“The fact of the matter is that social media marketing for small business is an absolute must and if you don’t find the time to engage with your customers your competition will,” says Internet marketer James Debono. He offers the following time-saving tips for the busy marketers in smaller organizations:

Set a schedule: “You don’t have to post every day,” says Debono. “What is important is that when you do post, you post quality content that will get a reaction.” There are plenty of small businesses that post just once or a few times a week, and they are still successful in engaging customers and building a community, he asserts. 

Build a back catalogue of material: Rather than sitting down each and every time you are ready to post and thinking of fresh content, sit down for an allotted time each week and brainstorm a list of ideas that you could talk about, Debono suggests. “This will allow you to come up with material for several posts at a time, which you can then post a few days apart,” he explains.

Link your accounts: If you are struggling to find the time to post to three different accounts then focus on just one, says Debono. “Then link the other two profiles so that anything you post is circulated on all three,” he suggests, adding this tip: If you are doing this, remember that Twitter has a 140 character limit, so if you post anything longer it will be incomplete.

Automate: Once you have a list of content you can schedule some of it to be posted at specific times of the day. “You can use tools such as Timely for Twitter or Socialoomph,” Debono suggets. He cautions, however, that you don’t want to automate all of your social media presence as it is social media. “Take some time to access your chosen social media presence and have conversations with people; be human,” he says.

Centralize your engagement: “There are social media platform tools out there that allow you to centralize your social media accounts in one place; Hootsuite and Tweetdeck are just two examples,” Debono states. “These social media tools let you update, monitor, manage and maintain several social media platforms at once, saving you precious time.”

Have content come to you: Debono recommends that you set up Google alerts for specific topics related to your industry or niche. For example, “if you are running a dental practice, set up an alert for ‘teeth advice,’ ‘toothache’ or ‘healthy teeth,’ then take a minute to browse through the results and share some posts that you feel could add real value to your audience,” he offers.

Source: Business 2 Community

Posted April 24th, 2012 under Intellectual Property Marketing. [ Comments: none ]

Purdue University has launched its Innovation and Commercialization Center which, according to the university, “will move Purdue discoveries to the marketplace more quickly, increase revenue for the university, and spur economic development in Indiana and the nation.” Purdue spokespersons also believe it will enhance the value of its IP.

The center is a logical extension of previous Purdue efforts in these areas, says Keith Krach, chair of the Purdue Board of Trustees and a serial entrepreneur. “This came about from all that we’ve been doing for many years around our research and what we call ‘discovery to delivery,’” he explains. “We’re having a fair amount of success with AMI (the Alfred Mann Institute for Biomedical Development), which focuses on medical devices, and we thought we could duplicate this model in some respects and have kind of a one-stop shop for innovation and trying to commercialize it.”

Krach believes one of the major benefits of the model is that it will now require far fewer steps to reach commercialization, “and we’ll also have somebody who’s accountable and has the authority to make that happen,” he says. “Up to this point, a lot of times researchers did not even know where to turn.”

Elizabeth Hart-Wells, PhD, assistant vice president and director of the OTC, sees the establishment of the Innovation and Commercialization Center (ICC) as “a necessary growth step for technology commercialization of Purdue IP. It increases value, integrates some of the business community with transparency, and builds trust — which is part of our mission.”

Key target audiences for the center will include faculty, alumni, and donors, as well as seed funding and VC sources. “We’ve already reached out to several alumni who are very interested in the concept,” says Krach. “We’ve also opened up an office in Silicon Valley, we have an advisory board — a number of who are venture capitalists — and we’ve spread the word through them.” A detailed article on the center appears in the April 2012 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Posted April 24th, 2012 under Intellectual Property Marketing. [ Comments: none ]

A valuable new research report provides a unique data set that offers a first-ever view of medical school faculty’s income from research grants and technology licensing, as well as their perceptions of technology transfer offices. The Survey of Medical School Faculty: Earnings from Research and Technology Licensing and View of Technology Transfer Office covers a wide range of medical specialties, including in-depth commentary and analysis based on extensive survey results from 141 universities from the USA and abroad. Data featured in this 45-page report includes:

• Percentage of income derived from research grants
• Percentage of faculty who have ever received income from patents/licensing
• Cumulative earnings from patents/licensing
• Perception of fairness in licensing income distribution
• Perception of TTO effectiveness
• Attitudes regarding the TTO
• Number of invention disclosures filed
• Incidence of conflict or disagreement with university over intellectual property
• Perception of clarity in IP-related rules and policies

The report, published by Primary Research Group, is available to e-News readers in print or PDF for just $195. For more details and to order, CLICK HERE.

