Marketing doesn’t have to get in the way of social media

C.C. Chapman puts on a good show. And I say that with the utmost respect and without any criticism. He is charismatic, engaging, passionate and smart. I say smart because I read Content Rules, the book he co-wrote with Ann Handley. It’s a solid book written by authors who agree with me. I loved the […]

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April 23, 2011 Read the full post →

If increasing sales was easy, unicorns would be doing it

Maybe conversation is overrated. Which is a strange idea in this social media era. Tools are constantly evolving to let us talk with another. And there are a lot of sales reps who make their money because of their ability to talk with prospects and customers. So advice on using social media as engagement and […]

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April 19, 2011 Read the full post →

Writing rules: Why it’s not wrong to ignore them

I confess that I never have read an Elmore Leonard book or story. That’s not a judgment. There are thousands of authors I haven’t read who deserve my time. But I can’t get to them. And something tells me I need to pick up a Leonard book. One of the reasons is that he is […]

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April 15, 2011 Read the full post →

Are social media consultants solving the wrong problem?

I’m working on a presentation I’m giving next week for the Maine Chapter of the American Society for Training and Development. Somewhere toward the beginning I slip in the sentence, “Social media is a conversation happening online.” I then explain some examples. If I do it right, the audience will walk away with an understanding […]

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April 12, 2011 Read the full post →

Why Google Places isn’t a smart use of QR codes

Honestly, I’m not celebrating the announcement that Google has removed QR codes from Places. Even though I’m on record declaring QR codes are dumb. I agree that Google Places isn’t the best use of the modern-day ink blots. Have you ever scanned a Google Places QR code displayed in a store window? I have. The […]

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April 1, 2011 Read the full post →

8 social media tools for small business

At Friday’s Social Media Breakfast, there was quite a bit of discussion about tools that can help you monitor social media conversations and update your accounts. As much as I try to keep up with this, I have to admit so much was new to me. I have to thank Nathan O’Leary of Legacy Publishing […]

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March 28, 2011 Read the full post →

Why I’m bored with QR codes already

QR codes are stupid. And lazy. You can’t expect them to do much. After you scan the code on your smart phone, you get a web page with information. Basically they have the intelligence of a hyperlink in a web browser. Click on that link (or scan the QR code) you will be taken to […]

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March 9, 2011 Read the full post →

SEO Gone Bad: This is not the way to optimize your content

I understand the value of SEO. You need to use language that matches what your audience is entering into search engine queries. But sometimes you can go too far. Consider this paragraph from a post that pays more attention to keywords than readability: When you are looking for a merchant account to grow your business, […]

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March 8, 2011 Read the full post →

Write a guide to the important words in your business

Why do you need to create a guide to the words describing what you do? When I worked in newspapers, we had style guides to help us decide which words to use. The entries contained grammar tips, spelling examples and definitions of terms. The guides answered a lot of questions about how to refer to […]

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March 4, 2011 Read the full post →

Four reasons why paper beats digital notebooks

I’m guilty of killing trees. Despite all the searchability and coolness of digital documents, I insist on taking notes with paper and pen. And I’m not alone. Check the Twitter conversation generated by Social Media Breakfast and you will see a few references to the dead tree notebooks. I can’t speak for them but here […]

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March 1, 2011 Read the full post →

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