my 2 cents

An instructional video on how we do 'creativity' down our way...

2009-01-20T09:34:00.001-05:00

How to Use Twitter to Push Your Products: Lessons from Woot

2009-01-19T12:43:00.000-05:00

Marketing Sherpa Article: How to Use Twitter to Push Your Products: Lessons from Woot

SUMMARY: Can you promote your products through Twitter? Listen to a marketer for Woot, a discount eretailer that does.

Woot has attained an almost cult-like following for its ‘one-day one-deal’ product offers. Find out how they got started on Twitter and the strategy they use.

Twitter, the social networking and short messaging service, allows users to send out real-time ‘tweets’ to other users. Consultants stay in touch with clients. Publishers send snippets of content. Consumer marketers use it primarily for customer service and PR.

How about promoting products with Twitter? Dave Rutledge, Creative Director, Woot, and his team use Twitter to push sales of their deeply discounted products. Woot has an almost cult-like following for their one-deal-a-day concept.

Customers can buy only each day’s featured product. When it’s sold out, it’s gone. A new product posts at midnight each day.

“We are a business that has a very small piece of text that can explain what we’re doing for the day… There are any number of places that could display that micro-summary, and Twitter happens to be a popular one right now,” Rutledge says.

We chatted with Rutledge to find out why Woot started using Twitter, how they got up and running, and how it’s helping their business.

How Woot Started on Twitter

Before using Twitter, Rutledge and his team used an RSS feed that would automatically update with the daily product’s picture, description, features and price. The team also whittled that down into a short-text version, which Rutledge calls the "micro-summary."

Rutledge’s team created the RSS feed, mentioned it in their blog and on Woot’s community forum. Woot fans took it a step further.

Programmers took Woot’s RSS feed to create applications and widgets that show their daily product. Woot applications exist now, for instance, for the iPhone, Mac OSX, and iGoogle. Woot’s developers did not create them; Woot fanatics did.

“It’s pretty cool,” Rutledge says. “It’s neat having fans that are excited about that. And I think also that we have particularly techie, intelligent, kind of geeky-in-a-good-way fans who are excited to figure out how to do all these things.”

In February 2007, as Twitter’s usage took off, according to a study by HubSpot (linked below), Rutledge thought that the Woot micro-summary and Twitter would make a nice fit.

Rutledge went to Twitter’s site to sign up. He was disappointed to find that the username Woot had already been taken.

“I went and checked what the person with the Woot account was doing, and they were actually doing what I wanted to do. They had coded up a little script that scraped our [RSS] feed and posted it to Twitter. I thought, ‘I guess this is a pretty good idea because one of our fans has already jumped in and done this for us.’”

o Ask for the account

Rutledge wrote to the account’s operator, who turned out to be a big Woot fan and passed the torch. Rutledge explained that his team wanted to make some slight differences and to ensure that the feed was stable and official. Then it was just a matter of receiving a username and password.

Tweeting Strategy and Lessons

Core Strategy

For the most part, Rutledge’s team continued the strategy of the feed’s previous owner. They send a tweet when a new product posts at 12 a.m., and they send another when it sells out. A link to Woot in every tweet also drives traffic to the homepage, which doubles as a product page.

o Simple message

Twitter does not give much space for elaboration – a tweet has a 140-character limit. Woot keeps their messages straight and to-the-point:

Here’s a sample message for a product going on sale:
“$99.99 : Lexmark X9350 Wireless Office All-in-One with Duplex www.woot.com”

Here’s a message for the same product selling out:
“$99.99 : Lexmark X9350 Wireless Office All-in-One with Duplex : SOLD OUT www.woot.com”

o Homepage is a landing page

Woot’s homepage looks like a landing page. The product’s image, description, price and button to purchase all sit above the fold. The team did not set out to make the page a landing page, but it acts like one.

“The thought is for someone who doesn’t have much time or is very casual, they can come by, look at Woot for 10 seconds, look at the product, the title, the price, they can make a decision and go on with their day,” Rutledge says.

o Automated process and glitches

Rutledge’s team automated their Twitter strategy. Tweets now are automatically sent out when a product goes up for sale and when it sells out.

Automating the process leaves it open to occasional technical snags, but Rutledge’s team has experienced very few, he says. One time, for example, the feed stopped sending messages. Another time, it sent the same message every two minutes. In both cases, the team quickly solved the problem and apologized in the feed.

