received from the event, Toby, Bill and I will be doing a total of six events, with the three in 2008 as the latest additions to the mix.

    But, before we get to the dates, don't take our word for it, look at what one of the attendees from New York had to say:

    I wanted to thank you, Toby, Bill and Dana for a fabulous conference. It was truly the most valuable professional development conference I have ever attended. I really appreciated the thoughtful presentations, specific case studies and valuable insights that all the presentors had to share. And the small group setting really allowed for dynamic and interactive discussion that made it possible to apply the learnings to your own work.

    Please keep me on the list for any future web 2.0 professional development conferences that you give, and similarly I hope that Toby, Bill and Dana will keep me in mind if they are ever doing conferences (especially in the washington, dc area).

    Thanks to everybody,

    Kim Callinan
    Senior Vice President

    • Friday, October 26th in Chicago
    • Friday, November 9th in Las Vegas
    • Friday, January 11th in Miami
    • Friday, February 22nd in San Diego
    • Friday, March 28th in Chicago

    You can learn more about Beyond Marketing 2.0: Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Marketing Campaign Results by visiting the AMA website. Here's a brief rundown of the event agenda.

    
    7:30 ... 8:15 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast

    8:15 ... 8:30 a.m. Setting the Stage

    8:30 ... 9:00 a.m. Social Media Defined

    9:00 ... 10:00 a.m. The State of the Industry: Where Do You Stand?

    10:00 ... 10:15 a.m. Break

    10:15 ... 11:15 a.m. The Social Media Landscape

    11:15 ... 12:15 p.m. RSS, Widgets and Social Syndication

    12:15 ... 1:15 p.m. Lunch

    1:15 ... 2:30 p.m. How Do We Measure This Thing? Social Media Metrics & ROI

    2:30 ... 2:45 p.m. Break

    2:45 ... 3:45 p.m. The Social Media Marketing Plan & Social Media Process

    3:45 ... 4:45 Marketing Makeover: Applying Social Media in Two Parts

    After several hours of exploring the ins and outs of Social Media and Web 2.0, now it's time to put our education into action!

    Finally, we'll conduct a series of 'marketing makeovers' with willing participating companies in the audience. We'll dive deep into specific, emerging or hypothetical marketing challenges where Social Media tools and tactics will provide a competitive marketing edge, illustrating precisely how the Social Media tools discussed throughout the day can be applied to your individual marketing challenge.

    
    

    
    (10/04/07 09:01 PM)

69. Parallels: Investment Portfolios | Marketing Portfolios.

    As many a marketing manager and media planner turns their focus to 2008 (in fact, I'm better that a fair number of you have already turned in some preliminary budget numbers for '08, if not your entire budget and marketing plan) we're all challenged with where we're going to allocate dollars for our anticipated returns and ROI.

    An intriguing post over at Get Rich Slowly and a story on NPR about David Swensen, who, for the past 21 years been Yale Universityâ??s investment portfolio manager, garnering an average 16 percent annual return! This is astonishing in that most of us are fortunate to sneak by with an average 7 percent across our investment and retirement stockpiles.

    What's more interesting is the connection that's made in the blog post between what David feels is a intuitively balanced portfolio and the types of index funds (ETF - Exchange Traded Funds) that the everyman (or woman) could safely invest in and secure a comfortable return.

    The chart below represents Swensena's basic formula for creating an investment portfolio likely to give you good returns while still managing risk: (via Get Rich Slowly)
    
    

    This got me to thinking, what's your marketing portfolio look like? When you look at how Swensen's investment percentages break down with 20% in Real Estate and another 5% in Emerging Markets, I can't help but think that there are parallels in our marketing portfolio to things like brand building and awareness (long-term, stability investments) and new media and social media (emerging markets, high risk, potential for high return) and the list goes on..

    ACTION ITEM: What's your marketing portfolio look like? Do you have enough invested in stable, slow growth areas like branding and awareness building for the long term or have your been bit by the latest marketing trend bug and shifted your investments into higher-risk marketing vehicles? Are you investing enough in customer retention, referral and reactivation like we invest in government bonds to renew our country or have those areas fallen out of favor because of their seemingly modest returns?

    Take another look at your marketing portfolio before the ink dries on next year's budget!

    
    (10/04/07 09:01 PM)

70. 3 More Dates Added for the AMA HotTopic Series | Beyond Marketing 2.0.

    

    Thanks again to all of your who were in New York on the 20th! Due, in large part, to the super-positive feedback that we received from the event, Toby, Bill and I will be doing a total of six events, with the three in 2008 as the latest additions to the mix.

    But, before we get to the dates, don't take our word for it, look at what one of the attendees from New York had to say:

    I wanted to thank you, Toby, Bill and Dana for a fabulous conference. It was truly the most valuable professional development conference I have ever attended. I really appreciated the thoughtful presentations, specific case studies and valuable insights that all the presentors had to share. And the small group setting really allowed for dynamic and interactive discussion that made it possible to apply the learnings to your own work.

