If you are into product management and/or product marketing, you need to register for Product Camp which will be held on Saturday, January 15th. The event is all-day and will be held at the AT&T Conference Center on the University of Texas campus and is free for all participants.

It looks like a few hundred people have already registered for the event — with registrants ranging from startup employees, consultants, students to representation from large corporations including Dell, Intel and AMD.

Here’s the overview from the event organizers, “This is your chance to share and exchange knowledge on any Product Management or Marketing topic with your peers, host a session to demonstrate your leadership, practice your presentation skills, and have fun in a no-pressure environment. Traditional presentations, facilitated roundtables, workshops, and other creative ideas are encouraged.”

There are a number of different session formats from Town Hall to Ask The Expert. I will be there with fresh CN stickers and CloudContacts discount codes.

Learn more about the event on the official event website and you can also register here.

Find more stories about: Austin, Conferences, marketing

Marketing service Hubspot has put together 100 marketing charts and graphs which you can use in your upcoming presentations. I’ve embedded the presentation of the charts and graphs below. The charts and graphs come from Hubspot’s original customer research. Data categories include: lead generation, blogging and social media, marketing budgets, and naturally Twitter and Facebook. It appears the data was posted at various times throughout the year but this presentation brings it all together in a neat and tidy slideshare presentation.

Find more stories about: analytics, Graphing Social Patterns, Hubspot, marketing

After meeting with a number of clients of the past month and discussing goals and strategies for 2010—I began organizing my thoughts into a list of what I think we can expect to see from marketing, PR, social media, and technology in 2010:

1. 2009 was the year that social media “experts” infiltrated the masses. Everyone with a Twitter account and Facebook profile was deeming themselves an expert. In 2010, the real enthusiasts and savvy folks will emerge and the snake oil salesmen will fade.

2. The press release continues its evolution. I do not believe the press release will die in 2010—however it is undergoing a transformation. Think Optimus Prime.  Organizations will always need tools to disseminate their news and adhere to disclosure rules—however never before have we had so many different options. Linking to content such as online video, blogs, social media will make the press release smarter and also improve your company’s “searchability.”

3. While not the first person to think this—I do strongly believe that Twitter will either trial an ad-based model or perhaps introduce a professional fee-based option in order to generate revenues.

4. Marketing budgets will start to shed their cobwebs. We are seeing an uptick in spending and hopefully this continues in 2010. Particularly organizations that in the past shied away from social media will begin to embrace it. Why? Because their customers are already socially plugged-in and companies need to re-think how they connect and communicate with them.

5. Social networks drive in-the-flesh networking.  Events, Meetups, and Tweetups will only continue to grow. Social media has helped to expand our brands and reach new markets and groups of people—however in 2010, I believe more and more folks will be getting together and networking in person leveraging the relationships they made via social media.

6. Just as cash is king so will content (continue to) reign in 2010. Organizations and executives who remain guarded and not willing to share opinions and thoughts via blogs, comments, and tweets will be jettisoned by their competitors who take advantage of creating content and engaging with their audience. That said, it’s not only about content, but how you market it.

7. With the increase in content creation—so will be the need to optimize that content. Your next order can be one Google, Yahoo or Bing search away, assuming you are making your content Internet-friendly via an integrated SEO and SEM strategy.

8. 2009 was economically challenging for the entire planet; many industries saw their customer bases retrench.  Those that focus on customer service, build relationships and deliver value are more likely to retain their base and grow. Implement programs to over service your customers in 2010. Those that have an optimal experience working with you are more likely to refer and reward you other business.

9. Social media invasion continues. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other platforms are making the world smaller. How you present yourself in the digital world can have personal and professional implications. Use them wisely and think twice before you upload those vacation photos to Flickr.

10. PR professionals who think in terms of press releases, media lists, and “spray and pray” email blasts will become extinct. The successful PR professionals of 2010 and beyond will think like CMOs and use a broad range of tools to deliver their message via targeted campaigns.

What are your thoughts or hopes for 2010?

