Month: December 2012

  • The ninja mind control method

    In class last night, one of the white belt students asked me about whether the ninja mind control stories he’s heard were real or not, what the secrets to ninja mind control were. I laughed a bit and explained that the ninja mind control method is fairly straightforward: gain control over your own mind and…

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  • Keeping the fires burning

    Ever managed or maintained a fire in a hearth or campfire? If you’ve managed to get a fire going, then you know that continually feeding it is the best way to keep it going. The flame never stops, so you never have to relight the fire. This, of course, requires frequent attention and care. Somewhat…

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  • Should you have a 52 week content strategy?

    Michelle Quillin asked in the comments: “I’m a big advocate of editorial calendars for planning, strategy, and a source of inspiration. I really need to do long-term planning myself. Some time ago, Laura Roeder recommended a 52-week strategy. What do you think of planning out that far ahead, with a marketing strategy in place?” I…

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  • Identify your marketing bargains

    In every company, there are going to be marketing bargains – programs that offer incredible ROI. The problem we often have as marketers is that we’re focused on paying attention to the biggest and loudest – the programs that bring in the largest number of leads, even if they’re woefully inefficient. With the advent of…

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  • International Day of the Ninja: How the ninja worked

    December 5th, of course, is International Day of the Ninja. Aside from the usual frivolous fun of wrapping a t-shirt around your head, here’s a fun opportunity to watch how the ninja might have operated, featuring both a SEAL team using lethal force, and senior master teacher Stephen K. Hayes, completely unarmed. Watch and enjoy:…

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  • The vital importance of marketing baselining

    When it comes to measuring the impact of social media or any form of digital marketing, one of the most complicated problems you’ll face is the indirect influence. For example, let’s say you run a Facebook campaign. Let’s say that the campaign seems to do reasonably well in terms of likes, shares, and comments, but…

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  • Shift happens

    Shift happens. After 3 years in the email marketing industry, I’m departing WhatCounts as Director of Inbound Marketing and moving over to SHIFT Communications as Vice President, Marketing Technology. Why the change? For almost a decade, I have been focused on the bottom half of the sales and marketing funnel. From the moment someone comes…

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  • Weekend Foodblogging: Non-Toxic Waffles

    If you do a bunch of Googling, something as simple as waffles makes you scratch your head. Remember Eggo waffles, the brand behind the ad slogan “Leggo my eggo!”? Dig into the ingredients list: Ingredients: Enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, vitamin B1 [thiamin mononitrate], vitamin B2 [riboflavin], folic acid), water, vegetable oil (soybean,…

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