Highlights

Dismantling the SEO Factory: You Can’t Fake Cool, Not Even with Links

November 15th 2010

You can’t fake cool. But lots of people try to fake “link love.” This was part of Google’s early genius: using inbound links to sites as markers of popularity. If important sites linked to a new site, that was an indicator that the new site had merit. Those of us who had not cracked popularity […]

Dismantling the SEO Factory: Crappy Content Marketing “for Google”

November 8th 2010

Have you noticed firms that do content marketing with such an SEO focus that it gets in the way of their user experience? Too often firms follow SEO tactics which are really an arbitrage of marginally useful actions that often have no value other than to influence Google. Here are some good SEO practices that […]

Yes, You Can Learn Social Media in School: Social Marketing and eCommerce at Bentley College

November 4th 2010

The session started with a 15-minute quiz on the latest social media phenoms of the last week: what’s up with Angry Birds, men buried in Skittles, and Evernote’s funding round?  It’s all part of being socialized into the constant flow of always-on social media, says adjunct professor Mari Anne Snow, who makes being on top […]

Social Media Measurement and the ROI Myth: My Deck From Today’s Online Marketing Summit

November 2nd 2010

Huge thanks to everyone at the Online Marketing Summit and ClickZ for convening today’s all day conference on social media. I’m hoping to see lots of you in February for their annual digital marketing extravaganza in February, where I’ll be talking about Web3.0: The Wave That Follows Social Media. Slides from the session are posted […]

SEO Truth: “Faking it for the Algorithm” is a Sucker Bet

November 1st 2010

When firms start taking meaningless actions to look good for Google, it creates both a distraction and a vulnerability. Here’s why following SEO fads is a sucker bet.

As Not Seen on TV: WebTV Titans Vie and Cut Deals with TV Broadcasters

October 28th 2010

Audience Platforms Emerge as the New Networks We are now among 2 billion people on the Internet.  Have you noticed that we’re increasingly spending the bulk of our time on an ever-smaller handful of hub websites? According to data from Compete in 2001, 30 percent of all Internet traffic went to the top 10 visited […]

Join Me for Free Full Day of Social Media Training with the Online Marketing Summit

October 26th 2010

Please join me and other UsefulArtists at an amazing, free, online event hosted by the Online Marketing Summit. One of the great things about social media is the generosity among practitioners, and the real relationships that develop. That’s why I’m thrilled to be part of a line-up of social media pros who are giving away […]

The Gap’s Logo Debacle is 99 Design’s Triumph

October 12th 2010

Logo contest firm shows how easy it is to make a better logo Judging from the fuss on Twitter, a change to a retailer’s logo can make a big difference in perception. Last week, Gap swapped its traditional blue logo with a new Helvetica logo on a white background pictured here. It reminds me of […]

Headed to FutureM Digital Strategy Session :: Say Hi, Get Gift

October 6th 2010

Just a reminder – if you’ll be at today’s FutureM panel discussion on The Future of Digital Strategy, I will have some tasty gifts for anyone who says hello and mentions that they read this blog. As my brother-in-law is a master chocolate maker (who really should blog himself) there is a likelihood that I’ll […]

Join Me Wednesday Night for a Free After Work Webinar on Social Marketing Measurement

October 4th 2010

Social Marketing ROI & Beyond This Wednesday night at 8:30PM I’ll be online to talk shop with you about one of the hottest topics in marketing, social measurement. Sign-up here. Are you getting tired of that nagging question about Social Marketing ROI? There’s a reason why calculating the return on social marketing is harder than […]