Author Archive

 

Thanks to our keynote speaker Mitch Joel who will be with us in june.

He is generously offering this post for us right from his own blog.

How would you feel if you paid over $1500 to attend a conference but you were never informed that some of the “speakers” actually paid to be speaking in sessions that were nothing more than a heavily veiled sales pitch?

Just recently I recommended someone as a speaker for a well-known organization that holds many different types of conferences. It was a perfect fit. Their content was in the specific niche that this conference was covering and, according to the online schedule, there were still several session slots that had not been finalized. I wrote a fairly compelling email with supporting links and even media coverage on behalf of this speaker. It felt like a slam dunk.

Then, this arrived via email…

“Thanks so much for your email and your interest in [conference name]. Although it may look like there are slots available on the schedule grid, the main program is now full. That being said, I do have a few sponsored speaking opportunities available… I could offer you a very good deal. Please let me know if this would be of interest and we can discuss further.”

Do you think the people who paid over $1500 to attend this conference are informed that some of the sessions are paid sponsorships? It’s not mentioned anywhere in the online schedule and there is no visible indicator that would even signify this differentiation. I don’t know about you, but I would like to know which – if any – sessions I am attending are a sales pitch versus authentic content that was put on the slate because it was earned.

Businesses are getting pretty desperate.

As bad as things might be because of the economy, these types of antics are going to happen more and more. People are looking for angles. The are looking for ways to pull more profits. The problem is that it’s not a sustainable model. Someone else would probably “drop a dime” and call this conference organizer out. There’s no doubt that this sort of thing would severely affect their business. But, in a world where a company would be happy to pay to get up on stage and deliver a glorified sales pitch to a full room, and the conference organizers can walk away with not only the full registration fee from the attendees but also some extra shekels from this “speaking” revenue stream – with no one being any wiser – it was bound to happen. It’s sad to think that conference organizers might need some kind of “code of conduct”. It’s even sadder to think about how much they are taking advantage of their attendees/customers.

What can you do?

As a professional speaker, I do over sixty speaking events a year, and this is the first I have heard of this. Going forward, you can bet I will be asking both conferences that I am speaking at or attending if any of the sessions are paid sponsorships (i.e. sales pitches) and whether or not the conference organizers notify their attendees of this practice.

I think it sucks big time. What do you think?

Marketing Magazine dubbed him the “Rock Star of Digital Marketing” and in 2006 he was named one of the most influential authorities on Blog Marketing in the world. Mitch Joel is President of Twist Image – an award-winning Digital Marketing and Communications agency. In 2008, Mitch was named Canada’s Most Influential Male in Social Media and one of the top 100 online marketers in the world. His first book, Six Pixels of Separation, named after his successful Blog and Podcast (www.twistimage.com/blog) will be published in the Fall 2009 on Grand Central Publishing – Hachette Book Group (formerly Time Warner Books). 

Un merci spécial à notre conférencier de prestige Mitch Joel qui sera des nôtres en juin.  Il nous offre généreusement un de ses billets en anglais directement de son propre blog.

Marketing Magazine le surnomme  “Rock Star de Digital Marketing” et en 2006 il a été nommé l’un des plus influents auteurs de Blogs Marketing sur la planète.   Mitch Joel est président de Twist Image – gagnante du prix excellence de l’agence “Digital Marketing and Communications”.   En 2008, Mitch a été nommé l’homme le plus influent au Canada dans les médias sociaux et l’un des 100 meilleurs en commercialisation Web mondialement.   Son premier livre, “Six Pixels of Separation”, nommé d’après son succès “Blog and Podcast (www.twistimage.com / blog)” sera publié à l’automne 2009 aux éditions Grand Central Publishing – Groupe Hachette livres  (ex Time Warner Books).

 

PMAC Conference will be pleased to receive an exceptional and international artist Dominic Lacasse. If  I mention the Human Flag, many of you will certainly know who I’m talking about, since you can’t forget when you watch his performance. Here’s a brief summary of his wins :

�
Holder of Guinness world record in human flag (39 sec).

