What Our Society Has Sunk To

I don't even know what to say.

The Mockery of The Last Supper.

And there's Miller Lite at the head of the line. Kudos to you Miller Brewing Company.

Sad, simply sad.

 

I Don't Have Any Thing More To Say - Not Really

As I am sitting here with a glazed over look and staring blankly at my computer screen, I can't remember what I was going to write about. I had a great idea last night but, for the life of me, I can't remember it. Then I got to thinking about a post over at ProBloggersMatrix called "How do you come up with all those inspiring ideas for your blog?" I went and re-read that post again and you know what?!? It didn't help. So there you have it. Today is the first time I don't have something witty, semi-insightful or remotely useful to throw your direction.

What I do know, that for the first time since it's inception, The Big Bald Blog has hit over 1200 unique visitors for the month so far and our RSS subscribers continue to grow.

Over the past 4 or 5 months, I have continued to play with the format, the monetization, and other miscellaneous little things in an attempt to make a better blog. In the last month or so, I have also come to the conclusion that, for me, the Blogger platform has run it's course. It was a great start for someone like me who didn't have a clue about starting a blog. However, the big "WP" has so much more to offer. So, once I decide on a theme, I will be making the transition over to WordPress. Other inevitable changes are coming down the pipe, including a domain change. I have always known the importance of branding your blog and when I read a post about the same subject over at John Chow's site, it just sank a little deeper. I have www.TheBigBaldBlog.com registered and will working on the new theme over the next several months. I am not going to make any promises on a launch date or anything, but after having seen John Cow's new theme, I've become inspired.

Well, that's about it. If you have any interesting topics for discussion or would like to write an article for The Big Bald Blog, drop me a line at, the big bald blog at impactmt dot com. Now I feel like Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs with his plug for content at the end of every show.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Television Commercials done right.

Hello Gang! It's my birthday today and I was thinking about taking the day off, laying on my couch and watching some TV. Then I came to my senses.

I have quite a collection of RSS feeds coming into my Google Desktop and a headline caught my interest a while back and I decided to save the post. It was on Charlie Cook's blog. The post was called "7 Reasons Most Video Commercials are a Waste of Money..." He has some very valid points but I think in order better understand TV's effectiveness you have to point out the differences between the types of commercials and the solution for poor creative.

His seven reasons for TV commercials being a waste of money are right on and can all be tied to creative. If you haven't heard it before, I'll say it again - Creative is key. Properly written, designed and executed ads that get the information across in a clever manner are better retained by a viewer.

I think, to better understand the effectiveness of a TV ad, you need break TV commercials down into 3 categories. Understanding that each category has a different delivery style, they all need to start with a good creative foundation to better convey the message

1. Toma ads.

2. Event/promotion based ads.

3. PSA type ads.

Each type of ad has a completely unique message and production needs to understand the specific delivery requirements for each type of spot.

Toma or Top-of-mind awareness ads are commonly the most creative. Developing these type of spots, a creative director, copy writer and a producer can have the most fun. You're not being pressed to get a bunch of time sensitive and/or price point information into 30 seconds. This gives you more time to send your message is a manner that will grab a viewers attention. Since this type of spot usually has a longer "shelf life" you can dedicate more time to production and concepting.

With event or promotion spots you are required to cram sale dates, calls to action, price points, specials and other need-to-know information into a short amount of time. A higher level of creative is often sacrificed to include the necessary promotional information. However, this doesn't mean that production quality has to suffer. Obviously this type of commercial isn't on air very long, but done right it will do its job and drive traffic.

PSA type spots typically deliver a soft sell and heart felt message. Creative for this type of commercial manifests itself in quality production. Properly written copy coupled with compelling visual is the key to success when producing these type of ads.

Properly executed creative needs to be done right. Think it through. Hire a competent creative director, copy writer and production crew. It may cost a little more than having a local network affiliate produce your commercial, but in the long run, you will get a better product.

 

Are People Ignoring Online Ads?

Banner Blindness - A term that refers to web users and how they ignore online ads. According to Jacob Nielson's August 20th Alertbox, eye tracking studies reveal that most online user never look anything that appears to be an ad. Even if it's not an ad, if it looks like an ad, users will still ignore it.