Shannon Cortina is a public relations and marketing professional with Springboard Public Relations, a boutique agency specializing in PR, marketing, social media, and content development. She is the co-organizer of NJConnect, a meetup group in NJ focused on all things related to technology, social media, web, convergence and interactive marketing. Shannon can be reached via Twitter.

Find more stories about: 2010, marketing, pr, public relations, Shannon Cortina

NY-based Groupable has announced a new angel round of funding in the amount of $300,000. The Funders Group, LLC led the round, with The Venture Capital division of Insurial Americas, Inc. joining the round.  Groupable notes that the funding will be used to further develop the company’s online marketplace platform.

Groupable provides a marketplace bringing together online/offline groups and sponsors. The company describes their service as, “We are an online marketplace connecting groups of all types to corporate and local sponsors.” The concept is interesting because so many groups and recurring meetups are always looking for a helping hand from a sponsor for food, venue, etc.

To learn more about Groupable, checkout our initial review. My only concern with Groupable is the ability to get a large enough supply of sponsors into the network. Today’s announcement of their angel round of funding should help gain more groups and sponsors.

Find more stories about: Angel Investors, Groupable, marketing, nextNY, NYC, startups, Venture Capital

The Marketing Donut launched today and their goal is to, “provide small and medium-sized businesses with tools to make their marketing more effective.” The site is based out of the UK and they guarantee not to show any ads (although they show sponsor offers). The first two sponsors are Google and the Royal Mail (the post office for the U.K.).

The Marketing Donut gathered 100 experts to provide advice in a number of categories including PR, marketing, advertising, customer support, market research, events and strategy. There are also a number of pre-packaged themes for startups.

It looks like the experts traded their content for a listing in the consultants directory. The directory is broken up by location in the UK and each expert has a bio page and contact information.

The site has a lot of good content but what’s missing are the connections and subscriptions. For example, there appears to be no way to subscripe to the different content sections – either via RSS or an email notification once new content is added. They have a Twitter account but it’s not listed anywhere on the site. There’s a share button but only on some of the pages – sharing should always be everywhere! Same goes for the tools section – give me a way to be notified when you add more tools! This is the type of site that a person will visit and then might not return to – the email/rss is critical to get users to continually return.

Find more stories about: London, marketing, MarketingDonut, social media, startups

At a recent SXSWi panel conducted "core conversation-" style (in which a presumed thought leader guides a group discussion on the subject at hand), the hour spent sitting on the floor in a cramped meeting room proved one important fact about social media: Even the professed experts are doing it wrong.

A Dougie Howser-esque "social media specialist" at Razorfish and a group of others ranging in age from 17 to 32 years old sat cross-legged on the floor and cross-talked their way through a series of stereotypes, assumptions, and painfully incorrect conclusions.

It is generally agreed upon by all in the social media space that brands began using social media without sufficient understanding or strategy. Traditional models were applied to new media with dismal return on investment; ineffective impressions by the billions were suddenly considered par for the course as expectations dropped and consumer tune-out skyrocketed. Really, the metrics are embarrassingly unacceptable.

And whereas more recent experiments in the social web showcase a willingness to experiment, they often also demonstrate a grave misunderstanding of what social media is for and how (and how much) consumers are willing to engage with brands online.

The all important "be human" dictum was followed to disastrous effect by Skittles, which brand ended up aggregating offensive, lewd, and racist tweets on its new "social" homepage. And for all the "conversation," none of us, it seems, can remember the last time we bought a pack of the candy itself.

As far as Gen Y is concerned, the "core conversation" was as unfocused as the discussion leader’s definition of Gen Y itself (he gave the age range as being between 5 years old and mid-thirties; good luck marketing to that homogenous, monolithic demographic). It was noted that privacy is not as much a concern for many in this technological generation. People will publish just about anything these days; they likely have multiple profiles and will not feel personally invaded by targeted ads. These consumers are adept at using new media tools, at monitoring and restricting their online sharing, and at switching between applications.

