The Wax Blog

Not only did I win a free pass to the Integrated Marketing Summit in Minneapolis this week, I got a chance to meet and interview Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Online Marketing. A veteran internet marketer, blogger and sought-after speaker in the industry, Lee has been recognized by multiple associations and media for his work including  being named one of the top Social Media Strategists to watch in 2010, ranked top ten in the Twitter Power 150 list and listed as one of the #15 of top 100 online marketers 2008. Lee’s blog gets more than 100,000 unique visitors a month and has over 30,000 subscribers. Lee subjected himself to my super-caffeinated shaky video operation  (and pronunciation issues – his last name is pronounced “oh-den”) and delivered some real pearls of wisdom in this short clip including:

• How to identify and connect with the right thought leaders to help your business
• Why strong personal relationships are not necessarily as important as relevant relationships when trying to pitch a blogger/social media influencer
• Steps to follow to help create relevant relationships
• Signals you can send to build your own credibility online
• Examples of pitches he pays attention to (and those he ignores)
• Advice on how to allocate your time pitching new media vs traditional media.

Thanks again Lee!

If you’d like to connect with Lee, you can find him:

Blog:  http://www.toprankblog.com
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/leeodden
LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/leeodden

As promised in the wonderful Dana Larson’s post on time management, I’m going to fill you in on the rough process I use to manage my own (and Wax Marketing’s) social media accounts. Because I work on social media campaigns for some of my clients, people tend to think it’s really easy stay engaged in my own social media accounts. Unfortunately that’s not the case. Like most people, I either get totally sucked into goofing off on Twitter ( lately it’s @pharm84 who is a bad influence ) or I get so busy on client work I ignore it. But for the most part I have a routine I follow, and tools I use, that seem to work well for me in terms of staying consistent.  I hope it gives you some ideas, and PLEASE – let’s get some good comments going on favorite tools and tips for making social media less overwhelming. (more…)

We might be operating in a new technological paradigm, but the basics still apply when you’re trying to find time to make use of social media. In this post, Dana Larson provides a refresher on some easy ways to make time for online marketing. On Monday, I will share with you the specific tools I use to automate as much of my own social media platform (and my clients) as I can. But first, here’s Dana…

We want to be able to “do it all”, but let’s face it – we don’t have time. You probably don’t even have time to read this blog post, right?  Staying up to date on all the new advances in online marketing is a full-time job in itself. Below I’m listing my top 5 ways to manage my workload. (more…)

Not a fan of Tom Fishburne yet? See all his great cartoons at tomfishburne.com

Most of the time we focus on  “how to” implement PR, marketing and social media. But above all, it’s important to remember  “why”  we do them. In this post, guest blogger and social media expert Dana Larson provides five ways that technology marketing accelerates growth and success.

Dana Larson, OnePlace

We’ve all been there – some clients wants to use those cool “social media site things” as part of their marketing mix. And hey – they work! New technology marketing tools, including social media, can be incredibly effective for certain businesses in increasing their business success.  But there are still certain gaps between the marketing tools and the communication tools used between a business and their marketing practitioners, right? Wrong. Totally wrong.

Using the next generation of online tools that are out there can plug some of the gaps you may have in providing the kind of customer service that will create an experience that your competitors can’t match. Here are 5 ways this type of technology will garner great amounts of love from your clients. (more…)

Oh my god we can market in a NEWSPAPER

I’ve been hopping into the internet marketing forums to learn more about SEO for blogs lately. Suddenly I started seeing all these online gurus touting the benefits of making loads of money in “offline marketing”. Huh? (more…)

By Beth Graddon-Hodgson

Once you’ve chosen a focal point for your blog – your vague subject area on what you’ll focus upon, the next step is to start making more specific decisions about the writing style. When writing each blog post you can make them personal or topical – or any combination of the two. In order to get a feel for what might work best for your blog, I’m going to provide you with some basic guidelines about what each of those categories mean. With this post, the focus will be upon personal business blogs. A second related article next week will discuss topical blog posts. (more…)

When starting a blog for your business the first thing you need is a topic. Obvious, perhaps, though you’d be surprised to learn the number of people who don’t think establishing a topic is essential. There’s a belief that if you just start writing, people will come. That might be true when writing a personal blog, but it doesn’t apply in business.

With a business blog, you need to ATTRACT your audience. With a personal blog, you’ve already got people who have a vested interest in what you’ve got to say. Just because you work in a specific industry and have knowledge of your craft doesn’t mean you’ve got a voice that people want to listen to just for the sake of it. You’ve got to give them something to lure them in and keep them coming back. That all begins with picking the right topic. (more…)

I was sitting here wondering when a marketing person was going answer my email (from two days ago) when it occurred to me that  traditionalists will have to add a sense of urgency to their worklife in order to survive. I came out of sales where response to request timing was everything. But when I started working with other publicists and marketing folks I realized that isn’t always the norm. Okay I understand when you’re working with books that get released 6-8 months after you’ve sent the galleys out for review. Or when you’re developing brand images with focus groups, etc. All those things move at a snail’s pace (at least to me).

A sense of urgency in response can no longer be reserved to the daily print reporters and local TV folks, or for breaking news. Folks, we’re living in an extemporaneous, real-time conversation world now. Getting back to someone three days later -or never- isn’t gonna cut it. I work with quite a few partners in what I do, whether it’s web design, marketing, writers, etc. Guess what – the blogger that answers my email or tweet the same day I send it is going to get my business. The one that answers me within an hour – they will always move to the top of the heap. And I think my clients feel the same way, and have felt that way long before the social media “engagement” craze started.

Look, I’m not asking you sew a Blackberry into your bra. But the days of taking days to answer messages are over. And the traditionalist publicists and marketing folks better learn that or they might end up like poor Goose.

A decade ago I sat in meeting after meeting in Silicon Valley hearing about the new economy and how the ‘old school’ IT companies were dead. It’s so funny to me now, listening to all the social media experts and Web 2.0 pundits say that ‘traditional PR is dead.’ I venture to say that lazy people hope by saying traditional PR is dead, maybe they can make it so. After all it’s a whole lot easier to sit in your jammies and tweet and facebook the night away than it is to call Patty Neger at Good Morning America to find out if she likes the latest book you’ve sent her. Believe me, I would much rather be trading snarky barbs with folks like @CLE84 than getting rejected for yet another story idea by a crusty print reporter. (more…)