Never say “I”: “To the extent that the brand has its own personality and voice, you should incorporate that style into your tweets, but be careful about making your company’s account an extension of your personal online presence,” Bocci says. “Any time you use ‘I’ in a tweet, your followers can’t help but wonder about the person behind the tweets,” which detract from the focus on the brand.

Establish a separate account for support: The beauty of Twitter is that companies can respond directly to customers in real time — but the downside is that all of those real-time responses will be visible on your company’s profile, says Bocci. And when users visit your brand’s Twitter page, you don’t want them to be greeted with a list of apologies and product malfunctions. “The solution is simple: Create a separate Twitter account to respond to customer support questions or communicate technical issues, while keeping your company’s main account for announcements, content sharing, and retweets of positive feedback,” she says.

Schedule your tweets: A good Twitter feed has a steady stream of content throughout the day and the week, notes Bocci, but if you work 8-to-5 in San Francisco, your East Coast followers have been checking Twitter for hours by the time you get to work. Again, there’s a simple solution. “All of the major Twitter clients (TweetDeck, HootSuite, CoTweet) allow you to schedule tweets to be published in the future,” she notes.

Take care of influencers: If your company doesn’t have an internal system for tracking customers on social media, you can reference a user’s Klout score to get a rough idea of how influential he or she is online, says Bocci. “Some Twitter clients like CoTweet have Klout scores built into the dashboard to make this data readily available as you interact with different users,” she notes.

Don’t respond to haters: “Twitter is a great platform to respond to legitimate customer service issues, but every so often you’ll encounter someone who is just plain rude,” says Bocci. “If your company is getting cyber-bullied, do not engage with the offending user. Feel free to block the user or report the abuse to Twitter.”

Source: Forbes

ALSO COMING SOON:

• Wednesday, May 16: How Universities Fail Women Inventors
• Thursday, May 24: Create a New Revenue Stream by Supporting On-Campus App Developers
• Tuesday, June 26: Low and No-Cost Solutions for Marketing University Innovations

Create a “bulletproof” button using HTML: A “bulletproof” button is a button in your HTML e-mail that looks the same regardless of whether the recipient has enabled images or not, Cellucci explains. “If for brand or design purposes it is necessary to include a graphical button as your call to action, you can compensate for image blocking by achieving a ‘bulletproof’ button-like effect through a technique that uses table cells with HTML text and appropriate colors and styling,” she says. “Place the HTML text within a table cell that has a colored background (indicate this color by using the “bgcolor” attribute in the <td>).”

Make it easily visible above and below the fold: “The placement of the CTA within an e-mail or on a web page is critical to attracting the eyes of subscribers and visitors,” says Cellucci. “Placement can lead to higher click through rates and higher landing page conversions because users will likely notice the CTA and take action. Place your primary call to action button, image, or text link ‘above the fold,’ where subscribers and visitors can see it without having to scroll down.” However, she adds, if your page or e-mail allows for scrolling, include additional calls to action so that each screen’s height contains one or more that are logically presented.

Optimize for SEO: In many cases a button is directly linked to a page indexed by search engines. By adding an <img> alt attribute, says Cellucci, you’ll provide the search engines with text they will then associate with the target page: if you are targeting keywords on that target place, you should use them in your <img> alt. “To get the most out of your button, your image’s alt attribute (or, depending on the browser, an <a> title attribute) may be displayed to a visitor when they mouse over the button, providing yet another opportunity to reinforce or your call-to-action (‘Reserve a Spot Now!’),” she adds.

Guide to next steps: “People like being guided to next steps, and calls to action give them the opportunity to act without having to think about what their next action should be (e.g., ‘Register Now,’ ‘Tell us what you think,’ ‘Watch the video,’ ‘Learn more,’ ‘Download White paper,’ ‘Add to Shopping Cart’),” notes Cellucci. “If you make it easy for the user to understand where to take action, why to click through, and what to expect once they click through, you’ll see your CTR increase.”

Split test call to action buttons: Cellucci says you can significantly improve results by making the smallest tweak. “Moving the CTA up further in the e-mail or page may produce more click throughs and higher conversions,” she notes. “Simple design changes (color, text and size of button) can produce impressive results.” But until you test the call to action, there’s no way of knowing whether you have chosen the best option.

Source: Business 2 Community

Give credit: “When sharing a piece of content give the author of the content credit as well as, or instead of, the publication that prints it,” says Debono. By mentioning the writer you stand a greater chance of that writer getting back to you in response to your message, thus potentially increasing your credibility or even followers, he notes.

Curate cleverly: “Many people on social media will follow you as they see you as someone who is interesting with relation to a certain topic or field,” says Debono. “Therefore, it is better to supply content with relation to that field.” People want to know more about you and what makes you tick, so don’t send so much varied content that you start to make your audience forget why they followed you in the first place, he warns.

Tell me why I should click on it: Quite often when you hit the share button or Twitter button on an article the canned message that is automatically printed can sometimes be pretty poor, Debono cautions. Ask yourself, does that message truly reflect the mood, tone and voice of the content and or your opinion? “If not, change it or add your own spin on things,” he advises. “Be original; give your personal recommendation or reasons why your followers should click on it and potentially share it.”

Pick and mix: “We live in a multi-media age where people can consume information in a vast array of formats — blog posts, videos, presentations, images,” Debono notes. “Different members of your audience will prefer to consume information in different ways, so feed that desire by sharing and producing content in a variety of formats.”

Share your content wisely: Don’t feel the need to share your own material just because you feel you have to — that can create the wrong impression, warns Debono. “Who realistically wants to sit there while someone else goes on about themselves all day?” he challenges. “Share other peoples’ content, talk about other people to help spark up conversations with your audience or the people whose content you are sharing.”

What goes around comes around: The more content that you share in relation to your field or niche the greater the chance you have of getting noticed and your content shared, says Debono. “Look to build relationships with people in your field by sharing and commenting on their content on a regular basis over a period of time,” he advises. “That person will then take the time to research what you are doing, hopefully see something they like, take an interest in your work and share to their community who are also likely to be interested in what you have to say.”

Test, track and analyze: “If sending a post about dancing dogs gets no clicks or shares and a tweet about tax avoidance strategies gets 9 RTs, then you should be sharing content aimed at a business-related audience,” notes Debono. “On top of that, if a tweet or a share sparks off a conversation and results in a lot of retweets, then why not use this as an idea to create your own content on the subject? You could produce a video or a blog post about it.”

Source: Business 2 Community

The program was co-founded about five years ago by Steve Van Nurden, chair of Mayo Clinic Ventures, and John Meslow, a former Medtronic executive. “Since Mayo and Medtronic were both Minnesota companies, we wanted to provide students with a real-world experience rather than just case studies or cherry-picking really good projects and providing those projects to them,” Van Nurden explains.

He says there are several advantages to involving a number of universities in the process. “We wanted to do two things: First, today and in the future the way medicine is practiced you need to have a cross-functional team — marketing sits next to a surgeon, who sits next to a nurse, who sits next to an engineer,” Van Nurden explains. “They need to understand how to work together.

Second, in the real world not all teams are built within just one company — they will often collaborate with different groups. We may interface with industry, government, or universities; not everyone will come from your own world.” A detailed article on Mayo program appears in the May 2012 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

1. Keyword selection and research. Always think like the visitors that your website intends to attract, Trask suggests. “One of the favorite tools in keyword research is Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool,” he notes. “This tool, which is completely free for use, allows a page owner to key in a phrase or word that is related to the topic of the article, and then it will search for related words and phrases that have any similarity to the searched word(s) and will then be listed down.”

2. Emphasize keywords in the URL. Before publishing a page, says Trask, it is important that the URL contains the important keywords that a user might look for in search engines.

3. Optimize the title tab. “With only 10 seconds or less to attract the attention of a user, a nicely made title tag just might be the trick in increasing the chances that users will visit a web page,” says Trask. A title tag, he adds, always should consist of a brief statement that can summarize the main idea of the page content and should be motivating enough for searchers to visit the site.

4. Emphasize keywords using text modifiers. Using text modifier tags such as the strong or bold tags to give emphasis to a keyword phrase or a keyword at least once is a good practice, says Trask. The targeted keyword or phrase may also be italicized at least once to carry more emphasis, he notes.

5. Keyword density optimization. This refers to the measurement for the number of instances that the keyword or keywords appear on a web page. “Keyword stuffing should always be avoided while strategically putting the keyword or keywords in the start and end of an article and using other variations of the keyword or keywords where it would make sense and look natural,” says Trask.

6. Optimize the use of the Image Alt tag. “File names and alt tag attributes of images included in the website should be optimized to help in determining the relevance of the site,” says Trask. “Images should be named using keywords that are separated using a dash and the alt attributes should be filled out with a brief phrase regarding the image.”

7. Emphasize keywords in headings. “It is necessary to make sure that the headline title can reel in the users’ attention while deliberately explaining the content,” Trask explains.

8. Proofread. Content which contains poor spelling, awkward sentences, incorrect grammar, or any form of writing that is considered unpleasing to a reader is usually devalued by search engines, notes Trask.

Source: CMV Live

The site, says founder Roger Shashoua, will offer a much needed set of new services that will fill a current void in the international IP marketplace. Shashoua says he expects the platform “to assist fundamentally how inventors, companies, research institutes and other holders of IP, or their attorneys and agents assign and license, sell or acquire IP rights worldwide.”

IPR Connections, he continues, “aims to provide a direct route for corporations, developers of new products and other holders of patents and trademarks to connect through licenses with partners worldwide. Its objective is to be the first organization in the new product and technology transfer field to provide globally comprehensive information on intellectual property.”

This in turn, he adds, will lead to the provision of a range of services to access, sell, license or buy patents or new product rights. “Companies worldwide are now seeking to monetize their patent portfolios as part of their corporate plans and funding,” he notes. “These activities provide a fertile market for registration and offers for sale or license through IPR Connections.” Although the global IP market has grown exponentially, it is still very fragmented and localized, according to Shashoua.

Source: IPR Connections

ALSO COMING SOON:

• Wednesday, May 16: How Universities Fail Women Inventors
• Thursday, May 24: Create a New Revenue Stream by Supporting On-Campus App Developers

Entice with clear commands and cues: Don’t rely on “click here” as a command — it falls far short as a call to action, says Cellucci. “The trigger to entice the customer on the path to conversion must be clear, compelling, and deliver as much information as possible in just a few or a couple of words,” she explains. “You may want them to subscribe, download a white paper, purchase something, register for an event, or share with their friends. Keep it simple and clear!” As an example, HootSuite’s simple CTA, she notes, makes it clear that the sign-up process is fast and easy.

Use verbs to convey action and urgency: A good call to action, Cellucci says, accomplishes two things: It tells the subscriber or visitor exactly what they’re getting when they click on something, and it gives them a sense of urgency and immediacy. “Use a command that clearly states what action you want [the customer] to take,” she advises. “Which are you more likely to click on: ‘Click Here’ or ‘Get it Now!’? Would you be more enticed by ‘Download’ or ‘Download Now, Free!’?” she poses. Creating a sense of urgency, Cellucci adds, entices your readers to act quickly. When the action is less urgent,  she continues, you’ll want to us use a call to action that works better in your overall site design or e-mail (e.g., “Learn More,” “See How It Works,” etc.). “Ideally,” she concludes, “You want to start your CTA with a verb.”

Be bold with color and contrast: “Use attractive, colorful buttons with visual styles that compel subscribers and visitors to take action (e.g., arrows signify forward movement),” recommends Cellucci. “You want to draw your subscribers and visitors directly to it, and the best way to do this is by using color and contrast in your buttons. The color of your button should contrast with the text color on your button. Be sure to test some variations to ensure it’s as effective as it can be.” She cites Spotify’s neon green CTA, which contrasts sharply against the light gray background.

Draw attention with size and whites pace: You should experiment with button size (e.g., a smaller button may get lost, but make it bigger and it becomes a central element on the page), notes Cellucci. “Try increasing the font size and use ample amounts of white space to offset it from the rest of your content,” she suggests. White space has nothing to do with the color ‘white,’ she explains; it refers to the empty parts of the page. “If the page has a different background color that will be the color of the white space,” Cellucci notes. Good use of white space, she explains, can help readers make visual connections between page elements, and it can also differentiate a CTA as a stand-alone important element. She notes that Dashboard’s red and black CTA is highly visible and offers additional information.

Minimize the number/prioritize multiple calls to action: There are instances when two or more calls to action are appropriate, says Cellucci. “For example, if you have two calls to action like ‘Sign Up Now’ and ‘Take a Tour,’ you may want the focus to be on free trials,” she offers. “In other instances you may want to let customers choose which path to take on their own.” You can either increase the size of the most important call to action to make it stand out, make use of color to highlight the most important button, or make both calls to action the same size and spaced equally, but guiding the user to a specific button through the use of color, she observes.

This is the first of two installments.

Source: Business 2 Community

NKU, he continues, is mainly a teaching school; it does not have a TTO, or a strong IP policy. “There needs to be something to take that step; this will be a pre-seed sort of incubator whose sole function is to be a feeder to these accelerators,” D’Souza explains. “It is not a competition, just a program to provide them with deals and talent.”

Once he determined the need for such a program, D’Souza set out to visit existing accelerators and incubators around the country. His site visits included the Sparta business accelerator at The University of Tampa and the Spark incubator at Florida Atlantic University. He also explored Hatcheries at Babson College in Massachusetts and the Lean LaunchPad at Stanford University, and studied the models of the Brandery consumer marketing accelerator in Over-the-Rhine, Accelerator Works in Atlanta, TechStars and Y Combinator in San Francisco and Google Umbono in South Africa.

Even before the visits, however, he searched the Internet for background information. “Thank you, Google,” says D’Souza, who says he looked at programs in schools that were approximately the same size and had the same sort of orientation as NKU. As for the site visits, he says the accelerator execs “were absolutely willing to let me come and take a look.”

For the most part, D’Souza says, he found the incubation models at these institutions were based on companies coming in, renting space, and getting services like Internet connections and basic amenities — and staying there until they were able to leave. “That’s not what I had in mind at all,” says D’Souza. “My thing was that when students came to me with good ideas, we’d help them build a team around it, understand the competition, their competitive advantage, that true target market, and then take the whole business model to apply to these accelerators.” A detailed article on this approach appears in the May 2012 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Get focused and identify goals:  If you don’t have a clear idea of why you are in social media, anything you measure will be useless, Zwilling explains. Sterne suggests you begin with the “big three” business objectives of higher revenue, reduced costs, and improved customer satisfaction.