Posted April 24th, 2012 under Intellectual Property Marketing. [ Comments: none ]

“Strong copywriting has always been a crucial component of advertising and marketing, and even moreso now for online content,” notes Zach Bonnan of Interaktiva Digital Marketing. “But how do you write copy that will get read?” Web writing can be difficult, he concedes, but adds that once you have mastered the following steps, “you will be lines ahead of the competition”:

Keep your copy length short: “Though there’s no set length for how long your copy should be, always remember that attention spans are far shorter on the web,” says Bonnan. “Put the ‘meat’ of your point at the beginning of your copy, rather than burying it at the end.”

Create an emotional connection: Whether you’re writing bullet points, body copy or a “contact us” statement, strive to get your reader to laugh, smile or cry — to feel any emotion besides apathy, Bonnan recommends. “Review your copy — are others writing similar content, in a similar tone? If so, look at it from a different angle and find ways to stand out from the competition to help capture your customers’ attention,” he says.

Tone is key: “Get passionate and your tone will hit any target,” Bonnan says. “If you feel yourself going through the motions, stop writing, engage yourself in a different activity that you find inspiring, and then get back to writing content that will inspire others.”

Be true to your voice: “Customers will sense a false tone because using a phrase that’s foreign to you isn’t natural and will always sound forced,” Bonnan notes. “Talk to your audience in a fresh way, but do not try to imitate someone else’s voice.”

Direct your customer with calls to action: “When it comes to web copy, your CTAs are the number one item you want users to click on; CTAs direct customers where you want them to go,” says Bonnan. “Be short, specific and remember you are guiding human beings, so use commands or friendly instructions when starting your CTAs. For example, ‘Dig deeper’ is far superior to ‘More details’ because it is actionable and sounds more like what a real person would say.”

Don’t let SEO guide your overall writing: “One trap that often hurts web writers is focusing too much on SEO,” Bonnan cautions. “Keep SEO in mind so people can find your website easily, but never let it be the focus of writing a good headline or content. Instead, make sure your web designer uses image names and alt tags, and include important terms in subheads, page titles and body copy.”

Source: Business 2 Community

Posted April 24th, 2012 under Intellectual Property Marketing. [ Comments: none ]

When it comes to attracting Google’s web crawlers with SEO techniques, “sometimes knowing exactly what to avoid is just as important, if not more so, than the provisions you’re taking to maximize your web marketing,” says Adam Toren, the serial entrepreneur and investor who co-founded YoungEntrepreneur.com. Toren sets out these 10 “surefire ways to anger the most powerful search engine in the world”:

1. Unoriginal content: “Google loathes duplicated content,” says Toren. “Their complex filtering systems will automatically ignore content they find to be too similar to others, say for example through automated content generators or web templates.”
2. Invisible text: Some sites, Toren notes, include content hidden from view of actual website visitors, aimed solely at driving up those search engine rankings. “Google is on to these sneaky tactics and will discover these methods sooner than later,” he warns.
3. Over thinking it: “We’ve all learned that when Google sees a keyword used more frequently, the more relevant the page must be, right? Not these days,” says Toren.  “Google bots have been updated to evaluate the balance of the content on a given site to be sure it is actually human friendly — not just Google bot friendly.”
4. Promotion of paid links: “No one likes those web pages packed full of paid advertising links completely irrelevant to the actual website, not even Google,” Toren cautions. “If your site is running many paid links this will actually work against your own Google rating as they’ve recently begun to crackdown on this practice.”
5. Guilt by association: Integrating links to pages already banned by Google or sites containing known and obvious malware will be a surefire killer of your Google ranking, warns Toren. “More than likely your site will soon join the ranks of those banned.”
6. Artificial pretense: Creating a page designed to highly rank with targeted search queries for the sole pretense of redirecting visitors to advertising sites will have the Google gods frowning on your site, Toren observes. “There are extenuating circumstances, but largely if the redirected page isn’t relevant or doesn’t create value for the Google searcher, Google will likely axe you,” he says.
7. Redundant anchor texts: As anchor texts are the basis for the ability to be searched on Google, providing too similar words or wording for this anchor text to the link will actually become a huge disservice, says Toren. He adds that Google looks upon doing so as being unnatural and therefore a negative strike within their search algorithms.
8. Copied content: “The practice known as content scraping will have you on the Google naughty list,” Toren observes. “Scraping over content from other pages or sources whether blatantly or tucked on back pages for the sole purpose of boosting your Google ranking will easily knock your rating.”
9. Link exchanges: Toren says that taking part in link exchanges or link farms is harmful to your online marketing as Google looks upon these as frivolous and annoying blockages in the search engine system.
10. Cloaking content: “This is when completely different content is shown to Google bots than is actually visible to web visitors,” Toren explains. This is seen as such a massive Google faux pas that your page runs the risk of becoming banned from their search index.”

