Copyblogger Updates Dan Kennedy

Sean Platt over at Copybloggers.com has started a 3-part series on 14 Lessons Learned from One of the World's Highest-Paid Copywriters.  Dan Kennedy gets more money to write one page of advertising copy than any other copywriter anyone knows of and that's because he's the best at what he does.  In his book, The Ultimate Marketing Plan, he lays out how to market just about anything--using direct mail-style marketing.  There's definitely nothing wrong with that and there is still a huge place for that in the marketing world.  We, however, are primarily focused on online marketing and Sean helps bridge the gap between Dan Kennedy's style and our needs.

The first part of the series is great--I'm looking forward to the next two and I know you'll want to read them--and put them into practice--too.

If it's Good Enough for Coca-Cola...

According to a news story that hit the internet last month, Coke and Unilever are using social media marketing enough that they're cutting their "regular" marketing budget. 

Here's the story from New Media Age:

Coca-Cola and Unilever are shifting their digital focus away from traditional campaign sites and towards community platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube, as social media begins to dictate their marketing activity in 2010.

The FMCG giants are moving away from sites created on a campaign-by-campaign basis in favour of investment in existing communities. While both companies will continue to create campaign sites for certain brands in the immediate future, they have said the long-term future lies with social media on platforms populated by their target consumers.

Coca-Cola will position its official Facebook and YouTube pages as the lead online channels for upcoming international activity for its Coke Zero and Fanta brands, new media age understands.

Prinz Pinakatt, the Coca-Cola Company’s interactive marketing manager for Europe, said, “In some cases some of our campaigns won’t need a coke.com-hosted site. In most cases these will still exist as it’s the most obvious destination for a consumer, but it might only be a page linking to YouTube encouraging people to join the community there.

“We would like to place our activities and brands where people are, rather than dragging them to our platform,” Pinakatt added.

 My question: If it's good enough for Coca-Cola and the folks who bring us such products as Dove, Lipton, and Slim-Fast don't you think it should be good enough for the rest of us? 

I know--if it's so good for you, why don't I do more of it?  It's very possibly the biggest cop-out there is but the truth of the matter is that I don't want my business to grow to a point where I need to hire people.  I'm very happy with the way my business is going.  If I wanted to do marketing and grow my business I'd be doing the whole social media marketing gig.

"Ah, but now you have a blog," I hear you saying.  Yes, I do, and the reason I do is something you want to think about as well.  While most of my clients have blogs to get their name out there and show people why it would be a good idea to do business with them, many of them are also utilizing the system to help keep their current clients up-to-date on information that will help them in their fields.

Back to the whole Coke and Unilever thing.  When the big boys start using social media we know it's not just a fad--it's big and the sooner you get on the band wagon, the sooner you can take advantage of its many benefits.

Valentine’s Day movie review

I’m sure all you guys out there are looking for a movie to take your favorite gals to see and the gals are looking for something to be taken to.

Along comes Dear John, last weekend’s biggest money maker.  Sounds like a no-brainer, right?  Maybe it is.  I thought about checking it out so first I checked out the reviews—not so great.  There a ton of them out there—a quick google search will bring up more than any sane person would want to read—but here’s the one I chose to share with you. 

Whatever you do, wherever you go, have a great day—I know I’m going to and I don’t even have a honey to share it with.  Many years ago I decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to do a little of that self-love thing.  If nothing else, it’s a great excuse to buy chocolates, flowers, and have a restaurant meal that includes cloth napkins.

Valentine's Day Ideas?

Quick Link--I had fun here and thought you might, too. 7 Things to Buy the Homeworker Who Has Everything

Facebook Becomes Spamming and Phishing's Number One Hot Spot

The Times of London has been tracking the problem of spamming and phishing on Facebook. "A tidal wave of spam has been predicted this year as cyber criminals are increasingly targeting social networks such as Facebook." (Facebook Spam) Chances are we've recently all gotten some kind of spam on our Facebook accounts but according to this article, "In 2008 there were virtually no Facebook phishing messages. Today Facebook is the second most phished organisation online and, if current trends continue, is on track to take the top spot in 2010."

I don't know about you but I'm not thrilled about this.  The article doesn't tell us what to do about this invasion of our online privacy.  I'll be looking into this and reporting what I discover.  In the meantime, if you know of articles or other information that will help us keep the spammers at bay, let me know and I'll pass it along.

Advertising Money is Going Into Social Media

Mashable, the Social Media Guide, says, "Money spent on social media-related advertising is already expected to grow significantly this year" and they have the survey to prove it. Take a look to see what the buzz is all about.