KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Calling All The Ladies to Action

2008-07-15T09:51:00.004-04:00

Calling All The Ladies to Act
Scott Dennison
07-15-08

I thought I'd let you know that no matter what you read in the newspapers or see reported on TV, you STILL have an opportunity to create a business even more magnificent than the original dream of what your business could be.

Women in our society (perhaps even more than men) have a lot on their plates. By now you know that there's more that goes into making a business successful than simply having a product and taking it to the marketplace.

Just recently I was asked to bring some of KeyThing's tools and strategies to the Women's Business Empowerment Summit in Scottsdale, AZ. I'll be speaking at this really amazing event sometime during the weekend of 8/1-3. I cannot wait to get there and take the pulse of the empowered business women at this pivotal point in history.

The host of this event, Lynn Pierce told me "this year we're helping women move beyond your current level of success by bringing you the tools you need in every area of your life, going to "The Soul of the Career Woman"".

Wow - how cool is that. This one's for the ladies. I hope you will go, so we can talk about your business and look for ways that KeyThing can assist you with your goals.

Want some interesting stats? Check these out:

According to The Center for Women's Business Research:

* 9 out of 10 women business owners want to expand their businesses
* In the last 2 decades women owned business have grown at double the rate of all firms.

And not surprisingly...

* 81% of women owners of firms with $1 million or more in revenue belong to formal business organizations, associations or networks.

As a woman in today's hypercompetitive worldwide marketplace, are you aware...

* Women own nearly 10.4 million firms employing 12.8 million people and generating $1.9 trillion in sales?
* According to a Wells Fargo/NFIB study 61% of businesses never make a profit?
* SBA statistics show that 1/3 of new business don't make it past the first two years and 56 percent are out of business within 4 years?

At the same time, in addition to networking with like minded women, what do you think is one of the biggest differences between those $1,000,000+ businesses and those that fail? Or better said, do you think these entrepreneurs had a proven step-by-step plan for creating a successful business?

Most likely not. But then, the sad fact is...
You can't learn how to be a entrepreneur in college.

But you can watch, listen and learn from the experienced women business owners at the Women's Business Empowerment Summit in a couple of weeks.

If you want to learn more - go here. There are some great preview teleseminars going on right now and they're free to attend.

I'm even being interviewed this Thursday on the 5.5 ways that you simply must be using video in your online business. Join in, get some new ideas. You'll be glad you did.

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Happy Juneteenth - celebrate your freedom to achieve!

2008-06-16T12:43:00.004-04:00

Happy Juneteenth - celebrate your freedom to achieve!
Scott Dennison
06-16-08

Did you know that Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States? I didn't until today. When you think about it, what could be better cause for celebration than this.

You see, from its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.

Now, Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. In my opinion the world is better when we all embrace education and achievement, right?

There is also a very important business reason why I mention this occasion. One of our newest clients has just taken delivery of our newest technology. This technology makes the world flatter and significantly smaller, yet its not the kind of whizmo gizmo that causes Wall Street to cheer. But you will.

You, the readers of this blog will cheer. Why? Because most of you are running or working for small businesses. And small businesses have smaller budgets than big corporations. Typically, advanced technologies such as this are unaffordable to the small business owner. Not this one.

With our newest technology, which we call "StreamPaste" you are now able to instantly connect to your audience LIVE from your website.

Conducting a live event? Add one line of code to your site and direct traffic to that page and at the appointed hour you will be there live!

With a chat mechanism, you can take live questions and speak on camera to a worldwide audience and actually be there. I'm talking about zero emissions and zero travel expense for you or your attendees.

The best part is - you can afford it. Anyone can. Sell seats to the live event and you can make big profits from this.

So what's this got to do with Juneteenth? The celebration emphasizes education and achievement. KeyThing's newest achievement makes it easy and affordable for content providers to educate people everywhere and help them achieve more success. Now that's worth celebrating!

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

While the cat is asleep...

2008-05-19T11:07:00.002-04:00

While the cat is asleep...
Scott Dennison
05-19-08

...the mice have more time to play, eat and create havoc. Normally the expression begins with "while the cat's away", but today its more appropriate to state that the cat is not away, but ASLEEP.

Which cat? Who are the mice? What are you talking about Scott?

The roaring lion (the cat) of our economy is very sleepy if not outright sound asleep. At least there is a belief that this is true. After the past many years of largely uninterrupted growth, everywhere you turn is talk of recession. Some go so far as to say "depression".

I say nonsense.

Even when the topic of conversation is recession, its clear that Americans are being lulled to sleep by all of the news about it - even though the current "slow down" does not remotely meet the requirements of recession (2 consecutive quarters of negative growth).

This is a time for you and I to be mice. Play, eat and grow your business like you never have before, while your competition is asleep. Since the cat is asleep, you can work uninterrupted without fear of being eaten alive.

This as good news, don't you think?

There is a small group of marketers at the top who are thriving like never before. One of our clients, Yanik Silver just had a session with his Maverick Business Adventures group, where they met up to strategize, then play over the past weekend.

Doing a day of zero-g flight, then flying in helicopters and fighter planes is not cheap - but you know what? Yanik was not afraid to sell it and he found nearly two dozen individuals who were ready, willing and able to buy it.

But wait, what about the recession?!?

Bunk! There's a perception that things are bad, and if you let it, that perception becomes your reality. As you believe, so it will be for you.

So while the masses of companies and business people are stuck in a mental downturn, you can and should shake off that belief and pursue your dream. No matter what they are reporting on the news, people are still buying what they want as well as what they need. If you offer something that people want or need, you can do well. You just have to believe you can.

When everyone who believes in the recession wakes up, you may already have reached that big goal and be living your dream.

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Nothing New Under the Sun?

2008-05-05T09:22:00.004-04:00

Nothing New Under the Sun?
Scott Dennison
05-05-08

Before I begin, let me wish you a happy "Cinco de Mayo!"

Perhaps you did not know that this Mexican holiday celebrates the beginning of the end of the war against foreign occupation and was first observed on the 5th of May in 1862. The holiday has been celebrated for over 145 years, so there's nothing new about it.

Interestingly enough, I don't recall ever hearing about it until Corona Beer became popular and Cinco de Mayo became a marketing event built around beer.

Sort of like St Patrick's Day. Now, any sober adult knows that there is historical significance to St Patrick's Day, (St Patrick being the patron Saint of Ireland and one of Christianity's most widely known figures) but here, in the US, it is being used more and more as a marketing event and an excuse to have a party.

Nothing new about that. When times are tough, none of us needs much of a reason to party.

What's any of this got to do with marketing? Besides the idea that just about any holiday is a great reason for you to communicate to your customers, you've no doubt heard the expression that "what's old becomes new again, if you live long enough", right? You understand this well if you have teenagers who begin wearing similar styles of clothing to what you wore in high school.

Well in marketing, it's much the same way. The challenges we all face in email marketing have lead to a resurgence in direct mail. Direct mail has been around for generations and is responsible for many a fortune being made in business, but when email marketing became popular, direct mail sort of fell out of vogue. Now its back in a big way. In fact, I'm in the research and planning stages of selling our services through direct mail.

Another example is that just last week a well known marketer built a product launch around concepts he is promoting known as self-liquidating offers. Yet, self liquidating offers have been around for ages. This is a sure fire way of getting leads where the cost of the marketing is paid for by the prospect, thus resulting in "free" leads. The costs of the campaign becomes self-liquidating.

There is nothing new about this except for the fact that someone well known has revised the marketing campaign and is promoting it as a "new idea".

As NBC once said about re-runs, "if you haven't seen it, it's new for you." The fact is, it's still a re-run.

Another example is taken from our own business. Online video is hot. There are many creative marketers looking for ways to promote it and profit from it. Underneath it all is the basic truth that online video helps people who buy online to like and trust the business owner a little bit more.

This is the major point I want to make, there is nothing new to the idea that people do business with people that they like and trust. But if you're not using online video in ways that make sense for your business, then giving it a try will be new for you... so celebrate!

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Increasing conversion rates on your site - Here's how!

2008-04-29T10:44:00.002-04:00

Increasing conversion rates on your site - Here's how!
Scott Dennison
04-29-08

The power of a simple conversation sometimes can be astounding. The words in a song might inspire you to take action. Maybe its a line in a poem. Or even a chapter in a book. You never know, when you are on the search, when the key will arrive that opens the locked door. Or from where it will come, either...

Recently (yesterday, in fact) I had a scheduled call with a senior executive from a very successful Internet marketing firm.

He was telling me a story, and concluded by saying "that's when I fell in love with article marketing." Now I do some article marketing, and I know that virtually every one of the most successful marketers do so as well. However, I don't get quite the results that I've heard reported elsewhere.

In fact, I'm not sure I can tie even a single user to any articles that I have published.

Then in this conversation, I was reminded of the fact that "if its not working for you, check the headlines you have selected! People respond to headlines (the promise) and are enticed to go through your information from there. Some will respond by taking your suggested call to action, be that to subscribe, visit your site, buy; whatever.

You see, I have written over and over and over about the power of video on your site. And it is powerful. One of our clients saw his conversion rate increased to almost 8% of his list (from the 2-3% normally considered to be good).

But do people really care about video? Or do they respond better to words like profit, increased conversion rates, increased transaction size and the like?

I think its the latter. And I intend to do better going forward. You can expect to hear more from me about what video will do for you, than about video itself. And I'd like you to write me and tell me how I'm doing.

Oh, and as to the headline I've chosen for this post today? Just read over this post a few times and you will know what to do to increase your conversions.

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

What I learned from Gene Simmons (the 'god' of Rock -n- Roll) about business

2008-04-21T11:10:00.002-04:00

What I learned from Gene Simmons (the 'god' of Rock -n- Roll) about business
Scott Dennison
04-21-08

A couple of weeks ago, I had the good fortune to attend the Glazer-Kennedy Superconference in Nashville and one of the keynote speakers was Gene Simmons of KISS fame.

To be sure, some in attendance were there to revisit their youth, and revel in just being in the room with such a powerful presence.

I had an entirely different reason to sit quietly and write furiously while Gene spoke. The reason is that Gene Simmons is an incredible marketer. If you listened and were focused on the message, he shared more wisdom in a 90 minute session than many of the rest of the speakers did in 3 days combined.

Why would I say that? Because Gene Simmons is a "been there - done that" kind of guy.

Early on he said "life is about the pursuit of more" and then gave example after example of how that philosophy has played out in his life and his businesses.

He demonstrated that he was multi-lingual by speaking in Japanese, Hungarian, German, Hebrew and claimed to be learning Mandarin now. His reason? "When you embrace the dominant culture, you make more money."

I immediately made it a goal of mine to push ahead and begin to study one new language per year.

Gene also explained that his business success started with a childhood project in Junior Achievement, that all of his life he has been "a vampire" for information and that he "loved the library" because of all of the information available for free.

You see, KISS is NOT a rock -n- roll band, it IS a rock -n- roll BRAND! They have over 3000 licensed products bearing the KISS name, have sold over 75 million albums and over 400 million concert tickets and after 30+ years are still going strong.

However, for all the swagger, he still taught us all something powerful when he told a story about the first time he earned $10 million from a business deal and showed the check to his Mom. She said "That's wonderful son! Now what are you going to do?"

I'm encouraging you, as he did for us to "wake up everyday and try to break your own records". It's an objective of mine - to continue to push ahead, to pursue more and to break some records along the way.

KeyThing continues to innovate, improve and work at delivering best of class online video solutions to our customers, which include some of the biggest names in the world of Internet marketing. In case you did not know, we are not a online video hosting company, we are an online video solutions and marketing technologies partner.

We have learned that it's not only possible, its totally likely that you can be viewed as the best at what you do, if you work at it...

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

5 more ways to use video on your site

2008-03-03T17:00:00.003-05:00

5 more ways to use video on your site
Scott Dennison
03-03-08

Last week, High Tech (Andy) and I were in Los Angeles for the Bridging Hearts and Marketing event to present our VideoPaste solution to an audience of "heart based" marketers. These folks were from a number of fields but all of them were beginning to explore the possibilities of marketing their services online.

We focused our talks on the power of using social proof, in the form of video testimonials, and clearly demonstrated the difference between a written testimonial, one featuring a picture and one that uses video. In fact we showed all three versions of the same testimonial. 100% of the audience agreed that the video testimonial was by far-and-away the most powerful.

As you know I have been covering some of the many ways that you can (and should) be using video today on your site. Testimonials are but one of the at least 52 ways we have identified that you can use right away, at minimal expense.