Rutledge suggests having an easy-to-flip “off” switch to deactivate the feed when glitches strike.

o Occasional non-product content

Rutledge’s team rarely (less than once a month) sends snippets of information not related to products. For example, here’s a tweet from January:

“Look for us at CES, and @woot if you have goofy CES pics or can get us into an event or party worth making fun of. woot.com/2lo.r”

“My thought is most people are [following us on Twitter] to follow the products, and it might seem like abuse or spam if I used it to too much to try and promote things. So I try and make sure that it’s something that most people would enjoy,” Rutledge says.

o Don’t reply to messages

Twitter is designed for two-way conversations. Rutledge’s team often receives messages from Twitter users through its feed. Most people say they like the product or they missed out on it. The team does not reply to the messages, partly because it could disrupt the automated process they’ve set up, and also because they do not want to use the feed for customer service.

Building More Feeds

Every six weeks or so, Woot has a “Woot Off.”

“There will be 100 or 150 products instead of just one per day,” Rutledge says. “We had those going through the Twitter feed, but that can be pretty insane for somebody who’s getting texted all those products.”

Rutledge’s team created a separate feed – called Woot Blabber (linked below). It sends messages for each daily product and for every product during a Woot Off.

o Feeds for other Woots

Woot also has two other websites, Shirt Woot and Wine Woot (linked below). They sell T-shirts and bottles of wine using the same strategy as Woot. The team eventually created Twitter feeds for these sites.

Little Promotion, Tracking and Traffic

o Many devices, many statistics

Many ways exist for developers to extract information from Twitter and to use it to create a software application. Apps have popped up for a wide range of platforms and devices. Users can receive tweets as SMS messages, in emails, on the Web, through a widget, and through smartphone apps.

The range of applications has a big advantage: Users can select the optimal way to receive tweets without your team having to do any additional work.

However, this also poses a challenge by breaking up your referral analytics. If you’re using Twitter to drive traffic to your site, you can easily find out which visitors are coming directly from Twitter’s website – but that might only be a fraction of the people using Twitter to receive your messages. Others can be receiving your tweets from a widget on a website or an application on a smart phone.

o Woot’s Twitter growth

Less than two years ago, Woot had about 2,000 Twitter followers. Followers now number 23,000 – without promotion (see below). Woot’s feed is #43 on the list of Twitter feeds with the most followers, according to Twitterholic’s rankings (see link below). Much of that growth occurred last year, when Twitter’s usage ramped up, according to a study by HubSpot.

Overall traffic to Woot’s website has almost doubled from a week before they started the Twitter feed in 2007 to early this year, Rutledge says. How much of that growth is attributable to Twitter is unknown, although the website has sent around 400,000 visitors to Woot. That’s about one-tenth of a percent of visits over that same period, Rutledge says.

“We’re growing in a lot of places and for a lot of reasons. I’d be hesitant to give too much credit to Twitter.”

o Word-of-mouth promotion

Rutledge’s team has done little to promote their Twitter feed. They wrote a blog post announcing the feed, and experimented with some ads “not as a very serious means of getting people into places, but mostly because we wanted to try something out and were having fun with it.”

“We don’t even link from our site to the Twitter feed. That’s probably something that we will do at some point… The word of mouth on this stuff is the most powerful way to spread it around and get people talking about it.”

Useful links related to this article:

How to Target Twitter: 8 Ways to Build a New Audience in this Niche Community
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=30888

Lead Gen with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Blogging - 6 Key Takeaways
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=30733

Twitterholic: Twitter rankings by followers
http://twitterholic.com/

HubSpot: State of the Twittersphere PDF
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/4439/State-
f-the-Twittersphere-Q4-2008-Report.aspx

Eretailer example: Amazon on Twitter
http://twitter.com/amazondeals

B2C Example: H&R Block on Twitter
http://twitter.com/hrblock

Publisher example: CNN on Twitter
http://twitter.com/cnn

B2B Consultant example: Robert Rosenthal on Twitter
http://twitter.com/RobertRosenthal

Woot: Blog post announcing Twitter feed

Woot’s Twitter Feed:
http://twitter.com/woot

Woot Blabber Twitter Feed
http://twitter.com/wootblabber

Wine Woot’s Twitter Feed

Shirt Woot’s Twitter Feed

Woot
http://www.woot.com

Success by failing

2009-01-14T08:16:00.001-05:00

In 1914 Thomas Edison's factory in West Orange, New Jersey, was virtually destroyed by fire. Although the damage exceeded $2 million, the buildings were insured for only $238,000 because they were made of concrete and were thought to be fireproof. Much of Edison's life work went up in smoke and flames that December night. At the height of the fire, Edison's 24-year-old son, Charles, searched frantically for his father. He finally found him, calmly watching the fire, his face glowing in the reflection, his white hair blowing in the wind.

