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    • Paul Williams: Free Tool For Making Better Decisions
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Dec 04, 2009
      It is great to have so many choices in life... from what to be when you grow up to what cereal to buy for breakfast... lots of choices. The drawback is that so many options can make decision making confusing, sometimes leading to 'bad decisions.'
      It isn't a big deal with low-risk decisions... For example, which toothpaste to buy or what movie should be next in your Netflix queue. However, the big decisions - where to go for vacation, which car or house to buy, or which new product to launch - need more rigor than simply 'going with your gut.' To help with this process, I've created an spreadsheet-based Decision Making Tool. It is a matrix that allows you to:Declare the decision you're evaluating, Identify and prioritize the qualities of the decision, Enter a selection of potential Options or choices (what you'll ultimately choose), and Rank those options on how well they satisfy your needs.The spreadsheet uses this information and calculates a weighted score for each. The Option with the highest score is your most desired choice. You will find this Decision Making Tool helps at the office and at home with any decision you need to make. Using it you will have more confidence and feel better about your decisions. Click to download the tool and get started: Decision Making Tool (Excel Spreadsheet, 28 kb)

      A Bit More Detail...

      What makes this approach helpful is that it requires you to identify decision criteria - the values and qualities - you use to compare one option to another. At work, your team may be debating which new product to launch in the Spring. Qualities you may consider for this decision may include: being market ready, ease of implementation, seasonally appropriate, minimal training required, etc. If you're thinking about buying a car, what are the qualities or the values you are using that will help make up your mind? Perhaps you're considering: safety, fuel efficiency, comfort, space for 3 people and +1 dog, payments at a certain level, etc. This tool is technically called a "Weighted Criteria Decision Matrix" and is used by professionals to make decisions using both quantitative (measurable) and qualitative (subjective) information.
    • Made to Stick Podcast
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Dec 03, 2009
      Made to Stick PodcastThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Made to Stick PodcastThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Marketing podcast with Chip Heath (Click to listen, right click and Save As to download – subscribe now via iTunes For this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast I reached back into the archives and grabbed a greatest hits session with Chip Heath, co-author, with his brother [...]
    • Do You Love a Local Business?
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Dec 03, 2009
      Do You Love a Local Business?This content from: Duct Tape Marketing Do You Love a Local Business?This content from: Duct Tape Marketing Intuit, makers of Quickbooks, wants to know about a local business you love. And that business can even be your business. Cash grants every month too. I think their Love a Local Business promotion is very fun. All you do is go to the program site [...]
    • Social Media Marketing Investment to Grow in 2010
      CRM Mastery Blog | Dec 03, 2009
      Here are several excerpts from an article in thewisemarketer.com (free subscription required), Social Media Marketing to Grow in 2010: Most marketers are planning to invest more in social media during 2010, but are struggling to find the time and resources to manage their activity, according to a research report published by  E-Consultancy and BigMouth Media. The [...]
    • RSS, Competitive Intelligence 2.0 Plumbing
      Better Closer | Dec 03, 2009
      Just the other day I wrote about a simple framework to discuss how competitive intelligence is evolving. But, I sort of neglected to talk about what is bringing this virtual flood of information–RSS. It is really sort of amazing. RSS sometimes believed to stand for “Really Simple Syndication,” “Rich Site Summary,” or “RDF Site Summary.” I’m [...]
    • Beth Harte: 11 Smart Marketers Shared Their 2010 Predictions
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Dec 03, 2009
      We've tapped into the MarketingProfs' LinkedIn Group to ask smart marketers—who roll up their sleeves everyday to solve marketing challenges—to gaze deeply into their marketing crystal balls in order to provide us with what they believe we will see in 2010 marketing. Eleven marketers from all backgrounds, industries, and expertise obliged us with some very interesting predicitions! Give 'em a read and let us know if you agree, disagree or—even better—what you would add? Integrated marketing: There will be greater emphasis on integrating print and electronic marketing tactics. The jump to Web 2.0 has been astronomical, yet many marketers will realize that print still has an important role to play. -Elaine Fogel, marketing and communications consultant Social Media: Now that many (or at least some) organizations have multiple areas playing in the social space the question becomes how to ensure that redundancies are kept at a minimum and there is synergize among initiatives. For example, if is there is a formalized monitoring program are all business units engaged with the same vendor to ensure consistency of data? Are there processes in place to ensure cross functional communication? Who has responsibility to ensure that all digital/social customer touch points are on point with the brand promise? One solution is a Social Media VP who sits at the C-table level, who serves as a sherpa, is responsible for coordinating overall direction, monitoring and most importantly has the blessings of the CEO. - Toby Bloomberg, Social Media and Marketing Consultant Integrated Marketing Communications: I see 2010 trends pointing to more intimate "conversations" between companies and their customers through as many integrated marketing communications channels as makes sense to get everyone involved in the conversation. No one marketing "tool" is dead but just needs to be used more creatively in the mix. Data & Analytics: Tapping into customer data and campaign analytics and utilizing them for more personalized interactions is hugely underrated. More emphasis should be placed on using this goldmine of info in 2010 and beyond. Social Media: Acceptance that consumer’s expectations are for companies to communicate with them about what they want, when they want and how they want. It's no longer about control. It's about quality relationships. -Anna Barcelos, Director, Marketing Strategy & Analytics at Mercury Integrated Marketing: It’s no secret that consumers demand relevant marketing communications. As consumers become increasingly mobile, the discipline of marketing must evolve. In 2010, marketers will see an increased demand from consumers for multi-channel marketing communications with the relevance, targeting, and addressability that is facilitated by direct digital marketing. - Casey Barto, Public Relations Manager at Knotice Advertising: Tailored campaign microsites with unique url's will be