March 24, 2006

I'll trade you this paperclip

Kyle MacDonald used to play a game when he was a kid. He would trade something small for something bigger, and keep trading up until he got something he wanted. He claims he wasn't very good at it. Now he is trading a paperclip for a house... well, sort of....

The game is called Bigger and Better. He thought about this game when he decided he should have a house, but can't even afford a down payment.

According to an article from the Halifax Herald:

For the paper clip, he got a pen. He traded the pen for a doorknob. He traded the doorknob for a camping stove. For the stove, he got a generator. For the generator, he got a neon Budweiser sign, an empty beer keg and an IOU to fill it. That party pack netted him a snowmobile, which he traded for a trip to the Canadian Rockies. He traded the trip for a van.

He says he is considering writing a book about his experience. But for now, if you would like to see how he is getting along you can bookmark his blog at www.oneredpaperclip.com. You can also use a link on his blog to submit your own trade offer.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 10:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 05, 2006

Let's have a laugh

After being married twice, divorced twice, and involved in numerous other failed relationships, I think I am at the point where I am qualified to offer the worst possible relationship advice imaginable. No doubt about it! If you have a great relationship with your spouse or significant other, I'm sure I could help you sour those warm fuzzy feelings. And to top it off, I think I would like to be paid for this invaluable service.

"Dr. Robert H. Coombs, Professor of Behavioral Sciences at UCLA, conducted a review of more than 130 published empirical studies measuring how marital status affects personal well-being. He concluded that scientific investigations, conducted from the 1930s to the present, "attest that married people live longer and generally are more emotionally and physically healthy than the unmarried." Coombs specifically looked at the areas of alcoholism, suicide, morbidity and mortality, mental illness and self reports of happiness."

After my second divorce I joined a "support group" but I didn't stay with it very long. Man, you talk about negative people! Heck, if I wanted to feel worse about myself and situation, I was in the right place. It was crowded with people talking about crazy things like suicide, drugs and alcohol. Yes, I went home and made myself a stiff drink and turned on the TV to watch a re-run of Seinfeld. If his petty character was worthy of enjoying the single life, mine was too. Granted, we might be less "emotionally and physically healthy" but I don't see where it says we can't be just as happy! As George Costanza said:

I'm disturbed, I'm depressed, I'm inadequate, I've got it all!

I don't think people should wallow in self-pity, or have to listen to others who are just as miserable. In fact, I've been toying with the idea of putting up a website that would take a light-hearted look at divorce and failed relationships. Perhaps a column like "Dear Abby" where people could write in with their marital woes and receive the worst possible advice — maybe a discussion forum where we could share some laughs.

What do you think? Does this sound like fun?

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 02:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 01, 2005

The Mightiest Voice in Marketing

Do you know what the mightiest voice in marketing is? If you want to promote your own products and services the mightiest voice in marketing is someone else's. Most people won't believe them when you tell them how great you are. You will just come off sound like a braggart. Then if someone else tells a group about how great your product or service is it has the affect of raising your credibility.

Bob Serling's recent article titled "The Mightiest Voice in Marketing" goes on to say:

"Prospects are justifiably skeptical of anything you say about yourself. After all, they've been burned, probably more times than they care to admit, by people just like you who say all kinds of glowing things about themselves. So why should they believe you?"

He suggests the workaround is to let someone else tell your prospects about you, and to get permission to use this in your marketing material. And, do this this any time you can... Here is an example of a piece Bob is using:

Bob says "...that a satisfied customer can say things about you in a powerful way that you could never say about yourself without completely alienating your audience. And that is a mighty tool to have in your marketing arsenal."

Without a shred of doubt I can honestly say that a good majority of the work I get comes from referrals. I would expect if you can get an ad, like the above, in front of your prospects, you could have tons of work. The placement of this type of your ad in your marketing material needs to have some weight and priority too. Bob says:

"It always amazes me that so many people wait until the end of their marketing piece to roll out their testimonials. If you continue to make claim after claim in your marketing without countering your prospect's natural skepticism with undeniable proof, by the time you get to the end of your marketing piece, it's usually too late. What you've really done is built a wall of skepticism so high, that no proof can overcome this."

You can read the full article here. Please feel free to agree your comments on this type of marketing here.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 10:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 24, 2005

Blog Popup windows

I can understand that people want to make a little money from publishing their blogs. Most blogs you see have Google Adsense inserted in a column along the side, and it isn't uncommon to see other products featured in the same or opposite column. What I do mind, is popup windows... especially the DHTML ones that cannot be blocked and are set on a delay so that they appear when you are trying to read the content.

While browsing my RSS feeds I found a story I wanted to read and clicked the link which loaded the blog in my browser. By the time I got to the second sentence, a DHTML popup floated down from the top (offering 3 free eBooks for signing up) and interrupted me from the article.

I felt this was an annoyance I could live without. Although I have a great deal of respect for the author of the blog, and his marketing knowledge, I removed the RSS feed from my reader. I would like to think this won't become a trend.

How do you feel about popup windows on blogs?

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 09:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Google Joins IM Fray

Reuters announced that Google will soon be offering an instant messaging system of their own with voice capability. They suggest this will give Skype more competition.

The article says:

Google Talk goes beyond text-based instant messaging using a computer keyboard to let users hold voice conversations with other computer users, the newspaper quoted a source as saying.

You can read the full article at eWeek.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 18, 2005

Email stats from Aweber

Barry Stein published a letter he received from Aweber about newsletter statistics. It includes information about open rates, formats, best delivery days.

If you're a publisher it is well worth a read.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 15, 2005

The Dot Com era is back!

In a recent post titled "Internet use threatens to overtake TV in Canada it discusses the threat of online marketing to traditional media sources in Canada. This isn't a a threat anymore in the US. It is a fact.

An article written by Thomas Mucha from Business 2.0 says:

People are spending more time online than watching TV, which gives marketers a better chance to reach consumers in a place where they are just one click away from making a purchase. "More than 75 percent of companies using the Internet to advertise report confidence in their return on investment," writes the study's lead author, Jupiter Research senior analyst Gary Stein. This confidence, Stein argues, will sustain spending momentum across all the key online ad areas: paid search, display ads, classified ads, and rich media.

