Matt's Web

Exploring the top of the funnel for untapped leads

2011-12-05T14:24:00.000-08:00

When it's your job to decide how to spend marketing dollars and your budget is not unlimited, options that are easily trackable to revenue tend to win out. That's easy to understand; it feels safer to choose channels that you can prove were effective, or that at least didn't lose any money.

When you can show that A caused B, the picture is simple and simple feels good. That's one of the reasons why Google spends so much on reporting tools for its cash cow self-service ad platform. They want you to see the connection to revenue and feel content with your ad spend. It works too - Google pulled in nearly $10 billion last quarter.

Simple methods for lead acquisition are great, especially for products with a short sales cycle, but they're not the whole picture. Just because an effort is not easily tracked doesn't mean it can't be extremely effective.

When attempting to break through the noise into a consumer's consciousness, the deck is stacked against brands. Because of the onslaught of messages that we all get pounded with every day, defenses are up. Simply asking for a sale is not enough.

Long term efforts around awareness offer a way. They have gotten a bad name lately because they don't always show up well on a dashboard. But planting seeds of recognition early in a buying process can get around ad-blindness and deliver big returns. It's well known that word of mouth is the most persuasive form of endorsement and trust is usually credited as the reason why. And while it's trust that enables a Five Guys fan to make an effective lunch recommendation to a coworker, one of the reasons why he'll go along with it is this:

He doesn't feel that he's being sold anything.

Persuasion is most effective when it's invisible. The marketer's goal should be to arrive two steps before the discussion of products starts, shaping their methods for evaluation and scoring points before the overt game even starts. If done well, the audience draws their own conclusion based on subtle hints whose influence they weren't even aware of.

As a bonus, many brands don't have the resources or the guts to market this way, preferring to stick to methods that deliver a tidy ROI number within a short time span. The competition will be much lighter here. Plus, if you are fortunate enough to register a message within the brain of your target customer weeks or months before she needs to consider a purchase, you will benefit from the positive connotations of recognition when the memory pops back up in her mind.

Like the Bene Gesserit, your generous, friendly content will be subtly influencing under the surface. It doesn't have to be as sneaky or manipulative either. One example from my kitchen happened at dinner the other day. My wife brought out a new marinade from Frontera Grill for our fajitas. When I saw his picture on the bottle, my mind jumped back to years before when I had seen some of Rick Bayless's cooking shows on PBS. I never really loved that show in the first place but part of me was proud that I connected the dots and I was able to throw out a few things that I remembered from the show in conversation while we made dinner. The marinade's quality bumped up a couple of notches before we even sat down to dinner and I would be more inclined to buy it again in the future.

Longer term campaigns are especially useful when:

There is a long time delay between purchases
It's difficult to select a product without technical knowledge
Purchases aren't planned ahead of time but are urgent (e.g. furnace repair)
There's little to differentiate between products based on features

I'm all for accountability and love to eliminate efforts that aren't defendable. Buzz building awareness campaigns have been derided lately for being fluffy and often for good reason. But to ignore long term messaging for lack of reporting is to miss out on a proven method of influence, even if it is a little harder to recognize.

Non-verbal communication as social proof

2011-09-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

I recently attended the Exact Target's Connections 2011 event, a user conference on interactive marketing. One of the takeaways from their education sessions came from the speakers - although they weren't speaking at all.

Social proof is a tried and true tool of persuasion. We know that consumers are much more likely to listen to what their peers think than to be swayed by messages coming from brands. That is the reason why customer testimonials and product reviews are so effective for websites looking to make a sale of some kind.

Besides the overt types of social proof we see online, there are plenty of ways to convey how you feel about a company in a more subtle way. It's been said that over half of communication is delivered non-verbally through body language. That's unfortunate for some of the speakers I witnessed trying to present at the show.

Many of the sessions I was in featured a panel, with each speaker taking a turn at the podium while the others waited. Take a look at the view from the audience.

The poor speaker (who is out of the frame here) is trying to make a point that he thinks is important while sharing the floor with these guys.

They even work for the same company! They are basically telling the room full of people listening "don't bother tuning in at this point, there's nothing exciting here. You might as well check your phone for new email."

This wasn't the only session either. I wish I would have snapped a picture of the first class of the day when the panel was still waking up. They were literally yawning on stage, totally undercutting the presenter.

The panels weren't all this way. Contrast the scene above with this one taken a little later in the day. (Sorry for the phone picture but it's hard to snap a photo when the speakers are actually alert.)

These panelists are actually giving their speaker some eye contact and following along. Much more respectful and helpful to the audience too.

Just an observation that little signals can communicate a lot to the audience, either online or offline. And a note to self - next time I'm speaking on a panel I'll have to remember to buy some coffees for the group on stage!

The Free Way to Upgrade Your Infographics with Tableau

2011-07-15T06:40:00.000-07:00

I came across data visualization tool Tableau yesterday and am impressed, especially for what it could mean for link building.

Data In, Brilliance Out
Tableau offers user friendly tools for building interactive interfaces to data. For large data sets and for storytelling involving multiple dimensions, their visualizations are very effective and easy to put together. They even offer a free version for bloggers and other digital publishers.

It may be easy to think of Excel graphs when looking at Tableau's case studies but these visualizations are different than what comes out of the box from Microsoft. They are built to be interactive. Instead of asking users to stare at lines and numbers to try to make sense of them, Tableau's product invites people to start clicking and discovering.

2005 Hurricane Data

Better Infographics
We all know that infographics can be a great way to tell the story behind a spreadsheet of dull numbers and as a result, can be great content for link building. With so many infographics out there it can be difficult to make one that stands out. Tableau helps by adding the draw of interaction and movement.

For link builders, these interactive graphics are especially helpful. Because the graphic isn't just a flat image, it's more likely that publishers will link to your page rather than simply swiping the .jpg file. Plus because it's interactive, you're allowing users to discover their own conclusions. If the blogger you're pitching uncovers a nugget that's interesting, they'll have more ownership of the tool than if you simply handed the insight to them.

But the best reason that Tableau is worth checking out is that it's easy and free. If you've hired a designer to work on infographics before, you know that it can be time consuming and expensive. One firm that I talked to recently wanted to charge double to make a graphic interactive. With the simple desktop software that Tableau offers, you can set up your own graphics with all the control that you like, produce more of them and spend less money to do it.

If you have interesting data that you want to bring to life quickly, Tableau is a nice option.

