Pondering the Future of an Integrated Marketer

Gather - a new twist on blogging and social networking

2005-11-17T09:29:00.000-06:00

My former colleague at Participate, Dave Woodrow, recently invited me to join Gather, a new approach to combining blogging with social networking. Interesting concept.

Here is one of Dave's contributions, an interview he recently conducted with Stony Farms:
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976717588

And below is the how Gather describes themselves:

How To Gather

The Gather experience begins at the site. Dig in and enjoy the writings of other Gather members. It's easy to register and create your profile so other members can get to know you. Then, create your network. Start by inviting and connecting with friends, family, and colleagues. Then share your content by publishing, adding tags to help other members easily find your articles. If your content is only for certain eyes to see, you have the option to share it with a select few. As the other members' content interests you, subscribe to their work and receive updates with each new travel summary, short story, photograph, song, or Podcast they publish. Unlike the wide world of random blogging, Gather categorizes your thoughts by topic. Other members can easily find, enjoy, comment on, and rate your contributions. By the same token, you'll find people you deem interesting with just a keyword or two as you search articles for compelling content.
Earning Rewards

Being part of such a community is reward enough. But you?ll also get Gather Points(TM) just for participating online. Inviting new users and submitting outstanding content will earn you points. The more people you invite to join and the more valuable content you submit, the more points you acquire. Gather Points(TM) are your currency to purchase goods and services from your favorite Gather partners. Top earners can even exchange their points for cash.

Will be interesting to see if this gains momentum. Still in Beta, but worth a look.

Made it Easier to Add Comments

2005-11-17T09:26:00.000-06:00

Friend of mine pointed out that to comment on this blog you had to sign up for a blogger account. Not my intention. I have change it so now anyone, including those of you who need to hide your identities, can post.

Brett

Check out Tag Cloud

2005-11-15T22:17:00.000-06:00

From my days with Participate Systems, where we developed an online community platform that had a natural language search engine at its core, I have always had an interest in search technology. And once you start diving into search, then taxonomies, how content is tagged and organized, invariably comes into the equation. I recently stumbled upon this site, tagcloud, which appears to have taken one of yahoo's search apis and built an interesting little tool/web service. Basically, you upload all the RSS feeds that you are currently subscribed to into their site. Then they search for the keywords in those feeds and create a Tagcloud for you. You can then post that custom tagcloud onto your site. See mine in the bottom right corner.

I think it is pretty cool. What do you think?

Taking a good commercial too far

2005-11-15T11:06:00.000-06:00

I spend a fair amount of time commuting these days. While I often listen to podcasts, I spend a healthy amount of time listening to radio, specifically ESPN. For a long time now, there have been a series of commercials from OnStar. OnStar is the service that comes on GM cars (I think) which allows you to talk to an operator, report an emergency, have your car opened remotely. Lots of helpful stuff.

The commercials usually feature a real OnStar operator as they receive a call and help a person out... In one ad, an OnStar customer calls in to say they have been in an accident and need help. The OnStar operator asks a couple questions, then immediately contacts the local ambulance/police to dispatch help.

What sticks out for me, is the fact that the woman who has been in the accident really sounds hurt and dazed. Her airbag has deployed so you know it was a serious accident. The operator hears the ambulance coming in the background.... and then, quickly adds, something like "Remember we are here for you." I am sure that is exactly what a critically injured person wants to hear at this serious moment... a plug for the service.

I love this ad series but this one didn't need the added plug at the end. It ruins the affect.

My two cents.

It's a Google world and we are just voyeurs

2005-11-09T22:27:00.000-06:00

The more cool stuff I look for on the web... the more my path leads to Google. Just dropped their adsense ads into this template. Easy.

Then added their google search bar to the lower right column and set it up to just search this site. Again, Easy.

Added a audioblog post a couple days ago from my car... again powered by a google partnership.

Going to try and drop a map in here next... I bet it will be powered by Google.

Musings of a wanna be entrepeneur

2005-11-03T14:55:00.000-06:00

Been spending a lot of time lately investing blogs, podcasts, and all the other cool things that are exploding around us. Below is my first audio blog post.

