http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/news/ News about what's coming at Web Content en rabailie@intentionaldesign.ca Copyright 2009 2009-01-05T18:03:29+00:00 http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/when_the_economy_gets_tough_the_tough_get_content/ http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/when_the_economy_gets_tough_the_tough_get_content/#When:18:03:29Z When the tough get content, it’s not con-tent’ as in contentment. In a depressed economy, discontent is the mood of the day. No, the tough get con’-tent, as in “content is king”. Robert Rose, the VP of Strategic Planning for CrownPeak, gives his prescription for online marketing success in a tough economy in a video presentation, available from the CrownPeak site. First, figure out who is visiting. The website remains the key, and using it as an online marketing platform is the goal. To do this, you need to figure out who is coming to your site. After all, visitors are just visitors unless they convert into customers. Then, feed high-quality content into your site frequently, on a regular basis. Spend money on creating quality content, not just on cool technologies. You want to be sure that your content is optimized, targeted toward the right market, and measured for effectiveness. Rose cautions against personalization, noting that unless you are amongst the publishing giants, hiding your content behind a firewall will work against you. Finally, Rose warns that you need to keep a look-out for the next big thing; if you don’t experiment and fail occasionally, you’re not pushing yourself. Rose presents at Web Content Tampa Bay about some of the The New “No Rules” Of Online Marketing: How Social Media and Content Marketing Changes Everything You Know - And Nothing You Do. 2009-01-05T18:03:29+00:00 http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/three_magic_words_of_web_marketing_search_engine_optimization/ http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/three_magic_words_of_web_marketing_search_engine_optimization/#When:18:23:08Z In a world where the elevator pitch is considered the maximum attention span of the average listener, entrepreneur and marketing strategist Sonny Cohen thinks you should be able to explain your business in three words or less. That’s a pretty fast elevator, and it’s called keyword search. When your prospects enter their three magic words into the search engine, then praise their search engine for delivering up just what they needed on the first page, you want to be there. With more than 25 years experience, Chief Marketing Officer for Duo Consulting, Cohen, educates web professionals about ways to drive business results, with his presentations such as Content is Marketing, So Market Your Content and the Content Matters workshops. Read the white paper: Getting Noticed by Search Engines to learn about the new paradigm in positive attention-getting. Don’t miss Cohen’s presentation, Drive Website Traffic with Effective Keywords, at Web Content 2009 Tampa Bay. 2008-12-18T18:23:08+00:00 http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/training_to_create_creatve_jocks/ http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/training_to_create_creatve_jocks/#When:08:55:58Z Anyone who has seen the YouTube video of the Diet Coke and Mentos science experiment, which creates an effect that imitates the Bellagio Hotel Fountain display in Las Vegas, must marvel at the creativity of the chemists who thought to use this combination of ordinary materials in an unusual way. The creativity aspect isn’t necessarily in using the multiple nucleation sites of a Mentos, combined with a fizzy soda, to explode, but rather the idea of orchestrating the experiment and adding music. It’s no wonder, then, that the Mentos experiment shows up in performances by the Blue Man Group. Gary Unger, author of How to Be a Creative Genius, says that creativity is a marathon, and just as marathon runners can participate in a sprint, sprinters can’t reciprocate. He advocates training to bring out your creative side, much as an athlete trains for a competition. Creativity may begin with aptitude, but doesn’t need to be limited to those who were born with that gift. Creativity, particularly in one’s area of expertise, can be developed and put to use in the workplace. Hear Gary Unger talk about Using Social Networks To Promote A Book, the story behind his own experience, at Web Content 2009 Tampa Bay. 2008-12-18T08:55:58+00:00 http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/visual_literacy_affects_site_usability/ http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/visual_literacy_affects_site_usability/#When:23:36:05Z In the content management world, the difference between data and content is often described as the human factor: is it read by humans or is it read by the system for “housekeeping” purposes? Human-readable data is usually described as content. Bits of data that lack context without the surrounding content - a price, for example, that lacks meaning without knowing what item the price is attached to - is usually described as data. In the “content is king” pursuit for good content, visual content often gets overlooked. Every visual cue has a meaning, whether it be a color combination (when does red and green not indicate Christmas?) or shading (we’ve all experienced the frustration of the option we want being “greyed out”) or a strategically-placed line (how many of us stopped scrolling when we hit a “false bottom” of a web page?). Visual literacy may have become commonplace for the generation we call digital natives, but reading visual content doesn’t come naturally to the older generations of online users. The need for a design to create a conversation with site users is critical to helping them navigate through the site. Ken Walters discusses aspects of visual communication in Design Is Content, Too at Web Content 2009 Tampa Bay. 2008-12-17T23:36:05+00:00 http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/head_in_the_clouds_put_data_there_instead/ http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/head_in_the_clouds_put_data_there_instead/#When:09:28:11Z To cloud or not to cloud, that is the question. There is a fair amount of debate about cloud computing these days, as organizations try to decide whether to take advantage of online tools and move their data to remote servers, or to keep control by using traditional software on dedicated internal servers. There is likely no definitive answer, as business requirements vary wildly from organization to organization. In an article for smallbiztechnology.com, Jonathan Sapir discusses the pros and cons of cloud computing and helps organizations understand the advantages and mechanics, using metaphors that any business owner can relate to. At Web Content 2009 Tampa Bay, Sapir presents Situational Applications: Cost Effective Solutions to Immediate Business Challenges, which describes ways to capitalize on the new technologies available to all sizes of business. 