abandoned (hopefully) and social media networks will become destination sites / pages for product launches. e.g. Facebook.com/new product - Andy Wright, Marketing Director - Men's at ACP Magazines Marketing & Sales: 2010 will be the year when the practice of allowing sales and marketing to operate as separate, conflicting silos ends once and for all. The problem of "sales-marketing alignment" will disappear, because the urgency to get online and social marketing right, coupled with the challenging economy, will force the issue. Anyone in sales, and anyone in marketing, who does not get with the new team approach will be canned. It's already happening. (This may not be pleasant, but it's necessary and overdue.) - Steve Parker, CEO at Parker Communications Search Engine Optimization: You'll see more and more companies/organizations moving to blogs as their primary web presence. Dynamic content streams own the web. - Benjamin Zalasky, Owner, Rockhopper Digital Marketing: We are looking at a minimum of 18 months of extreme pain for retailers, sales professionals and municipalities, all connected, obviously, but the lack of discretionary spending. The received wisdom: stay strong, stay visible in the downturn to be among the first to enjoy the recovery. The lines between disciplines--advertising, marketing, sales, PR--are all quite blurry. We better reinvent our approach with innovate unique programs at realistic price points, or we will all be looking to reinvent ourselves. - Deborah Barry, Member, Zoning Board of Appeals at Village of Deer Park Marketing: Businesses will require being real or die faking it. Not as much push marketing/sales as we know it and more of a draw like a butterfly to a flower. Consumers are now able to look behind the closed doors and see our companies for what they are, good or bad. More power in the hands of the consumer requires all of us to own up more to what we say we are and what we do. - Derek Wardwell, Owner of KreativExpert Marketing & Marketing Research: Social Media is changing the way we approach market research. The world of market research is undergoing a period of continuous transformation. Niche international marketing in this open economy shall gain priority. The concept of integrated marketing based on creating value shall be the comparative benchmarking factor. Strategic planning on resource allocation shall focus on risk free established mega trends. Servitization of service sector & diversification of products shall be the marketing focus. - Joy Chak, MBA, BBM Mobile Marketing: 2010 will be the year that *true* mobile marketing takes off. The iPhone is the most popular consumer electronics hardware in history (Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley recently produced the evidence at the Web 2.0 Summit in SF), and has set off a competition that is bringing the best of the rich-media, high-speed world wide web (and even more with unique mobile apps, etc) to peoples handhelds with the additions of Droid, Palm Pre and other cool new devices on the way. This is making marketing to consumers' handhelds much more attractive, interesting, and downright feasible. SMS is "short", "plain", and even worse -- expensive for both advertisers AND customers who are charged to receive these messages. Now that brands will have more sophisticated mobile communication options that also cost their customers nothing, expect a huge new wave of investment and interest in all forms of mobile marketing. Google's $750MM acquisition of AdMob earlier this week represents just the tip of the iceberg. In the year ahead, we'll see, among other fascinating developments: Major growth of ad networks optimized for mobile with geo-targeting Revival of Email as "the Killer App", now with the ability to engage consumers anywhere at anytime, not just while they're at their desks (and replacing those costly and boring SMS campaigns) Explosion in digital video consumption (and corresponding opps for marketers to buy valuable pre-roll, interstitial and post-roll video advertisements). 2009 saw huge growth in digital video consumption on the PC; but with the rapid rise of high-speed access on handhelds, expect the number to grow exponentially in the months ahead. - Jordan Cohen, Sr. Director, Marketing & PR, Pivotal Veracity
    • Inbound Interaction Management (IIM)
      Buzz Marketing for Technology | Dec 02, 2009
      It’s no surprise that Direct Marketing response rates have dropped to a historic low with success rates in the low single digits. And further – that marketing organizations are becoming increasingly focused on Inbound Marketing (credit HubSpot for creating this term) which are a source of much higher response rates. Given the pervasive nature of the [...] Related posts:
        Is Twitter the Next Channel for Contact Centers? If you have never seen this web page http://twitter.zappos.com/... Social Media will Disrupt every Function in your Company We are at an interesting inflection point with Social Media... Using Social Media to Deepen Customer Relations An obvious win for companies looking to jump into Social...
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    • Case Study:: Share-to-Social Buttons Increase Newsletter Interaction: 6 Steps
      Marketing: Case Studies & Know-How from MarketingSherpa | Dec 02, 2009
      This year saw a surge in interest for social sharing features, which let subscribers post email content to their social networks. If you haven't yet added social sharing to your email newsletters, check out this case study from our archives and consider testing the tactic in 2010. We spoke with a B2B email newsletter publisher to learn how they implemented social sharing this year. The early results showed a 25% boost in reader interaction, and a surge in inbound traffic from social networking sites. Includes tips on: o Choosing the right networks o Designing a template o Launching the program o Measuring results
    • Blogging – It’s Not Just For Breakfast Anymore
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Dec 02, 2009
      Blogging – It’s Not Just For Breakfast AnymoreThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Blogging – It’s Not Just For Breakfast AnymoreThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing You know I’m a huge fan of blogs for small business and an equally big supporter of the WordPress blogging platform. The wide adoption of WordPress is aided greatly by the fact that its open source architecture means that outside developers can create add-ons [...]
    • The Six C’s for Marketing Success
      CRM Mastery Blog | Dec 02, 2009
      Here are several excerpts from a post in socialmediatoday by Jonathan Salem Baskin which draws from a chapter in his new book, Bright Lights & Dim Bulbs, The Year’s Best Marketing: I wrote a number of Dim Bulb essays during the year on what I thought were home runs that you’d otherwise miss; when I [...]
    • Social Media for Sales: Setting Up Ground Zero
      Better Closer | Dec 02, 2009
      Image by janusz l via Flickr I started to title this series–Social Selling. But, how ridiculous is that? Selling has always been social. Selling has to be social. Failing to understand this principle is where most begin their trek to failure in sales. Social selling is an assumption, not an innovative idea. Why Social Selling Works With the the [...]
