February 2009

Thumbnail image for The Best Articles We’ve Read This Week: The Feb 13 Hit List

The Best Articles We’ve Read This Week: The Feb 13 Hit List

This is the first in a series of Friday posts in which we’ll cover the best articles we’ve read all week. Most will be new, some will be old, but hopefully they’ll all be useful. The list isn’t huge and it isn’t exhaustive, because if it were there’d be no chance you’d read them all.

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Thumbnail image for A Conversation With Twitter Co-Founder Jack Dorsey

A Conversation With Twitter Co-Founder Jack Dorsey

Yesterday fellow Daily Anchor Ella Keeven and I met with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey for a little chat over a cup of coffee. Well, a latte, drip coffee, and cappuccino, respectively.

Here’s a look at how Twitter got started, what’s changed, and the recent buzz about how they’re planning to monetize the site… and Jack’s favorite iPhone Twitter client (there’s like 30.)

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Thumbnail image for A Great Email Marketing Tool

A Great Email Marketing Tool

I took the opportunity to check into a fairly young player in the email marketing space, Act-On Software.
The user interface is clean and easy to use, requiring zero HTML coding to produce email templates. With a “per active profile” pricing structure as opposed to a monthly email limit and attractive pricing, Act-On is worth a look; a feature-rich multi-step marketing tool that aims to demystify intelligent lead generation for the masses.

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Thumbnail image for Case in Point: The Value of Word of Mouth Marketing

Case in Point: The Value of Word of Mouth Marketing

Recently, I had the pleasure of volunteering for a fundraiser here in the Bay Area. We helped set up and were then told that one of the wineries sent a few cases of wine but no representative, so pouring their wine would be our job for the night. My first thought was ‘why wouldn’t you send a representative from your business to talk about your product to 300+ wine drinkers?’

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Thumbnail image for Twitter to Begin Charging Brands for Use. Maybe. Sort of. Not really.

Twitter to Begin Charging Brands for Use. Maybe. Sort of. Not really.

Yesterday the mediaverse was abuzz with talk that Twitter was going to start charging for commercial use of its service. I just met with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, and not only is that old news (they’ve been talking about it for a year,) but most “news” reports yesterday missed the mark. Here’s the real story.

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Thumbnail image for The Professional Confessional: DIY or Die

The Professional Confessional: DIY or Die

I’m actually stunned to admit being guilty of this; usually I’m a pretty Do-it-Yourself (DIY) guy. In my current position, 99% of the time I take the position of “If you want something done right, you’ve got to Do It Yourself!” It’s that other 1% that really screwed me this time.

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Thumbnail image for Best Craigslist Job Hunting Post Ever (Warning: vulgar)

Best Craigslist Job Hunting Post Ever (Warning: vulgar)

Last week Ella Keeven offered insight into how to better position yourself in a job search by thinking of yourself as a product, but I’ve found another novel approach to job hunting… A colleague forwarded me the following Craigslist post, and while it’s wholly vulgar and wide outside the usual tenor of The Daily Anchor, I thought many of our readers would relate to this one man’s frustration.

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Thumbnail image for When to Quit Your Day-Job to Focus on Your New Business

When to Quit Your Day-Job to Focus on Your New Business

At what point should I leave my day-job to focus 100% on my new business? I’m being stretched thinner and thinner every day and find myself physically unable to give 110% to each of my responsibilities, and yet the prospect of leaving a stable, well-paying job in a recession is downright scary if not completely asinine. Then again, I think that a recession is actually the best time to start a new business.

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Thumbnail image for 9 Tips for Time Management and Taking Control of Your Work Day

9 Tips for Time Management and Taking Control of Your Work Day

Newsflash! You are not the most important person in the office and work will still get done without you working an extra hour every day. The trick is making those work hours really count. Here are 9 tips to strike a better balance between work and life

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Thumbnail image for EXCLUSIVE: Restoration Hardware Planning Top-Level Layoffs

EXCLUSIVE: Restoration Hardware Planning Top-Level Layoffs

Inside sources are reporting that home furnishings giant Restoration Hardware is planning to consolidate its upper-management in a last-ditch effort to reduce costs by cutting high salaries. Recent layoffs of low-level employees have shifted the workload to managers, leaving middle-management stretched too thin while not staving off the company’s financial crisis.

