Author Archives: debmcalister

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About debmcalister

I'm a Dallas-based marketing consultant and writer, who specializes in helping start-up technology companies grow. I write (books, articles, and blogs) about marketing, technology, and social media. This blog is about all of those -- and the funny ways in which they interesect with everyday life. It's also the place where I publish general articles on topics that interest me -- including commentary about the acting and film communities, since I have both a son and grandson who are performers.

Customer Service Meets Social Media: Now What?

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For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been working on a presentation for the LIMRA Social Media Conference for Financial Services.   Some of the concepts in that presentation are old hat to me — for instance, the fact that consumers who … Continue reading

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Google + Motorola = What exactly?

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Last year, I was surprised to get a proxy notice when Motorola spun off Motorola Mobility from Motorola Solutions.  That’s because when it spun off Motorola Mobility, Motorola effectively put a number of key patents into the new company.   As a … Continue reading

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Want to make money? Give content away for free

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At a local networking event a few weeks ago, I overheard a somewhat heated discussion on the subject of using free content to build a business that makes part or all of its income from consulting or professional services.  One … Continue reading

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Copyright Wars Escalate: News from the Front Lines

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One of my new favorite websites, Myce.com is full of news about the ongoing battle over how copyright law can or should be enforced online.  Myce is an “online community” started in the EU which allows anyone to share news, links, reviews, … Continue reading

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Four Things Marketing Automation Tools Can Do

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I’m the marketing director at Distribion, Inc., a leading provider of marketing automation solutions for large, complex marketing organizations that use multi-channel marketing to reach their audience — nearly always with help from a distributed sales force of internal and external local … Continue reading

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On Demand Webcast and Presentation Download

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Today’s webcast was a success, and I learned a lot from Socialware’s Christie Campbell and LIMRA’s Stephen Selby — as usual.  Here’s a summary of what we covered: How the 5W’s of social media evolved & why they’re different than what you … Continue reading

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Leveraging Social News Websites

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Usually, on this blog, I try to write about things I’m good at, or subjects I know well — or I quote people who know more than I do.  This is a case where I really do know how to … Continue reading

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5W’s of Social Media

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The first day of high school journalism class, the teacher asked if anyone in the class could name the 5W’s.  No one could.  “Well, learn them now — and never forget them.  They’re the cornerstone of everything useful you’ll do … Continue reading

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Judge Derails Copyright Troll Lawsuit With One Practical Question

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A judge in Washington D.C. this week derailed a lawsuit by copyright troll the  U.S. Copyright Group against 23,232 people who allegedly downloaded the Sylvester Stallone film The Expendables.  And, according to Time Magazine,  he did it by asking one … Continue reading

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Tweeting for Attention: Customer Service and Social Media

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There’s a lot of talk recently about Peerindex, Klout Scores, and weighting customer service policies to consider the social media reach and influence of your customers.  Me, I’m more interested in the marketing and legal conundrums that Twitter poses. For instance, in … Continue reading

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