The Illusion of Communication
Observations and thoughts on communication
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Marketing Education for Small Business
Ive started to do more speaking engagements and I really enjoy it. The comments and feedback that Ive gotten is very positive (which is nice), but more than that, I finally have found that I learn just as much from my students as they do from me. It really is a very rewarding experience. Today, I [. …
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Innovating Email Marketing
I just recently had the opportunity to meet with some fabulous folks from Emma, that is the email marketing service provider, and I came away very impressed. The Emma team, Suzanne, Annie, Bo, and Laura, scheduled a stop in Austin at The Belmont (very nice service at this event, but I was at another …
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Establishing Credibility with Prospects
You’re about to land the big deal. The CTO is at the table, all you have to do is convince him that your solution is the best for his organization, which, of course, it is. Your company has the best reputation, the best customer service, the best product. But somehow, the message isn’t getting throu …
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Keyword Research as Marketing Research
Although I never got a chance to actually meet her at the conference, a big shout out to Megan in the Pink, who was nice enough to take notes during the SEM for SMB conference. Heres one of the bits she recorded: Q: Ideas on how to leverage SEM techniques for product research? A1: Not a great [...]
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Evaluate Your Site — And the Competition’s
Lets see if I cant make a semi-coherent post today Ive got a lot of catching up to do and Ive been deep in replying back to a zillion-and-a-half emails since I was essentially out of circulation for two days from the conference. But the conference rocked. It was one of the best Ive ever [...]
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Takeaways from SEM for SMB
I am sitting in the hotel lobby of the Hilton in downtown Austin following the conclusion of the SEM for SMB conference. The conference was absolutely fantastic, from any number of different perspectives. If and when this comes around again, I would highly recommend the eventeven if you arent a smal …
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What’s Important in Email Marketing?
There are about 68 million results in Google for the search term email marketing. Ouch. Email marketing is such an important tool in virtually any marketing toolbox, but there are so many different ways of doing it. So I want to know: whats important to you? Ive put together a little survey (about 1 …
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Top 10 Keyword Research Tools
About a year ago, Lee Odden of Online Marketing Blog conducted a survey and found the most popular keyword research tools in the industry. I decided to take that list and combine it with a MarketingSherpa keyword list recommendation and a little more detail on the why and how these tools are useful. …
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Keywords: The Root of Organization
There are many people I know who think of keyword research as a tedious, mundane, its-not-worth-my-time, boring task thats ultimately an ignored perennial on the to-do list. Well, I have a confession to make. I used to be one of those people, sort of. I actually came from the other side of the same …
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Viral Marketing vs. Word of Mouth
Recently, some colleagues of mine and I were discussing the nature of viral marketing and comparing it to word of mouth. We left with an understanding that viral marketing was just another flavor of word of mouth marketing; in other words, they were essentially just different names for the same thin …
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Online Ads Go Stale Quickly
Clients and prospects alike frequently ask us where they can buy a lists of email addresses so they can step up their email marketing efforts. While this sounds like a great idea on the face of it, buying or renting email lists is usually a bad idea. Open and click-through rates from rented or purch …
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Scattered Umbrellas
I recently traveled to Hartford, CT. If you know anything about Hartford, youll know that there are a lot of insurance companies there. As I was walking through the Bradley International Airport terminal, there was the row of usual ads on the walls. I cant tell you what they were, I was too busy thi …
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When is the Best Time to Start Marketing?
Theres an old saying about planting trees: The best time to plant a tree is 25 years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is today. The point is, of course, the best time to do virtually anything has already past. But you cant do anything about that. So start now. As mentioned in the [...]
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Creating Marketing Strategy on a Budget
Recently, I moderated a panel discussion on guerrilla marketing. One reason I felt this was a really important, topical discussion is because guerrilla marketing is usually understood as a way of getting more with less. In an economic environment such as the one we are in now (i.e., a market downtur …
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Getting the Attention of the Press & Analysts
One of the best and most traditional methods of getting your organization noticed by a lot of people is to court the media. Press releases et. al. are one of the most popular and time-honored approaches, but getting noticed by the media seems to be getting harder and harder, despite the proliferatio …
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Criteria for Spending Marketing Dollars
Ive just uploaded the second part of the guerrilla marketing seminar. The topic of this segment is how to decide where to spend your marketing dollars. Theres a bunch of great content in these 9.5 minutes, so pay attention. So you dont miss anything, Ill share a few tips on what to look for: Pay at …
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Guerrilla Marketing
The Austin Technology Council runs a great show, let me tell you. Last Thursday, they hosted a sales and marketing strategy session on guerrilla marketing. The panel was great, and I am very proud and honored to have been the moderator for such a great group. The panelists were: Sam Decker, CMO, Ba …
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Stick to the Message
One of the biggest mistakes I see companies make on their Web sites and on their advertising is that they try to be everything to everyone. Instead, the Web site and other affiliated marketing endeavors should know who the audience is, and speak to that audience. The audience at a trade show might b …
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Calling all Customers: Marketing on a Budget
Hi all I know its been a while since Ive posted here. Things have heated up with the business (which is a very good thing indeed), but Ive neglected the blog long enough. Theres a bunch to share so away we go! Coming up next week is a really great event that I feel [...]
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When Business Thinks Like a Running Back
Wow. The flu came through Texas a few weeks ago and just ravaged our town. Im mostly healthy now, but still Im not 100%. While I was on the mend, I didnt have much time to log onto the computerits been about 10 days since my last post, which isnt good, so Ill make [...]
The Illusion of Communication
