I am going to look at both types of mobile marketing today – and you tell me, which method works best for you?

As I mentioned above, the newer mobile marketing definition covers the world of mobile phones, while the older definition of mobile marketing covers marketing in a moving fashion, for example moving billboards.

Old World Mobile Marketing

Advertising on billboards or road signs you see on the highways of the world is a ‘bit dated, in my opinion.  It is something we have all learned to really ignore – so I would not recommend it for anybody looking into "do it yourself marketing" unless you plan on climbing up on top of one of those road side billboards to plaster your domain over it.  Let us try to stay way from jail, and instead take a look at the new world of mobile marketing.

Mobile Phone and Device Marketing

When you start talking about marketing via cell phone, then you are mostly looking at messages delivered via MMS or SMS. These have become acceptable forms of advertising because, unlike with email over the web, the cell phone carriers can police their own networks and have a set of rules for advertising via their services.  You can also target your advertising dollars at the mobile device market these days too. 

No matter how much the mobile marketing world has changed over the years, one thing remains true.  You still want to do all that you can do to get eyeballs to check out your content.  While advertising via mobile devices and billboards might seem more for bigger businesses, you should have a good idea of what options will be out there for you in the future – depending on how your budget grows. 

One of the best ways to market your stuff more effectively is to simply ask your current users or clients, what do they want?  Some of the feedback you get might not be all that great, but a lot of it should at least give you an idea of what people would like to see – so you can market your stuff towards those peoples wants and needs.

Feedback Form

Figure out a way, possibly on a website, for people to give you feedback or reviews of your service.  You might give them a link back to their website, or some other reward for sending in a review too.  Keep your feedback form simple, and to the point. Most people don’t want to really spend time filling out the form, because they have other things to do.  You might even just keep it as one big empty text field to fill out – so they can give their name, their feedback and then hit the send button.

Customer Survey

Surveys are also another good way to get feedback on how your current products are doing, as well as a place to get information on things you could be offering, that  you might not yet.  For example, what if Nintendo put out a survey asking people if they would like to see a Wii 2 that had a built in hard drive.  Now if 90% of the people said they would like to see that, well – lets just say we all know what little Jimmy is getting next Christmas.

Ask for Feedback from Staff and/or Friends

If you have a staff of people working for you – they might be the easiest group of people to get feedback from, since they are right there with you every single day.  Just remember, that staff will often look at things a little differently than a client would – because they are looking to make their own lives easier.  If somebody says they think it would help business to give all staff three day weekends, take that feedback with a grain of salt.

When asking for feedback, always remember that it is your job to call the people to action.  Make sure you persuade them that they will be better of by sharing their opinions, and reward them – if you can.

The first thing you have to realize is that a lot of Twitter users use Twitter as a promotional tool for whatever it is that they do.  A store could promote the things they sell.  A person could promote their blog posts.  A company might promote recent news.  Even though money may or may not exchange hands – if you have made it thus far, you are selling something, even if it is just an idea.

Promote

The first thing you have to learn is to promote your content regularly.  You could post once a day, or ten times a day, that much does not matter.  What does matter is that you do it at regular intervals.  A good spot to aim for at first would be one tweet a day. When writing out your tweets, make sure you include a link if you can – and use powerful words that make people want to read more.  Read and re-read that tweet before you send it out, and ask yourself, “Would I click that to learn more?”.

Gain Followers

Next, you want to gain more followers to your Twitter account.  You can almost think of it as another way for people to follow your content, much like an RSS feed.  Offer your Twitter profile link on your websites, and make sure people who already enjoy your content can find you on this micro-blogging service.  Also, don’t be afraid to reach out to other Twitter users to ask if they might be able to mention your fantastic Twitter account too.

Participate

You also need to participate in the conversation.  If somebody shares your link on Twitter with others; make sure you thank them.  When somebody asks you a question, make sure you answer them.  Marketing these days is all about the conversation, so you cannot ignore the public. You want to make them feel as if they are a part of the bigger picture as well.

I hope this comes in handy for you, when it comes to promoting whatever it is you have to promote, on Twitter.

MindMeister.com – With mobile, offline and online mind mapping tools, this brain storming tool is perfect to mind map with, no matter where you need to do it from.

XMind.net – XMind is the self proclaimed coolest brain storming and mind mapping software package out there.  It does provide a great way to share ideas, and comes in both free and paid for versions.

Mindomo.com – Mindomo lets you organize your ideas, solve everyday problems, plan and track projects, manage tasks and define goals.  One of the better mind mapping tools, and worth the price.

Web.DropMind.com – Collaborate, and share your ideas with others.  This unique mind mapping tool is a little more affordable than the others. You can create FREE mind mapping account in 40 seconds, to test it out too!

Know of any more mind mapping tools, either free or premium, that are worth checking out?  Be sure to leave them in the comments so we can all check them out!

