Customers Rock! » Memes

Four by Four: About me

Becky Carroll — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:09:51 +0000

I like to participate in these types of memes that fly around in blogs, as I usually learn more about my fellow bloggers – and my readers learn more about me! Peter Kim tagged me on his re-make of the “8 Things” meme (see my original answers here) called 4×4: four things from four categories. Here are my four by four:

Four Jobs I’ve Had:

1. Ice cream scooper (like Peter!) at Morrow’s Nut House (yes, I know, that explains a lot!).

2. Researcher/computer graphics programmer at NASA Ames Research Center, working with Cray supercomputers.

3. On-line Technical Support engineer for HP; had fun duplicating customer issues on HP 1000 real-time computer systems.

4. Cub Scout den leader (volunteer role – needed lots of energy for this one!).

Four Places I’ve Been:

1. Kauai, Hawaii (during the “Big Earthquake” in Northern California, 1989 – horrifying to watch the national network news depict your hometown as a total disaster zone from afar)

2. Olso, Norway (to meet the wonderful family of our former au pair)

3. Veracruz, Mexico (as an exchange student)

4. San Gimignano, Italy (for vacation – beautiful medieval walled town with many wonderful towers – and the biggest grapes I’ve ever seen!)

Four Music Artists I’m Listening to Right Now:

1. Beethoven (an oldie but a goodie!)

2. Jack Johnson (easy to listen to – acoustic/adult alternative)

3. Newsboys (Christian pop)

4. Handel (another oldie but goodie, and relaxing to boot!)

Four Favorite Foods:

1. Ice cream (almost any flavor!)

2. Belgian chocoloate

3. Seafood – best are the shellfish

4. Almond Roca

OK, who wants to join in on 4×4? I’d like to hear from CB Whittemore, Doug Meacham, Maria Palma, my new friend Brian Solis, and Jay Ehret (I know, that is five people, not four, but I believe CB was just tagged by Ann Handley). If you’ve already answered for some of these categories, here were the other 5 that I didn’t use: people who email me regularly, TV shows I DVR, places I’d rather be right now, people I think will respond, and things I look forward to this year.

(Photo credit: solarseven)

Holiday Reading List: Outstanding Blogs

Becky Carroll — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:04:31 +0000

About this time last year, Mack Collier, blogger extraordinaire, started a list of blogs that were not yet well-read but deserved more attention (this is per Mack – great speaking with you the other day, BTW!!). I was honored to be one of the original 5 on the Z-list:

Shotgun Marketing Blog
BrandSizzle
bizsolutionsplus
Customers Rock!
Being Peter Kim

The Z-list then went all over the world, and it is hard to say where the final list is these days. A good, comprehensive listing of great blogs to read over the holidays can be found in the Z-list wiki, put together by Gavin Heaton. It lists the name of the blog, the author, the location of the author, a category for the blog, and a short description.

Fast forward to this year. Troy Worman has come up with his list of Outstanding Blogs, or O! Blogs for short. This list has some overlap with the Z-list, but there are also many new blogs that I hadn’t seen before. Thanks for the Christmas reading list, Troy!

Here is the O! Blogs list (taken from Drew McLellan’s version), along with some of my favorites at the top:

Becky’s adds:

Communication Overtones

They Talk Back

Troy’s list:

(Photo credit: elnur)

Women Bloggers and the W-List

Becky Carroll — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 02:03:38 +0000

I was honored recently to be named to the Top 20 PR Power Women, which is a list of women who blog on PR and marketing. The list was put together by Kami Huyse, who brought to our attention that only a small percentage of The Power 150 top marketing and PR bloggers are women.

My friend Valeria Maltoni felt that perhaps the reason for so few women in the top lists is that they are as yet undiscovered. She was inspired to create a W-List to help promote these women bloggers. This is much like Mack Collier’s Z-List from last year (which, by the way, helped publicize my blog quite a bit). The Z-list was an effort to bring more attention to blogs which Mack felt weren’t getting their due. One offshoot of the Z-list was the original W-List put together by Tammy Vitale. This list was an effort to bring attention to women bloggers as well.

The New W-List

I am sharing Valeria’s new W-List with you. Regardless of gender, these are blogs which have quality content and provide new ideas. As with the Z-list, feel free to pay this forward by adding your favorite female bloggers. To the new W-list (taken from Lori Magno’s blog), I am adding these ladies:

Stephanie Weaver: Experienceology – Stephanie was one of my adds to the Z-list as well, and she writes a great blog on customer experience.

Maria Palma: CustomersAreAlways – Maria writes about taking care of customers and great customer service.

Tammy Vitale: Women, Art, Life – Since Tammy created the original W-List, I thought she should be on it! Tammy is an entrepreneur and artist.

Michele Miller: Wonderbranding: Marketing to Women – Michele’s blog focuses on marketing to women and how companies are meeting the needs or missing the mark.