Get attention and reach your audience: Measuring message delivery in social media is a lot like measuring it in classic advertising, so classic metrics do apply. But with social media, it is also important to identify how many people see your message as remarkable, says Zwilling. That leads to the extra reach of word-of-mouth, commenting, and telling friends.

Measure respect and find influencers: Your task with social media includes reaching the people who are key influencers, and understanding their impact. Therein lies the multiplier effect, Zwilling explains. “Your message multiplier velocity and reach are the signals that your offerings have the right scope, spread quickly, and resonate with your target audience,” he says.

Track the emotional sentiment: “Tracking public sentiment over time provides invaluable insight and gives you the chance to stay right on top of changes in the marketplace and your organization’s brand equity,” says Zwilling.

Measure customer response and action: “If they read it and like it, do they click through to your web site, or engage with your organization in new and different ways?” Zwilling poses.  “Action is when people are drawn into a profitable and sustainable relationship with your company. That’s where the money is.”

Get the message from your customer: With the customer in control, you need to make sure you are getting the right message from the right people at the right time, Zwilling explains. “That’s real-time market research, and you need to measure how well you are hearing it and acting on it in your business strategy planning,” he says.

Drive business outcomes and get results: “Measure to see if you have an increase in revenue, a lowering of costs, and improvement in customer satisfaction,” Zwilling suggests. “Then it’s time to re-examine your goals to look beyond the ‘big three.’”

Get buy-in from your colleagues: Some executives are slow to understand and embrace new communications methods, notes Zwilling. “Use your results to convince them that social media is a vital part of your marketing mix, and deserves the resources necessary for proper implementation and measurement,” he advises.

Project the future: “Start now to look at where social media will be in two to ten years, and prepare for it,” Zwilling urges. “Don’t let the changes take your organization by surprise, or allow your organization to be the last to implement and measure you in the new world.”

Source: Startup Professionals Musings

Change may be in the wind, however. The Marketing Accountability Standards Board is preparing to launch a Brand Investment and Valuation Pilot study to develop a widely accepted methodology that marketers can use to value their brands and guide their investment decisions. MASB plans to conclude the study by 2014.

Source: Ad Age

Customize thumbnail images: Video thumbnails that are nicely photographed and appear to be art directed will blend in much better on Pinterest, and typically draw more attention than a video still frame, says Crowell, who recommends using Vimeo if you are not a YouTube Partner. “When selecting a thumbnail, find or create an eye-catching image that properly represents your video,” he advises. “If it’s a company product, consider setting it against a white background. If it’s more of an idea, then find a visual that provides a unique way of showcasing your theme.”

Have descriptive video pins and pinboards: Pinterest recommends you create at least a few boards that cover a broad range of interests, rather than maintaining a single board devoted to one topic, Crowell notes. “Look for ways to combine your originally produced videos with curated videos into pinboards around keyword-rich themes, and place them next to related static images you’ve pinned,” he suggests. “For example, a product pin can be strategically placed next to an interesting video showing a lifestyle experience or demo of that product.”

Keep your videos short, when possible: “Pinterest is designed for quick browsing and pinning, so you don’t want to make people feel like they’re going to be stuck watching a long video,” Crowell explains. “Naturally, there will be exceptions, as some video themes, like DIYs or demos, may require more time.”

Clearly describe video content: “Don’t ever leave your description field blank,” Crowell cautions. “Describe to people what they can expect to see before they click on the video. Even with an eye-catching thumbnail image, and a relevant subject, people still read the description field of a video to make sure it’s worth their time.”

Curate fresh videos with fresh descriptions: “I recommend creating your own unique title and description instead of duplicating what appears on the original video page, so as not to appear ‘spammy,’” says Crowell.

Include “Pin This” annotations: When you are using your own YouTube videos, Brian Honigman, the digital marketing manager at Marc Ecko Enterprises, suggests including annotations with a call-to-action for your audience. Basically, tell your visitors to “pin this video to Pinterest” or provide a link to your Pinterest profile as a way to connect.

Add “Pin Me” notices in video outtros: “Simply include something like ‘Follow me at Pinterest.com/[pinterest name]’ in your video outtros; it makes for a great reminder for users to engage with you in another way and in a different community,” says Crowell.

Put a “Pin It” button next to your video player: “You likely already know that you can add the Pinterest follow button to your website or blog,” says Crowell. “You should also have it embedded right under the embedded video player on your website and blog pages. It’s just one more way your visitors can get to key content.”

Create a Pinterest-specific video campaign: “Some brands are now developing video campaigns to encourage users to follow them on Pinterest and pin their items,” says Crowell. He cites a Pinterest video campaign from a U.K. insurance comparison website that was part of a contest where users submitted the craziest shoes they have ever worn while operating a car. “This created awareness about a public safety issue (unsafe driving habits), while also generating increased brand awareness through theme-based pinning,” Crowell notes.

Repin videos by others: “Find influencers in your industry who already have Pinterest profiles, follow them, and include their videos on your own pinboard,” Crowell suggests. “Make sure to notify them about it on the comments section of their original pins. Better yet, you can create a custom video that comments on some of the more interesting Pin-fluencers’ in your community.”

Source: Mashable

This decision directly affects how universities approach patent decision making for diagnostic method patents, and will almost certainly impact the Myriad case, as well as a whole range of method claims surrounding other technologies. To help you make sense of the complex patentability issues raised by the decision, and to guide you in drafting future claims, we’ve scheduled a critical webinar for this Thursday, May 3: In-Depth Analysis of Mayo v. Prometheus: What it Means for the Future of Medical Diagnostic Patents, featuring Kevin E. Noonan, PhD, author of the PatentDocs blog and a partner with McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP. For complete details and to register, CLICK HERE.

ALSO COMING SOON:

• Tuesday, May 15: Disclosure Assessment and Triage: “An Innovative Model for Patent Decision Making”
• Thursday, May 24: Create a New Revenue Stream by Supporting On-Campus App Developers

Know your targets: “We often coach our companies and aid them in executing market research projects to help them understand the right segments they should be targeting with their overall go-to-market efforts,” says Maksymiw. “Take it a step further by fully understanding your buyer and user personas so you can clearly articulate pain points, needs, interests, and preferences of the key stakeholders within your target segments.”

Tune into the right channels: To truly succeed in marketing your expansion-stage company, you need to have knowledge about the marketing channels which are most effective at reaching, communicating, and engaging with your target audience, says Maksymiw. “Do some research to identify your right marketing channels. Talk to your prospects and customers,” she recommends. “Talk to your sales and customer service teams too, as they may be able to shed some light as well. Simply put, if your target market isn’t on Facebook you shouldn’t be either.”

Go for the goal: Without goals in place, efforts will inherently be wasted, Maksymiw asserts. “The senior management should meet on an annual basis to define, prioritize, and commit to goals for the marketing department so that you can accurately track the success of the team,” she recommends. “Take it a step further and make your goals smart (think “grow the subscriber base to 10,000 and increase the open rate to 25%” rather than “improve the newsletter”) and make it a point to regularly evaluate and reevaluate your progress.”

Plan your attack: “Instead of blindly executing against your marketing goals, set aside some time at the beginning of each quarter or planning cycle to really document work plans to guide every step or at least every milestone,” says Maksymiw. “This activity can help ensure you create and release your eBooks on time, execute against your campaigns, and achieve all of your other goals. By planning this way, you are more likely to be agile because you will be in a better position to identify and resolve impediments.”

Focus your efforts: Since marketing budgets in start-up and expansion stage technology companies can be a little tight, it is not only important that marketing efforts are focused, it is critical, says Maksymiw. “Marketers have a tendency to be drawn to shiny objects (believe me, I know), so be sure you are properly prioritizing your time and resources on the few things that truly matter so that you can eventually see impact,” she advises. “Instead of focusing on getting more Facebook fans, pinning your infographics to Pinterest, or sending out another press release, focus on the few things you can do this week or next week to move the needle against your goals.”

Leave time to experiment: “Without going overboard and getting distracted by the newest, biggest thing, do take some time to experiment and test out new ideas,” says Maksymiw. “After all, you may find something that sticks.”

Source: Business Insider

She recalls a recently completed project for NASA in which individual flyers were prepared for each of the 50 states, working with the agency’s Innovative Partnerships Office to develop materials that conveyed its tech transfer-related economic impact. “These flyers illustrate that when businesses leverage NASA technologies to develop new products, there are tremendous benefits to local economies throughout the country,” McCullough shares. While in her words they are “attractive and eye- catching,” they also “contain hard-hitting metrics (such as specific investment figures)” and “compelling yet concise” articles about NASA-derived products developed and manufactured in each state.

To convey your own TTO’s value, McCullough recommends you start by determining the best mechanism to communicate your message quickly and effectively to your audience and achieve the desired outcomes.

Source: Fuentek

“Through the PIA mechanism the government has to partner with intermediaries that assist them in accomplishing their mission — in this case, licensing technologies to companies,” explains Mark Rohrbaugh, director of the OTT. “We entered into the agreement with them to partner in identifying potential licensees for our companies and to facilitate interactions leading to more licensing opportunities.”

This is not the only NIH relationship with intermediaries, he continues. For example, they have partnered with TEDCO (the Maryland Technology Development Corporation) in a regional showcase for companies in Maryland that focuses on specific fields like cancer or nanotechnology, and they have another agreement with an organization out of Arlington, TX, which will share information about its technologies available for licensing. “It’s not a high biotech area, so they’ll try to find things appropriate for companies in Texas and several other southwest states,” notes Rohrbaugh. A detailed article on the NIH’s partnerships appears in the May 2012 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

“I interviewed other bloggers to gain a different perspective,” Lancaster says. “I know what we do at No. 2 Pen, but there’s no limit on how to come up with blog post ideas. That’s the beauty of blogging.”

The book is designed to make business blogging easier by offering more than 100 bite-size and actionable tips that help bloggers come up with post ideas, which in turn can boost blog traffic, facilitate link building and grow a blog’s social media presence. In addition to the tips, the book includes blog post examples, a list of blogging resources and 17 straightforward business blog promotion tips. A bonus section outlines the most important ways a business can gain readers.

“The key to getting business blog readers is to create quality content,” says Lancaster. “But getting the word out is also important. If no one is there to read your company blog, what’s the point?”

Source: MarketWatch

Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor,
Vol. 5, No. 4, April 2012

• Rebranding effort supports restructuring of UVA’s tech transfer program. The recent restructuring of the University of Virginia’s tech transfer operations, under the university-wide umbrella “UVA Innovation,” has signaled a major shift in the school’s approach to commercializing its IP.
• U Limerick starts from scratch to build new incubator model. When you’re seeking to create a successful innovation ecosystem, starting with a clean slate can be a good thing.
• ‘Black box’ analysis helps TTO as well as its stakeholders. Rick Silva, PhD, director of the University of Colorado-Denver Technology Transfer Office, is well aware that far too many TTO stakeholders across the country regard offices like his as a “black box” — something they’re generally aware of but know little about, except maybe a perception of the TTO as a secretive place where everything happens — very slowly — behind a curtain.
• Private equity firm launches crowdsourcing site for universities. Allied Minds, Inc., a private equity firm that invests in university inventions, has launched a crowdsourcing site, AlliedMindStorm.com, as a free service to broaden input for university research.
• Purdue unveils research commercialization center to spur market success. 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.”
• Michigan universities pool resources in new tech transfer “talent network.” 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 at seven universities.

Look (and sound) like a local: More and more search engines are taking the domain location of a search into consideration, notes Solomon. “A search made in Brazil favors .br sites over other possibilities, for example, so U.S.-based pages are less likely to rank highly in search results,” she says. The solution is finding the right domain extension for each locale you’re targeting, such as .nl, .br, .au, .de, .it, .eu, .jp, or .uk. “If possible, find a local hosting solution to supply your site with a local IP address as well,” she recommends. “This way, you’ll be instantly friendlier to international search bots’ local bias.”

Use a global-ready content management system (CMS): As you add languages to your site content maintenance becomes more complex, Solomon notes. A global-ready CMS streamlines updates for a frequently changing site, offering support for all targeted languages, smooth workflows, and the ability to easily export and import XML content. “A CMS that is fully compatible with Unicode support enables your site to handle all characters in all languages with no glitches,” she says.

Adapt your site design to fit your market: “Researching the design norms of your target markets is a key component of successful localization,” says Solomon. “For example, Japanese users are more attracted to sites with lots of graphics and banners that give multiple entry points, while Western standards tend to favor simpler layouts.”

Have a customer-controlled language selector: Automatic selectors based on IP addresses can often backfire in a country with multiple languages like Switzerland or India, Solomon cautions. “By letting customers select their own language and country from a list, you put them in control of their shopping experience right from the beginning, making them more comfortable with buying your products,” she explains.

Give your content plenty of breathing room: When translated from English, many languages tend to expand, making content anywhere from 20% to 50% longer, notes Solomon. “For Mandarin and Arabic, the reverse is true, so your text will take up less room, often becoming illegible if sizes aren’t bumped up a few points,” she adds.

Say hello to your customers in a way that sets them at ease: “User name display makes an important first impression, so don’t get it wrong,” says Solomon. “Germans don’t use first names with strangers, preferring a more formal address. Also be aware of name order (Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese all write the family name first) and how many names your customers might have (as few as one or as many as five in some countries).”

Localize product descriptions in a culturally sensitive way: It’s not enough to translate your existing product description copy to go with your existing brand assets, says Solomon. Consider market-specific norms such as sizing and measurements. “Naturally, inches won’t help someone used to centimeters, and that oversight might be enough for your customer to click away,” she warns.

Change up your SEM/SEO strategy: “In global search, keywords are unique in each market, so translation needs to be paired with keyword research,” Solomon shares. “Investing in localized SEO for your new markets from the start is one of the best ways to position your Web sites for success. And don’t forget that the whole world doesn’t rely on Google. Your target countries might have local search engines like China’s Baidu, which represent better avenues for investing in SEM.”

