New Advertising Blog - AdGrunts

at least it's new to me. More overall advertising than just online, and pretty cool. Found out there is also a Meet Up for Advertisers.

Blog Marketers Need to Get Weblogs

I said a few days ago rule numero uno for those looking to use blogs to promote their business is to "get blogging." According to some fellow bloggers, it looks like some are already starting out of the gates without a clue. Jupitermedia CEO, Alan Meckler has started a blog of his own.

But according to Doug Fox, "I think Meckler’s weblog misses the mark. His barrage of attacks against Fred Rosen, CEO of Key3Media, producer of Comdex, may get him some short-term publicity, but it does nothing for his contention that he grasps the premise behind weblogs. Yes, Meckler writes in the first person, but he doesn’t seem to have the slightest notion that blogging is, for the most part, a communal, shared experience."

Robert Scoble chimed in with similar comments: "I wouldn't brag about "getting weblogs" before your competitors have. You still haven't gotten the concept. You haven't linked to a single site that's not on Jupiter's domain yet. Weblogs are all about sharing, not about taking. So far Alan wants all the attention, but doesn't want to share with others. I'm unimpressed."

My own personal comments on Meckler .... looks like he pissed some people off. But I checked out his blog and it is written in a human voice -- it's not crafted in marketing-speak, which is important. Missing links is a big no-no. But hopefully he'll learn. He won't get any incoming traffic he doesn't share -- he'll be an island, as opposed to part of a community -- so evolution might have it's way with him.

The overall message is, beware marketers looking to jump on the bandwagon. You're marketing efforts will self-deconstruct if you don't get it!

Jim Lehrer News Hour Interviews Us at Meet Up

I attended my first Blog Meet-Up event last night in the Washington, DC area and the Jim Lehrer News Hour was there to interview the 4 of us that managed to show up. The interview and round table discussion was very interesting and I think the segment should show much insight into blogging when it airs (Iraq is taking precedence over blogging, I don't get that ;-)). I was a little under the weather, but I think I did okay for my first TV interview!

It's always interesting meeting bloggers face to face -- I think you really get to see the real person behind the words. It was also interesting to talk to people who blog about different subjects other than what I typically follow. It's very easy to get stuck in the circle of blogs you read without exploring outwards.

Here are the three others that were there: John Irons blogs about Economics and is an Economics professor at Amherst College.

James Robertson created a blog for his technology company Cincom Small Talk -- James was the first person who explained the RSS completely to me -- I think I finally get it!

Thomas Bascom is an entreprenuer who has created something called VBlog which helps people with common interests find common websites.

ClickZ B-Blog Conference

Kathleen Goodwin is chairing a 2-day blog conference in Boston sometime in June. I'm sure details will follow. My rule number one to "b-bloggers": Get blogging. Submerge your self in blogging. Before you start one for your business, start one of your own. Become a part of blogging circles that blog about what you're passionate about, become a part of blogging circles in topics your customers are passionate about. If your business starts blogging without a clue, your business will be ridiculed by other bloggers and your brand will suffer.

Bio is up! (at least the short version) plus a picture of my ugly mug. I should clarify, I am still working at TMP (very happily I might add - and this isn't just CYA). I want to explore helping businesses with peer-to-peer marketing which is something TMP doesn't do. If you're looking for the more established online marketing practices, TMP can certainly help out for things like search engine optimization, online media, creative site development, internet yellow pages and online recruitment solutions (TMP owns Monster). If you're going this route, let me know and I'll help connect you with the right person.

Now I just need to work on all those other pages on my top nav bar!

Google Buys Pyra

Wow! I heard it first on Marketing Fix. Google buys Pyra, creators of Blogger.com!

More good stuff here:
Ev Williams (founder of Blogger)
Tony Pierce
Meg Hourihan (co-founder of Blogger)
Boing Boing
Henry Copeland
David Weinberger
Rick Bruner
Nick Denton
Deborah Branscum

As I'm starting to shape my next moves, I'm wondering what peer-to-peer marketing really is. Is it marketing? Advertising? Communications? Public Relations? I guess that's what this blog is all about. Re-shaping these tactics so they fit the current paradigm.

