The typical soldier can only carry about 100 lbs. worth of gear, but not indefinitely. DARPA’s (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) new robotic mule, however, can carry 400 lbs. of gear and never get tired — and it can do it with a surprising degree of agility. Physical overburden of soldiers is one of the top five biggest challenges for the U.S. army, according to DARPA, and a semi-autonomous legged robot, officially named the Legged Squad Support System (LS3), might be one way of fixing that problem. In the video above, the LS3 prototype (original developer Boston…
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Most Topular Stories
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DARPA AlphaDog Robot Steps Lively With 400 Lbs on its Back [VIDEO]
Mashable!9 Feb 2012 | 8:14 am -
Throw Away the Maps
chrisbrogan.com6 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amPeople judge us by the path they’ve seen us walk before. They can’t anticipate our future steps. We, ourselves, look to how things have been, what seems to be the lay of the land, without realizing that the maps are not the territory. Want to succeed at work? Then don’t try to do your job. Instead, work towards something larger, more meaningful, and something that blends your convictions internally with your best ability to help others externally. Want to create something new? Then throw away the old, or maybe join two disparate old things together into something new. The… -
In Social Media, The Fine Line Between Nimble And Fickle
Social Media Explorer9 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amA study by The Center For Marketing Research declared, “blogging declines as new media rules.” Based on results of a survey sent to the Inc 500, the article states, “there is clearly a shift in how these nimble companies are communicating.” If it is true that blogging is on the decline, then I’d say these companies are more fickle than nimble. Throwing over — or not starting a blog because it’s easier to use Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest is short-sighted and risky. A blog may be an “old” form of social media but it has five benefits that the newer platforms can’t touch. -
How to Back Up Your LinkedIn Profile and Recommendations
Social Networking for Newbies27 Jan 2012 | 5:51 pmThis is another one best practice to do on a regular basis. I had the misfortune of losing my original LinkedIn account and I lost over 180 recommendations. I had backed up my contacts and my summary but not my recommendations. The reason I hadn’t done that is because I wasn’t aware that you could do that. So one silver lining in my losing my original LinkedIn account is that I learned that you CAN back up your recommendations and I can now share that with you Please watch this short video on how to back up your profile and your recommendations. -
How Memories are Made and Unmade
The Engaging Brand8 Feb 2012 | 11:47 amIt strikes me as odd that we see the future as unmade and the past as made, because in a sense I think it works the other way! I was coaching a leadership team today and when they started to talk about an acquisition, it was really interesting to compare how people perceived what had happened. This is so often true. We imagine that the past fixed and yet as we talk about the past we preserve it, but we also slightly evolve it based on our emotional investment. Memories are made, unmade..... Ironically, we also make the future with the decisions we take today. We decide our future by what we…
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Mashable!
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DARPA AlphaDog Robot Steps Lively With 400 Lbs on its Back [VIDEO]
9 Feb 2012 | 8:14 amThe typical soldier can only carry about 100 lbs. worth of gear, but not indefinitely. DARPA’s (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) new robotic mule, however, can carry 400 lbs. of gear and never get tired — and it can do it with a surprising degree of agility. Physical overburden of soldiers is one of the top five biggest challenges for the U.S. army, according to DARPA, and a semi-autonomous legged robot, officially named the Legged Squad Support System (LS3), might be one way of fixing that problem. In the video above, the LS3 prototype (original developer Boston… -
FBI Investigated Steve Jobs When First Bush Administration Wanted to Hire Him
9 Feb 2012 | 7:58 amThe Federal Bureau of Investigation has released a 191-page background check on late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs that was done in 1991, when Jobs was considered for a post in the George H.W. Bush administration. The report doesn’t delineate what kind of post Jobs was being considered for. The report, which the FBI posted on its website, includes feedback based on interviews with friends and colleagues of Jobs that should be familiar to readers of Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs bio, including: “Several individuals questioned Mr. Jobs’s honesty, stating that Mr. Jobs will… -
Apple to Unveil iPad 3 in March and It Could Look Like This [RUMOR]
9 Feb 2012 | 7:52 amThe tech world awoke today to a new batch of rumors about the iPad 3. First various sites reported on an alleged leak of some of the components of the tablet, then another chimed in to announce that Apple is planning a March unveiling for its new tablet. Yesterday Repair Labs posted a picture of what it says is the back housing for the iPad 3, supposedly from “industry insiders” in China. Comparing the component to the iPad 2, it reveals some differences, specifically that there will be more room for a larger battery, a different camera and a new LCD screen. The sources also said… -
Texts Now Popular Ammo for Divorce Battles [VIDEO]
9 Feb 2012 | 7:39 amNew technological and social media tools have a way of messing up relationships — and they can also be used for evidence when those relationships fail and end up in divorce court. A study of divorce attorneys released this week shows an increase in smartphones being used as evidence. Ninety-two percent of the attorneys surveyed in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers study said they’ve seen an increase in the past few years in the number of cases that use evidence from smartphones; 94% said they’ve seen a rise in the use of texts as evidence in the past three years. -
Photo Finish: Kodak to Stop Selling Digital Cameras
9 Feb 2012 | 7:28 amIn a cost-cutting move and a signal of the company’s poor financial situation, Eastman Kodak on Thursday announced it plans to stop selling digital cameras. The company, which filed for bankruptcy protection last month, will instead focus on online and retail-based photo printing as well as desktop inkjet printing. Kodak plans to phase out all digital camera sales within the first half of this year. The move is expected to save Kodak $100 million. Kodak expects to incur charges of $30 million for exiting the business. “For some time, Kodak’s strategy has been to improve margins in…
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chrisbrogan.com
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Throw Away the Maps
6 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amPeople judge us by the path they’ve seen us walk before. They can’t anticipate our future steps. We, ourselves, look to how things have been, what seems to be the lay of the land, without realizing that the maps are not the territory. Want to succeed at work? Then don’t try to do your job. Instead, work towards something larger, more meaningful, and something that blends your convictions internally with your best ability to help others externally. Want to create something new? Then throw away the old, or maybe join two disparate old things together into something new. The… -
The Next Social Networks
5 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amThe rage in social networks right now is Pinterest, partly because it’s probably the first social network that has a much higher adoption rate by females than males, and partly because it’s an interesting concept: somewhere between visual social bookmarking and scrapbooking. What also might not be immediately obvious is that it’s just “easier” to interact there. In that way, Pinterest has something in common with Instagram, which is community around photos. What I’m interested in, though, is Gentlemint, which I keep calling “Pinterest for… -
Learn From Adele – Build Your Platform
3 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amJacq and I just watched Adele Live At The Royal Albert Hall (amazon affiliate link), and though every song was just wonderfully done, I found myself fascinated by what Adele was doing in between each song. Because even though most people would be interested in hearing her belt out her amazing repertoire of hits, what I took away from the performance was Adele’s real magical ability: the ability to resonate with her audience. What Adele Could Teach You About Impact I’m writing something about this right now for my upcoming book with Julien Smith, but I had to share some of the… -
Rob Gokee is a Musical Wizard
2 Feb 2012 | 8:05 amI had such a great experience working with award winning musical composer Rob Gokee. We did some musical work together, and the process was so amazing. Rob helped me create my theme song for Shhh! The Secret Show. So anyhow, he and I sat down to do an interview, and it’s a bit long, but it’s totally worth it. We talk about what collaboration feels like at a distance, what it takes to get music like this made for your own show, and a lot more. Rob’s a hero to me, and has been part of the community for a while. I was so fortunate to have worked with him. Can’t see the… -
Build Your Platform – Start
30 Jan 2012 | 1:30 amThe following is part ONE of a series called Build Your Platform. If you find it interesting, please consider subscribing for free to get the rest of the series. This post is long. You might want to bookmark it for later. The age of social media oversaturation is upon us. People are declaring Twitter bankruptcy to go along with their email bankruptcy. They cite not wanting to start on yet another social network as their reason for not getting more involved with Google+. And just as soon as you start getting into Pinterest, you hear about Path, but wait: there’s Gentlemint, which is…
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Social Media Explorer
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In Social Media, The Fine Line Between Nimble And Fickle
9 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amA study by The Center For Marketing Research declared, “blogging declines as new media rules.” Based on results of a survey sent to the Inc 500, the article states, “there is clearly a shift in how these nimble companies are communicating.” If it is true that blogging is on the decline, then I’d say these companies are more fickle than nimble. Throwing over — or not starting a blog because it’s easier to use Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest is short-sighted and risky. A blog may be an “old” form of social media but it has five benefits that the newer platforms can’t touch. -
What Happened To Saying Something Nice?
8 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amSocial media has certainly given the power back to the consumer. But sometimes the consumer doesn’t do nice things with that power. While it could be a matter of perception (the overwhelming sentiment of most brands in online conversational analysis is positive), it certainly seems like the only time we take note of brand mentions online is when someone is whining or bitching about them. AT&T is one brand that gets unnecessarily beaten about its head and face a lot online. I’ve never quite understood this, perhaps because I’m A) Practical in nature and understand… -
Get Out of Your Own Way: 5 Excuses Marketers Use to Avoid Social Media ROI
7 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amYou see it everywhere. Management teams and marketers desperately want to understand how social media is delivering to the bottom line. Marketers are getting tons of pressure from their management teams and are desperate for a way to prove their strategies are working. With so many chomping at the bit to get at true return on investment (ROI), how has it remained so elusive? Has social media become the marketing channel that we know we need to have, but can’t demonstrate why? What if Social Media ROI was really simple, but we let a bunch of excuses get in our way of measuring it? -
Empowering Your Employees With Social Media
6 Feb 2012 | 10:00 amEditor’s Note: This is a guest post by Emily Eldridge, Senior Vice President of Pure. It’s tempting to think that employees’ online discussions about your company should be curbed. Most company policies in the modern workplace exist to protect us from lawsuits – and to ostensibly protect employees from themselves. While it’s understandable to want control over our corporate image, this fear dimishes our employees’ ability to communicate. A stronger approach is to empower our staff to be brand advocates. Advocate for Your Employees Companies should decide whether their… -
How Small Businesses Can Go Big With Social Media Marketing
6 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amIt’s no secret to many of you — it-getters in the sense that you at least read Social Media Explorer and are likely bought in — that social media marketing can have a huge impact on your business. But we still see more case studies from major brands playing in the social channels than we do small businesses. With the fact that 44 percent of small businesses don’t even have a website, much less social media efforts, it’s no surprise that there’s a gap between success cases in small versus medium and large businesses. Small businesses typically face one…
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Social Networking for Newbies
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How to Back Up Your LinkedIn Profile and Recommendations
27 Jan 2012 | 5:51 pmThis is another one best practice to do on a regular basis. I had the misfortune of losing my original LinkedIn account and I lost over 180 recommendations. I had backed up my contacts and my summary but not my recommendations. The reason I hadn’t done that is because I wasn’t aware that you could do that. So one silver lining in my losing my original LinkedIn account is that I learned that you CAN back up your recommendations and I can now share that with you Please watch this short video on how to back up your profile and your recommendations. -
Changing Ownership of a LinkedIn Group
23 Jan 2012 | 6:22 pmI received the following question today: There is a group on LinkedIn that I would like to “take over” It is an Alumni group in San Diego. I am the current President and we want to use to promote alumni events. The person who set it up has not posted in over a year and they probably won’t care. Is there a way I can find out who set it up or who is the admin and contact them? Can they add me as an admin like you can on FB? Or, can they just give me ownership of the group so I can post, grow it, etc? The answer to all three questions is YES, YES & YES. This video shows… -
Tagging your LinkedIn Contacts
17 Jan 2012 | 9:00 amOne reason why LinkedIn is a place where many executives have a presence is because it is relatively more difficult for spammers to send their pitches. This is because you’re limited to sending messages to 50 people at one time. So if you have a large number of contacts, sending a message to all of them is very time intensive. While the 50 people limitation is great for reducing spam, it is also a major hindrance when you have legitimate messages that you would like to send to your contacts. One way to make it easier for you to send RELEVANT messages to large numbers of contacts is to… -
Making it easy for people to invite you to connect on LinkedIn
12 Jan 2012 | 9:23 pmI recently invited a large number of offline connections to connect with me on LinkedIn. Since I wanted to personalize the invitation, I chose to send the message from my contact manager as opposed to LinkedIn. Using this method allowed me to send multiple invitations at once and using the mail merge feature, personalize each one with the person’s name. In order to make it easier for people to connect with me, I created a link that took them directly to my invite page – click here to see it in action. In the video below I show you exactly how to create your own link so that you… -
Using the LinkedIn Status Update Effectively
6 Jan 2012 | 6:24 pmUpdating your status on LinkedIn can both help and hurt you on LinkedIn. Used properly, they can be a very powerful component of your LinkedIn strategy. On this post I’ll focus on how they can help you. Your updates should be used to increase your and/or your network’s Visibility / Credibility. You can also use the updates to promote – as long as they are subtle! Remember that people on LinkedIn want primarily relevant information and connections. They don’t want to be sold! I recently posted that I had booked a presentation while traveling abroad to the U.K. (I live…
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The Engaging Brand
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How Memories are Made and Unmade
8 Feb 2012 | 11:47 amIt strikes me as odd that we see the future as unmade and the past as made, because in a sense I think it works the other way! I was coaching a leadership team today and when they started to talk about an acquisition, it was really interesting to compare how people perceived what had happened. This is so often true. We imagine that the past fixed and yet as we talk about the past we preserve it, but we also slightly evolve it based on our emotional investment. Memories are made, unmade..... Ironically, we also make the future with the decisions we take today. We decide our future by what we… -
How to Optimize Your Resume with Social Media
7 Feb 2012 | 9:35 amThere are two things we know for certain about today’s economy. 1) Finding jobs is getting more and more difficult, for both college educated and non-college educated people. 2) Social media has made job hunting and job candidate hunting trickier. Social media brings a degree of transparency - for better or worse - to the application and interview process that wasn’t there before.In the old world, before the heavy use of LinkedIn and Facebook, employers relied on personal networks to find great candidates. Now, they combine that with these impressive social networks, not just for fact… -
Why Social Media Can Work For Your Brand
6 Feb 2012 | 7:01 amIt is often said that art externalises and fixes beliefs. When we express our ideas in whatever format, we bring our ideas to life. Social media is an art form. It allows us to share experiences, expectations, fears and hopes in a format that personalises what you stand for.... The social part of this kind of media means that it can be shared. Just like art, the 'can be shared' can be transformed into 'will be shared' if it reflects real life, real problems, real facts or real opportunities which people can relate to... And just like art, there is nothing new to share...there is just your… -
Show 371 - Little Black Book of Innovation
3 Feb 2012 | 3:04 amI hope you enjoyed last weeks show on Steve Jobs and here is show 371 of The Engaging Brand business and marketing podcast talking about social media, leadership and marketing and sponsored today by MozyPro Online Backup: Simple, Automatic & Secure Backup - for special offer try today! Today Scott Anthony of Innosight joins Anna Farmery to discuss The Little Black Book of Innovation and we discuss The paradox of innovation - the optimism of the word and yet the stress it causes How to look at innovation The idea of "thunk' value How we all have to find our inner salesperson Is… -
Martin Luther King on Consensus
1 Feb 2012 | 11:15 amConsensus is a word you hear alot in businesses. And yet I always struggle with the idea...although it seems a good one....I think it can be a dangerous one. Consensus is a compromise.....or in another sense, no one is happy! Consensus tends to take you to mainstream rather than the edges were the premium lies Consensus is settling rather than inspiring Consensus is a lack of leadership...why? Think of what Martin Luther King said "Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus" I see consensus can be a sign that people have not bought into the vision,…
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Brian Solis
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Meet the Mother of All Processes
8 Feb 2012 | 10:32 amGuest post by John M. Bernard, author of the new book, Business at the Speed of Now, and Chairman and Founder of Mass Ingenuity. Imagine going to work in one of Henry Ford’s factories a century ago, proud that management referred to you a “hand” or a “hammer” or maybe even a “wrench.” The labels reflected Ford’s emphasis on automation and management’s view of laborers as mere cogs in the machine. Screw this nut onto that bolt; weld this strap to that frame; do it over and over and over again until your brain froze with boredom. Of course, management needed workers to get the… -
2011 Was the Year of the Mobile Consumer, What’s in Store for 2012? Value.
7 Feb 2012 | 10:10 amChris Silva, my colleague at Altimeter Group, released a useful report today that I wanted to share with you here. Mobile is important and I believe you know this. However, when we consider mobile, we often think about the experience when and where it begins. But, we often miss the opportunity to lead a more meaningful journey as it may travel from small screen to larger screens across laptops, desktops and beyond. And along the way, we must now determine our role in this journey to provide information, shape decisions, and influence behavior. In Chris’ report, he reminds us that 2011… -
Season 2 Finale: How Yamaha invests in new customer experiences
3 Feb 2012 | 10:52 amThis is it…the Season Finale! And, what a way to end Season 2 of (R)evolution…. In this episode, Yamaha shares what is by far the most expansive view of disruptive technology’s impact on business infrastructure and culture on the show to date. What you’ll see is a genuine discussion with Jeff Hawley and Rick Williams of Yamaha explore how an already successful business is exploring new opportunities to better define the customer experience before, during and after transactions. It comes down to workflow. Nowadays, it either works for you or works against you. Here,… -
Smartphones, Tablets, PCs, The Devices People Use to Discover Information in Social Media (and when)
2 Feb 2012 | 3:13 pmMy friends over at bit.ly published an interesting graph that reveals the devices as well as the days/times that people use different devices and how and when they consume information. As you can imagine, it’s across the board, but as you can see, there are waves that every device follows, except the desktop. Desktops are of course the devices that we can assume people use during work hours. As such, they are most heavily used on weekdays before noon. Interestingly enough, phone traffic peaks at about the same times, but not to similar effects. What’s also telling is that tablets… -
What’s Love Got to Do with It? The 3P’s of Identity
2 Feb 2012 | 6:16 amGuest post by Allison Cerra, author of Identity Shift With the 2012 Presidential election looming, there’s no shortage of polls to help narrow the field of candidates. I find a recent one from Fox News to be particularly fascinating. Among other questions, Republican primary voters were asked which Republican presidential candidate is most likeable and which they would most trust with a nuclear weapon. While Newt Gingrich scored at the top of the heap in earning the trust vote, he scored only marginally well on the likeability scale. The topic was discussed on the network’s “Fox &…
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Chris Saad
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The Open Web Is Dead – Long live the Open Web
5 Feb 2012 | 5:54 amYesterday Robert Scoble once again declared that the Open Web was dead. His argument was that Apps and proprietary black holes like Facebook are absorbing all the light (read: users, attention, value, investment) and taking our beloved open platform right along with it. In his post, he kindly (but incorrectly) named me as the only person who really cares about the Open Web. While that’s flattering, I think he’s wrong about me being the only one who cares. But he is right about the Open Web. It’s in real danger. URLs are fading into the background, native Mobile apps are… -
You don’t need to ask permission to change the world
11 Nov 2011 | 9:41 amI was just watching a great TED video about the guy who runs ‘Improv Everywhere’. If you don’t know what that is I strongly suggest you google it and watch the video. His TED talk had some great themes and some funny videos showing the result of their work, however my key takeaway was from a small innocuous line that he kept repeating as a one of his throw away comments… “and we didn’t even ask permission”. His final summary in his talk speaks to our collective need to, as adults, remember to play and have fun. But I think that his statement about… -
Analysis of F8, Timeline, Ticker and Open Graph
24 Sep 2011 | 9:28 amSo at F8 last week Facebook announced Ticker, Timeline and extensions to the Open Graph API to allow for new verbs and nouns. Here’s what really happened. They split their single ‘News Feed’ into 3 levels of filtering. Now (Ticker), Relevant (News Feed), Historical (Timeline). (Side note, we’ve had a ‘Ticker’ style product at Echo that we called ‘Community Stream’ for a long time now – and most of our customers and partners said to us ‘why would we want to show all that data it’s just noisy’. Maybe now they will take a… -
WSJ Outsources its business to Facebook
20 Sep 2011 | 9:47 amToday WSJ announced that it has built a news publishing platform that lives inside Facebook - effectively outsourcing their core website to the Social Networking Giant. The number of reasons this is a bad idea is staggering. I’ve tried to summarize them in a spreadsheet comparing a FB approach verses an Open Web approach. Please feel free to contribute -
Real Names getting Real Attention
21 Aug 2011 | 9:00 amThere’s a lot of fury on the web right now about ‘Real Names’. FB is trying to use it as a unique feature of their comments system claiming it reduces trolling and low value comments. Of course that isn’t really true. For one, any commenting system could force FB login. Two, users will troll with or without their name attached and, worse yet, many legitimate users won’t participate for any number of reasons if they can’t use a pseudonym. There are plenty of better ways to increase quality in your comments including participation from the content creators,…
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Six Pixels of Separation - Marketing and Communications Insights - By Mitch Joel at Twist Image
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The Death Of The Unconference
9 Feb 2012 | 8:23 amDoes anyone remember the unconference? There was hope for collaboration and self-organizing groups, but it seems to have gone the way of the corporate spin machine. I was a massive proponent of the unconference movement (I still am!), but that word has been used so poorly by so many groups that it seems to have all but disappeared. In short: calling your conference an "unconference" just to sound young, hip and with it, actually makes you sound old, out-of-touch and stupid. This past month, I've seen a handful of events that are billing themselves as unconferences when, in reality,… -
How To Get Started As A Business Leader
7 Feb 2012 | 1:04 pmYour life and your success is not obvious. It's not a given. It's not a direct path. I often say that the best careers in marketing (specifically the ones that have a digital/new media slant) are very squiggly. They involve everything from stumbling through university and very crappy jobs to bad choices and decisions that were driven by financial debt instead of personal opportunity. Every year, I do my best to attend the TED conference. A couple of years ago, the name Chris Sacca was bandied around as someone who everyone wanted to not only meet, but hang out with. He was (and still is) a… -
Digital Tumbleweeds And Virtual Crickets
7 Feb 2012 | 6:51 amIf you publish online get ready for a lesson in humility. Brands quit publishing content for the exact same reason that many individuals stop publishing content: the brutal reality that nobody cares. As someone who creates and publishes a lot of content online (roughly six Blog posts and one audio Podcast every week), there is both a certain humility and instant humiliation that comes along with the process. The cream rises to the top. Even in a world where two hundred billion videos get viewed every month, the cream still does rise to the top (as the saying goes). It's just that we seem to… -
CTRL AT DEL - The Business Book
5 Feb 2012 | 11:30 amCTRL ALT DEL is the title of my second business book. It will be published in Spring 2013. Following is the official press release and some media mention of the pending project... BUSINESS PLUS To Publish CTRL ALT DEL by Mitch Joel Author of the best-selling business book, Six Pixels of Separation, and President of award-winning Digital Marketing agency, Twist Image, signs with Business Plus for the release of his sophomore book. NEW YORK, February 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Business Plus, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing (Hachette Book Group USA), has announced it will publish CTRL ALT… -
Madison Avenue And Mountain View Collide For The Future Of Marketing
5 Feb 2012 | 10:41 amEpisode #291 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to. This is also episode #20.20 of Across The Sound. Joseph Jaffe is widely regarded as one of the top Marketing Bloggers (Jaffe Juice) and Podcasters (both Jaffe Juice in audio and Jaffe Juice TV in video). He is the author of three excellent books (Life After The 30-Second Spot, Join The Conversation and Flip The Funnel). A long-time friend (and one of the main inspirations behind the Six Pixels of Separation Blog and Podcast), we've decided to hold monthly conversations, debates and…
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BuzzFeed - Latest
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The Best Testimony From Washington State's Gay Marriage Hearing
9 Feb 2012 | 8:02 amWatch Representative Maureen Walsh's moving testimony from yesterday's gay marriage vote in Washington. Rep. Walsh was one of two Republicans to vote for the bill. I think to myself: how could I deny anyone the right to have that incredible bond with another individual in life. To me it seems almost cruel. -
Sticker Banned For Containing Gang Signs
9 Feb 2012 | 8:02 amI think this may be a wee bit of an overreaction. Chicago held a competition among the city's youth to design a sticker that would appear in the windshields of all city vehicles. 15-year-old Herbert Pulgar won that competition, but then had the honor yanked from him when a blogger pointed out possible gang-related imagery. Or, y'know, it could just be a heartfelt tribute to emergency responders from a kid. The Rejected Design Some within the Chicago City Clerk's office believe the hands are depicting a gang sign thrown by the Maniac Latin Disciples. City officials also believe the… -
Jeremy Lin And Landry Fields Have The Nerdiest Handshake In Sports
9 Feb 2012 | 8:02 amWhat happens when a Stanford grad and a Harvard grad become teammates in the NBA? This Milhouse of a handshake. (Note: This is a compliment. I love Milhouse.) Source: youtube.com Step OneTwo quick high fives on opposite hands.Step TwoLandry Fields presents his hands to Jeremy Lin as though they are a book.Step ThreeLin "pages" through the book.Step FourFields closes the book.Step FiveBoth Lin and Fields put their hands to their eyes as though they are glasses.Step SixBoth players "remove" their glasses and put them into an invisible shirt pocket. And now in GIF form! Via: eunyce -
Odd Future's Earl Sweatshirt Is Free And Back With A New Song
9 Feb 2012 | 8:02 amIt's funny when a band is ostensibly more famous for who isn't a part of the band than who is. For the last year or so, Earl Sweatshirt has been missing from the rap collective Odd Future's line-up, apparently attending a academy in Samoa at his mother's will (he was under 18 at the time). Well, he's back. All this came after Earl released a Youtube video that demanded "50,000 followers" for the full release of the song, "Home." And if we didn't want the full thing? Then "it's not that big of a deal." -
The American Beer Revival
9 Feb 2012 | 8:02 amStep 1: Crack open a beer. Step 2: Watch this video infographic about the history of beer in America. Step 3: Impress your friends with all of your fancy knowledge about the decline and return of microbreweries and where to find the most craft beers. Optional Step 4: Plan a road trip to visit all of the craft breweries from Portland, ME to Portland, OR. Source: visual.ly
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Daily Blog Tips
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New Backlink Analysis Tool
8 Feb 2012 | 3:56 amSince Yahoo! closed the Site Explorer service bloggers and webmasters (myself included) were left without any solid alternative. I have been looking for similar tools since then, and an interesting one I found recently is called ahrefs.com. It’s a paid service, but there are many free tools you can use on their website as well. For instance, right on the homepage you can type your domain name and click on “Explore Links” to get an overview of how your website is doing. As you can see from the screenshot above you get a lot of data back. For instance, you can see the total… -
Come Join the Social Media Club
7 Feb 2012 | 4:37 amBack in 2009 I created two clubs, one called “Retweet Club” and the other one called “Facebook Club”, where members would share each other’s content, with the goal of increasing social media traffic to their blogs and websites. The clubs worked as mailing lists (using Google Groups), but eventually the activity died down. The main reason was the following: sharing wasn’t fair. A member could be selfish and only send requests to the club, without ever sharing the content from other members. A couple of weeks ago I started thinking about what could be a… -
How Many Posts Should You Write Each Week?
5 Feb 2012 | 7:01 pmWhen I started blogging, four years ago, many experts advised posting daily – to increase traffic and keep readers hooked. And many popular blogs do post every day (at least on weekdays). Should you post every day, though? Probably not. Why? Because: If you write two posts each week instead of five (or seven), those posts will be much better written. If you only post once or twice a week, you’ll usually find that you get more comments on each post. If you don’t post too frequently, readers may actually read every post, instead of one in five. If you don’t use up all your ideas in the… -
How Much Does A New Customer Cost?
3 Feb 2012 | 8:28 pmFor someone who is about to start up their own business, whether online or not, this is an essential question to ask. When you sell a product or service you need someone to make a purchase so you can make money. The most important principle in business is that there are two different types of people involved in your business; customers and clients. While both of these may appear at first to be the same they are critically different and concentrating on one over the other can be the difference between success and failure. This concept, what I call the $1 Customer, I teach to clients in order… -
10 Ways to Ensure No-One Will Read Your Content
2 Feb 2012 | 8:44 pmSo many bloggers put tons of time and effort into getting more traffic – but perhaps that sounds like trying way too hard. Your ideas are so awesome, your personality so strong, that readers will just come to you. I’m going to give you ten straightforward ways to make sure the whole world knows you’re not going to pander to your readers. (Oh, and if you would like to have a few more readers – try doing the opposite of everything on this list.) 1. Give Your Post the First Title You Come Up With You’re in a hurry, right? So your post will do just fine with the…
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Keep it Real with the 'Original' BLOGBloke
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State of the Internet: We’re Screwed, maybe
2 Feb 2012 | 11:40 pmI can’t believe what’s happening .. to the web that is. For example, the once highly touted Google standards are gone. What was once considered to be unthinkable, Google is now screwing with search results. On Google’s website it lists “Ten Things We Know to Be True” [...] Read the full article at http://www.blogbloke.com/ -
If You Want to be an Expert, then BE the Expert
30 Jan 2012 | 7:02 pmI was reading the other day a guest blog tips post on a popular blog who was scolding bloggers for bad blogging practices. She was trying hard to present herself as an expert in blogging. After reading it I found a few errors and omissions that I felt are are important enough to mention [...] Read the full article at http://www.blogbloke.com/ -
So Google, about that Pseudonym thing you Promised
28 Jan 2012 | 7:29 pmThat was the original title I started writing until I noticed Google's announcement it is finally allowing pseudonyms. So I was going to change the title but then I read the fine print of their Google Plus policy and realized it might still be appropriate. I say "might" because [...] Read the full article at http://www.blogbloke.com/ -
Hell Hath No Fury Like The Internet’s Scorn: The SOPA Soap Opera Continues
22 Jan 2012 | 12:06 pmThis cartoon pretty much says it all don’t you think.I’ve been wanting to add my two cents to the SOPA soap opera but I was hesitant to get involved until now because I knew my opinion wouldn’t be popular given the rhetoric we’ve been reading all over the internet. But here goes. In a nutshell, all... Read the full article at http://www.blogbloke.com/ -
Trust is a Two-Way Street
20 Jan 2012 | 11:28 amAfter my previous post about trust it got me thinking more about the "trust" relationship and how it is a two-way street. We see things through rose coloured glasses and limited paradigms that life's experience has shown us. It's called tunnel vision [...] Read the full article at http://www.blogbloke.com/
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Blogging Tips
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One Simple Process to Take for More SEO Traffic
8 Feb 2012 | 11:51 amSEO can be very difficult if you’re just starting and have little to no experience or authority to start with. Of course, there are tons of tutorials online about SEO and link building, but most of them can be sometimes complicated and long-term that it seems you’re not getting as much results for the efforts you put in. In this article I will be sharing a process I use to increase traffic to my blog from the search engines; using this process alone I have been able to increase SEO traffic to one of the pages on my blog from around 400 to 3,000+ visitors monthly. This technique… -
Building Massive PageRanked Backlinks with BuildMyRank
8 Feb 2012 | 10:37 amWhen it comes to building quality links back to your web sites, it’s important not only to get people linking to your main page, but also your internal links. The internal pages of your blog or web site is where you are going to get all of your longtail keywords ranked, and traffic from the search engines. At the same time you also want to focus on link building for your main page, so what is the best solution? Building PageRanked Links with BuildMyRank Over the past couple of weeks I have been playing around with a content link building service called BuildMyRank. So far it’s… -
Nailing Down Your Niche
7 Feb 2012 | 1:15 pmYou’ve heard it a thousand times; you need a niche. Maybe you’ve tried several with some success but not the success you want. Or maybe you try one and it really doesn’t fit, so you try another, and then another. It seems like it’s a never-ending quest to find what you’re good at and can make money doing. I’ve been there. I’m a writer. I “thought” my niche should be writing. The thing is, I’m not passionate about writing about writing. I love to write, I just don’t want to talk about it all day. I also love Internet Marketing,… -
The Advantages Internet Advertising Brings To The Plate
5 Feb 2012 | 1:59 pmI deal with people now and again that understand they need some kind of Internet advertising to help their company to take off but they’re really not sure what it is and how to go about getting the right kind. First off, the benefits to getting exposure on the Web. Simply put, you get more of it for less. With the right people using a combination of social media, blogs and articles as well as maybe even some videos and other mediums, more people will be able to read about the goods and services that you have for sale for a cheaper price than with print or even television and radio. -
Top 10 WordPress Plugins To Improve a WordPress Blog
5 Feb 2012 | 1:54 pmOne of the best things about WordPress is the ability to customize your blog with plugins. The only issues is that there are thousands of plugins to choose from and just not enough time to go through all of them. Luckily, WordPress plugins are kind of like iPhone and Android apps: no matter what you’re looking to do, there’s an app for that. So you can be sure that whatever type of functionality you’re looking to add to your blog, more than likely there is a plugin for it. There are plugins to help increase traffic, help boost your rankings, help speed up your blog, encourage the…
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Online Marketing Blog
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Good Content Marketing vs. Great Content Marketing: Learn the Difference From Joe Pulizzi #OMS12
9 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amIf you are part of the online marketing or content marketing industry you have undoubtably heard of Joe Pulizzi (@juntajoe) and his company the Content Marketing Institute (CMI). Joe has been a member of the content marketing community for over a decade, and has made it his mission to help brands create quality content and distribute that content through multiple online channels. This was my first time seeing Joe speak and he made it a great interactive experience, and was of course wearing his trademark Orange. I enjoyed the history that Joe shared with the audience as well as his… -
Innovative Search Features Drive Engagement – Paul Vallez #OMS12
8 Feb 2012 | 3:30 am"Google taught us how to search." - Paul Vallez Paul Vallez admits that when he started at HP less than a year ago he had just come from Ask.com and was pretty cocky about what he knew. Vallez also shares that he wasn’t very open to new ideas and wanted to step into his new position at a big brand and immediately demonstrate value. What was his approach? 75% Cocky 25% Open to new ideas In Vallez’s presentation he identified what he called “3 Key Learnings” that he shared with the audience for improving the way that your search strategy is implemented for… -
#Optimize This: Online Marketing Summit 2012 Presentation
6 Feb 2012 | 7:21 amI’m headed to (hopefully) sunny San Diego today for the annual Online Marketing Summit conference where I’ll get to present on one of my favorite topics: Optimization. Of course, if you read Online Marketing Blog very often, you’ll know my definition of optimization is a bit different than traditional SEO. My post last Thursday “Are You Optimized?” touched on this. The competition for attendance during the breakout sessions at OMS is really tough during the time slot I’m scheduled for. SAP, Wider Funnel and SAP are all presenting at the same time as… -
Online Marketing News: Facebook IPO, Harmonize with Google+, Pinterest Dominates Traffic
3 Feb 2012 | 4:55 amFacebook in Numbers: Prior to the IPO The big news in social media and business this week is Facebook’s new IPO. This infographic from statista and creative commons shares some very interesting figures about Facebook, before it goes public. Highlights include: In 2012 Facebook is expected to reach: 90% of U.S. Social Network Users & 60% of Internet Users. Assuming a valuation of $100 billion, Facebook would be work 67 to 100x’s it’s estimated 2011 net income. The Social Media Buzz “How to Harmonize Google+ With Your Other Social Platforms” Search Plus has placed even more… -
Essential Shifts in Online Marketing: Are You On Board? Are You Optimized?
2 Feb 2012 | 7:21 amIs your company adaptable? Is your marketing optimized? I think most online marketers get the fact that marketing and communications on the web is a fast changing place and that most companies are structured to move at a slower pace than the digital world is evolving. Take for example, the notion of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It’s been around for about 15 years or so and in just the past few months Google has made the most significant changes ever. Despite the crystal clear focus towards search integration with social, many companies and digital pundits are still skeptical about…
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Online Marketing Blog » Blogging
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Online Marketing News: Say NOPA to SOPA, Google+ Strikes Again, Coca Cola “Gets It”, Twitter Gobbles Up Summify
20 Jan 2012 | 4:31 amThe Social Job Seekers The social media job market is hot! This infographic visualizes the 2011 Social Job Seeker Survey that was conducted by Jobvite. It examines who the job seekers are and how they are utilizing social media to find jobs. Some interesting statistics you may not be aware of: 61% of all employed Americans are open to a new job or actively looking for a new one. 4 out of 10 job seekers are “Super Social” and have 150+ contacts on Facebook, Twitter, or Linkedin. 1 in 6 job seekers found their last job through an online social network. This Week in News About Google… -
Social Media & Blogging Listmania with Curated Resources & Lists
16 Jan 2012 | 3:15 amBeing included on a popular list of credible resources like our own BIGLIST of top Marketing Blogs or one of the many other collections of useful resources posted online can feel pretty satisfying, validating the hard work many are putting in to their business blogs. Great lists get socially shared, linked, and emailed, giving those included quite a bit of valuable exposure. By association, the list publisher also gains value in terms of exposure, links, and a connection with list participants. Curation is essential for sorting through the mass of data published online and with the closer… -
4 B2C Examples of How Companies are Using Twitter to Attract & Engage Customers
3 Jan 2012 | 3:36 amIf you are a B2C company, interaction on a social platform like Twitter can increase engagement and even sales if executed properly. Small businesses like Tender boutique in Birmingham, Michigan have promoted special offers on Twitter and sold out in just a few days. Social interaction via platforms like Twitter allow companies to gain a true understanding of their prospect base and serve as a real-time source of market research. Customer engagement is a key benefit of executing a B2C Twitter marketing strategy. A recent survey by Chadwick Martin Bailey found 67% of Twitter users are more… -
Blogging On A Budget: 3 Tips for Bigger Impact
29 Nov 2011 | 5:00 amBlogging is one of the top sources of online content creation for many companies. Blogs are a great vehicle for interacting and engaging with current and prospective clients. Blogs are also an effective way for prospects to associate stories, anecdotes, and personalities with a company or brand. Taking on a blog can be a large undertaking. There are many things that should be considered including cost, availability of resources, strategy creation, time commitment, and measurement. Simply creating content and expecting instant success is not realistic. If you have recently decided that… -
The Dynamic Duo of Business Blog Marketing: Optimize & Socialize
25 Nov 2011 | 3:59 amBlogs are often rated one of the top content marketing tactics for attracting and engaging customers and eMarketer has reported blogs reach over 50% of the internet audience. But many companies fail to combine two of the most important tools for boosting relevant traffic and reach: Optimization for search engines and for social media. Most marketers and bloggers understand the basics of a good business blog and the notion of search engine optimization but often focus more on keywords than the customers that are actually searching. Adding keywords to blog posts is a common SEO tactic but…
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Blog Design Studio
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How to create Twitter widget with WordPress and SimplePie (Part 1)
23 Jan 2012 | 12:42 amThere are a lot of Twitter widgets for WordPress but in my experience none of those utilize the powerful SimplePie PHP class that is in the WordPress core. SimplePie is a powerful RSS reader class that has very nice built-in caching system since as we all know the Twitter API is limited to only 150 requests per hour creating problems with high traffic websites. You can download the plug-in here. Step 1: Getting the plug-in ready Create a folder and name it bs_twitter. In that folder, create a PHP file and name it the same as the folder i.e. bs_twitter. Also, in the bs_twitter folder create a… -
Top 10 reasons to select WordPress as the platform for your website development
21 Sep 2011 | 12:17 am1. Low Cost to start with: Its open source and thus the platform itself is free to use and develop on – starting on WordPress is like less than half the cost of custom developing from scratch or using any other robust CMS. 2. Additional Functionality with Plugins: WordPress community is huge and developing everyday – they contribute in the form of plugins which gives you additional functionality at ease and most of them are free or really low cost. Try to only use plugins which are regularly updated as it means the developer is active and it was not just a onetime thing. 3. Simple to… -
Paypal website isnt loading for the last 30+ min – is it really down?
11 Sep 2011 | 10:02 pmI had some transactions to do on Paypal and I have tried opening it but it simply wont load – nothing happens on the page actually. So I called up my friends in Europe and India and it was the same result for them. I went to Pingdom and according to it the site is loading but surprisingly it takes 17+ sec – pingdom tests are from US servers – Its night time in US and so I cant confirm this with anybody. Here is the test link. So I tried to ping and traceroute the site to see the response and make sure that its not only me or the few people I know – here’s the… -
WordPress is the right choice for Business websites or blog – Facts and Figures
9 Sep 2011 | 4:33 amAbout 3 years back we as a Web Design and Development Company, decided to chose WordPress as the only platform we will develop blog/websites on. The progress since then proves that our decision was right. Some of the achievements of WordPress as underlined by Matt in the recent Wordcamp in San Francisco and what it means to us: 14.7% of the top 1 million websites in the world are now powered by WordPress (one year ago it was 8.5% only) 1 in every 5 new domains created in US are running on WordPress (for new sites its easy to get started with WordPress – design, functionality and cost… -
TimThumb Security Flaw, Akismet-HubSpot integration & Varnish+Apache+WordPress
11 Aug 2011 | 4:21 amTimThumb 2.0 – Use it to avoid your WordPress from getting hacked WordPress has been long criticized for security issues although by just applying certain steps one can make it secure and with proper regular backup policy, one need not worry at all. You must be wondering that why am I talking about security suddenly – well, TimThumb one of the popular library that is used in various WordPress themes has serious security flaws that can be compromised to hack the servers. The flaw was found by Mark Maunder and has started working with the Ben Gillbanks, original developer to…
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BloggingPro
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5 WordPress Plugins I Won’t Build a Blog Without
8 Feb 2012 | 8:37 amWordPress, out of the box, is already a great content management system (CMS) and a great blogging platform. However, just like most Web browsers, the real power of WordPress isn’t unlocked until you start to add some plugins that help you customize and streamline your WordPress experience. But while most WordPress users are well aware of Akismet, various caching plugins and other near-essential tools for blogging, over the years I’ve found a slew of lesser-known plugins that have become indespensible to me and my bloggging. Though the full list could probably go on for quite some… -
How to Create a Catchy Title in 2012
8 Feb 2012 | 5:02 amEveryone knows that readers scroll down a blog until they find a title they like. I do it all the time, and why shouldn’t I? A title is supposed to let me know what the article is about, and I am not interested in spending my time reading a bunch of articles that don’t interest me. Ironically enough, this is the attitude that I as a blog editor try so hard to counteract. As a blog owner, you want every article to be of interest to someone who comes to your blog. You want them to see that catchy title and decide that the article is worthy of their precious time. In other words, the title… -
How To Destroy Your Blog With Bad Social Media Engagement Practices
7 Feb 2012 | 10:28 amBuilding a brand around your website isn’t a simple process, not only do you have to create amazing content that readers want to engage with, you have to work off-site to spread the word about that content in a manner that peaks the interest of readers. Unfortunately many new bloggers and even some seasoned writers fail to properly use social media properly, destroying the work they put into their posts before they have a chance to go viral. In this section we’ll examine some of the ways you can destroy your blog by become over zealous about the use of social media. 1. Destroying… -
Practice Being a Blogger Daily
6 Feb 2012 | 3:12 amBlogs are a dime a dozen. Seriously, take a few minutes to type “blog” in Google’s web search, and you will get an unbelievable number of results. Those are only the ones that have kept the keyword somewhere in their SEO results. There are millions of blogs, some successful and some not-so-successful. Some are based on images and others on writing. You will never be able to get a very good picture of just how many are out there, but the thought is a little overwhelming. The best thing a blogger in today’s over-saturated market can do is carve out a nice, little piece… -
Creating a Shared Content Box Across All of Your WordPress Blogs
3 Feb 2012 | 9:40 pmMore than five years ago, I was bit by the Autoblog bug. I don’t build them anymore, but I still build WordPress blogs in large numbers. One of my pet peeves when I was working with 100+ different blogs was that if I wanted to interlink them, or have the exact same links on the sidebar of each blog, I would have to add these links manually to each and every blog every time I built a new blog. For example, if I have 98 blogs, and I want every one of them to have a link to blog #99 that I just created, I would have to add that link to all 98 blogs manually. That is very time-consuming, so I…
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Copyblogger
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How to Recover From a Social Media Hangover
9 Feb 2012 | 3:00 am“Hello. My name is Cori and I’m a social media addict. “Today is day 1 of my commitment to give myself a regular break from technology and the foggy, uncreative haze it can unwittingly lead to.” I was reading a post the other day by blogger Michael Brenner at B2B Marketing Insider, talking about getting your social media game on. Of course, being the skimmer that I am, the first thing that caught my attention and made me go back and read the whole thing was his mention of having a Social Media Hangover. His hangover was induced by sometimes (as we all do) forgetting to… -
The “New” SEO Secret Weapon
8 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amIf you have a web site, you may have noticed one of two things about the traffic you get from search engines. Your search traffic may have dried up overnight, with once-healthy streams turning into a sad little trickle. Or you may have noticed a nice, steady improvement as you’ve climbed higher in the SERPs (search engine results pages), while other sites that used to outrank you suddenly evaporated. There’s a super-secret new ingredient in SEO. It was always a factor, but it’s become even more important recently, as the Google team relentlessly declares war on what they see… -
8 Quick Tips for Writing Bullet Points People Actually Want to Read
7 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amIt’s a Twitterized world, we’re just living in it. Blog posts, Tweets, quick videos, Google+, the Facebook Timeline, and tens of thousands of images pinned to digital boards are flying past us faster than we can read them. Faster than we can even scan them, depending on the time of day. What does this mean for writers trying to cut through it all? At least two things that I can think of: You’d better know how to write a compelling headline You’d better know how to write bullet points that grab (and keep) your reader We’re not telling you to keep your copy short. -
7 Crucial Tactics for Writing a Wildly Successful Guest Post
6 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amWe all know that guest posts grow blogs. But not many people realize that tactical guest posting grows careers. Most bloggers I see pump out these articles while reciting the mantra “quantity over quality”; there’s no real strategy and there are no real long-term benefits. In this post I am going to show you the seven crucial tactics for writing a radically successful guest post. Done right, these strategies will get you more email subscribers, coveted Google ranking positions, and a big head-start on your content marketing goals. Who am I to teach you about guest blogging? -
7 Smashing Social Media Marketing Links
4 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amThis week on The Lede … What really works on Twitter One thing social media copywriters should never do 9 productive social media hacks A reminder of the power of the original social media If you just can’t wait for The Lede every Saturday, and you want even more practical, useable links than the seven we highlight here every week, follow @copyblogger on Twitter. It’s painless. Really. // 9 Social Media Hacks You Need to Embrace Now Mr. Baer makes a good case that though social media is inexpensive in monetary terms, it can get good and costly when it comes to spending your…
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Chris Garrett on New Media
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When Should You Start Selling from Your Blog?
31 Jan 2012 | 3:18 pmHow do you know when your audience is ready to buy from you? Should you wait to “monetize”? How big does your audience need to be? These are common questions and the answers have been debated over the years. I am going to share an answer I gave George from the Man Up Blog during his blog critique. George spent some time in the dating world, sometimes called the “pick up artist” niche. This is shy dudes learning to pick up the ladies mostly, but obviously the market caters to all genders and tastes. It’s pretty obvious what people want from dating advice, but… -
Why You Shouldn’t Drive Traffic
16 Jan 2012 | 7:58 pmIn the first 7 days of this blogs life, 20,000 visitors checked it out. Sounds like a pretty nice result doesn’t it? I was super happy, but a little disappointed in one specific respect. Only 500 people subscribed. Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved and nurtured those 500 subscribers and 500 subscribers in any time frame is not to be sniffed at! My problem was, how can you have 20,000 visitors check out my blog and only 500 of them want to stick around? The cause? I was “Driving” traffic … Big Lessons Learned I had been involved with a couple of successful blogs at… -
How to know what your audience really wants
23 Dec 2011 | 11:53 amYour audience does not want your content. Your audience probably does not want to hear from you at all. If you think that because your website looks great that people will want to visit it … think again. What do they really want? Your audience and potential customers know who they are and probably have a very good idea of their goals. At the very least they know their immediate needs. They are looking for answers to questions, advice, and resources that help people like them get the stuff people like them want. When someone seeks out and clicks on your content it is only as a means to… -
Finding and Communicating Your Value
5 Dec 2011 | 11:06 amMany bloggers don’t have a value problem. They have a great deal to share. I am sure you do – I have never met someone who doesn’t. Why then do people struggle to find an audience. Never mind an audience who knows, likes and trusts them – ANY audience? It’s weird but a lot of the time it is because you have SO much to offer, it’s hard to know who you are for and what specific benefit you provide. A lot of my coaching clients have this problem and, thankfully, there is a solution. The solution is simple, but it isn’t always easy. Check out Ryan… -
How to REALLY make money from a website
23 Nov 2011 | 3:08 pmAs much as I tell people to seriously reconsider buying too much into the hardcore “Make Money Online” hype, I can not argue against its allure and the fact that, well, people DO make money online. The problem is, there are the usual caveats: It’s not fast. It’s not easy. You WILL encounter problems and tough challenges. You might not always enjoy it. These are challenges facing Roman who asked me for a blog critique. He has been building a site all about his experience of creating a website that makes money called “How this website makes money” (how meta).
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SharpBrains
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Enhance Metacognition and Problem-Solving by Talking Out Loud to Yourself
9 Feb 2012 | 7:16 amThe MC at the University of Michigan’s reunion dinner encouraged audience members to reveal the most significant take-away from their undergraduate nursing education. The greatest benefit was quickly clear to me — problem-solving thinking. Memory produced a mind video: a short, dark-haired, nursing instructor lecturing a small group of first year students in an empty patient room. “Don’t memorize the steps of sterile technique. Use a problem-solving thinking process.” She described the sequential, cyclical process: define the problem, gather information, develop a solution strategy,… -
Save the Date: 2012 SharpBrains Summit — Optimizing Health Through Neuroplasticity-Driven Innovation
8 Feb 2012 | 11:35 amPlease Save these Dates if you are interested in exploring and discussing the latest on Optimizing Health Through Neuroplasticity-Driven Innovation; the theme for our third annual virtual SharpBrains Summit (“virtual” means everything takes place online; no one has to travel): Pre-Summit workshops: May 31st-June 1st, 2012 Summit: June 7-8th, 2012 Expo Week: June 12-14th, 2012 17 Confirmed Summit Speakers include: Dr. Tracy Alloway, Assistant Professor, University of North Florida; author of AWMA assessment Dr. Robert Bilder, Chief of Medical Psychology-Neuropsychology,… -
Diagnosing early Alzheimer’s and Mild Cognitive Impairment: Emerging Challenges and Implications
7 Feb 2012 | 11:21 amBlurry line in diagnosing early Alzheimer’s: study (Reuters): “The revised definition of a brain condition called mild cognitive impairment means that many people now considered to have mild or early Alzheimer’s disease could easily be given that diagnosis instead, suggests a new study.” “Creighton Phelps, head of the Alzheimer’s Disease Centers Program at the National Institute on Aging, said that to a certain extent, the line between mild cognitive impairment and early Alzheimer’s is indeed “fuzzy” and depends on a doctor’s individual judgment. But he added that many… -
To Be (Your Connectome), or Not to Be (Your Genome)
6 Feb 2012 | 1:05 pmNO ROAD, NO trail can penetrate this forest. The long and delicate branches of its trees lie everywhere, choking space with their exuberant growth. No sunbeam can fly a path tortuous enough to navigate the narrow spaces between these entangled branches. All the trees of this dark forest grew from 100 billion seeds planted together. And, all in one day, every tree is destined to die. This forest is majestic, but also comic and even tragic. It is all of these things. Indeed, sometimes I think it is everything. Every novel and every symphony, every cruel murder and every act of mercy, every love… -
Brain Awareness Week is Approaching: March 12-18th, 2012
6 Feb 2012 | 7:21 amBrain Awareness Week (BAW) is the global campaign, organized by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research. Every March, BAW unites the efforts of partner organizations worldwide in a celebration of the brain for people of all ages. Events are limited only by the organizers’ imaginations and include open days at neuroscience labs; exhibitions about the brain; lectures on brain-related topics; displays at libraries and community centers; classroom workshops; and more. SharpBrains.com, as a BAW Outreach Partner, will…
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The Essential Read
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Too Posh for Pregnancy?
8 Feb 2012 | 3:22 pmMost people who hire a surrogate to carry and deliver a baby for them are women who cannot become pregnant or have been advised not to for medical reasons, or men (typically same-sex couples) looking to become parents. But some women who opt for surrogacy face no biological barrier; they say they're too busy to be pregnant, or don't want to lose their figures. It's impossible to know how common "social surrogacy," as it's sometimes called, really is. It popped up last week in an article in The Telegraph of Calcutta, India, about an American woman who got frustrated by delays in getting an… -
Quit: Do It Now
8 Feb 2012 | 9:25 amA few years ago I was - like some of you reading this - overextended, overworked, and deeply unhappy about it. I was a young psychology professor desperately seeking tenure, with two toddlers at home and a husband whose work kept him away for days at a time. I exercised once a week on a good week, rarely saw my friends or extended family, and couldn't remember the last time I'd read a book that wasn't about statistics. It was just too much. Something had to give. And it did. I left my job, not knowing exactly what I was going to do next. It was the toughest decision I've ever made, but it was… -
Creativity Happens When You Least Expect It
8 Feb 2012 | 6:19 amIt's well known that there are circadian or daily rhythms in basic physiological functions like body temperature or digestion. Interestingly, these circadian rhythms extend to our psychological abilities too. Simply put, we tend to have more brainpower at our peak circadian arousal time, which leads to success on activities that require us to concentrate and mentally 'buckle down.' Morning types (i.e., people who are most alert in the morning) excel on a whole host of cognitive tasks when they complete these tasks early in the day. This is especially true for tasks that require working… -
The Domino Effect
7 Feb 2012 | 9:06 amWhat's up with the Dominoes? If you didn't read my last article about practical goal-setting in terms of setting up dominoes, here's a brief overview. We determine our goals (more about how to do this in the next article) and then begin to lay out our dominoes. Every domino is a goal. The final domino may be our ultimate goal, but this domino is no different from all of the other dominoes. We alone determine the pathway and the journey to reach that final goal. The dominoes along the way are not problems, obstacles, situations, or even challenges. They are also goals, albeit smaller goals… -
Figuring Out the Answer to Who Am I?
7 Feb 2012 | 7:03 am"What is the purpose of life?" "Is there a God?" "What on Earth are we doing here?" Among life's big questions, the one that has always interested me the most is: Who am I?I imagine that other people find this question to be very interesting and meaningful as well. Human beings are hyper-social creatures. We care a lot—at times, too much—about what other people think of us. As such, it seems natural that we should care about who we are and what we think of ourselves.But how does one get to the bottom of "who am I?"Of all academic fields, the one that appears most suitable for…
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Twitter / 99designs
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99designs: Win $200! http://t.co/a0EJxm8X Custom Home Builder needs a new logo: logo design contest
9 Feb 2012 | 8:31 am99designs: Win $200! http://t.co/a0EJxm8X Custom Home Builder needs a new logo: logo design contest -
99designs: Score $350! http://t.co/nvA2VFCB Unleash Your Creativity for Logo of Reysas Tech - logo design contest
9 Feb 2012 | 6:18 am99designs: Score $350! http://t.co/nvA2VFCB Unleash Your Creativity for Logo of Reysas Tech - logo design contest -
99designs: Design Inspiration: Assortment Of 40+ Perfectly Designed Website Templates @lava_360 | http://t.co/3NO7BGxT #design
9 Feb 2012 | 6:06 am99designs: Design Inspiration: Assortment Of 40+ Perfectly Designed Website Templates @lava_360 | http://t.co/3NO7BGxT #design -
99designs: Hey India, are you ready for another Meetup? There's one in Kolkata tomorrow! #99designsmeetup Event website here: http://t.co/8YLwjnWx
9 Feb 2012 | 2:44 am99designs: Hey India, are you ready for another Meetup? There's one in Kolkata tomorrow! #99designsmeetup Event website here: http://t.co/8YLwjnWx -
99designs: Score $697! http://t.co/F2Cq7KWP Tamarisk Investments or simply "Tamarisk" needs a new logo - logo design contest
9 Feb 2012 | 2:32 am99designs: Score $697! http://t.co/F2Cq7KWP Tamarisk Investments or simply "Tamarisk" needs a new logo - logo design contest
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FriendFeed - marshallk
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RT @RobMaguire: One theatre's experience inviting the audience to tweet during plays: http://t.co/1e8WndVv
9 Feb 2012 | 8:22 amMarshall Kirkpatrick RT @RobMaguire: One theatre's experience inviting the audience to tweet during plays: http://www.tcg.org/publica... 26 minutes ago from Twitter - Comment - Like -
I think @Cat_Fancy is my favorite new twitter account. thx @numberless
8 Feb 2012 | 10:34 pmMarshall Kirkpatrick I think @Cat_Fancy is my favorite new twitter account. thx @numberless 10 hours ago from Twitter - Comment - Like -
Sad, but beautiful too. Hope it had a good life on the High Line!
8 Feb 2012 | 12:38 pmMarshall Kirkpatrick Sad, but beautiful too. Hope it had a good life on the High Line! 20 hours ago from Twitter - Comment - Like -
I'm wondering if @Fuzzlr is going to have long term negative effects. Blackmail yourself to achieve your goals. Hmmm...
8 Feb 2012 | 12:32 pmMarshall Kirkpatrick I'm wondering if @Fuzzlr is going to have long term negative effects. Blackmail yourself to achieve your goals. Hmmm... 20 hours ago from Twitter - Comment - Like -
deal is done, congrats to @gigaom, @paidcontent is awesome
8 Feb 2012 | 11:10 amMarshall Kirkpatrick deal is done, congrats to @gigaom, @paidcontent is awesome 22 hours ago from Twitter - Comment - Like
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FriendFeed - sbooth
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RT @mcurie: #tweetup on! come to the table with two firang ladies :-P @veerappa @stephtara
9 Feb 2012 | 5:21 amStephanie Booth RT @mcurie: #tweetup on! come to the table with two firang ladies :-P @veerappa @stephtara 3 hours ago from Twitter - Comment - Like -
#punemeetup (@ Aromas Cafe) http://t.co/Ewn3Mk21
9 Feb 2012 | 5:18 amStephanie Booth #punemeetup (@ Aromas Cafe) https://foursquare.com/stephta... 3 hours ago from Twitter - Comment - Like -
Found @veerappa @mcurie at Aromas #punemeetup
9 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amStephanie Booth Found @veerappa @mcurie at Aromas #punemeetup 4 hours ago from Twitter - Comment - Like -
So Swiss of me, I'm actually early! Anyone else there yet? #punemeetup /c @veerappa @saumya @mcurie @shrikant et al
9 Feb 2012 | 4:55 amStephanie Booth So Swiss of me, I'm actually early! Anyone else there yet? #punemeetup /c @veerappa @saumya @mcurie @shrikant et al 4 hours ago from Twitter - Comment - Like -
Will be late, looking for my grocery store #punemeetup
9 Feb 2012 | 4:39 amStephanie Booth Will be late, looking for my grocery store #punemeetup 4 hours ago from Twitter - Comment - Like
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All Facebook
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Facebook Analytics Platform Socialbakers Opens U.S. Office
9 Feb 2012 | 8:36 amFacebook and social analytics platform Socialbakers has crossed the pond, launching U.S. headquarters in San Francisco and staffing up there. Martin Huml, managing partner and founder of Runway Capital, joins Socialbakers and president and chief operating officer in the U.S. Huml also has experience in private equity at Credit Suisse First Boston in London and New York. The vice president of marketing at the new division is Katrina Wong, who led corporate marketing for subscription billing company Zuora. Socialbakers also has offices in London and Prague, and it claims more than 750 customers… -
Facebook Recruiters Haven’t Caught IPO Fever Yet
9 Feb 2012 | 7:43 amFacebook talks about the role it wants to play in economic expansion and job creation, but the company hasn’t jacked up its pace of hiring since filing to go public. Facebook has been hiring rather briskly over the past year, but we haven’t seen a surge in new job openings that some companies tend to do immediately after registering for an initial public offer. The number of new job openings Facebook has listed over the past week is the same as what previous weeks have seen. Between the company’s own careers page and listings on LinkedIn, nearly 60 positions were posted in… -
Facebook Hits A New Record High Value Of At Least $103.4 Billion
8 Feb 2012 | 9:26 pmFacebook stock has blown past even the most bullish estimates to a value of $103.4 billion to $110 billion, based on today’s SharesPost auction closing at $44 per share. The $103.4 billion figure is based on the company still having 2.35 billion outstanding shares; assume that the actual number is 2.5 billion — like some have — then the implied valuation becomes $110 billion. Both figures surpass the top end of the $75 billion to $100 billion range in value that people have been discussing in reference to Facebook’s forthcoming initial public offer. This auction… -
Why Social Media Jobs Get Filled By Younger Folks: INFOGRAPHIC
8 Feb 2012 | 7:08 pmSocial media jobs could certainly pay better, which at least partly explains why relatively younger folks predominate the industry. Let us know what you think about the salary ranges in the following infographic from recruitment outfit Onward Search. -
Facebook Credits Underwhelm Game Developers
8 Feb 2012 | 3:15 pmFacebook Credits haven’t worked out as well as many third-party developers hoped, say the speakers at Inside Social Apps 2012 conference in San Francisco. Sister blog Inside Social Games reported that developers had been hoping for a high conversion rate to paid users in order to offset the 30 percent of revenue they must hand over to Facebook, but it hasn’t worked out that way, with conversion rates coming in lower than expected. Kabam Chief Executive Kevin Chou said at the conference, as reported by Inside Social Games: We thought that conversions would go up and be around 15…
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TechCrunch
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Fab.com Rolls Out New Mobile Apps With Browse By Color & “Fab Shops”
9 Feb 2012 | 8:05 amAfter hitting 2 million members at the end of last month, design shopping startup Fab.com is today rolling out new iOS applications that offer a number of new features and improvements. In addition to an updated layout, search and navigational elements, one of the apps’ biggest new features is the inclusion of the recently launched new storefronts called “Fab Shops.” These Fab Shops went live late January, allowing Fab.com members to visually browse through products via dedicated online storefronts that were organized around product categories, as opposed to by designers. -
YouTube’s Latest Original Programming: Olympic-Style Lightsaber Relays
9 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amHere’s a fun example of the original programming that YouTube is supposed to be investing in these days — a relay from Santa Monica to San Diego. With lightsabers. Geek celebrity Chris Hardwick is announcing the event, dubbed Course of the Force, on the YouTube blog. Hardwick hosts the popular Nerdist podcast, and he plans to launch a Nerdist YouTube channel in April,which he says will include “Neil Patrick Harris, Rob Zombie, Awkward Family Videos, The Dudesons and The Kids in the Hall,” plus more programming that covers “gaming, science, tech and cosplay.” As… -
Kodak Shutters Digital Camera Business In Favor Of Licensing, Photo Printing
9 Feb 2012 | 7:47 amConsider today the end of an era for one of the most iconic brands in the imaging industry. While their bankruptcy protection filing from last month signaled the need for some drastic action, it’s still a bit of a shock to see Kodak announce that they are putting all of their digital cameras, camcorders, and picture frames out to pasture. When all is said and done, Kodak expects annual operating savings of around $100 million, but the bigger loss is going to be that of a cultural icon. Kodak will still exist, sure, but primarily as a purveyor of desktop printers as well as online and retail… -
Shopzilla Founder Launches Cheers: The “Like Button” For The World Around You
9 Feb 2012 | 7:40 amThe “toast” is an age-old, time-honored tradition, where we raise a glass to pay tribute to — and express our goodwill towards — friends, loved ones, and sometimes even our fellow man. They are even known to be meaningfully punctuated with by a good drinking song or two. And now, thanks to BizRate.com and Shopzilla Founder Farhad Mohit, there is, as they say, an app for that expression of goodwill. Yes, “cheers” is no longer simply a word that accompanies toasts — or the place where everyone knows your name — it’s also the… -
Nielsen: Cord Cutting And Internet TV Viewing On The Rise
9 Feb 2012 | 7:24 amAccording to a new report from Nielsen, the number of U.S. homes that have broadband Internet, but only free, broadcast TV, is on the rise. Although representing less than 5% of TV households, the number has grown 22.8% over the past year. In addition, the behaviors within these homes are unique. These broadband/broadcast-only households stream video twice as much as the general population, says Nielsen, and they watch half as much TV. Nielsen hesitates to dump all these households in the “cord cutters” bucket, though, saying that while perhaps some are cord cutters (the term that…
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ReadWriteWeb
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A Look at Steve Jobs' FBI File
9 Feb 2012 | 8:16 amYes, it's true. The FBI had a file on Steve Jobs. It's not what you might think, though. The FBI performed a "level III" background investigation on Jobs as a potential presidential appointee in 1991. He was described by most witnesses as an "individual of good character and integrity" that would be suitable for a "position of trust and confidence with the Government." Jobs also had a brush with the FBI when Apple received a bomb threat in 1985. Sponsor According to one of the filings, Jobs was being considered for an appointment to the President's Export Council in early 1991. This was while… -
Oracle Claims Taleo's Cloud-based Talent Management Jackpot
9 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amIn the 20th century, corporations recruited talented professionals but then nurtured them and integrated them into their organizations. Talent was part of their business foundations. In the more intricate economy of the 21st, talent is something perceived to be possessed by individuals. Corporations recruit these people, and then undertake what's called compensation management in an effort to retain them as long as possible, and to let go of talent that doesn't perform up to scale. The value of a single, global database for evaluating the dollar value of individual talent on a real-time scale… -
Big Question (Answered): "Do You Have Too Many Facebook Friends?"
