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amacgillivray

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Jun 22, 2009, 10:57:11 AM6/22/09
to Smart People Reps
Some ideas:

I support the idea of approaching all board members (not just David),
providing an update and asking for their help. The help could range
from marketing ideas to promotion. If you were listening to someone of
Tom Davenport's stature at a conference and heard him plug a modestly-
priced magazine, might you subcribe?

There are various schools/colleges/universities where this sort of
thing is studied. Locally, one of our universities (Royal Roads) works
primarily with mid-career professionals in their MA programs. I am
happy to contact them--if you like the idea--to see if there might be
a good student needing a topic for project work. Unless there are
direct costs to the students, this work is generally free.

The other serious local university: the University of Victoria--has a
[new and relatively inexperienced] person working in a community
research centre as a sort of knowledge broker, connecting research
needs with graduate students doing related work. They are more into
place-based communities, so this might not be as fruitful.

Thoughts?

Jerry Ash

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Jun 22, 2009, 1:18:25 PM6/22/09
to smart-pe...@googlegroups.com
To all.

Alice, your idea of approaching all the board members is excellent and
I need to communicate with them anyway. So I'll do it. But lest I not
waste their attention, can you guys advise me on what/how to say what
we need/want.?

Also, Alice, please do explore the possibility of getting local higher
ed students (especially mid-career) interested in a project(s) to
market Smart People. But once we have such a student(s) we need to be
ready to connect them to an SP contact person who would work with them
and/or their professors. Maybe we can try to solicit help like that
from our market-savvy mixxt members. Such a request would mean less of
a commitment but give our supporters an opportunity to make a
difference in rare spare time.

Also, such a marketing coordinator from our dormant marketing pool
might be found for Amit's proposal in India.

Alice, I'm very eager for you to network and recruit from all of the
sources you've mentioned, including the research center person you
mentioned. Again, if we can pair him/her with one of our marketing
people, we have generated a little energy in both places.

As soon as we have the prospect of a marketing project, I'll be happy
to approach one or more of our avowed marketing "helpers" to see if I
can engineer a match. I will add "matchmaker" to my list of abilities.

I'm feeling some energy in my own bones now. Thanks!

Jerry

amacgillivray

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Jun 22, 2009, 2:15:37 PM6/22/09
to Smart People Reps
Re: board members
I assume that founding board members should be willing to do a bit of
heavy lifting during start-up. I am not quite sure what to say, as I
didn't see your earlier interchanges (except with me).

Perhaps a single note to all that starts with a renewed thank you,
then moves into a status report emphasizing the two issues, the
developing network (thanks Boris!) and technology. Perhaps pick a
highlight or two from the issues and social networks to mention. Then
move on to the timing being good to focus on building subscriptions,
as people can get a sense of what is possible. You have tried to bring
in strong marketing expertise, so far without success. During this
start up period, you particularly value board members' ideas and
assistance, and this is a time when the network is looking to them for
guidance. Are there opportunities coming up through conferences,
newsletters, workshops or networks in which they could raise awareness
of Smart People with the goal of increasing engagement and revenue? If
we were to do three new things, or do three things differently in our
marketing and promotion to date (from what they have seen), what would
they suggest?

Other ideas?

Re: links with universities
I just sent a note to two program heads at Royal Roads graduate
programs in professional communication--which includes some marketing--
and another communication-related program where learners tend to be
quite tech-savvy. We'll see if they nibble; I will keep you updated.

I'm glad you are feeling a bit more energized!

Alice
> > Thoughts?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

borisj

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Jun 23, 2009, 7:28:48 AM6/23/09
to Smart People Reps, envi...@gmail.com
[Links with universities]

YES, Alice a good suggestion. I remember our MBA marketing class at
CCSU, CT where groups of four or five had to develop a marketing plan
for a long distance MBA program, the university was thinking about to
step into. No costs for the university but a lot of insights.

So why don't we ask Amit to do this kind of project with his class.
Further, his class could start a Smart People community on orkut
(www.orkut.com), which is an other major leading social network and
pretty popular in his region. Advantage would be that this could be a
continuing project, not only for one class.

