Blogging

John Jantsch posed a question a few days ago, “Is networking online really that different?” Precisely. It’s not. Networking is the best way to grow your contacts, your business, build sales and relationships. I’ve found that the more pervasive social networking tools are online; they still reflect the primary essence of personal networking. I have met countless people online, yet when we are able to finally meet face-to-face, it changes the relationship and deepens it. There is a shared commonality at first, but then a friendship ensues. Networking Breakfasts I’ve been a member of many breakfast networking groups, which I’ve always enjoyed. Meeting new people and visiting with acquaintances…

This thought provoking article by Jennifer Laycock (Are Your Social Networking Connections Hurting YOUR Reputation?) brings to mind the saying of my grandmother’s: ” You are known by the company you keep.” While some may dispense with this as old-fashioned advice in the new socially-networked world. I find it to be true now more than ever. Privacy not invaded, but given away I’ve done many presentations to parents about social networking and what teens are doing online. Many are frightfully uninformed. The largest danger is the thinking that social profiles are private, when they are just the opposite. Public profiles, for teens and young adults, can be a vast repository of…

While browsing websites for gift ideas, I am constantly seeing the awesome potential of multimedia. Now that there are multiple social websites for almost every kind of media, the potential for customers to be exposed to your experience is limitless, and really inexpensive. My wife loves wind chimes, and I found some very interesting and different types of chimes. However, as most ecomm sites go; there is usually a picture and a small description of the product. This is hardly enough to go on when looking for a gift that goes beyond a static visual image. The chimes I found were made of ceramic bells rather than metal or wood,…

Scenario #1: You are in a conversation at a party, maybe with one or two other people, and someone comes up, interrupts, and starts talking about something completely different. They typically end up controlling the conversation and the original groups quickly excuses themselves to leave and find new conversations. Scenario #2: You are at a networking event, maybe for a chamber of commerce or a conference. You are in a group of people discussing industry “stuff”. Suddenly, a new person joins the group, inserts themselves into the conversation, and talks about their business and why everyone should work with them. Amazingly, they are selling themselves and their business when no one asked…

“How to Get Links without Trying” or Organic Link Building Linkbaiting is a hot topic right now. However, one of the funniest definitions of creating linkbait was to “forget linkbait, think about the user first, and develop content for them.” Sounds noble enough, yet I find it extremely humorous. Mainly because of the language involved. The word “linkbait” implies that someone would not have linked to you unless they were tricked into doing so. But in recommending that people develop content for users, without thought to the link benefit, the definition does not fit the word. Here is my concept of Organic Link Building: Networking Yes, good old fashioned face-to-face…

In a previous article I talked about the 3 C’s of Marketing as explained at John Jantsch’s Duct Tape Marketing. However, in a recent business meeting, an associate explained their 3 C’s as the following (which was remarkably similar): Content, Context, and Community. I have to say that this resonated with me much more than the other version. Context In the first article, it was Content, Contact and Community. The difference is context, which is something that has come around more than once in my writing, analysis, and observation. In my opinion, context is quickly becoming the authority for many aspects of web marketing; as one example, it is…

Are they doing enough to protect “the other white meat” phrase? I don’t think so. First things first – an apology was issued. I had some thoughts from observing the blogstorm that resulted from the National Pork Board, represented by Faegre and Benson, sending a threatening Cease and Desist letter to Jennifer Laycock of The Lactivist and Search Engine Guide. Jennifer and I have had a number of discussions about the nature of blogging and corporate responsibility. The National Pork Board contacted Jennifer and gave her a very sincere apology, and they are talking to her about rectifying the situation. Knowing Jennifer, she’s not out for herself. She’s…