Power To Be Found

Quickie Video - 2.0 is Authencity - Data - and in last place, technology - Jerry Hart Discussed with Wal-Mart CMO

admin — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:29:39 +0000

Was hanging out with the CMO of Wal-Mart last week and she shared with me that “97% of customers approve the product self rating system”

When you view products online you’re reading your neighbors opinion of the experience that a customer had with the product. Bad or Good.

Who wins? You do, because you wouldn’t believe Wal-Mart if they told you it was GREAT. And, Wal-Mart removes products that are hated and then praise the customers for voicing their experience.

Giving us a social website that enables me to make a better purchase decision tells me how well Wal-Mart HEARs who’s really in charge of their brand; you and I.

Allow me to compare brand control to swimming in the ocean. Wal-Mart can paddle as fast as they want to control and resist the voice of the public or choose to embrace the ocean currents and then. ebb and flow as they are now, for the 130 million Americans that shop there every month. Isn’t that a number? I know it shocked me too.

OK so Wal-Mart has tons of money to empower visitors to spend more and love them more, so what about you?

I feel your pain.

Social Media or 2.0 and confusing technology babble everywhere is mostly internet pollution. Never fear it either. Bottom line, integrate technology on your blog or site in or near the decision point of purchase or conversion.

Technology 2.0 is merely providing your visitors with a megaphone to share their opinion of you, what you offer or on a good day, a few angry rocks are thrown from a passionate blog or site patron and don’t we just eat that up?

Raise the comfort level of a potential buyer in the purchase cycle by giving them access to peer to peer conversations. Unveil that intelligent interactive conversation as close to the decision point of purchase as possible.

So how do you get more comments? Next post I do, you’ll have it.

One more thing the CMO of Wal-Mart shared with me. Wal-Mart learned – When you get volume you get to the voice of customer. So, be patient. No one likes to eat in an empty restaurant, except me. Seriously, when your restaurant which is your blog is jammed with good smelling food and lots of visitors, you too will see the tipping point.
Hang in there.

This Power to be Found Quckie Video will help you understand more

Guy Kawasaki’s “Truemors” labeled “Worst Website Ever” by national newspaper

admin — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:44:23 +0000

“Surreal” is how Guy Kawasaki explains today’s new start up online

This was my first time seeing Guy, and it was intimate. Only 30 people at an AMA event in San Francisco and he was hysterical. Guy reflected back to his audience that it’s been only recently has he felt an almost “surreal” mindset that I know I also share with Guy. We live in a gold rush of internet marketing where creating your very own global campfire social network can lead to big money, freedom, and that feeling that business is changing at light speed and yes, it’s all a bit surreal”

His presentation was primarily highlighting his new start up “Truemors” and the costs associated with starting an online business for pennies on the dollar.

His new network costs were somewhere around 12,000 to develop “Truemors” and that was even including 55 domains he purchased thru Network Solutions.

His surprises in developing “Truemors“?

Had no idea how wonderful it would be outsourcing to a virtual social network development team out of South Dakota. He thought you’d have to be sitting on your programmers lap practically to get it done right.

His Logo was $400 that he bought thru LogoWorks. He said, why spend more? I don’t think brand developers wanted to hear that.

He almost believed his own press, that he had the “Worst web site ever” as stated by “The Inquirer”. The second day of his site being live… those headlines hit the papers and he had 256,000 unique visits in one single day. Guy also said today’s bad press is good press. Get used to it.

The first time he did get bad press, he had to slap himself with reminders that most of the blogosphere is filled with angry people and that these are people who want us all to believe that they are as powerful as CNET or Techcrunch some major aggregator out there and frankly, thier NOT influential in terms of destroying Guy’s brand. Guy said “most of the negative press is coming from guys that live with thier mothers and blog from their bedrooms sitting on “Buzzlight Year” cartoon sheets”. Now that’s hysterical. Guy said “Buzzlight Year” sheets.

What I appreciated most about Guy was he reminded us all to not take Web 2.0 so seriously. He said “Why am I working so hard listening to the next big idea when so many social networks based on what most thought were stupid ideas, have now become million dollar companies. Sometimes logic is painful to hear, but true.

And finally, Guy enforced the notion that there is no need for a business plan due to rapid changes that within just a few months, your business plan will most likely be outdated and irrelevant.

