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Added for You - Rethinking Website Content - Content That Entertains
Have you ever wondered how to find out if you're getting laid off? Although there are no magic formulas, there are key indicators to finding out about job layoffs. In addition, there are proactive approaches you can take with your own career to reduce the chances of you or your team becoming the victim of corporate layoffs.Key indicators for potential job layoffs: Has your company recently purchased or merged with another company? One of the first things companies look at when they merge with other companies are ways to reduce overhead and operational costs. There's no need to have duplicate accounting departments, legal departments, etc.How well does your company perform in the marketplace, and what debt does the company carry? Keep up with your company's performance by analyzing financial statements and balance sheets. Most public companies provide this information on their websites, but you can also find this information at places like Yahoo Finance. If your company is headed for bankruptcy, there may be potential layoffs.Are you and/or your team providing value to the company? You provide value to the company by
Meaning + Sharing + Experience
The idea of 'Communitainment' provides a conceptual framework for creating Web-video presentations that work: your business communication must convey meaning through a focused presentation that uses all the various techniques available to the savvy Web-producer; your audience must see enough value in the presentation that they are willing to contact others in thei
To survive and thrive in today's competitive environment, it is not just what you know. You also need to be competent. You must stand out from the crowd - be memorable, impressive, credible, trusted and liked."Success is never a destination - it is a journey." -Maya Sullivan1. Exceed expectations; deliver results on a or head of time.2. Manage your time effectively.3. Create a career plan with goals and training requirements.4. Move away from day-to-day operations.5. Develop strong rapport with colleagues, senior managers/executives.6. Get a mentor, accept guidance in your career.7. Know your organization's goals vision, values, business strategies.8. Create opportunites to further own/business goals.9. Solicit feedback and assess the decision for purposes of continuous improvement.10. Communicate effectively to people at all levels of your organization.11. Build and maintain relationships with individuals who might impact your work.12. Plan, prioritize and organize your work.13. Manage own emotions and reactions.14. Balance the demands of your personal and professional life.15. Give yourse
Almost daily I receive emails from people asking me to review their websites and tell them why they can't convert visitors to customers even when they are attracting significant numbers of visitors on a regular basis to their sites.
The answer is both simple and complex: simple, because these websites fail to communicate the company's message in a meaningful manner to their visitors, which means no dialog is opened, and without a dialog, no business can be done; and complex, because the implementation of the solution requires a new way of thinking about communicating with your audience using sophisticated presentation techniques that put a higher premium on creativity than they do on facts, figures and old-school direct marketing tactics.
If you are looking for a mantra to begin any new website initiative or to correct an existing website disaster: Think Audience Not Customers.
New Words For A New Web-Business Environment
In the past while I've run across three newly coined words or phrases (Communitainment, Branded Entertainment, and Snack-o-tainment) that attempt to capture the fundamental change that has taken place among Web-user expectations.
All of the new terms have two things in common: one, they require the marketer to think of website visitors as an audience and not as customers; and two, they all require the marketer to use entertainment techniques as the basis for delivering content.
Communication + Entertainment + Community
The Piper Jaffray Internet Media and Marketing research team recently released a report entitled 'The User Revolution' in which Safa Rashtchy coined the concept of 'Communitainment,' a blending of the words communication and entertainment. Rashtchy uses the term to denote the "melding of communication, community, and entertainment," as a new formula for implementing the delivery of marketing content.
The report points out that "Video ads will be the driver of the next major growth in brand advertising …" with the Web being "the leading medium at work and the second leading medium at home behind television."
For any business that thought they could conduct business as usual, this should be a wake-up call. The Web has changed: the market is no longer content to be informed, they must be seduced, and you are not going to seduce them with key-word density and biz-speak.
Contrary to popular belief you can deliver a marketing message faster, more powerfully, and with better recall using creative video presentations than you can with a page of text. Now no one is saying you shouldn't have text on your site, but your copy better be damn interesting and well written if you expect anyone to actually read it.
Meaning + Sharing + Experience
The idea of 'Communitainment' provides a conceptual framework for creating Web-video presentations that work: your business communication must convey meaning through a focused presentation that uses all the various techniques available to the savvy Web-producer; your audience must see enough value in the presentation that they are willing to contact others in their
One thing that I’ve learned after 35 years in advertising is that no business wants to pay more than they have to for promotional expenses. It’s understandable considering all the various marketing options and the associated costs. A business has so many fixed overhead expenses from insurance to rent to employees that advertising is often left to the very end. The sad truth is that without proper promotion, the business can’t survive. I sold Yellow Page ads for 25 years and was invariably told that the ads were just too expensive. I used to ask, compared to what? It was then that I realized that I needed to educate my clients.What I ended up doing was justifying the investment through the use of the ROI or the “return on investment” technique. In basic layman’s terms, it works like this. Suppose you have purchased a newspaper ad for $100. Say you’re a florist and profit $10 on average per order. So you now need 10 orders to offset the cost of the ad. That’s the simplified version and it can be applied to almost any other media: TV, radio, Yellow Pages, direct mail, and so forth. It requires that you know the exact costs and your own profits. If the marketing program takes place over several day
The answer is both simple and complex: simple, because these websites fail to communicate the company's message in a meaningful manner to their visitors, which means no dialog is opened, and without a dialog, no business can be done; and complex, because the implementation of the solution requires a new way of thinking about communicating with your audience using sophisticated presentation techniques that put a higher premium on creativity than they do on facts, figures and old-school direct marketing tactics.
