Attract More Visitors

Recently I heard a Marketing Edge podcast by Albert Maruggi called "It is a Gift to be a Relevant Marketer".

An excellent podcast as always, it made me think that "relevance" is only one great aspect marketers should strive for.

If we could get our relevant messages across with elegance then our communications would be clearer, stronger and more effective.

Relevance

"Relevance" is what pertains to what we need or want.

Elegance

"Elegance" is simplicity with some style.

Simplicity

Simple messages are:

• Shorter
• Clearer
• Less complex
• Straight to the point

Stylish

Style can be added to messages by using:

• Nice photos/graphics to emphasize your point
• Some formatting (bullets, italics, bolding, fonts, colors, etc.)
• Easy to scan/skim text

The Long and Winding Road...not!

In the past my blog posts tended to be long and obtuse...on purpose (yikes!).

• My strategy was to show something and then show how it was done.
• Sadly my posts often became long and involved.
• The main points were lost in a jumble of words.

Striving for Relegance

Now I'm going to strive for "Relegance", relevant elegance in my posts.

And why do I say strive? Because I realize that this is a process.

Relegance doesn't just happen, it has to be consciously thought of and put into action.

So I challenge myself...and you...to act now and be relegant!

I'd welcome your thoughts and advice on this.

Be well and happy and prosperous!

~~~

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/annia316/ / CC BY 2.0

Photo title: "Suddenly things seem crystal clear to me..."

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This is the follow-up post to my last post about "17-Minute Podcast Which Could Change Your Life Forever". In this post we'll look at: How/why podcasts are amazing, possibly life-changing, mediums.

In my next post we'll explore my frustrations with Twitter not having an archive which could preserve tweets about great podcasts (or other items which might be helpful to others).

And if you think these 2 points are mutually-exclusive, according to Princeton's WordNetWeb, the first meaning of "medium" is "a means or instrumentality for storing or communicating information"...and we're talking about both storing (archiving) and communicating (podcasts & Twitter) here.

How/why podcasts are amazing possibly life-changing mediums

• Hearing illuminating life-changing information, most of which is...free!
• Listening to podcasts while exercising: Walking, cycling, working out at the gym, etc.
  • For me, this makes working out fun and interesting because I'm always learning and finding out about new things and trends in social media, internet marketing, searching the web, etc.
• Advancing in your business or career or profession or studies because you're learning new things all the time.
• Being respected by your peers because you're so knowledgeable about subjects, current events, etc.
• Becoming a subject matter expert because you're so knowledgeable about it.
• Becoming a great conversationalist because you're well-versed in a diverse variety of topics.
• Keeping your mind active by learning new things.

• Possibly preventing Alzheimers Disease, exercising your mind, keeping your mind and thinking processes agile, and improving your memory.  And if you have a hard time remembering what you hear while you're working out at the gym you can try using Evernote.

The Problem(s) with Podcasts

The information (your information if you're creating the podcast recording) is locked in an audio (mp3) file.  There's gold in podcasts and you need to find a way to release the treasure contained within so others can find and experience it.

• To unlock the file you need to either:
  • Add "show notes"(notes describing what's in the podcast which would be posted on the podcast's blog),
  • Transcribe the podcast (yourself, using a transcription service, using an automated transcription program like Windows Speech Recognition (#8) or Dragon Naturally Speaking, or an online program like EveryZing's search, now discontinued).

Why would you want to unlock your audio/video podcasts by summarizing them or converting them to text?

• Answer:
  
  1. For people who don't have time to listen to the whole podcast and just want to skim/scan what was talked about,
  2. So Google's bot (robot) can index the content and key phrases which were talked about in the podcast, and/or
  3. To improve the SEO (search engine optimization) for your podcast blog.

For more/related info on Podcasts see my blog post on: 11 Quick Questions for Evaluating Podcasts.

For examples of "show notes" see:

Marketing Over Coffee

Six Pixels of Separation

Next blog post: "The Trouble with Twitter" and why I archived the Twitter tweets in my last blog post: 17-Minute Podcast Which Could Change Your Life Forever about C.C. Chapman's Managing the Gray phenomenally helpful and inspiring podcast "You Are The Only One Standing in YOUR Way".

Microphone image above courtesy of :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deanhp/ / CC BY 2.0

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Do you have just 17-short-minutes to listen to a podcast which could change your life forever? Then go to here, listen to the podcast, and immediately improve your life: You Are The Only One Standing in YOUR Way (Chasing Your Dreams).

Improve Your Life Immediately

You're probably thinking: How could my life improve immediately? 