Rosa Say: Managing with Aloha – Rosa is inspired by the values of the Hawaiian Islands, and she weaves them together with business concepts to inspire leaders.

Here is the list with my add-ins inserted in alphabetical order. Visit a few this weekend and expand your horizons!

The W List – Women Who Write
45 Things Anita Bruzzese

A Girl Must Shop Megan Garnhum
advergirl Leigh Householder
Back in Skinny Jeans Stephanie Quilao
Biz Growth News Krishna De
BlogWrite for CEOs Debbie Weil
Brand Sizzle Anne Simons
Branding & Marketing Chris Brown
Brazen Careerist Penelope Trunk

Cheap Thrills Ryan Barrett
CK’s Blog CK (Christina Kerley)
Communication Overtones Kami Huyse
Conscious Business by Anne Libby
Conversation Agent Valeria Maltoni
Corporate PR Elizabeth Albrycht

CustomersAreAlways Maria Palma
Customers Rock! Becky Carroll
Deborah Schultz Deborah Schultz
Diva Marketing Blog Toby Bloomberg

Dooce Heather Armstrong
Email Marketing Best Practices Tamara Gielen
Escape from Cubicle Nation Pamela Slim
eSoup Sharon Sarmiento

Experienceology Stephanie Weaver
Flooring The Consumer CB Whittemore
Forrester’s Marketing Blog Shar, Charlene, Chloe, Christine Elana, Laura and Lisa
Get Fresh Minds Katie Konrath
Get Shouty Katie Chatfield

Giant Jeans Parlour Anjali
Hey Marci Marci Alboher
Inspired Business Growth Wendy Piersall

J.T. O’Donnell Career Insights J.T. O’Donnell
Kinetic Ideas Wendy Maynard
Learned on Women Andrea Learned

Little Red Suit Tiffany Monhollon
Liz Strauss at Successful Blog Liz Strauss
Lorelle on WordPress Lorelle VanFossen
Manage to Change Ann Michael
Management Craft Lisa Haneberg
Managing with Aloha Rosa Say
Marketing Roadmaps Susan Getgood
Moda di Magno Lori Magno
Modite Rebecca Thorman
Narrative Assets Karen Hegman
Presto Vivace Blog Alice Marshall
Productivity Goal Carolyn Manning
Spare Change Nedra Kline Weinreich
Tech Kitten Trisha Miller
That’s What She Said by Julie Elgar
The Blog Angel aka Claire Raikes
The Brand Dame Lyn Chamberlin
The Copywriting Maven Roberta Rosenberg
The Engaging Brand Anna Farmery
The Origin of Brands Laura Ries
The Podcast Sisters Krishna De, Anna Farmery & Heather Gorringe

Water Cooler Wisdom Alexandra Levit
Wealth Strategy Secrets Money Gym author & Founder Nicola Cairncross
What’s Next Blog B L Ochman
Wiggly Wigglers by Podcast Sister Heather Gorringe
Women, Art, Life Tammy Vitale
Wonderbranding: Marketing to Women Michele Miller
Ypulse Anastasia Goodstein

(Photo by Forgiss)

Magic, Marketing, and Memes: Oh, My!

Becky Carroll — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 08:38:07 +0000

That Magical Reader Loyalty

(NOTE: no spoilers here!) The Harry Potter series of books is a great example of reader/consumer loyalty. After all, they have stuck with Harry through 7 books, 199 chapters, and over 4100 pages. Many waited line in the US this past weekend, some dressed in costume, all excited to be one of the first to get hold of the last book in the series. Parties were held all over the country (thanks for pointing out this Harry Potter event, Chris!). On the beach here in San Diego today, I lost count of how many people were sitting in chairs poring through the book.

Each fan has their own way of dealing with the end of the series. Some, such as Doug Meacham of NextUp, stepped around the aftermath of the Harry Potter Midnight Party at their local bookstore to buy a copy and start the read (although Doug had a hard time finding it in some places!). Ann Handley of Marketing Profs decided to take matters into her own hands and read the end first in order to avoid hearing about it accidentally.

Does the hype about the end, the spoilers, and the movie bother these people? No. They are loyal fans, and they are dedicated to reading the final book no matter what.

How can you make your product or service impervious to outside interference? Building strong customer relationships is one of the first steps.

Marketing Bloggers and Media Unite!

A great event is taking place in the community. Todd Andrlik’s Power 150 ranking of top marketing blogs is partnering with Ad Age! Todd has worked tremendously hard to continually rank over 350+ marketing and PR blogs. In his post today announcing the inside scoop, Todd quotes Jonah Bloom, editor of Advertising Age, as follows:

“Of course we could have put something together based on our own opinions or bloggers’ traffic numbers, but Todd’s brilliant creation goes way beyond that and creates a ranking that combines traffic, influence and quality into a ranking of the best out there. We’re excited to be able to bring that to our readers. We also hope it’ll be a great thing for all bloggers listed.”

