digital marketing digest vol 1

8/8/2019 Digital Marketing Digest Vol 1

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Intelligent Digital Marketing Solutions For Business Challenges

TMC INTERACTIVES

DIGITAL MARKETING DIGEST

Vol. 1

Compilation of Digital Marketing Articles Written By Greg Taylor


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Digital Marketing Digest Vol. 1

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ABOUT TMC INTERACTIVE

TMC Interactive , headquartered in Tempe, AZ provides digital marketing solutions for real worldbusiness challenges. Like you, our clients are always looking for MORE - more business, increasedmarket reach, higher audience engagement, better search engine visibility, higher revenues and morefrom their digital marketing agency.

These business challenges are not unique. Together with our clients, we face them every day.

Why Digital Marketing?

Digital Marketing (often referred to as Integrated Marketing) gives your brand the exposure it needs intoday's business world. Let's face it - no one used the Yellow Pages to find businesses anymore. Printadvertising has dropped because of how people prefer to receive their content and news. Where is it?It's online - where you need to be. Your business needs to have a strong digital web presence for twoprimary reasons - it's where your customers are and where your competition lives.

Why TMC Interactive?Because your business demands results.

TMC Interactive takes the time to learn about your business and pair intelligent digital marketing

solutions with your business challenges. Our holistic approach matches your business's goals withquantifiable metrics of success or key performance indicators, so we are always on the same page.

By deploying a digital marketing strategy that broadcasts great content marketing through strategicdigital challenges with a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy in mind - TMC Interactive yieldsresults. Which is what youre really after - right?
http://www.tmcinteractive.com/abouthttp://www.tmcinteractive.com/http://www.tmcinteractive.com/http://www.tmcinteractive.com/abouthttp://www.tmcinteractive.com/


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2010 Gregory R. Taylor II

The copyright holder licenses this ebook under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivative Works 3.0 United States License. To find out what that means and how this material can be usedplease visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/

Please share TMC Interactives Digital Marketing Digest Vol 1 with your friends, co-workers and anyone who isinterested in digital marketing, social media, blogging and the like. This book may be posted on your blog,printed and/or emailed to whomever you choose we encourage sharing and distribution.

If someone gave you this ebook why not download another copy and pass it on to someone else


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Table of Contents

The Five Ps of Digital Marketing Handling Negative Blog Comments Dont Settle For Good Content Which Came First - Business or Community? Viral Marketing: Creating Contagious Content The Fli pside of Content Creation: Content Consumption Tackling Blog Posts Helpful Wordpress Plugins People On Facebook Like You Now What? Is Your Digital Marketing Just Rearranging

Deck Chairs on The Titanic? Common Traits of Great Marketers 45 Second Social Media Strategy The King and Queen of Content Marketing The Power of The Idea Social Media 101 Three Principles of Getting More Business Why Your Company Needs A Blog Common Blog Misconceptions Goals of Digital Marketing

The Importance of Blog Headlines Reasons Not To Market Like The Grateful Dead Get More Followers On Twi tter Personal Branding In A Digital World Digital Marketing Lessons Learned From Jim Valvano


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About TMC Interactives Digital Marketing Digest Vol.1

TMC Interactives Digital Marketing Digest Vol.1 is a compilation of original articles and blog posts written byGreg Taylor. This ebook is intended to deliver the article content to our audience via channels that may bemore convenient for them to receive the content.

All articles contain information on the Digital Marketing and Social Media world. This compilation, publishedin ebook form, is meant to be a light-hearted reference guide intended to educate and get people thinking aboutmarketing in a different way.

Marketing is fun, marketing is creative and marketing is humorous. This is by no means a marketing textbook

but rather a practical resource guide the marketing principles set before you in The Digital Marketing Digestcan be implemented soon after reading.

Written from the view point of Greg Taylor, an award-winning marketer from Tempe, AZ, TMC InteractivesDigital Marketing Digest Vol.1 is the first installment of a series to be published every six months.

About the design of this book: This Ebook was designed to be lightweight. The purposeful design makes it easyto download and distribute. All images in TMC Interactives Digital Marketing Digest are web-ready jpegs.Please email me should you want a copy of this book with hi-res images for printing purposes.

Please use this material to educate yourself, your employees and your clients. As per the copyright of thismaterial please share at will, just dont re-publish as your own.

All articles were originally published at www.grt2studios.com/blog


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The Five Ps of Digital Marketing

If you are a veteran of the marketing world I'm sure the Four (4) Ps of Marketing (also known as Marketing Mix) are ingrained in your mind. If not, the Four (4) Psof marketing have always been - Price, Product, Placement and Promotion. Of course we are not going "Full Tilt" and upset the apple cart by saying these nolonger apply to Marketing 2.0 - because they still do.

I want to introduce the concept of the Five (5) Ps. The five Ps, while not rocketscience, apply to every aspect of success as well as Marketing 2.0. Utilize theseprinciples in your company's marketing 2.0 strategy and start down the road tosuccess.

1. Presence : Today more than ever every brand needs a strong web 2.0presence. The days of people finding you through the Yellow Pages or someprinted directory are long gone. (Like, really long gone.) Brands and companiesneed to have the proper mix of social media, blogging and web presence. People

want to do business with others they know, like, trust and can solve their problems. Referrals andrecommendations come from people who know each other as well as people who are loosely associated by socialnetworks. This is no joke - step up your presence.

2. Persistence : How many times were you told about a product or service before you finally decided to try itout? Traditional marketing suggests nine (9) touch points but today I think that number has increased. Thereason for needing to increase the touch points is due to all the noise on the Internet today. You may havesuccess with nine touch points (or maybe even less) but I think the average of touches needs to be around fifteen(15). That's 15 times someone read a tweet on Twitter, read a post on a friend's Facebook page or any other mixof Web 2.0. (Here's link to a great article by Brian Solis explaining how Social Networks are touch points.)

3. Professionalism : This speaks directly to the credibility of the brand. No one wants to work with otherswho make him or her feel uncomfortable. When embarking on Web/Marketing 2.0 be professional. Speak topeople on Twitter and Facebook etc. the same way you would speak to them if they were in your office - nomatter how difficult it may be. Today we are all brands and have a brand image to maintain. This post will saya lot about my company, what do your posts say about your company?

4. Patience : I had a boss that would always say, "There are no magic bullets." That is so true. Just because yousigned up for Twitter, followed all the best practices for a Facebook brand page and maybe have the greatestLinkedIn profile doesn't mean it's going to yield results overnight. The same goes true when you hire anIntegrated Marketing Agency. Follow the best practice suggestions, let go and wait for the good stuff to happen.Social Media and Marketing 2.0 is best when the engaged champions of your brand take the wheel. The bestway to engage clients, prospects or fans is to make great content available to them often. After that observe,listen and react accordingly to what is being said. There is a good chance the conversation won't start until atleast 90 days into the strategy. Please don't jettison your efforts if nothing happens right away - Patience isgolden. (Here's a link to a study that says Facebook Fan Pages can increase customer loyalty by 36%)


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5. Passion : A lot is said about passion. The truth is you cant fake your passion. (It's also true for all of theabove also.) Be passionate about your Marketing 2.0 journey. Hire professionals to get you started with astrategy. Yes, Social Media requires strategy. Once you decide to make the leap, go all out. How many timeshave you discovered your favorite brand's Facebook page only to notice that they haven't posted anything in thelast 30 days? If I see a brand or company without a post in the last 5 days I seriously wonder if they're passionateabout their Social Media strategy. Passion begets passion. If you're not passionate about your brand how can

you expect others to be passionate about your brand?

This is a relatively new spin on age-old marketing beliefs. Today more than ever digital marketers need to rollwith the punches and navigate unchartered waters. Together, were creating the marketing rules for futuregenerations of marketers to break.

