I can’t think of a single product or service that isn’t improved by easy. Easy doesn’t mean simple, doesn’t mean basic and doesn’t mean less. It means that whatever you want to achieve can be accomplished with minimal effort. Easy doesn’t threaten quality, power, efficiency, functionality or speed. It’s one of the most effective four letter words that you can … Read More
Play before you Pay – Blackberry’s missed opportunity
When Marcus Tettmar (creator of the astonishing Macro Scheduler) showed me his BlackBerry a few years ago, it took me about 48 hours until I had my own. I won’t ramble and drool here; suffice to say that I know of no-one who has downgraded from a BlackBerry to an iPhone… As a (then) new BlackBerry user, I was a … Read More
M is for Mac, Marketing and Madness
At this year’s Software Industry Conference in Boston, USA, I gave a presentation on The A to Z of Online Marketing. Letter M dealt with the Mac. Chances are that you don’t have or use a Mac, and aside from seeing them in a store, you probably only know one or two people who have one. I’m guessing they’ve already … Read More
Make your website work for you – CNN vs. BBC
The new CNN website is scheduled to go live next Monday, and a TechCrunch article gives us some details and screenshots of what’s to come. The New CNN.com (First Screenshots) I don’t really visit CNN for news, but have always found the similarities (and differences) between their main navigation and that of the BBC News website oddly interesting. CNN’s is … Read More
Pricing gestures that go a long way – one step further than delighted with Amazon
Amazon finally made the Kindle available to the rest of the world a few days ago. Obviously I’d pre-ordered it weeks ago, and am now the delighted owner of a truly remarkable device. When I ordered it, there were three options available: Kindle US, Kindle International and Kindle DX (larger). As of today, Amazon appeared to have merged the US … Read More
Google vs. Yahoo – the pyramid of realism
Google recently announced a year-on-year 7% increase in revenue, with profits up $25 million. Not bad for a recession. Yahoo, meanwhile, just announced (or tried not to) a 12% decline in quarterly revenue, with a 19% decline in search-ad revenue year-on-year. Paid search appears to have three contenders, in theory. Yet the charts speak for themselves: Google: Microsoft: Yahoo: At … Read More
The best Google AdWords ads. The cheapest way to the moon.
Questions have started to trickle in for our Marketing Q & A plus free exposure offer. “I’ve been reviewing the text for my Google AdWords lately. I find the tiny 25-35-35-character format very restrictive and frustrating. Do you have any tips for writing good ads in that tiny space to draw quality traffic (that is, not just clicks, but buyers)?” … Read More
Marketing Q & A plus free exposure
In 24 days I’ll be speaking once again at the European Software Conference in Berlin, this time on Google AdWords and also the subject of online marketing. I’ve been working in online marketing since 1997, and have spoken at conferences in the United States, Russia, Germany, France, Belgium and the United Kingdom. As I’ve had the pleasure of working with … Read More
Unleash your quivering headlines on an unsuspecting world
When your new product is ready, will you release or unleash it? Google displays 470 million results for release, and only 8 million for unleash. And this is in the age of sensationalism. By coincidence, a search in Google News for the two words shows two different reports: Health insurers to release report projecting rising premiums Los Angeles Times EC … Read More
Miss the boat? Is the recession already over?
It depends who you ask, what you read and where you look. It does appear that we’re past the worst of it, but it will be a long time before the recession is well and truly behind us. Everything has changed. Even if most people don’t yet realise it. And guess what? More change lies ahead. In the same way … Read More
