What’s Working in Marketing

This week had several articles to parse through, but I have it narrowed down to five that I think are worth reading.  Here it goes:

#1.  Salt to the Wound: After Three Months, Only 35 Subscriptions for Newsday’s Web Site

I forgot to reference this article in my post last week about the troubles of newspaper publications to find a sustaining revenue model.  This is just so pitiful.  It costs money to put together newspaper stories.  It’s people, their time, blood, sweat and tears.  Is there no  value in that?  I started wondering if whole industry moves to a subscription model to access content?   If they all move in that direction, won’t we have to comply?  But it really needs to be all of them, together.  Here there may be power in numbers.

2. From the Far Side:  GSA CIO tweets from endangered plane

This was like reading something out of the Twilight Zone.  What’s going on airplanes these days anyway? Can’t we all just relax for once and not have some ridiculous passenger causing a problem which then creates huge process upsets that affect each and every one of us? Come on now… Not to mention Twitter breaking the news…

3. Most practical: The Best Way to Add Video to Your Marketing (and the Biggest Mistake You Should Avoid): A Q&A with ‘Get Seen’ Author Steve Garfield

This is just a really great, no-nonsense article that is useful for anyone considering adding video to your marketing mix.

4.  Most Fascinating:  Engineer works to tap energy from icy crystals | Business | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle

This came across my radar after Mike Boudreaux shared this article on Twitter earlier this week.  I like that we are finding alternative energy sources, and for some reason I thought this approach sounded extra promising.

5.  Add to Reading List:  You need to read Seth Godin’s Linchpin. Or be a cog in the machine. Your choice.

Last week, Seth Godin released a new book called Linchpin.  This review caught my attention because it challenges traditional business models and the way we work. We are a product of our past, and well, many businesses are organized and operate on old models that have been in place for years and years.  What worked then doesn’t necessarily work now.  I like challenging the status quo, and that’s what Seth’s book is about. Do we all need to be sleeping while we are awake?