Working on my bio ... actually have about 7 different versions now. One of the problems I've had is I don't like talking about myself, which can make it hard to promote yourself. And whenever I do, I think I sound a litte narcistic (And since I'm reading Fountainhead I've got all sorts of thoughts on ego running through my head -- but that's besides the point.) Then there's the question of first person or third? So I checked out how some others have done there's. I like Jason Kottke's -- reverse chronological order (he uses first person). It's very natural and unforced.

[LATER]
Okay, I've tried some out and I think the progression is pretty good ... although some of this might be better off on a "Solutions" page. (sidebar: I've always found it difficult freewriting with a computer. I find it much easier to freewrite, brainstorm and complete initial drafts on paper. You can scribble, make notes, change things around, draw arrows, explore multiple ideas more effectively. However, I think I just found a method that's working for me via the computer screen. First, I like Notepad, not Word. Somehow the text seems so much less finalized than in Word -- plus you don't have to worry about auto-correctors, grammar and spelling checkers, formatting and fonts. A lot of times when I'm writing I'll have an overall idea but a certain word or phrase is just a place holder for something better. So what I do is put a "=" before and after the word as a note to find something more powerful. If I think of something I'm writing, I'll put it after the last "=" and then add another "=" for the next word. For example Dennis Miller is =funny=witty=satirical=smart=. I have some examples in the bio entries below). Here are some first stabs:

Hi, I 'm Scott Knowles.

I breathe, eat, sleep, speak, see, sweat, smoke, sigh, fly, drive, ride, drink, think, hear --- understand --- EXLCAIM the future of --

online advertising

online marketing

online media.

My goal is to make the future now.


--------------------


Hi, I’m Scott Knowles. I’ve been helping grow the Web since Al Gore invented it.

---------------------

Hi I’m Scott Knowles. I’ve been submerged in online marketing, advertising and media since Al Gore invented it.--- since studying it’s =uses=power= in 1994 at Ithaca College and =making it happen= at TMP Worldwide for the last 5 and a half years. Now, I’m on a new journey. I am a consultant helping businesses =engage with, understand and utilize= their customers for high impact peer-to-peer marketing.

-----------------------

Hi, I’m Scott Knowles. I subscribe to the belief that successful online marketing and advertising is about

knowing your customers

understanding your customers

listening to your customers

talking with your customers

engaging with your customers


-----------------------

CRM isn’t a mathematical equation. It is a qualitative understanding, knowing, listening, talking and engaging with your customers. CRM is a human equation.

The 10 Commandments of Online Media

Jimmy Gutterman's (a la Industry Standard) 10 Commandments of Online Media (thanks John Engler):

1. Thou shalt not rely on press releases.
2. Thou shalt check facts.
3. Thou shalt seek out new stories not being covered elsewhere.
4. Thou shalt speak frequently to a wide variety of informed sources who aren't the usual suspects.
5. Thou shalt search out and quote people who don't have a financial interest in the story.
6. Thou shalt write brief, informative, provocative leads.
7. Thou shalt provide context, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
8. Thou shalt not commit cliches or lazy writing.
9. Thou shalt not forget who thine audience is.
10. Thou shalt make thine own decision about what the most important part of the story is, not simply agree with conventional wisdom.

Connected and Not Equal

Eric Norlin is blogging up a storm. One item worth pointing out is his praise of Clay Shirky's piece implying blogs are not egalitarian. Eric agrees: "I'm not sure why the uproar about this one -- cuz it dares assert that maybe blogs aren't so egalitarian?? of course they're not. they can't be. they're part of a network - networks, by their vary nature, develop "super-nodes" that conform to power law distributions."

more here and here. i've got some reading to do.... and I think I really like what Henry Copeland has to say (interesting take).

Ithaca College: ... I wrote up a pretty cool entry dedicated to you guys and then it was errased (ergh!). I haven't gotten the chance to crank it out again. Hopefully soon.

In short, blogs are cool and you'll learn tons of practical information and connect with many interesting people. And if you start one of your own, you'll be able to talk about what you're passionate about, whether it's politics, advertising, fish or phish.

