Catch up on the week’s news from SIPAlert Daily
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Eloquent Defense Saves Parliamentary Tweets
(SIPA’s Twitter Chat set for tomorrow! See instructions below.)
Wow, Twitter certainly reaches wide and far. Silicon.com reported yesterday that MPs (Members of Parliament) voted against a motion that would have banned tweeting inside the House of Commons. I must give kudos to writer Nick Heath’s lead: “To tweet or not to
Ricky Warren, Marketing Manager, Research Ltd, London
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
RICKY: I began my career as a communications executive for a not-for-profit business called the Society of Chemical Industry. With an honours degree in biology with science communication, my foot in the door
SIPA’s First-Ever Twitter Chat Set for Wednesday
On July 6, 2011, the nation’s first White House Twitter Town Hall took place. After an introduction by Twitter creator Jack Dorsey, President Obama walked into the room like Jay Leno, shaking hands with invited guests as he made his way to the podium where a laptop computer was
Getting the Room Temperature Right for Innovation
The Innovation of Excellence blog led us this week to a presentation titled Re-Thinking Creativity & Innovation (& Play), by Ben Rennie, the director of 6.2, an agency and innovation lab in Melbourne, Australia. (They have a very interesting website. Why do we all look so much better with
When Moving Forward Means Letting Go
The great 73-year-old actor Frank Langella – he was nominated for an Oscar for playing Nixon in the film Frost/Nixon– was interviewed on National Public Radio over the weekend and was asked about getting older. He said that he’s found a kind of strength in recent years that he wasn’t
Craig Huey, president, Creative Direct Marketing Group, Torrance, Calif.
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
CRAIG: In college and when I graduated with a secondary education credential, I had been working part-time on direct marketing for political and Christian campaigns. I decided instead of going into
Jobs Leaves Behind Machines – and Quotes – to Live By
In grazing the Internet to try to measure the un-measureable, global impact of Steve Jobs on our society, I came across a Chinese website—check out the little birds flying around—that listed some of his most famous quotations. This was after watching BBC this morning and
Asking the Right Questions and Getting Key Answers
“Now more than ever, it’s increasingly important for publishers to maintain a mobile presence,” Ben Bassi of CommonPlaces told a SIPA 2011 Conference session in June. “If you’re looking to optimize your site for mobile phones and tablets, there are a few different approaches.”
At a roundtable there, Greg
Getting Sales and Marketing Teams on Same Page
There has always been a bit of a disconnect between sales and marketing. One wants to build the brand and expand the channels, while the other needs solid leads and has to focus on the next sale. But there are ways to bridge this gap. A research provider
Robert Lerose, Lerose Copywriting, Uniondale, N.Y.
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
ROBERT: I went to work for a small newsletter publisher that covered the real estate market in New York and the surrounding suburbs. They put out special directories on a different sector of the
Different Phrases for Different Places
From yesterday morning’s Marketplace on National Public Radio:
[Host] Jeremy Hobson:
I don’t have OnStar in my car, but I do have a cell phone in my pocket, and I assume that there are companies that would be more than happy or maybe are already using that data to sell to marketers.
David Lazarus
Anderson’s Email Charter Puts Onus on Sender
So I cut out this commentary on Sunday from The Washington Post by Chris Anderson, the one who is the curator of the TED Conference, not the editor of Wired (and not Chris Andersen, who has the most tattoos of any NBA player). In the paper it’s headlined, “Do
New Survey Finds Word of Mouth Stronger Than Ever
It’s no wonder that Facebook wants to add all these features so that you’ll see what your “friends” are watching, doing and, yes, even thinking. And the “circles” and “hangouts” of Google+ seem to be taking us in the same direction: “You share different things with different
Russell Lawson, Managing Director, Optimus Education, London
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
RUSSELL: I actually avoided work once I finished University and went travelling for a year. I came back five years later, after having wandered through central and southern Africa and southeast Asia, got
The Power of Video to Draw People in
The popular D.C. Shorts Film Festival just concluded here in Washington, and watching the various films only reiterated the power of video—at any length—to draw you in. Arlin Godwin who produced “The Man in 813,” which won the outstanding local film, told us that he didn’t have the
A Little Social Marketing Etiquette Can Pay Big Dividends
In her new book, Content Is Ca$h: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Wendy Montes de Oca—an occasional speaker at SIPA conferences—offers her 10 rules of social marketing etiquette. (I added #11.) So while you’re getting those marketing messages out there, just remember that
New Program Advances Software-Generated Articles
How important is good, original content? I became a little worried the other day when I read a story in The New York Times about a new start-up company in Evanston, Ill. (Northwestern University) called Narrative Science.