Here are a few more of our favorites:

16) Do you share information? Are you a knowledgeable person that your audience/customer base should look to to keep abreast of new stuff in the industry? How about recording a quick "tip of the day/week" and send an email to your list to let them know where on your site they can find it? People appreciate this kind of information sharing and it also creates a steady stream of inbound traffic to your site.

17) When someone leaves your site - you can add a "pop-under" ad. I know that if you've been online for anytime, you have seen one of these. Why not add a video to it and talk to them sincerely. Perhaps even make an offer they can't refuse... Hey it worked for Brando in "The Godfather".

18) Do you have a customer support element to your business? Perhaps you find, as we do that many of the questions are repetitive. If so, then shoot a quick video to answer the questions and add them to your knowledge base. If you can use the same people who answer support questions in your business, even better. That will create a bond between your customers and your company's support staff that will be even more enduring.

19) When it comes to holidays - nothing says you care like a personal greeting. We had numerous Christmas videos sent along, but that does not have to be the only holiday when you send along a holiday video. With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, done some green, click record on your camera and sell hello to your favorite people... your paying customers.

20) I tend to harp on the idea that all business, online or off is based on trust. In fact its my own personal soapbox. Want to let your peeps get to know you even better? To like and trust you even more? Share a personal moment with them. The "about us" page on your site might be a perfect place for a video like this. Speak to them in clear, measured tones; talk to them like an old friend. Let them look you in the eye and just watch what happens (sales will increase - I promise).

In just the last month I have shared with you 20 different ways you need to be using video on your site (not all of them at once, either). Just pick a few, give them a try, and write to me to report on your results. Of course if you're not already using VideoPaste.com, you'll want to get started. I'm guessing you'll be glad you did.

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Why You Shouldn't Host Your Videos On Amazon S3

2008-02-18T11:00:00.002-05:00

Why You Shouldn't Host Your Videos On Amazon S3
Andy Stetzinger
2-18-08

An aspect of putting videos online that is often overlooked is "where the video will be hosted."

In our newsletter, I covered concurrent connections and how much bandwidth a business site needs. We, as a company, have held firm to our position that your video needs to be hosted on a server specifically designed to handle the amount of traffic and load videos can put on a website.

While Amazon's S3 service has been around for a while, it recently came to the
attention of many online marketers. People flocked to them to host their content, pictures, videos, and all sorts of files. Recently, when High Touch and I were at a conference, we found ourselves defending our position of why we don't use the Amazon S3 Service.

1. It's Expensive
I am convinced that people don't understand the S3 model. It only works in the consumers favor if S3 is only used as a temporary, high traffic time, load balancing solution. Otherwise, bandwidth, processes, and server time end up costing over 300% of normal costs.

2. It's Untested
I refuse to push any business to edge of untested technology. Who knows what users will do to the system that engineers didn't expect? What effects will it have?

3. It's Unreliable.
A system like S3 will not be able to handle consumer demands at a reasonable rate. It's technically impossible to add, remove, or re purpose space, capacity, or bandwidth at a prudent rate for the number of users they claim to have.

4. It's Untouchable.
I like having physical acess of some kind to my servers. If there's an issue that requires me to physically be in front of the machine, I want to be able to do so. Not so with S3: your machine doesn't even exist! (it's virtual)

5. It's Unreasonable.
Read their terms and agreements. They state that while they'll try to keep access to your stuff open, if they can't, "sorry" is the best you'll get. If they happen to lose your virtual server with all of your stuff, best hope you have a backup!

Today, as a marketer, a business owner, and a geek, I feel vindicated. S3 collapsed over the weekend leaving thousands of businesses in the dark. Some startups have even claimed that they were effectively put out of business because of the S3 outage this weekend.

Understand that I am not happy or gleeful about this outage, and that my heart does go out to all of those people effected by it.

It seems that some users used the S3 service in ways that Amazon didn't expect, and Amazon could not react quickly enough to prevent a cascading failure of the S3 system.

The unexpected usage? Authentication routines. People "logging in" to some kind of a members area. It produced too much information for S3 to handle, and as a result, S3 failed. As a result of S3 failing, some people's businesses were destroyed.

Amazon's sorry for the inconvenience.

Really... They are... and that's all they have to be... it's in their Terms and Agreements.

However, the position we have held as a company is now more solid than ever before. Our media servers have withstood the onslaught of a highly effective marketing campaign while the customers credit card processing server, and their own web server suffered under the traffic.

Now the next time someone tries to make us defend our position on hosting, bandwidth, and media servers, I can simply point to the weekend of February 17th, 2008.

To learn more about KeyThing Marketing Technologies or any of our Marketing Products, please visit our website: KeyThing.com

Online Video Uses - Let me count the ways... Part 3

2008-02-11T09:16:00.000-05:00

Online Video Uses - Let me count the ways... Part 3
Scott Dennison
2-11-08

I'm sure you have noticed... its something so pervasive, we cannot escape or hide from it. As a result, my DVR is getting extra work over the next few months. What am I talking about? Election season...

Now the reason I mention it here is because very few business owners are using online video as effectively at the politicians do. Today I want to continue with the series of ways you can (and should) be planning to use video on your website. If you watch closely you will see your most favorite (probably even your least favorite) candidate using video on their site in one of these ways.

11) "On location" updates, or updates from the road. With all of the traveling to the different states where the primaries are being held, there are many opportunities to capture some footage, talk about issues that are of interest to local voters and post it to their site.

If you travel in your business, you can do something similar. A few months ago we provided technology for one of the cars in the "FireBall Run" that went from Orlando to LA. The drivers regularly stopped, and shot video which was then posted to their "update" page. Viewership was huge on those pages as people checked in daily to keep up to date on the race.

12) Viral Videos. I'm sure you are familiar with this concept, right? Develop a video that spreads and spreads around the world until millions see it. (Think Mentos and Diet Coke video or LonelyGirl 15) Most of the candidates do this with policy proposals. you know,"here is what I'll do for you if you elect me..." These take a bit of planning to develop something that people will find amusing and are willing to pass it along to their friends, but it can be done. I encourage you to try, and if necessary try again. The guys at BlendTec sure pulled it off. So can you!

13) Highlights of a political rally (or a seminar). If there is a political rally today, by tonight the highlights of the speech will be posted for everyone to see or hear. So if a part of your business involves the seminars, where you put on events, then you should absolutely be using clips of that event to either sell the DVD/CD package of the event or to sell the next event.

14) Insiders (staff) guide. Everyone loves the "inside" information, right? The secret stuff that is discussed behind the scenes. Do you think there some things that are going on in the inner workings of a campaign that people would love to know about? When it comes to business applications, obviously Coca Cola is not going to go on camera and tell us their secret formula, but if you set your mind to the task you can come up with something that sounds exclusive and shoot a quick video to share with the world.

15) Family introductions. When we consider electing someone to high office, we want to know as much about them as possible. So a carefully staged interview of the candidates spouse or children make great videos to post on their site.

When it comes to applying this to your business always remember that people do business with people that they like and trust. When you show your "other" side, such as your values or philosophies, and that part which is involved in family and home, you can gain major trust with potential customers.

So don't let the candidates be the only ones using video in smart ways. Its clear we can't beat em, so me might as well join them.

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Online Video Uses - Let me count the ways... Part 2

2008-02-04T10:09:00.000-05:00

Online Video Uses - Let me count the ways... Part 2
Scott Dennison
2-04-08

As I ponder the ending of an amazing Super Bowl, I want to continue with the theme of sharing with you the many, many ways you can (and should) be using video on your websites. In fact if you watched the game you probably saw a few of these uses, so let's review...

6) "On the street" interviews - do you think that if someone interviewed Giants or Patriots fans last night after the game you would have captured some interesting comments? Now widen the lens and look at how that applies to your business. If you are promoting what you do ask people on the street for a comment about it. Some will have nothing of value to share, but others just might. And the best ones should go on your website. If you are just starting to develop a new product, go ask people to tell you what would make them want to buy a similar product. What you learn will help you, I promise you that.

7) Once you have actual customers using your product, get a testimonial from them. Let them tell future customers what they like best about you, your product and your company. This is called social proof. Prospects and potential customers will believe what your current customers say more than what you say. So put their excitement and enthusiasm on display for the whole world to SEE.

8) "A Day in the Life of" video featuring perhaps one of your customers. Following with the Super Bowl idea, there were lots of great stories to capture of players. I don't think I saw even story of a "Super Fan" for either team. But what if you developed your own video by following a customer of yours through his/her day as they use and enjoy your product.

9) Behind the scenes at an event is another compelling story line you can develop for visitors to your site. Several of my associates host an annual "customer appreciation party" to honor and thank their customers (and court new ones). In fact if you want to see one, go here. But its the back room, behind the scenes stuff that most attendees never see that can be so compelling, enough so that the word spreads without you doing anything other than posting the videos for everyone to see.

10) Highlights of a special event. Not much different than the previous idea, but this one develops "stickiness" by getting your visitors to stick around for a few extra minutes to watch the highlights of something you have done. In watching the big game last night I could not help but notice the number of times that the announcers on Fox reminded us that we could "see our favorite commercials again" by going to MySpace.com. Considering that MySpace is owned by News Corp, who also happens to own Fox Network, that should not have surprised anyone. But it was good cross promotion of their corporate assets nonetheless.

I hope that you are starting to get the picture. Your site is being judged by your viewers based on how interesting it is. The interest is scored by the amount of time that one spends there. (stickiness) Also, the search engines are rating the amount of time one spends on your site as one of the top criteria in ranking your place in the search engines. Video will keep them there, keep them interested and make you more relevant. We'll cover even more ways to use video next week.

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Online Video Uses - Let me count the ways... Part 1

2008-01-28T10:18:00.000-05:00

Online Video Uses - Let me count the ways... Part 1
Scott Dennison
1-28-08

Over the past 20 or so months that we have been working on solving the issues dealing with online video for so many of our small office, home office, online marketing, or small business professionals there has been one question asked over and over.

"How do we use it?" If I've heard the question once, I've heard it a thousand times.

So Andy took time recently to put together a list... while I am sure we can and will come up with even more ways to use video on your website, currently the list has 52 ways for you to begin adding video to your website.

So that I can give you an example or two for each of these ways, we will cover the list in small bites, of maybe 5 ideas per week. So grab your journal, jot these down, and begin to make plans to use them yourself. The pass them along to friends so that they too can grow their sales online by adding video to their web sites too.

1) A simple greeting: This is the most basic way to use video, but one that is often overlooked. When someone arrives at your site they are most likely coming from a search engine. They will ultimately do business with someone they like and trust. This is your chance to introduce yourself, share your values, and give them a quick tour. Save the selling for later, just make people feel at home.

2) Office staff introductions: Just a close up, perhaps 30 second video that introduces your team to your prospective customers. Again, people do business with people, so a warm greeting and smiling faces will go a long way to making people like you and this levels the playing field between you and the larger competitors.

3) Buzz Campaigns: Many businesses use YouTube these days, and if your aim is to get people talking about your business, then its a great idea. With one caveat... Do not EVER, place YouTube code on your pages to save money. Why? Because you lose all control over the customer when they watch a video on your site and then see another video promoted at the end which is served up by YouTube. Qualified traffic is too valuable to give that control over to another business with a different agenda then you have. Yours should be to control user experience and lead them to a predictable outcome, theirs is to draw your viewer away to their site. Its only a small investment to implement high quality video tools on your site that you control.

4) Event Highlights: Has your company designated you as the person to attend a particular event where you learned something of value to share with the team as well as with your customers. Capture a quick video of the primary points you want to share, and add it to your site. Those left behind will enjoy it and your users may learn something that helps them decide to choose your company over others.

5) In Membership Sites: You don't have to look far to find someone trying to teach you how to build and deploy a membership site. The reasons are obvious. Fresh content and continuity income. Members paying every month is a great thing. Give your members something they can really use while building a powerful bond between you. You can do that by letting them look you in the eye while you teach, by recording your lessons in short videos that are stored in the paid membership area of your site.

Soon, we'll continue on this list but hopefully you can already see that there are many, many ways to use video online and you like us will begin to use the power of video. If you visit us at http://www.videonmywebsite.com, we are still offering you the chance to try our system for a whole month for only $1. Give us a try, if its not for you after you try it, I'll understand. Have a great week!

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

It's Almost Like Being There!

2008-01-21T17:18:00.000-05:00

It's Almost Like Being There!
Scott Dennison
1-21-08

For nearly 2 years now I have been extolling the virtues of using video on your website. Our VideoPaste service has become the hands-down winner when it comes to taking what was once difficult and making it easy. And now it seems that what Andy and I have been saying all along is becoming self-evident.