"My heart ached for him," said Charles. "He was 67 — no longer a young man — and everything was going up in flames. When he saw me, he shouted, "Charles, where's your mother?" When I told him I didn't know, he said, 'Find her. Bring her here. She will never see anything like this as long as she lives.'"

The next morning, Edison looked at the ruins and said, "There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew."

Three weeks after the fire, Edison managed to deliver the first phonograph.

From "Growing the Distance: Timeless Principles for Personal, Career, and Family Success"

by Jim Clemmer http://www.clemmer.net

Team Hoyt - A Fathers Love

2008-12-18T08:18:00.006-05:00

An emotionally powerful story:
Team Hoyt - An Amazing Story of the Greatest Father in the World

Microsoft Class of 1978

2008-12-18T07:53:00.003-05:00

Oh, how times have changed!

Cell phone on the subway

2008-12-16T13:49:00.007-05:00

Cell phone on the subway
Pete Dominick
Comic Strip Live

NBA or NFL?

2008-12-16T09:10:00.006-05:00

An email I received and thought it was interesting to share...

Is It NBA Or NFL?

36 have been accused of spousal abuse.
7 have been arrested for fraud.
19 have been accused of writing bad checks.
117 have 'directly' or in-directly 'bankrupted' at least 2 businesses.
3 have done time for assault.
71 cannot get a credit card; due to bad credit.

14 have been arrested on ' -related' charges.
8 have been arrested for shoplifting.
21 currently are defendants in lawsuits, and
84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year.

Can you guess which organization this is?

NBA or NFL......?

Neither,

It's the 535 members of the 'United States' Congress

The same group that creates hundreds of new laws each year, designed to keep the rest of us in line....hmmmm

Too good to be true (the overnight millionaire scam)

2008-11-13T07:49:00.001-05:00

by Seth Godin

You probably don't need to read this, but I bet you know people who do. Please feel free to repost or forward:

Times are tough, and many say they are going to be tougher. That makes some people more focused, it turns others desperate.

You may be tempted at some point to try to make a million dollars. To do it without a lot of effort or skill or risk. Using a system, some shortcut perhaps, or mortgaging something you already own.

There are countless infomercials and programs and systems that promise to help you do this. There are financial instruments and investments and documents you can sign that promise similar relief from financial stress.

Resist.

There are four ways to make a million dollars. Luck. Patient effort. Skill. Risk.

(Five if you count inheritance, and six if you count starting with two million dollars).

Conspicuously missing from this list are effortless 1-2-3 systems that involve buying an expensive book or series of tapes. Also missing are complicated tax shelters or other 'proven' systems. The harder someone tries to sell you this solution, the more certain you should be that it is a scam. If no skill or effort is required, then why doesn't the promoter just hire a bunch of people at minimum wage and keep the profits?

There are literally a million ways to make a good living online, ten million ways to start and thrive with your own business offline. But all of these require effort, and none of them are likely to make you a million dollars.

Short version of my opinion: If someone offers to sell you the secret system, don't buy it. If you need to invest in a system before you use it, walk away. If you are promised big returns with no risk and little effort, you know the person is lying to you. Every time

The Price Is Right (Isn't It?)

2008-09-22T20:19:00.001-04:00

The Price Is Right (Isn't It?)

A look at the evolution of costs on the web, how budgets are changing and how digital production is being affected by the shift.

By: Nick Parish Published: Sep 22, 2008

Ever since the first friend-of-a-friend proposed that the first web developer build him a site (for no money), the effort and cost associated with digitally driven creativity has been a misunderstood, and, sometimes, thorny issue. Unlike television commercial production, where there are some established cost parameters and you can typically see the budget on the screen, it's tough to price innovative web work.

Though comfortably out of the "Bro, can you make me a website?" phase, digital production pricing has yet to be standardized to the point where many outside of direct practitioners have a good understanding of what things cost, especially marketers and big agencies without a history of relationships with production companies. Conventional wisdom says that costs for interactive work are rising—but what's informing the increases and how does the industry determine where costs should be?

Commonly heard among digital production leaders is the We-did-it-cheap-back-then story, part of the pre-digital mythos. "I worked on Volkswagen from 1999 to 2004 for Tribal DDB," says Dave Bedwood, a creative partner at Lean Mean Fighting Machine, Cannes' Cyber Agency of the Year. "They were spending a million pounds on production on the floor above for the TV ad, whilst me and my partner were shooting videos ourselves on digital cameras."