I've listed my favorite blogs on the left. In the mean time, I'd be curious as to some of your experiences with blogs .... what do you think? Waste of time, or pretty cool? Shoot me an email: scottwknowles@excite.com.

Iraq

I'm going to hit the war blogging bandwagon here for a second. Admittedly, I've been a little wishy washy on what to do about Iraq. I do think we are totally justified in going to war with them ... they've been playing games with our inspectors, cheating the system and the agreement that was set forth at the end of Gulf War I. I think we should have gone in 5 years ago. However, with the shadow of September 11th hanging over our nation, my hesitation in supporting the war was, shouldn't we be focusing our efforts on the war on terrorism? I've made the determination that I think Iraq is worth our efforts. Even if we cannot prove ties to al Queda, I'm a believer in if al Queda does get a hold of Saddam's weaponry -- and it sounds like they may have already -- there will be no warning shot. Iraq is porous, if not in collusion. We cannot afford that risk. Terrorism aside, I also think we can handle two fronts -- Terrorism and Iraq.

So France, Belgium and Germany, what gives? I understand dissent. I have no problem with that. I think it is vital to world balance. But not supporting NATO backing if Turkey was attacked by Iraq is selfish, stubborn and destructive. This would be the first time in NATO's history that it would not support one of its members if it were attacked. Regardless of what the United States is doing, there is no justification of not supporting Turkey if it were attacked.

Great coverage at the NY Times and I'm sure other blogs -- though I haven't been following this in the blogosphere.
back to our regularly scheduled programing....

Oscar nominations are out. I've only seen a couple of the nominated movies: Gangs and Chicago ... also Road to Perdition. Still on my list are About Schmidt, Adaptation, Two Towers, The Hours. I think the big one I'm rooting for this year is Daniel Day-Lewis for best actor. I was pretty amazing. I can't say I have a favorite for Best Motion Picture ... and I'm a little surprised Two Towers made it .... although I haven't seen it yet to judge.

DC DOT COMM Introduced to Blogs

Henry Copeland writes in his blog, "only 10% of the audience had ever read a blog and only 2% had actually blogged." Which is why it was so important that Henry closed with some final statements and told the audience, "go to Google and type in blog plus something you're passionate about .... It will change your life."

I wish the panel could have focused more on blogging, although we created the "Battle of the Blogs" to be a panel of experts (mostly bloggers) on the internet to discuss issues revolving around online media, advertising and marketing. I'm not sure if the audience left understanding what a blog is and why it's important that they know. Hopefully the audience will listen to Henry.

Regardless, I think the panel worked. There were some great conversations about Spam, Pop-ups and the effectiveness of online advertising in general. However, the biggest sign of hope the online marketing world is starting to get it, was the discussion of community. Who would have thunk it? Marketers are starting to realize the importance of online communities. Someone from the audience (I think it was the audience) asked an interesting question. "Would an online community on the Omaha Steaks website work?" The big picture version of the question is, are brand websites the appropriate place to host a community. The general consensus was "hell no", because why the hell would Omaha Steaks host a discussion about how much Omaha Steaks suck (not that they do suck, but someone's bound to start that discussion).

I beg to differ with that thinking. The Omaha Steak would be a great place to host a community. Loyal customers could talk about their favorite marinades or spices. And big deal if someone starts talking about how much they suck. Omaha would be better for letting that conversation happen. They could even join in. It makes the brand more real, and less reliant on advertising. Same holds for communities on sites like BMW, Kodak or Budweiser. Every brand has loyal customers and they should embrace and utilize them.

I had a great time speaking with Henry Copeland who was the only one I had a chance to talk to from the group of panelists I had anything to do with being there. Henry was the first blogger I've met in the non-blog world. We started talking about Crossing the Chasm, a book he strongly recommended to me. I've thought about the concept as Henry described it almost ever day since the conference. The premise is that in order to establish a new market all you have to do is find a small group who can help champion your cause, product or service. So if I want to introduce a form of blog marketing to one of my franchise accounts. My goal should be to seek out those who already see the value of online community or who already blog --- engage them in the idea, watch it work and spread the knowledge.

