Campaign Monitor Is My Purple Cow

How I Got Wine from Campaign Monitor

First let me tell you a story. It’s actually Seth Godin’s story from The Purple Cow, a book about what it takes to create and sell something remarkable.

Seth and family driving in France, enchanted by picturesque cows grazing in lovely pastures. Kilometres and kilometres of cows. New cows suddenly are just like old cow, now cows are common. Now cows are boring.

“Cows, after you’ve seen them for a while, are boring. They may be well-bred cows, Six Sigma cows, cows lit by a beautiful light, but they are still boring. A Purple Cow, though: Now, that would really stand out. The essence of the Purple Cow—the reason it would shine among a crowd of perfectly competent, even undeniably excellent cows—is that it would be remarkable. Something remarkable is worth talking about, worth paying attention to. Boring stuff quickly becomes invisible.”

Campaign Monitor is my purple cow.

In the land of email distribution services there are some big players and companies with lots of features. How do you choose who to spend money with?

I looked at everyone’s websites. I tested the tools.

I like that CampaignMonitor.com has a self-explanatory website. The home page tells me about the immediate benefits I will see using the service: control, design testing, reporting, and the blowing-away of clients. Wow, they know what I need.

• Free sign-up. Yay!
• Easy set-up. Double yay! (Although it did take me a bit to realize all the moving parts for creating the on-site subscriber links and thank you pages. As a methodical beginner this was all fine, and now that I’ve done it once, I’m like a rocket ship.)
• Simple reporting of complex info. Love the opens, activity reports, subscriber reports--fantastic!

Plus, they have a rockin’ newsletter with lots of tips. It’s important that the company selling me email distribution actually understands how this works and writes a good newsletter.

And, they continue to provide value to the community by creating tools for designers, like this CSS Support Chart that details what CSS elements are supported in various email clients. Hello Superstar!

Campaign Monitor is my Purple Cow. They make email marketing “refreshingly simple”, which is also part of the tagline for Freshview, the company responsible for Campaign Monitor.

And “refreshingly simple” makes them my favourite. It makes them remarkable. So remarkable that I’m willing to recommend them to friends and colleagues, which is what I did recently on Lab with Leo.

Now how did I get that wine?

In June, Mathew from Campaign Monitor spotted me on Lab with Leo and sent me an email thanking me for mentioning Campaign Monitor. He also said, “We’d love to send you a Campaign Monitor shirt to say thanks.” Sweet!

Since James is the t-shirt wearer in our family, I picked a size for him. On a related note, James gets a lot of t-shirts from Threadless, who also use Campaign Monitor.

Somewhere along the line, I also ended up with 2 bottles of fantastic Australian wine from my Sydney-based friends at Freshview.

Remarkable service means I remark on the service.

Thank You for the Thank You.

Pull a Face for PutPlace: Photo Contest

My bookkeeper pointed out the other day that the backup on her computer hasn’t been working for the past couple of months. Eek gads! What that means is that all the information she is entering for my bookkeeping purposes could disappear. By “her” computer, she means my computer, which I’ve set up for her to use.

Documents, photos, music, videos ... there’s all sort of valuable stuff on that computer because it used to be my home computer.

So here is my data loss disaster story in a series of photos.

It starts like this:

Oh, that was weird!

Oh, that was really bad.

Oh, I don’t know how to fix this.

Oh, I really don’t know how to fix this.

====

Oh, James?

Oh, geez.

Oh. Ooooooooh.

Oh. No.

Have your own story? A single photo will do.

One of my clients is PutPlace. And they are all about preventing data loss disasters like this one.

* PutPlace offers real-time backup.
* PutPlace protects and organizes your photos, documents, emails, music and home movies.
* PutPlace enables you to publish a file on multiple sites and find it later.

PutPlace is more than file backup. It’s a lifesaver and they are running a photo contest.

All you have to do is submit a photo of your shock or horror with a caption about your data loss fears. The prize is an annual subscription to PutPlace for 100 GB of data + $200 USD Amazon gift certificate.

As Darren says, “Go forth and panic for the camera.”

Submit your photo: Putplace.com/pullaface

Social Media Training in Toronto

We don’t get to Toronto as often as we might like. Just this past weekend we had a long conversation with a friend from Toronto that made us consider a trip. Nothing planned yet, but thinking in the works. (Are the tulips up yet on Queen?)