All better than collecting emails for mass mails ...

In any way, I gonna invite Amit to our team group.

[Board members]
Again, good suggestion, especially to point to me:-) No, just
kidding ...



PS: If you want to send the message you've written here to a person
outside of the group use the Cc: in the header (as I did for Amit
> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

Jerry Ash

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Jun 23, 2009, 7:43:02 AM6/23/09
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Hi all.

I hope Alan catches this correspondence between Alice and Boris. Alan
just volunteered (no arm twisting) to be the Smart People liaison for
Amit's project in India. Amit, by the way, will eventually be pursuing
his PhD in the UK ... about 40 miles from Alan's location.

By the way, I asked Alan if we should add Amit to the Smart People
Reps list. He was okay with it, but suggested I pole the group. In a
way, Amit will be our rep in India; but, I don't know if you think he
would be a 'fit' in our group. We do need to keep the Rep Group small.

Please advise. Personally, if you like.

Jerry

borisj

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Jun 23, 2009, 8:05:51 AM6/23/09
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Jerry,

we have so many communities and each should at least be hosted by two
people. So I suggest our reps group should be definitely larger the
non-hosts people + 2xnetwork people.

In terms of marketing lead, why don't we nominate Amit for this. First
comes, first plays. He is engaged and from India (i.e. engagedx2). I
would rather opt for Amit that anybody else of the marketing guys in
the mixxt group, especially those who said the'll support and have
neglected to do so (e.g. this viral marketing guy)

As for a prospective community on orcut I asked Daniel to work
together with Amit as the network is also very popular in Brazil. This
would mean that we may need an other facebook co-host for Alan.

Btw. I already invited Amit to join the group here:-)

Boris

PS: Rather that "Smart People groups" I would call them
"communities" (more popular content related keyword, not only for the
search engines). Jerry, the mixxt group I would call "Smart People
development platform" rather than "working group" (does not sond of
work from the very beginning:-))

borisj

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Jun 23, 2009, 8:11:59 AM6/23/09
to Smart People Reps
> Alice, your idea of approaching all the board members is excellent and  
> I need to communicate with them anyway. So I'll do it. But lest I not  
> waste their attention, can you guys advise me on what/how to say what  
> we need/want.?

Why don't we use the wiki on mixxt to work on a text together? The
final version could be used as template which can be used by everyone.
There could be a template section for all kind of stuff (e.g.
Advetizing request, new issue update, etc.)

Boris

Amitabh Anand (Amit)

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Jun 23, 2009, 8:21:58 AM6/23/09
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Thank you for reply, its been so unfortunate and dissapointing and heartbroken, that i was not offered scholarship, but i was offered a PhD place. But i think for the moment i have dropped the plan for aston as i am not offered scholarship.But my hunt for PhD is still on.Well that i will keep you updated regularly. I am in touch with Alan most of the times and we almost chat everyday.

Meanwhile coming to the marketing plan i had, the plan is very simple

  • My student will be free from October 1st 2009 to January 1st 2010 ( 3 Months)
  • I shall supervise my students in marketing for these 3 months.
  • students will be collecting data on email of various corporates, universities, industry bodies and start mass mailing and promoting through mail ( we will make sure it will not enter as SAPM, before mailing, the content will be finalized with Jerry, Alan and Boris)
  • My students will next start making groups like in Orkut, Twitter, My space, Facebook, Bigadda, Siliconindia ( around 30 well know social networking sites) etc... and then start inviting people and participate in knowledge sharing and lightly promoting subscription.
  • My students will collect the database of all the companies more than 1000 mails and start sending subscription mails.
  • Next process will be postings in forums,( indian students forums and corporate forums and technical forums ( free postings)
  • The report of all these activities will be documented with screen shots and will be submitted to Smart People
  • I shall encourage students to write articles, contribute case studies and submit to Smartpeople
This is in an Indian perspective and i know how it works in India being a marketer for 3 years, i shall take up the free power of internet and try to reach the mass who are interested in getting associated with Smartpeople

Let me know your thoughts

borisj

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Jun 23, 2009, 8:49:36 AM6/23/09
to Smart People Reps
Amit,

first of all a warm welcome from Germany and sorry to hear that your
PhD endeavour is still continuing.

