Best PR Blog - Vote for Harry!

The inimitable Harry Hoover at THINKing is locked in a tight battle in the PRWeek blog competition. To vote, scroll down to the bottom where you see the charts and click on "My Creative Team." Let's put Harry over the top!

Off Topic: Have the Best 4th of July Ever!

Since so few people are at work this week (physically in many cases, mentally in many more), it's a great time to go off topic and ponder just how much better life has become over the last three and a half decades. (How's that for a random figure?)

I'm not sure exactly what sparked it, but I got to thinking one recent rainy day as I watching my kids bounce between watching the flat screen TV to listening to their iPods to chatting with friends online to playing video games, how much better life has become since I was their age in the early 1970s. It's not just that we have more stuff (though we certainly do; the size of the world economy has more than tripled since 1970), but that the stuff we have has improved so much—it's smaller (in the case of electronics) or bigger (meals, houses), faster, higher quality and more functional.

Consider music for example (no, not the music itself, which was of course way better in the 1970s—Styx, Van Halen, Boston, REO Speedwagon, Aerosmith, c'mon!—but rather the way we listen to it). Albums provided high fidelity, but were fragile and definitely not portable. 8-track tapes were a disaster; cassettes were smaller and songs didn't break in the middle, but the audio quality was so-so and they had a tendency to wear out and eventually get "eaten" by a player. Now we have MP3s; decent quality, ultimate portability, and you don't have to go to record store to buy them.

Or movies. In the early 1970s, if you missed seeing a movie during its theatre run, you had to wait two to three years. Then one of the networks would finally show it—chopped up by commercials and "reformatted to fit your television screen," which at that time was smallish and so convex you had to sit almost directly in front of it to get a non-distorted view. And they didn't even have remotes! Now we have Netflix and pay-per-view and video stores and cable; we can watch movies, in widescreen high-def format, shortly after they leave theatres, commercial-free, on big flat panel TVs.

Or communications. In the early 1970s, sending a note meant sending a note. On paper, in an envelope, through postal mail which took days to deliver (much longer if overseas). There was one phone company. Unless you were rich, you had only one phone (a black one, rented from the phone company), and it was stationary. Long-distance calls cost a fortune (I remember calling a friend in Spain cost me $1.27 per minute, in mid-1970s dollars; can you even imagine paying the inflated equivalent, which would be about $6.00 per minute today, to make a call to another country now?) and the sound quality was awful. Freedom of the press belonged to those to owned one, and many big city newspapers had a virtual monopoly over local distribution of the written word.

Yuck! But today we have email, IM, Skype, Vonage, Twitter, blogs, cell phones, texting and more. Communication is democratic, cheap, instantaneous and portable.

Not everything has improved with time of course: due to a lack of true choice, our educational system in the U.S. has failed to keep up; progress against cancer has been painfully slow; lawyers have sucked a lot of the fun out of life; and the downfall of communism was unfortunately followed by the rise of a competing ideology even more ruthless, sinister and absolute. But, on the whole, life is a whole lot better, and everything has changed.

Why, back in the early 1970s, we had a presidential election that pitted a veteran politician from the western U.S., who was viewed as too liberal by many of his fellow Republicans, squaring off against a senator from a midwestern state, with no executive experience, who was viewed as too liberal even by many Democrats. Among the most pressing issues of the day were energy policy, relations with China, and an unpopular war halfway around the world.

Hmm, perhaps not everything has changed either. Oh well, Happy Independence Day!

*****

technorati tags: 1970s, music, Styx, Van Halen, Boston, REO Speedwagon, Aerosmith, albums, 8-track tapes, cassettes, Netflix, IM, Skype, Vonage, Twitter, blogs, cell phones, texting, presidential election, Republicans, Democrats, 4th of July, Independence Day

del.icio.us tags: 1970s, music, Styx, Van Halen, Boston, REO Speedwagon, Aerosmith, albums, 8-track tapes, cassettes, Netflix, IM, Skype, Vonage, Twitter, blogs, cell phones, texting, presidential election, Republicans, Democrats, 4th of July, Independence Day

icerocket tags: 1970s, music, Styx, Van Halen, Boston, REO Speedwagon, Aerosmith, albums, 8-track tapes, cassettes, Netflix, IM, Skype, Vonage, Twitter, blogs, cell phones, texting, presidential election, Republicans, Democrats, 4th of July, Independence Day

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Wireless Carriers Unplugged

Do wireless carriers abuse their power to infringe on the free speech of competitors and controversial groups? Is their revenue model reasonable? Is Verizon in 2008 the equivalent of AOL in 1995?

