Here’s the best from stuff I’ve read over the past couple weeks. It’s nice to get smarter.

1. You Already Know How to Write an eBook … So What’s Stopping You? Most folks who blog have a dream to write a book. I know I do. Which makes this no-brainer post by Ali Luke such an eye-opener. Hey blogger: you’ve already got everything you need for a book. In fact, you’ve probably already pretty much written it.
2. The Best Time to Ask Your Boss for a Raise. Turns out there are some practical things you can do to help your chances, including asking early in the morning. Go figure.
3. Simple Sells. Tom Martin reminds us how success typically comes disguised as simplicity.
4. The Best Pizza Box Marketing Ever. Joe Pulizzi shares how someone is taking full advantage of every channel, even cardboard. I’m no expert on pizza box marketing, but this looks pretty good.
5. How JC Penney’s Got the Ominous Google Slap. This article actually isn’t all that great, to be honest. But the details on what JC Penney went through earlier this year with the Google updates is pretty interesting.

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I ran across these four great posts over the past couple weeks, mostly centered around social media and its implementation. Enjoy.

1. 7 Ways Designers and Developers Can Optimize Sites for Search Engine, by Tommy Swanson: I’ve always been enthralled with SEO, and I’ve spent a lot of time over the past three years focusing on it more and more. Typically, designers are overlooked in their influence on a well-optimized page. But as this article points out, the work of designers and developers as early as the planning stage is crucial.
2. A Shortcut to Growing Your Social Media Presence, by Jen Fong: When I saw my good friend Jen peddling shortcuts, it got my attention. Cuz as she explains in the post, she never endorses shortcuts. So what’s this all about? It’s some great, proven advice from someone who knows her stuff when it comes to online marketing and the direct selling world.
3. Executive Micro-Management Mentality, by David Meerman Scott: David’s working through a series of posts that is wonderfully accurate at describing the process of implementing social media at the corporate level. In this post, he covers the executives. And he nails them. If you’ve tried to do anything at a company with social media, you’ve experienced at least parts of this.
4. What Small Towns Can Teach Us About Social Business, by Jason Falls: This is probably the best thing I’ve read in a few weeks. Yes, I’m biased because he’s talking about my motherland of Kentucky. But Jason’s examples of small-town life and how it applies to social networking is the best analogy I’ve seen so far about what true community networking is all about.

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A nice mix of stuff you need to read, from email marketing resources to figuring out where all your tax money went. Enjoy.

1. Announcing the Connection Agency, by Steve Woodruff: Right off the bat, I gotta give a tip o’ da hat to my pal Steve Woodruff. So, yeah, the fact that he’s starting a company based on his great faith in networks and connections is awesome. But the real thing here is that, probably more than anyone else, I always love reading Steve’s stuff on how the whole point of it all is connecting, and his clarity for what that means. He talks about it a lot on his blog, and his free white paper on Opportunity Networks is really a must-read to get your head straight before you start firing into all the tactical side of online networking. Good luck, Mr. Sticky Figure!
2. 13 Top Email Marketing Resources, by Amy Garland at Blue Sky Factory: Looking for some case studies, stats, ideas on how to do email marketing right? First, be sure you’re reading Blue Sky Factory’s blog. Second, work your way through this list. The data meccas alone toward the end of the list of mind-altering. Email is still extremely important people; it ain’t dead. Start doing it right … this stuff will help.
3. Designing Your Ideal Week, by Michael Hyatt: One of these days, I’m gonna make it through one of these link-heavy posts without referencing Michael Hyatt. Today ain’t that day. He simply keeps pumping out too much extremely practical stuff that I gotta pass along. In this one, he shows how he schedules his weeks … for everything. It’ s admittedly over-the-top, and certainly not set in stone, but his point makes sense: If you don’t at least try to design a perfect week, then you’ll never have one. I’m gonna be trying this this week myself.
4. The Truth About Confidence, by Steve Sammartino: Steve is the master of packing maximum punch out of a simple paragraph. He never writes much in a post, but he does milk that puppy for all its worth. I daresay he’s even better at it than Seth Godin. So, I ain’t gonna explain this one. Just read it and see what I’m talking about.
5. Where Did My Tax Dollars Go?: Hopefully, you’ve recovered from the tax season. Ever wonder where it all goes? This site’ll show you, and I bet you don’t like it.

