tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-351297282011-11-07T15:51:29.548-05:00Direct and social marketing thoughts, news, and occasional diversions. When you're communicating it's best not to beat around the bush but be direct.Junenoreply@blogger.comBlogger301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-68215964617446192402009-05-05T14:54:00.003-04:002009-05-05T15:19:08.744-04:00

From today's Ad Age: How Personality Can Predict Media Usage, looks at media channels and consumer types. I was happily going along with this, but then thinking about and applying to myself, seems as an introvert I should not consume as much radio as I do, nor newspapers or magazines. Oh. And my lack of planning is why I watch too much TV (and I thought it was procrastinating putting my plans in

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-61064343978170379082009-04-07T14:04:00.004-04:002009-04-07T16:35:58.154-04:00

some recent found stuff, etc, so I will embrace 140-style and contribute cause apparently not everyone sees what I see online and might actually find one of the following of interest:In case you haven't been online today, 'subservient chicken' is 5 years old. Dance, chicken, dance. Liked reading the blog post unrolling the story.Caught a link that's even more interesting re Barbarian, who are on

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-84275783607649890052008-02-23T15:30:00.003-05:002008-02-24T14:16:18.017-05:00

I was watching the stream from home and decided not as much fun as being there, so beetled over to Toronto. Here are miscellaneous tips picking up from sessions and chatting with people here. Best tip in the "doh, why didn't I think of that? category": from Malle at Harlequin for those of you looking at producing company podcasts, she produces their editor and writer podcasts -- and edits herself

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-28951396413792421962008-01-25T11:46:00.000-05:002008-01-25T12:00:43.841-05:00

The combination of beauty, simplicity and the Pollyanna hopefullness of the soundtrack just make me want to weep. And of course I want one.[Disclosure: I worked for a subsidiary of Apple for almost a decade and have fond memories as well as deeply ingrained appreciation for the work and genius that goes into making good products user-friendly, simple and beautiful.]And that, my friends, is what

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-19549170681773330892007-10-31T15:07:00.000-04:002007-10-31T15:25:19.257-04:00

Hey, for those of you born before 80s you might remember The Industry Standard. B2B reports it is being reborn in blog form. Speaking of which, Being Direct is reviving, with a new look and the requisite plethora of tags, but most importantly regular postings starting November 5. (Thanks for the nudge.)

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-65785721933532057002007-08-14T16:03:00.000-04:002007-08-14T16:11:47.812-04:00

Ken Magill rants about Colgate-Palmolive's toothpaste newsletter, SmileTalk, labelling it a stupid marketing idea and asking, "What next, an e-mail newsletter about toilet paper called The Daily Poop?"What do you think? Stupid idea or way to go in capturing those toothpaste evangelists!? :)

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-27170645382140277152007-04-24T09:41:00.000-04:002007-04-24T09:49:19.316-04:00

Or rather, "better search results with edited copy."I'm a lover of words and appreciate the great writers I work with in my job. They each contribute in different ways. This article, "SEO improves with well-edited copy: ACES panelists" gives a couple great examples to illustrate how to assess your web headings and subheads to improve your search results. And it's another arsenal for marketers

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-76136095560095668752007-03-20T16:58:00.000-04:002007-03-20T17:28:13.344-04:00

I have become over-dependent on the rewind and pause buttons through too much PVR and iTunes usage. I now want to pause conference calls and radio shows to make sure I heard correctly or because I had to pay attention to something else for a minute.The latter may not be just a wish as more radio shows record for downloads. I admire how CBC caught on quick.Since I'm going on about wishlists, how

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-4955985441721260852007-03-09T09:52:00.000-05:002007-03-09T10:36:05.431-05:00

Way back in 1998/99 I had a dispute with the 'webmaster' at Marketing Magazine about the format in which they sent their regular email updates --- as an html attachment.The argument he gave me was that this way they knew everyone could read it correctly versus the challenge of getting html to render in different email apps. Unh-huh.I can partly buy this argument because they are dependent on

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-67306970115999246272007-03-01T11:40:00.001-05:002007-03-01T11:50:54.186-05:00

Just read in DM News of Bob Stone's passing. He was the author of Successful Direct Marketing Methods, probably every direct marketer's textbook, coming out in its 8th edition this summer. I might have to pick up a copy in memoriam.

