Everyone loves a brightly-colored, fact-spewing infographic, but is there a seedy business lurking behind all those eye-catching fact explosions? Reddit explores, and BuzzFeed puts the information in a infographic (2.0 investigative journalism, people). Seedy or not, what sort of trivia-hating person doesn’t love an infographic? Full story at BuzzFeed. We still love infographics. Permalink | Leave a comment »
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Most Topular Stories
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The truth about infographics [infographic]
Holy Kaw!2 Sep 2010 | 11:29 am -
One Big Traffic Secret
chrisbrogan.com2 Sep 2010 | 11:30 amI’ll tell you one thing I know: the more you post, the more traffic you get. It’s helpful if the stuff you post is worth something. I try hard to make that always the case. Others don’t try as hard, and yet, their traffic climbs when they post more stuff. You can reply in the comments and tell me that you’d rather put out great stuff once a month, or once a week, or whenever the great stuff mood strikes you. That means you didn’t really read the first sentence of this post. I’m not saying what you should do. I’m not saying what’s better or… -
Better than nothing (is harder than you think)
Seth Godin2 Sep 2010 | 2:36 amMost of the time, particulary in b2b and luxury sales, the competition is nothing. "I will buy this treat or I will buy nothing, because I don't really need anything." "I will buy your consulting services, or I'll continue doing what I'm doing now on that front, which is nothing." None of the above. "I will vote for you or I'll do what I usually do, which is not vote." "I'll hire you or I'll hire no one." While you think your competition is that woman across town, it's probably apathy, sitting still, ignoring the problem... nothing. Stop worrying so much about comparing yourself to every… -
How to Get Hired on the Problogger Job Board
ProBlogger Blog Tips2 Sep 2010 | 6:58 amGuest Post by Ross Hudgens of Billy.com. Making money as a freelance content writer isn’t easy. If you aren’t running your own blog or website, turning content into cash can be a difficult thing. But there’s opportunity out there – you just have to try a little harder than normal to find it. One of the best places to look is the Problogger job board. Here, potential employers are looking for people like you – writers serious about their craft, with a strong content-creation skillset that often develops from reading a website like this. Because of these potential employer’s high… -
The 10 Essential Ingredients of Successful Sales Pages
Copyblogger1 Sep 2010 | 7:12 amWhen you see dozens of copywriting formulas promising “the perfect sales page,” how do you know which ones to trust? After all, each formula seems to have a successful direct sales superstar behind it, and each one looks like a solid plan. What do you do in the face of these wildly different sales letter styles? The first step is to realize that copywriting is more than any one “formula” — it’s an exercise in communication and persuasion. Just like a recipe, different formats will give you different results. The recipe you’re looking for will depend…
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Holy Kaw!
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The truth about infographics [infographic]
2 Sep 2010 | 11:29 amEveryone loves a brightly-colored, fact-spewing infographic, but is there a seedy business lurking behind all those eye-catching fact explosions? Reddit explores, and BuzzFeed puts the information in a infographic (2.0 investigative journalism, people). Seedy or not, what sort of trivia-hating person doesn’t love an infographic? Full story at BuzzFeed. We still love infographics. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Snoop Dogg fights cybercrime, fo shizzle
2 Sep 2010 | 11:25 amTo show his grave distaste for crime of the cyber kind, Snoop has partnered with Norton For the “Hack is Wack” Cybercrime Rap Contest, which begins today and runs until 11:59pm ET on September 30, 2010. Contestants are encouraged to rap about notorious botnets, drive-by-downloads, keystroke loggers, malware and rogue security software. The music video can be up to two minutes in length, and will be judged based on originality, creativity and how well rappers convey the anti-cybercrime message. Full story at Discovery News. More news from Discovery Communications. Permalink | Leave… -
Starving flies stay awake longer
2 Sep 2010 | 10:35 amBeing hungry may provide a way to stay awake without feeling groggy or mentally challenged, according to new research with fruit flies. Like humans and rats, fruit flies cannot survive without sleep. But in a line of flies engineered to be sensitive to sleep deprivation, starvation nearly tripled the amount of time they could survive without sleep. Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis found that starvation allows the need for nourishment to push aside the need for sleep. Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons Permalink |… -
Ancient beer served with free antibiotic
2 Sep 2010 | 10:32 amA chemical analysis of the bones of ancient Nubians (above) shows that they were regularly consuming tetracycline, most likely in their beer. The finding by researchers at Emory University is the strongest evidence yet that the art of making antibiotics, which officially dates to the discovery of penicillin in 1928, was common practice nearly 2,000 years ago. Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. Photo credit: Emory University Permalink | Leave a comment » -
5 DIY household repairs
2 Sep 2010 | 10:21 amOver time, it's only natural that something in your house will need upkeep and/or repair; it's just one of the joys that come with home ownership. Doing small repairs around your home can save you tons of time and money, assuming you already have access to everything you'll need. Sure, everyone has their go-to home tool kit, but for these painless projects all you need is aluminum foil, a clothing iron and a little bit of glue. Reattach a Loose Tile: Place a sheet of aluminum foil over the tile to protect it from the direct heat. Turn your iron to high and place it directly on the foil over…
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chrisbrogan.com
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One Big Traffic Secret
2 Sep 2010 | 11:30 amI’ll tell you one thing I know: the more you post, the more traffic you get. It’s helpful if the stuff you post is worth something. I try hard to make that always the case. Others don’t try as hard, and yet, their traffic climbs when they post more stuff. You can reply in the comments and tell me that you’d rather put out great stuff once a month, or once a week, or whenever the great stuff mood strikes you. That means you didn’t really read the first sentence of this post. I’m not saying what you should do. I’m not saying what’s better or… -
How to Grow Traffic to Your Blog
2 Sep 2010 | 1:30 amOf all topics, this is one of the perennials. People want more traffic, more attention, more awareness to their blog. It’s fair. We work hard on our blogs. We want more attention and traffic. If your business depends on volume, this is especially important (for instance, if you’re using ads). Getting traffic is a tricky business, and it requires a lot of experimentation. I’ll tell you what’s worked for me, so far, and I’ll tell you what you might try. Maybe others will educate us both in the comments on their best methods. Great Titles Help The first few seconds… -
Why Ping Is a Stepping Stone to Social Commerce
1 Sep 2010 | 6:17 pmI am a huge fan of Om Malik. I just read his post on Apple’s Ping service, and have a difference of opinion. Om points out that it’s great that Apple is finally adding a social layer to their iTunes store. He goes on to mention that it’s about time, because Amazon has done a great job with this, and has enabled social commerce like letting bloggers become affiliates to sell products that Amazon offers (I am an Amazon affiliate, for instance). But what I might have missed in the post was whether Ping was going to enable me to sell Apple’s wares in some better way, or… -
Selling Wool or Yarn
1 Sep 2010 | 11:30 amI had a strange dream last night, but oddly, it had a lesson in it. I dreamed that I went to a place to sell wool. There was one buyer. They decided whether my product was worth buying. Then, they turned it into yarn. They carded it, they dyed it, they put it on different spools and sold it to hundreds of people. Which business is harder? In some ways, selling wool is harder. I have to convince one person instead of several. In other ways, selling yarn is harder. I need to sell lots of it to a lot of varied people to make it worth it. And yet, both require sales. Both require trust. Both… -
Before You Seek Business
1 Sep 2010 | 1:30 amIn a previous post, I talked about how to put your small business on the web. Before you go out and start looking for business, you might want to take a look around your site to see if it’s easy to understand what business you hope to accomplish. There’s a lot your blog does or doesn’t do to help you sell you or your product. Let’s look at it. Obvious Call to Action When someone lands on your site for the first time, is there an obvious call to action? For instance, look at some of these Genesis child themes (affiliate link). Look at Agency. It has an obvious button:…
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Seth Godin
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Better than nothing (is harder than you think)
2 Sep 2010 | 2:36 amMost of the time, particulary in b2b and luxury sales, the competition is nothing. "I will buy this treat or I will buy nothing, because I don't really need anything." "I will buy your consulting services, or I'll continue doing what I'm doing now on that front, which is nothing." None of the above. "I will vote for you or I'll do what I usually do, which is not vote." "I'll hire you or I'll hire no one." While you think your competition is that woman across town, it's probably apathy, sitting still, ignoring the problem... nothing. Stop worrying so much about comparing yourself to every… -
Launching the ShipIt Workbook
1 Sep 2010 | 11:16 amSix months ago, I put together a workbook that would help Linchpin readers ship. After testing it out on hundreds of people, it's now ready for retail sale. [UPDATE on 9/2--yesterday, the workbook was so popular it went to the top 10 of all books on Amazon. And they sold all the warehouse could take. So it's sold out... I have shipped more to them, but they probably won't go on sale until the 8th. I'll update this post then. Thanks guys.] You can find details here, or jump right to the buy page. The goal? To make you uncomfortable at the beginning of a project (and successful at the end). -
Responsibility and authority
1 Sep 2010 | 2:08 amMany people struggle at work because they want more authority. It turns out you can get a lot done if you just take more responsibility instead. It's often offered, rarely taken. (And you can get even more done if you give away credit, relentlessly). -
Just launched: Linchpin on the Vook on the iPad
31 Aug 2010 | 10:49 amThe details are right here. Created by Vook, based on the hardcover. Includes new video and interviews with some interesting folks... The long tail challenge of the iPad store is getting more and more obvious to people. The ratio of "shelf space" to inventory is about the worst of any retail experience in the world. There are more than 24,000 apps listed in the iPad store, and yet the front window (equivalent to the window of a bookstore) shows the user six choices. The spotlight coverflow up top shows another sixteen, fairly randomly. Meaning there's a little worse than a one in a thousand… -
The corporate conscience
31 Aug 2010 | 2:49 amThere isn't one. Corporations don't have a conscience, people do. That means that every time you say, "It's just my job," or "My department has a policy," or "All I do is work here," what you've done is abdicated responsibility--to no one. It's convenient and even comfortable to blame the anonymous actions of many working in concert on a evanescent brand or organization, but that starts you on an inevitable race to the bottom. Organizations have more power than ever before. They are better synchronized, faster, and possess more tools to change the economy and the people in it than ever…
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ProBlogger Blog Tips
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How to Get Hired on the Problogger Job Board
2 Sep 2010 | 6:58 amGuest Post by Ross Hudgens of Billy.com. Making money as a freelance content writer isn’t easy. If you aren’t running your own blog or website, turning content into cash can be a difficult thing. But there’s opportunity out there – you just have to try a little harder than normal to find it. One of the best places to look is the Problogger job board. Here, potential employers are looking for people like you – writers serious about their craft, with a strong content-creation skillset that often develops from reading a website like this. Because of these potential employer’s high… -
ProBlogger Track Details – Blog World Expo
1 Sep 2010 | 4:30 pmBlog World and New Media Expo is a fantastic event for bloggers held every October in Las Vegas. This year there will be a full day of ProBlogger training in a ‘ProBlogger Track’ on the Thursday. Yesterday the full details of that track’s sessions were released on the BWE site. The four sessions through the day are based around 4 Pillars of ProBlogging that Chris Garret and I have been working on for a future resource here at ProBlogger. In our view these 4 pillars are all crucial foundations in building profitable blogs – it’s not just about one or two of them,… -
How to Outsource Your Blog… Or Part of It
1 Sep 2010 | 7:26 amYou don’t need to be a big-time blogger to need to outsource some aspect of your blog. A beginning blogger with a serious business plan might want to contract a designer to create a skin for their blog. A entrepreneurial blogger might want to outsource some writing, or have an agency provide social media strategy for the blog. There are plenty of reasons why you might outsource some aspect of your blogging. But once you’ve identified the need, how should you proceed? Don’t make your first step trying to find good candidates! Before you go hunting for help, you need to do… -
How I Generated Over 6000 Ideas to Write About on My Blog in 15 Minutes
31 Aug 2010 | 7:38 amEver run out of things to write about on your blog? In this video screencast I want to show you how I came up with over 6000 ideas to write about on my blog using two tools – an Auto Responder (I use Aweber (aff)) and a Simple Survey. Setting this up took me all of 15 minutes work – after that it’s just been a matter of sitting back and watching the ideas roll in. You may not be able to generate 6000 ideas (and the reality is that I can’t use that many) but this technique can be used on even a smallish blog. Video Notes Watch the full sized version (which may help with… -
Tomorrow We Triple the Price on Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers Grab a Copy Today for just $9.97
30 Aug 2010 | 7:30 amUpdate: we’ve just launched the new version of this resource and the price is now $29.97. Congrats if you got it at the launch price. To those who missed out – the resource is still value – you get 100 pages of teaching and resources to help you optimize your posts for readers and search engines. Almost two weeks ago we launched the brand new ProBlogger eBook – the Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers. Written by SEO specialist copywriter Glenn Murray it’s an eBook designed to help bloggers get their posts optimized for readers and search engines so that their…
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Copyblogger
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The 10 Essential Ingredients of Successful Sales Pages
1 Sep 2010 | 7:12 amWhen you see dozens of copywriting formulas promising “the perfect sales page,” how do you know which ones to trust? After all, each formula seems to have a successful direct sales superstar behind it, and each one looks like a solid plan. What do you do in the face of these wildly different sales letter styles? The first step is to realize that copywriting is more than any one “formula” — it’s an exercise in communication and persuasion. Just like a recipe, different formats will give you different results. The recipe you’re looking for will depend… -
A Four-Step Guide to Generating Sales Leads from Your Blog
