E-marketing Today

The Messaging Times

2005-11-24T11:04:00.000Z

For some time now, I have been practically duplicating posts on this blog and The Messaging Times Blog. To prevent any further duplication, I am going to invest future effort on only one of them. So, to keep up with e-marketing, email marketing and online communication news and events, please visit the mother ship at The Messaging Times Blog.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Warm Regards

Tom O'Leary
Editor, The Messaging Times

FBI Email Scam

2005-11-22T11:23:00.000Z

From: The FBI

NEW LEVEL OF SOPHISTICATION IN PHISHING SCAMS

A typical phishing scam involves three steps:

The phisher deploys a website that mimics portions of a legitimate financial institution or other e-commerce website.

The phisher crafts an email message that appears to be from the organization represented on the phishing website. The email message notifies the potential victim of a problem with their account and instructs them to login to the phishing site where the account information will be "verified.

Utilizing spam, the phisher sends this email to hundreds of thousands of potential victims. If the victim falls for the scam, they end up divulging their account, credit card, and other identity theft related information. This information is then collected by the phisher and used to commit credit card fraud and other identity theft related offenses.

A new phishing technique adds another step to the process. It utilizes the login credentials entered by the victim to connect to the authentic website and downloads unique identifying victim information such as first and last name. This data is then used to populate portions of the phishing website. By doing so, the phishing site appears more legitimate; therefore, the victim is more likely to divulge sensitive information.

If you have received a fraud, or similar email, please file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

Can-Sham: Opt-in Email Best Practices

2005-11-17T11:48:00.000Z

Legitimate email marketers are beginning to understand that the confusion with co-registration and opt-in lists needs to be clarified. When we send email to recipients that have registered to receive our message, and that email gets blocked by spam filters, there's something wrong. We're being made to feel like criminals, when all we are doing is sending email to legitmate lists of leads in the market, and giving them every opportunity to opt-out.

Via MarketingVox.com

As third-party email list response has begun to rise, a group of online marketing executives has formed a trade organization - Online Lead Generation Association, Inc. - to develop best practices for gathering the names on opt-in email lists that are sold to third parties, writes MediaPost (via MediaBuyerPlanner). According to one of the group's founders, Daniel Felter of Opt-Intelligence, the association is necessary because of the growing market in selling email names gained when consumers register for websites: Though many sites ask registrants whether they want to receive email from third parties, the process varies from site to site.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau said in September that revenue from referrals and lead generation came to $347 million in the first half of 2005.

"Advertisers are starting to hear this buzz about online lead generation and co-registration," Felter said. "But I don't think they really understand how to go about it and what processes they should focus on to make sure they get good, quality leads." - from Marketingvox.com

The Culture of Communication

2005-11-10T13:01:00.000Z

I just visited Presentation Zen's blog and highly recommend that you read Gates, Jobs and the Zen Aesthetic post from November 5th. If you think about it, the [r]evolution of the Internet is being inspired by sociological shifts in our culture. We expect transparency today. We expect straight-forwardness. We expect openness. As communicators, we are changing the methods and language that we use to convey our message. Years ago, consumers accepted presentations full of jargon in bulleted format on PowerPoint slides. Today, we want the content. What's the bottom line, in our language? Talk to us – engage us! Online communication is no different. Consumers today want to be engaged. Think about how your email marketing campaigns have evolved with the times. Did last month's newsletter reflect the culture of today's audience? Did you engage them?

Google Googled

2005-11-09T13:18:00.000Z

I must admit that this is a rare occurrence. For some reason today, I have been unable to access my Google RSS Reader. And that, my friends, is like starting the day without a strong cup of coffee! Or like watching television without a remote control. Do you mean I'll have to visit my favorite sites individually to find out what's new? This was a wake-up call for me about how reliant I have already become on having my selected content delivered to me rather than visiting it. I tried on Firefox and IE, but for the past couple of hours have been unsuccessful getting a response. Has anyone else had problems?

Email Marketing: 3 Lines of Success

2005-11-07T11:30:00.000Z

Every email marketer strives to optimize her results from each campaign. There is nothing more frustrating than investing your time and effort to send a great message to a strategically relevant list and being met with open and click through rates below expectations. So how do successful email marketers get their customers to open the messge, click on the link and take action?

Stripping an email message down to the bare essentials, there are three main sections that can make or break an email marketing campaign; the email subject, the call-to-action and the unique proposition. These three lines, if written well, will improve open and click through rates of any email marketing campaign.

Read the full article at Email Marketing: 3 Lines of Success

State Email Registries Put Children at Risk

2005-11-07T04:56:00.000Z

Via ClickZ News (Zachary Rodgers)

State laws that set up "Do Not E-mail" registries for children are actually putting those kids' contact info at risk, according to a letter penned by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The letter's ostensible purpose is to address proposed child protection legislation in Illinois; but it also appears designed to warn other states that have set up -- or are considering setting up -- such lists of their inherent dangers.

"Because such a registry cannot be effectively monitored for abuse, it may have the unintended consequence of providing spammers with a mechanism for verifying the validity of e-mail addresses," the letter states. "This consequence may actually increase the amount of spam sent to registered children's addresses in general, including spam containing adult content."

Utah and Michigan have already passed legislation to create such lists. The well-meaning laws are meant to protect children from commercial messages that promote adult content and other products prohibited to them. However, the FTC asserts such registries have the reverse effect. It says they let unscrupulous marketers quickly identify and sell to kids, since they offer an available database of verified e-mail addresses. Meanwhile, it asserts they hurt legitimate marketers, who must spend money and time comparing their lists against them.

These databases are vulnerable, the FTC notes, because they typically work by scrubbing existing lists and returning those lists with the contact information of registered children either highlighted or removed. Unethical parties can thereby deduce which individuals on its pre-scrubbed list are children, and then e-mail them. Finding and prosecuting spammers is notoriously difficult.

For the full article, go to FTC: State Registries Put Kids' Inboxes at Risk

Email Deliverability: Romancing ISP Spam Filters

2005-11-04T12:38:00.000Z

I am not a pornographer. I do not push Viagra to harvested lists. I do not have nor do I want to give you 25 million dollars. I am a good guy with a legitimate business who wants to market my services via email. So why do my emails get caught in the ISP spam-filter net? Understandably, legitimate email marketers around the world are confused and angered by ISP spam filters dumping their messages before they arrive at their recipients' inbox. As a matter of fact, reports show that up to 25 percent of legitimate permission email doesn't get to recipients due to spam filters!

In response to my question, Why do legitimate, permission email marketers compliant with anti-spam legislation get caught in the ISP filter trap? Steve Linford, of the Spamhaus Project, replied:

One way, is because the email marketer is in fact sending spam, but the spam he's sending is "compliant" with some spam law (such as CAN SPAM). Many marketers get caught out by this. Mailing "in compliance" with an anti-spam law does not mean one is not sending spam, but merely that the spam being sent has no false information. If what's being sent is Unsolicited, and is being sent in Bulk, then it's spam regardless of what any law says.

