Dave Hageman » Business Solutions

When to Get In, Get Out and say No Thank you

davehageman — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 05:48:52 +0000

As a “value-added” blogger I like to create articles about two things.

1. Some of the things people are going through everyday in their everyday lives (including myself)

2. And educating business owners and investors on how to create more successful ventures

But, every time I write a blog post, a number of people always comment that the old world is still important, that the world doesn’t change as fast as we really think it does, or that you should probably do both.

So the Title is When to Get In, Get Out and say No Thank you….and that pertains mainly to when you are deciding if a demographic or even if a possible business opportunity or plan is in front of you, and you don’t know what the chances are of it being successful are.

Obviously, the world isn’t black or white. Nor can we change something from one day to another. What is more important, people are generally not at ‘the same stage.‘ All of us marketers need to know there are 4 Stages of People that are looking at what you have to offer:

We have

1. Early Adopters

2. Early Followers

3. Late Followers

4. Laggards (way behind the curve…)

I either do, plan to do, or try to do everything I write about myself and experiences of people I know or things I have gone through. I do not always succeed and have not always succeeded but I have learned that I have to change my plans due to lack of resources at times. And, I spend much time advocating and lobbying my views, because you cannot do anything if the people around you don’t share your vision.

The question is what should you do? Not theoretical speaking, but in a business situation?

The Real World Strategy – in 4 layers

In the real world, there are generally four things you need to do to be successful. Plan and prepare for the future, work in the present, support what you did yesterday, and ignore(or eliminate) out-of-date ideas. But, to explain how that works, we need to take a step back and first discuss how this is about people and where the real value is.

Moore’s idea diffusion curve

The graph below is Geoffrey A. Moore’s idea diffusion curve (as many of you are undoubtedly already familiar with). It illustrates how a product (physical or virtual) goes through a population. The x-axis is how it populates over time, and the y-axis is the amount of people at each stage.

Take a simple example like email:

1970s: Email was used exclusively by innovators.
1980s: Email was embraced by the early adopters.
1990s: Email started to be used by the early majority
2000s: Email was now also used by the late majority
2010s: …people is beginning to turn to other channels, and only the laggards remain.

This looks pretty simple. What you need to do, in a real world situation, is to create something (a product / service) that appeals to the majority of your market.

The world of a small business isn’t as simple as creating a website, networking with people and poof, your up and running. You cannot design a product/service from one day to another. It takes time to invent something new, and it takes time to get people on board. On top of that we now have so many choices, that we no longer care for products that tries to reach the general masses of people (mediocrity).

You need to show your audience that you are a leader. That you can help them move forward. That your product/service is “the” choice to make, because you understand the market.

Seth Godin illustrated this brilliantly in his book “The Purple Cow” with the graph below. The real value comes not from where people are, but from the step before it. It is the innovators who drive the early adopters, and it is the early adopters who drive the majority.

If you want to create a product, then you need to focus your energy on the early adopters. They will help you reach the majority of your market, mostly via social channels.

The value curve also illustrates where you should focus your energy and resources. If you want to be successful, then most of your time must be spent on ‘the next thing,‘ and the rest should be maintained and automated to the best of your abilities.

Please note: The people element is very important. “the next thing” is not just about creating new products/services, it is more so about what you want people to do next and what is their next reaction. Case in point: Most people think of customer support as something that follows your product. But, customer support should be looked at proactively, and help form “the next thing.”

Get In, Get Out

We can now use Moore’s idea curve to form a business plan in four different layers. What you should plan, do, support and ignore – as illustrated in the graph below.

You should actively try to realize your future plans, test out new ideas, and create something for your early adopters to play around with. While doing that you should spend even more time making sure that your early adopters and early majority are having a great time with your new products/services.

You should also support the products you did ‘yesterday,’ even if they are no longer an active part of your strategy. Answer people’s questions, provide tips and gently push them towards your new ideas.

Saying No Thank You

Finally, you need to free up your resources, by saying no to things that no longer makes sense to use and be a part of. This is extremely important, and one thing that most business owners fail at horribly. You also need to say no to old ideas far earlier than what you might think. There is no value in laggards, so you need to say no to them before you reach that point.

Case in point: Apple destroys old product lines when they are peaking (and introduces new products to replace them). They spend no time supporting laggards, instead they focus all their time on where the real value is.

I often see this alot lately with direct sales and network marketers, knocking on my door asking me to join their group when their product or services is a complete Laggard.

Laggards can change into something else, change their name, reduce their price but still be a Laggard.

The point of it all is: I want to thank Seth Godin for hitting me in the face with this well-known marketing knowledge a couple years ago in that I clearly understand what may be a complete waste of my time.

Recording & Outlined Notes of Facebook’s Live Event (Thanks 24/7 Entrepreneur)

davehageman — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 20:22:26 +0000

Wow. How fast does Social Media change? It changes everyday and I work on keeping up but honestly it isn’t my “job” to do so nor do I focus on providing social media marketing advice or consulting.

