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Feb 12 2006
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Mobilize Your Blog

WINKsite I’m not sure if mobilize is a word, but if not, it will become one soon. Not because I used it, because the mobile device is getting more powerful, more common and more useful as a business tool.

Blog readers are now subscribing to and reading blogs using mobile phones and PDAs. From what little research I have done there is an entire version of HTML just for mobile reading. While converting all of your web pages, blog posts and RSS feeds to mobile standards may well make sense, it looks like a pretty big undertaking.

A fairly new service called WINKsite allows you to easily turn your current blog RSS feed into a version that can be consumed very nicely by mobile readers. Click on the winksite button in this feed and see an emulated view of how a mobile reader would see the Duct Tape Marketing blog feed.

Using this new technology certainly comes under the heading of coolness, but I think that it also supports one of my major marketing principles as well – deliver your marketing message in as many forms and formats as you can.

The service also allows you to create mobile content beyond your blog including journal entries, forum posts and lists of syndicated feeds.

Filed Under: RSS
Feb 9 2006
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Access To Your Brilliance – Let me count the ways

People learn in many different ways. Your marketing efforts will benefit if you make it very easy for your prospects to get access to your expertise while giving those so inclined the ability to spread your expertise. When you can create different forms of content and present a strong message coming at your prospects from various directions you stand a much better chance of rising above the noise at the precise moment they are ready to listen.

Below I list major forms of content access that every business should create, connect and communicate. Get these forms of content access and distribution working together for your business and you will have one powerful and viral machine on your side. Use the growing set of tools available online and you will find that integrating these tactics into your marketing is really rather easy as well. (Within each item below I’ve linked to my own execution of the tactic as an example.)

An email ezine - send it out weekly and build your list every way possible
A blog – post early and often
An RSS feed for the blog – show your readers how to subscribe and publish blog snips on other web pages
Email subscribing to the blog – let people subscribe to your blog feed via email – this is a new feature from AWeber the autoresponder service I use.
An article directory – publish your ezine’s main article as a web page
An ezine archive – archive your weekly newsletter on your web site
An article RSS feed – create an RSS feed just for this article directory
A simple way to republish your articles – create a way that allows web site and ezine publishers to use your content
Automatic article submission and distribution – send your article to hundreds of article directories and ezine editors with the push of a button
A community forum – bring your prospects and clients together to chat in a forum
A podcast – let your content have a voice and find even more ways to spread the good news

In addition to my blog and web site I employ the services of AWeber, Feedburner and SubmitYourArticle to integrate these tactics.

Filed Under: New Media
Jan 31 2006
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Some New Features for the Duct Tape Marketing Blog

I’ve added a few new features to my posts that I wanted to point out.

Across the top of each post you will note some options for interacting with the post.

You can now:

  • Email this post to someone (I don’t capture or see the email address you input)
  • Add to del.icio.us bookmark system
  • See, through Technorati, who Links Here to the post
  • Visit Technorati to see other blog posts related to the Tag I have assigned

Simply posting content for people to read just isn’t enough – this is my attempt to make it more fun. In the spirit of full disclosure I got most of the code ideas from Stephan Spencer’s work at Business Blog Consulting – another blog I write for.

Filed Under: Blogging
Jan 12 2006
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Niche Blogs Are Finding A Business Home

Blogs are so last year. Nothing new with that statement. So how do business owners, just waking up to blogs, use them to make a difference? Niche the content.

Here are three good examples of pretty tight niche industries or niches within industries using blogs.

* A Kansas City remodeling contractor blogging about a project
* An attorney covering construction law issues
* A document signing company covering reverse mortgages

Filed Under: Blogging
Dec 22 2005
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New Member of the Duct Tape Marketing Blog Channel

Please join me in welcoming Rob Marsh, VP of Creative Services at LogoWorks.com to the Duct Tape Marketing Blog Channel.

Rob is writing on design issues at Design Matters and is a great addition to the team.

LogoWorks is a fascinating Internet success story and one that I think most small business marketers should get to know.

Thanks and happy holidays
John

Filed Under: Blogging
Dec 16 2005
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Creatively Creating Client Communities and Cookies

I’ve written about this before but I was reminded today of the power of building client communities.

One of the most powerful things you can do from a marketing standpoint, customer service standpoint and referral standpoint is to bring your clients together.

It’s easy enough to do this when your clients are all in your hometown, but another powerful avenue is through the use of a blog. A blog can allow your clients to network, post comments, ask each other questions and, perhaps most importantly, discover why they value you as business partner.

The new media tools, including blogs, podcasts, rss and search, are here to stay – take advantage of them – learn everything you can about them and expand your view of what they can do for your business.

Okay, here comes the cookie part. A friend just launched an online version of the world’s best cookies. She even has a cookie blog for heaven’s sake! Treat yourself to a Classic Cookie tin.

Filed Under: Blogging
Nov 9 2005
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Google and Firefox make a match

Google unveiled another seemingly anti Microsoft salvo when it announced that it is paying a referral fee to AdSense members who promote Firefox with the Google Toolbar.

AdSense members can pick up a bit of code from Google and display a Get Firefox type of ad. Each time someone downloads Firefox the referring site gets a buck.

I’m a Firefox user myself and this should really heat up the browser wars.

Here’s a post on the Spredfirefox blog

Filed Under: Blogging
Nov 5 2005
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Email a blog post to a friend

I’ve added a new feature to this blog that allows you to forward a post via email. At the bottom of each post there is a link that says “Email this post to a friend.” If you click on that link a box will pop-up and ask you to fill out the address of the person you would like to send the post to. You can add a note and choose to send either the entire post or a link to the post.

This is a great way to share!

By the way, the system does not capture any information about you or who you send the post to. It’s just a way to spread the word.

So, if you enjoy this blog, I’d like to ask you to pick out one of your favorite posts and send it to several friends today.

I appreciate it.

Filed Under: Blogging