If vanilla and fresh linen was still feeling too feminine to scent the man cave, fear not, manly men, Yankee Candle has heard your barbaric yawp and is now offering Man Candles. Offered in macho scents such as 2x4, Riding Mower, First Down and Man Town, you need never hang your head again after being dragged into the candle store. They even offer a sports-themed candle holder so you don’t ruin the tabletop. Just in time for Father’s Day. Full story at Yankee Candle via Buzzfeed. You know you want a Man Candle. Permalink | Leave a comment »
Selected by phildonaldson
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Most Topular Stories
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The scent of man, now available at Yankee Candle
Holy Kaw!16 May 2012 | 1:31 pm -
Content Marketing to Support Retention and Expansion
PropelGrowth15 May 2012 | 6:37 amIn my experience, content marketers seem to focus primarily on new lead acquisition, but they don’t spend enough time helping Sales close deals, retain customers, and expand accounts. Last week, I wrote about how content marketing can help drive deals to closure. Today, I’ll focus on supporting account retention and expansion. You can interview customers to uncover their need Once again, the best way to start is with client interviews. Find out what they would like to find on your site related to implementation, support, and other post-sale issues. Ask them to describe helpful content… -
NBA Star Uses Twitter — And a Platypus — to Prank Sports Media
Mashable!16 May 2012 | 1:28 pmAround the sports media scene, Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee has a certain reputation: Quirky, unique, a bit out there, something of a laughingstock at times. Reporters and fans love to chuckle at his on-court goofiness. Examples abound, but here’s the best one: a legendary GIF of McGee throwing up a wild shot and then earnestly running back on defense — except his team still has the ball. This week, however, McGee decided to turn the tables on those who love to poke fun at a young millionaire basketball player just trying to do his best. On Monday afternoon, he posted this… -
Why The Internet Doesn’t Make Us Care More About Politics
TechCrunch16 May 2012 | 1:30 pmAmerican politics used to be fun: frequent political carnivals in the 19th century would mix parties, parades, and political speeches in an endless stream of local civic life. As a result, America had an astonishingly high turnout, between 70-90%, in presidential and local elections. Yet, the Internet has never quite captured the emotional gravity of real-life engagement, and keeps tripping up multi-million dollar campaigns designed to inject life into an otherwise passive electorate. For example, take two technology initiatives that were widely predicted to dramatically increase democratic… -
Digital analogs are no longer sufficient
Seth's Blog16 May 2012 | 2:00 amThe parking meter was rebooting. I guess we're supposed to walk to the other end of the garage and find one that's working. We're seeing digital awareness coming to just about everything. In this case, it was the parking meter near the library. Of course, it's not really a parking meter, it's a centralized fee collection system that saves the town a lot of money. It's easier to collect from, certainly, it doesn't waste the time of meter readers (who get alerted as to what spaces aren't paid for, as opposed to checking them all) plus it doesn't let a new parker enjoy a few minutes of the last…
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Holy Kaw!
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The scent of man, now available at Yankee Candle
16 May 2012 | 1:31 pmIf vanilla and fresh linen was still feeling too feminine to scent the man cave, fear not, manly men, Yankee Candle has heard your barbaric yawp and is now offering Man Candles. Offered in macho scents such as 2x4, Riding Mower, First Down and Man Town, you need never hang your head again after being dragged into the candle store. They even offer a sports-themed candle holder so you don’t ruin the tabletop. Just in time for Father’s Day. Full story at Yankee Candle via Buzzfeed. You know you want a Man Candle. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Dirty Disney cartoons? [video]
16 May 2012 | 1:16 pmIt’s hard to imagine Disney cartoons have ever been the subject of censorship, but like many beloved cartoons, there’s a seamier side that’s bound to offend if you get the references. Such was the case with “The Shindig” where Clarabelle Cow’s exposed udders were deemed too risqué for Ohio audiences as was her reading material; Three Weeks was an early example of “women’s mass market erotic fiction.” As the old saying goes, "What happens in the barn, stays in the barn." Full story at Neatorama. The evil underbelly of Disney. -
Mammals may not get to cool climates in time
16 May 2012 | 12:09 pmNine percent of the Western Hemisphere’s mammals—and up to 40 percent in some regions—may not be able to outpace climate change. “I think it’s important to point out that in the past when climates have changed—between glacial and interglacial periods when species ranges contracted and expanded—the landscape wasn’t covered with agricultural fields, four-lane highways and parking lots, so species could move much more freely across the landscape,” says Joshua Lawler, associate professor of environmental and forest sciences at University of… -
Time of year matters for vitamin D risk
16 May 2012 | 12:08 pmWhen considering a patient’s blood vitamin D levels, it may be best to consider a lower threshold for concern, as well as the time of year. "In evaluating health risk," the University of Washington researchers conclude, "season-specific targets for Vitamin D blood concentration may be more appropriate than a static target when evaluating patients health risk." Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
The (not so correct) anatomy of sea life
16 May 2012 | 11:52 amMarine biology, scharine schiology. Pleated Jeans skips scientific facts for its series of sea life diagrams. Via Pleated Jeans. (H/T @laughingsquid) Laughing is good for you. Permalink | Leave a comment »
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PropelGrowth
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Content Marketing to Support Retention and Expansion
15 May 2012 | 6:37 amIn my experience, content marketers seem to focus primarily on new lead acquisition, but they don’t spend enough time helping Sales close deals, retain customers, and expand accounts. Last week, I wrote about how content marketing can help drive deals to closure. Today, I’ll focus on supporting account retention and expansion. You can interview customers to uncover their need Once again, the best way to start is with client interviews. Find out what they would like to find on your site related to implementation, support, and other post-sale issues. Ask them to describe helpful content… -
6 Ways Content Marketing Can Help Sales
8 May 2012 | 10:28 amA recent blog post by Ardath Albee got my thoughts percolating on the subject and my fingers got to typing furiously. I hope you find this useful. Content marketing is not just for generating early stage leads. It should support the entire revenue cycle. Here is a list of six things Marketing can do to help the sales team move deals forward. Interview customers to find out what they need The best way to start is with client interviews. Find out what kinds of content are needed at every stage in the buying process. I start interviews by explaining the typical steps in a buying process, because… -
Customer-Centric Marketing
3 Apr 2012 | 8:16 amHave you ever noticed how most financial technology providers and sell-side players tend to develop marketing content that is focused on the product and offering – the features, the technology, and the company? Why Should They Care? This content does little to take into account how a customer would actually use the product, and even less about who it’s for and why the customer should want it in the first place. It leaves the onus on the customer to figure out how they would use the product, what the benefits would be, and why they should spend the time and money to buy and implement this… -
Is Your Video Squandering Audience Attention?
8 Mar 2012 | 11:45 amYesterday, Apple made its much-rumored announcement of the iPad 3 release (or as Apple is calling it, “the new iPad”). Thanks to the vision of Steve Jobs, Apple has once again seized the day with the best selling mobile touchscreen device. With increased resolution thanks to its Retina Display technology, the iPad 3 looks to be yet another great platform for viewing video, among other things (ooh, Angry Birds in HD!). According to a recent report by Cisco, 2011 saw mobile video traffic exceeding 50% of all mobile traffic, and it is projected that mobile video will comprise over 70% of… -
Does Content Marketing Actually Work?
17 Feb 2012 | 10:52 amI have a confession to make. Well, two confessions, actually… I was not an early adopter of content marketing or inbound marketing techniques. In fact, when my colleague, Phil Donaldson started experimenting with these strategies, I’d catch him on Hootsuite and accuse him of wasting his time on Twitter and social networking when he should be marketing and bringing us new clients. There, it’s out. I really did accuse him of this (he reminds me frequently). Let’s face it. I’m really a sales person at heart who became a marketer. No, scratch that. I’m a BUYER FACILITATOR. I don’t…
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Mashable!
