Jon Samsel

Brands are invisible if their products and services and not getting found online. In today’s competitive world, being heard is a marketing imperative. And brands who tell the best stories are often the winners because they connect on a visceral level with their customers.

In the this 26 page PPT deck, you will learn how to make your brand visible and remain relevant in the age of the weird, wild web.

Did you know there are stunning similarities between beekeeping and branding? This 41 page PPT presentation utilizes bees as a metaphor for how web surfers (and brands) sometimes need assistance navigating to-and-from the social hive of life.

As the old saying goes — no bees, no honey, no work, no money!

The Heardable name speaks to the underlying human desire of wanting our voices heard. Most of us crave to make a difference; we want our opinions to have an audience; we want people to admire us. But that can only happen if we are found, visible, heard. Brands should be heardable too.

In this PPT presentation, you will see what it is to be a ‘heardable brand’ by taking you through 26 pages of with images of Heardable’s own brand. http://heardable.com

Here is a tasty selection of recent blog posts published on Heardable.com that talk about online marketing, brand optimization, and why it matters.

1.  Successful Brands Are About People
2.  Seven Amazing Videos Showcasing Creativity
3.  10 Odd Examples of Brand Hijacking on Flickr
4.  The 100 Most Effective Advertising Agency Brands Online
5.  Teaching Old School Management A Few New Web Tricks
6.  Will It Brand? That Is The Question
7.  Google Places: 10 Big Brand Benefits In Under 5 Minutes
8.  Nationwide Wins the Great Life Insurance Brand Shootout
9.  Brand Disloyalty Card: A Trustworthy Mug of Marketing
10. Top 20 Most Effective Banking Brands Online
11. How to Rank Your Online Brand Over Your Competition
12. This Is An Anthem For The Brands That Got Away
13. Amplify Your Brand With An Engagement Grid
14. 92 Most Effective Social Bookmarking Brands
15. Consistency: The Secret Sauce of Highly Trusted, Visible Brands
16. Hospitality, Branding and BitterWaitress.com
17. Transmedia Development: 132 Page PPT from Gulltaggen
18. Nordstrom: It’s the Experience, Stupid!
19. Brandformers: Marketing Forum 2010 (29 Page PPT)
20. Where the Brand of Things Are
21. 10 Benefits of Building Strong Brands

Every once in a lifetime you stumble upon an opportunity that seems too good to be true. About 10 years ago I was tapped by Ford Motor Company to build RoadLoans.com — a start-up venture that I pitched to the executives in Dearborn, MI in hopes they might fund and support it. They did — and RoadLoans ended up growing into a wonderful Web 1.0 business that changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of car buyers across America. I’m proud to think that I played a small part in bringing happiness to so many people. It was a fun and noble cause — and I was part of it!

They say lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same spot but it sure can make the ground shake when it hits close by. Heardable, Inc. is my second occasion to be at the helm of a really cool start-up venture. I am thrilled, yet humbled to accept Heardable’s offer to be their first CEO.

Yesterday, a buddy of mine sent me a link to a Yahoo news story announcing my appointment to Heardable. When I clicked on the link, I have to admit I was excited to see my name in the headline next to Yahoo’s logo. Savor this special moment, I thought to myself, because everything from this point forward will require a lot of hard work with little to no praise. That’s the way the cookie crumbles. It just is.

John Sharp, one of Heardable’s co-founders and captain of DealHorizon.com wrote up a nice piece on me and published it to his blog. It’s kind of surreal to read something about yourself — especially a tribute from someone you’ve known and respected for years. If we were 30 or 40 years into the future this might read like the first few paragraphs of my obituary. Fortunately, it’s only 2010 and I am still here to take it all in and appreciate the moment for what it is. An announcement. A snapshot in time. A citation. A release for the press. A bulletin to friends. The beginning of a new business partnership.The next chapter in my life.

How the Heardable story will unfold in uncertain. The characters, settings, conflict and events still must be flushed out. Plot lines will play out in months or years. How the tale ends is sure to be a nail biter. But I am fairly confident that what will unfold will be a story worth telling.

THE BUSINESS OF WRITING SMARTER

1-Day or 2-Day Power Writing Seminar

Instructor: Jon Samsel

Who this course is intended for: Companies looking to train their marketing/communication staff on the importance of writing and the skills required to help a brand become successful online. Website writing best practices, search engine optimization (SEO), and storytelling are emphasized. Ideal for novice to intermediate level-staff looking to quickly boost their proficiency. No prior programming skills needed.

Inquiries: 310-402-2890 or email jsamsel@gmail.com

IMPORTANCE OF WRITING

Famed management consultant, Peter Drucker, said, “As soon as you take one step up the career ladder your effectiveness depends on your ability to communicate your thoughts in writing.” In other words, if you want to be noticed within or outside your organization, you have to be able to express yourself-clearly and concisely.