Henry also thinks I should be blogging more, and he's right. I will.

All in all DC Dot Comm was a great experience. It was the first time I helped produce a conference and I'm very happy that Hank Dearden -- who produces the show -- embraced my blog idea and we were able to introduce it to the DC Ad community. I'd like to thank Henry, Sean Carton, Meg , Jennifer Kronstain and all the other panelists. Hopefully next year people will be screaming for more blog talk. I just hope they listen to Henry.

I'll post some pictures of the panels tomorrow...

It's tomorrow and here they are:

(Hollis Thomases, Sean Carton and Robbin Zeff)


(Jennifer Kronstain, Meg Hourihan and Henry Copeland)


(Mark Lees, Frank Cumberland and Missy Shorey)

Blogging on Jupiter

Jupiter Research has joined the weblog world with a blog by senior analyst Michael Gartenberg and 6 other analysts. I think this is going to be an invaluable element to the research Jupiter puts out. Hopefully it will provide us with insight behind the numbers in a real voice. Michael tells us what he wants to accomplish with his newly formed blog:

In an ever changing world, the access to new information and analysis is growing. The Weblog medium allows for something that goes beyond our traditional research deliverables and also enhances them. Look to this space for thoughts on the new and exciting but also on the offbeat. It’s a chance to get closer to how we think as analysts and the thought process that goes into final research positions.

I spend my days as well as a good deal of the nights and weekends pondering the issues that relate to digital ubiquity as well as working with a host of interesting technologies. Some are breakthrough, some are half baked. The results of this process of thought and interaction go into the presentations and research reports that we create at Jupiter. This blog will hopefully open that process of thought, commentary and analysis up to a wider audience and in a different format.

Rock on Jupiter. ">Gonzo marketing is taking shape.

Visual Thesarus

Cool new tool for all you writers out there: Visual Thesarus.

Role of Color

This article comes a few weeks late as I was trying to put together a color pallette for my new site. I searched everywhere and couldn't find anything very good. GrokDotCom helps answer my question by explaining how colors can impact your website. Here is what Grok had to say about the colors I chose:

Gray
Gray is the color of neutrality, "neither subject nor object, neither inner nor outer, neither tension or relaxation." Gray feels as though it is not colored, not dark, not light - a separation between two distinct entities, a demilitarized zone free from stimulus. Gray communicates an element of non-involvement or concealment. It's a color that remains uncommitted and uninvolved.

Blue
This is the color of calmness, repose and unity, symbolically the color of sky and ocean. Looking at blue relaxes the central nervous system - blood pressure, pulse and respiration rate all go down, which allows regenerative systems in the body to work on healing. When folks are ill, the physiologic need for blue actually increases! The physiologic associations with blue are those of tranquility. The psychological associations are of contentment, gratification and being at peace.

Yellow
Where red stimulates, yellow suggests. It can elevate body rates as red does, but its effect is less stable. Yellow is primarily the color of happiness, cheerfulness, expansiveness, lack of inhibition. It is the welcome warmth of the sun and the glow of a spiritual halo. While calming and relaxing, the color does suggest a desire for change, that things are never quite at rest - people who favor yellow may be very productive, but that productivity often occurs in fits and starts.

Orange -- poor oragne was neglected. Nothing here on orange. [much later]: While orange may suggest fire, vitality, warmth and energy, all lovely associations, it’s the color most-detested by Americans (it is more popular in Europe and has particularly strong appeal in Latino and French cultures). Maybe it’s the 70s associations you guys are stuck on. But the research suggests if you’re going to use orange, it’s best tolerated when you are evoking a natural association. Like carrots. That, or go for a deeper orange that is earthier.

[Much Later] -- Grok follows up with some more practical uses of colors.

As you can tell ..... I'm making major changes here. Bare with me for a few days while things get fixed up. Thanks!

"BlogJobs"

Chris Locke: (with a shake of sarcasim) "Unlike the mindless "content" offerings of television, the World Wide Web -- especially via the hot new phenomenon called "weblogging," "blogging" ... has proven a much more thoughtful, intellectually penetrating medium."