Recently, I saw a short article from Dave Lakhani, president of Bold Approach Inc., where he talked about the effectiveness of online video. "By looking at videos, consumers are better able to make decisions about a company and the material it offers the same way they do in person. Videos let them see you, judge your body language and hear your speech," Lakhani explains.

Nothing new, really. If you go back and read my articles, you will hear me say almost exactly the same thing. If you need more subscribers or to convert more visitors into buyers, video may be the tool you're missing.

Last year was huge for this emerging technology, but in 2008, if you plan to compete, you need to use it.

If you have not tried it already, then our 30 day trial for only $1 is for you. Go here to check it out. I look forward to hearing how its working for you...

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

What's Driving Online Sales Higher?

2007-11-12T20:23:00.000-05:00

What's Driving Online Sales Higher?
Scott Dennison
11-12-07

It's no surprise to those who keep track of such things, and it's fascinating for nerds like me who try to understand successful (and unsuccessful) business models, but online sales are up another 25% in the last year.

According to the latest installment of the "State of Retailing Online 2007", recently released by Shop.org and Forrester Research, retailers are getting more sophisticated with social media, customer reviews and videos.

Imagine that? Retailers planning to incorporate more video? No...

All sarcasm aside, what could better help me as a potential buyer than for me to see a video of someone assembling, setting up, using, cleaning or whatever the item might do or need done to it on a video.

Maybe having real customers tell me what they think of the product would help me decide to buy one too!

Not a bunch of words to tell me all of that stuff - but having real people, using the actual item and describing it to me on video as they do so.

It's not hard to do, its not expensive to do and as has been proven over and over -- its what customers want.

Every reader of this post who is in the business of selling anything needs to get to work immediately to pay attention to trends like this one and begin adding Web 2.0 elements to your websites NOW. While you still have time.

Not sure where to look for an easy, affordable solution? Check out Video On My Website.com, which is the new sales page for our World Class VideoPaste product. You can learn about this product, and even try it for a whole month for only $1.

When you accept the zero risk trial, the burden is then on us to earn your business after that first 30 days. Try us - we're up to the task...

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

The Future Comes Into Focus

2007-11-05T20:34:00.000-05:00

The Future Comes Into Focus
Scott Dennison
11-05-07

For more than a year I have been suggesting that more and more evidence was available that the future of the Internet, for both ecommerce and corporate communication sites was video.

Of course you would expect me to say that simply because of my role with KeyThing as a Co-founder and as CEO, but really, I was (and am) completely sincere about my assertion.

Now, as one of my mentors, Jim Rohn said periodically "sincerity is not a test of truth. We must not make the mistake of saying: He must be right; he's so sincere. Because, it is possible to be sincerely wrong."

I admit I have a tendency to get it wrong from time to time, but when it comes to my vision of where our industry was going there was no way I would miss on my prediction. The facts bear out that I was sincerely RIGHT!

How do I know? Just look around. Recently Yellow Book USA, a national yellow pages and online local search company, has launched a live advertiser video trial on yellowbook.com the company's Internet yellow pages site.

According to Pat Marshall, chief new media officer at Yellow Book, "video helps in search marketing efforts and provides the advertiser additional exposure... it also helps companies to differentiate themselves from other merchants and present their personality in a meaningful way."

I could not say it better than that!

But there is even more evidence on the scene. Amazon.com in its preparation for the Holiday buying season is deploying video all over its site - notably in the children's toy section.

The simple truth is this - if you don't already use video on your site, there is still time. But you need to be thinking about it and be planning to do something about it... and soon. Why? Sites with video are more engaging. They're more entertaining. They're more like Television.

Ads on TV sell more product than we can even fathom, but most of us cannot afford to advertise on Television. However, with the convergence of Internet and TV that is upon us, running video ads on your website is a strong second. And way better than doing nothing at all.

Because of our unique place in the marketplace, we make it easy for you to add video to your site. For a while longer, you can still try it for a whole month for only one dollar. What're you waiting for? Check out our newest information site at http://www.videoonmywebsite.com for all the info you need to get started.

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Increasing Sales with Customer Reviews

2007-09-23T11:16:00.000-04:00

Increasing Sales with Customer Reviews
Scott Dennison
09-23-07

Testimonials have a new name according to a recently published survey from social-commerce applications firm Bazaarvoice and market research firm Vizu Corp. They are now better known as "Customer Reviews", and online shoppers love them.

In fact, according to this research "about 80% of US shoppers place more trust in brands that offer customer ratings and reviews." In fact, three out of every four shoppers think that it is extremely or very important to see customer reviews before making a purchase. "Consumers trust their peers over expert reviews by a six-to-one margin".

If you want to endear your online audience to you at a deeper, more significant level, find a way to add customer reviews to your website in advance of the holiday shopping season.

The report found that "The fact that the brand will allow customer reviews of its products really does a lot to grow brand recognition and consumer trust".

Amazon.com has pegged its recent growth in sales to use of reviews and just recently Wal-Mart added customer reviews to its site. It's important to note that as of this writing only 28% of businesses have user-generated reviews.

One really easy way for you to do this is to use KeyThing's VideoPaste.com product. We have invested countless hours into product development to ensure that the service is easy for you to use.

If you have a digital camera that shoots video (it can even be your camcorder or cell phone) you can use the service with no technical skills at all. Then when you come in contact with a satisfied customer, ask them to say a few words about their experience. Then while they do speak about the customer experience they have had with you, record a simple 1-2 minute video, then quickly and easily add it to your site. It's done in about 87 seconds...

Then watch what happens when the next visitor to your site watches and listens to these heartfelt words of praise for your business. I'm guessing that your sales will increase too!

Which is just the gift every business owner wants to receive this holiday season.

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Save your money - just get it done!

2007-08-22T06:57:00.000-04:00

Save your money - just get it done!
Scott Dennison
8-22-07

As we head into the backstretch of a hot Florida summer, Andy and I decided that now was the right time to get back to posting on this blog. Typically as we approach the autumn and "the big shopping season" looms on the horizon those of us who market on line are looking for an edge that will take us to the next level.

Want to know what that edge is? It's video... On your website...

Not just any video, but video of YOU, with the primary intent of introducing yourself to your audience in such a way that they like and trust you enough to want to do business with you. Enough to give you their hard-earned money.

But this post comes with great news! You do not need to plan weeks in advance to get this done, you do not need to budget to bring Spielberg in to shoot the video for you, and you do not need a whole team of tech geeks and a room full of gear to add video to your site.

Check out what Jason Hirschhorn, president, Sling Media Entertainment Group, said at Ad:Tech San Francisco recently, "Users don't care as much about professionally created video or user generated video as long as its good and entertaining content."

What that means to you is simple. Grab your digital camera (heck even your cell phone or cam-corder will work), and introduce yourself in a genuine way, as if talking to a friend.

Then fire up your VideoPaste account (don't have one yet? - we are offering a 30 day trial right now, by going here) and you will have your video posted to your site in, like 87 seconds. When you think about it - what can you do that will have such a positive impact on your business in such a short time?

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

The Value Of Value

2007-06-05T04:55:00.000-04:00

The Value Of Value

6/5/2007
Andy Stetzinger

A couple weeks ago, Scott and I took a quick trip up to Baltimore, MD - those of you who subscribe to our free newsletter know about some of the fun we had while we were up there. When we arrived at the airport, we walked out and picked up our rental car. A 2007 Charcoal Grey Mustang. I mean to tell you, this car was nice. It looked and sounded aggressive. Of course, Scott got to drive first (he is the older of the two of us). We weren't even 20 yards from the parking lot before I was saying, "let's see what this baby's got in her... floor it!"

It had "umph". It had that throaty muffler sound. It was a true Mustang. I couldn't wait to drive her myself.

As we were headed down the Interstate, I got relegated to phone duty - calling the hotel, the people we were meeting in Baltimore, my wife, business contacts... everyone knew what kind of car Scott and I got to drive.

We stopped for a bite to eat, and again admired the lines of the Mustang. I was sure Scott was going to let me drive the next little leg of our trip, a mere 5 mile or so to the office in Baltimore. I was wrong - guess Scott wanted to be the one they saw drive up in the shiney hotness of the vehicle. No matter, my time would come. I was sure.

After our visit to the office, we were off to Camden Yard to catch a baseball game.

Scott drove.

"It's ok", I thought to myself, "your time will come, and it will be that much sweeter when it does."

After the game, Scott drove to the hotel.

I was left to dream about driving the Mustang. All that horsepower under my control. I was ready for it.

The next morning, Scott drove to the day-long meeting we had.

The anticipation was killing me. I wanted to drive that Mustang so bad. I was READY for it.

The meeting went superbly. As we were wrapping up, I looked right into Scott's eyes. "It's time" I said, "for me to drive the Mustang."

He agreed, and tossed me the keys.

"YES!" I thought to myself. I could not wait to gun the engine. To push the vehicle to within accepted limits of the law (of course!). To grip the steering wheel and show the world I could drive that Mustang. My time was now.

As we walked out of the building and headed for a quick dinner, we noticed a Porsche Boxter sitting in the parking lot.

Turns out, it belonged to one of the guys in our meeting.

I looked at him, and confirmed it was his. "Yeah, it's mine. Wanna drive it?"

I tossed Scott the keys to the Mustang. He looked at me with a puzzled look on his face.

"Scott", I quirped, "why would I want to drive a Mustang, when I can drive a Porsche?"

The moral of this true story is simple : Value is perception, and the perception of value is invalueable. What value do your customers perceive you are delivering to them? Are you exceeding their expectations? Are you "under-promising and over-delivering"?

The only people who know that are your customers. If you really want to know how you're doing in business, talk to your customers. Ask them. They'll surely let you know.

For what it's worth, I did get to finally drive the Mustang from dinner to the aiport. On the Interstate. In rush hour.

~Andy Stetzinger
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Become Irreplaceable To Your Customers

2007-05-08T09:52:00.000-04:00

Become Irreplaceable To Your Customers
Andy Stetzinger
05/08/07

Developing a list of customers can be a tedious task. While there are programs and systems available that will make getting a list of customers easier, they all fall short at the same place: retention.

Retention. Keeping your customers. Keeping your list strong and active. Keeping them engaged.

We've already shown you how to increase your footprint online, and how to drive repeat relevant traffic to your website. All the techniques we shared with you, if employed properly, should be resulting in an increase in traffic to your website, and an increase in signups to your list.

Having a list of thousands of people does you no good if nobody on that list is reading your message, purchasing your services, or actively doing whatever it is you want them to do. If there is little to no participation on your list, examine your results, and try to find out why.

Tell you what... I'll save you the effort. The reason your list is dead is simple: You have the wrong people on your list.

They signed up for a very good reason. It's just not the reason you wanted them to sign up for. The concept is simple: I think my list is a list of people who want to know how to raise happy llamas. I think people signed up to learn all about that, so I push products on Raising Happy Llamas to my list.

Problem is, nobody is buying. The majority of them signed up for a completely different reason. Did I put them on the spot? Are they doing it as a favor to me? Do they want to know what I am up to? Are they just so cheap that they all they want is free information and nothing more?

Yes.

Truth is, it doesn't matter why they signed up. What matters is how you convert their behavior into something you want to see. Discounts, freebies, give-a-ways... they may or may not work - you won't know unless you try.

Of course, the easiest way to know why people signed up for your list and what they want out of it is to ask them.

When I teach my classes at a local continuing education facility, I start the class by asking them what their expectations are. What do they want out of the class. I also find out what type of business they're in. I gather as much information about my students as possible. Then, I simply tailor my class to suit their needs.

The core information of the class doesn't change. It's still whatever it is I am teaching. However, the encapsulating information changes. My packaging changes. It's whatever the students need.

The same applies to your list. Your fundamental business won't change - but how you present the information to your customer base might. It should. It should cater to their needs - it's simply another means to an end - the end that you want them to find... it doesn't matter if it's a sale, a sign up, a phone call, whatever it is - you simply change their perception of what it is you're giving them.

By changing the way you present your information, you become an asset to your customers. They can't - and won't - live without you. Just as over half of America wakes up and has their coffee, your customers will wake up and check their email inbox for the latest from you.

Want to know exactly how to become irreplaceable to your customers? That's coming up in the next installment... so, just check back in.

~Andy
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Using what you know is the Key Thing

2007-05-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

Using what you know is the Key Thing
Scott Dennison
05-03-07

As we have done each month for the last few months, Andy and I are laying out the critical and powerful lessons to take your internet business from where it is - to where you want it to be.

Today, I want to summarize and wrap up the things we have recently shared as it relates to the relationship you establish with visitors, the content you offer them and how that affects your search engine positioning.

