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January 20, 2010

Texting instant relief to Haiti

In times of disaster, fundraising can be a tedious and time consuming task. Fortunately, social media technology is paving the way to instantly send relief money. There’s no better example of this powerful fundraising job than the American Red Cross’ texting campaign. By allowing anyone to text “HAITI” to 90999, they have been able to raise over $30 million in just a few days. My wife and I were quick to donate using this system as soon as we heard about it. It’s easy and instantly rewarding. While this is an impressive amount of money, it’s still a fraction of the amount needed to help rebuild Haiti.

Texting money for charitable purposes is just one of many new trends that I’m sure will be emerging in the near future as online communities continue to grow.

Additionally, my wife has been looking for information on how to adopt orphans from Haiti … if anyone has information, please post.

January 20, 2010

Profiting from social media

Many people continually ask me how they can make money or increase sales from social media. My answer is simple: it’s like losing weight. There are no shortcuts or magic pills that will instantly shed pounds. Losing weight is a lifestyle change and commitment to health and fitness.

The same holds true for social media. Don’t expect to sign up at Twitter or Facebook in the morning and start generating sales in the afternoon. It’s not that simple. It’s a change in corporate culture. It’s a commitment to participating in relevant online communities and discussions. It is most effective by adding relevant and interesting content and opinions, inviting others to share their experiences, and most importantly reading and listening.

Jeffrey Gitomer had some interesting observations in his article: Social media – the new cold call. Wanna play?

There are key words to consider as you try to build your social media world. Connections, attract, video, value, consistent, fan, relevance, write, allocate, monetize.

But there’s a secret. How you position and promote yourself in the NON-social media world is critical to your success in the social media world. Your writing, your website, your blog, your ezine, your personal brand in your marketplace, your perceived value in the marketplace, and your reputation, are elements of attraction that affect your social media status – and surely your success.

There’s billions of dollars of new business being generating by social media – how much of it will you get? Maybe you need to get a bit more serious about being a bit more social.

It’s not an overnight sensation; social media is here to stay… and your involvement could be critical to the future of your business.

January 18, 2010

Jersey Shore, proof that sex sells

Ok, I admit it… I finally broke down and watched an episode of Jersey Shore. Since every late night talk show and entertainment site has been referencing this reality show on MTV, I had to see what all of the buzz was about.

In a nutshell, the show is about eight (very) Italian-American strangers who move in together in Seaside Heights, NJ. They are spending the summer to have fun, get tan, and hook up with anyone who is willing. In the episode I watched (#1), three of the guys were able to score three naked girls in a hot tub – and this was just the first night in town.

I had to ask myself – why is this show so popular? It’s really quite simple – it’s got sex appeal. The eight individuals are scantily dressed… they are all somewhat entertaining in a bizarre kind of way. With names like “The Situation”, JWOWW, Snooky, and Pauly D, they’ve each created a personality that’s larger than life. They are all about image, body tone, tans, and having fun.

The show appeals to wide-demographic audience. Clearly the people that have connections to New Jersey watch to see their summer stomping grounds. Others watch for the shock value – what could possibly happen next. Others can live vicariously through the wild lives of these twenty-something party-goers.

I’d be curious to hear how Italian-Americans are reacting to this program? Are the offended, do they find it funny, or do they have no interest? For Olivia Dupont, it seems to be a normal way of life growing up in New Jersey.

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January 17, 2010

Avatar – buzz marketing on steroids

I was recently asked by Tech Bucket Blog to write a review on Avatar. I thought I would repost it here – and add some brief marketing thoughts.

For starters, I have not been to the cinema in over three years. This is for two primary reasons – 1) I have a three year old child and 2) nothing has truly captured my attention enough to want to go.

Over the past few months, I have heard so much hype about Avatar that my curiosity got the best of me – and I’m honestly not a big sci-fi fanatic. I had the good fortune of seeing Avatar in the IMAX before too much information has been revealed. I had only heard that it cost over $300 million and was in 3D. While it’s not known exactly how much was spent marketing the film, I can only speculate that the revenue numbers would not be dramatically different if they had spent $0. With a movie of this size and magnitude, the power of buzz marketing is the best endorsement. Every media outlet and entertainment program has something to say. Friends, families, and colleagues are all posting personal opinions and recommendations on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social media sites. The film is capturing major headlines around the world.

All I can say is WOW! What a phenomenal piece of film work. It was truly a riveting journey – it had a fascinating ability to make you feel like part of the action. James Cameron successfully created the illusion that you were on another planet – Pandora. The Navi (alien) characters were well developed and believable.

While the special effects were ridiculously brilliant and worthy of an Oscar (in that category), the story was heartfelt as well. The movie evoked a variety of emotions throughout the plot. There were clear ties to today’s current events – the most recognizable being our quest for more natural resources and our willingness to go to war to obtain them.

