Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Best of 2009, the Year of Execution

Strap yourself in, this is going to be quite a ride! As it is tradition -- and super requested by many -- this is my annual recap of the most dialed in conversations of the year. As we progress through them, you will see how they're all somehow connected to the same thread. Did we do what we said we would? 2010 - the Year to Make Social Media Operational Don't hoard knolwedge. Use, share, teach, learn, and move your business forward. Find inspiration in some of these posts, by month: ____________________ We started the year by thinking about direction.... Read more →

Thank you - 2009

It's that time of the year again. This is a post I look forward to as it allows me to aggregate the many ways I'm thankful in one place. In 2009, the community has grown to include the many professionals who have introduced themselves in the about you page, as well as the members of the fan page on Facebook and the stories you shared for Twittertales. There are many other amazing contributors in the comments to each post, and the #kaizenblog chat participants on Twitter. For the back story on kaizen and blogging, you will find more information at... Read more →

Taking Your Brand for Granted

The grass is greener on the other plot or garden - or in this case company and business. Rob Diana writes about MyBlogLog's demise. Remember that service? It was so promising that Yahoo! bought it for $10MM in early 2007. Then sat on it. Google FriendConnect and Facebook Connect have now come to take advantage of the same idea. Over the years, many brands have made the same mistake. They had something special, something that might have been ahead of the times. The reason it was different and worth talking about, the very reason why it had a chance to... Read more →

Blogger Outreach: From the Blogger's Eyes

guest post by David Spinks Blogger outreach is being used in more and more in marketing and social media campaigns. Some campaigns completely forgo traditional media outreach and just focus on blogger outreach. If you can get enough buzz going in the blogosphere, chances are mainstream media will catch wind of it, too. So why the shift? Well bloggers… Are usually more approachable than mainstream media. Have focused audiences so companies can be very strategic on which ones they contact. Have close and trusting relationships with their readers. Once a blogger covers your company, it strengthens your relationship with them... Read more →

The Only Workable Revenue Model for the Web Is Trust

guest post by Chris Baskind I'm going to be honest here. When Valeria asked me to write a Media guest column to cover her holiday vacation, I began tooling up a piece titled How the Web Is Old Media's Afghanistan. I ground out a decent lead, and shot it to my prospective editor on Skype. "I never liked war as a marketing metaphor," came the deflating reply. And therein lies the peril of metaphor: No matter how cleverly you compare two different things, they remain two different things. She's right. Marketing may resemble warfare from time to time, but if... Read more →

Embracing Change with Gracefulness

Christmas Thoughts 2009 View more documents from Valeria Maltoni. Plus, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Marketers have gone through quite the roller coaster in the last couple of years. Many of them not surviving their tenure in troubled industries and businesses. In this slide show I prepared with the colors and images of Christmas, I wanted to look back at some of the threads and learning that characterized the year: content marketing is the beginning of the journey social media is no silver bullet. You still need to do the work every day decide one... Read more →

3 Social Media Marketing Books for the Holidays

Now that we're basking in the quiet moments of the holidays, I've had a chance to do a deeper dive on some of the books I've been wanting to read and share with you. *** Web Analytics 2.0 I cannot say enough good things about this book. It is actionable from page one to the very last page. If you buy it and use it (please use it) in combination with Web Analystics one Hour a Day, which I bought about a year ago, it will get you a long way to understanding and measuring actionable metrics. Plus, in the... Read more →

Christine Perkett, PerkettPR

Running an agency today is already a pretty interesting proposition. Make that a virtual agency, and you're sure everyone needs to be on their best communicative and disciplined self for it to work well. Read on to learn why. Meet Christine Perkett, President and Founder of PerkettPR, Inc., the virtual agency. Christine, who I met at a tweet-up in Boston a couple of years ago, is an active blogger for work, and is not afraid to get personal. Find her on Twitter and gain some insights from her story and accomplishments here. _______ Tell me a little bit about you... Read more →

Trend Hunting is Not a Fad Anymore: Welcome to “I Am Source” PR

guest post by Richard Laermer A PR person’s job is to try to look through both the news and the fodder and understand how an idea becomes newsy or water cooler talk in first place. It’s all about finding the right trend—being on top of everything. And in the near future, as the media becomes not a print vehicle or a TV station or even a product held in our hands, but a series of people we depend upon for knowledge, data and worthy opinion, you are the one who is going to be making news and providing the details.... Read more →

Make Your Input Positive

Because when you talk about what's possible you have a better likelihood that: 1) you'll be given more opportunities not just to talk about it, but to make it happen, and 2) your input will be sought after. Actually this is the best way to stop being someone people look to only for output, and start being seen as someone who provides valuable input to move forward, or break through. When you change your internal conversation, all that stuff on personal branding (value, positioning, etc.) then just falls into place. I was reminded of the difference and impact while reading... Read more →