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

"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

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

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

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

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

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