Many of our readers have bought into the idea shared by Dan Kennedy, that our goal in business should be to make a sale to get (and hopefully keep) a customer. Other businesses think the reason to get a customer is only to make a sale. Then they go about trying to repeat the process to make another sale.

But developing a base of customers who buy from you over and over again is a great way to provide for your retirement. To put your kids through college. To ensure that your business provides for your needs.

Like so many other aspects of successful business, earning repeat business is a philosophy.

So if your objective is to develop relationships with customers, and you market online, then valuable content (valuable to your niche market anyway) needs to be your stock in trade. As much as possible, that content should be free.

Further, you should seek to establish and maintain patterns to the days you update your content as most humans live their lives around patterns and cycles. If your newsletter arrives like clockwork on Thursday - more people will read it regularly. They might even come to expect it, and that is an indication you are breaking through.

Best of all, if you use free content to attract traffic, you feed them regularly on schedule and the customers return to your site again and again, this will send a clear message to the search engines about your popularity and relevance.

And ever since high school, who hasn't wanted to be just a bit more popular? Now you know how to accomplish that objective just a bit easier...

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Lead the Field in Monetizing Your Content

2007-04-23T14:28:00.000-04:00

Lead the Field in Monetizing Your Content
Scott Dennison
04-23-07

I would venture to say that most if not all of our readers to this blog, our newsletter and listeners or viewers to our Podcast and or KeyThing TV want the same things. I don't mean to generalize, but it's true. They all really want to sell their content for big bucks.

Right? Does that describe you? Well, perfect, because this posting is going to make it easier than ever before.

First, understand that the content business is booming. More people research, find and buy specialized knowledge, both online and off today than at any point in history.

The numbers are so large that I could find no credible source to tell me how much is really being spent for content. Safe to say it is in the billions. Annually. How much of that do you need to bank to change your life?

This is a fairly new phenomenon too. It was in the 1960's that Earl Nightingale and Lloyd Conant partnered up together to form the Nightingale Conant Company to sell one product (initially). That product was Earl Nightingale's "The Strangest Secret", which was a vinyl album containing the profound message which was the core of Mr. Nightingale's work.

In the years that followed NCC became a huge company in a fast growing industry as people discovered where to buy audio based information that could improve their personal or professional life.

Now, in the Internet age there is more opportunity than ever before. You can lead the field by developing audio, video and text based materials. Your content could be delivered by free or paid newsletters, by articles distributed online or by email or even in the press. You could deliver your unique message in a seminar hall from the platform.

People are paying good money to watch seminars or other specialized content via DVD or streaming online subscriptions (video and/or audio).

Others listen to audio programs on CD while they drive or on their Mp3 player or iPod, while walking or at the gym.

It is common today to see programs that instruct on a single topic (say, Public Relations) that are presented in video, in printed form and also as an audio. This makes it accessible to every learning style or modality (visual, auditory, kinesthetic).

Then if you consider all of the printed forms of content that are so common today. This includes everything from email series, to ezines, ebooks and even the printed bound ones like we all grew up with. I also subscribe to several different printed and mailed newsletters, and I would bet you get at least one of these too.

Most importantly is that most, if not all of these forms of content can be created with a digital recorder, a personal computer and some software. It is easy, fast and affordable to create content in-house and you too, can do this for fun and for profit.

The need exists, people are already buying and I suggest that you get in on the action.

As with everything else we cover in our postings - taking action is always the keything. Get started today so that in a short time you too can lead your field!

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

The 10 Keys To Unlocking The Hidden Secrets of Easily Writing Articles That Not Only Attract New Visitors, But Instantly Converts Them To Customers

2007-04-17T10:10:00.000-04:00

The 10 Keys To Unlocking The Hidden Secrets of Easily Writing Articles That Not Only Attract New Visitors, But Instantly Converts Those Visitors Into Loyal Customers
Andy Stetzinger
4-17-2007

The focal point of any website is not just attracting visitors, but rather retaining those visitors and converting them into repeat visitors and life long customers. A very simple and easy way to achieve those results is by continuing to give them what they came for.

Driving traffic to your website is a fairly simple process. Getting the "most wanted response" from your visitors is a little tougher. Getting them to come back again and again? Well, that's the big secret we're going to dispell today.

We all know that "Content is King". We also know a King sits on a throne. In this case, the Throne is "Repeat Visitors". A single burst of traffic won't do your site much good at all - we've proven that ourselves. However, when a visitor is given a reason to return to your site again and again... my friends, a monarchy is established.

Allow me to interject your trivial excuse for not doing this here:

"But I don't want to sit down and think of stuff to write about every week! I'll get burned out in no time!"

Pardon me if I don't get out a tissue and wipe away my tears. Step #1 - Get over it, writing content is easy. So easy, that I'll not only tell you the steps today, I'll SHOW YOU the steps in this weeks episode of KeyThing TV!

The 10 Keys....

1. Make sure you're writing about somethig you love.
Not a passive interest. You have to almost have an obsession with what you're writing about.

2. Practice What You Write About
If you're telling someone how to get free money, then, by gosh, you'd better be getting tons of free money yourself, too.

3. Visit your competitors site MULTIPLE TIMES a week.
Not only do you want to know what they're doing, and how you compare to them, but it is a great source for your informational content! Write about what they're writing about! Why not?

4. Let your personality shine through.
Ben Stein is about the only person I know who has made any money using a flat personality. Don't be mundane!

5. Get away from your computer.
Grab a pad of paper and two different colored pens. Now, go sit in the park, under a tree. Just sit there and think of things. Write the major points down in one color, and some supporting themes in the other.

6. Think four weeks ahead.
Take your sheet of paper from Key #5, and turn it into several articles. An interesting mult-part series will keep your audience coming back.

7. Use Keywords In Your Titles and Headlines
People can spend hours trying to think of the perfect headline. Don't worry about it! Just use the first thing that comes to you. As you write your article, tweak your headline to match what you're writing.

8. Show Your Friends First
As soon as your article is ready, let your friends see it. Let them give you some feedback. Chances are, you'll be encouraged by what they have to say.

9. Have an "Most Wanted Response" in mind as you write.
This is different from the topic of what you're writing about. If you're just going to tell someone how to get Free Money, what's in it for you? You need to craft the message such that the reader will follow the specific path that you want them to follow.

10. Don't expect perfection.
Strive for profection, but don't expect it. I've reviewed articles in the past that I felt were outstanding, but the author never self published them. When I asked why they hadn't done so, I got "It's not good enough for that", or "It's not ready yet". HOGWASH. As Dan Kennedy says, "Good enough is good enough". Get the article out there, let people see it and read it.

Allow me to shatter your fears for you: Not everyone will like or agree with what you write about. SO WHAT?.

Take a quick look at one of the richest women in the world: JK Rowling of the "Harry Potter" fame. She didn't think she was a good writer. She didn't think people would enjoy her books. Here's a HUGE secret: Many people do not like her stories, and some private schools have even banned the books. She gets complaints that all of her stories are the same blueprint with different characters in the villans role.

Her response? NOTHING. She just writes another book.

Do not deny your King his royal thorne. Take these keys, and enjoy the ease of wrting content so great and so powerul that your site visitors will beg you for more.

~Andy Stetzinger
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

The Importance Of Fresh Content

2007-04-10T08:27:00.000-04:00

The Importance Of Fresh Content
4-10-07
Andy Stetzinger

One of the most often questions I have been asked over the years has been:

"How do I get people to come back to my website?"

The obvious answer is, "Give them a reason to". However, in most cases, that's easier said than done.

If you'll recall a tid-bit from a few lessons ago, you need to know your target audience. They came to your website once for a reason, and that same reason will bring them back:

Information.

Let me be the first to congratulate you on being the industry expert in your feild.

What? You don't think you are the expert? Guess again. You are. From this point forward, you are the leading expert in your niche.

As the leading expert in your niche, you must communicate with your site visitors at least once a week.

While the jury is still out on "how much is too much" when it comes to communication, you can take a page from the KeyThing book:

We update our content on a daily basis, but only deliver content to our list once or twice a week.

For our public update schedule, check out our schedule.

Keeping content fresh adds value to your business, provided that the new content is relevant and consistant.

As always, I'll be sharing some "insider information" with you. I'm going to give away a technique that a so called "professional" is selling for $299! If that's not enough, I've not only unlocked the door to one of the biggest secrets in fresh content, I've completely blown the door off it's hinges! (Hint: I'll be revealing this secret in our free newsletter, so go sign up!)

Of course, this wouldn't be a entry from me if I weren't sharing a valuable secret with you right now, would it? So, here it is:

Let your personality flow through the content you provide.

We all remember how boring our Science books were in school, yet Bill Nye "The Science Guy" has made a fortune by doing just that. He allows his quirky personality to permeate his content.

Being a Marketing Technology company, we're presented with an unusual role. We are technically savvy, but we don't want to confuse our audience, nor do we want to belittle them. In all of our content, Scott and I take our respected sides of "High Tech" (me) and "High Touch" (him). We balance the content out, and are able to approach the subject matter from two angels - both the technical, and the common approachable. We both allow our personalities to play a large role in our content. When something irritates me (like so-called "experts" charging hundreds of dollars for information I consider free), people know it.

To create return visitors to your site, update your content, keep it fresh, and keep it interesting.

~Andy
KeyThing Marketing Technologies
My Personal Blog

Get Started Now to Increase Your Traffic and Sales

2007-04-03T12:36:00.000-04:00

Get Started Now to Increase Your Traffic and Sales
Scott Dennison
04-03-07

In the last several weeks, Andy and I have begun to "let the cat out of the bag" when it comes to building more traffic to your website. When you share secrets for free that other publishers are selling for high dollar fees, well like any cat that has been in the bag for awhile, some hissing and scratching is possible. But only from those publishers, and not from you.

First we engaged in a discussion about traffic in general, but quickly moved to help you understand that relevancy is far more important than traffic alone. Andy even provided an excellent example from our own site, where a targeted press release drew less traffic to our site, but exceeded the quality or relevancy of the traffic we got from making a similar announcement on Digg or Reddit.

As we got into the topic of "footprinting" and how to increase the size of yours. You learned that this is a fancy term for having your site linked with other relevant sites, and having search engines reward you for these linking relationships.

Andy stated that: "the key thing in footprinting is the quality of the sites that link to you, and if you link back to them. I'm not referring to the graphics, or layout, or design of the linking site. The important factor is that the linking site has something to do with your site."

If you want to get a quick jumpstart on increasing your relevancy and size of your footprint, then go over to LinkPlan and register your site.

Last week, I used my time in this space to show you ways to begin a relationship that leads to higher conversion rates of your relevant traffic. We talked about the importance of keyword specific landing pages as a way to prevent confusing your site visitors. Remember that a confused mind says "NO".

We also talked about the many ways of using video on your site, from "directing" traffic on how to find things, moving visitors into your most wanted response or just to build likability and trust.

In online sales it is no different than offline - people buy from people they like and trust.

In summing up what we have covered with a single admonition, take action! Go back and review what we have shared, as most of it is presented in an easy to do, step-by-step format.

Knowing what to do, and actually doing it are two very different things. So, as Nike said: "Just do it!"

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Following the traffic to the bank!

2007-03-27T10:45:00.000-04:00

Following the traffic to the bank!
Scott Dennison
03-27-07

Already this month, if you have been following our series, you have learned that increasing the size (and quality) of the "footprint" of your website begins a serious flow of new, highly targeted and quality traffic to your doorstep.

This is a big advancement for many, because while the process of building a website has gotten easier for many, building traffic - at least quality traffic is still an elusive process.

What is often the larger challenge is converting your traffic to sales. That is what I want to focus on today in this post, again in my podcast tomorrow and also in our newsletter on Thursday. If for some reason you are not taking advantage of those resources - STOP - and click over here to register for our weekly High Tech & High Touch ezine and catch up on previous podcasts. Also take a look at our KeyThing TV segment, which is updated each week as well.

When it comes to converting traffic to sales, an old - sometimes overlooked - axiom applies. It is that "a confused mind says NO". You see, most of the traffic to your site is going to originate at the search engines. When you think about how YOU interact with a search engine like Google, you simply type in what you are interested in finding, right?

If your site is then returned as an option, that searcher may choose to visit you, and when they do, they are looking for something specific. You have about two seconds to capture their attention, or help them find what they were looking for.

Regardless of how much value the rest of your site offers that visitor, more often than not they will only be interested in the one thing they were searching for originally. The good news is that proper use of upsale opportunities can address that. I will discuss that more in a bit.

As I said earlier you don't want your site visitors to be confused, and you can avoid that by making their search easy. One way to do that is to use video to guide them in their search. Adding video to your site is a solid way of engaging that visitor and capturing their attention.