Therefore, knowing everything about everything is completely impossible.

I want and encourage all social media enthusiasts, real estate investors, brokers, consultants and friends to understand what is happening with Facebook. You will want to check this out! (Even if you still think that Facebook isn’t something that can be a “life-changer” for you or your business.

Thanks to @CShanes of the 24/7 Entrepreneur for putting together this great post!

Click below to see and hear the goods!

http://the247entrepreneur.com/news/the-social-network/

Are Celebrities worth what they are paid?

davehageman — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:02:51 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

So I get Forbes magazine in the mail for FREE…. (for some reason I have no clue why I get it but I am ok with that : )) and this month’s issue was about Forbes Top 100 Celebrity List. This list talks about not only the income that these celebrities make but also ranks them as the most powerful.

It got me thinking about the book the Go Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann. In this book the author talks about 5 Stratospheric Laws of Success and the Second Law is the Law of Compensation.

The Law of Compensation states that : Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.

If we look at the what the Law of Compensation tells us and then look at how many people the below Celebrity base serves then in my opinion, these people do deserve the money that they receive in payment for what they provide in service.

Kobe Bryant

Take Kobe Bryant from the Los Angeles Lakers for example :

The 2010 NBA Finals featured a rematch of 2008 with a renewal of the classic rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics and proved to be a smash hit in the ratings. With the historic rivalry between the two most successful teams in the league being the marquee matchup once again and the Finals going seven games for the first time since 2005, the series achieved a 10.6 rating and an average of 18.1 million viewers, the highest numbers since 2004. This was a 26% increase from 2009 and a 14% increase from 2008, the last time the Lakers and the Celtics met.The deciding Game 7 garnered an 18.2 rating and a tally of 28.2 million viewers, making it the most-watched NBA game since Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, which had a 22.3 rating and drew 72 million viewers.It just goes to show that when people provide massive value they get massive results.

To archive the original story directly from Forbes Magazine, click here:

See attached List on where your favorite Celebrity stacks up!

