Program Details

Thursday, December 13, 2007

8:45 – 9:00 AM – Welcome and Introduction from Conference Chairs
Randy Coon, Vice President, Marketing, The Motley Fool
Greg Martz, Director of Marketing Operations, The Motley Fool

9:00 – 10:00 AM – Keynote – Web Analytics: Less Boring & More Life-Changing Than You Think
Avinash Kaushik, Author, Blogger, Analytics Evangelist

The conventional tools and approaches to mining and analyzing clickpath behavior have defaulted on their promise of yielding truly useful and actionable Web analytics data. In their place has emerged Web Analytics 2.0, a new philosophy and set of technologies that can help any business person improve customer online experiences and increase profits.

In this session, Avinash shares insights into the failure of traditional Web analytics and explains how Web Analytics 2.0 is helping businesses turn data into a strategic asset. You'll learn how to find the data you want and how to look at it in a way that empowers you and others in your organization to take action.

Part evangelism, part pragmatism, part specific road map, you'll leave the talk with actionable insights that will help you rethink what it means to measure and drive change using data.

10:00 – 10:45 AM – Breakout Sessions I

1.1 Stop Worrying and Learn to Love Google
David Foster, President, Business Valuation Resources

Subscription-based publishers have a unique opportunity in the Web marketplace. Why? We’re not encumbered by the legal departments and rights-management policies of the big publishers. And, we know how to market content in multiple distribution channels, unlike all but a handful of the wiki Websites and blogs. Plus, we’ve already developed our e-mail lists, giving us a huge head start on new competitors who want either subscription or ad revenue. With these advantages, why are so many SIPA members drawing tighter firewalls around more of their content? This session will examine the psychological and management issues that can prevent marketers and publishers from making sound financial decisions — and review the new ways that Google and other collaborative Web tools are anxious to help you succeed — without giving up a penny of subscription revenue.

1.2 How to Write E-Mail Marketing Messages That Flood Your Shopping Cart With Orders
Bob Bly, Copywriter

As a specialized-information publisher, you have products to sell and an opt-in list of online subscribers to sell them to. Sending e-mail marketing messages to your e-list with a link to product landing pages is one of the most effective ways of increasing online sales and revenues. In this
program, you will discover how to write compelling e-mail marketing messages that increase clicks, conversions, orders and profits — without causing your prospects to complain or unsubscribe.

What you will learn:

• The most important factor determining e-mail marketing success.
• What works best in e-mail marketing — long copy or short?
• Increasing click-through rates (CTR) with "online freemiums."
• Where and how often should the hyperlink appear in the e-mail copy?
• Finding the right balance between content and sales pitch in your e-mail marketing campaigns.
• Why putting a number in your subject line can increase response.
• 3 ways to reduce opt-out rates when e-mailing your list.
• Which e-mail format works best — text, HTML or text in an HTML shell?
• How to generate more orders by avoiding creativity in your e-mail marketing.
• And more …

1.3 The Moment of Truth — Asking Someone to Sign-Up for Your Free Information
Brad Clark, Marketing Consultant & President, InvestorGen

By now we’ve all been convinced that giving away free information can be an incredibly powerful part of an online publishing strategy. You’re probably even already doing it! In this session we’ll focus on the “Acquisition Event” — the critical sign-up Web page(s) you deploy to convert anonymous visitors into known prospects for your products and services. What kind of information should you give away? Which data points should you request in exchange? What kinds of conversion rates should you expect? What role should co-registration play? How do you go about testing? How do you get the relationship off on the right foot? We’ll explore these and other questions, and arm you with several tips you can take back home and put to use right away.

1.4 When the Wave Hits Your Site, What Really Happens?
Eleanor Leger, Senior Consulting Director, Creative Good, Inc.

For all of the effort that you put into search marketing and traffic generation, what happens when a visitor actually comes to your Website can make or break your returns. This session will draw on the cumulative experience of Creative Good's 10 years of consulting to online media sites, and the results of our benchmarking studies to explore:

• The relationship between customer experience and revenue growth
• How to measure customer experience
• Ways to improve customer experience, and therefore your ultimate business results

10:45 – 11:00 AM – Break

11:00 AM – Noon – Breakout Sessions II

2.1 Award-Winning Marketing Case Studies
Torry Burdick, Vice President, Marketing, Loan Toolbox, A UCG Company
Sharon Cappucci, Senior Marketing Manager, OPIS, A UCG Company

Each year the Specialized Information Publishers Foundation sponsors a marketing awards program that recognizes innovative and successful marketing efforts. Attend this session to hear actual case studies from your peers of integrated marketing efforts that have returned very profitable results. You’ll take home new ideas that you can put to work for your company right away!

2.2 The Latest in Search Marketing and What Is Coming Next
Bill Barnes, Executive Vice President & Co-Founder, Enquiro Search Solutions Inc.

