O marketing multinível

Marketing multinível (MMN), também conhecido como marketing de rede, é um sistema de marketing caracterizado pela formação de uma rede de contatos através da indicação de novos associados, por parte dos antigos.

De acordo com Will Marks[1] “O marketing de rede é um sistema de distribuição, ou forma de marketing, que movimenta bens e/ou serviços do fabricante para o consumidor por meio de uma ‘rede’ de contratantes independentes”.

Conceito

O marketing multinível é um sistema derivado das vendas diretas. Este sistema em forma de rede (networking) tem se consolidado num cenário de revolução organizacional. Segundo alguns estudiosos de administração, o marketing de rede é considerado um sistema mais eficaz em determinadas situações de mercado.[2]

Segundo tais autores, a globalização alterou a disposição do cenário econômico nos anos 80. Sendo assim, as empresas começaram a caminhar em direção ao marketing de relacionamento, justificando a necessidade de criar vínculos de fidelização com os clientes.

O sistema de marketing multinível possui vários sinônimos. Entre as denominações que o mercado mais utiliza, estão:

• Marketing de Rede (MR)
• Marketing Multinível (MMN)
• Multi Level Marketing (MLM)
• Network Marketing (NM)

História

O médico e químico Dr. Carl Rehnborg foi um cientista notável ao mesmo tempo em que era um homem com visão inovadora sobre negócios. No início de sua carreira como representante de vendas de companhias americanas na China, na década de 20, Carl decidiu dedicar-se ao estudo sobre nutrição. Após concluir que as pessoas não consumiam as quantidades adequadas de vitaminas, ele desenvolveu a técnica de desidratação e concentração de nutrientes em cápsulas.

Sua importância para a fundação do sistema de marketing multinível deu-se quando ele pensou numa forma diferente de distribuição e comercialização dos produtos de sua empresa (Nutrilite Products Inc.).

Ao contrário dos sistemas de comercialização e distribuição vigentes na época, o marketing multinível se diferenciava pelo fato de criar uma rede de vendedores e distribuidores. Ao mesmo tempo em que realizavam as vendas, distribuíam os produtos e divulgavam a marca através do “boca-a-boca”, os vendedores tinham a possibilidade de indicar outros vendedores. Além da redução dos custos com logística, disponibilidade de estabelecimentos físicos (escritórios, depósitos, etc.), campanhas publicitárias em meios de comunicação de massa e outros custos envolvidos na comercialização dos produtos, os negócios que se apoiavam no sistema de marketing multinível diferenciavam-se do mercado por conta de seu contato entre empresa, distribuidor e consumidor. Essa relação criava entre empresa e consumidor um laço mais estreito e pessoal.

Ondas

A evolução do sistema de marketing multinível divide-se em ondas (períodos). Ou seja, cada onda possui características diferentes no que se refere ao modelo de sistema multinível e suas especificidades. As ondas, historicamente definidas são:

Primeira onda (1941 – 1979)

A primeira onda inicia-se logo após a criação do marketing multinível por Carl, quando o primeiro plano de comissões para diferentes níveis foi implantado em sua empresa naquela época. Durante este mesmo período, algumas pessoas e empresas aproveitaram o desenvolvimento do sistema de marketing em rede e desenvolveram o esquema em pirâmide. Este tipo de esquema possui uma estratégia bem parecida com o marketing multinível. Porém, a diferença essencial é que o multinível é uma ferramenta de negócios com o fim comercializar produtos e/ou serviços, ao contrário do sistema em pirâmide, que recruta pessoas com o intuito de movimentar dinheiro somente.

O fim da primeira onda dá-se quando a Comissão Federal de Comércio[3], em 1979, define o marketing multinível como um negócio legítimo, ao contrário do esquema em pirâmide.

Segunda onda (1980 – 1989)

No início da década de 80, algumas centenas de empresas que utilizavam o sistema de marketing multinível explodiram nos Estados Unidos. Grande parte delas nascia em garagens e fundos de quintais sem nenhuma estrutura básica de organização. A experiência frustrou muitos negociantes e distribuidores que aderiram ao sistema de marketing multinível. Naquela época, os distribuidores acumulavam milhares de funções, além da necessidade de comprar cada vez mais produtos a fim de subir nos planos de carreira das empresas. Esta quantidade de fatores negativos resultavam em estoques parados, desgaste físico e emocional dos distribuidores e, no final das contas, muito pouca ou nenhuma margem de lucro.

Terceira onda (1990 – 1999)

A terceira onda é caracterizada pela presença de novas tecnologias e mão-de-obra especializada na administração destes tipos de negócios. Neste cenário, executivos profissionais trabalhavam para reverter a imagem do marketing de rede e torná-lo menos árduo para os distribuidores. As companhias apostavam em sistemas informatizados, novas tecnologias de comunicação e técnicas sofisticadas de administração a fim de tornar o marketing multinível mais eficaz. Outro fator de destaque é que as condições dos planos de compensação ficaram mais plausíveis. Ou seja, os distribuidores deixaram de ser pressionados a investir mais tempo e dinheiro do que dispunham para tocar o negócio.

Quarta onda (anos 2000)

Essa onda levou alguns especialistas a acreditar que o marketing de rede está propenso a crescer ainda mais no século XXI. Prova disso é que grandes empresas multinacionais têm investido em empresas de marketing multinível ou em programas próprios de marketing de rede em suas empresas. Este impacto é resultado da imagem que o marketing multinível tem construído através das empresas que trabalham com o sistema e o aplicam com seriedade.

Quinta onda (previsão)

Apesar de não estabelecida, a quinta onda é uma previsão de especialistas do ramo. Segundo eles, a internet representa o caminho mais eficiente para a criação de um bom “network”. Afinal, conceitualmente, a internet nada mais é do que uma rede mundial. Além da ampliação da rede de contatos dos distribuidores, a internet seria responsável por agregar inovações no processo de comunicação e relacionamento entre empresas, distribuidores e consumidores.

Modelo de negócio

De acordo com a obra de Bernard Lalonde[4], “É cada vez maior o número de companhias dispostas a confiar a distribuição de seus produtos e a atenção personalizada a seus clientes a terceiros especializados”. O que reforça a ideia de o modelo de marketing de rede ser uma grande tendência em diversos segmentos de mercado.

O marketing multinível faz parte de um conjunto de canais por onde um fabricante pode fazer com que seus produtos cheguem ao seu consumidor. Além do marketing multinível, os outros canais que realizam esta tarefa são: varejo, vendas diretas e vendas por catálogos ou ordem postal.

• Varejo: O produto é comercializado através de estabelecimentos como farmácias, mercearias, mercados, etc. Segundo Kotler,[5], “o varejo inclui todas as atividades envolvidas na venda de bens e serviços diretamente aos consumidores finais para uso pessoal [...]”.

• Vendas Diretas: A venda direta é um sistema de comercialização de bens de consumo e serviços diferenciados, baseado no contato pessoal, entre vendedores e compradores, fora de um estabelecimento comercial fixo . Este tipo de venda é muito comum quando se trata de cosméticos, perfumes, artigos para o lar e afins. Táticas como vendas de porta-em-porta e reuniões em casa são bastante difundidas pelas vendas diretas.

• Vendas por catálogo: Como o próprio nome diz, as vendas são realizadas através de revistas e jornais enviados para o consumidor.

• Marketing multinível: Este tipo de canal derivou das vendas diretas. Porém, em essência, possui algumas diferenças. A fim de exemplificar o funcionamento do sistema, vamos supor uma ocasião onde o sistema de marketing multinível pode ser aplicado:

Funcionamento

Imagine que você é um fabricante que possui um produto que não se adequa aos canais convencionais de varejo, e por isso você contrata representantes de vendas para vender seu produto diretamente ao consumidor.

As vendas estão boas, mas o crescimento da sua base de clientes é limitado pela quantidade de pessoal de vendas. Como encontrar mais força de vendas de qualidade?

Seu pessoal de vendas atual tem amigos, família ou clientes satisfeitos que gostariam de uma renda adicional. Você solicita a seu pessoal de vendas que recomendem alguns.

Você não consegue muitas recomendações porque seu pessoal de vendas está ocupado vendendo e não quer ser incomodado. Você decide oferecer um prêmio para cada recomendação.

Seu pessoal de vendas está excitado pela sua oferta de premiação e então você consegue uma boa quantidade de recomendações e novos empregados. Alguns são eficazes e outros nem tanto. Como recompensar os vendedores que recrutam os mais talentosos? E como treinar este novo pessoal?

Você decide basear a recompensa no desempenho e recompensa um vendedor que recruta um novo vendedor pagando uma comissão sobre o que este novo vendedor vende. Isto dá ao seu atual time de vendedores um incentivo para encontrar bons profissionais e treiná-los tanto quanto possível sobre o seu negócio.

Por exemplo, seu vendedor, José, recruta e treina Sônia e Roberto. Sônia recruta e treina Jane e Pedro. Roberto recruta e treina vários de seus amigos. Uma “rede” de vendedores está se formando. Você simplesmente moveu-se das vendas diretas para uma rede de múltiplos níveis ou marketing de rede. Você está pagando as pessoas pelo que elas vendem e também pelos esforços de recrutamento e treinamento que estão criando seu negócio.

Você pode caminhar um passo adiante. Você permite que seus vendedores se tornem negócios independentes. Não existem mais empregados. Você vende a eles seu produto a um preço por atacado e permite que eles vendam a um preço de varejo maior. Eles concordam em seguir a política de sua empresa, mas são empreendimentos independentes. E você, como fabricante, tem um volume e força de vendas em constante expansão.

Estrutura

Assim como em outras estruturas empresariais, uma empresa de marketing multinível é composta por cargos e funções específicas em sua estrutura. Ou seja, cada cargo ou função fica responsável por cada etapa do processo. Este conjunto de responsabilidades sustenta a amepliação da rede, consequentemente, a inserção dos produtos comercializados em novos mercados sem deixar de suprir as necessidades dos antigos clientes e distribuidores. Basicamente, os setores, cargos e suas respectivas funções são:[6]

• Presidente e CEO – Possui responsabilidade total sobre as funções da empresa.

• Vendas – Responsabilidade sobre os recrutamentos, treinamentos, desenvolvimento e motivação da força de vendas dos distribuidores independentes. O executivo de vendas também é responsável por desenvolver e promover o negócio como um produto, incluindo design e atualização dos materiais do kit de vendas inicial (kit de patrocínio).

• Marketing – Este setor se encarrega da seleção e manutenção da linha de produto apropriada para que a organização de vendas (distribuidores) possa vender. Fatores como preço, promoção, relações públicas, comunicações de marketing, posicionamento e lucratividades também são responsabilidades inerentes ao setor de marketing, assim como o sucesso de lançamento dos produtos, pesquisas de marketing e análises competitivas.

• Operações: – O setor de operações dá suporte às etapas de produção, compras, distribuição, embarque de mercadorias e controle de inventários.

