Twitter is a great way to connect with your market in a real-time fashion.  This site has posted reviews of several Twitter software tools in the last 18 months or so.  Tweet Adder has been around for some time, but not formally reviewed here.  Jamie and the team at Tweet Adder continue to build in features and add value to the product.  They were one of the first to support both PC and Mac when they released the 1.0 version. In this review I’ll touch on the debate surrounding automation of Twitter accounts, and what I find to be the three most compelling features of the latest update of Tweet Adder.

Review of Tweet Adder Latest Software Update

The Debate of Automation

No doubt this review will rub some people the wrong way.  Despite the fact that we are all limited to 24 hours in a day, some insist that automating anything related to social media is unethical.  The reality is, we are all busy professionals and technology is and should be used to leverage our time.  I’m sure you can think of one time when you spent too much time with social media activities. We’ve all done that.  I’m of the opinion that there is nothing wrong with mixing in a bit of automation into your twitter feed, and I’m not alone.  Some of the most known marketers online who embrace social media are using various forms of automation in their Twitter account.  For more Twitter time saver examples read go here.

Add RSS Feeds To Your Tweet Stream

This feature makes it easy to post a tweet to an updated piece of content based on the RSS feed.  Drop the RSS feed in, and when new content is posted to that site it will share it with your followers. FYI: The screenshots in this post are also found on the Tweet Adder site, and are posted here for your convenience.

Re-Tweet Tweet by Keyword

If you have favorite people in your market that you offer valuable information, you can identify them as a retweet candidate when their tweet contains certain keywords. Learn more about Tweet Adder here.

Twitter Profile Data (Bio) Search

This is a pretty basic feature; some of the search parameters can be performed doing a manual twitter search (http://search.twitter.com/advanced). What is nice is the option to exclude those with the default Twitter avatar. In other words, if the account didn’t take the time to modify the default avatar, it may not be a valid account, rather a spam account. It allows you to specify following/follower criteria, as well as number of updates. Learn more about Tweet Adder here.

Other Noteworthy Features In Tweet Adder 3

• Does not run on Twitter API
• Tweets posted via “Web”, vs posted via “API”
• Run Multiple Profiles at the same time
• Follow, Unfollow, Tweet & Message throughout the day in a natural looking way
• Has both a Windows Version and a Mac Version
• Ability to remove profiles with default picture
• Ability to remove profiles with urls in tweets or biography
• Twitter List Search imports another users twitter list
• Flexibility with result filters
• Profile search results maintain how you found them with source keywords
• Unique Tweet Generator – creates unique tweets automatically
• @Reply Tweets – post a random tweet @someone who posts a tweet directed @you
• Setup and Schedule Automated Tweets
• Schedule and Set Up Direct Messages

Learn more details on these features of Tweet Adder here.

Bottom-line on Tweet Adder 3

For those who recognize the value of time as well as the value of having an active twitter account Tweet Adder is worth a look.  The latest update makes it easier to manage your profile with a robust set of features.  If you are an existing Tweet Adder customer, good news they currently offer lifetime updates, so no additional costs.  For new customers Tweet Adder sells at different price points, currently it’s $55 to manage a single Twitter profile all the way up to $188 for unlimited profiles. Learn more about Tweet Adder here.

Comments? Feedback? Chime in using the comment boxes below.

Technorati Tags: tweet adder review, twitter apps, twitter automation software, twitter software

As a panelist at a recent event I attended this year, I was asked why MarketingProfessor.com visitors are prompted for their email when visiting the site.  After inquiring further, it was evident that for this individual, asking for an email address was taboo and almost offensive.  He is not alone, many share this viewpoint, and suffer for it. In this post I’ll share a few ideas why a publishing a newsletter is essential for your online marketing efforts.

4 Reasons Marketers Need to Publish Newsletters

There can be many streams of revenue for a business, email marketing is one of those potential streams, yet is often overlooked or dismissed without proper consideration.  Here are 4 reasons to have an email newsletter.

Sets Expectations – Subtle But Important

When someone signs up for a “newsletter”, it is understood that they will be communicated with regularly until they unsubscribe.

In contrast, if someone signs up for a special report, or to get access to particular information only, they often disengage if the marketer continues hammering them after they have taken the initial bribe.  In those scenarios there is actually a reverse effect, as some subscribers will get irritated and report it as spam, negatively impacting email delivery rates for the marketer (more on email tracking here).