Many mailers are sending to address lists they've bought from other mailers, some are mailing to address lists collected "from our partner websites" but when asked for proof of Opt-in they can not produce any. Others when asked for proof simply produce a list of IPs with dates when the user supposedly "opted in". So we have the mailer's word against the recipient's word, and whose will we believe? Many users saying "we did not opt in, we got spam" and the mailer saying "they opted in"... naturally we believe the users.

To understand what's going on, it is important to first take a look at how ISP spam filters work. When I asked several ISPs to enlighten me, explanations didn't rush into my inbox. As a matter of fact, I didn't receive any answers at all. Understandably, ISPs, like Search Engines, aren't overly willing to divulge their strategies publically. I suppose it would be like the police giving their radar detection technology information to speeders. Sure, the speeders will figure it out eventually, but the police don't want to help them. It would be counterproductive. But as understandable as this is, it is frustrating to those of us who want to get our legitimate email message delivered.

For the full article, read: Email Deliverability: 10 Steps to Romance ISP Filters

Microsoft Goes 'Live' with Web Email and IM

2005-11-02T12:01:00.000Z

Yesterday, Microsoft announced their plans for two new web-based services supporting MS Office. They didn't, however, admit that this strategy has been developed to keep pace with Google and Sun Microsystems.

Service 1: Windows Live

Windows Live will offer a web-based email service, Windows Live Email and an Instant Messaging platform, Windows Live Messenger

Service 2: Office Live

Office Live is designed to help small organizations to manage their business using Microsoft Office, and will include a web development application and a series of subscription business management applications.

Do you want to try them out? Go to Windows Live Ideas and come back to let us know what you think.

US Census Confirms Email Surge

2005-11-01T15:05:00.000Z

The 2003 US Census report, published last week, is chock-full of interesting statistics on Internet use in the US. In comparison to 1997, the percentage of Americans using email has surged from 12 percent to 55 percent. What amazes me is that in 1997, only 12 percent of Americans used email. Perhaps I was an early bloomer? It is encouraging for email marketers to see such growth, and to have evidence that over half of the entire US population uses email regularly at work and home. It is perhaps even more encouraging that there are still 149 million people in the US alone that have yet to enter the market!

This is a must read for all email marketers: Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2003

Beware of Zombies This Halloween

2005-10-31T02:29:00.000Z

The FTC launched Operation Spam Zombies to protect home computer users from malicious spammers who use unprotected, vulnerable personal computers to distribute spam for them, unbeknownst to their victims.

Spammers use home computers to send bulk emails by the millions. They take advantage of security weaknesses to install hidden software that turns consumer computers into mail or proxy servers. They route bulk email through these "spam zombies," obscuring its true origin.

As part of a worldwide effort to prevent these abuses, the FTC launched "Operation Spam Zombies." In partnership with 20 members of the London Action Plan and 16 additional government agencies from around the world, the Commission sent letters to more than 3000 Internet service providers (ISPs) internationally, encouraging them to take the following zombie-prevention measures:
block port 25 except for the outbound SMTP requirements of authenticated users of mail servers designed for client traffic. Explore implementing Authenticated SMTP on port 587 for clients who must operate outgoing mail servers.

apply rate-limiting controls for email relays.

identify computers that are sending atypical amounts of email, and take steps to determine if the computer is acting as a spam zombie. When necessary, quarantine the affected computer until the source of the problem is removed.

give your customers plain-language advice on how to prevent their computers from being infected by worms, trojans, or other malware that turn PCs into spam zombies, and provide the appropriate tools and assistance.

provide, or point your customers to, easy-to-use tools to remove zombie code if their computers have been infected, and provide the appropriate assistance.

In a later phase, the Operation notified Internet providers worldwide that apparent spam zombies were identified on their systems, and urged them to implement measures to prevent that problem.

Happy Halloween! Beware of Zombies...

The Psychology of Color in Messages

2005-10-30T10:34:00.000Z

What's your favorite color?

Obviously, if you ask this question to a group of people, you will get a variety (or spectrum!) of answers. Colors affect people in different ways, and much research has been accomplished to ascertain what emotional response different colors provoke. An effective communicator always takes her audience into consideration when preparing a message. Vocabulary, tone, length of material, and style are all adapted to each particular audience. But how important is color really in terms of communicating a professional message? Isn't content all that matters? According to psychology.about.com, psychologists estimate that the response to color can account for 60% of the acceptance or rejection of a product or service. Modern communicators who use design elements in their messages must consider what colors are appropriate for their audience. When considering color in the context of your message, you must take into account the cultural, gender, and age difference of your audience.

For a very interesting article on the importance of color in messages, read: The Psychology of Color in Messages

Email Deliverability

2005-10-30T10:33:00.000Z

Deliverability is today’s biggest issue for every email marketer. Email marketers today are faced with challenges because of email overload. Many business people often get more than 100 emails per day, with up to 80% of them considered SPAM. Unfortunately, even legitimate emails subscribed to by recipients can be flagged as SPAM by sensitive SPAM filters. This can be harmful to your business and reputation.

Even with good desktop email marketing software, you can have deliverability issues because of anti-spam lists, ISP filters and corporate/user filters. So there are three hurdles you have to jump over to get your messages delivered.

So, how can you improve your deliverability rates? For a good article on email deliverability, go to Get Your Email Delivered

To Understand, Don't Be So Smart

2005-10-28T09:15:00.000+01:00

Over the past several months, I have immersed myself into the specifics of online communication, email, e-marketing, interactive advertising, blogging, search strategy, optimization, SMS, collaboration, RSS, Podcasts, social applications, lenses, tags, Internet trends and forecasts. It's easy to become overwhelmed by it all with the frantic pace of (r)evolution.

This morning I deviated from my routine of reading every breaking news article about industry happenings and just sat at the computer with a cup of standard black (with some milk of course) and took a breath. The fact is, ordinary people don't do this. Most Internet users don't take the time to look beyond the image on their screen. They aren't interested in the strategic alliances between Time Warner, MSN, Yahoo! and AOL. They don't give a hoot about click through rates, deliverability, key words, organic content, sample rates, optimization or strategy. They just log on to get the information that they need.

You see, the majority of Internet users are normal. They're not like me. They don't want to know where the Internet is heading or who will own what part of it next year. They just want it to work so that they can find that recipe or job or product or friend.

In the lead up to the launch of messagingtimes.com, I placed an introduction to the site on the domain and invited people to advise me if they were interested in receiving notification of its launch. For a while, I was frustrated by the amount of people who failed to insert their email address before clicking "notify". Last night, I realized that this is the reality of the Internet today. The majority of Internet users don't understand how things work. But that same majority of users are also the majority of subscribers, buyers and community members online today.

Understanding this is very important for anyone who wishes to communicate effectively with people online today. It's important to step back every now and then from the whirling merry-go-round and think of the Internet in terms of the normal user. They're language is different. Their routines are different. They have other interests and motivations.

To really understand the big picture, don't be so smart.

Mind Your Behavior

2005-10-27T14:40:00.000+01:00

Recent data from AOLs advertising.com shows that behavioral advertising achieves lower response rates but significantly higher conversion rates.

In the personal finance category, behavioral-targeted ads drew a click-through rate 56 percent below untargeted ads, yet they had a 90 percent higher conversion rate than untargeted placements. Similarly, targeted auto ads had a 64 percent lower click rate but 323 percent higher conversion rate. For education ads, clicks declined 22 percent and conversions rose 105 percent.