31 Aug 2010 | 6:50 amDean: Did you know you can use your blog to make money offline? Blogger: Offline? What is this “offline” you speak of? Dean: It’s the opposite of “online.” Blogger: (confused silence) Dean: You know. Offline. Not on the internet. The real world. Blogger: (shaking phone) Not only does this stupid phone drop my calls, now it’s translating them into crazy moon language. Okay, I jest. But to listen to some bloggers, you would think a blog’s only purpose is to make money online, by selling ebooks, membership sites, or advertising. The truth is, blogs have grown into a more… -
Is Your Headline Good or Bad? Give it the Breath Test
30 Aug 2010 | 6:55 amBloggers have been asking the question “Do long or short headlines work better?” for a long time. But the answer to the riddle of how to create a headline that pulls in readers doesn’t necessarily lie in subtracting or adding one more word. There’s not a mysterious formula or arcane copywriter’s trick. The answer is much simpler than that. The best way to get a headline that works is by using the breath test. Try saying this headline aloud: How To Recognize Six Difficult Telltale Signs Of Disinterest And Lack Of Motivation In Your Student And Customer Ran out of breath,… -
The Three Key Elements of Irresistible Email Subject Lines
26 Aug 2010 | 6:11 amEmail is back. Despite repeated proclamations of its extinction, rumors of the death of email marketing have been greatly exaggerated — especially since email and social media are a powerful combination. You might not reach the average college freshman, but for slightly older types (you know, the ones with the money), email is still the way to go in many lucrative mainstream niches. You must first, of course, get your emails read. And it all starts with the subject line. Email subject lines are a form of headline. They perform the same function as a headline by attracting attention and… -
How To Write Eye-Catching Headlines that Transform Browsers into Buyers
25 Aug 2010 | 7:15 amIn order to stop readers in their tracks, capture their attention through every word of your copy, and persuade them to click that “Add to Cart” button without a second thought, you need to master the “headline reading psychology” of your soon-to-be customers. Once you understand why magnetic headlines pull readers in, you’ll know how to do it for your own sales pages, every time. Follow along with me for the next ninety seconds and I’ll show you exactly how you can turn a casual browser of your sales page into an avid reader, curious to drink in your copy…
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ReadWriteWeb
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Skype Doubles Down with 10-Person Video Chat
2 Sep 2010 | 12:00 pmSkype announced today that the latest beta version of Skype 5.0 would up the ante in terms of group video chat, as well as introduce a more stable and sleeker experience for its Windows users. When the company first introduced group chat in May, it limited the number of participants to five, but now it has doubled that number to 10. Sponsor This limitation was one of the primary things we focused on when we looked at the new feature, which we immediately compared to free, Web-based services like Tiny Chat. As we noted then, Tiny Chat offered more than double the number of live video/audio… -
Sock It To Me With Socat
2 Sep 2010 | 12:00 pmWe've all been there. You want to isolate an issue with a server running on a port but want something quick and easy to verify if it is a host firewall problem or something else. Perhaps you are dealing with someone on the other end of the network that says it is a firewall problem. How you prove otherwise? Sponsor Luckily, there is socat. While there are other network Swiss army knives out there such as Ncat and Netcat, you might find socat worth a try. Socat is available for most Linux and BSD distributions and there are binaries available for Windows. Sock It To Me In this example, we have… -
Texting: It's Not Just for Teenagers Anymore
2 Sep 2010 | 11:40 amLately, the discussion about texting has mostly focused on teenagers, who now often send hundreds of text messages per day. While voice calling is still the primary use of cell phones for adults, almost three quarters of all adults in the U.S. now send and receive text messages. According to a new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the average adult texter sends and receives 10 messages per day, but a minority (4%) now sends more than 200 messages every day. Sponsor About 50% of all adults who use text messaging send between 1 and 10 messages, 25% send between 11 and 50… -
Tablet Computers Will Thrive Because They Are Shareable
2 Sep 2010 | 11:31 am"...a tablet is, crucially, a more shareable computer. A laptop, with its fragile hinge-ware and space-gobbling keyboard, is just not comfy to share. A tablet is easier to bring to the caf�, easier to hand across the table or along the sofa, easier to seize in the heat of the moment, easier to hold up in triumph, easier to set aside when you need to meet someone's eyes. How big a market is that? Anyone who says they know is lying." -Google's Tim Bray, co-creator of XML and now Android Developer Advocate, discussing the new Samsung Galaxy Tab, and tablet computers in general. The Galaxy Tab… -
5 Plugins for Outlook Users with Gmail Envy
2 Sep 2010 | 11:15 amThe announcement of Google's Gmail Priority Inbox likely made more than a few enterprise knowledge workers stuck with Microsoft Outlook and drowning in e-mail quite envious of Gmail. That is, if they weren't envious already. Marshall also took a look at a few plugins and services that are turning e-mail into a platform, including the incredible Rapportive. Lucky for Outlook users, there are actually several plugins to extend Outlook's functionality and ease that Gmail envy. E-mail addons have been heating up for a while now. Here are five plugins you should check out, whether you have Gmail…
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Guy Kawasaki
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How to Make Paper.li and Flipboard Rock
24 Aug 2010 | 6:47 pmIn the last few weeks two companies have released services that enable you to take tweets and turn them into a newspaper or magazine format: Paper.li and Flipboard. Alltop is a great source of information for both Paper.li and Flipboard newspapers. If you’d like to learn how to do this for Paper.li, click here, and for Flipboard, click here. -
Need example of a personal story of enchantment
19 Aug 2010 | 10:19 amI would like to include a few personal stories of enchantment in my next book. I am looking for examples of how people, products, services, organizations, ideas, or causes swept you off your feet. Specs: Written from your personal experience, not an external, academic view. 150-200 words Ideally, all the basics would be in your essay: who, what, when, why, and how. As an example, here is how something enchanted me: The second most enchanting moment of my life occurred in 1983 when Mike Boich showed me a Macintosh prototype. (The most enchanting moment was meeting my wife.) This life-changing… -
Best Twitter Client for IPhone and iPad
16 Aug 2010 | 9:43 pmAfter searching for months, I’ve come to the conclusion that Twitbird is the best iPhone and iPad Twitter client. If you’d like to see why, check out my post at the American Express Open Forum. -
How to get a free copy of my first book, The Macintosh Way
2 Aug 2010 | 10:01 amInformation wants to be free, and I just freed some. I got the rights back for my first book, The Macintosh Way, and I’ve made it available for free here. Hope that you find it useful. -
How to Find Freedom
28 Jul 2010 | 9:25 amLet me confess: I’m addicted to Twitter and email, and my addiction increases the more I have to do something important like write a book. Luckily, I stumbled across applications called Freedom and Anti-Social that really help. I explain how they works here at the American Express Open Forum. If you’re have a tough time prying yourself away from online fun, they could really help.
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I Believe in Advertising
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Tipp-ex: A hunter shoots a bear!
2 Sep 2010 | 7:58 amAdvertising Agency: Buzzman, Paris, France -
ATM (Azienda Trasporti Milanesi): Yellow, Green, Red, Blue
1 Sep 2010 | 4:22 pmAdvertising Agency: DDB, Milan, Italy Creative Directors: Luca Albanese, Francesco Taddeucci Copywriter: Elena Carella Art Director: Hugo Gallardo Dominguez Illustrator: Niniopiruuu Postproduction: Artout Creative Group / Claudio Luparelli -
Canadian Red Cross: Flood
1 Sep 2010 | 1:34 am“Don’t let hope get washed away. We are on the ground, providing aid to flood victims in Pakistan. And we need your support.” Advertising Agency: Cossette, Montreal, Canada Vice-président creative head: Michel De Lauw Creative Director: Jonathan Rouxel Art Director: Jonathan Rouxel Copywriter: Amy Maloney Illustrator: Mario Berthiaume -
FIAT GPS: Wales, Canada, India, Lebanon, South Korea, Ecuador
31 Aug 2010 | 6:03 am“Find your way everywhere in the world. Updated GPS maps on http://fiatgroup.navigation.com” Advertising Agency: Marcel, Paris, France Creative Directors: Anne de Maupeou & Frederic Témin Copywriter: Gaëtan du Peloux Art Director: Youri Guerassimov Art Buyer: Jean-Eric Le Coniac Illustrator: Youri Guerassimov -
Renault Clio: Covers
31 Aug 2010 | 1:02 amAdvertising Agency: Neogama/BBH, Brazil Executive Creative Director: Alexandre Gama Chief Creative Officer: Alexandre Gama Creative Directors: Márcio Ribas, Wilson Mateos Art Director: Kleyton Mourão Copywriter: Pedro Guerra Producer: Samba.Pro Account Director: Luiz Tosi Account Manager: Thais Pedro, Diego Passos Advertiser’s Supervisors: Frederic Posez, Cássio Pagliarini, Andrea Costa
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Buzz Marketing for Technology
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Could AT&T kill the iPhone Brand?
25 Aug 2010 | 9:00 amAccording to a study conducted by Gartner, the first quarter of 2010 witnessed a whopping 707 percent increase in Android sales. As a result, the sales of the Google Android OS-based smartphones have surpassed the sales of the Microsoft Windows Mobile-based handsets around the world. And this month I saw a stat that said the sales of Google Android phones in the U.S. are rising so quickly, that they have outsold Apple handsets for the first time on record and it got me thinking. Could Apple’s decision to sell exclusively through AT&T be the very decision that kills there brand? Hear… -
Social Media – is it really mainstream in B2B Marketing?
18 Aug 2010 | 8:43 amSo I ran across some interesting stats last week when I picked up a tweet from Jeff Bullas on the 15 essential social media facts and figures for B2B Marketing. Seems as if more B2B Marketers are engaged in Social Media then B2C marketers (actually data point from the article – 81 % of B2B companies have accounts on social media sites compared to 67% of B2C) which leads me to think Social Media has gone mainstream in B2B. That’s a good thing yes but I don’t feel like we are there yet. Let me explain … I don’t know how you feel but I certainly feel like everything I read about… -
Facebook Advertising for Dummies (Wiley)
11 Aug 2010 | 8:14 amWhether you’re on the Facebook home page, reading comments on a friends’ Walls, or playing your favorite Facebook game, you have probably noticed at least one advertisement running on the right hand side on the page. These ads are available to anyone with an advertising budget, from $1 to $1 billion. And many large advertisers, such as Pepsi, Proctor & Gamble, and Wal-Mart are running ads on Facebook, but so are many small businesses. These ads like any other include a headline, an image and body copy. But increasingly, Facebook Ads are also including ways to engage in a social… -
B2B Marketing needs to Curate a Vibrant Community
28 Jul 2010 | 8:59 amIf you ask the members of my leadership team – they will tell you I keep talking about how I think we have B2B Marketing backward. Let me explain … We focus a lot of energy on the acquisition part of marketing looking for new customers and getting them up the awareness to consideration to purchase cycle. The results being most of the time we get ambivalent buyers into the top of our funnel and we have to work hard to close them in order to prove value to the organization and contribute to growth. But what if we focused on those buyers who have already purchased from us? Those already… -
Closed Loop Marketing – still a long way to go
21 Jul 2010 | 8:58 amOk I know we all talk a good game about Closed Loop Marketing and I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble here but frankly we aren’t there yet. Yes we forced the loop to close with some great technologies over the last few years. CRM systems, MRM systems, Lead Nurturing systems and the list goes on. But do we really have an all in one Closed Loop market system that does it all? In my last post I talked about the shadow pipeline created by sales teams who don’t act in real time. The software may be real time but the sales people aren’t. How about your partner community and the leads…
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Brand Autopsy
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the BRAINS ON FIRE book
30 Aug 2010 | 7:00 amMy friendship with the marketing agency Brains on Fire began in March of 2005. That’s when I heard Geno Church, word-of-mouth practitioner from Brains on Fire, share the Rage Against the Haze case study. Instead of a multi-million advertising campaign to convince teens in South Carolina to stop smoking, Geno showed how building a grassroots marketing movement was able to make a significant difference in reducing teenage smoking rates in the state. From there, Brains on Fire built another grassroots marketing movement for Fiskars, the makers of the well-known but not necessarily talkable… -
Gary Hamel on Business Failure
25 Aug 2010 | 7:19 am“The single biggest reason companies fail is they overinvest in what is, as opposed to what might be.” -- Gary Hamel -
Your "Hall Pass" to Haul Videos
24 Aug 2010 | 12:38 pmI recently became hip ... hip to haul videos. Perhaps, you’ve already been hipped to haul videos. If not, consider this your haul pass to becoming hip to haul videos. NPR did a story on it. So did Marketplace. Newspapers have written about it. And I’m fascinated by it. What is it and why am I so fascinated by it? Haul videos are simply online video recordings where people, generally teenage girls, talk about their recent purchases. For example, Juicystar07 has posted about 200 haul videos and has nearly 24-million views for her videos sharing commentary on products she’s purchased from… -
Going Deeper into Word of Mouth Marketing
23 Aug 2010 | 10:22 amLong-time Brand Autopsy readers know I’m a believer and practitioner of word of mouth marketing — written lots of about it and have worked in it with the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. [Disclosure: I’m still doing some work consulting/presentation work with WOMMA.] Recently I began working on a project with The Keller Fay Group. For those deep into word of mouth, you should know Keller Fay. Since 2006, they have been tracking marketing-related conversations Americans are having both offline (person-to-person and face-to-face) as well as online (email, social media, and texting). -
Listening Spurs Talking
18 Aug 2010 | 6:42 amAccording to Advertising Research Foundation president Bob Barocci, “The single biggest opportunity in the history of consumer marketing lays dormant.” The opportunity Bob speaks of is LISTENING. And for those you deep into social media you understand the benefits of listening and how listening spurs talking from customers. In an updated version of his book, 501 Killer Marketing Tactics to Increase Sales..., Tom Feltenstein plays off the listening angle and frames word of mouth in a way I haven’t heard before... “The best way to word of mouth commitment from your customers is by…
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Conversation Agent
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See How They did it: 104 Social Media Case Studies
2 Sep 2010 | 4:00 amIs your boss still skeptical about social media? Are you looking for creative ideas for social media executions? Do you have a sense of what you're looking to achieve? This post is for you. Last week we talked about how to develop a case study. This week, we review 12 out of 104 case studies that are telling the story of how businesses progressed through solving a problem and delivering results -- with social media.To summarize, the structure of a marketing case study generally is: situation or challenge time line or complication solution results I've been saving posts about businesses… -
Why Blog? Why Bother? Why Care?