Locke has a new blog on Corante called Ad Hominem.

Should Small Businesses Brand?

Being that much of what I do for a living is online strategies for small/local business, this article really piqued my interest. Not many small businesses think branding is worthwhile. They don't have big budgets. Their owners work day and night to operate their business. They're advertising budgets are focused on things that drive business directly to their bottom line, not things like "branding."

But Branding is much more expansive than most people realize. I'd venture to guess that most small businesses brand without even knowing it. Brand Channel's latest issue takes up the issue:

So, the good news for small businesses is that the brand is already there. It lies in the staff, their expertise and conduct; in the product and its qualities; in the name, the logo, the marketing. It is just a question of finding its essence and letting that guide future decisions.

The even better news is that this doesn't have to cost the earth. "I'd be lying if I said we never thought about branding," said innocent drinks’ Dan Germain -- who admits his brand manager job title is as much tongue in cheek as a description of his work -- "but our major focus, at the beginning and always, is on getting the product right. If you get the product right it makes branding easier. We never sat down, had a meeting and said, 'So, what about branding?' "

Yet innocent drinks certainly has a strong brand. The UK company, founded in 1998, makes pure, fresh fruit juices and smoothies. "Being innocent informs everything we are trying to do," said Germain. "We wanted everything to be innocent -- paper from sustainable resources, a fresh tone on our labels, vans painted like cows, staff games in the park, going into the country to help pick elderflowers for our juice."

The Art of Blogging

There's nothing groundbreaking here, but George Siemens very simply and eloquently lays out all the nuggets of wisdom on the benefits and implications of blogging. (via Doc).

City Blogs

John Hiler has come up with one of the coolest, most bad-ass blog business ideas I've seen to date. Tagged, "City Blogs," John has combined city guides and blogs into one. John's inspiration came about after he moved to New York and was in search of local events. Searching through traditional city guides left John feeling like he was missing something. There was no personal perspective from people who were interested in the same thing he was interested in. John explains more:

What I really wanted was someone to find the most interesting events and tell me which ones to go to. I wanted that someone to be an expert in their field. And I wanted that someone to cover niche categories that just weren't in the local event listings: jazz jam sessions in the Village, kickboxing matches in Queens, or Haitian dance classes near Union Square.

In short, I wanted a local events blog. And so, Cityblogs.com was born.

This is very Gonzo. And I think it further exemplifies the power of the first person perspective in new media.

Shane Bowman and Chris Willis at Hypergene Media Blog add some good ideas on how to make City Blogs work:

• Get collaborative: Hiler will need a cartel expert bloggers that he can depend upon to really make this work. He should consider making each blog — cinema, books, talks, etc. — run by about 3-5 bloggers. In a city like New York, there's now way any one person can effectively cover a given scene. Hiler should also consider dedicating a blogger to fact-checking, which is critical to events guides.


• Allow comments: Currently the NYC blogs do not allow for comments. It doesn't matter how expert you are on any niche scene, there's always room for others thoughts, tips and opinions.


• Provide listing feeds: Since you probably won't have a decent marketing budget, you'll want to use all the viral tools in the box. RSS feeds will allow other blogs and sites showcase your event recommendations on their sites. (We never really understood why the excellent Corante blogs, such as Blogging News and Idea Flow don't have RSS feeds. What's up John?)


• Make the content open source: As noted in a previous post, you could increase the exposure of your content, by allowing others to repurpose and distribute the content.


• Personality needs a face: None of the blogs on this site are currently designed so that it is clearly apparent who the author is. For example, on the cinema blog, there is nothing to suggest that John Hiler is the author. The items just say, posted by John. Personality, as Hiler suggests, is critical to the success of this blog. But personality needs an explicit face. Put more information about the blogger in the "About this Blog" section.

The surface is just being scratched here, and if John can bring in some solid traffic I can't think of a way he couldn't make some cash off this blog idea.

Convenience Is King

Most of the time, simple reasoning makes the most sense. If the entertainment industry would just use this thought process I think they'd be much more successful at marketing their wares.