Ramp Up Anticipation For a Better Unboxing

2011-07-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

We talked a while back about how the moment the customer opens their shipment is the climax of the customer experience and the ultimate single make or break point for brand delivery. By that time, the results are beyond our control as marketers. Once the product leaves the warehouse, the die is cast.
Before we get to that point though, we do have chances to influence the final impression. It's our job to tip the scales in our favor as much as we can. To do that, we must build anticipation for the solution that our customer is waiting for until they can't wait to tear open the package when it finally does arrive.
The only real caution here is to avoid setting expectations beyond what your product or service can deliver. The product has to come first and I'm assuming that we've already got something that does its job. And it's always wise to save a few surprises for the very end. In the meantime though, there are plenty of ways to whet the appetite.

Make estimated delivery updates available at each phase of completion
Offer a photo or PDF of your customer's custom product before it's boxed up and email it
Display happy testimonials on your order confirmation emails
Send an email with tips and suggestions on how to use their product in the days before it arrives
Mail a handwritten thank you note on the purchase date or email a short comment that is unique to them

I'm sure you can think up many others. These are not cheap marketing tricks though. Anticipation is part of the customer experience. And it's an opportunity for us to increase customer satisfaction because people want it.
The process surrounding a product is part of the product. Once you've created a pleasant expectation in your customer's mind, they're very likely to have a positive ultimate experience (unless you completely botch the job.) Think of how good a bakery smells in the morning. Once you've got idea of a warm, tasty bagel in your mind, and spend 5 minutes waiting to get a fresh one, chances are you're going to be happy when you get it.
Most of the time the reason behind this dynamic of persuasion is cognitive dissonance - people don't want to disagree with themselves. When you buy shoes online, you're placing your trust in that shoe retailer. You've paid your money and, in a sense, placed a bet that you've picked out the right company. You want your decision to be affirmed as a good one and will tend to lean toward that conclusion when the shoes arrive.
One of the old sales tricks that salespeople employ is to get the prospect saying yes, even if it's not directly related to a sale. Once they start saying yes to the small things, they'll be more likely to keep saying yes. In our case, they've already said yes to the big question; they've made a purchase. We're trying to keep the momentum going past the sale and into the product unboxing.
By maintaining contact with customer pre-delivery, you're making that pull toward a happy conclusion a little stronger. In various ways, you're telling them 'you made a good decision, you're going to be happy when your product arrives, you are a smart shopper...'
Once the customers internalize those messages, they'll start repeating them to themselves and others, expanding your branding statements even further.What are some ways that you can create positive anticipation that can add to your customer's experience?

Tim Ash's Presentation on Trust Unravels Before Our Eyes

2011-06-07T12:26:00.000-07:00

Velaro and Site Tuners scheduled a webinar yesterday titled Improving Online Conversions By Building Trust and Personalizing Messages. Tim Ash was supposed to present but unfortunately the event was grounded because of technical issues and they wound up canceling the webinar.

There was a chat client within the presentation viewer and it didn't take long for audience members to start cracking jokes. Watch as the audience turns on the presenters - here's the chat transcript as it happened.