Think about outreach and social media outlets: How you’ll engage your customers to build your brand also varies depending on region and country, says Solomon. “Social media is more than just Facebook and Twitter, so find the sites your potential customers use and go from there,” she advises. “With Facebook currently blocked officially in China, target a Chinese social media site like Renren or QQ (currently with over 700 million Chinese accounts).”

Don’t leave customer service behind: “Being reachable when your customers need you is another crucial component of success,” says Solomon. “Hiring someone in-country to handle support is your best bet, whether it’s live chat, phone, or e-mail.”

Source: destinationCRM.com

Although the first-to-file provision of the AIA does not take effect until next March, waiting too long to prepare your organization and your researchers for this historic shift will only leave you playing catch-up later, or worse yet putting your valuable IP in jeopardy. It’s critical that you start preparing for the changes now, and begin the process of adopting researcher education and patent prosecution practices to conform with the new regime. That’s why we’ve recruited renowned patent attorney and tech transfer expert Charles R. Macedo for an April 26 session that will arm you with the strategies and tactics you need to prepare effectively: Moving From First to Invent to First to File: Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges. For details and to register, CLICK HERE.

The landmark Mayo decision directly affects how universities approach patent decision making for diagnostic method patents, and will almost certainly impact the Myriad case, as well as a whole range of method claims surrounding other technologies. To help you make sense of the complex patentability issues raised by the decision, and to guide you in drafting future claims, we’ve signed up patent law guru Kevin E. Noonan, PhD, for a May 3 program where he’ll dissect the Court’s decision and help you understand how to adjust your patent strategy in light of this development. For details on In-Depth Analysis of Mayo v. Prometheus: What it Means for the Future of Medical Diagnostic Patents, CLICK HERE.

ALSO COMING SOON:

• Tuesday, May 15: Disclosure Assessment and Triage: “An Innovative Model for Patent Decision Making”
• Thursday, May 24: Create a New Revenue Stream by Supporting On-Campus App Developers

Glediana Rexha, the director of technology transfer for the center, says the site is expected to draw investors seeking to license university research. “[The site] is for anybody who has an idea that is doing research here on campus and they think that society might benefit from it,” says Rexha. “It is also for anybody who may be working on research that in the future basically could turn into commercial opportunities. If a company from the outside has some sort of sponsored research that they want to have done, then they can come here and see the potential opportunities to work with the resources that we have.”

Rexha says the site now offers a list of technologies divided into seven categories – biotechnology, coatings, electronics, energy, engineering, medicine, and nanomaterials.

Source: UALR Public Radio

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

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.

• 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.

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

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

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”

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

“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.

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

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

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

PLUS, A GREAT LINE-UP OF ADDITIONAL WEBINARS COMING SOON…

• 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”

Use CSS as much as possible instead of image files (e.g. gradient fills, drop shadows, rounded boxes, and so on.): “Using too many images will slow down the load time of the website,” Paraso explains. “CSS data is a lot smaller in file size than image file data.”

Use a fluid layout: Not every smart phone or mobile device has the same screen resolution, Paraso notes. “By keeping the layout fluid, the website can stretch and expand to fit as necessary,” he shares.

Apply larger font sizes that are easy to see and read on the smaller screen.

Use graphical buttons instead of text links because they are easier to ‘touch’: “If a visitor can’t click on a text link, they will get frustrated and leave your site,” says Paraso.

No Flash; Use HTML5 and/or Javascript/jQuery instead.

Use simpler navigation with fewer options: “Don’t overwhelm a visitor with too much on a small screen,” Paraso cautions.

Paraso summarizes the mobile design objective: “Generally when a person is going to view a website on their smart phone, they are looking for something specific — perhaps an address, a phone number, a contact name, e-mail address,” he says. “The slower download speeds and the smaller screen resolution make typical web browsing impractical. Having just the important content available and easily accessible on the mobile site can improve the quality of the user’s experience.”

Source: SFGate

“When you talk about brand of course you think about your name and logo, but for us it’s been much more than that,” explains Estabrook. “We really wanted to unite existing and new UVA initiatives under one cohesive brand. What we’ve come up with is UVA Innovations. So, it’s not only a logo and a name, but all of the intangibles that your company connotes.”

Part of the rebranding process involved survey research, talking to a number of key stakeholders and identifying misconceptions with the old brand. “We wanted to really take a look at our restructuring efforts and make sure everything was realigned appropriately and timed appropriately, so we rolled out everything together,” Estabrook explains.

Not wanting to go off in a “wild” direction, tech transfer leaders decided to retain the UVA logo, with “Innovation” positioned underneath. “We met with marketing experts from the university and its healthcare system for guidance,” says Estabrook. “We had been pursuing the brand a little differently, but acting on their advice we felt the best to way to leverage the university and position the whole university was to adopt the UVA brand as our own and add a sub-brand beneath it.” The university colors, she adds, were also retained. “We had to consider what was best for the entire organization.” A detailed article on the rebranding effort appears in the April 2012 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

“Several Emory faculty members have had success starting their own companies, and one of the goals of the program is to help make that group larger,” says Todd Sherer, OTT associate VP and co-organizer of the event with Kevin Lei, director of faculty and start-up services in the OTT. “Another [goal] is to let aspiring entrepreneurs know more about how start-ups work. We want them to be prepared for the process of working with business leaders and investors.”

Much of the course material comes from the Kauffman Foundation, which supports educational programs promoting entrepreneurship across the country. The program included guest speakers, facilitator-led discussions, coaching sessions, and homework for all participants. Topics included market research and analysis, financial planning, building and compensating a team, protecting business and intellectual property, business management, and identifying and working with investors, among others.

The group heard from five presidents/CEOs, three VPs/COOs, an executive recruiter, a patent attorney, and a venture capitalist. Sherer says that based on strong interest in the FastTrac program, it will be offered again in the fall.

Source: Emory News Center

• Company location
• Investment portfolios
• Companies invested in
• Areas of focus
• Primary contact personnel
• Funding areas/indications
• Stages funded
• Total dollars under management

Having easy access to this critical data can mean the difference between getting the funding you need to advance your start-up or develop your technology and seeing it die on the vine from lack of resources. With the new BioWorld Biotechnology and Medical Device VC Directory 2012, you’ll have access to the information you need — covering VCs in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia — so you can find the right financial partner and keep your company on solid ground. For more details and to order, CLICK HERE.

Plan it in pre-production: Create the concept before you shoot a single frame, MultiVu advises. “Keep in mind that audiences respond to personal narratives and solid storytelling.”

Go HD all the way: Online video audiences are already used to the sharper look of high definition online video, notes MultiVu. “Don’t shoot in standard definition — it looks cheap,” they warn.

Make up your face: It might seem an extravagant expense, but a professional make-up artist can do a lot to make your talent look more trustworthy on camera, says MultiVu.  If you can’t afford that, make sure everyone (even the men) uses foundation and adds a little color to their cheeks.

Keep it short: Online audiences prefer shorter content, and they’re more likely to watch and share shorter videos, MultiVu notes. “Aim for 90 seconds total,” they advise. “Think hard before going over three minutes; that’s really pushing it.”

Skip teleprompters and jargon: You want to appear trustworthy on camera, and both teleprompters and jargon are big turn-offs to audiences, warns MultiVu. And yes, they can tell when a person is reading.

Go with a pro: If you can afford it, hire an outside production company to create your video — you’ll get better results, says MultiVu. “Look for a producer who understands the brand identity you’re working to build,” they add.

Upload a quality copy: Before uploading to a video sharing site, read up on the specs that work best for that site, then format your video accordingly.

Feature your execs: If you’re creating a dialogue with your audience, look to your company’s senior leadership for your stars, MultiVu suggests “Showcasing them is a great way to humanize your brand,” they explain.

Ask a blogger: “Check in with bloggers who cover your industry to see what types of videos they like to feature,” MultiVu advises. “Give them quality clips that they can use and they’ll do the marketing for you.”

Source: OnlineVideo.net

Find out when and what to post on Facebook: If you’re looking to see what your fans engage with the most — and when to post it on Facebook — you can utilize a third-party service called Edgerank Checker, says Majestic Media. This time-saving application grades your fan page and determines the following key factors:

• Most effective day of the week to post content;
• Popular keywords that drive engagement;
• What type of media is best for your audience;
• How often to update.
• Create a custom QR code;
• Embed your logo into the QR code;
• Link your QR code to a dynamic URL — so you can customize and change the URL if you decide you want to later drive users to your website instead of your Facebook Page.

Use Facebook insights: If you have to provide a report of Facebook metrics to your boss or a client — or maybe you just want to see for yourself — the best time-saving tip is to export the Facebook Insights data to an Excel spreadsheet, says the agency. You can see which status updates performed best, whether your audience responds well to video, and get a sense of what’s driving your Likes. You can do this by clicking the “Export Data” button. In the pop-up that appears, select the data type and date range. Once you’ve done this and downloaded the file, open it in Excel and apply a filter by going to the data tab and clicking on “Filter.” You have to make sure that your cursor is at the very top row. Once this filter is selected, you can quickly filter any key metrics in ascending or descending order.

Create a QR Code for your Facebook fan page: Setting up a QR code for your Facebook Page is a quick, simple and effective strategy for small or large businesses to use, says the agency. Esponce, they note, is one of the most powerful QR code platforms on the market, and it offers a free tier that’s typically geared to small businesses. The process takes no more than a few minutes to set up and allows you to:

Buy Facebook ads: Majestic Media says this is a wise, cost-effective solution that can help increase your brand’s visibility throughout the Facebook platform. A budget of $50 per month would be sufficient for a small business to make some waves. Facebook’s “Like” ads provide users the opportunity to “like” your fan page from any page they are on. If a user doesn’t click on the “Like” button, don’t interpret that as your campaign not working — these ads are relevant because they keep users engaged and informed with the latest in your marketing campaign. “Think of them as a brand awareness play — just because they aren’t clicked doesn’t mean they’re not acknowledged,” says Erickson. One of the best ways to invest in Facebook advertising, she adds, is by leveraging Sponsored Stories. “According to a study by TBG Digital, Facebook’s new Sponsored Stories ad units nabbed a 46% higher click-through rate, a 20% lower cost per click and an 18% lower cost per fan than Facebook’s standard ad units,” she reports.

Source: Mashable

Although the first-to-file provision of the AIA does not take effect until next March, waiting too long to prepare your organization and your researchers for this historic shift will only leave you playing catch-up later, or worse yet putting your valuable IP in jeopardy. It’s critical that you start preparing for the changes now, and begin the process of adopting researcher education and patent prosecution practices to conform with the new regime. That’s why we’ve recruited renowned patent attorney and tech transfer expert Charles R. Macedo for an April 26 session that will arm you with the strategies and tactics you need to prepare effectively: Moving From First to Invent to First to File: Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges. For details and to register, CLICK HERE.

The landmark Mayo decision directly affects how universities approach patent decision making for diagnostic method patents, and will almost certainly impact the Myriad case, as well as a whole range of method claims surrounding other technologies. To help you make sense of the complex patentability issues raised by the decision, and to guide you in drafting future claims, we’ve signed up patent law guru Kevin E. Noonan, PhD, for a May 3 program where he’ll dissect the Court’s decision and help you understand how to adjust your patent strategy in light of this development. For details on In-Depth Analysis of Mayo v. Prometheus: What it Means for the Future of Medical Diagnostic Patents, CLICK HERE.

ALSO COMING SOON:

• Tuesday, April 10: Successfully Apply “Lean” Start-Up Principles to University Spinouts
• Wednesday, April 18: Using A Network Approach to Valuing Patents and Inventions
• Tuesday, May 15: Disclosure Assessment and Triage: “An Innovative Model for Patent Decision Making”

Pre-Production: Develop a concept and an outline before you start shooting. “People respond best to personal stories . . . the more storytelling you do, the more engaged your viewers will likely be,” says Horisk.

Shoot in High Definition: “Consumers are used to it and anything less is starting to look cheap,” he says.

Consider hiring a make-up artist: “Imperfections are exaggerated on camera,” notes Horisk. He says you can also have someone on staff (who is skilled in make-up application) handle make-up. “Just go to any Sephora and purchase foundation and a brush,” he suggests. “Remember, though, that a professional make-up artist understands the nuances of video you may not consider.”

Create original, short and honest content that’s easy to share: 90 seconds or under is usually best, Horisk says. “Anything over three minutes is really pushing it,” he warns.

Avoid teleprompters and jargon: “It’s obvious when a prompter is being used and [viewers] can become distrustful,” says Horisk. “Also, try to avoid jargon like ‘best practice,’ ‘game changer,’ ‘customer-centric,’ and ‘synergize,’ to name a few.” Wikipedia, he adds, has a great page on jargon (click here).

Producing and uploading video properly is complicated: If you have a budget for it, hire a production agency to help, Horisk suggests. “A good producer can help you generate video that appeals to online audiences and doesn’t compromise your brand’s identity/aesthetic,” he explains.

Make sure you get the specs that will work best for your site: “Resolution matters. The kind of file — like Windows Media or Quicktime — matters,” says Horisk. “A codec — like h264 — matters a lot, actually. It’s important to know the options that are out there, and which is best for your particular video upload.”

Humanize your brand: Bring your executive/senior leadership team out of the boardroom and into the online conversation by featuring them on social video, Horisk recommends.

Bloggers like video: “Are you giving them anything useful?” Horisk poses. “Have you asked your influencers what they might like to see?”

Source: PR Newswire

He and his colleagues took a big step in that direction recently with an in-depth presentation for faculty and industry called a “Black Box” event, with presentations by Silva, associate VP for tech transfer David N. Allen, CU Boulder TTO director Kate Tallman, and licensing & new business development exec Tom Smerdon.

