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In This Issue
Business Blogging: The Good, The Bad and the Boring
Need IDN?
Continuing Blogs from a Mad Man
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Welcome to the Claymanite.
101Throughout 2009 the Claymanite reviewed the top players and topics in the expanding world of the Internet and Social Media. From Virtual Tradeshows through Google Analytics and SEO to the Social Media darlings Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter, The Claymanite has examined just the tip of these still developing and emerging phenomena.
 
Throughout the process, some were skeptical about what the impact of the Internet and Social Media would be on marketing practices and philosophies while others were ready to jump in and enjoy what promised direct contact with customers unhampered by middle men and free of the constraints of time and place. Time will reveal the real impact of these changes. Of course, behind all the soaring promises and debate, sounded the backbeat of an economy that made accomplishing any level of business more challenging than it has been for many a decade.
 
We hope you have found the Claymanite's explorations of these new technologies informative and useful. This year the Claymanite will continue to explore and comment on these and other topics relevant to 21st century marketing, communication and business success. We would like to know what you think. We really want to know. Really! And if you have a topic you would like to see discussed, let us know that, too. Keep in mind we archive the Claymanite on our website (www.clayad.com) so if you missed an issue or would like to take another look, they are always there for your convenience. Thanks for reading!
 
facesBusiness Blogging: The Good, The Bad, and the Boring
 
Business blogging can be an important tactic in an overall marketing strategy but it must never look like a tactic. Not even a little bit. In essence, the Good business Blog must be a friendly open door inviting customers and browsers to come on in and share common interests and information. Yet the Good Blog must never hide the identity of the company who is behind it. The Good Blog must not only be open but transparent. Though it reveals it is from a company, it must never sell. No sign of any intent to sell can be in sight or earshot. To have any "sell" element is Bad. 
 
This differs markedly from traditional marketing where the intent to sell a product or service is upfront and clear. In traditional marketing, the customer is openly and even aggressively pursued and persuaded to purchase. The seller is in command. But with the growth of the Internet and Social Media of which the Blog is a component, individual customers now rule. They decide what they want and where they will go to find the information they need to make their buying decisions - if they choose to make one at all. Any sign of intent to sell lurking beneath the surface will be seen as a kind of fraud and can end in an angry click away. Potential customer lost.
 
Good business Blogs, like other types of Social Media, must be about providing content that is truly of benefit to those seeking information and not be about the sale. How can this benefit you and your company? Quite simply: you become a trusted resource. The more useful the information in your business Blog, the more times readers will return to read what you have to say. And if your Blog encourages responses, you build conversations and interaction that can become a rich resource of information both for your reader and you. You have a Good Blog.
 
Of course, as with all corporate communication, decisions have to be made about the "voice" of the Blog, the purpose of the Blog, the content of the Blog, and who the targeted Blog audience is. A corporate commitment must be made to provide useful, varied, consistently posted content. Not only that, but there also needs to be a commitment to reviewing and responding to Blog comments. Consistency and commitment to good blogging principles are critical throughout the blogging process if it is to be a positive part of an overall marketing strategy. Good Blogs invite readers in with useful content presented in interesting ways.
 
And blogging is not merely putting content online. Providing bland information in bland ways that bores will lose readers as quickly as a sign of a sales gimmick. Blogs must stimulate interest and involve readers as well as provide useful information. Blogs have to compete for readers and work to keep readers. Boring Blogs do not stand a chance.
 
In the end, the business blogger must resist the temptation to sell (The Bad) or to become lazy (The Boring) and must plan and work to win readers by becoming a good and trusted source of information presented in a pleasing and varied manner - The Good.
 
 
 
 
101Need IDN?
 
On November 16, 2009, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) announced that the first round of script extensions from languages around the world would be available for Internet Domain Names (IDN). Prior to this, all domain names ended only in Latin script (A-Z) as in .com or .net or, for China, .com/cn. Now scripts other than Latin can designate a country's IDN.
 
"This is only a first step, but it is an incredibly big one and a historic move toward internationalization of the Internet," stated Rod Beckstrom, President and CEO of ICANN. "We just made the Internet much more accessible to millions of people in regions such as Asia, the Middle East and Russia."
 
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Russia were among the first countries that greeted the announcement by immediately applying for IDNs in their native scripts. "The Internet now speaks Arabic," stated Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology. "This proves that ICANN is interested in the multilingual development process of the Internet.
 
But others do not feel so positive about the move. They argue that the Latin alphabet is already familiar to world users and that other ways of designating countries can be utilized. Expanding on this, other and more cynical people see this just as a way for domain registries to make money and eliminate the world unifying character of the Internet. With new script, they argue, some nations will be marginalized as Google and other search engines will not read and rank script unintelligible and non-reproducible by Western users.
 
Still others are worried about security. The New York Times reported that security experts they contacted expressed concern that the addition of these international scripts would make fighting cyberattacks more difficult. Current SPAM filters and other engineering administration issues will need to be addressed and modified before the full scope of the international script is admitted by mid-2010 to avoid expanded security issues.
 
A few reviews expressed concerns about fraud issues on e-commerce sites as well as with brand and domain names and trademarks. Andy Atkins-Kruger of searchengineland.com noted: "Defending trademarks has often been more easily done by buying up domain names than by spending millions of dollars chasing abusers who hide in obscure parts of the world. Introduction of the new IDN ccTLDs changes nothing - other than it now increases the number of domain names a global player needs to acquire to protect his or her brand. Registries will generally be operating sunrise periods for trademark owners... Unfortunately it is also to be expected that the prices to register will be higher... at least in the early years."
 
ICANN and many others remain positive that the benefits will outweigh any negative impact and that time will allow for the identification and elimination of problems.
 
Need IDNs? Something to think about.
Continuing Blogs from a Mad Man
 
Discover why contextual advertising could be the future of advertising. Check out Larry's blog and voice your opinions!
Celebrating 55 Years of Marketing Service!
 
Sincerely,