Quick, name the movie that title came out of! Wallstreet? The Firm? How about Boiler Room? Maybe Glengarry Glenn Ross? Nope, all wrong. It came from Joe Dirt. That may be the only thing I got out of that movie. Well, that, the fact that mullets will now and forever be funny, and a waste of 3 hours. (it was on tv)

 As sad as it is, it;s true. There are a lot of things internally you want to do. Segment the market, harvest emails, sell more to your consumers who bought like products, but at the end of the day, who cares? Your consumer sure doesn't. They have their own needs.

Are you meetings the needs of your consumer? Can you even name all the needs of your consumer? I know I can't, because each of my consumers has different needs. You just have to try your best and realize it's all about them; does this help your consumer or you?. Remember, it's not about your bottom line, it's about theirs. 

Every once and a while, a trend comes along that changes the rules. There are two responses to these trends 1) ignore it 2) fight it and 3) realize it's potential and jump on it. The internet is one of these trends. In fact, the internet even has it's own trends associated with it. However big business still doesn't seem to realize a lot of things about the net. These things are obvious to the consumer, but they defy all that big business knows, and they don't seem too willing to learn.

 1) Unless you sell a product, your web site better be free. Simple enough right? If what I pay for i cannot download or have shipped to me, don't make me pay for it. The internet is about the free exchange of information.

Well, it appears that major TV networks, news organizations, and a few other information sites still doen't seem to understand this philophosy. Sure, they consider the news they provide as a product, i get that; but when was the last time you paid for CNN? Never right? You pay for cable, not CNN itself. So why did CNN think that people would actually pay to see CNN video online? The Post just realized the stupidity of paying for online content, in fact, so did CNN, but why did it take so long? One would think that a business that is supported by ads would just utalize the same concept on the internet.

2) No, you don't need your own social network. Okay, so social networks are the it thing. Web 2.0 and all that. But do we really need memberships at Hey!Neilson, NBC's site, on top of digg, Facebook, and myspace? It seems to me that scattering the market into a million little pieces just makes you loose ground. Why not go to FB or MySpace where your audience already exists?  

3) Just because the .com bubble burst once, deosn't mean it can't happen again. I spend a decent amount of time reading internet marketing blogs. About once a day I read that some random company, usually a new social network or web 2.0 driven site, just recieved $30 million or so on this round of funding.  We are sinking more money into the net now than we did then and guess what, we are going to have the same result. I know what you investors out there are saying: "Well 10 years ago I was dumb enough to sink millions into some 23 year old kids idea that I knew nothing about but promised a good return based on faulty AD supported theories. I won't make that mistake again. I'm going to sink my money into the brain child of someone a bit older and experienced. My new guy is in his early 30's and this is social networking, the new it thing. See how good Facebook is doing?" Well guess what there mr. moneybags, look at the age, it's the same freaking guy and a spin on the same idea. Still ad suppported, still no market, still investing in the faulty promise of a new fad.

4 ) Consumers are smart now. Even four years ago, people had no expectations on the internet. Most people who were above the age of 35 were plain scared to use the internet to buy things. "Won't my credit card get stolen? What about ID Theft?" So when they jumoed online, they found sites they trusted and lived with whatever the site offered.

Well, times have changed now. Four years ago I had to hold my then 62 year old dads hand to make an online purchase or sell on ebay. Now that he's 66, he shops online daily, does research, and sells a lot of old crap from the basement on ebay. So what's my point? Simple, expectations are high now for e-commerce. There has been a set of unwritten standards that consumers subconsiously know. These include the following:

• If the site looks professional, they are a pro outfit and i won't need to worry as much. 
  
• I should be able to see an order history
• I should be able to track my order with UPS or Fedex
• I should be notified whe nthe order is shipped
• I Am going to read reviews on the product before I buy it. If I can read them on your site, i'll buy from you
• I want to pay with paypal or BIll me later or some other credit service
• I want to choose my shipping options because i may need it tomorrow, or I may not be in a hurry.
• I better see product images, and lots of them

SImple enough right? So wh yisn't this standard practice everywhere?

5) Not only is the internet not going anywhere, it's changing society. A lot of people like human interaction. Whether this is face to face or over the phone, people like to be treated on an individual basis. However this is changing. Aside from price, the number one reason people shop online is so they don't get hassled by sales people. This idea can be applied to both the internet and instore policies.

