03/20/2008
Diva Marketing Talks is
a live, internet radio show. 30-minutes. 2-guests. 1-topic about
social media marketing. Why? To help you understand how to participate
in the "new" conversation without getting blown-up. Miss today's show?
You can pick it up as a podcast or listen on your computer.
Today's Diva Marketing Talks with Mary Clare Hunt author of In Women We Trust and founder of Ecolutionary Selling and Ginny Dyson, Sustainability Strategist at DMJM H&N to discuss how to use social media marketing as a grass roots strategy to education and promote a complex topic .. in this case sustainability standards and green marketing.
Topic for March 20, 2008: Social Media Green Marketing
Time: 6:30p - 7p Eastern/ 5:30p - 6p Central/ 4:30p -5p Mountain/ 3:30p - 4p Pacific
Call-in Guest Number: 718.508.9924
Guests
Mary Clare Hunt
Mary is a consultant and author of www.InWomenWeTrust.com and also Ecolutionary Selling: Taking the Confusion out of Sustainable Furniture. She calls herself a very social media consultant matching women’s groups to business opportunities and educating both on a shared vision of Sustainability. She is also the editor for the Sustainable Products Blog the blog for the Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability. MTS is the non-profit behind the SMaRT Sustainable Standard.
Mary’s background includes a rare blend of consumer goods and intangible services anchored with manufacturing processes. She’s created print, TV and Radio campaigns for a mega Mall, and also managed over 200 industrial accounts while with (now) www.ThomasNet.com. Mary is a “connector” who believes that every woman should have a blog and every business should read it. She debates social issues with her manufacturing engineer husband in Orange County, CA and lives online.
Ginny Dyson, IIDA, LEED AP
Ginny Dyson is an interior designer with 20 years of experience in the Washington, DC market. In addition to projects for financial institutions, government and corporate faculties, she has been an active and contributing member of the sustainable design community.
In December 2005, Ginny completed three years of elected service on the board of the National Capital Region Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. She is also the founding chair of the IDA Mid-Atlantic Chanter's Sustainable Design Forum, a group that she started in 1999 to develop programs solely on sustainable topics. Ginny is an officer of the SMaRT Sustainable Product Standard Committee, an initiative of Market Transformation to Sustainability (MTS). In addition to planning and outreach for these organizations, she has spoken to a number of audiences, promoting green building criteria and the LEED Rating System.
Ginny joined DMJM H&N in August 2003 to be part of the Pentagon Renovation Program Office and since September 2004 has been working in the Arlington, VA office in their newly established interiors group. DMJM ROTTET. She is currenty a full-time Sustainability Strategist, guiding all of the projects in the Arlington, VA office that are seeking LEED certification as well as a few projects for the other offices of DMJM ROTTET. She received a Bachelor of Interior Design from Louisiana State University's College of Design, School of Architecture and is a native of Northern Virginia. Ginny is a contributing author of the MTS Sustainable Products Blog.
Tips From The Diva Bag
Complements of Mary Clare Hunt and Ginny Dyson
Three Top Themes
1. Transparency – Can you see the proof? Blogland and Greenland come together.
2. Authentic – Can you prove it? Blogland and Greenland come together again.
3. Getting your message across. – Is your green story repeatable?
Develop A Credible Green Marketing Strategy
- Get your product certified as Sustainable. You can’t claim you’re “Sustainable” until you do.
- Use LCA, Life Cycle Assessment, Third Party Audits and of course Standards in your blog posts and links.
- Partner with other bloggers and businesses who are Climate Change evangelists first and business people second.
- Create ONE Summary Sheet of all green facts pertaining to your company and product. This isn’t a branding document, it’s raw data and the proof behind everything you say on blogs.
- Take the word to the women who do 80% of the buying and word of mouth influencing.
Links Mentioned
Big Green Purse
EcoMom Alliance
Can't call in but have a question? Drop a comment and I'll ask it
for you. Let me know what you'd like Diva Talks to chat about. Don't
forget Diva Marketing Talks morphs into a podcast.

03/13/2008
Diva Marketing Talks is a live, internet radio show. 30-minutes. 2-guests. 1-topic about social media marketing. Why? To help you understand how to participate in the "new" conversation without getting blown-up. Miss today's show? You can pick it up as a podcast.
Today's Diva Marketing Talks with Yvonne DiVita, President and Founder of WME Books and author of the popular blog Lip-sticking and Deanna "Dede" Sutton, Editorial/Creative Director of Clutchmagazine.com. Clutch Magazine is the new face of the urban “it” girl appealing to every side of today’s multicultural woman. Join us to find out why when it comes to marketing to women, as Yvonne say, "Social Media: A Match Made in Heaven."
Topic for March 13, 2008: Social Media Opens The Purse Strings .. Marketing To Women
Time: 6:30p - 7p Eastern/ 5:30p - 6p Central/ 4:30p -5p Mountain/ 3:30p - 4p Pacific
Call-in Guest Number: 718.508.9924
Guests
Yvonne DiVita
Yvonne DiVita is the author of Dick*less Marketing: Smart Marketing to Women Online, a book about getting those baby boomer icons Dick and Jane to buy at your website.