Monica T: Good evening
Matt S: hello!
Glenn M: or good morning depending on where you are calling in from.
Bob H: hello
Sam H: hello
Monika S: Hello
Chris R: Hi from Calif
danna c: hello from Dallas
Jim R: Hello from Texas
Bas S: Netherlands
Y A: Hello from TN
Tom C: Los Angeles
Glenn M: SF Bay Area
Mark J: Hi from Las Vegas
Steve W: Hello from PA
Monika S: San Diego
LIndsey K: Oakland, CA
Chris W: hello from Utah
Bridget S: Hello from Minneapolis
Per H: hello from stockholm
Justin M: Hi from San Diego
flo b: hu from montreal
Michelle K: Panama City, Panama
Solon C: Hello from Irvine, CA
Bob K: Hello from Atlanta
rowe m: Santa Monica
Renee B: Hello from Wisconsin
Matt A: Hello from Optimizely in San Francisco!
Richard A: Richard Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Mike C: Hi from the moon
M A: Hello from Roseville, CA.
Wendy H: hello from Brentwood, TN
Gerald B: Hello from Irving, TX
Glenn M: Hey Matt Atlhauser. We love Optimizely.
tal h: hi from Silicon valley, CA (san mateo)
Matt A: Thanks Glenn!
Bob H: I do not see a picture. has this started yet?
James K: helloo from Chicagoland!
David N: Unable to select Connect for internet audio
M A: I keep being invited to choose a different audio device even though I can hear the elevator music.
ROBERTO A: Hello to everyone from Italy!
Wayne A: Helooo from Philly!
Cindy T: Hello from sunny San Diego!
Nell K: Hello all!
Glenn M: @Matt - Tell Dan Prosper says hi.
Joshua L: Hell from USA
Michelle K: The system keeps telling me my passcode is invalid.
Nicole v: Hi form Holland!
Morgan S: Hello from very hot Atlanta.
Alex K: HI from Canada
Bas S: hi from holland as wel
Bas S: Very bad sound here
Alan M: Audio not working
Marcos T: Hello from Sao Paulo/Brasil!
Cindy T: nobody really talking yet i think
danna c: audio not working
Claudio C: hello from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Chris R: i hear breathing / typing?
Cindy T: i hear background sounds
Joshua L: can not hear on the phone
Chuck B: Hello from North Dakota
Brian F: Hello from Massachusetts, USA
ALICE S: Hello from Connecticut.
Alan M: NO AUDIO
Alex K: guys, be patient
Nicole v: Something goes wrong there
tal h: no sound , no picture .. is that what should be now ?
Bas S: any video streaming or just audio ?
Chris R: chillax
N S: no audio won't connect
corey s: is anyone speaking yet
Solon C: this isn't working.....just hear background noises
Alan M: any plans to fix the audio
Tim B: Are we supposed to be hearing anything yet?
Monica T: no audio, no video
t r: i hear crickets in chicago
Matt S: can't hear anything either
Chris R: same crickets in LA
Dan A: My trust is waning
Wayne A: whoa, this is soo informative!
Glenn M: I am seeing session dtails and how to listen. sound is nothing but it seems to be working as I am hearing person breathing and now talking in background.
Suzanne G: i can hear Clare
Bil G: I just heard, "Can you go find out if Michael can hear me?"
Claudio C: We can hear someone speaking
Joshua L: same in Baltimore
Chris R: Tim rocks... he'll make it happen
Tim B: We can hear you, mysterious lady.
adina t: I think I can hear Clare too
LIndsey K: no audio
Michael S: I was able to hear also
Joshua L: no audio
M A: I'm not hearing anything anymore.
Chris R: we have audio, no one is talking...
Monika S: no audio
t r: I hear nothing
danna c: no audio here
Michael S: I am on the phone
Michelle K: Hellloooo, can't get into the teleconference, it keeps telling me I have the wrong passcode.
corey s: patience fellow listeners
luis h: Can't hear anything
ROBERTO A: Sorry, I heard the music before but I don't hear nothing since music stopped
tal h: somethings happening
Jelena U: wow, here it is
Chris R: let there be slides
Tim B: Michelle Korn, can you stream it online?
Claudio C: I can see a black screen now
Lynn G: is there audio through the computer or do you need to call in?
Glenn M: So a priest, a minister and a rabbi walk into a bar . . .
ALICE S: isn't this fun!
Sultan G: no audio here in Canada
Suzanne G: ditto
Chris R: lol Glenn
Nicole v: whoohooo!!
Michelle K: I'd have to try w/ my laptop as I don't have my speakers hooked into my desktop.
Krissy M: way better than working
t r: I have a picture of the presentation but it sounds like some one is talking underwater.
Margaret M: i agree
ROBERTO A: Apollo 13, can you hear me?
Monica T: no audio
Claudio C: This webmeeting was sscheduled to start at 3:00pM EST...
Joshua L: I can not hear
Alan M: just background noise
M A: I have video and background noise but no speaking.
Jim R: Houston we have a problem
N S: still no audio only visual
flo b: no audio
Jim D: No one is talking yet!
Joshua L: same
Brian P: say something so I know if I have audio or not....
Wendy H: just background noise
luis h: I hear some heavy breathing
Alan M: so much for velaro
adina t: did you start the presentation?
Casey M: Hello everyone and welcome to the webinar. We are having some difficulty but hope you will hang in for a couple minutes while we work things out.
Glenn M: @Roberto. Houston, we have a problem.
Claudio C: It's already 3:07 PM E.ST
chris m: Speaker:can you speak. I think it is working.. say few words
Jo G: hoping for a replay with all the trimmings
Tim B: Luis, luck you.
Nell K: Fix the audio.
Alan M: signing off soon
Joshua L: I can hear in the backround
Chris W: No sound!
Jared S: alot of energetic fingers for this point in the afternoon
Jim D: I can definitely hear people moving around in the background.
luis h: Yep, bkgnd noise
Claudio C: Good luck
Krissy M: writing notes for my boss is going to be epic
Jo G: yay for followup!
Cindy T: is somebody supposed to be talking?
Pat T: I cannot hear anything...
Wendy H: the slides are moving but no one is talking
Alan M: Is any one reading this
Chris W: I hope they do a recording of this that works
M A: Just heard phone tones
adina t: I can not hear you too
Lynn G: is there audio through the computer?
Sultan G: chocking sound!
Florence A: I can not hear anything
Kevin C: heard you
Chris R: yes, now
Suzanne G: yes
Claudio C: Tim Ash rocks!
Bil G: no one can hear anything
M A: Heard her
Brian P: I hear you!
Sultan G: we can hear you
Matt S: heard that
Debra C: yes now
luis h: yes
Robert P: we have sound
Molly T: I heard you.
adina t: yes now I heard you
Flavia C: yes
Jo G: heard something
Krissy M: we hear you
Glenn M: heard that
Chris R: heard woman...
Solon C: i heard you
Justin M: yes
Nicole v: no we do
Tim B: Let's all just be patient. =)
James K: Audio works via phone here..
Joshua L: i heard that
Alan M: Can not hear - lots of background noise
t r: Just heard clare
danna c: heard you
M A: No more talking?
Em L: i just heard something
Mike C: heard it now
Debra C: now nothing....
Jared S: we have a caffeine pandemic on our hands in the chat room
Chris R: mysterious woman, say something
Alan M: are you planning to reschedule
Vladmir D: Greetings from mother Russia
Brian P: its gone now
adina t: But I think you should start from the begining
Edna C: greatings from MEXICO
ML O: Just heard, "Q", you can't hear me at all on the phone line but not my computer speakers.
Joshua L: same
luis h: Can you hear me now? haha
Sam W: Please speak again
chris m: Clare. we can hear U ..
Kristen W: We have no audio either!
Jo G: lol luis
Florence A: I hear a droning sound
Nina D: I see about our presenters but can't hear anyone, hear something though
ML O: No, can't hear luis.
Mike C: Clare? U there?
John M: I think they need some audio optimization
ROBERTO A: I heard a voice! The voice told me to go through the desert and save the people of Las Vegas from perdition...
chris m: say something in French
Vladmir D: I hear nothing
Monica T: No audio. Sorry guys, I'm off to watch CSI.
Tim B: ML, you need to have things turned WAY UP on the comp speakers.
Gert C: Greetings from Dallas! No audio...
Chet F: #technology
Joshua L: i herd clare
Jason S: i hear some typing
Michelle K: Hello
luis h: Merde! That's French for "I can't hear anything"
Jim D: It's like somone's laptop is the live mic, not the one they think is live
Chris R: i'm not trusting the "building trust" webinar...
Dan L: WUK?
Viki B: lol
luis h: hahaha
Michelle K: I can't use my laptop, b/c it knows I'm in session on the desktop.
Jane D: no audio via internet connection and just called in to the dial in number as well, still no audio. 10 minutes later.........
Michelle K: Why won't your teleconference work???
John M: The audio may need some "tuning"
John H: Hi from Oklahoma
Vladmir D: Time to hit the bottle again
Dan L: This is my favorite webinar ever!!
ML O: Again, just faint background noises of people working...
Jared S: #office_space baseball bat to computer screen
Michelle K: And I don't want to shut it down on my desktop b/c who knows if I'll even get back.
Alan M: This is not "Humanizing the Online exsperience"
Michelle K: LOL
Brian P: Hellllooooo? Bueler....Bueler....
Chris R: i have audio running on pc and phone, neither is working
Jason W: wonder if this is cheaper than go2meeting
ML O: with the person typing the loudest/closest.
M A: @Vladimir, are you still in Odessa?
Vladmir D: In Russia, webniars come to you
Chet F: haha
ALICE S: I am learning so much.
Carolyn R: Not building much trust here
Gert C: I truly understand mechanical errors from all my own presentation goof-ups. LOL

I guess that's what you get for trying to offer some free content! I'm hoping they reschedule so we can hear what they had to say but had to share the comments from the peanut gallery.

Carfax is Running a Negative Campaign and Doing It Effectively

2011-04-04T14:42:00.000-07:00

Carfax instills fear and manipulates consumers into doing its will. If Carfax were a political candidate, watchdog groups would be crying 'smear campaign' for its advertisements.Thankfully, the presidential candidate hype machine and the inevitable campaign commentary won't start in earnest until the February so I'll call it what it is: strong arming. And successful at that.

Carfax's target market in this case is used car dealerships. They could have run ads in industry publications extolling the virtues of carrying Carfax reports and the benefits to conversion rates (and they may for all I know.) Rather than take the kind and gentle approach though, they are bullying customers with TV ads.

