Kent Blumberg

Paul Chaney on maximizing your marketing dollar via the web

Just a quick link to a recent post by Paul Chaney on Five Ways to Maximize Your Marketing Dollar Via the Web.  I heard Paul speak on this topic last Thursday and loved the simplicity of his approach.  Great stuff here for any business in 2009.

Air Force Blog Response Assessment

Through Twitter, I found Joey deVilla's post on "The Air Force's Rules of Engagement for Blogging."

Customer Service and Bathroom Condition

Don't miss this year's Bathroom Blogfest!!!  If you have customers and they use your restrooms, you'll learn plenty from this series.

"During the annual Bathroom Blogfest, bloggers from around the globe write about the importance of bathrooms in the customer experience with photographs of great and terrible bathrooms. Their posts come from a wide range of perspectives that include sociology, marketing, research, psychology, environmental, customer experience, and user-experience design. Initiated in 2006 with nine bloggers, this year's event runs from October 28 to November 2, during National Kitchen and Bath Month."

Ten ways to build your personal brand

A brand is a promise - buy what the brand represents and you expect to get a certain experience.  People have brands, too.  Your personal brand is what people think of when they hear your name.  For example, when folks hear your name they might think, "The gal who gets things done," or "That guy who speaks in riddles," or any number of other things.

What is your personal brand?  What do people think of when they hear your name?  Is your brand telling folks what you want it to?

Here's a list of ten things you can do to build the brand you want to have.

Karin Hermans just had babies!

One of my best blogging buddies, Karin Hermans, is teaching a blogging workshop in sunny Kent, UK.  For the workshop, she has created a class blog, called The Blog Studio.

Check out the first four posts, which cover naming your blogging domain, setting up a Typepad account, choosing a name for your blog, and designing the look and feel of your blog.  They would be a great place to send any friend who is thinking about getting started in the Blogosphere.

Also please drop by some of the new blogs (see below) and lend a note of encouragement.  Remember how it felt to be a new blogger?  Wouldn't you have loved a comment or two?  Now's the time to do that for a newbie.

• Karin's workshop co-developer, Lesley Perk, has created a blog called "the 'IT' girl."  She plans to write about, among other things, her IT girl lifestyle.  (Why is it that women ITers get to be called "IT girl" and male ITers have to settle for "geek?")
• Jaci Godman Irvine will be writing "Where there's a Will" with a great tag line:  "It's never too early to make a Will but often too late."  Guess what business she is in.
• Derek Goddard will be writing in support of his business.  His blog is called "Dr. Derek's Blog."  His first post is about how to feel your Chi Power.  I tried the test, but failed.  Perhaps I'm too excited about Karin's new blog babies.
• Peter Allen, tired of paying the osteopath to fix his aching body, is morphing from plumber to water specialist.  His new blog, "Healthy Skin with Healthy Water" will be in support of his business.
• Robin Jobber has created a personally focused blog,  "Rob's Blog."
• And last, but not least, "The Parky's" is written by Lucia Parkinson, who hopes to retire to her armchair and get rich as a blogger.  Lucia, let me know how once you figure it out!

[Updated Monday, August 27, with a new link for Jaci's blog.]

New publication schedule - revised!

In late May I increased my posting frequency to six days a week.  That was fun - for awhile.  Now, as my coaching business grows fairly rapidly, I want to spend less time blogging and more time with clients.  Beginning next week, I'm going to cut back to three posts per week, plus a photograph on Saturdays.  Hopefully that will allow me to maintain quality content and have a life!  Hope you don't mind.

Thursday links

Carmine Coyote starts us off this week with an essay on real work/life balance.  Julie Lenzer Kirk chimes in with her thoughts on the responsibility of the company owner/CEO for creating an environment that fosters balance.  And staying for a bit on the balance topic, I used Linked In Answers to query my network for ideas to help me with the radio show last week.  Heather Mundell explains how useful Linked In Answers can be.

Keep reading for thoughts on emotions at work, keeping promises, customer service, email horror stories, cool Photoshop tools, messy bathrooms and blogging for a job...

Introducing Archana Raghuram

Recently a new commenter dropped by my blog.  As is my habit, I jumped over to have a look at her blog and loved it.  Archana Raghuram is a project manager in an India based software company.  Her blog is called Books, Science and Stories.  Archana is a masterful writer.

"Word of Mouth Marketing" by Andy Sernovitz

Andy Sernovitz helped make my vacation last week a pleasant one.  I spent a few hours with Andy's book, Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking (Kaplan Publishing, 2006, 216 pages).  The book is chock full of easy steps that will increase word-of-mouth marketing of whatever you sell.  It's a quick read and a fun read, and well worth your time.

What is word-of-mouth marketing?  Sernovitz defines it as,

"Giving people a reason to talk about your stuff, and making it easier for that conversation to take place." 

It isn't advertising, by the way.  As Sernovitz says,

"Advertising is the price of being boring." 

And it only works if you have good stuff to sell, and if people like you and trust you.

Because Karin H asked: How blogging has changed me and my business

Karin Hermans and her partner Ton own Wood You Like Natural Wood Flooring, in Kent, UK.  I know Karin from her great blogs, "The Kiss Business Too," and "Stop/Start."  Karin knows I don't love to be 'tagged,' but she also knows I can't resist her requests.  A few days ago she asked how blogging has changed me and my business.  In honor of her request, and in honor of my blog's first birthday, I thought I'd actually answer this one.