Who knew I could learn about myself and blogging from Sarah Palin

admin — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:15:27 +0000

I know the cardinal rule. No politics or religion. I know what happens when I do, some go nuts and tell me to bite it! So with those lovely unsubscribes coming at me, why not share authentically with you.

Once in while I include politics when it relates to blogging breakdowns you could be facing.

What is the takeaway from Sarah Palin’s speech last night?
What could be so meaningful to extrapolate and use in your marketing plans?
What is the short of it? Do you own your authority position in your niche?

When you say you are, Google believes you are.

First, who cares what party I favor, rather, lets care about how for the last four days, all we’ve seen is controversy about Sarah Palin’s family, and her fitness as a mother and candidate.

What did she do? She told America, I am an Authority and can make changes for the people. The online companies who own their niche like Michael Phelps owns his dominance in swimming are cashing in big time.

The takeaways from Sara no matter what party you’re in.

•    She owned the stage as if she had been a staple in the Republican Party for years.
•    She owned her message and delivered her facts and opinions with self conviction
•    She owned that she can proudly blend motherhood and the role of VP in the White House
•    She owned that you never stop having FUN when delivering a speech for VP position
•    She owned the facts with self conviction

Do you own your authority position in your niche?

When you say you are, Google believes you are.

Forget if you like her or agree with her or not, please gleam the principal of her intentions.

Sarah Palin believes with all her heart, she is a:

•    Authority of Politics and Motherhood
•    New influencer
•    Radically transparent
•    Voice of her vertical
•    Truly Authentic
•    Diplomat for her people
•    Servant
•    Woman of Integrity and Goodwill

When you choose to know who you and where you rank in your industry that usually means you have a great respect for being prolific, authentic and you know who you want to influence.

Once you command your stage like Sarah did, all that was work starts to flow easily. You also get pumped up by seeing yourself fire start meaningful stimulating content that effortlessly attracts other bloggers to spread the news.

•    Do you know who you want to influence?
•    Are you providing the credible content as the catalyst to achieve a conversion?
•    Do you own your authority position in your niche?
•    And are you making sure you have FUN?

Within a week, I’ll be sharing how you can get more support and be more profitable with your efforts online.

USA Today / Blogger and Podcast Directory - Jerry Hart Interviews Larry Genkin

admin — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:29:54 +0000

Jerry Hart speaks with Larry Genkin. Founder of Blogger and Podcast Directory. This interview was resurrected from my archives because it touches on the enormous shift in the market to blogging and podcasting that is enabling the little guy [YOU AND ME] to be the big guy - THE VOICE/AUTHORITY OF OUR INDUSTRY on the block. Most of all, being authentic is key and making every decision with your guiding principals in mind.

What is Larry up to these days…well I got the word and it’s incredible what’s coming very shortly from Larry’s world.

Larry’s site

Negative Feedback. You’re always on the radar. Get used to it.

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:30:09 +0000

Today I watched a company scramble to contain the firestorm of negative feedback that customers were saying about them.

I remembered that in every community, 1 percent are the givers. In Wikipedia, for example, about 1 percent of the users create and edit articles.

Same goes for Microsoft’s Channel 9 Web site. They get four and half million visitors a month, and almost exactly 1 percent of them contribute comments. The same math works for Digg, Redditt, and YouTube.

1 percent of blog readers are blog writers. One percent of talk-radio listeners are callers. You’ll never know which 1% of your customers and prospects are the ones who need to love you or hate you and post about their experiences

It is like Russian Roulette. You have to assume that every chamber is loaded, that every interaction is an interaction with a critic.

Remember that just a few years ago, a restaurant critic that everyone knew in town really had power, now you have to be on the look out for anyone who is a restaurant critic cause they police your brand, not a just a newspapers star.

Back in the day, if you screwed up, only a few would spread the bad news, but that was it. No longer.

Today, when a Comcast installer falls asleep on a couch during a job, it’s likely to be videotaped and uploaded to Youtube. Today, when Proctor & Gamble launches a new toothpaste, they need more than a dentists rave review, they need all the users rating the toothpaste to be positive. Not this time, as apparently most all the reviews are negative (it turns your teeth brown apparently).

You’re always on the radar, everyone loves to critique, and the Web remembers forever.

Don’t panic. There’s only one thing worse than being talked about, it’s not being talked about.