Word of Mouth Marketing Ethics for Blogs

I have been posting on my other blog, Advertising-for-Success, about Edelman, a global PR firm that is violating all standards of disclosure, ethics and transparency in advertising.

CoolAdzine for Marketers, Advertising For Success and Texas RV Travel blogs, all written by Eileen Trainor (aka CyberCelt), abide by the Word of Mouth Marketing Ethics for Bloggers listed below:

• I will always be truthful and will never knowingly relay false information. I will never ask someone else to deceive bloggers for me.
• I will fully disclose who I am and who I work for (my identity and affiliations) from the very first encounter when communicating with bloggers or commenting on blogs.
• I will never take action contrary to the boundaries set by bloggers. I will respect all community guidelines regarding posting messages and comments.
• I will never ask bloggers to lie for me.
• I will use extreme care when communicating with minors or blogs intended to be read by minors.
• I will not manipulate advertising or affiliate programs to impact blogger income.
• I will not use automated systems for posting comments or distributing information.
• I understand that compensating bloggers may give the appearance of a conflict of interest, and I will therefore fully disclose any and all compensation or incentives.

You may also view the Disclosure Policy for these same blogs here.

Honesty is not optional and deception is always exposed. Ask Edelman.

Tags: full disclosure, blogging ethics, transparency in advertising, word of mouth (WOM) marketing

VIVmag is new, well-executed digital magazine

VIVmag claims to be the first all-digital magazine that:

delivers reliable, accurate service journalism in fitness, wellness, fashion, beauty, awareness and nutrition. Its audience of savvy women are genuinely committed to leading healthy, balanced lives.

Is it worth $30 for 6 issues? For a limited time, download the first issue (Summer 2006) of VIVmag and make that decision for yourself. I like the idea of digital magazines because it conserves natural resources.

I downloaded the Zinio Reader installer in seconds, installed it in minutes, and the program automatically downloaded the magazine. The Zinio interface is intuitive, with easily recognized icons. The toolbar is pictured below.



Copyright Zinio

The icons left to right: Go to library or read, buy mags, sort, view by title or thumbnail, delete a mag, mail a mag, change options, get help, or search.

When you read a magazine, just some of the icons change and are replaced by these icons pictured below:


Copyright Zinio



The icons left to right: page backwards and forwards, zoom in or out, view the table of contents, annotate a page, print, or send a free copy to your friends.

VIVmag is an engaging magazine with recipes, exercise routines, polls, advertisements, celebrity sponsors and editorial content. Interactive content is activated by clicking an icons on the story, ad, poll or picture. The information on each item is displayed in a box on the page, whether it be demonstration of an exercise move, questions on a reader's poll or information about everything a model in an ad is wearing.
While the advertisements for makeup, jewelry, clothes and shoes look great on the screen, their prices gave me sticker shock! If you can afford the clothes, shoes and handbags, then you can afford this magazine.

I would recommend that every interested marketer, woman or man, download this free issue. View the future of print magazines. It is almost, but not quite, like leafing through a magazine at the doctor's office. Except all the recipes are there and the pages are not sticky and germ-ridden. LOL

Note the attention given to the details of the full-page advertisements. The technology is used to sell the item, the brand, the model, the accessories, the makeup artist, the hairstylist, the photographer and the creative personnel involved in the execution of the advertisement. However, it is done in an unintrusive manner, so I think it works. What do you think?

Tags: digital magazine, interactive advertising, VIVmag, Zinio media reader, future of print magazines, free issue of VIVmag

Click & Comment Monday - all day!

Want to play?

Click my renter or a blog on my blog roll. Comment on that blog and then click their renter or someone on their blogroll and comment on that blog. Repeat.

Try to click and comment on at least 5 blogs if you have time. I guarantee you will find some cool blogs and you will increase your readership if you do this every Monday you are able.

Leave a comment here so I know to visit your blog on C&C Mondays, and so that I can add you to the C&C blogroll for CoolAdine for Marketers.