"At all levels of user engagement, the finding is the same regarding banners: ...almost no fixations within advertisements. If users are looking for a quick fact, they want to get done and aren't diverted by banners; and if users are engrossed in a story, they're not going to look away from the content."

What is an online advertiser to do? Eye tracking studies indicate that there are 3 things that will divert people's attention from content.

1. Plain Text
2. Faces
3. Cleavage and other "private" body parts.

These top 3 formats, especially #3 may not be applicable to your site. However there is a 4th format that Jakob calls an "unethical path to ad fixations." If you make your ad look like content, it will attract attention.

• "The more an ad looks like a native site component, the more users will look at it.
• Not only should the ad look like the site's other design elements, it should appear to be part of the specific page section in which it's displayed."

Keep in mind the cautionary lesson to be learned here. If you trick your readers into clicking on an ad they think is content, they aren't going to be very happy with you and may begin looking elsewhere.

How can we use this information to make a better online ad? You need to beware of fancy formatting. Big words, bold colors and text design all make content look like promotion and ends up getting ignored. Nielsen did a study where a number of people were given question that could be answered by looking at a website. The answer was clearly indicated in big red numbers in the upper right hand corner of the homepage. 86% of the users failed to find the information requested. Even though the section contained the exact information they were looking for, over half of the test subjects saw the information but didn't use it to answer the question. Over 1/3 of the users didn't see the information at all. "The reason? The information resembled a promotion."

I recently conducted an informal survey on a web development forum. The question, "Do you click advertisements on website?" yielded similar results. The majority responded that they seldom click on ads and if they do it has to be extremely relevant to what they are looking for.

Bottom line?

• Use clean design with little or no fluff.
  
• Focus on the user's needs and why they are visiting the website you are advertising on. In other words, advertise on a site relevant to your service offerings.
  
• Make sure the user knows exactly what's going to happen when they click on your ad.
• Provide some real value when they click on your ad.
• Have a properly formatted landing page with a call to action to maximize conversions.
• Don't trick users.

As online advertising continues it's record setting climb, it becomes more important to refine the way we advertise. Internet information seekers are becoming more savvy and are less affected by online ads compared to 6 years ago. Remember, keep your ads clean, useful and honest. If you follow these simple guidelines you will be able to maximize your ad's effectiveness.

I am curious what you think. Do you click on ads or sponsored listings when browsing? In your opinion, what is the most annoying thing about online ads?

Let me know your thoughts.


Other interesting reading on the subject:

• Firefox users ignore online ads
  

 

iPhone Is Getting Locked Again

Apple announced plans to release a required software update that would render any unlocked phone inoperable. Here's what probably happened. AT&T started crying about people unlocking the phone to use on other networks and could see their exclusive contract in crisis. They ran to Apple and said they had better do something about this fast. The firmware update was the solution and this is what Apple had to say.

"Apple strongly discourages users from installing unauthorized unlocking programs on their iPhones. Users who make unauthorized modifications to the software on their iPhone violate their iPhone software license agreement and void their warranty. The permanent inability to use an iPhone due to installing unlocking software is not covered under the iPhone's warranty."

For those of you with an unlocked iPhone, there may be no hope. But wait, maybe there is. Erica Sadun on The Unofficial Apple Weblog has a the solution in a post called re-lock your phone.

I guess I don't blame AT&T . I would expect the same thing if I had planned on every iPhone user subscribing to my wireless service. After all, they do have Wall Street accountability to deal with.

 

U.S. Post Office Customer Service

Here I go again with another rant that you probably won't care about. It's about our fabulous Postal System. If you are a fan the U.S. Post Office or don't like really long posts, you might want to stop reading now.

Here's a little background. For years I have lived in a town where the mailboxes are out at the curb. The type where the hard working mail person doesn't have to leave her vehicle to deliver the mail. On more occasions than I can count, I have come home after it has been raining and a package is sitting on the post, completely soaked. I have complained about this and I usually get the standard response, "your mailbox needs to be of sufficient size to accommodate your mail." I'm not going to go into this side issue but sometimes I would need a 55 gallon drum to "accommodate my mail."