    • Inbound Interaction Management (IIM)
      Buzz Marketing for Technology | Dec 02, 2009
      It’s no surprise that Direct Marketing response rates have dropped to a historic low with success rates in the low single digits. And further - that marketing organizations are becoming increasingly focused on Inbound Marketing (credit HubSpot for creating this term) which are a source of much higher response rates.Given the pervasive nature of the Internet I think the balance of power has shifted toward the customer or prospect indefinitely – which means we will be in a period of Inbound Marketing for a very long time.But with all this Inbound Marketing happening – who is looking at the higher order of Inbound Interactions across many different channels – call it Inbound Interaction Management (IIM).Inbound Interaction Management could mean many things. First it can encompass how you respond to all that Inbound Marketing across your website and social outposts for your content – typically with a system for capturing all the touches that have happened and nurturing those in sales leads has a lot of promise. Next it could also take you into a more traditional space such as the contact center and field service teams – where CMOs already have tons of activity trying to provide superior customer service. So then the question becomes how to bridge the two so you can deliver the Right Offer in the Right Channel at the Right Time.All this interaction is going to need to be managed and optimized – since some of the touch points have very low customer acquisition costs such as field service teams – who could easily be an extended arm of your Inbound Marketing efforts if they knew how to deliver the Right Offer at the Right Time. Same goes for your contact center – historically a cost center could now become a revenue producing center if you could get them the Right Offer at the Right Time to deliver to the customer.I am becoming fascinated with the opportunity to meld Inbound Marketing with Inbound Contact Management especially for CMOs of B2B firms. There is a huge revenue producing role that marketers can play by taking all that highly trackable inbound marketing and combining it with existing contact management to create an Inbound Interaction Management system that learns to deliver the Right Offer in the Right Channel at the Right Time.
    • Lauren Fernandez: Look Beyond The 9-5: Job Versus Career
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Dec 02, 2009
      When I graduated from college in 2007, I didn't really have a job plan. Contrary to my extreme OCD notion to plan everything, I just knew I wanted to use my public relations and marketing degree. I was 21 years old and ready to take on the business world - build relationships, find contacts and advance myself. For me, though, a job was never just a job - it was a career.Many of my friends in this economy are doing a job they hate because they don't want change, a different challenge or are scared of the unknown. When five o'clock hits, they are done for the day. Their brain shuts down and they don't think about work until the alarm goes off in the morning. For me, that was never an option. Working hard to advance my career and my profession was always one of my top goals. In this field, turning off your brain could be detrimental to your client/product or organization. Be imaginative. If we are advocating on a daily basis for a better profession, hard workers, etc. - then have we turned the field into just a job? Doesn't that seem like a lackluster approach to professional life? As public relations and marketing professionals, we are constantly on the go. A smart phone is usually within radius so that we can answer an e-mail or phone call as needed. Sure, we get recognition internally in the field and our respective offices, and we network like crazy with those that are considered. The type of person this field attracts directly relates to how we act in both professional and personal life. It's not for those that need constant spotlight externally on their work. It's for those that are willing to work behind the scenes to get a product or client out there. In this field, it's not possible for it to be just a job. The dedication, drive and confidence that it takes to get ahead doesn't factor into a job, but a career. So how do you make your job a career? Is it something that is a plus in the marketing and public relations field? Why or why not? Can a professional in these respective fields turn off their brain at five p.m.?
    • How To:: Personalized Emails, Website for Sales Agents Boost Response: 5 Strategies to Lift CTR 23%
      Marketing: Case Studies & Know-How from MarketingSherpa | Dec 01, 2009
      See how a cruise agency uses an automated, centralized email and website system that creates personalized communications for its 2,500 sales agents. Putting an agent's face and name on correspondence has lifted clickthroughs 23%, and helped the team create a lifecycle of messages that includes pre-sale marketing and post-cruise “Welcome Home” emails to solicit trip reviews.
    • Selling to the C-Suite: Interview With the Author
      Jill Konrath - Selling to Big Companies | Dec 01, 2009
      I recently had a chance to interview Steve Bistritz, author of Selling to the C-Suite - a newly released book on how to successfully sell to the top. He & co-author Nic Read, studied executive buying habits to determine what it takes in today's business environment. Q: Steve, tell us about research you did with senior executives prior to writing...
    • Test Your Marketer’s Gut: Email frequency contest
      MarketingExperiments Blog: Research-driven optimization, testing, and marketing ideas | Dec 01, 2009
      Can your marketer’s gut guess what our scientist’s brains discovered about email frequency? If you can, there’s a prize in it for you...
    • The Perfect Small Business Collaboration Tool
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Dec 01, 2009
      The Perfect Small Business Collaboration ToolThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing The Perfect Small Business Collaboration ToolThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing I need to warn you this post is a bit more commercial than my standard content, but I use the tool I’m going to tell you about today so much that I think you will benefit from just learning about it. I’ve been working for about [...]
    • TweetDeck Adds Lists and LinkedIn
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Dec 01, 2009
      TweetDeck Adds Lists and LinkedInThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing TweetDeck Adds Lists and LinkedInThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing The popular 3rd Party Twitter desktop client TweetDeck finally caught up with the recent Twitter add-ons with a significant update and I think they got it right. As all these new features get added it’s easy to imagine the simple interface getting more cluttered but they’ve done [...]
    • Cloud Computing (Part 2) : Key Players, Recommendations and Considerations
      CRM Mastery Blog | Dec 01, 2009
      Here is Part 2 of a 2 part blog series on cloud computing; Part 1 can be found here.  The source of the excerpts included in this blog post is a Whitepaper from Sungard Availability Services, Cloud Computing: Resiliency is the Key to Success: Key players There are numerous companies targeting the emerging cloud computing market, [...]