Relationship Building

The great thing about email is it can be personal, if you make it that way.  If you represent a large company, being “personal” might not be a fit for your newsletter, but the newsletter can have personality.  As the saying goes, “people buy from those they know, like, and trust” sharing what you know is important, and doing so in the context of a story that readers can identify with make it a more compelling relationship building tool.

Newsletters as a Traffic Driver

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites can be a great way to drive traffic to your site.  However, if you have a list of email subscribers, with whom you have a relationship with, driving traffic just got easier.  When posting a compelling piece of content, you now have the option to notify subscribers via email of your post and why they will benefit.

Example: I did this a while back after posting a conversation I had with Mari Smith, generating more traffic to the video on YouTube.

Newsletters as a Revenue Driver

If you can drive traffic, you can drive revenue. Recently Darren Rowse of Problogger.net responded an event presenter who thought having a newsletter wouldn’t be worth it, as readers would not click on ads at his site, and therefore did not create one.  In his post Newsletter Readers Do Click Ads, Darren shares a graphic of AdSense earnings from different Traffic sources.  Below is a screenshot:

Beyond that, engaged subscribers can aid your marketing efforts with product ideas and features, as well as future marketing plans such as product launches, there’s offers, cross-sells, affiliate partner offers among other ways to monetize a newsletter.

What we use: MarketingProfessor.com is powered by both Infusionsoft, and Aweber.  Checkout other Recommendations here.

Bottom-line on Email Newsletters

This is not a get rich quick approach, and perhaps why it is scoffed by many…it takes long-term effort and consistency for an email newsletter to pay off. As you set proper expectations, build relationships, you’ll be in a position to drive traffic and revenue.  Done correctly it will level out revenue streams that may be cyclical without it.

Your Turn: You have an email newsletter? Why or why not?
Image Credit: Chris Campbell

Technorati Tags: email marketing goals, marketing revenue streams, online marketing strategy

WordPress is a great platform to publish content on the web.  Blogging, as it is known, has taken the web by storm, and given voices to anyone who has something to say, and can type.  WordPress is a big part of the blogging world.  It is free software, and it has a host of addons that users can download and apply to their site to increase it’s usability and functionality for publishers and readers alike.  These addons are called plugins.  This post reveals 15 of the plugins used on this site.

15 WordPress Plugins I’m Using and Why You Should Too

WordPress is a great platform to publish content on the web.  Blogging, as it is known, has taken the web by storm, and given voices to anyone who has something to say, and can type.  WordPress is a big part of the blogging world.  It is free software, and it has a host of add-ons that users can download and apply to their site to increase its usability and functionality for publishers and readers alike.  These add-ons are called plug-ins.  This post reveals 15 of the plug-ins used on this site.

Align RSS Images

If you have images that don’t honor your alignment preferences when viewing in an RSS reader, this plugin will fix it. Fix RSS Images here.

All in One SEO Pack

The best, most flexible SEO Plugin I’ve used for WordPress. Great for setting title tags and meta data for individual posts, along with many other features. Find All in One SEO Pack here.

Crawl Rate Tracker

This tool saved me when I learned my site had been invisible to the search engines.  With the click of a button I can see pages crawled over the last 30 days by Google, Yahoo, Bing, as well as Technorati. Find crawl rate tracker here.

Disqus Comment System

Great for managing spam comments, integrating with Facebook, Twitter, and getting backlinks to posts.  It also tallies references to the post on Twitter.  Learn more about Disqus here.

Featured Content Gallery

This is the carousel on the home page of the site, scrolling through featured content to draw visitors to the sites content.  Get a cool flash gallery/carousel for your site here.

Google Analyticator

For easy integration of Google Analytics into a wordpress blog.  A must have for tracking the effectiveness of blog posts, search phrases and more. Get the story on Google Analyticator here.

Google XML Sitemaps

Sitemaps are necessary to help the search engines understand how to crawl your site.  It allows you to exclude certain posts, pages, and categories, as well as determine how often the sitemap is updated.  Access Google XML Sitemaps here.

MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate

This is a paid plugin, which makes it easy to turn words into hyperlinks which goes through an affiliate link.  While not as robust as this tool it does a decent job of reporting on click activity, and allows for sub-campaigns. See if this plugin is for you here.  There’s also a full review here

Related Posts

Simple but effective way to serve readers other content they might be interested for matching topics. Get related posts plugin here.

