Catch up on the week’s news from SIPAlert Daily
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The nuts and bolts of protecting your content
SIPA’s quarterly Memorandums From Counsel are written by the highly esteemed law firm of Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz, L.L.P., specifically for SIPA. With a new one due to come out shortly, let’s quickly review the Winter 2012 issue (titled The Nuts and Bolts of Protecting Your
Making new technology part of your everyday
Rachel Yeomans, marketing director of social media for Astek—and the person who helps us run our Wednesday noon (Eastern) Twitter Chats (today’s topic: SEO)—is a great study in “what’s happening now.” In one of her recent posts on the Astek blog, she went through her daily routine—and this was
Ryan Stillwell, Vice President of Sales, Mortgage Success Source, LLC, Holmdel, N.J.
SIPA: How did you get into this business?
RYAN: I was a branch manager for Wells Fargo and Originated loans for GMAC. The GMAC office was shared by a company called The Mortgage Market Guide. I was asked to join the MMG team which
Murphy to explain new hiring guide at SIPA 2012
“Ask your employees one important question: would you rather work short-staffed or with someone with a bad attitude?” On a video promoting his new book, Hiring for Attitude: A Revolutionary Approach to Recruiting and Selecting People with Both Tremendous Skills and Superb Attitude, Mark Murphy (pictured left)
Longer subject lines may be the way to go…on
It may be time for you to get a bit more wordy in your subject lines. New research from Alchemy Worx, a London-based email service provider (ESP), shows that although shorter subject lines may generate higher open rates, longer subject lines—more than 70 characters—“earn a much
Your survey answers will guide our content decisions
I had a great conversation with Ryan Stillwell yesterday. He is the vice president of sales for Mortgage Success Source, LLC, and will be speaking at SIPA 2012, May 20-22, in Washington, D.C., with Rick Longenecker, another very successful sales executive. (This session on how to find
Getting the most out of your interviews
In yesterday’s member profile, Minal Bopaiah, editor of Subscription Site Insider, spoke of the importance that case studies play in their success. She conducts one every other week, speaking to a head of marketing or CEO for 1-1½ hours on the phone and then writing up the study.
Minal Bopaiah, Editor, Subscription Site Insider, Anne Holland Ventures Inc., Newport, R.I.
How did you come to this industry?
Circuitously. I was the international editor for Boston Metro. Then I decided on a different route and got a Masters in psychology. A job at Sesame Street followed that combined my experience in psychology and media, and I
Discounts and special offers still draw them in
Why do consumers subscribe to emails from a business or nonprofit? eMarketer reported yesterday on a new survey by the firm Chadwick Martin Bailey (CMB) called “10 Facts About Why and How Consumers ‘Like’ and Subscribe.” It is B2C, but there still can be lessons learned for
A challenge from some SIPA 2012 speakers
Take this mid-week quiz concerning speakers at the upcoming SIPA 2012 Conference, May 20-22.
1. Which of these choices is NOT on Jeanne Hopkins’ list of seven indications that your mobile marketing may—ahem—not be so good?
a. Your marketing approach isn’t local
b. You’re looking at the wrong metrics
c. Your website
A reverse paywall would reward your most loyal readers
John Paton emerged from running the regional Journal-Register newspapers to become the CEO of the enormous MediaNews Group—and he does not like paywalls. He wants audience and more audience—thinking that once that comes, monetization will follow. In a speech last month, he urged the media industry to
Lynn Freer, President, Spidell Publishing, Inc.®, Anaheim, Calif.
How did you get into this business?
I was doing tax returns but was not an accountant or bookkeeper. I was actually a French literature major in college. Then I started doing some writing and contract work for Bob Spidell who owned the company. The combination of writing and
Rodney emphasizes user-created content at SIPA Munich
More than 100 attendees from 13 countries and 24 companies have gathered yesterday through tomorrow for the SIPA Munich Conference. You can follow some of the proceedings on Twitter at #sipamuc. Craig Rodney, managing director, Cerebra Communications, South Africa, delivered a talk earlier today about mobile and social
Hunger Games marketing campaign yields vital lessons
“This book is on junior high reading lists, but kids killing kids, even though it’s handled delicately in the film, is a potential perception problem in marketing,” he said.
—from March 18 New York Times article about the marketing of the film The Hunger Games
It May Be Time to Get on the eLearning Curve
According to the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) 2011 State of the Industry Report, money spent by organizations on learning and development of their employees increased by 13.5% last year. In the U.S. alone, more than $68.5 billion was allocated to external training providers.
Tom Gale, President, Gale Media, Boulder, Colo. and Publisher, Modern Distribution Management
What takes up most of your time these days?
