17 Aug 2010 - Growth Lessons 2010
Don't let fears of a double-dip recession paralyze you. Calculate, plan, commit and grow. We'll show you how....

- Unleash RSS Marketing in Japan

Just got word from my Japaneese publisher that Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS is scheduled to be released in Japan in print end of July.

It's great to finally go international:)

Japan is getting the short 2007 edition of the book ... and yes, the longer US 2007 edition is still being written, unfortunatelly.

I can't believe how many times I've postoped it already. Actually, I'm quite ashamed of it.

But, I do believe it will be worth the wait.

I also wanted to thank Geoff Livingston for putting Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS on his list of 25+ Great New Media Books.

Geoff, thanks for the extra motivation to help me finish the 2007 edition:)

How Can RSS Power Your Internet Marketing and Publishing? Find out more in the most comprehensive and best guide on RSS for marketers, as acclaimed by leading RSS experts, developers, marketers and publishers. Click here and get the step-by-step guide to taking full marketing advantage of RSS.

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- How Google's Acquisition of FeedBurner Will Change RSS Marketing

While the original plan for the RSS Diary blog was leaving on hiatus until the 2007 edition of the RSS Marketing e-book is done, the FeedBurner acquisition by Google is a story just to important to pass up ... especially all the implications it might bring into the world of RSS Advertising, and RSS Marketing as a whole as well.

So, yes. FeedBurner, a leading RSS metrics and RSS advertising company was just acquired by Google. Finally confirmed after weeks of speculation. I won't go into the details of the acquisition, as you can read more about it at the FeedBurner blog and just by following the news at Google News.

Here, we'll take a look at the implications this brings to the world of RSS Marketing. Just my predictions of course:)

1. RSS Metrics Will Finally Become Integrated With Web Metrics

In my book, all marketing/communications channels should be judged using the same metrics, such as conversions, cost-per-order, cost-per-subscriber, sales etc.

Although you could already do all of this with RSS, it required some tinkering.

But, as FeedBurner gets assimilated into Google Analytics, tracking the key marketing metrics should become a breeze, giving everyone access to crucial internet optimization data.

2. RSS Metrics Moving Closer to the Mainstream

With RSS Metrics being integrated directly into Google Analytics (which I'm sure will happen very soon), marketers might finally start actually measuring their RSS feeds.

Means better RSS Marketing, finally.

3. RSS Advertising Going CPC

Although FeedBurner is cautions to provide any details about how their CPM pricing model might change with the integration of their ad services into Google, I'm quite certain that RSS advertising will move the way of cost-per-click.

Means less revenues for RSS feed publishers, but better ROI for you, the advertiser.

4. RSS Advertising Moving Closer to the Mainstream

RSS Advertising will finally reach the mainstream, utilizing Google's massive advertiser database.

Prices will go up, and RSS content monetization will again start becoming the talk at industry events.

On the plus side, it also means Google will be able to attract more RSS feed publishers, meaning more RSS ad inventory for you. Your RSS advertising reach potential is about to explode, finally enabling you to reach the masses using RSS Advertising.

5. Trouble for Other RSS Advertising Companies

I love Pheedo, another leading RSS Metrics and RSS Advertising company, but the FeedBurner acquisition makes me wonder what's in store for them as Google starts pushing RSS advertising to their massive database of advertisers, especially as part of an integrated online advertising service.

It's certainly not the end of other RSS Advertising companies, but they might all soon see themselves transforming from RSS ad networks to RSS media planning & buying consultants.

Which would be a shame, especially considering the advancements in RSS Advertising developed by Pheedo.

6. Better Targeting for Google AdWords Advertisers (We Wish!)

Advertiser demand seems to be growing quicker than the inventory offered by Google.

The obvious choice for Google (in addition of course to increasing ad inventory through additional reach, media expansion through the content network, and expansion to new ad channels, like RSS and banner inventories) is to offer better targeting, for a premium price.

As a marketer, I clearly want to place my ads in front of the most relevant prospects. Keyword targeting is OK, but adding behavioral on top of that introduces another filtering element to my media planning, enabling me to really pin-point the users I want to see my ads.

• How about displaying search ads only to people who have already visited my website, but haven't made a purchase? Google AdWords and Google Analytics integration could offer exactly this.
  
  
• How about displaying search ads only to people that respond to marketing content banners on other websites? Integrating Google AdWords with one of the latest Google acquisitions, DoubleClick, can get us exactly this.
  
  
• Of course, I might also want to target my ads to people who are subscribed to X e-mail newsletter. What do you know, Google already has that information through their Gmail service.
  
  
• And then, how about displaying search ads only to people who are subscribing to other RSS feeds about RSS marketing? Integrating Google AdWords with FeedBurner would make this possible.
  
  
• Now just take these concepts, put them all together, and expand them to banner advertising, feed advertising and any other online ad channel Google develops/acquires in the future.

This may either be science fiction or Google's actual long-term masterplan. As more advertising budgets rush to the internet, available quality ad inventory will continue shrinking.

By introducing such targeting, integrating the metric and capabilities of all of their properties, Google could come as close as possible to total ad targeting, the holy grail of marketing we are all striving towards.

Things will get much more interesting ... and soon.

If I were an ad agency, I'd start developing a targeting department, focusing on targeted media buying.