Jared Reitzin, CEO of digital marketing platform provider mobileStorm, uses humor, logic, passion, and one or two inappropriate words to blast mobile carriers for censorship, inefficiency and short-sighted business practices.

He makes an insightful and very timely argument, particularly given the spate of news articles over the last six months or so from sources like RCR Wireless News, Wireless And Mobile News and TechCrunch about free, ad-supported wireless calling models currently being tested. Why is this relevant? Because in the late 1990s, free ad-supported Internet access was all the rage. There were even companies that offered free computers, along with free web access, supported by advertising. Although those models ended up failing spectacularly, they did help push the dominant ISPs to move from $X-for-Y-hours-of-use pricing plans to unlimited access flat rates. A similar trajectory could happen in wireless.

Check out Jared's rant.



*****

technorati tags: wireless carriers, Verizon, AOL, Jared Reitzin, digital marketing platform, mobileStorm, RCR Wireless News, Wireless And Mobile News, TechCrunch, ad-supported wireless calling, rant

del.icio.us tags: wireless carriers, Verizon, AOL, Jared Reitzin, digital marketing platform, mobileStorm, RCR Wireless News, Wireless And Mobile News, TechCrunch, ad-supported wireless calling, rant

icerocket tags: wireless carriers, Verizon, AOL, Jared Reitzin, digital marketing platform, mobileStorm, RCR Wireless News, Wireless And Mobile News, TechCrunch, ad-supported wireless calling, rant

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Takin' A Short Break

After being part of a team launching a company this week and four new website design projects, plus my "regular" work of helping clients achieve superior online and offline marketing results, I need a short vacation getaway for some family time. So, the blog will take a brief time out.

I'll be back to writing about social networking, interactive PR, SEO and SEM, and the usual stuff as soon as I make sure my clients are well taken care of for the moment.

Speaking of that company launch, however—if your role has anything to do with business intelligence, data mining, analytics or database marketing—you're going to be hearing a lot about this company in the coming weeks and months:



Back soon.

*****

technorati tags: website design projects, social networking, interactive PR, business intelligence, data mining, data analytics, database marketing

del.icio.us tags: website design projects, social networking, interactive PR, business intelligence, data mining, data analytics, database marketing

icerocket tags: website design projects, social networking, interactive PR, business intelligence, data mining, data analytics, database marketing

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Social Networking Sites and SEO: What Wikipedia Won't Tell You

Within an astonishingly short time, Wikipedia has become one of the most-visited sites on the Internet. Consequently, Wikipedians—the self-appointed guardians of what is and isn't permissible for inclusion on the site—have become very powerful in determining what you are permitted to know about any topic, and even which topics are worthy of inclusion. It's been said that with great power comes great responsibility. That responsibility isn't always handled properly.

For example, Wikipedia's list of social networking websites now contains 111 entries; an impressive list, but certainly not all-inclusive. To the credit of Wikipedians, the list is now much better than it was just a few months ago, when it contained only 43 entries, but it is still behind the curve.

Then there is the matter of commercial content. While no one wants to see Wikipedia degenerate into a collection of marketing brochures, the site's prohibition on commercial speech seems to be unclear and unevenly enforced. There are tens of thousands of small businesses with no presence on Wikipedia, yet Oracle (the database company) is listed, as are The Oracle (the shopping mall near London), as well as PeopleSoft, SAP, IBM, and many other corporate giants.

Finally, there is the accuracy of the content itself. To cite just one recent example, Debra Mastaler points out in her post Do You Link Dope or Incestuously Link? on The Link Spiel that Wikipedia's page on link-building methods contains "terminology used to describe outdated , incomplete and irrelevant link methods." She goes on to write that "And yet, when I publicly suggest knowledgeable people with good content should contribute to the Wikipedia, I'm spoken down to, told to read the conflict of interest guidelines and criticized." Ouch. And Debra is by no means alone on this.

