media

The 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing

by Paul Joseph June 22, 2011 Featured

Formerly known as “The Six Pillars of Internet Marketing” and having undergone several stages of evolution over the past 10 years, the “ 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing ” is a framework for the learning, strategy, budgeting, execution and analysis of the entire universe of digital marketing tactics and techniques.  7 Pillars is an active and constantly evolving ecosystem that covers a lot of ground. Each Pillar is like a force that dictates, to a large extent, how the World Wide Web works.  The framework contains logic and lessons for teaching hands-on execution, as well as high-level strategy, philosophy and the history of digital marketing. Building on my prior blog post on raising your Digital IQ , herein is a basic overview of the 7 Pillars and how you can start using it to improve or evaluate your own marketing.  Mastering these principles, or at least grasping them all and then diving deeper into one or two Pillars, will enable your web strategy to be smarter and more profitable. What are the 7 Pillars? 1.  Content – All forms of web content, from copy to photography to video, comprise Pillar 1.  Content is still king, and the bloodstream of digital marketing.  Content, which is equally important in the traditional marketing world, is the most overlooked area of digital marketing, and where businesses surprisingly struggle to produce. 2.  Design – Pillar 2 is comprised of web page templates, layouts and the overall UX (User Experience), be it via computer, mobile device or iPad.  Usability, User Interface and User Experience are different ways to define this essential Pillar.  Branding is a subset of Design.  Design determines brand and perception of quality more than anything else. 3.  Search – SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the key component of organic Search, and the holy grail of what every business wants to dominate in for their industry and product categories.  The Search Pillar also includes other types of search, such as organic Comparison Shopping Engines, onsite search (within websites and portals), and Universal Search (for music, images, videos and places).  Multi-lingual and mobile search are also considered herein. 4.  Media – PPC (Pay Per Click), retargeting, display advertising, affiliate marketing and CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) media comprise the loaded Pillar 4, digital Media.  This is where the most advertising dollars are flying to, making Pillar 4 the richest digital marketing strategy.  Digital Media tactics have significant overlap with Search, Social and Mobile Pillars, which are some of the primary pathways to digital Media spending. 5.  CRM – CRM or Customer Relationship Management is all about how customers, leads (and frankly, any relationship that a business maintains) are managed, organized and communicated to.  This includes contact management systems, Email Marketing, and Analytics of how prospects and existing customers interact with an organization’s websites and various digital campaigns. Google Analytics data is actually one of your most important CRM tools. 6.  Social – All social networks, blogs and other forms of user-generated content (forums, polls, surveys) are considered in Pillar 6.  Social websites are growing faster than any other kind; and even the “Search King” (aka, Google) is investing more in Social than any other area.  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, Stumbleupon, Flickr and hundreds of other innovative social media companies and technologies are covered under Social media. 7.  Mobile – 5+ billion mobile phone subscriptions exist in a planet of 7 billion.  Mobile is the new access point to the web and all other Pillars, making new commerce opportunities available and opening the door for those who practice creative digital marketing to take advantage.  Mobile apps, mobile websites and mobile payment systems are revolutionizing the field, making this possibly the most important Pillar of digital marketing. Each Pillar has numerous sub-categories, which contain thousands of specific tasks that encompass them.  As the constantly-changing field of digital marketing evolves, so do the Pillars.  Certain tactics and strategies, such as Comparison Shopping Engines, actually cut across different Pillars. To organize how one should approach the 7 Pillars, we can take a look at 7 key stages in the overall marketing process.  Each stage is a process of its own that is relevant to all the Pillars, while also existing beyond them to the overall marketing campaign. The 7 Pillars framework covers all of these bases, by explaining what typically happens and what the key actions and decisions are required at each stage, for each Pillar.  View a recent entry on the 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing Blog for more depth on the 7 Stages. Over the coming months, strategies, lessons, best practices and case studies for all 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing will be elaborated upon in this blog column.  For now, I’ll leave you with a couple of assignments that will help shape your own digital strategy. Your Assignment Looking across the 7 Pillars, make a note about what your company’s approach and commitment are to each. What is your own personal Digital IQ in each domain? As far as the 7 Key Stages go, assess how well your current marketing approach or digital strategy conducts each stage. Arman Rousta is Founder & CEO of digital agency, Blueliner, which services start-ups and established companies such as IZOD, California Closets and Lufthansa. Read more about Arman here .