Give me some content, then tell me some of the story.  Then give me more content, then give me more of the story.  This is a great way to both entertain and inform the visitors at large.  This is also extremely handy when your writing about a subject that might be a little vanilla and dull for the mass public. 

Need some help?  With your next post mix in a story about Ryu from Street Fighter fame and his trouble with buying a new pair of shoes.  (Does he even wear shoes?) 

So there is your homework for the weekend.  With the next thing you write up, tech opinion, help or how-to; try to bring a story into the mix.  It doesn’t have to be a true story, it could be a fictional character from the back of your brain.  Flesh out the weak points with him (or her) and you’ll keep your readers a ‘bit more interested in what you are trying to tell them.

What would Ryu do?

"Ok Mitch, I got a Twitter account, now what?"

Many people look at Twitter and either don’t understand it or use it to give me a summary of what they had for breakfast (just in case you were wondering, I had toast). Here are five ways of twittering your way to success:

• Share with me one of your bookmarks, or an article on a site you found interesting today
• Grab a photo from your Flickr (or any other photo sharing service) site and link me to it
• Plug your own blog, projects and work so I can check it out
• Use a service like Twitter Feed to bring your other RSS feed content into your Twitter account
• Invite your interesting friends, that you think should be twittering

If your looking for your first friend on Twitter feel free to use me:

http://twitter.com/mitchkeeler

I once was one of those people who thought that Twitter was nothing more than a waste of time. I am happy to say though I am a full fledged Kool-aid drinker now. Honestly I see no reason why any person or company shouldn’t be doing this. From a marketing stand point alone it is another great way to get yourself out there.

No about page. Contrary to the name, I didn’t want this blog to be totally about me. So for those who are new – or for those of you who have always wondered this is why you are reading this.

Mitch, Mitch who? I don’t know you!

Mitchelaneous started being hosted over at Lockergnome’s now defunked blogging service through Blogware. I mainly wanted to try my hand at running a blog – and being a writer for Lockergnome helped me in more ways than one. It was a good way to get some more traffic to me and to get some people talking about me. I was one of those guys who was lucky do get 5 people a day – now I was dealing with hundreds.

I left the Blogware/Lockergnome setup and went towards a hosting setup. Then I feel in love with WordPress. Of course I knew WordPress and I could never have a serious relationship because she was seeing a lot of people at that time. I understood – but stayed hooked.

What is all the fuss about?

As far as what type of stuff I have and would like to cover? It is all over the block. With a name like Mitchelaneous – how could you stay focused? I am obsessed with web hosting obviously because that is where my day to day life is. I also love anything Web or tech related and using these solutions to make all of our lives easier.

Not having a topic focused blog is suicide I know – the most popular ones out there are the ones that focus on one topic and one idea. I’m breaking blogging’s golden rule.

How does the future look? Well hopefully I can keep entaining, informing and educating you all around the Web with anything and everything I might find totally reeking of awesomeness. Please don’t be shy – feel free to share your thoughts with me anytime or just come in to say, “Hello!”.

Want to get a few guest writers on your own web site? Here is something to keep in mind.

Make sure you go after your friends first. If anybody will be willing to help you out, it will be the people that know you best. After that – recruitment might move into the realm of blogs you like to read or people who like to read your blog. All I did was post the offer or deal out there, and I have been more than happy with the result.

So what will your carrot on the stick be for your writers? If your small offer them an author mention, such as “Article by Mitch Keeler”. If your a little bigger give them a bio and and a link back. The big boys can offer cash – but I won’t go down that route, cause the big boys to need little ol’ Mitch’s help.

Don’t offer the world, because the world is not yours to give. If your not one of the hottest spots on the Web, don’t pretend to be to impress would be writers on your web site. If they are interested let them know your popularity level and always remember that they are the ones doing you a favor – not the other way around. Say “thank you” and learn to be gracious.

Now I am new to the game so I am sure I’ll have more tips on the whole corner of the blogging world known as “guest writing” soon.

Yes, corporate blogs and bloggers should be more egotistical and talk more about themselves when there is nothing else left to say.

Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

1. Tell the story of how you came to be. Have you told your rags to riches story yet? Let people how the company started up and how it has grown since then.

2. Pitch one of your products and let me know how real people can make use of it. Don’t pitch it to me as a salesman, give it to me as a person to person conversation and win me over on why it might be for me or somebody that I might know.

3. Who are you? You might also do a type of “profile” post where you tell people more about the folks behind the scene. Let me know who worker number 1,356 is and why he is so important to the day to day business. (and if he’s not, time to give him the pink slip!)

As you can see, when talking about one’s self you could really go on and on. Have any other suggestions as far as ideas go for more corporate writing spot on the Web?

Go get your own twitterfied layout for WordPress and impress your twittering friends. Then again, do you really want to be watching your friends twitter?

I think I might have said too much.