Congratulations go out to Todd for his perseverance; it paid off! Congrats also to the blogging community, as we are making an impact on the business world by writing quality content. Thank you also to Todd for including Customers Rock! on the list; it has been an honor!

In a related story, Kami Huyse of Communication Overtones points out that only 13% of the Power 150 are women. She shares the Top 20 PowerWomen of PR and Marketing (blogs) to help raise the awareness of top women bloggers. Thanks for the hat tip, Kami!

Meme-Mania: 8 Things About Me and Glass Half Full

Over the past few weeks, I have been tagged for the 8 Things meme by Janet Green, Steve Woodruff, Valeria Maltoni, Doug Meacham, and Nick Rice. This meme asks the person tagged to share 8 things about themselves, as a way of getting to know the blogger better. The tagged person should then tag 8 others to share some link love and to share great blogs. In addition to the “5 Things About Me” from awhile back, here are 8 more things …

1. I am a fan of science fiction movies and books (especially the “classic” movies from the 60s-80s such as Planet of the Apes, Logan’s Run, E.T., Close Encounters, Star Wars, and one of my faves Total Recall). Sharing them with my boys is a lot of fun, even if they do laugh at some of the “older” special effects!

2. I was once in the circus as a child. Ringling Brothers Circus came to town, and my sister and I were chosen to be in the parade. It was very memorable!

3. One of my favorite places on Earth is Maui. We vacation there on a regular basis and stay with some lovely friends. Aloha!

4. My husband and I love to travel. We have been all over Europe and the UK, and we hope to go again soon! I once travelled all the way around the world on a business trip for Hewlett-Packard when I was working there as a marketing manager - and I was 5 months pregnant!

5. I enjoy drinking red wine, especially if it is paired with Scharfenberger Chocolate. Yum!

6. I just learned how to knit this year. I think I will keep my day job, though, as I am not very good at it!

7. My favorite actor is Gene Kelley. What an amazing actor/singer/dancer! When my kids saw his “I Got Rhythm” tap dance in the movie American in Paris recently, one of them said, “Those aren’t really his feet moving! The computer did that.”

8. I am a huge fan of Disneyland and Disneyworld. One of the first things I did when we moved to San Diego was buy Disneyland season passes for all of us. Tell me if any of you come out this way, and I will meet you at Mickey’s house!

I was also tagged for the Glass Half Full meme a little while back, this time by Meikah Delid and Ryan Karpeles. Sorry to take so long to respond, guys! This meme asked the blogger to answer a few questions. Here they are:

1. How full is your glass?
2. What kind of glass is it?
3. What’s in the glass?
4. Reasons for #1, #2, and #3

And here are my answers:

1. My cup runneth over.

2. A red wine glass.

3. Ravenswood Zinfandel.

4. Reasons: My cup runneth over because I have been truly blessed in my life, much beyond what I could have imagined or deserved. The glass is a wine glass because I enjoy drinking red wine with family and friends while noshing on dark chocolate. The contents are Ravenswood Zinfandel because Ravenswood is a Customers Rock! company, plus it reminds me of my connections to the blogging community (fellow Ravenswood fan Steve Woodruff has been great at creating community with BrandingWire).

I now tag the following people (and apologies if you have already been tagged!): Daksh at TheMarketingBlog, Kevin Hillstrom of MineThatData, Katie Konrath of GetFreshMinds, Tim Jackson of MasiGuy, Daniel Sitter of Idea Sellers, Kevin Dugan of Strategic Public Relations, Dale Wolf of The Perfect Customer Experience, and Christy Brewer of The Diff.

You can choose which meme you want to respond to! Have fun.

(Photo by nruboc)

5 Reasons I Blog

Becky Carroll — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 00:14:58 +0000

I was recently tagged by Sharon Sarmiento at eSoup with this meme, so here I am to share my reasons for blogging.

I blog because I enjoy writing. Actually, I am working on a book, and blogging is a great way to keep up the habit of writing. It disciplines me to write daily (although I haven’t posted in the past few days – I apparently need more discipline).
I blog because I have an opinion. There are many in-depth conversations taking place about the worlds of marketing, customer service, and customer experience, and I just had to get in on the discussions!
I blog because I care. Customers are my passion, and I care deeply about how organizations can make it better for their customers. I also firmly believe that organizations can benefit by opening lines of communication to their customers, so I wanted to write about it and get folks thinking!
I blog because I think it is a cool way to meet other smart people. Before I started reading blogs, I had no idea these types of “live” conversations were taking place in the business world. I was under the mistaken impression blogging was mostly about personal blogs. Since then, I have met some incredible people from around the world (and from just down the street!) who are becoming friends. For that, I am grateful.
I blog because I want to build my business. I am not looking to make money with the blog itself, but I am looking to continue to build my credibility with this blog. So far, so good!