I have also had to put up with the mail being delivered anywhere from 11 AM to 5 PM. I believe my mail person fancies a good garage sale. Usually the mail arrives closer to 5 PM when there are a bunch of garage sales in the neighborhood. I always know when there is a substitute delivery person. My packages are sitting at my back door and the mail comes before noon. This is another thing that I have complained about with no resolution. You need to understand something before I go on. I am not one of those chronic complainers. I usually can put up with a lot before something gets mentioned.

Anyway, back the situation that thrust this rant onto The Big Bald Blog. My mailbox got hit last week and broke the post off. I propped it up with 2 steel posts until I could get around to fixing it. It seems that the post was leaning a little too much, and my mail person, being the pleasant person she is, notified me in a very nasty handwritten note that I had to fix the post or run the risk of my mail being held. It seems that she had lean a little bit and reach a few inches further to actually get the mail in the box. Apparently this was too much work.

The problem is, I share the post with 3 other mail boxes on the opposite side of the street. I wanted to find out if I could move my mailbox to my side of the road. The others that share the post with me also wanted to have their own post by their house.

On Sunday, I knew I would have some free time. I could run to the local Home Depot and grab the supplies needed for the repair. I begin my investigation on the proper height and placement of a mailbox. Of course I started my research with the U.S. Post Office's website. You would think that the information would be readily available on the their site. After about 20 minutes of searching, do you think that I could find anything on the subject? There were several blogs that had information about it, but the information was for another state. The U.S. Post Office's website indicated that I would need to check with my local post office for the regulations.

I called Sunday, assuming they would NOT be open, hoping that they would have some information available via recorded message. Nope - It just said leave a message and listed their retail hours. Oh Yes, I forgot about their retail hours. I must digress here. Normally the term retail hours conjures up a notion of extended hours to accommodate shoppers. Not the U.S. Postal Service. 9 to 11 and 12 to 5. The USPS has retail hours that are inaccessible to those who actually work for a living.

OK, back to the picture I am trying to paint. I leave a message and decide that I truly have no hope of anyone calling me back, so I decide to go down to the post office. I get down there and fill the postal worker in on my story. The person behind the counter says, "You will need to call regional office to get that information." I thought he was kidding me. I asked, "Can't you just give me the information?" After all he was the "local" post office. He writes the number down on a Post-It and sends me on my way. I get to the office, look at the number on the official government document (the Post-It) and have no choice but to give the number a call.

A very unpleasant person answers, "Post Office"

Me- "I have a question about the regulations on mail boxes."

Post Office - "What do you need" - Yes he actually said "What do you need."

Me - "My mailbox was hit and I need to replace it, can you give me the proper dimensions for the height?"

Post Office - "The bottom of the box has to be exactly 42 inches from the street and it can not protrude into the street."

Me - "Exactly 42 inches?" (I may have to hire a survey crew to ensure proper height)

Post office - "YES!"

Me - "OK, next question"

Post Office - sighs

Me - "I would like to move my...."

Post Office - (interrupts) "You can't move your mail box!"

Me - "Why"

Post Office - "That's just the way it is and it's been there for years, what else do you need?"

Me - "Uhhh nothing I guess. Thanks for your.....(click)"

At this point I want to call his manager's manager and lay into someone. But then I figure, what good will it do. After years of experiencing a "don't care, don't help" attitude from this great division of our Government, I figured it would be an exercise in futility.

Years ago I was in the back room of the main post office and there was a banner hanging on the wall. It said something to the effect, "UPS claims that the USPS would never be able to survive in a truly free and competitive environment. Let's prove them wrong!"

Wow, I couldn't agree more. Since we have no choice on who delivers our mail, we have to put up with poor attitudes and poor customer service. This, of course, is why I will choose FedEx or UPS any day of the week over the USPS when I am going to ship something significant. I WOULD like to see the U.S. Postal service try and compete with the other carriers in a true competitive situation. If business owners provided the same terrible customer service and ran their business like the USPS, they wouldn't be in business long.