Reading through your email keeps me thinking of jus one sentence:

"Think big, start small!"

As you may have heard from Jerry his initiative to send mass emails
(to his online friends) wasn't successful. What I rather would do is
to go in the KM, Smart People, and tech-savvy related groups, search
for messages with keywords related to Smart People magazine articles,
point to the articles and promote Smart People as a byproduct. This
is not that aggressive and if not lead to subscriptions it will at
least increase the website's traffic, which is important for
prospective advertizers on the website (key: media data). ...

As for the communities your students will create I definitely
recommend orkut as it is very popular in India. So they knowl the
cultural background of the people there and can communicate in an
appropriate way. There are already Smart People representations on
Twitter, and Facebook. Maybe some of your students want to support the
current hosts ther. As for My space I'm not sure if we hould create a
group there. Although very popular, the MaySpace groups seem to be
very inactive. I've never heard about Bigadda and Siliconindia so I
can't say something about them.

What Smart People definitely needs is a marketing plan ...

Anyway, count on my support!

Yust some of my quick thoughts,
Boris



On Jun 23, 2:21 pm, "Amitabh Anand (Amit)" <envia...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thank you for reply, its been so unfortunate and dissapointing and
> heartbroken, that i was not offered scholarship, but i was offered a PhD
> place. But i think for the moment i have dropped the plan for aston as i am
> not offered scholarship.But my hunt for PhD is still on.Well that i will
> keep you updated regularly. I am in touch with Alan most of the times and
> we almost chat everyday.
>
> Meanwhile coming to the marketing plan i had, the plan is very simple
>
>    - My student will be free from October 1st 2009 to January 1st 2010 ( 3
>    Months)
>    - I shall supervise my students in marketing for these 3 months.
>    - students will be collecting data on email of various corporates,
>    universities, industry bodies and start mass mailing and promoting through
>    mail ( we will make sure it will not enter as SAPM, before mailing, the
>    content will be finalized with Jerry, Alan and Boris)
>    - My students will next start making groups like in Orkut, Twitter, My
>    space, Facebook, Bigadda, Siliconindia ( around 30 well know social
>    networking sites) etc... and then start inviting people and participate in
>    knowledge sharing and lightly promoting subscription.
>    - My students will collect the database of all the companies more than
>    1000 mails and start sending subscription mails.
>    - Next process will be postings in forums,( indian students forums
>    and corporate forums and technical forums ( free postings)
>    - The report of all these activities will be documented with screen shots
>    and will be submitted to Smart People
>    - I shall encourage students to write articles, contribute case studies
>    and submit to Smartpeople
>
> This is in an Indian perspective and i know how it works in India being a
> marketer for 3 years, i shall take up the free power of internet and try to
> reach the mass who are interested in getting associated with Smartpeople
>
> Let me know your thoughts
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 5:41 PM, borisj <boris.jae...@web.de> wrote:
>
> > > Alice, your idea of approaching all the board members is excellent and
> > > I need to communicate with them anyway. So I'll do it. But lest I not
> > > waste their attention, can you guys advise me on what/how to say what
> > > we need/want.?
>
> > Why don't we use the wiki on mixxt to work on a text together? The
> > final version could be used as template which can be used by everyone.
> > There could be a template section for all kind of stuff (e.g.
> > Advetizing request, new issue update, etc.)
>
> > Boris- Hide quoted text -

Daniel Felix Delgado

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Jun 23, 2009, 8:51:23 AM6/23/09
to smart-pe...@googlegroups.com
Hi everyone,

I´m also following the treads. About orkut, ok. I´ll create the group. Amit, would you please add me as your orkut friend? (as well as anyone else) Here´s the link:


One other thing: I´ll suggest also creating an image database for using in the communities, such as the magazine´s covers and other images of interest.

