You should follow me on Twitter.

Dustin Curtis has posted an amazing study he conducted that you should read here. It talks about how more forceful language and commands leads to better results. That said, you should follow me on Twitter here.

The Top Six Reasons Companies are Still Scared of Social Media

Yes, I know how frightening the people on Digg and Reddit can be, but that's no reason to shun all social media. Check out this great list of why companies are still scared of social media from whatsnextblog.com.

7 Top Twitter Topic Trackers

Here is an excellent list of keyword and topic trackers for Twitter from Read Write Web. I prefer to use Twitterfall myself, but all of the tools on the list are great.

Dumbest Twitter Sales Pitch Yet

This is a hilarious rant/article by Extreme John about just one of the seemingly infinite and ridiculous get rich quick schemes on the web. The "promotional" video for JamesMakesMoney is hysterical. Check it out if you're in need of a laugh.

http://www.extremejohn.com/dumbest-twitter-sales-pitch-yet/

Study Shows Small Businesses That Blog Get 55% More Website Visitors

We all know blogging helps traffic, but it's amazing to see just how much it helps! Check out the article at Hubspot.

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/5014/Study-Shows-Small-Businesses-That-Blog-Get-55-More-Website-Visitors.aspx

WOW: Google to Launch a New Version of Google Search

Apparently Google is making plans to release a new version of Google search! This is very exciting news. We have yet to see how this upgrade will affect search optimization, but I'm sure it will be for the better. Check out the full article at Mashable. http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/google-new-version/

Death Spiral!

While not internet marketing related, this is a great thought that Seth Godin wrote down on his blog. It's one of those things that is just common sense that no one seems to realize until it is shown to them in a very plain, in your face style. Here is what Godin writes:


You've probably seen it. The fish monger sees a decline in business, so they have less money to spend on upkeep and inventory, so they keep the fish a bit longer and don't clean up as often, so of course, business declines and then they have even less money... Eventually, you have an empty, smelly fish store that's out of business.

The doctor has fewer patients so he doesn't invest as much in training or staff and so some other patients choose to leave which means that there are even fewer patients...

The newspaper has fewer advertisers, so they can't invest as much in running stories, so people stop reading it, which means advertisers have less reason to advertise which leaves less money for stories...

As Tom Peters says, "You can't shrink your way to greatness," and yet that's what so many dying businesses try to do. They hunker down and wait for things to get better, but they don't. This isn't a dip, it's a cul de sac. It's over.

Right this minute, you still have some cash, some customers, some momentum... Instead of squandering it in a long, slow, death spiral, do something else. Buy a new platform. Move. Find new products for the customers that still trust you.

Change is a bear, but it's better than death.