Before you read this article, you may have thought your dog had the grossest eating habits ever. But Fido's penchant for poo is nothing compared to some of these sickos highlighted in Cracked. For example, Victorian scientist William Buckland: He didn't just stop at the meat of animals, either. While on a visit to St. Paul's Cathedral, a strange mark was found on the floor. A debate broke out as to what the stain could possibly be, at which point Buckland got on his hands and knees, licked the stain and confidently announced it to be bat piss. But the craziest thing Buckland ever did, at…
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Most Topular Stories
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8 historical figures who ate disgusting things
Holy Kaw!8 Feb 2012 | 11:26 pm -
Closing Bell: Facebook updates IPO | iPad 3 components | Windows 8
MarketingVox News & Trends8 Feb 2012 | 2:35 pmFinance: Facebook updates its IPO filing to confirm its special relationship with Zynga. Mobile Computing: Why carriers hate the iPhone. iPad 3 component suggests larger battery, new LCD. Apple, Google move to tackle app store issues. Productivity: Windows 8 Consumer Preview due February 29: why it's not called beta.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/h0I2f3UZx34" height="1" width="1"/> -
MYTH: "My buyers are not on the Web"
Web Ink Now5 Feb 2012 | 8:20 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… -
Advertising: A Social Network Review of Super Bowl Commercials
NYT > Media & Advertising8 Feb 2012 | 10:42 pmUSA Today is adding a social network to its Super Bowl Ad Meter, teaming with Facebook to rate and share Super Bowl commercials. -
Turn Your Business Into a Community Building Platform
Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing8 Feb 2012 | 5:36 amTurn Your Business Into a Community Building PlatformThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing I believe the future of business and commitment building resides in the idea of viewing your business as a platform for your community. The notion of a platform is one that receives a fair amount of play in various contexts. An author is said to possess a platform when they have built a following. Consultants might work with a business owner to build a platform through speaking, writing, blogging and connecting in social media. And finally, many tech firms have built platforms by creating open source…
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Holy Kaw!
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8 historical figures who ate disgusting things
8 Feb 2012 | 11:26 pmBefore you read this article, you may have thought your dog had the grossest eating habits ever. But Fido's penchant for poo is nothing compared to some of these sickos highlighted in Cracked. For example, Victorian scientist William Buckland: He didn't just stop at the meat of animals, either. While on a visit to St. Paul's Cathedral, a strange mark was found on the floor. A debate broke out as to what the stain could possibly be, at which point Buckland got on his hands and knees, licked the stain and confidently announced it to be bat piss. But the craziest thing Buckland ever did, at… -
5 explanations of why teenagers act the way the do
8 Feb 2012 | 11:22 pmUnderstanding the teenage mind could be a life's work. For those of you who don't have that kind of time, however, Mental Floss gives five things that could explain the mind of the teenager. For example, parents, have you ever wondered if your teenager is somehow getting dumber? Parents of teens often wonder what happened to the bright child they used to have. How can someone go from getting A’s to getting C’s when they seem to be doing the same amount of work? Once again, changes in the brain are to blame. While the merits of IQ tests are debatable, scientists used to think IQ… -
Surviving the loss of a star employee
8 Feb 2012 | 11:16 pmSome groups have stellar members who carry the team. That's all well and good until that member leaves. Then what? This Smartblog video will help you answer that question: Full story at Smartblog on Leadership. Top news for leaders. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Disneyland circa 1957 [video]
8 Feb 2012 | 11:14 pmThis video was shot in 1957, less than two years after Disneyland had opened. The footage is newly restored and ready to take you to the happiest place on earth as it was in its early days. Full story at Mental Floss. All the top Internet videos in one place. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
People unplugging their TVs during the Super Bowl