Well, that's about all I needed to say. If you read this far without bailing, I am curious to see what your opinions are? Let me know your thoughts.

 

I Like My Cow Well Done

Yesterday I wrote about the contest that JohnCow.com is having. Needless to say it's a nice prize package for the winner.

Then I really got to looking at the new site design. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a very well done blog design. From the illustrated header to the clean navigation, it has all been done extremely well. I don't know if I have seen a better blog design yet. As far as general design goes, hands down, the hottest thing on the web is 2 Advanced Studios 4th generation site. It doesn't get any better than that. Frankly I wish I could design like that, luckily I have an art department to fall back on.

At John Cow, not only are the posts witty and well written, but the subtle and sometimes blatant digs at "The Big Beef" make me chuckle. I think that, deep down, the "other John" likes what is happening here. After all, he does link to and talk about "The Cow" quite a bit.

The thing I like most are the little details. The "herd" of cow spotted sports cars (dig), the custom RSS button, the grass in the newsletter sign up box, the tag line, the search box, how the sponsor box is laid on the 2nd column, the footer and the secondary navigation.

I have been reading this blog from, just about, day one. Having only been up since July 1st of 2007 they are getting some serious traffic. That's quite an accomplishment for being online just shy of 4 months. OK fine I am jealous of that. I mean seriously, 67,000 unique visitors with over 470,000 page views. Holy Cow man!

But hey, you gotta give credit where credit is due. Kudos to the Cow and congratulation on a job well done.

 

Contest Time!

The infamous John Cow just unveiled his new look. Quite impressive I must say. Anyway he is running a new contest.

What's at stake? You can win a copy of Seth Godin's best seller, The Purple Cow, A copy of Aaron Wall's SEO Book, and a 3 month membership to Yaro Starak's acclaimed blogging program.

Go check it out, what have you got to loose!

 

Eye Tracking - What A User Is Looking At.

What are people looking at when they are on your website? I just read a new study on eye tracking in relationship to websites. This has always been an area of interest for me. Years ago they did this same type of study with drivers. They would track where a driver was looking as they were going down the road in order to improve sign placement. Today, similar technology is used to track where a person's eyes are focused when they are viewing a website.

So what are people looking at when they are on your site? "Using statistical analysis and eye tracking data across a broad-spectrum demographic provides the researcher with numerical sums based on number of observations and length of observations of different elements on any site page." Yeah, OK, so what did they find out?

"Single-variant testing is the simplest to initiate and track. However it's time-consuming and may lead to unsubstantiated conclusions. Multi-variant testing is a more efficient means of determining which site appearances and features deliver optimum results, i.e. the highest conversion rate." Uhhhhh OK, so what did they find out?

"However, multi-variant testing is more complex than changing a single variable and waiting to gather the A/B test results. It could take months to optimize a site for conversion. Further, single-variant testing often requires the tester to make certain assumptions that may or may not be true." YAwnnnnn - OK, this is getting pretty tiresome. Can't I just read the last page to see the results? NO I can't because the report concluded nothing about what people are looking at. In fact it went on and on just like the excerpts above do. All it did was go on about the proper methods of measuring and how to establish baselines. What a total waste of my time. They owe me money or something! Talk about link bait.

Anyway here's what other researchers have found and can pretty much be summed up in a few bullet points.

• Top left 1/4 of the screen is prime real estate
• If you want people to read and not scan, use smaller fonts
• Headlines make or break articles as well as click trough rates
  
• Users overwhelmingly look at a website is an "F" pattern

Here's a great video from YouTube showing a typical eye tracking test. Seth Godin also has a video of an eye tracking session on his website.

Looking at these videos, it gives you a better understanding on how people browse. Like Seth says, "...websurfing is a hunting activity." You need to make sure that what you have to offer is readily available to the hunters.

 

Dial-Up Is Better?

J.D. Power and Associates just release a new Internet customer satisfaction study yesterday.

