Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Almost Too Good; Template TV commercials

I'm a sponge for business periodicals, whether its Forbes or Fortune, and most especially Inc.com. There's an element to print magazines that the 'Net isn't going to replace. I absorb print articles while having coffee on the deck, and when digesting a favorite bottle of wine and watching the sun set. These are quiet times that my laptop isn't designed for, and for me, never will be.

With that said, the latest edition of Inc.com includes a great profile by Darren Dahl of Spot Runner, a company that has been getting lots of traction and deserved buzz for the past year. They've built a brilliant app that any half-witted brick and mortar retailer should embrace---pre-constructed TV commercials AND a menu for media placement in local, regional and national channels, network and cable. Its the idiot's version of Register.com---and is the perfect solution for anyone that aspires to advertise their business via television. And by way---TV advertising is far from dead. TV viewership remains intact, and its going to stay that way, albeit in different structures. So, advertising on TV makes good sense. Do I need to repeat myself? NO. Am I going out on a limb and making this statement, which will be forever memoralized in the world of digital information. NO.

Run the newstand to purchase the June edition, or you can wait until the 20th to access the article on line. If you wait until the 20th, read the article by simply clicking on the link. But don't wait.

If you run a small business, brick and mortar, brick and click, or even just click..this will fit right into your marketing program. If you don't have a marketing program, this is a good way to start!..

By the way, if you get INC.com's latest edition, Norm Brodsky's commentary is inspirational.

Friday, May 12, 2006

Pay Per Call Outranks Pay Per Click on AOL

Absolutely. The internet bubble imploded back at the turn of the century simply because 999 out of the 1000 'ground breaking' companies had no idea of how important the concept of 'customer service' is.
Arguably, too many of those operating e-businesses still don't 'get it' i.e. the importance of having a means where customers can actually speak to a human being, and even more importantly, a human being that is properly trained and capable of providing that personal connection and addressing the needs of the customer ON THE PHONE.

As archaic as this idea might sound, anyone operating a business via the internet MUST build a customer service component into the business model. OK..it costs more...OK...lots of people are getting the hang of shopping carts, click to buy...yadayadayada...and just as many people are being reluctant to do exactly that because of internet security concerns. And don't discount those concerns..for every story you ready about identity theft, there are thousands..yes thousands more that go unpublished.. After all, which website or credit card company wants to publicize the fact that ID theft is a big big problem?? ...Anyway, getting back to pay per call...duh!...I'd much rather pay $1, or even $5, or depending on the price of what I am selling, $10 or $20, for the opportunity to get a trained salesperson on the phone with a customer and close the deal...as opposed to paying .25 or .50 cents to lead someone to my website and hope to God they actually make a purchase.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

OnLine Gambling-Las Vegas is ready to deal

duh....of course everyone was waiting for this...if you can't beat them (with lobbyists), join them and then conquer them....Let's be real--every major US casino enterprise have invested plenty of money in R&D over the past few years, and each one is ready to launch their own branded online casino...but they've been standing pat...until now.....and their opportunity is immense--for every dollar wagered on line, there are 5-10x the amount of potential players, only being held back one big concern--the integrity of the website they are gambling on...when major brand operators enter the marketplace, dozens of smaller, off-shore companies will be hit with a tsunami..bet on it and bank on it


U.S. Casinos Relax Opposition
To Gambling Over the Internet

A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP
April 28, 2006 11:52 a.m.

The main trade group for U.S. casinos called for the creation of a Congressional commission to study whether the online-gambling industry should be regulated, in a move that appears to relax opposition to the practice.

The move by the American Gaming Association comes at a time when Congress is considering several bills that would explicitly ban Internet gambling. The group said that while it officially remains neutral about the pending legislation, it now "strongly supports" a one-year study that would evaluate whether legalizing and regulating the industry would be "a more viable option" than a ban.