One of our clients sites is using video to "direct" traffic through their site. In a 40 second span, they guide visitors through the available options and describe the services offered. Also, they have defined a most-wanted-response (MWR) on the landing page, which is to ask visitors to sign-up for their service. It is no mistake that much of the video talks about that as the "best option".

Some other things to remember in trying to monetize or convert your traffic to sales includes:
1) Always make an offer to buy: Make it as direct a request as possible, make it appealing and make sure the prospective customer understands your guarantee too!

2) Give a reason to take action today: Whether that is through a series of bonus items, a discount, or perhaps free shipping, compel them to do it today.

3) Give clear instructions: With a reasonably well thought out video, you can remind them of everything your offer includes; state and even restate your guarantee, and perhaps even point out the security of your website. Once you have made those points, tell them to buy. Point to the button on your page and say "Just do it."

All of these things go a long way to reassure the visitor, now prospective customer that they have found a merchant online they can do business with.

When it comes to increasing the size of your sale, a quality shopping cart system like the one offered by 1 Shopping Cart makes the process of making the "upsale" easy. You can also send a confirmation email to a buyer with an offer to buy something else related to what they just purchased and increase your sales as well.

Always remember, in your quest to sell more of your site visitors that people do business with people - not companies.

More importantly, they do business with people they like and that they trust. When they arrive on your site, they have no reason for any of those things to be in place. It's your job to make them like you, trust you and want to buy from you...so that you can follow your traffic to the bank.

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

How Footprinting Works

2007-03-19T06:53:00.000-04:00

How FootPrinting Works
Andy Stetzinger
3-19-2007

Before Google, there were a handful of search engines on the Internet. People submitted their sites to the engines, the engines would verify they were there, and list them. Some "high tech" engines even jotted down links from peoples sites, and spidered them as well.

When Google showed up, they pretty much did the same thing. However, they took it the proverbial step further. They wanted to provide better answers than other search engines around. They developed "The Algorhythm". While the algorythm has changed, and will continue to change, there remain some constants among it.

One of the constants in the Algorhythm is how many other relevant sites link to you. Basically, Google is asking, "How many other people out there think this site is worth while?" The more that think you worth of a link, the higher your page rank will be. However, Google is smart enough to know about link trading services, and link farms. These don't do you much good - they will provide a boost, but then a drop later on when Google massages it's database.

Here's another tip: The key thing in Footprinting is the quality of the sites that link to you, and if you link back to them. I'm not referring to the graphics, or layout, or design of the linking site. The important factor is that the linking site has something to do with your site. For example, if you look at our Links page, we list the sites we recommend people do business with. Of course, those sites have all linked back to us in one form or another.

"Footprinting" is the key to relevancy. Relevancy is the key to page rank. Page rank is the key to search results. Search results is the key to traffic. Traffic is they key to sales. Once your footprint starts to grow, there really is no stopping it.

Once you begin the process, you're going to want to track the results of it. While your hosting provider may give you a free WebLog Analysis tool, there are a few other ones I highly recommend. Of course, Google Analytics is one (I'm on the fast track to becoming an Authorized Consultant for them). There is another one that I also use - it provides a different set of information, and the stats are provided real time. I'm currently assisting on the final re-development of the tool, and am negotiating a great price for our subscribers (see, another benefit to our newsletter!). More details on that soon!

In this weeks Newsletter, I will give away the method we use here at KeyThing. Listen to the Podcast for the step-by-step guide to the method, and a secret so hot that the people calling themselves the "experts" in this field don't even know about it. In the second installment of KeyThing TV, I'll show you just how easy it is to implement this for yourself, and watch your footprint soar.

~Andy Stetzinger
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

P.S.
Last week, we mentioned a bribe in our newsletter that I feel is worth repeating. We're giving away an Ipod Nano to the person who refers the most people to our free newsletter. Just have them reply to the email address the newsletter comes from letting us know you sent them. We'll tally the numbers up, and notify the winner!

Traffic Matters

2007-03-12T14:04:00.000-04:00

Traffic Matters
4-12-07
Andy Stetzinger

The one thing all webmasters have in common, regardless of personal preferences in browser type, programming environment, or operating system choice is traffic. Every webmaster wants traffic. The more the better. Bring it on, give it to me! That's the only thing one needs to be successful. Traffic. Right? Actually, no.

A few years ago, I found myself working for a small support company with a handful of products. They were doing "OK", but definitely needed some guidance on systems and sales. After trying several times to steer the CEO away from the disasters he was headed for, I finally left the company. His mentality was to put as many things as possible up in front of a customer, and hope that "something" would stick. A fellow co-worker there coined our CEO's vision as akin to "a humming bird on crack". To date, the CEO hasn't changed, and the company continues to struggle.

The same thing will happen to your website if you think all you need is just traffic. Guaranteed.

Without relevancy, the traffic hitting your website will bounce off, much like the ideas the poor CEO was trying so desperately to get people to buy into. It simply won't work.

Recently, Scott and I finished up the "KeyThing 24". At the end of the event, we released a Press Release. The next day, we started getting an increase in traffic. Soon after, I released the latest installment of KeyThing TV, and it got picked up by Digg, Redit, and a few other aggregators. The next day, we got another increase in traffic.

The most interesting thing to me was watching what people did when they got to the website. The social linking sites outproduced the amount of traffic that the press release generated by about a 5:1 ratio. However, the Press Release traffic ended up producing far more new signups for our Newletter, and more subscribers to our podcast.

The reason is simple. The Press Release was targeted to webmasters, programmers, marketers, and people with specific interests. The social linking was directed to... well, everyone.

Relevant traffic far out weights general traffic. Sure, a whole lot of people saw our website, and that's not a bad thing. However, those people may or may not ever be back. On the other hand, those people who subscribed to the podcasts and newsletter... we'll see them from here on out.

The techniques I will be sharing with you always have the end goal of an increase of relevant traffic, and relevant traffic management in mind. Both of these will lead to an increase in your "list", or as Dan Kennedy likes to call it, your "herd".

Tune into the podcast this week for the first "Reveal" of many to come. I recently saw this concept being sold for about $200.00 (US)... the only thing you have to do is listen, and then act on what you hear this week.

Are You Ready For It?

2007-03-06T05:09:00.000-05:00

Are You Ready For It?
Andy Stetzinger
3-6-2007
http://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
The online business world has always been about traffic and conversions. Getting people to your website, and then getting them to do what you want them to do once you get there. For most people, this has been quite a challenge. For some, completely unobtainable. For a select few, the right ingredients, and the right strategy proved to be extremely profitable.

Over the coming months, we here at KeyThing Marketing Technologies are going to be taking you through an in depth study on traffic and conversions. We're going to discuss strategies and so-called "Secrets" that some "Gurus" are charging over a thousand dollars to share with you.

So what's the catch? There's got to be one, right? Well, if you consider reading our blog, listening to our podcasts, watching KeyThing TV, and subscribing to our free newsletter a "catch", then there ya go. We're breaking the information into segments and building on each one of them. This means you need to read, listen, and watch in order to get the full benefit of this subject matter.

The first installment begins next week, so you do have some time to get your family, friends, coworkers and associates all tuned into it.

We're greatly looking forward to sharing this information, and are certain it will prove to be invaluable to you and your business.

~Andy
KeyThing Marketing
Andy's Personal Blog

The Need To Plan

2007-02-26T10:25:00.000-05:00

The Need To Plan
Andy Stetzinger
2/26/2007

It's Monday Morning of a week that is sure to be memorable. We've got product launches, demos, updates, tweaks, and of course - The KeyThing 24.

Not to mention I've been asked by none other than IBM to review a User Interface on Tuesday Morning.

When I told Wendy about the KeyThing 24, she looked right at me and said, "Are you crazy?". Perhaps I am. However, I don't think so. Looking back, I was able to develop a full product in the back of minivan from Orlando to Atlanta. Of course, it didn't have any marketing to it, nor strong copy, or anything else that makes a product strong.

So what's the secret? What do we need?

Simple. A plan.

Without a plan, we'd be lost. The event would fail. It would be a disaster. An embarrassment.

To accomplish the tasks at hand this week, much more than just a work plan had to be established. I had to coordinate my personal schedule with the work schedule.

Step 1: Communicate with family and friends
If they don't know what you're doing, they're going to call, they're going to try to make plans, they're going to attempt to steal you away from your objective. Your family has to understand the schedule change so they can work with it.

Step 2: Establish "big picture" plan for other work items
Scott and I have planned out various things for as long as 6 months down the road. We know what's coming up, no need to spend time on it this week.

Step 3: Clear all non-essential items from my calendar
A review of my calendar, some emails and phone calls, and I've pretty much cleared everything off of it that I can.

Step 4: Deactivate Voice Mail on the phone
A phone call to my carrier, and I've disabled voice mail for the week. They have even scheduled it to be reactivated on Saturday, March 3rd.

Step 5:Dietary Supplements
I know I'll be working longer hours, and will be getting less than what my body needs to take in. So, natural dietary supplements have been added (nothing illegal going on here!)

Step 6: Elimination of distractions
I've also restructured my office a little bit. Took care of some clutter, and re-arranged some items as to not distract me. Also, during this time, I'll be wearing my noise canceling Bose headphones and listening to some good grooves.

Of course, with the headphones on, I won't hear the phone, and they can't leave voice mail...

Step 7: Scheduled breaks and downtime
There is no way the whole week can happen without knowing when a break is upcomming, or when I can rest my eyes and mind. So, breaks are setup in advance.

The plan is a simple, basic, strategic approach on how to handle any high-item week. One thing that is vastly important in all steps in order for the plan to succeed is communication.

Without communication in every step, the plan will not work.

Well, here's to a great week... check the podcast, KTTV, and newsletter for more this week...

~Andy

Now... Technology Drives Media

2007-02-20T11:27:00.000-05:00

Now... Technology Drives Media
Scott Dennison
02-20-07

According to Lynn Fantom, chairman/CEO of ID Media "Technology has revolutionized the media business, given consumers new entertainment options and new ways to control media and advertising consumption." An interesting point of view for someone whose company is steeped in old, traditional marketing models. But the facts bear out her beliefs.

As an example, have you seen the Web-only Reality TV show known as Cube Fabulous? Just recently they hit 100 million streams and advertisers are jumping on the bandwagon. Some that are already involved include Monster.com, AOL.com, and Honda.

What do they know that you are so far choosing to ignore?

You see, "Cube Fabulous" episodes are seven minutes long in which a team of castmembers do a makeover of someones cubicle/work area. If you have not seen one of their episodes, pop over to www.cubefabulous.com and check it out.

While I think you will find it entertaining, I might suggest you look at it and try to understand the big lesson contained in these shows.

CEO Matt Wasserlauf of Broadband Enterprises, creator of the show said somthing that should be another clue for you. He said: "After 50 years of history on TV, we're seeing a huge shift in consumption of entertainment. The online video space is growing and this is a huge opportunity because there hasn't been a focus on creating programming and advertising in such a unique channel before."

As I have written in this space before - IT'S COMING! What is "IT"? It is the convergence of TV and broadband Internet. What would be the impact on your business if you were to begin developing an online entertainment offering that your niche market customers are seeking? In the process you expose your viewers to your product and service in new ways. Less non-invasive ways.

Then simply by investing a few minutes each week, over time you will develop a library of valuable content which can and should pay-off for years to come. Is there any downside to that?

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Alexandria Brown's New Home

2007-02-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

What is VideoPaste and Immediate Proof?
We're glad you asked! And, as we have often said, actions speak louder than words.

Press play on the video, and you'll get a peek into Alexandria Brown's new home.

This is just a small example of what you can do with VideoPaste and Immediate Proof.

Through The Looking Glass

2007-02-13T10:21:00.000-05:00

Through The Looking Glass
Scott Dennison
02-13-07

A few weeks ago I wrote about how unfolding events made my partner, Andy and I look mighty smart and that we should be invited into the visionary class of leaders. I said this because Bill Gates, renowned to be a mighty smart guy himself, was repeating things I had said many months ago.

One of my teachers used to remind me that if I wanted to appear to be visionary or a genius, I should figure out how things were going to be and then simply tell people "Here's how it should be."

So more evidence is in hand to support my claim that we are on to something here at KeyThing...

The article in DM News started pretty simply by reporting that "Diabetics, pediatricians and their caregivers can get a weekly dose of education and strategic planning with dLifeTV, a national television program airing via the TiVo service."

Let's look closer at this bit of "news":

1) A national television program built to serve a niche market
2) The program is delivered through the new TiVoCast Service via broadband cable to your TV
3) Additional streaming videos are available on their website

To be fair, this is described as big budget type of stuff, shot in studios with expensive equipment and crews. The production is suitable for television broadcast and is in fact available on CNBC.