On that final reason, I want to give a thank-you to all the loyal readers of this blog. I have gotten to know many of you, and you are a pleasure to meet. Please continue to pass along my blog to others, and spread the word that Customers Rock!

Note: As so many of you have already had this meme, I will take Sharon’s approach; if you want to be tagged with this, please leave me a comment or send me an email. I will update my post and link to you!

(Photo uploaded by Forgiss on Stockxpert.com)

Updated Z-list or Z-list 2.0

Becky Carroll — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 22:14:56 +0000

When the Z-list was re-vitalized a few weeks ago by Maki, I found myself gazing into an entirely new set of blogs. Some of them were very similar to my interests, some of them weren’t. I also found it was hard to dig-in to the Z-list because it had expanded so much! Then I noticed that Gavin Heaton was thinking about trying to organize it somehow, just as I had been thinking. Sharon Sarmiento joined us, and we have now produced Z-list 2.0!

What, you might ask, is Z-list 2.0? We took the last known version of the Z-list started by Mack Collier, added on as many of the new entries as we could track down, and then did a 10-word “description” of each blog. After combining our work, we categorized the blogs by type. At the end of this post, you will find the Z-list 2.0.

We also created it in a Word version and in an Excel version for easier sorting. I, for one, find this very helpful. Now I can go and look at all of the marketing blogs, or all of the photography blogs and dig into those that look interesting. I can also go and sort by location to find the bloggers in my area.

Gavin is putting this into a Wiki; more on that when it arrives.

I am sure Z-list 2.0 didn’t capture every blog ever to be on the Z-list because there are so many different versions of it! Each site that posted a list got their list from a different site, as well as added different blogs to it, so the list really ebbed and flowed all over the ’sphere. When the Wiki is up, you can add any missing blogs into it, and hopefully, links!

This was a great exercise. It forced me to take the time to go out to the many wonderful blogs on the list (something I kept putting off before). I have added quite a few of them to my feed reader, and I look forward to making many more friendships through these new connections. Thanks for the project, Gavin and Sharon.

All right, without further ado, here is Z-list 2.0. Scroll down, enjoy, and tell us what you think (many of you already have on Gavin’s blog, so thanks)!