She is also the president and founder of WME Books.com, a division of Windsor Media Enterprises, LLC. WME is an Author Services Company specializing in Print-on-Demand technology, blogs, and community building events. Yvonne’s background stretches to those bygone days of the early Internet, where she was a web content writer and worked in several technology start-ups. After publishing her book, she decided to become a publisher. Today her focus is on helping aspiring authors, especially those writing business books, make wise publishing choices, and works to help her authors market their books once they are released.
Yvonne maintains a blog at Lip-Sticking with a focus on the women’s market. Her other blogs include the publishing blog: AHa Blog, a blog about blogging: WME Blog, a blog about her author’s book: Windsor Media Blog, and Beneath The Cover, about the POD (print on demand) process. She also writes and manages a petblog for Purina.
Yvonne is the President of the Rochester Chapter of Women in Communications; she is a past-president of the Rochester Professional Consultants Network, and is the VP of Web Communications at the Rochester Chapter of the American Marketing Association.
Deanna "Dede" Sutton
Deanna Sutton is the founder and creative/editorial director of Sutton Media. Sutton Media is the publisher of Clutch Magazine and Brown Fashionista (scheduled to launch May 2008). Since its relaunch last April, Clutch Magazine has become one of the leading online magazines for multicultural women ages 18-34. With a passion for all things social media, Deanna recognizes the power and opportunity that the new media platform presents. At Sutton Media, Deanna is responsible for business development, marketing initiatives, and editorial and creative direction.
Prior to launching Sutton Media, Deanna worked as an integrated marketing professional where she assisted in media relations, account management and other client activities. Some of her accounts included Sara Lee, Kroger, Starbucks, Wal-Mart, and Philips Consumer Electronics. Deanna graduated from Saginaw Valley State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing.
Tips From The Diva Bag
Complements of Yvonne DiVita
Marketing to Women using Social Media: A Match Made in Heaven
- Women are talkers - that's been proven scientifically with differences in brain chemistry (women's brains connect left to right more effectively making them better at communicating and remembering), which makes using social media a natural marketing tool for those in the know.
- Women are the social creatures. They like being in the presence of other women - to learn about life, and family, and even finances. Social media is a natural fit for connecting. It drives word of mouth and it creates avenues of exploration not previously available to women. (more sharing, more comparing, and more questionning)
- Marketing to women is very much different than marketing to men - NOT because we have different body parts, as so many assume. It's because we THINK differently. Once you get your mind around how we think, you begin to understand why we love using the net - it really lets us be us.
Complements of Deanna "Dede" Sutton
- Use niche bookmarking sites such as Sk-rt in addition to Digg, Delicious and Furl to help connect with potential readers.
- Partner with like sites/or brands to help spread the word about your product/service. It is a very beneficial tactic for both participants.
- Don't under estimate the power of link building or adding. This will help raise your rank and exposure.
- Social Media provides a very powerful and fresh platform for all, especially women make sure to take the time and research in order to position your self and your brand.
Can't call in but have a question? Drop a comment and I'll ask it for you. Let me know what you'd like Diva Talks to chat about. Don't forget Diva Marketing Talks morphs into a podcast.
Update: Don't miss the After Show when Yvonne and Dede talk about the difference in how Boomer and Millennium women connect online.
Links mentioned on the show WOWOWOW Soccer Mom Myth By Michele Miller and Holly Buchanan Dick*less Marketing:Smart Marketing To Women Online

03/06/2008
Diva Marketing Talks
is a live, internet radio show. 30-minutes. 2-guests. 1-topic about
social media marketing. Why? To help you understand how to participate
in the "new" conversation without getting blown-up. Miss today's show?
You can pick it up as a podcast.
Today's Diva Marketing Talks takes the wraps off of Real Simple Syndication - better known as RSS. Our rock star guests Bill Flitter and Lee Feinberg will make RSS simple. They'll share how they used RSS to encourage viral marketing campaigns, talk about ads on RSS feeds, discuss if RSS complements or replaces eMail marketing and lots more. If we're very lucky Bill will tell us what Santa Clause, the postman and the TV clicker have to do with RSS.
Topic for March 6, 2008: RSS: Alphabet Soup or The Power Behind Social Media
Time: 6:30p - 7p Eastern/ 5:30p - 6p Central/ 4:30p -5p Mountain/ 3:30p - 4p Pacific
Call-in Guest Number: 718.508.9924
Guests:
Bill Flitter
Bill Flitter is CEO of Pheedo. Bill is considered an industry expert on syndicated content advertising and speaks regularly on this topic at industry events. Prior to Pheedo, Bill founded Email Shopping Network and directed its sales and marketing activities until its acquisition by eUniverse in 2002.
In addition to Pheedo and Email Shopping Network, Bill has started and helped build numerous early stage companies, developing hundreds of innovative products and services. Bill is also co-founder of Fastlane Ventures, a boutique management consulting firm focused on early-stage investments. Bill is a founding member of the Internet Content Syndication Council and chairs their advertising committee
Raised in Wisconsin, Bill graduated with a degree in Advertising from the University of Wisconsin. He founded the University of Wisconsin Interactive Advertising scholarship to reward outstanding excellence in this innovative field. Bill’s ruminations on a number of topics can be found on the Pheedo Blog.
