Marketing Experts News

How Big Is The Internet ... Really?

And how do you stand out from all the tons of content? How do you find the best amidst all the noise?

 

Thanks to Creative Mornings and Brad Frost for this great video.

Seth Godin Shares Top Free Things Every Site Should Do

This very useful checklist for marketing any site at any stage of popularity from master marketer Seth Godin is sure to perk up your promotion.

Check it out here.

Boost Your Alexa Rank In 1 Week!

Jason Fox generously shares these simple steps to boosting your Alexa rank. It's easy and you can follow it as a checklist to repeat over & over again. Thanks Jay for the great share! Click the link below to check it out.

Boost Your Alexa Rank In Just 1 Week!

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Playstation 4 Announcement - Branding With A Soul

Sony has a soul. They proved with the opening of their PS4 announcement video that they know who they are and what they're doing.

While profits are important, because a business can't survive without them, staying true to the soul of your brand will keep the profits rolling in and make them grow - a lot.

Know what your company is about. What's your mission? Your vision? Your purpose? What do you represent? This is your brand's "soul". Knowing it, staying true and coordinating all of your marketing around it will build a company with staying power.

It has to be bigger than the "small stuff". That low level viewpoint of what you and your customers are doing day to day. It is the ESSENCE that you represent.

And it should weave throughout and permeate every message that comes from your company. Every promo piece, every email, every press release, every customer service call, internally and externally. It should be completely ubiquitous throughout your organization and be reflected, no matter how subtle or overt, in everything you do.

And a note on the song at the opening of this video: It took me a while to find it because there aren't many posts on it yet. But I did.

The song is called Monster Hospital by Metric and you can download it on iTunes.

Enjoy! -- Toli

 

 

Seth Godin - Pearls of Marketing Wisdom

If you do nothing all week but watch this video, it will be worth it.

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Seth Godin on The Icarus Deception, risk-taking and why it's better to be sorry than safe [Video]

"Life Is Too Short Not To Do Something That Matters" - Seth Godin

Seth Godin - How to get your ideas to spread

2012 Marketing Trends - Free Report Download

SmartBrief on Social Media & Adobe have given us this useful and informative report on what to expect in 2012 & beyond for digital marketing.

You can download it here.

Some DVD's Won't play on computer - Windows 7 - SOLVED

I have 2 simple solutions to this problem that have both worked for me. Suggest trying these before getting into the more complex software updating solutions.

I've been wrestling with this problem for over a year and had just been using another computer when I really needed to read a DVD. I found 2 solutions and with the 2nd one, I'm now able to read all DVD's with no problem.

Solution 1: Clean the laser head with alcohol. Take a dab of alcohol on a q-tip, let it air out for a second or 2 so it's not dripping wet. Then dab it on the glass laser head to clean it. Takes about 1 second.

Leave the drive open for a minute so it dries completely.

Retry playing DVD's.

Solution 2: Now this is a bit specific for my HP Pavillion with HP Smart Media Player installed.

Basically it seems that my DVD player/burner was encoded for the wrong DVD region. There are different regions based on geographical location (I guess this has something to do with pirating protection).

Anyway, if your DVD is not set for the right region, at least some, if not all, DVD's won't play. So I was trying to watch a regular DVD movie, which I've never done before on this computer, and the HP Smart Media software let me know about the region setting. I changed it to the recommended setting which the software did for me automatically and now all DVD's that would not read before work perfectly.

So the solution is to check the region settings for your DVD player to be sure they're right for the DVD's you're using. 

 

The Business Of Video Games

This video gives a great perspective & overview on why interactive media such as video games can be highly profitable if done right. It also gives perspective on how to wreck something great if done wrong.

 

Mass Effect 3 Joins New Coke In Marketing History

Congratulations Bioware. You’ve now joined the ranks of New Coke in the annals of marketing history.

For those too young to remember, back in the day the top muckity mucks at Coca-Cola decided it was time for a “change” and that they should change the formula of Coca-Cola to something “new & different” in order to boost sales, their image and “keep up with the Joneses” (i.e. Pepsi).

Needless to say this change was met with great consumer outrage and horrible PR for Coke. So a few months later they changed the flavor back and came out with “Coca-Cola Classic” which is why you see the word “classic” on your Coke cans today.

At least the execs at Coca-Cola had the humility and courage to acknowledge the errors of their ways, admit they screwed up and give their paying customers what they wanted. CNBC did an entire special on Coca-Cola in which they admitted this and talked about it openly. You can watch it on Netflix or Hulu.