• Answer: Sometimes the right attitude and mind-set are all you need to positively affect your life. 
  • But if you want to take more time and follow all of the solutions offered in the podcast then you can do that too... and reap even more benefits.  Just do it! (as Nike says).

The Wisdom of Life and Business Success - in just 17 minutes!

In this podcast social media guru, C.C. Chapman, succinctly gives his life wisdom and business success secrets.  As I mentioned in my comment to his podcast blog:

...summarizing much of Life’s wisdom into this...podcast which every human being should hear.

Not to mention being like the brief audiobook version of Guy Kawasaki’s bible of business/marketing success tips in: “Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition” as well.

I commented on C.C.'s Managing the Gray blog because in his podcast he lamented that people are more likely to tweet/post on social networks rather than on blogs these days. Of course that’s true, since I had just tweeted some quotes from his podcast on Twitter as well.

But since Twitter tweets aren't archived and can disappear from search results after a short period of time I'm showing a series of tweets highlighting the important potentially life-changing information in C.C. Chapman's podcast below (as well as some info I didn't tweet on).

Highlights of "You Are The Only One Standing in YOUR Way" podcast

  - Note: Twitter tweets have time & date at end:

Best short podcast for improving your life by @cc_chapman: You Are The Only One Standing in YOUR Way. http://su.pr/2YrsH9 #iopnews. 5:44 PM Sep 1st from Su.pr

 

Chasing your dreams & how to reach your total potential: Great podcast by @cc_chapman: http://su.pr/2YrsH9 #iopnews. 5:47 PM Sep 1st from Su.pr

 

No-one's holding you back...but you. (00:44 of podcast) by @cc_chapman: http://bit.ly/BSAgO.

 

If something's in your way, it's probably you! (e.g., like "gate jumping" in the country). (02:00 of podcast) by @cc_chapman: http://bit.ly/BSAgO.

 

How to Speak at a Conference (04:20 of podcast) by @cc_chapman: http://bit.ly/BSAgO #iopnews. 5:52 PM Sep 1st from bit.ly

 

 How to write/publish a book...Write it! (07:39 of podcast) by @cc_chapman: http://bit.ly/BSAgO #iopnews. 5:55 PM Sep 1st from bit.ly

 

*Make* it a great day...*not* "have a great day" (06:30 of podcast) by @cc_chapman: http://bit.ly/BSAgO #iopnews. 5:57 PM Sep 1st from bit.ly

 

You can do anything - Barriers are gone - Rules are gone...Do it! --> Podcast by @cc_chapman: http://bit.ly/BSAgO #iopnews. 6:00 PM Sep 1st from bit.ly

 

Focus on the goal & work tail off to get there - don't focus on the negatives (09:40/podcast) by @cc_chapman: http://bit.ly/BSAgO #iopnews. 6:04 PM Sep 1st from bit.ly

 

Don't give up on your goals...talk to your friends. (09:50/podcast) by @cc_chapman: http://bit.ly/BSAgO.

 

Chasing dreams is what Life's all about. (10:40/podcast) by @cc_chapman: http://bit.ly/BSAgO.

 

Go back and review your goals. (10:50 of podcast) by @cc_chapman: http://bit.ly/BSAgO

 

Focus on your goals, share them. Put them out there & be held accountable (10:50 of podcast) by @cc_chapman: http://bit.ly/BSAgO #iopnews. 6:06 PM Sep 1st from bit.ly

 

When need help, don't be afraid to ask. Friends will help you. (13:15 of podcast) by @cc_chapman: http://bit.ly/BSAgO #iopnews. 6:08 PM Sep 1st from bit.ly

 

Test your social media/networking contacts and ask them for help (13:15 of podcast) by @cc_chapman: http://bit.ly/BSAgO #iopnews. 6:09 PM Sep 1st from bit.ly

Why are the points above shown as tweets, instead of bullets?

Answer: See my next blog post on: "How Podcasts can Save (Every Person in) the World."

Bottom Line

"*Make* a great day!" - This is what CC would say...and it's what my business partner, Rick Henkin, and I try to do every day at IncreaseOnlineProfits.com. Also, if you're doing what's fun (and what you have a passion for), then it's not work!

Comments?

 Comments for Karl? - Please leave one below...

Comments for C.C. Chapman re: his podcast? - I know that CC would be very happy if you'd leave a comment on his Managing the Gray blog.

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Just a perhaps ironic observation re: Chris Anderson's new book FREE: The Future of a Radical Price.

Note: FREE "makes the compelling case that in many instances businesses can profit more from giving things away than they can by charging for them." - Source: Amazon.com.

Near the end of C.C. Chapman's interview of Chris Anderson in his great Managing the Gray podcast, Chris Anderson said that he was offering his latest book FREE for free in its digital forms (viewable online and unabridged audio).

And while the unabridged 6-hour audio would be no-cost, the abridged 3-hour audio would be sold for $7.49.  Don't believe me?  Well, it's stated on Chris Anderson's The Long Tail blog.

Reason: The shorter version is worth more because time is money and it saves people time.  Saving time has "value".

Unabridged/Full Audio Book at Audible.com

So you can download the single 101 MB file in Audible's Format 4 (which uses MP3 compression), or in other formats if you prefer.

Price: Free.

Cost: Your name, email address, and joining Audible.com for...free (you get the picture).

"Abridged" Audio Book at Hyperion's (the publisher's) site

And you can go to Hyperion's site and download the "Abridged" audio book in 16 MP3 files totaling 136 MB.

Price: Free.

Cost: Your email address and some time (which is money) to download all of the files.

DISCONNECT: But wasn't the "Abridged" audio supposed to be sold for $7.49?