    • Competitive Intelligence 2.0
      Better Closer | Sales Improvement | Dec 01, 2009
      Image via Wikipedia Whether you are in corporate strategy, marketing, sales, or public relations competitive intelligence is critical to your objectives. Why are so few formalizing the process? I’m not sure, but that smells like opportunity. Competitive Intelligence 2.0 There was a point in time when competitive intelligence was all about getting information. A major part of the [...]
    • Beth Harte: How To Work With Online Content Producers
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Dec 01, 2009
      In today’s marketing and PR world there are a lot of online content producers (aka Publications, Newspapers, Blogs, etc.). The higher the readership that targets a market, the more desirable it is to have content included. That said, the days of “pitching” are long gone and marketing and PR professionals need to approach placing content (formerly known as by-line articles and press releases) with a new mindset. David Meerman Scott’s chapter one title of “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” sums it up best: The old rules of marketing and PR are ineffective in an online world. Why are online content producers different than more traditional content producers? Well, like traditional content producers, some still have editors, reporters, editorial guidelines, timeframes, readerships to cater to and, more importantly, competition. But unlike traditional content producers, a lot of online content producers offer a way for readers to comment on content. Meaning it’s no longer a one-way avenue to content sharing or message pushing. readers have the ability to “talk back” and share their opinions, thoughts, suggestions, disagreements, etc. In doing so, often a community forms around the content producer and when new content is available conversation happens on the content producer’s site, but also extends beyond it to places like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, forums, etc. So what does this mean for the marketer or PR pro and what steps can they take to help their content be included? Stop Pitching! The first place to begin is a change of mindset and vocabulary. Pitching is for baseball and softball, not content. To be successful at content placement the marketing or PR pro needs to have a firm understanding of the content producer’s world. How many writers participate? Do you need to know them all? What’s the style of writing? What topics do they cover (breaking news, tips, opinions, educational, etc.)? Where do they participate outside of their own site? How do they drive traffic to their own site? What conversations do they have? What do their readers think? Until a marketer or PR pro understands those key things (and probably much more depending on the content producer) they won’t be able to produce content that’s a natural fit. Natural Fit Producing content that’s a natural fit is often a struggle for marketing and PR pros...that’s why they pitch. But the fact is square pegs don’t fit in round holes no matter how good the pitch may be. It’s the job of the marketing or PR pro to make sure their content seamlessly fits. Read the content producers content every day Read the comments to get a sense of what the community’s reaction Look for search engine optimized (SEO) keywords built into the content Check social networking sites to see how popular the content is (number of retweets or shares) and what the reactions are (comments) Participate in the community and get a sense of its vibe Community I’ve tried to write this post without using the words “social media,” but it’s the ability to be social with content producers and their readers via social tools that has changed the game for marketing and PR pros. There are unspoken rules in each and every community and no two are the same. It’s the marketing or PR pro’s job to understand what those unspoken rules are. And the only way to truly find out what they are is to “listen” (i.e. read for clues, monitor, etc.) or actively participate. Some key items to becoming a part of the community you are trying to reach include: Be human first and a marketer/PR pro second (i.e. it’s not about branding or message pushing) Educate your client, employer or co-workers to join the conversation (especially if the content includes them) Share your thoughts, interests, opinions, agreements/disagreements Don’t self-promote that the content producer picked up your content, let the community help you out with that Be polite and have manners (sounds obvious, but there is often a lack of both) Getting Seconds With traditional marketing and PR getting seconds was always easy once that relationship was established. That’s not the case with a lot of online content producers—especially content producers that have a strong relationship with their communities. They will watch to see how you handle the fact that your content has been placed and this is where manners come into play. Was there a thank you? Was there participation with the community that responded? Was there self-promotion on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. without mentioning the content producer? Was there interaction from the client or organization mentioned? If any of the above questions can be answered with a “no,” chances are there won’t be a second chance. Is pitching and getting that one hit worth it? Doesn’t it make more sense to put forth more effort, become a part of the content producer’s world and potentially continue down the path of success for placement, reach, and brand awareness that goes beyond just a name but to an association of actually knowing the folks behind the brand? What other tips would you offer to marketing and PR pros who are trying to reach out to content producers?
    • CMO Advice: What to look for when choosing a Social Media or Digital agency?
      Buzz Marketing for Technology | Nov 30, 2009
      I had a chance before the holiday to interview Romi Mahajan, President of KKM Group, an Advisory company focused solely on Strategy and Marketing to get his advice on what CMO’s should be looking for in an Agency. Here is his take … 1) What do you think is the one most [...] Related posts:
        Sincere Marketing – a podcast with Romi Mahajan We live in an age of skepticism about all forms... Why Social Strategies are Difficult for Agencies to execute? Many agencies today are offering Social Media services (if they... Using Social Media to Deepen Customer Relations An obvious win for companies looking to jump into Social...
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    • Article:: New Chart: Opt-In Email Lists Still Growing, Slowly but Surely
      Marketing: Case Studies & Know-How from MarketingSherpa | Nov 30, 2009
      This past year was particularly challenging for email marketers attempting to grow their lists. Yet, the trend indicates that marketers tasked with this difficult situation have achieved surprisingly positive results.
    • How To:: Improve Affiliate Performance: 5 Tips
      Marketing: Case Studies & Know-How from MarketingSherpa | Nov 30, 2009
      Whether you're just starting out in affiliate marketing, or looking for better results from your current program, see the strategies used by one affiliate marketing team who lifted their company's annual sales more than 400% in three years. The advice includes recommendations for: o Choosing networks o Providing incentives o Preventing fraud
    • What is lead nurturing?
