Jon Samsel

Heardable.com just published a list of the Top 100 Most Liked Brands on Facebook. The majority of brands with a high number of Facebook likes were musical artists, followed by companies/product brands, actors, sports teams and television shows. The only politician who made the list was Barak Obama.

The huge number of daily mentions of Facebook is impressive — 15,429 mentions per day! How about the daily growth rates for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Christiano Ronaldo, Britney Spears, Red Hot Chili Peppers, McDonalds, Walmart, Burberry, Chelsea FC, History Channel and The Beatles — which are all over 3.0%?

Take a look at the list for yourself.

Okay, I’m sick of hearing all the reasons why there are no videos posted to your website. I almost believed you when you said they were too expense to produce. And you nearly conned me when you claimed your staff lacked the talent needed to produce ‘videos of the highest caliber that met your corporate standards.’ Yes, your unfortunate tale about your inability to grasp the technical steps required to convent your camcorder videos to MPEG so you could upload them to social networks practically brought tears to me eyes.

But now there are more no more excuses thanks to Google/YouTube’s Search Story tool. All you need is to go to the Google/YouTube tool page, type in a few sentences that speak to the basic story you want to tell, then click the finish button and viola — you have your very own, custom video posted to YouTube.

The video not only tells your basic story — but does so by using search as the visual metaphor for how people create stories during each search they have on Google.

Pretty crafty. Google lets you create a video, in minutes and for free, and they get new content for YouTube at no cost to them — complete with free product placement advertising for Google in nearly every shot! Not a bad deal for all parties.

The finished product can be embedded into other websites (like the one I’ve included in this blog post), or published on third party sites such as Facebook.

So what are you waiting for, Mr. I Can’t Produce Video For My Company Cause It’s Too Darn Difficult? Try it for yourself after watching this video that I created for my company, Heardable.com.

I was asked to be the guest speaker at Lynn Isenberg’s class, ‘Transmedia Entertainment and Technology,’ at Loyola Marymount College in Los Angeles on January 27, 2011. This is the outline of my talk on the role of writing in digital entertainment.

Intro

We live in an exciting age where the story and the teller are merging in a garden of forking paths. The audience is no longer a passive but an active participant in the content. New methods of communication and expression are being forged. And more and more it is the writer—the electric scribe of the Digital Age—who is leading the charge.

“I think there have been a lot of writers who over the past two generations have been trying to figure out how to break the confines of a book,” claims writer/designer/director Douglas Gayeton. “A book starts on page one and goes to the end. I think if those people were starting now, they would be doing interactive. Because, interactivity is all based upon the principle of nonlinear thought. And that is the way we think. I could talk to you and never finish a sentence—or finish an idea—because our minds are like that. And I think that’s why people have gravitated toward interactivity. Not because it’s a fad, but because it really captures the dimensionality of thought. That thought is not a linear process, it’s a multi-plane, multidimensional process. And a story that allows you to assimilate and capture the essence of how our thinking processes work is a tremendously fascinating and exciting thing.”

Jen Stein, team member on the USC Mobile and Environmental Media Lab, provides us a glimpse into the future of narratives, “Imagine you’re on your way to pick up your child from a rained out baseball game…and [because of sensors in your vehicle] your car now knows you’ve now picked up your kid. Since your plans got canceled, the car sees an opportunity to invite you and your family on a play mission. The real world becomes a giant gameboard…[yes, a real game] engaging with other people and cars while on the road.”

Samsel’s Story

If it’s true that your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die, here is what my personal life might look like. Created using Pummelvision using photos from my Facebook account.

Heardable’s First Screencast Story

I wrote a script for my company’s first screencast and submitted it to Voices.com to get voice over talent to audition for the role of narrator. I received about 50 submissions. Three voices out of the lot had the hip, yet intelligent sounding voice I was looking for. But only one actor injected a personal style and some bold ad libs that made me question the readiness of my script. Based on this one actor’s reading, I decided to rewrite my entire script with his voice in mind. I hired Mike O-Brian to record the narration, then I recorded the screenshots and assembled the video using Camtasia Studio 7. This is the end result.