• Suporte Administrativo e Financeiro – Algumas funções como gerenciamento de informações, jurídico, recursos humanos, planejamento financeiro e contábil são as responsabilidades do setor.

• Desenvolvimento de Produto – O desenvolvimento de produto deve representar uma ação entre representantes de vendas, marketing, operações e financeiro. Essa ação conjunta dos setores forma o Comitê de Desenvolvimento de Produto. A criação e desenvolvimento de um novo produto dependem da exigência do mercado. Esse desenvolvimento deve visar o aumento de pedidos e/ou estímulo para recrutamento de novos distribuidores.

• Departamento de Suporte – Este departamento deve assegurar a interação entre os distribuidores ou representantes. A importância da ênfase da tecnologia nesse processo é essencial, pois além de transmitir segurança e rapidez no contato com a empresa e os outros setores, transmite-lhes a certeza de estar trabalhando com uma empresa que se preocupa em atingir excelência.

Algumas ferramentas de suporte aos distribuidores são: ligações gratuitas (0800), revistas mensais, informações organizacionais, fax, teleconferências, treinamentos e reuniões, materiais de vídeo e áudio.

 

Fatores legais

Este é um ponto crítico pelo fato de envolver julgamentos éticos e morais em relação ao marketing multinível.

Segundo Buaiz[7]: “No marketing de rede temos visto que alguns distribuidores estão mais preocupados em utilizar-se de todos os recursos antiéticos – mentiras, ilusão e pressão psicológica, por exemplo – para promover um crescimento mais acentuado em suas organizações.”

A conseqüência destas atitudes é a desconfiança em massa em relação ao sistema de marketing multinível. Milhares de pessoas se decepcionam com o sistema quando descobrem que foram enganadas pela empresa “X” ou distribuidor “Y”.

A impressão negativa difundida pelo senso comum resultou na comparação direta entre o sistema de marketing multinível e o esquema em pirâmide.

No final da década de 70, várias diretrizes foram criadas a fim de legitimar as operações de marketing multinível. Dentre elas, as principais são:

a) Os distribuidores foram instruídos a vender (ou usar) 70% dos produtos que compram da empresa com o objetivo de gerar estoques com o único intuito de aumentar o cheque das comissões (front-loading)

b) As empresas deveriam ter uma política de recompra, na proporção de 90% do preço dos produtos, para produtos não vendidos que desistiram de continuar o negócio.

A adoção de normas rígidas e organização das empresas de vendas diretas no Brasil deram origem a uma entidade denominada Associação Brasileira de Empresas de Vendas Diretas (ABEVD)[8]. Esta entidade passou a adotar códigos de conduta promovidos pela World Federation of Direct Selling Association (WFDSA)[9]. Os códigos de conduta[10]visam proteger consumidores e vendedores diretos para alertá-los contra ações de má fé ou descuido nas relações existentes. Dentre os temas abordados estão: critérios de recrutamento, informações sobre produtos, estímulo à formação de estoque, respeito à privacidade do consumidor, critérios e prazos para devolução dos produtos.

 

1. ↑ MARKS, Will. Marketing de rede: O guia definitivo do MLM (multi-level marketing. São Paulo: Makron Books, 1995.
2. ↑ MILES, Raymond E. & SNOW, Charles C.. Causes of Failure in Network Organizations. Harvard Business School , volume 34, número 4, p. 53-72, 1992.
3. ↑ https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
4. ↑ LaLONDE, Bernard J.. HSM Management: Informação e É tempo de integração. Conhecimento para gestão empresarial, Editora Savana Ltda., p.56-62, ano 4, n°21,jul-ago., 2000.
5. ↑ .KOTLER, Philip. Administração de Marketing – análise, planejamento, implementação e controle. 4.ed. São Paulo: Ed. Atlas, 1996.676p,
6. ↑ MOORE, Angela L. Building a successful network marketing company: the systems, the products, and the know-how you need to launch or enhance a successful MLM company. USA: Prima Publishing, 1998.
7. ↑ BUAIZ, Sérgio. Marketing de Rede a fórmula da liderança : tudo o que você precisa saber para irradiar energia e confiança dentro de suas organizações. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto MLM Brasil, 1998
8. ↑ http://www.abevd.org.br
9. ↑ http://www.wfdsa.org
10. ↑ http://www.abevd.org.br/htdocs/index.php?secao=codigo_de_conduta
12. FONTE: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mmn

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Fantástico mundo novo - Revolução Digital altera o marketing das empresas

O mercado está mudado, o mercado renovou, inovou, está mais seletivo, exigente. Esta revolução, digamos assim, isto aconteceu devido ao consumidor ter compreendido os seus direitos e ter reinvidicado por um atendimento, ou até mesmo por um produto ou serviço digno.

É fato, a ferramenta mais usada pelo consumidor foi a internet, as empresas não conseguiram mais conter seus consumidores calados e quando insatisfeitos ligando para uma central telefônica que nunca atendia suas necessidades. Agora eles utilizam um veículo para impulsionar o boca-a-boca de suas opiniões referentes as empresas.

 

David Meerman Scott, um estrategista de marketing e propagador da idéia de Marketing Online, alega que as regras de Marketing, Publicidade e Relações Públicas mudaram através da internet. Ele em seu livro “The New Rules of Marketing & PR” David diz que as empresas mantiveram uma comunicação com o consumidor em apenas um sentido, empresa-consumidor. Além deste ponto de vista, ele alega também que a empresa é o que publica e que o consumidor quer autenticidade.

Referente a autenticidade tenho um a observação a fazer. O consumidor já não se deixa levar por uma propaganda em que é contratado um artista para alegar que usa certo tipo de produto ou serviço, o consumidor quer se relacionar com verdadeiros usuários, querem opiniões verdadeiras destes usuários e não uma alegação comprada por um cachê.

Philip Kotler, o grande guru do Marketing, em julho de 2009 foi entrevistado pela Revista HSM Management a respeito sobre as mudanças do mercado devido ao avanço da tecnologia e internet. Kotler, diz que os meios convencionais de comunicação como rádio, jornais impressos e até mesmo televisão estão decaindo pois hoje, a população passa muito tempo se relacionando através de internet seja com amigos e parentes ou até mesmo com desconhecidos. Ele diz que o profissional de marketing deve monitorar as conversas para descobrir se sua marca é tema de discussão e, se for, quão favorável ou desfavorável é a conversa. Ele diz que as empresas não podem se acomodarem a disponibilizar produtos ou serviços de má qualidade e acreditarem que o consumidor irá aceitar. Está cada vez mais difícil, pois agora o consumidor está mais aberto a debater, reclamar e até mesmo elogiar a empresa.

Cabe as empresas se conscientizarem destes fatos e encararem o uso da internet como algo proveitoso e capaz de impulsionar as suas vendas. Também é uma ótima maneira de saber o que o cliente deseja ou espera da empresa sem ter de gastar dinheiro com pesquisas que podem ser desnecessárias diante essa ferramenta que é a internet.

Por Plínio Medeiros.

[Via http://tecnocratadigital.wordpress.com]

Ambiente, Toscana meta preferita vip con pallino ecologia

mercoledì 25 novembre 2009 Parte dai Vip di Hollywood una nuova crociata ambientalista. Nel mirino questa volta sono finiti gli hotel poco o per nulla eco-friendly.

Era già successo lo scorso anno al cantante Marc Anthony, marito di Jennifer Lopez, di sbattere la porta e andarsene dall’albergo di Veracruz, in Messico, dove era ospite per un concerto, perché la struttura ricettiva non era in regola con le norme per lo smaltimento dei rifiuti, così come il 95% di tutte quelle della zona. Ancor più esigenti da questo punto di vista i coniugi Brad Pitt e Angelina Jolie che, delusi dalla scarsa sensibilità ambientale riscontrata in numerosi hotel della Francia, hanno comprato l’antico Chateau Val Joanis nel sud del Paese, con annesso un vigneto ecologico e giardini sostenibili dove crescono frutta, verdura ed erbe. Non solo. Il protagonista di “Inglorious Basterds” ha deciso di cimentarsi in prima persona come architetto, presentando un progetto per la costruzione di un hotel ecologico a Dubai, con 800 lussuose camere.Le mode eco-friendly, insomma, dilagano tra i Vip hollywoodiani: non solo a casa, ma anche in viaggio, il loro stile di vita è sempre più improntato al rispetto dell’ambiente, senza tuttavia che questo debba pregiudicare il lusso e le comodità. Qualche esempio? Nella sua nuova dimora di Riverhouse, a New York, Leonardo Di Caprio ha voluto caloriferi alimentati solo ed esclusivamente con pannelli solari e sistemi tecnologici di recupero e depurazione delle acque domestiche per evitare sprechi (Intent.com). Le neo-mamme Nicole Richie e Jessica Alba preferiscono che le loro figlie indossino biancheria realizzata con tessuti organici (The Christian Science Monitor, Christianna McCausland). Gwyneth Paltrow coltiva le verdure nel suo orto domestico, fedele alla filosofia del consumo di prodotti rigorosamente a “chilometro zero”, e si è attrezzata persino con un piccolo impianto di compostaggio per ridurre la spazzatura che butta nello scarico (Elle USA, Rebecca Willa Davis e Tracey Lomrantz). E, ancora, l’attrice Reese Witherspoon per i suoi capelli usa solo prodotti della linea francese Phyto, che si basa su ingredienti botanici e si assicura che le confezioni siano al 100% riciclabili (Greenzer.com). La capricciosa Julia Roberts per i suoi figli vuole solo pannolini senza cloro e, quando va a fare la spesa, usa solo i suoi sacchetti ecologici. Charlize Theron, invece, pretende che le sue macchine di servizio siano assolutamente limousine ecologiche (Gala). La stilista Stella McCartney, infine, mette al bando prodotti che non siano biologici, guida una Lexus ibrida, senza mai lavarla, ed esige che le sue boutique siano alimentate con energia ecologica. L’eco-chic impazza sempre più e, laddove non impegnati in prima persona nel portare avanti la loro passione –oltre a Brad Pitt, anche Pamela Anderson progetta la creazione di un hotel ecologico ad Abu Dhabi, che sarà costruito senza petrolio e offrirà anche lenzuola “bio” e prodotti per il bagno non testati su animali (www.blog.logic.immo.com)-, con le loro manie i Vip costringono le strutture ricettive e turistiche ad attrezzarsi per placare, per quanto possibile, le loro bizze in materia ambientale. E, tra le mete eco-friendly preferite dal jet set e non solo, svetta l’Italia, con ben 347 sistemazioni segnalate da Legambiente Turismo per la loro sensibilità ambientale (risparmio di risorse naturali, cibo di qualità, produzione di energia da fonti rinnovabili ecc.), di cui 52 concentrate in Toscana, regione in prima linea nella promozione di politiche per un turismo europeo sostenibile e competitivo, argomento al centro della VII conferenza internazionale “Euromeeting”, che si terrà a Firenze il 5 e il 6 novembre prossimi. “E’ un appuntamento annuale -afferma Paolo Cocchi, Assessore alla Cultura, al Turismo e al Commercio della Regione Toscana- su cui la Regione Toscana ha deciso, ormai da alcuni anni, di investire nella convinzione che dalle occasioni di confronto ad alto livello tra istituzioni europee, regioni, enti locali, imprese, università, associazioni di categoria e attori locali, la nostra “comunità del turismo” non possa che avvantaggiarsi, non possa che crescere. L’obiettivo è quello di costruire una nuova offerta turistica europea, che sappia coniugare sostenibilità e competitività dei territori nel riconoscimento del ruolo fondamentale che in questo processo rivestono le regioni e le destinazioni”.