Source: Blogtrepreneur.com

Posted April 16th, 2012 under Intellectual Property Marketing. [ Comments: none ]

The explosion in sales of smart phones and tablets has given rise to a market for mobile apps that forecasters predict will exceed $25 billion by 2015. For university TTOs, this presents a tremendous opportunity for new revenues as well as new relationships with the hundreds of students and faculty creating apps on campus. The only problem is … most universities are not capturing this IP as part of their tech transfer efforts, and most app developers don’t view the TTO as a resource to help develop and market their mobile apps.

A small but growing number of universities have identified this growing trend as a way to enhance TTO revenue and better serve their researchers – and now’s your chance to join them. Technology Transfer Tactics Distance Learning Division has secured two top-level university tech transfer professionals with first-hand experience in app development, support, and negotiations with Apple and Google. Join Dr. Svetlana Sowers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Michael Halbrook, senior project manager at Purdue’s Office of Technology Commercialization, on Thursday, May 24 for a 60-minute webinar that promises to get your TTO on the path to an entirely new source of income: Create a New Revenue Stream by Supporting On-Campus App Developers. (Note: This program has been rescheduled from its original date of April 19.) For complete details and to register, CLICK HERE.

MORE DISTANCE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES:

• Wednesday, April 18: Using A Network Approach to Valuing Patents and Inventions
• Thursday, April 26: Moving From First to Invent to First to File: Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges
• Thursday, May 3: In-Depth Analysis of Mayo v. Prometheus: What it Means for the Future of Medical Diagnostic Patents
• Tuesday, May 15: Disclosure Assessment and Triage: “An Innovative Model for Patent Decision Making”

Posted April 16th, 2012 under Audioconferences, Intellectual Property Marketing. [ Comments: none ]

How “sharable” is your Facebook content? Jenna Lebel, managing director of strategy at Likeable Media, offers the following tips to improve the share-ability of Facebook content:

1. Look at the data: How many interactions are you getting on certain pieces of content? Lebel suggests you put that content into buckets, such as video, content with a photo, an article, and so on. “This allows you to see and segment what’s working and what’s not,” she explains.
2. Switch up the types of content: Begin to experiment, Lebel offers. Try short- and long-form articles and one- and two-minute videos to see what pulls best. Ask engaging questions. Post content related to that day’s news or events. “There’s not one form of content that resonates with everyone, so by switching it up you’re collecting more data and figuring out what works with most fans,” Lebel says.
3. Post content that’s worth sharing: Posting content such as “Share this if you’re happy it’s spring” will not do it, says Lebel. “Content should be controversial, relevant, a timely article, something that is on everyone’s mind,” she observes. “The postings should also have an added benefit; something that makes people laugh, a resource or how-to, for example.”
4. Originality takes the prize: Posting an original, unique piece of content that really stands out will catch fans’ attention, such as a compelling photo or infographic that quickly summarizes some interesting findings, says Lebel.
5. Ask people to share:  Or at the very least, include a strong call to action. Research has shown that asking people to share works. A study last year from Momentus Media found that asking users to “like” a post got 216% increased engagement on that post. “It’s a no brainer, but they may not think to press that share button,” Lebel observes.
6. Keep the content concise: Users are interacting with brands via the News Feed and         they’re connected to a lot of people and many different brands. They are scrolling through News Feeds pretty quickly. “No one wants to read a novel in his or her News Feed,” Lebel declares.