Note: I'm no expert at audio compression, but my guess is that these files (totaling 136 MB) might actually be the "Unabridged" version (101 MB file at Audible.com which is supposed to be free).  A quick sampling of the Prologue of each of these sounded the same to me.

• Prologue at Hyperion's site: "01_Prologue-Abridged.mp3" - 6057 KB

Question: Did the Publisher Get the Memo?

So if  Audible.com and Hyperion's audio book versions are the same (unabridged), we have to wonder if Hyperion:

• Just made an error in labeling the audio book: "Abridged" vs. "Unabridged", even though "Abridged" is shown in the description as well as in the file name of all 16 files.
• Made an error in pricing the "Abridged" audio book for free instead of the intended $7.49. Or,
• ...drumroll, please...
• Just couldn't  bear the thought of giving the book away for free unless it was "Abridged".
• In other words: So much value is usually attached to the full work for the full price, that simply giving away the full audio book for free may have been unacceptable/undoable for the publisher.
• Perhaps they simply couldn't bring themselves to give away the full book and label it as such.
• Even though the author felt the "Abridged" audio book was worth more.
• Unless of course, the publisher didn't read the book, but that would be impossible (and we're sure that's not the case)!
  • Disclaimer: I haven't had time to read the book yet either, but from C.C. Chapman's interview with Chris Anderson, I'm pretty sure what his intention was/is, not to mention that it's stated on his The Long Tail blog.
  • And if I missed the point on all of this, then my apologies in advance to everyone involved: Hyperion, Amazon, Chris Anderson (who we love!), C.C. Chapman (who we love!), etc.  And if you're feeling this way, please see: The bullet point below as well as "The Bottom Line: Everyone Wins!" below...
  • And realistically, Hyperion probably deserves huge "Kudos!" for offering 16 chapters (abridged or unabridged) for free online, given an industry that's probably more disposed to giving away one free chapter online.  So, "Bravo Hyperion!"

Bottom Line: Everyone Wins!

And the funny thing is: It doesn't really matter because everyone wins.

Hyperion:  "Your email will only be used to send you information about our other great books."  So Hyperion gets some free marketing privileges.

Audible.com: Similarly, Audible gets some free marketing privileges, your free membership...and Audible Inc.  is a subsidiary of Amazon.com.  Hmmm...

Plus you need to download Audible's AudibleManager software to play Audible's files in their proprietary formats, so as users ("members") accumulate more audio book files over time, this will create switching costs a la Michael Porter's Five Forces so customers will be more likely to stick with Audible rather than switch to another audio book provider.

Amazon: See paragraph above and image of book above leading to Amazon's site.

Chris Anderson: Because his book is getting great publicity and we'll probably buy the dead-tree version anyway because it's easier to highlight and looks cooler when you carry it around (unless you have a Kindle 2...made my Amazon...of course). And we love Chris Anderson anyway!

The Biggest Loser...not! - Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman

And unfortunately "The Biggest Loser" could have been Abbie Hoffman, author of Steal this Book,  because he came before his time and he missed it by one word:  "Free"...or did he?

Premise: While a free book is "a steal", stealing the book reduces your book sales to the point that you don't make any money (at least back in the day when there were only dead-tree books).

Reality: "Abbie Hoffman couldn't get anyone to publish Steal This Book --thirty publishers turned it down. When the book was released, bookstores wouldn't carry it. Newspapers, TV and radio all refused to run advertisements. But despite these setbacks, Steal This Book found its way on to the Best Seller list in 1971.  ...The book sold more than quarter of a million copies between April and November 1971." - Source: Amazon.

"It's embarrassing you try to overthrow the government and you wind up on the Best Seller's List."
-- Abbie Hoffman     - Source: Amazon.

"A driving force behind the social revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, Hoffman inspired a generation to challenge the status quo. — Studs Terkel"
- Source: Amazon.

Bottom Bottom Line: Social (Media) Revolution

So from one "social revolution" in the 1960's and 1970's...to a "social media revolution" in the 2000's (and who can argue with that term given what's been happening recently in Iran and Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook?).

Perhaps FREE (The Future of a Radical Price) is the Steal This Book of the 2000's?  And with the current buzz re: FREE, it certainly seems to be.

And perhaps ironically, there's also a Kindle version of Steal This Book now, and interestingly the warning on Amazon's page states:

"Warning: The Publisher assumes no liability for damages arising from you trying ANYTHING mentioned in this book. The world of 2005 is far less tolerant than the world of 1971." - Source: Amazon.

And for publishing itself, it might end up that the concept of "Free" is a radical concept both before it's time, yet very effective, in giving some taste of a product (like the entire unabridged book or audio book!), and then upselling to something perceived to be of more value (abridged book that takes less time, or in a desirable format like Kindle, or the book in paper).

