Self-titled ‘Blockheads’ all over the world once again have a reason to get out of bed in the morning. The New Kids on the Block (NKOTB) are back. Whether this news makes you begin furiously digging out your NKOTB pillowcase or has you going ‘New Kids on the Block……who?’ – take a look at the marketing push behind the boys:

-Full Blown Tour (with a good chance of selling out)
-Full Media Push (Including Advertising, social media and SEO)
-Even a VH1 behind the music special

I tuned in to the VH1 special last night, and I couldn’t turn away. I was so ashamed that I didn’t remember that Jordan and Jonathan were brothers, and I felt compelled to re-learn everything about them. I was extremely young when NKOTB were big (lower single-digits), but I still had a poster and a soft-spot for their dance moves. It seems that other fans didn’t forget either. The special broadcasted the first 3 songs from their first, sold-out show of their reunion tour in their hometown of Boston. By the third song, the boys has shaken off their nerves, and were getting into it. The old choreography had me dancing in the hall, but what was amazing was the hardcore NKOTB fans that apparently had been foaming at the mouth for 15 years waiting for this tour. Fans flew in from all over the world, and I have a feeling that this is one reunion tour that will not flop.

Oh, and I love the newest single from the boys, aptly titled ‘\'Single.\'.’

Will the marketing work? Or will the Boys come off as 30-somethings doing corny boy-band pop? …

Oh, and Jonathan is my favorite. He’s dreamy.

According to the Star Tribune, today (September 24) is National Punctuation Day.

For those of us who love commas, semicolons and the exclamation point, today is for you!

Treat yourself and splurge – use an ellipse or a semicolon.  You’ll be a better writer for it!

I’m pretty sure that most of us have tried to see where you are in Google’s SERP’s. I usually check once a week for a couple reasons: to make sure nothing slanderous appears, and to see if I, Jason Douglas, appears on the first page.

I have a small problem with Google searching my name: my name is very, very common! On the first result on the first page, you see an imdb.com profile for Jason Douglas, the voice-over specialist turned actor with appearances in films and television shows like ‘Sin City’, “Friday Night Lights”, and “Prison Break” to his credit. Right below in number two position is the already mentioned actor Jason Douglas’s wikipedia profile. I’ve always been known as a ”funny” person, but I am not a comedian; this Jason Douglas is.

Unfortunately for me, it took me a few pages to find myself: eleven. The highest ranked item that relates to the Jason Douglas that is writing this blog is on page eleven, in 109th position, a mention on Risdall’s Twitter account announcing that I wrote a blog.

I checked to see if www.jasondouglas.com was available or in use. As you can see, jasondouglas.com is being put to good use right now.

I think it would be nice to be seen on the first page of Google’s SERP. This is a common want and need of businesses and people everywhere, and it’s my job as a SEO’er to get you there. Eventually, you’ll be able to find me, the real Jason Douglas, on the first page. I have to remember that good SEO doesn’t happen overnight.

Go ahead, Google search yourself; don’t put anything special (ex. Jason Douglas Risdall, I do exist there), and see where you are listed. Share your stories of anything interesting you see along the way.

Whatever happened to not revealing personal information about yourself online?  Social media has totally changed that.  Many people on Twitter use there full first and last names as their usernames.  Britekite actually tells users where you are at any given minute, which is crazy.

Blogs and such reveal addresses and other personal information.  I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but I feel like the days of hiding behind a username is kind of disappearing.

What do you think?

Come support creativity, success and Minnesota tonight at AdFed’s True Blue event. Sure it’s a membership drive, but there’s networking to be done, old colleagues to see and drink specials to take advantage of. Minneapolis is only as successful as the talent that it is able to continually attract, so let’s go make nice with each other and enjoy the moment, surrounded by Minnesota talent.

Location: Aqua Nightclub, Minneapolis, MN
Time: 5:30- 10:30

See you there!

Growing up, I was the oldest of 3, and it goes without saying that I had to fight for attention. But my sister, the middle child, had it the worst. I (get ready for shameless promotion) was a pillar of juvenile excellence- captain of the girl’s basketball team, student volunteer, honor roll student, etc. My little brother, 8 years my junior, couldn’t even cross the street alone. That said, attention for my sister ran short. She resorted to tactics that were a little , um, different.