Ed è proprio in Toscana che sbarcano i Vip con il pallino per l’ecologia. Basti pensare a Sting e alla sua villa del “Palagio”, a Figline Valdarno, circondata da giardini da cui proviene il 70% del cibo consumato e alimentata autonomamente tramite carburante biologico. Il cantante e la moglie Trudie Styler hanno addirittura deciso di realizzare un DVD ispirato alla loro filosofia del vivere ecologico, che trova nella dimora toscana la sua più completa realizzazione (www.ecorazzi.com). L’ex discografico John Voigtmann, insieme alla moglie Ondine, giornalista di viaggi, ha trasformato, invece, una fattoria toscana della Val d’Orcia, dalle parti di Pienza, in una casa-albergo molto chic, immersa in una riserva naturale protetta dall’Unesco (Le Figaro, Christin Luc Parison). Numerosi sono, poi, gli alberghi e gli agriturismi che cercano di venire incontro alle richieste degli eco-Vip più esigenti. Da segnalare, ad esempio, l’antica fattoria “La Pergola”, a Casole d’Elsa, interamente basata su un’economia sostenibile: “ogni prodotto alimentare che vi circola deve essere minacciato di estinzione nella propria regione di provenienza o il suo acquisto deve sostenere i produttori locali e boicottare business mafiosi. In spazi sobri, ma dignitosi, come ad esempio la sala da pranzo che è ricavata dall’antica stalla, si impara anche la corretta divisione dei rifiuti” (Der Spiegel, Bettina Musall). Un esempio emblematico della fusione tra atmosfera rustica e lusso esclusivo è, invece, l’hotel “Le Case del Borgo”, situato tra Siena e Arezzo sulle splendide colline del Chianti, i cui ospiti possono usufruire di vinoterapie e massaggi con oli rigorosamente riciclati (Revista Travesias, Barbara Ainis). La “Villa Le Barone” di Panzano, nella regione del Chianti, si fregia addirittura del marchio europeo Ecolabel, che premia i prodotti e i servizi migliori dal punto di vista ambientale: Questo perché “utilizza risorse compatibili con la difesa ambientale, difende la biodiversità e offre la possibilità di gustare prodotti locali di qualità bio”. —————————– Fonte: ilvelino.it

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Two Free and Easy Ways to Get Traffic For Your Online Business

by: Richard Harley

An online business is only successful if you have traffic coming into it. In fact, traffic generation could be the most important part of your online business promotion. Without traffic your business is dead in the water. So what are some free and easy ways to get traffic to your website?

 

The first one is Blogging

Chances are, you probably have a blog or have at least have heard of blogging. But do you know how important it is to develop an informative blog that people are going to follow?

To have a successful blog it should be updated daily and it should have only quality information on it. A great way to keep people coming back to your blog is to frequently give away free stuff that is related to your business. It could be a free e-book that you have written or a free template that will be beneficial to the people that are reading your blog.

The reason that blogs are mentioned first in this article is because search engines love them and they will crawl all over them when new content is added. If you have a blog that is updated on a daily basis the chances of your blog getting ranked high in the search engines is very good. Two of the more popular blogging sites are Blogger.com, which is very user friendly and WordPress.com, which is a little more advanced. both of these are free to use.

Next are online forums.

This is another free way to get traffic. All you have to do is start posting on forums. Do a quick search in your favorite search engine and find a few active forums that are related to your business topic. Sign up for the forum and then read through a few of the posts to get a feel for the way that things are done. Find out what people are talking about. Find out what questions they’re asking. Once you get familiar with how the forum operates then simply start posting.

One important point to remember when posting to online forums is not to spam the forum. It is considered spam when you jump right in and start posting all about your business and products with a bunch of links to your website. In most cases doing this can get you promptly removed from the forum. This is easily avoided by just posting relevant information that will help solve some of the problems that the people on the forum are talking about. Just make sure that each time you post it has value to it and you’ll never be accused of spam.

Something to remember with both of these traffic generation methods is that they are all about building up your reputation. If you spend some time and develop a reputation on your blog or an online forum as someone who is an expert and as someone who is willing to help other people with their problems, then people will actively seek out your posts and comments to see what you have to say next.

Then in your signature line or on your about me page, you can insert a link to your website or favorite affiliate program. If you have a good reputation and people value your opinion, they will click on your links almost every time to see what else you may have to offer. Both of these methods of traffic generation are free, easy and have the extra added benefit of getting targeted traffic.

So there you have it, two free ways that you can drive traffic to your Website. There are many more ways, but these two are simple and you can start using them right away.

By Richard Harley

About The Author

I have farmed most of my life, worked for a John Deere dealer as a mechanic, drove semi trucks for 30 years, worked in a factory, been working on the Internet for 18 years, I love helping others make money on the Internet. I like traveling, camping, good movies, being with good friends and family.

[Via http://homebasedresourcecenter.wordpress.com]

Caring shouldn't be contrived!

The phone in my office rang. It was Frank Clegg, President of Microsoft Canada. Frank had just heard that my brother was very ill, and he wanted me to know that my place was to be with my family. His message was clear: go home. Microsoft will survive. My obligations would all be covered. In bold words, he told me that Microsoft cared. I was on a flight to see my brother that night. He passed away that same week. Now it’s ten years later and I still remember Frank’s voice — and I know he meant every word. The company cared.

 

Each year, we set aside a day — Valentine’s Day — to say we care. It’s kind of funny isn’t it?  Is a “caring” day really necessary, and is it effective? Do you feel more “cared” for when you receive a dozen roses at three times the price?  Do you feel any more appreciated waiting in line at your favourite restaurant all because other people are out caring too?  Stop the insanity! You can’t schedule caring, it just won’t work. You either care, or you don’t.

 

Now I realize I run the risk of being considered flaky when I bring up the notion of being a caring organization. After all, business is all about the profit and loss, right? It’s about creating shareholder value. Well, I don’t have to tell you that it’s the employees who are our real corporate value. I’ve read it, you’ve read it, and we all know it. So why is it that the number one reason employees leave is because they think we’ve stopped caring? They think they’re no longer valued or that their contributions are just not appreciated. Why is it you think you cared but your employees didn’t get it? What can you do about it? And do you even bother? This is the essence of my message this month.

I will be honest: caring is painful. It means making sacrifices, committing time you don’t have and putting the needs of your employees well in front of your own. Why are some companies so bent on caring? I think there are two main reasons. First, the law of reciprocity teaches us that people give back in kind what is given to them. You go the extra mile and they will be there for you. I may be an optimist, but I believe it’s true that employees want to be cared for and that they’ll give it back to you in spades. They will give many hours to your company, and they’ll go beyond their employee commitment if you go beyond yours. Caring organizations create employees who want to raise the bar.

 

I should warn you, though, that you can’t force reciprocity. It has to be natural, it has to be intentional, and it has to come from the heart. If people feel your caring is focused on personal gain, it won’t work. Sales professionals are notorious for calling up and inviting managers for lunch when there is a new sales opportunity on the rise. They don’t show up at any other time, but when there is an opportunity to be had, they’re right there. The best time to buy someone lunch is when they least expect it. That’s when you really show you care. Many managers are just as guilty; they give employees lots of attention when they think the employee is a flight risk or they need the employee to take on more responsibility. That’s not reciprocity, that’s manipulation and you will get caught. Caring organizations do thoughtful things without condition. They do things because it’s the right thing to do.

 

The second reason organizations choose to become caring organizations is because it is extremely expensive to replace great talent. The Workforce Consulting Group states that the cost of replacing an employee ranges from 42 percent to 244 percent of base salary, and this does not include the lost intellect that just left your building. 

 

So what can you do? First, put yourself in your employee’s shoes. If you were in their position, what might you want? A few years ago I was president of a struggling business. While cash flow was an immense struggle, we needed the undying commitment of our employees to survive. Here are some of the things we did:

• We created a relationship with a local counsellor for any employee who needed help. 
• We provided babysitting assistance for the spouse of any employee who was required to be out of town more than a week. 
• When needed, we reimbursed expenses immediately to ensure that no employee was ever inconvenienced.

Being a caring organization doesn’t mean you forget about the bottom line, it just means you think about the impact your actions will have on others. Since I was president, it was my role to make tough decisions about layoffs. I made those decisions, but I did it with dignity. We extended benefits, we provided career counselling and we looked closely at each person’s situation to ensure we always did the right thing.

 

When Valentines comes around, I will no doubt have flowers and chocolates for my wife because I really do care, but it’s when I show up that one day in June and I hand her a single rose then she (and I) will know how much I really do care. Now, what are you going to do?

[Via http://curtskene.wordpress.com]

Lowongan Kerja Applicant Specialist - Medical Equipment

Lowongan Kerja Applicant Specialist – Medical Equipment

Kami perusahaan swasta nasional bergerak dibidang Medical Equipment & Biologi Molekuler membutuhkan beberapa tenaga berpengalaman, tangguh & berdedikasi untuk posisi :

1. Sales Manager (SM)

•    Pria / Wanita, usia max 35 tahun

•    S1 Bioteknologi / Biologi, Farmasi atau Vaterinary

•    Pengalaman min 2 tahun

•    Inisiatif, independent, jujur & mampu memimpin sales team

•    Mampu berkomunikasi dalam bahasa Inggris lisan dan tulisan

•    SIM A

2. Sales Executive (SE)

•    Pria usia max 35 tahun

•    S1 Kimia atau Farmasi, Biologi/ Bioteknologi

•    Diutamakan yang berpengalaman

•    Mampu berkomunikasi dalam bahasa Inggris lisan dan tulisan

•    SIM C/A

3. Applicant Specialist (AS)

•    Pria / Wanita, usia max 35 tahun

•    D3 atau S1 Kepeawatan/Biology

•    Mampu berkomunikasi dalam bahasa Inggris lisan dan tulisan

•    Berpenampilan rapid an menarik

•    Diutamakan pengalaman di Ultrasonography

•    Berbadan sehat dan suka melakukandinas luar kota

•    SIM C

Kirim surat lamaran dan CV anda (cantumkan kode posisi) ke :

PO BOX 6040

Jakarta 11060

Valid until : —

Info Lowongan Lainnya :

Lowongan

Lowongan

Lowongan

Lowongan

Lowongan

Lowongan

Lowongan

Lowongan

Lowongan

Lowongan

[Via http://informasikerjaan.wordpress.com]

Traffic Exchange Marketing

If you are promoting anything online the one thing you need is visitors without it there is no business there are tons of ways of getting traffic some free, some paid, some good and some not so good.

