Expect increase in online ads

Is the Internet about to come into its own as a valuable marketing medium?  Highlights from the Economist's Online Ad Attack from the Blog Business Summit, Blogs, traditional sites taking eyeballs (and ad revenues) away from television.

Advertising Age says the combined advertising revenues of Google and Yahoo! will rival the combined prime-time ad revenues of ABC, CBS and NBC, and the internet has become the fastest growing advertising medium. ZenithOptimedia says ad revenue on the internet grew by 21% in 2004 and that we can expect that type of growth to continue.  As we mentioned in a prior post, they describe how Google advertisers will now be able to select the specific sites where they want their ads to appear, and advertisers can now pay for ads by impression. Google will now also offer animated ads.  Yahoo’s Terry Semel says the opportunity for growth is significant. Many firms allocate only 2-4% of their marketing budgets to the internet while it represents about 15% of consumers’ media consumption. 

Boing Boing, one of my favorite sites, is already making $40,000/month in ad revenue according to BusinessWeek's new blogspotting blog

Pizza Portraits

Pizza Express is celebrating its 40th birthday with Pizza Portraits of the Royals.

Hat tip:  Boing Boing - they find the best stuff

Boeing Blogs

Randy Baseler, VP of Marketing is Boeing's blogger at Randy's Journal

Defense Industry blog

Blogs are replacing trade journals.  It's easy to see why more updates, more news, more resources and less cost appeals to trade associations. 

Take a look at  Defense Industry Daily.  60,000 page views a month with no promotion.

Procurement officers from all military branches and top defense industry players are already reading it, he notes, including "all the big guys like Boeing, Raytheon, etc." A project manager for a multi-billion company "actually emailed me about the details of a story. I was amazed he was reading it."

Industry bigs are finding the Defense Industry Daily posts in search engines because "we're writing about a topic that people are spending hundreds of billions on and yet nobody is writing anything about it online. So we are often top 10 in Goggle because there is a vacuum in free public information on the industry."

And who had the scoop?  A female blogger.  BL Ochman

Web Heaven

Here's more evidence that people are looking for more meaning and purpose in their lives.  While a focus from the external to the internal is more pronounced at mid-life, it can happen at any time in adult life.

Interest in Internet religion sites is sky high, rivaling sports, sex and gambling sites reports B.L Ochman who also notes the Pew Internet study showing 28 million Americans log on for religious or spiritual reasons.

Yahoo blogs!

I'm late in reporting this but you may have missed it too.  Yahoo is now offering a free business web site to every small business in the U.S, through Yahoo local.  They announced it on their blog -  ysearchblog.com - They call it a look inside the world of search from the people of Yahoo.

Looks as if search is escaping the box and flowing into different and powerful new interfaces with a renewed forcus on the user experience and social media.  Or as they say software meets wetware (that's us users) in new ways, according to reports of the BayChi event on innovations in search.

New to me too is the Yahoo anti-spy community, now global and a step ahead of spyware and adware alerts, where you can find people sharing tips from their own experience.

Connecting Women

Some very good posts over at re:Invention where Kirtsen Osolind, has begun a new weekly feature -10 tips for 10 million women-  interviews one woman entrepreneur who shares her success tips. 

She's demonstrating how connecting women to each other in a community of interest attracts more women.  This is chapter 1 in Faith Popcorn's  "EVEolution : The Eight Truths of Marketing to Women"
Connecting Your Female Consumers to Each Other Connects Them to Your Brand.

Kirsten is not "thinking pink" but "thinking link" by giving her female readers greater value and what they enjoy most -collaborating with other like-minded women.  It's the modern version of women banding together to watch and guard the children and each other powered by oxytocin while the men hunted powered by testosterone.   

If you're not connecting women, think PETS!.  Women prefer their pets to their partners 'cuz they're cuter and more affectionate.

BusinessWeek: Blogs Are a Business Prerequisite

Businessweek's cover story this week is Blogs Will change your Business.  Their advice: Catch up...or catch you later.  And it's written like a blog, and they've started their own blog, blogspotting to follow up.