1 Sep 2010 | 4:00 amguest postToday is Conversation Agent's fourth birthday. Happy birthday! They grow up so fast... No need to send cake, but feel free to join me in posting a comment or sending Valeria an email letting her know you're out there. See, every blog has true fans, active readers, and a large, silent majority. It's easy enough to know what the true fans and active readers think—but sometimes when you're busy publishing up a storm, you start to wonder what the silent majority thinks. This is true especially in the beginning, because you don't have a lot of true fans and active readers, and also… -
34 Reasons to Start a Blog
31 Aug 2010 | 4:00 amWe discussed how social media is like sharecropping -- you help build a network with your content and it may decide to delete your account if it changes rules or there is a glitch. Both Flickr and Facebook have given us examples of that action. The effects of those actions have been devastating for the people who had put time and care into building a presence with their content.That is one of the reasons why I have been and continue to be strongly in favor of blogs. Starting a blog shows commitment to a topic, industry, group, project, brand, etc. It establishes you as someone who can stick… -
Treating Women Differently
30 Aug 2010 | 4:00 amWomen customers behave differently. Is that true? I was reading an article about what women want and how not to give it to them, and it got me thinking. In it, Alice Adams describes the behaviors that derail gender inclusion. To me, they derail effective work overall, man or woman. Further, they prevent an organization from serving its customers. Adams lists: Decide not to do an assessment, build a plan, set goals, or establish benchmarks. Task a small group of committed, passionate people with designing and implementing a change initiative—and expect them to succeed without a clear… -
Should You be Pitching me?
29 Aug 2010 | 4:00 amYou give me way too much credit if you think your potential customers read my blog. You misunderstand and misapply influence and you're giving away your inexperience with new media. Let's be clear, I still like you, I just find it easy to skip over your pitch. Go build your own audience.New media is not traditional media, only on blogs. PR is very much in need of a reinvention beyond pitching bloggers press releases, signing people up to moderate communities, and building lists instead of relationships. What does it take to do PR in new media?I'm thinking that a non PR person will…
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Thingnamer
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Job Posting: please coordinate us!
1 Sep 2010 | 8:39 amOnce again, Stokefire is dragging out the Now Hiring sign.Now that we've beefed up our Creative and office support staff, guess what? We need somebody to keep us all organized. The details are below:Traffic ManagerWhat We Need: A person with outstanding organizational skills, experience in project or traffic management, love ... -
We found one! The position is filled-
30 Aug 2010 | 10:07 amWe know you’ve been holding your breath out there, wondering if Stokefire ever found the organizational genius we were seeking to fill the Executive Assistant/Office Coordinator position we advertised here and elsewhere. We weren’t looking for much – just a friendly and cheerful person who can guard the gates, manage ... -
HR In A Different Place
29 Aug 2010 | 8:25 pmSomewhere in the world, there are regular kinds of companies who hire people with regular sets of skills to do regularly constructed and clearly described jobs in predictable and repeatable ways. Somewhere in the world, having all that work out without surprises is the definition of success for the Human ... -
"Now Hiring" Sign is Now Up at Stokefire!
2 Aug 2010 | 6:06 amYou read it correctly, we're looking to add to our growing team. Here's the skinny:Office Coordinator/Executive Assistant What we need: A positive, organized, energetic individual who can keep the boss and the office running smoothly, support a team of creatives, and welcome clients.What you get: A non-toxic, non-boring place to ... -
What Kind of Designer Are You?
28 Jul 2010 | 8:36 amWhat kind of designer are you? What kind of style do you have? What is your favorite type of design? What kind of process do you use? These are just a few of the ongoing questions that seem to follow designers wherever we go. My answer to these questions: Do ...
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The Steve Rubel Lifestream
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Media Companies Must Divide To Conquer
12 Aug 2010 | 6:42 amThe following essay is also my Forbes.com column for August. Media Companies Must Divide To Conquer The media is something that for most, if not all, of our adult lives, we have taken for granted. Media giants form the terra firma of the marketing industry, both its paid and earned disciplines. They provide the lifeblood of services and bring us the audiences we need to do our jobs. However, underneath it all, the harsh reality is that there's a new digital dynamic present today. This will mean that many media companies divide themselves into dozens of smaller independent operating companies… -
Hot or Not: E-mail Marketing vs. Social-Media Marketing
10 Aug 2010 | 3:03 pmImage credit: Rapportive at The Next Web Conference The following is also my column this week in Advertising Age.Contrary to popular belief, video didn't kill the radio star, YouTube didn't knock off TV and Twitter didn't shut down blogging. However, in each case the steady advance of new technology definitely forced the incumbents to evolve. One can argue, for example, that some of the more established blogs on the web benefited greatly from building content strategies that engender massive link sharing on Twitter. Much the same, TV ad creative has changed to facilitate additional… -
Presentation: Six Digital Trends to Watch
20 Jul 2010 | 12:57 pmOne of the best aspects of my job is that I get to learn from incredibly smart people. Working for Edelman is like playing for the Yankees. Richard Edelman has an approach to talent that in some ways resembles the late George Steinbrenner (not the Howie Spira side of George, but the good side). The firm consistently attracts all-stars to the team and puts them in a great position to succeed. The result is that every day I get to hit the field with pros like Mike Slaby or Richard Sambrook or Carol Cone - it's all very inspiring. One of these people is David Armano - who I work very… -
Tip: Tweetify the Lead of Your Emails
20 Jul 2010 | 11:58 amIn this age of information abundance, we all get a little too much email. It's highly likely that - thanks to the message preview function - your recipient will make a decision about what to do with that message before he/she even opens it. This means that the first few characters of your note are essential. You got to hook 'em or they be gone. Here's a little tip I am going to try - don't bury the lead. Instead, Tweetify it! Here's why... Most email systems preview the first 50-75 characters of an email. Therefore, to be heard, you increasingly need to write your first sentence like a tweet… -
It's the End of the Web as We Know It
12 Jul 2010 | 1:26 pmThe following essay is also my AdAge column this week. Wither the web? It's hard to believe but soon, if not already, the web is going to become a lot less interesting to consumers -- and just as it approaches its 20th birthday. According to Morgan Stanley, within five years global internet consumption on mobile devices will surpass the same activity on PCs. This sounds like good news. It's natural to think that browsers on the third screen (phones) and the fourth screen (tablets) will simply replace time spent in front of the same on a PC. That's not the case. Mobile devices, by their…
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MarketingProfs - Smart thinking ... pass it on.
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Six Reasons Print Belongs in Your Media Mix (or Why Digital Popularity Brings Print Opportunity)
31 Aug 2010 | 8:00 amJust because marketers are jumping on the interactive-marketing bandwagon doesn't mean things on the interactive side are all rosy. The decreasing numbers for print don't necessarily mean a particularly high ROI for all digital initiatives. Still, there is opportunity—but you need embrace a multichannel approach. Catalogs are a great example. -
How to Identify and Avoid This Survey-Questionnaire Design Problem: Mixed-Mode Scales
31 Aug 2010 | 8:00 amData from mixed-mode questions are hard, if not impossible, to interpret accurately. But such flawed survey questions abound, perhaps because at first blush they seem entirely workable. Here's why they're not—and how to avoid them in your survey instruments. -
A New Job-Search Paradigm: A Darn Good Resume Is Not Candidate Marketing!
31 Aug 2010 | 8:00 amMost job seekers start their job-search process with many of the same ineffective steps—holdovers from a time before the rise of technology and social media. A job search, like successful business projects, should be expertly strategized, organized, and implemented. -
Formulate Your Content Strategy in 10 Simple Steps
31 Aug 2010 | 8:00 amContent is moving from being among the final considerations of a Web-development project to being front and center in a digital-marketing strategy. And, more and more, brands are recognizing that a strategic approach to content is becoming important. To help, here's a simple 10-step systematic process for formulating a content ... -
Building Loyalty and Corporate Profitability in Eight Productive Steps
24 Aug 2010 | 8:00 amIt's no secret that loyal employees are the driving force behind solid, stable, and profitable companies, whereas unhappy, disgruntled, and disloyal employees can quickly bring any company to its knees. Companies that lack employee commitment can change their culture and build loyalty from the inside out by following these eight ...
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PSFK
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Auralizing Algorithms
2 Sep 2010 | 10:35 amProgrammer converts certain computer operations into sounds. -
Google Gaming: Powermeter Adds Badges To Encourage Energy Conservation
2 Sep 2010 | 10:28 amA Foursquare-inspired introduction of game mechanics aims to help curb power use. -
Freelancing As A Career On The Rise
2 Sep 2010 | 10:08 amMore people are preferring to work part-time jobs now, a recent survey reveals. -
Sonic Self Defense
2 Sep 2010 | 10:01 amPocket-sized device offers a non-lethal way to disable potential threats. -
(Headlines) Greener Champagne Bottles, The Peanut Solution & Ping Breaks Up With Facebook
2 Sep 2010 | 9:44 amPSFK curates a daily selection of relevant and noteworthy news headlines from around the world.
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The Tom Peters Weblog
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Excellence Always: the Cruise
2 Sep 2010 | 4:00 amTom is speaking today to NARTA/National Associated Retail Traders of Australia. NARTA supports/supplies the other-than-big-box retailers in Australia and New Zealand. The feisty independents will soon confront the likes of Costco and Best Buy. (In a first, Tom is speaking aboard ship—the Seabourn Spirit—en route from Dubrovnik, Croatia to Venice.) Download the PPT slides. -
Recent Books from our Cool Friends
1 Sep 2010 | 9:13 amTom's great friends and former partners, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, have a new book out called The Truth About Leadership: The No-Fads, Heart of the Matter Facts You Need to Know. They've devoted their lives to leadership, so this is one you won't want to miss. Bob Sutton has a new book coming out in September called Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best... and Learn from the Worst. Not only that, according to Bob, "we just put together a quiz that people can use to help determine of their boss is good or bad—and whether he or she lives in a fool's paradise." Don Tapscott also has a… -
The Little BIG Things Synopsis Series, Introduction
30 Aug 2010 | 10:21 amTom is simply determined to get the content of The Little BIG Things:163 Ways to Pursue Excellence in front of as many people in as many ways as is humanly possible. Most recently, he has written a new, abbreviated version of the book. It includes new material, but has been compressed in a way that features the main idea of each of the 163 sections, while mostly omitting the "How tos" and supporting case examples. While we think the lengthier version of the material—with its pragmatic calls to action—is the ideal way to absorb the content, we are also delighted to offer up the… -
New Audio: Tom Reads The Little BIG Things
30 Aug 2010 | 5:03 amThis week's additions to the audio files on the book page are in the section titled "CUSTOMERS": #72. It's 11 A.M.- Have You Called a Customer Today? #73. There's Nothing But Nothing Better Than an Angry Customer. #74. What We Have Here Is a Failure to Overcommunicate. Collect them all, and when we're finished, you'll have an audio version of the entire book. -
Little BIG Video #37 Excellence: MBWA
25 Aug 2010 | 7:28 amIn video number 37 from The Little BIG Things Video Series, Tom recounts how he discovered the term MBWA, Managing By Wandering Around, in the late seventies, and argues for you to practice it. You can find the video in the right column of the front page of tompeters.com or you can watch the video on YouTube. [Time: 2 minutes, 23 seconds] You can also download a PDF transcript of the video's content: Excellence: MBWA.