Music + Animation = Short Film Story Without Dialogue

A touching retrospective of an old man’s life, based around the evocative imagery created by his piano playing. Story and animation by Aidan Gibbons. Music by Yann Tiersen.

Words + Spoken Voice = A Poetic Story

According to PoetryFoundation.org, “E. E. Cummings was among the most innovative of twentieth-century poets, experimenting with poetic form and language to create a distinct personal style. A Cummings poem is spare and precise, employing a few key words eccentrically placed on the page. Some of these words were invented by Cummings, often by combining two common words into a new synthesis. He also revised grammatical and linguistic rules to suit his own purposes, using such words as ‘if,’ ‘am,’ and ‘because’ as nouns, for example, or assigning his own private meanings to words. Love is the propelling force behind a great body of his poetry.”

75 Years of Writing: Ray Bradbury’s Story

Ray Bradbury is one of those rare individuals whose writing has changed the way people think. His more than five hundred published works — short stories, novels, plays, screenplays, television scripts, and verse — exemplifying imagination at its most creative.

Behavioral Experiments As Stories

Thefuntheory.com, an initiative of Volkswagon, wanted to see if they could get more people to take the stairs over the escalator by making it fun to do. Piano Staircase was one of several finalists out of hundreds of written concepts submitted.

Stop Animation Story

Writer/performers Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal set out to create something that had never been done before on YouTube: a stop-motion animation video with live actors…with the animation taking place on two T-shirts that interact with one another. T-Shirt War was the result. The team partnered with top-ranked YouTube veterans Billy Reid (aka verytasteful) and Joe Penna (aka mysteryguitarman) to produce their masterpiece.

Stop Animation as a 30-Second Commercial Story

Rhett & Link, a pair of novice writer/filmmakers, were discovered on YouTube by McDonalds and Coca-Cola who asked them to create a TV commercial for them based on T-Shirt War. So why did two of today’s biggest companies hitch their multi-billion dollar brands to a social video phenomenon? Consider it a calcuated risk designed to associate traditional commodities with the uber-hip and cool generation of tomorrow.

Websites As Stories

Some claim this is the most creative ‘website’ ever. Advertising agency, Boone Oakley, made clever use of YouTube annotations by creating an interactive video experience. It was actually their agency website embedded into YouTube across 50+ videos, the very first of its kind. With over 1 million views, this is possibly the most viewed agency site of all time. To cap it off, they won a Gold Lion at Cannes in 2010.

An Overview of Web 2.0: A Story Well Told

Professor Michael Wesch | Web 2.0… The Machine Is Us/ing Us. Video created four years ago that summed up the power and potential of Web 2.0 in a five minute presentation.

Customer Service FAIL Story

One of the first popular examples of how social media can bring a major brand like Comcast to its knees by highlighting their poor customer service to an online audience in the millions. Backstory: A Comcast technician came to replace a faulty modem. After spending an hour on hold with Comcast’s central office, he fell asleep on this person’s couch. It was all captured on film and uploaded to YouTube. If the video wasn’t shame enough, hundreds of writers and editors picked up the story and published commentaries about various ways that consumers were fighting back against companies that wrong them.

Social Journalist Weaves A Web of Intrigue

Supposedly a skier in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park found a roll of film in the snow, had the film developed, posted what he found on YouTube, then asked for the public’s help to recognize the people in the photos. Many say this is a hoax — but it’s a great story nonetheless. Over one million views on YouTube as of 1/26/11.

Classic TV News Crime Story

Antoine Dodson interviewed by NBC affiliate WAFF-48 News after the attempted rape of his sister Kelly Dodson - Huntsville, Alabama. TV channel broadcast reach: In the thousands.