Those days are quickly fading into history. The Interactive Advertising Bureau says internet advertising revenue is up 18.2% from the first quarter of 2007 to $5.8 billion. But what, if anything, does this mean for the relative outlay for the making of digital work?

At this point, it bears stating that interactive production does not lend itself to generalizations. The variation between different species of digital beast is broad. A Facebook application is different than a web game just as a big VFX spot is different than a lo-fi comedy gag. "The same way you can't compare the costs of a Sony 'Bravia' or a 'Happiness Factory' with a 'Mac vs PC,'" says PJ Pereira, founder and creative director at Pereira & O'Dell, "you can't compare the investment needed in a 'Get the Glass'with an 'Elf Yourself.' And that has nothing to do with the quality of the idea or even the return it will bring, just the complexity it takes to produce it."

Coke "Happiness Factory, The Movie"

But while prices vary with the nature and scope of the work, digital projects generally have larger budgets now, and with them a greater demand for expertise. For Lean Mean's "Non Stop Fernando" site for Emirates [nonstopfernando.com], Bedwood says "we actually did a proper casting, found a proper actor and had a real TV production company and director film and produce it." So, according to Bedwood, audience expectations rise, budgets rise, the level of craftsmanship involved goes up, and, eventually, you have equality between the online and off.

Dollars sense
But there are no ready standards for these newly significant budgets. Unfortunately, a lack of media buy is often equated with lack of production money. The loose 10-15% standard, where that percentage of the media spend is put into production, is disregarded. "Clients still have trouble understanding interactive can be just as expensive as executing a TV spot, just without having the media spend," says Paul Collins, interactive creative director at Swedish agency Åkestam.Holst.

Rick Webb, COO of the Barbarian Group, thinks the lack of a media buy on the bulk of digital production work makes it difficult for agencies to justify their costs and markup on the production part of the job. "[Agencies] have a strong incentive to maintain opacity here and mark up the digital production," Webb says. "One other factor that is unfortunate for marketers' best interests is that the bulk of their 10-20% increase in interactive spend per year is controlled by their media company, who have no interest whatsoever in increasing digital production budgets. They just funnel it to [digital services providers] and get better buying power, perks, and more markup profits."

There are ways, however, to channel needed funds into production, according to Bob Mackintosh, interactive director at Syndey agency Host. "We seem to be able to snaffle more production dollars from a media budget when the idea is positioned as a 'media idea,'" says Mackintosh. "Some viral content comes into this category."

Milk " Get The Glass" Site

Frequently, budgeting is a straightforward matter, based on an initial eyeballing of the brief.

"Often, based on experience, we say Yeah that's about a $xxxk job," Mackintosh says. "Once we have a proper idea of the concept we scope it out, work with all people involved and work up a solid estimate from there." But another major factor in the variation in online pricing is innovation. "With every campaign we're trying to do something new," Mackintosh says. "This makes it hard to scope as there's often no benchmark."

The difficulty in pricing projects heavy on innovation is only matched by most companies' willingness to take them on, making for unreasonable budgets but positive PR and, maybe, awards. "You pay a high price for being the first to do something," says Alessandra Lariu, who recently arrived at McCann, New York as digital group creative director by way of AKQA. Like traditional production companies, which will often work to a net financial loss on jobs they know will carry awards weight, some digital companies are willing to take a flyer on especially innovative projects. "The money comes back in later on as a result of the PR awards generate," Lariu says.

Agencies have to be careful, though, of dangling projects in front of production companies and then playing the innovation card as leverage against a tiny budget. One agency head of interactive production says some agencies "burn through vendors" using just these tactics. "The competition for quality creative is fierce," says Webb. "Finding the next 'wow' factor is vital. The easy technical gimmicks have been done. Effective, clutter-breaking creative often, though not always, obviously, requires a more ambitious undertaking."

Apple "Get A Mac" spot

Still, Webb insists he doesn't think anyone's getting unduly rich at small, creative shops—including his own—just yet. "Costs, in terms of high profitability for great interactive work, say, akin to [film work at] Anonymous or @Radical, are nowhere near where they should be. Incentives aren't aligned there yet. A big interactive hit doesn't allow you to immediately substantially raise your rates."