TS Custom Widgets

Probably one of the best free plug-ins out there for monetization.  It allows you define widgets (see them here on the right side) based on the category of a post and more.  You can download it here.  Here is a full review of this WordPress plugin on YouTube or below.

WordPress Database Backup

If you aren’t backing up your wordpress blog, you should be.  Disasters happen, and hackers are malicious.  Backups provide a way back, and this plug-ins schedule tool let’s you send them to an email address of your choosing as often as you want.  Get it here.

WordPress Gravatars

For having fancy icons next to authors or commentors who have a gravatar profile. Get it here.

WPBuzzer

If you want to make it easy for users to Google Buzz a post, and keep a tally of Buzzes on the post as well.  Download WPBuzzer here.

WP tags to Technorati

Makes it easy for Technorati to categorize your content and drive more links and traffic to your posts. Find it here.

WPtouch iPhone Theme

Excellent plugin for the ever growing mobile marketplace.  Simplified user interface for those browsing from smartphones like the iPhone or Android. Download WPtouch iPhone Theme for WordPress here.

What WordPress plug-ins are you running?  Chime in below.
Image Credit: curiouslee

Technorati Tags: blogging for business, blogging strategy, wordpress plug-in

The rise of social media for business has resulted in email marketing service providers integrating their own social pieces into their offerings.  Constant Contact recently added new features to do just that.  The service now gives customers the ability to sent a tweet when publishing newsletters, and the ability for newsletter readers and event attendees to share via Twitter and Facebook.  Features are highlighted below accompanied with screenshots.

Review of New Social Features in Constant Contact

Marketers love the idea of content “going viral” and social media provides one of the best mechanisms for that to happen.  While viral campaigns may not happen with every attempt they are achievable when there is attractive or shocking content that can be easily shared.  Constant Contact now makes it easier for customers to share content  on social networks.

Tweet and Share Your Newsletter

Prior to customers broadcasting a newsletter in Constant Contact, they now have an option to send a tweet out using their integrated Twitter account.  The tweet includes a link to an online version of their newsletter.  Which makes the next feature so valuable.

Technorati Tags: constant contact, email marketing strategy, list building tips

There are few reasons to adopt a new piece of software, unless it has real productivity gains.  I’ll admit, I like cool tools like the next person, but if the tool doesn’t help me get more done, it won’t last.  A couple years ago when Google first entered the browser market by releasing Chrome, everyone was impressed with it’s speed, but the discussion didn’t go much beyond that.  Today, several versions later, and a maturing extensions leaves me using it more than any other browser.  Let me share 3 reasons why.

3 Reasons Why I’m Using Google Chrome More Than Ever

If your primary job has you working online most of the day, it is all about proper focus balanced with productivity.  Using Chrome might move things along for you a bit too.  Here are reasons I’m using it more than Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari.

1-Speed and Reliability

2-Support for My Favorite Extensions

3-Bookmarks Everywhere

Photo Credit: lafabriquedeblogs

Technorati Tags: browser plugins, productivity tools, software reviews

I guess you can never “settle in” with anything technology, especially when it comes to the interconnected services of social media.  This became pretty obvious to me when I discovered and signed up for Schmaps & Schnaps (thanks to @marismith).  This service gives users a way to share photos and events with followers on Twitter and Facebook, and makes it easy for them to share.  I just got started with the service, and took some screenshots along the way.  Would you use this service?

My Impressions of a New Twitter Tool Schmaps & Schnaps

First you need to login to the service with your Twitter account, and grant it permission for access.  This allows it to use your twitter background on all your photo and event links.

Image Sharing

The service allows you to upload images, and from what I can tell there is no way to do this from the iPhone, Android or other smartphone, must be at a PC or Mac.

After the upload was complete, I was prompted with the following screen:

Followed by a tweet format screen:

I decided to preview what the page would look like, should my followers click the link:

You’ll notice there is an option to both retweet the image, as well as add a comment.  This could be very useful for professional photographers or enthusiasts.

Finally I sent the tweet.  You can see the tweet here.

Events- Perhaps the Best Feature of This Service

These are geared for face to face events, and could be useful to local chambers, meetups, tweetups, or if you or your company are hosting your own offline events.

I plugged in the address, and hit the “schmap.it” button.

NOTE: When Facebook events to import.  I didn’t test this part (had no events), but perhaps it let’s you tweet those out too.