The same can be said when you are an employee representing a company online, whether that’s on a corporate website, press release, training module, marketing campaign, social media site or email. Your writing is a critical extension of your company’s brand — so it’s important that business leaders invest in assisting their employees become the best ambassadors of communication possible.

• Your writing creates an image
• Text is the universal language of the web
• Being readable and findable is critical
• Great writing attracts customers

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN FROM THIS COURSE

The purpose of the training course is to help you become a better web writer, whether you are writing for humans or for search engines. You will increase your knowledge of today’s effective writing techniques, better understand the emotional mechanics of storytelling, and learn how to apply winning search engine marketing best practices.

• How to make your website more relevant
• What must be done to get good search engine rankings
• Best ways to submit, subscribe & syndicate to be found
• Why stories matter and how best to exploit them
• Customers who interact are more likely to transact
• The difference between branding and direct response content
• How extending text & tags to multiple media to amplify your reach
• How usability testing can be used to validate your choices
• How to monitor and track your success over time

COURSE REVIEW

Web Writing

• Writing for humans
• Text elements of a high-impact website
• Designing content structure
• Tailoring your writing to different audiences and needs
• Editing & testing text for clarity, concision & response
• Writing to sell: persuasion & direct response
• Social media writing & representing the brand voice
• Syndication: The power of web distribution
• Measuring success with text tools

SEO

• Writing for engines & bots
• SEO basics
• Business planning & goal setting
• Keyword selection, relevancy, and density
• Competitive assessment
• Code: titles, meta tags, URLs & site maps
• Copy writing
• Offsite SEO & social search
• Measuring success with SEO tools

Storytelling

• Writing for emotional engagement
• Integrated marketing: The holy grail of marketers
• The new PR: Participation not propaganda
• Advertelling: Successful brands are about people
• Word of mouth matters when the experience is the brand
• Ratings, testimonials and user generated content
• Educational training, kiosks and demos
• Narrative stories & branded entertainment

FORMAT

One-day or tow-day tutorial encompassing lectures, live demos and exercises. Real-world examples are used to highlight points throughout the day. Copies of the presentation slides and exercises with be provided to all attendees.

INSTRUCTOR BIO

Jon Samsel is a published author, speaker, instructor, consultant and thought leader in the areas of branding, online marketing and writing. He has worked as an online marketing executive at Fortune 100 companies such as Bank of America, Ford and Countrywide where he was responsible for a broad range of marketing activities such as paid and organic search marketing, display advertising, DRTV, social media engagement, mobile marketing, and multivariate testing, including the task of coordinating teams of designers, programmers, copywriters and others involved.

His book, ‘Dead Ahead: The Web Dilemma and the New Rules of Business,’ co-authored with Laurie Windham and published back in 1999, predicted many of the changes the Internet has had on businesses and organizational processes. Jon’s book, ‘Writing for Interactive Media,’ first published in 1995, has been utilized as a textbook in over 40 colleges and universities throughout the US and Canada. He wrote and produced, ‘The Killer Content Workbook,’ for Apple, Inc., one of the first interactive PDF’s ever created to incorporate text, audio, video, embedded forms and interactive user response.

Jon is an adjunct writing instructor at UCLA and UC Irvine where he has taught courses in multimedia, fiction and non-fiction writing. Jon has co-authored four published books, edited 12 books/directories, and is a published poet and Hollywood screenwriter. Jon is an online marketing/writing consultant and a regular seminar speaker for Richmond Events.

COMPLIMENTARY VALUE ADDS

Free 1-Year Premium Subscription to Heardable.com

Heardable is the world’s first and only online brand optimization platform. All workshop attendees will receive a 1-year premium subscription to Heardable.com (a $2,999 value) redeemable via a special promotional code provided at the end of the class.

Free copy of writing for interactive media

All workshop attendees will receive a free copy of Jon Samsel and Darryl Wimberley’s book, ‘Writing for Interactive Media.’

PRICING

Custom class configurations and pricing available upon request.

TESTIMONIALS

‘Jon has an amazing understanding of consumer insights and behavior as they relate to online usability– skills that bring immediate value to strategic consulting projects. Understanding, and leveraging the technology through best practices and innovation are critical success factors, and Jon is clearly one of the best in his field. –Christophe Bertrand, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Hitachi Data Systems

‘Jon’s vision and in-depth knowledge of both the business and creative aspects of new media production is truly remarkable. This is a man truly “gets it” and empowers those around him to do their best work. Bottom line – Jon is a rare commodity, a visionary in the area of online direct response marketing and a creative powerhouse.’  –David Greene, Owner of Creative-Spark

JON SAMSEL
Digital Brand Strategist, Author & Web Consultant
310-402-2890
jsamsel@gmail.com
jon.samsel @ skype
jonsamsel.com - blog
linkedin.com/in/jonsamsel @ linkedIn
twitter.com/jonsamsel @ twitter

Jon Samsel had the good fortune of presenting to a group of esteemed marketing executives and creative agency representatives at the recent Marketing Forum 2010 which took place at the Doral Resort in Miami, Florida on April 25-27. The event was sponsored by Richmond Events and our presentation was entitled, “Brandformers: Integrated Brand Marketing Strategies Based on Consumer Engagement.”

