Magnificent Publications | For the Knowledgeable Reader

PR Tips for Smaller Businesses

March 10, 2010

Abridged from a post on the Wildfire PR blog with the author’s permission.

While the old adage ‘size matters’ might apply to marketing budgets, when it comes to building a business profile, ‘bigger is better’ holds little truth. In this digital age, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are better placed than ever to get maximum returns from their investment in communications campaigns.

1. Know your audience

Small businesses are often targeting a niche industry sector, with a very specific product or service offering. So know who your prospects are, find out how they consume media and spend your marketing budget wisely so you reach the people who are going to buy your product or service.

2. Think big, act big

Who’s to know that behind your website, email campaign and Facebook page, just a handful of people are keeping the cogs turning? Engaging in social media can help you build up a legion of enthusiastic and evangelistic supporters, through Twitter accounts or Facebook pages.

3. Be flexible and reactive

The window of opportunity to be included in a timely news piece is often very small. Big brands are slowed down by cumbersome approval processes, so taking advantage of being first can give a smaller firm valuable coverage where they might otherwise have been overlooked.

Rocela, the world’s fastest growing independent Oracle consultancy, recently made the news in many of the top tier technology publications by commenting on the recent Sun Microsystems takeover by Oracle. Rocela’s CEO Martin Mutch, made himself available before and immediately after Oracle’s press conference with prepared comment on how the takeover will effect end users. This resulted in several interviews and coverage in The Register, Information Age, The New Statesmen, MicroScope and Computer Business Review.

4. Create compelling content and make it accessible

It’s almost becoming a PR cliché, but compelling content really can elevate your PR campaign and your brand. The key rule here is to make sure that content has real value for your target audience—and that it is in a format that is readily accessible to them. To support our PR campaign for Tealeaf’s Consumer Behaviour Study, we generated a campaign microsite, a downloadable white paper and a social media-friendly Slideshare presentation.

In addition to generating over 70 pieces of coverage across horizontal and vertical sectors, the Slideshare presentation generated 1,600 views in two weeks and was embedded in over 15 blog posts, the whitepaper was downloaded over 150 times and the micro site recorded over 2,500 page views within a week.

5. Be controversial and make some noise

Finally, as every PR will tell you, the media loves a bit of controversy, so saying something juicy can be very beneficial. With share prices to worry about, corporates often have to be very careful about what they say and when. Smaller companies rarely have this headache and should take advantage of the fact.

Our Hitting the Mark campaign for dotMailer highlighted the need for best practice in email marketing. By ‘naming and shaming’ some of the UK’s leading retailers—as well as giving away a major benchmark study on email marketing effectiveness—we generated strong news angles together with ammunition for sales and marketing efforts. PR coverage was widespread and hits on the website increased by 400% in a week.

Lorraine Jenkins is the founder of Wildfire PR, a London-based technology public relations and marketing agency with a reputation for delivering outstanding results across the UK and Europe.

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Tailor Your White Paper to Your Audience

By Stephanie Tilton

March 8, 2010

Abridged with the author’s permission from a post on the Savvy B2B Marketing blog.

When I ask clients about the audience for a white paper, I sometimes hear: “the technical and business decision makers” (i.e., we’re trying to reach everyone with this one piece) or “the CIO” and that’s where it ends. But your ability to connect with your audience hinges on how well you understand what makes that person tick—what keeps her up at night, how she solves problems, how she prefers to consume content, who influences her decisions…that’s just a start.

Let’s assume you’ve defined your buyer persona as the director of HR at insurance firms with 500 or fewer employees:

Overstretched on a daily basis
Reliant on in-person training sessions for new hires and other HR issues
Skeptical of qualitative statements about the marketplace
More concerned with the ways technology helps her do her job than understanding how it works
Wondering whether her daily struggles are the industry norm
Just beginning to research the topic

Here’s how this information can shape your white paper.

Align with the buying stage. Since the prospect is in the early stages of the buying cycle and not aware that she has a problem, write a paper that educates her on industry trends, and shares best practices for addressing the types of issues she’s grappling with. In other words, do not talk about your product or service.

Grab attention. Once your paper has been written, getting your paper noticed and read starts with the cover design, title, and executive summary.

Cover design: When your white paper is competing for attention in a sea of white papers on third-party sites you need to make it stand out.