9 Feb 2012 | 7:04 amEvery day I jump onto Facebook for my work, but honestly, I never use it as it was intended. If you send me a message or like my status, I might engage, but I never reach out to folks. My stream is full of interesting content about people I don't know enough to care about. I know that sounds rude, but there's really only so much room in your life for connections. I have a little over 700 friends and I think that's about 500 too many. I've been considering paring down for some time, not because I think my connections aren't cool, but because I'm missing out on things like my family's birthday… -
Appcelerator Acquires Cocoafish to Implement Mobile Cloud Services in Titanium
9 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amMobile development company Appcelerator announced today that it is buying "backend-as-a-service" startup Cocoafish to implement cloud services and functionality to its Titanium Platform. Acquiring Cocoafish is an astute move by Appcelerator, which focuses on tools for developers to create native and mobile Web apps. The company realized in its latest mobile developer report that 84% of developers using Titanium were utilizing some type of cloud service. With Cocoafish, Appcelerator attempts to keep all the necessary mobile development tools on its own platform. Appcelerator admits that with… -
Three Ways To Use Linked In If You're NOT Looking For A Job
9 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amA post last week on pimping your LinkedIn profile drew a big response, as well as a divide in comments about whether or not people should be using LinkedIn. One of the bigger misconceptions in comments in emails was that LinkedIn is primarily a job-hunting site. But there are reasons to use LinkedIn even if you have a job you love, aside from the obvious benefits of keeping up on your industry and making connections with potential business partners. Sponsor Among them: LinkedIn is a great contact manager. Not all of your contacts will have their phone numbers in their LinkedIn profile (and if…
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CenterNetworks
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Deal Site Smackdown: The Valentine’s Day Edition
8 Feb 2012 | 6:06 amNext Tuesday is the annual holiday known as Valentine’s Day. The day is named after St. Valentine and over 150 million cards are exchanged – here’s the full history of this very special day. This year the new deal sites are holding a cage match with each site offering a deal with a national floral delivery service. Most of these deals expire asap so you should be quick if you want to grab some flowers for your sweetie. Also note that the delivery fees are higher for a delivery on Valentine’s day. Lastly, I see some of the local cities within the deal sites are also… -
Top 10 Russian Web Startups of 2011
7 Feb 2012 | 5:37 amYakov Sadchikov, President & CEO of visual search engine Quintura, has put together the following list of the top 10 Russian web startups for 2011. In September 2011, Russia became the largest Internet market in Europe with 51 million online users. Who are the top emerging internet companies that disrupt the Russian market. Find out below a list of top 10 Russian web startups of 2011. 1. Oktogo.ru Having raised $5 million in venture capital from European early-stage investors, Oktogo.ru is #1 in Russian online travel. Russia’s ‘Booking.com‘ Oktogo.ru has not only collected the… -
NCR Sells Blockbuster Express Kiosks To RedBox
6 Feb 2012 | 4:27 pmSomehow I thought this year would be the end for the Blockbuster Express kiosk machines. Back in November they changed their pricing model and it seemed like it just became a lot more expensive to rent from Blockbuster Express versus rival RedBox. As an infrequent movie renter, I found the Redbox machines to have a better selection and a better price – and you can nearly always find a free movie rental code for RedBox. Today RedBox has agreed to acquire the kiosks and “other assets” from Blockbuster Express. RedBox notes in their release that the deal is worth up to $100… -
Shark Tank Recap – February 3
3 Feb 2012 | 6:48 pmBelow is a recap of the February 3, 2012 episode of the ABC show Shark Tank (episode 301). If you are unfamiliar with Shark Tank, the concept is simple – entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel of investors and the investors have to provide at least the amount the entrepreneur is seeking for a deal to be completed. Pitch #1 – Chord Buddy Founder Travis Perry created a plastic gadget that you place onto an acoustic guitar to help you learn how to play the guitar. As you learn how to play, you remove pieces of the Chord Buddy until you have completed removed the gadget and are… -
SXSW Releases 2011 Demographics
1 Feb 2012 | 1:46 pmAnother year, another SXSW festival coming up in just a few weeks. What will this year’s event hold? Last year seemed like a big shift for both the event and for attendees. The event was split up into many locations (I think this was a huge mistake), more commercialization than ever and it seemed like lots of people came to Austin but didn’t buy a badge – they just surfed the hallways of the convention center and also attended lots of Sixth Street non-official events. Each year the event grows larger and hotel rooms display sold out signs earlier and earlier. I wonder if…
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SmartBrief on Social Media
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Do you worry that Facebook will start charging brands for Facebook pages after its initial public offering?
8 Feb 2012 | 9:29 am-More- -
Twitter under fire over Brazilian traffic-stop tweeters
8 Feb 2012 | 9:29 amBrazilian authorities are suing Twitter over accounts that publicize the locations of police roadblocks and speed traps to he -More- -
Interested in writing for SmartBlogs?
8 Feb 2012 | 9:29 amEveryone knows that SmartBrief aggregates the best content from around the Web, but did you know we also feature original blo -More- Social Media Content Manager LM&O Advertising -
Doritos' bandito baby wins USA TODAY-Facebook poll
8 Feb 2012 | 9:29 amAn ad featuring a grandmother sling-shotting a baby to snag a bag of Doritos won the USA TODAY-Facebook poll of best Super Bo -More- -
10 ways to write headlines that compel your customers to click
8 Feb 2012 | 9:29 amWithout an eye-catching headline, even the best blog posts and announcements can easily get lost in the often-overwhelming fl -More-
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@ProBlogger
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6 Powerful Guest Post Tactics that No One’s Talking About
9 Feb 2012 | 6:05 amThis guest post is by Tom Ewer of Leaving Work Behind. Guest posting is a hot topic amongst startup bloggers. It is one of the most widely-adopted blog promotion strategies in existence, and has been made perhaps even more popular by the success of “serial” guest posters such as Danny Iny of Firepole Marketing. His “blitzkrieg” strategy may come across to some as a triumph of quantity over strategy, but nothing could be further from the truth. He understands the key concepts that we will be exploring in this post, and executes them in a highly effective manner. Whilst… -
How to Succinctly Report a Blog Issue to Tech Support
8 Feb 2012 | 6:07 amThis guest post is by Matthew Setter of Malt Blue. How often do you find it happening to you? You discover an issue with your site, or one of your community members emails you to tell you about it, and soon you start to see tweets about it too. Maybe it’s as simple as an error message that detracts from the professional appearance of your site. Perhaps the contact form doesn’t send messages to your contact email address. Or is it that the whole site just displays as a blank page, otherwise known as the white page of death? You’re not a programmer, a software engineer or a seasoned… -
Make Your Blog Load Faster than ProBlogger: Part 2
7 Feb 2012 | 12:05 pmThis guest post is by Devesh of WP Kube. A few months ago, I wrote a guest post here called How to Make Your Blog Load Faster than ProBlogger. Today, I’ll go into some more detailed advice to help you speed up your site even more. If you’re a blogger, you already know about the importance of blog loading speed, and the role it plays in search engine rank and marketing your blog. But if this is new territory for you, here are three quick reasons why you need to speed up your blog: Google includes website loading speed as an important metric in their ranking algorithm. If you want… -
How I Beat my Best Month Ever by Doing Something Good, Better [Case Study]
7 Feb 2012 | 6:04 amMid-December 2010: on my photography site, we launched a new campaign—our first ever 12 Days of Christmas promotion. The result was my biggest month of earnings ever up to that point. The idea was simple: offer discounts on 12 products over the 12 days leading up to Christmas. I used a mix of my own ebooks and products from other photography sites with affiliate commissions. The result was massive. Not only did we see some great revenue generated, it created some lovely buzz on the site. Due to the success of the 2010 campaign, in mid-December 2011 we launched our second 12 Days of… -
Six Steps to Make Sure Your Site Is Ready to Go Viral
6 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amThis guest post is by Nancy Sathre-Vogel of Family on Bikes. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Surely Google Analytics was confusing my site with another, way more popular site. There was no way my visitor numbers could be so high! And yet they were. One of my posts had taken off and was spreading like wildfire. Those viral post phenomena that happen to others were now happening to me. The first day, 17,000 visitors came to my website. The next day we topped out at 56,000. Readers were coming in droves. It was exciting. It was exhilarating. My site, viral! Wow! And then I took a…
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Liz Strauss at Successful Blog
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Be a Good Newbie!
9 Feb 2012 | 5:40 amA Guest Post by Rosemary O’Neill Last week, I wrote about how to be an upstanding citizen of the Twitter and LinkedIn worlds. But what if you’re venturing farther into untested waters? What if you’re pointing your canoe toward some of the newer and less-traveled areas of the web? When a new social tool arrives on your map, it is even more important to mind your manners, especially if there are natives who have been there for a while already. Pinterest, Google+, Quora, Tumblr, EmpireAvenue and others were populated with early adopters and beta testers long before the rest of the… -
Can You Find Success Following a Firing?
8 Feb 2012 | 10:00 amOne of the most challenging situations a person can find themselves in is trying to secure a new job after they’ve been terminated from a previous position. While there is hope of locating employment following a termination, the odds are definitely lessened for such individuals, who must fight through the stigma of being removed from a company. The bottom line is resiliency and the ability to best explain away why you were let go. For those individuals who have to deal with such a situation, keep several things in mind: Deal with reality – It is never easy when the pink slip arrives and… -
Five Delegation Thinking Traps that Trip Almost Everyone Who Wants to Scale Up
7 Feb 2012 | 5:39 amScaling Up Requires Pushing Down Lower-Level Tasks In the companies I worked with and for, product development schedules were cyclical, with seriously tight deadlines at certain times of the year and a more relaxing pace when those deadline had been achieved. To even out this ebb and flow of deliverables, we would hire freelancers, off-sire staff, and development groups. Even the most entry-level full-time people were managing and influencing the performance of someone else. The ability to influence another person’s performance in positive ways affected how quickly employees could grow… -
Does Your Business Style Connect or Make People Cringe?
6 Feb 2012 | 5:43 amGet Serious Attention In Amanda Valenti’s recent guest post here about Common Writing Mistakes, she made many important points that I encourage small businesses to take to heart. If spelling, grammar, and homophones are not your strong suites, find someone who can edit what you write. It IS worth it because Amanda is absolutely correct – these types of errors will cost you visitors and business. There is something more serious you must be aware of as well and that is what kind of image you are presenting to the world. Specifically, what you consider acceptable regarding profanity,… -
Beach Notes: After the Storm
5 Feb 2012 | 7:11 amby Guest Writers Suzie Cheel and Des Walsh After the storm, creative thinking … With all the driftwood on the beach after recent big storms, some people see debris spoiling the usually pristine sands. Others see a gift for creativity. What do you see when everything goes pear-shaped and plans fall apart? Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh
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JasonKeath.com
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5 Great Ways to Use Pinterest
26 Jan 2012 | 9:01 amOriginally published at Social Web Daily What do sculptors, jet setters, philosophers, foodies, and collectors have in common? They can all make great use of Pinterest, the pinboard-channeling new social network. With a stream-lined interface, and plenty of opportunity to engage with and get inspiration from other Pinterest users, there are an endless number of creative ways to use the new site. Here are five of our favorites: 1. Collector’s Showcase Hobbyists and special-interest enthusiasts can put Pinterest to good use by uploading pictures from your personal collection, or collecting… -
Checking out the downtown NYC coworking space @Hiveat55 today
10 Jan 2012 | 11:31 amIt is across from the NY stock exchange. Nice quiet space. And I got a free day pass thanks to my Foursquare checkin. -
How to Spot a Yelp User, The Definitive Chart
5 Jan 2012 | 4:36 pmvia flowtown.com -
Pinterest Is Perfect For Your Dear Santa Letter
21 Dec 2011 | 9:55 amSocial image bookmarking site Pinterest is very hot right now, even though the site is still invite only. If you have not tested it out, Pinterest is simply a place to save and share images from around the web. You “pin” images to a “board” and anyone that follows you or that board sees it. Even better, all images on Pinterest are links to whereever you found them, by default. So if you want to buy that cool pair of shoes your friend pinned, click through. If you want to see more info on an inspirational poster or what beach your friend took a photo of, click through. -
How Not To Provide Customer Service, A JCPenney Story
20 Dec 2011 | 5:02 pmSo, maybe I am spoiled by Amazon and Zappos, but the last few days, I have been trying to buy a couch from JCPenney.com and have failed on 3 occasions. The couch in question: Here’s the thing, this is an awesome couch and it was on sale. But we need the chaise portion of the couch to be on the left when you are sitting down. But it was unclear to me how to order it. I either had to order LAF (left facing arm) or RAF (right facing arm). I had no idea what those two terms meant. Did LAF mean the chaise was on the left when facing it or when sitting on the couch? I was also curious about…
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Logic+Emotion
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Will The Real Social Business Experts Please Stand Up?
7 Feb 2012 | 10:23 amStop what you're doing and check out this thread (on Google Plus of all places) started by Francine Hardaway. She started it off with a simple question. "Who are the best experts in social business?"What followed was a robust discussion on what social business is, isn't and who's driving the agenda forward in the space both in thought and action. If you're interested in the emerging definition of social business (aka the convergence of enterprise 2.0 and social media) I highly recommend you taking a look. Some of my favorite thoughts:"the thread that social business is not the same as social… -
People, Places & Events
3 Feb 2012 | 11:01 amA few significant events happening over the next few months—here's where I'll be: Chicago: February 6th, Social Media Club, An Interview With Richard EdelmanOur I'll be interviewing Richard Edelman our CEO in our new office space as we host the Chicago Social Media Club. We will be discussing this Year's Trust Barometer findings. If you can't make it to Chicago, we will be live streaming video the interview at 5:00 CST. London & New York: February 13-16, Social Media Week Our London office is hosting a panel titled "Social Business In Action". A topic I'm very passionate about—then… -
How To Be A Social Media Self-Righteous Jerk
1 Feb 2012 | 4:28 pmThe scale above shows the many stages one has to go through in order to become a bona fide self-righteous jerk in social media. Still, there are many people who aspire to reach this peak, but fall short in executing against it. Given this observation, I thought it would be worthwhile to piece together a few best practices which will ensure your status as a social media self-righteous jerk (or SMSRJ). In no particular order: 1. Join The Klout GestapoAll social media SMSRJ's know that Klout is simply evil incarnate and requires a organized force to take on this evil axis of influence wherever… -
Launching a Social Command Center (Without The Center)
27 Jan 2012 | 8:05 am"Social command centers" are all the rage today and it's not without some merit. Many organizations now find themselves in a real-time business environment where news travels faster than sound, and information is set free. As a result, some forward thinking companies have put "monitoring" in place either in-house or in combination with partners. This isn't enough. And to make matters worse, I've seen companies make the classic mistake of buying a tool BEFORE putting any thought into the design that goes into effective monitoring and response, forgetting the 3P's (People, Process, Platforms). -
Trust Shifts From Institutions To Individuals
23 Jan 2012 | 9:44 pmToday I had the opportunity to present to academics and industry experts from the international poultry industry (you can listen to a re-cap via a short podcast from "Agwired" here). During the presentation I was able to share some results from the recently released 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer, in which the overarching theme is a general skepticism toward institutions such as government and big business with signs of hope when it comes to empowered individuals. A Person Like YourselfIn last year's study, it was the expert and even the analyst who enjoyed some degree of trust from the public…
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trendsspotting blog
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“Trends and Innovations in Mobile Accessories” Research Report
1 Feb 2012 | 8:03 amWe are happy to announce the release of a new TrendsSpotting research report uncovering major trends in Mobile Accessories. Based on exploration of over 2000 new accessories released since 2011 + CES 2012 and a market analysis of major market trends characterizing this growing market, TrendsSpotting has identified about 150 recently released products that reflect new emerging trends in mobile accessories. The innovations analyzed in this report are profiled according to … -
LEADING DIGITAL WOMEN PREDICT 2012
11 Jan 2012 | 6:20 pmFor the last five years TrendsSpotting trends research company has published prediction reports covering trends in tech, mobile and social media, suggested by leading technology and business experts. TrendsSpotting’s Influencers Prediction Reports 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 are read by thousands of readers and are used by leading companies to plan their future (viewership at Slideshare/TrendsSpotting). As TrendsSpotting is involved in re-placing the role of women in the digital world (see us at Microsoft’s Women Think Next and WIFT), we have decided that this year we will dedicate this… -
Emerging market for mobile health products
9 Nov 2011 | 3:15 amIn the past year, products using mobile devices to monitor health conditions are becoming more popular with the first ones now getting accepted by the Food and Drug Administration. Among health care apps entering the market are blood pressure monitoring cuffs, CT-scan viewers, and pocket ultrasound machines. The market is still at its first steps but rapid growth is expected: according to mobile market consultancy research2guidance, by 2015 30 percent of the world’s smartphone users will be using mobile health products, up from 5 percent today. The big promise for consumers are… -
2020 Predictions -Model for Future Innovations
14 Oct 2011 | 2:12 amBased on the concept of “The Internet of Things” TrendsSpotting has developed a working model for NPD. ”The ANA Model” was developed and implemented while working with tech companies, and allows us to predict future products and services. The “ANA Model” identifies the process where data is collected from reported “Actions”, then delivered to predefined monitor systems or professionals by “Notifications”. The outcomes can “Alert” people through a visualized system. Few daily activities are presented to reflect the… -
How crowdsourcing games help solve scientific problems: Review of current projects
6 Oct 2011 | 7:09 amIt has been shown that the human capacity has still important advantages over computers. Scientists have learned to use crowd sourcing tools to improve their research. To achieve cooperation, they present models of the problems in a game like display and challenge the partipants to find solutions. Scientists in Carnegie Mellon University (look up Luis von Ahn) were the first to use human brains to help them solve problems associated with searching for images on the web (computers are not very good at distinguishing images from each other using visual cues). This lead to the development…
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Scobleizer
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Hacker News vs. Google+
5 Feb 2012 | 10:20 amI might as well have titled this “Hacker News vs Marketers.” Or “Hacker News vs Bloggers.” Or “jerks vs nice people.” But I never participate in Hacker News for a few reasons and I just was faced with these reasons again when I read the responses there to my blog post yesterday. 1. Programmers often have an attitude of “I can code, you can’t, so I am defacto better than you.” This often comes out in Hacker News comments. 2. Programmers love to bash people anonymously and then, in real life, they will come begging for PR for their companies… -
It’s too late for Dave Winer and John Battelle to save the common web
4 Feb 2012 | 5:02 pmThe date was January 3, 2008. Facebook had kicked me off for running a script to try to save the common web. See, I worked with Plaxo to run a simple script. One that would have taken my contacts out of Facebook and put them back into the common web. The script did some very simple things: 1. It grabbed all my friends names. 2. It grabbed all their phone numbers. 3. It grabbed all their email addresses. 4. It gave me a simple CSV file with all that data so I could bring them back to Google, or Microsoft, or anywhere else I wanted to put them. Facebook’s answer was predictable. They shut… -
HTML 5 pushback in San Francisco? Best mobile app designers say yes
1 Feb 2012 | 3:39 pmThe new Path? The one that won a Crunchie last night for great design? It’s not done in HTML 5. This morning I saw something new coming soon from Storify. Not done in HTML 5. This morning I visited Foodspotting, which just shipped hot new apps on iOS, Android, and Blackberry. Not done in HTML 5. More and more I’m hearing that designers and developers are ignoring HTML 5, especially for the high end of apps. Why? Well, Path’s founders told me it just isn’t possible to build a great user interface, the way they did it in HTML 5. Storify’s founder told me it… -
Why Facebook will be worth a half trillion by 2015: the mobile and open graph revenue it’s leaving on the table
1 Feb 2012 | 2:48 pmLots of people think Facebook is overvalued, at about $100 billion (it just released their S1, announcing its IPO). But in talking with developers, like I did with Foodspotting’s founder, Alexa Andrzejewski, and in reading the S1 I see that Facebook has left most of the potential revenue on the table. That makes me think that the folks crying “overvalued” are nuts. Check that interview out, Foodspotting is one of the hottest San Francisco startups, aimed at people who are looking for better places to eat. Here it is from just this morning: See, Mark Zuckerberg is sandbagging… -
2012 brings a pause in the disruption
31 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pmOK, I’ve been talking with hundreds of geeks from around the world this year at three conferences, CES, DLD, and World Economic Forum. I’m seeing a trend that is worth talking about. What is it? We’re seeing the end of one of the most disruptive ages in human history. I believe that we’re seeing a pause in the disruption. More on that a little later. Just think about all the changes humans have been asked to adopt in the past eight years. Most of us, back then, didn’t carry mobile computers in our pockets. If we did use tablets, like I did, they were expensive,…
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News from SMP
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Technology and antivirus company AVG prices IPO
1 Feb 2012 | 4:00 pmTechnology and antivirus company AVG prices IPOWith the world focused on Facebook’s IPO, technology company AVG Technologies N.V., more widely known as an antivirus software maker couldn’t of picked a more volatile time to press release details of... -
Can The X Factor muster another number one?
8 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pmCan The X Factor muster another number one?UK X Factor 2011 winners Little Mix (covering Damian Rice’s Cannonball) were beaten to the Christmas number one by the Military Wives Choir (Wherever You Are composed by Paul Melor). The girl band (... -
Integrated Social Media Marketing Event touches down in Asia February 2012
4 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pmIntegrated Social Media Marketing Event touches down in Asia February 2012Integrated approach leverages social media for enhanced engagement and brandingPacific Conferences’ Integrated Social Media Marketing Conference offers actionable insights i... -
Weight Watchers kicks off 2012 TV ad and social media campaign
2 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pmWeight Watchers kicks off 2012 TV ad and social media campaignWeight Watchers UK kicks off its first TV and social media campaign of 2012, and the timing couldn't have been better as we see in the New Year. Marketing magazine reported ... -
Social media analysis for the UK X Factor finale
23 Dec 2011 | 4:00 pmSocial media analysis for the UK X Factor finaleThe X Factor social media infographic week 10 from the live shows finale 2011 for series 8Elemental's UK X Factor social media analysis and infographic for the Week 10 finale. The grap...
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NowSourcing.Com » Blog
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This Week In Infographics: Dirty Valentines and The Walking Debt
9 Feb 2012 | 8:17 amWhile there is no underlying theme to this week’s list, we feel that the best way to describe these would be: just cool. First of all, Keeping It Kleen wins the award for most creative way of incorporating love and hygiene for Valentine’s day. The funny and disgusting stats are a refreshing break from the lovey dovey or single ready to mingle infographics. Next, for those of you out there who are trying to figure out how in the world you are going to pay off your student loans – good luck with that. Luckily, we have a rundown of social media jobs and salaries that may help… -
Evolution of Flash Memory
1 Feb 2012 | 11:14 am -
Patriotic and Protest Songs
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Buyer Beware: BBB Highlights Top 10 Online Scams
1 Feb 2012 | 11:10 am -
The 5 Types of People You Look Up Online
1 Feb 2012 | 11:09 am
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Bokardo
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Designing for the Next Step
16 Jan 2012 | 6:33 amNote: this is an excerpt from my forthcoming book Make them Care! In a recent post (Why you should bury the sign up button) I told the story of a redesign I did in which people just didn’t want to click the “sign up” button on the home page, no matter how beautiful or sexy that sign up button was. What I realized from that project is that there are cases in which no amount of visual design will significantly improve the state of things…instead we need to focus on making people care. Here’s another example. On cyber Monday this past November I received an email… -
Design is not Horsepoop
17 Dec 2011 | 4:37 amIn his impassioned piece Design is Horseshit, YongFook suggests that the increased focus on designers as founders is misguided because design isn’t what makes most startups successful. In my recent post The Golden Age of Design in Startups I was bullish on designers as founders, so I’m here to call bullshit on Yongfook calling bullshit…or something like that. (actually, the idea of “calling bullshit” seems silly to me…why not just respectfully debate a point?) Yongfook’s argument is that design is not the reason why startups are successful. He suggests that… -
More on Burying the Sign Up Button
7 Dec 2011 | 8:49 amA couple weeks ago I published Why You Should Bury your Sign Up Button and got some really interesting feedback and comments from folks. One of the more interesting bits was a follow-up post by the folks at Zurb who had experienced the exact same phenomenon…when they took away the “sign up” button and instead put a “learn more” button at the bottom of the page they got a 350% increase in sign ups: Why Burying Sign Up Buttons Helps Get More Sign Ups Think about how counter-intuitive that is at first glance. You take away the call-to-action that says “sign… -
The Golden Age of Design in Startups
5 Dec 2011 | 2:59 amI just returned from Dave McClure’s excellent Warm Gun Conference, and I haven’t been this excited to be a designer in a while. The entire event was about design, metrics, and products, and even more importantly the people at the conference were many of the who’s who in Bay Area design. From what I saw and experienced there I daresay there are signs we’re entering a golden age of Design. The evidence: 1. The startups being invested in are designer-led. Take the new Designer Fund that funds startups with designer-founders and helps mentor them. Consider the companies in… -
Why you Should Bury your Sign Up Button
21 Oct 2011 | 7:26 amA short while ago I was involved in a project redesigning a home page of a website. I dutifully designed the page in the common fashion, using a bold headline, some bullet points, and a juicy call-to-action button. It was very similar to many of the startup home pages that you might run across every day. The goal of the redesign was to increase conversion on the primary call to action of sign-up. We wanted to double or triple (or more) the number of people who were signing up and trying out the product. I knew the redesign was a vast improvement over the existing one, merely because the page…
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ManagingCommunities.com
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What Can You Do When Information Leaks from a Private Forum?
6 Feb 2012 | 6:58 pmphoto credit: Vivian Chen [陳培雯] Private forums are meant to be private – the information contained within is supposed to only be for the people who have access to that forum. But, people don’t always respect this fact and eventually, you may have someone leaking private information to people who shouldn’t have it. The question [...] -
Social Media and Online Community Platform Usage by Inc. 500 Companies Detailed in Study
2 Feb 2012 | 7:10 pmDr. Nora Ganim Barnes, a Chancellor Professor of Marketing and the Director of the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, has released the results of the center’s fifth annual study into the usage of social media by Inc. 500 companies. The survey asked participants about thirteen particular types of social media: [...] -
Good Online Community Management is Censorship
30 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amOne of the reasons that words matter so much is that different words prompt different emotional reactions from people. If you call someone a spammer, they are more likely to react defensively than if you said that they were advertising. Even though, when it comes to the action, these are the same thing. Let’s take [...] -
ManagingCommunities.com is 4 Years Old!
26 Jan 2012 | 4:00 amphoto credit: barbourians Friday will mark 4 years since the launch of ManagingCommunities.com. In honor of this occasion, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has been supportive of this site and me. Thank you to those that read this blog, subscribe to it and spread the word by passing along my [...] -
When Your Members Criticize a Company or Person, Invite Them to Your Community
23 Jan 2012 | 4:10 pmphoto credit: SmithGreg I recently had a member on one of my communities start a thread to review a book, which he criticized. Most of his review was fair, but there were some parts that I felt were a little harsh. Still, it was appropriate for our community. As an author, I do sympathize with [...]
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Collective Thoughts
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My Dirty Valentine
8 Feb 2012 | 10:50 amValentine’s day can be awful for a respectable single – bring on the mushy lovers and the despair of the singleton articles, let’s get it over with. This is why I particularly love Keeping It Kleen’s new infographic – it is hilarious, disgusting, and someone finally thought outside of the box on this one. If you are single, it will make you happy that you don’t have a boyfriend who doesn’t brush his teeth, or a girlfriend who wears the same underwear two days in a row. If you are attached, I suggest you invest in some powerful hand sanitizer. © 2012… -
History of the Businessmen [Infographic]
30 Jan 2012 | 2:40 pmWhat do cavemen, William Shakespear, Christopher Columbus, and Mark Zuckerberg have in common? They were all shrewd businessmen in their time. Whether they were carving sticks, promoting plays, or trying to get funding to sail the world – these men have set the stage for where business is today, and where it will go. Business MBA’s new infographic does a wonderful job of putting these great men and their skills in order, and giving us an idea of where Generation Y will take us next. From: Business MBA -
Where Did Google Make Their Money In 2011?
23 Jan 2012 | 11:00 amThe number is out there, Google made 37.9 billion dollars last year. About 96 percent of this came from advertising. WordStream’s impressive new infographic explores which keywords were the most popular and whose ads made the search engine so much money. © WordStream, a Google AdWords partner company. -
The Infographic That Makes Me Want To Marry Mark Zuckerberg
11 Jan 2012 | 1:34 pmIt is no secret that so many of us want to have Mark Zuckerberg’s genius babies, and for the men out there, and the select few women who dont understand – this infographic will tell you why. Created by: Accounting Degree Online -
Apple To Apples: How The Tech Giant Stacks Up Against America’s Favorite Fruit
11 Jan 2012 | 8:25 amThe first thing I learned from this infographic, is that Russia really likes apples, and the US really likes Apple. Okay, I already knew the latter. MBA Online’s new infographic is a wonderfully interesting way to explore Apple further, and quite humorous. For instance: did you know that for the price of the iPhone 4S, you can buy almost 2,000 apples? Hey, if nothing else, it is fun and chalked full of interesting statistics. Created by: MBA Online
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Social Business Advisor: Social CRM and Enterprise 2.0
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Do Organizations Need a Chief Collaboration Officer?
8 Feb 2012 | 4:06 pmMore organizations are starting to deploy new collaborative tools and strategies as a core part of their business evolution to connect and engage employees. It’s becoming increasingly difficult (especially at large companies) to oversee these initiatives as typically there isn’t a role devoted to collaboration. Usually collaboration falls on the shoulders of employees with an existing full plate of things that need to get done (such as the CIO). So is it about time for organizations to create the role of the CCO (chief collaboration officer)? In 2010 Morten Hansen and Scott… -
Implementing Enterprise 2.0 at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Pt 4: Financial Impact, Future Changes, and Lessons Learned
6 Feb 2012 | 12:08 amThis is the fourth and final post in a series of posts on how the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (The Foundation), is implementing emergent collaboration strategies and technologies within its organization. You can read part 1 on Business Drivers, part 2 on Organizational and Culture shifts, and part 3 on Technology Adoption and Operational Impact. The Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing pediatric HIV infection and eliminating pediatric AIDS through research, advocacy, and prevention, care, and treatment programs. The Foundation, currently working in 17… -
Implementing Enterprise 2.0 at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Pt 3: Technology Adoption and Operational Impact
3 Feb 2012 | 12:08 amThis is the third in a series of posts on how the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (The Foundation), is implementing emergent collaboration strategies and technologies within its organization. You can read part 1 on Business Drivers and part 2 on organizational and culture shifts. The Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing pediatric HIV infection and eliminating pediatric AIDS through research, advocacy, and prevention, care, and treatment programs. The Foundation, currently working in 17 countries, was founded in 1988 and experienced significant growth… -
Implementing Enterprise 2.0 at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Pt 2: Culture and Organizational Structure Shifts
1 Feb 2012 | 12:08 amThe first part of this case study on the Glaser Foundation discussing business can be found here. The Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing pediatric HIV infection and eliminating pediatric AIDS through research, advocacy, and prevention, care, and treatment programs. The Foundation, currently working in 17 countries, was founded in 1988 and experienced significant growth in the last five years, with its employee base increasing from 200 employees in 2006 to over 1,500 in 2011. This was due in part to increased funding from new global health initiatives, such as the… -
Implementing Enterprise 2.0 at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Pt 1: Business Drivers
30 Jan 2012 | 12:08 amThis is the first in a series of posts on how the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (The Foundation), is implementing emergent collaboration strategies and technologies within its organization. The Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing pediatric HIV infection and eliminating pediatric AIDS through research, advocacy, and prevention, care, and treatment programs. The Foundation, currently working in 17 countries, was founded in 1988 and experienced significant growth in the last five years, with its employee base increasing from 200 employees in 2006 to over…
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Blogworks: Social Media India, Brand, Marketing and Communication Consulting.
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Irreverence and candidness greet @PMOIndia on Twitter.
27 Jan 2012 | 8:53 pm“Time to unfollow the PMO on Twitter.” proclaims Anant Rangaswami on Firstpost @PMOIndia, the Official Twitter account of the Indian Prime Minister’s office, has been live all of 24 hours on Twitter. “…few days on Twitter, do you think the Government’s been effective?” asks Sunetra Choudhry on NDTV It’s just been a few ‘hours’ more... Read more » -
#McDstories – Are they loving it ?
25 Jan 2012 | 11:12 pmWhat began as an attempt to bring out the positive stories of McDonalds, turned into a marketing nightmare for McDonalds. They seeded the hashtag #meetthefarmers and #McDstories so as to showcase their commitment to deliver fresh produce. McDonald’s promoted video interviews with farmers that supply their lettuce, beef, and potatoes. Following which came the tweet... Read more » -
Entering the 6th year today is @blogworks: scaling it up.
25 Dec 2011 | 7:16 pmBlogworks completes 5 years today! It has been an intense year – moving to the next orbit requires perseverance, will, and far greater energy. We have as a team shown that we have the will and the skills. Year 5 This is the year that we became a ‘business and an organisation’. We started the... Read more »
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The Bazaarvoice Social Commerce Blog
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Mobile mediocrity? How retailers can avoid "hitting turbulence"
9 Feb 2012 | 8:10 amChris Silva Note: The following is a guest post from Chris Silva, Mobile Industry Analyst with Altimeter Group. We'll periodically feature guest posts from the people behind research we think you should know about. Are retailers doing enough to serve their mobile customers? Many are not. While nearly 50% of mobile phone owners in the US are carrying app-laden smartphones, 77% of smartphone buyers use them while shopping. With such rapid adoption, it's hard to understand why major brands aren't doing more to cater to these customers. The report lays out a decision process… -
Interview: How Kate Spade uses social to “live colorfully” (part 1)
7 Feb 2012 | 12:22 pmScreenshot of the Kate Spade NY Pinterest I am delighted to congratulate one of our most successful clients, Kate Spade, on receiving two nominations in the Fashion 2.0 Awards. The awards honor the most innovative fashion brands for their leadership in developing online communities. It only takes one quick glance at Kate Spade’s Pinterest, Facebook, blog or Tumblr to see that this is a brand that truly loves sharing and receiving inspiration from their customers. I sat down with Johanna Murphy, VP eCommerce, and Marissa Kraxberger, Web Art Director, to learn more about Kate Spade’s social… -
Is the iPad the new cookbook?
3 Feb 2012 | 6:31 amThe iPad, displaying the latest recipe creation on the kitchen counter, has replaced the traditional cookbook, provided one can avoid spilling spaghetti sauce or splattering it with oil. Even just weeks after its release in April 2010, the New York Times saw it “poised to be an indispensable tool” for the kitchen. And now, augmented reality apps like Blippar allow consumers to create interactive recipe books by scanning products while in the store aisle. From the first release of Betty Crocker’s Big Red in 1950, and thousands since, recipe-sharing has gone digital and… -
Finally, augmented reality with real utility: meet Blippar
30 Jan 2012 | 7:39 amIt seems like we’ve been talking about augmented reality for years now. It’s perpetually the next big thing in mobile, and is still at the very beginning of the technology adoption curve. Honestly, I had kind of checked out of the AR conversation—unfairly—after waiting for it to move from flashy demos to actual utility. AR’s utility has only been realized in a few apps, like Yelp’s Monocle, but the wow factor has overshadowed the practical applications of this technology. And then I met the guys from Blippar at CES. Blippar is an app from the UK that succeeds where most… -
Infographic: Millennials will change the way you sell
24 Jan 2012 | 7:01 amThe “kids” who invented Facebook, never call when they can text, and don’t go out without their smartphones – they’re growing up. And soon, your business will depend on them. It’s true. By 2017, Millennials – those consumers now in their mid-teens to mid-30s – will have more spending power than any other generation. This generation, sometimes called “Generation Y,” shops differently than their predecessors. Millennials are hyper-social, constantly connected to social and endlessly curious about what others are doing, buying, and enjoying – strangers as well as friends.
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Dan Zarrella
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[Infographic] How to Get More Clicks on Twitter
24 Jan 2012 | 9:18 pmI’ve often said that the best use of Twitter is as a broadcast medium. You should be creating a ton of interesting content and sharing it with your followers. To that end I’ve done a bunch of research on how to optimize the clickthrough rate (CTR) of the links you’re tweeting. For the purposes of this data, I’ve calculated CTR as the number of clicks on a tweeted link divided by the number of followers the account had when it tweeted that link. Below is an infographic presenting some of my past findings as well as some entirely new data I’ve found about… -
[Infographic] What are the Best Times to Blog?
22 Jan 2012 | 10:54 pmOne of the most popular webinars I’ve ever worked on, The Science of Timing was also one of my favorite. If you haven’t seen it, go check out the on-demand recording now. In it, I present data I’ve collected over three years about the effect timing has on a variety of online marketing activities, including blogging. Below is an infographic that represents a collection of the three most important stats I have about when to publish blog posts. In the webinar, I also make the point that my results are based on huge aggregates of thousands, millions, or even in some cases,… -
[Infographic] The 2012 Republican Candidates by the Twitter Numbers
17 Jan 2012 | 9:59 pmI’ve studied the relationship between Twitter success and politics before, and since this year is a big year in elections, I figured I’d do it again. This time I looked at how the 4 front-running republican presidential candidates are doing on Twitter. I analyzed the obvious numbers, followers, retweets and mentions, but I also looked at a few of my favorite, deeper metrics: retweets-per-follower, link-percentage and reply-percentage. I also looked at Twitter “penetration” in two upcoming primary states: South Carolina and Florida. Notice anything that surprises you in… -
[Infographic] How To Use Contra-Competitive Timing for More ReTweets, Likes, Comments and Clicks
16 Jan 2012 | 11:44 pmOne of the most interesting patterns I’ve found while studying social media and marketing data is what I call in my book “contra-competitive timing.” I’ve found in numerous cases that the most successful times and days to publish new content are off-peak times. It’s like when you’re at a noisy party and it’s hard to hear the person talking to you 2 feet away, but suddenly you say something awkward and the room quiets down. Now everyone can hear you. The same is true with the internet. When there is less other noise to compete with (ie fewer Tweets,… -
[New Data] What Percentage of your Tweets Should be Links or Replies
10 Jan 2012 | 9:25 pmIf you like myth busting social media data like this, be sure to buy my newest book, Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness. One of the social media questions I’m most interested in is about whether Twitter is best suited for conversation or broadcasting. To many people’s surprise, I generally find myself on the broadcast side, and most of the data I’ve analyzed seems to back me up. Just yesterday, I started a little informal Twitter poll and found that respondents were pretty evenly split between broadcasting and conversation. This time, I looked at more than 100k…
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The Foush » Blog
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Facebook and the end of social decay?
29 Jan 2012 | 10:49 amThanks to social-networking sites like Facebook, many of the people that otherwise would have drifted out of our lives can now be linked to us indefinitely online, keeping track of us in the virtual world even if we no longer have any contact with them in “real life.” It’s a peculiar situation, evidenced by the introduction of terms like “Facebook Creeping” and FOMO (fear of missing out) into our vocabularies. But what are the wider implications of these changes? Social networks enable us to cheat the natural order of things. In our ability to pore over photo albums and… -
My 5 Favorite Moments of 2011
9 Jan 2012 | 12:55 pmHi friends! Happy 2012! I hope you enjoyed your holidays! I surprised Jesse with plane tickets home to Toronto for Christmas and it was so wonderful to spend time with our family and friends. The end of the year is always a time for reflection, if for no other reason than to remind yourself of all the things you did in the past 12 months! One of my favorite things to do is to share my love of technology and innovation with others, and I was so lucky to be able to do that all around the world in 2011. I had a chance to speak in Mexico, Norway, Italy, Switzerland, Canada and the United…
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Brains On Fire Blog
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I Watched, I Purchased, My Problem was Solved
9 Feb 2012 | 6:42 amI recently remembered a story about advertising that worked wonders in introducing me to a product that I purchased and loved. Being somewhat of a music and technology nerd, I follow several blogs that keep pace with what’s happening in the industry. I can’t remember exactly where, but in browsing one of those sites a few years ago I ran across this marketing video from a company called Tune Up Media (1): They happened to be running a discount promotion at the time, so in an extremely rare instance for me, I acted on their message, went to the website, and purchased their product. -
Get Your WOM Notebook Ready… Chapter One: Believe
8 Feb 2012 | 6:30 amSo, here you are… a friend of WOM or maybe you are just starting to explore. Word of Mouth Marketing is a passion for me, and I’m lucky enough to have a career in it. But this didn’t happen by accident. My career took root organically, as a result of my belief in the power of WOM, not because I set out to do it. Back in 2001, Brains on Fire partnered with the Department of Health and Environmental Control of South Carolina. We were tasked with the challenge of tackling teen smoking in our state. If you are at all familiar with South Carolina, you probably know tobacco plays a… -
Airport Conversations and The Secret Sauce of Success
7 Feb 2012 | 6:59 amEvery once in awhile someone will ask me what I do for a living. These conversations usually occur in the kinds of places where strangers feel compelled to carry on polite chitchat. In line at the grocery store. Doctor’s office waiting rooms. Airplanes waiting to be cleared for take-off. When I tell people I am a writer, they often respond in the same way I imagine I would respond if someone told me they traveled with the circus or roadied for Def Leppard in the 80s. An incredulous mix of shock and awe, with undertones of questioning my sanity. “That’s…brave,” they… -
Inspiration.
6 Feb 2012 | 7:28 amThe Erics, looking for inspiration. Hello! Hope you’re excited about the week ahead of you. I am. About a year or so ago, I posted a blog asking YOU a simple question. And since I LOVED the answers and they all inspired me, I am asking again… I really need you guys today. I love writing. Think I have shared this before, but I believe writing inspires thinking and exploring and sharing. And thinking and exploring and sharing are good things. If you are reading this and hanging out with us, I have to believe you think we add value in your life. So, I have a question for you: If you… -
The Power of Kindness.
2 Feb 2012 | 8:30 amFresh flowers from Libby William’s Photoblog. The other day I got a note in the mail. The old fashion “ink on paper” kind. It started like this: Dearest Darling Robbin, Hmmmm. I have to tell you in the middle of my crazy, busy, over stimulated workday, those words stopped me dead in my tracks. I took a deep breath and smiled at the “over the top-ness” of this salutation. What came after that was nothing short of the kindest words anyone’s written to me in a long time. Just a couple of heartfelt observations mixed in with some wit and honesty. It was a nice gentle break from…
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Soshable | Social Media Blog
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8 Years of Facebook Has Our Heads Spinning
7 Feb 2012 | 4:00 pmFacebook celebrated its 8th birthday this month. How much has it changed? How much has it changed us? Are we all a little more batty now that Facebook has become a prominent part of so many of our lives, giving us insights into friends and family that we never had before and offering a venue through which we can exclaim the nuances of our lives for the world (or simply our world) to see? This fun and somewhat creepy video by Daniel Koren, a NY based musician, touches a little too close to the truth for most to bear. Search your feelings. You know it to be true. -
The Advantage of Google’s New Search Plus Your World: Indexing Your Content Faster
7 Feb 2012 | 12:39 pmA Google+ update sent out by internet entrepreneur and FamilyLink.com founder Paul Allen hints there may be another reason to keep an eye on the recently launched Search Plus Your World. According to the post, Google looks to be indexing web content faster for users who are logged in to its social network than those who are not. Allen says that while signed into the site, his post was indexed and already displayed in the search results within less than a minute. This was versus about 20 minutes for the post to appear for users who were not logged in. Google’s new Search Plus Your World… -
Is Social Media Bringing the World Together or Pulling Us Apart?
7 Feb 2012 | 3:30 amEvery few months I take a serious look at my chosen profession and wonder if it’s really a tool for good or if it’s real “use” is to promote the negative in the world. There are many examples of good happening through social media whether through revolutions that weren’t possible a few years ago from oppressive regimes or the simple connection of people with others who they need to meet. I normally come to the same conclusion every time: Social media is neutral Most who use it are indifferent Some use it for good Some use it for bad. My final disposition at the… -
Changing The World With Social Media
7 Feb 2012 | 2:29 amThese days hysteria about social media has reached fever pitch. All signs are pointing to social media being the printing press of the 21st century. And like Gutenberg’s 15th century printing press, social media is a revolutionary tool will thousands of applications, many of which we probably haven’t even discovered yet. They often say that an innovation’s best uses are discovered accidentally. One can only imagine where this implication will lead us in the decades ahead. Whether you’re spearheading an online marketing company or are simply looking to find out what… -
Statistics of How Consumers Choose Businesses
5 Feb 2012 | 9:56 amThe numbers are rising on businesses using Social Media to their advantage and rightfully so, since 97% of customers will purchase from your business based on a review they find on the product they are looking for, even more so the review is through people they trust, hence why social networks work. Using Social Media as a form to communicate with customers does leave businesses open for negative sentiment and this has to be the biggest worry or response as to why businesses have yet to figure social media as a part of their Marketing strategies. However, people are not always going to be…
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Studio Notes by Shai Coggins
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Strictly Personal (Sorta’)
6 Feb 2012 | 2:01 amFor years I have resisted the idea of separating my personal and professional sides on this blog. I started off as a personal blogger over 12 years ago via shaicoggins.com. Then, I went “pro” shortly after on other blogs and sites. But, I have always had a place to put my professional blogging. As in, a place where I can talk about what people seem to want me to share the most about on a professional level: social media tips, content ideas, community guidelines… I always have had a place to blog about them outside of my personal blog. And, those times when I didn’t… -
POSSIBILITY – My 2012 Word of the Year
29 Jan 2012 | 2:47 am“We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.” – Thich Nhat Hanh It is always a challenge, choosing That One Word. You know, the word that I will look in to reflecting a lot for a full year. A focus word of sorts. Since 2008, I have been doing this practice. At the end of the year, I spend some time reflecting and considering the year that has passed and the year that is to come. And, at the beginning of the year, I choose a word that I wish to embrace for a full year. And this year, for me, is The Year of Possibility. Frankly, I nearly chose three… -
One Line a Day
6 Jan 2012 | 4:09 amI love keeping records and journals. I’ve got a huge collection of notebooks, sketchbooks, and other types of handmade books that prove my lifelong dedication to record-keeping. Over the last few years, however, I’ve slowly slipped from this beloved habit. The last couple of years were particularly bad. So bad, in fact, that last year, I decided NOT to keep any journals at all. At least no handwritten ones. Just my blogs and digital scribbles. A first, after so many years. So, this year, part of my goal is to get back to it. Keeping journals and records. I now have my traditional… -
Well, Hello 2012!
1 Jan 2012 | 4:31 amIt’s the first day of a new year, and I love being able to blog today. Why? It’s because it gives me the chance to start the year like how I want to spend the rest of it — doing things I enjoy. Blogging here at Studio Notes is one of those things. And, it’s a practice that I hope to continue with much more ardour, frequency, and tenacity. It’s also a great way to clear the “first post of the year jitters” away and just get on with it. With my first 2012 blog post out of the way, I can just write about the rest of the things that I wish to post here. -
A World of Good: My 2011 in Review
31 Dec 2011 | 6:54 amIf I were to describe my 2011 in one word, it would have to be: EPIC. How can any other word suffice when I’ve managed to pack so much more than I would ever hope to pack in one year? Life has changed so much for me within 12 months – both personally and professionally. The people I met, the places I’ve been, the things I’ve experienced… From stories I’ve shared all over the web to those I can’t even begin to write about. I’m just here to do a round-up of memories, as part of my annual tradition here at Studio Notes. Since I’ve done a semi…
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Social Media Marketing
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Foursquare in Context
29 Jan 2012 | 8:11 pmIf you're a regular user of services like Twitter or Foursquare, you've undoubtedly been met with skeptics and naysayers who wonder aloud, "Why would I want to tell anyone what I'm having for lunch?" or "Why would I care if someone is having a ham sandwich?"Fair enough, but the inquisitors fail to take into account the all-important factor in any conversation, whether it's in person or online: context.Context is what allows us to make sense of much of the world around us. "He's so bad!" could have two very different meanings, depending on the the rest of the conversation surrounding it. With… -
Social Media and Travel
26 Jan 2012 | 9:37 pmIf you're like me, you spend a good deal of time on the road. Whether it's at an airport, on a train or in a car, you're mobile and your digital life is mobile too.The pervasiveness of tablets and smartphones (in addition to the already ubiquitous laptop) is growing daily. Just this week, Apple announced that it sold 37 million iPhones and 15.4 million iPads in the fourth quarter of 2011 alone. It means that more of us are doing things on the web (or mobile web, as the case may be) while we're on the go, and there are certain things those of us in the digital world look for when we travel -… -
Revealing a New Ford in a New Way
13 Dec 2011 | 6:00 pmFord Motor Company has been at the forefront of social media for some time. The Fiesta Movement, the Explorer reveal on Facebook, Doug the Spokespuppet, Ford Social (formerly known as The Ford Story) and being the first brand on Google+ all stand as examples of Ford's success that spans from clever campaigns to a daily commitment to engage.Ford played a significant part in how the automotive industry thinks about social media (and in some cases how large companies think about social media) and now, as we near the 2012 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), at Ford we have an… -
Infographic: 5 Companies That Are Rocking Social Media
29 Nov 2011 | 8:47 amThis infographic was created by Voltier Digital, a content marketing agency based in Florida, specializing on the creation and promotion of impactful content marketing campaigns for businesses of all sizes.We all know the usual names of companies that are doing well in social media. I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some of the lesser-knowns and why they've had success, either on an ongoing basis or with some one-off efforts that stood out.And since infographics are all the rage, what better way to look at them? Of course, for SEO purposes, I've listed them here as… -
Twitter Business Guide
7 Oct 2011 | 8:53 pmI was recently introduced to a compact guidebook for businesses trying to get a sense of Twitter. The microblogging site that allows you to update in no more than 140 characters at at time is deceptively complex and nuanced - especially for a newcomer.This short guide, entitled Twitter Business Guide: Communication and Marketing was written by Jean-Christophe Barré and Dr. Andreas Schroeter and in just 32 pages covers some of the things that may be keeping you and your business away from this platform. For someone who is new to Twitter, this e-book will prove a helpful compass as you…
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Bare Feet Blog
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Can Social Media Save Hawaii’s Beaches and Land?
24 Jan 2012 | 12:02 amSaving Hawaii’s beaches and open space is a widely shared commitment – not just among those of us who live here but even more so perhaps for the millions of visitors to Hawaii! Everyone is invited, as even those of you who may never visit have likely experienced calm and inspiration from looking a Maui sunset or listening to the rhythm of the waves while watching an episode of Beachwalks.tv. I am part of the social media team that is helping raise funds for the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust (HILT) on January 28, 2012 and their annual fundraiser. We are putting social media to a… -
Summary of New Media Artist-in-Residence Program
1 Jan 2012 | 2:01 amIt is the last day of 2011 and I want to add an exclamation point of gratitude on each of my blogs – most of which suffer from neglect from me. It was my friend and Maui blogger Liza Pierce’s idea: let’s all write a blog post for January 1st! So, I’ve set this to post just one minute in to the new year. Happy New Year! I am starting on this blog, as this is the easy one! (I have at least three more I am aiming for.) This past year, I was hired by the Lānaʻi Visitors Bureau (LVB) to run a social media marketing campaign for them, based on a very original… -
How to Contribute to an Open Playlist on Spotify
11 Dec 2011 | 5:12 pmMy colleague and brilliant marketer, Tara Coomans, created an open playlist on the music sharing service Spotify, and has invited anyone to help beef up the party mix for our annual Hawaii Social Media Year in Review partee. Yes, of course you are invited! But about the Spotify Playlist: Great idea! I thought. But it is easier said than done. So here is a quick cheat sheet. Of course, you will require a Spotify account before you can add any songs to the playlist. Visit Spotify and set up your account. Then navigate to Tara’s playlist. Then click the “I have Spotify” button… -
The Social Cost of Unpaid Tweetup Teams
23 Nov 2011 | 4:28 pmAs the founder of the Social Media Club Hawaii chapter and a very active social media consultant here in Hawaii, I am often invited to attend events and receive services for free in exchange for social media buzz – aka tweeting, facebooking, photographing, and videoing about my experiences. Though I thoroughly enjoy myself when I am on site and do pour myself into the activities at hand, I have this persistent nag of discomfort. I’ve been letting it percolate as I gather information and sort out all of the energies that are in play – just what my “systems… -
Thank You Steve
5 Oct 2011 | 9:08 pmFirst, mahalo to Apple for giving us such a stunning home page in honor of Steve’s passing from this world. I am bursting with feelings tonight as I write this post. Which could go in so many directions. What I take from him and the way he lived his life is the feverish attachment to being who he was. He was a perfectionist, and not afraid of it. He was odd, and not afraid of it. He was brilliant, and not afraid if it. He was emotional, even tyrannical, and not afraid of it. Many will suggest that more companies should be perfectionistic, or cultivate oddness, or confuse brilliance with…
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EveryJoe » Work
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Newt Gingrich Doesn’t Have Eye of the Tiger
30 Jan 2012 | 3:51 pmNewt Gingrich is in trouble. And this time, it doesn’t involve an ex-wife or the polls. Gingrich is in trouble for allegedly using the song “Eye of the Tiger” without permission. He’s being sued for unspecified damages in an Illinois federal court. “Eye of the Tiger” is owned by Rude Music Inc. and was made famous in Rocky III. Rude Music Inc. says that Gingrich has used the song ever since 2009. They reportedly have evidence that he used the song in 2009, 2010 and 2011. In addition to unspecified damages, Rude Music Inc. also wants the judge to order Newt… -
Fox Morning Show Co-Anchor Greg Kelly Accused of Rape
26 Jan 2012 | 2:46 pmGreg Kelly, the co-host of FOX’s “Good Day New York” and the son of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, has been accused of rape. Not only does the 30-year-old paralegal claim the sexual assault occurred, she also says that she got pregnant and subsequently had an abortion as a result of the attack. The Manhattan district attorney’s office is investigating the allegation, and Kelly has not been charged with any crime as of yet. However, he has “strenuously” denied the charge through his lawyer. The alleged rape occurred back on Oct 8 when the two allegedly met on… -
Could Facebook Shut Down Over SOPA & PIPA?
17 Jan 2012 | 11:30 amIf you are like many people, you are reading a lot about SOPA and PIPA right now. To get the lowdown, check out this post about how SOPA/PIPA can affect you. Also, watch this video about understanding SOPA and PIPA, and find out if Facebook could actually shut down. Though Wikipedia is going dark over SOPA/PIPA tomorrow. Many companies actually support SOPA, from ABC to Visa. Allison Boyer of BlogWorld has a good piece about Why SOPA Scares the You-Know-What Out of Me that talks about a lot of worrisome loopholes. You should also read this article from Daily Kos about the repeated blows SOPA… -
Wikipedia to Go Dark on Wednesday to Protest SOPA & PIPA
17 Jan 2012 | 8:13 amThe U.S. government is currently considering to bills that are causing quite a stir — the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). According to TechCrunch, “Websites found to offer pirated content, along with the services that they use, could be hidden from US internet users by being delisted on search engines and potentially on DNS servers themselves.” Many people believe with these bills, we’d be heading down a slippery slope and the legislation could threaten free speech. Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales has decided to send a message by going dark for… -
How Twitter Can Backfire
17 Jan 2012 | 7:08 amIf you own a business, you might rush out and put your business on Twitter. While this is a good idea most of the time, you should also be aware of how Twitter can backfire and hurt your business. Check out our list below to see if your company is in danger. Lack of Updates If you have a Twitter page for your business that isn’t updated regularly, people may think your business is unreliable. Or they may think your business is out of business. Sounding Like Spam If all you use Twitter for is to talk about your products without any other sort of interaction, your company may get a…
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McBuzz Communications | Mark McLaren
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Even More Free WordPress Help
8 Feb 2012 | 10:07 amLooking for Free WordPress Help? This is the place! You can ask a question about WordPress in the comments on this page, and we will answer as soon as we can. For FREE! Remember, this service is free. If we can’t get to your question right away, please be patient, or try the WordPress support forums. Mark McLaren and McBuzz Communications have been offering Free WordPress Help and Free and Easy WordPress Tutorials for many years. (Please note that McBuzz Communications, McBuzz.com and Mark McLaren are not affiliated with Automattic, WordPress.com or the WordPress.org website.)… -
Online Marketing & Gamification by Design
21 Dec 2011 | 3:02 pmHow Important is Marketing Gamification to a Robust Online Marketing Plan? The following is an interview with Gabe Zichermann, author of the new book Gamification by Design. Every marketer needs to stay on top of trends. Gamification is a trend in web and mobile design that is big and getting bigger. My sincere thanks to Gabe for the opportunity to conduct this interview. Mark McLaren: When I first read the title of your book, Gamification by Design, my reaction was, “Won’t be reading that!” I associated it with online games, “gamers”, massively multiplayer… -
Is a Listing in Yahoo Directory a Valuable Link? Yes. Worth the Cost? It Depends
7 Nov 2011 | 9:53 pmYahoo Directory - Should you pay to list your site here? One way to improve your site’s search engine optimization is to submit it to online directories. Some directories are more respected than others. One of the most widely respected online directories is Yahoo. Should you pay $300 – $450 a year to list your website in the Yahoo Directory? Probably not. Just as there is debate about the value of being listed in another well-established, old-school directory called dmoz.org, there is debate among veteran search engine optimization pros about the value of a listing in the Yahoo… -
Using Footer Links for Search Engine Optimization
27 Oct 2011 | 11:30 pmExample of Footer Links on McBuzz.com: an easy way to boost Search Engine Opimization Can you use links in the footer of your website to improve search engine rankings? If those footer links go to internal pages on your own website, the answer is absolutely yes. I have read on some SEO sites that footer links are not as helpful to SEO as they once were. This is probably true, given that Google has become more adept at determining when links are being used as navigation on every page as opposed to an “editorial” link that appears in the body of a page and is being used by the… -
Farewell Steve Jobs
5 Oct 2011 | 10:41 pmToday one of the world’s greatest technologists and innovators passed away at the age of 56. Our sincere condolences go out to his friends and family. Farewell, Steve Jobs. You changed the world of design – for good.
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SocialButterfly
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What’s In A Campaign? That Which We Call Change
8 Feb 2012 | 7:08 pmAs the science behind social change evolves, how we approach our work must too. And sometimes, it is just symantics. But sometimes, it’s not. It’s a difference in mentality. Take the idea of a “campaign” for example. The word campaign itself brings with it assumed processes, methods and associations. It also ranks up there with “awareness” as one of the most overused and over-relied upon words in public health. We can do better. The word-of-mouth company, Brains on Fire, wrote a brilliant manifesto on the inherent differences between a campaign and a… -
Is Talking About Spirituality and Social Change Taboo?
23 Jan 2012 | 8:44 pmWhat shapes your world view? How does your world view influence your work to change the world for the better? Growing up, we’re told we shouldn’t talk about two things: politics and religion. Yet these two things often help set the foundation of one’s world view. How do we go about changing the world for the better if we can’t talk about either? It’s not realistic--Is it? www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXfD5SJgPqo “If I hear one more politician croak out the words that his or her faith is a private matter, I may just have to go smack them. That is so not reality. -
Passion Meets Purpose – Let’s #Rock2012
13 Jan 2012 | 8:24 pmHow are you applying purpose to your passion? Between blogging with Razoo and working at IQ Solutions on fun projects such as launching Healthy People 2020 and our Nation’s Leading Health Indicators, it’s been awhile. There are two announcements I want to share: Evolving Beyond the Free Agent Fundraiser Jo Rampy crossing the finish line at the inaugural TRI 2 Encourage with her family. My family and I (pictured above) have launched a nonprofit foundation to help advance multiple sclerosis research called the Rampy MS Research Foundation. Our vision? Find a cure for MS within our… -
Social Media Is Not a Marketing Strategy
20 Nov 2011 | 6:40 pmThere, I said it. Social media in and of itself is not a strategy (gasp). It does not replace a solid marketing approach or even a communications plan. To be successful, it must be integrated into a larger strategic framework. This applies to organizations as well as programs, initiatives and (my dreaded word) campaigns. Harvard Business Review recently published an article titled “Separate Social Media From Marketing:” …we need to break out social media and talk about more than marketing and technology. Instead, we need to talk about what social media enables: the ability… -
Reading Up On Social Determinants of Health
10 Oct 2011 | 7:29 pmOctober may be Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but a number of articles came out last week focusing on social determinants of health. The phrase “social determinants of health” refers to health where we live, learn, work, play (and pray). In short, Health with a capital H. U.S. Life Expectancy Rises, Health Disparities Increase Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shared its review of Healthy People 2010. The report shared that as a Nation, we had met or were moving toward meeting, 71% of the disease prevention and health promotion objectives we set in…
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Debbie Weil's Blog
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Why a Short Book? Hint: Quicker to Write and Delivers Same Business Benefits
8 Feb 2012 | 10:30 amThe cool thing about writing a short book and self-publishing it on Amazon Kindle is that you can think of yourself as a Beta Author. Why Beta? Think of it as an Agile Book Launch. Your short book will be provocative, smart and well-written. It will have a sizzling title and a click-inducing cover. But it may be the first in a series of books. You may want to write a longer book later. You may want to revise it. No problem. As an entrepreneurial author, you're in charge. You don't need permission from a big New York publisher. The theory beyond agile software development and lean… -
My Three Words for 2012: Alignment, Quiet and Compassion
1 Feb 2012 | 1:17 amInspired by a number of other bloggers and authors, including Chris Brogan (Temple, Untangle, Practice), Jonathan Fields (Serve, Inspire, Transcend) and Chris Guillebeau (Finishing), I am starting 2012 with three words. I was tempted to say "launching" 2012 because that's what it feels like. More about that in a minute. First, my words: Alignment Quiet Compassion Alignment 2012 is going to be a year of adventure, excitement and hard work. Oh, and lots of unknowns. Why? Because I have launched a new company, Voxie Media. Voxie Media is a new hybrid. It's a next-generation publishing… -
Wake Up and Write For Your Existing Readers (Don’t Look for Readers Later)
27 Jan 2012 | 12:22 pmSeth Godin reminds us - again - of the new way to think about writing a business book. You are writing for the fans and followers you already have. Your tribe. They are the ones who will celebrate with you and kick off word-of-mouth sales if you set your launch price on Kindle at $0.00. As Seth puts it: "Wake up in the morning thinking about what (you) can write for (your) readers." Not the other way around. The old mindset went like this: write your book, get it edited, get blurbs from big names, design a great cover, print, distribute, launch and hold your breath for sales. In other words,… -
Is Publishing a Kick-ass eBook for Kindle One of Your Goals for 2012?
