Dial Partners — Software Product Management and Marketing

How to optimize the AddThis social bookmarking widget

by Al Sargent on February 21, 2009

Do you have web pages — not blog pages — that you want to encourage visitors to share on social bookmarking sites?

If so, the AddThis widget to be the best choice for non-blog pages. The reason: its menu opens up when the user hovers. No click needed. ShareThis, on the other hand, requires the user to click. Seems like a minor detail, but hovers are about 5x more common than clicks. That means a potentially 500% better view-to-share conversion ratio.

The problem is, AddThis shows a number of bookmarking services that are irrelevant, based on this report, and will only distract users. To keep the user focused and maximize conversions, use the following customization for AddThis. The extra line I added is in red.

<!– AddThis Button BEGIN –>
<script type=”text/javascript”>
var addthis_pub=”your_addthis_userid”;
var addthis_options = ‘email, facebook, myspace, digg, twitter, stumbleupon, more’;
</script>
<a href=”http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=20″
style=”border-bottom-style:none;”
onmouseover=”return addthis_open(this, ”, ‘[URL]‘, ‘[TITLE]‘)”
onmouseout=”addthis_close()”
onclick=”return addthis_sendto()”>
<img src=”http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/lg-share-en.gif”
width=”125″ height=”16″ alt=”Bookmark and Share” style=”border:0″/>
</a>
<script type=”text/javascript”
src=”http://s7.addthis.com/js/200/addthis_widget.js”>
</script>
<!– AddThis Button END –>

This will show only the most relevant services on the main display for the widget: Email, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, Twitter, and StumbleUpon. A More link lets users access other services.

A further customization would be to display logos with better brand recognition — Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. — similar to what Sociable does for WordPress blog posts. AddThis allows this customization. But that is a tutorial for a later date.

What do you think? Do you prefer something other than the AddThis widget? What customizations have you found useful?

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Focus social bookmarking on Email, Facebook, MySpace, and Digg

by Al Sargent on February 20, 2009

Social bookmarking widgets have appeared on many blog posts and other web pages. It’s understandable why: they drive traffic to your site, and they increase inbound links and thus PageRank.

But which social media sites should your social bookmarking widget include?

After all, there are dozens of options for sharing. In fact, Sociable supports over 100 social media sites.

It’s a dilemma for online marketers: present too few choices, and you risk missing a popular bookmarking service. Provide too many, and you will confuse your visitors.

ShareThis just shed a bunch of light on this question with this report. The highlight is this breakdown of social media services by popularity:

ShareThis breakdown of social bookmarking popularity

The most popular social media services are:

Good ol’ email, with a whopping 57% of usage.
Facebook, with 21% share — and the fastest growing service
MySpace, with 5% share but declining
AIM? It has 5% share in the legend but a no show on the pie chart
Digg, with 2% share
StumbleUpon, Twitter and Technorati all have <1% share

This data is surprising. First, where’s LinkedIn? (Perhaps people don’t want to share interesting articles on a site used primarily for professional networking.) Why is Twitter so low in the rankings? (For all Twitter’s press, it’s important to note that its traffic is still well below that of Facebook.) And MySpace is hanging in there quite well.

So, when you set up your social bookmarking widget, focus on the most popular services: Email, Facebook, MySpace, (maybe) AIM, Digg, StumbleUpon, Twitter, and Technorati. Of course, this breakdown won’t work for all types of visitors. For instance, technical audiences would probably want to post to Slashdot and Reddit.

What do you think? Is the ShareThis data valid in your opinion? Do you track which bookmarking services your visitors use?

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A simple Robots.txt file for Wordpress

by Al Sargent on February 19, 2009

I like to practice what I call Lazy SEO. I am “lazy” in that I like to get my blog SEO configuration done quickly so that I can return to what matters: actually writing. I bet others that read this have a similar outlook.

With that in mind, here’s a robots.txt file that I just put together for one of my clients. It’s not the most sophisticated robots.txt out there, but it seems to get the job done for a business that’s has modest SEO needs: ensure that Google’s search results do not contain any irrelevant pages, such as admin pages.