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NBA Star Uses Twitter — And a Platypus — to Prank Sports Media
16 May 2012 | 1:28 pmAround the sports media scene, Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee has a certain reputation: Quirky, unique, a bit out there, something of a laughingstock at times. Reporters and fans love to chuckle at his on-court goofiness. Examples abound, but here’s the best one: a legendary GIF of McGee throwing up a wild shot and then earnestly running back on defense — except his team still has the ball. This week, however, McGee decided to turn the tables on those who love to poke fun at a young millionaire basketball player just trying to do his best. On Monday afternoon, he posted this… -
Register Now to Join Mashable and Partners in Brazil for Rio+Social
16 May 2012 | 1:04 pmRegistration is now open for Rio+Social, the historic meeting of social media, technology, global development and sustainability leaders during the UN’s Rio+20 conference. Policy makers, journalists, technologists and environmentalists are now invited to register and apply for accreditation to the free conference. Ten exciting new speakers were added to the Rio+Social lineup Wednesday, including entrepreneurs, UN leaders and philanthropists. Former president of Ireland Mary Robinson and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation chief communications officer Kate James are among the… -
Thirst App Will Change The Way You View Twitter
16 May 2012 | 12:53 pmA new iPad application called Thirst might reinvent how you look at your Twitter stream. Using its own natural language processor, Thirst filters, organizes, and presents your Twitter stream in an engaging way, helping you find the tweets you want to read quickly and in context. “I wanted to make an app that no matter how often you check Twitter, these are the things you need to see, ” Thirst Co-Founder and CEO Anuj Verma told Mashable. The app is designed so it can be useful for people who check Twitter constantly throughout the day, as well as those who might only check Twitter a few… -
The Facebook IPO Timeline
16 May 2012 | 12:32 pmIf the Facebook IPO were a real person, we certainly wouldn’t blame it for posting braggy status updates. This infographic, created by our friends at mbaonline.com, imagines the road leading up to the decade’s most-anticipated initial public offering, as if it were documented on its own Facebook Timeline. As a Facebook user, give yourself a pat on the back for helping the company make it this far. You are one of 900 million, and you spend an average of 20 minutes per day surfing the network. That means Facebook’s usership logs 16,000 years of combined time on the platform… -
Facebook Fans Get to Pick Bonus Levels in ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD’
16 May 2012 | 12:06 pmActivision is polling fans via Facebook on which levels will be included as additional downloadable content on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD is a rebuilt version of the classic games. It features seven levels from the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, released in 1999, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, which came out in 2000. Players will be able to skate all over classic levels such as “Warehouse” and “Mall” that have been rebuilt using the old maps. Starting Wednesday afternoon, fans will be asked to pick which of their favorite Tony…
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TechCrunch
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Why The Internet Doesn’t Make Us Care More About Politics
16 May 2012 | 1:30 pmAmerican politics used to be fun: frequent political carnivals in the 19th century would mix parties, parades, and political speeches in an endless stream of local civic life. As a result, America had an astonishingly high turnout, between 70-90%, in presidential and local elections. Yet, the Internet has never quite captured the emotional gravity of real-life engagement, and keeps tripping up multi-million dollar campaigns designed to inject life into an otherwise passive electorate. For example, take two technology initiatives that were widely predicted to dramatically increase democratic… -
It’s Time For A Larger iPhone
16 May 2012 | 1:27 pmThe Wall Street Journal reported this morning that Apple is currently ordering larger screens for the next iPhone. With the usual nonsense, the WSJ cited people familiar with the matter and stated these screens measure at least 4-inches diagonally. Production is set to begin next month, they say. The Journal better be right, though. A 3.5-inch screen is just too small now. At this point to say anything to the contrary is pure fanboi nonsense. The standard argument that consumers don’t want a large phone is tired and overused. Besides, it’s effectively proven wrong by the 20… -
More Google+ In Gmail: Improved Circle Integration, Circle Search and Quick Access To Contact Details
16 May 2012 | 12:44 pmThe folks over at Google just love their Google+ social network and more and more Google+ features have been creeping into Gmail lately as well. Today, Google is bringing even more of Google+ to its email client. With this update, Google is especially focusing on adding a deeper integration with Google+ circles. You will now, for example, see profile photos from people in your circles when you select a circle in the left sidebar. You can click on those images to search for email from a specific contact. In addition, if you really take your Google+ circles seriously, you’ll be happy to… -
Bitly Kinda Says It’s Not Raising $20M, But Sorta Hints That It Is
16 May 2012 | 12:42 pmIs link shortener Bitly raising $20 million in new funding? The Verge says it is. In response to my email, a company spokesperson denied The Verge’s story, but in vague enough terms that it could probably turn around and announce a new round in the next few weeks or months. Here’s what the spokesperson told me: Want to quickly let you know that they’re always discussing potential funding and stay in touch with potential investors on an ongoing basis. Though, this article is not based on any facts. I’ll work with the folks at bitly to connect with you for the next… -
Viacom Gives Up Fight Against Time Warner Cable, Adds Channels to TWC iPad App
16 May 2012 | 12:35 pmCustomers of Time Warner Cable have some reason to rejoice today, as the cable company has gotten the go-ahead to add channels like MTV, VH1, and Comedy Central to its live streaming iPad app. The addition comes after the channels’ owner Viacom has settled its differences and resolved litigation with Time Warner Cable. The legal fight erupted last year, after Time Warner Cable released its iPad app, which lets subscribers stream live shows to tablets inside their homes. While many networks grumbled about the app, Viacom was most vocal in rejecting the app, taking its distribution…
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Seth's Blog
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Digital analogs are no longer sufficient
16 May 2012 | 2:00 amThe parking meter was rebooting. I guess we're supposed to walk to the other end of the garage and find one that's working. We're seeing digital awareness coming to just about everything. In this case, it was the parking meter near the library. Of course, it's not really a parking meter, it's a centralized fee collection system that saves the town a lot of money. It's easier to collect from, certainly, it doesn't waste the time of meter readers (who get alerted as to what spaces aren't paid for, as opposed to checking them all) plus it doesn't let a new parker enjoy a few minutes of the last… -
Hard work on the right things
15 May 2012 | 2:00 amI don't think winners beat the competition because they work harder. And it's not even clear that they win because they have more creativity. The secret, I think, is in understanding what matters. It's not obvious, and it changes. It changes by culture, by buyer, by product and even by the day of the week. But those that manage to capture the imagination, make sales and grow are doing it by perfecting the things that matter and ignoring the rest. Both parts are difficult, particularly when you are surrounded by people who insist on fretting about and working on the stuff that makes no… -
Worldliness
14 May 2012 | 2:41 amIntelligence is the combination of knowing a lot about a little while you also know a little about a lot. Deep domain understanding helps you create analyses. Your ability to understand how a particular system (no matter how small) works allows you apply a confident analysis to new systems you encounter. Once you know everything there is to know about nuclear physics, soccer or the praying mantis, it makes it easier to understand new systems. At the same time, it's impossible to be smart without also being aware of the wider world. That's because it's the random interactions and the… -
The reason the customer is always right...