29 Dec 2011 | 12:44 pmWe're betting it is. And there are one spot no spots left to pre-register for the next Beta Author Boost, starting in March 2012. Beta Author Boost is a unique writing workshop that enables up-and-coming business authors to write and publish a short, kick-ass eBook for Amazon Kindle in 8 weeks. The first Beta Author Boost sold out in less than 12 hours. The program is currently in full swing with 10 subject matter experts working on a wide variety of book topics. We are having a blast. Writing a book, even a short book, is hard. What if a drop-dead deadline propelled you to finish your… -
Context vs. Content: What Sells Your Book?
21 Dec 2011 | 5:12 amContext is one of those words that sparks a multidimensional image in your head. That is key to understanding why context (who, where, how, what, why) has as much to do with the success or popularity of a new book as does the actual content of that book. Who recommended the book to you? That counts for a lot. You tend to trust recommendations from friends who are discerning and on top of what's new. Where did you hear about the book? Were you online, on a social network like Facebook or Twitter, where it required no more than a couple of clicks to download the book in digital format to…
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Technosailor.com
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TUTORIAL: Using WordPress’Ajax API
8 Feb 2012 | 9:46 amWordPress has tons of APIs to do tons of things. It really does. One of the cool ones that I’ve been using a lot lately, has been around for a bit. It’s the Ajax API. Sure, you could write your own Ajaxy thing but why do that when WordPress lets you do it all very simply. This tutorial will show you how to replicate the functionality that is presented in the “Like” button at Facebook. It assumes that you have WordPress set to require users to be logged in to take such actions. It wouldn’t make much sense for someone to not be logged in for such functionality. -
Blackouts, Boycotts and Regressing From Progress
30 Jan 2012 | 1:54 pmA couple of weeks ago, the United States, and in fact, the world saw the internet grow up. Namely, through the use of blackouts – a previously unused tactic of protest and grassroots organizing – we saw the evil Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and it’s evil twin Protect IP (PIPA) anti-piracy legislation fail in what seemed like an instant. Back in December, it became clear that Congress would hearken to their corporate sugar daddys and shove these two pieces of legislation through the Congress without so much as a minimal amount of input from the technology world that would… -
Congratulations, Internet. We Won the Day.
19 Jan 2012 | 12:05 pmToday, I feel like a proud poppa. I don’t want to get too celebratory and put out some kind of aura that our battle against SOPA and PIPA are over. In fact, neither are over. But I’ll get to that in a minute, because yesterday was AMAZING! Yesterday, we saw the Internet come of age. We’ve seen the trend. The Internet has played a crucial role in the Arab Spring, political activism and fundraising as seen in the Obama election campaign in 2008, news reporting as seen in the incident of the US Airways jet in the Hudson River. We’ve seen a definite maturation process on… -
Open Letter to Congressman Lamar Smith Regarding SOPA Championing
18 Jan 2012 | 11:55 amAn email sent to the House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), who insists on pushing the SOPA bill through committee. Dear Mr. Smith- This is an open letter which will be published online, and promoted on Facebook, Twitter and other networks. As a Texas resident, I find it egregious that you have decided to sell out so uniformly to the entertainment industry. It is so transparent, in fact, that federal records show that your biggest donor are from the holding company for Clear Channel and your biggest campaign contributions come from the entertainment industry itself. -
Your Fiefdom Doesn’t Matter (Or Get your Head out of Your Regional Startup Ass)
5 Jan 2012 | 12:58 pmPhoto used under Creative Commons. Taken by Fellowship of the Rich There’s this thing called Protectionism. Protectionism is largely a political word used to describe the retreat to self-isolationism for the sake of preserving well-being. It was a word tossed around in late 2008 and 2009 after the market crash when the international community joined together to try to stave off a global economic failure. There were some who believed the United States had their own issues and shouldn’t be worrying about bailing out Europe. This mentality still exists, for better or for worse. But…
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Marketing Roadmaps
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Is Facebook the new website?
31 Jan 2012 | 7:00 pmThis weekend is the Super Bowl, and while I will be paying slightly more attention to the game because the Patriots are playing, my main interest is in the advertising. This year, I will be watching closely to see how many commercials drive to Facebook pages, in addition to or instead of, a website. Because Facebook is clearly where so many brands are going these days. It reminds me a little of the “web rush” in the mid/late 90s when mainstream brands realized what many tech companies had grokked since the first browser in 1993, that the browser had changed the marketing equation… -
Facebook just wants “to be a real boy”
10 Jan 2012 | 8:03 pmThis is the time of year when some folks trot out the tarot cards and crystal balls, and attempt to predict the coming year. And others wax eloquent (mostly) on what transpired in the year just past. Over the 7 years I have been writing this blog, I have generally tried to stay away from this sort of post. This year, however, that is pretty much what you are going to get. There are a few trends that I have been watching for a while now, always intending to post about them but never quite having the time. Here’s the first. Facebook just wants “to be a real boy” and… -
Should you work for free?
21 Oct 2011 | 1:15 pmThe social media “industry” is built on the back of people doing “stuff” for free. The business models of most social networks — Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Flickr, YouTube etc. etc. — depend on consumers using the free/”freemium” services and thereby creating both the free content that attracts and retains users, and more importantly, a mine-able database. People. Topics. Linkages (who are your friends, what do you like, where do you go). Marketing gold. And the companies are reaping the benefits of our “work” in potentially… -
BlogHer Visionaries
1 Oct 2011 | 12:44 pmFor the past few weeks, I’ve been working on the launch of BlogHer’s new consumer panel, Visionaries. I’m very excited about the possibilities we have with the panel to connect the BlogHer audience with brands. Once or twice a month, we’ll be sending panel members a survey or perhaps even an offer to try a free product. The first trial offer is in the field — sign up for Visionaries now and get a full 12-ounce bottle of Dove® Body Wash with NutriumMoisture™. Click here to join. -
Lessons to be learned from ConAgra/Ketchum’s Sotto Terra blogger event
7 Sep 2011 | 8:25 pmI’m back! You had to know I would not be able to resist commenting on the ConAgra/Ketchum “Sotto Terra” blogger events in New York last month that went so horribly, tragically wrong. So wrong that the fallout made it to the pages of the New York Times. Ouch. I’m not going to rehash the details here, because this post is not about piling it on. The company, brand and agency have been thoroughly schooled in the blogosphere already. Instead, I am going to focus on a few lessons that have nothing to do with the specific brand, that anyone involved in blogger outreach can…
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Koka Sexton dot Com
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Social Media Engagement Drives More Followers
21 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pmA few weeks ago I tasked the team to pay closer attention to the community we have developed on Twitter. The goal was to see if being more engaged with our community would drive more fans and followers. It seems like common sense but I wanted to test it out just to make sure the extra time spent would result in an increase. I’ll be the first to say that the number of followers you have is not the most important metric. In fact companies that think that numbers are the most important metric, miss the point of what social media is all about. The metric should be based around the amount of… -
My iPad is the Hottest
21 Jan 2012 | 10:21 amThis is a first for me. I guess my iPad gets just as worked up over Twitter and Facebook as I do. -
Too busy to blog?
21 Dec 2011 | 10:11 pmInterrupting our regularly scheduled program of sorting through work emails and other social marketing tasks to actually right a blog post here on my blog that I have been neglecting. I haven’t been slacking. It’s been an exciting ride at InsideView this year. I just read my post from my first week at InsideView for the first time since I wrote it. Damn, we’ve accomplished alot since then. Complete social marketing / engagement plans, new websites, 153 blog posts, the launch of Social Selling University, roadshows, and learning more than I can express. But I’ve… -
Heading to Social Media Plus
14 Nov 2011 | 11:23 amThis week I’m going to be in Philadelphia speaking at the Social Media Plus business summit. I was accepted as a speaker and will talking about Leveraging Social Media for B2B Sales Teams. SocialMediaPlus will consist of 21 seminars on real-world topics that will help you walk away with an understanding of how to effectively implement Social Media strategies inside your company. You will hear from marketing directors, technology professionals, and social media experts, telling you how they have used social media to build brand, interact with customers and generate revenue. I’m… -
How to Activate Your Facebook Timeline [video]
23 Sep 2011 | 8:33 pmThis is gold for those of us that heard all the hype around Facebook Timeline and can’t wait to see the changes to Facebook. Here’s how it works: Facebook Timeline looks like a Tumblr blog, letting you scroll vertically through all the biggest moments in your life–maps of where you’ve been, pictures, comments, apps, and more. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-timeline-2011-9#ixzz1YpyDOoBk
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The Social Customer Manifesto
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Good Attention vs. Bad Attention
5 Feb 2012 | 2:44 pmThe confluence of the Super Bowl and its focus on immense ad spend, coupled with speaking at last week’s NetPromoter conference triggered a thought. Are there two kinds of attention (let’s call them “Good Attention” and “Bad Attention”), in the same way that there are two kinds of profits? We know that there are two kinds of profits. Good profits are profits that fuel growth, and come from serving customers in such a way that they are willing to recommend your organization to others. Bad profits, conversely, are the types of profits where the customer feels… -
Social Engagement Journey Video
15 Jan 2012 | 11:39 amCheck out this fun little video on the Social Engagement Journey that our team in Seattle just put together. -
Social Business 2012 Presentation
29 Nov 2011 | 2:08 pmI’ll be speaking about social business strategy at the ASAE Technology Conference and Expo CIO Summit next week in Washington, DC. There are three key components to the conversation. 1) The Social Engagement Journey The Journey is the recognizable progression of social engagement capabilities that a large enterprise goes through on its way to becoming a social businesses. 2) The Relationship Progression While the “purchase funnel” has been well understood for years, there is a comparative dearth of conversation around how business relationships progress over time. A… -
This Week’s Social Business Jam
11 Nov 2011 | 10:48 amA number of luminaries participated on this week’s W3C Social Business Jam, including Doc Searls (pictured), Alex “Sandy” Pentland and the inventor of the web itself, Sir Tim Berners-Lee. A jam is “an online conversation among leaders in business, government and technology about the current state of social business, the future role that social technologies can play in improving the bottom line, and how social technology should evolve in order to support business objectives.” There were a number of deep conversations, which generated over 1,100 posts on the… -
Google+ Launches Brand Pages
7 Nov 2011 | 3:58 amThe big news today is that Google+ has finally announced their long-awaited brand pages with a blog post here. The top line, from Google: For businesses and brands, Google+ pages help you connect with the customers and fans who love you. Not only can they recommend you with a +1, or add you to a circle to listen long-term. They can actually spend time with your team, face-to-face-to-face. All you need to do is start sharing, and you'll soon find the super fans and loyal customers that want to say hello. A number of pages are already available (see below), but any organization…
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MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog
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How to Find ROI in the Multichannel Marketing Haystack
9 Feb 2012 | 6:51 amA guest post by Irv Shapiro of Ifbyphone. Admit it: Sometimes, you get knots in your stomach when you think about trying to attach measurable outcomes to all of your company’s multichannel marketing campaigns. The (sort of) good news is that you’re not alone. Even veteran marketers are having a tough time finding ROI in the ever-expanding haystack that is today’s multichannel marketing environment. But the unsettling news is that easy, online tracking tools and a shaky economy have created a C-suite expectation that every dollar spent must be connected to a quantifiable and measurable… -
How Social Media Is Changing the Agency/Client Relationship
8 Feb 2012 | 10:03 amThis week on the Marketing Smarts Podcast, we discuss the evolving relationship between agencies and clients in the era of social media. Our guest is Glenn Engler, CEO of Digital Influence Group, a full-service digital agency with “social media at the core” of everything they do. The jumping-off point for our interview was that “social at the core” position. I wanted to know what that meant, and Glenn explained that, in a nutshell, it doesn’t make sense for an agency to offer “social” as a capability to its clients (as in, “We can also do… -
5 Super Bowl XVLI Ads That Could Have Been Improved with a Mobile Call-to-Action
8 Feb 2012 | 6:49 amMarketers buy into the Super Bowl telecast because it is the one time of the year when consumers are actually tuning in to commercials instead of muting the volume or fast-forwarding on their DVR. Here’s an old school recipe for success: One part new product or service offering upgrade A tear-inducing script (Tears can be a result of hilarity or a message that pulls at the heartstrings.) One teaspoon of a timely message (Think Valentine’s Day and/or tax season.) A cute animal or hot celebrity A tease in the media What’s missing in this day of 24/7 social, mobile consumers? Mobile calls… -
The Questions I Would Ask If I Were Marketing Your Business
7 Feb 2012 | 6:53 amAdvice from Internet marketing pundits is becoming like rock and roll was to a previous generation—it sounds like just a bunch of noise. Every blog-as-media-outlet, thought-leader platform, and social technology company’s website screams top 10 ways to do this and how-to posts to do that. And marketing professionals are left trying to filter the wheat from the chaff. The challenge marketing and brand managers face today, however, is not the basic how-tos of social media. They need less of the top five and top sevens and top 10s, and more content that marries the tactical to-dos… -
How to Deliver Your Sales Pitch, So Folks Listen
6 Feb 2012 | 6:56 amA guest post by Sarika Periwal of karmaCRM. Talking is the best tool of a salesperson. The only way that you have face to face of convincing a person to buy a specific product or service is by convincing them that they need it. This includes highlighting the benefits that the product brings to their life to make it simpler. It also means that to be a successful salesperson you need to have impeccable communication skills. However, this is not an inherent skill but one that has to be developed through practice. Here are a few things that you should keep in mind when you next deliver your sales…
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Digital Trends
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Groupon earnings disappoint in first public quarter
9 Feb 2012 | 8:29 amGroupon offers disappointing earnings in its first quarter as a public company, but where is Groupon Now? -
Is Google planning to open a retail store in Ireland?
9 Feb 2012 | 6:55 amLocal paperwork calls for store in Dublin to sell "Google merchandise" to the public. -
Apple iPad 3 due first week of March: report
9 Feb 2012 | 6:49 amApple will purportedly announce the iPad 3 during the first week of March, according to a new report. -
Is returning to the moon really such a crackpot idea?
9 Feb 2012 | 6:15 amNewt Gingrich may have given moon exploration the kiss of death by endorsing it on the stump, but pushing frontiers in space remains an admirable goal. Here’s why bright minds are looking skyward for our future beyond the Web. -
iPhone Elevation Dock nears $1 million in Kickstarter funding, but why?
9 Feb 2012 | 4:40 amThe Elevation IPhone Dock has broken Kickstarter's all-time record for the highest amount of funding for a single project. But what made it so successful?
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SocialTimes.com
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“OMG I Have To Tweet This” & Other Sh** A Social Media Manager Says
9 Feb 2012 | 2:51 amOver the past couple months a brand new meme has taken over YouTube (and the world!)—the hilarious ‘Sh** Girls Say’ web series has spawned a deluge of copycats, from ‘Sh** Gay Guys Say’ to ‘Sh** White Girls Say…To Black Girls’, ‘Shit Single Girls Say’ and more. And in recent weeks the tech savvy have gotten in on the fun with ‘Sh** VCs Say’, ‘Sh** Silicon Valley Says’ and now, ‘Sh** a Social Media Community Manager Says.’ continued… New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media. -
Video: Making 6-Figures From YouTube…In Your Spare Time?
9 Feb 2012 | 2:03 amEarlier this month the Wall Street Journal reported that YouTuber Ray William Johnson is making an estimated $1 million a year thanks to the video site, and for the past few days the web has been abuzz with chatter about making money from YouTube. A report from Nadia Han of ABC News in Philadelphia looks into the potential of ‘Cashing in on YouTube.’ Some of the details in the report are surprising, to say the least. continued… New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media. -
The Facebook Platform Roadmap in 2012
9 Feb 2012 | 1:17 amFor Facebook, 2012 will be the year of the third party app. News, videos, and songs streaming down your newsfeed are just a “small taste of overall vision,” said Carl Sjogreen, director of product management for Facebook at the Inside Social Apps Conference. The focus for the coming year will be on enhancements to Open Graph, mobile and games. continued… New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media. -
ISA 2012: Facebook, Apple, Google – Which Platforms Hold the Most Opportunity in 2012?
8 Feb 2012 | 8:06 amToday at the Inside Social Apps Conference 2012 in San Francisco, game developers discussed which platforms hold the most promise in 2012. continued… New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media. -
‘Bed Intruder’ Star Antoine Dodson Releases A Single [Video]
8 Feb 2012 | 6:51 amIt’s been awhile since Antoine Dodson serenaded us with his amazing words, “Hide your kids; hide your wife; and hide your husband.” But the time has come—Dodson is now working on his own album, 2012 AD, and this week his first single is going viral. continued… New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
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Biz Growth News - branding, business development and new media tips to attract more clients in less time
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14 tips to help you be more productive ‘getting things done’ in 2012
30 Jan 2012 | 12:10 amNOTE: If you are based in Ireland and are looking for expert guidance and support in development of systems to enhance your productivity, you will find a special offer at the bottom of this article to access a 15% discountor a coming workshop on productivity. As we approach the end of the first month of the year how are you progressing with your objectives and goals? The chances are you started off the year with great expectations of all the things you wanted to achieve in the first quarter of the year, but one or two things have not gone to plan. Many of us find ourselves in the situation… -
Marketing To Women: research about digital influence and the female Irish consumer
11 Oct 2011 | 5:47 amI was delighted to be invited to deliver a presentation at the conference ‘Purse Power: How to Engage and Influence the New Irish Female Consumer’ hosted by RD Communications recently. It has been some time since I have been asked to specifically speak about marketing to a female audience but with around 300 attendees at the conference there is clearly an interest in this topic. As part of the preparation I also had the opportunity to get involved in Irish research developed for the conference and in collaboration with Rachel Dalton of RD Communications and Oisin Byrne of iReach. Here… -
Book Review: Twitter for Good – Change the world one tweet at a time, an essential guide to Twitter for non profits
6 Sep 2011 | 12:08 pmAre you still trying to get to grips using Twitter and are unsure how it can support your organisations goals, especially if you are a non profit? Then here is a book I highly recommend that you read – and make sure that you read to end of this article as for today only you can access the book at NO COST. The book is called “Twitter for Good: Change the world one Tweet at a Time” and is authored by Twitter’s own Claire Diaz-Ortiz who leads social innovation and philanthropy. I was delighted to receive access to”Twitter for Good” from Claire’s publisher Jossey-Bass… -
Using Twylah to attract more traffic from Twitter to your website or blog
18 Aug 2011 | 6:00 amAre you using Twitter to attract more traffic to your website or blog and boost your online visibility? Tweets don't have a long shelf life – just take a look at the analytics of your Tweets is you are using a tool to track the number of click’s on your links in Twitter and you will no doubt see a sharp spike on ‘click throughs’ around the time you send out the Tweet. Research has been done that demonstrates that you can get additional traffic by sending out your Tweets multiple times – in fact Guy Kawasaki talked about this on American Express open Forum… -
Book review: Business Networking – how to use the power of networking for business success by Heather Townsend
31 Jul 2011 | 11:22 amThis is a first in a series of reviews of books that I have read recently and think you might enjoy over the Summer. Last week I ran a full day workshop about using Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook in your business and we had over 100 people attend. At the end of the session I hosted a break out group specifically about using these tools to help the delegates in their job search and one of the key themes I covered was the importance of integrating your networking plan across online and offline groups and associations. Many of us spend our time in the ‘real world’ not the…
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Stay N Alive
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Xydo Pivots to a New, Targeted B2B Content Model for Your Business Newsletter
8 Feb 2012 | 5:24 pmIf you're reading this, there's a good chance you clicked on a link from my newsletter to get it. If you didn't, go over to the right column of my blog and subscribe now! (or just click here) One thing I haven't been able to divulge until now is that there's an innovative company that I've been using to provide these weekly emails that provide customized news from my social news streams, and -
Path's Privacy Problems Aren't Path's - They're Apple's
8 Feb 2012 | 1:05 amThe world is up in arms about how the mobile application Path, which I covered here as one of the next social networks to watch, has been sending users' phone directory data back to the service. As someone that knows the founders and trusts what they'll do with the data, I didn't give it a second thought, but the concern is valid. I'd like to suggest that the problem isn't Path's though. In -
The Solution to Offshore Manufacturing is Technology, Not Politics
24 Jan 2012 | 8:56 pmIn The Biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, it talked about a meeting Steve Jobs had with President Obama. Jobs was quoted saying, '“You’re headed for a one-term presidency,” Jobs told Obama at the outset. To prevent that, he said, the administration needed to be a lot more business-friendly. He described how easy it was to build a factory in China, and said that it was almost impossible -
Defining Social Product Strategy Within the Organization - a New Role I Think Companies Should Pursue
11 Jan 2012 | 12:35 pmOver the last several years, as we've seen Social Media grow and mature within organizations, I've been in a bit of a struggle as I've tried to define my role at each organization. As a software developer and entrepreneur interested in product design and growth, I've been forced into this world of marketing, a world where developers typically avoid. I've grown to enjoy it, and I think I've -
There's Plenty of Room to Grow for Enterprise Social
7 Jan 2012 | 4:34 pmOn Thursday Altimeter Group released a report, titled "A Strategy for Managing Social Media Proliferation", on the state of social media strategy in global corporations with over 1,000 employees. The report is quite telling, suggesting that most organizations in this category simply aren't properly aligning business values with social media strategy and lack the proper tools to manage their
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Quick Online Tips
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Switched WP Super Cache to Quick Cache
9 Feb 2012 | 12:03 amWe have switched over from WP-SuperCache to QuickCache as the primary WordPress caching plugin for our site. We have used WP-SuperCache for over 5 years now and it is one of the best caching plugins out there. WP-Super Cache However, since the release of the latest version, there were some buggy issues and we were unable to delete the cache. It was getting tedious to FTP inside the server and manually delete the cache. Then repeatedly reinstalling the plugin, some strange kind of 403 errors occured. It was time to try a new caching plugin… Kindly note these are isolated issues… -
How to Find Thin Content on Your Site
7 Feb 2012 | 7:36 amSite traffic hit by Google Panda? It is essential to find thin content on your site and remove it to avoid being slapped by Google algorithm penalties like Google Panda, which specifically target to reduce search engine rankings to sites with thin content. What is Thin Content? Simply put it is poor content, low quality content, few words of content which is classified as ‘low quality’ by search engines and fails to generate any significant search engine traffic. So basically it adds to the site bloat and reduces your link equity value. Note that low pageviews does not necessarily… -
Highlight Tumblr Posts for More Site Traffic
5 Feb 2012 | 10:10 amNow you can highlight Tumblr posts for $1 only and feature your outstanding content to your followers. By just spending $1, your blog post will get highlighted and stand out in the dashboards of all your Tumblr followers, neatly set apart with a custom sticker to add to the extra visibility. Highlight Tumblr Posts I noticed a new option has appeared when you post a new article at the bottom right corner, titled “Highlight this post”. This gives you a choice of text across various categories and also allows you to choose from various logos (besides the default Bolt) and colors. -
Forum Marketing 101: Get Laser-Targeted Free Traffic
1 Feb 2012 | 8:33 amForum Marketing can get you laser-targeted free traffic. Traffic is the lifeline of any internet business. Without traffic, it really doesn’t matter how good your sales copy is or what kind of killer product you have to offer. If no one ever sees your page, sales will be pretty dismal. There a dozens of ways to get traffic to your site. Some of the methods include Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click, guest blogging, and solo ads, just to name a few. While paying for visitors can bring immediate rewards, it’s also possible to lose a ton of money while you’re learning… -
Create Facebook Timeline Videos with Timeline Movie Maker
31 Jan 2012 | 8:40 amCreate Facebook Timeline movies now using the Facebook Timeline Movie Maker – an official Facebook app which will extract photos and news feeds and create an amazing Facebook Timeline movie to share with your friends. Its now easier than ever to create your Facebook Timeline video. Facebook Timeline Movie Maker First you need to activate Facebook Timeline, which is already rolling out to all Facebook users (and choose correct Facebook Cover Photos sizes). Once you get started with Facebook timeline, then you will understand the new layout and features well. The concept is interesting…
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Social Media Mom
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The History and Evolution of the Businessman
30 Jan 2012 | 2:15 pmReading time: < 1 minute Sometimes it is hard to imagine a time before the internet and social networks - even as new as they are. These avenues of communication have completely changed the course of business, and thus, the businessman. Business MBA recently launched an infographic that takes us back to a time when prehistoric man made survival his business, we meet the poets of the renaissance, the discoverers of new worlds, and eventually a generation with the world at their fingertips who has proven to be unlike any other. From: Business MBA -
Win Free Tickets To ABC’s, The Revolution
25 Jan 2012 | 6:39 amReading time: 1 – 2 minutes If you are a fan of Ty Pennington, or of daytime talk shows, or of living a better life – this is your chance to be front and center. ABC is offering free tickets to be a part of their new show’s live studio audience. This is a wonderful opportunity. I am very impressed with the entire premise of the show. Here on Social Media Mom, we often talk about living a better and more balanced life, which is the idea behind The Revolution. When it comes to style, adventure, health, and fitness – The Revolution is doing its part to make people happy… -
A Guide To Travel Therapy Jobs
18 Jan 2012 | 10:15 amReading time: < 1 minute Many of us spend our lives looking for that dream job, and in this economy, we are forced to take what we can get. This is part of the reason Onward Healthcare's new infographic resonated with me. It is always reassuring to see industries that help job creation. This particular career track is interesting because: you can live comfortably off of it, you have the resources to help others, and you get to travel the country. Check out the following infographic for more information on this career, and let us know if you know anyone in this field or are interested in… -
Faces iMake App. Stimulates Creativity
16 Jan 2012 | 7:36 amReading time: 2 – 2 minutes The new app. for your iPhone and iPad, is an award winning activity for your kids. Your child will take everyday objects and make faces out of them. It helps your child to be more creative and stimulates right brain activity. The application was created by children’s book author, Hanoch Piven, and is loved by parents just as much as kids. Many parents have called it addicting, and say it even makes them feel they are being more creative. The game is easy and intuitive for your children, and has been said to be very helpful to children with… -
Apple To Apples: Tech vs. Fruit
11 Jan 2012 | 8:41 amReading time: < 1 minute I came across a great infographic, by MBA Online, that I thought was so clever. This was a very interesting way of getting cool stats on America's favorite technology, and Russia's favorite fruit. It should also be no surprise that most of our apples, and all of our Apples come from China. I hope this brings some joy to your wednesday! Created by: MBA Online
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PR-Squared - Social Media Marketing and Public Relations
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Open Letter to Havas CEO David Jones
8 Feb 2012 | 8:12 amHi Mr. Jones. I caught your MSNBC interview this morning with Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski re: your new book, Who Cares Wins: Why Good Business is Better Business. You made some excellent points re: how transparency, authenticity and speed will win the day for corporations; about how companies who expect to do well must increasingly expect to do good, as it is becomes ever easier for consumers to suss out egregious behavior and punish bad actors (from un-friending to public humiliation). This is all well-worn territory for Social Media geeks, of course, but it’s always good… -
Facebook IPO is Good for Everybody
6 Feb 2012 | 6:35 amDepending on who you ask, the Facebook IPO will result in boundless glory or is destined to be remembered as the final pinprick in an impending burst of the current tech bubble. For my part, whereas in the past I likened Facebook to previous Walled Garden successes like AOL (the AOL of the early 90′s, not the AOL of today – which is a SHIFT client!), in the past 18 months or so I’ve only been impressed by Facebook’s ability to embed itself across the larger, open expanses of the Web. It “rides alongside” us as we surf, versus dictating how and where we experience the… -
Susan G. Komen PR Disaster: Lessons Learned
3 Feb 2012 | 11:27 amWow. It’s been nearly two weeks since my last blog post. Sorry about that. I was out sick. And wow, what a crazy time to sit on the sidelines… Facebook IPO. Hello! More on that in a future post. Susan G. Komen vs. Planned Parenthood. Sheesh! Let’s talk about that! (Caveat: I am a Blue State progressive; whose mother died of breast cancer; who marched on Washington as a college student in support of women’s rights; and whose dear-departed grandmother spoke with horror of the days prior to Roe v. Wade. Got all that? You’ve been warned.) Just as I started… -
It’s the End of the Web as We Know It … or, Speed Kills
23 Jan 2012 | 9:46 amThose of you who follow me on other social nets like Twitter or Facebook know that I am pretty opinionated when it comes to politics. Suffice to say that I am a card-carrying member of the “Liberal Coastal Elites.” (I try not to over-indulge or bore folks with it; and I certainly can play nice with my right-leaning friends.) I bring it all up only as a segue to the fact that I am a big fan of Andrew Sullivan’s Dish blog. Sullivan’s one of the big dogs in blogging; he’s been freshly-empowered by his move to the Daily Beast to experiment… -
Thoughts on a Twitterversary
19 Jan 2012 | 7:18 amLet’s take a ramble. One of those automated spambots on Twitter informed me that today was my 5–year anniversary of microblogging. Wow. Five years. Really? What was I up to five years ago? I was living in Boston, in-between my family’s quinquennial moves to San Francisco. My brain was on fire, as I’d hit upon a worthy successor to the Social Media News Release concept and was just a couple of weeks away from debuting the Social Media Newsroom template. As I look back, 2007 was a prolific time for the entire Social Media industry. It was not only the year Twitter…
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The Responsible Marketing Blog
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Your name + your picture = LinkedIn ad
31 Jan 2012 | 10:01 amI received the following message over the weekend from LinkedIn friend David Quinn that you definitely need to read: I really like LinkedIn, but as a person concerned about privacy and social networks, I believe that I have to point out a change to you. Without attracting too much publicity, LinkedIn has updated their privacy conditions and has now granted itself permission to use YOUR NAME AND PICTURE in any of their advertisements. Yes: Your name + your picture = A LinkedIn ad. Some simple actions to be considered by you: 1. Place the cursor on your name at the top right corner of the… -
It worked with Darth Vader. Why not Ferris Bueller?
30 Jan 2012 | 1:11 amVolkswagen’s “The Force” Volkswagen commercial was a huge hit with nearly 50 million views since its Super Bowl release last year. Here it is, in the unlikely event you haven’t seen it: Now, a 10 second trailer featuring Matthew Broderick has the internets abuzz wondering if a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off sequel in the works. With over four million views in three days, the video has gone viral. Rumor has it there’s no sequel, but instead it’s teasing an ad for the new Honda CR-V. Some enraged Ferris fans are dropping f-bombs, threatening to key Hondas,… -
Responsible Marketing LinkedIn group is heating up
28 Nov 2011 | 5:51 pmDid you know there’s a Responsible Marketing Group on LinkedIn? Yep, it currently has an international membership of 866 members, and the conversation has recently heated up recently. Check out a great conversation we’re having about Denny’s Maple Bacon Sundae, and feel free to join us as we discuss where commerce and conscience collide and/or come together. -
How, when and where we share on the web
4 Nov 2011 | 11:37 amTake a few minutes to review these enlightening statistics from AddThis representing sharing trends over the last five years. A few highlights: Most active day for sharing: Wednesdays Most active time of day: 9:30 A.M. EST Most users click within the first two minutes 75% of clicks happen within the first day Interestingly, most shares are happening via good ol’ cut and paste. Who’d a thunk it? via Mashable -
Tums commercials gone wrong
14 Sep 2011 | 5:28 pmIn commercials, funny is money. So is sex. So when combined, sexually suggestive, funny commercials are usually bank. And the more sophomoric the humor, the more I usually like them. But these new spots for Tums antacid are just wrong — specifically these three: Inappropriately suggestive is funny when it makes sense, and is relevant to the product. But this is Tums antacid they’re selling, not condoms or 4-hour-erection Cialis. The production values for the spots are top notch, so Grey (Worldwide) obviously spent some bucks making them. But what does phallic food and orally fixated…
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Jon Burg's Future Visions
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Making The Angry Hordes Work For You: Lessons From Ellen and JC Penney
8 Feb 2012 | 1:01 pmEarlier today the always insightful Geoff Livingston share a post highlighting the fear major corporations have of the angry mobs unfortunately common to social media. While this point is certainly valid, I have long believed that there is tremendous opportunity in utilizing advocacy and common sense to redirect that angry energy away from the brand and towards a common goal. For example, a few years back when one of my clients faced charges of customer abuse, I challenged them with creating an industry-wide customer bill of rights, raising the standard for their competition while inviting… -
The International Market Is The Next Great Piracy Frontier
6 Feb 2012 | 3:45 amDigital piracy thrives when there are no normative alternatives. We as a society will only accept the risk and bother of illegally downloading content when the legal alternative fails to deliver an equally accessible and reasonable priced in an acceptable format. For the past 15 years, digital content piracy thrived because legal options were not viable. It was too hard to get to legal content in the formats we wanted. Streaming and downloadable options were not available. Content was being bucketed into bulk purchases (albums) whereby we were forced to pay for content we did not want… -
Lessons Learned: Susan G Komen Vs Their Public
2 Feb 2012 | 10:10 pmThere has been a bit of a social media/public policy kerfuffle over the past week regarding the Susan G Komen non-profit. SGK has done an incredible amount of good and is an organization I generally hold in high regard. Earlier this week word got out that SGK would not longer be offering cooperative services with Planned Parenthood. And then things went south. The public was concerned. They took to social media. They leveled accusations, highly charged political accusations. They posted on Facebook and Twitter. They swarmed the SGK Facebook page. They demanded answers. And… -
Should Brands Be Allowed To Filter Their Facebook Timelines?
29 Jan 2012 | 3:26 amFacebook's Timeline offers a summary of the user's FB life based on an algorithm that is in my experience, pretty reliable. Recent rumors suggest that brands may be getting their own Facebook Timelines as soon as the end of February. This unique platform would pose a number of challenges for a number of major brands, many of whom have invested a good deal of human and financial capital marketing on Facebook. Many brands would not be thrilled with a summary of their most engaging or active periods on Facebook. Any brand that has faced a crises or two knows the veracity and volume of… -
Digital Piracy Explained
22 Jan 2012 | 5:28 amnote: hardness includes cost.
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Web Strategy by Jeremiah
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Google+ Has a Perception Problem
9 Feb 2012 | 5:36 amRemember that smart kid who sat in the front of the class, but was ignored by the cool kids? That’s a good metaphor for what Google+ is going through. I’ve heard from corporate social strategists I should be cautious about how much time and how frequently I discuss this nascent social newtork, and I spoke to media from a Tier 1 this week who said “does anyone even go there anymore? It seems like a wasteland”. Furthermore take this damning image which has been viewed 11k times suggests Google+ is filled with Google employees –and that’s about it. In fact, in our data on Super bowl… -
Altimeter Webinar Recording: State of Social Media Management Industry
8 Feb 2012 | 10:08 amThis week, Altimeter (myself and Andrew Jones, researcher) hosted a webinar stemming from the the recent report on Social Media Proliferation, which you can download the full report on this blog post. In the embedded slides and video below, you’ll be able to get additional insights on how we perceive how this market will change in the coming years: We’ll see a vendor shakeout, although expect pure play vendors of each of the five uses cases to remain Consolidation will occur from market forces of email marketing, web analytics, CMS, marketing automation, brand monitoring, support… -
Hey Retailers! Refine That Mobile Marketing Strategy (Altimeter Report)
7 Feb 2012 | 10:01 amThis latest Altimeter Report, by my colleague Industry Analyst Chris Silva, focuses on how companies must develop a mobile marketing strategy. It sources research from 26 ecosystem contributors including brands, agencies, and technology providers. To learn more about this report, please register for the webinar in which Chris will provide deeper knowledge from the report. This report is powerful in a few ways, it indicates the growth the in space, referencing that 45% of all mobile phone users are carrying a smart phone, and the growth rate for tablets is 23% annually. The report also… -
Five Trends: How Brands Integrated Social, Mobile, and Web into 2012 Super Bowl Advertisements
6 Feb 2012 | 8:39 amBy Altimeter’s Jeremiah Owyang, Brian Solis, and Zak Kirchner Findings: Five Trends Indicate Cross Channel Integration a Mainstay. Super Bowl ads, while only representing the nation’s largest consumer facing ads are a bellwether for advertising trends for the remainder of the year. To best understand these trends, Altimeter Group’s research team analyzed each Ad in real time, and conducted analysis to best understand the advertising trends for 2012. Using Chicago as a middle ground, we reviewed all ads from kickoff till the game clock expired and found that trends out of 87… -
P&G Layoffs Signal Focus on Digital Industry
4 Feb 2012 | 10:49 amLast week was a tremendous change, giant marketer P&G announces 1600 layoffs as they reduce jobs in various roles, and instead shifting budget to digital marketing. The CEO, when pressed, indicates a strong focus on digital marketing, citing: “In the digital space, with things like Facebook and Google and others, we find that return on investment of the advertising when properly designed, when the big idea is there, can be much more efficient” -Bob McDonald, Chairman-CEO, P&G Yet this is a trend, as P&G had previously cut advertising spend on soap operas on traditional TV,…
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Social Gears
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Follr Releases Digital Identity Management Business Platform
25 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amSoftware product extends use of Follr Digital Identity Websites to corporations. Emeryville, CA (January 24th, 2012) Follr, Inc., today announced the release of “Follr Business”, a Web based SaaS (Software as a Service) product aimed at helping corporations leverage employees and staff to protect their brand. The software simultaneously drives online traffic to official marketing channels like Facebook business pages and Twitter, addresses human resource and compliance issues and becomes Follr’s second product alongside their initial consumer platform. Follr’s digital identity… -
Follr Announces Strategic Partnership with WiseStamp
18 Jan 2012 | 9:00 amDeal increases exposure of Follr Digital Identity Websites through seamless and automated email signature integration. Emeryville, CA (January 18th, 2012) Follr, Inc., today announced a partnership with WiseStamp, creator of the leading social email signature builder. The partnership allows Follr users to share their Digital Identity Website link through WiseStamp Email Apps transforming every email into a powerful self expression and promotional tool. Follr’s Digital Identity Websites organize and aggregate an individual’s online information making it accessible via one memorable Website… -
Follr.com Now Supports BranchOut
5 Jan 2012 | 9:00 amYou can now link your BranchOut profile to Follr. Follr’s Digital Identity Websites organize all your online information into one memorable address. Use your Follr address as THE place for people to find your profiles, links, content and contact information. BranchOut is the largest professional network on Facebook with millions of users in 60 countries and 15 languages. On BranchOut, users leverage their Facebook friend network to find jobs, source sales leads, recruit talent, and foster relationships with professional contacts. BranchOut also operates the largest job board on Facebook… -
Social Media Data – LOADS of Social Media Data Continued!
4 Jan 2012 | 7:00 amSo, following on from yesterday’s post (See: ‘Social Media Data – LOADS of Social Media Data!’) here is infographic # 3 and # 4 which leads to a question: is social media any clearer now? -
Social Media Data – LOADS of Social Media Data!
3 Jan 2012 | 6:00 amIt seems hard to believe but we formed a social application development company more than four years ago and still (dare I say the majority of?) people have a huge problem trying to come to terms with how to use social media, social networks and social marketing (yes, they are three distinct and separate things). So as we start 2012 here’s some data that might help, brought to you from AdAge. But there’s a problem: there’s so much data I’m going to spread this over two posts. Here’s infographic’s # 1 and # 2. Enjoy Come back tomorrow for # 3 and # 4.
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brandflakesforbreakfast
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don't push my political buttons
9 Feb 2012 | 5:15 amBefore there was the Like button, there were political buttons. Check out images of a select handful of them, provided by the Busy Beaver Button Museum, here on Time.com.The designs are interesting, fun and in some instances iconic, and a little different creative inspiration for this Thursday. The history behind them is worth a read, too.Via. -
mama don't take my kodachrome away
9 Feb 2012 | 5:10 amKODACHROME 2010 from Xander Robin on Vimeo.Nostalgia alert: Xander Robin created a documentary, "Kodachrome 2010," shot on Kodak's Kodachrome film about this iconic color film and the last lab to develop it in 2010. In light of the sad news that Kodak filed for bankruptcy, it's a nice tribute (and goodbye?) to the brand and its iconic product. Cue Paul Simon. -
mmmm....baked bus stop potatoes
9 Feb 2012 | 5:05 amLike a giant, digital scratch 'n sniff, there is an outdoor campaign in England for McCain's "ready baked jackets" that emits the smell to entice consumers. At bus stops, users can push a button and a light will 'heat up' a large image of a potato and produce the delicious smell, and a coupon for the product. Created by JCDecaux, posterscope, and BMB Creative. Yum. If you like potatoes, that is. (And yes, there are people out there who don't.)Via. -
go weeeeee all the way to your next meeting
8 Feb 2012 | 5:10 amWhy use an elevator to descend down the three floors of your office when you can shoot down a SUPER AWESOME slide like the one Red Bull installed in their London offices? So jealous! -
How Superbowl ads did digital - stats
8 Feb 2012 | 5:09 amResearch advisory firm, Altimeter, analyzed the 2012 Super Bowl commercials to see how well they integrated with digital and social media. The results are kind of surprising given the growing acceptance of how important digital integration is. A whopping 32% had no online references at all, and of those that had urls, many of them were with no call to action and only 16% were to social media vs. a corporate website or microsite. More interesting stats in their full report.
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The Jeff Pulver Blog
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Synchronicity happens
30 Jan 2012 | 7:48 pmAfter hearing the magical Rebecca Ferguson perform at #DLD12, first by accident during her pre-DLD opening sound check (I wasn't invited to it but somehow managed to be on-site and in the right place an hour before DLD started), and then during her scheduled spot in the conference, what were the odds we would also briefly chat on our flight to London from Munich three days later? There is synchronicity around all of us. Try to identify the moments when the improbable and the impossible start to sync up. Enjoy the magic of synchronicity. Enjoy every moment. :) Tags: Rebecca Ferguson, DLD12,… -
Event: Breakfast with Jeff Pulver (and friends) in Holon on February 14th
29 Jan 2012 | 8:00 pmOn Tuesday, February 14, 2012 I will be back in the greater Tel Aviv area and will be hosting my first Breakfast with Jeff Pulver (and Friends) in Holon, this time from 0830 to 1030. This breakfast will be taking place at the Holon Institute of Technology I am looking forward to catching up with my friends. To RSVP, please visit this event on Facebook. Tags: breakfast, Holon, social media, facebook, Social Media Breakfast, Jeff Keni Pulver -
#140conf Music Event: The Jessie Rose Trip in NYC
29 Jan 2012 | 7:34 pmMembers of the State of NOW / #140conf Community are invited to join #140conf Alumn, Steve Greenberg, and S-Curve Records recording artist: The Jessie Rose Trip when they perform at 6:45 PM on Tuesday, Jan 31, 2012 at Pianos. Pianos is located at: 158 Ludlow @ Stanton St in Manhattan. (Please try to get to Pianos by 6:30 pm) The Jessie Road Trip are visiting NYC from Manchester, UK and will be one of the artists at State of NOW / #140conf in June. To get a feel of their sound, you can listen here. If you are going to be in Manhattan on Tuesday evening, I hope you can join us. This is a free… -
Being Fired Can Save your Life
29 Jan 2012 | 12:36 pmLast Monday night, while attending the DLD 12 party in Munich I ran into Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald Securities. He was greeted with a bear hug from me. From 1993 to 1996 I worked for Cantor Fitzerald whose offices were at One World Trade Center. It was Howard's decision to fire me in July 1996 that saved my life. Cantor Fitzgerald Securities lost 700+ people on 9/11. And I had the kind of job that would have had me at my desk at the time Tower 1 was hit on 9/11. I enjoyed listening to Howard tell my friend Yossi Matias tell the story of how my appearance in a May, 1996 Sunday… -
The State of Now's (#140conf) Call For Speakers
19 Jan 2012 | 5:46 amSince June 2009, it has been my honor to offer the chance for people from many different walks of life, from all over the world to come to New York City and share their stories on our stage. In addition to our live in-house viewing audience, our speakers have had an online audience of over 100,000 via our UStream broadcasts. If you take into account the amplification from the social web, moments from these events have touched million(s) of people. The State of NOW Experience Though seemingly viewed as random connections, there are no accidents in the State of Now, but rather an underlying and…
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Chris Pirillo
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What’s Your Price for Privacy?
8 Feb 2012 | 4:28 pmEveryone’s got a price! Admit it. If Google offered you a certain dollar (or pound or euro or peso or whatever) amount to install a program that would track your Web surfing habits and other personal Internet traffic data to make it available to various advertisers, you’d do it. Some of... Read the full article on http://chris.pirillo.com/ -
Google Me All Night Long or Bing Me (But Don’t You Dare iTouch Me)!
7 Feb 2012 | 4:35 pmThere’s no such thing as an iTouch (at least not as a device that’s made by Apple or for family friendly purposes, I’m guessing)! For that matter, there’s no such thing as an iPod Touch. iPod touch (note the lowercase “t”) is the official Apple designation for... Read the full article on http://chris.pirillo.com/ -
LEGO Bells, Batman Smells, Catwoman Laid An Egg
6 Feb 2012 | 4:42 pmHey, look here! I’ve got LEGO superheroes. I’ve got LEGO supervillains. When the lights go out, all bets are off as to what I’m going to find when I return to the home office the next day after a full night of rest. Or, in my case, a few hours of rest. Insomnia is a [...] Read the full article on http://chris.pirillo.com/ -
A Locker Full of Gnomies
3 Feb 2012 | 4:29 pmFridays are always fun around LockerGnome World Headquarters. It closes off a week of steady TLDRs (and gives me a chance to recharge my batteries so we can do it all again next week), and Diana and I usually have our date night. This week, my parents are still in town, and my Dad was [...] Read the full article on http://chris.pirillo.com/ -
Would You Vote Through Social Media?
2 Feb 2012 | 4:13 pmSo it’s an election year, and it’s always fun to imagine ways we could use technology to move the democratic process along — at least beyond how we used it last time around. By the next one (provided the end-of-the-world nuts aren’t correct about this year’s dire... Read the full article on http://chris.pirillo.com/
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ComMetrics: on infographics, social media measurement, best practice
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Facebook: Why is nobody listening?
4 Feb 2012 | 11:32 pmUpdate 2012-02-08 – this original blog post has been cross-posted on “socialmediatoday – the world’s best thinkers on social media,” as well as “SmartData Collective – the world’s best thinkers on business intelligence and analytics.” Summary One headline this week read, Procter & Gamble would lay off 1,600 after discovering that advertising on Facebook is free. But how many of your 2000 fans bother to take part in the conversation? Less than half a percent. Learn from Red Bull, Coca-Cola and Nike! Or maybe NOT. I just got back from… -
Storied infographics: Why do they fail?
29 Jan 2012 | 12:20 amSummary Infographics can be educational, humorous, controversial, or newsworthy. Not every infographic should tell a story, or needs to. But sometimes it should. Why? Because it can help promote a cause or point of view, and motivate readers to action. Infographics are increasingly popular but more often than not it is a matter of lies, infographics, and unverified numbers. However, even if numbers can be verified and the infographic tells you more than 1,000 words, you need a good story to go with it. As this guest post by Karen Dietz explains, one method to improve the impact of your… -
Luxury brands: Does sin-free equal failure?
22 Jan 2012 | 3:18 pmSummary Bentley, Bugatti, Chloé, Hermès and Vertu are masters in best-of-both-worlds marketing. We outline how to have your cake and eat it, too. Who does not love sin-free seduction that allows someone to consume luxury goods without guilt, since part of the purchase price is donated to charity. The parvenus (from the Latin perveniō, meaning arrive or reach) – those affluent people who crave status – may use Vuitton’s distinctive LV monogram, since the more subtle details of a Hermès bag’s price tag may not be recognized by all. What sets these luxury brands apart is… -
What satisfies your customer?
14 Jan 2012 | 11:13 pmSummary Have you joined HSBC and IBM in using sentiment analysis? We discuss people’s 4 biggest mistakes. Some time ago, I posted Sentiment analysis for online content: Honest?, and moderated a discussion about it in our Xing Social Media Monitoring group. This is another update in our 2012 marketing trend series. 1. Mother tongue – what mother tongue? The biggest challenge for marketers is that people’s mother tongue is increasingly something other than the locally spoken language, and people also increasingly learn English as a second or third language to facilitate… -
Commercials: What ROI?
8 Jan 2012 | 9:37 pmSummary 60 years ago some thought TV commercials were a waste of time and money. Is history repeating itself with social media? I know comparing commercials to social media is not apples to apples but it’s close enough for my purposes. Flash forward to 2011: with over 300 million Twitter users, it offers an even bigger audience than TV did back in the day. So why isn’t everyone advertising on social media? The reasons range from lack of staff or time to lack of analysis or return on investment (ROI). This guest post by Carly Gentry addresses the social media advertising issue and…
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Common Craft - Common Craft - Our Product is Explanation
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New Video: Copyright and Creative Commons
7 Feb 2012 | 10:04 amToday we’re announcing a new video: Copyright and Creative Commons - Explained by Common Craft. Watch it now. One of the exciting things about having Common Craft members is working with them on ideas for future video titles. We provide them tools for suggesting and voting on future titles and this idea came directly from the members. Yaay! About the video: This video tells the story of a photographer who learns the basics of copyright law and creative commons licensing. Her story highlights the role each can play in helping creators protect and share their work. It teaches: •… -
This Week in Love: PEMCO Commercials
3 Feb 2012 | 10:07 amThis Week in Love is a series of blog posts where Sachi and I share what we love. Browse the archives and follow @weekinlove on Twitter. This Week in Love: PEMCO Commercials It's not often that we're prepared to come out and say that we love a series of insurance commercials, but these are near and dear to our hearts. They're commercials for Seattle-based PEMCO Insurance (with DNA Seattle) and part of a campaign called "We're A Little Different. A Lot Like You." Why we love them: Wherever you're from, you know the things that make that region unique. You know how people think and what… -
This Week in Love: Radiolab Podcast
26 Jan 2012 | 11:09 amThis Week in Love is a series of blog posts where Sachi and I share what we love. Browse the archives and follow @weekinlove on Twitter. This Week in Love: The Radiolab Podcast Over the last couple of years, podcasts have become a big part of our lives. We work from home and end up sharing our listening habits, for better or for worse. We've discovered a number of podcasts that we love. We play them while working (especially doing creative work), cooking dinner, working out, etc. They've become among our most frequently used types of media and we listen through iTunes and Stitcher… -
5 Trends Behind the Growing Shift to Video Explanations
23 Jan 2012 | 11:24 amIt’s easy to look back at Internet history and spot the points of major change. A famous example is the Web 2.0 era which spawned products like Twitter, Facebook and other lasting features of the Web. Some would say we're in the cloud era now, with nearly everything we do on computers being moved to off-site servers. Within these big, tectonic shifts are smaller shifts that also make a difference. YouTube was a big shift that kicked off online video in 2005 and in the years since, we’ve seen the growth of viral videos and myriad artistic expressions in video form. How did we survive… -
Guest Post: What Communicators Can Learn from a Highsticking Penalty
16 Jan 2012 | 12:45 pmThis is a guest post by friend of Common Craft, Darren Barefoot. He's a writermarketerCanadian and a big hockey fan. During a hockey game in March, 2010, Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara drove Montreal Canadians forward Max Pacioretty into the stanchion that separates the player's benches. Nearly a year later, it still looks like a brutal hit as Pacioretty 's head bounced off the corner of the boards. Chara received a five-minute penalty and ejected from the game. Pacioretty was sent to the hospital. The next day, Mike Murphy, the NHL's vice-president of hockey operations released a…
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Webinar Marketing & Marketing Success With Webinars for Business
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How to Have Your Best Year Ever
1 Feb 2012 | 7:19 amWould you like to finally become as productive, happy, healthy and successful as you know you are capable of? Silly question right? I mean… who wouldn’t? Well this webinar training was put together to help you achieve exactly this… Oh, and it also contains sock-based tips, and amusing photos of cats (what mire can you [...] -
What Worked BEST in 2011?
2 Jan 2012 | 7:59 amIt is that time where everyone is looking forward and planning for the year ahead, but to plan for the future, you MUST first learn from the past. So this is a look back at SOME of the things that worked best for me in 2011. So let’s activate “list mode”. #1 – Filtering [...] -
Paralysis by Analysis
30 Nov 2011 | 10:00 amIf you have ever struggled to complete a project, failed to follow through on your goals, or felt completely stuck, then read on…. I have but one rule in life… “if it rhymes, then it must be true”. So imagine my glee when I heard the term “Paralysis by analysis”. Let’s kick this thing off [...] -
WTF is Brand Against the Machine?
29 Nov 2011 | 9:05 amWhat on this big blue sphere that we call “earth” is ‘Brand Against the Machine”? If that is the question you had in your head when you turned on your computer today… then wow, you are in luck… for the other 100% of you, I am going to shed some light on my [...] -
The Dangers of Turning a Loss Leader into a Bait and Switch
23 Nov 2011 | 11:47 amHave you ever heard of the terms “Loss leader”, or “Bait and Switch”? If you would like to know the down and dirty on these two… or my recent story of seeing the dangers of pulling a “bait and switch” on a “loss leader”… then read on dear reader…. Ok, it seems to little old [...]
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Social Media Clubhouse
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When Objects Go Social
9 Feb 2012 | 4:00 amObjects now become kind of chatterbox and the world shifts as an huge connected information system” Yes we must now consider objects as a real part of social movement, even if social genuinely means « interaction between two human beings », they can enter the game of socialization…How far, when, for which uses/features? Future will tell… 2020: 20 Billions of connected objets; which ones, which services behind and for which uses? What might we face in organizations, skills, value chains and industries? read more -
Deep Lessons About Shallow Conclusions
8 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amTo my great chagrin, I find I am as guilty as anyone of drawing shallow conclusions about the role and value or social media in a marketing plan. I read this article in Ad Age about an Australian study whose research proved that no more than 1% of fans actually engage with brands on Facebook. In other words, fans may "like" your page, but it's pretty meaningless, because they don't talk about you. So, I concluded, why spend a lot of time on Facebook, especially if you are a small business with limited resources. And I wrote that on Google+, home of the serious conversation. read more -
The Evolution of Super Bowl Advertising
7 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amEveryone loves the Super Bowl. Even if you’re not crazy about watching football, you can stick around the watch clever advertising at its best. But you probably noticed that Super Bowl XLVI was a little different from its predecessors. Social media helped brands change the rules of Super Bowl ads. On average, a 30 second spot during the game of the year put a company back about $3.5 million so it makes sense that they would want to get as much value as possible from this enormous expense. This year, brands came up with creative tactics to get plenty of bang for their buck(s). -
Three Creative Ways of Using Google+ Hangouts
6 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amThere are so many shiny new toys in the social media sphere…sometimes we can’t keep up. Google has a tendency to test out new ideas (remember Google Buzz?) and this time around they have spun out Google Plus Hangouts. It’s an opportunity for individuals or businesses to utilize this virtual “hangout” to communicate with others in their community or business via video. The only disadvantage that appears right away is the restriction of 10 people per hangout. However, when it comes to meetings and having the chance to build a deeper relationship among community members sometimes fewer… -
Social Media Clubhouse Newsletter (01/3/12)
3 Feb 2012 | 11:01 amFEBRUARY BOOK CLUB: THE SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST We're proud to feature great titles in 2012 with monthly reviews and complimentary webinars hosting some of the social media industry's most innovative authors. We received a lot of great feedback last year and want to thank you for supporting the Book Club, our publishing partners and the authors. read more
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The Buzz Bin
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Follow the yellow brick road: Hospitals in search of the Wizard
9 Feb 2012 | 8:13 amby Lisa Kersey When Dorothy was lost in unfamiliar territory, the Wizard helped her find her way home. Today, hospitals find themselves in a similar place – but not for the reasons you might think. Yes, hospitals have room for improvement when it comes to quality and patient safety. They have opportunities to decrease waste and duplication to help decrease the cost of healthcare. And it’s also true that hospitals need to improve the overall patient experience. But those things alone will not differentiate one hospital from another; health reform is requiring all hospitals to improve… -
3 Wine Social Media Tools Worth Sipping
8 Feb 2012 | 8:22 amTHE BOOZE BIN By Pia Mara Finkell (@piamara) This is my last Booze Bin post before Baby Finkell joins the party, so I thought I’d leave you with some of my favorite wine social media tools and platforms for 2012. Don’t worry though, my much smarter and wittier colleagues will be pinch hitting for me while I’m on maternity leave. The Booze Bin lives on! Now on to those hot tools for grapey greatness. The first applies to much more than wine, the second saves you time and keeps you engaged (for free) and the third offers a good solution to small business owners trying to get on the… -
Ready, Set, Closer to Go
7 Feb 2012 | 4:34 amBy Mike Mulvihill While Super Bowl fanfare dominated last week’s news, the Interior Department announced the conclusion of a study that sets the stage for the equivalent of a Bowl Championship Series for offshore wind development. The environmental study found there would be “no significant environmental and socioeconomic impacts” from offshore development. This brings the department a step closer to actually selling leases for waters off Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and New Jersey. Right now, not a single turbine spins off these shores. In addition to moving a step closer to selling… -
Nation’s Capital Hosts First Ever Social Media Week (Feb 13th-17th)
6 Feb 2012 | 9:52 amThree Must-Attend Sessions for Advanced Digital Marketers By Priya Ramesh (@newpr) I don’t know about you but I am really, really excited about DC’s first ever Social Media Week starting next Mon, Feb 13th. It’s about time the DC, Virginia, Maryland tri-state area joined the global during Social Media Week activities. Social Media Week offers a series of interconnected activities and conversations around the world on emerging trends in social and mobile media across all major industries. In just under three years, Social Media Week has expanded to 21 cities, including New York,… -
The Second Screen: Moving Beyond Twitter
3 Feb 2012 | 10:03 amBy Dave McNamara With the explosion of the smartphone and the tablet market, a shift known as the second screen is quickly taking over how people consume media. This phenomenon of the second screen essentially means that while people are watching television in the comfort of their living room, they are simultaneously accessing the web on their laptops, tablets, or smartphones. According to the Nielsen Company, in figures they released in October 2011, approximately 40% of viewers use mobile devices while watching television. A majority of the activity currently involves time during…
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Serial Oversharer
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Paying good money for free television
8 Feb 2012 | 8:10 amCompletely amusing: At my house, we recently upgraded to the Netflix plan that involves both DVDs and unlimited streaming. We also picked up a new DVD player (Blu-Ray, bluray, Boo Boo Ray, what is this I don’t even) with built in wireless Internets, too, so we can hook up the machines to the Netflix and watch the shows on the old 4:3 TV in the living room. OK, that’s not the amusing part; this is: We’re doing this to watch Downton Abbey (grown ups) and Sesame Street (kids, mostly). Honest question: Do PBS and related organizations get a cut of what we’re paying Netflix? -
While Gunfire Echoes Inside Syria, A Cry For Help From A City Under Attack
7 Feb 2012 | 8:21 amWhile Gunfire Echoes Inside Syria, A Cry For Help From A City Under Attack: Did you hear this on Morning Edition today? I’m sure I’ve heard reporters introduced as “citizen journalist and blogger” before, but (maybe) not as the sole reporter on the ground. It’s the natural progression of things, but that attribution caught my ear today. Felt like a milestone. -
We’ll just leave this giant white canvas here for you,...
7 Feb 2012 | 6:46 amWe’ll just leave this giant white canvas here for you, street artists… (via Mad Men Falling Man Street Posters Humorously Altered) -
Related to the last
3 Feb 2012 | 4:42 amOLD FRIEND YESTERDAY: i'm enjoying your new teenage girl blog persona ME: OMG. ME: great. -
This is what happens when you browse your alma mater's Tumblr tag
3 Feb 2012 | 4:31 amA series of events last night: Was messing around on Tumblr for a few minutes before watching an episode of Downton Abbey on Netflix. Clicked on the “steenbeck” tag I had saved previously They all reminded me of editing rooms back in college at NYU. Clicked on the first NYU tag I see. Scrolled through a series of posts most often authored by high school kids dreaming of going to NYU. Including at least one screenshot of — not an admission letter, but a “your application is complete” response screen on what appears to be an Internet. Saw someone claiming their roommate’s TA was…
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Christopher S. Penn : Awaken Your Superhero
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Get the first cup on the table as fast as possible
9 Feb 2012 | 5:41 amThis morning, John Wall and I were discussing the merits and drawbacks of the diner in which we do Marketing Over Coffee each week. One of the hallmarks of good service at a restaurant is that things initially happen at a rapid pace. You get seated quickly and your first order of drinks or appetizers is taken quickly. If you run a tight shop with great service, you get that first cup of coffee/drink/appetizer on the table as soon as possible. Why? Because up until the point that goods and services are actually delivered, it’s really easy for the customer to walk out. There’s no… -
Twitter favorites power tips
8 Feb 2012 | 3:07 amWhen I first started working with Blue Sky Factory, I noticed something peculiar about the company’s Twitter favorites. It wasn’t actual favorite tweets at all – it was instead a collection of praise the company had received online. This was the brainchild of DJ Waldow, the community manager, and what started effectively as a content management system (because Twitter doesn’t provide search outside of a 2 week window) has become one of my favorite sales and marketing tools. Here’s why this is powerful. In many ways, it’s just like recommendations on… -
Performance Based Social Media at Social Fresh East
7 Feb 2012 | 9:12 amI have the pleasure of speaking to the Social Fresh East crowd today. For those interested, here’s the slides that I’m speaking about. If you enjoyed this, please click here and share it with your network! Want to read more like this from Christopher Penn? If so, please subscribe right now! Click here to read my blog on Google Currents on your mobile! Marketing White Belt Basics for Digital Marketers is now on Amazon & B&N Watch me speak: Attend virtually! I recommend: for Twitter audience building. Related posts: Social+Email Integration from Social Fresh Charlotte Social Media… -
Build your base to build your momentum
7 Feb 2012 | 5:29 amOne of the most important lessons I teach to my students in the social media course I teach is that it’s vitally important to build your social base. We have so many platforms on which to market that if we try to be everywhere all the time, we’ll effectively not be anywhere. This is especially true if you are budget or resource constrained and trying to make social media work for you. How do you choose a social base? Look around at all of the social networks and figure out which one you are most comfortable working in. For some people, the way Facebook works is ideal for them. -
When was the last time you were your customer?
