April 24, 2008 by ian
Brought to you by the same manic-depressiveness that generated 11 Internet Marketing Trends To Ignore. Here are 17 internet marketing things I will not write about: Twitter. I love Twitter, and spend a fair amount of time on it. But a quick search on Google shows 37,845 blogs posts in the last week. What. The. Hell. I think this story's been done, OK? Facebook's slow fall from grace as an advertising platform. I already wrote about this a while ago. Before most other folks. So nyah nyah. I don't need to write about it any more. What Jason Calcanis…
Continue Reading 17 Internet Marketing Things I Will Not Write About »
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April 22, 2008 by ian
I got nominated for a Blogger's Choice award (for best marketing blog). It says I nominated myself. But I swear, I didn't. If you like what you read here (you know, the writing I slave over, day in and day out), please click the badge and vote.…
Continue Reading Vote Early, Vote Often: Nominated for Bloggers Choice Award »
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April 20, 2008 by ian
The guys over at eVisibility sent me this cool t-shirt. The front is a series of disallow commands. The back reads 'rel=nofollow'. It's so geeky that two friends of mine who've spent most of their lives creating Linux software in their heads didn't get it. Thanks, Miguel and Stephen!!!…
Continue Reading SEO Geekery x100: Thanks, eVisibility »
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April 14, 2008 by ian
...if you ask me what the ROI on blogging is. I. Am. Sick. Of. That. Question. Seth Godin said it very well today. Few blogs earn a measurable sum of money. So, if you're in blogging for the wealth, give it up. My blog directly earns me $1.50/day. Seriously. That's it: One (cheap) Kit Kat. Possibly the Greatest Food Ever Invented So Why Blog? Yet I advise most of my clients to add blogs to their sites. And I can't seem to shut up on my blog, either. Why? Because blogs have some lovely side effects: They are networking tools.…
Continue Reading I'll Squish Your Head... »
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April 10, 2008 by ian
Ah, youth. 13 years ago I started my company with a spare room in my house, a credit card (limit: $1500) and a computer (Pentium 75 mhz, Windows 95). I was out of my ##@!)(@#$*!@@ mind. If I'd known then what I know now, would I have gone into this business? I don't know. But here's some wisdom I wish I had back then: No one has a clue how to market anything. We are all winging it. It's just that some are better at winging it than others. Corollary: Seth Godin, et al are brilliant about the high-level stuff.…
Continue Reading 38 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started In Marketing »
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April 1, 2008 by ian
I rarely do lists of links, but thought it worthwhile today. Some of these were jokes. Some, I just wish were jokes: Google lets you search the future... and e-mail back in time. Google actually went insane with the April Fool's jokes this year. Check out the list at Search Engine Land. Seriously guys, don't you have, like, a search engine to run or something? My company found Google's missing PPC clicks. Thank goodness. Problogger launches Pay Per Tweet. OK, this one suckered me, because Darren posted it yesterday my time, which was today my time, so it wasn't April…
Continue Reading April Fool's Roundup, 'cause I'm a Sheep »
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March 13, 2008 by ian
John Cass over at the PR Communications Blog posted an excellent, thoughtful piece about the Cluetrain Manifesto. His examination centers around (at least in my mind) two primary themes of the Manifesto: That companies need to 'get out of the way' and 'let the inevitable happen'. The 'inevitable' in this case is the formation of smarter, more dispersed markets via what we now call social media. And that command and control within a company is a bad thing that should go away. I won't rewrite John's points here. You can read his excellent post for yourself. I do have three…
Continue Reading The Cluetrain Manifesto, Critiqued by John Cass »
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March 7, 2008 by ian
OK Rand, it's time to join the Mac-erati. Danny Sullivan bought a Mac. Now it's your turn. Here's why: The Mac is stylish. It'll go with your keen fashion sense. It's a better computer (doh, I wasn't going to say that). You'll be able to drive Danny crazy by refusing to put stickers on your laptop. To make things easier, we're taking up a collection. If everyone in the search community donates $2 we can buy you a nice rig. Here's what we'll get you: Note that we're including Parallels, so that you can still get your Windows fix. Everyone,…
Continue Reading Help Rand Fishkin Join the MACerati »
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March 6, 2008 by ian
The last six weeks have sucked. Aside from SMX West, which was a nice, positive interlude, I've been dragging my rotting remains across a rocky, jagged waste filled with people who say things like "Your daughter just threw up again" and "Can you get me a breakdown of your hours for the last 5 months?". In that theme, I've written down 9 internet marketing questions that even God probably can't answer: Why are the Google rankings jumping up and down like my son on a sugar rush? Over the last few weeks, I've seen sites moving up 10 spots and…
Continue Reading 9 Internet Marketing Questions I Just Can't Answer »
