Archive for April, 2010

Personalize Your Online Content with Video

23 AprPOSTED BY : admin

Guest Post By Member: Andre Willis

Webinar: Leveraging the Latest Tools for Effectively Creating, Marketing and Distributing Media Content on 4/21/2010

Most of us have likely heard the phrase “content is king” in regard to online marketing.  The April AZIMA webinar featured digital media content creation and distribution tips from Chance Carpenter, Founder of Essential Event Technologies, and Matt O’Brien, Founder of Mint Social. These two have more than 20 years combined experience in digital media production, and demystified online video for us.

Carpenter and O’Brien cautioned that online video isn’t right for every business. Can you provide valuable content to your audience? More importantly, who will deliver your message? Useful content plus a highly-respected and/or dynamic personality is the key to creating memorable, engaging videos. The majority of today’s web traffic (approximately 75%) targets interactive content, not dull, static web pages.

Getting started with online video doesn’t have to be an expensive process. Flip cameras and high-definition camcorders can be purchased for less than $200. Editing software is included free with most computer operating systems. Consider investing in a tripod for better camera stability.  Additional microphones may be necessary, and be aware of your lighting. What good is a video if the audience can’t hear or see the speaker?

Carpenter and O’Brien also provided a rundown of video hosting sites, live-streaming services and web-based collaboration tools.  The options are plentiful, so don’t be afraid to research and test them all. Lastly, it’s important to know when to seek out the services of professionals who can help optimize your video content.

[Check out this webinar now!]

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Arizona Interactive Marketing Association is a nonprofit organization created to help you better understand interactive marketing through education tools, events, and networking.

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Welcome to the 2010 AZIMA Board of Directors

21 AprPOSTED BY : admin

It is my pleasure to introduce to you two brand new members of the AZIMA Board Members, Bill Swartz joins the AZIMA Board of Director’s as the VP of Sponsorship, and Jeff Hecht joins the crew as the new VP of Public Relations. I’d like to wish them well in their new leadership roles. For the purpose of this introduction, I thought I’d ask each of them a few questions intended to provide a bit of an ice breaker.

Meet Bill Swartz, VP of Sponsorship

Elise Redlin-Cook: What and/or who inspired you to seek a seat on the board?

Bill Swartz: I have admired AZIMA right from the start. I love the way the organization has a warm personality and welcoming mood, while still delivering great events with great content! Mike Wolf reached out to me and indicated there might be an opportunity to take a seat on the Board if I was willing to do some heavy lifting by taking the Sponsorship effort to the next level after the great job that has been done to date totally setting that whole piece up. I jumped at the opportunity!

Elise: How long have you been an AZIMA member and/or attending our events?

Bill: I have attended events as regularly as my schedule would allow right from the kickoff forward.

Elise: Which, if any social networks do you care to connect with other AZIMA members on?

Bill: I am a total Facebook addict (www.facebook.com/billswartz), a big LinkedIn user (bill@swartz.com), and a moderate user of twitter (@billswartz).

Elise: MAC or PC? Care to elaborate?

Bill: Mac since the beginning of time. Cause I’m cool like that. Nuff said?  :)

Elise: Are you driven by any passions outside of the interactive industry?

Bill: I’m driven by a passion to give positive energy, encourage personal transformation, and to learn as much as I can about things outside my usual daily experience. I am an avid (daily) hiker of Piestewa Peak (I run the Piestewa Peak Facebook group), and an avid practitioner of yoga (my fave instructor is Alex Austin, At One Yoga).

Meet Jeff Hecht, VP of Marketing & PR

Elise Redlin-Cook: What and/or who inspired you to seek a seat on the board?

Jeff Hecht: My dear friend Becky Seymann got me involved at the registration table at AZIMA events, but the amazing people I have met and the interesting programs have kept me coming back again and again, and wanting to help out however possible.

Elise: How long have you been an AZIMA member and/or attending our events?

Jeff: I’ve been an active attendee since August (the Facebook event) of last year…

Elise: Which, if any social networks do you care to connect with other AZIMA members on?

Jeff: I have kept contact with AZIMA members through Facebook (www.facebook.com/jeffhecht) and Twitter (@jeffhechtaz), and what I consider to be the most important, in real life.  Lunch or happy hours with my AZIMA friends is the best!

Elise: MAC or PC? Care to elaborate?

Jeff: PC, although I may be re-evaluating this soon… :)

Elise: Are you driven by any passions outside of the interactive industry?

Jeff: As a PR practitioner, I am certainly interested in topics relevant to my field of expertise, including crisis communications and message and brand management.  On a personal note, I am a sports fan (Redskins football and Coyotes hockey are at the top of my list), all things 70s and 80s, Howard Stern, and traveling whenever possible.

