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Content Strategy and Words for Business on the Web • • Feature Post Sales vs. Marketing

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Word Sell News Bits - Welcome, Words, and Guest Authors

Friday, July 25th, 2008

Welcome, New Visitors!
First of all, welcome new readers who may (or may not) be here as a result of recent and very generous projects conducted by Darren Rowse and Liz Strauss.

If you are new, you can learn about the Word Sell blog here. Here’s a recent post on writing that mixes business and pleasure (something we like to do here). Here’s another recent post about writing blog post headlines, quite a bit more serious and hopefully containing information you can use. (more…)

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News about Word Sell, Brad Shorr

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

$\"Whoast, Inc.\"$

Word Sell is now offering ad space to exceptional companies in related services. You’ll see an ad for Whoast, Inc. on the sidebar. Whoast is a client and a service provider that offers top notch assistance in search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO). If your business is involved in online sales, marketing, PR, or advertising, please contact me for more information.
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$\"Words for Hire, Karen Swim\"$ A BIG thank you to my friend Karen Swim at Words for Hire, who ran a series of posts by me last week, Selling for Non-Sellers. I developed the material originally as the first chapter of a book I wanted to write to help people with non-sales personalities who need to sell — entrepreneurs, for instance. Did I give up on the project too soon? Is it a topic worth expanding on? (more…)

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News Flash — Robyn McMaster Scores 1000th Word Sell Comment

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008

Minutes ago, Robyn McMaster left comment #1000 on the Word Sell blog. To celebrate this milestone, I’d like to award Robyn her choice of one book from the Word Sell recommended reading list.

Robyn, let me know your choice (and mailing address) and I’ll send it right out!

I’m glad that Robyn was the 1000th commenter for a couple reasons. First, she was one of my first readers. Without her early encouragement I don’t know if I would have kept it going. Second, I think she was really disappointed she didn’t come up a winner in the recent “nano contest”.

Congratulations, Robyn!

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Random News Bits

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

CELL PHONE SUPERSITE
Are you confused about which of the 12,000 cell phone models you should buy? My AT&T phone dealer, Kelly, turned me on to this fantastic site — Phone Scoop. The neatest feature is the Compare Phones page, where you can plug in up to five models and see how they stack up. Today I used it to compare the Blackberry Pearl to the Samsung Blackjack II, and I learned plenty. Give it a try.
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GET OFF THE PHONE AND START READING
I’ve added a couple new books to the Word Sell Book Store.

A lot of you may have read Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae by now, but if not, do so immediately. It’s an easy read with critically important ideas about Web marketing. A key point, which really needs to be understood by small and midsize companies, is that you can’t “bolt on” a Web marketing program to a traditional business model. You can save yourself a lot of money by following Godin’s advice.

For a deep exploration of social media, try Larry Weber’s Marketing to the Social Web. It’s awesome. The book actually takes a lot of Meatball Sundae concepts, describes them more thoroughly, and explains how to put them in action on blogs, social networking sites, and other forms of social media.
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NEW CUSTOMER CARE TRAINING PROGRAM

About Action™ Customer Care Training is now a part of my training and coaching lineup. Customer care personnel play a crucial role in small and midsize companies, yet they are all too often undertrained and overworked. I’m really hoping to change that!
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NEW HOSTING ON THE WAY
GoDaddy should change its name to SlowDaddy. (SEE PHOTO of my GoDaddy server at top.) When I complained about 5 to 10 second load times on my site, they acknowledged the problem and said, “Not a whole lot we can do.” Excellent response … maybe they’re candidates for my customer care training. At any rate, I’m in the process of switching to a new host that should solve the problem. I apologize if you’ve experienced loading problems on my site.

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Miami Real Estate Blogger Sued for $25 Million

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

Realtor Lucas Lechuga runs a popular real estate blog called Miami Condo Investments. After running a negative post on a high profile Miami property, Opera Tower, Lucas and his former firm were hit with a lawsuit by the developer for the incredible sum of $25 million. I say former firm because Lucas was terminated yesterday as a result of the lawsuit.