I put this together based on what I learned recently using Google Webmaster Tools and Ask Apache. It assumes a self-hosted Wordpress instance with the Google XML sitemaps plugin installed. Hope you find it useful. Here goes…

User-Agent: *
# don’t search for files in these directories
Disallow: /_*
Disallow: /cgi-bin/
Disallow: /wp-admin/
Disallow: /wp-includes/
Disallow: /wp-content/backup*
Disallow: /wp-content/themes/
Disallow: /wp-login.php
Disallow: */trackback/
# For Google XML sitemaps
Sitemap: http://example.com/sitemap.xml.gz

As you can see, this is pretty simple. For instance, it intentionally leaves out specific entries for different kinds of bots (Google image, Adsense, Adwords, etc.) since we don’t see those bots as critical to the needs of my client’s (simple) business.

So what do you think of this approach — good enough or woefully lacking?

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Use Twitter and Tweetchat for your next webinar

by Al Sargent on February 13, 2009

I just finished watching a webinar from Hubspot, unlike any I’ve watched before. Here’s why:

All too often, typical webinars drone on and are pretty boring. My typical experience is to listen while perusing blogs or cleaning out my inbox. As a result, listener engagement is very low. I’ve conducted webinars with 500 attendees and got maybe 12 comments — just 2% audience participation.

This webinar was different. At the start, the moderator told everyone to follow #hubspot on Twitter. What happened was amazing: a firehose of realtime commentary on the webinar. Literally hundreds of comments. Which made it much more engaging and useful. I stayed tuned in to the content, and hundreds of others apparently did as well. We’ll probably remember this webinar far longer than others. And that makes it a more effective event.

As a bonus, this firehose of tweets drove #hubspot to be featured on the home page of Twitter Search, as one of the top four trending topics. This was free advertising that lead to even more webinar participation.

So, next time you do a webinar, start off by picking a unique keyword to follow on Twitter (e.g., #yourcompany). Then show a quick demo on how to use Tweetchat to let the audience follow in real time. Only after that demo should you dive into your actual presentation. You’ll get more attendees, higher audience engagement, longer recall, and a slew of good questions to make for compelling Q&A.

Why do I like Tweetchat for webinar audience participation? It automatically inserts the keyword into every post. Unlike Twitter Search, it updates automatically, AJAX-style. It’s better than Tweetdeck (my default Twitter client) since there’s nothing to download.

Have you participated in a webinar that had Twitter audience participation? How well did it work?

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Marketers must think like Publishers

by Al Sargent on January 31, 2009

… that’s the guidance from this interview on demand generation:

We’ve been recommending for a while now that marketers think like publishers when it comes to their marketing content. Too often, marketers create new educational content based on internal triggers, such as a new product launch or the adoption of a new marketing strategy. Instead, think like a publisher, who wants to keep their readers (in this case, prospects) engaged on a regular basis with content that’s tailored to their needs and interests. That means keeping close tabs on industry trends and customer and prospect concerns, and creating relevant content that addresses those trends and concerns in a timely manner.

By doing this kind of lead nurturing, marketers enable their companies to become better-trusted advisors in the eyes of their prospects. Eventually, when those prospects have a compelling event that cause them to enter the sales cycle, they’re more likely to buy from the company that they’re familiar with.

I love this idea. It’s very sticky (as defined by this book, which I’m currently reading) in that it’s simple, unexpected, concrete, and credible. Simple because it’s easy to state. Unexpected because, let’s face it, how many of us enterprise marketing folks every thought of ourselves as being in the publishing business? Concrete, because it leads to some clear follow-up actions: blog editorial themes and calendars; rules of engagement for responding to others’ tweets, blog posts, and forum comments; and so on. Credible, because it makes sense: recommendations from a trusted source count much more than an unfamiliar one.

What do you think of this approach to demand generation?

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Product management tools & techniques for 2009

by Al Sargent on January 30, 2009

Product Management tools and techniques are continually evolving. Here are some that I’ve found to be especially useful recently:

Agile Product Management requires that you setup up a backlog to track storycards. While there are more expensive solutions out there, Google Spreadsheets are a surprisingly good way to get started with backlog management. It’s easily viewable by an entire team, and can be edited simultaneously by team members. You probably will outgrow your spreadsheet after it gets to 100-200 storycards and will want to move to something more sophisticated, but for getting started, Google Spreadsheets is hard to beat.

Do “live” note taking during customer calls with Campfire. Other participants on the call, developers and other team members can see notes as they are written, and can write in their own follow-up questions in real time. Plus it’s all searchable for later. I’ve seen development teams that live in Campfire, so putting the notes straight into there means that the customer feedback actually reaches the engineers it’s intended to influence.

