Marketing

Links: 26 June 2009

• Easy on the Hooptedoodle: How to be invisible when writing a book. You know… show instead of tell. [Link: The Blood-Red Pencil]
• Exposing Some Myths About Blogging Pay Rates
• 7 Ways to Rediscover Your Dreams
• Book Marketing 2.0: 5 ways you can use Web 2.0 tools to promote your book
• Namechk: See if a user name is available across many social networks.
• Twitter Logo Generator [Link: Crenk]

• Best Sites for Used Cars: Daughter has driver’s permit. Not gonna get her a new car. If anything, she’ll inherit hubby’s car once he gets a replacement.
• Star Trek does opera: Khannnnn! in Italian.
• Emo Babies: Not emo as in wearing black, but showing their feelings and emotions. Very cute.
• Wanna See a Kindle 2?

Links: Juneteenth 2009 Edition

• Social Media and “The Flight Attendant Effect”: Excellent analogy that makes great sense. [Link: Scott Blitstein
• Five Levels Of Social Media Responses [Link: Dawn Foster]
• Children’s book writing month at Tumblemoose: Lots of advice, articles, videos and guests.
• Tweeting for profits: How retailers and other businesses are taking advantage of Twitter.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Darth McVader: This link is in memory of my dear friend Glenn.
• The Stapler Caper: Adorable wordless children’s book that encourages children to write the story. YouTube video tells more. Disclaimer: Creator is a dear friend of mine. Heard great story about a kid who hated writing. He actually produced an incredible story using this book as a tool. Wow.
• Tilt-shift Photos of London: Just makes me wanna get there ASAP! I love the UK and am eager to visit there as one of my first stops on the other side of the world.

Factors for Finding the Right Logo for Your Business

This guest post is from Ben Johnson of Logoinn, a custom logo design service provider based in UK.

Your logo is the proverbial “calling card” for your business. The appearance, style and design of your business logo will be responsible for the all-important first impression to a potential customer or client.

Understanding the importance of your business logo, you may wonder what you should have and what you should include within the design of that logo. This article provides tips and pointers on what type of logo you need to have for your business enterprise.

Logo as an Iconic Representation

When you are considering what type of logo will be most suitable for your own business, you can learn a good deal from those very successful logos that have really proven successful over time. Some logos have become so widely recognized that they are iconic.

Examples of iconic logos include the Coca-Cola logo, the Starbucks logo and many other logos that have been around for a long time that have become a part of the consciousness of consumers from all parts of the world.

You can take tips and cues from these logos when it comes to the decision making process associated with your own business logo. For example, these logos have common factors and elements that you can translate into your own logo design efforts.
For example, these iconic logos have clean and clear design concepts, have basic color schemes and convey a sense of what the business is about.

Take Practical Considerations into Account

In addition to taking a look at what other successful businesses have done in the way of logos, you want to clearly take in account practical considerations. For example, want to make sure that your logo appropriately conveys at least an indication of the products or services that you are offering through your business venture. A logo that doesn’t convey a sense of your business type will become ineffective in branding at best and a devastating error in the worst-case scenario.

You also need to ensure that your branding devices appeal and attract the specific market niche that contains the specific consumer group who will be most interested in doing business with your firm or company.

Simple Is Better

When selecting a logo design, keep in mind that a clean and uncluttered look is the best selection and the best choice for your operation.

With a clean, clear and uncluttered logo, consumers will more readily connect with your business. A quicker, sounder connection increases the number of customers or clients that your firm or company will do business with both in the short and the long term.

Know Your Industry

While you definitely do not want to copy another business’s logo design concept, it can help you to analyze what other businesses in your specific industry are doing in the way of logos, branding and related issues. Some themes are commonplace and suitable within a specific industry. Therefore, it likely will behoove your business to incorporate these themes into your own efforts at designing the most effective logo for your venture.

This is a step that a professional design firm will undertake as part of its own effort at developing the most effective and appropriate logo for your own business enterprise.

Final Lines

If you take the time and make the effort to consider the factors in this article, you will be in a better position to understand what type of custom logo will not only be the most suitable, but also most effective for your business venture. You will be laying the groundwork for a successful and profitable business, the groundwork that will serve you well not only today but as your business grows into the future.

Links: 20th Wedding Anniversary 2009 Edition

Yesterday was my 20th wedding anniversary. Wow. Two decades of marriage. I’m very lucky to have Paul as a partner in life, parenting and silliness. Yes, I’m up for many more! I just hope he can handle me!

