Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Lists, Permission, and Content Marketing

In case you missed it, we had a conversation about permission marketing a little over a year ago. It bears revisiting the concept, given the current rediscovered role of the customer or prospect list in marketing. Rediscovered because for a while it looked like with social media you could just throw messages out there for free and have them stick to your target market. Now that everyone has had a chance to settle down to the hard realities of conversation and calls to action within the same sentence, I wanted to explore the topic with you. Do you have a... Read more →

The Value of Reputation

A few days ago, I published the chart you see in this post on Twitter to highlight how one of my favorite brands, Nutella, has the best global reputation across the board. The Reputation Institute, which was introduced to me by my friend Richard Binhammer over a year ago, pulls together seven dimensions to compute a brand's reputation. They are: product/service innovation workplace governance citizenship leadership performance How many of you are actively working on communicating with the people and communities that contribute to influencing your brand's reputation across these seven dimensions? Customers, employees, partners, investors, and so on. You... Read more →

Twittertales, the eBook

A couple of months ago, when this blog hit 3 years of conversations with you, I put out a call to participate in an eBook about connections on Twitter - thus Twittertales was born. Dirk Cajada, who I met on Twitter during a #kaizenblog chat, offered to help design the eBook. He did a fantastic job with it, as you can see when you download the PDF. Thanks also go to the contributors - Michael Winn, Danny Brown, Scott Hepburn, Janet Barclay, Arik Hanson, Gloria Bell, Teresa Basich, Caroline Di Diego, and Dirk Cajada. Introduction to the idea Because so... Read more →

Tweetsgiving 2009: the Power of Gratitude

I want to build a more expansive and collaborative future for all of us, so that more people can follow their passion, don't you? A human life is a precious gift. Each comes with the potential of Leonardo da Vinci - it's all there, just waiting to be seen, ignited, and engaged. Epic Change is giving us a means to help do that with a worthy goal - that of human achievement through the power of gratitude. Thus tweetsgiving was born last year, collecting $10,000 to benefit children in Arusha, Tanzania. A new classroom, and a window to the world... Read more →

My Take on Passion

I've been told I'm passionate about marketing and learning. Passion has been my life long engine for innovation and growth. John Hagel recently wrote an extensive post on pursuing passion, on which we will do a follow up here within the context of his project. Can business and passion coexist? Good question. In many instances, your passion is great until you're part of the team, then you've got to tone it down. It is not only corporate executives who are ambivalent around passion, it seems that people who get things done are not very passionate at all; they're more process-oriented.... Read more →

Playing with Fire

I think many of my regular readers will agree that I tend to offer content and ideas that are pretty well rounded and often researched for consideration - and action. In fact, I know that many of you agree that you have implemented tips, found the resources actionable, and the questions useful. Yes, knowing to ask the right questions is the best way to build a solid foundation - in research and measurement by establishing baselines, in business and life by going to the heart of what matters or should be measured in the first place. Ask the wrong question... Read more →

Opt-in vs. Opt-Out; Value vs. Numbers

From "all the news fit to print" to "all the news you can fit [in a tweet]". It looks like the news media model is moving into the social media realm. Sell and buy ads and you'll have sustenance for the tool and a way for brands to get something out of it without having to put too much time, attention, and work into it. What happened to the notion of personally earning attention on social networks? Where have all the conversations about brands engaging, interacting, and being human gone? At the end of the day, nothing happens until a... Read more →

Growing and Monetizing News Media

Is it possible? How can news media businesses both grow and monetize their online properties? Tough questions mainstream media publications need to ask themselves at the moment. This past week the media announced massive staff layoffs that hit its own - AP, BusinessWeek under the new Bloomberg ownership, AOL, and Time Inc. Meanwhile, a survey conducted by The American Press Institute (API) with ITZ Publishing and Belden Interactive finds that more than half of newspaper publishers believe readers will pay to access online newspaper content. You've probably heard about News Corp. working on online news charges. Earlier in the month,... Read more →

Twitter and Google Reader Aren't at War

There have been conversations recently about abandoning RSS readers, and specifically Google Reader in favor of using Twitter as a human filter for information. The idea is that if you follow smart people, they read good material and will pass that along to their network - you. Part of me says, maybe. Somehow I think that if you come across a really good post filled with juicy information that will make you look good when you implement it, you'll probably keep that more to yourself. Maybe use it to build on when you write on your own blog. How far... Read more →

What is Your Purpose for Blogging?

Personal Branding In A Wired World from Valeria Maltoni That is the first thing you need to think about if you're planning to be strategic about your blog. Then, instead of focusing on success, focus on the path that will keep you on purpose. Why? Because success changes and stays in the future - be honest, you keep upping the ante. While the path, part of which is a process that will help you stay productive, is the here and now - the decisions you need to make tonight, every day and every week. Dan Pink quotes the recently departed... Read more →