I was lucky enough to spend a beautiful 4th of July evening with my family down at my mother's in Des Moines. From her deck we were able to watch the fireworks displays from 3 different cities. It's a great reminder that there are always several ways to do something, and as long as you get the results you want, every path to success is the right one!

Here are a couple news items of note...

Study: E-Mail is The Most Effective Form of Direct Response, July 2, 2008, Steve Miller. Brandweek

Web Marketing Grows, but How Much? A look behind the numbers, July 3, 2008. eMarketer

Here's what we're reading today...

Is Talk Cheap? How Cheap? The word-of-mouth marketing industry is attempting to come up with a measurement standard. In the meantime, 50 cents per conversation seems a fair price. But measuring sales can be tricky, especially if a W-O-M campaign isn't national, Brandweek

Brands Adjust to Media Fragmentation, eMarketer

Need Press?...Strategic word selection can catapult an announcement about a product or a “breakthrough” onto the evening news instead of to the spam folder or circular file, International Herald Tribune