For a miniature case study, take me. I’m squarely in this generation. I’m sure by now I have well over 50 online profiles, at least half of which contain my email address, physical address, phone numbers, and specific whereabouts at any given time of day. So much for privacy. I’m more concerned about self-expression and transparency than I am about whether a stodgy would-be employer will disapprove of a picture of me in a cocktail dress; however, I watch my incoming links, page views, blog/pic/video comments, and new friends/fans/followers like a damn hawk using tools as simple as Google and as complex as… Well, let’s just say there are some pretty nifty free analytics tools out there that are deceptively simple and allow for hours of online navel-gazing.

Read more on AdRants

Jolie O’Dell is a designer, writer, and consultant based in Richmond, Virginia.

Find more stories about: Jolie O'Dell, marketing, Quick News, social media

SlideRocket, the Flash/Flex-powered web-based presentation creation software, is today announcing a major overhaul of its Marketplace to include new content partners, a brand new services directory, and a a cleaner, portal-style user interface. The Marketplace was launched in November of last year, when SlideRocket came out of beta, as an additional way to earn revenue on top of their software as a service business.

SlideRocket employs a freemium business model, offering a stripped down free version of their very slick presentation software, and paid versions that include additional features like more storage space, versioning, and collaboration. Paid subscriptions are their main source of revenue, and SlideRocket’s Senior Director of Community and Product Marketing Tracy Pizzo Frey tells me that they’re converting free to paid users at an impressive 10-15%.

The Marketplace is a very smart source of additional revenue for SlideRocket. It allows users to purchase assets for their presentations — photography, icons, music, etc. — directly from within SlideRocket, automatically securing the appropriate digital rights. Because the Marketplace is available to both free and paid users, it acts as a way to bring in revenue from free users of the product. According to Frey, SlideRocket has sold “thousands of credits” and is averaging 35 per user. Use is spread evenly across both free and paid customers, so the Marketplace has been successful so far in monetizing use on both ends.

Until today, SlideRocket’s only offered assets from Fotolia (stock photos) and Mimeo (printing services). They’ve added two new partners, PresentationPro (templates, icons) and Andertoons (cartoons), with others on the way, including Fotolia (videos), AudioMicro (stock audio), and Ascender (fonts). In addition, SlideRocket is releasing a services marketplace today, with 11 providers at launch offering design and authoring services to the app’s users.

According to SlideRocket founder and CEO Mitch Grasso the Marketplace, “greatly streamlines the creative process and helps our users save time and money while delivering the best possible presentations.”

It’s also a very smart way to bring in additional revenue and monetize free users.

Josh Catone is the Community Manager at DandyID and the co-founder of Rails Forum.

Find more stories about: Josh Catone, marketing, Mimeo, Quick News, SlideRocket

To extend my thoughts on people vs. content further, let’s consider the opportunities for those in marketing, PR, and advertising who hope yet to realize value by engaging social media. In spite of their differences, one thing these industries have in common is a taste for volume. Their taste for success is a taste for more, and their appetites sated best by high calorie helpings of servings that perform.

That said, we all know that high volume advertising across social media are just *this* far off the bottom of the feed trough. Just ask Scott Rafer of Lookery (here’s Allen Stern’s interview with him, dated but relevant). CPMs are notoriously low on social media because users are disinclined to pay attention to ads whilst they’re busy with friends. But sites like MySpace and Facebook serve up a huge number of pages, and are the equivalent of the outdoor advertising marketplace online.

Richer, more embedded, better targeted (by means of micro-targeting to the user, social graph targeting to the group, or social context targeting to audiences of followers) marketing is a better indicator of the future of online marketing. But as anyone in this space knows, ROI is not yet measurable, as is performance. In order for one-to-one or relationship marketing to make their comeback in the guise of social media marketing, industry and application standards will need to show success. And those successes will need to be evangelized by the social media community as case studies and best practices. The phase of application and service innovation is maturing, and is ready for adoption by those who can see a path to engagement.

And now back to my point on people vs content. It strikes me that there’s a fork in the path to adoption, one that possibly reflects a choice between people or content.