8 Feb 2012 | 11:08 pmThere's no faster way to ruin an American's day than to unplug his or her TV during the Super Bowl. Think we're exaggerating? Take a look at these folks go form 0 to 60 in less than a second, all thanks to Jimmy Kimmel's latest Challenge. Full story at Jimmy Kimmel Live. Top sports news. Permalink | Leave a comment »
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MarketingVox News & Trends
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Closing Bell: Facebook updates IPO | iPad 3 components | Windows 8
8 Feb 2012 | 2:35 pmFinance: Facebook updates its IPO filing to confirm its special relationship with Zynga. Mobile Computing: Why carriers hate the iPhone. iPad 3 component suggests larger battery, new LCD. Apple, Google move to tackle app store issues. Productivity: Windows 8 Consumer Preview due February 29: why it's not called beta.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/h0I2f3UZx34" height="1" width="1"/> -
Another Sign That Facebook Is Moving to Mobile
8 Feb 2012 | 11:15 amWith rumors that Facebook is about to launch a mobile ad offering swirling, the industry is scouring the landscape for signs that, yes, indeed, Facebook is moving in this direction. It got such as sign with news of an agreement with Bango for "payment services." (via All Facebook). The agreement with Bango calls for [...]<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/OjD5Ijg59zA" height="1" width="1"/> -
The Push to Kill QR Codes Continues
8 Feb 2012 | 11:03 amSwiss image recognition startup Kooaba has relaunched its flagship app so no QR code is required. The redesigned app offers more possibilities for users, The Next Web notes. Previously, users would take a photo of a newspaper page and be taken to the online version. "Now, a partnership with outdoor agency APG [...]<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/Zp1uG7mPmBU" height="1" width="1"/> -
Wolfram|Alpha Highlights Growing Popularity of Voice Search
8 Feb 2012 | 10:48 amWolfram|Alpha has launched a new search service for which users have to pay. The price is minimal, at $5 per month, however it represents a major shift from the current search business model, which of course is free. The product Wolfram|Alpha is rolling out, its Pro version, is best suited for mathematical or [...]<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/GKENwvOhGjA" height="1" width="1"/> -
Questions Emerge about Pinterest's Linking Tactics
8 Feb 2012 | 8:43 amPinterest may be facing user backlash in the wake of the news that the company has been quietly making money off of its customer base. Josh Davis at LLSocial.com uncovered the when a pin is posted to the site and it links to an ecommerce site with an affiliate program, Pinterest modifies the link [...]<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/OFbaRRVxYKY" height="1" width="1"/>
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Web Ink Now
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MYTH: "My buyers are not on the Web"
5 Feb 2012 | 8:20 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 | 3:17 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… -
Thinking Right (and Left) about Content Marketing
27 Jan 2012 | 1:11 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… -
Playing for Change
23 Jan 2012 | 7:28 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 | 3:36 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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NYT > Media & Advertising
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Advertising: A Social Network Review of Super Bowl Commercials
8 Feb 2012 | 10:42 pmUSA Today is adding a social network to its Super Bowl Ad Meter, teaming with Facebook to rate and share Super Bowl commercials. -
Mike Huckabee to Begin Radio Show
8 Feb 2012 | 10:40 pmRush Limbaugh will soon have a new radio rival: Mike Huckabee, who will be running a radio show from noon to 3 p.m. for Cumulus Media Networks. -
New Settlements in Britain’s Hacking Scandal
8 Feb 2012 | 10:15 pmRupert Murdoch’s British newspaper subsidiary was reported to have reached a new batch of settlements on Wednesday in the hacking scandal. -
Advertising: Marketing Financial Risk Management to Clients and Providers
8 Feb 2012 | 9:52 pmA campaign encouraging professionals to become certified as financial risk managers is centered on photographs of men in business garb recoiling as if they had been punched. -
Young People Are Watching, but Less Often on TV
8 Feb 2012 | 9:47 pmYoung people still watch many television shows, but they are streaming them on computers and phones to a greater degree.