Lee Feinberg
Lee Feinberg is a business development leader and has devoted his entire career to create and launch interactive products and services. For 20 years, he has guided innovation at Fortune 500 companies in financial services, automotive, consumer hardware, and healthcare. His experience includes Internet marketing and eCommerce, high-volume transaction systems, mobile communications, and interactive TV.
Lee is currently Strategy Director, Avenue A | Razorfish and previously held the position of Vice President/ Associate Director, Digitas. He was the President and Founder of e-thusiasm, inc. an independent interactive strategy consultancy whose clients included Johnson & Johnson, CheckFree, and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ. Lee has also held positions with Chase Manhattan Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and AT&T Bell Labs.
He received a B.S. and M.S. from Cornell University. Lee serves on the advisory board of Pheedo, holds a U.S. patent for a PC-telephone interface, is a member of the Marketing Executives Networking Group, the Cornell Entrepreneur Network, and the Sandler Sales Institute Presidents Club.
Can't call in but have a question? Drop a
comment and I'll ask it for you. Let me know what you'd like Diva Talks
to chat about. Don't forget Diva Marketing Talks morphs into a podcast.

02/26/2008
Diva Marketing Talks
is a live, internet radio show. 30-minutes. 2-guests. 1-topic about
social media marketing. Why? To help you understand how to participate
in the "new" conversation without getting blown-up. Miss today's show?
You can pick it up as a podcast.
Today's Diva Marketing Talks explores an innovative, new model for a social media community. Dr. Daniel Palestrant, Founder CEO of Sermo, and Dr. Richard Thrasher, community member, join me to talk about Sermo, an online community open only to doctors (a niche) where for a fee sponsors can listen in, ask questions but not fully participate.
Big question: Would this model work for other verticals/market segments like moms or golfers or accountants or patients?
Topic for February 26, 2008: Where the Docs Are .. Someone Waits For Them. Paid Sponsors in a Social Networking Community.
Time: 6:30p - 7p Eastern/ 5:30p - 6p Central/ 4:30p -5p Mountain/ 3:30p - 4p Pacific
Call-in Guest Number: 718.508.9924
Guests:
Daniel Palestrant
Daniel Palestrant is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge-based Sermo, Inc. As CEO, Daniel is responsible for the overall vision of the Sermo community and business. His main tasks focus on ensuring that Sermo is a valuable resource to physicians while building a profitable and socially responsible enterprise.
Daniel's first experiences with Healthcare Informatics came when he conceived, designed, proposed and managed deployment of CIBUR (CIGNA Internet Based Universal Resource), one of the first commercial Web-based healthcare resources for physicians and allied health professionals. No stranger to the entrepreneurial side of medicine, Daniel founded his first company, Azygos, Inc., in 1998. During that time, he successfully raised $2.2MM in funding and deployed the company's first clinical application on schedule and on budget, before selling the company to BioNetrix in May of 2001.
After selling Azygos, Daniel joined BioNetrix (Now BNX Systems) as Director of Health Care. During his time at BNX Systems, Daniel helped numerous healthcare-focused businesses increase network security, improve patient privacy safeguards and comply with HIPAA. Daniel has done clinical and laboratory research in transplant immunology. He has a B.S. in biology from Johns Hopkins University, completed medical school at Duke University, and trained in General Surgery at Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital, in Boston before leaving to launch Sermo.
Dr. Richard Thrasher
Dr. Richard Thrasher is board certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology. He established ENT practice - The Ear, Nose, & Throat Center at McKinney. He is also an active member of the Sermo community.
Dr. Thrasher received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and his medical degree from the University of Connecticut. He completed a general surgery internship in Denver before going on to an Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery residency at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. While in residency, Dr. Thrasher spent significant time at Denver Children’s hospital (routinely rated in the top 10 children’s hospitals in the country) and has a particular interest in pediatric ENT.
Upon completing residency, Dr. Thrasher served on clinical faculty with the University of Nebraska Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery while he served as a Major in the USAF for 3 years at Offutt AFB in Nebraska. During this time he won three awards for best instructor as a clinical preceptor for family medicine residents and physician assistant students. He also served as medical director of the surgical service and chief of otolaryngology at his base hospital.
Dr. Thrasher was the first otolaryngologist in Nebraska, and first in the Air Force, to perform the new Balloon Sinuplasty® surgery. He was also the first otolaryngologist in Nebraska to perform an innovative base of tongue procedure for sleep apnea and is one of only 6-7 surgeons in the country currently doing this procedure. He has extensive experience performing the Pillar Palatal Implant® procedure for snoring. He has authored several publications and remains active in pursuing clinical research in sinusitis and sleep apnea.
Dr. Thrasher’s special interests include pediatric ENT, snoring/ obstructive sleep apnea, thyroid surgery, and sinus surgery. He is an active golfer and self-proclaimed technology geek. He lives in Plano with his wife and 2 children but hopes to move to McKinney in the next several months.
Tips From The Diva Bag
Complements of Dr. Richard Thrasher
- Log on frequently and just observe how things work for a little while. Some may feel comfortable seeing the personality of the site within a couple of days, some may need some more time. But I would observe how the interaction works first before just jumping in with a post. There is an etiquette on-line that is not always readily apparent to novices.
