The Agency Outsider

Tim Piazza's Online Marketing Blog

Standing Out is Good, Resonating is Much Better

Posted on | September 12, 2009 | 1 Comment

Effective Outdoor Advertising
Driving to work yesterday I noticed a billboard that was hung upside-down. I glanced at it out of the corner of my eye and wondered if the outdoor advertising company hired idiots to hang their boards. Later that day, I saw the same billboard in another location, also upside-down. I felt sorry for the guys who had to hang it, because they probably have more sense than the people who told them how to do their job. Read more

To Flash or Not To Flash?

Posted on | September 9, 2009 | No Comments

Flash and SEO

Advertising agencies love Flash sites because you can create a visually rich presentation experience that is unique and fresh. Many brands love Flash for the same reasons. But Flash has come under fire in recent years for a variety of reasons. From a workflow perspective, Flash is such a controlled environment that it is much more difficult to add content and new navigation items than is possible with a content managed HTML site. And from a search engine perspective, Flash doesn’t help your efforts to be discovered. Read more

Activating Social Change Through Social Media

Posted on | September 5, 2009 | No Comments

KindLIke.Us social community of kindness

Do you believe computers can change the world? In 1992 I fell into a debate with my then-girlfriend about computer technology and online communities. To her, computers were a waste of time, a distraction from things that really mattered. She was a writer. She wrote with pen and pad. I was a computer junkie, desktop publisher, and online forum moderator. I wrote too, but my writing was conversational and with people I only knew through my screen and keyboard. Read more

Learn to Recognize the Conversation Killer

Posted on | September 3, 2009 | No Comments

Killing Converastions in social communities
Have you ever come across a conversation like this, either on line or in person?

Person 1: I’d like to know what people think about the color Red. Red is used frequently, but is it the best color? Can Red be improved? Let’s talk about it. Read more

It's Time To Fix the Banner Ad Problem

Posted on | August 22, 2009 | No Comments

banner ads that work

They’re ubiquitous, obtrusive, and sometimes excruciatingly annoying, but banner ads have been the primary advertising vehicle of the web for more than a decade. Most are seen and ignored by the viewer. Some are as irritating as a carnival game hawker, trying as hard as they might to get your click-through. We’ve all learned, either from confirmed suspicions or experience, to avoid them at all cost, and as a result, they’re not the most effective vehicle for getting your message out. Read more

8 Essential Steps To Writing Great Articles

Posted on | August 20, 2009 | No Comments

8 steps to writing great articles

You might love to write or perhaps you write because it’s a part of your job. Conversational writing has exploded in importance since the advent of blogs and the love that search engines show toward original content. Not everyone is a natural storyteller, but anyone can learn to write great articles. Follow these 8 steps and you will be well on your way to writing articles that people enjoy reading and learning from.
Read more

Who Is the Top Social Media Expert?

Posted on | July 30, 2009 | 11 Comments

Social Media Rock Stars

Today I tried an interesting experiment. I googled “social media expert”. I wanted to see who would take Google’s #1 spot.

It wasn’t Chris Brogan, whom I would have guessed. Today’s top dog is Giovanni Gallucci. I had never heard of Giovanni, and unless you’re from Texas, it’s probable that you never have heard of him either. Read more

ShoutNow is Group Voice Messaging for the Rest of Us

Posted on | July 28, 2009 | 1 Comment

ShoutNow Voice Messages for Marketing
It’s an idea so simple that you’ll wonder why it isn’t already used by everyone from your mom to your best friend. Go to a website, create a contact list, record a voice message, send it to all of your contacts in the list. You pay by the minute and the number of calls, but the service is not at all costly. Sending a one minute message to ten people costs less than a dollar. Sending a message to 150 people costs less than $10. Longer messages cost a little more, but not much. Read more

The Incredible Shrinking Internet

Posted on | July 16, 2009 | 3 Comments

Is the Internet Shrinking?
There are now 183 million domain names registered around the world, a 17% increase over last year, but it is very likely that the web you experience is getting smaller and the reason is simple. The pace of internet growth has far out-scaled human proportions. It’s so big that without the familiarity of a consistent place, the internet would be overwhelming. Our natural response is to cull from the internet and make our individual experiences familiar and manageable. We find the places that we like, the sources that we trust, the communities that we feel affinity with, and we stick to those. This explains the fundamental reason for the success of Facebook and other social media sites. Read more

Use Long Tail Marketing to Increase Visibility

Posted on | July 13, 2009 | No Comments

Anyone who builds a new website today quickly realizes that it’s nearly impossible to get noticed without making some substantial efforts. You can market your website using traditional marketing promotions, but these only work while the program is running. Using the web to grow your long tail visibility will increase your exposure long after the campaign has ended. Long tail marketing requires time and effort, but the lasting benefits provide great value to your web presence. Read more

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Tim Piazza is an online marketing consultant with expertise in social media, content development, ecommerce, and web optimization. He is an owner/partner with Social Life Marketing and founder of the Social Media Club of Evansville.

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