Go ahead and bellyache about blogs. But you cannot afford to close your eyes to them, because they're simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself. And they're going to shake up just about every business -- including yours. It doesn't matter whether you're shipping paper clips, pork bellies, or videos of Britney in a bikini, blogs are a phenomenon that you cannot ignore, postpone, or delegate. Given the changes barreling down upon us, blogs are not a business elective. They're a prerequisite. (And yes, that goes for us, too.)
......
Still, blogs could end up providing the perfect response to mass media's core concern: the splintering of its audience. Advertisers desperate to reach us need to tap niches (because we get together only once a year to watch the Super Bowl). By piggybacking on blogs, they can start working that vast blogocafé, table by table. Smart ones will get feedback, links to individuals -- and their friends. That's every marketer's dream.
.....
Yes, we, too, are under the gun. MSM, the bloggers call us. Mainstream media. And many of them delight in uncovering our errors, knocking us off that big pedestal we've occupied since the the first broadsheets started circulating.

We have to master the world of blogs, too. This isn't because they're taking away ad revenue, at least not yet, but because they represent millions of eyewitnesses armed with computers spread around the world. They are potential competitors -- or editorial resources.

Over the Wall

From Dick Edelman in Over the Wall

Buzzmetrics' review of mentions of the 20 top global brands indicates that corporate generated content is responsible for only 12-14% of search results, while consumer generated content is 26%. The consensus is that a company's goal should not be CONTROL, it should be AWARENESS of what's being said and fast RESPONSE.
.....
some of my advice for PR people trying to adapt to a fast-changing environment. We have to be operating in parallel universes, continuing to do a great job with traditional media, while engaging with new media. We should help our clients create original content, and advise them to engender conversations on-line but be honest about our inability to control outcomes. We must be on top of the breaking news in companies, because news is being filled by the person who has the newest information. The coverage of tsunami initially came from survivors with cell phones or mini-cams, and delivered across the Web. Our tone in new media must reflect the different expectations of the audience, which is to demand authenticity, individuality and transparency.

Announcement

Jill would like to announce that due to some technical difficulties she will be unable to post for a short spell. The problems are being worked on and with luck Jill will be back "on the air" by next weekend.

I will update this post in the event this changes.

Google's done it again

Just about anyone who's the least bit of a nerd with any spare time or looking for a way to procrastinate has tried Google mapping with the satellite views. 

Here's Google sight-seeing.  With just a brief tour - I really do have to get something done - I can agree totally with Steve Rubel that  Arizona's Oprah tribute is the best.  But I loved the post office with the stamp on its roof and I thought the Washington monument was pretty cool.

Well, if Google hasn't done it again.  Did you know that Google Video is archiving TV content?
It's launched a video upload program where ANYONE can upload video.  Pending an approval process, your work can be included in Google Video where users will be able to search, preview, purchase and play it.

Hat tip to Xeni Jardin who has lot's more at Boing Boing

The Power of Personal Testimony

So how are non-profits using blogs to support their marketing goals?

Toby Bloomberg at Diva Marketing has another great interview up with Lisa Meyers Brown, the VP of Marketing, American Cancer Society.

Key takeaway: blogs are examples of how social networks can develop online and facilitate grass roots mobilization.

One key way we can continue to elevate awareness is through the personal experiences of those touched by cancer. We all know there's tremendous power in stories like this and blogs help us tap into this important part of raising awareness.

We are a community-based organization so blogs offer us another touch-point to raise awareness of early detection and prevention.  (See their first use of a blog - the colon cancer awareness blog -  Fabulous at 50, ) I should point out that this was our first time using blogs this way and that we learned a great deal. Primarily the importance of having volunteers update the blogs regularly and the importance of linking into the blogosphere.

Wealth from Minds

From the year 1000 to the year 1700, the world's wealth, measured in GDP per capita, was virtually unchanged.  Since 1700, the GDP per capita in places like the US has risen over 40 fold, in real terms.  This wealth was not taken from somewhere, it was created in the minds of human beings.  So sayeth Coyote Blog

Today's wealth, and everything that goes with it (from shorter work hours to longer life spans) is the result of more people using their minds more freely.

Bill Ives on Blog Excitement

Following the Jarvis post, I want to point to Bill Ives, who continues to write superior posts on the trends in blogs with a reach that extends to RSS and knowledge management.  It's always a pleasure to read this experienced, thoughtful and erudite writer.  His week end restaurant and music reviews aren't bad either.  He thinks and he links. 

Using content to create connections among people - Sales support people are using them to great success both internally for product issues and competitive intelligence and externally for customer support.

Adding syndicated content to your blog - New features all the time at the speed of light.

A great disclaimer and blog policy statement  An excerpt - "Don't come crying to me if you lose your job following my advice."

What's unique about blogs -bullet points.

And best of all - his seven part series on Why all the Excitement about Blogs in Business.

Part One - Offering a partial antidote to ever exploding content.  Blogs bring a filter, they aggregate content and bring context and personal meaning.  A simple means to provide users with new levels of control.