Unconventional News Story Music Video

‘The Bed Intruder Song’ by the Gregory Brothers uses software called Auto-Tune to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances — and can even tune a mundane evening news video clip. The music video has been played over 85 million times on YouTube and reached #89 on Billboard’s Hot 100 list. As of September 2010, they had sold more than 100,000 copies of The Bed Intruder Song on iTunes, allowing Dodson to make enough money from the song to move his family out of the projects.

Brand Integration Into A Comedic Drama

Ikea Heights is a melodrama shot entirely in the Burbank California Ikea Store without the store knowing. Entertainment Weekly’s Whitney Pastorek said of the series, “[IKEA Heights] is so brilliant and awesome that its glories can really only be diminished by additional words.”

Corporate Song and Dance: A Musical, Sort Of

A dramatic coming of age tale about a big deal at a unique investment company by KassemG. Over 1.3 million views on YouTube so far.

Video Game Stories

A brief history of interactive writing in the gaming industry. Nice recap of the major issues spoken in a really fast, high pitched voice.

Hybrid Branded Fiction Alternate Reality Game

33 Keys was an alternate reality game that challenged players to immerse themselves in a real-life, sci-fi adventure for the chance to win a brand new 2010 Mazda3.

Ambient Storytelling for Vehicle-Driver Interaction

A USC project that attempts to deepen the relationship between driver and car by using aggregate sensor data, context and location sensing protocols, and social media feeds to develop a narrative “lifelog” for the vehicle and its driver. Test cinematic augmentations for the driving experience, including generative soundscapes, single- and multiplayer games, and driver-specific guided tours. Develop the character or identity of the vehicle by employing usage metrics and driver feedback to modulate the rate, style, and mode of vehicle-to-driver communications.

Here is a list of 170 essential social media tools, including performance analytics tools, social search tools, news clipping services, demographic profiling services, brand optimization tools, social monitoring tools, and similar services.

Disclosure — I am the CEO of Heardable.com, a brand performance rating platform, that I have included in this list.

1. Ace Metrix - Patent-pending measurement methodology monitoring television advertising.
2. Actionly - Monitoring & insights for Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Youtube, Google Buzz, blogs, and news.
3. AlchemyAPI - Content analysis and meta-data annotation tools.
4. Alterian - Campaign management, web content management, email, and social media monitoring.
5. AMI Software - Internet monitoring, intelligence development & evidence based horizon scanning.
6. Amplified Analytics - Forecasting tools & predictive analytical models by quantifying qualitative information.
7. Arkovi - Social media archiving services.
8. Atomic Intelligence - Organizing web content through text indexing, unstructured text parsing, and machine learning.
9. Attensity - Listen to and analyze multi-channel customer conversations.
10. Attentio - Analyze buzz around brands or products + multi-language sentiment.
11. BlogPulse - Real-time view of the most popular topics that bloggers are writing about.
12. BrandsEye - Online reputation monitoring.
13. Brandtology - Sentiment analysis in 12 languages.
14. Brandwatch - Social media monitoring (reputation, sentiment & moderation).
15. BurrellesLuce - Media monitoring, press clipping services, and public relations software.
16. Businesswire - Press release distribution, clipping services, and online measurement (A Berkshire Hathaway company).
17. BuzzAnalytics - Internet buzz tracking in 20 languages + opinion research/polling.
18. BuzzDing - Online reputation management and social media monitoring.
19. Buzzient - Enterprise-class social media analytics.
20. BuzzLogic - Proprietary conversational analytics to optimize online advertising.
21. BuzzNumbers - Social media monitoring, reporting & engagement.
22. BuzzStream - Manage word-of-mouth marketing campaigns.
23. Chartbeat - Real-time monitoring of your online presence.
24. Chatmeter - Reputation monitoring & management.
25. Clarabridge - Text mining & analytics.
26. Clicky - Real-time web analytics.
27. ClearForest - Deriving meaning from unstructured information such as news, blogs, research reports & more.
28. Clixpy - Tracks everything your website users do.
29. Collective Intellect - Social media analytics.
30. ComMetric - Understand how influencers across all types of digital media are networked.
31. Comscore - Digital market intelligence and measurement.
32. Compete - Mine your online performance.
33. Conductor - Organic search visibility platform.
34. Converseon - Social media listening and consulting.
35. Conversition - Bridging the gap between social media and research.
36. Crazyegg - Build heatmaps and track clicks.
37. Crimson Hexagon - Social media monitoring & analysis.
38. CrowdControlHQ - Social media software and reporting.
39. CyberAlert - News monitoring & clipping, social media monitoring, PR measurement.
40. Cymfony - Market influence analytics.
41. Dialogix - Social media monitoring tool from Australia.
42. dna13 - Real-time reputation management and PR software.
43. ecairn - Social media tool for marketing agencies.
44. Echo Research - Reputation analysis, media measurement & research.
45. Eloqua - Integrated campaign management & social sharing.
46. Engagor - Social media listening tool.
47. Entrenza - Track your online presence & monitor brand perceptions.
48. Evolve24 - Enterprise listening platform.
49. Evri - Discover & follow trending stories.
50. Explosive Commerce - Social media management software.
51. Feng-gui - Attention analysis for websites and advertisements.
52. Flurry - Smartphone analytics.
53. Folowen - Find people & organization across social media.
54. GeeYee - Social media analysis service.
55. Google Adwords - Keyword research tool for online advertising.
56. Google Alerts - Automatically monitor selected keywords & receive email alerts.
57. Google Analytics - Free web analytics tool.
58. Google News - Automated news aggregator.
59. Google Reader - Atom and RSS feed reader / aggregator.
60. Google Trends - Insights into popular search patterns.
61. Heardable - Measures the effectiveness of online brands.
62. HotGrinds - Opinion mining.
63. HowSociable? - Brand visibility metrics.
64. ICUC Moderation - Social media & blog moderation services for brands.
    