In this session you will hear the latest from the world of search and how to capitalize on the new trends. You will also see brand new eye-tracking research exploring the effects that universal search will have on user behavior, and we’ll look into the future to identify where search is going. In addition to the latest trends from the search engines, you will also learn ready-to-implement strategies for:

• SEO
• Universal search
• Sponsored search
• Social networks
• Linking

2.3 Measuring the Wave: Best Practices in Subscription Analytics
Mark Brooks, Vice President , Business Intelligence, The Motley Fool

A multitude of metrics, but which ones matter? From lead generation to renewal, we’ll cover the key inflection points in the subscription life cycle and how to appropriately measure and analyze each one. This discussion on end-to-end measurement will help ensure you have your finger on the true pulse of your business.

2.4 What’s Making Money on the Web & What’s Not?
Meg Hargreaves, President, Pike & Fischer, A BNA Company
Mark Ziebarth, President and CEO, Bongarde Media Co.

Well, the speakers on this panel don’t claim to know the answer to such a cosmic question. But they do invite you to join battle-scarred veterans Meg Hargreaves and Mark Ziebarth as they take you through a whirlwind presentation on and discussion of “What’s making money on the Web … and what’s not.” From databasing to data mining … from e-FFTs to SEOs … and from opt-in’s to registration models, Meg and Mark will lead a lively presentation on how their respective B2B shops are successfully squeezing money out of electronic opportunities … and how you can too! In addition, they’ve also agreed to share a few “lessons learned … the hard way,” on how NOT to go about commercializing your electronic initiatives. Sure to be an informative — and enjoyable — session.

Noon – 1:30 PM – Networking Lunch

1:30 – 2:30 PM – Roundtable Session I
This is your opportunity to exchange great ideas with great people during two half-hour roundtable discussions on niche topics. The discussions are your chance to share what’s working for you, learn from your peers and meet others with similar interests.

2:30 – 3:00 PM – Break

3:00 – 4:00 PM – Breakout Sessions III

3.1 35 Best Ways to Make Money Using the Internet
Phil Binkow, President, Financial Operations Network
Denise Elliott, VP, Sales & Marketing, The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc.
Darlene Francis, Internet Marketing Director, Business & Legal Reports, Inc.
Helen Hoart, President, Staywell Consumer Health Publishing Group
Jim Sinkinson, President, Infocom Group

In this fast-paced session you’ll hear 35 great ideas on how to make money on the Internet, including simple SEO tips, how to build a great list, how to increase your conversion metrics, how to write compelling copy for Websites and e-mails, how to enhance your e-zines, and many, many more.

3.2 10 Leading Strategies for Building Traffic to a Website and Turning Visitors Into Buyers
Jay Berkowitz, CEO, Ten Golden Rules

The Internet is on fire! Online retail sales will rise to more than $150 billion this year, users make more than 60 million searches each month and the Google stock soared to more than $500!

Jay Berkowitz, CEO of Ten Golden Rules, will examine the 10 leading strategies for building traffic to a Website and explain the best practices for converting site visitors into leads and sales, including:

• How to produce Websites that come up in Google searches
• Newsletters — a powerful weapon for Internet marketing
• How to generate positive return-on-investment with online advertising
• What online business models are working, and not working, today
• How to build ongoing relationships with the customers who visit your Website
• How to capitalize on the Ten Leading Trends in online marketing today

3.3 How to Sell Online Media
Maria A. Harrison, Vice President of Marketing, The Laredo Group, Inc.

This workshop will give you an understanding of how consumers have changed the way they consume media, interact with traditional and new media, and generate their own content. Session attendees will gain an overview of industry trends, ad delivery methods, media measurement/metrics, an overview of the economics of online media and how to drive more revenue.

3.4 An Integrated Strategy for Online Marketing: Blogging for Search & Data-Driven E-mail
Chris Baggott, Co-founder/CEO, Compendium Blogware

There are two basic aspects of successful relationship marketing — beginning a relationship and maintaining that relationship to the mutual benefit of both the organization and its constituents.

In this session, we will see that search is the critical component to what traditional marketers call “acquisition marketing,” and data-driven e-mail is the critical element in building and maintaining that relationship.

4:00 – 5:00 PM – Keynote – Information Publishing and The Power of Community
David Gardner, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, The Motley Fool

Along with his brother Tom, David Gardner has led The Motley Fool's growth from a single 16-page newsletter in 1993 to a worldwide investment and financial advisory services company that educates, amuses and enriches more than 30 million people each month.

In this keynote address, learn first-hand how the Fool has fully embraced the concept of user-generated content and harnessed the power of community to fulfill its mission of being the world's best investment community. You will also learn how David has leveraged the Fool's community to help transform The Motley Fool into a world-wide financial resource.

David will showcase one of his most significant accomplishments, Motley Fool CAPS, a collaborative stock-rating platform that to date is tracking ratings on more than 5,000 stocks made by hundreds of thousands of active participants.

Join us for this exciting keynote and learn how to begin harnessing the power of community in your business.

5:00– 6:30 PM – Cocktail Reception
Thanks to Worldata for sponsoring the Cocktail Reception!

