image credit: confusedvision
The slow shrinking of mainstream, one-size-fits-all; the massive growth of customization and personalization
Millions of people no longer watch TV, and many that do skip the ads with Tivo. Print newspapers and magazines are dying a slow and painful death (although a few smart ones have evolved and are thriving). Even web users use ad-block plus to skip the ads in Firefox.
How does your organization get its messaging out? Yesterday it was done through carefully crafting messages pushed out onto channels others had built - the ones I mentioned above. The ones that are becoming less effective and losing influence daily.
The old way was paying to use someone else’s monolithic channel. The world is obviously moving against this, it is one of the simultaneously most clear yet most ignored trends in communications. People scoff at the notion that the TV to consumer model isn’t forever broken. It is, and the world is not changing back. People who wake up from their mass media slumber don’t fall back asleep. Continue reading...
image credit: shoothead
There were alot of great comments on my post awhile ago: your resume is meaningless (and building career security, not job security). Please take a moment to read it if you haven’t, as I want to build upon what I wrote there.
I think this issue is relevant again because of the state of the economy. I get the sense that some people are fearing for their jobs. Stepping back and looking at the bigger picture you should never live a single day of your life with any fear - there is no reason for it. It’s simply not a productive use of life. Not if you want to be remarkable and reach your full potential. Continue reading...
image credit: matthew fang
What most online marketing lacks…
In the frenzy of marketers drowning the web in their ultra-proofed and overly refined messages, there is something that is severely lacking: passion. And, passion is the largest driver motivating people to produce, share and remix content online.
What motivates someone to share her recipes with the world every day? What motivates a tech blogger to write about the latest gadget? What motivates a web guru to talk about the latest startup or e-commerce site? Simple - it is pure and raw passion for the subject matter.
If your marketing, your product, your blog or your brand lack passion, you will never break through the noise online. It doesn’t matter how slick your communications are, the people using the web with greatest frequency are extremely smart and will see through the fluff, or ignore it altogether. Continue reading...
You’ll notice at the bottom of this blog (and many others) a little icon that looks something like this:
This signifies that the work is published under a creative commons license. Click the button and you’ll be taken to the license page - which explains:
Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, educators and all content producers easily mark their creative works with the freedoms they want it to carry. Everyone can use Creative Commons to change their copyright terms from “All Rights Reserved” to “Some Rights Reserved.” Continue reading...
It’s interesting to me which industries decide to engage in social media. It is even more interesting to see who does so in a way that makes sense for their brand and is seen as authentic and true.
The QSR industry (QSR stands for Quick Service Restaurant, if you aren’t aware) in particular seems to have a big opportunity here, as many people are already quite fond of their brands.
In fact, the tactics they can take don’t have to be anything crazy and could be quite simple, especially if there is pent-up demand for their presence in the social space.
Everyone is marketing web products like crazy online. Physical products are used by people online too, and the realization that most reading this already know is that those active on the web don’t see a difference between interacting on and off the web. It’s a big missed opportunity here not to join the conversation about your own brand. Continue reading...