6 Feb 2012 | 3:52 amWhen was the last time you were your customer? You say you’ve got social media strategy. You say you’ve got great service. You say you’re customer-focused, customer-centric, and the customer is always right. When was the last time you tested it out? If you manage business for more than a sole proprietorship, then give your business a service test. Set up a list of a few tasks and go test out your sales and service teams. Call them up anonymously or set up a fake email account and try your internal processes out. If you work at a small business where you’d be recognized…
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GigaOM
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Telus turning on LTE across Canada on Friday
9 Feb 2012 | 8:04 amTelus will launch Canada’s third LTE network on Friday, rolling out the mobile broadband technology in 14 cities from Vancouver to Halifax. It plans to expand the network throughout 2012 to cover 25 million Canadians, 71 percent of the country’s population, by year end. Telus will launch with four devices and will be the first North American operator to sell Samsung’s new hybrid smartphone/tablet, the Galaxy Note, in its stores on Feb. 14 (AT&T started taking pre-orders last week, but won’t get the device untol Feb. 19). On Friday, Telus will begin selling LTE versions of the… -
The FCC map of places your mobile data plan won’t work
9 Feb 2012 | 7:16 amThe Federal Communications Commission is spearheading a big effort to get rural Americans online, and to help, later this year carriers can apply for a $300 million fund to bring wireless broadband to the heartlands. Only it’s not the heartlands, as the nifty interactive map shows. The largest areas without 3G coverage are in the Western U.S. So for those of you planning a road trip, a move or who might want to avoid the lure of the web while on holiday, the map gives a big picture view at how much physical area of the U.S. isn’t connected via 3G –something that isn’t… -
Appcelerator buys mobile backend provider Cocoafish
9 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amAppcelerator, which helps developers build native and HTML5 mobile apps, has been on an acquisition tear in the past year and has added mobile backend provider Cocoafish on Thursday to fill out its offering. The pickup, which follows Appcelerator’s purchase of Aptana and Particle Code last year, gives the company a robust cloud infrastructure provider and helps it appeal even more to its 1.6 million developers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Cocoafish, founded in 2010 in San Francisco by Michael Goff and Wei Kong, is part of an emerging class of mobile backend providers that… -
Oracle buys Taleo in a $1.9B response to SAP
9 Feb 2012 | 6:49 amOracle is buying Taleo , a “cloud-based talent management” company for $1.9 billion or $46 a share. Oracle said Taleo’s SaaS services will become part of the Oracle public cloud. Taleo could bring both more cloud credibility and more vertical expertise to Oracle’s broadening applications portfolio. The news comes two months after SAP, Oracle’s chief rival in enterprise applications, snapped up SuccessFactors, a SaaS-based talent management (aka human resources management) company just down the road from Oracle’ s Redwood Shores, Calif. headquarters,… -
Sony to try the smartwatch game for a second time
9 Feb 2012 | 6:48 amSony’s next-generation SmartWatch is “coming soon” according to the product page, and it looks like a huge improvement over the company’s first attempt, which debuted in Sept. 2010. Like its predecessor, the new SmartWatch connects wirelessly to an Android phone for message notifications on the wrist. The wearable device can also be used for checking Facebook and Twitter or monitoring exercise activities. After watching the video and checking out the device description — Sony says images are illustrative, so the final product could appear differently — it…
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Marketing Land - Internet Marketing News, Strategies & Tips
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Report: 85% Think Social Networks Are “Mostly Kind” Environments, Though 15% Have Ended Friendship Because Of Social Media
9 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amA new study from Pew Internet examined social media usage, demographics and the climate within social networking spaces (SNS). A national phone survey was administered to active social networking adults across the United States as well as users aged 12-17 in conjunction with their parents.... Please visit Marketing Land for the full article. -
Capture Mobile-Driven Actions For Targeted Ad Results
9 Feb 2012 | 6:17 amAs mobile adoption continues to skyrocket and consumers rely more heavily on smartphones and tablets to research and immediately act on purchases, there is a broadened opportunity to help businesses track and monetize consumers’ forward movement in the buying cycle. To capitalize on this... Please visit Marketing Land for the full article. -
Marketing Day: February 8, 2012
8 Feb 2012 | 2:01 pmHere’s our daily recap of what happened in online marketing today, as reported on Marketing Land and other places across the web. From Marketing Land: Skimlinks Downplays Pinterest’s Affiliate Link Practice Pinterest is quietly earning affiliate commission off of some images that its... Please visit Marketing Land for the full article. -
Skimlinks Downplays Pinterest’s Affiliate Link Practice
8 Feb 2012 | 1:04 pmPinterest is quietly earning affiliate commission off of some images that its users “pin” on the site and, while some users are getting vocal about the practice, the company whose technology makes it possible says it’s not a big deal. That company is Skimlinks, and in a blog post... Please visit Marketing Land for the full article. -
Slinging Hash Tags: Community Building In 140 Characters
8 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amOn October 28, 1939, an auctioneer sold off the entire company-owned village of Chichester, located in upstate New York: each and every house; factory building; the old social hall; and even the two-roomed schoolhouse. Seventy years later, this small hamlet isn’t unlike most other small rural... Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.
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Brent Csutoras
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How Can Social Media Get You Fired? (Infographic)
6 Feb 2012 | 10:03 amThis is another, in what will likely be a long line of Infographics, which I found interesting and wanted to share. I am a little torn on this graphic, because I love the concept and some of the implementation, like the 8 Ways To Get Fired by Social Media, near the bottom of the graphic. [...] -
Infographic about Infographics
26 Jan 2012 | 8:02 amInfographics continue to rise in popular, buy hey… why shouldn’t they? Infographics embody everything we want from content. They are highly visual, with easy to digest information, in most cases teach us something interesting we did not know, and do it all in a matter of minutes. Additionally, it is much harder to just duplicate or resuse [...] -
SMX West and Back to the Brain Share
25 Jan 2012 | 11:39 amI took the entire year off from conferences in 2011, so that I could focus exclusively on improving and expanding our content promotion capabilities and offerings. During that time, there have been some pretty massive changes in the social media space, specifically around content marketing (aka social promotion). You have probably noticed that I am [...] -
2012: A New Year and A New Direction
16 Jan 2012 | 10:43 amI have spent a lot of time thinking over the last 6 months… …about how I got into online marketing to begin with, how it evolved quickly to a focus on social media marketing, and how much I love it. …about starting my own company, then co-founding Alpha Brand Media and later also co-founding BlueGlass. [...] -
Twitter Soft Ban or Simply a New Bug?
9 Jan 2012 | 9:17 amHave you found yourself seeing the Fail Whale a lot more often once you have logged into Twitter? And by more often, I mean all the time, regardless of what time of day or day of the week it is? Well if you listen to the mumbling of a growing group of Twitter users, then [...]
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Elevator View
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Towers on 40th Street from Madison to Sixth Avenues, 1:00PM
8 Feb 2012 | 7:49 amBryant Park Hotel is housed in the gold-topped American Radiator Building. The Mercantile Building at 10 West 40th Street (with sloped green roof) was previously known as Chase Tower. Photographed from the 24th floor of 1065 Avenue of the Americas (Bryant Park Corporation). -
Entrance Pavilion, 9/11 Memorial Museum, 9:00AM
6 Feb 2012 | 10:18 amPhotographed from the fifth floor of 123 Washington Street (W New York – Downtown). -
Citi Pond at Bryant Park, and New York Public Library, 1:00PM
3 Feb 2012 | 7:13 amPhotographed from the 24th floor of 1065 Avenue of the Americas (Bryant Park Corporation). -
Skybridge Connecting Chelsea Market and 85 Tenth Avenue, 4:30PM
1 Feb 2012 | 8:04 amPhotographed from the Rooftop of The Standard, New York. -
Midtown East and Turtle Bay, 5:30PM
30 Jan 2012 | 7:46 amPhotographed from the 66th floor of 405 Lexington Avenue (Chrysler Building).
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Posts about Social Media from the Econsultancy blog
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Start Me Up! A profile of Shoply
9 Feb 2012 | 5:28 amLaunched last year, Shoply is a social shopping site which provides a marketplace for small brands and local business looking to sell online. I've been asking CEO Liad Shababo about Shoply...In one sentence, what is Shoply? Shoply is a social shopping marketplace which brings together small brands and local business with customers looking to discover and support them. What problems does Shoply solve? Shoply makes it quick and easy for small retailers to open an online shop, generate traffic and make sales. Shoply takes away the technical pain and expense of building an e-commerce site,… -
New Cillit Bang product launched exclusively on Facebook
9 Feb 2012 | 4:13 amReckitt Benckiser (RB) has announced plans to sell a new Cillit Bang cleaning product exclusively through its Facebook page. It is likely to be the first of a number of e-commerce trials by RB, as it has said that it plans to invest an extra £100m in brand building across Europe.The launch of Cillit Bang 'All in 1 Dish & Surface Cleaner' is being supported with digital activity across several social media channels, using competitions and games to talk to its target audience. RB is also resurrecting its Barry Scott character, who featured heavily in previous campaigns. RB's UK… -
O2 continues to surprise and delight with Valentine's campaign
9 Feb 2012 | 2:36 amO2 is continuing to roll out plans to ‘surprise and delight’ customers with another personalised social media campaign for Valentine’s Day. The mobile operator has created a “digital Love Nest in the Clouds” to deliver Twitter users’ messages via YouTube videos, personally recorded by non-identical twin “O2 Cupids”. This builds on the success of its #O2Santa stunt over Christmas, in which the company tracked mentions of the hashtag and similarly had a Santa character record people’s requested messages.O2 head of social media Alex Pearmain… -
YouTube adds cars and travel to its channel line-up
9 Feb 2012 | 2:23 amYouTube has launched two new motor channels to add to its ever increasing range of original content. The Motor Trend channel is described as a “never-ending car expo” and will broadcast programming from brands such as Hot Rod, Motorcyclist, Lowrider and FourWheeler.A blog post announcing the new channels said Motor Trend will listen to viewers feedback and tailor the content accordingly. The second new channel, Drive, looks behind the scenes at the culture of cars from “the road to races to factories to studios.” Youtube has also launched a new travel channel called… -
Walgreens launches new Foursquare and Twitter campaign
8 Feb 2012 | 3:50 pmWalgreens recently started a new social media campaign with New York-based startup, LocalResponse. When someone checks into Foursquare and tweets about it, Walgreens tweets some of them back with an offer from Halls that can be redeemed in store if they like them on Facebook. But is this automated campaign the right approach?This type of tweet is perfect if the person who checked in was looking for cold products. It is the flu season after all. For those who get it, and don't need Halls, they may disregard or unfollow. Those who are fervent about true engagement may dislike this approach. The…
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The Online Community Guide
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Case Study: Shoemocracy (A new online community about shoes)
8 Feb 2012 | 2:01 amShoemocracy recently launched an online community for shoe lovers. It makes for a good case study about the interplay between the elements of social psychology and platform design. So if Shoemocracy was a client, this is what we would tell them: The Concept A community for shoelovers is ok, but it's competitive. It's a community of interest. There are a LOT of communities about shoes out there. It's competing against fashion communities, sportswear communities and a variety of other shoe niches. Generalist sites will never beat the niches. They should apply… -
The Pillar Summit - One More Thing
6 Feb 2012 | 11:30 pmYou have 2 weeks remaining to register for The Pillar Summit's Professional Community Management Master-Class. Registration closes on Feb 20. There is one thing we haven't yet mentioned about the course. In addition to over 100,000 words of written material, a library of case studies, weekly recorded lessons, incredible guest speakers, access to key academic journals, template scripts/documents, and problem-based live discussions, we're offering something even more valuable. Unlimited access to FeverBee consulting. During the course participants will receive constant… -
Establishing The Value Of Online Communities
5 Feb 2012 | 11:30 pmIf I asked you how much your community is worth, could you tell me?Most community managers can't.These same community managers will then complain they don't get the attention or support they need. If you're not getting the attention or support you need, it's your fault. You're not properly establishing the value of your community. You have to talk about your community in value-based terms. You can't establish value if you don't talk about the value.Ultimately, your community must have do one of three things. Increase sales. Reduce costs. Fulfill… -
Inception -vs- Maturity
2 Feb 2012 | 11:30 pmSome community managers trick themselves. They think their community is in the maturity phase. It's really in the inception phase. Progress through the community lifecycle isn't dictated by the sole metric of registered members. It's dictated by growth (number of members whom have made a contribution over the past 30 days), engagement (quantity of contributions per member), and sense of community (do members feel like they're part of a community?). A community with 10,000 members and limited levels of participation isn't in the maturity phase, it's in the… -
How To Build An Online Community: The Ultimate List Of Resources (2012)
1 Feb 2012 | 11:30 pmThis is a collection of my favourite and most popular posts from the last five years. It should give you a great overview about both the strategy and the process of creating an online community from scratch. The Online Community Basics A Primer About Successful Online Communities The 11 Fundamental Laws of Online Communities Building An Online Community: How You Start With 0 Members How Do You Build An Online Community? 7 Contrary Truths About Online Communities Don’t Start A Community For Any Of These Reasons Basics Community Building Principles What Is An Online Community? Different Types…
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FaceReviews: Facebook Applications Reviews and Facebook News
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Facebook IPO Filing Coming Wednesday
31 Jan 2012 | 9:31 pmWhat a long time coming this has been. It appears that Facebook is going to file for its IPO on Wednesday. According to IFR It is looking like they are starting with raising approximately $5 billion in this offering. Indications are that they are going to start small and then move up with 5 Billion ($5B) Facebook is expected to file to raise $5bn in a preliminary IPO prospectus on Wednesday morning, which while less than anticipated could be increased to satisfy investor demand, according to sources close to the deal. Previous reports had put it seeking ~ $10 billion, so this initial 5… -
XGames Fail over DQ of Skier for Wearing Sarah Burke Armband
29 Jan 2012 | 5:24 pmXGames simply refuses to talk about the specific circumstances and reasons for why they chose to disqualify Womens Skier X Final participant Langely McNeal. According to what we have heard it was over the fact that she was wearing a tribute band to Sarah Burke. I am stunned by this on several levels. It appears to be the weakest DQ that I can ever remember and they are trying to silence controversy surrounding the decision. It all feels very hypocritical to me. Now they keep making bad social media decisons on top of an original bad event decision by simply trying to silence the issue and… -
7 Tech Trends to Watch for in 2012
4 Jan 2012 | 12:14 amWhats Next in Tech for 2012? This is a question that I have been kicking around with some of my peers for the past month or so. There are many trends occurring in the mobile space, in the social space and in the commerce space that are fundamentally changing how consumers and users interact, share and complete transactions. One thing to keep in mind is how both Apple IOS and Android are rapidly gaining in the number of handsets activated daily. As more and more consumers upgrade to smart phones and as technology costs drop, opportunity rises in the ways that new use cases can have huge… -
iPhone Drinking Game: Where’s Cuppy?
18 Jun 2011 | 9:33 amNew iPhone Social Game: Where’s Cuppy? The game is fun and simple. Download the iPhone app and snap a pic of you and your friends with you plastic red cup. Simple. Stupid. Pointless and Fun as hell. So grab a Sharpie marker… draw Cuppy’s face on the Cup and start taking pics. The photos of Cuppy can be shared on Twitter and Facebook. There are leader boards for 9 Categories of Cuppy Photos. The pics are funny and this game is a great icebreaker at parties, the beach, the dorm, bars and while playing beer pong. There is also a cool map that shows all the places that Cuppy has… -
Win this Cool Guitar on Plixi from Patrick Stump
1 Apr 2011 | 11:53 amCheck out this Cool Guitar Giveaway on Plixi. It looks like a photo contest where you upload a photo with the hashtag #patrickstump to Plixi.com Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy has a new solo EP called Truant Wave. So upload your photo of you in your spotlight showing what you do best to be entered to win this Stump-O-Matic guitar. You can see all the cool photos that have been entered in this live photo stream here: www.plixi.com/live/patrickstump Details of the photo contest are here: Share this on:
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louisgray.com
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Dice.com: Louis Gray on Google and Job Hunting
7 Feb 2012 | 10:53 amLast fall, shortly after I joined Google, Michelle Greenlee contacted me for a quick interview about the Google hiring experience, and what tech-savvy job seekers can do to leverage the influence of social media to influence hiring managers. The story was finally posted this morning.The biggest take-away is probably my last note in an answer to her final question: "The world is becoming social and the new world of business and hiring can find great candidates through how you present yourself online."See: Dice.com: Louis Gray on Google and Job Hunting/via My Google+ Profile.More:… -
50 Things a +1 Can Mean
7 Feb 2012 | 12:15 amA +1 is simple. It’s one of the easiest ways on the web to take an action that endorses the content and says you saw something. But it can mean many different things. That’s the beauty of +1. You can +1 things you like. You can +1 bad news. You can +1 things you love. You can +1 casual status updates or items that change the world.Often, we get asked what it means to +1. Here are some ideas. We’d love to see yours./via The Google+ Page (Which I maintain)1. A +1 can say you agree with the post.2. A +1 can say your photo is beautiful.3. A +1 can say your joke was funny.4. A +1 can mean… -
Two Numbers: 1 and 90 Million
7 Feb 2012 | 12:10 amBy now, you all have seen the dual bits of news today - first that Google+ has achieved 90 million users with at least one new feature every single day, over 1 million businesses and brand pages, and sign in of 60% daily, 80% weekly.Also, earlier today, Google was (for the 3rd time) named the best place to work by Fortune Magazine (see http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2012/snapshots/1.html). We're working on making Google+ the best place to be for you so you can be just as proud about these numbers and this news. To stay on top of all this great stuff,… -
Daria Musk Visits Google+ for Live Performance
7 Feb 2012 | 12:08 amLast Monday, I had the great pleasure of meeting Daria Musk and interviewing her on stage, to learn more about her story and rise from relative obscurity to becoming a Google+ sensation. As I told the Google+ team, assembled in the private concert, in my introduction, Daria epitomizes the community here as well as anyone I know.She is fully invested in this platform, is tireless, upbeat, and to boot, is incredibly talented. I'd heard her sing in many a hangout, but to hear her sing live at Google was transformative. Nothing beats a live performance by an artist with passion, energy… -
10 Great Ways to Get Discovered on Google+
7 Feb 2012 | 12:04 amAs social networks evolve, so to do your circles. Even in the few months since our launch, you’ve probably added a lot of people to your circles who you didn’t know before - people who share common interests, or came by recommendation of a trusted friend or expert. Some people have rocketed their way to high visibility, added to hundreds of thousands of circles, by virtue of their actions on Google+. So while I can’t promise you the big numbers, here are ten ways you can get found on Google+, and examples to boot.1. Embrace the Community While Doing Something Unique and Creative.Daria…
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Poetslife
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Herman Samuel “B” Beck, Jr.
3 Feb 2012 | 3:49 am“B” Wise with Your Time (for Herman Samuel “B” Beck, Jr.)There is a clock above Town HallNear the old B&O station in Mt.Airy,Dependable, accurate, useful andtrue,Named after Herman Samuel “B” Beck,Jr.Mr. Beck, author of the Mt. Airy B&O Story,1936 graduate of Mt. Airy HighSchool,WWII radioman with the Army AirCorpsIn the European Theater ofOperations,“B” columnist of the Mt. AiryNewsOf the “Way We Were” column,Member of the Mt. Airy TownCouncil,Manager Coach of the Mt. AiryLittle League,Promoted citizenship as a Member,PresidentAnd District Governor of… -
18 Jan 2012 | 1:04 pm
18 Jan 2012 | 1:04 pm -
It Was Nothing
2 Jan 2012 | 9:06 amHere are a few photos of the house fire we went through in 2003, along with a poem I just wrote that captures some of the reaction ten years later.I include some photos of the rebuilt house and us in it."It will get better." some told us after the event.And it has.It Was Nothing“It was nothing”Said my six-year oldIn a Thank You card To his first-grade classI discover a decade laterAmong family heirlooms.Except that it was something.It was a house fireThat but for secondsAlmost took his life,And my lifeAnd the life of his older brotherAnd burned my wifeSeverely enoughThat she was… -
In Support of the American Flag in Woodbine
28 Dec 2011 | 6:00 pmComing back from a drive on 12/26/2011, I saw this amazing flag at the Woodbine traffic circle. I pulled over and took this photo and 10-second video. I just thought it was pretty cool. Little did I know it was a symbol of patriotism, respect for the military, and resistance to heavy government tyranny. Read on... "Removal of American flag from Woodbine traffic circle sparks patriotic rallyState highway decision riles neighbors, leads to large showing of troop support Brian Loveless, 14, left, and Garrett Murray, 12, both of Woodbine, wave flags at the rally. (Photo Noah Scialom /… -
Earth from Space
16 Nov 2011 | 10:15 amTime-lapsed photography of earth from space...unreal! Click this link and marvel. This is epic. While human life continues, as in these photos, the earth spins and the planets swirl and creation continues here and beyond. CREATION!!! It shows a time lapse sequences of photographs taken by the crew of expeditions 28 & 29 onboard the International Space Station from August to October, 2011, who to my knowledge shot these pictures at an altitude of around 350 km. All credit goes to them. I intend to upload a FullHD-version presently.HD, refurbished, smoothed, retimed, denoised,…
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SheGeeksSheGeeks | SheGeeks
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Brisk and Stars Wars Join Forces For BriskSaber Gaming App
13 Jan 2012 | 10:36 amYou can now find Brisk Iced Tea in a galaxy both far far away and as close as your iPhone or Android device. I’m talking about the BriskSaber game that is making a splash in the App Store and Android Market. In preparation for Stars Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3-D, Brisk joins forces with LucasFilms to put a modern and techie spin on classic Star Wars action and fun that’s hard to resist. Price: FreeDownload: iOS App Store | Android Marketplace Since its January 3rd debut, Brisksaber has amassed 520 reviews in the App Store rating it an incredible 4.5 star out of 5! -
The Next Generation RAZR: Motorola Droid RAZR Review
13 Jan 2012 | 7:26 amThe Motorola RAZR was a mobile icon during my early teen years. Just about everyone I knew had one. It was surprisingly thin for a phone! The screen was impressive and it could do one thing very well that all of my friends love: transfer ringtones via bluetooth. Fast forward to today and the Motorola RAZR doesn’t compare to my iPhone 4. So, I was skeptical and intrigued when Motorola announced a successor; the Motorola Droid RAZR. With the help of Verizon’s 4G LTE network, could the Droid RAZR recapture the swagger and appeal of the original RAZR? The Look & Feel Though the… -
How To Get The New Facebook Timeline Look Right Now
16 Dec 2011 | 7:49 pmFacebook Timeline is a drastic departure from the currently tired look of your Facebook profile. Announced at Facebook’s F8 conference in October, don’t be too quick dismiss Facebook Timeline as yet another new redesign from Facebook. It’s a complete departure from Facebook’s past! If you’re not afraid of change, here’s how you can get Facebook Timeline right now. If you don’t want to wait, you can get Facebook Timeline right now by visiting: Facebook.com/Timeline. In the bottom right corner of the page, you’ll see a green button with the… -
The Life of an Instagrapher: GE, Jet Engines, and Instagram
9 Dec 2011 | 1:47 pmAre you a frequent Instagram user? Would you like a free trip to a world-class GE jet engine facility in the UK to take pictures and send them to Instagram? If you answered yes, then great because you only have 3 days left to enter GE’s Instagrapher contest to make this wish come true! “For our next Instagram photo shoot, we’re going to a world-class GE jet engine facility in the UK to capture some amazing technology. Help us decide who the photographer should be. Because it could be you.” Get your iPhones ready and load up Instagram to begin entering the contest. But… -
Finding Great Content on Twitter Gets Easier With #newnewTwitter Redesign
8 Dec 2011 | 7:00 pmTwitter’s got a brand new look and not just a tweak here and there. Trending as the #newnewTwitter, it’s a fresh with a simplified and streamlined design, most of the changes center around getting the best content as quickly as possible. The redesign doesn’t stop at your desktop either. Twitter’s iPhone app, Android apps, and mobile website have received the new makeover too. Facebook, take notes! Readers, let’s take a look at what’s new, shall we? The new design may seem very different at first, but honestly it’s not. Mainly, a lot of things have…
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ConverStations
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Why There is Always Room for One More Good One
7 Feb 2012 | 6:37 amFans are Fanatics. Searchers Find. Shoppers Discover. Trekkies Trek Ask the sports fans … the crafting hobbyist … the thrift store shopper. Watch the Trekkies. Is there just one place, one site, one convention? Or is it all of them? There’s always room for one more good one. That baseball fan getting ready for her fantasy league draft? She’s not looking at just one site or one magazine. She’s got them all. That quilters in your life? They don’t just go to one store, they know them all. Before you doubt yourself or change what you’re good at because… -
My Facebook: Business Page Public and Personal Profile Private
6 Feb 2012 | 1:03 pmThis weekend, I turned my Facebook profile into a Business page. Most of the connections I had on Facebook were from business contacts, most of what I shared was about business. I was most of the way to a business page already. I had been thinking about making the move for awhile. When Tracy Sestili said Bye-Bye to Facebook, I started making my move by following her lead. (By the way, Tracy is a solid-state, straight-shooting social media strategist – one to follow). Tracy’s steps and reasons are sound. While Facebook is a closed system in many ways, it remains a confusingly open… -
Slide Sunday: Blog Posts are Part of Your Inventory
5 Feb 2012 | 4:50 am“If we must claim an ROI for social media, it will be found in the very fuzzy edges of the inventory we place with care and craft on our social media shelves” - Gerard McLean in Stocking Your Social Media Shelves Slide Sunday: Blog Posts are Part of Your Inventory is a post from: ConverStations Find Your Social Media ROI I hear it from a lot of business owners: "Where is the ROI with all this Social Media?" If this is a question you've asked, maybe we should work together a bit more. We can work together solo, or via a professional learning community. Find and increase your ROI. -
Blogging Like Jerome Bettis Drives
4 Feb 2012 | 4:51 amThe greatest running backs in the NFL seem to have one element in common. It’s a practice rarely seen on highlight reels or still shots. It’s not so much the fancy stuff. Not the stiff arm, the high-leg, or the spin. The one trait all the greats share is one that does NOT stand out. But it’s the one that kept moving them forward. Even when they hit a brick wall of defense, the greatest running backs keep pumping their legs. Short steps. Rapid pace. One after the other. They keep their legs moving. Jerome Bettis was one of the best at this, especially near the goal line. -
Why You Should Blog About Your Business [Guest Post]
3 Feb 2012 | 3:37 amWritten by Joe Pawlikowski Sometimes simple phrasing can make a huge difference. A while back Mike asked the question, should every business blog, and concluded that no, it’s just not for all businesses. That’s a fair enough answer. But allow me to add an amendment. Everyone should blog about his or her business. This doesn’t necessarily mean blogging for your business. But anyone, excepting people with strict non-disclosure agreements, can blog about a business. It can provide plenty of benefits. Blogging to learn All fledgling bloggers stand to learn plenty from the…
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THINKing
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Creativity 2012 – Week #6
6 Feb 2012 | 7:20 amPhoto credit: kevin_p from morguefile.com The Surprising Path To Innovation – The path to innovation is rarely a direct line, but that circuitous route is often necessary for true innovation. Think Like A Child To Achieve More – Kids often have a clarity to their goal setting that adults can learn from. Three CEOs Who Get Innovation – A handful of CEOs aren’t solely focused on next quarters numbers. Meet three of them. Six Questions That Lead To Innovation - How do true innovators actually make the leap from status quo to full-on disruption? Asking questions. How… -
Creativity 2012 – Week #5
30 Jan 2012 | 6:22 amPhoto credit: mconnors from morguefile.com Klout & Pinterest: Time Wasters Or Creativity Tools? – Are these social media sites a total time and energy suck, or is there some redeeming value? Three People Who Never Belong In A Brainstorm Room – Hold on there, Negative Nancy. You can’t come in. Screen Typography Is Falling Behind – iPads and other tablets are calling for screen typography evolution. It is not happening. I’ll Never Fall In Love (With Ideas) Again – Every good new idea means an old idea must die. Do you have the heart for that? The Three… -
Creativity 2012 – Week #4
23 Jan 2012 | 6:37 amPhoto credit: ajaxserix from morguefile.com It Takes Two In The Innovation Tango – Which is better for innovation – a lone creative or a group of creatives? Innovation And The Art Of The Story – The art of storytelling is nothing new. Storify co-founder and Hacks/Hackers founder Burt Herman discusses the next generation of the centuries-old craft. A Running Shoe Inventor Shoots Himself In The Foot - How hard is it for an independent inventor to sell an idea to a multinational? Try running a mile in Lenn Hann’s shoes. Social Technologies Speed Innovation –… -
Creativity 2012 – Week #3
16 Jan 2012 | 6:49 amPhoto credit: cohdra from morguefile.com The Rise Of The New Groupthink – Creativity happens to a single person working alone, not in a group. January Brainstorm – A few ideas to get your little gray cells percolating as we jump into 2012. How To Maintain A Creative, Healthy Perspective – A change of perspective is what invokes new ideas. Culture And The Climate For Creativity – Organizations that invest in a climate of creativity create conditions for dealing with risk and develop an environment of trust. 10 Creative Ways To Use QR Codes – Here are some of… -
Calling All Guest Bloggers
11 Jan 2012 | 12:13 pmPhoto credit: EmmiP from morguefile.com Here’s a shout out to all guest bloggers. This is a new year and I want new voices here on THINKing. You may be asking, “why would you want to write for this blog?” We had about 200,000 visitors to the site last year. So, it is a decent sized audience for your writing. We covered a variety of marketing related topics, ranging from advertising, PR and social media to creativity, branding and writing. So, you will find a receptive audience for those topics. Convinced? Read on. If you have an idea for a guest post, here is what I want…
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Direct Marketing Observations
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Where Are the Jobs and What Can You Make In Social Media?
9 Feb 2012 | 6:12 amAs I’ve said many times, I love a good infograph, thus, let’s introduce the Onward Search Social Media Jobs Salary Guide. Some interesting things to note here. One, there are a lot of good paying jobs out there in the social media space. Two, I’m surprised that some of the positions and locations are not paying more. Given what is on the line for some companies, I would have expected more from some of the locations for the strategist and marketing manager positions. What do you think? © 2012 Onward Search -
The 3 Levels Of Change Needed To Integrate Social Media
6 Feb 2012 | 1:30 pmIf You have not visited the blog site for the agency, We are Social, make sure you do. It’s a great resource of information. In particular, I was struck by an infograph that was up recently titled, Social Business-Social Media Integration. Within that infograph, I found this: Which one do you think is the hardest? Which is the easiest? Which takes the least amount of time? -
Why Should You Comment On A Blog Post?
3 Feb 2012 | 7:37 amI was reading an article today titled, Behind the Wheels: An all-too-real Cinderella story it had 12 comments. The piece was beautifully written and it was interesting to see what those 12 people had to say. Which got me to wondering: How come useless throw away blog posts and articles have tons and tons of comments and the good stuff gets next to nothing? Part of the question also emenated from this post, Why Your Networking Sucks — And the Secret to Doing it Right which had 30 comments, but also sucked people in, including me, because it held the promise of revealing… -
It’s Time For Retailers To Raise Their Games-Five Quick Reminders
30 Jan 2012 | 12:04 pmThe static website is dead long live the static website According to a study from Accenture, comScore, and dunnhumbyUSA aimed at helping consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers, visitors to CPG brand websites buy 37% more in retail stores than non-visitors to the brand site. The study also concluded, that to maximize impact, website content needs to be updated regularly and contain brand value messaging that both engages visitors while also providing compelling reasons for them to purchase the brand at retail. Without sounding too much like Captain Obvious, here’s what retailers need… -
Chances Are You’ve Met Less Than 5% of the People in Your Social Network
25 Jan 2012 | 6:17 amThe difference between a friend, an acquaintance and the friends and acquaintances we have met online is blurring…Social media would seem to dictate or would assume that I’m supposed to develop or have developed these deep online, networked, connections, i.e. That I have met them. Jay Baer calls it false intimacy. Does it matter that I have not met them? Absolutely not. Or maybe it does… But maybe we should quickly look at what the definition of “connected” is. Check this out: con·nect·ed http://img.tfd.com/m/sound.swf (k-nktd) adj. 1. Joined or…
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RyanSpoon.com
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Amazon Prime Instant Video Catalog Grows
8 Feb 2012 | 3:06 pmSuch is the online video content war: catalogs grow, compete and find their way into the homes / devices of as many eyeballs as possible…. after all, content wants to be seen and ultimately the economics for all are dictated on content being seen by as many eyeballs as possible. It’s why I believe that over time libraries will exist and overlap on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, web, app stores, etc. It’s inevitable… And here is: - continued proof of that trend - and yet another reason to be bullish on Amazon, Amazon Prime and Amazon Instant Video And most importantly: Yo Gabba… -
Vacationist & Facebook: Great Progressive Registration Example
8 Feb 2012 | 10:58 amI write a lot about Facebook as more than an acquisition tool – it’s a conversions tool, particularly through registration and activation. I bill it the “progressive registration” (read more here). Here is a terrific example from Vacationist. First, the registration box is done in a visually clever way: it hangs atop the background image and has six key fields (First Name, Last Name, etc). When the Facebook Connect button is clicked, the fields change, are all prepopulated except for zip code and the title changes from “Become a Vacationist today” to… -
Designing for Mobile: 7 Guidelines for Mobile Apps & Mobile Web
6 Feb 2012 | 12:30 pmNote: this article originally appeared on TechCrunch: Designing for Mobile: 7 Guidelines for Startups to Follow As an investor, I’ve seen hundreds of mobile application pitches. And as a consumer, I’ve downloaded hundreds more – some out of curiosity and others in the hope that I’ll find something so useful and exciting that I’ll make room for it on my iPhone’s home screen. From both perspectives, I am rarely excited by download numbers. What gets my attention is engagement: how frequently an application is used and how engaged those users are. This ultimately is the barometer for… -
Make Your Content Accessible on Mobile – All Devices, All Formats. ESPN’s Gamecast as Example.
3 Feb 2012 | 8:34 amI write a lot about tailoring your web experience for the environments where it is (and can) be used. That is particularly important for mobile which has its own UI needs, requirements, opportunities and challenges. Here is the latest example. ESPN has done a good job creating product & content for specific environments and devices. Example here. While that is an effective treatment – this is not. When ‘watching’ an ESPN Gamecast on the iPad (which is an excellent product) – it requires you to watch it in landscape mode. There is literally no content and no… -
Amazon Applies Intelligence to the App Store. You Should Too.
31 Jan 2012 | 9:47 amI’ve long argued that Apple’s iTunes and the app store are woefully unintelligent. They are akin to merchandising in a storefront… when there is data available to make the store experience more compelling and better converting. Here’s an example of that argument beginning in 2009 (!). After a week with the Amazon Kindle Fire (more to come – hint: I love it), they get the storefront concept and execute it well…. as we have come to expect from Amazon. Rather than using Facebook data, Amazon uses your purchase and search data. Below is an example of the Kidle…
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Going Social Now
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Super Bowl Digital Advertising Madness
31 Jan 2012 | 8:11 pmSuper Bowl is upon us as is the advertising madness around. There are a few key themes that will hold true this year for sure and are already surfacing:1. Releasing ads online early is becoming table-stakes. Nearly everyone seems to be doing this and with good reason. It's about building momentum into the Super Bowl typically done with a mixture of paid and organic promotions of the TV ads online.2. The smarter advertisers are constructing narratives around teasers, the TV commercial and what should happen after the ad airs. Some are even focusing on second screen social TV experiences (we… -
Two steps forward, One step back
11 Jan 2012 | 3:36 amWorking with very large brands in large organizations means not knowing whether you're taking two steps forward, one step back or one step forward and two steps back in any given moment. We all like to say that there's light at the end of the tunnel but working within a marketing organization versus in an agency, the tunnel is much longer and sometimes the light can seem much further away. You're thinking about how decisions you'll make today will effect your brand three or four years hence.Yes, we absolutely live in a real-time world and we have to be hyper-quick. But at the same time… -
TV Ads' New Digital Role, HBR Piece
12 Nov 2011 | 1:38 pmTelevision advertising has undergone significant changes in the last 30 years. However, it is arguably on the verge of its greatest changes ever. From where I sit as the Global Head of Digital at PepsiCo Beverages, charged with navigating our brand's foray into the digital world, I see three big changes:The value we put on an advertisement will change as we seek to account for engagement metrics in the pricing.The narrative arch will change as we think of the advertisement as a trailer versus the whole story.Location-aware technologies will force a greater degree of engagement on a format… -
Physio-Digital + Cause + Shopper Marketing
27 Oct 2011 | 8:29 pmProbably one of the most exciting parts of working at PepsiCo Beverages is in seeing the physical and digital worlds come together especially as the whole cause marketing space gets more directly integrated with brand marketing. This PepsiCo 7-Eleven program is a perfect example of that and one that I find to be awesome. For every 20 oz. Pepsi product bought from 7-Eleven, we will donate five cents to the good cause. If the person also checks in using Facebook Places, we will double that donation. Feeding America provides emergency food assistance to those who are food insecure. Its network… -
A Love Letter from Brand Marketers to Silicon Valley (republished from Ad Age)
26 Oct 2011 | 6:40 pmFor too long, the digital industry has looked at brands like Pepsi simply as a monetization strategy. What's worse is that sometimes our digital friends view us as being uninformed members of the digital ecosystem - something akin to prey. Not only is that perception misinformed, its going to start impacting the bottom-line of many companies in the digital ecosystem.On the brand side, marketers cannot afford to play that role anymore. We need to show a much stronger return on all our marketing investments just as we recognize that traditional forms of marketing (ie banner ads) aren't as…
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Brass Tack Thinking
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The Great Irony of Social Velocity
26 Jan 2012 | 6:00 amI had a brilliant conversation with Justin Kozuch last evening on Twitter. If you don’t know Justin, you should. Smart, introspective, determined to find more in all of this, just like I am. I really like talking with him because he’s always looking more closely at something, which is a rare and wonderful quality in humans and it delights me when I find it. We were talking about feeling the need to “push the envelope” more in social conversations. I’ve even said this myself, many times, about needing to step into more uncomfortable territory. But as we were… -
The Power of Slow Thinking
21 Jan 2012 | 2:29 pmI had a bit of an epiphany this last year. Contentious discussions can be stressful for the best of us. Some people are formally schooled in the art of debate, and I am not one of them, so often I blamed my discomfort in confrontation or extended debate on the fact that I really wasn’t sure how to do it properly. Even watching debates online between other people makes me cringe. (At some point I realized that it was more because those ended up being mud-slinging, juvenile name calling fests more often than actual discussions or intelligent debates about valuable topics. But I digress.)… -
Take Back Your Attention
16 Jan 2012 | 6:00 amThe amount of attention we have to give is finite. The receipt of attention is earned, both initially to capture it, and continually to keep it. No one is entitled to it, ever. The online experience you immerse yourself in is, to a large degree, under your control. You can give your attention easily with a click, and add information to the stream you take in. But never forget that you can remove it as easily, and sometimes you absolutely should. I’m not a fan of the piling-on, lynch mob tactics that seem to be doled out as routine punishment for online misbehavior. I’m also not…
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Blonde 2.0's Blog
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Interview with Casey Fenton, CEO of CouchSurfing at DLD 2012
9 Feb 2012 | 6:59 amThe DLD 2012 conference in Munich was a great place to mingle and network with social media super stars and online entrepreneurs. At the conference I had the opportunity to speak with Casey Fenton, CEO and Co-founder of CouchSurfing, who sat with me and discussed his company’s completely unique business model. The idea of CouchSurfing was fueled by Casey’s own experiences while traveling the world. Casey found that by networking with people all over the world, he could rely on their hospitality and vice versa. CouchSurfing is a community, and as such it focuses on… -
My Interview with Robert Scoble at DLD 2012
31 Jan 2012 | 9:06 amThis year’s DLD conference in Munich Germany was great. With all the amazing speakers and great networking opportunities, I barely had a minute to rest. However, amid all the excitement, I was able to take a moment and sit down with my good friend and tech superstar, Robert Scoble. Watch my interview with Robert where he discusses what he likes best about this year’s DLD conference. Don’t miss Robert showing off his fancy new shirt! -
Stop SOPA! Support SOBA!
19 Jan 2012 | 6:53 amWith the Internet revolt over SOPA and PIPA in full swing, we at Blonde 2.0 could not stand idly by and let this critical moment in the history of the Internet pass with adding our voice to those defending free expression on the web. We have decided to take action, and to that end we are responding to SOPA and PIPA with a proposed legislative initiative of our own: the Stop Online Boredom Act (SOBA). This is a new law that calls for harsh punishment for those responsible for mindless, boring content that is posted to the Internet. After all, if SOPA passes, everyone will be so terrified of… -
The Golden Age of Gaming Addiction
17 Jan 2012 | 5:34 amHow I feel about being a gamer in our society up until the past year can be summed up in 2 words: It sucks. I started out gaming at the early age of 5, but soon enough most of my friends gamed in one form or another, it’s the most regular thing in the world, right? A kid playing around with videogames, back then it felt like the most natural thing in the world, but even then I felt like something was amiss. I was always more dedicated, more emotional and more addicted (some would say) to gaming. My gaming addiction became clear around 11th grade. It was obvious that gaming… -
A Wedding – Social Media Style
5 Jan 2012 | 7:54 amIn the time that I have been working in social media, I have seen how social media has been used to help launch a company, promote a product or even to help organize a protest. Last week I saw how social media directly impacted an event in my life by making the world that much smaller. This past Wednesday, I was lucky enough to marry the most incredible woman in the world, okay so you might think that I am a little biased but the facts are the facts! So a little background is that I come from Johannesburg, South Africa and she is from London in the UK so we have family and friends…
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Usability Counts
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Shit Interaction Designers Say
9 Feb 2012 | 8:24 amPosted over at Johnny Holland. Brandon Stephens, Axure? Really? -
Social Media Explained in Donuts
8 Feb 2012 | 2:56 pmCourtesy of Douglas Wray. Very funny. And true. -
Ghost in the Pixel: Intimacy and Arrogance in UX
8 Feb 2012 | 10:00 amReputation and trust is essential in a world where we don’t meet the people we do business or trust our information with. The reality of this world is that many companies have much more information about us that we prefer to have (or, what does VISA know about your buying habits online or at a physical adult bookstore?). But that’s different, because we’re making a conscious choice to share information by making that purchase. Only when companies don’t disclose their intentions (like downloading our entire address book, for example, and then explaining that since it… -
UX Booth: Usability Fact vs. Fiction
7 Feb 2012 | 8:34 amThat’s about right: Usability is user experience The fundamental difference is “Can easily use” vs. “Want to use”. Let’s take the best possible example here – the usability guru: Jakob Nielsen’s website. Usability guru that he is, his site is very functional and easy to use. But how do you think it scores on user experience? Would visitors love to browse the site for better experience? The answer is no. Again, there are some practitioners who believe building a good user experience is all that’s needed for making the site usable. That had led to the myth in… -
Silly Saturdays: Shit People Say in Los Angeles
4 Feb 2012 | 12:00 pm
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PsyBlog
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Multiple-Choice Tests: Why Sticking With Your First Answer is (Probably) Wrong
7 Feb 2012 | 6:34 amWhat's the best strategy for taking a multiple-choice test? The standard advice for multiple-choice tests is: if in doubt, stick with your first answer. College students believe it: about 75% agree that changing your first choice will lower your score overall (Kruger et al., 2005). Instructors believe it as well: in one study 55% believed it would lower students' scores while only 16% believed it would improve them. And yet this is wrong. One survey of 33 different studies conducted over 70 years found that, on average, people who change their answers do better than those who don't (Benjamin… -
Duck/Rabbit Illusion Provides a Simple Test of Creativity
31 Jan 2012 | 10:06 amAre you creative? Try this simple test... The well-known known illusion above can be seen in two ways: as both a duck and a rabbit. Which do you see first? And if you see one, can you also see the other? Most people see the duck first and can flip between the two representations, but the question is: how easy is it for you to flip between them? Does it require real mental strain, or can you do it at will? Wiseman et al. (2011) had a hunch that the ability to flip between representations is related to creativity. To test this participants were given a simple test of creativity which involves… -
Powerful People Feel Taller Than They Really Are
24 Jan 2012 | 9:05 amExperiment demonstrates how a powerful feeling feeds back into self-perception of height. Language can reveal all kinds of truths about our psychology. Take these expressions: He's the big man on this project. We look up to her. Lady Gaga is huge. He puts her on a pedestal. It's not hard to see the strong association here between size and power that's embedded in the way we talk about the relations between people. The reason why is almost too obvious to bother stating: larger people quite often do have more power. As children our parents, teachers and all our authority figures are taller than… -
Why Stories Sell: Transportation Leads to Persuasion
18 Jan 2012 | 10:10 amPsychological research on persuasion suggests that stories which transport people are more likely to be persuasive. Marketers have known for years that stories are a powerful tool for persuading people. That's partly because stories (unlike statistics) are easy to understand. That's why politicians try to persuade us by telling stories about their vision of the world. They do spout statistics as well, but normally only in support of some kind of grand narrative. We instinctively understand that people resist being told what to do, but will respond to the moral of a story. So we try to… -
The Amazing Power of Regret to Shape Our Future
12 Jan 2012 | 8:41 amWhy people are reluctant to exchange lottery tickets, but will happily exchange pens. Regret might not make a list of the most powerful emotions. It would probably include things like anger, happiness, jealousy, sadness and especially for us English, embarrassment. We tend to think of regret as essentially a backward-looking emotion. We regret things in the past, like not trying hard enough in school, how we treated a friend or the things we said to our partner in the heat of an argument. In this sense you might argue that it's useless: why regret something you can't change? But regret isn't…
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Media Culpa
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The Telegraph can see into the future
5 Feb 2012 | 1:04 pmWhat type of journalism could be more up to date than live broadcast or real time reporting? The UK paper the Telegraph may have come up with a solution – publishing articles from the future. Today, Feb 5, 2012, the Telegraph has published an article from March 4, 2012. I knew the Brits were smart, but to see one month into the future was even more than I expected. Of course, there could be another explanation. That the Education Editor dropped out of math in school… Related Posts:Spotify founder named “Elk” by ReutersEdelman Trust Barometer 2012 says trust in… -
Spotify founder named “Elk” by Reuters
3 Feb 2012 | 7:19 amSwedish names might be a challenge for foreign journalists, but to misspell the last name of Spotify’s founder Daniel Ek is quite an achievement. In a list of the most social CEO’s, Reuters calls him Daniel Elk. What a moostake… Related Posts:Reuters launches software generated podcastsBenkow admits – Gates interview was fakeSix Swedish companies among the Top 100 Global InnovatorsThe Telegraph can see into the futureNissan in new Australian social media backlash -
Socialbakers Facebook report for Sweden – Jan 2012
30 Jan 2012 | 2:16 amJust like in the last report (Nov 2011) from Socialbakers, the Body Shop is the brand page in Sweden with the highest level of engagement. OKQ8 is the page with the highes response rate, followed by two Telia pages. In fact, half of the top 10 pages in regards to response rate, are telecom operators. Vakna! med the Voice is the media page with most fans. In case you are missing a page that would qualify in the top 10 lists above, please suggest it here. Related Posts:Socialbakers Facebook report for Sweden – Nov 20112.5 million LinkedIn members in the Nordic countriesThe brands on… -
Edelman Trust Barometer 2012 says trust in social media is up
23 Jan 2012 | 10:24 amThe latest installement of the Edelman Trust Barometer has now been published and as usual, it is interesting reading. This year, there have been some dramatic changes in the views of the public in most of the countries surveyed. Trust in government, business and NGO’s is declining while trust in media is rising. Trust in government shows an exceptionally sharp drop in the 2012 Barometer, after rising steadily for four years. In Sweden (“informed public”), trust in government is quite stable, dropping only from 64% to 62%, making Sweden the market with the fourth highest… -
Instagram now growing faster than Flickr
19 Jan 2012 | 2:28 amThree days ago I took a look at how many new photos users added on Instagram each day. By looking at the ID numbers of the photos I calculated that Instagram had now reached beyond 500 million photos and that about 4.5 million new photos were uploaded per day. Then I found a blog post from Instagram that summarized last year and in the post it says that at the end of 2011, 400 million photos had been shared in total on Instagram. This confirms that my calculations were pretty accurate (the 400 millionth photo was uploaded on Dec 7, 2011). If we look at the volume of photos during January…
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Regular Geek
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The Benefits and Challenges of Internal Social Networking
30 Jan 2012 | 6:00 amThis is a guest post from Samantha Peters. When we talk about social networking, even from a corporate and business angle, we are almost always talking about public social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. These networks allow people and businesses to join freely and interact freely. For a company, the public nature of social networking exposure is a highly desirable one, as a business’ Facebook profile can act as a brochure, marketing source, communications outlet, and white pages guide all rolled into one. But, increasingly, companies are turning to a different kind of social… -
Will Anyone Notice The New Windows Phone?
23 Jan 2012 | 5:39 amThis is a guest post from Jane Smith. One of the biggest questions for the tech industry in 2012 is the fate of the Windows-powered smartphones produced by Nokia, one of the latest entries into the ever-diversifying smartphone field. I say the fate of the Nokia Windows Phones is uncertain because most American consumers have given their phones a big “meh” thus far. To put things in perspective, let me give you an idea of how little pull the Nokia Windows Phone currently has in the U.S. smartphone market. Right now you can get a Nokia Lumia 710 Windows Phone at a Wal-Mart for free. -
Is The Web Really Just Links Or Is It Evolving?
8 Jan 2012 | 6:02 amLately, Dave Winer has been doing a lot of thinking. Dave has been around for a while, so when he starts thinking about interesting questions, we should all be listening. However, I am not saying that we should be agreeing with him, just reading and forming opinions. First, Dave complains about mobile apps and how they are not what the web is about: And all this business about apps is a real spoiler for suspension of disbelief. I’m clicking a link, expecting to learn more about what I was reading (that was certainly the author’s intent) but instead I get an ad for an app. If I… -
Why Should You Become A Software Engineer
1 Jan 2012 | 5:25 amLike any normal blogger, I obsess about my blog. How much traffic am I getting? Where is the traffic coming from? What search terms are leading people here? The search terms are most interesting when it comes to thinking about new content to write. Today, I am writing about a question I saw in the search terms, why should you become a software engineer? First, some background about my own journey into software development. When I went to college, my plan was to become a civil engineer. I took two semesters of physics and realized that the plan was not going to work. I found out that I really… -
A Look Back And A Look Ahead At 2012
24 Dec 2011 | 4:52 amAs the year comes to a close, everyone is posting predictions about the new year as well as reviewing their predictions from the prior year. Here at Regular Geek, I would like to look at the trends to determine what changed things and what trends we should watch in the coming year, not as predictions but more as an idea of things to look for. Last year, I wrote about the following trends, with some new comments in italics. Mobile Computing: People thought mobile computing was big with the advent of smartphones. With the addition of tablets like the iPad, mobile computing got a big screen to…
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Metrica
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The Friday PR and Social Media Cheat Sheet #022
3 Feb 2012 | 2:54 amIf you work in PR and are interested in the latest thinking on media monitoring, PR planning, media analysis and social media measurement, these are the must read stories from the last week. This week’s top PR and social media picks: Gorkana hosted a breakfast briefing with the new editorial team at FHM. Deputy editor Dan Jude reveals what the future holds for the reinvented mens’ magazine below. Can’t see the video? Click here Metrica director Kristin Wadge spoke at the PRmoment.com conference, ‘How Should Brands Prepare for a Social Media Crisis? Follow the… -
The anti-SOPA/PIPA campaign and social media strategy
31 Jan 2012 | 3:21 amUnless you’ve been hiding under a rock recently, you will have seen mention of the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) bills on Twitter or Facebook, or noticed your most visited sites ‘blacked out’ in protest. On 18th January 2012, 30 million US citizens saw Mozilla’s blackout Firefox start-up page; 1.8 million visited its SOPA information page, and 360,000 people emailed congress about the issue. Other internet giants participating in the anti-SOPA camapign boast similarly impressive figures: 13 million people viewed Google’s… -
Charity buzz – Gorkana’s Annual Charity Barometer
27 Jan 2012 | 4:36 amGorkana Group’s Annual Charity Barometer has just been published showing what an interesting year 2011 was! Sophie Hudson’s great piece in Third Sector highlights some key takeaways from the year. With over 620,000 press, broadcast and online pieces of coverage analysed The Red Cross came out top with the highest volume of coverage for the entire year with a whopping 38,590 pieces. Major world events helped to drive these volumes with news in March of the organisation withdrawing its workers from Benghazi, Libya over concerns of their safety due to the ongoing civil unrest. … -
The Friday PR and Social Media Cheat Sheet #021
27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amIf you work in PR and are interested in the latest thinking on media monitoring, PR planning, media analysis and social media measurement, these are the must read stories from the last week. This week’s top PR and social media picks: Studies from the US and UK on the prospects for the PR industry confirmed what we already knew: us Brits are more pessimistic. More than a third of firms surveyed by the CPRF in the US anticipated higher budgets for 2012, buoyed by increased staff numbers and improved revenues. Across the pond, the PRCA‘S quarterly trends barometer reported that economic… -
The Friday PR and Social Media Cheat Sheet #020
20 Jan 2012 | 4:40 amIf you work in PR and are interested in the latest thinking on media monitoring, PR planning, media analysis and social media measurement, these are the must read stories from the last week. This week’s top PR and social media picks: New meme alert! 60 Completely Unusable Stock Photos (see below). A Wikipedia blackout raised awareness for the anti-SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) campaign. Cue unprecedented levels of ‘my dog ate my homework’. Find out how the internet works and how SOPA would ‘break it’. However, Mashable offered 12 Wikipedia alternatives for those…
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Weber Media Partners | Impressions Through Media
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Pinterest: The Power of Images
27 Jan 2012 | 9:47 amOver the past few years, there have been a mind-boggling number of technology innovations. So many, that it has our heads spinning. As for social networks this past year, the launch of Google+ was big. But, by all reports, the next big thing is Pinterest. Pinterest has over 4 million registered users as of this week and is growing rapidly. 1.5 million of the predominately female audience visit Pinterest every day – spending 14 minutes on the site on average. Alexa.com reports “Pinterest.com is ranked #133 in the world according to the three-month Alexa traffic rankings… The… -
The SOPA Debate
13 Jan 2012 | 8:59 amOn the surface, Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP (PIPA) sounds like a good idea – to punish those who pirate intellectual property. As an writer and artist, I am all too aware of the dangers of posting your work and then finding it elsewhere, without your permission. Imagine the cost implications for movie studios, record labels, and of course the individual who has few resources to go after the culprit. The idea behind this bill, according to those who have followed the debate, was sound. The result, however, has been described as a threat to free speech, web-related… -
The Pluses and Minuses of Google+ Pages
28 Nov 2011 | 10:08 amGoogle+ business pages went public on November 7, and they are already making an impact on the social media landscape. The number of visitors to Google’s latest social media venture is up 25% this month, compared to October. Much of this traffic is a result of organizations looking to stake their claim in this new social sphere, even if they are not quite sure how this newest channel will fit into their existing social media plan. We here at Weber Media Partners excitedly dove into Google+ two weeks ago. The hard work came in the days after. This month, we are working on our plan to… -
An Explanation of Recent Facebook Enhancements
28 Sep 2011 | 12:01 pmWhether you use Facebook for personal reasons or as a business tool, you have probably noticed a lot of changes on the site since last Thursday, when founder Mark Zuckerberg unveiled them. (NOTES and WARNING: This is 1 hour and 40 minutes long. Fast forward to minute 7.5 if you want to avoid the stand up comedian pretending to be Zuckerberg). There has been an uproar from some users, but there always is. Change is hard for some, but it is inevitable, especially if Facebook wants to remain in the top spot as a social networking destination. User complaints abound. “Too cluttered and… -
The Real Cost of Social Media Info Graphic
15 Aug 2011 | 10:54 amAt Weber Media Partners, we love info graphics. This one is so interesting we are going to post it even thought it is enormous. Thank you to Focus.com for putting this together.
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Mizz Information
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Pinterest Can Monetize My Links All They Want
8 Feb 2012 | 7:16 amThe big news of the week is that Pinterest is apparently monetizing links without disclosing the practice to users. I was going to write a post about why I'm ok with that, but Allison at BlogWorld already wrote basically the exact thing I was going to write so I'll save myself the trouble and just link to her post. In short--Pinterest making money in a way that costs me nothing? Have at it...but a little transparency and disclosure would serve you well in the long run. Then again, maybe not--god knows Facebook doesn't do it and it doesn't seem to be hurting them any. Path, the darling of… -
Want Traffic? You Need Images
1 Feb 2012 | 6:56 amSource: Uploaded by user via Maggie on Pinterest While checking out Google Voice I landed on their blog and was intrigued by the Dynamic View theme, so I'm trying it here on Mizz Information. See those tabs across the top of the blog now--"Classic" "Flipcard" "Magazine" etc? You can click on those to view this blog in those formats. Granted, it doesn't look very great because I seldom use images--something which, if I am serious about optimizing traffic, I need to start doing more because images are the new sharing vehicle--just look at how much traffic Pinterest is driving. I'm conflicted… -
Why Having Staff Be Facebook Emissaries Is a Bad Idea
27 Jan 2012 | 9:24 amLately I've been seeing social media pros suggesting that, in light of recent changes to Facebook's algorithm, organizations start focusing less on Facebook Pages and more on having staff members use their own Facebook profiles to promote the organization's agenda. Call me cranky, but I think this is a terrible idea. The rationale behind this suggestion is that, as Facebook changed its news feed algorithm last fall, admins began to notice that posts from pages were appearing in fans news feeds less frequently than posts from individuals to whom people were subscribed. What does that mean,… -
Community Manager Appreciation Day
23 Jan 2012 | 8:56 amPhoto by elkokoparrilla, on Flickr Unless you are a community manager (and maybe not even then) you probably don't know that today is Community Manager Appreciation Day (CMAD). Well, guess what? It is! Two years ago Jeremiah Owyang suggested that the fourth Monday of January be a day to "take the time to pause, recognize, and celebrate the efforts community managers around the world to improve customer experiences." Three and a half years into my career as a community/social media manager, I can attest to the fact that it's a demanding, exhilarating, exciting, and life-encompassing job. It's… -
Movie Recap 2011
15 Jan 2012 | 11:59 amPhoto by ToastyKen (I originally posted this on my other blog but am reposting here) It's that time of year again...time for my movie recap. In case you don't know this about me, I'm obsessed with going to movies. Not watching movies at home--too many distractions. But going to the movie theater. In 2008 I saw 50 movies. In 2009, I saw 53. Last year I made it to 57. So my number to beat this year was 57. Did I make it? Of course I did! This year's total? 64 movies. Gulp. Next year is going to be a bitch having to top that. Let me just preface this by saying that if you didn't go to a…
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SiteFox
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Politics, Small Businesses, and You…
24 Jan 2012 | 4:00 amWe don’t often talk about politics here, but we came across this awesome infographic that is definitely useful for all small business owners. If you’re not sure who you’re voting for this year, check out the infographic below to see how each candidate stands on small business issues. I’m sure it will change and hopefully we’ll get some updates. In the mean time check it out and let me know what you think. How much of an impact does the candidate’s stance on small business issues impact your choice? Credit: FastUpFront – Business Loans Made Easy. -
The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide [Free Download]
9 Jan 2012 | 4:00 amLet’s face it. Online marketing is difficult to understand and even harder to execute successfully. There’s so much talk about using Facebook and Twitter or having a conversation with your customers. How are you, a small business owner, supposed to find the time to learn all the in’s and out’s of online marketing? That’s why we put together the SiteFox Marketing Guide. It’s a 99-page guide that explains exactly what you need to know about marketing your business online. It also includes a set of action plans to help you execute a successful online marketing… -
Definitive Guide to Word of Mouth Marketing
22 Dec 2011 | 9:16 amThink back to a time you had a problem you needed solved. How’d you find the business you’re using now? Most likely you did one of two things: searched a business directory (maybe online) OR you asked a friend for a recommendation. Having people recommend your business is the basis of word of mouth marketing. It’s doing something so memorable that people talk about you; it’s tied to customer service, viral marketing, and just being a business people like working with. How are you maximizing your word of mouth marketing? What are you doing to make sure people talk about… -
Our Marketing Tracking Document [Free Download]
19 Dec 2011 | 11:00 pmWhen we first started marketing SiteFox, we realized that it wasn’t all about big marketing campaigns or messaging programs. We quickly learned that it was really about maximizing our returns from each channel. One of the things we did early on was setup a document to track each channel and gauge its efficiency for registering new clients. The efficiency is based off a number we derived after deciding on how much of our revenue we wanted to invest in marketing. We’ve been using the spreadsheet for a while now and it’s really helped us strategically invest money in ways that… -
Dos and Don’ts for Your Small Business Newsletter
15 Dec 2011 | 4:00 amAlthough social media gets all the buzz, email marketing still continues to be an extremely lucrative marketing channel. Businesses are continuing to grow their email lists and connecting with consumers through their newsletters. Making sure you’re creating an active newsletter list directly effects your revenue from your emails. Following a few core rules will make sure you get the most from your list and keep your subscribers happy and opening your emails. Do: Use a Professional Template The first tip is to use a professional template. You’ll notice that a lot of people use the plain…
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Social News Watch
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What’s Up with Bloggers?
29 Jan 2012 | 9:01 pmSource: visual.ly via J.D. on Pinterest -
StumbleBait
25 Aug 2011 | 6:52 amThis comprehensive guide is as true as can be. What does it take to be successful on StumbleUpon? Pictures. That’s it. -
Social Business and How it is Used Today
8 Aug 2011 | 3:03 pmIf there’s anything we’ve learned about social media over the last few years, it’s that most businesses aren’t doing it right, but those who “get it” are hitting home runs. There’s no other way to say it. This infographic by our friends at GetSatisfaction brings it into perspective nicely for us. Click to enlarge. Via: Automotive Internet Marketing and Automotive Social Networks -
Social Media as a Business Communication Tool
7 Aug 2011 | 2:01 pmBetween Google+ and every other social network created this year, the choices have expanded dramatically for businesses to be able to communicate with their customers and clients. Email is still valid and probably will be for a while despite challenges facing the medium, but social media is the one that’s on the rise. We can assume that most businesses should focus their efforts on the big 5 – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and blogs – and as a result this infographic below by our friends at SocialCast does a nice job of breaking it down for us. Click to enlarge. -
What is Facebook Selling?
24 Jul 2011 | 4:56 pmVia: Soshable
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Community Building
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How independent is your online community?
19 Jan 2012 | 1:37 pmA great community manager can build a great online community. That being said, a community shouldn’t be reliant on one person for its success. Yes, it needs a leader – but it shouldn’t depend on that leader for its daily survival. Here’s a quick and easy way you can determine just how independent your community is – find your community’s total post count, and figure out how many of those posts were made by you. When you’re building a new community from scratch, it will be largely reliant on its manager – you need to encourage the development of… -
Don’t draw attention to your community’s weaknesses
11 Jan 2012 | 4:40 pmMovie-Vault does a great job at highlighting its weaknesses. Take a look at the homepage; as of Wednesday January 11th, in the left column we see 67 RSS readers and 55 Twitter followers. In the articles section, we are repeatedly reminded that nobody is commenting on the articles -there are four articles all with a large button proclaiming ’0 Comments’ (apart from one article lucky enough to attract the attention of a spammer). Furthermore, on every article we have the opportunity to be the first to ‘Like’ the content on Facebook. Not all online communities have the… -
Online communities should highlight quality, not quantity
22 Nov 2011 | 1:33 pmWoot does a great job with its online community. Not only does the community content appear prominently on the homepage, the site highlights what it considers ‘quality posts’ – only posts it deems to be useful, interesting or otherwise valuable to the community make it to the homepage. Click to enlarge Furthermore, when you delve into a product discussion thread, things look a little different. Before you even see the discussion thread, you see the quality posts. Click to enlarge If you scroll down further, you get to the actual discussion thread. In a typical forum… -
Creating a mission statement for your online community
5 Oct 2011 | 3:07 pmIt’s impossible to be a great community manager if the community you manage doesn’t have a mission statement. Without a mission statement, how do you know what kind of culture you’re trying to develop? How do you know what kind of content should be encouraged? How do you know what kind of members you want to attract? A mission statement is critical if you want to build a successful online community. The mission statement will influence your community’s rules and guidelines. It will determine how you grow and it will remind you (and your members) of the… -
Hold your horses, community manager!
17 Aug 2011 | 11:23 amOne of the most important traits of a good community manager is patience. You need to be patient with members, you need to be patient when encouraging relationship building and you need to be patient waiting for conversations to develop. Unfortunately, patience is rarely seen on the list of desirable skills for a community manager (normally because employers want quick results). Consequently, I come across a large number of online communities where the community manager is effectively running the show. As a community manager, you shouldn’t be at the top of the ‘Top Posters’…
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Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog
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Something Old, Something New, Something Blue
6 Feb 2012 | 9:04 amHey there! So I really wanted to add the Something Borrowed option too, but couldn’t think of anything, so the three in the title will have to do. So… It’s been a little quiet here last week, since Kevin Green’s great guest post about LinkedIn (and if you haven’t read it yet, you’re missing a great ongoing discussion in the comments). But there’s a good reason for that, which is where the Something New and Something Old part comes in. And yes, I’m the something old part in the image at the start of this post… Last Thursday, February 2nd at… -
If LinkedIn.com Fails in the Social Network Forest, Will It Make a Sound?