Free vs. One Cent

Marketing Over Coffee's podcast last week mentioned the concept of "Free vs. one cent" (e.g., Predictably Irrational) and having a "premium" version/strategy which people are willing to pay for like a physical book, DVD, consulting service, speaking engagement, etc.  And yes, this may be a "tired and worn" concept now...but apparently it works all the way to the bank:

For example, using free eBooks etc. to promote listbuilding, email/ eNewsletter marketing, etc. (especially since email marketing is one of the most tried-and-true methods of internet marketing and social media marketing is still proving-out and establishing its business case).

MOC also quoted David Meerman Scott at Podcamp Boston as saying: "Free is where you start, not where you end"...because you can't eat attention.

So we'll see if the current buzz/attention re: FREE's marketing model helps us all put food on our tables.  Great: now we can be "internet foodies" instead of "internet marketers".

Links to free versions of FREE: The Future of a Radical Price:

• Google Books - Online ebook with live Table of Contents for easy navigation (Time limit: one month).
• Scribd - Online ebook (Time limit: one month).
• Wired.com download of zipped MP3 files - Audio books "free forever".
• Unabridged audio files at Audible.com - 6 hours: free.
• Abridged audio files at Audible.com - 3 hours: $7.49.
• "Abridged" (or Unabridged?) Audio Book at Hyperion's (the publisher's) site - free.
  • See "Question: Did the Publisher Get the Memo?" above

- Check with Chris Anderson's The Long Tail blog for updates to free releases of "FREE", e.g., coming soon: "free FREE on Kindle and other ebook readers, including the iPhone".

Transparency note: No affiliate links were used in the blog post above nor was any compensation of any kind received by the blog post author.

Have a comment on this? - Just let me know...

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Names are powerful: Choose great names to influence others in choosing your web site...and respect others by spelling their name correctly.

We all react and respond to names. When you see certain names, they make you feel a certain way.  Some names inspire confidence or implied effectiveness...and others don't.  This is true for human names as well as domain names.

"Steel" versus...

In the old sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati there was a scene in which the strong boyfriend of the show's leading lady, Jennifer Marlowe (Loni Anderson), named "Steel" met Les Nessman, the radio station's wimpy and nerdy news director:

Steel: I like to think that a person's name says a lot about the type of person he is. What was your name again?

Les: (pauses) Les.

Note: Above quote courtesy of TV.com:  Episode Guide > Season 2, Episode 5: Jennifer Falls in Love.

This is definitely not a situation where "Less is more"...especially compared to "Steel".

What Started this Name rant

I received an envelope addressed to: "Kar Kasca".  Better yet, enclosed in the envelope was a check made out to: "Kar Kasca"...and since my bank accepted the deposit, it's "no worries", right?  Yes, except to me, the person receiving the letter.

Try your Name here...if you dare

And if you don't think your name and its spelling make a difference, then try your name at the Kabalarians.com website...if you dare, since the Kabalarians tell you both the good...and bad aspects of your name, e.g.,  "Though the name Kar creates the urge to be creative and original, we stress through a scattered and emotional nature, you suffer frustration."
- Wow, now I'm really glad that "Karl" is my name!

Also I want you to know that I'm not usually very sensitive about name spellings, but sometimes it does get under my skin a little.

Email versus Snail Mail

It's just that within a few hours I received the letter above, as well as having someone Reply to an email addressing it to: "Carl".  So think about it: This person's known me for years, seen countless emails from me, as well as the email they were replying to...and they still addressed their message to "Carl", instead of "Karl" - yikes!

Is it possible that we're all getting just a little too careless about Names?  What might your supervisor have said in your evaluation?
- Perhaps something like: "Lack of attention to detail"?

Customer Relations and Names

Bottom Line:If it's possible this might get under your customer's (or vendor's or associate's) skin a little then take the extra 5 seconds to look up their name in your contact manager or online.  If nothing else, just start typing their name into Google and let "Google Suggest" show you the spelling (see image at right).

Simpler yet: Just look at the "From" or Signatures on emails.

With a name like "Kasca"...it has to be good!

Taking off of an SNL (Saturday Night Live) sketch about Smucker's slogan about their jam: If the name is that bad, it must be great:

Dan Aykroyd:  Mangled Baby Ducks.  That’s right, Mangled Baby Ducks!  Picture a jam so good that you’d dare to call it Mangled Baby Ducks!  Great Jam!  It’s beautiful jam!

Quote courtesy of SNL Transcripts Season 1 > Episode 17: Jam Hawkers.

And please note that Smucker's does make great jam!

Domain Names & Cyber Squatting

But I'm used to people misspelling my last name.  Most people spell it "Kaska".  So much so that I tried to purchase the Kaska.com domain name, simply so I could catch all of the misdirected emails I was certain were being lost in the vacuum of the internet.