If you are looking for a mantra to begin any new website initiative or to correct an existing website disaster: Think Audience Not Customers.
New Words For A New Web-Business Environment
In the past while I've run across three newly coined words or phrases (Communitainment, Branded Entertainment, and Snack-o-tainment) that attempt to capture the fundamental change that has taken place among Web-user expectations.
All of the new terms have two things in common: one, they require the marketer to think of website visitors as an audience and not as customers; and two, they all require the marketer to use entertainment techniques as the basis for delivering content.
Communication + Entertainment + Community
The Piper Jaffray Internet Media and Marketing research team recently released a report entitled 'The User Revolution' in which Safa Rashtchy coined the concept of 'Communitainment,' a blending of the words communication and entertainment. Rashtchy uses the term to denote the "melding of communication, community, and entertainment," as a new formula for implementing the delivery of marketing content.
The report points out that "Video ads will be the driver of the next major growth in brand advertising …" with the Web being "the leading medium at work and the second leading medium at home behind television."
For any business that thought they could conduct business as usual, this should be a wake-up call. The Web has changed: the market is no longer content to be informed, they must be seduced, and you are not going to seduce them with key-word density and biz-speak.
Contrary to popular belief you can deliver a marketing message faster, more powerfully, and with better recall using creative video presentations than you can with a page of text. Now no one is saying you shouldn't have text on your site, but your copy better be damn interesting and well written if you expect anyone to actually read it.
Meaning + Sharing + Experience
The idea of 'Communitainment' provides a conceptual framework for creating Web-video presentations that work: your business communication must convey meaning through a focused presentation that uses all the various techniques available to the savvy Web-producer; your audience must see enough value in the presentation that they are willing to contact others in thei
The common difficulty I see is that businesses lack in the skill to identify them. Let's take a look at some common simultaneous operations:Drilling in an operational pit;Performing maintenance on equipment in operational areas;Watering mine roads;Performing maintenance in multiple storey facility whilst operations occurring; andConstruction in operational areas.So do all of these seem like everyday tasks? Have you previously identified them as Simultaneous Tasks? Are you asking where do I start? Well, ‘IT'S NOT THAT HARD', lets take a look at the basic steps:Identify all Simultaneous Operations;Perform Risk Assessment;Assess and control risks;Monitor the simultaneous tasks; andCommunicate the Control Measures.Remember, COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY TO PERFORMING THESE TASKS SAFELY.What are the benefits of performing this work?By identifying all Simultaneous Operations we are able to manage risks;Performing risk assessments will allow you to identify all risks introduced by the task;Assessing dete
In the past while I've run across three newly coined words or phrases (Communitainment, Branded Entertainment, and Snack-o-tainment) that attempt to capture the fundamental change that has taken place among Web-user expectations.
All of the new terms have two things in common: one, they require the marketer to think of website visitors as an audience and not as customers; and two, they all require the marketer to use entertainment techniques as the basis for delivering content.
Communication + Entertainment + Community
The Piper Jaffray Internet Media and Marketing research team recently released a report entitled 'The User Revolution' in which Safa Rashtchy coined the concept of 'Communitainment,' a blending of the words communication and entertainment. Rashtchy uses the term to denote the "melding of communication, community, and entertainment," as a new formula for implementing the delivery of marketing content.
The report points out that "Video ads will be the driver of the next major growth in brand advertising …" with the Web being "the leading medium at work and the second leading medium at home behind television."
For any business that thought they could conduct business as usual, this should be a wake-up call. The Web has changed: the market is no longer content to be informed, they must be seduced, and you are not going to seduce them with key-word density and biz-speak.
Contrary to popular belief you can deliver a marketing message faster, more powerfully, and with better recall using creative video presentations than you can with a page of text. Now no one is saying you shouldn't have text on your site, but your copy better be damn interesting and well written if you expect anyone to actually read it.