• What books do people proselytize about?
• 10 steps to get your e-mail inbox to zero every day [Link: Aliza Sherman]
• How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live: I watched #tonys on Twitter last Sunday and it was quite an experience different than what I am used to on Twitter.
• Social Networking Medial ROI Calculator

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 40 Fantastic Sand Sculptures
• How to Plan a Vacation Using Social Media: Note to self… remember this when I finally manage to plan one.
• Guess the Logo: Love these games.
• 8 Weird and Wacky Items Sold on Amazon.com

Links: Mud Pie Day 2009 Edition

My youngest, a kindergartener, had Mud Pie Day today (they do bubbles, throw footballs, play Frisbee, eat pudding, mess with sand and much more.

• 99 Essential Twitter Tools: Yikes! Sounds to me more like 99 ways to get sucked in twitter some more…
• 72 Stunning Business Cards That Will Blow You Away: Consider me blown.
• Alternative to expensive software: Don’t need to spend $$$ in Photoshop or need all of its power features? You can see a list of alternatives and filter them by license such as free, open source and commercial, by platform and by tag.
• 25 logos with hidden message: Cool stuff.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Amazing photographs from a high point of view
• You Can’t Please Everyone: One star Amazon reviews of movies, music and literature.
• Cards of Change: What people do to their business cards when they no longer work for the company on the card.
• Award winning stop motion: Do it again: Wow! Talk about patience!

Links: Memorial Day Weekend 2009 Edition

(moment of silence) Thank you, soldiers.

• The Role of Get Rich Quick Merchants: Complete with fab New Yorker cartoon.
• Best Entrepreneur Books That You Never Expected
• Useful Tools: Straight out reviews of web apps and tools without the editorial or anything else.
• How Freelancers Might Save Publishing
• Why People Don’t Follow Back on Twitter: Are you breaking these Twitter Commandments? [Disclosure: I wrote it]

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Awkward Family Photos: No ’splanation needed.
• Wireless Keyboard Wall Graphics: Ah, geek art.
• Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest: Ah, dizzy art.
• Research Paper Glossary
• Top 10 Movie Misquotes
• Incredible photo of the sun… not just the sun…

How to Manage Your Time with Social Networks

Photo credit Scouts Caslu

Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. MySpace. Social Median. FriendFeed. Friendster. Ryze. Blogs. It’s never-ending. Those of us who work to keep up with social media as a marketing and publicity tool feel like we’re drowning in a pool of “Be my friend,” “Join my group” and “Update me.”

It’s like tangled cables. You have all these resources that connect you to a network of many, but the tangles drive you crazy.

• Tell yourself that no one can keep up with it all. Well, maybe the one person who can make it a full-time job to do it without worrying about money.
• Create a profile at all the reputable sites. I said create a profile, not go there every day.
• Pick three to use on a regular basis. Generally, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
• Connect other sites with your Twitter and Facebook feeds. Many sites now let you update them through Twitter and Facebook. This way it looks like you’re active, which you are — just not at that specific site.

Fascinating Twitter conversations with just 140 characters and the addicting Facebook applications can engulf you. Here’s how I control my social networking cravings so they don’t get in the way of my work:

• Create a folder called “social media” or “social network” and filter everything from twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. etc. into that folder. Check it once or twice a day. This made the biggest difference.
• Avoid using applications like Tweetdeck. With Tweetdeck putting a lot of features in your control, it’s easy to get carried away. Twitter and Facebook almost never have slow times.
• Multitask. I try to participate in two twitter chats every week. On those days, I tend not to sign in twitter until those chats start and catch up then using tabs and multiple monitors.
• Stay off when you’re most effective. I do my best work in the morning. So no social networking in the morning. Instead, I write and write.
• Use monitoring tools. If you have to know when someone mentions your company, you or something else, let the monitors do the job for you. I know some don’t do a perfect job as I use several that haven’t been consistent in reporting. Read this great article at Web Worker Daily on mining twitter.

Don’t let social networking overwhelm you. You’re the boss of your time and very few can be all over the place on a regular basis. Instead, take a step back and prioritize. Having a profile is better than nothing. Besides, you can point to where people can find you.

How do you manage your social networking activities?

List of Twitter Chats

Image credit Vincent Abry

Twitter group chats offer a clever and effective way to meet people with like interests and to share insights into the topic of discussion. Chatters track their conversations using hashtags (#) followed by the name of the chat, i.e. #journchat.

While we can search for these groups by their names as in “journchat” and “editorchat,” the reason we had the # in front is to separate them from those just mentioning those words in conversation. It’s not as if we’re going to mention “journchat” in our conversation without a reference to the chat, but there are other names like “Star Wars” that can mean the difference between # and no #.