- When you do begin to interact, do so frequently. If you make a comment or post a topic, follow up on it frequently to see if there is any feedback regarding your input. This will definitely bring you into the community. Those who post and run will not feel like they develop a relationship with other users as well.
- Avoid trying to make overt discriminatory comments—this is the surest way to be ostracized. Whether you have a bias toward something whether it’s race, gender, educational background, etc, if you make those types of comments known, you will be quickly attacked. I have seen this on many on-line communities. Most importantly be open-minded of the opinions of others and at least respectful even if they’re factually wrong. There are definitely better ways to handle differences of opinion than through attacks.
- Disclose, disclose, disclose. If you market yourself or a product on Sermo and do not disclose a financial interest, but one is discovered, you will immediately be ostracized by the community at large. If you fully disclose your interest in the marketing, you stand a fighting chance of having a constructive discussion of your particular topic.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions about patients who have a diagnosis that you can’t figure out or who has an adverse event that you want to discuss. Often these are the best discussions on Sermo.
Can't call in but have a question? Drop a
comment and I'll ask it for you. Let me know what you'd like Diva Talks
to chat about. Don't forget Diva Marketing Talks morphs into a podcast.
Update: Enoch Choi, MedHelp of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation joined the conversation. If you have any interest in healthcare in the U.S. or where physicians' interest are in changing the healthcare system do not miss the After Show. In Ophra style, the After Show continues on a free for all flow for as long as the conversation goes on.

02/19/2008
Diva Marketing Talks
is a live, internet radio show. 30-minutes. 2-guests. 1-topic about
social media marketing. Why? To help you understand how to participate
in the "new" conversation without getting blown-up. Miss today's show?
You can pick it up as a podcast.
Today's Diva Marketing Talks is a first .. with YouTube/video rock star comedians Kevin Nalts and Ben Relles. They'll give us their take if sites like YouTube can go beyond “cool” to being a credible marketing strategy. And by the way, how do you get a video viewed by thousands or even millions?
Topic for February 19, 2008: YouTube (and social networking video sites): Play Toy or Credible Marketing Strategy?
Time: 6:30p - 7p Eastern/ 5:30p - 6p Central/ 4:30p -5p Mountain/ 3:30p - 4p Pacific
Call-in Guest Number: 718.508.9924
Guests:
Kevin "Nalts"
Kevin Nalts is a career marketer (formerly with Johnson & Johnson), and now is a Consumer Product Director at a Fortune 100 company. By night he’s “Nalts,” one of YouTube’s most prolific video creators, and a top-10 “most subscribed” YouTube comedian. He and his online videos have won numerous awards, and have appeared on CNN, ABC, BBC, Fox and CBS News.
He has created more than 600 videos that have been viewed on online-video sites more than 25 million times, and include the popular “Farting in Public,” which was featured by YouTube has been viewed more than 4 million times. Note: as of this am 4,496,359 views!
He has developed sponsored videos for such brands as Mentos, Holiday Inn, GPSManiac, Cox Communications, DoMyStuff and Crowne Plaza (see “hire Nalts“). Nalts recently accepted the International Radio and Television Society “Foundation Award” on behalf of YouTube’s Community, and is a YouTube Partner.
Kevin also speaks at industry events to help video creators learn how to monetize their work, and marketers and advertisers effectively leverage online video. In addition to creating videos, he covers the industry in this Will Video For Food blog, as a writer for now-dorman TheDailyReel and assistant editor for Politics & YouTube In Review.
Catch Nalts at Bio CubeBreak YouTube Channel Best of Nalts
Ben Relles
Ben Relles is the founder and creative force behind BarelyPolitical.com. The site launched with the video "I Got a
Crush on Obama", a political parody that quickly went viral and has now
been seen over 100 million times, including national television
coverage in countries such as the United States, Japan, Germany, Russia
and Australia.
His has established himself as a leader in digital entertainment, creating original content that gets blogged about, talked about and viewed around the world.
Relles, an entrepreneur by nature, began his career as the founder and president of MarketVision Inc, which grew under his leadership into a $3 million company. Relles holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business where he graduated with a degree in Marketing Strategy and received the Ben Franklin Award for his contribution to the Philadelphia Community. Following Wharton, he joined the OmnicomGroup, where brands such as Nissan, Pepsi, Snickers, E*Trade and Siemens benefited from his innovative strategic thinking.
Relles has lectured on college campuses and been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC and ABC for his perspective on what's next in digital entertainment and new media. Always a fan of comedy, he wrote a weekly humor column at the University of Wisconsin and can be found on rare occasion performing his 10-minute stand-up set throughout New York.
Catch Ben at BarelyPolitical.com
Tips From The Diva Bag
Complements of Kevin Nalts
- 1) At a minimum, listen to what videos are saying about your brand. If Buzzmetrics or Symphony are too expensive, set up a Google alert and subscribe to YouTube videos that use your brand in the tag or description (both are free).
- 2) Engage. Create recreational videos about a topic of interest, and explore the online-video community beyond one-hit wonders and superficial surfing of YouTube. There's a community there, and even the brands actively promoting through YouTube often miss subtle but vital nuances because they're not a part of it.