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Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
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Turn Your Business Into a Community Building Platform
8 Feb 2012 | 5:36 amTurn Your Business Into a Community Building PlatformThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing I believe the future of business and commitment building resides in the idea of viewing your business as a platform for your community. The notion of a platform is one that receives a fair amount of play in various contexts. An author is said to possess a platform when they have built a following. Consultants might work with a business owner to build a platform through speaking, writing, blogging and connecting in social media. And finally, many tech firms have built platforms by creating open source… -
Is Your Marketing Producing the Results You Expected
7 Feb 2012 | 5:58 amIs Your Marketing Producing the Results You ExpectedThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Quipol Image:One-Fat-Man via Flickr CC The poll question above is a bit loaded and, not that I want to skew the results, the answer for most lies in the fact that they don’t really know what results they expected or what result they are actually getting. Mostly they know the results aren’t what they had hoped for, but that’s another issue. Setting expectations One of the simplest, yet most effective, things you can do is set expectations or goals for your marketing. You can create… -
This Is a Message from Your Heart
6 Feb 2012 | 5:51 amThis Is a Message from Your HeartThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing I had a heart scan the other day – mainly because I’m old and my spouse is convincing in the most loving way. a4gpa via Flickr CCIf you’ve never done it, it’s a pretty incredible experience to get to watch the awesome mechanical miracle that is you heart spray blood in and out through a series of valves, tubes, chambers, levers and doors that any engineer would be challenged to recreate. More often than not the heart is the subject of poems and songs about romance and love but in addition to being a physical… -
Weekend Favs February Four
4 Feb 2012 | 5:32 amWeekend Favs February FourThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing My weekend blog post routine includes posting links to a handful of tools or great content I ran across during the week. I don’t go into depth about the finds, but encourage you check them out if they sound interesting. The photo in the post is a favorite for the week from Flickr or from my own travels. First run of the day Telluride Good stuff I found this week: Quipol – Easily create and embed social polls that are very easy to use and very good looking Transcribe – free online tool that makes it much easier… -
Does Your Marketing Make the Grade
1 Feb 2012 | 5:02 amDoes Your Marketing Make the GradeThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Marketing podcast with Laura Fitton (Click to play or right click and “Save As” to download – Subscribe now via iTunes or subscribe via other RSS device (Google Listen) A number of years ago Hubspot created something called the Website Grader, a tool that graded a number of important aspects about a website and concocted a score or grade based on those factors. Although no tool can really accurately measure the effectiveness of a website, the tool had a nice marketing bent to it and was a pretty simple…
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Dave Stein's Blog: An Independent Perspective on Sales Training and Sales Effectiveness
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Is Inside Sales Training Equal in Importance to Field Sales Training?
2 Feb 2012 | 9:32 amIn today’s challenging selling environment, people and resources typically regarded as inside sales are driving a higher proportion of bottom-line sales results. To stay competitive, sales managers must improve training for inside sales representatives. ESR encourages sales managers to approach training for inside sales representatives just as seriously as they would approach training for their most valuable outside sales (or field sales) representatives. Why? This is because the methods, operations and aptitudes of inside sales professionals are increasingly driving sales productivity. -
The State of Sales Training 2012 | Part 2: Some of the Sales Training Leaders
23 Jan 2012 | 11:12 amIn the previous post, I took you through some of the 2011 highlights in the sales training industry. I promised to share with you who ESR considers sales training industry leaders. A few points to consider: As you are probably aware, ESR’s Research Methodology enables our research team to produce very accurate profiles and evaluations of the sales training providers that we cover. We look at many more characteristics than are listed in the “category” column below, going through numerous briefings, checking customer references, and tapping into our significant community of sales… -
The State of Sales Training 2012 (Part One)
16 Jan 2012 | 10:58 amOn December 7, 2011 ESR delivered a webinar presentation on the state of sales training (download the MP3 or PDF—free registration required). It was an hour full of valuable intelligence and insight for sales training companies and sales trainers in corporate L&D organizations. Here are some of the points I made during the event. First, a quick review of 2011. (A look at 2012 and beyond will follow in Part 2.) Sales training spend was up during the first half of 2011, then down during the second. 63% of companies ESR surveyed during 2011 spend less than $3,000 per sales rep per year. -
Yesterday I Sold My Plane. So, Here Is What I Learned From Flying.