Jon’s 29-page PowerPoint deck can be viewed below.

At the event, Jon shared the stage with several speaking luminaries, including:

Scott Bedbury of Brandstream, Inc., former worldwide advertising director for Nike and also the former CMO of Starbucks. Scott is the author of A New Brand World.

Jeffrey Hayzlett, the CMO of Eastman Kodak Company, and author of The Mirror Test.

Brands who are not active participants in social conversations are doing a disservice to their shareholders, to their customers, staff and to their brands. Branding is no longer something you can control like a carefully-timed press release or multimillion dollar television commercial. Brands are about people. And people want to be heard.

The law of reciprocity says that those who give are likely to receive in turn — and often in exponentially greater proportions — since the act of giving is considered to be a noble, forthright and trusted action that people notice, talk about and reward.

Shakti Gawain write about this paradox in his book, Creating True Prosperity, when he says, “Receiving and giving are opposite energies that are inextricably linked together in the natural flow of life, like inhaling and exhaling. If one aspect of that cycle doesn’t function, the entire cycle ceases to function and the life force cannot move freely.  If you can’t inhale, you will soon have nothing to exhale, and before long, your body will be unable to continue living.”

Here are nine ‘elements of brand amplification’ that if practiced by your brand, you will be better positioned to satisfy your customers, create positive work-of-mouth, and even generate higher sales.

TRY: Is your brand willing to try something new and daring or are you more of a fast follower? When you try new things, the people who follow your brand are more likely to perceive you as a trailblazer and thought leader. When you allow your constituents to try before they buy, or when you try new ways of working with them (before they demand it), it can foster trust.

FIND: Make it easier for folks to find your brand in search engine, find content within your website, find answers to questions about your products and services. Surprisingly, most brands remain invisible to the people most-likely to look for them.

CARE: Do you feature your customers as case studies in brand best-practices? Are you a brand that gives back to your community through charitable giving? Do you answer the phone promptly or respond to email inquired in a personal, human tone?

PLAY: Do you allow people to play with your products in your retail outlets? Do you provide rich and engaging online experiences — which can help solve complex problems and become essential extensions of your brand? Do you let customers interact so they are more likely to transact? If your brand is playful, fun and engaging then I am more likely to tell 10 friends about it. What’s that free marketing worth to you?

LISTEN: Does your brand respond when someone posts a negative comment about your brand on twitter? Do you regularly reach out to your constituents via surveys or do you provide online feedback buttons to gauge satisfaction levels so you can respond with answers/solutions?

HELP: Online chat, easy-to-find phone numbers and mailing addresses on your website, on-site search tools, how-to podcasts, free consultations, video tutorials. These are just a few of the simple ways forward-thinking brands reach out and engage their customers — answering questions they might have in multiple formats that are tailor-made for various situations.

SHOW: Does your brand take time to showcase it website features via insightful screencasts? Do you post presentations or instruction manuals on edocr.com, SideShare.net, Flickr.com, or DoxTop.com? Why wouldn’t you want to make it as easy as possible for folks to do business with you?

SHARE: Does your brand use RSS feeds and API feeds that allow users to connect with your content and brand remotely? Are you willing to share insights and information that may not be 100% tied into your business plan? Transparency = trust!

GIVE: Give customers more of your brand and you, in turn, will receive much in return. Don’t believe us? Look what happened to Starbucks when they gave coffee lovers a ‘third space’ to call their own. See how Kodak reinvented their company focus and rejuvenated their brand by celebrating the joy of photography in ever single marketing program they launched.

Brands not willing to give won’t receive for very long. Said another way, companies are more likely to fail if they are unwilling or unable to listen and provide what their customers demand. In today’s web-focused world, consumers and business constituents are making simple, yet meaningful, demands.

So amplify your brand today. Give, so that you can receive.

It’s that time of year again when we American’s reflect on our past and make optimistic (if not unrealistic)  goals for our future. 2009 was full of new-found interests, change, as well as ups and downs. The frequency of my Twitter posts surpassed my blog posts. I used LinkedIn in bold new ways to enhance my professional network–which led to many unexpected and engaging experiences such as speaking engagements, reconnecting with many old friends, interesting business propositions, a Twitterview with a European blogger, inquiries from executive recruiters, participation with charity organizations, and connecting like-minded people together.