The story has been in the news - take a look at this CBS video clip, and this report from UPI. You’ll be seeing more in the near future. To read Lucas’ take on the situation, click here.

Why am I writing about this? Two reasons.

First, the case has major implications for business bloggers. Laws pertaining to blog content and defamation are murky at best. How cases like this are settled will determine to what degree bloggers are free to express themselves, and to what standards we will be held accountable. In this case, I don’t think there even is a case, but regardless of the outcome, all business bloggers need to monitor how laws are evolving so they can craft appropriate editorial guidelines.

Second, I know Lucas personally, having had the opportunity to meet him last fall and discuss the world of blogging. Just as you might expect of a blogger, Lucas is bright, outspoken, and totally transparent. He credited the success of his blog to his willingness to tell it like it is. I’d hate to see him punished for that.

According to the UPI report, the lawsuit alleges Lucas and his firm engaged in a “smear campaign.” Based on my conversation with Lucas, I find that extremely hard to believe. Lucas himself, as you can see from his blog, feels no angst about his motives. And on the subject of motives, you have to wonder if the developer would be suing for $25 million had Lucas not gone to work for a company owned by Warren Buffet after writing the post in question.

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New Cartoon Page

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

For you cartoon enthusiasts out there, here’s a new page of business cartoon thumbnails, which I pulled together from my archives.

I’ll be adding images to the page, so please remember to check back from time to time.

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Merry Christmas from Word Sell

Monday, December 24th, 2007

“The more we are proud that the Bethlehem story is plain enough to be understood by the shepherds, and almost by the sheep, the more do we let ourselves go, in dark and gorgeous imaginative frescoes or pageants about the mystery and majesty of the Three Magian Kings.” (G. K. Chesterton, Christendom in Dublin)

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500 Comments for Word Sell, and a Lucky Winner!

Tuesday, December 4th, 2007

On Friday, Word Sell hit a milestone which I think is pretty cool - 500 comments.

Thanks to all my readers and commenters. Comments are what make blogs such a unique and rich form of communication. Blogs are always a team effort, even if there’s only one “author”.

To commemorate the event, I gave my 500th commenter, CB Whittemore, her choice of books from the Word Sell Favorite Business Book list. CB’s choice - The Cluetrain Manifesto, submitted by Kenneth W. Davis.

CB’s blog, Flooring The Consumer, talks a lot about … well, flooring the consumer. She looks at things from the customer’s perspective, always the best way for a company to improve.

CB and I connected through Robert Hruzek’s My Home Town group project, a meme we both participated in. Interesting how things work out sometimes!

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Our Children Need Sustainable Packaging

Monday, October 15th, 2007

Today is Blog Action Day, and bloggers all over the world are devoting attention to one theme - the environment.

The packaging industry is a major culprit when it comes to wasting natural resources. However, there are many people in packaging who are extremely concerned about this and committed to doing something about it. One way or another, all these people are part of a movement generally referred to as sustainable packaging.

One such person is Dennis Salazar, president of Salazar Packaging. Dennis is a friend, a client, a recognized authority on packaging automation, and, as luck would have it, a darn good writer and regular contributor to the Sustainable is Good blog. To celebrate Blog Action Day, I asked Dennis if I could reprint his article about the human side of packaging. He happily agreed. I hope you enjoy it!
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Sustainable Packaging - It’s All About Harmony
by Dennis Salazar

Beyond its musical implications and definitions, according to the dictionary, harmony is defined as - agreement in feeling, action, ideas, interests, etc.; peaceable or friendly relations. Harmony is also the name of the beautiful eight-month-old baby girl who due to some unusual and unforeseen circumstances became a resident in our adult household two months ago. Having a baby in our home again, after many drool free and very neat/orderly years, the impact this young lady has had on our lives has been quite profound and dramatic.

In addition to my faith, my wife and family, my love and life has been packaging. Packaging in general, and specifically and more recently, sustainable packaging, has had my almost full attention. My focus has been on creating a harmonious relationship between our client’s needs and their customers’ requests for less packaging and more earth friendly content. I spend much of my time working with manufacturers who sell product through retailers to consumers like you and me.

