Well I suppose it's long overdue...I have not shared my marketing goings-on in forever it seems like, so here goes.

Did I leave you hanging? We did in fact launch our new corporate website several weeks ago. Everything went off without a hitch, and by and large all reports are that people love the face lift.

So, now what? That's the question we've been chewing on in the absence of aftermath, destruction or chaos. Things that were put off for so long can now again be a priority. Much touted interactive features. The changes to our online home allow people to find what they need much more easily, but they still fall short of creating an environment for two-way interaction. We're working on several new initiatives that make a medium for conversation with our constituents and to not by passed by in the social media - social marketing explosion.

While the social internet has grown to encompass millions of cyberwalkers, it has yet to become the standard. I believe it's still on the cusp of the "mainstream" - wherein real fireworks happen. When every organization online figures out the enormous potential for this, and adopts it, then blogs will be as common as the 1998-inspired site with iframes. This begs the question, will the value be diluted?

In keeping up with my internet marketing news I learned that the market for search advertising is well over $5bn. If it isn't already, it'll probably approach $9 or $10Bn very soon. So my question, again, is...will the value be diluted? If every company under the sun is spending a big chunk of their marketing budget on getting their impressions for Google searches, not only can Google up the ante but they have. If every company under the sun is in your search result, the competition drives prices up and dilutes or completely eradicates any advantage people found from this medium early on.

Again, blogs are becoming a part of mainstream media- you'll notice that TV News personalities all have blogs online now where you can go to learn about the news or to find online resources they mentioned on air. Eventually we'll all have blogs, and then they will offer no real marketing advantage. The trick then is to be quick about implementing it. For those people who work in high tech companies, being agile and acting on the latest cutting edge phenomenon may be as obvious as getting your next Diet Coke from the company kitchen. For the rest of us, change happens slowly, and that is where the fight is.

Any suggestions for making it happen faster? Or is it better to just let things happen as they happen.

Click to read the latest newsletter, hot off the presses (and including one very exciting announcement about our website!)
LINK.

After attending a terrific online strategy lunch meeting today, hosted by Austin-based Convio, an online marketing company which recently acquired GetActive, here are some of the insights and learnings.

Keys to success in online fund-raising and internet marketing:

1. A documented strategy with measurable goals
2. Software. Whether custom built or 3rd party, we all need tools to accomplish the task. Obviously the more you can spend, the better the tools you can employ.
3. Internal resources. In order to successfully execute 1 & 2 above, having the right people with good skills is a must.

Some simple tips or tricks for building that all important email house list:

• Simple surveys or polls on your site (ask for their email address!)
• ECard : e.g., National Wildlife Federation
• Offer something tangible in exchange for registration : e.g., free sticker, bumper sticker, button, etc.

Turns out we already had made eCards for every country...but the mechanism doesn't work on our current web server. Great news! We can hopefully just find a new back end to send and resuscitate the graphics that my peer spent a lot of time on way back when. This is like the tell-a-friend feature, only far more handsome. Too good to pass up, if I can get my voice heard.

How to Make a Difference on Vacation

Imagine: This year, your volunteer vacation could be teaching basic math to students in a rural African community struggling to modernize. Next year, you could volunteer abroad to help research scientists save endangered sea turtles from extinction. On your volunteer vacation the following year, you could assist nurses at a children's clinic ....

http://digg.com/world_news/How_to_Make_a_Difference_on_Vacation

A gift for themselves is a gift to others

For a small but growing cadre, 'service trips' to help others locally or abroad are the best way to celebrate the holidays. Tim Farrell and a growing number of fellow traveling volunteers, a service trip has become the holiday season's big-ticket item. In response to growing demand, Global Volunteers of St. Paul, MN, has grown its list ...

http://digg.com/world_news/A_gift_for_themselves_is_a_gift_to_others

Students Collaborate on Book: Orphans in Peru will benefit from imagination

Third-graders take part in a student book project at Greece, NY's West Ridge Elementary School and Olympia High School to raise money for the Puericultorio Perez Aranibar children's home in Lima, Peru, through Global Volunteers, an international volunteer group.

http://digg.com/world_news/Students_Collaborate_on_Book_Orphans_in_Peru_will_benefit_from_imagination

See my comments in the just-published marketing wisdom report by marketing sherpa!

This is a great site to read the insights on internet marketing with an experimental research approach to learning.

http://wisdom.marketingsherpa.com/store/downloads/wisdom2007.pdf