Today I launched a new initiative for our business, and we're calling it the 2008 online effectiveness survey.

So, what does that mean?

Well, we're asking business what activities they are engaging in online, and what is working for them. Its a very brief survey, more of a poll, but we're hoping to get some general trends and correlations out of the data. From this, we're going to produce a report for participants about some current "best practices".

In addition to this, we're offering a free website evaluation for anyone who wants it, with takeaway search engine optimisation tips.

Further, we're ...<< MORE >>

In this episode I chat about the the social media marketing fishbowl, connecting inside and out of it.

This is episode 2 of the podcast For Your Own Safety -  the 4 minute online marketing podcast with real life examples of WHAT NOT TO DO and 4 safety tips.

Download | Duration: 00:04:05

My 4 Safety tips for this episode were

1. Stay in the real world,
2. Don't make a meatball sundae out of it,
3. Earn your way into the conversation,
4. Know your audience and the space you're in.

My thanks to CC Chapman, Mitch Joel, Joseph Jaffeand Seth Godinfor inspiration and ideas.

        

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Cam Beck, over at Marketing Profs, recently wrote an insightful post called "The Publisher's Paradox: Why Traditional Advertising Models Are Dead"

The traditional publishing model for newspapers, magazines, etc has been to create great content, and sell advertising space on it. The author recounts how the digital scene has turned this model on its head.

Consumers now expect to get access to great content, not pay for it, and not be interrupted by advertising while consuming it. This is leading towards the decline of some traditional media giants, and the way advertising has been done.

Some marketers and advertisers have countered ...<< MORE >>

Seth Godin has to be one of the most forward thinking marketers around, what ever he writes is worth reading. He has authored books such as The Purple Cow, Permission Marketing and more lately, Meatball Sundae. You can get one of his books FREE, in ebook format. To download his manifesto on viral marketing and idea viruses click the link. This has been out there a while but I only came across it recently and enjoyed it thoroughly.

        

This is the very first episode of the podcast For Your Own Safety -  the 4 minute online marketing podcast with real life examples of WHAT NOT TO DO and 4 safety tips.

In this episode I chat about the dangers of email marketing and looking after your list. You can play or subscribe from here or in itunes.
 

Download | Duration: 00:04:00

        

"... or just be human." This was the closing comment of a recent post of Seth Godin's, after riffing about an impersonal note he received from a mail merge from a large corporation.

It got me thinking about how screwed up the whole marketing thing can be. Obviously, he meant, just be a GOOD human, because it would be so very human to do the normal marketing thing, and push our agenda, expound our features and benefits.

Really great marketing should remove our agenda. It really should be personal, not just "personalised". We should keep in mind that being a human at its best, is when we show more concern for others than for what we are selling. That they are a human with feeling, fears, loves, hates, concerns, needs. Our product or service is most probably not at the top of the agenda...

I believe that the really great marketing of the future is not just going to get better at putting ourselves at the top of peoples agenda, at interrupting, at reminding. The really great stuff is going to be when we show interest and concern in what others are interested in and concerned about.

Maybe then we get the right to talk, as one human to another.

        

Do everything with design in mind. That design should be to communicate in the easiest and most concise manner to your audience, to make it as easy for them to understand, talk and buy from you. To get them to do the
one thing that is most important.

I was at an internet marketing seminar today which was jam packed full of general information I already knew :p We had the opportunity to hear from a very successful Australian marketer, and the information was great, but I had heard it all before.

What really stuck for me was making the ...<< MORE >>

CC Chapman has this really descriptive concept about social media and the people who play in it called the fishbowl. Now apply this to marketing. See, my ideal client is highly unlikely to be listening to this podcast. They prbably dont even knwo what one is yet. But these are the people I want to work with, people who I can help to educate and navigate the new media space.

So, I have all these really great tools in my kit for connecting and communicating with people, however the poeple I want to talk to are not online, not linked ...<< MORE >>