Thursday, November 27, 2008
Digital Books – Worthy or worthless?
Just last week my son and I were disagreeing on the value of this type of technology for the newspaper industry. Surprisingly he was in favor of a digital newspaper while I failed to see the value. I felt the local newspapers were missing the point that paper print was dying and they needed to adjust their subscriptions to allow customers to receive their local news online from devices they already had right in their homes. While he felt it would be better to keep the news in the same format it is today just deliver it on an electronic handheld device that is refreshed everyday.
Why would we purchase one of these $400 devices?
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Verizon Storm Launch – Brilliant or botched
The long awaited launch of the new Blackberry Storm happened on November 21, 2008 to lines of people, even an altercation. Demand for the product actually crashed the website and order systems for several hours. There are a dozen different stories regarding what happened and all Verizon can tell their customers is “sorry.”
I have been following the marketing campaign for several months. Verizon used traditional advertising to market the product along with a unique marketing approach which was to tie all of their advertising to a website with a picture of the back of a product. There were no listed features or benefits. Almost no information was shared about the product outside of rumors until two weeks before the launch.
There was two solid months of curiosity and anticipation before the actual launch of a product that only a few saw, touched, or knew much about. That campaign was based on a website, a few emails, and online videos where you heard great things and only saw the back of the product.
What can we take away from this?
- Curiosity is a very strong emotion and curiosity satisfied is opportunity lost. Using a campaign about the next generation of phone and keeping the details secret for months created pent up curiosity for thousands.
- Telling everyone you have plenty of stock when you are not sure of demand is not a good idea. This is what sparked the altercation outside one store when they announced after just one hour that they were out of stock to a hundred people that waited overnight for a phone.
- Lastly, use of the internet, opt-in lists, short videos are all very affective tools to promote a product and keep your prospective customer engaged.
Any thoughts?
Thursday, November 20, 2008
What happened to fast food?
It all started this morning when I ran out of the house to a board meeting forgot my work keys and my healthy choice lunch. So in true American fashion I ran out and grabbed the next best replacement meal which is a fast food double burger, fries and a soda.
Well if you have been to one of these fast food places lately they have become anything but fast. Stopping at 1:30 PM I figured the lunch wave was just about over. Wrong, I think people were still there from the 12:00 rush. There was a line at the drive-thru so I went in and there was a line at the counter.
Immediately I knew this was going to be a problem. Standing there waiting to place my order I was watching the production line, or should I say bottle neck behind the counter. There were plenty of people standing around waiting to distribute food. Two people taking orders and ringing two people waiting to distribute food and one person grabbing drinks. In addition there were the regular people who were there in employee outfits but doing nothing more than walking back and forth. Back behind line of waiting people there was one person assembling sandwiches to order. Hmmm, could that be the issue?
I am no mathematician but if you have one person filling orders for two lines of customers and everything is made to order it stands to reason there may be a delay built in somewhere in that process. As I watch my order being prepared, a milk shake, I ordered for a business associate, was already sitting on the counter melting because the person getting drinks for the front had plenty of time to prepare. My fries which were already placed in the bag were getting cold and the entire process was at a stand still waiting for the one poor sole in the process with the biggest job.
During this whole process there was a win for the company, the gentlemen behind me only ordered a small coffee so he was able to get served and be on his way because the drink person had literally nothing to do anyway with both lines halted.
During this ordeal I was trying to come up with a reason why this company who built its reputation on delivering fast hot food moved away from that model to now deliver slow cold food.
I thought it could be because they were making your food to order and could be more flexible and fresher, but that made no sense because they precook everything and place the food in steam trays so it isn’t fresher and their menu really does not provide for flexibility when you order number 1 through 6. It would make more sense to let the odd person who wanted to vary the burger wait for a few minutes and get everyone else out fast with hot food.
Then I thought it could reduce waste, but when you have lines of people waiting to purchase, at lunch and dinner time how much could be sitting around and need to be thrown away. Again 1 – 6, not a wide range of choices here.