4e at “Incroyable talent 2008″ and price of princess of Monaco

Festival de cirque de Monte-Carlo – Prix de la société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique – SACEM et participation au spectacle des vainqueurs.

Lauréat du Québec, recognition by Le Soleil et Radio-Canada.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfWWrER9T2Q

 

Le Congrès de l’ACGA aura le plaisir de recevoir un artiste unique et international, Dominic Lacasse. Si je vous dis, l’Homme Drapeau, plusieurs sauront qu’il s’agit d’un artiste de cirque  sans pareil qui impressionne à chaque passage. Voici un bref résumé de ses victoires :

 

Détenteur du record Guinness en drapeau humain (39 sec).

4e rang au vote du public à Incroyable talent 2008 et gagnant du prix de la princesse de Monaco.

Festival international du cirque de Monte-Carlo – Prix de la société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique – SACEM et participation au spectacle des vainqueurs.

Lauréat du Québec ,reconnaissance octroyée conjointement par Le Soleil et Radio-Canada.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfWWrER9T2Q

 

Thanks to our keynote speaker Mitch Joel who will be with us in June.

He is generously offering this post for us right from his own blog.

What if you took everything you had and made it publicly available on the Internet? What if you opened up your most secret of secrets and encouraged your customers, friends, family members, peers and, yes, even your competitors to play with, tinker and devise that better mousetrap?

It sounds a little insane. Welcome to crowdsourcing.

“For the last decade or so, companies have been looking overseas, to India or China, for cheap labour. But now it doesn’t matter where the labourers are – they might be down the block, they might be in Indonesia – as long as they are connected to the network. … Technological advances in everything from product design software to digital video cameras are breaking down the cost barriers that once separated amateurs from professionals. Hobbyists, part-timers, and dabblers suddenly have a market for their efforts, as smart companies in industries as disparate as pharmaceuticals and television discover ways to tap the latent talent of the crowd. The labour isn’t always free, but it costs a lot less than paying traditional employees. It’s not outsourcing; it’s crowdsourcing.”

That’s how Jeff Howe first coined the term, “crowdsourcing” in the June 2006 issue of Wired Magazine for the article titled, The Rise of Crowdsourcing. He followed up with the book Crowdsourcing – Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business (Crown Business), and he also blogs where he includes another definition:

“Crowdsourcing is the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call.”

It goes by many other names as well. Some call it “mass collaboration,” others call it “the wisdom of crowds,” and when money becomes a part of the play, best-selling author and technologist Don Tapscott wrote about it and called it Wikinomics.

And with a new way of looking at and doing things comes with it all of the usual controversy as well. While there are some obvious and inherent benefits to crowdsourcing that include cheap (and sometimes free) labour, the exploration of business problems at a fairly low cost, and payment (if there is one) happening based on results, many feel that there are also many bigger issues with this type of channel. According to Wikipedia:

“The ethical, social and economic implications of crowdsourcing are subject to wide debate. … Some reports have focused on the negative effects of crowdsourcing on business owners, particularly in regard to how a crowdsourced project can sometimes end up costing a business more than a traditionally outsourced project.”

There are even some slight nuances to the nomenclature according to Wikipedia as well: “The difference between crowdsourcing and ordinary outsourcing is that a task or problem is outsourced to the public rather than another body. The difference between crowdsourcing and open source is that open source production is a co-operative activity initiated and voluntarily undertaken by members of the public. In crowdsourcing the activity is initiated by a client and the work may be undertaken on an individual, as well as a group, basis.”

Threadless is a new type of clothing company. The wildly popular e-commerce website sells a unique brand of T-shirt. They are designed by you, for you – literally. Instead of working tirelessly with a slew of designers or spending time in Europe trendspotting for the latest fashion craze, the owners of Threadless decided to crowdsource their product. Anyone is welcome to design a T-shirt.

The designs are then posted and voted on by the community on its website. The designs with the most amounts of attention and votes get produced and sold on the website. Threadless does not design T-shirts. Threadless crowdsources the design and then produces and sells them.