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Switching things up a little this week, passing along some great podcasts I’ve listened to this week. I’m a podcast freak. It makes my commute a joy. It makes working out a joy. It’s just a great way to consume all the awesome content out there. So here are three worth your time:

1. Listen to Jay Ehret’s Magic Marketing: the Dark and the Light. Jay typically offers interviews with some great marketing minds on his podcast. This time around, though, it was just the man and his microphone. And it is good. Jay describes what he calls those “magic moments:” touch point where you can make pure magic happen for your customers.
2. Listen to Jay and Sterling’s What No One Else Will Tell You About Six-Figure Joint Venture Launches. The guys from Internet Business Mastery recently launched a new product, and they pass along some great behind-the-scenes lessons they learned this time around.
3. Listen to John Jantsch and Kevin Kelly’s What Does Technology Want From Us? This is a fascinating interview with one of the founder’s of Wired magazine. It goes way beyond just “technology,” and talks about what the implications technology actually has on our life and lifestyle. It’s very heady, and very good stuff.

And by the way, Marketing In Progress will be launching a podcast very soon. If you’d like to be notified once it’s ready, be sure you’re signed up for the email newsletter.

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Seems I came across some great tips specifically for network marketers this week, and since that’s exactly what so many of you are, consider this an extra special collection of the good stuff. Obviously, if you’re not a network marketer, you’ll still probably enjoy most of these links.

1. Read Jen Fong’s What It Takes to Be a Successful Direct Seller. The direct sales industry is littered with the cheesiest of cheesy sales folks and scarred from decades of that being the norm. I can tell you firsthand the industry has changed significantly in terms of legitimacy over the past 15 years. Jen’s dose of reality in this post should be something you send every new prospect. Set the expectations up front. The work is hard, but the payoff is worth it.
2. Read How to Sell Your Network Marketing Company’s Products Online. Great post, although it has more to do with reasons to and not to use your company’s replicated sites.
3. Read the New York Times’ Erasing the Digital Past. My buddy Don Sorensen from Big Blue Robot is mentioned in this post. He and I spoke together in December on Online Reputation Management in the direct sales industry. Most network marketing companies have online rep issues. Understanding everything that goes into protecting that reputation can be quite eye-opening.
4. Read Jeff Sexton’s How to Write Better Copy with Set-Ups, Open Loops and Emotional Payoffs. Copywriting is essential for any industry, especially if you’re going to do anything online. I really enjoyed this post from Jeff because it highlights the importance of meeting emotional needs as you write. We too often get caught up in logical arguments. They have their place, but only if the emotional argument has already been won.
5. Read Michael Hyatt’s How to Create an e-Book in Seven Steps: More and more direct sellers are creating their own information product these days. Be it a free report to help build their opt-in list or a for-sale training guide, it’s the thing to do. Michael’s step-by-step guide shows you what’s going on to actually make something like this happen. I can tell you I followed almost the same steps in creating the Rock Your Business ebook, and I’ll be sharing the details behind that soon in an upcoming post.
6. Read Patricia Redsicker’s Why Content Strategy Must Precede Social Media Strategy. Oh, it’s just too dang common. We jump into the tools and tactics before we have a clue as to what we should actually be doing with them. Patricia does a wonderful job of succinctly explaining why that’s a bad idea.
7. Read Naomi Dunford’s Think You’re Not an Expert? Nobody says it like Naomi. One thing all entrepreneurs have in common is dealing with confidence from the ones closest to you. I love Naomi’s perspective here, and as a network marketer, you’ll certainly relate (especially if your spouse doesn’t help out).

That’s enough for this week. I bet you came across some good stuff, too. Leave it in the comments, or even better, write your own post and link back here.

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Here are some of the coolest things I’ve found online over the past couple weeks. Doing any of it is sure to help you as a smart marketer. However, if you are a dumb marketer, or if you are smart but not a marketer, you should skip this now. Stop reading. This isn’t for you.

