I’ve been enjoying a book lately by Erik Qualman, a long-time friend and client of my first startup – and, incidentally, an attendee of the rival high school in my hometown when I was a teenager.
Erik’s had a great set of experiences that give him a unique insight
into social marketing trends. First and foremost, he’s an extremely social guy. He has an energy and approachability that stood out
when we both met in Atlanta, a city that’s pretty high on energy and approachability overall.
Erik and I met when he was doing search marketing for EarthLink, one of my significant services clients from 2003-2005. Erik was way ahead of the curve on CPC optimization and PPC campaign metrics back then. There’s no doubt that the seeds of “socialnomics” are rooted in the surprise and delight Google has brought back to ad viewers through its AdWords and AdSense programs. They both display paid messages that are useful and relevant far more often than not.
(And how often can you say that about remnant banner ads?)
From EarthLink, Erik went on to TravelZoo (another of my clients) and then EF in Boston. Today, he’s got over 20,000 followers on Twitter and a video about social media on YouTube that’s been viewed more than one million times.
So today’s “Marketing Wednesday” on twicefunded is an embedded version of Erik’s video. Watch it now if you haven’t already. It’s great stuff for anyone trying to move the CMO needle from old-school marketing to the new social reality.
Oh yeah. The picture of the book is also a link to buy a copy of Erik’s hardcover on Amazon.
I haven’t gotten around to setting-up a twicefunded affiliate code yet, so just buy it for Erik.
A few weeks ago, I got a note from him saying he’s very nearly on the New York Times Best Seller list. (Congrats!)