Title: Since most prospects come across white papers while conducting searches, your title needs to include the keyword phrases that your prospects will be using. According to MarketingSherpa, prospects search on terms related to their problems far more often than they search on terms related to a solution. You also want to make it clear who should read your paper. Include the ideal reader’s role in the white paper title—for example, “Six Ways HR Directors Can Trim Training Costs.”
Executive summary: Similar to crafting a title, you want to focus on the terms that prospects are likely to search on, spell out who the paper is intended for, and highlight the problems or challenges or opportunities that your paper covers.

Format for readability. If a person does decide to read your paper, it’s more likely than not that she’ll start by scanning or “power browsing.” Here’s what you can do to help your reader:

Use headings and subheads to succinctly describe each section.
Pepper the paper with call-out boxes and quotes.
Format the paper so that these elements stand out.
Insert graphics to illustrate critical points.

Move the prospect to the next stage. At the end of your paper, include a call to action that guides the reader to the next logical step. Remember, this person is early in the buying cycle, so she’s looking for information that will help her better understand her issues and options. At this point, it may make sense to encourage her to sign up for an educational webinar or download a podcast interview with an industry analyst. Whatever you suggest, spell out how the prospect will benefit by responding to the call to action.

Stephanie Tilton is a content-marketing consultant who helps B2B companies craft content that nurtures leads and advances the buying cycle. To find out more about how she can help you educate prospects, demonstrate thought leadership, and ratchet up the results of lead-nurturing campaigns, visit Ten Ton Marketing.

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Custom Content Is Taking Over

By Gordon Plutsky

March 5, 2010

Reprinted with the author’s permission from Think Tank.

2009 was not a banner year for the media industry, but there were a few bright spots. Social media was a major story and became a key player almost overnight. There is not a marketer alive who is not thinking about social media in some manner for their brand. Social media provides some important tools such as interactivity and the ability to broadcast a message for free to a community of people. However, the more significant trend of 2009 is the continued growth of content marketing and how it is eating into traditional advertising.

The reason why is not really surprising. Content marketing takes advantage of permission-based marketing to build relationships with customers and prospects, while advertising depends on interrupting people while they are consuming unrelated content. Thanks to advances in technology, brands are able to create and distribute branded content at a higher level than ever before. The Custom Publishing Council and ContentWise recently released a study of major U.S. companies to quantify this phenomenon. Here are some of the highlights:

Total spending on branded content was over $1.8 million per company, with 51 percent spent on print publications, 27 percent on Internet media and 22 percent on categories such as video or audio.
78 percent of respondents said that branded content initiatives are more effective than other leading forms of advertising and marketing. Seventy percent said it was more effective than television advertising, 61 percent said it was more effective than direct mail, and 57 percent said more effective than public relations.
According to 54 percent of the companies surveyed, the primary reason for branded content initiatives was to educate customers. This was followed by customer retention (25 percent) and brand loyalty (21 percent). Up-selling was at the bottom of the list, indicating that corporate marketers are looking for long-term returns rather than a stimulus for short-term transactions.
The use of external agency services (custom publisher, design firm, or video production company, for example) to handle some aspect of branded content initiatives matched an all-time high from 2005, with 54 percent of companies reporting that they outsourced some portion of their branded content.
Among companies that outsource, the average amount spent on branded content was a whopping $886,000. The previous record high was $316,000 in 2006. When extracting nontraditional forms of branded content from this equation, the total outsourcing amount spent was $650,000, 105 percent higher than previous records.
The survey showed that 24 percent expected spending to increase in 2010; 20 percent expect it to decrease and 56 percent say it will stay the same. Print publishing is expected to decline, while other forms, such as digital, are expected to increase.

Another study conducted by Junta42 states that 60 percent of marketers will increase their spending on content initiatives. The study also shows that social media and mobile apps with be important channels for branded content.

It all ties back to measurability and ROI. When you create your own content and environment, you increase the ability to measure and get positive results. And, as we slowly come out of a recession, all that matters are results and profitability. Branding initiatives are fun and nice to have, but unless they can demonstrate a clear return they won’t help your company’s bottom line or valuation.

Gordon Plutsky is Director of Marketing and Research for King Fish Media.

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Content Marketing to Spin Your Head Right Round, Right Round

By Joe Pulizzi Junta42

March 3, 2010

This post originally appeared on the Junta42 blog. Reprinted with the author’s permission.

