Monthly Archive for October, 2008

Age of Conversation 2 Will Blow Your Mind

Published
by
Matt
on Oct 29, 2008
in Life, New Marketing and Reading
. Comments


Guaranteed. All you have to do is grab a copy (and you support a great charity while you’re at it). So make sure you do that, starting Wednesday October 28th at 8am.

Buy AOC2 Here.

For the full story on AOC2, you can check out the site at The Age Of Conversation. Also, make sure you click randomly on some of my fellow authors below.

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Nice Move Wachovia

Published
by
Matt
on Oct 27, 2008
in Communication and Customer Service
. Comments

My girlfriend (@ashlebo) went to get some cash out of the Wachovia ATM the other day, and the following card popped out with her receipt.

If you can’t read the quote, it’s an Irish proverb that says “When we count our blessings, we count you twice.” Pretty nice stuff. And the thing is, how hard was that?

It’s a little refreshing to see, in the middle of these tough times, a bank that cares about its customers. It’s easy to say “Hey guess what? It’s customer appreciation month! We appreciate you!” and then leave it at that. In fact, at my last job during “Employee Appreciation Month” they laid off 1/5 of the company.

But that little card was like a fortune cookie style complement. And you know what? It felt good.

Well played Wachovia.

10/29 Update: I’d like to learn a little more about this idea. So if someone from Wachovia is reading this, let’s talk!

The Google Machine Has Spoken

Published
by
Matt
on Oct 24, 2008
in Web Sites
. Comments

You’ve probably heard someone (probably a new media pundit trying to sound cool) say “If I can’t find you on Google, then you don’t exist.”

This is totally ridiculous.

While showing up in Google is certainly important, it’s far from the be-all end-all, oh. my. god. you should probably quit the internet right now, kind of deal. Seriously.

Don’t believe me? Pinch yourself, wave to your dog, call your mother, scream “PC’s Rule!” in a room full of Mac fanboys. And the verdict is, you most certainly do exist.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, on to the next problem. Showing up on Google.

First things first, I might as well state the obvious: you can’t show up in Google if you don’t have a website. No excuses here. Making yourself a home on the web is easy, free, fun, and beneficial, so there’s really no reason not to do it. Check out Blogger or Wordpress to fire up a blog for free or Squidoo and Twitter for a more varied approach. It doesn’t take long to hang out your shingle on the web, and if you’re at the point where you’re reading this blog, I’d be surprised if you don’t have something going already.

Which brings me to the next important point: how to get that something in the right place in the Google search results. This, my friends, is the entire goal of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). And for this I point you to people who do this for a living. I’d start by checking out the posts below on how to get rolling with SEO.

- The Bloggers Guide to SEO - SEO Book
- SEO for Blogs - Problogger
- Beginners Guide to Search Engine Optimization - SEOmoz

So the moral of the story is, if you’re not dominating the search results on Google right now, don’t worry. Put in some good effort and give it a little bit of time and you’ll start showing up in the right places

The Moment of Float

Published
by
Matt
on Oct 23, 2008
in New Marketing and social media
. Comments

From a fortune cookie I got recently:

It’s easy to make the decision to do some “new marketing”. Just take a small budget for “blogs, social media, and stuff like that” and stand back and wait for it all to go viral. What’s tough is the follow through, getting beyond that initial commitment to the point where you can make some progress. You have to get beyond The Moment of Float.

(No, I did not really get this in a fortune cookie, but thanks for believing.)

A Firecracker For Your Friday!

Published
by
Matt
on Oct 17, 2008
in Kickstarts
. Comments

Awesome. But while you spent the last 3 minutes watching that, someone out there is out-hustling you. Get to it!

(thanks to Blue Ion)

Clever > Shocking (and some links!)

Published
by
Matt
on Oct 13, 2008
in Links and New Marketing
. Comments


I’m going to give you a little insight into the immortal cage-match death struggle that is Clever vs. Shocking.

Clever wins.

Sure Shocking might get you that first time and you say “Gasp! I have been taken by this shocking marketing message!,” but after that it starts to lose its punch. When you know something shocking is coming, well, it’s not that shocking anymore. Remember those VW commercials? Blew my mind first time I saw it, but after a while you were already braced for impact.