"What is happening is the advertising is more relevant to them," said Lauren Weinberg, associate director of research at Advertising.com. "There are less wasted clicks."

The importance of relevance is well known, but online marketers and advertisers still seem to prefer casting larger nets in bigger pools. Behavioral messaging concentrates on high degrees of relevance for smaller target pools, and this requires some up front investment and analysis of consumer behavior. There's a warm fuzzy feeling about attracting traffic to your website from a campaign; but in the end, causing traffic to respond to calls-to-action is what counts. It's an old rule in communications: Know your audience!

For more information, read ADWEEK.com: Behavioral Ads Get Fewer Clicks, More Conversions

Cingular Mobilizes Email and Instant Messaging

2005-10-26T10:21:00.000+01:00

Cingular has launched a new feature for its cellular phone users. Now, they will be able to enjoy "blackberry" style email and IM capabilities on their mobile phones.

"We're looking at this as a way to bring in people who are active users of e-mail and IM on the desktop, and encourage them to use mobile data tools," said Christy Swink, executive director of messaging at Cingular. Rather than creating some new wireless application that people need to learn, it's taking something they already know how to use, and mobilizing it."

With over 450 million email and IM users on MSN, Yahoo! and AOL, it is understandable that Cingular wants a slice of that pie.

"Customers have been asking loudly for e-mail and IM done right on the mobile device," Swink said. "Ease of use has had the potential to be an obstacle for customer entry; it was one of the things we concentrated on, because if you can't make these services simple to use and familiar, people won't use them."

For more information, read: Eweek.com: Cingular Broadens Mobile Messaging Reach

Permission Email: 5 Key Requirements

2005-10-25T16:14:00.000+01:00

There is a lot of confusion about who we can send email to these days. Since the emergence of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM), which became public law in December, 2003, the lines have only become more blurred. For a great article on how to successfully engage in permission email campaigns in a complex and restricted environment, read: Infacta: Email Permission: 5 Key Requirements

Email Direct Marketing Insights

2005-10-25T11:02:00.000+01:00

It was interesting to read David Baker's take on the recent Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) conference. Not surprisingly, email marketing continues to command attention by traditional direct marketers. But David, who is VP of email marketing and anaytical solutions at Agency.com, noticed a shift of concentration since last year from CAN-SPAM to deliverability and strategy issues.

"While I floated around many workshops, I gauged the levels of audience attendance and overall responsiveness. The e-mail sessions were well-attended, in many cases standing room only. The hot subjects were about understanding deliverability, authentication and compliance. In the past there was more focus on legal issues, as well as discussions on what worked in a campaign."

So where were the email marketing service providers at the conference?

"The trade show floor cast an even stranger view, as I was hard-pressed to find the e-mail marketing service providers intermingled amongst the 22 aisles of vendors. It was strange to see some of the most familiar e-mail service providers hidden among the mailing list firms. Even stranger was the inability of these ESPs to clearly express their value propositions in their company message."

Perhaps Email marketing service providers are forgetting that a large slice of the market is still operating in envelopes. Communicating the value of email marketing has to be done on and off line.

Read Email Insider: The View from the DMA Floor

Oops! Spy Media Releases Email List

2005-10-24T10:54:00.000+01:00

Spy Media sent a reminder message to their entire email list, including EVERYONE on the list in the "To:" field of the email. Oops! I suppose that everyone on that list can expect some unsolicited mail in the not-too-distant future. Minutes after the email was sent, Spy Media received news of the blunder from disgruntled, flabbergasted recipients. Here's an excerpt from one:

Open email to Bryan Quinn, President, Spy Media

What the hell do you guys think you are doing?

You have distributed your whole email address list to everyine else on that list.

This is such a fundamental breach of simple protocol and internet security that I am closing my Spy Media account forthwith and will be passing details of this to the UK Information Commissioner, the IT press and others. It is utterly unbelievable that you should set yourselves up without attending to such basic matters as this. It is so unbelievably juvenile and such a basic mistake that I would not expect from an office junior, let alone a company setting itself up as an international picture database.

I am simply, utterly astounded.

Ever hear of GroupMail guys? Download a copy TODAY, before you send out anymore emails to your list! Unbelievable, really! Imagine the horror when they realized what they had done after clicking "send"! I'm glad that I'm not in that office this morning!

Messaging Overload?

2005-10-23T21:38:00.000+01:00

Via The New York Times

In interviews and surveys many parents say that their children spend too much time in front of computers and on cellphones. Some parents worry that long, sedentary hours spent at a computer may lead to weight gain, or that an excess of instant and text messaging comes at the expense of learning face-to-face social skills. Some complain of having to compete for their childrens' attention more than ever.

A report on teenagers and technology released this summer by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that teenagers' use of computers has increased significantly. More than half of teenage Internet users go online daily, up from 42 percent in 2000, the report said; 81 percent of those users play video games, up from 52 percent.

Instant messaging has become "the digital communication backbone of teens' daily lives," used by 75 percent of online teenagers, according to the Pew report. "Parents are really struggling with this," said David Walsh, the president of the National Institute on Media and the Family, a nonprofit educational organization in Minneapolis that began a program this year to help families reduce screen time and increase physical activity. "As the gadgets keep evolving, they keep consuming more and more of our kids' time. Our kids need a balanced diet of activity, and the problem is that it's getting out of balance. I don't think as a society we're dealing with it yet."

Read Parents Fret That Dialing Up Interferes With Growing Up
*You might need to register to access full articles at The NY Times

Email and SMS Voting: A Reality, Beyond TV

2005-10-22T02:20:00.000+01:00

When we think bleeding edge, we imagine New York, Tokyo, California, Bejing and Singapore. But it is Bülach, a small town in Switzerland that is setting the pace in the e-voting arena.

"The residents of Bülach in canton Zurich are casting [SMS] text, internet, postal and ballot box votes on proposals to introduce a 30kmph speed restriction for vehicles. The result will be known on October 30. The pilot project will then be extended to Schlieren and Bertschikon, also in canton Zurich, on November 27, when the issues of shop opening hours, GM crops and integration courses will be put to a ballot."

Read more at Swissinfo.org: Voters go to polls armed with mobile phones

Email: Still the 'Killer App' for Online Marketing

2005-10-21T14:48:00.000+01:00

Several years ago, email was considered the killer app. Even with the emergence of RSS and other automated content delivery mechanisms available today, it still is. Why? Because marketers understand the importance of controlling the distribution of their message. Successful marketing involves targeting market segments; and new content-delivery technologies, like RSS, fail to wow many online marketers because it puts control of content into the customers' hands. That's not to say that RSS, podcasting, blogging and other modern vehicles aren't valuable. They provide additional channels for marketers to get their message across; and they provide a great value-added service to customers. They don't, however, allow online marketers to control who receives their message or when they receive it. Email remains invaluable to online marketers, because it enables them to communicate their message one-to-one with targeted prospects and existing customers.

The fact is, email software has evolved over the years in pace with emerging applications like RSS, podcasting, and blogging. Today's email marketing software is not like anything that was available years ago. Remember the Stone Age, when we used the "Bcc" field to distribute our message to groups? Take a look at some of the features that make today's email marketing software the killer app for online communicators today by visiting one of the leaders in the email marketing field: Infacta's GroupMail

Communicate: efficiently, effectively, affordably!

