http://www.westgatemarketing.net Building Audience by Creating Engaging Moments Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:47:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2010/06/conversion-strategies-to-establish-relationship/ http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2010/06/conversion-strategies-to-establish-relationship/#comments Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:47:33 +0000 Elliott Cunningham http://www.westgatemarketing.net/?p=357
Any viable internet strategy needs to include conversion concepts. Sometimes that might be economic, as in sales. But it can also be non-economic; for instance, you may want to get people to move or migrate to pages, to opt-in to your email list, or to take whatever action you desire them to take. This conversion is [...]]]> http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2010/06/conversion-strategies-to-establish-relationship/feed/ 0 http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2010/03/theres-no-whining-in-music/ http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2010/03/theres-no-whining-in-music/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:09:28 +0000 Elliott Cunningham http://www.westgatemarketing.net/?p=362
A friend of mine just Facebooked, “Thinking there has to be some way to unite indies rockers.” To which I replied, “If the ants ever get together, the grasshoppers are in trouble!” There’s a dirty 4-letter word that every musician must heave to succeed: work. And the work needs to be done, as my friend Tom [...]]]> http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2010/03/theres-no-whining-in-music/feed/ 0 http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/10/adapting-to-change/ http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/10/adapting-to-change/#comments Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:00:07 +0000 Elliott Cunningham http://www.westgatemarketing.net/?p=348
Clay Shirky recently wrote a great article on Cato Unbound. What he describes in the news industry is a mirror of what has happened in music. However, my take is that the “established,” which has consolidated over the last 30 years and bloated upon itself, is now decentralizing again. 30 years ago there were thousands of [...]]]> http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/10/adapting-to-change/feed/ 0 http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/10/broken-records-but-vinyl-is-growing/ http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/10/broken-records-but-vinyl-is-growing/#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:27:27 +0000 Elliott Cunningham http://www.westgatemarketing.net/?p=342
I got an email recently from Burnside Distribution. Here’s what they said: “Physical sales of CDs continue to decline; I doubt anyone will dispute this. Large chains and big box stores are reducing the amount of titles they carry and in the process have set up huge returns, both directly to Burnside and through our one-stop [...]]]> http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/10/broken-records-but-vinyl-is-growing/feed/ 0 http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/09/fast-company-says-major-media-should-chill-out/ http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/09/fast-company-says-major-media-should-chill-out/#comments Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:00:30 +0000 Elliott Cunningham http://www.westgatemarketing.net/?p=338
I’m a big believer that in this environment, there is no one way to get to market. Both online and traditional media work in unique ways. You need to find the right mix of both that will serve and reach your audience. But right now, major media has a problem, and it isn’t necessarily the internet. [...]]]> http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/09/fast-company-says-major-media-should-chill-out/feed/ 0 http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/do-you-suffer-from-techno-ecstasy/ http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/do-you-suffer-from-techno-ecstasy/#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:00:42 +0000 Elliott Cunningham http://www.westgatemarketing.net/?p=318
Too many companies stay out of the internet. Others rush in with “techno-ecstasy,” often times at the press of employees and without any objective or strategy. “Hey, look at this gizmo I found, let’s do this!” Whatever the latest marketing trick or tool, it may be worthy of evaluation. But if it’s not serving your larger [...]]]> http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/do-you-suffer-from-techno-ecstasy/feed/ 0 http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/hope-it-sticks/ http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/hope-it-sticks/#comments Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:37:01 +0000 Elliott Cunningham http://www.westgatemarketing.net/?p=323
I was at my bank on Saturday. The teller invited me to go to a special online promotion at “theirwebsite.com/teller.” I noticed this “register to win” promotion was also printed on my deposit slip. So a couple days later I went to the website. What did I find? I found they had a new website. Their [...]]]> http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/hope-it-sticks/feed/ 0 http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/so-what-is-your-story/ http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/so-what-is-your-story/#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:00:45 +0000 Elliott Cunningham http://www.westgatemarketing.net/?p=315
I have found in working with creative projects and artists that is always best to start with the story. Developing your narrative is one of the most important things you can do, but when I share this with most companies they look blankly at me with a puzzling “why?” If you do not write your story, it [...]]]> http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/so-what-is-your-story/feed/ 0 http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/everyone-in-your-company-is-in-marketing/ http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/everyone-in-your-company-is-in-marketing/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:00:04 +0000 Elliott Cunningham http://www.westgatemarketing.net/?p=303
Every business does its commerce in some community square, just like the grand old days. It may look and feel different, but the principles and fundamentals are the same. I have worked on projects where the shipping department said “that’s not our job, that’s marketing’s job.” But Good to Great companies know that everyone is in [...]]]> http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/everyone-in-your-company-is-in-marketing/feed/ 0 http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/no-dissing-on-the-bus/ http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/no-dissing-on-the-bus/#comments Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:30:10 +0000 Elliott Cunningham http://www.westgatemarketing.net/?p=298
One season, we ran a tour with two bands on a tour bus, living on the road together for a month at a time over 9 months. It is typical for folks to chide one another, and it can get pretty tough when they are living on a “land submarine” 12 hours a day! I realized [...]]]> http://www.westgatemarketing.net/2009/08/no-dissing-on-the-bus/feed/ 0