Martin Koss – Internet Marketing Strategy Coach

Social Branding

Making a statement. Getting your message ‘out there’. Being recognisable. Describing ‘what you do’. An appropriate and memorable design. All thoughts that come to mind when we start thinking about logos for our businesses. But what is essential and what is ego?

Years ago (we can call them the ‘olden days’) it was cool to get the latest clever design embossed on your company business card and  if you were the first with some fancy 3D effect, well, wow, you were just the coolest. The web threw open the doors with more opportunities to go crazy and show-off a bit more with spinning logos, more elaborate 3D designs and shadows in all different directions – anything to ‘stand out’ from the crowd was now possible.

But still – while so many business owners were going for the ‘wow-factor’ there were (and still are) many of the internationally household-name brands keeping it simple.

Words that should come to mind when looking at your logo (or designing a new one) are: Read the rest of this entry »

In a recent post (“Chris Brogan Ain’t No Friend Of Mine”), Ben Lucier discusses a Twitter dialogue he had with Chris and introduces his comparison of LinkedIn network building ‘methods’ by breaking it down to two kinds of people; The Trusted Network Builder and the Unknown Network Builder. Ben goes on to suggest that CB is in the latter group because of his recent open invitation to anyone and everyone to ‘connect’ with him on the ‘professional’ social platform.

Ben’s post has since been tweeted and retweeted as you would expect with anything mentioning CB as many people rush to argue against some of the points and others in support of Ben’s suggestions that CB is not exactly living up to his ‘Trust Agent’ status by, effectively, breaking LinkedIn’s rules of engagement (only connecting with people you actually ‘know’).

I think (perhaps) the bulk of the argument is because Chris is the ‘Trust Agent’ many of us have learned a thing or two from over the years (I certainly have and I appreciate it), and because of his status among the social bloggers and ‘teachers’ of what is social media fair game and what is downright shady.

Any opportunity to have a pop at CB?

It seems that any opportunity to have a pop at CB, or to mention his name in a blog post, seems to get fingers typing frantically by everyone wanting to be the first to hit the blogosphere with some hot gossip that will bring the traffic flooding to read all about it. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the things we’ve all read and heard many times is that sticking adverts up all over the place is NOT social branding, it is not good marketing and it certainly won’t bring new traffic clickity clicking through to your website or blog.

Most people, by now, know that YouTube is the 2^nd most popular ‘search engine’ (yes it is – when was the last time you asked YouTubers for a review of a product?).

Okay – so what can you do that will draw in some attention in your target market? What can you do that gets your name (or your company name) out there without looking like self-promoter of the tear candidate?

One of my favourite ‘media’ is video. I think, as many agree, that video is almost anticipated these days and it is so much more engaging than a bit of text and a perfectly posed photograph of you or a product… Sometimes though, you can’t think of what to say without seeming like you’re just using the video as an opportunity to plug your business.

It can be difficult. I get asked all the time “what can I make a video of that is informative, instructional, interesting” etc? Read the rest of this entry »

Some years ago when I started observing the emerging trend in VAs (Virtual Assistants) I was thinking “here we go again – another ‘industry’ developing around Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, and all that goes with it…” but now I think differently.

Introducing Virtual Assistants

I’ve followed a few Virtual Assistants via Twitter and Facebook for a while now and some of them do a great job providing networking, marketing and branding services that are, due to the time sap all these platforms can be, often overlooked or just not done effectively when ‘maintained’ in-house.

Let’s face it – another week passes so quickly and the list of ‘to-do’ items grows ever longer with many businesses getting nowhere at all while their competitors are grabbing all the fame in the social sphere by being active and being part of the ‘conversation’. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes you shouldn’t be trying to get your message, your content, or product or service in front of “everyone”… Seth Godin and Loic Le Meur talk about “Why You Need A Tribe” in today’s world of viral, social and community based content distribution and marketing.

Merge the tips you get here with concepts like “The Power of 3″ and you can see how, so often, small numbers of real followers (your insiders/tribe) can lead to a much bigger, louder, wider audience through specific, anticipated, relevant and personalised content aimed at committed and real change.

Thanks to Travis Greenlee for posting this to Facebook via his blog.

Still thinking Social Media is a fad? Here’s a video full of amazing facts that I found on Mitch Joel’s blog “A Fascinating Look At The Numbers Behind Social Media”

Watch the video if you, like me, have a skeptic in you or if you think, for any reasoning, that the myriad of social platforms is a fad that will soon be replaced by something new, bright and shiny…

Thumbs up to Mitch Joel for sharing this video on Facebook.

With so many authors sharing their knowledge and experiences, 17 zillion blogs about blogging and everyone and their dog sharing opinions – who should you listen to? Well, for me, Chris Brogan stands head and shoulders above most Read the rest of this entry »

Building your foundations. Sowing your seeds. Planting your roots. If you don’t do the ground work, forget to do the hard work that goes into preparing for the future – how can you expect to succeed in anything Read the rest of this entry »

I’m sure most people who live or grew up in the UK will have heard the phrase “Yesterdays News is Tomorrows Fish & Chip Wrapper” and that applies to the web – what you publish today could be completely forgotten (or be out of sight) by tomorrow. Read the rest of this entry »

Chris started the conversation with “I was asked today what’s better marketing content – Written, or Audio, or Video format? I always answer that All three are better. First create an audio version of the content, have it transcribed (written content type) & then Read the rest of this entry »