 |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
31 Jan This post is from from my other blog here I had the pleasure of speaking to the Cleveland Web Association today with my presentation "Micromedia. The next big, small thing". The crowd was very engaged and had some great questions and follow up afterward. For this one, I used Slideshare's Slidecast option so if you play the slideshow below, you'll hear me as the slides advance automatically. The deck is 105 slides, but takes about 13 minutes. I hope you enjoy!  View
[Feed readers, please click through to the post if you cannot see the presentation.]
If you're looking for a speaker for your next event or conference shoot me an email. I'd love to meet you in person.
Technorati Tags: event, marketing, Matt Dickman, PR, social media, social networks, Techno//Marketer, micromedia
31 Jan This post is from from my other blog here I had the pleasure of speaking to the Cleveland Web Association today with my presentation "Micromedia. The next big, small thing". The crowd was very engaged and had some great questions and follow up afterward. For this one, I used Slideshare's Slidecast option so if you play the slideshow below, you'll hear me as the slides advance automatically. The deck is 105 slides, but takes about 13 minutes. I hope you enjoy! View
[Feed readers, please click through to the post if you cannot see the presentation.]
If you're looking for a speaker for your next event or conference shoot me an email. I'd love to meet you in person.
Technorati Tags: event, marketing, Matt Dickman, PR, social media, social networks, Techno//Marketer, micromedia
30 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
Part of the process that I embarked on a while back was putting my résumé together. Now, the normal stance on résumés is a one page, standard template. That leaves little room for your experience and involvement in the industry. I took a slightly different approach that I would like to share with you. The first page of the résumé is pretty standard issue. My 'About Me' paragraph is a little more relaxed than you may see somewhere else, but that is what I wanted to portray. The other information is really straight forward as you would expect. This, however, is where I broke away from the 'best practices' for résumés and looked for the right practices. I wanted to showcase the effort and breadth of my experience, so I added a second page with the heading "Social Media". Here I list this blog, MarketingProfs Daily Fix and the other communities where I am actively involved. Each of these links (some I shortened with TinyURLs) paints a larger picture of who I am and what I have a passion for. Want to know what I read? Check out my del.icio.us page. Get a feel for what I am like in person through the videos I do. It's all there and there is nothing to hide. Walking in the door you know what you're going to get. I highly encourage you to share what you do. Don't limit yourself to the one pager especially if you are going for a job in pr, advertising or digital. When other people are listing that they know Word and Powerpoint (is this really necessary any more people?), you will be listing your participation in the conversation. I hope this inspires you to think outside the one page résumé to showcase your talents in the light they deserve.
Technorati Tags: marketing, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer, social media résumé
30 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
Part of the process that I embarked on a while back was putting my résumé together. Now, the normal stance on résumés is a one page, standard template. That leaves little room for your experience and involvement in the industry. I took a slightly different approach that I would like to share with you. The first page of the résumé is pretty standard issue. My 'About Me' paragraph is a little more relaxed than you may see somewhere else, but that is what I wanted to portray. The other information is really straight forward as you would expect. This, however, is where I broke away from the 'best practices' for résumés and looked for the right practices. I wanted to showcase the effort and breadth of my experience, so I added a second page with the heading "Social Media". Here I list this blog, MarketingProfs Daily Fix and the other communities where I am actively involved. Each of these links (some I shortened with TinyURLs) paints a larger picture of who I am and what I have a passion for. Want to know what I read? Check out my del.icio.us page. Get a feel for what I am like in person through the videos I do. It's all there and there is nothing to hide. Walking in the door you know what you're going to get. I highly encourage you to share what you do. Don't limit yourself to the one pager especially if you are going for a job in pr, advertising or digital. When other people are listing that they know Word and Powerpoint (is this really necessary any more people?), you will be listing your participation in the conversation. I hope this inspires you to think outside the one page résumé to showcase your talents in the light they deserve.