- 3) Post any video content and tag it well. This cost virtually nothing and will at a minimum help your brand with search engines. Google treats video very well.
- .. and one more .. Kevin's Free eBook - How to Become Popular on YouTube (Without Any Talent)
Can't call in but have a question for Nalts and Ben ? Drop a
comment and I'll ask it for you. Let me know what you'd like Diva Talks
to chat about. Don't forget Diva Marketing Talks morphs into a podcast.
A La Oprah .. make sure you listen to the "After Show". . !
Update: Steve Garfield joined us for the After Show conversation. Not to miss!
Millie Garfield,Steve's 80 something mom - YouTube Videos MyMomsBlog

02/05/2008
Diva Marketing Talks
is a live, internet radio show. 30-minutes. 2-guests. 1-topic about
social media marketing. Why? To help you understand how to participate
in the "new" conversation without getting blown-up. Miss today's show?
You can pick it up as a podcast.
Today's Diva Marketing Talks is about an old world communication that meets new world buzz. Seems you can't turn a corner in the blogosphere without a blogger writing a book. I think of it as a side-step going from virtual to paper .. one more way to "time transfer communicate." Bet you thought time transfer was only about podcasts (smile).
Nettie Hartsock, publicist to authors (and more) and Sybil Stershic new author, dish about using social media to get the buzz going. Even if you are not a book author I'm betting a chocolate martini that there will be some hot tips that can apply to beyond books!
Topic for February 5, 2008:
Inside Out: Creating and Promoting Books With Social Media/Web 2.0
Time: 6:30p - 7p Eastern/ 5:30p - 6p Central/ 4:30p -5p Mountain/ 3:30p - 4p Pacific
Call-in Guest Number: 718.508.9924
Guests:
Nettie Hartsock
Nettie Hartsock is a veteran e-business journalist and PR marathoner! Nettie helps individuals, authors, and companies focus on creating, conveying and connecting their message to the world and creates actionable how-to-programs which establish a powerful base for attracting both blogger and journalists attention. Catch Nettie at her blog Hardsock Communications.
Sybil Stershic
Sybil F. Stershic is a marketing & organizational advisor with more than 30 years of experience helping service providers strengthen relationships with customers and employees. She is the author of the recently released book on internal marketing, Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee-Customer Care, published by WME books.
A graduate of Lehigh University, Sybil began her career in bank marketing. (The banks she worked for were merged into oblivion.) She launched her own business, Quality Service Marketing, in 1988 specializing in internal marketing and marketing/strategic planning facilitation. Sybil also conducts marketing workshops nationwide for business and nonprofit professionals and is a frequent speaker at national conferences.
Active in leadership and professional development, Sybil is a former Chairman of the American Marketing Association. Catch Sybil at her blog Quality Service Marketing
Tips From The Diva Bag
Complements of Nettie Hartsock
- Don't blog spam or blogblast to bloggers. Reach out on a personal one-to-one basis. Don't demand coverage.
- Be authentic, honest, timely and make certain that the blog you're reaching out to is one you're familiar with and have had the respect to read.
- Ask not what a blogger can do for you, ask how you, your book or your product can benefit the blogger and its readership and then approach them in a humble and respectful manner.
Complements of Sybil Stershic
In Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most, I advocate the “3 Rs” – Respect, Recognition, and Reinforcement – as the foundation of internal marketing strategy. This is the same 3 Rs but in a different context.
- Apply the “3 Rs” when dealing with prospective reviewers (both online and off-line).
- Be Respectful of their time & workload (and understand they may not have the time to review your book based on your timetable).
- Recognize their efforts by acknowledging their time to review and comment on your book (e.g., send a thank you note).
- Reinforce their helping you with appropriate reciprocity (such as linking to their blog or website on your blog).
- Target carefully & respectfully when contacting other bloggers as prospective reviewers, especially as many bloggers are already inundated with book review requests. If the book is of interest to me, and the request is sincere, then I’ll consider it. The one request that really ticked me off is the e-mail that raved about my blog and asked me to review a new book on internet marketing … despite the fact that my specialty is internal marketing!
- Start with your existing relationships. I had great response to an e-mail I sent to my network of colleagues, clients, friends & family announcing my book’s release. It wasn’t a “buy my book” announcement, but a sharing of the good news with the folks who supported and encouraged me throughout the process. The e-mail included a special discount that they could pass on to the people in their respective networks who they thought might benefit from my book.
Can't call in but have a question for Nettie and Sybil ? Drop a
comment and I'll ask it for you. Let me know what you'd like Diva Talks
to chat about. Don't forget Diva Marketing Talks morphs into a podcast.
Update: Sites/people mentioned on the show - Gather, Beliefnet, WMEbooks, Connie Reece, Beth Kephart, Steve O'Keefe
A La Oprah .. make sure you listen to the "After Show". . three divas dishin' after the show!

01/22/2008
Diva Marketing Talks is a live, internet radio show. 30-minutes. 2-guests. 1-topic about social media marketing. Why? To help you understand how to participate in the "new" conversation without getting blown-up. Miss today's show? You can pick it up as a podcast.