TMC Interactive uses the Five Ps of Digital Marketing to begin any client engagement. Get your client on thesame page and you will eliminate any chance of a value perception issue later in the relationship.


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Handling Negative Blog Comments Like The Pros

No matter how seasoned a blogger you are at some point you willhave to handle negative comments. I dont care who you are orhow long youve been participating in the blogging game thiswill happen sooner or later.

There are two types of negative comments.

The first kind of comment discusses another point of view andhow you missed the point etc. The commenter may even call youa couple of choice words but the overall tone of the commentusually comes from a place of passion. Theyre trying to get theirpoint across and feel strongly about that point.

The second type of negative comment is profane and abusive. I advise all of our clients to instantly delete thesecomments if a filter didnt catch them. If someone cannot convey their comments without being abusive orprofane they do not belong in the blog forum.

Lets spend our time talking about the first type of negative comments.

After you publish your content (hopefully its great content) its out there for the masses. When publishing content its important to know your audience but that doesnt mean everyone will agree with you. Blogging is apowerful tool when the audience is engaged. An engaged audience participates and one way to measureengagement is by comments.

I think its fair to say that the reader who takes time to write a comment about something they disagree with ishighly engaged. I try to treat these comments just like any other comment (as long as they are done respectfully.)

We encourage our clients to respect and respond to each comment the same. Thank them for taking the time toleave a comment and address their points. Address the comments in a manner that continues dialog versus fuelsthe fire.

We ask our clients to deploy a strategy of Respond (to the comment), Respect (the context of the comment) andReestablish (dialogue). Many times the worst thing that can happen is you simply agree to disagree and whatswrong with that?


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Dont Settle For Good Content Make It Great

Corporate America, yeah Im talking to you

How many times have you heard someone say, Thats goodenough for what it is. Mind you in my world, typically whatit is some copy or a design for marketing material digital orotherwise. What the hell does that mean.

This is what it means to me Its good enough because I amlazy and I do not care about my audience. My audience willcontinue to use my services or products no matter what soIm mailing this in and heading out to meet my buddies athappy hour or at the golf course.

I hope your round of golf is great and those laughs at the bar are really worth it because youre steering asinking ship.

I struggle with integrated marketers and self-professed social media gurus when they talk about content. Weneed good copy, we need strong keyword latent copy, we needwe needblah blah blah the list goes on.

Slow down, player step up your game. (Spoken like Floyd Mayweather)

If good content gets decent results and resonates with your market or audience, imagine what could happenwhen you publish great content.

Great content gives you the opportunity to experience great results. (Good content only equals good results.) Writing marketing copy is a fickle science, why not put forward your best. Dont your clients, brands, employeesand everyone else deserve great?

What defines great marketing content?

My definition of great is something that is extraordinary, adds value to the intended audience and publishedwith purpose. With all those things and a solid marketing strategy behind the article, blog post, photo, video,mp3, tweet, business Facebook post or the like. (NOTE: I mention only digital marketing platforms since this isTMC Interactives concentration. The same rules apply even more to traditional media outlets.)

Remember Steven Coveys Seven Habits of Highly Effective People? Habit number TWO: Begin With TheEnd In Mind. The same rule applies here. Publish content, great content thinking about desired outcomes.

Work backwards to make it something special, have a plan make it great!


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Which Came First - Business or Community?

Its the age-old question: Which came first the chicken or the egg? Lets think about it a little differently which came first Your Business or Community?

Our company was started from a community. The community Im involved intold us it was time - time for a marketing agency in Arizona to concentrate onGreat Marketing Content. It was also time for me to go out on my own (for

various reasons.) And by community I mean, I had support from people I know,like and trust.

We believe in the ideology of the betterment of community. We participate ingroups that we believe strongly in their mission. Along the same lines, we only dobusiness with people who are of like principles. Our success hinges on these

partnerships.

How Can I Help You NOT How Can You Help Me?

Our business is built on meeting our clients needs. We strive to meet our clients marketing objectives bycreating great marketing content that yields results. Partnerships that are built on trust and results and later ontrusting we achieve the desired results.

TMC Interactive is in the business of solving problems by creating great marketing content. Without thecommunity Ive mentioned, there would be no TMC Interactive. Being a part of the Arizona businesscommunity is amazing. I have FREE co-working space in Chandler from Gangplank, Ive sat down with peoplein the marketing, advertising and PR world that I hold in high regard (Len Gutman of Open DoorCommunications, Louie Moses Moses Anshell, Jack Smith of Social Latte all of which could loosely beconsidered competitors but I choose to call them friends) and first hand I am provided examples of howbusinesses should be run by observing Integrum Tech, FORTY Agency and Page.ly all at Gangplank.

If I set out to merely start a business and not be a part of a community this type of transparency wouldnt comeso easily for us (or maybe not at all.)

Giving Back

We walk the walk. How do we give back? We give back is by conducting business in the same manner as thecompanies we respect and supporting one another as situations arise. Another way is by looking foropportunities to help other companies or freelancers get off the ground. Call us out on it if you are struggling in one of our areas of expertise, email me at [email protected] and lets set up a time to talk if I canthelp you Ill point you in the direction of someone who can.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Viral Marketing: Creating Contagious Content

Jenny The Assistant: Unless youve been living in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada you havent hear about Jenny The Assistant.

Jenny is the woman who quit her job via whiteboard messages and email.This story broke on a site called The Chive. (Read Jennys story and see thephotos.)

Jennys story turned out to be a hoax. The hoax was masterminded by twobrothers John and Leo Resig who run the guy centric website The Chive.

While this post is being written, the Jenny The Assistant story has been Re-Tweeted 2,135 times. Thats a lot of traffic coming to a site Ive never heard of before today.

Steven Slater : Jet Blue Flight AttendantOn Sunday, August 9th another story broke, one about Steven Slater. Slater was a flight attendant for JetBlue

Airlines. After a passenger brought Steven to the brink on a flight from Pittsburgh to New Yorks JFK Airport,Slater yelled some obscenities over the loud speaker at the gentleman, grabbed a beer (or two) and exited theplane. Oh yeah, he exited the plane via the emergency chute he deployed. Needless to say Steven Slater waslater arrested and facing seven years behind bars. (Article about Slaters arrest)

Who do these stories have in common? The Content is Contagious.Both of these stories are highly contagious (Viral) for a couple of reasons:

Relatability: Who hasnt wanted to leave a job and make a statement on the way out the door? Some call itburning bridges, some cathartic and maybe some stupid be either way weve all thought about it. (If you say

you havent youre lying.) Most people will make a statement of some sort but not to the extent of the statementsthat the Jenny hoax or the real life Steven Slater incident made.

Humor: There is an element of humor in both of these stories. When I read about Jenny this morning I couldntstop laughing. It was hilarious. Steves story, while also funny, was more of the shocking type of humor thatevokes the I cant believe he did that laugh. But I laughed at both and probably will continue to for sometime.

Shocking: How many people saw this and said, Oh My God! I know I did.

Memorable: It will be a long time before these stories are forgotten. Years fromnow someone will be searching online to read and see the media of the story of Steve the frustrated flight attendant or Jenny The Assistant. These stories aresticky.


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Creating Contagious Content

There is no formula to make your content go Viral. What the above stories have in common are traits thatalmost every viral video or viral story contain. Think about it; think about your favorite video or series of photossomeone sent you -what were some of the common characteristics? I bet there were at least two of the four traitslisted above.

The examples of Jenny The Assistant and Steven Slater are perfect ones. Jenny was brilliantly contrived andexecuted a hoax that was planned to perfection. Steven on the other hand, is a real story about a real guy.Steves incident was probably contrived in some fashion also. Im sure he played this situation out in his mindtons of times saying If one more person on a flight

Viral content is something that eludes 99% of all marketers in my opinion. Marketing people and advertising people (smarter than I) can sit all day in a creative think tank and try to make something go viral with cleverstoryboarding etc. and still fail. I would be willing to bet TMC Interactive has the same chance as some of thelarger agencies in town to make something go viral and in the end well probably both be beat by a clever fatherwith a Flip Cam.

