Author Archive

I have begun a series of interviews of thought leaders here at Engauge. These interviews are short and to the point, covering topics that are highly relevant to CMOs, VPs of Marketing, Marketing Directors, Marketing Managers, and other marketing professionals.

In this episode, I interview Ed Hill, who is the Search Engine Optimization Manager for Engauge:

Questions that are answered in this video include:

• Why is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) so important to the marketing mix?
• What are some of the most effective methods to influence your rankings in the search engines?
• What are some effective ways to measure the efficacy of Search Marketing programs?
• What are some tips to help sell the benefits of Search Engine Optimization up to the management team?
• How can one predict the effects of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by leveraging blogs, link building, social media, or other marketing methods?

If you think that the topic might be relevant to a colleague, then pass this link on or you can tweet this message with the link at the top right:

http://www.Search-Engine-Optimization-for-Business.com/

Please let me know if there are other topics you would like to see us cover, by leaving a reply below.

You know something has gone “viral” when your mom sends you a video…

I received an email with a link to the following video about the evolution of Social Media that was produced to promote Erik Qualman’s new book Socialnomics:

Social Media Revolution Video

It is sort of an extension of the “Did You Know 2.0″ video, originally created by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod and XPlane, shown at the Shift 2008 Conference:

Did You Know 2.0

The new video is an excellent continuation of the idea that Social Media is not just a “fad,” it is changing the way we communicate with each other and consume goods and services.

You are consuming the words I am writing, here on a blog… how very Web 2.0 of you!

I had the pleasure of delivering a presentation at the Online Marketing Summit here in Atlanta in June called “Marketing to Millennials – Don’t Phail!”

Knowing that my presentation would be happening at the same time as two sessions about Social Marketing by Srikant Sharma, Director of Marketing, OpenText and Vincent Young, Director of Brand Marketing, Eastman Kodak, I could only assume that we would have a smaller audience for my session. It was definitely an intimate setting, and it made for a highly engaged dialog about how to reach millennials. Here is the presentation: Marketing to Millennials – Don’t Phail! as well as the audio recorded (courtesy of Tom Anthony): Marketing to Millennials – Don’t Phail! – audio

You can hear from the audio (even though it is just a bit rough) that the audience asked some GREAT questions and engaged me as well as others in the crowd.

After the breakout session, I had the pleasure of serving on a panel in front of almost 200 OMS attendees along with experts:

• Stacy Williams, President, Prominent Placement
• Vincent Young, Director of Brand Marketing, Eastman Kodak
• Scott Voigt, VP of Marketing, Silverpop
• Lindsay Blankenship, Director of Search Marketing, Razorfish

OMS founder and chair, Aaron Kahlow served as moderator.

It was a blast to again engage with the dynamic crowd of interactive marketers. We ran out of time before we ran out of questions being asked and answered.

In the past the Online Marketing Summits have been hit or miss in terms of the content of speakers, but I can tell you that based on the Summit here in Atlanta, OMS has raised its game! You can find out more about the OMS at their website: www.OnlineMarketingSummit.com

I have been thinking a lot about the flood of email we all get in our inbox every day.  I remembered a site that a friend told me about: 43 Folders.  Not only is Merlin Mann’s site increadibly helpful, I found a great video of a presentation he gave to Google employees:

Inbox Zero with Merlin Mann (the video is about 30 minutes long with 30 minutes of Q & A)

Merlin (perhaps he IS sort of a magician) suggests that there are 5 outcomes for every email in your inbox:

• Delete (or Archive)
• Delegate
• Respond
• Defer
• Do

He points out that this is common sense, but it is great to have a system.  The goal of his system is to free you from living your life in your email inbox and allow you to get more things done.  His thought is that you should only have to check your email once per hour.

Merlin also points to a very simple idea for composing email which can be found at Five.Sentenc.es.  The premise is that any email you write should be a maximum of five sentences long.

Watch the video and read the 43Folders.com/iZero website, and you too can shed your email shackles!

Working at an interactive marketing agency, we talk about personalization as a major difference between ”Web 1.0” and “Web 2.0.”  Many think that personalization and using technology to connect with people in a more personal way is the future of interactive marketing.

When is the last time you received a personal thank you note?  When is the last time you sent one?

Today I received a personal thank you note from a partner for referring some prospective clients and serving as a mentor.  Here is the catch: the card was not entirely personal.  The sender used a service called SendOutCards.com which allows you to select a card, upload your message and recipient’s address, and have a card sent directly to them.  I did a double take when I received the card before I realized that it was not personally written.  Not only did the envelope appear to be hand written, but the card did as well.  There are many services (including Hallmark, American Greetings, etc.) that allow you to personalize their cards before sending, but SendOutCards.com is unique (as far as I know) in that they will allow you to send them a handwriting sample so the card can be written in YOUR handwriting.

When I showed Jeff Hilimire the card I had received, he said “wow, that is kind of like the future.”  Indeed it is, Jeff.  The future will help us leverage technology to connect in a more personal way.  What is more personal than sending (and receiving) a hand written thank you note?