My last thought was to save money – cutting back on preparation staff is a cost savings, but then I saw that mass of people in front of the counter holding food that was either getting cold or melting waiting for the only person in the place actually working hard and I was thinking there goes quality and with it customer so that doesn’t make sense.
I finally figured it out – Corporate thinking. Then it all made sense. There were a bunch of leaders all running around trying to find things to keep the worker-bee busy which creates a bottle neck. So then the leaders have to come up with different ways to resolve the bottle neck. This in turn keeps all of the leader’s busy and employed running in circles trying to make the one worker more productive. After a while they decide that they need to outsource the job and get it done for less because their one worker can’t keep up with demand.
So watch for the next improvement where by your finished meal is shipped in from a country where the pay is significantly less and the employees do not speak our language. Your #1 may end up being #2 and your containers may be painted with lead because it is cheaper and shinier. But hay that is progress…
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Is social networking having an impact?
Over the last few months I have been doing hands on research to see what affect social networking can have on a candidate running for election.
I approached a friend, who decided to run for office for the first time and offered to manage her website and establish social networking sites.
Some positives for the experiment and negatives for the candidate:
- She was relatively unknown in city, small business women who had a few book keeping accounts and worked part time.
- She had never run for office before.
- She was running against another first timer, but his family was well known in the city.
- She was running as a Republican in what was predicted to be an election which would be dominated by the Democratic Party.
The results are now history…
- She already had a website so I updated the format and added widgets to make it sticky (provide a reason for people to return)
- Added a poll to involve guests
- We placed recent updates on the main page to alert visitors of changes
- Included pictures of events
I also created a social networking site on Facebook and created a Twitter Account. The sites were updated at least three times a week to keep them fresh and current.
The results were amazing. Although she lost as a result of the state wide democratic sweep her district had one of the closest races for state representative. All three republican candidates lost the election to their democratic competition in her city. Here is how the results played out: District 22: 30 point spread, District 77: 11 point spread, District 79: 49 point spread. Yes you guessed it my candidate was in district 77 and the only candidate with a website and incorporating social networking tools.
My experiment demonstrated that when you add social networking tools to what you are doing there will be an impact on the results. It is easier for people to find, research, and stay connected with you.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Staying on top
Just about every ISP and web hosting company in the world has turned into Search Engine Optimizers (SEO) overnight and they are promoting the Holly Grail of business – top listings on search engines.
Is this even possible?
Since generally there are only 10-15 listings on the first page of a search engine list, while it is possible, it is not probable. There are millions of websites, thousands of competing pages, and now an SEO on every corner exposing your website based on - wait this is the one I like best - unpublished search engine rules that are constantly changing to keep your page from getting top billing unless it is the most relevant for the search based on those unpublished rules.
Search engine companies like Google are constantly changing the rules to keep companies from getting that top bill which equates to free advertising. Think about it, if you are the top spot, just after their paid advertisements what are the chances you will get a hit? Probably close to 99%. If that is the case then why would someone pay to advertise with them just to get listed a couple a head of you?
One of my clients just grabbed the bate and went with an SEO that guaranteed a first page listing on Google. Why not, it was a guarantee. He ended up on page 3. Not bad, but not what was pitched. When he complained that they did not deliver on their guarantee, he was told it would be up to 3 years before he moved up on the list. 3 years? By then the site will have to be redesigned and he will be starting all over.
First of all is a search engine the real answer or just part of the plan?
It is great to get hits based on a search engine but if you are selling a product or service that can be purchased locally then chances are pretty good those hits will only translate into enhancing the viewers knowledge of the industry and pricing. Why would the viewer buy from you? They don’t know you or your company. You have no credibility with them.
Yes - you can get noticed and create sales regardless of your product or industry.
The real answer is to Promote, Promote, Promote. Get recognized as someone who knows the industry, which will provide the drive for people to visit your website and purchase regardless what your product is.
Products do not sell because they are the best, the cheapest, or even the first to market. They sell because they filled a need and the person who purchased them believes they received value from someone they trusted.
