Catch up on the week’s news from SIPAlert Daily
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Small Gatherings Present Large Opportunities
On the Huffington Post site yesterday, Zach Carter wrote about the decision of Sen. Marco Rubio (R – Fla.) to withdraw his support from the proposed SOPA and PIPA bills. Rubio, one of the first senators to support the bills in the spring, posted his ultra-serious statement about not understanding the
Studies Support Workplace Conclusions From BPS
What’s great about the British Psychological Society is that their postings and opinions are based on actual studies. So when I reported on brainstorming from a study on that site a couple months ago—that it may be better to let people think of ideas on their own before coming together—it
Small Businesses Try Big New Strategies
The website Little Independent in Chicago describes itself as an an online marketplace for sale items from independent retail stores. I came across it in an article in The New York Times Sunday about what chances, if any, the “little guy” stands against big retailers like Amazon and Walmart. Lesley
SIPAwards Brings New Profile to Respected Program
Usually in this space on Mondays you’ll read profiles of SIPA members across the globe. But for today’s Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday in the U.S., we want to present a profile of a different sort. The SIPAwards represents another element of a new era for the association, where
Special Reports Highlight New SIPA Website
The new SIPA website houses a treasure trove of information on the industry. One of the best sections is the Resources where the Specialized Information Publishers Foundation Library sits. That’s where you’ll find the just-released Memorandum From Counsel, the Independent Publishers Legal Handbook, MarketingSherpa’s 2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark
BrainSlam Session Produces Rapport, New Ideas
The SIPA Marketing Conference took place a month ago, but many sessions still resonate. One in particular, the BrainSlam, took that normally dormant after-lunch session and turned it into a strong, team-building exercise. Roundtables took on an industry question and deliberated for about 40 minutes to come up with solutions.
Tailoring Your Message to the Medium
A few weeks ago, National Public Radio gave its standout comedy quiz show, “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” a shot at the big-time: a Friday night slot on BBC America television. I’m a huge fan of the Saturday morning show, now in its 14th year, which features a recap of
Tim Baskerville, Principal, Media Service Group, West Hills, Cailf.
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
TIM: As a senior in high school, I decided I wanted a career in broadcast journalism. Every week I’d call up the woman at CBS in Hollywood who managed editorial assistants,
SIPA’s New Website Ushers in New Era
It’s up and running! Can there be four better words in today’s highly virtualized culture than those? SIPA’s sparkling new, just out-of-the-box website went live a few days before Christmas like any proper gift should. And it is functioning so smoothly that we’ve tossed out the receipt! So we
Tips from a Leading Author
“Work on a computer that is disconnected from the Internet.” This is number seven on much-honored English author Zadie Smith’s 10 rules for writers. (Time magazine included her wonderful novel, White Teeth, in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.) I don’t think she wants us harking back
Trends to Watch for in 2012
Here are some predictions of trends for 2012 from editors at Nieman Journalism Lab – followed by some from our members.
11 Tips from SIPA’s Recent Marketing Conference
Check out these 11 tips from the Marketing Conference compiled by Greg Krehbiel of Kiplinger Washington Editors. Greg served as the Conference co-chair along with Heather Farley of Access Intelligence. SIPA thanks them for their hard work and success.
A Look Back at Some SIPAlert Daily Highlights
Here are some best-of SIPAlert Daily moments from the year:
1. A quote from Steve Jobs: Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. If you are involved in a growing industry, think of ways to become more efficient; more customer friendly; and easier to do business with. If
Best Lines From the Member Profiles
We are very appreciative of the many members who took the time to fill out the member profiles this year. They did a great job and it’s something we truly could not do on our own. In tribute to them, here’s a list of 11 of the best lines of
We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a…um…(sorry, incoming tweet)
So Sunday is Christmas and Monday is Boxing Day. It’s a time when…
Umm, excuse me, let me just answer this one text.
It’s a time when families and friends come together and…
Ahh, one second, I need to respond to this tweet.
