My philosophy of consulting has always been that 1) I want every client to remain a (satisfied) client for as long as possible, and 2) I want every ex-client to be referenceable. To me, that seems common-sensical enough, but I'm disgusted by how many outside vendors don't share that approach to clients, whether through price gouging, incompetence, non-responsiveness, or just plain dishonesty.
It's not that there's a shortage of ethical codes, just a shortage of adherence to them. Codes abound, from ethical guidelines for management consulting and marketing to search engine optimization, public relations and blogging.
My personal contribution to the genre would be:
- Start with an honest assessment of your strengths. No single individual can be good at everything, even with a narrowly-defined area such as website design. Accept projects only in your strength areas; you'll be more likely to avoid delivering poor quality work.
- Develop a network of talented people in your non-strength areas. Closely related to the point above, in some cases you'll want to be able to bid on a larger project. By having a network, you can take on these projects and still provide quality. Plus, you'll have other talented individuals referring work to you in their non-strength areas.
- Price fairly. It's not only ethically wrong, but just doesn't make good business sense, to overcharge a client for short-term gain while sacrificing long-term loyalty and referenceability.
Trust goes a long way in maintaining current business and generating new projects. It's hard to get it back once it's lost, so it's better not to lose it in the first place.
*****
Terms: marketing consulting code of ethics, management consultant ethics, public relations, blogging
The website marketing strategy portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
jeudi 28 décembre 2006
vendredi 22 décembre 2006
5 Things You Didn't Know About Me (as if you care)
Ardath Albee at the Marketing Interactions blog tagged me, so in the Christmas spirit, I'll play the game.
1. I biked to Canada with my oldest brother when I was 15. That's biked in as 10-speed, not motorcycle. 920 miles in eight days.
2. My wife and I like to joke that we are both "perfect 10s" -- I was the tenth child out of ten, she was the tenth out of 11. Yes, our holidays are insane, with intimate family gatherings that are about the size of Cleveland.
3. I worked my way through college cooking at and managing an Italian restaurant. I still enjoy whipping up a couple of the recipes I developed there -- chicken lasagna with cheddar sauce, and seafood lasagna with white sauce.
4. My summer car (and perpetual project) is a 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 convertible. It's a two-door 5-passenger vehicle that's longer than my wife's SUV (an extended one with the third seat). I've thought of painting it gray with a white stripe down the middle and letting fighter jets land on it.
5. I'm a (very) amateur carpenter. Last summer, I added a second level to my kids' tree house (really more of a tree deck). It's bedecked with 12 strings of white Christmas lights, which take two separate circuits to power, so the kids can use if after dark. It lights up like a Christmas tree -- the White House Christmas tree.
6. (Bonus) I was in a serious car accident when I was 18. I went through four plastic surgeries -- and still look like I do. Maybe I should have sued.
Tag, you're it to: Albert Maruggi, Jay Lipe, Yvonne DiVita, and Shawn Hessinger.
*****
Terms: 5 things tag
The web Internet marketing portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
1. I biked to Canada with my oldest brother when I was 15. That's biked in as 10-speed, not motorcycle. 920 miles in eight days.
2. My wife and I like to joke that we are both "perfect 10s" -- I was the tenth child out of ten, she was the tenth out of 11. Yes, our holidays are insane, with intimate family gatherings that are about the size of Cleveland.
3. I worked my way through college cooking at and managing an Italian restaurant. I still enjoy whipping up a couple of the recipes I developed there -- chicken lasagna with cheddar sauce, and seafood lasagna with white sauce.
4. My summer car (and perpetual project) is a 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 convertible. It's a two-door 5-passenger vehicle that's longer than my wife's SUV (an extended one with the third seat). I've thought of painting it gray with a white stripe down the middle and letting fighter jets land on it.
5. I'm a (very) amateur carpenter. Last summer, I added a second level to my kids' tree house (really more of a tree deck). It's bedecked with 12 strings of white Christmas lights, which take two separate circuits to power, so the kids can use if after dark. It lights up like a Christmas tree -- the White House Christmas tree.
6. (Bonus) I was in a serious car accident when I was 18. I went through four plastic surgeries -- and still look like I do. Maybe I should have sued.
Tag, you're it to: Albert Maruggi, Jay Lipe, Yvonne DiVita, and Shawn Hessinger.
*****
Terms: 5 things tag
The web Internet marketing portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
mercredi 20 décembre 2006
Defining Your Micromarket
Many companies, particularly smaller firms, struggle to properly define their target micromarket properly. The natural temptation is to spread efforts widely so as not to miss any possible prospects. For example, one company I worked with said it "focused" on eight (!) vertical markets. You can focus on one, two, possibly even three things simultaneously -- but not eight. The practical result of a "scattershot" approach is that the best prospects are inadequately communicated to, resulting in wasted marketing efforts and dollars, a mushy message, and an inordinately difficult sales process.
By carefully defining and focusing efforts on a micromarket and using the proper micromedia to reach it, companies not only reduce wasted marketing spending but can also finely tune their messages to have the greatest impact on their target market, as opposed to producing lowest-common-denominator prose designed to appeal to a wide variety of prospects, and thereby being of little interest to any.
So how do you define a micromarket? In a word: precisely. For example, "healthcare" is not a market; it's a segment word used by economists, as in "the U.S. spends 14% of GDP on healthcare." The healthcare segment is comprised of several vertical markets, including manufacturing (medical devices, durable medical equipment, pharmaceuticals), financial institutions (insurance companies, banks), providers (hospitals and clinics), professionals (physicians, nurses, medical technicians) and others.
Healthcare is a segment; hospitals and doctors are vertical markets; neonatologists at hospitals with at least 500 beds are a micromarket. By carefully defining and then focusing on a specific micromarket in this way, companies are able to maximize the impact of both marketing dollars and target-specific messaging. The opportunities missed by focusing in this manner are generally those with the most difficult sales cycles and lowest probability of closing -- hardly a big loss.
Once a company has successfully established a beachhead in one micromarket, it can repeat the exercise with others. That creates a path to growth through focused efforts that provide a much higher ROI than a scattershot approach.
*****
Terms: micromarket, micromedia, targeted marketing, marketing focus
The Internet website marketing portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
By carefully defining and focusing efforts on a micromarket and using the proper micromedia to reach it, companies not only reduce wasted marketing spending but can also finely tune their messages to have the greatest impact on their target market, as opposed to producing lowest-common-denominator prose designed to appeal to a wide variety of prospects, and thereby being of little interest to any.
So how do you define a micromarket? In a word: precisely. For example, "healthcare" is not a market; it's a segment word used by economists, as in "the U.S. spends 14% of GDP on healthcare." The healthcare segment is comprised of several vertical markets, including manufacturing (medical devices, durable medical equipment, pharmaceuticals), financial institutions (insurance companies, banks), providers (hospitals and clinics), professionals (physicians, nurses, medical technicians) and others.
Healthcare is a segment; hospitals and doctors are vertical markets; neonatologists at hospitals with at least 500 beds are a micromarket. By carefully defining and then focusing on a specific micromarket in this way, companies are able to maximize the impact of both marketing dollars and target-specific messaging. The opportunities missed by focusing in this manner are generally those with the most difficult sales cycles and lowest probability of closing -- hardly a big loss.
Once a company has successfully established a beachhead in one micromarket, it can repeat the exercise with others. That creates a path to growth through focused efforts that provide a much higher ROI than a scattershot approach.
*****
Terms: micromarket, micromedia, targeted marketing, marketing focus
The Internet website marketing portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
mercredi 13 décembre 2006
Adding Social Networking Links to Your Blog
Happening across Blogs Are Like Pliers on the One by One Media blog, I noticed two things: 1) these guys are pretty smart, and 2) the social networking links across the bottom of each post are cool. Where did they get them?
It didn't take long to find the Social Bookmark Link Creator. This handy tool enables you to add links to a variety of social bookmarking sites to each of your blog posts in Blogger, Wordpress, or MoveableType.
I'm guessing it works best with Wordpress. In Blogger, the tool only allows you to add text links to social bookmarking sites, and even then, it took some experimentation to get the links to show up in the right place without breaking my template. It also only provides instructions for creating a vertical list; if you prefer a horizontal list -- which I think looks better -- you'll need to add " " between the links to keep them from running together.
I tried adding social bookmark icons from the ExplodingBoy blog, but couldn't get them to line up properly. At ExplodingBoy, Christopher Ware also provides social bookmark tagging code, though to a more limited number of sites than the One to One folks, and his code only works with PHP pages.
Still, this is, theoretically, a helpful traffic-building tool to add to your blog. Making it easy for readers to tag their favorite posts in your blog for others should bring you more readers, and it's very Web 2.0-ish.
*****
Terms: One by One Media blog, social tagging, social bookmarking, social networking, ExplodingBoy blog, Christopher Ware, blogging tools
The Internet marketing business portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
It didn't take long to find the Social Bookmark Link Creator. This handy tool enables you to add links to a variety of social bookmarking sites to each of your blog posts in Blogger, Wordpress, or MoveableType.
I'm guessing it works best with Wordpress. In Blogger, the tool only allows you to add text links to social bookmarking sites, and even then, it took some experimentation to get the links to show up in the right place without breaking my template. It also only provides instructions for creating a vertical list; if you prefer a horizontal list -- which I think looks better -- you'll need to add " " between the links to keep them from running together.
I tried adding social bookmark icons from the ExplodingBoy blog, but couldn't get them to line up properly. At ExplodingBoy, Christopher Ware also provides social bookmark tagging code, though to a more limited number of sites than the One to One folks, and his code only works with PHP pages.
Still, this is, theoretically, a helpful traffic-building tool to add to your blog. Making it easy for readers to tag their favorite posts in your blog for others should bring you more readers, and it's very Web 2.0-ish.
*****
Terms: One by One Media blog, social tagging, social bookmarking, social networking, ExplodingBoy blog, Christopher Ware, blogging tools
The Internet marketing business portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
mercredi 6 décembre 2006
Marketing in Reverse: Handling Returns
Marketers promote products, and sales professionals sell them. Understandably, both groups focus on a one-way flow of products -- out the door and into the hands of customers. Little thought is given to the messy problem of products coming back in the door through returns; that's an operations problem. But while marketing generally isn't, and shouldn't be, in charge of the reverse logistics process, it definitely needs to be involved.
First, returns are a big issue. According to Forbes, "up to 7% of an enterprise’s gross sales are captured by return costs," amounting to a staggering $100 billion per year in the U.S. alone. Return rates vary by product and type of retailer/distributor, from about 5% in consumer electronics, to 15% on average for computer manufacturers, and up to 30% for book publishers.
Second, proper returns handling is important to marketers. As Multichannel Merchant magazine points out in this article, "handling merchandise returns is an important customer touchpoint. Customers who have positive return experiences are the most loyal buyers, as they'll reorder confident that any potential challenges will quickly be resolved."
Your organization may choose to manage the returns process internally using software from a vendor such as Manhattan Associates, ClearOrbit or Sterling Commerce, or outsource the function to a reverse logisitics specialist. Firms offering reverse logistics outsourcing services range from third-party logistics providers like Roadway and UPS to supply chain management outsourcers such as Zomax, Arvato or Inoveris.
If your organization needs help determining the best approach to handling returns management, you may want the services of a consulting firm that understands both operations and marketing, such as Kelly Allan Associates.
But whether done internally or externally, proper returns management is critical both to improving profitability and retaining customers. Sometimes it pays to think backwards.
*****
Terms: reverse logistics management, RMA, returns handing, return rates by industry, ClearOrbit
The Internet marketing advertising portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
First, returns are a big issue. According to Forbes, "up to 7% of an enterprise’s gross sales are captured by return costs," amounting to a staggering $100 billion per year in the U.S. alone. Return rates vary by product and type of retailer/distributor, from about 5% in consumer electronics, to 15% on average for computer manufacturers, and up to 30% for book publishers.