Source: Chief Marketer

Posted April 16th, 2012 under Intellectual Property Marketing. [ Comments: none ]

In a move that one university tech transfer executive referred to as “altruistic,” the University of Michigan is using a grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. as the foundation for a $2.4 million program called the Tech Transfer Talent Network, designed to accelerate technology commercialization by connecting entrepreneurs and experts to ideas and IP. The network will also include Wayne State University, Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University, Western Michigan University, Grand Valley State University and Oakland University.

“Having more access to experienced entrepreneurs and advisers has proven to be an effective strategy for U-M Tech Transfer,” said Ken Nisbet, Executive Director, in a statement that accompanied the launch of the network. “Although the results will take years to fully develop, we are confident that the Talent Network will give a boost to our collective efforts among our sister universities to transfer technology and create new start-ups.” U-M strategies and tools it plans to share with participants include:

• The Catalyst database, which identifies and tracks experienced entrepreneurs who are willing to serve as experts, mentors, consultants or even co-founders.
• Mentors-in-Residence, experienced entrepreneurs who work within Tech Transfer for 12- to 18-month rotations, helping to assess new opportunities and mentor new start-up ventures.
• Tech Transfer Fellows, a program that employs graduate students or other qualified personnel to help assess technology and analyze markets for tech transfer opportunities.
• A postdoctoral fellowship program to support graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to encourage them to continue with a start-up venture.

Every participating university will have something to bring to the table, adds Jim Baker, director of innovation and industry engagement at Michigan Technological University. “The network is for the entire state of Michigan — a collaboration of universities that represent strong focal points of technology or business [offering] talent or large research programs, or both,” he says. “They can help drive contributions to business solutions around the state.” A detailed article on the network appears in the April 2012 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Posted April 16th, 2012 under Intellectual Property Marketing. [ Comments: none ]

Can sounds be trademarked? In Canada, yes they can. After a 20-year court battle, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office has determined that the iconic Metro Goldwyn Mayer lion’s roar can be protected by trademark. The decision was sparked by U.S. entertainment giant MGM’s 1992 application to trademark the lion’s roar heard at the beginning of its movies. MGM and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) reached an agreement that was recently approved by a federal court judge.

MGM has been using a lion to introduce its movies since 1917’s Polly of the Circus. The lion first began to roar, however, in 1928, for White Shadows in the South Seas. Legal and marketing experts say the move by CIPO could eventually open the door to trademarking everything from engine sounds to commercial jingles.

Still, says intellectual property lawyer Andrea Rush, don’t expect a free-for-all of overly broad trademarks to be granted. Context, she says, is everything. “You wouldn’t expect to get the word apple trademarked when it comes to a hard, round fruit with a stem, but for computers it’s a different story,” says Rush, a partner and trademark agent at law firm Heenan Blaikie.

“MGM can register the specific lion’s roar that it has used to identify its movies in the marketplace; it cannot register the generic sound of a lion’s roar,” adds Carys Craig, an intellectual property specialist and associate professor at Osgoode Hall law school.

The sound of the MGM lion’s roar, says marketing expert David Kincaid, is likely worth millions. “They’ve been using that consistently for decades. It’s like a stamp of approval,” says Kincaid, CEO of Level5 Strategic Brand Advisors. There’s no question, says Kincaid, that consumers can associate a sound with a given product, such as the familiar notes used by computer chip maker Intel, or the roar of a Harley Davidson motorcycle engine.

Source: thestar.com

Posted April 16th, 2012 under Intellectual Property Marketing. [ Comments: none ]

Even seemingly innocuous activities — a lab tour for foreign nationals or a meeting with potential joint venture partners, for example — can run afoul of strict deemed export regulations, and expose your university to extreme consequences up to and including exclusion from federally funded research. Mastering Deemed Exports is a training video designed to help your staff, faculty, and students stay in compliance with these complex regulations. It provides plain-English explanations of the rules, along with dramatizations of how easy it is to unwittingly violate them. This must-have training aid provides a quick and easy way to introduce new employees to these requirements and to reinforce the rules with existing personnel. The DVD comes with a free print bonus manual of supplemental material. In a special arrangement with the publisher, Tech Transfer E-News readers receive a $100 discount off the regular price. For more information, CLICK HERE >>>

Posted April 16th, 2012 under Intellectual Property Marketing. [ Comments: none ]

Fuentek, LLC has released a white paper titled “Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer Marketing,” designed to explain the benefits that TTOs can gain from incorporating social media into their strategic business plans. It also offers suggestions for leveraging web-based tools to achieve goals and improve results.

