And, last Saturday morning, before I got up and on with my day, I watched his short film entitled ‘Guthrie Beach Raft’ and it got me thinking about the power of storytelling in marketing.
Yes, successful marketing is all about emotions -- not facts.
There are two videos to view here that make the author's point. The first video is OK -- for whatever reason it didn't really grab me.
But the second video about Google Chrome is a hit! That's because it tells a very engaging story about how someone uses Google's integrated suite of tools. It's brilliant.
Enjoy both of these -- and take these lessons to heart. When creating your content, decide which emotions you want to evoke in your audience and then craft your material to evoke those.
As the author says, "Sometimes, facts and figures are great, but if you’re really looking to create loyalty and build a relationship with your audience then creating an emotional bond is the way forward." Via Karen Dietz 
From The Article: "Google’s search marketing services may be becoming irrelevant due to the rise of social search.
That’s in addition to a failure to recognize that Google+ cannot be the sole solution to social search with an always increasing number of web properties.
Info-Tech Research Group expects that Google, which held 90% of the search market in 2010, will only hold 30% in 2013, due to the rising impact of social search".
Via Antonino Militello 
What are the 14 most powerful, effective and persuasive words in marketing?
After decades of A/B split testing, marketers now know the answer. Via Gregg Breward 
Maybe this is the reason General Motors went "mental" and pulled its Facebook ad budget.
Via Gregg Breward 
Ever since Tom Stafford and Matt Webb introduced us to the hidden logic of our upstairs system in their 2004 neuroscience tome, these simple tricks have taken the blogosphere by storm.
Via Gregg Breward 
Giuseppe Mauriello: Yahoo Small Business hopes to grow by offering small businesses an integrated marketing dashboard to manage and expand their digital marketing efforts. The Yahoo Marketing Dashboard provides a consolidated view of a business’s marketing results and reputation. It is a free solution that helps you discover new marketing opportunities and determine what works best, so you can grow your business.
Here are key features: 1) Business listings: Find out how many search engines and directories include your business and discover new listing opportunities you may be missing.
2) Online business reputation: Learn what customers are saying about you across the Web, so you can be responsive to their needs and provide better customer service.
3) Web site traffic: Discover how many people are visiting your site and where they are coming from by viewing Yahoo! Web Hosting, Yahoo! Merchant Solutions, or Google Analytics site traffic reports.
4) Marketing campaigns: Track key metrics from email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, so you know what is working.
5) Online sales: Know how your daily sales are doing with order and revenue reporting from your Yahoo! Merchant Solutions online store.
6) Marketing ideas - Learn about new marketing approaches and leading marketing service providers who can help your business grow.
The Marketing Dashboard is specifically designed for small business owners, not marketing experts. Content is presented through colorful charts and graphs so you can quickly and easily get the information you need to grow your business. Short how-to videos and a practical “to-do” list help guide you as you use the Marketing Dashboard.
Try out it here: http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/marketing-dashboard
Via Giuseppe Mauriello 
Doing some research on the use of SMS and mobile marketing? Hopefully we can assist. Via Rami Kantari like me on https://www.facebook.com/cneistat we shot this in 10 days, just the two of us. Max, my friend in the movie, is a talented filmmaker, he edited thi...
Well this is fun and perfect for a Friday treat! Nike charged these 2 guys to make a video/digital story about its brand. They stepped out of the box and had an adventure. And in the end, they put together this fab video that perfectly expresses the Nike brand!
What a hoot. And a terrific example of engaging your customers in creating brand stories for you. Not only is the end product engaging, but this shows what customers engagement is all about.
Whether these guys are customers or professionals hired to create the video, it's still representative of great customer engagement.
Enjoy watching this short video and have a great weekend! Via Karen Dietz Success Stories, Sad Stories. How StoryBranding has worked for some brands and how it could have worked for others.
Here's the last video from StoryBranding author Jim Signorelli about what to pay attention to when branding your company.
The examples he cites are great.
Enjoy this 3+ minute video! Via Karen Dietz 
What Type of Internet User Are You? (infographic) - The web contains a menagerie of personality types. You are likely to encounter several types of characters in your online travels. Via Rami Kantari 
Choosing the right name for your business can have a lasting impact when it comes to propelling a business to success. Here are tips in choosing the right one.
