How to Reboot Your Content For a Mobile World by Mitch Joel, Author of Six Pixels of Separation

Marketers today are terribly confused in the world of online content marketing. Everyone is preaching a different method and things are changing so fast Marketers are spinning.  What we do know is that there is a massive shift from indirect relationship to direct relationship.

If you connect with a brand (like Target) on Facebook and then purchase headphones (Beats by Dre) from Target… where is the directly relationship? is it between you and Beats by Dre? Is it between you and Target? Maybe it’s between you and Facebook? Who knows… maybe it’s all THREE! So the connection goes Beats by Dre, through Target, enabled by Facebook, recommended by your friends, to you.

The complexity of marketing has not decreased with technology – it has … Read More »

Innogage was a sponsor at the OHSPRA conference last week. While I was there, I had the privilege of sitting in on the keynote presentation of Kim Vann, Community Development Coordinator for Joplin Schools.

In 2011, incredibly destructive EF5 Multi-vortex tornado that ripped through Joplin Missouri, destroying much of the city and obliterating most of the schools. It left 160 people dead in its wake including 16 students from the Joplin schools.

Although Joplin is no stranger to tornadoes, no one was ready for something of this magnitude.  Here are a few lessons learned that Kim shared with the group.

1. Do not get immune to the sound of the tornado sirens. If you live in a Midwest town (such as I do), you hear the tornado sirens go off on a regular basis. … Read More »

I decided to take a year off from the Innovation awards this year… or so I thought.  After going for best startup for a couple years now and not progressing past the Finalist round, I decided to skip the awards this year and just keep cranking on work.  However, my good friends at TechColumbus asked me to help them spread the word about the conference and I agreed immediately.

So – I am here to officially announce that I WILL be in attendance this year, not as a contestant or a finalist, but as a pumped up member and active contributor to the vibrant Technology community in central Ohio! If you’re attending the Innovation awards on Feb 3rd, I will see you there!  If you’re on the fence about attending, I would like to encourage you … Read More »

As a small business owner, sometimes you feel like you’re being tossed by the waves.  I had every intention of heading down to sunny Austin this year for the Rockin’ SXSWi festival.  All my favorite Peeps and Tweeps in my Twibes are going to be there.  But sometimes life bites you.

After losing two major deals in my pipeline I had to make the excruciating decision to ditch SXSW this year.  The fact is, I just couldn’t justify playing and spending the cash when I should be working.  Even when you own a company, you don’t get rewarded when things go south.  Instead you throw off everything that may get in your way, pull your boots on and get busy…working.

Tough Business Decision – No SXSW for me this year from TOM WILLIAMS on Vimeo.

I recently received an email solicitation from a sponsor of an online conference that I attended.  Now I understand that sponsors need to be able to reach out to attendees and try to get a return on their investment.  I’m sure that somewhere in the fine print of my registration I agreed to be contacted by these guys.  No problem.

The email solicitation was actually very well done.  They had an image from a video “commercial” on their email with a big WATCH NOW button.  Good calls to action, guys.  All this was done RIGHT.

The email was so good that I actually clicked on their video commercial to see what it was all about.  I was taken to their website where I prepared to watch the commercial…but the video didn’t play.  Instead a Sign-up form popped up and demanded that I … Read More »

One of the things I am involved with in Columbus is the American Marketing Association Special Interest Group on Social Media or AMA SIG – Social Media for short.  Instead of doing our usual speaker / Q&A format we mixed it up a bit with Round Tables!  Watch the video for how it went.  You can check out photos from the event on this Flickr Set!

AMA SIG Social Media Round Table Discussions from TOM WILLIAMS

Here are a few of the take aways from the Different Round Tables:

Using LinkedIn for Business – Hosted by Nate Riggs:

Think about LinkedIn outside of your profile. Focus on how your updates reach other people’s profiles across the network
To get the most out of LinkedIn, you need to engage. Get in the habit of checking LinkedIn for updates … Read More »

The 2009 TechColumbus Innovation Awards Event was a huge success.  If “Innovation” was the Theme for the award candidates I have to say that “Interaction” was the Theme for the Event.  Check out the video for some of the unique interactive things at the event this year!

TechColumbus Innovation Awards Recap from THOMAS H WILLIAMS on Vimeo.

As a marketer, you dream of data.  With data you can deliver more relevant information.  You can deliver more timely information!  You can Micro-Market directly to those who are most likely to buy!

Which brings us to the issue of privacy.  You see, privacy and social  media are inherently at odds with one another.  Marking matters more complicated, consumers are completely schizophrenic.  We want relevant information immediately but we don’t want marketers to have the information they need to deliver it to us.

With this complex dance in mind…the social media rule for Marketers is TAKE IT SLOW.  You are building a relationship with social media.  If you move too fast, you can creep people out.  Imagine the following situation:

You go into a store to buy a new suit.  You’re going to make a large purchase … Read More »