By Ken | December 29, 2008

I’m a self-help addict but let’s be clear, that doesn’t mean I’m troubled. It just means that I like making an informed decision. (that’s the ticket!) I’m a guy’s guy by most standards and by that I mean I like things I can hear and things I can see verses reading a something like Macbeth (unless its a book on tape). These days, thanks to Google, Youtube, and iTunes we can plug into anything we want and learn more about whatever our hearts desire.

For good educational commentary, I highly recommend podcasts. My favorite source is iTunes (If you aren’t familiar with podcasts, it’s basically a popular way for anyone to voice their opinion, tell a story, or (my favorite) share tips and tricks.).

I like to refer to podcasts as ‘universal talk radio’. Personally, I subscribe to one fine and dandy podcast about digital marketing strategies called (taking a deep breath) The Digial Marketer’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Growing Your Business with Digital Tools (and breathe again). Every week Aliza Sherman gives me a little speck of gold that keeps me ‘in the know’ about the digital world. (Admit it, we all need the help, not just me!) Her subjects have ranged from using social media like Twitter and Flickr to organizing web links.

For those of you who want to sound brighter than a ‘chunk of rust’, consider using iTunes to subscribe to podcasts, thy’re free, easy to use and you don’t have to have an iPod to get them. Let me know about your favorites!

Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity,

Be Bold Minded

By Jillian Anderson | December 24, 2008

Many businesses are catching on, choosing to engage interactive social media sites and applications as marketing and PR tools. You are able to reap the benefits of networking for customer service value, staying up to date with industry conversation and public interest trends, and building RELATIONSHIPS with the PEOPLE gathered around these online watering holes. The key is to remain both Person and Business at the same time…but mostly person.

As well said by one of my favorite social media pundits (Lee Odden):

By understanding the social web as it relates to fundamental marketing principles, tactics, tools and best practices, you can create a framework for the development of a working strategy.

Though many fundamental marketing principles apply to both traditional and social media marketing alike, social media is NOT traditional marketing, but is a completely different and involved (interactive) process. Interactive strategies need to be approached with relationships in mind and not as a marketing or PR “quick-fix”.

In order to implement it effectively, the first step of any marketing strategy should be to define objectives. Once you have a clear purpose, a social media strategy then be developed and generally play through the following actions.

Discover Conversations.
Find the online conversations surrounding or mentioning your brand – these conversations can range from a blog post or a comment on a forum, to a microblog mini-post (e.g. Twitter), a video or photo sharing site (e.g. YouTube and Flickr), or a social networking site like MySpace.

Listen.
Learn what the community is saying. By listening to the conversations happening on the social web around both your brand and the competition, you can begin to understand what needs to be done.

Establish.
Build a starting place to hold conversations and possibly utilize a blogging platform either on your site or through another service like WordPress.com. Generate content and encourage social participation. Prepare then get involved.

Engage.
Reach out to the people involved in your newly established online communities and networks. Engage and influence the attitude of online conversations around your brand – join in. Remember to encourage relationships. Be amusing, transparent, informative and personable. Let people see the person behind your social brand interactions.

Manage.
If you find people – especially influential people – are leaving negative comments, it is important to embrace them. Combat the negative sentiment by leaving a comment that asks how you can improve or a comment acknowledging their dissatisfaction and offer consolation, or even one to defend your brand and let the readers decide for themselves.

Archive.
Lastly, but certainly not least, manage everything and keep an archive of trends, successes, and attitudes. You just might find that all this work could come in handy when developing your next business strategy!

By Allan Emerson | December 17, 2008

“I need a website. How much is it going to cost?”

Ah, the million dollar question (pun mildly intended). This question falls comfortably in the top three on the list of questions prospective clients ask – and for good reason. The company website is increasingly becoming a very necessary part of any business model. So, how to answer this question?

Let’s take a stroll down Analogy Lane.

If you were to walk into a car dealership and ask a salesman how much a car costs, how do you think they’d reply? A reputable salesman would first find out what your needs are and then try to match you with the best fit within your budget. If they ask, “Well partner, how much do you want to spend?”, don’t walk out of the store – run. Assuming you are speaking with a well qualified individual, they will begin to ask you several questions to learn more about you. “Is this your first car?”, “Two doors or four?”, “Will you be trading your current vehicle in?”, “Do you need the optional towing package?”  and so on and so forth.

Only after the salesman gets a good idea of the underlying utility of the vehicle will they start to get into all the fun stuff. Maybe you want to jam out to Devo and need the 8-speaker premium sound system. Or maybe you’re more a talk radio fan, so the stock stereo will do just fine. Planning on taking several road trips with the kids? Better get the optional flip-down DVD system. Let’s not forget the dual cup holders. Those are vital.

Now that you’ve decided on the what essential functions the car will perform as well as the additional features to make it just right, it’s time to discuss the price. Chances are you’ll walk away with a vehicle that suits your needs, has a solid warranty and gets you from Point A to Point B in style.

So, what does all this car jibber-jabber have to do with your website? The same type of decisions need to be made long before you ever discuss a price with a potential web developer. First, what do you need the site to do for you? Do you currently have a site and need a makeover? Want some nifty animations and streaming video? All these things needs to be well thought out before getting into price discussions. A careful assessment of your current and future needs will allow the designer to suggest technologies to suit your goals as well as mention additional features you may not have even thought of.

At the end of the process, your developer should be able to quote you a price with much greater precision than just randomly throwing out a number. The developer, in turn, should have no problems sticking to that price since all of the widgets and gizmos have been decided ahead of time. Those pesky plan alterations mid-build can be quite costly.

All that said, asking for a price upfront is somewhat like asking, “Where does one flaminibob the gobbilygook?”. Questions need to be asked and research needs to be done to quote an accurate and fair price for that shiny new website*.

*Dual cupholders standard with all 2009 models.

By Kyle McCabe | December 8, 2008

Congratulations may be in order – it seems you’ve caught us red handed. We were trying to keep a low profile while we set things up here, but alas, you were savvy enough to get here, so you win the prize.

The prize is nothing more or less than a little sneak preview of the new BBM Studios blog. Yes, the one you’re looking at right now. Somewhat anti-climatic, we know, but what were you expecting? We’re working as hard as we can; long days, longer nights, barely any sleep – hell, they rarely feed the monkeys here. (pssst, guys: if you have any poo, fling it now!)

Well anyway, enjoy your peep now while you still have us all to yourself. Just don’t taunt us. The cage isn’t that strong.