Tagged as: business, comparison, customer, design, digital, entrepreneur, internet marketing, learning, marketing, marketing-strategies, media, search-engine, technology

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Chennai Regional RoundTable: Why should you attend

by Paul Joseph June 20, 2011 Featured

Startup events galore all over the place. With entrepreneurship becoming a common slang for making a life of your own like never before and with the media, ecosystem players fuelling its growth, people come around to host events to dish out stories or workshops to entrepreneurs. But we at YourStory believe in bringing real lessons to the table. (Visit Yourstory.in for full news, other content, and much more!)

Tagged as: content, frontpage, media, other-content, yourstory-in

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3 Controversial Actions Guaranteed To Shock You Out Of Your “Fail” Routine

by Paul Joseph June 17, 2011 Featured

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why haven’t I made it yet?” If not, now is a good time to really look inside. It was the year 2006, and I was a new immigrant in the U.S.A. I enrolled in a community college in my pursuit to earn a Bachelors degree. It was then that I stumbled upon a video on YouTube that talked about the power of the human mind and how it can manifest anything in the world through a divine law/power called “The Law of Attraction”. This video was about the newly released film “The Secret” . Hold on! This post is not about the law of attraction or anything of that sort. This video aroused my curiosity so much that I started doing intense research online and even spoke to my philosophy professor regarding this concept. Well, in the process I did come across a ton of scams where people tried to sell their courses on how to make a ‘bajillion’ dollars online in 57.9 seconds. I started to notice a pattern, the same check photos and testimonials showed up on multiple websites, the fake promises sounded the same. I am sure you know what I am talking about. We have a whole industry full of people trying to sell us the magic-pill and push-button solutions of living the dream life. Back in 2006 I discovered this blog, Entrepreneurs-Journey.com, through which Yaro awoke the entrepreneur in me. The content he provided was informative, honest, and attractive, unlike the tons of hype I came across then. EJ is one of the few blogs I am a loyal reader of ever since. Fast Forward 5 Years Fast forward five years, I am back to EJ, where my entrepreneurial journey started, but this time I am here to give back . I will share with you how I started multiple online businesses and ran lead generation campaigns for a bunch of multi-billion dollar companies . I still vividly remember five years ago when I was working three jobs working at minimum wages while walking 14+ miles a day to and from work. Oh! Last but not least, I was a full-time student at the same time. You may be wondering, how did I do all that? My answer – I believe there is no ONE recipe, but a series of principles I follow in order to run my life and business parallel to each other, which has helped me get here. Success Snowball Effect “The harder you work, the luckier you get” – Gary Player It would not be incorrect to say that focus has been at the core of everything I do. I am an analyst . If I see a marketing message, I start noticing the message as it is perceived by the end-user. I would analyze the length of the message, the message itself, the presentation, the psychological triggers and also the things that the author probably never consciously thought of, which are effecting the end result. Whether it be a video, website, sales copy, email, or a tweet, I am a freak at optimizing everything so my clients conversion rates are sky high . In other words I am a conversion geek freak. My ability to optimize marketing communications was noticed by Perry Marshall (author of “ The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords “), who asked me to consult him on improving his website conversions. Later, I also created a few videos for his educational courses. My success in earning large sums of affiliate checks and consulting with popular celebrities later gave me the confidence in competing in, and then winning a national marketing competition sponsored by the U.S. Navy SEALs . Now, I am on a mission to show you all my strategies that I have developed over the course of five years that has helped me earn large sums of money , win national marketing competitions , run multiple companies , and attract hard-to-get celebrity clients . 