To add your site to the official C&C Monday blogroll, please visit Cat, the wonderful blogger who thought up this great idea.


Tags: Click & Comment, click and comment Monday, visit blogs and leave comments

e-tailing survey of PPC search marketers

A new survey of marketers who have been using pay-per-click (PPP) search engine marketing (SEM) for at least two years was conducted by the e-tailing group.

The survey found that 44 percent of marketing executives allocate 20 percent of their advertising budgets to PPC search ads.

Of the respondents who invest in PPC campaigns:
* 100 percent use Google
* 90 percent use Yahoo!
* 76 percent use MSN
* 27 percent use Ask.com

Forty percent of the respondents reported managing more than 5,000 keywords, with 59 percent managing internally, 18 percent outsourcing the task, and 24 percent using a combination of internal and external solutions.

Tags: pay-per-click, search marketing, e-tailing group

Thanksgiving Prayer

O God, when I have food,
help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work,
help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a home,
help me to remember those who have no home at all;
When I am without pain,
help me to remember those who suffer,
And remembering,
help me to destroy my complacency;
bestir my compassion,
and be concerned enough to help;
By word and deed,
those who cry out for what we take for granted.

Amen

Written by Samuel F. Pugh

Internet 3.0 Evolving Now

According to the New York Times:

From the billions of documents that form the World Wide Web and the links that weave them together, computer scientists and a growing collection of start-up companies are finding new ways to mine human intelligence.

According to Lydia Loizides, VP-Director, Technology & Media Experience Analytics, The Consumer Experience Practice, Interpublic Group:

The promise of Web 3.0 (otherwise known as the semantic Web in some circles) is that there will be a layer of meaning that will evolve over the existing Web and will eventually be able to sustain systems that will be able to reason--just like you and me.

Microsoft, Google or Yahoo may develop the first truly intelligent search engine. Your online behaviors and your saved preferences--as compared with users of similar demographics and behaviors--will enable extremely relevant search results. The search results will be a meld of advertisements, blogs, reviews, photographs, books, film footage, educational content sites, user-generated video, virtual tours, podcasts, moblogs and ... ?

The news is exciting and worrying. As we begin to merge our online activities and preferences into a virtual representation of self, do we want to disclose this same self to analytical dissection, behavioral targeting and search engine marketing--even if the result is finding the information we want in seconds? Think about it.

Tags: Web 3.0, Web3.0, Web your way, semantic web, mine human intelligence, brands and consumer generated content

Marketing Strategies for Holidays 2006

The Monday after Thanksgiving is traditionally the largest online shopping day of the holiday season and is referred to as Cyber Monday.

Coremetrics, a leading provider of web analytics and marketing solutions, predicts the top shopping day, named eDay, will actually come one week after Cyber Monday, on December 4.

After eDay, Coremetrics predicts the next four largest days for online retail sales will be the Monday one week after eDay, the Wednesday after eDay, the Tuesday after eDay and the Tuesday one week after eDay.

Coremetrics lists online marketing recommendations for Holidays 2006:

• During the weeks before and after eDay (December4), launch personalized email campaigns, increase paid search daily budgets and per-click bids and optimize shopping comparison site placements.
  
  
• One week following eDay, communicate a sense of urgency to shop prior to inventory limitations, high shipment costs or inability to deliver on time.
  
  
• Two weeks after eDay, promote the store finder, in-store pick up and in-store promotions to last-minute shoppers, and reduce your paid search daily budgets and click prices back to pre-holiday levels.

Tags: eDay, Cyber Monday, Coremetrics, Holidays 2006, online shopping

Cool Blog : Mystickal Incense & More Blog

The Cool Blog this week is Mystical Incense & More Blog. This is the blog of Stephanie, a really together businesswoman who works from home. She makes wonderful smelling soaps and candles, soothing bath and body products, and is an accomplished designer, and more. She recently started offering hosting packages with WAHM Hosting.

Today is Stephanie's birthday. Please stop by and say Happy Birthday and tell her CyberCelt sent you.