30 Jan 2012 | 3:31 pmThis is a guest post by Kevin Green. Would anyone be really upset if LinkedIn’s .com destination up and disappeared tomorrow? It’s safe to assume that recruiters scouring the site for new talent and current shareholders would be pretty peeved, even if the stock (LNKD) is trading at half price from the IPO. But how would the lack of an online destination really impact everyday users? Users that are tethered to their mobile phones and enamored by the promise of applications, innovation and integration? Of the top 10 most trafficked social networking sites, LinkedIn is a bit of an… -
Because We Never Failed
28 Jan 2012 | 7:45 pmAs children, we have unbridled aspirations. We dream to be astronauts. We dream to be explorers. We dream to be princesses. We dream to be the world’s greatest sports star. We dream. Looking back at our childhood dreams, we rarely feel we failed because we didn’t become the astronaut. Or marry the prince. Or found new lands. Or had stadiums cheering our name. Instead, we look back and remember a time when dreams had no limits, and anything was possible, even if (in reality) it never was. Yet we never use the fail word. Because, in truth, we never failed. Just because something… -
Collaborative Marketing and the Natural Progression to Real Customer Satisfaction
26 Jan 2012 | 12:52 pmI’ve been thinking a lot about collaborative marketing lately, and how we can turn co-existing businesses more into partners and less about missed opportunities. I think there’s a great untapped market for someone that really wants to grab collaborative marketing and run with it. For example – imagine you’re going on a trip. You have to fly to get there, so there are a few processes you need to go through before, during and after: Buying your ticket. Driving to the airport. In-flight activities. Hotel or accommodation when you land. Rental car. These are just the basics – I’m… -
The Only Thing That’s Dead Is Your Crappy “Everything Is Dead” Meme
22 Jan 2012 | 8:06 pmI’m a little tired. Not physically. I could always do with a little more sleep, but then so can everyone. No. I’m more tired about the constant “The End of PR”, “The End of Marketing”, “The End of Print” and “The End of Advertising” missives that seem to be flying about at the minute. I can’t open my email subscriptions without the latest link shouting out “The end of…. Where now for Industry X?”. I’m an avid blog reader and use Alltop regularly to find interesting stories from my industry and beyond. Yet it seems that there’s an “End of…” blog…
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Herd - the hidden truth about who we are
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How DOES advertising work then?
8 Feb 2012 | 8:22 amFor adplanners and the like: In the pre Christmas (holidays to you, Gareth) rush, you might have missed this major U-turn by the lovely folks at Millward Brown research (the people who brought you the "awareness index" a key metric that assumes that advertising achieves its effect primarily by impacting memory - awareness and recall). Suddenly - after years of dissing those like my chums at Brainjuicer - who dared to suggest that emotions were the key to advertising effectiveness, the folk we used to know as The Leamington Spa Gang have turned 180 degrees. Apparently, emotion… -
Neurononsense revisited: a new dawn?
8 Feb 2012 | 8:05 amLast night at a reception in memory of the late and great Ginny Valentine, an old buddy of mine asked me what I thought about the proliferation of neuromarketing techniques and the general air of "brain is best" in market research communities. Perhaps I should have just referred him to David Penn of Conquest who is delighting in being the continuing scourge of snake-oil neuro-research sales persons: his "neuromania" schtick is coming to the MRS in March. Always good value. Regular readers will know that - like David - I'm deeply suspicious of the willing… -
Do this for you
7 Feb 2012 | 11:35 amI speak at a lot of conferences and gatherings and such like. Undoubtedly the best of these are the Do Lectures, held in a field in "a small clever country called Wales". This is my picture from my visit a couple of years ago as a speaker (I went back last year as an audience member) and this is the speech I gave. You should go, too. Not because of what your ticket does for other people (it helps pay for the free-to-air archive of 200 going on 1000 videos of Do Lectures and it also makes sure that there's another interesting person to spend the days and evenings… -
I'll have what she's having at the RSA
6 Feb 2012 | 7:46 amOops forgot to post the RSA video of Alex and myself explaining the big ideas behind our book I'll Have What She's Having - Mapping Social Behaviour. Here it is Apologies if you've seen it before - but here it is again...! Enjoy BTW here's the book itself -
More on Networks from the irrepressible Mr Rheingold
6 Feb 2012 | 3:01 amThis is a doosie. Not sure we'd agree with everything.Put your feet up for 15 minutes and listen to the man.
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Connect - Digital Marketing Expertise from iCrossing
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AdWords Developments in 2012…
7 Feb 2012 | 2:42 amLast year I posted on elements which I’d like to see Google incorporate into AdWords during 2011. Google claim to have tested over 100 new ad formats in 2011, along with a bunch of new features, so unsurprisingly a couple of my predictions came up. There are still some omissions which I feel are no brainers, but given the progress made this year I’m pretty optimistic about them. How I did before… Ad scheduling was resolved by automated rules, which opened up to all advertisers in February. Not only that, it allows for some reasonably advanced automation at most levels of the… -
2012 Mobile Market Share [Infographic]
2 Feb 2012 | 8:39 amAs has become tradition in February we’ve taken a fresh look at the state of the mobile web and who are the main players with respects to Mobile Operating System (Mobile OS) market share. We looked at 15 countries from all corners of the globe to see what the predominant mobile platforms are in that country and how the situation has changed in the last year. 2011 has been a big year for Android, with the platform seeing massive growth in many countries, growing from 17% to 47% in Spain in the last year and from 6% to 45% in Peru. In the UK Android has grown by 10% which has mostly been at… -
Google privacy announcement: “will benefit us…I mean users”*
26 Jan 2012 | 7:47 am[*not an actual Google quote] On Tuesday Google announced via its blog that from 1st March, more than 60 of its privacy policies will be helpfully consolidated into one, easy to read document. What a fantastic idea! We all know how sensitive the issue of internet privacy has become and anything that provides transparency in a simple way has to be of great benefit to internet users. But before we shake Google by the hand for doing the honourable thing and distinguishing themselves from privacy flouters like Facebook, let’s investigate what this privacy update actually means…are Google… -
Is Google using gamification to increase engagement on Google+?
23 Jan 2012 | 6:54 amA new game of Google maps will be available for Google+ customers next month. Below is a screenshot of the video called “Play Your World with Google Maps” released by Google a few days ago. It is not a surprise that Google and other large companies such as Nike, McDonalds or eBay amongst others are taking the online gamer community very seriously. Let’s take a look at the numbers: Gamer community stats According to Jane McGonigal, author of the book ‘Reality is broken’ the online gamer community –including console, PC and mobile phone gaming – counts for: More than 4m gamers… -
The BIG Fight – Internet Privacy vs Google Analytics 5
20 Jan 2012 | 4:14 amFollowing the connect post on the content battle by Jeremy Head there is another head-to-head brewing in 2012… With the old Google Analytics (GA) interface being phased out later this month, I take a look at the duel between Internet Privacy and Google Analytics that is likely to be more heated than ever in the coming year. Analysts like myself are preparing to wrestle with reduced data samples and doubts over the reliability of tracking data in Google Analytics. [The purpose of this blog post is to inject an element of humour whilst identifying some of the new GA5 features and…
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Suzemuse - Create. Share. Learn. Be Brilliant. Personal Blog of Susan Murphy.
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A Kick in the Pants for New Bloggers
9 Feb 2012 | 6:04 amYou’ve got the itch to blog, congratulations! It’s a wondrous thing. I started my first blog in 2006, and I have reaped rich rewards both personally and professionally. I use this blog as a bit of a sandbox – it’s where I experiment with new ideas and play around with features. Blogging helps me to sort out things in my head, and I love the opportunity to be able to publish in a public way. I may not have the most subscribers. I may not get a tonne of comments on every post. The number of views I get on my posts is probably pretty average (with the occasional spike). -
Tips for Managing Your Online Time You May Not Want To Hear
8 Feb 2012 | 6:49 amIt’s no secret that social media can be one of the best ways to generate new business leads, especially for small business owners. I’m living proof of that; at Jester Creative, many of our clients have come from connections we’ve made through blogging, and via social networks like Twitter and LinkedIN. I am a huge proponent of small business owners participating in social networks, and I encourage it whenever I can. Leveraging social media in small business is a very effective approach, but it’s not without its challenges. Lots of entrepreneurs jump into social media… -
You Are Not What You Do For a Living
5 Feb 2012 | 5:42 amI went out with a friend last night that I hadn’t seen in a while. We met up downtown, went to a jazz club, had a bite to eat and “caught up”. We yakked about all sorts of things…music, mutual friends, and our respective neighbourhoods. But there was one topic that came up only briefly…work. And you know what? It was refreshing. People who know me might not believe this, but I’m not always the most sociable person in the world. I don’t particularly care for big social events, which is why you’ll only ever see me at a handful of them. One… -
The Experimentation Experiment
27 Jan 2012 | 4:07 amBack in 1998, I had just graduated from a multimedia production program at Algonquin College. In that 6 month, post-graduate course, we learned all about design and development of interactive CD-ROMs, which was still a great skill in those days. The Internet was just starting to become popular, but nobody really knew where it was going at that point. As a result, we had a grand total of 1 day of HTML training in our program. The moment I had my diploma in hand, I realized that the Web was probably going to be a big deal. I headed to the bookstore and spent what little money I had on a… -
3 Ways to Reduce Online Noise and Get More Done
23 Jan 2012 | 5:40 amThe world is a noisy place, and it’s only getting noisier. If you’re like me, you remember a time when there were only a couple of TV stations (in fact, when I lived in the Arctic as a kid, we only had ONE channel!). You remember a time when you had one telephone, and if it rang, and you weren’t home, it just kept ringing. The caller would just have to call back later. There were no answering machines. If you were on the phone, and someone tried to call you, it didn’t go to voicemail – the caller got a busy signal. Because you were…busy. The mail…
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Citizen L. aka Laurent François on Social Media
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Pinterest: when curation becomes mainstream
6 Feb 2012 | 6:36 amIf you want to know what I think about Pinterest, well, you can either follow me there or read my post on SocialMediaToday. Ha! -
3 simple things more important than Social Media skills
18 Jan 2012 | 10:29 amThis week, I had the pleasure to discover again 3 simple things that were far more impactful on my consumer journey than Social Media skills: a service provider (plumber) called to inform me that he was on his way to my apartment: how come delivery guys for e-business never tell you when they’re in? I’ve been looking for hours a bloody serial number on a bloody heater: I still don’t understand how it’s possible that a missing number drives a whole value chain down, as the sales I had on the line could not tell me what to do. Non-sense. I gave tips to a pizza delivery… -
TV, Social Media, and the reasons why we should watch TV
12 Jan 2012 | 1:39 amAnother article for Social Media Today on the reasons why TV is the main crossroad for Social Media. Check this out! -
Social Media & Suicide
8 Jan 2012 | 10:00 pmI wrote a post on Social Media hopes to fight against the very first social fact, suicide. And it’s on Social Media Today, of course! -
2012 Sarkozy campaign weakness: digital communication
4 Jan 2012 | 5:33 amThis morning, the French political party UMP (they run for President Sarkozy) tried to generate a buzz as François Hollande (his main opponent for 2012 – at least we hope it’s not Marine Le Pen- a socialist) was supposed to have declared that Sarkozy is a “dirty guy” (sale mec in French).UMP politicians tried to widen the rumor and generated some appearances in front of TV teams. What’s interesting is that in France, in order to make a news BIG, you still need to wait 8pm, and our TV prime-time for news (we only have one time zone, remember ). But even…
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sassholes
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Everything I Know About Business I Learned From THE TOXIC AVENGER!
22 Jan 2012 | 5:57 pmLights, Camera, Action! Early in my career I spent 7 years working for Troma, the low budget film studio probably best known for the cult Classic, The Toxic Avenger… As I am sure you know, The Toxic Avenger is the heartwarming story of Melvin, a lowly mop-boy, who, teased and taunted, falls into a vat of radioactive waste and emerges as… The Toxic Avenger - The First Superhero from New Jersey! (And affectionately called "Toxie.") Making movies is hard work, especially making movies on a shoestring budget… (OK, eventually we were able to advance from shoestrings… -
Zen and the Art of Ultrabooks...
19 Dec 2011 | 8:08 pm(Note: this is a sponsored post that originally appeared at Dadomatic.com, but the words and opinions are all mine.) It is fitting that Asus calls their new Ultrabook line "Zenbooks." Just one look and you can see that it is a device that exudes a sense of calm and balance, purity and power. An early entrant in the Intel Ultrabook category, the Zenbook is thin and sleek, capable and fast. It is the Ying and Yang of portable computing: thin and light enough to take with you everywhere, yet powerful and feature rich enough to function as a primary computer. Actually,… -
A Hollywood Tale: From Screenplay to Podcast to...
27 Nov 2011 | 9:32 am(Disclosure: This post is a shameless plug to ask you to consider subscribing to my new podcast, Wunderkind! and, if you are so inclined, help me to spread the word about it. Wunderkind! is the podcast of an original comic-adventure screenplay, written and performed by me.) If you've enjoyed my posts here at over the years, I'd greatly appreciate your help in spreading the word about my new fiction podcast, Wunderkind! Since it was originally written for the screen, I am performing Wunderkind! as a screenplay and generally retain the protocols of a screenplay format, with… -
Feeling Full After A Half-Marathon
8 Nov 2011 | 7:24 pmThere is something incredibly human about running. According to many articles, books and talks, we are made for running. Our erect biped being makes running as natural for homo sapiens as flying is for birds. We used to run as a tribe, chasing our prey over vast distances until it collapsed from exhaustion and the running man conquered the savage beast without a blow. Whole villages ran to follow the hunters to the fallen spoil. Perhaps that is why I found running in a race to be such a deeply satisfying experience, and a deeply emotional one...it is in our DNA... -
New Podcast Fiction: Wunderkind!
16 Oct 2011 | 8:51 pmFor almost two years now I have officially been a podcaster as a co-host of the Cast of Dads podcast along with C.C. Chapman, Michael Sheehan, Brad Powell and Max Kalehoff. While I love being one of the Cast of Dads, I have always wanted to try my hand at podcast fiction. Finally, I have have dusted off something I've written that I think will lend itself well to the podcast medium, and I am announcing the launch of a new serialized podcast of an original comedy screenplay, "Wunderkind!" I am very fortunate to consider many of the highly creative and innovative podcasters friends…
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Connection Agent
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Passion Matters
7 Feb 2012 | 4:30 amWhen I think of Angela Maiers, I think of one word. Passion. She’s a passionate educator. A passionate blogger. And, this Tuesday night (Feb 7th) on LeadershipChat, Angela will be talking about a core passion of hers. #YouMatter. Simply put, YouMatter is Angela’s summary of a conviction deep in her DNA – that a sense of significance is central to our well-being and growth. Since it’s really not possible to replicate Angela’s passion in a second-hand blog post, I’d urge you to watch this video – or if you can’t afford the 20 minutes to watch,… -
Caribbean Connections
6 Feb 2012 | 7:21 amEver heard of Digicel? Yeah, me neither – until a few weeks ago. When my eyeballs were saturated with their branding. Upon landing in Haiti, I was surrounded, not only by a sea of people, but by an ocean of red Digicel signs. They are a company run by an Irish entrepreneur, who targeted Jamaica and other Caribbean islands (and has now expanded outward). You will look in vain to find much reference to AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint in Haiti. But you can hardly look anywhere without seeing Digicel branding. Day or night. Digicel painted on walls. Digicel T-shirts. Digicel sun-umbrellas… -
Out of my Comfort Zone: Haiti
3 Feb 2012 | 3:47 amAs many of you know, I recently went on a mission trip to Haiti (small team from my local church). My role was to help one of my long-time friends with a building project – topping off the walls of a partially-constructed church building and putting up a roof on it. The trip was an amazing privilege, and the whole adventure was WAY outside my comfort zone! Nonetheless, it was a fulfilling and eye-opening experience. I thought I’d share some of the pictures I took of the country, its people, and the project. Here is the photo set on Flickr. If you scroll through, you’ll see… -
Are You Getting Ahead?
30 Jan 2012 | 5:14 pmThis week on LeadershipChat (on Twitter, 8 pm ET Tuesday nights), we welcome Joel Garfinkle, author of the recent book Getting Ahead: three steps to take your career to the next level (Amazon link). This book introduces Joel’s PVI-model of advancing your career; (1) Actively promote yourself as an asset and valuable person inside the organization (perception), (2) Increase your visibility to gain others’ recognition and appreciation for your efforts and (3) Become a person of influence who makes key decisions inside the organization. Our focus during Tuesday’s chat will be on… -
Search My World with Google – so what?
13 Jan 2012 | 4:39 amSo, Google has now introduced a new feature in search, whereby you not only search the public web, but can view results from your Google+ network. Good on ‘em. I hope they keep experimenting, keep evolving. Some stuff Google has tried has failed; other approaches have taken off. Google’s DNA has this feature: no status quo. Push forward. This new feature will stick if it provides long-term value. If not, they can just turn it off (and you do have a show/hide switch to toggle if you wish). People may be tempted to moan that Google is monkeying with their main “search”…
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TheWayoftheWeb
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What brands need to learn about true fans
5 Feb 2012 | 11:57 amAre you watching the Super Bowl tonight between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants? I’ll be watching at least some of it, but my main interest in the NFL was in the in 90′s, watching Troy Aikman and the Dallas Cowboys in whatever coverage was available in the UK. By contrast, I was on the edge of my seat during the Ireland – Wales match in the Six Nations Rugby today. And [spoiler alert] being a passionate Ireland supporter (The two manifestations of my Irish ancestry are in rugby and whiskey), the end result was a bit of a kick in the teeth. Chatting with a… -
The book that inspired my career…
4 Feb 2012 | 8:50 amI don’t know about you, but I’ve always been fascinated by surfing. Something about the elegance of seeing someone balancing on a board floating over the forces of nature manages to be both inspiring and relaxing to watch. But despite a period of trying to conquer skateboarding, I knew I’d never be a surfer. Partly it was down to geography – Kent in England is not necessarily a hotbed of surfing talent. More importantly, I combined a lack of balance with a dislike of swimming. But around the age of 11 or so, I read the amazing Walking on Water by Andy Martin. Like me,… -
Failing to understand the social media economy?
3 Feb 2012 | 9:27 amThis is a great example of how you can listen to someone talk about the way that social media, social business and engagement are all supposed to work, and yet miss the entire point when it comes to actually trying to interact. If you’re not familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk, it’s worth me pointing out there’s some strong language. It’s so often the case, particular with larger companies and the relentless need to show immediate ROI that even when someone understands the concept of earning what they want, that they succumb to the temptation of just diving straight in with… -
Why it doesn’t matter if not all user-created content is great…
23 Jan 2012 | 2:20 pmYoutube users are currently uploading an hour of content every second, or 60 hours every minute. Assuming 0.25% of all content being uploaded is great content, that’s 3.6 hours of amazing videos every day. That’s 25.2 hours of great content per week, with the average TV viewing in a UK household somewhere between 20 and 30 hours per week. Pretty amazing, and also why the follow-up attempts to enact laws such as SOPA and PIPA will occur with regularity in the U.S, and the influence of the U.S will be increasingly felt on every country around the world which might be encouraged or… -
How to kill a cultural icon…
22 Jan 2012 | 5:44 amThere’s a classic Bill Hicks routine which states that as soon as you appear in a commercial for a product, you are removed from the artistic cannon forever. And I struggle to think of a time when applying that role would have caused me to miss out on something particularly great – although the age-old tradition of celebrities popping up in seemingly random adverts in countries like Japan mean they may be some examples. But what happens when the stars aren’t human, but characters in a story which has become immensely popular and adopted by millions around the world with…
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onetrouser.com
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Fashion Goes Vintage – A Guide to Vintage Clothing
9 Feb 2012 | 4:38 amEveryone’s wearing vintage style from the girl on the high street to A list celebrities. Even high street shops are now following suit with their own ranges of vintage inspired clothes. But why is vintage clothing so popular and how can you get the vintage look? Vintage clothing is described by Trudie Bamford, author of -
Tennis Rackets – A Selection Guide
7 Feb 2012 | 10:57 amThe single most important piece of equipment a tennis player will purchase is a tennis racket. With the wide variety of tennis racket brands, models, types, and specifications on the market, selecting a tennis racket can be a daunting task. Prospective tennis racket buyers should consider several important criteria. These criteria are brand, racket weight, -
Dog/Child Interaction: How to Develop a Safe Relationship
5 Feb 2012 | 4:17 amDog-child interaction is the single most important issue to deal with if you have a child and a dog. Children love dogs but dogs don’t always love children. When you bring home a new puppy, your child should be trained together with your dog. Dog owners need to remember that it takes two to tango. -
Best Pet Supplies
2 Feb 2012 | 10:22 pmPeople show so much love for their pet that they go overboard in buying pet supplies. Not only does it cost you unnecessary expenses, your home with so much pet supply but you will fill clutter which most of it your pet will never even use. So buy wisely and get only those pet supplies -
Car Auctions in Japan: An Overview for Car Importers
2 Feb 2012 | 11:27 amCar importers know that car auctions in Japan are a great place to find low mileage, high quality used cars at good prices. My aim in this article is to help you understand these car auctions in Japan better so that you can make a good, informed decision about whether to buy from them or
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Mike's Lifestream
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Social Media Report: January 2012.
8 Feb 2012 | 6:44 amTweet via socialbakers.com 30m Facebook users in UK 50% of which are 18-34 Burberry, Sony Ericsson and Dove are the top 3 brands by number of fans -
Check in with Air China. Simple but effective campaign that got results.
7 Feb 2012 | 2:29 pmTweet via youtube.com -
How to: Get More Clicks on Twitter
7 Feb 2012 | 2:19 pmTweet via socialmouths.com -
The Internet Identity Crisis | Adweek
7 Feb 2012 | 2:15 pm -
Daily chart: Facebook by numbers | The Economist
7 Feb 2012 | 9:21 am
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Jennifer Maggiore
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What Our Children Know
7 Feb 2012 | 2:59 pmI wish I could just relax and be more like my kids. They are so intuitive and they live in the moment. I run around freaking out like a crazy person, regretting the past and fearing the future. I waste much of my energy trying to think of every scenario and how to prepare for the worst. We’re looking for a daycare for our one year. The thought of him being cared for by someone else kills me, I wish I could clone myself and work and be with him, but its not my reality. I know the day will come, just like with his older brother, that Jo Jo will realize he is being dropped off and cry his… -
This is Who I Am. Nobody Said You Had to Like It.
1 Feb 2012 | 6:26 pmFor those of you who have been regular readers of my posts over the years, you know that I am a passionate, creative person, who also happens to love the occasional four letter word. I figure that being almost 34 years old, a responsible mother, successful business owner, and loving wife have earned me the right to use any language I so desire, at home or in the office. I understand that sometimes this might be offensive, there are a lot of things about me, well anyone really, that people may find offensive. If a potty mouth turns you off, we were never well suited to working together. Now,… -
Reflecting on 5 Fucking Years
10 Jan 2012 | 9:29 pmTwo days ago I went to pick up Matteo and the owner of his school came out to see me at carpool- “So, since Matteo is turning 5 tomorrow, he told us he wanted to start using ‘big boy’ language — he used the word ‘fucking’ today.” She handed me the incident report and I waffled between being defensive (well he clearly didn’t learn that from me) and… realistic. He even used it the right way, “I don’t care about your fucking toy.” Ouch. Yep, my fucking bad. We had the obligatory conversation: Me How did it make you feel to… -
Will Work For Group Health Insurance
28 Nov 2011 | 9:11 pmThis blog title is not a joke. (Attention Big Companies, will trade brilliant consulting in exchange for paying my premium on your stellar group plan :D <—- charming, sexy smile. Calll meeee….). Want to hear something disgusting? My health insurance premiums through Cigna are rising 44% starting in January (yes, as in just over a month away, thanks for all the advance notice Cigna, and right after the holidays, SO SUPER CONVENIENT). I’m fucked. My rate is going from $395.55 a month to $569.59 a month. And, don’t forget the $20/month administrative fee. Oh, and one… -
What I Want You to Know About My Sister
7 Oct 2011 | 5:12 pmMy sister Ziba, 1988-2011 It’s hard to know where to begin when talking about my sister, her life and her death, my relationship with her. She somehow managed to be both one of the most complicated and one of the most simple people I’ve ever known. She got caught up in a lot of problems early in life, some were circumstances that were put upon her, some were situations brought on by her own choice. At the same time, she genuinely cared for her family and the people around her, she asked for her nephews and niece every time my brother and I spoke with her and she’d give you…
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Social Media Bird Brain
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All Hat, No Cattle in Social Media
7 Feb 2012 | 11:21 pmBuck Jones With Big Hat via Fine Art America I've got several articles whirling round in my head. One of them about how Social Media 1.0 is over, one about how being average will send you to the bottom of the pile, one about knowing your brand. I've been thinking of them in relation to being an introvert, and I'm also thinking about the way the Planned Parenthood/Susan G. Komen debacle played -
The Right Tool May Be in Your Head
31 Jan 2012 | 10:25 pm46 and 2 Tool Head by Justin Roberts In its younger days, social media was full of conversations related to tools - tools for using social media, tools for managing social media, tools for measuring social media... Tool Overload New platforms and tools were coming out like water from a broken pipe and I imagine that a lot of people either threw their hands up in disgust and walked away or -
Re-Viewing and a Review
25 Jan 2012 | 12:00 amImage via Alfred Hitchcock Geek One reason I have thought about ending this blog is because I didn't think I had anything in particular to add to the cacophony of advice and insight from people who have made giving advice and insight a profession (and do damn well at it). My own insight has never seemed to me to be particularly... insightful. Maybe it's because I live in my head that I -
Pin It! Pinterest & Your Small Nonprofit
19 Jan 2012 | 12:00 amI thought it was time to tell you how much I like Pinterest and why I think it's good for your small nonprofit, but I was late off the mark and more than a few folks beat me to it. Over at Nonprofit Tech 2.0 there's a great tutorial for how to get your not-for-profit set up on the site as well as a bit about how Pinterest is being used by savvy nonprofits. Then skip over to Frogloop where -
Protest Against Censorship
18 Jan 2012 | 12:00 amThe internet has been a 'place' where we have all be free to share our ideas. Some of them haven't been good and there's no doubting that there are some pretty freaky people doing things they shouldn't be doing. But making Google, Yahoo, or YouTube and other companies responsible for policing and then deciding FOR us what is fair use and what isn't, won't make the bad people go away
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Freelance Social Media
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Google+ for Tourism, CVBs, and Cities
3 Feb 2012 | 1:00 pmWe’ve created a short how-to guide on using Google+ pages for destination marketing. We hope that convention and visitors bureaus, cities, and others in the tourism industry will find it useful. You can download the guide here: Google+ for tourism, CVBs, and cities Best, Jacinta Langford Hoyt LangfordMedia This content from: Freelance Social Media Google+ for Tourism, CVBs, and Cities ShareThis -
Zarco 66 Pumping Out Foursquare Deals
28 Jun 2011 | 12:58 pmTIME FOR A SMOOTHIE! That’s what you may hear over the speakers at Zarco 66 when you go fill up your gas tank at five o’clock in the morning. You’ll be going there that early in the day because if you are one of the first five people to check in to a Zarco 66 on Foursquare, you will get ten cents off per gallon of gas that you purchase. Not many better ways to entice customers to your gas station than giving discounts on an expensive necessity like gas. There are five Zarco locations offering the special, three of them in Lawrence. The Facebook page mentions that there will be… -
Big East: Goodbye Reese’s, Hello Twitter?
10 Mar 2011 | 8:00 amOn Tuesday night the Big East Men’s Basketball Championship began. This is a five day tournament played in New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Usually the court is adorned with the Big East Conference logo, the tournament logo and some advertising logos (and if you see an advertising logo on a basketball court, more than likely it will be for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups). However, I noticed something else on the court while watching the games on television Tuesday night. The conference decided to paint the name of the Big East Basketball Twitter account on the sideline near both… -
Rename app tabs in Facebook Page
21 Feb 2011 | 10:06 amIt’s hard keeping up with all the Facebook Page updates lately! The latest one I came across involved being able to rename the app on your page sidebar. Click “Edit Page”>Apps>”edit settings” in the app of your choosing. Happy editing! *As noted by @bailann below, you cannot edit “basic pages” like Notes, Photos, etc. This content from: Freelance Social Media Rename app tabs in Facebook Page ShareThis -
Customizing the new Facebook profile
29 Dec 2010 | 8:42 amI’m sure over the last few weeks you’ve noticed Facebook has been rolling out a new look for profiles. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when it comes to the new profile: Photos at the top. The photos at the top display the last five recent photos you’ve been tagged in. In case you’re not happy with what is displayed, you can simply hover over the photo you’d like to remove at the top and click on the little ‘x’. Featured Friends. You can now highlight your closest friends by clicking on “Featured Friends” when editing…
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Corporate Eye
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Magazines See Big Jump in QR Codes in 2011
2 Feb 2012 | 7:54 pmMagazines See Big Jump in QR Codes in 2011Quick response codes (QR codes) are becoming the norm in print advertising, and according to a report by mobile marketing firm Nellymoser, approximately 4,500 QR codes appeared in the top 100 magazines during 2011. Those QR codes appeared in a mix of ads and editorial pages, but advertisers are definitely the ones leading the print magazine QR code trend. Nellymoser found that women’s magazines are the most popular place for QR codes with the top magazine titles for QR code use ranking as follows: InStyle = 141 QR codes ESPN The Magazine = 136… -
How Brands Are Connecting Outdoor Advertising to Facebook
30 Jan 2012 | 7:51 pmHow Brands Are Connecting Outdoor Advertising to FacebookTo many old school marketers, making the leap from traditional marketing to social media marketing is still a challenge they’re having trouble with. Brand managers find themselves investing time and energy into proving that traditional marketing and social media marketing can be successfully integrated, and in fact, they should be integrated at every opportunity. Some brands are providing great examples to learn from and use as a launch point for strategic planning meetings. Let’s take a look at two brands that are… -
PETA Targets CareerBuilder Ads with Angelica Huston’s Help
27 Jan 2012 | 8:16 pmPETA Targets CareerBuilder Ads with Angelica Huston’s HelpCareerBuilder has gotten positive feedback from consumers on its humorous television commercials featuring chimpanzees that debuted in 2005. The ads were a viewer favorite during the 2011 Super Bowl, so the company plans to feature the apes again in its upcoming 2012 Super Bowl commercials. As AdAge reports, the ads scored well in terms of likability, but not as well in terms of persuasion. Despite those results from Ace Metrix, CareerBuilder announced the chimpanzees would return for the 2012 Super Bowl and posted an ad spot… -
The Great 2012 CSR Revolution
27 Jan 2012 | 1:03 amThe Great 2012 CSR RevolutionSo let’s do another little survey here. Hands up anyone who’s crossed Gypsy Rose’s palm with silver in the hope of having their fortune told? No-one? Oh, maybe one person at the back. Well, it doesn’t surprise me, we’re not really into such superstitious claptrap these days. Nevertheless, every year every CSR practitioner seems to feel they too can be Gypsy Rose. Crystal balls get polished and predictions made. If you’re lucky, there may even be a waft of incense in the air .. or is that just over-ripe pot-pourri? -
Which Brands Spent the Most on TV Sports Advertising in 2011
25 Jan 2012 | 8:52 pmWhich Brands Spent the Most on TV Sports Advertising in 2011In the United States, advertising during sports programming can be a pricey investment, but it works. That’s why so many brands invest so heavily in national TV sports advertising. According to Nielsen, national television sports advertising rose to $10.9 billion in advertising expenditures between Q4 2010 through Q3 2011. That’s up from $10.3 billion during the same period a year prior. Interestingly, Nielsen also reports that the bulk of those advertising dollars are going to cable sports programming, which is growing…
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Marketing Conversation
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Online PR Infographic from PRMarketing.com
7 Feb 2012 | 2:51 pmSixty percent of Americans will judge your company based on your online presence, think about that for a moment. Though your website plays an important role in your online presence, there is more to it. People search for your brand and judge your company based on what comes up on search engines as well. Investing [...] Sixty percent of Americans will judge your company based on your online presence, think about that for a moment. Though your website plays an important role in your online presence, there is more to it. People search for your brand and judge your company based on what comes up… -
How Social Media and New Technologies Will Affect Marketing Strategies
7 Feb 2012 | 11:17 amThe status of marketing is at a crossroads right now, where the paradigms of the past are fading away concurrently to the birth of future ones, with little to no place for the present. Sound confusing? Well, it is. The rise of the online reputation managment company, for example, isn’t the only harbinger of the changing [...] The status of marketing is at a crossroads right now, where the paradigms of the past are fading away concurrently to the birth of future ones, with little to no place for the present. Sound confusing? Well, it is. The rise of the online reputation managment… -
What Do You Do When They Throw You A Curve Ball?
3 Feb 2012 | 10:42 amIt is an undeniable fact that everyone has started to take notice of the powerful impact that a well targeted blogger outreach campaign can have on a product. PR shops tailored specifically at reaching bloggers are popping up all over the place, and why shouldn’t they? There are millions of bloggers and even more blog [...] It is an undeniable fact that everyone has started to take notice of the powerful impact that a well targeted blogger outreach campaign can have on a product. PR shops tailored specifically at reaching bloggers are popping up all over the place, and why… -
Drop magical thinking PR for social media science
2 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amWhile neither marketing nor social media are sciences, one needs to use scientific principles to be most effective when it comes to both branding and prospecting online. It doesn’t take an Einstein to succeed in social media marketing, but to does take a scientist. Are you rigorously collecting metrics and data to see if what [...] While neither marketing nor social media are sciences, one needs to use scientific principles to be most effective when it comes to both branding and prospecting online. It doesn’t take an Einstein to succeed in social media marketing, but to does take a… -
Choosing Content for Your Video Marketing Strategy
1 Feb 2012 | 7:41 pmBloggers, site managers, and SEO specialists are always looking for new ways to boost traffic to their page and exposure for their business. They use social media platforms to market their website, they utilize backlinks and interactive features to maximize views and click-throughs, and they try to increase conversion rate with live chat software. Now, many [...] Bloggers, site managers, and SEO specialists are always looking for new ways to boost traffic to their page and exposure for their business. They use social media platforms to market their website, they utilize backlinks and…
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ChrisKenton.com
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Coincidence: When Real is Better than Real
24 Jan 2012 | 11:50 pmTo me, coincidence is like magic. It makes you see the world in a way that is slightly unreal. Better than real. Like real could be a whole lot better than you think. A good coincidence makes you think, makes you look for the unseen thread that strings a strand of random events together like pearls. Like ghost stories, there’s a time for telling stories of coincidence, and they never seem to lose their magic with the telling. Recently my wife and I have been talking about the need to encourage my son to write. My wife is a librarian, I’m a writer, so we kind of figure our son… -
What it Means to Fall
2 Sep 2011 | 11:54 amA couple of weeks ago I took a spectacular fall while mountain biking. I was pushing the limits on one of my favorite trails, riding full speed through a forest of redwoods, when my front wheel lost traction and I hit the deck. I slid about 20 feet through roots and rocks before rolling over the side of the trail and down a steep hill. I wound up with deep gashes on both arms and one knee, a wide swath of trail rash from shoulder to ankle, and what would later turn out to be a couple of fractures to the bones that make up my left shoulder. It now ranks among the top 5 falls since I started… -
Remembering Maya
20 Aug 2010 | 5:53 pmMaya Machnicova I attended the memorial last Saturday of a former employee, a young woman named Maya Machnicova. Memorials are always a reminder of basic truths we tend to ignore, or simply forget, and Maya’s passing in particular has made me think a lot about the subtle ways people impact my life. The push and pull of primary relationships is obvious—parents, spouses, children, business partners—they’re like heavy planets that shift our trajectory whenever they come into orbit. But what about the coworkers we spend a few hours with each day? There are hundreds of people in my life… -
Facebook’s Engineered Privacy Loopholes
14 May 2010 | 2:51 pmFacebook is getting a lot of attention over its privacy policies for a variety of reasons. Depending on who’s offering up the criticism, the complaints include: They change the rules too often. The rules are too convoluted and too hard to figure out. The rules err on the side of sharing private information without permission, so Facebook can profit. So far, Facebook seems to be Teflon. The fun and attraction of engaging on Facebook outweighs most people’s concern about privacy–assuming they understand the privacy risks. But I, for one, am starting to get creeped out. And my… -
iForce
29 Apr 2010 | 12:08 pm
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Uber.la - tech reviews, opinion and wit
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Fixing Pinterest in One Slide – Improving the Usability of the Fastest Growing Site in Social Media
9 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amSimply put, the user would like to continue down the path of the pinboard and not have to return to the masterboard over and over. It is our hope that Pinterest will consider our solution. And of course we are going to make a Pinboard of it. -
Online Collaborator's Toolkit: The Sharing Tools You Need to Web It Up!
8 Feb 2012 | 12:43 pmWith these tools you can begin to weave together rally points both on the web and within things like business plans and even financial forms. To collaborate effectively you have to get the technology out of the way. These best-of-breed tools can eliminate a lot of the momentum killers. -
Taking Twitter to the MAX: New Twitter Tags Could Help Sort Through the Noise
7 Feb 2012 | 9:08 amWhat if Twitter introduced a whole new range of tags for your Tweets? Twitter should create some new tagging characters? The NEW Twitter Tags. -
Love, Valentine's Day Marketing, and Computers: Dell vs. Apple Marketing
6 Feb 2012 | 9:17 amBoth companies are driven by the bottom line, of course. Dell believes you should love them back for their discounted products. Apple believes you love their products and you should give them to someone else you love. -
Just Click It; superbowl, komen, more Pinterest, SEO missteps, inbound marketing
6 Feb 2012 | 8:39 amThe Super Bowl(tm) has come and gone. And Mr. Brady did not add to his ring collection. It was a fairly well-played game. And the advertisers cannot be happier about that. Even the 4th quarter buyers got their audience numbers, if not their money's worth. Let's look at the links that will keep you on [...]
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Seldom Seen Kid
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Path hits 2 million users
6 Feb 2012 | 12:25 pmPath, the so-far-brandless mobile social network, announced over the last few days that it has reached 2 million users worldwide. Path is, in a sense, the ‘perfect’ social network, uncluttered by ads, facilitatory to content sharing cross-network and has a beautifully simple UI – It’s person to person exchange friendly. You share thoughts, location and imagery with no unhelpful content as an unimaginative border and background, allowing you to have a personal digital connection with friends. It is yet to adopt a brand-focused offering, however, and this is the greatest… -
Wikipedia Blackout Wednesday
17 Jan 2012 | 12:17 pmWednesday will see Wikipedia, joined by a host of other websites including search giant Google, ‘blackout’ or protest against SOPA, the anti-priacy bill that is currently going through the US legislative system. The aim of the exercise is to highlight how the bill will hinder consumers online. Interestingly though, Twitter will not be taking part in the initiative. Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO said: @digiphile @jayrosen_nyu that's just silly. Closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish.— dick costolo (@dickc) January 16, 2012 However,… -
How To Create The Perfect Foursquare List
13 Dec 2011 | 12:02 amElliot Pearson was recently featured on Foursquare’s Follow Friday for his list of London’s indepdendent coffee shops. Here, he shares his advice on how to make the perfect Foursquare List. The much-requested list feature is now rolled out across the Foursquare platform and has opened up much of what Foursquare aims to encourage and provide. While there are many uses for which this feature excels, from recommending places you’ve visited to friends right through to ordered guided tours and treasure hunts, it is easy to neglect key aspects that make a list a worthwhile experience… -
Top 10 Music Blogs of 2011
9 Dec 2011 | 12:34 amWhat are the top ten music blogs of 2011, I hear you ask? Well, I’ve had a think about all of those that I’ve read regularly and listened music from avidly and whittled down to a little list that I hope you find time to investigate further! Aquarium Drunkard – everything you need to know about music you’ve never heard of. Awesome. yvynyl – simply, pick the best stuff, share. Great. Abeano – award winning music blog, it wins awards for a reason… Pinglewood – primarily video based, highly under rated Off Modern – great collection of new… -
Kred
5 Dec 2011 | 12:22 amKred is the latest tool designed to measure your Twitter influence, built by the good folks at Peoplebrowsr. The Good Stuff In the version I’ve had a play with, there are several sections choc-full of data to play with. Overview: This is your dashboard that gives you the headline, ie, your score and recent activity; who you’ve retweeted, conversations you’ve had, who has mentioned you etc. Activity: This is where it starts to get very cool. One of the best things about Peoplebrowsr is the ability to segregate by community – Kred has taken this technology too. This…
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Digital Marketing Blog // Digital Operative
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DanandDave.com featured on The Served from Behance
8 Feb 2012 | 11:18 amAnother win for both the design team at DO and the client, Dan and Dave. We spend a lot of time at DO trying to create user experiences that are truly unique, simple and well-planned. DanandDave.com is not just a result of great UX planning, but also a cross functional team of designers and developers working together to make the best balance of content and ecommerce. Being featured on The Served (The Served Sites feature top projects from the Behance Network, filtered by industry) means a lot because its peers from your industry recognizing the solid work that your team is doing. Thanks to… -
Why SOPA Sucks and Why You Should Care
18 Jan 2012 | 11:52 amToday is a new day for the color black. Today it drapes itself across some of the most visited websites across internet to oppose something called SOPA. According to EFF.org, it states “The Internet blacklist legislation—known as PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House—invites Internet security risks, threatens online speech, and hampers innovation on the Web.” What companies went black today? Google Wordpress Wikipedia Mozilla Firefox Amazon – supporting with black banner to right Boing Boing Nicekicks – I like this site… -
Big three stories of the week!
13 Jan 2012 | 6:14 pmThough Friday the 13th is generally considered an unlucky day, it is Friday and it can’t really be that bad. Here is the weekly round up of the top tech stories that you can’t miss this week. One story will affect your search engine optimization plans, one will effect your holiday shopping next year, and the final will make you rethink about mobile marketing. 1. Google launches “search plus your world” Google continues its move to social networking dominance by launching “Google search plus your world”. Now, we all know that Google is the undisputed king when it… -
Once Upon A Timeline
27 Dec 2011 | 10:56 amWhat to do about the Facebook Timeline The Facebook Timeline is coming and there is not too much you can do about it. I don’t mean coming in the sense that it will soon be released (it already is), I mean it is coming in the sense that you are soon going to have one – like it or not. Facebook has made it clear that Timelines are the way Facebook is going and these will basically be the story of your life. Are you ready for the story of your life to be displayed? Is your company ready for the story of its existence to be displayed? How will this affect your digital marketing plan? What… -
Retargeting is Coming to Get You!
22 Dec 2011 | 2:22 pmWhat is Retargeting? Overview Retargeting is one of the hottest trends in online marketing right now and at DO we use it to help businesses grow. This online marketing technique combines many of the strengths that online marketing offers and puts them into one package. In the hands of a savvy digital marketer retargeting can: • Hypertarget customers on a product level • Keep your business in the customer’s mind after they have left the site • Target just the customers who have shown interest • Increase conversion and click-through-rates of your ads Many companies offer this…
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Technology & Marketing Law Blog
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Roommates.com Isn't Dealing in Illegal Content, Even Though the Ninth Circuit Denied Section 230 Immunity Because It Was
6 Feb 2012 | 11:37 amBy Eric Goldman Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommate.com, LLC, 2012 WL 310849 (9th Cir. February 2,... -
Are You Kinning Me? Microsoft Beats Trademark Lawsuit Over Kinect--Kinbook v. Microsoft
3 Feb 2012 | 8:52 amBy Eric Goldman Kinbook LLC v. Microsoft Corp., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8570 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 25, 2012) Microsoft makes... -
Comments on Twitter's Country-by-Country Tweet Removal Announcement
2 Feb 2012 | 1:14 pmBy Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric. Twitter recently announced its decision to censor tweets on a country-by-country basis. People... -
Vendor Fails to Form Either an Online or Paper Contract With Customers--Kwan v. Clearwire
1 Feb 2012 | 10:07 am[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Kwan v. Clearwire Corp., C09-1392JLR (W.D.Wash.; Jan. 3, 2012) Professor Goldman blogged recently about a case... -
Court Denies Kravitz’s Motion to Dismiss PhoneDog’s Amended Claims -- PhoneDog v. Kravitz
31 Jan 2012 | 8:25 am[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] PhoneDog v. Kravitz, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10561 (N.D. Cal.; Jan. 30, 2012) PhoneDog and Kravitz...
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Don't drink the koolaid
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What we’re reading this week: Pinterest
3 Feb 2012 | 9:32 amYou may have heard a thing or two about Pinterest in the last few months. The social bookmarking site that allows brides, party planners, hoarders and marketers alike to collect and share things online is now making its way into the mainstream and causing businesses to pay attention to this oh-so-addicting thing we call pinning. I’ve read a number of blog posts within the past week contributing to my thoughts on why consumer marketers should quickly pay attention to Pinterest. Here are a few of the best reads: Pinterest Drives More Traffic Than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn Combined Zoe… -
Google – The Thread to Success in Tourism Search
30 Jan 2012 | 9:59 amBrett Barash, VP at Digital Edelman, presented some interesting statistics at the recent ONE Travel Conference in Orlando, Florida. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that 66% of US leisure travelers use the Internet to research upcoming trips. But if this doesn’t convince every business that relies in any way on tourists for revenue that a relevant and compelling presence on the Internet is important to survival, I don’t know what will. What really caught my attention in his presentation was the life cycle of a travel seeker online. People seeking information about a… -
Coopertition and the State of US Travel Tourism
26 Jan 2012 | 9:26 amLast week I attended the ONE Travel Conference for Shopping, Dining and Cultural Tourism in Orlando. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but the speaker line up looked good and I thought the conference’s focus on shopping, dining and cultural heritage made sense; it certainly hit our agency’s sweet spot in consumer marketing. The women who co-presented the conference Rosemary McCormick, President of Shop America Alliance and Sheila Armstrong, Executive Director of U.S. Cultural & Heritage Tourism Marketing Council are a formidable pair with surprising energy, a… -
Ads from a Consumer’s Perspective
18 Jan 2012 | 10:26 amI recently went to the San Diego Auto Show and it was awesome! I remember my dad dragging me along to the Los Angeles Auto Shows as a kid. Aside from the time I got to spend with him, I never had an interest in any of the cars or what was going on. The San Diego Auto Show changed my mind. My car is 9 years old now and I’m starting to think – maybe I should get a new car? I definitely have a couple of years left on my 2003 eclipse, if I want them. But seeing all the new cars made me seriously think about making a purchase. As a person who has worked in media my entire life, and… -
3 core advertising trends to watch in 2012
12 Jan 2012 | 9:15 amHello 2012. The year flew by fast didn’t it? Do you feel overwhelmed with all the information out there these days? Things are changing so quickly it’s hard to keep up, even for the super techno genius. Even though technology is evolving at light speed, what we really need to pay attention to is how to use these tools to best communicate with our target audiences. As marketers we need to understand the audiences we intend to interact with and how we can best achieve a valuable interaction. Technology will continue to evolve and offer us different avenues to communicate, for commerce, for…
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FreshNetworks Blog
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Research claims that 25% of tweets are not worth reading. So what?
6 Feb 2012 | 2:55 amTweetImage via Wikipedia According to research from a team at Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Georgia Institute of Technology, we think that 25% of tweets are not worth reading. The study found that, when asked to rate tweets by people they follow, only 36% of tweets were marked favourably, 25% were marked less favourably and the balance (39%) received no strong feeling either way. Press coverage of this study has invariably interpreted this to mean that up to a quarter of what we say on Twitter is a waste of time (see the Daily Mail and the Daily… -
What’s hot in social media – January 2012 round up
31 Jan 2012 | 4:46 amTweetWith seven in ten brands saying they plan to increase their presence across social media in 2012 (according to a recent survey by Awareness) we thought it would be a good idea to take a regular look at the current social media landscape. So here’s a quick run down of what we think has been hot in social media this January: 1. Farfetch.com – the future of social retail? 2012 looks set to be the year of the social online retailer. Luxury retailer farfetch.com announced that it saw a 73% rise in traffic from Facebook in the second half of 2011 and it recently raised a second… -
Instagram and the growing power of photography in social media
30 Jan 2012 | 3:18 amTweetInto the valley of Death The Crimean War of the 1850s was a revolution in communication. For the first time reports from the battlefield were returned in what felt like near-real-time thanks to the electric telegraph transmitting messages in just hours rather than them having to be sent by horse across Europe. Many people complained about the impact of this real-time news, and the harm that it did reporting on the events tragedies of the war as they happened. Perhaps more contentious, however, than this written word reporting was the use, for the first time, of war photography with… -
Why Capital One and American Express are the top financial services brands on Facebook
27 Jan 2012 | 4:51 amTweetCapital One and American Express are the top financial services brands on Facebook, according to a chart compiled by social media analytics tool socialbakers. While Capital One’s Facebook page features within the top 150 brands on this list, and the American Express Facebook page is just outside it, the next most successful financial services brand on Facebook is US based direct banking and payment services company Discover, which charts at the 300 mark, saying a lot about the use of Facebook among global financial services brands. In fact, this forms a large part of the… -
Why internal culture is much more important than employee social media guidelines
26 Jan 2012 | 3:16 amTweetImage via Wikipedia January has seen a spate of people tweeting things they shouldn’t – from Diane Abbott to Ed Miliband in the UK to countless people working for brands across the world. We’ve also seen a renewed debate in the UK about how the professions should use social media – notably about teachers befriending their pupils on Facebook. One way that many organisations deal with this is to create social media guidelines but even more important than any guidelines you might right is the internal culture change needed to real to make yours a true social…
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Nashville SEO Social Media | Web Marketing
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Twitter Updates for 2012-02-09
9 Feb 2012 | 1:00 am@path is blog post being sorry even enough to compensate for the lack of judgment? just like Facebook…. # @djofficialdj Mars Ill's Backbreakanomics, Tedashi's Kingdom People, and anything by Deepspace 5 # @MadysonDesigns I would say very bad… trust me :P # Looking for CHH artists to do websites for. Interested? Holla back or get at me at http://t.co/0Ge75hsq # -
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-02-05
5 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amSteve Jobs Kept A Letter From Bill Gates By His Bed As He Was Dying http://t.co/PNOB3Sa1 via @sai # how is everyone today? # New information!!! –> Zion Eye Media (that's me!) will be launching a new, responsive design of the website coming soon… Stay Tuned! # @john4him glad to hear man! Been forever since we last chatted # @john4him oh nice! What style? Rock? Blues? # Great Resource! RT @kissmetrics: How to Effectively Track 3 Types Of Mobile Metrics http://t.co/yzdNMCzj # @amberlturner How is your freelance coming along? # @john4him ah ok, well lots of genres have traces… -
Twitter Updates for 2012-02-05
5 Feb 2012 | 1:00 am@vanillaice Hey Vanilla, love your #icemyhouse and #vanillaiceproject shows! Let me do your website for you! # -
Twitter Updates for 2012-02-04
4 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amThe Cult of Personality… Living Color… to this day, I can still rock this song # Star Ratings with Very Little CSS thanks to @chriscoyier at http://t.co/vvwznbhu http://t.co/u5Hs67SJ #css # How To Get More New Freelance Design and Development Work via @andysowards http://t.co/TNvvU6DJ #freelancedesign #freelance # TSA Agent Steals $5K in CASH from passenger's jacket. http://t.co/djHHCp9K Why is that passenger carrying that much? TSA just rapes you. # I love http://t.co/vvwznbhu's Code Snippets section. Great resource from an awesome CSS guru http://t.co/GwYo0GWV #css #… -
Twitter Updates for 2012-02-03
3 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amOh Sheldon… why do you have to be such a social douche LOL #bigbangtheory # RT @shaunacausey: Outtakes: video sneak peek of "grant scroll" at Gates Foundation Visitor Center (@GatesVC) opening Sat… # Ok Go! Gets Funky on Sesame Street! Awesome :) http://t.co/ysA7D2QR # Ok Go! Gets Funky on Sesame Street! Awesome :) http://t.co/yv7Nzr4v # 2011 Logo of the Year by Just Creative Design http://t.co/uyfWpp1Y #logo #design # Great article! Responsive Images: How they Almost Worked and What We Need via @alistapart http://t.co/eVZl4PlK # What Marketers Can Learn from Proctor and…
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shesgotclients.com
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4 Set it and Forget it Ways to Build Your List
9 Feb 2012 | 7:25 amBuilding a list of ideal prospects is key to growing your income because the people on your list are the ones who will become your clients and customers. And it’s important to stay in touch with and nurture that list once you begin building it. But many people get stuck at square one: which is, how do I build my list in the first place? The truth is, there are hundreds of ways, but today I want to give you a few methods that are “set it and forget it”…because list-building should be something that is going on 24-7 in your business. Here are four simple strategies you… -
How to Formulate a Rockin’ Social Media Strategy
2 Feb 2012 | 4:20 pmIn this week’s video tip I’m sharing 5 questions to ask to formulate a rockin’ social media strategy. Social media is still hot, but one of the biggest mistakes I see over and over with entrepreneurs is that they have NO strategy. And no strategy means wasted time, wasted effort, and worst of all–lots of missed opportunities. To avoid that, start smart: here are 5 questions you can ask yourself to begin with: 1) What would you like to accomplish? Build your reputation, get more speaking gigs, connect with more JV partners, some combination of all of the above? 2) What… -
Email Marketing With a Purpose
29 Jan 2012 | 12:02 pmThis is a guest post by Jesse Langley. Email marketing isn’t cut and dried. You don’t just offer something in exchange for an email address and then never follow through. You also don’t over-deliver and essentially just start spamming your subscribers. Seth Godin wrote an entire book on permission marketing, and it’s well worth a read. The basics, though, hinge on the fact that when your subscribers hit the button that submits their email address, it’s for a reason. They agreed to sign up for your updates and your promotions. Unlike a retail store, you don’t have goods to… -
5 Failproof Tips to a Kick-Butt Preview Call
26 Jan 2012 | 4:00 amOne of the absolute best ways to launch a new product, program or service is to hold what’s known as a “preview call”–a content-rich call “previewing” your upcoming offering and enticing your listeners to invest with you. Initially, your job is to get as many people as possible to show up on the call–but that’s just the start. Once you’ve got their attention, there are several very specific AND strategic things you can do to ensure your call brings in the maximum number of sales. Where do you begin? It all starts with telling your story. -
The 5 Characteristics of Your Juiciest, Most Ideal Clients
19 Jan 2012 | 6:30 amIn marketing, business owners hear over and over that they should only be working with their best, most ideal clients. It sounds great in theory…and the word “ideal” sure sounds nice. But what does it really mean? Depending on what kind of business you are in, the answer can vary of course. But when you really get down to it, some common characteristics apply–whether you’re in dog grooming or high-end fashion design. It’s really a matter of upstream versus downstream. Take a look at these 5 characteristics and see if you know what I mean by that: 1) They…
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LJ Jones's Blog
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Ze Frank is my Hero
2 Feb 2012 | 8:34 amThe guy is a creative genius. These are a bit old, but here are both of the TED talks he has given.TED 20442010 When I grow up, I want to be like Ze. -
Online Checkout - In Real Life
7 Nov 2011 | 11:16 amThis is just a great video for anyone who has ever bought something online. -
Improving the iPad
2 Oct 2011 | 8:50 pmMore and more people at the office have been carrying around iPads.But they don't like typing on them, so they also carry around this nice little keyboard.You also have to carry around the little stand to make it all work. But carrying around three different pieces seems like a hassle.You know what would make it all easier and more convenient to use? Put a hinge on the bottom of the iPad and attach it to the keyboard so that it is one convenient bundle. Sorta like this. -
Free Marketing and Free Cats
30 Sep 2011 | 11:34 amThere is no such thing as a free cat and there is no such thing as free marketing. Both require something.Someone might give you a cat for free, but then you realize that you have to pay to take it to the vet to get immunizations and buy all of the stuff that a cat needs. $200 later you have a free cat.Some people think SEO is free. Its not. I once had someone tell me that with a little "Creativity" I could appear in the top results for some very competitive terms. I am not sure what they meant by "Creativity" but unless they meant time, money and lots of effort, then… -
How to fix the Postal Service
6 Sep 2011 | 3:52 pmThe US Postal Service is in trouble and if it doesn't fix it, it will soon be bankrupt.The ProblemUSPS is trying, and failing, to compete with the big boys in the shipping and mailing business. FedEx and UPS are the Coke and Pepsi of the shipping business, while USPS is the RC Cola. In an effort to gain market share, USPS offers many of the same services as the two market leaders. These include Overnight, International and Packages and Boxes.The SolutionThe solution is to do the opposite of what they are doing now. Instead of trying to compete with the big boys and…
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Platform Wars
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How Do The Payas Make Their Money?
5 Feb 2012 | 12:53 pmMicrosoft, Apple, Google? -
What Pinterest Is Doing That Facebook Isn't
31 Jan 2012 | 12:27 amPinteresting. -
The Amazon Playbook
7 Jan 2012 | 11:47 amVenkatesh Rao has a very good overview of Amazon's strategy focussing on the coherence and long-term thinking of Jeff Bezos.Interestingly he discounts Apple as a similarly strategic player, which I think undersells Jobs somewhat. (Though I also suspect this may be a rhetorical trick of Rao's to get a rise out of his readers.) Meanwhile Robert Cringely highlights the parallels, casting Bezos as the natural heir to Saint Steve. -
What Is Google+ Really About?
4 Jan 2012 | 8:17 pmVincent Wong's presentation is entertaining and plausibly right.tl;dr : Applications socialised -
Why Do Professional Programmers Use Macs?
18 Dec 2011 | 1:28 pmSomeone just asked this question on Quora. My answer ballooned somewhat :1) Historically, Macs were the preferred machines of desktop publishing and graphic designers, then web designers. As the web became an increasingly important platform (relative to "client-server" on Windows et al) individuals and companies who had started in web-design area became more prominent - think of the rise of 37 Signals and Ruby on Rails - and brought their Mac-ness with them. 2) When Apple shifted to OSX they made it a real Unix. In the late 90s, one of the attractions of Linux was that it was the only…
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Content Matters
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GigaOm Acquires PaidContent Creating Premier Digital Media Brand
8 Feb 2012 | 11:37 amTech blog GigaOm has acquired Content Next Media, parent of PaidContent and related blogs. Content Next, first acquired by Guardian Media in 2008, has been on the shopping block in recent months, as GMG looks to focus its operations. Of all the rumored buyers (including AOL, Vox Media, WebMediaBrands, Dow Jones, SAY Media) this is likely the best possible result, both for readers and the Content Next team. From the outside, it looks as though the two companies have very similar cultures. Both founded around the same time as independent blogs (by Om Malik and Rafat Ali), GigaOm has been able… -
Going Native: Deciding between HTML5 and Native Apps
2 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amAlmost every publisher I speak with these days is in the midst of developing, implementing or revising their mobile and tablet strategy. With technology changes coming faster than most can keep up, the mobile strategy you developed six months ago (post iPad 2 but pre-Kindle Fire) is most likely out of date. And with the news that there were more iPads than desktop computers sold in the fourth quarter of 2011, it’s no surprise that mobile strategy is on the top of everyone’s mind. Yet when speaking to publishers, I find lots of confusion. And the one topic that seems to cause the most… -
Innovate, Don’t Legislate
23 Jan 2012 | 8:08 amIt’s an oft-repeated tale. An industry gets disrupted by upstarts with new technologies and business models. The incumbents act quickly – turning to their legal team for advice. Litigate and legislate and the typical responses that come back. The approach to SOPA and PIPA is hardly new. We’ve seen this play out many times in many industries, most notably in the music recording industry. But in each case, the approach ultimately fails. Sure, it may slow the erosion of your business, but in the end a broken business model is still broken. And all of those efforts to solve the problem… -
Blackout SOPA
11 Jan 2012 | 6:29 amIf you're like me, your twitter stream for the past few days has become a sea of avatars all with the #BlackoutSOPA banner at the bottom. At last count, nearly 5,000 users have updated their avatar with the message. To show your support, simply click the BlackoutSOPA link to update your avatar with a single click. Of course, showing support for the BlackoutSOPA project is simply a gesture. Your Senators and Representatives, even those who are on Twitter, are unlikely to see you in their stream. That said, a number of major web companies (including some little companies like Google, PayPal,… -
Bandwidth Usage is not an Occupy Issue
6 Jan 2012 | 7:21 amThe New York Times today has gotten lots of attention for a ridiculous headline on a poorly written story: Top 1% of Mobile Users Consume Half of World’s Bandwidth, and Gap Is Growing The story itself is kind of silly. Yes, it's a fact that a minority of users utilize significant amounts of bandwidth on mobile devices. That's not new - in fact, it's why AT&T, Verizon and others have put caps on what were previously unlimited data plans. Yet in the story, the writer compares consumption of bandwidth to consumption of oil: The United States, with less than 5 percent of the world’s…
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Kneale Mann
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Leadership: I Don't Know
8 Feb 2012 | 3:27 amIf you’ve spent enough time in the enterprise, you've met the type of boss who seems compelled to always be right. When mistakes are made, they never seem to be her fault. Things go sideways and he is quick to blame others. But how much does that solve the issues at hand? How much damage is created when that continues to occur? Think about your participation in group activities. You offer ideas as much as you can. You suggest solutions to the challenges in front of the team. But how much do you continue to do so if the “boss” shoots down your ideas or doesn’t acknowledge your ideas in… -
Brand Bowl: The Morning After
6 Feb 2012 | 4:59 amThe morning after the night before and millions are chiming in about their favorite commercials on last night’s Super Bowl. NBC charged $3.5 to $4 Million for 30 seconds of real estate on the U.S. broadcast while the estimate of online value is still being calculated. The pontificating continues but the real question will be in a few months when those paying close attention to those pesky bottom lines have their breakdown. If you haven’t seen them all, Ad Age has compiled them for our online enjoyment. If the boss catches you watching at the office, tell her you’re doing market… -
Passion Is No Ordinary Word
3 Feb 2012 | 3:15 amThe title is borrowed from a musician named Graham Parker who released a song of the same name on an album entitled Squeezing Out Sparks in 1979. Passion is not easily measured and often misread. Since I was a kid, I was always called hyper and only when I met someone who became a key mentor in my career did I find a better explanation and it was passion for the work and the people around me. Defining Your Passion Synonyms include enthusiasm or obsession, zeal or excitement, fervor or infatuation but it can be crushed like a bug on a windshield in seconds. I see it in the… -
What Inspires You?
31 Jan 2012 | 3:15 amWe all find our places to get inspiration. It can come from books, quotes, colleagues, family or friends. We may see something in passing, overhear a conversation or connect with something online. Inspiration may not at first look like much but percolate and re-emerge later. I started doing something on Twitter late last year and continued it into 2012. It was a simple tweet to begin each day with something inspirational and at times funny or silly. This began as a personal kick in the butt. Some days need a bigger kick than others. List from January 2012 1. First day of the rest of… -
Do You Dress for Success?
