creatorbase

In the Dark but Not Blind

by Erick Mott

I was up late last night working and decided to check my Gmail account. First thing I noticed was a black screen on Google's landing page. My initial reaction was Google's site had been hacked, or there was a UI issue, or some sort of display glitch on my end. I know Google often changes their logo for certain holidays and special occasions, but I just couldn't figure out what was going on with the home page.

Then I read further and noticed their post about Earth Hour.  Ahhhh, Google the innovator and global activist was at it again. I started to think about the issues and what I could do to contribute. Then I visited the Earth Hour site and read more about this global initiative; very cool.

We just put the kids down to sleep and turned off the lights. It's now 8:00 PM PST in the San Francisco Bay Area and our neighborhood is pretty dark; looks like some of the neighbors are at it too.  True, I have the computer on but with all things considered, I think my Earth Hour contribution is a positive one. After all, I could be:

• Driving somewhere, or...
• Running the TV, lights and heat, or...
• Flying in a 757 to some exotic destination, or...
• Worse, ignoring the issues

Since having two young kids in the past few years, I find myself thinking different.  Bottom line, it's all about them: helping them to grow into healthy, happy people; doing what I can to protect their futures; enjoying life in the present but also making a personal contribution every day by thinking and acting in a responsible way.

OK, it's that time to push the button and make this blog post go global. Sure, there will be a number of servers, routers and switches running across the network to carry this message of commitment and hope. But even the engineers at Sun, HP, Dell, Cisco, etc. are innovating to make computing and communications equipment run more efficiently, so I don't feel guilty about not turning off my PC and blogging.

Our family is in the dark tonight but we're not blind to the environmental issues that are important to us all. It's now 8:25 PM PST; I think I'll take a walk and enjoy the evening sky.

Your comments, ideas and links?

Exponential ROI with Email Reputation Management

by Erick Mott

Every business wants to maximize the value of its brand in the online arena. However, rising levels of phishing, spam and other online exploits are causing stringent email filtering by ISPs, enterprises, education and government organizations -- and consumers are more cautious (ie Email Insecurity Factor) about interacting online with unknown or untrusted brands.

In order to stand out from the flood of spam and other illegitimate online activities, and build trust with consumers and email receivers such as ISPs and anti-spam systems, legitimate businesses must apply the tenets and best practices of Email Reputation Management (ERM) to maintain positive online brand equity, trust and operational effectiveness.

ERM is a necessary discipline or set of best practices for any organization using email and the Web to conduct good business and create competitive advantage in the Internet Economy.  From Habeas' perspective, ERM encompasses (7) core elements:

1. commitment
2. online identity
3. compliance
4. infrastructure
5. consumer assessment
6. feedback processes
7. third party certification

A proactive approach to email reputation management ensures an entity will maintain a positive online reputation which will improve a business's email inbox delivery rates, email response rates, Web site traffic volumes and performance, and ability to partner with other organizations online.

I recently had the pleasure of working with innovators like Sal Tripi from Publishers Clearing House and Tim Denike from Socializr to discuss and uncover how they're applying email reputation management best practices for their successful operations. Learn more about how these leaders are increasing revenues, protecting online investments and brands, and reducing costs with ERM services and expertise from Habeas. Download a free white paper including tips, best practices, and ROI scenarios that were created with an interactive ROI calculator available from Habeas.

With a slowing economy and growing online community including increases in spammers and daily spam volume, ERM gives marketers, brand stewards and technologists an edge. I recommend reading this new white paper.

Your comments, ideas and links?