Threadless manages a community. The community creates the product. What do you think their annual budget is for new products development and design? How do you think that compares with American Apparel or Old Navy?

Wikipedia is one of the best and most popular examples of something that is crowdsourced. And, what could be nobler than leveraging a vast network of individuals to curate, edit and crowdsource the knowledge of the world?

Wikipedia is the online encyclopedia that anyone and everyone can edit. The technology is based on a wiki – which is a simple Web page that anyone can write on or update. You can type in any kind of information you would regularly find in an Encyclopedia Britannica, and Wikipedia will return an article (or Web page) that has content that has been created by the entire Internet community.

The percentage of contributors pales in comparison to the users (about one per cent of Wikipedia’s traffic edits the actual pages), but the spirit of this content is astounding if you consider that no one is paid anything to contribute or edit, and the company itself – created by Jimmy Wales – is a non-profit organization made up mostly of volunteers. To date, there are over 2.6 million entries in the English version alone.

What does all of this mean to business? Everything. Companies as diverse as Dell (Ideastorm) and Starbucks (My Starbuck’s Idea) have embraced crowdsourcing on various levels. Both companies have deployed specific websites that are asking their consumers for their thoughts, ideas and suggestions on what the company can be doing better, or what they should be looking at.

In essence, they’re using the power of the Internet and the wisdom of the crowds to get immediate, real and actionable insights from their consumers.

If you needed one question answered about the future of your business, what would it be, and could you open it up to see what a crowdsourced answer might look like?

The above posting is my twice-monthly column for the Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun newspapers called, New Business – Six Pixels of Separation. I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original versions online here:

- Montreal Gazette – Let crowdsourcing do your R&D.
- Vancouver Sun – Crowdsource your research.

Marketing Magazine dubbed him the �Rock Star of Digital Marketing� and in 2006 he was named one of the most influential authorities on Blog Marketing in the world. Mitch Joel is President of Twist Image � an award-winning Digital Marketing and Communications agency. In 2008, Mitch was named Canada�s Most Influential Male in Social Media and one of the top 100 online marketers in the world. His first book, Six Pixels of Separation, named after his successful Blog and Podcast (www.twistimage.com/blog) will be published in the Fall 2009 on Grand Central Publishing � Hachette Book Group (formerly Time Warner Books). 

Un merci spécial à notre conférencier de prestige Mitch Joel qui sera des nôtres en juin.  Il nous offre généreusement un de ses billets en anglais directement de son propre blog.

Marketing Magazine le surnomme  “Rock Star de Digital Marketing” et en 2006 il a été nommé l’un des plus influents auteurs de Blogs Marketing sur la planète.   Mitch Joel est président de Twist Image - gagnante du prix excellence de l’agence “Digital Marketing and Communications”.   En 2008, Mitch a été nommé l’homme le plus influent au Canada dans les médias sociaux et l’un des 100 meilleurs en commercialisation Web mondialement.   Son premier livre, “Six Pixels of Separation”, nommé d’après son succès “Blog and Podcast (www.twistimage.com / blog)” sera publié à l’automne 2009 aux éditions Grand Central Publishing – Groupe Hachette livres  (ex Time Warner Books).

 

Thanks to our keynote speaker Mitch Joel who will be with us in june.

He is generously offering this post for us right from his own blog.

If you are using the micro-Blogging platform Twitter you may have noticed something interesting over the past month or so: as user adoption continues to increase and as Twitter gets more and more recognition in the mass media, the number of people following you may be out-pacing the number of people “friending” you on Facebook. It may be hard to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Here are ten people on Twitter that every Marketing Professional should follow (in alphabetical order):

Arjun Basu.
Arjun is the Editorial Director over at spafax. His tweets have nothing to do with business, media or marketing. He calls them “twisters”. 140 character pieces of fiction. Take a read, they are awesome and it’s an amazing (and creative) use of Twitter.

Josh Bernoff.
Bernoff is a Forrester Research analyst and the co-author of the book, Groundswell. If something new and cutting-edge is happening, Bernoff is tweeting it up.