Flo Rida (aka Tramar Dillard), the popular rapper from, of all places, Florida, understands the importance of spreading content. Marketers can learn a lot from Flo Rida when it comes to content marketing.

During his breakout year in 2008, he launched onto the scene with “Low,” hitting #1 on nearly every chart in the free world. Most recently, Flo Rida hit big with his song “Right Round,” reaching #1 on the US Billboard chart.

Now you can ask the question: How do I know all this? Simple. Flo Rida’s music is literally everywhere…which is all part of his plan.

The concept: get the music in front of the right buyers. How? “Low” was featured on the soundtrack of Step Up 2, which grossed more than $100 million worldwide. “Right Round” could be found not only on the comedy hit, The Ugly Truth, but was the closing song on the biggest R-rated comedy hit of all-time, The Hangover. It was also smart repackaging, playing off the success of the original song by Dead or Alive, “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” from 1985 (and yes, I had that album).

And this is just the start. Flo Rida’s music is featured on video games, in iTunes special packages, and yes, social media. Flo Rida communicates regularly on Twitter with his almost 50k followers. 300k friends on MySpace and over 30 million views on an impressive YouTube page.

What can we learn from Flo Rida?

Understand who your customers really are. Flo Rida might think that the majority of his customers were teens and young adults. With some research, I’m sure Flo Rida and team quickly realized that many of the fans that purchased “Low” were 30 and 40 something white men, which looks a lot like the demographic for the Hangover (where “Right Round” was placed).
Spread the love. Are you doing guest articles where your customers are at? Are you sharing presentations? Are you consistently communicating with your target? Are you adding helpful comments on key blogs?
Don’t rely on one channel, but focus on what works. There are a thousand social media outlets, but Flo Rida focuses his resources on the key ones where most of his customers are at—MySpace, YouTube, and now Twitter (remember the 30- to 40-year-olds…that’s Twitter).
Collaborate. Flo Rida consistently partners with some of the greatest hip hop artists in the world, even when he has to play second fiddle. Are you partnering with other organizations and individuals in your market to create great content marketing?
Consistently create great content. Flo Rida has put out over 50 songs and collaborations over the past two years, and has another record on the way this year. No breaks. Keep creating and delivering great content.
Repackage and reuse. The best stories may be old ones that need a new take.

Flo Rida understands his niche, who his audience is, and how to effectively reach and connect with them. Hey, that’s one heck of a content marketing strategy.

Joe Pulizzi is founder of Junta42, the go-to site for content marketing and custom publishing. You can read more about Joe at his blog or check out his book, Get Content. Get Customers.

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Maintain Your Marketing Content

By Ardath Albee

March 1, 2010

Reprinted with the author’s permission from her blog, Marketing Interactions.

Don’t you just hate it when you get an email offering what looks like a juicy white paper only to discover after filling out the dang registration form that it’s several years old? Do you feel duped? I do.

It used to be that information was scarce, so your content lasted longer, had less competition. That’s definitely no longer the case.

Companies may think they’ve gotten around the dating issue by not putting the year on their copyright notice. But they haven’t. All a prospect has to do is right click on a page of your PDF file and select “document properties” to find out when the file was created and/or modified.

Content is a big investment. Companies that want to maximize their investments need to consider methods for culling the most longevity they can out of that investment. Unfortunately a lot of great content past its prime gets relegated to file-server heaven. Though that’s better than when they just ignore it and leave what was once a great paper in a prominent place on their websites with a hyperlink like “Hot New Tips for…” when it hasn’t been HOT since 2006.

Instead, marketers need to put their content on a maintenance plan.

Based on how rapidly the type of information changes, schedule time to review and refresh your content. This doesn’t just mean PDF documents, either. If your Web page information stays static for too long, people notice.

But focus first on your meatiest content. The content you use as juicy offers for lead generation or at crucial buying stage transitions needs to deliver on your prospects’ expectations. The best part is that refreshing content is often cheaper than creating new content.

Consider the following options for refreshing your content:

New Title: Can you update the title to give your paper more relevance based on how your market has evolved?

New Section Headers: Headers have impact as directional guides as well as in carrying your theme throughout the paper. List your current headers to see what story they tell on their own and see if you can take a new perspective—likely in line with the ideas your new title evokes.

Update Statistics: Many papers use statistics as validation for assertions made within them. Do yours need to be updated to current numbers? Can you draw inferences between the old and new stats to add new insights to the paper?