But some cyber-squatter had snapped up that domain for a huge amount of money.  Even a GoDaddy.comsearch today shows Kaska.com as having a "Premium Domain Name" price of $5,400.  And I guess I can't complain about cyber-squatting in this case, since "Kaska" isn't really my name.

Tip: Register your company's name or brands...and their misspellings so you won't lose business (either online or in your inbox).

Comments - Have a Misspelled Name or Cyber-Squatting horror story?

Let me know...

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In my last post How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym and YouTube video I showed how you can use the free software program Evernote to jot down notes so you can remember anything anywhere at anytime.  As I mentioned this works on any platform/ computer (PC, Mac, iPhone, Mobile Phone).

Turn Photos of Notes into Recognizable/Findable Text

One thing I didn't mention about Evernote is that theoretically you can also take photos of your handwritten notes with your mobile/iPhone and Evernote will recognize your handwriting so you can search/find your notes later.

Turn Lost/Misplaced Notes Into Information Bonanza

How many times have you taken notes at a live lecture, webinar, conference call, and filed the notes somewhere (in that giant uncategorized file)...where they're totally lost to you, since you can't locate them when you need them?

Think of all of the conferences, seminars, etc. with tons of great info that would be excellent to tap into...if you just could find it and view it.  This should be great for students, conference/seminar/webinar-attendees, knowledge-lovers, and internet marketers (who are always studying and learning).

Now there's a solution, or at least a potential solution...

Not Quite In-Focus Yet

I haven't quite gotten the note recognition functionality to work yet with my T-Mobile Wing phone but this most likely has to do with the resolution (size: number of pixels), quality (fineness), brightness (of light), and/or the distance from the orginal handwritten note (due to the focal length of the camera).  Evernote addressed this in their Help/Support: Why can't Evernote find some of the words in my pictures?

How to Turn Handwritten Notes into Retrievable Information

1. Install Evernote on your Mobile Phone or iPhone.
2. Start the Evernote program (on your phone).
3. Select "Snapshot" (Note: This takes you to your phone's camera).
4. View the handwritten note through your viewfinder and when it's the clearest, take the photo.
5. Press the curved arrow button.
6. Enter a title.
7. Press "Done" (Note: Then your picture will upload to your Evernote page on the Internet).
8. Go to your Evernote page on the Internet.
9. Refresh the page (by hitting <Ctrl> + F5 on a PC, or Command/Apple + F5 on a Mac).
10. View the photo of your handwritten note.
11. Note: It may take awhile for Evernote to recognize/index the photo of your note.
12. As I understand it, your note will be processed quicker if you opt for the fee-version of Evernote (which also increases your monthly storage allowance).
13. Search for a word in your note and Evernote should find your handwritten note so you can read it.

Note: If this doesn't work, then play with the resolution and quality settings on your phone's camera and/or the brightness of the light as well as the distance of the camera from your note.

That's it! (once I figure the last part out, that is).

FYI: It looks like Griffin has a solution for improving the clarity for iPhone photos of text/notes called "Clarifi": A protective case with built-in close-up lens for iPhone 3G.

--> If anyone knows of a clarity-improving solution like this for the T-Mobile Wing or other non-iPhone mobile phones please let me know with a comment below...

Attraction and Internet Marketing

Question: What does all of this have to do with attracting visitors and Internet Marketing?

Answer: People are attracted to:

• How to articles.
• Solutions to problems.
• Tools and gadgets.
• Tips and Reviews.
• Keywords of interest (e.g., "treasure")
• YouTube videos.

Writing blog posts or making YouTube videos addressing what attracts people can increase the traffic to your blog/YouTube site and to your website from there (if they find information of value to them), e.g., IncreaseOnlineProfits.com.

Last word: Always provide valuable content which helps people since "Content is King".

Comments, Questions, Better Solutions?

• Have something to say about this?  Let me know...
• Have a better solution.  Chime in...
• Have you gotten this to work with your T-Mobile Wing or your mobile phone?
• Were there any additional/crucial tips to getting this to work.  If so, please let  me and the AttractMoreVisitorsblog readers know by leaving a comment below...

Know anyone who might find this blog post interesting/helpful?  Then please use "Tell A Friend" below...

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Problem: Too many Great Ideas, not enough Memory

I love working out at the gym because it's a great opportunity to listen to internet marketing podcasts and learn about the lastest marketing strategies and trends.  The only problem is that when you hear great ideas (especially ideas that you're thinking of tweeting/blogging about later) it's tough to remember them.  Since it's hard to remember several ideas (or website links) throughout your entire workout and until you get to your home/office, it would be great to be able to write them down.  But who wants to carry a clipboard or notebook around the gym?

