Permission Marketing-NZ: Is your “From” address working for or against you?

I know I've bitched about this before, but I still see so many major name companies sending marketing emails using "From" addresses that are complete nonsense. Some of my personal favorites:

Using the "From" address of:

Victorville Daily Press: Students create bookless yearbook

Students at Goodwill Education Center in Victorville, CA dumped the idea of a bound yearbook for friends and classmates to sign at the end of the year in favor of a CD edition. My first question was "how do you sign a digital yearbook?" They've thought of that too...the CD will also come with a notepad inside the case, so students won't miss out on the time-honored tradition of signing each other's yearbooks.

I like my yearbooks. I guess I'm just too old fashioned However, if you're going to do a digital yearbook, why not take a page from CD-to-web marketers, and have a social networking website hosted by the school, for each class year. You could throw the CD in five years from now, click on someone's picture, and be brought to the website that shows you what they're doing now and how to get in touch with them. Savvy social networking companies such as friendster and classmates.com could sign multi-decade deals with schools to be information aggregators and providers. Part of the cost of the 'digital yearbook' would include membership to the school's social network online for a number of years...after which you could renew if you wish.

This could be an interesting business model for colleges as well. Those schools that have super alumni networks like USC could add value and increase endowments by providing alumni networking as a service.

MCP Magazine: Anti-Spam Law Ineffective
So if the law can’t help, what can you do? Go back to basics.

I'm pretty excited about being able to track RSS! It means there are almost no reasons not to pursue RSS as a corporate communication medium. Odd, but I wonder if this is one of those things that they'll try to patent and all the great companies that use the technology will get sued in a few years. Amazon is getting the shaft on some broad shopping cart technology right now...bummer.

"In our November, 2003 issue, we first introduced you to IMN¹s RSS feature which allows you to instantly start publishing RSS feeds that link directly to your newsletter or weblog. Today, we¹ll give you more information on our RSS features including insights on how it can fit into your marketing program and an overview of our new trackable RSS feed feature." - IMN
http://newsletter.imninc.com/e_article000232339.cfm?x=a2DGdnL,agGDkvg

BPM Today: Social Networking Makes CRM Business Case

It is becoming clear that social networking will be -- if it is not already -- yet another methodology to be embedded in a sales operation.

The next wave of social-networking applications will have to incorporate some kind of tangible value-add to the company -- and, most likely, that will be in CRM, specifically sales and lead generation.

On Monday, Spoke Software, a hosted provider of social networking, will announce its technology for work groups, a complement to its Spoke Network for individual professionals. The work-group module, which will debut in early March, will integrate into Web-based sales-force automation and CRM applications. Spoke says there are 20 work groups lined up to implement its new product, including the Atlanta Braves, Citibank and MetLife.

Mark Organ, CEO of Eloqua, a lead-generation software provider, told CRM Daily that his company has been using Spoke Software in a similar manner. "It is an amazing tool," he enthused. "What we have done is integrate Spoke into our sales workflow."

As a result, lead generation at the company has, in effect, morphed into a two-pronged operation. "We use traditional lead generation techniques in our own software coupled with Spoke to see if there is another contact we should approach outside of the traditional campaign," Organ said.

Indeed, Spoke Software co-founder Chris Tolles says the application extends a company's CRM system instead of replacing it. "Most CRM systems track a contact's presence in a system. We, on the other hand, through communications traffic, measure and rate how well you know this contact."

Marketer's have no shame. After seeing Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ", I'm not sure how to take a story like this. Nothing about this movie should be sensationalized, but it's effects on the quasi-Christian community could be profound. The revolution will be marketed. Understandably, the marketing of Christianity makes some theologians uneasy, to say the least.

Hallmark, the greeting-card giant, sells nearly $300 million worth of religious and spiritual greeting cards annually, accounting for about 10 percent of its overall card business. Rachel Bolton, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City-based company, said she expects "The Passion" to fuel a spurt in spiritual retail.

"We expect that many Christians seeing the movie will reaffirm their beliefs and be inspired to express their faith in more areas of their lives," she said.

