As someone who writes frequently about Internet marketing, I think of my audience as one of professionals—folks who already understand marketing (and probably Internet marketing) who want to keep up with the latest ideas. But what about new marketers, such as college students studying marketing? How are they learning Internet marketing? I learned marketing from a textbook, but can Internet marketing be learned that way?
A few months ago, I told the story of Imran Khan, who emigrated to the United States from Pakistan at age 30 and has risen to CMO of Internet lending powerhouse E-LOAN. One of my readers asked me to fill in even more of the story. In my original post, I mentioned that Imran had sent out 500 resumes without landing an internship offer, but I never explained how Imran got his first big break.
Message control. Marketers ask me about it every day. People keep telling me they are struggling to control the message. But they don't like what I say next: "Give up."
Marketers who want control need a new profession. I'm not sure that message control ever really existed to the extent we deluded itself that it did, but it sure ain't here anymore. People rate your products, they comment on your blogs, they write blogs of their own, and they create hate sites if you really aren't listening.
Many of you know that I spent the last few years at ibm.com, focusing in large measure on personalization. Eight years ago, when we first started looking at personalization, Amazon was the only Web site doing it successfully, but times have really changed. I realized how much has changed last week while travelling in Canada.
Those of you who have followed this blog for any length of time know that I care a lot about copywriting. Good copy is crucial for getting your site found and for getting customers to buy. But most of us, in private moments, might admit that we don't spend as much time crafting our copy as we should. Are you ready to put yours to the test?
In my May Biznology newsletter, I took issue with those who believe Google is too powerful. I don't think Google controls as much as what Microsoft does and nowhere near what IBM did back in the 1970s. Marshall Sponder disagrees.
Chad White has a great blog today on Email Insider called "Personality Goes a Long Way." Lots of people have written about this before, but Chad has great examples all taken from e-mail marketing, which has always seemed to have less personality than blogs, for example.
Here are Chad's three big ideas, which I heartily endorse:
Most of us hold professionalism in high esteem. We consider ourselves professionals of one sort or another. We try to "act professional." But more and more, I am running into professionalism run amok. When professionalism starts to mean that you are the expert and you don't make any mistakes, I think it's misguided.
I'm racing headlong to age fifty, but some days I feel older than others. Lately I have been feeling oh-so-twentieth-century whenever someone talks about marketing campaigns in virtual worlds, such as Second Life. I admit it. I just don't get it.
I'm not saying that virtual worlds aren't important. I'm not even saying that marketing in virtual worlds won't go on just as it does in the real world.
What I don't get is the kind of marketing that we're doing in virtual worlds.
Old-style marketing wasn't easy, but at least we knew how to do it. If we wanted to buy TV ads or print ads, we hired some creative people—or even a whole ad agency's worth. If we wanted to do publicity, we hired a PR person. Whatever kind of marketing you wanted to do, you could just hire an expert.
Times have changed.
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