On the People side are those of us heralding the cause of influencers and influencer metrics, supported by social media practices like following and friending. Industry speak on the social graph, on conversation, on feeds, lifestreaming, flow apps, and so on all suggest that marketers should get in with the people doing the talking, by means of course of the talk tools we all use (twitter, friendfeed, etc).

And on the Content side are those of us who champion the visibility and relevance of social media news, supported by social media practices like content rating, digging, aggregation, blogging, posting and commenting. Industry speak on the value add of socializing the web, of user generated content, of conversation around published and wired stories, videos, images, and more all suggest that marketers get in front of the context in which social media content is produced and consumed.

These are possibly just two sides of the same coin. Marketers can approach influencers and through them obtain exposure to more relevant audiences, and by means of more valued and trusted sources. Or marketers can buy exposure in the sites, on the pages, and possibly in the feeds that get the most traction, thereby and presumably reaching those most influential and attentive.

I’ve seen more discussion around influencers and the need for a measure of social impact than I have around their content. This could be that content is covered by web analytics and page rank, search, etc already. Or it could be that social content still awaits robust and reliable sentiment and semantic tools (yes, there are some but social talk is notoriously lacking in the context and meta data that content analysis needs for accuracy).

So I don’t know if the distinction I’m making is material in the end. Current marketing and advertising practices continue to emphasize exposure: messages are placed alongside audiences and their activity. But merely being contiguous to the social isn’t good enough. One wants to be in and of the social. So perhaps the industry still needs its paradigm shift. From being in front of the audience to being in the audience, and from being associated with the consumer to talking with the consumer, attentive both to who she is and what she says.

Adrian Chan is a social media experience expert and analyst. You can follow him on twitter at gravity7.

Find more stories about: Adrian Chan, marketing, Quick News, social media

I’ve written a number of times before about startups who employ the freemium model which brings together a free option plus premium paid upgrades. Most startups give away so much for free that users have no reason to upgrade. Most startups I speak with do little (or no) testing to see just what the right level is to set the free/paid bar at.

Marketing Sherpa posted a case study late last week of a golf supply company that increased their sales 685% by adding a "haggle" button next to the item price. The golf Web site is pretty Web 1.0 in look but the case study is well worth a read. You’ve got to keep testing your pricing plans until you find the sweet spot. It could easily mean the difference between small growth and major paid usage growth.

TEST TEST TEST

Find more stories about: advertising, marketing, online advertising, Quick News

The new "Julie" of ConceptShare, Will Pate sent over some info about their new contest today. The contest is to design a tshirt for ConceptShare to use as a promotional giveaway (I am guessing at events, meetups, etc.). Why is this a brilliant move? Simple, it gets people using ConceptShare. And not just anybody, but part of their target audience — designers.

While this tactic won’t work for every Web app, it is something for you to consider as you promote your own Web app – "How can we leverage our platform to market our platform?"

Check out their contest blog post and entry details for more information. Also check out our audio interview with the ConceptShare founders earlier in the year.

Find more stories about: advertising, marketing, Quick News, Silicon Alley Insider

For the last month or so, I have been playing reviewing a new tool called Sketchcast. The founder is Patrick Gavin who also has some big successes under his belt with Text Link Ads and Auction Ads. Sketchcast might be the most viral app this year.

It’s simple to explain – you draw things and then you share the things you drew. You can add sound for narration or sound effects. This reminds me of my early days creating stick figure animations for money – oh those were the days :) I don’t want to take away the fun, so go create a Sketchcast and post a link in the comments and I will add it to the collection.

My video review and commentary is embedded below. Check it out because how many times do you hear a writer say "gat" and then draw a "gat" :).

Editor’s note: Text Link Ads is a CN Mixer Sponsor.

Find more stories about: marketing, Reviews, Sketchcast

Patrick Gavin is one smart marketing guy. Patrick is one of the founders of Text Link Ads and after TLA was acquired by Media Whiz, Patrick joined their team. Most recently, Patrick was co-founder of Auction Ads, an eBay affiliate monetization option and it too was acquired by Media Whiz recently. Media Whiz is a NY-based company located in the financial district of Manhattan.