Interesting to note that two studies are similar. Although The Ipsos Reid study of Canada claims radio is losing more interest than TV in Canada, it may soon lose to the Internet as well.

Mr. Mucha claims 40 percent of total spending by 2010 will be paid advertisements on Google, Yahoo and MSN to an estimate of $19 billion per year. Not much wonder why the search engines are trying to dominate each other and the marketplace. The one that becomes the most popular will also make the most money.

What will become of the little guy? Will it put an end to buying keywords for ad placement on search engines? Will the small business owner get shoved out of the picture? Maybe not altogether... but let's face it. If GM decides they want to use the keywords you are using, can you afford to compete? The search engines will be laughing "all the way to the bank" and the cost per clicks will just keeping going up... (he-he) similar to the price of gasoline at the pumps these days.

Even though the cost of clicks may get pricey, the major search engines will always have to index relevant websites and include these results and return them on any keyword search. Professional sites (versus linkfarm, affiliate, spam sites) will always be in favour, and the sooner business can get their company sites built, if they haven't already; the better. Google seems to be the top search engine right now, and new sites often get sandboxed. If they hold on to their dominant position, new websites want to make sure this doesn't happen to them.

I've always felt that there was something Google was doing that gave some sites more relevance than others in its index, but wasn't sure how it was applied. At the Search Engine Strategies conference last week in San Jose, California, Rand Fishkin learned that Google places some new Web sites, "regardless of their merit, or lack thereof, in a sort of probationary category" for six months to a year to "allow time to determine how users react to a new site, who links to it, etc."

On a final piece of advice he suggests:

"Several people have also predicted that Yahoo! or MSN may take up similar techniques to help stop spam. This phenomenon could seriously undermine new SEO/Ms and new campaigns, but it is a possibility. My recommendation is not to discount this possibility and launch projects or at least holding sites and their promotional efforts ASAP. The web environment right now is still relatively friendly to new sites, but will certainly become more competitive and unforgiving with time, no matter what search engine filters exist."

Although it is starting to sound a little like the "Dot Com era is back" it will be a little different this time around. In 2000 when it went bust, it is partly because the percentage of consumers purchasing online didn't justify the amount of spending. There was a lack of confidence. It is different now. Jupiter's study shows that "73 percent of Americans who use the Internet have made a purchase online and four out of five of these potential shoppers have responded to an online ad."

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 07:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 11, 2005

And I try, and I try, and I try...

The subject line "And I try, and I try, and I try..." is easily recognized form the song "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones. And try, they did.

From CTV News:

About 1,000 lucky music fans in Toronto experienced a rare treat Wednesday night they likely won't soon forget -- a live show in a small club by living rock legends the Rolling Stones.

The $10 show, considered a warm-up gig for their upcoming world tour, was The World's Greatest Rock Band's thank you to Toronto for playing host to them for past month.

That was quite a deal, compared to the $450 price tag for a top-priced seat when the rockers play in Toronto next month as part of their world tour, which starts Aug. 21 in Boston.

If you read through the rock band's history as chronicled at en.wikipedia.org you see a 40+ years of hardship, drug abuse and tragic events have marred their success. But they kept trying... and have been called "The World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band."

Entrepreneurs world wide can identify with their struggle. Although most of us will never achieve the level of success that they have, we will also never have to endure the the agony they have put themselves through to get there. However, even modest levels of success seem to require a modest amount of sacrifice, and a ton of commitment.

Today? I'm just going to try a little.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 03:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 09, 2005

Internet use threatens to overtake TV in Canada

A survey from Ipsos Reid suggests that the Internet may soon overtake TV as the most popular medium. The survey says:

The recent Ipsos Reid study Online News and Information Seeking: What the Future Holds shows that the amount of time Internet-using Canadians are spending actively using the Internet is on the rise, averaging 12.7 hours per week (up 46% from 8.7 hours in 20022). This increase appears to have come at the expense of radio as the typical Internet-using adult spends 11 hours per week listening to the radio, down from 16 hours per week in 2002. While weekly Internet usage has surpassed radio listening, television retains the number one position among media sources with Internet-using Canadians averaging 14.3 hours of TV viewing per week. Still, the gap between Internet and TV usage is closing (a difference of 1.6 hours per week compared to 4.5 hours in 2002), with the Internet threatening to overtake television should these trends continue.

Catherine Rogers, senior research manager with Ipsos Reid's Media Practice, said, "In order to combat this growing threat, traditional media sources must continue to find innovative ways to use the Internet as a complement to their total offering."

This leaves us free to speculate about the how this trend will be directly proportional to the cost of online advertising. How will it affect the job market? What about employees who need to be re-trained to work within this medium?

It also makes one wonder about companies who spend their advertising budgets on more traditional methods, while excluding the Internet.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 01:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 03, 2005

The case for RSS

Bill Flitter's article, While Web publishers slept, on C|Net says that:

Just about every major online news source uses RSS to deliver content to subscribers. RSS has been adopted by major publishers such as CNET, the BBC, Yahoo, Motley Fool, InfoWorld, The New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, Wired News, The Wall Street Journal and many others, including a rapidly growing number of local and regional newspapers.

In regards to MEDIA sources who are not using RSS he says, "If they don't watch out, their Web sites just might die along with the traditional viewership model."

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Guides and Resources for Small Business Owners

eBizBlog.ca announced a new resource for Canadians thinking about operating an Internet business from home. They say it is a joint effort by eBC and the e-Futures centers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, but some of the information provided on the website could be applicable to lots of entrepreneurs... and not necessarily just those in Western Canada.

It has 16 guides including:

Building an Effective Website (PDF, 218 KB) This guide provides valuable tips on how to build an effective website, how and who will use your website, how to select the right developer, top mistakes in website design, and more advanced web development issues.

Essential E-Business Partners (PDF, 226 KB)
A wide variety of ebusiness partners is required to create and implement a successful e-business strategy. Learn more about web hosts, Internet service providers, ASPs, web designers and developers, and how to select the right partners.