I would like urge all AZIMA members and supporters to say hello to our new Board of Directors!

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Arizona Interactive Marketing Association is a nonprofit organization created to help you better understand interactive marketing through education tools, events, and networking.

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The Autoresponder is DEAD

15 AprPOSTED BY : admin

Guest Post By: Heather Cooan,  Marketing Campaign Analyst with Direct Alliance Corporation, Heather works alongside Google employees to create and optimize adwords campaigns for small to medium sized businesses.

Yes, folks, the autoresponder is dead! It has been annihilated by the king, relevance. This is just one of the gems I captured from the most recent AZIMA event that took place this past Tuesday April 13, 2010 featuring Clate Mask, CEO and Co-founder of Infusion Software and Consulting.

With the aroma of sizzling fajitas caressing my senses, Clate gave a very clear and intuitive presentation on email marketing 2.0.Clate is convinced that it is time to marry CRM and email marketing together to create the most relevant campaigns possible. Gone are the days of ‘one size fits all’ email blasts to your entire list, the time has come to treat your customers as customers and not as a list of leads.

Successful email campaigns from here on out will involve paying attention and appropriately responding to user behavior with highly targeted and relevant information that aims to improve the user experience. Contributing value, building, and solidifying relationships and rapport with customers is where it’s at.

Segmentation targeting along with automation tools, like the software developed at Infusionsoft, as well as delivery methods that are more then just email make up the new yellow brick road we should be following to increased customer loyalty and ultimately, conversions. Makes sense to me, why haven’t we always done it like this?

This was my second social event with AZIMA. I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation as well as the networking opportunities with this group. There was ample time for discussion after the presentation and I don’t know about you, but I live for the Q&A portion of presentations, this is where the  best information is. Really great, in depth questions were asked like, “How do we do a better job in email marketing when it comes to mobile devices”?

The networking opportunities at AZIMA are explosive! They even supply you with two free drinks to get your networking mojo flowing and make things a bit easier, a huge bonus for people like me who are fairly new to the industry. I managed though. I met an interesting array of people, including people from the cool little start-ups like Sean Coleman, CEO of OrangeSlyce, a job board connecting students and small businesses, all the way up to members of some of the larger agencies. I met students, and professionals in between jobs, I even scored an invitation to Shwaag from CEO Eric Keosky-Smith!

Oh, and did I mention the nacho bar?

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Arizona Interactive Marketing Association is a nonprofit organization created to help you better understand interactive marketing through education tools, events, and networking.

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Get to Know Clate Mask at the Upcoming AZIMA Event

06 AprPOSTED BY : admin

Clate Mask, the keynote speaker of the next AZIMA Social Event scheduled on April 13th, 2010 is the CEO and Co-founder Infusion Software & Consulting. Infusion provides complete CRM solutions to small businesses that want to automate and improve their sales, marketing and overall customer management. Prior to joining Infusion, even a year before finishing business school, Clate worked at a dot com start-up called North Sky, where he was instrumental in building the company, and eventually facilitating the sale of the company to About.com in 1999.

Clate is married and has five children. He enjoys raising his children, loves to play golf (he shot his first hole-in-one on June 14, 2006!), basketball, softball and racquetball – and don’t even get him started about ping pong.

I’ve asked Clate a few questions so that we could all get to know him a little better before we have the pleasure of meeting him on next Tuesday.

Elise Redlin-Cook: Quality content vs. the right content vehicle…which is more important?

Clate Mask: Quality of content… every time.  Having said that, I’m leaning more and more toward the power of video for (quality) content distribution.

Elise Redlin-Cook: What’s the best advice you have for our audience, whether it be your own or was given to you by someone else?

Clate Mask: Stop trying to grow your business without first establishing your core philosophy – why you do what you do, what’s the meaning, what’s the point, why does it matter beyond money.  Until you get that right, you’re grasping at straws.  After you get that right, everything makes more sense.

Elise: Is there such a thing as a “social media expert/guru?”

Clate: Yes.  His name is Joe Manna and he works for Infusionsoft.  ;)

Elise: What was the last book you read or are currently reading?

Clate: Crush It by Gary Vee.  Great book about building your personal brand.

Elise: When you think of a company that is doing “it” right (“it” can be whatever you want “it” to be)…which one comes to mind?

Clate: Zappos.  Love their culture and the way they’re building the company through superior customer service.

Are you interested in learning more about Clate and his insights on increasing leads and sales? On April 13th, 2010 at Tempe Mission Palms, Clate will speak on “Email Marketing 2.0- How to Increase Leads and Sales” at our Monthly Social Event. We hope to see you all there! Register Now!

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Arizona Interactive Marketing Association is a nonprofit organization created to help you better understand interactive marketing through education tools, events, and networking.

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