The service pulls the map from Google maps, and then allowed me to upload an image.  There are quite a few options on this page, including allowing for people to RSVP.

Here’s another screenshot:

Schedule to Tweet Your Events. Look at the options I found after saving the event.  It allows scheduling of tweets, DMs (most recent followers),and @Messages (most recent followers), along with posting it to Facebook.  Since this was just a test, I tweeted it only once (it’s here).

Here is what it looks like in Facebook:

Lastly, it gives some useful stats about your schmaps and schnaps. Between the tweets and the screenshots, there have already been some views. The management panel also allows you to edit, tweet, or copy previously created events or images.

Overall, if you are someone who has high quality images to share on a regular basis or wants to twitterfy (is that a word?) your events, Schmaps and Schnaps is the best service I’ve seen so far.  However, if mobile is the way you like to do things (iPhone or other smartphone), this isnt for you (yet).

You can sign up for one of the free accounts they have available, through July 31st they are offering a Two Year $240 Pro Account Free.

Would you use a service like this? If using an existing Twitter/Facebook integrated photo or event service, would you consider switching?  Why or why not? Chime in below.

Technorati Tags: product reviews, twitter apps

I golfed in High School, and loved it.  Golf takes talent, desire, and a dedication to develop your craft.  Form time to time I watch Golf on TV, and am familiar with quite a few of the pros names.  So who is Louis Oosthuizen?  If you never heard of him before, you aren’t alone.  He’s a 27 year old golfer who was unknown before this weekend when he won the British Open Golf tournament.  He drove the ball well, sank a few amazing putts, and was very well composed in the midst of the pressure.  I didn’t watch the whole tournament, but watched enough to get a good feel for his skills, and learn that his nickname is Shrek.  One thing that stood out was the red dot on his golf glove.

3 Takeaways from South African Champ on Golf, Business and Life

If you have a moment watch the champions interview below. Or see it here.

The red dot on his glove got me thinking.  Did you catch what he said there? He has a tendency to, “get carried away by thinking about a lot of things.”

He said he needed, “a trigger to get back in the moment, compose…focus on the shot and forget about everything around…”

When asked about telling sharing this day with his 6 month old daughter one day, he glowingly replied, “I’ll probably try and ge…a DVD…and show her the whole thing.”

Essentially he’s:

• Aware of the potential of distractions that exist and can keep him from his goal
• Has a built in “trigger” to help him focus and play within himself
• Playing for something more than himself.

Wow, applying that to growing my online business and having balance in life, here are a few takeaways I’m considering:

• The importance of having focus in business and marketing activities.
• The awareness that distractions are everywhere, it is critical to build in (and reinforce) “triggers” to remain focused
• Playing for something bigger than myself.

What takeaways did you come away with? Chime in below.

Technorati Tags: inspiration, perspective

Some of these marketing and continuing education courses are expensive, and should be considered investments. A couple weeks ago, a post here discussed Factors to Consider When Purchasing Marketing Education Products.  It was suggested that the post may be the most unpopular one on this site, not because the information is bad, rather, it contains practical ideas that aren’t so flashy.  Crazy stuff, like thinking through your purchase, seeing it as an investment, etc. But that is just how we roll here…  If you have taken the time to determine if a course is for you, went ahead and made the purchase, the next question for me is, what is the best way to consume the information and apply it to your business? Here are a six tips I find useful.

6 Tips for Making the Most of Your Internet Marketing Education

One – Schedule – Put It On Your Calendar

I find I get more out of a course when I:

• Decide to prioritize it scheduling time to go over the course materials.
• For webinar or teleseminar delivered content, put them on my calendar and commit to be there.
• Allocate an additional 15 minutes a the end of each session, and spend 15 minutes strategizing possibilities of how the information can be applied to my business.
• Assign deadlines for the low-hanging fruit identified in strategy session.
• Allocate time to review suggested materials to prior to the next webinar.

If I am unable to attend a live webinar, I reevaluate my commitment in light of other projects, and then schedule time to listen to the replay, assuming it is available in a timely manner.

Benefit: With these approaches in place, I get to “application” aspects of the course much faster than without.

Two – Review Before Reading

I didn’t like studying growing up… it was just to SLOW and boring for me.  Years later I learned the value of tricking myself into learning.  It’s pretty straight forward.  Before reviewing materials for the next section, I review the notes from the previous session, including the strategy brainstorming session.