I’ve spent most of the past year and a half integrating the acquisition of a market research company that focuses on industrial markets and wholesale distribution channels—the audience of our newsletter and website. This is our
Six valuable messages and the sessions to cover them
The keynotes, sessions and speakers for SIPA 2012, May 20-22 in Washington, D.C.have all been carefully selected to deliver the most relevant and timely information possible. Here are some excellent tips from speakers pertaining to their sessions or keynotes.
1. “There is going to be a moment when
Seminars by banks prove popular, and bilingualism helps us think better
Small businesses in the U.K. have found an ally of late in banks. The New York Times reported yesterday of a “ThriveOnline” seminar held by Barclays “to explain how best to buy Google ads and create a profile on Facebook to promote their companies.”
A Refresher Course in Good Marketing Ideas
Send email from a person, not a company. Check search traffic when choosing blog titles. Include brief surveys on thank-you pages. These are just three of 20 “Low-Hanging Marketing Fruit” listed in an excellent article on Hubspot Blog last week. It’s a good refresher course for some things we
Eight SIPA members tell what the single-most successful thing their company is doing now
1. More than one portfolio company I’m working with today is having success using the same process: 1) Identify very specific unmet information needs of a very specific audience, horizontal or vertical. 2) Discard any information need which cannot be addressed using
Ides of March is good time to evaluate role of ‘friends’
Is it still all about who our friends are? On this fateful day many, many years ago, Julius Caesar thought he knew who his friends were—turned out Brutus wasn’t such a good one after all. Facebook keeps rolling along with the activity of our
The Young and the Rest of Us
As SIPA approaches our 1,000th Linkedin group member this week, we were wondering how to mark the occasion and I came across this from the blog Online Dominance:
“Rewarding is most effective as a retention tool, and not an acquisition tool, Britton says. [That’s Matt Britton, founder and
How did you get into this field?
Mitch [Eisen, the CTO,] and I met on our first jobs after college. Then about 6 or 7 years later in 1999 we were both between things and he called me to see if we wanted to do something together around the Internet. Our first product was not email-centric;
TweetChat Yields a Screenful of Video Tips
It’s revealing no secrets to say that video has become a huge tool for engaging and selling on the Internet. How many of us start and end each day looking at various posted videos? Yet how many of us use video to help engage and market on our company’s
Songwriting Brothers Show What a ‘Small World’ Can Do
One day in the early 1960’s, Walt Disney called brothers Robert and Richard Sherman into his office “and gave them a book by P. L. Travers about a magical nanny named Mary Poppins. ‘He said, Do you know what a nanny is?’ Robert Sherman recalled. ‘And
Diving into ebooks can be profitable with right moves
A colleague friend and I used to have a running dialogue at the last place we worked, usually after a very long, busy day. “How does ‘our company’ make all its money?” we asked each other. “One word. Volume.” It appears that Canada’s National Post has
Lidia Lubka, publisher/editor, EcoLog, Toronto, Canada
What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
After graduating with a journalism degree, while trying to find a job in publishing in Toronto (more opportunities in the U.S.), I took a position with a social services agency, organizing the agency’s archives
On Awards, Content, Integration and European Privacy
It’s all about awards here at the SIPA office for the next couple days. The deadline for our SIPAwards competition is tomorrow, March 2. We’ve been very pleased with the enthusiasm so far among members (old and new) in responding to the new categories we’re offering. What will also
Working Smarter to Overcome Overload
I read a very interesting note in Sunday’s Washington Post about delegating. It said that Steven Spielberg once told an audience that as an amateur filmmaker in Arizona, he got used to doing everything himself—including scouting locations. But then as a professional, to his initial dismay, he discovered that people make
You Can’t Just Rest on Your Good Scents
At our local farmers market, one of the most popular vendors sells sausage. Their “trick” is that they cook up delicious samples for people to try. On Saturday, I was indulging when the vendor shouted something like, “Hey everyone, get your sausage samples here! Just out of the
Dwight White, Copywriter and Marketing Strategist, St. Augustine, Fla.
What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
My first job was in banking. I worked with a major financial group for 13 years, starting as a bank teller. For much of my time I held senior positions in
The Importance of the ‘Collide and Meet’
There’s a really interesting article on The New Yorker magazine site titled Groupthink: The Brainstorming Myth by Jonah Lehrer. He reports that when Steve Jobs designed the Pixar headquarters, he designed it so that “Everybody has to run into each other.” He said that the best creativity happens
12 Good Reasons to Enter the SIPAwards
“To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.”
“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.”