The study surveyed Internet users to determine if they are happy with their current ISP. The findings were pretty shocking. Overall, dial up customers reported a higher level of satisfaction versus high speed subscribers. Customer satisfaction of high-speed users has steadily declined since 2006

So I wasn't the only one disgruntled with my high speed connection. Recently I switched from a cable provider to a DSL service and am much happier. The broadband internet that I had would fluctuate so severely that, often times, I would get speeds as slow as 800k down. I did battle with the cable company for 8 months with no resolution. I was paying $60 a month for speeds slower than the slowest DSL. They couldn't understand why I was so upset. I should have been getting between 3.5 and 5 mbps. After all, I DID have a cable modem. My DSL, although slower, runs at a consistent 1.8m down. I couldn't be happier.

"The cost of high-speed Internet is up nearly $2 per month since 2006" with no significant increase in speeds. "Yet dial-up service costs have dipped $0.12, averaging $17.81. As long as high- speed Internet prices continue to rise and dial-up providers offer a viable level of service at a low price point, significant market opportunity will continue to exist for dial-up service."

“Although high-speed subscriptions continue to increase annually—to 65 percent of the market in 2007—more than one-third (35%) of Internet service subscribers still use a dial-up service,” said Frank Perazzini, director of telecommunications at J.D. Power and Associates.

The study also found that Internet service subscribers are more likely to use other Web-based email from a third-party provider, such as Google Gmail, MSN Hotmail, Yahoo Mail or AOL Mail, as their main email service instead of the email from their ISP. This is due in part to a subscribers ability to change their ISP without loosing a long-standing email address.

Interestingly, not one of the classified regions in the study ranked AOL in the top dial up providers. No KIDDING!?! Those of you who have heard the AOHell phone call from Vincent Ferrari you know the pain that someone can go through with AOL.

 

So You Want To Start A Blog?

As daunting as it sounds, anyone can start a blog. If I can do it, so can you. Someone looking to start a blog can almost drown in the sea of options out there. Keep in mind, there are many people in the blogosphere that are WAY more knowledgeable than I am on the topic. However, with the understanding that I am an amateur, there are a couple of thing that I have picked up in the short time that I have been doing this. As you consider starting a blog, there are some questions that you need to ask yourself.

• What do you want to accomplish with your blog?
• Who are you targeting with your blog?
  
• Do you want to make money with your blog or "monetize" it?
• If so, what are the best sources of income for your blog?
  
• What blogging software do you want to use?
• How are you going to promote your blog?
• How do I promote my RSS feed?
  
• What are the best places to let people know about your blog?
• Do I host my own blog or use a free service?
  

The list of questions literally goes on and on. Here are a few things that I have learned.

Listen to the pros. Read blogs by "A list" Bloggers. People like John Chow and his making money online blog is a great source of knowledge. Darren Rowse from ProBlogger and Mark from ProBloggers Matrix provide useful information on what it takes to effective get your blog off the ground. Another great site is Jeremy Schoemaker over at Shoemoney. Take a look at it if you are interested in making money and promoting your blog. This guy has made some serious money with his blog. One great example of a start-up blog is Ben Cook's Blogging Experiment. He is chronicling his 365 day blogging journey with the goal of making it his full time job within a year. Ben's blog is definitely worth checking out.

Update your blog. If you are going to dive into the blogosphere, you have to blog. Updating your site regularly is key. Make sure you have the time and are willing to commit for the long haul. Blogging isn't worth doing if no one is reading what you have to say. Regular updating equals readers. Write something everyday. Before you know it you will have a large list of posts that, if your lucky, may get referenced on other sites. Also, make it easy for your readers to subscribe to your blog. Remember, search engines AND subscribers love fresh content.

Get Involved. Involvement can take on many different forms. Contribute to other blogs and encourage comments on your site. Like Mark over at ProBloggers Matrix says, "Not only is it important to comment on other blogs within and outside of your niche, but it’s important to respond to comments on your own blog. Participate in the conversation! ENGAGE the other commenters if possible!" You also need to play an active role in promoting your site on the various social sites like Reddit, Digg and StumbleUpon. These type of sites can send large amounts of traffic to your site if you have a post that others see as interesting.