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February 16, 2008 by ian
A few other blogs have picked up my XHTML Social Media Press Release template. Just a couple here: Reed Media DaveFleet.com If you're using the template and making changes, cool! Please send me your ideas, though, so I can continue to improve it.…
Continue Reading Social Media Press Release: Are You Contributing? »
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February 15, 2008 by ian
Sorry all. My now infamous burst discs have flared up rather badly. I'm uncomfortable and even grumpier than usual. Rather than show up at Ignite! and babble like a moron stoned on Vicodin, I've decided to skip it.…
Continue Reading Ignite! Seattle Appearance Cancelled On Account of My Spine »
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February 13, 2008 by ian
I wanted to say thanks. One year ago, Conversation Marketing received 3100 unique visits in February. This year, I've already got 8,200, and am on track to have 18,000 unique visits in February. Last year, I had 20 RSS subscribers (not tracked in Feedburner, so the graph below doesn't include it). This year, I have 550: While these numbers don't come close to, say, Darren or Rand, it's pretty darn cool. There's been no PR campaign, no advertising, no marketing. You all did it, by subscribing, commenting, spreading the word, etc.. The Question So, the question: What do you like…
Continue Reading Saying Thanks: Internet Marketing Requires an Audience »
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February 12, 2008 by ian
I'm going to be speaking at Ignite! Seattle next week (February 19). My topic: Build your own Internet Bullshit Detector. I won't give away too much, but the basic principles will be: Hairstyle is not a feature. If they can't communicate, run. Bold letters do not increase value. Nor does large type or the ability of a site to induce seizure. Bankruptcy does not equal experience. Stock is toilet paper until you sell it. If you feel dirty now, how will you feel in the morning? We get 5 minutes and 20 slides to communicate. If you want to…
Continue Reading Internet Bullshit Detector: Speaking at Ignite! Seattle »
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February 10, 2008 by ian
Truth is, I don't like 95% of SEOs, either. I make a habit of tearing down the fraudsters whenever possible. But man, Shoemoney, could you get someone to proofread a bit? "Its like people don’t know you can goto a web site without going to a god-damn Search Engine." Which, when filtered through 6th-grade grammar books, becomes: "It's like people don't know you can go to a web site without going to a god-damned search engine." I'm hardly Hemingway myself. This shouldn't be a big deal. It really shouldn't. But I'm sitting here after a four-kid sleepover, studying up for…
Continue Reading Shoemoney Dislikes 95% of SEOs, Can't Do Grammar »
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January 30, 2008 by ian
Do you find this blog useful? Like what I write? I've got a business proposal for you: Donate $3 to my blog, once. I'll keep writing the same stuff I always do. Tips about internet marketing, strategic advice, site reviews and of course, the occasional rant. I'll do it whether you donate or not. But, if you don't donate, I'll have to start plastering ads everywhere to pay for the 20-odd hours/week I put into this. My site will look like a 1970s New York subway car: More graffiti than content. Look for this button: Click, donate, and you'll feel…
Continue Reading Support Conversation Marketing: Donate »
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January 29, 2008 by ian
Does anyone out there know of a Movable Type plugin for managing ads, ala Wordpress's AdServe? I don't want to go into affiliate marketing. But I do need to make this blog pay for some of the time I spend on it. So, I figure selling ads directly to willing sponsors is the cleanest, least-spammy way to do it.…
Continue Reading Today, It's All About Me: Movable Type Plugins »
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January 21, 2008 by ian
I'm traveling this week, so posts may be a bit thin. Which is ironic, given that I'll be eating burgers and fries 2 meals a day, no doubt. Here are a few recent posts folks seemed to like, to tide you over: 11 Internet Marketing Trends to Ignore in 2008 65 Easy Ways to Improve Online Sales SEO Tactics: Keyword Diversification = Happiness 10 Steps to a Sound Internet Marketing Strategy Social Media Press Release: A Template SEOMoz Whiteboard Friday: Personas Personas Tutorials Hopefully I'll post a few times this week, but no promises. Air travel these days leaves me…
Continue Reading Slow Posting Week, Sorry... »
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January 15, 2008 by ian
Timewaster alert! There is nothing of practical use in this post. It's funny though. I was poring through my comment list today, feeling a bit punchy, so I made a list of spam subject lines. I've left out the inevitable grossness, drug advertisements, etc.. So, here are the 10 that made me choke on my lunch: Jewish Beef Brisket. Wow. How'd they know I was Jewish? I was worried for a while, then discovered that every other blogger I know was deluged with the same thing. Relieved that my role in the Great Zionist Conspiracy is safely concealed, I moved…
Continue Reading 10 Greatest Comment Spam Subjects of All Time »
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January 10, 2008 by ian
I laughed out loud at this article: http://www.ppcvillain.com/article_6.htm…
Continue Reading Redundant Redundancy »