Make it more convenient. And people will pay for it. Duh!

Arnold King nails it:

It really is simple. If you have the most convenient distribution system, then you do not have to worry about somebody "stealing" your songs, or you movies, or what have you. People will pay for convenience. On the other hand, the more you try to "protect" your content, the less convenient you make it, and the less revenue you are likely to earn from it.

Blogging Defined

If Webster could see us now. I've been helping to put together a quasi-blog panel for DCDOTCOMM, the upcoming online marketing and advertising conference in Washington, DC. It's made me think more about how business, blogs and marketing can work together. And how the general ad industry will react to the idea of blogs in marketing. We (the industry) can be stuck in the ways (especially in stoggy DC) of traditional marketing concepts -- which must remain -- but can sometimes hinder the implementation of new concepts. But this panel should be a big eye-opener and I think Halley Suitt gives us a great start with her definition of "What is a Weblog?" Starting from the very basic to the very contextual ... I think Halley nails it.

More on the panel and the conference later ... it's shaping up to be very a good one!

Marketing Fix

Rick Bruner, Robert Loch, Oliver Travers, John Engler and Steve Hall have launched a new marketing news site, Market Fix -- Independent E-Marketing News (until we sell out). "For busy professionals who need to stay informed about the online marketing and media industry and learn from best/worst practices, we aggregate the most interesting news and analysis from hundreds of sources to one spot every day, with insight, brevity and occasional sarcasm."

This should be a great new site and I already see more potential value in it than eMarketing News, Ad Age and Adweek (being that I read these guys more than I pick up those three pubs combined). Items are categorized into about 40 sections with most recent entries first. Looks like it's powered by blogging tool Moveable Type. What I think is interesting is that the "attitude" of the new site is less blog, more straight-ahead e-marketing news. But there's some great people behind the aggregating. So I bet it will be good.

Drunk Guerilla

Looks like Robert Loch has another blog .... Drunk Guerilla - Marketing Out of the Cage (from which I do have a link). Not sure how it differs from Net Marketing, but it looks to be organized a little better, less blog, more news and commentary, more sophisticated. There's a registration ... which I don't know what it's for ... I think Robert is setting up a multi-user blog. Cool stuff. I just registered.

Is Content Going to the Blogs?

Susan Solomon's latest ClickZ addresses blogging and business. I agree with Susan's sentiment that most blogging is full of blown up egos .... but I think she misses the point that blogging is just a utility to make communicating with customers easier. It's not about easy. It's about engaging in conversations with your customers, and letting them yap away.

Thoughtful P2P resources .... Smart Mobs and OpenP2P.

KaZaA to Utilize P2P Marketing

This is really timely ... my girlfriend, who is getting her MBA at the University of Maryland, just took a final for a technology class. One of the questions on the exam asked what Sony should do in light of file sharing. I recommended they should develop a superior file sharing software utilizing the Gnutella network that would surpass all others. It would permit regular file sharing, but would include collaberative filtering which would make recommendations based on files searched, enable communities for people with similar musical tastes and enable customers to find quality downloads ... better than any other software available. I know, easier said than done. But it looks like KaZaA is starting.

Hello, hello, hello / Is there anybody in there? ...

...yup, still here -- and I won't bore you with where I've been, what I've been doing, who I've been -- nevermind.

Looks like there's been some notable additions.... Rick Bruner has started an email newsletter (actually, looks like he re-started it) and has a new column on MediaPost (maybe I'll start reading it again). Robert Loch has totally redesigned his website and it looks great! (although he's dropped me from his blogodex, but who can blame him?). Not to mention this whole Googlism thing (or is it's 15 minutes up?).

Anyways .... I've read a ton of things that I've wanted to blog about, but haven't had time. I'll try digging them up! Stay tuned!

RSS Advertising

Interesting discussion going on at Kottke about incorporating advertising into RSS feeds. I'm a bit skeptical, but I like what Chris Willis has to say:

One of the great advantages of RSS is that it can provide specific information to be integrated and used any way you like. Diluting it with content that makes it less effective for your special use seems inconsistent with this.

