Biznology Blog by Mike Moran

Where Business and Technology Come Together

May 14, 2008

Do Your Customers Believe Your Advertising Claims?

One of the biggest changes the Internet has wrought (I love saying the word "wrought") on marketing has been the death of hype. People just don't believe your claims anymore. They are looking for documented, verifiable benefits. It reminds me of the nuclear arms negotiations between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S., when the motto was "Trust, but verify." Customers don't blindly put their trust in advertising claims anymore, but they do want to trust those they buy from. As marketers, we need to figure out how to win that trust, and that won't happen following the old hype play book. If you're concerned that your claims have that hollow ring or that your customers might be letting your promises go in one ear and out the other, read on.

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May 13, 2008

Do You Pine for the Good Old Days?

I was with two of my kids for "Take Your Child to Work Day" not long ago. We went to a bustling IBM location and, while there, I noticed something odd. I asked myself, "Why is there a Model 168 over there?" This was a computer that I worked on when I first joined IBM almost 30 years ago, and there it was sitting in the corner of the cafeteria. I immediately realized that it was on display as a museum piece—that's how old I am. So, I told the kids exactly what had just happened to me (they were less surprised at how old I was than I) and I walked them over to explain how a 168 worked.

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May 12, 2008

"Do the Basics Right" in Internet Marketing

I thought I'd do an interview with Ellen Corrigan of iCrossing to get some tips on where Internet marketing is going, and she talked about that, but the most important advice she gave is that the more things change, the more the stay the same. "Do the basics right," she said, instead of getting too tied up in the new stuff that your forget what's important. See what else she had to say.

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May 9, 2008

Why It's Hard to Care About New Search Engines

I regularly am asked to look at new search engines, and because I have been working with search technology since the '80s (yeah, I know I'm old), I am interested. I am a search geek and it's fun. But, if you're an Internet marketer, I think it's harder and harder to care about any search engine other than Google. And it's especially hard to care about new search engines. There are several reasons why this is so.

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May 8, 2008

Are You Practicing Comb-Over Marketing?

If you notice that some guy has a comb-over, it's not working. Just like a bad comb-over, you might have marketing techniques and tactics that aren't working for you. In my first post for the folks over at Search Engine Guide and Small Business Answers, I explain how you can tell if your marketing plan is a comb-over. I'll be posting regularly at these two sites from now on, and will be pointing you to those posts on those days. I'll continue to post lots of original content here that does not show up on those sites, however, so if you're subscribed here, you'll get everything I write. You might find that you'd like to subscribe at Search Engine Guide and Small Business Answers, also, to catch up with the other great writers they have.

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May 7, 2008

Inside the World of Domainers

Internet marketing can take many forms. A few weeks ago, I had the rare opportunity get in touch with leader in the domainer industry. If you don't know what domaining is, read on. In fact, I got a few surprises myself when I interviewed Jerry Nolte, so even if you think you are up on domaining, you might want to take a peek, too. Jerry seems like the CEO of the entire domaining industry.

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May 6, 2008

Skinflint Market Reseach

Focus groups and phone surveys have been the traditional bastions of market research. And, despite everyone's best efforts, they've always been expensive and out of reach for many businesses. It left us with two kinds of businesses: those that can't afford market research and those that can't afford enough market research. If you're ready to learn how any company can begin conducting market research using the Internet, read on.

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May 5, 2008

Need Help with Movable Type? Just Twitter

If you're like me, all you've heard about in blogging software the last couple of years is WordPress. But as a long-time blogger using Movable Type, I wondered what they have been up to. And then Twitter brought me together with Byrne Reese, Product Manager of Movable Type and Community Leader of MTOS at Six Apart, maker of Movable Type and other offerings. He was kind enough to grant me an e-mail interview.

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May 2, 2008

Private Virtual Worlds Continue to Grow

You might recall that I have written before about Unisfair, which supplies private virtual worlds to companies that want to create a more immersing event than WebEx, but with more privacy and measurement than Second Life. I've told the story of Unisfair's ROI, but I caught up recently with Sarah Tonzi, a publicist working for Unisfair, who updated me on the company's progress. I thought you'd be interested in hearing what's happening, too.

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May 1, 2008

Ratings and Reviews: Not Just for Consumers Anymore

We've all seen ratings and reviews online, starting way back when Amazon first introduced them. Over the years, they've become a staple of e-Commerce, with online retailers catching on to their impact on conversion rates. But what about B2B marketers? Why isn't there more usage of reviews in business-to-business marketing? If you've wondered why B2B marketers seem so much less inclined to show reviews on their sites than their consumer-facing brethren, so have I. Let's explore what the reasons might be.