Leave a comment here and a comment on Mystickal Insence & More Blog. Include your Blog Explosion name and you will receive a little present from me.

Ask.com to fuel Lycos search engine results

Ask.com has secured a new deal that will see its organic and paid search results replace those of Google and MSN on the Lycos, the 5th largest search engine in the USA.

Lycos was using Google for its sponsored listings, and MSN and Windows Live service for its organic results.

Ask.com will now provide web search, image search, and zoom search across the Lycos Network. Eventually Lycos will also start using Ask.com's pay-per-click advertising system for its paid results also.

Tags: ask.com, Lycos Search Engine, IMage Search, Zoom Search, Pay Per Click

Click & Comment Monday

Just click a on my Cool Blog, Soapbox Jury,

Comment on that blog and then click their renter or someone on their blogroll and comment on that blog. Repeat. Try to click and comment on at least 5 blogs if you have time. I guarantee you will find some cool blogs and you will increase your readership if you do this every Monday you are able.

Leave a comment here so I know to visit your blog on C&C Mondays, and so that I can add you to the C&C blogroll for CoolAdine for Marketers.

To add your site to the official C&C Monday blogroll, please visit Cat, the wonderful blogger who thought up this great idea.


Tags: Click & Comment, click and comment Monday, visit blogs and leave comments

Blogging Chicks : Holidays Made Easier

Holidays made Easier
November 12, 2006

Holidays are special. They are also stressful. Trying to decide what to buy for your Uncle Bill, Aunt Kate, Grandma, the postman, favorite daycare provider . . . Wondering who is eating where with whom? Is it your time to host Christmas dinner or New Years buffet?

This Carnival of Blogging Chicks presents
gift giving ideas and time saving tips.

Lisa of Lil Duck Duck has a great idea. Let the toddlers make the presents! See the post here.

Susy from Touching Heaven made some decisions early this year. Read her entry here.

Karmyn confesses her one horrible weakness during the Holidays. However, she discovered a simple easy trick to help relieve her problem and she shares it with you at Dreaming What Ifs....

Something that was more difficult for her friends was "Holidays Made Easier" for Pamela in 2005. Read here about an unusual holiday here at The Dust Will Wait.

Barbara of Skittles' Place shares here secrets here.

Maggie from Ramblings of Maggie gives us her tips here.

Anna says: Looking for an inexpensive yet nifty gift giving idea for the holidays? Go homemade.

Gattina from Writers Cramps has a great post on how she deals with stress here.

Everyone loves a good tasting holiday cookies, but who needs the stress of baking during the Holidays? Not Gina from Portrait of a Writer...Interrupted and she's sharing her secrets to holiday cookies without the stress.

Remember Veterans Today and Every Day

Remember . . .


It was the Veteran, not the reporter,
who has given us the freedom of the press.


It was the Veteran, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.


It was the Veteran, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to fair trial.


It was the Veteran, not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to demonstrate.


It is the Veteran, who salutes the flag,
who served under the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who allows the protestor to burn the flag


Written by Father Denis Edward O'Brien, USMC

All Gave Some - Some Gave All

Blogging Chicks Here This Sunday

Blogging Chicks Carnival

Holidays made easier is the topic for Blogging Chicks Carnival this Sunday and will be hosted here on CoolAdzine for Marketers.

Come one, come all... to the Carnival of Blogging Chicks.

Tags: Blogging Chicks, Carnival of Blogging Chicks

List of Internet Enemies Released

Reporters without Borders released the latest list of 13 Internet enemies, countries that harass reporters, limit free speech and jail proponents of freedom.

The good news is that three countries (Nepal, Maldives and Libya) have been removed from the annual list of Internet enemies.

Meanwhile, back in the middle East, Egypt is in the fast lane of repression and has been added to the list of countries that systematically violate online free expression.

China has adopted an Internet model based on censorship and surveillance that may one day be imposed on the rest of the world. China is the most advanced country in the world that uses Internet filtering.

