Sweetmantra: Internet Marketing Advice

Hollywoozy - Helping Hollywood Master Its Domain

It's a little-known fact that I used to be a movie critic in the early 80's. You see, I've had a lifelong obsession with movies. In fact, I studied filmmaking in university, worked in the feature film industry for many years, and still watch several movies every week.

As many readers of my blog know, I also have a thing for domain names, so I guess it was inevitable that I would find a way to combine two of my favourite obsessions.

Today, I am thrilled to unveil my latest creation, Hollywoozy (www.hollywoozy.com), the first Website devoted to reviewing movie domain names. That's right, I'm critiquing the domain names used to market movies.

I don't know about you, but over the last five years I started to notice that just about every movie trailer (another obsession of mine, by the way) ended with the display of the official movie Website's address. Many times, the domain name that would be featured in the trailer and other marketing collateral for the movie was laughably bad, at least to my marketer's eye. At first, I found this amusing. Then it became something of a game for me and my wife, as we would patiently wait for the end of the trailer to see how good, or bad, the URL would be.

I soon discovered that I wasn't the only one puzzled by the domain name choices the movie marketers made. A number of my Internet marketing colleagues were equally amused by what appeared to be Hollywood's inability to grasp the importance of having a good domain name when trying to market a multi-million dollar movie. After all, the producers and studios decide years in advance what the title of the movie will be, so there's no excuse for not researching (and securing) the availability of the appropriate movie domain name ahead of time. Yes, even if that - heaven forbid - means buying the domain name from someone who already owns it. If you're spending tens of millions of dollars marketing a movie, spending $10,000 to get the best domain name for the movie is well worth it.

While all of this was rattling around in my head, I was also itching to find a way to return somehow to my film roots. At first I thought I'd start reviewing movies again, perhaps for a publication or Website, but then I realized that the Internet is awash with movie review Websites and blogs, and besides, I had already been there, done that.

Then it hit me ... what about a Website where I reviewed movie domain names? And that's how Hollywoozy was born, although it took me months to come up with the right name for the thing. Naming, yet another one of my obsessions!

Unlike my other online ventures (see sidebar), Hollywoozy is a little less serious, although at its core it is meant to be educational. Hollywoozy also gives me a chance to roll up my sleeves and try my hand at some new (and not so new) Internet marketing techniques. In the coming months, I will be sharing excerpts from my Hollywoozy "Marketing Diary" with you so that you can learn about the techniques I am using to promote the Website and, perhaps more importantly, find out what works and what doesn't.

Before I wrap up, I'd like to thank the gang at Mouth Media for creating the official Hollywoozy logo. They helped turn my crazy idea into a reality.

I hope you enjoy it!

Recommended: Podcasting for Profit, by Leesa Barnes

I am so not into book reviews, however last week I had the honour of leading a roundtable discussion on podcasting at the Digital Marketing Conference. Near the end of the session I was asked to recommend a book on the subject of podcasting. That book was, and is, Podcasting for Profit, by the multi-talented Leesa Barnes.

Leesa's book was published a few months ago, and I've been meaning to blog about it ever since. Podcasting for Profit is unique in that it's not a technical 'how-to' manual about the production side of creating a podcast, nor is it one of those cheezy 'become an Internet radio star' publications. Plenty of those kinds of books kicking around already!

Podcasting for Profit, on the other hand, is focused on the business side of podcasting. Amen!

This is the book to pick up if you're struggling with whether or not you or your company or your clients should be podcasting. And if you've already decided to move forward with podcasting, Leesa's book will help you identify new business opportunities related to podcasting that you might never have thought of.

Written in a warm, honest, and down-to-earth style (it's by Leesa Barnes, after all), Podcasting for Profit is highly recommended to anyone interested in understanding the business implications of this exciting new medium.

You can find out more about the book at http://www.leesabarnes.com/book/.

P.S. I'm also supremely flattered to be mentioned in Podcasting for Profit, along with lots of other podcasters whose work I admire. Congratulations, Leesa!

My Marketing Martini Podcast is Now Being Served

In my final blog post of 2006, Will 2007 be the Year of the Podcast?, I predicted that we're going to see a lot of growth in the podcasting space this year. While it's too early to know if my prediction will come true, I'm certainly going to do my part to add to the podcast momentum.

Today I am pleased to announce the launch of my first podcast, Marketing Martini, and its tagline, "Internet Marketing Advice Served Straight Up".

Marketing Martini is a free weekly business podcast for busy professionals that serves up a condensed shot of practical Internet marketing advice from yours truly, Bill Sweetman.

Listeners to the Marketing Martini podcast will learn how to market their products and services on the Internet using Internet marketing solutions that are practical, measurable, and effective.

Because I know everyone's time is precious, each weekly episode will be kept to less than 10 minutes in length and will honour what I am calling The Marketing Martini Promise.

I invite you to take a sip of the Marketing Martini, served straight up every week at www.marketingmartini.com.

Marketing Martini would not have been possible without the inspirational musings of Mitch Joel and C.C. Chapman as well as the expert advice of Leesa Barnes. Special thanks to Miss Yvonne for her voiceover work, Mouth Media for the logo design, and Eugene, Oregon's Mofessor for the use of their music.

Who Said Lawyers Don't Have a Sense of Humour?

If you're as fascinated as I am by the high stakes (and sometimes bizarre) machinations of the domain name dispute world, then I think you'll be interested in what I stumbled across recently.

It's called the Gowlings Domain Name Portal, and it's a lot more fun than its bland name might imply. Honest.

Launched in April 2006 by Gowlings, one of Canada's largest national law firms, GowlingsOnDomains.com provides a detailed review of Canadian and International domain name law, with a particular emphasis on .CA domains. It's the best source of legal information on this topic that I've come across to date, and a must-read if you've got questions or concerns about domain name law in Canada.

My favourite part of the site is its CDRP Summaries, which provides summaries of all cases regarding .CA domain names and trademarks decided under the CIRA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. Finally, a fast and easy way to get a taste of the legal jockeying behind dozens of domain name disputes such as belll.ca (note the third "l"), fordcanada.ca, and (my personal favourite) mtv.ca.

You see, the cybersquatter who originally registered mtv.ca claimed he, rather than Viacom, had a legitimate interest in the domain name because it actually stood for "Melanie and Todd's Vacations". I am not making this stuff up, folks.

Kudos to Gowlings for taking the initiative to put together this valuable, educational, and surprisingly entertaining resource.