Related Notes: Oscars, "Passion" Drive Web Users to Movie Sites
With the Oscars just two days away and buzz surrounding "The Passion of the Christ" reaching feverish heights, Internet users are flocking to movie-related web sites, according to new figures from Reston-based comScore, a provider of Internet audience measurement services. The company said that more than 15 million Americans visited movie sites during the week ending February 22 -- an increase of 12% from the average of the previous four weeks. And last week, ThePassionoftheChrist.com broke into the top 10 movie category sites, with more than 600,000 unique visitors. With many of this weekend's shows reportedly already sold out, Internet users are turning to the web to buy tickets in advance. Traffic to Moviefone.com jumped 26% last week.
http://www.comscore.com/press/pr.asp

Related Resources:
AdAge: 'Passion' Becomes Textbook Case of Buzz Promotion

This is the third in a series of 'Man-on-the-scene' posts from Jay Berkowitz at WebMasterWorld in Orlando Florida.

I interviewed Monte Cahn, CEO and Eric Harrington, President of www.Moniker.com an ICANN Accredited Internet Domain Registrar, I asked them what the webmasters were looking for in domains and Web hosting.

I asked Eric Harrington to explain why someone would own several thousand domain names. "There are a couple reasons; first many of these webmasters are affiliates, which means that they own websites that refer visitors to online retail stores. Many of them have hundreds of domains that get high type-in traffic, the domain links to stores like Amazon.com. The affiliate gets paid a percentage of every sale that they direct to the store. A second reason is that many of the webmasters are holding on to valuable domain names and using our "For Sale" pages to put those domains up for bid or auction. We have a number of names for sale such as Candy.com, Tradeshows.com and Shanghai.com."

Toby Bloomberg has Jay Berkowitz reporting to the AMA InternetSIG from the WebmasterWorld.com Conference in Orlando. So...I'll keep blogging Jay's feedback for everyone's enjoyment.

I saw an excellent Keynote presentation given this morning by Andrew Bourland, internet marketing pioneer, the founder of ClickZ.com. Andrew sold ClickZ and is currently running www.marketingwonk.com , an online marketing newsletter.

Andrew spoke of Developing Websites with depth, not just breadth, and gave some examples of excellent online business models that go deep and generate excellent revenue.

Queer Eye For the Straight Guy is an excellent revenue generating internet model. In the incredibly successful Bravo tv show, the 'Fab Five' makes over a straight guy who needs help. The products featured in the show are listed, with links on the web site creating an incredible infomercial presented as entertainment. http://www.bravotv.com/Queer_Eye_for_the_Straight_Guy/

www.MarketingExperiments.com offers excellent marketing information and test results with a ton of free content. They have a simple (but not easy) five-word mission statement: To discover what really works. For $34.95 a month, 3,000 regular subscribers receive access to additional member only content. Nice business model!

www.fishingworld.com has a ton of free content, free classified ads, tournament results etc. They offer retailers eCommerce sites for monthly rates based on number of items. Another nice business model based on depth of content.

I call this Online Marketing Golden Rule #5 'Subscription Models Survive'. The successful websites today offer the visitor something free, real hard-core value in exchange for a visit. If you deliver your part of the bargain in this trust relationship, a percentage of consumers will
participate in a paid subscription.

More from Orlando later on!

Toby Bloomberg started a great thread among the members of the AMA E-commerce/Internet Marketing Shared Interest Group on "What are the Top Five Trends in Interactive Marketing." So far, it's a great running discussion. For those of us not in the thick of WebmasterWorld 2004, Jay Berkowitz sent back this report on what's buzzing at the show.

From Day 1 of WebmasterWorld in Orlando with 600 leading web techy's...

1, 2 and 3 Hottest Items are are Search, Search and Search! I call search the Gold Rush of 2004, many of my clients are making 3-8 times their investment back with Search Engine Marketing.

1. PPC or Pay Per Click (also called Pay For Performance) Search. These are the paid links on Google, Overture and other search engines. Every second session at this show is focused on PPC. Google, Overture, GoDaddy and all of the other major players are at the conference.

2. Natural Search Engine Optimization, also called Organic Search. This is the practice of getting your site ranked high by the search engines in their natural or free (left side on Google).

3. Paid Inclusion is getting more air time, look for it to be 'the buzz' as the changes in the search industry (Yahoo bought Overture etc.) come to play.