Update: This post is no longer updated as an interactive spreadsheet is available and it looks like chats are growing too fast for one person to keep the listed updated.

Here’s a list of Twitter chats in alphabetical order. A detailed list appears after the list sorted by the day of the week. Please add chats, more information and corrections in the comments and I’ll update the list. To join a chat, check the post on how to join Twitter chats.

Note: All times listed in Central Standard Time. Find out what time the chat occurs in your area with the time zone converter.

Alphabet List of Chats

#agchat: Tuesdays, 7:00pm to 9:00pm CST.

#AgeOp: Thursdays, 8:00pm to 9:00pm CST.

#assnchat: Tuesdays, 1:00 pm-2:00 pm CST.

#blogchat: Sundays, 8:00pm to 10:00pm CST.

#brandchat: Wednesdays, 10:00am to 11:00am CST.

#carchat: Wednesdays, 7:00pm to 9:00pm CST.

#editorchat: Wednesdays, 7:30pm to 10:00pm CST.

#educhat: No set schedule.

#eventprofs: Tuesdays, 8:00pm to 9:00pm CST and Thursdays, 11:00am to 12:00pm CST.

#ffparty: Fridays.

#foodchat: Third Tuesday of the month, 7:00pm to 9:00pm CST.

#hcsm: Sundays, 8:00pm to 9:00pm CST.

#hcmktg: Fridays, 12:00pm to 1:00pm CST.

#innochat: Thursdays, 2:00pm to 3:00pm CST.

#journ2journ: Thursdays, 7:00pm to 8:30pm CST.

#journchat: Mondays, 7:00pm to 10pm CST.

#litchat: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 3:00 pm-4:00 pm CST.

#lrnchat: Thursdays, 7:30pm - 9:00pm CST.

#platformchat: Fridays, 1:00 - 2:00pm CST.

#poetry: Thursdays, 8:00 pm-9:00 pm CST.

#pr20chat: Wednesdays, 7:00pm - 8:00pm CST.

#queryday: No set schedule.

#sbbuzz: Tuesdays, 7:00pm to 9:00pm CST.

#smallbizchat: Wednesdays, 7:00pm to 8:00pm CST.

#smbiz: Tuesdays, 7:00pm to 8:00pm CST.

#smchat: Wednesdays, 12:00pm to 1:00pm CST.

#talentnet: last Wednesday of the month, 8:00pm to 10:00pm CST.

#writechat: Sundays, 2:00pm to 5:00pm CST.

Sunday

#writechat: Moderated by @WritingSpirit. When: Sundays, 2:00pm to 5:00pm CST.

#blogchat: Bettering your blog. Moderated by . Blogchat recaps. Moderated by @MackCollier. When: Sundays, 8:00pm to 9:00pm CST.

#hcsm: “The Healthcare Communication & Social Media community hosts a weekly Twitter conversation about communication and marketing practices by healthcare organizations, including use of social media.” Moderated by @HealthSocMed and #danamlewis. Chat web site. When: Sundays, 8:00pm to 9:00pm CST.

Monday

#journchat: “Conversation between journalists, bloggers and public relations folks. Moderated by @PRsarahevans.” When: 7:00pm to 10pm CST.

#litchat: “Mission is to connect readers with books and authors.” Transcripts available on blog. Moderated by @litchat. When: Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays, 3:00 pm-4:00 pm CST.

Tuesday

#assnchat: “Open to any all members of the association community, including staff, consultants, volunteer leaders and members. Explore the present and future of associations. Bring your issues and questions!” Moderated by @pinnovation with assistance from others. When: Tuesdays, 1:00 pm-2:00 pm CST.

#sbbuzz: “A weekly chat about small businesses for small business owners, techies, social media mavens and folks who love ‘em.” More focused on tech in small business. Moderated by @sbbuzz, @pmohara and @mriggen. Chat web site. When: Tuesdays, 7:00pm to 9:00pm CST.

#smbiz: “Open chat session where small businesses of every kind can meet, network and ask all kinds of questions in any of the aforementioned areas.” Moderated by @smbiz, @sternalpr, @sternalmrktg. Details about #smbiz. When: Tuesdays, 7:00pm to 8:00pm CST.

#agchat: “The mission of #agchat is to keep an ongoing, open dialogue amongst the various players in the agriculture, farming and ranching worlds. For people in agriculture, including those in the business of producing food, feed, fuel and fiber.” Moderated by #mpaynknoper. When: Tuesdays, 7:00pm to 9:00pm CST.

