Posts in Content
Business-to-business ebooks: Spreading your ideas for free
E-books have become a very significant medium, partly because people can instantly see the value of a product that looks like for-purchase content but can actually be downloaded for free. In my opinion, e-books should be material people want to read, compared to the dense and usually boring white paper, which our buyers feel they should read but often don't. More...
An Underused, Full Proof Way to Sell More in Less Time that’s FREE
[photo courtesy of monamigreetings]
Even if you compose the most concise copywriting to ever grace a page, the most persuasive words aren’t always written by you. There’s an ingredient you can add to your copy that can help you sell more in less time. It’s an underused tactic. But one that can rapidly satisfy a prospect’s logical and emotional demands at the same time.
People are skeptical of being sold to, but they do listen to each other. So to persuade them to buy your product you need to provide them with evidence of someone it has benefited. You need to provide the social proof that your product is as wonderful as you claim. More...
Dan Roam’s “Back of a Napkin” approach to visual thinking (and how I bought the book).
Dan Roam’s “The Back of the Napkin” book about visual thinking is a novel approach to problem solving (and deserves a blog post all of its own)
However, I thought it worth examining how I went from not knowing a thing about Dan Roam at midday on Saturday, to understanding a lot more about him and buying his book nearly 11 hours later - as well as finding out a few other interesting things along the way.
Here’s the text based version of events (the diagram above is my own pen and paper effort based on Roam’s tips).
1. My wife buys a copy of The Guardian on Saturday. More...
“Online journalism is about more than just writing”: Chris Green, Editor, IT Pro
IT Pro Editor Chris Green has written a very good post regarding the changing nature of online journalism.
(In tune with the zeitgeist, he says he was prompted to write the piece after he made a Twitter comment about his traffic/contributor analysis - and I and others asked him for more detail).
Specifically, he highlights things that he believes freelance writers will need to consider and change their working practices to incorporate. If you substitute the term “PR” for freelance writer, much the same principles apply.
For example, on SEO, Chris says: “This is key to the future of online publishing. More...
What Brands Can Learn From Working Dog
* Rob Sitch in The Hollowmen
Companies, brands and marketers could learn a thing or two from Melbourne-based entertainment production house, Working Dog.
Thinking Big Pays Off For Ten's Big Brother
Internet marketing advice can come from unexpected places
Bryan McCrae is a psychologist who spoke at the National Coaching Psychology Conference. And you would never have thought a conference for psychologists involved in coaching would lead to Internet marketing advice - but it did.
Bryan's session was based on his Cognitive Sales "healthcheck" which he runs through with companies trying to improve their sales and marketing. More...
Wife in the North
Judith O’Reilly’s Wife in the North blog has become a self help manual for my family in our plan to co-locate in London and rural Northumberland.
Like O’Reilly’s husband I’m going to split my time between the two locations making regular use of the East Coast Mainline while my wife and three kids enjoy the benefit of a rural life in the north. Or not depending how literally you take Wife in the North.
Within days of launching Wife in the North O’Reilly caught the attention of Tom Watson, Iain Dale and Andrew Sullivan. Viking Penguin offered a book deal. The book was published last week. More...
Why Customer Service is the New Marketing
[image courtesy of ansik]
Whether it’s in customer reviews, blogs or forums, people are talking about products and influencing buying decisions. Blaring out sales messages merely antagonises skeptical prospects, who place their trust in the objective advice of their peers.
Research is showing that the ROI of traditional marketing methods is falling, whilst customer interaction is increasing. This would suggest that an adjustment to the bean counter is needed to how marketing dollars are spent.
Perhaps it’s time to stop thinking about just ‘joining the conversation’ in marketing to an online world, but also to be useful in how you communicate. More...
Lifesaver
This is one of those simple and useful ideas that put a smile on my face. Over in Australia, the Red Cross have launched an animated download with an audio voiceover that takes you through all the steps for CPR. The technology is available through any Australian mobile phone service for a $3 charge.
I’ve been on a first aid course and I just about remember how to get someone into the recovery position, but who’s to say I’d remember when under pressure? Perhaps, simply by knowing it was on your phone and so easily to hand, you might panic less if you were ever faced with a life and death situation. More...