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The Marketing Minute
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Why most companies will lose the search engine war
2 Sep 2010 | 3:22 amEveryone talks about being on that elusive first page of Google. It's the pinnacle of success and companies spend thousands of dollars to try and outspend their competitors. But in the end, it won't be your competitors who trump you. It will be your consumers. Today, if you Google one of the 20 largest brands, over 25% of the search results will be links to consumer generated content. Why does that matter to you? Let's look at these truths: Social media is in its infancy and the volume of content is just going to grow. Websites that welcome consumer feedback and ratings are… -
Marketing tip #87: Don't start in the middle
30 Aug 2010 | 12:41 pmThis past Thursday, I was a panelist for a MENG (Marketing Executives Networking Group) webinar with my cohorts on MENG's Social Media Council of Advisors -- Mack Collier, Paul Dunay, Beth Harte, Amber Naslund and Joe Pulizzi. During the Q&A portion of the webinar, someone asked: "We have a small staff and a very finite budget. Which would serve us better -- Facebook or Twitter?" I'm guessing that's one of the most common questions on the minds of marketers today. I know I need to jump into the social media waters...so which end of the pool… -
Media training tip #3: Make it quick and memorable
29 Aug 2010 | 12:22 pmI've decided to cross pollinate my media interview tips by putting the third installment over at IowaBiz today. (click here to check it out). If you aren't familiar with the earlier tips, you can find them here: Media Training tip #1: Have a single message Media Training tip #2: Superficial but true Then, head over to IowaBiz to check out Media Training tip #3: Make it quick and memorable. After you've had a chance to check out the latest installment, come back over and tell me what I've missed or what else you'd like to know about how to… -
Marketing tip #30: Let your business name do its job
28 Aug 2010 | 10:48 amI have a friend who is launching her own business. As she's wrestled with names for the company, she started out very pragmatic -- her last name and a descriptive word that would tell prospects what she sells. But she's not crazy about her last name and wanted something more creative. So every new round of names became more fanciful and more creative in terms of spelling etc. She was down to a final four -- none of which included the original group. Her prospects are very B-to-B minded, mostly men and very white collar. Here's a portion of the e-mail I… -
How to choose your next agency
27 Aug 2010 | 3:35 amHaving been in the agency business for 25 years or so, I can honestly say I've seen just about every method of agency selection known to man. And most of them turn what could be an enjoyable experience for all concerned into a nightmare. So I was delighted to see AdAge's recent article by Avi Dan on how to select an agency. It's packed with practical, been there, done that advice. My favorite tip? Don't hire an agency. Hire a culture. The core values of an agency will foretell the kind of relationship you are likely to have. Favor agencies that are collaborative,…
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Brian Solis: Social Media Expert - PR 2.0
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Video: Bringing a Brand to Life in Social Media
1 Sep 2010 | 4:39 amWe’re approaching the last bits in this series of conversations where Chris Beck, founder of 26dottwo (@26dottwo) and I examine the state and future of social media. In this installment we review the various aspects and formalities of bringing a brand alive, truly alive in social media. Everything begins with establishing the rules of engagement in order to define the boundaries, context, and objectives for conversations. Guidelines such as “don’t be stupid,” “use common sense,” “stay positive,” are not the most useful approach to steering… -
REPORT: Facebook and the New Age of Privacy
30 Aug 2010 | 4:07 amIt’s said that opposites attract. However, in social media, it’s quite the opposite. The idea of privacy and publicity are in fact at odds with one another. And at the heart of the matter, one social network is caught in the crossfire of sharing information and TMI (too much information). The line that separates privacy and openness remains undefined as it continues to shift as individuals learn important life lessons about the benefits and risks of living in public. As we evolve into a more open society, the economic value of privacy has inverted. Years ago it was inexpensive to maintain… -
What Makes an Influencer?
29 Aug 2010 | 6:33 amInfluence is the subject of some of important conversations lately. Each time we surface questions, answers and new thinking that starts to reshape the landscape for how businesses view, define, and embrace influence. The socialization has democratized content and equalized influence. As such, we are at the inception of an an era when everyday people are presented with an opportunity to earn authority, trust, and leadership based on their actions and words. I’ve partnered with Vocus to take the conversation to you. As I believe that we all have a voice in the shaping and direction of… -
Video: From Social Graphs to Interest Graphs
27 Aug 2010 | 10:54 amIn the next installment of discussions exploring the state and future of social media, Chris Beck, founder of 26dottwo (@26dottwo) and I review how relationships online are evolving from social networks to social “nicheworks” or contextual networks. In social media, how we connect with one another reflects our interests as well as our contacts. We’re adapting our definition of relationships to now also include a new, thinner layer of “relations” in order to refine our online experience as well as how we learn, discover, and share. In doing so, we create a social… -
Video: A False Belief in Numbers? The bigger part of the story = who you are NOT connected to
26 Aug 2010 | 4:07 amIn the next installment in a series of conversations exploring the state and future of social media, Chris Beck, founder of 26dottwo (@26dottwo) and I discuss social media by the numbers. At any given moment, your “fans,” “likes,” followers, commenters, readers, are expecting personalized experiences. Simply catering to an “audience” is borderline antisocial. Addressing the needs and expectations of the social consumer and the various roles they play in business is the minimum ante to continue to sit at the table. At the same time, we also need to look…
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Branding Strategy Insider
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What Brands Must Do To Succeed
30 Aug 2010 | 9:10 pmWe believe that brands must make promises to their customers. They must promise relevant, differentiated benefits. That is, they must offer unique value propositions. And, even more importantly, they must deliver on those promises/value propositions. Leading brands have a highly compelling brand promise and insure that the promise is delivered at each point of customer contact.According to The Conference Board’s rigorous 1998 “Managing the Corporate Brand” study, the following factors are critical for brand strategy success:Organization Support• CEO leadership &… -
When Your Brand Name Is Damaged
29 Aug 2010 | 9:05 pmThe Tea Party Bookshop in Salem, Oregon, has a generous selection of titles on personal growth and spirituality. There’s a poetry reading on the third Thursday of every month. And every once in a while, there’s a “pagan meet-up,” when folks are invited to enjoy a nice evening chatting with fellow pagans. (Well, this is Oregon.) People who are angry about new Federal healthcare and happy about Sarah Palin wouldn’t necessarily shop there for books. But as the Tea Party political movement gained attention, they began calling and stopping by to ask what time the next anti-government… -
Brand Marketing's New Reality
25 Aug 2010 | 9:10 pmIf for one reason or another, you’d slept through the past five years, only to find yourself suddenly awake in August 2010, you’d quickly realize the world of advertising and marketing has fundamentally changed in three major ways. First, subconscious or subliminal communication (and research) has become part of the vocabulary of most marketers. Second, power has shifted from brand owners to consumers - even the most powerful brands know that successful campaigns have to systematically engage consumers, who will in turn use their mighty word of mouth to spread the messages opposed to… -
The Brand Licensing Workshop
24 Aug 2010 | 9:10 pmBrand licensing is one of the lesser known techniques for extending a brand into new categories. The benefits of brand licensing are extensive and include:• Building brand presence by getting product to market faster with little to no investment or inventory risk. • Accelerating the ability to gain additional shelf space or enter into new channels or regions. • Delivering valuable and steady royalty revenue increasing cash flow and operating income. The Blake Project offers The Brand Licensing Workshop, a one-day engagement that is designed to deliver a… -
Exploring The Value Of Sub Brands
23 Aug 2010 | 9:10 pmRegular readers of Branding Strategy Insider know we welcome and answer marketing questions of alltypes. Today, Christine, a VP of Marketing in Detroit writes… "I was wondering if sub-brands are typically valuable for a company or if their value is dubious?"Interesting question, Christine. If a sub-brand is designed to reach a market or market segment that the parent brand could not reach by itself, it is worth it. That is the primary reason for sub-brands from my perspective, to make the parent brand more relevant to a new or different market or market segment. Having said…
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Conversation Marketing
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5 reasons to go to the SEOMOZ Pro Seminar next year
1 Sep 2010 | 7:13 pmI presented yesterday at the SEOMOZ Pro Seminar. I had the incredible misfortune of going right after Rand Fishkin, aka SEO Rockstar, aka He of the Fashionable Wardrobe. But it was still a blast. It was one of a bunch of great moments at my first Mozinar. I heartily recommend it to anyone looking to really learn SEO. Here's why: You'll learn real stuff. Every presenter comes on stage with executable to-do's and examples. I've never attended a training seminar that delivered as much hard information in a short timespan. I learned new stuff. I'm not saying that to somehow imply I Know All SEO. -
Video sitemaps can cleanse your soul
1 Sep 2010 | 6:36 pmThis post expands on one of the ten blogging tips I presented at the SEOMOZ pro seminar yesterday. I'll be writing about the others over the next few weeks, and will tie them all together when they're done. I'm not a video guy. I know I use screencasts a lot, but the idea of having to watch myself on screen is about as itch-inducing as sleeping in a pile of rotting vegetables. But, video has its place. First, getting a video to rank for a given phrase is a hell of a lot easier than getting a page to rank. Second, videos can grab attention where text just can't. So, when I do post a video to a… -
Monday, I could be dead: Marked for speedy deletion
27 Aug 2010 | 3:32 pmIt's true. As egos go, mine is a bit small, damp and non-resilient. So, when I search for my own name on the web, it's mostly to see who's writing mean things about me and making ready to defend myself. Years ago, I set up a page on Wikipedia, so that someone I knew in 7th grade couldn't come along and write about how, at that age, I looked like ET with a wig. Imagine my surprise, then, to find out that I'd been marked for death speedy deletion: Note that I check in on my Wikipedia account about once a year, so I didn't see this until far too late. My page has already been deleted. I never… -
Internet marketing due diligence: Checking the plan
26 Aug 2010 | 9:01 pmI've heard it sooo many times: "But I didn't know!!!!" That comes shrieking forth shortly after this chain of events: CEO hires a Guru to develop their web marketing plan. Guru comes in, collects check and nods sagely while saying stuff "Engage your audience". Guru writes down a plan with steps like "Get good links". CEO hands plan to marketing department. Marketing department, afraid to tell the CEO she's an idiot, executes the plan, which also happens to execute most of the company, too. A year later, CEO has no marketing budget left, a lot of unhappy customers and zero results. CEO says... -
Great marketing is honest. Not fair.
24 Aug 2010 | 5:38 pmLisa Barone's post today about a tax on business bloggers, and the squawking and flapping that ensued thereafter, got me thinking about 'fair' versus 'honest'. Especially in the world of marketing. In marketing, 'fair' doesn't exist I find that when folks start talking about 'fair', what they mean is 'fair for me and mine.' Or maybe 'easy'. 'Fair' is relative: I'm a cyclist. I drive a Toyota Prius. So raising gas prices to $5/gallon and doubling the size of bicycle lanes seems perfectly fair to me. You, on the other hand, are getting ready to let loose a tirade of car-loving American outrage…
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Dose of Digital
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16 Social Media Precedent Setters
30 Aug 2010 | 7:48 amprec·e·dent 1. a legal decision or form of proceeding serving as an authoritative rule or pattern in future similar or analogous cases. 2. any act, decision, or case that serves as a guide orjustification for subsequent situations. (via Dictionary.com) When it comes time to get your social media idea approved within your company, you’ve got a lot of people who need to sign off. It starts with your boss and probably department or brand head. Then you move to legal and regulatory folks and, ultimately, maybe even senior executives all the way up to the CEO… -
Dose of Digital Heading to SXSW…Maybe
11 Aug 2010 | 9:47 amEvery year, digital marketing geeks (like me) descend upon Austin, Texas for a conference called South by Southwest, a.k.a. SXSW. What started as a music and then film festival, the conference’s biggest draw is now the “Interactive” category. That’s where you’ll find all the latest digital innovations that everyone is talking about. Typically, there hasn’t been a whole lot at SXSW focused on healthcare. But SXSW 2011 will feature a one-day health track for the first time. Why am I telling you this? Each year SXSW selects the sessions and speakers for the… -
Digital Alert and Reco: FDA Warns Novartis Over Facebook Sharing
9 Aug 2010 | 6:49 amLast week, the FDA issued a Warning Letter for the website for their drug, Tasigna. The main issue in the violation was content that was shared via social media. The Tasigna site had Facebook sharing buttons that, like other sites, automatically generate content for sharing. The content of this content is what the FDA cited. This content is drawn from META description tags on the website. These tags are invisible to visitors, but are used by search engines. The FDA argues that the content in these META tags should include fair balance (risks, side effects, warnings, etc.) since they had the… -
4 Mistakes You Make By Playing Not to Lose in Social Media
3 Aug 2010 | 6:14 amFor those who play chess regularly, you know that if you play the game making moves that are designed to keep you from losing, you never actually end up winning. You can’t win with defense alone. This concept goes well beyond chess and is why we say things like: “The best defense is a good offense.” So, if we can all agree on that, then for what purpose am I writing this? Today I want to show you why you’re actually doing this when it comes to your brand’s marketing and, in particular, when it comes to social media. The reality is that by playing not to lose, you… -
How One Pharma Company Successfully Manages YouTube
29 Jul 2010 | 7:20 amToday’s post features commentary from Gary Monk, Product Manager (Marketing) at Janssen-Cilag. Gary is responsible for (among other things) administering the company’s LivingwithADHD YouTube Channel. So, along with my commentary, Gary will share his perspective based on his experience with Janssen-Cilag’s relatively popular video, “ADHD: A day in the life.” More on that in a moment, but first a little background. For whatever reason, YouTube seems to get lumped into the giant “social media” bucket. I suppose there are some social aspects to it, but…
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Why Advertising Sucks
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Team Coco all the way!