I first came across Text Link Ads in early February 2005 at the SES Conference in NYC. My buddies Till, Darshan and I were walking around the expo when a sign called out to me. It read, "$100 in free text links" and since I had sold a few text links in the past on my properties, I thought I would go speak with them. They had offerings for both the site publisher and the advertiser. The publisher would make 50% on any ads they sold (net-30!) and the advertiser would receive $100 in free text links (minimum purchase $125). As a publisher, if an advertiser uses a coupon, you would receive the net-after coupon amount.

Till, Darshan and I left and headed for lunch and I kept talking about how smart of an idea this is. They didn’t have tons of publishers or advertisers yet but they had a great infrastructure built with plugins. What does offering new customers $100 off $125 really cost TLA? Let’s take a look:

• Customer orders $125 in ads and pays $25
• Assuming the $125 went to one site, TLA pays the publisher $62.50
• So the net loss for TLA is $37.50
• Most customers order more than the minimum $125 and if they order at least $160, TLA loses nothing and gains a customer and a publisher
• In month two, they are already a profitable customer for TLA – and in the two years I have used TLA, most of the ads have remained for at least a year if not longer

Now let’s take a look at Auction Ads. Auction Ads launched earlier this year and is a very simple way to become an eBay affiliate. They offer lots of options and are geared towards the blogger. They pay 100% of the earned commission from eBay. So how does Auction Ads make money if they pay out 100%? Easy. eBay pays bonuses to their affiliates based on total volume and since all Auction Ads publishers appear as one affiliate to eBay, they make money on the bonuses. And so far the Auction Ads growth has been exponential. I wouldn’t be surprised if they offer programs with other companies in the near future.

Ok so Auction Ads can help me generate revenue from my blog, great. But what makes Auction Ads even smarter than your normal affiliate program? Two things: referrals and bonuses. They offer 5% (just raised from 2%) on anyone who signs up through your Auction Ads ad. For me, this is how I have been able to generate revenue through the program. It hasn’t worked well on CN, a bit better on HTMLC, but way better on the referrals. And last week they announced a $25 bonus to any new publisher. Sounds like they start in the negative, right? Think again! They changed the payout minimum to $50 and so it should be a wash once someone gets to $50 and since the more sales a site makes, the larger a bonus they receive from eBay. Smart!

I share this with you because sometimes the easiest route from A-B is not always the smartest route. Patrick has been able to create two great companies that not only generate revenue for him and Media Whiz but also for his publishers and creates great value for his advertisers. As you create your startups, clear the whiteboard and think about creative ways to generate revenue and also make your publishers and Web site visitors happy and more importantly, loyal.

Editor’s note: Text Link Ads is a Mixer sponsor.

Find more stories about: AuctionAds, Insights, marketing, text link ads

It seems that at least once a week I get into a discussion about "ad blindness". This is when a user basically has horse blinders on and only looks at a specific area and misses any of the advertising slots. A.P. Lawrence defines it as, "Ad blindness is the result of our ability to ignore the predictable."

There are many ways advertisers/publishers have worked to overcome this issue. From changing ad colors and themes to animations and sound, the key is to get the maximum return from an ad campaign. One ad that I think works well to overcome blindness is the Text Link Ads button ad on TechCrunch. What TLA did was create an ad that uses TC's editor's likeness along with copy that focuses on the TC reader. And some of you might remember our Free Advertising Month this past February.

Another interesting example I found today comes from Tim at eMonetized. He has created a way for his readers to create a massive amount of links and visibility to his site in return for a chance at an advertising slot on John Chow's web site.

So here is how it works:

• Tim purchases an ad on John's web site for $500
• Time puts up the button ad stating that he is running a contest for this slot for "four winners"
• To enter the contest, a reply on Tim's web site is worth one entry, and a link from your web site is worth 5 more entries for a maximum of 6 entries
• Four winners will win ONE day of the ad slot on John's web site. That's right, this little detail is left to the end of the entire contest post. Tim believes this should net the winner 300-400 clicks in the one day. I am not sure I buy those figures.