With marketers mandating agencies to justify costs, Webb says the result is a heated pitch process for interactive shops. "It's not uncommon to be in a five- or six-way pitch with other SoDA type agencies," he says (SoDA is the Society of Digital Agencies, established earlier this year to foster best practices in this space). "And you might be the greatest thing in the world, but 90% of your chance of winning that pitch is still going to be your price. Agencies are so scarred by their own pitch process they impose it on the SoDA type agencies doubly so, for miniscule budgets. Six-way pitches for $200k? Really?"

Among the agency producers assigning the work and bringing together production partners, there's a strong sense of which company will come in at what number. Several of the interactive EPs we spoke to at large agencies had fundamental ideas about what different shops would charge for specific pieces of work. Watch out, they cautioned, because if you aren't sure going in what things should cost, you're likely to overpay.

And, as with nearly everything, there's room for negotiation. The top production companies retain a high level of cachet, and can afford to be choosier. "The top dogs can pick their projects and be tough in their negotiations, knowing there's a line of agencies waiting to get in," says Anders Gustafsson, senior creative at Sweden's Daddy. "As traditional agencies get better at digital, this will change."

And newer, faster and younger companies will always be arriving. "There are always young Turks that will take a job for almost nothing," Webb says. "The talent pool is growing as schools like RIT get better at cranking out the kids, so this is a consistent issue." Webb says. But instead of having to constantly worry about being underbid on projects by garage shops, Webb maintains there are some cost advantages to being a well know shop. "Our costs per hour of average employees in certain roles have actually gone down in the last few years," says Webb. "If you have a boring place to work, you have to pay a lot to keep people there, so perversely a lot of the middling work is actually more expensive to produce than the awesome work."

Office Max "Elf Yourself" site

Business as usual?
Standards, a byword on the lips of anyone who's been on the wrong end of a bad deal (and that's almost anyone doing digital production), seem to be slowly developing among the production community, at least in an informal sense. Webb doesn't think formal standards are necessary, but rather terms of engagement, such as those offered to traditional production companies through the AICP. Many of these involve transparency, on issues like out-of-pocket costs, travel policies and payment terms. "[There should be] clarity on work-for-hire and attribution and award shows and staff poaching," Webb says.

According to Gustafsson, the standards discussion in his native country is bringing together myriad different operators under the banner of the Swedish Advertising Association's Digital Group. "The need for it varies, since we've got traditional agencies with digital competence (likeForsman & Bodenfors andDDB Stockholm), creative digital agencies with their own clients (such as Daddy and Farfar) and digital production companies (Perfect Fools, North Kingdom) within the association. I think we'll see some sort of recommended agreement template for digital productions shortly, similar to the ones recommended by the association in traditional media today." Six months into its formal association, SoDA doesn't have standards or pricing guidelines on its immediate agenda, according to chairman Richard Lent, CEO of AgencyNet. Lent's own shop builds its own pricing models based on a logging widget employees engage when they're working.

Where will all this lead? Well, it's probably safe to theorize basic economic principles will continue to guide what things cost in the digital space, until, of course, an AICP-like body begins to look seriously at setting guidelines around contentious areas. Looking forward, it's conceivable on- and off-line production may reach parity. "At some point, the investment that you need to make to have A-Class digital stars such as The Barbarian Group or North Kingdom will get close to what you can pay to a director like Spike Jonze," Pereira says. "I wonder if that will mean that one day we will see people like (A-list Flash artist) Erik Natzke working directly with Michel Gondry to produce cross media content—if the prices continue to rise, this day may be about to arrive." And when it does, says Pereira, "when production becomes cross media and prices to create TV and digital pieces are equivalent, I'd be pretty curious to see if the hot digital directors will join the big video production groups or the other way around.

Seth Godin: Sliced bread and other marketing delights

2008-06-12T18:46:00.003-04:00

Seth Godin's TED talk

In a world of too many options and too little time, our obvious choice is to ignore the ordinary stuff. Marketing guru Seth Godin spells out why, when it comes getting our attention, bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones. And early adopters, not the mainstream's bell curve, are the new sweet spot of the market.

What did you think?

Top 11 Information Marketing Business Mistakes to Avoid

2008-05-19T09:38:00.002-04:00

Below is a good good list written by Adam Urbanski on the top mistakes that internet-based business entrepreneurs make.

Top 11 Information Marketing Business Mistakes to Avoid

If you've tried your hand at building an Internet-based business but haven't yet reached the success you want, find out about these 11 deadly mistakes and how to avoid them.

Mistake #1 - Not Treating What You Do as a Business.

The difference between a hobby and a business is that a hobby doesn't make you money - it costs you money.

If you're earnest about starting a profitable online business, approach seriously and focus on generating revenue.

