Blogs

Last week I attended the shortest marketing conference ever: The Influencer Project. The virtual event brought together 60 digital innovators and asked them to speak for 60 seconds about increasing your influence online. Speakers included some of the top thought leaders in digital media today. Here are some that I was excited to hear from:

Brian Solis, author of Engage!
Gary Vaynerchuk, author of Wine Library TV blog and Crush It!
Mike Stelzner, founder of...

Last week I was immersed in the Association for Accounting Marketing’s (AAM) national conference here in DC. The event offered three days of inspiring speakers, thought provoking presentations and networking with the sharpest minds in accounting marketing, and, significantly, constant tweets about the event.

During the conference I used Twitter to find out what was going on in sessions I missed, connect with new friends, make plans, provide commentary, joke around, share...

I went to hear Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, as part of the amazing 10 day-long extravaganza in Washington, DC that was Digital Capital Week. Tony talked about how important the brand is to a company’s overall success. If you don’t have a clear sense of your unique value and your people aren’t committed to delivering to that promise, everything about your business will suffer. Tony saw that first hand with...

If you’re not looking ahead you’re falling behind. To help you stay on the leading edge in 2010, here’s a list of top trends you should consider when developing your marketing plan for 2010.

Going Mobile
Last year was all about Twitter and Facebook. 2010 is poised to be the year of mobile marketing. According to the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), more Americans own cell phones than have cable tv, internet access and...

The FTC recently extended their guidelines for endorsements and testimonials in advertising beyond traditional media to include social networks and blogs. Starting December 1, 2009, you must disclose any relationships with advertisers when you endorse a product or service on a blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or any other online forum. What does this mean for you? If you’re active in social networks or contribute to a blog and offer an endorsement,...

A friend of mine recently launched a new business and invited me to the grand opening. Knowing that I probably wouldn’t know anyone there, I decided to take along my 5 year old daughter, Emma. I’ve learned that next to a puppy, nothing is better than a small child to get conversations with strangers going. Even though the room was filled with adults, Emma confidently walked the room and started chatting...

In a competitive economic climate, professional service firms need to capitalize on any edge they can and are finding rich resources when leveraging their alumni network.

Alumni programs have become a crucial way for professional service firms to develop new business, strengthen their brands and recruit the best and brightest. Alumni can become brand ambassadors for a firm, referral sources for new business and references for new hires or “boomerangs” that return...

The recession hit big law firms particularly hard. This past year has seen extensive layoffs and firms closing their doors. The traditional structure based on exorbitant billing rates and over staffed matters just doesn’t work anymore. To examine the changes law firms are grappling with as they try to serve their clients better, Bisnow, publisher of business-focused e-newsletters, invited Michael Helfer, General Counsel at CitiGroup, to discuss the new legal landscape...

The goal of online marketing like banner ads, pay per click (PPC) campaigns and email blasts is to drive prospects to your website. Most professional services online marketing campaigns send users who click on links to their homepage or maybe a practice area or service area page. But what will your prospects do once they get to those pages? They’ll disperse, and you won’t have any way to capitalize on their...

We all know that it's smart to market during a recession and that firms that do market are better positioned when the economy turns around. If we all know this, why aren't firms flexing their marketing muscle now? Here are tips on how firms can position themselves for growth in the post-recession economy that bear repeating. They're not earth-shattering. But they are marketing basics that you can't afford to ignore.

...