In fact some are a complete waste of time and effort but some are exceptionally good the problem is most people just don’t know how to use them there are always methods and tweeks that must be applied the information however is scattered and drowned by rubbish.

This will be the first but not the last free traffic blog post i will write just this is where i believe you should start.

Traffic Exchanges – Most people don’t believe traffic exchanges are a good source of traffic well they are wrong and as i said before its because they are doing it all wrong.

First off you need the right tools lets face it would you hammer a nail with a screw driver of course not this is no different do not just put your standard website in the traffic exchanges you will not get good results if any.

Free TE Tool Box

This tool box has everything you need to use traffic exchanges effectively but just so you understand what to promote in traffic exchanges Landing pages for list building, splash pages, videos, blogs.

If you need an autoresponder i recommend Trafficwave you get unlimited responders and campains also it pays members for referrals get a couple you have it completely free anymore and you profit.

Budget low can’t afford the $16.95 or never built a list before this online free ebook is perfect for beginners and provides a free basic autoresponder thats actually very good build your list with ease

Now there are tons of great Traffic exchanges to choose from but being a TE owner myself i highly recommend Marketing Dream Hits get 500 website views, 500 banner impressions and 500 text impressions free.

Tip: Super Surf open your browser load up a few TEs and surf some give you extra credits for surfing partner exchanges i suggest doing 5 at a time that way as you finish clicking the last one the first will be ready to click again without over loading your browser.

That’s it for traffic exchanges look out for my next post i will cover twitter marketing and have a little secret for you.

[Via http://benaffiliatemaster.wordpress.com]

Head Out of the Clouds

Microsoft is hoping to strike the Google goliath with some sort of David stone by making News Corp content invisible to Google searches. Fantastic.

Microsoft (maybe) plans to monetize search engine results by giving Rupert Murdoch money if he agrees to block News Corp content from Google search results. Microsoft’s plan seems pretty clever. Until you spend thirty seconds thinking about it a little more.  Then, the logic is as fuzzy and backward as you would expect from Ballmer and Co.

If people like something, when they find something that makes them feel good, they flock to it.  They use it or buy it, they love it, they enjoy it, they tell their friends.  When the product or music or fashion or culture gets too popular, they go find or invent something else. Its pretty simple.

Real Hip-Hop culture today doesn’t look exactly like it did in the mid 80s and early 90s when it was the fucking coolest thing ever.  But, today it also has nothing to do with Lil’ Wayne or the Stanky Legg dance. This cycle doesn’t have a name that I know of, but I’m cooking one up as I write this (and drink beer, two at least).  While it may not have a name yet, it’s a concept that is a no brainer for those of us who spend any time with other people – which is why I’m starting to get the impression that most giant company CEOs must only hang out with each other and other aliens.  Why else would they have to hire focus groups and marketing research firms? When you are dealing with something as widespread as the internet, all you have to do communicate with some human beings from time to time.  What do they like to do? How do they think?  These questions and more can be answered by hanging out with us.  My point is especially true for old, fat white CEOs trying to discover what diverse groups of younger people want, buy, and flock to.  As we get older, even the most righteously unique individuals settle into grooves and sort of roll, sink, and fall into groups rather than creating them – and the buzz and flockage that follows a nice spin-off sub-culture.

Microsoft, it seems, was busy dreaming up an inspired cock sucking contest with Mr. not-news himself while Google was inventing the Cloud. Awesome Microsoft, way to go.

If I was Microsoft’s father and Microsoft was a little league player, I wouldn’t know what to do right now. You can’t cheer your kid and praise his effort when he hits the ball deep into left field with a chance for an in-the park home run with the game tied in the bottom of the final inning when he  turns around and starts running off the field down the street somewhere.  I think I would start yelling, “What the fuck is that little moron doing?!” with all of the other bitter, angry, sports-failure dad’s.

What the fuck is that moron doing? And by moron, I mean Steve Ballmer.  I’m so glad we have a free-trade capitalist economy like we do.  It is set up perfectly to encourage the kind of creative, outside of the box thinking, Microsoft and News Corp plan on unleashing. Oh, wait.  This is the same swindling, money-grubbing bumbbling that recently collapsed the auto industry. Ideas like this from enormous American companies are as short-sighted and backwards as they are lazy and predictable.  For a moment there, after our financial and automotive industries came apart like a young Hollywood romance after three weeks, it looked like we were going to start innovating again. The joke’s on me.  Well played Microsoft. Well played.

Steve Ballmer, is my nomination for “Dumbest Rich Guy of the Decade.”  He is useless and the only good news for him is that if a live-action Simpsons show were ever in the works, he’d be first in line to play Homer Simpson.

Burns (played by James Gandolfini, after loosing 175 pounds and an Olsen twin as a result of a newly found love for mixing cocaine, meth, and epicat): “You nincompoop, whatever your name is -

Smithers (played by Timothy Geithner) interrupts to whisper: “- That’s Homer Simpson, Sir”

Burns continues: “Yes, Simpson, you idiot, you bungled another multi-billion dollar deal with Yahoo! You’re fired!”

Homer (played by that nincompoop Ballmer): “Doh!”

See, here’s the thing about the internet: It’s cool and fun and exciting and smart now, but it won’t always be. It became all of those things because people were sick of television, radio, newspapers, and books. The internet provided all of the beautiful innovation and inspiration other media weren’t*. Nothing stays the same for long, and the internet is no exception. The things that made T.V. (and its boring, lame buddies) old and stupid are taking hold in and on the internet. In some cases, the final result is sure to be much more harmful and stifling to creativity and fun and happiness.  Advertising and a now free for all race to rape internet users for every squeezable penny will help destroy the popularity of the internet.  Something cooler and awesomer and totally removed from “greedy corporations harshing our high” will come along and we’ll all flock to that.  Each next thing after the internet will thrive, like the internet did, until the desperation to make a profit from it drives the money-spending masses to go somewhere else.  The internet is already on the way out, and I know who killed it.

 

* Instead of innovating and using the internet’s successes as fuels for their fires, most members of traditional media industries, with few exceptions, have taken turns jumping on each other’s sinking ships.  The norm is stealing, and usually ruining, mediocre and entirely un-original ideas. Do the geniuses at Microsoft really think people will use Bing more if they can’t search for News Corp content using Google?

 

Note: I used google to research this entire post and I don’t know why.  Its painfully obvious that Microsoft doesn’t either.

[Via http://twobeerminimum.wordpress.com]

Caring Shouldn't Be Contrived

The phone in my office rang. It was Frank Clegg, President of Microsoft Canada. Frank had just heard that my brother was very ill, and he wanted me to know that my place was to be with my family. His message was clear: go home. Microsoft will survive. My obligations would all be covered. In bold words, he told me that Microsoft cared. I was on a flight to see my brother that night. He passed away that same week. Now it’s ten years later and I still remember Frank’s voice — and I know he meant every word. The company cared.   Each year, we set aside a day — Valentine’s Day — to say we care. It’s kind of funny isn’t it?  Is a “caring” day really necessary, and is it effective? Do you feel more “cared” for when you receive a dozen roses at three times the price?  Do you feel any more appreciated waiting in line at your favourite restaurant all because other people are out caring too?  Stop the insanity! You can’t schedule caring, it just won’t work. You either care, or you don’t.   Now I realize I run the risk of being considered flaky when I bring up the notion of being a caring organization. After all, business is all about the profit and loss, right? It’s about creating shareholder value. Well, I don’t have to tell you that it’s the employees who are our real corporate value. I’ve read it, you’ve read it, and we all know it. So why is it that the number one reason employees leave is because they think we’ve stopped caring? They think they’re no longer valued or that their contributions are just not appreciated. Why is it you think you cared but your employees didn’t get it? What can you do about it? And do you even bother? This is the essence of my message this month. I will be honest: caring is painful. It means making sacrifices, committing time you don’t have and putting the needs of your employees well in front of your own. Why are some companies so bent on caring? I think there are two main reasons. First, the law of reciprocity teaches us that people give back in kind what is given to them. You go the extra mile and they will be there for you. I may be an optimist, but I believe it’s true that employees want to be cared for and that they’ll give it back to you in spades. They will give many hours to your company, and they’ll go beyond their employee commitment if you go beyond yours. Caring organizations create employees who want to raise the bar.   I should warn you, though, that you can’t force reciprocity. It has to be natural, it has to be intentional, and it has to come from the heart. If people feel your caring is focused on personal gain, it won’t work. Sales professionals are notorious for calling up and inviting managers for lunch when there is a new sales opportunity on the rise. They don’t show up at any other time, but when there is an opportunity to be had, they’re right there. The best time to buy someone lunch is when they least expect it. That’s when you really show you care. Many managers are just as guilty; they give employees lots of attention when they think the employee is a flight risk or they need the employee to take on more responsibility. That’s not reciprocity, that’s manipulation and you will get caught. Caring organizations do thoughtful things without condition. They do things because it’s the right thing to do.   The second reason organizations choose to become caring organizations is because it is extremely expensive to replace great talent. The Workforce Consulting Group states that the cost of replacing an employee ranges from 42 percent to 244 percent of base salary, and this does not include the lost intellect that just left your building.    So what can you do? First, put yourself in your employee’s shoes. If you were in their position, what might you want? A few years ago I was president of a struggling business. While cash flow was an immense struggle, we needed the undying commitment of our employees to survive. Here are some of the things we did:

• We created a relationship with a local counsellor for any employee who needed help.
• We provided babysitting assistance for the spouse of any employee who was required to be out of town more than a week.
• When needed, we reimbursed expenses immediately to ensure that no employee was ever inconvenienced.

Being a caring organization doesn’t mean you forget about the bottom line, it just means you think about the impact your actions will have on others. Since I was president, it was my role to make tough decisions about layoffs. I made those decisions, but I did it with dignity. We extended benefits, we provided career counselling and we looked closely at each person’s situation to ensure we always did the right thing.   When Valentines comes around, I will no doubt have flowers and chocolates for my wife because I really do care, but it’s when I show up that one day in June and I hand her a single rose then she (and I) will know how much I really do care. Now, what are you going to do?