65. iMente - Social media measurement (in Spanish).
66. Imooty - Media monitoring tool.
67. ImpactWatch - Media coverage dashboard.
68. Infegy - Enterprise socia media monitoring.
69. Infonic - Linguistic processing technology for analysing digital news coverage.
70. Infonitor - Internet trends & opinions (in German).
71. Integrasco - Manage online word of mouth.
72. Interwoven - Manage website content and visitor information.
73. Jamiq - Monitor social media across Asian languages and markets.
74. Janya - Multilingual semantic processing to harvest online insights.
75. Jodange - Indexes feelings and statements from traditional and social media.
76. KnowEm - Claim your brand name across the social media landscape.
77. Leximancer - Analytics technology for unstructured, qualitative, textual data.
78. Linkfluence - Social web insights (in French).
79. ListenLogic - Social market research & analytics.
80. Lithium - Social CRM.
81. Managing News - News and data aggregation engine.
82. Market Sentinel - Conversation & influence analysis.
83. Media Proof i-news - Media analysis & news monitoring.
84. MediaHound - Marketing metrics.
85. MediaMiser - Media analysis, monitoring, and measurement.
86. Mediatrack Research - Analysis, evaluation, and measurement of international media.
87. Meltwater - Reputation management, web-based collaboration & online marketing campaign management.
88. Metatale - Social measurement (in Dutch).
89. Metricly - Aggregated dashboards of web data.
90. MightyBrand - Monitor your brand online.
91. Mint (Have A Mint) - Website analytics.
92. Moreover - Content monitoring & aggregation.
93. Morningside Analytics - Mapping of data clusters.
94. NetBase - Understand consumer insights.
95. Networked Insights - Social-media listening platform for actionable insights.
96. New Media Intelligence - A digital media monitoring agency.
97. Nexalogy Environics - A social media intelligence service.
98. Nielsen - A global leader in measurement and information.
99. ObjectiveMarketer - Social media marketing and campaign management solution.
100. Omgili - Search engine for online discussions.
101. Onalytica - Extract business insights from social conversations.
102. Open Amplify - Create custom taxonomies to classify & analyze content.
103. Optify - Marketing software enabling lead generation through SEO and social.
104. Overtone - Meaningful insights from customer feedback and social media.
105. Parnassus Group - Social media intelligence.
106. Perception Metrics - Data-driven media insights.
107. Personified - Business intelligence and talent management consulting.
108. Postrank - Real-time data and analysis on any topic, trend, or interest.
109. PR Newswire - News distribution, targeting, monitoring, and marketing solutions.
110. PR Web - Press release distribution services to create buzz & increase online visibility.
111. Psydex - Real-time search, data mining, and predictive analytics.
112. Quantcast - Online audience insights.
113. Quarkbase - Website information & research.
114. Radian6 - Social media monitoring & engagement.
115. RapLeaf - Personalized online experiences for your customers.
116. Reedge - Content behavioral targeting & conversion rate optimization.
117. RepuMetrix - Online reputation monitoring & social media measurement.
118. Reputation Institute - Corporate reputation ratings.
119. ReputationHQ - Online reputation manager.
120. Ripple6 - Social networking software and platform for social media marketing.
121. Samepoint - Real-time search & trends.
122. Satmetrix - Customer experience management software.
123. Sentiment Metrics - Social media monitoring, measurement, and engagement.
124. SentiMetrix - Online reputation analysis (in Italian and English).
125. Serendio - Customer experience analytics.
126. Shoutlet - Social media marketing platform.
127. Silverbakk - Social media monitoring based on language and relevance.
128. SlideShare - Share presentations, get stats & generate leads.
129. SociafyQ - Open social network analytics.
130. Social Mention - Real-time search results.
131. SocialMetrix - Social buzz measurement (in English, Portugese, and Spanish).
132. SocialRep - Social market intelligence.
133. SocialReport - Enterprise-class social network analytics.
134. Socialscape - Social media conversation monitoring.
135. Social Target - Social media intelligence.
136. Socialware - Social middleware company.
137. So ME Tracker - Social media tracking (in Swedish).
138. Spinn3r - Real-time indexing of the blogosphere.
139. Spiral16 - Software for web and social media monitoring.
140. Spredfast - Enterprise social media management.
141. Sprout Social - Social media management & CRM.
142. StartPR - Find, manage, and respond to mentions of your company.
143. Storify - Turn what people post on social media into compelling stories.
     