Tried out audioblogger, a sister site to Blogger, which powers this site. Simply set up an account (less than 30 seconds), then received an email with a phone number. Called the number, entered by password, then followed a voice prompt to record and post my post. Check out the result below.

Then once I got back to a computer, I added this content.

Great article on the future of the web

2005-10-10T23:22:00.000-05:00

What Is Web 2.0 by Tim O'Reilly -- Defining just what Web 2.0 means (the term was first coined at a conference brainstorming session between O'Reilly and MediaLive International, which also spawned the Web 2.0 Conference), still engenders much disagreement. Some decry it as a meaningless marketing buzzword, while others have accepted it as the new conventional wisdom. Tim O'Reilly attempts to clarify just what we meant by Web 2.0, digging into what it means to view the Web as a platform and which applications fall squarely under its purview, and which do not.

Lot of good ideas in here. This seems to be the rage in Silicon Valley.

Congrats to a New Friend and Great Marketer

2005-06-13T16:31:00.000-05:00

As evidence that I still keep company with the best and the brighest, I wish to congratulate Kevin Lofgren, CEO and founder of Farstar Marketing, as he was just named one of the Forty Under 40 in the Dallas area.

This is now the third consecutive CEO I have worked with (including Charlie Kwon of Neodesic and Alan Warms of Participate Systems, both in the Chicago area) who have won this distinction. I now have officially 11 months to get my act together and do something worthy of distinction.

What I like about Kevin and how he differs from the other two is that he has taught himself everything he knows. And, he knows alot.

Brett

Good article on the art and science of buzz marketing

2005-05-18T19:46:00.000-05:00

Quick read on an important topic: how to get people talking about your product, and recommending it to others. Buzz can be a powerful tool, but as the author points out it is just one of the many marketing tools you need to integrate together and track like crazy.

Five Common Misconceptions About Buzz Marketing

The Blackberry that Ate my Brain

2005-05-15T14:20:00.000-05:00

What can I say.... after years of watching a variety of coworkers slowly turn their lives over to this little gadget that was foreever glued to their side, I decided I had to try it.

And, as expected, I now understand the insidious nature of this little beast. You truly become mobile, unteethered, sort of, from your pc. But the more mobile you become, you also become always "reachable". And always peeking at the blinking light on the end of it, to see if some new amazing message was waiting for you.

For someone who recently completed 7 years of software startups, I was usually very tied to email and receiving lots of messages a day. So during my extended vacation, I have had to go through a little withdrawal.

Now with this blackberry, I am quickly back in the loop.

Find out for yourself, by posting a comment to this site and I will reply from "the hip".

Brett

Looking for Closed-Loop Lead Generation System That Works?

2005-05-02T11:44:00.000-05:00

Having been the VP of Marketing for several software start-ups here in Chicago, I have a lot of experience trying to generate qualified leads for a small business with limited marketing dollars to spend and little room for error with the dollars they do spend.

I discovered that there are two key factors to be successful.

Target. Target. Target
As a small company, you often can not afford to sell to just anybody. In most cases, you have to clearly define the type of company most likely to have a need for your product/service, and then do everything you can to develop a short list of candidates that best meet your criteria, then figure out the best way to penetrate these organizations and test your value proposition.

Rent Yourself a Closed-Loop Lead Generation system
Next, I recommend finding a integrated marketing campaign deliver system that lets you engage your target prospect list with a combination of highly personalized direct mail that drives prospects to personalized websites which in turn feeds into your sales force automation system and sales group. Curious what a system like that might look like? Visit Farstar Marketing and take their Lead Machine Tour.

Finally You Can Track Your Entire Lead Generation Process
I used the Lead Machine system several times over the last year. In each campaign, my the direct mail portion drew close to a 35% response rate, and our small company succeeded in setting up 33 qualified calls with senior decisions makers, eventually closed 4 entreprise deals.

Send me an email if you want to know more specifics and earn a healthy discount on the first campaign you run. Email me at brett@wimmco.com.

A Good Introduction to Blogging

2005-05-02T09:25:00.000-05:00

A conversation about Blogging would not be intelligent unless we all have a basic understanding of what it is and is not. I thought BusinessWeeks cover story from May 2 did a good job introducing the subject... and they are trying to keep the momuntum going with their own.

Check it out. http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting
BW