[Via http://curtskene.wordpress.com]

Marketing Update 2

Hi Guys,

I’ve spent a little bit of time over the past couple of weeks marketing Passwordstate, and have the following updates:

1. My adwords campaign is now fully functional, only after escalating to Google 3 times. I’ve started off with exact matches, to try and target more relevant search terms. The number of click thru’s started to increase during the beginning of November, with 99% of them being from Google’s content network. Under further investigation, most of the sites show my ads were dodgy password cracking sites – thanks for the relevance Google I’ve since started blocking these domains
2. I used www.softwaresubmit.net to submit Passwordstate 4 to 1250+ shareware/freeware sites ($189), and the submission appeared to be manual (mostly). I also tried to use these guys to submit an article, but their web site URLs for this are all broken, and even after telling them three times, I still couldn’t place an order. Overall, I was quite happy with the submission of my software.
3. I used www.prweb.com to submit a press release for version 4 of Passwordstate (about $90). Searching Google with exact expression “Passwordstate 4.0 Released – Secure Password Management” returns about 214 results
4. I used www.submitedge.com to submit my article “10 Guidelines for Managing Passwords in the Enterprise” ($55). Their online service was a little clunky, but I guess I can’t complain as Google is returning about 489 results for the search time “10 Guidelines for Managing Passwords in the Enterprise”.

I’m now considering using www.crystone.net for a Search Engine Optimization package. Looks like the initial setup will be about $1750 for the package I’m after, and then ongoing monthly fees will depend on the number of top 10 rankings on Google, Yahoo or Bing – less than 5 Top 10 ranking per month are free, and then it increases to $250 or $300 per month for the package I’m looking at. I have no experience with SEO’s, and there are literally thousands of them out there, so it’s hard to know who to trust.

If you have any advice or comments, please let me know.

Mark

[Via http://blog.clickstudios.com.au]

Stocks dip as investors weigh recovery bets

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell for third straight day on Friday as investors took weaker-than-expected results from computer maker Dell and homebuilder D.R. Horton as a further sign that the recovery would be anemic.

Following the S&P 500's gain of more than 60 percent from its 12-year closing low of March 9, investors were more sensitive to signs of weakness as they sought to justify lofty shares valuations.

The news of a 54 percent slide in Dell's quarterly profit rounded off a rocky week for the technology sector, which since the start of the market's run-up in March has been a darling as investors bet on a strong recovery that would spur corporate and consumer spending.

"While it appears to us that the recession is over, there are a lot of lingering signs of pain on Main Street," said Sasha Kostadinov, portfolio manager and research analyst at Shaker Investments in Cleveland, Ohio. "The unemployment is very high, lots of people out of work and that is still causing significant stress."

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) dropped 19.57 points, or 0.19 percent, to 10,312.87. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) fell 4.44 points, or 0.41 percent, to 1,090.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) shed 13.39 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,143.43.

Trading was choppy with the monthly expiration of November options on Friday.

A rebound in the U low cost payday loans.S. dollar pressured prices of global commodities, including crude. Energy stocks were hurt, such as Chevron Corp (CVX.N), which fell nearly 1 percent to $76.59.

Even so, the Dow's losses were curbed by buying of defensive stocks, or shares of companies seen better able to withstand an uncertain economy. Coca-Cola Co (KO.N) was up 1.3 percent and drug company Merck & Co (MRK.N) rose 3.7 percent to $36.64.

Dow component General Electric Co (GE.N) and Vivendi SA (VIV.PA) were at least $1 billion apart in their valuation of Vivendi's stake in NBC Universal, the Financial Times reported, dampening hopes of a swift sale.

GE shares shed 1.3 percent to $15.56.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) declined 1.1 percent to $170.98 after the Wall Street Journal reported large shareholders have asked the investment bank — on track to award employees the biggest bonuses in its history — to pass more profits to investors. A Goldman spokesman said major shareholders had not contacted the company about lowering its bonus pool.

The S&P 500 is up 61.2 percent from the 12-year closing low of March 9 but was on track to halt a two-week winning streak on Friday.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Stocks dip as investors weigh recovery bets

#12 | Cursuri Online Gratuite: Dezvoltare Personala, Bani Pe Net, Marketing & Afaceri Online

Click http://www.AlexTita.com/vip Cursuri Online: Cum Castigi Bani Adevarati Pe Net RAPID cu Afaceri Online REALE! Eliberarea de Limitarile Actuale, Putere & Influenta, Relatii Armonioase, Implinire!

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Click http://www.AlexTita.com/vip Cursuri Online: Cum Castigi Bani Adevarati Pe Net RAPID cu Afaceri Online REALE! Eliberarea de Limitarile Actuale, Putere & Influenta, Relatii Armonioase, Implinire!

 

SKOL + nova forma de comunicar o tempo!

Skol apresenta mais uma novidade aos consumidores na Internet. Trata-se da Garota do Tempo, um aplicativo que fornece a previsão do tempo de forma irreverente, interativa e divertida. Desenvolvida em parceria com o Climatempo, a ferramenta está disponível no site da marca (www.skol.com.br) e em Tabs do MSN, a partir de 16 de novembro.

Produzido pela F/Nazca, a Garota do Tempo Skol possui diferentes combinações de tempo, oferecendo um serviço completo ao público com todas as possibilidades de clima. “A Skol busca sempre surpreender o consumidor antecipando tendências no mercado. Mais uma vez a marca dá um passo adiante e apresenta a forma da Skol em comunicar o tempo: mais irreverente e divertida”, afirma Sérgio Eleutério, gerente da plataforma jovem da Skol.

Entre as novidades, a ferramenta capta as condições reais de temperatura e clima para montar o personagem, que aparece caracterizada de acordo com cada temperatura.  Com cobertura nacional, o aplicativo permite também comparar a temperatura e previsão do dia ou da semana em até quatro cidades.

A partir de discursos personalizados e mensagens customizadas por gênero, diferentes abordagens são utilizadas para informar a previsão do tempo para homens e mulheres, inclusive com o nome do internauta que a acessa.

A Garota do Tempo será divulgada em tabs no MSN e portais Terra, Uol, Globo.com, MTV, Vírgula, Yahoo, além de Google, Facebook. Para chamar a atenção do público, as peças de mídia questionam sobre o clima do dia de um jogo de futebol, de um final de semana ou feriado.  Também foram desenvolvidos materiais de ponto de venda com cartazetes com tinta especial sensível à temperatura e gigantografias interativas.

AdNews

An Economy of Attention Scarcity

In my last post, I briefly touched on an interesting topic: the economy of attention, inventory and media in an online environment.

The relationship between advertisers and media is one built on scarcity. There are only so many 30 second spots, billboards and half pages available. Each piece of media had a different value too, depending on the content it was surrounded by, or place in time and space.

Attention though, was a lot easier. Because of the costs and legal restrictions associated with creating media in the real world, consumers did not have too many options. They had to drive past the billboard on the way to work, if they wanted to watch TV there was only a limited number of channels to choose from, and the same again for print. Influencing their consumption was important for those selling advertising inventory, but the market was not too competitive. At least compared to the internet.

Online, there is potentially infinite inventory. Creating space to place an ad does not even need to involve the direct involvement of a human. For the advertiser, the limiting factor is the audience, not the platform.

There is still a scarcity, but it is not created by the nature of the inventory, and it is far more fluid. This is not the whole story. The relationship between consumer, online media and the technology behind the platform is far more nuanced than this.

The Sweet Spot

No entries since June, in fact the year has been a bit of blur. We were playing foosball in January and then February hit and the business went into overdrive. This wasn’t unexpected but the sudden intensity was a bit of a shock to the system. From all accounts the rapid uptick in enterprise Web Content Management projects has been widespread with many vendors reporting triple digit revenue growth.  It seems the web may have been the antidote for the GFC.  After all, the Web channel is a relatively inexpensive medium compared to TV, print and radio and if it’s done well it can be a lot more effective.

This got me thinking. In a market which is full of vendors and potential customers how do you target your offering, what is your point of differentiation and where is your sweet spot? I love graphs and I visualised this 2 x 2…

 

 

Right now in the year 2009 there are still many organisations that are just discovering that they can manage their own website. On the other hand, there are many organisations with in-house web teams embracing social media and forging concepts that may indeed become known as “web 3.0”.

In the middle of these diametrically opposed organisations (technologically speaking) is corporate middle Australia. These are organisations with moderate web maturity. They’ve learnt some hard lessons and are only beginning to implement 2nd and 3rd generation solutions. They tend to outsource their web requirements but have moved to bring in limited web resources, moving responsibility away from I.T into the hands of marketing (or should I say, marketing has wrested control from I.T.)

These organisations are quickly developing an appetite for online marketing and ecommerce. High end vendors may scoff at these relative newbies as “difficult” but they do so at their peril.

These are the organisations we love to help and this is where our technology offering excels. This is our sweet spot!

The Well-Fed Self-Publisher

By Peter Bowerman

Given the state of today’s publishing industry, and the number of books being published yearly, have you considered self-publishing as an alternative to the mainstream publishers? While there are many self-published books in today’s market, the problem with many is the poor quality of the writing (lack of editing) and physical design (especially book covers). In this comprehensive book, Peter explains about what it takes to be a successful self-publisher. Incidentally, he doesn’t consider POD self-publishing, but offers up several scenarios where POD makes sense for certain books/authors.

In TWFSP, you will find information on why self-publishing might make sense, getting comfortable with the sales and marketing process, building a book, targeting buyers and building demand, building a book website, distribution, Amazon, maximizing mainstream media, article writing, radio shows, the ins and outs of live appearances, creating multiple stream of income from your book, and much more. The appendices contain self-publishing resources, info on a valuable companion marketing e-kit, a self-publishing time line, and a section of foreign rights.

The Well-Fed Self-Publisher is a complete manual for a business as a self-publisher. In today’s publishing environment, finding an agent, then waiting and hoping that your book will get published, can be a dead end. This book shows you how to do it yourself and still get your book on bookstore shelves.

Items discussed in TWFSP are the cover, how to make your self-published book compete with the mainstream publishers’ books in look, feel, and quality (books that don’t compare to those coming out of publishing houses will be hard to promote to reviewers, wholesalers, distributors, and bookstores). Especially useful is a chapter explain and demystifying the concepts of “Sales & Marketing” that terrify many authors today, but which they’ll have to learn and use to get their book into the hands of readers.

The Well-Fed Self-Publisher is a roadmap to self-publishing and getting your book into the hands of readers. This book, filled with information about the publishing industry and what authors need to accomplish in order to become a published author, is delivered in a conversational tone from someone who’s successfully self-published his books (over 50,000 copies of his first two books are in print). Check out The Well-Fed Self-Publisher “Biz-in-a-Box” Teaser in the back of the book.

This reviewer gives this book a five-star rating. If you are considering self-publishing, read this book and find out what self-publishing is about.

The Power of Video Part II: Charity: Water

As I was contemplating the power of video and image-laden story, I remembered Charity: Water and wanted to write a quick addendum post.

When discussing Direct Relief International, I noted that purpose and audience should drive a video’s  format, production, etc.  Direct Relief’s videos target an audience with an interest in the organization or its approach.