Switch out Your Sidebars: Can you switch out quotes or call outs to highlight different information that will catch your readers’ attention? Maybe add a new list or update the wording used in the old one.

Edit the Content: What about tightening sentences, updating phrases, and even looking for ways to change the wording a bit to get the focus closer to your readers’ perspective?

Those are just a few simple ways to consider refreshing your most valuable content to help it keep on doing what it’s supposed to do—engage your audience by providing recognizable value. Don’t let a date limit the use you can get from your content assets.

Ardath Albee is CEO & B2B Marketing Strategist for Marketing Interactions, Inc. Her new book eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale was recently released by McGraw Hill.

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Surviving as a Gourmet in a Fast-Food World

By Kristina Halvorson

February 26, 2010

This post originally appeared on the Brain Traffic blog. Reprinted with the author’s permission.

I just finished reading Michael Arrington’s “The End of Hand-Crafted Content” (also published elsewhere as “AOL’s New Fast-Food-Content Strategy Means the End of Journalism You Actually Enjoy.”

How. Depressing.

Since reading Wired’s apocalyptic article, “The Answer Factory: Demand Media and the Fast, Disposable, and Profitable as Hell Media Model,” I’ve certainly spent plenty of time bitching about the lowering of our already low standards for web content. Here’s a summary of how mass-produced content works:

Pieces [(content to be created)] aren’t dreamed up by trained editors nor commissioned based on submitted questions. Instead they are assigned by an algorithm, which mines nearly a terabyte of search data, Internet traffic patterns, and keyword rates to determine what users want to know and how much advertisers will pay to appear next to the answers.

Then, the assignment is posted to a ginormous database; it’s accepted by a freelancer somewhere, who then throws something together as quickly as possible because he’s only getting paid, like, four dollars to create it. (Want to know what the best vodka in the world is? A random bartender from a random bar in Florida KNOWS THE ANSWER! (Uh, you’ll have to sit through the ad first.)

So, in one fell swoop, Demand Media—and now AOL—are both flooding the search engines with awful, terrible content and gleefully commodifying the work of writers, videographers, editors, and other media professionals around the world.

I hate them. Oooooo, how I hate them.

But, you know what?

McDonald’s didn’t put La Belle Vie out of business.

Does McDonald’s make more money than La Belle Vie? Of course they do. They’re freakin’ McDonalds. But La Belle Vie is running a very fine, profitable business, thank you very much, turning out exquisite French food that makes me want to weep with joy. (Even their cocktail menu is extraordinary.) (No, I do NOT say that about every cocktail menu.)

You don’t have to eat at La Belle Vie to appreciate the metaphor. Not everybody wants McDonald’s, and nobody wants McDonald’s all the time. People go out of their way to find what will satisfy, even delight, their appetites.

AOL and Demand Media (and dozens more competitors, I’m sure) are anathema to pretty much anyone who wants an even slightly obscure question answered online. But in the long run, I’m betting on people, not algorithms. Just because I clicked on your stupid video doesn’t mean I can’t use my back button.

Kristina Halvorson is founder and president of Brain Traffic, a nationally-renowned agency specializing in content strategy and writing for websites.

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Cultivate Customer Relationships with a Steady Stream of Information

By David Vespremi

February 24, 2010

Abridged from a post on The Tendo View with the author’s permission.

Relationship marketing done well should build brand affinity. The goal is to facilitate both word-of-mouth evangelism and a propensity for repurchase. Take the Smart car, for example.

Just minutes after the U.S. launch of the Smart car was announced on automotive blogs, my wife and I placed our deposit through Daimler’s U.S. distribution arm, Penske Automotive Group. This was a unique product offering by a new brand, offered in strategic geographic markets. We would be among the first dozen proud owners to take delivery in the San Francisco Bay Area on a car sight unseen, without the benefit of kicking its tires, much less taking a test drive.

The Daimler/Penske/Smart trio ran into their share of potholes along the way. Supplies were short, and the first shipment of cars was delayed; when they finally arrived stateside, disorganized dealerships scrambled to release inventory to anxious customers. On top of all that, initial reviews from the automotive press were lukewarm at best. It was an imperfect car, released to market imperfectly. C’est la vie.