In Cuba, less than 2 per cent of the population is online. You can get five years just for connecting to the Internet illegally.

Egypt, first time on the list, ruled that the authorities could block, suspend of close down any website likely to pose a threat to national security.

In Saudi Arabia, filters clearly inform Internet users that certain websites (pornography, opposition websites, Israeli publications, or sites dealing with homosexuality) are banned.

To see the rest of the list, including North Korea, Iran and Syria, visit Reports Without Borders.

To read more about Internet repression and the struggle of reporters and bloggers to inform, express and educate others, please see Reporters Without Borders Releases Blog Handbook.

For information about methods used to circumvent Internet regulation, please read the Great Firewall of China. Support Reporters Without Borders. The Internet freedom you save may be your own.


Tags: Internet censorship, Reporters Without Borders, Internet enemies

Beginning of 3D Internet or Virtual Spam?

<--- the orange spot is floating virtual billboard

Microsoft's Virtual Earth 3D, a new geographic-search program, was released yesterday. The result of two years of development, Virtual Earth 3D is a fully monetized beta version, incorporating local search function with video game ease of interface and, oh joy, advertising.

Microsoft Virutal Earth 3D is a direct competitor to Google Earth software, of which 100 million free copies have been distributed since its June 2005 introduction.

Microsoft 3-D version of Virtual Earth provides photorealistic images of the 15 targeted cities: San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Detroit, Phoenix, Houston, Baltimore, Atlanta, Denver, and Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.

Do we want a virtual state that is accessible only by Internet Explorer, supported by Microsoft and financed by advertisers? We may end up with some strange, Photoshop-enhanced hybridized world view, slightly altered to enhance the delivery of, and increase opportunities for, advertising?

Shades of The Matrix . . . with a Blue Screen!

Tags: Virtual Earth 3D, Google Earth, local search engine, photorealistic

Cool Blog of the Week: Soapbox Jury

Welcome the Cool Blog of the Week:

Soapbox Jury, a blog of random reviews relevant to you! No nonsense views on different websites, products, services and ideas. The truth is the truth whether whispered or shouted.

This is a brand new blog, written by Tom Jackson, with 335 total visitors and a posted page rank of zero. Please click this link and visit Soapbox Jury. Tag him with memes, comment him to death, submit your site for review, and generally make him feel welcome.

Tom has 5 blogs total. I really like the one on firstaid. He has a background as a medical trainer, so it good information. I think I am going to print it and give it to my friend who just had a baby. You would hate to be without first aid if something happens to the one you love.

Love me, love my renter! NOW CLICK ----------------> Soapbox Jury

Carnival of the Blogging Chicks

Carnival of Blogging Chicks is being hosted by Sting My Heart this week.

No set theme or topic this week, so be ready for a carnival of surprises! Come one, come all... to the Carnival of Blogging Chicks.


Remember: Next week the Carnival of Blogging Chicks will be hosted here at CoolAdzine. The theme wil bel Holidays made easier. Divulge your inexpensive gift giving ideas or real time saving tips. If we share, we will all be blessed and relaxed this holiday.

Please send your submission to Eileen aka CyberCelt here: cybercelt [at] cooladz [dot] com

Tags: Blogging Chicks, Carnival of Blogging Chicks

Disclosure Policy

This Disclosure Policy is valid from 04 November 2006 and covers all blogs written by Eileen Trainor aka CyberCelt:

Advertising for Success blog

CoolAdzine for Marketers blog

Texas RV Travel blog

Losing Proposition blog

Endangered Spaces blog

These blogs may be monetized by advertising, sponsorship and paid insertions. The compensation received may influence the content of these blogs. These blogs are based upon the principle of personal integrity and follow word of mouth marketing (WOM) standards: honesty in relationships, opinions and identity. I will always give my honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or with these products.

Compensatory programs include, but are not limited to, Google AdSense, PayPerPost, Commission Junction and LinkShare.

Tags: disclosure policy, monetized blogs, advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions, word of mouth (WOM) marketing, disclosure policy generator,