I'd suggest a service that creates just the advertising feed you want. Go to Banana Republic, enter your sizes and wait for the right piece of apparel to scroll your way. That would be useful. Sign me up

I still don't entirely understand RSS, how you can incorporate the feeds into your site, how it relates to XML .... ahhh the trials and tribulations of being a non-techie. Anyone care to email me and explain?

[later: I've since done some diggin around on Chris Willis' blog and he has some great basic stuff for anyone who's in the same boat as me. Check out this, this and this .... and this.]

Good Marketing Defined

John at Iluminent eloquently defines good marketing on his blog:

I'd agree with this argument that text advertising does a good job of 'selling stuff' online, but would argue that 'selling stuff' isn't everything that marketing is about.

I buy crap all the time, but that doesn't mean I'll buy the same crap again... that's what marketing is all about. Getting people to buy crap over and over. (okay, that didn't come out how I meant it to, but it works to get across the point.)

Back to the basics.

Nick Usborne: Copywriting and Technology

As you can tell, it's been pretty slow around here lately. Traveling just comes in spurts with me and this is a big one. Was in Ft. Lauderdale and Chicago most of last week and I'm off to Colorado Springs tomorrow. At least I'm going to some fun places. But in my free time Nick Usborne's latest Excessive Voice caught my eye ....

Nick Usborne has a great email newsletter, Excessive Voice, he sends out every now and again (I highly recommend you sign up here). Nick is the web's premier copywriter and truly gets "it." The first profession in advertising I was attracted to was copywriting ... and part of me still wants to tackle it, so I have a bit of a passion for it. Nick shows us how valuable(and how often that value under-stated) copywriting is to businesses online.

In Nick's previous Excessive Voice he asked his readers "about the impact of technology on the quality of our writing. Did we write better when we had to write slowly with a pen and paper, or clunky typewriter? Has the ease of writing with word processing software made us lazy, and reduced the quality of our copy?"

This is an interesting question. I think the availability of technology has its advantages and disadvantages to writing. I often find, if I really want to tackle anything I write (or create for that matter) I need to start off with a blank sheet of paper and a pen that flows (literally, I love how Uni-Bal pens allows my ideas to flow on paper). Because feewriting is so important to starting the writing process, I find the computer has limitations. I can jot arrows across the page and link things together in a flash. But once I've jotted out my initial thoughts, even a rough draft, I think the computer is invaluable. Not only can you make quicker edits and print out drafts to edit by hand with greater ease, but you can picture your copy in its graphical format ... which can have an incredible impact on how those well-crafted words are perceived.

Nick published Maggie Ball's response to his question ... which I find good enough to put down here too:

Couldn't resist this one Nick (and writing it quickly). While I find that my own writing quality works better on computer than with pen and paper, simply because I've grown accustomed to working this way, I do tend to agree with the great writer Julian Barnes. Producing something with your computer makes it look too professional too quickly. I can knock up a great set up book covers, professional TOC and index before I even start my book. By the time I've begun the difficult composition process, I'm itching to send off my professional looking novel to publishers simply because it "looks" so ready. It would take many drafts to get it looking as physically neat if I were using a quill (or even a typewriter). The re-writing in those drafts would be significant. I don't think I'll ever go back to pen and paper for composition, but I do think it helps to remind ourselves that good writing takes time, many iterations, and usually some peer and professional input (a point that you make very well in Networds). Just because it looks clean, and is well formatted doesn't mean it is ready for the world. In our fast pace world where we are continually encouraged to write quickly and get our work "out there", we mustn't forget the crucial editing steps. Editors (including that internal self-editor) are more important to good words than ever.

Nirvana - You Know You're Right

Coincidentally, I just put Nirvana's In Utero CD in my car changer this week. What a great album. John Mudd -- who has a great PR and Marketing blog BTW -- points us to the new (old) Nirvana song, You Know Your're Right, which I haven't heard yet. Really cool song. Makes me realize what a great artist Cobain was. I think the musical landscape would be entirely different if he were still with us.

Neil Armstrong

Got this email from my Dad ....