30 Jan 2012 | 4:15 amSomeone asked me recently for my thoughts about provocative attire at work. And it led to a conversation about dress codes in general. You don’t expect the plumber to show up in a suit and tie while you wouldn't see the CEO attend the board meeting in a bikini. Some organizations have a stated dress code while others have a more unwritten guideline. Casual Fridays in one sector may be leather loafers and cashmere sweaters while in another industry it could mean shorts and t-shirts. Some educational institutions have dress codes which require students to wear a uniform. This…
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Social Networking Watch: News on the Social Networking and Social Media Industry
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Facebook's Zuckerberg May Face $2 Billion Tax Bill
8 Feb 2012 | 3:54 pmCNN - Feb 8 - Facebook's upcoming IPO will make founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg a billionaire -- but it will also stick him with an eye-popping tax bill that could reach as high as $2 billion. Zuckerberg currently owns almost 414M shares of Facebook, but he also holds options to buy another 120M shares at the bargain price of 6 cents a piece. Zuckerberg plans to exercise those options and will sell some of his shares during Facebook's initial offering to cover the tax bill. The type of options Zuckerberg holds are taxable as ordinary income when they're exercised, even if the shareholder… -
Conversion Conference, San Francisco, March 5-6, 2012
8 Feb 2012 | 1:35 pmOPW – Feb 8 – The next Conversion Conference is held in San Francisco, March 5-6, 2012. This 2 days event focuses on learning how to increase your website conversion and making your marketing campaigns more effective. Keynote speakers are: BJ Fogg, PhD (Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University), Jared Spool, CEO & Founding Principal (User Interface Engineering), Roger Dooley, author of Brainfluence, Steve Krug, Web Usability Consultant & Author, Don't Make Me Thinkand Rocket Surgery Made Easy. See the full agenda. Register here. -
LinkedIn Picks Up Rapportive For Around $15 Million
8 Feb 2012 | 1:18 pmTECH CRUNCH - Feb 8 - LinkedIn has bought contact management startup Rapportive. The startup, which aggregates and displays the social networking accounts of the people you contact through Gmail, was backed for $1M by seed investors Charles River Ventures, Paul Buchheit, Scott Banister, Jason Calacanis, Gary Vaynerchuk, Dharmesh Shah, Shervin Pishevar, Roy Rodenstein, Kima Ventures, Zelkova Ventures, 500 Startups, Michael Zirngibl, Ashish Soni and David Cancel. by Alexia TsotsisSee full article at Tech Crunch See all posts on LinkedIn -
More Than Just Great Firewall Awaits Facebook In China
8 Feb 2012 | 1:11 pmREUTERS - Feb 8 - Facebook said last week it was contemplating re-entering China, the world's second biggest economy, after being blocked nearly three years ago. But its offering would likely face intense competition, political meddling and little commercial success. "It's actually a bit late for Facebook," said Hong Kong-based CLSA analyst Elinor Leung, who added that the market was already quite saturated with local players such as Sina Corp, Renren Inc, Kaixinwang001 and Tencent Holdings. Facebook first launched its Chinese interface in 2008 but was blocked by Beijing in mid-2009 following… -
Google, Facebook Remove Content As India Threatens Lawsuits
6 Feb 2012 | 11:31 amASSOCIATED PRESS - Feb 6 - Google India has removed web pages deemed offensive to Indian political and religious leaders to comply with a court case that has raised censorship fears in the world’s largest democracy. The action follows weeks of intense government pressure for 22 Internet giants to remove photographs, videos or text considered “anti-religious” or “anti-social.” For India’s ~100M Internet users, the government says, U.S. Internet standards are not acceptable. See full article at Washington Post See all posts on FacebookSee all posts on Google
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Jeff Korhan
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Practice and The Need to Fail
8 Feb 2012 | 8:41 pmGetting results in business not only involves failure – it demands it. The Only True Failure is Inaction If you are going to succeed at anything you have to take action. The only true failure is the failure to act – one that is often the result of fear. If you take action and fail, you produce a result that may be painful, but is nevertheless something that you can then build on. Failure is something we can even laugh about after it happens, because it’s out in the open for all to see. After all, do you really have a choice? Indeed, you can even be proud of your… -
Facebook Facts and Your Business
6 Feb 2012 | 11:13 amPew Internet recently completed a study of Facebook user behaviors that provides valuable insights that can help you more effectively use Facebook to grow your circle of influence – and business opportunities. Facebook Friends are Not Real Friends Men and women especially, and all of us in general, differ on who we consider to be our real friends. Of course, social networking complicates this further. Most of us would agree that our real friends are a small percentage of our Facebook friends, and the Pew study validates this. How does Facebook make this determination? From your social… -
Social Business by Design
1 Feb 2012 | 7:40 pmAs Facebook approaches its public offering, CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg is making one thing very clear. “The world’s information infrastructure should resemble the social graph.” In other words, your business needs to be social by design. Virtually every business in every industry needs to redefine itself around social to be relevant with the changing behaviors of consumers. Define the Purpose of Your Company Every business has a purpose – what some refer to as a higher purpose. It is your mission. It’s something that transcends profits – while also… -
Ambiance for Writers
31 Jan 2012 | 9:55 pmWriting is a skill – one that is highly sought after these days when there is such a thirst for quality online content. If you are a writer you know the challenges – including the distractions. Writers know that getting into and staying within “the zone” (or whatever you want to call it) is essential if you are to accomplish your writing objectives – and meet your deadlines. Think of the times when your writing is marching along to amazing levels of accomplishment, only to be pulled out of your zone. Also consider the circumstances when you are faced with an… -
Personal vs Business Social Media Accounts
29 Jan 2012 | 6:15 pmSmall businesses naturally tend to focus on daily actions that generate results, such as engaging prospects with their sales process, and then efficiently converting that interest into profits. Advertising is a form of media that fits well with the small business mindset. It creates awareness, a sense of urgency, and a desire to take action now. Unlike traditional advertising campaigns, social media takes time to do its job. This is one reason why many small businesses are challenged with using it well. They view it as another form of advertising. This also leads to the temptation to set up…
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HighTalk
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Pawngo Stunt is an Example of “Vile” Marketing
7 Feb 2012 | 2:41 pmToday most of New England is still bruised from the Patriots loss in the Super Bowl on Sunday. For the last 48-hours the city that has been spoiled by championships in football, baseball, basketball and hockey in the last decade was numb at the sudden and heart-breaking loss by the Patriots. You can feel it [...] -
The End of Channel Media
6 Feb 2012 | 11:07 amCNN used to be a cable news network. The New York Times used to be a newspaper. The Huffington Post used to be a blog. But that’s not the case anymore. CNN, New York Times and the Huffington Post (like almost every other major news organization) are no longer defined by their channels. This is [...] -
Agencies Can Add a Rocket Boost of Social Know-how
2 Feb 2012 | 6:57 amWhat do you think sets apart a gold-medal effort in social media from a mediocre one? Is it ideas? Passion? Knowledge? Creativity? Likely those are factors, but most often the difference is more pedestrian: Resources. Most marketing and communications departments continue to be underfunded and understaffed when it comes to social media programs. It’s difficult [...] -
Facebook Timeline is the New Tombstone
30 Jan 2012 | 7:29 am“There are more dead people than living. And their numbers are increasing. The living are getting rarer.” - Eugene Ionesco, playwright People hate the Facebook Timeline. While many of Facebook’s most prominent changes over the years have caused a lot of hand wringing, none of them have caused as visceral a response as the Timeline. [...] -
Google Decides to Kill Privacy
26 Jan 2012 | 7:43 amRemember when Google adopted “Don’t Be Evil” as its unofficial motto? You’ll find that little ditty at a yard sale next to a Bay City Rollers album and a skinny leather tie decorated like a piano. Because this week Google announced it was drastically changing its privacy policy and the side of sharing – and [...]
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Michael Durwin
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Product Review: 8x Zoom Lens
6 Feb 2012 | 7:12 amI recently ordered an 8x zoom lens for my iPhone. Digital zoom on an iPhone looks pretty terrible and of course you can’t zoom the video camera at all. This seriously limits potential video shots and needed to be remedied. I already have a 2x zoom which doesn’t do much so a greater zoom was necessary. I happened across a blog post on GeekSugar that reviewed an iPhone lens wallet that showed a telephoto lens. I followed the link and ta da: PhotoJoJo. I placed my order very easily, something most ecommerce stores could learn from. I received my new lens on Friday. Here it is:… -
Product Review: Hague Mini Motion-Cam Stabilizer
25 Jan 2012 | 7:41 pmI did a little research on camera stabilizers because I found any moving footage was every choppy. I’ve known about Steadicam for years, they were used in both the MTV and Pantene commercials I worked on. I needed a Steadicam for my iPhone! I had no idea if such a thing existed but lo and behold it did! Sort of. Most stabilizer manufacturers make a prosumer device for small, light weight consumer cameras, perfect for an iPhone. I checked out reviews, specs and videos for stabilizers from Steadicam, Hague, Lensse and some great DIY stabilizer videos. Seeing as how I don’t have a… -
Review of Splice and SlowMo
23 Jan 2012 | 11:28 amWhile working on my iPhone film, I’ve been testing various editing applications, many of which I’ve mentioned already. I wanted to share more detailed info on a few of them. Tis post covered SlowMo and Splice. The former is strictly for slow motion, the later handles editing and slow motion. I won’t be reviewing Splice as an editing tool, you’ll see why soon. SlowMo SlowMo is pretty basic; shoot or load video, slow it down, purview and export the final footage. Splice Cool opening page and easy interface for an app that handles editing, cropping, slow motion. As you… -
A New England Love Story Documentary Part 5
22 Jan 2012 | 11:07 amI finally got a chance to do some lighting tests using my SIMA (SL-10HD) LED light. It connects via cold shoe to my AR-4i, OWLE, or my iPhone via its connector arm and iPhone tripod adaptor. The SIMA uses 2 AA batteries, has no DC input. It comes with an arm that allows you to attach it to a tripod, or tripod adaptor-equipped iPhone. It provides 600 lumens for 45-60 minutes. Here are some test photos and a test video. Share and Enjoy: -
A New England Love Story Documentary Part 4
16 Jan 2012 | 5:44 pmI spent the day working on my script. I had been using Evernote for writing until it became useless. When typing the app froze, when saving it crashed. Apparently users have been having this problem for months with no resolution. So, I switched to Pages, Apples version of Word. Unfortunately there is no movie script app and formatting in the iPad was seriously slowing me down. I spent some time today checking out script writing apps on the iTunes store. There weren’t many, only 2-3 of the apps below are for film script writing, and I found one other under “script”, but that…
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Phil Gerbyshak
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More tips on sending great email
7 Feb 2012 | 9:45 amWhen I posted my Ultimate Guide to Sending Business Email, I asked for your feedback on how I could improve upon it, and I offered 2 $50 Amazon gift cards for the best tips. And 7 of you responded with additional tips, making the guide TRULY an amazing resource for small businesses to use when they send email. Here are YOUR tips for sending great emails Jocelyn Wilhelm shared: I even go so far as removing the subject line when I respond if I’m still wavering on what I want to say, etc. You may be in the midst of thinking through the response and you can accidentally hit “send” before… -
5 Ways To Increase Your Online Business’ Visibility Offline
2 Feb 2012 | 9:30 amThose of us who manage an online business know that the virtual world provides us with more than enough challenges and opportunities, places where we can grow and problems that stand in our way. We can work to boost SEO, attempt to find the best online storage sites, and market our business across a wide variety of platforms. We can add interactive media to our sites, increase revenue by bringing in advertisers, and post content on other sites as a way of insuring our credibility. The possibilities are truly endless. Due to the never ending opportunities offered online to online enterprises,… -
How Great Leaders Create Innovation by Breaking Away
31 Jan 2012 | 7:30 amRecently I’ve been able to talk to Jane Stevenson and Bilal Kaafarani about their new book Breaking Away. It’s a fantastic book about how great leaders create innovation, and it’s filled with tips on how your business can be more innovative without breaking the bank. What follows are some questions that can help your business be more innovative and learn from all the research Jane and Bilaal did for this book. Phil: Let’s start by defining innovation. What is it – and why do so many get it wrong? Jane & Bilal: Innovation is a term that is often used, but… -
Ultimate Guide to Sending Business Email That Gets Results
30 Jan 2012 | 7:30 amI left my job as an IT manager in corporate America in June of 2010. I used to receive upwards of 2500 messages a day, and some days sent out 200 or so, most of which required a reply from someone on the other end. I wasn’t the perfect sender (or receiver for that matter) but the most important messages I sent typically got a response in the time frame I needed a response in. I believe it’s because I found a secret formula that I used each time I sent an important message. I’ve broken that down so you can use it to send important emails to your customers, whether… -
Create a Facebook Business Page – Step by Step
26 Jan 2012 | 7:30 amIf you’ve always wondered where the step by step instructions were for creating a Facebook business page, look no further than this presentation. I presented this as a training session for business owners in Racine, Waterford, Rochester, Burlington and the surrounding areas. Feel free to download it, print it out, and share any tips you have for making it even better. Create a Facebook Business Page – Step by Step View more presentations from Phil Gerbyshak If you’re looking for someone to train your organization to use Facebook more effectively, or need training on any…
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@miketrap
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10 Tips on Writing from David Ogilvy
8 Feb 2012 | 1:53 pm10 Tips on Writing from David Ogilvy: This is so good, I had to share it. -
Finding, Ranking and Tracking the Online Influencers Important to Your Business
3 Feb 2012 | 4:22 pmFinding, Ranking and Tracking the Online Influencers Important to Your Business: Summary post for a speaking gig at a MassTLC event. Good panel, discussing the real nature of online influence, and how brands can take advantage of it. Links to presentations are included, including Traackr CEO Pierre-lois Assayag’s summary deck, which is excellent. Enjoy. -
Please Vote for Us!
2 Feb 2012 | 6:30 amWhile I feel a bit dorky asking… BostInno has just announced it’s Insider Award Nominees, and we’ve been nominated in 3 categories: Marketing/Advertising - Individual (miketrap.com) BostInno Guest Writer (Mike Troiano) BostInno Channel (Holland-Mark) If you like what you find here and there, please take a quick sec to visit this page, and vote for us on one or all three of these as you see fit. And if you REALLY love any of the above… please take a extra minute to help spread the word among your friends and followers. Winning a couple of these will give us and our content some nice… -
Entrepreneurs & Careerists
1 Feb 2012 | 1:00 pmMaybe there are 2 types of people: One looks for a business to meet their material needs as they pursue their passion, another looks for a way to pursue their passions as they work to meet their material needs. The first kind are the entrepreneurs, the second are the careerists. Unclear which is the better strategy, but people do seem to fall into one category or the other. -
Positioning A President’s Brand, Round II: The State of the Union
1 Feb 2012 | 11:26 am(NOTE: This is the second post in a series on the role of marketing and brands in this year’s Presidential election. For Part I, see Positioning A President: A Marketing Case Study.) Recap: Holland-Mark’s branding approach is based on the observation that people have a tendency to boil things down to One Simple Thing™ (“OST” for short.) We do this not only for brands (Volvo = Safety,) but for movies (Rocky = Inspired,) musical artists (Elvis = Rock & Roll,) and even political candidates. If you buy that theory (and let’s face it, you really should,) it’s important to remember…
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Social Media University, Global
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An Aase State of Mind
2 Feb 2012 | 11:34 amThat’s the headline from this story in today’s Austin Daily Herald about basketball in my hometown, and about our family’s history (and hopefully future) of participating in Minnesota’s state high school basketball tournament. Here’s an excerpt: Austin center Joe Aase knows all about his dad Lee’s history on the basketball court. He knows he went to the state basketball tournament in 1981 with the Packers and he knows he played in the title game. Joe also knows about his sister Rebekah. He knows she played in the state basketball tournament in 2008 because he… -
Teachers Tweeting for Support and Inspiration
21 Jan 2012 | 4:29 pmToday’s Washington Post has a nice story about how teachers are using Twitter to connect with each other and get just-in-time training. Here’s an excerpt: After her first year teaching history in a public high school in the District, Jamie Josephson was exhausted and plagued by self-doubt. Teaching had been more grueling than she ever expected. Law school began to sound appealing. Then she stumbled onto Twitter. In the vast social network on the Web, she discovered a community of mentors offering inspiration, commiseration and classroom-tested lesson plans. “Twitter essentially… -
Packers’ Highlights and an 80s Flashback
15 Jan 2012 | 6:17 pmThe red-and-white Packers from Austin had a better weekend than the green-and-gold ones from Wisconsin. The Austin boys traveled to Rochester for a game with Century High Friday night, and both team entered the game tied for first place in the Big Nine conference with just one loss. Here is the late Friday Sports Extra from the local TV station, KTTC, where one of my high school contemporaries, Pat Lund, is the sports anchor. Pat was a member of the Rochester Mayo high school team. He graduated in 1982, a year after I graduated from Austin. The segment starts with a recap of the… -
More Video Fun: The Alley Oop
11 Jan 2012 | 5:35 amIn follow-up Social Media 220: How to Customize Your YouTube Player, in which I showed how to tailor your users’ experience of the embedded YouTube player using this tool, here’s a fun personal video. Last night the Austin Packers basketball team, on which my son Joe and nephew Tom are starters, had the largest margin of victory for an Austin basketball team in at least the last decade, as they cruised to a 74-19 win against winless Faribault. The starters played less than half of the game, but here’s the highlight taken from the four-minute compilation, as Joe took a… -
Social Media 220: How to Customize Your YouTube Player
9 Jan 2012 | 4:00 amI have been interested in using a YouTube player to display some of our Mayo Clinic videos on our Mayo Web sites. One concern is that at the end of an embedded YouTube video, a list of related videos is automatically displayed at the end. Here’s an example of a brief video I did to document my newly cleaned office as I prepared to start fresh in 2012: With a quick Google search, I found this site, which makes it really easy to customize your player. Among the changes you can make are: Autoplay (have the video start automatically when the page is loaded) Hide the video title Hide the…
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Stories
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Why is the Obama Administration Suddenly Fixated on Stomping out Medical Pot?
9 Feb 2012 | 1:14 amAt the same time public support for marijuana legalization reached record highs, Obama shifted from one time medicinal cannabis sympathizer to White House weed-whacker. -
Chimp solves memory test 'faster than blink of an eye'
8 Feb 2012 | 11:59 amAyumu the research chimp can remember a set of numbers in less time than it takes a human to blink. -
Oh SNAP! Congressman Calls Newt Gingrich Out, Proves Who The Real Food Stamp President Is
9 Feb 2012 | 6:53 amArmed with facts, the Congressman has a little fun setting the record straight and despite the name calling, be concludes that "hunger knows no race or religion or age or political party. Hunger is colorblind." -
Google Drive Cloud Storage Near Ready
9 Feb 2012 | 4:41 amGoogle is said to be close to launching its own cloud-storage service that is set to compete with Dropbox. The tip-off was offered to the Wall Street Journal, which says that it has talked to ‘people familiar with the matter.’ The long-rumored service dubbed 'Drive' -
Is returning to the moon really such a crackpot idea?
9 Feb 2012 | 6:33 amNewt Gingrich may have given moon exploration the kiss of death by endorsing it on the stump, but pushing frontiers in space remains an admirable goal. Here’s why bright minds are looking skyward for our future beyond the Web.
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Discovery News - Top Stories
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Concordia Wreck at Risk of Collapse, Spilling
9 Feb 2012 | 6:48 amThe capsized Concordia is shifting closer to a dangerous drop off as workers scramble to contain contamination. -
Cheaper, Paper RFID Tags
9 Feb 2012 | 6:01 amRFID tags may soon be cheap enough to stamp on paper. -
'Vomit Comet' Inspires Zero-Gravity Coaster
9 Feb 2012 | 5:57 amA zero-gravity roller coaster will make you hurl...down the tracks at 100 miles an hour. -
Transparent Phone Screen: Avoid Walking Into Walls
9 Feb 2012 | 5:54 amA new app helps you focus on a smart phone and see where you're going at the same time. -
How The Zebra Got Its Stripes
9 Feb 2012 | 4:02 amBold black and white stripes might help zebras evade disease-carrying flies but that's not the only benefit.
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Lifehacker
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Maximize Kitchen Drawer Space by Storing Utensils Diagonally [Storage]
9 Feb 2012 | 8:30 amMore » -
How to Be an Audiophile on the Cheap [Stereo]
9 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amMore » -
Approximate the Weight of Any Item Using a Clothes Hanger [Macgyver Tips]
9 Feb 2012 | 7:30 amMore » -
Make Frozen Dough Rise Quickly with an Electric Heating Pad [Food Hacks]
9 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amMore » -
Boost Your Working Memory to Make Time Fly [Mind Hacks]
9 Feb 2012 | 6:30 amMore »
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Neuromarketing
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Super Bowl Ads: “Second Payoff” Pays Off
8 Feb 2012 | 11:11 amThe Super Bowl is the biggest day of the year for football fans, and just about as important for neuromarketing companies. The first results of neuromarketing studies from the big game are trickling out, and Innerscope Research observed a strategy employed by multiple advertisers: a “second payoff” at the end of the ad, after the [...] -
Neuromarketing Fun: Add Your Caption
7 Feb 2012 | 5:32 amWant to win a signed copy of my new book, Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing? I thought we could have a little fun while we’re waiting for the results of the Super Bowl neuromarketing studies to roll in. Read on… Neuromarketing scares some people, even though the techniques used by [...] -
NeuroBowl: Neuromarketing and Super Bowl 2012
3 Feb 2012 | 5:51 amThe Super Bowl may be the biggest sports event of the year and the biggest advertising event of the year, but it’s also the biggest event of the year for neuromarketing companies. With $3 million being spent on every 30 second spot, you can be sure that lots of advertisers rang up their favorite neuromarketing [...] -
Social Personalization and the Doppelganger Effect
1 Feb 2012 | 5:18 amAre you overlooking a way to personalize your ads that goes far beyond the usual “Dear Roger” salutation? In my recent article, Put Your Customer in the Ad, I mentioned that LinkedIn was using profile pictures for targeted ads. Since then, I’ve been able to capture a couple of examples. The first one surprised me [...] -
Time Warner Opens NYC Neuromarketing Lab
26 Jan 2012 | 5:42 amTime Warner Inc. is opening their new “Medialab” at its New York City headquarters. The media giant expects to “generate valuable insights into consumer behavior, evolving media habits and industry trends across all of Time Warner’s businesses, brands and advertising partners.” The lab sounds like one of the more diverse facilities dedicated to this kind [...]
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PopTech Blog
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Energy shop talk: Jay Keasling on plant-based fuels
7 Feb 2012 | 1:44 pmThis week, we’ll be highlighting a few people within the PopTech network who are working on the forefront of disruptive energy innovations, utilizing new technologies, models and scientific discoveries. Jay Keasling (PopTech 2007) introduced himself to me at PopTech’s Energy Disruptors Salon as a professor at UC Berkeley. Keasling, who is considered one of the foremost authorities in synthetic biology, could just as easily have introduced himself as any of a host of other titles including Director, CEO, Department Head, and Scientist of the Year. I like him immediately. He is… -
Energy shop talk: Science Fellow Jessika Trancik wants to pick up the pace
7 Feb 2012 | 8:49 amThis week, we’ll be highlighting a few people within the PopTech network who are working on the forefront of disruptive energy innovations, utilizing new technologies, models and scientific discoveries. In 2011 Science Fellow Jessika Trancik‘s labthey’re hard at work to quicken the pace of energy solutions for transportation, heat, and electricity that won’t emit the copious amounts of fossil fuel-based carbon dioxide, which have caused global climate change problems. Trancik explained in her PopTech talk that we have about 50 years to alter our energy consumption so… -
World Cancer Day Flashback: Siddhartha Mukherjee
2 Feb 2012 | 9:06 amOn World Cancer Day, we’re highlighting the PopTech 2010 talk from Pulitzer Prize winning author Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee. His book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, and his stage talk explore the history of a disease that one out of every three women and one out of every two men will develop in their lifetime. -
This week in PopTech: OK, here we Go
1 Feb 2012 | 10:28 amThere’s always something brewing in the PopTech community. From the world-changing people, projects and ideas in our network, a handful of this week’s highlights follows. PopTech is heading to Africa! This February 7-11, 2012, we will be hosting our Climate Resilience Lab in Nairobi, Kenya. The Lab will bring together a carefully chosen network of climate researchers, gender experts, social innovators, technologists, designers, and community champions, to explore new possibilities in this domain. Our goal is to move “beyond the white paper” to identify… -
#IAmScience: The stories behind scientists
1 Feb 2012 | 10:26 amIf the word “scientist” conjures a near-sighted nerd in a lab coat, you may be spending too many late nights watching the SyFy channel. A recent movement on Twitter using the hashtag #iamscience is enabling scientists from all over the world to share their pictures, tell their stories, and show off their particular science to the world at large. Inspired by a post by science writer and marine biologist Kevin Zelnio written after he attended the Science Online Conference, the hashtag has been a fascinating way to learn the varied backgrounds of people who now make their…
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NYT > Home Page
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Mortgage Plan Gives Homeowners Bulk of the Benefits
9 Feb 2012 | 8:21 amUnder the settlement, officials said Thursday, about $5 billion will go in cash payments to states and federal authorities, $17 billion will be earmarked for homeowner relief and roughly $3 billion will go for refinancing. -
Foster Friess, a Santorum Supporter With Deep Pockets
9 Feb 2012 | 8:17 amFew people played a more pivotal role in Rick Santorum’s victories in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado than Foster Friess, a wealthy donor to conservative causes. -
Breakthrough on Austerity Clears Way for Greek Deal
9 Feb 2012 | 8:15 amAfter days of talks, Greek political leaders reached a deal Thursday to support a package of harsh austerity measures demanded by Greece’s financial backers in return for a bailout. -
Young People Are Watching, but Less Often on TV
9 Feb 2012 | 7:59 amYoung people still watch many television shows, but they are streaming them on computers and phones to a greater degree. -
A Word With: Paul Epworth: Paul Epworth, on Producing Adele
9 Feb 2012 | 7:58 amNominated for a Grammy as producer of the year, Paul Epworth describes what went into Adele’s monster hit “Rolling in the Deep” and other songs he worked on with her.
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Techmeme
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End of an era: Kodak discontinues camera business (Don Reisinger/CNET)
9 Feb 2012 | 8:55 amDon Reisinger / CNET: End of an era: Kodak discontinues camera business — Eastman Kodak has shocked the world today, announcing that it has put an end to its camera business. — By the end of June, Kodak expects to phase out its digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and digital picture frames, the company announced today. -
Alibaba Suspended as Buyback of Yahoo Stake Looms With Loan (Mark Lee/Bloomberg)
9 Feb 2012 | 8:50 amMark Lee / Bloomberg: Alibaba Suspended as Buyback of Yahoo Stake Looms With Loan — Alibaba.com Ltd. (1688) suspended its shares from trading in Hong Kong as the company prepares a statement about a transaction involving its parent, which is raising about $3 billion to buy back stock held by Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) -
End of an Era: Google's Very First Employee, Craig Silverstein - Technically, No. 3 - Leaving (Kara Swisher/AllThingsD)
9 Feb 2012 | 8:40 amKara Swisher / AllThingsD: End of an Era: Google's Very First Employee, Craig Silverstein — Technically, No. 3 — Leaving — Google's very first employee, Craig Silverstein, is leaving the company to join the high-profile online learning phenom, Khan Academy. — News of the departure first appeared yesterday … -
Analysis: More than just Great Firewall awaits Facebook in China (Melanie Lee/Reuters)
9 Feb 2012 | 8:25 amMelanie Lee / Reuters: Analysis: More than just Great Firewall awaits Facebook in China — (Reuters) - When it comes to China, Facebook should consider itself forewarned. Cracking the world's biggest internet population might seem an obvious ambition for the social networking giant as it trumpets its global growth … -
Faster Chips And A Retina Display: Apple Will Unveil The Next iPad In The First Week Of March In San Francisco [REPORT] (Uzair Ghani/Redmond Pie)
9 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amUzair Ghani / Redmond Pie: Faster Chips And A Retina Display: Apple Will Unveil The Next iPad In The First Week Of March In San Francisco [REPORT] — Apple usually announces a new iPad every Feb-March and we are once again in that period of time when all sorts of “inside sources” say that they've got a solid month/day for when the next iPad will release.
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Scientific American
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Shiny Science: Make Homemade Nontoxic Glass Cleaner
9 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amKey concepts [More] -
Why Your Romantic Partner Annoys You (preview)
9 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amExcerpted with permission of the publisher John Wiley & Sons, Inc., from Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us , by Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman. Copyright © 2011 by Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman. This book is available at all bookstores, online booksellers and the Wiley Web site at www.wiley.com , or call 1-800-225-5945. [More] -
Does NIH Have a Bias Against African Americans?
9 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amBiomedical research scientists send proposals to the National Institutes of Health in the hopes of being funded. A recent study of this process, published in Science by the University of Kansas’s Donna Ginther and her colleagues, revealed that proposals from black applicants are significantly less likely to be funded than proposals from white applicants. This disparity was apparent even when controlling for the applicant’s educational background, training, publication record, previous research awards and employer characteristics. [More] -
It Detects Earthquakes and Lactose Intolerance
9 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amNobel Prize winner C. V. Raman discovered in the 1920s that bombarding a substance with light excites its molecules and scatters the light in a signature pattern that can be analyzed like a fingerprint. Today Raman spectrometers are used in a variety of settings, but they tend to be large and expensive. A team led by physicist Manfred Fink of the University of Texas at Austin is developing a smaller, less expensive model that may improve earthquake detection and bring down the cost of some medical tests. [More] -
Champagne Glass Shape Affects Gas Level
8 Feb 2012 | 4:17 pmChampagne. Do you drink it out of a narrow flute or the broader, more shallow coupe? [More]
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Wired: Wired Science
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Black Hole Eats Asteroids, Burps Out X-Rays
8 Feb 2012 | 2:31 pmThe supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy may be constantly snacking on asteroids. A new study finds that asteroids at least 12 miles wide falling into the black hole would account for the regular bright x-ray flares seen through telescopes. Though nothing, including light, can escape a black hole, most are ringed by a disk of gas and dust. As it falls in, this material heats up to incredible temperatures, generating energy. For several years, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has spotted daily fluctuations in the emissions coming from the Milky Way’s central black… -
European Cave Spiders Produce Super-Stretchy Silk
8 Feb 2012 | 2:00 pmScientists have discovered some of the most stretchable spider silk ever, which can elongate up to 7.5 times its initial length. European cave spiders produce the silk to build egg sacs that protect their developing young. Spider silk is a remarkable material known for its strength and toughness. Most species secrete seven or eight types of silk for different purposes. Dragline silk, for instance, anchors spiders to a surface and is used as the backbone of most webs while other silks are used for web scaffolding or to wrap captured prey. Female European cave spiders (Meta menardi), which live… -
Asia and Americas on Course for Arctic Collision
8 Feb 2012 | 1:06 pmIt’ll be a geological showdown for the ages, with North America, South America, Europe and Asia colliding head-on over the North Pole to create a supercontinent called Amasia. Unfortunately, nobody we know will be around to watch the collision, which won’t happen for another 50 million years or more. But it’s still fun to imagine. “The snapshot that is the present is smack-dab in the middle of what we call the supercontinent cycles,” said geologist Ross Mitchell of Yale University, lead author of a Feb. 8 Nature prediction of supercontinental trajectories. -
The Unusual Physics of Floating Pyramids
8 Feb 2012 | 11:00 amBy Kate McAlpine, ScienceNOW Think floating pyramids are more metaphysics than physics? Think again. Results just in from an experiment that levitated open-bottomed paper pyramids on gusts of air reveal a curious phenomenon: When it comes to drifting through the air, top-heavy designs are more stable than bottom-heavy ones. The finding may lead to robots that fly not like insects or birds but like jellyfish. Physicist Jun Zhang and his colleagues at New York University wanted to better understand how flying bugs control the orientations of their bodies. Do they have to work at it, or are they… -
Tiny Tarsiers Talk in High-Pitched Code
8 Feb 2012 | 7:04 amBy Mark Brown, Wired UK The Philippine tarsier is a tiny primate with a seriously high voice. The saucer-eyed mammal can let out (and listen to) squeaks and squeals at such a high frequency that it effectively gives the mammal a private communication channel. A team of researchers, led by Marissa Ramsier of Humboldt State University in California, found that the tiny tarsier can hear and emit sounds in the ultrasound range — that’s above 20 kHz. Most humans can’t hear in that range, and a dog whistle is pitched to be just inside ultrasound, somewhere between 22 and 23 kHz. A…
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ScienceDaily: Latest Science News
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What kind of chocolate is best? The last you taste, says a new study
9 Feb 2012 | 7:20 amLike to save the best for last? Here's good news: If it's the last, you'll like it the best. -
Right hand or left? How the brain solves a perceptual puzzle
9 Feb 2012 | 7:20 amWhen you see a picture of a hand, how do you know whether it's a right or left hand? This "hand laterality" problem may seem obscure, but it reveals a lot about how the brain sorts out confusing perceptions. Now, a new study challenges the long-held consensus about how we solve this problem. -
Amazing skin gives sharks a push
9 Feb 2012 | 7:17 amShark skin has long been known to improve the fish's swimming performance by reducing drag, but now a new study show that in addition, the skin generates thrust, giving the fish an extra boost. The duo also discovered that Speedo's shark skin-inspired Fastskin® FS II fabric surface does not improve swimming speed, although they point out that the figure hugging costumes probably enhance performance in other ways. -
How the zebra got its stripes
9 Feb 2012 | 7:17 amHorseflies are unpleasant insects that deliver powerful bites and now it seems that zebras evolved their stripes to avoid attracting the unpleasant pests. New research show that zebras have the least attractive hides for horseflies. -
Mobile launcher tests confirm designs, NASA analysis concludes
9 Feb 2012 | 7:15 amThe 355-foot-tall mobile launcher, or ML, behaved as expected during its move to Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in November 2011, an analysis of multiple sensors showed. The top of the tower swayed less than an inch each way.
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ZDNET Video
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Apple launches digital textbooks
19 Jan 2012 | 2:34 pmAt an Apple press event in New York City, executives from the company announce a new initiative to reinvent textbooks. The new software will attempt to unify online databases and the printed word into a single tool for students. -
At CES, Ballmer highlights Windows phone, Windows 8, Xbox Kinect
9 Jan 2012 | 10:12 pmAt CES in Las Vegas, American Idol host Ryan Seacrest talks to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer about what to expect from the software giant in 2012. Ballmer previews the new Windows phone OS, Windows 8's metro UI and new Xbox Kinect features. -
Gadgets galore at Sony's press conference
9 Jan 2012 | 7:37 pmAt CES in Las Vegas, Sony executives show off the latest in the company's line of consumer electronics, from the company's new Xperia smartphone, to its new PlayStation Vita portable gaming system, to its Internet-enabled TVs. -
CES 2012: Intel looks to 'wow' with concept Windows 8 ultrabooks
9 Jan 2012 | 12:20 pmAt CES in Las Vegas, Intel's Mooly Eden updates the company's "ultrabook" efforts, including a concept transparent touch screen on the back side, coupled with the Windows 8 Metro user interface. -
Kara Swisher demos the hottest (and quirkiest!) tech toys
14 Dec 2011 | 3:05 pmAt a Churchill Club event, AllThingsD technology columnist Kara Swisher shows ZDNet some “must have” gift ideas for the holidays, including “lighted finger rats,” a tactile iPad screen, and a classic retro-phone handset designed for your smart phone.
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World of Psychology
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Is It Time to Start Dating Your Spouse?
9 Feb 2012 | 4:38 amSmall talk. That smile. You are special. How sweet. Be mine. Love you. I am yours. Only you. Soul mate. True love. Marry me. Live happily ever after. You got together with your life partner for many reasons: shared perspectives and outlooks, physical attraction, shared spirituality, shared professional lives, etc. But you also enjoyed one another’s company because it’s fun! In the beginning, you did not have much but each other, but it was enough. There were sweet words, long phone talks, walks and candlelit dinners. You had meaningful conversations, shared your dreams and goals, planned… -
Video: Recovering from Cheating
8 Feb 2012 | 8:46 amLast week, Drs. Marie and Dan covered the general aspects of cheating in relationships. It’s a common enough problem that as many as 1 in 5 relationships will face a cheating partner. So how does a relationship recover from cheating? How do you make amends with it personally? I’m pleased to introduce the second in a series of interviews and conversations with two of our resident therapists about a wealth of mental health topics. In this installment, Marie Hartwell-Walker, Ed.D. and Daniel J. Tomasulo, Ph.D., TEP, MFA answer the question of how to recover from cheating in this… -
Interview with Margarita Tartakovsky
8 Feb 2012 | 5:34 amRecently I had the chance to ask Margarita Tartakovsky, an associate editor at Psych Central, a few questions about eating behavior. She blogs regularly about eating and self-image issues on her blog Weightless. Q. Why doesn’t the current model of treating obesity — only telling people what and how much to eat — work for most people? A. Great question, because the current model definitely doesn’t work. I can’t remember who said it, but there’s a saying that if you want to gain weight, go on a diet. Diets have a failure rate of about 95 percent. People may lose weight… -
Why Do We Care What Others Think?
7 Feb 2012 | 8:54 amI was recently approached by a frazzled woman at a train station who was on the verge of tears. With an unsteady, quavering voice and a shaky demeanor, she explained that she’d been approaching strangers for several hours, while looking to collect enough fare to purchase an Amtrak ticket. Her wallet was lost, and she needed to get home in order to avoid spending the night in Manhattan’s Penn Station (which houses a couple of tasty smoothie storefronts, but it’s not exactly an atmosphere for a good night’s sleep). I did ultimately give her a little bit of money, but what I was really… -
Best of Our Blogs: February 7, 2012
7 Feb 2012 | 3:30 amAre you still sitting in the exact place you were a few months ago when you were bright-eyed and ready to take on the world? But now you’re just a little bit jaded, frustrated and disappointed with what little you’ve accomplished? Maybe you’re not exactly where you thought you’d be. Maybe you realized that you placed too much importance on the beginning of the new year. Maybe you thought it would bring a new job, a new love, better health, a new home. I see you. I notice the emptier gym class. I feel faith waning. But there’s still time. Don’t give up just…
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MediaPost | Marketing Daily
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Correction: Starbucks Did Make Loyalty List
9 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amThe Feb. 6 article, "Brand Experience, Values Increasingly Drive Loyalty," inaccurately stated that Starbucks did not make Brand Keys' loyalty rankings in the packaged coffee category. In fact, Starbucks was tied with Dunkin' Donuts for #1 in this category. We regret the error, which has now been corrected and noted in the post. -
Top Loyalty Engagement Brands For Teens
9 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amToday, subscribers will be getting Engage:Teens. Here are the top brands in categories that are relevant, according to Brand Keys’ 2011 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index. Major League Gaming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Halo Battlefield/Madden Football (tie) World of Warcraft/FIFA 2012 (tie) Starcraft 2/Batman Arkham City/Diablo/NBA 2K12 (tie) Crysis Gears of War Elder’s Scrolls Skyrim Pizza Domino’s/Papa John’s (tie) Pizza Hut Godfather’s Round Table Chuck E. Cheese Little Caesars Soft Drinks Coca-Cola Pepsi Mountain Dew 7-Up/Sprite (tie) Dr Pepper Fanta Soft… -
Looking For Love in All The Right Places?
9 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amWith total Valentine's Day sales possibly exceeding $16 billion in 2012, those of us in e-commerce are looking to determine how local businesses, particularly in the service space, can position themselves to boost sales. -
Top Loyalty Engagement Brands In Entertainment
9 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amToday, subscribers will be getting Marketing:Entertainment. Here are the top brands in categories that are relevant, according to Brand Keys’ 2011 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index. Major League Gaming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Halo Battlefield/Madden Football (tie) World of Warcraft/FIFA 2012 (tie) Starcraft 2/Batman Arkham City/Diablo/NBA 2K12 (tie) Crysis Gears of War Elder’s Scrolls Skyrim Major League Sports MLB NFL NHL NBA Movie Rentals Blockbuster iTunes Amazon Netflix Redbox DVDXpress Video Streaming Websites Youtube iTunes Netflix Amazon Hulu/Megavideo (tie) Vimeo Veoh… -
In Loyalty, Hyundai Leads, Domestics Rise
9 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amThis week, "Marketing Daily" brings you exclusive coverage of the Brand Keys 2012 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index. Each day, expect a full report on key product/services categories from among the 83 surveyed for this year's study, including automotive, electronics, retail and technology. This part of the fourth installment focuses on highlights from the automotive category.
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IAB SmartBrief
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IAB Case Study Road Show returns to San Francisco, L.A., Detroit
9 Feb 2012 | 8:13 amGet ready for an entire day devoted to eureka moments that will change the way you do digital. -More- Promotion Manager AARP -
Zimmerman checks out a winner in Extended Stay Hotels pitch
9 Feb 2012 | 8:13 amOmnicom's Zimmerman has won agency of record duties for Extended Stay Hotels in advance of a brand relaunch. -More- -
States look to collect e-commerce taxes
9 Feb 2012 | 8:13 amAmazon is backing federal legislation designed to standardize the way states collect sales taxes from online transactions, bu -More- -
GigaOm acquires ContentNext Media, parent of paidContent
9 Feb 2012 | 8:13 am-More- -
Yahoo! looks to fees, commissions over ads
9 Feb 2012 | 8:13 amNew Yahoo! -More-
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MAKE
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VW Bus Customized with a Mural and Stained Glass
9 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amHaD writer Caleb Kraft of Springfield, MO, sexed up his VW bus with a lovely (and Cthulhu-esque!) elephant mural as well as stained glass sun visors that complement the painting. Caleb says he “never really painted before” — ORLY!? Looks pretty amazing to me. -
How-To: Duct Tape Roses
9 Feb 2012 | 6:16 amIf you’re celebrating Love Day this year, and could’t make it to the Kwik-E-Mart before they sold out of Lord Huggington, you might consider going the handmade route, in which case you could probably do a lot worse than a dozen of these realistic duct tape roses from Instructables user DIYHacksAndHowTos. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go outside and assemble Love Land. [via CRAFT] More:Heart-Shaped Hack Box from Evil Mad Science Labs -
NTH Hackable Synthesizer
9 Feb 2012 | 4:00 amColumbus, OH makers Kevin Holland and John Staskevich have built a seemingly fun to play hackable synth using a PIC microcontroller, 8-bit DAC, and analog low-pass filter. It includes an integrated step sequencer and simple, intuitive controls. The device was built with hacking in mind, so you’ll also get a spare hardware DAC channel, on-board prototyping area, and ICSP port to modify, update, or completely rewrite the firmware. It’s all housed in a clear laser-cut acrylic housing so everything’s easy to see. [Thanks, John!] -
The Homemade Earth and Fire of Jonathan Garratt
8 Feb 2012 | 7:30 pmIt’s been over a decade since I’ve thrown clay on a wheel, but watching this video, by David Hobson, of Dorset-based potter Jonathan Garratt, makes me want to return to the art. Garratt is a true maker from beginning to end, including farming his own clay, mixing it in a blunger, drying it over a month, then processing it through a pug mill. He chops his own wood and claims to have nearly 100 tonnes of wood stacked in sheds and under tin tarps outside, which he rotates out on a two-year cycle! The combination of using local clay and firing with wood gives his work a… -
“How Maker Faire Changed My Life”
8 Feb 2012 | 6:15 pmBen Hylak, one of the young scientists/inventors honored at the White House yesterday, wrote his touching and inspiring story for the CNN website. The story, and an accompany teaser video, are a preview to this weekend’s episode of “The Next List” on CNN. The program will contain a 30-minute profile of MAKE founder Dale Dougherty and cover MAKE, Maker Faire, and the maker movement. Tune in to CNN, Sunday, 2pm EST, February 12th. How Maker Faire Changed My Life More: White House Celebrates Young Makers Along with Science Fair Winners Maker Teen Inspired by Faire to Build…
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IEEE Spectrum Recent Content
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The Evolution of Robot Soccer
9 Feb 2012 | 4:45 amRobots have evolved very rapidly over the next five years, and by 2050, whipping humans at soccer isn't likely to be a problem -
Nanotechnology Used to Create a "Desalination Battery"
8 Feb 2012 | 3:19 pmJust the latest nano-enabled solution for improving the efficiency of desalination processes -
Who Owns Valuable (But Not Patented) Ideas?
8 Feb 2012 | 12:41 pmA high-stakes legal battle over cancer research spotlights important questions about intellectual property -
New Route to Electronics Inside Optical Fibers
8 Feb 2012 | 12:04 pmPenn State plan produces photodetectors in optical fibers -
Cyber Security Shortchanged in US Smart Grid Push
8 Feb 2012 | 9:31 amEnergy Department audit finds that cyber security controls are weak in many utilities
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Dumb Little Man - Tips for Life
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5 Myths Haunting Your Healthy Foods
3 Feb 2012 | 8:03 amThese days, eating healthy has become a curiously difficult task. Despite the fact that the canons of healthy eating have not changed in centuries, the proliferation of health food products has continued unabated for years. It’s become a crisis of abundance.However, just because a product occupies shelf space in a boutique food store doesn’t mean it’s any better for you than its generic counterpart. Advertisers are very aware of the powers of “mood affiliation”, which is the tendency to associate familiar claims with one another. For example, consumers are very likely to believe a… -
Four Steps To Rescue Stray New Year Resolutions
2 Feb 2012 | 6:55 amLooks like it is that time of year when many New Year resolutions that people set have already strayed. Attempts to kick a smoking habit for example, might have seemed successful for a few weeks but once the realities and stresses of coming back from the holidays have resurfaced, some people may have caved into the nicotine again.Of course there is the usual health promises that get broken too. According to the fitness industry, a lot of gym memberships are sold from December to February but gym attendance significantly drops shortly afterwards when people realize that working out involves a… -
Finding the Courage to Stay the Course
30 Jan 2012 | 10:06 amAnytime you decide on the pursuit of an important goal, you’ll be faced with a series of challenges. Peaks, valleys and plateaus are par for the the course. But the thing that separates the people who make it from the ones that don’t is the courage to stay the course.At the start of any new endeavor most of us look forward to every single day with a child like excitement. We see infinite possibilities and the future appears bright. It seems as though there is absolutely nothing that can get in our way. We feel almost invincible and the possibility of failure doesn’t even occur to us. We… -
How to Deal with Difficult People and Have Constructive Conflict
28 Jan 2012 | 8:32 amLife and relationships aren't always perfect. Take a minute to think of some difficult people you have to deal with in your life? These may be people you work with, the in-laws that come to town throughout the year, or your neighbor who can’t seem to take a hint. For whatever reason, you're just not jiving with these people.Do you flee? Or, do you get flexible and learn to interact?When we encounter these extreme personalities it can feel like they are trying to make our life miserable, but more often than not, it’s simply learning about these peoples’ tendencies and how to interact in… -
7 Habits of Highly Excellent People
27 Jan 2012 | 2:16 amAre you driven in life? Do you love to excel? I believe all of us do. We are born to be the best we can be and to make the best out of our lives.When I was in high school, I wasn't exactly the kind of student teachers would like. I was truant, didn't do my homework and did badly on my examinations. I was lazy and unmotivated in school. However, after a while I realized that this wasn't who I wanted to be. This wasn't the life I saw myself leading. People around me were judging and negative, and I had enough of all of that crap. I had enough of being discriminated against and I decided to turn…
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HowStuffWorks Daily Feed
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How Yoga Works
9 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amSan Francisco International Airport opened a dedicated yoga room this week, free to all ticketed passengers. Yoga is big business in the U.S. But what are the breathing exercises, meditation and poses of yoga all about? -
Top 10 Tech Tools for Managing Your Money
9 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amKnowing how to manage your money is a valuable skill, regardless of the state of the economy. And in today's tech-savvy climate, an array of tools can help you do just that. Read on to see the top 10 tech tools for managing your money. -
I love you and you and you and you
9 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amIs it really possible to love more than one person? People who practice polyamory think so. Find out how much you know about polyamorous relationships with this quiz. -
5 Memorable NASA Mission Videos
9 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amOn Feb. 9, 1995, Bernard A. Harris Jr. became the first African-American to perform a spacewalk. NASA has conducted several successful missions to space. These are some of the most famous. -
How Flirting Works
9 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amA woman plays with her hair. A man makes eye contact. Is this flirting? How do you tell if the person is showing a romantic interest or a friendly one?
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Bill Taylor on HarvardBusiness.org
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Are You Learning as Fast as the World Is Changing?
26 Jan 2012 | 9:00 amTom Kelly, general manager of IDEO, the world-renowned design firm, likes to quote French novelist Marcel Proust, who famously said, "The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but in seeing with new eyes." What goes for novelists goes for leaders searching to craft a novel strategy for their company, a new product for their customers, or a better way to organize their employees. In a world that never stops changing, great leaders never stop learning. Today, the challenge for leaders at every level is no longer just to out-hustle, out-muscle, and out-maneuver the competition. -
Average Is Over. What's Your Extra?
19 Dec 2011 | 6:05 amI approach a book by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman with a mixture of wariness and anticipation. Wariness because Friedman's books tend to go on for many pages longer than they need to, and many of those pages contain his trademark blend of Davos Man self-congratulation and cheesy metaphors. Yet I still have a sense of anticipation because in every one of Friedman's books there are a handful of insights that are so clear, so sharp, so flat-out right that they frame how you look at the world going forward. That Used to Be Us, Friedman's newest book (written with Johns Hopkins… -
Just Because You Can Doesn't Mean You Should
6 Dec 2011 | 11:52 amAs we come to the end of a bitter, divisive, downright ugly year in business and society, it's hard to pick the one big story that defines the climate of the times. This summer's rancorous debt-ceiling talks come to mind, as do the collapse of the feckless Italian government and the rise of Occupy Wall Street and its satellite movements around the country and the world. But if I had to pick one small story that provides a huge "teachable moment" for business leaders going forward, I'd choose Bank of America's late-September decision to charge customers a $5 monthly fee to use their debit… -
Don't Let What You Know Limit What You Imagine
29 Nov 2011 | 12:03 pmOne of the most perplexing features of these troubled times is that so many capable people in so many fields look so lost and ineffective. Whether it's the stubborn inefficiencies of the health-care system, the ever-rising costs of the higher-education system, even the slow-motion collapse of the US postal system, leaders with unrivaled expertise and decades of experience can't seem to develop creative solutions to dire problems. Why are so many smart executives so ineffective? One answer may be that all this experience is itself a problem. In her underappreciated book, The Innovation Killer,… -
The Values Proposition: Do Small Things with Great Love
24 Oct 2011 | 7:18 amThe world confronts vast uncertainty, from unrest in the social climate to accelerating shifts in the climate itself. The economy faces huge challenges, from public-debt crises in Europe to the overhang of mortgage debt in the U.S. The business community faces an ongoing series of stops and starts, from the loss of an icon like Steve Jobs to the rise of new-economy giants like Amazon and Facebook. There is a temptation, amidst the turmoil, for pundits to conclude that the only sensible response is to make bold bets — new business models that challenge the logic of an industry, products…
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Biz Growth News - branding, business development and new media tips to attract more clients in less time
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14 tips to help you be more productive ‘getting things done’ in 2012
30 Jan 2012 | 12:10 amNOTE: If you are based in Ireland and are looking for expert guidance and support in development of systems to enhance your productivity, you will find a special offer at the bottom of this article to access a 15% discountor a coming workshop on productivity. As we approach the end of the first month of the year how are you progressing with your objectives and goals? The chances are you started off the year with great expectations of all the things you wanted to achieve in the first quarter of the year, but one or two things have not gone to plan. Many of us find ourselves in the situation… -
Marketing To Women: research about digital influence and the female Irish consumer
11 Oct 2011 | 5:47 amI was delighted to be invited to deliver a presentation at the conference ‘Purse Power: How to Engage and Influence the New Irish Female Consumer’ hosted by RD Communications recently. It has been some time since I have been asked to specifically speak about marketing to a female audience but with around 300 attendees at the conference there is clearly an interest in this topic. As part of the preparation I also had the opportunity to get involved in Irish research developed for the conference and in collaboration with Rachel Dalton of RD Communications and Oisin Byrne of iReach. Here… -
Book Review: Twitter for Good – Change the world one tweet at a time, an essential guide to Twitter for non profits
6 Sep 2011 | 12:08 pmAre you still trying to get to grips using Twitter and are unsure how it can support your organisations goals, especially if you are a non profit? Then here is a book I highly recommend that you read – and make sure that you read to end of this article as for today only you can access the book at NO COST. The book is called “Twitter for Good: Change the world one Tweet at a Time” and is authored by Twitter’s own Claire Diaz-Ortiz who leads social innovation and philanthropy. I was delighted to receive access to”Twitter for Good” from Claire’s publisher Jossey-Bass… -
Using Twylah to attract more traffic from Twitter to your website or blog
18 Aug 2011 | 6:00 amAre you using Twitter to attract more traffic to your website or blog and boost your online visibility? Tweets don't have a long shelf life – just take a look at the analytics of your Tweets is you are using a tool to track the number of click’s on your links in Twitter and you will no doubt see a sharp spike on ‘click throughs’ around the time you send out the Tweet. Research has been done that demonstrates that you can get additional traffic by sending out your Tweets multiple times – in fact Guy Kawasaki talked about this on American Express open Forum… -
Book review: Business Networking – how to use the power of networking for business success by Heather Townsend
31 Jul 2011 | 11:22 amThis is a first in a series of reviews of books that I have read recently and think you might enjoy over the Summer. Last week I ran a full day workshop about using Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook in your business and we had over 100 people attend. At the end of the session I hosted a break out group specifically about using these tools to help the delegates in their job search and one of the key themes I covered was the importance of integrating your networking plan across online and offline groups and associations. Many of us spend our time in the ‘real world’ not the…
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Ogilvy Blog Aggregator
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Digital Paris, c’est avec Reed Expositions et Ogilvy PR Paris
9 Feb 2012 | 8:23 amDigital Paris, sans doute en avez-vous entendu parler ? Les 11 et 12 avril prochains, à l’Espace Pierre Cardin se tiendra le nouveau congrès dédié au e-commerce, marketing, e-crm organisé par... Lire l'article en détails -
Don’t let go!
9 Feb 2012 | 6:04 am -
The Wolseley .
9 Feb 2012 | 2:21 amHad lunch at the Wolseley last week, a real place not a place you follow or follows you or a place I have thank the good Lord ever seen someone become Sherrif of or been ousted.Nope its a place with real people with real lives and real stories. I’d just ordered when on his way out the handsome and chiselled Brett Gosper dropped by to gloat on England’s performance in Dubai adding on parting that he and Jeremy King once considered swopping roles for a week, I’ll conclude with the probable results later but the exchange did prompt me to think further and try and analyse the… -
Pinterest Hits 11 Million UMVs (and 8 Tips for Brands)
8 Feb 2012 | 9:02 amIn case you haven’t heard, last night TechCrunch announced that Pinterest hit 11.7 million UMVs, becoming the fastest standalone site ever to surpass 10 million monthly uniques. This presents a huge opportunity for brands, as you might have already read about here. The #1 driver of consumer purchases is word of mouth recommendations from friends, and Pinterest holds the power to drive authentic “word of eye” recommendations in a way that is changing the landscape of social commerce. How? The landing page for Pinterest is an endless visual stream of subtle product… -
Just another typical creative / strategic review…
8 Feb 2012 | 8:24 amJust another typical creative / strategic review…
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Jim's Marketing Blog
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Are you prepared or playing?
8 Feb 2012 | 1:51 amOne of the BIG differences between successful business owners and those who struggle, is preparation. The average business owner doesn’t prepare very well. They want their business to succeed or their marketing to generate bankable results, but they fail to do the heavy lifting beforehand. They fail to prepare correctly, in advance. Preparation Last Monday, I launched a new project via an announcement on this blog. Just 7 days after launching Creative Thinking Hub, it has over a thousand subscribers, a Google Page Rank of 3 and more daily traffic than most older sites get. Here’s… -
Tip: Do great work & put it where the right people can see it
6 Feb 2012 | 10:10 amNo one likes to be pestered. Yet, when it comes to marketing, it seems some people still think they can pester their way to success. This post is about a different way to do business. It’s based on one of the most powerful ideas in commerce and I strongly recommend you take a few minutes to read this post in full. Pestering their way to the bottom Over the weekend, I received more than 100 emails from people I don’t know, all asking me to do something for them. Most want me to blog about their latest product or tell you how great their blog is. They send me spam email, because I… -
Generate massively more sales leads, with this simple yet powerful idea!
4 Feb 2012 | 1:32 amThis short post gives you a simple, yet powerful way to massively increase the number of sales leads you attract with your marketing. When someone who is interested in working with you calls you, emails you or meets with you, you welcome it. Furthermore, you are helpful, extremely friendly and not at all pushy. So, let people know! Lead generating: Removing the pressure If you want to increase the number of marketing leads you generate, your marketing needs to reassure prospective clients. It needs to tell them that their call is welcome and that they will be under no kind of obligation to… -
What everybody ought to know about their competitors
2 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amWhen was the last time you researched your competitors? It has never been easier for you to research the marketing you are competing against, than it is today. In minutes, you can tell if someone is serious competition to your business or simply a dabbler. For example: You can read their website and tell instantly if it was professionally written or written in-house. You can see the range of services they offer and the promises and guarantees they make in their marketing. In some cases, you can see what they charge too. You can check their social media footprint and see if they are using it… -
7 Simple, powerful productivity tips!
1 Feb 2012 | 1:07 amSuccessful business development is all about achieving measurable progress in reasonable time. Here are 7 productivity tips, to help you get the very most from your working day: Break your yearly business goals down into monthly and weekly goals. This makes it easier to ensure you are on track. When you have months and months to achieve something, without measurement points along the way, it’s too easy to drift off course. Plan your day and then work to that plan. The plan needs to incorporate the goals in the previous point. Set out what you need to achieve and make that your priority…
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Think customers: The 1to1 Blog
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Unexpected Actions Can Transform a Customer Experience
9 Feb 2012 | 4:37 amCustomers have come to expect good products and service. What blows them away is when companies go beyond the line of duty, giving customers more than they expect. There’s more… To read the rest of this blog posting click here or visit www.1to1Media.com/weblog -
Why Your Business Should be on Pinterest
7 Feb 2012 | 9:07 pmNow that your company is just getting the hang of navigating the social world of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, along comes another site that you should start leveraging...Pinterest. There’s more… To read the rest of this blog posting click here or visit www.1to1Media.com/weblog -
The Rise of the Data-Driven CMO
7 Feb 2012 | 6:08 amThe dawn of a new year often marks a spate of leadership changes within many companies and 2012 is no exception. This includes new marketing leaders that have popped up at Facebook (former Levi's CMO Rebecca Van Dyck), Kenneth Cole (former Anthropologie marketing chief Amy Choyne), Macy's (Martine Reardon has been promoted), and Gilt Groupe (Elizabeth Francis jumps from Intelligent Beauty). And while there are multiple factors that can drive changes in leadership changes (e.g. newly-appointed CEO brings in their own team; CXOs in search of new opportunities), it's safe to say that today's CMO… -
Improve, Transform, or Sustain: What's Your Path to a Better Customer Experience?
6 Feb 2012 | 11:00 amIf you're reading this post, there's probably at least one person in your company (you) who's already working to improve your customer experience in some way. That means your company's CX efforts fall somewhere on the curve below. There’s more… To read the rest of this blog posting click here or visit www.1to1Media.com/weblog -
NPS Is a Journey in Customer Experience
3 Feb 2012 | 10:03 amSatmetrix's Net Promoter Score has always brought about some interesting debates: Should organizations tie compensation to their? What is the ideal score to strive for? And should it be the single predictor of a company's growth? At the company's Net Promoter 2.0 conference held today and tomorrow in San Francisco, it seems like pundits may have a new discussion in which to participate. There’s more… To read the rest of this blog posting click here or visit www.1to1Media.com/weblog
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yinkaolaito.com - the branding gavel, brand communication expert, nigeria brand consultant, social media expert
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Facilitating audience engagement and bonding: KLM’s ‘Meet and Seat’
9 Feb 2012 | 3:27 amReal audience engagement and bonding is a vital tool for brand success. I am constantly being fascinated by opportunities offered by social Media to brand. Social Media is an elastic rope; it keeps expanding based on the horizon of the brand custodians and communicators. Those who see possibilities will keep experimenting while brand communicators with [...] -
Brand Communication: How to avoid silent destruction of the brand
7 Feb 2012 | 7:46 amEverything a brand engages in communicates. Whether brand acknowledges this or not is not important, it is afact. Brands like human often send wrong signal to its audience without knowing. We should never forget people have a right to interpret brand’s attitude based on their own perception. When a brand ignores every known and logical [...] -
Brand positioning: 5 pillars that help
1 Feb 2012 | 3:46 amBrand positioning in the market is vital to brand success and profitability. In the journey to stardom and brand engagement, brand positioning is a major factor. Positioning is based on identifying uniqueness and communicating such. Brand positioning is also considered as process of creating brand offers in such a manner that it occupies a distinctive [...] -
Brand Marketing: When you must increase profit with little cost.
30 Jan 2012 | 5:16 amThe main idea of marketing is the reconciliation/negotiation of possibilities of a company and customers’ desire in order to appease both sides. Every marketing initiative is a process and not an event. If this is not true then you may be running towards bankruptcy. We live in an interesting age and time. People say nothing [...] -
Brand Communication: Can you differentiate your crowd?
27 Jan 2012 | 2:17 amKnowledge about brand is unending. It is only a foolish person who says he knows it all. Today, I am able to confirm I do not know as I ought to know. We have been working hard on convincing ourselves on a better way to enlighten a friend who feels with thousands of followers, he [...]
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Rocky FU
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The Secret Behind The Success of Pinterest.com
8 Feb 2012 | 4:27 amPinterest.com Traffic Trend Launched in March 2010, the invitation only site Pinterest.com received nearly 11 million total visits during one week last December, almost 40 times the number of total visits versus just six months ago. Stats from ComScore showing that Pinterest had 11.7 million unique monthly visitors in January 2011. Pinterest.com Pinterest.com is growing like crazy; check out this website now if you haven’t. Pinterest is not only surprising of its own traffic growth but also being a referral giant (driving more traffic than Google+ and LinkedIn) and retail sites like… -
How to Increase Your Facebook Fans
3 Jan 2012 | 4:00 amImage via Wikipedia Getting “likes” on Facebook Page is usually the first thing marketers focus after setting up the Page. But how? It’s important to first understand why people “like” and “unlike” a Facebook Fan Page and learn from them; experiment, track and optimize channels and tactics you attempt to increase your Page fans. Why People Like A Facebook Fan Page Learn from the best practices; find out what worked for other companies. A survey by Lithium and the Chief Marketing Officer Council revealed the top three reasons why marketers believe… -
Why Is Singapore’s First Virtual Shopping Wall A Failure?
13 Dec 2011 | 4:12 amSMRT QR Codes Shopping Singapore’s public transport service provider SMRT, working with retailer Cold Storage, transformed some of the wall spaces at its stations into virtual ‘shops’ where commuters can make purchases on the move. The idea is this (via SMRT PR release, PDF): they can order the latest tech gizmo while standing at the station platform, or do a bit of grocery shopping while waiting for their friends at the station foyer; without having to step into a shop, queue, send an SMS or make a call. All that is required is a QR code reader, which is installed in most… -
How To Get Consumers Talking About You
12 Dec 2011 | 3:49 amWhen consumers talk about your company, they’re sharing personal experience with friends and those they don’t know. That could have a positive or negative impact on your business. First of all, it’s important to understand what get consumers to share experiences. Why Consumer Share Company Experience NM Incite’s data shows that 61% of social media users share company experience to “give recognition for job well done”. You should realize that social media is not merely for marketers as its real power can hardly be utilized until it’s embraced by the… -
How to Get High Ranking on Google and Nothing Else
6 Dec 2011 | 4:35 amI’m very surprised to see in the past few years that many people conduct search engine optimization (SEO) as if they could outsmart tech giants like Google who have top-notch scientists in the world. Whatever you do for your business via digital, don’t forget the ultimate objective — revenue. To achieve the long-term growth, companies must create “value” for customers and the prospects. Search engine traffic is very cost effective; but don’t ever think the goal of SEO is to drive traffic to your website; your sites may rank very high for competitive keywords,…
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Big Marketing For Small Business
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10 Tips for Improving Your Business Blog
6 Feb 2012 | 12:50 pmOne thing small businesses are always short of is time – and blogs take a lot of it. Here are 10 practical tips for making your blog more productive without the need for a huge investment of time or money. 1. Add Two Conversion Activities to Your Blog A fatal flaw for any blog is failing to offer readers a way to and a reason for contacting you. You should have two offers: one for browsers, and another for buyers. Browsers are window shoppers, information collectors; they will be interested in free downloads, white papers, etc. Buyers are in the market; they will be interested in special… -
SEO: Agency vs In-House
6 Feb 2012 | 12:36 pmWhen considering your business’s SEO needs, there are a few ways to go and each come with their own set of benefits and faults. Figuring out what is best for you or your company is a good place to start. SEO can either be done through an agency or by your very own in-house team and each provides their very own set of pros and cons. Understanding these is the very first step in guiding you through the SEO process. In-house SEO brings with it the expertise and in-depth knowledge of your industry like no agency, big or small, can master. You are the experts with all of the buzzwords and… -
Internet Marketing 101 Coming to a High School Near You
31 Jan 2012 | 9:57 amInternet marketing continues to be a quickly growing field, making a big impact in school course offerings. Courses in Internet marketing start as early as high school, and students at Utah’s Davis High School are learning to look at websites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in a whole new light. Currently, job opportunities for Internet marketing are one of the few bright spots in a down economy. With more than 2 billion Internet users worldwide, it’s easy to see how companies like Salt Lake City-based PurePPC.com are hiring those with a keen understanding of how to market to consumers… -
15 YouTube Marketing Tips for Your Small Business
24 Jan 2012 | 12:03 pmVideo Marketing on YouTube is a must for small businesses and startups in 2012. YouTube videos are longtail pieces of marketing content that can drive organic traffic to your website for many years to come. Here are 15 tips to know about marketing on YouTube. 1. Anyone Can Do a Video The best part of YouTube Marketing is you do not need to hire models, buy fancy equipment, or have a baller studio. Most of the “highest viewed” videos are shot by a simple cell phone or webcam. Another option for those who are camera shy is to use Powerpoint or a similar program to make the presentation. -
How to Use Digital Marketing to Promote Your Small Business
23 Jan 2012 | 5:00 amThe Internet is the great equalizer, allowing a small business to effectively compete with the 800-pound gorilla in their space. But, there are some fundamental ways to go about setting yourself up for success. Here are five affordable tips to promoting your small business using digital marketing: 1. Build a Quality Website, Use WordPress The best place to start is to launch a website for your business, but not just any website. Create one that is clean, easy to navigate, has good content, and is optimized for search engines to crawl and rank – WordPress is a great place to start. Use SEO…
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Logo Design Blog
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6 Reasons Why Your Business Should Not use Google Analytics Alone
7 Feb 2012 | 2:35 amA website without analytics and a website owner unaware of the intricacies involved in the traceability of websites using Google analytics are sure to lag behind in the competitive business world. Although, the God-Like image of Google has made organizations completely dependent on its tools for rankings, analytics and reputation management. But here are six beefy reasons to why you should not use Google Analytics alone. -
Why is it Necessary for the Domain Name and the Website Name to be Similar?