Technorati Tags: marketing, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer, social media résumé
29 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
Starting right now, if you got that old guitar out and played for 10 minutes a day, you could rock out in a year. Starting right now, if you put a little extra money in the savings each paycheck you would retire much more wealthy. Starting right now, if you wanted to get your MBA you could find a program and get signed up. Starting right now, if you got up from your computer and walked/jogged/ran for 30 minutes you would be healthier in months. Starting right now, if you wanted to donate your time to charity, thousands of organizations are waiting for your call. Starting right now, if you hopped over to Wordpress.com, Blogger.com or Typepad.com you could start your own blog. Starting right now, if you wanted to encourage your coworkers to really get involved in social media they would owe you. Starting right now, if you wanted to become a mobile marketing expert you could. Starting right now, if you wanted to market yourself through social media to get a better job in six months you could. Starting right now, if you wanted to start monitoring social media and begin listening to the conversation in related networks you could. Starting right now, if you wanted to see what Twitter, Seesmic or any other hot new thing had to offer you could. You could keep sitting there right now, but the future is undetermined, the possibilities are endless and you are a rock star. You can start right now to make it a better, more successful place for you, your family and your company. What do you do to get off the couch, pick up the pencil, shut down the browser or focus on professional development even when you don't have to? How do you start right now?
Technorati Tags: Conversations, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer
29 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
Starting right now, if you got that old guitar out and played for 10 minutes a day, you could rock out in a year. Starting right now, if you put a little extra money in the savings each paycheck you would retire much more wealthy. Starting right now, if you wanted to get your MBA you could find a program and get signed up. Starting right now, if you got up from your computer and walked/jogged/ran for 30 minutes you would be healthier in months. Starting right now, if you wanted to donate your time to charity, thousands of organizations are waiting for your call. Starting right now, if you hopped over to Wordpress.com, Blogger.com or Typepad.com you could start your own blog. Starting right now, if you wanted to encourage your coworkers to really get involved in social media they would owe you. Starting right now, if you wanted to become a mobile marketing expert you could. Starting right now, if you wanted to market yourself through social media to get a better job in six months you could. Starting right now, if you wanted to start monitoring social media and begin listening to the conversation in related networks you could. Starting right now, if you wanted to see what Twitter, Seesmic or any other hot new thing had to offer you could. You could keep sitting there right now, but the future is undetermined, the possibilities are endless and you are a rock star. You can start right now to make it a better, more successful place for you, your family and your company. What do you do to get off the couch, pick up the pencil, shut down the browser or focus on professional development even when you don't have to? How do you start right now?
Technorati Tags: Conversations, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer
28 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
Then in November of 2006 I realized that I had something unique to say and a mission to help marketers use technology instead of being intimidated by it. Hence the re-branding of the blog to what it is today. It's so much easier now than it was back then. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot more effort, but it's 1000 times more rewarding. The absolute most rewarding part of this blog (and sadly I didn't know this at first) is YOU! That's right. If you're reading this right now, either on the site or through a feed reader,I truly value your readership and loyalty. I had originally thought that a blog was all about sharing knowledge and increasing your visibility/marketability. It is partly about those things, but the most value from this blog is from the real relationships that I've made. I hope that I continue to provide you with quality content and value for two more years. Thank you!
Technorati Tags: Blogging, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer
28 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
Then in November of 2006 I realized that I had something unique to say and a mission to help marketers use technology instead of being intimidated by it. Hence the re-branding of the blog to what it is today. It's so much easier now than it was back then. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot more effort, but it's 1000 times more rewarding. The absolute most rewarding part of this blog (and sadly I didn't know this at first) is YOU! That's right. If you're reading this right now, either on the site or through a feed reader,I truly value your readership and loyalty. I had originally thought that a blog was all about sharing knowledge and increasing your visibility/marketability. It is partly about those things, but the most value from this blog is from the real relationships that I've made. I hope that I continue to provide you with quality content and value for two more years. Thank you!
Technorati Tags: Blogging, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer
25 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
Welcome! There have been lots of new subscribers in the past couple of weeks, so welcome to all of you. This post is a snapshot of the news I thought was interesting and relevant this week. I try to do these posts each Friday (time permitting). If you have anything you think is Buzz worthy, let me know!
25 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
Welcome! There have been lots of new subscribers in the past couple of weeks, so welcome to all of you. This post is a snapshot of the news I thought was interesting and relevant this week. I try to do these posts each Friday (time permitting). If you have anything you think is Buzz worthy, let me know!
24 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
Yesterday on my blog I wrote about marketers who know the price for interruption and pay it anyway. Another problem that dovetails with interruption based advertising (and is equally frustrating to web users) is ads that get moved over from TV to the web. You've all seen this happen. You go to a site, click to the content you're interested in and viola! A 30 second spot stands between you and your content. Read the rest of the post at the MarketingProfs Daily Fix blog.
