Martin Koss – thinking out loud…
I don't mean to be so opinionated and argumentative, it's just me…
Goodle’s Panda Redefines SEO
Social Proof is nothing new, in fact, it’s been around for a couple or more years now and has been abused to death. We all know you can “buy” social proof Continue reading
Being ‘Nice’ is Not (always) Being Honest
Nobody ever paid me for being Mr Nice Guy. Although I always do my best to be polite, say please and thank you, pass compliments where compliments are due Continue reading
Let Me Shop On My Terms, Please
I don’t know about you but, when I shop online I want to feel like I am in control. I like to have a choice about what personal details I share and I do not like it when the website stores more of my details than I want them to store – especially credit card details.
After speaking to friend yesterday about a product, I got a solid recommendation and went along to the supplier’s website. I located the product and added them to my ‘shopping cart’. Next step was the checkout… and that is when I started feeling that tinge of discomfort.
The Bubble of Distrust Must Burst
Genuine Authenticity and 2-Way Dialogue between businesses and their ‘audience’ is fast becoming the only way to build the required trust that leads to a sale.
I see a big bubble bursting in the hear future on the web.
The bubble is ‘untrusted content‘. Continue reading
Take Me Home, Please
Do you ever get a bit annoyed when you’re on a website that looks pretty well designed and easy to use, and then you end up deep in the website and – you’re lost?
Yep! We’ve all been there – many times. Too often, in fact.
Some of the biggest brands and most popular sites are guilty of one of the biggest foo-pars in usability, and it is such an easy one to avoid… Show me the way to home, please!
Dialogue Creates Interest
It continues to amaze me as I observe ‘marketing’ activity on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn (etc) and I wonder who these people have been listening to.
Monologues; Tweeting your own links, posting your own links as status updates in Facebook and LinkedIn, but completely lacking of real ‘engagement’. What I mean by that, quite simply is: People who tweet or post updates about themselves but do not engage in dialogue.
Monologues do not draw attention to you or what you are doing!
Honesty and Transparency, I Miss You
Common sense, logic, sensible business practices, ethical business models, honesty and transparency, I miss you all sincerely.
I woke up this morning with a urge to write something. It’s been a while so I recognised the feeling and warmed to it – I let it stew a while in my head as I rambled through the rants I’d love to share or the things that have, quite frankly, p–d me off recently… But all that thinking made me realise why I haven’t particularly bothered writing anything lately.
No matter how much I tried to think of a ‘positive’ theme, I kept coming up with a cross between a rant and a ‘wake up call’.
This Shit Has Got To Change
Did I just say ‘shit’..? Oops. Well, sorry, but, on this occasion I couldn’t think of a better word.
FB rewrite the rule book constantly and the ‘free’ marketing platform is actually a lot of work – especially for small businesses – trying to keep up.
No wonder Facebook has spawned an industry of ‘experts’ – the average ‘user’ simply cannot understand so much of what it does or what it may do tomorrow or what it it did do but doesn’t do any longer..! That is aside from the every changing privacy issues and settings.
The ‘thrill’ is gone – for sure. In fact, not sure I really saw a ‘thrill’ in it. I saw (and still see) loads of bullcrap and things to frown / laugh at.
But it’s not just Facebook. The internet has to change and it is far too far down the road for Google and Facebook to put right what is wrong… How can they suddenly fix the unfixable?
Be A True Giver – Give Freely
We hear a lot about ‘giving’ and sharing openly and freely but so often we bend the rules. More often than not, in fact, the rules of openly giving – especially online – are greyed-out in favour of building the list.
Please, take my free information… Seriously, take it, it’s free. Completely free. I don’t want anything from you. It’s yours… No, seriously, put your credit card away… I want something far more valuable than a few dollars; I want your email address!
But I thought it was free? Continue reading
An ‘E-Commerce’ Website is NOT ‘Internet Marketing’
Having had a grueling conversation with a business owner today about ‘marketing’ it occurred to me that many people have it all completely wrong. They have the wrong idea. Literally speaking: They haven’t got a clue what the difference is between advertising, marketing, branding and selling.
Well, I’m no branding expert and I don’t design ads for the masses but I know a thing or two about marketing. The ‘selling’ part, that’s down to the sales team – who, I hasten to add, should have a good idea about the marketing. Continue reading