144. Surchur - Real-time search.
145. Symscio - Communications research firm specializing in media analysis & surveys.
146. Syncapse - Social media management.
147. Synthesio - Social media monitoring & engagement.
148. Sysomos - Business intelligence for social media.
149. Techrigy - Social media monitoring & analysis.
150. Tinker - Follow live conversations in social media.
151. Traackr - Measuring online infuence.
152. TraceBuzz - Find, filter, and show you buzz.
153. Trackur - White-labeled social media monitoring tools.
154. Translated Labs - Readibility analyzer.
155. Trendrr - Track the popularity and awareness of trends.
156. Trustworthy - Tracking social media response.
157. Truviso - Web analytics software.
158. UKNetMonitor - Internet reputation monitoring.
159. Unilyzer - Social media dashboard software.
160. Viral Heat - Social media monitoring & analytics.
161. Visible - Social media solutions for enterprise social intelligence.
162. Vitrue - Social relationship management platform.
163. Vocus - On-demand software for public relations management.
164. Wavemetrix - Buzz research.
165. WebClipping - Media monitoring & clipping service.
166. Website Grader - How well is your website doing?
     
167. WebTrends - Mobile & social analytics.
168. Whitevector - Monitoring & analyzing social media.
169. WiseWindow - Mass opinion business intelligence.
170. WooRank - Website analysis tool.

Here is a new screencast profiling Heardable.com, the world’s first online brand optimization platform.

Get your free brand health score so you can start optimizing your brand’s performance — today!

Measure the effectiveness of any brand online in real-time — for free. Compare your score to competitors in your business category or in your local zip code.

Over 1 million brands have been scored so far.

Go to: http://heardable.com to get your free Heardable Score.

