Jeremy Goldkorn founded the popular China media website Danwei.org, and acts as editor and publisher. The site has tracked the changes in China’s media and Internet on a daily basis since 2003 and also produces video interviews with people in culture and the media in China. Here, in this piece in fastcompany.com magazine, he outlines the copykat sites that have sprung up in China.
Read the print article here.

Ralph Tegtmeier, co-founder and principal of fantomaster.com: “We have been in the Internet business since 1999. You do tend to get a bit jaded after all that time spent in pursuing countless fads, the dotcom bubble, the incessant hype over IT, and lots more. The Twitter experience, however, has effectively managed to revert all of this – not the least because it’s so eminently profitable if you do it right.

So, what’s involved in ‘doing it right’? Ralph outlines in this article the tact to take when automating your twitter campaign. The biggest challenge is figuring out how to engage followers. He counters the contention that “Twitter is an utter waste of time…you can’t make any money with Twitter”

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Keith Peterson, the senior vice president of the data division of Experian Marketing Services writes this piece for Target Marketing outlining strategies for reactivating stagnant customers. This can be some of the most rewarding ‘cold-calling’ one can do. These folks have bought from you before and just need a little nudge to bring them back into the fold. Today, this nudge can take many different forms (perhaps more than one), given the new social media explosion.

Read the print article here

Access the TM article online here

Dion Hinchcliffe is an internationally-recognized business strategist and enterprise architect who has worked for 20 years to bring innovative solutions to clients in the Global 2000, federal government, and Internet startup community. He tackles the question “What is Web 2.0?” in this article on AIIM.org. AIIM was founded in 1943 as the National Microfilm Association and later became the Association for Information and Image Management.

For some time I had assumed that web 2.0 was a technology, like xhtml or perhaps a wider browser layout. As Dion describes in this article, it is really more about a collaborative, distributive approach to the handling of data. If you’re not on board, Web 2.0′s time is here and now.

Read the print article here

See the online version here

John goes indepth into the questions that we should be asking about social media. Is this something my company should be doing? Is there a payoff? What are the pitfalls? Do you know what the three R’s of social media are?

Read the article online here

Read the print article here

Retailers are moving toward engaging consumers through social marketing, though new-age techniques like blogs and social networks still take a back seat to search and e-mail marketing, according to a study from Forrester Research Inc., “Top US eCommerce and Online Retail Predictions for 2008.”

At the same time, when they set their priorities for 2008, most retailers focused on improving how they engage consumers online by upgrading the usability, usefulness and enjoyableness of the online experience, according to a second Forrester report, “Customer Experience Spending Intensifies in 2008.” Companies are looking beyond the traditional web browsing experience and concentrating on rich Internet applications, cross-channel interactions and mobile commerce. As a result, most companies plan to boost spending this year on tools that can improve the online customer experience, including web analytics and customer satisfaction surveys, Forrester says.

Read more here

Details about the report here

Laura Wood from researchandmarkets.org tells us that the (148€) report offers a “primer” on the various new and social media channels, such as:

- Web sites and e-mail
- Blogs and podcasts
- Twitter and other microblogging sites
- Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites
- Digg, StumbleUpon, and other social bookmarking sites
- YouTube and other online video applications

For each of these groups of channels, the report explains, in a nutshell:

- what it is
- what is required to get started
- what it costs
- best practices for inbound marketing
- how printers can use it for their own purposes
- how printers can offer it to their clients

According to a recent survey by MarketingProfs Research (marketingprofs.com), not all social-networking sites are created equal-particularly in terms of who is using them. The report shows Linkedln as the preferred social-networking site for B2B respondents, while Facebook scored highest with the B2C market. Businesses are learning that, while the message itself is critical, the channel through which they deliver it may hold the secret to a successful campaign.
PDF graphic here

The Web’s emergence is forcing ad executives to succumb to marketers’ demands that agencies reinvent how ads are created, and forgo their TV-centric approach. Clients are even calling for changes in the way ad firms are structured. But until now, few advertisers have spent more than 5% to 10% of their marketing budgets online. With the growth of online video and social networking, ad experts expect that percentage to jump significantly this year.

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With the decline in the numbers of television viewers in recent years, networks are in search of a sure-fire way to guarantee an audience for advertisers. They should look no further than Scripps Networks, which on june 19 debuted a TV show created in a most unconventional way. HGTV (Home & Garden TV), owned by Scripps, unveiled “Rate My Space,” a show spawned from the community website of the same name. Launched in February 2007, the site, also powered by HGTV, invites…

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