2008-12-03T09:28:11+00:00 http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/the_tension_in_a_tug_of_war_needs_two_players/ http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/the_tension_in_a_tug_of_war_needs_two_players/#When:09:08:03Z The Request for Proposal (RFP) process, once meant to ensure that corporate and government purchasing was done fairly and efficiently, has developed, over the decades, into an exercise that is often counter-productive to the original intent. Instead of ensuring that a corporation gets the best possible product for the best possible price, the RFP often becomes a powerful tool that serves to source complex technologies ill-suited to being sourced that way. While the RFP may work to purchase light standards, it’s disconcerting when an RFP for light standards is sent out, still bearing the “Track Changes” marks on a few paragraphs, to source a Web content management system. Yet though the issuer has subverted the process, the respondent is required to respond, because not to play the game is to automatically lose. Tony White has a lot of experience with RFPs, educating clients in how to fashion one and educating vendors in how to respond to one. The result is meant to create an effective way of setting out the requirements, and eliciting responses that are meaningful toward a beneficial decision-making process. Before getting to the RFP stage, it’s important to understand what a content management system can do, and how to use it towards your marketing campaigns. His session at Web Content Tampa Bay, Marketing Campaign Management on the Web: The Current State of Marketing Tools within WCM Systems, is a must-attend for anyone thinking of acquiring a Web CMS. 2008-12-03T09:08:03+00:00 http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/the_many_faces_of_library_architecture/ http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/the_many_faces_of_library_architecture/#When:09:03:27Z When we think of libraries, we think of books: row upon row of hard-cover books organized into the predictable order of the Dewey Decimal system. It might be surprising to know that only about one-third of public library space is used for books. The other two thirds are used for other activities, such as meeting rooms and, of course, computers. Whether it be the modern and controversial Seattle Central Library by Rem Koolhaas, Moshe Safdie‘s Roman Colosseum-like Vancouver Public Library, or the classical architecture of the Chicago Public Library, designed by Solon Beman - known for his Christian Science churches, digital information has gained prominence both within the physical spaces and in the online presence. The need for a well-designed and functional website is as important as the building itself. It’s not only for those who patrons who want to look online for books and other materials on hand in the library, but also for patrons wanting to do online research from remote locations. Making the online experience the friendliest possible was a challenge faced by Chicago Public Library’s Kelly Wheeler and the Duo Consulting team, including Fred Salchli. They discuss their challenges and triumphs in the case study, ChicagoPublicLibrary.org - Rebuilding a Website One Book at a Time, at Web Content 2009 Tampa Bay. 2008-12-03T09:03:27+00:00 http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/great_design_supports_great_brands/ http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/great_design_supports_great_brands/#When:08:47:11Z Building a brand goes way beyond a logo, which is simply the visual icon that customers come to associate with a brand. The Nike swoosh, the colors of Google, McDonald’s M, the colorful quadrants of Microsoft - none of these symbols actually indicate what the corporation behind the logo does, but each icon elicits an emotional response that can articulate brand values. Trustworthy? Customer-focused?  Borg-like? Cheap but cheerful? All of these manifestations of brand are the result of multiple stories that have infused the public sphere. The effect of brand on a site, or more accurately, of a site on brand, plays out slightly differently. An online presence can detract from a strong bricks-and-mortar brand if the organization’s site screams out lack of functionality. A “cute-but-dumb” site deters users from engaging with not only the site but often the company itself. Matthew Schwartz of MSDS discusses form, function, and fashion - web design fashion - in his presentation, Functionality Matters: Why Great Design Can Be Bad for Business, at Web Content 2009 Tampa Bay. 2008-11-28T08:47:11+00:00 http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/traffic_is_just_traffic_unless_clicks_turn_to_leads/ http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/traffic_is_just_traffic_unless_clicks_turn_to_leads/#When:10:30:49Z Ask what organizations are trying to achieve with the marketing content, and they’ll likely say it’s search engine optimization. Ask smart organizations what they are trying to achieve, and they’ll tell you their aim is to generate qualified leads. They understand that search engine optimization is only an interim step towards the real goal: making sales. While the end of the rainbow seems to be search engine optimization, success can take on a very different look. Generating quality custom content is one way to convert leads to customers. Infosurv, a marketing research firm, has shown that measures such as distributing high-value white papers can increase web conversions - sometimes by as much as 200%. Lisa Calhoun, founder of Write2Market, demonstrates other strategies for promoting brand and getting users to click. Some of these techniques can be found in the white papers on the Write2Market site, or you can hear her speak on Instant Brand Messaging: Writing To Be Clicked at Web Content 2009 in Tampa Bay. 2008-11-19T10:30:49+00:00 http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/getting_viewers_to_ask_for_your_marketing_material/ http://www.webcontentconferences.com/tampabay/2009/news/getting_viewers_to_ask_for_your_marketing_material/#When:10:32:52Z In a world of marketing noise, the key is to cut through the cacophony with some wanted melodies. Among the ironies of marketing is that while users claim to dislike ads, in reality, they only dislike ads for things they don’t want. When the product or service is relevant, users can become quite engaged. With the advent of social marketing, there are more opportunities to keep users engaged. Vibes Media, a company delivering mobile technologies, has demonstrated how interactive marketing creates engaged users. They have published case studies involving, among others, some of the hottest properties in Hollywood. Alex Campbell, cofounder of Vibes Media, shows how the mobile platform has become the new marketing frontier in his presentation The Mobile Marketing Truth at Web Content 2009 in Tampa Bay. 2008-11-18T10:32:52+00:00