Solution: Your Mobile Phone/iPhone and the multi-platform Evernote program.

Evernote is  an excellent web-based as well as phone-based program you can use to jot down your notes in a hurry.  All you have to do is register on Evernote's website and then download the Evernote software and install it onto your laptop/desktop (PC or Mac) and web-enabled phone. Since the Evernote site has directions, videos & tutorials & screenshots, I'm just going to show you how to use Evernote at the gym during your workout.

How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym

1. Download and Synchronize podcasts onto your mobile phone/iPhone.
   Note: I use Juice and Windows Media Player for this.
   You may use iTunes.
2. Listen to the podcasts while doing your workout.
3. When you hear a great idea start Evernote on your mobile phone/iPhone.
4. Jot down a note in Evernote.
5. Example: "MOC: Google Website Analyzer" (see Evernote image).
6. Rinse and repeat (do this for every great idea you hear that you want to remember).
7. Extra credit to boost your site traffic: When you get back to your home/office write a tweet or blog post based on the great idea.

• Twitter Example:
  • Google Website Optimizer tweet with thanks to Marketing Over Coffee podcast and @cspenn (Christopher Penn) for the great idea.

• Blog Post Example:
  • For Immediate Release (FIR) podcast by Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #441: April 20, 2009 re: Domino's Pizza.
  • Generated idea for Attract More Visitors blog post re: Domino's and How to Deal With Social Media Emergency Responses.
  • Clearly when you write these notes on Elliptical Trainers or the Treadmill they don't always look that great (do not do this...see the Caveat/Warning below).
  • But the point is: All they have to do is be good enough to remind you of the idea you need so you can take action on them, e.g, writing a tweet or posting a blog post.

YouTube Video: "How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym"

How does this help me Attract More Visitors to my Site?

You might be thinking, this is all great, but how does it help me get traffic to my website? Basically, by helping you remember all of the great ideas you heard in internet marketing and social media podcasts so you can blog and tweet about them on Twitter.  That's it, no magic or mirrors involved, just enabling you to write more blog posts and Twitter tweets which others may see or find via Google searches and then follow to your website (from your blog or your Twitter bio/profile).

Comments

Have a better way to remember great ideas during your workout? - just let me know...

And "extra credit" points for ways which improve your site traffic as well.

Caveats and Fine Print Warnings!

Please consult your Doctor before engaging in any exercise program.  Also, please be sure to *pause* during your exercise routine *before* writing notes in Evernote in your mobile phone/iPhone!  After all, you don't want to end up falling or having an accident at the gym.

And no matter what happens, please do not hold Evernote, me (Karl Kasca), Attract More Visitors blog, IncreaseOnlineProfits.com, or Social Mastermind Corp. responsible as we've already cautioned you above.

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An "Emergency Response" approach might be what's needed re: quick Social Media responses to real world and online faux pas.

Critical to get Info out fast

Having been involved in an Emergency Response Strike Team while at UNOCAL, a global energy resources ("Big Oil") company,  we knew that it's critical to get accurate information out to the media/public as quickly as possible.

With Domino's Pizza's social media problem hitting the web as well as the traditional news sources within the last week it seemed timely to offer a possible solution for future events like this.

Brief Background of Domino's Situation

Some Domino's employees filmed several YouTube videos which showed them treating pizzas/food at Domino's in ways that would cause great shock and distaste for Domino's customers.  This shock could lead to reduced sales as Domino's customers may wonder whether this was an isolated event, or is widespread throughout their company's locations and employees. Domino's didn't respond to the videos right away, taking a "wait and see" attitude at first.  This allowed the situation to play out online, particularly on Twitter.

For more detailed info and links to the now-pulled videos see the Consumerist's post: Domino's Rogue Employees Do Disgusting Things To The Food, Put It On YouTube.  Since then Domino's president has made/uploaded an apology video to YouTube.

Major Problems

• Was the response in Social Media quick enough?
• Was the YouTube video apology accepted as being a genuine apology?

Result

This entire scenario certainly caused a "brand emergency" and could cause a "brand disaster" for Domino's.

What's Needed: A Different Mind-set

With other company's having similar problems, e.g., JetBlue's runway fiasco awhile back, it might be helpful if companies considered an entirely different way of responding which would require a different mind-set:

Consider what happened as the worst possible event possible for your company, product(s), and brand.  Then act...fast!  And take action where your customers are likely to be/read/interact with their news (e.g., Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, or where-ever your customers are likely to be engaged at).