Instead of entering into a debate with dealers, they reach out to the dealers' customers and play to the oldest and most political motivator around. They use fear. They describe all of the awful things that could be lurking in a car's history and how a Carfax report can protect consumers from dealers. Then the muscle comes in when they tell you what to do about it. Just ask your used car dealer for a Carfax report. "Show me the Carfax" is their simple call to action and it really puts their dealer customers in a bind. After all, any reputable dealership with nothing to hide would surely offer prospective customers a vehicle history report, free of charge. Right?
The unspoken implication is that if you don't ask them to 'show me the Carfax,' they're going to take advantage of you. By raising the expectations of consumers, Carfax is putting the squeeze on dealers and having the dirty work done for them by concerned car shoppers.

This is the kind of half truth tactic that makes political campaigns so unbearable. In this case, there's no denying that it works. Just don't expect a lot of a lot of 'across the aisle' collaboration from dealers if an alternative service becomes available.

Bonus use for bulk link lists

2011-03-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

In a follow up to yesterday's post on evaluating potential linking sites in bulk, here's one more way to use your new lists of links

Once you've pulled down all of the links from a round up page like social-media.alltop.com, you've got a list of authoritative sources on a niche topic. If it's a subject that you're interested in keeping up on, you can create a Google Custom Search Engine based on your list.
Then, when you're interested in what the social media pundits have to say about a news item, or if you're interested in finding posts that combine a specific idea (say coffee for example) with your niche's point of view, instead of doing a general Google search and getting all kinds of results, you can restrict your queries to your handpicked list of experts in that niche.

http://www.google.com/cse?cx=017565783639329627654%3Auqjfczpkwha&ie=UTF-8&q=coffee

And don't forget that you can add advanced search operators such as date range to your CSE search by appending the results URL

Batch link evaluation

2011-03-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

When link building, it's often necessary to gather a large list of targets for a campaign. Here's one way to quickly get some good URLs, with basic metrics attached, without pulling them one by one.

Let's say you've got a new infographic about coffee and you're trying to find a list of blogs that would potentially be interested in posting about it. The first step is to find some pages that list the kind of blogs that we're after. Lists like these are popular on the web so we shouldn't have too much trouble. Google is a good place to start, either by searching for round up posts or by using the SERPs themselves as a list. Also try Technorati, DMOZ and Alltop.

Once you've got a page with a bunch of links listed, copy the URLs. It's often easiest to use a tool like SEO for Firefox for this. Right click the page and select SEO XRay.

The SEO for Firefox plugin overlays some data on top of the page you're on. Select external links and export them as a CSV file.

If you need to clean up your list to filter out duplicates, ads and other irrelevant links, pull open your CSV with Excel. Then copy them to your clipboard for the next step.

To add some quick evaluation metrics, try backlinks.in. It's a tool built on SEOMoz's Linkscape data and allows you to evaluate up to 1000 URLs per day in bulk. You get page MozRank and the number of backlinks for each URL, which can help you prioritize your potential link targets.

Paste back into Excel and you're set to start pitching!

*Update - see a bonus use for batch link lists here

Hacking LinkedIn for Research

2010-10-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

LinkedIn.com is as close to a comprehensive business directory as there is and usually reveals a lot about a company's make up. But if you've ever tried to track down business leads, site owners or potential partners, you've probably had trouble locating the right person to contact at some point. Try this trick to get more names out of LinkedIn and locate that key person.

Let's say you're trying to get in touch with Pixar to show them your new promotional product. You start by searching for "marketing pixar" in LinkedIn's search box.After browsing the results, you think the person with the title "Marketing and Promotions at Pixar Animation Studios" would be the perfect one to contact. By clicking through you can see work, education and connection details but the name of the contact is listed as private.
Bummer. Without a name it's difficult to go much further. Here's what you do.

Scroll down the mystery contact's profile until you see the section labeled "Viewers of this profile also viewed..." You'll see the names of other people that are closely associated with your contact.
Try clicking on a few of them. If you find one that's in your network (even a 3rd degree contact) you'll see their profile page.
Going back to our Pixar example, viewers of our target's profile also viewed the Director of Worldwide Publicity. Since we apparently have some friends in common, I'm able to click through to her profile.

Once I've got Robin's profile page open, I can scroll down to her "Viewers of this profile also viewed..." section. Because she's closely associated with our "Marketing and Promotions" target, chances are that person will appear in her list. And she does! Using the title that we saw on the private profile page, along with background info that is available on private pages like education, we can confidently match the two and identify the mystery contact.

Depending on her privacy settings, you can now click through to her detail profile or just note the name and do some additional research on Google.

And that's it. It's one of those tips that doesn't work every time but it may help in your research. Happy hunting!

Overhead at the SEOmoz Pro Training Event

2010-09-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

SeoMoz's Pro Training Series wrapped up yesterday and I learned a lot listening to these company insiders talk shop. Here are a few of the quotes overheard during the event that are worth repeating:

On responding to negative reviews

"Remember that the unhappy customer isn't the audience for your response."

David Mihm @davidmihm

Using Google Analytics effectively

"Top level performance measures aren't helpful. Look at micro conversion events to find what is happening with your business."

Joanna Lord @joannalord

Business process

"When SEO is institutionalized, it dies on the vine."

Marshall Simmonds @mdsimmonds

Keyword targeting in content

"After you've built pages for high- and mid- volume keywords, use tools to keep the super long tail words in front of you as you write your content. Including them naturally within your copy can help in aggregate."

Tom Critchlow @tomcritchlow

Visual distractions on landing pages

"If it doesn't directly contribute to the current transaction, get rid of it."

Tim Ash @tim_ash

"Rankings are a milestone, not the goal."

Seth Besmertnik @besmertnik

Waiting for Google to reward your big link

"Authority links don't always add instant value."

Wil Reynolds @wilreynolds

Building links manually

"Your best links are the ones competitors can't get."

Rob Ousbey @robousbey

Designing link bait

"Ask your audience about linking to your content before you write it and do it on the phone."

Rob Ousbey @robousbey

Encouraging community participation

"Reduce the friction to participate."

Rand Fishkin @randfish

Writing headlines that stand out

"Use active language and include references to current events."

Ian Lurie @portentint

"SEO strategy is product strategy"

Laura Lippay @lauralippay

On @bhendrickson's new LDA data on language usage on-page

"Remember 45 minutes ago when we thought that links were really important?"

Rand Fishkin @randfish

Presenting data

"The sexiest report is a phone call."

Will Critchlow @willcritchlow

"Engage people, not sites."

