Archive for the 'ANM' Category

My Top 7 Posts For 2010

Published
by
Matt
on Jan 4, 2010
in ANM and New Marketing
. Comments

Well ANM readers, I’ve done it. I’ve gazed into my patented ANM Brand Crystal-Ball-o-Matic-atron and have divined my most popular posts of the UPCOMING YEAR! Read on if you like having your mind blown.

1) Something about Twitter.

2) Something about “Social Media Gurus”

3) Something about something we all think might be better than Twitter but fades really fast.

4) Something Google, Apple, or Microsoft.

5) Something bitching about social media.

6) Something really cool we don’t even know about yet!

7) Something that includes a list with a bunch of stuff we all already know but it makes for great link-bait.

BFG & MattJMcD Living In Perfect Harmony

Published
by
Matt
on Sep 29, 2009
in ANM and etc.
. Comments

I don’t usually do things like this.

I just don’t like tooting my own horn for a few reasons: primarily because my mom taught me never to brag, but also because “tooting your own horn” sounds kind of wrong.

But there are always exceptions to the rules, especially when a great opportunity comes up. An opportunity like the Assistant Content Manager position at BFG Communications. For this opening, BFG has asked that to apply we use social media, and use it I will.

At the risk of flagrant horn-tooting, I believe I would be a great fit for this position. I eat, sleep, and breathe marketing (yes, I know I’m a nerd), I have a pretty rich history in social media (blogging since 4/07, on Facebook since 10/04, on Twitter since 10/07), and I have solid experience in the interactive space (I’ve worked with great companies/agencies as a freelance digital marketing consultant and account manger on everything from social strategy to SEO, and A New Marketing is listed in the Social Media section of Alltop.com). Also, I’m a snappy dresser, and that’s got to count for something.

If you’d like a better idea of my thinking/ideas, I’ve lined up some posts below. We’ll call it my Greatest Hits, just without the awkward album cover photo.
- A Definitive Explanation of Social Media
- Simple Social Media Truths
- We Are Our Own Worst Enemy
- A Brand Purpose Model
- Your Brands Checklist For Twitter
- Elements of Digital Trust
- The 4 C’s - The New Marketing Mix
- What Community Looks Like

And you can find my resume here.

So…

If you’re not with BFG… Help me out by tweeting the following “Hey @BFGCom I think @MattJMcD is the right man for your ACM position!” or leave some love in the comments below.

If you’re with BFG… I’d love to talk to you more about this position. Feel free to get in touch with me any time. Let’s do it!

Let’s Work Together

Published
by
Matt
on May 18, 2009
in ANM
. Comments

I don’t do this often, mainly because I’m not big on self-promotion, but I think it’s a good to reach out to new readers periodically.

As you might know, I do digital strategy and marketing consulting. Since I’ve been in marketing, I’ve worked with everyone from Fortune 500 companies to sole-proprietorships, seven-figure budgets to non-profits. With projects including social media presence and content creation, branding, blogging, pay per click advertising, and general brand strategy.

The bottom line is I want to help you rock out (mainly marketing-wise, but am open to anything). Whether you have a project ready to go or just want to chat about some ideas, I’d love to talk to you about what you have going on and how I can help you achieve your goals.

Let’s do it. Email me at MattJMcD[at]gmail[dot]com

Thoughts On: Blogging/This Blog

Published
by
Matt
on Apr 13, 2009
in ANM, Blogging and ideas
. Comments
  • I think Twitter has really changed blogging. I know it’s still a young medium itself, but I feel like I’ve seen a ton of “I’m not blogging as much because of Twitter” posts lately. The short-form stuff that we used to blog about now goes straight to Twitter. I’m not sure if it’s a bad thing, but it seems like a trend to me.
  • I’ve been thinking a lot about blogs and shifting the focus of the content; I’m wondering if it’s okay to change things a little bit. Obviously I’m not saying that I’m going to start writing about lolcats (but I should be able to if I want, it’s my blog after all), but I’m wondering if it’s disconcerting to the readers to experience a change. I feel like it would be a disservice to not allow the evolution of both the author and the audience. What do you think?
  • That being said, I change the tagline of my blog a lot. I feel like as I’ve been writing this more and more, I’m growing into a place where I’m really happy/comfortable with the style and content. If you’ve noticed, there’s been a lot more design/design thinking and visuals (inspired partly by Sir Armano). I’ve also become more comfortable with shorter posts because I’ve realized that if I sit on an idea too long, my motivation goes away. Gotta strike while the iron is hot.

But that’s just me. How do you feel about this stuff? What’s your take on the shifting focus of a blog? How have you grown changed as an author or a reader?

Fire away.

My Favorites From The Last 199 Posts

Published
by
Matt
on Feb 24, 2009
in ANM and Links
. Comments

This seems a little wild to me, but this is the 200th post on ANM. So I figure, what better way to celebrate than to highlight some of my favorites.

It’s easy to get all sentimental. But it’s way more fun to rock!