24 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
Yesterday on my blog I wrote about marketers who know the price for interruption and pay it anyway. Another problem that dovetails with interruption based advertising (and is equally frustrating to web users) is ads that get moved over from TV to the web. You've all seen this happen. You go to a site, click to the content you're interested in and viola! A 30 second spot stands between you and your content. Read the rest of the post at the MarketingProfs Daily Fix blog.
23 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
There are consequences to doing this, especially in the digital space. I enjoyed reading this article on the New York Times site points to a Burst Media survey of 2,600 online video viewers. In the survey responses, 53.6% of people recalled seeing some type of interruption-based advertising (pre-, mid- and post-roll). 78.4% of those people said that in-stream ads are intrusive with 50.4% saying the ads disrupt their time. (This means the subtraction of value, not the addition of value.) The in-stream, or mid-roll, ads (a trend that is rapidly growing and is particularly user un-friendly) had the most negative reaction by far. 50.7% of respondents said to have stopped watching the video when they saw an mid-roll ad and 15.3% were so angry they left the site all together. While people ages 18-24 are slightly more likely to stay through a mid-roll ad, the worst finding for advertisers was around the recall of the ads. Only 21.4% of people who recalled the ad said they pay more attention to mid-roll versus other ad formats. If you're a content creator, does it really make sense to run mid-roll ads if people are abandoning your content? You have to ask yourself where you place your value, ad dollars or content distribution. Moreover, if 1/3 of people leave your site altogether, you're hurting revenue from sponsors and other advertisers not to mention your reputation. From an advertiser's view point of view, why would you do this? The negative impression of the ad's placement is weighing on your brand. If your goal is to have people take action or remember your product/service, this is definitely going to work. There are, however, better options. Create a "skin" for the video where your branding surrounds the content, but doesn't encroach on it. Align your ads with content that makes sense and is in your audience's focus. The worst thing you can do is take a 30 and plop it in the path of web users who are trying to get the content they value. You're not adding anything to that situation. The 30 second spot is dead online as well (just in case you were wondering). What other advice would you give to advertisers lining up for these placements? What ads have you appreciated or received value from and how have they been placed? This all leads up to a post I have been working on for a while that will premiere tomorrow. "3 is the new 30".
23 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
There are consequences to doing this, especially in the digital space. I enjoyed reading this article on the New York Times site points to a Burst Media survey of 2,600 online video viewers. In the survey responses, 53.6% of people recalled seeing some type of interruption-based advertising (pre-, mid- and post-roll). 78.4% of those people said that in-stream ads are intrusive with 50.4% saying the ads disrupt their time. (This means the subtraction of value, not the addition of value.) The in-stream, or mid-roll, ads (a trend that is rapidly growing and is particularly user un-friendly) had the most negative reaction by far. 50.7% of respondents said to have stopped watching the video when they saw an mid-roll ad and 15.3% were so angry they left the site all together. While people ages 18-24 are slightly more likely to stay through a mid-roll ad, the worst finding for advertisers was around the recall of the ads. Only 21.4% of people who recalled the ad said they pay more attention to mid-roll versus other ad formats. If you're a content creator, does it really make sense to run mid-roll ads if people are abandoning your content? You have to ask yourself where you place your value, ad dollars or content distribution. Moreover, if 1/3 of people leave your site altogether, you're hurting revenue from sponsors and other advertisers not to mention your reputation. From an advertiser's view point of view, why would you do this? The negative impression of the ad's placement is weighing on your brand. If your goal is to have people take action or remember your product/service, this is definitely going to work. There are, however, better options. Create a "skin" for the video where your branding surrounds the content, but doesn't encroach on it. Align your ads with content that makes sense and is in your audience's focus. The worst thing you can do is take a 30 and plop it in the path of web users who are trying to get the content they value. You're not adding anything to that situation. The 30 second spot is dead online as well (just in case you were wondering). What other advice would you give to advertisers lining up for these placements? What ads have you appreciated or received value from and how have they been placed? This all leads up to a post I have been working on for a while that will premiere tomorrow. "3 is the new 30".