14 May 2012 | 2:08 amIf you insist that they are wrong, they stop being your customer* (if given half a chance). People spend their time and attention and money in places that make them feel valued. *There's nothing wrong with asking customers who are wrong to leave. Just be sure you do it on purpose. -
Dedicating the merit
13 May 2012 | 2:02 amFor an author, one of the nicest parts of the traditional book is the dedication page. The dedication is far more than an acknowledgement to someone who helped you write the book, it's a permanent signpost, a capstone to the work of a year or more. Even if the person you've dedicated the book to can't read it, the writer benefits from the knowledge that a connection was made and that a memory was preserved. Here's the thing: you can dedicate just about anything. A project, a meeting, a tweet. You don't have to tell anyone but yourself. This blog post, like all the posts before it, has a…
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chrisbrogan.com
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Create a Setting and Connect With Emotions
13 May 2012 | 10:26 pmI recently moved the delivery time of my beloved newsletter to be Sunday morning (well, that’s when it launches here, though my New Zealander and Australian friends all get it on Monday). In the process, I talked to people about sharing this information over breakfast, and with a “second cup of coffee” sometimes. I basically set a scene in the reader’s head that we were having a personal chat over breakfast. Ask yourself this: in trying to reach others for whatever your goal may be, is it facts or emotions that will win them over? Which do you think plays the bigger… -
Nobody Reads Agency Blogs- Or Why You Need Skin in the Game
7 May 2012 | 6:57 amThanks to Jason Falls, I just read this post about how many marketing agencies are closing down their blogs and tweeting and Facebooking instead. “Nobody reads agency blogs, and there are so many out there it’s impossible for people to keep up anyway,” said Sam Weston, director of communications at digital agency Huge. Nobody Reads ANY Blogs- If They’re Boring I’ll tell you without even having to look why nobody reads a blog: because it’s boring. Because it’s poorly written. Because it’s utterly self-referential. Nobody has time to read junk. Why would you? -
Constraints
5 May 2012 | 9:43 amI was at a live performance the other night where Jacq sang and played with Girish, and I had a great conversation with Reggie, the drummer for the night. (I am SO sorry that I don’t know your last name, Reggie.) We talked about the fact that his typical drum kit for events is usually like 30 or so pieces, but that he decided to go minimal for the event. He had a kick drum, a snare, a tom, two cymbals, and a cowbell. What Reggie said was something like this, “I really enjoy this, because it means I really have to use what I have to get the expression I’m aiming for. I… -
Pattern Break
2 May 2012 | 9:17 pmWhen you wake up in the morning, you check your emails, probably from your phone. First thing. Yes? Why? There’s no good answer to why. Even brain surgeons can wait until they’ve done other things before checking in on the world outside of your immediate proximity. So why do you do it? Because it’s a habit, a pattern. Do you read the top tech and marketing blogs? Why? Why do you read this blog? Because you’re subscribed? Are you getting something from it? If no, then why are you still doing it? Twitter and Facebook are hugely pattern-driven. They thrive off the same… -
Where Should You Put Your Content?
30 Apr 2012 | 7:44 amI’ve been asked by subscribers of my personal newsletter how I decide what goes on my blog and what goes into my newsletter. I think the answer differs depending on your strategy, but I’m more than happy to tell you how I view it. I put information that sells on my blog, and information that nurtures in my newsletter. Information that Sells My job, because people seem confused these days as to what exactly it is I do or am selling, is to help mid-sized to larger companies build business (revenue and growth) by improving their use of the human digital channel (social media, email…
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The Content Marketing Revolution
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An Essential Resource for Building and Managing an Online Community [NEW BOOK]
14 May 2012 | 5:49 pmI have always believed that a focus on truly unique and incredibly relevant content, shared in the right channels with the right customers and prospects, was the core to most corporate content marketing strategies. I’ve never focused (as much as I have needed to) on how important building and managing an online community is to an overall content marketing strategy. Two events have opened my eyes to the idea that online communities can take your content marketing and put it on steroids. First, I spoke with Todd Wheatland, VP of Thought Leadership for Kelly Services. Todd showed me how… -
10 Ways to Optimize Your Enewsletter Landing Page
9 May 2012 | 7:19 pmI had the pleasure of presenting at the Enewsletter World workshop this week with Jeanne Jennings and Ryan Dorhn (two amazing, first-class media experts). In one of our breakout sessions, Jeanne broke down 10 specific ways to optimize an enewsletter landing page. In our new social media world, email assets are more important than ever before. As content marketers, it is critical that we develop our audiences and build our channels, with a primary emphasis on email in conjunction with social channels like Facebook and Twitter. Why? Theoretically (and legally) the customer names that sign up to… -
3 Ways to Extract Brand Stories from Inside the Company
30 Apr 2012 | 12:43 pmYou’ve done it. You’ve developed why you need the content, created and vetted the buyer personas, and identified the buying stages where this essential content will have impact on the business. As you start to dig into your content marketing channel and workflow strategy, you realize that you simply don’t have enough brand stories to meet the demands of the content marketing initiative. In many content marketing programs, the core brand stories have to deal with transforming an employee’s, customer’s or stakeholder’s passion and expertise into one or… -
6 Amazing Retail Content Marketing Examples
26 Apr 2012 | 11:18 amIn doing some research for a retail-oriented content marketing workshop, I learned one thing: retail content marketing case studies and examples are hard to find. That said, I was able to find a number of print and digital content marketing examples that impressed me. Here are six of them. …and, if you have some you’d like to share, please add them to the comments below. Lifetime Fitness – Experience Life Experience Life is the lifestyle print and online magazine developed by Lifetime Fitness, the billion dollar health and fitness company with over 100 centers around the… -
Optimizing Social, Search and Content: A Q&A with Lee Odden
18 Apr 2012 | 6:18 amI’ve had the distinct pleasure of knowing Lee Odden for more than four years now. I first started following his blog back in 2007/2008 when we launched the Junta42 Top Content Marketing blogs. During the 11 times we released the top content marketing blogs from around the world, Lee’s blog ranked #1 three times. Quite an accomplishment and a testament to Lee’s expertise around content marketing. Better yet, I’ve had the opportunity to run into Lee at dozens of events around the country (Lee will also be speaking at Content Marketing World). He is truly one of…
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TEDTalks (video)
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TED: David Kelley: How to build your creative confidence - David Kelley (2012)
16 May 2012 | 8:30 amIs your school or workplace divided into "creatives" versus practical people? Yet surely, David Kelley suggests, creativity is not the domain of only a chosen few. Telling stories from his legendary design career and his own life, he offers ways to build the confidence to create... (From The Design Studio session at TED2012, guest-curated by Chee Pearlman and David Rockwell.) -
TED: Jean-Baptiste Michel: The mathematics of history - Jean-Baptiste Michel (2012)
15 May 2012 | 8:00 amWhat can mathematics say about history? According to TED Fellow Jean-Baptiste Michel, quite a lot. From changes to language to the deadliness of wars, he shows how digitized history is just starting to reveal deep underlying patterns. -
TED: Tali Sharot: The optimism bias - Tali Sharot (2012)
14 May 2012 | 8:10 amAre we born to be optimistic, rather than realistic? Tali Sharot shares new research that suggests our brains are wired to look on the bright side -- and how that can be both dangerous and beneficial. -
TED: Renny Gleeson: 404, the story of a page not found - Renny Gleeson (2012)
11 May 2012 | 8:08 amOops! Nobody wants to see the 404: Page Not Found. But as Renny Gleeson shows us, while he runs through a slideshow of creative and funny 404 pages, every error is really a chance to build a better relationship. -
TED: Joshua Foer: Feats of memory anyone can do - Joshua Foer (2012)
10 May 2012 | 8:00 amThere are people who can quickly memorize lists of thousands of numbers, the order of all the cards in a deck (or ten!), and much more. Science writer Joshua Foer describes the technique -- called the memory palace -- and shows off its most remarkable feature: anyone can learn how to use it, including him.
