Need Content Quick?

Consider using my personal ghostwriter

Whether it's consulting or the actual planning and writing of the content, I and so many other smart business people have relied on Jessica Mousseau to provide us with SEO content for our content-based projects. Whether you are a startup business or a large corporation, her services can provide you with a means of furthering your business strategy. Having created content for PBS, Lifetips, Associated Content and countless other niche industries, Jessica provides professional content fueled by SEO strategy.  

Visit Jessica Mousseau and get your content to pay for itself.

 

#1 Marketing Strategy: SEO

No single internet strategy beats SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO creates a level playing field for businesses of all sizes, here is why:

FACT: Increases profits. A top 10 page rank will rapidly increase traffic, which ultimately leads to increased sales. 

FACT: Cost-effective marketing. Search Engine Marketing has a lower cost to gain customers than any other form of marketing including email, Yellow Pages, banner ads, and direct mail. Think less input and more output.

FACT:  Product category domination. SEO allows you to be percieved as a leader in your product category by dominating the search queries for your target market’s keywords.  Even though this may not be true in the offline world - online perception can translate into offline success. 

FACT: Makes you a household name. When you appear in the top 10 you become a conversation piece with regards to your target market.

FACT: Gain qualified leads. Remember, customers use the search engines the same way that they use to use the yellow pages.  This means your customers are searching for you. 

FACT: Increased brand awareness and credibility. Effective SEO builds brand awareness and every time you appear and re-appear in people’s search queries your brand is strengthened.

FACT: Long lasting payoffs. Once you spend the time and make the effort to reach your SEO goals, maintaining your top 10 status costs very little, if anything at all. With effective SEO, you can enjoy top online branding status for years to come with minimal cost or effort.

FACT: Outsmarts your competition. High page rank reduces your competitors’ relevance and increases yours. Wouldn’t you like to see your business ranking higher than the rest?

FACT: Twenty-Four-Seven advertisement. With good SEO your web site is constantly advertising for you 24/7, 365 days a year. Customers can find you anytime, anywhere.

Mastering PDF Metadata for Better SEO

One of the most overlooked SEO tactics is optimizing your PDF's metadata. This is done to ensure that the PDF is correctly indexed by search engines which will drive more traffic to the document. To add metadata to your PDF using Acrobat do the following:

1. Open the PDF in Acrobat (not in Reader) and select File > Document Info > General.

2. Enter the metadata in each of the four fields:

• Title - this field must contain the full title of your document (not the PDF filename).

• Subject - this should be a concise (i.e. fewer than 254 characters), free-text description of the content and/or purpose of the document.

• Author - this field should always contain the words of the author whether it be a person, company or institution

• Keywords - this should contain keywords and/or phrases which describe the subject and topics covered by the content of the document. Use semi-colons (;) not commas (,) to separate individual keywords and phrases.

3. Click OK to apply the metadata to your document.

4. Select File > Save As and ensure the Optimize checkbox is checked. Click Save.

5. Note: If you just use 'Save' (don't use 'Save As') the PDF will become un-optimized.

What Makes Social Network Sites so Popular

People are often astonished as to how social network sites can be so popular with hundreds of millions of users today. Quickly here are the top features that make social network sites so popular with its users and sets them apart from other categories of sites on the net.

Ease of Use – User friendliness and speed of user implementation are absolutely central to a successful social network site. The site has to be so easy to use that any kid or adult can get his / her page up in minutes.

Search – The ability to search and filter down key components of any page are imperative to a social network sites popularity. The more flexibility and search power a social network site gives its users, the better.  Given how big some of the social networking sites have become, search is key to the first point "ease of use". 

User Profiles - The ability to personalize a page or profile through customization features is evident in the top social network sites in the world. The ability to bundle links to other profiles in the network by clicking another user’s avatar is key too. 

Security – Being able to block out uninvited visitors through a privacy feature is a must for any social network site. Equally blocking out spammers is important too. 

Support – Having 24 hour support with a real human as well as quick turnaround on support is imperative. Resources like FAQ, Instructional videos and forums are helpful too. The more support you offer the more users will be happy with choosing you for their social networking needs.

Theme – A social network site has to have a unique and relevant theme that speaks to its users in order for the site to sell its users on investing their time in using the site. A good theme starts with a purpose that is central to the characteristics of the group using the site.  Myspace uses music to attract its users while LinkedIn focuses on careers and jobs.      

