Disqus - Latest Comments for John Gillett

Re: Increase Your Good Conversations

John Gillett — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Relationships are the basis of most positive human interation, and sales are no exception. It's much easier and less risky to work with/buy from/sell to someone with whom you have a relationship -- and relationships result from conversations, as you point out.

I'm taking your advice and posting on a few blogs today.

Re: Facebook In Polish – Renovated By Cowboys

John Gillett — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:47:16 -0000

Thanks for the translation insights...It's very interesting how the Web and social media sites are dealing with a global audience. Perhaps esparanto is in the future of global web communicators...

Re: Facebook In Polish – Renovated By Cowboys

John Gillett — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:47:16 -0000

Thanks for the translation insights...It's very interesting how the Web and social media sites are dealing with a global audience. Perhaps esparanto is in the future of global web communicators...

Re: Ezinearticles.com - Article Marketing Tips

John Gillett — Mon, 12 May 2008 12:42:16 -0000

Thanks for the post! Some article e-marketers warn that posting identical material across various sites can actually harm seo...It really pays to post original content, erather than cut an paste.

Re: New Post on MP Daily Fix: But He's Really Nice In Person: Social Media and the Embarrassing CEO

John Gillett — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:58:58 -0000

Professional writers are always available to assist the vast leagues of language-challenged CEOs and other pseudo customer-facing corporate bloggers in appearing intelligent, friendly and compassionate.

Re: 5 Quick Tips on Pitching Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists

John Gillett — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:42:25 -0000

Thanks for this starter's guide to raising VC from angels. Joeys's comment above regarding creating your own media buzz is an excellent addition to the list. There are a ot of resources available to guide you through the press release compositin and distribution process -- and you'd be amazed what an old-fashioned phone call to a business editor can do for a young company with a good story.

Re: 5 Things That Keep Me Awake At Night

John Gillett — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:33:01 -0000

My kids kept me up as babies, toddlers...and now as teens. Now that they're almost out of the proverbial nest I worry about the diintegration of freedom, jobs and integrity in America.

Re: Quoted in The New York Times - The Power of Blogging

John Gillett — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:39:34 -0000

Very interesting that NY Times is quoting bloggers...perhaps the highest form of journalistic flattery?

Re: We DoFollow And Remove NoFollow From Comment Links

John Gillett — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:25:28 -0000

I just became aware of the nofollow tag issue, and it appears that many sincere bloggers and contributors are being punished by Google due to activities of spammers.

Great to hear that there are ways to "give some juice" to the folks who contribute relevant content.

Re: What to do in a down economy

John Gillett — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:06:14 -0000

Great insights!

Fear sells newspapers and ads on the news channels...the prospect of a "recession" is pretty scary for many folks, but as long as the business community keeps their heads out of the sand, the economy is too diverse to stuble for long.

Keeping our eyes on customers and prospects rather than CNN is a key to busines prosperity.

Re: Narrowly fending off a recession

John Gillett — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:29:22 -0000

Whether there is a recession or not, the media has made the downturning economy an issue for both business and consumers...Your post points out that there are many recession-proof strategies. Protecting your niche and realigning goals with customers will benefit a business during and after slow economic times.

Re: Are you just uncomfortable enough

John Gillett — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:20:25 -0000

Thanks for the post -- the concept of continual improvement is key to most worthwhile enterprises in life, and marketing is no exception. Nobody jumps straight to the top of the mountain...it can be a process that is more powerful than actually reaching the summit.

Put another way, a little marketing every day can lead to a lot of sales down the road...

Re: Isn’t the Telephone a Social Media Tool?

John Gillett — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:32:07 -0000

With the advent of unified communications, virtually all communication mediums may be considered social media tools.

Re: Amazon’s UGC Playground

John Gillett — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:40:46 -0000

Thanks for the great tips! I never suspected Amazon was offering user-generated content, outsisde the book reviews.

Re: Engagement Without Velocity is a Lot of Work

John Gillett — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:51:18 -0000

The RSS and storytelling ROI numbers can be misleading, but engagement and sales are real measures of successful marketing.

Re: Making Sense of the Email Madness

John Gillett — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:17:25 -0000

Thanks for the tip on Email Center Pro...and for the free trial info!

Re: Old School and New School Coupons Come Together

John Gillett — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:59:05 -0000

Online coupons, whether emailed to me or available on a site's home page, have pushed me to make an instant buying decision on more than one occasion -- I've noticed many online "free shipping" coupons, which are particularly attractive for many online buyers.