Tom Critchlow @tomcritchlow

Here are the slides from the presentations at the event.
http://www.seomoz.org/dp/presentations-seminar-2010

A Dangerously Level Playing Field

2010-08-13T07:31:00.000-07:00

It seems like all my posts lately have been about Google Reader in one way or another. So let's keep it going!
Just a small observation today: when reading posts in Reader, all posts are presented in the place and in the same way. That's a good thing for info-holics but it can also be dangerous.
For the most part, the text formatting, professional graphic design, additional content and the overall 'feel' of the source site is stripped away in Reader leaving you with just the article itself. That's great for avoiding distractions, especially when you don't have to contend with mortgage ads or the dreaded auto-play videos that some sites insist on using. But some of those things (professional layout, the content that surrounds the article, etc) are indicators of authority that you just don't get in Reader.
If you're like me, you organize Reader feeds using folders. That puts all of your sources for news, which have varying levels of trustworthiness, in the same place with very little to distinguish between them. In Reader, all sources are presented equally.
That's good news for small publishers or business that offer RSS feeds - your content will appear right alongside the big time news outfits. It's dangerous to consumers who are digging through a large volume of news in Reader. Without a good mental filter, it's easy to take in all of that information as if it's been reviewed by an editor and appropriately vetted when in reality it can come from any rube with a laptop.
I put myself in that category and have caught myself reacting to information before considering the source carefully enough. It's especially tempting to take news and run when it's niche or industry content that major outlets might not have or if it's breaking, juicy news. (See Brett Farve's latest retirement proclamation, based on second hand emails and spread via Twitter.)

Google Reader as an activity hub

2010-04-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

I'm an unabashed Google Reader fan. Reader is considered to be a best in class web-based feed reader. But it can be so much more than that. Here are a few ways that I use Reader other than tracking my favorite feeds.

Bookmarking
Using the "Note in Reader" bookmarklet, I'm able to save any web page and organize it in Reader. Tags keep things tidy and I'm also able to add my own personal notes to remind myself why I saved it in the first place.

Custom Search
Because I've gathered all of my favorite authors and other sources of content in Reader, the search feature can be really useful. I have a lot of feeds and don't get around to reading all of the posts. In fact I usually skim the headlines for interesting items and use the "mark all as read" button generously to keep things clean.
Using search, I can focus a query on my favorite sources of info rather than the whole web. For instance, I read a lot of tech blogs that post dozens of times a day. If I'm looking for a review on a new product or a commentary on a new website, I'll use Reader's search to get the info from sources I trust, and quickly.

Brand Monitoring and Sharing
After using a variety of tools to create persistent search feeds, I use Reader to collect and share interesting items. Irrelevant results are a part of persistent searches. Rather than trying to fine tune my queries too far, I add my own human filter to the rough results to make sure I'm keeping only the quality items.
Using Reader, I scan the headlines of the items that come through and open the ones that look interesting. If the item passes the my quality check I add a label, which puts it in the 'keep' pile. The rest go unlabeled and stay out of the way.
The result is an ultra-clean set of persistent search results. And because I've labeled them, I can share them with co-workers on a web page (manage subscriptions -> Folders and tags -> view public page), in a ten-foot display format (subscription menu -> View in Reader Play), or as a new RSS feed. For stubborn email users, I can use Feedburner to deliver those items by email too.

Discovery
The team behind Google Reader has made great strides in this area lately. Because Google knows so much about you (which scares some people but doesn't bother me much) it can make pretty good suggestions about what you'd like to see. Reader's Explore bar gives you suggested posts and suggested sources of popular stuff related to your interests.
If you find that you're sorting through too much clutter, you can try PostRank for Reader, which further filters suggestions by giving them a popularity score based on other users' behavior. If you have a lot of feeds or if your feeds post frequently, it can be especially useful.
You can also try typing a topic into the 'Add Subscription" box and find new feeds that way.

More Reader Ideas
Besides reading blogs, I also use Reader to:
-Watch for new Craigslist and eBay listings for things I'm interested in
-Find interesting things to share on Twitter
-Get notified when there are questions on Yahoo Answers that I could comment on
-Refresh my desktop wallpaper with the best photos on the web
-Monitor the occasional Woot Off (although Reader is usually too slow to catch the elusive BOC.)

Add to all this the fact that the regular feed browsing features are amazing too and it's no wonder I'm in Reader most of my work day.

So bad it's good, so good it's bad: when campaigns turn on you

2010-03-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

The performance of a Marketing campaign is difficult to predict. There are just too many variables: vehicles used, frequency, the mindset of the recipients, unforeseeable marital scandal by celebrity pitchman, etc.
It's no wonder that sometimes we get completely unexpected results.

The Cult Status Effect - Execution that is so bad, it becomes a meme of sorts, spreading the word much further than if it were merely mediocre. A lot like winning the lottery, these rarely happen on purpose. It worked for The Snuggie, The Doyle and Devoe Real Estate Team and the Montgomery Flea Market but pursue this strategy at your own risk. Most bad commercials or ads simply die out quickly and anonymously. Or worse, you could become...

...The Punchline - The worst kind of viral ad. This type of message gets remembered and passed on for all the wrong reasons. What seemed like a good idea on paper becomes the bane of your existence. Bad campaigns are notoriously hard to live down once they've picked up steam online.

Too Much of a Good Thing - Like mom said, Halloween candy is wonderful but too much will give you a stomach ache. Growing up in Minneapolis, we visited family in Chicago on a regular basis. In Chicago, I remember hearing the catchy jingle for Empire Carpet - "5-8-8; 2-3-hundred... em-PIRE!" and thinking that it was a fun ad.
Now Empire commercials are aired in the Twin Cities and I hear their ads every single day on TV and on the radio. My nostalgia-hazed memories of Empire have been replaced with an intense loathing for the cursed song. (I realize that Advertising 101 says that repetition is good and even annoying ads work if they're memorable. There is a line though and Empire has crossed it.)
If the Empire ads are not familiar, think Presidential campaign ads or football TV commercials for men's prescription medication. You get the idea.

Extenuating Circumstances - Some things are simply out of a marketer's control. No matter how good an ad campaign is, it can be sabotaged. A classic example in the news today is Toyota. Their recent ad campaigns have been eye-catching and effective. (Even their Prius campaign, which is a little creepy, delivers their message well.) But all of that is undermined by safety concerns resulting from massive recalls.

It's good to remember that while we do our best to influence our marketplaces, persuasion is an unpredictable field that sometimes yields strange results.

Domino's Pizza Turnaround: The Missing Ingredient

2010-02-08T18:29:00.000-08:00

By now you've probably seen Domino's Pizza's commercial where they admit that their pizza was terrible. They've grabbed a lot of attention with this bold tactic and I give them credit for daring to be so transparent.