A few weeks ago, I wanted a joystick. So I went online, researched, found prices. I decided i wanted it today, so I went down to Best Buy and bought it. With shipping, it was the same cost to buy instore so whatever. Anyway, I go, get it off the shelf, look at all the LCD's cuz why not, then go to checkout.

As I get to my turn the clerk says "Find everything alright today?" "Sure did" I replied. (what I really wanted to say was "Hell no jackass. One of these days you'll carry a 70in Plasma TV for $500 equipt with full HD with a lifetime full warrenty that covers a replacement if in 20 years I decided to throw it out the window on purpose." But i was nice)   

Anyway, after our exchange of pleasentries, he says "is this all for you?" (i'll save saying exactly the answer in my head, but it was something along the lines of "didn't you kind of just ask that") "Sure is" I said. The rest of our conversation went like this:

BB: Would you like the extended warrenty?

Me: No. 

BB: You sure? It covers if anything at all gets broken. Buttons, the stick itself, the cable

Me: Ya, the answer is still no

BB: do you have a rewards card?

Me: No

BB: Would you like to sign up for one today? IT says you x%

Me: No

BB: would you like to fill out a subscription to Sports Illistrated?

Me: No

BB:  Can I have your phone number?

Me: No

BB: We use it to (Random generic thing)

Me: Still no

BB: Okay, then your total is XX Swipe your card there. 

 Now, I shop online to avoid that crap. I'm not going to say yes. I know the extended warrenty gets used like, 5% of the time and of that 5%, only 20% of the crap reported is covered. So hell no.

My point is this, people who shop online want all the information online. They don't want to call. They don't want to email. They don't want to talk to a sales rep. They don't want to go to your brick and mortar store. They want all the information to make the purchase given to them online, then they want to make that purchase online. End of story. I send you my credit card info, you send me my joystick. Business at it's most simplistic. Maybe this wouldn't be the case if you didn't over burden them in the store, but you did, and they have reacted by going in the opposite direction you want them to go. You added one to many seams in the process. To quote Seth Godin, "Seams help you keep a grip and can be useful" but remember, thats only for the consumer.  

Recently I have had the opportunity to look at a few analytics packages for web sites I work with. In my journey to spend a boat-load of someone else's money on analytics, I find myself getting very irritated at what I am seeing. While this may be my first time having to do a shop and compare on these programs, I do know they cost tens of thousands of dollars. So, I have to ask myself one question; Why on earth would you try to market a product to marketers and not tell them about the product?

 I mean, I'm a marketer too and you want to sell me a marketing package right? Well then market your product to me. These companies seem to be way too head overheals in love with the fact that they can spell Web 2.0 than bothered about what their product does for there customer. What these companies are selling is an idea. That idea is that they know more about  marketing than you. I assume that their thought is if they can prove that, then they can get you to believe that their products are awesome. I mean hey, if they tell you what the longtail is, tell you what web 2.0 is, and what worked for this guy and worked for that guy (even though two totally different things worked) maybe you will buy in to their software.  

I understand that this software costs a lot. I also understand to do anything I need to call a guy and setup meetings etc... all of which I am fine with. However, I would much rather read "our software tracks all sales data, click data, and funnel data so you can see all the habbits of your customers. It also integrates with..." But instead i see "(name removed)...allows you to act on deep insight into the person behind the visitor to drive micro-targeted marketing and online experiences that increase engagement and build loyalty."

 Okay, that tells me you make analytics software, nothing else. Listen, I'm a marketer and i'm proud of it but come on. There is one thing that every marketer needs to know to suceed, everyone is smarter than you. You can't fool them, you can't trick them, and you can't use fancy word play to make them go "ooooo fancy words" to sell them something.

'm a marketer, your a marketer, tell me what marketing benifit your software gives me. Don't tell me it tracks things, tell me exactly what it track, how it installs, and how it works. Because lets be honest, if you are worried about competition, guess what, they already know that information.

In an age where marketing schools teach more math than creativity, analysis is everything, and you've got to be able to tell the age of every person buying your product from your office miles away from the nearest store, it's a wonder people get stuff done. Sure, segmenting the market is good, it can even help sell a few units. But what happened to the most basic principle of marketing: just make it good. The product, the ad, anything.

 You can sit all day and wait for the next epiphany to happen and maybe it will come, but in the mean time, i'm going to be spending a lot less time and money than you are and i'm just going to make my product better. Have fun trying to sell something to people who don't want to buy it. I'll be hitting the golf course with the piece of mind that my product make people come to me.