You can create the greatest content with all the intentions in the world for it to go viral and spread like wildfirebut in the end its out of your hands. Its in the hands of the audience. Thats what everyone forgets. Theaudience decides what goes viral and what doesnt.

Only great content has a chance to go viral. Mediocre content goes nowhere guaranteed.

Create your marketing content with value in mind. The traits above are also traits of valuable content. Make theaudience feel the story. Make them relate. Make the audience laugh. Make them do something make themremember you. If they remember you, theyll talk about you and thats the whole point of great content.


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The Flipside of Content Creation: Content Consumption

We spend a lot of time talking about the benefits of great marketing content. Its important we dont ignore the brother (or sister) of contentcreation, content consumption.

A couple of weeks ago I broke down and fed The Steve (Steve Jobs)and bought an iPad. I wasnt going to do it until Apple and Adobemended their fences over Flash but the Hatfields and McCoys are stillfeuding, so (Heres an article outlining the Apple vs. Adobe fight.)

Right now, the iPad is my favorite way to consume digital content. Ilove reading the Ebooks, reading blog posts, watching videos, exploring photography plus monitoring my social networks. Tonight, the contentconsumption game has changed for me.

I came across a tweet by fellow AZ resident @Hackerhaus saying, If you have an iPad, but arent using Flipboard, youre missing out onsomething very cool.

This immediately got my attention. Im new to the iPad tablet platform and Im always looking for new ways touse the device. After downloading Flipboard and using it for a couple of day I am hooked.

This iPad app takes your social media streams and compiles the posts and links into magazine format. (Seeabove photo for TMC Interactive twitter stream) The posted links from Facebook and Twitter are so mucheasier to read in magazine format. I even set up a stream for TMC Interactive content to monitor our content.I think every blogger; myself included, and have aspirations to turn their blogging content into a book.Flipboard helps you visualize what that may look like somewhere down the line. Very Cool.

Now, granted this may not be the best way to consume all digital content but right now its better than anything else Ive used and all for the price of FREE.

Like @hackerhaus said youre missing out something cool if youre not using Flipboard for the iPad.

Digital Marketing Content ConsumptionThis post leads me to ask the question How is your audience consuming your digital content? This question isas important as any question asked about content creation. Everyday more and more people are consuming their content on mobile devices. Is your marketing content mobile friendly? Have you taken precautions tomake sure that your blog posts look great on mobile devices including the iPad?

Whats your preferred way of receiving digital content and information? Smartphone, iPad, email or desktop?


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Tackling Blog Posts

Sometimes, the hardest part of any process isgetting started. Blogging is no different. I saw

Ward Andrews of Draw Backwards speak in Julyat Commposes Writeshop in Chandler, AZ,about dealing with the blank page. Wardspresentation was amazing and has had methinking about my process as a writer and how Itackle blog posts.

I hope that by sharing my process you will beginto develop a process that works for you to get you to start writing on topics that you arepassionate about.

Tackling Blog Posts

1. Use an editorial calendar: My editorial calendar is a strategic tool I rely on to keep me on task. For TMCInteractive, blogging is an integral part of our business mix and one of our key deliverables, so a calendar is amust. I schedule writing as a business activity. I am being compensated to produce content of value, so whywouldnt it be scheduled like every other business task performed.

If you run a personal blog, I still encourage you to use a calendar. Lets face it sometimes life gets in the way of what we really want to do. If a task is unscheduled and left undone for an unspecified period of time it becomesdaunting. Using a calendar reduces the dread of sitting down and writing.

2. Keep a running list of topics or subject matter: I like to use Evernote as my running notebook for ideas,thoughts and useful information I need to remember. (Please see TMC Interactive post about Evernote) Themore ideas and subjects you have in your pocket the easier it is to write. Not all ideas have developed contentwhen they rear their heads, so keeping track of ideas is important.

3. Research topics: Great content and posts of value are informative, educational and thought provoking. Inorder to be informative, educational and thought provoking you have to be well versed on your topic or subject.Know what youre talking about and make it all make sense. A little research goes a long way. Also, donthesitate to cite other experts in your article. Calling on someone else for help on a topic often leads toprofessional relationships and strategic partnerships.

4. Have a strategy: What information are you trying to convey to your audience. Ward said it perfectly, Have atopic, a thesis and write for a desired outcome. I cant articulate that any better. If you begin with the end andthe desired outcome in mind its easier to structure the information and content around it. Focused articles areusually valuable articles.


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5. Compelling images: If youve read this blog before you know I like to use images that are a little to the left.Maybe its a guy riding a chicken, maybe a picture of burning man or maybe just some zany character but theyare all memorable images that illustrate a point. Dont underestimate how imagery can grab the readersattention and get them to read your post. I use Flickrs creative commons for my images its a great resourceand its FREE .

6. Know your keywords: The SEO (Search Engine Optimization) benefits of having a blog may be the reasonwhy you started to write in the first place. You wanted your company to be found by the all mighty searchengines. If you know your brand or companys keywords and develop content around the keywords, thats agreat, first step towards getting noticed by organic search. (TMC Interactive employs the practice of writing primarily for an audience and for readers Search Engines and bots are just a huge added benefit of greatkeyword latent content.)

7. Just do it, review & refine: These steps are critical to one another and the success of your post. Sit down andwrite, knock out some great content marketing content, personal content, inane content you spent the timescrutinizing over the previous steps, now make the content great. After your content and imagery is on screen,step away and take a break. Give your work some time and then review it. Make sure everything reads as youintended it to and then refine what needs to be fixed. Re-structure sentences, fix typos etc. this is final touch tomaking your content great. Dont underestimate this step in haste.

8. Have a broadcast strategy: Maybe you have an audience; maybe you dont but give your article a chance tobe read. Make sure your blog has an RSS feed thats simple to use. Have a strategy to promote your article alittle self-promotion is ok, just dont go overboard. I like to use Twitter and Facebook to promote my articles.

Also, engaging and conversing in forums and chats is another great way to get your content read.

9. Enjoy yourself: Blogging shouldnt be torturous. Have some fun with writing and youll want to do it. Believeme, there are worse business tasks to perform.

I hope these insights help you on your way to creating great marketing content for your audience!

[NOTE: I used this blog post as the guideline for a blogging seminar I did for HearHer.org. The fullpresentation can be downloaded from Scribd by clicking this link.]


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Helpful Wordpress Plugins

I love Wordpress. Hands down, I think WordPress.org is the bestcontent management system available. One of the reasons whyTMC Interactive is such Wordpress honks is because of theflexibility of plugins.

[Plugins are a set of software components that extend a specificfunctionality to a larger software application. (Full Wikipediadefinition) For the purpose of this article we speaking specificallyabout Wordpress plugins.]

Wordpress plugins can make your site do almost anything imaginable with ease. Install the plugin, dial in the settings and get

out of the way. Its really that easy to install TweetMeme, a Facebook Like Button, Spam Detection, SEOPackages, Video Uploaders and so on and so on

Favorite Wordpress Plugins

My two favorite plugins that for every content management system needs are Akismet and All in One SEO.

Akismet saves my sites from unwanted comments. Spam. The more popular your site is the more likely it is thatspammy link builders will try to attach comments to your posts. These comments typically sound like, Thank

you for your post. The precious info you provided do help my research for our corporation, thanks. Badgrammar, off topic, irrelevant comments that are usually used in conjunction with an email address like:[email protected]. My clients would be disappointed if I couldnt protect their blog or site fromthese annoyances. Akismet catches about 99% of all garbage comments and holds them is a spam queue. Allthats left me to do is confirm that they are not valid comments and delete them from the admin control panel.Its easy, its free and its guaranteed to save you tons of headaches.