For all the things they've done well here, the story still seems less than genuine to me. They forgot one thing: the scapegoat.
They show chefs and executives reading all the negative feedback, swallowing hard and going back at it with a new enthusiasm. After a big group clap, they unveil the new pizza recipe that tastes way better than before. Does anyone else see the problem here?
The people delivering the new pizza are the same people that made the old pizza. Why should we trust them to do any better this time?
Domino's almost got it right. But if you're going to admit your product stinks, heads have to roll. We need to know that the problem has been identified and eliminated. There has to be a 'new management' moment that makes us feel like things are truly different.
Ending the 'pizza makeover' that way might not have been as uplifting but it would be more believable.

The Sacred Moment of Unboxing

2009-11-15T18:48:00.000-08:00

Shopping online is great for selection. It seems that no matter what you're after, you can easily find multiple vendors willing to ship it to your door.
The age old knock on e-commerce is that you don't get your hands on your product before you buy. Or even after you buy - not immediately anyway. You have to wait.

That's why your heartbeat might speed up a bit when you spy a brown box on your front step. The virtual experience you had a few days before has now shown up in the real world. You've already paid and endured the waiting and now the payoff is here. Will the product be right or will you be disappointed?
There is even more anxiety if you're trying a new vendor - are they legitimate? Or did you just get ripped off by a shady scammer?

Once the box is opened, all is revealed. It's a make or break moment for an online business. How the customer reacts will determine whether or not they remember your name, how they'll review you online and what they'll tell their friends. The moment of unboxing can be great for business or it can be a lost opportunity for growth.

In Pow! Right Between the Eyes, Andy Nulman encourages marketers to use the power of surprise to make an impression. It's relatively easy, can be extremely inexpensive and remarkably effective. So why not apply that wisdom to the critical moment of unboxing and give yourself the chance to maximize the opportunity?

That's just what MFM Apparel does when they deliver their unique t-shirts, illustrated with quirky characters. The resident artist, Saman, draws a small cartoon and message for each order that goes out the door. It's an unexpected, personal touch that reaches customers at that critical moment.
The rest of the process was pretty mundane when I shopped at MFM - browse for a shirt, check out online and wait for it to show up in the mail. The shirt was delivered in a boring white mailer too. But the surprise message inside was fun and memorable - surprises usually are. And during the unboxing, the fun of the unexpected extra rubs off on the product which rubs off on the vendor. And here we are.

If you're selling online, consider carefully what your customers will experience when they open up your box. And if you're interested in powerful word of mouth marketing, consider using the element of surprise to make sure that experience is a positive one.

Unsolicited Advice for the Professional Service Industry

2009-10-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

The recent explosion of information and tools available through the internet has changed things in a variety of industries. One industry that is slow to be transformed? The professional services: painters, landscapers, movers, appliance repair, etc.
Whenever I look for someone to help me with one of those tasks, I'm amazed at how stuck in the past these vendors are. That makes it a real opportunity for someone willing to get with the times.

The experience of hiring a contractor is a little unsettling. When looking for a furnace repairman for example, you've got to find someone qualified for the job even though you don't know much about furnaces. What questions do you ask? What is a reasonable price? Am I inviting a weirdo into my house?

Ultimately, the issue comes down to trust. Trust is everything to contractors.

Getting people to trust you is tricky. It's hard to put customers at ease, especially if they have just shelled out a bunch of money.
Most vendors don't help the matter at all with their behavior. I've found that even simple acts that build trust like calling someone back when you say you will or showing up on time are missed by your average painter or handyman. Here's where technology can help.
The internet can be a great equalizer. Small operations can use design templates to create a good looking website that will be miles ahead of the crappy designs that typify contractor sites. Using basic SEO practices, a 2-man lawn mowing service can rank for relevant keywords, boosting their credibility. (Because these jobs are performed by local contractors, ranking for local terms is very doable.) Blogging is a great opportunity to demonstrate expertise and build trust too.

Tech savvy companies could really stand out if thought about using new services creatively. Why not use Google Voice to ring multiple phones from the same 800 number and manage voicemail quote requests online? Or allow customers to see a live schedule for estimates on a website and book their own time? Or offer GPS tracking of service trucks so customers can know when to expect their service person to arrive?

The amazing thing is that the tools to do these things aren't prohibitively expensive or hard to use. They're cheap or even free.
And for these types of jobs, each additional sign up is huge. A typical painting job might be worth $2,500 and keep a crew busy for the better part of a week.

So why don't more professionals take advantage of the free tools available? I'm not sure. I think it has to do with the fact that often times the same person fixing your plumbing is the one handling lead generation. They are focused on their trade and don't want to think about the business side more than they have to. Marketing is something to get out of the way so you can get on with your work.
If that's right, technology can't help after all. The effort needs to come first.

For a company willing to try new things though, today's tools present an opportunity for extremely efficient marketing which costs very little money. The industry will change eventually so this opportunity is only available for a limited time.

Minnesota Tech Scene at SMBMSP

2009-08-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

I attended the latest Social Media Breakfast on Friday morning. I've always been curious to go and since the event was at the State Fair this year (and I wanted to go there anyway) I decided it would be a good time to give it a try.
The day started off early and wet and I found myself wandering through an un-crowded fairground for the first time I can remember. The event was held at the Blue Ribbon picnic area, on the opposite side of the fair from the bus drop off. That meant that I arrived a bit late but didn't have any problem finding a seat.
The program itself was pretty silly. It was funny to sit back and hear the bacon jokes and mixer games but there wasn't a whole lot of new content presented there. I started to feel a little disappointed that I'd come out until I left the tent and started shaking hands.
I spoke with Rich Goldsmith for a few minutes. (He had just presented an especially angst-ridden bacon haiku about the temptation to eat the non-Kosher food.) He shared a bit about his work in social media and how he's using it to reach new audiences. You can read Rich's work at Defenestrator.
Thanks to David Erickson (see his e-Strategy blog) from Tunheim Partners as well. He was at the fair representing No Name Steaks and we talked about their recent effort to add social media tools to their campaigns. The chocolate-and-bacon Conan O'Brien bust that has been all over the media lately was their doing and it was interesting to get a behind the scenes look at how they pulled it off.
The official content up on stage came around too. Eventually, the program moved away from musical chairs and toward some interesting and useful case studies from local companies. That of course is what the Social Media Breakfast events are all about - meeting people and learning from each other. Although I could do without some of the silly games, I enjoyed the event and would try it again.

The rain dried up quickly too and I had a great day at the Fair with my family. I recommend the cinnamon rolls for pre-lunch snacking!