Said the article: “The company’s software takes data, like that from sports statistics, company financial
Gail Perry, Editor-in-Chief, AccountingWEB (Sift Media)
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
GAIL: Right out of college, I went to work as a bookkeeper for a large law firm in Washington D.C. I had a degree in journalism, but I had worked my way through college
‘Seven Pillars’ Provide Foundation for Improvement
The company is called Your Business Your Future, and they want to help you build a better business for yourself. Their program, The Seven Pillars of a Better Business, will be presented by SIPA in London on Tuesday, Oct. 11. Even if you are here in the States, it’s worth
Verifying Email Addresses and Protecting PDFs You Send
Quality of email address generation. Direct mail – what’s working. Protection against subscribers illegally passing on pdf files. Royalties from the Copyright Clearance Center. These are the subjects from conversations on the SIPA Listserv just from last week. It really is one of the best member benefits that
The Importance of Marketing on All Fronts
I heard something very interesting in a recent phone interview that I conducted with Craig Huey (pictured left), the publishing entrepreneur and longtime SIPA member, who just this summer lost a close election for Congress in Southern California. (The interview will be out this week in the September Hotline
Sean Oberle, Publisher, Oberle Communications, Bethesda, Md.
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
SEAN: I worked at a non-profit in the late ’80s, helping to write and edit its three monthlies. I was overworked and underpaid. I got sick of that and answered an ad for
Could Next ‘Twitter’ Come Out of Fall Roundtable?
What’s in a name? A lot, apparently. Would Twitter be so popular if it was called, say, Patter? (I guess then you could re-pat, ex-pat and patdeck.) According to an article on Mashable this week, “Twitter” came out of a closed-door meeting of company executives (and with a
Amazon’s Sales Tax Battles Affecting ‘Affiliates’
The fight over whether online retailers with a physical presence in a state need to collect sales tax continues in a big way in California. The state passed a law at the beginning of the summer making such collections a requirement, and Amazon has decided to take them on. They
There’s Gold in That Content! Manage it.
Many of us create content almost every day for our business or company—or association. But are we keeping track of that content in the best way possible? We know that repurposing is a vital art these days, but in order to do that, we should know where everything is,
Putting a Succession Plan in Place
According to an article in My Business magazine last year, 77 percent of business owners said they have a will, but only 33 percent have a succession plan. That’s just bad business, says Peter Bloom, an experienced business lawyer and founder of The Bloom Group, who has designed and implemented
SIPA’s LinkedIn Group Attracts Good Conversation
You might not be aware that SIPA has a big following on LinkedIn. The group is under “Specialized Information Publishers Association” and there have been interesting discussions of late. A question was recently posted by Molly Joss, owner of the Seybold Report in Philadelphia. “We deliver one of our e-newsletters
Richard Ossoff, President & CEO, Strafford Publications, Inc., Atlanta
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
RICHARD: My first job was with the now defunct Office of Economic Opportunity, the federal anti-poverty agency. I worked in the Addiction Services Division, part of the agency’s extensive health program.
Company Blogs Provide Added Way to Reach Out
Yesterday’s article on the earthquake prompted Allison Herdic of Chartwell Inc. in Atlanta to email me about a blog post she had written back in May after the awful tornados in the South. “If social media had been on the scene a couple of decades ago, Waldo and
The Earth Is Moving and So Is Social Media
If you saw a few cars smashed by falling bricks yesterday, chances are you were looking at a courtyard out the back window of the SIPA main office in Vienna, Va. We are about 100 miles from the epicenter of yesterday’s earthquake, so our second-floor office trembled
‘Just My Type’ Hits Home for Publishers
One thing that won’t change in future Avatar installments: the film’s font, Papyrus. Some internet pundits were appalled that Avatar’s poster and subtitles would use the commonplace typeface, but [director James] Cameron shrugs off their criticisms. “You know, I’m not a font snob,” he laughed. “It’s not exactly Papyrus—I
Richard Londesborough, CEO, Business Monitor International, London
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
RICHARD: Sports reporter in Tehran for a daily English language newspaper; a fantastic gap year job for an 18 year-old that gave me my first taste for journalism and the written word.
Has there
A Good Start Can Go a Long Way
“Begin as you mean to continue,” Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett told a young questioner seeking career advice two nights ago at an interview I attended at the Kennedy Center here in Washington, D.C. “Make yourself a five-year plan; that will help you maintain patience. And you can’t make
Google Moves Boldly Into New ‘Construction’ Role
I once sat with Jack Kent Cooke, the late owner of the Washington Redskins football team and Los Angeles Lakers basketball team—and New York’s Chrysler Building—as he told me how he acquired the rights to own the expansion Los Angeles Kings hockey team. In his gravelly and boisterous voice,
Leslie Davidson, Consultant, Davidson Direct, Pacifica, Calif.