But what is the big lesson you can take from this news? Set aside the high-end gear, and production team and replace that with some passion for your business and a standard digital camera that shoots video which you can buy for $300-700 anywhere.

Erase the references to the diabetes marketplace, and replace them with your product, service or niche market.

The rest is easy... Regularly sketch out and produce original content that provides value to your marketplace either as hooks to get them back to your site or as products that you actually sell. Invest a few hours on a maximum of 2 days/month on this and in one year you will have at least 25 segments.

And it will be fun! Profitable and rewarding too! It will position you ahead of 95% of your competitors who are too "busy" to even consider it. However, when the inevitable convergence of Internet based content and HD Television is fully developed, you will be sitting on top of the hill, and singing an happy song.

At KeyThing we want to help you see through the confusing language that swirls around the use of various marketing technologies, and determine if you should pay any attention to it at all. If the technology is useful to you - we want to make it easy for you, and to do so profitably.

Andy and I look at new technology products everyday and we can guide you. Make sure you are taking advantage of our other weekly FREE communications. Sign up for our FREE High Tech & High Touch ezine or Podcasts here.

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Just what are you paying for?

2007-02-06T09:04:00.000-05:00

Just what are you paying for?
Andy Stetzinger
2-6-07

This morning, Scott sent me some email copy from something that had arrived in his spam folder. I took a look at it, and it's nothing more than someone offering video services.

For $999, you would get the following:

1 Video of up to 6 people lasting 5 mintues total
A "position" on the companies "sample page"
Your video, ready to post on your site
Your Video Master, so you can redistribute it.

That's what the email says you get. Now, from a technical stand point, let's look at what you're REALLY paying for, and what you're REALLY getting.

For $999, you REALLY get the following:

1 Video of up to 6 people talking for less than a minute a
piece about you.

Would you sit through 5 mintues of people you don't know talking about someone for less than a mintue?

They'll show off their work they did for you royalty free with no compensation to you

If people go to this companies website, they're there for information on videos. If they click on the sample videos page, they're not interested in what those people have to say, nor are they interested in YOUR company. They're looking at the video quality and workmanship.

Your video, ready to post on your website

Allow me to rephrase that for you - "Once we're done with the video, we're done with you." If you recall our past newsletters, we talked about concurrent connections and available bandwidth, and why you shouldn't host a video on your own site. Simply not a good idea.

Your Video Master, so you can redistribute it.

The only time this would be of any use is if you were planning on distributing old content to people.

So, allow me to recap what you're getting for $999:

A long video that most people won't watch in its entirety
Your video on a non-related website with no monitary compensation
A "relationship closing" handoff of your content
A master copy of your content, in case you want to use old material later on

What exactly are you paying $999 for?

Someone has to pay for the camera they're using
Someone has to pay for the media in the camera they're using
Someone has to pay for the employee doing the recording
Someone has to pay for the expensive video editing software
Someone has to pay for the employee doing the editing
Someone has to pay for the expensive video encoding software
Someone has to pay for the CD/DVDs used to put the videos on

I won't go into great detail about KeyThing's "Immediate Proof" software, - but I will say this: For a mere fraction of the cost and time, you have a better solution available to you.

If you're not already getting our weekly free newsletter, or not subscribed to our weekly free podcast, you might want to do so now. We'll be announcing some very interesting things this week.

~Andy Stetzinger
KeyThing Marketing Technologies
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Becoming more visionary by the day...

2007-01-30T10:40:00.000-05:00

Becoming more visionary by the day...
Scott Dennison
1-30-07

Until about 18 hours ago, its doubtful that most of the people watching KeyThing would have been quick to include us in the same sentence with Bill Gates.

Other than loved ones and insiders, there has been no stampede of folks ready to call us visionaries. But now it's official. Based on Sir Bill's comments recently, we have to be admitted to the club.

How so?

In his speech in Davos, Switzerland on Saturday and widely published yesterday, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said "the Internet is set to revolutionize television within five years, due to an explosion of online video content and the merging of PCs and TV sets".

Really now? Around here, that is old news...

I have been talking about the convergence of Internet and Television for more than a year, and Andy and I built this company and have developed a series of products to mimic television's power for the web. Those products are all a reality now.

Entrepreneurs and small businesses can combine the reach of their business card with the power of video simply by using our VideoVcard.

Companies of all sizes who already do business online, can dramatically improve their results simply by adding video to key areas of their site. VideoPaste makes it fast, easy and affordable to add a video introduction and quick site tour to the home page, demonstrate the product on the products page or invite visitors to join the email list on the opt-in form.

When existing customers opinions of your products or services are important, using Immediate Proof will allow you to add testimonial videos to your site in about 90 seconds.

If you don't consider yourself technologically savvy enough to do this all without help, within days, Web Master Video Tools will make it easy for your Web Master to do it for you.

I know of several content aggregators who are building massive libraries of niche content for the audiences and markets they serve, knowing full well that their subscribers want to find the content they want on the Internet and watch it on their TV.

If you had overheard any of my consulting calls, I tell clients that they can and should be developing video based products for delivery in a subscription service through the web, and watched on TV.

Truth, when you see it, is often self evident. User generated content is in, and Internet delivery of video content is available to the masses. Bill says it, so it must be true. Even if we have been saying it for a long time.

Now, the real question is - what are you doing about it?

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Meet The New Boss

2007-01-22T11:58:00.000-05:00

Meet the new boss...
Andy Stetzinger
1-22-07

Everything is starting to get a little clearer for me today. With a fog that started in the third quarter of 2006, with Google purchasing YouTube for 1.65 Billion. I scratched my head and wondered what they were up to. Now it's all clear, and boy, we were wrong with what we thought.

The knee-jerk reaction was Google had lost their mind. YouTube was burning through US$ 1 million a month in bandwidth charges, and had no business model worth anything. The race to "figure it out" was on. Everyone struggled to come up with something to validate the purchase.

The "Facts" as the public saw them were pretty simple:

1. YouTube has 100 million-plus video viewings a day
2. Google has "the golden touch", not to mention AdSense

So, there is was in a nutshell. Google will put ads on YouTube and make a huge profit.

Not so fast. That didn't make enough sense. So, people looked deeper. What did Google get out of this besides a huge user base and 200 million-plus eyeballs a day?

The answer to that question turns out to be big name media companies.

See, with people going to YouTube to watch the best clips from last nights TV shows, Google could easily make deals with the big media companies. Look what happened when Comedy Central sent YouTube a demand to pull all CC content: a day later, it was back on.

Now the reason behind the purchase was clear - It's Google's back-door into the mass media market!

Still, something didn't add up. People weren't looking at the whole picture. To understand the purchase, you have to know some other things.

YouTube wasn't founded by a couple of scruffs. Chad Hurley's Father-In-Law is none other than Jim Clark of Shutterfly and Netscape fame. YouTube didn't need Google - Chad and gang were doing just fine without them. Google needed YouTube. Hence the billion dollar stock pricetag.

Google has also been buying up dark fiber around the country under different corporate names - taking a page out of Walt Disney's own book. Prices and suspicion never rose. Google is also buying large amounts of real estate close to power sources in small population towns.

Why buy the milk when Google could easily afford the cow? This boils down to a good Public Relations move. By setting up business relationships with backbone providers and purchasing large amounts of land in low populated areas, Google can appear of offer a future for tens of thousands of people.

YouTube is an easy answer to a question nobody has asked: What does Google need with those DataCenters and all that bandwidth?

Go ahead. Ask them. "YouTube", they'll say, "requires a lot of bandwidth".

You'll smile. You'll be happy. And you'll leave them alone.

Which is just what they want.

Let's look at some other facts though:

1. Broadband connectivity is more widely available today than any time before.
2. Internet usage will continue to grow.
3. Demands for bandwidth will increase as usage grows.

Your Internet Service Provider would collapse if every one of their subscribers logged on and used the full potential of their bandwidth. Just recall a few years back when the Starr Report caused such a slow down on the Internet, and it was only about 600KB (a little under 1/2 a megabyte) In contrast, movies online today run about 680 Megs.

Putting it all together, the plan is pretty clear. Google is planning on being THE Internet Provider.

Let's review.

1. Google buys YouTube
2. Google buys cheap, unused fiber (bandwidth)
3. Google buys cheap land by power sources (hydro, nuclear)
4. Google builds huge datacenters at those locations.
5. If asked "why", Google can point to YouTube's bandwidth usage
6. As demand for bandwidth increases, people become less tolerant with slow ISP.
7. Google offers faster access to the content and information users want.

It's all slight-of-hand, really. While everyone was trying to figure out the business decision behind the purchase, it was merely step one in a much larger process.

Once the whole process is revealed, the business decision to purchase YouTube makes perfect sense.

The questions we should be asking now are:

"Is Google going to sell, or give away The Access to faster content, and if they do sell, who do they sell to - The Service Providers, or The Consumer?"

That, my friends, is what we should be thinking about.

Video Is Growing Up

2007-01-18T07:05:00.000-05:00

Video Is Growing Up
Andy Stetzinger
1-18-2007

Who would have thought that the Internet Video Evolution would start on TV? The paradox there is fantastic.

On one hand, we have PVR owners who record their favorite shows, then blaze through the commercials. Scott told me the other day it took him just over and hour and a half to watch a two hour show on his PVR.

On the other hand, we have advertisers trying to draw an audience via on air commercials. Over the last few days, I have seen quite a few commercials for online video competitions, suggestions, even shows that are releasing a prequel of the show online.

I asked Scott if he'd seen the commercials for "The Lot". It's a reality show that allows people to submit their own videos to enter the competition. If their videos make it in, they're accepted. Scott quickly reminded me of his "time altering experience" using his DVR that night.

The evolution is simple. Google bought YouTube, and peoples eyes popped open. They looked at YouTube and sat there, puzzled, trying to figure out what the business model behind YouTube was, and why Google would pay so much. In the process, more sites popped up surrounding the use of video on the Internet.

The difference? People are no longer "amazed" by video. People now "expect" video. They want to SEE the product in action. They want to watch. Sure, YouTube still draws it's crowds, but quality now counts.

So here we are. On one hand, the quality of TV programs is increasing (for the most part) to attract more viewers. On the other, advertisers and marketers for VON (video on the 'net) are now reaching out to the TV audience to pull them away.

We've got PVRs that allow you to control your TV experience, including skipping the commercials that the advertisers want you to see.

We've got hardware that connects to your TV that allows you to watch the broadcast on your computer no matter where you are... yes, you can sit in your coffee shop, and connect to your home network to watch your favorite show.

What's this all mean? Simple. VON is here, and it's growing up. The days of pointless videos is gone. If you waste your customers time and money with 3 minutes of "nothing", it'll be the last time you interact with that customer.

Check out our newsletter this week. I'll be sharing some tips on how to ensure your video is not a waste of time or money for your customers.

~Andy Stetzinger
Keything Marketing Technologies

How Are You Getting Your Message Through?

2007-01-09T10:31:00.000-05:00

How Are You Getting Your Message Through?
Scott Dennison
1-09-07

A recent editorial in DM News (11/13) reporting on the Audit Bureau of Circulations' 92nd conference speculated that "Newspapers and Magazines face tremendous issues in a digital-enamored world".

And it doesn't stop there.

Because of the popularity of TiVo (digital video recorders) that research shows a 70-75% drop off of viewership of ads with shows recorded by TiVo.

Could this be the end of advertising as we have known it for so long?

Well perhaps...but the emphasis must be on the "as we have known it" part. Because if you look at your attitudes toward most advertising, which has little to do with your wants/needs/desires, and then factor in those same attitudes of your closest friends, I think the results would be instructive.

Do you find that you are busier than ever? How much of your time do you really want wasted by irrelevant advertising? As consumers continue to ignore the advertising, and results fall, advertisers cut back on spending.

This forces content creators to reduce their budgets, which in turn attract ever fewer advertisers and viewers...

At the same time - Andy and I noticed some interesting changes in the advertising done during the BCS National Championship Game last night (Congrats to the Florida Gators).

of course, we saw old-school advertisers continuing to shove their message down viewers throats - over and over again in some cases. Can anyone say, honestly, that Rock-em Sock-em Robots will make you want to buy a Dodge Truck?

A bit better was the major promos for NASCAR driving traffic to a website to see the final scene of their ad for the Daytona 500.

We also saw FOX Network promoting heavily a new program to be broadcast entirely on-line.

On an entirely different front, newspapers and magazines are seeing large blocks of their readers move online and many regularly interact with the stories they read, by commenting in "forum-like" environments attached to the stories themselves.