The Celebrity 100

Rank	Name	Pay ($mil)	Money Rank	TV/Radio Rank	Press Rank	Web Rank	Social Rank	Category
1	Winfrey, Oprah Winfrey	315	1	1	5	5	11	Personalities
2	Knowles, Beyonce Knowles	87	11	9	13	2	15	Musicians
3	Cameron, James Cameron	210	2	21	9	20	81	Directors/Producers
4	Gaga, Lady Gaga	62	22	13	4	1	1	Musicians
5	Woods, Tiger Woods	105	7	7	6	35	34	Athletes
6	Spears, Britney Spears	64	20	15	24	3	2	Musicians
7	U2	130	3	54	18	11	28	Musicians
8	Bullock, Sandra Bullock	56	25	6	21	17	62	Actresses notv
9	Depp, Johnny Depp	75	14	34	22	16	21	Actors notv
10	Madonna	58	24	16	3	4	33	Musicians
11	Cowell, Simon Cowell	80	12	20	20	46	64	Personalities
12	Swift, Taylor Swift	45	38	8	27	8	3	Teen stars
13	Cyrus, Miley Cyrus	48	32	17	26	6	20	Teen stars
14	Bryant, Kobe Bryant	48	32	22	16	21	22	Athletes
15	Jay-Z	63	21	45	29	23	26	Hip-hop impresario
16	Black Eyed Peas	48	32	42	36	18	37	Musicians
17	Springsteen, Bruce Springsteen	70	16	48	32	47	48	Musicians
18	Jolie, Angelina Jolie	20	76	19	30	10	41	Actresses notv
19	Limbaugh, Rush Limbaugh	58.5	23	10	45	41	78	Personalities
20	Jordan, Michael Jordan	55	26	38	31	38	27	Athletes
21	McGraw, Dr. Phil McGraw	80	12	3	68	94	45	Personalities
22	Spielberg, Steven Spielberg	100	8	71	40	49	77	Directors/Producers
23	DeGeneres, Ellen DeGeneres	55	26	31	58	50	5	Personalities
24	Letterman, David Letterman	45	38	3	25	33	76	Personalities
25	Perry, Tyler Perry	125	4	56	76	82	36	Directors/Producers
26	Aniston, Jennifer Aniston	27	67	40	41	22	74	Actresses notv
27	Pink	44	43	35	35	14	18	Musicians
28	James, LeBron James	43	45	23	11	39	31	Athletes
29	Federer, Roger Federer	43	45	28	1	44	13	Athletes
30	Pitt, Brad Pitt	20	76	25	15	12	73	Actors notv
31	Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather	65	19	47	62	77	52	Athletes
32	Bay, Michael Bay	120	5	90	71	70	97	Directors/Producers
33	Trump, Donald Trump	50	30	26	57	59	75	Personalities
34	Leno, Jay Leno	35	54	2	28	29	65	Personalities
35	Coldplay	48	32	86	47	26	4	Musicians
36	Beckham, David Beckham	44	43	64	10	31	19	Athletes
37	Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld	75	14	51	80	86	89	Comedians
38	AC/DC	114	6	88	100	83	24	Musicians
39	Stern, Howard Stern	70	16	57	92	63	84	Personalities
40	Jonas Brothers	35.5	53	32	56	15	7	Teen stars
41	Hanks, Tom Hanks	45	38	49	44	42	46	Actors notv
42	Lucas, George Lucas	95	10	94	81	67	82	Directors/Producers
43	Beck, Glenn Beck	35	54	12	50	28	39	Personalities
44	Seacrest, Ryan Seacrest	51	29	41	83	75	14	Personalities
45	Mickelson, Phil Mickelson	46	37	24	19	88	90	Athletes
46	Stiller, Ben Stiller	53	28	72	61	68	23	Actors notv
47	Bruckheimer, Jerry Bruckheimer	100	8	94	88	89	94	Directors/Producers
48	Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo	36	51	97	2	19	8	Athletes
49	Rodriguez, Alex Rodriguez	36	51	11	14	73	83	Athletes
50	Pattinson, Robert Pattinson	17	86	53	37	7	68	Actors notv
51	O’Brien, Conan O’Brien	38	50	5	46	93	30	Personalities
52	O’Neal, Shaquille O’Neal	31	61	27	33	60	9	Athletes
53	Patterson, James Patterson	70	16	98	84	97	57	Authors
54	Chesney, Kenny Chesney	50	30	70	89	91	40	Musicians
55	Pacquiao, Manny Pacquiao	42	47	52	52	64	60	Athletes
56	Cruise, Tom Cruise	22	73	43	38	25	43	Actors notv
57	Sandler, Adam Sandler	40	48	65	74	66	10	Actors notv
58	Clooney, George Clooney	19	83	14	12	24	53	Actors notv
59	Meyer, Stephenie Meyer	40	48	85	59	32	87	Authors
60	Diaz, Cameron Diaz	32	59	61	54	36	79	Actresses notv
61	Williams, Serena Williams	20	76	18	8	57	32	Athletes
62	Rascal Flatts	45	38	69	90	90	42	Musicians
63	Sheen, Charlie Sheen	30	62	29	70	55	70	Television actors
64	Jeter, Derek Jeter	30	62	36	34	79	67	Athletes
65	Armstrong, Lance Armstrong	20	76	33	7	62	12	Athletes
66	Stewart, Kristen Stewart	12	92	62	53	9	69	Teen stars
67	Keith, Toby Keith	48	32	81	93	95	99	Musicians
68	Combs, Sean (Diddy) Combs	30	62	63	75	30	56	Hip-hop impresario
69	King, Stephen King	34	57	82	63	40	51	Authors
70	Parker, Sarah Jessica Parker	25	68	55	55	56	71	Actresses notv
71	DiCaprio, Leonardo DiCaprio	28	65	67	42	48	58	Actors notv
72	Sheindlin, Judge Judy Sheindlin	45	38	77	96	100	80	Personalities
73	Downey, Robert Downey Jr	22	73	60	39	45	85	Actors notv
74	Wayne, Lil Wayne	20	76	76	67	13	6	Hip-hop impresario
75	Witherspoon, Reese Witherspoon	32	59	79	82	61	61	Actresses notv
76	Urban, Keith Urban	27.5	66	50	73	78	50	Musicians
77	Roberts, Julia Roberts	20	76	58	49	37	72	Actresses notv
78	Carell, Steve Carell	34	57	78	72	84	54	Television actors
79	Streep, Meryl Streep	13	91	30	23	43	59	Actresses notv
80	Akon	21	75	92	77	27	16	Hip-hop impresario
81	Sharapova, Maria Sharapova	25	68	87	43	80	29	Athletes
82	Radcliffe, Daniel Radcliffe	25	68	90	66	58	86	Teen stars
83	Williams, Venus Williams	15.5	88	39	17	81	38	Athletes
84	Romano, Ray Romano	35	54	82	91	99	98	Television actors
85	Bundchen, Gisele Bundchen	25	68	93	94	69	55	Models
86	Klum, Heidi Klum	16	87	74	69	51	49	Models
87	Barrymore, Drew Barrymore	15	90	73	64	52	44	Actresses notv
88	Baldwin, Alec Baldwin	8.5	98	37	48	54	93	Television actors
89	Kiefer, Kiefer Sutherland	20	76	80	86	76	92	Television actors
90	Fey, Tina Fey	7.5	99	46	60	74	66	Television actresses
91	Moss, Kate Moss	9	97	89	51	34	63	Models
92	Parker, Eva Longoria Parker	12	92	65	79	65	47	Television actresses
93	Dunham, Jeff Dunham	22.5	72	99	98	96	25	Comedians
94	Lopez, George Lopez	18	85	68	87	87	35	Comedians
95	Heigl, Katherine Heigl	15.5	88	75	78	71	96	Television actresses
96	Patrick, Danica Patrick	12	92	44	65	85	95	Athletes
97	Hudson, Kate Hudson	11	95	58	85	53	99	Actresses notv
98	Handler, Chelsea Handler	19	83	84	97	92	17	Comedians
99	Hewitt, Jennifer Love Hewitt	6.5	100	96	95	72	88	Television actresses
100	Hargitay, Mariska Hargitay	9.5	96	100	99	98	91	Television actresses

This list is directly from Forbes.com.

