Janet Lee Johnson | The Art of Marketing

Inspired (in part) by a post on ReadWriteWeb on how enterprise RSS is dead (really Marshall?), I thought I’d show how I use RSS every day. I think RSS is a critical business tool - especially for marketers - and it’s a free tool that can save time, increase your awareness and improve your productivity.

What’s RSS?

There’s a great 3-minute video called RSS in Plain English by Lee Lefevre of Common Craft on YouTube: http://smub.it/janet/rss. Watch it first, then pop back to me.

See you in a few.

Welcome back - wasn’t that a great, simple explanation?

So to me, RSS is about two things:

1. Subscribing - like my own custom magazine subscription, subscribing to RSS feeds is basically a way to have news and blog posts that you’re interested in come to you, vs. going out and searching for them.

For example, I like to read my friends’ blogs, and keep up with my clients’ blogs. I set up subscriptions every time someone announces they’re blogging, and every time I get a new client who blogs. I also like to read top technology and marketers’ blogs. So every time I find another interesting one, I subscribe to it.

To subscribe, you generally just right click on the RSS Feed button, which looks like this:

Copy the URL that’s there, and paste it into your RSS reader. Since every reader is different, I’ll show mine here - Attensa - where you click on the Add Feed button, and paste the URL.

Immediately your reader will start ‘listening’ to the web for you. I can read all of my subscriptions all in one place, my RSS feed reader. It looks like this: (Click on the thumbnail to get the full picture!)

2. Search - like an indefatigable watchdog, “persistent searches” alert when subjects I’m interested in (like my clients’ products, brands and names) are talked about online.

I set up searches in my RSS feed reader for every new client that I have. That way, if there’s something being said that I need to be aware of, I’ll know, and be able to either respond to it, or let my client know about it. I also keep a persistent search on my own name. I think it’s important to have early knowledge of anything being said about important topics and brands, and it’s incredibly easy to use RSS to do all the work for me.

To use RSS, you need an RSS reader, and there are tons of them on the market, tools from Yahoo!, Google, Portland’s Attensa and NewsGator… a list of RSS readers is here: http://smub.it/janet/rsslist.

Regardless of what you use, start experimenting with RSS. Start by doing what I do -

• Subscribe to your favorite blogs - read them from one place at one time…
• Set up persistent searches for yourself, your brand, your product names, or your clients’ brands.
• Set up persistent searches for keywords of interest to you - I keep my antenna looking out for “health 2.0″ and others.

I just stumbled a post by Dwayne Melancon over at Genuine Curiosity called “Picture of the Day” that had a great graphic of how to be productive every day. Ironically, a picture popped up on my screen that I really didn’t like at all - my profile, according to StumbleUpon:

Do I really want to simply be described as a 51 year old woman from Oregon, USA in my profile? (Hint: check the headline of this post.)

I’ll fill out profile information for just about any social network site I subscribe to… but never have I had one “mix” my profile information quite like StumbleUpon does. Sure, it’s truthful and transparent. I am a 51 year old woman who lives in Oregon.

But I would never describe myself that way to virtual strangers, would I?

Believe me, I’m not ashamed of my age or where I live. I love my life, my age, my home, my sweetheart, our dog, family and friends… pretty much most things about me, with the exception of my muffin top, which I’m really trying to control through yoga and my eating habits; and a few long-held beliefs that still hamper me. (TMI, perhaps but I’m really not afraid to share. It’s true. Just ask me!)

Just Ask Me

As more people find their ways into social networks, those who develop them must begin to think more about helping their users profile themselves, and create the best possible scenarios for them to do so.

Give me an option as I sign up (e.g. prompt me through a wizard), and I’d describe myself in a much more compelling manner.

• In StumbleUpon, I have to search to find my bio preferences. No. I should be prompted through them as I register.
• In StumbleUpon, the “Display my age” box is automatically checked. No. I should be able to “opt in” to show my age.

My fault for not setting myself up properly in the first place? You bet. I wonder how many others have just gone through the minimums there until they’re hit with their very own “picture of the day?”

Andrew Graham of Bear Sterns posed a fascinating observation last week in his Friday “Morning Note” (emailed only, such a shame) when he said:

“The bottom line is it appears that we need to hit Control-Alt-Delete on the economy, and before investors “buy” into the new paradigm, they need to know what the new operating system will be:  The New Deal 2.0, Capitalism 3.1 or the Overlapitalism beta v1.  At least its on sale for the holidays.” 

That got me thinking about marketing in a down economy, and made me ask the question:

Is it Finally Time for Marketers to Hit Control-Alt-Delete on Traditional Marketing?

Unfortunately, marketers control (and live by) the largest discretionary budget in any organization. Programs and people are getting cut or will be victims of “planned obsolescence” as 2009 budgets are being drawn and redrawn.

The harsh reality of the day is that Darwinism has come to every part of every business: adapt, change or die.

At the same time, there are some truisms that still exist:

• Those who continue to market through economic downturns are far more likely to benefit than those who cut their marketing budgets too much during troubled times.

Think about it - the best time to gain visibility with your prospects is when your competition is cutting back. And because so many are cutting back, your messages have more opportunities to get through.

• Those who adapt to the demands of today’s marketplace - I see trends in authenticity, transparency, connectedness and simplicity being demanded all around - will be much more effective in their efforts.