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TED Blog
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Unseen Narratives: The TEDSalon in London
14 May 2012 | 4:43 pmBooks, film, art, food — and science and social issues — were at the center of the talks at the sixth TEDSalon in London. The event took place on May 10 in a packed Unicorn Theatre, with the support of longtime TED partner frog. “Our bodies are made of atoms, but our lives are made of stories”, host and TEDGlobal curator Bruno Giussani said, introducing the event’s theme: “Unseen Narratives.” We are our stories, he suggested, our memories, desires, passions, dramas. Stories are what our imagination projects, what our creativity produces, what helps us… -
Reports from the road: TED Talent Search in Nairobi …
12 May 2012 | 8:38 amAs the TED team travels around the world hosting salons in 14 cities, we’re collecting great local stories. Start with this Storify from Nanjira Sambuli that rounds up tweets from TED@Nairobi: 62% of secondary school students are reading #ShujaazFM. 'It's not about ideas,it's about how you deliver them'. @awelltoldstory this is!— Nanjira Sambuli (@NiNanjira) May 05, 2012 From the blog “Inflation, Stilettos, Pacifiers & An African Dream,” this generous and insightful blog post: For 6 minutes, I learned about the bees that make it possible to have… -
Life on Mars: Fellows Friday with Angelo Vermeulen
11 May 2012 | 8:21 amWhen artist and scientist Angelo Vermeulen (watch his TED Talk) first started weaving together biological and technological systems in his artwork, little did he know he’d someday be asked to consider how to create living ecosystems for future space habitation… Do you consider yourself an artist or scientist first? I usually describe myself as an artist with a background in science, but I feel first and foremost an artist. Artist, biologist, space researcher, and TED Fellow — that’s how I describe myself now, but it changes. It seems when people are confronted with a hybrid… -
Watch Vidal Sassoon’s moving, funny TEDx talk
10 May 2012 | 4:48 pmAt TEDxOxford last September, legendary stylist Vidal Sassoon, who died this week at 84, shared this moving talk about his extraordinary life. As a YouTube commenter writes: “A good way to remember this humble and inspirational man.” Plus! See this talk (and many others from TEDxOxford) illustrated by the Livescribes, a British group of live illustrators. -
Revealed! Speaker lineup for TEDGlobal 2012: Radical Openness
8 May 2012 | 8:23 amToday, we’re thrilled to announce the TEDGlobal 2012 speaker lineup — exploring the theme “Radical Openness.” As the world becomes ever more interconnected, the ways we relate, the means by which we learn about one another and develop mutual understanding, and the rules about what we hide and what we share are changing. That’s the inspiration for the theme — and it’ll be explored by scientists, artists, technologists, students and visionaries from around the globe. Explore the full program guide, or scroll down for the full lineup … TEDGlobal…
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SocialTimes
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Roundtable: Decoding Taste Through Social Graphs
16 May 2012 | 9:18 amNEW YORK – Whether users are shopping, browsing, or talking about their interests online, the success of the social graph depends on how well companies can interpret the results and use them to predict behavior, said experts at the APPNATION NYC Mobile + TV 3.0 Summit in SoHo this afternoon. continued… New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media. -
Casablanca To Stream Free Tonight On Facebook At 7PM
16 May 2012 | 8:31 amCasablanca, the classic 1942 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, turns 70 this year. To celebrate, Warner Bros. will be screening the film for free tonight, Wednesday May 16, 2012, on Facebook. continued… New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media. -
Turner Broadcasting Invests In Funny Or Die To “Give People a Laugh Anywhere, Anytime and on Any Device”
16 May 2012 | 7:24 amToday Turner Broadcasting, home of TBS and Adult Swim, is announcing a strategic partnership with social video site Funny Or Die. Lost Remote’s Cory Bergman reports that Turner has made a minority investment in the company, which was co-founded by Will Ferrell in 2007. continued… New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media. -
Roundtable: The Future of the App Economy
16 May 2012 | 6:13 amNEW YORK – Sustainable revenue was on everyone’s mind at the APPNATION NYC Mobile + TV 3.0 Summit in SoHo this morning. continued… New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media. -
Pinsanity Makes Fun of Pinterest [Video]
16 May 2012 | 4:27 amImagine someone stole your cupcake or scarf, and then pinned it on their wall. Imagine they took your quotes, shoes or gardening ideas and pinned them to a literal wall. Well, you don’t have to, just check out what happens when a Pinterest obsessive goes looney in this new Pinterest video by Comediva. continued… New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
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Firebelly Marketing
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If Pinterest Had Been Invented In The 90s
16 May 2012 | 6:35 amWe’ve look at Facebook as if it were invented in the 90s. We’ve looked at Twitter as if it would have been invented in the 80s. The creative folks at Squirrel-Monkey are back at this again. This week let’s take a look at their video that imagines… …if Pinterest had been invented in the 90s. [Video URL: http://youtu.be/D9ghJZuatSk] -
Infographic: State Of The Internet In 2012
15 May 2012 | 6:47 pmPresented By: OnlineUniversities.com -
Instagram Marketing: 5 Must-Reads
14 May 2012 | 6:35 amHere are your 5 must-reads on Instagram marketing that we don’t want you to miss. The Rise of Instagram in Social Marketing: Tapping Into Consumer Creativity By Andy Parker In just the past few weeks, there has been an explosion of brands jumping on the Instagram bandwagon. Track Social has been following brands’ use of Instagram on Facebook through it’s searchable database of active Facebook apps and we have seen a continuous stream of new Instagram initiatives. 5 Awesome Examples of Instagram Marketing From Real Brands By Lauren Sorenson Mobile photo sharing is now a part of our… -
Infographic: Pinterest Deconstructed For eTailers and Content Marketers
8 May 2012 | 12:00 pmThis infographic created by Maxymiser shares interesting information about Pinterest. It details out the who, what, where, when and how you can use Pinterest. For marketers, the last two sections are particularly intriguing. Are you working on Pinterest for a brand? What has been your experience? -
Facebook Offers: 5 Must-Reads
7 May 2012 | 8:44 amHere are 5 must-reads on Facebook Offers that we don’t want you to miss. Facebook’s “Offers” News Feed Coupons Launch In Self-Serve Beta For Local U.S. Businesses By Josh Constine Today any local U.S. business can start using Facebook’s Offers product – free-to-create coupons that businesses can share to the news feed, and that users can bring to brick-and-mortar stores for redemptions. Facebook launches Offers: Coupons in your News Feed By Emil Protalinski As expected, Facebook has launched its new Offers service, just eight months after killing Facebook Deals. More…
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Marketing Conversation
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The Unique Marketing Qualities of Social Media
10 May 2012 | 4:38 pmThe controversial though common aphorism that “corporations are people” applies well to the social media landscape, where entrepreneurial individuals are branding themselves just as readily as a transnational company. Social media is at its heart a communal arrangement where online entities are judged more for their transparency than they are their content. This bodes well [...] The controversial though common aphorism that “corporations are people” applies well to the social media landscape, where entrepreneurial individuals are branding themselves just as readily as a transnational… -
Mastering The Two-Way Nature Of Social Media Marketing
30 Apr 2012 | 6:47 pmWhen describing the difference between social media marketing and traditional techniques, experts will often focus on the interactive nature that the former offers. With social media, consumers can promote a brand by discussing it and by posting on a product page. Businesses and consumers can communicate back and forth as peers, even within the confines [...] When describing the difference between social media marketing and traditional techniques, experts will often focus on the interactive nature that the former offers. With social media, consumers can promote a brand by discussing it and by… -
The U.S. Census: Then & Now
11 Apr 2012 | 3:19 pmVia: Home Insurance Guide Via: Home Insurance Guide -
How to use Google+ for business extended video tutorial
9 Apr 2012 | 8:40 amI really felt like I needed to rush it through my recent free 30-minute How to Use Google+ for Business webinar, and that made me sad. There is so much ground to cover. So I sat down and used my trusty copy of Camtasia to record just about everything I know in this 80 minutes [...] I really felt like I needed to rush it through my recent free 30-minute How to Use Google+ for Business webinar, and that made me sad. There is so much ground to cover. So I sat down and used my trusty copy of Camtasia to record just about everything I know in this 80 minutes of (obviously unscripted) tutorial on… -
Forget the Bear, Outrun Your Competition
6 Apr 2012 | 7:00 amThe best thing about social media marketing is that you don’t have to be the most popular, have the most followers, or be the most sophisticated, you just have to do a better job than all your direct competitors. You don’t have to be the fastest, the biggest, or the strongest in order to win [...] Image via Wikipedia The best thing about social media marketing is that you don’t have to be the most popular, have the most followers, or be the most sophisticated, you just have to do a better job than all your direct competitors. You don’t have to be the fastest, the…
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MarketingProfs How-To Articles
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12 Ways to Strengthen Your Call to Action
14 May 2012 | 7:00 amCreating a great call to action that gets results can be tricky, unless you have a few tricks up your sleeve. Here are 12 essential tips for optimizing your calls to action to ensure they compel potential customers to act. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
Don't Be a Lead Killer: Three Ways to Keep Sales Leads Alive