1. Start Blaming I once heard Marlin Sandars say something along these lines that changed the way I live: “There is only ONE thing that will define your success, that is your ability to persevere”. How true! We all are born with equal skills – meaning no skills . You and I were not born with the skills to manage AdWords campaigns, write copy, make products, or do marketing. We had to learn it. It’s just that some people have what it takes to learn, and others give up way too early. The people who make it to the finish line are the people who say “Let’s suck it up, and make it happen” . Therefore, the only person to blame for our failure is our own self. The fact is that we live in an age of easy access to information. You wanna know how to dance? You can find it online. You wanna know how to set up a blog? You can find it online. You wanna learn French? You can find instructions online. . . The resources at our disposal are endless, so that is not the question. The question is our ability to persevere through the challenges we face in implementing our plans. Our actions define where we end up . Tony Robbins once told a story of a guy who came up to him and said: “Tony, I have tried everything and I am still not successful”. Tony replied, “Ok, tell me about the last ten things you have tried to become successful”. On hearing this the guy was speechless. Does that sound like someone you know? Most people try everything in their head, and make false conclusions before they ever test them literally. 2. Start Hating Nope! I am not preaching hatred, but what I am inviting you to do is to start hating “ conventional wisdom ”. According to Wikipedia: “Conventional wisdom is a term used to describe ideas or explanations that are generally accepted as true by the public or by experts in a field.” In the dotcom boom , everyone was buying dotcom stocks, while Warren Buffet stayed away from them. The public and the field experts both were convinced that these stocks were valuable, but Buffet did not see the premise behind them. Buffet analyzed this conventional wisdom and used his brain to conclude that this was not a wise investment. And as we all know, he was right. “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.” – Mark Twain Let’s think about some of the conventional wisdom accepted in our market place: Social Media can make people rich. It’s super dooper, push-button easy to make money online, no skills required. In the next 20 minutes, start making a full-time income. Re-read the bullets above. Do they really make sense? I highly doubt that Yaro started his business saying, “You know what, I am just going to work 20 minutes a day and that’s it.” I don’t think any successful person, whether it be Muhammad Ali , Michael Jordon , Bill Gates , you name it, put a time limit on how hard he/she is going to work on his/her way to achieving their goals. This attitude of “work 20 minutes – do nothing – make money online”, which is widely advertised online, has lead to the massive failure rate we see around us. Unfortunately, hundreds of scammers are selling millions of dollars of garbage information products online every single day using the phrases mentioned above. What can I say? We humans are wired to be attracted to magic pills. We want to take a pill at night and wake up with six-packs the next morning. This is the reason why we repeatedly get scammed into these empty promises floating around the Internet. It’s time to start hating the conventional wisdom that is not serving us. 3. Start Failing It’s a numbers game, PERIOD. In some industries, sales conversions are less than 0.1% . That means that one has to speak with 1000 people to make one sale. The harsh reality is that most people give up way to early – they give up at the 10th attempt. I am very very thankful to Thomas Edison , who did not give up at all. He attempted to make the first practical light bulb thousands of times before he was successful. Edison gave us more than just a light bulb, he gave us a lesson on perseverance and patience. And by the way, do you think Edison said to himself, “I am just going to work 20 minutes a day on making a light bulb”? “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” – Michael Jordon Not Revolutionary The three actions I explained to you above, Start Blaming , Start Hating and Start Failing , are truly no revolution that I have exposed you to. But the more people I work with, I repeatedly see a gap that can be filled by at least one of these three actions. I am all about shaking people to face reality through asking harsh questions that we humans tend to run from. (They call it the defense mechanism .) Am I working in the trenches everyday? Am I doing what my mentors/advisers would do? Am I spending time with people I want to be like? Am I spending too much time watching guru videos and not taking action? We don’t ask ourselves these harsh questions and later wonder: “ Why haven’t I made it yet? ” We all know the definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” – Albert Einstein Let me leave you with yet another thought, which again is not revolutionary: Are you doing the same thing over and over again or even worse doing nothing at all? Aziz Ali Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: analysis, book, media, mindset, online, plans, Sponsored, young

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YourStory.in congratulates Wallop Media, one of top 15 finalists at MicroSoft BizSpark India Startup Challenge 2011

by Paul Joseph June 17, 2011 Featured

Wallop Media (previously Reach 360) is a technology focused ad-network that helps agencies succeed by helping their clients succeed. We at YourStory.in congratulate the entire team of Wallop Media for making it to the top 15 finalists at MicroSoft BizSpark India Startup Challenge 2011. Wallop Media has received this recognition for its patent pending technology that converts statics ads into… (Visit Yourstory.in for full news, other content, and much more!)