Gone is the ‘coolness’ of excess - look at the automakers reception on Capital Hill as they flew in and out in their corporate jets - even the assumption of a sense of humor (hello, Motrin?). Our bullshit detectors are on high alert as we watch and listen to those who’ve driven our economies and futures to the brink, and even well-researched campaigns aren’t guaranteed to hit the mark.

Everyone suffers when people are inauthentic in their approach to marketing. (Check out Koifish Communications’ excellent post, “The Ethics of Advocacy” for even more fuel for that fire.)

As a result, we are increasingly shutting out “marketing” and “news sources” and turning to our friends and families - our smaller, more intimate and immediate circles of influence - and appreciating them more, sharing information with them, and (likely as a result) bullshitting less.

So are there any bright spots in the marketer’s toolkit?

I’m happy to see more and more explore the notion of marketing through social means. Let’s face it. People trust people they know. And (aside from searching for products and services online) most people ask around of family, friends and (now) their followers for advice when researching and buying pretty much anything… from food to fuel to Facebook.

We’re leaning on each other like never before in my lifetime.

Marketers, listen up. We’re about more than spray and pray messaging… we’re about more than behavioral targeting… it’s time to ask ourselves:

• How are you entering in ongoing conversations about your company, your products, your services?
• Is your entire company (from customer service to product management to sales) listening for mentions of your brand?
• If they hear something, do they know what to say or do?

Whether they occur online or in your local restaurants, malls, offices, hospitals or schools, it’s time to join the ongoing conversations. As marketers, it’s time to:

• Listen more than we speak
• Offer expert service more than braggadocio
• Engage rather than cajole
• And show rather than tell…

Are you ready to rethink everything? I believe it’s finally time to take advantage of a reset.

Health 2.0 is getting closer. I got a Twitter “follow” earlier today from @natldialogue, which always piques my interest.

Post within a post: A “follow” is someone (or some organization) who decides to listen to your Tweets by following you. I’m always curious as to who’s bored enough to follow me, and checked out their Twitter page. Keep in mind, most of us immediately check that out. If you grab me in your first page of tweets, I may decide to follow back, and listen to you, too.  Which means it’s always a good idea to check your latest profile page on Twitter and see whether you’ve got a series of Tweets worth others following…

So I had a look at @natldialogue’s profile, their web site, and last 10 Tweets, and I was actually surprised and pleased with what I found! From the National Dialogue site:

“In late October, just before a critical presidential election, citizens and stakeholders around the nation will join a unique experiment in 21st century democracy. The National Academy of Public Administration, on behalf of the Federal CIO Council, the Office of Management and Budget, and the General Services Administration, will host an online national dialogue that demonstrates a fundamentally different approach to the work of government.

This national discussion will engage a diverse group of voices in tackling one of the key issues confronting the nation’s health care system: How can we use information technology to improve the way patients interact with the healthcare system, while safeguarding their right to privacy? (JLJ: emphasis mine) Participants will have an opportunity to discuss challenges, generate breakthrough ideas, and recommend principles that will be presented to the next Administration.”

Brilliant.

Open to the public, but targeted at key stakeholders (since I’ve blogged and Tweeted about “health 2.0″ I’m sure that’s how they found me), the web site is open all week (October 27-Nov. 3) for discussion. You’ve got to register to submit content, but the registration is simple.

Once you get in, there are four categories of content: Ideas, Principles, Concerns and Stories. I plan to start a discussion on consumers online search habits, pharma and FDA monitoring issues.

• Ideas submitted on many topics, “consumer-generated health information” or “transparency in health care…”
• Some submitted Principles are “definitions: privacy, confidentiality, security, etc.” and “consumer control of and protection of his/her personal health information.

I found there are already many conversations going on at the site, with advisory board members having conversations with participants. Anyone care to join me online this week, to express some opinions on Health 2.0? I’d love to see some technology sector folks chime in with me…

Google announced they’re expanding their search into old newspaper archives (via Reuters), and in a stunning coincidence today, United Airlines shares lost nearly all of their value.

How are these two things related, you ask?

Well, according to an article in today’s NYTimes called “United Shares Plunge on False Bankruptcy,” a false rumor started spreading this morning that United had declared bankruptcy. According to the Times, a Google search started the cascade of events…

“United said the rumor occurred when the Web site of The Sun-Sentinel, a Florida newspaper, posted a six-year-old article from The Chicago Tribune archives about United’s previous bankruptcy filing. The airline operated under bankruptcy protection from 2002 through 2006….

….The outdated article received wide attention when it appeared that it was posted on Bloomberg News by a reporter for Income Securities Advisors, an investment research firm in Miami that tracks information about distressed companies.

Richard Lehmann, the founder of Income Securities, said the company’s reporter discovered the article during a routine search on Google for information about bankruptcy filings in 2008. A link to the old Chicago Tribune article appeared as the first search item, bearing a current date, not its original date, Mr. Lehmann said.

When the reporter clicked on the link, it navigated to the United Airlines article on the front page of the Sun-Sentinel Web site, next to a radar map showing the location of Hurricane Ike, Mr. Lehmann said.”

The context for the Google search certainly looked like it was “ripped from today’s headlines.” And can you imagine the confusion for United employees, wondering why their shares were halted from the NY stock exchange today amidst bankruptcy rumors?

I applaud the notion of scanning newpaper archives (quite literally scanning, in this case) so there’s no possible confusion by well-meaning researchers as to the date(s) of their results.

Meanwhile, the coincidence of the two articles appearing within moments of each other in my RSS reader was not lost here.