4. Contextual Marketing. More commonly known as Gators. These are the ads that pop up for a competitor when on a web site. They are served through ad ware for people who have downloaded a program such as Kazaa. Look for these to get red hot with the fall off of eMail performance and then cool down as more people ad Pop Up blockers.

5. Permissioning. Permission to eMail, opt ins, double opt ins, white lists become critical jargon as Can-Spam comes into our lives.

Others:
Blogs - Web logs, online journals
Localization - Google and Overture have local search products ready to come to market
Viral Marketing - Send to a Friend and other referral tools
Sniping - Huge for eBay auctions, bidnapper, bidslayer offer tools to grab a high bid at the last second

Better yet, why the hell would I want to buy the services of an Information Architect for my next web project? That is, if I even can explain to my manager what an IA is and does! I love what these guys do, but they need a better sales pitch. Ask 10 people if they know what Semiotics is. There, I've made my point.

From SellingIA, here are some approaches to consider. Frankly, these sound OK to me. I might just be interested in buying now...

* ROI - cost justifying
* shortening time to market/launch
* reducing risk through analyis and ProtoTypes
* strengthing brand communication
* innovating and establishing competitive advantages
* public relations payoffs for friendlier design & increased customer satisfaction
* reduced cost of redesign due to strategic design laid down now
* well thought out structures leads to consistency which can empower others/partners to produce synergistic products/services

Generally speaking, SellingIA has more to do with cost justifying the return on investment to internal buyers rather than direct selling to the client since most IA projects don't exist in isolation, coming part and parcel with the actual development.

As more employers are warming up to hiring again, workers are finding that telecommuting is very much an option. However, unless you've some experience with working from home, it's not always an easy road

Do you have what it takes to telecommute?

Content Management - A Process, Not a Technology (hmm, same with CRM, or ERP, or [insert favorite technology acronym here]
via Asterisk

Keith is on to something here. And it's something that we've all run into. In fact, as I sit here with a client's content plan on another screen, I can't help but feel very cynical about the project. I know, for a fact, that they don't grasp the effort that will be required to transform this site map and content plan into a real site. Coming up with content and managing that content is damn hard work, and there's no way around it. This shit doesn't just come out of thin air you know. Life would be a lot better for many people if they'd just hire a copywriter. And this, this is the most bizarre thing - of all the things that people skimp on to 'save money', content is usally first on the list. This is totally baffeling to me. I mean, what the hell do you think people are coming to your site for? A new and unusual navigational experience? Hardly.

How many times have you been working on a project and it’s rolling along and you run into a wall because your client or stakeholder doesn’t have the content to you when they should, or they want to make all sorts of edits at the last minute? This happens to me all the time, on almost every project. This costs everyone involved time and money. It’s bad business, right?

This is a direct result of not placing the content first. The content should be treated with more care than the design, but how often doesn’t that happen? In my experience almost never. It’s always the “fun” stuff first, and we’ll fill the pages later. Shame on us.

Not surprisingly, Gerry McGovern gets this concept too.

EWDN and YPN Members and Partners:

A reminder that the 3rd state-wide “Building the New Wisconsin Economy” Forum is March 2nd in Green Bay. To find out more and register, visit the website at www.bnwe.org. A few EWDN reps are on the panels, along with local CEO’s and media leaders.

Date:
March 2, 2004
9:15 am - 4:00 pm

Location:
The SC Grand Banquet
and Convention Center
1250 Mid-Valley Drive
De Pere, WI

Editor & Publisher: When Journalists Blog, Editors Get Nervous

Personal employee blogs, it seems, are land mines for media employers. The nature of the Internet is why. A simple family blog written by a reporter might contain a reference to trouble at work, or discontent with a boss. It's so easy for such an item -- meant for a tiny group but accessible by the entire Web world -- to take on a life of its own and spread to a huge audience, embarrassing not only the employer but also the employee. The media operates in a Google-driven, Romenesko world now.

Bill Stoller of Publicity Insider mentioned an Alternative to Costly Press Clipping Services called Clip & Copy, a free on-line news clipping service, that automatically scans over 300 publications to find keywords, names and phrases which you pre-designate.

When Clip & Copy finds a news story that meets your criteria, it grabs the headline and creates a summary of the story.