Tagged as: clients, content, frontpage, india, media, other-content, yourstory-in

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Uniken Innovation Lecture Series Successfully inaugurated in Pune

by Paul Joseph June 15, 2011 Featured

The inaugural session of UNIKEN Innovation Lecture Series was held in Pune on 3rd June 2011, in association with Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) IIM Ahmedabad. YourStory.in was one of the Media Partner for the event. The evening witnessed a gathering of innovators, entrepreneurs, students, working professionals, leading industry experts, scientists and academia from… (Visit Yourstory.in for full news, other content, and much more!)

Tagged as: centre, content, event, frontpage, innovation, media, other-content, series, visit-yourstory-in

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publishing next, a conference on future of publishing, to be held on September 16 and 17 in Goa

by Paul Joseph June 1, 2011 Featured

CinnamonTeal Publishing, the British Council YCE winner, is the organizer CinnamonTeal Publishing, a division of Dogears Print Media Pvt. Ltd, is organizing Publishing Next, a two-day Conference on the future of publishing on 16 and 17 September 2011 in Goa. (Visit Yourstory.in for full news, other content, and much more!)

Tagged as: british-council, frontpage, future, media, other-content, visit-yourstory-in, yourstory-in

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AAT MEDIA COLLEGE and SAE presents Media Career Workshop – 2011

by Paul Joseph June 1, 2011 Featured

An Open House for Media Education The AAT-SAE College campus at Chennai will transform into a Centre for Excellence for two days on the 3rd and 4th of June 2011, showcasing a wide array of media courses to choose from and help shape careers. The carnival will be an eye-opener for students looking at alternative career opportunities in the field of media and entertainment. (Visit Yourstory.in for full news, other content, and much more!)

Tagged as: chennai, college, content, field, frontpage, media, other-content, yourstory-in

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Is All Publicity Good Publicity?

