Yearly Archives: 2012
Random Ian Lurie14 Mar, 2012
10 ways to make me delete your comment
My post yesterday really stirred some people up. This is a big blind spot for me. I believe anything worth discussion is worth discussing in a civil manner. BUT, I had to delete a lot of comments. So I figured I’d better explain what’ll make me delete your comment (or Wall post, by the way):… Read More
Featured Ian Lurie13 Mar, 2012
My problem(s) with ‘inbound marketing’
I want to emphasize that this is a friendly discussion between Rand and I—we’re colleagues and friends, plus our companies are close enough together that he could bring his much more numerous minions to Portent and wipe us out in one afternoon of horrifying nerd slap-fighting. I’ve received a few comments I deleted because they… Read More
PPC Michael Wiegand13 Mar, 2012
The New Yahoo Rich Ads in Search (RAIS) Beta
I can see the video before I click the ad! With Google seemingly rolling out ad extensions every month, the Bing/Yahoo Search Alliance has lagged frightfully behind in terms of ad innovation. Until now. Rich Ads in Search (RAIS) is a hybrid answer to Google’s Ad Sitelinks Extensions and Product Listing Ads. We’ll walk through… Read More
Random Ian Lurie12 Mar, 2012
Where I’m speaking
Folks sometimes ask where I’m going to be speaking next. Here’s a quick list: In meatspace (live and in person, for non-geeks) How I’ve managed to only get speaking gigs in Seattle this year, I’ll never know. Don’t think I’m a travelphobe—I’m sure I’ll go to a few out of town gigs, too. SocialTech 2012:… Read More
Katie L Fetting9 Mar, 2012
Humor & Sharing Behavior: How Laughter Rules the Web
And you thought it was kittens and porn! (There’s plenty of that, too…) Funny people are popular people. How else can we explain an average-looking dude like Jason Sudekis scoring some of the hottest Betties in Hollywood? But when X = funny, well, that’s another story. And as marketers – hockers of hope, deliverers… Read More
Internet Marketing Ian Lurie8 Mar, 2012
12 questions to ask before you build an app
Rick Santorum throws up at JFK speeches. I throw up when someone says “We want to build an i[whatever] app!” I have one question. Why? Have you really, really considered why you’re building your app? Here’s 10 questions to help you decide: Can I afford it? I’m sorry, but you can’t build a quality mobile… Read More
Social Media David Portney8 Mar, 2012
Networking at Search Marketing Conferences: 3 Tips for the Painfully Shy
‘Tis the season… for search marketing conferences, that is. I have several colleagues who just returned from SMX West (and learned some lessons in search marketing). I myself just returned from SEMpdx’s SearchFest 2012, and there are many more conferences coming up this year – so many that I won’t even try to list… Read More
Internet Marketing Ian Lurie7 Mar, 2012
Marketing hubris will get you killed
Marketing hubris will get you killed. Especially in search. I hate it when someone asks me “Have you worked with other companies like ours?” If I have, I consider it a vulnerability, not a strength, because I’ve got the a-word: Assumptions. Anyone starting a marketing campaign with assumptions is one step from failure. Why? Because… Read More
Random Ian Lurie6 Mar, 2012
10 ways NOT to break up with a client
Breaking up is hard to do. But, as Portent’s President says, people remember how you enter, and how you leave. So ending a business relationship on as positive a note as possible is important. Even if the company in question never hires you back, employees change jobs, and you want them to think well of… Read More
Internet Marketing Mike Fitterer6 Mar, 2012
SMX West 2012 Lessons in Social and Mobile Search
The last week of February, search marketers from around the world assembled in sometimes-sunny San Jose, CA to geek out and discuss the latest internet marketing trends. Due to massive generosity from the Portent C-Suite I had the privilege of attending. For those of you who were unable to attend SMX West 2012, this post… Read More
Featured Ian Lurie5 Mar, 2012
Internet marketing: The lifecycle
Once again, I get to subject you all to my utter lack of artistic skills. I’ve been working on a simpler diagram of the internet marketing lifecycle for about six months. It’s finally ready, I think, for a public glance. This one boils it all down to a less-pretty but hopefully more clear concept. BE… Read More
R.J. LaCount2 Mar, 2012
Facebook’s Timeline “Like Gate” Bug Solution (For Now)
UPDATE: Facebook has fixed the bug! Here’s the deal – Facebook released their new Timeline for business pages along with a bug that broke our ability to redirect users to a hidden page after clicking “like.” They’ve fixed the bug now, but in the meantime we put together a template that uses an in-frame like… Read More
Design & Development Jarrod Medrano1 Mar, 2012
Basic Guide to Email Design
Though not as popular as it used to be, email remains a viable component of a good marketing strategy. When designing email templates, it’s important to consider the wide array of devices and email clients available. Follow these simple tips to make sure your message is coming across clearly on every platform and not making… Read More
SEO Ian Lurie29 Feb, 2012
Recording and slides from today’s webinar
If you missed today’s webinar, “SEO: 50 tips in 50 minutes,” you can get the slides here: SEO: 50 tips in 50 minutes View more presentations from Ian Lurie
Internet Marketing Portent Staff28 Feb, 2012
7 Email Marketing Fails and How to Avoid Them
Email marketing is a great tool for reaching out to potential clients and nurturing leads. Unfortunately, email marketing can be a double-edged sword. Some emails are so maddening that they make a person want to become physically violent. Thankfully we love our computers too much to do them any real harm. So take a deep… Read More