Re: Involve Your Employees in the Referral Machine

John Gillett — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:53:31 -0000

Engaging employees at every level in any marketing function is rare at most organizations, yet can provide greater insights than costly research.

In the case of referrals, employees outside of sales/marketing often have more insights into front-line customer issues--as other commenters have pointed out.

Marketing departments that recognize the value of this employee input are way ahead of the curve.

Re: Web Design for the Brain

John Gillett — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:55:16 -0000

Sex attracts viewers, but depending on the context and the target audience, it can hurt a brand and long term sales.

Music works to attract a target audience (hip hop music in an ad attracts youth, Frank Sinatra attracts retirees, Grateful Dead guarantees an aging hippie audience)....But I's say the $5 footlong deal is responsible for the Subway success...although the jingle doesn't hurt!

Re: The Fine Art of Creative Destruction

John Gillett — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:45:31 -0000

Excellent advice, in the best or worst of times. It's always constructive to re-examine marketing efforts and fine-tune according to current and anticipated business/economic landscapes.

In tough times such as these, there are many opportunities to rise above the crowd and distinguish a product/service/brand with some revolutionary thinking.

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

John Gillett — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:58:29 -0000

Referrals may be the most underused of all marketing tactics...although they aren't new and shiny, they have a proven track record....and can be easily applied to the Web 2.0 world.

Re: Writing a Call to Action in your Blog

John Gillett — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:08:18 -0000

No matter how powerful and engaging a blog post or a white paper may be, it's value is radically reduced if there is not a clear call to action.

"Contact me today to learn more" is better than nothing.

"Download a complimentary white paper" is better.

If you can offer them something they need, your foot is in the door.

Re: Linky Goodness, April 30

John Gillett — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:51:11 -0000

Thanks for the links!-- Especially the express to the Google Ocean...

Re: Yahoo’s Yang to Yings – Thar She Blows!

John Gillett — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:33:27 -0000

There's no doubt we'll be hearing more from Yang and Ichan on the issue...perhaps Yang's threepeat is a bluff and he is laying the groundwork for an ambush!

Re: links for 2008-07-18

John Gillett — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:51:48 -0000

Thanks for the great links! Always nice to have an expert collect info and make it available to the rest of us....

Re: The Future Of Online Advertising: Entertainment vs. Information

John Gillett — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:03:02 -0000

If viewers have trouble hanging around for a :30 second spot, how are they expected to read through a ten-ton pile of legalese?

Like a previous commenter, it would be interesting to see if Toyota considered the campaign a success, or the experiment interesting...

Re: How Did You Screen-Read This?: Designing to Keep Attention

John Gillett — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:45:28 -0000

If an article includes an image, the caption is typically read first by most readers...

Strong subheads work great for readers that want to skim for important info...If you're subhead catches 'em, they'll dive in and read more.

Re: Update: Top SEO Blogs by RSS Subscribers

John Gillett — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:57:03 -0000

Thanks for compiling this info in one convenient list...like the others, I appreciate the stats!

Re: 5 Reasons Why Business Blogs Fail

John Gillett — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:09:56 -0000

I agree with each of your insights, but I would add that each of thesereasons for failure boil down to companies attempting to create, manage and grow blogs on their own (using internal resources)...in many cases this means stretching a marketing department, which typically has little time to devote to creating and building a dynamic blog.

Re: Rushing Your SEO Doesn’t Mean Quicker Results

John Gillett — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:17:01 -0000

Even a rudimentary A/B test can provide incredible insights about a site and about your testing approach -- the more you test, the more information you gain about your site and the more you are able to fine tune your tests to gain even more detailed info.

Re: When SEO Isn’t For Increasing Sales

John Gillett — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:03:27 -0000

It seems that web SEO is a matter of evolution. That is, many web sites start as a single-page ad, then begin their evolution by applying some SEO principles to gain traffic, then they try to sell online, then they collect prospect info...It isn't until the later stages of online evolution that web sites become aware of themselves and their potential to impact various stages of the buying cycle, participate in proactive PR, and provide information for journalists and others...

Re: 5 Tips for Driving Qualified Traffic With Online Marketing

John Gillett — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:36:15 -0000

Although I'm not a big fan of Mr. Richie's, I am a sucker for a good metaphor...It really does boil down to getting to know your audience and engaging them with compelling stories and images that will keep them coming back...