Honestly, there is so much information available out there, much more than can be covered in this short post. Unique Post URL's, anchor text, post disclosure, link baiting, paid links and the "no-follow" rule among other topics are all things you will need to take a look at if you are going to be serious about blogging.

These were just a few topics off the top of my head. Do your research and, like myself, realize that you have a lot to learn. Darren Rowse over a ProBlogger recently ran a series called 31 Days to Building a Better Blog. This is a must read for anyone looking to start a blog.

On a side note, thanks to Mark over at ProBloggers Matrix for the link love.

 

Problem With Crocs? - The Off Topic Post for the Month

This last year people started wearing these ugly, colored hard foam shoes called Crocs. For those of you old enough to remember, this recent trend is somewhat reminiscent of the 80's fashion flop "The Jelly Shoe."

I just read on Time's website that people who are wearing the footwear phenomenon, Crocs, are having problems with escalators. "One of the nation's largest subway systems — the Washington Metro — has even posted ads warning riders about wearing such shoes on its moving stairways." Here's the the funny part, they actually have a name for new problem - "shoe entrapments." "The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said escalator accidents caused more than 10,000 injuries last year, but the agency has few records of specific shoe problems. Only two shoe entrapments have been reported by consumers since the beginning of 2006. During the past two years, so-called "shoe entrapments" in the Washington subway have gone from being relatively rare to happening four or five times a week in the summer..."

Not only are people having problems with escalators but apparently, in Sweeden, some hospitals want to ban Crocs due to their uncanny ability to build up a static charge and knock out medical equipment.

I don't know why this was so interesting to me. It just struck me as funny. So much press on such an insignificant thing. I can just hear it now, the movie title being read by the famous "movie trailer guy" Don LaFontaine - The Summer of Crock - A Podiatric Plague

So what's the point you ask as I sit here and chuckle to myself? I don't know, but now you have a reason to think it through if you are going to get yourself a new pair of Crocs.

 

Who Should Build Your Website?

I took Friday off and went to God's country in northern Wisconsin to unplug and unwind. This is a picture taken from the deck of the place we went to. I just love it up there!

Anyway, I took some friends with me and, inevitably, the topic of websites came up. One of my friends said, "I am thinking about getting started on a website." We talked about cost, hosting, cost, content, cost, and a mess of other things including why it costs so much to get a "good" website. Obviously he kept getting hung up on the costs. Knowing him like I do, he will find "some guy that knows someone, that works out of his basement, that can do a site for cheap"

I can't tell you how often I have heard someone say, "I know this college kid that is going to build me a website for $500.00, OR I think I'm going to build my own site on Yahoo. At that point, I am torn between saying "Go for it" and educating them about the street called, "Colossal Mistake Ave."

Not building a site with a free or templated service is pretty much common sense to those of us in the business. Dawud Miracle has a pretty good post about owning your own website.

OK fine, so a 20 year old kid in college may know how to code or build a web site using a one of the many WYSIWYG editors available today, but what does he know about business in general or about marketing your company?

Can he or she write the site content? Creating compelling copy that sells your products is essential to online success.

The only reason I bring this up is that we are in the process of building a website for a company that has done the $600 build TWICE now. The worst thing about their last 2 versions was, even if you knew the name of the company, you couldn't find it through a search. Both times the site was built by the lowest bidding college kid that knew a little flash, some html and thought that Front Page was the greatest thing since the invention of "beer pong".

Just remember, good design, good content and forward market thinking is what contributes to the success of your site. Pony up the dough and get your site done right, the first time. The sweetness of the low price is long forgotten when the bitterness of no results is realized.

 

Firefox - 400 Million Downloads Later

In November of 2004, Firefox began it's grassroots campaign to build a better, faster and safer web browser. Nearly 3 years later, the proud little fox is boasting a record 400 million downloads.