by Paul Joseph May 30, 2011 Featured

This is one of the great adages of all time – and arguably the mantra of many a D-grade celebrity dreaming up their 15 minutes of fame. But is it always true? I love a controversial topic and this is definitely one of them. And it is most certainly not one that has a definitive and absolute answer because everyone in the industry has a number of examples that prove their point either way. So, in order to answer the posed question, I need to first attempt to explain what I mean by the question. Publicity is by definition, information that concerns a person, group, event, or product and that is disseminated through various media to attract public notice. The emphasis, therefore, of this definition is on “ attracting public notice .” Why Attract Public Notice? Now, it goes without saying that everyone has a different reason for attracting public notice. Certainly, most of my clients (and the clients of other public relation agencies) attract public notice for themselves, their product or service to make more sales. After all, if nobody knows you are there, how can you expect them to buy from you? Businesses and individuals go about solving this problem (being unknown) by advertising and otherwise promoting the advantages of their product and service to their target audience , focusing on how it will solve their perceived problems and generally make them happier, more youthful, stronger, better looking, etc. If their target audience is convinced of the fact, then they will assumedly buy the product/service and become a regular customer. Bearing this ideal scenario in mind, it makes sense that everything a current or potential customer should learn about a company they intend to purchase from should be favorable, right? If you discovered that the product was not quality or the company was involved in unethical business practice, chances are that this would influence your decision to purchase from them. Depending on the severity of the discovery, and your personal opinion about what a quality product or service is, and what constitutes unethical or unacceptable behavior, you may choose not to buy from them for some time in the immediate future. Obviously, the factors that influence buying behavior differs from one individual to another, but most diligent companies, having done their market research, will have an idea what information they will not want their target audience privy to. Sure, we all have skeletons in our closet, but most large companies and brands are looking for their customers to think the world of them. For example, I can guarantee that most airlines will experience technical faults on their airplanes at some point or another, as is the nature of anything mechanical, but they don’t necessarily want their audience to know about every single loose screw, even if it is perfectly normal. They would rather focus on the way their seats transform into completely flat beds in first class, when it comes to topics to promote about their airline. And don’t forget, publicity includes articles in the media including newspapers , radio and TV , word of mouth , on forums and social media online , blogs , etc. Therefore, in the case of most companies and brands, the answer to the question “is all publicity good publicity” would be a resounding no. Too much publicity about foreign objects found in burgers, faulty engines causing emergency landings and unreasonable fee increases would certainly impact public perception about a company’s reputation and affect their willingness to part with their cash. Exceptions To The Rule In some cases, most or even all publicity is good publicity. The publicity may be of a less than favorable nature, but the results may end up being positive for the individual or business. When is this the case? There are some specific examples I have identified below: The expectations by the target audience toward the business/individual . For example, when the fans of a rock group or performer hear about their “idol” making comments that are derogatory towards a public issue or debate. Obviously, it really depends on the severity of the comment or the topic itself. For example, Eminem mouthing off occasionally about his ex or rival is expected by his fans, whereas allegations about Chris Brown’s treatment toward Rhiannon no doubt lost him quite a few fans. Another example is that “leaked” sex tapes including Pamela Anderson or Paris Hilton affected their public reputation very little (in a negative way), whereas Bill Clinton’s escapades would have most definitely lost him quite a few votes and arguably even his seat in office. It is acceptable for celebrities to act in a manner that is outside of the social norm (occasionally) but definitely not for a Politician. If you are not known at all, provided not all the attention is negative . If you don’t have any reputation or publicity as yet, sometimes a little bit of debatable publicity will put you on the media and/or public agenda, and they will be more open to information from you in the future. Obviously, the extent and amount of negative publicity is entirely dependent on your business and audience. If the nature of your business is such that it attracts a lot of (often dubious) attention anyway, and your audience knows and expects this . We all know not to believe everything we read in gossip magazines, and even big reputable brands like Coca-Cola will attract some negative publicity from time to time. So, while there is no definitive answer to the question, here are some pointers to keep in mind when trying to get what is hopefully more than just 15 minutes of fame: Publicity stunts can be really fun and serve to get attention in a crowded and noisy world, but be sure that any stunt and expected/possible outcomes are suited to your audience and what you would ideally like your reputation to be. Don’t ever let the negatives outweigh the positives , particularly if you are trying to place yourself in a position of authority. The best publicity is well-planned and thought-out. Don’t be sloppy with any publicity you can control. Be in charge – it’s your reputation after all. Don’t just focus on one means of publicity – consider it all. Traditional (TV, newspapers, magazines, radio), word of mouth, blogs, social media – it’s all equally important . Kerry McDuling Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: book, business, internet, media, nature, online, product, question, small-business, social

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5 PR Essentials to Launch your Product

by Paul Joseph May 30, 2011 Featured

One positive advantage of launching your Product in the current times is that there are multiple ways to tell the world your product story unlike earlier times. Top of mind comes, the news a venture generates when it gets funding, almost all the media today writes about it. For eg. Sourbits’ funding by Sequoia Capital ( the last news that i saw everywhere). But the question is what do you… (Visit Yourstory.in for full news, other content, and much more!)

Tagged as: content, current, frontpage, media, news, other-content, product, question, yourstory-in