2 Sep 2010 | 8:12 am -
You Had to See It Coming
1 Sep 2010 | 7:17 pmThe more things change, the more they stay the same. Just got a company-wide email from our Agency President announcing that one of his many Senior Vice Presidents has decided to leave the agency after 15 years… to spend more time with her family. Why is this a WAS-worthy post? Because once again the Agency vs. Personal Life Theorem is proved correct: One cannot have a life AND work at an agency. What made this announcement even more shocking was the SVP in question: the hard-core, über-executive, fridge-in-the-office, lunch-at-my-desk, sleep-is-for-pussies type. I didn’t even know she… -
Oldie but Goodie: Vendor Client relationship
1 Sep 2010 | 2:37 pm -
I need to go to the beach right about... now.
1 Sep 2010 | 2:35 pmBubbles... BUBBLES! -
Barf Alert! It's time for Riki-Oh. AGAIN.
1 Sep 2010 | 2:34 pmDONT PRESS PLAY IF YOU DONT LIKE STUPID OR GORY STUFF. THERE. I WARNED YOU.
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Adrants
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Sails Branded, Women Climb, Bear Hunted, Woman Deforested
2 Sep 2010 | 11:37 amWho needs billboards when you can mess up the nautical landscape with branded sails? -
Newsflash! Opera Singer Breaks Glass Through Cell Phone
2 Sep 2010 | 10:42 amKinda like the idiocy of that car that can break a glass, Orange is out with a commercial during which an opera singer breaks a glass with her voice delivered through a cell phone connection. -
Mess With Sasquatch, Win a Trip to Vegas
2 Sep 2010 | 10:07 amJack Link's Beef Jerky is out with another promotion giving film and advertising students a chance to create their own Jack Link's TV commercials. -
Sony Wants to Know if You're Still A Virgin
2 Sep 2010 | 9:22 amTo promote what assuredly will be a piece of crap movie, Sony is out with a billboard campaign which asks, "Still A Virgin?" -
Google Now Selling Ads on Maps
2 Sep 2010 | 8:54 amAfter a six month test in Australia, Google has opened up a new ad platform on its Maps product.
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The Viral Garden
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Does Ad Age simply not get social media?
11 Aug 2010 | 10:23 amIf you've read The Viral Garden for a while, you know that I was a bit critical of Ad Age when they first started using the Power 150 on their site. Honestly, I don't read the site very often, but today I decided to peruse the site and I found a few articles I liked, and commented on a couple of them. Although I had registered with Ad Age years ago, I probably hadn't left a comment there in 2-3 years. So after I left a couple of comments, I realized that I should probably update my profile information so that it included a link back to MackCollier.com when I left a comment.And that's when I… -
Heading to Austin, want to meet up?
10 Jun 2010 | 1:49 pmNext week I am heading out to Austin to work with Dell on a project (Disc - Dell's a client, here's more info on the project). But while I am in town, we wanted to have a tweetup! So next Weds nite at the North by Northwest restaurant and brewery, we'll all get together for a nite of merriment, laughs, and probably a social media conversation or three. Most if not all of Dell's social media team will be there (Including @LionelatDell and @RichardatDell), along with some of Austin's finest social media leaders such as Connie Reece and Simon Salt. And of course I'll be there. Rumor has it that… -
I won't speak for free
13 May 2010 | 4:58 amIn March of 2008 I had a pair of 'firsts' that were both scary as hell for me at the time. First, I flew on an airplane for the first time in my life, and second, I spoke at SXSW. Actually I moderated a panel, but it was the first time since graduate school 5 years prior, that I spoke in front of an audience.Now as an introvert, an introvert that had never spoken professionally at the time, my first thought when I was contacted about moderating a panel at SXSW was "There's no way I can do this!"My second thought was "There's no way I can't do this!"So although I was literally worried sick… -
Experiencing social media vs monitoring it
10 May 2010 | 9:42 amOver four years ago, I wrote this post about the importance of companies understanding their customers. I wanted to focus on this section:What happens when you better understand your customers is that you can better serve them by anticipating their wants and needs. And the best part? As we correctly anticipate the consumers' wants and needs, and fill them, a trust is developed, which leads to the consumer lowering their defenses and letting us interact with them on a deeper level. This leads to a greater understanding of their needs, which means we can more quickly and effectively meet these… -
How 'social' should companies be?
5 May 2010 | 2:45 pmMy policy on who/how many people I follow on Twitter has become much more lax in recent months. These days, I follow back most of the people that follow me. The downside to this is that a lot of these people will immediately unfollow me as soon as I follow them back, I guess in an attempt to 'pad' their follower count.So every few weeks, I like to go through my Twitter network and 'cleanse' it. I will unfollow a lot of the people I am following that aren't following me, and at the same time I will try to follow back people that followed me that I somehow missed. I was doing this today (using…
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Ryan Stephens Marketing
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10 Top SEO Starter Tips
25 Aug 2010 | 6:19 amThe following is a guest post from Christian Arno of Lingo 24: There’s little point having an online presence if no one can find your site. Simply put, SEO, or search engine optimization, is the art of boosting your website’s rankings on Google and other search engines. This can be an involved and daunting process, but there are a number of simple tips to help get you started – here’s ten of the best. 1. Good content rules the world There’s a balance to be struck between keyword-rich copy that pushes all the right SEO buttons and copy that informs, entertains and, most… -
Friday Grab Bag: Zach Galifianakis Edition
30 Jul 2010 | 10:06 amI’m leaving for Vegas for a couple of days on Sunday. I’ve never been (though my great grand father was one of the engineers that helped construct the Hoover Dam & parents and grandparents go every year for the National Finals Rodeo). I’ll be working the majority of the time, but I’m looking forward to experiencing it. I have a lot of friends that go out there and spend inordinate amounts of money in the clubs, lose more than their round trip airfare gambling, etc. — I think I’d much rather go hiking in the Pacific Northwest, snorkeling off the Florida… -
Just Because You’re The Boss
29 Jul 2010 | 6:29 amJust because you’re the boss… …doesn’t mean you need to yell or be abrasive to get your point across. …doesn’t mean I can read your mind and write/design/build something based on your vague parameters. …doesn’t mean you can’t get in the trenches and get your hands dirty. …doesn’t mean you have to be perfect or know everything. …doesn’t mean we want to hear all your random stories unrelated to work more than once. …and choose to have no life doesn’t mean that your employees hate their nights and weekends. -
4 Reasons Why Generation Y Job Hops
13 Jul 2010 | 6:04 amThis post isn’t justifying why you should job hop. Instead the intent is to explore some reasons why Generation Y bounces from job to job early in their career. 1.) Gen Y is inherently entitled. If you’re in the tiny subset of rockstars in our little social media bubble, chances are you’re doing what you can to separate yourself from your peers. I know you are tired of hearing it, but you shouldn’t care because this doesn’t apply to most of you. The truth is our generation IS totally entitled. People ask me all the time to connect them with X or give them a… -
The Silver Lining
21 Jun 2010 | 4:05 am“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” — Epictetus You can complain about long hours… …or you can choose to value your free-time more. Your job might not be the perfect fit… …but it might make you appreciate the next one even more. You can complain that your boss is arrogant, manipulative, and incompetent… …or you can take mental notes on how not to act for when you become a manager. You can whine about annoying co-workers… …
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Being Peter Kim
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SXSWi 2011: Your Turn
24 Aug 2010 | 6:24 amI've spent a week sharing panel proposals from Dachis Group based on our experience. Now it's your turn. What panels should we be attending next spring? -
SXSWi 2011: The Biz of Buzz
23 Aug 2010 | 9:00 amWhat do we know from being in the business of buzz since the early days? Dachis Group Kate Niederhoffer, one of the earliest players in the online listening space, shares her thoughts in this SXSWi 2011 panel. -
SXSWi 2011: Activating Business Social Graphs
20 Aug 2010 | 9:00 amSound familiar? The state of now for you is a game of whack-a-mole. You are looking for a future state of scalability for you, your team and your business. For a solution, read on... -
SXSWi 2011: Social Media Middlemen
19 Aug 2010 | 9:00 amThe main office finally wants to activate social business programs - great. Now, are the front lines ready to follow through? This panel proposal for SXSWi 2011 will focus on getting the organization activated from top to bottom. -
SXSWi 2011: Collaboration at Work
18 Aug 2010 | 9:00 amShouldn't work be social too? If you think so, you might find this proposed SXSWi 2011 panel interesting.
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AdFreak
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Quaker is a morning person in Juniper's ads
2 Sep 2010 | 10:53 amQuaker Oats makes morning sound almost palatable in its new "Wake Up" spot from Juniper Park in Toronto. And after some rudimentary fact checking, both the Apollo 11 moon landing and the first successful ascent of Mount Everest occurred in the morning (Eastern time and local time, respectively), so I supposed their spiel about morning being amazing has some truth behind it. Doesn't mean I'm giving up my nocturnal writer's schedule anytime soon, but it was nice of them to try. Quaker oatmeal still tastes good at 1 in the afternoon, by the way. Via AgencySpy. -
Smoking likened to being eaten by zombies
2 Sep 2010 | 9:50 amZombies are everywhere, it seems, even in American Legacy's latest "Truth" commercials. Timed to the launch of The Real World's 24th season (Jesus!) on MTV, we get Zombieville, a Real World parody with young people on a reality show tormented by the undead. And for a change, it's not each other. The trailer is below; see the first two episodes after the jump. This all sounds miserably convoluted and overly high-concept, but the episodes so far are decent—a mix of goofy gore and thankfully minimal anti-smoking rhetoric. (Smoking and zombies both kill you, is the basic premise.) Any campaign… -
Drake University's ad campaign gets big D+
2 Sep 2010 | 8:06 amDrake University officials are feverishly scrambling to explain why they thought "D+" would be a great theme for a recruitment ad campaign. The D+ is meant to be shorthand for the magic that occurs when Drake plus a student get together. To many, though, it seems to position Drake as a school whose standards barely exceed total failure. However, in a note to faculty and staff this week, Drake defends the campaign as "intentionally edgy," and just right for the target market. "The D+ was not designed to stand alone or represent a grade. Instead, it was designed to be paired with prose and draw… -
Hong Kong advertises canisters of fresh air
2 Sep 2010 | 7:39 amThe air quality in Hong Kong is so bad that they're starting to sell fresh air in canisters, which you can strap to your face to enjoy lovely, brief periods of unpolluted respiration. Available in pleasant scents like vanilla, the beach and "horses," the canned air is "the revolutionary new product that lets you experience breathing like the rest of the world does," according to the spot below. Of course, it's a parody infomercial, nicely produced by DDB and the Hong Kong Clean Air Network (CAN), urging environmental protection. Says the line at the end: "If we do nothing about Hong Kong's… -
100,000 live bees plead for help on billboard
2 Sep 2010 | 6:59 amHoney-bee populations are mysteriously dwindling worldwide. In England, the Banrock Station winery created the "world's first ad with live bees" to call attention to the problem. They used queen-bee pheromones to attract a giant swarm of bees (as many as 100,000, according to the BBC) from a nearby honey farm to spell out an "SOS" message on a billboard. No bees were harmed and no one was stung during the stunt. The winery is also donating 5p to the honey-bee cause for every bottle sold. Clare Griffiths from Banrock Station tells the BBC: "We thought there was no better way to raise awareness…
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Strategic Public Relations
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"Updating Your Status" | A Twitter Parody Tune ♫ ♪
25 Aug 2010 | 3:39 amI like Cake -- the food that's spawned a ton of TV shows and, more importantly, the band.I like Twitter too. So why did I take the Cake song "Going the Distance" and create this Twitter parody?If we can't laugh at ourselves, what's the point? Just be thankful I didn't pick "Tweet It" and I'm not into karaoke.Is it funny? You tell me. But it's definitely a parody. So here's one of my favorite earworms -- dedicated to the social plaform, and cottage industry, that's grown up around it."Updating Your Status"140 characters, a parting lineFingers nimble and dancing in timeThe fail wail… -
1984 - not an instruction manual
24 Aug 2010 | 3:20 amPreparing for an upcoming presentation, I was considering the documentation vs. experience trend and its impact on consumer consumption habits.As Ricky Van Veen notes, people are more into recording the trip to Disney World than the trip itself. A socially-inclined, smartphone-toting park guest could check in on Foursquare, record their mouse-inspired lunch on Foodspotting and brag about their Phineas and Ferb t-shirt on Barcode Hero.This is a nice change of pace because normally they're just logging in their Phineas and Ferb TV time on Tunerfish. And it doesn't have to stop there, with apps… -
The Ultimate Social Media Site is Onsite
23 Aug 2010 | 12:39 pmThe final stop on Day One of the #140conf found @jeffpulver and team in Cincinnati for a Sunday evening RoadTrip TweetUp.The attendees, the stories and the entire experience remind me that no social media platform can replicate the original social network – meeting live and in person. Putting faces to names and Twitter handles is part of it. But you obviously learn so much more than you can from even the most well-crafted 140 character missive. We should all do it more often.With more than 20 people in attendance, there were plenty of stories to tell and document about Cincinnati’s… -
Influence, huh, yeah, what is it good for...