5 Reasons to Avoid Designing a Flash Based Website

Although Flash websites look flash they can be detrimental to your internet marketing efforts. Here are the top 5 reasons why you should avoid designing a Flash based website:

1. Flash requires a proprietary plugin meaning it does not work with older browsers that are not bundled with Flash.

2. Flash generally does not let users change font sizes or contrast settings using personalized settings.

3. Flash sites often do not have a working back function. Most users are used to being able to back-out of a site.

4. Flash doesn't provide a standard way of navigating without the mouse.

5. Flash is not easily indexed by the search engines.

The Most Overlooked Web 2.0 Marketing Strategies

Besides quality content and the number of back links coming into your site, there are other areas that the search engines look at. Here are some often overlooked areas that you can address to make your website more succesful.

1. Visitors Time on Site - The time that a visitor is on your site is something that Google considers and grades in their ranking criteria. If people click on your site then immediately click back out then that tells the search engine that your site is less valuable than a site that is sticky and keeps people on site.

2. Age of Your Site - It is a rather simple notion, the longer your site has been around the better it will rank. This means plan for the long term and stick around.

3. Registering Your Domain Name for Multiple Years – This really touches on the previous point, by registering your domain name for several years, this tells the search engines that you are going to be around for the long term.

4. ALT Text on Images - Every image on the page should have a tag and a brief description pertaining to the tag. By taking the time to describe your images your site will rank better.  

5. Increase Google Crawl in Analytics – by increasing the rate that Google crawls your site and by staying true to the crawl by regularly updating your site with fresh and original content you will increase your rankings.

Favicon: Every Site Should Have One

Short for “favorites icon”, a favicon sits inside your browser's location bar next to the web address. As most sites use their logo as a favicon, it is a good way to build trust and authority and will give your site a branded look and feel.

A favicon takes just a few minutes to set up and involves a snippet of code which is inserted into the heading of the page which references the favicon image file. One site even offers a free favicon maker which will generate the image and code for you in a matter of seconds.

Is DMOZ Eating Your Patience Away?

DMOZ, the opening directory project where you use to be able to get one of the most quality backlinks for a site,  has become painfully slow.   I have had client's sites in cue for a DMOZ listing for months now.  The site is human edited and that is what gives the site its credibility, but time is money.  I have found 2 other directories that offer a FREE listing for your site while you wait for DMOZ to get their act together.  These sites are:

1. Directory Vault 
   
2. Visit a Link 
   

How to Use Your Brain for Better Blogging

Here are some ways to use your brain so that you blog better:

1. Time = money. So don't waste time on fruitless entries. Learn to appreciate that your reader’s time is valuable. This means writing succinctly and getting to the point.

2. No matter what your audience size, you ought to write as if your readership consists of paid subscribers.

3. Don’t expect to be a success overnight. Life isn't here to hand you rewards. You must work for everything you get. That means, you must learn to write smarter versus harder.

Start with number 3, and work your way up. And remember:

"It's more about the journey than the destination"

What is an Avatar?

An avatar is a graphical depiction of a computer user. Avatars are seen on web forums, blogs, social networking pages and applications like Skype to create a sense of character for the user. Think of it as a graphical signature, calling card or user brand identity. Sometimes avatars will link to a user profile where more information can be found on the user such as a bio or a link to the user’s personal website.

Avatar’s can create a sense of personality for the user that otherwise may not be present without the aid of the avatar image. Avatars take all kinds of forms. The most popular types include cropped photograph of the user’s face and a 3d character cartoon image.

Introducing Yet Another New Cool Search Engine

MSE360 is posed to launch right out of beta obscurity and into your browser.  The brand spanking new search engine offers something unique and of high value for free.  In summary, here is what MSE360 is all about:

• A Unique 3 column layout for maximum efficiency when searching
• A real emphasis on user privacy
• A powerful spider, that indexes quality rather than quantity
• A meta-search engine
• A promise to listen to users and improve the engine

Go ahead and give it a go, then come back and tell me what you think.

How to Get Free Hosting for Your Website

I have had a secret weapon for several years now having launched numerous sites for clients and myself. And unless the client has something else in mind for their site, like their own server, I always suggest a certain provider. This web hosting provider is Doteasy.com.  
They were the first hosting service that I know of to offer the $0 Hosting Plan. The company launched this plan in the days of the Internet when most major hosting providers wanted a minimum of $19 a month to host a site.  To this day hosting providers like GoDaddy and Yahoo want a monthly hosting fee even for the tiniest of sites.  There are other providers out there that offer free hosting but at the expense of ugly banners and invasive looking ads.  Not this provider.   