Refrencing: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/08/21/if-it-looks-like-an-ad-theyre-not-looking-at-it

 Yup! Well, only kind of. See, the thing that these ads bring is brand awareness. It's realitvely hard to slap a price on brand awareness, but what do I mean?

Simple, according to the article, internet users fail to click ads on web sites. This includes banner ads, google ads, etc... Well, all I can say is DUH! This isn't exactly new information for those who pay attention. This has in fact been an ongoing trend for many years now. The reason is because to many people have over-saturated the online advertising market. Every site we go, advertisers throw up a banner. I can't ecen search my favorite online computer parts etailer without seeing ads from manufacutres. I also can't go to my favorite news site with out seeing ads for home loans finding old classmates.

 So yes, we've been trained not to look at them anymore.  Not a big suprise to me, an in fact, i've told clients not to advertise on banners because they are not affective.... unless you are just looking for brand awareness.

So, what does this do for brand awareness? Well, it makes people aware of your products or your brands. Notice how I said I see links for home loans and old classmates. I don't click them, ever. I mean, I have a nice loan and I don't care about old class mates. But I never said I didn't see the ad. I obviously remember they were for home loans and  classmates, and now I will always remember Lending Tree and Classmates.com. So you see, banner and site ads are more like billboards than they were before. Sure, you can click on them and it may lead to a sale, but more importantly, they let people know you exist. 

But at the end of the day when choosing if and where to place banner and on site ads, you just have to ask yourself one thing; Is this where MY customer would be visiting and would they click this link?... the answer to that, could save you a lot of money. 

The internet is a cruel place. It won't forgive a mistake to easily and it won't soon forget that mistake either. The one thing that can help you is a good friend. Friends are those who are there for you when you need them the most. In the internet, a friend is a little different. In fact, an internet friend may cut and run at the first sign of trouble. Therefore, we must all develop strong internet friends who will stay there through out.

How is this possible? Simple! Partnerships.  A partnership is worth a lot in internet marketing. They are as close a form of word of mouth that is possible in a b2b relationship. But what do partnerships bring? Simple, brand awareness and brand credibility. Sometimes the cheap ploy of adding your logo and "Sponsored By:" to the logo of your industries forum can go a long way at generating more traffic. "Who is this company? why do they get to sponsor?"

 This helps add brand equity in the chicken and the egg scenario. You know, the scenario where you are a new site, but no one shops with you because every internet shopper feels safer at the bigger e-commerce sites everyone knows. Subconsciously, you equate form sponsorship or "search brought to you by" or other relationship advertising  with big e-commerce sits because if they advertise, they must be big and serious about what they do.

It really is amazing what you think subconsciously.... for example cheap vs inexpensive. I say cheap you think "poor quality, not made well, cost cutting to be less expensive." Whereas if I say inexpensive, you think "not expensive, good quality at an affordable price," things of that nature. Well, words aren't the only thing you do subconsciously, you also look at every cue you see and analyze the brand in your mind. Crappy web site, hard to find content, message different across medias, no advertising at all, people will think you are a fly by night operation who doesn't have what it takes to compete on the internet... and in fact, they just might be right.

 So remember, your friends will help you gain traffic and indeed sales, so make sure you do what it takes to make friends with other companies all over the internet. I'll blog more about the best ways to do this and stratigies to find the right places to partner with.

In my quest to find web software (CRM's, CMS's, Analytics packages), I have seen a lot of things vendors do that are not only bad marketing practice, but could very eaisly be costing vendors millions in sales each year. These practices are normally not done from lapse of judgement or unqualified marketers, but for other reasons, such as security and privacy. This is a perfect example of where good intentions create actions that work in adverse ways. For that reason, i've comprised a list of things vendors may be currently doing that are in fact bad marketing.

1) No Screenshots  - Okay, this is pretty simple here. You have software you want to sell. You describe it in detail on your site, but you don't offer screen shots of the software. Why? Why on earth would you forego screen shots? Would you create a product to sell in stores and then not photgraph it? Better yet, would you create a product to sell in stores, not show the product itself in advertising, and not stock the shelves with it; just having a sticker that says "Product must be packaged in back. Ask sales associate for pricing info"? I don't think so. 

Screenshots don't cost anything, and people may be turned on by your screen shots and turned off of your lack there of. No screen shots of your software is just something that users won't tolerate.