19 Aug 2010 | 5:06 amWith apologies to Edwin Starr, when did the word influence join the commoditized dictionary with experience, integrated, solutions and the like?Was it when the word was first used (incorrectly) as a synonym to popularity? I'm not sure. And I don't really care. But popularity is not the same as influence and ever since Fast Company's much-discussed "Influence Project" debuted, I've become interested in defining influence once and for all.The Importance of InfluenceAt Empower, we use influence as a guide to our blogger relations efforts. It's an important metric. We know it makes more sense… -
The Press Release (a rant. for immediate release.)
17 Aug 2010 | 3:40 amShould the press release die? Or should it just become a social media press release? Hey, a press release and social media are like peanut butter and chocolate folks. Are you going to pass on a Reese's?! Um, who cares?!OK, I understand there's a sh!t ton of money tied up in the distribution of press releases --from the agencies writing them and the blogs, conferences, workshops, e-books and teleseminars offering tips on how to write better press releases to the wire services and media databases helping to push them out (more than 2,000 each day on average I'm told).The press release…
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Ogilvy Blog Aggregator
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Ready-made social media strategies
2 Sep 2010 | 10:57 amCan't get a fix on your social media strategy yet? This site helps you make one up so you don't have to. [Original Illustration by Frits Ahlefeldt-Laurvig] -
Plannersphere Top 20 - September 2010
2 Sep 2010 | 10:35 amThe top 20 blogs in the plannersphere as of 2nd Sep. 2010 are: 01. We Are Social 02. Noah Brier dot Com 03. Nick Burcher 04. The Curious Brain 05. advertising lab 06. What Consumes Me 07. Only Dead Fish 08. The Musings of An Opinionated Sod 09. adliterate 10. russell davies 11. brand new 12. Get Shouty 13. Servant of Chaos 14. positive disruption by: Tom Martin 15. Influxinsights 16. The Hidden Persuader 17. Herd - the hidden truth about who we are 18. 180/360/720 19. Adspace Pioneers 20. Make Marketing History a. The top 20 blog list winnows out the planning/strategy blogs from the AdAge… -
Shoot the bear
2 Sep 2010 | 2:52 amNice interactive video concept for Tippex. Make your choice and see what happens… Related creative inspiration:Shoe shotsSamsung interactive YouTube videoFuture of video productionWho you gonna call?Website in a YouTube video? -
Les séries détrônent les films sur les murs de New York
1 Sep 2010 | 1:05 pmLors de mes visites à New York, ce sont l’omniprésence des marques, les affiches pour les comédies musicales et les actions plus ou moins événementielles pour les films qui m’avaient marquées. Les marques habitent toujours Time Square et les comédies musicales sont toujours à l’affiche sur Broadway. Mais les films semblent relégués au rang de la figuration. La vraie révolution m’a paru tellement énorme que j’ai éprouvé le besoin de la valider. Mon goût prononcé pour les séries orientait peut-être mon sentiment. J’ai demandé autour de moi. -
Why didn't a record company think of this?
1 Sep 2010 | 9:58 amunhearit is a site that helps you get rid of earworms - those pesky songs that get stuck in your head and refuse to go away. It does this by offering a random but equally "catchy" song to replace the one in your head. It's a simple and brilliant solution. And I can't help but think there is a bigger opportunity here for record companies. What better time to offer your wares to consumers than when they are desperately looking to replace their existing ones? And if the new song is catchy enough, it's bound to get stuck and talked and hummed about (and a handy link to download the tune is bound…
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Marketing.fm
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Analytics for Email
2 Sep 2010 | 7:27 amI want the equivalent of Google Analytics for my inbox. I know there are tons startups working on the email inbox and analytics solution – but none that focus on just stats that I know of. There is Xobni, Etacts, Rapportive, Gist, and now even Gmail has Gmail Priority Inbox. None of these solve for the analytics problem. I want the following legend – or something similar Visits = Emails Pageviews = Threads Pages/Visit = Threads/Emails Bounce Rate = Emails never returned Return Rate = Emails answered back Avg. time on Site = Average time spent per email New visits = % of emails… -
The Social Media Tsunami
1 Sep 2010 | 10:00 amMy friend Mike Singleton just coined a new phrase which I like which happens after you meet someone for the first time, or correspond with them online. It represents the full monty of online connections that can occur. These usually happen in fast succession resulting in an avalanche of connection options coming from one person in your inbox. This includes a wave of invites from the following services; The twitter follow The tweet with a mention The LinkedIn connection The Facebook friend request The Foursquare friend request The Plaxo friend request The funny part about this is that it… -
Institutional Knowledge
31 Aug 2010 | 11:02 amWithin any workforce there are new workers and old workers. This is not an age debate and when I refer to new worker I mean new to the company and old workers as been there awhile. They say you can master a job or at least hit your stride after 18 months. So what does this mean for new workers? Do they need 18 months to get up to speed? As you bring on more new employees, as I am experiencing right now, you have to find ways to create institutional knowledge. I think 18 months sounds high (at least in the startup technology world) and that can be an eternity if it were really the case. -
Retargeting? Yes please.
19 Jul 2010 | 5:05 amWhile browsing the web today I was hit by a banner ad powered by Criteo for Zappos. They are using my previous browsing history to target Zappos products I may be interested in. This technology, called retargeting, has been around for a while but I have never been presented with a link at the bottom of the add before. Clicking this link brings me to a page that actually shows my browsing history, how it correlates to what others have purchased, and tries to make an intelligent decision on what to show me. Below is my own landing page for the ad: This is a good thing because it is less… -
EarlyStager Approval Matrix
29 Jun 2010 | 7:24 amFour of my friends have teamed up and started blogging at EarlyStager.com, and you should definitely subscribe. One of their first posts is the EarlyStager Approval Matrix: A Start-Up Taste Barometer and its great. Congratulations to @bethferreira, @emilykhickey, @lexjuneja, and @sarahtavel on the launch – I am looking forward to what comes next! Post from: Marketing.fm - Eric Friedman You should follow me on Twitter
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Web Ink Now
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Girls Fight Back… with video
1 Sep 2010 | 7:16 amSeptember is National Campus Safety Awareness Month. And this week millions of college students in North America will move into their dorms or apartments for the new academic year. In this spirit, I'd like to talk about Erin Weed and her terrific program called Girls Fight Back. GFB empowers girls and women from around the world through personal safety and self-defense techniques. The information is delivered via in person sessions on university campuses, at high schools and workplaces. Erin and her team have trained over half a million people. This valuable content is also available via… -
Eerily accurate predictions from AT&T 1993 television advertising
31 Aug 2010 | 5:32 amTake a look at this interesting montage of television advertising from AT&T from nearly 20 years ago. The "You Will" series looked at what you will be able to do in the future. It's amazing how many of the predictions the ads got right – there’s an iPad like device, a GPS navigation system, the ability to purchase concert tickets online, virtual meeting software, and on-demand video at home. There are several things that were spectacularly inaccurate however such as the continued use of a phone booth and fax. (When was the last time you even saw a phone booth?) But it's remarkable how… -
Monster Brand Journalism
26 Aug 2010 | 8:39 amI was delighted when Monster reached out to my publisher John Wiley & Sons to request an excerpt of my book Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead which I wrote with Brian Halligan and that came out a few weeks ago. But wait! Monster, the job site, runs an excerpt of Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead? What's going on here? I needed to learn more. The excerpt, which they titled Social Media Wisdom from the Grateful Dead: Be Yourself, ran in the Recruiting & Hiring Advice section, which is aimed at hiring managers. There is a ton of Recruiting & Hiring information in categories that… -
Awesome Air New Zealand All Blacks rugby safety video
24 Aug 2010 | 6:46 amLast year I had the pleasure of speaking at the Marketing Now! conference in Wellington, NZ hosted by my friend Siobhan Bulfin. I met marketers from both Air New Zealand and the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team. I was struck at the time the awesomeness of New Zealanders and their world famous team. So it is with great excitement that Siobhan shared with me the new safety video created by Air New Zealand for use on their 737 aircraft (which I flew from Auckland to Wellington). Direct link to Air New Zealand - Crazy About Rugby - Safety Video on YouTube. What fun. If you're like me and… -
Lollapalooza in sign language
20 Aug 2010 | 11:46 amHad a great weekend with my family at Lollapalooza in early August. We saw a bunch of bands, including Arcade Fire, Jimmy Cliff, Balkan Beat Box, Drive-By-Truckers, Devo, Gogol Bordello, Spoon, Green Day, Blitzen Trapper, Freightened Rabbit, and The National (to name a few). I was absolutely fascinated with the live sign language interpreters who were rocking to some of the more popular bands. They were stage right on a platform so that the people in a special section on the left side of the audience way up front could see both the interpreters and the band. And the section was right in front…
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Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog
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Really, You Do Control the Message
1 Sep 2010 | 2:49 pmEarlier today, Giuseppe Pacheco Tweeted "You No Longer Control Your Company’s Brand" with a link to You No Longer Control Your Company's Brand | Spin Sucks. BTW, I responded to Giuseppe right away with a link to one of my earlier posts about this topic and I follow him, so I usually like his links. read more -
Accenture’s Report: High Performance in Insurance with Social Media.
1 Sep 2010 | 2:01 pmGuest Post by: Tim Fowler As I have a keen interest in social media for financial services I’ve been looking at the Accenture’s paper on “Achieving high performance in insurance through social media”. read more -
What Color Makes the Most Green?
1 Sep 2010 | 1:01 pmCould wearing a particular color influence the results obtained by a salesperson? If that salesperson is selling to a buyer of the opposite gender, the answer may be, “Yes!” read more -
#ChangeMarketing: Shift Perspectives #2 Is Out
31 Aug 2010 | 6:24 amChanging the face of marketing is something that takes vision and persistence. With the publication of Shift Perspectives #2, Bogdan Meica & Stefan Moghina are proving once again to have both. This time focusing on the topic of innovation, our two Romanian friends have brought together the likes of Seth Godin, Mitch Joel, Gerald Nanninga and many of the people you find on this blog in one publication that is sure to make you think. read more -
Everything Old Is New Again
31 Aug 2010 | 4:50 amFor years, people built brands (really their businesses, we didn't know about brands then) by learning how to deliver a consistent experience across everything they did. The product, their service, everything was teed into their business and they're profitability. They got instant feedback from the people who were their customers and word spread, both good & bad, based on the experience that was delivered. If you think about it, it was really all viral and social marketing back then, we just didn't have the technology at we talk about today. read more
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PR-Squared
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The Difference Between Flacks & Spin Doctors
2 Sep 2010 | 9:30 amI honestly hadn’t heard much hubbub about the August 21 New York Times feature on the year’s biggest PR fiascoes (“In Case of Emergency: What Not to Do”), until I read last week’s editorial in PRWeek, “NYT falls short again in its portrayal of PR” (sub reqd). (The) article seemed to suggest that the “PR missteps” were what led to the problems at BP, Toyota, and Goldman Sachs, and this is simply a naive way of thinking. In each of these cases, the true problem was caused by a fundamental business—or safety—issue. Ask any crisis communications or reputation management… -
Which Social Media Marketing Agencies Will Thrive In 5 Years?
30 Aug 2010 | 3:22 amFrom WIRED Magazine’s controversial article, “The Web is Dead, Long Live the Internet” came this set of factoids: The story of industrial revolutions, after all, is a story of battles over control. A technology is invented, it spreads, a thousand flowers bloom, and then someone finds a way to own it, locking out others. It happens every time. Take railroads. Uniform and open gauge standards helped the industry boom and created an explosion of competitors — in 1920, there were 186 major railroads in the US. But eventually the strongest of them rolled up the others, and today there are… -
Marketing Doesn’t ONLY Happen Online
26 Aug 2010 | 5:42 amAccording to a recent report by the Keller Faye Group, less than 10% of word of mouth conversations happen online. Think about that for a second. We spend an inordinate amount of time fretting about Social Media Marketing, which is — let’s face it — largely an online phenomenon. We perform blogger monitoring/outreach, Twitter monitoring/outreach, Facebook and LinkedIn and Yahoo Answers monitoring/outreach … It all feels right. We can measure the clicks. Yet according to the research, which dates back to 2006, “online” is NOT where consumers are talking about brands. 90% of… -
An Atypical Son Heads to College
25 Aug 2010 | 9:04 amI know you visit this blog to hear about thoughts & strategies re: Social Media Marketing and Public Relations. And that’s what you get 99% of the time. So I hope you’ll forgive me when, 1% of the time, I make this blog personal. A few years ago I told you about my wife, on the eve of her graduation from nursing school (by the way, if you know anyone hiring nurses in the Bay Area, please let me know). Today I’d like to take a moment to tell you about our son Luke, who leaves for college this week. Luke is not perfect. His room is in a constant state of disrepair. He… -
The Rise of Branded Journalism
24 Aug 2010 | 9:06 amI recently had lunch with an old colleague who now runs PR at Kaspersky Lab, one of the best-known and fastest-rising anti-virus companies on the planet. My friend told me a story that should seize the hearts of journalists even as it captures the imagination of corporate marketers; it’s a story about the rise of branded journalism. Of course, you already know all about “branded entertainment.” For some groundbreaking examples, look no further than Spherion Staffing’s “The Temp Life” video series or Ikea’s “Easy To Assemble”…
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davefleet.com
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Is “Social Media” Hurting Social Media?
