Marketing Pilgrim

It’s uncommon to see sales increase by double digits. HP had a new laptop called  Dragon. Sales were flat after trying traditional marketing. So they decided to try another way - engaging bloggers. A quick way to do that is to send bloggers an ultralight $5,000 laptop to give away to one of their readers.

Nine months after launch, the 15 pound laptop with a 20.1-inch screen and 500-gigabyte hard drive wasn’t selling that well. HP hired social media marketing firm Buzz Corps Inc. and they brainstormed with bloggers and HP to come up with the campaign.

Scott Ballantyne, vice president and general manager of the personal systems group at HP, said:

“The technology keeps changing and people keep chasing the next social technology. The key is to remember that social media is about people talking and interacting with people. Technology can help with distribution. But people need to remain at the center.”

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There’s always something bittersweet about the last linky goodness of the month, don’t you think?

• The launch of the G1 Gphone generated instant interest—almost enough to match that of the iPhone (at the time). In searches, anyway, as Hitwise reports.
• I’m sure you’re all experts at Google Webmaster Tools, but just in case you’re not, the Google Webmaster Central blog today gives some tips for getting Advanced Website Diagnostics with GWT.
• Maybe I’ve got corporate blogging on the brain; who knows? But I was excited to see the Top 5 corporate blogging mistakes and how to avoid them from David Meerman Scott.
• The privacy saga that is Street View continues. One German town has announced its intention to require, then deny a permit to take the Street View pictures. That’s one way to do it—but can they enforce it?

Last night, my husband was logging in to Facebook when he noticed something was different. He asked me if I’d seen this before:

Nope. Conspicuously absent from the redesign, of course, is the phrase “social utility,” Facebook’s high-falutin’ euphemism for “social network.” (I swear I noticed that before I read the TechCrunch post, too.)

I’m guessing the new homepage is not the harbinger of major changes at Facebook—rather, it’s probably the last step in the extremely long roll out of their latest redesign.

It looks cooler, it matches with the new interior design better, and it loses the pretentious autonym—that is, it explains what it’s for more simply. Not bad.

If I were Martha Stewart, I might already realize that I pretty much need to monitor my reputation 24/7–actually maybe more often than that!

Well, Martha might want to check out this custom Trackur RSS news feed, we just created for her. You see, it appears that she’s crossing Google’s link-building guidelines and Michael Gray (and others) are not shy in spreading the word.

Now, here’s the thing: did Martha Stewart have any idea the hot water she was getting into? Probably not, and that’s my point. You may have a spotless reputation, but you never know when someone’s going to call you out and question your good name.

If you used Trackur–or your reputation monitoring tool of choice–you’d always know the moment someone–such as Graywolf–decided to hold you accountable for your actions.

So, Martha, drop me an email and I’ll hook you up with a free trial of Trackur–cos, girl, you need it!

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Don’t forget, take Trackur’s online media monitoring service for a test drive, provide your feedback, and you could win this fabulous new computer.

Full entry details here.

Here’s a reminder for my FREE online reputation management webinar on Wednesday October 1st at 1pm ET–yes, that’s this Wednesday!

The webinar is open to everyone, but registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. Please go ahead and register, but please only do so if you know for sure you can attend the webinar–that way you don’t take one of the limited seats.

The webinar is being sponsored by–you guessed it–Trackur, but I can promise you that this won’t be a sales pitch event. You’ll come away from the webinar with at least one new tactic–or your money back!

Please help spread the word. How often do you get to attend a free webinar?

Do the Linky Goodness Dance! It’s a bit like the Safety Dance, but longer: L-l-l-l I-i-i-i N-n-n-n K-k—you get the picture.

• Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the best online mapping service of them all? Google Maps, of course, who’s spent the last year innovating while their rivals “stagnate.”
• And Danny Sullivan explains exactly how that innovation works in The Google Hive Mind. Freaky.
• Last week’s reports of Yahoo Answers’ death have been greatly exaggerated, because Yahoo is NOT selling Yahoo Answers.
• Facebook may have been the most recent media darling (although it’s becoming the social network the media loves to hate), but MySpace still has over 65% marketshare. Odd, I don’t hear anyone wringing their hands over that monopoly.
• But Facebook still has an edge in Britain, if not in numbers, in super cool uses: it’s being used to recruit spies. Now I’m sooo glad I’m on Facebook!

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Almost three weeks ago, Yahoo defended the Google ad deal with executive vice president Heather Schneider. Maybe it’s just a postmortem twitch of the old competitiveness, but now that Google’s stepping up its defense of the deal, so is Yahoo, this time bringing in President Sue Decker.

Friday’s post on the Yahoo Anecdotal blog, entitled “Myth-Busting and the Yahoo!-Google Agreement,” highlights the reasons why Yahoo wants in on the deal:

• Yahoo! will use this agreement to help us become a stronger competitor in all aspects of online advertising; and
• Yahoo! is not exiting the sponsored search business. We plan to remain a strong player in sponsored search.

Search Engine Watch’s Nathania Johnson says that this Yahoo-centered explanation doesn’t offer much persuasion to critics, who include some current AdWords advertisers:

But the fact that she’s going after this argument by defending the business aspirations of Yahoo might show why this company is struggling in the first place.

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You, me, a funny introduction and we all laugh before reading today’s Picks.

• Google hopes its new office in Washington will help it better educate government-types.
• Congress just approved a bill that will allow web radio stations to keep on, keeping on.
• Staying with the political theme, Google’s decided that speaking out on California’s Proposition 8 fits perfectly with its mission to organize the world’s population information.
• Video ads are expensive enough to make, but ClickZ reveals that they’re also more expensive to distribute–an average of $43 per CPM versus $15 for regular display ads. When might video ad rates reduce?
• If you use Firefox and the Google Toolbar, there’s new browser-candy waiting for you to download!
• Last year’s Annual Customer Engagement Survey revealed some fascinating statistics. Have your voice heard and complete this year’s survey.

UPDATE: I almost forgot. Winner’s of our recent book giveaway are:

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While we all thought Google’s Android was merely a way for Google to make it easier for is AdWords ads to appear on your cell phone, a new patent filing could reveal a larger goal.

A bidding system where wireless providers bid to offer the lowest calling rates for your unlocked cell phone.

Here’s how ComputerWorld describes the new Google patent application:

…When at home, the device would attach to the user’s Wi-Fi network…But once outside, the device could periodically search for other available service providers, asking the service providers to bid for the chance to offer service to the customer. The device could automatically switch to the network that has the best price without interrupting a user’s voice call or data connection.

On the back end, a program on the phone could contact each of the available networks individually, or the phone could instead communicate with a central server that handles the negotiations with each service provider.

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According to Google, you likely fall into one of three distinct categories.

1. You like the description "snippets" in Google’s results just the way they are.
2. You’d rather not see any text snippets–you want just the page title.
3. Like Billy Idol, you want "more, more, more" text in your snippets.

If you don’t conform to any of the above, you likely won’t care for Google’s latest micro-test–where you get to choose just how much description text is shown alongside a result.

(via)

Oh, it’s linky, and it’s good.

• Are you using Facebook to make yourself look good—like really good? Do you have the most friends, the coolest connections, the most photos, etc., etc., etc.? Guess what: we know you love yourself.
• RWW reports problems with FeedBurner hearing pings. Anybody else seeing this?
• Google’s overseas maps continue to improve, this time with real time traffic info for England’s major roads.
• I know, I know. You’re in a panic because you now know that consumers want to interact with your company via social media—but you don’t have any idea what to do. Check outSEOmoz’s Corporate Blogging Tips in video form.