October 2006
Monthly Archive
Ten Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
Is your marketing making you money, or making you crazy? “My business is failing, but I can’t afford to market it because I don’t have the money.†The “I cannot’s†in marketing serve only to justify mistakes.
Most marketing efforts fail NOT because of what we don’t have, but because of what we do with the opportunities we DO have. Here’s my annual review of the most common failed opportunities and marketing mistakes.
1. Not having a Marketing Plan
The most common marketing mistake is not having a plan.
The plan doesn’t have to be complex. In fact, sometimes something short and to the point is better.
Your plan must describe who your customers are and what you can do to make them buy your product or service. This means thinking about how you can contact and communicate with them.
Eye tracking and the golden triangle
MattE 28 Oct 2006 | : Marketing, Web
How do people look at search results? New EyeTracking Study suggests the importance of page position and rank in both Organic and PPC search results for visibility and click through In an area known as the Golden Triangle - no doubt named after many areas of the world and in various guises to depict great wealth.
While the benefits of being within this area may be great, I have some concern that the report below does not identify the skill level of the participants, nor the need for obtaining specific results from the ’scenarios’ that the participants were asked to undertake.
From my view, anyone undertaking a dedicated Google (or other search engine) searche will investigate all of the page if the first few results do not provide results that indicate that the returned pages will provide the information the person is looking for, rather than the diminished scanning and clickthrough suggested in the report.
Public comment sought on the .au Internet domain
The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, this week called for public comment on a discussion paper released as part of a review of the .au Internet domain arrangements.
“The current administrative arrangements for .au have been in place for more than five years. It is therefore appropriate for the Australian Government to undertake a broad examination of its existing structures,†Senator Coonan said.
“This discussion paper forms part of a review of the .au Internet domain, which I announced in August 2006. It will facilitate discussion on issues regarding the structural model for, and administration of, the .au Internet domain.
AdSense as a Business Model
MattE 26 Oct 2006 | : Marketing, Web
I know Chris from a forum I frequent and there was a thread on making money from your website using Google’s advertising tool, AdSense. Chris’ take on how to approach making revenue from AdSense was so good I asked if he could stitch it together into an article for reprint here.
So have a read, and think about pay per click advertising on your site. You can catch up with Chris at the Site Reference forums under the name of Northie.
In a traditional business model there are usually two distinct parties - the company and company’s customers. The customer ‘pays’ the company for products or services the customer is unable, or unwilling, to otherwise aquire or produce. In order for the company to offer it’s products or services they must draw on and process, ‘raw’ materials.
Verizon Sues SMS Spammers
This story Verizon Sues SMS Spammers shows several interesting aspects.
1. That Verizon ( a USA mobile phone operator) has a system whereby subscriber’s numbers can be accessed.
2. That someone is willing to pay (assuming there was some charge somewhere) for up to 1.1 million txt messages to be delivered.
3. That this has been happening for months, without Verizon securing their networks properly.
Using SMS as a motivation tool
MattE 25 Oct 2006 | : Marketing, SMS
SMS has many uses and in business it can be used to communicate, one-on-one with staff.
One of our clients is using SMS to motivate sales representatives by running an internal competition.
The basis of the exercise is that sales representatives are awarded points based on the number and value of sales made. These points are tallied each week and a leaderboard is constructed.
Each week, using data merge, a personalised email is sent to each sales rep: Continue Reading »
Google Maps Mania: Australia Google Maps Mashup Roundup!
MattE 24 Oct 2006 | : Marketing, Web
Some may know I am a big fan of Google Maps Mashups (putting your own info onto Google Maps - I’ll learn how to do it one day!)
Google Maps Mania: Australia Google Maps Mashup Roundup! has a great list of recent Australian maps - catching up with the rest of the world fast now there is good maps coverage of Australia.
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Looking for a business venture on the web? Try this approach
MattE 24 Oct 2006 | : Marketing, Web
Here is a nifty story from CNN. Put your thinking cap on - opportunities are everywhere (a bit like not seeing the the forest for the trees I guess!)
New ways to strike it rich on the Web
By Paul Sloan, Business 2.0 Magazine editor-at-largeOne of the many remarkable aspects of the Internet is how easily people can use it to pretend to be something they aren’t. There are, of course, terrifying results, such as when crooks pose as your bank.
But David Carter has taken that capacity for misdirection and made it into a legitimate way to make money.
The people factor
MattE 23 Oct 2006 | : Marketing, Web
An industry colleague had this post on his A Marketing Blog - worth checking it out for the cartoon as well
In 1997, Steve Jobs, the founder and former CEO of Apple Computer, returned to the company to help revive the ailing personal computer market. One of the first calls he made was to Lee Clow, TBWA/Chiat/Day’s legendary chairman and chief creative officer worldwide. Apple was considering a number of agencies at the time, but Jobs cut short the review process and awarded the business to TBWA/Chiat/Day, noting “I don’t pick advertising agencies; I pick people.”
People are the ones that make up the company. It is people that we deal with in and out each day. When you are marketing or selling to a business, you are actually dealing with its people. It is not about my company and your company. It is about me and you. Most importantly, develop a relationship and make them like you.
Paris - a city unplugged
I have been meaning to write about my experiences in Paris since my return from the French metropolis, so here is a short post on my experiences getting internet access.
Generally I found internet access hard to find anywhere in Paris (or anywhere in France and Emgland for that matter). Before leaving on the trip I specifically booked accommodation that had WiFi access.
From the start I confused access with connectivity. Yes places had access, but the signal was so weak and the connection speed when we did manage to connect was so dreadfully slow it was virtually impossible to check emails, let alone to any meaningful file transfers.
