Saturday, July 01, 2006

Articles I've Written

Here are several articles I've written, covering a variety of marketing topics. If you wish to include one or more of these articles in your newsletter, or on your site/blog, please review the following guidelines:

1 - If an article is marked as being Premium (Premium), then you cannot reproduce the article in full. You can reproduce the same excerpt I provide below for each article, along with a link to the article, as well as a link to The Viral Garden (http://www.theviralgarden.com).

2 - If an article is not marked as being Premium (Premium), then you can reproduce the article in full, along with a link to the article, as well as a link to The Viral Garden (http://www.theviralgarden.com).


If you have a question or need a clarification for the above guidelines, or if you need an original quote for your own article, please email me at mack.collier@theviralgarden.com.



How to Make the Community Your Marketing Partner

"So, at this point, you have a choice: You can continue using the same marketing methods you have always used to reach your customers, or you can try something revolutionary. You can join them. You can stop trying to guess what your customers are talking about, and instead join their communities and talk to them directly."


Five Real-World Ways Businesses Are Marketing to Their Communities

"It's every company's dream... having a community of customers who are so devoted to your company that they market to and evangelize among other members of their community—customers who feel a sense of ownership in your company and want to spread your message to others.

Such strong bonds between companies and their communities of customers aren't the norm, and they cannot be developed without great planning and dedication. But for companies that are willing to embrace and empower their communities, the results can be magical."


Ten Steps to Starting a Company Blog(Premium)

"A weblog is a wonderful tool for not only better serving your community of customers but also improving your bottom line. But that can only happen if you are willing to enter this space after due diligence and with the commitment necessary for your blog to achieve its full potential. These 10 steps will help walk you through that process"


Ten Steps to Creating a Brand Ambassador Program(Premium)

"Brand ambassadors are similar to brand evangelists in that they also have a vested interest in seeing their favorite brand succeed. It's not so much that they attempt to influence other customers to buy a product, but that they share their passion for a brand with their fellow customers."


Ten Steps to Creating Your Own Podcast(Premium)

"Podcasting is a powerful, yet misunderstood, form of social media. While listening to podcasts has become popular in the last few years, the creation process still contains obstacles, especially for listeners who are considering starting their own podcast."


Eight Ideas for Revitalizing Your Company Blog

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. After hearing all the buzz about blogs and how popular they are becoming, your company decided to dive into the blogging waters. But that was months ago. And even though you've posted a few times, your blog has gotten little or no comments, and only a handful of visitors a day!

Before you give up and decide to pull the plug on your blogging experience, let's look at some ideas for revitalizing you blog so that both you and your customers can benefit from it."


Eight Steps to Creating Brand Evangelists (Premium)

"Whereas many companies use traditional marketing tactics to send a one-way promotional message to customers, brand evangelists can communicate with customers in their space. This is a very powerful difference: It shifts the communication from being one-way to creating an actual dialogue; and whereas many people simply do not trust advertising, a recommendation from a fellow customer is credible.

But how can companies encourage their customers to become brand evangelists?"


Eight Easy Ways to Grow Your Blog

"The social media landscape over the last year or so has changed dramatically. Companies that were once skeptical about tools such as blogs are now blogging or considering starting one. Unfortunately, many companies that do so still have little idea of how to grow their blog into an integral part of their marketing efforts.

However, every company can take some easy steps to grow its blog. Many companies don't have the knowledge or the resources to implement elaborate technical measures to boost their blog's status and instead need no-nonsense ideas that every writer can use every day.

This article will outline eight easy steps that bloggers can take to grow their blog's readership."


How to Reach Facebook's Millions of Members in Nine Easy Steps (Premium)

"But the key to having success on Facebook is to use the site as its members do. Consider ways that you can be create and bring value to your fellow users, as in many ways Facebook is a community which rewards its members based on the good that they each bring to the larger group."


Eight Steps to Creating a Successful Online Community (Premium)

"Online social communities are all the rage. Sites such as MySpace, YouTube, and Facebook have grabbed headlines over the past year or so as examples of how to create successful communities. As a result, many businesses have tried to emulate these sites and create vibrant online networks... with mixed results."


How Social Media is Changing the 4Ps of Marketing: Stories from Real Companies (Premium)

"More than likely, you’re reading this article with a fair amount of skepticism. After all, many companies want firm control over all its marketing and messaging processes. The idea of turning control of some or all of these processes over to customers can be a bit intimidating at first. But here are a few reasons why turning your marketing over to your customers can make good sense"

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