For the rest of you …

1. Read Michael Hyatt’s “3 Reasons Why Authors Must Develop Their Own Platforms:” I’m starting to wonder what value a book publisher actually brings to the table. I’ve been hearing a lot about “the author’s platform” lately. The publishing world is about to experience the same revolution the music industry has. The writing is all over the wall (no pun intended).
2. Read “How to Create a Proper Banner – One That Actually Works:” Some interesting tips and approaches when designing banners. It’s amazing how often what we think will work is actually what doesn’t work at all. This post discusses Banner Blindness, too, which could be the main reason your banners aren’t working (or being seen, for that matter).
3. Read John Dyer’s “Not Many of You Should Presume to Be Bloggers:” Yeah, it’s on Christianity Today, but the point here is less spiritual and more about what pushing the “Publish” button really means.
4. Read Sarah Evans’ “50 Social Media Stats for Your Arsenal:” A great list of the social media landscape today. I always find these handy, but I also think we can find a stat that supports just about everything we’d like to prove or disprove. If you’re pitching social media to your boss, please don’t be a stats hound, spouting them out left and right. And don’t just rely on Erik Qualman’s Social Media Revolution, either. Have some meaty, specific uses in mind for your company. Then complement that with stats and pretty pie charts. 
5. Check out InboxQ: Here’s an interesting tool that essentially makes you aware of questions being asked on Twitter that pertain to, well, anything you want. I’m just starting to use it myself, so I can’t really tell you what I think about it. But the concept is cool, and it may be able to simplify some of your Twitter work.
6. Read Carol Roth’s “60+ Ways to Leverage & Use Twitter to Grow Your Business:” This is an extremely interesting list from people using Twitter to make things happen. Lots of good ideas in here (including the InboxQ idea above).
7. Read Angela Maiers’ “Are You Conference Ready? 5 Ways to Ensure Your Success:” I tell everyone how much I love using Twitter to prep for and fully leverage events. It’s the quintessential merger of online and offline. Here are some extremely practical tips if this is all news to you.
8. Check out this interview of John Dyer by DFW CBS11 on “Should Religious Groups Use Social Media?:” John is a neighbor, fellow Irving-Bible-Church-attendee, father of one of my boy’s best friends, and all-around cool guy. Oh, and he’s really got some cool thoughts on technology and theology. I’m pretty sure that’s why he got interviewed (rather than all his associations with me). But who knows…. He’s also mentioned twice in this list; it’s been a good week for John.
9. Subscribe to Chris Brogan’s Blog Topics service: At least for just one month. I originally signed up for the $10/month service just to see what it was about, with plans of ditching it soon thereafter. Three months later, I simply can’t get enough of it. If you blog, you’ll be surprised how useful this service is. And I haven’t even tapped into the communities yet that have sprung up around it. (While you’re at it, check out the Letter.Ly service he’s using. Kinda cool).
10. Go spend a couple hours on TheOatmeal.com: It’s always good for some hearty guffaws.

That’s enough for this week. You got any great links you came across? List them in the comments. Or even better, write your own post on your blog and link back to this one so it shows up in the TrackBacks.

And by the way, my free email newsletter shares even more smart ideas for marketers. If you’re not signed up yet, do it now and prepare for pure marketing genius to swallow you whole. Or maybe just look for the next newsletter ….

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If there’s one thing the two weeks of holidays is good for, it’s catching up on your blog reading. Here are a few posts that really made me think:

1. Beware of the Doghouse: Did you catch this JC Penney’s jewelry campaign? Pretty funny, and a great use of online viral video.
2. How to Get People to Pay Attention to You: This bold and mixed bag by Martin Stellar over at Men with Pens scatters quite a few useful thoughts throughout. I especially like the “Social Media is Snake Oil.”
3. When It Doesn’t Just Work: I couldn’t help but chuckle at what we all deal with: confusion with the all-in-one remote. Funny story by Steve.
4. Why You Need a Personal Newsletter: Some interesting first-hand stats on adding a newsletter to your web strategy from Christopher S. Penn. It led to a 25% increase immediately for him.
5. Why You Should Use and Guest Post About New Internet Tools: Here’s an idea that makes sense for anyone looking for some possible big traffic ideas. Talk about brand new stuff. If it catches on, you’ll beat the masses.
6. Social Media & Content Marketing Predictions for 2011: There are lots of predictions posts out there, but Joe at Junta42 always does a great job of collecting some of the best ideas around.
7. The Domino Project – Seth Godin’s new Publishing Platform: Seth has had a lot of hot opinions this year on book publishing. It’s obviously been leading to this. I’m interested to see where this goes.
8. Christmas: A Breach of Trust: This is probably the most thought-provoking thing I’ve read in a long time. Jason manages to merge Wikileaks, transparency and Santa into a polarizing post that makes some sense.