Personalization: Power to the Printers!

2009-08-14T14:03:00.001-07:00

What's the difference between the pesky magazine subscription inserts that fall into your lap when you're trying to read an article and your personal business cards that you slaved over, shelled big bucks for and stake your reputation on? To the manufacturer, not much.

To the printer's eye, it's all just ink on cardstock. Ask the consumer though, and the difference is obvious: one is obnoxious advertising that you didn't ask for, the other was co-created by you to be perfect. The difference in those points of view has never been greater and that spells opportunity for manufacturers.

(Good) Content Producers Add Value for Money
Artists and content producers have long known about that ability to add value to simple production materials. That's why Renoir canvases go for millions of dollars and your art school homework gets $5 at a garage sale. By arranging their paint or design or text in certain ways, the artist has the potential to sell their products for a profit. For the manufacturer making the materials used in production, it doesn't help them a whole lot. It's better than making generic widgets maybe, but the author of the content has the best chance to make the money.

Things are different these days. The modern trend of mass customization through micro-quantity manufacturing is fueling a major Do It Yourself movement. People are empowered to produce their own content and products and want to do so, to show the world how unique they are.

Digital Manufacturers Enable Production for Money
This enables a really amazing opportunity for manufacturers that produce personalized stuff. Technology improvements now allow one-off production of things that used to require production runs of thousands. With the right tools in place, they can accept content produced by customers in the form of graphics, text, video, etc. and turn it into a tangible product. And sell it at a premium price. To the manufacturer equipped with digital production technology, they couldn't care less whether they're producing one order of 1,000 pieces or 1,000 orders of 1 piece. Except that they can charge a lot more for orders of 1 piece, even though their production costs are basically the same. After all, it's just ink on cotton or toner on paper to them.

What happens to the content producer who sends their original design to a t-shirt shop now? They get the opportunity to see their work come to life in a real way, even if they have to pay to get it. That's something I guess - it wasn't even possible a few years ago. Meanwhile, the t-shirt shop that produces the item takes home a very large percentage of profit while effectively outsourcing their design development for free. At least the designer gets a cool shirt out of the deal.

Testing the Boundaries of Lifestreaming

2009-07-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

It seems that everyone is opening up online these days. Tools for lifestreaming like Twitter and Posterous encourage publishers to share all kinds of details - how else are you going to fill a 24 hour day? Each person has a different idea of what's appropriate to post in a public forum but there are implications for the reader who digests all of these personal details as well.

Flipping through the channels last night, I ended up watching a rerun of Extreme Make Over Home Edition, usually good for a heartwarming story. The Kadzis family was featured and they seem very deserving of a new house, having adopted several special needs children and working in their community.
What made last night's show so unusual was that the day before the crew arrived to start on the new house, George Kadzis was rushed to the hospital, seriously ill. They knew that he had cancerous brain tumors and he had just taken a turn for the worse. The rest of the show made me feel a little strange because while all of the cool, entertaining things going on at the house were happening against the depressing backdrop of George's deteriorating condition.
The segments where ABC interviewed the family were especially awkward and I kept feeling like I shouldn't be watching it. It was too personal. Even ABC recognized there were some moments too sacred to be broadcast and agreed not to film George in his hospital room. (Although they did have cameras there and included some wide shots with his face blurred.)

With that experience fresh on my mind, I was made aware of another person's turn for the worse this morning via Twitter. Baby Stellan has a serious heart condition. The only reason I know that is that his mom writes about her children, including Stellan's struggles, at her blog. The blog is well written with beautiful photography and has a lot of dedicated readers.

Once I was made aware of the story from a Twitter friend, I could easily follow the unfolding events by reading MyCharmingKids.net, following the #Stellan hashtag or reading MckMama's own Twitter feed (Stellan's mom.) Seeing the resulting stream of activity is just heartbreaking.

In both cases, I felt surprisingly sad for people I'd never met before. There's nothing wrong with that; I think we're all called to have empathy. But it does take an emotional toll when you take on the worries of others.

The solution, of course, is to turn off the source if it becomes a problem. That's easy enough when you're talking about turning off a TV show but it's a little more difficult in the always-on, everyone's-a-publisher world of lifestreaming. I don't have any answers for this one, just processing out loud.

Please pray for Stellan and spread the word as appropriate. If you'd like to, you can add a graphic to your Twitter avatar to help raise awareness.
Likewise, pray for the Kadzis family. You can also make a donation by following the instructions here.

Trendwatching Made Easier

2009-06-26T11:33:00.000-07:00

Staying on top of trends is a key to serving consumer markets. Companies that can identify trends and react are at a natural advantage.
With so many potential sources for information, it can be daunting to keep an eye on the things that matter. Use a combination of Google and Firefox to make it easier.
To start, get Firefox. Then get the excellent SEO for Firefox addon installed and set up the way you like it. The plugin adds useful information and links to search engine results pages like Google's.
Once that is ready to go, head to www.google.com/insights/search. There, you can get information on the topics you're interested in. If you're looking to sell products in the U.S., you can filter the query to only apply to product searches in your geographic area. Submit your query and you'll get a bunch of useful tidbits. The information we're interested in is "rising searches," located in toward the end of the right hand column.
The rising searches section shows the queries that have recently become more popular. They aren't the most popular over all, they've just been moving up lately. If the results look like the kind of thing you're interested in, click on the icon below to add it to your iGoogle homepage.
Adding the Insights for Search gadget effectively creates a persistent search query for any term that rising up the charts. You can fill one of your tabs with a bunch of variations on your search and create a trends dashboard. Google also makes it easy to jump off of the gadget to learn more about the emerging trend. Mouse over a term, then click the g icon to go to a SERP. From there, SEO for Firefox takes over.
Instead of the regular results page, you'll get a truck load of enhanced features that are great for research. You can see the sites that are already ranking for that term, along with their estimated traffic and number of backlinks. If the sites look weak, you could consider creating content to compete with the sites and capitalize on the emerging topic at hand.
Underneath the query box, you'll also see other research tools. You can quickly see how much it would cost to compete with PPC ads for the term and about how often the term is searched each month.
All of these tools are already available, but the Google/Firefox combo makes the task easy enough to keep an eye on things each day.

When Going for Word of Mouth, Sweat the Small Stuff!