Benefit: I find myself going into the reading/studying time with more excitement, and it prepares my brain to receive the information in the next section or session.  Thanks to Dave Ellis for reminding me of this technique.

Three – Muscle Reading Exercise

I have only done this once since learning this from Dave Ellis, and it helped tremendously.  It is pretty simple idea, and it goes something like this, with a notebook, a pen, and the course  materials:

• Scan through all the materials in order.  No more than 1 -2  seconds per page.
• Write down things that caught your attention on a page in the  notebook.
• Write the text, section header, or chapter, and be  sure to include the page number.

Benefit: What I ended up having is a list of things I’m interested in.  I  found that absorbing the information was easier and faster when  I covered the materials in detail. Maybe it was a fluke…so far I’m pleased.

Four – Getting Visual with Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is something I’ve been doing for some time.  Recently I started doing it as I go through various courses.  Sometimes with computer software (MindJet, and just started testing out The Brain), but also with just pen and paper.

For me, pen and paper allows the creativity to  flow smoother when not having to deal with a keyboard and  mouse.
Here’s how I do it:

• Create an initial topic with an oval, it might be a chapter, or section of the course.
• Create links to subtopics that are connected to the main topic.
• Use stars or colors to highlight important points.

Once the mind map is complete, I make a secondary mind map  reflecting the action items and priorities of applying the information just learned.

Five – Notebook

Simply, a place to jot down important information about what it is I’m studying.  Recently I’ve combined this with my business journal  (lesson one).  As a wise person once said, “Writing it down helps crystallize thought”.  If the course is serious enough to invest time (an money), it is serious enough to write it down.

Six – Develop Goals

Not everything you learn in a course will apply to your business.  “Eat the meat, and spit out the bones.” When you see the meat, write it down, explore how you can implement it, and then put a time-frame on implementing it.  Consider ranking goals so that the ones that have the greatest impact while requiring the least amount of effort are at the top of the list.

Bottom line, I find I get out of a course what I put into it. These tips have served me well.  What are your thoughts on this?  How can I help?
Photo Credit: MOOby

Technorati Tags: internet marketing lessons, internet marketing tips

The show that airs tonight, July 8th, 2010 at 9pm EST is simply called, “The Decision”.  The title reflects what traditionally takes 12-15 seconds for most athletes to convey. Not only is this unprecedented, but I you might be surprised to learn where this idea reportedly started, and why it’s better to show up late to the social media party than not at all.  I believe there are some potential game changer elements here, what do you think?

Update: Why LeBron James “Decision” is a Game Changer – Marketers Edition

Earlier this week a post discussed the Marketing Lessons from LeBron James Free Agency, tonight he is revealing his decision in a 1 hour prime-time show on ESPN.  So much has been said about this already, here, I’m thinking about the marketing impact of his Game Changer approach.

It’s Unprecedented

Never has a professional athlete taken 1 hour of primetime as a result of a deciding what team they are signing with.  LeBron’s spin? Share his decision and to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club of America with the program sponsorships.

Image: LeBron’s “The Decision” show as promoted on ESPN Home page.

Reportedly…It Started with the Media

A lot of people are upset that LeBron has gone this route in revealing his team of choice. He negotiated with ESPN reportedly hand-picking the interviewer Jim Gray.  However, according to a Tweet from sports reporter Dan Patrick ,  “LeBron’s ‘Decision’ Show was Jim Gray’s (another reporter) idea. He pitched it to LeBron’s handlers on June 6. http://bit.ly/bxU5KY“

Is LeBron James simply being selfish and narcissistic or is there something more?

Late to the Web and Social Media

Early on one of the top active athletes in social media was Shaq.  To date, Shaq has over 3000 tweets and nearly 3 million followers.  He was a teammate of LeBron’s last year, and LeBron remained uninterested in social media until now.  This week LeBron opened a Twitter account and put up a website.

Some social media gurus have suggested it is too late if you haven’t started marketing your business through social media channels.  Oh contraire!

Questions About the Potential Impact

• Will he go on TV to crush Ohio, and leverage the 1 hour show to apologize?
• How does he go on national TV and leave a northeast Ohio without humiliating them in the process?
• What are the long-term impacts of this approach the LeBron brand?  Compelling story if he stays, cold and harsh if he leaves.
• Impact of “the Decision” approach if he fails to win a title with the Cavs or a new team in the next year?