Today's Diva Marketing Talks focuses on how micro blogging is creeping into social media marketing. Can 140 characters of text messaging really impact your marketing strategy? B.L. Ochman and Connie Reece tell about their experiences on Twitter and how a few little twits turned into pea soup. With B.L. and Connie as guests at the mic this is sure to be an exciting conversation you won't want to miss!
Topic for January 22, 2008: The Impact of Less Is More: Micro Blogging
Time: 6:30p - 7p Eastern/ 5:30p - 6p Central/ 4:30p -5p Mountain/ 3:30p - 4p Pacific
Call-in Guest Number: 718.508.9924
Guests:
B.L. Ochman
B.L., publisher of What’s Next Blog, helps companies incorporate social media marketing tools into their communications programs. Her clients (whatsnextonline.com) include IBM, Cendant, McGraw-Hill, American Greetings, Kaneka Corporation and others. She has been working as an Internet strategist since 1995. Previously, she ran B.L. Ochman PR, which she grew to one of the top 100 independent PR firms in the U.S. before turning her sights to the Internet in 1996. Find B.L. on Twitter.
Connie Reece
These days Connie wears several hats that all have a focus on social media including Principal, Austin Social Media LLC; Founder, Every Dot Connects and Executive Director, Social Media Club International. She brings diverse experiences to the new communication space that range from direct response copy writing to fund raising, to donor development to publishing. Find Connie on Twitter.
Tips From The Diva Bag
Complements of B.L. Ochman
1. Microblogging is a way to learn where your customers’ attention is right now
2. Social Networks allow you direct access to people you might not be able to reach directly otherwise, and to see who they are influenced by
3. There is a huge marketing opportunity in 140 character conversations
4. Putting your thoughts into 140 characters will help you become a better communicator
Complements of Connie Reece
1. Tumblr.com - blogging so easy, a caveman can use it. Well, at least an 83-year-old woman can use it -- my mom does.
Pro: most user-friendly; post with a click of your browser toolbar.
Con: if you want comments, it requires workaround using different application
2. Jaiku.com & Tumblr.com are convenient to use as "lifestream," a place where all your online content is automatically posted.
3. The more people you follow on Twitter, the more interesting conversations you can have. When you set up a Twitter profile, include a link to your blog or website with enough personal information that a viewer can make a decision in under 10 seconds whether you're someone worth following.
4. Twitter is a stream (soon to become a raging river, I suppose). The point is that you can't swim the length of the pool; just dip in now and then and enjoy a refreshing break.
5. When you follow a lot of people on Twitter, you're bound to miss conversations, even when you check the Replies tab. To minimize this, use Twitter SMS tracking, RSS tracking using Terraminds, e-mail tracking using Twittermail, or a third-party client such as Snitter or Twhirl.
My current choice is Twhirl because it streams replies and DM's in the same app window, and highlights them in different colors for easy scanning. Because of Twitter API limitations on 3rd-party clients, if you receive more than 20 messages per update, some will be dropped.
Can't call in but have a question for B.L. and Connie ? Drop a comment and I'll ask it for you. Let me know what you'd like Diva Talks to chat about. Don't forget Diva Marketing Talks morphs into a podcast.
Update: Thanks Geoff Livingston for the live call-in question.
Resources:
Your Guide to Micro-Blogging and Twitter
10 Micro-Blogging Tools Compared

10/09/2007
Diva Marketing Talks is a live, internet radio show. 30-minutes. 2-guests. 1-topic about social media marketing. Why? To help organizations understand how to participate in the "new" conversation without getting blown-up. Miss today's show? You can pick it up as a podcast.
Today's Diva Marketing Talks about how Astroturfing, false grass root campaigns, are impacting social media marketing. With Shel Israel and Geoff Livingston as guest rock stars it is sure to be a lively conversation you won't want to miss.
Topic for October 9, 2007: Astroturfing - Grass-root Sleaze
Guests:
Shel Israel, author of Naked Conversations; Global Neighbourhoods (Blog)
Geoff Livingston, author of Now Is Gone; The Biz Buzz (Blog)
Time: 6:30p - 7p Eastern/ 5:30p - 6p Central/ 4:30p -5p Mountain/ 3:30p - 4p Pacific
Call-in Guest Number: 718.508.9924
Shel Israel
Shel consults and speaks on social media and business-related issues. He also serves as a
senior advisor to several social media start ups.
Some of his clients have included Scrapblog, Ustream, Roam4Free, CNET,
Riya, Sun Microsystems, Creative Labs, and the original teams behind
Filemaker, PowerPoint, Mapinfo, Virtual Vineyards and over 100 other
companies
In addition, Shel is a senior advisor to both the Society for New Media Research and the
Social Media Club. He is on the board of directors for YourTrumanShow
a video blogging site. Shel's Wikipedia page.
He is the co-author, with Robert Scoble, of "Naked Conversations--how blogs
are changing the way businesses talk with customers."
Geoff Livingston
Geoff has worked as a marketing strategist in the Washington, DC region for 14 years. He creates marketing strategy, media relations, branding and Internet marketing campaigns for public and private organizations. Some of his experiences include work for AT&T, the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bartleby Books, BEA Systems, Hughes Network Systems, ManTech, the Washington Nationals, Intelsat, Verizon Wireless and many others.
His book Now Is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs will be released by Bartleby Press on November 12.