Flock of Developers Begin Collaborating

2005-10-21T11:15:00.000+01:00

Flock, the opensource Internet browser that is being developed collaboratively and transforming the browsing experience into an interactive experience, made its developer preview available yesterday. Because I'm not a developer myself, GPL'd and MPL'd files and complex source code don't mean much to me. But I must admit that I'm excited about the resulting and ongoing functionality of this project. Flock is being developed with the understanding that Internet users today do more than browse websites. We create, we discuss, we blog, we tag, we share, we pull, we push, we collaborate, we listen, we engage, we watch, we do.

Now, I would appreciate it very much if somebody would put their developer hat on and explain, in simple language, for a simpleton like me, why Flock will WOW me as an online communicator?

Online Shoppers Send a Clear Message

2005-10-20T10:19:00.000+01:00

Online shoppers have made it clear that they expect free shipping when shopping online this holiday season.

"According to results of the 2005 Shop.org/BizRate Research Online Holiday Mood Study, this year's most popular online promotion will be free shipping, which 79 percent of online retailers plan to offer during the holiday season. This promotion is in line with consumers' desires, as almost four out of five online shoppers said that free shipping offers are an important factor when deciding where to buy."

56 percent of consumers surveyed begin shopping for a particular item or gift at a specific merchant's website

37 percent of shoppers will start with a search engine

18 percent start at a comparison shopping site

19 percent at an auction site/shopping portal

29 percent of consumers plan to start their online shopping via stores or catalogs

Many online retailers expect online sales to double from last year. For that reason, many are advertising early.

63 percent of online retailers will use catalog mailings

61 percent include in-store materials

59 percent will use direct mail to drive traffic to their websites

54 percent will also be investing in magazine advertising

41 percent in newspaper

35 percent in television

32 percent in radio advertising

For more information about the Online Holiday Mood Study, read: Shop.org: Gas Prices Not Affecting Free Shipping Promotions

Collaboration: The Small Business Vaccine for Loneliness

2005-10-20T10:00:00.000+01:00

According to a recent poll, small business leaders feel that they are [on their own] when making important business decisions; with 43 percent confessing to loneliness and two-fifths reporting feelings of detachment. With my history of of start-ups and small business experiences over the years, this doesn't necessarily surprise me. At the same time, the solution seems clear. As small business operators, it is essential to collaborate with other professionals with similar agendas to ours.

Perhaps this is a perfect time to invite everyone to visit The Messaging Times website, which will be launched in the not-too-distant future. At the moment, you can provide your e-mail address on the site and will be notified when the community goes live. The Messaging Times will be a collaborative online community for small business professionals and anyone else who communicates online.

Don't be lonely. Collaborate, communicate and innovate!

For more about the study, read: Clearly Business: Small Firms Crave Advice

MTV Rocks the Internet

2005-10-19T15:10:00.000+01:00

Last week, MTV parlayed its cool image by acquiring IFilm.com. I just took a look at the site and must say that the potential is huge with MTV at the helm as exploitation of the digital video market has only begun. At IFilm, members can submit their own digital videos and get them in front of MTV's estimated 10 million users of the site each month. That sort of traffic makes the site a rich resource for independent film and video producers who want their work to be seen.

To read more about the acquisition and MTVs plans, go to Forbes.com: MTV's Internet-Hungry Freston Buys Video Web Site

Gmail is Googled

2005-10-19T12:53:00.000+01:00

Google's online e-mail service, Gmail, skidded into a trademark dispute in Europe. It turns out that the London-based Independent International Investment Research (IIR) started using the name Gmail for their own web mail purposes a couple of years before the search engine giant did. As a result, users of Google's service in the UK will now have a googlemail.com extension rather than the gmail.com brand. The price tag to settle the trademark dispute was too rich according to Google. How much do you think the Gmail brand is worth?

For more, read:
BBC News: Google Drops Gmail Address in UK, and
IIR: Google Negotiations Status Report

E-mail Writing 101

2005-10-17T21:28:00.001+01:00

Dear Communicator

Click here for 5 e-mail writing tips that will significantly improve your click-through rates. If you are still reading this message, you're unique. Announce your call to action quickly. Don't overestimate your readers' interest in your beautifully crafted missive. Get to the point to get the click.

Kindest Regards

Tom

Tom O'Leary
web: messagingtimes.blogspot.com

Another Bridge Between Messengers

2005-10-17T11:12:00.000+01:00

Palm Inc. and Research In Motion (RIM), makers of the popular BlackBerry are scheduled to announce a licensing agreement today that will allow Palm's Treo to use BlackBerry's e-mail and communications technology for their own smartphones. This will enable Palm to market Treo to businesses already using BlackBerry devices.

Read Palm Inc. and BlackBerry Maker Will Sign a Licensing Agreement
* You might need to register to access full articles from the NY Times

E-mail Scams In Nigeria Investigated by Microsoft

2005-10-15T17:08:00.000+01:00

Microsoft has been helping the Nigerian government to investigate email scams over the past several months and the collaboration has already resulted in criminal prosecutions for a few companies. Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is currently investigating hundreds of suspected scammers and plans to make spamming a criminal offense with jail terms of up to three years. Microsoft is providing technical assistance to EFCCs efforts.

The most common scam originating from Nigeria involves requests for bank account information for transfers of large amounts of money, of course with promises of a large payoff to the gullible victim. I often receive these e-mails and wonder what type of people would actually read them and say, "Hey honey, look! We just got an email saying that we could make a few million dollars and all we have to do is let these guys use our bank account to transfer some money! It's our lucky day!"

For the full story, go to BBC News: Nigerian e-mail frauds targeted

Bond.com

2005-10-14T14:46:00.000+01:00

It seems that this whole trend of transparency in business is being heeded by some. The British Secret Service recently launched its website, registering 3.5 million hits in the first several hours of the launch.

Not too long ago, the Secret Service was so secret that it denied its own existence. Now, in an effort to recruit wanna-be Bonds to join the fight on global terrorism, they have gone public. My name is Bond, visit my website.

For the full story, go to: NY Times: Britain's Secret Service Indeed
(You might need to register to view full articles at the NY Times)

'Wonder'ful Online Ad

2005-10-14T11:25:00.000+01:00

Wonderbra has a cool online ad out, tastefully showing how online ads are evolving interactive visual content. Check it out at Experience WonderYou Make sure that you roll your mouse over the people in the background of the ad to see their comments!

Online Communications at a Glance

2005-10-14T10:43:00.000+01:00

Here's a simple diagram illustrating the push-pull balance of online communications. Customers pull RSS feeds, podcasts, and content from your website and syndicates while you and your affiliates push e-mail content (i.e. newsletters, promotional messages, company news, offers, etc.) What isn't shown here are the links from other sites that send traffic to your site.

What do you think is missing?

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!

2005-10-13T21:13:00.000+01:00

Google and Comcast are brazenly negotiating a stake in AOL with Time Warner. With a reported 5 BILLION dollars on the table, the pair are certainly putting their money where their mouths are! Perhaps Google's new slogan should be: We talk the talk and walk the walk, Deal With It!

