Bloggers Digest 10/10/08

If you’re new here, welcome! And thanks for subscribing to Get Elastic. Friday is Blogger Digest day where we highlight posts from other blogs that are of value and interest to online retailers and Internet marketers.

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On with the links…

• Mark Brownlow from Email Marketing Reports kicked off a 4 part series this week on holiday email best practices with tips from Chad White, Luc Vezina, DJ Waldow and yours truly: Holiday Email 1: Getting Ready and Role Models.

• Do you Tweet about retail? (In English: are you on the social micro-blogging network Twitter?) If so, check out this list and add yourself if you like (you can edit the page through the link at the bottom right if you have a Google Account). Kudos to Chad White for finding it and Keith Anderson for creating it.

• Ann from World of Usability (winner of our ecommerce conference contest pass to last week’s Online Market World) re-capped Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s keynote which includes interesting history of Tony’s business ventures to customer service and company culture.

• Amazon was awarded a patent on rewarding helpful customer reviewers with badges who post particularly helpful reviews. Before you panic, the patent specifically covers a formula for determining which reviews were most helpful without relying on “was this review helpful” feedback from other users. If you’re schooled in legalese, check out the full text of the patent.

• When the economy gets tough, email marketers start sending holiday emails waaaay early - a week and a half earlier than last year’s trends, according to RetailEmail.com. Marketers are also sending MORE emails - the question is whether customers want to receive holiday email this early or this frequently (it’s probably the last thing cash-strapped customers want to be reminded of…)

• How about PPC strategies amidst a financial crisis? Alan Rimm-Kaufman has some advice.

• Don’t forget Future Now’s free whitepaper Grabbing Market Share: Marketing in a Recession.

And don’t forget…

Upcoming events

Delivering an Integrated Ecommerce Experience for Empowered Customers
Tuesday, October 14 @ 9am PST, 12pm EST

Learn how to get various systems to “talk to each other” so your ecommerce website works the way your customers want and expect it to work, using real life retailer examples.

(Presented by Elastic Path and Oracle) Sign up for Delivering an Integrated Ecommerce Experience for Empowered Customers today

Holiday Wish List for Mobile Commerce
Tuesday, October 14 @ 9am PST, 12pm EST

Bill Mirabito, Founder and Principal Analyst of B2C Partners will discuss how mobile technology can help retailers drive cross-channel sales this holiday season.
Reserve your spot today.

Your Website and First Time Visitors: Friend or Foe?
Thursday, October 30 @ 11-11:30am PST, 2-2:30pm EST

60-80% of your visitors are first-time visitors, learn key steps to convert first time visitors.

(Presented by Sitebrand and Bryan Eisenberg) Register here