Has it started where you are? Are your pretty marketing planters all dug up by frantic Sales Squirrels trying to remember where they left their nuts? Are the Keebler Elves laying a trapline in the forest? Has the Productivity Prevention Department declared its code freeze yet (that’s the memo you didn’t really understand because they forgot to mention that code freeze means no website support until January)?
What about those campaigns? They should have slid easily into the water sometime after Labour Day and there you are shoving them off a cliff like you’re a Disney Lemming Wrangler, all because those adorable Squirrels are starting to look a little threatening as the lodestone-of-blame swings in your direction.
While you cower in your miserable holiday card catalogue collection, here are ten interesting things to look at.
Old, White and Probably Irrelevant
Here is a post by an old white guy who trains sales people. I don’t normally pay much attention to sales training blogs, but I happen to know and respect one of the old white guys at this firm, and it’s sometimes important for marketers to press an ear up against the sales training room door to see what’s going on it there. This is a reminder that social is scaring the Squirrels too.
This is the One Where I’m Nice to Apple
If you are a frequent visitor here, you will know that I sometimes say mean things about Steve Jobs and about the idiots who sleep outside the Apple store on iPhone Eve. After last month’s tepid iPhone launch, I am, apparently, in good company. In Beloved Brands’ post, Wow Apple, That Sucked, a disillusioned Mac Head complains about the lack of cool new stuff, and wonders what it all means. But scroll down for a very good reminder of brand basics and be sure you follow the blog because it’s rather good even if it wants a better iPod.
The Cure for the L-Word
By which, of course, I mean Leadership. If you are as tired as I am of leadership theory, you need to follow the Management Innovation Exchange (MIX). It’s a wonderful, slightly subversive place where people figure out how to get stuff done. A thing they got done was these experiments in post-bureaucratic leadership. I don’t know what that means either, but these 18 cases of organizations , including NASA and Citrix are worth a long, thoughtful read.
Brother, Can You Spare a White Paper?
Sometimes we’re so busy cranking out the content that we forget to ask why. Here is a picture, which apparently we now call an infographic, that helps us understand why. It’s quite good.
If You Torture the Data Enough it Will Confess to Anything
At first we could get away with Likes, Followers and Links as measurements of all that we do down here in the marketing department. Then it was very, very bad to think of these as anything more than meaningless measures of teenage boredom. Buckle up, folks; it’s okay to stick them back on your dashboard. Here’s how you can make them sing.
Stuck for content ideas?
Look no further than this lengthy list of stuff you can send to customers and prospects. Nothing here is new, but if you’re in a bit of a rut, sending the same old TCO models week and week out, this might inspire you to try something a little different.
Step Away from the Wireframes, and Keep Your Hands Where I Can See Them
How’s the budget coming along? I’ll bet you’ve got a big number, you’re calling a placeholder, in your web budget. I’ll bet you’re hoping you get to finally fix your crap site once and for all. I’ll also bet you’re dreading the idea of having to manage a redesign. Let’s face it, deep down you know that it won’t really help. The average website make-over costs more than $40K, and generally only makes things resolutely the same when the dust settles. Here is a helpful list of reasons not to touch that site. It’s a fun read, even if you don’t have plans to fix things up.
Yes, You Can Be Replaced by a Robot
If you’ve been thinking the marketing automation system is acting a little strange lately, you’re probably right. Marketers everywhere are reporting chewed up conference tables and suspicious stains on the carpet. Could it be that your marketing automation is ganging up on you with the Roomba and the shredder to steal your job? Well, not really. But here is an interesting piece about how it’s making you lazy and ineffective. You’re welcome.
I Honestly Thought This Was About the Von Trapp Family
Then I clicked the link and it turns out to be Trappist Monks. Apparently, when they’re not making cheese, beer and lamb stew, the Friends of St. Benedict are teaching leadership. Some basic but important things for marketers to keep in mind during this time of turmoil.
It’s Time to Get Creedy
From our friends at MEC Labs, something great. Print This. Put it on the wall. Read it every, single day.
Related Links:
Eight Links and a Translation
A B2B Marketing Reading List
BizMarketer is Elizabeth Williams
You can reach me at escwilliams@gmail.com
or follow me on Twitter @bizmkter
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