If you’ve been a long-time reader of my blog, you’ve probably noticed some changes of recent. I’ve been soliciting the assistance of new bloggers and transforming the blog from my blog to our blog. Today was a huge step forward with that strategy – you’ll now see that The Marketing Technology Blog has a new theme!
The stunning design was developed by one of our very own, Jon Arnold President of Tuitive Group. He did a beautiful job of capturing the essence of the blog. You’ll also notice that the Author’s page is new – listing each of our bloggers as well as a link to their bio page that provides more information about their expertise and business.
I’ll still be the primary blogger at the Blog but you’ll see each of our other bloggers posting 2 or 3 times a month. The goal is to provide our readers with a well-rounded selection of practical marketing advice. Whether you’re a developer working on CSS issues or a CMO trying to decide the next analytics package to invest in – we’ll continue to provide useful information.
There are other Marketing blogs out there (I follow all of them!)… some are for making money online, some are for keeping up with marketing news, others are to sell conference and whitepaper information. Most are very niche or news oriented. Our goal is to be the goto blog for marketers to improve their marketing efforts and obtain a better return on investment for their efforts. We don’t want a day to go by where you don’t leave with additional information to run your business or do your job better! Period.
About our Photographer
Throughout the site, you’ll find stunning photos of our bloggers, provided by Indianapolis photographer Paul D’Andrea from PDA Photography. Paul set up an entire photo shoot with us and Andrew Ball provided us access to a private museum within AT&T. You’ll see that all of our photos have communication equipment behind us – very cool theme! Lorraine and Jon weren’t able to make the group photo.
What’s Next?
Much more to come! We’ll have a collective Events calendar (as well as our own events!), will be working closely to supply premium content to Smaller Indiana’s Marketing page, and I’m confident our own conferences and workshops will be coming soon!
If you have requests – please click the feedback tab and let us know what you’d like to see or hear more of. As well, we’ve got a nice robust contact form in place where you can contact each of our bloggers individually! The form was built using Formspring, of course!
Pat and I spoke today at the Indiana Tourism Summit. We’re grateful for the opportunity and really appreciate all the attention. There were over 100 marketers there from convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) all over the state. It’s an audience Pat and I have wanted to get in front of for quite some time!
One of the fantastic slides that Pat was able to share was how Smaller Indiana compared to other well-known networks:
Imagine that… Smoosiers look more to Smaller Indiana for business-related networking than they do to Facebook. It’s something I’ve known, having worked with many businesses (as well as experiencing Facebook’s ridiculous advertisements and poor ad revenue). Too many marketers and industry pundits highlight the big numbers of Facebook… causing businesses to push money and resources down the drain. People don’t go to Facebook to do business. Thankfully for us, they do go to Smaller Indiana!
So – if you’re a business in Indiana that’s tried advertising on Facebook, have you tried sponsoring Smaller Indiana instead to see the results? If you’re outside of Indiana, do you have your own regional business network online? We’ve been very successful here and would love to hear about it! Drop me a line on my contact form or on Twitter!
Summit Summary
This is an incredible audience… the caretakers of how our state is presented, promoted and viewed by tens of millions of visitors year-round. They work with incredibly low budgets (recently cut again) and even fewer resources. The outlook for this industry is fantastic, though. The pure nature of social media and the web have transformed how a CVB can promote online. When Pat has a project or a vision, he needs to look no further than the 7,000 engaged, creative and incredibly talented Smoosiers on Smaller Indiana. They love living and working in Indiana – and are the perfect trust agents to turn loose when promoting the region.
After we spoke, Pat and I enlisted about 10 CVBs and Council Members to start a Social Media Tourism Thinktank. Our objective is to build online and social media marketing campaigns that can be repeated and implemented throughout the state at the one-hundred plus CVBs. We’re excited about the opportunity and know that we can put some high-yield, low-cost solutions in place that harness Smoosiers to promote the state! All while reducing the burden on taxpayers and tourism employees.
A new U.S. president. A global financial crisis. Some are predicting the worst of times. But we think it’s a time to regroup, re-evaluate and then to dream. Dream big. Because the world of ideas has never mattered more. Behind the headlines, innovation and invention are alive and flourishing. And it’s here that the key to a better future will be found.
At the Smaller Indiana, Bigger Ideas Conference we will be hotfoot in pursuit of that future as it is being invented in our home state. We’re assembling an incredible lineup of speakers who live and work in Indiana, and whose ideas and ingenuity will challenge, enlighten and inspire. June 24th at the The Athenæum Theatre.
Congratulations to Smaller Indiana founder Pat Coyle and Coyle Media on putting together such a great event – the first of many to push ideation and inspiration here in Indiana.
The site is beautiful – designed by the team at Kristian Andersen and Associates. Your very own Marketing Technology Blog is a sponsor of the site – so my readers benefit as well! When you register for the event, enter discount code dougkarr for a $35 discount. Register Now – there are only a few hundred seats!
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