The Craigslist Killer? Kijiji Classifieds is now Ebay Classifieds

davehageman — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:02:51 +0000

Ok so you have to admit…. Free Classifieds have some power behind them. My wife and I have beening using numerous Free Classifieds sites (including Craigslist) for many things including ads for our business, sales, new contacts, new personnel for our company, promoting events and of course buying and selling STUFF for FREE!

Get your Stuff on!

A couple weeks ago, eBay unveiled a new classifieds site, called eBayClassifieds, to replace its old site, Kijiji, in the United States. It will also introduce two new mobile apps, one for listing and selling items for sale and another for posting or searching classifieds. A third app, for the iPad, is to be released April 3.

The new classifieds site is eBay’s attempt to re-energize its classifieds business during a time when it is under attack. Kijiji is successful in other countries, like Canada and Australia, and it will keep the Kijiji name abroad. In the United States, though, where Craigslist rules the classifieds business, it has never been able to dominate. In February, Kijiji had two million visitors, while Craigslist had 4.5 million, according to Compete.

In addition to the new name, the site has a new look that will make it easier to search for items, said Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay Marketplaces. It does not accept personal ads or adult-related content and will have improved filtering of ads and profiles of sellers to make people more comfortable shopping on the site, she said.

Craigslist and eBay are awaiting a ruling after a contentious trial last winter. EBay owns a minority stake in Craigslist, and the two companies have been battling over a board seat and the competitive threat from Kijiji.

Asked about Craigslist, Ms. Norrington said: “It’s pretty clear the U.S. market is huge. There is plenty of room for multiple players.”

The mobile apps will be eBay’s third and fourth. Its main app, for searching, buying and paying for items on eBay, has surprised executives with its success, Ms. Norrington said. Another app, called Deals, sends daily deals to the shopper’s iPhone. Eight million people shop eBay on their iPhones. Mobile commerce generated $600 million in merchandise volume last year, and eBay expects that to increase to $1.5 billion this year.

With the new selling app, eBay sellers can take a picture of the table collecting dust in the attic and list it on eBay in less than a minute, the company said. On the new classifieds app, shoppers can post, search and reply to ads.

Will especially active eBay users — who buy, sell, monitor deals and use the classifieds site — want to download four separate apps and switch among them?

Yes, because they want simple, easy-to-use apps, Ms. Norrington said. “Customers are telling us they want to be able to do things at the touch of a button in their hand, easy and convenient, instead of cluttering it up with all kinds of functionality.”

How effective do you think Ebay will be in capturing some market share from Craigslist in this “FREE” demographic?

New State Law Bumps Colorado off Amazon’s Affiliate Map

davehageman — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:48:25 +0000

Online retailer Amazon has ended all Colorado-based affiliate accounts after a new law passed by the state’s legislature would have forced them to collect and pay state sales taxes. The law, HB 10-1193, states that any affiliate marketer making more than $10,000 for a retailer is declared a legal agent, and a state presence, of that company. Rather than be forced to pay the state taxes, Amazon has instead side-stepped the law by closing its doors to all affiliates based in Colorado.

Residents of the state can still buy from Amazon and can even be referred by affiliates in other states, but the company’s affiliates in Colorado are out of luck. In a letter to its affiliates announcing the termination of their accounts on Monday, Amazon decried the new Colorado state law and encouraged affiliates to “express their views” to the General Assembly and to Governor Bill Ritter.

“There is a right way for Colorado to pursue its revenue goals, but this new law is a wrong way,” Amazon wrote in a letter to it’s affiliates. “As we repeatedly communicated to Colorado legislators, including those who sponsored and supported the new law, we are not opposed to collecting sales tax within a constitutionally-permissible system applied even-handedly. The US Supreme Court has defined what would be constitutional, and if Colorado would repeal the current law or follow the constitutional approach to collection, we would welcome the opportunity to reinstate Colorado-based Associates.”

A court decision in 1992 ruled that online retailers only have to pay state sales taxes to those in which they have a physical presence in, such as with offices or warehouses. Colorado’s new law says that affiliates represent a presence in the state, but in reality they are just marketing partners, not part of the company as the law suggests.