2009-06-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

It's easy to ignore an acceptable business transaction, one that fulfills all or most of a customers expectations. But if a company can deliver the must-haves first AND surprise the customer with more, it will be hard for the customer to avoid spreading the word.
I ordered some business cards from Moo the other day. They are not like other web based printing companies and that's a good thing. The thing that made my experience really fun and memorable, and the reason I'm writing about it now, is what happened days after I left their website.
Moo.com is not for everyone. The cards are expensive compared to other vendors online and the turnaround time is an unimpressive 5 business days. The design choices are neat but have very limited options for customization and there is no phone support. From a logical, features point of view, the site really doesn't cut it. But Marketing is not all about logic.
It was easy enough to get my cards designed and I finished my order feeling okay about the whole process. They even sent me order confirmation details from a fictional personality named Little Moo, using snarky, sarcastic language. Fun, but a lot of people are doing that these days.
My view of Moo went from ordinary to remarkable when I got my cards in the mail.

Instead of packing the cards into a big brown box, they were delivered in a sturdy, handsome desktop display. The Moo logo is subtly included on the box in silver foil and my cards look great stacked inside. True to their personality, they also included an extra business card printed with a meeting crossword game, just for fun.
The effect was that I immediately wanted to show them off. It feels good to see your name on a high quality item and I was excited about the display. It was unexpected. The carrier itself makes you want to slide out a few cards and start handing them out.
For companies producing personalized products, the moment of unboxing is critical. When I was shopping around for a business card vendor, I compared the features like a rational shopper. But when I was opening up the packaging, I was excited to see what I would receive - at a fulcrum point for potential experiences. By nailing the product packaging and including surprise extras, Moo left a great final impression.

The attention to detail may cost a little more in materials and product development time. But the differentiation created and emotions produced make it worth it.

Angry Trout and Brains on Fire

2009-05-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

Brains on Fire is an identity company that helps companies create sustainable movements by encouraging customer enthusiasm. They're way out in front when it comes to understanding and maximizing word of mouth. At the Brains on Fire blog, they have a recurring feature called The You Don't Need Us Awards. In other words, companies that already get how to engage their customers. Considering how most companies operate these days, that's high praise.
I was traveling on the North shore of Lake Superior last weekend (hearty people up there - it snowed mid-May!) and encountered a company that definitely does not need help with their identity: The Angry Trout Cafe. Here's why

They believe in a cause For the Angry Trout, that cause is sustainability. A lot of companies claim to be 'green' because that's what people want to hear these days. This cafe's owners are true believers that walk the walk and don't apologize for it. It's impossible to miss the fact that the Angry Trout believes in the sustainability ideal and practices it despite the difficulty involved and despite unpopularity with some people.
They are consistent From the way the food is prepared to the way the waste is handled, this place reinforces their message at every turn. Organic food is just the start. They use stoneware that lasts forever, buy all of their furniture and art locally and use small cloth napkins to save on water. They even run the entire place on 100% wind power. An they've been doing it all since 1987.
They have a manual Going beyond simply leading by example, the Angry Trout seeks to evangelize the sustainability movement. They have recorded their story in a fun, useful book called The Angry Trout Cafe Notebook. It even includes recipes to their excellent food along with practical information on their way of doing things. A store copy is available to read while you wait for your food or you can purchase your own copy and spread the word. A written history is key to creating and sustaining culture.

Whatever you believe about sustainability and a Northern Minnesota cafe's ability to change the world, there is no denying that sincere passion is a powerful thing. The Angry Trout doesn't need branding workshops or an identity company's services. They get it naturally.

Help a Reporter Out - Easy and Cheap PR

2009-04-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

For a small business owner, PR campaigns are tough. It's hard to reach out to reporters on your own and going through an agency is expensive. Help A Reporter Out is an easy way to get a boat load of opportunities to get published, and it's free.
By signing up for the service, you are offering to become a source. Reporters that need a subject matter expert will forward their requests to Peter Shankman, who organizes them and forwards them on to sources. You can sign up to receive the requests here.
The only problem with HARO is the volume. A typical email could contain about 30 inquiries and they're sent 3 times a day. You may only be interested in 1 in 100 topics so it presents a real information overload problem.
Luckily, Gmail's filtering rules are perfect for sorting through mountains of information. Here's how I've set up a filter to send me relevant requests:
1. Sign up at helpareporter.com with a gmail address
2. Create a new filter in gmail that looks for "shankman" as the sender
3. Create keywords to identify the inquiries that are likely to be relevant
4. Skip the inbox, apply a label ('HARO' will work) or forward it on to a different email address.
(If your RSS reader supports authenticated feeds, you can even turn that gmail label into an RSS feed and read it there. Google Reader does not have that option.)
Once you have the right email message, it's easy to ctrl+f to find the appropriate query. Gmail even highlights the term that triggered the filter. As always, be take care when reaching out to these reporters and make sure you can really contribute good info. This could be your opportunity to build a relationship with a valuable contact in your industry.

I remember that / I love that

2009-04-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah! Thinking about something or someone that hasn't crossed your mind in years is a pleasant experience. I remember that! It's kind of like scratching an old itch, an echo of the feeling you get when an answer is stuck on the tip of your tongue but then, there it is... Got it!

Sometimes that nice moment of realization is translated to the memory itself. "I remember that!" becomes "I love that!" I'm reminded of this phenomenon every time I run out and buy a song I was recently reintroduced to only to realize later that I didn't especially like it in the first place. That's why I'll accept a Facebook friend request from someone I wasn't even high school friends with. (Although I have gotten over that one in time - I ignore most friend requests lately.)

The transfer factor is multiplied when an old item is presently unavailable or if it achieves cult status. "New York Seltzer Water was the BEST!" or "I LOVED Married with Children and watched it every night!"
Just don't let it get too mainstream. "Nah, I didn't really get into Transformers much - I was more of a GoBot man."

Our memories are unreliable and surprisingly pliable by present forces. Nostalgia is a powerful thing and the smart marketer will remember that. So will the smart consumer.

Logical Marketing: An Oxymoron

2009-04-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

I'm a pretty logical thinker. I like to systematically break down a problem into its base parts until I understand all of the variables. I love figs. When I need make a decision (especially when spending money) I'm obsessive about research, listing pros and cons and triple checking my work. The problem is that people don't really make decisions based on logic, myself included.
The truth is, we're much more primal and impulsive than we like to think. If it were possible to be completely honest about why I do the things I do or buy the things I do, I wouldn't find a list of benefits or features. I'd find emotion, needs, justification.
The truth is, even logical arguments aren't logical if you look closely enough. I'm reading Godel Escher Bach right now (a real mind bender!) and it shows that there is no completely self evident statement. You can always question the assumptions of an argument into statements and then question the assumptions of those statements, on and on indefinitely. Eventually you need to just accept that a concept 'feels right.' In other words, you need to take a leap of faith.
So despite my love for data points and even though it makes me feel better to have all the background on an issue, it still comes down to feelings. My takeaway from a Marketing point of view: speak to emotional benefits, indirectly if need be, and take a flier on a project every once in a while.