Second, proper returns handling is important to marketers. As Multichannel Merchant magazine points out in this article, "handling merchandise returns is an important customer touchpoint. Customers who have positive return experiences are the most loyal buyers, as they'll reorder confident that any potential challenges will quickly be resolved."
Your organization may choose to manage the returns process internally using software from a vendor such as Manhattan Associates, ClearOrbit or Sterling Commerce, or outsource the function to a reverse logisitics specialist. Firms offering reverse logistics outsourcing services range from third-party logistics providers like Roadway and UPS to supply chain management outsourcers such as Zomax, Arvato or Inoveris.
If your organization needs help determining the best approach to handling returns management, you may want the services of a consulting firm that understands both operations and marketing, such as Kelly Allan Associates.
But whether done internally or externally, proper returns management is critical both to improving profitability and retaining customers. Sometimes it pays to think backwards.
*****
Terms: reverse logistics management, RMA, returns handing, return rates by industry, ClearOrbit
The Internet marketing advertising portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
jeudi 30 novembre 2006
Business Blogs: PR Tool or Marketing Tool?
While working on a PR and marketing plan recently, the question came up: are blogs more of a PR tool or a marketing medium? Seems like an interesting question, yet there has been surprisingly little written about it. "Blog marketing" outscores "blog PR" on a Google search by a margin of about five to two, and you'll find four times as many books about blog marketing at Amazon as you will about blog PR.
However, Online-PR.com (which has a very nice list of blog directories and aggregators, by the way) lists about three times as many blogs devoted to PR as focused on marketing. There's an excellent post about using blogging for PR here from the Top Rank SEO blog, though the marketing vs. PR angle seems a bit confused. InternetNews predicted a couple of years ago that blogging would make corporate PR and marketing obsolete, but clearly that hasn't happened yet.
__________________________________________________________
This post sponsored by Marketing Tools from VerticalResponse
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My own conclusion is that blogs are primarily a PR tool. A well-written blog raises awareness and visibility, and establishes credibility -- all of which are PR objectives. Blogs are not particularly strong at direct response; they rarely excel at marketing functions like selling or generating leads directly. Thinking of your blog as a component of your overall PR strategy will help establish the right direction, and the right expectations for results.
*****
Terms: business blogs, blog marketing, blog PR, blogs are a PR tool, online-pr.com, Top Rank SEO blog
The Internet marketing advertising portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
However, Online-PR.com (which has a very nice list of blog directories and aggregators, by the way) lists about three times as many blogs devoted to PR as focused on marketing. There's an excellent post about using blogging for PR here from the Top Rank SEO blog, though the marketing vs. PR angle seems a bit confused. InternetNews predicted a couple of years ago that blogging would make corporate PR and marketing obsolete, but clearly that hasn't happened yet.
__________________________________________________________
This post sponsored by Marketing Tools from VerticalResponse
Create professional HTML Email and printed Postcard campaigns in minutes right from your browser. No technical expertise needed - Choose from over 250 templates. It's easy, affordable and powerful. Try it Free Today!
__________________________________________________________
My own conclusion is that blogs are primarily a PR tool. A well-written blog raises awareness and visibility, and establishes credibility -- all of which are PR objectives. Blogs are not particularly strong at direct response; they rarely excel at marketing functions like selling or generating leads directly. Thinking of your blog as a component of your overall PR strategy will help establish the right direction, and the right expectations for results.
*****
Terms: business blogs, blog marketing, blog PR, blogs are a PR tool, online-pr.com, Top Rank SEO blog
The Internet marketing advertising portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
vendredi 24 novembre 2006
Got Projects? Try Base Camp
Marketers have projects. So unless you're one of those rare individuals who can not only keep a multitude of details straight in your head, but also magically keep your team on the same page with your brain, you need project management tools. Base Camp is a reasonably-priced (there's even a free version) online project management collaboration tool that's worth checking out, despite a few quirks and shortcomings.
Base Camp, first recommended to me by John Sundberg, president of Kinetic Data, is great for coordinating the efforts of inside people and outside vendors (graphic artists, writers, agencies, web developers, etc.), and is particularly helpful for marketing consultants and contractors who need a practical, affordable project management solution. It offers a useful set of project management features:
- To-do lists with task assignment
- Milestones with date assignment and automatic e-mail notification as due dates approach
- An online document/message creation tool with feedback tracking (great for group editing)
- File-sharing for documents, graphics, Excel files, etc.
- Online time-tracking (with the higher-end paid versions)
- The ability to "brand" your Base Camp login page (making even individual consultants look big-time players)
All of that said, the tool would be much more useful if a few obvious shortcomings were corrected:
- Only the project owner can assign tasks to anyone in the group; other contributors get only a partial list of names in the assignment drop-down
- File sharing is limited to files up to 30MB; it's not unusual to have a graphic file or PowerPoint that exceeds that limit. This size limit should be bumped up considerably.
- Oddly, you can't assign due dates to to-do tasks (you can work around this by including due dates in the task description, but you won't get auto-notification emails)
- Finally, the time tracking option isn't available until you hit the $50/month, 35-project level. It would be nice if this feature were available at a lower, more affordable level, particularly for marketing consultants and contractors who could really use time tracking, but don't need to manage 35 separate projects.
Want to know more? TechCrunch ran a piece on an open-source Base Camp competitor a few months back, but the effort of installing a managing a project management collaboration tool on your own server doesn't seem worth the effort to save Base Camp's modest monthly fee. Alex Dunne also provided a thorough review of Base Camp in September.
If you've got collaborative marketing (or other) projects to manage, Base Camp is worth investigating.
*****
Terms: free online collaborative project management tool, marketing project management collaboration, Base Camp, Alex Dunne blog, TechCrunch
The Internet website marketing portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
Base Camp, first recommended to me by John Sundberg, president of Kinetic Data, is great for coordinating the efforts of inside people and outside vendors (graphic artists, writers, agencies, web developers, etc.), and is particularly helpful for marketing consultants and contractors who need a practical, affordable project management solution. It offers a useful set of project management features:
- To-do lists with task assignment
- Milestones with date assignment and automatic e-mail notification as due dates approach
- An online document/message creation tool with feedback tracking (great for group editing)
- File-sharing for documents, graphics, Excel files, etc.
- Online time-tracking (with the higher-end paid versions)
- The ability to "brand" your Base Camp login page (making even individual consultants look big-time players)
All of that said, the tool would be much more useful if a few obvious shortcomings were corrected:
- Only the project owner can assign tasks to anyone in the group; other contributors get only a partial list of names in the assignment drop-down
- File sharing is limited to files up to 30MB; it's not unusual to have a graphic file or PowerPoint that exceeds that limit. This size limit should be bumped up considerably.
- Oddly, you can't assign due dates to to-do tasks (you can work around this by including due dates in the task description, but you won't get auto-notification emails)
- Finally, the time tracking option isn't available until you hit the $50/month, 35-project level. It would be nice if this feature were available at a lower, more affordable level, particularly for marketing consultants and contractors who could really use time tracking, but don't need to manage 35 separate projects.
Want to know more? TechCrunch ran a piece on an open-source Base Camp competitor a few months back, but the effort of installing a managing a project management collaboration tool on your own server doesn't seem worth the effort to save Base Camp's modest monthly fee. Alex Dunne also provided a thorough review of Base Camp in September.
If you've got collaborative marketing (or other) projects to manage, Base Camp is worth investigating.
*****
Terms: free online collaborative project management tool, marketing project management collaboration, Base Camp, Alex Dunne blog, TechCrunch
The Internet website marketing portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
jeudi 16 novembre 2006
How to Increase Traffic to Your Website -- Really
Two words -- valuable content. As Mike Kaselnak, CEO of Hoard Client Systems wrote in response to my recent RainToday article How To Build Website Traffic With Content, "The days of trying to trick the search engines are over. Content is King!"
Actually, neither search engines nor people are fooled anymore by tricks with hidden text or metatags. What's more, human visitors expect more from business websites than just product details (marketing), "about us" pages, and a list of your office locations. People want to do business with companies that are smart and helpful, and they expect companies to not only say that on their websites, but prove it by offering content that helps users solve problems, or gives them a one-stop source for information they would otherwise have to scan several sites to retrieve.
What kind of content? Items such as newsfeeds, white papers, blogs, podcasts, reports, book reviews, glossaries, and (truly useful) directories are all generators of relevant website traffic. Such content is not only search engine-friendly, but also attractive and "sticky" to visitors. What's more, demonstrating your industry knowledge and helpfulness not only attracts site visitors but is also helpful in converting them to customers.
The full article with links to resources and related pages is also now available in the Web Marketing Knowledge section of WebMarketCentral as How to Build Site Traffic with Compelling Content. Useful and relevant content can help your site show up better in search engines, attract visitors, and help turn traffic into business.
*****
Terms: build site traffic, increase and grow website traffic, website content, sticky content
The Internet marketing strategy portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
Actually, neither search engines nor people are fooled anymore by tricks with hidden text or metatags. What's more, human visitors expect more from business websites than just product details (marketing), "about us" pages, and a list of your office locations. People want to do business with companies that are smart and helpful, and they expect companies to not only say that on their websites, but prove it by offering content that helps users solve problems, or gives them a one-stop source for information they would otherwise have to scan several sites to retrieve.
What kind of content? Items such as newsfeeds, white papers, blogs, podcasts, reports, book reviews, glossaries, and (truly useful) directories are all generators of relevant website traffic. Such content is not only search engine-friendly, but also attractive and "sticky" to visitors. What's more, demonstrating your industry knowledge and helpfulness not only attracts site visitors but is also helpful in converting them to customers.
The full article with links to resources and related pages is also now available in the Web Marketing Knowledge section of WebMarketCentral as How to Build Site Traffic with Compelling Content. Useful and relevant content can help your site show up better in search engines, attract visitors, and help turn traffic into business.
*****
Terms: build site traffic, increase and grow website traffic, website content, sticky content
The Internet marketing strategy portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
vendredi 10 novembre 2006
New-media seminar in Minneapolis: Using podcasting and online video to improve your business communications
Curious about what podcasting can do for your business? Check this out. The experts at Twin Cities marketing agency Provident Partners are offering a hands-on presentation and workshop on video and podcasting. This session will save you time and help you understand how new-media formats such as audio podcasts and digital video are being used as powerful tools in the marketing mix.
The seminar will be led by Albert Maruggi, who's been recognized by ClickZ and many other sources for his expertise in new media. He is among the first marketers in the country to actively host a regular podcast, the Marketing Edge, and he advises dozens of organizations on new-media strategies.
The seminar will cover topics such as how podcasting works, how to develop podcast content, how to measure podcasting results, using podcasting in your marketing mix, and the PR opportunities of podcasting.
Details of the seminar:
Thursday, November 30, 2006
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
790 Cleveland Ave. S., St. Paul, MN
The cost, including lunch, is $100 per person -- but be sure to ask for the WebMarketCentral discount when registering.
To sign up, call 651-695-0174 or email amaruggi@providentpartners.net . Guests should register in advance as space is limited. The registration deadline is November 20 (though you might be able to sneak in later if you mention this blog post).
Also, check out this recent podcast from Albert: The Great Blog Debate. Joined by Mike Keliher of Provident Partners and John Havens of About.com, Albert provides an excellent guide to the possibilities, and risks, of business blogging.