#foodchat: “Monthly conversation Designed to bring consumers together with agriculture on the third Tuesday of each month to bridge the farm gate to the consumer plate.” Moderated by #foodchat and #mpaynknoper. When: Third Tuesday of the month, 7:00pm to 9:00pm CST.

#eventprofs: Gathering of event professionals. Wiki of chat topics and archives of past chats, schedule and moderators. Chat details. Moderated by @ready2spark and @eventprofs. When: Tuesdays, 8:00pm to 9:00pm CST and Thursdays, 11:00am to 12:00pm CST.

Wednesday

#brandchat: “A discussion between experts, strategists, and those interested in learning more about personal branding and managing their personal brand.” Brandchat site and Twitter ID. Moderated by #mariaduron and #davidsandusky. When: Wednesdays, 10:00am to 11:00am CST.

#smchat: A discussion on the power of social media among active practitioners and strategists. Anyone interested in driving value from online interaction and collaboration is welcome. Be ready for a discussion that’s sometimes technical but always lively. We explore dynamics of social & professional interaction, twitter, online communities, and the evolution of knowledge networks. Moderated by @sourcepov. See #smchat page on What the Hashtag? for more details. Members should watch #socialmedia #collaboration and #km for insight. When: Wednesdays, 12:00pm - 1:00pm CST.

#litchat: “Mission is to connect readers with books and authors.” Transcripts available on blog. Moderated by @litchat. When: Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays, 3:00 pm-4:00 pm CST.

#pr20chat: Discussion of where PR is heading. Moderated by @bethharte.” When: 7:00pm to 8pm CST.

#carchat: Discussion about cars and the automotive industry. Facebook group. Moderated by @michaelbanovsky. When: Wednesdays, 7:00pm to 9:00pm CST.

#smallbizchat: “Helpful tips and advice geared toward small business startups and those that have been in business for less than five years.” Follow @smallbizchat for weekly details. Moderated by @smallbizlady and cohost @CathyWebSavvyPR. When: 7:00pm to 9:00pm CST.

#editorchat: “a place for professional writers and editors who use the micro-blogging service Twitter to discuss how best to help one another.” @LydiaBreakfast runs the chat. #editorchat’s blog. When: 7:30pm to 10:00pm CST.

#talentnet: “Chat is for an audience of recruiters, sourcers, researchers and other HR professionals interested in social media for recruiting and branding.” More details on chat and Facebook page. Moderated by @fishdogs and @pinkolivefamily. When: last Wednesday of the month, 8:00pm to 10:00pm CST.

Thursday

#eventprofs: Gathering of event professionals. Wiki of chat topics and archives of past chats, schedule and moderators. Moderated by @ready2spark and @eventprofs. When: Mondays, 8:00pm to 9:00pm CST and Thursdays, 11:00am to 12:00pm CST.

#innochat: On innovation. Moderated by @stonepayton. When: Thursdays, 2:00pm to 3:00pm CST.

#journ2journ: Reporters help other reporters in some manner and discuss journalism challenges. Moderated by @journ2journ. Chat recaps on Poynter. When: Thursdays, 7:00pm to 8:30pm CST.

#tweetin: Moderated by @LinkedInExpert. See Linked in to Business. When: Thursdays (not weekly, check site), 7:00pm to 8:30pm CST.

#lrnchat for people interested in the topic of learning who use the social messaging service Twitter to learn from one another and discuss how to help other people learn. Moderated by @marciamarcia. When: Thursdays, 7:30pm - 9:00pm CST.

#AgeOp: “For those interested in getting more out of life, marketing to the 50+ demographic, interested in the politics of aging, the tragedy of ageism, the explosion of masters athletics, the value of experience, the key to health and vitality, how the 50+ market uses the internet, and on and on.” Moderated by @kwidrick and @ageopportunity. When: Thursdays, 8pm - 9:00pm CST.

#poetry: “We talk poetry. Readers, writers, and all others encouraged to join.” Moderated by @gregpincus. When: Thursdays, 8pm - 9:00pm CST.

Friday

#ffparty: “A virtual nightclub on Twitter where the creative class gathers from all over the world for a Friday Art Party. Artists of all types share creative expression. Guests at #ffparty drape themselves in beautiful clothes, listen to cool music, mingle with contemporaries, and bring their work, or share other’s work, displaying their creative and original flair.” Moderated by @blogbrevity. #ffparty explained. When: Fridays.

#hcmktg: Chat related to healthcare marketing. Moderated by @hcmktg, @IntervalChris, @TalstoneDJ and @reedsmith. Chat web site. When: Fridays, 12:00pm to 1:00pm CST.

