Group items tagged

The most popular post I’ve written to date is a review of prediction market software. Today’s post is going to be the same, but for idea/innovation software (henceforth referred to as innovation software). Trying to even find and identify all the different types of innovation software is difficult because of the different ways people and companies think about innovation. Prediction markets are straightforward; they’re futures markets, so the software is largely the interface between the user and the order book on the database. That is not at all so for innovation software. Different people think about innovation in different ways, which I referred to in a previous post. The list below is likely not complete, but I believe it does pick up the major players.

Dan Roam’s “The Back of the Napkin” invites its readers to give up slides altogether, and use flipcharts and blackboards instead. The central idea is visual thinking, drawing graphics as you explain them, rather than taking audiences through endless bullet points. The book is full of practical advice for doing this. A must read. Garr Reynold’s “Presentationzen” is a plea for preparing your presentation offline. Rather than a method, it introduces a presentation philosophy, heavily influenced by Asian culture. The central idea is simplicity. While obviously influencing many of today’s speakers, the concept of presentationzen is relatively unproven for complex subjects, such as science or technology. Nevertheless, a must read.

Preparing to broadcast an eMail campaign is like getting ready to launch a satellite; it's a nightmare to run a mistake-ridden programme. However, working with a list of detailed quality control checks will identify problems before they have a detrimental effect on customers, prospects, deliverability, the brand and ultimately your profits.

While so many people recognize the power of Digg when it comes to getting people to “vote” on what articles are the ones that you can’t miss. If only it were so easy to have customers, employees, stockholders or just about anyone vote on innovation ideas.

For business blogging skeptics, the idea that a roofing company would bother with a blog might seem ludicrous.  But that kind of thinking betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the power of the new generation of business blogs.

This paper attempts to encourage a better dialogue between research on social influence and on negotiation. It provides an overview of the literature on both areas, and identifies opportunities for creating more effective and useful research. First, HBS professors Deepak Malhotra and Max Bazerman identify those elements of psychological influence that do not require the influencer to change the economic or structural aspects of the bargaining situation in order to persuade the target. Second, they review prior research on behavioral decision-making in negotiation to identify those ideas that may be relevant to influence in negotiation. Third, they provide a framework for thinking about how to leverage behavioral decision research to wield influence in negotiation. Fourth, they consider how targets of influence might defend against these tactics. Fifth, because psychological influence is, by definition, aimed at achieving one's own ends through the strategic manipulation of another's judgment, they consider the ethical issues surrounding its application in negotiation.

Many preference centers are great ideas that are poorly executed -- not because the registration page isn't functional or the users can't update their profiles, but because of  mismatched expectations.  When many marketers are still grappling with permission management practices (opt-in vs. opt-out), why add another layer of consumer management to the problem? 

While there are many ways to set-up and manage online events, here’s what’s working well for us in our webinar programme: Weekly events at a fixed time slot (identified through a user survey). Limit events to one hour (timeslot identified through user feedback). A few minutes introduction, followed by a main presentation of 30-40 minutes and 15-20 minutes of questions. Strictly time manage the event (punctual start, completion on time). Beware of time zones - we usually have participants across 10 to 15 timezones. Limit sound to host and speakers. Participants can chat only (handling 100 sound cards & microphones online does not provide a good webinar experience). A chat pod allows participants to introduce themselves at the start of the event. A second chat pod allows users to submit questions. Questions are addresses one at a time at the end of the presentation - never during the presentation. Before the event, speakers are briefed on the use of the Adobe system and a protocol for the event is agreed. After the event, we circulate slides, the link to a recording, an answer to a question not address. There are so many ways to keep users engaged, and gradually build a vertical community around the topic of the webinar.

Writing a weblog today isn't the bright idea it was four years ago. The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought, has been flooded by a tsunami of paid bilge. Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths. It's almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers. And why bother? The time it takes to craft sharp, witty blog prose is better spent expressing yourself on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter.

Here’s my response: 1. I have no idea if the Facebook platform is alive or dead. I’ve got left-over MREs from Y2K, however, so I think I can survive its demise, if it should occur. 2. Asking people if they use RSS is like asking people what size air filter goes in their car. RSS is now entrenched in the infrastructure of the sharing web. It fuels widgets, it automates blog posts, it enables all sorts of gizmos and thingees that the average web user would never recognize as RSS. Nor should they. Web users should click on a button that says, “bring me information about this topic or from this source.” How it gets delivered will probably involve RSS, but who the heck cares.

What's working:Clickable offers for members visiting your area - Coupons, downloadable avatar accessories for basic information or taking a surveyClever updates- Think virtual billboard tactics where your images and message change on a regular basisPersona avatars to greet and discuss your product in the context of the site and member conversations (i.e. subtle references and recommendations, not hard sell)One off events built up with lots of publicity - for an idea of what I mean, look only as far as CSI using Second Life in its television shows. While a coup for Second Life, the buzz for CSI was pretty good and I'm sure it drove in some additional younger viewers who didn't previously watch.

About Those Commercial Ratings

Now the Marketing Maven at GlobalSpec is backing me up. In their latest newsletter, there is an article titled Landing Page or Landing Path? Improving Post-Click Marketing that identifies why landing pages may not be a good idea.