My new site still isn’t up, I’ve lost dozens of hours of productive or leisure time (and will lose more) and my output of marketing posts (the aim of the whole exercise) is lower than ever. One month and hundreds of dollars worth of development help ago, I began consolidating my Web site and blog onto WordPress, the popular blog, Web site and content publishing system. The reason: Confusing, contradictory terminology, a truly baffling design interface and the need to understand and upload obscure files into obscure server directories to do simple things. Isn’t “Skins” a TV show? MORE >>

The same is true in creating content to sell IT products and services. A story in the current Newsweek says that interest in amateur (non-profit) blogging and contributing to Wikipedia is falling off rapidly as, frankly, people get tired of working for free. The story mentions, in passing, that according to Technorati , professional bloggers are “a rising class.”.   Welcome to reality, or, rather, back to reality. People don’t do things for very long if they don’t get a payback, whether it be emotional, entertainment, financial, etc. Watch this space for many more details, soon. MORE >>

The reader (or customer) will eventually learn what a government agency did and didn’t do, and what your product can and can’t do. Let’s say – let’s just say – you were a huge oil company, or a government agency, desperately trying to recover from a major blunder.   You’re not sure how bad things are or when you can fix the situation. But do you do know you messed up real bad, didn’t move quickly enough to fix the problem and are desperately trying to calm everyone down while you scramble to undo the damage you’ve caused. MORE >>

But they’re not who’s seeing your marketing content if you’re selling a big-ticket IT product or service.   Another is s aying the same thing six ways, as in “Reducing inefficiency and boosting productivity helps to reduce costs and enhance corporate productivity by making better use of corporate resources.” OK, maybe some people are so dumb they don’t know a heater gets hot. Those types are knowledgeable, have a lot on their plate, and make snap decisions on what to read and not to read. What’s the B2B equivalent of “heater gets hot?”. MORE >>

  One of the biggest blunders tech marketers make is not clearly explaining what their products do. If you introduce a new brand or product name or initiative, explain what it does. recent ad from Toyota makes this thunderlingly obvious mistake, and shows why it’s so important to get an outsider’s eye to review your copy.   As everyone knows, Toyota has had some major quality and safety issues. So they’re developed something called the “ Star Safety System ” which they’re including in every car and truck they make, and telling customers about it in full-page ads. MORE >>