Backlash yesterday was largely targeted at the Colorado legislature, and not at Amazon for ending the program. It makes more sense for Amazon to end their affiliate program in Colorado than to be forced to file state taxes, especially since they can still make money from customers in the state. By attempting to collect on taxes from online retailers, Colorado has effectively shot themselves in the foot; Amazon affiliates can no longer make any income which means less income tax for the state to collect. There are other companies through which to run an affiliate account, but why would they want to pay taxes either?

“I should have come out very publicly about this when I first heard about it,” writes investor Brad Feld, himself one of Amazon’s discontinued Colorado affiliates. “I expect the Internet Affiliate business in Colorado will completely die within the next thirty days (every company that has an affiliate business will turn off all of their Colorado-based affiliates.)”

The Colorado legislature should have foreseen this outcome – it’s not the first time Amazon has been forced to shut down affiliate programs. In July of 2009, Amazon closed off their programs in Rhode Island and North Carolina, and has previously sued over a law passed in New York in 2008. The suit, however, was eventually thrown out and Amazon has since been paying taxes for New York affiliates they feel are too valuable to give up.

The decision in Colorado should make entrepreneurs and small business owners participating in similar affiliate programs in any state nervous, especially those in states with large deficits and small consumer markets. California’s budget woes and it’s large consumer economy could make a bad combination for Amazon who might be unwilling to give up their valuable affiliate program there if a similar law is enacted. The problem for affiliates in smaller states is that Amazon won’t think twice about shutting down their program there, as evidenced by Rhode Island and North Carolina.

So what is the solution to this issue……. We have an affiliate program with Amazon and have made some money but how does this effect your marketing efforts? Would love to hear from my fellow Coloradoans!

10 Reasons Why a Blog Is Better than a Website?

davehageman — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:58:23 +0000

So many people wonder whether they should start their online hobby or business as a blog or a static website. The two have many differences, but I honestly believe that in most cases a person should start a blog instead of a website. Some still remain unconvinced, especially since blogs are newer on the scene. However, these are the reasons why I think a dynamic blog is better than a static website.

1. Blogs are easier to setup and manage.

A blog can be installed with Wordpress, the best blogging platform and my choice, in five minutes. You don’t have to get up close and personal with coding it, all of the core files are already there for you and all you have to do is upload them and create a database (which takes two seconds). You can find an amazingly beautiful theme or design, upload it in one minute, and if you want you can easily tweak it. You can login to the user-friendly dashboard and write your content, manage your categories and comments, change your options or blogroll, and much more without dealing with anything over the top and complicated. The blog platform does all the work with the technical stuff while you get to enjoy writing for your site and running it however you like.

2. Blogs retain interest.

Because blogs are updated all the time and it’s easy to browse through them and all of their content, that makes them a favorite with online visitors and readers. A visitor is much more likely to return to a blog than a static website. Blogs catch and hold attention and it’s easier for the reader to get lost in one for hours since the content is navigated the way it is. That can happen with a website, but it’s a lot less likely. Blogs are at more of a personal level, and all of the posts are easily accessible and featured for the readers. Instead of a website where visitors have to crawl through page after boring page, consider a blog and keep your readers longer and have them coming back all the time for more.

3. Blogs are more search engine friendly.

Just like they’re reader friendly for being updated all the time and having a huge collection of interlinked content, they’re search engine friendly for those same reasons as well. It’s not always true, but more than likely that a blog will rank better in search engines than your average website. The more a site is updated, the more often a search engine bot will come back and crawl your site so they can quickly index the new things you have to offer. And when a bot is coming to crawl your site, it will have many more options with a blog since all of the content is linked to and featured everywhere. Besides those things, blogs are easy to optimize, especially with all the plugins available (see All In One SEO Pack). And blogs attract links more than static websites as well, which will help you out in the search engines too.

4. Blogs gain an audience more easily.

Just like how I mentioned that blogs retain interest, they also more easily gain an audience. With the abundance of content and such a navigable site, readers will like your blog. A blog will also be found for the first time by visitors because they are usually much more popular than a static website. If you write good content and provide things of interest, you’ll get noticed easily. And once you start building a readerbase, your readers will help promote your blog for you. People will talk about you, link to you, and grow your blog for you. Usually when I first learn about a blog I learn about it through someone else or another a blog I read. People like to stay on top of blogs about topics they’re interested in, and that’s easier to do with a blog. And for an audience, the easier it is the better.

5. Blogs help build author and visitor interaction.

When you have a static website your visitors aren’t going to be known to you like they would with a blog. With a blog, anyone who likes your page or post can comment on it. You’ll start to learn your readers’ names and their own blogs or sites. You’ll have conversations with them and discuss topics through the comments or email. And even if a reader doesn’t comment, you might see them voting for your content a lot via social media, their avatar might be popping up a lot on your MyBlogLog widget, or you might be getting linked to by them and see it via your trackbacks and incoming links. As your blog grows you’ll come to recognize hundreds to even thousands of your readers, with dozens becoming people you know much more closely.