11 May 2012 | 7:00 amDespite their critical contribution to a business, sales reps can often get in their own way. Here are three of the biggest ways sales reps kill leads--and three solutions that'll help turn prospects into customers. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
A Zoo Visitor's Guide to Customer Experience and Performance Chain Excellence
10 May 2012 | 7:00 amIf you've ever been to a zoo, you probably used a zoo map during your visit. Those maps provide wonderful visual cues to the customer-experience and performance-chain lessons we can all apply to our businesses. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
Five Must-Have Elements of an Awesome Mobile Marketing Call to Action
9 May 2012 | 7:00 amLike any marketing campaign, a mobile marketing campaign can be well thought out, meticulously planned, and perfectly functional... but still produce limited user engagement. Why? A subpar call to action. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
Pinterest Beyond the Basics: A Marketer's Guide to Successful Pinning
8 May 2012 | 7:00 amCompanies are leaping onto the Pinterest bandwagon, and your brand, too, can benefit from what is now one of the world's largest social networks. Learn what type of content marketers should pin--and how. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
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Be Relevant! Email Marketing Blog
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Don't Forget to Register for the International Email Marketing Summit
14 May 2012 | 1:37 amOn Wednesday Kath Pay and I will be hosting the International Email Marketing Summit, an online email marketing conference that you can attend for free without having to leave your desk. We've got some really amazing speakers and presentations lined up. Here's an overview: Cracking the Code: Keys to Email Creative Success Riaz Kanani, Alchemy Worx Beyond just selling: engaging with your subscribers Arianna Galante, ContactLab Inactive Subscribers: Prospects or Problem? Dela Quist, Alchemy Worx 7 Reasons Why Your Subscribers Don't Respond To Your Email Campaigns Tamara… -
Recommended Reading (weekly)
13 May 2012 | 1:31 amtop 5 strategies to drive relevance -tg tags: tg tw relevance Twitter Buys Personalized Email Marketer RestEngine To Deliver Best Tweet Digests -tg Who said email is dead? Even social media itself can't live without email... just sayin'... tags: tg twitter social_media tw LinkedIn upgrade email effectiveness analysis tags: tg cases 3 steps to revive a boring email newsletter There are three simple steps to freshening up your email newsletter. tags: tg design testing analysis Ten Timeless Persuasive Writing Techniques there are techniques that can make your job easier and your case more… -
Elements Of a Successful Email Campaign [webinar]
10 May 2012 | 4:22 amYesterday I presented a webinar on building effective email campaigns. You can find the recording here: Also, make sure to register for the International Email Marketing Summit on May 16th. You'll get a lot more really practical email marketing tips on how to build effective email marketing campaigns. The timing of the event is geared towards a European audience, so if the hours don't work for you, register anyway as all the sessions will be available on-demand right after the live presentation. Check out the agenda here -
Join me at the International Email Marketing Summit on May 16, 2012
4 May 2012 | 5:31 amRegister now and learn all about the latest trends and best practices in email marketing without leaving your desk! And it won't cost you a penny/eurocent/dollarcent/... :-) Plan to Engage & Brighttalk are proud to present to you the very first edition of the International Email Marketing Summit. Not only will you be inspired by the latest tactics that work but you’ll also take away a list of action items you can implement immediately. Featured speakers Dela Quist, Alchemy Worx Dave Chaffey, Smart Insights Tamara Gielen, Plan to Engage Denise Cox, Newsweaver Riaz Kanani, Alchemy Worx… -
NEW: Tamara Gielen Teaches Live Email Marketing Workshops in Belgium!
19 Apr 2012 | 4:23 amOver the next couple of months I'm organizing a bunch of email marketing workshops in Belgium (in Dutch): check them out! Topics include: Getting started with email marketing Building a quality list Creating effective email campaigns HTML for email Performing an audit of your email marketing strategy The workshops will be taught in Dutch and will be very hands-on, so bring your own laptops!! More info: www.emailmarketingworkshop.be
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Ogilvy Blog Aggregator
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Yahoo's CEO And The Modern Believability Crisis
15 May 2012 | 4:02 pmI don't actually have a degree in Irish Poetry. I share this because recently at a few events I may have mistakenly mentioned that I did. See, I studied English literature at Emory University in the late 90s. While there, I took exactly two elective classes specifically on Irish literature and as most people who study that field already know - Emory has one of the best collections of Irish literature and poetry in the world. So I did focus on Irish Poetry, but the degree that I earned in 1997 was a BA in English Literature. Why am I telling you all this? Well, you can hardly blame me for… -
Google’s mobile minefield
15 May 2012 | 6:21 amWhen the media landscape changes, there are inevitably casualties. The once mighty print publishers have learnt that lesson to their cost as they struggle to manage the transition from print pounds to digital pennies. The media landscape is changing once more and the existing players are heading for a shake up. As we head from a digital landscape dominated by PCs to one controlled by mobile, the company with the most to lose is Google. Google may be massive in online search – excluding China it has around 90% of the market and in Europe (excluding Russia) the figure is closer to 98%– but… -
Game Change – How TV stole Film’s Spotlight
15 May 2012 | 2:14 amIn a belated – and very un-zeitgeisty – move, Zeitgeist only got around to seeing HBO’s Game Change this past weekend. The film, which first aired in the US in March, is based on the book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. While the film has attracted its fair share of controversy, it has been deemed “very accurate” by those on the campaign trail at the time. Zeitgeist thoroughly enjoyed it; HBO had done it again. HBO have had a remarkable run of success, producing some of the most daring, innovative and enjoyable TV shows of the past 20 years, from Curb Your Enthusiasm and Dexter… -
The Quality of the Conversation on Facebook Matters
14 May 2012 | 8:51 amLast September Michael Scissons, president-CEO of Syncapse, used data to reveal that “Engagement on the Facebook walls of leading brands is down 22%.” He plotted engagement metrics on the top 300 brand pages. His hypothesis is that brands are not delivering long term value in favor of quick bumps from overuse of coupons and offers. More recently the Facebook Timeline innovations seemed to improve overall engagement. According to Simply Measured, the change brought a 14% Increase in Fan Engagement. The format and the much industry-discussed launch called for lots more pictures and video… -
THIS IS ANALOGUE LONDON. CALLING AT ALL STATIONS TO NOTTING HILL.
14 May 2012 | 4:10 amIt’s nice to see that ambient media is back. I haven’t encountered a branded tube train for years. I applaud this return to retro, late ’90′s media innovation. Branded curry lids and urinal stickers will be this summer’s media planning must-haves. But then, your options are limited with these unconnected audiences. So, hop on board the DigitalUK train, currently traversing the Central Line, and ride along the future of 1010100011110 broadcasting, which hammered its final nail in the analogue coffin at the end of last month. However, the arrival of the train has…
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She-conomy
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Do Women Talk Themselves Out of a Job?
27 Apr 2012 | 9:03 amI talk a great deal about how few women there are in certain professional roles and how this affects marketing. For instance only 3% of creative directors at US ad agencies are women, resulting in advertising that does not communicate effectively with the female audience. And with only 25% of IT jobs being held by women we can only assume that the digital world is heading down the same path. But Tara Mohr, author of “10 Rules for Brilliant Women,” suggests that women could be partly responsible for the low numbers, simply due to the way we talk. Mohr recently appeared on two… -
Fewer Women in Tech Impacts Marketing to Women
5 Apr 2012 | 11:20 pmAs the world rapidly becomes more and more digital, the technology will continue to define products and services as well has how they are marketed. The low number of females being involved as leaders or during the conceptual and developmental processes will surely result in delivering less marketable products and services for women. And similar to the disproportionate number of female creative directors within the advertising industry, this will impair connecting effectively with the very powerful and viable female audience. Although 3 of the 10 best-paying jobs for women are in the tech… -
When Marketing to Women, Citibank® Climbs to the Top
23 Mar 2012 | 6:58 amI love this rock climbing Citibank commercial! But every time I watched it, I kept wondering: Is it REAL?, and WHO in the world is singing that song? So, I finally looked it up. Yes, it is real. It’s filmed on a rock called “Ancient Art.” Located just outside of Moab, Utah, the single rock formation is shaped from hundreds of years of wind blowing sand across and around the spire in the desert. The commercial features two real-life professional climbers: Katie Brown and Alex Honnold. They are not “actors” nor “stunt” people. They’re both accomplished in the sport of… -
Guys, When Marketing to the Female, Don’t Dumb it Down for Women, Man Up For Men
20 Mar 2012 | 9:13 amKathy Oneto, Vice President of Brand Strategy at Anthem Worldwide will be speaking at the M2W (Marketing to Women) Conference in Chicago in late April. You do not want to miss it. She will be presenting findings from a study recently conducted by Anthem about: Marketing to the True Motivations of 3 Genrations of Women Below is one of the thought provoking papers she has drafted from the findings, titled “Who’s ‘Manning’ the House: Bridging the Gender Divide,” that she was willing to share exclusivly with us. In it Kathy explores the possibility that to solve… -
Marketers, 80 Percent of Pinterest Users Are Female. Is Your Brand There?
