TheWHIR Blogs - Hartland Ross Web Hosting Marketing Blog

Background to Marketing on Social Networking Sites

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:35:16 -0500

By Hartland Ross In a recent episode of The Simpsons, teacher Edna Krabappel confiscated her students' iphones to stop them from texting. Shakespeare be damned, because the new teacher gave the kids back their iphones and assigned them 20 minutes of Tweets on Twitter for homework. Such is this social networking world - an animated TV show imitating life. The world seems to be one big social network. It isn't just Edna's class who are tweeting - perhaps even your grandmother has an account. Stephen Hawkings and Demi Moore are tweeting. Over on facebook, everyone from Barack Obama to Aerosmith, to Bill Gates, Hugh Hefner and Jackie Chan are all there.

What can web hosts learn from the airline industry?

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:07:15 -0400

By Hartland Ross Well it seems Hostingcon has taken its toll on myself and our team in the sense that we have been very busy following up with clients since we got back hence my delayed post. I mentioned last time that I would like to explore the airline industry from both a marketing and operational angle. One of my theories, albeit I know next to nothing about the industry, is that I wonder how disappointed an airline really is when it is "forced" due to weather or control tower directions to cancel flights? Although they end up with customers such as myself who are inconvenienced, I wonder if there is a financial payoff for them? They can easily respond to these upset customers citing these problems as beyond their control however is this also convenient for them? Airline seats are perishable much like hotel rooms or seats at a movie. Once the plane has left, they can't fill any open seats - at least until they arrive at their next stopover or final destination. By cancelling flights, what is happening in effect is that they are redistributing these customers onto other flights that are less than full - even if those other flights are with another airline that will require some sort of financial compensation. I would imagine that after paying for seats from these other airlines and a few upgrades here and there, it's still more cost effective to do this than to have flown the cancelled flight. This gives airlines the trump card to play at the last minute once they already have you as a confirmed customer for a specific date pushing you out into sometime in the future to "optimize their inventory".

Hostingcon and travel delays

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:17:52 -0400

By Hartland Ross Many of the Hostingcon sessions have been commented on by various bloggers and unfortunately mine was not one of them. Due to two flights being cancelled, I had an unexpected overnight stay in an airport hotel in Toronto meaning that I didn't arrive until 6pm on Monday night - 24 hrs later than planned and 9 hrs late for my presentation. I had many people mention to me that they were in the room ready for the session and disappointed when they heard it was cancelled. Firstly I'm sorry to those of you who showed up. Hostingcon will be sending out copies of the presentations however if you would like a personal overview or clarification of the presentation, I would like to offer you the ability to reach out to me via phone 604 731-5530 or by email - info @ ebridgemarketingsolutions.com for any questions you have. As it turns out, the next leg of my travels to Columbus OH also resulted in huge delays and took all day to get from BWI to Columbus due to flight cancellations out of La Guardia (over capacity issues). I think I might follow this entry up with a side discussion about marketing and the airline industry. I have a few theories to test and I'm interested to hear your feedback. I hope the rest of you had better luck than I did.

Unconventional advertising - Part 2

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:22:27 -0400

By Hartland Ross In writing about inexpensive forms of advertising or promotion, I asked you to think about "sudden attacks sprung from hiding." Did the term "ambush marketing" come to mind? It's a form of marketing or advertising that lets you enjoy the benefits of sponsoring major events, without actually paying big bucks to be a sponsor. I know, I wrote about ambush marketing a few posts back, but it deserves revisiting.

Unconventional advertising - Part 1.

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:46:01 -0400

By Hartland Ross Countless thousands of dollars get spent every year on viral advertising, in pursuit of the Holy Grail of one million-plus views on YouTube. But the truth about viral videos and games is that you can't really plan and design them - you can only create them, release them in the vicinity of a suitable host, and hope it spreads. A viral ad or video is viral only if it actually goes viral, so be skeptical when someone says they can create one for you.

Six more savvy rules for news releases

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 16:36:04 -0400

By Hartland Ross 1. Frequency. As I mentioned before, make sure your press releases are either newsworthy, or that they tell a good story: Quality always trumps quantity. But that said, try to make sure you issue frequent releases to help keep your name high in the minds of editors. 2. Target your releases. Don't just send them out to every publication and PR service you can think of. Ask yourself who will find your release relevant and send it to them.

17 Rules for Writing Press Releases

Mon, 18 May 2009 18:44:34 -0400

By Hartland Ross 1. Make sure your press release is newsworthy. If it is truly a newsworthy story, editors are much more likely to use it. 2. If you are sending a release about a product or service, write a story about uses and benefits, not a blatant pitch for your business.

How to Cut Marketing Costs with Newsworthy Press Releases

Tue, 05 May 2009 00:41:28 -0400

By Hartland Ross Let's say you are spending too much on marketing and need to cut costs, or you want greater marketing exposure, but can't increase your budget. One quick answer is to use the power of press releases to enhance your marketing. There are four good reasons for using press releases for marketing: 1. Press releases cost much less than other forms of advertising. They may be distributed free, or for a small one-time fee.

How can you compete against multi-million dollar ad and marketing budgets?

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:47:09 -0400

By Hartland Ross The short answer is: You can't - at least not head to head. But there is a mighty lesson to be learned about competing with giants from a small Australian company called Messages on Hold (MOH). MOH may no longer be as small as they once were, but they are still tiny compared to the major telecom carriers in Australia and the Pacific region. Nevertheless, in a very short time they have climbed from obscurity to become, in the entire region, the leading company offering promotional telephone message services. And they did it all while spending very little money on advertising.

These are churning times -- and not just stomach-churning ones.

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:47:08 -0400

By Hartland Ross Whenever the economy takes a hit, churn rates rise as companies seek ways of paring costs. It's almost identical to what happens with mobile phone services, as subscribers seek out ever-better deals. The answer to churn, of course, is stickiness - and stickiness is built through customer service. Actually, it's a little more than that: stickiness, or customer loyalty is built by serving your customers in ways that delight them.