I wonder what other deals got sparked at the recent Web 2.0 conference?

Subject Matters

2005-10-13T14:55:00.000+01:00

This is a SPAM subject

This is an unprofessional, SPAM-like subject

This is a good subject line that I would consider genuine

This is a great subject line that uses personalization (i.e. inserting a merge field for State that is unique for each recipient of the message.)

Bottom Line: If you want people to open your email, make your subject line talk to them by using bulk email software that allows personalization, like Infacta's GroupMail

Pushing and Pulling Content

2005-10-13T14:04:00.000+01:00

New content distribution vehicles like RSS and Podcasting allow users to pull content from the Internet that is relevant to them. This makes content distribution very efficient. In order for online marketers to be effective, however, it is necessary to push content to users as well. Successful business leaders don’t sit back and wait for customers to find them. They engage with them, approach them, and talk to them. It boils down to being efficient and effective. By providing RSS feeds and podcasts for your customers to retrieve content from your website (and syndication sites), you are offering efficient solutions to their desire for relevant content. By sending them an e-mail with tips for using your product or information about development efforts underway, you are effectively marketing to them and maintaining a relationship with them. It is important to maintain relationships with your customers; and effective online relationships require a balance of pushing and pulling. As efficient as technology makes things today, we all want to do businesses with people. So what's the bottom line?

Automate for efficiency, communicate for effectiveness.

Remember, every door that that can be pushed open can also be pulled open.

SPAM Origins Shift East

2005-10-13T13:35:00.000+01:00

According to a recent study by SophosLabs, the world’s leader-board of spammers is slowly changing. While the US still tops the board with 26.35% of spam originating from North America, it has reduced significantly since last year. At the same time, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Spain, England, Pakistan and Germany have increased in SPAM distribution in the past 12 months.

Percentages show 2005 and (2004) figures.

1. United States: 26.35% (41.50%)
2. South Korea: 19.73% (11.63%)
3. China (incl Hong Kong): 15.70% (8.90%)
4. France: 3.46% (1.27%)
5. Brazil: 2.67% (3.91%)
6. Canada: 2.53% (7.06%)
7. Taiwan: 2.22% (0.86%)
8. Spain: 2.21% (1.04%)
9. Japan: 2.02% (2.66%)
10. United Kingdom: 1.55% (1.07%)
11. Pakistan: 1.42% (New entry)
12. Germany: 1.26% (1.02%)
Others: 18.88% (18.10%)

For the full report, go to: Sophos reveals latest "dirty dozen" spam relaying countries

Study: Search Results More Credible than TV and Print

2005-10-12T16:39:00.000+01:00

A recent study by Yahoo! Search Marketing suggests that college students consider search engine results to be significantly more valuable as a resource than traditional TV or Newspaper content.

“The findings, presented Tuesday in New York, included the conclusion that 81 percent of college students rated search engines as the best source of information; friends and family were rated best by 64 percent of students, while just 34 percent said traditional media was their best source of information. (The numbers add up to more than 100 because an information source was considered "best" if students placed it in the top two boxes on a five-point scale.)

Seventy-seven percent of college students also told researchers that keyword searches provide the most relevant information, compared to 64 percent of students who said the same about family and friends, and 34 percent who said that traditional media provided the most relevant information.”

For the full story, go to Online Media Daily: Students; Search Engines More Credible than TV Ads

Dotcom 2.0

2005-10-12T10:56:00.000+01:00

Internet use has grown more in 2005 than at the peak of the dotcom boom, according to analysis by Netcraft. In 2005, there were more than 17 million new websites compared to 16 million during the dotcom boom in 2000.

Netcraft suggests that the surge of Internet use this year stems largely from the number of small businesses using the web today.

Read BBC: Web enjoys year of biggest growth

An Apple a Day...

2005-10-12T10:44:00.000+01:00

* Sales of iPods were up 220 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with the same period a year earlier.

* During the fourth quarter Apple also sold 1.2 million of its Macintosh computers, a year-on-year rise of 48 percent.

* "We're thrilled to have concluded the best year in Apple's history," Steve Jobs, Apple CEO

But why aren't shareholders jumping up for joy?

Read: iPod helps Apple quadruple profit

Microsoft and Yahoo Messaging Merge

2005-10-12T10:43:00.000+01:00

Microsoft and Yahoo will announce today their decision to bridge their Instant Messaging (IM) services, allowing MSN Messengers to interface with Yahoo Messengers and vice versa. This should put some pressure on AOL, who is currently the market leader in the IM arena. While both Microsoft and Yahoo offer both voice and text messaging on their platforms, only text will be allowed over this newly constructed bridge.

Read: Messaging Agreement Expected by 2 Rivals

H5N1 Alert

2005-10-11T18:11:00.000+01:00

There hasn't been this much hype about impending doom since Y2K. The Avian Bird Flu has biologists putting in extra hours, politicians allocating funds and the general public in an anxious state. The fact is; according to various credible sources, a pandemic is very possible, if not likely. Some estimate that up to 100 million people could die if H5N1 adapts to allow person-to-person exposure. There's Ireland gone 25 times over! President Bush is pushing to have a sufficient supply of vaccine. At present, there is only enough for less than two percent of the US population. Most European countries have enough for twenty to forty percent of their populations. Of course, people all over the world have already begun to stockpile water and prescription medications in the event of an outbreak. Over-reactive? Alarmist? Reasonable?

Read CNN.com: Bird flu pandemic risk "very vigh"

Natural Disasters of Biblical Proportions

2005-10-11T13:20:00.000+01:00

With relief spokesmen now predicting that the death toll of South Asia's earthquake will reach up to 80,000; it might be time for us to take our environment a bit more seriously. Latest reports from Pakistan suggest 42,000 casualies thusfar from the quake. One day can change the world.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this tragedy.

For coverage of the earthquake, read CNN: Quake Death Toll Rises to 42,000

Get With the Program

2005-10-11T12:49:00.000+01:00

Don't hotel chiefs realize that the one of the most endearing qualities of the Internet is its ability to provide affordable, efficient, mobile solutions for modern communicators? Why are so many hotels, and especially 4 and 5 star hotels, charging high rates to access the Internet? Prices for Internet access in hotels currently range between 9 and 30 dollars. C'mon! It's time for these rogue hoteliers to understand that Internet access should be a value-added service for their customers and not a revenue stream for themselves. Any good hotel will have access for their online sales and marketing channels, regardless of whether guests use the connection or not. An Hotel's business is beds, not bytes.

GET WITH THE PROGRAM GUYS! And go wireless while you're at it!

If you're a hotelier, read about how travelers are becoming upset by this practice: NY Times: Resentment Flares Over Fees for Internet Access at Hotels
* You might need to register to read NY Times full articles

Newspapers Cut Out Jobs in Print

2005-10-10T17:01:00.000+01:00

If you step back from the madness for a moment, you’ll actually be able to see evolution progressing before your eyes. Seriously, this doesn’t happen too often. Normally, evolution occurs at a snail’s pace and we don’t often get the opportunity to actually see it in action. But take a look at what’s happening today, and you'll get a good glimpse. Newspapers all over the world are letting staff with pencils behind their ears go as they reinvent themselves online.