But how many of the ads can you recall from your last look at your local paper?

What does all of this mean for your marketing? It means that what worked in the past may not work now - and you need to look to the future.

Start with making your marketing direct response oriented. Your creative should force interested viewers/readers, etc to DO SOMETHING. So that you know you reached them.

Next consider making your advertising interactive. Perhaps you can even engage your audience and have them create their own advertising, like Cadillac is currently doing, and Chevy did so well recently.

Most important is to target the audience you want - those few among the masses who want what you have. This allows you to actively communicate with your audience and not waste time or resources on those who are not interested in your offerings.

All marketing from here on out is relationship marketing. Never forget that people buy from people, not from companies. Smartly finding ways to execute on that one concept will increase your profits measurably.

Failure to do so, could leave you out there with the old media, like TV Networks, magazines and newspapers who are in full scale retreat...

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

2007 Predictions

2007-01-02T09:59:00.000-05:00

2007 Predictions
Andy Stetzinger
1/2/2007

One of the things I really enjoy about the end-of-year time is all the predictions that come out of it. I do watch some of them closely, even to the point of printing some out and tacking them to my office wall.

However, one cannot lean too much on predictions. After all, they're simply biased views of trends.

For example, a lot of sites are predicting the rise of VON - Video On the Net. Now, for us, that's great news. However, jump on over to the next site, and they're predicting that Key chain OS's built into thumbdrives will be the big thing this year. (Oh, did you notice they're selling thumbdrives on that site? What a coincidence!)

Any site with significant traffic can easily position themselves to leverage their own predictions - almost like insider trading.

This is what we do know: The conditions still exist for technology to continue to rise and become more useful in day-to-day activities.

What do we have our eyes on here at KeyThing Marketing?

1. The merger of the Internet & Television
2. The desire for more user generated content
3. The quest for a solid business model around 1 and 2

Why?

+ Google's having trouble with YouTube.
+ TiVo's going to allow their subscribers to view user generated content on their set tops.
+ Hardware Vendors continue to push the ability to watch TV on your PC.
+ OpenSource Projects such as MythTV are gaining popularity.

So, everyone is testing out the water on the whole merger of content, video, and the living room.

It's a race. That much is certain. And to the victor go the spoils...

Andy Stetzinger
KeyThing Marketing Technologies, LLC

2007, here we come!

2006-12-26T10:01:00.000-05:00

2007, here we come!
Andy Stetzinger
12-26-06

2006 has been a great year for us at Keything. Looking at industry trade sources, 2007 is going to be even better.

Poplular Mechanics, Wired, C|Net, and various other sources have all listed VON, or "Video On the 'Net", to be the biggest thing for 2007. They point back to Google's purchase of YouTube, and then state that they still don't see a clear business model.

We do see a clear business model when it comes to video. We're doing it, and if you're in our affiliate program, you're part of the Video Revolution.

To summarize what Scott and I have been saying these last months about Business Models:

You have to have an idea.

You have to have a plan for that idea.

You have to take action on that plan.

You have to accept the failures.

You have to get back up, and continue taking action.

A recap our stance on Video:

Video for video's sake is dead.

There is no successfull business model surrounding "Stupid Videos".

Use video to build trust and likeability.

Use video to enhance your landing pages.

Use video to effectively communicate to your audience.

Make 2007 "The Year" for you and your business. Not sure how to make that happen? For starters, use our Free Resources:

Our Blog - Published Each Tuesday

Our PodCast - Published Each Wednesday

Our Newsletter - Published Each Thursday Night

We're opening up some spaces in our KeyThing Coaching Program in January. If you'd like some information about that, feel free to Contact Us.

We wish you the best success for 2007.

Andy Stetzinger
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Why Testing is Mission Critical?

2006-12-19T10:14:00.000-05:00

Why Testing is Mission Critical?
Scott Dennison
12-19-06

As we move toward the delivery of our VideoVcard product to a strategic partner this week, we had the opportunity to discover fist hand, how important testing is in the process.

It is in this phase of product launch that both parties get to see if our ideas work as intended.

As we learned almost immediately, the set-up of a new account seems easy enough and should be easy for customers. After all, it is easy for us to do...

So the partner goes in to set up his account and... oops... hmmm... why does it do this, and this and this?

And, what's going on with that?

And how do I get it to do this or that?

Mild frustration quickly became fascination and opened the door to a wonderful learning opportunity. A few settings were changed, and the database was cleared to mimic a new customer entering for the first time.

Next was navigating the customers Kodak Easyshare software that manages their pictures and videos wherein we discovered it was better to pull the video directly from the camera and bypassing the software completely.

Finally with the video uploaded, encoded and approved for use by the customer, we had only one final challenge and that was to update the background to one of the customers choosing.

In the initial attempt the new background was selected, but the update button was not pressed, so the system did not accept the change.

Once the sequence was done correctly, everything worked perfectly.

So what were some of the lessons in this exercise?

First is that engineering listens to and clarifies the vision of the client / partner. They then proceed to build it to function as described.

Sales learns how to describe what the product will do and how it all works. But as sales is prone to do, they make it sound really easy...

Once the customer / client / partner begins to use the product, the real learning can begin. It's in that time of the user interfacing with the product that you can bring engineering, sales and customer experience all together as one entity.

So I am glad we had the experience, because now we can deliver a better product and a better user experience. And that is the secret to a more profitable venture!

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Are You Ready For Business 3.0?

2006-12-11T04:25:00.000-05:00

Are You Ready For Business?
Andy Stetzinger
12-11-06

20 years ago, the world simply wasn't ready for IBM's
"Big Idea". I recall my friends father, a corporate sales
sales rep for IBM, and him trying to explain this wild
idea to me. He said people wouldn't install applications
on their computers at home or the office, they'd
subscribe to them, and have them "delivered" via cable.

"Just like TV", he said.

While I struggled to understand exactly what he was
talking about, or how it would work, I couldn't help
but think there was "something" to what he was
describing. At the time, I was into "BBS'ing"
-calling other local computers with mine to exchange
messages, play games, or download files. I could
comprehend the concept IBM had, but had no clue as to
how it would be implemented.

Neither did anyone else.

Fast forward to today's world. Just about everything
is online, including Word Processors, Spreadsheets,
Databases, and other essential office tools. Google
is blazing the trail to replace the current monolithic
operating systems with a very thin client that does
nothing more than connect to the Internet. All of
your tools, systems, programs, and games will all be
accessible from any computer with an Internet connection.

But not too soon.

While "server sided applications" are easier to
maintain, cost less to deliver, and have a higher ROI,
there are still many hurdles to overcome. Security,
availability, speed, and browser compatibility are
just a few of the concerns facing this brave new world.

The Internet can be a double edged sword at times.
It can make business much easier for us, yet it can
bring us to our knees when it is unavailable, or
something horrible happens. It makes no promises -
no guarantees. The world relys on 60 year old
technology that, in some cases, is literally held
together by duct tape!
(not in our offices though, rest assured!).

Businesses today have moved much of their efforts
online these days. While there are still a few people
out there who refuse to take the step, they are a rare
breed, who have been in a successful business for quite
some time. Start-ups and young businesses alike can not
afford to miss their online audience.

Has the Internet changed the way people do business?

Fundamentally, no.

People still do business with people they like and
trust. They just do business a lot faster these days
with the technology available.

The key thing is knowing what tools and resources are
available to you today, and how best to use them
together.

Having an idea is good.

Having an idea that you can actually implement
and benefit from - that's great.

Andy Stetzinger
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Observations on seminars and life

2006-12-05T10:31:00.000-05:00

Observations on Seminars and Life
Scott Dennison
12-05-06

In the last month, I have been to two major Internet conferences. The first was the Glazer-Kennedy Information Marketers Summit in Atlanta. The other was Michael Penland's Internet and Joint Venture Marketing Super Conference in Orlando.

The reason I mention these is that I have some observations to share...

First, I will admit that I did not attend either conference for the educational opportunities, however both had an impressive line-up of speakers, trainers and authors with powerful information to share.

The primary reason I go to events such as this is for the networking opportunities. On breaks in the hallway, you can meet some very interesting, and impressively successful people.

Often, just by spending a few minutes with these folks, you can identify ways to partner or create alliances with people who you might not otherwise have any chance to meet.

With a bit of effort, you can turn strangers, who you often read about in the press, into friends and sometimes even create partnerships.

But not everyone will take advantage of such an opportunity. Or more often than not, they cannot take advantage. Because they have not settled on what it is that they want to do in the first place.

It's not uncommon to see some of the same people come to the conferences year after year and they still have not implemented anything from the conference they attended last year.

Sometimes these folks are upset that the speakers will make an offer at the end of their presentation. Too often, attendees refer to these offers as a "pitchfest". What a shame... You see, some really great examples of how to sell from the platform are found in these conferences. A student of selling can learn alot, simply by watching and listening.

And if you know what you do, if you are clear on what your mission is - their presentation or pitch will not distract you from the project you are currently involved in. You may even determine that this speaker holds a key to the success of your project.

However, if you are unclear on what your project is and what your burning desire is - then the speakers and their offers may just cause you to change direction. If you do that regularly, you will never accomplish much.

It's much like the old expression that a flashlight can light up a room, but the same light - tightly focused can become a laser beam and cut through steel.

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

What's Your Real Message?

2006-11-28T19:43:00.000-05:00

What's Your Real Message?
Andy Stetzinger
11-28-06

Say you are dragging your wire canoe across the desert because it runs out of gas, how many pancakes does it take to fill a log cabin?

WHAT???

Exactly.

It makes no sense. In this case, it's not supposed to. What about your case? Is your well crafted, finely tuned, swiss-precision message really reaching your audience?

When I was first married, my wife Wendy and I moved to Arkansas. The first week we were there, I saw some guy picking through my garbage cans beside my house. I ran outside, and yelled at him. I told him to get out of my yard, stay away from my house, and to quit going through my trash. I let him have it. Boy did I!

He didn't move. He didn't budge. He didn't leave.

I was all ready to come at him with round two, when he stopped me.

"Sir, let me explain", he said. "This is my job. I work for the city. Since we don't have a scheduled trash pick up day, I come down the street and move your trashcans to the curb side so the truck can pick it up."

Talk about a helping of crows feet!

After regaining my composure, I attempted to salvage what dignity I had left, and offered the guy a cold soda, which he gladly accepted.

If the guy had been dressed in a city uniform, or had a name badge, or anything that identified him as a city employee, the event might never have happened. He might have easily conveyed his message completely non-verbally. I would have watched him, and seen what he was doing rather than completely misunderstanding his intentions.

Are you inadvertently confusing your customers? Are you frustrating them to the point they walk away from any business they might do with you?

Successful companies go to great lengths to make sure their message is clear, precise, to-the-point, and easily understood.

A simple, yet highly effective testing method is to find someone who doesn't use your product, show them your message, and ask them to repeat it back to you. You'll hear first hand what your real message is.

Just remember, if it's not what you think it is, don't yell at the person. They're just doing their job.

~Andy Stetzinger
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

A confused mind says.... NO!

2006-11-21T21:16:00.000-05:00

A Confused Mind Says... NO!
Scott Dennison
11/21/06

Lately both Andy (High Tech) and I (High Touch) have been called into meetings asking about making websites work more effectively. We really are not a "web development" company, our specialty is marketing technology, or the creation of tools and strategies that will help companies market better on the Internet.

But in the time we have been working on the Internet, we have learned what works and what doesn't and we stay current with the things that are working now. As advocates for the smart use of video on a website and with our own proprietary products designed and marketed to add video to your sites quickly, easily and affordably, we sometimes have to be involved in the design or layout of client sites.

So in almost every conversation, you will hear me ask... what is the one thing you want a visitor to your web site to do? Then to go further, when someone arrives on this particular page on your site - what is the ONE THING you want them to do. This is called the "Most Wanted Response".

The silence is usually deafening...

Many times they say somethng like -- "we want them to buy from us..."

Well ok, I can understand that, but when I look at most sites, I get confused. And a confused mind says no. The visitor to your site will just simply click the back arrow and depart, never to return. And I doubt that is your most wanted response.

So as you plan the layout of your site, ask yourself the critical question. What is the one thing we want someone to do when they arrive at this page? And build the page with that in mind. Then test to see if what you want is what visitors actually do.

Doing so is just smart. Because a confused mind says NO!

Sure, it does that!

2006-11-14T06:26:00.000-05:00

Sure, It does that!
Andy Stetzinger
11-14-2006

A few years back, I held a position with a company as "Director Of Development". It sounds lofty, but in reality, it was a small company with a mediocre piece of software that was hodge-podge put together.

