Eric Marschall on That Marketing Show

This week I'm featured on Rodger Roeser's That Marketing Show!

That Marketing Show is the official broadcast of the Public Relations Agency Owners Association.

My discussion with Rodger centers around how we handle the discussion of public vs. private and personal vs. professional when it comes to social media. What happens when your personality is part of your business or you want to inject some personality into your blog? How far do you stick it out there? Is there a line?

These are just a couple of questions we address in this excellent and informative marketing conversation. Take a listen!

How Much Does a Domain Name Cost?

$10 or less.

Back after the internet transitioned from military to civilian and Network Solutions set up a fee schedule and was the only way to register, it was $100. Now it has been decentralized so much that you can get domain names for $7 - $10 at places like GoDaddy, NameCheap, and many more sites.

The reason I mention this is that I've had experiences with clients (see my post on Portability) who were not aware of their options and I even received a letter from a company today - a company with whom I did not register my domain names to begin with, but who wanted me to transfer to them at $30 per year.

These companies are not just trying to stretch their profit margin, they are preying on people who simply do not know better. This is bad business and unethical by its very nature

To be clear:

Under no circumstances should you ever pay more than $10 per year on .com, .net, or .org domain names.

Be wise. Shop around. And always have someone you can talk to (for free) if you have a question about web stuff. It'll keep more money in your pocket.

And if you don't have that person, my number is in the sidebar ;)

Wednesday Twitter: Creepy, Driving Celebs on Pandora

Creepy Google Search turns out to be the same creepy Google search, just on social networks. Surprise, surprise!

Adam Lambert drama ensues with whining about his album cover. I didn't know the guy in Highlander was doing an album. Oh, that was Christopher Lambert? Nevermind.

Oh noes! It's Twitter. In traffic! Lots of whining on the Bay Bridge. Cheese vendors requested to add complimentary tastings to the whine.

Lost fans? William Atherton was trick-tweeted in the latest version of JJ's trickery. Dick? Anyone?

Finally, what we've all been waiting for, it's Pandora doing the Twitter (and FB) dance. Bring it.

Plenty of joy on Twitter this week. Love on it.

Friday Video Roundup: Fun Theory, Biden Sneezes, Facebook Abuse

Fun Theory: Deepest Bin and Piano Stairs






Biden Sneezes? The Nerve!


Gaffe-Prone Biden Embarrasses Nation Yet Again By Sneezing During Meeting


Man in a Box

Don't know if you've caught this web series, but I'm including it because it's specifically about Facebook abuse and hilarious. Be forewarned: swearing in video.

Wednesday Twitter: Meteor, Spies, Death!

Happy 5 Billionth!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday...wait. That's not right. Twitter hits 5 billion tweets - or 10,000 if you only include the intelligible and not-spam. Either way, congrats!


Orionid Meteor Shower

The shower peaks tonight! Best time is reportedly 1am wherever you are. "'That’s when the patch of Earth you are standing on is barreling headlong into space on Earth’s orbital track, and meteors get scooped up like bugs on a windshield,' said Robert Roy Britt on Space.com." And, of course, don't forget #meteorshower!


Spies Like Us

Well, they don't tweet but the CIA will read yours - and your blog! Surprised? You shouldn't be. From Carnivore and probably before to wiretaps, communications have been monitored in the US under the auspices of national security for ...well, as long as there have been communications, probably. And this stuff is public. I would venture to guess it's a waste of money to filter what has now become 5B tweets, but our government has always been good at that.


Oh Noes! Celebs! Not Again!

Someone was all "RIP Kanye West" and BLAMMO it was like everywhere on Twitter and then DaRealAmberRose was all "Its in extreme poor taste to have that as a trendy topic. It's totally disrespectful to make up a story like this where all human" so I guess Kanye ain't dead. Or its trendy human where or something.

Meghan McCain wasn't really a celeb until she decided to post a "spontaneous" twitpic of her cleavage ...and an Andy Warhol biography. Crazy? You bet! But not as hot as this week when Pink decided to let her 600K (!) followers suggest what she dress up for for Halloween. Yowza! I don't know what's nuttier: Pink's dilemma or that someone writing for MTV still thinks Octomom is "topical."


*sigh* Does everything eventually become E!?

Monday Inspiration: The Universe

As a tech geek and armchair scientist, I often find inspiration in science. Today's inspiration is based on that, and gives us a little perspective. When you get tied down to a computer or an office or even a city, a reminder that we are only a small part of the universe, a universe that is HUGE, can help us remember that maybe our problems and issues aren't so incredibly large.

Or, like Zaphod Beeblebrox, you may just imagine that as a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot you are the most important thing in it. Either way, enjoy the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. If this does not inspire awe, I do not know what can.

Friday Videos: Wild Things, Balloons, Bats

If you haven't had enough of the "Where the Wild Things Are" preview and the accompanying Arcade Fire music, feel free to click play. For me, it inhabited my dreams last night and will not leave my head.




Balloon boy? "You guys said... we were doing this for the show." Did anyone else relate this to the sub-sub-piece in 12 Monkeys where Bruce Willis heard the story about the missing kid on the radio, remembered it from his childhood, and said that it was a ruse and the kid was in a barn? Maybe just me?




And now for something completely different: The Onion News Network hits on a gem about a bat.


BREAKING NEWS: BAT LOOSE IN CONGRESS


Have a great weekend!