*****
Terms: Provident Partners, St. Paul marketing agency, Minnesota ad agency, podcasting, how podcasting works, Albert Maruggi, Marketing Edge podcast, John Havens, About.com
The Internet marketing advertising portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
dimanche 5 novembre 2006
Survey: Lead Generation for Professional Services
The experts in professional services marketing at RainToday are conducting a survey among professional services firms regarding lead generation. All survey participants will receive a complimentary executive summary of the final report (due out around January), as well as 50% off the group's current research report, “How Clients Buy: The Benchmark Report on Professional Services Buying and Selling from the Client Perspective” in the RainToday store. Click here to participate in the study.
The current report addresses services selling challenges in a variety of vertical segments (e.g. accounting, legal services, information technology consulting, marketing) and answers questions such as:
- What can you do during the business development process that will have the most influence on the decision maker?
- Which methods are buyers most likely to use to identify professional service providers?
- Do buyers attend seminars, conferences, and webinars (and, if so, how do they find out about these events)?
- Do purchasers of professional services visit service provider websites? How influential are those websites in the purchasing process?
The new survey will supplement this research, and the executive report is free to participants. If you market or sell professional services, taking this survey is a quick, easy, and free way to gain some valuable insights.
*****
Terms: professional services marketing, how to sell professional services, RainToday.com, business development for services, marketing information technology services
The marketing Internet portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
mercredi 1 novembre 2006
The Last Word on E-Words and Ewords
In response to this comment to my previous post on web writing standards (capitalizing "Internet," "web site" vs. "website," etc.), here is the consensus (such as it is) on e-words.
According to Google Fight, "e-mail" wins over "email" by roughly a 5-3 margin. Spellweb also uses Google searches as the authority, favoring "e-mail" over "email" by a 3-2 margin. Meryl's Notes Blog comes down firmly in the middle ("It's a toss up!"), though she insists that "web site" is two words.
However, Professor Donald Knuth of Stanford argues for "email" - "Newly coined words of English are often spelled with a hyphen, but the hyphen disappears when the words become widely used." http://openmap.bbn.com/~tomlinso/ray/hyphen.html agrees, citing Google searches as the authority. Slashdot had an incredibly active forum discussion on the topic that seemed to settle on "email," referencing a Wired article -- back in 2000. A current Google search makes "email" the winner by nearly a 2-t0-1 margin.
So what about "e-commerce" vs. "ecommerce"? Freelancers Network argues for the latter (on the basis that "email" is more accepted than "e-mail"). But in this case, the hyphenated form wins in a Google search by about a 5-2 margin. Google Fight pegs this margin as closer to 4-1, and SpellWeb has "e-commerce" winning by nearly 3-1. The UCI Style Guide favors the e-hyphen form for all e-words. The Oxford Dictionary confusingly favors "email" but "e-commerce." Is all of that clear?
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Finally, a manual Google search has "e-business" beating "ebusiness" by a 5-1 margin. Google Fight puts this ratio at more than 10-1, while SpellWeb has the hyphenated form winning by about 8-1.
There you have it. If you sell or market online, you definitely engaged in e-commerce or e-business. But you might communicate to your customers using either email or e-mail. Enough.
*****
Terms: email, e-mail, ecommerce, e-commerce, e-business, ebusiness, GoogleFight, SpellWeb, web writing standards, Donald Knuth
The online marketing business portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
jeudi 26 octobre 2006
Social Networking - On Second Thought...
No sooner had I posted about skepticism surrounding social networking than iMedia Connection comes out with this article, containing detailed reviews of 11 popular social networking sites and mini-reviews of 13 more. In fairness however, the problems noted in the last post here pertained mostly to B2B sites: of the 24 social networking sites reviewed by Kibibi Springs, only three -- LinkedIn, Ryze, and Spoke -- are B2B-oriented sites.
In the same issue of iMedia Connection, John Tawadros of search engine marketing firm iProspect makes the case for social networks being just another form of search marketing. He points out that "whether you like it or not, your brand is probably already a topic being discussed. What's scary is that you have no control over it. You can't run that online content through the creative department, or the brand team or the legal folks. You just have to grin and bear it. But you don't necessarily need to be afraid of unfavorable content," because "finding negative opinions is just as important -- if not more so -- as finding the positive ones. People want to know why others didn't like something before making their final decision."
That argument has validity -- as long as people are honest. But as the famous New Yorker cartoon points out, "On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog." Negative comments posted about your company, product, or service, may sometimes be the disingenuous rantings of a competitor, former employee, or scorned vendor, rather than honest and thoughful customer appraisals. Furthermore, it's human nature that even honest people are more likely to complain about an unpleasant commercial experience than to praise an offering that simply works as it's supposed to.
Judging by the surging traffic to social networking sites, my skepticism may be misplaced. Maybe, unlike a typical garage sale, social networks will provide more quality content than junk. But the best advice to follow when evaluating an argument is "consider the source." That can be difficult on uncontrolled social networking sites, where one can't always be sure exactly who the source is.
*****
Terms: social networking, LinkedIn, Ryze, Spoke.com, Kibibi Springs, John Tawadros, iProspect.com
The marketing Internet portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
In the same issue of iMedia Connection, John Tawadros of search engine marketing firm iProspect makes the case for social networks being just another form of search marketing. He points out that "whether you like it or not, your brand is probably already a topic being discussed. What's scary is that you have no control over it. You can't run that online content through the creative department, or the brand team or the legal folks. You just have to grin and bear it. But you don't necessarily need to be afraid of unfavorable content," because "finding negative opinions is just as important -- if not more so -- as finding the positive ones. People want to know why others didn't like something before making their final decision."
That argument has validity -- as long as people are honest. But as the famous New Yorker cartoon points out, "On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog." Negative comments posted about your company, product, or service, may sometimes be the disingenuous rantings of a competitor, former employee, or scorned vendor, rather than honest and thoughful customer appraisals. Furthermore, it's human nature that even honest people are more likely to complain about an unpleasant commercial experience than to praise an offering that simply works as it's supposed to.
Judging by the surging traffic to social networking sites, my skepticism may be misplaced. Maybe, unlike a typical garage sale, social networks will provide more quality content than junk. But the best advice to follow when evaluating an argument is "consider the source." That can be difficult on uncontrolled social networking sites, where one can't always be sure exactly who the source is.
*****
Terms: social networking, LinkedIn, Ryze, Spoke.com, Kibibi Springs, John Tawadros, iProspect.com
The marketing Internet portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
lundi 23 octobre 2006
Social Networking may not be All That
The theory behind social networking, often positioned as a key element of Web 2.0, seems simple and powerful: instead of buying into "marketing hype" about a product or service, or the canned references of an individual, one can get honest opinions from independent, unbiased sources about the quality and reliability of a company, product, service, or person. Put another way, you might not select a plumbing contractor because he has a big ad in the yellow pages, but if Aunt Mabel recommends him, then he must be okay. Social networking is a way to get the opinions of a lot of Aunt Mabels at once.
But what if it doesn't turn out that way? What if the most -recommended contractors on Angie's List turn out to be the ones that already have the biggest Yellow Pages ads? What if the most highly-rated products on epinions are the ones already backed by huge national advertising budgets? What if the most commonly tagged blogs on del.icio.us are the ones written by "household name" bloggers? In short, what if social networking doesn't so much replace "marketing hype" and vacuous celebrity as reflect it?
Three strands of thought led to these questions:
- I brought up social networking in a conversation recently with a friend of mine, a high-powered executive recruiter. Her comment" "We don't use LinkedIn. It's for losers and wannabes." Ouch!
Now, I know plenty of folks -- and you probably do too -- who do use LinkedIn and are anything but "losers and wannabes." But if this perception were to become widespread, it could obviously drive people to avoid the service.
- There are several business segments where social networking simply doesn't apply: doctors, lawyers, investment bankers... When multinational firms are planning mergers or acqusitions, are they really going to use Ecademy to find their financial partners? If a CEO is pleased with the legal advice his company received from the law firm of Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe, is he likely to document that experience online?
- Many business executives distrust the entire concept, because "anyone can say anything on the web." It's common, for example, on stock discussion boards for short-sellers to pose as insiders with damaging information about a company to trash a stock's prospects in order to drive down the price. Fortunately, this seldom works -- institutional and other large investors rarely pay attention to these boards, and those who do are sophisticated enough to spot a short-seller miles away.
More broadly, however, it's easy for competitors or disgruntled former employees to pose as unhappy customers and attempt to cause mischief.
There are also security problems, business model problems ("Visiting most social networking sites is akin to getting invited to a party where all the cool kids are going, then showing up and finding out there's no food, no drinks, no band, no games, no pool, nothing. Just a bunch of painful small talk and leering grins."), and other problems.
Perhaps this skepticism is overblown; maybe the benefits really do outweigh the potential downside. The ultimate success or failure of social networking will depend upon perceptions. Social networking will clearly be a winner once that executive recruiter joins LinkedIn.
*****
Terms: Web 2.0, social networking, LinkedIn, del.icio.is, Angie's List, epinions.com, Ecademy
The online marketing business portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
But what if it doesn't turn out that way? What if the most -recommended contractors on Angie's List turn out to be the ones that already have the biggest Yellow Pages ads? What if the most highly-rated products on epinions are the ones already backed by huge national advertising budgets? What if the most commonly tagged blogs on del.icio.us are the ones written by "household name" bloggers? In short, what if social networking doesn't so much replace "marketing hype" and vacuous celebrity as reflect it?
Three strands of thought led to these questions:
- I brought up social networking in a conversation recently with a friend of mine, a high-powered executive recruiter. Her comment" "We don't use LinkedIn. It's for losers and wannabes." Ouch!
Now, I know plenty of folks -- and you probably do too -- who do use LinkedIn and are anything but "losers and wannabes." But if this perception were to become widespread, it could obviously drive people to avoid the service.
- There are several business segments where social networking simply doesn't apply: doctors, lawyers, investment bankers... When multinational firms are planning mergers or acqusitions, are they really going to use Ecademy to find their financial partners? If a CEO is pleased with the legal advice his company received from the law firm of Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe, is he likely to document that experience online?
- Many business executives distrust the entire concept, because "anyone can say anything on the web." It's common, for example, on stock discussion boards for short-sellers to pose as insiders with damaging information about a company to trash a stock's prospects in order to drive down the price. Fortunately, this seldom works -- institutional and other large investors rarely pay attention to these boards, and those who do are sophisticated enough to spot a short-seller miles away.
More broadly, however, it's easy for competitors or disgruntled former employees to pose as unhappy customers and attempt to cause mischief.
There are also security problems, business model problems ("Visiting most social networking sites is akin to getting invited to a party where all the cool kids are going, then showing up and finding out there's no food, no drinks, no band, no games, no pool, nothing. Just a bunch of painful small talk and leering grins."), and other problems.
Perhaps this skepticism is overblown; maybe the benefits really do outweigh the potential downside. The ultimate success or failure of social networking will depend upon perceptions. Social networking will clearly be a winner once that executive recruiter joins LinkedIn.
*****
Terms: Web 2.0, social networking, LinkedIn, del.icio.is, Angie's List, epinions.com, Ecademy
The online marketing business portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
lundi 16 octobre 2006
A Consensus for Inconsistency
Writing in standardized language -- terms that we can all agree on -- is important for effective communication, as well as to avoid looking like an idiot. Over time, standards are defined that enable us to communicate in a consistent fashion. For example, we'd all agree that "playhouse" is a noun while "play house" is a verb. Some standards in our language seem eminently sensible, while others are absurd to the point of becoming one-liners, such as "Why isn't phonetic spelled like it sounds?"
The Internet (internet?) has introduced a boatload of new terms into our language, many of which still aren't standardized. Since we've been online (not "on line" or "on-line") for over a decade now, I thought I might be able to discover and share some proper web writing standards. But it turns out there is still considerable disagreement over the correct way to capitalize and abbreviate several common terms, so the following is merely my contribution to the ongoing debate.
Should "Internet" be capitalized?
