The most up-to-date- trends and thoughts on digital marketing and the most effective ways to capitalize on ever-changing technology.

Facebook, I'm Just Not That Into You Karen Post 08/11/10 I have to admit I started my relationship with you because of intense peer pressure and media hype.

Moving Beyond Using Social Media Like Traditional Media Ed Reilly 07/28/10 The rush of brands wanting to add social media components to their advertising campaigns is quite sickening. Have we really not evolved beyond the methods used in TV, print, and radio?

Is Social Media Really Bankable? Jeff Cotrupe 07/21/10 Social media now resonates with business because it is in keeping with the market’s need to reach the right parties in the optimal venues at the appropriate times with the preferred messaging mix.

Smart TV: What’s Behind Google’s Set-Top Box? Eric Werner 07/14/10 Chrome will enable TV viewers to interact with media in new ways. At its core, it enables you to use search to navigate channels and programs.

Ways to Improve Your Facebook Ad Campaign Danny Flamberg 07/07/10 Most users are in a test-and-learn mode experimenting with the nuances of the Facebook platform and trying to fit this channel into an integrated brand message or marketing strategy.

Four Key Metrics to Gauge Your Social Media Initiative Danny Flamberg 06/16/10 These four vectors shape the utility of social media mining and transform raw data into useful intelligence that can be nimbly applied to messaging, marketing, and media.

Which Department Should Run Your Social Media Campaign? Nancy Bistritz 06/09/10 The reality is that in 2010, public relations departments are actually the ones pulling the strings when it comes to social media budgets and strategies.

The Real Issue Is a lot Bigger Than Facebook Jeff Cotrupe 06/03/10 Facebook may be the most high-profile flash point where the notion that everything on the Internet is (or ought to be) free runs smack into financial reality.

Facebook Privacy Jeff Cotrupe 05/31/10

Change Your Job Description to a List of Accomplishments Eric Werner 05/21/10 In describing your accomplishments, you are describing the benefits that the hiring manager might expect to see if he or she chooses you, and that is what counts.

How to Moderate Social Engagement Jake McKee 05/19/10 Here are nine methods that you should be applying as you develop any community. The question isn’t which one of these methods to apply, the question is in what ratio do you apply each.

The Best Browser Award Goes To ... Jeff Cotrupe 05/12/10 E-mail clients and Web browsers are now essentials of business and personal life for most of us. Your choices of browser and e-mail client affect pretty much every move you make online including your active participation in new media.

Social Media: The Link Between Advertising and Public Relations Nancy Bistritz 05/05/10 With the advent of social media and the blossoming of digital public relations, the line between advertising and public relations is not as clear as it once was.

The Social Media (Selling) Event of the XeeSM Jeff Cotrupe 04/21/10 In fall 2009, I told you about a new service called XeeSM (pronounced see-sum), launched by Axel Schultze and the team who brought us the Xeequa Social Media Academy, where you can post links to your most important social media links and other sites in one place. Instead of loading up Web sites, news releases, ads, e-mail signatures, and everything else with an ever-growing laundry list of social links, now you can cover all your online bases with just one.

Facebook 'Likes' New Strategic Marketing Eric Werner 04/08/10 A minor change was made on a Web site, and a tremor was sent through the brand marketing collective. The Web site was Facebook, and the change was the wording around a user’s interaction with a brand. Instead of committing to being a "fan," now a user can just state he or she "likes" the brand -- a small change with big implications.

Is Twitter a Waste of Time? Jeff Cotrupe 03/15/10 About a year ago, Twitter itself recognized the service had crossed over from a forum for mundane status updates to a venue for more informative, synergistic sharing and interaction. Think of it as a vehicle to share useful info, interact with other interesting Twitter personas, make new business contacts and friends, and interest followers in learning more about you by clicking to your core site and other places.

Google Buzz: A New Way to Share Eric Werner 02/22/10 Google recently rolled out a new feature in Gmail called Google Buzz, and a crowd of people now have a new way to share updates, photos, video, and more. The goal of Buzz seems to be to create a system that is as compelling and easy to use as Facebook.