One of the latest casualties of this medium shift is the Philadelphia Inquirer, who had to reduce it’s workforce by 15% last month. What is happening? Don’t people read newspapers anymore? Well, yes; but more and more are reading them online! And advertisers, who pay the newsroom salaries, fully comprehend the shift of their market from traditional print to online content. The Ford Motor Company estimates that 80 percent of their customers are shopping online today, many even arranging test drives over the Internet.

Because of this online shift, Ford has allocated 30 percent of its $1 billion advertising budget to nontraditional media, with half of that going directly online. "With the explosion of broadband, it makes more sense for us to continue to increase our spend where we can find our customers," said Linda Perry-Lube, Ford car communications manager.

David Verklin, CEO of Carat Americas, predicts that advertisers will spend 15 to 20 percent of their budgets on the Internet in the next 3 years, up from 5 to 8 percent.

This is exciting stuff! To witness evolution with your own eyes, start by reading At Newspapers, Some Clipping

*The NY Times might require registration to view full articles

Association of National Advertisers: New Technology Tops Conference

2005-10-10T11:48:00.000+01:00

The 95th Annual conference of the Association of National Advertisers took place at the Biltmore Hotel, in Phoenix, Arizona from 6 – 9 October. More than ever before, new media technologies, email and online-related topics took center stage at the conference.

"The future isn't coming; it's here," said Jerri DeVard, senior vice president for marketing and brand management at Verizon Communications. "What are you and your company doing to go beyond what you're delivering now?" Ms. DeVard shared insights into Verizon’s new marketing mix, which was bad news for traditional advertising media channels. In the last four years, Internet spending shot up from 3 percent to 11 percent; whereas newspaper ads fell 7 percent to 18 percent and television from 33 percent to 20 percent.

With the majority of people spending more time at their computers than watching television or reading newspapers, it only makes sense that the focus shifts to advertising online and through email. For substantially less money than traditional advertising, companies can connect one-to-one with their market via email campaigns. There are just under 1 billion people using the Internet today. For online marketers, it’s like the Super Bowl, everyday!

STUDY: Small Businesses Depend on Online Marketing

2005-10-07T11:54:00.000+01:00

In an interesting study, Interland found that 96% of small and medim-sized businesses in the US use the Internet with most having high-speed connections. Of the 780 business leaders surveyed, 60% use e-mail marketing. 54% use search engine optimization, 27% use online coupons, 20% use pay-per-click advertising, 19% use blogs, 11% use podcasing and 10% use RSS feeds.

NB: Isn’t it interesting to see more using podcasts than RSS?

The attractiveness of the Internet for small business is evident in the study with 78% reporting that their business is healthier as a result, with 76% stating that their website generates leads for sales, and 82% reporting recurring monthly online revenue.

Jeffrey Stibel, CEO of Interland, said: "These results demonstrate that business leaders understand the importance of the Internet, Web sites and online marketing tools and are acting on that knowledge," "Since first introducing the Interland Small and Medium-sized Business Barometer in 2003, we have seen significant growth of businesses using online tools and offerings to attract, service and satisfy customers."

While more and more small and medium-sized businesses are tapping in to the online market, they aren’t measuring the results consistently. To be successful with online marketing, it is essential to track your e-mail campaigns to see what’s working and what’s not working. One handy application that should be included in every e-marketers toolbox is a good e-mail tracking service, like Infacta’s GroupMetrics. With email tracking software, e-marketers will know how many people are opening their messages and what links they’re clicking on. Understanding the importance of open rates and click-through rates is essential for any businesses engaged in online marketing. Perhaps more important is understanding that these rates can be improved dramatically by measuring your campaigns regularly with email tracking services. There's a big difference between doing something and being successful at it!

Nobel Winner if Iran and North Korea Comply

2005-10-07T11:42:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to The International Atomic Energy Agency and its top dog, Mohamed ElBaradei for scooping this year’s Nobel Prize. The award recognized the relentless efforts of Mr. ElBaradei and the agency in limiting the spread of Atomic weapons in the world. Unfortunately, it just takes one dissident to spoil the celebration of this achievement. Great work guys!

Time Warner-AOL-MSN-Weblogs

2005-10-07T11:36:00.000+01:00

AOL is active on the Internet monopoly board again, agreeing yesterday to purchase Weblogs, home of more than 85 websites hosting blogs. While no price for the sale has been confirmed, most reports suggest a cool $25 million.

I wonder if they’d be interested in E-marketing Today?

Full Story: NY Times (you might need to register to view full articles)

An Online Copyright Advocate Steps Forward

2005-10-06T15:43:00.000+01:00

Spymedia launched an online photo-journalism site that aims to protect citizen and professional photographers from copyright abuse. The surge of independent news reporting on the Internet continues, and many bloggers today focus on current events with local, national and international perspectives. One concern that Internet users have during these times is the lack of copyright protection for content, especially as RSS syndication of material becomes more and more popular. During October, all news-photo uploads on the site are free.

Read BBC News for more information about Spy Media’s project.

Collaborating Online

2005-10-06T14:04:00.000+01:00

You may have noticed that the functionality of the Internet is undergoing a resurgence. Today, it's all about creating social networks, collaborating, tagging, blogging, RSS, podcasts and other interactive ventures. Resulting from this new approach to the Internet are new products like 37signals' newest contribution; Writeboard. Writeboard is a new collaborative document-sharing utility that makes online document management easy by tracking revisions as they are made and never permitting overwrites to previous revisions or the original. The best part of it is that, like so many Internet services today, it's FREE! Thanks guys!

Measuring Your Online Media Efforts

2005-10-06T13:31:00.000+01:00

CARMA International, Inc., a leading media content analysis firm, has launced a new service for measuring the interaction with journalists against media measurement results. The CARMA JRM (Journalist Relationship Management) System allows users to track and measure relationships with journalists by comparing media relations activities with earned media coverage.

“CARMA’s JRM System helps communications professionals measure the return on their investment of time and money in media relations activities by providing concrete data about what’s working and what’s not with key journalists,” said CARMA founder Albert Barr. “By integrating relationship management software with media measurement, CARMA Online helps leading organizations streamline PR services with one platform for both activity tracking and measurement.”

Online Video Expands Broadcasting Reach

2005-10-06T12:23:00.000+01:00

Jeremy Allaire, founder of Brightcove, has created an online channel for video broadcasting. The service has already attracted interest from several dozen production companies, to include Viacom and A&E television networks, who are testing the platform for commercial use. Mr. Allaire developed the website design app ColdFusion back in the 1990s and later sold the company to Macromedia, where he was assigned as Chief Technical Officer helping to develop Flash. This new project plans to revolutionize online multimedia efforts.

"We're letting producers reach 300 million people instantly with high-quality video content and they don't have to sign a contract," Mr. Allaire said. "We say, 'Use it, and if you are successful we are successful.'"

Smaller production companies are also set to benefit from improved video integration on the Internet. Using online advertising models and video commercials, an Internet video operation can stay in the black with as few as 100,000 subscribers. Traditional television production required millions of viewers to keep a program running. Small independent producers, however, don’t feel that they need a platform like Brightcove to be successful.

