Conversation MarketingRuminations on the world of internet marketing, by a grown up. We won't use the word 'synergy' once, we promise...Stock Photos Don't Have To Suck- April 30, 2008 Stock photos don't kill campaigns. Campaigns using stock photos kill campaigns. I just found a very smart (and funny) article about stock photos on Information Rain. Chris's point: Most stock photography is just awful. But fear not! You can use stock photos without looking ridiculous. Here are a few tips: Choose Photos With a Purpose Don't pick a stock photo because you need to fill some space. Select a stock photo because it serves a purpose. It should communicate your...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/04/stock_photos_dont_have_to_suck.htm I'm Stumped- April 30, 2008 I admit it. I have nothing clever to say today. My bad. I'll be back tomorrow with something intelligent, I swear.http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/04/im_stumped.htm Fear Or Loathing: Take Your Pick- April 28, 2008 In internet marketing, loathing beats fear any day. Loathing means you've evoked a passionate response. It also means someone out there loves you, too. Fear means you hide in a virtual corner, not letting anyone see you. Maybe no one hates you. No one loves you, either. Hiding In The Corner I've heard many CEOs and other businesspeople tell me they don't want to 'expose themselves to negative press' on the internet. They're afraid, and they don't want to put too much information...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/04/fear_or_loathing_take_your_pic.htm Keyword Search Is Just Fine, Thank You- April 25, 2008 Eric Shonfeld at Techcrunch just posted Is Keyword Search About To Hit Its Breaking Point So, are we headed for a search apocalypse Better hope not. And I don't think so. Eric cites Nova Spivack's presentation. In it, Nova says that if the amount of content keeps growing keyword search will collapse, leaving the internet in a general state of higgledy piggeldy (We're talking flying monkeys here, people). Therefore, we need something better than keyword search. Um. Any chance..http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/04/keyword_search_is_just_fine_th.htm 17 Internet Marketing Things I Will Not Write About- April 24, 2008 Brought to you by the same manic-depressiveness that generated 11 Internet Marketing Trends To Ignore. Here are 17 internet marketing things I will not write about: Twitter. I love Twitter, and spend a fair amount of time on it. But a quick search on Google shows 37,845 blogs posts in the last week. What. The. Hell. I think this story's been done, OK Facebook's slow fall from grace as an advertising platform. I already wrote about this a while ago. Before most other folks. So nyah nyah..http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/04/17-internet-marketing-thingz-i.htm 7 Easy SEO Tips, and Faster Pageloads: Santa Rosa Courthouse Square, Reviewed- April 24, 2008 Santa Rosa Courthouse Square is a nice little site, with some basic SEO problems. Next in my oh-so-inconsistent series of site reviews, this site is elegant and reasonably easy to navigate: But under the pretty exterior lurks a few SEO gotchas that are definitely hurting it. Those turn into 7 pretty basic SEO tips that anyone should keep handy when they're launching a new site: Use a unique title tag on each page. Duplicating the same title tag again and again is a no-no (Ian...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/04/7_easy_seo_tips_and_faster_pag.htm Vote Early, Vote Often: Nominated for Bloggers Choice Award- April 23, 2008 I got nominated for a Blogger's Choice award (for best marketing blog). It says I nominated myself. But I swear, I didn't. If you like what you read here (you know, the writing I slave over, day in and day out), please click the badge and vote.http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/04/vote_early_vote_often_nominate.htm Be Careful With 'Free': Guinea Pigs Teach Internet Marketing- April 22, 2008 It's tempting to offer stuff for free to lure in customers. And it can work (sometimes). Overused, it'll actually lead to unhappy customers, not happy ones. Here's how my family's new pets re-taught me this lesson. The Guinea Pigs Hated Me My kids persuaded me to adopt a pair of guinea pigs: Gandalf (my son's) and Crystal (my daughter's). First, I did not name Gandalf. That was entirely Harrison. With maybe a smidge of prompting by me. Second, I sort of encouraged them to...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/04/be_careful_with_free_guinea_pi.htm SEO Geekery x100: Thanks, eVisibility- April 21, 2008 The guys over at eVisibility sent me this cool t-shirt. The front is a series of disallow commands. The back reads 'rel=nofollow'. It's so geeky that two friends of mine who've spent most of their lives creating Linux software in their heads didn't get it. Thanks, Miguel and Stephen!!!http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/04/seo_geekery_x100_thanks_evisib.htm What's Marketing Peek Into A Marketer's Pysche- April 17, 2008 Marketing is not about lying or cheating, or tricking consumers into wanting what they think you've got (even if you don't). So what is it I've briefly opened my psyche's closet doors, shoved back the "Haven't studied for finals" nightmare, knocked out the three-headed monster that keeps yelling "Ian, the clowns are coming" and even dodged past my daughter marrying the leader of a right-wing biker gang to bring you my definition of marketing. I use this definition to test my...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/04/whats_marketing_peek_into_a_ma.htm |