When frustration in the user community is combined with the opportunity for astronomical site traffic, competitors are bound to emerge. One such alternative is Freebase, which is still very immature (but does have its own Wikipedia page). Of no doubt more concern to the Wikipedians is Knol, Google's still-in-beta entry into online reference. As Michael Estrin points out, "According to Hitwise, more than half of Wikipedia's traffic comes from Google. While Knol and Wikipedia may not be direct competitors in terms of style, the two do appear to be on a collision course for top billing when it comes to web queries." To put it more bluntly, Wikipedia gets high traffic because it gets great placement on Google searches; what do you suppose is going to happen to the site's search engine position once Google has a competitive offering?

Despite its flaws, Wikipedia isn't going to disappear. But the shine is off, and serious competitors are emerging. Through a combination of success and arrogance (over-zealous article rejection, the use of insidious "no follow" tags, condescension to contributors), the Wikipedians have brought this upon themselves.

*****

technorati tags: Wikipedia, Wikipedians, list of social networking websites, Debra Mastaler, The Link Spiel, Freebase, Knol, Michael Estrin, insidious "no follow" tags, condescension to contributors

del.icio.us tags: Wikipedia, Wikipedians, list of social networking websites, Debra Mastaler, The Link Spiel, Freebase, Knol, Michael Estrin, insidious "no follow" tags, condescension to contributors

icerocket tags: Wikipedia, Wikipedians, list of social networking websites, Debra Mastaler, The Link Spiel, Freebase, Knol, Michael Estrin, insidious "no follow" tags, condescension to contributors

Off Topic: My Biggest Influencers

Back to the Best of 2007 series next week. But first, blogger and podcaster extraordinaire Paul Dunay, inspired by Paul Gillin's book The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media, tagged me to write about the most important influences in my life, so here goes.

1) My mother. Not only one of the wisest people I've ever known, but also one of the smartest. She finished college in three years and became a teacher—back in the days when few women pursued higher education. Going strong at 87, she still reads voraciously. Of the hundreds of things she taught me, one of the most important was to love learning.

2) Alan Koepp, my high school guidance counselor. As a somewhat confused young man, I told him I wasn't sure what I'd do after high school. He told me point blank: "With your grades, if you don't go to college, you're an idiot." That—plus a summer spent as a union truck loader—was the kick in the pants I needed to continue my academic pursuits.

3) My brother, Joe Pick. As my mother taught me how to learn, Joe, my second-oldest brother and first boss, taught me how to work. I also learned that the family business (custom trailer manufacturing) wasn't for me. Thanks to that experience, however, I'm probably the only marketing blogger on the planet who's helped build a trailer to transport a circus lion, among other interesting jobs.

4) Terry Peterson, VP of Customer Service, SoftBrands. Terry was my first marketing mentor, as well as one of the most contagiously upbeat and positive people I've ever met. From Terry I learned that almost anything is possible, with the right plan and execution.

5) Kirsten Chapman, principal of KC Associates, and my current employer. Kirsten is the toughest boss I've ever had. Some days, that makes life very unpleasant. But she is a brilliant strategic and creative thinker who has taught me a great deal, and forced me to take my marketing game to a whole new level, which is a good thing—for me, for KCA, and most importantly, for the success of our clients.

I'm tagging Harry Hoover, Elge Premeau, and Ardath Albee to keep this going.

*****

technorati tags: Paul Dunay, Paul Gillin, The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media, Terry Peterson, SoftBrands, Kirsten Chapman, KC Associates, Harry Hoover, Elge Premeau, Ardath Albee

del.icio.us tags: Paul Dunay, Paul Gillin, The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media, Terry Peterson, SoftBrands, Kirsten Chapman, KC Associates, Harry Hoover, Elge Premeau, Ardath Albee

icerocket tags: Paul Dunay, Paul Gillin, The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media, Terry Peterson, SoftBrands, Kirsten Chapman, KC Associates, Harry Hoover, Elge Premeau, Ardath Albee

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Merry Christmas from WebMarketCentral

Merry Christmas and best wishes for a blessed and joyous holiday season from WebMarketCentral. It's the time of year to enjoy time spent with friends and family, see the priceless expressions on the faces of children, and remember those less fortunate by giving back in any way you can.