#platformchat: Chat on the why and how to have a platform. Moderated by @thewritermama. Every Friday during the summer. When: Fridays, 1:00pm to 2:00pm CST.

#litchat: “Mission is to connect readers with books and authors.” Transcripts available on blog. Moderated by @litchat. When: Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays, 3:00 pm-4:00 pm CST.

Saturday

None

No Set Schedule

#educhat: Moderated by . “While we could discuss many topics in a given evening, it is currently thought that each week would see discussions focused on a single broad topic” surrounding education. #educhat web site and information. Moderated by @educhat. When: No set schedule.

#queryday: Discusses how to query well. Held every other month and moderated by Colleen Lindsay. When: No set schedule.

ShortURL to this post: http://u.nu/5wye

Updated: 26 June 2009

Links: May First 2009 Edition

Sad to hear Fort Worth’s Mayfest is off this weekend thanks to swine flu. Attendees enjoy arts, entertainment and crafts. It also hit many of us with allergy and asthma attacks with all the hay (it almost always rained before or during Mayfest).

• How not to be hated in Facebook
• 10 people to unfollow in Twitter
• 10 techniques for an effective ‘call to action’
• Is PR really in the relationship business?
• 10 reasons to be grateful for difficulty
• Letter from a Proofreader with Edits
• The difference between male and female leaders: I always find these types of conversations fascinating.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• John Williams is the man! A Star Wars-themed four-part a cappella musical tribute. Performed by Corey Vidal and Moosebutter. Closed-captioned,too!
• Swinefighter: Swine flu fighting game. Need a break from all the swine flu bad news? Here you go.
• 17 cool magnet tricks
• Spreadtweet: “So, you work at a big corporate, huh? And you’re not allowed to use Twitter… Wouldn’t it be awesome if there were a Twitter tool that looked just like Excel?”

How to Annoy Querying Journalists

Photo credit Peter Gustafson

I recently posted a query in Help a Reporter Out (HARO) that received the most responses ever — 50! I used only 23 replies because some were duplicates. Of those duplicates, I picked the best reply or person who thought of my readers instead of himself or herself.

What may bug me may not annoy another journalist and vice versa. Here are the types of responses I received that went into the trash pile.

Focused heavily on product: The query was asking for help with a problem. One person said to use his product. Yet another who gave the same answer used a generic noun and also has a product, but it was mentioned as an afterthought — not part of the main body of the response. And guess what? I included the link to the game.

Attached article written by sender: The sender’s article has nothing to do with mine. If it has answers to my question — then paraphrase it in the email so the response isn’t the same word-for-word.

Sent file without extension: One person sent a file with extension — oh, yeah, like I am going to open a file without knowing its format. If you attach something, it needs to have an extension such as .doc, pdf and .txt. You’d think this old practice would be dead by now.

Mentioned expert can answer question: PR person offers to set up an interview. My query clearly asked for answers to my question.

Quoted study without naming names: Someone quoted a study that showed a common product was not effective. It was along the lines of “A study showed that the average smoke alarm didn’t work 83 percent of the time.” Then it went to talk about a product that lowered those odds. Well, I wanna know who did the study because it’d be biased if it was the company’s own study.

Tried to make unrelated product or service fit when it was obviously NOT a fit. People who do this probably answer every query possible and tailor their product / service to fit the query even though it doesn’t fit. For example, tying in counseling services with a query about finance jobs. No go.

Failed attempt at kiss up: One person made a phrase using the letters in my name related to the query. Cute, but served no purpose. Like I am going to use the corny-sounding phrase in my story.

You might wonder about some of these responses. More details for those who want it.

Does this mean you can never mention your product or service? No. One person manages a site that provides a form for finding a provider nearest you. It fit the article and the person’s reply. Sometimes we writers DO want products — often it’s obvious from our query.

Does this mean NO attachments ever? I was OK with people who responded with comments within the email and attached a study or something relevant to my query. Here, the respondent answered my query and attached a file as an FYI.

It’s when people say, my answers are in the attached. Is it that hard to copy and paste, then edit? Writers like to quote studies, data and relevant information to add to the story. You save writers time when you add an attachment that doesn’t promote your business.

So you don’t want PR people contacting you? Not if it’s “Have I got an expert for you! Want me to set up a call” type thing. I’m fine with the PR person sending me the expert’s answer. Besides, I avoid phone calls when the ball is in my court. Don’t think it’d take much effort to figure out why.

Some folks took the time to take advantage of a personal fact I provided in the query. That was cool with me. I discovered a couple of great resources as a result. This doesn’t mean you have to learn everything about the journalist. Mentioning a fact or two is nice.