Debbie Weil is a corporate blogging and social media expert, online marketing consultant, speaker and author of The Corporate Blogging Book (Portfolio). She consults with large companies, CEOs and senior executives on how to create blogs that connect with customers and attract media attention.

WebTrends NetIQ has just released their Lessons Learned in Web Analytics in 2003 report. Download the 36-page PDF here. It’s mostly a paean to WebTrends as an analytics tool. But you’ll find some useful nuggets. Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade used the “average view time” statistic to figure out which pages on their site were too long. Then they cut the copy to make for a quicker read.

Last week I attended one of small business marketing guru’s Ralph F. Wilson’s Best Practice Briefings in Washington D.C. Dr. Ralph, as he calls himself, is as wise and warm in person as he is on his mega-content site at www.wilsonweb.com. Boy, is this guy smart. He has the unusual gift of being a techie (he does his own programming) as well as being a gifted copywriter and marketer. Here we are together…

I was intrigued by the following instructions from veteran copywriter Jim Sinkinson of Infocomgroup: “Create a one- or two-page ‘copy platform’ for one of your products. Include a solid, well-thought-out description of the audience (including the audience’s biggest problems and untapped opportunities) and a strong list of product features and corresponding benefits.

Ask candidates to write a headline and the first two paragraphs for a magazine ad for the product. Assuming you know the difference between good advertising and bad (don’t use this method unless you have an advertising pro in on the judging), you should get a good idea pretty quickly. Don’t judge whether the head and copy are “correct” (since you may not know that without testing), but rather the creativity and sophistication of the approach.”

It’s tough for those of us selling content when vendors release a freebie that’s really useful. Follow this link to download EmailLabs‘ Best Practices and Delivery Trends reports. Yup, gratis.

MarketingProfs, a mega-site with info for marketers both online and off, is moving to a premium subscription model. Waddya think? Would you pay for access to “exclusive” content, free teleseminars, their discussion forum - and more? They’re calling it inexpensive yet extensive ($199 annual fee). Full disclosure: I occasionally write for MProfs and am a fan of this site.

You’ve heard about blogging. Now there is “re-blogging.” It’s a site (er, blog) re-publishing the best (related to art, technology & culture) blog posts from around the Web. Take a look…

Still puzzling over what the new anti-spam regulation means to you as an email marketer or publisher? Here’s a nifty report presented in the form of an online Q & A by Mike Adams of Arial Software. Note that it’s not a PDF download. Rather it’s presented as a sequence of Web pages you click through. A great example of “marketing with content.”

Yes, it answers the key question, “How do I make sure I’m not breaking the law?”

You’re familiar with “forward to a friend.” But here’s a clever idea: get visitors to your site to forward a page to a colleague; then reward your evangelizers with a free teleclass (or something else of value). That’s what marketing consultant Robert Middleton does on this page.

Forget the words Excel and spreadsheet… forget I ever mentioned them! Thursday’s teleseminar (i.e. audio conference) is about online conversion and why it’s the key metric behind any successful Web site.

We’ll show you the numbers and calculations behind a conversion calculator. Featuring guest speakers Jim Sterne, Web metrics expert, and Richard Kraneis, software trainer. REGISTER TODAY!