2010 was an insanely productive and busy year, both here on the blog and at work. There were more comments in 2010 than all other years combined and Phonebooth was named one of the top business services of the year by BNET.
Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to read a post, comment, share and even disagree with something that has been posted here. It’s always fun to converse with like minds about marketing.
With that being said…
The Top 10 Posts of 2010
10. Want to improve your company, product, career or self? Be humble.
Funny how any article where you expose yourself (figuratively of course) and are personal is always successful. There is a definite correlation.
9. What I Learned At Social Fresh Charlotte – An Exhibitor, Attendee and Speaker Perspective
This was the birth of The Great Phonetree of Knowledge. A really fun SMB experiment that you should check out with short videos answering small business marketing and social media questions. As always, another fun and productive Social Fresh event.
8. How to Use Social Media to Save Customers
We’ve all complained on Twitter once we’ve reached a certain frustration level. Some companies handle this wonderfully and save customers in the process. This post shares a few of my experiences with social customer support.
7. SEO is Killing Our Creativity
Our SEO genius at Phonebooth (Al Scillitani) and I get along great and work together on almost every outward facing communication. But, there are times when optimization and SEO consideration kills the fun marketer inside of me and the lust for a catchy and descriptive title that search engines may hate.
6. Everyone Needs A Dumb Guy – The Ignite Raleigh Video
I like taking risks. Luckily, enough people voted for my preso idea and I was fortunate enough to educate everyone on the value of my kind of dumb guy. Essentially, you need someone who is “dumb” enough to listen without proposing solutions to truly meet your customer needs and expectations.
5. Out of the Blue… Sears has an Incredible Zombie Campaign
I love zombies. You love zombies. We all love zombies. Sears embraced this around Halloween and created one of the best microsites I have ever seen… a zombie-themed e-commerce site with great supporting content.
4. Ten Signs That Your Company Shouldn’t Use Social Media
You can hate me, but social isn’t for everyone. If you have a crappy business or product… social media won’t fix it. It will help publicize the fact that you are crappy though. I compiled ten indicators that you may need to avoid social media.
3. How to Improve Your Blog Community By Being Yourself
Another personal, but sincere and authentic post. I’ve met great friends online (yes, in real life) and the more you let people get to know you… the stronger the bond you’ll have with your blog community.
2. Five Things I Learned by Hanging at Zappos HQ That You Can Apply to Your Company
I had a great tour of Zappos at Blogworld and honestly, didn’t anticipate the popularity this post would receive. It was featured on MarketingProfs.com and their 60 second business tip to their large email newsletter for that particular week. As companies, we have to find something that makes us sticky. Something that defines us. Something that others will be like “I need me some of that.” If we don’t have that, we’re competing on price and fighting for business in the red ocean. This is referred to as “the purple cow” by Seth Godin.
and the most popular post of 2010 is…
1. Are You Influential Where It Matters… With the People You Love?
My wife actually read this post. As did many friends, colleagues and folks I didn’t know. It was me trying to make myself more accountable. I’m not perfect and you aren’t either. But, the rat race for corporate success should never impact the closeness we have with those we love. I admire the folks that live by this mantra. This is an area we can never master and must always keep ourselves in check.
Thank you all.
Thanks for putting up with my rants, my complaints, my bad posts, my mediocre posts and for finding the patience to wait it out until I write something that speaks to you. I’ll continue to work diligently to produce quality content in 2011 and would appreciate it if you stay with me another year.
I truly appreciate everyone who takes the time to read this. Thank you.
CM