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-48838128806376019122007-02-26T09:56:00.000-05:002007-02-26T09:59:47.425-05:00

I'm going to join some friends and colleagues at a girls' night out in Second Life tonight. I admit that beyond setting up my avatar and account I have not yet ventured in, so really looking forward to it. Eden has posted that there are a few spots left for the first evening of After a Fashion shopping in Second Life. Contact her for a spot and we'll all blog about it after.

Junenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-25502430609958009242007-02-25T15:49:00.000-05:002007-02-26T10:00:21.215-05:00

During a couple different sessions here at Podcamptoronto got some good ideas and confirmed some old ones for those of us working on podcast plans within a large organization. The last presentation by Michael Seaton, creator of Scotiabank's The Money Clip, and his personal effort The Client Side.How to get approval:position it not as a podcast but internet radiomake it an extension of existing

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-78263935224004121142007-02-24T17:03:00.000-05:002007-02-24T17:05:06.952-05:00

I'm in another session talking about spamming people (my judgement) by scamming the friend IDs.

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-19018513623648192942007-02-24T11:36:00.000-05:002007-02-24T13:51:03.723-05:00

I'm here at podcamptoronto2007, where the sessions are getting streamed live if you're not able to make it. Leeasa started us off and did note that nothing beats meeting people face to face, plus you get hugs.Fave quote: Google comprehends English and language on a level you can’t comprehend. - Julien SmithJulien and previous session also said I should be blogging. Urgh. So here I am again, ready

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-30467471022488662512007-02-11T13:14:00.000-05:002007-02-11T12:24:01.357-05:00

Thanks to Leesa Barnes and other volunteers for organizing PodCamp Toronto in a couple weeks. I'm looking forward to it as a way to boost my reticent blog postings personally, and then of course for tips for work. I'd love to add a podcast format to my newsletter program.Hope to see you there.

Junenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1166193521698018992006-12-15T09:37:00.000-05:002007-02-01T06:53:25.250-05:00

Hi, I missed the event but Bryan forwarded a link to "photos" from CaseCamp in SecondLife. Here's one of a presentation.Do they make anyone else laugh? I am fascinated, creeped out and intrigued by the idea of animation replacing reality. Obviously I haven't been hanging out in SL so haven't given much thought to it as a place people really go to, rather than more of a gamescape.More posting

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1165004508349521542006-12-01T14:59:00.000-05:002006-12-01T15:21:49.610-05:00

I'm always really excited to see a new MarketingSherpa Email Marketing report for confirming and deflating issues. The summary is out and the new report available for purchase.This year's summary sums up that testing is in and little efforts can produce big returns for opt-in forms and landing pages, that B-B email runs into large corporate spam filters blocking up to 40% of legitimate email, and

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1164668431462821102006-11-27T17:45:00.000-05:002006-11-27T18:01:51.053-05:00

Warning: Do not follow these links if you have important work to do.If you've never heard of turducken, it's a southern US Thanksgiving tradition (photocredit: thesalmons.org). I've never tried it but K and J went for dinner last week and said it was yummy. Basically it's three stuffed birds stuffed in each other: chicken in a duck in a turkey, with variations of cornbread stuffing, sausage

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1163691742566693572006-11-16T10:25:00.000-05:002006-11-16T10:42:22.576-05:00

One of the things I love about gmail is that, okay 2 things: a) great spam filter; b) it shows the sender and beginning of the message in your list of inbox messages. Which alerted me to a new spammer technique (new to me at least), using the recipient name to make the email look like it was a reply or forward based on email I had sent.Sigh. I hate spam, I think it's a leech on society. I still