I am not discounting that there are ways to get your website noticed and SEO’s can help you accomplish that. Just avoid the hype and do not get duped into believing that unpaid advertising on a search engine is guaranteed to create a drastic shift in revenue. Unless you are in a pay-per-click environment, which most of us are not.
Friday, August 08, 2008
Words of Wisdom
Words of wisdom I wanted to share:
"There comes a time in everyone's career when you need a new challenge, a new opportunity. You realize that your professional development and your future depend on your willingness to step out of your comfort zone and follow a different path. When the time has come for you to leave... make sure it is for the right reasons. Leave with class, leave with gratitude, leave a legacy!" - Doyle Slayton
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Your connected to a million people in social networks - now what?
I woke up this morning to over 100 new connections in LinkedIn, one of the most difficult websites to build new members. Wow what a great feeling to wake up and be connected to over 100 new people overnight, better yet these new connections opened me up to over 10,000 others that I can more easily connect with since the beginning of August.
A seemingly endless supply of new people, just about all entrepreneurs but without a plan they are just names, pictures, and email addresses. Half the time when someone accepts my invitation I receive nothing back. I always respond I always expose myself to them a second time.
I have just added a group on linked in called The Power of Five. I will be inviting my now over 200 connections to join my group. This will be another exposure.
The group is linked to a social network I just set-up so I can add them to a private social network just for this group. Another exposure to me and my work.
You get the picture. They keep seeing Mike and what I do over and over and over. Marketing by exposures, not spamming.
This is how every company in the world advertises their product. They don't slam their product on the screen and say check this out you will like it. They tell you what it does over and over.
In the world of social networking, YOU are the first product your contact must accept before they will ever listen to your product or company pitch.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Apple's iPhone - Tool or Toy?
With a minimum data contract of $30 per month that was a hefty price to pay for an add on that was never used. It appeared from industry reports that at least half were purchasing simply to have the latest gadget.
While the first iPhone only resulted in a minor impact financially on the entire industry, it did raise the feature bar and competitors clamored for similar or better functionality as the large carriers worried that the next generation of these gadgets could or would result in a huge impact in their business. There is no question that we are not far away from having all of the features and functionality we need to stay connected, give presentations, take orders and generally do business right from the palm of our hand.
Why was the first iPhone not the hit Apple predicted?
While the first iPhones release did ok selling 22 million1 units worldwide between September 30, 2007 and December 29, 2007 according to their website, it did not create the industry buzz that Apple had hoped for and at the time there were no out of inventory issues. It was a large disappointment for those who waited hours in line worried that they would not be able to get their hands on the highly publicized gadget, only to find a few others waiting in line with them and the initial boom over and done within one hour in most retail locations and plenty of iPhones left to go around. No one really pointed their finger at why. It could have been the single carrier AT&T who was already battling for market share held by Sprint and Verizon, the cost of the service, or the high initial release price of the actual device. The fact that Apple dropped the price within the first six months was a clear indication that price was an issue with consumers, but even at this new price point iPhone's were not flying off the shelf.
Apple iPhone 3G is creating the buzz, but maybe not the buzz Apple hoped for...
The recent release of the iPhone 3G was a different story. With Apple reporting over 1 million units2 sold the first day and an almost instant out of stock situation which is creating industry buzz. This time however there is a different buzz and that is the buzz associated with release problems. This next generation iPhone allows users to purchase and download compatible applications expanding the capabilities of the original iPhone offering. But is this a good thing? As we discussed earlier this could bring the device closer to being the holly grail of business tools everyone dreams of but this new flexibility seems to come with a high price tag - dead iPhones. Yes, you guessed it, not all of this software works as planned on the new iPhones and worse some of these releases seem to overwrite the basic phone functions and users are complaining that a software install is leaving the phone inoperable.
The buzz I am finding on message boards, follow me sites like Twitter.com, and personal blogs is more about dissatisfaction with customer support for both companies, AT&T and Apple. People reporting extended wait times for service, complaining about the speed and functionality vs. expense of the data service, and reporting less than positive comments about downloaded applications that either do not work, are not as functional as advertised, or damaged the phone.