2 Sep 2010 | 5:00 amIs the term “social media” hurting strategic communicators in the digital space? Before you tell me I’m crazy, stop and think for a second. Plenty of people have wondered about the term before (Google “social media term” and you’ll find a 2007 post from Jeremiah Owyang on the topic) but I’m thinking of this from a slightly different angle. Is the term “social media” leading clients to take the wrong approach to their online activities? How many companies have you encountered taking a scorched earth approach to their social media… -
Confidentiality And Agency Life
31 Aug 2010 | 4:30 amAs you may know, I’ve recently begun a new job at a new agency (Edelman, for the record). In doing so, I moved to an agency that represents competitors of past clients. While I’ve taken this in my stride, several people have now raised questions about confidentiality with me – enough that I think it’s worth addressing at a broader level. As an ‘agency guy’ you’re privy to all sorts of plans, strategies and future-focused documents that your clients trust you to keep confidential. Other companies would love to get their hands on those documents, or… -
Are You Creating Social Media Scorched Earth?
30 Aug 2010 | 4:30 am“In too many cases, the “best practices” espoused by digital agencies are less about “serving the community” and more about driving a rush of new fans, without much thought re: how to keep those fans engaged on a LONG-TERM basis.” — Todd Defren As corporate spending on social media-based communication continues to rise, I’m beginning to worry that many brands are inadvertently adopting a ’scorched earth’ approach to their online activities. What do I mean by scorched earth? When an army advances using a scorched earth approach, it… -
Change, Change And More Change
25 Aug 2010 | 8:07 amThe last few years have been wonderful for me, both personally and professionally. I’ve lived happily with my girlfriend, Caralin, for several years now, and I’ve enjoyed a rewarding career that has so far brought me more opportunities than I could have possibly hoped for. Today, I’m happy to announce the next step in both of those areas of my life. Moving on professionally I’ve spent the last two years of my career at Thornley Fallis Communications, joining the company as a Senior Consultant in 2008 and being promoted first to Account Director and subsequently to Vice… -
Personalities, Policies & Problems: Companies and Employees 2.0
24 Aug 2010 | 4:30 amThe annual ritual is upon us – the submissions for next year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) are posted and the voting process has begun. (Actually, it began a little while back but – you may have noticed the silence recently – I was away on vacation) This year I’ve thrown my hat in the ring and submitted a SXSW 2011 panel proposal with Scott Stratten (UnMarketing), Chris Barger (General Motors) and Sarah White (HRM Direct) entitled Personalities, Policies & Problems: Companies and Employees 2.0. The combination of immediacy and near-universal adoption of social…
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B.L. Ochman's blog
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New report on "The State of Mobile Communications" says be mobile or be dust
27 Aug 2010 | 7:18 amBy B.L. Ochman Now is the perfect time for businesses to jump into mobile communications, says "The State of Mobile Communications," a newly issued report by Burson-Marsteller and Proof Integrated Communications (where I am Managing Director of Emerging Media.) The report provides recommendations based on the implications of a range of key mobile research reports, including: Companies who are not already engaging with stakeholders via mobile are missing infinite business and revenue-generating opportunities created by exponential mobile growth. And, once mobile is even more pervasive in a few… -
The implications of Facebook Places - for business and for you + how to opt out and in
22 Aug 2010 | 4:38 pmThere will be consequences if you don't understand the rules and the stakes of Facebook Places. Love it or hate it, you'll need to understand it. So listen up. Individuals have to jump through hoops to opt out of Facebook's new Places feature, and companies better follow the complex rules to opt in. Places is NOT like Foursqare or other GPS services Sounds a lot like Foursqare, Gowalla, Yelp and Booyah - until you consider that Facebook user's typically provide far more personal details, including photos, videos, relationships, employment and educational data. Using Facebook Places requires… -
How to have a totally freaking amazing corporate blog
4 Aug 2010 | 9:17 pmBy B.L. Ochman What if we don't want to put an enormous amount of time and effort into a company blog? A client asked me recently: What if we just want to have a blog that's just good enough to help us with search engine rankings, but won't win any awards? No! The world doesn't need one more plain vanilla corporate blog. The client's question was based on several misunderstandings and myths about corporate blogging. An effective company blog is not: o an instant fix for falling search rankings o a way to blatantly sell products o easy or quick to create, write or sustain o an easy way to… -
Target's Checkered Past - and Present - in Social Media
2 Aug 2010 | 1:28 pmTarget, which for the record, is one of my all-time fave places to shop, has a checkered past - and present - in social media. The reason: they, or someone who is advising them, still believe in message control. Alas, dear Target, message control is, and always has been, an illusion. Target clearly didn't get social media in 2007 when they asked students to lie to their Facebook friends, and they've run afoul of MoveOn.org today over campaign contributions. "Companies like Target should stay out of elections, period," says MoveOn's petition. But in between, Target made some enlightened social… -
QR Codes hit the mainstream - led by NYC Garbage Trucks. Platform wars escalate
27 Jul 2010 | 8:32 pmIn Japan QR codes - two dimensional images containing encoded data - are found on everything from business cards to lettuce. They are soon to be ubiquitous in the West in advertising and marketing, and in New York City, garbage trucks are leading the way. In mid-July, Quick Response (QR) Codes began appearing on the sides of 2,200 New York City Department of Sanitation trucks. Having QR codes all over town will hopefully remove much of the nerd-factor from the QR code scan, and demonstrate to tens of thousands of New Yorkers, ranging from the tech-savvy to luddite, the potential rewards of…
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Social Media Marketing
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Picture This
29 Aug 2010 | 6:23 amOne of the oft-overlooked elements in the routine of blogging is image selection. Now, not every blogger uses images, charts, graphs, or other visuals as part of their storytelling approach (Seth Godin, most notably, is almost always a text-only blogger). But for those of us who do, our photos can be just as important and compelling as our written copy.The art of communications and marketing is largely one of storytelling. As someone with small children, I can appreciate the necessity of images to help tell stories. Images can help to set expectations, evoke emotional responses, draw… -
Who Do You Trust?
15 Aug 2010 | 5:23 amIt's been well documented that people don't trust corporations as much as they used to. But who do they trust? It's largely people from two categories: third party experts (academics, some media sources, analysts, etc.) and "people like me."But when it comes to social media, we've also heard that people don't trust bloggers (from Forrester, no less). I've often doubted that assertion, particularly because it seems rather misleading. While the category of bloggers as a whole may be untrusted, people develop relationships with the blogs they follow and read most closely, and therefore… -
Social Network: The Movie
19 Jul 2010 | 3:30 amAs Facebook prepares to celebrate hitting 500 million members this week, we're seeing more news of the controversial film The Social Network.** With the tagline "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies," the trailer for the film has been running on thesocialnetwork-movie.com or 500millionfriends.com. You can watch it below now:Sony is advertising the movie on Twitter - but not on Facebook (go figure!). The founders of Facebook have already reacted to the trailer. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is going to be played by Jesse Eisenberg,… -
Now That's Viral, Man
17 Jul 2010 | 10:30 amIf you haven't followed the Old Spice phenomenon from this week, you've missed out. It's a great example of a really strong performing viral campaign that harkens back to some of the classics like Subservient Chicken, Shave Everywhere, and Tea Partay.It started on on television earlier this year with the following Old Spice commercial, "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" (link for those of you in RSS readers):(If you'd like to see how this was accomplished, Leo Laporte has a great interview with the agency.)That commercial, first aired during the Super Bowl in early February, as of this week… -
Global Web Index
12 Jul 2010 | 10:07 pmAround the world, social media has taken off. While this is an exciting time for companies, for the global social media executive that means a lot of headaches as we try make sense of it all.The gradual adoption, platforms that differ by region and the difference in penetration of mobile and broadband connections all mean that there are bound to be disparities in how and where people around the world connect via the social web.Once upon a time, Universal McCann did a series called Tracking the Impact of Social Media that consisted of four "waves" of the study. You can grab them here:Wave 2:…
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Sustainable Marketing Blog
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Conversation as a driver of social sustainability
2 Sep 2010 | 5:30 amThis is my contribution in “Age of Conversation 3: It’s Time To Get Busy!” (emphasis added for this post). Read more about the project, or, even better, buy the book now. Social sustainability gets short shrift in branding. Reasons abound: it’s hard to define and measure quantitatively; it’s intangible, processual, and complex; it’s not as sexy as caring for the environment and not as immediately profitable. No wonder the People bottom line stays in the background. It doesn’t have to be so. Define brand as the sum of your stakeholders’… -
Joy of pricing: Financial sustainability through flexibility
30 Aug 2010 | 5:14 amIn my discussion of business-to-business pricing strategies a while ago I discussed a variety of ways to satisfy both your company’s and your customer’s needs through fair prices and price discrimination. Since then–I can’t believe it’s been 10 months already!–I’ve discovered and have successfully applied two additional pricing methods: equal monthly payment and customized pricing. Equal monthly payment Equal monthly payment is a combination of hourly rate, fixed fee, and retainer. It works for long-term contracts or big projects. For a steady client… -
unReview: Q2/2010 recommendations
13 Aug 2010 | 12:21 pmThe year 2010 is going by quickly. Continuing the nascent series of quarterly book recommendations (see the Q1 list), here’s a list of my recommendations from the year’s 2nd quarter (April-June). All of these can help, in one way or another, in your marketing and business. Enjoy! Business Peter Senge, et al., “The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World”, 2008 — Wordy but useful and example-ridden guide to creating creative collaborations and collaborative organizations. Psychology, sociology,… -
What does sustainable design mean to me?
12 Aug 2010 | 4:56 pmI have mentioned AIGA Portland’s event “SHIFT: A Green Salon” a couple of times, here and here. The group’s sustainability committee puts on the awesome pecha kucha to spotlight answers to the titular question. At each SHIFT, 10 designers, marketers, scholars, practitioners, or students present, in 5-minute talks, their ideas, thoughts, and solutions across a broad spectrum of design. SHIFT 4, which takes place on Tuesday, August 24th from 7 to 9:30 pm at Ecotrust, will be an even more exciting one for me: it will feature my presentation titled, “Crowdsourcing… -
Open eyes, mind, and heart in marketing
29 Jul 2010 | 12:47 pmAs my new venture takes shape (more on that in the coming weeks), I read a lot about startups. Amid the predictable stream of advice about the need for a “single-minded, uncompromising obsession with One Thing” (via War Room), the most intriguing case studies showcase companies that set out to offer Product A and ended up making it big with Product B. Not only do I see in those stories parallels with my own development and evolution toward the new venture, I’ve drawn a major business/life lesson from them. It’s one of those “Duh!” moments when you read it,…
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Six Pixels of Separation
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10 Best Books For Back To School Business Reading
2 Sep 2010 | 3:16 amIt's back-to-school week... what are you planning on learning this year? The other morning, I watched the pitter-patter of feet drag their way back to school. The brand-new schoolbags scratched by the pavement, the half-tied shoelaces, and the general sluggish malaise can be best summed up in three words every child despises: "Back to school." Many professionals give off that same sluggish malaise every Monday morning as they wrestle their way through rush-hour traffic to make it to the office while daydreaming about the chance to go back in time and spend the day at school,… -
The Truth, The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth
31 Aug 2010 | 7:00 pmThere is a reason why traditional media professionals will have a hard time making the transition to a new media world. Just the other day I got into a debate with a seasoned traditional journalist about what the new media means. This individual is still in a highly coveted and well-respected position, so I was surprised by their core thesis as to why we can't trust new media. Ultimately, it boils down to the cold, hard fact that new media shows little to no signs of accountability. Traditional media (newspapers, magazines, radio and television) check their sources. There is a process to how… -
Creativity In The Age of Web Analytics
31 Aug 2010 | 7:43 amIs Mad Men a true representation of how great creative happens in Marketing? In a typical Mad Men episode, research comes back saying something plain about the insights surrounding a brand. But the creatives, led by a cape-wearing Don Draper, rage against the machine and follow their gut instinct to create breakthrough creative that could have never happened had the team followed what research was telling them. It's the kind of Americana story that we all love to hear: those who won't follow what "The Man" is telling them, coupled with that burning desire to express themselves and put one's… -
The Gentle Art Of The Retweet
30 Aug 2010 | 3:54 amAs Twitter evolves and grows, the etiquette and "rules" change, morph and evolve along with it. Recently, a very influential person on Twitter sent me a direct message saying that they were insulted because I had thanked a few people for retweeting one of my tweets, but I forgot to thank this individual. They were even more insulted because the people I had thanked were actually retweeting this individual's tweet (and not mine). I suck at Twitter. I sort of knew that before (more on that here: The Trouble With Twitter - Confessions Of A Twitter Snob), but as the platform grows, I'm… -
The Truth Behind "Conversation" In Social Media With Joseph Jaffe
29 Aug 2010 | 11:32 amEpisode #217 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to. This is also Across The Sound episode #8.20. 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 the newly minted, Flip The Funnel). Along with that, he is currently one of the chiefs over at the Social Media Marketing agency, Powered. A long-time friend (and one of the main…
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Don't drink the koolaid
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Entertainment Check ins – here to stay?