In reviewing my year-end Google Analytics reports for JonSamsel.com, I was surprised to see which of my blog posts rose to the top of my ‘page view top 10 list.’ I share with you my top ten posts for 2009 in order of popularity.

1. 5 Ways to Take Advantage of a LinkedIn BETA Tool: Company Profiles - I had no idea when I published this post that it would be my most popular post (by far) for 2009. I think it was simply the right post at the right time, helping people figure out how to use LinkedIn in a new way. Nearly everyone I know uses LinkedIn and I love the service. So I guess when you write about a subject you are passionate about, it comes out in the final piece and people pick up on that vibe.
2. 7 Ways to Leverage LinkedIn to Expand Your Social Network -Similar in scope and tone as my number one post for 2009, this post zeroed in on the social networking capabilities of LinkedIn.
3. The Best Social Media Monitoring Tools Used by Today’s Top Creative Agencies & Brands - I had fun writing this post because it was my chance to share some of the tool I use on a daily basis with all of my readers. They responded by reading this post in droves. The other aspect about this post that I love is how it profiles several new start-up firms. It’s always nice to be able to talk about small companies before they hit it big.
4. The Twitter Effect: How 140 Character Micro-Blogging Can BeneTweet Your Company - I write this post just as I was getting up to speed on how companies could benefit from using Twitter. Obviously, many of my readers found value in the the article as well. Note to readers: I have seen the word ‘BeneTweet’ used several times since my original post, a combination of the words Benefit and Tweet. Nice to know it’s still possible to coin a term now and then. Note to self: Not 100% sure I was the first person to use the term BeneTweet, but at the time, I did think I was being somewhat unique.
5. 15 Ways to Promote Your Book -When I first started my blog back in Oct 2008, I focused more on writing and design topics than I do today, since so much of my early career was spent working as a writer and editor. I am always happy when I can assist other writers publish and promote their work. This article was my way of providing some helpful utility to scribes everywhere.
6. Retweet: Harnessing the Word of Mouth Marketing Power of Twitter - Another post about a Twitter topic, when I was fast discovering the in’s and out’s of the platform. So much has changed since then — it feels like this article is very dated even though it’s only 10 month’s old!
7. 10 Step Process for Designing a Landing Page that Delivers Results - This is another post I enjoyed sharing with my readers. Landing page optimization is such a special skill set that very few marketers have mastered, yet it’s a critical component for any online marketing campaign looking to achieve ROI success.
8. Hope Springs Eternal: An Interview with Amy Neumann - In 2009 I had the pleasure of interviewing Amy Neumann, a member of the Capital Campaign Committee for Hope Gardens, a charitable ministry of Union Rescue Mission. It was an uplifting piece, a bit out of the ordinary for my blog, but I was determined to help Union Rescue Mission in some way. I can recall telling Amy about the possible benefits of using Twitter — and recently I saw Amy had amassed a following of over 11,000! Go, Amy, go!
9. Social is the New Search - One of my favorite blog posts of 2009 made it into the illustrious top 10 list. I wrote the post after seeing first hand the impact that social media conversations were having on the SEO efforts of major brands. Unfortunately, most brands still don’t seem to have headed the message. But there is always 2010 for a time of awakening!
10. 30 Ad Agencies Ranked By Heardable Score - I really enjoyed creating this post as well. I had been turned on to a new start-up called Heardable a few weeks prior and I really wanted to put their brand scoring tool to the test. What amazed me was how poorly the top creative firms were doing in the area of online marketing. They were preaching to others but failed to practice what they advocated. The stats in the article were shocking — and I received several alarming emails from concerned agency staff who tried to refute the article. I stick by my every word.

I was reading a sarcastic (and slightly sad) blog post today about a gal who lost the entire contents of her blog after a catastrophic server failure happened while she was ‘upgrading’ her blog to a more ‘robust’ and costly ISP solution.

While reading, I had to cringe because I really feel her pain. Something similar happened to me once when I lost 90% of my blog content when some lowly server administrator inadvertently deleted the content on a remote hosted server because he thought that shiny piece of hardware wasn’t being used.

Needless to say, upon hearing the news, I was devastated!

Thankfully, I had set up an RSS feed to my own blog via Google Reader, so I had an electronic copy of all my entire site content (plus all my images) for every blog post I had published over the prior 18 months. Yes sir, there is a God.

With a little technical assistance, I was able to export all my blog posts and import them back into Wordpress as soon as my new server (on a different ISP) was up and running. All I had to do was go in and reassign dates for each post, plus add back deleted hyperlinks. A pain, no doubt, but something I was more than happy to do considering the circumstances.

Who knew Google Reader and RSS feeds were every blogger’s secret backup weapon? I didn’t. So now I pass this nugget of knowledge on to you, my young padawons (Jedi backup apprentices). If you need an inexpensive backup and archiving service for your blog, set up an RSS feed and save it into a reader and you may just thank your lucky stars one day.