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Thumbnail image for How to Grow Sales in a Down Economy

How to Grow Sales in a Down Economy

2008 was a tough year. 2009 looks like it will be even tougher. Every day you open the newspaper and read the news online, there seems to be more bad news on the economy, but not everyone is focusing on the down economy. Some companies are using this period of economic uncertainty and business challenge as a time to gain market share and mind share.

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Thumbnail image for Life On Demand: MIT’s Wearable Computer

Life On Demand: MIT’s Wearable Computer

Students at MIT have developed some impressive technology, Wear Ur World, a computer-vision based wearable and gestural interface – a wearable computer that lets you use natural hand gestures to augment the physical world with digital information. While not nearly commercially available yet, it is piquing my interest as a marketer.

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Thumbnail image for Report Your Income – Duh

Report Your Income – Duh

Former Senator Tom Daschle, who was to head the Health and Human Services Department, had income that he didn’t report in a timely fashion. We are not talking one day’s tips from being a waiter, we are talking a 6-figure sum.

With the caveat that I am not a tax attorney or accountant, here’s the easy answer – Report all of your income. That’s right – report it all.

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Thumbnail image for The Most In-Depth Super Bowl Advertising Analysis You’ll See Anywhere

The Most In-Depth Super Bowl Advertising Analysis You’ll See Anywhere

Our friends over at Collective Intellect put together the most thorough Superbowl Ad analysis we’ve seen anywhere (sorry Ad Age,) so we’re teaming up to bring you the goods. This section includes 24-hour post-game consumer reactions, advertiser share and sentiment – best and worse, and media spend – adjusted share.

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Thumbnail image for Management of Your Most Important Asset: Yourself

Management of Your Most Important Asset: Yourself

Last week, there were reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was evaluating whether Apple violated the law in failing to disclose a material event – the apparently failing health of their CEO, Steve Jobs. I’ll let others evaluate this issue. However, it reminds me of an issue for the small business owner – your health.

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Thumbnail image for Which Company Did the ESPN Site Redesign? I’ll tell you…

Which Company Did the ESPN Site Redesign? I’ll tell you…

One of the beauties of using Google Analytics is seeing what keywords people type into a search engine in order to find their way on to your site. I’m not talking about the practical use of such information, I’m talking about the sheer amusement that comes from some of the keywords/phrases…

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Thumbnail image for If All This “how-to…” During A Recession Advice Worked, Then Why Don‘t I Have A Job?!

If All This “how-to…” During A Recession Advice Worked, Then Why Don‘t I Have A Job?!

Just like many of you, I was laid off when the market tanked. I guess considering that I was in marketing for a real estate development company, I was asking for it. Now I am getting frustrated…grrrrr…I am a hard worker, awesome at what I do (did) and I want to get back to doing it. So why is no one responding to me?!?!

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Thumbnail image for Google and NASA Launch Singularity University

Google and NASA Launch Singularity University

Google, NASA and a handful of other science and tech companies are combining forces to form Singularity University. The school’s mission is to solve “humanity’s grand challenges” and will be based near Mountain View, CA. Since we’re all a little ADD, here are the key takeaways, some pretty pictures, and a video…

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Thumbnail image for I am Your Client: I Can Be Your Walking Advertisement or Cease to Exist

I am Your Client: I Can Be Your Walking Advertisement or Cease to Exist

I am your client. Satisfy my wants, add personal attention and a friendly touch, and I will become a walking advertisement for your service. Ignore my wants, show carelessness, inattention and poor manners and I will cease to exist. It is important to me that you appreciate my business. I want the best I can get for the money I spend. When I criticize your service, and I will, to anyone who will listen when I am dissatisfied, then take heed.

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Thumbnail image for The Professional Confessional: Anatomy of a Sale

The Professional Confessional: Anatomy of a Sale

I’m happy to say, I closed my first new account of 2009! Since I’m in a good mood, I thought I’d mix it up a bit this week and analyze the pros and cons of the sales cycle for this win.

Some key stats:
-Relative value: 60% of my Monthly Quota
-Turnaround time from lead to close: 23 days (16 business days)
-Number of formal meetings: 1 online, 1 onsite

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