Internet Marketing (PDF, 254 KB)
Understand how to use web development, search engine optimization, online advertising, e-mail marketing, blogs, and affiliate program strategies to increase your website traffic.

Selling Online (B2C) (PDF, 204 KB)
Going from a web presence to selling online is usually not as simple as adding a picture of your product to a web page. This guide provides a common-sense approach to issues such as web development and design, electronic storefronts, payment processing, taxation and duties, shipping and order fulfillment for your B2C ecommerce website.

Return on Investment (PDF, 202 KB)
There are many ways to measure the return on an e-business project, and a ROI analysis should form part of your decision-making process. Often entrepreneurs measure ROI as the cash returned from a particular investment. In many cases, however, determining ROI is not so obvious. This guide will teach you more.

It also has a page of links to other resources of interest.

The Pan-Western Website loads fast, and is an incredible resource for newcomers.

The current four team members of Pan-Western each wrote four guides to total sixteen. Regardless of how well informed the members are, it is important to understand that some of the information provided is based on opinion.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 29, 2005

Forbes lists the best blogs

Forbes recently published a list of blogs. They say:

"We identify the best blogs in categories ranging from Art and Literary Blogs, to Small Business, Marketing, Shopping and Music Blogs."

HA! They overlooked this one. What were they thinking?

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 19, 2005

Getting to the top of Google

Danny Wall's article, How To Steal To The Top Of Google: Use the News offers some great tips and strategy for getting to the top using press releases. I would have to presume this would include writing articles and submitting them to article directories too. Mr. Wall says:

"...a visitor that comes to your site from an ad is actually much less likely to buy from you on that visit than is someone that comes to your site because of some sort of beneficial news article that they read somewhere."

I know I've tried using press releases in the past, but haven't had much luck. But this article gave me a great idea. Danny said:

"Is the price of gas going up? That’s good news if you do almost anything that helps to extend a car’s fuel economy."

With prices here hovering at around $1 per liter, it makes me think that this could be tied into why people want to start establishing a second income by building a web business.

You know, if nothing else, it will help put gas in their jalopy so they can get back and forth to work! Or better, yet.... maybe they will have some money left over at the end of the month.

But the point being made is that information being searched for at Google often has links to media coverage at the top of the returned results page, BEFORE any of the regular indexed pages appear.

Something to think about, isn't it?

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 09:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 14, 2005

Adding RSS Content

I was viewing a discussion thread that mentions a program called RSS Indexed that sells for $199.00. They claim it works like:

RSS Indexer takes all of the hassle out of creating pages and submitting feeds for you. You simply point RSS Indexer towards a URL and it will spider EVERY PAGE on the site and gather content for the RSS Feed.

Tell RSS Indexer how often you want it to submit and YOU ARE DONE!!! Your once Static website is now considered to have CONSTANTLY UPDATED CONTENT.

I guess there is something I don't quite understand here...

If you have a 100 page website full of static content, what is the purpose of turning static content into RSS feeds and having the same static content submitted every 18 days to the search engines. Is this suppose to make the site appear fresh?

If the search engines want FRESH content, wouldn't it make more sense to give them fresh content?

Sure, I understand 100 pages of fresh content might be a little much, but I will tell you what I found.

I was browsing through hotscripts.com and found a program called RSStatic.

Here is how this program works:

Typical web based RSS aggregators simply allow you to publish a headline and link from your chosen feed. This provides you with fresh content on your site and gives visitors a potential reason to return. This offers very little value to search engine optimization efforts. RSStatic goes one step beyond that.

RSStatic takes information from the feeds you choose and generates static html pages for each item in the feed. This quickly turns a 10 page website into a much larger, more robust site complete with relevant content that continually grows.

I installed this as a way to share some of my favorite feeds with my site visitors. I did not submit this page to the search engines. A few days later I noticed the increase in traffic while viewing my stats and referring URLs. If you have a look at this URL from Google you can see it found about 300 new pages from the installation of this script.

Well... I guess I get to share my favorite feeds with more people then just my site visitors.

I guess if someone wanted to use this for a good tool to bring in targeted hits, they could make sure that the feeds they included were site and keyword related. At least it doesn't cost a lot, and the content is fresher. So comparatively speaking, I don't see the advantage of using "RSS Indexed" over the free RSStatic.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 06:37 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

July 13, 2005

The 20 Second Rule...

This is the average time someone will spend looking at your sales letter.

Bugsy Cockaracha, from www.SalesLetterHumor.com visited my discussion forum and suggested:

Have any of you read "The 20 Second Rule"

That is the average time a sales letter will be in the hands of the receiver, looked at, read, and thrown away. Does this surprise you? Please go and read the two reports by Professor Vogele and see for yourself. Both articles are not long but are packed with information you can not get any place else.

http://cdmdirect.com/eyestudy1.htm read this first
http://cdmdirect.com/eyestudy2.htm read this next

I came across "The 20 Second Rule" about three years ago and been working on a way to increase the time a sales letter stays in the hands of the receiver. I have created a sales letter that will increase that time many times over

Regards,
Bugsy Cockaracha

"Humor Sales Letters" last forever
they are a Salesmen's best friend.
http://www.SalesLetterHumor.com

P.S. One good turn of the blanket . . . and you'll have the whole thing.

These reports are a must read.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 10:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 11, 2005

Online Profits

ON June 26th, 2005, I posted about Bob Serling's new eBook Online Profits at the Speed of Light. A special pre publication was released today where you can buy the eBook for a little less. Bob says:

The price for Online Profits at the Speed of Light — once the full program is ready — will be just $79. That includes the main program and at least 8 powerful bonuses.

However, as a special pre-publication offer to get a partial version of this highly profitable material in your hands as quickly as possible, I'm offering a discounted price of just $59. You'll get all the material that's currently available right now. And because it's all in pdf format, you can have it delivered to your desktop in the next couple minutes. Then, once the full program is complete (toward the end of September), you'll get the complete program and all the remaining bonuses.

When I posted about it, I told you Bob was looking for contributors.