The presentations went into great depth about the inner workings of the TTO, as evidenced by the 60-slide PowerPoint. In addition to describing the activities of the office and IP evaluation, Silva explains, “there’s a lot of quantitative stuff in there; we wanted to create a sense of what goes into the ‘box’ and what comes out at the other end.” For example, one slide depicts invention viability, with both mature and recent cohorts, and another illustrates the percentage of inventions that make it through the tech transfer process to commercialization. “Recap, one of Deloitte’s subsidiaries, has been doing analyses on portfolios, so we thought it would be interesting to dive into our own and see how technologies progressed through the natural process of maturation,” Silva explains. (The entire slide show, plus video clips, can be accessed at the CU blog.) A detailed article on the outreach effort appears in the April 2012 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

March 30: UMD Entrepreneurship Invitational: This annual event of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith School of Business included three activities:

• Startup Maryland: This new statewide initiative supported by the Startup America Partnership to grow startup ecosystems was officially launched.
• BB&T Business Invitational: A showcase of UMD companies, regional startups and campus and regional resources for entrepreneurs.
• Cupid’s Cup: Student and alumni entrepreneurs who own and operate their own businesses vied for a $25,000 prize.

April 17: Invention of the year award: Each year a judging panel of University of Maryland personnel and industry experts selects a winner from the finalists in each of three categories: information science, life science and physical science.

April 18: Do good challenge: Film star Kevin Bacon is challenging UMD students to “Do Good.” As a carrot, he’s dangling some “very cool prizes for you and your favorite cause.”

April 20:  UMD $75,000 business plan competition: A record 91 UMD students, faculty members and researchers entered this year’s competition.

April 20: Innovate 4 Healthcare challenge: Teams from 25 U.S. and foreign universities entered this new competition launched by the Robert H. Smith School’s Center for Health Information and Decision Systems. Teams have designed plans to strengthen patient engagement with healthcare providers using information technology. The eight finalists will present their solutions in person to leaders in the healthcare industry.

April 25: $100,000 ACC clean energy challenge: This additional new competition encourages students from all universities in the southeastern U.S. to develop business plans with high commercial potential for new clean energy companies, including projects related to renewable energy, energy efficiency improvements and advanced fuels/vehicles.

Source: UMD Newsdesk

Be brief and focused: Your text message should be laser focused and succinct, says Gunelius. “There’s no room for fluff in mobile marketing,” she observes. “Know who your target audience is and speak directly to it. Leave out extraneous details and simply describe how to take advantage of your offer and its benefits.”

Avoid hype, slang and abbreviations: Much like e-mail, “if your text message looks like spam, consumers will delete it without a second thought,” Gunelius says. “It’s critical that you leave out anything that might seem too slick and promotional. That includes marketing hype like ‘amazing’ offers, slang and text abbreviations, all of which cheapen the perception of your brand and can destroy your campaign.”

Offer something of immediate value: “Because text messaging is an instantaneous medium, you should include real-time offers,” Gunelius advises. “Whether you’re providing information about a sale or a new product, the message should describe the benefits of acting now.”

Identify yourself: “How often have you received a text that doesn’t identify the company or brand?” Gunelius poses. “Instead, you often see a phone number you don’t recognize and a vague message that could have come from any number of companies. It’s essential that you clearly identify your business or brand to avoid getting the spam treatment.”

Make recipients feel special: Don’t clutter text message inboxes with offers and news that recipients could easily get from your website or your brick-and-mortar locations, Gunelius cautions. Instead, make recipients of your texts feel they’re special and have qualified for an exclusive opportunity. “Otherwise, they will most likely opt out of receiving any future texts from you,” she warns.

Source: Entrepreneur.com

Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor,
Vol. 5, No. 3, March 2012

• ‘Know your first customer’ to build winning business plan. From a marketing perspective, the key to a successful business plan “definitely starts with making sure you understand who your first customer is going to be,” says Thomas M. Heuer, the Richard A. Forsythe Chair of Entrepreneurship at the Farmer School of Business Institute for Entrepreneurship at Miami (OH) University.
• Hoops and patents: Inventors are honored at halftime ceremony. “ . . . And now presenting, for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats . . .  Wim Van Ooij, the inventor of new methods for bonding rubber to metals. . . .”  It wasn’t quite as dramatic as that, but it certainly was creative. During halftime at a recent Bearcats game, all of the university inventors who had received patents in 2011 were brought to center court, introduced to the crowd and recognized for their success.
• International networks seen as key to enhancing tech commercialization. They come from opposite sides of the world, and yet they share the same vision: that international outreach and networking can unlock the door to greater success in technology commercialization.
• Medical devices a “different animal” in technology commercialization world. Evaluating IP is always a challenge, but when it comes to medical devices that process is even more involved, notes Randy Nelson, president of medical device maker Evergreen Medical Technologies.
• Despite lack of science, liberal arts school provides “soil” to grow entrepreneurs. Can a small (2,900 students) liberal arts college with precious little in the way of scientific research or technological IP launch a successful program to engender the entrepreneurial spirit in its student body? Apparently it can if it’s Colgate University.
• ‘Pracademic’ modules at heart of ASU’s new Rapid Startup School. It is offered at a university, but it is definitely not an academic program, insists Gordon McConnell, executive director of Arizona State University’s Venture Catalyst, which recently launched the Rapid Startup School program.

1. Decide if Pinterest and your brand are a match: “Is your brand visual?” poses Heather Sundell, marketing manager at The Search Agency, an integrated search and marketing agency. “Pinterest is about things that look good. So if you don’t have a visually appealing product you’ll have a challenging time and may find it hard to gain traction.”

2. Get invited: Pinterest is currently invite-only; either ask someone you know who is already on Pinterest to send you an invite or request an invite via the site, suggests cio.com writer Jennifer Lonoff Schiff.

3. Get pinned: Be sure to add a “Pin It” button to your product pages, so visitors and customers can pin your products onto Pinterest, says Schiff. In addition, add a Pinterest “follow” button to your website, alongside your buttons for Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Finally, “install a ‘Pin It’ button on your browser (or the browser on the computer of the person or people who will be in charge of Pinterest for your organization), in the bookmarks toolbar so you can easily ‘pin’ images,” Schiff says. Note: All buttons can be found on the Pinterest Goodies page and are easy to install.

4. Know what your customers are looking for and create boards accordingly: “Create boards that fit with the lifestyle that your customer wants — and pin lots of images that fit that lifestyle, not just your own products/images,” says Amanda Cook, director of VSF Wellness.

5. Categorize your boards: “If you categorize each page [or pin], more people will see your pins — and if more people become interested in what you are posting, you will get more followers,” says Sam Delijani, owner of the online jewelry and diamond store DeBebians, whose Pinterest site has become one of the store’s top referrers, exceeding Facebook.

6. Tell a story: Make sure “each board is themed and tells a story about the mood and personality of [your] products,” says Cathe Huynh-Sison, creative director at Feterie, a modern stationery store. She pins on both Feterie’s Pinterest account and via a personal Pinterest account, and reports a 30%-40% surge in traffic.

7. Create content just for Pinterest: “Why should I follow your business [on Pinterest] if I can see the same thing on Facebook?” argues Annalise Kaylor, director of social media with Intrapromote LLC , a search specialist agency.

8. Make sure that your images are “Pinteresting: “Well-lit, interesting compositions and vibrant imagery is sure to catch the eye,” says Phil Rampulla, founder of The Material Group, an interactive design and development studio.

9. Make sure to include your URL: “It helps with SEO and the information is there for those customers ready to buy,” says Jayne Drew, managing partner at Smashing Golf & Tennis, a ladies golf & apparel company that is successfully using Pinterest as part of its social media marketing plan (see http://pinterest.com/smashingonline/).

10. Be a good member of the Pinterest community: Be sure to follow, like and repin others. “Like other social networks, your Pinterest account will grow and thrive with continued engagement,” notes Kaylor.

11. Get your employees involved: “Make sure your staff has Pinterest accounts and engage with it,” says Zak Edwards, CEO of PrezzyBox, a UK-based online gift store that has begun using Pinterest as a marketing tool. And “make sure they pin/repin your images.”

12. Time your pins to appear when your customers are most likely to be online: This is typically lunchtime, near the end of the business day, and before bedtime, says Schiff.

13. Share data: “As a B2B marketing firm we share our data on Pinterest via several hyper-specific boards that people can visit for the numbers they need on a given topic, like 2012 Tumblr Data or 2012 Marketing Budgets,” says Katherine Leonard, digital content developer for lonelybrand, a digital marketing company.

14. Find out who’s pinning your images — and what your competitors and their customers are pinning: “All businesses should be using Pinterest for competitive intelligence, to see not only what their competitors are pinning but what users are pinning from their competitors’ sites,” argues Tricia Meyer, a marketing consultant specializing in affiliate marketing who runs MeyerTech, LLC. To find out who’s pinning who, simply type “http://pinterest.com/source/WEBSITEURL/” (inserting the URL of the website you want to investigate where it says “WEBSITEURL”) into your browser.

Source: CIO

ALSO COMING SOON:

• Tuesday, April 10: Successfully Apply “Lean” Start-Up Principles to University Spinouts
• Thursday, April 26: Moving From First to Invent to First to File: Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges 

The program actually got its start “a continent away,” he recalls, when he was serving as deputy CEO for the Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship, which was attached to Dublin City University in Ireland. “Our TTO had been trying for a couple of years to do some sort of program for people who were doing start-ups, but it had not worked and we had had to outsource it,” he says. “So I threw this idea on the table and came up with what is now the Rapid Startup School.”

McConnell’s first group in Ireland was comprised of 17 postdocs. “I had this theory that what happens in tech transfer at most universities is this: either a professor sticks his hand up and says ‘I have something here, come look at it,’ or the TTO folks go around labs looking for what’s been patented and try to figure out what could be a start-up. What I try to do is disrupt tech transfer.”

His goal, he says, is to stimulate this population to react to his program. “I think postdocs are a very good group that may have been ignored; they’re younger, they’re not in the tenure track, and they’re often closer to the research than the professors. Postdocs live and breathe the research morning, noon, and night, and understand it best.” So his program was designed to stimulate start-up thinking among that community. “In reality we said, ‘Let’s show you that commercialization and the language of start-ups is not scary — that other people like you have done it before,’” he comments. A detailed article on the start-up school  appears in the March 2012 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

• Choose keywords based on more than just high search traffic: Depending on which strategy you’re using, branding or conversion, you should not fall into the trap of just looking at search volume when judging which keywords to use, says Jones. “Just because one keyword has a whole lot more searches than another doesn’t necessarily mean it will be a better performing search term,” he says. “Take the time to analyze other factors that provide more granularity.” Those factors might include:
• Specificity: If you’re using a branding strategy, then you’ll give a higher score to broader keywords, notes Jones. If you’re using a conversion strategy, then you should give a higher score to longer tail keywords.
• Competition: “How competitive is the term you’re going after?” Jones poses. “If too many people are pursuing your keyword, you may want to consider others that have less competition.”
• Search volume: “Obviously keywords that have a higher search volume represent an increased opportunity for visibility and traffic, so score accordingly,” Jones suggests.
• Overall score: Add up the scores and divide by the number of columns you have to get an overall score. “Then you can sort your keyword list by overall score and voilà, your keywords that are likely to perform the best for you bubble up to the top,” says Jones, adding that you can weight each column based on which factors are most important to you.
• Use social media to help provide context for user intent: Align your social media efforts, especially the “listening” part, to help provide context to your targeted keywords, Jones suggests. When the search term is used in a tweet or blog, “you can gauge user wants, needs, and sentiment that will help you as you construct your landing pages with keyword-relevant content,” he explains.
• Use a keyword research brief to share for unified messaging: “This is simply a document that is like an executive summary of keyword research for your top keywords,” says Jones. “This document should be no more than one to two pages.”

Source: ClickZ

• See if your vanity URL is available: Before you launch your brand presence on Facebook, you need to make sure that your vanity URL is available — and that it’s simple and easy to remember, advises the agency. Rather than going through the time consuming process of manually figuring out what’s available and what’s not, Majestic advises using a simple but powerful service called Name Vine.
• Use a third-party platform to distribute social content: Copying and pasting content, logging in from one social media network and logging out from another can be a time consuming task — but it doesn’t have to be, says Majestic. You can benefit from using a tool like HootSuite, which allows you to publish once and distribute everywhere.
• Use an application publishing platform: Large budgets aren’t required to launch a lot of the basic applications seen on Facebook, the experts at Majestic say. Services such as North Social and Pagemodo provide the kinds of applications that most businesses need.
• Utilize social plug-ins wherever possible: The most underutilized (free) tools are Facebook social plug-ins, notes Majestic. Aside from use on third-party sites, social plug-ins can also be utilized on Facebook apps to provide a deeper level of engagement, while driving traffic back to the application. Leverage the social plug-ins on your blog, Facebook apps and on your website. They’re free to use and are a quick and easy way to market your brand or message through referral traffic.

This is the first of a two-part series.

Source: Mashable

Although a relatively bare-boned archive was set up in Jerusalem some years ago, the new one is much more comprehensive, containing (at www.alberteinstein.info) thousands of pages in the form of PDF files, images and translations that will continue to grow as more is digitized, processed and translated. Diagrams and photographs can already be accessed.

The online Jerusalem archives, the only academic website of its kind, lists more than 40,000 of Einstein’s personal papers and over 30,000 additional documents related to his life and work. The HU-led team includes the Einstein Papers Project at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, and New Jersey’s Princeton University Press. HU president Menahem Ben-Sasson notes that the project relates to different academic disciplines, including: physics, basic science, the history of science, Zionism and the university itself. “We have invested considerable effort to advance this project and are happy to make the world of this great scientist and person accessible to the interested general public,” he says.

Einstein bequeathed HU all his personal papers and intellectual property, including the rights to use his image; this has earned the university many millions of dollars over the years. The university has devoted itself to locating, borrowing and even purchasing his papers and letters he received and sent.

Source: The Jerusalem Post

Branding or converting strategy: “One of the first things to consider in developing a keyword strategy is what you want to accomplish when you reach your target audience,” says Jones. “Do you just want to generate an impression for branding purposes, or do you want to invite [visitors] to your place where you get them to make a purchase?” Here are three types of strategies to consider:

• Conversion: “We want our keywords to draw traffic to our website or landing page, and then we want that traffic to convert by making a purchase or otherwise doing something specific like filling out a contact form, picking up the phone, or downloading something. In this case, long-tail or more specific keywords will likely work best for you,” Jones advises.
• Branding: “Whether or not people come to our website isn’t as important as being seen as a player for that keyword,” notes Jones. “In this case, broad search terms are likely going to work best for you.”
• Hybrid: “You can of course bring both of these strategies together and have 90% of your keywords dedicated to a conversion strategy; then the other 10% are dedicated to branding and impressions,” Jones says. “You would want to segment your keywords accordingly for each campaign.”
  