The Book Oven.
This a multi-authored Twitter stream from a new start-up that is looking at technology and the publishing industry. This Twitter feed is usually packed with great links all about the publishing industry.

Barbara Gibson.
Gibson is Chair of International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), and a PR and communication strategy consultant based in the UK. Her professionalism and industry experience shines through in her tweets. Too many people float the word “Social Media Strategist” out there. Gibson is the real deal.

Neville Hobson.
As co-host of one of the best marketing and communications Podcast out there, For Immediate Release, Hobson is immersed in the news and media that lies at the intersection of technology and marketing. He really allows his personal voice to resonate on Twitter as well.

Avinash Kaushik.
Kaushik is the analytics evangelist for Google, author of Web Analytics – An Hour A Day and Blogger over at Occam’s Razor. His tweets add a whole other dimension to the world of web analytics, but more importantly, marketing.

Amber MacArthur.
She slices, she dices, she does it all. MacArthur is a tech journalist, Web strategist and professional speaker. She also does some amazing video podcasting and always adds value in her Twitter feed.

Jeremiah Owyang.
Everyone loves Owyang. He is a Senior Analyst, Social Computing, for Forrester Research and is a monster on Twitter. Always present. Always relevant. Always worth following.

Jay Rosen.
Rosen teaches journalism at NYU, writes the blog PressThink, directs NewAssignment.net, and is one of the smartest guys in the room when it comes to media and publishing. He’s like the Charlie Rose of Twitter – tons of high brow content and conversation.

Darren Rowse.
Rowse is the guy behind ProBlogger. He is constantly providing great links and insight on new media and new publishing platforms. Well worth following if you’ve been grappling with Social Media and its implications on business.

Who do you think Marketing professionals should be paying more attention to on Twitter?

Marketing Magazine dubbed him the “Rock Star of Digital Marketing” and in 2006 he was named one of the most influential authorities on Blog Marketing in the world. Mitch Joel is President of Twist Image – an award-winning Digital Marketing and Communications agency. In 2008, Mitch was named Canada’s Most Influential Male in Social Media and one of the top 100 online marketers in the world. His first book, Six Pixels of Separation, named after his successful Blog and Podcast (www.twistimage.com/blog) will be published in the Fall 2009 on Grand Central Publishing – Hachette Book Group (formerly Time Warner Books). 

Un merci spécial à notre conférencier de prestige Mitch Joel qui sera des nôtres en juin.  Il nous offre généreusement un de ses billets en anglais directement de son propre blog.

Marketing Magazine le surnomme  “Rock Star de Digital Marketing” et en 2006 il a été nommé l’un des plus influents auteurs de Blogs Marketing sur la planète.   Mitch Joel est président de Twist Image – gagnante du prix excellence de l’agence “Digital Marketing and Communications”.   En 2008, Mitch a été nommé l’homme le plus influent au Canada dans les médias sociaux et l’un des 100 meilleurs en commercialisation Web mondialement.   Son premier livre, “Six Pixels of Separation”, nommé d’après son succès “Blog and Podcast (www.twistimage.com / blog)” sera publié à l’automne 2009 aux éditions Grand Central Publishing – Groupe Hachette livres  (ex Time Warner Books).

 

Thanks to our keynote speaker Mitch Joel who will be with us in june.

He is generously offering this post for us right from his own blog.

It doesn’t have to be about Marketing, Communications, Advertising, PR or how to start a business, it could be about one of your hobbies or another personal area of interest, but go ahead and start a Blog now.

While this may run counter to the general thought that you should have some kind of strategy and plan in place for how to roll it out, how frequently to update it and some thoughts around an editorial  or publishing calendar, the sooner you start putting your thoughts down and publishing them to the world, the sooner you will be able to embrace and understand the power of these channels.

Take 90 seconds and watch this video of Tom Peters (In Search of Excellence and Re-Imagine) and Seth Godin (Purple Cow and Tribes) talking about why Blogging still matters and why you need to start writing one now: American Express – Open Forum – Let’s Hear It For The Blog.

In this case, it sounds like planning is overrated. You’re a smart person, you have something to say (about something).