Why would you pay for something that you can get elsewhere for free?

Here is the deal; you register your domain name for one of one of the lowest and most competitive prices around (something like $27 a year) with Doteasy and they automatically throw in:

• 100 MB Web Hosting Storage
• 1 GB Monthly Bandwidth
• 10 Email Accounts
• No Setup Fee, No Monthly Fee
• No Ad Banner
• Free Web Tools and Applications
• Free Phone / Email Support

Register the domain name for several years and a sliding scale will kick in.   With each year you will save additional dollars with your domain registration. The $0 hosting will always be there regardless of how many years you register your domain name.  If your site starts to do really well and you start going over your traffic quota, you can upgrade to a package that suits your new traffic needs.  Doteasy also offers industrial grade hosting that can be turned on once your site grows into it.

Here is a word to the wise with regards to registering a domain name - always register a domain name for the full 5 years. This is not a gimmick to get you to spend more money on your domain. This is a technique used in making your site look more established to the Google Spiders that be. Yes, even Google will profile your site as less legit if it is only registered for a year or two as opposed to five.

Now that you know where to get supercheap domain names with free hosting, make sure to send me a link to your site, so that I can see that you put this good advise to use.

The Secret to Internet Start-up Company Success

Every single day thousands of companies are born and launched over the Internet. Unfortunately for many of these companies their fate is sealed prematurely with a not so successful outcome. For many start-ups the reality is failure, die off and dormancy. Think about how many applications, widgets and fledgling newbies you have seen just this past year alone. Now just imagine how many more are out there that you didn’t see that flew past the radar un-detected and went into Internet obscurity.

The Internet as a channel of delivery can be fairly cruel to companies that don’t understand one very simple and very real concept. This concept is etched into every successful Internet company’s DNA. This trait is very transparent in giants like YouTube, Google, Skype, Facebook, MySpace and Yahoo. This trait is remarkably simple and yet so many choose to ignore it. Why do so many new companies refuse to accept this very easy and simple principle that makes complete logical sense to those of us that are enlightened with this concept?

Maybe they get impatient, greedy and want to score a quick buck. Maybe they are stubborn and want to employ outdated strategies.

I am not going to be one of those Bloggers that write a big hype making you read for paragraphs to find nothing. Some in the media world would refer to this as anticlimactic.

Before I reveal the secret though, it is important to remember one thing, never ever by any means practice this advise partially because it only works if you commit fully to it. This means no trials, no limited time...I think I may have just given the secret away. Alright, here it is – the secret advise to Internet success in full:

“Offer something of incredible high value and relevancy and offer it for free to everyone”.

I think that says it all. Good luck.

Why You Should Put Your URL on Everything?

Promoting offline is often an overlooked practice which if done properly can fetch you some quality direct traffic to your site. Think of your website as more than just a website. Think of it as a way to attract your offline audience, a gateway for outsiders to learn about your business, a connection point with your existing customers and a way to build your business through sales funnels.

Your url should be posted on everything. Post it on your:

• business cards,
  
• letterhead,
  
• outside signage,
  
• company vehicles,
• in-store signage,
  
• press releases;
• and anywhere else you promote your business.

Not only will you get quality direct traffic flowing into your site you will also cohesively build a brand, a reputation and legitimize your capabilities as a company that is capable of honing the internet as a channel of communication and ultimately commerce.

Video Time Interval Tagging

Give it sometime and some web application out there will do-it-better. That is what makes the internet a truly free market system where apps are always out-doing each other and bringing it to the end-user for free. Viddler’s video tagging now makes videos SEO friendly. By tagging your videos at time intervals - your videos will speak volumes to the search engines. Now that this technology is available I wouldn’t suggest doing it any other way. 

Your videos took time to produce - and if they are well produced they should be well indexed and searchable right to point where you say "Billie Jean" in your video.  This service is free for individual users.  I am not plugging Viddler and I have no affiliate code in the link - so rest assured this is just good advice. 

Google Chrome borrows from Opera

Browser got you down?  Don't fret because most likely there is another browser out there that has the same features that yours has and it is only one download away.

