News Release: Marketing Thought Leaders Find Growth And Strength In Numbers

Group Utilizing Leading Edge Strategies to Follow "Groundswell Principles"

Toronto, Ontario - The Community Marketing Blog (http://communitymarketing.typepad.com) is expanding the marketing thought leadership community and creating an open dialog, assisting leading writers, marketers and social media professionals in developing their audience and applying the principles facilitated with clients and respective businesses.

"We have moved into interactive relationships versus traditional push sales communication," says Community Marketing Blog founder Andrew Ballenthin. Ballenthin is also President at Sol Solutions An Integrated Marketing Consultancy. "Some of our success include up to 8,000 page views in one week; Google first page results on total returns of 10 million to 1.5 billion; and readership from over 30 countries." Ballenthin has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal and has been selected to write a book for Pearson.

This growing blog enjoys high level international readership, as well as top Google rankings on content that frequently appears in first page returns from total search returns of 10 million to over 1.5 billion. Authors and users share techniques and industry insights to assist continued leading edge learning and growth.

The Community Marketing Blog has evolved from a sole authorship to a community of writers, made up of thought leaders, collaborators, and community-builder. The writing team was mostly selected from a blog-off competition in May, 2009 and dedicates its time to foster the Community Marketing Blog community and to share winning marketing strategies and best practices.
Social Media Experiment

In May, 2009, the Community Marketing Blog hosted a blog-off competition, looking for writers to assist in growing a community that researches and pioneers topics related to social media and marketing thought leadership and practical advice. 12 writers emerged as contestants, tasked with creating compelling content, driving traffic to the Community Marketing Blog site and engaging readers. 55% (of 2350 direct referring links) of traffic was generated by LinkedIn, 13% by Facebook, 12% was twitter, 9% was Google, 6% was from emails.

The Community Marketing Blog will host another blog-off competition in fall, 2009.

Community Marketing Blog Authors

Andrew Ballenthin is the founder of the Community Marketing Blog and President of Sol Solutions, an integrated marketing consultancy. With 18 years experience focusing on branding, promotions, online and offline marketing and work with over 15 countries, he brings out-of-the-box thinking to clients looking for change and growth. His focus during the last half of 2009 will be on writing a book on how to monetize social media by applying integrated marketing strategies for Pearson. In his spare time, he enjoys meeting new people, outdoor activities, family time and food adventures.

Sara Barton is an Independent Strategic Communication Consultant, specializing in copy writing, social media, video production, marketing, advertising, and public relations. Based out of Columbus, Ohio, Sara has worked across a variety of sectors - from retail to healthcare - and is currently accepting new clients. Sara is also a veteran journalist and broadcast personality, and enjoys gourmet cooking, volunteer work, and gardening in her off time. Contact her via twitter, LinkedIn, or her blog.

Jenmy Huynh is a marketing professional from Toronto who has worked in both the non-profit and corporate arenas. She’s a Queen’s University Commerce graduate who believes the importance of giving back to the community. She’s a Toastmaster at a club in Toronto, an active and passionate volunteer, and currently writes a blog for recent grads and students.

Andrew Jenkins has over fifteen years of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experience spanning e-business, internet, software, hardware, telecom, wireless and social media. Before working in technology, Andrew was active in the film and television industry.  He also produced a film exhibited at the Toronto International Film Festival as well as internationally. This combination of experiences provides Andrew with the creative problem solving skills and business acumen necessary to help organizations succeed in today's competitive marketplace.

Wayne Kessler helps individuals and small businesses increase online sales, strengthen their brand, and incrementally boost website traffic. Using proven, intelligent inbound and outbound marketing strategies, Wayne's company, Accelerated Business Services helps people to create, update, and optimize their websites.  Wayne also provides training on how to integrate social media into a company’s existing marketing strategy. Accelerated Business Services is based in Massachusetts, and provides in-office, or remote services worldwide. Visit Wayne on the web at http://www.waynekessler.com.