Treat your online business as you would any regular business.

Mistake #2 - Being Distracted by Too Many Good Ideas.

You can light up a room with a light bulb, but you can cut through steel with a laser beam. The same is true with your effort and ideas.

Too many Internet-Entrepreneur-Wanna-Be's lack the will power to stay focused. Chasing too many ideas at the same time often leaves them exhausted, frustrated, and with little result to show for their hard work.

The key to success is to select one business idea and to develop it completely before moving on to another project.

Mistake #3 - Not Selecting a Specific Niche.

Perhaps the biggest mistake of all is trying to be everything to everyone. You can't - so stop!

It's very counter-intuitive to focus on a smaller slice of the market and most people are afraid to do it. But when you do, your business will grow faster, and you'll be more financially successful in less time.

Mistake #4 - Falling in Love With the Wrong Product Idea.

Even the most experienced entrepreneurs fall into this trap from time-to-time and develop products without doing any research. Before you devote any serious amount of time and effort to developing your new ideas make sure there is a demand for the type of product, information, or service you want to launch.

If you need help with selecting an ideal niche market for your business and finding out which products you should develop first, take a look at this fast track training program.

Mistake #5 - Falling for the "Get Rích Quick" Scheme!

Remember the old adage "if something is too good to be true..."? It's alive and well on the Internet.

Countless people buy into the idea of making millions online overnight. Sadly, they buy into programs hyped up with empty promises only to find themselves "out of cash and out of luck" a short while later.

Be aware of spammers, illegal money-winníng scams, and buying "ready to go businesses" that are "hot but will sell for cheap"!

Before you fork over your money investigate if those hot businesses have ever made a dime for their current owner.

Doing your homework will save you valuable time, money and many sleepless nights!

Mistake #6 - Going Into It, Instead of Growing Into It.

While the Internet makes it easier to reach your potential clients, you're still building a business - and that takes time. Don't tell your boss you're quitting today because you started this hot new online business last night and you'll be "rolling in dough in no time flat!"

First make sure your business idea works and is profitable.

That's one of the advantages of Internet Business - you can start small and step-it-up as your business starts getting sales and generating profíts.

Just be sure you can consistently replace your current income before jumping ship and telling your boss to "beat it"!

Mistake #7 - Being a Copy-Cat!

Quickly - what is the most popular business on the Internet? You guessed it - it's how to make money on the online!

It seems that everyone who has bought a course on making monëy online is credible enough to teach this subject a week or two later!

Don't fall for the allure of easy money - because it's only a perception. In reality your chances of having a successful online business are much greater when you are different from the pack.

Mistake #8 - Wasting Time and Money on Developing Pretty but Useless Websites.

A bad idea is a bad idea - no matter how pretty you dress it up. Many people waste precious startup dollars on expensive but needless graphic design work, pretty logos, and complex web design.

In reality, many businesses can be simple and inexpensive to get off the ground. In fact, a simple site with little or no graphics will often make more money than one with all the latest bells and whistles flashing all over the page.

Think - what is the core concept of your business. Outline it on a single sheet of paper, then implement it fast in it's simplest form. You can always give it a makeover and make it prettier if it's successful and profitable.

Mistake #9 - Not Building Relationship with Clients.

"Even though you don't know me from Adam, I want you to take out your wallet and give me $20 - in exchange I'll make you the King of the Universe!" What!? You don't want to give me your $20? What a surprise!

Most people think about starting a business onlíne in terms of getting a quick sale - with no prior relationship with their potential clients at all.

In reality, you'll be more successful when you make your first goal to collect contact information from potential clients and follow up with them on regular basis.

It's much easier to "sell something for Free" than trying to convince people to give you money at first.

Make it your goal to prove your credibility online and make your business all about relationships with prospects and clients, and you'll build a thriving online empire.

Mistake #10 - Calling It "QUITS" Too Soon!

If your new online venture isn't makíng money at first, don't walk away from it too soon. Many entrepreneurs have multiple "failures" in their background - which in reality are lessons in what didn't work.

Evaluate your ideas and get help with gaining a new perspective on what you're doing. With some new ideas you might find a new way to position your business differently and make it profitable.

Or maybe you simply need to give it more time to gain the traction and momentum you want.

Mistake #11 - Being too cheap!

While it's a good habit to be thrifty with your dollars, don't confuse saving money with being cheap. Remember the price you're paying for things isn't always expressed in money. It's also the time, effort, and lost opportunities you can't take advantage of because you lack the know-how or are busy doing low-level tasks.

