Upgraded SBB to WordPress 2.1
I’ve been a bit wary of updating to the newest version of WordPress but after seeing it work flawlessly on my other site, I’ve decided to bring it on board at Small Business Branding.
So, after backing up the site/database and uploading WordPress 2.1, it’s safe to say that we can go back if we encounter any problems. You can notify me of any issues via this post or contacting my by email.
The new version looks great and the WordPress Team seems to be extremely devoted to their user base. From what they write on their site, you can look forward to seeing more updates and improvements coming out as they undertake their new development cycle.
Leading up until the next major release scheduled for April 23, they are encouraging users to vote for features here. I hope you continue to browse the website uninhibited – otherwise let me know and I’ll fix it.
Crowd Sourcing Your Tasks: Does it Work?
Seeing as most businesses have a limited marketing budget, a new and attractive option for webmasters and small businesses might be to use crowd-sourcing.
Unlike hiring a freelance professional to do the work, you can put it to the crowd instead! They can write your code (like at www.cambrianhouse.com), give you ideas, advise you in certain areas (like at www.innocentive.com or www.linkedin.com) and even design your website for you (such as at www.sitepoint.com/contests)!
Aside from the obvious benefits such as price, competition and the chance to advertise your project – you don’t have to pay for the designs you don’t use. To top it off, you can define a strict creative brief for your crowd of designers to abide by.
Despite the fact I haven’t used it yet, the quality of the content produced at Sitepoint.com seems to be quite promising. Just take a look at this contest for an Autism site.
Not only do the designs look professional, but at the cost of a few hundred dollars, it seems to beat the prices of a LOT of graphic designers out there.
Has anyone actually tried one of these services out? Or have you been scared off by something? I know submitting your work to the internet can publicise it to your competitors but for many people I can see it being a fantastically viable option. Checkout Crowdsource for more alternatives.
How To Market A Band “These Days”
Thanks to new technology and the ease of recording music these days, artists are able to produce wild tunes for people with even the most particular tastes. Many people don’t realize this but their bands (or Brands as we might call them) are effectively targeting ultra specific niches.
They’re using marketing principles to create and deliver tunes to their fans (customers). Unfortunately, due to the fact most artists are too busy to read about and coordinate their own marketing, many of them struggle to get off the ground.
Although I have focused this toward bands, branders might also find this useful. Anyway, here are some popular ways to get the word out about yourselves.
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“Lightning In A Bottle” Book Review
I’ve just finished reading Lightning In A Bottle (aff) – A book on how to develop great ideas by two consultants at a leading market research firm. I decided to share this now, since many people have a New Years resolution to start a business or launch to a product — BUT this book is not delimited to these people.
It begins by making some bold claims such as “Why Market Segmentation is a Sham” among others. The most surprising claim of all, is that the authors, David Minter (President) and Michael Reid (Principal) of Minter and Associates state that their process for developing ideas will improve new product success rates from 1-in-10 to a staggering 1-in-2!
In other words, how to reach a success rate of 5 times the American national average!
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Putting the Competition In Its Place: Market Positioning
You might recall, a little while ago, we asked you to submit questions to us about marketing and branding. Chris Lee, from Holy MoLee Wedding Photography did just that and has inspired me to discuss how you can compete in highly saturated markets.
Sure there are lots of profitable niches out there, but how do you go about differentiating yourself in a saturated market like wedding photography? I mean you can’t just expect people to find you amongst the herd of other businesses – you need to stick out!
So, what can you do?
Well here’s a little tool which will do just that…
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Firefox To Air TV Ads Soon and Marketing Tips For Your Own Projects
Instead of keeping their TV advertising campaign under the hood, Firefox has looked to their community of devout users, to develop commercials for the increasingly popular web browser.
Interestingly though, this is an example of a trend that speakers at Mplanet 2006 are predicting to grow in popularity next year. Have you also seen the Nikon Flickr! campaign? That single campaign dramatically boosted sales of Nikon’s new cameras. It just goes to show how much power and energy that consumer driven projects can have.
When Firefox can use their community to develop ads and supply funding to promote the software, what opportunities does that present to you?
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Mplanet 2006 – Day 3 (The Final Day)
Today was the last day of Mplanet, yet it was equally as interesting as yesterday. I attended sessions on:
Managing The Customer Experience
Reinventing The Marketing Organization
The Digital Age and Implications For Marketers
Consumer Trends in The Third Age of Globalization
In fact the day was so packed full of practical advice, I’m going to warn our regular readers in advance that it might be a little buzz-loaded, but nothing too far reaching. The day started smoothly and as per the schedule it lifted off with an excellent varied breakfast, accompanied by a book on behalf of Dave Senay, the CEO of Fleishman-Hillard, titled BOOM. This was then followed by the first session of the day (of which, I had my mind made up).
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