The list of experts currently committed to participating at this point include:

Bob Bly, John Carlton, Dave Dee, Randy Gage, David Garfinkel, Paul Hartunian, John Jantsch, Audri Lanford, Paul Lemberg, Clayton Makepeace, Ken McCarthy, George McKenzie, Paul Myers, Bob Scheinfeld, Yanik Silver, Joe Vitale, Jeff Walker, and Pamela Yellen.

The BIG SURPRISE for me was that he published a handy tip I submitted.

If you missed out on getting your material submitted the deadline for getting your materials to him is July 27th, 2005, but he would prefer to get them as early as possible. It might not be too late to get in the final publication.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 12:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 07, 2005

6 ways to improve website stickiness

Don MacLeod article 6 ways to improve website stickiness offers some good common sense using:

• Fresh Articles
• Forum
• Reviews
• Resource Directories
• Newsletter
• Blogs

How many of these strategies do you employ?

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 26, 2005

Online Profits at the Speed of Light

I had an email this morning from Bob Serling who said he is looking for people who want to participate in a new ebook he's creating. It's called:

This book will give you an opportunity to get tremendous exposure for yourself and your business, or just to help others.

1. How to contribute material for the ebook.

The gist of the book is simple. Just answer the following question:

"What are the fastest, cheapest, most effective things you do to market online?"

The idea is to keep things as short and easy to act on as possible. At the same time, feel free to take the space you need to make your contribution as useful as possible. You may also include a resource box with contact information and any special offer you may want to include.

He's also looking for bonuses to include with this product. So if you have a report, interview, or some other material that you'd like to offer as a bonus, be sure to let him know.

The deadline for getting your materials to me is July 27th, but he would prefer to get them as early as possible.

2. Significant exposure for the product

He's arranged with a number of companies with large lists to joint venture the product and he's looking for even more. Right now, it looks like there will be in excess of 500,000 people who receive the promo for this product. So you should get tremendous exposure for your products and services.

Also due to the name recognition of the experts he expects to contribute to the book, it should generate strong interest and sales. The list of experts currently committed to participate at this point include:

Bob Bly, John Carlton, Dave Dee, Randy Gage, David Garfinkel, Paul Hartunian, John Jantsch, Audri Lanford, Paul Lemberg, Clayton Makepeace, Ken McCarthy, George McKenzie, Paul Myers, Bob Scheinfeld, Yanik Silver, Joe Vitale, Jeff Walker, and Pamela Yellen.

He also expects to have at least a dozen more experts, as well. All of this fire power should make the book very attractive to buyers.

Please send him your submission as soon as possible and he will get back to you right away to let you know if its been accepted. Send submissions to: opebook@DirectMarketingInsider.com

Bob Serling is the editor of the the popular Direct Marketing Insider newsletter.

UPDATE: July 3, 2005. For those of you who are considering submitting articles to be considered for Bob's eBook, there have been a couple of samples posted to his site. Use these to get an idea for the the types of articles he is looking for.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 10:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 23, 2005

Yellow Pages usage declines

Don MacLeod of Ideas4Rent reports:

It's bad news for those who sell Yellow Pages advertising and important information for Yellow Pages advertisers. New research shows that more consumers are using Internet search engines for local shopping information rather than their phone books.

He says that a recent report from Adweek shows "70 percent of US adults use the Internet as an information source when shopping locally for products and services."

This is more or less consistent with a report titled Shoppers Cruise to Auto Sites, that was released by ClickZ Stats on September 24, 2004, that said:

Consumer Reports found that 77 percent of pre-owned vehicle shoppers research prices, and 77 percent go online to do so.

If your business isn't online, now is the time to do it.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 06:34 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

June 07, 2005

Observations on Advertising

An interesting article I saw this morning suggests that the placement of your ad on a website, as well as the design of the ad, contribute greatly to the advertising campaign.

"Observation: People avoid looking directly at some ads while looking at others; performance depends on placement."

The article is based on a report:

EYETRACK III FINDINGS
This report is one of many from the Eyetrack III study of broadband-era news websites.

46 people were tested for one hour each in December 2003 by Eyetools Inc. in partnership with the Poynter Institute and the Estlow Center. During the test period, each test subject viewed mock news websites created for research purposes and real-world multimedia news features. Results were published in September 2004.

If you are thinking of paying for advertising on other websites you might want to read this first. You will get more bang for your buck depending on how the ad is designed and where it is placed on the website.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 07:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 03, 2005

Opportunity gaps

Bob Serling recently wrote an article about opportunity gaps and how to capitalize on them. He quoted this example from a dentist who was barely paying the bills:

"So he looked outside his industry and noticed that more and more businesses were staying open later at night to gain business from people who were busy working all day. Supermarkets stayed open later, as did many malls, convenience stores, record stores, restaurants, and so on.

Following the lead of all these other businesses, he decided to become "The Night Time Dentist", with office hours from 4:00 pm to midnight, five nights per week. He sent fliers to businesses in his area with employees who work the day shift, as well as to the homes in his surrounding area.

Within weeks, his once thin appointment book was filled to capacity. And it's continued that way for many years."

You can read the article here.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 21, 2005

The Business Case for RSS

Lee Odden's post led me to a website called marketingstudies.net. They are offering a free report titled The Business Case for RSS. They say:

"The purpose of this report is to demonstrate just how RSS can help marketers and publishers improve their bottom-line and show them how to integrate it within all of their internet marketing and publishing activities."

In this 28 page report you will learn:

• Getting your internet content delivered to end-users.
• Improving your online visibility and generating more traffic / visitors for you.
• Powering your internet public relations through RSS conversations.
• Enhancing your web presence.
• Serving as an advertising platform for publishers and advertisers.

If you would like to lean more you are are encouraged to visit marketingstudies.net and download a copy of the report for yourself.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 01, 2005

Ken Evoy's Unethical Affiliate

I ventured to IceRocket.com today to see how many of my blog posts were indexed, and how fresh the posts were. From doing a search I ran across this blog which has stolen the copy from my homepage, and The link at the top of the post (which says "Home Business Web Sites") goes to an affiliate for Ken Evoy's SiteBuildIt.

Put your mouse over the link and you will see "home-business-web-sitescom-web-site.html."

Even though HomeBusiness Websites is a registered business name, clearly I can understand that use of these words in another context. What really irks me though, is that this guy would copy the the blurb from my homepage, and link it to something else.

