Guy Kawasaki's new book...Keyword: Enchantment

Last night, I began reading Guy Kawasaki's new book, Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions . I was pretty impressed with what I learned in a short period of time. The book is chock-full of great tips for pushing forward your ideas and your projects socially. Whether you're an entrepreneur or just want to learn how to become more effective as a marketer with either your company's message or your own personal objectives, I think you'll benefit from this book. In one chapter, Guy talks about having a good handshake (dry, cool, firm grip and soft skin while looking directly in their eyes and smiling genuinely), and he emphasizes the impact one can have in interpersonal relationships by consistently making --not faking-- a true smile, and speaking in active voice, not passive.

Media mogul Richard Branson put it best when he said,

Guy's book captures the importance - and the art - of believing in an idea that delivers something entirely unique to the customer. The power of a really good idea to transform the marketplace and individual customer experiences is huge, and this book offers a wealth of insights to help businesses and entrepreneurs tap into that potential. -Sir Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group "

Until midnight tonight, when you buy Enhancement, you can get a copy of his previous book, Reality Check, for free.

If you know anyone who might like this deal, please point them to:

https://alltop.wufoo.com/forms/early-enchanter-offer/

Guy says: Sorry but I can only make this offer for copies bought from U. S. retailers, and we can only ship the Reality Check to U. S. addresses.

I decided to write this blog post about the book because I know so many marketers, small business owners and leaders who already like Guy for what they know abut him but might not have been given that tipping point reason to buy his latest book. Here's my vote: I think you should read it, and let me know what your greatest takeaway is!

Paid Advertising Less Effective in 2011

I thought this article had some fascinating stats regarding methods of online advertising and which ones can be more effective in driving clicks to your site. However, paid advertising can still drive brand impression benefits for you. Take a look at how social media has increased as a traffic driver.

Amplify’d from www.b2bbloggers.com

Trends And Strategies To Market Your Website In 2011

61% of adults say they still find websites using natural search results

The next biggest traffic driver is referrals

Paid advertising is now the least effective method of driving traffic to a website

The effectiveness of paid search advertising has dropped by 10% since only two years ago.

A mere 3% of surveyed adults say they visit websites from paid advertisements.

Social media marketing has been holding steady as a major traffic driver.  16% of adult internet users find websites through social media profiles and links.

20% of users who view a paid advertisement online choose to search for that website’s organic results before visiting the website.

Your paid ads aren’t worthless just because other forms of marketing are taking center stage.  Consider that your paid ads can offer you real-time analytic information along with their functionality as ads.  This analytic data is useful for improving all aspects of your campaign.

mpressions matter.  Just because your ads don’t seem to be driving clicks directly doesn’t mean they aren’t adding to the overall awareness of your brand.  Remember that many users now view search results after viewing an ad and then navigate to a website – focusing on multiple aspects of your campaign can help target these users.

Mobile marketing is of growing importance.  1 in 3 internet users under the age of 18 browse the internet at least once a week on their mobile phones.  Target these users to increase your success.

In Conclusion:  Additional Tips for Success Read more at www.b2bbloggers.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/btg27

Conversion Conference West 2011: Come See Me Present!

I'll be on a social media panel in San Francisco in less than 2 weeks at Conversion Conference West. I recently blogged about it.

I am very excited to hopefully meet Bryan Eisenberg (@TheGrok) and also Michael Summers (@ez2use) - both exceptional authors in the digital marketing space.