Will we see the same humility and courage from Bioware? So far, I think not. Their response to the public outcry about the ridiculous ending to Mass Effect 3 has been smug and arrogant at best. Bioware changed their successful “formula” in the creation of the ending to Mass Effect 3 just as Coca-Cola changed their formula for the Coke the world had come to know and love. Same song, different key.

What if Coca-Cola had said, “It’s OUR beverage and ‘artistic vision’.” “WE are the creators of Coca-Cola and we can make it taste any way we like.”, etc.,etc. Would the media have jumped to their defense as many mainstream game media have with Bioware? I think not.

The fact is that any business, any PRODUCT, has a responsibility to give its paying customers what they want or risk going out of business. Anything “created” can frankly be considered “art” because art by definition is the creation of something. But, as soon as commerce enters into the equation, the task at hand expands and must by necessity include the ability to exchange that “art” with one who will in turn pay money. If someone won’t pay for it, then commerce makes a quick exit and viability crumbles.

So Bioware and EA, what you need to do is recognize that you are in a COMMERCIAL business and as such have a responsibility to deliver art that people want to pay for and are happy with in order to stay in business. If you just want to be “artists” and “do your own thing customers be damned” then go ahead and make your “art” your own way. But don’t try to sell it or make a business out of it.

My suggestion is that Bioware, EA and especially Casey Hudson and the other execs behind the so called “artistic vision” of the Mass Effect 3 ending fiasco take a lesson from the good old billionaires at Coca-Cola and eat your humble pie, knock off the arrogance and turn out a NEW, APPROPRIATE ending to the game, then “sit back on the beach and live off the royalties from the vids” purchased by your now HAPPY CUSTOMERS.

Related Links [Video]:

ME3 Ending DLC Discussion

Excellent Analysis Of Why The Ending Is "Broken"

The Business Of Gaming - Great Overview Of How This Happened In The First Place

Anatomy Of A Website

Anatomy Of A Website

Many people take for granted the creation and deployment of a website. They often think of it as a purely a technical thing and that its content comes from some mystical place such as the webmaster’s or web designer’s mind or worse "The Website Fairy".

It is very very far from that and in fact, contains many elements both in its formation and continuing operation over time.

Think of a website much as you would a home or a building in which you plan to live or work. 

Approach the creation of your website as you would the building of your home or workplace. After all, your website is your virtual “home” or “residence” on the World Wide Web.

If you think of it this way, you will begin to see the
estimation of thought and work required to properly create, deploy and manage a
website. 

Let us take say, a restaurant as an example. If you were building a restaurant you would ask yourself a variety of questions (hopefully) before you began construction. Questions such as:

1. What kind of customers do I want to cater to?
2. What impression do I want to make on them when they enter the establishment?
3. What kind of food do I want to serve?
4. What kind of equipment do I require to adequately prepare and serve this food?
5. How do I want the food to be presented to the customers?
6. How many customers do I want to be able to serve simultaneously?
7. Do I want to serve alcohol? What types? Do I need a wine cellar since I plan to have a large wine selection?
8. Do I want televisions to display sporting events?
9. Do I want to provide WiFi internet to my patrons?
10. What type of wiring do I need? Lighting?
         Music?
11. Do I want a maître di?
12. How will phone calls be handled? Will I take reservations?
13. How will the restaurant be decorated?
14. How will I promote it to get people in the door?
15. What do I want them to be able to do when they get there?
16. What are your personnel requirements to stay in business and service your customers?
17. What will those personnel need to do their jobs?
18. Etc., Etc., Etc. 

In other words, you would make a fairly complete assessment of your needs, desires and those of your potential customers and employees BEFORE you began to invest the time and money to build your restaurant.

Well the same degree of thought and planning should go into the creation of your website. 

In fact, most of the highly successful websites and internet companies that you see employ this degree of planning, forethought and management, and then some. 

Below are the key overview points that should go into the successful planning and creation of any website.

The more sophisticated the site, the more users you plan to have, the more work and time is involved on each of the steps below.

Simple brochure type sites of only a few static web pages take less time, BUT, each of the steps below still applies. 

1. Purpose & Function Planning
2. Content Planning
3. Content Creation
4. Copywriting
5. Design Planning
6. Design Implementation & Execution
7. Functionality & Programming Execution
8. Hosting Planning & Set-Up
9. Promotion & Marketing
10. Sales & Lead Management
11. Content Updating
12. Content Management
13. Hosting Management
14. Site Performance Management (Technical)
15. Site Performance Management (Marketing & Sales)

Use these key 15 steps to successful website planning and development and your next website will be more likely to perform the way you envisioned. 

The next article in this series will discuss and define each of the above points in some detail. You will learn what each means and what is involved in each stage.