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Notes from the Hiring Front

by Paul Joseph May 16, 2011 Featured

Our company is in the fortunate position of growing at a significant rate. We have more than doubled in size in the past year and anticipate the same rate of growth over the next year. Not a day goes by when we don’t have at least one candidate in the office seeking out a job in one of our many departments. For an entrepreneurial company, few decisions are more important than hiring decisions. Every hire is an investment in money, time and effort. A single bad hire can result in a significant setback to a business. A great hire, on the other hand, can be a godsend to a small business. No employer has a perfect record when it comes to hiring. There will always be candidates that seem like a perfect fit and then turn out to be duds… or worse. At Blue Fountain Media, we’ve been fortunate enough to make some tremendous hires, but we’ve also had our share of mistakes. Over the years, though, we’ve gotten much better at identifying individuals both with the talents we are looking for and the personal qualities we seek in our team members. Here’s how we do it: The Job Description Some job descriptions are written like a kid’s list for Santa. They ask for the impossible and hope someone responds who has half the skills listed in the job description. We have found that it is much smarter to take the time to focus on exactly what you’d need from the position and lay it out clearly. If you are an entrepreneurial company where everyone wears many hats, make sure you emphasize that in the job description. A lot of people aren’t cut out for working in small, hectic workplaces and you don’t want to be stuck with someone who can’t handle the pressure. Writing a clear job description also helps you to focus on exactly what skills you need to add to take your team to the next level. Reading the Resume I have found you can learn a lot from a resume. More often than not, a resume will have at least one significant red flag. Make sure you pay attention. Typos, Grammatical Errors, and Terrible Writing Skills: It all goes back to discipline. If you can’t take the time to do things right, then don’t waste my time by sending me your resume. Since I need the members of my department to have excellent writing skills, I always make a major point of this in the job descriptions I write. You’d be amazed how many people who can’t put together two coherent sentences profess to want to be communications or content specialists. The worst instance of this- and I’m not making this up- was a guy who misspelled his own name in his logo ! Ignoring the Job Description: A job description is not a wish list. It is a specific blueprint for the person we feel will be suited to the position. When I say “minimum four years communications experience,” that does not mean four years of texting your friends in college. It means working in the communications field for four years! Self Aggrandizement: When you are applying for a very junior position, don’t call yourself an “expert,” unless you can prove your expertise immediately and convincingly. If you interned at a large company, don’t tell me how you “coordinated the project” you were working on. I really don’t mind that you did grunt work- that’s what interns do . Liars: This may seem like a no-brainer, but misrepresenting your background can come back and bite you in the butt. I routinely do Google searches on job candidates and I can’t tell you how often information on the web contradicts information on a resume or in a cover letter. Social Media Inventory In this day and age, an employer who fails to check out a candidate’s social media presence is making a huge mistake. How a person presents themselves in social media can tell you an enormous amount in relation to what kind of employee they would be. Positives include a network of close friends, creativity, writing ability and humor. The negatives, of course, can range from clear substance issues to a dramatic lack of judgment. Also, social media pages can help verify or put into question information contained on an applicant’s resume. The Interview Don’t waste your time interviewing dozens of candidates for a job. If you’ve reviewed the resumes carefully and done your social media homework, you should be able to narrow the search down to a handful of seemingly qualified applicants. Once I see a candidate face to face, I’m looking for the intangibles. I try to see how quick they are on their feet, how much preparation they’ve done for the interview and how excited they are to be there. You are not looking for your next best friend, but you are looking for someone you will enjoy working with for a long, long time. A candidate who has only the sketchiest idea of what your company does is someone who is either a fool, interviewing at dozens of places or simply has no interest in the job. We have a website that gives great detail on our people, our services and clients. If a candidate can’t take an hour to carefully review our website in anticipation for an interview, then that person is likely to be sloppy or careless in doing Another great “test” of a candidate is to go through the resume and ask about specific results. Anyone can tell you that they are a great marketer or salesperson, but I want to hear them tell me about a project they were involved in, what they contributed to the project and what the specific outcomes were. Even if a candidate is right out of school, I ask them to tell me what you attempted and what the results were: “I wrote an article in the college newspaper about waste in the dining halls and a new program was implemented…” “I organized a fund raising event for my fraternity and due to my efforts (with specifics) we raised $12,000 for…” “While in college I started a web design business and was able to pay my tuition for junior and senior year…” In Conclusion Every hiring decision you make will either advance your business or damage it. Failing to take the hiring process seriously is one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make. When you hire someone, you are putting a piece of your business into their hands. So do it right! Jon Gelberg is the Chief Content Officer at Blue Fountain Media, where he oversees a wide range of content initiatives including Blue Fountain Media’s “Business Learning Center.” Read more about Jon here .

Tagged as: business, entrepreneur, friends, interview, media, office, people, personal, small-business, time, web-design

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