6. Blogs can be made to look however you want.

Like I mentioned earlier, you can achieve any look you want with your blog, WITHOUT having to get up close and personal with the coding. There are so many free themes, plugins, and resources available that are already built and coded for you – all you usually have to do is upload them and click the ‘activate’ button. If you find a theme you like you can upload it, and if necessary, tweak it here and there to make it perfect for your blog. Plugins can manage and run things automatically without you having to lift a finger after you install one. There are plugins that work behind the scenes and block spam, create navigation systems, generate sitemaps, and enforces WWW or non-WWW for your blog. Then there are visual ones, like plugins that encourage visitors to subscribe, create contact forms, rotate advertisement banners, let you create polls for your blog, and thousands more. A blog can look however your heart desires – it can even look like a static website if that’s what you want, while still being managed much more easily.

7. Blogs allow readers to subscribe via RSS.

RSS readers are one of the most valuable things a blog can have. Subscribers are people who love your blog and what you write so much that they want it delivered to their feed aggregator or their email inbox each day. They are people who are targeted to your content and are probably your blog’s biggest fans. By allowing people to subscribe, developing regular readers is even easier than it was before. The amount of RSS subscribers a blog has is one of the ways to determine how popular and valuable it is. Besides providing value to you, it provides obvious value to your readers as well and makes things much easier for them to read everything you write.

8. Blogs are popular with social media sites.

Since blogs have a bigger sense of community and the blog owner and readers interact, (as well as bloggers interacting with other bloggers), you’d know blogs are popular with social media sites, like Super Blogging’s readers’ favorite StumbleUpon. Since you’re already building relationships with the readers who come to your blog, it’s easy to encourage social media votes and promote your blog this way. Loyal visitors and blogging friends will often vote for your best content, and using a blog over a website content is easier to promote.

9. Blogs build links much more easily.

And again, since blogs have such a huge community and personal aspect to them, they gather much more links. Bloggers try to link to other blogs as much as possible, not only because this helps build exposure and traffic (since a blogger is alerted whenever they receive a link), but also because blogs are huge sources of easily browsed information to direct their readers to. At Super Blogging you might notice I do weekly roundups called “The Best of the Blogosphere”. I do this to point my readers to fantastic content from other bloggers, and also to get those other bloggers’ attention. And since blogs collect many links each day or week, they often develop better rankings in search engines as well.

10. Blogs are better for a million more reasons.

What other reasons do you need? They’re easier to setup, easier to manage, have thousands of free themes and plugins to install, build a loyal readerbase quicker, are promoted by others, retain interest, are more popular with search engines AND social media, are easily customized, promote interaction, offer RSS subscriptions, and much more. Websites used to be the only choice, but blogs are quickly gaining popularity to overrank them. It always depends on the goal you want to achieve, but 95% of the time I’d tell you to start a blog.

Did I leave any out? Please let me know if forgot any reasons stating why a blog is better than a website, or if you think differently, please tell me why in the comments as well. What do you think? Is a blog better than a static website, or is it the other way around?

The End of the Paycheck

davehageman — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:29:24 +0000

A new version of direct deposit – for workers who don’t have bank accounts – is catching on with small-business owners. –

It’s payday at a Wendy’s (Charts) in Wichita, but the teens who flip the burgers aren’t lining up to get their checks from the manager’s office. In fact, they aren’t getting checks at all. Instead, sometime in the next few days they’ll simply visit a bank machine and withdraw part or all of their pay using a debit card. It looks and works just like a standard debit card, but there’s a twist. Most of the employees using it don’t have bank accounts. The card draws on the payroll account of their employer, Wichita-based LDF Cos.

By offering this option to employees at its 44 franchise restaurants and five beer distributorships in three states, LDF has become one of the first small businesses to adopt the payroll system.

“We have a lot of employees who are young and ‘unbanked,’ and thus can’t get direct deposit,” explains Bill Goodlatte, LDF’s senior vice president of human resources. “This is a way for them to get their pay without paying exorbitant check-cashing fees, while allowing us to move toward a paperless office.”

Paycheck in a ‘gift card’

Payroll debit cards are a variant of stored-value gift cards. The employer sets up a central payroll account and issues a card to each employee, electronically depositing into the account the amount owed each payday.

Employees can access their pay either by withdrawing cash at any ATM or by using the card to make purchases and get cash back. The company’s payroll vendor tracks all the debits and credits for each paycard, sends out paper pay stubs and tax forms and provides a way for employees to check their balances either online or by phone.

“There are many choices when choosing a paycard provider, and each of them may have a piece of the solution; however, Global Cash Card provides thevcomplete paperless solution,” saidvMicki Nolan, Director of Business Development for Global Cash Card. “We partner with our clients to maximize employee participation while providing best-in-class customer service, technology, and implementation.” Global Cash Card strives to lead in the creation, development, and implementat ion of the industry’s most advanced financial transaction processing and information technology systems.