-What Community Looks Like - 2/11/09
-Too Many Chiefs… - 1/22/09
-A Brand Purpose Model - 1/12/09
-Simple Social Media Truths - 12/18/08
-Common Mistakes In Starting A Blog - 11/24/08
-Your Brands Checklist For Twitter -10/6/2008
-If You Say “Leverage” You Might Get Punched In The Face - 8/20/08
-A Definitive Explanation of Social Media - 8/3/08
-The New Marketing Chaos Theory - 12/4/07
-Believe in Halo 3 Marketing - 9/29/07
-One Line Marketing Wisdom - 7/25/07
-What They Don’t Know, Won’t Brand You - 7/17/07
-The 4 C’s - The New Marketing Mix - 5/15/07

Here’s to the future…

Why You Should Hire My Mom

Published
by
Matt
on Sep 20, 2008
in ANM and Life
. Comments

Today is Barbara McDonald’s birthday. And for her birthday this year, I’m going to do something different. I’m going to tell you why you should hire her to do your PR.

Although she has a degree in Special Education from Rowan University and had worked as a teacher for several years, her skill set goes far beyond education, branching into community building/leadership, online public relations, and event organization.

In the early days of America Online (I’m talking the 2.0 days, if you can remember them) my Mom knew that this whole “internet” thing was going to be something big. She got a job with AOL as a Community Leader and played a key roll in developing the (at the time) thriving AOL community, and also moderated live-chat events with many big name guests (even Bill Nye the Science Guy!).

AOL eventually phased out many in their community leader program, and my Mom, still on the front edge, began a career in the fledgling field of internet PR. She was brought aboard an alternative health company named J2S2 which was later renamed Healant. With J2S2/Healant she was in charge of organizing many of their online efforts including the early days of online press releases, developing key contacts within other major sites, growing the online alternative health community with her company as a major player, and even helping to organize major events online such as the Great American Smoke-Out.

Eventually she left J2S2/Healant to pursue her career as a signer/songwriter (which she had put on hold due to my brother and myself) and has put out one great album with another coming. Check out her music here on SoundClick.com

Professional experience aside, my mother is one of the best communicators out there. She’s extremely intelligent, diligent, ambitious, innovative, and if you think I’m outgoing, you should spend some time with her! I’m sure that she would be an asset to any PR team.

Recently she attended PodCamp Philly 2008, where I was speaking, and expressed her interest to get back into Online PR and I figured who better to throw it out to than my fantastic readers!

I know my Mom could be an asset to your PR team. She’s available to work remotely or in the Philadelphia area. If you’d like to talk with her, feel free to email her at BarbaraMcDonald@aol.com or you could email me and I could pass it along.

Thanks Mom! Happy Birthday!

Weekend Hootenanny

Published
by
Matt
on Aug 10, 2008
in ANM, Links and Web 2.0
. Comments

Hey Gang. Just wanted to take a quick second to say thank you for taking the time to stop by and check this out. I really do appreciate it. Now on to the fun!

Social Media on Alltop!
Alltop, confirmation that I kick ass
I’m really excited about this. Late last week I was chosen by the good people over at Alltop to be a part of their Social Media section. I’m pretty honored to be in such esteemed company. They’re the big guns, people.



Age of Conversation 2!

So pumped for the new AOC! Hopefully you’ll all rush like wild-people to pick up a copy when it comes out. And then immediately hit up my chapter entitled “i>I”. Check out the new cover by David Armano. Head here for the details.



Some posts to blow your mind.
Some of the best from this past week

-Help Us, Help You - Marketing In Traffic by Brian Branca
-Stuff that i learned on tour: workplace culture. - Darryl Ohrt at Brand Flakes For Breakfast
-Hate to tell you, but Web 1.0 was social too. - by “The Verdino”
-If You Can’t Beat Them, Be Them? - by David Armano
-Introducing The Conversation Prism - by Brian Solis
-Kids Still Love TV. (Ice cream too) - by Alan Wolk at The Toad School

Hi, I Need The Ugliest Corsages You Can Make

Published
by
Matt
on Apr 8, 2008
in ANM and Marketers
. Comments

bs08.jpgWell, unless you’ve been living under an internet-rock over the past couple weeks, you’ve probably heard about Blogger Social (or Blogger Prom as some called it, hence the title of this post). It was an amazing weekend in NYC, with even more amazing people.

I didn’t bring my camera with me because I knew there would be people there that were better photographers with better cameras. Which you’ll find is completely true if you check out the Flickr Group.

bs08_2.jpgSo I’m going to approach the whole “lessons learned” thing in the very same way. There are better writers with better blogs that can fill you in on the all the goodness. As of this writing I’d check out (if I missed you, let me know) John Wall, Amanda Gravel, CK, Steve Woodruff, Lori Magno, Darryl Ohrrt, and yes even Verdino.

But I will say this. There is absolutely no substitute for face-to-face interaction. (F2F? idk my bff jill?) No matter how great the tools get on the web, no matter how many times they let us “connect” with people, it’s all just preamble to really meeting someone.

photo credits shashi, verdino