15 Kick Ass RT (Re-tweet) Tips

I bumped into this blog post via the Twitter group on Linkedin. Thanks to Kathy Addison of Elite Media Group in Florida for posting (http://twitter.com/kathyaddison).

I wil assume that you know and use Twitter if you are reading this. If not, you should be if you are a marketer. This is a trend that is here to stay -- think pre-Google, pre-Yahoo. Social media is the new search engine.

Econsultancy, which bills itself as a blog to unite digital marketers, recently posted fifteen tips and tricks to get more and better followers. A chap by the name of Chris Lake made the post. He has lots of other interesting posts as well. Go here.

The blog is rated as the 40th ranked blog on AdAge magazine's Power150. This is astounding. My little blog, which I don't tend to much or often enough, is ranked betwee 950 and 1100.

Read his blog post for simple ideas that are both common sense (like shorten your URLS as Twitter can only handle 140 characters) to wading into other's conversations or just understanding timing.

Here's the link.

See you soon.

Why Blogs are Good for Law Firm Marketing

Larry Bodine posted a blog post on April 14th called Why Blogs are Good for Law Firm Marketing, in which he says that blogs influence buying decisions. Larry quotes a known study on readership which found that half of the respondents said that blogs were "useful" when considering purchases.

Larry also posted that:

Blog readers are also more likely to trust advertising on a blog than on a social network like Facebook, the study found; 25 percent said they trust blog ads, with 19 percent trusting social network ads.

No question that blogs have come a long way baby. In fact, companies like LexBlog and Kevin O'Keefe (@kevinokeefe on Twitter) have made a bundle building blogs for law firms. PS - I have the utmost respect for LexBlog and Kevin, but like most legal marketers, I am searching for high-end, statistically valid and reliable data on the impact of blogs and other social media on the buying decisions for corporate legal services.

Where I would like to see research is not on consumer buying decisions but B2B buying decisions, specifically those of corporate (general) counsel in North America, Europe and Asia. Now that my friends in legal marketing, would be worth reading.

Client Development - Making Time

Cordell Parvin on his Law Consulting Blog writes, "Figuring out the best time to work on client development is important. It will be different for each of you." For Parvin, when he practiced law, he made time on Saturday or Sunday mornings.

For those with full careers and family lives, this may not work for you. Then again, it might. Parvin's point is that you have to find your sweet spot. More importantly, you have actually do it. Billable hours are critical and keep the firm going -- but without marketing, business development or client development, whichever you prefer to call it, your dead in the water eventually. Clients come and go, if you don't work to fill the pipeline with new prospects, you'll eventually not have to worry about billable hours.

Peace.

Legal Marketers - 11 Reasons Why NOT to ignore Social Media

A Twitter friend Kara Smith (http://www.twitter.com/karasmamedia) just posted this interesting blog post. I think I agree with what she is saying. Certainly time will tell. I don't agree with point 7 that its cost efficient for firms -- time is money and it takes a tremendous amount of time to build up a following -- if you don't have a following, don't bother frankly or you might as well shout into the wind. I do agree with point 5 that when one social network falls, another arises. Plaxo and Myspace seem to be dying, but Twitter and Twitter aps are growing like mad.

Check it out here.

Thanks Kara. Great info.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

First Flock Post

Well here I am at lunch hour testing a new browser - Flock. Its a Mozilla beast that sucks in all your fav social networking feeds plus a host of other stuff and gives you everything on one screen. I like it.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

A Little Charity Goes a Long Way

This year, I am participating in the CIBC Run for the Cure as a Team Captain and the CN Tower Climb for the World Wildlife Fund as a participant.

The global recession has hit hard, but if you can and you’d like to donate to a cause, both of these are very worthwhile.

You can donate to either or both. Any amount would be most generous. Just click the links below.

October 4th at 8 am. (Bereskin & Parr – IP Law Team) CIBC Run for the Cure (Team Captain – Andre Mazerolle) : Click here.