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1163690709753746772006-11-16T10:14:00.000-05:002007-02-09T11:27:49.400-05:00

So sayeth Denny Hatch of Business Commensense. If he says his mentor forgot more than he'll ever know, what hope have I?One of my pet peeves is the number of people doing DM with little knowledge of what makes for good DM creative. Unfortunately it's not always the pretty stuff. Hatch's column today talks about awards and how they are rarely a real indicator of the best (as in results), which

Junenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1163689118559566702006-11-16T09:42:00.000-05:002006-11-16T10:42:19.126-05:00

If you haven't been to CaseCamp I highly recommend it. It's a fun, interactive sharing of online marketing -- and you never know who will end up on the final presenter list!The December 14th event saves me a trip in to Toronto. But the event is limited to 40 participants who also have to have a Second Life avatar... and there is a lottery for who will actually be able to join in. Hmmm... not the

Junenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1163430267543584042006-11-13T09:46:00.000-05:002006-11-13T10:04:27.566-05:00

I had the pleasure of helping Reel Asian with their email campaigns the previous four years. Unfortunately I couldn't continue this year. And while it's always hard seeing people can really do without you, what I love is that they've not only taken on doing their campaigns themselves, but expanded to include a myspace presence and a blog!It's really tough being a small filmfest to do it all well,

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1163049152843881092006-11-09T00:10:00.000-05:002006-11-10T13:07:54.550-05:00

I'm on my way home from the Marketing Geek Dinner II. It's rounded out some recent thinking on social media and the need for human beings to connect. Many years ago when I was a wide-eyed lass learning the DM trade, I had an instructor for a Direct Mail class (no, Virginia there was no email marketing; yes, I'm dating myself). This wise veteran (Mike McCormick) instructed us, “put a human being

Junenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1162237521755040602006-10-30T14:40:00.000-05:002006-10-30T14:45:21.760-05:00

Hurray! Can't tell you how gleeful I am to have these who clog my inbox with their offensive crap get hit. A German man has been ordered to cease using hotmail as a from account emailing messages promoting his porn site and must pay Microsoft over $300K US in recompense. Reported in DM News and elsewhere. "In addition, the spammer must provide Microsoft with detailed information about his e-mail

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1161877445287659112006-10-26T11:43:00.000-04:002006-10-26T11:44:05.286-04:00

So reports WOMMA in today's newsletter.

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1161877344730347072006-10-26T11:41:00.000-04:002006-10-26T11:42:24.736-04:00

Comscore reports on the aging pop of net and social media users. It's not just about the youth!

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1161805716749492422006-10-25T15:43:00.000-04:002006-10-25T15:48:36.756-04:00

Haha. PhilTube.

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1161799376235766902006-10-25T14:01:00.000-04:002006-10-25T14:02:56.243-04:00

This made me go, wow. I wonder how long will take Apple to offer something similar? Adrants reports Microsoft's Zune app will allow users to share songs which then self-destruct within three days. If the friend buys the song the sender gets a Zune credit.Now I'm thinking, how many music accounts am I going to want to manage? Pandora, iTunes, Zune...?

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1161312044703425242006-10-19T22:40:00.000-04:002006-10-19T22:43:39.650-04:00

Couldn't help the pun. Apparently Canadians are especially punny I found out this evening at the CMA Digital Marketing Conference from Monique Trottier (SoMisguided.com).On both coasts people are talking about social media. The DMA talked up the fact DM is taking over (my interpretation), or rather direct marketing and branding lines are blurring as more campaigns become direct and targetted and

Junenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129728.post-1159383045015886942006-09-27T14:48:00.000-04:002006-10-03T07:56:12.756-04:00

Everyone says to blog about something you are passionate about and just keep writing. I've been an on and off contributor to One Degree yet couldn't get into the groove. I think this could be it.I was reading a marketing colleague's complaint that email is boring and hasn't changed compared to say social media. It made me think about why I love email and why I love direct marketing. It also got

Junenoreply@blogger.com0