But interesting work keeps happening in Toronto, and we thought we should highlight an upcoming example.

From June 22 to 24 our friend Sarah Pullman is leading a session called Social Media Training for the Social Change Sector.

No one working in social change these days can afford to ignore the opportunities offered by the web. Most organizations get stuck, though, on “How do we do it?” “Where do we start?” and “Who can help us?” Interest in high, but the talent pool of people equipped to understand, prioritize, and implement these tools and ideas remains limited.

We’ve gathered the best and the brightest leaders in this sector, and we’ve put together an agenda that will help take your organization to the next level. Each participant will emerge with new technical, creative, and leadership skills, a powerful network, and a customized, comprehensive “Web 2.0 Plan” for their organization.

Here’s the agenda for those interested.

Book Recommendation: Blogging for Dummies, 2nd Edition

New to blogs? Check out Blogging for Dummies, 2nd Edition.

Susannah Gardner of Hop Studios and Shane Birley of Left Right Minds are the authors of Blogging for Dummies, 2nd Edition (published by Wiley). 

Both are friends, but I would recommend this book regardless.

Susannah and Shane offer expert tips for new bloggers and bloggers looking for ideas and resources on improving their blog. The book includes explanations in plain English, quick information for techies and non-techies, tear-out cheat sheets and top 10 lists.

Blogging for Dummies, 2nd Edition is a great resource book for business and personal bloggers.

What’s the promise?

Discover how to create and maintain visitors to your blog, protect your privacy and your job, deal with spam and inappropriate comments, find your voice, and use your blog to promote your business.

Does it deliver?

Yes.

SEMPO Survey: Last Chance. Add Your Voice.

Want to know what Canadian advertisers and marketers are:
* thinking about search marketing
* doing about search marketing and
* planning on doing about search marketing?

If yes, take the 2007 SEMPO survey.

Who should take the survey?
* people familiar with, and actively engaged in, at least one type of the search engine marketing practices.
* people engaged in such programs in the capacity as advertisers (including both marketing staff and management), site managers, marketing agencies and search engine marketing service providers.

The survey takes 10-20 minutes. (I know it’s long, but without community participation there’s no information, no data, no analysis.)

Take the 4th Annual State of the Search Market Survey.

Here are some reasons why it’s worth your time:

• A special portion was created for Canadian advertisers this year, which means real information about the state of the Search Marketing Market in Canada will be reported.
• You could win a 8 Gb iPod Touch.
• You could win one free pass to a North American Search Engine Strategies (SES) Conference.
• You’ll be the first to receive the summarized results of North America’s most comprehensive snapshot of the search marketing industry.
• Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and the other major search players will know your thoughts, observations, and concerns about where search is and where it’s going. (They rely on this survey for that information!)

Take the 4th Annual State of the Search Market Survey.

About the Survey
The survey is conducted by Radar Research, and all responses are kept strictly confidential. All results are aggregated and made anonymous. The more people who complete the survey, the better the data.

More on SEMPO Canada:
SEMPO Canada is Canadian Non-Profit Professional Search Marketing Association working to increase awareness and promote the value of Search Engine Marketing in Canada. This Working Group was founded in November 2006 by Ken Jurina and Alexandre Brabant and focuses on improving the growth, awareness and understanding Search Engine Marketing (SEM) in Canada including Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Link Building, Pay Per Click Management best practices in this new field of marketing and how it uniquely pertains and is of relevance to Canadians worldwide across any sector, vertical or industry.

Top 5 Geek Gifts

Happy Holidays from Work Industries.

Are you making a list? Checking it twice?

Here at Work Industries, I’ve surveyed my geek-enthusiast friends for the top 5 tech gifts on their lists.

Here’s a shortlist of the top 5 geek gifts for 2007:

Number 1.
One Laptop per Child

[$399 USD]

Give a laptop, get a laptop. Since November 12, One Laptop Per Child has been offering a limited-time, get-and-give program. You give a donation of $399 and one XO laptop will be sent to a child in a developing nation and one will be sent to you. There is also a Simply Give option and a Give Many option for groups wishing to donate 100 or more laptops.

You can still place orders for the One Laptop through December 31st.

Number 2.
Apple iPhone

[Cost $399 USD plus activation agreement and cellular plan. Ships in 1-3 business days from Apple Online]

Redefining what a mobile phone can do, iPhone has captured the minds of many of my tech friends.