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It’s been a while since I batched up of the great stuff I’ve read lately that you may have missed. Check these lil’ morsels out, and spread the love.

1. Men Are Idiots …: I’m only vaguely familiar with this story about Cali Lewis from GeekBeat.tv, but I know enough to know this is funny on many levels. Nice grab, Gio.
2. Alienating the 2%: Hey, what’s a mash-up list without a post from Seth, huh? His premise is that 2% of your crowd is gonna be disappointed with what you’re doing. They just squawk so much that you can’t tell if they represent everyone else, or if they are, truly, just 2%. My experience in direct sales also tells me this 2% is often your top leaders (at least in leadership levels), and therefore you listen even more. Seth says stop.
3. Content Strategy and the Dying Art of Execution: Forget that this is focused on content marketing. These pitfalls apply to just about any project. Joe’s nailed the pits of quicksand we so easily get stuck in. My favorite (if you can call it that)? Lack of support from the execs. Being able to get executive buy-in truly is a gift and skill. Find people who can do it and put ‘em to work.
4. 8 Simple Facebook Tips: My friend Jen Fong neatly packages some nice Facebook reminders that are so easy to forget. Read ‘em. Do ‘em.
5. My Favorite WordPress Plugins: One of the things I love most about Michael Hyatt is how he so readily pulls back the curtain and let’s you know what he’s doing behind the scenes. WordPress plugins are a lot like iPhone apps: there are a lot of cool ones out there, but who’s got the time to weed through them all. Michael’s list will help you cut through some of the clutter.

While you’re at it, subscribe to Marketing In Progress.

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Some great thoughts from this past week. Enjoy.

1. Losing Our Perfect Games (Crave Something More): Being a former collegiate pitcher, you can imagine the various opinions and observations I’ve had over the Galarraga just-missed perfect game saga this past week. With a few days behind us now, I’m actually glad it happened. We’ve seen a graceful handling of a misfortune pretty much across the board. But I also enjoyed Chris Tomlinson’s take on the whole thing. Perspective truly makes all the difference.
2. Social Media “Prove It” Week (Spike Jones): The ever-cynical and uber-accountable Spike Jones launched his Social Media “Prove It” Week. The post is good, and the comments are even better.
3. SEOMoz Office Gets a New Do (SEOMoz.org): I love how the geniuses (geniui?) at SEOMoz pulled back the curtain and let us fans take a peek at their world. It’s a great example that fans really do want to know this stuff, so let them have it.
4. Polishing Turds (Seth Godin): OK, Seth’s use of the phrase “polishing turds” has stuck with me all week (no pun intended). I’m pretty sure this isn’t a new phrase, but used in context of his post, it somehow gains even more oomph. The point is valid and rampant: maybe your social media/content/PR/branding/SEO/viral/cause marketing campaigns aren’t working because they’re empty.

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Enjoy these five great posts I’ve read over the past couple weeks.

1. 50 Examples of Hand-Drawn Elements in Web Design: I love the emerging trend of incorporating true drawing into web design. It’s certainly not always appropriate or effective, but it really ups the ante on merging art and use.
2. The 8-Step SEO Strategy: This series by Laura Lippay over at SEOMoz is a great ‘day-in-the-life’ of a true SEO. Very enlightening …. and eye-crossing.
3. The Mercenary’s Guide to Internet Marketing: Nathan does an excellent job capturing the struggle many of us face as we try to balance doing something we enjoy and making money. It’s hard to know when you’ve crossed the line into whoredom. Nathan’s story is pretty telling.
4. 6 Reasons to Add LinkedIn to your Online Marketing: LinkedIn is a great social network, but network marketers can have trouble making it work for their business. It works best when treated with true professionalism, and – let’s face it – network marketers don’t always do that. Janette Stoll offers these tips on how to make it work in direct sales.
5. Recipe for Success: And finally, this succinctly poignant gem by Steve Woodruff. What more do you need to know?

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