Entrepreneurs fret over packaging and a host of other details as they get started, and then leave one of the most important aspects as an afterthought.
The sad truth is that the right name can sometimes make all the difference when it comes to propelling a business to success, rather than just slogging on.
Consider this: Would you like "Patagonian toothfish" on your plate tonight for dinner? Hmm… not so much? Ok what about "Chilean Sea Bass?" That's much better, right? Or another example is how Marion Morrison put on a cowboy hat, slung on a six-shooter and became "John Wayne."
Read more: http://bit.ly/HWF3M0 Via Martin Gysler 
Check out this a m a z i n g presentation by Sparkol and start making your own!
I've just poked around this site, watching the sample presentation and going through the tutorials -- and frankly this tool looks AWESOME! I've bookmarked it and will start playing with it immediately to create fun and engaging presentations for upcoming talks.
The only caveat -- I can't tell yet what the Pro version costs. But I'm sure I'll find out soon and I hope it is affordable.
I'm telling you folks -- it's getting easier and easier to share your biz stories in compelling ways withs some of these new tools coming out! Via Baiba Svenca, Karen Dietz 
Robin Good: Here is a handy short guide to nine free infographic creation tools that can be utilized to create enticing visuals, word charts and data-based infographics without having special technical skills.
Useful. 8/10
Check them all out: http://www.infographicsarchive.com/create-infographics-and-data-visualization/ ;
(Unearted by Andres Taborga)
Hey All -- sometimes in business we need to display/convey data with our storytelling. So how do you display data in engaging ways? I love this article because it shares 6 free tools to use, plus there's a little tutorial on how to make infographics.
We all know how important it is to have the right tool for the job at hand. Bookmark this article so when you need the tools you have them. Enjoy playing with your numbers and showing them in different ways!
Thank you Robin Good for curating this article. Via Robin Good, Karen Dietz |
Robin Good: A great presentation by Ross Hudgens on the value of looking at other great content and ideas and turn those to your advantage, without in any way stealing or taking unfair advantage of other's people work.
Recommended. 9/10 Full presentation: http://slideonline.com/presentation/94-link-building-by-imitation ; Via Robin Good 
From the original article: "SEO strategies have gone through incredible amounts of evolution over the last year. From algorithm updates like Penguin and Panda to new search engine restrictions on overoptimization and spammy links, optimization methods for getting the best rankings in search engines all across the web have advanced.
The recent power of social sharing has had a huge effect on search, and search engine company recommendations to get the best rankings in their search engines have changed as crawl tactics are getting smarter.
SEOs of all levels have had to re-learn strategies and best practices to make sure their website’s SEO is set up for winning results.
The newly updated Beginner’s Guide to SEO is bursting with new changes, but here are some top additions to keep an eye out for:
***Home-grown SEO is a trend that is catching on, but there’s a lot to learn to make sure your site’s SEO is up to par. Whether you’re considered using a consultant, firm, or learning SEO on your own, this new section is a must-read.
***Building for Users, Not Search Engines: This awesome new section highlights three ways people look for information through search queries fitting into the categories of Do, Know, and Go. What are users looking for?
***The Last Chapter is packed full of new recommendations on metrics to track, analytics software to implement, metrics provided by search engines to use, and tips to applying the data you track towards real life solutions..."
Read the full article here: http://j.mp/LI7qUi
Full guide: http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo
Via Giuseppe Mauriello, Robin Good 
The new social web provides that all important leverage of "world of mouth" to reach and engage with a global audience.In this article we will look at creating content that engages your audience, how to market to a global audience with social... Via Rami Kantari ![The content marketing matrix [new infographic] - Smart Insights Digital Marketing Advice | Mind Your Marketing P's (and Q's) | Scoop.it](http://img.scoop.it/Ggp0BLuFbgDoJ2vTYUPFHzl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVaiQDB_Rd1H6kmuBWtceBJ)
Generating ideas of content types to engage We've had this graphic on a Post-It note in our office for months; it's a natural follow-on from our inbound m. Marketing topic(s):Content marketing strategy. 