And this comes as no surprise &mdash that if you navigate to the homepage of the blog, you will see this guy has done the same thing by targeting other design businesses.

I understand that Ken Evoy may not have any control over unethical affiliates but it would indicate that along the way better affiliate tracking programs need to be built and put to use. I think Ken is fine person and produces some needed programs. It is a shame to see Mr. Envoy getting the name of some of these products dirtied by unethical affiliates.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 07:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 30, 2005

Can I Close More Leads?

Most of the business I get comes from referrals and word of mouth. But each month there are always a few, who have probably never heard of me, that submit the form on the bottom of this page, (the link will open in a new browser window, if you want to have a look).

I would say my chances of closing any of these leads is about 1 out of 10. I see the leads come in and I just kind of shake my head. They were interested enough to submit the form — how come they don't follow up to the email that is automatically generated and sent to them?

I was doing up a form for gathering leads for a client yesterday. I asked him, "What text do you want on the thank you page?"

He said, "Oh, you know... the usual. Put "thank you" on the page and then underneath in a smaller font tell them that a confirmation email has been sent to them."

This is pretty well standard, isn't it?

I was reviewing my form (see the link above) and I follow the same process. Then I thought... maybe there is a better way to go about this. Right above the form you will see this text:

Call Steve at 1-(902)843-2534 or put your name and email address in the boxes below and push the button to request more information. Discover how HomeBusiness Websites is the right choice for you.

When you think about it, this might be the wrong place to stop selling. This might be the place to begin selling. They have requested more information... which means... they want more information before they make any sort of decision. So, you've got a hot lead and a thank you page telling them that an email is on the way... it just sort of leaves them hanging.

Maybe the thank you page is the place to start selling some more. Since you have already captured the name, you can place that into a cookie, and present them with a personalized letter. This letter can offer a lot more information about your services, or product and perhaps help close the sale.

This is what I've done. Hopefully this test will see me closing more of the leads that come in. I think this is a much better idea then simply presenting them with a "thank you &mdash an email is on the way" page. What do you think?

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 12:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 24, 2005

Local Business soon to Suffer Without Websites

More local business are going to quickly find that their business will suffer without a website. In my post 75% of Canadian Small Businesses Have Websites, I question the validity of a survey by the CFIB (Canadian Federation of Independent Business).

The same thing holds true for our US friends. In a post by B.L. Ochman, she says:

The Kelsey Group revealed figures last night showing 70 percent of U.S. households now turn to the Internet to find local products and services. That's up 16 percent in 2004 over the previous year, putting the Internet on par with newspapers which are likely to fall behind the Internet very shortly, according to MarketingVox.

I don't know! Maybe it is time for me to start running a classified ad site again... but this time focus on a local market.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 21, 2005

75% of Canadian Small Businesses Have Websites

Michael Ryval, Globe and Mail, quoted Ted Mallett, chief economist at the Toronto-based Canadian Federation of Independent Business that almost 75 per cent of all small Canadian businesses have websites. He goes on to say:

And that means, if you're not there, potential clients will find and hire the competition that is.

I don't know what they base this estimation on. It doesn't give any indication of how this figure was arrived at or what area and percent of businesses was surveyed.

Ms. Duncan, who owns www.ottawaweb.ca, a directory of links to services in the Ottawa was quoted as saying:

"Instead of looking through the Yellow Pages, a lot of people search for information on-line. It's faster, easier and there's more information."

I agree that all small businesses should have websites. However, from doing online searches for local small businesses in this area, I would have to say that it is easier to use the Yellow Pages. Only a small percentage of the Truro and Area businesses have websites.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 06:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 11, 2005

88 Marketing Tips That Will Change Your Life

Willie Crawford highly recommended a Free Ebook, 88 Marketing Tips That Will Change Your Life.

He says:

One of the best books I've read on marketing and copywriting was written by my friend Paul Elliott. His mastery of copywriting and the psychology of it all, really amazes me.

I had a look at Paul's book and as usual Willie is right on! It's a keeper. I particularly liked #21. It says:

No matter what the goods or services you have to offer are, you are not in the business of providing those. No matter what you prefer to believe, you are in the business of building interpersonal relationships. The sooner you acknowledge that fact and pursue it vigorously, the sooner you will be massively successful.

This would certainly be reason enough for any and every business to consider having a blog, wouldn't it?

BL Ochman posted that Jeremy Wright has a list of 40 Fortune 500 companies that use blogs and an article about why the NY Times paid $410 million for About.com's 500 blogs.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 06:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 24, 2005

Throw Out All of Your Marketing Books

Wanda Loskot once told me that she "would rather build one meaningful relationship today, then be in random contact with a few thousand people." Trying to get noticed by thousands of potential customers on the Internet can be likened to throwing dice. Sometimes you feel all you need to do is to model your business after someone else's.

Chris Houchens whose recent manifesto (featured on ChangeThis.com) says:

We all know that the perfect case study and the way things are supposed to work just don't happen for the most part in the real world. Here's what is happening: Today's business leaders are trying to make these textbook examples fit into the irregular holes of everyday marketing.

He suggests being careful in choosing a coach because some of them have existing strategies that they may try and plug you into... without really understanding your business. Although hiring a professional might be beneficial to some, it might not be a good idea for all. I've always felt that it helps to find someone who is already doing what you want to do, and study them. Then build a network of people who are willing to share their ideas and concepts with you.

One needs to study, of course! But you also need to have an idea of how you can apply these techniques and strategies to your business. You might find that a group of people, who you can bounce ideas off of, can help shape the ideas into a workable concept tailored to your specific needs. Some of the smartest people I know, are the first to ask, "What do you think?"

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 07:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 21, 2005

You are too young for a cell phone...

When my 8 year old daughter was visiting me last year, she kept asking for a cell phone. I told her I thought she was too young for it. After all, the set of walkie-talkies I bought for her are usually useless to her and her friends because one of the units is always missing.

Now Mattel will soon start selling working pre-paid cell phones alongside the Barbie doll.