      The Innovative Marketer | Nov 30, 2009
      Salesforce.com’s big Dreamforce conference is over. The keynotes have been distilled down to talking points for the media. The hangovers from the after parties have been dealt with. The Black Crowes have flown away, the hangovers from the after parties...
    • Top Sales Resources, November 2009
      Jill Konrath - Selling to Big Companies | Nov 30, 2009
      6 Ways to Get More Appointments Check out SalesMark's new e-booklet by sales expert Tibor Shanto. It's quick read and focuses on the heart of selling with six proven methods to help improve your appointment setting skills. Click her to download it now. How to Qualify Customers This special report by Andrew Rudin details seven powerful qualification steps that can...
    • Even More Top Sales Resources
      Jill Konrath - Selling to Big Companies | Nov 30, 2009
      Oops! Yesterday's blog post got away from before I was done. I meant to let you know about these excellent sales resources too. The Art of Social Sales You'll want to take a look at this new ebook from The Customer Collective that focuses on how "social customers" are changing the game - and ultimately challenging us as sellers to...
    • 7 Simple Truths of Social Media Marketing
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Nov 30, 2009
      7 Simple Truths of Social Media MarketingThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing 7 Simple Truths of Social Media MarketingThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing The first truth I need to reveal is that the idea for this post is a bit of a response to a post by Sonia Simone of copyblogger titled – The 7 Harsh Realities of Social Media Marketing. Sonia and I sparred a [...]
    • Cloud Computing (Part1) : Advantages, Types and Challenges
      CRM Mastery Blog | Nov 30, 2009
      Here is Part 1 of a 2 part blog series on cloud computing.  The source of the excerpts included in this blog post is a Whitepaper from Sungard Availability Services, Cloud Computing: Resiliency is the Key to Success: Our 21st century society has become so used to change and new developments that genuinely progressive concepts [...]
    • Threshold Resistance for Internet Marketing
      Better Closer | Sales Improvement | Nov 30, 2009
      Image via Wikipedia There is always one book each year that comes out of nowhere to surprise and influence me significantly. In 2009 that book is unquestionably Alfred Taubman’s Threshold Resistance (affiliate link). Threshold Resistance is a very brief autobiography of A. Alfred Taubman, a luxury retail pioneer, but is subtly packed with marketing and sales wisdom. His [...]
    • Salespeople don’t listen to your emails?
      B2Blog | Nov 30, 2009
      As B2B marketers, our primary audience really is our salespeople, right? You’d think every email we sent to them would be treated as a precious treasure to aid them in their success. Of course we are humbled–or more likely irate–when we find out that they aren’t even reading the emails. I thought making friendly sales-info videos was [...]
    • CMO Advice: What to look for when choosing a Social Media or Digital agency?
      Buzz Marketing for Technology | Nov 30, 2009
      I had a chance before the holiday to interview Romi Mahajan, President of KKM Group, an Advisory company focused solely on Strategy and Marketing to get his advice on what CMO's should be looking for in an Agency. Here is his take ...1) What do you think is the one most important factor when choosing an agency?Romi: The single most important factor is the agency’s internal organizational principle. Are they siloed or do they coalesce around the business needs of their customers?2) How can you gauge if your agency really "gets it"?Romi: This is of course the 64,000 dollar question, but that said: Agencies that get it have the following characteristics: 1. active listening, 2. camaraderie across creative, operations, business, finance 3. Track record of irreverence.3) Do you think smaller agencies have an advantage over larger ones? if so why?Romi: Without overstating it, yes small agencies have SOME advantages over larger ones and some disadvantages. The agencies in the middle i.e. REAL Revenue of 40-100M like Ascentium are the ones best poised to do great customer work going forward. Reasons are: one needs the critical mass to bring a variegated service to one’s customers but in addition needs to be nimble enough to cluster around the customer in ways large agencies cannot do.4) Any tips on how to optimize your spend with an agency?Romi: The best tip here is to be absolutely clear on your goals and then NOT to quibble about small things. The quibbling and back and forth wastes time and money.5) Do you think we will see more Social Agencies becoming Agency of Record?Romi: As if being AOR is a good thing! I think we’ll see digital agencies as AOR’s for medium sized companies but, frankly, the AOR model has to die.Who is Romi?Romi Mahajan is President of KKM Group, an Advisory company focused solely on Strategy and Marketing in the Technology, Media, Agency, and Luxury Goods sectors. Prior to joining KKM, Romi was Chief Marketing Officer of Ascentium Corporation, a leading digital agency with 96M in Sales in 2008.Prior to joining Ascentium, Mahajan spent over seven years at Microsoft Corporation where his last role was as Director of Technical Audience & Platform Marketing. Earlier in his career, Mahajan started two boutique consulting companies specializing in technology and finance joint ventures between U.S. and Asian companies.A well-known speaker on the technology and media circuit, Mahajan serves on a variety of Advisory Boards and speaks at over a dozen industry events per year. In addition, he has been published prolifically in the Technology press.Mahajan graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, at the age of 19 with a Bachelor’s degree in South Asian Studies. He also received a Master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
    • Ted Mininni: Godiva: Seizing a “Golden Moment.”