A particular national store had taken notice of our software, and expressed an interest in it. They wanted to talk with us prior to moving forward with the purchase. My boss, the president/owner of the business, allowed me to sit in his office for the conversation. With speaker phone on, I was told not to make a sound. I was there to listen, make notes, and explain things to the boss when the call was done.

At one particular point, the national store asked if our software did a particular function. My boss looked at me, and I shook my head 'no'... because it did not do what they were requesting.

Without missing a beat, my boss returned his attention to the phone, and said, "Sure, it does that!".

The point is - nobody can represent, promote, or sell your product better than you. Nobody can gain the trust of the potential buyer better than you. With todays' websites incorporating video, you should be representing, promoting, and selling your product by gaining visitors trust and likability yourself. Right there on your home page. Right out in front of your site for the world to see. You. Yes you. It's easy, and surprisingly affordable. Let us show you how.

~Andy
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Website Automation For Small Businesses

2006-11-07T12:02:00.000-05:00

Website Automation For Small Businesses
11.07.06
Andy Stetzinger

As our companies CTO and lead software developer, I am often asked about some of the "features" we employ on our website. Most of the tid-bits go unnoticed by the untrained eye, but from time to time, individuals do pick up on some of the things we do, and want to know more about them.

While I won't reveal any trade secrets in this article, I will share some of what we do, and why we do it. If you choose to employ the same tactic, that is up to you.

Feature #1 - Self Spidering
We "self spider" our sites multiple times a day, depending on the nature of the site. If content changes often, we self spider more. The reason for this is pretty simple: speed. Major search engines, once told, will look for a specific file when they spider a site. As long as that file is kept up to date, then your information is kept up to date as well.

Feature #2 - Self Cross Publishing
You might be reading this blog entry on one of several different websites. We only publish it once. Our websites pick up this article live and present it to you for your reading pleasure. Statistically speaking, this increases the readership of our blog, and decreases the amount of time needed to keep up with a blog. Not to mention the updated content on each of our sites.

Feature #3 - Self Published PodCasts
While we may not employ any dramatic routines in creating our content-rich, not-to-miss, you'd-better-be-listening podcasts, we do something a little different with the processing of the files. We self publish to different feed sources as soon as content is updated, and, if not updated, we let them know we have no current changes. We also employ a self updating feature on our local podcast page to present the user with just the latest podcast. We have no interaction with regards to updating our podcasts other than uploading the file itself.

Feature #4 - Magic KeyWords
On some of our sites, we use a system I like to call "magic keywords". In essence, the keywords from the page are derived from the page itself. Pages automatically become self relevant, and search engines love them.

We use a lot of other techniques on our various sites. The main thing is we don't often touch our site - they self optimize. Why spend the time working on your website when you can spend the time working on your business?

~Andy

Let The Summit Begin

2006-11-02T05:41:00.000-05:00

Let The Summit Begin
11.02.2006
Andy Stetzinger

We're in Atlanta, GA this week for the Bill Glazer / Dan Kennedy Inner Circle Information Summit. A huge group of information marketers gather to learn from the best minds in the business, talk to like-minded individuals, and of course, network with other people.

As a Marketing Technology company, we're having an absolute blast here.

We arrived early for a special extra day of the Conference that included classes, presentations, and capped off with a large ticketed dinner. People introduced themselves around the room, mingled, exchanged information and business cards, and really tried to find out how one could possibly work with the other in some form of a business venture.

Both Bill Glazer and Dan Kennedy were there, and had a small "pick our brains" session where people in the audience could ask them direct questions relating to their business. This is akin to being able to sit and ask Donald Trump for some insider investment tips, or a private one-on-one lesson from Emril Lagassee on how to cook the perfect lobster.

The whole day was a terrif lesson in individual marketing efforts by some amazing people in the business.

We are looking forward to the rest of the conference.

~Andy

It's Time For Trust Marketing

2006-10-28T08:33:00.000-04:00

It's Time For Trust Marketing
10.28.06
Andy Stetzinger

It happens all the time. You're visiting a website, you want more information about a product, so, you fill in the form with first name, last name, and email address. You get the information you were wanting, only to realize three days later that you've also been subscribed to their newsletter.

Or, when you purchase something online, the technical support emails start arriving every 4 days with a large dose of sales information in them.

You didn't sign up for a sales letter. You signed for information. You bought a product. You didn't want sales letters.

Now you being the process of trying to unsubscribe yourself from their sales list. Have fun with that. Let's see, you'll need to give them your email address, name, eye color, and position of the major planets at the exact time you subscribed to their newsletter.

BUT I DIDN'T SUBSCRIBE! you yell out in frustration...

I know... I've been there... I feel it's safe to say the majority of us have been there.

Have a conversation with someone who employs these practices, and they'll tell you it's called "Permission Based Marketing". They'll claim they have permission to send out those sales emails. Even though that little check box or sentence or whatever was not in plain sight... they still feel they have permission to send out gobs of sales letters.

With spam filters and anti-spam services getting better each day, "Permission Marketing" is no longer something that Internet Marketers can "rely" on.

It's time to kick it up a notch.

It's time for Trust Marketing. Put simply, if a customer trusts the person they're doing business with, they'll buy more, and more often.

Gaining trust, in essence, is easy to do. Follow these easy steps:

1. Put a face to the company - use video.
2. Do what you say, and say what you do.
3. Keep the customer informed about relevant events.*
4. Offer repeat and long term customers higher discounts.
5. Keep it simple, keep it honest.

(*)Weekly discounts or monthly HUGE SAVINGS are not relevant events. A change in policy, or new merchant acquisition are relevant events.

Our research has shown that, by far, the easiest way to build trust is to put a face in front of the product - namely your face. Adding video to your website is fast, easy, and surprising affordable.

For more information on adding video to your site, visit: VideoPaste.com

Permission Marketing is dead. Trust Marketing is here to stay. After all, if you don't have your customers trust, permission means nothing.

~Andy Stetzinger
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

GooTube's Next Step

2006-10-24T09:11:00.000-04:00

GooTube's Next Step
10.24.06
Andy Stetzinger

So now what? We all know Google's handed over a bunch of stock for YouTube. YouTube hasn't shown a profit, and the only real clear business model is to sell the brand to the big media houses. (By the way, the only reason that works is because people want what they want now, they don't want to sift through the loads of crap on most big networks' websites).

Up until now, YouTube wasn't really concerned with copywrited content. They knew it was there... we all knew it was there... but with YouTube blowing through a million bucks a month in bandwidth and hardware costs, their pockets were empty. That, and their covered under the DMCA's "Safe Harbor" law. A safe harbor is a provision of a statute or a regulation that reduces or eliminates a party's liability under the law, on the condition that the party performed its actions in good faith. In other words, "We built the thing, not our fault people put copywrited stuff up there."

More importantly, YouTubes pockets were empty. Then Google filled them up.

First we saw the "user uprise"... the people who made YouTube what it is today wanting their claim of the money... And we're all sitting around waiting for the lawsuits to pop up.

They just recently dropped 29,549 japanese videos that were infringing on copywrite laws. Why? YouTube doesn't have an overseas office... they could fight any charges brought against them simply by playing the "not your jurisdiction" card. However, Google can't. Google has offices in Japan. GooTube can be sued in Japan for copywrite violations...

Now the public fully expects the floodgates to open and the lawsuits from Major Media Houses to come pouring in.

But will they? Wouldn't it be easier for GooTube just to make more deals with big Media Houses? We know why people go to YouTube. We all know the brand has built up, and what it means... a

The key thing here is the relationship Google can establish with the Media Houses. Get a good relationship going, share the content. Avoid the lawsuits, and we all go home happy... and YouTube can actually start looking towards making some money.

Not a bad deal.

~Andy
http://www.keything.com

Automation for the SOHO Business

2006-09-13T09:51:00.000-04:00

Automation for the SOHO Business
9.13.2006
Andy Stetzinger

I'm going to take a thing or two forgranted for this article.

#1 - You have a Small Office / Home Office Business.
#2 - You are running a primarily Windows based environment.
#3 - You'd like to make your day run a little smoother.

The good news is: You can!
The better news is: It's Free!

Windows comes with a Task Scheduler built in. (Start->Programs->Accessories->Scheduled Tasks)

A basic wizard will walk you through the process of setting up things to run on their own. However, you'll just do some basic tasks with that.

My suggestion is to create a Batch File and list the things you want to do in there, then schedule the batch file to run at certain times.

I also highly recommend you download NirCmd, a free command line tool from http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd.html . It's got some great examples of things it can do.

For example, my personal automated schedule is as follows:
12:01am - Back up files
02:00am - Virus Scan
03:00am - Burn backup to DVD (if needed)
04:00am - FTP download of various work-related sites
06:30am - Open various webpages (my morning routine)
Open personal email client (not my work one)
Display notification regarding backup
Eject DVD drawer
Run ccleaner (great win32 program)
System Unmuted
07:00am - I sit down, swap the DVD for a blank one if needed.
I do my morning routine / personal email
07:45am - One click of a button:
Web Browser closed.
Personal Email closed.
IM Client started
Skype Started
Work Email Started
Open work-related websites
Various work-related programs launched
12:00pm - Notification of time
Quick backup (file copy only) of work folder
Personal Email Client run (gotta check it too)
1:00pm - Notification of time
Personal email client closed
5:00pm - Notification of time
Quick backup (file copy only) of work folder
Blank DVD check
Personal Email client launched
End Of Day One button routine:
System Muted
Monitors shut down
All browsers closed
All email apps closed
IM client closed
Skype closed
Work-related Apps save/close
Ccleaner run

A sample of a batch file I use is:
----
@echo off
taskkill /im outlook.exe /f
taskkill /im firefox.exe /f
taskkill /im thunderbird.exe /f
taskkill /im trillian.exe /f
nircmd.exe monitor off
nircmd.exe mutesysvolume 1
nircmd.exe emptybin
----

takkill is a program that comes with WindowsXP. Quite nice. Quite helpfull.

Simple SOHO Automation of repeated tasks saves time and energy. Not to mention the brain cells you'll save never having to wonder if you did that daily task or not today.

Until next time,
Andy

Truth In Advertising

2006-09-05T21:32:00.000-04:00

Truth In Advertising
9.5.2006
Andy Stetzinger

Scott and I had just finished a long meeting with a customer of ours, and were headed back across town. Scott had a phone meeting to conduct while enroute, so I offered to buy us both something to drink. We pulled into a gas station that had a large sign in the front offering a particular sports drink for a very affordable price.

Upon closer inspection, the advertisement included the phrase "when you purchase fuel".

The posted advertisment contained no information about where I had to buy the fuel, it did not say with the current purchase of fuel, nor from whomI bought my fuel from. It just said, when you purchase fuel.

I wondered how serious they were about that. I mean... I buy fuel all the time. We all do! I didn't buy any fuel there, nor did I intend to, but the advertisement did not include the purchase of fuel from them at that point in time as a prerequesite for the discount.

Scott laughed at me, made some questionable remark about my sanity, and handed my a $5.00 bill.

I got my drink, and Scott's sports drink, and headed for the counter.

"I'd like the discount on this sports drink", I said.

"Did you buy gas?", the attendant questioned.

"Yes, I sure did. I think it was last Tuesday. Could have been Wednesday, I don't recall."

She looked puzzeled. "From us?", she continued...

"No. I don't live close to here. It would be silly for me to drive all the way out here just for gas.", I replied.

"You can't have the discount. It's for when you buy gas from us."

I pointed out the sign to her. I suggested we read it together. I then explained to her there nowhere in the advertisment did it indicate anything about time or location. That it merely said I get a discount if I was a purchaser of fuel.

"But that's not what it means...", she said, with a sigh.

"Perhaps not", I conceded, "but that's what it says. And I would like to excersise my right to the advertised price."

After some snide remarks, she did give me the discount.

I then asked for a receipt, not just for the proof that I did get the discount on the sports drink... but also because that's a valid write off.

While the whole scene was amusing, the main point of the entire ordeal that I put the poor cashier through is that there has to be truth in advertising. If a company is going to claim something, present something, or otherwise state a "fact", then that company should stand behind it.

Years ago, a pizza delivery company would guarantee a 30 minute delivery, or your pizza was free. We all know how long that lasted.

Cable companies used to say if the technican wasn't out by a certain time, your call was free... now, whie some are still offering a discount for that, many are shunning such deals.

Sometimes a "Catch Phrase" can catch a company off guard. A claim the company makes can land them in hot water when the claim turns out to be false. The use of "gimmicks" or "hooks" can easily turn against a company.

What sounds good in a marketing board room might not work the way we think it will in the real world.

Until next time,

Andy
KeyThing Marketing Technologies