    Please keep me on the list for any future web 2.0 professional development conferences that you give, and similarly I hope that Toby, Bill and Dana will keep me in mind if they are ever doing conferences (especially in the washington, dc area).

    Thanks to everybody,

    Kim Callinan
    Senior Vice President

    • Friday, October 26th in Chicago
    • Friday, November 9th in Las Vegas
    • Friday, January 11th in Miami
    • Friday, February 22nd in San Diego
    • Friday, March 28th in Chicago

    You can learn more about Beyond Marketing 2.0: Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Marketing Campaign Results by visiting the AMA website. Here's a brief rundown of the event agenda.

    
    7:30 ... 8:15 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast

    8:15 ... 8:30 a.m. Setting the Stage

    8:30 ... 9:00 a.m. Social Media Defined

    9:00 ... 10:00 a.m. The State of the Industry: Where Do You Stand?

    10:00 ... 10:15 a.m. Break

    10:15 ... 11:15 a.m. The Social Media Landscape

    11:15 ... 12:15 p.m. RSS, Widgets and Social Syndication

    12:15 ... 1:15 p.m. Lunch

    1:15 ... 2:30 p.m. How Do We Measure This Thing? Social Media Metrics & ROI

    2:30 ... 2:45 p.m. Break

    2:45 ... 3:45 p.m. The Social Media Marketing Plan & Social Media Process

    3:45 ... 4:45 Marketing Makeover: Applying Social Media in Two Parts

    After several hours of exploring the ins and outs of Social Media and Web 2.0, now it's time to put our education into action!

    Finally, we'll conduct a series of 'marketing makeovers' with willing participating companies in the audience. We'll dive deep into specific, emerging or hypothetical marketing challenges where Social Media tools and tactics will provide a competitive marketing edge, illustrating precisely how the Social Media tools discussed throughout the day can be applied to your individual marketing challenge.

    
    

    
    (10/03/07 09:00 PM)

71. Content Consumption Continuity.

    I'm in the middle of a great article in E-Content Magazine (sorry, don't see it online yet) and caught an interesting perspective from Russel Holliman, the CEO of Podcast Ready. This idea, which I call Content Consumption Continuity involves the many types of media that all of us use to consume content & information. At the end of the day, there needs to be some continuity across the multiple media devices through which we can access content & types of content. As Russell puts it:

    "In time, I'll be able to download an article to look at on my television, zap it to my phone, listen to it in my car, and then read it on my Sony Reader while I'm in the airport."

    Well said. Welcome to the age of Content Consumption Continuity!

    
    (10/03/07 09:00 PM)

72. Parallels: Investment Portfolios | Marketing Portfolios.

    As many a marketing manager and media planner turns their focus to 2008 (in fact, I'm better that a fair number of you have already turned in some preliminary budget numbers for '08, if not your entire budget and marketing plan) we're all challenged with where we're going to allocate dollars for our anticipated returns and ROI.

    An intriguing post over at Get Rich Slowly and a story on NPR about David Swensen, who, for the past 21 years been Yale Universityâ??s investment portfolio manager, garnering an average 16 percent annual return! This is astonishing in that most of us are fortunate to sneak by with an average 7 percent across our investment and retirement stockpiles.

    What's more interesting is the connection that's made in the blog post between what David feels is a intuitively balanced portfolio and the types of index funds (ETF - Exchange Traded Funds) that the everyman (or woman) could safely invest in and secure a comfortable return.

    The chart below represents Swensena's basic formula for creating an investment portfolio likely to give you good returns while still managing risk: (via Get Rich Slowly)
    
    

    This got me to thinking, what's your marketing portfolio look like? When you look at how Swensen's investment percentages break down with 20% in Real Estate and another 5% in Emerging Markets, I can't help but think that there are parallels in our marketing portfolio to things like brand building and awareness (long-term, stability investments) and new media and social media (emerging markets, high risk, potential for high return) and the list goes on..

    ACTION ITEM: What's your marketing portfolio look like? Do you have enough invested in stable, slow growth areas like branding and awareness building for the long term or have your been bit by the latest marketing trend bug and shifted your investments into higher-risk marketing vehicles? Are you investing enough in customer retention, referral and reactivation like we invest in government bonds to renew our country or have those areas fallen out of favor because of their seemingly modest returns?

    Take another look at your marketing portfolio before the ink dries on next year's budget!

    
    (10/03/07 09:00 PM)

73. Upcoming Event | Emerging Marketing Technologies Workshop | May 24-25.

    Hi Folks,

    There's an upcoming sales & marketing workshop that you or someone you know might be interested it.

    What: Emerging Marketing Technologies Workshop
    When: May 24-25, 2007
    Where: St. Norbert College, Bemis International Conferenc