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Nov 30, 2009
      So what’s a luxury brand to do in this economy? “Excess” has become a dirty word. A touch of luxury is fine—as long as it isn’t overdone. Anything that’s over the top is a no-no. Godiva, the upscale Belgian chocolatier, long known for marketing unabashed luxury in its luscious little bonbons wrapped in gold boxes, is faced with a dilemma. A recent New York Times article titled: “Godiva Rides in a New Direction” points to how difficult it is for luxury brands to strike the right tone as they reposition for a new economic reality. Rather than campaigning itself as an “alternative to mass-market candy brands” or discussing that it represents good value as a luxury brand, Godiva decided to take another tack. Why is Godiva a brand to buy during tough times? Well, we all need a few little indulgences, don’t we? And we’re all thinking gift buying and gift giving as the holiday season looms, so what better choice than a golden box of Godiva chocolates? Godiva has launched a new campaign with an estimated budget of $3.5-$4 million. The theme? “The golden moment.” According to Godiva CMO and Senior VP for global brand development, Lauri Kien Kotcher, the campaign will be three-pronged in its goals: Reconnect consumers to Godiva’s Belgian chocolate heritage. The words “Belgium 1926” will replace the word “chocolatier” under the brand name. Remind consumers about what Ms. Kotcher refers to as “the chocolate deliciousness” of Godiva with camera shots of luscious candies, some half-eaten. Touch the emotions of consumers. The joys of giving, receiving and eating chocolates from the gold box evoke a “golden moment”. Ms. Kotcher: “the golden moment” is to “become the new brand essence” of Godiva. Pointing out that a lovely golden box of Godiva chocolates make a lovely gift for as little as $15-$25 seems to be a good move during recessionary times. The company has also introduced a lower priced line dubbed “Godiva Gems”, featuring packages of smaller chocolates, individually wrapped to encourage sharing. At $4.99-$9.99 per package, distribution has been expanded beyond Godiva’s own stores to include newsstands, duty-free shops and in a first for the brand, supermarkets like Publix, Safeway and Wegman’s. Perhaps wisely, Godiva Gems will not be featured in the new marketing campaign. It will be promoted with in-store advertising and signage. According to ad agency director David Lipman, whose agency created the new campaign, “while the ads may be filled with socialites” with British accents—Lady Godiva was British, after all—the message is that “anybody could share these (happy) moments.” “It’s aspirational,” Mr. Lipman says, “aspirational in being happy, being elated, being exuberant.” The new Godiva campaign roll-out is timed for the holiday season—a key time in the upscale chocolate business, needless to say. Questions: What do you think of Godiva’s new strategy to focus on emotive, “golden moments” rather than “luxury”? Do you think this concept might be a winner for many luxury brands? Why? Why not? What do you think of the curious decision by Godiva to launch its Godiva Gems line? Is it a good idea for upscale lines to offer lower-priced selections or does it cheapen the brand? Luxury brands have been aspirational over the past two decades, in particular. Do you think a brand like Godiva can successfully shift its position from “aspirational for luxury” to “aspirational for happiness”? What do you think of Lipman’s assertion that even though the ads are high-toned with socialites, they show that Godiva can be for anybody? Mixed message? Conflict? I’d love to hear from you.
    • Weekend Favs November Twenty-nine
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Nov 29, 2009
      Weekend Favs November Twenty-nineThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Weekend Favs November Twenty-nineThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing I’ve added a weekend post routine that I hope you enjoy. Each weekend I write a post that features 3-4 things I read during the week that I found interesting. Generally speaking it won’t involve much analysis and may range widely in topic. (Flickr image included here [...]
    • What are your sales mistakes costing you?
      The Marketing Minute | Nov 28, 2009
      When you lose a client or are pitching business that you don't win -- do you know why you weren't chosen? Most business leaders, if they were being honest, would have to admit they don't. RainToday wants to offer some insights from their new report Deal or No Deal: Sales Mistakes that Turn Buyers Away. (you can download it for free here). The biggest sales mistake? We've talked about it before but apparently, you weren't listening. The #1 mistake...Not listening. Shocker. But....the real shocker is when you look at the...
    • Ann Handley: Using Email Marketing To Create Buzz About Cyber Monday Sales
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Nov 27, 2009
      This is a guest post by Wendy Lowe, director of product marketing at Campaigner, which is an email marketing solution. The holidays are here: the most important time of the year for retailers, as they hope that huge sales bring them to profitability for 2009. Big box retailers will use millions of dollars to flex their marketing muscle to bring attention to their products and sales. It gives them a huge advantage over small retailers, but the little guys do have an equalizing arrow in their quiver: email marketing campaigns.Email marketing campaigns are affordable, and can help small retailers to compete with the big boys during this crucial sales period. Before launching any email marketing campaign; however, retailers have to ensure that the program will meet the objectives they have defined. They also have to determine what will make their campaigns stand out and what value they will provide to their subscribers. In order to pull that off, retailers have to combine aspects of promotional, informational and operational communications in their email marketing efforts. Programs that include all three help retailers to promote longevity and strong relationships, while still encouraging immediate sales. Here are strategies any small retailer can employ to make their email campaign click with their audience:
        Clean up promotional campaigns. Every promotion should include these items to be effective a: subject line that describes the offer; call to action listed in the top right corner; relevant offer;clickable image of what you're promoting; and short text. Tone down informational campaigns. Since informational campaigns focus on loyalty, tone down the sales pitch. Even during the holiday season, retailers need to balance quick sales with long term revenues. Create a monthly (or weekly or bi-weekly) e-newsletter to run throughout the holiday season and fill it with recipes, gift ideas, and other holiday goodies. That will keep brand recognition high amongst subscribers and provide more unique value than just a product discount. Spread holiday cheer through operational emails. Spread a little holiday cheer through welcome, thank you, and confirmation messages. While these messages are not meant (or allowed by CAN-SPAM laws) to be predominantly marketing focused, adding a little company branding is 100 percent acceptable and even suggested by most email experts. Operational emails can be easily leveraged by including a link: to an email header that links to the retailer's website; to a coupon offer; to a web page with complementary products; or where recipients can manage their subscription preferences. Select occasions not days. Stop stressing about email send dates. There is no universal best time or day to send an email campaign. While historically, marketers have tried to define this, the result was merely a greater volume of email sent at the same time, leading consumers to tune out more and making the marketer's theory completely obsolete.