All in One SEO is the other can't miss plugin. If you are not an SEO expert but are smart enough to know yoursite need its content optimized All in One SEO is for you. The settings on the admin side are verystraightforward and easy to understand. The biggest thing youll need to get used to is a couple of added stepsafter you have finished writing your content. Simply, fill out three additional fields with titles, descriptions andkeywords that are relevant to your content. After that, All in One SEO will give you a fighting chance of getting organically seen by search engines.

Wordpress, powered by Page.ly is TMC Interactives content platform of choice. It should be noted that pluginsare only available when using WordPress.org (the premium solution) and not the free WordPress.com. If you areserious about your companies content you should already be using .org if your company is still trying to makeit with the free .com solution, its time for a self-hosting Wordpress solution.


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People On Facebook Like You Now What?

Nice work! You drove lots and lots of people to your Facebook page and they like you, now what?

Around the offices of TMC or when Im working at Gangplank there are three certainties: Im always availableto talk about Integrated Marketing (Digital Marketing), Music or Sports. So, with that in mind I thought wecould compare two MLB teams Fan Pages (I still call them that Like Pages just doesnt roll off my tongue thateasily) and their year to date average attendance.

Facebook Fans / Likes vs. Game Attendance

Study #1: Florida Marlins, with the record of 65-64, sit in third place in the National League East. Good team,good young talent and in my opinion some exciting baseball. The Marlins have 103,967 fans on their officialFacebook page. (http://www.facebook.com/Marlins) From a quick look, the average Facebook post containsgames recaps or player news. Most of the posts are re-purposed articles from their official websites news forum.

The Florida Marlins draw an average of 17,978 fans per home game, which ranks them 28 of 30. (Source:ESPN 2010 MLB Attendance) It needs to be mentioned that Sun Life Stadium holds a maximum capacity of 36,331, so on any given night, depending on the opponent Sun Life Stadium is at 50% capacity.

Floridas Facebook Fan Page to Real Life Fan Attendance ratio is 17.29%

Study #2: Texas Rangers are an exciting team that has runawaywith the American League West Division. Texas has 218,828 fanson their Facebook page. Not unlike the Marlins, the Rangers postscontain similar information and with the exception of a couple of extraordinary posts they receive the same comment support fromtheir Facebook community. (http://www.facebook.com/Rangers)

Texas draws an average of 29,886 fans per game at The Ballpark at Arlington, ranking them number 15 on the list of 30 (Source: ESPN2010 MLB Attendance).

The Texas Rangers Fan Page to Real Life Fan Attendance ratio is 13.65%

Facebook Quantity or Quality: Why not both?

Whenever a client asks me to help them get more fans on Facebook, I immediately ask Why? If my why isanswered with something that makes sense, I follow up with What do you want to do once you get people toLike your brand? These two questions are imperative to your Facebook marketing efforts.

In any given situation I choose the quality Facebook Fan over pure quantity of fans. Quality to me isdetermined by engagement, which can be measured easily by comments and post likes. (Facebook does have


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other analytics available but I choose to keep in real simple and measure through engagement.) Its fair to saythat someone who takes the time to post a comment on Facebook is probably the same person who is attending

your events, games, shopping at your store, buying your merchandise your customer.

The above studies of baseball attendance demonstrates why quantity important. Its simple people need to like your page in order for you to speak to them. Great content will not work if no one is on the receiving end of thecontent.

Between 13-17% of Rangers and Marlins fans were engaged enough to go a game, I think any brand wouldwelcome those numbers respectively.

Also, when you have a higher quantity of fans there is more of a chance of conversations among them starting.They begin to engage one another, which improves the overall quality of the fan.

Quick Facebook Page Strategy

Get Them ThereGive Them Content (Articles, Video, Contests)Measure Engagement Through Comments & LikesMeasure Facebook AnalyticsReview, Refine, Repeat

There is no particular strategy that works for everyone but the above formula TMC Interactive uses is a great

start. Every brand is different and every vertical market has its own nuances. Its now up to you as a digitalmarketing professional or brand manager to find what works for your clients. (Sometimes, the answer may be Facebook is not a great fit for your brand.)

[When this article was originally written we had no idea the Texas Rangers would make it to the 2010 WorldSeries. Maybe next year we should include the Arizona Diamondbacks and give them a little extra neededkarma.]


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Is Your Digital Marketing Plan Just RearrangingDeck Chairs on The Titanic?

Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. It doesnt matter whatshes gonna keep on sinking.

Is your marketing mindset stuck in Titanic mode? Do youcontinue to rely on traditional methods of marketing and get thesame lackluster results? Its time you reach for a life vest.

Welcome to the new era of marketing and communications. This

is an era where you can actively listen to your audience through various interactive channels. When you listen, you can thenaddress the markets needs and fill in the gaps.

Your audience (aka your customers) no longer wants to be spoken to with corporate mandated marketing speak.Its time to drop the clever taglines and words that no one really understands. They want to know you careabout them and know whats important to them. TMC Interactive has always believed people want to dobusiness with people they know, like, trust and can solve their problems this is no different.

Four Tips To Get Your Brand Off The Marketing Titanic

1. Start Listening: Monitor your brand through various interactive marketing channels. What is being saidabout your company? Digital marketing is a two-way conversation Its closer to two friends discussing business vs. the 5:00 news broadcast.

2. Develop a Game Plan: Now that you know what they are saying its time to go into action. Develop a planthat envelopes what your brand is about. Strategy is strength. Without a strategy you are no wiser.

3. Get Involved: Interact with clients through digital marketing and interactive channels. Engage them onFacebook or Twitter wherever they interactively reside. (Since we are placing a high premium on listening youneed to go to them before they will come to you.)

4. Reward Loyalty: Know who your brand activists are. Who speaks highly of you? Who doesnt? Reinforce thepositive while authentically trying to change the negative perceptions. Engaged clients will be loyal to yourbrand show them you recognize that and you appreciate it.

Traditional marketing and PR cant accomplish the above four ideals. How can you listen to your audiencewhen youre shouting over them to make your point? Stop shouting, start listening and begin conversing. Get off this sinking ship by doing something differently.


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Common Traits of Great Marketers and Leaders

There is no irony how the same principles of great leaders canalso be applied to principles of great content marketing. Itsfunny how many parallels can be drawn and applied back tothe marketing and advertising world.

Leaders lead, marketers market and advertisers advertise butwithout these common traits there is no success. Here are sixnecessary traits of great digital marketing.

HonestyGreat marketing always needs to be honest. (Really a bummerI needed to say that.) A house of cards will always fall. If youbegin a business relationship based on untruths, no successcan ever come out of it. (TMC Interactive believes a businessrelationship is formed from the very instant your audience orprospect knows your name.) Starting with anything less than the truth will only lead to disappointment or worse.

Dependability / Accountability

My Grandfather used to say, Half of life is showing up and the other half is showing up where and when yousaid you would. If you are working with a client you are 100% accountable for all marketing deliverables. If

you agree on metrics of success it is your responsibility to achieve those metrics. If for some reason you fall short own it. No one sets out to fail but failures do happen address them, do something different next time and bethere for the client. To some clients digital marketing is mysterious so if something falls short, its no time for

you to disappear. Doing that hurts all of us.

Confidence

Devise a marketing strategy and be confident in it. Success breeds confidence. Once one or successes have beenattained build on those successes. No one wants to work with anyone who is wishy-washy and is notconfident in the plan they devised. Not only is a lack of confidence unattractive, its unprofessional.

Commitment to Excellence

I borrowed a saying from the Notre Dame football locker room and have it written on the white board in myoffice: Play Like A Champion Today.Every time you meet with a client or step foot in your office its game time. Be there, be 100% and becommitted to achieving the best results possible. When it comes to content marketing and writing articles orblog posts nothing short great should be published. Great content achieves great results in marketing dontallow yourself to do anything less than great. Allow your marketing an opportunity for greatness.