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January 5, 2008 by ian
I don't like the phrase 'viral marketing'. If marketing works, it's viral. If it doesn't, it's not. However, my team just completed three projects that are worthy of the title: PPCVillain.com, a hilarious look at how not to conduct a PPC campaign. Watch the first tutorial video - it's worth it. DesigningWithGod.com, a blasphemous yet funny site about design. Again, watch the video. Or call the 888 number. Just please remember it's in good fun, and don't throw bricks through my office window. Marketing Math, an OS X Dashboard widget that lets you do some of the basic marketing calculations.…
Continue Reading 3 'Viral' Projects »
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December 27, 2007 by ian
I'm giving Entrecard a try. Entrecard is an ad network for blogs. You earn credits when folks click on the Entrecard widget on your site: Or when they 'drop' a card, or if someone advertises. I'll let you know how it goes. So far I see the potential, but I also see a lot of junk arriving in my Entrecard inbox, and I only signed up about 10 minutes ago.…
Continue Reading Trying Out Entrecard »
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December 21, 2007 by ian
I'm taking a few days off to rest my weary brain cells. No blogging or tweeting until 12/26. Have a great Christmas and holiday week. See you in a few days.…
Continue Reading Blogging Holiday - see you 12/26! »
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December 20, 2007 by ian
OK, I'm Jewish. Hanukkah is over. But I still like Christmas*, too. This year, you don't have to buy me anything. All you have to do is subscribe to my blog's RSS feed. I'm currently at 480 subscribers. My goal was to hit 500 this year. Which pales by comparison to most marketing bloggers, but it'd make me smile. Subscribing is easy. It's free. It's painless. Just click here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/conversationmarketing Then you can get lots of conversational goodness in your RSS feed reader in 2008. What? You don't have a feed reader? Join the 21st century and get Google Reader.…
Continue Reading A Christmas Present for Ian »
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December 19, 2007 by ian
If you don't know, Twitter is a sort of chat room/microblog where folks post short 'tweets' to each other. I'm taking a page from Jeremiah's book. If you'd like me to follow you on Twitter, leave your Twitter handle below. I post links and little comments myself - you can follow me, too. My Twitter name is portentint.…
Continue Reading Connect with me on Twitter »
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December 18, 2007 by ian
Facebook just got rid of 'is', I think. I may be totally out of touch, and maybe they made this change days ago, but I'm so excited! I can write a status line without 'is'! Woo hoo! I now return to regularly-scheduled programming.…
Continue Reading Facebook Are Much Better Now »
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December 16, 2007 by ian
Yup, a couple days late. I was out sick (missing my second consecutive company Christmas party). I just finished Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't. I read it after seeing how thought-provoking the book was for SEOMoz's Rand Fiskin. It's not a book about internet marketing. Not directly. But we work in an emerging industry, and the teachings in this book could make the difference between the agencies that make money, then pass on when their leaders leave, and those that grown and thrive for decades. I found it to be a brilliant, sobering,…
Continue Reading Friday Book Review (On Sunday): Built To Last »
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December 9, 2007 by ian
Jeremiah Owyang of Web Strategist fame interviewed me last week. The video is up on his blog, or you can watch it here:…
Continue Reading Jeremiah Owyang Interview: Social Media, Soft Costs and Budgeting »
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December 6, 2007 by ian
Brevity is the soul of wit (Lord Polonius in Shakespeare's Hamlet) Online, concise copy will always get better results than verbose copy. How can I make that sentence shorter and give it more oomph? Dump the passive voice. Online, concise copy will always get gets better results than verbose copy. Get rid of meaningless words. Concise copy is always better, right? Plus folks are reading this online. Online, Concise copy will always get gets better results than verbose copy. Get rid of repeated words. In copy, concise copy gets better results than verbosecopy. Replace four words with one. In copy,…
Continue Reading 5 Steps to Concise Copy »
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December 5, 2007 by ian
I just checked my Technorati stats for the first time in a while, and saw this: Yikes...…
Continue Reading Am I Evil? »
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November 9, 2007 by ian
I've made the Biglist! Thanks Lee! It's a great way to end the week!!! Technorati Tags: blogging…
Continue Reading Conversation Marketing on the Biglist »
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November 9, 2007 by ian
Over the last week, my Feedburner stats have jumped and fallen by as much as 50%, even though my visitor count remained steady. Feedburner measures the number of RSS feed subscribers your blog has. It's hard for me to believe that my subscriber count is plunging to 150 or so one day, and then jumping to almost 400 the next. Has anyone else seen this? Technorati Tags: Feedburner…