It translates these advanced technologies into value for its customers through professional solutions and worldwide services. While the cards remain most popular among large corporations, they’re making inroads at businesses of all sizes. Last year a survey by the American Payroll Association (americanpayroll.org) found that although only 6 percent of its 22,000 members were currently using paycards, a full 50 percent were considering adopting them.

The cost of switching from paper checks to paycards will depend on the payroll system you’re using, how many employees you have and how often they’re paid, but you’re likely to see a speedy return on investment. Paper checks cost $1 to $2 each, while loading a paycard costs about 20 cents.

A win-win for business and labor

The cards are also far more convenient, especially for business owners who rely on part-time or young employees or workers who have recently immigrated to the U.S. – anyone who might not have a bank account. (About 17 percent of U.S. workers fall into that category.)

The cards are as easy to manage electronically as direct deposit, they eliminate the expense of printing and distributing paper checks, and they ensure that everyone gets paid on time and in full – benefits for any growing company.

Paycards can also build employee satisfaction and loyalty. They save workers the semi-larcenous 10 percent charged by the typical check-cashing store, are safer than carrying cash and can’t get lost in the mail. What’s more, they’re handy financial-management tools, and not just for unbanked employees.

Still some creases to iron out

The technology isn’t practical for every business. In a handful of states, including Montana, Vermont and West Virginia, paycards fall into a regulatory gray zone, with laws that neither forbid nor specifically allow them as a substitute for cash or checks, says Kathy Beda, a labor-law specialist who chairs the APA paycard committee.

Most state laws also require that employees be allowed to get their entire pay on payday without fees. However, paycard vendors typically allow only one free ATM withdrawal for each pay period, and an employee’s pay may exceed the maximum withdrawal amount. So a business may have to cover at least some of those extra ATM withdrawal fees, which would eat into the cost savings.

In addition, employees are naturally wary of any change in their pay or benefits, so introducing paycards often requires extra effort upfront to gain their trust. LDF Cos. spent six months running a pilot program, holding training sessions for managers and distributing informational brochures to its employees before completing the companywide rollout in March, says Goodlatte.

In the end, though, Beda says, “Once it gets started, people really like it.”

Have you tried new ways to pay your employees? Would you prefer to receive a paycard yourself? Please send feedback or your interest to paycards@maximpactsolutions.com to learn more about the Global Cash Card payroll card.

Does Announcing your Plans make you less motivated to accomplish them?

davehageman — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:39:39 +0000

Shouldn’t you announce your goals, so friends, family and colleagues can support you?

Isn’t it good networking to tell people about your upcoming projects?

Doesn’t the “law of attraction” mean you should state your intention, and visualize the goal as already yours?

Nope.

Tests done since 1933 show that people who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen.

Announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you’re less motivated to do the hard work needed.

In 1933, W. Mahler found that if a person announced the solution to a problem, and was acknowledged by others, it was now in the brain as a “social reality”, even if the solution hadn’t actually been achieved.

NYU psychology professor Peter Gollwitzer has been studying this since his 1982 book “Symbolic Self-Completion” (pdf article here) – and recently published results of new tests in a research article, “When Intentions Go Public: Does Social Reality Widen the Intention-Behavior Gap?”

Four different tests of 63 people found that those who kept their intentions private were more likely to achieve them than those who made them public and were acknowledged by others.

Once you’ve told people of your intentions, it gives you a “premature sense of completeness.”

You have “identity symbols” in your brain that make your self-image. Since both actions and talk create symbols in your brain, talking satisfies the brain enough that it “neglects the pursuit of further symbols.”

A related test found that success on one sub-goal (eating healthy meals) reduced efforts on other important sub-goals (going to the gym) for the same reason.

It may seem unnatural to keep your intentions and plans private, but try it. If you do tell a friend, make sure not to say it as a satisfaction (“I’ve joined a gym and bought running shoes. I’m going to do it!”), but as dissatisfaction (“I want to lose 20 pounds, so kick my ass if I don’t, OK?”)

I find this topic intriguing and yet in most cases I like the later of having accountability so you can focus on the dissatisfaction to actually get the results of the plans into your hands….

What do you think?

A Win – Win Situation – Why Companies should consider using Affiliate Marketing

davehageman — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:43:44 +0000

What is affiliate marketing?

How can B2B organizations get the most return on investment from affiliate marketing programs? This post serves as a baby step into the huge world of affiliate marketing and how B2B companies should consider starting an affiliate program, whether for their own products or partnering with organizations that have complementary products or services.

So what is it?

In the simplest terms, affiliate marketing involves selling third-party products and services for a commission. According to AffStat, 80% percent of affiliate programs today use revenue sharing or cost per sale (CPS) as a compensation method, 19% use cost per action (CPA), and the remaining programs use other methods such as cost per click (CPC) or cost per mille/thousand (CPM).

