Update: with a gentle prod from commenter Brian Brown, I changed "viral marketing" to WOMM (word of mouth marketing). That’s what I meant to say.

Oh and started to post this a few days ago. It’s been a busy week. I went to the Michigan/Wisconsin football game last weekend in Ann Arbor, MI.

Wow. (Full disclosure: I don’t go to Big 10 games that often so I was, well, wowed…)

You can see that Wisconsin is holding off Big Blue at 10 - 10 here

Yesterday's teleconference for The Corporate Blogging Book was a lot of fun. There were nine participants, each of whom purchased five copies of my new book from 800-CEO-Read.

One caller, Cathy Chatfield-Taylor, was energetic enough to take really good notes. Inspired by her efforts, I added a few things (and corrected a few things). Then the 10 of us agreed to offer anyone who's interested the summary transcript as a PDF download.

Here are

Yesterday's teleconference for The Corporate Blogging Book was a lot of fun. There were nine participants, each of whom purchased five copies of my new book from 800-CEO-Read.

One caller, Cathy Chatfield-Taylor, was energetic enough to take really good notes. Inspired by her efforts, I added a few things (and corrected a few things). Then the 10 of us agreed to offer anyone who's interested the summary transcript as a PDF download.

Here are some of the questions we addressed. They were submitted by participants, an interesting mix of consultants, corporate marketers and non-profit advocacy professionals.

Questions (see PDF for answers)

- What blog platform to use?

- How do you transition a blog from being a content management system to a more engaging interactive communications format?

- What…

Here's a tips article the WOMMA folks posted to their blog:

How to Confront Your Fear of Corporate Blogging (5 tips from author and blogger Debbie Weil)

P.S. I didn't write the below. I.e. they're not my words exactly. But the tips are good. I've got a whole chapter on Fear of Blogging in my new book, The Corporate Blogging Book.

Tip #1. Think about blogging strategically
Ask yourself these questions: Why does it really make sense for you

Here's a tips article the WOMMA folks posted to their blog:

How to Confront Your Fear of Corporate Blogging (5 tips from author and blogger Debbie Weil)

P.S. I didn't write the below. I.e. they're not my words exactly. But the tips are good. I've got a whole chapter on Fear of Blogging in my new book, The Corporate Blogging Book.

Tip #1. Think about blogging strategically
Ask yourself these questions: Why does it really make sense for you to add a blog to your marketing communications strategy? What is it that you really want to say? What are your customers really interested in?

Tip #2. Consider starting an event-specific blog
If taking on a project with no end to it feels overwhelming, begin a blog surrounding a certain event. You may find that there's a long-term tie-in, and you…

Because it's bogus.

What I mean is that, as amusing or clever as anonymous blogging can be (of course sometimes it's nasty), it's still slippery. Only half credible. And therefore ultimately an artifice. It's not real. It's not *authentic.* It doesn't carry the weight of legitimate commentary.

Even when an anonymous blogger makes a good point, we find ourselves saying hmmm...

The obvious, of course, is that an anonymous blogger is cloaked

Because it's bogus.

What I mean is that, as amusing or clever as anonymous blogging can be (of course sometimes it's nasty), it's still slippery. Only half credible. And therefore ultimately an artifice. It's not real. It's not *authentic.* It doesn't carry the weight of legitimate commentary.

Even when an anonymous blogger makes a good point, we find ourselves saying hmmm...

The obvious, of course, is that an anonymous blogger is cloaked by er, anonymity, and can toss grenades at anyone or any company without fear of being personally attacked in return.

By contrast, the essence of effective business or corporate blogging is that it *reveals* something about the individual blogger... his or her smarts about a particular issue or discipline, whether it's PR or PVC (polyvinyl chloride). Or lack of smarts. Or willingness to take a hit from readers. We are usually…

One of the more provocative ideas that came out of last week’s WOMMA conference in San Francisco was the notion that there are two kinds of WOMM (word of mouth marketing): creationist and evolutionist. Each is legitimate but they spring from different philosophies.

 

Thanks to John Moore of Brand Autopsy for suggesting the terms. He couldn’t be at the conference but sent a neat video [links to YouTube] which outlined his concepts.

In a

Amidst all the blather about blogs, there's one e-marketing phenomenon that isn't dead yet. Yup, it's e-newsletters. Usability guru Jakob Nielsen has just revisited a study he did two years ago and has this to say:

"The average time allocated to a newsletter after opening it was only 51 seconds. "Reading" is not even the right word, since participants fully read only 19% of newsletters." - Jakob Nielsen

Ouch. So how do you make your Amidst all the blather about blogs, there's one e-marketing phenomenon that isn't dead yet. Yup, it's e-newsletters. Usability guru Jakob Nielsen has just revisited a study he did two years ago and has this to say:

"The average time allocated to a newsletter after opening it was only 51 seconds. "Reading" is not even the right word, since participants fully read only 19% of newsletters." - Jakob Nielsen

Ouch. So how do you make your e-newsletter stand out and become a must-read for your audience? Great content, appealing design, the right frequency, etc. There are lots of moving parts. Take a look at my award-winning E-newsletter Starter Kit for dozens of specific tips. It's a 149-page guide packed with screenshots and examples. It's still one of the best-selling items in my store. Download it instantly as a PDF or order…