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Humility

There is great power in being humble. TMC Interactive is a collaborative company. Weve been known toshare clients and collaborate with other agencies on projects. We are strong and successful because of what wedo together, not by what do alone. Be humble and recognize that your firm or marketing agency is not solelyresponsible for all successes. (And be confident enough in your business to be able to say that.)

Patience

No success worth having happened overnight, contrary to popular belief. Digital marketing success is based onconsistency and traction both of which come through time. Devise the best strategy, develop great content for

your clients and then give it some time to work. Digital marketing is not a magic bullet nor is it voodoo itneeds time. A little bit of patience goes a long way.

These are the six characteristics I look for in clients and collaborative partners. If you can find someone to work with who has all six qualities there is no reason your successes cant be abundant. Stray away from these traitsand you are sure to encounter rough seas ahead. Now knowing what you know just go for it


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45 Second Social Media Strategy

Social media is free true. All it takes to launch your companys social media initiative is access to the most popular social networks and a keyboard to develop your marketingcontent thats also true.

So since the two above statements are true, heres a socialmedia marketing plan perfect for your brand, company or evenif you want to be elected homecoming queen: Be Useful, AddValue, Solve a Problem.

Got it? Nowhat do you mean? Its simple, its free andanyone can do it so here are your social media strategy tips Be Useful, Add Value, Solve a Problem.

Wait, but before you go ahead and light the Internet on fire with your messages and tweets you may want toconsider the cost of what a poorly written tweet or Facebook post will cost you. Your brand is on the line witheverything you do in digital marketing.

Heres another social media strategy tip: the Internet doesnt forget your published mistakes. Remember thatItalian restaurant in Scottsdale, AZ that wrote a scathing reply to a customers review on Yelp! Yeah, I admit Iforgot the name of the place also but Google just reminded me. (Amys Baking Company Yelp Meltdown)

What does it mean to Be Useful, Add Value, and Solve a Problem?

Strive to be useful by helping others without them asking by giving away your knowledge for free. If you canhelp someone else, you are adding value to your relationship with that person and also to the social network community as a whole. But when you can solve a problem someone else has you become a resource. Do thismore than once and you will be a trusted resource. Over time, you may even wear the crown of subject matter expert.

A lot goes into developing a digital marketing plan that uses social media as a conversation channel. You havethree choices in this arena: push out marketing content in a willy-nilly manner and hope you experience no

permanent brand damage, do your due diligence and develop a plan for your marketing content or hire a professional to guide your company through the ever changing social media marketing waters.

Choose the one that will yield the highest return on investment.


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The King and Queen of Content Marketing

So much is said about content marketing and how contentmarketing is the now. As long as content managementsystems and the blogosphere continues to grow, we dontsee this trend shifting any time soon.

Lets put a definition to the term Content Marketing: TMCInteractive defines Content Marketing as anything that isdigitally created, published or syndicated with the purposeof furthering ones marketing efforts. Content can be

described as blog posts, white papers, photographs, video,social media posts and press releases.

If youve worked with us, you know we stand by theprinciple of Great Content is King. Its fact; great contentgives you a chance of achieving your desired results.Publishing anything less than great does everyone aninjustice. Last night while participating in #blogchat on

Twitter, Rose DesRochers (@bloggertalk) made a great point (Great) Content is a king who definitely needshis queen- Keywords. (Heres a link to her article on Using Keyword Phrases)

(Great) Content is king who definitely needs his queen- Keywords

That statement was said so eloquently and phrased in a way Ive never heard before. Every King needs a Queento complete the kingdom and Great Content and Great Keywords are no different they work hand in hand.

Great content positions companies and individuals as industry thought leaders and subject matter experts. Greatkeyword allow you to be found and helps all SEO efforts so your message can have further reach. Togetherthey work hand in hand and are partners.

Content Marketing Strategy

When we set out to create content for our clients (or for our agency) weve already done the homework and thekeyword strategy is in place. We know what words and phrases are relevant to the business and where we wantto show up in the search engines. Content is then developed around those words. With that being said TMCInteractive firmly believes in writing for an audience not for search engines. Its a bit of a balancing act but itsimportant. As long as our end client is an audience we plan on sticking to this manner of content development.

On the other hand, if its a new client or new subject matter well do extensive keyword research to make surewe dont miss the mark. Before launching a full scale content campaign we then test messages and test keywordsto make sure we are on track.


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Moving forward if you think of these two as partners in crime (or in kingdom) youll have a better chance of increasing your audience and obtaining your content strategy goals. Content marketing is ultimately aboutincreasing audience share and delivering qualified leads to teammates.

Remember, Great Content may be king but the Queen needs to be satisfied in the relationship also. How are you using the partnership between content and keywords? Drop us a line and let us know.


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The Power of The Idea

If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it. Albert Einstein

Ideas, yeah we all have them. Sometimes when an ideacomes into my mind I cant wait to tell everyone about it.Some are great, some are good some are not so good, buttheyre shared with others.

Recently, I posed the question to Twitter, (crowd sourced if

you will) whats more important: The power of the idea or the balls to run with it? The answer came back 50/50. In lightof being enlightened I thought Id write about my take on

both.

The Power of The Idea

Ideas are electric. Ideas spark something in people that nothing else can compare to. Some ideas provide hope,while others change the game for everyone. I think ideas are best when captured, documented and discussed.How many business owners reading this remember when they had the a-ha moment for their brand, productsor companies?

TMC Interactive believes in discussing ideas. If the idea passes the first couple of litmus tests around our company, we then discuss the ideas possibilities to a point of exhaustion. What if we did this, what if we dothat just little refining tweaks that brings the idea to the point of collaboration.

The Wright Brothers had the idea that man could fly. Alexander Graham Bell had an idea about how peoplecould communicate with one another over some wires. Al Gore had the idea of the Internet didnt he? You getmy point. Everything starts somewhere. Some of the most brilliant advertising and marketing campaigns allstarted with a single idea or thought of inspiration. What if these people kept their ideas to themselves? Wherewould we be?

I am a believer in the power of the idea. GRT2 Studios was an idea I had in 2002, which later turned into TMCInteractive. The model at the time looked very different and the working title at the time was Blind EyeMarketing but the basics of the company remained the same. The point being, it started as an idea that gotnurtured over time and matured into what it is today by discussions and collaborating with some really smart

people.

If you ignore your ideas your doing people everywhere an injustice

Confidence in Your Ideas


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Social Media 101

Some people understand digital marketing andsocial media and some people dont. Todaysomething on Twitter caught my eye. Myfavorite author, Malcolm Gladwell made thestatement that Facebook and Twitter dont havethe power to change the world. (Link to Gladwellarticle on ReadWriteWeb.com)

I tend to agree with most things Gladwell writes

and his book The Tipping Point is one of myannual reads but here I couldnt disagreemore.

If I didnt believe in the power of social media and how it can be used for good (not just business results) TMCInteractive wouldnt invest so much time developing and executing social media strategies for a roster of clients.

TMC Interactive has found that while change may come at a slower rate, it is completely possible if you arewilling to engage your market and audience, Cultivate and Build Relationships. If you are unwilling to do thesethree (3) things then yes, Gladwell is right you have no chance.

Social Media 101: Engage Your AudienceTMC Interactive spends a lot of time and research finding out about target audiences and where they virtuallyreside. Once theyre found, you can talk to them by posting content of value (great content) or help solvesomeones problem. Through social media platforms ask questions, crowd source ideas and respond to issuesthat affects your market and your audience.

This is the beginning. Engaging your audience is where you start to develop ties to your audience. In theTipping Point, Gladwell discussed at length about mastering the weak tie. Every relationship starts somewhere here is where yours and your audiences relationship begins.