How Can RSS Power Your Internet Marketing and Publishing? Find out more in the most comprehensive and best guide on RSS for marketers, as acclaimed by leading RSS experts, developers, marketers and publishers. Click here and get the step-by-step guide to taking full marketing advantage of RSS.

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- Amazon Soft-Launches RSS Feeds for Product Tags

Just got a notice from Amazon (thank you) that they soft-launched RSS feeds for tags.

But first, how do their tags actually work?

• You can tag any product you like, including your previous purchases, with a keyword that best describes the product.
• Easily search and access products tagged by others, using the keywords you're interested in.
• Tags are also used as a way for Amazon to provide you with personalized recommendations.

The good part is that Amazon now added RSS capabilities to their tags, available through most tag pages.

• Subscribe to RSS feeds for the tags you're interested in, and get latest product releases that match these tags.
• Use the RSS feeds to display Amazon products on your website, using the appropriate tags, to earn affiliate commissions.
• Share RSS feeds for tags with your friends, as a recommendations vehicle.

More information here.

An excellent RSS e-commerce application from Amazon!

How Can RSS Power Your Internet Marketing and Publishing? Find out more in the most comprehensive and best guide on RSS for marketers, as acclaimed by leading RSS experts, developers, marketers and publishers. Click here and get the step-by-step guide to taking full marketing advantage of RSS.

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- The NewsGator Interview: RSS in the Enterprise - Manage Internal Information More Easily

In part 3 of the RSS interview with Greg Reinacker of NewsGator find out how Enterprise RSS makes information management easier within a corporation.

• What will happen in the RSS space in 2007, for marketers and business?
  
  
• Will RSS become integrated into every enterprise application? How will that change how information is used?
  
  
• Will RSS improve information management within an organization?
  
  
• What challenges do RSS management present to IT departments in larger organizations?
  
  
• Will centralized RSS tools help solve the internal information management crisis?
  
  
• What is Attention XML and how will it help you get more of the content you need and less of the content that is not relevant specifically to you?
  
  
• Are smart RSS Readers only for corporations, or can consumers also take advantage?
  
  
• What are NewsGator's plans for 2007?

Click here to listen to the interview [MP3; 13 min.]

How Can RSS Power Your Internet Marketing and Publishing? Find out more in the most comprehensive and best guide on RSS for marketers, as acclaimed by leading RSS experts, developers, marketers and publishers. Click here and get the step-by-step guide to taking full marketing advantage of RSS.

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- The NewsGator Interview: RSS for Online Media and Branded RSS Readers

In part 2 of the RSS interview with Greg Reinacker of NewsGator find out how online media can take advantage of RSS beyond publishing RSS content.

• Why should online publishers care about branded RSS Readers?
  
  
• Does it still make sense to provide a branded RSS Reader, especially with the wide adoption RSS is getting through Internet Explorer 7?
  
  
• What kind of value can publishers bring to RSS Readers?
  
  
• How can online media enhance the user experience through third-party content via RSS?
  
  
• Is visitor ownership still a possibility, or are services like MyYahoo! owning the game? How can online media compete?
  
  
• How can small businesses compete with large portals and large media sites?
  
  
• Does syndicating your content via RSS mean that you're giving up content?
  
  
• Is RSS becoming a significant traffic driver?
  
  
• How can companies profit from pulling together relevant content on a specific topic from third-party sources?
  
  
• Is there a difference in how summary and full-text feeds drive visitors to your website? When to use which?
  
  
• Best practices for re-publishing third-party content on your website
  
  
• Can you put ads next to re-published RSS content on your site? How to do it?

Click here to listen to the interview [MP3; 14 min.]

How Can RSS Power Your Internet Marketing and Publishing? Find out more in the most comprehensive and best guide on RSS for marketers, as acclaimed by leading RSS experts, developers, marketers and publishers. Click here and get the step-by-step guide to taking full marketing advantage of RSS.

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31 Aug 2010 - Advanced Local Search: Reviews, Offbeat Citations, and PPC Integration
In this final article in a series on local search optimization, SEO expert Dev Basu explains the tricks of building 'citations' to your business and getting reviews for your business to build your visibility in the '7-pack' of business listings, and how to link your AdWords campaign to Google Maps to get noticed....

31 Aug 2010 - Is Mobile Search Marketing Finally Here? with Michael Martin (3:17)
In this brief video interview, mobile search marketing expert Michael Martin indicates that after many promises in previous years, 2010 is actually the year when mobile takes off. He explains why mobile devices have a conversion rate for local searches four times that of other types of browsers, plus current growth statistics for Internet-capable smartphones....

31 Aug 2010 - Recent Articles on Internet Marketing for August 31st
Here are a few recent articles and resources I found this week that might interest you....

24 Aug 2010 - Roles vs. Personas vs. Cognitive Styles in Conversion Optimization
In this article conversion expert Tim Ash clarifies three often-confused terms used to describe and "type" site visitors. (1) Roles describe classes of visitors. (2) A Persona is a carefully-constructed prototype of a type of visitor. (3) Cognitive Styles consider temperaments and behavior types. Ash explains how each can help in landing page optimization....

24 Aug 2010 - The Future of Mobile Devices as Persuasion Platforms with BJ Fogg (5:44)
In this fascinating video interview, Stanford persuasion psychologist BJ Fogg contends that we are on the cusp of the next stage of human evolution where every human will have a mobile device with them throughout their lives as a persuasion platform that will influence behavior....