The white paper includes experience-based recommendations for the effective use of platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and SlideShare. It emphasizes the importance of using these tools to build online relationships in order to establish potential partnerships and licensing opportunities. It also offers advice for using blogs to spark online conversations and enhance a TTO’s visibility, and recommends a “quality over quantity” approach.

Source: Fuentek Blog

Posted April 16th, 2012 under Intellectual Property Marketing. [ Comments: none ]

“Your online press room should be an important component of your PR, sales and marketing plans,” says Mark Shapiro, who provides PR and marketing consulting services to technology companies worldwide through his firm SRS Tech Media Relations. Your online press room is open and working for you 24/7, he notes, and editors and writers often work late at night, on the weekends and holidays when your PR and marketing teams are not available. Accordingly, your website and its press room have to be able to provide all the information needed. He offers the following steps to having an effective online press room:

Make your press room easy to find: “This is essential,” says Shapiro. “Good web site designs are easy to navigate. Don’t hide your press page or press room four or five clicks away from your homepage.” If possible, he says, put a link to it from the front page — labelling it as News, Press or even Press Room. In addition, for good SEO results make the page name and file name logical and searchable; use a name that makes sense like www.yourdomain.com/pressroom and list it in your sitemap.

Press release index: Make sure the list of releases is kept up to date. “I have worked for companies where the last three or four months of press releases had not yet been posted,” Shapiro notes. “Leave the dates on the releases so that a visiting writer has an idea of how fresh your news is.” He adds these key things not to do:

• Don’t require an editor to fill out a contact form to retrieve your press releases.
• Don’t post your press releases only as locked PDFs.
• In the same vein, do not convert your text content into jpgs and images.
• Finally, while the term “Long Tail” is applied to IP, it also applies to press releases, Shapiro says. “Unless there is a compelling reason to remove them, keep all your old press releases up on your site and available via a press release archive,” he advises. “And, if you have changed PR companies or PR contacts over the years make sure that the PR contact information on the old press releases is current.”

PR contacts: “You have to have PR contact information. . . . It should be easily found on your press room page,” Shapiro advises. “If you operate in various regions, i.e. U.S., EMEA, APAC, then list the press contacts for each area. If possible, list local phone numbers for each region.” If an editor or writer calls, you should be able to get back to them within 24 hours or less, and if it’s during work hours, responses should ideally be within an hour, he adds. “Most importantly, if the editor asks for some info or a document that is NOT readily available, respond back, confirm that you got the inquiry and tell them that you are working on it and give them a time frame for when you’ll get back. Don’t leave them wondering if anyone is at home.”

Photos, images and video: “Editors and writers love photos and images,” says Shapiro. “If your press releases are product oriented, include a small thumbnail that links to a choice of product images of various sizes and angles. Have small GIFs or JPGs for web and blog use. Have a large 300 dpi image for print purposes. If you have copyright worries, embed a small logo in the image.” If you are using video in your PR and marketing mix, post a small thumbnail with a good description and a link to the video, he suggests. “Your video library can include webinars, podcasts, product demonstrations and b-roll, presentations and management speeches, and even commercials for your product.”

Background information: Your press room should also include links to white papers, company backgrounders and corporate information, organizational history, profiles of company leaders and management, a list of upcoming shows where the company will be exhibiting or is available for interviews, and so on, says Shapiro. “If appropriate, include other technical documents, product descriptions, and data sheets,” he adds. “If you wish writers to try out, review and then write about your products and services, make it easy for them to find that info. Also include relevant user and reviewer guides for easy download.” In addition, he continues, if you want to position yourself as THE thought leader in your industry, your company should create and post articles, blogs, and short columns about the latest trends, developments and standards that impact your industry sector.

 Press clips and press coverage page: These press coverage lists can be very useful to sales personnel in the field to use as marketing collateral, Shapiro notes. “For writers and editors, the list of press coverage demonstrates that other members of the community recognize the value of your company and its products and technologies,” he adds.

One of the best examples of a complete online press room, says Shapiro, is the Microsoft News Center site. “A good example of a top press room is on the Quality Claims Management site,” he adds. “Simple in design, the link to the News & Resources page is on the top of their home page.”

Source: Econsultancy

Posted April 10th, 2012 under Intellectual Property Marketing. [ Comments: none ]

« Previous entries Next entries »