Charity: Water’s video follows Gillin’s AEIOU (B) rule, but in contrast is high in production and entertainment value:

I love this video.  Short, empowering and vivid, it clearly targets a larger audience pool.  Scott Harrison, Charity: Water’s founder, once worked in promotions for the New York nightlife scene.  Perhaps his experiences inform the more flashy PSAs and videos on the nonprofit’s YouTube channel. 

Charity: Water is no stranger to new media promotion and marketing, and has used the YouTube medium to its fullest advantage.  In fact, YouTube introduced me to Charity: Water;  the nonprofit won a contest as one of the top four charities viewers wanted highlighted on the site.  My first thought: “Huh.  That’s a really good video.”

Such tactics bring us back to my first point: purpose. Charity: Water is a youthful nonprofit reaching out to a wide and youthful audience.  These videos troll for donors versus inform interested parties.  Either way, “That’s a really good video.”

The Business of Clubbing

image credit: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/

I’ve seen a lot of promoters come and go in this business. I used to wonder what separated the ones that succeeded from those that burnt out after starting out well.

It’s not hard to promote when you first get started. It’s actually pretty easy. Anyone can get their friends to come to their parties. If you know big groups of people or you go to a big university, you’ll have no trouble throwing great parties.

But in order to take it to the next level you have to throw great parties week in and week out. You have to hold the standard. So why can some promoters throw only one or two great parties, while others can do it year in and year out?

After working with many different people I can bring it down to one deciding factor:

Customer Loyalty

Having dedicated customers is the biggest aspect of any successful promoter.

Sounds pretty obvious, right?

But most promoters never fully comprehend this. They view party-goers as just crowds attending their party, so they never form that loyalty.

Certainly they’ll have names and email addresses of people but if they don’t have enthusiastic fans who come to any and every party they throw, they’ll just falter.

For instance, it takes a lot more investment to go out and get new customers than it does to keep your current customers happy. What this means is you need to tend to your clients and make sure they always want to come back for more.

Having loyal customers isn’t difficult if you keep a few thoughts in mind. The earlier you get started, the easier your job becomes with each successful week.

Here are a few of my own personal tips I’ve found to be useful:

• Learn their name – A difficult task, I have to admit, considering the hundreds of people you meet every night – but a requirement for all intents and purposes
• Treat all your guests as VIP – Refrain from stratifying your clients from your friends. This is the most involved aspect for many promoters, since they have difficulty discerning the difference between them
• Introduce them to other people – You’re a promoter, so get the guy-girl continuum going. Groups of people have only you in common, so introduce  them to each other and get your cliques to mingle

Pretty much anything you can do to show that you appreciate their patronage.

Remember, loyal customers make the backbone of this industry and it’s the key factor in separating the one-off promoters from the professionals.

Today's Enlightenment

Ah today. It is the day I feel so enlightened. What I realized about this blog is its purpose. What all of the online classes have taught me is coming together here. So actually beyond the theory is the practice. Now the blog here is just reflections from one area of my life. I am feeling like I have to erase and start over every few minutes because what I wrote is wrong. Actually the internet makes sense a little bit. what traffic do i hope to receive here? Hopefully thoughtful people. I want to make this a very thoughtful and iluminating blog. As far as making money online this will be by directing traffic. What I realized about online publishing is Google + content = revenue.

There is traffic and then there is traffic. If I write about something google is going to notice it. If I write about it more often than google will notice it more.

What do i want to get noticed for. Now that I got that let me go make some content.

How to Not Suck...

Let’s start with a disclaimer. I’m not a business guru. Nor am I a social media expert, or a consultant. But I do have something like ten years of experience in advertising and marketing, most recently in social media and content marketing, which is awesome because I don’t feel the need to take a shower after I get home from work every day. I also buy goods and services, watch TV and use the Facebooks and the Twitter, so I like to pretend I’ve got a pretty good idea of what goes on from the consumer’s perspective.

So based on my years of experience selling crap, researching what kind of crap people buy and how to sell more of it to them, and buying crap myself, I feel, if not qualified, at least entitled to spout off for a bit about how to not suck at this whole “selling goods and services” thing.

Here are a few ideas, just to get us started:

1. Make Sure Your Products Don’t Suck

Marketing can help propel a good product into the stratosphere by, you know, making people aware it exists.

But no amount of marketing can overcome a bad product. You may fool people once, but once they have the product in their hands and realize your ad campaign was basically a web of lies and deceit, they won’t come back.

(exception: all reality television)

2. Don’t Be a Dick

Offer a good product and do business in good faith. Don’t try to nickel and dime your customers with bogus fees, or arrange things in such a way that you can bend them over the barrel. Because they will come to hate you and take their business elsewhere.

(exception: local monopolies such as power companies)

3. Stop Doing Annoying Things

You know what I love? Being asked if I want to save 10% today by signing up for a store credit card at every store I go to. Or being asked if I want to try the random new unappealing product at every fast food drive thru I hit, even when I already know what I want.

Stop it.

4. Get Over Yourself

You know those people who, when they screw up, they always have a perfectly valid excuse? Or worse yet, refuse to even acknowledge that they screwed up (cough…Sarah Palin…)?

Those people are douchebags. And yet so many companies act just like that every single day. Learn contrition. Have the courage to admit when you screwed up, or when a product wasn’t quite the runaway success you were hoping? Most people are pretty willing to forgive mistakes, as long as you own up to them.

Want proof? Look at Ford. They admitted a while back that things had kind of gone off the rails, and started taking drastic measures before the economy hit the wall. The result? They had their ducks in enough of a row to avoid having to take federal bailouts and subsequent bankruptcy, and now they’re poised to kick all kinds of ass as the economy gets moving again.

5. Don’t Confuse Social Media With Another Press Release Vehicle

You know why I’m active on Facebook and Twitter? To keep up with people, to interact with them. To talk with them. Yet so many companies seem to see these tools as just another way to talk AT people. That’s not interacting. It’s the same crap in a different wrapper. And it’s the reason I hide and unfollow brands that don’t get it.

6. Do Something Cool and Unexpected Every So Often

Consider Zappos, and their penchant for randomly upgrading people to free overnight shipping. That’s cool, and it makes people feel a little special. Which in turn makes them like Zappos more, and makes them more likely to return there to order their next pair of shoes.

Or consider Google, which every so often will just drop a bomb of a new product announcement. Or Apple and its “one more thing”.

It’s the old idea of underpromise and overdeliver. It’s simple, and it works.

10 ways in which marketing is like exercise

I was talking to a business owner the other day, who despite having a £4 million turnover has no structured marketing budget. The business dips in and out of marketing and tends to spend according to what looks like a good idea at the time. He described the following:

• He tends to start a marketing activity with real vigour, and then loses interest.
• He’s tried various things, and they’ve never really worked.
• He’d really like to just flick a switch.
• There are certain time of year when the pressure if off in other areas, so he can focus on marketing.

This sounds an awful lot like things I’ve heard myself say about doing some exercise and getting fit:

• I say to myself that I will run everyday, which I do for about a week and then slip back into old habits.
• I’ve tried boxercise, yoga, rowing machines, etc. but I’ve never stuck at it.
• I try to convince myself that because I’ve done some exercise and can have ‘time off’ the next week or next day.
• I can’t be the only one to make New Year’s resolutions and the like, that just don’t last.

The thing about dipping in and out of marketing (and exercise) is that it doesn’t really work. To get fit, the ‘little and often’ is far more effective than big bursts followed by extended periods of inactivity. The same is true in marketing – I’d actually prefer clients to spend less overall on marketing if they do this in a sustained way, than I would to see huge peaks and troughs in activity. As, I’m sure a GP would prefer it if every patient did a little exercise every day, rather than the boom and bust of un-sustained good resolutions.

To get started you might need to shift a bit of flab, i.e. have a concentrated period of getting into good shape (e.g. messaging, brand, infrastructure, systems), thereafter you’ll need to have a regular routine. Naturally, it is also sensible to have regular check-ups with an expert, and you might want to vary what you do to maintain interest – I’m sure you can see the point I’m making.

10 ways in which marketing is like exercise:

1. If you start as young company you get into good habits for life.
2. It is hard to change the habits of a lifetime.
3. If things have gone to seed, it can be hard to get started.
4. A regular, structured, approach is best.
5. Even better if you integrate a little into everything you do.
6. Some people are absolute fanatics (like me), but most do fine with small changes.
7. There are lots of people out there promising quick fixes that don’t really work.
8. It takes a little while to see the results.
9. To get the best all-over results you need to vary the techniques you use.
10. Your company will look great, and feel healthy and fun.

The business owner in question is looking for a step change, they’ve hovered around the same turnover for a few years now and never managed to break the ceiling on their potential. For this he knows that he needs to get marketing fit… but just doesn’t know how.

At Clear Thought, we act as a kind of marketing ‘personal trainer’ – we’ll do a marketing health assessment, and put a programme together to get your business into good marketing health. We’ll then work with you to get into shape, transferring the skills to your business as we do it, so that when you’re ready, you can go it alone and maintain those good marketing habits. Indeed, we offer small businesses a free half day audit and report to get them started.

Find out more »

When marketing and music collide

Oh, the Snuggie.  “You want to keep warm when you’re feeling chilled, but you don’t want to raise your heating bill…” When I first saw the infomercial for this ridiculous (but ingenious) product last year, I marvelled at the cheeziness of it. But the Snuggie recently one-upped itself this year with the introduction of the Weezer line.

In a recent segment All Things Considered, Rivers Cuomo said:

Well, like Weezer, Snuggies are just this weird, cool product that everyone seems to like. They’re really popular, and you can’t really figure out why. So we figured it’s a good match.

Indeed.

You can check out the official Weezer Snuggie infomercial here or watch Weezer performing (and clad in the Snuggie) on Letterman below:

What’s next? Maybe some N’Sync Orange Glow? Perhaps the Mates of State Magic Bullet?