In an article by Business Week it says:

The new Barbie-brand phones aren't toys at all, but real phones. Mattel expects them to appeal to 8- to 14-year-old girls and will offer them in all stores that carry Barbies, company executives told BusinessWeek Online.

So it would seem every time she loses it I would have to buy another one for $49.95? Hmmm! I don't think so!

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:24 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

February 09, 2005

Interview with Craig Newmark

In December I posted about Craig Newmark's website, www.craigslist.org, that has:

"...cost the newspapers millions more in merchandise and real estate advertising, and has damaged other traditional classified advertising businesses, according to a report published by Classified Intelligence."

In a ChangeThis exclusive: The craigslist founder reveals the values that made craigslist a success.

Craig says:

A lot of people say that the internet is about technology. For me, it's about people, and people connecting with each other in their day-to-day lives. In that way, the internet hasn't changed at all since I started craigslist ten years ago. We help people to find each other and we give them a voice, and somehow, people really do feel a sense of community that they belong to. Ten years on, now we're just connecting more people in more places: we think of ourselves as a family of community bulletin boards that helps people connect to get everyday stuff done. We've said that often, and it's true.

I was attempting to run a classified site 10 years ago too. It was fairly popular at the time. Sometimes I received over 2,000 new ads a day. But I failed to see the potential in it, and later abandoned the idea. The point is, don't let negative people tell you something can't be done until you've tried it. Just because your neighbor says it can't be done, doesn't mean YOU can't do it.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 07:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 04, 2005

The Difference between Luxury and Status

I was reading an article on The Business 2.0 Blog, Fakes and Status Marketing where it talks about 2 handbags almost exactly the same, except one costs $12,000 and the other costs $70.

Damon Darlin goes on to say:

"It used to be that "luxury goods" were actually luxury. A Rolls with polished burled walnut interiors, precisely fitted doors, and a hand-made engine was actually a better car than a Chevy. A Steinway was a better piano than a Baldwin. So you paid more. But the two Vuitton bags are nearly identical. Quite often these fakes come from the same factory that makes the real thing. Which tells you, these aren't luxury goods, but merely status goods and are priced precariously."

You know... I had to read that article twice!

It would seem to be that this doesn't only apply to handbags. I might suggest some well known Internet marketers have read this article, and they challenge you to be one of the top elite to buy a high priced status info-product that they have created.

One reviewer who shall remain anonymous said about one of these:

"...it's not perfect, it's not the "be-all-and-end-all" marketing product, but it does deliver the info it promises on and in a way that's palatable, easy to understand.

The DB Bistro Moderne, in midtown Manhattan sells hamburgers for $59 and $99.

Kitsy Battle, 48, a bookkeeper visiting New York from Atlanta said:

"They're not selling food, they're selling status."

Point is, if you're trying to start or run a business, there isn't harm in having the odd luxury item like a Rolls. Spending money on luxury items isn't the same as spending money on status items.

If you buy the $99 hamburger you will be hungry tomorrow. If you buy the expensive info-products, you will just need more knowledge tomorrow. Save your money. Buy the Rolls.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 07:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 22, 2005

Don't Believe the Browser Stats You Hear of

eWeek author Matt Hicks published an article titled "Internet Explorer Use Keeps Falling" and says:

"Mozilla Foundation's Firefox browser rose 0.9 percentage points to reach 5 percent, Web analytics provider WebSideStory Inc. confirmed Thursday."

Cnet staff writer Jim Hu pusblished an article this week and in "FireFox continues gains against IE" quoted similar statistics also taken from WebsSideStory.

These facts shouldn't matter to you.

Using some of these sites that offer stats is good enough to get an over-all view but you can't expect the same results on your site. You need to check you own logs. And just to be sure you are getting the full picture, you need to check for Netscape, Mozilla, Firefox and other less known Mozilla based browsers such as Kazehakase, Galeon, Epiphany, and K-Meleon. The heart of all of these browsers is the Gecko rendering engine.

I still see a lot of websites that have been designed for IE users with no thought to any other browser. To some this might be acceptable, and relying on information like the Stats published by WebsSideStory, you understand that one of these days... when you get "a round tuit" you might have to look at your site in some other browser... but it's only 5%... and you're sure everything will be fine anyway.

Thom Meyer, entreprenuer, operator of three websites recently shared his stats on my discussion forum On Friday, 17 December 2004, he posted:

Well Steve here's the stats from 3 of my sites. I am just showing IE, Mozilla, and FireFox here.

Site 1:
I.E. 49.4%
Mozilla 23.2%
FireFox 20.4%

Site 2:
I.E. 60.4%
FireFox 23%
Mozilla 8.6%

Site 3:
I.E. 51.9%
Mozilla 19.3%
FireFox 10.1%

Last month Mozilla beat out I.E. by the end of the month on two out of the three sites

I was quite surprised to learn of these results, but my stats show a higher usage too. In the middle of January, this year, 15.15% of the people visiting this site used a Gecko based browser.

I'd like to suggest something to anyone building websites this year. Don't rely on statistics that publish browser stats as a gauge to whether you need to make the site cross-browser friendly. You don't know what percentage of your users will be using something other then Internet Explorer. It would be wise to take this into account.

If anyone would care to comment on this or let us know the percentage of Gecko based browser users that frequent their site, please feel free...

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 07:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 18, 2005

Newsletter format

I've noted a lot more people read this blog, then subscribe to my newsletter. Blog readership seems to keep increasing.

It seems every time I send my newsletter out there are always a few people who choose to unsubscribe. That's to be expected of course. Ya' can't please everyone!

When I started blogging again this year after my brief hiatus since 2001, I thought I should make the blog something like my newsletter... but that didn't happen.

So as an experiment this week I decided to format my newsletter differently to make it more like my blog. It was similar to the main blog page where you get an introduction to the article, and a link to click on for more information.

Funny thing happened. There weren't any unsubscribe requests.

Maybe the new format is a keeper, maybe it is too early to tell.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 03:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 16, 2005

What is an exclusive offer?

Liz Tomey recently asked on a discussion forum:

When someone tells you that they have an exclusive offer, what does that mean to you?

My reply....

It means they are unsure about the quality of their offering, and don't want too many charge backs.