Research indicates that Wired News is losing its battle to make "internet" lowercase. Most sources favor "Internet." For example, as pointed out here, Ziff-Davis produces a number of technology-oriented publications and never uses "internet." The Tech Liberation blog agrees. So does EDUCAUSE, Webopedia, Western Michigan University, and numerous other sources. The basic logic is: there is only one Internet, which makes the word a proper noun, which means it should be capitalized. Settled?
Should "web" be capitalized?
One might think that the same logic for "Internet" applies to "Web;" there is only one, so it's a proper noun, so it should be capitalized, right? Indeed, there is some support for that argument, including sources like the Mac Web Style Guide and, again, EDUCAUSE. But in this instance, lowercase seems to win out. According to Gadgetotpia, "the first letter of the word ‘Web’ is to be capitalized ONLY when reference is made to the World Wide Web. Webs on private networks are to be referred to as ‘webs,’ with a lowercase ‘w.’” Emmanuel College agrees, stating "Web should be capitalized when referring to the World Wide Web, but lower case when used as an adjective." Other sources merely reflect widespread confusion. The best argument I've heard for non-capitalization of "web" is that the web is a medium for distributing information; we don't capitalize "mail," "phone," or "fax," so we shouldn't capitalize "web."
That said, at this point, you can still get away with either.
__________________________________________________________
This post sponsored by Marketing Tools from VerticalResponse
Create professional HTML Email and printed Postcard campaigns in minutes right from your browser. No technical expertise needed - Choose from over 250 templates. It's easy, affordable and powerful. Try it Free Today!
__________________________________________________________
Is it "web site" or "website"?
Definitely "website." I think. Since neither the AP Stylebook nor the Chicago Manual of Style are really clear on this point, I consulted the ultimate authority: Google. "Web site" produces only 1.5 billion hits, while "website" results in 2.2 billion. Still, that's not an overwhelming difference, so if you are really stuck on "web site" (or even "Web site") as two words, you're in agreement with a significant minority.
Is it "B2B" or "b2b"?
Although there is some support for writing the abbreviation for "business-to-business" in lowercase, an informal survey of usage indicates that B2B is far more common.
Presumably, there will come a time when the proper form of these terms will become standardized. Probably about the time when the next technology revolution makes the words and phrases above seem as obsolete as "buggy whip" (which is definitely two words).
*****
Terms: Internet, internet, Web site, web site, website, b2b, B2B, online, on-line, on line, Internet writing style, proper use of web terms
The Internet marketing online portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
The Internet (internet?) has introduced a boatload of new terms into our language, many of which still aren't standardized. Since we've been online (not "on line" or "on-line") for over a decade now, I thought I might be able to discover and share some proper web writing standards. But it turns out there is still considerable disagreement over the correct way to capitalize and abbreviate several common terms, so the following is merely my contribution to the ongoing debate.
Should "Internet" be capitalized?
Research indicates that Wired News is losing its battle to make "internet" lowercase. Most sources favor "Internet." For example, as pointed out here, Ziff-Davis produces a number of technology-oriented publications and never uses "internet." The Tech Liberation blog agrees. So does EDUCAUSE, Webopedia, Western Michigan University, and numerous other sources. The basic logic is: there is only one Internet, which makes the word a proper noun, which means it should be capitalized. Settled?
Should "web" be capitalized?
One might think that the same logic for "Internet" applies to "Web;" there is only one, so it's a proper noun, so it should be capitalized, right? Indeed, there is some support for that argument, including sources like the Mac Web Style Guide and, again, EDUCAUSE. But in this instance, lowercase seems to win out. According to Gadgetotpia, "the first letter of the word ‘Web’ is to be capitalized ONLY when reference is made to the World Wide Web. Webs on private networks are to be referred to as ‘webs,’ with a lowercase ‘w.’” Emmanuel College agrees, stating "Web should be capitalized when referring to the World Wide Web, but lower case when used as an adjective." Other sources merely reflect widespread confusion. The best argument I've heard for non-capitalization of "web" is that the web is a medium for distributing information; we don't capitalize "mail," "phone," or "fax," so we shouldn't capitalize "web."
That said, at this point, you can still get away with either.
__________________________________________________________
This post sponsored by Marketing Tools from VerticalResponse
Create professional HTML Email and printed Postcard campaigns in minutes right from your browser. No technical expertise needed - Choose from over 250 templates. It's easy, affordable and powerful. Try it Free Today!
__________________________________________________________
Is it "web site" or "website"?
Definitely "website." I think. Since neither the AP Stylebook nor the Chicago Manual of Style are really clear on this point, I consulted the ultimate authority: Google. "Web site" produces only 1.5 billion hits, while "website" results in 2.2 billion. Still, that's not an overwhelming difference, so if you are really stuck on "web site" (or even "Web site") as two words, you're in agreement with a significant minority.
Is it "B2B" or "b2b"?
Although there is some support for writing the abbreviation for "business-to-business" in lowercase, an informal survey of usage indicates that B2B is far more common.
Presumably, there will come a time when the proper form of these terms will become standardized. Probably about the time when the next technology revolution makes the words and phrases above seem as obsolete as "buggy whip" (which is definitely two words).
*****
Terms: Internet, internet, Web site, web site, website, b2b, B2B, online, on-line, on line, Internet writing style, proper use of web terms
The Internet marketing online portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
lundi 9 octobre 2006
More Lessons from the Guru of Podcasting
I needed one paragraph on podcasting for a longer article I was working on for a marketing publication. Being that I know as much about podcasting as Wal-Mart knows about high fashion, I called on Albert Maruggi, head of marketing and PR agency Provident Partners, and increasingly famous podcasting guru. Here's a bit of his wisdom:
- Podcasts don't have to be short, despite what some people will tell you. Although they can be used as short "teasers" to get people to ask for more information, they can also be used effectively for longer format presentations such as multi-participant roundtable expert panel discussions or audio white papers.
- The name "podcast" is a misnomer - they should be called "netcasts," as many executives choose to listen to them at their desks. They don't have to be downloaded to an iPod or other MP3 player.
- That said, the podcasting format does give your content wings by freeing the listener from their computer. Once downloaded to an MP3 player, a podcast can be listened to on a plane, in a car, while working out -- virtually anywhere. Portability lets podcasts break through the clutter of other online marketing formats.
- Webinars combine audio with visuals and interaction for great impact -- but they tie the audience to their computers. If the content of your webinar isn't visually demanding, consider re-purposing the audio portion of the recorded webinar as a podcast to increase your reach.
- Although there a number of software applications and web services available that enable you to produce podcasts on your own, using an expert podcasting service provider will improve the "listenability" of your podcast by editing out the annoying "ums" and pauses, and assure that your podcast is promoted effectively.
*****
Terms: podcasting, podcast services, podcasts, netcasts, ideal length for a podcast
The web internet marketing portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
mardi 3 octobre 2006
"Guaranteed Web Traffic" - Really?
On behalf of an advertising client, I recently launched a campaign with one of those "guaranteed Web site traffic" services. We were initially going to try MegaWebPromotion, but reconsidered after reading this forum discussion. So, we opted for Blazing Traffic, which promised 20,000 targeted visitors for only $26 (I should have been suspicious when a $16 upcharge was required to get English language visitors; given the narrow niche-market nature of the site, the ability to read English is an awfully minimal requirement for "targeted visitors").
At about a quarter of the way through the test, here are the results: overall site traffic up a whopping 2% (within rounding error). Conversions: flat. Incremental revenue: 0.
In fairness to the folks at Blazing Traffic, a couple of measures of visitor quality (average time spent on the site and percentage of visitors adding the site to their favorites) rose slightly -- though it isn't really possible to tell if this is due to the campaign or to other changes recently made to the site. Also, the campaign is less than 25% complete; it's possible that the next 15,000 visitors will act completely differently from the first 5,000 (not likely perhaps, but possible). Finally, services such as Blazing Traffic may work better for consumer campaigns than in the b2b world.
If the experience changes, I'll post again.
*****
Terms: guaranteed Web site traffic, MegaWebPromotion, Blazing Traffic, guaranteed visitors
The Internet Web site marketing portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
At about a quarter of the way through the test, here are the results: overall site traffic up a whopping 2% (within rounding error). Conversions: flat. Incremental revenue: 0.
In fairness to the folks at Blazing Traffic, a couple of measures of visitor quality (average time spent on the site and percentage of visitors adding the site to their favorites) rose slightly -- though it isn't really possible to tell if this is due to the campaign or to other changes recently made to the site. Also, the campaign is less than 25% complete; it's possible that the next 15,000 visitors will act completely differently from the first 5,000 (not likely perhaps, but possible). Finally, services such as Blazing Traffic may work better for consumer campaigns than in the b2b world.
If the experience changes, I'll post again.
*****
Terms: guaranteed Web site traffic, MegaWebPromotion, Blazing Traffic, guaranteed visitors
The Internet Web site marketing portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
mercredi 27 septembre 2006
The Web's Largest Guide to Marketing Publications
If you market to marketers and want to get the word out about your products or services -- or in your quest for marketing knowledge you just want to assure that you aren't overlooking important but obscure sources of information -- check out the new directory of Advertising and Marketing Trade Publications on WebMarketCentral.
The genesis for this page was some client research on publications that target direct and catalog marketers. I figured there would be one place on the Web where I could find all of the publications in this category. Instead, I found nearly a dozen directories of marketing and advertising trade publications -- none of them comprehensive or helpfully categorized, and all missing important publications while including dead or inappropriate links.
On some projects, you do the best you can in the time available, accepting imperfections (hmmm, several releases of Windows come to mind). On others, you try to take as much time as you can to get it right. I tried to do the latter with this marketing trade publications page; if you notice anything wrong or missing, please let me know. The goal was to put together not only the most complete directory, but also the only one with links directly to the editorial contacts for each publication.
*****
Terms: advertising trade magazines, marketing trade publications, complete directory of marketing publications
The Internet marketing services portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
The genesis for this page was some client research on publications that target direct and catalog marketers. I figured there would be one place on the Web where I could find all of the publications in this category. Instead, I found nearly a dozen directories of marketing and advertising trade publications -- none of them comprehensive or helpfully categorized, and all missing important publications while including dead or inappropriate links.
On some projects, you do the best you can in the time available, accepting imperfections (hmmm, several releases of Windows come to mind). On others, you try to take as much time as you can to get it right. I tried to do the latter with this marketing trade publications page; if you notice anything wrong or missing, please let me know. The goal was to put together not only the most complete directory, but also the only one with links directly to the editorial contacts for each publication.
*****
Terms: advertising trade magazines, marketing trade publications, complete directory of marketing publications
The Internet marketing services portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
jeudi 21 septembre 2006
How to Write an Effective Email Newsletter
This post has been moved to How to Write an Effective Email Newsletter on the Webbiquity blog.
*****
Terms: effective newsletters, successful newsletters, how to write an email newsletter, customer newsletters, prospect newsletters, reducing unsubscribes
The Internet marketing business portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
*****
Terms: effective newsletters, successful newsletters, how to write an email newsletter, customer newsletters, prospect newsletters, reducing unsubscribes
The Internet marketing business portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
lundi 18 septembre 2006
How to Sell, Where to Buy
The professional services marketing experts at RainToday will be hosting a valuable Webinar on "How to Lead Masterful Sales Conversations" October 5th and 10th. The seminar is designed to help sales and marketing professionals engage in productive conversations with prospects, avoid common mistakes, and move the conversation forward toward new business generation.
Shifting gears, the selection on the Top Marketing Books page at WebMarketCentral had been getting a bit stale; it has now been completely updated with new titles such as Blogwild! by Andy Wibbels and (gotta love this title) How to Sell to an Idiot by John Hoover. There is also a new Web marketing store on the site where you can shop for useful Web marketing software and cool hardware.
