Advanced content marketing strategies to take your brand to the next level

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You can’t be a marketing professional and NOT create content. In fact, the Content Marketing Institution said so when it published this interesting statistic: “93 percent of marketing professionals create, or plan to create content marketing as part of their overall programs in the next year.” The question is…are you creating that content in such… Read More…

Hey, startups, users aren’t free

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“Seattle’s great at building technology, but we don’t understand marketing. San Francisco’s great at marketing. That’s why great B-to-C companies come out of San Francisco and not Seattle.” A managing partner at a VC firm said this to me several months ago. It solidified, in my mind, something I’ve been wanting to scream at Seattle… Read More…

6 do-or-die tactics for Facebook success in 2012

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While social sites like Pinterest and Tumblr are growing like wildfire and offering marketers plenty of opportunity to leverage new audiences, my money is still on Facebook in 2012 as the social site that will help marketers and business owners increase market share, gain new customers and ultimately generate more revenue. But it’s not as… Read More…

Why this Seattle startup ‘Punk’d’ unsuspecting Craigslist sellers

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This seems like a great way to get yourself killed, or at least seriously injured. Replyboard founder Steinar Skipsnes and friend Nick LaPratt spent their weekends over the past four months armed with a hidden camera as they recorded bizarre interactions with people they had agreed to meet through Craigslist ads. (Editor’s note: LaPratt was misidentified in this… Read More…

How this mobile app developer’s promotion of free cash failed miserably on iPad launch day

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Seattle mobile app developer Michael Burford thought he’d come up with a brilliant brainstorm to find customers for his new mobile puzzle game, Pawn’d. And on the surface, the idea didn’t seem too far-fetched to us. But Burford’s mini-marketing experiment last Friday during Apple’s iPad launch “failed miserably,” Burford said. Here’s what the veteran mobile app… Read More…

Scrappy Urbanspoon turns to TV ads to connect with foodies

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Urbanspoon scratched and clawed its way to success, driven by the bootstrapping mindset of founders Adam Doppelt, Ethan Lowry and Patrick O’Donnell. The online restaurant directory grew largely through word-of-mouth; smart SEO and a cutting-edge iPhone application that caught the attention of the marketers at Apple. Except for a largely unsuccessful radio campaign, Urbanspoon didn’t… Read More…

10 powerful branding insights that will keep your business moving forward

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Just because you’ve built a successful company doesn’t mean you can relax. Succeeding in this ever-changing business world demands that you constantly strive to get ahead…and stay ahead. Easier said than done, right? Well, the following branding insights I’m about to share with you will help you create a brand and business that grows year after… Read More…

9 bootstrapping ideas for small business publicity

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Free publicity is one of the best tools that you can use to promote and grow your small business or startup. P.T. Barnum used it to grow his little circus to international fame. Thomas Edison used it to destroy his competition and become the only name in the game. And Richard Branson uses it to… Read More…

Buuteeq checks in with $2 million in funding to expand hotel marketing platform

The Li-An Lodge, one of the Web sites powered by Buuteeq

Buuteeq has reeled in an addition $2 million in capital from a long list of angel investors in Seattle and Silicon Valley, money that the fast-growing Seattle company will use as a cushion as it strives to become cash flow positive this year. Buuteeq now powers the Web sites for more than 2,000 small hotels… Read More…

Rand Fishkin: How to earn tons of customers without spending money on crappy ads

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One of the most compelling things about SEOMoz co-founder Rand Fishkin is his complete transparency about the entrepreneurial voyage. Not many folks I know, lay it on the line quite like Rand, and because of that his talks are always engaging, funny and insightful. Fishkin delivered another one of those talks last week at the… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Bizible raises cash to elevate businesses in online directories

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In an era of Yelp, CitySearch, Google Places and dozens of other online directories, it can be especially tough for small businesses to make sure that they are being properly listed and discovered. Bizible, led by former Bing AdCenter veterans Aaron Bird and Peter Thompson, believes it can help relieve some of that pain by… Read More…

Microsoft wants you to publicly dump your Android phone for Valentine’s Day

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Microsoft wants to put an arrow through the heart of Android this Valentine’s Day, and it is turning to a Twitter promotion for help. You can call it tacky or shameless or savvy online marketing, but in order to enter the contest one must follow @Windowsphone and then publicly announce their intentions to dump their… Read More…

Amazon.com connects with Americans despite very little human interaction

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One of the most fascinating aspects of the latest Harris Poll Reputation Quotient study is that Amazon.com continues to bolster its brand, even as most Americans have little physical interaction with the company. Amazon.com ranked fourth in the study, up from eighth place last year. The survey, now in its 13th year, asks Americans to measure the… Read More…

Inbound.org: A Hacker News for marketing content

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Online marketing is an ever-changing, fast-moving industry with no shortage of information available for those looking to master things such as SEO, Twitter and Google+. But there’s so much information flowing these days that it can be tough to sort the wheat from the chaff. SEOMoz CEO Rand Fishkin and HubSpot founder Dharmesh Shah are… Read More…

How a small business can build a billion dollar brand

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Do a quick, little experiment with me. Think of your favorite big brand — could be Amazon or Virgin or Coke. Now go all the way back in history to the start of those brands. Now, what do you see? If you did the experiment right, you see the now-famous founder of the company working… Read More…

Why this tech company is using potty humor for its 30-second Super Bowl ad

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Ok, I’ll admit it, I am a bit of a sucker for the Super Bowl ads. And each year before the big game, I am especially interested to see which tech companies feel compelled to toss down $3.5 million for a 30-second spot. This year, there’s a new entrant in the field: InfoSpace. Well, not… Read More…

Tech Moves: Zumobi taps marketing VP; Motricity adds mobile marketing vet; and more

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Zumobi, a maker of mobile applications for companies such as MSNBC, Motor Trend and others, has named Marla Schimke as vice president of marketing. Schimke previously worked at AudienceScience, Microsoft and Ernst & Young, and in her new role will help the Seattle company launch new advertising products and premium media properties. “We’re absolutely delighted to… Read More…

Microsoft is the third most valuable brand in the world, but it loses some fizz to Apple

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Apple is already much bigger than Microsoft in terms of market value. But Microsoft still has a leg up on its long-term rival when it comes to “brand value,” at least for now. According to the Interbrand Best Global Brands 2011 report, Microsoft ranked third with a brand value of $59 billion. That’s the same spot as… Read More…

Seven critical factors to great business branding: A guide for startups

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Are you thinking about your brand as you build your startup? If not, you should stop everything you are doing right now and pay attention to what I’m about to tell you. A brand is nothing more than a specific promise of value that a product or person makes to customers. Sounds simple, but if… Read More…

What Internet revolution? Realtors still prefer cold calls, direct mail over Internet ads

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Seattle area companies such as Estately, Findwell, Redfin and Zillow are looking to upend the traditional real estate industry, using technology and new business models. But based on a new survey out this week from online real estate social network ActiveRain many of these newcomers still have a long way to go to transform the… Read More…