So let's look at the deal here for Tim and John. Tim walks away with great publicity and countless inbound links to his main page and story page. And a juicy link from John's web site. All this for $500. John gets additional publicity because (at least some) of the contest entrants will link back to John's web site as well. So John picks up $500 in ad revenue and potentially more juicy link juice.  Oh yea, and the contest winners get a day on a mega-site, so everyone wins!

I think it's a great marketing idea. While it can only work so many times, it's at least a great boost for Tim. Do you have other examples of this type of marketing? Please share!

Side note: I did link to Tim's site so I guess I get 5 entries into his contest. If I should win, I will donate the space to one of you, my loyal readers.

Find more stories about: advertising, Insights, marketing, social media

Who here has a Flickr account? C'mon you in the back, raise your hand. Yes, you. I am guessing about 80% of the audience that will read this post has an account. And of that 80%, I bet over 90% have a Pro account. As I walked around Central Park last weekend thinking about topics, I started to think about badges. Many sites have them. But why?

In the Flickr example, the obvious reason is that it shows you as a Pro user. When you pay the $25 a year you receive some special features. But when I pull up a picture you send to me, do I really give a flying bird that you are a pro user? How does that badge impact me? I can only do what you allow me to, nothing more. So do I really need to see it? Ooh, it shows you paid $25 and have more storage, yadda yadd…

Then I continued around the park and stopped for a knish. Sat down on a bench and looked up. And then it hit me! (ok, I had to go back to my mba education and marketing experience) People also want the badge to show to others that they are cool, hip and with it. Now before you hit me with a Colecovision, let me explain. This might only account for a small percentage of Flickr pro subs, but even that number in terms of revenue might be staggering.

Let's assume Jane (or whomever) is considered an A-lister. She is a mega Internet star. Now on her blog, she links to photos of her at some event. People click over to see the photos. Jane does not have the pro account. She starts to wonder if she is not cool and hip like her readers and friends because of not having the badge. So she upgrades. All is now well in Jane-land. Is this absolutely stupid, perhaps. But it's something that works in marketing. You want what your friends have. Even if this type of messaging works for less than the 10% of the pro subs, even if it is only 1%, that is still an increase. Same reason I bought every Air Jordan made the day they came out. Wasn't because they were the best sneaker out there.

So what am I suggesting? As you consider your pricing plans, think about badges. Ponder how badges can create cliques that can help you move customers from one price level to the next and the next and so on. Last week I told you to "just ask" now I am adding "go subliminal" to the message.

Of course there are other sites besides Flickr that use this type of subliminal, clique/friends style of marketing. While I am not sure that the Flickr team realized this when they created it, it sure does work. Just something for you to consider.

Find more stories about: marketing, photos, Social Networking

On the plane to NYC this past weekend, I sat next to a man who works for HP. I really enjoyed our discussion about careers, technology and working for yourself vs. working for "the man". We talked about the Web and when I mentioned a bunch of the new players, he didn't know any of them. And I can't blame him. So many in the IT, Tech, Web sectors don't get the "new Web". No matter what you call it, new web, web 2.0, social networking, etc., most still don't get it. They know the players that made it through such as MySpace, YouTube, etc. But ask about Twitter, GrandCentral, etc. and mums the word.

I think the most important thing a startup needs is a good marketing and PR plan. I have watched many tangible products go bust over the past 15 years because of poor or no marketing and now I am watching something similar happen online. There are so many great products and services around today that can capture the small niche of Web 2.0 but the key is getting out to the mainstream. Most of the apps today are playing A level ball, we need to get them to AAA level and then on to the pros. No one would know Derek Jeter if he never made it past high school baseball.

Do you agree? If not, what do you think is the key to a startups success? Leave out having a great product since that is a given.

Over the next week, I will post thought starters for you to use and think about as you sit in team meetings. And don't worry, I know that most have no (or very small) budgets.

"Build it and they will come" works about .000000000000000001 of the time, so let's raise that percentage by taking advantage of the tools out there for marketing and public relations. And naturally the feed will have all of these posts so jump on it!

Find more stories about: advertising, Insights, marketing, startups, Web 2.0