      Instead, base the email schedule around audience behavior and environmental factors. Retailers should ask themselves: When are my consumers at their computer? Moreover, when are they interested in my product? Additionally, tie messaging to occasions such as each holiday, the weather, new product releases, etc. For the holiday season, try creating seasonal campaigns that deploy before each big holiday.
    • For This I Do Give Thanks
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Nov 26, 2009
      For This I Do Give ThanksThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing For This I Do Give ThanksThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing I know that spouting words of thanks on this day can come off a bit disingenuous, but I just feel like giving readers of this blog a look into some of the things I humbly feel blessed to have and in some cases share. I [...]
    • The Power of Gratitude
      Better Closer | Sales Improvement | Nov 26, 2009
      Image by Getty Images via Daylife Thanksgiving should be the patron holiday of sales people. We spend every day convincing customer how we can make their lives easier, businesses more profitable, and future brighter. And a lot of them agree with us and buy. The natural next step is to say, “Thank You!” Certainly this is common courtesy [...]
    • Indulge in some gratitude
      The Marketing Minute | Nov 26, 2009
      Happy Thanksgiving! Even if you're not in the states -- why not take a moment today and remember some of the blessings you have in your life? I try very hard to make my blog about you. I want to infuse value, insights and fresh ideas in every post.But I believe that one of the most powerful emotions we can experience is gratitude. I believe it literally can move mountains and change hearts. On this day of giving thanks, I ask your forgiveness as I recognize my own incredible good...
    • Beth Harte: Giving Thanks
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Nov 26, 2009
      “Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. [Football] half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.” Erma Bombeck Today is one of my favorite holidays... Thanksgiving! Not only is it historical (I dig history!), but it’s also a time for great food, days spent with family and friends, and to reflect on what we are thankful for. Me? This is my typical marketing nerdiness, but, I am thankful to be part of the MarketingProfs team as their community manager. It’s great to be part of a company that has embraced the changes we are experiencing in the world of marketing. In doing so, we can lead by example and show other organizations that, while challenging, change can lead to great success. As a marketer, I can’t think of anything better! (See, told you...nerdy!) The team at MarketingProfs is also thankful for all of you! You may know only a few of us (Ann, Allen, Roy, Shelley, Val, Anne, Susanne, Kathy, Penny), but everyone here works really hard to provide you with the best marketing resources available. And when you take the time to leave your footprints behind in the form of comments, questions, interaction, debate and problem solving here at the Daily Fix, over at our KHE forum, in our resource area, during a seminar, at a conference, or over at Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook, you give all of us a chance to get to know the individual personalities that make MarketingProfs a special place to hang out. We know there are a lot of places for you to get marketing information and yet you choose to carve (No pun intended. Really.) time out of your day to spend it with us. Thank you for being a part of our community! Wishing you, your family and friends a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Twelve minutes is up...back to that game.
    • Referrals Are Always Cool
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Nov 25, 2009
      Referrals Are Always CoolThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Referrals Are Always CoolThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing If you’re doing good work, have products that people enjoy, and provide a service and experience that exceeds expectation, chances are, your business is benefiting from word of mouth referrals. While this occasional lead generation windfall may be great, there are things you can do to shine a [...]
    • Will Customer Opinion Overtake Search?
      Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing | Nov 25, 2009
      Will Customer Opinion Overtake Search?This content from: Duct Tape Marketing Will Customer Opinion Overtake Search?This content from: Duct Tape Marketing Right now showing up on page one of the organic search results is the holy grail of small business online marketing. Any business that spends significant time consistently producing keyword rich, educational content, draws links, and is active in numerous social network can eventually gain some [...]
    • Feature Shock: How New CRM Functionality Can Thwart Adoption
      CRM Mastery Blog | Nov 25, 2009
      Here’s an excellent article by Christopher J. Bucholtz, a CRM Buyer columnist, Feature Shock: How New CRM Functionality Can Thwart Adoption: Let’s say you’re a CRM vendor. Your constant mission is to provide users with what they need, and your biggest fear is that your competitors will be better at that than you are. How do [...]
    • Don't get brand sabotaged (Todd Hogan)
      The Marketing Minute | Nov 25, 2009
      Drew's Note: As I try to do on many a Friday (or Thanksgiving Wednesday!), I'm pleased to bring you a guest post. Meet a thought leader who shares his insights every day. So without further ado...Todd Hogan. Again, enjoy! Monitoring your brand online can be a serious effort - the number of channels and outlets you need to track, the anonymity of potential brand attackers or even promoters, the speed with which fallacious information can spread and ruin the value of what would have once been a carefully planned and...
    • Ann Handley: Thought Leadership: It’s Not About The Writing
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Nov 25, 2009
      This is a guest post by Tim Parker of the Bloom Group. There’s a lot of talk about thought leadership marketing these days, and not a lot of agreement on exactly what it is. At the Bloom Group we define it as “Publishing informative material on a complex issue to position a company as an expert in its field.” Not because it’s catchy, obviously, but because research shows that’s what business readers want. A 2007 survey for instance, found that nearly three quarters of readers search for white papers to help them solve a current problem and they most value those with educational content that helps them do that.There is a lot of advice on how to write white papers, but it rarely addresses the creation of the core idea, which is generally presumed to exist. But advice like “Break up the gray space with diagrams” isn’t going to help much if the recommendations are unconvincing, or have already been made elsewhere. The available advice for developing thought leadership concepts rarely addresses the business reader’s need for a solution to an immediate, complex problem. A typical suggestion is “Begin by creating a big picture idea with relevance to many. Look outward, not inward.” Curious, when there isn’t any research to indicate that business readers particularly value an idea about a big picture. If you look at the most popular IT white paper downloads, for instance, you’ll see that they are almost invariably practical, and not necessarily expansive. A white paper on the application of Business Intelligence in Financial Services is an example. The topic is specialized and the audience isn’t broad, but it explains to executives a complex and relevant issue and how to profit from it. It still gets many downloads 18 months after it was published and it positions the author as an expert, which—from the marketers’ perspective—is the point. Anyone capable of creating a “big picture idea with relevance to many” out of thin air should seriously consider giving up real work and sell rarified concepts for high prices instead. The rest of us need a process. The one we use has five steps for creating compelling content, all of which go before writing a report or article.
