Conversation MarketingRuminations on the world of internet marketing, by a grown up. We won't use the word 'synergy' once, we promise...How To: Write a Really Crappy Business Blog- May 30, 2008 There are sooo many awful business blogs out there, I figure folks must really want to create them. So, in 13 easy steps, here's how you write a terrible business blog, torpedo your internet marketing strategy, and gain the scorn of your customer base at the same time: Talk about yourself. Ooooh, this is a winner every time. Blather on about your latest product, how great you are, why readers should buy your stuff. Link to your own site a lot. Bore the heck out of 'em. I guarantee blog...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/05/how-to-write-a-really-crappy-blog.htm Bigger Than Us: Benefit for Burma- May 30, 2008 The level of suffering in Myanmar (Burma) is off the scale. Here's your chance to help a little bit. Distilled is running a competition. Write a great PPC ad for their benefit. Put it in a blog post about the Myanmar Cyclone Appeal campaign. Let's help out.http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/05/bigger_than_us_benefit_for_bur.htm How to Choose the Right SEO Vendor: Responding to Rand- May 30, 2008 Rand Fishkin of SEOMoz fame just wrote How to Choose The Right SEO Vendor. It's solid, but I'm going to take advantage of my additional age experience and point out a few issues: "Start with your Goals" Absolutely. If you know what your goals are. If not, I suggest that this is a great opportunity to evaluate your potential SEO vendor. If they say something like 'get a high ranking' show them out. If they say 'increase sales' or 'improve visit quality' or 'increase non-branded search...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/05/choose-the-right-seo-vendor-hey-rand.htm In August Company- May 30, 2008 I'm in some pretty good company on a new site called Voices of Search. Tom Schmitz sent me, Steve Rubel, Will Critchlow and Michael Gray a set of questions about search marketing, internet marketing and social media. I get to rant about the term 'social media', talk about SEO and other fine things. Have a look here.http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/05/in_august_company.htm How To Create A Brand - Accidental Branding Book Review- May 29, 2008 I haven't read a marketing book in a while. After wading through the stack of titles on my nightstand I'd gone on a literary vacation, rereading old Foxtrot anthologies instead. But branding has always been a puzzle for me. How do you turn a concept into a story into a brand That people actually care about So when I got David Vinjamuri's book - Accidental Branding - in the mail, I dove in. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's an engrossing read, following the stories of seven well-known...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/05/how-to-create-a-brand-accidental-branding.htm A Letter to Google: 9 Things I'd Love to Change- May 27, 2008 Dear Google, I ran over a squirrel on the way to work today. I tried to avoid it, but when I swerved it accelerated under my car, tail twitching, mouth agape. It made a little rattling sound as it flattened under my tires. That's not a squirrel, by the way - it's a prairie dog. I might have found it, though, when searching for it on Google Image Search. Which brings me to why I'm writing this letter. Nothing but love for ya. I'm actually a Google fan, even as an internet marketer...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/05/a-letter-to-google-8-things-id-change.htm Congrats, Phoenix Team- May 26, 2008 Because what I do isn't half as important, or one one-thousandth as hard: Phoenix lands successfully on Marshttp://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/05/congrats_phoenix_team.htm Why Microsoft Cashback Will Fail: In Internet Marketing it's 3 Strikes, Yer Out- May 23, 2008 Microsoft's trying to stop the bleeding with their new 'Cashback' program. It's not going to work. The program gives you a rebate on products you buy from their cashback page. It has three huge problems: You have to wait 60 days for the rebate. They don't appear to have the lowest prices. It doesn't work. Important update: Cashback works if you start from search.live.comcashback. It's only broken if you start from search.microsoft.comcashback. Still counts as busted in my...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/05/why_microsoft_cashback_will_fa.htm StumbleUpon Traffic IS Worth Something: Links- May 22, 2008 StumbleUpon can provide a valuable boost to an internet marketing campaign: It can indirectly lift link building efforts. A lot. Read on and I'll explain how it works, how I researched this, and how you can get the same benefits. What Is StumbleUpon Skip this section if you already know this. StumbleUpon is half site, half toolbar. You create an account online, then download their toolbar. From then on, you can give sites you visit a 'thumbs up' or a 'thumbs down': You can...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/05/stumbleupon-traffic-is-worth-s.htm Link Day, 'Cause I'm Diseased- May 21, 2008 Yes, it's May, it's 60 degrees and rainy out, and I now have a cold. Maybe winter just won't leave Seattle this year. As I'm feeling utterly lousy, I'll take the easy route and link to some great stuff other people wrote in the last few days: Tom Schmitz at my company wrote this great piece about competitive research in SEO. Rand over at SEOMoz did a Whiteboard Friday video about blogging your way to higher search engine rankings. Yo, Rand - when are you going to do an audio...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/05/link_day_cause_im_diseased.htm |