She yelled, did things different than my brother and I, and painted her entire room blood red for shock value. Different? Yes. Effective? Yes. I still remember my sister’s red room and her preference for things that were polar-opposite to what I was involved with. Sometimes you really do have to step out of the box to get noticed- and sometimes you must step out of the YouTube box to get noticed.

In a partnership with YouTube, Nintendo’s promotes their Wii Experience with an amazing flash landing page that appears too be hosted on a YouTube page. The tactic is viral, different, engaging and creative. Marketing Pie is a blog, and blogs can be objective so, I LOVE IT.

Nintendo pushed the creative boundaries, and hit all the right social media and interactive buttons simultaneously with this new, creative approach. I cannot wait to see what comes next, and who will be the next organization to approach their marketing and communication campaign from a different, increasingly interactive angle.

I’m a big fan of Kyra Sedgwick’s character on The Closer.  Brenda Leigh Johnson is a top-notch investigator and interrogator who pinpoints a suspect, traps them in their own lies and draws a confession. Her often curt, matter-of-fact demeanor and sappy seemingly insincere “thank yous” is in direct conflict with her proper Southern upbringing.

Each time Sedgwick’s character utters a “thank you,” I wonder if the “thank yous” that I utter are received in the same manner.

A genuine and sincere “thank you” is the most power phrase that can be communicated. I’m not talking about the kind of “thank you” given to a waiter after your water glass is refilled or a stranger holding a door open.

For some, genuine “thank yous” are a rare commodity but they shouldn’t be!

As we go run through our days at a frantic pace — multi-tasking and juggling activities alongside the best of them — most of us don’t take the time to say “thank you.”  And often times those that should be “thanked” are missed or we assume that they know their contributions are appreciated.

What we forget is that an overlooked/missed “thank you” can inflict the same injury as the foulest phrases and has lasting ramifications — the wedding gift that was never acknowledged, the job candidate didn’t thank you for your time or the intern who worked long hours to make sure that their bosses looked good.

As managers, “thank yous” and acknowledging contributions are invaluable tools for engaging/retaining employees and job satisfaction. Study after study illustrates that communication is essential for employee satisfaction. And that goes both ways

The act of giving and receiving a genuine “thank you” shows respect and appreciation.  And when used appropriately, it can turn a dreary overcast Minnesota day into a day in Southern California.

For me, today started off pretty dreary but I ended up getting a little bit of a tan.

So for those of you who have given me heartfelt “thank yous” — THANK YOU!

And for those who I haven’t thanked enough — THANK YOU!!!

The day has come that Minnesota has a chapter of the Business Marketing Association (BMA).

Officially announced today, BMA-Minnesota is the only organization in the state dedicated exclusively to helping busy business-to-business executives, marketers and communicators keep on top of the latest trends, products and strategies.  

Minnesota has a robust marketing and communications community adn is home to some of the world’s largest business-to-business companies. That said, until now, there was a void in terms of a resource for professionals to improve their ability to manage business-to-business marketing and communications.

If you are a b2b marketer, check out the organization’s Web site at bmaminnesota.org and mark your calendars for the organization’s first event on October 21, 2008.

Earlier this week, as I was going through some ppc campaigns, I noticed that the quality scores looked a little different. I Google searched ‘new google quality scores’ and came across Google’s official blog and their post on quality score improvements. Here are the highlights of the blog post:

• Quality score will be more accurate because it’s calculated at the time of each search query.
• There will never be a keyword listed as ‘inactive for search’
• No more minimum bids. Now they will have ‘first page bids’.

I like how instead of seeing if your quality score is poor, ok, or great, you see a score that ranks your quality score out of ten along with the poor, ok, or great classification. 1/10-4/10 is poor, 5/10-7/10 is ok, and 8/10 and higher is great. The better the quality score, the more relevant your ad is to the search, the better your click-through-rates and conversion rate should be.

I also like that you don’t have to have a minimum bid, but you’re more informed about what you’ll need to bid to appear on the first page. These bids are based on an exact match of the keyword, the ad’s quality score, and advertiser competition. This should not only help you get your ad on the first page, but with ad placement as well.

The changes haven’t had any impact on the clients I work with. I’d like to hear feedback on your early experiences on the new quality score criteria.

Risdall Places #1 in the World for WebAwards 2008: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/09/prweb1322304.htm YAY!