Continue Reading Feedburner Stats Fluctuate Wildly »
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November 7, 2007 by ian
I'm running a blogging webinar for the Direct Marketing Association tomorrow: While I make no guarantees about the getting customers part, I will show some strategies for coming up with good ideas, keeping a rhythm of steady posts, and building your audience. It costs money (I don't get a cut, I'm afraid) but, if I dare say, it's probably worth it if you're looking to get into blogging. The subject matter is very similar to a previous seminar I did. You can sign up here: http://www.the-dma.org/seminars/bloggingbasics/ Technorati Tags: blogging…
Continue Reading Blogging Webinar Tomorrow »
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November 6, 2007 by ian
Two great typos today point out why proofing is really important: In an e-mail from Elastic Path. Can you spot the typo? In the subject line?: Neil Gaiman found this one (I added the bold): Angelina Jolie has admitted she was got a little shy when she saw her nude scenes in her latest film “Beowulf.†The actress says although the nude scenes were stimulated, she was still a little embarrassed. “I was a little shy,†she says. “I was really surprised that I felt that exposed. There were certain moments where I actually felt shy – and called…
Continue Reading 4 Step Proofreading Strategy, And Stimulated Nude Scenes »
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November 6, 2007 by ian
I'm playing with Flock, the social browser based on Mozilla Firefox. It's dang nifty. You can post to your blog straight from the browser, click-and-drag bookmarks and media from Flickr to a clipboard (or to a blog post), and keep an eye on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, de.licio.us all at once. This is also a test post. If it worked, then I'm that much happier.Tags: flock, blogging tools…
Continue Reading Flock. Rocks. »
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October 28, 2007 by ian
Comments are now fixed - lots of look-and-feel stuff still to be done. By the end of Monday we should be looking sharp.…
Continue Reading Comments Fixed »
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October 27, 2007 by ian
I'm aware that comments aren't working right now. We're looking into it. Moving day is always such a joy...…
Continue Reading Comment Conniption »
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October 26, 2007 by ian
We're in the midst of rebuilding the blog with a slicker template. Sorry if it looks a bit odd this weekend.…
Continue Reading Pardon the Dust »
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October 24, 2007 by ian
I broke the cardinal rule of blogging Tuesday: Don't post angry. In my We're All Idiots post, my tantrum poked at Robert Gorrell's post about Viral Marketing and Word of Mouth. In my haste, I was unclear: GrokDotCom, Seth Godin and co. are the folks who invented these terms. When they reference Word of Mouth Marketing, Viral Marketing, etc., they're not using those phrases as a trendy marketing device. They're using them as a teaching tool. My blood boils, though, when I see folks who know very little about marketing prattling on, mixing in phrases like 'Web 2.0', 'viral…
Continue Reading Blogging Tip #1: Don't Post Angry »
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October 23, 2007 by ian
Update: Of course, had I read further, I would've seen that Matt already knew about the problem, and that it was being addressed by Feedburner et al. Cough cough... One of my daily reads is Data Mining. Just today, though, I saw that their feed has, uh, decayed a bit in Google Reader: Always check to see how your feed looks in a feed reader. If it's a mess, make sure your HTML code doesn't include an unclosed element, or a comment that's not closed, or something else. Matthew, I took a look at your source - couldn't find anything…
Continue Reading Tip of the Day: Check How Your Feed Looks »
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October 18, 2007 by ian
Feedburner is dead at the moment: Somewhere, someone is running around screaming at the development team while they mutter curses at the gods that spawned them. I'm OK with this kind of thing. It makes me feel better to realize my company isn't the only one who has days like this... Technorati Tags: feedburner…
Continue Reading Feedburner Down: No One's Perfect »
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October 17, 2007 by ian
I just noticed that yesterday I completed my 500th post. Should I have a party or something? Technorati Tags: blogging…
Continue Reading 500th Post »
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October 16, 2007 by ian
Mukund asks: “If the new marketing is all about conversation, why does it take so much effort to get people to talk. Why do only 1% people coming to our blog site comment?†Mukund, it's not easy, I'm afraid, and there aren't any magical solutions. But here are four techniques that have worked for me: Just Ask The most obvious technique, if you have a big enough audience, is to simply ask. For example, I've gotten four comments here and another 10 or so on Facebook from my Stump Ian post. But, this method depends on you having a…
Continue Reading 5 Ways to Build Blog Reader Participation »
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October 15, 2007 by ian
I'm speaking at Lunch 2.0 today. You can get the details on Josh's web site. Technorati Tags: speaking…
Continue Reading Speaking at Lunch 2.0 »
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