There are so many businesses vying for attention online right now. Especially in the social networking and blog arenas, as I’ve mentioned before. So as the noise increases, how do you make sure you’re heard above it all?
In the article I mentioned from Marketing Roadmaps, Susan mentioned that small businesses should try different tactics than big-budget companies do. For instance, Frigidaire is giving away appliances. A lot of appliances. Smaller businesses obviously can’t give away numerous appliance suites. It would kill their budget. But Susan suggested that companies instead try sending a microwave when they notice a blogger wrote about …read more

There’s no doubt that blogger buzz can get the word out about a product. Just look at the new Frigidaire program that’s giving away new appliances to a variety of bloggers. You can hardly get through mom blogs without tripping over someone talking about the program. Just before Christmas it was the HP Magic Giveaway, which featured 50 different sites giving away several computers, peripherals, and software. The chatter level was astronomical.
So it’s obvious that big businesses with big marketing budgets are hitting the blogger outreach circuit. And the chatter about the various programs keeps growing. But as more companies …read more

I have some great, reliable, commentors. One of them is Alan Wilensky. Commenting on my June 7th post ““Fewer, More Successful Projects”: The New HP” he gave one of his great personal examples of an IT organization run amuck. Here is his comment (edited by me) and my response:
Alan W: A while ago, I was a bidder on fair sized contract with a specialized mfr. They had a BIG IT plan, SAP, SCN, you name it. They were hostage to their IT man, he had them seduced and bought in to the tune of 30 projects (none fully implemented) and …read more