23 Jan 2012 | 2:05 amMost people make the mistake of naming their websites and their domains differently. It is good to be creative with names but sometimes this creativity may cost a lot. Most effective website names are usually the ones where the domain name is either identical or at least similar to the website. This will do one good thing, something which every website businessman wants for their websites; it will make the name search engine friendly. -
How to Find a Reliable Web Design Service?
17 Jan 2012 | 2:44 amThe foremost thing to understand is: what do we mean when we say that we are looking for a reliable web design service? In simple words, it means that we need to acquire the expertise of a company that will create a design to perfectly represent our business model. Plus, a reliable service also offers revisions to ensure your complete satisfaction. If for some reason you are not satisfied with the design, they will happily make modifications according to your needs and business requirements. -
Make Your Facebook Timeline a Social Resume
11 Jan 2012 | 10:20 pmAs most of you probably know, Facebook is in the middle of updating everyone’s profile to the new Timeline format. Not only does this new layout and design enhance your Facebook browsing experience, but it can also be used as a tool to affirm what you’ve stated on your curriculum vitae and cover letter. -
Logo Evolutions in 2011
1 Jan 2012 | 10:03 pmIn 2011, some big organizations thought of bringing change to their corporate identities and accomplished it brilliantly through small amendments in their logo. They needed the change for better positioning, an enhanced brand image and for a stronger market presence.
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Modern Metrix
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Google Study of Web Browsing Habits
8 Feb 2012 | 9:10 amWow, it looks like Google has partnered with Knowlede Networks to conduct a large-scale study of web browsing habits: "A new Google project named Screenwise looks set to offer Amazon vouchers in return for information about your browsing habits. While it doesn’t appear to have launched officially yet, a landing page highlighted bySearch Engine Land notes that “Google is building a new panel to learn more about how everyday people use the Internet.” Screenwise will work via a Chrome browser extension which Google will use to track the sites you visit and how often… -
"Allocation Flags" in ACS and Census Data
8 Feb 2012 | 8:45 amI am currently working with just released ACS 2006-2010 data, and was puzzled by so called "allocation flags". Turns out that Census Bureau uses these flags to mark the records for which original responses have been altered. My immediate question was why would Census alter the responses, and how would they do that. So naturally, I googled it, and the best explanation I found was on Minnesota Population Center web site. In summary, if record has a variable that is missing or inconsistent with other information, its value is obtained or replaced by means of logical induction… -
Pew Research Center Surveys Database
6 Feb 2012 | 9:22 amYou can now search any question ever asked by Pew Research Center in their public surveys in this database. For instance, a quick search for term "astrology" revealed that in 2009, in Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life Religion & Public Life Survey, 25% of respondents answered "yes" to question "Do you believe...in astrology, or that the position of the stars and planets can affect people's lives?" (the other 71% said "no", and 4% didn't know or refused to answer). -
Accessing Your Personal Energy Consumption Data?
6 Feb 2012 | 8:38 amThis is awesome: the Green Button initiative from the White House encourages utilities companies to share energy consumption data with consumers (think Mint for electricity and gas). -
Profiles of E-bay Users According to Hunch
6 Feb 2012 | 7:39 amInteresting infographic report from the "personalization graph" company Hunch that developed psychographic and behavioral profiles of e-bay users based on data from 70,000 respondents. Among the most interesting findings: e-bay users are more likely to be happy with their job , prefer impressionalism and surrealism when it comes to art, and read "The New Yorker". Non-users, on the other hand, are more likely to be unhappy with their jobs, prefer realism and romanticism, and are more likely to read "People" magazine.
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Five Sparrows Marketing Blog
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What Happened to Your Website?
18 Jan 2012 | 9:30 amIf your small business website was built a few years ago, you may be surprised to hear that it may soon be obsolete (if it’s not already). Big changes in digital marketing have affected how users access and use the web today, and new technologies have made many old-school websites inaccessible, unreadable, or completely unusable (Read More...) -
5 Tips to Boost Web Conversion Rates
13 Jan 2012 | 10:30 amIf you’re like many small businesses, you want to squeeze every last drop of value out of your website and online marketing activities. But do you know which initiatives are worth your time and money? Do you know the mistakes to avoid? Here are five tips to help you focus on where to put your (Read More...) -
Tip of the Month: “Google Plus Your World” Has Arrived
10 Jan 2012 | 10:46 amIn case you haven’t heard yet, last week Google announced a big change to its search algorithm, called “Google Plus Your World.” Basically, Your World combines social search (introduced in 2007) with personalized search (introduced in 2009) into a single algorithm that also includes relevant Google+ results. Google+ was designed to be the overriding glue (Read More...) -
Tip of the Month: Quick Keyword Check
9 Dec 2011 | 9:01 amEver notice that as you start typing a search term into Google or Bing, it starts “guessing” what you are typing? That’s the auto-complete feature, and the terms it displays are often related search phrases and keywords that other people have used when searching. You can use this feature to check your existing keywords to (Read More...) -
5 Marketing Take-Aways from 2011
8 Dec 2011 | 12:07 pmYes, it’s that time of year; when marketing experts begin compiling their “best-of” lists for the events, tips, lessons, developments, and/or advice gathered from the past year. And for small businesses, the year brought some very big changes that have already affected the way in which companies must now position themselves in order to stay (Read More...)
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MarketingProfessor.com
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Influence without the Hype
1 Feb 2012 | 5:21 amInfluence is a tricky thing. If in striving to be influential you succeed, at what cost. If failure is your outcome what can you learn? In either case it’s worth asking “was it worth it?”. No problem with influence here, but influence is best when it is a result of other business and marketing activities. The reality is, many strive for influence to get the sale, what can often be overlooked is that the most profitable influence happens after the sale, when customers have experienced results of your product or service. Influence without the Hype It’s true, there… -
7 Ways Marketers Can Leverage Google’s Personal Search
18 Jan 2012 | 9:10 amThere has been a lot of activity recently with our friends at Google. Last week they announced the rollout of Google Plus Your World. This is essentially a more elegant version of personal search, with a snazzy video (shown a bit later). Now that the dust has settled, the question marketers are asking is how to leverage this? What does it mean for SEO? It means a lot. We’ll cover that and share 7 things you can do now to make the most of Google’s recent changes. 7 Ways Marketers Can Leverage Google’s Personal Search The farm. Google is pretty much betting that on their… -
Say It With Me ‘I am a marketer’
10 Jan 2012 | 5:20 amLet’s agree on something right now. Internet Marketing is not simple. Principles exist, as with any business, but as a whole it’s not simple. What makes it ‘not’ simple? The first half of that phrase, Internet. Agreed? Good. Marketing is simple. Couple it with Internet, and things get complex in a hurry. You may not have world-class mad skills at copywriting, email marketing, blogging, video, social media marketing, SEO, PPC, or any other point technical Internet marketing skill, marketing alone still equals (=) simple. Say It With Me ‘I am a… -
Our Greatest Asset in the New Year
5 Jan 2012 | 10:04 amYou’ve likely read a handful of posts, tweets, and articles online when it comes to everything of the New Year. There are some really great nuggets out there. Which brings you here. What to do with all those fancy ideas? How to implement all those power tips? Don’t. What? Don’t. Don’t seek to implement many of those things, without focusing on the main thing. Your greatest asset. Well, that’s what I’m doing. Focusing on a skill. Well, skills that master all other skills. Skills that help marketers implement. Get more done. Fast. Let me share with you what I… -
This Year’s Top Content Awards Go To
30 Dec 2011 | 10:55 amHard to believe that another year is behind us. I recently was reviewing some Google analytics stats for this site to get ideas for content in the coming year, and saw some interesting trends. There were posts that were highly trafficked, some that were highly engaged by readers, but not all highly trafficked posts were highly engaged. I’ll get to these in a moment. Google analytics can provide valuable insights as to traffic, engagement, conversions, keywords, etc. but what it doesn’t do is clarify the experience of human visitor. What really matters is what you think as a…
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Digital Strategy
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#btvsmb Social Hack Recap
7 Feb 2012 | 2:34 amWhat a day: 72 talented and creative people spent a Friday together at Champlain College’s Emergent Media Center trying to reimagine Vermont’s localvore world through the lens of mobile and social technology. With little or no preparation six teams of twelve people each had less than four hours to come up with an idea. And what ideas they came up with! We started the day listening and watching Richard Ting of R/GA and Liz Gerber of Design for America. Richard took us through some amazing examples he and his team have worked on, such as USAID’s FWD or Nike+ GPS. It was heady stuff but it… -
#BTVSMB Social Hack
30 Jan 2012 | 6:15 amThis Friday, February 3rd, the Burlington Social Media Breakfast series takes a new twist. We’re still bringing in great, smart, national speakers, like R/GA’s social and mobile executive creative director Richard Ting, and Design for America founder Liz Gerber. As with our past events, we want to inspire area marketers and digital folk. We also want to do something beside listening, learning and networking. While that’s good, it doesn’t feel like it’s enough. So on Friday, we’re combining the inspiration part with a Social Hack. We’re going to focus our collective… -
Kill Them With Kindness
24 Jan 2012 | 6:10 amIt’s election season and in the U.S. we’re getting ready for a good solid year of negative advertising. It’s sad that it works so well. The negativity so easily spreads to the social channels. There we end up with a cacophony of anger and insults rather than any interesting interaction. As a result, one ends up disliking all of the candidates (which may be a good description of what’s happening with the GOP voters this year). But what about brand and product advertising? Does negative advertising work there as well? Most of the negative advertising we see today is clearly aimed at… -
Sweden’s Social Experiment
19 Jan 2012 | 6:45 amFor the last several weeks, the tourism and marketing arm of the Scandinavian country of Sweden has allowed various Swedish citizens to take over its Twitter account. Called “Curators of Sweden” The idea is: “...that the curators, through their tweets, create interest and arouse curiosity for Sweden and the wide range the country has to offer. The expectation is that the curators will paint a picture of Sweden, different to that usually obtained through traditional media.” The end goal, though unstated, is to attract more tourists to visit the country. I’ve been following this… -
Use Social Media to Connect Friends and Family
13 Dec 2011 | 2:18 amBrands want people to connect with them through social channels. Social media usage among U.S. Internet users has more than doubled in the last three years (28% to 65% between 2008 and 2011). So brands are increasing the time and money they spend in these channels with the hope of attracting people through deals, content and, in some cases, customer support. That’s what brands want. What do most people using social media want? They want to connect with family. They want to connect with their current friends. They want to find old friends. Only a small group of people wants to use social…
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Better Closer
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Using Social Media to Prep Your Next Sales Call
16 Jan 2012 | 5:16 amBill Rice originally wrote Using Social Media to Prep Your Next Sales Call.Getting your prospect to listen to your first sales call can be a matter of 1-3 seconds. Success in this first 1-3 seconds is often the result of making some sort of personal connection–you voice, location, common interest–something that makes you seem human and interested in the person you called. Unfortunately, you are typically calling a complete stranger and that makes it hard to personally connect that fast. Unless you use the power of social media to warm up that relationship. Here are a few of my… -
Wednesday Webinar: SEO Fundamentals
3 Jan 2012 | 4:59 amBill Rice originally wrote Wednesday Webinar: SEO Fundamentals.I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year’s Eve. Are you ready to take it up a notch in 2012? I sure am. January is always an exciting time–fresh beginnings and new challenges. On the flip side it can be a little scary. It’s kind of like an artist staring down a blank canvas hoping to create a masterpiece. Starting from scratch is always hard. That’s why I like to start a New Year by reviewing the fundamentals. In my business (and probably yours), that means taking a look at how I am doing SEO for each of my… -
5 Sources of New Business
1 Nov 2011 | 4:45 amBill Rice originally wrote 5 Sources of New Business.As sales folks we’re always looking for leads, right? Over the years the most productive trick for me is to have a lot of sources of prospects always churning around in my daily prospecting routine. Here are some of my regular money-makers… Keep Up on the News Whether it’s Google News online or the good old-fashioned newspaper, keep in the know. At least once a week I will spot a person, an organization, or a trend that has an interesting business angle for me. These opportunities are going to look a little different for every… -
5 Ways to Make Your Sales Numbers Outrageous
31 Oct 2011 | 8:38 amBill Rice originally wrote 5 Ways to Make Your Sales Numbers Outrageous.I’m not going to try to convince you that I have the silver bullet. But, I am going to give you the basic philosophy that consistently makes me money. Good money. Some might even say outrageous money. Be Nice…To Everyone It just makes sense. You’re in the business of referrals. You don’t have to do deals with the devil, but good old fashion manners and politeness will ingratiate you to lots of potential clients. Even those who aren’t will think of you when others ask for a “good guy (or gal)” to… -
5 Tips to Better Sales Emails
27 Oct 2011 | 7:56 amBill Rice originally wrote 5 Tips to Better Sales Emails.Email is still the most effective marketing technique. It’s easy to automate and highly efficient at bringing in qualified new leads. Whether you are managing a large marketing list or trying to open the door on a new major accounts, these are a few tips proven to increase your email sales results. 1. Subject Line That Look Human It all starts here. Even the best of emails will go unopened 60-80% of the time. That’s why repetition and frequency is important, but that’s another topic. However, to get that 20-40% open rate you have…
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The FastSpring E-Commerce Blog
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SpringBoard Update Released: Bank Transfers, New File Extensions & More
24 Jan 2012 | 8:01 pmBank Transfers Now Supported as Customer Payment Method FastSpring has been working hard this season to enable your customers to pay using even more payment methods than previously existed. Now, in addition to major credit cards, PayPal, check, money order, and purchase orders, your FastSpring store can also accept bank transfers, which is the most common form of cashless consumer payments in most countries within the EU and Asia-Pacific. Bank transfers offer many benefits for FastSpring clients. They can broaden your customer base, appealing to those customers who do not have a credit card,… -
FastSpring Partners
21 Jan 2012 | 6:48 pmFastSpring’s partners shared some quality time together in a mini-retreat last week. Pictured here from left to right are Dan Engel, CEO; Ryan Dewell, SVP Software Development; Ken White, Chief Customer Service Officer; and Jason Foodman, SVP Corporate Development. Blog this on Blogger Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! Share this on Facebook Share this on LinkedIn Share this on Reddit Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Tweet This! -
FastSpring to Attend 2012 CES & Affiliate Summit West
14 Dec 2011 | 6:19 pmTo kick off the new year, FastSpring will have representatives in Las Vegas attending both the the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which runs January 10th-13th, and Affiliate Summit West 2012 (January 8th-10th). If you are a client or prospect of FastSpring and will be attending either of these shows, please contact us; we will be available to meet with you in person. The International CES is produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the consumer technology industry. CEA represents more than 2,000 corporate… -
New FastSpring Demo Movie Released
2 Nov 2011 | 2:33 pmFastSpring is pleased to announce the launch of a comprehensive new demo movie showcasing the many features of our solution and starring (though not limited to) our platform SpringBoard, which has grown and matured over the years while adhering to its original ideals of intuitive use and depth of functionality. We believe that this movie, in its modular design that allows users to easily skip to sections that most interest them, offers viewers a greatly expanded treatment of FastSpring’s many features and services. It also presents insights into the diverse ways that the platform can be… -
FastSpring Ranked #1 Fastest-Growing Company in Greater LA, #13 in North America (2006-2010)
20 Oct 2011 | 3:24 pmWe are pleased to announce that Deloitte & Touche has recognized FastSpring as the #1 fastest-growing technology company in the greater Los Angeles area (view PDF) and 13th out of 500 of the fastest-growing companies nationwide, via its annual Technology Fast 500 awards. FastSpring’s growth rate from 2006 to 2010 exceeded other well-known technology companies such as LinkedIn and First Solar. Greater Los Angeles North America (US & Canada) At the Los Angeles awards ceremony, Deloitte introduced FastSpring with these words: “Their innovative engine is designed to assure…
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The Future Buzz
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How To Build An Influencer Marketing Strategy
9 Feb 2012 | 7:43 amThe following is a guest post from Future Buzz community member Amanda Maksymiw. If you’d like to contribute thinking here, please read the guidelines. So you want to build online buzz but aren’t sure where to get started? While there is no silver bullet or one ticket shot to success, an influencer marketing strategy is one way to help propel your brand into the spotlight online. Of course, this approach to marketing is nothing new. Companies have been marketing to key industry influencers to spread awareness for more than 200 years. But there has been a shift since the early days. -
The Open Web (Still) Isn’t Going Away
6 Feb 2012 | 8:04 amThe “web is dead” linkbait discussions are back, spurred in part by recent IPO news but also by various tech pundits (ironically enough, the discussions started at sites on the open web). Except I don’t think the open web is going anywhere anytime soon. Even with the proliferation of the modern walled gardens. My opinion is that at this point, it is going to be “and” not “or.” And it makes the most sense to develop a digital strategy that invests in both the open web and in other people’s platforms in such a way that is designed to meet… -
Get Content-Centric, Or Be Disrupted In Search And Social
2 Feb 2012 | 8:19 amMy friend Gini Dietrich (who we featured in our latest digital marketing blogs list) recently published a post sharing 10 content ideas. But that’s not actually what I want to talk about today. I caught this post via her Tweet on the subject, in which she said the post was “for all of you who write content.” To which I responded: so, everyone then. Gini replied and noted that there are lots of people reading that run businesses, are in real estate, or other industries that “aren’t content related.” Maybe it doesn’t appear that these people or… -
Learn Digital Marketing From Savvy Future Buzz Guest Bloggers
1 Feb 2012 | 7:46 amWe not only have a highly engaged group of smart readers here at The Future Buzz. Beyond that, our community is so passionate about what they do they frequently take time out of their busy day to share thinking with all of us. If you’re new here (or just happened to miss one one of these) I’d like to share an aggregation of posts our guest bloggers have submitted since we opened the site up to community submissions. I hope you’ll take the time to read these and connect with the authors as well: Even the Biggest Brands Need TLC to Avoid Going MIA by Andrew Hanelly Help Your… -
The Forgotten Value Of Archival Content
30 Jan 2012 | 7:22 amThe web (and marketers in particular) continue to obsess over real-time. It is put on a pedestal by many who fall victim to the trap that they have to see everything new, now or that is only way web communities work. Of course, this isn’t accurate. Smart professionals across industries I speak with frequently timeshift the real-time web, as they understand the high cost of now. In many cases real-time is important. Conversations, breaking news and information which provides a significant enough advantage to get sooner is worth playing at the edge to get. It’s even fun. But…
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Experience: The Blog
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Facebook's IPO Is Not About Owning Facebook
4 Feb 2012 | 3:14 pmFacebook is going public, but that does not mean purchasers of Facebook stock will own the company in any real way. Instead, investors must know that they are buying an ownership interest not in Facebook, Inc. but a share in the vision, judgment and actions of CEO Mark Zuckerberg. After the IPO, Zuckerberg will own 56.9% of the voting shares. This means he will still get to call the shots in profound ways; for example, the S-1 filing reveals Facebook will be a "controlled company." That means the board of directors will not have an independent nominating function and… -
Chrysler, Fiat and the Brand Value of Authenticity
2 Feb 2012 | 8:30 pmChrysler's ad was epic and memorable: Grungy unmistakable scenes of Detroit, a gritty voice expressing the poetry of hard luck and hard work; the rising strains of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" accompanied by gospel choir; and finally the man himself emerging from a Chrysler 200 to point at the camera and assert "This is the Motor City, and this is what we do." Duplicating this recipe perhaps seemed easy to Fiat, but when they mixed together the same sorts of ingredients, the result was a disaster. Authenticity doesn't have a recipe and brands aren't created by photocopying best practices. -
Your New Year's Resolution for 2012: Write!
31 Jan 2012 | 8:55 pmIs it a little late to make a New Year's resolution? By the first week of February, most of us are already well on our way to breaking our promises to lose weight, quit smoking or get out of debt, but here's a resolution you can and should keep: Write. Religiously. Every week. Starting right now. I would recommend that you blog, but if (for now) you lack the confidence to share your ideas and observations with the world, start by writing for yourself. Select a topic--I'd recommend a professional one, but you can choose any topic in which you have passion and curiosity--and… -
Eight Ways Social Business and Mobile Tech Are Changing Your Business
29 Jan 2012 | 10:07 pmWe are still very early in the social media era, and it will take years for social and mobile technologies and behaviors to affect fully the way business operates. However, some changes are already evident if you look close enough. Is your business watching for these changes and investing so that it is prepared when consumers are ready for new business models? Today, many companies have happy customers and a sound business model, and they are confident that social media will have a nominal impact on their organization. If this sounds like your enterprise, beware! This was the mindset of… -
Ten #Fails in Professional Twitter Profile Pictures
26 Jan 2012 | 8:45 pmNot everyone is on Twitter for professional reasons. If not, get the heck off my blog and go read The Oatmeal or TMZ or something. However, if you are on Twitter to create a professional network, learn, educate and build your reputation, let's talk about your profile pic. I am consistently surprised by the way some professionals portray themselves on Twitter. You have precious few ways to introduce yourself to new people on Twitter. Before someone can access the pearls of wisdom in your tweets, they first need to follow you, recognize you and want to know you. What impression do you…
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Other Side Group » Thoughts
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Infographic of the Week: A History of Disruptive Innovations in B2B Marketing
3 Feb 2012 | 6:52 amAn excellent infographic by the team over at Eloqua looking at breakthrough technologies and processes that forever changed one segment of the world: B2B Marketing professionals. -
Infographic of the Week: Social Networking at Work
27 Jan 2012 | 5:55 pmA new set of stats show that two out of every three people agree that social media should be banned in the workplace. Simply Zesty brings us some interesting visuals on how social media is seen at work (in the UK…but let’s be honest, it’s probably similar in the US!) -
Infographic of the Week: How America Spends on Electronics
20 Jan 2012 | 7:46 amEver wonder the who, what, where of electronic lovers in the US? Bundle shows us some cool stats. -
MarketingProfs B2B Content Marketing Report suggests increasing use of content to meet 2012 marketing goals
17 Jan 2012 | 7:52 amA study released last month by MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute highlights some significant numbers in the area of content marketing for the B2B industry. In short, content production has become and will continue to be a major piece of the marketing mix for B2B marketers. There are several high-level takeaways from the report: Content marketing is still very widely used. 90% of B2B marketers used some form of content in their marketing program in 2011, and no individual industry reported lower than a 70% adoption rate. More budget is being spent on content… -
1 in every 5 minutes online is being spent on social networks (and more data from ComScore’s 2011 Social Report)
16 Jan 2012 | 7:02 amI’ve finally gotten around to reading ComScore’s 2011 Social Report that came out in late December. There are some great, granular pieces of data taken from March 2007-October 2011. Some key stats: Social Networking is the most popular online activity. 1 in every 5 minutes of time online is now being spent on social networking sites (up from only 6% in early 2007), reaching 1.2 billion people total. Facebook is important. Facebook takes up the largest part of this time, reaching 55% of the worlds’ online population in October. Facebook also has incredibly high engagement,…
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CK's Blog
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New Mobile-Marketing Article: Mobile As 'First Screen' For Customers
4 Feb 2012 | 1:27 pmBig thanks to the BMA (the Business Marketing Association) for running an article with me in their "BMA Buzz" Newsletter. The piece, titled "Mobile Set To Be 'First Screen' For Customers" explores three facets of B2B mobile marketing, namely: (#1) Why it's important for B2B marketers to begin focusing on mobile-marketing opportunities, (#2) Why B2Bs in particular have been slower to move into mobile than their B2C counterparts, and (#3) What should be the top priorities for B2Bs in setting their mobile strategies. The article is located here and in case you… -
Mobile Marketing 101: Unique Experiences For Unique Environments
13 Jan 2012 | 10:52 amWhile mobile-marketing tools and strategies will differ amongst different companies; like any strategy worth its salt, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. There is, however, one action that all companies—yes, every single company—must take. We must optimize our content for the mobile environment. Why? Because the mobile environment is unique, our audiences' needs are unique when they're mobile, and the mobile environment has a unique set of best practices, opportunities and constraints. I feature an example above of my own sites (desktop and mobile), which I'm… -
Video Interview: Mobile Marketing At The PPAI Expo
4 Jan 2012 | 7:39 pmWhile leading two mobile marketing sessions at the 2012 PPAI Expo in Las Vegas on January 2nd and January 3rd, I did a quick 2-minute video interview on mobile and its tremendous impact upon the promotional products industry... you might find some mobile gems in here to leverage in your own marketing. And for all videos, just go here and for my mobile marketing guide go here • B2B Social Media • B2B Mobile • About CK • CK's Web Site • Services • Contact CK • -
CK On Mobile: Collection Of Video Clips All In One Place
24 Dec 2011 | 10:06 amJust click around the below image to launch several videos (you'll see several hotspots when you roll your mouse over several parts of the graphic ). Videos are a collection of clips covering many facets, implications and best practices on mobile. Best of all, you don't have to leave the image to enjoy the video content. I created this dynamic graphic through ThingLinkwhich was both fun and easyand I can see many uses of it going forward. In this anytime-anywhere, always-connected world, I like how several images within one graphic can also be connected and become veritable channels… -
Mobile Marketing Video Clip: Key Imperatives to Close 2011... And Begin 2012!
21 Dec 2011 | 6:35 amIn a recent class lecture on mobile marketing, I hit on several key changes and imperatives and I wanted to share some of the snippets with you through the below 3-minute video. In the clip I hit on anytime-anywhere media and how it changes our behavior, mobile's explosive ascendancy to the most-used media of all time, the real revolution on how mobile drives permanent shifts across our expectations and thresholds, the unique "bridge" that mobile provides between all marketing efforts... and how "better, faster, easier," is the mobile mantra for succees (be your…
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PR-Squared - Social Media Marketing and Public Relations
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Open Letter to Havas CEO David Jones
8 Feb 2012 | 8:12 amHi Mr. Jones. I caught your MSNBC interview this morning with Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski re: your new book, Who Cares Wins: Why Good Business is Better Business. You made some excellent points re: how transparency, authenticity and speed will win the day for corporations; about how companies who expect to do well must increasingly expect to do good, as it is becomes ever easier for consumers to suss out egregious behavior and punish bad actors (from un-friending to public humiliation). This is all well-worn territory for Social Media geeks, of course, but it’s always good… -
Facebook IPO is Good for Everybody
6 Feb 2012 | 6:35 amDepending on who you ask, the Facebook IPO will result in boundless glory or is destined to be remembered as the final pinprick in an impending burst of the current tech bubble. For my part, whereas in the past I likened Facebook to previous Walled Garden successes like AOL (the AOL of the early 90′s, not the AOL of today – which is a SHIFT client!), in the past 18 months or so I’ve only been impressed by Facebook’s ability to embed itself across the larger, open expanses of the Web. It “rides alongside” us as we surf, versus dictating how and where we experience the… -
Susan G. Komen PR Disaster: Lessons Learned
3 Feb 2012 | 11:27 amWow. It’s been nearly two weeks since my last blog post. Sorry about that. I was out sick. And wow, what a crazy time to sit on the sidelines… Facebook IPO. Hello! More on that in a future post. Susan G. Komen vs. Planned Parenthood. Sheesh! Let’s talk about that! (Caveat: I am a Blue State progressive; whose mother died of breast cancer; who marched on Washington as a college student in support of women’s rights; and whose dear-departed grandmother spoke with horror of the days prior to Roe v. Wade. Got all that? You’ve been warned.) Just as I started… -
It’s the End of the Web as We Know It … or, Speed Kills
23 Jan 2012 | 9:46 amThose of you who follow me on other social nets like Twitter or Facebook know that I am pretty opinionated when it comes to politics. Suffice to say that I am a card-carrying member of the “Liberal Coastal Elites.” (I try not to over-indulge or bore folks with it; and I certainly can play nice with my right-leaning friends.) I bring it all up only as a segue to the fact that I am a big fan of Andrew Sullivan’s Dish blog. Sullivan’s one of the big dogs in blogging; he’s been freshly-empowered by his move to the Daily Beast to experiment… -
Thoughts on a Twitterversary
19 Jan 2012 | 7:18 amLet’s take a ramble. One of those automated spambots on Twitter informed me that today was my 5–year anniversary of microblogging. Wow. Five years. Really? What was I up to five years ago? I was living in Boston, in-between my family’s quinquennial moves to San Francisco. My brain was on fire, as I’d hit upon a worthy successor to the Social Media News Release concept and was just a couple of weeks away from debuting the Social Media Newsroom template. As I look back, 2007 was a prolific time for the entire Social Media industry. It was not only the year Twitter…
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The Retail Email Blog
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Season Finale: Halloween 2011
9 Feb 2012 | 6:57 amA look back on seasonal trends, email activity and standout B2C marketing:Start to finish: The first reference to Halloween was on Aug. 9. The final reference was on Nov. 3.The biggest day for Halloween emails was Halloween itself, Monday, Oct. 31. Retailers sent the majority of their Halloween-themed emails after Oct. 9.View this chart larger.Most interesting emails: Sears regularly runs “Midnight Madness” campaigns offering discounts that start in the evening and end at midnight. They recognized that these campaigns would be a great fit for Halloween, sending the following email on Oct. -
AM Inbox: Reacting to unforeseen events
8 Feb 2012 | 10:41 am>>2011 Halls of Fame: Design Hall of Fame, Oopsy Hall of Fame and Subject Line Hall of FameThe Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:Ann Taylor, 2/7 — A Fashion First: Michelle Obama In Ann Taylor!Sometimes you have lots of forewarning of an event, such as the Super Bowl (see Feb. 6 AM Inbox), so you have plenty of time to prepare for the possible outcomes. Other times, you might have a little bit of a warning, such as with a major hurricane like Irene (see Sept. 3, 2011 AM Inbox). -
AM Inbox: Winner of Super Inbox XLVI
6 Feb 2012 | 12:25 pm>>2011 Halls of Fame: Design Hall of Fame, Oopsy Hall of Fame and Subject Line Hall of FameThe Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:Sports Authority, 2/5 — Congrats to the Giants! Get Your Official Championship GearMore Super Bowl viewers than ever watched the game with their laptop, smartphone and tablet at their side—a trend that is only going to grow. So it’s important to seize on the excitement of the game by delivering emails, tweets and other social postings about… -
Week-End Trends: Email volume growth on record pace
4 Feb 2012 | 12:13 pmEmail activity and seasonal trends during the past week:The Retail Email Index: The top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 3.8 promotional emails on average during the week ending Feb. 3, 2012. That’s up 4% week-over-week, up 13% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 32% year-over-year.For each of the past eight consecutive weeks, year-over-year email volume growth has exceeded 20%. Considering that email volume grew 16% in 2011, 2012 growth is on track to easily eclipse that mark.The Retail Email Participation Rate: Friday was the most popular day to send retail emails last… -
Ping Time: Functional vs. emotional links, ROI of opt-out email, etc.
3 Feb 2012 | 12:37 pmMy latest spin around the mediasphere turned up the following nuggets:>>Alchemy Worx extols the outsized power of navigation bars and other functional links. >>Follow the ping>>@wise_laura: If you have to "ignore all the costs associated with complaints" to find a positive ROI on opt-out mail, is there really a positive ROI?>>Fabio Carneiro of MailChimp discusses media queries. >>Follow the ping>>Ros Hodgekiss of Campaign Monitor provides a fix for a change in Gmail that’s turning black links blue. >>Follow the black ping>>AdAge reports that…
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mobileStorm » Blog
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Survey: 90 Percent of Marketing Teams use Social Media, Yet Investment Remains Low
8 Feb 2012 | 10:28 amA new survey published today by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) had some interesting findings in terms of social media and the large gap that exists between the attitudes on behalf of large brands and the investment being seen in both time and money. The survey, called “Marketing in Today’s Economy,” surveyed more than 100 marketing executives across North America on their company’s use of email, mobile and social media marketing. The survey found that a full 90% of marketing executives surveyed use social media, and three quarters believe it… -
Best Practices: How mHealth Can Decrease Readmissions
8 Feb 2012 | 8:44 amHow to decrease cost while providing quality care – this is surely one of the key discussion points in every healthcare board meeting over the past decade. At mobileStorm, we work with healthcare providers on a nearly daily basis to make sure the that healthcare communication solutions that we are bringing to market match the demands of the marketplace as well as the demands of the real world. Dr David Lee Scher, a pioneer of mHealth monitoring techniques, has released a new list of ways that hospitals can decrease readmission rates and it matches most of our experience as well. The… -
Survey: 27 Percent of CIOs Say their Firms Already have Mobile Apps While 22 Percent are Planning one
7 Feb 2012 | 11:50 amIn a new survey conducted recently by Robert Half Technology, it was found that 27% of CIOs polled currently have mobile apps, while another 27% are planning one by the end of 2012. The survey, conducted by an independent research firm and based on telephone interviews with more than 1,400 CIOs from companies across the United States, also found that a full 43% are planning mobile apps for 2013 or later. When asked what the greatest challenge was in developing a mobile application, 29% said “collaborating between departments,” while 28% said “finding and hiring IT… -
Projection: By 2016 Remote Health Monitoring Will Reach 3 Million and Smartphones Will Be The Key
7 Feb 2012 | 10:20 amJuniper Research, the UK based analysis powerhouse, released a new report earlier this month that places the usage rate of remote monitoring solutions much higher that previous projections. According to their studies, cardiac monitoring will be the leading use of the new category of mHealth tools followed closely by diabetes and COPD chronic management. Driving factors behind the increase are the increasing penetration of smartphones in the worldwide population along with projected increases in computing power. Read the full release by Juniper HERE. -
DMA: Email Brought in $40.56 for Every Dollar Spent in 2011
6 Feb 2012 | 11:17 amAccording to the Direct Marketing Association’s recent “Power of Direct” study, email brought in an average of $40.56 for every dollar spent in 2011, with that number projected to decrease to roughly $39.40 in 2012 as many marketers are “missing out on opportunities to fully capitalize on email’s power.” “Too many programs fail to incorporate customer data effectively, to deliver more targeted and relevant emails,” says Matthew Kirsch, senior manager of online marketing at DirecTV. “The challenge with social and other new technologies is that an…
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Toronto Marketing Blog - Bekhor Management, Toronto
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Marketing Example of the Week: Having Fun with Social Media
9 Feb 2012 | 8:31 amTo many professionals, social media remains this untamed beast that you think might be able to get you where you want to go, but you're not really sure how to approach without getting in trouble. You're also a little worried about wasting a lot of your time (sorry for the crude analogy, but it works). One of the ways to make social media more approachable is to take a break from trying to crack the ROI code and just learn to have fun with it. So, for our marketing example this week, I would like to take a look at how I have been using social media as an extension… -
Why Do I Paint?
1 Feb 2012 | 7:53 amI'm a marketing consultant with no ambitions to delve into art in a serious capacity, yet taking the time to paint is important to me. So much so that not only am I taking watercolor courses. I also started Toronto Plein Air, a painting group that's open to the public on facebook. The painting on the left is my most recent attempt (watercolor on black arches of tulips and vegetables). So why do I paint? Just like going to the gym keeps my head clear and my body strong, painting strengthens the creative parts of my brain. Creative tasks of all kinds become… -
Marketing Example of the Week: A Consultant Website
30 Jan 2012 | 2:23 pmOften there's a bit of tension between the need to write copy that works for your audience and the need to write copy that helps the robots that send readers to your site (that would be Google and other search engines). This week's marketing example, PwC Canada, is a terrific demonstration as to how these two objectives can be seamlessly integrated. Beyond the traditional introduction that one would expect under services and industries, there are also a number of links to highly relevant, non-promotional materials accessible from the very… -
Marketing Example of the Week: A Professional's Biography
17 Jan 2012 | 10:47 amMost professionals underestimate the importance of the biography pages on a website. But within the context of a professional service firm, make no mistake about it, these pages are well read. The biography page is unique in terms of the opportunity it offers to present personality. A biography that goes beyond credentials can contribute towards practice development goals by reinforcing point of difference in a subtle but deep manner and connecting with readers on a human level, so that they can envision working with you. Dr. Wayne Dyer's biography… -
Web Converts Introverts
13 Jan 2012 | 7:32 amMost of my clients aren't the 'let's do lunch' type. They are serious professionals hard pressed to find time to eat lunch never mind to share it leisurely. While some may participate in networking events, many prefer not to, as the idea of 'working a room' feels unnatural and maybe even intimidates. That used to be a disadvantage. Not anymore. The web levels the playing field for introverts. A strategic plan to leverage the web as a practice development tool provides introverts with control over their environment, risk and approach to networking.
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Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog
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Why Super Bowl Ads Suck
7 Feb 2012 | 12:18 pmI know, they’re funny, and ads with animals and/or kids can't lose. Last night was a ritual for some of us to judge and compare the commercials during a football game that we otherwise wouldn’t have watched. We’re going to spend a few days enduring incessant “best of” lists, marketers will perform some complex gymnastics to explain why the spots are brilliant business strategy, and ad agencies will refer back to all this buzz when it’s time to revive their pitches to sell Super Bowl spots to their clients next year. read more -
So You Want To Be Customer-Centric? (video)
7 Feb 2012 | 7:32 amI spend a large part of my professional life telling companies that if they truly take their customer's interests to heart, these customers will reward them with their business, their recommendations and their support. But even though I preach this gospel, I have to admit that I never really understood the impact of super-promoters until I experienced it around my book "So You Want to Be Customer-Centric?". read more -
The Next 80% (manuscript)
7 Feb 2012 | 3:22 amThe following text is the manuscript to my presentation The next 80%. read more -
Research Claims that 25% of Tweets Are Not Worth Reading. So What?
6 Feb 2012 | 2:01 pmAccording to research from a team at Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Georgia Institute of Technology, we think that 25% of tweets are not worth reading. The study found that, when asked to rate tweets by people they follow, only 36% of tweets were marked favourably, 25% were marked less favourably and the balance (39%) received no strong feeling either way. read more -
Brand Experience Brief: Steak ‘n Shake Signature
6 Feb 2012 | 12:11 pm(Here’s my latest “brand experience brief” — insights and analysis of new and interesting restaurant and retail concepts.) read more
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Online Marketing Blog
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Good Content Marketing vs. Great Content Marketing: Learn the Difference From Joe Pulizzi #OMS12
9 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amIf you are part of the online marketing or content marketing industry you have undoubtably heard of Joe Pulizzi (@juntajoe) and his company the Content Marketing Institute (CMI). Joe has been a member of the content marketing community for over a decade, and has made it his mission to help brands create quality content and distribute that content through multiple online channels. This was my first time seeing Joe speak and he made it a great interactive experience, and was of course wearing his trademark Orange. I enjoyed the history that Joe shared with the audience as well as his… -
Innovative Search Features Drive Engagement – Paul Vallez #OMS12
8 Feb 2012 | 3:30 am"Google taught us how to search." - Paul Vallez Paul Vallez admits that when he started at HP less than a year ago he had just come from Ask.com and was pretty cocky about what he knew. Vallez also shares that he wasn’t very open to new ideas and wanted to step into his new position at a big brand and immediately demonstrate value. What was his approach? 75% Cocky 25% Open to new ideas In Vallez’s presentation he identified what he called “3 Key Learnings” that he shared with the audience for improving the way that your search strategy is implemented for… -
#Optimize This: Online Marketing Summit 2012 Presentation
6 Feb 2012 | 7:21 amI’m headed to (hopefully) sunny San Diego today for the annual Online Marketing Summit conference where I’ll get to present on one of my favorite topics: Optimization. Of course, if you read Online Marketing Blog very often, you’ll know my definition of optimization is a bit different than traditional SEO. My post last Thursday “Are You Optimized?” touched on this. The competition for attendance during the breakout sessions at OMS is really tough during the time slot I’m scheduled for. SAP, Wider Funnel and SAP are all presenting at the same time as… -
Online Marketing News: Facebook IPO, Harmonize with Google+, Pinterest Dominates Traffic
3 Feb 2012 | 4:55 amFacebook in Numbers: Prior to the IPO The big news in social media and business this week is Facebook’s new IPO. This infographic from statista and creative commons shares some very interesting figures about Facebook, before it goes public. Highlights include: In 2012 Facebook is expected to reach: 90% of U.S. Social Network Users & 60% of Internet Users. Assuming a valuation of $100 billion, Facebook would be work 67 to 100x’s it’s estimated 2011 net income. The Social Media Buzz “How to Harmonize Google+ With Your Other Social Platforms” Search Plus has placed even more… -
Essential Shifts in Online Marketing: Are You On Board? Are You Optimized?
2 Feb 2012 | 7:21 amIs your company adaptable? Is your marketing optimized? I think most online marketers get the fact that marketing and communications on the web is a fast changing place and that most companies are structured to move at a slower pace than the digital world is evolving. Take for example, the notion of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It’s been around for about 15 years or so and in just the past few months Google has made the most significant changes ever. Despite the crystal clear focus towards search integration with social, many companies and digital pundits are still skeptical about…
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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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the weekly ramble
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The True Power of Social
6 Feb 2012 | 8:51 amWhat do 21 and 6,000 have in common? Hint – it’s not sudoku…. Another hint – they are... Read on... -
Driverless Cars
30 Jan 2012 | 9:48 amSo the story goes…. In 1895, or so, there were only two cars in Ohio and they managed to hit head... Read on... -
SOPA & PIPA
23 Jan 2012 | 8:16 amSOPA & PIPA No, those are not sisters of Kate; nor are they foods, Italian acrobats, prized... Read on... -
A National Holiday in the U.S.
16 Jan 2012 | 6:03 amDiscounts!! Special sales merchandise!!!!! Day Off!!!!!!!!! Must be a national holiday in the... Read on... -
What Have You Learned Recently?
9 Jan 2012 | 8:21 amWhat have you learned recently? What new facts, statistics, truths, information and other proofs of... Read on...
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Seth's Blog
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Inaccurate labels and why we need them (and need to improve them)
9 Feb 2012 | 2:46 amIf I tell you, "I'm going to the baseball game," it seems as though you're likely to understand what I mean. Of course, you won't. When George Will goes to a baseball game, it's a religious experience. Me, I don't even like baseball. Or maybe it's my nephew's ball game (the playoffs), or maybe going to the game causes me to miss an important event, and on and on. We label the experience with just two words, and two words can't possibly capture the emotions and circumstance surrounding an event. The same thing is true with brands. If I tell you that a new business was funded by USV, that might… -
How do they know you're not a flake?
8 Feb 2012 | 2:43 amBefore your link gets clicked or your proposal gets read, a busy person is going to triage it to find out if it's even worth glancing at. Since everyone is now connected, the new permeability has created a deluge of noise, and just about everyone worth contacting is taking defensive measures. Do I know this person? Did someone I trust send them over? Where does she work? (Ideo? the FDA? The New York Times?) Has she won an award? Is she famous? Are there typos and is the design sloppy? Are they pestering me? Do I already follow this person online? Does music play when I visit the website? Will… -
Horizontal marketing isn't a new idea
7 Feb 2012 | 2:09 amBut it is the new reality for just about every organization. Vertical marketing means the marketer (the one with money) is in charge. Vertical marketing starts at the top and involves running ads, sending out direct mail and pushing hype through the media. Your money, your plans, your control. It might not work, but generally the worst outcome is that you will be ignored and need to spend more money. Horizonal marketing, on the other hand, means creating a remarkable product and story and setting it up to spread from person to person. It's out of your control, because all the interactions are… -
Who is your customer?
6 Feb 2012 | 2:26 amRule one: You can build a business on the foundation of great customer service. Rule two: The only way to do great customer service is to treat different customers differently. The question: Who is your customer? It's not obvious. Zappos is a classic customer service company, and their customer is the person who buys the shoes. Nike, on the other hand, doesn't care very much at all about the people who buy the shoes, or even the retailers. They care about the athletes (often famous) that wear the shoes, sometimes for money. They name buildings after these athletes, court them, erect… -
In search of a timid trapeze artist
5 Feb 2012 | 2:01 amGood luck with that, there aren't any. If you hesitate when leaping from rope to another, you're not going to last very long. And this is at the heart of what makes innovation work in organizations, why industries die, and how painful it is to try to maintain the status quo while also participating in a revolution. Gather up as much speed as you can, find a path and let go. You can't get to the next rope if you're still holding on to this one.
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Sport And Health Blog
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Canadian Pharmacy – Best Way to Get Treated
24 Jan 2012 | 2:00 amWhen we get into the topic of sports, one is sure to get into the topic of sports injuries as well. Sports injuries are of many types and vary considerably according to a particular kind of game. There are some injury form that can be more associated with only a specific type of sports overall. When people have sustained injury, especially that of a severe sports injury then it become essential to resort for immediate treatments that includes taking of the right kind of medicines. Canadian pharmacy online is one of the best pharmacies that provides for a great service in providing the right… -
MLS Cup Finals Soon
25 Oct 2011 | 7:05 amWhile we in the USA look ahead to the MLS Cup Finals schedule, hoping our teams will make it to the big game, spare a thought for our footballing brothers across the pond. This morning in Manchester, England, the smoke of a thousand fires assails the sky, the black eyes, bruised egos, burnt bathrooms and broken records are littered across the city’s sense of surrealism, in the wake of what was surely the most dramatic derby day defeat ever. Manchester City have triumphed in such an extreme fashion that the Red Devils and their fans are still wobbling their heads, asking themselves… -
Boas and Torres
21 Oct 2011 | 1:44 amChelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas will give a clear indication of Fernando Torres’s place in his long-term plans when he names his team for Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Genk. Torres has been sidelined for Chelsea’s last two Premier League games as a result of his reckless red card against Swansea on September 24, but the ban doesn’t affect European ties so the Spanish striker is available for Genk’s visit to Stamford Bridge. Before his dismissal for a two-footed lunge on Mark Gower, Torres had finally started to show a few glimpses of the predatory… -
NFL Calendar
21 Oct 2011 | 1:39 am— Jan. 1, 2012—Regular season concludes — Jan. 7-8—Wild-card playoffs — Jan. 14-15—Division-round playoffs — Jan. 21-22—Conference championships — Feb. 5, 2012—Super Bowl, Indianapolis -
Fixtures from England
20 Oct 2011 | 10:49 pmFriday, October 21 2011 League Two 19.45 Accrington Stanley - Cheltenham Town Saturday, October 22 2011 Premier League 12.45 Wolverhampton Wanderers - Swansea City 15.00 Bolton Wanderers - Sunderland 15.00 Aston Villa - West Bromwich Albion 15.00 Newcastle United - Wigan Athletic 17.30 Liverpool - Norwich City Championship 15.00 Leicester City - Millwall 15.00 Coventry City - Burnley 17.20 Reading - …
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Business is Personal
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Starting a New Business: Part 2 – Are you ready?
30 Jan 2012 | 4:25 amphoto credit: elbfoto Last time we talked briefly about things to consider in the early going of the business you just started. We talked a little about the product/service, but focused mostly on some basics about licenses/permits and getting supplies with a little taste of business model talk. The reality is that we shouldn’t have talked about most of that stuff, but we had to start with that conversation because it’s the type of thing new business owners expect to hear. You might be thinking “I’ve already got a product, I’ve already got a business (even if… -
What does a new business owner do first?
26 Jan 2012 | 7:11 pmphoto credit: Sebastian Mary Recently I received an email from a reader who said my blog made them feel like they had come in during the middle of a movie. Why? Because they’re at the startup stage in their business, while many of my posts focus on existing businesses. Fair enough. Let’s talk about startups. The overwhelming load at startup can freeze you in your tracks. You’re just starting to learn how to market (usually). You may need to know where to find less-expensive supplies, how to introduce your product to customers and how to price what you make/do. Best of all,… -
Out of Stock
20 Jan 2012 | 4:47 amphoto credit: Zigar When your store is out of stock on an item…what does your staff do and say? When I was out of state not long ago, I looked around for a pair of light hikers for everyday wear. I knew exactly what I wanted right down to the model name. I visited a locally owned store, but they didn’t have my size in stock. A few days later, I visited a box store. They had the shoe on the wall (which is never my size), but they didn’t have any others. They didn’t even have the match to the one on the wall. As I got into the car in the box store parking lot, I called… -
Your customers are already trained to share. Help them.
19 Jan 2012 | 4:30 amHave you noticed what happens when you add an item to your Amazon wish list? Three tabs appear on the right side of the “We just added this to your wish list page”. This tab is ready-made for a Facebook post with just one click. There’s a link to the book, a brief summary of the book and a 1 click button to share your wish. This tab is ready-made for a tweet with one click. It even makes note that a link to your wish list item will be part of the tweet and because 140 characters is always on the mind of Twitter users, it notes that the link’s characters are part… -
SOPA / PIPA: Business on a Rope
17 Jan 2012 | 10:00 pmYou may not have heard much about SOPA and its counterpart in the U.S. Senate, PIPA. SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) have a noble and necessary cause behind them: To protect the intellectual property created by U.S. citizens and businesses. What is “Intellectual Property”? Movies, music, photos, books, stories, blog posts, computer software, patented processes, engineered work, designs and so on. No doubt you are aware that there are people and businesses, both inside and outside the U.S., who copy other people’s creations and…
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Strategic Public Relations
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Links for 2012-02-06 [del.icio.us]
7 Feb 2012 | 12:00 amSuper Bowl Twitter, Facebook Use Up More Than 6X Over 2011 If you remember that mobile doesn't simply mean outside and that most everyone watching the game probably owned a mobile phone or had access to a laptop, the above is not a surprise. Advertisers had plenty of "conversation starters" -- from hashtags to shazam tags -- in their ads this year too. Balance your Mix of Stock and Flow Content Like A Pro | The Content Strategist The need for a mix of content and the advantages of mixing it. -
Links for 2012-02-05 [del.icio.us]
6 Feb 2012 | 12:00 amNYPL Labs | The New York Public Library New York Public Library is doing some interesting things in their labs. 4 Ways to Tweet as a Visual Brand Some helpful reminders from mashable that apply to more than visual tweets. Not sure I agree about only using Twitter. As a default, it makes sense. But if you're a luxury brand, for example, I'd suggest using instagram. It all depends on audience...per usual. -
Like Angry Birds [Flickr]
1 Feb 2012 | 3:38 pmprblog posted a photo: Great to see folks skipping the F icon and simply using the thumbs up. Makes sense as its a clear call to action. In fact, Facebook changed the Fan action to Like because twice as many people would click Like. And now we will be seeing similar actions offered on Facebook. It's a move to create more "lightweight user actions" on Facebook and create an environment of frictionless sharing. It helps their advertising for one. But it also makes it easier to participate on Facebook. -
Like Orange Tic Tacs [Flickr]
1 Feb 2012 | 3:38 pmprblog posted a photo: Great to see folks skipping the F icon and simply using the thumbs up. Makes sense as its a clear call to action. In fact, Facebook changed the Fan action to Like because twice as many people would click Like. And now we will be seeing similar actions offered on Facebook. It's a move to create more "lightweight user actions" on Facebook and create an environment of frictionless sharing. It helps their advertising for one. But it also makes it easier to participate on Facebook. -
Links for 2012-01-27 [del.icio.us]
28 Jan 2012 | 12:00 amTips for Better Listening based on 7 Types of Listeners | Lead Change Group There's a great stat about how much of communication involves listening. And it's a higher percentage than you think. Yet we're never taught about it in professional development of even college.
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AttentionMax
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Victim Of Malware Attack, Pharma Hack
5 Feb 2012 | 6:32 amAs Facebook celebrates the “hacker way” amidst its looming IPO, my website suffers from a serious malware attack, inflicted by some bastard, criminal hackers. (Dont’ worry, this infection impacts my site, and will not harm you.) My ongoing saga… Last fall, several readers of this site notified me that various pages contained names of several male-enhancing prescription drugs. And then others pointed out that a Google search for my name led to search results littered with the same. CRAP! I’d been infected with the “pharma hack”! The purpose of this… -
Cooking Staples
29 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pmIf you stock your kitchen with anything, be sure to include cooking staples like olive oil, onions, garlic and dried oregano. I’m not a chef, but I’ve worked as a line cook in some upscale French restaurants during some weird periods of my life. That partly explains while I’m the primary cook in my household. I’m practical. I dish out family meals in little time — while keeping the kitchen clean and sterile. I prep. Today (Sunday), I prepped a meatloaf to bake tomorrow, after work. After the meatloaf, I also prepped some homemade tomato sauce for the night after. -
Email Closings
28 Jan 2012 | 2:30 pmIf you want your written correspondance to make maximum impact on an individual, the handwritten letter is always best. File this in my list of personal pet peeves and subtle ways that business people frequently make themselves look stupid… I received a follow-up email last week from a salesperson hoping to sell me his company’s business software. I had already spoken with him on the phone earlier that day. His email recapped our conversation. Great. But his closing — Â ”Great to talk to you…Best,” followed by his name — was in the same font as his… -
Teen Drivers And SUVs Are A Lethal Combination
21 Jan 2012 | 6:33 amCars — and especially SUVs — are lethal machinery. They’re even more lethal when combined with young, inexperienced drivers. The other night at around 10:30pm, nearly asleep after a 19-hour day, we heard a car skid outside our home. We looked out the window to see that a Ford Suburban had spun out of control, side-swiped one of our oak trees, skidded over the sidewalk and through our bushes, and landed halfway into our front yard. I couldn’t get good pictures from my phone that night, but I’ve posted on this page a few next-morning images of the damage. More… -
Twitter’s Value In Revealing Deep Customer Sentiment
16 Jan 2012 | 4:01 amTwitter now is fully a part of a marketer’s universe. But it should not rule out other social media venues when seeking deep customer sentiment. Serendipitously, I met with two CEOs last week to talk about their ventures in text-mining and social media analysis. I’ve been out of the social media analysis game for some time, but my legacy and this site regularly attract companies seeking either confidential feedback or public affirmation. I’ll always be fascinated with the subject, so I welcome these connections. (My work at Clickable is catapulting me back into the social…
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Marketing Interactions
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Expectations and Experience are the New Competition
6 Feb 2012 | 11:51 amFor years, B2B marketers have been worried about competitors' products and solutions. They spent a considerable amount of effort trying to differentiate their features and prove their offering is better than another company's version of something similar. As technology continues to shorten product time-to-market and allow for rapid updates and improvements, it's also enabled marketers to become publishers, applying even more pressure to move faster to produce more information than competing vendors. Online publishing is the new version of one-upping. (Competitor A just… -
Marketing Cloud Computing to Non-Believer CIOs
2 Feb 2012 | 4:16 pmCloud computing is a pretty big deal. It's one of the top priorities for many CIOs. So, it should be a pretty easy process to build a B2B content strategy that helps CIOs make a purchasing decision. Or is it? I subscribe to a lot of newsletters and have a ton of Google Alerts to help me mine for information I use to learn more about the buyers my clients sell to. In my Inbox today was a bonanza of a resource. SearchCIO sent me a link to: Quick take: Why iRobot's CIO doesn't like enterprise cloud computing This resource is a quick interview with Jay Leader, CIO of iRobot, in… -
Why B2B Marketers Must Address Status Quo
31 Jan 2012 | 4:15 pmWhen I do stategic planning workshops with my clients, we get into a lot of discussions about buying stages. Anyone who's followed me for a while or read my book knows that I always start very early in the process with the stage of Status Quo. My definition of status quo is the buyer's current situation. We get to that by answering questions such as: How are they doing what your product enables today? What workarounds may be in place that could be escalating pain? Why should they care about what you're talking about? What would get their attention? What would they need to learn… -
The Content Marketing Continuum: Part 1
29 Jan 2012 | 12:25 pmOnline publishing has changed the game. Yes, the Internet changed everything. You've heard it before. But, what many B2B marketers haven't yet grasped is the shift from start and stop marketing campaigns to approaching online publishing as a Content Marketing Continuum. To make this shift, marketers need a framework, not just the ability to publish content. Marketers are under pressure to create a sustainable buyer experience that results in a profitable outcome. Pushing out stand-alone events or campaigns that stop and start and continuously change in focus is not going to… -
Are Shorter Sales Cycles a Wake-up Call for Marketers?
24 Jan 2012 | 4:47 pmMarketing Sherpa's chart of the week shows the answer to this question. Q. Please select the time period closest to the length of your organization's entire sales cycle, from first lead inquiry to purchase. In the commentary, Jen Doyle states that these results showing shorter sales cycles correlate to the lower deal prices Marketing Sherpa's annual benchmark survey also discovered. But I think there's more at stake here than lower prices. Everyone has been talking about how much time buyers spend self-educating and researching prior to identifying themselves to vendors.
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Being Peter Kim
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Is social media free?
2 Feb 2012 | 12:22 amIn 2002, I was having a budget conversation with my CFO. I was general manager of the online store and we were discussing my requests for FTEs, technology upgrades, and marketing spend. The CFO asked me, "this is an online store...why do we need to spend any more money...doesn't it run itself?" (I'm 99% sure he wasn't joking.) This week, news has been circulating that FMCG company Procter & Gamble will eliminate 1,600 jobs and shift more budget into digital media. The headline over at Business Insider is a bit more incendiary: "P&G To Lay Off 1,600 After Discovering It's Free To…
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Search Engine Watch - Latest
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Online Newsrooms: A Necessity for Search and Social Content Strategy
9 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amThink content. Think fresh content. Think Google loves content. Think social shares of content. Now when news breaks in a tweet and via mobile device, the online newsroom can hold the keys to dominating online visibility in a three-screen world. -
Don’t Be A Wallflower! 3 Fundamentals Of Data Driven Community Outreach
9 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amMany (even most) corporate community managers are relatively passive, waiting for users to come to them. However there is a real power to assertively identifying themed conversations surrounding your corporate objectives, and diving right in. -
How to Use Government Data for Link Development
9 Feb 2012 | 4:00 amYou can use data found on government websites to create compelling linkable material. This freely available material, in conjunction with your own research and insight, should help you make content that gets linked to by all the right places. -
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.
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Ryan Stephens Marketing
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Passion is Constantly in Flux…So Are You!
1 Feb 2012 | 7:23 pmTweet“This book (Incognito) was written over the course of a few years by several different people, all of whom were named David Eagleman, but who were somewhat different with each passing hour.” — David Eagleman Maybe this quote resonates with me because my passions are constantly in flux. In 2009 it was work and Generation Y. In 2010 it was about re-connecting with friends and finding happiness. In 2011 it was education reform and behavioral change. A great professor can make you passionate about a subject. Discovering you’re talented at a work task can make you… -
How to Find Your Passion in the Workplace
29 Jan 2012 | 9:52 pmTweetRamit Sethi is getting ready to launch his dream job course. Ordinarily leading up to their product launches I temporarily unsubscribe from even my favorite bloggers because I get tired of the ‘hard’ sell; HOWEVER, lately Ramit’s free stuff has been superior to most people’s paid products so I’ve consumed and bookmarked as much I could. I wish I could print it out, get it bound and give it to my friends currently job searching or trying to upgrade their current job situation. More importantly, I wish they’d read it and take action. One of the most… -
5 Ways to De-Stress in the Office
19 Jan 2012 | 6:17 amTweetIf you’re doing important work, work that matters, stress is inevitable. No matter how cool, calm and collective you are invariably there will be days where your workload, deadlines, work-life balance, etc. gets all up around you. You can hyperventilate and complain all day or you can take a deep breath and leverage these 5 ways to de-stress in the office. 1.) Attack the Most Impactful Work First Your projects aren’t going to complete themselves. Most of us breathe a sigh of relief when we mark something off of our to-do lists so determine what will add the most value to your… -
“Incognito” Book Review
10 Jan 2012 | 8:57 pmTweetFellow neuroscientists might claim that this book is derivative and vague, but David Eagleman’s “Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain“is not written for them – it’s written for the layman. And while the first few chapters might feel a little dense, the book builds momentum as Eagleman begins to tie the ideas together in later chapters. Here’s some of my highlights from the book. On how your brain interrogates the world: Brains reach out into the world and actively extract the type of information they need. The brain does not need to see everything… -
“Enterprise Social Technology” Book Review
2 Jan 2012 | 1:25 pmTweet“Enterprise Social Technology” is a book that flew under the radar in 2011. The book aims to be “a how-to manual that will teach you a process for implementing social technology in its most powerful form.” It wants to give you and your organization a leg up on leveraging social media, social networking and social relevance to change how your business operates and give you a leg up on the competition. And I genuinely feel like it does just that. There’s 12 steps (chapters) in the book and I’m confident that if you read and take action on each step your…
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Remarkablogger
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How to Script and Record Audio for a Screencast
2 Feb 2012 | 1:05 pmImage from BigStock Photo. This is the 3rd part in a series on Screencasting. Check out the previous post in the series: How to plan a Screencast or start at the beginning: How to Create Professional-Quality Screencasts. Scripting for Screencasts Nobody wants to sound like an idiot when they make a recording. You want to sound like you know what you’re doing. It’s really easy to make mistakes and commit all manner of presentational sins when you try to make a screencast with no script. What do I mean by scripting? Do I mean you actually write a script? Everything you’re… -
WTF is Smart YouTube Plugin?