Part Two -Reducing the Clogging of the Communication Channels.  Bypassing email, spam, and groups to offer news and updates the reader chooses in a form that's easily archived and searchable.

Part Three - Providing the Needed Outlet for the Personal Voice.  Empowering individual employees through blogs has already been proven to motivate employees and enhance the quality of the content generated.

Part Four - Aligning with the Rise of Distributed Markets.  By turning over a measure of control to customers,  businesses build trust and commitment with their buyers, eBay a prime example.  Blogs provide an easy access point to the on-line marketplace of ideas and influence both inside and outside the corporate firewall

Part Five - Better Enabling the Decentralization of Business. Bypassing managers and allowing employees and teams to communicate with each other directly and at the same time serving as a valuable resource for future teams facing the same issues.

Part Six  - Meeting the Desire for More Individual Connections.  There's a pent-up demand for a personal connection.  Consumers would rather listen to the informal and unedited thoughts of an individual than the collective wisdom of the marketing department

Part Seven - Driving Better Understanding Through Dialog. Nothing beats face to face communication for effective dialog, but blogs, with their conversational tone and the ability to exchange comments is second.  It's marketing through conversations.

Aggregation is the new "scale"

A Baker's Dozen of how the mainstream media can benefit from weblogs by Jeff Jarvis, a man who straddles both worlds.  Read the whole thing.

1. Weblogs are meant to be read.
2. Weblogs add information.
3. Weblogs bring perspective. .
4. Weblogs target by reaching and serving specific audiences.
5. Weblogs capture buzz.
6. Weblogs produce story ideas.
7. Weblogs find (and filter) news.
8. Weblogs fact check our ass.
9. Weblogs add speed.
10. Weblogs breed talent.
11. Weblogs experiment.
12. Weblogs are cheap.
13. Weblogs interact.

He wrote this back in 2003. 

Today he's writing how Scale doesn't scale anymore.  In a decentralized, distributed world, aggregation is key.  He then follows through to examine aggregation in advertising, retail, customer service, consumer products, insurance, financial services, education, labor and politics.  If you want to see where the future is going, no one is better than Jarvis.

That's why blogs are changing everything.

Huzzahs for Do Not Call

Jeff Jarvis reports that marketers are doing MUCH better now that they are putting money they used to spend in telemarketing into customer relations.  Push Marketing is Toast

Hi Speed Bird Bath

I've never seen a head spin so fast.

From usemycomputer via grow a brain

Intuit's blog

Toby Bloomberg, Marketing Diva, has a terrific post up with an interview with Paul Rosenberg, general manager of Quickbooks Online.  He  knows how to think big, act quickly, and be strategic. 

Why Intuit is Blogging via QuickBooks Online
Because QuickBooks Online Edition is a service that you pay $20/month and access over the internet, we have found prospective customers want to feel confident in placing their sensitive data online. One way to achieve this trust and confidence is to share information about who we are, what we're working on to help customers and improve the business, and be honest about our "warts" when we have them.

How Blogs Fit Into Intuit's Marketing Strategy
Our key marketing strategy is placing our customers at the center of all our marketing. We do this because we have a service that revolutionizes our customers' lives via anytime/anywhere access and their testimonials speak far better to prospects than reading sterile marketing copy.

The Quickbooks blog

Internet and Social Capital

David Weinberger has a good summary of Lee Rainie's talk  (of  the Pew Internet & American Life Project) at the Freedom to Connect Conference organized by David Isenberg

People who use the Internet "grow their social capital." People (especially women) use email to enhance their social networks. 84% of Internet users belong to online groups — that's 115M people.

Giant Penguin

Awestruck.

Abbott and Costello

This is hilarious.  Costello Calls to Buy a Computer from Abbott.

A passalong via BL Ochman's What's Next.

Blogs in Real Estate

Paul Chaney writes about using blogs in verticals.

Lexblog.was the first blog development company focused on the legal services industry.  Now
BuildingBlogz is doing the same thing, targeting the residential and commercial real estate industry, 

Just look at their example of BlogzManor Apartments to see how useful it could be for apartment buildings and condo associations.

Blogs for word of mouth

Four reasons why companies should be using blogs to support word-of-mouth marketing, according to Todd Satterson at a Penny for Your Thoughts

1. Blogging is personal.  Usually written by one individual  who likes to talk and to tell other people things.
2. Linking.  Links are recommendations and "googlejuice"
3. Permanence. The conversations that take place are permanent.
4. RSS. To make your biggest fans evangelists,