The Marketing Message Blog

Community building tools

For info on the latest community building tools, check out the February issue of Entrepreneur.com.  You'll find an article by Amanda C. Kooser called "Make your new site social" with a sidebar on "Networking Tools."

She mentions four that are worth a look.  They are:

1. Google Friend Connect This is in beta. No technical knowledge needed.

2. Ning Very popular, lots of great features

3. Wetpaint Wiki based

4. Yuku Adds forums to your website

If you determine that an online community will work, start small and see how your audience responds.  The key is to make everyone feel like participating.  When a few people dominate the conversation, it's not very rewarding.

Note: I've used Ning and recommend it highly.  The others look interesting, but I haven't built a community with them.

Website Optimization-Speed, Search Engine & Conversion Rate Secrets

I'm always on the lookout for books I can recommend that simplify the complex or at least don't contain an unnecessary level of complexity.  I don't want to waste your time if the author can't or won't boil down his information to its essence.

Right now I'm reading "Website Optimization—Speed, Search Engine and Conversion Rate Secrets" by Andrew B. King and I recommend it highly to those of you who are developers or are marketers who want to go at least one level up from the basics.

The early chapters are devoted to learning how the basics are applied and later chapters talk about maximizing conversion and employing advanced web metrics. If website optimization is your goal, check out this book.

YouTube Marketing

When it comes to YouTube videos, everyone wants to get into the act. New York Magazine, September 3-10, 2007 reports that even some Realtors with video cameras are making it work for them - "One broker says he found a buyer by sending a video to his email list; within 24 hours he received a full-cash offer." 

This should be something you're thinking about.  The idea is to send a video to your mailing list with an offer they find irresistible.  You'll catch their attention and stand out among the clutter.

Are Newsletters Dead?

I'm guest blogging at Online Marketing World whose conference is on Oct. 3. Check out "Are Newsletters Dead?" if you're interested.

Take a look at Widgets— Part 2.

As we noted in "Take a Look at Widgets Part 1", widgets are really hot. But, I think they're more than just the next bright shiny object.  They let users build and control their own little information worlds. 

We all know that online users expect control as their right.  With this in mind, check out Reena Jadhav's article on Imediaconnection called Widgets and Toolbars: Personalize or Die   She talks about the focus on control causing the 'my generation' as in my favorites, my blogs, etc. New tools like widgets make that easy. 

Take a look at Widgets— Part 1.

Check out Businessweek.com's article "The Next Small Thing"   The small thing they refer to is a widget.  To the uninitiated, a widget is a small application that you can drop onto your blog or other page to provide some particular functionality.  We've all seen the clocks and weather reports.  That got old fast.  But widgets promise much more. 

The ability to create your own 'world' of functions lets you be a programmer and content producer.  You can provide functionality for something you think compliments the space its on.  Or to be more specific, it allows you to place your ads, software, videos, etc. where customers can more easily find them. 

Regarding widgets, Netscape and Ning founder Marc Andreessen is quoted in the article as saying , "I think the Internet is going through a major, major shift," "Concepts are now able to spread on a million Web sites. It's super exciting because you can get huge scale very quickly. The big widgets have the potential to become the new networks." When Facebook started to allow widgets, they were taken aback by the avid response.

Coming next is Part 2. Widgets and Toolbars

Does Your Blog Utilitze Autoresponders?

Although autoresponder technology has been around a while, I am finding that lots of beginning bloggers are not using them.  I thought that might be because they seem 'too technical.'  But I'm finding that it's not fear, people just don't know they need them.  If you have a blog and you're not utilizing an autoresponder, you are either not following up with your customers or you are spending all your time following up with them.

Either way, if you want to build your mailing list and satisfy your customer's need for your expertise, get an autoreponder quickly.  I use 1Shoppingcart.com.  Others I know use and like AWeber.com.  The key is to get one and start using it to build your mailing list. 

When you started your blog, you worried about getting readers.  Now that you have some readers, you think your work is done.  Unless you engage your readers and continue the dialogue with more specialized information, you are missing a great opportunity to grow your business.

Don't Forget Your Own Links

I'm finding something interesting as I look at deconstructing blogs for my Blog Lab  Most people understand that providing links is a great way to share the wealth, get traffic and get read.  But they miss linking when it comes to their OWN marketing channels. 

When you are building your strategy for your blog (yes, your strategy) you should be looking at how all your channels fit together.  By this I mean how your blog supports your website, newsletter, surveys, etc.  Everything should support and drive traffic to the others. 

In the "old days" of website design (say 1998) the cardinal rule was never link people away from your site!  So you'd always open new information in a new window so that when they closed it, they would still be on your site.  Now the rule should be— never send people away from your blog, site or any other channel without making sure you've given them an opportunity to learn more about how you can help, support or benefit them. Show them all your marketing channels!

To test this, go back and look at all your marketing channels and see if they all link to one another.  I think you'll be surprised at what you find.

Technorati tags: marketing marketing+tools blogs blog+strategy increase+traffic lead+generation

White Papers for Fun and Profit

If I told you I just read a fabulous book on white papers would you tell me to get out more?  Well I have and you should too.

Michael Stelzner's new book "Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged" (see Required Reading List) is a great resource on a rarely covered topic. Michael knows white papers like nobody else.  He's written 100 for big names such as Microsoft, FedEx and Motorola.

What I like about his book is that it can be applied to more than just white papers, although the information about that is essential.  Typically, white papers are dry and boring.  Michael's book will help you avoid that fate. You can create something valuable that will help your company make a sale! Check out his sample chapter.

What Can You Do to Avoid Tactic Failure?

I've noticed that everything written lately about online marketing for the small business owner assumes that every tactic goes according to plan.  You write a blog and develop a big following.    You create a mini-site and everyone swarms to buy your product.  We all know marketing (and life) just doesn't work that way.  So what can you do to avoid what I call "tactic failure?"

I like creating Likert Scales for this. The first thing to do is make a list of all the negative things that you believe could happen—your blog won't attract readers, your product will have defects, etc.  Everyone has a list of catastrophes in their mind.  The key is to make that list works for you.    A good example of how this applied can be found in Chapter 5 of Mind Performance Hacks by Ron Hale-Evans (See required reading.) 

A Likert scale requires you to make a forced choice that goes from most to least. Each item has a point count assigned to it.  So a scale to measure probability could look like this: very improbable 1; improbable 2; somewhat improbable 3; neither probable or improbable 4; somewhat probable 5; probable 6; very probable 7. If you create two Likert scales and multiply them, you get a useful understanding of priority.  In this example, create one for 'importance' and multiply it with the one for probability. Once you determine how likely something is to happen, you can tackle the important things first and make success more likely.

Technorati tags: planning project+management failure management leadership success