It will be interesting over the next couple of months how this will turn out.
So now you decide, is the iPhone a tool or toy? With over 50% of these devices being used for music and gaming I say high tech Toy. Please take my readers poll on this page and let me know how you feel.
1 Source http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/01/22results.html
2 Source http://www.apple.com/pr/pr/library/2008/07/14iphone.html
Monday, August 04, 2008
Five ways to double your exposure online starting today (The Power of Five System)
Already online with millions of other people on a social network but you feel like no one knows you are there? Chances are they don't. The problem is you are on a site with millions of other people so you have to put yourself out there over and over to get attention.
Here are five easy tips to help you double your exposure starting today:
- Respond to every new friend connection, even if you initiated it. A simple thank you and check out my site is a second contact and possibly another hit on your page or website.
- Post and respond to online Q & A's, forums and group posts. Positive, Negative or controversial make sure the people reading those links can see a your page. Social Networks already provide this link for you.
- Post a blog several times a week, even if it is about your day. Keep in mind the boss could see your page so you should be careful what you say about your significant other... But seriously this is great exposure as a blog gets picked up by search engines over time. As with friend requests, respond to new comments on your blog.
- Add your social network link or website link to your email signature. Instead of just closing an email with your name and phone number add a social contact site or website. If that email is forwarded so is your link.
- Use sharing sites like DIGG , del.icio.us and Twitter to gain additional exposure. These sites help you gain exposure by putting you in front of more people.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Five ways to improve your profile to promote yourself online (The Power of Five System)

Five ways to improve your profile to promote yourself online (The Power of Five System):
- Place a picture of yourself on your profile. Add pictures of trips, events, activities, family. People connect better with people than products. The most successful sales and business people got there by connecting and networking with people.
- Your About should be about you not about what you want people to do. Add your background, history, experience, resume.
- Include your interests, books, movies, TV, etc. These are generally links and are used as part of the search function. Keep this up to date. It will help people connect with you.
- Set up your top friends with top friends. It is great if authors and famous people accepted your friend invitation but they accept everyone's friend invitation. They should not be in your top friends list since you probably do not know them personally.
- Create a BLOG which is real. The word blog stands for online log (personal journal). You can write about anything, but this is not a place to further define your business or products.
In conclusion, setting up your profile as a billboard for your business and then expecting real people, who do not know you, to connect with who you are and what you do will rarely happen. If you want to sell this way then you need to create a big budget and purchase advertising, not invite people to meet you and then switch up and try to hook them into a sales advertisement.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Ran one to many lights?
Answer at the end of this post...
It simply amazes me the risks that people take in their lives with their valuables. How little regard they have for the items of most value and what high regard they have for their items of least value.
What is truly mind boggling is these same folks will risk their entire existence to save a couple of minutes at a stop light, but won't risk a couple of hundred dollars and a few hours a week to never have to rush any place ever again.
Background on this article: It has always amazed me how much risk people take with themselves and their vehicle. They race around to save five minutes, cutting off traffic and running red lights with the most important and expensive tool they own. Without there car they probably can't easily get to work to pay their bills and worse the automobile has been shown to be the leading cause of death in this country. I was heading back home this afternoon and as my light turned green I watched as that one last car ran the red light crossing traffic so not to have to wait a couple of minutes for the next light change.
The irony is his vehicle already had front end damage where he had appeared to have performed this time saving stunt one too many times before.
This picture says it all...
Hmmm No time savings here
Friday, August 01, 2008
Great Expectation
Wednesday evening my family and I sat down for a nice family dinner and the conversation transitioned to a recent movie release which everyone at the table had already viewed except for me. The conversation started with each declaring the movie one of the best they had ever seen and informing me that I should take the time to view it in the movies.
Without going into a lot of detail, not to spoil it for me, they started to compare different scenes of the movie which had the most impact on them. The longer they discussed the movie the conversation strangely transitioned what what they loved about the movie to what they did not like. At the same time the movie went from great to good. One commented to another that a scene was rather odd to them and another said they kept thinking the movie was going to end but then would continue on.
