PlayPhone recently announced their merger with Pitch Entertainment. This increases PlayPhone’s reach to Europe, Asia, and Africa. There’s no word on how the deal was put together or whether any money changed hands. What does this mean for the mobile content space? Is this a good sign? We’d love to have those of you in the mobile space jump into the discussion.

Recently at ad:tech San Francisco, Jay Moore, Vice President of Marketing for PlayPhone, talked about their fruitful relationship with MediaTrust.

Check out Relevantly Speaking in Hi-Definition Video

The power of social media demonstrates how information flows rapidly around a very new and troubling issue. There is a rising tide that the affiliate marketing community needs to pay close attention to. The New York State affliate program tax has been quietly gaining a head of steam.

The buzz started yesterday when Overstock.com pulled its New York State affiliate marketing program. The Twitter marketing community lit up as the news traveled across the social web. I was Twittering with @affiliateTips Shaun Collins (who first picked up the story) that this was the beginning of a problematic trend. States wanting tax dollars act like herds of animals looking for food - even if it means putting small business owners out of business in these already trying economic times. Bravo Elliot Spitzer and Governor Patterson! Immediately @5StarAffiliate shot us and @techcrunch a Tweet that California is now looking to follow New York. Kiplinger has the coverage of the CA tax warning. 

Overstock’s affiliate program manager Ryan Sorensen shared a link to Overstock’s response letter with more details and that he felt other large retailers were soon to follow. Amazon filed a complaint in State Supreme Court in Manhattan objecting to the new law. The problem is that the new tax kicks in on June 1st which means that online retailers can’t hold out for resolution of the Amazon complaint.

All this being said, we cannot sit around and wait to see where this goes. The very large and fragmented affiliate marketing community needs to come together and get involved to address this issue before it exceeds our grasp. We need to stand up as solutions & service providers and act on behalf of, and protect, our community and affiliates. We at MediaTrust have reached out to the IAB to see what actions are suggested. If you would like to work together as a collective on this issue, please contact MediaTrust thru the following email: affiliatepetition@gmail.com

This is an important issue that affects the livelihood of our industry. Lets join together to advance our cause.

MediaTrust’s Christopher Smith just wrote an article for Website Magazine about the power of using event-driven social media as a way to generate traffic and build brand. Peep this:

Using social media in your marketing execution is about making the most of technology, perspective and interaction, in order to capture the attention of the end-consumer and relate to them in a meaningful and relevant way. This helps build relationships and connections with your brand. If your point of view for the campaign is relevant to your audience it will be engaging, insightful and valuable.

One of things we talk about adnauseam here at Relevantly Speaking is the power of conversation and influence that social media allows you to bring to your customers. For those companies still trying to find the value and how you measure it, this article is a great jumping off point.

BlogTalkRadio is doing something very cool - sort of melting traditional and social media together to allow anyone to have their own talk radio show. In this episode of Relevantly Speaking, Christopher Smith talks to Frank Neill, Director of Advertising for BTR, about the success they are enjoying, but also the challenges he faces bringing in larger brands to the social web.

Check out Relevantly Speaking in Hi-Definition Video

[Updated - Want a private beta invite code? Read on and see how]

So I was watching the roll out of Twitterfone the other day via Twhirl and tossed out a request for an invite to the private beta. Within moments, I received a direct message from @patphelan, one of the creators of Twitterfone, with an invite code, and my promise to write about the service.

What Twitterfone does is allow me to dial into a unique phone number and speak my tweets. This is extremely important to me as I tend to be on the road often, and will be great when I want to tweet out to my peeps about a event, a meeting or just a shout out where hands free is required (driving) or when the 140 character limit of Twitter isn’t reasonable to capture what I want to say.

After the prompt, I speak my tweet, hang up and in typically less than a minute my message appears in my Twitter stream with a TinyUrl that links back to the original message. This link is beneficial in many ways. I can see using this to capture an idea that i need to archive and share, which as a designer happens frequently. Sometimes I feel like Bill Blazejowski from Night Shift: “What if you mix the mayonnaise in the can, WITH the tunafish? Or… hold it! Chuck! I got it! Take LIVE tuna fish, and FEED ‘em mayonnaise! Oh this is great.” [speaks into tape recorder Twitterfone ] “Call Starkist!”

One of the coolest things to me about Twitterfone is that it is all tech driven, as pointed out by Socialized, a social media PR consultancy. The call into Twitterfone is handled by sophisticated AI that transcribes my message into text and posting to my Twitter account. Below is the another Tweet with Twitterfone. It properly transcribed Pomeranians, even knowing to capitalize it, yet choked on the word Guinness (which to me is sort of comical as he is from Cork, Ireland.)

This morning, I called in again to create a Tweet for this article, but was met with mixed results. It could be that a.) Madonna’s new record is on repeat in the studio here, or that b.) the service is still in private beta and the kinks are getting worked out. I would image that the folks at Twitterfone have been working night and day to tweak the intelligence. Just don’t forget what happens when the perfect AI is running the ship.