Take a Lesson from the Emergency Response PR Guidelines of an Oil Company

Here's an excerpt from BTC Pipeline Company's Oil Spill Response Plan - Azerbaijan:

"Oil spills are typically highly visible events and will generate public interest and concern.  The media and the public will base their opinions on information that is available to them.  It is important that they have access to factual and timely information.  It is well documented that refusal to talk to the media during a crisis situation creates the assumption that some wrongdoing has taken place.  If BCT does not provide accurate and timely information, reporters will obtain their information from potentially unreliable sources or those who can only speculate on actual events or actions. A "no comment" position can adversely affect BTC's reputation as a responsible corporate citizen, and could result in restrictive legislation that could affect both BTC and others in the industry. It is BTC's policy to cooperate with the media and make timely, accurate information available to the public."

This was written in 2005, well before the recent social media explosion.  But its possible application to bad web PR situations is crystal clear: Get ahead of the situation and respond - respond as quickly and as well as you can.

10 Brief Guidelines for Social Media Emergency Responses

1. Get a response out as quickly as possible.
2. At a minimum, respond in the venue the original SM Emergency occurred in, e.g., YouTube.
3. Then consider other social media venues your customers may frequent and consider creating information streams of communication in them, e.g., Twitter.
4. Get your CEO/President out in front of the situation...and do it in a believable way (minus points for not looking into the camera and talking to us).
5. Continue monitoring the situation and communicating with your customers.
6. Consider ways to put your customers at ease.
7. Consider ways to win your customers back (rewards, etc.).
8. Be truthful and transparent throughout this process.
9. Mean what you say.
10. Do what you mean.

10 Necessary Actions BEFORE Brand Emergencies/Disasters

1. Do Reputation Monitoring.
2. Monitor the web re: your company name, product(s), brand(s), and principals/executives.
3. Do Scenario Planning and Risk Assessments for everything you can imagine...and more.
4. Consider "what if's" for likely as well as unlikely situations.
5. Definitely consider scenarios for the worst possible situations.
6. If you already have disaster scenarios you've created in the past, dust them off, and make them current given new/currently available communications methods.
7. Assume that the walls of all of your facilities, file cabinets, hard drives, servers, and "cloud computing" are transparent.
8. Revise your social media emergency response plans accordingly.
9. Do SWOT analyses for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats for your company and each of its subsidiaries, products, brands, as well as for your competitors.
10. Rinse and repeat (start at #1 again as this is an ongoing process).

Bottom Line

Ideally you want visitors and customers to be attracted to your website and online presences (Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc.) in the best of circumstances so they will have the best possible impressions of your company, brand, products, etc.

Cold dose of Reality: Life isn't always Ideal, so be prepared for the worst and act accordingly. And most of all act quickly!

Your visitors and customers are probably more than willing to meet you half-way, but the burden is on your company and all of your employees to let them know what's going on (create quick communication streams, e.g. via Twitter), what you're doing to solve it (currently), how/why this will never happen again, and how you'd like to form/continue the relationship with them (communication and enticement-wise).

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Are you Clean with that? - Part II

In Part I of "Why Internet Marketing is Like a Disney Cruise - Are you Clean with that?" I mentioned the hand sanitizers used on Disney Cruises in all of their places to eat. Since we went on our cruise a number of supermarkets have also placed moist hand wipes at their front entrances. Now every time you go to the store you have an opportunity to think about your internet marketing techniques / methods / practices and think "Are you clean with that?".

8 Tests for Clean Marketing

1. Can you sleep at night? - "Sleep like a baby"? (soundly, peacefully).
2. Or are you kept up at night worrying?
3. Would you be OK with your marketing methods if your Mother read about them in an exposé on the front page of the New York Times?
4. Do you get a little queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you think about your marketing techniques?
5. Do your Friends ask you questions like, "What happened to you, you always used to be so (insert any nice wholesome word/concept here)?
6. Could words like bill of goods, cheat, con, deceit, deception, delusion, dishonest, double-dealing, evasion, exaggeration (huge), falsehood, fraud, hype, illusion, lie, misleading, misrepresentation, overstatement (gross), pretense, scam, scheme, shell game, snake oil, snow job, subterfuge, etc. be associated with your internet marketing techniques?
7. Would you use the same marketing methods on your friends or family. (The ones you like, that is).