Right now, most people are thinking about a few major things: Thanksgiving, the Holidays, the economy, the gifts they need to buy, the craziness in Mumbai and more. Nothing is getting easier, in fact – on the business side – things might start getting very complicated. We are already seeing major layoffs and the start of some scary big businesses (and small ones too) closing.

Do you think that the only people affected by layoffs and bankruptcy are people who are not as smart as you are? Doubtful.

No matter what other channels exist (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc…), nothing demonstrates who you are and what you do quite like a Blog. The reason to start one right now is because tomorrow may be too late. While a Blog may not replace the resume or a corporate brochure or a white paper, none of those will ever be able to demonstrate the one thing that truly separates you from everybody else: you – as an individual. Human beings are like snowflakes (no two snowflakes are alike) and, in a world where differentiation and uniqueness seems to be the only competitive advantage, nothing will demonstrate this more effectively than a Blog.

They’re also very cheap (to get started).

In fact, you can head over to Blogger or WordPress and start your own web-based Blog for free in about five minutes. If you start there and you really enjoy it and you’re building some kind of community and connection with readers, then you can splurge for a more serious software package, hosting, custom design, etc… Starting on the free platforms isn’t the ideal way to really grow your Blog and bring it to the masses, but it’s the perfect place to play and experiment with your voice and content.

Don’t worry about how many comments you get.

It is always nice to be validated with comments and to use your Blog as a space to build a community (that’s what this is), but having no comments does not mean that nobody is reading or that the content you are creating doesn’t have huge value. Keep at it, promote it and let people know where they can learn more about you.

One last question: what are you waiting for?

Marketing Magazine dubbed him the “Rock Star of Digital Marketing” and in 2006 he was named one of the most influential authorities on Blog Marketing in the world. Mitch Joel is President of Twist Image – an award-winning Digital Marketing and Communications agency. In 2008, Mitch was named Canada’s Most Influential Male in Social Media and one of the top 100 online marketers in the world. His first book, Six Pixels of Separation, named after his successful Blog and Podcast (www.twistimage.com/blog) will be published in the Fall 2009 on Grand Central Publishing – Hachette Book Group (formerly Time Warner Books).

Un merci spécial à notre conférencier de prestige Mitch Joel qui sera des nôtres en juin.  Il nous offre généreusement un de ses billets en anglais directement de son propre blog.

Marketing Magazine le surnomme  “Rock Star de Digital Marketing” et en 2006 il a été nommé l’un des plus influents auteurs de Blogs Marketing sur la planète.   Mitch Joel est président de Twist Image – gagnante du prix excellence de l’agence “Digital Marketing and Communications”.   En 2008, Mitch a été nommé l’homme le plus influent au Canada dans les médias sociaux et l’un des 100 meilleurs en commercialisation Web mondialement.   Son premier livre, “Six Pixels of Separation”, nommé d’après son succès “Blog and Podcast (www.twistimage.com / blog)” sera publié à l’automne 2009 aux éditions Grand Central Publishing – Groupe Hachette livres  (ex Time Warner Books)

 

Thanks to our keynote speaker Mitch Joel who will be with us in june.

He is generously offering this post for us right from his own blog.

Young people don’t use email anymore. They see it as a traditional form of communication. They use it to thank their grandparents for a Birthday gift (or other times when they have to speak with old people).

The above was a paraphrase of something I’ve heard Don Tapscott (author of Wikinomics and Grown Up Digital) says countless times in his live presentation.

Are you done laughing yet? Do you feel old?

“Use of online social networking, text messaging and cell phones is diminishing the effectiveness of email marketing, especially among consumers that say promotional messages inspire their purchases, according to a report from JupiterResearch, MarketingCharts writes.”

That was the headline from a September 5th, 2008 news item titled, Email’s Effectiveness Erodes Against Texting, SocNets, Mobile, from MarketingVOX.