My call can be heard here, and what I was saying was “I heart Twitterfone and I would say that even if I was paid to.”

But these small items aside, I would say it has been a very successful launch for Twitterfone, and I intend to use it more often in my bag of social media tools and services as I can see the value, both today and in the future as Twitterfone continues to evolve. Congrats goes out to the whole team, who I understand built this application as a “side gig” while running other companies.

I am going to talk with Twitterfone today and see if we can’t wrangle up some hard to find and much sought after Twitterfone Beta invites.

[UPDATED: Shortly after posting, Pat from Twitterfone sent us a couple of invite codes to the private beta. We will pass the codes on to whom ever posts the most insightful comments on any blog posting here at Relevantly Speaking. We will monitor the comments throughout the day, and Scott and I will choose at close of business today (well, since its Friday, we will review it over a happy hour beer or two. Good luck, and we look forward to reading your comments.]

I read Brian Oberkirch’s blog LikeItMatters. Yesterday he brought up a point that I have been pondering for quite a while, and it has stuck with me to the point that I felt I should continue the conversation.

Where is Apple in the social web game, and why isn’t .Mac the hub of all things Apple? As Brian points out, to the Mac faithful they have everything already: my phone, my music players, my calendar, my music, my email, my photos, my TV habits…hell, with a little attention recording they have all my browsing habits as well. And yet none of this is tied up in a neat package supporting or enabling my social web.

Of course I have many accounts at many places for many services, and some have even become my best of breed service or social aggregators, but so far I am still required to cast a wide net to establish my ID, my services and my social web. And yet Apple is the big missing piece in the “Hub of my digital life.”

The saddest part of all of this is that I would happily provide my digital life to Apple as a key demographic influencer and help them create that “Hub” for their entry into the social web in a fashion that could be disruptive and, as is typical of Apple, fairly successful. But without a social media presence I don’t even know who to talk to about this. Could you imagine the increase in loyalty and product penetration Apple could gain if they had a social media following the likes of Zappos? I am not suggesting that Steve take time to send Twitter invites to cocktails with Apple fans, similar to the invite I received yesterday from Zappos, but I do know that if I have an idea or a comment I can get to someone at Zappos through their giant footprint of Zappos employees on Twitter - including Tony, the Zappos CEO.

As an aside, I own the domain whatsonyouriPod (dot) com. I purchased it before iTunes had the ability to create shared playlists or iMixes. I spent months trying to speak with someone at Apple about buying the domain from me. All I wanted was some new equipment and the ability to go “yeah, I gave that to Apple.” After months of emails, phone calls and the like, I gave up. I still own the domain btw if anyone wants to contact me about it.

Anyway, back to the point I was trying to make. Apple, where are you? When are you coming to the party? Fashionably late is one thing, but it feels like a party that was tailor-made for you. And if you are throwing your own party, send my invite to csmith at mediatrust dot com. I would love to bend your ear a tick.

Nine Inch Nails are giving away their newest album titled, The Slip, on their website. There is no gimmick. There are no strings attached. Simply go to their website and download the album free and clear. Hell, you even get to choose the quality and the format you want it in (i.e. mp3, m4a lossless, FLAC, and hi-definition WAVE 24/96).

Why would a band like NIN do this? First, they got rid of their record label. You don’t think Universal, their previous label owner, would allow this do you? Second, NIN understands that selling records is now a very tiny piece of the puzzle. Instead of trying to futilely retain control by cracking down on file-sharing and preventing your music from being played in online radio and podcasts (like most majors do), NIN has embraced the shifting technological paradigm.

Other major artists are doing like-minded things like this. Madonna recently left her longtime record contract with Warner Bros. in favor of signing with Live Nation - a concert promoter. Why would she do that? More on that in a minute. Coldplay is also testing the free-song-download model this week by offering their new single called “Violet Hill” from their website. Better move fast - after this week it goes away.

We’re looking at a fundamental shift in the music business. The recorded product is now the bait and not the fish. By giving away the product for free, artists are doing two things. First, they get to collect your email address. This is very valuable because they now have a way to interact with their fans and tell you about other things you maybe interested in. That leads me to number two: Concerts and merchandise. I get emails all the time from my favorite artists telling me about when they’re playing near me and about new fan items they have available. So, instead of getting $10 out of me for a digital download on iTunes, they potentially get $100 or $150 out of me in the form of concert tickets and merchandise. Plus, the goodwill generated by an artist giving away their latest recording (as opposed to getting a lawsuit notice from their record company) doesn’t hurt their public image any.

This brings me back to Madonna and the deal with Live Nation. She’s essentially brought her career under one roof. Live Nation already promotes your shows and sells your merchandise, why not have them facilitate the release of your music? At this point what does a record company really bring to the table?