You can also use Campfire to enable team members to communicate what they’ve done and what they’re working on. This practice goes a long way towards eliminating the “status updates” part of staff meetings, which are generally not all that productive. Yammer’s another good tool for this purpose, if you are not already using Campfire.

Beta customer recruitment is very much a numbers game, a sales process conducted by the product manager. My rule of thumb, based on experience, is that you need about 30 beta program leads for every one active beta user that provides meaningful feedback. Since even a small beta will want at least several active beta users, there’s a significant lead management issue. To address this, use Highrise for managing beta customer recruitment, if you don’t have access to your company’s CRM system or are not allowed to use it for beta programs. Highrise has a free option which is great for getting started.

I know, I’m started to sound like a shill for 37Signals… on to other tools!

Use Google Video Chat to talk with remote developers. Most communication is nonverbal and you get more of this form of communication conveyed with video chat than with a phone call. Unlike the phone, you never have to worry about reaching out to a developer late at night if they’re online. I found it much easier to get Google video chat working than Skype video and iChat video.

Make it a point to connect with all your active customers over IM. When developers come to you with urgent questions that require customer input, you’ll be able to ping several available customers over IM to make an informed decision. For this reason, IM is a huge enabler of Agile Product Management. It’s also great when scheduling meetings and dealing with conference call logistics. Adium (Mac) and Pidgin (Windows) work across all the major IM networks.

Use Google Alerts, Friendfeed, and Twitter Search to stay on top of your market, find beta program prospects, get feedback on your product, and keep up with competitors, standards and events. Get the corresponding RSS or Atom feeds for each search into Google Reader — not necessarily to read every last post — but so you have large, searchable database of what’s happening in your market.

Before meeting with a customer, do your homework on them: what they care about, what challenges they face, and so on. A number of sites let you do this. Currently lesser-known resources for doing this this include Pipl and Twitter. Better known sites include Google Blog Search, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

If your company doesn’t provide you with conference calling and web conferencing, or if you just want to save some money, use DimDim and Free Conference Call. These services are both free and work great.

What do you think? What product management techniques and tools are you planning to use this year?

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Analysis of Barack Obama’s inauguration speech

by Al Sargent on January 29, 2009

Below is a very insightful analysis of Barack Obama’s inauguration speech, from the folks at PowerSpeaking. (Normally I’d simply link to an appropriate blog post, but since PowerSpeaking doesn’t have one, I’m reproducing the content below.)

PowerSpeaking is a firm that conducts clinics on how to enable business people to present more effectively. I’ve attended their “Speaking to the Big Dogs” program in the past, and I highly recommend their service.

With the swearing in of Barack Obama, Tuesday January 20th was a historic day. Here at PowerSpeaking, Inc., we eagerly watched our new President’s inauguration speech. What about you? What were your thoughts as you watched our 44th President address the nation (and the world)? Did it have the impact that you expected it to have?

The reviews have been mixed. New Republic writer John B. Judis called Obama’s speech “unusually abstract” and “a disappointing hodgepodge”. While historian Michael Roth declared the speech “brilliant, deeply felt” and containing “echoes of the great speeches of the past”.

This e-tip is our brief analysis of his speech. As you read it, think about how you can incorporate some of these ideas in your business talks.Here are some strategies that we think worked:

Imagery: The President used imagery six times in his nineteen-minute talk. “… gathering clouds and raging storms”. “…extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.” “… brave the icy currents, and endure what storms may come.”

Series of Three: He organized some thoughts in a series of three at least ten times. “… humbled by, … grateful for…, and mindful of…” “Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered.” “… we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

Repetition of Words / Phrases: Three times he used repetition. “For us, they packed up their worldly possessions… For us, they toiled in sweatshops…” For us, they fought and died…” “This is the price… This is the source… This is the meaning…” “… all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance…” Use of

Pronouns: Obama’s extraordinary use of inclusive pronouns engages and inspires. Obama used the pronoun “I” twice in the speech. In contrast, he used the pronouns “we”, “our” and “us” 142 times.

Here’s what we believe was missing:

A core message: We conducted an informal survey asking people what they remembered most from the talk and what his main message was. Not one person could repeat a phrase. We’re not alone. CNN analysts Jeffrey Toobin says: “I thought that this was a speech with a lot of ideas but no theme and most importantly, this was a speech without a single memorable phrase.”

As you watch the eloquence of our new President, pay attention to the strategies he uses in his speeches. Imagery, organized thoughts, repetition and inclusive language can all increase the chance your business audience will remember your talks. And don’t forget to have a core message that you repeat three times! Let ‘er Rip!