The major reason for a lack of screen shots is security. These companies don't want to have their competitors see what they are doing, thus hiding it from the rest of us. They want you to contact them, setup a demo, and they control who see's it. They also feel users are more likely to buy if a sales rep can talk the user through the software. Newsflash: If a rep needs to tell me how to use something, then i'm sure as hell not going to buy it. This selling model doesn't work unless your software costs 5 figures + in which case, I must say that you need to re-evaluate your business model, because in a few years you won't be around anymore. Your web software is probably being developed and distributed for free or at a fraction of the cost somewhere else and it's probably also better than yours; and guess what, they have screen shots too.

2) No online Demo  - This goes hand-in-hand with the no screenshots. Your software can be installed on a server, it has an administrator area that's web accessable, why can't i see the demo? I would much rather buy software that I can see first and try out without a scheduled phone interview. If i see it and like it, we'll talk. This is like buying a car. I want to walk the lot on Sunday when the dealer is closed instead of having a sales guy around when I am just browsing. 

 3) Scheduled Demos - In case you were blind while reading 1 and 2, I hate setting up demos. I want to window shop, and lots of studies show that so do most people in America. I don't want to be hassled the first time out of the gate. Neither will your potential customers. In fact, the internet that works survives on one principle; anonymity. I don't want to talk to you, ever! I want to see your product, see your competitiors product, decide for myself what I like, buy it online, and have it so simple to use, I never ever have to talk to you via phone or email. That is what we should all strive for with e-commerce.  If you can create a site and product so simple that you never get one call for support or one call for sales, you will make millions.

4) No Posted Pricing - In some cases this is alright. If you sell software that is re-purposed or re-sold, you don't want end-users to know what your clients pay for it or what their mark-up is. However in the large majority, this is a bogus practice. Not disclosing your prices yells one thing to most people, you are WAY over priced and you feel the only way to sell is to talk to prospects first, reel them in, then slap them with the cost. News flash, your sticker is still shocking even after a 2 hour phone/web demo. But guess what, after 2 hours i'm still not buying and I'm just pissed I wasted 2 hours of my day. In fact, you wasted 2 hours of your day too.

Okay, so this was a partial rant, I know. But if this upsets me, it must upset others. If you take away one thing from this thread it's this: design your site so that no one ever needs to contact you for anything. Post screen shots, post working demos, and post prices. Then, if someone is really interested, setup a way for them to buy online. If they need to call you then for even more information, it's acceptable, but then your salesman's job just got a lot eaiser, because the caller knows the features, knows if they like it, and knows the price. 

This is a post in direct response to this article: http://www.webpronews.com/insiderreports/2007/08/06/do-bloggers-need-to-unionize

Ok, this i don't understand. Why would bloggers need to unionize? Let me say this, from one blogger to another, if you feel you need to be in a union because your blog doesn't support you..... then GET A LIFE! Blogging is NOT a profession. I don't really care who you are. If you blog for your profession, you just lost a LOT of crediblity in my book.

Look, if you are makning a living off blogging, then you obviously don't have the experience in the filed to be blogging about whatever you are blogging about. I don't care what anyone says. I blog, sure, but I also have a full time job and base a lot of my posts off what I did that day and things i've discovered in the online work place. If you are a pro blogger, you are being paid to write partial reviews, or just an arrogant thug who thinks they know a thing or two about the way things are.

Do bloggers need to unionize? HA!  Yeah, and Google and Microsoft need to merge to stay alive too...... riiiiiiight. 

Everyday millions of people try their hand at online business. Everyday millions of people fail at it. So how do you not become one of the failures? The internet is a tough racket, but with a few pointers, you can be well on your way to success.

 1) Treat a web business like opening a brick and mortat store. Some of you may already own a store somewhere, great! But that only means you have the stock sitting around. What would you do if you opened a second location across town? You would order more stock, hire more employees, have a contracotr come in and customize the space, get phone lines, internet connections, utilities, then the all important advertisng campaign so people know you are there. The internet is no different, in fact, the advertising on the internet is way more important because people don't just drive past your site and decide to stop in.

The main purpose of this is to say, set aside the amount of money it would cost to open a second location for a web site. The price for a contractor goes to the cost of the web site, the lease is the hosting, tv/print ads go to online ads, andit would be good to also invest in a 1800 number and hire a person who is 100% devoted to online sales, support, and service. 

2)  Hire someone to make your site look good! Sure, you can do it yourself, or even hire the neighbors kid, but do you really want to trust your onlines business to a 12 year old? Don't get me wrong, believe it or not, when I was 12, i did just that.... but then again, it was in the middle of the .com bubble and people would try anything.