Blog Name	Author	Location	Category	10 Word Description
Calico Monkey	Will Reinhardt	Texas, USA	Animation	Focuses on the ToonBoom software to create animation.
Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together	Tammy Vitale	Maryland, USA	Art	Art-focused, including thoughts on the art that Tammy produces.
Woolgathering	Elizabeth Perry		Art	Looking, thinking, drawing, being
World Blog Collection	ugyen		Blog aggregator	Blog listings categorized by type; goal to add 1000 links in ’07.
Blogging Secret	Louiss Lim	Malaysia	Blogging	Part personal but mostly blogging related site.
Blogging to Fame	Divya Uttam	India	Blogging	All aspects of online business from SEO to usability and blogging.
Blog-Op	Chris Lodge		Blogging	How to improve your blogging by Chris and others.
Daily Blog Tips	Daniel		Blogging	Tips to improve your blogging from tools to design.
Mike’s Money Making Mission	Mike		Blogging	Making money using free blogs.
One Reader at a Time	Bob Glaza		Blogging	One blogger’s experiment in building and engaging with online communities.
Ruminate this site	The Ruminator	Maine, USA	Blogging	Reviews blogs and sites so that we don’t have to.
SMogger Social Media Blog	Linda Bustos	Vancouver, Canada	Blogging	The ethical use of social media for bloggers and other web users.
SuccessCREEations	Chris Cree	Georgia, USA	Blogging	Blog Consultant bringing the twin passions of business and blogging together.
Successful Blog	Liz Strauss		Blogging	The legendary Liz Strauss, blogger extraordinaire and creator of the SOB award.
Troy Worman’s Blog	Troy Worman	Jacksonville, USA	Blogging	Focus on writing, ideas and connections
Copywriter’s Crucible	Matt Ambrose	UK	Blogging, Copywriting	The importance of copy in corporate blogging
Copywriting Tuneups	Eric Rosen		Blogging, Copywriting	How to measure reading effectiveness and why it is important in the blogosphere
Dipping into the Blogpond	Meg	Sydney, Australia	Blogging, Tech	Blogging about starting an Internet company in the Sutherland Shire.
BrandSizzle	Anne Simons		Branding	Broad and deep insight into the branding process.
Own Your Brand!	Mike Wagner	Iowa, USA	Branding	Blog to help businesses re-imagine their brands.
The Emerging Brand	Anna Farmery	UK	Branding	Corporate branding blog focused on leadership.
The Engaging Brand	Anna Farmery	UK	Branding	Using technology and marketing knowledge to improve business communications.
What is Brand?		Japan	Branding	Japanese readers/speakers? Anyone?
Presentation Zen	Garr Reynolds	Japan	Business	(Site in English) Tips for great presentations, marketing, and business communications.
Bob Sutton	Bob Sutton	California, USA	Business	Discussions of “jerks” in business.
Perspective	Niti Bhan	Asia	Business	Health, wealth and the freedom to choose. Archived blog. New one is jugaad (http://www.nitibhan.com/jugaad).
Ramblings from a Glass Half Full	Terry Starbucker	Connecticut, USA	Business	Views on business life.
Simplicity Mary’s Blog	Mary Schmidt	New Mexico, USA	Business	Business development, marketing troubleshooting
Funny Business	Scrambled Toast		Business commentary	Wide ranging discussion on business with a funny and pictorial approach.
Creative Think	Roger von Oech	California, USA	Business, Creativity	Fun Ideas to stimulate your creativity.
The Copywriting Maven	Roberta Rosenberg	Washington DC, USA	Copywriting	Marketing and SEO copywriting tips.
Brain Based Biz	Robyn McMaster		Creativity	Tips for stirring creativity in business.
Experienceology	Stephanie Weaver	California, USA	Customer Experience	How to create great customer experiences on the web and in the “real” world.
QAQNA	Tom Vander Well	Iowa, USA	Customer service	Business blog on call centers, quality assessment, and customer service.
Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid!	Tim Jackson		Cycling, Blogging	The irrepressible Tim MasiGuy Jackson and Co’s slant on bicycle marketing.
MineThatData	Kevin Hillstrom		Database Marketing	Tips for database marketing from the viewpoint of a DM wiz.
Design Sojourn	DT	Sydney and Singapore	Design	How to do good design and create clever products.
aialone	JT (Jon) Winebrenner	Canada	Design, tech	Design, innovation, as well as Jon’s cartoons!
Frozen Puck	Brock Skywalker	Canada	Eclectic	Making cool stuff with expensive toys
Africa Unchained	Emeka Okafor		Economy	Discussing issues and solutions in Africa.
Energy Blog			Energy Industry	News, information and updates on the Energy generation industry.
Movie Marketing Madness	Chris		Entertainment, marketing	Marketing with a focus on Hollywood. No info on About page.
gDiapers	Jason	Oregon, USA	Environment	Corporate blog discussing environmental issues.
Time to Budget	Mona Weathers		Finance	How to gain financial freedom by controlling your finances.
Soloride	Paul Sanchez	California, USA	Fundraising	A project raising awareness and funds for children with dyslexia and learning differences
Girls Swimsuits	Preety		Girls	The name says it all, new site, small archive.
Home Business Wiz	Barbra Sundquist	Canada	Home business	Collection of resources about home business.
Working at Home on the Internet	Joe Hauckes		Home business, Blogging	Home business entrepreneurs and making money from home
Kristie T	Kristie Tamsevicius		Home business, Online Money Making	Fun, mom-geared work-at-home tips and advice on making money on the net.
Asia Inspection Community			Industrial	Blog for Inspection Engineers based in Asia. Includes job board.
Employment Law Colorado	Peter Mullison	Colorado, USA	Law	Resource for employers and employees on Colorado employment law