Smart online entrepreneurs continually invest in their Education. They buy marketing training programs, time-saving software tools, and systems that allow them to grow businesses faster with less effort.

The best news is that getting good basic training in how to start your information marketing business doesn't have to be expensive.

About The Author
The author, Adam Urbanski, Founder and President of Marketing Mentors.

A strong brand is priceless:

2008-03-06T08:08:00.003-05:00

Now more than ever, consumers are bombarded with advertisements. Simply drive down your local highway and take notice to the number of billboards, flip through your favorite magazine and you realize that more than half of the pages are advertisements, surf the net and you find yourself closing pop-up ads that appear from no where. Companies are offering free consultations, free samples, or rebates; anything to entice the consumer.

Companies are forced to develop new marketing tactics to attract new prospects and keep existing customers. The old myth that consumers can be fooled seems to be making this task even more challenging. Obviously, as marketing media techniques become more prevalent consumers are even more wary of advertising.

Several years ago companies did not have the competition they have today. In the present day, we are not only competing with the business down the street but we are battling with a world market. This brings me to branding. For some companies they know, understand, and live by it. For others it is foreign, and trying to figure it out seems overwhelming. What companies need to realize is that branding can make the difference in a roller-coaster economy. Companies with a strong branding presence will not experience the pain that others suffer and will find greater prosperity during the good times.

So what is a brand?

There are many different definitions of a brand. The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from one another”.

In essence, the “Brand” is the reputation, reliability, quality and respect your company earns from the public. Branding involves consistency in your presentation and message, allowing customers to become familiar with your logo and slogan (if you have one).

A testament to this is the “Golden arches” of McDonalds. You’re driving down the road and up ahead in the distance your eye catches the arches. Before you can even read the words, you know immediately that it is McDonalds. If you did not notice the “Golden arches,” I am sure that your little ones would begin screaming out “I want a happy meal”.

Branding is not only about getting your target audience to choose your company over the competition. It's about getting your prospects to see you as a consistent and reliable foundation; the only one that can satisfy their need(s) and/or provide a solution to their problem.

A strong brand is priceless as the fight for consumers intensifies day by day. It's vital to spend time researching, defining, and building your brand. After all, your brand is the source of a promise to your consumer. It's a significant piece in your marketing communication and one you do not want to abandon.

-Danny
.:. my 2 cents .:.

worlds influence

2008-03-06T08:05:00.002-05:00

This image was made in Photoshop using over 10 images.

Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer

2008-03-06T08:00:00.004-05:00

People don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy. This is the first line in Jeffrey Gitomer’s book, Little Red Book of Selling.

Gitomer’s message is direct and to the point. The information found in the pages of this humorously illustrated book may NOT be deep but the coverage is quite comprehensive and often never practiced by many. The basic message through out the book is a kick-in-the-butt, get motivated and stop making excuses for why you’re not succeeding. It may be Gitolmer's encouraging yet entertaining writing style that one can relate to.

The book also includes 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness, Red Bites at the end of each chapter that contain ideas you can use immediately. Red Bits that allow you access to Gitomer’s website in a private area for book buyers only. Another little bonus of the book is the red ribbon book mark. Save your place to refer just before you go on a strategic sales call. I don’t know why most books don’t add this in their design.

Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book of Selling has no ending. It’s not a book to be read, it is a book to be studied. It is a book to be implemented. It is a book to be talked about. There is too much content for you to read it once and put it away and say "good read."

http://www.gitomer.com

-Danny
.:. my 2 cents .:.

SlickDeals.net

2008-03-06T07:55:00.001-05:00

SlickDeals.net is a great site to find discounts, coupons or rebates on almost any item. I recently purchased a 2GB memory stick for $5 after the discount and rebate. I would recommend to anyone that they check out www.slickdeals.net before making a purchase.

The most frequently updated and complete deal site on the web! We provide you with the day's hottest deals every day. We also have over 800 coupons for all your favorite online stores. Browse around and you're bound to save more than a few bucks!

http://www.slickdeals.net

-Danny
.:. my 2 cents .:.

Why do I need a website?

2008-02-06T07:11:00.000-05:00

I was asked by a small business owner, “what is the benefit for my business to have a website?” This has become a popular question from many small business owners. Very simply put, in today’s information age every business needs to have a good web presence. Below is a brief list why every business needs to be online:

Authenticity:
A GOOD website creates authenticity and compliments your brand.

Web sites save you money:Internet information can greatly reduce printing and mailing costs. Information that you now distribute via handouts, brochures and newsletters is readily available online, avoiding print distribution costs.