Currently there are estimates that Firefox has a market share of 17.5 percent to 25 percent depending on who is doing the reporting. Microsoft is still the leader of the browser market with 63.9 percent but Firefox is steadily gaining ground. Contrary to these figures, as of today, my site stats are showing Firefox users have hit this site 2264 times so far this month with IE coming in second at 2071. The balance of browsers being Netscape, Safari, Mozilla, Konqueror, Galeon and Opera with 69, 59, 58, 21, 11 and 11 hits respectively.

With a host of plugins available and features that were ahead of the IE curve, Firefox's stable platform will no doubt continue as the preferred browser by those who have tried it. Now all that needs to be done is to get Dell and other manufacturers to deliver Firefox equipped computers.

Congratulations Firefox!

 

Viral Marketing Part 3

I "Stumbled Upon" this image somewhere out in cyberspace. How funny is this?

My recent posts Viral Marketing-Part 1 and Viral Marketing-Part 2 talk about the impact that this type of marketing has on the way information is spread. Then a report came out from Jupiter Research saying how viral marketing is not working anymore. So miserable were the reported results of targeted viral campaigns that "only 15% of viral campaigns in the past year achieved the goal of prompting consumers to promote the marketer's message."

The report laid out the demographics most likely to spread messages, the impact of social media, and a host of other factors that contribute to viral marketing and why it isn't working.

HOLD ON A MINUTE HERE!

This isn't what viral marketing is all about. Viral marketing happens all on it's own. You can't force it. Like Seth Godin says: "True viral marketing happens not when the marketer plans for it or targets bloggers or skateboarders or pirates with goatees, but when the item/service/event is worth talking about." AND, it's going to happen whether you want it to or not. South Carolina's Miss Teen contestant is a prime example with over 14 million views during the past several weeks. Given that kind of exposure, I'm sure she's wanting a "do-over." There was no marketing, no strategic planning, it just happened and people spread the message.

But these are the consequences of something that goes "viral." Those who know the story behind the "Star Wars Kid" understand what I am talking about.

Don't try and take shortcuts in marketing. Market to people that are listening and are fans of your product or service. Make you message extraordinary and people will listen. Identify what you do and your unique selling point and you will do more good than trying to force people to talk about you.

 

It's Nice To Live In America - Chinese Censorship

An article on Cnet Asia reports that an entire data center was shut down by the Chinese Government. This action due to a few blogs that reportedly contained anti-political content.

Numerous business with sites hosted on the data center's server were being effected. RFA reports: "Participatory Web sites, forums, and blogging platforms came under strict new rules last week. But in an unprecedented move, the authorities have begun switching off entire Internet data centers (IDCs), which are home to thousands of servers.

This means that if one site doesn't meet government approval, because it contains pornography or politically sensitive material, all are taken offline. Of the 10,000 affected web sites, many of them are government and business web sites. "

It seems that the Chinese Government would rather close down thousands of web sites that are conforming to the strict political policies than allow a single blog post containing what the government has deemed as illegal information.

Regardless of your political stance, Conservative or liberal, religious or atheist, you would have to agree it's better living in the U.S. I may not agree with you on many different levels, but I still respect your right to express your opinion. And due to the fact that I have this platform for expressing my opinion, here comes one now.

Today is 9/11. This date means different things to so many. To me it is the anniversary of a senseless attack initiated by a group of radical, mixed up idiots who value death and destruction over acceptance and compassion. The same people who came to this country, exploited it's freedoms and attempted to crush our resolve. Take a moment today and remember those that were lost in the worst attack on America since Pearl Harbor.

Freedom of speech, oh how often we take it for granted.

 

Taxing The Internet?

Expiring in November, the Internet Tax moratorium is receiving a lot of industry attention. "The current Internet tax moratorium is one policy that Congress has enacted to help make the internet a universally accessible, free, and open platform capable of delivering a rich variety of services to consumers." - From Google's Public Policy Blog

Amazon.com, Yahoo, eBay and Google are joining forces with the crew at Don't Tax Our Web
a group that is dedicated to 3 main principles:

"1. Keeping Internet access services free of all federal, state and local transaction taxes;

2. Preventing the imposition of duplicative and discriminatory taxes on e-commerce; and

3. Avoiding the imposition of hidden taxes on consumers of Internet access."

The moratorium currently in place "...prohibits three things: state and local taxation of Internet access, multiple taxes on a single e-commerce transaction, and taxes that discriminate against online transactions."

