Purple Wren

Social media buzz helped promote Nerdy Thirty

Just returned from the Social Media Club Des Moines event featuring Wendy Townley speaking about her recently released book Nerdy Thirty. Great speaker, great company and always great food at The Machine Shed.

Wendy shared how her book came to be published and the journey she is now on as she becomes a recognizable face around the Omaha area. She uses a mix of social media to create buzz as well as traditional advertising methods including print and radio.

My favorite parts are about how other people have become Nerdy Thirty fans and are promoting the book/concept in ways that she would have never thought of herself. Let's keep an eye on her and where this goes! Definitely a go-to event.

Check out upcoming SMCDM events.

Send an Extraordinary Greeting Using SendOutCards

Here's a new twist! I want to tell you about a service I recently found that makes it REALLY easy to send an extraordinary greeting to your family, friends, and business contacts using your own photos.

It's SendOutCards! Have you heard about it yet? If not, take a few minutes to Take a Tour. (Be aware, there is an audio component that starts talking immediately.)

This is not an electronic card. It is custom printed, put in an envelope, stamped and mailed. You can choose from more than 6,000 8,000 designs in 40 different categories, create your own design with PicturePlus, or mix-and-match. You can even select your own handwriting font when you write your message. They use recycled paper and green ink.

This is a network marketing opportunity. Originally I signed up because I wanted to send custom photo cards to my Mom using the PicturePlus feature (she doesn't have email). Then I quickly realized the marketing and communications potential of the service for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

There's three ways to become a sender of cards: retail, wholesale, and entrepreneur.

Are you looking for an extraordinary way to keep in touch with your clients, customers and business contacts? Ready to take a "test drive?" Let me know and I'll set up a gift account for you to try it out.

How do you keep in touch?

Worldwide Collaboration: The Age of Conversation Available July 16

Get ready - you will soon be able to read it . . .

The Age of Conversation will be available in three formats on July 16. Prices will be:

• e-book $9.99 ($7.99 going to charity)
• paperback book: $16.95 ($8.10 to charity)
• hardback book: $29.99 ($8.55 to charity)

All proceeds from sales of the book will be donated to Variety, the Children's Charity.

It's always fun to be involved in projects with other bloggers, and it's an honor to participate in this venture. More than 100 marketing professionals from 24 states and 10 nations collaborated to write a book. Most of the people have an online connection and have never met in person.

Background
Dedication

The authors:

Gavin Heaton
Drew McLellan
CK
Valeria Maltoni
Emily Reed
Katie Chatfield
Greg Verdino
Mack Collier
Lewis Green
Sacrum
Ann Handley
Mike Sansone
Paul McEnany
Roger von Oech
Anna Farmery
David Armano
Bob Glaza
Mark Goren
Matt Dickman
Scott Monty
Richard Huntington
Cam Beck
David Reich
Luc Debaisieux
Sean Howard
Tim Jackson
Patrick Schaber
Roberta Rosenberg
Uwe Hook
Tony D. Clark
Todd Andrlik
Toby Bloomberg
Steve Woodruff
Steve Bannister
Steve Roesler
Stanley Johnson
Spike Jones
Nathan Snell
Simon Payn
Ryan Rasmussen
Ron Shevlin
Roger Anderson
Robert Hruzek
Rishi Desai
Phil Gerbyshak
Peter Corbett
Pete Deutschman
Nick Rice
Nick Wright
Michael Morton
Mark Earls
Mark Blair
Mario Vellandi
Lori Magno
Kristin Gorski
Kris Hoet
G.Kofi Annan
Kimberly Dawn Wells
Karl Long
Julie Fleischer
Jordan Behan
John La Grou
Joe Raasch
Jim Kukral
Jessica Hagy
Janet Green
Jamey Shiels
Dr. Graham Hill
Gia Facchini
Geert Desager
Gaurav Mishra
Gary Schoeniger
Gareth Kay
Faris Yakob
Emily Clasper
Ed Cotton
Dustin Jacobsen
Tom Clifford
David Polinchock
David Koopmans
David Brazeal
David Berkowitz
Carolyn Manning
Craig Wilson
Cord Silverstein
Connie Reece
Colin McKay
Chris Newlan
Chris Corrigan
Cedric Giorgi
Brian Reich
Becky Carroll
Arun Rajagopal
Andy Nulman
Amy Jussel
AJ James
Kim Klaver
Sandy Renshaw
Susan Bird
Ryan Barrett
Troy Worman
Neil Vineberg

Are You Signed Up for MarketingProfs Book Club - Round #3?

You won't  want to miss this round. The book is Made to Stick by brothers Chip Heath and Dan Heath (read author bio here and receive a bonus).

Sign up for the book club and be eligible for the book drawing.

You have until June 12th to read it - then we can start talking.

For more information, check details about the MarketingProfs Book Club hosted by CK.

Graphics at Meetings

Last week I spent time at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society held in Chicago. I intended to live blog the events, but took a break from the computer instead and focused on meeting people and enjoying the graphics and design.

Have you ever thought about all the areas that are impacted by graphic design? Here's what I was interested in:

• Poster sessions: layout and graphics
• Signage: around the city, in meetings
• Printed Materials: graphics, copy
• Exhibits: display graphics
• Promo Items: graphics and layout, new ideas
• Books: cover design and layout

Environmentally Friendly Paper

Here's an interesting marketing solution!

Harbor 100 is a recycled, multipurpose paper. It's produced in partnership with Frogfile, Hemlock Printers, and Grays Harbor Paper.

That's not so unusual.

What's interesting is that the wrap is printed so you can fold it into an origami tree for your desk or office. Great way to call attention to an environmentally friendly product and make something fun out of the wrapper.

Thanks to Larry Hnetka for the tip.

What are you doing to reduce your impact on the environment? 

Blockbuster: Mouse

My favorite of the Super Bowl ads...