Marketing

I wasn’t going to write anything about the new Microsoft commercials, which I really like, despite the fact that I wrote about the two Seinfeld/Gates commercials.
But then I realized that the PC Guy in the commercials is Sean Siler. He’s a real tech guy who actually works at Microsoft for a living - as opposed [...]

Learn how to reach your marketing goal and gain the competitive advantage that makes it possible to out-test, out-learn and out-optimize competitors.
If you are like most online marketers, you are doing everything you can to optimize your Web site. One of the best ways to optimize your site is through multivariate testing, which is a [...]

Learn how to avoid some critical mistakes marketers make when rolling out search engine optimization strategies. “12 SEO Campaign Killers” puts the tough work of SEO in perspective, covering everything from keyword performance expectations to understanding the value of social media websites. Other critical topics include:

Training

Thinking holistically

ROI considerations

Ranking analysis

What link bait really means

Get your free [...]

Recently, a client who supported Web standards worked to design her newsletters to use cascading style sheets (CSS) for layouts instead of tables. Designers cheered. Readers jeered. One problem with this approach: email clients.
Outlook may dominate, but how many of us have second or third email accounts with Web-based email clients like Yahoo!, Hotmail, Gmail, [...]

While earning my degree in education, I learned about the Fog Index, Flesch-Kincade, and other ways to measure comprehensibility. This helped us understand how to measure content to determine its reading level.
Along the same lines, Denny Hatch [Link from Cincom Expert Access] introduces colleague Bob Scott. Scott uses Robert Gunning’s Fog formula to make writing [...]

Have you received a request from a newsletter or a blogger asking for your vote in a favorite, best, or some other contest? How about a request to “Forward This” newsletter in the subject line or at the top of the newsletter before you get to the goods?
Does it bother you? Or am I reading [...]

Yesterday, I received an email from a company looking to do work for me. Items in quotes are directly from the email. Non-quoted items are my comments.
I apologize for intruding into your busy schedule. Please allow me to introduce ourselves.
Polite, but already off to a negative start. Says he is intruding. It might be better [...]

I’ve met all of my clients through online resources and networking. I had one local client in the past who found me online and we never met face-to-face (f2f). However, I recently landed a client and we’ve already had one f2f meeting, but I don’t anticipate another as it was to discuss the business overview.
Thank [...]

Making Online and Offline Connections looks at how the virtual world changed how we connect to others. In it, I state that the online world made it possible for me to become a full-time freelancer. It got me thinking how I met people in this virtual world.
I met a few through blogs, especially in earlier [...]

Marketing efforts should involve blogs as word of mouth (mouse) can spread fast when the right blog mentions a product or service and the right people read the blog. Bloggers tell it like it is, an advantage over traditional media. If a product or service is blogged by the right blogger with a large (or [...]

Customers drive marketing, not the other way around. No longer do customers accept products as designed. They expect and demand products to be molded to their needs. Just like you can’t turn a cat into a dog; marketers can’t turn a customer into a buyer by convincing them that they need product or service [...]

I read a book about Google AdWords (I was not planning a campaign — it was for an abstract I wrote), which called the ads “haikus” and I just read about “the haiku of branding” in reference to tourism slogans. Neither use the 5-7-5 syllables haiku rule unless a Google ad just lucks out with [...]

I love brainstorming ideas for a new company name, product, or something else. I guess you could call me a name freak. :) Every case is different, but here are the basic tips I tend to follow when hunting for inspiration:

Randomly flip through the dictionary.

Take words and mixing or subbing letters.

Say names out loud.

Pick a [...]

Businesses have been taking advantage of many online tools not originally created for business purposes such as blogs, feeds, wikis, forums and more. These help businesses create a community, build relationships and gain trust and credibility. Would you buy a book on this topic?
If so, what do you want from the book that you’re not [...]

Jakob Nielsen’s latest Alertbox discusses newsletter usability and the competition for user attention. Nilesen reports that the original findings remain true today: “email newsletters are the best way to maintain customer relationships on the Internet.”
I love newsletters as a marketing tool. Done right, you provide valuable information to readers without annoying them with sales-speak. I [...]

When I find my way to a Web site, I may have gotten there through a search engine or through a link from a colleague or Web site. After I’ve scanned the content and fiddled around in the pages, the site may impress me if the information proves valuable.
What do I do then? The possibilities: [...]

I never wanted to start a business. The thought of managing all the administrative stuff like accounting, legal, and other stuff turned me off. I like doing my job and focusing all of my energies there. Surprising as that’s what I am doing today… managing my own business.
It’s a one-person business and I manage taxes, [...]

When done right, white papers are an effective marketing tool. Michael Stelzner, author of Writing White Papers, reports on his findings in the White Paper Report ($49) based on input from almost 600 white paper writers.
First, should businesses bother with white papers? I admit that I’ve downloaded many free reports, white papers such and I [...]

You might allow some e-commerce sites to send you emails with sales and specials. I do. But some go overboard and give you no way to cut down the number of emails you receive. One such site sends emails more than once a week with a sale and instead of drawing me to the site [...]

Samantha Krieger of Just Say Yes asked if editors prefer to receive press releases by e-mail or by mail. The following is my response:
It depends on the editor. My recommendation is to create a column in your editor contact list for “Preference” or something like a “Notes” column. Then go to their Web sites to [...]