I’m not sure when it started, but the past couple times I’ve purchased something at Barnes & Noble, I get one of these:

It comes attached by a little niblet of paper to my full sales receipt. Now, I’m not a marketing expert or a sales expert, and I’m definitely not a retail expert, but I’d have to say that this is pretty cool on all fronts. Usually personal, applicable recommendations for future purchases are a benefit only provided to online retailers.

How can WE use this, even if we’re not saving cookies on the hard drives of our frequent customers?

I like to think that they’re snickerdoodles, by the way. The cookies, I mean. You know, the cookies saved on our hard drives. Mmm. Snickerdoodles. They’re all buttery and cinnamony and just perfection, am I right?

Hello? [tap tap] This thing on?

[sigh] Nevermind.

So, this receipt. Why don’t I have a section on my blog that suggests a couple other posts related to the one you’re currently reading?

Facebook does it with Suggested Friends.
Twitter, too.
Many successful bloggers incorporate it into their design, usually suggesting by tagged subject or keyword.
Online news sites are great at it, linking to several other articles in the margins of the one that has your focus.

What else? Who else?

How can you provide suggestions for future purchases – for future engagements – to your audience?

Future engagements – further engagement. Good food for thought, don’t you think?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to hop on over to the bakery before Hubz gets home and catches me…

I finally had a moment to review UnMarketing: Stop Marketing, Start Engaging by Scott Stratten. Scott, on Twitter, is insightful, caring, goofy, personable, and inspiring. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised then when I found his brand-name book insightful, caring, goofy, personable, and inspiring. Add honest and entertaining and straightforward to the list for the book, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

What I enjoyed the most were the numerous true stories of companies and brands interacting online – how they messed up, how they fixed it (sometimes), how they won customers, how they lost them. Scott is a great storyteller. The stories were entertaining, but also added a real-life application to the book, driving his points home.

Here’s my review (click here if you cannot see the video):

It’s an action-item creating read. No fluff. No generalities. Applicable to big and small brands alike. Definitely worth your time if you’re looking to really make progress with your brand’s social media engagement online, and have a good time doing it. It’s not a huge, complex-concepts type of read, but a simple, fun, straightforward one.

So! What book(s) are you focusing on right now? Do share.

I just read a fantastic, thought-provoking article this morning on creating content in the online media space that I couldn’t wait to share. In the blogging, podcasting, online video, etc world you constantly hear that “content is king.” Meaning, nothing else matters unless you are consistently producing quality content. If you ARE consistently producing quality content, then everything else can and will fall into place if you keep pumping it out.

But is that really the case? Is it TRULY the content that’s king online? The thoughts of the brilliant Chris Brogan:

“I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Content is not king. You are. (or Queen.) Content is currency. You’re the king.

What do you say?”

Part of one of his last sentences made me smile…”focus on relationships.” That’s been the number-one, driving factor for why I have been blogging, networking online, and posting videos throughout the past year – I want to meet new people and develop quality relationships. The kind that, whenever the future need might arise, connect two people who have the potential to, together, create greater good than they could have individually.

Awesome to see what I’ve been doing stated so concisely by an online media maven.

Thoughts?

Let’s discuss! Here’s the stack of books I purchased the other day and why I’m excited about each one (err, almost each one).

Ok, I’ve shared. Now it’s your turn. If you regularly read books, what’s on YOUR to-read list? What are you reading right now? What are you excited about? If you don’t regularly read books, what other media do you use to learn and catch up with the world?

Beats me why I haven’t yet featured ShoeMoney because, I mean, seriously, the blog is fantastic. Jeremy Schoemaker, who’s been marketing online for longer than I’ve known the definition of blog, is continually innovative, always looking for the latest trends, monetizing them, and then sharing every, single detail of how he did it with his wide audience. Affiliate marketing, brand building, social media, marketing research & reporting – you name it, ShoeMoney teaches you about it. Jeremy’s personality shines through in all of his posts and he’s real, relatable, and crazy successful. Go check it out.