Affiliate marketing has been widely used for years, primarily in the B2C market. A Forrester Research report indicated that B2B affiliate marketing is a multi-billion dollar market. More and more B2B companies are taking a closer look at affiliate marketing because it’s a quick, cost-effective way to deliver brand awareness and generate revenue. Affiliate marketing is done on-line; therefore, it’s trackable, and compensation is performance-based depending on the action (e.g., lead, click, or sale) keeping customer acquisition costs very low.

How can B2B organizations succeed with affiliate marketing?

As with any marketing programs, it’s critical that affiliate marketing fits within an organization’s marketing plan. It’s also important to have a specific set of goals for an affiliate program, resources to coordinate it since a large portion involves business development and relationship building, and an excellent knowledge of targeted niches or markets that compliment your company’s products/services.

Affiliate partners can range from product/services providers to blogs/bloggers to industry associations. Affiliate marketing also enables companies to cost-effectively reach or test new markets or niches, identify strategic partners or place their products and services where others may not search for them.

Affiliate marketing companies

If you do a Google search you will come across hundreds of affiliate marketing companies in specific markets. Top affiliate marketing companies like Kowabunga! And LinkConnector are currently working with B2B organizations like Marketing Sherpa and Getty Images, respectively.

Many B2B organizations are still not putting enough attention in this area and should. The benefits far outweigh the costs. Two great resources on affiliate marketing include Shawn Collin’s AffiliateTip blog and the Affiliate Tips website. Have you considered or are you currently using affiliate marketing within your organization? Please feel free to share your experiences. We’re always interested in learning from you!

It’s estimated that in the last year, $95 billion was transacted online as a direct result of affiliate marketing. And those affiliate marketers earned over $6.5 billion in commissions. So, whether your affiliates are getting paid for sharing your message, your business and bringing your organization sales you should definitely consider adding affiliate marketing to your marketing plan. It is a low dollar investment for a HIGH dollar ROI.

Branding Yourself – Is it Required or Expired?

davehageman — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:50:44 +0000

Branding Yourself

Personal branding has been very hyped up lately, and for good reason. Many people who feel marginalized by the idea of branding themselves now understand that it is inescapable. We all exist as brands, whether we like it or not. That means you Mr. Postman and you Mr. Lawyer! The first step to branding success is to accept that you’re a brand. Like corporate and product brands, you’re able to use the same marketing strategies to build your brand, get recognized and leverage it to either sell products, get a job or become a celebrity in your niche. There are two main reasons why individuals, like you and me, are labeled as brands.

Why we have brands

We’re all judged based on impressions. And the first impression usually depicts whether you end up dating a girl or guy or whether you get a job or not. Offline, just about everyone we meet will analyze us and decide whether they want to be friends or not. Sometimes it may be on appearance alone and other times, it could be based on a single conversation. People label us based based on personality, appearance and what we actually do for a living.Online, first impressions work quite differently because our brands are spread out on social networks, blogs and more. The first time someone “meets us” could be after searching for your name on Google or Facebook. Based on the first result for your name on Google, they will make a decision whether they want to talk to you or not. Based on your Facebook picture, you may have another contact or not. In this way, we are attracting and repelling certain types of people, without feeling the pain of rejection (one reason why people like online dating).
We’re all salespeople. People typically don’t purchase product brands that they haven’t heard of. You won’t get opportunities from those who have never heard of your name and in the same respect, you’ll have trouble securing venture capital if you can’t sell your product (and yourself). At work, we have to sell our ideas to our management, in order to take on new projects and prove ourself. Even with our circle of friends, we are forced to influence them to go see a certain movie or grab a bite to eat. We sell everyday, yet most of us don’t look at ourselves in the mirror and say “I’m in sales.”

What this means for us

A brand is an opportunity to have meaning in your life and to stand out from everyone else around the world. You, yes you, have unique attributes that no one else has. Some of you have discovered what you’re strengths or talents are, while others have either been afraid to reveal them or are still trying to locate them.

The idea of “brand you” (i.e. how we market ourselves to others) is a proven way to position yourself in a niche and become known. The benefits are that people will come to you for your expertise, and the jobs will follow. By investing in your personal brand, you’re able to do more, with less, especially using the power of social media, and succeed beyond your wildest dreams.

Questions you need to ask yourself

Before embarking on your personal branding journey, here are a few questions that will help you learn more about yourself, what you want to do and steer you on the right path to success:

If you could do one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?
What was your favorite class in college or high school?
Who is your rolemodel/mentor and what makes him or her so great?
Describe yourself using 5 attributes (ex. intelligent, vocal, brave)?
Name 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses that you have.
How have people labeled me in the past?
Am I passionate about my current job/career path?

I would really like to hear what you think about online branding yourself. Please share your thoughts and let’s start the conversation!