This service is free, as are Google News Alerts. I asked Bill about the difference between the two, to which he said:

"Neither are all encompassing - GNR misses a ton of placements.

I'd advise using both - one might pick up what the other misses - they're both free !"

I personally use both to keep up on our publicity for the company and also to keep up on topics in the industry, by keyword

Seth G. mentioned Bloglines on his site today, but I've been using this thing for months now and can't imagine getting RSS newsfeeds any other way!

I've been saying that RSS can be a little scary for newcomers and non-techies and will not be adopted by the masses for some time, but Bloglines' free, Web-Based News Aggregator let's you put all the blogs you read in one place, and you only have one site to visit for all you're RSS fed information. Moreover, you don't have to install any software.

Rumor has it that Bloglines will be free for a while, but may move to a fee-based model as the service becomes more refined. For those of us using the system, I"m quite sure that I'll ante up for any reasonable fee.

Some folks in the computer security world still believe that the growing and pervasive use of computers in the past twenty years has enabled the average person to become functionally computer literate. While most people know how to open a Microsoft Word document, read email and use a browser, far fewer know (or care) about what it takes to secure their computer.

That's a major reason why so many hundreds of thousands of drones and bots exist and are under control of black hat folks. Your parents' computer could quite likely be "owned" right now, a compromised bot that's available for misuse by a large group of miscreants - and maybe you won't find out about it until the next time Mom and Dad invite you over for turkey dinner.

The Register: Click on this, you muthas

HBS Working Knowledge: It's Back to Business-Basics for Nonprofits

Former HBS professor Jeff Bradach shares practical advice on how nonprofits can improve their strategy and produce measurable results for their cause and donors.

Rob also offers his take on this over at Businesspundit

To me, one of the most challenging things of working with web developers is trying to convey the concept of 'thinking like the customer' and designing for usability, not just for the sake of technology. Oddly enough, the arguments are sometimes just as tough when facing the CEO, at least when it comes to the topic of the ROI of web site Usability.

Here's is Rashmi Sinha's has astounding set of links to articles about the usability/ROI connection.
via Lockergnome

It's happened once again. I get 1/2 through dispensing my cup of brew from my local coffee shop's coffee urn, and find that there's nary enough coffee to fill my cup!

Who knew? Well, no one - and how would they? The coffee urns in ALL of my favorite local coffee houses have NO INDICATORS to tell the staff or coffee connoisseur that they’re running low on juice.

In fact, it’s become such an issue that I now find the following on a sign adjacent the coffee urns:

"When coffee pots are empty, please put on the bar"

Clearly, someone needs to come up with a better system. Perhaps a self-aware electronic coffee urn that pages the staff when it gets below 1/4 full would do the trick. That way the staff can start brewing before the coffee runs out!

We were just discussing the topic of how our small business can accept credit cards, which we've not needed to do to this point because most of our business is B-to-B and all of our clients pay by check. But as our first widget is set to roll out, we know we'll be dealing with corporate credit cards soon enough.

Lo and behold, PayPal has just release a service this past weekend called "PayPal Account Optional", which enables US-based merchants to process credit card transactions using PayPal without requiring buyers to signup for a PayPal account -- signup is now completely optional.

The "PayPal Account Optional" feature can be toggled on or off from a PayPal account holder's profile setting, under the "Selling Preferences" / "Website Payment Preferences" area at the bottom of the page, below the "Auto Return" setting.

EmailSherpa: How Big Companies are Testing RSS Feeds to Circumvent Email: RSS 101 + Useful Links

Janet Roberts of Marketing Sherpa does a fantastic job of taking on the topic of RSS feeds within the web-world of Corporate America, and goes on to explain some of the basic tenents of RSS technology.

It's also great to know that EmailLabs will be supporting RSS from their email campaign manager very soon.

Oh, and [shameless plug follows...] I'm quoted in there as saying:

-- Are my clients or customers ready for this?

Dana VandenHeuvel, new media director for Web-services
company Balance Studios, saw many potential
uses for RSS feeds over email deliveries at his former
employer, a major contract-furniture manufacturer.

"People in that industry were not e-savvy," VandenHeuvel
said. "It would be falling on deaf ears as to what our user
base would glean from it, because they didn't understand the
value of the technology."

