Vol. 3 , No. 32     August 17, 2004

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Stephan Spencer
Unlocking Google's Hidden Potential as a Research Tool (Part 3 of 4)

Now that you are intimate with the range of Google operators to refine your research searches, it's time to put the knowledge into practice in the real world. It's also a good time to delve a little deeper into the essential features of the Google interface.

Here, in part three, apply the secrets of Google in a search for information about the food industry. Then, the author shares the 20 essential features of the Google user interface—the virtual place where you spend most of your time interacting with Google—and he'll apply those to the search example as well.

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Please note: This article is available only to paid subscribers. See more information or sign up here.

Bret Kinsella and Joseph Benson
Brand Momentum: Speed Can Kill

Marketers and brand managers are responsible for building brands, where success is often measured by an ability to develop forward motion or ‘momentum’ for the brand.

Yet, few brand managers understand the behavior or physics of momentum. For example, there is a wide-spread belief that forward momentum is always a positive and desirable state. There is also a belief that once the brand is in motion, it will stay in motion.

Neither point is true.

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Marcia Jedd
Six Ways to Increase Marketing ROI

Growing companies need to concentrate on what they do best, which often isn't marketing.

Taking cues from tested marketing strategies, consider these six ways to increasing your marketing return on investment (ROI).

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A Note to Readers

Usable Creativity

Jared Spool is definitely an admirable guy. He is (as they say here in Boston) "wicked smaht," and he has a great sense of humor, which is my measure of a person.

But I'm writing about him this week because he also understands marketing. And more importantly, he has fun with it in a way I wish I saw more often, especially in the B2B space.

Jared runs User Interface Engineering, a research and consulting firm specializing in Web site and product usability. UIE recently began promoting a usability seminar it's running this October. But instead of relying on predictable messages and dry pitches, Jared has penned personal email missives to those of us on his list.

Sure, he tells us why we need to go to his conference. But he also gives us a human element that reveals a bit of Jared's own quirkiness and personality. It's both appealing and effective.

Last week, for example, he told us how he cast his net far and wide for the most expert experts in the world of Web design… and he also sent out the first installment of a new comic strip, starring "LL Spool J."

I wish more B2B companies lightened up a bit and followed Jared's lead. His approach stood out from the noise because it was creative and fun. But most importantly, he got his message across.

Isn't that what we all want?

This week, our own BL Ochman talks about what some companies might be doing to infuse a little more creative oomph into their own marketing. Be sure to check out her article, "Ten Companies That Missed Great Blog Opportunities."

Elsewhere this week, Stephan Spencer weighs in with part three of his riveting series, "Unlocking Google's Hidden Potential as a Research Tool." Check it out. You'll learn a ton about accessing the Holy Grail locked inside Google.

Until next week,

Ann Handley
ann@marketingprofs.com
MarketingProfs.com

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B. L. Ochman
Ten Companies That Missed Great Blog Opportunities

Both large and small companies are missing opportunities to integrate blogs into the marketing mix.

Here are 10 examples of sites, campaigns and companies that are crying out for blogs. By incorporating blogs into their mix, they could have a dialog with customers, sell product, and also have a little fun.

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Meryl K. Evans and Hank Stroll
SWOT Team: Extreme Makeovers Done Right

This week, SWOT looks at corporate Web sites. What are the elements that work or don’t work for a business Web site? What has sparked the greatest traffic? What should be avoided?

Also this week: How to get your sales groove back.

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Gary Witt
Four Ways to Market in Hard Times

As the economy struggles, most companies have been forced to reevaluate their marketing strategy.

How do you convince customers to buy in this time of uncertainty? And most importantly, how do you convince them to buy from you?

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Jay B. Lipe
The 10 Commandments of Marketing

So maybe these 10 Commandments didn’t come from the Mountain.

Yet any marketers worth their salt must follow these commandments if they are to find the Promised Land.

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Contact

Publisher:Allen Weiss
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Content: Ann Handley
ann@MarketingProfs.com

Strategy and Development:
Roy Young
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