By the end of the conversation they found that they shared opinions and then one came up with the conclusion that there was so much hype surrounding the movie before it was released they already had the pre-conceived opinion that this was going to be the best movie of the year, maybe of all time. After seeing the movie and comparing opinions with each other they felt differently which brought the actual movie down a couple of notches on their best ever scale.
While each had things about the movie they did not like they fell back on the hype which was this was one of the greatest movies of all time. Even though they shared opinions like the movie could have been shorter, they kept them quiet not to go against what they felt was popular opinion.
We see this in business all the time. We wonder why a vehicle, with a lower safety rating and fewer features sells better. Why people eat at a restaurant which serves lower quality food but advertises everywhere, or spends twice as much for a caffeinated confection at the "in" coffee place.
It is all about the buzz. It is all about the perception that what they are offering is better, in style, popular.
How can you make your company and product fit this bill?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
What does your conversation sound like to them?
When we start talking about what we are doing in the business and how the business is going to change our lives and our prospect loses focus and never connects what their part in your master plan. Your conversation comes across more like a news report than an invitation.
It is critical that you share your excitement but more important that you do it in a way that keeps your prospect connected.
Here are five ways to keep your prospects interest and build their dream:
-
Share your story and then ask for theirs. What are their dreams? If the prospect can't come up with something ask for specifics.
Would you like to:
- quit your job?
- upgrade your home or car?
- take Vacations?
- have money for retirement? have more time freedom? When you present details about the product or company ask what they like or dislike about what they just heard.
Obtain important details like:
- How soon would they be looking to get involved,
- Would there be anyone else involved in the decision process,
- how much additional income would allow them to live comfortably each month.Ask pointed questions about their current situation. What do they like and dislike about what they are doing today. Do they like their boss, benefits, retirement, co-workers
Last suggestion is help them dream. Try something like: "If I can show you a way to help you get _________ and change ___________ and you could do it without without risking what you have today would you be interested?"
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Five Steps to connect with people online (The Power of Five System)
The biggest mistake networkers make is trying to make one contact and close a sale online. It is one thing if someone finds your site, gets excited, and orders, it is a completely different dynamic when you contact a prospect and try to hard sell them on you and your product before they get to know who you are.
We have found the following to be effective ways to find and qualify new prospects online:
- Search - Use the power of the internet to search for people with like interests. Those interests do not have to relate to your business in any way. The search should be based on a conversation starter and not a sales pitch.
- Invite - Invite that person to be a friend, contact, etc. Many sites allow you to invite with a message, which can help you get a better result on your invites. Let them know why or how you found them.
- Connect - Once your prospect accepts your friend request start a conversation
- Qualify - Remain in control of the conversation by asking questions which will result in specific answers. Is this person right for your business and someone you want to work with?
- Follow-up - Keep your contacts close. When you make a contact use the philosophy that: Some will, some won't, but today is just one day. Today may not be the best day for someone to decide to join your company or purchase your product. You never know when the right time will be for this person to take a second look at your business. The biggest mistake in marketing is not following up on past contacts. Each new qualified contact should be treated like an uncut diamond.
Michael Zimmer is the author of the Power of Five System, 5 lessons every Entrepreneur should know about building a Multi-Million Dollar Network.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Did you give them a chance? (Five ways to get results for your efforts - The Power of Five)
Something that happened to me personally inspired this thought. I was headed off to a phone conference, met with my client who scheduled the call only to find out I was an hour early. I rushed out for nothing because I did not spend the time to read the email through. The email said 9:00 AM Central time, not 9:00 AM Eastern time. In my rush to get to the next thing I glazed over the email, scheduled the call in my planner and moved on. The client was shocked to see me an hour before the meeting and thought I was there for another reason.
If you are having an issue getting prospects to meet with you chances are you or they are doing the same thing. Rushing to get onto the next thing, whatever it is and not properly sharing or receiving the message. Help your prospect make an informed decision.
Here are a 5 ways to help you avoid rushing people to a decision:
- Approach with excitement, not with details.