Mobile Advertising Is On the Move Jeff Cotrupe 02/08/10 A recent article stated mobile advertising will generate billions of dollars in revenue by the year 2013. A question was posed, what if anything is really happening in the market?

Keep Those Apps and Postcards Coming Jeff Cotrupe 01/11/10 Virtually every mobile operator worth its spectrum has made it super-easy to buy applications for your mobile phone these days: Point > Click > Provide payment method > Done.

Social Media Tides - Getting Swept Away or Swimming with the Currents? Amy Howell 11/09/09 It’s important to remember that while the waves of social media are crashing all around us, businesses are in the game to make money, and, if social media channels help a business make money and/or secure brand integrity and loyalty, they will embrace it, nurture it, expand and invest in it.

Defense May Win Championships - But You Still Have to Score Jeff Cotrupe 11/02/09 There comes a point when I survey the war-torn landscape and say to you, valued clients: Either you’re in business or not. If you are, the best thing you can do is create a new revenue stream and harvest more revenue from your existing customer base.

Flash & Flex Those Web Analytics Muscles! Eric Werner 10/26/09 On the web it is possible to make a lot of decisions based on the data collected by web analytics tools such as Omniture. It’s a lot more likely that your decisions are going to be correct if they are based on web analytics or the broader business intelligence.

The Advertising Industry Can Learn from Bollywood Mansi Trivedi 10/19/09 Over the last ninety-five years, Bollywood has evolved with different eras that introduced new technology, genres and new methods of storytelling. Bollywood has always embraced change with its colorful arms and bright milieus.

Single Sign-On To Your Online World... Jeff Cotrupe 08/24/09 It was probably a dozen years ago when I first added a company logo to an email signature. More recently we all started receiving emails with an ever-more-impressive lineup of logos in signatures linking you to the senders’ company websites, LinkedIN and Twitter pages and more.

Seeding Viral Video Eric Werner 08/17/09 Seeding your viral video can mean the difference between heartening-success-plus-bragging-rights and dismal-don’t-wanna-talk-about-it results.

Come Sail Away Jeff Cotrupe 08/03/09 The journey begins with the larger question of structure and getting down to core essentials: Which pages and content should even appear on your site?

Digital Leaps and Bounds Mansi Trivedi 07/27/09 Media is ubiquitous, fragmented and complex. But, there is still an elephant in the room that we are failing to acknowledge. That elephant can be aliased as the long tail of media, or the basic fact that media can be created, by them or by you.

Doctor, I Wonder If You’d Turn That White-Hot Spotlight on Yourself. Jeff Cotrupe 07/13/09 A new breed of companies has sprung up to serve as tour guides to the wild, wonderful web. Some are traditional agencies who went bust and are reborn as “interactive marketers.” Other agencies are hanging in there but recognize the Internet bullet train is leaving the cyberstation.

Viral Video Marketing - Planning For Measurable Outcomes Eric Werner 06/29/09 Viral video is such a dynamic player on the web. Surely nothing could sound so compelling to the decision makers who hold the purse strings.

…but the Light Bulb Has to Really Want to Change Jeff Cotrupe 06/15/09 Let’s just say we recently concluded a contract with a tiny company in a niche market that claimed it wanted us to help it take its business to the next level. “We’re tired of trading dollars, winning just enough new business every year to offset the accounts we lose."

Content Creator? Then Forget Analytics. Use Digg. Stefan Pinto 05/22/09 Who can figure out Google Analytics? I can’t. The data is fascinating and it certainly makes one’s curiosity complacent. But how do civilians use this information -- some of which clearly has nothing to do with you or what you are creating?

Guy Kawasaki Says It’s Okay To Be Crappy Michael Zipursky 05/18/09 During our upbringings and through the media many of us we're led to believe that the 'best' is always the most successful. The best print ad, website or online campaign will generate the highest results, right? Not necessarily.

A Case For Twitter David Felfoldi 04/27/09 Chances are you have heard the term “Twitter”. The term refers to the social networking website. With roughly 6 million monthly visitors, Twitter.com now ranks as the third largest social network and continues to grow 1382% year over year.

What if Google Died? Michael Zipursky 04/20/09 What would you do if Google turned off their servers, packed up their bags and went on a long vacation? How would that impact your business?