More content I think you'll find interesting will be added to the site soon, and posted about here as soon as it is up.
*****
Terms: RainToday webinar, How to Lead Masterful Sales Conversations, Blogwild!, Andy Wibbels, How to Sell to an Idiot, John Hoover, Web marketing tools, Web marketing software
The portal for marketing online: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
Shifting gears, the selection on the Top Marketing Books page at WebMarketCentral had been getting a bit stale; it has now been completely updated with new titles such as Blogwild! by Andy Wibbels and (gotta love this title) How to Sell to an Idiot by John Hoover. There is also a new Web marketing store on the site where you can shop for useful Web marketing software and cool hardware.
More content I think you'll find interesting will be added to the site soon, and posted about here as soon as it is up.
*****
Terms: RainToday webinar, How to Lead Masterful Sales Conversations, Blogwild!, Andy Wibbels, How to Sell to an Idiot, John Hoover, Web marketing tools, Web marketing software
The portal for marketing online: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
lundi 11 septembre 2006
Is Blogging Dangerous?
According to this post on Workz.com, blogging "has risks that should not be ignored." Author Sharon Housley contends that, due to the danger posed by cyberstalkers, "Females, in particular, should be cautious when circumnavigating the blogosphere."
What does she recommend? Tactics such as not posting an online profile or photo, posting anonymously, and avoiding any personal or identifying details.
Hmmm. While there are dangers in virtually any aspect of daily life, Housley's paranoia about blogging seems a bit overblown. The flaws in her argument should be obvious -- if she follows all of her own advice, how do we know that her post really was written by Sharon Housley? How do we know that she's really a marketing manager for a software company, or for that matter, that she's really a woman?
Blogs are given credibility by their authors. If readers know nothing about a blogger's background, they have no way of assigning credibility, or skepticism, to the author's arguments. Divas of the blogosphere such as Yvonne DiVita at Lip-Sticking, Anita Campbell at Small Business Trends, Sarah Eaton at BeTuitive and Ardath Albee at Marketing Interactions wouldn't have the readership or interest that they do if they posted anonymously and revealed no information about their intriguing and impressive backgrounds.
To be fair, Housley does make a couple of good points: avoid inappropriate dialogue, and remember that a blog post is forever: potential clients and employers may judge you years from now based on what you write in your blog today. My approach to this has been to simply avoid writing about people or products that don't impress me, and focus on the positive.
Interestingly, Housley's article was posted just shortly after another by Michael Murray titled "Five Ways a Blog Helps You to Market Your Business." This is a nicely written, concise summation of the benefits of business blogging.
In short, blogging is good for business. Creating a blog is more likely to draw patrons than predators, clients than creeps. It's always wise to apply some common sense when posting personal details or opinions, but paranoia seems unnecessary.
*****
Terms: dangers of blogging, business blogging, WorkZ.com, LipSticking, Marketing Interactions
The Web site promotion marketing portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
What does she recommend? Tactics such as not posting an online profile or photo, posting anonymously, and avoiding any personal or identifying details.
Hmmm. While there are dangers in virtually any aspect of daily life, Housley's paranoia about blogging seems a bit overblown. The flaws in her argument should be obvious -- if she follows all of her own advice, how do we know that her post really was written by Sharon Housley? How do we know that she's really a marketing manager for a software company, or for that matter, that she's really a woman?
Blogs are given credibility by their authors. If readers know nothing about a blogger's background, they have no way of assigning credibility, or skepticism, to the author's arguments. Divas of the blogosphere such as Yvonne DiVita at Lip-Sticking, Anita Campbell at Small Business Trends, Sarah Eaton at BeTuitive and Ardath Albee at Marketing Interactions wouldn't have the readership or interest that they do if they posted anonymously and revealed no information about their intriguing and impressive backgrounds.
To be fair, Housley does make a couple of good points: avoid inappropriate dialogue, and remember that a blog post is forever: potential clients and employers may judge you years from now based on what you write in your blog today. My approach to this has been to simply avoid writing about people or products that don't impress me, and focus on the positive.
Interestingly, Housley's article was posted just shortly after another by Michael Murray titled "Five Ways a Blog Helps You to Market Your Business." This is a nicely written, concise summation of the benefits of business blogging.
In short, blogging is good for business. Creating a blog is more likely to draw patrons than predators, clients than creeps. It's always wise to apply some common sense when posting personal details or opinions, but paranoia seems unnecessary.
*****
Terms: dangers of blogging, business blogging, WorkZ.com, LipSticking, Marketing Interactions
The Web site promotion marketing portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
mardi 5 septembre 2006
More Blogs Worth Checking Out
Fans of Marketing Sherpa or RainToday will be probably be familiar with these excellent marketing-related blogs, but just in case, here are four blogs recently added to the recommended blogs list on WebMarketCentral:
Email Marketing Best Practices: Chris Baggott is CMO and co-founder of hosted email marketing services provider ExactTarget, and an expert on email marketing. Chris shares his knowledge and thoughts on email-related topics such as database marketing, list building, and *spam*. It also appears that we have similar tastes in reading (though I spent my 4th of July weekend expanding my kids' treehouse).
Buzz Marketing for Technology: buzz marketing guru Paul Dunay shares his innovative ideas for technology marketing. In his own entertaining and informative style, Paul addresses topics like mobile ads, effective (and ineffective) tech ad campaigns, video ads, blogging, and viral marketing. He's also a prolific industry writer and speaker.
Small Business Blogging: Andy Wibbels, author of Blogwild!: A Guide for Small Business Blogging, generally writes helpful pieces on topics at least peripherally related to small-business blogging, such as Ezine marketing, instant messaging, blog tools and tips, and podcasting. So do lots of other people (though most not quite as well). But it's when he veers off-topic that his blog is most entertaining, and comment-inspiring, such as his posts about Kate Moss, Muslims, and lazy reporting, or the priceless "Are Indigo Children Really Jus A**holes?"
BootstrapMe: author Shawn Hessinger offers guidance, news and resources for entrepreneurs seeking to build businesses using their own equity and effort. He provides practical and highly readable observations and advice on topics such as drop-shipping, low-cost but high-impact marketing techniques, blogging, affiliate marketing, and free or low-cost business tools. Narrowly focused but broad minded, he even offers a series of posts on philosophy.
*****
Terms: Marketing Sherpa Readers Choice Award blogs, RainToday.com, blogging for business, email marketing best practices, Chris Baggott, Andy Wibbels, Paul Dunay, business blogging, Shawn Hessinger blog
The Internet Web site marketing portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
mercredi 30 août 2006
Podcasting Beyond Marketing Sherpa
Marketing Sherpa yesterday published a podcasting 101 guide, which began: "Podcasting is about to celebrate its second birthday and we don't know of a marketer out there who isn't at least mulling over the possibilities. Here's our handy guide, including: Surprising data on listener demographics; 3 Mistakes to avoid; 5 Rules for podcast content; 4 Tips to create commercials that get results." I daresn't say any more or I'll get a nasty note from Anne Holland. Access to the Sherpa article is free through Friday September 1, but will cost you a few bucks after that.
I'm not a podcasting expert, nor do I play one on TV, but I do know one (a podcasting expert, not a TV): Albert Maruggi at Provident Partners. Shortly after the Sherpa piece came out, Albert supplemented it with podcasting 102. If you found Marketing Sherpa's podcasting guide of interest, check out the sequel from Albert. As far as I know, his podcast on podcasting will remain free.
*****
Terms: podcasting 101, podcasting 102, Anne Holland, Albert Maruggi, Provident Partners
The Web marketing news and resources portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
I'm not a podcasting expert, nor do I play one on TV, but I do know one (a podcasting expert, not a TV): Albert Maruggi at Provident Partners. Shortly after the Sherpa piece came out, Albert supplemented it with podcasting 102. If you found Marketing Sherpa's podcasting guide of interest, check out the sequel from Albert. As far as I know, his podcast on podcasting will remain free.
*****
Terms: podcasting 101, podcasting 102, Anne Holland, Albert Maruggi, Provident Partners
The Web marketing news and resources portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
mardi 29 août 2006
ingage: Newsletter Marketing with a Twist
Check out this newsletter from marketing agency ingage (yes, with a small "i"). The articles cover marketing in the information age, marketing accountability, and leveraging offline marketing efforts to drive targeted online traffic.
Interesting enough, but what sets this publication apart from every other marketing newsletter is that ingage has used its own interactive publishing tool to produce it. This tool produces interactive documents that look and act like printed publications, with page-flipping and multiple methods of navigation. While there are other tools on the market that do this, ingage has the only one that, when used to publish on a CD, lets you track response and interest, and update content on the fly.
The ingage tool is great for direct marketing (providing measurable ROI) and publications, and really shines for interactive catalog production. Compared to print, the ingage toolset provides greater capabilities (such as inclusion of video, audio, animation, and Web links), longer shelf life (thanks to its content updating capabilities), increased response, and the measurability of the Web -- all at a cost that's comparable or even lower.
Pretty darn cool.
*****
Terms: interactive CD marketing, interactive catalogs, email marketing, ingage interactive
The Interactive Web marketing and advertising portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
Interesting enough, but what sets this publication apart from every other marketing newsletter is that ingage has used its own interactive publishing tool to produce it. This tool produces interactive documents that look and act like printed publications, with page-flipping and multiple methods of navigation. While there are other tools on the market that do this, ingage has the only one that, when used to publish on a CD, lets you track response and interest, and update content on the fly.
The ingage tool is great for direct marketing (providing measurable ROI) and publications, and really shines for interactive catalog production. Compared to print, the ingage toolset provides greater capabilities (such as inclusion of video, audio, animation, and Web links), longer shelf life (thanks to its content updating capabilities), increased response, and the measurability of the Web -- all at a cost that's comparable or even lower.
Pretty darn cool.
*****
Terms: interactive CD marketing, interactive catalogs, email marketing, ingage interactive
The Interactive Web marketing and advertising portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
jeudi 24 août 2006
Problems with "Naked" CRM Systems
Ardath Albee of Einsof has released a new e-book titled "Why Naked CRM Systems Don't Work." She notes a number of CRM-related frustrations that will be familiar to marketers and sales reps, such as:
- Marketing doesn't think sales reps are adequately following up on the leads they've produced; sales doesn't think the leads are qualified.
- Marketing develops collateral materials to help sales; sales reps feel they don't have the right materials.
- Sales people quickly drop leads that aren't hot; marketing loses track of these leads and can't adequately nurture them.
- CRM systems don't live up to their promise; sales reps don't keep information up to date because there's no benefit for them.
Einsof's solution is to properly "dress" your CRM system with an interactive sales portal. Both sales and marketing benefit from an interactive feedback loop that shows what works, and what doesn't, in the real world. Is this an effective solution? The company has customers who say it is.
So why don't CRM vendors simply bake in this functionality themselves? Because, while Einsof has developed a base of reusable core code, each customer solution is heavily customized. It takes creativity, technical skill, and a focus on customer success. In short, Einsof's business model is built around service rather than application sales.
This service orientation also shifts the success metric for Einsof from simply "Is the software installed and working?" to "Is the solution actually providing results?" The outcome of this approach has been considerable repeat business for Einsof; customers who show up at the door simply wanting a bathrobe to throw over their naked CRM system end up coming back for a complete outfit or two, with accessories.
What's your CRM system wearing?
*****
Terms: CRM expansion, CRM enhancement, effective CRM, sales portals
The online marketing business portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
RSS feed
- Marketing doesn't think sales reps are adequately following up on the leads they've produced; sales doesn't think the leads are qualified.
- Marketing develops collateral materials to help sales; sales reps feel they don't have the right materials.
- Sales people quickly drop leads that aren't hot; marketing loses track of these leads and can't adequately nurture them.