1 Feb 2012 | 1:43 pmIn this latest “WTF” video (I’ll try to do one of these at least once a week) I’m showing you a nifty WordPress plugin that anyone who puts YouTube videos on their blog will want to have: Smart YouTube Plugin. (Can’t see the video? Click here.) Why is thing so cool? Well, from my viewpoint it’s amazing, because it gives me everything I want in video embedding: fast & lazy and with very specific settings and features. Here’s the thing: WordPress lets you just throw a YouTube URL into a post (right in the Visual tab, no pasting of <iframe>… -
How to Install WordPress Plugins
30 Jan 2012 | 11:42 amThis video will show you how to install WordPress plugins into your self-hosted WordPress site. There are two ways to do this: search and install from within WordPress itself, or find a plugin out on the web and download it. I’ll show you how to do both in this video. This may seem simple and you may even already know how to do it, but do you also know what to look for in a plugin? What are the signs of a good plugin? You may pick up some good tips from this video. But I don’t stop there. You’ll learn how to manage plugins, too: Activate & deactivate plugins Delete… -
What WordPress Plugins I Use and Why
27 Jan 2012 | 10:47 amPlugins are, in my opinion, the big reason why WordPress has become the juggernaut success story of content management systems. Plugins let you extend and enhance the functionality of your self-hosted WordPress-powered website. Anything from a simple contact form to full blown e-commerce functionality can be added to your WordPress site with plugins. But because there are so many plugins, the question of which ones to use comes up for every WordPress site owner. There are often many plugins all trying to do the same thing. Some plugins cost money while most are free. The choice can be… -
How to Plan a Screencast
26 Jan 2012 | 3:45 amIf you want to have a professional-quality successful screencast video, you do not simply hit the record button on your screencasting software and go. Unless, of course, you want to look like a total idiot. But if you want to look like a confident pro, a bit of planning is in order. Planning a screencast is easy when you simply ask the right questions, which I’ve conveniently listed for you below. Don’t say I never did nothin’ for ya. Questions to Ask Before Before Creating a Screencast So You Don’t Look Like a Total Idiot What specific task or series of tasks do you…
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Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
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How to Use a WordPress Blog as a Referral Generator
9 Feb 2012 | 5:19 amHow to Use a WordPress Blog as a Referral GeneratorThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing I’ve seen and heard this scenario countless times. Two perfectly suited strategic partners determine they should start doing some things together in an effort to create referral opportunities for each other. They shake hands and agree that it’s a fabulous idea, but then nothing happens. Mostly nothing happens because there’s no catalyst to get the ball rolling in a way that makes sense. I mean, sure, they could both send out a mass mailing to their clients professing how great the other is, but… -
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…
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Branding Strategy Insider
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Time For Brand Marketers To Lead A Comeback
7 Feb 2012 | 9:10 pmIt’s a good thing the game between the NFL's New England Patriots and the New York Giants was exciting because this year’s Super Bowl commercials were dull, and what a weird thing to say about the Super Bowl. Generally, it’s the very opposite of that. Perhaps it’s best not to read too much into Super Bowl ads vying for viral buzz (many of which adopted a new pre-game, social media preview approach to generate buzz, albeit some have argued it was poorly done). But there was one thing that stood out. In a noticeable departure from the tradition of Super Bowl Sunday, this year’s crop… -
When To Reposition Your Brand
6 Feb 2012 | 9:10 pmBrand repositioning is necessary when one or more of the following conditions exist: Your brand has a bad, confusing or nonexistent image. The primary benefit your brand "owns" has evolved from a differentiating benefit to a cost-of-entry benefit. Your organization is significantly altering its strategic direction. Your organization is entering new businesses and the current positioning is no longer appropriate. A new competitor with a superior value proposition enters your industry. Competition has usurped your brand's position or rendered it ineffectual. Your organization has acquired a… -
How To Transform An Under-Performing Brand
5 Feb 2012 | 9:10 pmOnce the decision has been made to continue to invest in an under-performing brand, brand owners will be faced with a new set of challenges completely foreign to them. The temptation is always to do more of what got you there. That rarely works when brands face reinvention. By that I mean brand relevance. The main reason brands begin to under perform is that people no longer care. When that happens, like it or not, you’ll be starting over from scratch. This is a hard pill for brand owners to swallow, particularly if the brand was once an iconic leader in its category. For brand owners… -
Logo Design Requirements
4 Feb 2012 | 9:10 pmA brand’s identity is a combination of visual, auditory, and other sensory components that create recognition, aid in memory encoding and decoding, represent the brand promise, provide differentiation, create communications synergy, and are proprietary. The logo is one key component. Here is what we look for when we evaluate logo design: Memorable – highest recognition and recall (both of which can be tested for) Including recognition at maximum distances (can be tested for) Aesthetically pleasing Timeless quality - the logo will not become dated Appropriate for the product/service… -
Brand Tagline Requirements
3 Feb 2012 | 9:10 pmIn definitive global research, The Conference Board has found the development and consistent use of a tagline to be a key factor in brand strategy success. A tagline that succinctly and powerfully communicates the brand’s promise is one of the quickest, easiest and least expensive ways to communicate the brand’s new position to internal and external audiences. It should consistently accompany the brand’s logo in situations outlined by the brand architecture. I believe that developing brand taglines (and elevator speeches) are the most important next steps one can take once a brand has…
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Drew's Marketing Minute
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The 5 things that will derail your marketing in 2012
8 Feb 2012 | 6:37 amI don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade but the truth is — most organizations’ marketing efforts stink. And they stink for reasons well within the marketing department’s control. If you’re worried that your own efforts might fall short — beware of these five danger zones that can derail you in a blink! Inconsistency: Does your monthly newsletter go out 5 times a year? Does your copy tone/style fluctuate between somber and casual? Are your weekly sales calls happening every week? Inconsistency not only waters down your results but it also… -
Crisis communications – don’t wait to create a plan
6 Feb 2012 | 6:10 amDoes your organization have a crisis communications plan that you could actually put into action at this very moment? All of the hubub surrounding the Susan G. Komen decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood and then their reversal of that decision following a 72+ hour firestorm of public outrage should have scared the bejesus out of you. If an organization as large, powerful and well respected as Komen can get into that much hot water — and is that ill-prepared to handle it then what in the world would happen to you if there was an accident on your job site, if your CFO embezzled… -
Don’t add frill until your core is rock solid
2 Feb 2012 | 6:15 amA couple times a month a cleaning company comes into our house and does a deep clean. Every time I walk into the house after they’ve cleaned… the toilet paper rolls and tissues sticking out of the boxes are folded in some sort of origami art. Sometimes, they leave a truffle on the kitchen counter. I get what they’re trying to do. And it’s a lovely little extra. Unfortunately, I also find things like: Every waste basket in the wrong spot (they’ve been cleaning the house for over a year) The back door unlocked or a window left open A few lights left on… -
What you don’t know about your sales funnel
30 Jan 2012 | 5:56 amWe all think and talk about our sales funnel a lot. We’re always saying things like: We need to keep it full. We need to stay active with the prospects that have been in it for awhile. On average, it takes a prospect X months to move through it. And so on…. But consider the statistic to the right. 60% of your sales efforts are what happens before you have actively put someone into the funnel. In other words — it’s not you who is doing the selling. Who is? Your existing customers The customer who left and is working with your competitors Your vendors Your website… -
What’s your purple goldfish?
11 Jan 2012 | 11:30 amGet your free copy of Stan Phelp’s book! A few years ago, I met Stan Phelps, another marketing guy, online (I think he commented on my blog and we started chatting via email) and before I knew it — we were friends. He was just dipping his toe into the blogging waters and I tried to be helpful along the way. Fast forward to today, January 11, 2012. Stan’s first book, What’s Your Purple Goldfish*, is being released today. I’ve read it and know you’re going to love it. Really love it. I’m also very humbled to say that Stan asked me to write the…
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The Tom Peters Weblog
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Off the Cuff #2
7 Feb 2012 | 8:17 amOur Off the Cuff video series is a direct response from Tom to your questions. This is the second video in the series, which poses the question, "What is the greatest piece of advice you ever received that has made you a better writer or communicator?" It's a terrific question for Tom, and he discusses not only writing influences, but touches on public speaking as well. Don't miss the Dan Pink technique at the end; it may feel excruciating in practice, but there's no denying the improvement gained. -
TLBT Video #73Strategy: Measure Innovation
3 Feb 2012 | 8:46 amWe've posted the latest video in The Little BIG Things series on YouTube. Do you think it's impossible to measure innovation? In this video, Tom offers a brilliantly simple, easy-to-implement method for ensuring that a good portion of your work meets the mark on innovation. You can find the video in the right-hand column of this page or watch it at YouTube (time: 2 minutes 3 seconds). Or, get a PDF transcript of the video's content: Strategy: Measure Innovation. -
MOAP #4
30 Jan 2012 | 7:53 amThe latest installment of Tom's "Mother of All Presentations," or MOAP, is now available at ExcellenceNow.com. You can download the PowerPoint version or a PDF. We'll be releasing a section every other week throughout 2012. Part 4 introduces Tom's conviction that encouraging your people to make friends in other functions of the organization should be a top priority. Tom says you should reward such behavior, make it an agenda item. Download Part 4 of Tom's Mother of All Presentations, and learn how and why cross-functional socialization (read, idea-sharing) is essential to business excellence. -
Race to Nowhere
27 Jan 2012 | 4:51 amTom has said, "We tell our kids to 'be still,' then tell them to 'read history books'—which are replete (100%!) with tales of people ... who never sat still." This is obviously not the ideal way to cultivate a talented workforce. The education system in the United States still seems to be attempting to churn out well-behaved factory workers. With the enormous pressure placed on teachers to produce sufficient test results, the classroom becomes more about test preparation than exploration and discovery. Albert Einstein, long since deceased, had this to say: "It is nothing short of a… -
Advice, For What It's Worth ...
25 Jan 2012 | 7:20 amI was asked to contribute (a very few words) to a family page offering words of wisdom to a graduating high school senior. That's a serious challenge—and I literally spent days on the task. Here, for better or for worse, is the result: Rules For Living Life to the Hilt Nothing will turn out the way you thought it would. There is no bigger waste of time than making plans. Any success you have will be the byproduct of having thrown yourself headlong and without reserve into what you were most passionate about—and then ridden the wave you created wherever and at whatever speed it…
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Andy Beard - Niche Marketing
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ACTA? Dead Man Walking
26 Jan 2012 | 2:06 pmApparently 22 member states wasted a huge amount of resources signing the ACTA treaty. If the current version had in some way been publicized previously they might have had a vague chance of it not causing a multinational revolt across Europe. The internet population already know how to mobilize… they are SOPA trained. It is easy to slip something past novices who are timid. The internet is now full of battle veterans confident in their ability to use the skills they have learned and the power of their voice to take on governments. The guy from the European Parliament assigned to… -
Dear @twittercomms – A Basic Search Query For Your Engineers
23 Jan 2012 | 10:34 pmI am not sure why Twitter engineers are struggling with this, and potentially misleading tech journalists (and even some well respected SEOs) with the SEO issues hampering the indexation of Twitter.com This is all pretty basic technical SEO Here is a very simple cleaned up Google search query that will bring up some interesting results https://www.google.com/search?q=site:twitter.com+inurl:andybeard&filter=0 It doesn’t exclude a subdomain such as www.twitter.com or fr.twitter.com or api.twitter.com Twitter splits their domain authority between lots of different subdomains which… -
Really Evil – The “Don’t Be Evil” Bookmarklet
23 Jan 2012 | 5:56 pmIt is not as benign as you might think. Here is a link to the original 720p mp4 Some of the points raised in the video We need to avoid a cartel of top sites with limited access, especially with Ggoogle and Facebook currently buying ads from each other in the free market. Identity is important and both Twitter & Facebook fail to provide a method of bi-directional ownership – the “Don’t Be Evil” bookmarklet fails by linking Mark Zuckerberg’s Google+ to a Quora topic page about him… not his actual profile (if he has one) – it is possible for Google… -
Tech Blogging Triple Rainbow
13 Jan 2012 | 3:45 amI just had to share this achievement by Mike Masnick as he might not see it himself. The Techmeme page updates extrememly frequently pulling in stories algorithmically with some additional human curation but I have never seen one writer with a lead story and 2 additional reference posts without any additional “noise”, unless you count the larger child branch below. He has one post in that child branch as well. I am not going to link to the posts… that would most likely spoil the “triple rainbow”. Even more remarkable:- none of the articles were… -
Updated: Facebook & Twitter – Lucky To Be In Google At All
11 Jan 2012 | 4:14 pmFacebook & Twitter have some of the worst landing pages on the web. At least if you look at it from a search engine perspective, who should assume that every visitor isn’t a member of the site they are referencing in the search engine. It should also be understood that both Facebook & Twitter are bursting at the seams with former Google engineers & execs – they can’t claim they were unaware of what Google is looking for from content owners on the web, webmaster guidelines etc. Twitter You can’t look at the Google cache and see exactly what Google sees,…
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HubSpot's Inbound Internet Marketing Blog
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The History of Marketing: An Exhaustive Timeline [INFOGRAPHIC]
9 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amEver since people have had something to sell, we’ve been marketing. But the effectiveness of those marketing methods have waxed and waned over thousands of years, and as consumers and their technologies advanced at a more and more rapid pace, marketers have had to change their game. At one time, cutting edge technology was limited to just a small segment of the population – and these advancements were slowly rolled out to the masses over decades (and even centuries!). Now, adoption rates are faster than the speed of light and more widespread than ever – and it’s… -
How to Score Your Leads So Sales Works the Hottest Prospects
8 Feb 2012 | 1:47 pmThe good news about inbound marketing is that it can help you attract high volumes of leads. The challenge then becomes, how do you separate the good, quality leads from the people who are just starting to look around? That’s where lead management, and specifically, lead scoring comes in. With lead scoring, you can attach values to each of your leads based on their professional information and the behavior they’ve exhibited on your website. For example, you would likely rank a vice president-level lead who has spent time on both your products and pricing page higher than an… -
A Marketer's Complete Guide to Launching Mobile Apps
8 Feb 2012 | 10:02 amAccording to former CEO of AppVee and AndroidApps Alex Ahlund, the average cost to develop a mobile app is $6,453 -- and the cost can skyrocket to as much as $150,000 depending on the complexity of the app. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, the money and resources you dedicate to conceptualizing and developing a truly great mobile app can all be put to waste if you don't orchestrate a proper mobile app launch. In fact, in December 2011, the 1 millionth mobile app was pushed to market. To give you an idea of just how quickly these mobile apps are being released, at the end of 2010, there… -
How to Attract the RIGHT Social Media Followers for Your Business
8 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amThe benefits of an extensive social reach are clear, but how do you attract the right followers for your company? As with most inbound marketing, relevancy can make or break the effectiveness of your strategy. So to ensure you have a social media following that helps you advance your marketing objectives, start by identifying a set of core topics that reflect the interests of people who typically become your customers. If you're a HubSpot customer, you can use the Keywords App and the Social Media Prospects App to help with this. For example, we at HubSpot would choose the… -
Why User-Generated Content Is More Important Than You Think
7 Feb 2012 | 11:33 amA certain group of consumers has been gaining attention from marketers recently, because of the strong role they play in the purchasing decision; these power purchasers are known as Generation Y. Whether they're part of the target audience to which you sell or not, this group is worth considering as part of your inbound marketing strategy because there's a strong likelihood they either will become part of your target audience in the future, or because they already influence your target audience now. Let's break down who these power purchasers are, some of the interesting demographics and…
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MarketingProfs How-To Articles
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Never Waste an Opportunity: The Value of Lead Nurturing
7 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amWhen new visitors arrive at your website, you have two ways to seize the opportunity and guide them toward becoming customers. Both opportunities can evaporate in the blink of an eye--if you don't have the proper systems in place. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
Four Keyword Research Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs
6 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amIf you are serious about the words "sales," "profit," and "conversions," you must master keyword research. Learn four common pitfalls marketers make when selecting keywords--and how to avoid them. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
The Inside Scoop on Using Twitter Lists for Profit and Sanity
3 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amThe dirty secret of Twitter is that as helpful as it can be, it's also a time sink. Learn how properly using and cleaning up your Twitter lists can help you save time--and generate leads for your business. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
10 Hot Tips (and a Promo Campaign Planner) for Seasonal Sale Success
2 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amCustomers today expect more deals and offers during holiday seasons, so it's important to create seasonal campaigns to increase revenues. Here are 10 tips--and a campaign planner--to help you achieve seasonal sale success. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
Five Tips for Implementing a Successful QR Code Campaign
1 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amQR codes can be inexpensive to implement and can provide you a measureable return on investment--if you use them correctly. Learn five invaluable tips for implementing an effective QR code campaign. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
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Conversation Agent
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Being in Control of the Interaction
9 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amI don't know about you. I wasn't terribly impressed by the Super Bowl ads this year. With the exception of the seducing commercial of the FIAT Abarth, where they are clearly in control of the interaction, most ads seemed to have sacrificed newer creative executions for safer ones. At the per second dollar spend, it was an understandable move. Disappointing because of the high expectations created through social media ahead of the big day. I got many ad preview offeres from the PR Agencies working with brands this year. A few days ahead of the game I saw that FIAT was making the rounds on… -
Collaboration? You Must be Joking!
8 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amI read this post by Chris Saad the other morning in response to Robert Scoble 's mention in a recent post and I keep thinking about the applicability of its concepts not just for Silicon Valley and the tech community. It applies to marketers and communicators as well. [Posted originally on Google+]<rant>1. lead not just cheerlead - how many times do we copy the same concept over and over, or look at short term payoffs when the opportunities are on the making better promises side of the conversation?2. add to the business DNA - nothing dies, not media companies, not blogging, not… -
What a Difference Five Years Make
7 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amHere I am. Writing from my heart more than my head where all the good ideas are and I get the zinger -- yeah, a personality would be great. Seriously? Kidding. I'm sure it would. And I have one. I can go from Zero to Italian in no time. When appropriate. Why do you care? Because that's just it -- online content should have a style and point of view, to get more personality it needs to have guts, and it needs to have time. Guts don't come from charts and stats, they come from people. Time as in face time, as in skin in the game, as in relationships. Or you're just making the seagull move --… -
How Would You Redesign the Sears Customer Experience?
6 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amAs a regular at Brand Autopsy, I remember the "would you miss" series of posts about brands John Moore wrote a couple of years back. The brands discussed ranged from Denny's, Costco, Ace Hardware, Dairy Queen, Crate & Barrell, BusinessWeek, UPS, Pizza Hut, to Walgreens, Polaroid Instant Film, Advertising Age, The Cheesecake Factory, Chili's, Wells Fargo, and more. One of the brands was Sears -- if Sears went out of business tomorrow, would any of us care? Does Sears provide such a unique product and customer experience that we would be saddened if it didn’t exist? How did Sears do on… -
... then I Discovered I am Actually Funny
5 Feb 2012 | 4:00 amSo, I've been thinking. What I'm doing here with this blog is not working. It's not you, it's me. Somehow I manage to scare you off to some site with LOL cats whenever you open your feed. I'm not inspiring you. Or maybe I am, and you're not telling me. I've tried a couple of things to justify keeping up with producing researched and useful content. That only makes the scraping and copying and rewriting gremlins happy and me poor. They don't link anymore in the sphere, those bastards. This is a departure from my usual writing style, I know. I've been slaving on figuring out an angle for the…
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Stokefire - Branding & Advertising
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An Open Letter to the Stewards of the Progressive & Democratic Brands
27 Jan 2012 | 7:28 amHello Stewards, You may not realize it yet, but you need help. I’ve been told by many in politics that there are no well-known (or even proven-effective) brand strategists focused on helping Progressive causes. (There are an astounding number of political strategists but that’s a different animal.) This may be due to the common belief that Democrats won’t pay for core brands to be developed. Dems spend a fortune on polling, message crafting, and message testing, but when it comes time to actually develop the unchanging core of progressivism or the Democratic party… -
Three Steps to an Irresistible Brand
25 Jan 2012 | 1:25 pmI know you may not think of Gandhi as irresistible, but bear with me. It’ll become clear shortly. Irresistible… It may sound impossible, or at least too good to be true. And you’re not alone in thinking that, but the great brands do achieve the impossible. They get people to change behavior in much the same way that Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Lincoln put themselves on the line to create monumental societal change. If you want to create real change there’s no more consistent way to get there. And here are the basic steps you can follow to get there… -
The Secret to Gaining Approval for Your Designs and Brands
23 Jan 2012 | 9:32 amHow to gain approval for your designs: For Strategically Focused Clients: Craft your story around how the design reflects or amplifies who they are and how they are unique. Strategic clients want to see themselves through their brand elements. For Tactically Focused Clients: Build the case for approval by showing that the brand follows industry best-practices or established design trends and solid techniques. Tactical clients want to know that there’s a long history of success before following a path. The best designers and branders ensure that they’re ready for either… -
Our Favorite Award, Ever
20 Dec 2011 | 7:52 amPosted by: Tate Linden We don’t spend much time pulling together entries for stuff like ADDYs and OBIEs. As a small shop we just don’t have the manpower, and most award programs don’t seem to factor in the impact of the work on the business or industry. We’ve been humbled on more than one occasion (and not in a good way) by having a campaign that earned tens of millions of dollars for our client pushed aside as the award-giving panel instead honored creative use of props and 3D techniques that resulted in… pretty much nothing as far as we could tell. Heck, our… -
Beautiful Design vs. Pretty Design
12 Dec 2011 | 10:17 amPosted by: Tate Linden Pretty Design is timely. Beautiful Design is timeless. Pretty Design is artifice. Beautiful Design is truth. Pretty Design is experienced visually. Beautiful Design is experienced emotionally. And now is the time during the blog post where you all know I’m going to rant about how no one should ever stoop so low as to design anything pretty. But I won’t. Because I will finally acknowledge that there’s some real value in pretty. Sure, beautiful design is what my firm struggles to deliver, and what I know helps to build and support long-term brand equity,…
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Social Media Darwinism
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Gut Feeling or Analytics – which is better?
8 Feb 2012 | 10:00 amSo I was talking with a CMO buddy of mine the other day over dinner and this topic came up. Of course you know as a CMO of a leading Social Media analytics firm – I think you can guess which side of this argument I was on. But seriously, my buddy honestly wanted to know – so what can you do with all this good social media analytics that you talk about? He really didn’t know. So here is what I told him that marketers should be doing with analytics but haven’t truly adopted. I think part of the problem is that some of these tactics haven’t become a standard operating procedure but… -
What Social Data can Teach You about Audiences
1 Feb 2012 | 10:00 amMy son is a senior in high school and I am beginning to help him with his search for the right school. One of the aspects of college life that he is looking forward to is belonging to a university with strong school spirit. So to help with this, I suggested that we use football teams as a proxy to find the right environment. With this in mind, we set out to find a simple list of “2011 NCAA Football Rankings” – an easy Google search is there ever was one. I assumed that the top result, ESPN’s 2011 NCAA Football Rankings, would be the perfect match for our search, until I looked at… -
Trust is hard to come by these days
25 Jan 2012 | 10:00 amFor years I have kept tabs on the Edelman Trust barometer report, which comes out every January in Davos. And this year was no exception. After last year I figured this years report could make an excellent gauge of the economy worldwide! Simply put the report states: Trust is down in every industry and every country across the board by an average of 6%. So what does this mean for marketers and for major brands in an era of social media? Well 2 things … Hidden in the data is the fact that CEOs and Government officials are at the very bottom of the totem pole when it comes to delivering a… -
Brands: It’s not enough to be liked
15 Dec 2011 | 10:00 amImagine a company that has upscale retail locations around the United States receiving tens of thousands of customer visits. Now imagine not having anyone there to greet and interact with those customers. What’s the point of the storefront? Facebook fan pages are much the same thing. But only 0.2 to 2 percent of fans go back to a page. Why? Because there is nothing going on that interests them. Fan pages are a unique marketing canvas to connect with avid consumers. Yet some brands are terribly underutilizing these pages, making them basically brochureware repositories — essentially… -
How important is real-time data? It’s all relative
7 Dec 2011 | 6:35 amThe speed with which social media spreads ideas and information has led many marketers to place a premium on capturing data in real time. But should real-time data be such a priority? Real time means different things to different people when the term is used as a proxy for recency. To an evolutionary biologist, real time could mean thousands of years of species development data. To a 911 dispatcher, real time is a few seconds worth of critical information from a telephone call. What about marketing and advertising? This notion of “relative real time” extends there, too. To a marketing…
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NYT > Media & Advertising
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Media Decoder Blog: The Breakfast Meeting: Young People Drift From TV Sets (Which Are Getting Huge!)
9 Feb 2012 | 8:28 amAlso, Mike Huckabee takes on Rush Limbaugh, Rick Santorum gets a big lifeline, and the rise of Pinterest. -
Advertising: Marketing Financial Risk Management to Clients and Providers
9 Feb 2012 | 8:13 amA 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
9 Feb 2012 | 7:59 amYoung people still watch many television shows, but they are streaming them on computers and phones to a greater degree. -
New Settlements in Britain’s Hacking Scandal
9 Feb 2012 | 7:52 amRupert Murdoch’s British newspaper subsidiary was reported to have reached a new batch of settlements on Wednesday in the hacking scandal. -
Media Decoder Blog: The Occupy Movement May Be in Retreat, but Its Ideas Are Advancing
9 Feb 2012 | 6:44 amIs the Occupy Wall Street movement petering out, or has it already won a big victory by shaping the political campaign of 2012?
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Influential Marketing
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The Best And Worst Of Super Bowl Marketing Strategy 2012
6 Feb 2012 | 1:40 amI couldn't help but feel sorry this year for anyone who only watches the Super Bowl ads for entertainment. Perhaps the most defining feature of all the ads this year was how uniformly uncreative and dated they were. Marketers turned to old and obvious gags like girls in bikinis and dogs (lots of dogs) to try and carry their ads. The result was a very disappointing collection of ads for anyone who loves marketing and the hype of Super Bowl advertising. Still, there is plenty of marketing to learn from all the efforts this year, so let's get started in breaking down the strategy behind the ads… -
What The Amish Paradox Can Teach You About Marketing
3 Feb 2012 | 4:01 amLast year on a trip back to the US from South Africa, I picked up a magazine about a topic I knew very little about. It is of the common tricks I use to learn about different industries outside of the ones I work directly with – and in this case, the magazine I ended up with was called Farmer’s Weekly. The content was as you would expect, advice for farmers on techniques, information about regulations that will affect their industry and ads for tractors and things like that. In the middle of the issue I picked up was a feature article about what the author called the “Amish Paradox”… -
The 4 Principles Of Delusional Economics
27 Jan 2012 | 4:59 amWhen it comes to economic theories, there is plenty of fascination in the business world around how to explain what drives business and purchasing activities. Behavioural economics, the field of economics concerned with examining why people behave the way they do when it comes to their purchasing behaviour, is hot right now. Bestselling books like Freakonomics and Predictably Irrational dig deep into the psyche of people to try and explain seemingly illogical actions. My own upcoming book called Likeonomics, to some degree, looks at a similar theme of why we do business with people and… -
FinnAir, Republic Day & Why Celebration Is The Best Marketing Strategy
26 Jan 2012 | 8:28 amA few weeks ago it was my birthday. The day before on a Saturday morning, my two boys came leaping into our room very excited to wake me up. It wasn't so much about my birthday, unfortunately, as it was about getting ready to do their favourite thing on a Saturday morning: going to IHOP for pancakes. And when there is a birthday involved, it is an even bigger deal. Your birthday is a celebration there. They bring over at least 6 of the wait staff to sing their own version of the birthday song to you. You get ice cream for breakfast (what kid wouldn't love that?). People love celebrations -… -
Honda Masters The Art of Marketing Timing
23 Jan 2012 | 6:44 pmEvery year at the start of the new year there is something that most of us do without realizing it. It is related to making new year's resolutions, but it is more about sequencing your long term goals into the order in which you want to achieve them. One example might be saying to yourself, "I want to be married and then have a kid before I turn 35." Life is full of these little promises. So full, in fact, that often we make them to ourselves without even thinking. It raises an interesting marketing question as well. What would it take to get a customer to reevaluate the life sequence they…
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MarketingVox News & Trends
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Top News: Google's cloud storage service | GigaOm buys PaidContent | Groupon's earnings
9 Feb 2012 | 5:28 amCloud Services: Google near launch of cloud storage service. Social Media: Google Social is exploding online. Skimlinks is the real story behind Pinterest’s success. Publishing: GigaOm buys PaidContent.org. Ecommerce: Groupon shares decline after Q4 loss. Retail: Google may open retail store at European headquarters in Dublin. Mobile Computing: Protesters target Apple stores in 'ethical iPhone' campaign. Google: We want 2.25% of the iPhone sticker price. Privacy: Privacy warriors sue FTC [...]<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/fdiduvxIEWI"…
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Entrepreneur Update
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Four Questions to Ask Before Setting a Price
9 Feb 2012 | 5:03 amBefore you figure out your pricing, figure out your business. -
Three Ways to Extend the Battery Life of Smartphones and Tablets
9 Feb 2012 | 4:00 amConsider these options for extending the battery life of your mobile devices. -
Fashion Mogul Christopher Burch Talks Business
9 Feb 2012 | 2:00 amAs Fashion Week kicks off, we sat down with the man behind brands like Tory Burch and Monika Chiang to find out what it takes to make it in the business. -
Seven Ways to Kill Your Meetings and Unleash Productivity
8 Feb 2012 | 12:08 pmDespite studies showing that meetings are a colossal waste of time, they remain common. Here's how to collaborate while cutting back on meetings. -
The Danger of Being Franchisee No. 1
8 Feb 2012 | 10:00 amSure, it's a thrill to get in on the ground floor of a hot new concept. But it's risky to invest in an unproven business model. Here are questions to ask.
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Building A Million Dollar Business Part Time
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Best Free and Low Cost Resources for Small Business Owners
6 Feb 2012 | 12:22 pmReblogged from : Here are the top free and low-cost online resources for small business courtesy of our young entrepreneur profile from April, Grade A Marketing founder Amanda Fischer. If you don’t read on, you’ll be missing out. “How to” Resource for Small Business: www.Web20blog.org The Web 2.0 Blog focuses on sales and marketing tools and topics that are useful for small business owners and marketing managers. This blog is very much a “how to” and “how we’ve done it” source of information. I have to … Good one – Low cost biz resources for… -
#44 Pimp Your Pitch – 10 Words to Turn Bo-ring into Cha-ching with Sam Horn- Building a Million Dollar Business Part Time
15 Feb 2011 | 3:26 pmDO PEOPLE DROOL WHEN YOU TELL THEM ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS? (But, not in a good way. More like a catatonic way.) Have you ever told someone about your business, and they give you the “doe in headlights” look? They may even look at you like you’re saying this: Solutions Start NOW In this post, you will learn along with HotMommasProject.org as we undergo messaging bootcamp. Gone will be the days of the unsavory reactions above! Enter, Sam Horn Below, legendary “Intrigue Expert” Sam Horn uses the Hot Mommas Project as a guinea pig and provides six tips that all of us can use to revise… -
#43 You’re Cheap, I’m Lonely, Let’s Hang Out
15 Feb 2011 | 3:22 pmBy Kathy Korman Frey as part of the MDPT Series Being a solopreneur can be lonely. Today my day – and probably year – was brightened when my husband moved into my office. Well, officially he moved in last week, but today we made it look like a place that could be inhabited by humans. Here he is: He has fully outsourced every part of his business, and let go of his office space saving $18,000 a year. Nice honey! He’s launching another business basically teaching people how to run a million-dollar-plus business from one desk. (He’ll be on CBS national radio on Friday…I’ll… -
#42 Stress Solutions, Drag Queens, and Putting Fun Back in Business – Building a Million Dollar Business Part Time
16 Dec 2010 | 10:37 amBy Kathy Korman Frey Today I watched performers from RuPaul’s “Drag Race” show on a reality show “The Arrangement” which is about floral designers. It’s basically Project Runway meets flowers. You know what struck me, in addition to how gorgeous these drag queens were: They were having FUN. (Please note, blue dress is Gigi Levangie Grazer – a noted screenwriter and author who hosts the show). So here’s what drag queens have to do with me: I realize I’m not having fun anymore with my business. Read rest of this post HERE -
#41- “If My Head Explodes, You Guys Need to Hold Down the Fort” – Building a Million Dollar Business Part Time
28 Nov 2010 | 12:19 pmBy Kathy Korman Frey I think I’ve finally discovered the ultimate delegation plan for women: Your head explodes. If your head explodes then, clearly, you are other otherwise occupied and the people around you have to start doing things that you previously did. Right now my head is at risk of exploding. I am unsure if these are real adult-onset migraines or if I was too overwhelmed some revenue projections I ran last week. With the two brain cells I have left, I started delegating stuff to my team since the headache seems to be moving in like John Belushi, the over-stayed houseguest…
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Small Business Labs
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I Miss the "Mail Moment"
9 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amBell tolls for the U.S. Mail, as we know it is a wonderful story from USA Today on the end of a great American traditional the postal service calls "the mail moment". This moment occurs when we collect, sort and open our mail - and do so with a bit of excitement and anticipation. Younger readers will wonder what I'm talking about. They've never experienced the pre-email, pre-social media "mail moment". But folks who grew up prior to the Internet know. The article is artfully written, and captures my mixed feelings about the… -
The Global, Human, Strategic Accountant
8 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amThe CPA Success blog has a good article on the new Chartered Global Management Accountant designation. This is a joint effort between two large accounting associations, the AICPA and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. This is interesting for several reasons. First, the accounting profession realizes businesses of all sizes are increasingly global. This means accounting professionals need to have the skills to advise their clients on global issues. It's good to see accountants looking to lead in this arena. Second, the new accounting designation is designed to… -
The Rise of Small and Micro Manufacturing
7 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amU.S. manufacturing is on a roll. The New York Times recently called manufacturing a "Surprising Bright Spot in the U.S. Economy", the sector has added 330,00 jobs over the last two years, manufacturing economic indicators continue to rise and the President has made manufacturing the center of his economic policy. The times are even more exciting for small (less than 100 employees) and micro (less than 5 employees) manufacturers. Most people don't realize how many small manufacturers there are the U.S. According to the National Institute of Standards and… -
Euromonitor's Top 10 Consumer Trends for 2012
6 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amEuromonitor released their Top 10 Consumer Trends of 2012 recently. The trends I found most interesting are: Consumer vigilantes speak up! On and offline protest is in the spotlight, pressuring brands towards greater accountability and genuine innovation. DIY life - Consumers are revelling in their ability to track and control their health, identity, communication and buying habits. Reality culture and consumers: Scripted reality or celebrities living the dream - consumers are gripped, sharing views and being moved to change their purchasing behaviour. I found these… -
Solid Jobs Report
5 Feb 2012 | 1:00 amThe January Employment Situation Summary from the BLS was quite positive. Total non-farm employment increased 234,000 and the unemployment rate fell to 8.3%. More importantly, private employment increased by 257,000, more than off-setting a small decline in government employment. This continues a trend towards stronger private sector hiring. Over the last 12 months private sector employment is up 2.1% while government employment is down 1.2% (this nets to a 1.5% overall increase). This is really good news - private sector hiring is always the key to…
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NYT > Small Business
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Special Section: Wealth: Taking Back Your Business
9 Feb 2012 | 4:56 amEntrepreneurs who have seen the companies they sold hurt by bad management or a bad economy often get the urge to take back control. -
Small-Business Guide: Business Owners Adjusting to Patent System Overhaul
8 Feb 2012 | 10:20 pmEntrepreneurs see pros and cons in the America Invents Act, which is being phased in through March 2013. -
You’re the Boss Blog: Will The New Patent Laws Help or Hurt Small Businesses?
8 Feb 2012 | 10:10 amWith changes phasing in over 18 months, business owners are just beginning to understand the impact of the America Invents Act. -
Wealth Matters: Advantages and Risks of Gingrich’s S Corporation
8 Feb 2012 | 9:28 amNewt Gingrich set up his speaking and consulting business as an S corporation, which exempted this portion of his income from Medicare taxes, an unusual move for a business based on services. -
She Owns It: Finding a Balance Between Delegating and Micromanaging
8 Feb 2012 | 8:48 am"We hired people to do these jobs, why is it that nobody seems competent enough to do them?" the owners wondered.
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Our Editors
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Wanted: Idea Fusers
7 Feb 2012 | 6:40 amIt's become pretty much common knowledge that great innovation springs from the ability to pull two unlike things together to create a beautiful third. Steve Jobs famously shifted a paradigm when he fused calligraphy with technology to create the Mac's graphical user interface. Many great inventions fuse something very simple, cheap and widely accessible — say, a small piece of paper — with something expensive and complex — say, a medical laboratory test — to come up with a marvelous solution, such as George Whitesides' postage-stamp sized diagnostic tool. And though… -
HBR's Best Videos, Infographics, Podcasts, and Slideshows of 2011
29 Dec 2011 | 8:13 amAs you take some time to reflect, relax, and renew before the year to come, we offer you our most popular multimedia content from the year that was: podcasts, videos, slideshows, and infographics that we hope help you chart a successful course in 2012. First off, our most popular podcast this year was Justin Fox's interview with Bob Pozen, "Productivity Secrets of a Very Busy Man." Perhaps if I, too, were willing to eat the same bowl of cold cereal every morning — all in the name of simplifying and streamlining — I could be as prolifically perspicacious as the Harvard Business… -
Amazon Should Partner with Independent Bookstores
27 Dec 2011 | 11:48 amI didn't buy any gifts from Amazon this year. I, whose entire job basically depends on the Internet — including editing HBR Singles like this and this, both sold through Amazon — developed a moral and intellectual aversion to purchasing goods from this Internet stalwart. Here's what happened. My original plan this holiday shopping season was, as usual, to order a pile of books — and kitchen gizmos, and DVDs, and who knows what all — from the online giant. I'd re-up my Prime membership, have everything shipped directly, and be done with it less than an hour. Merry… -
The Euro Crisis: Was Cameron Right?
13 Dec 2011 | 7:52 amIn yet another effort to solve the euro crisis, France and Germany last week agreed on a stability pact that essentially offers increased bailout funds in return for even stronger fiscal austerity on the part of the major debtor countries of Europe. But the deal arguably necessitated changes to the Treaties governing the European Union and as such required assent from all 27 EU member countries, ten of which are not members of the euro zone but whose economies are nonetheless closely integrated with it. To get around this problem and to provide the markets with a united front of governments,… -
How Technology Made Me Love to Shop
21 Nov 2011 | 8:01 amThis blog post is part of the HBR Online Forum The Future of Retail. Like many men, I've never been very enthusiastic about shopping. That's partly because I'm frugal, and don't enjoy spending money. It's partly due to the hassles I associate with visiting retail stores — a series of inconveniences that begins in the parking lot (hunting for spaces), continues in the aisles (where I can never find what I need), and ends at the cash registers (where I have little patience for long lines). Much of the problem, though, lies in psychology. While I can be confident of my decision-making…
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HBR.org
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How to Get Promoted (Anywhere in the World)
9 Feb 2012 | 7:43 amMichael Black is an American employee working in China for one of the country's oldest and most traditional consumer products manufacturers. Michael has been in China for two years and has done quite well. He's mastered the local language, been very successful in meeting his performance goals, and believes that he deserves a promotion. Michael is a bit uneasy "tooting his own horn," but he also realizes that if he doesn't do it, no one else will. When meeting with his boss to argue his case, Michael explains how he has met or exceeded all of his performance goals over the past two years and… -
The Case of the Rolling Stone (that Gathers No Moss) Resume
9 Feb 2012 | 7:30 amWhat would you think if a job candidate sent you a resume listing six jobs held in the last four years? Some of you would probably have an instinctively negative reaction: "This is someone who can't make up her mind or settle down — probably a flake. In 'my day' everyone knew that you couldn't change jobs more often than once every two years." Or would you have a more sympathetic interpretation? Perhaps that this is evidence of a candidate who is willing to take risks and seek out new opportunities? Resumes must be truthful — if you've had six jobs in four years, you need to say… -
How Employers Can Help Solve the Skills Gap
9 Feb 2012 | 7:30 amIn my consulting work with large, multinational companies, I see a pervasive anxiety among managers who have trouble finding people for skilled positions, no matter what industry or region. At the same time, employees are just as stressed about the growing skills gap, Accenture research shows, and most of them are unclear about which skills they need to advance their careers. There's a lot at stake here. The mismatch between the skills that companies need and the capabilities of people applying for job openings can result in delays in product releases, lower customer satisfaction, and loss of… -
The Most Important Question You Can Ask
9 Feb 2012 | 5:52 amWhy are you here? It's arguably life's most important question, but is it one you ask yourself? I recognize it's a question some people might view as self-indulgent, while others would see it primarily through a religious lens. But is there any part of an answer we could all agree on? I've found a very simple one for myself, and it's provided me in recent years with an increasingly powerful sense of clarity, inspiration and even joy. It's this: I'm here to add more value to the world than I'm using up. I use up resources every day — the gas I burn driving my car, the heat and… -
Yahoo's Shakeup Demands Fearlessness
8 Feb 2012 | 1:17 pmFour longtime Yahoo board members, including the chairman, are leaving the company. In this one move, Yahoo is trying to make a clean break from the past — signaling that they are primed to reboot. It's a much-needed and long-overdue step on the path to shifting trajectories. The Pattern of Failing Organizations Larger organizations follow a fairly predictable cycle when failing. It starts with denial. The proverbial "we're so awesome and our CEO is a rockstar so we're invincible" dynamic. Typically, this lasts some period of time (years, even decades) after having a lot of success.
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Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
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How to Use a WordPress Blog as a Referral Generator
9 Feb 2012 | 5:19 amHow to Use a WordPress Blog as a Referral GeneratorThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing I’ve seen and heard this scenario countless times. Two perfectly suited strategic partners determine they should start doing some things together in an effort to create referral opportunities for each other. They shake hands and agree that it’s a fabulous idea, but then nothing happens. Mostly nothing happens because there’s no catalyst to get the ball rolling in a way that makes sense. I mean, sure, they could both send out a mass mailing to their clients professing how great the other is, but… -
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…
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Andy Sernovitz | Damn, I Wish I\'d Thought of That!
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The Home Depot’s case study: How to bring your culture to life through an online community
8 Feb 2012 | 1:00 pmCome to our upcoming BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media conference in Dallas to hear brands like Farmers Insurance, Rogers Communications, Target, Yahoo!, NVIDIA, Hitachi Data Systems, Verizon, and Autodesk share 8 great case studies on corporate social media. You’ll get practical, how-to advice on developing your social strategy, scaling your program, driving sales, engaging internal and external audiences, and measuring it all — and you’ll see some brilliant presentations like this one from BlogWell Atlanta: One of Tia Robinson’s big ideas: Don’t be afraid to let your… -
Why would a music industry visionary be writing passionately about a turtleneck?
8 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amBob Lefsetz is a well-know music industry guru who covers critical issues for industry insiders. So why did he write 625 words about a turtleneck from Uniqlo? And then email it to his thousands of email subscribers? And why did my friend Josh Dorf email it to me? Not because he was paid. Not because he was part of some cheesy word of mouth advocacy program. Not because the company asked him to. He did it because true word of mouth, driven by authentic enthusiasm for amazing products, is an unstoppable force. Read this classic example of word of mouth in action: Uniqlo Andy couldn’t stop… -
Save the Date: Word of Mouth Crash Course, May 10, Austin
7 Feb 2012 | 1:00 pmBig news: We’re bringing back the world’s greatest word of mouth marketing conference: The Word of Mouth Crash Course in Austin on May 10. It’s the original “How to be great at word of mouth marketing” conference: 12 Real-world case studies 12 How-to classes 6 Amazing authors 1 Fast day (Yes, this is the event formerly called Word of Mouth Supergenius. We changed the name to better reflect that you’re going to learn a ton, really fast, while having fantastic fun.) Learn more here: http://wordofmouth.org/crashcourse Important: The first 100 registrants will get 50 copies of new… -
It’s not over when you turn in your homework
7 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amSome advice for recent college graduates entering the corporate world: In college, you finish a paper, you take the test, you get to the end of the semester — and you’re done. You can walk away and move on to the next project. No looking back. At work, it’s the opposite. You win when you take and keep responsibility. You own a project, you see it through, you take responsibility, and you make sure it works great for the long term. When it’s time for you to move on, you are responsible for handing off your knowledge and work to the next owner, and you’re not done… -
Pull up a chair around the fire
3 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amThe purpose of a trade show booth or tabletop is to get prospective customers to come in an talk to you. You want to have a conversation. But most exhibits do a lot to block that conversation: big TV screens, laptops between the exhibitor and the prospects, or having conversations standing in front of the table so your back is to people walking past. That’s why I like this simple tabletop by Sprinklr. The fireplace catches your attention. The furniture encourages you sit down and have a deep conversation, and the whole arrangement visually draws people in.
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Business Opportunities Weblog
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Today in Entrepreneurial History: February 9
9 Feb 2012 | 7:05 am1870 – President Ulysses S. Grant signs a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau. 1895 – William G. Morgan creates a game called Mintonette, which soon comes to be referred to as volleyball. 1900 – The Davis Cup competition is established. 1964 – The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a “record-busting” audience of 73 million viewers. -
Small Biz Jobs: Real?
9 Feb 2012 | 6:30 amOC Register: More than one in five small-business owners (22%) expect to add jobs over the next 12 months, while 8% expect to eliminate jobs, according to the new Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index poll. This is the most optimistic owners have been in four years, Gallup says. Small-business owners tend to be optimistic. Otherwise, how could they stand the uncertainty of the business world and the economy? Their role in the economy is significant: half the gross domestic product, two-thirds of the net new jobs over the past 15 years. How did past expectations compare with what small… -
Heart Catheter Decreases Health Costs, Save Lives
9 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amChicago Tribune: Reavill won a prestigious contest in London late last year called the OmniCompete Health Pitch Battlefield, whose independent judges said his invention is a simple way to catheterize the heart. It reduces risks to an “absolute minimum” by moving the catheter insertion to the arm, the judges said, replacing a complex wire-guided procedure through the neck, which is typically used to monitor the heart during a hospital stay for very ill patients. Reavill plans to hire 13 to 20 disabled vets to get the production off the ground — with the goal of hiring up to… -
Apple, Inventor Face Off Over driPhone
9 Feb 2012 | 5:30 amApparently one “I” can make a big difference if you choose to name a product with the word phone in it. At least, that is what driPhone recently discovered. Apple, through a Wellington-based patent firm, told Hayden Crowther it was opposing his application to trademark the driPhone name in New Zealand because it is too similar to its ubiquitous iPhone product. It has also suggested he change the letter `i’ to a `y’ to avoid confusion. But Mr Crowther told Fairfax Media he was not intimidated by the situation and thought Apple’s case had “little… -
StepNpull: Open Doors Hands Free
9 Feb 2012 | 5:03 amOur next interview in the Get on the Shelf series features Mike Sewell and his product, the StepNpull. What product did you submit to Wal-Mart’s Get on the Shelf contest? We submitted StepNpull which is a hands free door opener designed for commercial latch less doors. It gives the user the option of pulling the door open with their foot instead of touching the door handle. Although the primary intent is for use on public restroom doors, StepNpull is also a great option on any commercial door where the user’s hands may be full. For example, the front door of an auto parts store,…
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Small Biz Survival
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6 Things Self-employed Should Know From the IRS
9 Feb 2012 | 4:20 amBy Maesz IRS Tax Tip 2012-16, January 25, 2012 There are many benefits that come from being your own boss. If you work for yourself, as an independent contractor, or you carry on a trade or business as a sole proprietor, you are generally considered to be self-employed. Here are six key points the IRS would like you to know about self-employment and self- employment taxes: Self-employment can include work in addition to your regular full-time business activities, such as part-time work you do at home or in addition to your regular job. If you are self-employed you generally have to pay… -
Bonus way to get more locals to follow you online
7 Feb 2012 | 3:42 amTourism groups and small businesses both struggle with a common question: once we get online, how do we get local people to follow, like or friend us? OK, now that you're in the room with yourlocals, how do you get them to follow, likeand friend you? Last week, I shared three ways to get locals to follow you online. I deleted two comments off that post (because they came in a flood of spam) that suggested the fourth, bonus method to get more locals to follow you: Hold local events. This gives you a chance to talk about your online efforts in an offline setting. You can create events of… -
Alternatives to small business loans
6 Feb 2012 | 4:29 amMany small businesses can't qualify for a small business loan from a traditional local bank. A bad credit record disqualifies many. Lending standards have tightened. Some small towns are limited by local banks that don't support small business; others don't have locally-owned banks any more. The good news is that alternatives are available. We'll be profiling alternatives to traditional small business loans in this new series on financing. First up: BoeFly. BoeFly helps small businesses get loans from banks all over. BoeFly doesn't make loans. It helps small businesses get loans from banks… -
Step up to the Brag Basket
3 Feb 2012 | 4:56 amThe Brag Basket is our tradition of sharing. Step up and share some good news. Step basket photo by Joe Shlabotnik on Flickr. The basket is always free and open all weekend, this one Feb 3-5, 2012. Have some good news this week? Put it in the Brag Basket. Don't hold back because of that word, "brag." When you hold back, you hide your good news and accomplishments that might inspire others. Even though I call this the Brag Basket, it's not really about bragging. It's about sharing. What can you do in the Brag Basket? introduce yourself share some great news from this week congratulate a… -
3 ways to get locals to follow you online
31 Jan 2012 | 4:50 amTourism groups and small businesses both struggle with a common question: once we get online, how do we get local people to follow, like or friend us? Online friends join local friends for atweetup in Alva. Here are 3 quick ideas on how to get connected with the locals: 1. Talk about local issues. When you talk about the topics that local people care about, they are more likely to engage with you. 2. Tell local people about it. Talk in person, talk with them online, make business cards for your blog and Twitter and hand them out to locals. 3. Invite locals to participate. Ask them to…
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Up and Running
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Cut it out! (Some of the Best and Worst Coupon Campaign Tactics)
9 Feb 2012 | 4:00 amBy Ella Davidson of Coupons.org; Coupons is a site dedicated to giving back to the community while providing informative couponing knowledge. As any marketing strategist will tell you, understanding your target shopper is the best way to achieve success. Many factors can play a role in determining the outcome of your campaign. In a robust economy, simple tricks such as placing desired items at an entrance of a store can lure a potential shopper in. Once the shopper comes into the store, they will begin to look around and thus create sales that otherwise might not have happened. When an… -
Are You LinkedIn for the Sake of Your Business?
8 Feb 2012 | 4:00 amIf you and your business have been hesitant to invest the time and effort into a LinkedIn account, what are you waiting for? With some 120 million users, LinkedIn is still by far the choice of business professionals. Yet, many business pros, and their companies for that matter, have been late to the party when it comes to signing up for and maintaining accounts. For the business professional, even if you choose to come and go with a LinkedIn page, it is a wise idea to have a company page in place so that you can draw people to your site and reach out in turn. This holds especially true for… -
7 Overlooked Tax Deductions for Small Business Owners
7 Feb 2012 | 4:00 amTax (Photo credit: 401K) According to the IRS, each year millions of taxpayers overlook deductions and credits resulting in overpaying their taxes. Here are seven tips so you won’t become one of the statistics. Section 179 Deduction. If your business acquired assets in 2011 either through a lease or by purchasing them out right, you may be eligible to deduct up to $500,000. For more information about this deduction, you can read “End of Year Tax Tips” as well as the IRS publication “Bonus Depreciation and Increased Section 179 Deduction under the American Recovery and Reinvestment… -
Meet the #IamBplans Winners: Rebar Business Builders
6 Feb 2012 | 11:15 amRebar Business Builders helps strengthen businesses from the inside out by installing small business marketing systems that systematically attract and retain ideal customers. Their Managed Marketing programs provide everything a business needs to create, implement, and maintain their marketing plan. It’s like getting an entire marketing department in a box. The man behind Rebar Business Builders is Bill Brelsford, a CPA turned marketing coach. According to Bill: Accounting and marketing are seen as opposite ends of a spectrum. Left brain vs. right brain, analytical vs. creative, tie vs. -
Praise Where Praise is Due
3 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amIt all started with a simple email exchange. The final mail was short and to the point ‘ thanks for the great customer service, sadly it is unusual.’ It got me thinking.For me the exchange was pretty straight forward. A customer had emailed in with a query. I was in early, before the customer service team had arrived and I logged in to our email management tool. It was a straight forward request so I jumped in and answered it. The customer came back later than morning with another question and having had the initial correspondence with me I again answered it. No big deal? Then I…
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BusinessWeek.com -- Small Business
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DIY Apps Save Small Businesses Time, Money
6 Feb 2012 | 8:25 pmA study estimates that small companies have cut 725.3 million annual employee hours by using mobile apps, equaling $17.6 billion in savings -
Turning Girls into Tech Entrepreneurs with a Single App
6 Feb 2012 | 8:23 pmTechnovation Challenge is a contest for high school students run by Iridescent, which uses online software called App Inventor -
For Some U.S. Manufacturers, Time to Head Home
2 Feb 2012 | 3:00 pmMore companies are assessing the true cost of outsourcing -
Michigan Wants More Immigrants
2 Feb 2012 | 3:00 pmRepublican Governor Rick Snyder wants to attract talented foreigners he sees as crucial to the economy -
After Hedge Funds, a Career Rejuvenation
2 Feb 2012 | 3:00 pmA TSA inspection helped Julie Macklowe switch careers from hedge fund manager to entrepreneur, selling luxury, travel-friendly toiletry kits
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Mario Sanchez Carrion
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Arriving Early
8 Feb 2012 | 6:40 pmI am not a gregarious person, but at the same time I recognize the importance of networking. That’s why I’ve developed a few habits and tactics to make my networking efforts easier. One of them is arriving early. Whenever I go to a meetup, I make it a point to be one of the first ones to arrive, usually when there's only a couple of people there. It's easier to strike a conversation with them and take it from there, than coming in late and trying to break into large groups where conversations have already started. There is also an added benefit: if there is a presenter, he'll probably… -
Sleeping Well At Night
7 Feb 2012 | 4:23 pmProclaiming yourself a guru can get you followers. Trashing your competitors can get you votes. Stirring controversy can get you traffic. Management by fear can get you results. Yes, behaving like an a**hole can be effective. That doesn't mean that you need to become one, or that there aren't other, better ways to be successful. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Your Ideal Customer
4 Feb 2012 | 8:32 pmI regularly visit Ramit Sethi's site. Ramit is a personal finance guru for the twentysomething set, and also a powerful personal brand who has mastered the art of defining, finding and serving only his ideal customers. Ramit's ideal customers are those who take action as opposed to those who just talk or "think about it". To make sure he attracts the right people he has implemented a few hard rules and procedures, to which he adheres religiously. For example, he doesn't record his teleclasses, even when they take place at odd hours. He firmly states that if you're really interested you'll… -
We're Missing Data!
3 Feb 2012 | 8:28 pmBack in the day, when I was in college studying Industrial Engineering in Peru, my classmates and I would regularly wrestle with tough math and calculus problems. Once in a while a sadistic professor would give us a problem that was impossible to solve. Of course, we didn't know...Only after a long struggle the brightest guys in the class would suspect something was wrong, until finally one of them would muster enough courage to raise his hand and utter the words everybody was waiting for: we're missing data!Ah, the beauty of exact sciences... For every problem there is only one solution, and… -
Don't Be Boring
2 Feb 2012 | 6:58 pmWe've all been told at some point to write our resume in one page, cut our PPT presentation to less than 10 slides, or limit our pitch to five minutes. Taken literally, we need to keep it short. Reading between the lines, however, what does it really mean? Perhaps, that the expectations are so low when it comes to resumes, presentations and meetings that we want to limit the pain by going through them as fast as possible. Yes, they're telling us to keep it short. But what they're really, really telling us is: don't be boring. Permalink | Leave a comment »
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The Content Marketing Revolution
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What Can a Super Bowl Ad Buy You in Content Marketing?
6 Feb 2012 | 7:14 amSo, another Super Bowl gone. For those who advertised during the Super Bowl, the average cost of a Super Bowl ad this year was $3.5 million to promote their brand in front of 111 million viewers. For those counting, that’s $116,000 per second. Back in 2008 I looked at how much content marketing you could buy for the price of a Super Bowl ad. Four years ago, the price for a 30-second-spot was $2.7 million (folks, in this market, the economy is working just fine). That bought you A LOT of content. Today, you can buy even more. Here are a few examples. 47 Issues of Your Own… -
Lethal Generosity: The Key To Your Online Content Strategy
2 Feb 2012 | 6:16 pmThe concept of Lethal Generosity was first coined by social media pioneer Shel Israel in 2008. Simply put: Lethal Generosity is the concept that the most generous members of any social media company are the most credible and influential and as such, they can devastate their competition in the marketplace. In short, the company whose representative posts the most tips, links, advice, case studies, best practices that followers find useful will always [rise] to the top, not just in influence but also in search results. The more outbound links you post, the more inbound links you are likely… -
47 Essential Social Media Tools for Content Marketers
1 Feb 2012 | 9:29 amIt’s hard to believe the sheer number of social media tools we use everyday to help grow the Content Marketing Institute and SocialTract, as well as my own personal brand. Since there are so many, I decided to update this post from almost three years ago. It’s amazing the number of social media and content marketing tools that I continue to use, as well as the many that died over the years from lack of use. Which ones am I missing that you cannot live without? [disclaimer: many of the tools below are CMI partner tools] The Basics LinkedIn - Start the practice of connecting… -
McDonald’s Social Media Goes Wrong? Not a Chance
26 Jan 2012 | 4:49 pmYou’d have to be living in a cave not to be aware of the now historic McDonald’s Twitter campaign launched a few days ago. If you’ve been out of it for a while, here’s the CliffsNotes version: McDonald’s promoted a Tweet using the Twitter hashtag #McDStories that went like this: ‘When u make something w/pride, people can taste it,’ – McD potato supplier #McDStories http://t.co/HaPM5G9F‘ (source). The link is a video of McDonald’s potato supplier Frank Martinez and includes a heartwarming story about his life as a potato farmer. -
Tablet Content Marketing: Crazy Stats and Time to Move
25 Jan 2012 | 4:14 amIf you are not up on the latest statistics on the tablet, here are some to chew on: Apple reported first quarter earnings, selling over 15 million iPads during the quarter. This is a 111% increase from the previous quarter. In just under two years, Apple has now sold over 55 million units. According to Pew Internet’s latest findings, the share of Americans who own a tablet computer nearly doubled from December 2011 to January 2012. The number of Americans now owning at least one tablet device is now at 29%. Tablet: The Curl-Up Device Historically in marketing, we have talked about…
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HomeBiz Resource
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Top 10 Steps to Make Your Site Search Engine and Directory Friendly
6 Feb 2012 | 9:16 pmIf you are new to SEO, it would be complicated for you to understand the search engine optimization and also the submission of website to search engines and directories. The question arises here is why do you need to pay attention to these factors? Just because the major source of internet traffic is search engines and directories. They are used to generate the high traffic for your website. To make the process easier to understand, this article states ten easy steps you can take to be prepared for the submission of your website to search engines and web directories. Develop a professional… -
Grow Your Blog Traffic with Simple SEO Concepts
2 Feb 2012 | 10:04 pmYour weblog can be a star for you if you know the tactics to handle it properly. With the help of rich content, multimedia and attractive design a considerable traffic can be attracted to it. Once the traffic is built it can be used as a platform for advertising products. To generate a considerable traffic in your weblog few basic SEO concepts should be kept in mind. Follow the simple SEO concept give below: Think as a human It simply means whether you want to generate traffic in you weblog or do any kind of internet promotion, stop thinking like a machine or a computer and start thinking… -
How To Do SEO of A Website With Proper Web Design
2 Feb 2012 | 1:52 amThe SEO of a website is not only the job of a web buzzer or SEO professional, the developer and the design also play a major role in the on-page optimization of a website. The website has to be search engine friendly and that is the only way of making your weblog or website popular, apart from the users typing in www.sitename.com and backlinks from other places. There are various benefits of the site being search engine friendly: Numerous visitors every day, Lots of referrals coming from those visitors And lots of potential visitors How does a search engine work Google is the most popular… -
Is Google Trying to Put SEO’s Out of Business?
1 Feb 2012 | 10:51 pmGoogle has adjusted its overall search result rules yet again. This time, the results seem to weigh in favor of Google+ and against traditional SEO strategies — a shift which has some SEO pros (along with competing social media platforms and anti-trust regulators) seeing red. “Search Plus Your World” (SPYW or Search+) is the name that Google has given to a feature that not only includes but actually gives preference to personally relevant results in any given Google search. According to The Official Google Blog: “Search is pretty amazing at finding that one needle in a haystack of… -
Your Website’s Search Engine Results Page Ranking – How the Big “G” Decides It
1 Feb 2012 | 1:48 amBefore I begin, I must make this proclamation: Google is the King of the internet scene, and we are all under its mercy. With more than 235 million searches/day, and Google claiming up to 48% of the daily web traffic (according to Alexa), it’s pretty obvious who’s the 300-pound gorilla dominating the internet landscape. However, what’s not so apparent is the way Big “G” decides our website’s search engine results placement (SERP). Although we know that Google’s algorithm is made of complex set of rules and instructions – to calculate a website’s eventual SERP, dictates…
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FreelanceFolder
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Super Easy Timesavers for Super Busy Freelancers
8 Feb 2012 | 5:51 amLike most freelancers, my time is important. I have to spend it wisely if I want to earn a profit. Most days I face a challenging to-do list with more tasks on it than I could possibly accomplish. That’s why I make it my mission to work as quickly and efficiently as possible. The alternative, working extra hours or missing a deadline, is just not acceptable. Of course, a mountain of self-help books, blogs, videos, and other materials already exists to help us learn to manage our time more effectively. The trouble is, like most freelancers, I just don’t have enough time to go… -
David Allen’s “Getting Things Done”: Is It Relevant to Freelancers?
6 Feb 2012 | 8:56 amI first read “Getting Things Done” (GTD) by David Allen in 2007. Back then, I was working full-time in UNICEF, juggling my work responsibilities with a family. Although I didn’t implement GTD completely, it did allow me to unclutter my entire work area (not just my desk). It allowed me to tame my overflowing email inbox. It allowed me to leave my files neatly organized for my successor. GTD was written for corporate executives and office workers. Is it relevant and useful to freelancers as well? If it’s any indication, I still find myself using some of the… -
Can Pinterest Help Your Freelancing Business?
3 Feb 2012 | 7:15 amIf you’re active in social media, you may have recently heard of Pinterest, a new social media site that is gaining popularity. In fact, it seems like everyone is suddenly talking about Pinterest. From all the talk it’s hard to tell whether it’s a trend or a fad. You may even wonder if there is any way that your freelancing business could possibly benefit from using Pinterest. You may be asking yourself whether you should get involved in Pinterest. In this post, I’ll take a look at Pinterest from a freelancer’s perspective. I’ll explain what it is and also… -
The Pros and Cons of a Freelancing Partnership
1 Feb 2012 | 7:55 amFreelancers usually operate solo, but sometimes it’s a good idea for us to enter into partnerships. As a one-person team, there are only so many clients you can serve, and so many skills you can deliver. A partnership can be a good way to expand your freelancing business. However, as in all things, freelancing partnerships have their advantages and disadvantages. If you’re considering partnering with another freelancer, read this post to see if you really know what you’re getting into. The Pros Provide more comprehensive services Sometimes it makes sense to partner with… -
Plan a Marketing Strategy for your Freelance Career
30 Jan 2012 | 7:31 amGoing the freelance route can be quite an exhilarating process. You drop the 9-to-5 workday in exchange for a whole lot more freedom and independence. But with this job track also comes the burden of management. Personal branding and marketing is a big part of growing your own freelance business. You need to get your name out there into the world and hopefully reel in a few clients. It can be difficult, but I have offered a few ideas below which can get you off on the right foot. It’s best to plan ahead even with a small marketing strategy. Once you put something in place to get the…
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Improve My Business
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Eliminating road traffic - a guest post
17 Jan 2012 | 1:45 pmMcDonald Consulting Group recently hosted students from Texas State University’s Job Shadowing program. Here is a guest post from one of our interns, Osvaldo Hernandez - and the reason he was late this morning! ———————– Unfortunately this morning, I and surely countless other first timers traveling through Austin, have now experienced the dreadful amount of traffic that [...] -
5 reasons delegation fails
10 Jan 2012 | 4:57 amFrom Ron Edmonson, here are 5 reasons that delegation fails - enjoy! 5 reasons delegation often fails: There was no accountability provided in the delegation process. When someone receives a project, they need to be given a timeline for completion. They need a system of follow up, measures of accomplishment or benchmarks towards completion. A predetermined win [...] -
Welcome to the 21st century, you Neanderthal
2 Jan 2012 | 5:32 ambackground: It’s 1979. I’m sharing an office, and a phone, with a co-worker. A vendor calls up for my office mate, Gary, who’s not in. I say that he’s not there, and ask if I can take a message. The caller asks where he is, and when he’ll be back. I say I don’t know [...] -
How to escape from e-mail hell
27 Dec 2011 | 12:26 pmMany folks complain about how e-mail takes up all of their time - it interrupts them, prevents them from getting concentrated work complete, and sucks up all their time. I used to be no different - until I got fed up with being in e-mail hell, and figured out a way to get out of it. [...] -
Shorter Days = Less Energy?
12 Dec 2011 | 2:18 pmas we approach the shortest day of the year (Dec 21), we notice that it’s dark so much longer - maybe going to work, or coming home, or both - and therefore it may be hard to be active. Here are some quick tips to get you over the hump: - Get enough sunlight. Try and [...]