Some Takeaways I’m Pondering as a Marketer

• Excellence is rewarded. World class performers get special opportunities.
• The average marketer may not have access to national media, but it is important to build relationships with local media and with people of influence.
• It’s never too late to get started with social media or any other marketing channel, have a plan, and start working your plan. Get more ideas about this how here, here, and here.

Where will LeBron Go? No idea, but we will all know soon.  Just as interesting, how will he handle 1 hour of air time for a 12-15 second statement that so many are waiting for? Is he an egomaniac, or is he simply interested in leveraging this platform to help children involved in Boys and Girls clubs throughout the country?

“The Decision” good or bad, will go down in historic on many levels. It is new territory for both ESPN (network airing the show), and the athlete.  For now this Game Changer approach contains lessons for every marketer at any level.

Agree? Disagree? What’s missing? Share your thoughts below.

Technorati Tags: case study, social media strategies, Twitter marketing strategy

Marketing lessons are all around us, but sports marketing is particularly intriguing.  Whether a fan or not, if you have caught the news in the last few days, you no doubt heard some report about Lebron James.  As I was thinking through observations of LeBron James’ free agency, I’m convinced there are some marketing lessons here for the rest of us; I’ve included some of my ideas below.  What is missing?  What do you think?

Marketing Lessons from LeBron James Free Agency

Be World Class

One of the most effective ways to market is to give others something to talk about.  LeBron has taken his natural gift and worked at it to become one of the best basketball players in the world.  He has a strong work ethic and one of the most rigorous workout programs of all his peers.  This has put him in position to be one of the most sought after athletes on the planet

What do you or your company have that is uniquely yours? What programs do you have or could you have to maximize that uniqueness?  What can you do to be world class and obtain “Lebron” notoriety in your market and with customers?

Make Teammates Better

The best compliment any professional can receive is how great they are to work with. One of the things LeBron is good at, is making others looks great (career high in assists last year – that’s where he passes the ball to a teammate who then scores). Marketing is a team sport.  Whether a virtual assistant, customer service rep, or even your email marketing or hosting service, making teammates look good is good for morale, it also good for business.

Maximize Opportunities with Partners

Make no mistake, LeBron is a team player.  In addition to being a great basketball teammate, he also knows what it is to partner with people outside his circle to make them look good.  During this free agency period, he is also hosting his Nike Basketball Camp.  Word is, he is not making a decision as to the team he will sign with until the camp is over later in the week.  Nobody knows how intentionally strategic this move is, but certainly Nike will benefit from this additional exposure.

Don’t Show Your Hand – Keep Them Guessing

While reading information about free agency possibilities, one of the frustrations the media has had is the lack of information from LeBron’s camp.  Yet, just yesterday he surprised many by showing up at his Nike Basketball Camp, he and a few other NBA players.  He was expected to skip yesterday’s and come to today’s camp, but so far today he is reportedly a no show.

There is nothing like curiosity to keep the attention of your market. Can you think of some examples of companies that do this well?

Think Long-Term

LeBron wants to be in a situation where he has the greatest chance to win multiple championships.  He wants to become a legacy, and not the legacy of the “best athlete to never win a championship”.  Being a winner on the court today positions him for accomplishments off the court years after he has left the game.  What are your long-term marketing objectives, what are you doing today to help get you there?

Control Your Message

Early last season he made it clear to the media that he wasn’t going to speak about his plans until the season was over.  He kept that promise which has been tested many times in recent months.  He will announce his decision on his terms.  NOTE: LeBron did open a twitter account today follow Lebron here (at this time already has nearly 35K followers).  FYI: Tiger Woods made most his announcements through his website in the last year.

Stay Home

Keep yourself in familiar surroundings; don’t stray too far from your roots.  So far, all the teams had to come to Cleveland to sell LeBron on joining their franchise.

The net result: during this free agency period, everything to do with professional basketball is overshadowed by, “Who will LeBron sign with?”  He has taken his craft and become world class with it, been a team guy all the way around, kept the media and competitors guessing, had a long-term view on things, while controlling his message from the comforts of home.  When he does make his decision publicly, you can be sure other big decisions will follow in response, which contains yet another lesson…

What do you think of these observations and lessons?  What’s missing?  Chime in using the comment boxes below.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Technorati Tags: marketing example, marketing ideas, marketing strategy