- CRM systems don't live up to their promise; sales reps don't keep information up to date because there's no benefit for them.
Einsof's solution is to properly "dress" your CRM system with an interactive sales portal. Both sales and marketing benefit from an interactive feedback loop that shows what works, and what doesn't, in the real world. Is this an effective solution? The company has customers who say it is.So why don't CRM vendors simply bake in this functionality themselves? Because, while Einsof has developed a base of reusable core code, each customer solution is heavily customized. It takes creativity, technical skill, and a focus on customer success. In short, Einsof's business model is built around service rather than application sales.
This service orientation also shifts the success metric for Einsof from simply "Is the software installed and working?" to "Is the solution actually providing results?" The outcome of this approach has been considerable repeat business for Einsof; customers who show up at the door simply wanting a bathrobe to throw over their naked CRM system end up coming back for a complete outfit or two, with accessories.
What's your CRM system wearing?
*****
Terms: CRM expansion, CRM enhancement, effective CRM, sales portals
The online marketing business portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
RSS feed
dimanche 20 août 2006
RainToday Releases "The One Piece of Advice You Can't Sell Without"
The experts in professional services marketing at RainToday.com recently released a *free* report entitled "The One Piece of Advice You Can't Sell Without." But given that the report was written by 11 experts in Web marketing and sales, each of whom (natch) has distinct opinions on the topic, it should have been titled "The 11 Pieces of Advice You Can't Sell (or Market) Without."
Regardless, this report is well worth the read. Among the 11 authors are Seth Godin (his blog beat this one for the top spot Readers Choice Award from Marketing Sherpa; but, considering that he's written -- how many now? 6? 8? Best-selling marketing books, while I'm, well, just me, I was dang honored to come in with an honorable mention to Seth), Jill Konrath (author of Selling to Big Companies, and an all-around cool person), and the often-imitated-but-never-duplicated Mike Schultz.
With 11 different authors, there are, as one would expect, 11 different opinions about that "one piece of advice," but two of the most common themes are: 1) listen to your prospects and customers, and 2) companies don't buy products or services -- people do (both points made previously here).
Although the publication is targeted at sales people, it's well worth the read for marketing professionals as well. Understanding the needs of your prospects is every bit as critical in designing great marketing material as it is in closing sales.
*****
Terms: RainToday.com, Selling to Big Companies, b2b marketing, Jill Konrath, Mike Schultz
The Web marketing resource portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
RSS feed
lundi 14 août 2006
Interactive Technology Brings New Life to Old Media - Catalogs
With even the most carefully-worded search terms result in thousands of hits, PPC costs are rising, and new laws and spam filters have reduced the impact of email marketing, catalogs remain a powerful marketing tool. Catalogs have am impact and immediacy that can't be matched by email or Web sites; they arrive in the mailbox with bills and letters that the recipient has to look at, and they sit on the desk or kitchen counter, just waiting to be opened and perused.
Catalogs are particularly powerful for online-only retailers. Yet it's amazing how few retailers and distributors still take advantage of this powerful tool. Based on some recent client research, I estimate that less than 20% of retailers overall still produce catalogs, and that figure is below 10% for high-tech retailers and distributors. By relying on increasingly difficult and crowded opt-in email and search engine marketing, these retailers are missing a lot of potential business.
Paper catalogs have their drawbacks, of course. They kill trees and are expensive to print and mail. But interactive technology is bringing new life to this old medium. Many retailers who still use print catalogs are adding interactive versions to their Web sites, with impressive results. Tools such as Rich FX and Zmag make it easy to convert a PDF catalog to in interactive, page-flipping format.
Still, simply reproducing a print catalog on the Web is merely formatting; it doesn't produce the impact of a catalog showing up in a recipient's (real world) mailbox. If a retailer is going to produce an e-version of their catalog, why not take the next step and put it on a CD or DVD to mail out? Print catalogs retain certain advantages: they can be read by people who don't own a PC (although with 80% of U.S. households owning at least one PC, this wouldn't seem to be much of a barrier), and they're easier to read in the bathroom.
Interactive CD/DVD catalogs, on the other hand, have a number of advantages over their paper counterparts: they are less expensive to produce and mail, can include features not available in print (audio, video, animation), and can link directly to the retailer's Web site.
What's more, new interactive technology such as iTrax from Zomax lets retailers not only convert their paper-based catalog to interactive media, but also track response, track Web clicks, and update content on the fly. Did the price of item #123 change right after the CD was sent out? No problem; update it in a Web database, and the next time your catalog recipient pops the CD into his or her PC (assuming they connected to the Web) they will see the new price.
In the hyper-competitive world of online retailing, the greatest success may come not to those who seek new ways of reaching consumers, but rather to those who creatively apply new technology to traditional marketing media.
*****
Terms: interactive CD marketing, interactive catalogs, Rich FX, Zmag, Zomax, iTrax, catalog on DVD
The Interactive Web marketing and advertising portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
RSS feed
Catalogs are particularly powerful for online-only retailers. Yet it's amazing how few retailers and distributors still take advantage of this powerful tool. Based on some recent client research, I estimate that less than 20% of retailers overall still produce catalogs, and that figure is below 10% for high-tech retailers and distributors. By relying on increasingly difficult and crowded opt-in email and search engine marketing, these retailers are missing a lot of potential business.
Paper catalogs have their drawbacks, of course. They kill trees and are expensive to print and mail. But interactive technology is bringing new life to this old medium. Many retailers who still use print catalogs are adding interactive versions to their Web sites, with impressive results. Tools such as Rich FX and Zmag make it easy to convert a PDF catalog to in interactive, page-flipping format.
Still, simply reproducing a print catalog on the Web is merely formatting; it doesn't produce the impact of a catalog showing up in a recipient's (real world) mailbox. If a retailer is going to produce an e-version of their catalog, why not take the next step and put it on a CD or DVD to mail out? Print catalogs retain certain advantages: they can be read by people who don't own a PC (although with 80% of U.S. households owning at least one PC, this wouldn't seem to be much of a barrier), and they're easier to read in the bathroom.
Interactive CD/DVD catalogs, on the other hand, have a number of advantages over their paper counterparts: they are less expensive to produce and mail, can include features not available in print (audio, video, animation), and can link directly to the retailer's Web site.
What's more, new interactive technology such as iTrax from Zomax lets retailers not only convert their paper-based catalog to interactive media, but also track response, track Web clicks, and update content on the fly. Did the price of item #123 change right after the CD was sent out? No problem; update it in a Web database, and the next time your catalog recipient pops the CD into his or her PC (assuming they connected to the Web) they will see the new price.
In the hyper-competitive world of online retailing, the greatest success may come not to those who seek new ways of reaching consumers, but rather to those who creatively apply new technology to traditional marketing media.
*****
Terms: interactive CD marketing, interactive catalogs, Rich FX, Zmag, Zomax, iTrax, catalog on DVD
The Interactive Web marketing and advertising portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
RSS feed
lundi 7 août 2006
Web Conferencing Services Reviewed
If you deliver Webinars, hold meetings with remote sales or other personnel, or lead marketing or sales presentations for clients and prospects, you know the value and utility of Web conferencing services. Features and reliability have increased greatly over the last few years. Internet presentations save enormous time and money in travel.
As the popularity of Web conferencing services has increased, so has the number of options in the market. There are estimated to be more than a hundred vendors in the space now, though only a handful of leading contenders. Which service is the best? The answer, as it so often is in these situations, is "it depends." Web conferencing services vary considerably in price, functionality, and ease of use. The best solution for 2-3 participant remote sales presentations is different from the best solution for 6-10 participant marketing or training presentations, which is in turn different from the best solution for 50+ participant webinars.
Here are reviews of six options -- three market leaders and three up-and-coming services -- based on a recent client evaluation project.
HelpMeeting
Pros: Attractively priced at the 25 participant level and above, includes most of the basic functionality, easy to use, no client download required, and a free trial offered.
Cons: Expensive at lower licensing levels, lacks advanced features, not suitable for very large webinars, may have issues with some firewalls.
Bottom line: Worth checking out if you do a lot of 25-50 user presentations and don't need every bell and whistle. Pricing is attractive at this level, but needs to be simplified on their site.
Glance
Pros: Reasonably priced, easy to use, has all the basic features, no client download required, generally no firewall issues, free trail offered.
Cons: Limited to a maximum of 15 participants.
Bottom line: Glance is a great tool for remote sales reps who generally present to small groups., but is not a corporate or Webinar solution.
GatherPlace
Pros: One of the most attractively priced solutions at up to 25 users, and provides "event pricing" for one-time or occasional large webinars (up to 200 participants); excellent feature set for the price; very easy to use; free trail offered; no client download required; friendly and knowledgeable staff.
Cons: The two biggest are horrendous video performance (4 frames per second) and firewall issues (your presentation will be unviewable by anyone whose firewall blocks Java). The company is working on both issues and should have solutions in future releases.
Bottom line: This is one to watch, and maybe try out, given the relatively strong feature set and ease of use. If most of your presentations are to 25 or fewer participants, you may want to sign up for the free trail and test this as extensively as you can to determine if firewall issues are likely to arise internally or with your clients and target prospects.
__________________________________________________________
This post sponsored by Marketing Tools from VerticalResponse
Create professional HTML Email and printed Postcard campaigns in minutes right from your browser. No technical expertise needed - Choose from over 250 templates. It's easy, affordable and powerful. Try it Free Today!
__________________________________________________________
GoToMeeting
Pros: Pricing isn't the lowest, but is competitive at up to 25 participants; ability to cost-effectively host very large Web presentations (up to 1,000 participants); easy to use; strong feature set; few if any firewall issues; friendly and knowledgeable staff.
Cons: Product offering is unnecessarily complex, client download is required.
Bottom line: Budget-conscious users with simple needs may want to look elsewhere, but with its combination of ease-of-use and an excellent feature set, GoToMeeting is a strong contender for midsize and larger businesses. With its new GoToWebinar offering, GTM is by far the leading solution for frequent, large presentations and webinars.
Microsoft LiveMeeting
Pros: Broad feature set, virtually no firewall issues, strong integration with Microsoft Office tools, free trial offered.
Cons: Price, client download required, difficult to use.
Bottom line: A decent solution for companies with complex needs, where Web conferencing is used for a variety of tasks (e.g. client training, sales and marketing presentations, IT collaboration), and where integration with Office and Outlook is important.
WebEx
Pros: Market leader (i.e. system your prospects or other participants are likely to have used before), extensive feature set (including audio conferencing and Outlook integration), virtually impervious to firewalls, free trial offered, good tech support.
Cons: Same as LiveMeeting.
Bottom line: WebEx is the most expensive solution on the market, but also has the most extensive feature set. For large organizations wanting a single cross-departmental Web presentation tool, WebEx is a solid choice.
In the end, you'll have to make judgements about the relative importance of various criteria -- price, features, ease of use, compatibility -- in order to determine which service best meets the needs of your department or company. With the possible exception of Citrix-backed GoToMeeting, none of the emerging services are likely to unseat market leaders WebEx and LiveMeeting, but each has the potential to stake out its own niche. The best news for users is that, because these are hosted services, there is very little if any IT investment required. That means switching costs are low, so you can afford to experiment until you find your own best solution.
*****
Terms: Web conferencing services, Web presentation tools, online presentations, WebEx, LiveMeeting, GoToMeeting, GatherPlace, HelpMeeting, GatherWorks, Glance
The Internet marketing and advertising portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
RSS feed
As the popularity of Web conferencing services has increased, so has the number of options in the market. There are estimated to be more than a hundred vendors in the space now, though only a handful of leading contenders. Which service is the best? The answer, as it so often is in these situations, is "it depends." Web conferencing services vary considerably in price, functionality, and ease of use. The best solution for 2-3 participant remote sales presentations is different from the best solution for 6-10 participant marketing or training presentations, which is in turn different from the best solution for 50+ participant webinars.