Catherine McQuaid transformed herself from an academic to a Big Game Hunter the hard way: toughing it out on the street. “True Stores from the Concrete Jungle” are found here: http://www.HuntNewBiz.com.  Examples: Jungle Lesson #1: High-value transactions and enduring relationships can be built without face-to-face contact. Jungle Lesson #2:  Specialty, knowledge-based businesses have no geographic limitations

Megan McQ helps you put your best digital foot forward by integrating social media platforms into the fabric of your digital marketing campaigns to humanize your unique brand. Feel free to check out her industry blog for more information. She’s also passionate about establishing authentic interpersonal relationships and would like to connect with you. You can find her on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

Chad Rothschild is a marketing and branding expert.  He is the author/speaker of www.chadrothschild.com and a Senior Account Director at Summit Marketing.  He specializes in helping his clients create, attract, retain and engage their audiences.  Developing & Blending strategy offline and online.  He is a Social Media enthusiast & evangelist.  When he is not writing or speaking, he is a family man, a devoted husband & father and loves golf, reading and basketball.

Yoram Shalmon has over 20 years technical and business experience in Telecom and for the last 10 years in mobile and Location Based Service (LBS) start-up, and so his blogs are around these topics. Yoram, co-founded AskKinjo, a Toronto-based provider of free location based services. AskKinjo services are accessible to all users, regardless of model, networks and carriers. With AskKinjo, mobile caller can find nearby cheapest gas station, traffic updates, tomorrow’s gas price, etc. For more, check www.AskKinjo.com.

Julie Tyios is the CEO of Red Juice Media, an online marketing firm. Red Juice Media is a full-service firm providing unique, integrated marketing solutions for clients in various sectors. Julie specializes in PPC and social media marketing and is an avid Tweeter @JulieTyios. She enjoys networking and working with not-for-profit organizations to rev up their online marketing campaigns. She blogs at both the CMB and on her company's blog at www.redjuicemedia.com.

Ken Wells, “Information Marketer,” is the Founder and President of www.InternationaExpertDirectory.com, the business resource where experts share their secrets. He lives to meet other professionals and experts, pick their brains, share strategies and opportunities. Ken has many years in the music industry, marketing, information marketing and SEO. When he is not working: Ken is working. He reads extensively, mostly on internet marketing, internet marketers and golfs when he can.

Comments

[Dr Sam Bansal]

Thanks Andrews.
To further clarify as you wanted:
I have a book "Technology Scorecards" published by John Wiley. I want to know how do I use social media to publicize it and the blog that I write about the book.
Please respond with your insight and oblige.
Sam
Wiley Author, Technology & Business Speaker, Strategy Consultant, Global Program Manager
drsambansal@gmail.com
858-405-7029
http://www.strategicservices.info/
http://sambansal.com
Amazon Link to new book
http://www.amazon.com/Technology-Scorecards-Aligning-Investments-Performance/dp/0470464569/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241478594&sr=8-1

[Andrew Ballenthin]

Hi Sam, that's a big question. Yes is the answer. Can you share a bit more about what you are looking to accomplish?

I've started the following Facebook group to share links and insights as I write my book for Pearson Publishing on social media monetization from a marketing perspective. On it you'll find mainly industry statistics, SM impacts on business and actual success stories from all sizes and types of businesses. http://groups.to/socialmediamonetization

Thanks, Andrew Ballenthin andrew@solsolutions.ca

[Dr Sam Bansal]

Hi:

Have you used Social Media for marketing Technology Management books? If so, can you please share your methodology?

Thanks in advance.

Sam Bansal
Wiley Author, Technology & Business Speaker, Strategy Consultant, Global Program Manager
drsambansal@gmail.com
858-405-7029
http://www.strategicservices.info/
http://sambansal.com
Amazon Link to new book
http://www.amazon.com/Technology-Scorecards-Aligning-Investments-Performance/dp/0470464569/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241478594&sr=8-1