Leading Questions	Ed Brenegar	USA	Leadership	Real life leadership, organisational tranformation and practical tips for leaders of all kinds.
Steve Olson	Steve Olson		Life	Chronicling one family’s quest for personal freedom.
Make It Great!	Phil Gerbyshack	Wisconsin, USA	Life coaching	How to take your life from good to great by focusing on relationships.
You Already Know This Stuff	Jodee Bock	Fargo, USA	Life Coaching	Reminding us all that what we need to know is already in our minds and hearts.
HolyMama!		USA	Lifestyle	Funny perspective on life from a stay at home Christian mom.
My Marrakesh	Maryam Montegue	Morocco	Lifestyle	Expatriate American with an eye for style, architecture and good living
Gangster Sonny			Mafia	Fascinated with all things mafia … from movies to weapons.
Talking Story	Rosa Say	Hawaii, USA	Management	Management and leadership, Hawaiian style.
AENDirect	Aen Tan	Singapore	Marketing	Freelance art director’s view on creativity and advertising
Being Peter Kim	Peter Kim	Massachusetts, USA	Marketing	Personal insights from the depths of Forrester (note: this is his personal, not Forrester, blog).
BizandBuzz	Gianandrea Facchini	Rome, Italy	Marketing	Brand building and marketing from an Italian perspective
bizsolutionsplus	Lewis Green	Connecticut, USA	Marketing	A passionate and respected author, marketer and activist.
Blog Till You Drop!	Laurence-Hélène	UK	Marketing	Marketing, advertising, branding, blogging
Branding & Marketing	Chris Brown	Ohio, USA	Marketing	Designed for business professionals with an interest in branding and marketing.
Business Garden		France	Marketing	French readers/speakers?
Buzz Canuck	Sean Moffitt	Toronto, Canada	Word of Mouth	Passionate exponent of word of mouth from Canada.
Buzzoodle	Ron McDaniel	Ohio, USA	Word of mouth, Marketing	Creating buzz with word of mouth marketing.
Christine Kane	Christine Kane		Marketing, Music	A recording artist, Christine harnesses the power of community to reach her audience.
CKs Blog	Christina Kerley	New York, USA	Marketing	Clever strategies, the new best practices, and the smart marketers behind them.
Conversation Agent	Valeria Maltoni	Pennsylvania, USA	Marketing	Connecting ideas and people—how talk can change our lives
converstations	Mike Sansone	Des Moines, USA	Marketing, blogging	Known as the blogging yoda (for insight not looks), Mike is a conversation generator.
CrapHammer	Sean Howard	Canada	Marketing	Marketing using new media.
Customers Rock!	Becky Carroll	California, USA	Marketing, Customer Experience	Marketing the customer experience; its importance for businesses.
Diva Marketing	Toby Bloomberg	Atlanta, USA	Marketing	The Diva herself, aligning technology, marketing and branding for businesses.
Dmitry Linkov	Dmitry Linkov	Moscow, Russia	Marketing, Business	Everyday and business issues
Drew’s Marketing Minute	Drew McLellan	USA	Marketing, Eclectic	Where strategy and passion collide
eSoup	Sharon Sarmiento	Alabama, USA	Marketing, Entrepreneurism	Productivity, marketing, web media, small biz development and other stuff entrepreneurs ought to know.
Flooring the Consumer	C. B. Whittemore	New Jersey, USA	Marketing, Customer Experience	Improving the consumer experience, particularly in flooring (carpeting)
Get Shouty!	Katie Chatfield	Sydney, Australia	Marketing, Planning	Digital strategy and thoughts on blogging.
Golden Practices	Michelle Golden		Marketing	Thoughts on marketing for professional services firms, including lawyers and CPAs.
Hee-Haw Marketing	Paul McEnany	Texas, USA	Marketing	There is no box. New media marketing strategy thrown together with a few cuss words and a dash of panache.
Hola! Oi! Hi!	Katia Adams	New York, USA	Marketing, Multicultural	Thoughts of a Brazilian newly arrived in the US with a marketer’s point of view.
Jeremy Latham’s Blog	Jeremy Latham	Vancouver, Canada	Marketing	A marketing-business oriented blog on website development.
John Wagner	John Wagner	Texas, USA	Marketing	News and views on marketing, advertising, media, PR and grass-roots communications
Kinetic Ideas	Wendy Maynard	Oregon, USA	Marketing	Marketing tips, ideas, strategies, and musings for small businesses.
Logic + Emotion	David Armano	Chicago, USA	Marketing	The intersection of marketing, brand engagement and experience design. How to turn your passive consumers into active brand participants.
Marketing Hipster	Cord Silverstein	Raleigh, USA	Marketing	Online oriented blog on marketing and web 2.0 tools.
Marketing Nirvana	Mario Sundar	USA	Marketing	How corporate marketers can leverage the web & social media for better results
Multi-Cult Classics	HighJive		Marketing, Advertising	Musings on Multiculturalism in the Ad Industry and Beyond.
Nick Rice	Nick Rice	Kentucky, USA	Marketing, branding	Marketing strategy combined with creative thinking and design.
On Influence & Automation	Douglas A. Karr	Indiana, USA	Marketing	A marketing and technology blog
OTOInsights	Jeremi Karnell		Marketing	Corporate blog focusing on using technology to create and sustain customer conversations.
Pardon My French	Eric Frenchman	New Jersey, USA	Marketing	Online strategy and marketing with great case studies of real projects.
Pow! Right Between The Eyes!	Andy Nulman		Marketing	The importance of surprise in business
Purple Wren	Sandy Renshaw	Iowa, USA	Marketing	Tools and techniques for communicating life through print and images.
Servant of Chaos	Gavin Heaton	Sydney, Australia	Marketing	Gavin’s rant on the world of branding and storytelling.