Need another example? Bret Michaels has been all over your TV lately as the star of the VH1 show, Rock of Love. His band, Poison, once 80’s superstars have been seen a nostalgia act for the last 10 years. I would argue that they are doing as well as ever. Sure, they haven’t had a radio hit in more than 15 years, but does that really matter anymore? Each summer for the last few years they embark on a 40-city tour. They play to venues that average about 5000 people - and they sell them out. Let’s say the average ticket price is $50 - that’s $250,000 per show, or $10 million for 40 cities. I know that some of that goes towards paying for touring costs, staffing, venues and such, but still, it’s not a bad summer’s work. Considering the average recording artist makes a paltry $1 for every unit sold, there’s no reason for Poison to release a new album when the lion’s share of their income comes from merchandising and live performance, not new releases.

My guess is that record companies will continue to kick and scream over new technology. They’ll continue to bemoan their declining revenues and blame it on piracy. But, if artists as big as Madonna, Nine Inch Nails, and Coldplay are testing these waters, clearly there is a change in the tide.

This thought of the day is a core attribute of MediaTrust’s culture. Going the extra mile can give you insight and a good reputation, both of which attract opportunity. Many obvious opportunities are found in places no one else has bothered to venture. If you put in the extra effort to make a good project an even better one, or you get to know your equipment better than anyone else on your shift, you will see things others overlook and be in a position to make use of them.

Leaders who need a job done think first of people they know who will do it well. If other people respect you for the quantity and the quality of your work, you will find yourself advancing past others who regard their jobs as drudgery. For all the extra service that you’ve rendered, you’ll find yourself more than amply compensated by opportunities others never grasp.

the Napoleon Hill Foundation. Visit us at http://www.naphill.org.

In this global market companies spend significant resources trying to extend their reach into other countries and cultures. One of the biggest hurdles European companies are facing is  how to crack the short attention span of the American market. Listen to consultant David Taber talk about how he is helping his clients go global.

Check out Relevantly Speaking in Hi-Definition Video  

During ad:tech you meet tons of people. From the minute the showroom floor opens it’s a nonstop barrage of hand-shaking, smiling, and convincing people that what you do has tremendous value to their business. After one particular encounter, I started to wonder if, even with a great product, you can blow your own sales opportunity.

It is day two of ad:tech and a gentleman approaches me at our booth under the guise of being a potential client. He asks me what we do at MediaTrust. After my elevator pitch, he latches onto the social media component and says “can you explain to me what social media is?” Thinking that we need to start at entry-level, I go into social media 101. I start to talk about engagement and interaction on sites like facebook and Digg - really high-level stuff. All of a sudden, this social media novice turns into a buzz-word-firing, web 2.0 wunderkind. Within 20 seconds I realize that, not only was he playing possum about social media, he was now trying to pitch me his social media optimization platform. Talk about someone pulling the rug out from under your feet…

Clearly, this guy had been using this tactic all day because it was a finely recited routine. But was it effective? The concept of going to someone’s booth, playing dumb about an industry, then hitting them over the head with your pitch felt like the worst kind of ad:tech-bait-and-switch I had ever seen. Here I am talking to this person in social media baby language, and all of sudden he’s lecturing to me on the post-graduate level. The kicker in all of this is that I actually liked his product, but I won’t do business with him because I didn’t like the ethics of his pitch.

As I stewed about this for a few days I started to wonder how much business is lost because we can’t get out of our own way during the sales cycle.  Here are five rules that can help you close a sale and keep a client:

1. Place the focus on why your product is the best fit, not why others won’t work.

This will help you stay positive and upbeat. Bashing other companies makes you look unprofessional and desperate. 

2. Be genuine in your approach.

Be honest about what you can provide. You may get a client on-board with a slick sales pitch, but if you can’t deliver what you’ve promised, that relationship will be short-lived. Worse, word will spread about your firm’s incompetence.

3. Use personal anecdotes with caution.

Part of closing a deal is building a relationship. With that comes finding common ground through shared stories and experiences. However, I recommend caution when telling those tales. I can’t tell you how many times a salesperson blew it with me because they made some off-color remark during a sales call thinking that we were drinking buddies. Business is business. Be professional.

4. Never underestimate the power of relationship-building.

Lots of sales people are short-sighted. If a client doesn’t bite, the sales staff can’t get you off the phone fast enough. That’s a mistake. Even though it may not be the right time for that particular client to purchase your product or service, they will tell other decision-makers about you if they feel you treated them right. Plus, if you foster a strong relationship that client will seek you out when they are ready to make a deal. 

5. Make them feel valued.

One of the biggest differentiators between successful companies and failing ones, is customer service. After your client has signed that check, do they still feel valued? You’ve earned their business, now keep it by following up regularly. Most of the time the client will tell you that everything is going fine, but they’ll appreciate the fact that you were proactive and cared enough to check-in.