(Note: If you would like to join the Bereskin & Parr Team, its open to employees, friends and family...go here to REGISTER as new participant or returning participant, click here.

For over 20 years, thanks to the generosity of Canadians, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation has been funding breast cancer research, education and awareness programs that are making a difference. You will automatically receive an electronic tax receipt for donations of $20 or more within 30 minutes. Please expect delays of up to 48 hours during peak periods.

April 16th at 6 p.m. (Bereskin & Parr Team) CN Tower Climb for the World Wildlife Fund (Team Captain – Dan Yang), click here.

Climate change is the single biggest environmental threat facing our world today! In order to help WWF-Canada fight climate change on behalf of people like you and me, I've decided to climb the 1,776 steps of the CN Tower. While I will do the climbing, I need you to help me raise needed funds. Remember, for every pledge of $20 or more you will get a tax receipt.

Also, I am waiting for the registration to open for the annual Paddle the Don, this year on Sunday, May 3rd. This will not be a corporate team, rather just me and my kayak. If everything goes well, I’ll be paddling in this worthwhile run — and I’ll send sponsorship info around. The ‘paddle’ helps to highlight the importance of healthy rivers in Toronto and the surrounding regions. Your support will help us protect and regenerate this famous urban river. Next time you are driving down the DVP, look to the right and you’ll see why this event is so worthwhile.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Pass this along to anyone you think might be interested in either cause.

Thanks,

Andre

Electronic Marketing Article

I was asked by TLOMA, The Law Office Management Association (of Canada) to write an article on avoiding being blacklisted when doing email marketing. I tried my best to limit the article to blacklisting, but so much other good stuff needed to be said. This is NOT a technical article rather an article for B2B marketers with less than 3 years experience in electronic or digital marketing.

When you click on the link, its a PDF of the January 2009 newsletter. It starts on page four.

My favourite two paragraphs:

Millie Waicus, the Manager of IT at Bereskin & Parr, recently sent around an email
to all professionals at the firm stating, “On an average weekday, we receive 20,000
emails from the Internet per day, 17,000 of which are spam and never reach people’s
Inboxes. Incoming messages from the Internet pass through 12 layers of tests to help
determine whether the message is spam or not.”

Twelve layers of tests! This is incredible. As marketers we are always looking to new
and innovative ways to communicate with our clients and others. How then, do we
get through multiple layers of tests and systems put in place by IT managers just like
Millie at companies we are targeting?

And, part two is coming in February.

Peace.

Being Online Means Smart Interactions

Just caught a Twitter post from Chris Brogan about a story on his blog called The Goal is the Interaction. Chris makes a strong case for being interesting, smart, thoughtful, empathetic and essentially to do things that encourage participation. Don't pitch products or yourself too much. Talk to people about what they are doing. Encourage a two-way conversation.

I would suggest you to consider yourself sitting alone in a coffee shop. You want people to pay attention to you (in a positive way). What do you do to encourage others to interact with you in a meaningful way?

Is traditional media dying? Will Internet finally kill the radio star?

A neat little blog called, BlogCampaining hits on a topic that may be hotly contested with some of you, especially people like @themediaisdying. Yes, the days of newspaper delivery may be going the way of the do-do, but it will be fascinating to see what's next. Personally, i suspect mobile is the way of the future and companies are spending way to much time on desktop boxes and not enough time building on mobile handhelds.

Peace.

8 Marketing Bloggers to Watch in 2009

Chris Brogan runs a tight ship. Excellent copy, great links, sage advice -- and he appears to have a cool beard like yours truly. Chris just posted 8 Marketing Bloggers to Watch in 2009. You might want to have a peek.

Social Media Explorer - Jason Falls
Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni
Feeds - Jennifer Leggio
Danny Brown
Very Official Blog - Shannon Paul
Take Me To Your Leader - Freddie Laker
Technotheory - Jared Goralnick
Learn to Duck - Micah Baldwin