Friday, December 14, 2007

8:30 – 9:00 AM – Roundtable Session II
You’ll have another opportunity to share with your peers during an additional roundtable discussion on niche topics in the marketing arena. Come prepared to share what’s working with your SIPA network.

9:00 – 10:00 AM – Keynote – B-to-B Research: Marketing Lead Generation and Nurturing Tactics
Stefan Tornquist, Research Director, MarketingSherpa, Inc.

Don’t miss this fast-paced session exploring how to tackle today’s biggest challenges in B-to-B marketing. Based on the newest research from MarketingSherpa, we’ll discuss the lengthening sales cycle, the ever-growing buying committee and competition for leads. You’ll also get an “exclusive” look at MarketingSherpa’s Website redesign study.

10:00 – 10:30 AM – Break

10:30 – 11:15 AM – Breakout Sessions IV

4.1 Overcoming the Customer Acquisition Challenge
Craig Swerdloff, VP and GM of Customer Acquisition Solutions, Return Path

Find out more about how easy it can be to acquire new customers through e-mail and online. We will address some of the reasons why marketers find e-mail acquisition so stressful, and offer different ways to simplify the process.

You’ll walk away from this session with 10 easy-to-implement tactics for improving your e-mail customer list – and a better understanding of how to manage your e-mail database as part of your overall marketing program.

This presentation will include:

• Points of pain for marketers using customer acquisition
• How to build the best list possible
• Incorporating behavioral marketing to boost e-mail response
• How to choose the best list-rental sources for your business
• Preventing your list from decay and hindering delivery rates
• Using your list for organic-growth opportunities
• Re-acquiring lost or unresponsive customers
• Best practices to optimize purchased lists
• New advertising opportunities in RSS feeds
• How to target different business sectors (B2B, B2C, IT, etc.) successfully

4.2 Search Engine Marketing: From Introduction to Sophistication
Lori Csaszar, Vice President, Client Services, IMPAQT
Matt Naeger, Vice President, General Counsel, IMPAQT

Search has been evolving since it first broke on the advertising scene in the late 90s. The speed of its evolution has grown drastically over the last two years as a result of increasing complexity of campaigns, increased awareness of search among the traditional marketing communities, and an incremental surge in the sophistication that marketers are applying to their search campaigns. Furthermore, there is a rising level of available consumer and behavioral data that is essential to building successful search strategies.

This session is geared to inform not only the novice advertiser but the sophisticated search marketer. We will provide an introduction to the search industry and how search campaign programs benefit your advertising goals and efforts. The discussion will include:

• Evolution of search and the industry today
• Capitalizing in today’s changing search environment, including online and offline channels
• Legal issues surrounding search
• The role of complex analytics in search
• Consideration of planning or growing your search programs
• Winning the in-house battle of funding a search program

4.3 Building a Good E-mail Reputation for Delivery: Practical Tips for Assessing and Managing Your E-mail Reputation
Spencer Kollas, Director, Delivery Services, StrongMail

Everyone has a reputation, be it good, bad or neutral. The same is true for your company's sending practices, and its standing with the ISPs can dramatically affect the success of your e-mail marketing programs. But what affects your reputation? And how can you make sure that you have a good one? Finally, if your reputation could be better, what can you to do improve it?

This session will show you what ISPs look for in a reputation and how to build and maintain a positive one. Find out what happens when you change IP addresses and how to mitigate the damage done from someone hijacking your system and using it to relay spam. You will also learn how much content actually affects your message placement, as well as what types of tools and programs you should use to manage your reputation.

4.4 Converting Visitors into Buyers
Don Nicholas, Managing Director, Mequoda Group

Learn how to optimize your landing pages to attract more customers and convert their traffic into revenue. Discover the eight types of landing pages, plus learn how, when and why each is used. Understand the four strategies for using content to sell content, plus learn how to use Level 5 conversion architecture to supercharge your Website. You'll hear how one publisher uses dozens of rapid conversion landing pages to build his e-mail subscriber database and sell his products.

11:30 AM – 12:15 PM – Keynote – The Impact of E-mail Outside of the Inbox
David Daniels, Vice President and Research Director, JupiterResearch
Jeanniey Mullen, Senior Partner and Global Executive Director, E-mail Marketing & Digital Dialogue Practice, OlgilvyOne Worldwide

What started out more than 30 years ago as a new type of personal communication has now come of age! E-mail's usage, impact and potential has grown and changed many times over the years as technology has tried to catch up to what it can deliver. Now, an integrated aspect of almost every human's life, e-mail is seen by your prospects and customers not as a marketing vehicle, but as a life efficiency tool. If your e-mail program is successful, it can perform more than 100 times better than your competition, and have a significant impact on brand advocacy and loyalty as well. What is the secret? Understanding how e-mail impacts your customers when they are not staring at their inbox.

In this session we will explore the impact that one single e-mail message can have on your reader in terms of branding advocacy, e-commerce, viral marketing and offline sales.

Register today! Call SIPA at (703)610-0260 or (800)356-9302
or register online here.