Guaranteed to make you smile......especially, since it's a true story.

On July 20, 1969, as commander of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon. His first words after stepping on the moon, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind", were televised to Earth and heard by millions. But just before he reentered the lander, he made the enigmatic remark: "Good luck, Mr. Gorsky." Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs. Over the years many people questioned Armstrong as to what the "Good luck Mr. Gorsky" statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled. On July 5, 1995, in Tampa Bay, Florida, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26 year old question to Armstrong. This time he finally responded. Mr. Gorsky had died and so Neil Armstrong felt he could answer the question. In 1938 when he was a kid in a small Midwest town, he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit a fly ball, which landed in his neighbor's yard by the bedroom windows. His neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky! As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky. "Sex! You want sex?! You'll get sex when the kid next door, walks on the moon!"
True story.

Eldred v. Ashcroft

I've been doing a lot of absorbing of this case and the issues surrounding it which is just weeks away from argument in front of the Supremem Court. Deborah Branscum points us to an excellent and very well written article by David Streitfeld of the L.A. Times. Streitfeld captures the history of the case and Lessig's conviction in the cause. What's facinating is how Lessig "reframes" the copyright argument and becomes the first person to challenge copyright extensions to the Supreme Court in 180 years. I'm rooting for him. I think his argument is sound and this will be a great win for the "advancement of science and useful arts" and the freedom of speech.

RSS At Last

Being that I'm the furthest thing from a techie, I thank Rick Bruner for passing along this link (for those of you who are in my boat) and explaining what it's all about. It's very quick and easy if you have Blogger Pro.

Oops
Rick tells a really funny story about an email screw-up at a "big well-known company" where a newly married guy meaning to send an email to his wife --- one of those emails --- accidentally sent it to some other important people in the company. Check it out.

Personalities and Conversion
Really, really interesting issue of the latest GrokDotCom email newsletter by Future Now. Grok talks about different personality types and how they affect the "paths of activity" when going through the buying process online. Paramount to success is designing your site to meet each personality type, keeping in mind that personality types are not clear cut and are usually combinations. Then listen and adapt (Grok says optimize).

AMIABLE
Attitude: Personal, activity oriented
Using Time: Undisciplined, fast paced
Question: Why is your solution best to solve the problem?
Approach: Address values and provide assurances, credible opinions rather than options

ANALYTICAL
Attitude: Businesslike, detail oriented
Using Time: Disciplined, methodically paced
Question: How can your solution solve the problem?
Approach: Provide hard evidence and superior service

EXPRESSIVE
Attitude: Personal, relationship oriented
Using Time: Undisciplined, slow paced
Question: Who has used your solution to solve my problem?
Approach: Offer testimonials and incentives

ASSERTIVE
Attitude: Businesslike, power oriented
Using Time: Disciplined, strategically paced
Question: What can your solution do for me?
Approach: Provide options, probabilities and challenges

...Acknowledging personality types online is critical - you are conducting business in a self-service medium. You aren’t there to modify your persuasion tactics when you notice they’re falling on deaf ears. You only notice you’ve missed the mark when you check out your Web logs.

Online, it’s the responsibility of your hyperlinks to establish, maintain and offer alternatives to your “dialog.”

aggghhhh, just hit backspace and lost this entire post ... will try to recreate ....

Trellix
My company just sent out this release on our new partnership with Trellix. The main purpose of the agreement is for what we call dealer page programs .... we design templated web pages for our clients that have distributed networks of franchisees, authorized dealers and/or retail stores.... now they can use Trellix to update their pages, customize them, etc. But what I'm really excited about is that Trellix has a blogging application. Been working on ideas on how to use Trellix's blogging tool as a solution for our clients so they can better engage with their customers. I'm really excited about the possibilities. Might be pretty groundbreaking.

Also, MonsterMoving, a great site with lots of useful moving tools (if you happen to be moving anytime soon) just acquired Moving.com (actually, TMP acquired Moving.com ....) This could be really exciting. Of course we're not sure how the two will co-exist. But both are tremendous resources, so check them out.

This gives you a little taste of what I do .... since I don't touch on that much here.