But Clever doesn’t lose it’s appeal the same way. After the “Oh my!” and “Wow!” is gone from the Shocking, people are still thinking about Clever. Clever makes you smile 20 minutes later when you think “Damn, I wish I thought of that!”

So remember, if you want to get people’s attention, be shocking. If you want them to remember your message, be clever.

In honor of the Clever. Here’s a few great things you should read.
- Influencers can be MADE. Passion can’t. - Brains on Fire Blog
- The Brand is in Your Head - Conversation Agent
- My IMS08 session: r u ready? (new video) - Greg Verdino
- Unconventional Marketing - David Armano
- Facebook Group And Brand Page Best Practices - Social Media Explorer
- Please, Sir, May I Have Some More (Budget)? - Scott Monty
- Recession Brass Tacks - The Buzz Bin

Your Brand’s Checklist for Twitter

Published
by
Matt
on Oct 6, 2008
in Branding and Web 2.0
. Comments

If you’re brand isn’t on Twitter, then check out these posts to get you up to speed. If you’re already on Twitter, then congratulations. You’re already well on your way to developing a solid new media presence and most importantly, connecting with your market.

However, there are a few things that every brand can do to enhance their Twitter account and make sure that they reach their goals with the program. Let’s take a look at 8 good ones.

1. Picture


First things first, logos do not tweet. People do. Your brand’s Twitter account handle will already be @BrandX, so no one has to worry about getting confused. Wait, is your name actually Nick Nike? or Samsung Jones? Check out Frank Eliason, who runs the wildly successful (and incredibly awesome) @comcastcares (Comcast) account. Right away you know you’re dealing with a person and not a PR department.

The only exception here is when the people who use the account actually are the entire PR department. In this case, the logo is okay, but try and work in some specific pictures and names in some ways mentioned below.

2. Name


See the above statement. Corporations may be a “person” in the eyes of the law, but not in the eyes of Twitter. We understand that this account may be representative of your brand as a whole, but there’s still a person running it. Social Media and Twitter specifically is all about honest HUMAN interaction. Do everything you can to keep that there. Let us know your name.

3. Sidebar


This is a pretty brilliant tactic that seems to be catching on much faster with individual users than with brands. The idea here is that you create a specific graphic to use as your background and on that graphic is other useful information. It might be the pictures and names of everyone who uses the account, or just other places you can find the brand on the web. This is a cool opportunity to say a few more things about yourself right away. Check out @flyingdog (Flying Dog Brewery) and @wldaily (Wine Library Daily Deals) to see it done right.

4. Bio


The Bio section is the Swiss Army Knife of the Twitter profile. You can use this space to say a little more about yourself like @jetblue (JetBlue Airways), give us your Twitter mission statement like @Wachovia (Wachovia Bank), give us some more contact info (see below) or just say hi. Either way, make sure you have something useful and relevant here.

5. Contact Info


So you’re on Twitter and you’re a real person (per number 1 and 2). Now give us a way to get in contact. It doesn’t have to be with the person running the account, it can be someone on your team. But you need to give us a way to get in touch when 140 characters just doesn’t cut it.

6. Link Out

Putting a link to your brands homepage is okay, but really you need to link to a “Contact Us” or a special page for Twitter users. Make this useful and make sure it’s easy to find.

7. Communicate

A lot of media/news outlets simply use Twitter as a broadcast medium. This is wrong! It’s another example of old media trying to do new media by old rules. Doesn’t work that way. Look at Frank Eliason’s @comcastcares account. Almost every single tweet is an @ reply. I’m sure he sneaks some Comcast-related news in there now and again, but the majority of his time is spent interacting. That’s how to do it right.

8. FOLLOW PEOPLE


Per number 7, Twitter is not your megaphone. You need to follow people back or you’ll look like a clown.

Additional Resources
-Follow Me On Twitter
-Twitter Brand Index
Twittermaven’s Best Practices
-Beth Harte - Who are you? And why should I follow you?