Recommended Marketing Reads for Monday, 9-28

It’s time for recommended reads again. There are some good sites to read this week. We’re even including a little bit of controversy just to spice up your Monday morning. Actually, you can learn some great lessons about criticism and how you can respond to it. See the linked posts below. Enjoy!

3 Reasons to Use Twistory for Business
I hadn’t heard of twistory before this. I can see its usefulness, though, if you are a visual person. You can see your Twitter activity on your calendar. Even better, you can combine team member tweets and see your coverage, or how engaged your social media team actually is.

The platform vs. the eyeballs
Are you paying for eyeballs, or building a platform? One you rent, the other you own. Which will you spend time doing?

Understanding business development
Yes, a couple of different posts from Seth this time. I liked this article on business development and some tips on how to do it. I found it interesting.

Seth Godin Tries Out Brandjacking
Ouch. In spite of the title, you should read this post by Lisa Barone. Even well-known marketing people can make mistakes in the eyes of people watching. And Lisa has no qualms about calling Seth out on a new product. She, along with others, take Godin to task for developing a tool that they consider to be opt-out, rather than opt-in. If you’ve read Godin for any amount of time, he’s a big proponent of making your marketing opt-in. There was enough annoyance and outrage that Seth went back and updated his original game plan. How’s that for taking feedback to heart?

What a Drunk Swiss Guy Can Teach You About Handling Criticism
I have to hand it to Johnny. He always comes up with the most, uh, interesting post titles. And he has some good advice in this post. Before you respond to criticism, take a moment to look at things from the other person’s view. What about their reaction is valid? Can you react in a non-inflammatory way? Give it a try. And, see Seth’s reaction above to criticism as well. He stated his reasoning behind his position (in comments on some of the sites, even) but never sounded angry over the conflicting viewpoint. Avoiding a flame war? That earns my respect.

image: sxc.hu