Attention, Bloggers†

For small businesses that can't afford a lot of marketing, the blogosphere offers a cheaper alternative

Wall Street Journal, March 17, 2008 — Andrew Milligan was stuck. He had spent $60,000 on trade-show exhibitions and magazine advertising for the bean-bag chairs made by his company, Los Angeles-based Sumo Lounge International, and sales were still languishing at a couple of bean bags a day.

So Mr. Milligan, like many small businesses looking to gain exposure and boost sales, turned to the blogosphere. He sent an email to the popular technology blog Engadget.com, asking the editors to review his product. While they declined that request, they agreed to trade three months of advertising on their site for 20 Sumo bean bags to outfit their new office.

Wal-Mart Tastemakers Write Unfiltered Blog

New York Times, March 3, 2008 — Microsoft is one of Wal-Mart’s biggest suppliers. But that did not stop the Wal-Mart employee in charge of buying computers from panning Microsoft’s newest operating system, Vista. “Is it really all that and a bag of chips?” he wrote on his blog. “My life has not changed dramatically — well, for that matter, it hasn’t changed at all.”

What Web Buzz Does for Car Sales: Not Much†

BrandIntel Finds Online Chatter Doesn't Indicate Which Vehicles People Will Buy

Advertising Age, February 26, 2008 — Positive online buzz for cars and trucks doesn't necessarily translate to volume sales, according to marketing-data firm BrandIntel.

Consumer Vigilantes

Memo to Corporate America: Hell now hath no fury like a customer sco

BusinessWeek, February 21, 2008 — In the annals of customer service, 2007 will go down as the year fed-up consumers finally dropped the hammer. In August a 76-year-old retired nurse named Mona Shaw smashed up a keyboard and a telephone in a Manassas (Va.) Comcast (CMCSA) office after she says the cable operator failed to install her service properly. During her first visit to the branch outlet, the AARP secretary says she was left sitting on a bench in the hallway for two hours waiting for a manager. She returned, armed with a hammer, and let loose the rallying cry "Have I got your attention now?" Afterward, she was arrested, fined $345, and became a media sensation, capturing the hearts of frustrated consumers everywhere. (Says Comcast: "We apologize for any customer service issues that... continue reading

Chitika Launches Ad Unit with Live-In Social Features

MarketingVox, February 12, 2008 — Blog advertising company Chitika has released a viral branding unit designed to get people talking about brands right inside the ad. The unit acts as a vessel for banner ads or video. Components include tabs for commenting on the brand or product, and the ability to rate and share opinions across social networks of choice.

Beauty in the Blogosphere

Women's Wear Daily, January 25, 2008 — A new breed of beauty writers is building the sort of influence that's gaining the attention of major brands: bloggers. Scores of blogs largely dedicated to opinions and reviews of beauty products have proliferated in the past several years. And as the quality and quantity of blogs increases, beauty companies' traditional marketing strategies are having to adapt.

Blogging’s a Low-Cost, High Return Marketing Tool

Although small businesses with blogs are still a distinct minority, blogging can be a low-cost way to market and boost a small company’s brand.

New York Times, December 27, 2007 — To its true believers at small businesses, it is a low-cost, high-return tool that can handle marketing and public relations, raise the company profile and build the brand.

That tool is blogging, though small businesses with blogs are still a distinct minority. A recent American Express survey found that only 5 percent of businesses with fewer than 100 employees have blogs. Other experts put the number slightly higher.

But while blogs may be useful to many more small businesses, even blogging experts do not recommend it for the majority.

You can handle the web without an adviser†

Financial Times, November 12, 2007 — I chuckled over recent statements from the public relations industry about how important the internet had become to their business. “Think of the blogosphere as one enormous focus group,” Katie Delahaye Paine wrote in a paper published by the US Institute for Public Relations.

What's That Hot Web Property Worth? Use the BPBPPPAR Metric†

Now You, Too, Can Blindly Guesstimate the Value of Blogs, Social Networks and Floppy-Haired Comedians

Advertising Age, November 5, 2007 — I won't bury the lede: By my reckoning, using my proprietary new-media-valuation formula, I have determined that Andy Samberg is worth $342 million.

Is Twitter a Valuable Tool, or Waste of Time?

Marketing Profs, October 30, 2007 — Is microblogging the latest fad or the next big thing? Microblogging is just like regular blogging, except it's limited to 140 characters. The leader in the space is Twitter. According to a recent blog post by Peter Kim, Twitter is now used by 6% of American online adults. That sounds about right to me, although Twitter power user Robert Scoble thinks the figure is "way too high." But if you want to reach an affluent, well-educated, early adopter audience, there might not be a better communication channel out there.