Your Company is Going Under, and You Could Have Stopped It Douglas Karr 12/17/08 As the markets fluctuate widely, the credit crisis continues and buyers begin to hunker down, you know you're going to be okay. You've got a great product that's both affordable...

Crowdsourcing Your Next Project Chris Miller 11/19/08 No I’m not talking about oursourcing your job but rather tapping into a global market of designers. Launched back in May, here in Chicago, crowdSPRING. becomes the conduit for buyers who need...

Stop Watching Your Kids to Predict What's Next Douglas Karr 10/29/08 Every month or so I read about the predicted demise of new media of some sort because our kids have short attention spans and only communicate by text-messaging. The theory goes...

Do You Really Need to Pay Attention to Social Media? Rich Brooks 10/15/08 Lately, in conversations with clients, at networking events, and even over beers with friends the conversation of social media keeps popping up. Probably because I keep bringing it up.

The Search Engine Marketing Tetrahedron Douglas Karr 10/01/08 There are triangles and there are pyramids. Many writers utilize these shapes to help visualize their theories. You'll find them sprinkled across tons...

How I Increased My Email Signup Rate by Nearly 6,000%...and How You Can, Too Rich Brooks 09/24/08 Despite all the junk mail filters and over-zealous ISP firewalls, email marketing still offers great ROI. But how can you benefit from this low-cost marketing effort?

All the Information You Need Chris Miller 09/10/08 Remember the days of calling 411 and hearing, “hello Operator” and before calling 411 cost from $1.25 and upwards? What about what I used to do in the early 90’s...

Jumpstart Your Blog Rich Brooks 08/27/08 Some join with the best of intentions. Others start a blog because someone from marketing twisted their arm. Still others were on a drunken bender...

Stop Looking For a Return On Investment In a Single Application Douglas Karr 08/20/08 As you're reading this, you're probably working with a number of applications - perhaps an Ecommerce Application, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system...

Seven Reasons Why the iPhone is More Computer Than Phone Chris Miller 07/30/08 You had to be living in a cave over the past ten days to miss the iPhone hype, and while it’s now replaced by the Batman hype, I thought I’d share with my experience a week or so in.

It's Not About the Money. It's About the Credibility Fabric. Joe Reger Jr. 07/23/08 Social media and money. Playmates or sworn enemies?

Nine Tips for a Profitable Blog Rich Brooks 07/16/08 There's no doubt that more businesses are realizing the power of blogging to establish their expertise...

Using Twitter for Business Rich Brooks 05/20/08 When I first heard about Twitter, I was pretty sure it was a cross between a complete waste of time and navel gazing on crack. Turns out I was right.

N-way Engagement Marketing Joe Reger Jr. 05/15/08 The scale of reach issue is something that we all struggle with. We hear that the blogosphere has a bajillion people in it, social networks a bajillion more.

N-way Engagement Marketing Joe Reger Jr. 05/13/08 The scale of reach issue is something that we all struggle with. We hear that the blogosphere has a bajillion people in it, social networks a bajillion more.

iPhone for Advertisers Darren Herman 05/06/08 Depending on what conference you’re at, which circle of friends you keep, and if the analysts are on your side, you may or may not believe that mobile is here to stay in the USA.

Top 10 Ways to Learn About Your Customers Using the Blogosphere Joe Reger Jr. 03/31/08 The blogosphere is abuzz with discussion about your product. Are you listening?

TV Is Not Going Anywhere, So We Might As Well Fix It Dylan Thomas 03/11/08

Why Employers Should Offer More Rod Stoddard 02/05/08 Companies from all industries offer their employees ways to give back to their communities. But internet marketing, being so new, offers few opportunities along these lines. Why not do some good while trying to do well in this industry?

Marketing Sin Made by Many, and How to Avoid it Michael Zipursky 01/22/08 There is no denying that the growth and popularity of email marketing has been stunning. By 2010, Jupiter Research estimates that spending on this media will reach $1.1 Billion.

Web 2.0 Marketing: Training for Brands' Big Events With Widgets Haroon Mokhtarzada 01/08/08 I talk frequently about the importance of widgets – how they’re an advertising format that swims with the current instead of against it.