It goes on to say:

“‘Consumers’ confidence in email has become shaken by irrelevant communications and high message frequency, which are top drivers of subscribers’ churn and channel skepticism,’ said David Daniels, VP, research director and lead analyst of the report for JupiterResearch. ‘People receive such a high volume of email that they are unable to pay attention to every message. It is so important for marketers to be relevant and succinct when they send messages to consumers’ inboxes.”‘

Then, just today, MarketingVOX has another news item titled, Youth More Receptive to Email, vs. SocNet, Marketing.

“The ExactTarget study outlined six personas and measured how they interact with different media. Highlights (via the companion release):

1. Wired Users: 20% subscribed for marketing communications via SMS (more so than any other group) but want to receive texts only for urgent customer service issues, like financial alerts or travel updates.

2. Young Homemakers: Over half use social networks and SMS during the day, but direct mail and email are their preferred marketing channels.

3. Retired: 81% purchased online and 94% have been influenced by some form of direct marketing to make a purchase.

4. College Students: Very spam-savvy, they believe private communication channels (e.g., SMS, social networks) are off-limits for marketers.

5. Teens: Though they use social networking more than any other group, they are more likely to make a purchase from direct mail, followed by email, SMS, and social network sites.

6. Established Professionals: Within this group, women are more likely than men to use new digital media channels like IM, SMS, and social networking to communicate with friends and family. Both men and women, however, shop online — 92% of consumers in this group have made an online purchase.”

Grain of salt time: ExactTarget – who commissioned this new report – is an Email Marketing service provider.

While there may be confusion over whether or not email marketing is still a relevant channel if you bounce between both of the news items above, most people doing any form of email marketing know the real truth: it is a very powerful CRM tool if you have a clean list, delivering relevant and personal content in a timely manner. If anything, I’ve been privy to some eye-opening open rates, unsubscribe rates and conversation metrics that speak highly to the power and efficacy of a strong email marketing campaign.

Beyond that, email is still – overall – a very heavily used communication channel (no matter which news report you choose to believe from above). With both the iPhone and BlackBerry sporting some very interesting numbers recently. Check out this from Computerworld as they were live Blogging the Apple Q4 Earnings conference call from two days ago:

“Apple beat RIM. In their most recent quarter, Research in Motion, or RIM, reported selling 6.1 million BlackBerry devices. Compared to our most recent quarter sales of 6.9 million iPhones, Apple outsold RIM last quarter and this is a milestone for us. RIM is a good company that makes good products and so it is surprising that after only 15 months in the market, we could outsell them in any quarter.

But even more remarkable is this – measured by revenues, Apple has become the world’s third-largest mobile phone supplier. I know this sounds crazy, but it’s true – as measured in revenues, not units, Apple has become the third largest mobile phone supplier… Pretty amazing.”

As of now, the rumors of email’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

Marketing Magazine dubbed him the “Rock Star of Digital Marketing” and in 2006 he was named one of the most influential authorities on Blog Marketing in the world. Mitch Joel is President of Twist Image – an award-winning Digital Marketing and Communications agency. In 2008, Mitch was named Canada’s Most Influential Male in Social Media and one of the top 100 online marketers in the world. His first book, Six Pixels of Separation, named after his successful Blog and Podcast (www.twistimage.com/blog) will be published in the Fall 2009 on Grand Central Publishing – Hachette Book Group (formerly Time Warner Books).

Un merci spécial à notre conférencier de prestige Mitch Joel qui sera des nôtres en juin.  Il nous offre généreusement un de ses billets en anglais directement de son propre blog.

Marketing Magazine le surnomme  “Rock Star de Digital Marketing” et en 2006 il a été nommé l’un des plus influents auteurs de Blogs Marketing sur la planète.   Mitch Joel est président de Twist Image – gagnante du prix excellence de l’agence “Digital Marketing and Communications”.   En 2008, Mitch a été nommé l’homme le plus influent au Canada dans les médias sociaux et l’un des 100 meilleurs en commercialisation Web mondialement.   Son premier livre, “Six Pixels of Separation”, nommé d’après son succès “Blog and Podcast (www.twistimage.com / blog)” sera publié à l’automne 2009 aux éditions Grand Central Publishing – Groupe Hachette livres  (ex Time Warner Books)