Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Show me the Money

How do we handle decisions about money? Let's take a look at a couple of scenarios. Scenario Number One What if I told you that of all the things you do today, you could choose only a handful. How would you begin to sift through your services and products to pare the list down to a core set? Could you tell me, right now, what those products or services are? What criteria would you use to judge? Would go for the high value/high profit or margin items? It would seem like a logical direction. Maybe you would go for developing... Read more →

Ask(?)Away: Take your Brand from Commodity to Community, Director Tom Clifford - now Portable

Maybe you've noticed that series of links on the sidebar to indicate viral marketing projects. These are initiatives I participate in with other bloggers. By nature, blogs invite dialogue and invite you to build on ideas. The Ask(?)Away format is a more fluid type of conversation, one begun on email over a topic between two bloggers and continued with the readers' comments on this blog. A little over a week ago, along with the launch of The Age of Conversation, I published one such conversation with Tom Clifford -- Director Tom -- for the discerning film crowd. The news of... Read more →

Meet the (New Media) Editor -- Ann Handley, MarketingProfs

Over the years I have written several articles for submission to the editors of print publications. They never made the cut. There was always some reason why: not long enough, too edgy, you haven't published somewhere else, etc. One of such articles described how we had used our internal marketing resources while the market was soft to rebrand the company and get ready for a growth spur. It was a pretty interesting case study in taking your own advice -- still, no dice. Many print publication editors are now setting their sights on the new media promised land. That is... Read more →

For Sale by Owner Excluded

The other day I received a flyer at home from a real estate agency. The visual impression was not the usual agent photo with an invitation to call, so I opened it. Inside, I discovered a property update report summarizing listings sold, as well as listings active and pending for my area. The information is based on the TReND MLS. I kept reading as the properties listed as sold were not only the ones by this specific Realtor. Then I got to the part that made me pause: Please note that For Sale By Owner properties are excluded because they... Read more →

I'm Not a Number but I Play one on Advertising Age

Ever been to a cocktail party and seen a name tag that said "Hello, my Name is #97". Of course not, but that's what Conversation Agent's ranking is in The Power 150 today. My name is Valeria Maltoni, you know yours. In fact, chances are *I* know yours if you've made at least one comment here. We're not rankings, we're people. The difficulty of objectively quantifying conversation is that it is hosted and facilitated by people. People are subjective and their thinking is evolved in the flow of learning and interacting. Many of us blog to share what we know... Read more →

The New Kind of Business Hero

"This new kind of business hero... must learn to operate without the might of the hierarchy behind them. The crutch of authority must be thrown away and replaced by their own ability to make relationships, use influence, and work with others to achieve results." [Rosabeth Moss Kanter, When Giants Learn to Dance] When you hear the word politics you'd like to cover your ears and start humming to yourself, I'm quite sure of it. I have many friends who work in the career counseling and outplacement field and they tell me that the number one desire of people in career... Read more →

How do You Sell to the Marketer on the Inside?

Buy the book. No, it's not a typo. It's one more take on The Age of Conversation. When was the last time you saw 103 marketers agree on anything? This is a world changing event -- and we do hope to change the world of the children supported by Variety, one book at a time. Having a company picnic this summer? I surely do hope so, even if it's just you, your Beagle (I have soft spot, I admit it), and your neighbors. Buy a copy of the book for each one. It will make a great conversation piece and... Read more →

Corporate Communications and Blogging -- Oxymoron?

A couple of weeks ago I had an in depth conversation with Adii, which is short for Adriaan Pieneer. He blogs about freelancing, Web 2.0, business strategy and WordPress and lives in South Africa, a place I've learned to appreciate thanks to a colleague from Johannesburg. If you have a little time, in it I discuss how I view corporate communications -- expanding on When thinking about corporate communications I see my role as one of business negotiator and information broker. The value I see in self publishing -- building to Imagine having a gigantic focus group where the interactions... Read more →

Mac or Windows?

This is the question. It's time for me to buy a new system for my home. I'm between embarrassed and proud to have used the same computer for almost six years. Before blogging there was really little reason to spend hours online and having a PC running on Windows XP at home was convenient as I could easily transport files back and forth. A recent report from Gartner says that worldwide shipments of PCs have increased 12% in the second quarter -- with US sales at about 6%. Dell and HP are in the two top spots in both lists,... Read more →

Facebook Ain't Face Time

"A force sucking you deeper into Facebook?" "Sign up for Facebook or consign your career to the dustbin of history, etc." Please, someone get real here. Maybe LinkedIn is not the solution; it was never meant to be. And neither is Facebook -- we are. How ready everyone is to jump on the next fad and make that the Holy Grail. I am thoroughly impressed. Yes, we do like to look busy and important and Facebook has got all the functionality to show that up front. It's uncanny how effortlessly one can build a whole network just by showing up.... Read more →