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Who are you reading?

Posted by Christopher S Penn on May 20, 2011 in Blog Tag, Blogging, Blogroll, Social media, Social networks, Technology, Twitter | 12 comments

I’m always on the lookout for new sources, new points of interest, new things to research, new ideas. I would imagine you are, too. I’d like you to leave suggestions for who you’re reading in the comments below. Here’s the criteria for who I’m looking for you to share:

The original content test. As much as I love Techcrunch, Mashable, ReadWriteWeb, etc., I’d much rather subscribe to the sources they read. Who is writing original stuff? Share them below!
The first test. When you open your blog reader, whose blog do you go to first? Share them below!
The blind retweet test. Who are some people who are so worth reading that you automatically retweet their stuff first, then read it, because you know they are always providing ridiculously good value? Share them below!
The dark horse test. There are some folks who are pretty well known, like Chris Brogan, Mitch Joel, Avinash Kaushik, Jason Falls, etc. that most people know. Who don’t we know but is writing at the same level of value and quality? Share them below!

If you include a link (please do), there’s a good chance the comment will be moderated by Disqus, so I’ll approve it manually – thus, don’t hit submit comment a whole bunch of times if nothing appears. I’m out of the office today, so come back at the end of the day to see all the comments, or if you folks leave a phenomenal list, I may take the time to publish it as an OPML file for everyone.

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Other places I write

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Aug 3, 2010 in Blogging, Blogroll, Me | 0 comments

It’s useful from time to time to remind people where else you participate. For those who believe that I provide additional value to your work or your life, thank you. There’s more than just what’s here on my blog, though certainly this is the place I like to call home.

Here are other places I contribute:

Blue Sky Factory Blog: I write weekly, usually on Mondays, about email marketing.
Marketing Over Coffee: The weekly marketing podcast I do with John Wall.
Twitter: brain droppings, 140 characters at a time
The Marketing Over Coffee LinkedIn Group: I occasionally stop by and administer the banhammer to spammers.
Knights of Ancient War: If you’re a Warcrafter, some additional writings and game-specific content.

The more important lesson here for you is that people don’t necessarily know where you’re active online. Yes, we see stuff on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., but that’s all transient. Remind people where to find you and what you publish there from time to time; some of your Twitter followers may not be connections on LinkedIn. Some of your Warcraft friends may not know about Twitter. Take a minute every other month or so to remind people where you are, and help sync up your friends.

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Thanks for being a participant on my blog!

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Jan 26, 2008 in Blogging, Blogroll | 8 comments

As I did over at the work blog, a quick thanks to everyone who participated by leaving comments on my blog in 2007. Here’s the roll call!

Thanks again, everyone!

I have FIOS and you don't, but John Wall does

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Oct 11, 2007 in Blogging, Blogroll | 4 comments

Tune into this week’s Marketing Over Coffee, the best marketing podcast ever recorded in a doughnut shop with co-host John Wall. We discuss all manners of things, including what you can use FIOS for (and what you can but probably shouldn’t), along with how my show, the Financial Aid Podcast, tripled email subscribers.

Blog Day: 5 blogs you probably don't read, but should

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Aug 13, 2007 in Blog Tag, Blogging, Blogroll | 6 comments

Blog Day: 5 blogs you probably don’t read, but should

John Wall, host of the M Show and co-host of the best marketing podcast ever made in a Dunkin Donuts, tagged me for Jeff Pulver’s blog day. Since it’s been weighing on my mind lately, here are 5 finance and economics blogs that you should read:

1. Calculated Risk. A blog talking about economics and what’s going on behind the scenes of the world’s economy.

2. Financial Armageddon. Naysayers and pessimism prevail, but if you aren’t reading, you aren’t getting the whole story behind derivatives and hedge funds. These guys pegged The Street for major upheaval way before CNBC.

3. Housing Panic. Keep up on the latest housing bubble news, snark included.

4. The Oil Drum. Thinking about oil? Worried about energy? Thinking about the future? Start here.

5. Freakonomics, the Blog. Economists outside economics makes for fun reading.

I’d also recommend strongly that you plug Bloomberg on the Economy into your MP3 player of choice as soon as possible. And if you can watch Jim Cramer, you should.

Five Bloggers to participate:

Jon Rudy
Donna Papacosta
Bryan Person
Julien Smith
Julia Roy

Tag: blogday2007

Pay Per Action : Podcasting's Payday is Arriving

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Mar 28, 2007 in Advertising, Blogroll, Marketing, New media | 9 comments

John Wall, Ronin Marketeer extraordinaire, published a blog post talking about the advent and rise of pay per action advertising in the Googleverse, and what it means for marketing online. His conclusions: CPM (cost per impressions) and PPC (pay per click) models are on the way out for the most part, because CPA (cost per action or conversion) will be at the forefront of advertisers’ demands.

From the perspective of a CTO at an Internet company, CPA is a godsend, because we’ll be able to accurately measure the true results of our advertising campaigns. Ultimately, CPA *is* the bottom line – for the Student Loan Network, signed applications are currency. Clicks on an ad are an expense.

From the perspective of a podcaster, CPA is going to be a gold mine for podcasters. Why? Because podcasters generally speaking have niche audiences, highly focused, highly engaged. Few podcasters have mega-media reach; if Nielsens were available for podcasters, compared to TV, the ratings for any one podcast show wouldn’t even be a rounding error.

However, if the advertising model changes from CPM/PPC to CPA, podcasting is going to be a wealth-building business, because the close relationship podcasters have with their audiences will make CPA a home run. No need to run banner ads, no need to relentlessly flog a web site to build clicks – simply mention a sponsor or advertiser in a relevant, high quality way, and even just a few conversions will be the payday that podcasting has been looking for.

Why? Because most advertisers, including the Student Loan Network, are willing to pay significantly more for a conversion. Example: the Student Loan Network pays $100 per completed, signed student loan consolidation application via the StudentATM program. When was the last time you saw any advertiser paying $100 per click?

Podcasters: get ready. It’s payday.