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Prediction: the US will end in 2010

by Al Sargent on December 31, 2008

No, that’s not my prediction. And yes, this post is relevant for product marketing types: it illustrates how an idea languished in obscurity for years, only to hitting a tipping point that suddenly thrust it into the limelight.

The Wall Street Journal recently published a prediction by Russian professor Igor Panarin made a prediction that the US will end by June or July of 2010. The primary driver is crushing debt levels. Scary, no doubt, given the current economic environment and recent financial news.

However, a key part of the story wasn’t mentioned by the WSJ: when Professor Panarin made his prediction in 1998, US debt levels were declining not rising. (Ah, the good old days…) The very mechanism that drove Panarin’s forecast was on the wane. This makes me wonder about the validity of his forecast – what kinds of assumptions about US debt growth could he have built into his model about debt levels when the current empirical data showed that debt was shrinking?

To be sure, our current debt levels are at high levels which make Professor Panarin look prescient. We’ve got to reduce our debt over the coming years and decades. Here’s hoping that the new year brings a new plan to do exactly that.

What’s interesting about this story from my marketing perspective is how widely it spread, After all, this is a decade-old prediction that received no US press when it was first published, was only published in Russian, and is built on questionable assumptions.

Until recently, the idea met some of the criteria for “stickiness” as as defined in Ideas that Stick: It is simple and concerete: US splits into several countries. It’s unexpected, to say the least, to hear someone claim that a country like America could simply unravel. It’s emotional, obviously, for anyone to see their country disintegrate.

But why is this idea spreading only now, after a decade? Because only now has the idea become credible — the final stickiness criterion — as the current financial crisis developed and the US government bailed out banks and car companies. When the idea met four out of five stickiness criteria: obscurity. When it met five out of five: bam! — one of the most popular stories on the WSJ. It hit the tipping point.

So the key point for marketing, and product positioning, is this: meeting four out of five stickiness criteria ain’t enough. For a message to succeed, it must meet all the stickiness criteria.

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How to make PowerPoint presentations look good in SlideShare and DimDim

by Al Sargent on October 28, 2008

Lately I’ve been working a lot with SlideShare and DimDim to show PowerPoint presentations to customers and prospects. I try avoid “death by bulletpoint“, and instead incorporate a lot of diagrams into my slides in order to complement my speaking points. Unfortunately, a lot what looks great in PowerPoint 2007 (Windows) and 2008 (Mac) look awful in SlideShare and DimDim.

So, here is a checklist of things to avoid so that your slides look fine whether they are rendered in PowerPoint, SlideShare, or DimDim:

Don’t use slick color gradations that PowerPoint 2008 uses by default. Use basic, solid colors.
Don’t use shadows on objects.
Don’t depend on builds within a single slide. Instead, use multiple slides to create a build. Tedious but worth it for complex diagrams.

What else can you think of?

Hopefully someday these kinds of issues will be taken care of as SlideShare and DimDim mature. And, one would hope that, as Microsoft creates more online offerings around Office, they will provide a way to faithfully render PowerPoint slides online.

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Four essential online marketing resources

by Al Sargent on October 26, 2008

Today, I shared the links below with a friend who’s starting a business. In the spirit of helpfulness, I’m republishing them below.

Granted, these won’t be new to anyone reads the major social marketing / Web 2.0 blogs out there. Nonetheless, these are solid resources for online marketing that might not be known to mainstream business folks.

Presentation design: http://www.presentationzen.com/
Inspirational presentations often have minimal words and great pictures. Here’s where to find the latter: http://flickr.com/ (tip: sort pictures by “Most Interesting”)
Social marketing is a very capital efficient way to market. This guy’s a master: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/
Screencasts on your web site — of you talking about your service, or better yet, one of your customers talking about it — are very effective. Here’s a very easy way to create them: http://www.jingproject.com/ Then upload to YouTube — lots of traffic there, and thus people who could potentially find your service useful.

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← Previous Entries

Software Product Management and Marketing

How to optimize the AddThis social bookmarking widget

A simple Robots.txt file for Wordpress

Marketers must think like Publishers

Product management tools & techniques for 2009

Analysis of Barack Obama’s inauguration speech

Prediction: the US will end in 2010

How to make PowerPoint presentations look good in SlideShare and DimDim

Four essential online marketing resources

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