I don’t think Mark Twain was referring to awards in that first quote, but he certainly could have been. SIPA
Apps Give Companies Another Paywall Option
Just a month ago, the publisher of Britain’s largest-selling regional newspaper, the Express & Star, altered its online payment strategy by “removing its website paywall in favour of encouraging readers to purchase iPad and iPhone apps.” The apps, which give users pdf versions of the papers, cost £1.49 ($2.35)
What to Know for Building a Company East of Germany
At a reading Tuesday at the Austrian Embassy here in Washington, D.C., author Catalin Dorian Florescu presented his new novel, Jakob beschliesst zu lieben or Jacob Decides to Love. (There was some debate over whether one can decide to love, but we’ll leave that for
‘Chatting’ With Peers Can Be a Good Thing (like today)
Conversation from last Wednesday’s SIPA Twitter Chat:
What system do you use to host/run your webinars?
For webinars: @BeaconLive and @ReadyTalk thus far – what do you like about the platforms?
Used Conference America before … very reliable … anybody thought about web ex, citrix, or 24/7
I
An early spring clean-up, the digital way
We had an instance last week where a member googled herself and found a SIPA document on an unauthorized site. It was a good heads up for us to try to get the site to do the right thing and take it down. I was reminded of this
Jeska Harrington Gould, Managing Director, Research, and SIPA Europe Chair.
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
JESKA: My first job was assistant to the post boy at a big Dutch Publisher based in central London—but it was a fill-in job before college. I decided to become
How Wary of Your Social Media Life Should You Be?
So you think that your next prospective employer or business associate won’t notice your Facebook posting of a “funny” picture on a family vacation or an unruly comment after one of your teams lost, or a tweet you sent after a political debate? Think again. A
Twitter Chat Example of New Keys to Innovation
“We have got to overcome our hyperactive sense of exceptionalism and embrace the more collective, cooperative and globalized forces shaping the planet.”
–Neil Gabler
Five Techniques to Building the Better Subject Line
Here’s a test of subject lines (from a mortgage company) from copywriter Mark Everett Johnson, a frequent speaker at SIPA events. Choose one.
1) “Do you want to save thousands with no-hassle refinancing?”
2) “Who else wants to save thousands with no-hassle refinancing?”
Drumroll please. Number two won by 37%.
Dan Warren, President and Editor, Warren Communications News Inc., Washington, D.C.
SIPA: What was your first job out of college?
DAN: For two years I was a high school English teacher.
Has there been a defining moment in your career? Perhaps when you knew you were on the right road.
I was 29 and had finally completed my
Community Involvement Can Work on Many Levels
There seems to be something rather businessy to the “getting involved in your community” idea taking shape right now. Last night on Charlie Rose, political commentator David Brooks spoke about the professional advantages of working to make your community a better one. It’s interesting that in this global age—where
Schmidt, MacKinnon Offer Small Business Advice
At a talk here in Washington, D.C. last night about Internet privacy rules, Rebecca MacKinnon, author of Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle For Internet Freedom, was asked about the value of user license agreements from large Internet companies. “They can change at any time,” she said. “I’m sure
Lessons Learned From UK Publishers Study
The recent UK Publishing Email Benchmarking Survey conducted by Adestra shows some interesting results, according to a post on InPublishing by Henry Hyder-Smith. He focused on the importance of acquiring new data and managing your existing data, and cited the example of Centaur Media, “who segmented the information they
Laura Lieblein, EDM Publications, Bry-sur-Marne, France
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
LAURA: My first job out of college was working with an Italian theater company for five years. I had studied Italian Lit at school and acting in NYC. I married both interests.
On Niche Publishers and Mobile Audiences
It started last year when younger acquaintances started texting me instead of emailing. And now this “trend” includes some similar-aged friends. I write this because I was re-reading an article from the summer on The Specialist Media Site in the U.K. titled How Niche Publishers Can Reach a Mobile Audience
Montes de Oca Delivers on Social Media Insights
True or false, asked Wendy Montes de Oca, best-selling author of Content is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz, at a roundtable at last month’s Marketing Conference in Miami. “I don’t need to market my social media accounts; people will
Tablet and e-reader ownership rises dramatically
Now we know what presents everyone was buying over the holidays—for family and themselves. Tablet and e-reader ownership almost doubled in the last month. And now, amazingly, 1 out of every 4 Americans has one of these devices, according to a new study released yesterday from the Pew Research Center’s
R.D. Whitney, Chief Operating Officer of the Institute of Finance and Management, Greenhaven Partners, Greenwich, Conn.
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
R.D.: In college I took a volunteer internship at IDG, and that helped me get my first job in the information industry at
