Jean Gazis Copywriting & Content Strategy

There's a nice, short list of innovative ways various marketers have used social media to get results over on the Chief Marketer site: A Dozen Applications for Social Media. It might give you some good ideas.

Search Engine Watch has a nice article on things that are most annoying on online shopping sites. Don't Be That Site.

I've been working on promotions for Event Horizons, an Internet Week event hosted by Box of Rain (aka my other half) that happens tomorrow at Webster Hall. My role was to do a slew of website updates (including pulling together content such as speaker bios that were needed, setting up a webcast player, and just tweaking things in general), do some promotion such as online event listings, write a press release, and create this postcard graphic for an email blast.

I'm psyched to try out some of the new stuff that the conference speakers & panelists are developing, especially Zeitbyte and Mobify.

Ideally, OTHER peoples' mistakes. Here's a great bit of marketing advice for web developers on applying lessons learned from the things your users do wrong to improve your site on Gaspedal's "Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That!. This is also a very good email newsletter - you can sign up on the blog.

I got this link from a Facebook friend, and it's well worth a look for anyone interested in building better websites. 10 Harsh Truths About Corporate Websites by Paul Boag.

Here's a great quote: "if you build a website for everyone, it will appeal to no one." There are is also some great stuff on content management systems and social networking.

I've recently been moving all my personal email over to a new account, and I can't believe how many newsletters and organizations have an unsubscribe link that's simply that, with no way to easily change your email address or sign back up. What a missed opportunity!

Marketers, if I have to specifically go back to your site to find the newsletter signup again, or jump through hoops trying to guess what login I might have used 3 years ago somewhere, I'm a lot less likely to opt in. Make it easy for me!

I stumbled across (ha! - I was targeted by-- ) this terrific bit of online advertising for the Honda CR-V. I followed a link from the top of my Gmail that said "Are you craving pizza? - www.honda.com - Whatever you're craving, the Crave Reader can guess. Try it out." (Note: The links don't seem to go to the same page now. I don't know why they wouldn't leave the ad up, but apparently they didn't.)

Who can resist an Internet quiz?

I came across this interesting article in Chief Marketer's "Marketing ROI" e-newsletter. The gist of it is that the current trend in marketing is towards analytics, which are of course very important, but not meaningful unless balanced with compelling content.

"Customers see only the creative elements of marketing, the content, and they expect it to be good... Ultimately, human beings react to content.

One of the last pieces of sales collateral I wrote when I worked for Ziff-Davis Central Ad Sales almost ten years ago (!) was about the need for continuous advertising and marketing during slow business periods, headlined Slow Times Call for Fast Action.

Fast forward to the current downturn, and – what do you know? – the very same advice turns up in The Entrepreneurial Mind blog on my Google Reader, linking to a newspaper article titled Don't ease up on marketing in these slow economic times.

I said: "Coasting is no way to win a race. During a period of slow sales, one of the first things you may be tempted to do is cut costs by reducing your advertising budget. It may seem like an obvious move, but it’s the wrong move... you can’t get something by doing nothing. When times are good, advertising is important. And when they’re not so good, it’s essential. A strong marketing program — selling to new customers, expanding into new markets, increasing ad spending — will solidify your customer base, take business away from less aggressive competitors, and position your business for future growth."

He says: "One of the expenses that entrepreneurs are tempted to cut back on is marketing. However, a weak economy is not the time to cut back on communicating with your existing and potential customers... With customers cutting back on their spending, small business owners must fight even more aggressively to maintain their revenues. That is why marketing and advertising become more important than ever."

I still think that was one of my best pieces. It's nice to see that it's as true as ever.

Celebrate Brooklyn! Program Ad for Consulting Firm

Sponsor ad for Celebrate Brooklyn! concert series printed programs and website. Corporate logo, ad concept, copy, and graphic design.

Celebrate Brooklyn! Program Ad for Counseling Services

Sponsor ad for Celebrate Brooklyn! concert series printed programs and website. Copy adapted from yellow pages ad, design, typography, layout.

“This looks great, thanks for sending it over to us so quickly!" – J.K., Celebrate Brooklyn

Concert Program Ad for Technology Consulting Firm

Sponsor ad in programs and on website for Celebrate Brooklyn! concert series. Concept, copywriting, and graphic design.