Here's the news release that the conference organizers put out recently, picked up by www.digitaljournal.com

Conversion Conference Keynotes Reveal Secrets to Delivering Revenue from Website Visitors, San Francisco, March 14-15, 2011

Conversion Conference, focused exclusively on increasing website conversion rates, is a must-attend event featuring keynotes by industry experts Tim Ash, Author, Landing Page Optimization (and Conversion Conference Chair), Bryan Eisenberg, Co-Author, Call to Action, and Always Be Testing, Michael Summers, Co-author, Creating Websites that Work and Andrés Amézquita, V.P. of e-commerce at Mattel Inc. Attendees also have access to a special guest keynote from Thomas Davenport, Author, Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning.

eet the leaders in the field and hear live landing page critiques, 20 educational sessions, 4 keynotes, book signings and have roundtable lunches with the speakers whose strategies and tactics are presented in practical how-to sessions, case studies and actionab

Meet the leaders in the field and hear live landing page critiques, 20 educational sessions, 4 keynotes, book signings and have roundtable lunches with the speakers whose strategies and tactics are presented in practical how-to sessions, case studies and actionable takeaways.

“Realizing the already-existing value from website visits is a board-room imperative when corporations have spent millions on driving traffic to their websites," says conference founder Tim Ash. "Conversion Conference’s expert speaker roster delivers the tools and expertise to their interactive teams.”

Other notable Conversion Conference speakers include: Mani Iyer (Kwanzoo), Patrick Bultema (CodeBaby), David Szetela (Clix Marketing), Erin Eschen (Perficient), Justin Rondeau (TemplateZone), Ole Bahlmann (SoundCloud Ltd), Raquel Hirsch (WiderFunnel), Steen Rasmussen (IIH Nordic), Howard Kaplan (Future Now), Lance Loveday (Closed Loop Marketing), Aaron Kahlow (Online Marketing Summit), John Cecil (Innovate Media), Todd Barrs (Webroot Software), Bob Garcia (Optimize), Khalid Saleh (Invesp), Rob Snell (Gun Dog Supply), Joanna Lord (SEOmoz.org), Darrell Benatar (UserTesting.com), Charles Nicholls (SeeWhy), Scott Brinker (Ion Interactive), Seth Berman (Blue Shield of California), James Niehaus (Symantec), Andrés Amézquita (Mattel Inc.), Joe Weller (RealNetworks), Justin Davis (Madera Labs), Pete Olson (Amadesa), Amy Africa (Eight by Eight), Chris Goward (WiderFunnel), Paras Chopra (Wingify), Eric J. Hansen (SiteSpect), David Rodnitzky (PPC Associates), David Szetela (Clix Marketing), Susan Weinschenk (Human Factors Int'l), Andre Morys (Web Arts AG), Byron White (Idealaunch.com) and Jeanne Hopkins (HubSpot). Read more at www.digitaljournal.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bsncn

I "Like" Your Brand; Now Let's Make a Deal

"Coupons! We want coupons!"

Small businesses, merchants, website owners - anybody with something to SELL - are you listening? Your customers want to connect with you on Facebook, but primarily because they're looking for a deal - a discount, a coupon, a freebie. Give them what they want, and they'll keep coming back, right?

This online survey by Ad Age/Ipsos Observer of 1,000 US adults and their digital media habits indicates that if you have something to sell to the average US adult, you need to be on Facebook. In fact, it wouldn't hurt for you to give some location based services a try, such as one of my favorites, Foursquare. Try offering coupons exclusively for fans of your Facebook page, and monitor your brand's mentions across social profiles to ensure a positive experience and speedy response and resolution of issues.

Amplify’d from adage.com

41% of respondents said they want to receive communications from marketers on Facebook -- more than double any other digital platform. One in three said it was their "preferred" platform

42% want better customer service, 28% sought branded games and only 22% care about customer news.

Nearly three-quarters of Facebook users have "liked" at least one brand on the platform and more than a third of users have liked six or more.

Coupons were also the main driver listed for users of location-based check-in services such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places and others.

are driven by the game-like aspects

Some 40% said they use the services to keep track of friends or let friends know where they are and 15% are driven by the game-like aspects of earning rewards like Foursquare's badges

There are 241 million residents aged 10 and older in the U.S. and 149 million Facebook accounts, which are only open to those 13 and older. When you consider that the latest Pew data shows 79% of adults have internet access, you start getting to a point where saying "Everyone who is online is on Facebook" isn't that far off. Read more at adage.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bs8h7