A good idea in the internet browser world usually will only last about one release.  Tabbed browsing first offered by FireFox is now enjoyed by virtually every browser on the market.  Speed Dial first offered by Opera has most recenty been adopted by the brand new Google Chrome.  

Have a great idea for your browser?  Give it some time and every other browser will have copied it.  Makes perfect sense though as users traditonally champion these features and that's what gravitates them to the browser in the first place.

Top Secret Phone Numbers: The Numbers Companies Don't Want You to Have

Here are the top 5 Phone Numbers that are merely impossible to locate. These companies go to great lengths to bury these numbers so you are forced to use their automated systems to resolve your issues. However, sometimes you just need to talk to a human being to resolve your issues. For your convenience I bring to you the Top 5 Numbers Companies don’t want you to have:

1. Amazon.com
- Customer Service: 866-216-1072
- Seller Support: 877-251-0696

2. Ebay.com
- Customer Service: 888-749-3229
- Customer Service 2nd line: 800-322-9266

3. Skype
- Customer Service: 866-446-0831

4. Yahoo.com
- Customer Service: 866-446-0831
- Tech Support: 866-458-8744

5. Google.com
- Switchboard: 650-253-0000

(Source: www.hardtofind800numbers.com)

How I Removed Antivirus XP 2008 for Free

The latest virus that is sweeping the internet is the Antivirus XP virus which masks it's self as a Virus Protection Suite which resembles Microsoft XP.  Within minutes Antivirus XP 2008 will attach its self to your desktop and install as a program.  Here is what I did to remove it:

1.  First I started Microsoft XP in Safe Mode (Hold F8 and select Safe Mode)
2.  Once your desktop loads in Safe Mode (you will know you are in safe mode because of the black background with Safe Mode stamped all around it).  

• Go to your Program files within your hard drive and delete the Antivirus XP folder which may disguise its self under a series of numbers and letters.  In my case the folder was called jp4236...  
• The folder should stick out like a sore thumb because no other program will name its folder so oddly.   
• Make sure to inspect the contents inside the folder and that the Antivirus XP is contained there.  You should notice an icon that resembles the icon that Antivirus XP places on your desktop.  In my case the icon resembled some bricks and labeled "antivir08".  Delete the entire folder.

3.  Now make sure to update your antivirus.  In my case I updated AVG Free 8 and ran a full scan.

4.  Then you need to remove the Malware that the virus is using to hijack Google and Yahoo searches within your browser.  Go and download malware bytes.  I recommend going to download.com because the virus will hijack your attempts of visiting the site through Google or even sometimes directly.  Make sure to verify that the program that you are downloading is legit.  This is very important as you don't want to download or re-download another virus.

5.  Then you may want to download Spybot Search and Destroy to be extra safe that you are removing every trace of the virus.  Again use download.com to verify that you are downloading a legit copy of Spybot.  After downloading Spybot run a full scan.  Never run multiple programs and scans at the same time.  Usually after each scan you will need to re-start your computer.  You will not have to continually re-start in safe mode after deleting the files from your program directory.

6.  These above steps should remove all traces of the virus.  You should now have full control over customizing your desktop back to its original state including removing the Antivirus XP icons and image that is on your desktop.

Allot vs. A Lot

When writing and editing your blog grammatical mistakes will sometimes arise. Although in marketing rules are meant to be broken – rules in grammar must be obeyed. The trick is to catch these mistakes before someone else does. The use of “allot” vs “a lot”is a common mistake often found in blogs, web articles and forum entries.

1. Allot is a verb that means to distribute, to assign a portion, or to divide.

Example: He allotted himself 20 minutes to complete his blog entry.
Example 2: They allotted 30 GB of server space to each account during the site upgrade.

2. A lot (two words) is an informal phrase meaning a large portion or large quantity of something. According to style guides and English rule books it is proper to use “a lot” when describing non-countable quantities such as sand, water, ice, or time. The word “many” should be used when describing countable items such as hours, people, or items.

Example: A lot of time has passed since I first started this blog entry.
Example 2: I don’t have a lot of time to finish this blog entry.

3. Alot is not even a word in the English language and therefore should not to be used.

Backlink Counter: The Quickest Way to Count Links Pointing to Your Site

Do you want to know how many backlinks are pointing  to your site?  

With Yahoo's site explorer you can simply type in your url name and have it automatically fetch the links coming into your site.  It is quick and easy and if you are not up for creating a Google Analytics account it can be a real time saver.