22 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
In a world where new innovations are only a mouse click away, why do we place so much value on best practices. Shouldn't we look at best practices as a starting point instead of the ending point? Do you think Google looked at online search best practices and said "Hey look, let's just do what Yahoo is doing"? Not at all. They took Yahoo, used it as a foundation, build stronger algorithms and fought for white space. The result is a superior product that allowed them to expand into unforeseeable new territory. Wikipedia defines a best practice as "a management idea which asserts that there is a technique, method, process, activity, incentive or reward that is more effective at delivering a particular outcome than any other technique, method, process, etc." The problem with the definition, and my overall contention with the idea, is that these are only the best known practices. The real potential is in the unknown. That is where market leaders are born and exponential growth is realized. When companies look at so-called best practices, what are they looking for? I think a lot of companies just want to be average. They want to be on par, but not put in the work to push the envelope. At the end of the day, the RIGHT practices are what matter. The right practices are tailored to the needs of the company and the realities of the market in which they compete. Best practices should only be a starting point. They should be a map of the known that makes expanding into the unknown possible. Have you ever relied on best practice information only to find that you could have done better? How have you used that information as a baseline for innovation? What steps should companies take to great their own right practices?
Technorati Tags: Google, innovation, marketing, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer, Yahoo
22 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
In a world where new innovations are only a mouse click away, why do we place so much value on best practices. Shouldn't we look at best practices as a starting point instead of the ending point? Do you think Google looked at online search best practices and said "Hey look, let's just do what Yahoo is doing"? Not at all. They took Yahoo, used it as a foundation, build stronger algorithms and fought for white space. The result is a superior product that allowed them to expand into unforeseeable new territory. Wikipedia defines a best practice as "a management idea which asserts that there is a technique, method, process, activity, incentive or reward that is more effective at delivering a particular outcome than any other technique, method, process, etc." The problem with the definition, and my overall contention with the idea, is that these are only the best known practices. The real potential is in the unknown. That is where market leaders are born and exponential growth is realized. When companies look at so-called best practices, what are they looking for? I think a lot of companies just want to be average. They want to be on par, but not put in the work to push the envelope. At the end of the day, the RIGHT practices are what matter. The right practices are tailored to the needs of the company and the realities of the market in which they compete. Best practices should only be a starting point. They should be a map of the known that makes expanding into the unknown possible. Have you ever relied on best practice information only to find that you could have done better? How have you used that information as a baseline for innovation? What steps should companies take to great their own right practices?
Technorati Tags: Google, innovation, marketing, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer, Yahoo
21 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
Gavin and Drew are at it again and they're opening it up this time. The Age of Conversation part two is in the works. Check out this post on Drew's blog if you're interested in becoming an author for this next version. The topic is up to the community and the choices are "Marketing Manifesto", "Why don't people get it" and "My Marketing Tragedy (and what I learned)". Vote for your preference here. Jump in if you're interested and join me in the conversation. The best part of all is that 100% of the proceeds go to Variety, the Children's Charity.
Technorati Tags: ageofconversation, Drew McLellan, Gavin Heaton, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer
21 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
Gavin and Drew are at it again and they're opening it up this time. The Age of Conversation part two is in the works. Check out this post on Drew's blog if you're interested in becoming an author for this next version. The topic is up to the community and the choices are "Marketing Manifesto", "Why don't people get it" and "My Marketing Tragedy (and what I learned)". Vote for your preference here. Jump in if you're interested and join me in the conversation. The best part of all is that 100% of the proceeds go to Variety, the Children's Charity.
Technorati Tags: ageofconversation, Drew McLellan, Gavin Heaton, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer
18 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
18 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
17 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
One comment yesterday sparked me to think about a fundamental shift in thinking that needs to take place for companies to be able to fully engage in their community. When you look at your brand's social media universe, are you looking for criminals or evangelists? It seems like too many companies are looking for malicious intent right from the start. They treat loyal, fans and content creators like they're criminals when they should be engaging those people in alliances and helping them to add value to the larger community. But, how can you tell friend from foe? This can, admittedly, be a little complex at first glance. I think the easiest way to tell friend from foe is to engage them in a conversation. Shoot them an email, be positive and see what they have to say. Online it's easy to reach out to the person taking the time to create on your behalf. Look at their intentions (which should be pretty clear) and come up with a plan to engage them whether the intent is positive or negative. I do understand that there are legal protections that have to be maintained through the marketing process. Shel Holtz had a fantastic response to my post on his blog where he talks about blaming the law and not the lawyers and he's right. However, progressive companies that are willing to lay a little more on the line can really capitalize. Smaller companies could have a huge advantage over their larger, more bureaucratic, litigious counterparts. What additional steps would you take to find more about somebody's intentions? What steps have you taken to engage evangelists when you spot them in the wild? These are passionate people who can be a powerful force in grassroots marketing.