For now, Boris, could you send me some by email?

Cheers!!

Daniel

Jerry Ash

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Jun 23, 2009, 10:55:32 AM6/23/09
to smart-pe...@googlegroups.com
Amit, Boris and all.

I'm thinking we should give each student a free one-year subscription
so they can be informed consumers as well as marketers. Amit, if Boris
agrees, then you should send student email addresses to Boris.

Boris, I also need to send you an email list of all the major writers
we've had so far. They too should get a free one-year subscription.
I'd like to write them an email letting them know that the free
subscription is a thank you gift. But I will also ask them to let them
know about their articles in Smart People and refer them there for a
look see. Unless their article is already a freebie, their friends
will have to subscribe to get in.

Any thoughts?

Jerry

Jerry Ash

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Jun 23, 2009, 11:02:25 AM6/23/09
to smart-pe...@googlegroups.com
Oops.

Meant to say the writers should be letting their contacts know about
the articles and refer them to Smart People magazine.

Boris Jaeger

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Jun 24, 2009, 3:41:17 AM6/24/09
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Daniel (and Michele),
 
here you go with the image database http://tinyurl.com/nqqhtd (on our facebook page)
 
AS FOR COPYRIGHT ISSUES THE IMAGES USED WITH THE ARTICLES ON THE SMART PEOPLE MAGAZINE WEBSITE CAN ONLY BE USED THERE AND NOWHERE ELSE! Instead use the wildcards for the Smart People magazine sections creating, learning, living, working, choosing
 
Michele, what about the images used on the website's pages? Especially I'm thinking about the one you created for the "About SP" page (http://www.smartpeoplemagazine.com/about/). It would be a great pic to use as community logo or in a ad flyer. An other one would be the promo pic on the "Subscribe/Login" page (http://www.smartpeoplemagazine.com/subscribelogin/) - the frog (or the new one with the kissed head from the magazine)
 
Can u tell us in detail which pics we're allowed to use outside the magazine website and which not or better, just add them to the corresponding albums on our facebook page (http://tinyurl.com/nbal32) 
 
Boris

boris jaeger

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Jun 24, 2009, 3:54:02 AM6/24/09
to Smart People Reps
... Michele, in order to upload pics you need to become a fan and I
need you to assign admin rights. Then you can upload images. If
available, you maybe replace the small editorial board pics with
larger ones, too.

Boris

On Jun 24, 9:41 am, "Boris Jaeger" <boris.jae...@web.de> wrote:
> Daniel (and Michele),
>
> here you go with the image databasehttp://tinyurl.com/nqqhtd(on our
> ...
>
> read more »- Hide quoted text -

amacgillivray

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Jun 24, 2009, 9:54:36 PM6/24/09
to Smart People Reps
I have already had one nibble: a graduate student in a communications
program interested in "persuasion." I hope to have a phone
conversation with him soon to learn more about his interests and fit.
If he is a good fit, we will need to have one person (a good fit with
with him) to sponsor the research, which basically means ensuring it
is relevant to Smart People and signing off on completion. Another
person would be looking at scholarly quality. So the workload isn't
big. I will keep you posted.

Amitabh Anand (Amit)

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Jun 24, 2009, 11:40:17 PM6/24/09
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Presently i am in the process of shortlisting student, all of a sudden students are on vacation. in few days i will be updated,

Meanwhile i am asking couple of my friends who are in different industries to contribute different articles on some smart issues

Regards
Amitabh

Jerry Ash

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Jun 25, 2009, 7:52:18 AM6/25/09
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Alice.

Bravo. Thinking ahead. Most in the SP Reps group are already committed
to varying levels of effort. Should we look for the SP coordinator in
our mixxt list first?

Jerry

Jerry Ash

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Jun 25, 2009, 11:44:20 AM6/25/09
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That's great Amitabh.

Please be sure to introduce prospective writers to the Smart People
Writers' Guidelines: http://www.smartpeoplemagazine.com/for-authors/

Jerry
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