So where was I? Right.? …when families
Analyzing the Dynamics of Decision-Making
If Thinking, Fast and Slow is anything like the review I just read in Sunday’s Washington Post, author Daniel Kahneman should be a marketing rock star and anyone depending on people’s decision-making should read this book. Reviewer Christopher Shea writes that Kahneman “wants to help us mend our fuzzy thinking and
Cashing in on the Print-to-Digital Transition
We’re definitely seeing much more of the Web-first, print-second mentality and the success it can bring. The latest example came at the SIPA Marketing Conference in Miami earlier this month where Rob Ransom, CEO of Bongarde Media, presented a case study of his company’s switch from a print-to-digital mindset. Bongarde
Monika Stasik, Head of Marketing, PMR, Cracow, Poland
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
MONIKA: During my studies, I was working as deputy chief editor in a students’ magazine. This experience prepared me for my first job in Wolters Kluwer. For seven years, I was
The Rules of (Social) Engagement
Imagine walking into a packed room of 10 roundtables filled to the brim with colleagues, and subject signs like Email Marketing Metrics: What’s Working, Repurposing Content for Profit, Renewal Marketing: Online vs. Print, Building Attendance at Live Events and AdWords: What’s Working?—all with highly respected moderators. And having to pick just
Building a Consistent Presence for Your Audience
Consistency. It’s not the first word you think of when trying to list a company’s reasons for success in the specialized information industry. But I’ve come across it a couple times of late, and it has made me think more about how consistency plays before an audience—your audience.
On Saturday,
Lessons for Hiring New Sales People
Hire schoolteachers as sales people? Yes, said Dan Oswald, CEO of Fortis Business Media, speaking on Friday’s CEO Panel at the SIPA Marketing Conference in Miami. His vice president of sales has found good success hiring teachers. “They’re hungry, driven, haven’t made a lot of money, are good on the
Rachel Yeomans, Marketing Director, Social Media, Astek, Chicago
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
RACHEL: I graduated in Journalism with a concentration in magazines. When I graduated, the journalism industry was already somewhat difficult to enter into. I received a lead from a college friend
‘What If’ Proves a Good Start for Conference
Mark Everett Johnson paused and beamed a bit. “You see what just happened here,” he told his packed Copywriting Workshop yesterday at the opening day of SIPA’s 28th Annual Marketing Conference, at the famed Eden Roc Hotel in Miami (where “I Love Lucy” plays silently on a big
Integrating Social Media With Your Editorial
Back at the SIPA UK Conference in the summer—yes, think warm temperatures and lots of daylight—Sona Hathi of Melcrum and Mark Johnson of The Economist Group presented an excellent session on Practical Social Media: Integrating With Your Editorial. This is something that I know we deal with here at SIPA
Connecting the Dots Between Women and Entrepreneurship
“Women start only around 3 percent of the nation’s technology companies. They are almost absent in high-level technology positions. [Although read the article about Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg in The New Yorker—really interesting.] They contribute to fewer than 5 percent of all I.T. patents and 1.2 percent of open-source software.”
Roger B. Wilson, Jr., newMeetia, The Conference Department, Inc., Winchester, Mass.
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
ROGER: I pounded nails when I graduated from college, continuing a construction business I had started before college and operated through college. I employed as many as 5 guys.
On Blogging, Telemarketing and Timing of Emails
Here are three good articles I’ve come across in the last few days, as we gear up for next week’s Marketing Conference in Miami.
1. Blog Away. “[B-to-B] blogs are the closest thing to a no-brainer I can think of,” said Paul Gillin, author of Social Marketing to the Business
Thoughts on ROI for Social Media Efforts
I wrote the cover story for SIPA’s November Hotline newsletter on ROI for social media efforts. What should you expect and what parameters should you use? It’s a question that will continue into 2012 and beyond. How do we know we’re spending the right amount of time on places
Lexicon Proves That Naming Is a Bit Scientific
In the category of there-is-a-business-for-everything, Lexicon stands tall. Founded in 1982 by David Placek, they are a firm devoted to inventing names for products. Among their biggest successes are Pentium, for Intel; PowerBook for Apple, BlackBerry for Research in Motion; and Dasani for Coca-Cola. They were recently profiled
Tips for Your Twitter World
Today’s SIPA Twitter Chat at noon EST will focus on renewals. These weekly Chats have produced some excellent dialogue on various topics—mobile, e-learning—so we encourage you to tune in.
The Changes Brought on by ‘Digital First’
On Thursday afternoon, I received an email from The Washington Post with a link to a story about exciting new arts and concert venues in the city. This turned out to be the cover story for the next day’s Weekend section. For a few seconds, I felt like Rip
Don Nicholas, CEO, Mequoda Group, Hopkinton, Mass.