Social Media 101: Cultivate Your Market Once engaged with your target audience now you can take things to another level. Cultivate the relationship bybeing considered a valuable source of information. Post content that directly speaks to the challenges that arebeing had in your industry or by your clients. Heres the real key to becoming a trusted source of information freely give your knowledge away. If you can freely help someone through one of the many social networks,people will begin to spread your knowledge through the use of links and re-tweets guaranteed.

Social Media 101: Build RelationshipsSocial media by its definition is meant to be social. Relationships of value that begin through the use of socialmedia are often taken off-line. Have coffee with someone you think is interesting. Discuss business off-line with


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people. Send someone an email or God forbid, call him or her to discuss working together. The strongestbusiness relationships I have here in Arizona have mostly been started through a social media introduction.

Relationships are built on trust. Relationships are built when you offer to help someone else. Relationships arebuilt over time. Allow this to happen naturally and you will have a champion of your cause or your brand.

How Do We Change The World

So, how do we change the world? The world is changed through social media like anything else little by little.By engaging and building relationships with other like-minded people we are smarter and better for it. We learnabout causes that we never knew about before and sometimes we are prompted to act.

Ive been fortunate to be a part of two great causes that have had a large social media presence. The MusicMatters Project, which benefits Sweet Relief Musicians Fund and HearHer.org. Both projects have a large blog,Facebook and Twitter presence. In fact, the only way these projects have gained any traction were fromstrategic social media efforts. How do you like those apples?

Dont be a Social Media Magoo we have the power to distribute information and knowledge like never before.Dig deep into your social media or virtual network and see how you can make something happen.


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Three Principles of Getting More Business

You want to earn more business - right? Thats why youre reading this article No matter how we choose to communicate with our audience, through digitalmarketing, social media or otherwise, the oldest principle will always remain thesame. People want to do business with other people they know, like and trust.

Its been ingrained in every businesspersons mind since they got out of school -introduce yourself, get them to like you, build rapport and the business will soonbe rolling in Right? Wrong.

I agree the know, like and trust elements are important but I think a key elementis missing. If Im looking for someone to join my weekly poker game or play golf with sure just those qualities work but not for my business.

Can anyone answer what key element is missing? How about Solve their problem .

Businesses turn outward for services, especially digital marketing, social media marketing and relationshipmarketing because they have a specific problem that needs to be solved. Said problem is causing them so muchpain, they are willing to allocate a portion of their marketing budget to hire an outside marketing expert to helpremove the problem.

Know, Like, Trust Plus Solve Their Problem

Maybe business was easy a long time ago, in a land far far far away. So easy, that all you had to do was get aseat at the table. Get a seat at the table and people were ready to sign up to work with your marketing agency orbuy your widgets but those times are gone and have been for years.

Todays business environment is either filled with DIYs or companies that choose to go without. (Lets agree theaforementioned are not ideal clients.) That leaves a smaller portion of the market that both you and yourcompetition identify as prospects. How are you going to make yourself different from the next company, agencyor freelancer?

Solve their problems better than anyone else!Use all of your given resources to solve someones problem better than anyone else can in your space. TMCInteractive believes that know, like and trust just gets you a seat at the table. After that, its up to you to findout wheres their pain and solve their problem.

Solve your clients problems and youll become a trusted advisor. We all want to position our firms as advisors,not vendors.


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Why Your Company Needs A Blog

Blogs are one of the most important components of a digital marketing strategy. For years and years companies have looked for ways to broadcasttheir marketing messages. Today, blogs are the most common form of corporate communication. If done correctly, you can increase your brandawareness and position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.

Reasons To Have A Company Blog

Blogs position companies as industry thought leaders. When people are

looking for pertinent information on a subject they want to go directly tothe source. By writing articles on key relevant industry matters and offering solutions to industry challenges youare positioning yourself as a thought leader in your industry. Being an industry leader directly influences salesand revenue.

Blogs give your brand a voice

There are some companys I couldnt tell you anything about. I think I kind of know what they do or sell but Idont know anything about their company or corporate values. If you can find the right voice for your brand,which is done through audience segmentation and research, you can strike a chord with them. When we sayaudience, we mean people who may eventually buy from you or are existing customers.

Blogs stimulate conversation A good blog post that offers valuable insight into relevant topics often gets plenty of comments. Comments are agreat way to keep the conversation going. In some instances by reading comments on an article, you gain a lotmore insight into the topic. Many times comments are left by people who are passionate about your subjectmatter and who are champions of your brand. This level of engagement doesnt get any better.

Blogs have a tremendous amount of SEO power

Google and other search engines love blogs because of their recency and relevance. If the content is donecorrectly, blogs are incredibly key word latent. Using the right combination of keywords that are relevant toboth your blog post and your industry will increase your overall SEO score. As your SEO score rises, so does

your Search Engine Page Rank.

Blogs increase your audience reachSince blogs are so SEO friendly, the potential amount of people your article will reach is larger than using traditional forms of content broadcast. When you tie your blog into other social networks like Facebook andTwitter your reach expands even further.

Now lets explore the major misconceptions about blogging and maintaining a blog.


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Common Blog Misconceptions

The last article discussed why blogs are important to yourbusiness and how they can help position your brand as thoughtleaders in your market. (If you missed it, heres a link to thearticle - Why Your Company Needs a Blog)

Equally as important and not to lead anyone down the wrong road, we thought its important to discuss some of the popularmisconceptions of blogging.

Misconceptions About Blogging Blogging is FreeThere are some platforms that are no cost blog solutions. WordPress.com and Blogger are usually the first twosolutions that come to peoples minds.

Yes a blog can be launched on a free platform but you get what you pay for and there are certain limitations.The benefits of a self-hosted blog, where you pay a monthly fee, far outweigh the cost. The three biggest reasonsto move to a self-hosted platform are: aesthetics, functionality customization and SEO. If you want a blog toresemble your site a self-hosted pay solution is the only way to go.

TMC Interactive uses Page.ly, a WordPress.org self-hosted premium service, for most of our blog integration. We have found that Page.ly gives our company everything we need to launch a successful site for our clientswithout any headaches. (Check them out.)

A well-organized blog that achieves your desired business goals should always be designed with a marketing strategy in mind. The graphics or theme selection, hosting, user experience and content strategy are best left toprofessionals who handle such items every day.

Blogging is Easy, Anyone Can Write a Blog Post

Its funny in each of these common blog misconceptions lies a bit of truth. Technically, yes anyone can blog. Anyone can blog like anyone can tune up a car its just how effective of an outcome do you want.

Blog posts, or articles as I prefer to call them, have to be on point to help your site achieve maximumeffectiveness. Its not for the faint of heart. Ok, well not exactly but its not as easy as you think (especiallywhen you think youre out of topics to write about.)

If You Launch It They Will Come

You will definitely experience some frustration when it comes to launching your new blog or site. The biggestone is always the lack of traffic it will receive at first. I am telling you this from first hand experience. Just


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because you have a great looking site, great content and a great keyword strategy does not mean you willinstantly attract an audience.

Be patient. Heres where the new principles of marketing come into effect. Stay with it even when you post anarticle you think is the greatest content ever and no one visits your site. Blogs that have heavy traffic typicallyhave a broadcast strategy. Know where your market lives online and push out information about your blog posts there.

Developing a great blog takes time. If youre not willing to put in the time to develop relevant content for yourmarket or audience, refine keyword strategy, curate ideas, promote your site through social networks and inperson and to post on a regular basis dont start the process. Starting a blog and realizing how much work itreally is and then giving up does a lot of brand damage so please consider yourself forewarned.

I know its a lot to take in and I hope you feel more enlightened about the pitfalls of blogging. We are sticking toour guns when we say launching a blog is one of the greatest marketing tools available for your brand justknow what youre getting into and get someone to help execute the blog integration properly.