15 Mar 2012 | 1:21 amPinterest, the incredibly popular online bulletin board/scrapbook/inspiration organizer now has more than 11 million unique monthly users. And according to recent numbers from Internet-monitoring firm comScore, it has more than doubled its audience over the past six months. So, who’s using it? You guessed it. WOMEN. Eighty percent of Pinterest users are female and they are spending more time on there than Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ combined. The rapid growth can certainly be attributed somewhat to a higher acceptance of social networks now. But keep in mind, there are thousands of…
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Online Marketing Blog
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Interview: The Future of Cloud Marketing Software with Vocus CMO Jason Jue
16 May 2012 | 4:50 amAt TopRank Online Marketing, we are fortunate to provide consulting to quite a few innovative B2B companies that serve other marketers. A great example of that is PRWeb and parent company, Vocus, both long standing clients. In late 2011 Vocus welcomed Jason Jue as Chief Marketing Officer. As Vocus & PRWeb’s Account Manager at TopRank, I was keenly interested in getting to know Jason better and learning his plans for the future – and what better way than through an interview for all readers of Online Marketing Blog to see? In this interview Jason talks about the undeniable… -
Channel Your Internal Marketing Warrior: 4 Tips for Strengthening Your Marketing Plan
15 May 2012 | 3:25 amRelease Your Internal Marketing Warrior In March of this year I made a decision: I wanted to get healthier. The problem I have always faced is that I didn’t see the point of exercise, just for the sake of exercise. Treadmills and stationary bicycles never did much for me, but I was looking for a way to regain some focus and start down a healthier path. About a month ago I spoke with my good friend Ali who had recently started a training program to become a yoga instructor. She convinced me to attend a class with her and I even though I’ve done yoga before, this was an entirely new… -
5 Ways to Optimize the Business Value of Attending Conferences
14 May 2012 | 9:37 amAre you optimizing your conference experience? TopRank receives a lot of value from having me speak at conferences but you don’t have to be a speaker to realize a positive return from events. Small, large online or offline, there are numerous ways to optimize and maximize your return on conference involvment both in the short and long term. If your company is considering whether to send you to events because of uncertain return or benefits, show them the following list. In fact, if I were running a conference, I’d make sure these tips are shared with attendees, sponsors and… -
Online Marketing News: Take Action on Social Data, LinkedIn Gets the Scoop, Google Reigns Supreme, Google & Big Data for SEO
11 May 2012 | 3:35 amActionable Social Analytics This recent infographic by awareness takes a dive into social analytics. In an era where virtually every brand is online, it is essential that action is being taken off of the data we are collecting from social networks. This infographic provides not only some of the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that your company should be tracking, but how to calculate these numbers as well. Examples of the KPI’s your company should be tracking: Brand Awareness & Reputation Marketing Program Effectiveness Lead Generation Effectiveness Use LinkedIn to Get Juicy… -
Holistic Optimization Across the Sales Cycle: Optimize Speaking Events May & June
10 May 2012 | 8:08 amWhen you have a business that relies on attracting new business online the sheer volume of options can be confusing. Should offline advertising efforts transfer to online? Maybe email marketing? What about SEO or the hot topic, social media? So much focus is placed on tactics and channels, that a lot of misplaced digital marketing budget gets wasted or spent inefficiently. To bring some clarity to the myriad online marketing options available, I think it’s worth marketers taking a holistic approach that starts with an essential understanding of goals and customers. Who are your best…
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RefreshWeb
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Publishers’ Apps Are DOA: Why Publishers Don’t Like Apps
7 May 2012 | 1:24 pmIf, like me, you’ve got old school media experience, this article from TechnologyReview.com explains the false start and abrupt stop we’ve seen in mobile apps for print publications. It’s very simple: users expect interactivity from digital pubs, and it’s a lot harder than they thought. Why Publishers Don’t Like Apps The future of media on mobile devices isn’t with applications but with the Web. MONDAY, MAY 7, 2012 BY JASON PONTIN -
Review Site Secrets – Don’t Get Started Without Them!
12 Mar 2012 | 3:03 pmEveryone knows reviews are a big deal for businesses, whether they’re huge online retailers or the little restaurant down the street. Whether you love them or hate them, they’re something marketers have to deal with from time to time. I don’t think I’ve ever met with a client who wasn’t at least a little wary of being open to reviews from any and every customer they’ve ever had. They have lots of questions about the process, and there are some common issues that they might encounter. I’ll give you some of the most important things nobody tells you… -
Lots of Facebook News for B2B Marketers
7 Mar 2012 | 3:40 pmJust when you thought you were through with your company Facebook page…the Social Media Examiner reports 7 big new changes you need to know. At least the designers will be happy to have some more real estate: the Profile picture can now be up to 850 pixels wide. No more parade of little pictures! Take time to check out all the new toys, but be sure to read thoroughly…Facebook both gives and takes away. For example, they will not allow a call to action in your Profile photo. But they will now let you pin a picture to the top for up to a week. -
B2B Afraid, B2B Very Afraid?
1 Feb 2012 | 10:12 amDespite what you might read, the rosy depictions of B2B tightly integrating social media marketing simply aren’t true. Penton Marketing Services just did a study of 5000 B2B marketers, and this statistic popped out: 81% of B2B Marketers find online marketing moderately to extremely challenging Read more: http://budurl.com/B2BMarketers Well, who wouldn’t be challenged? There’s SEO and PPC. There’s managing the Twitterverse, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, blogging, plus monitoring your competitors and their key employees on all of the above. And on all the industry blogs… -
Welcome New Energy In The Market
28 Jan 2012 | 5:21 pmIn the world of B2B marketing, the fourth quarter is like a wind-up toy slowly coming to a halt. The third quarter is when marketers are busy, priming the sales pipeline. If the deal’s not done by Thanksgiving, it’s probably not happening…unless your client suddenly needs to empty out their 2011 budget. There’s plenty of discussion about 2012 budgets in Q4, but it’s a rare company that can commit to start spending in January. So, it was a pleasant surprise this past week to be super busy working on proposals and projects. I think some consistently positive…
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Marketing Interactions
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Robotic Email Campaigns Miss the Point
16 May 2012 | 7:33 amIn addition to learning that lead generation is the top marketing priority for tech marketers, IDC's 2012 Tech Marketing Barometer Study asked them about their perceived effectiveness at lead nurturing. In reponse to the 22% who said they use regular nurturing touches geared to buying stages that include more than email and web-based multi-step campaigns, Kathleen Schaub, VP-research, CMO Advisory Service at IDC, said: “I don't believe this, or people don't understand what nurturing means,” Schaub said. “I talk to a lot of our clients and people in the industry, and I… -
Can B2B Marketers Become Content Whisperers?