31 Aug 2010 | 10:27 amWhen you’re in the business of marketing and PR you’re expected to stay up-to-date on the latest current events and pop culture trends. It’s important to create a personal brand to incorporate your own interests and recommendations, but also stay professional while doing so. It’s a fine line we walk as marketing professionals in the digital era – thankfully, there are emerging social media networks to help us do it all. Viewers check in to entertainment on Philo While Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook all provide a common place to share your thoughts and ideas, a new group of… -
How To Convince Your Employer To Let You Run A Social Media Campaign
30 Aug 2010 | 3:50 pmHere is the deal. Social Media is an undeniable force. Is anyone even talking about anything else? Nope, not really. I went to a Competitive Edge luncheon today where a panel of tourism industry experts regaled us with “How To Operate In the New Norm”. They talked about team building, communicating with your employees, looking toward the future, networking in industry groups and…You guessed it, Social Media. I could sit here and list off a handful of examples where I attended a luncheon and was lectured on the importance of Social Media. I won’t bore you with the… -
How PR Agencies Devalue the Industry
27 Aug 2010 | 9:07 amImage by litlnemo via Flickr Most informed agency leaders will agree that a big part of what our clients want, and are willing to pay us for, is our thinking. We bring years of experience, coupled with tactical knowledge and creativity to marketing challenges. So why is it that so many agencies are willing to give it away for free? Over the past couple of months we have been told by more than one new business prospect that while they love our creative thinking and want our experience/approach, they are having a tough time making a decision because the other agency(ies) have given them a… -
Best Practices for Creating a Linkedin Profile
26 Aug 2010 | 2:12 pmLinkedin is a great website to find tailored job listings and potential employees, but the social network is often overlooked as a potential new business tool and a platform for personal branding. With more than 60 million users (80 percent of which have a college degree) Linkedin allows people to re-connect with past business connections in a professional setting. Even more importantly, Linkedin puts an emphasis on introducing you to people you need to know and gives you the place to have an expert voice in the industry in which you work. In order to help you use Linkedin in this way,… -
Ten Signs You May Be A Prepress Pro
25 Aug 2010 | 9:35 amFor the Graphic Designer, prepress means the procedure to prepare digital graphic design files for printers and vendors. These steps of preparation can include proofreading, revisions, checking size, fonts and color, and output of the file in correct format. Prepress at a printer can include making separations, platemaking, creating blue lines and color proofs. The steps stay basically the same on each job and when you do them professionally for several years you may notice signs of how they affect your life. Below are the top ten signs you may be a prepress pro: 1. Double spacing after…
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Michael Durwin
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List of Social Media Monitoring Tools
I just ran across this list of Social Media Monitoring tools. I’m working my way through them but thought I’d share in the meantime. Thanks to TJ McCue for posting this. Addictomatic http://addictomatic.com AIM http://newmediastrategies.net Alterian http://socialmedia.alterian.com/ Analytic.ly http://analytics.peoplebrowsr.com Asomo http://www.asomo.net Attentio http://attentio.com/ Awareness Networks http://www.awarenessnetworks.com/software/measure Backtype http://www.backtype.com Bantam Live http://www.bantamlive.com/ Beevolve http://www.beevolve.com/ Biz360… -
The 5 Senses of Social Media
We interact with the world through our 5 senses: hearing, visions, smell, taste, and touch. We should consider the 5 senses with our marketing efforts, specifically with efforts with Social Media. Sense of Hearing – If you listen to your audience it will help you understand their language, culture, needs, desires, interests, etc. It will [...] -
Your Customer Is Your Brand
Many brands still struggle with social media. They’re afraid to engage the public through SoMe for fear of losing control of their brand. What’s hard for them to understand is that they never conolled it, no brand has. Consumers’ perception makes up a majority of what a brand is. It is customers and users that [...] -
You’re not Selling Products, You’re Selling Engagement
Cigarette companies had it right. WAY back in the day, when cigarette companies still advertised, the would show their cigarette package mixed in with a scene of hip, cool, good looking young people having a great time playing pool or surfing (must have been tough smoking a wet one). They weren’t selling the product, they [...] -
Your #1 Marketing Channel? Customer Service
I used to HATE Comcast. I payed a fortune for TV, phone, and Internet. Most of my issues revolved around TV: no sounds, freeing picture, no service, etc. As an early adopter and technology geek I am fairly forgiving of technical problems as long as customer service is responsive and addresses my problem. In order [...]
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The Lost Jacket
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Do You Know Why Keanu is Sad?
9 Aug 2010 | 7:51 am(If you don't? You really should go find out.) First! Being first isn't about winning a race, nor is it about knowing something before anyone else. It isn't even about being first to attain something. (Ask all the people who just bought iPhone 4s...or a commenter getting ripped on 4chan.) Being first really means that your brand has the agility (balls) to be a trailblazer and take a chance on leveraging unique pop-culture and internet phenomenons before they expire. Will some attempts fail? Absolutely. However, if you don't throw things against the wall? Nothing will stick. Thus, you need to… -
Awesome Doesn't Have a Medium
28 Jun 2010 | 7:30 amIt's not about having the best (creative) idea. Twelpforce: Participatory, saves money, and provides a creative solution. It's crowdsourcing done right. It's getting the best idea to market (and effectively framing your message). In other words; the best business idea. Great marketers tell stories. Constraints help shape them. Great stories break constraints. Ouch. Makes your head hurt doesn't it? This is the current situation that marketers are dealing with. Now compound this with attention scarcity, a broadcast mentality and an afterthought on digital? You have one heck of a mess. Stop… -
Parasitic Marketing
14 Jun 2010 | 10:12 am(Par-a-site) n. 1. An organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host. Fill a need. Position accordingly. Profit. It's that simple. Parasites do this better then anyone. They fill holes in a product and in turn leverage that product's popularity to spur on their own development. Why then do parasitic business models fail so often? After all, in the animal kingdom these creatures are the epitome of efficiency and survival. Granted they aren't the most loved... Simple: They are at the mercy of their host. For an… -
Account Planning Porn
18 May 2010 | 5:46 pmCognitive Biases - A Visual Study Guide by the Royal Society of Account Planning Aspiring planners: Make flashcards out of this presentation. I know I will be. (from PSFK) -
What is Geolocation’s Endgame?
10 May 2010 | 6:29 amWant to confuse someone? Start talking about the importance of geotargeting, user profiles and predictive data modeling. Now ask them if they’ve checked into Foursquare yet. Geolocation is hot. As in, $150-million-dollars hot. Why shouldn’t it be? It blends mobile, contextual information, gaming and serendipity into a relevant experience, enabling users to change their behavior based on the actions of their friends (or enemies). “Checking-in” isn’t just colloquial geek-speak; it’s the new human behavior. Have you thought about the true intention of these tools? Despite what…
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tangyslice
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Corporate Social Media: After the Buzz
17 Aug 2010 | 7:45 amBack in June I was a guest on This Week in Social Media hosted by PJA Advertising + Marketing. The show was rebroadcasted last week. I had a chance to listen again and thought there were some interesting nuggets. Mike O’Toole and I talked about the practical aspects of running social for a public company. I really like the way we came up with a top five list of “rules” for helping an organization be more social. 1. Find people who are willing to speak in the first person and aren’t afraid to have a personal point of view. You need people who are passionate about a… -
Seven simple steps to more effective social media listening
4 Aug 2010 | 10:53 amI’m sure that most of us have heard the social media truism that first step to being more social is listening. An entire industry has sprung up around listening platforms. Before you sign up for 12 months of service from the platform of the day, here is my list of low cost/no cost ways to be a better online listener. Identify your top influencers and/or sources of information – If you are like most people, you know your top 5 to 10 off the top of your head. What are the sites you visit everyday? What sites do you feel guilty about not visiting more frequently? What does… -
Seven things a blog post is not…
16 Mar 2010 | 7:30 amA direct response marketing program – This means we need to avoid the urge to include conversation stopping things like hyperbole, canned benefits statements and a call to action. Few things shut down a blog conversations faster than “act before Friday…” or some other type of offer. A press release – PR teams have a very specific role as the “official voice” of the organization for the media and other third parties. This typically means speaking of your organization in the third person. In contrast, effective blogging works in the first and… -
A 21 day plan for creating your own Internet radio or TV show
11 Mar 2010 | 8:24 amImage via Wikipedia Wake up everybody. The age of plentiful bandwidth is here. This means a streaming radio show can sound like the host is sitting right next to you. Last summer I blogged about my learning from producing a couple of online radio shows. I created this post as a follow roadmap to help you create your own show. My guess is that this is a new venture so I am a big advocate of testing new media programs in no-cost or low cost ways to prove the concept before “going big”. So how can we get from idea to fresh online radio show in an agile way? Here is my road map I used twice… -
My social media reading list
9 Dec 2009 | 6:10 amI’ve been accumulating news stories and blog posts for a B2B social media training course. As much as I like Digg, I felt like Delicious was a better way to organzing the articles. Here is the link I particularly like Peter Kim ‘s wiki with social media use cases. ** Name drop alert *** Peter, maybe we could grab another giant crab boil at SXSW this year with Mr. Cutler… I still need to add a bunch of Groundswell related stuff and don’t like any of the conventional articles about measurement as they were mostly written by people who have never marketed anything…
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Creativity_Unbound
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Don’t let yourself be labeled
1 Sep 2010 | 10:54 amYesterday I ran into old colleague, now an art director at another agency. Here’s how he greeted me. “Hey, I heard you’re no longer creative. You’ve gone 100 percent digital and social.” Now, I am under the impression that if you lose 30 pounds you may no longer be fat. Or that if you convert to Judaism you may no longer be Catholic. Or that if you have a sex change you may no longer be the same gender you used to be. But I had no idea that if you went all digital and social that it meant giving up your creativity. Heck, for a moment I had actually believed that digital and… -
How to hire social media strategists
27 Aug 2010 | 6:23 amKlout's a cool tool, but is it the best determinate of a candidate? Earlier this week my friend Michelle Tripp, blogger/CD/social media consultant asked how Mullen assesses talent when we hire people to develop strategy, content and online presence for our social media clients. Specifically, Michelle wondered if we’d starting using tools like Klout to evaluate someone’s online presence, influence, and community engagement, and if not, did we have a formal approach to determining someone’s social media skills? Apparently, Michelle has clients who are starting to check… -
Re: Today’s Creative Director, BBH’s Kevin Roddy gets it 90 percent right
24 Aug 2010 | 11:19 amI give Kevin Roddy a lot of credit for coming out and declaring that creative directors might actually be clueless when it comes to creating ideas for the post digital age. In a guest column in Ad Age, Roddy suggests that traditional CD’s may still know a great idea when they see it, but he questions whether they can inspire or conceive complex digital ideas if their real comfort zone is in the media of TV, print and radio. BBH New York’s CCO goes on to suggest that advertising creative directors whose experience comes from old media story telling should “admit that they don’t know… -
SxSW panels from Mullen and friends: hope you’ll vote and comment
23 Aug 2010 | 2:29 pmIt’s that time of year again. When we start thinking about Austin and ribs and digital friends and panel nerd badges. But first, we have to take care of business and do our job influencing, or at least commenting on, the submitted panels and talks. Granted there is no shortage of great panels up at SxSWi this voting season. In fact there are more than I’ve had the time to plow through. So, just in case you’re in the same over extended situation, I thought I’d share a few that Mullen colleagues and I have either submitted or been invited to join in hopes that they meet with your… -
Marriott and the impact of social media: the conclusion
20 Aug 2010 | 12:59 pmMarriott gave me a great opening to a speech on social media and a lesson in how anyone can create content, distribute that content and influence a brand conversation. Above the first four slides of a talk I gave at Sears. If you’ve been here this week you know the story of my dripping hotel room ceiling and my frustration with Marriott’s initial response. But I’m pleased to report the story has a happy ending for all involved. For starters, the ordeal gave me a brilliant opening to a speech I was making to Sears HC the next day. Perfect timing for a talk titled “The End of Us and…