10 Jan 2012 | 2:11 pmYesterday I sold my plane. It is a 1978 Cessna 182Q. Seats 4. Cruises at 160 MPH. What a wonderful plane it is. I bought the plane in 1995 after Datalogix International, a company where I was a principal, went public. I flew nearly 2,000 hours in the plane with trips to Florida, Atlanta, Chicago, Canada, Lake of the Ozarks, and many dozens of airports up and down the East Coast. I made 20 trips down the “Hudson River Corridor” at 900 feet, which always included a loop around the Statue of Liberty at 500 feet. (Check out this video from my plane.) I took a lot of people, especially… -
Upcoming Webinar: Documenting the Quantitative Impact of Sales Training
3 Jan 2012 | 8:01 amWhen we ask sales executives how they measure sales performance, 60% of them tell us that they don’t have a performance measurement system in place. Of the remaining 40%, a majority depend solely on a single lagging indicator: performance against quota/budget. If other metrics are even mentioned, they are typically the size/trending of their pipeline, the number of sales calls per week, or the percentage of proposals they submit that result in a win. When you consider a typical enterprise, you’ll find that almost every department has a set of processes or procedures and metrics by…
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Jill's Fresh Sales Strategies Blog
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[Video] 3 Critical Questions You Must Ask Every Hot Prospect
30 Jan 2012 | 4:55 amHave you ever been called in to meet by a prospect that's all excited about making the change? They're busy meeting with vendors, looking at all their options. And, they want you to get a proposal to them right away -- or to do a presentation. Stop, stop, stop! If you don't fully understand the why behind all this activity, you may be spinning your wheels for nothing. 1. Ask them, "Why, at this particular moment in time, did you decide that change was essential?" Find out what they say. Does it make sense? 2. Ask them again, "What's the business case for the change?"… -
Dealing with Oops! Moments: Sales Lessons from Rick Perry
26 Jan 2012 | 5:27 amThis not meant to be a political statement. It is simply commentary about what a candidate did - and what we, as sellers, can learn from it. When Texas Governor Rick Perry entered the presidential race, he immediately soared to a front-runner status. But, it didn't last long due to his performance during the Republican debates.For those of you who don't follow American politics, during the recent debates Perry stated that he'd eliminate three federal departments. When asked which ones, his mind went blank. He came up with two, but the third eluded him. For 55 seconds, he wracked his brain,… -
[Audio] 3 Big Sales Problems I See Today
22 Jan 2012 | 9:04 pmRecently I was interivewed by the Sales Lead Management Association about some of the biggest problems I see today that are having a negative impact on sales -- and what can be done about them What was my key focus? - Management's failure to understand changing customer/behavior.- Lack of sufficient digital assets to attract & nuture prospects.- Improper training & tools for salespeople to help them succeed in the new sales environment. You can listen to the download the interview below. Download this episode (right click and save) -
[Video] How to Get More Prospects in Your Pipeline?
12 Jan 2012 | 7:05 amAs sellers, we want to keep as many options open to us. We want to be able to pursue business with anyone who has the potential to buy from us. But doing this actually has a boomerang effect and reduces your sales effectiveness. Here's what you need to do to get more hot prospects in your sales pipeline: You must focus, focus, focus. Focus on certain types of customers. Put together a campaign and go after law firms. Or, think about what the school districts might need. Or how about mid-sized manufacturing firms. The more focused you are the better your message resonates. You can also… -
[Video] What If You Couldn't Get Any New Customers?
4 Jan 2012 | 4:45 amToday's video is designed to get you thinking. Seriously thinking. If you're on a sales team, talk about it together. If you're on your own, explore the ramifications. What you discover may have a huge impact on your success this year. And when you're done, please add your thoughts & comments below. Your ideas may stimulate us all to think at a higher level. Check out the video now >> Video Script: If you've been in the sale profession for any length of time, you probably have a whole laundry list of assumptions about what it takes to be successful. But our marketplace is undergoing…
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Search Engine Watch
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RIAA President: Google ‘Misused Its Power’ by Protesting SOPA
8 Feb 2012 | 2:00 pmGoogle abused its trust and misused its power when it blacked out its logo and encouraged its millions of users base to “Tell Congress: Please don’t censor the web!” At least according to the Recording Industry Association of America’s CEO. -
Privacy Group Sues FTC to Stop New Google Privacy Policy
8 Feb 2012 | 1:00 pmThe Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is suing the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in the hopes of stopping the new Google privacy policy, which is set to become effective March 1. The complaint was filed today in federal district court. -
Google Debuts Chrome for Android
8 Feb 2012 | 11:00 amThe mobile version of Chrome runs on smartphones or tablets with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or above. Although Chrome for Android was designed from the ground up for mobile devices, it has many of the same features of the desktop version. -
5 'Moneyball' Tips for Search Marketers from Billy Beane
8 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amOakland A's General Manager Billy Beane talked baseball, metrics, and people calling him crazy, with an audience of search marketers and corporate executives in a keynote yesterday at Covario’s InflectionPoint 2012 conference in California. -
2 Non-Obvious PPC Split Tests
8 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amSimple PPC split testing can provide market insights that allow you to connect deeply and powerfully with your prospects. All that’s required is a willingness to think, wonder, and ask. Here are two questions to jump-start your own deep curiosity.