17 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
One comment yesterday sparked me to think about a fundamental shift in thinking that needs to take place for companies to be able to fully engage in their community. When you look at your brand's social media universe, are you looking for criminals or evangelists? It seems like too many companies are looking for malicious intent right from the start. They treat loyal, fans and content creators like they're criminals when they should be engaging those people in alliances and helping them to add value to the larger community. But, how can you tell friend from foe? This can, admittedly, be a little complex at first glance. I think the easiest way to tell friend from foe is to engage them in a conversation. Shoot them an email, be positive and see what they have to say. Online it's easy to reach out to the person taking the time to create on your behalf. Look at their intentions (which should be pretty clear) and come up with a plan to engage them whether the intent is positive or negative. I do understand that there are legal protections that have to be maintained through the marketing process. Shel Holtz had a fantastic response to my post on his blog where he talks about blaming the law and not the lawyers and he's right. However, progressive companies that are willing to lay a little more on the line can really capitalize. Smaller companies could have a huge advantage over their larger, more bureaucratic, litigious counterparts. What additional steps would you take to find more about somebody's intentions? What steps have you taken to engage evangelists when you spot them in the wild? These are passionate people who can be a powerful force in grassroots marketing.
16 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
Clearly this is a trademark violation, but just look at the reach that this single application is having. There has to be a balance between legal and marketing in order to thrive in new media. Personally, I never really thought about Scrabble until I saw the flood of invites and blog posts and messages on Twitter about this little applicaiton. Personally I don't own the real world game, but I know people who did buy it after this Facebook app reinvigorated their passion for it. If I were in Mattel's marketing department here is what my train of thinking would be here:
Any marketer out there should be looking at all of the options inside social networks like this. Look at these four actions steps to get the most value:
Have you seen any other examples of marketers making snap judgements and persecuting their biggest fans? Social media is about supporting evangelists, not crushing them in a public display of force.
16 Jan This post is from from my other blog here
Clearly this is a trademark violation, but just look at the reach that this single application is having. There has to be a balance between legal and marketing in order to thrive in new media. Personally, I never really thought about Scrabble until I saw the flood of invites and blog posts and messages on Twitter about this little applicaiton. Personally I don't own the real world game, but I know people who did buy it after this Facebook app reinvigorated their passion for it. If I were in Mattel's marketing department here is what my train of thinking would be here:
Any marketer out there should be looking at all of the options inside social networks like this. Look at these four actions steps to get the most value:
Have you seen any other examples of marketers making snap judgements and persecuting their biggest fans? Social media is about supporting evangelists, not crushing them in a public display of force.
15 Jan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
by 
As many of you know, I am 
Starting right now, if you picked up a pencil and started writing that novel you've been thinking of, you'd be a few pages closer to your goal.
It's been two amazing years since I "officially" started blogging and it's been a very rewarding, fruitful road. In the beginning I didn't know why I was blogging. What I mean by that is that I was blogging, but with no real focus or direction. I acted more like a synapse in the blogosphere. If somebody wrote something of their own or Apple released a new product I wrote about it, relaying it downstream. Most of those early posts were a couple of sentences long with a link and little value.
Here is a look at what is happening across social media and new marketing this week. If there is anything that you would like to see in this post or if you have something you think is Buzz-worthy please drop me an 
Buzz Friday is also available as part of the Techno//Marketer Podcast on iTunes. 
How many times have you, in your current or past jobs, been tasked to find best practices? Your boss probably said to you "Hey, we're doing a new X for client Z. I need you to find best practices on that". If you're like most people, you immediately go to Google and search for "best practices for X". Sound familiar?
Last year when I participated in the first Age of Conversation, I had no way of knowing how powerful an experience it would be. 
Yesterday's challenge to marketers 
Scrabulous