I am going to take today to get caught up, so this is a short blog post pointing you to some top marketing blogs I have not talked about in the past (at least recently).

• Copywriting – Copy blogger
• Duct Tape Marketing
• Brand Autopsy
• Converstations

Have a great weekend!

I did a presentation a while back to a group of designers in Atlanta.  One thing that many of them got excited about was blogging.  Several have emailed me the blogs they have started, and Mark Cutler really seems to have his taking off in short order.  It has added to his search engine ranking and he has around 80 people a day visiting only a few months after starting.

Of his success he writes: I have created a bond with someone who grew up a half mile away from me in Australia, who I had never met, but also has a design blog, and she had actually posted examples of my work, not knowing I was Australian, and we linked our blogs before she knew it was my work that she was posting. On a more practical note, my rating appearance on Google and Yahoo have skyrocketed to the first page, which is helpful.

He has done interior design for Jennifer Lopez, Vanna White and Steve Carell to name a few, and now he is leveraging his blog to get more information out, build more relationships and work towards publishing a book.

I think that a blog for designers is such a natural componant of what they do.  They can make a stunning and interesting blog just by documenting what they do in images.

We talk about creating a buzz culture with employees and getting them to use buzz to promote where they work.  Now with the book, we are seeing small businesses with 50 or fewer employees successfully transforming into a more excited group that is actively helping grow the business.

One accounting firm with 7+ employees recently bought several copies of the book and passed them around the office and discussed it at the staff meeting.  Guess what happened.  They are forming friendly competitions to see who can create more buzz and more clients, and they already have one new client in the first week.  I think those books paid for themselves.

It is great if people market you. One way is when they talk about you or refer you, but what I am talking about is real, intentional marketing. If you can become a part of something that people care about, then they will actively market you and you will just soak up the benefit.

The key to do this is to help them and participate in a win/win relationship. Here are some ideas for example:

• Help write a book – The author promotes the book and people read about you in the book.
• Guest write an article or post on someone’s blog.
• Promote someone else, and they will frequently point to your testimonial or blog post to enhance their image.
• Free white paper or eBook – as part of a give away on another website.
• Speaking – You are the speaker and the event coordinator is out promoting the event and the speakers.
• Offer a service that enhances someone else’s product or service. They will upsell you to get the sale themselves. (For example, we are frequently part of other marketer’s proposals just for the Buzz Marketing aspect, and those marketing people always win the work.)

These are just some of the ways that you can leverage other people’s marketing efforts to get more visibility for yourself. If there is one common thread, it is the importance of a win/win relationship where you are providing value to someone that they can pass on.

My daughter will be teaching a class at the eMarketing for Entrepreneurs event coming up.  She did her video in one take and I needed 15 or so.  Good thing I am not giving her acting lessons.

David Lorenzo of Career Intensity emailed me and told me he tried to give a copy of my book to someone down in Miami and the person said they already had a copy and had seen me speak.

While this is common in my neck of Ohio, this does not happen (or at least I do not hear about it) in locations I have never visited. 

This kind of thing is on the rise though.  Consider all the different ways you can broadcast your message.  People could be out there right now as advocates of yours, meeting other advocates of yours, and having long winded discussions of thing you have said and done, and you do not know any of them.

Kinda creepy, kinda cool.

For another example of this, take a look at what happened between Natalie and I.

I was on the phone today and someone that is in branding and advertising asked me, “Isn’t it too late to get into blogging?  Aren’t there too many already?”

I did not think of it at the time, but let me answer that now.

Yes, there are too many blogs.

There are also too many advertisements, and I would like to see all of those cut out.

There are too many brands of tooth paste, do we really need more than 3?

There are too many new movies every year.  10 good movies a year are all we need.

There are too many brands of just about anything.  Lets all be communist and just have one generic brand.

Blogging is about getting people to get to know you.  People already know too many people and one more will just be overload.  Stay invisible.

There are too many TV stations.  Can we go back to NBC, ABC and CBS?

Why do Burger Kings and McDonalds always exist so close together?  Is that a choice I need?

Books kill trees and we can just read things on the computer, so why are we publishing more and more new books? 

Chipotles is the only necessary mexican restaurant outside of Mexico.

Why don’t we all drive the same car that is a perfect blend of efficiency and safety?  Think about it, if we all drove the same car, you could plan for the impact of accidents (because the cars would be the same size) and make the whole wrecking thing safer.

Why are people starting new businesses?  If people would just stop starting new businesses fewer old ones would fail.

And at this point, Architecture is just obsolete.  How many varieties of building plans already exist that could just be reused?

This list goes on, but I will not.  Yes there are too many of many things.  Should that stop you from trying?

Kent State University – I had Ben McConnell all to myself!

I had the pleasure of seeing Ben McConnell of Citizen Marketers and Church of the Customer speak at Kent State University yesterday.

It was an excellent presentation and I am a big fan of the book.

However, I am very embarrassed by the turn out.  This was a free event and there was less than 20 people attending.  Kent State did not promote it well, and you have to wonder about the business owners in NE Ohio when they pass up a chance to see a top notch speaker and thinker like Ben.  I sent a few emails and within a day had 4 other people going with me.  Why didn’t anyone else do that?  The people I invited really appreciated it.

It is no surprise that all our Buzz Marketing clients are on the coasts and not in Ohio.

If you are interested in Blogging, you do not want to miss Andy Beard’s review comparing BlogCatalog to MyBlogLog.  These kinds of tools can really help a blog take off. 

What impresses me about Andy is the depth of his review.  That was no 20 minute post.

Find out why BlogCatalog may be the next hot thing in Bloglandia.

Special thanks to Todd Andrlik for adding Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing Blog to the power 150 pool.  We are currently ranked at 115.

If you are looking for lots of marketing resources, check out his list.