Great Advice for Publishers Coming Soon!

Twelve thousand publishers – yes, 12,000 – will soon get some great advice about how to improve the way their publications are managed, marketed, and sold.  The Niche Yearbook, a new publication from Niche Media (with a yearbook theme, of course) is a directory of publishing resources that features 10 mini-feature articles researched and written by Lisa Morgan.

Niche Media produces the Niche Magazine, Niche Digital, and eNewsletter World conferences for publishers, editors, media sales professionals, and media marketing professionals.  Attending companies range from the tiniest start-up publications to some of the world’s most influential magazines.

Lisa interviewed more than 30 publishing experts for the 10 articles which cover publication management, print/digital production, social media, sales bundles, research, mobile strategies, video, emarketing, and audience development.  Each article features approximately three experts who share little-known or often-overlooked tips that can make huge bottom-line difference without breaking the bank.

The Niche Yearbook will be distributed in print and online form later this month.

Report Underway for Economist Intelligence Unit

How are mobile devices being used in field operations? This is the question Lisa Morgan is exploring on behalf of the Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister organization to The Economist magazine.

Lisa has been working quietly in the background to help craft the survey.  She is also conducting 1:1 interviews and writing the report.  The report is slated for Spring release.

Lisa Morgan to Join World Leaders at World Alliance Forum

Ambassadors and senior executives will share their views of breakthrough economic models, energy sources, and advanced technologies at the upcoming World Alliance Forum in San Francisco. The common goal shared by presenters and attendees is a desire to discover and develop new and better methods of harnessing resources for the collective good of the world’s citizens.

Among its many goals and projects, the organizer, Alliance Forum, is enabling start-ups in Bangladesh, bringing education to underdeveloped nations, and helping to feed hungry masses with spirulina, a high-protein algae that is cost-effective, sustainable, and easy to produce.

“It is always fascinating to see how top minds address perplexing challenges,” said Morgan. “Alliance Forum is affecting positive change around the world.”

Morgan served on the Planning Committee of Alliance Forum from 1991 – 1999 when its focus was U.S.-Japan technology transfer. As part of her service, she chaired the Internet Alliance Forum in Nagoya and Tokyo in 1994 which attracted a sell-out crowd of more than 500 senior executives and professors.

Lisa Morgan Celebrates 11 Years as SD Times Contributor

When SD Times started up in 2000, the dot com rocketship was moving at warp speed. Soon thereafter, it was the worst of times for start-ups, and yet SD Times continued to grow. Today, its ad pages are now the highest in the high tech industry, according to Publisher Ted Bahr.

“It’s always fun to be part of a start-up project,” said Morgan. “SD Times has a savvy team and they’re a joy to work with. It’s always fun to write about the latest and greatest trends.”

SD Times covers the fast-paced world of software and applications development. The monthly magazine helps software architects, project leaders, analysts and development managers make the proper decisions about products, methodologies and practices that can affect their development teams and efforts.

Read Our Latest Articles!

Software Development Times (SD Times) and Software Quality Connection recently published articles written by Lisa Morgan covering trends in business intelligence and agile software development.

The SD Times article entitled, “The Democratization of Business Intelligence” features an interesting mix of interviewees ranging from traditional business intelligence (BI) solution vendors to component vendors and web application platform vendors. The article discusses how BI has and is changing, who’s using it, and why.

The Software Quality Connection article entitled, “What Do You Mean, Agile?” reveals that although many software development teams consider themselves agile, most are actually some soft agile/waterfall hybrid. Read the article to find out why.

More articles are on the way soon…from SD Times and a new, yet-to-be-launched HP site!

Microsoft Does a 180

Microsoft has been on my professional radar for longer than I’ll admit. As a customer, journalist, and marketing consultant or writer for some of its competitors and partners I salute the company’s willingness to listen to its customers.

Microsoft has been given a lot of names over the years, among them The Evil Empire and The Company You Love to Hate. As a customer, I’ve experienced the latter, particularly in the forms of bloatware and Vista, if not precedessors to XP. And, I’ve been in competitive strategy meetings with companies and CEOs targeting what they considered to be The Evil Empire and Darth Vader. Those were the days and some of the swashbuckling was fascinating to watch.

As a journalist I write about Microsoft fairly often, mainly from a software development perspective and there the company has done a lot to build strong and often very loyal communities. The “I invented Windows 7″ campaign is virtually mirrored by some .NET developers especially as it relates to Silverlight. As an example, I was told from some Microsoft partners that 70 percent of new feature requests were incorporate into the latest version. Now, that’s impressive.

If you’re interested in .NET and Silverlight tooling, see my recent article in SD Times.

It is true wise companies are listening closely to their customers and incorporating feedback into new releases. Having spoken with a number of idea contributors I can tell you that the incorporation of their ideas gives them emotional equity in the product which translates to loyalty and evangelism. It is nice to see that Microsoft has become one of those companies.

PPC Report Available Now

We teamed up with PPC Summit to produce the 2010 PPC Management and Optimization Report which has been very well received. The report is available in two paid versions: The Professional Edition for practitioners and the Executive Edition for CMOs and those who oversee paid search programs. There is also a complimentary edition which provides insight into the two paid editions. You can download the complimentary copy or purchase either of the paid versions here.

Both paid versions of the report cover important issues and trends. The Professional Edition has direct quotes from more than 50 individuals and 41 companies, providing an insider’s view of the challenges they’ve faced and the outcomes they’ve experienced when search for and implementing paid search platforms and tools. The Executive Edition summarizes informations so the bottom-line points can be digested quickly and easily. Both reports include a comparative buyers’ guide, vendor and product profiles.

The reports are being consumed by companies of all sizes with titles ranging from search managers to senior executives of major corporations. If paid search matters to your business and you’re looking for your first or next tool, read this report. It reveals the common pitfalls that lead to buyer remorse.

Got questions? Email me. I’m the report’s principal analyst.

Lisa Morgan to Moderate B2B Panel

Strategic Rainmakers CEO Lisa Morgan will moderate a landing page optimization panel at the B2B Search Strategy Summit at the Intercontinental San Francisco on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 from 2:40 – 3:20 p.m. The session entitled, “After The Click: Effective Landing Page Optimization for Lead Generation – What Works For B2B And Why?” will feature Enquiro EVP of Business Development Bill Barnes, GyroHSR Global Practice Leader of Search Ryan DeShazer and Closed Loop Marketing CEO Lance Loveday.

For more information or to register for the event visit http://b2bsearchstrategy.com//

Lisa Morgan Celebrates 10 Years with SD Times

Strategic Rainmakers CEO Lisa Morgan recently marked her 10th anniversary as a contributing editor to Software Development Times (SD Times). Lisa has been writing Special Reports and working on other assignments for SD Times since its inception in 2000 covering a breadth of software development technologies, methodologies, issues and trends.

“I enjoy working with the SD Times team and watching the software development space unfold,” she said. “There are few things I enjoy more than interacting with genuinely brilliant people and weaving all that into a story. It’s fascinating and fun.”

Lisa is currently working on an Application Lifecycle Management assignment.

Strategic Rainmakers Teams Up with PPC Summit

PPC Summit and Strategic Rainmakers are combining forces to produce an in-depth industry report about paid search marketing. The report will include profiles of the major players, as well as in-depth perspectives that can help the buyers of paid search tools avoid common pitfalls.

For more information about the report or to receive a free summary, drop us a line.