Get Your Site Banned Faster Than Ever!

Here are some methods to get your site banned by Google:

• Keyword stuff your site by repeating keywords in the meta tags or in the text and of your website.
  
• Link exchange with a banned site or several banned sites
  
• Have you and several people report your site as Spam to Google
  
• Have a high keyword density for a particular keyword string
  
• Have several sites on the same IP address owned by the same entity with a high volume of link exchange. By putting all of your websites on the same IP address instead of spreading them around to several IP address - this will send a red flag to Google and get your site banned.

Small Business Branding Techniques: The Business Card

This business card was printed on 16 pt UV Coated Gloss first side, Matt second side (so the associate can write a quote out easily). The card is thick, heavy and the slick glossy texture on the front side feels and looks like a fresh coat of real paint. Notice the logo of a silhouette of a painter painting the card. Clever design really, rarely do you see smaller businesses exercising inventive branding techniques of this level.

All Purpose Painting of Mesa, Arizona does exceptional indoor and outdoor paint work in and around the Phoenix metropolitan area. Whether it is accenting a fence, garage or re-decorating a room with stylish new colors - All Purpose Painting delivers with Service, Reliability and Professionalism.

Small Business Branding Techniques: The Design of Your Website

The design of a website is essential to projecting the capabilities and integrity of your small business. Check out these two sites for inspiration: 

Imagine Wellness Chiropractic Center is a new facility offering spinal correction for individuals seeking health, wellness and healing.  Dr. Roxane Zamora treats sees her patients from her North Phoenix offices addressing everything from migraines to neck and shoulder pain to sports injuries using state-of-the-art chiropractic techniques.

Metro Maintenance offers plumbing and electrician work throughout the entire Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area.  Owner / Operator Derman Brown has over 20 years experience with electrical and plumbing systems and works by the motto "prompt and effecient" service.  He offers a 24 hour emergency service. 

Death of the Music Industry

Today marks the 5th Anniversary of the death of the record label dominated music industry. Well not officially, but it seems like several years has passed since any major record label amounted to having any effect or presence in the industry it once ruled. The burden of promoting and marketing has been passed on to the artists. Distribution has lead way to all kinds of start-ups which are now gladly taking the reigns left by the labels and record stores.

Apple I-tunes is profiting like a medium sized country as they receive the compounding effect of artists joining their distribution chain and network. All this may seem obvious now, but let’s put this whole thing in context. What happened? What caused this?

The obvious catalyst was technology and the era of the mp3. Remember when bands like Metallica lobbied U.S. lawmakers and made public outcries to punish people that converted their songs to mp3s? You can’t fight a technological revolution. You can’t win against a format so portable so powerful so flexible it makes all other formats obsolete. There is no doubt the quality of vinyl records and CDs were better – but the portability factor was the same reason that tape killed its large shaped disc predecessor.

I like music now and I think it is better off today because of these changes. Not too long ago record companies would charge artists hundreds of thousands of dollars to record a record in minimal time. Now artists can spend as much time as they want recording on home studios which pump out broadcast quality music. Music is better for this. There is also more music to listen to. Yes lots of it is terrible I admit – scan myspace and the sh*t stacks high quickly, but there are some gems to be found and I find them everyday. It’s never been so good for music.  Death no, music has reincarnated.

 

Brand Personification

A brand has to have magnitude in order to be effective.  Therefore, it is no wonder so much personification is present in many brands' imagery and media today. Whether it be the talking Gecko of Geicko or the Doughboy of Pillsbury – applying human traits to inanimate objects and animals works magically in branding practice. Branding is so centered on creating a connection through a memorable experience that marketers have to create something so extraordinary something so un-believable - that it becomes an instant memory to the audience.

How to Reset PhotoShop Back to Its Factory Default Settings

If for some reason you have tweaked a setting in Photoshop and can’t remember for the life of you how to turn the setting back to default, there’s a fix. Yes, you can reset the settings in PhotoShop to factory default. Windows Users this is how it’s done:

Hold down the Ctrl+Alt+Shift buttons all at the same time.

While keeping the above buttons held, open Photoshop.



Once PhotoShop loads, a prompt will pop up which will ask you if you would like to “delete the PhotoShop Settings” – Click Yes!

Political Marketing or Marketing Political?

Political Marketing is an area of marketing which focuses on political parties, candidates, votes and ultimately positions of power. Political Marketing draws heavily upon core areas of Marketing which include: Research, Branding, Public Relations, Advertising and Selling.