ChannelBlast recently launched its first program, NewzViewz, an interactive public affairs program. They are running videos directly on their own site. The executive producer of ChannelBlast, Mark Lipsky, said that they don't need a supporting platform like Brighcove. “Our distribution is the Internet," he said; "Two to three years from now, we will be able to compete with any television network, but we will be global and they won't be."

They might be right. Josh Bernoff, an analyst with Forrester, said, "The advertising model is extremely simple and very attractive: you simply put your 30-second commercial in front of the video." “Advertisers are paying $25 per thousand users who see their online commercials, more than they pay for network television.” he said.
Full more, read
Online Pioneer Sets Out to Shake Up TV, and
Smaller Video Producers Seek Audiences on Net
(You may need to register to access NY Times full articles.)

China Calling

2005-10-05T15:25:00.000+01:00

So you want to start localizing your email to SMS marketing campaign? Have you considered China? If not, you should. China has over 3 million new cellular phone subscribers per month! With over 370 million mobile users in the country at the end of August, the Chinese are apparently talking up a storm!
For more: CMO Magazine

How Vulnerable are SMS-Cellular Networks?

2005-10-05T13:18:00.000+01:00

According to a report authored by two Penn State University professors, Patrick McDaniel and Thomas F. La Porta, malicious SMS text message campaigns could congest cellular message and voice networks across entire cities.

Because SMS text can be generated from email and the Internet, cellular networks are vulnerable to heavy spam-like traffic that could compromise voice communications across entire networks.

“By pushing 165 messages a second into the network,” said Patrick D. McDaniel, a professor of computer science and engineering at Pennsylvania State University and the lead researcher on the paper, "you can congest all of Manhattan." From: NY Times (you may need to register to access the full article)

The findings of the report are expected to be released today at Penn State, and as a formal research paper at a computer security conference next month. The paper will be posted online at: An Analysis of Vulnerabilities in SMS-Capable Cellular Networks

"The World's Most Innovative Social Browsing Experience"

2005-10-05T13:05:00.000+01:00

Now that's a big claim to fame, or is it? Projecting 100 million users in the next five years, Flock is a Palo Alto-based company that has developed a social browser that will make interactive web use easier. Flock developers call it “The world’s most innovative social browsing experience.” They also call it “the two way web.” A beta version of the Flock browser will be available to the public in two weeks.

One feature that will distinguish Flock from Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox is its blog-friendly dashboard and “right-click” blog wizard that will allow users to post, add photos, create links and insert quotes without any complicated coding. Photo images from Flikr, for example, can be easily dragged into a blog page for use without time-consuming uploads.

Full Article: Business Week

White House Presses Journalists with Email

2005-10-05T12:54:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, the White House Press Office sent an email to journalists at 8:11 a.m. notifying them about a press conference with President Bush. Journalists had until 8:45 a.m. to register attendance for the conference, which was scheduled for 10:30 that same morning.

Some journalists argue that the White House is inconsiderate with its short-notice email announcements. Others feel that the White House is using technology effectively to announce such matters. Change occurs so quickly these days, that it would be unreasonable to think that the White House could confirm press meetings too far in advance.

Full Article: US News and World Reports

What do you think?

Ground Control to Major Tom

2005-10-04T14:36:00.000+01:00

It was only a matter of time, I suppose. Restrictions barring cellular phones and Internet access on board airplanes are currently being reviewed, with two European Airlines, TAP Air Portugal and BMI, positioning themselves to be the first to provide mobile phone coverage in Europe next year.

Some International carriers are already allowing Internet access. Scandinavian Airlines are one of several non-American carriers using an in-flight, high-speed Internet service called Connexion, developed by Boeing for its own commercial jetliners. The high use on the trans-Atlantic Scandinavian flights is somewhat unusual because they tend to be filled with tech-savvy Microsoft employees, who are even carting special noise-canceling headsets onto the planes to use Boeing's satellite-based system to make free voice-over-Internet phone calls. Read To Surf Web While Aloft, Fly Foreign

The potential changes are stirring a debate amongst business travelers worldwide. James E. Katz, director of the Mobile Communication Studies Center at Rutgers University, suggested that the debate involves a deeper social context. “Airplanes,” he said, “have become the last place where people in business do not feel obliged to be constantly and immediately available.”

Mr. Katz said airplane travel is associated with productive time for many business travelers, either because it offers a place to work without being interrupted, or a sense of peace that has been lost in a culture of 24-hour connectivity. "We've created a world where if you don't get back to somebody immediately, you're suggesting they're not important," he said. "People love having the enforced tranquility."

Many travelers, however, welcome the movement toward digital accessibility at 25,000 feet. Charles M. Lax, 46, a venture capitalist from New Center, Massachusetts gets nervous thinking about his messages piling up while he is in the air. "The voice mails stack up, the e-mails stack up, and it becomes a nightmare to respond," said Mr. Lax, "Nine out of 10 times I fly I'm doing so for business, and I want to be productive in between." Still, Mr. Lax said he could do without phone access on planes, but would like e-mail, which he said was a more efficient way to get business done anyway.

Full Story: Silence Aloft is Under Threat
(you might need to register to view the full article)

Opt In to Advertising's New Age

2005-10-04T13:10:00.000+01:00

The NY Public Library, together with the Online Publishers Association, is hosting an interesting exhibition which contrasts advertising vehicles over the last 200 years. Ads from print, radio, television and the Internet are featured side by side, showing the evolution of advertising across different mediums.

“What does a Coke ad look like online in 2002? No more "pause that refreshes" (print, 1929) or "real thing" (television, 1969). On the screen you see a horizontal straw that slowly fills with dark liquid and bubbles. After a few seconds, the straw slowly becomes clear again. It is beautiful and purely visual.

That is the major difference. With radio and, oddly enough, even with television ads, the humor is largely verbal. With online ads, the wit is almost always visual. In this way they have the most in common with their oldest cousin, print advertising - another medium that doesn't have a captive audience and must therefore rely on grabby graphics.”
Full Article: NY Times (you might have to register to view articles)

One online ad showcased at the exhibition shows an endless flow of milk pouring into a cup of Pilão coffee This demonstrates the visual potential of Internet advertising. The World Wide Fund, an environmental non-profit agency was also represented. Here is a good example of the use of interactivity in one of their ads:
Experience Being a Wild Bird

To see more award-winning online ads, go to: One Show Interactive

Organic Content: King of SEO

2005-10-03T12:10:00.000+01:00

Even with all of the tricks and short-cuts to search engine optimization (SEO) available today, organic content is still king. Recent studies confirm the importance of organic, content-rich search engine listings.

“Over the past three years, independent research has consistently confirmed that search engine users tend to click on the center column organic (free) results far more often than on paid ads. Earlier this year, search marketers benefited from a number of published studies that clearly demonstrate the higher value of organic placements.” Full Article: WebPro News

With so many approaches to optimizing search engine placement available today, we often overlook the importance of providing good, old-fashioned, relevant content as the cornerstone of our SEO strategy. Let’s face it, as search-engine users ourselves, we want the meat of content when looking for information. And no matter how crafty advertisers might be, you can’t fake meaty content.