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Goals of Digital Marketing

My favorite subject as of late is Marketing Content Audits & measurement of Marketing Content effectiveness. TMC Interactive has developed plenty of integrated marketing strategies together over the time weve collaborated.

Along with everything we measure, its really important to understand theeffectiveness of our clients and our clients competitions marketing content.

Marketing Content can be measured by reach and you can get an idea of engagement but how do you know if your content is truly effective? The

first question that needs to be answered is -what is the goal for the content?Marketing Content Goals

Goals look very different from client to client and marketing channel to channel. Its the old adage begin withthe end in mind and everything has a purpose.

Common content goals are brand positioning, audience education, positioning the author or company asthought leaders and conversation stimulation. Each goals set of metrics is different. (When it comes to figuring out the goals of the competitions content me make a certain number of assumptions. 9 times out of 10, thetitles, the messaging and the marketing channel used will provide a good idea of the overall goal of the content.)

If you dont have goals for your content then its impossible to assign appropriate metrics of success

For example, if TMC Interactive writes a blog post for a client entitled, Skatepark Warranties audienceeducation would most likely be the primary goal and positioning the client, as a subject matter expert would besecondary. Our primary purpose of this blog post is to address the issue of Skatepark Warranties in theskatepark design build industry. After that there is no reason to believe that this client, in this instance PillarDesign Studios, wouldnt be positioned as an industry subject matter expert.

This is just one example how marketing goals we achieve through content distribution. I wont expand on otherexamples for fear of the main point being missed. But heres something to think about

If you are interested in being a digital marketing leader or a thought leader within your company the nexttime someone asks you to launch a Facebook page, a new blog or blog post, broadcast content via Twitter, posta company YouTube video or some social media initiative ask them Whats the overall goal?

If they cant articulate the goal, help them figure it out. Create the content accordingly, so if will be effective.

Parting Shot: Articulate the goal, define the metrics of success, develop a content broadcast strategy andthen measure the effectiveness


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The Importance of Blog Headlines

This one is simple, blog headlines are important if you want people to read your blog post. Think about it, how often do you read a blog post that has aheadline that is boring or mundane? For me, NEVER. If the headline doesntleave me wanting more information or peaks my curiosity, I wont read it.(Period end of story.) Think about it, no one really reads The NationalEnquirer, but we all glance and laugh a little at the titles of their stories whenwere on line in the grocery store. Right? Come on Marie Osmond Marries

A Monster or My Wild Night With (Insert the blank). Like it or not these

titles grab your attention and get you thinking.How To Write A Blog Headline

Like with anything there are many ways to skin a cat. (TMC Interactive doesnt believe in abusing animals andno cats were injured while writing this post.) Resources on this topic are plentiful and theres a good list of Howto write a blog headline post at the end of this article but one tool (I recently found) stands out from some of theothers. LinkBaitGenerator.

Link bait generator had me laughing the other day with some of its suggested blog headlines. Heres how itworks. You type in a subject title and it automatically suggests headlines. Mind you, some headlines are useless

and you would never consider using them, some are hysterical and some with a little tweaking actually work really well. Give it a shot if for no other reason than its funny.

Another more traditional way to craft catchy blog headlines is by reading other blogs. Sites like The Onion andHuffington Post have great headlines. See how they wordsmith their titles and figure out what works for yourblog. Remember the goal is to get someone to notice your post and read the article.

I am a big proponent of humor. How can you take a topic that otherwise may be a little boring and make it fun.Irony and satire work well with blog headlines. One of TMC Interactives most popular blog posts used theheadline Twitter vs. Burning Man. Obviously, one has nothing to do with the other but when the two arecompared to each other people start to get interested.

Writing great headlines that work takes some practice, be patient and keep working on it and see what works for you.

Headline Writing Resources

ProBlogger: How to Craft Post Titles that Draw Readers Into Your Blog CopyBlogger: How to Write Magnetic HeadlinesOur Little Books: Secrets to Writing Good HeadlinesBlogussion: Headline Writing Techniques That Just Work


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The Number One DONT in Creating Headlines

The biggest mistake you can make when creating creative headlines is misleading your audience. Its ok to havefun and stretch the limits of creativity but do not lie to the audience. The headline needs to relate to the post insome way. Dont use a title thats so clever, funny and interesting but has no relevance to the article. This willcost you your audience if repeated enough. Think youre armed with enough information and ready to give it atry? Go for it!


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Reasons Not To Market Like The Grateful Dead

In the digital marketing world there has been a lot of buzz aboutmarketing your business like The Grateful Dead. An author whom Ihave a lot of respect for, David Meerman Scott recently published abook on the subject Marketing Lessons From The Grateful Dead.(Marketing Lessons From The Grateful Dead)

[Before we get off track, there is something I want everyone to knowabout me I actually really like The Grateful Dead. I spent the betterpart of my high school and college years traveling show to show and

city to city with friends, seeing as many Grateful Dead shows aspossible. So, lets take the Hes a Grateful Dead Hater out of theequation because that has nothing to do with this article.]

David Meerman Scott draws some interesting parallels to success in themarketing world and things the Grateful Dead did in their long career.Conversely, there are three things that surrounded the Grateful Deadscareer that I wanted to point out that if implemented will ruin yourdigital marketing efforts.

Reasons To Not Market Like The Grateful Dead

They never had a plan. The Grateful Dead when on stage never had a plan. Although, there were structures tothe songs and lyrics almost all of the rest was improvised. Digital Marketing Strategists cant successfully executea cohesive strategy through improvisation.

As far as a business model, The Grateful Dead never meant to make all their money by touring and playing shows. It was by accident. They had to do something because their studio records were terrible in comparison tothe bands live performances.

Digital Marketing that yields results is meticulous. Planning, implementing, analyzing and execution are just thestart. I dont want to run any digital marketing campaign or engagement by winging it.

The Grateful Dead Were Complacent. Jerry Garcia, the patriarch of The Grateful Dead, admitted in numerousinterviews that the band ran on inertia. I totally agree. Although, the Dead never played the same set twice,there were many times things were close to identical. You can substitute the word complacent with lazysometimes.

Complacency kills good digital marketing companies. It kills your drive, willingness to learn, and willingness toinnovate and kills your client roster. Everyone can tell when you are just going through the motions So Dont.


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If you try to execute the same strategy over and over for every client, no matter who the client is or what verticalsegment they represent you will not produce results. Not every client needs the same content marketing strategy. Not every client needs a Facebook, Twitter or whatever the next greatest social networks everyoneflocks to for their interactive presence.

The Grateful Dead Were On Drugs. I dont think that will be a news flash to anyone. Their world was based incounter-culture drug induced non-reality. I cant imagine all their revolutionary marketing tactics weredeveloped through clear-minded thoughts and conversations. (NOTE: we may find the dialogue between oneanother pretty funny though.)

For a digital marketing strategy to work is has to be based in reality. What are the realistic goals and the realmetrics to measure campaign results. I agree that reality is a bitch sometimes but its better than thealternative. As long as plans are based in reality you have a chance at success.

Three Keys to Digital Marketing Success

Have a plan and develop goals Work the plan to its fullest dont slack on any part of the planBase your marketing strategy in realityDid we leave anything out? I could probably go on and on about this topic since I am pretty passionate aboutboth marketing and music but I wont.


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Get More Followers On Twitter

Ah yes, more talk about Twitter, everyones favorite fun140 character social network that no one understands atfirst. Ive said it before If you start your journey onTwitter and have no clue what the hell is going on or howto use it, youre normal. Its an acquired skill set that keepsevolving. (Twitter vs. Burning Man Post Why No OneUnderstands Either.)

Twitter has a lot of digital marketing value for a company,

brand or an individual to broadcast content. Withoutfollowers there is no one there to receive your message,which defeats the purpose of broadcasting your content.