If the exclusive offer is a success without too many charge backs, then they can offer it to the general "Internet marketing get rich quick crowd" at a slightly higher price.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 11:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 15, 2005

My Google Site Map

I've read a lot of discussion about how one should create a site map for their site. Many software download sites and script repositories offer to sell you software there will index everything on your site and then automatically create the map for you.

What follows is strictly my opinion...

You don't need to do this!

I know this goes against conventional thinking. People that tell you this, and encourage you to do this, are wrong.

Most of the software available not only indexes everything you want it to index, but it also indexes everything you don't want it to index.

Let me explain:

There are a lot of pages (in fact the majority of pages) on this site I don't really want to make availible to the general public. These are pages where I've uploaded scripts, programs and examples for potential clients to view. They aren't linked to the main site. Any automatic software used would have to have the results edited so these were not included.

Surprisingly enough! Google seems to know what to index and what not to index. Google doesn't seem to index pages that are not linked to other parts of the main website. As a matter of fact... it does a decent job of providing a site map. You can see my Google Site Map of HomeBusiness Websites here.

When you click that link it says 1 - 10 of about 434 and then links to the others. I didn't go through the whole list but I expect there must be some outside links mixed in there too. I can't imagine I've created 434 pages on this site that are meant to be viewed by the public — yet in the results I did search through I didn't find access to any pages I don't want the general public to have.

I was even able to find recent blog posts in there as recent as last week. Amazing!

What do you think? If I were to add a site map to my site... why wouldn't I just point it to this Google URL?

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 09:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 14, 2005

Built in Computer Systems

I ran across a column on Cnet today, written by Steven Musil, called This week in gadget news which talks about a company that specializes in building high-end PCs into handcrafted furniture. The downside is the company, Truvia, charges $55,000 for one of their creations.

Something like this would be a good idea for a small business startup too. I would think someone who was crafty working with wood and gadgetry could probably buy small quantities of desks and customize them so they wrap around a computer system. You could probably charge a lot less, and reach a far greater market.

Mr Musil says:

The movement has attracted interest from companies such as Microsoft that are looking to popularize PCs as living-room objects.

A few comments can be found relating to this article — not all favorable, but like anything else you would have to do your own market research, perhaps build a prototype, and see who is the market, at the price you decide you can deliver for.

A lot of businesses fail simply because they fall in love with their project, go ahead with it, without finding out first if there is a market for it. You need to find out who your customers will be and create a profile of the ideal customer. For those who might consider this, or any other business, you just need to make sure you've done your market research.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 05:13 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 13, 2005

105 real-life marketing lessons

MarketingSherpa is offering a free download of an eBook titled Marketing Wisdom for 2005 which is a 51 page pdf report. It includes 105 real-life marketing lessons learned from MarketingSherpa readers including the folks at Timberland, Pacific Shaving, and ING Direct:

• Email tests that worked
• Search marketing tactics
• Site design to raise conversions
• Direct mail, radio, & telemarketing stories

I learned of this from Brian Carroll's Blog where he says:

"I contributed lesson #52 (on lead generation of course) in the B-to-B Marketing section."

You can get access to this eBook and others at wisdom.marketingsherpa.com. I think for those of you unfamiliar with this source, you will find these a valuable resource. Over the years I have saved many case-studies published by MarketingSherpa and used this information to help build my business.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 11, 2005

Beginner's Guide to Business Blogging

Debbie Weil said:

"My quick guide to the "what, why ∓ how of business blogging" went live moments ago on Seth Godin's ChangeThis site. Download my "Beginner's Guide to Business Blogging" as one of the new manifestos. It's FREE... until Jan. 25, 2005 so don't wait!

Click here to read the announcement and get your copy.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 08:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 07, 2005

More Business on the Horizon

BusinessWeek Online recently published an article, Tech Startup 2.0 that says:

Everywhere you look, signs of life are emerging in startup land. Entrepreneurs are huddling in their garages and dens, tapping out software code. Venture capitalists prowl Stanford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, checkbooks in hand.

Some people don't necessarily think this is true. Charlie Wood, who refers to himself as "a Bubble 1.0 survivor" suggests we shouldn't read too much into this.

In his blog post quoting Techdirt it says:

"The fact is that startups never went away. And, some of these startups they're talking about aren't exactly new. They've just been around and quiet over the past few years. About the only thing that's clearly back is... the buzz. That can be fun, but it's also ridiculously distracting."

Business Week author, Robert D. Hof, goes on to say about these star ups that "the good news is they're stepping up to the challenge. From Silicon Valley to Boston, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are rethinking everything they do. This generation of startups is more organized and aggressive than ever."

Whether it is a buzz or a fact might mean we will have to wait to find out, but the buzz being generated may be enough to start smaller businesses spending more cash.

See... when the bubble broke, it wasn't only the larger companies going "belly-up," it had an adverse affect on the mindset of small business owners and entrepreneurs. There was a stretch of time during this period that small business people were scared to spend money on the web. After a relatively short period of time, these people realized that this wasn't going to affect them, and they could still prosper online.

My point being: the buzz generated from the BIG boys, being funded by venture capitalists, will be enough to excite the small business sector and they will likewise... start spending more money.

This means for those of us who cater to small businesses, we may find ourselves a little busier then the last couple of years.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 12:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Moreover Technologies Gives Bloggers Free Tools To Significantly Increase Content Distribution

After I built this blog I promoted it to the RSSTop55 - Best Blog Directory And RSS Submission Sites and of course my blog is set-up to automatically ping a handful of sites each time a new article is added.

Another one to automatically ping, announced on December 09, 2004, is Moreover.

If you are not familiar with them Moreover has been involved for years in syndicating content. They say:

Moreover's sophisticated technology continually scours the Internet to capture breaking news and business information from thousands of qualified, handpicked sources. Headline links to relevant information are filtered according to clients' specific business needs, and delivered in real time to any platform or business application through one of Moreover's customizable Connected Intelligence™ solutions.

Now to automatically notify Moreover when new content has been published, you can set your blog software to automatically ping their servers. This ensures that your content is entered into the vast Moreover distribution network as quickly and as accurately as possible.