Vender más en Internet

Vender más en Internet

Vender más en Internet es el último libro que he terminado de leer. Su tagline es: la persuabilidad o el arte de convertir usuarios en clientes. El libro comienza explicando que sobre usabilidad se ha escrito mucho, pero no sobre persuabilidad. Este nuevo palabro es la fusión de persuasión y usabilidad. El libro explica diversas cosas a tener en cuenta para que un usuario se decida a dar el paso y dejar de ser mero usuario para convertirse en cliente. Haciendo un pequeño resumen, hay que tener en cuenta que:

• Tienes 3 segundos para que el usuario que entre en tu página no se vaya. La primera impresión del usuario es por tanto muy importante. Hay que transmitir claramente la propuesta de valor que ofrecemos y de la manera más sencilla posible con llamadas muy claras a la acción. Se dan algunos consejos de contenidos que pueden ir en la página principal (por ejemplo testimonios de los usuarios).
• Nuestro sitio debe transmitir credibilidad. Para ello hay que ser transparente, ofrecer garantías, dar sensación de control al usuario, dar cifras como por ejemplo “100.000 clientes ya están ahorrando en su hipoteca con nosotros”.
• Márketing en la estructura de la información. Que cada página de nuestro sitio web tenga un objetivo claro con unas llamadas a la acción bien definidas.
• Contenidos clave para persuadir. Es importante dar feedback al usuario de manera muy pedagógica. Es muy útil que el usuario cuente con ayuda en línea y yendo un paso más allá podríamos incorporar incluso un chat o botones click-to-call (haces click para hablar con un comercial).
• Funcionalidades clave para persuadir. Plantear la posibilidad de implementar un wizard de productos para orientar al usuario en su compra, incluir simuladores y calculadoras para productos cuyo esquema de precios pueda ser complicado. También implementar comparadores de productos, wishlists, favoritos, demos,…
• Copys: palabras que convencen. Hay que mostrarse siempre positivo y hablar siempre de las ventajas y los beneficios. Los textos deben ser simples pero con ritmo (intercalando frases cortas y largas). Los textos más persuasivos son los que implican al usuario (ej: “cansado de …?”) o empiezan con las conclusiones. Y hay que tener cuidado con los finales de párrafo porque suelen hacer que el usuario deje de leer. En vez de eso el final de un párrafo debe incentivar seguir leyendo.
• Llamadas a la acción. Utilizar verbos en imperativo, dejar claras las ventajas (ej: “regístrate GRATIS ahora”), generar empatía, etc.
• Crear sensación de urgencia. Crear ofertas y promociones para que el usuario reciba sensación de urgencia y no espere para decidir su compra. También se pueden implementar sistemas de cupones, pruebas gratis, ofertas exclusivas online, etc.

Es un libro interesante y no muy largo. No incide demasiado en los ejemplos sino que da unas pautas básicas, una serie de reglas que son las que he resumido arriba.

Leer el libro me ha hecho pensar y ahora cuando veo los comercios de la calle o anuncios por todos lados me fijo más en ellos y los estudio detenidamente. El otro día estuve en un Lizarran y me fijé en las “instrucciones” que había en la pared. Ponía algo así como “No te quedes mirando, toma un plato y coge las tapas que te gusten. No tires los palillos que luego echamos cuentas”. Es un mensaje muy persuasivo que explica en un lenguaje coloquial el “funcionamiento” de las tapas en esos restaurantes: tienen un precio fijo, come las que quieras, luego te cuentan los palillos para saber cuánto cobrarte. Me gustó: persuabilidad y un modelo de negocio interesante, que ya conocía, por supuesto, pero que no me había parado a ver más de cerca.

Thats a business, man

Wooha gets all Brand Strategy and breaks it down on Hov’s marketing plan for Blueprint 3

“…As record labels marketing dollars decrease corporate sponsorships seem to give artist an outlet to market themselves to a different audience. As artist become brands, strategic partnerships with other companies are essential for their marketing plans. Companies benefit by finding a way to relate to their consumer and artist get to tap into different markets to obtain more listeners. Jay-Z’s marketing plan with the Blueprint 3 is a great example that demonstrates how great partnerships with other companies such as Rhapsody, Fuse, and DJ Hero can result in successful album sales…His recent performance at Yankee Stadium shows no limit to the corporate sponsorships he can obtain as he remains one of the biggest names in pop culture.”

 

Una clasificaci�n de estrategia de negocio. Como saber como afronta el futuro tu empresa

Hace más de 30 años, Miles y Snow (1) establecieron una clasificación de empresas en función de cómo afrontaban sus estrategias de negocio. Esa clasificación sigue hoy vigente.

Prospectora. Redefine sus productos-mercados constantemente. Busca nuevas oportunidades y es pionera. No tiene capacidad para mantener el liderazgo en todos los productos-mercado que desarrolla.

Analizadora. Hace cambios relativos en sus productos-mercados. Mantienen una línea estable de productos, pero apuesta por algunos desarrollos innovadores. En los mercados dinámicos son seguidores de las empresas innovadoras y en maduros fomentan la eficiencia.

Defensora. Trabaja para conseguir una posición estable. Persigue la eficiencia y el bajo coste. Cuenta con una gama estrecha de productos y servicios si se compara con sus competidores e ignora aquellos cambios que no se relacionan directamente con sus operaciones.

Reactiva. Sin estrategia competitiva. No asume los riesgos de desarrollo de nuevos productos ni de mercados. Sin estrategia comercial activa. Únicamente responde cuando es presionada por el entorno.

¿Cuál de las estrategias anteriores e la que mejores resultados ofrece a las empresas? Es difícil de decir, en función del producto, el mercado, la fase del ciclo de vida, etc.

Lo que si que se puede afirmar es que “dime como haces negocios y te diré que estrategia de marketing es la que te conviene” No hay nada más peligroso en los negocios, que descuidar las estrategias que forman el “núcleo” de la empresa, las competencias esenciales.

Podéis consultar algunas claves sobre la estrategia adecuada de marketing en el artículo Clasificación de empresas. Y para centrarse en aquello que es vital para la empresa, podéis leer “Competencias esenciales en marketing”. En próximos artículos intentaré describir estrategias coherentes con cada tipo de empresa.

Y para terminar con más frases célebres, me quedo con una frase final de Peter Drucker que debería hacer reflexionar a los responsables de cualquier empresa, sobre cómo hacer funcionar sus negocios:

“los únicos procesos esenciales de una empresa son la

innovación y el marketing”

[1] Miles, R., C. Snow (1978). Organizational Strategy, Structure and Process. McGraw-Hill.

소셜미디어와 협업 - TLC 2009

2009년 11월 3일, 삼성SDS와 삼성네트웍스가 주관하는 Thought Leadership Conference 2009 이 개최되었습니다. 이번 컨퍼런스의 세번째 트랙 “Future Insight”의 패널토론 : 전문가들이 말하는 성공하는 조직의 비밀, Collaboration 엔 저도 패널로 참가했습니다.

이번 컨퍼런스는 예상을 뛰어넘어 천명 이상의 사람들이 참관했고, 세심히 오랫동안 제대로 준비된 행사였기 때문에 패널로 참가했던 저역시 많은 것을 보고 듣고 또  즐겁게 참여했습니다.

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오전 컨퍼런스의 2010 IT 메가트렌드부분 (유비쿼터스 협업 /모바일 플랫폼/클라우드 컨버전스/데이터 정보보호/그린 by IT/몰입형 인터페이스/예측 가능한 지능지능(Predictive Intelligence))이 특히 조목조목 알기쉽게 잘 구성되어 눈길을 끌었습니다. 삼성SDS 박승안 전무와 사회자의 대담형식도 좋았구요. (그리고, 프리젠테이션 화면! 저도 옛날에 flash로 영상만들어봤지만, 아 진짜 고생하셨겠더라구요)

[photo by @hongss]

감히 말씀드리면, 제가 참가한 세션도 좋은 반응을 받았다고 하네요. (이런거 이렇게 노골적으로 쓰는 블로그 봤수? ㅋ) 삼성SDS TLC 트위터로 생중계된 부분도 활기를 주었죠.

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처음에 소셜미디어와 협업에 대해서 이야기하라는 주제를 받고, 한참을 난감해 하다가,

트위터에 계신분들께 도움을 받고 여러자료들을 검색해가며 너무나 방대한 양의 자료들로 머리를 쥐어뜯다 꽤나 오래 걸려서 완성했습니다. 아래 슬라이드를 참고해 주세요.

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이 프리젠테이션에서 가장 중요한 이야기는 이겁니다.

소셜미디어 협업툴은 우리가 따라갈수도 없는 속도로 생산되고 있다. 소셜미디어는 “공유”하는 문화인데, 이 문화없이 툴만 좋다며 들여와봤자 소용이 없다. 자신을 드러내고 정보를 공유하는 문화를 먼저 배워야 한다.

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기억에 남는 질문이 몇개 있어 여기에 제 답변과 같이 적어둡니다.

1. 이런 문화를 어떻게 해야 한국기업에 도입할 수 있을까?

아래로부터의 수평적 문화는 없다. 사장님이 시장동향 얘기하는데 일개사원이 밥먹으러 간얘기 할수 없다. 위에서 더 적극적으로 유연한 대화를 시도해야 한다.

2. 소셜미디어나 인터넷조차 감시하고 통제하는 회사들이 있다. 이를 어떻게 보는가?

감시한다고 딴짓 안하지 않는다. 모니터가 감시되면 만화책읽고, 휴대폰이나 개인pc 등 다른것으로 다 한다. 안 하나?

3. 우리나라에서 왜 소셜미디어가 활성화가 잘 안되는가?

문화가 없어서다. 나부터 생각해보자. 내가 만든 자료 누구에게 공유해본적 있나? 소셜미디어를 통해 공유의 문화를 배워야 한다.

4. 쓸데없는 정보들이 40%가 넘는다. 쓸데있는 정보의 정의는 무엇인가?

정보는 상대적인 것, 정보의 가치는 수용자의 관점에 달려있다. 리서치그룹의 마켓트렌드 리포트도 중요하지만 어떤 사람에게는 사장님이 딸 졸업식간 것이 더 중요할 수 있다.

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주제넘게 많은 얘기를 했습니다. 행사에 와주신 분들, 트위터로 함께 해주신 분들 감사합니다.

소셜미디어와 관련해서 더 많은 기회에 더 많은 이야기를 해보고 싶네요.

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p.s. 투정같지만, 저도 글을 좀 빨리빨리 쓰고 싶은데, 굉장히 더딥니다.

속도의 시대에 너무 느려터진 글짓기실력 ㅡ_ㅡ;;;

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Three steps to effective campaigns

I try to remind myself of this simple mantra and make it the basis for all our marketing communications. It goes something like this:

1. Did it work?

2. Why did or didn’t it work?

3. How can we make it work (or improve it) next time?

Simple but effective. You’d be surprised how many people simply do the same thing over and over again without huge success. Sometimes people say ‘It’s the way we’ve always done it’. Oh dear. No wonder the results are poor. If it’s not compelling or relevant or remarkable it doesn’t matter how many times you do it, it ain’t gonna work too well. If an email campaign didn’t get the results you set out to achieve you need to found out why. Why does that landing page have a high bounce rate? Analyse and find out. If you don’t you’re going to enter a groundhog day scenario: same results over and over again. There are plenty of tools to help you analyse your campaigns, use them and make sure you know why things worked – or why they didn’t. If you don’t, as Bill Murray said, it’s going to be a VERY long day.

Lawrence Dagstine: "How to Make Money at Signings..."