Insourcing Communications

2005-10-03T11:58:00.000+01:00

Richard Branson’s attempt to refine his own oil to cut costs at Virgin Airlines teaches us a few things. It teaches us that Richard Branson is extremely wealthy! It also teaches us that it is important to take another look at elements of our business that are currently being outsourced. As Branson illustrates; when possible, it just makes good sense to do something in-house if possible. We should consider this not only to save money, but to have control over the quality, efficiency and access to those elements which are critical to our operations.

One thing that small businesses can do themselves today that they paid others for yesterday is managing their communications. It wasn’t too long ago that we outsourced our marketing campaigns, press releases, and relationship management strategies. Affordable bulk email tools like GroupMail make managing our communication efforts easy. The ability for small businesses to communicate with unlimited lists of contacts in a segmented and personalized fashion is empowering. Small businesses can also track the success of their communications’ campaigns easily today with software like GroupMetrics, another Infacta product. GroupMetrics allows users to monitor deliverability, open rates, and click-through rates. These important tasks were far too technical for most of us to manage ourselves yesterday. Technology rocks! Perhaps one day, we’ll be able to refine our own oil too?

Online Marketing: Teenagers Talk Back

2005-09-29T11:23:00.000+01:00

Because 97% of American teenagers use the Internet, spend more time online than they do watching television, and set trends in the market; it is essential for marketers to understand what turns them on. Last week, online advertising agencies tried to gain real insights into the teenage market during an event at the Millennium Hotel in Times Square, New York. The Interactive Advertising Bureau invited 10 teenagers to the event to evaluate the effectiveness of major online campaigns in front of hundreds of industry executives.

The teenagers watched demonstrations from Nike, Coca-Cola and the video game Halo 2 before providing frank reviews of each. Grant McDonald, founding partner of North Castle Partners, moderated the event. He said, “This is a very tough audience.” "They're so sophisticated, more than anyone else. It takes a lot to turn them on."

After the teenagers disbanded, Mr. Gnecco winced at the reaction to Coke Studios. "They destroyed me," he said.

One thing that the teenagers echoed throughout the event was the desire for customization. James Del Guidice, 18, said, "The fact that you actually get to do it yourself is good.” "I definitely think the more custom, the better." Mildred Arteaga, 17, said, "Everybody is looking to be different."

For the full article and more comments from the trend setters, go to: NY Times: What’s Cool Online, Teenagers Render Verdict

Online Efforts Outpace Traditional Media

2005-09-28T12:06:00.000+01:00

A recent report from Pricewaterhouse Coopers suggests that US online advertising and marketing efforts continue to grow, up 26% to $3 Billion in the second quarter. This can be categorized as a “duh” for those of us who regularly use the Internet to conduct business today. The growth stems from the awakening of corporate marketers to the fact that there are just under 1 Billion Internet Users today. In marketing terms, that equates to almost 1 Billion Internet Customers. Also fuelling the increase of online spending is the availability of new and emerging platforms for messaging, to include affordable email marketing software, high-speed digital video, and bandwidth-friendly audio. Because of lower costs, better connections and more functionality on line, consumers are spending more time on the Internet than they are on other media today.

In a report from the LA Times, David Silverman, a partner at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, says, “The consistent growth in overall revenues shows marketers may be shifting more of their total advertising budgets to online." Full Article: LA Times

China, Communism and Content Control

2005-09-26T11:03:00.000+01:00

The Chinese government is attempting to hold back the sea with its decision, reached yesterday, to control content on the Internet. This is the most significant policy update to Internet content distribution in the last 5 years.

"Major search engines and portals like Sina.com and Sohu.com, used by millions of Chinese each day, must stop posting their own commentary articles and instead make available only opinion pieces generated by government-controlled newspapers and news agencies, the regulations stipulate.

The rules also state that private individuals or groups must register as "news organizations" before they can operate e-mail distribution lists that spread news or commentary. Few individuals or private organizations are likely to be allowed to register as news organizations, meaning they can no longer legally distribute information by e-mail.

Existing online news sites, like those run by newspapers or magazines, must "give priority" to news and commentary pieces distributed by the leading national and provincial news organs.

This restriction on the ability of Web sites to republish articles produced by the huge array of news organizations that do not fall under direct government control seems intended to ensure that the Propaganda Department has time to filter content generated by local publications before it can be widely disseminated on the Internet.
The new rules are the first major update to policies on Internet news and opinion since 2000..." Full Article: NY Times: China Tightens Its Restriction for News Media on the Internet

The Chinese Were Coming, The Chinese Were Coming....

Copyright Laws Googled

2005-09-21T11:38:00.000+01:00

Google's Library project is on hold due to a class action suit brought forward by authors of books sitting in the University of Michigan's library.

"...The suit contends that Google knew or should have known that the Copyright Act "required it to obtain authorization from the holders of the copyrights in these literary works before creating and reproducing digital copies of the works for its commercial use and for the use of others.

Google has said from the beginning that its program is covered by the "fair use" provision of the copyright law, which allows limited use of protected works. In a statement issued in response to the suit, Google also said its program respected copyrights.

Google temporarily suspended its library project last month to give authors and other copyright holders until November to opt out by telling it that they did not want certain works to be copied.

But Mr. Aiken said that offer turned longstanding precedents in copyright law upside down, requiring owners to pre-emptively protect rights rather than requiring a user to gain approval for use of a copyrighted work..." Full Article at The New York Times

Copyright issues will be more and more difficult to control as the Internet will soon have 1 Billion users. Any Suggestions?

Email Branding: A Brand New View

2005-09-20T13:21:00.000+01:00

When we talk about branding in a traditional context, the subject involves our unique identity and how it affects recognition, confidence and loyalty in our market. How familiar are people in our market with our name and products and services; or more importantly, what is their perception of our brand? In his article on the ABCs of Great Brands, Bill Nissim discusses how the Appreciable Brand Triad™ forms the basis of great brands. What do Attributes, Behavior and Circumstances have to do with great brands? According to Mr. Nissim, "The lack of a solid foundation for a brand will ultimately undermine its future success. This foundation goes beyond the logo and brand fascia and provides the underpinnings of legitimacy and ability to deliver real value. The type of reasoning that both buyer and seller share enables the origin of a relationship. The setting by which the foundation and behavior can be acted on must be appropriate in many respects." The same is true for e-marketing. Our ability to reach into our customers' inbox will be useful only if our brand is perceived as desireable to the recipient. How does this triad of brand backbone relate to online customers receiving your message? Full Article: The Messaging Times

Email Design: When Getting it There Isn't Enough

2005-09-20T13:09:00.000+01:00

Your product is great. Your promotional message is exciting. You have award-winning email marketing software to launch and manage your campaign. What could go wrong? Well, your customer could open your e-mail and close it within 2 seconds without ever opening it up again. Or they could delete it. Successful e-marketing involves many steps. After creating great content to promote your wonderful product, you must communicate it. Your must persuade the recipient to open the envelope (or e-mail) and take a look at what's inside. Getting it there is hard enough, but it's even harder when there's no payoff. To get people to read and respond to your e-mail, it has to inspire them when they first see it. Then, if they are inspired enough to open it, you have a few seconds to inspire them again. Here are 5 tips to maximize your chances of inspiring your potential customers: Full Article: The Messaging Times