Here are the instructions from the Moreover website that show how to configure your software.

If you're using MovableTyoe as I am, you can just enter the special URL from your control panel after clicking on Configuration/preferences. Add this URL: URL: http://api.moreover.com/ping

They show an example using this method like this:

The REST interface:

URL: http://api.moreover.com/ping
Parameters: u=
HTTP method: GET

Example:
http://api.moreover.com/ping?u=http://moreoaa1.miniserver.com/weblogs/stevesfirstweblog/index.rdf

I'm not sure if MovableType users need to do all of this or if the program automatically includes these parameters. I have a hunch it includes them, but I will need to find out.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 11:52 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 02, 2005

62% of Internet Users Do Not Know What a Blog is

Lee Rainie is the founding Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. In a survey by her organization she says 62% of internet users do not know what a blog is.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project produces reports that explore the impact of the Internet on families, communities, work and home, daily life, education, health care, and civic and political life. The Project aims to be an authoritative source on the evolution of the Internet through collection of data and analysis of real-world developments as they affect the virtual world.

In a summary of two surveys (4 page PDF file) she states:

8 million American adults say they have created blogs; blog readership jumped 58% in 2004 and now stands at 27% of internet users; 5% of internet users say they use RSS aggregators or XML readers to get the news and other information delivered from blogs and content-rich Web sites as it is posted online; and 12% of internet users have posted comments or other material on blogs. Still, 62% of internet users do not know what a blog is.

There seems to be some growing indications that once again the technology maybe ahead of the knowledge. It isn't any secret that many online businesses are adapting blogs for their own use, but there is a question there on whether they are putting this technology to good use.

As Kevin Robb suggests:

"A lot of items relevant to having a successful website also apply to Blogs, don’t get caught up in the hype and think that a Blog is the answer to all your problems, they are not a magic solution."

Many of you may have already clicking a link to read a blog only to have Google Adsense embedded into one side (that is acceptable) and then on the other side you can see more Google ads except these are flashing and bouncing around the screen in a mis-matched colored coordination with the animated or FLASH banner at the top, and then when the page finally loads, you have a paragraph written by someone other then the blog owner and the rest of the page is consists of affiliate links and more advertising.

The good news is that at least it is easy to un-subscribe from an RSS feed (if that is how you keep track of the blogs you read) and you don't have to bother clicking an un-subscribe link that will remove you from a mailing list only if it pleases the publisher.

How much of your blog is advertising?

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 06:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 29, 2004

Tell us what you really think John!!

Between Paul thinking you're a moron and John saying:

Look, you don’t need another fix it quick ebook from an "Internet Marketing Guru" who has done nothing is his life but figure out how to sell you on the next hot thing.

...I had to smile. I enjoy reading uncensored passionate outbursts, the like of which probably would never have been published to a website before blogs.

For most of us who run a small business and work the web...

...there is a lot more to it then spending our days looking to get rich. A lot of this information being produced is taken with a "grain of salt" because those of us who work at it full time, know it is a lifestyle choice. Recently I explained it in this way:

"I guess it is likely common sense... but some people don't get it...

There are a lot of us (most people you will never hear about) that make a living from running an online business. We aren't gurus... we don't sell info-products telling you how you can get rich... 'cause if we knew how, then I expect we would be rich. But we get by, just the same.

Christmas, 2003, I made a total of $988.00 for the month. That was the worst month I've had since December 2000.

Still, I paid all of my bills, bought a used car for $4000 and spent $1000 on Christmas.

I was able to do this because, as an entrepreneur I know if I am to survive I have to live well below my means.

OK... so in December of 2003 I wasn't living below my means, but for the 11 months before... I was.

My ex wife made fun of my truck. Yes... I have two vehicles... paid cash for both.

Between her and her new man they are spending $1500 a month for two new vehicles, financed through the bank, (that's including insurance) and last year, besides child support, I was loaning them money almost every month.

Let me tell you about my cousin Harry. Harry is a millionaire and entrepreneur.

A few years ago on a trip he and his wife were taking, their car needed repair. Actually... the frame broke. The garage where he took his car looked at the problem. After seeing that the frame had already broke and been welded 5 times in the past, they said there wasn't any solid metal left so the car could not be fixed. So Harry had to part with a car that was 20+ years old and bought another one.

Lot's of people have a problem with this type of thinking. My friends and family constantly say to me "Why don't you buy another house?" or "Why don't you buy a new car?"

I'm not here to impress anyone.... heaven forbid! What if I have 4 or 5 bad months in a row?

It has been my experience that this isn't likely, but I would be fine.

Being an entrepreneur isn't about money. It's a lifestyle choice. When you choose this lifestyle then you have to be able to adapt your finances to match this lifestyle. This means finding the ability to live well below your means so the money will be there when you need it. "

Sure... getting rich might be OK (can't say for sure how much I would enjoy it because I've never been rich) but it might complicate things a whole lot more which I tend to think would go beyond my vision for my lifestyle choice.

I use the Internet to research and/or buy things I'm interested in. I've bought books related to my business in the form of programming manuals and books, researched hotels and bought air-line tickets. One time I bought an eBook from Paul Myer's whom I've known more or less since 1996 when he used to moderate a business discussion group on the USENET.

For anyone considering buying anything on the Internet they need to be encouraged to perform a little due-diligence and discover for themselves the truth behind some of these publishers.

You have to applaud the efforts of people like John and Paul whose passionate posts would probably not be available if they had to markup a webpage to put it up. (the time it would take to markup a webpage might take a little of the edge off) And you have to applaud blogs and RSS that keeps us informed of posts like this that otherwise we would likely never stumble across. Who knows? Eventually we may discover the real truth in marketing.

OK... spit it out! It's your turn. Don't hold back! Tell me what you've been buying on the Internet.

Posted by Steve MacLellan at 09:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 28, 2004

Take it to the Streets

I was reading an article on Cnet this morning on how www.craigslist.org, an online classified website, has:

"...cost the newspapers millions more in merchandise and real estate advertising, and has damaged other traditional classified advertising businesses, according to a report published by Classified Intelligence.

Steven Musil, Staff Writer, CNET News.com goes on to say:<