Define how you will measure success: “This is probably one of the most important questions to answer before you begin any campaign,” he observes. “Your objective should be how many conversions you want to achieve for each keyword. Top ranking will help you with visibility, which is a good thing, but if you bring in traffic from that keyword and those visitors do not engage and convert, then why bother?” Jones recommends that you review your analytics frequently by keyword and observe visitors’ behavior when they come to your website or landing page. “Don’t fixate on just traffic alone,” he cautions. “How much time are they spending on your site? What is the average number of pages they are viewing? What is the bounce rate?” The final and most important metric, says Jones, is conversion. “Make sure that you set up your conversion goals within your analytics. That way, you can see which keywords are not only driving traffic but out of that traffic what percentage is converting,” he explains.

Map keywords to the right landing pages: “One way to insure you get the best results from your keyword campaigns is to make sure there is very high relevance between the keywords you use and the associated landing pages,” says Jones. “This is a very important principle. What happens when you click on an organic listing or a PPC add from a SERP (search engine results page) and the content has little to zero keywords on that page that you used to search on? Right, you bolt and head back and click on another link. Make sure your landing pages are optimized to handle your keyword traffic to make them relevant.” Even more importantly, he adds, take the time as you conduct your keyword research to segment and categorize your keywords to map to the right landing pages. “If the page doesn’t exist on your site yet, then that is your cue to build a new page for that set of keywords,” says Jones. “By doing this you will achieve the relevance that will lead to more engaged visitors and higher conversion rates.”

This is the first of a two-part series.

Source: ClickZ

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 Dave Washburn, Vice President of the University of Tennessee Research Foundation, on Thursday, April 19 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. For complete details and to register, CLICK HERE.

MORE DISTANCE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES:

• TOMORROW, March 21: Patent Prosecution Cost-Saving Strategies: Increase Your TTO’s Filings Without Increasing Your Budget
• ALSO TOMORROW, March 21: A New Approach to IP Management: The Penn State University Research Model
• Thursday, March 29: Building Data-Rich Market Validation Plans for University Technologies
• Tuesday, April 10: Successfully Apply “Lean” Start-Up Principles to University Spinouts
• Thursday, April 26: Moving From First to Invent to First to File: Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges

Annandale says that an experienced marketing team, with a strategic capability, can add value to business development in a number of ways. A well-structured market assessment process will help answer these questions:

• Who are the potential customers?
• Where is the competition? What are they offering?
• How does our proposition stack up against others?
• What is the scale of the market?
• What market trends are apparent?

“When developing a proposition the university must take into account market demand, feasibility and sustainable competitive advantage,” says Annandale. “A full marketing launch takes careful planning and execution.”

The marketing and communications team can help staff plan how to get from a proposition, idea or prototype to a full marketing launch, he continues. They should also be able to provide advice on the ongoing level of resources needed to manage engagement with the market once the business is up and running.

Unfortunately, says Annandale, a more typical approach is that organizations try to ‘sell’ their existing capabilities (‘inside-out’), rather than understanding market needs and tailoring their product or service accordingly (‘outside-in’). “Also, the marketing and communications team is not generally included in institution’s business development, despite the fact that they often can provide the necessary insights,” he notes.

Source: The Guardian

“One way of thinking about it is that in any given population of a university there are going to be a number of kids who are nascent entrepreneurs,” says alum Andy Greenfield, who has been teaching a practical entrepreneurship course for the past several years. Greenfield founded Greenfield Consulting (now known as Firefly Global) in 1983, and built it into a leading qualitative research firm and currently sits on its board of directors.

“If you think about the entrepreneurial spectrum,” Greenfield continues, “there are some who will get rolling and start something no matter where they are or what the environment is; it’s part of their nature and they’re just going to do it. Then, as you move along the spectrum, there will be those that have the ambition and the hunger, but not necessarily the soil in which to plant their seeds. So, one of the keys if you really want to foster entrepreneurship is to provide that soil.”

What Colgate has done with the TIA institute, Greenfield adds, is create that fertile soil. “Colgate has a very rich history of producing entrepreneurs, which is interesting given that it’s a liberal arts college where you can’t even take one course remotely related to business,” he notes. “What we’re doing is linking alumni who have already chosen that path in life and succeeded with students to mentor, to help share the lessons that lie beneath every one of our starts — and to give our students a taste of the real world.” A detailed article on Colgate’s program appears in the March 2012 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Decide if Pinterest and your brand are a match: Green says Pinterest is about things that look good — so if you don’t have a visually appealing product or have access to interesting photography, you’ll have a challenging time and may find it hard to gain traction. You also have to be honest with yourself regarding resources, since building and maintaining a new social presence takes time and manpower. “While Pinterest is hot right now, it may not be for everyone,” Green advises:

Establish short- and long-term goals: Determine your goals for joining Pinterest before you allocate money and resources, says Green. Whether it’s ROI or brand awareness, or more tactical numbers like followers and re-pins, keep yourself accountable.

Do your homework:  Before you do any talking, start by listening, says Green. Perform research to define what people are already saying or pinning about your brand — if they are all at. This will gauge where your brands currently stand and can help guide your strategy, she explains.  Sony diligently studied before they signed up. Green recalls: “We did some research to see if people were already pinning Sony products and we were pleasantly surprised by what we saw. People were, in fact, pinning lots of Sony products, as well as Sony ads, pictures they took with their Sony cameras and even Sony cakes.”

Be strategic with content flow and play by the rules: “We are basing our content decisions on the trends we saw as users and by looking at what is resonating the most,” Green reports. “For instance, our boards on Brand New Sony Products, Retro Sony Products and Sony Art consistently receive the highest engagement. Therefore, we post to those boards more regularly.”

Source: Forbes

• Increase your commercialization success rate
• Objectively assess and triage your technologies
• Invest your patent, R&D, and marketing budgets more productively
• Avoid the high costs of non-performing technology assets
• Take the guesswork and subjectivity out of investment decisions
• Justify your decisions to faculty and preserve faculty relationships
• Keep politics out of your decision-making
• Back a high percentage of winning technologies

The affordable TechAdvance tool has been carefully tested over years of development and is designed to provide a consistent, organized, and objective system for investing your limited resources in technologies with greatest chance for commercial success. It is available as both a print workbook and online module. For complete details, CLICK HERE.

Get PR fully on board: “If you have a PR firm, be sure to fully engage them on your upcoming event,” Maksymiw advises. “Don’t hesitate on this as a PR firm should be able to create a great story about your event and engage the press, bloggers, analysts, and industry thought leaders as to why it is so important. Specifically, you should consider sending press releases, try to secure content placements, invite the influencers to the event, and generally hype up the event.”

Ramp up activity on social media: All active social media channels should focus on promoting the event in the weeks leading up to the big day, says Maksymiw. “To start, proactively follow your speakers and thought leaders,” she suggests. “Balance the amount of updates you share, following my favorite rule from Tippingpoint Media: for every promotional tweet, try to send four tweets sharing other content and one “retweet” of content from one of your speakers/influencers. Create a list on Twitter of all speakers and sponsors so that followers can connect with everyone easily. Integrate social media better in all other marketing programs. Also, consider sharing pictures before and after the event via Twitter to give some personality to the event and brand.”  Maksymiw adds that you can use an app like Instagram or simply tweet pictures directly from your phone. Ramp up activity to tweeting more frequently over time (three tweets a day to five tweets a day), she continues. Use Facebook to humanize the event and share information about your speakers and team to add some personality.

Tap into the influencer network: “Fully engage your speakers to promote the event on their networks,” says Maksymiw. “You may even want to create tracking codes to determine who drives what. If your speakers have blogs, encourage them to blog about the upcoming event. Think about other content that can be created and delivered quickly (written Q&A’s, etc).”

Source: Business Insider

“Allied MindStorm represents the manifestation of our firm’s mission: we want a diverse community of people working together to transform invention into innovation,” Allied Minds CEO Chris Silva says. “Although our primary goal is to create new businesses based around the best suggestions we receive, our ultimate motivation is changing the way the public thinks about how technology evolves from an idea into a commercial application.”

One of the first participants to join Allied MindStorm, Katherine Gordon, managing director of Brown University’s Technology Ventures Office, notes, “the decision regarding which application to pursue first is a complex and important one. Allied Minds is creating an entirely new way for universities to make this decision, while showcasing their most interesting research, but also improving them through open collaboration.”

Source: MarketWatch

• Wednesday, March 21: Patent Prosecution Cost-Saving Strategies: Increase Your TTO’s Filings Without Increasing Your Budget
• Wednesday, March 21: A New Approach to IP Management: The Penn State University Research Model
• Thursday, March 29: Building Data-Rich Market Validation Plans for University Technologies
• Tuesday, April 10: Successfully Apply “Lean” Start-Up Principles to University Spinouts
• Thursday, April 26: Moving From First to Invent to First to File: Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges

“Right now the biggest challenges are not the technologies themselves, but regulatory issues,” says Nelson. “That is, being able to get an interest in what would become later funding for the development end and then marketing the product. If it’s a complex device that requires PMA approval from the FDA it can take eight to 15 years to go through development, and the inventor needs funds during that time.” Supporting such devices with investment dollars, he continues, “becomes very difficult; the investment community just does not have the patience for that.”

“The time lines for the investment community and the life cycle of the device do not match well all the time,” adds Michael Finch, adjunct associate professor and the Carlson program’s other instructor. “The FDA has been making changes to try to help things move faster. What I do see is people going to Europe first, and getting some cash there.”

“One of the things they’re trying to implement now is a process where you can do first human studies in the U.S. without it becoming burdensome,” Nelson adds. “In Europe, it’s for safety only, not efficacy. Here ‘first in human’ studies need both.” There is some political support for such a change, he notes, because it could help prevent inventors from going overseas. “Companies can now get in the market in Europe and Asia and start generating revenue earlier, and VCs are showing more and more interest in that,” he says.

Beyond regulatory issues, there are other hurdles a medical device must overcome to attract investors, says Finch. “There are a lot of useful devices that fill a niche or a need, but quite frankly you need to sell them to people and change the habits and workflow in a physician’s office or a hospital,” he says. “People get used to doing what they’re doing.”

In other words, he continues, the device marketer has to make a strong argument for why behaviors should change. “How does it help the doctor; does it make care delivery faster? Does it make things easier on the patient? Will it result in more revenues?” he poses. “If all things are equal, people will not take time out of their practice to train on a new device. Even if there is a need for a device, unless it’s revolutionary it will face a lot of pressure in terms of sales. It has to be a lot better.”

It’s also important, says Nelson, to understand which medical specialties are more open to change and to target them. “From what I’ve seen, for example, neurology is much more receptive to new technology, and cardiology [diagnostics] can be, where as orthopedics tends to be slower, as do cardiac surgeons,” he observes. A detailed article on the challenges associated with medical device IP development appears in the March 2012 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

In partnership with the university’s TTO, Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTE), the new accelerator will offer a six-month incubator program that will provide start-up funding, space in the ASU SkySong facility, and access to top mentors. “This is a direct follow-on to the Rapid Startup School that is aimed at teaching commercialization to our graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and alumni” says Gordon McConnell, executive director of the ASU Venture Catalyst, which works with internal and external start-up companies. “The overwhelming, positive response led us to the next logical step; creating a competition to seed fund and accelerate these new ventures based on university technology.”

In particular, the Furnace Accelerator will target ASU students, staff, and faculty, with a heavy focus on alumni. The competition will also be open to external parties with no university connection. The competition rules will state that the new venture must be all or partly based on intellectual property from ASU, and must be based in Arizona. The six months of intensive acceleration, with a group of over 100 mentors on hand, will end in a Demo Day presentation to potential investors.

The competition, open to anyone in the world, will officially launch in the second quarter of 2012. The participants invited into Furnace must incubate their new companies in the co-working space available to them at ASU SkySong, which is based in Scottsdale.

Source: PR Web

In the Guide to Intellectual Property Valuation, 2nd Edition you’ll also find advanced tools that will help you navigate common landmines and arrive at supportable, optimum valuations for your innovations. This is not your typical IP valuation text. It goes far beyond the basics of IP valuation, theoretical models, or accounting gimmickry. And you won’t find rehashed topics already covered thoroughly in other resources. This guide provides you with a deeper, more practical analysis that the critical task of IP valuation demands. For complete details and to order, CLICK HERE.

• Don’t believe everything you read: You know your situation and marketing needs the best, notes Kilgore. If you are interested in learning and are willing to put the time into it, he recommends following some of these websites — Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Land, SEOmoz, Distilled and Google’s blog.
• Remember the basics: “It is easy to get caught up in what’s cutting edge and forget about the basics,” says Kilgore. “By no means am I implying that you shouldn’t test new ideas, just don’t forget about what got you to where you are.”
• User experience should be at the forefront: “You can have the best rankings and get traffic but if you aren’t capturing your visitors’ attention, you probably aren’t converting,” Kilgore notes.
• Measure conversions: “Next to user experience on the importance scale are conversions and measuring conversions,” Kilgore observes, adding: “What is the purpose of each visit? Is it to sell a product? Capture contact information? No matter what the reason is, make sure you have one! And once you have one (or more), MAKE SURE YOU ARE MEASURING THEM!”
• Content marketing is a must: “With the advancements in social media sharing and search engine rankings being influenced by this social data, a well planned, strategic content marketing campaign is a must,” says Kilgore.
• Social media marketing is a must: “Whether you need to tackle this on your own or have the means to develop a team of social media specialists, do what you have to do to get out there and engage with your audience(s),” Kilgore urges.
• Continuously conduct keyword research: Keyword research is not a “one and done.”  Rather, it is something that should be addressed fairly frequently (depending on your vertical), says Kilgore. “Keep track of your keywords, their search volumes and how well they perform for you. Revisit this from time to time,” he suggests.
• Study your competitors: “If you know what works for them and you can implement it (ethically) on your end, why not?” Kilgore poses. “To expand on this, don’t copy your competitors’ mistakes (yes, this does happen).”
• Don’t be afraid of data: When it comes to SEO, both on-site and off, there are massive amounts of data at your disposal, and too often we shy away from these hard numbers, Kilgore notes. “You should do what you can to familiarize yourself with the data out there and how you can use it to improve your marketing efforts,” he says.
• Be ready for change: “Don’t just be ready for it though; be willing to embrace it and adapt to it,” Kilgore adds. “Being able to adapt to changes while remembering the basics will make you a more well rounded SEO/inbound marketer.”