13 May 2012 | 2:30 pmOne of the mandates bandied about lately is that B2B marketers need to become listeners. They should set up listening posts and they must listen first, before launching marketing programs. You're told listening is a requisite for establishing 2-way dialogue and sustaining relationships across the buying process. If you've "listened" to all of this, then you know that listening informs (or should) how marketers respond to prospects' online behavior. Anyone who's married or in a relationship can relate to "listening." Trust me, I've been married to a… -
Content Strategy Must Reach Beyond Marketing
6 May 2012 | 3:50 pmArguably, content strategy is most often thought of as a marketing application. That's a great start, but it doesn't do the practice justice. In fact, that view tends to cause siloed efforts and limit the potential of content strategy. Content is a part of everything a business does in regards to communicating with prospects, customers, and the industries their offerings serve. Content is anything that says something about your company, brand, expertise, or point of view that forms an impression, including: email video articles white papers blog posts blog comments conversations… -
B2B Content Strategy Should Never Be a Wallflower
2 May 2012 | 12:30 pmA B2B content marketing strategy should never be contained in a silo. First of all, to be literal, a silo is a dugout, cave or shelter for grain. Secondly, it denotes walls and barriers that keep its contents apart from everything else. A B2B content marketing strategy must lead somewhere. It should be based on a continuum that matches the needs of prospects and customers wherever they may be in the experience at any time. The issue I see often, is that content marketing is an add-on to everything else that marketers have on their plates. It's viewed as a campaign, a project or a… -
Designing Calls to Action for B2B Marketing Content
26 Apr 2012 | 3:27 pmDuring my keynote at the B2B Content 2 Conversion conference on Tuesday, one of the questions the audience asked was about a slide I used when discussing how to create a content flow. To sum it up, I suggested that each "touch" should be based on three components: The question your content will answer for a persona. The answer to the question that becomes the content asset. A call to action (CTA) I was asked to elaborate on what I meant by a call to action. The normal response to the "call to action" mandate is inserting a "have a sales rep call me" or some other…
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Andy Sernovitz | Damn, I Wish I\'d Thought of That!
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You put the Word of Mouth Marketing book on the best-seller list
16 May 2012 | 1:00 pmMy book, Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking, had a big week last week: #6 New York Times Bestseller #1 Amazon Business Bestseller #1 USA TODAY Money Bestseller #1 B&N.com Bestseller Thank you, thank you, thank you. It’s a nice compliment for the book, but it says something bigger about the word of mouth movement. This is more than marketing, it’s a philosophy that spans all businesses and all industries. This is about earning the respect and recommendation of our customers. It’s about building a trust, loyalty, and love that will carry the… -
A name with a bug, part 2
16 May 2012 | 7:00 amLast week we had an amazing conference called the Word of Mouth Crash Course. It was a fantastic day, the third in a series. But it wasn’t as big as we expected, and we discovered a critical reason why: We changed the name of the event — it used to be called Word of Mouth Supergenius — without any testing. Here’s what happened — people thought that it was an online course instead of a live conference. The word course implied online training to many people. We also failed to use certain trigger words that indicate that something is a live event: Summit, Expo,… -
A name with a bug, part 1
15 May 2012 | 7:00 amWe were going to launch a site called WordofMouthMarketing.org. During the few months we were planning it, everyone kept saying WordofMouth.org — they kept dropping the word marketing. Even employees and contractors who were working on the project. That was a problem. If our own team couldn’t get the name right, how would our customers find the site? So we killed the project until we could get ownership of WordofMouth.org. It was incredibly lucky that we caught the problem before we launched. We would have sent all of our confused customers to someone else’s site. Lesson:… -
Give them an experience they’ll never stop talking about — and a reminder to re-start the talk
14 May 2012 | 7:00 amThe Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, TX invites school and scout groups to spend the night camping in the zoo. It’s an amazing behind-the-scenes experience. More that just the camping, which is remarkable, you also get to feed a giraffe, pet a rhino, and hold a giant cockroach. Just as important: Every kid gets a free shirt with the Zoo Snooze logo on it. And everyone other kid in school finds out about the Zoo every time the shirt is worn. (And because it was a Cub Scout trip, dozens of kids in the same grade all have the shirt.) Lesson: Don’t just think about the experience. Think… -
What’s the simplest thing you can do to create a remarkable experience?
13 May 2012 | 7:00 amSubway gave us a kids meal in this nice reusable bag. We talked about it, we told people, we kept it, and we tell more people when our daughter carries it around. Probably cost them 30 cents — which is about 10 cents more than a throw-away box. But the conversations it starts are priceless word of mouth advertising moments.
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Cracking the Code of Internet Marketing Strategies
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Search Engine Marketing: ROI vs. Profits
6 May 2012 | 11:20 pmIn SEM (Search Engine Marketing) ROI is a safer metric, at the end of the day, than profit. The pros of going with ROI outweigh profit in the immediacy. Profit is almost always the primary goal in the long term, but marketers have a lot more control over ROI so programs are designed around this KPI first. This is a guest post from my good friend David Chung, who used to work with me in Search Marketing and now works for Google in Korea: Everyone’s getting smarter. Everything’s getting smarter, too. I recently swapped out my Android mobile device for a traditional flip phone and it took… -
9 Keys to Increase Website Conversion Rate and Turn Visitors into Customers
20 Jul 2011 | 12:28 amIf you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you might remember a post I wrote recently called Why Attention is the New Currency Online. When I wrote it, I had been working to create a process to audit website conversions. Ultimately it turned into an article about capturing attention online because without attention there would be nobody looking at your links, images, videos and compelling content. And without people reading your content, you certainly won’t get any clicks. When people read your content online, links and clicks follow. However; you don’t want just any… -
Beyond Search: Social Customer, Social Commerce, Social Media
1 Jul 2011 | 2:15 amIt seems as if all the talk in web marketing these days center on algorithm updates, social signals, mobile and display opportunities. Marketers and brands are eager to make adjustments trying new strategies to drive sales and increase profits. I think it’s important to know the difference between a sales channel and how sales are made. Search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO) and social media are all channels to engage and carry out your message with prospects and customers. Simply put, the medium is not the message. It’s a venue for you to generate demand… -
Learn to Extract Marketing Insights from Data
15 Jun 2011 | 2:00 amIn working with many smart business people and analysts in the past few months, I came to appreciate the ease of accessing web analytics. Who knew that math and data would become a main revenue driving force for businesses big and small? Every business is fast becoming a data-generating machine. From upstream to downstream, data rewards us with actionable insights to make profitable decisions via controlled experiments allowing us to advance our business models. And yet, this is just the beginning as the number of people connected to the web continues to grow, so too does the vast amount of… -
A Holistic Approach to Marketing: Integrating Social, Search and People
29 Apr 2011 | 1:02 amAs the dust begins to settle on the endless possibilities of social media, marketers are gearing up for the next wave of digital growth. From Google’s report on mobile is finally making an impact on search to how social media is used by 25% of the companies worldwide, I’ve always focused on opportunities that align with business objectives. Especially if there is a win win situation for both consumers and brands. As the demand for businesses to be more transparent and social media becomes mainstream so has the technology that supports it. This is happening both in B2C (business…
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Marketing Donut feed
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How to integrate email and mobile marketing
16 May 2012 | 3:01 amOver the past year, the marketing world has seen mobile become a key tool for marketers with the channel being further integrated with others, such as email. With this in mind, marketers must ensure that their email campaigns are formatted so they can be easily viewed on mobile devices, including smartphones and now tablets. A recent review by Forrester found that only 4% of email campaigns broadcasted had a deliberate consideration as to how the email would render on a mobile device. Much more needs to be done with mobile in mind so that marketers aren’t missing some fantastic… -
How to use website analytics without breaking the law