3) Keep your content fresh! You've heard it before, now hear it again; content is king! But more importantly, fresh contentis king. You know that person I told you to hire, make sure they keep the site fresh and updated. Thnigs like monthly or weekly specials, give aways, even contests will help you look more legit. Also, constantly add products and keep your stock updated online. It looks bad if you let someone order something just to have to call them to say it's backordered.

4 ) Spend the money for SSL, BBB, and Hacker Safe style logos. Sure they cost money, maybe even a lot of money, but they make your customers feel better inside. SSL should already be on your site, might as well add the logo. BBB and hacker safe both give customers a more legit feeling. They know you are serious about online business. Believe it or not, all 3 are proven to increase conversion rates, put them together, you may actually see a 14% increase in conversions.

5) Have a solid brand image. There is a little thing called brand equity. Some marketers even use brand value and put a value on it. For example, the Coca-Cola logo and font is supposedly worth $66 billion dollars (heard that in a advertising class). Thats just the value of the logo, as in if i were to buy cokes logo and they changed there name to "Cola", i would be paying $66 Billion for it.

 Regardless, it's easy to recgonzie an unique image and style. I bet if i said Google or YouTube, you can picture their logo in your head. You should brand yourself the same way. Simple, but easy to remember. Make the image worth something too, such as good service or good prices.

6) Just because it works for them doesn't mean it will work for you. The other guys have a blog, but is anyone reading? They have forums, but is anyone posting? They developed a social netowrk, but is anyone joining? The internet is generated by fads, but that doesn't mean you have to fall into them. Just because the other guy does it doesn't mean it will work for you. Find your own niche and don't worry about the other guy. Let him worry about you.  

7) Don't give in. The main reason people fail on the internet is because the don't try hard enough then throw in the towel too soon. Give it as much as you can, and you may even loose a lot of money at first, but keep at it and you will be sucecssful. 

Okay, maybe that last one is a little loaded, but it's principleis true. I have had a few clients who refused to add product to their new sites and didn't want to shell out cash for advertising, no one came, they didn't make anything. So they threw in the towel. However when they shelled out the cash for ads, they generated a few sales, but not enough to break even, but they didn't shell out very much. A little more cash and unique online advertising avenues goes a long way in making you successful. So don't give up unless you can say you did all you could. 

I thought it important to kick off my new blog with a topic that has been on my mind for a long time. Many companies fail on the internet, more than those that fail at starting a new business. In fact, the internet gold rush is over so if you want a place on the net, you have to fight your way to the top.

So, let me tell you why your web site isn't special. Let me guess, you are a business man. You either majored in business in school, have an MBA, maybe even have started a few very successful businesses. Now you have decided to start a web business. You have the goal of being the next top seller of bacon online or something like that.... after all, that is a fairly untapped market... or so you think.

 So now you go through the motions; business plan, startup funding, you even hire a web developer. You call SEO's, get stock, and even hire a store manager. You drop all the cash you need to make an online business. You even read a bog or two about online commerce, web 2.0, and how to stay ahead of the game. You pass this info to the necessary parties and focus on your other businesses as well.

So, why aren't you successful? or at least as successful as you invisioned. Afterall, you were gonna be the Myspace of bacon. The answer is simple, your site isn't special. I know, not very desciptive. Lets try again, YOUR SITE ISN'T SPECIAL! Okay, i know, now i'm just being rude. Let me tell you why your site isn't special.

Lets look at the top of the food chain... you. You are not qualified to own an online business. The main reason, you're a business person. I know, sounds counter intuitive, but let me explain. Your a business person, not a visonary. You look at the bottom line and how to make a buck. What you don't care about is bringing quality bacon to consumers all around the world.  Lets look at the history of the internet. Bill gates, visionary :Steve Jobs, visionary, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) visionary, Tom (myspace) visionary, Jeff Bezios (amazon) visionary, the google guys, the ebay guys, the pay pal guys, the youtube guys.... all of them visionary. 

Granted all of those guys wanted and did make a buck.... or 100 billion.... but they did it by caring about their product and their consumer. They did what they can to make sure people stuck around and bought their stuff... not because people should buy there stuff, but because they knew what their customers wanted and they gave it to them. Thats the difference between them and you. You get into business to make a buck, they get into it to change the world with their ideas.... and they do.

 So, put your business plans down, find what you are passionate about, whether a hobby or a business, and see what people want, create a vision, and do what it takes to change the world. The money will soon follow.