Source: @ckilgs Inbound Marketing Blog

• Learn about the news outlet and the specific person you’re approaching: “Every outlet has a specific feel and each person with an outlet has their own coverage area, interests, and motivations; read their stuff and figure it out,” Agrawal advises. “Nothing will fall flatter than a bulk e-mail that begins ‘Dear reporter.’ Learn what each person values.”
• Build relationships before you need them: “Follow the people you’re interested in on Twitter. If they tweet something where you can help, offer it,” Agrawal suggests. “Offer them access to your network if you know someone who can answer a question.”
• Maintain relationships after you have them: Agrawal recommends that you keep in touch with people on an ongoing basis. “I don’t mean daily or weekly, but keep in touch as appropriate,” he says.
• Be fast: Be sensitive to the fact that reporters are often on tight deadlines, says Agrawal. “The faster you return a call or e-mail, the more likely it is that you’ll be included in the story,” he observes.
• Be brief: “Get to the point. Your pitch shouldn’t ramble on for pages,” Agrawal cautions.
• Be interesting: If you speak in “PR-ese,” it’s a lot less interesting, notes Agrawal. “Avoid cliches like ‘we’re the leading…’ Everyone claims to be the leader — except the real leaders,” he says. “When I’m preparing for an interview, I’ll come up with two or three lines that are interesting, sharp, and brief to make it easier to quote.”
• Be patient: Depending on the story, somebody might run a piece weeks or months after they talk to you, notes Agrawal. “In the meantime, it’s OK to follow up periodically if there were updates to what you said or things that the reporter should be aware of.”
• Don’t expect too much: “Just because you spent 30 minutes on the phone with a reporter doesn’t mean they’ll use what you said,” Agrawal cautions. “That’s just part of the news business. I do quite a few interviews where I don’t get quoted — but it goes back to building relationships. I genuinely want to help people tell better stories.”
• Realize that journalists talk to each other: “If you’re an ass to someone, it will get around,” warns Agrawal.
• Engage with your critics: “I regularly write about two companies in the same space and I’m extremely critical of both,” Agrawal shares. “One refuses to talk to me; the other responds within minutes. The second one gets to tell its side of the story and influence my opinion.”
• Never, ever lie: “In order of preference, I want: True, technically true, or no comment,” says Agrawal. “If you lie to me and I find out, it creates another story. It also means I won’t ever trust anything you say again.”

Source: VentureBeat

Fairbanks is home to the original campus of University of Alaska incorporated in 1917 as the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines. UAF’s location in interior Alaska provides easy access to glaciers, permafrost, the Pacific and Arctic oceans and Bering Sea, a subarctic climate and ecosystems, the aurora, a region of high seismic and volcanic activity, and other exceptional research opportunities. UAF faculty, staff, and students conduct research with the support of many funding agencies, including Alaska Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Education, NASA, National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation, United States Department of Agricultural, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Sea Grant, Alaska Sea Grant, and the Department of Defense, among others. UAF ranks 46th out of 200 universities in funding received from the National Science Foundation.

The Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization (OIPC) works with University of Alaska Fairbanks employees to facilitate and protect UAF’s innovative activities and bring the results into public use through commercialization. OIPC seeks a dynamic and entrepreneurial candidate for the new Technology Commercialization Officer position. The Technology Commercialization Officer will be responsible for the identification, assessment, marketing, protection, and transfer to industry of faculty inventions and intellectual property (IP) across the University, and will focus on the commercialization of intellectual property. Although housed within OIPC, it is expected that the position will work closely with the School of Management and its students.

Interested applicants should review the posting and apply to the attached link, www.uakjobs.com/applicants/Central?quickFind=76474

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the largest Institutes of the world-renowned National Institutes of Health (NIH), is seeking a highly motivated individual to serve as technology development specialist in the Office of Technology Development (OTD).

OTD has primary responsibility for the technology transfer function of NIAID. This function involves protecting the government’s investment in new inventions, proprietary materials, and information and facilitating their conversion to commercially available products that improve public health.

The technology development specialist will be responsible for advising on and performing the full range of support services that facilitate the transfer of new technologies and research materials, particularly to the private sector, for further research or commercial development as appropriate.

The specialist provides advice, guidance, and assistance to NIAID staff on issues relating to collaborative and other agreements, inventions, patents, licenses, royalties, and other technology transfer matters. The specialist also assists with reviews, drafts, and negotiations of technology transfer agreements for intramural laboratories and extramural branches in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and federal and NIAID and NIH policies.

Requirements

Applicants must be U.S. citizens who have successfully completed a full four-year course of study in an accredited college or university that included a major field of study in an academic field related to the health sciences or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the position.

In addition, applicants must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Demonstrate in resume at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the federal government, obtained in either the private or public sector, performing the following types of tasks: assisting staff in resolving routine issues on intellectual property and/or technology transfer; making minor modifications or adaptations to established methods, procedures, or techniques; gathering information for use in developing responses to routine inquiries; drafting documents to explain scientific or other findings; assisting in preparing portions of briefing reports relating to routine technology transfer; participating in meetings to advise on and respond to specific, routine questions regarding technology transfer; and interacting with individuals within an organization to provide information and/or to coordinate activities
• Have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, if related
• Have three full years of related progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree
• Have equivalent combinations of related graduate education and qualifying experience

A complete list of duties, qualifications, and application procedures is available at www.usajobs.gov.

Vacancy announcement numbers

• NIH-NIAID-DE-12-608822 (all candidates)
• NIH-NIAID-MP-12-608826 (status candidates)

Series & Grade Level

• GS-11 (promotion potential to GS-13)

Salary

• $62,467 (annually) – $81,204 (annually), commensurate with experience

Benefits

A full civil service package of benefits is available, including retirement; health, life, and long-term care insurance; annual and sick leave; and thrift savings plan (401K equivalent).

Deadline

Vacancy announcement will open on Monday, March 5, 2012. Resume, responses to online questionnaire, and supporting documents (if applicable) must be received on www.usajobs.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, March 18, 2012.

Learn more about NIAID and how you can play a role in this exciting and dynamic research organization:

• Visit us on the Web: http://go.usa.gov/Uf6
• Follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/NIAIDCareers
• Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/niaid.nih

HHS, NIH, and NIAID are proud to be equal opportunity employers.

“Faculty members love it,” says Dorothy H. Air, PhD, the university’s associate vice president for entrepreneurial affairs and technology commercialization. “It gives them the opportunity to come here with their families; they think it’s pretty cool to walk out on that court and have all these thousands of people (the arena’s capacity is 13,000) recognizing what they’ve done.”

Air calls the event “a no-brainer in my book in terms of how to recognize in a pretty major way what inventors are accomplishing in this university.”

Air, who says she hasn’t heard of any other universities that have similar events, asserts that a basketball game is a “great venue” for a ceremony like this. “Our rationale is that you can do a dinner, and that would be very nice, but inviting a few select people and the inventors — even if you try to broaden your invitations to some extent — still only reaches a limited audience. When we do it at halftime at a basketball game we have thousands of people there,” Air explains. A detailed article on this approach appears in the March 2012 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Here are some of their insights:

• Think about the SERP experience: Mark Munroe of Reply.com encouraged marketers to “think about the SERP experience” when optimizing for search. Good content is not enough, he said, suggesting that relevant content is vital. Looking at interaction metrics in analytics to determine what users view as relevant is key, he added, as “every visitor tells you something about your site — even if they do nothing.”
• Go back to SEO basics: The experts agreed that social marketing — and social search signals — sidetrack many marketers from the cornerstones of search engine optimization. Kerry Dean, chief traffic officer of Performance Media Group, said, “Pinterest is sexy, but SEO is core.” He advised marketers to look at their title tags, meta tags, navigation links, and other SEO factors to ensure they are optimized. Marshall Simmonds, founder of Define Media, reminded marketers to check their sites for broken links.
• Double up on analytics: If you’re using a paid SEO tool, get Google Analytics for free, the panelists advised. If you’re already using Google Analytics, add Statcounter for free. Once you have multiple analytics check points, pay attention to various campaigns, keyword referrals and ­-­­-­ of course — interaction metrics to inform your SEO strategy.
• Hire a content writer: Dean claimed that fresh content is the future of SEO — and success in Internet marketing — and that businesses need to invest in top content for their sites. He advised businesses to blog every day, add unique product descriptions and find ways to keep their sites unique and fresh. “A little bit of content can go a long way in terms of ranking,” he said.
• Go for landing page/conversion optimization: When people land on your content pages, you want to send them deeper into your site — both for positive interaction metrics and, presumably, to support your business goals online, the panelists noted. Conversion marketing is the ultimate goal of any SEO campaign, they stressed.
• Embrace the age of personal branding with rel=author: Simmonds was quick to admit that rel=author is “confusing, but worth it for the SEO payoffs.” While Dean suggested some industry experts might not be good writers (or might need assistance from good SEO writers and editors), he said the idea of linking a business website to an industry authority is a good way to build both the company’s brand and the writer’s personal brand.
• Be relentless about making it easy to share: As Munroe said, businesses should strive to create content that will win shares. Every share will be an indicator for organic ranking algorithms. While Dean said that marketers should use “ALL the social sites,” he suggested that the must-haves include Google+, Facebook, Twitter and now, Pinterest.
• Be even more relentless about mobile website optimization: Google’s Jack Menzel went as far as to mockingly beg marketers to make sure their sites work on mobile phones. As searches increasingly come from smart phones and tablets, mobile SEO is huge — but the SMX experts reminded attendees you don’t have to create an entirely new site and new search strategy. HTML5 web design is making sites friendlier to mobile browsers, and responsive websites mean businesses don’t need to build a separate mobile site.
• Use your sitemap to your benefit: Simmonds emphasized that “sitemaps are your way of communicating with Google. If you’re not leveraging them, you’re missing out.” Google itself says that sitemaps are a way to tell the search engine “about pages on your site we might not otherwise discover.”
• Pay attention to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines: “You need to take a good hard look at your site and ask, ‘is this a good site or a bad site?’ But you have no way of knowing whether Google’s opinion would be the same as yours,” said Michael Martinez, owner of SEOTheory — except, he suggests, through looking at Webmaster Guidelines. Is your site created on the same principles espoused in these guides? When changes occur, even subtle ones, he suggests he has seen consistent search success by making sure his site fulfills the updated guidelines.

As Simmonds said, “Google moving the goalposts is your opportunity to push your SEO agenda.”

Source: Brafton News

When you learn and apply “lean” principles, you’ll dramatically reduce risk while improving your odds of success. Technology Transfer Tactics’ Distance Learning Division has recruited an A-level panel of experts who incorporate the “lean” principles into every phase of their spinout process. They’re ready to help you understand the “lean” model and how to apply its methodologies to your academic start-ups in a how-to webinar scheduled for April 10. Don’t miss Successfully Apply “Lean” Start-Up Principles to University Spinouts. For complete program and faculty details, CLICK HERE.

ALSO COMING SOON:

• Wednesday, March 7: Build and Manage a Successful Accelerator Fund for Your University
• Wednesday, March 21: Patent Prosecution Cost-Saving Strategies: Increase Your TTO’s Filings Without Increasing Your Budget
• Wednesday, March 21: A New Approach to IP Management: The Penn State University Research Model
• Thursday, March 29: Building Data-Rich Market Validation Plans for University Technologies

Miller offers the following tips to ensure your e-mails get read:

Timing is everything: The best day of the week to send out e-mail advertising is Tuesday, says Miller. “Most people don’t check their e-mail on the weekends because e-mail usually means work,” he notes. “Monday is another bad day because that’s the day everyone is back to work and they need to dig out their desk. Tuesday? That’s the day everyone finally settles into a routine again and they’re back online, checking their e-mail.” Wednesday and Thursday are good days as well, he adds, but Tuesday is by far the best.

Use multiple formats: “Send your e-mails in html and plain text,” Miller advises. “E-mail readers are not all created equally and some of your subscribers can’t read your e-mails when they’re in html. Some readers also can’t see anchor text links, so even if the subscriber opens your mail he won’t be able to click over to your sales page.” In addition, he says, make sure you include URLs, too, so everyone can find your page.

Be consistent: Miller recommends that you send your e-mails at the same time on the same day every week. “Your subscribers will get used to seeing your e-mail pop up every Tuesday at 10 am and they’ll start waiting breathlessly for the next one,” he explains.

It’s even more important that you be consistent with your sender name and your e-mail titles, he continues. “Using a different name to try to trick subscribers into opening just means you’re going to end up getting sent to their spam folder — or worse, they’ll report you for abuse,” he cautions. “Always use titles that let your subscribers know what they can expect when they open your e-mail.”

Source: Promotion World

• Trade Secret Value Sources
• Trade Secret Floor Value
• Factors that Prolong Trade Secret Value
• Factors that Kill Trade Secrets
• Inadvertent Disclosures
• Trade Secret Agreement Terms

In Licensing Trade Secrets you’ll also find examples of actual license agreements that incorporate trade secrets. By reviewing these real-world documents, you’ll learn how other organization characterize and monetize their trade secrets and enhance the overall value of their technologies. For details and to order, CLICK HERE.

The center offers dedicated business incubation space and support services for start-up companies whose activities are aligned with UL research strengths. It provides dedicated units for supporting new technology-based businesses together with two fully equipped research laboratory suites, boardrooms, meeting rooms and ancillary support services.

The aim of Nexus is to enable the accelerated development of national and international start-ups with global reach and the commercialization of academic research resulting in the creation of new jobs. “It also gives a road map to the start-up companies and entrepreneurs for accessing the resources of the university,” adds Shire. “They will be able to see all the research going on here and use the infrastructure of the university, such as our libraries. They will also be able to talk to the other innovators there and learn from them.”

 “We don’t just rent out space to start-ups,” explains center manager Andrea Deverell. “We are creating a community here where members can both gain value and add value. It has to be reciprocal. Start-ups can rent space cheaper off the campus and there has to be a very good reason for them to come here.”