The Contra Costa Times: New technology is all about 'presence'

Spawned by the popularity of instant messaging buddy lists, a new technology trend known as "presence" is all about making people aware that you're available.

New developments in Instant Messaging and "presence" software could change workflow and make employees more productive, or so software developers at the annual DEMO trade show claim. Some new programs allow for sophisticated presence capabilities, making scheduling meetings and conferences more seamless.

I'm personally a huge fan of this concept, both internally and for customers visiting your website. In fact, one of the benefits of being at Warner Bros. when AOL took over was that we all got on the AOL IM bandwagon, and I could IM anyone from my boss to my employees in other buildings on the campus down the street. It was an invaluable tool.

Right now, this means 3 things to me:

1. Use IM internally within your company to streamline communications (but don't replace a good phone conversation when needed)
2. Have IM addresses on website - assign someone to chat
3. Use LivePerson or some such application on e-commerce sites to allow immediate interactions

Klever Karts are driving shoppers around the store

A new self-service shopping cart solution for the retail environment is to be co-developed by Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc. and Klever Marketing Inc., resulting in an integrated, intelligent shopping cart with a built-in wireless computer that shoppers can use to scan items while they are shopping.

Story via: The Wise Marketer

The AAFRV cordially invites you to "Building a Brand in America" by David Oreck.

When: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 6:30 pm
Where: The Gruenhagen Conference Center on the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Campus

This event is free to the public.

Our next BBBT will feature Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell and their book Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force


BBBT Round 2 starts March 15th!

Visit the offical BBBT website

Check out the BBBT Entries Here

CRMIQ: Wilson: E-mail marketing as a contact sport

Aside from the fact that this reads like a press release for RightNow’s eService Center, there are some terrific insights in here about how Wilson Sporting Goods gears up their customer contact center and practices 'iterative updating' on their website in the wake of each email marketing campaign they send out.

If your concerned about what to do with the flood of customer inquiries that could result from a mass mailing, here's a few ideas that you can apply, regardless of what CRM package you're using...

A Key to Email Marketing Success: Stressing the Role of the Offer

What is an offer?

An offer is the carrot, or incentive, you give your target audience to incite them to action. The offer can include price but encompasses more than that. Compelling offers make your email message stand apart from the clutter.

The best email promotions usually contain primary and secondary offers.

The primary offer is created to appeal specifically to your defined target audience. The secondary offer comprises your brand, your services or products, and everything else that is your business.

ePrairie: Sending E-Mail Too Often? Pick Up the Phone First
A recent experience made me think of how many times I receive e-mails in business on subjects where people should actually be calling me, writes Barry Moltz.

Green Bay, WI – February 17, 2004 - What is the most important item on an e-mail marketer’s mind? Having the right list, says Dana VanDen Heuvel, New Media Director of Balance Studios, an interactive solutions provider based in Green Bay, specializing in helping clients create and communicate the right messages.

A user on the American Marketing Association E-commerce/Internet Marketing Shared Interest Group asked the following question today - I thought the list of resources generated as a result of the question might of benefit to all...

I'm interested in websites which provide basic demographic info on internet usage. For example, % of U.S. citizens 55+ by state who use the internet for information and email communication.

Related Resources:

CyberAtlas is always my first stop for stats
http://cyberatlas.internet.com/

WebReference has a list of more sites that offer free or paid stats services
http://webreference.com/internet/statistics.html

Check out their press section at Mediamark for more info on their reports
http://www.mediamark.com/

Pew Internet Project reports are based on thier research, surveys, and analysis
http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/

Also, you may find that 'googling' a series of the keywords in your question below yield additional helpful results such as the following:

http://www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Features/05-25-1InetUseby55-64.htm

http://www.virtualgiving.com/papers/Seniors.pdf

http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=FS&cat_id=31

If anyone knows of more, please put them in the comments. Thanks!

Jarrett Tilton, the Channel Demand & Analysis Manager at Cingular Wireless has a need for an SEO Pro. You can contact him at: 678.893.3747 or jarrett.tilton, cingular.com
................................................................................................................................
Our company is currently searching for an interactive professional proficient in all aspects of search engine optimization and search marketing for our internet services channel. I am Channel Manager responsible for creating internet demand and online promotions to grow wireless activations in our overall e-channel space and the position would report directly to me.