Here are reviews of six options -- three market leaders and three up-and-coming services -- based on a recent client evaluation project.
HelpMeeting
Pros: Attractively priced at the 25 participant level and above, includes most of the basic functionality, easy to use, no client download required, and a free trial offered.
Cons: Expensive at lower licensing levels, lacks advanced features, not suitable for very large webinars, may have issues with some firewalls.
Bottom line: Worth checking out if you do a lot of 25-50 user presentations and don't need every bell and whistle. Pricing is attractive at this level, but needs to be simplified on their site.
Glance
Pros: Reasonably priced, easy to use, has all the basic features, no client download required, generally no firewall issues, free trail offered.
Cons: Limited to a maximum of 15 participants.
Bottom line: Glance is a great tool for remote sales reps who generally present to small groups., but is not a corporate or Webinar solution.
GatherPlace
Pros: One of the most attractively priced solutions at up to 25 users, and provides "event pricing" for one-time or occasional large webinars (up to 200 participants); excellent feature set for the price; very easy to use; free trail offered; no client download required; friendly and knowledgeable staff.
Cons: The two biggest are horrendous video performance (4 frames per second) and firewall issues (your presentation will be unviewable by anyone whose firewall blocks Java). The company is working on both issues and should have solutions in future releases.
Bottom line: This is one to watch, and maybe try out, given the relatively strong feature set and ease of use. If most of your presentations are to 25 or fewer participants, you may want to sign up for the free trail and test this as extensively as you can to determine if firewall issues are likely to arise internally or with your clients and target prospects.
__________________________________________________________
This post sponsored by Marketing Tools from VerticalResponse
Create professional HTML Email and printed Postcard campaigns in minutes right from your browser. No technical expertise needed - Choose from over 250 templates. It's easy, affordable and powerful. Try it Free Today!
__________________________________________________________
GoToMeeting
Pros: Pricing isn't the lowest, but is competitive at up to 25 participants; ability to cost-effectively host very large Web presentations (up to 1,000 participants); easy to use; strong feature set; few if any firewall issues; friendly and knowledgeable staff.
Cons: Product offering is unnecessarily complex, client download is required.
Bottom line: Budget-conscious users with simple needs may want to look elsewhere, but with its combination of ease-of-use and an excellent feature set, GoToMeeting is a strong contender for midsize and larger businesses. With its new GoToWebinar offering, GTM is by far the leading solution for frequent, large presentations and webinars.
Microsoft LiveMeeting
Pros: Broad feature set, virtually no firewall issues, strong integration with Microsoft Office tools, free trial offered.
Cons: Price, client download required, difficult to use.
Bottom line: A decent solution for companies with complex needs, where Web conferencing is used for a variety of tasks (e.g. client training, sales and marketing presentations, IT collaboration), and where integration with Office and Outlook is important.
WebEx
Pros: Market leader (i.e. system your prospects or other participants are likely to have used before), extensive feature set (including audio conferencing and Outlook integration), virtually impervious to firewalls, free trial offered, good tech support.
Cons: Same as LiveMeeting.
Bottom line: WebEx is the most expensive solution on the market, but also has the most extensive feature set. For large organizations wanting a single cross-departmental Web presentation tool, WebEx is a solid choice.
In the end, you'll have to make judgements about the relative importance of various criteria -- price, features, ease of use, compatibility -- in order to determine which service best meets the needs of your department or company. With the possible exception of Citrix-backed GoToMeeting, none of the emerging services are likely to unseat market leaders WebEx and LiveMeeting, but each has the potential to stake out its own niche. The best news for users is that, because these are hosted services, there is very little if any IT investment required. That means switching costs are low, so you can afford to experiment until you find your own best solution.
*****
Terms: Web conferencing services, Web presentation tools, online presentations, WebEx, LiveMeeting, GoToMeeting, GatherPlace, HelpMeeting, GatherWorks, Glance
The Internet marketing and advertising portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
RSS feed
lundi 31 juillet 2006
Greer's OC: A Fashionable Micromedia Site
Greer's OC is a great example of an effective consumer marketing micromedia site. Former fashion columnist Greer Wylder targets her content to, and delivers for her advertisers, a very narrow but lucrative and otherwise difficult to reach audience: upscale shoppers, primarily female, in the Orange County, California area.
For Hugh Hewitt to call Greer's OC an advertising revolution and a mortal threat to newspapers isn't off the mark. Newspaper subscriptions are declining. TiVo and XM are killing the value of media advertising. Mega-portals like Yahoo that try to be all things to all people end up being of little value to anyone. People will flock, however, in small but targeted numbers, to sites and media that focus specifically on topics that fascinate them.
So what exactly do I mean by "micromedia"? Micromedia is any form of media targeted to an individual or group of individuals that can be can be defined by a set of unique characteristics. It is much narrower than untargeted mass media, but it encompasses and is somewhat broader than one-to-one marketing. While targeted direct mail is clearly form of micromedia, and advertising during the Super Bowl is clearly not, the boundaries of what constitutes micromedia are somewhat fuzzy.
Micromedia is not to be confused with software company Macromedia, or with specific companies like this Canadian firm which focus on library resources for the elementary school market, or this commercial Unix project.
Micromedia can take a wide variety of forms.
Most blogs are a form of micromedia. Content-based ad networks are close, because those ads are most likely to be viewed by people within a distinct target market.
Targeted email and advertising in narrowly-targeted industry e-newsletters are micromedia; the audience is self-selected and virtually guaranteed to have a high degree of common characteristics.
TV is generally not a form of micromedia; even companies advertising Medi-gap insurance on reruns of Matlock end up with a lot of wasted coverage. However, advertising on the Golf Channel arguably qualifies, because both the demographic and the interest are pretty narrowly qualified.
Similarly, radio advertising is generally not micromedia; even Kim Komando's radio show draws too diverse an audience to qualify.
Billboard advertising is also normally not a form of micromedia, though it can be. For example, advertising an insurance or financial product specifically for employees of General Motors, near the entrance to one of their facilities, would qualify.
Targeted direct mail is among the oldest forms of micromedia, thought mailbox clutter is rendering it increasingly less effective.
With the explosion in electronic media choice, mass marketing is becoming more difficult and expensive. However, there are more opportunities than ever for marketers to use micromedia to deliver carefully-crafted messages of real value to specific demographic or business sub-markets. The key is to know your customers well, so that you can know your prospects well -- what do they care about, what do they need, and what will compel them to act.
*****
Terms: Greer's OC, Hugh Hewitt, micromedia, one to one marketing, targeted media
The Web marketing strategy portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
RSS feed
For Hugh Hewitt to call Greer's OC an advertising revolution and a mortal threat to newspapers isn't off the mark. Newspaper subscriptions are declining. TiVo and XM are killing the value of media advertising. Mega-portals like Yahoo that try to be all things to all people end up being of little value to anyone. People will flock, however, in small but targeted numbers, to sites and media that focus specifically on topics that fascinate them.
So what exactly do I mean by "micromedia"? Micromedia is any form of media targeted to an individual or group of individuals that can be can be defined by a set of unique characteristics. It is much narrower than untargeted mass media, but it encompasses and is somewhat broader than one-to-one marketing. While targeted direct mail is clearly form of micromedia, and advertising during the Super Bowl is clearly not, the boundaries of what constitutes micromedia are somewhat fuzzy.
Micromedia is not to be confused with software company Macromedia, or with specific companies like this Canadian firm which focus on library resources for the elementary school market, or this commercial Unix project.
Micromedia can take a wide variety of forms.
Most blogs are a form of micromedia. Content-based ad networks are close, because those ads are most likely to be viewed by people within a distinct target market.
Targeted email and advertising in narrowly-targeted industry e-newsletters are micromedia; the audience is self-selected and virtually guaranteed to have a high degree of common characteristics.
TV is generally not a form of micromedia; even companies advertising Medi-gap insurance on reruns of Matlock end up with a lot of wasted coverage. However, advertising on the Golf Channel arguably qualifies, because both the demographic and the interest are pretty narrowly qualified.
Similarly, radio advertising is generally not micromedia; even Kim Komando's radio show draws too diverse an audience to qualify.
Billboard advertising is also normally not a form of micromedia, though it can be. For example, advertising an insurance or financial product specifically for employees of General Motors, near the entrance to one of their facilities, would qualify.
Targeted direct mail is among the oldest forms of micromedia, thought mailbox clutter is rendering it increasingly less effective.
With the explosion in electronic media choice, mass marketing is becoming more difficult and expensive. However, there are more opportunities than ever for marketers to use micromedia to deliver carefully-crafted messages of real value to specific demographic or business sub-markets. The key is to know your customers well, so that you can know your prospects well -- what do they care about, what do they need, and what will compel them to act.
*****
Terms: Greer's OC, Hugh Hewitt, micromedia, one to one marketing, targeted media
The Web marketing strategy portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
RSS feed
lundi 24 juillet 2006
Choices Expand for Customized Start Pages
Where does your browser go when the click the "home" icon on the toolbar? For many people, the answer is still their ISP's home page (at home) or whatever page their IT goup set it to (at work). However, there are an increasing number of services that let you customize your own start page. Among the first were My Yahoo and the aguably better though under-publicized Google offering, but both the choice and sophistication are increasing.
Among the new entries in this space are the very cool Netvibes and Pageflakes. These services let you customize your stat page with tools like news feeds, RSS feeds (such as your favorite blogs), local weather, your address/contact book, a dictionary, to-do lists, online file storage, mail and IM, photos, Web search, sports scores and more. Yahoo, Google and Netvibes all seem to be fairly browser-agnostic; Pageflakes appears to work best with IE.
Another service planned but not yet launched is the "life organizer" from Lifeio from ATTAP Technologies. You can sign up to be notified when the service is up and running.
Being naturally suspicious of anything that seems too cool to be free, I contacted the folks at Pageflakes to inquire about their business model. They responded quickly (something I always admire and appreciate) that their model is to build traffic first, then monetize it with advertising, and offer users a premium ad-free version for a modest fee.
All of these services are pretty slick; I'd recommend playing around with each to figure out which works best for you.
*****
Terms: personalized home page, personalized start page, Pageflakes, Netvibes
The Internet web site marketing portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
RSS feed
Among the new entries in this space are the very cool Netvibes and Pageflakes. These services let you customize your stat page with tools like news feeds, RSS feeds (such as your favorite blogs), local weather, your address/contact book, a dictionary, to-do lists, online file storage, mail and IM, photos, Web search, sports scores and more. Yahoo, Google and Netvibes all seem to be fairly browser-agnostic; Pageflakes appears to work best with IE.
Another service planned but not yet launched is the "life organizer" from Lifeio from ATTAP Technologies. You can sign up to be notified when the service is up and running.
Being naturally suspicious of anything that seems too cool to be free, I contacted the folks at Pageflakes to inquire about their business model. They responded quickly (something I always admire and appreciate) that their model is to build traffic first, then monetize it with advertising, and offer users a premium ad-free version for a modest fee.
All of these services are pretty slick; I'd recommend playing around with each to figure out which works best for you.
*****
Terms: personalized home page, personalized start page, Pageflakes, Netvibes
The Internet web site marketing portal: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
RSS feed
lundi 17 juillet 2006
Explaining Technology So Even Your Mom Can Understand It
How do you explain a highly technical product or complex service offering in an easily understandable way? Better yet, how can you explain it so simply that even your mom will understand it (assuming your mother isn't a network system administrator)?
That was the challenge facing Xiotech, a maker of storage area network (SAN) systems. CEO Casey Powell, who joined the company about a year ago, is a big fan of HowStuffWorks.com, the site that famously explains in simple terms how almost everything works, from ballpoint pens to rocket engines.
