Discovering business opportunities

Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs (www.marketingprofs.com). She directs all of the content in various forms produced on the MarketingProfs Web site and is the Primary Caregiver of its blog, the MarketingProfs Daily Fix(www.mpdailyfix.com). She also blogs at The Huffington Post. A lifetime ago, she co-founded of ClickZ.com.

1. How the Internet as a media is changing? What are the major trends?

Well, in terms of content on the Internet, there’s a whole lot more of it – and many more voices creating it and extending its reach.

That’s a huge change, obviously, from when only professional writers and editors were creating the content that most of us read and were therefore influenced by. Now, anyone who is armed with a computer and an internet connection has a voice, anyone can create and share content, and everyone can be one of the “who’s who.”

The ease of creating and sharing content has huge implications not only for those of us who make our living via it. But it also has huge implications for marketers. For years, marketers have talked to their customers. Now, they are hearing those customers talking back. (Read the article)

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Mr. Paul Chaney is Internet Marketing Director for Bizzuka.com, a web design and development firm based in Lafayette, LA.

Mr. Chaney has been an Internet media consultant for the past four years and is widely known and respected in that field. He understands at a granular level how conversational media tools can be used for marketing purposes and has worked with a number of clients assisting them in deploying online marketing strategies.

Mr. Chaney has served as Technical Editor on a number of For Dummies series books related to blogs and Internet marketing, and was contributing writer on the book Buzz Marketing with Blogs For Dummies, published by Wiley.

Specialties: Business blog consultant, online marketing consulting, conversational media marketing, real estate blogging, blogging

Great thanks, Mr. Chaney for sharing your experience!

1. What is the role of blogs nowadays? How they are changing the Internet?

Blogs were the forerunner that ushered in the social media movement and they still play a vital role. However, that role has changed thanks to the likes of Facebook, Twitter and other social tools. By that I mean you see less “day in the life” blogging and a greater emphasis on what some are calling “value” blogging. Let me explain.

In the early days, bloggers had one place to share their thoughts, ideas and opinions, and that was on their blog. Now, the more spur-of-the-moment, anecdotal posts are finding themselves being placed on micro-blogging tools like Twitter, Pownce and Facebook, leaving the more thoughtful, well-researched posts for the blog. That’s not to suggest bloggers don’t still write impromptu posts. They do. It’s just that other tools are now available allowing for greater choice and flexibility in where to publish. (Read the article)

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 Bill Brelsford, Owner of Rebar, Authorized Duct Tape Marketing Coach, helping small business owners and independent professionals attract more of their ideal customers

Thank you Bill, for your ideas!
 

How the SME can compete the big companies with big advertising budgets?

In Duct Tape Marketing, we define marketing as getting someone with a particular need to know, like, and trust you. Many big companies rely on big advertising budgets to help buy some of that know, like, and trust. SMEs on the other hand, have a significant advantage over big companies because of their ability to connect with their customers personally and talk to them on a regular basis. This allows them to build know, like, and trust without having to spend millions of dollars on advertising. People want to connect with and do business with people that they like. This is why we are seeing such an interest in blogs and social media. It’s up to the SMEs to leverage this advantage by listening to their customers and responding to meet and exceed their expectations.

(Read the article)

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Mack Collier, Social Media Marketing Consultant, Editor/ Blogger about social media, community empowerment, and the death of big music labels at The Viral Garden

Thank you Mack, for sharing your ideas! 

1. The market realities and the marketing are changing. How social media influence these changes?

I think that marketers have slowly begun to appreciate the power of word-of-mouth in recent years.  And social media just makes it that much easier for customers to create and share information and content.  As marketers begin to get a handle on what social media is and why it’s important, I think they are beginning to incorporate social media into their marketing plans.

(Read the article)

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Geoff Livingston, CEO  Livingston Communications  (a company specialised in public relations and social media), Marketing, PR and New Media Strategist, Author of the book “Now is gone”

1. Nowadays a new (and old in the same time) term has appeared – c2c (consumer-to consumer). What is the importance of c2c marketing and how marketers should deal with?

My big issue with the term “C2C” marketing is that it assumes consumers make a conscious decision to market products. That’s not necessarily what’s happening, although affiliate programs and eBay are certainly examples of true C2C.

When Word of Mouth (WOM) referrals occur it’s because a customer believes in a product.  The brand promise of marketing has been matched by the actual user experience.  Thus, they are happy to confirm the marketing and lend their credibility to the product/service/solution.  This is third party credibility, a result of good public relations using social media tools, not a conscious paid-for-marketing action. 

Word of mouth cannot be paid for so easily.  It can be inspired, but products and services must also be inspiring.  Marketing can only accelerate the consumer’s excitement for a product they would generally like anyway.  At the same time marketing and WOM can also accelerate a bad product’s failure.

(Read the article)

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