The WebMarketCentral blog will take the Christmas to New Year's week off, but interesting stuff is planned for January. In the meantime, season's greetings to one and all, and enjoy a couple of photos—the Pick homestead at Christmas time, and Santa watching over the neighborhood from the tree deck.

Off Topic: Signs of Canada

Being the day before Thanksgiving, it's likely that few people are thinking about work, but many are thinking about travel. So, here's an off-topic travel post for the holiday weekend.

We took a family trip to Canada in August—six days of getting away from cell phones (no coverage), the Internet (no connections) and normal life in general. There was plenty of scenery on the drive up Minnesota's north shore and around the top of Lake Superior, as shown in the first two photos here (although, by the end of the trip, the kids had grown a bit weary of "rocks, water and trees").

There isn't much civilization between Thunder Bay and Sault St. Marie, leading us to spend one evening at a cabin that was "rustic" to say the least. Ah, but that's the kind of experience memories are made from. Also a lot of great hiking.

Among the most interesting Kodak moments, however, were some of the signs we came across.

First, there was the stop sign that was definitely Canadian—someone had spray-painted the ubiquitous "eh!" across the bottom.

Second, I puzzled over a sign near the Magpie Scenic High Falls. I'm no expert on boating, but even I could figure out that "high falls" and "boat launch" aren't a good combination. Not for a boat I'd want to be in, anyway.

Finally, every few miles were the bi-lingual moose warning signs. Apparently, there is quite a danger of running French moose at night, for sure.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Off Topic: Who Does MyHeritage Think You Look Like?

After coming across Web 2.0 - Your Inner Celebrity on Harry Hoover's blog, I had to try this out the Celebrity Collage from MyHeritage.com. Amusing, but how it's possible for anyone to simultaneously resemble Usher, Helen Hunt and Johnny Damon is beyond me. I have been told before that I look a bit like Glenn Frey, but never any of these people.



If you've got a few minutes to waste, try it out.

*****

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Off Topic: 8 Random Things

Since Brian Carroll at the B2B Lead Generation Blog tagged me for this, I guess I'll play. For what it's worth, here are eight random things about me:

1. I think Boston is the greatest rock n' roll band ever.

2. Speaking of music, my trivia expertise is one-hit wonders from the 80s.

3. My mother wanted me to be a priest.

4. I have four brothers. We've all owned our own businesses at one time or another (financial services, trailer manufacturing, wholesale supplies, painting, and marketing consulting in order from oldest to youngest).

5. My undergraduate degree was in industrial engineering. I'm an efficient marketer.

6. I graduated second in my class in MBA school at the University of Minnesota. I would have been first in my class, but I got a B in, of all things, Marketing Management.

7. My wife is named Jolene. Dolly Parton released an album in 1974 titled "Jolene." The engineer on that album was...Tom Pick (no relation). How spooky is that?

8. Two of my great-grandfathers fought on opposite sides in the Napoleonic wars. A great-grandfather on my father's side was in the Prussian army, while one from my mother's side was a lieutenant under Napoleon.

*****

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Quick Personal Note on the 35W Bridge Collapse

Thank you to everyone who emailed inquiring about the safety of my family following last week's tragic collapse of the 35W bridge here in Minneapolis. Thankfully, my family and I are safe, as are our close friends and relatives in the area.

Still, it is amazing and a bit frightening how close to home a disaster like this can hit, even in a large metropolitan area. Two of those listed as "missing and presumed drowned" are just two degrees removed from me professionally. And two of the confirmed dead were neighbors.

Patrick Holmes, a young father of two and a baseball and soccer coach, lived just four blocks to the north of us. Paul Eickstadt, the driver of the truck so horrifically engulfed in flames in the initial videos of the collapse, lived just a few houses down. A couple of years ago, when our little dog went missing and my kids were frantically scouring the neighborhood on their bikes searching for her, it was Paul who found her and returned her safe and sound.

We all respond differently to tragedies. If you feel compelled to take action, one of the best things you can do is to contribute money or give blood to the American Red Cross or its Minnesota affiliate.

God bless you, and be careful.

*****

Contact me: tomATwebmarketcentral.com