Toluu

Micro Persuasion

Steve Rubel explores how the digital citizen is transforming marketing, media and public relations.

Map Your Corporate Neighbors with Google MapsOctober 9

This is news to me but did you know that Google Maps shows you what businesses occupy a given address? Here's a list of firms that are in my office building. As I ride the elevator I have always wondered what types of business share our building. It's creepy, but now I know thanks to Google. You can check out some famous addresses too, such as 1515 Broadway - home to MTV.

Edelman Webinar: All Social Media is LocalOctober 9

On Tuesday, October 7 a group of Edelman digital experts from around the world participated in a free webinar called All Social Media is Local. The event, which lasts about an hour and is now archived, can be found on our web site as well as on Slideshare. I have also embedded it below. My colleagues cover social media from their unique perspectives via Asia Pacific, the EU, Russia and Washington DC. I talk about five trends to watch near the end just before the Q&A.

All Social Media Is Local 2008

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

Insights on the Changing Face of PROctober 8

In case you missed it, iMedia Connection yesterday posted an interview with me on the changing nature of public relations.

The big topic we covered is strategy. Too many people in the industry still think about digital landscape in a very tactical/channel centric way instead of attacking it with a holistic, strategic framework that's steeped in research. It's one of my biggest frustrations. Thankfully at Edelman Digital our team is working with clients all the time in helping them take such a big picture view.

The interview also includes my thoughts on the future of press releases. In short, they survive.

Ethical Social Media MarketingOctober 7

Later this afternoon I will be speaking at Search Engine Marketing Expo on Ethical Social Media Marketing. Below is the full text of my planned remarks. I look forward to hearing your feedback on this important topic.

# # #

Thank you very much for inviting me here today. The field of social media marketing is emerging and it's of course very relevant to search. In addition, it's highly likely that the space has already changed since this great panel we have assembled here started speaking.

I know I only have a few minutes and that I am last to speak so I quickly want to discuss three themes today that are relevant to the topic at hand - social media ethics.

First, I want to talk about the Collaboration Imperative. I see this as an easy way for everyone to remain ethical if it's something we truly decide to embrace everyday.

Second, there's the intersection of search, social media and public relations. There are number of ethical considerations here that all of us need to watch out for.

Finally, I want to touch on the global economic climate and its impact on social media marketing. We're going to see some important changes over the next 12-18 months that will make ethical behavior more critical than ever.

So let's get into it with the first topic - what I am calling the

Page Rank is the Ultimate Measure of Online InfluenceOctober 5

Friends, Romans, countrymen, followers, page views, in-bound links, share of voice, unique visitors and subscribers. These are just some of the more common ways serious content creators (and those who hope to reach them) measure online influence. However there are big flaws in all of these metrics.

Followers and/or RSS subscribers are nice to count. But given the Attention Crash, it's a good bet that many of these people aren't as engaged with your content as you might hope. For example, I follow several hundred people on Friendfeed but I only see a fraction of their stuff because I don't have time to actively read or even scan.

Unique visitors and page views - which I said was dying back in 2006 and is dead as far as I am concerned - are also largely empty numbers. Lots of people visit my blog. However, many of them arrive via Google, the web's version of Ellis Island. And then they're gone.

After thinking about this a lot I have reached the conclusion that Google Page Rank is the ultimate way t