Note mg: You search a productivity tool in various categories, maybe you'll find it in this list:
Categories Online Office Suites Online Calendars Online Documents Online RSS Readers Startpages Invoice Managers Time Tracking Services Goal Tracking Services Project Management Services To-do Lists Personal Organizers- calendars, to-do’s, etc. all rolled Sticky Notes GTD Tools Mind Mapping Tools Online Collaboration Tools Web-Based Operating Systems Misc. Productivity Applications Music
Via Martin Gysler 
Many small businesses have turned to blogging as a way to engage and further connect with customers. But making mistakes in your blog can kill your business. Here are some of the biggest to avoid.
Blogging for your business is important, but doing it wrong can cost you customers and your reputation. As more and more small businesses enter the world of content development, the scrutiny continues to increase. Consumers can be retained or lost simply from your blogging efforts, so its imperative this public-facing activity is done correctly.
In this guide, we'll explore why small businesses should have a blog, a company that is doing it right, the biggest mistakes made by small businesses, and how to avoid those potential pitfalls.
7 Blogging Mistakes that Small Businesses Make: Why Start a Blog?
Read more: http://bit.ly/IX3t9i Via Martin Gysler 
Free PowerPoint templates and backgrounds from Presentation magazine. A wide range of free professional and business quality Power Point templates.
I'm always on the lookout for new, interesting, and professional PPT templates so I can build my storied presentations to fit each context I'm working in.
So here's another resource for free templates. I poked around and found many I liked. I hope you find some great ones also! Via Baiba Svenca, Karen Dietz Robin Good: Coming Soon Pro is a WordPress plugin that allows you to create a custom landing page, capable of capturing emails of interested parties and of incentivating social sharing.
Excellent for whoever has little time, talent, and money to spend, but is looking to get a professional-looking "coming soon" page.
From the official site: "Easily create a custom Coming Soon Page in minutes that will help your Website Launch become a Success."
Key features:
-> The Coming Soon Pro plugin works with any WordPress Theme.
-> The plugin is visible only to non logged in user. This allows you to work on your site while visitors see your coming soon page. Also included is a maintenance mode which allows you to gracefully take your site offline after launch.
-> The Coming Soon plugin allows you to capture email leads while you build your site. Tight integration with MailChimp, Constant Contact, Aweber, Campaign Monitor & Gravity Forms. Google Font integration Customizable CSS3 White Label Branding Mobile Ready Social Media integration
Full review: http://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/how-to-create-beautiful-coming-soon-pages-in-wordpress-with-seedprod/ ;
Showcase: http://www.seedprod.com/showcase/
Features and price: http://www.seedprod.com/features/
More info: http://www.seedprod.com/ Via Robin Good 
Robin Good: Do you know how to calculate how much a new customer is worth to your online business?
Knowing that value can help you make better strategic decision about how much to invest in advertising, marketing and customer service activities to retian the good customers you already have.
But you need to know first how much they are really worth to you.
From the original article: "It’s strange, but many small-business people have no idea what a good regular customer is worth to their business.
By calculating that figure, you should gain a better idea of what you’re willing to invest or risk to attract a good, regular customer.
The calculation will also tell you how important it is to keep your existing customers happy.
The cost of retaining a customer and even expanding a customer’s value is much less then getting a new customer.
To determine what you’re willing to invest in marketing, first discover what an average new customer is worth to you.
To determine their value, answer the following questions:
1. What is your average sale (transaction amount)?
2. What is the frequency of your average customer?"
Useful. 8/10
Find out which are the three other key questions to ask by reading the full article here: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223426 ; Via Robin Good 
It's amazing how many entrepreneurs don't think deeply about their strategy.
Here's how to start the process. Via Gregg Breward 
You’re about to become a writer that's incredibly persuasive and completely unforgettable.
Ready?
Let’s start with structuring your content so your message becomes irresistible. Via Gregg Breward 
From the article intro: "Word-of-mouth recommendations and reviews, either from someone they know or a stranger’s opinions online, are the most trusted sources of information for buying decisions, according to the latest Nielsen’s latest Global Trust in Advertising report.
The findings speak highly for information gathered through social media or other forms of user-generated content."
Check this for example: "...though traditional paid media still are trusted by a great number of consumers, their influence is on the decline.
Nearly half of consumers around the world say the trust ads on TV (47%), in magazines (47%) and in newspapers (46%), but those numbers dropped by 24%, 20% and 25% respectively, in a relatively short period of time — between 2009 and 2011."
Informative. 8/10
Via Robin Good |
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