1. Get found
2. Boost brand awareness
3. Increase traffic
4. Generate more revenue

Heardable.com posted a nice PowerPoint presentation on SlideShare.net today titled, “20 Simple Rules of Social Business Success.” SlideShare featured it on its home page as one of the best presentations of the day. At last count, over 400 people had viewed it in only a few hours [UPDATE: 2,356 views in 3 days!]. Now that’s a smart social media marketing move!

What’s inside this PowerPoint deck? Twenty simple phases for companies large and small to live by. Each slide also has a corresponding image to help drive home the marketing point being made. Following each of the twenty steps may be a smart decision for marketers because each of these simple rules can help make your brand more effective online. Think of them as Internet branding best practices.

Boost your natural search rankings. Increase your conversions. Expand your brand reach and make your customers happy. What’s not to love about that?!

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.

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.

The Write Way: Writing Smarter to Expand Your Brand Reach

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

Comments about Jon Samsel’s training seminar, The Write Way: Writing Smarter to Expand Your Brand Reach:

‘The class was well balanced with real life scenarios, and tactical hands on training. From individual to group work the attendees were able to participate at their own comfort level. Culminating at the end of the day into a presentation that applied all that had been shown throughout the day. If you are doing publishing on a website, this class is well worth the time and money spent…a great investment for any corporation.’   – Robbie Holland, Senior Manager of Content Management & Localization at Hilton Worldwide

‘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

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 recently invited to be part of a private beta for a new brand optimization/analytics platform called Heardable. The new service measures how well a brand is doing online, issuing a Heardable Score for every URL you scan into their tool. There is even a comparison scan tool that allows users to scan up to five domain names at once.

The platform examines over 40 unique on-site and off-site brand variables, including a website’s code, inbound links, usability, social brand presence, mobile readiness, and other unique characteristics. The highest possible Heardable Score that can be achieved is 1000. A score between 401-600 is average.

The tools on the site are very cool, with results displayed via an attractive AJAX interface that slides in and out to reveal more detailed information when prompted. My assessment after about one hour of use: Heardable is an extremely functional, insightful, and highly addictive platform that will surely appeal to online marketers. By addictive I refer to the fact that I couldn’t stop scanning URL’s that popped into my head. I wanted to see how each brand scored.

Perhaps the best part of Heardable is The Heardable 100, a ranked list of the top 100 Heardable Scores by brand. You may be surprised by which brand is currently ranked #1. (Hint: It’s a popular celebrity gossip site whose name is a play on socialite, Paris Hilton). According to the company founders, the Heardable platform will soon add hundreds of thousands of pre-ranked lists of brands, by category, which will be a very helpful (and time saving) research tool.

I think brand managers and C-level marketers are really going to like Heardable because it’s an easy way to measure how one brand is performing against a competitor, across multiple variables, plus providing drill-downs into exactly how and why one brand is doing better than the other. Kinda like opening the hood of your competitor’s brand and seeing their online strategy in action. Sweet!

So I decided to examine one category of brands that is near and near to my heart — advertising agencies. After, all, one might assume that the top creative minds in the land would have built websites that truly showcases their talents — both creatively and functionally. After all, they are pitching online marketing strategies and tactics every day to clients (and potential clients). Surely their own sites would have higher than average Heardable Scores, right?

Sadly, my scans revealed just the opposite. Instead of stellar scores, most creative agencies fell into the ‘poor’ or ‘below average’ range. Not what most of us would expect from today’s top-tier marketing agencies. Note to agencies: Don’t let your clients use this tool or you may be in trouble!

To put things into perspective, everyday brands scored better than expected — with higher Heardable Scores than most creative agencies I tested.

• Sears.com (573)
• Weightwatchers.com (531)
• Brides.com (442)
• Airtran.com (438)

Hat’s off to R/GA, an integrated, interactive agency that seems to practice what they preach with a Heardable Score of 537. R/GA had the best score of all agencies I scanned.

Here is a list of the advertising agencies that I scanned, rank ordered by Heardable Score. Any surprises? Be sure to Tweet about it.