Archive for the ‘Blogging’ Category
Do you lie in your marketing materials?
Have you ever thought about that?
How many times have you seen a sales letter that made a big promise but the product didn’t deliver? Or how about a blog post whose title said one thing but the post itself said another?
How did you feel when you were done reading? Like you just wasted 5 minutes you’ll never get back.
Make sure you don’t do that. If necessary, have someone else read your marketing materials.
Always test your emails. Send them to yourself and click on the links, reread for clarity, and check the formatting. If your emails look sloppy, you’re going to lose subscribers.
And above all – if you say you’re going to tell your readers how to do something, follow through! And don’t take 50 paragraphs to do it.
Back in February of 2009, I wrote this post about a mobile phone marketing company called 2du Media that I thought had a unique, interesting service for businesses and consumers. I used keywords where I could and added links to 2du within the post. I thought it might help them get some publicity for a week or so and that would be it.
Was I wrong.
Today, over 10 months later, I’m still getting hits on that post almost every day. In fact, I’ve had 13 hits so far today. Why?
I’d like to say it was my wonderful writing, but mobile phone marketing (also known as SMS marketing) is big. More companies are getting into it, so people want to know more. A few of these info seekers run across my post.
If you want a post that keeps getting hits long after you write it, mention names, research your keywords and use them judiciously, and link to relevant websites. If you can write about a new or hot trend, all the better. People will be looking for more information and you’ll look like an expert.
If you take the time to read the post, do you see anything else that might be helping it get so many hits?
Last week, I posted a link to an interview Jim Edwards did with an official at the FTC. Here is the link to the transcript of that interview:
http://www.igottatellyou.com/blog/ftc-interview/
Please…take a few minutes to read this and know exactly how these new rules will affect your business.
What is integrated PR?
Simply put, it’s PR that is interconnected. Twitter and Facebook feed into your blog and vice-versa. You create a video and post it on YouTube, plus your Facebook fan page, and then you bookmark it on Digg and Delicious. Pretty soon your readers Stuble Upon it, retweet it, or put it on their blogs or Facebook pages.
This is truly what “going viral” is.
Follow this link for an example of how a travel company did it. To find out how you can do it, go here.
Some disturbing news from the FTC. Seems that you can now be fined for exercising your right to free speech:
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/05/20/what-to-make-of-ftcs-proposed-paid-post-regulations
I’m still flabbergasted, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s perfectly OK for a cemetery to rip you off because the FTC can’t be bothered to make them follow the same rules funeral homes do…not that they don’t rip you off either, but there are at least some rules.
However, if I’m understanding this correctly (and please set me straight if I’m not), Joe Shmoe has to disclose if he’s helping his brother-in-law get his business up and running, or if he’s getting a free movie ticket for encouraging others to go see a particular movie.
Is a blogged endorsement for a product or service false or misleading because someone is being paid for it? Certainly not. It’s one type of joint venture and businesses do it all the time. It’s one way any smart businessman makes money.
What ever happened to one doing his or her due diligence and the concept of caveat emptor? Or are we so stupid and incompetent we have to have the gubmint take care of us and bubble-wrap us from our own mistakes?
My guess is that somebody got ripped off and knows someone at the FTC.
Color me disgusted. What do you think?