Since I don’t think this movie will have the same impact on a home TV (even on a 70” HDTV), this is a must-see on the big screen.

January 15, 2010

Making a viral video

Everyone has the same idea… let’s make a viral commercial and get millions of views and free advertising. Well, the reality is, it’s not that simple. Nobody wants to watch a commercial simply promoting a product or service.

I’ve done plenty of research on this topic. The most viewed or viral videos are simply the ones that make us laugh, amazed, or inspired. Think spontaneity or the unexpected. All natural videos of babies laughing, animals doing something incredible, and people falling. Those are the videos that capture our attention… the ones that evoke emotion – and that we remember. Furthermore, they motivate us to pass the video on to our friends and colleagues. Whether it’s a laugh or a feeling of disbelief, we want to share that emotion with others.

With that said, making a viral video takes a lot of imagination and perhaps some special effects to create an illusion. People may watch repeatedly just to determine if the video is real or not. Think content and story… not message. That’s the major difference between traditional commercial advertising and a viral video.

January 14, 2010

When is MLB going to rebrand itself?

Between Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and most recently Mark McGwire, when are the lies and cover-ups going to stop? I’m sick of hearing these guys cry on TV trying to show remorse for using steroids after blatantly lying about it. If you truly want to show remorse, forfeit all of the records you set. Reinstate Roger Maris as the homerun champ… and better yet, just stop whining about it. It’s done, some people are willing to forgive others are not.

The bigger issue continues to be – how will Major League Baseball rebound? How can they spin this disaster into something positive? Clearly they need a new image. Nobody likes a cheater in the game. For the amount of money these players are making, there should be a better screening policy in place. Enough already! MLB needs to filter out the cheaters – or they are doomed to fail. They need an extreme makeover – baseball edition, for starters. Send us all our digital dashboard. Consider the spaces provided and use your nickname and options as writers’ database. Insert necessary instructions and options as you can place an order. Send us all our tools and use system that will be able to see your order on . http://paperell.com/faq Writers will be able to see your order on our digital dashboard. Consider the spaces provided and options as you are ready with the registration process, you are ready with the registration process, you are ready with the registration process, you can place an order. .

January 13, 2010

Social Media Predictions for 2010

An interesting outlook for social media in 2010 from Scott Monty:

…it’s clear that people want to connect with others by location, as well as share experiences and seek recommendations by those who are well informed. And whether that means connecting in the communities in which they live or those to which they travel, people will begin to use more of these kinds of services. As an adjunct to location-based social networks, expect location-based search to blossom as well.

With that said, an increase in usage of sites like foursqure and tripit is anticipate.

many in the mainstream still don’t know what an RSS feed is or how to use an RSS reader (or that they simply don’t use one), it’s clear that email subscriptions still rule the roost. Not to mention that email is ubiquitous. It’s just generally accepted that everyone has an email address.

keep your eyes on the mobile space, on fuller integration of PR and marketing, and more focus on quality content in 2010. Overall, the space will begin to show some signs of maturation, and will begin a future trend of being integrated as a part of day-to-day business in many organizations.

January 12, 2010

How do you listen to your customers?

Understanding the Voice of the Customer (VOC) is a critical ongoing step in developing a successful product or service. There are many techniques to effectively process and incorporate customer feedback. Historically, this has been allocated to a sales or business development role – which in turn would “occasionally” share this information with the technical or marketing team. There are a few challenges with this type of system: 1) it can be slow to get feedback, 2) the feedback is not always accurate since it gets interpreted by many individuals, 3) the feedback can depend on the established relationship or level of comfort between the sales rep and the customer.

Regardless of your industry, you should ensure you have the proper channels in place to allow customers to conveniently voice their opinions. Invite them to share their experience or usage of your products/services. Whether through a corporate blog, online survey, webinar, or e-newsletter, there are many options to encourage feedback. Consider offering a reward for feedback. Perhaps a discount for feedback which leads to an enhanced feature. The odds are, if one customer experiences an issue, they’re probably not alone. This leads to quick conflict resolution.

As always, your comments and experiences on customer interaction and VOC are welcome!

January 11, 2010

Start your communication wave…

Don't just market, communicate!

Announcing the launch of waveSpawn.

Throughout my years in marketing, I have identified a few common business problems. Many small and medium-sized businesses just don’t have the time or expertise to complete some of the most fundamental marketing tasks. Either they don’t need a full-time marketing person, or simply don’t have the budget to hire someone which would include health benefits, insurance, and additional overhead costs.

The concept behind waveSpawn is to provide an affordable alternative for these companies to increase their visibility, brand recognition, customer base, and ultimately their revenue growth through a combination of traditional marketing as well as the latest social media marketing techniques. The key to this relationship is to minimize our customer’s time commitment to these tasks. This means fully understanding our customer’s business… and to become virtually self-sufficient.

I look forward to interacting with you, sharing my knowledge, hearing your personal stories, and getting your feedback.

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