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
LESLIE: After college, I wanted to save the world so I went to work for a nonprofit organization that provided seed money to help other organizations get started. I worked in nonprofits for
Yammer Helps to Facilitate Melcrum’s In-House Talk
A couple weeks ago I wrote about the rise of in-house social networks such as Chatter (from Salesforce.com) and Yammer. Both are based in San Francisco and are two of a number of new offerings in this field. (VMware, SAP, Cisco Systems, Jive Software and SuccessFactors are also promoting
Making Your Time Away Even Better
I was reminded recently of a radio talk show I once heard about vacationing where the caller thought that by going somewhere completely different she would act in completely different ways. But then a psychologist came on to say that the thing we forget is that we’re still us when
Tagging Has Come a Long Way
It used to be so simple, “Tag, you’re it.” Run around a little more and tag the next boy or girl. But to paraphrase from “The Wizard of Oz,” Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not just playing tag anymore.
The “tag” feature on Facebook has always had its detractors, some of
Lindsay Konzak, Editor, Modern Distribution Management/Gale Media
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
LINDSAY: I joined the Peace Corps. I taught English and worked on other development projects in Armenia; it was the best experience of my life. When I returned, I got a job as
Refreshing Your Approach to Renewals
The seasons may come and go, but renewals are a constant. So here are some ideas from people who make a living at helping to generate successful renewals.
Robert Lerose, Lerose Copywriting (pictured left):
1. Put your best offer in the first effort and emphasize that it won’t get better down the road.
Subscribers
Training Can Increase Staff Engagement and Retention
At the recent SIPA 2011 Conference, I spoke with Caroline Frost (pictured left), director of learning and development for Informa Business Information in London—and a new SIPA board member. “Young people want training,” she told me. “It gets them engaged in a different way. And it doesn’t have to
Increasing Traffic Takes More Than Good Scents
My favorite pizza restaurant, Faccia Luna in Arlington, Va., has been a neighborhood fixture for close to 20 years. The problem is that in the last five of those years, a lot of other “fixtures” have opened close by.
“Take a walk on the four or five blocks here and
Luis A. Hernandez, Director of Publishing, Thompson Publishing Group, Washington, D.C.
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
LUIS: Out of undergrad I was an intern with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency doing some PR work about the amendments to the Clean Water Act. After a slight
Meeting the Challenges of Growing Your Business
In his new book—“Growing an Entrepreneurial Business: Concepts & Cases”—University of Virginia professor Ed Hess tries to “make the growth process even easier to navigate for entrepreneurs.” Examining 54 high-growth entrepreneurial companies in 23 states, big and small, known and not so known, he found many similarities. But he
Creating a Strong Online Persona Makes Sense
Here’s some good advice from Max Drucker, chief executive of Social Intelligence, a California-based company that “navigates the complicated landscape of social media” for hiring purposes: “Create an online persona that is far richer than a resume might be. Create your own personal domain. Participate in various industry blogs.
Know Your Objectives Before Becoming More ‘Social’
I came across an exceptionally good article the other day on a site called BNET, The CBS Interactive Business Network, titled “Want a Strong Digital Strategy? Stop Focusing on Technology” by David Rogers, a digital marketing strategist. (Yes, this is that CBS, the same entity behind “Two and a
Mike McKinney, President, comHAUS, Inc.
What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
After a stint as Apple student rep, I went to work on an hourly basis as an AE in a small marketing firm in Dallas—and worked my way into a salary and a client base. I
Touring websites for valuable information
I was waiting in a long line (or queue) last week for a special sneak preview of a science fiction film called “Another Earth” that opens later this month. When another film let out next to us, many of the passers-by inquired to what we were waiting in line for. When
More on the Merging of the Professional and Personal
A scene from the brilliant playwright David Ives came to mind today when pondering how, each week, our professional and personal lives get more intertwined through social media. The vignette is from an evening of one-acts he wrote called “All in the Timing.” Titled “The Sure Thing,”
Looking at new ways to engage your audience
There’s been an interesting confluence of events the past couple days. First, on the SIPA Marketing Listserveyesterday, Jennifer Kern, research director for Modern Distribution Management, asked if there is “a method to quantify the dollar value of an email address.”
Bob Brady, president and publisher of Fortis Business Media,
