Archive for October, 2007

Out of Town on a Convention Three-fer

October 28th, 2007 by Chief Nut

Great for convenience … not so great for the drain on my energy level. I’m in Boston for three conventions at the Boston Convention Center; PodCamp Boston 2, VON and NepCon. PodCamp for myself, VON for our Client Iperia, Inc. and NepCon for another client (and new Brand Strategy success story … more on that later), Paladin ID.
Yesterday’s opening event was a fabulous line-up of New Media moguls, including; David Meerman Scott, Chris Brogan, Chris Penn, Jay Berkowitz, Scott Monty, John Wall, Adam Weiss, Jason Van Orden, and MANY more. Over a two day stint there are 77 (no, I didn’t accidentally hit my 7 key twice) presentations in seven distinct topic channels. And the price one pays for such a star-studded extravaganza??? FREE!

Although I was hoping to get some of my Sybil-like personalities to attend events in other rooms, I ended up not needing to do that because co-horts Allen Voivod (Epiphanies, Inc.), Chris Forkey (Web Action Group) and Leadership development gurus Kathy and Louis Emond (Strategic Directions) are also in attendance. Not surprisingly, we DON’T have to compare notes because each of the sessions has been recorded and will be available by (duh) podcast.

Here’s a nugget from the show; I had the honor of chatting briefly with David (thanks for posing for the photo op) right before his presentation. Here he is showing off his laptop. Why should you care about THAT? David points out to each of his audiences that, on a per square inch basis, he’s willing to rent out ad space. By posting this photo on this blog, I’m hoping to “up” the value proposition to those companies who have already signed up! [wink]. The real point is that David, from the beginning of his presentation to the end, makes you realize that times have changed. To succeed, you have to “think outside the box” (that cliche was included as an inside joke to those who attended the presentation). Much of the material was from his fabulous book The New Rules of Marketing and PR …. a must read.

A little factoid I didn’t really care to learn about, however, was David pointing out that you’re tagged as being over a “certain age” if you find yourself typing two spaces after a period. Yes, even the rules of digital book publishing and document preparation have changed. Hrrrmmmph. That one may take some effort to correct.

Mashable Press Releases

October 20th, 2007 by Chief Nut

Seth points us to Mashable.com. The first post there caught my eye … and should yours too. It’s entitled “20+ Free Press Release Distribution Sites“. If you’re not utilizing the news release (using David Meerman Scott’s preferred term) as a major vehicle of marketing, you’re missing out on one of the fastest, cheapest, most effective strategies available to you.

Getting a #1 Google Listing

October 19th, 2007 by Chief Nut

Seth Godin's GlassesIn the processing of picking out new glasses, Seth Godin involved his readers and did two things. I suspect the first was intentional and the second not. 1) He tied the process of eyeglass selection to the idea of font face selection. Abstract, VERY insightful and worth reading. 2) He also got a number one listing on Google in less than 24 hours for the phrase “book about picking glasses”.

In the past week I’ve heard three people use a phrase similar to “I don’t get blogging” … or “I don’t understand what all the fuss is over blogging”, etc. In each case I patiently go through the process of explaining why blogging is relevant to the world — especially the world of business.

Let’s consider a fashion designer who wants to carve out a nice little niche for him/herself. They certainly have the experience to start a blog, yes? … as well as writing an article or two? … and, if you compile all of this great content together, you get a book! Here’s my point; The opportunity of getting the #1 listing on google for the phrase “book about picking glasses” was inadvertantly scooped by Seth Godin, NOT consciously mined by a more obvious (and beneficial) individual such as an eyeglass designer or an optometrist or a fashion consultant.

Tip #1 — If you ARE an eyeglass designer or an optometrist or a fashion consultant, AND you have a blog, there’s no reason why you can’t be capitalizing on this concept … and a million other similar ideas. THIS is the power of blogging. Be the first to write that book! Become THE expert in eyeglass selection!

Tip #2 — If you’re in another industry, what are the phrases that may not be frequently used but, when found by a Google surfer, would position you powerfully in the #1 spot and drive targeted, hungry customers to your front door? Want to take a guess who’s got the #1 spot (no peeking) for “Creative Web site design”? Yes, indeed, blogging is powerful.