Shotgun Marketing Blog	Chris Houchens	Kentucky, USA	Marketing	Musings on marketing and related ideas.
Small Business Blogging	Andy Wibbels	Chicago, USA	Marketing, Tech	Using web media to market your business
Tell Ten Friends	Jordan Behan	Canada	Marketing	Marketing using new media to make connections.
The Branding Blog	Martin Jelsema		Marketing	Branding principals, opinions and prejudices he’s developed
The Experience Curve	Karl Long	California, USA	Marketing, Social Media	Social media and marketing from an experiential point of view.
The Instigator Blog	Ben Yoskovitz	Montreal, Canada	Marketing	Entrepreneurial focus on marketing, ideas and building your business
The Marketing Minute	Drew McLellan	Iowa, USA	Marketing	Expert insight into marketing and branding. And Drew loves Disneyland.
The Viral Garden	Mack Collier	Alabama, USA	Marketing	Mr Community leads the way in using technology to create conversation.
Two Hat Marketing	Steve Miller	Washington, USA	Marketing	Views on targeted marketing.
Unconventional Thinking	Chris Kieff	New York, USA	Marketing	The art and science of growing businesses
Viaspire	A biz blog—Viaspire		Marketing	Marketing and Communications consulting firm blog
Popcorn n Roses	TC Kirkham and Kim Brown	Massachusetts, USA	Movies	Movie industry blog with reviews and musings.
Current World news			News	“Breaking” news across a couple of categories. Small archive.
Choice at Your Fingertips			News, Blogging	News and tips for making money blogging. No archive.
Blogtrepreneur	Adnan	UK	Online Money Making	How to be an online entrepreneur and also build community!
Can I Make Big Money Online	George Brian Manty		Online Money Making	Tips for making money online including research, design and blogging.
Dosh Dosh	Maki		Online Money Making	Trying to source legitimate methods for making money online.
Internet Bazaar	Guhan Mathivanan		Online Making Money	Tips and ideas for making money online.
Kumiko’s Cash Quest	Kumiko	Tokyo, Japan	Online Money Making	Trying to make money online and sharing the experience.
Million Dollar Experiment heads Down Under	Rob St George	New Zealand	Online Money Making	Can thinking positively make you a cool mill? Rob hopes so.
Money Spider Quest to make money on the internet		UK UK	Online Money Making Online Money Making	An experiment about making money writing, plus some tips Currently up to £128, this site makes money by letting out its posting space.
Above Popular	Mark		Personal	Motivated to make the world a better place.
Critical Fluff	Jayniek	Maryland, USA	Personal	Ranks various things in life with mulligans, crabapples, and pineapples.
Forged Euphoria			Personal	Some sponsored links.
OrbitNow!	Troy Worman	Florida, USA	Personal	Miscellaneous musings
The Sartorialist			Photography, fashion	Photos of fashion on the streets, geared to inspire designers.
Bullshitobserver	Todd Anthony		Politics	Politics and commentary.
New Millenium PR	Andrea Weckerle		PR	Bringing business, branding, marketing and PR together.
The New PR	Ryan Anderson	Ottawa, Canada	PR	Public relations in the online world.
Carpe Factum	Timothy Johnson		Project Management	Blog that focuses on the things you need to do to accomplish things. Especially big things.
Work, in Plain English	Penina S Finger		Project Management	A design and marketing focused blog on project management. Interesting mix!
turned out	David Turner	Illinois, USA	Religion	Minister blogging to connect everyone with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Evolution…not just a theory anymore	Greg Laden	Minnesota, USA	Science, Religion	Creation vs evolution, commentary and archaeology by an independent scholar.
SEO Blog			SEO	New site on SEO and use of blogs to improve rankings.
Flee the Cube	ICesar	California, USA	Small Business	Starting up a small business in web design.
Community Guy	Jake McKee	Dallas, USA	Social media	Online and offline community building tips and tricks.
A Free and Decent Blog Host	Unfathomed_Psyche		Tech	Technology news focusing on blogs and blog software
Billions With Zero Knowledge	Austin Hill	Canada	Tech, Business	Changing the world with little bits of knowledge
Connected Internet	Everton Blair	London, UK	Tech	All things to do with technology, mobile phones and gaming.
darrenbarefoot.com	Darren Barefoot	Canada	Tech, marketing	Tech news, writing and marketing
Deepak	Deepak		Tech	Focuses on the technology of the Internet and loves Google.
MapleLeaf 2.0	Mark Evans	Canada	Tech	Tech news stories relating to Canada
Scott Burkett’s Pothole on the Infobahn	Scott Burkett	Georgia, USA	Tech	Musings on technology, IT management, and online community.
Small Surfaces	Gabriel White		Tech	Interaction design, user interface design, user experience, usability and social trends related to mobile devices.
TechBuzz	Thilak	Mangalore, India	Tech	Tech new and reviews written by 17 year old in India. Awesome.
Masey.com	Rob Masefield		Travel	Design and photography blog.
Through the Lenses	Jas	Vancouver, Canada	Travel, Photography	Travel/photography blog includes stunning shots and photography tips.
Travel And Vacation On Blog			Travel	Lightweight travel guide/destination information on selected cities. Needs more.
The Best Guides to eCommerce with Favor			Viral marketing	Viral marketing tools, memes and SEO tips.
Web Metrics Guru	Marshall Sponder		Web analytics	Web analytics, in particular for blogs
The Future of the Web	Jesse Skinner	Canada	Web Development	Use of new technologies for the web.
Social Media on the fly	Mark Krupinski	Florida, USA	Web media, blogging	Learning social media on the fly