If any of you know of someone with an SEO background looking to make a career change-- possibly from an interactive agency environment or Fortune 500 marketing/technology position, and who possesses excellent client management and negotiation skills, and would be willing to re-locate to Atlanta, we would love to speak with them. We are looking to move forward very quickly as this is a critical discipline to our long term business as a channel.

How did you find your last plumber? Where did you locate the person to fix your air conditioner last summer? I’ll be the limo for your daughter’s prom came from the same place.

The Yellow Pages

If you’re anything like the 25% of Americans that wish they could have found that information online (maybe because you’re one of the 21.5 million households on broadband), you’re not alone. A recent Kelsey Group/BizRate.com study queried more than 5,500 online shoppers and found that 25 percent of their searches were for merchants located near their homes or workplaces.

Local search is also on the brains of Google and Overture (Yahoo) who both plan to launch services allow allowing advertisers to aim their ads at users in specific geographical areas either by checking the Internet Protocol address assigned to the user's compute local search service would identify potentially local search queries, like "dentist," then ask users if they would like to type in a ZIP code or other location modifier to get geographically targeted results.

Marketing Myopia at the Phone Company

The phone companies have complained for some time that the Internet is taking away their business. I disagree, and if you look at one of the founding articles of the practice of marketing, Marketing Myopia by Ted Levitt, you’ll see why. The yellow page advertisers were not viewing themselves as “resource locators” but rather as ad space sellers for offline printed material. If they had seen themselves as a service to customers, rather than as a “product” of sorts, they’d have had this figured out long ago.

Fun and Profits with Micro Sites

Taking a new approach, users who type the phrase "Green Bay HVAC or air conditioner repair 54303" will see advertisers within 15 miles of Green Bay. For advertisers that have no Web page to link to, clicking on the ad would send users to a "landing page" or “micro site”, which could be sold and created by the phone companies, and reside on their server, along with additional advertising from the HVAC company, including information like hours of operation, phone numbers, maps and directions.

No company is better positioned to capitalize on this offering than the local directory company selling you your yellow pages space!

The search engines have the Web traffic, they lack the ability to attract and sell ad space to small business owners. Verizon, SBC and other Yellow Pages publishers have millions of small advertisers already buying their services - and have sales forces to help those businesses with their online advertising - but their Web divisions may lack the infrastructure to support this initiative. I say – hire people!

Verizon "is moving in that direction”, so to speak, with their SuperPages.com site. Starting March 1, users of SuperPages will be able to perform general searches by typing in any keyword or phrase, rather than being limited to the precise business categories created by SuperPages.

Yellow pages publishers have good reason to be scared, and even more reason to rejoice in the potential for profits selling custom micro site landing pages to compliment an advertisers offline ad.

As human beings, we tend to be too nearsighted - limiting our thinking to paradigms we find comfortable for ourselves. But when you’re trying to understand and fulfill the needs of your customers, it’s almost always necessary to become farsighted, stepping outside of those paradigms to view things from your customers’ perspectives. That’s especially true when considering new marketing approaches.

1. Not Listening to Customers Many businesses operate on “intuition” and don’t realize that their experience may not reflect the reality of their customer base. For example, a CEO may be told by his or her sales representatives that all is well with the customers, when in actuality, the customer experience is less than positive. Objective research is the cure; through it everyone will gain a realistic view of the situation.

2. Being Afraid to Spend Money in Order to Make Money Marketing innovation doesn’t come for free. In order to understand your customers and address their needs in a positive, creative and interesting way, you’ll have to invest significant resources. Of course, the return on your investment should be carefully measured, and, as in any wise business decision, it should be possible to see a profit from the experience down the line.

3. Garbling the Message
So often in the excitement to communicate with customers, firms try to cram all key messages into one message and one channel of communication. Careful thought is needed to come up with a single message and a single voice to communicate clearly.

4. Thinking for the Moment
In the midst of daily demands, it’s easy to get bogged down in the here and now. But strategic thinking isn’t only for generals. It’s necessary to think “strategically” in long-range terms in order to spend marketing dollars effectively. Marketing “tactics,” or practical action steps, will flow naturally from strategic thinking.

5. Trying to Do It All Yourself Delegation o