Google's public policy blog states: "Keeping Internet access tax-free is also another way that government can help further the growth of the web to all corners of the U.S. At a time when American policymakers are working to increase broadband penetration rates and improve the quality of broadband services to consumers, we believe that increasing barriers to access -- whether they are created by the government or by the private sector -- will only frustrate our common goal of greater access to better broadband for all consumers."

OK, here's my 2 cents worth. Google and all the other major players in the Internet game are all for the surface issues that stir up instant emotions with the general public. Buzzwords like an "internet tax" will sure get the natives restless, especially when they are paying $60.00 a month for broadband service from the only provider they have to choose from.

But wait! Isn't the cost of Internet the big issue here. What about the slow broadband speed America has to endure compared to the rest of the world? Aren't we really talking about Net Neutrality. You can't pick and choose what element of Net Neutrality you're willing to participate in. You have to support the entire package or not at all. If you are going to promote the non-taxation of the Internet, then you need to be out there lobbying for the expansion of broadband access to US consumers.

Remember the $200 million dollars in tax breaks the telecom industry received for the purposes of developing the infrastructure in the US? Ohhh yeah, they pocketed that money as profits. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why you only have 2 poor choices of Internet access in most locations. This is why your broadband connection only operates at 3.5 down. One could argue, "...that extending the moratorium should come with conditions to motivate investments in technology that will reach more people, including the rural population, with real broadband service.

To Google, AT&T and all the other big players, I say don't cherry pick what you want to support. Be a part of the solution.

What do you think?

 

A Daily Diversion - Just Because

I "Stumbled" upon this site. I am not going to tell you the secret, you will have to figure it out all by yourself. If you have nothing better to do right now you can click the picture to go to the site.
Let me know if you discover the hidden message.

 

Ugly Betty Advertising.

Pictured above is a mall ad for the Ugly Betty Show.

This, my friends, is great advertising. A concept like this is what it takes to grab people's attention and allows them remember your message. I know it is cliche', but you need to think "outside the box" in your marketing efforts. Or better yet, like Seth Godin says, "Thinking outside the box isn't nearly as productive as building a bigger one."

If what you are used to doing is becoming common-place, it's time to evolve your paradigm. Marketing outside your comfort zone, will allow consumers to see your business in a new light.

Out of the box doesn't have to be expensive. Simple dimensional mail campaigns or something like billboard extensions are what makes the difference. Good creative is essential for successful marketing. Without it you run the risk of getting lost is the sea of other advertisers.

Like Albert Einstein said: "Insanity: is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." If what you are doing is working; great! If it's not - build yourself a bigger box and explore all the new space.

 

Simple Marketing Made Simple

I was reading a post over at BizzFlip's blog the the other day. They had some general Do's and Don't by which all business owners should live by.

"The Do's

1) Freely give tees and hats to all friends and family.

2) Spend the extra $50-100 ensuring a quality job on anything with your name on it

3) Always have business cards on hand, you never know who you'll run into.

The Don'ts

1) Don't wear wrinkled shirts w/ logo! Wrinkled shirts=Wrinkled business.

2) Curb your road rage when affiliated with your company logo.

3) Go easy on the "Punch" when wearing your logo at public events."

So simple, you say "yeah of course I do that." But do you? So often we get caught up in the big scheme of marketing that we forget about the little things that we can do. Take for example the travel agent who continues to print is own business cards on the perforated business card sheets with his ink jet printer. Or the small business that refuses to get their own domain in favor of having a website on a URL like:

www.anISPprovider.com/businesspages/~mycompanyname.home.asp.

Spend the extra! The extra doesn't have to be much. If you don't have $150.00 to register a domain and host your site for a year, or you don't want to spend the money to have your business cards professionally done, maybe you shouldn't be in business. Like the guys from BizzFlip say "Spend the extra $50-100 ensuring a quality job on anything with your name on it." Well said gentlemen.

What are the little things that you aren't doing but should be?