Tips From The Diva Bag
Complements of Geoff Livingston
- The desire to appeal to buyers plus an older mass communications ethos creates a logic that astroturfing is OK. It’s not.
- Open disclosure is always the best policy. By telling people it’s a
fake blog, or an -assisted CEO blog from the get-go, you are providing
them the context they need to decide whether to participate. They may
actually find it valuable – a la the Fake Steve Jobs blog. And if they
don’t, it’s because the effort doesn’t address the community’s actual
needs.
- Your content, creativity and value must stand on its own. If an
entity feels compelled to be dishonest about its communications effort
in order to make it successful, then it needs to go back to the drawing
board. Why? Your product or marketing campaign simply isn’t good
enough.
Read More:
Geoff's post Astroturfing On The Dark Side of The Moon
Shel Holtz - Will We Never Learn?
Diva Marketing - Ford Creates A Fake Marketing Research Firm For Marketing Campaign
Can't call in but have a question for Shel or Geoff ? Drop a
comment and I'll ask it for you. Let me know what you'd like Diva Talks to chat
about. Diva Marketing Talks morphs into a podcast.

09/25/2007
Diva Marketing Talks is a live, internet radio show. 30-minutes. 2-guests. 1-topic about social media marketing. Why? To help organizations understand how to participate in the "new" conversation without getting blown-up. Miss today's show? You can pick it up as a podcast.
Today's Diva Marketing Talks might be a first in BlogTalkRadio history. Stephan Spencer, a leading voice in search engine ready ecommerce, and his blog-savvy, teenage daughter Chloe Spencer share their secrets of how to use Search to open the doors to your blog a little wider. Chloe also tells why when it comes to earning money babysitting is so yesterday or Web 1.0. Not only should you tune in but bring along your pre teens and teens too!
Topic for September 25, 2007: The Secrets of Search Revealed
Guests:
Stephan Spencer - Netconcepts, Stephan Spencer's Scatterings (Blog)
Chloe Spencer - The Ultimate Neopets
Cheats Site - Neopets Fantastic
Time: 6:30p - 7p Eastern/ 5:30p - 6p Central/ 4:30p -5p Mountain/ 3:30p - 4p Pacific
Call-in Guest Number: 718.508.9924
Stephan Spencer
Stephan M. Spencer, M.Sc., is president of Netconcepts, a full-service interactive agency with specialization in search engine optimization (SEO) and e-commerce, as well as email marketing through its GravityMail division. Clients include Home Shopping Network, AOL, Verizon SuperPages.com, Discovery Channel, and REI.
Stephan is a frequent speaker at Internet conferences around the globe, from Berlin, London and Santiago to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, for organizations such as the DMA, the AMA, Shop.org, JupiterMedia/IncisiveMedia (Search Engine Strategies), Internet World, IQPC and IIR. In 1998, Stephan was featured on the cover of In Business magazine.
He is a Senior Contributor to MarketingProfs, a monthly columnist for Practical Ecommerce, and he’s been a contributor to DM News, Search Engine Land, Multichannel Merchant, Catalog Age, Catalog Success, Building Online Business, Unlimited, and NZ Marketing magazine among others. Stephan is also the co-author of the analyst report “The State of Search Engine Marketing 1.0 — New Strategies for Successful Cataloging” published by Catalog Age.
He earned a B.S. in Cellular & Molecular Biology with Honors and Distinction from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and a M.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Chloe Spencer
Chloe Spencer is a 16 year old blogger who has been blogging about the
hugely popular kids site Neopets for about two years. Some pages
of her website, NeopetsFanatic, sport more than 3000 comments.
Chloe monetizes her 11,000 daily pageviews into cold hard cash with
Google AdSense. She's a busy girl and only blogs once or twice a month,
but still she makes between $10 and $30 per day -- money while she
sleeps! Chloe is an aspiring documentary filmmaker who has lived in New
Zealand for the past eight years. She currently resides in Wisconsin
with her parents and two sisters.
Sidebar: Thanks to BlogHer for the bio.
Tips From The Diva Bag
Complements of Stephan & Chloe Spencer
- Do your keyword research. Tools like Google Suggest and WordTracker will help you figure out what to name your blog, pages, and posts. Titles that have popular keywords in them will get more traffic from Google than titles with unpopular keywords.
- Monetize your blog with Google AdSense. Maximize your revenue from the Google ads by making them blend in. Make the ads match the content by using the same font face, size and color. Don't put borders around the ad unit.
- If you want to make money by displaying Google ads on your blog, don't publish your blog on WordPress.com. Third-party ads like Google AdSense are against WordPress.com's terms of service. Using the WordPress software on your own domain is A-OK though.
Can't call in but have a question for Chloe or Rick ? Drop a
comment and I'll ask it for you. Let me know what you'd like Diva Talks to chat
about.

09/11/2007
Diva Marketing Talks and Diva Marketing (blog) is dedicated to the
people who were touched by 9-11. That means all of us but especially to
those who were so brave and giving.
Today's Diva Marketing Talks about vlogs from the point of view of the producer and the marketer. Roxanne Darling, Walks on the Beach with Rox and Barefoot Studios, and Rick Short, Rick Short's B2B Marcom Blog and Indium Corporation, discuss how video goes beyond a text blog or an audio podcast to create an emotional bond with your community.