The Research arm of Political Marketing is exercised vigorously through polling, focus groups and advising which comes courtesy of interviews with experts.

Branding in Political Marketing is integral because a brand is developed and re-developed to effectively deliver the messages of the candidate which often adapts with people, time and place.

Advertising is a vehicle to which the Political Brand and message is delivered.

Political Marketing also draws upon Public Relations, which is used to positively influence the public’s perception of the party or candidate and spin negative coverage of stories that are often brought to light by the media.

Selling is a important cornerstone for Political Marketers because strategic alliances both with and across the party line is necessary to draw up support. Selling is noticeably prevalent in speeches and interviews by the candidate. One-to-one selling and direct marketing is a strategy visible in and around election time which is usually implemented by team members and volunteers.

Political Marketing represents one of the most dynamic areas of marketing because it draws upon so many marketing skills simultaneously.

The Definition of Place Marketing

What is Place Marketing?

Place Marketing (aka Place Branding, Territorial Marketing) is the practice of applying marketing and branding strategies to regions, states, cities and nations. As place marketing teams (i.e. city councils, tourism departments) compete to attract residents, tourists, businesses and ultimately tax revenue – they have consulted branding tactics to turn their places into destinations.

The Definition of Experiential Marketing Explained

Experiential marketing is a form of marketing that creates an emotional connection with a consumer. It’s the actual customer experience with the product and service that resides in the customer’s consciousness. Using one or more of the senses such as touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing – Experential Marketing seeks to establish a touch point or connection with the customer - connections in the form of experiences that are personal, memorable, interactive and emotional in scope.

The Definition of PPC

Pay-Per-Click (often referred to in its abbreviated state as PPC) is an advertising method which makes use of search engines, websites and network traffic. A user clicks on an ad which directs them to a particular site. In each instance the click is paid for by the advertiser.

The PPC model is based on a bidding process where the advertising party bids on a keyword or string of unique keywords. For example, “Scottsdale Dentist” is an example of a keyword that currently fetches a price of $3-6 per click on Google. This is a pricey keyword because it is very competitive. However you can find keywords as cheap as $0.01 per click. Google AdSense is the largest network to advertise PPC with.

Predicting the Future of the Internet

Live Interactive Events are the Future of the Internet

I know that sounds like a daring statement to make – but give it some time you will see this new technology emerge and dominate the internet just as video is right now.

Video is in the Limelight Now

Everyone is busy fixated with video. The N.Y. Times recently reported that 70% of users on the internet are viewing and downloading video content. Where do we go from here? What is the natural evolution of media on the internet? Speculate all you want – but the future is obvious to me. The future is clearly conferencing, virtual events, webinars, teleseminars – whatever you want to call it - they are interactive and interactivity has clear advantages over canned media.

Would you Rather go see a Football Game at the Stadium or Watch it on T.V.?

I personally would prefer to sit in the box seats and watch it live and cheer on my team from the actual stadium. And I know this is true for many other enthusiasts. But who says you can’t record the event and watch it later? Having the flexibility to do just that is why live interactive events is the answer for businesses and the future of the internet. Flexibility works for businesses – this I know. Businesses like to maximize flexibility for the customer. Conferencing achieves this by allowing the customer to attend the live event or download a recording of it later or both. The option rests with the customer.

Is your site Web 2.0?

Introducing the new Web 2.0 Validator which in an entertaining fashion checks to see if your site is really web 2.0:

Web 2.0 Validator

Recycling Popular Ideas: The case of IBM’s Buzzword Bingo T.V. Advert

“Originality is the art of concealing your sources” -Benjamin Franklin

A couple of months ago I showcased a Buzzword Bingo card that I thought was an innovative print piece. The piece was actually developed well over a year ago and first brought to life by Australian Brewer Carlton Draught.

More recently an IBM T.V. Commercial has emerged on air in the U.S. and Europe that lifted the buzzword bingo card concept and brought it to life on the small screen. All that IBM did in the case of the commercial - was shift the card’s use from a boardroom to a live conference. Same idea, borderline plagiarism?

In the age of marketing 2.0 we are seeing brilliant ideas being hi-jacked and recycled on a daily basis. Even the phrase “Web 2.0” which graces the very title of my blog has been mutated from its original foundations. Can you think of an example of a recycled idea? Please share any examples you may have in my comments section, just below.