Harmonizing productivity objectives, budget requirements, and environmental considerations, have kept a guy like me, with an incredibly short attention span, fascinated by the packaging industry for well over thirty years.

What Will Our Environmental Legacy Be?

Having baby Harmony in our house has only intensified my interest in sustainable packaging, especially in the packaging of baby products. My worries about carbon footprints and little fingerprints are running parallel these days. “Renewable energy” is usually what happens after Harmony takes her afternoon nap. The term “long term impact” now extends beyond my own anticipated life expectancy of another twenty to twenty five years. Suddenly what winds up in our landfills is of greater importance because I now know who is going to inherit the mess we leave behind. Harmony will likely never experience or enjoy anything like the great technology driven economic boom of the 90’s but is almost certain to have to deal with the large national debt we are generating and leaving behind for her. She is also guaranteed to live with the waste we create and that she unknowingly contributes to on a daily basis.

My basic conclusion after 60 days of extremely unscientific observation and almost grandfatherly analysis - baby products create a lot of packaging and waste! No, we are not even going down the path of further discussion on disposable diapers because volumes have been written on that serious and huge problem. I am glad to see the major diaper manufacturers working to minimize the environmental impact of the products they sell. It’s a good start, but only a start. I firmly believe every manufacturer of product should be held accountable for the resources they pull out and the waste they put back into this earth.

How to Build a Better Future for Our Children

Our family has always been adamant about using less and recycling more. Motivated by savings as well as environmental concerns, we tend to buy product bulk and in large containers. What I have discovered is that it is difficult to buy bulk for babies, especially in the area of food. Their young diets and tastes are in a constant state of change and development, so the portions and packaging tend to come in tiny servings designed to fit their equally small appetites and tummies. Yes we are washing out and recycling every little glass jar, every plastic bottle and every possible bit of corrugated that Harmony uses. Recycling is always a good start, but is that enough?

We need to challenge the manufacturers of baby food products to take a lead position in the uphill battle to protect the environment. The solution begins where the food and ingredients are grown.

Are the growers utilizing sustainable farming practices?
Is the processing of that food being done in a way to minimize waste and use less energy?
Is the finished product being distributed and transported in the most economical way, not just for the sake of economics but to use less fuel and energy in the process?
Is packaging minimized not only in volume but also in weight?
Is the packaging designed with recyclability as well as shelf appeal in mind?
Are the manufacturers spending more money promoting the product than they are protecting the world their customer base is leaving behind?

We also need to urge parents to acknowledge the waste issue and do what they can to minimize the waste by recycling more and buying products for their children that are manufactured by earth friendly companies. Nothing drives companies to do the right thing like increased or decreased sales, so balancing convenience and good sense, along with responsible packaging purchases is an important part of the solution. If we are all concerned about the health, welfare and nutrition of our children, shouldn’t we be equally worried about the world they hopefully will be growing into? Perhaps the eco driven term -“cradle to cradle” has more significance in life than we realize.

After all, it is indeed all about Harmony. And the generation she represents.

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Business 2.0 Goes Under, Wants My Money as Life Preserver

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

Traditional media took a big hit last week with the announcement that Time Warner’s magnificent technology magazine, “Business 2.0″, will be shut down after its October issue.

It’s a real pity, because “Business 2.0″ featured superb writing, analysis, and trend spotting. Today I’m a little less broken up about it, because here’s what I found in my mailbox -

A renewal notice from a publication that just announced it is ceasing publication! I wonder if this is accidental or intentional. Does Time Warner wants to cushion the blow by scooping up some quick cash from uninformed subscribers? Doubtful. More likely a case of internal communication disconnects.

And speaking of disconnects, what’s up with a tech savvy publication trying to entice subscribers with something as cheesy as a free “Executive Pen”? Doesn’t Time Warner know 2.0 readers expect something a little more cutting edge than a pen? It’s like Apple offering new iPhone customers a free toaster.

We’ll have to see if Time Warner refunds subscriptions that come in as a result of this letter. And if they make refunds contingent on readers returning their Executive Pen.

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