Every Friday, I plan on posting the most useful online marketing stories of the week.  The majority of you have probably seen the top marketing news via Twitter, but it’s also a way for me to archive for my own benefit and learnings.  Selfish and helpful at the same time right?

Most popular post on Marketing Shindig – How to Optimize Your Twitter Page

My Personal Favorites for the Top Online Marketing Posts of the Week

1. 50 Blogging Lessons To Know If You’re Starting Today by Adam Singer of The Future Buzz
   • Okay so we all know the benefits in blogging.  Still not sure?  Then be sure to read Technorati’s 2009 State of the Blogosphere.  There are numerous benefits to blogging, blah blah blah, yada yada yada.
   • Why I liked Adam’s post so much – Everyone likes lists, but everyone loves lists that are beneficial in helping one succeed.  I agree that the lessons will help those starting a blog, but it will certainly benefit those who have been blogging for years.  Don’t let the title fool you, it is NOT just for those starting a blog.
   • Out of the 50, below are just some of my favorites:
     • If you wouldn’t do it for free, don’t do it at all.  In other words:  do it for passion and for yourself and you can’t lose.
     • It’s not going to be easy – nothing rewarding is.  /Nick – this applies to life in general, but when it comes to blogging, it takes commitment; no joke.  Many of my sites have fell by the wayside because I just didn’t have the time.
     • …and get involved in conversations with smart, interesting people.
     • The best blogs are products of success from pull, not push.
     • Realize that promotion is secondary to content.
2. HubSpot Interview with Gary Vaynerchuk by HubSpot
   • Why I liked the interview with Gary V so much – Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) is one of the more influential social media users and success stories today.   The “Social Media Sommelier” has used social media to successfully grow his family’s wine business.  HubSpot does a great job interviewing internet celebrities and asking insightful questions.
   • My favorite quotes from the interview:
     • “I don’t feel like a rockstar, I feel ridiculously lucky…” /Nick – love the humble attitude.
     • “Passion gives you the drive it takes to make a product awesome and convince people that it’s awesome…” /Nick – awesome.
     • “…realize that I wasn’t going to own the New York Jets if I didn’t make a change…It took 6 months before anybody really took notice of what I was doing.” /Nick – so incredibly inspirational. This portion of the interview was by far my favorite.  Getting the background of success stories.
     • “You can’t be a fake brand.”
3. 3 Realities of Social Media by guest author Michael Brito on PR 2.0
   • Why I liked Michael’s post so much – The 3 realities that Michael points out in his post hit the nail on the head.   It’s concise and straight to the point, but also very true.
   • What are the 3 realities?  Consumers already get it, brands still trying to figure it out, Brands should focus on people first, No such thing as a social media expert yet.
4. 5 Must-Read Social Media Marketing Studies compiled by Social Media Examiner
   • Why I liked this compilation of studies so much – I personally love stats, but only from relevant and respected sources.  Yes, there are about 5,365 social media “studies” out there, but only a handful of those studies are from reputable sources.  Just a good, take-it-with-a-grain-of-salt-but-still-interesting read.
   • The numbers discussed: 26 million (1 in 7) adults will use Twitter monthly, Americans spend 17% of online time on social media sites, over half of marketers will be using social media, blogs are considered most useful tool by over half of businesses, 3/4 of marketers plan to increase social media use in 2010.
5. Future of Deliverability: The Role of User Interaction by Mark Brownlow of Email Marketing Reports
   • With all the talk about social media and how those 5,365 (made up number FYI) studies are saying the usage of social media is increasing in popularity, email marketing is still an essential part of one’s business.  The ROI is tremendous so I was pleasantly surprised to read such insightful posts by Mark on email marketing especially this post.
   • Why I liked Mark’s post so much – Mark talks about the engagement aspect of email marketing by discussing user interaction and reputation.  I liked the fact that he was able to get feedback from several deliverability experts.
6. Google Analytics Now More Powerful, Flexible and Intelligent by Google Analytics Blog
   • Why I liked this post so much – More power to google analytics is always a good thing.
   • The major takeaways on the enhancements: define up to 20 goals per profile, ability to track mobile websites/apps, advanced table filtering, multiple custom variables, “Analytics Intelligence” which will provide automatic alerts of significant changes to your data, among others.  Videos are available.
7. Want More Clicks?  Tweet Less by Dan Zarrella
   • Why I liked Dan’s post so much – I personally like Dan’s analytical approach.  Perhaps it was the pretty graphs and all the neat colors used in the graphs, but let me tell you that you will get at least one takeaway reading Dan’s post.
   • What does he go over: CTR (click through rate) by links per hour, Average CTR by links per hour, CTR by links per day, Average CTR by links per day.
   • What is the main takeaways besides reading the title of the post?
     • “The more frequently you tweet links, the fewer clicks you’ll get”
     • “If you want your tweet to get noticed and RT’ed, slow down your posting rate”

The Marketing Videos I Enjoyed Most This Week

• I never get tired of the always interesting, extremely fascinated, where-did-they-get-the-numbers-from-please-show-me-the-sources video titled “Social Media Revolution” that answers the question, “Is Social Media a Fad?”.  The answer is obvious -NO-, but the stats in this video are quite amazing.

• Notice how quickly the buzz around Google Wave died down.  I was pumped when I received a Google Wave invite, but after approximately 1 min 52 sec, I logged off.  However, this user has made Google Wave very entertaining by utilizing one of the most memorable scenes of Pulp Fiction.

See you next Friday for more top online marketing posts of the week.