- Invite them to a meeting, one-on-one, phone, web-conference. Invite without losing control: "If I set up a time for us to meet are you serious enough to attend? This is serious and I can't waste time."
- Confirm your appointment - Confirm with conviction: (Just like your doctor): "I am following up on our meeting tomorrow. Are you still planning to attend ? My schedule is filling up (conference call is filling up) and if you cancel I am not sure when I can get you back in, it will probably be a couple of weeks."
- Never answer questions before your meeting. Regardless what the question is, let them know that all of their questions will be answered when you meet. You can give them many reasons for this but the best ones are: You have a partner and they can better answer the questions or They have to see it for themselves, you don't want to ruin it for them, etc.
- Work with your upline, sideline, downline. Having a second person who is also involved with the business available, even if it is over the phone or internet, helps the person see that this is more than they thought.
Michael Zimmer is the author of the Power of Five System, 5 lessons every Entrepreneur should know about building a Multi-Million Dollar Network.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
How do you know you want me in your business?
We are constantly trying to recruit everyone and anyone and then we wonder why most people are not interested.
The reason is simple, people want what is just outside of their reach. They want to be involved with something special. They want to learn and grow.
If you are offering something that anyone can do and anyone can get involved in, then why would anyone want to be part of it?
This is the real secret to enrolling new people quickly: Make it special, make it limited, and stop trying to recruit just anyone. Honestly, what you are offering is a new life, a better life, a better product, and a way out. You are offering someone unlimited income and time freedom.
Treat this business like you are cutting checks for a billion dollars to each person who you enroll. Would you just give your money away to anyone?
Would you qualify that person to ensure that they are worthy of your billion dollars before you cut the check?
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Real Secret
There is only one secret to business and it is making contact with people and forming relationships with those people. If you are not social and not willing to change then you can not survive in direct sales. I don't care what system you use. Being successful in this or any business is more about forming relationships and less about selling DVD's, products, leads, or systems.- It doesn't matter that 90% or more quit, in fact it forces companies to pay better. If the compensation plan is good then all you need is 5 personally sponsored people working the duplication model to create substantial income.
- It doesn't matter if your family or friends are contacted. Why would you not share what you are doing with the people you love and hang out with.
- Top leaders are not harboring a secret way of doing the business. It makes no sense that they would not teach you to build the business the same way they do so you create income. After all they share your income so of course they want you to be successful.
If you are truly interested in being successful in business then look for a real product, a reputable company, and a team of people willing to help you learn the business.
You do not need to buy leads, buy special programs, or invest big money in websites. Chances are you already own everything you need if you are viewing this message - your voice, a phone, and a computer.
Five ways to attract new people to your business that cost next to nothing
- Person to Person invite – Personal referrals are the most powerful way to attract a new person. People want to connect with people, not products or services. Make a connection by inviting the person out for coffee or someplace social before you begin to speak about your product or business.
- Social Networking – Use the power of online social networks to attract new people. You are searching for a variety of new prospects that have like interests. Avoid focusing on one group and avoid only attempting to attract other people already in your industry.
- Blogging/forums/Email – Attract people to you by sharing your message. It doesn’t matter what you write as long as it is entertaining and engaging. Placing an advertisement on a blog site is not blogging. Express yourself.
- Conference Calls/Live Events – Put the power of having partners to work for you in building your business. Information coming from other people also involved in your business builds credibility for your business.
- Fishbowl Leads - Use a plastic fish bowl or other container to collect business card leads at restaurants, health clubs, and stores. Offer some form of monthly prize like a free lunch from the establishment or a special discount. Offer to share the leads and split the cost of the monthly prize for an inexpensive or free-of-charge lead opportunity.
The Power of Five System demonstrates ways to turn a network of five people into a substantial monthly income. The system was designed by Michael Zimmer who is a business and marketing consultant with over 20 years experience. For more information about The Power of Five System he can be contacted directly at mjzimmer@takingmeglobal.com.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
21 ways to make your website or blog sticky
Worth the read: http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/07/18/21-ways-to-make-your-blog-or-website-sticky/