Susannah Gardner, Creative Director, Hop Studios, says:

“For the geek cachet, bleeding-edge technology, and sleek design, the Apple iPhone is at the top of my Christmas list. Phone, 2 megapixel camera, Internet access via provider network/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, music and video player. Very sexy. The downside? No plans in Canada and the price: US $399.”

No Canadian plan. High price.

But it has etch-a-sketch!

And if you are not interested in the phone, the iTouch (iPhone, minus the phone) is $299 USD.

Number 3.
Bose QuietComfort 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones

[Cost: $349 USD]

The best performing noise cancellation headsets on the market. Airplane noise, children, construction, office distractions--whatever your noise cancelling needs, Bose promises to be the best. This is another high ticket price at $349 USD. But if you’re price sensitive and value conscious, the QuietComfort 2 is still on the market and is a hundred dollars less.

Number 4.
Power Monkey Travel Charger

[$70 USD, this UK gadget is available in North America, you just have to look for it.]

The Power Monkey travel charger for cell phones, digital cameras, PDAs and iPods is one gadget I really want. The charger comes with 4 adaptor plugs, meaning my gadgets can juice up in 150 countries. Light, versatile, power in your pocket. And, who doesn’t need power at the beach, on the bus, in a boardroom, on an airplane?

Number 5.
JBL On Stage Micro, Portable Loudspeaker for iPod

[Cost $73 USD]

Julie Szabo, Partner at Capulet Communications, pointed out this beauty. She says,

“This little guy was on my wish list, but I couldn’t wait for Christmas to get it. I love my little JBL On Stage Micro iPod speaker. It’s perfect while I’m living and traveling abroad. It fits in my (albeit oversized) handbag, runs on battery power if need be, plugs into my laptop, and offers up some decent sound for its size.”

And bonus ideas:

Check out the Tetris Quilt. This is geek-chic for the crafty type.

Eye-Fi Wireless Camera SD Memory Card

Lee LeFever, Common Craft, says “from what I understand - it’s magic!  You replace your SD card in a camera with this new one.  The card, somehow, enables the camera to log into wifi and upload pictures to sites like Flickr.  Magic I tell you!”

Have a geek gift idea you’d like to share?

Pop it into the comment box. 

Beyond Buzz: Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing by Lois Kelly is about learning to create meaningful dialogue about organizations and products, instead of marketing blah blah blah.

If you are the lone evangelist in your organization--the one who gets it--print out a copy of the Executive Summary of Beyond Buzz and get it in front of as many managers as possible, especially those in communications, marketing and PR. (Tip from a former lone evangelist: I know, the summary is electronic. You could email it. In my experience, paper in front of nose is more effective.)

There are 5 reasons why conversation is important.

1. Because The Cluetrain Manifesto tells us markets are conversation.

Ok, that’s not one of the 5, but it’s definitely the starting point to understanding #1.

#1. People don’t trust marketing and sales information.

We have trusted advisors. They are our friends and family. We’d rather believe Tom, who’s just bought a new digital camera, than Best Buy who wants to sell us a camera for 20% off.

#2. People are overwhelmed with information.

We trust our friends and family because we can have a conversation with them. They help us make sense out of the information. They are not trying to sell us anything. They have our best interests at heart.

#3. Beyond products, people want to know what it’s like to work with your company.

We want to know that we’re spending our money with the right people.

#4. Explosion of new “talk” communications channels.

There are many, many ways for us to search online for product reviews. In fact, we don’t just check “Ford + reviews”, we check “Ford + repairs” and “Ford + broken”. If you’re not part of that conversation, we’re less likely to care about great reviews, especially if your company is the source of the reviews.

#5. People want to be heard and have a say.

Be an advocate on behalf of customers. Listening and talking can take you a long way.

The Foghound > Beyond Buzz website has lots of other incentives to buy the book:

• Subscribe to the podcast
• See the Table of Contents
• Read the Author Q&A

Buy a copy of Beyond Buzz today.

Enter to win a free copy.
I’ll do a random draw in one week.

UPDATE:
Congratulations to the 5 contest winners. (This is a partial list. Not everyone has given me permission to post their name.)
Kara Harun
Kate Trgovac of www.mynameiskate.ca
Jennifer Wiederick of www.worldwidewatercooler.com

Thank you to everyone who entered.