Meaning + Sharing + Experience
The idea of 'Communitainment' provides a conceptual framework for creating Web-video presentations that work: your business communication must convey meaning through a focused presentation that uses all the various techniques available to the savvy Web-producer; your audience must see enough value in the presentation that they are willing to contact others in thei
Contrary to popular opinion, business opportunities abound in all kinds of economies; you just have to know where to look for it. And sometimes, you should consider creating business opportunities instead of waiting for them to come knocking at your door.Types of Business OpportunitiesThere are all sorts of business opportunities to explore and which are already present in the market, but not all of them will make a perfect match for you. Choose carefully then because taking advantage of the wrong business opportunity can only cause you more financial burden.Self-Discovery as Source for Business OpportunitiesCreate a Product for a Unsatisfied Need – There are a lot of unsatisfied needs in all types of markets and although taking advantage of these business opportunities promise a lot of rewards, keep in mind that they also represent greater risk. Also, be sure that your product or service satisfy needs and not wants because the former is for keeps while the latter simply come and go.Improve an Existing Product – If you notice a particular product or service that is obviously unable to fully satisfy its target market, that situation can be immediately transformed into
The report points out that "Video ads will be the driver of the next major growth in brand advertising …" with the Web being "the leading medium at work and the second leading medium at home behind television."
For any business that thought they could conduct business as usual, this should be a wake-up call. The Web has changed: the market is no longer content to be informed, they must be seduced, and you are not going to seduce them with key-word density and biz-speak.
Contrary to popular belief you can deliver a marketing message faster, more powerfully, and with better recall using creative video presentations than you can with a page of text. Now no one is saying you shouldn't have text on your site, but your copy better be damn interesting and well written if you expect anyone to actually read it.
Meaning + Sharing + Experience
The idea of 'Communitainment' provides a conceptual framework for creating Web-video presentations that work: your business communication must convey meaning through a focused presentation that uses all the various techniques available to the savvy Web-producer; your audience must see enough value in the presentation that they are willing to contact others in thei
Good marketing, whatever form it takes, always meets certain criteria. That's what makes it good. The following 10-Point checklist will help you determine if your marketing passes the test. I challenge you to evaluate one of your recent ads, promotions or other marketing activities to see how it measures up.1) Does it focus on the solution or benefit you provide?Too often ads simply list product or service features. Don't make your prospects work that hard to figure out how your product or service can help them. Tell them straight out.2) Does it have one, clear message?What's the ONE message you want to communicate? Make sure it's not buried in too much information or it may not get across.3) Is it focused on one, specific group of prospects?Do you know who you are talking (and marketing) to? Make sure your marketing is targeted at one, specific group of prospects - it's the only way to make sure you are addressing their needs.4) Is it written in language these prospects can relate to?If you want your message to resonate with your prospects, make sure it speaks to them, both in content and in the tone and language you use.5) Does it fea
Meaning + Sharing + Experience
The idea of 'Communitainment' provides a conceptual framework for creating Web-video presentations that work: your business communication must convey meaning through a focused presentation that uses all the various techniques available to the savvy Web-producer; your audience must see enough value in the presentation that they are willing to contact others in their colleague-community and share it; and lastly, the delivery of the message must create a memorable entertaining experience associated with the product or service provided.
Branded Entertainment
Leta Baker writes in her 'Adobe Magazine' article 'Creative Persuasion: The Rise of Branded Entertainment' about her concept of using entertaining online video presentations as a means of effectively creating brand awareness.
What Baker is talking about is video that doesn't hit you over the head with a hard-sell sales pitch or bore you to death with meaningless platitudes, but rather presents entertaining short programs that companies can attach their brand to so viewers gain a memorable positive impression of your company. This is a long-term strategy that takes into account the reality that not every genuine prospect that comes to your website is ready to buy your product at that moment but might, when and if they remember who you are, when they are ready to buy.
There are many ways to implement this 'branded entertainment' concept and they all don't have to be completely devoid of salesmanship. The Apple iPod commercials are an example of what I would call 'branded entertainment,' even if Leta Baker would object. Unlike most commercials that people race to avoid, the iPod commercials are actually anticipated: people want to know what Apple is going to come up with next, and the result: iPod has the lion's share of the MP3 player market.
The Apple Macintosh commercials are another form of 'branded entertainment' that involves a sales pitch. Here we have an ongoing campaign with well-developed characters that the audience has gotten to know over the length of the campaign. The audience looks forward to what these characters are going to do next. This does not mean that every PC owner is going to run out and buy a Mac, but over time Apple is getting people to recognize their product as an alternative.
Because the commercials are entertaining, people are listening and waiting for the next installment of the campaign. Audiences are getting the message and that is all any good marketing campaign can achieve.
And here is the big hurdle for many small businesses: good marketing requires patience and should be aimed at opening a dialog, not just making a quick sale.
Most website sales pitches are like bad 'pick-up' lines: crude and ineffective; an audience needs to be wooed with tender loving care before you can expect to see any results. If you're not willing to invest the time and creativity in opening a dialog with your audience, you can forget about using the Internet as a marketing tool.
Snack-o-tainment: Fast Food Entertainment
The term 'Snack-o-tainment' was used by Nancy Miller in her 'Wired' magazine article 'Manifesto for a New Age" in which she equates consumption of new media to societies addiction to fast food. If the audience is addicted to entertaining me
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