In this picture, I’m smiling at an authentic Chicago Italian beef joint with Marc Harty. We met for the first time a few years ago when I won a contest to be Marc’s guest at an Internet marketing seminar. We’re both Illinois grads, we both like Italian beef and we both have a passion for…
It’s almost the end of the year, so I decided to take a look back, review and wrap up my top 12 posts. This tidy bundle fits into a 34 page social media marketing, PR, twitter collage ebook, which you can download here. How I chose my top marketing, social media and PR posts ….
Did you do this, too? I’ll admit it. I sent out a flurry of “Happy Holidays” and “Season’s Greetings” hybrid-type announcements: news, wishes and an invitation to a social media event. No sales stuff, but not too much tinsel and sparkle either. After I let the boys open a box from a friend tonight […
Named in honor of jazz vocalist Carmen McRae, WordPress 2.9 Carmen is the popular blogging platform’s latest upgrade. Guide to upgrading to WordPress 2.9 from freshworkshops.com. Installing the latest version took one click. It was so easy I didn’t think to check into what came along with the updates until I opened an email from…
Investing in social is trendy. Marketing Sherpa’s Chart of the Week shows that, across the board, industries will be upping social marketing budgets by as much as 79% over 2009. Wow! But, how much were the budgets in 2009? That’s an x-factor that’s not given. In our experience, we’re seeing clients shifting marketing funds away…
This post probably should be in a few parts, but since it is a progression of experiences, I’ll keep the collection together. Speaking of collections, you’ll find my Elysian Hotel images here. When I got an invitation to attend a private reception at The Elysian Hotel on November 18 I almost said no. With social…
For my friends in the Chicago area . . . Search Engine Strategies is offering these free clinics and workshops [FTC Disclosure: Thanks to Search Engine Strategies Chicago for granting me a platinum pass, valued at $1995, in exchange for coverage. Watch @wiredprworks and Wired PR Works for session coverage and commentary.] Free Search Engine…
Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. Aesop In the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of every year. But, you don’t have to be a resident to count your blessings. To help you do that, here’s a refresh of a post that first appeared here in November 2007 about gratitude and…
Confession: I love jewelry that sparkles – preferably a lot. To make stones sparkle, they have to be cut to catch light. To be attractive, they need to be shaped. To be displayed, they have to be set. Stones come in many colors, sizes, cuts and shapes. But, they all start out as a rough…
I’m working on a writing project. This one needs to be more mainstream. So, I tested it out for grade level and readability. While it’s cool to know that I wrote it at the same level that New York Times readers read: 11.5, it’s not so cool that I’m writing for high brow audiences. Because…
Online you can be anyone you want to be. Not that you should, but you can. While we would never, ever recommend our clients create even a slightly fictitious persona, some people can and do make things up every day in real life and online. Over the weekend, I watched a rerun of this Saturday…
Butterflies used to be my visual brand. Why? Because I like photographing them and with the tagline “Marketing Transformations,” I though they were a natural fit. So I posted a series on my site: one for every page. But, did the images fit the brand? Here’s a replay of an article about branding methods, updated…
Gary Vaynerchuk is coming to Chicago tonight! I’ll be there. Because it’s Gary V Day in Chicago, I’m sharing this post from October 9, 2008 with 20 tips and a video. Enjoy! And…yes, I’ll be back with a report on what it’s like to meet Gary live. Thanks and congratulations to Kally Olexa for bringing…
Thanks to Steve Stokes of Stoked Studios for covering Social Media Club Chicago‘s first anniversary event on October 22, 2009. Many people asked about how they could watch the video of the panel discussion about community and social media – click here to go the video. SMC Chicago President, Jeff Willinger of RightPoint Consulting moderated…
“That was a great post. I can tell you spent lots of time on it.” – recent comment Well, not as much time as you think and I have Yubby to thank for that. Back at BlogWorld in Las Vegas, I met Vincent from Yubby [and Amsterdam!] as he and Daniel Honigman were exchanging contact…
Peter Shankman visited Chicago this week and I was there! Now this is one guy I’ve always wanted to meet. I’m a fan of HARO [helpoutareporter.com], more stats on that later, and Peter’s brilliance in general. Although most people associate Peter with HARO, did you know he’s also the author of Can We Do That?!…
Rather than print out pages of handouts, I’m posting my Digital PR workshop materials here for the world to enjoy. First, we’ll talk about how to become your own publicist using the PR P-R-I-M-E-R Next, we’ll go over the Digital PR=Publicity Repositioned presentation. Rozgonyi Publicity Repositioned Final View more presentations from CoryWest Media, LLC. Then,…
Coming up on October 30 in Lombard, Illinois . . . here’s a press release about an event that’s expected to draw over 500 people and 50 exhibitors. Need a business to business social networking or social media marketing strategies speaker? We released new about the expo via PRWeb. Social Media Talks Buzz Up Lombard…
How do you think Google Wave will change the way you communicate? That’s the question on my mind today. My Google Wave invitation arrived on October 24. Now, I can invite 20 people to join me. Invite others to Google Wave Google Wave is more fun when you have others to wave with, so please…
By the end of the year we’re going to talk about lists, not followers. @scobleizer via @wireprworks At BlogWorld Expo, I found this greeting on my twitter home page: New! Lists. A great way to organize the people you follow and discover new and interesting accounts. (BETA) Lists are timelines you build yourself, consisting of…
The opening keynote sets the conference theme. Kudos to BlogWorld New Media Expo for selecting Laura Fitton, aka @pistachio, to open the conference. Lucky for you – and for me, I took notes. But first, my @pistachio connection. In spring 2008, Laura was live-tweeting a conference in Boston. I was following her. She mentioned the…
Looking for a workshop on how to hone your digital PR and social media skills? I’m teaching one on October 27. Here’s the event description. Register for DIY Digital PR Social Media Workshop. “Ingredient X: Top Secret Digital Fuel for Powerful Business Results” Learn how to propel your reach directly to people who can bring…
At BlogWorld Expo, Steve Rubel talked about how to use technology to stream your business and your life from email to a site based on a platform called Posterous, pronounced päs-t(?-)r?s. Hope your find these note from Steve’s session to be helpful and informative. Image: Jason Falls of Social Media Explorer introduces Steve Rubel. What,…
Note: This post contains dramatic videos – plan to stay for awhile. My trip to KÀ began with a brief email exchange . . . ME: Thanks so much for making this offer. Last year I found out about it a few hours too late. I’ve never seen a show in Vegas, but I love…
Attention bloggers . . . as of December 1, you are accountable for reporting any freebies you get in exchange for arranged exposure – at least I think that’s right. At a long 81 pages long, the FTC guide concerning the endorsements and testimonials in advertising is a challenge to interpret. Unless, of course, you’re…
English