Your Web site tells your clients/customers they're important:
A Web site communicates positive values to your clients/customers. It tells them that you care enough to provide current information and communicate with them at their convenience. It also shows that you want to hear from them by providing them the capability to email you.

Information is always available:
Your Web site is always on and available to anyone looking for information about your business. Clients/customers can find the information they need when they need it without additional mailing costs, personnel to answer a phone or voice mail messages to be returned.

People are online looking for you:
Your clients and potential clients are using the internet at home and work. If you don't have a Web site, you are missing a valuable way of communicating with your prospects, clients, your community and those who are searching for information about your services/products.

-Danny
.:. my 2 cents .:.

NYC Madison Square Park, 2001

2008-01-10T06:18:00.000-05:00

I was walking through Madison Square park and found a group of people gathered. A visual artist was using smoke machines and an video projector to display his/her work. The photo was not manipulated in Photoshop.

The Wizard of Ads: by Roy H. Williams

2007-11-21T08:47:00.002-05:00

Roy Williams’ “The Wizard of Ads” is not focused on the numbers and statistics of the advertising world but rather on the human side. The book focuses on both the workings of the advertising campaign as well as the experience the consumer has with brand. Much of "The Wizard of Ads" is a collection of feel good stories, however within each, is advice and insight into the world of sales, advertising, and most importantly, people. His collection of memos are thought provoking and inspiring. He breaks down the advertising approach into its simplest form, people. Some attention is given to advertising strategies in print, radio and television, and in what context and for what purpose they should be used. Chances are you will be able to personally relate to the anecdotal tales and find the advice contained within the pages very helpful.

https://www.wizardacademypress.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=17

Remembering names: It's a conscious decision

2007-11-16T23:13:00.000-05:00

Most often when we are introduced to someone we soon forget their name. We will continue the conversation and go on our merry way without every asking the other person their name again. Learning and knowing a persons name is a sign of respect. It also shows that you’re paying attention and care enough to commit their name to memory.

The benefit of remembering names can go a long way. I found that when using a persons name in conversation it generates a greater positive reaction and result. For example, if I am on the phone with a customer service representative, executive assistant, etc… I make it point to have them repeat their name. This makes them aware that I know who they are and they subconsciously tend to be more friendly, helpful and accommodating. Think about how it feels when someone uses your name (in a friendly way of course).

If you don't believe it is important to remember names, then the ideas below will not have any relevance to you. Don't blame a "bad memory" for forgetting names. Like many things in life, it requires effort; you will need to apply yourself.

Smile, Listen and Repeat:
When introduced, I've found that being obvious about your attempt to remember their name works surprisingly well. Smile while looking the person in the eyes (not in a creepy way). Repeat the name. Saying it immediately will help you commit it to memory. If you're not sure about the pronunciation, ask them to repeat it. "Hi, John, it's nice to meet you. Hey John, where are you from? John, it was great to meet you!" Just don't make it seem like your trying too hard. Be sincere. Again, make sure you smile.
A picture worth 1 name:
Look at the person and get a strong mental image of the person. What characteristics are unique about this person? Are they tall, thin, lots of hair, no hair? The more exaggerated and colorful you make the feature in your minds eye the greater the picture and the easier it will be to remember. Make the picture larger than life.

Associate:
Associate the person's name with a mental picture that is easy to remember. The full name should create one picture. The person whose name you have made a picture of should be in the picture. Difficult names may need to be broken down into syllables to create memorable images. Example: Staneart (Stan-irt)-Picture me STANding up to my waist in dIRT. This converts the name into an image, which is the language of your memory. For instance when you meet Barbara think of a barbed wire fence. Attaching a picture to a name is simple and because you will run into so many people with the same names, you will need fewer images than you think.

Get it in print:
Ask them for their business card. If they don’t have a business card, write down their name immediately. If needed, have them spell it out for you. At times this can turn into an ice breaker leading into other questions about their background, culture etc… “Barack Obama. That's an interesting name. What does it mean?” Add a note about the person on the back of the business card that will help you remember them and the topic of conversation.

Remembering and forgiving:
And finally, if all else fails, try to focus on something said / done by the person. The next time you meet him / her you can always say something like - "Hi. How have you been? Sorry, I seem to have forgotten your name, but I do remember the awesome tips you gave me the last time!"....

-Danny
.: my 2 cents :.

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NYC Madison Square Park, 2001

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Remembering names: It's a conscious decision

Cell phone on the subway
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