Experienced mentors are made available to entrepreneurs as they progress through the program, providing entrepreneurs with insights into key business areas such as marketing, customers, branding and selling, route to market, raising finance, intellectual property management to protect their business idea, and investor expectations.

Source: The Irish Times

Gallatin sees a host of location-based marketing opportunities for unique levels of customer engagement. “Now that brands can market and speak to customers while they are on the go, it becomes increasingly important to understand how your customers socially interact on mobile,” she says. Gallatin cites these four ways to keep pace from the perspective of marketing strategy:

1. Segment by behavior: “Brands and agencies have moved toward segmenting social media behavior, but they need to layer mobile behavior on top,” says Gallatin. “The 20-something professional woman will behave differently in regard to mobile access, for example, than a retired man; take note.”
2. Be ready for shoppers: According to IBM’s Smarter Commerce benchmark of online retail activity, mobile platforms were responsible for 14.3% of all online shopping traffic on Black Friday, more than doubling the 5.6% of traffic IBM recorded last year, Gallatin shares. “Perhaps even more impressive, sales from mobile devices reached 9.8% of digital retail transactions, tripling the 3.2% of last year,” she adds. “Again, a staggering number that is tough to ignore.”
3. Address the app phenomenon: “Clearly, social apps are huge, but the bridge between social media and mobile apps will be well traveled,” says Gallatin. “Social media strategies need to comfortably connect online with mobile experiences.”
4. Don’t forget the black box in everyone’s living room: A report from Yahoo/Nielsen stated that 86% of web users now use a mobile device while watching TV, notes Gallatin. “As a marketer, this opens up a whole new avenue for launching cross-platform social campaigns that engage the ‘second screen’ audience,” she asserts.

Source: iMediaConnection.com

Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor,
Vol. 5, No. 2, February 2012

• Making the right contact critical for nurturing industry relationships. There are many ingredients that make for a successful partnership between a university TTO and industry, but veteran tech transfer execs say perhaps the most critical of all is identifying the right industry contact and building a strong relationship with that individual.
• Project scouts share common mistakes TTOs make in technology listings. As with many organizations, leaders of TTOs can sometimes be too close to a situation to clearly see what may be going wrong.
• TTO’s PR strategy touts top inventions of the year. The headline of the news release is a definite attention-grabber: “Eight UB Inventions from 2011 That You Won’t Want to Miss.” The headline and the press release were the brainchild of Charlotte Hsu, a PR manager at the University at Buffalo. “It was a way we thought would be good to highlight not just the fact that we’re involved in tech transfer, but that there’s a lot variety in what our researchers are doing.”
• U.K. consultancies offer additional opportunities for faculty outreach. In a recent news release highlighting commercialization efforts in 2011, Cambridge Enterprise (CE), the university´s commercialization group, included as part of its £10.2M income not only licensing and equity transactions, but also consultancy transactions.
• New database aimed at streamlining the technology posting process. “With a lot of online services you have to upload information, register, provide technology details, and provide an Excel file,” says Dave Waddell, explaining the typical process for posting technologies on web-based technology listing sites. “That requires time from a lot of people in the [tech transfer] office.”
• Foundation grant helps WVU expand its commercialization efforts. The University of West Virginia has launched an 18-month program called LIINC, designed to accelerate commercialization efforts, expand and improve ties to industry, and to interface with other institutions in the region to compare notes on best practices.

The university will leverage existing resources and strategies employed by its TTO to help its partners launch similar initiatives. For example, a U-M database called Catalyst, which lists private-sector entrepreneurs who have expressed a willingness to assist university innovators, will be repurposed for the other partner universities.

In addition, the new Tech Transfer Talent Network will help the universities form programs similar to UM’s Mentors-in-Residence initiative, through which entrepreneurs help assess market opportunities for university IP. “The primary goal of the Tech Transfer Talent Network is to increase the supply of seasoned entrepreneurs and innovators who can lend their expertise to university tech transfer offices,” U-M said in a news release. “These connections will serve as important bridges to launch technology-based startups or license university inventions to established companies.”

Ken Nisbet, executive director of the U-M Tech Transfer operation, says university innovators need help to develop their ideas and IP into products. “You may get early stage internal development funding, but if you cannot find the talent to assess commercialization issues, formulate development plans and execute on these plans, you’re not deploying that money well,” Nisbet said in a statement.

Source: AnnArbor.com

In A New Approach to IP Management: The Penn State University Research Model, an exclusive webinar scheduled for Wednesday, March 21, Dr. Hank Foley, vice president for research at Penn State, will discuss these changes, the University’s assessment of their benefit, and how this break with more than two decades of past practice will help get more research off the shelf and into the marketplace, while also building more and stronger industry relationships. For complete details and to register, CLICK HERE.

ALSO COMING SOON:

• Wednesday, March 7: Build and Manage a Successful Accelerator Fund for Your University
• Wednesday, March 21: Patent Prosecution Cost-Saving Strategies: Increase Your TTO’s Filings Without Increasing Your Budget
• Thursday, March 29: Building Data-Rich Market Validation Plans for University Technologies

Personalize your messages: “Make your client feel like your e-mail is written for them specifically,” says Hamlin. “Send a welcome message and merge their name into the content. Most e-mail marketing tools allow you to do this with a very simple merge field, something like %%first.name%% or {first name}.”  If you offer a variety of products and services, make sure your message is tailored towards exactly what the subscriber is interested in, she adds. “This is easy to do using drop down fields in the form or custom forms for each product on your website,” says Hamlin. “You can trigger an e-mail to send when a customer is added to your list; furthermore, you can set a rule that tells your e-mail software to use either dynamic content or choose a specific e-mail template to send based on a certain criteria.”

Test your content: Every e-mail will influence your subscribers’ behavior in the future, says Hamlin. If you send an e-mail that is far afield from your customers’ interests, the chances they will unsubscribe go up exponentially, as do the chances they will ignore the next message they receive from you. “If you take the time to set up three to four e-mails with different calls to actions and subject lines, you can send these varying campaigns to 10%-20% of your list,” she suggests. “The e-mail with the most opens wins for the strongest subject line, and [the one] with the most click-throughs wins for the best call to action. Make any necessary changes and deploy the winning e-mail to the rest of your subscribers.”

Grow your list: Chances are your list isn’t the size of a large corporation’s, but it doesn’t have to be to be effective, says Hamlin. “Whether your list is 1,000 or 10 million subscribers, the steps you took to acquire your e-mail list will determine how well it performs,” she notes. “Use every opportunity to grow your list, but whatever you do, think twice, maybe even three or four times before you purchase an e-mail list. It is worth it to spend the time growing your list organically. You will receive better response rates and keep your e-mails from potentially being marked as SPAM.” Make sure you include a ‘subscribe’ form on your website, and capture e-mail addresses at checkout, she continues. Offline you can collect addresses at trade shows and have customer service or sales always ask for a customer’s e-mail address and permission to send information to them when on the phone. Consider offering a relevant incentive, such as an email-only discount and include it in all your promotional material. “Never add an e-mail address to your list without receiving permission,” Hamlin cautions. “It is not worth the lasting negative effects it could have on your overall e-mail marketing campaigns.”

Source: Business 2 Community

“It’s so critical to find the right person,” said Montserrat Capdevila, MS, director of sales, marketing, and international relations at Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer, one of two presenters in an audio conference sponsored by Technology Transfer Tactics entitled ‘Expert Corporate Relations Strategies for Long-Term Industry-TTO Partnerships.’ “Having an internal champion who knows what you have and likes it is very, very important. They can also give you valuable feedback.”

“You’ve got to earn the confidence of whoever your point of contact is so you can begin an open dialogue; if you do, they feel protected,” added co-presenter Sharell Mikesell, PhD, associate vice president in the Industry Liaison Office at The Ohio State University. “It is only in the discussions where companies talk about what their needs are that things can be translated over into an academic understanding of what’s needed.”

Naturally, the first step in developing such relationships is finding the right person, and Capdevila noted in a follow-up interview that there are a number of ways to do that. “It can be as simple as going to partnering meetings or picking up the phone and meeting them,” she comments. “Sometimes I use LinkedIn, or industry-specific databases.”

With the frequent turnover seen at corporations of late, she adds, LinkedIn is particularly valuable. “People update their profiles, and you can also find new contacts by company,” she explains. LinkedIn also offers opportunities to leverage faculty contacts, Capdevila continues. “More and more faculty are getting onto LinkedIn and opening accounts,” she notes. “They tend to invite people who they meet, like business contacts they’ve befriended at a conference. And sometimes tech scouts will request to be connected to them, and these are contacts you can leverage.”

This is one of many reasons to maintain good, open communications with faculty, says Capdevila. “If they connect with you on LinkedIn you can figure out who their important contacts are,” she notes. “And if they’re connected to someone you want be connected to they can facilitate an introduction.” Capdevila says that “99%” of the faculty will be willing to help you. A detailed article on successful industry partnering strategies appears in the February 2012 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

What’s your core message? “Some businesses make the mistake of creating content just for the sake of creating content,” notes Gelberg. “Before you embark on a content marketing campaign you need to assess what knowledge you possess and whether there is an online audience for it. Ask yourself: ‘What messages am I most qualified to deliver?’ And then ask an even more important question: ‘Will that message drive business?’”

Who is my target audience and where is that audience online? Even if you create the greatest messaging in the world, it will do you no good unless you deliver it to the right people, Gelberg continues, adding that the larger the audience you want to reach, the more expensive it is and the more diffuse your message should be. “It is far more effective to either deliver a single message to a highly targeted audience or to create several messages, each designed to target a specific audience,” he notes. “Target a narrow audience so that you can offer specific knowledge that will be most useful to that particular group.”

Create outstanding content. “If you are going to promote your products, explain your services, or just provide information of interest and use to your target audience, then make sure you are either a strong writer yourself or you employ a talented copywriter,” Gelberg advises. “Poorly written articles or badly produced videos can be extremely damaging to you and your brand. Also, keep in mind that if you plan to use content as a marketing tool, then you must be committed to providing a steady stream. One article or video is not a content strategy … it is a shot in the dark.”

Focus on ROI. “Your main goal always should be to grow your business; great content should not just get the attention of your audience, but encourage that audience to learn more about you and, ultimately, do business with you,” says Gelberg. “Remember, you’re not writing as a journalist. You are writing as a marketer. Don’t ever forget that distinction.”

Source: Inc.com

Fully updated through 2011, the guide features abstracts of the most recent court cases dealing with lost profits damages, and provides the latest analysis including a summary of applicable rules of civil procedures and evidence, as well as details on what courts have deemed as acceptable evidence for lost profit claims. You’ll also learn what the courts have rejected and details explaining the reasons for the rejections. The updated edition also features new material including an in-depth look at case law relating to reasonable certainty and motions to exclude experts in lost profits damages cases, both by issue and by jurisdiction. For complete details and to order, CLICK HERE.

• Film your products in action: Video is a powerful marketing tool for demonstrating products and services, and showing rather than telling how they work and how your customer will benefit, says Ydraw. “Informed customers are much more likely to invest in a product when they completely understand it.”
• Be testimonial-friendly: Always use testimonials from clients and fans, rating the company for experience, telling how the company has helped them and changed their lives, and comparing it with other companies, says Ydraw.
• Introduce your staff:  “This can create a great bond with customers, especially if they are cartoon based; it can make a company seem warm and inviting with personality and a sense of humor,” says the firm.
• Call to action: Within the video, “add a process for customers to get to know how to connect with your company for more information, and what the next step would be for them to interact,” says Ydraw.
• Relax:  “Don’t make the video script too complicated; try to keep it brief,” advises Ydraw. “Make sure to have two or three key points in a video, ones that are most important to the company above all else, and keep it simple.”

Source: PR Web

1. Don’t wait to sell. Don’t wait to start selling until your product is polished and launched, Savage advises. He recalls completely retooling his company about a year after beginning work on it, a move that occurred “because we had a real potential customer that was interested when we had NO PRODUCT,” he says. They liked the concept and we built the first version of Wistia in two weeks. A month later we had our first customer. We had just spent seven months building a portfolio website and four months trying to get people on board while our bank accounts shrank and our time to live decreased. In the course of a month we sold our first customer, decreased our burn, and realized that selling early was possible.”
2. Do things that don’t scale. That first sale, Savage says, taught his a lot and also “gave us a benchmark for what people were willing to pay, how long it would take to close a deal, and how easy it was to use the product.” To gauge those factors even more precisely, he spent countless hours frequently visiting that fist customer’s office to gain feedback and advice. “We could never spend as much time with every customer as we spent working with customer numero uno, but we magnified all the extra learning up front across the customer base.”
3. Get inside your customer’s head. “What books and magazines would your customers read? What conferences would they go to? What search terms would they use? Who would they follow on twitter? Once you have an idea of where your customers hang out, you need to go there,” Savage stresses.
4. Focus on the buyer. Your product’s end user is not always the buyer, particularly when selling to large entities, and Savage says focusing your marketing on the buyer is essential. “CRMs are an excellent example of this phenomenon: a product is sold to the VP of Sales that will be used by the sales team,” he illustrates. “If you focus only on making an amazing experience for the sales team while ignoring the high level dashboards of how the sales team is doing, the VP of Sales will have trouble buying.”
5. Don’t price against cost. “All that matters to customers is value,” Savage argues. They don’t know and don’t care what it costs you to deliver a product – they only care that they are getting a benefit beyond the cost they pay. “They want to know if their videos are effective, they want to close more deals, and they want to provide a better experience for their customers. These needs could not be more divorced from our costs,” he says.
6. Position against complementary products. It’s not always a must to offer a distinction between your company and its competitors, Savage maintains. “As my good friend David Cancel likes to say: ‘I believe a start-up only has one real competitor, indifference. People not caring enough about your product is your true competition, not some other start-up.’” When planning your positioning in the market, “look at the complimentary products, not the competitive ones,” Savage advises. “Be honest about how much value you create and how much value your customers are getting from other products.”
7. It’s only the beginning. Early on, “it becomes easy to put a crippling amount of pressure on yourself to close deals and get people interested. While this can be a good motivator, it can also cause you to make mistakes,” he points out. Trial and error, he says, is a better strategy than trying to be perfect. “You should not be afraid of scaring people away with a high price, the wrong messaging, or an initial e-mail that’s too short. You need to try all of these things and more to figure out what’s going to work for your sales process. You need to be able to take risks and push forward quickly.”
8. Focus on every customer. With your first set of buyers, the best way to close deals “is to spend a little time on each individual target,” Savage observes. “You need to personalize the correspondence as much as possible. This is true if you’re sending an e-mail or if you’re meeting with someone in person. Figure out why they’re successful, what their hobbies are, and what conferences they like going to. The more you can understand them the more likely you are to speak in their language.”
9. Act your size. As an up-and-comer, don’t try to pretend you’re playing in the big boys’ sandbox, Savage cautions. “It’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to act bigger than you are. Common pitfalls include trying to demand exorbitantly high prices, positioning to have more customers than you have, and promising more than your product can deliver. Yes, I’ve made all these mistakes,” he admits. “When you’re trying to act big, it often highlights just how small you are.”
10. Just keep going. “The hardest part of bootstrapping your sales is sticking with the process. It can take a very long time to get your first deal. But each deal comes faster with practice and more information,” Savage says.