Diva Marketing Talks is a live, internet radio show. 30-minutes. 2-guests. 1-topic related to social media marketing. Why? To help organizations understand social media marketing and how to join the conversation without getting blown-up. Miss tonight's show? You can pick it up as a podcast.
Topic for September 11, 2007: The Emotional Power of Vlogs
Guests: Roxanne Darling Walks of the Beach with Rox and Barefoot Studios, and Rick Short, Rick Short's B2B Marcom Blog and Indium Corporation
Time: 6:30p - 7p Eastern/ 5:30p - 6p Central/ 4:30p -5p Mountain/ 3:30p - 4p Pacific
Call-in Guest Number: 718.508.9924
Diva Marketing Talks
explores how video blogs or vlogs can complement a social media
marketing strategy. We'll talk to Rick about his experience launching
his industry's first video ad. Rox will give us a few technical and strategic tips. And much, much more.
Roxanne Darling
From the beaches of beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii, Roxanne Darling's
company "Bare Feet Studios" was born of a barefoot culture
and people confuse the two frequently. Rox wears many hats; in
addition to her role as CEO Rox is also a new media video producer, a
keynote speaker, coach and web strategist
Roxanne
has over 15 years experience as an expert presenter throughout North
America, Asia, and Europe, consistently garnering 5 star ratings based
on her ability to both inspire and educate her audiences. She's given
hundreds of sessions, including keynotes, and is equally effective with
small intimate groups as well as audiences of over 1500 people. She
began speaking about podcasting in March 2005; her most recent gig is
at the BlogHer Business Conference in New York, March 2007.
She
is also the voice and co-producer of Beach Walks with Rox, a daily
video podcast aka internet tv show that won three Vloggie Awards from
both Judge's Favorites and Audience Favorites. Her show is consistently
rated in the top podcasts on Network2.tv, Podcast Alley, iTunes and
many other podcast reviews. Her philosophy is to cultivate the unique
mix of technical quality, authentic messaging, and audience interaction
for each project.
She loves new technology, is comfortable working in disruptive
marketplaces, and is a passionate translator of complex new concepts
into easy-to-understand and implement strategies. Her many years as a
coach for Johnson & Johnson and as an international trainer enable
her to connect with diverse audiences.
Rick Short
In his role of Director of Marketing Communication for Indium
Corporation, Rick Short, is responsible for creating Marcom plans and
activities that involve in multiple languages, on several continents.
Rick and his team execute over 50 trade exhibitions (award-winning exhibit
designs),hosts 375,000 blog visits, hosts 1.4 million website visits,
creates and publishes over 125 pieces of collateral and developing,
creates and places over 150 print and electronic ads (award-winning)
and conceives and promotes video ads, interviews, and demonstrations
(award-winning).
He is an acknowledged leader in social media and his media credits include interviews in US
NEWS & WORLD REPORT and UK’s The Guardian. Rick has been highlighted
in The Corporate Blogging Book, What No One Ever Tells You About
Blogging and Podcasting, Real Life Advice From 101 People Who
Successfully Leverage The Power of the Blogosphere, and Blog Rules.
He serves as an Advisory Council member for American Business Media.Rick has spoken for the American Marketing Association, Frost &
Sullivan, and at the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, as
well as at private corporate engagements. His work is monitored by some
of the world’s leading advertising and public relations agencies for
its activities and results.
Rick earned the Business Marketing Association’s prestigious Pro-Comm Award for his industry’s first online video advertisements.
Tips From The Diva Bag
Complements of Roxanne Darling
- Sound matters most in video.
It may
seem counterintuitive, but people will actually put up with a shaky
camera and poor lighting and rough editing because the brain can fill
in those details. Bad sound is just nails on a chalkboard and people
will not be able to endure it.
Video
is difficult to set up, shoot, and encode all by yourself and end up
with better than amateur presentation. Your chances of success and
sustainability increase dramatically when you have at least one person
in front and one behind the camera who can share the editing and
marketing.
- Space and time both matter.
Video
files are huge compared to text files, so research a hosting solution
right up front. Your normal web hosting plan most likely will not
accommodate video blogging, at least not for long. Look into space and
bandwidth limits. If you are prolific, you will push the space limit.
If you are successful, you will push the bandwidth limit.
Aloha,
Roxanne
Complements of Rick Short
- BEGIN AT THE END: In other words, initiate any and all projects
with a written goal. With out a written goal, any attempt will likely
be ill-fated. This is true for the overall program as well as for each
video.
- STAY WITHIN YOURSELF: A) Keep the program pure to your
corporate personality and capabilities. Otherwise, you'll likely
confuse the audience. B) Keep the activities simple (for you and your
company) and easy to do. Otherwise, you'll likely quit.
- MAINTAIN RELEVANCE: Anyone can create a stir; that's just a
cheap parlor trick. By keeping the message and activity relevant to
your product/service/image, the message will have a true and meaningful
ring to it. This is true for the effect you have on your customers as
well as on your employees.
Can't call in but have a question for Rox or Rick ? Drop a
comment and I'll ask it for you. Let me know what you'd like Diva Talks to chat
about.