        Develop the initial argument: Start with a draft of the problem and the solution. The story will change as you develop it, but a draft provides a good basis for refining it as you go. Gather the evidence: Readers need proof that other companies have solved the problem in the manner you prescribe. A company with significant preexisting experience or research on an issue will already have content that its marketers can tap for thought leadership material. Often, especially if it is pushing into a new area, it won’t. In that case you will need to conduct original research (case studies, lab research or surveys, for instance) to substantiate and adjust the prescriptions. Analyze and synthesize: New insights only emerge through a process of analysis and synthesis. Analysis involves studying and mining the data, looking for patterns and important findings. Synthesis refines and combines them into new insights. Create frameworks: At the heart of any compelling point of view lie one or more frameworks that capture the issue and describe how to address it. The white paper above has several, including a high-level technical architecture for Business Intelligence. Good frameworks make a point of view memorable and help it last; the SWOT analysis framework and Kotler’s 4Ps of Marketing are two that have endured for decades. Craft and refine the outline: Draft and collaboratively refine a detailed outline of the report. Write the report: Finally with the finished outline in hand, create a full report, articles, a slide presentation and/or series of blog posts, from the core material.
      The power in thought leadership marketing comes from the point of view, not the pen. Unfortunately, too many companies regard thought leadership initiatives as writing assignments, producing well-written, but lightweight copy. Does your company’s thought leadership fall into this category? If so, can you fix it? Tim Parker of the Bloom Group has more than 20 years experience in the sales, marketing and delivery of professional services. Tim leads and contributes to programs to develop the firm’s own points of view in areas of thought leadership marketing and writes and presents on these topics. He also helps clients develop their intellectual capital and take it to market. In the course of this work, he designs and analyses surveys, conducts client case studies, leads and performs the analysis and synthesis of findings, and writes final reports and op-eds for publication. Tim earned his undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University in England and an MBA from London Business School and MIT Sloan School.
    • Paul Chaney: Mojitos As a Social Object: How a Miami Realtor Uses Social Media To Build Her Business
      Marketing Profs Daily Fix | Nov 25, 2009
      Ines Hegedus-Garcia is a real estate agent in Miami, Florida, who uses a number of social media tools to market her business. “I use a variety of applications to reach different groups of people,” says Garcia. “Some inhabit one social network such as Facebook, for example, while others are active at Twitter. I get results in different ways from all of them.” “At first, Facebook was a way to reconnect with old friends and high school classmates,” says Garcia, who, over time, recognized its potential advantage as a business development tool. “I find just having an active presence there is enough,” she adds. While she uses some “soft sell” marketing techniques such as uploading photos of property listings, never is there a pitch to make a purchase. Garcia’s Web site, Miamism.com, incorporates both a blog and a photoblog. Though most of her posts are real estate related, she has created a series called “Miamism Fridays” that feature posts which promote and showcase the area from a local point of view. She has also set up a Miamism group on Flickr, where she invites others to join using the incentive that she may feature their photos on one of her Miamism Friday posts. “When I do, I let them know and they share the link with friends and family,” states Garcia. “It is a way to drive traffic to my site and build exposure among people who may not otherwise have ever heard of me. It is working beautifully. I am seeing leads and referrals coming as a result.” Garcia actively uses Twitter as well. “When I started, it was just a place to have fun and to connect with colleagues in the real estate industry. Then, I began to connect with people locally and realized that Miami has a strong social network community built around Twitter,” says Garcia. Garcia has not limited her interactions to the online world solely. In fact, she finds that what starts out as online connections leads to real world one. “I’ve been able to turn virtual connections into real ones via local tweetups. These tweetups take on the character of a business networking group such as BNI,” she adds. “In one such group comprised of mostly professional people, I am the only Realtor.” One of the most interesting outcomes of Garcia’s involvement with social media involves, oddly enough, mojitos! “In December of 2007, I was playing with SEO keywords related to my business, real estate in Miami, when I happened to notice that, at the time, ‘mojitos’ was the number one keyword searched for in Google. Given that mojitos are a Latin drink and that I am of Latin descent living in Miami, the mention really struck a chord, stated Garcia. “I grabbed my video camera and my husband Rick and, together, we produced a video on how to make a mojito, which I posted to my blog. Since that time, the video has been seen 33,000 times!” Garcia says that, while the idea has nothing to do with real estate proper, it is something fun that helps keep her top-of-mind with friends and associates so much so that it has become a "social object" associated with her brand. “I regularly post mojito recipes, reviews, photos and videos on my blog and have even gone so far as to setup a Mojitos group on Facebook,” she says. “The lesson I’ve learned is that everyone has the opportunity to find their social object. Keep an eye open for what works for you. Just don’t make it mojitos. That’s mine!” This post is part of a series called Social Media Works for Small Business: I Have Proof (See Part 1 and Part 2). It is also excerpted from my new book The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media.
    • How To:: Create Product Demo Videos that Get Social Media Attention: 6 Strategies to Increase Sales
      Marketing: Case Studies & Know-How from MarketingSherpa | Nov 24, 2009
      Looking for new source of traffic beyond the fierce battleground of the search engine results page? The combination of video content and social media can create a powerful new channel to reach potential customers. See the six strategies an online guitar accessory retailer used to create product demonstration videos and share that content with blogs, video sharing sites and other third parties. The strategy captures 65,000 video views a day, and has doubled annual sales.

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