“HOW TO MAKE MONEY AT BOOK SIGNINGS”

AT OUTDOOR EVENTS & FOR THE INDEPENDENT/NEWBIE AUTHOR

by Lawrence R. Dagstine

A lot of people have been “hinting” recently on places such as Facebook and via email looking for advice.  They want to know how I did it.  They want to know how to make money selling books and magazines at functions and signings, especially if you’re an independent/newbie author.  As many people already know, I came out of a series of signings at Coney Island, New York this past summer with a decent intake on such titles as FRESH BLOOD (see Books & Anthos), and more.  Writing is pretty much an extra income field for a majority of us.  Once you learn to accept that, and not depend on fiction or look forward to fancy six-figure careers, you find your comfort zone.  The checks that come in repetitively or non-repetitively may pay for such things as utility bills, groceries, little odds and ends in places like Rite-Aid, CVS, or Walmart, co-pays on prescriptions, dinner and a movie, or something as simple as a gallon of milk or filling up your gas tank.  Of course, all of this might not come from fiction, but that’s okay.  After all, it’s a starving profession to begin with.  In this recession, every dime that comes out of the written word counts, because you never know how much your next electric bill or gas bill will be.  For example, right now I’m doing people’s resumes.  If you’re already an established, professional author with a couple of novels out, this information probably won’t help you, as you already make a nice income from being an upper midlist author or being able to relax on what royalties and advances you make from mass market paperbacks.  That, and some of your publishers may already foot the bill for some of your traveling expenses from signings.  But nowadays it’s very rare unless you’re a lead-lister.

However, if you’re an independent/micro-press author who lives in a big city or a pretty happening little town, whose been published in lots of print magazines, maybe a few anthologies, has a new book or collection available through a POD press, has access to a small newspaper (bonus points here), this information might help you better understand the kind of buyers that you want to attract, the places you want to sell, the performance you want to give when selling, how much to pay for dealers’ tables, number-crunching, and, what seems to work and not work “perception-wise” when selling to an audience outside of genre, because let’s be honest—that’s the consumer you’re gunning for, and they’re hard to reach.  At the end of the day they’re still a reader of Charlaine Harris, Dan Brown, or James Patterson.  You want to sell to both genre readers and non-genre readers alike.  Most likely, you work a day job, or maybe you’re on a fixed income.  You need to rely on a budget throughout, cut corners when necessary, because this article is recession-friendly.  People may perceive you as a hack, an amateur, people you know for years may perceive you as a pro, a super-pro, or even Superman! But no matter what kind of author you are, the moment you sat down at that table and sold a variety of stuff with your name on it, you were no longer just an author.  You also became a merchant and a bookseller, and you need to keep that mindset.

If you do live in a big city or a small town and haven’t been able to get signings in places such as Borders, Waldenbooks, or Barnes & Nobles, that’s okay.  In this economy, if you don’t expect family or friends to show up (or friends of those friends), chances are you’ll only sell less than twenty copies anyway and look like a schmuck at a table in the corner with a bowl of lollipops or cookies.  Somewhere away from the door if you’re not cozy with the store manager.  I chose Coney Island because it was a seasonal attraction—over five million visitors per summer—rather than a one-day gig, and I’d known about it almost a year in advance because I did some writing and research for one of their papers.  I knew people, and I made connections.  And if you can make connections, and you know the turnout is going to be big and profitable in advance, and it’s inexpensive to show up and conduct your little set-up, then what are you waiting for?

Fact: five-million people do not visit a Borders bookstore over the course of a summer — matter of fact, they’re closing stores, and I would be surprised at how many more survive — neither does that amount visit an independent bookstore, which I find to be a good way to do nothing, sell nothing, and just kill the day in a chair.  A world famous amusement park and tourist attraction is a whole other story.  Even little carnivals passing through town may attract more visitors.

Of course, there are always exceptions.

If you’re not selling in places like the chains, then you still want to add some diversity to your table, make it look pretty: business cards, flyers, postcards, magnets, or buttons made up cheap.  I recommend Vistaprint (www.vistaprint.com).  You can get stuff made up by them quite often for free.  All you have to do is pay the shipping & handling.  Some of the greatest places to sell books, and which attract crowds are book fairs, street fairs, flea markets (outdoor, indoor, churches and synagogues), carnivals, community centers, town halls, schools, festivals, bars… But mostly outdoor events in spring and summer.  Warm weather.

One writer asked me how much should he pay for tables (or, in some cases, booths).  I would say if you’re an independent author DO NOT pay more than a hundred bucks for a table (but that’s just me).  If you don’t come out of your signings making a minimum of 70 to 80% profit, don’t even bother reserving a spot.  Why? Because you need to first make the cost of the table back.  Then there’s the cost of gasoline, food and beverages (maybe even hotel and airfare).  Trust me, it adds up.  Make your signings LOCAL, and, if possible, try to split the table costs with fellow authors, too.  Oh yeah, you also want to hit up the smaller cons rather than the big cons.  Not that you shouldn’t attend the bigger cons, only that some of the smaller conventions are much easier on your pocket when it comes to the dealer’s area.  Sam’s Dot Publishing, one of my publishers, always seems to make a killing at these events.  They often sell out! Flea markets, churches, and festivals can go as low as $25 to $50.  I know this one church which holds a pretty popular flea market on Tuesdays and Fridays for twenty bucks, but you have to bring your own table.  Always packed.  Just sell a few used books, sports cards and comics on the side, you’ll make that back in no time flat.  Other genre wares should be meant to cover the cost of your table and traveling expenses.  This is a must!

When you go into a signing as an independent/newbie author, you need to go into it with the mind of a businessman or businesswoman.  You need to ask yourself: where do I expect to pick up the most sales and the best exposure.  The ice cream parlor, the town library, or the state fair (obviously the state fair).  If you need a license, get one.  They’re really not that expensive.  If you’re a newbie on a fixed income, you need to calculate all this in advance.  Don’t just sit at a table with your hands clasped, smiling and nodding at passersby.  Get up and be a regular PT Barnum.  Be jovial.  Prepare what’s called a pitch. For example: “Hello, Ma’am, you’re looking lovely today.  You must love to read.  Oh, don’t be shy.  I bet you have a soft spot for books reminiscent of Stephen King and JK Rowling!”—you get the gist (woman sees table filled to the rim with merch; friendly conversation is under way).  You need to stand up and introduce yourself.  You need to have confidence, charisma, personality, and a little humor doesn’t hurt either.  Books don’t sell themselves.  Hence why you need to be business-minded when you approach this, especially in these hard economic times, where the independent writer gets the short end of the stick.

Let’s talk about Coney Island now.  My very first signing on that very first day in June was a disaster.  Why? Because I had only brought Fresh Blood with me and a few used books by pulp authors.  Luckily, that first day I covered the cost of the booth (it was only $30 at the time), but I’ll never forget this one guy who came up to me and said, “Wow, so you like write stuff.  Man, I remember books.” I was astonished! Let’s just say the guy was a caveman who’d taken one too many bong hits.  How does someone forget about reading and books? Another girl just wanted her photograph taken with me because she never met an author before, yet she didn’t buy anything.  Not to mention I looked like a big tool just sitting there with one Dagstine-related item to my name when, back home, I had hundreds of print periodicals I could have toted with me.  Duplicate copies, too.  Yes, variety, along with ‘public perception’ makes for a very nice recipe, which I’ll explain in more detail in a moment.

After that first day I learned my lesson.  Between June and August there were supposed to be seven signings, but there ended up to be six due to a one-day rainout.  There would have been a few more had it not rained constantly between June and July.  And Flea by the Sea (the name of Coney Island’s summer marketplace), though covered by tents, was an outdoor event.  It was on top of the beach.  At times, the winds were horrible.  The circus was there, too, and one day there was a big hoopla going on because Ringling Brothers were abusing the elephants, but believe it or not a few of the animal rights activists picked up some of my goods.  So I can’t complain there.  But what I’m trying to say here is that, make sure it’s not going to rain on your parade on the day that you sell.  Mother Nature has a funny way of defying writers when it comes to selling outdoors.  By July and early August I was paying $40.00 for the booth and then $10.00 to rent the table, which came out to $50.00 for an entire weekend.  How could you beat that price? This is the price area you should be looking into.  Once again, a hundred bucks should always be your cap, and hopefully, you have more than one book to offer.  Speaking of which…

They say never judge a book by its cover.  Bullshit. When you’re selling in quantity to a non-genre and genre crowd, cover art I noticed makes all the difference.  In most cases it comes down to perception and appearances, or just the way people interpret merchandise.  I don’t care what anybody says.  They do judge a book by its cover.  And what people saw were stacks of magazines with extra copies, six different hardcovers and anthologies, and of course, a stack of Fresh Blood.  It was set up professionally and it looked pretty, like my own compact comic book shop.  All featuring something by ‘Dagstine.’

People were complimenting me because of the covers of the magazines.  Short lines and interested eyes gathered.  One person said, “So you must be Brooklyn’s SF Writer.”—I said, “Okay.” I just totally went with it.  Everything acted sort of like a cash cow.  One Dagstine publication led to the purchase or attraction of another.  Not only did one person spend $50.00 in one shot on me, but over the course of those signings I pushed $250.00 worth of old self-published hardcovers from The Year of the Flood, back when I didn’t know what the words ‘Vanity Press’ meant.  The point I’m trying to make here: I had a lot to choose from, my buyers had a lot to choose from, and so should you.  The cover art, the variety, the set-up, and “come one, come all” pitch made all the difference.  Even the shirt I wore! I got to autograph and sell my writing where, with only Fresh Blood, I probably wouldn’t have made what I did over the course of the summer: around $1200.00 – NET. And hey, I got my work and business cards out there.  Not bad for a hack, and my table investments had already been covered. 

If you’re a writer whose works have appeared in quite a few magazines, talk to the editor about getting extra issues at an author discount.  Always use media mail.  You might pay $4.00, $5.00, even $6.00 for those extra copies featuring your work in it.  You’re going to autograph them and sell them for $8.00 to $10.00… And don’t forget what I said, once you’ve included the cost of the table, food and beverages, gas or transportation to get to your selling destination, you need to make a minimum of 70 to 80% profit, otherwise it’s pointless.  Remember to invest in your work, invest in yourself, and before you attend that signing with more than one book or periodical, sit down with a calculator and crunch those numbers.  Make sure the location is going to be worth the time and effort.

In closing…

Whether you’re selling indoors in some chain, an artsy-fartsy independent that has velvet couches and serves Lattes and marble loaf in the back, or you’re giving the outdoor thing a whirl like I did, there is also another reason why you need to impress that passerby.  Besides cover art and quantity, nine out of ten times the general reading public will throw down cash on used books, non-fiction, children’s books, fast-paced thrillers, or romances before they will genres or subgenres known for killer slugs, planets with giant lizards, what the future would be like if everybody were pink, zombie stories, and heroic fantasy yarns.  If you’re a writer of genre fiction, you’re automatically at a disadvantage, so you need to think of ways to catch up.  That’s why the business model/bookseller mentality is so important.

Still, if I could do it with twelve hundred smackers, with a little initiative, so can you.

Until Next Time,

Lawrence R. Dagstine