That said, Smart played it, well, smart. They avoided the single biggest mistake that could have derailed their U.S. launch: ignoring their first round of customers in the interest of cultivating new sales prospects. I have bought new cars along the high end (Lexus) and the low end (Nissan) of the automotive spectrum, but Smart outsmarted them all.

Smart made a point of getting online and helping enthusiasts organize get-togethers. Whether this meant providing T-shirts and swag to a handful of Smart owners for a picnic at the beach or helping gather up a couple hundred Smart cars to fill San Francisco’s twisty Lombard Street from end to end, Smart USA made a point of finding out about, supporting, and attending owner events.

Smart also realized that without the benefit of traditional advertising, the single best way for the company to spread the gospel was an informed and enthusiastic owner base. Shortly after taking delivery of the cars, Smart owners received an “Emergency Roadside Kit” consisting of gift cards to Starbucks, ExxonMobil, and Barnes & Noble with interesting facts for us to use in conversation about our unique little cars. Whether it was the fact that our dashboards were made of flax rather than plastic or that our cars were powder coated using a solvent-free process, Smart armed us with the information we needed to be experts in all things Smart.

When we brought our cars in for service, we were provided with handy cards to keep in our glove box to help answer the most common questions from curious onlookers: is it safe (yes); can you drive it on the freeway (most definitely); is it electric (no, not yet); and so on. Smart took the time to educate, entertain, and reward its owners without asking (at least overtly) for anything in return.

Smart doesn’t have another car to sell me (yet), but I can honestly say I have done my part to turn more people on to Smart than either Lexus or Nissan. When the time comes, I’ll gladly consider purchasing whatever novel car Smart next offers to U.S. buyers.

David Vespremi is director of client services for Tendo, a communications agency that specializes in custom media.

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Recycle Your Newsletter

By Newt Barrett

February 22, 2010

When you publish a monthly print or electronic newsletter that targets an important audience segment, you probably invest heavily in generating the content that will make this newsletter relevant and valuable to its readers. You can dramatically increase the impact of your content marketing by thoughtfully reusing the information and resources you develop. Without significant additional expense this will consistently deliver dramatic increases in the reach of your content to prospective customers—and the impact it has on them.

Be certain that each newsletter story links to a dedicated page on your website or blog. You want your readers to find their way easily to your online home so they can discover lots more about your company, its products, and its people. In addition, try to link to more related stories on your site or blog from the original article.
Record the audio and video of interviews you do for your newsletter for later repurposing. Post videos of interviews to YouTube; upload audio to your website and blog. Research podcast directories that may be relevant to your industry. Many of us would rather watch or listen to critical content.
Develop a news release schedule before your newsletter comes out. Target three or four key topics that affect your customers and the industry (based on the newsletter content). The release link should take them to the newsletter subscription page. Consider offering a free whitepaper or report as an incentive.
Discuss the newsletter and its content on your business blog. Post some of the key findings/issues.
Send out news releases through a keyword-optimized service such as PRWeb. If your news really is newsworthy, you’ll be surprised at your reach beyond your static newsletter readership. You’ll be picked up in the blogosphere and even by traditional reporters who are always looking for news stories.
Continue the news release program after your newsletter is published, pushing the audience to videos, an eBook, or key articles. Your newsletter content can still be the foundation for newsworthy stories weeks or sometimes months after it hits the virtual street.
Be sure to make RSS feeds available for your newsletter and for all of your web content. This is an easy and free way of syndicating your news stories that will extend your newsletter subscriber base dramatically.
Be sure each article integrates social media sharing capabilities so that enthusiastic readers can tell your stories to their colleagues and friends on Facebook and Twitter. If you’re lucky, a great article may go viral and be spread across the Web.
Provide something remarkable and different on your website or blog for download (a free eBook about the 10 trends in your industry, perhaps, or a free white paper on a new, cutting-edge technology). This does two things: continues the conversation with your current customers and gives you information on prospects so you can begin a conversation with them.

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How to Appeal to an International Audience

By Daniel Burstein

February 19, 2010

Abridged with the author’s permission from a post on the MarketingExperiments blog.

How well do you know your audience? For Americans at least, sometimes I worry we have a view of the world similar to Saul Steinberg’s famous cover for The New Yorker. But let’s not forget that this is the World Wide Web. Your customers are, or at least have the potential to come from, anywhere in the world.

So here are some thoughts to consider and ideas to test when appealing to an international audience:

Where in the world?