After someone new to Twitter gets the lay of the land, themost commonly asked question is How Do I Get PeopleTo Follow Me?

Lets jump in and discuss a couple of the right ways toincrease Twitter followers.

Using Twitter Hashtags

A Twitter hashtag is a keyword set that is preceded by # (the number or pound sign). The hashtag is used todraw attention to on topic Tweets or a conversation by people to others who are searching for topics or subjects.For example: #digitalmarketing is a tweet or ongoing conversation about digital marketing, just as #RCPM is atweet or conversation about (the band) Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers.

If you were looking to learn about RCPM on Twitter search for the #rcpm hashtag and the search results willpopulate your screen. Now youre listening.

Why are Twitter hashtags important? The hashtag is an opportunity for you to find other people who havesimilar interests or discussing topics you enjoy. Now, you can listen to what people are saying. Use this tool andsee if you have an interest in listening to what the users have to say.

Also, if you post links to articles or websites that are relevant or of value and include a hashtag, users may wantto hear more from you. If other users think they want to hear more from you, theyll give you a follow.(TechCrunch Article on Gaining Twitter Followers.)


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Follow Others on Twitter

Once you identify potential members of your Twitter audience or at least someone who has similar interests - you can start by following them. Many times when you follow someone they will be courteous and follow youback, especially if they are also new to Twitter. (Dont expect or be surprised if celebrities or national subjectmatter experts to follow you back thats just part of the deal on Twitter.)

Get Involved in Twitter Conversations

If you follow someone and they send a tweet that you like, disagree with or just understand let them know bytalking to them. Conversations start easily on Twitter by @replying to others. (Key in @theirusername and itwill show up in their Twitter feed as a mention.) If you talk to someone and engage in useful, valuable andfriendly conversation with people you will start to gain followers.

Retweets (where you RT or re-post someone elses tweet) are a great way to get involved and show someone youenjoy their content. This is another way to gain followers because you are helping them by re-broadcasting theircontent or message.

Be a Valuable Resource

I admit, as much as I am Twitter fan, I have a low-threshold for the inane. Try to add value to the Twittersocial network with every character or link you post. Dont waste other peoples time or suck up their energy.The bottom line is simple: Be useful, be valuable and try to help someone else. If you can accomplish one of those three things through your tweets youre on a good path.

Heres the deal it will take all four of these suggestions plus a little more before you gain a Twitter followerbase. The more you use this form of social media, the more likely you are to have success. It takes patience anda little persistence.


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Personal Branding In A Digital World

Personal branding is a topic we spend a lot of time thinking about.Today personal branding is one of the most important things you cando to differentiate yourself and your company from the competition. Inour digital marketing and social media world where things happen inreal-time, one false move and your (personal) brand could be on adownward slide.

TMC Interactives definition of personal brand is simple. Anything youdo, say or publish that affects someones perception of you, which

consequently affects that persons perception of your work.

Being a digital marketing professional Im past the point of no returnwith published items on the web. What does that mean? Simply stated,it means my thoughts, ideas and commentary is live on the Internet good, bad or indifferent. I dont want to say that I walk the line of self-censorship, but there are times when I letmy better judgment overrule my emotions.

Personal Branding Tips From a Digital Marketer

1. Think before you post something on Twitter or Facebook. If something of question comes up ask yourself,

how does this affect how others view me? Are you being controversial for the sake of being controversial? If theanswer is yes, then over time you may be considered someone who likes to stir the pot.

Are your tweets often cynical and negative? If so, theres a good chance you will be considered a negative personor a downer (Insert Debbie Downer soundbite here.) Are you someone who offers solutions to other peopleschallenges? If you do, thats a great position for your personal brand. (Do I really need to say that you shouldprobably be sober when posting things to social networks unless you want to be known otherwise.)

2. Think about your Avatar. Admittedly, I have a lot of trouble with this one. Ive been told after meeting people for the first time in person that my avatar tells a different story about who I am, than whom I really am.This comes from me not being comfortable in front of cameras. I had to get more selective with the photos Ipublish or have published of me. In a digital world, people can only judge you by what they read and see makesure these two things are congruent with how you really are. This is a real simple and important point take thisone seriously.

Remember, when dealing with your personal brand you are conveying information about yourself with peoplewho you may only know from various social networks or your websites audience typically not the people yousee in person regularly.

3. Use geolocation technology to enhance your Personal Brand. Im a fan of geolocation social networks likeFourSquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places (plus new entertainment centric social network Get Glue.) The


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gaming aspect of geolocation marketing has never interested me but letting people into my world and the placesI visit does. My followers know I go to the gym almost daily, I like to frequent brewpubs over coffee shops and Iam a regular at Gangplank. With every check-in I hope people feel like they know me a little better. Remember,when dealing with your (digital) personal brand you are mostly conveying information with people whom youonly know from various social networks or your websites audience not the people you see in person regularly.

4. Produce and publish quality content. Anytime you publish something on the web make sure its of highquality. Put out the best you are capable of doing at that time in your life or career. I sometimes hear newbloggers say, It doesnt matter only a small number of people read my stuff anyway. Do yourself a favor; if thats your attitude stop publishing content right away. What happens when your site turns the corner and yougain a share of an audience? Your old content will still be out there to consume, make sure it doesnt embarrass

you.

5. Stand for something. Jim Rome always says to his callers, Have a take and dont suck. Its like that here.Have a take on things and dont be afraid to voice your opinion. Just do it in a way that keeps you in a positivelight. (Some of these principles go back to principle #1 Think before you post something on Twitter orFacebook.) Its ok to agree to disagree just like its ok to pick and choose your battles. There are many peopleready to jump into battle about something meaningless or inane. Let their personal brand fall on the sword for

you. (In fact, that could be a part of their brand.)

There are lots of ways to enhance your personal brand; we just started the ball rolling with these five. What have you done to enhance your personal brand online?


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Digital Marketing Lessons Learned From Jim Valvano

Digital Marketing Lessons of Life Lessons learned from one of the greats JimValvano. You may know Jimmy V. You may remember his team winning the NCAA Mens Basketball Championship in 1983 on a buzzer beating put-back basket byLorenzo Charles in one of the most memorable college basketball games ever. Or, youknow Jim Valvano as a humanitarian and before losing his battle to cancer, setting upthe V Foundation for Cancer Research.

However you know him, Jimmy V delivered a legendary speech on March 3, 1993,(YouTube video of Jim Valvanos speech) when receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage

Award. Ive watched the speech numerous time and Im moved every time I see it.Today, after spending my day at PodCampAZ I watched the video again. I wanted tosee how Jim Valvanos words globally translated into digital marketing, social media

execution, professionalism and all-things life related. Here are a couple of takeaways I came up with from himcomments and quips on March 3rd, 1993.

Digital Marketing & Life Lessons Learned From Jimmy V

Time is precious. Make of the most of the messages you broadcast. Add value and seize the moment.Be passionate . Passion is contagious infect others with your passion.Laugh, Think & Display Emotion Daily . This was Jim Valvanos guide to a great day.Have a commitment to excellence . Whatever marketing strategy you choose to deploy for clients, do itwith a commitment to excellence. Make your efforts count for the big picture and your clients goals.Have a vision . Know where you are and where you want to be. Have and use todays reality as your baseline.Enjoy every minute . Have fun doing what youre doing. If its not fun, dont do it.Keep your dreams alive in spite of challenges . Dont get derailed by minor setbacks. Its simple: Keepon keeping on and persevere.Help someone else . Jim Valvano asked for people to help fund The V Foundation Cancer Research mission.Go out and lend a hand to someone who is struggling or to someone who asks for your help.Dont Give Up, Dont Ever Give Up .Keep these principles in mind and use them as guidelines to executing digital marketing strategy, social mediaexecution, blogging, running a business or every day life.

Life is too short to produce mediocre work.


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