14 May 2012 | 7:59 amAre you interested in how many people visit your website, how they get there and what they view? I bet you are, we all are. The intelligence provided to us by solutions such as Google Analytics is incredibly important in building a relevant, focused resource that turns website visitors into buyers. However, from 26 May 2012, UK businesses using the cookies that enable us to track this valuable marketing information will be breaking the law. Full details of the changes and implications are detailed in the IT Donut Cookie Law Guide. If you’ve not already prepared your website for the changes… -
Affordable advertising for small businesses
14 May 2012 | 2:54 amThe majority of small businesses are owned and operated by a single person with a very limited amount of capital. In fact, many small business owners start their firms with life savings. So, money for advertising is in short supply. However, there are cost-effective ways for SMEs to promote their products and services. Here are six back-to-basics advertising ideas for small firms: 1. Special offers Sites like Grouponallow small firms to offer coupons and discounts. Another way to spread the word about special offers is to distribute leaflets in your local area, either door-to-door or by… -
Prisk unveils the Enterprising Britain 2012 Award
11 May 2012 | 2:36 amThe business and enterprise minister Mark Prisk has announced a new competition to find the most enterprising place in Britain. He is calling on entrepreneurs from across the UK to nominate their town, city or region — asking them to demonstrate why their area is a hotspot for innovation and show how it supports small businesses, entrepreneurs and start-ups. The Enterprising Britain Award will also recognise the organisation that best promotes enterprise and the body that is most successful in encouraging businesses to export. Mark Prisk said: “We want to make 2012 the year of enterprise. -
Goldman Sachs and UCL offer training for established small businesses
11 May 2012 | 2:35 amUCL (University College London) has announced the dates for its next Small Business programme — from September to December 2012 in London. The 10,000 small businesses (10ksb) programme is funded by the Goldman Sachs Foundation and is delivered by a network of industry experts at UCL. The training programme has been specifically developed for established SMEs and social enterprises. It aims to help them expand through training and one-on-one support from experts in entrepreneurial learning. The next programme will run from September 2012 and is free to successful applicants. Eligible…
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DanoSongs.com Free Music Downloads
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Ambient Jazz House Background Music | Little Island
8 May 2012 | 12:49 pmCíes Islands in Galicia (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Hi, here is a track called Little Island in an interesting style that was new to me – jazz house or “nu jazz” music. This one starts out with very light and relaxing keys and jazz guitar- almost ambient. Then it gets going after about one minute with some electric guitar comping and house beats. “Our knowledge is a little island in a great ocean of nonknowledge.” - Isaac Bashevis Singer Free to use with credit. $10 US per mp3 track without credit or buy the package. To download MP3s right click on… -
Royalty Free Hard Rock 150 bpm! Megacosm
29 Apr 2012 | 4:02 amWide-lightening (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Megacosm is an insane hard rock track at 150 beats per minute. However, it is unique because of the heavy quirky electronic drum and bass beats – and overlaying ambient space sounds. You’ll also hear plenty of distorted guitar and bass with effects. I had allot of fun with this one. As a side note, I was brainstorming titles for this track and I came upon an intriguing quote from someone named Eden Ahbez. I am a being of Heaven and Earth, of thunder and lightning, of rain and wind, of the galaxies. - Eden Ahbez It turns out Eden… -
New Brazilian House Music | Luz Solar Sutil | Light and Easy Listening
12 Apr 2012 | 12:59 pmArtist impression of Solar Probe Plus observing the Sun (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Hi, here is a track in the style of “Brazilian House” which is new to me – so I enjoyed playing around with fresh rhythms and sounds. I call the piece “Luz Solar Sutil” and it has a light, flowing feeling with some minimal electronic beats. The sun is new each day. – Heraclitus New Brazilian House Music: Luz Solar Sutil.mp3 Free to use with credit. $10 US per mp3 track without credit. To download MP3s right click on the link, choose ‘Save Target As…’ Trouble… -
New Stock World Music | On Air and Dew
11 Mar 2012 | 11:51 amImage via Wikipedia Hello, I’ve been working on this stock world music piece for a while and I call it “On Air and Dew”. Also, I have been getting allot of requests for a large package of music at a discount, that people can download all at once and not have to credit me. So I am happy to introduce the 77 Royalty Free Music MP3 Tracks package : ) Also, Kevin MacLeod at Incompetech just released a nice collection of somber organ music. His terms are similar to mine. As usual, you are free to use “On Air and Dew” if you credit me. If you donate $10 per song or… -
Royalty Free Music for Games Music | 8 bit Chiptunes Style | Realm of Zeltroz
12 Feb 2012 | 12:30 pmImage via Wikipedia Hi, this week I was inspired by the classic chiptunes style of game music to create a mix called Realm of Zeltroz for indie game developers. So I came up with my own spin on the genre and added some beats behind 8 bit sounds. You can use this as a soundtrack for your mobile iphone/android or ipad app, flash or other online video game. Most developers just credit me as composer under the about or credits section on the opening screen. You can stream the track to listen and then download this MP3 for free to try out in your game. You only need to credit or donate when…
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VideoSift.com
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Hooters Girl Can Really Hula Hoop
16 May 2012 | 12:19 pmYouTube Description: Think you have hooping skills? Fairfax, VA Hooters Girl, Heather, takes hula hooping to a whole new level! -
Studio Killers - Eros and Apollo
16 May 2012 | 11:59 am -
Green Day Fan Gets to Play Guitar at Their Concert
16 May 2012 | 6:18 amA dream come true for a Green Day fan as he gets to play "Jesus of Suburbia" in Chicago with the group. This kid was awesome! -
Radiohead ~ Treefingers
16 May 2012 | 5:03 am“Treefingers” will hands down be one of the biggest surprises on Kid A. It has no real melody and is instrumental. One may think that Synthesizers were used to make the song, but as Ed pointed out in an interview, it was done all on guitar. Thom recorded Ed playing guitar for about 10 minutes and then cut and paste the recording in his sampler. ~http://www.greenplastic.com/radiohead-lyrics/kid-a/treefingers/ -
Epic Tea Time with Alan Rickman
16 May 2012 | 12:23 amThou shalt not disturb Alan Rickman whilst he drinks tea.
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Altsounds
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Listen: Me & This Army’s new single 'You' // AltSounds Exclusive
16 May 2012 | 8:43 amThe newest single from the Alternative upstarts, Me and This Army, 'You' is a heart racing honorarium to the broken hearted. Front woman, Courtney Hargrove’s voice evokes raw emotion on this follow up to the trio’s debut EP ‘Souls’ which they released independently in 2010. Full of power and passion, the new single is sure to recruit some new fans to Me and This Army’s ranks. http://soundcloud.com/the-legion-media-group/me-and-this-army-you For more information, check out Me & This Army Lisa Bougart Attached Thumbnails -
Ray Wylie Hubbard touring in support of 'Grifter's Hymnal' CD
16 May 2012 | 8:38 amTexas troubadour Ray Wylie Hubbard will begin his Spring/Summer tour in support of his new album, The Grifter’s Hymnal, currently at #2 on the Americana Music Association’s radio chart, on May 31st in Seattle. Whether you’re short on time due to an impending apocalypse or simply need a tidy introduction to bring you up to speed on Texas troubadour Ray Wylie Hubbard, the opening track on The Grifter’s Hymnal, “Coricidin Bottle,” tells you everything you need to know in just under two minutes. And what it tells you about Ray Wylie Hubbard — who will shortly head out on the road… -
Watch: White Light Parade video for 'Want You to Know'
16 May 2012 | 8:34 amBradford’s finest White Light Parade return after a two year absence with a blistering new single ‘Want You To Know’ on July 2nd through Split Records. The last couple of years have been a bit of a rollercoaster for White Light Parade. Previous singles, ‘Wait For The Weekend’ and ‘Turning All The Lights Down’ won support from XFM and Radio 1’s Huw Stephens. They toured with Kasabian, Fightstar, Reverend And The Makers, and The Subways, received great praise for their debut album ‘House Of Commons’ and to cap it all their Mick Jones-channeling ‘Riot In The City’ was… -
Spotifried Issue #3 - My Morning Journey #1
16 May 2012 | 8:14 am* Artwork is one of my originals, inspired by one of the songs on today's playlist, 'Sharks and Danger' by Alexisonfire. Playlists are everywhere at the moment. Everyone is putting together a collection of songs to play to somebody else. I decided to then take that a slightly different way and use the playlist as a means of documenting what music I am listening to, most specifically on my way to the office in the morning. As I move from train to train and walk the streets of New York City, these are the jams that are keeping me company. My musical taste is eclectic so expect a bit of… -
Watch Lauden Swain's 'Eskimo' new Video
16 May 2012 | 7:58 amLouden Swain makes music best described as a combo platter of classic rock, indie pop, and alternative. That makes for a sound both loud and approachable, one that can blow your hair back even as it touches your heart. Fronted by lead singer and actor Rob Benedict, Louden Swain also includes bassist Mike Borja, guitarist Billy Moran and drummer Stephen Norton. The band released its fourth full-length recording – Eskimo, in January 2012 on their own 3 Car Wreckords label. Shot in several well known locations across Southern California in early April, the video tells the story of finding…
