Thanks so much to Mari Smith for interviewing me for a teleseminar for the International Social Media Club Association. Because lots of people out there want to know about LinkedIn, I offered to answer the questions that came up in the forum. Today I’m sharing them with you, too. Special thanks goes out to Lyn-Dee Eldridge for being so great to work with in setting up the teleseminar. Here’s a picture of me, Mari Smith and Artist Tara Reed at …

MarketingSherpa’s chart of the week shows that social media’s share of the online budget is now at 11%.

According to MarketingSherpa’s Social Media Marketing Benchmark Survey, here’s how the budgets break out:
27% Website
21% Pay Per Click [PPC]
19% Email
11% Social Media
10% Search Engine Optimization [SEO]
6% Online Display Ads
6% Other Online Marketing

Based on other trends indicated in this report, social media’s share will continue to increase in the year ahead.

Questions that always come up in my presentations: Where does …

Three out of four marketing and PR workshops for IAPD IPRA went well: lots of space, time and room for conversation. When I saw the room for my Social Media Sampler presentation, I got a bit concerned. Fifteen minutes before I was set to start, it was already almost full. When the crowd started spilling out of the room, I offered to record my presentation for playback.

While the audience here is parks and recreations agencies, much of the information …

Today’s guest post comes from Ernest Nicastro, a direct marketing consultant, copywriter and lead-generation specialist who heads up Positive Response, an award-winning marketing firm based in Dublin, Ohio. We’re members of the same mastermind group. When I asked if anyone wanted to be a guest author, I was delighted to hear Ernest say “Yes!”

Lincoln, Mark Twain & Lightning: Choice Words On Word Choice
“Eighty-seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation….”
The Gettysburg Address

Chances are your …

I’ve been searching
So long
To find an answer
Now I know my life has meaning

Chicago

What if your search engine asked: Did you find every thing that you were looking for?
Of course, there’s no need to do that.

Why? We’re in constant search mode. Do you agree?

With 29 million searches – per minute in 2009, it’s no wonder the global search market grew by 46%. The annual total? 131 billion searches according to Comscore’s latest search report.

Where are you in your …

Want to know how marketers really feel about social media?

Check out these statistics from Alterian’s seventh annual social media marketing survey.

- 70% work with 3 or more suppliers to accommodate marketing services such as digital
marketing, database marketing, data hygiene, creative & brand, strategy, web analytics etc.
- 23% work with a “staggering” 7 or more suppliers
- 66% will invest in social media marketing, known as SMM
- 40% will shift more than 20% of their traditional marketing to SMM
- …

So, where is all this digital stuff going?

Edelman’s Digital team gives us a preview of their opinion of what’s to come in their recently released white paper, Digital Visions: Ten Ideas for the New Decade.

The bigger opportunity for clients, we believe, is to identify the global societal and technological trends that are reshaping how we think, act and buy – and to pivot into them early. Trends today tend to develop more slowly and are harder to see, …

Next week, I’m honored to present four programs at the IAPD/IPRA [Illinois Association of Park Districts - Illinois Park and Recreation Association conference]. Thanks so much to Jessica Alexenko of the Lisle Park District for booking me to speak at two workshops and two breakout sessions. We started talking about the conference almost a year ago and just last week I met several people at two different events who told me how much fun I would have at the …

On the way to a client meeting this morning, I tweeted this update:
wiredprworks: Happy Monday! doing a twitter demo this morning – best tips or hellos welcome

Thanks to everyone who responded on twitter.
Your turn: what’s your favorite top twitter tip?

* bradshorr: @wiredprworks Tip – HootSuite is a great Twitter client. Good luck with your demo, Barbara!

* windycitysocial: @wiredprworks hey class! Here’s my tip: …