8. If someone used the same marketing method on you, would you feel tricked or played for a sucker. Again, the "Golden Rule".

Solutions: "Faith, Trust, And Pixie Dust"

1. Clarity and transparency - it's as simple (and clean) as that.
2. If you can explain your internet marketing methods to a child or to the hero of a child (e.g., Mickey Mouse, Tinker Bell, Sleeping Beauty, Lilo [not Stitch!]) and they're ok with them, then you're probably OK.
3. Being open and honest with your visitors and customers will give them a reason to believe in you, and your methods, and your site - a reason to have faith in you and trust you, your business, and your website/blog/podcast.
4. Building trust through the words you use and living up to them with follow-through.
5. Building trust by using trust badges/symbols, etc. where a visitor would want them to be.  E.g., Better Business Bureau, Association logos, Visa/MasterCard badges (when purchasing), etc.
6. Building trust through real Testimonials/Reviews.  People can spot bogus testimonials. Remember what your Mom said, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
7. Using persuasion instead of delusion or confusion. Be conscious of when you begin using internet marketing hype instead of a persuasive argument.
8. Pixie dust: It's ok to have add a little magic - some zing. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) seems like magic, but it works. So a little "white hat" SEO (the good SEO) is fine. Especially since these techniques are no more than what Google recommends so it can serve-up more targeted search results to its customers (searchers). You're just helping Google's customers find what they're truly looking for better.

Bottom Line: Add content and value - true value - and market them as straightforwardly as possible.

Morality Screed versus "What Just Makes Sense" and the Law

You might be thinking that this is just a heavy-handed moral screed, but really it's a plea to consider how your marketing efforts are viewed by those who encounter them, your potential customers.  Then turn it around and think (deep down), "Do I want to be marketed to that way?" and that should be your answer.

But if that's not enough, "It's the Law" as outlined by the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Advertising and Marketing on the Internet: Rules of the Road:

"The Federal Trade Commission Act allows the FTC to act in the interest of all consumers to prevent deceptive and unfair acts or practices. In interpreting Section 5 of the Act, the Commission has determined that a representation, omission or practice is deceptive if it is likely to:

• mislead consumers and
• affect consumers' behavior or decisions about the product or service."

Also there's a special section on "Testimonials and Endorsements".
See FTC Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Hope this helps!

Take care & hope you're internet marketing is a great success,

Karl

Comments?

Got one?   Think I'm off-track...or not - just let me know below.

But if you like this for whatever reason, then "Tell A Friend" below.

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Everything I need to know about Internet Marketing, I learned on a Disney Cruise: "Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust".  Are you "clean with that"? (more on this below...)

Cleanest Hands in the World

Clean hands make a healthy voyage.  Every time you eat on a Disney Cruise, you're given moist hand wipes before you're allowed in the dining facility.  One of the comedians on the cruise joked that "We have the cleanest hands in the world."

I'm "Clean With That"

When I used to work for a Big Oil company (I mean large global energy resources corporation), one of my co-workers used to rate decisions and/or courses of actions by saying, "I'm clean with that."  This is like saying, "I'm OK with that," but far more positively.

Clean Marketing

Similar to these two examples, if we can be "clean" with the methods of Marketing we use, then we can feel good about what we're doing.  I think this spirit of positivity carries over to the people we're attracting to our web sites and creating relationships with.  If we're genuine about our intent then people will sense this and naturally be more predisposed to purchase at our web site.

"Mud People" versus The Golden Rule

Conversely, I remember hearing a professional speaker refer to the members of his audiences as "mud people".  These were people he felt were stuck in the mud in their lives and needed his hand (techniques) to help pull them out.

This is wrong on so many levels.  Once you start thinking of your potential visitors or customers as "marks" (easy marks), as they say in the carnival business, then clearly you've lost all respect for them. As always, the time-honored test is, "Would I want to be thought of that way?"

• As the Golden Rule says: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
• "The ethic of reciprocity (also known as the Golden Rule) is an ethical code that states one has a right to just treatment, and a responsibility to ensure justice for others." - Wikipedia

If you would not want to be thought of that way, then steer a straight course for a journey to internet marketing success you can be "clean" with.

More on this is Part 2: Why Internet Marketing is Like a Disney Cruise - Part 2

Wishing you the best online marketing success,

Karl

PS: Have a Comment on this?  Or are you "clean with that"?

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