Serif Group

How does a busy person stay up to date with Facebook, blogging, Twittering (tweets) and discovering new media trends? I am not exactly sure, but I can tell you that is isn’t easy. Between working on Serif Group, Baby publictions and Inbox Orange projects and building my knowledge base about the ever-changing landscape of new-media marketing I find it difficult to even type this very blog update. I preach to others how blogging is a great way to reach your customers and become a ‘thought leader’ in your industry, but I can’t seem to follow my own advice. (See this article about blogging)

Last week I finally signed up for Myspace-though I have yet to make it mine. On Facebook my friend list grows, but my status updates don’t. I even have my status updates on Facebook linked to Twitter to make it easier. But, to this day, I have 28 followers on Twitter but only a total of 29 updates-EVER.

Not only is Myspace on hold, but so is Delicious and StumpleUpon. I’d even love to explore Ning a bit more, but can’t find the time to stay up on my Google Analytics & Adsense accounts let alone my Commision Junction account.

Work smarter is an option, but I’m looking for anyone with other ideas. Are you experiencing the same problem? Is it just that time of year? Let me know what you think. Which social media tools do you find not worth the effort? Which ones do you swear by?

Whenever I get some downtime I’ll finish reading the 4 books that I have lined up to read and then maybe, just maybe I’ll add some more contacts to LinkedIn.

We were so excited about having a story about us in last week’s issue of Business Lexington. We couldn’t believe it when we got our copy in the mail and saw that our photo was featured on the cover and the table of contents! Talking about exposure that money can’t buy. Bill and I are grateful for the opportunity to work and live in such a wonderful community. Thank you Smiley Pete Publishing, Kathie Stamps and Shaun Ring Photography. (BTW, the week before the story came out Shaun ran a very creative promotion using Twitter and Facebook which resulted in our professional photos. I highly recommend you check him out as his photography is just as outside-the-box as his marketing.)

I guess this is the lazy way of blogging rather than coming up with interesting stuff on my own, I share with you some of the good stuff I have found around the web.

1) Before we can read, we know what a logo represents. It shows how powerful a good logo can be. Track some of them through the ages here: Evolution of Logos

2) Have you or your company gone digital yet? A good short article on the benefits of investing in digital rather than traditional. Going Digital

3) Need to find a logo to use: Brands of the World

4) Newspapers in decline. Nothing new, but worth mentioning. Bye-bye old media.

Seth Godin calls it interuption marketing and Steve Yastrow calls it ‘Brute Force Branding” Steve was a speaker this morning at the ExactTarget conference. He is the author of two books, the latest being “We. The Ideal Customer Relationship.”

Some thoughts from Steve Yastrow:
We get more than 5000 branding messages. How many actually work? Not many can cut through the clutter with brute force. Yastrow says that we need to use brand harmony-an overall picture that prospects experience from your brand, thus creating an image of your brand.

Most marketers think that they are the ones who brand the company. But it is the customer who brands the company. It is not what is said, but what is heard.

Yastrow says that the goal for marketers should be to create a customer relationship that is an ongoing conversation in which your customers never think of you without thinking of both of you. Not two. We.

More from the conference later.

I hope to be posting from the Connections 2008 conference in Indianapolis next week. ExactTarget is hosting some of the industry’s top experts on permission marketing and Inbox Orange is going with a half of dozen people to catch up on the latest trends in the industry. I will share what I think is interesting or relavant.

(I love new media/technology. I am posting this update from my iPhone).