What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
I was 27 when I graduated from college. As my sons, Scott and Ryan, like to say, I was on the 10-year plan. I had gone back to school full-time two years earlier, after
The Power and (Occasional) Glory of Email Marketing
Email marketing remains a powerful tool, so powerful that it’s almost like one of those laser weapons in a James Bond film: put in the wrong hands, bad things can happen. I saw an example this week, where a well-intentioned email led to a flurry that had people
New Thinking Puts Spotlight on nOtice
We’ve come a long way from Paul Revere’s ride for dispensing community information. But the British are still coming, at least in terms of innovative ideas. Yesterday was the launch date for nOtice, a new tool from The Guardian, orchestrated to give the community message board a digital updating. The
Deaf Ears Put Google+ at Back of Line
I received an email last week from Google informing me that a SIPA member had added me “to his circles” and invited me to join Google+. The email had a picture of what looked like an old manual dial-telephone with faces inserted where the numbers should be. The
Andy Tarczon, Founding Partner – Corporate Development, The Diffusion Group, Frisco, Texas
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
ANDY: Wow, my 18th Consumer Electronics Show is in January. I’m not even 40, how is that even possible? Psion was the company that first took me
Value of Marketing Conference Reflected in Speakers
Today is the early-bird deadline for registration for SIPA’s 28th Annual Marketing Conference in Miami Beach, Dec. 7-9. The way I like to give value is to list key tips previously issued by the speakers, and then present the sessions they will be leading in Miami.
1. On yesterday’s Twitter
New Study Rains on the Brainstorming Parade
I recall one off-site brainstorming session where an outside moderator was brought in to try to get at our “problems” and keep the conversation moving forward. Well, he sure did get at our problems; by the end of the day, colleagues were ready to kill each other, and he
The Finer Points of Creating a Video
An interesting theme recently on the SIPA Marketing Listserv focused on turning PowerPoint presentations into Web videos. The idea is to add varied animation/visual effects, transitions between slides, other attractive visual items (drawing and/or photos), narration and/or music. Camtasia Studio came up as one solution. Daniel Park’s new digital
Brian Crotty, President, OPIS (Oil Price Information Service), Gaithersburg, Md.
What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
I had a creative writing degree and thought since I could write, I would be a journalist. My first job was at a newspaper called The Daily Record in Baltimore. Problem
Hail ‘Caesar’! A Great Call to Action
Watching the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s (STC) production of Julius Caesar here in Washington, D.C. a couple months ago, I just thought, “That Shakespeare guy would have made some copywriter.” The power of persuasion he gives to Mark Antony’s famous speech can serve as a lesson for all of us
Issues and Answers from Our ‘Mobile’ Webinar
Here are 11 tips from SIPA’s recent Webinar on Going Mobile for Publishers: Developing a Content Delivery System for an Increasingly Portable World – presented by Andy Swindler, president of Astek Consulting, and Joanne Valentino, director marketing & communications for The Medical Letter Inc. The actual webinar is now
Innovations in European Postal Systems Set New Tone
Clemens Beckmann is the executive vice president of innovation of the German post office’s mail division. Now when is the last time you heard the words “innovation” and “mail” used together in the United States? Mail volumes decrease by 1-2% every year, the post office here loses millions
Barbara Weckstein Kaplowitz, Big Huge Ideas, Potomac, Md.
What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
Assistant to director of research and communications, Local and State Chamber of Commerce Division, Chamber of Commerce of the U.S. It was an exciting place to work. My window looked across Lafayette Park
It Still Proves Better to Give Than Receive
“This one’s on me.” I’m pretty sure that most of us have said this at some point of our adult lives, probably in the context of giving comfort to a good friend by treating him or her to a cup of coffee, a glass of wine or beer,
Selling ‘Solutions’ Can Bolster Your Advertising
I noticed this in today’s New York Times article on IBM’s naming of Virginia Rometty as their next chief executive: IBM “’is selling business solutions, not just products,’ said Frank Gens, chief analyst for the technology market research firm IDC. ‘Rometty has been at the forefront of that effort.’”
It made
Know What You Want at the Outset
During SIPA’s free-for-members Webinar last week—titled Going Mobile for Publishers: Developing a Content-Delivery System for an Increasingly Portable World (and now posted on our Website!)—Andy Swindler and Joanne Valentino waxed technologically about the realities of going mobile. Swindler and his Astek team have worked with Valentino’s group, The Medical
Frank Joseph (Mister DM™), Consultant, Washington, D.C.
What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
Reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago, the legendary, beloved and much-missed training ground for cub reporters. I’ve had a lot of luck in my life, for which I’m profoundly grateful; the year
Seven Tips and the Sessions to Cover Them
Here are some excellent tips to keep in mind for your business—and the upcoming sessions at SIPA’s 28th Annual Marketing Conference in Miami, Dec. 7-9 that will cover those topics.
1. Find an underserved group or a lonely and under-appreciated group within the organization. If there is a highly
Accelerated News Cycle Creates New Roles
It seems that every day my lead could be, “Things are just changing so fast.” The latest comes from the Nieman Journalism Lab site at Harvard. Megan Garber reports that www.nymag.com, the website of New York Magazine, is now publishing new content every six minutes.
Okay, well, at least that’s only