Friday News from the ‘Sphere

Becky Carroll — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 22:58:08 +0000

Today, my tidbits point to two Marketing carnivals, a “geeky” interview, and the latest on the Z-list. Grab your favorite snack (I just finished one of mine: Bugles!), sit back, and have a read.

Two Marketing Carnivals

I am very late in posting on these, so my sincerest apologies! First, Peter Kim’s most recent Carnival of Marketing highlighted my post on Marketing Experiences, not Products. He also refers to his ideas on reinventing marketing to be more customer-centric, which of course, I completely agree with! I believe that marketing also needs to become more pervasive throughout a company so it can work hand-in-hand with all customer-facing touch points. Marketing should not be a gate-keeper of information but can facilitate customer engagement. You can read other points of view in Peter’s Resources on Reinventing Marketing post from this week. Thanks, Peter! I would like to be part of this conversation.

Nick Rice has an ongoing Marketing (r)evolution Carnival, and his latest entry has a plethora of posts. Topics include advertising, marketing, branding, and strategy. There has been some discussion of the need to add a topic for customer experience from our friends over at Perfect Customer Experience blog. Anyone care to chime in? Should there be a separate category, or should it be considered part of strategy/marketing? Be sure to thank Nick while you are visiting his carnival for all the hard work he puts into making it such a success. Thanks again, Nick!

A “Geeky” Interview

I just finished reading the in-depth interview of Robert Stephens, founder of Geek Squad (now part of Best Buy) over at Service Untitled. They have done a fabulous job of documenting the Q&A in this post, this post, and then this post (note: the fourth part of the interview will be coming out next week). The topics include Robert’s background and philosophy, his thoughts on uniforms, hiring, and customer service, as well as Geek Squad’s challenges and opportunities for improvement. If you don’t take at least a few tidbits away for your own customer service operation, then read it again! Well done.

Latest on the Z-List

The Z-list quieted down after the New Year, and I thought, well, it was fun while it lasted. Plus, I still needed to catch up on all those great blogs I hadn’t gotten around to reading yet. Next thing I know, Maki over at DoshDosh found it and started it up again in a whole new community! Gavin Heaton decided it was getting a bit unwieldy and needed some structure; exactly what I had been thinking. Sharon Sarmiento said she would help us sort it all out, and now we are deep in the Z-list.

We should be putting out version 2.0 of the Z-list soon with blog categories and even mini-reviews of each blog. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, my thoughts about the Z-list are this: I never would have found so many great blogs, and in turn, so many blogging friends, if it wasn’t for Mack Collier. He got this new community started back in December, and that is the perfect name for it, a community. Yes, those on the Z-list have seen a rise in their rankings. However, when you read a little bit closer, you see that the Z-listers are regularly commenting on one another’s blogs, guest blogging on them, and even working together all around the world. This is what the Z-list is really all about. It is the great content, plus the great friendships, that have kept bloggers and readers coming back for more. Thanks again, Mack!

Now I’m It

Becky Carroll — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 22:20:33 +0000

Over the holidays, I was tagged by C. B. Whittemore over at FlooringtheConsumer (thanks, C. B.!). I think this tag meme has been going around for awhile, so I will do my best to continue it! Here are my “five little known facts”:

1. I am a rocket scientist; well, not exactly, but I did intern at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA during my college years. I worked on Cray Supercomputers, which at the time were state-of-the-art multi-processors. Pretty cool (and literally cooled by liquid).

2. I am a Brown Belt in Tae Kwon Do. Someday, I hope to get my Black Belt!

3. I love to sing, and one of my favorite ways to sing is acappella (without accompaniment). I sang barbershop harmony for many years with the Sweet Adelines, an international women’s musical organization. I have also sung with several church choirs as well as the UC Berkeley Jazz Choir.

4. I lived in England for 3 years, when I worked for Hewlett Packard, along with my husband and two boys. We just loved it there, as we had a lot of opportunity to travel all over the UK as well as the European Continent. One of my favorite places was Brugge, Belgium, where they make some of the world’s best chocolate and best beer!

5. When I was young, I wanted to grow up and be a roboticist. I read all of Isaac Asimov’s books as a youth, long before the I, Robot movie came out, and I really wanted to help develop the Positronic Brain and build robots. For that reason, I got my Electrical Engineering/Computer Science degree from UC Berkeley. I just went a different direction when I joined HP, as marketing was a strong pull for me, and HP sent me back to school to get my MBA. But I still enjoy robots.

OK, that was me. Now to try and tag 5 people who haven’t already been tagged! My apologies if you have already been “touched”. I don’t know all of you yet, but I hope to!

1. Kevin Hillstrom at MineThatData

2. Tammy Vitale, originator of the W-list

3. Patricia Seybold, who just came out with a great new book (this one is gutsy, as I haven’t met Patricia before!)

4. Doug Meacham at NextUp (a fellow Wordpress blogger!)

5. Kristin Gorski at WriteNowisGood (a blog about writing)

I wanted to include Mack Collier, Lewis Green, Andy Nulman, and Maria Palma, but they were already tagged. (as I said, this has been going around for awhile now). These folks have all been very supportive of me as I have been getting going in the blogosphere. Thanks, guys and gals!