When he challenged his marketing team to develop a similarly simple way to explain Xiotech's offerings, Tom Pearce and the rest of the group came up with...the Mom Button. After all, how better to explain complex technology in terms so simple your mom can understand it than to have a mom explain it?
Since the initial launch of the Mom Button, the original "Mom Explains Xiotech" concept has been expanded to have Mom discuss server consolidation, clustering, and business complexity. In addition to explaining esoteric technology in simple terms, "Mom" puts a human face on the company. Even more impressively, while this is the kind of creative thinking often associated with marketing agencies, the marketing team at Xiotech developed the Mom Button internally.
There are many ways to humanize a company, from Protomold's quirky Professor Plastic, to sending out personalized letters from your CEO, to blogging. But Xiotech's Mom Button certainly ranks as one of the more clever and effective ideas.
*****
Terms: Xiotech, storage area network marketing, Protomold, Professor Plastic, Casey Powell
The portal for Web site promotion strategies: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
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That was the challenge facing Xiotech, a maker of storage area network (SAN) systems. CEO Casey Powell, who joined the company about a year ago, is a big fan of HowStuffWorks.com, the site that famously explains in simple terms how almost everything works, from ballpoint pens to rocket engines.
When he challenged his marketing team to develop a similarly simple way to explain Xiotech's offerings, Tom Pearce and the rest of the group came up with...the Mom Button. After all, how better to explain complex technology in terms so simple your mom can understand it than to have a mom explain it?
Since the initial launch of the Mom Button, the original "Mom Explains Xiotech" concept has been expanded to have Mom discuss server consolidation, clustering, and business complexity. In addition to explaining esoteric technology in simple terms, "Mom" puts a human face on the company. Even more impressively, while this is the kind of creative thinking often associated with marketing agencies, the marketing team at Xiotech developed the Mom Button internally.
There are many ways to humanize a company, from Protomold's quirky Professor Plastic, to sending out personalized letters from your CEO, to blogging. But Xiotech's Mom Button certainly ranks as one of the more clever and effective ideas.
*****
Terms: Xiotech, storage area network marketing, Protomold, Professor Plastic, Casey Powell
The portal for Web site promotion strategies: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
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mardi 11 juillet 2006
Best of the New Marketing Books
Three outstanding new marketing books have been added to the Top Marketing Books page on WebMarketCentral.com, the Internet Web site marketing portal.
First, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale by Brian Carroll presents a strategic approach to generating profitable leads. Brian's book outlines a proven approach to generating qualified leads for complex sales, which frequently involve pre-sales engineers, subject matter experts (SMEs), and even corporate executives, as well as traditional sales professionals. The complex sale -- which combines elements of consultative, competitive, and team selling -- is now the norm for business-to-business sales. Brian's book shows how to identify your best leads and target sales approaches; align sales and marketing to optimize both the number and quality of leads; build strong sales pipelines; and use multiple lead-generation vehicles, including email, PR, referrals, blogs, and speaking opportunities.
Second, Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? : Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing by Bryan Eisenberg, Jeffrey Eisenberg, and Lisa T. Davis, makes the obvious observation that one message no longer fits every audience, but presents this in concise, entertaining, and highly readable chapters. The Eisenberg brothers and their co-author create "personas" representing broad consumer types, identified as "methodical," "spontaneous," "humanistic" and "competitive" shoppers. They then provide marketing scenarios guiding each type to the point of sale. Increasing media fragmentation makes traditional mass market advertising obsolete (an idea noted here previously). People aren't "markets," they're individuals. And in the age of Tivo and a billion Web sites, useful information has far more power than anything viewed as marketing fluff.
Finally, Blogwild! : A Guide for Small Business Blogging, by Andy Wibbels, describes the increasing popularity of and rationale behine business blogging, and provides a guide to creating a profitable business blog. Wibbels shows how blogs can help, in an informal and friendly way, to promote your business and create buzz, reach new customers, put a human face on your company, and influence industry media.
*****
Terms: Internet web site marketing, top marketing books, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, Brian Carroll, Waiting for your cat to bark, Eisenberg brothers, Blogwild, Andy Wibbels
The portal for Internet Web site marketing strategy: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
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First, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale by Brian Carroll presents a strategic approach to generating profitable leads. Brian's book outlines a proven approach to generating qualified leads for complex sales, which frequently involve pre-sales engineers, subject matter experts (SMEs), and even corporate executives, as well as traditional sales professionals. The complex sale -- which combines elements of consultative, competitive, and team selling -- is now the norm for business-to-business sales. Brian's book shows how to identify your best leads and target sales approaches; align sales and marketing to optimize both the number and quality of leads; build strong sales pipelines; and use multiple lead-generation vehicles, including email, PR, referrals, blogs, and speaking opportunities.
Second, Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? : Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing by Bryan Eisenberg, Jeffrey Eisenberg, and Lisa T. Davis, makes the obvious observation that one message no longer fits every audience, but presents this in concise, entertaining, and highly readable chapters. The Eisenberg brothers and their co-author create "personas" representing broad consumer types, identified as "methodical," "spontaneous," "humanistic" and "competitive" shoppers. They then provide marketing scenarios guiding each type to the point of sale. Increasing media fragmentation makes traditional mass market advertising obsolete (an idea noted here previously). People aren't "markets," they're individuals. And in the age of Tivo and a billion Web sites, useful information has far more power than anything viewed as marketing fluff.
Finally, Blogwild! : A Guide for Small Business Blogging, by Andy Wibbels, describes the increasing popularity of and rationale behine business blogging, and provides a guide to creating a profitable business blog. Wibbels shows how blogs can help, in an informal and friendly way, to promote your business and create buzz, reach new customers, put a human face on your company, and influence industry media.
*****
Terms: Internet web site marketing, top marketing books, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, Brian Carroll, Waiting for your cat to bark, Eisenberg brothers, Blogwild, Andy Wibbels
The portal for Internet Web site marketing strategy: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
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mercredi 5 juillet 2006
Blog Tools and Stuff
If (like me) you've chosen Blogger as your platform for online disquisition, you've noticed that it's fast and reasonably intuitive, but lacks a few basic functions. The folks at Quick Online Tips have rectified that with Free Essential Tools for Bloggers, an excellent list of add-ons that expand the capability of the platform.
The list goes well beyond the common tools such as Pingoat and Technorati (well known and also covered in Best Practices in Blog Marketing) to include traffic-generating and tracking tools, as well as mobile blogging. Definitely a post worth bookmarking and coming back to.
That's the tools. As for the stuff, Larry Bodine has written an interesting piece over at RainToday titled It's Not Too Late To Start Blogging - But It Will Be Soon. (Yes, Brian Carroll beat me to this; when does he sleep?!) Registration is required to read the full article, but it's free.
Larry provides seven great reasons to blog, most of which are covered in Why Write a Blog for Business, but includes the timely advice: "If you fail to set up a blog on your special topic, someone else will claim it before you do." He also provides a number of tips for producing a successful blog.
That's all I will say, lest I violate Larry's tip #3: "Keep it short."
*****
Terms: Brian Carroll, Larry Bodine, why blog for business, blogging tips, RainToday.com
The portal for Web site marketing strategy: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
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The list goes well beyond the common tools such as Pingoat and Technorati (well known and also covered in Best Practices in Blog Marketing) to include traffic-generating and tracking tools, as well as mobile blogging. Definitely a post worth bookmarking and coming back to.
That's the tools. As for the stuff, Larry Bodine has written an interesting piece over at RainToday titled It's Not Too Late To Start Blogging - But It Will Be Soon. (Yes, Brian Carroll beat me to this; when does he sleep?!) Registration is required to read the full article, but it's free.
Larry provides seven great reasons to blog, most of which are covered in Why Write a Blog for Business, but includes the timely advice: "If you fail to set up a blog on your special topic, someone else will claim it before you do." He also provides a number of tips for producing a successful blog.
That's all I will say, lest I violate Larry's tip #3: "Keep it short."
*****
Terms: Brian Carroll, Larry Bodine, why blog for business, blogging tips, RainToday.com
The portal for Web site marketing strategy: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
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mercredi 28 juin 2006
Awards Are Nice, but Relationships Rule
At the risk of having a Sally Field moment, I want to say "thank you" to everyone who voted for this blog in the recent Marketing Sherpa Reader's Choice blog and podcasting awards. It's quite and honor.
Winning an Honorable Mention (despite being up against Seth Godin) is the second-best thing that's happened as a result of lanching this blog. The best thing has been the opportunity to meet, or to get to know better, a lot of fascinating marketing people, directly or indirectly through this blog. Although traffic here hasn't been huge (at least not until the last week or so), I've been amazed and gratified by the caliber of my readers.
I've used this blog to introduce you to some of those people, such as Albert Maruggi, PR guru and head of marketing agency Provident Partners, who writes one of the best podcasting blogs on the planet. And there's Kelly Allan, operations and marketing consulting expert at Kelly Allan Associates; Yvonne DiVita, author, speaker, blogger, and diva of smart marketing to women online; Mike Schultz, a brilliant marketing of professional services at RainToday.com; Jay Lipe, author, consultant, and head of Emerge Marketing; and Ardath Albee, president of CRM extension software developer Einsof. There are also a number of other great bloggers I've had the opportunity to interact with and learn from.
But the most amazing person I've gotten to know professionally this year is Kirsten Chapman, head of technology marketing agency KC Associates. She is not only a brilliant marketer, but a truly extraordinary person: her talent exceeds her ego. For example, when I interviewed her for this blog, she insisted on providing a group photograph of her entire team in place of the traditional headshot. She's justifiably proud of the group of talented, experienced marketing professionals that she's assembled.
It would be nice to beat Seth next year, but I'll happily settle for continuing to expand my circle of online marketing friends, and introducing them to you here.
*****
Terms: Marketing Sherpa 2006 Reader's Choice Blog and Podcasting Awards, marketing blogs, podcasting blogs, professional services marketing, IT marketing agencies
The portal for Internet marketing strategy development: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
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Winning an Honorable Mention (despite being up against Seth Godin) is the second-best thing that's happened as a result of lanching this blog. The best thing has been the opportunity to meet, or to get to know better, a lot of fascinating marketing people, directly or indirectly through this blog. Although traffic here hasn't been huge (at least not until the last week or so), I've been amazed and gratified by the caliber of my readers.
I've used this blog to introduce you to some of those people, such as Albert Maruggi, PR guru and head of marketing agency Provident Partners, who writes one of the best podcasting blogs on the planet. And there's Kelly Allan, operations and marketing consulting expert at Kelly Allan Associates; Yvonne DiVita, author, speaker, blogger, and diva of smart marketing to women online; Mike Schultz, a brilliant marketing of professional services at RainToday.com; Jay Lipe, author, consultant, and head of Emerge Marketing; and Ardath Albee, president of CRM extension software developer Einsof. There are also a number of other great bloggers I've had the opportunity to interact with and learn from.
But the most amazing person I've gotten to know professionally this year is Kirsten Chapman, head of technology marketing agency KC Associates. She is not only a brilliant marketer, but a truly extraordinary person: her talent exceeds her ego. For example, when I interviewed her for this blog, she insisted on providing a group photograph of her entire team in place of the traditional headshot. She's justifiably proud of the group of talented, experienced marketing professionals that she's assembled.
It would be nice to beat Seth next year, but I'll happily settle for continuing to expand my circle of online marketing friends, and introducing them to you here.
*****
Terms: Marketing Sherpa 2006 Reader's Choice Blog and Podcasting Awards, marketing blogs, podcasting blogs, professional services marketing, IT marketing agencies
The portal for Internet marketing strategy development: WebMarketCentral.com
Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentral.com
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