Source: OnStartups.com

ALSO COMING SOON:

• Tuesday, February 28: How to Outsource and Offshore TTO Activities for Huge Savings and Efficiency Gains
• Wednesday, March 7: Build and Manage a Successful Accelerator Fund for Your University
• Wednesday, March 21: Patent Prosecution Cost-Saving Strategies: Increase Your TTO’s Filings Without Increasing Your Budget

Write a use-based mobile marketing strategy: “Plan your mobile marketing strategy based on how people use their mobile devices,” says Stewart. “Do some market research or perform a survey of your clients’ mobile habits.”

Integrate mobile in the marketing mix: Once you establish whether or not mobile marketing is appropriate for your marketing campaign, integrate your mobile marketing with your more traditional marketing by placing banners and ads that reference your mobile friendly site in places where people might have idle time with their phone, like at bus stops, in subway stations and on billboards, says Stewart.

Keep consistent with your brand: “The mobile version of your site should have a look that is familiar from your main site,” says Stewart. “This is an element of branding and will make you more memorable to customers.” She adds the following design tips:

• Don’t use too many images because large images slow a page down, and slow experience leads to higher bounce rates.
• Remember to keep your navigation simple, your call-to-action above the mobile fold, and text input required of users to a minimum.

Optimize your website for mobile: “Most companies have a separate site designed for mobile than is used for computer Internet browser access,” says Stewart. The elements of a dynamic website are different from what is considered optimal for a mobile site, she adds. “However, you don’t need to do this if you optimize your main site. The trick is to make it attractive and functional to both kinds of visitors.” You may wish to engage a web designer rather than trying to do it yourself, she suggests. However you go about putting your mobile site together, be sure to test it on all the major platforms to ensure it works as intended, Stewart continues. “Micro-formats are a newer class of open-data formats that can be used to adapt existing data so that it’s more flexible for use across multiple platforms. By automating processes, it allows websites to be more dynamic and adaptable — key elements for mobile,” she says.

Use HTML 5 on your main site to make optimization easy: HTML5 has been designed to better describe content, notes Stewart. “It introduces new tags, and more flexible tagging rules, which increase the information that is sent to the viewing window,” she explains.

Design for multiple handsets: “Keep a database of mobile phones and ensure that your site will look good on them,” Stewart suggests. “A site designed for a Nokia phone won’t look good on an iPhone, and vice-versa.”

Create page headers in XHTML format: Be sure that your page, whether a dedicated mobile page or a sub-domain of your main site, uses this format, says Stewart.

Optimize your XML site map for mobile URLs: “Just as with a desktop site map, the mobile site map is an important element of SEO and should not be neglected,” cautions Stewart. “The procedure for doing so is described in detail at Google’s webmaster tools page.”

Use an “M-Dot” URL”: An “m-dot” URL (ex: m.abc.com.), will help Google recognize and index your mobile site separately from your standard one, Stewart explains.

Test your mobile website: Google’s GoMo site lets you plug in your URL to see how it looks on a mobile phone, says Stewart. “You should also listen to feedback from your customers, especially to learn about site performance and functionality so you can tweak accordingly,” she adds.

Source: Business 2 Community

But consultancies accomplish more than just generating additional revenues: They serve to provide additional opportunities to reach out to and strengthen relations with faculty, industry, and of course provide additional fodder for media releases that disseminate news of successes and underscore branding efforts. In fact, at Cambridge the consultancy services arm is actually part of CE, which is a bit unusual in the U.K. “Amongst many of our universities and certainly those we term the ‘big five,’ they tend to have separate consultancy services groups,” says Seabright. “Here we keep consultancy services within Cambridge Enterprise along with licensing, spinout formation, and our newly created outreach program.”

Faculty members at Cambridge, he continues, actually have two options when it comes to consulting. “The faculty member can choose to do it personally, which he does privately,” Seabright explains. “If he does that he would need to do it from his own address and not use university facilities, and no headed paper; he’d be contracting essentially as a private individual.”

Alternately, however, the faculty member can use Seabright’s office. “We enter into a contract with the client, protect the academic and sub-contract to him,” he explains. “We undertake the negotiation of the contract, thus insuring compliance with university procedures.” The faculty member delivers the services, then CE invoices the company on his behalf and pays him once the income is received.

The amount of money the faculty member can charge, Seabright explains, “depends on their position in the university, the community, and their particular business sector.” CE charges a 12.5% fee, which he considers quite reasonable. “Essentially our fee is kept low and our service kept at a premium in order to attract academics to use it,” says Seabright. A detailed article on consultancy services appears in the February 2012 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

1. Use pay-per-click advertising: “This is an extremely powerful form of advertising as it allows a marketer to see exactly how much their advertising is costing and how much revenue said advertising is generating in return,” Goldston explains. “PPC marketers can calculate what a single click is worth to a business and then optimize their bidding in order to ensure that they never pay more per click than what they are likely to earn for that click.”
2. UTM tracking: UTM tracking is a very quick and easy way for marketers to turn a separate marketing activity into its own traffic source in Google Analytics, notes Goldston. “All marketers need to do is append a few simple variables to the end of a URL,” he says. “From here, any traffic that hits their website through this URL will be grouped into an independent traffic source within Google Analytics.”
3. Take risks/change the norm: “I’ve found that many marketers continue to use mediums that aren’t necessarily earning them any business, simply due to the fact that they have ‘always done it this way,’” says Goldston. “If marketers are armed with the knowledge of which mediums are generating them the most business, it becomes much easier to move budgets towards those continually performing mediums.”
4. Integrate your messages: “We know that up to 70% of people use search engines during some point in their purchase cycle,” says Goldston. “We also know that if a television ad cuts through to an audience member it is highly likely that their first action will be to search for the advertised service or product on Google or other search engines. It is for this reason that you not only need to be present on the search engines if using offline advertising, but also, your message within these search engines and on your website should to be reinforcing your offline message.”
5. Ask questions: If you are outsourcing some of your advertising to suppliers, be sure to ask questions about what your advertising dollars are achieving, says Goldston. “You should be able to answer how much return your advertising dollars have made for you or, at the very least, how you are doing with regards to reaching your advertising objectives,” he adds.

Source: Dynamic Business Australia

• Do not use an enhanced e-mail signature: If your e-mail signature uses a large font, is boldfaced or appears in a different color, this is called “shouting” in e-mail jargon, Blume explains. “Outlook junk mail filters and corporate e-mail filters don’t like this,” he notes.
• Don’t use an HTML e-mail: These days, text-based emails stand a better chance of getting past junk mail and corporate e-mail filters than HTML e-mails, says Blume.
• Avoid the word “free”: “It’s one of the most common words activating junk mail and corporate e-mail filtering,” warns Blume.
• Don’t use colored fonts: Spam filters will sometimes block these because they think they are advertisements, says Blume.
• Don’t italicize, underline or use exclamation points: “Again, this is a form of shouting,” Blume explains.
• Avoid rush words or phrases:  “Act now,” “Offer good today,” “Respond soon” and “Sale ends tomorrow” are examples of rush words or phrases. “These are big red flags for filters,” Blume cautions.
• Avoid using your personal e-mail for business communication: “AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail accounts, for example, can cause two issues for spam filters,” notes Blume. “These personal e-mail accounts are often the source of ‘spammy’ e-mails as they are free to set up and easy to abandon. Thus, if you use any type of special characters (shouting) or accidental use of rush words from these types of accounts, your subsequent e-mails will be flagged as spam.”
• Avoid Bayesian poisoning: Odd or complex phrasing can invoke something called “Bayesian poisoning,” which appears to be an attempt to bypass Bayesian spam filtering and results in your e-mail looking like spam, says Blume.
• Avoid graphics when possible: “Graphics often display poorly, especially for text-based e-mail clients,” Blume explains. “When sending individual e-mails, don’t assume what you see is what they get.” Not only can graphics give your e-mail a poor look and feel, he adds, but they can increase the likelihood that it will be flagged as spam.
• Don’t include too many graphics above the fold: When you deem it necessary to send graphically rich e-mails, such as newsletters, make sure the delivered e-mail can render professionally if the graphics are stripped, Blume advises. “The best way to check this is to send a test e-mail to a text-based e-mail client and observe the results,” he suggests. “In cases where you deem them important, graphics can be conveyed as a link to a webpage or you can embed the images.”

Source: LifeHealthPro

The University of Illinois seeks a Senior Patent Coordinator to manage resources to secure intellectual property protection for technologies being pursued by the Office of Technology Management (OTM) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). This position leads the efforts of protecting inventions developed by the University of Illinois faculty and staff. The incumbent will be interacting with a number of different constituencies on a daily basis, including inventors and patent counsel. Duties and responsibilities include:

1. Coordinate administration of US and foreign patent applications and other legal protections of UIC technologies.
2. Draft claims for the filing of in-house coversheet provisional patent applications.
3. Work with OTM technology managers and UIC inventors during the technology evaluation and patenting process.
4. Assist in assembly of supporting data and documentation for intellectual property protection
5. Review patent search results.
6. Review disclosure information to assess adequacy for filing of an in-house coversheet provisional.
7. Monitor preparation and filing of patent applications and assist in responding to patent office actions.
8. Provide recommendations regarding US and foreign patent processes, costs, and alternatives.
9. Serve as a liaison between OTM, University Counsel, and outside patent counsel regarding the selection, engagement process and authorization/approval of expenditures for outside counsel.
10. Prepare and process formal PTO papers for inventors.
11. Coordinate with inventors to obtain appropriate approvals.
12. Coordinate execution of formal papers with legal counsel.
13. Review and approve legal invoices for patent prosecution services; track and report monthly patent expenses against patent budget.
14. Assist with drafting patent licenses and other intellectual property agreements.
15. Monitor actions and scheduled due dates for US and foreign patent prosecution to ensure timely responses.
16. Manage inventorship, ownership, and assignment issues and decision-making.
17. Maintain and organize patent case files.
18. Keep abreast of changes in patent laws and procedures, in particular any relevant patent reform.
19. Work with patent counsel to manage patent costs.
20. Train and mentor Patent Coordinators and support staff; provide ongoing training and updates on patent subjects.
21. Assist Director in the preparation of the patent budget and forecasting future patent expenses.
22. Review correspondence with patent counsel and take appropriate actions as required.
23. Participate in the development of OTM infrastructure, policies, and procedures.
24. Oversee accuracy and completeness of database patent or patent-related records.
25. Oversee all aspects of Federal Compliance, including managing a graduate hourly student that will be responsible for timely reporting obligations of the University related to inventions derived from federally funded research.
26. Prepare reports as needed from database records on patent and patent-related matters.
27. Serve as Notary Public for OTM.

Candidates must possess a Bachelor’s degree in business or a related field and a current valid registration with the USPTO as a Patent Agent or Patent Attorney; J.D. strongly preferred. Other required qualifications include: successful experience related to the practice of patent law with a preference for experience as a practicing Patent Agent or Patent Attorney in the drafting and prosecution of patent applications; strong interpersonal and communication skills; capacity to assume senior level responsibilities as the position grows; ability to work in a fast-paced environment under multiple deadlines; strong interpersonal skills to effectively communicate with all levels of professionals within the organization; proven teamwork skills; ability to use independent judgment and make sound decisions regarding patents and intellectual property; and proficiency with Microsoft Office suite applications.

This is a full-time, 12-month Academic Professional position. For full consideration, candidates must apply and submit a letter of application, resume, and names/addresses/phone numbers of three professional references by March 9, 2012 at https://uajobs.hr.uillinois.edu/.

Employee Relations and Human Resources
809 S. Marshfield Ave M/C 078
Chicago, IL 60612
Phone: (312) 996-5130
Fax: (312) 996-6005

The University of Illinois is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer dedicated to building a community of excellence, equity and diversity. University Administration welcomes applications from women, underrepresented minorities, persons with disabilities, sexual minority groups and other candidates who will lead and contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives.

1. A strong headline or title: The rule of thumb for blog titles is a nine-word title that is descriptive, specific, and useful, says Shane.
2. A clear, focused topic and a few specific solutions: “The most opened, e-mailed and commented on articles offer up a number of specific how to’s, tips, lists, ways, reasons, secrets, and benefits that people can digest easily, follow and use,” notes Shane. For personal and small business blogs, she adds, a 300- 500-word blog post is recommended.
3. Follow the content story line through, and then wrap it up with an open-ended question to invite reader interactivity: “Try to have a clear path for what you want to say and how you develop and roll out the article ideas and information,” Shane offers. “You can begin with a question or statistic and support that with examples and references along with your take on the topic.”
4. Your branding and credibility definitely play into engagement: The professionals that are consistent with branding in person, on social media, video, e-mail marketing and in other materials do get more engagement — but anyone can build and grow their credibility, Shane claims. “It takes a consistent plan of delivering relevant, solid content that helps people, offers solutions and different ways of looking at things.”
5. Acknowledge your responders and commit to reciprocal commenting: “When people take the time to read and respond to your articles, make the time to respond to them in a very simple but personal way,” Shane advises. “A thoughtful, simple reply to their comment goes a long way and shows that you actually read it.”

Source: Innovation America