Most analytics software, such as Google Analytics, will break down your traffic by country of origin (and drill down even deeper than that). Understanding where your current audience comes from can help you shape your message. Test how often to mention different cultures and which cultures to mention and see how that affects your traffic.

But don’t just limit yourself to where your audience is coming from today, consider where they could be coming from and think about how you can target content to that potential audience. In addition, if you have an ecommerce or even lead generation site, look at how your traffic compares to actual orders and leads. If you get a big chunk of traffic from a certain nation, yet they very rarely order or become a lead, what in your conversion process is stopping them?

Understand when it pays to habla Español

While you don’t necessarily need an entire website for every possible language, it is always a good idea to delve into proper segmentation of your current and possible audience. And if you find a big enough potential market, that commonality of language may significantly help your conversion rate.

You don’t even necessarily need to look beyond your borders to find that opportunity. For example, according to the U.S. Census, the buying power of Americans of Hispanic origin is projected to exceed $1.2 trillion by 2014.

Shalom means hello…and goodbye

If you do choose to test custom foreign-language pages, don’t just settle for poor translations of your current pages, but truly put the time and investment into understanding that segment and its motivations…as you would with any other segment.

Marketing history is littered with funny (and costly) cross-cultural blunders. It doesn’t take a major blunder. Even simple bad translations can turn away potential customers. I probably would not shop in the “Exciting Dressy Fashion zone” or want to eat “Desktop bacteria rice.”

6,809 ways to say “customer service”

Even better than acknowledging the existence of other cultures, show them that you truly cater to their needs. If you’re looking for some good examples, Israeli websites tend cater to a global audience well (a combination of state subsidies that makes international shipping cheap and the global interest of a nation that holds importance to three major religions).

One good example from that country is TheGreatShofar.com. This site clearly illustrates how it serves other parts of the world by, for example, having an American phone number and a testimonial from someone in America right on its homepage (leading us to believe that either America is one of its most important, sought after segments or this is a landing page optimized for Americans).

Daniel Burstein is the Editor for MarketingExperiments, the first Internet-based research lab to conduct experiments in optimizing marketing and sales processes.

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Whom Do You Trust?

By Joshua Malbin Magnificent Publications Inc.

February 17, 2010

Think about the rise of social networks and social-network marketing. An underlying assumption is that people trust their friends, and so will trust the recommendations their friends make. Every company needs a presence on Facebook and followers on Twitter.

Now, there may be many other good reasons to maintain a company identity on Facebook, Twitter, et. al. But according to Advertising Age, this year’s Edelman Trust Barometer shows that cultivating trust by proxy is not one of them:

It’s a finding that strikes at the foundation of many a social-media marketing philosophy: Tapping into peer-to-peer networks is a way for marketers to tell authentic, credible stories to consumers whose confidence in corporate CEOs, news outlets, government officials and industry analysts has taken a beating. But according to Edelman’s latest Trust Barometer, the number of people who view their friends and peers as credible sources of information about a company dropped by almost half, from 45% to 25%, since 2008.

Ad Age suggests that the explosion in social networking itself may be partly to blame: when people actually knew all their friends on Facebook, they might have trusted recommendations from them, but Facebook friends are just as likely to be casual acquaintances now, or people who went to one’s elementary school. No one has 300+ friends they really trust. It further suggests that people know marketing when they see it:

People have caught on to the fact marketers are increasingly behind that influential blog post or tweet. Despite regulations regarding disclosure of marketer-driven efforts, consumers may feel that whatever it is these people are receiving from companies positively influences their endorsements.

In other words, the well is tainted.

But marketers still have to market. So how can they build trust in an increasingly mistrustful internet?

There is no shortcut, unfortunately. We believe the answer lies in providing information consumers want, free from hidden marketing or sales messages. If people come to trust you as an objective voice, they might also trust you as a vendor. It can’t hurt if the information you offer is backed up by sources people still do find reliable, and they vary by field.

A colleague, for instance, trusts few health reform experts more than Dr. John Wennberg, founder of the Dartmouth Atlas Project, which for more than 20 years has documented glaring variations in how medical resources are distributed and used in the United States. In the field of Internet usability, many of us trust Jakob Nielsen far more than most other writers. But then we’ve been following the topics of health care and Internet usability for years because we have clients in those fields. And as with any subject, you yourself need to know something about the topic and its experts to determine whom to trust.

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