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BeTuitive Newsletter

Keep Blogging with These Seven Steps

Posted on August 13, 2007 by Kevin G.

Sometimes we all feel like blogging, but we hit a road block.  Sometimes we want to write about a subject but we have a tough time solidifying a position.  Other times, we write a great blog and then are stumped as to what could be written next round.

I found some great tips on how to develop, manage and communicate your blogging topics.  In addition, Advice is also given on how to create and track your objectives.  Enjoy.

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August 13, 2007 in Blog Outsourcing, blog publish, Blogging Tools, Blogs, build credibility, Building B2B Relationships, company blog, Corporate Blogging, publish, publish a journal, publish a rss, publish company, publish online, publish writing, publishing outsourcing, publishing solution, sample newsletter, self publish, Strategic Internet Marketing, Thought leadership newsletter, web publish, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Feed the Burn or It's the Results, Stupid

Posted on June 04, 2007 by Vinnie Lacey.

Looks like Google is giving Chicago-based company FeedBurner 100 million reasons to rejoice.

At least, that's the word on the street this week as FeedBurner is expected to rake in $100 million from its sale to information giant Google.  (Note to self: Google self.  Make sure clone has not been created from aggregated information.  If clone exists, destroy clone.)

To those not familiar with the business, FeedBurner is a hybrid of a publisher's service and advertising company.  By optimizing distribution of feed-based (ie, regularly updated) content--blogs, commercial news sites, RSS, podcasts, etc.--and analyzing the traffic around such content, FeedBurner helps the authoring companies better reach their ideal audience.  Advertisers get into 'Burner by having their offerings stapled to these targeted, optimized feeds.  Content feeders can even make money, as FeedBurner offers them a slice of the advertising pie.

So how did a company less than three years old with less than 30 employees entice the voracious Google monster?  The answer is in the technology.  As Susan Wojcicki, a Google vice president for advertising products, puts it, FeedBurner is a good fit because both companies focus on selling advertising that is "very measurable," meaning publishers can track each time a computer user looks at content.

That's good news as advertisers struggle to reach a fragmented audience with increasing control over when, where, and how information (including ads) hits their radar. 

The potency behind a marketing campaign with targeted info--wrapping the information that readers find useful around promotional content--is, of course, no stranger to BeTuitive.  We're convinced that's what keeps our clients top-of-mind, relevant and a returning choice for their users and consumers.  And we continue to refine our tools in measuring and analyzing our clients' results each time they publish.

But don't take our word for it.

Google just gave 100 million reasons to decide for yourself.

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June 4, 2007 in blog publish, Blogging Tools, Blogs, build credibility, Building B2B Relationships, Building Customer Community, Business relationships, company blog, Custom publishing, grow relationships, nurturing relationships, online marketing, online publishing, publications management, publish, publish a rss, publish writing, publishing outsourcing, publishing solution, web publish | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Keep Your Company On Target: Top 3 Lessons Learned from the Target Corporation

Posted on May 31, 2007 by Kathryn Regina.

The Target Corporation has a loyal customer base whose enthusiasm has become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon. From the pet name Tarzhay (a “French” pronunciation of Target) to the scores of shoppers professing their love for the red bull’s-eye, Target is a force to be reckoned with in the discount retail industry.

In her book On Target: How the World’s Hottest Retailer Hit a Bull’s-eye, author Laura Rowley expounds on Target’s business and marketing strategies. And although the book is retail-centric (and at times a bit promotional), I think it offers some valuable insight into what makes a business—any business—successful. The following are my top three lessons learned from the Target Corporation.

Lesson One: Take the best of both worlds

Die-hard Target shoppers will adamantly dispute the idea that Target is “just another discount store” like Walmart or Kmart. How has Target so effectively differentiated itself from its competitors? They did it by taking the best elements of a high-end department store--a clean well-lit sales floor, stylish products and friendly customer service--and tailoring those elements to fit a discount store.

“’Before I was a professor, I worked at a housewares distribution company which sold to Target,’ said Michael Levy, a professor of retailing at Babson College in Massachusetts and co-editor of the Journal of Retailing. ‘They always paid a lot of attention to detail. Their stores always looked a lot better than the discount store competition. Even though the shelves were stacked a little higher and the displays were not as slick as department stores, they looked more like department stores in those days than the sort of dark, dingy look of a discount store (On Target, p11).’”

Consider your chief competitors, and companies that provide high-end services in your industry. What are the most attractive elements of their offers, and how can you integrate those elements into your business in a realistic, manageable way? Take the best of both worlds and you’ll make your customers feel like they’ve hit the jackpot.

Lesson Two: Design is king

From the basics of product selection to larger decisions about its marketing campaigns, Target takes design very seriously.

Tupperware chairman and CEO Rick Goings: “I think they are looking for brands that really draw people into Target stores.  If you compare them to some other retailers, they have a fairly narrow product line that they show in any category in Target, but it’s usually brands or product categories where there’s a panache to it, or a design element (On Target, p23).”

Following the iMac model of “show, don’t tell” Target ads and commercials are visually compelling, with very little text. The bulls-eye logo is so strongly branded that the Target name is usually not even included in advertisements.

“This is the ultimate emotional connection,” says Mark Gobe, founder of the branding and design firm Desgrippes Gobe Group, “when your message is so powerful and so unique that visual expressions can stand alone (On Target, p58).”

Lesson Three: Partner with people who are experts in their fields

The “do-it-yourself” method seems like a frugal choice for home owners, but it isn’t always the best financial decision for a business. So when Target decided to join the e-commerce market, it turned over its Web operations to Amazon.com.

“’I think [the Amazon deal] gives them an edge,’ said Cynthia Cohen of Strategic Mindshare. ‘You can create your own infrastructure for e-commerce, hire people, teach them—but that is expensive and time-consuming, versus going to somebody whose core competency is e-commerce. Amazon already has this knowledge—so [Target is] buying the knowledge—their dollars versus their time frame, their risk. This isn’t entirely risk-free, but Target is reducing risk by using knowledge from a company whose core competency is e-commerce (On Target, p76).’”

Whether you’re trying to break into e-commerce or start a custom publication, partnering with an expert can increase efficiency, reduce risk and optimize results while sparing your company the cost of internal time and resources.

Visit Laura Rowley.com


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May 31, 2007 in award winning blog, award winning design, blog publish, Blogs, Brand enhancement, build credibility, Building Customer Community, Building Customer Intuition, business credibility, Business Marketing, Business relationships, Corporate Blogging, Customer Intuition, customer retention, E-Marketing, Email Marketing, email marketing solution, grow relationships, Marketing Communication, marketing solutions, nurturing relationships, online marketing, publish, Strategic Internet Marketing | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Personalized Greetings

Posted on May 22, 2007 by Kathryn Regina.

When it comes to email, does "Dear Bob" personalization really work?

The short answer: It's a start, but customization is more than just a personalized greeting.

Read the whole article.

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May 22, 2007 in Newsletter content, newsletter creation, Newsletter Marketing, newsletter publishing, Newsletter ROI, Newsletter solution, newsletter solutions, nurturing relationships, online marketing, online newsletter, online publishing, publications management, publish, publish company, publish online, publish writing, publishing solution, Strategic Internet Marketing, web publish, Weblogs, Writing a Newsletter, writing magazine, writing newsletter | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack