Posts with the label Strategy
Showing posts with label Strategy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Strategy. Show all posts
Friday, March 01, 2013
Will new gTLDs Affect your Business or E-commerce site?
Imagine the internet without the .com where domain names containing new gTLDs (generic top level domains) such as news.google or newyork.taxi becomes the norm … or even the standard. The online world will get a glimpse of the brand or idea without the .com sooner than they think. ICANN plans to reveal the first set of approved applications in April 2013. The corporations and businesses that are approved may be so eager to demonstrate their technological prowess that they could start unveiling their sites as early as the summer.
Most small and midsized businesses are completed oblivious to the idea that there could be a major paradigm shift online. Just as the panda updates spun across the web with lightning speed leaving unsuspecting webmaster devastated and sites demolished, new gTLDs could flash across the web paralyzing .com businesses. You may ask “how will new gTLDs affect the internet?” Then you may wonder “how will this impact on the internet influence my business and e-commerce site?” and “Should I invest in a new gTLD?” I wish that I could provide definite answers however it’s too early to get a clear perception with the fog of the ICANN, the flurry of applications and the pressure of speculation. How I do want to offer a myriad of perspectives so that small and midsized businesses can be adequately prepared for any changes.
There’s a possibility that the internet will not be affected by new gTLDs
The corporations applying for new gTLDs could simply be engaging in defensive brand protection. For example, General Motors pulled their applications for .chevrolet; .gmc; and .cadillac after the deadline closed for new applications. They probably wanted to prevent any trademark violations. Other brands may behave a bit more aggressively and strategically. They may use new gTLDs for a leaner advertising campaign and then redirect the new gTLDs to their main site. For example, it’s easier to advertise a succinct web address such as beauty.covergirl and then redirect that domain name to beauty.covergirl.com.
Customers may reject the new gTLDs and corporate resistance could suppress widespread use of websites with new gTLDs. Corporations have invested billions into developing .com websites. There are corporations that have purchased generic domain names, such as salad.com, flash.com and eyecare.com, for millions. These corporations will not passively allow new gTLDs to dominate the website. They will fervently compete. Corporations already feel overwhelmed trying to develop a solid mobile strategy. Do corporations really have the stamina to pursue new gTLDs and build engaging websites or will they consider them a risky distraction? (Note: My focus is on the corporate behavior because ICANN priced the applications outside the budget of small and midsized businesses. The action that corporations take, the only possible actors in this ICANN frenzy, will determine how the general public perceives new gTLDs.)
Most importantly customers may reject websites with new gTLDs or treat them unfavorably compared to .com domains. Customers have a tendency to be slow adapters to innovations that they can’t quite understand. They may adapt to new gTLDs so slow that the impact on the web could be marginal. If customers refuse to adopt new gTLDs then corporations who have wasted their funds will have a negative reaction to them. This will create a hostile environment for new gTLDs and ultimately cause their demise. I also believe that registrars overestimate the amount of internet users that want domain names. Registrars such as Uniregistry and Donuts.co are investing millions into new gTLD applications. However if they can’t recoup their losses, due to the popularity of social media platforms that have reduced the need small business and personal websites, then the lack of registrations could cause the collapse of the entire industry.
We also have the possibility that
new gTLDs are accepted but .com domains are still widely used by powerful corporations and a
significant portion of the business world. Dot com domains may never become a vestigial
part of the internet, but instead a permanent and active member. Even though
Facebook and email has usurped a majority of communication delivery for
Americans, snail mail is still a relevant means of communication. Many people still prefer to pay bills through USPS.
If distinct new gTLDs web applications can quickly be imitated by .com
websites then they will not be perceived as extraordinarily innovative. If
registrars are able to offer keyword new gTLDs, such as .art & .app, to all
users then the allure for corporations could be lost. That's probably why Google is attempting to purchase keyword almost 80 keyword new gTLDs such as .cloud; .mail & .search. Corporations are not interested in the .com
on repeat; where spammers and scammers can enter the space without credibility.
Other corporations and internet
users may consider new gTLDs too limiting and defining. For example, .art in
theory is a descriptive, meaningful and representative domain for an artist. But
does an artist really want to be defined so blatantly and generically? Does a
corporation really want to invest $185,000 for a branded new gTLD for each brand
that they want to develop? Also, ICANN reveals the applicants and the new gTLDs
that they are applying. This is undesirable for corporations that unveil new brands
after working in stealth mode. Many corporations don’t want customers to
associate new brands with their other brands. Therefore a website such as android.google
would not be an attractive option. For example, the .google has the potential
to overshadow Android’s blossoming brand and stunt its separate identity. Businesses do not want their brands to be revealed before its time or to be restricted.
So now you’re probably breathing
a sigh of relief. But don’t relax just yet because….
There’s a high possibility that the internet will be affected by new gTLDs
Yes, new gTLDs could the next big online event just like search engines, social media platforms, blogs and startups.
Legitimacy: Right now just about anyone can violate a trademark and
register a domain name with a brand. These spammers then use these domain names
to masquerade as if they are affiliated with the brand in order to deceive naïve
web users. This trickery tarnishes brands and causes people to distrust the
internet…both are bad for business. Corporations could be relieved that they
can now tout their branded new gTLDs as the only authority for their products
and services. Their branded new gTLDs will be differentiated from the majority of all websites, increasing the legitimacy of their websites. As more and more
corporations and institutions began using .brand instead of .com, the .com‘s
image could be considered the less professional, spammy cesspool. The .com will be
depleted of status just as soil depleted for nutrition from overuse and abuse. It’s
nearly impossible for a seed to reach its full potential in depleted soil. Over time customers could learn to perceive
.brand as the only credible and trustworthy websites. This could have a major
effect on budding e-commerce sites that depend on search engine rankings. If
customers begin to click on .brand more often in the search engine results
resulting in high click through rates for new gTLDs then this could propel
these domains to the top of the results... rendering the .com websites invisible.
In a less dramatic fashion, .com could become archaic, therefore negatively and unfairly affecting the image of businesses that are still forced to use .com. Corporations that want to appear cutting edge will start employing new gTLDs as a status symbol, deepening the online stratification. The gap between the corporations and small businesses could become more apparent and cause online users to gravitate to the sites with more resources even if they don’t have better products or services. This could be the nail in the coffins for new startups that aren’t publicized.
Exclusive Web Applications: If corporations solely use new gTLDs the architecture of their websites could change. Web applications that can’t be replicated by .com websites could arise. If new gTLDs result in better customer experiences then, other businesses that can’t afford new gTLDs will have difficulty competing. Corporations may even have the ability to seep into your web structure and built applications from your services. Small businesses should start thinking about how they can compete with innovative web applications.
Higher Barriers to Entry: When the internet first crept into the scene,
the barriers to entry were high but achievable. You simply needed an opened
mind to understand the value of the internet, the resources and knowledge to
build a website and the business skills to develop a competitive product or service.
For a small period of time, domain names were free! This could dramatically change. If corporations are granted ownership for keyword domains such as .boat & .cafe they could block off entry into that space from competitors. Consequently, the cost for .com domains could
skyrocket. The appealing domain names on sale by domainers are already priced
too high for small businesses and budding startups, if they raise any higher
this could restrict online innovation. If the barriers to entry are too high
online, many small businesses and midsized business may remain offline or only
use social networking platforms further suppressing their growth.
Flexibility: Corporations
will now have the flexibility and resources to structure their website in any
way that they need while most businesses using .com ( or .net, .org, etc.) will
still be restricted by their registrars. Once again the corporations will be
able to offer web users significantly more which will raise the bar for
businesses that don’t have the resources to meet these new standards. These
corporations will have more power and representation on the web due to
their self-determination and resources.
Some e-commerce websites are
worried if keyword new gTLDs will have high search engine rankings than .com.
Once again, only time will tell. Think about your strategy and how you can
compete if they do. I hope that I was able to provide a thorough overview. I
would love to hear your comments!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Can MySpace Make a Comeback in Social Media?
Unfortunately, I think that the social media pie is sliced a bit too thin for MySpace to get full. Although social media is saturated, MySpace could thrive as a mixed media site by offering social media while still producing traditional media. MySpace currently offers videos and articles however they don’t really have a dynamic content strategy and they lack consistently compelling media because they still view themselves dominantly as a social media site.
It’s time for MySpace to strategically expand their brand as a stage for budding musicians, a social site for those passionate about music to connect, a venue for fans to enjoy music and an online destination for music updates. Despite MySpace’s lack of active & dedicated members - compared to other social media sites - they still have a well-known brand as a site dedicated to music. There’s always hope for a comeback when you have a well-known brand.
Turning DeadSpace into Music Heaven
1. Figure out how to give emerging bands a platform for attracting a fans and getting discovered.
Social media has explosive growth because people like fans, they being a part of a social group and they love becoming “internet famous.” Social media is now being used by many ambitious individuals as a stepping stone to more opportunities. MySpace needs to ponder how they can make the rise to fame easier musicians and bands. MySpace profiles should be designed so that the musicians can be viewed in the best possible light. MySpace also has radio stations with 42 million tracks that they are underutilizing. They should publicize their radio stations more often. They also should have distinct stations for music lovers to discover new bands and musicians.
An amazing benefit to helping emerging musicians and bands is that when they become mainstream your site also grows exponentially in popularity. They attract fans that want to get closer to them through the sites that they are active on and have built their brands on. Once again, MySpace should investigate and see what areas musicians and bands struggle, such as securing exposure, and then they will be able to offer a platform that alleviates these hardships. MySpace needs to ask, “Why would bands, musicians and fans invest time in this site?”
Also, MySpace shouldn’t forget how important the mobile sector has become. Unfortunately they haven't upgraded their mobile app since July 2011. Even if their image is tarnished online, they have a clean mobile slate. Instagram has shown the tech and business community, just how powerful mobile is. Their mobile strategy has to be innovative and exciting. What music applications can they develop that will be valuable to musical mobile users?
2. Participate in traditional media more consistently and dynamically so that MySpace can appear in the search engine results.
MySpace has basically disappeared from the search engine results for many specific queries. When MySpace does appear in the search engine results, their content pales in comparison to the rest of the results. To the average person, that means that they are dead. Since MySpace isn’t able to sit back and let the users initiate the conversation and drive social interaction like on Facebook, MySpace will need to be proactive in starting the conversation. Once people start seeing MySpace dominating the music sector online, they will be viewed as an authority site instead of a fledging social media or social networking site. They shouldn’t view this as a social media failure; they should view this as a great chance to differentiate themselves from traditional and social media by combining the best of both elements. Being a mixed media site will also be more sustainable in the long run. MySpace should be the social Vevo or the combination of MTV & Facebook.
1. MySpace Video/YouTube
MySpace’s YouTube presence is desolate and weak. I do understand that they may not want to upload videos on a competitor site however their own section for videos is cluttered, unappealing and difficult to navigate. They seem resistant to uploading material that people want to see and are already searching for. MySpace needs to take some cues from ClevverTV (on YouTube) on how to attract views. They need to talk about what the fans and the musically inclined care about. MySpace could produce interviews with new music brands from around the country - even internationally; give us the inside scoop or background information on music videos from emerging bands & musicians; produce a YouTube reality show or contest to keep the fans coming back for more.
On MySpace’s own site, they should have more live coverage of musical performances. New Year’s Eve live coverage showcasing musical performances would be amazing. Interesting videos are guaranteed to attract a following. Let smaller bands upload music videos and curate the top videos to showcase on the site. Once you help bands become popular, more quality bands will be encouraged to follow.
2. Entertaining Articles
MySpace is in the prime position to have an amazing music blog or music news network. Instead of faceless authors, MySpace needs to have more personable music news and blog posts. MySpace could create another personality that would effectively communicate with the music audience, connect to the fans and become an endearing figure in music. The personality should have a story, a mission and a music background. Perhaps an active member of MySpace could be vetted to blog about music to mimic the Tila Tequila effect.
Currently MySpace has news however the articles are sparsely shared because it's not as entertaining, personable or informative as other sites. However once they learn the formula for what people want to read and MySpace articles start showing up in the search engine results for interesting queries; then people visit MySpace directly to read music news. The fact that MySpace is also a social media site will help them rise above just having articles by enabling a community to form instead of visitors that just comment and bounce back.
As long as MySpace is willing to branch out, the possibilities are limitless. MySpace's demise began when people started using the site as an all-purpose site which deviated from their original mission- to promote music and bands. Once Facebook was created people flocked to that site due to its personable nature, clean design, lack of controversy and closed environment, which left MySpace barren. However if MySpace focus on their roots and get creative they can become a premier social media and traditional media site for music.
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Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Why Facebook Took a Vocal Stance against Employers Asking for Passwords
Employers asking for Facebook passwords are detrimental to Facebook’s core use and their selling point, the ability for users to have fun sharing personal information about their life uninhibited and honestly. For many people, Facebook was their first experience having a webpage dedicated to their life and subsequently have used it as a form of free expression. Facebook’s vocal stance provides prominent discouragement against employers that potentially could prevent users from accurately sharing their goals, interests, snippets of their life, engaging photos, professional & educational attainment and their relationships.
It seems strangely unfair for employers to demand data that they didn’t work hard to attain. If password requests become more widespread then Facebook will grow into an artificial environment, as suggested by this comment “Set up a 'holier than thou' Facebook page and populate it with all those noble, selfless and completely professional activities you would be doing if you weren't down the pub so much.” Although prudent for the users, this cautionary behavior is not conducive to Facebook becoming an advertising giant. In fact some users have taken extreme measures to avoid this issue by deleting their accounts. The illusion of privacy and the ability to manage your image are crucial psychological components for users to contribute gold mine data for advertisers and even government agencies. For example, the Google + circles and Facebook Smart Lists are useful tools for impression management and controlling your image to coincide with the relationship. The more control and comfortable users feel the more users are willing to share and accurately represent their life. In return Google and Facebook are able to collect more data and analyze how people behave according to the relationship which could be valuable for advertisers studying how to obtain more referrals.
Facebook has publicity denounced the employer behavior to shame the employers and assure the users to not concern themselves and continue sharing their life as usual. Facebook’s rapid response has also caused policy makers to act and acknowledge Facebook as a platform that users have a right to privacy over. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said that such a practice is an "unreasonable invasion of privacy for people seeking work." Even though Facebook and Google are frequently cited as privacy invaders, the invasion of privacy appears more remote and algorithmic. As a result people disregard the negative press and continue to share private information. However the employer Facebook password requests are abrupt realizations of how much personal, revealing and “criminalizing” information users share that can accessed in just the click of a button. The disturbing stories of how users felt when employers raided their Facebook accounts have more emotional appeal to the less tech savvy users than bitter technical articles complaining about privacy. "I felt disrespected. I felt that my privacy was invaded," he tells All Things Considered host Robert Siegel, "but not only my privacy, the privacy of my friends and that of my family that didn't ask for that.” The result is users removing data to appear more professional and/or users anxiously deleting & deactivating Facebook accounts in droves.
It’s important to remain aware of how users and even non-users interact with your product or service and then analyze how this affects the bottom line. For example, YouTube had to be proactive in developing a solution for copyright infringement to prevent the site from imploding with legal issues. Pinterest’s overnight success story has the potential to become a nightmare due to how users consistently violate copyright. Although it can prolong the life of a business if users find new & unintended uses for your products and services, their behavior can also be detrimental to your professional longevity.
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Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Panda Changed Affiliate Marketing, What eCommerce Websites Can Learn from Retail Stores to Recover
Affiliate marketing has boomed as more and more work at home gurus tout the possibly of earning thousands of dollars online. Unfortunately affiliate marketing merchants & niche eCommerce websites have earned a poor reputation due to their aggressive SEO tactics and scammy (or even criminal) behavior. Instead of attempting to become scalable, most affiliate marketers set up questionable eCommerce sites to earn as much money as possible in the short term. The Google Panda updates specifically targeted affiliate marketing online stores and has pushed up branded online retail stores in the SERPs since customers are learning to only shop online at trusted websites. Since the Panda updates, it is important understand that the affiliate marketing game has changed and has grown more complex.
Since the relationship that affiliate marketers have with brands and customers are more detached, many forget that eCommerce websites and online stores somewhat resemble retail stores. A retail store’s main purpose is to present the brands they sell in a favorable manner so that customers will make a purchase. They are in fact another component to strategic marketing and they play the role as a distributor. If a retail store has poor customer service, unappealing displays, old products, etc. customers are less likely to part with their precious funds, as a result the brands and the retail store lose in the long run. Affiliate marketers need to realize that just because they are online, this doesn’t mean they should neglect clever business strategies.
Tips for Building a Scalable and Sustainable Affiliate Marketing eCommerce Website
Brandable Name - Most people can name several retails stores, spout off their function, primary products and the demographics they cater to. Even retail stores that aren’t national brands have local significance and distinctiveness. Branding makes this possible. Most affiliate marketing eCommerce and online stores purchase long tail domain names and then give the website name a similarly forgettable, keyword drivel – and suspicious – name all for the sake of SEO. Before Panda this was acceptable and profitable, however in the end branded websites are dominating the SERPs. Amazon, which resembles the Wal-Mart of online stores, and Folica, considered a premier beauty supply online for hair products and appliances, have strong brand names. Developing a brand name is the first step towards building trust which leads to your site becoming the destination for more online purchases. For example, Folica is extremely popular on hair forums, could you imagine these customers attempting to recommend a site called the Cheapest Hair Supplies Online.
Study the names of retail stores in your area with strong branding such as Wal-Mart, JCPenney and Best Buy. These names capture the hearts of America on an emotional level first (also called peripheral for those psychologists out there) then on a cognitive basis. Retail stores also can succeed on a local level even if the names are more generic however the familiarity can generate trust. Perhaps you can grow your site at a reasonable level by giving your eCommerce site a name with local significance. Then focus on building relationships and branding yourself as a locally trusted affiliate marketer that sells products your neighbors have limited access to. Also, let the customers know the story behind the brand. Your story could possibility inspire a well-constructed brand name and fuel an advertising campaign. The story behind the name Amazon is that the founder Jeff Bezos wanted a website that started with the letter A and embodied the mission of his site. Then he discovered the river in Brazil named Amazon in the dictionary, " a place that was exotic and different, just as his store would be. The river was the biggest in the world and his business would be the biggest store in the world."
Visible Customer Service – The less well known your brand is, the stronger your customer service needs to be. Customers don’t necessarily trust that your product or service is quality and are essentially taking a gamble on your brand. Therefore customers need be assured that a representative is readily accessible just in case the purchase malfunctions or another unexpected issue arises. Customer service is also proof that the business is legitimate, the affiliate not a scammer and that the store cares enough about the customer to invest in their satisfaction. Many affiliate eCommerce websites look forward to unlimited streams of passive income and prefer to set up shop and abandon ship to build other stale online stores. However this approach is unsustainable and is less likely to result in repeat customers if complaints continue to get ignored. You’ll just confirm their suspicions and even cause them to unfairly avoid other affiliate online stores.
Your site needs to have some form of active and visible customer service. It's advisable to display multiple forms of contact to alleviate the distance and online barrier. The advent of social media and networking are tools that simplify customer service. Active forums give the impression of instant assistance and it helps to build a community around your site. I also recommend setting up a Facebook page perhaps even post your live Twitter stream. Ford Motor Co is using social media as a component to their customer service approach, according to Forbes, “The Ford brand’s eight, dedicated customer service agents use a customized search engine tool based on key words to monitor concerns, questions or comments on Twitter, Facebook, auto forums and message boards. Each issue is assigned to one agent until resolved…Ford is now responding to an average of 2, 000 people weekly via social media.”
Holistic Advertising – SEO gurus encourage affiliate marketers to engage in article & content marketing to sell individual products. Panda is slowly wiping out the avenues that affiliate marketers used to market articles to discourage poor content from cluttering Google’s search engine. Now it’s more effective in the long term to showcase your brand and online store as a whole along with the product. Usually retail stores draw in customer with their image and what they offer. Then once they get the customers inside the store, retail stores market individual products. For example, Macys may state in advertisements that they are having a 50% storewide or in certain categories, then once the customer enters the store they may see a section of specific brands and products that are on clearance. Also the advertisement clearly showcases Macys’ brand, so that the customer understands that their products and retail store brand co-exists.
Don’t become so focused on using article and content marketing on specific items that you forget the brand. You want the customer to know that the affiliate online store named Tech Enthusiast (made up name) = trendiest electronics + tech savvy website owner. Don’t just bait them to the product, mental connections need to be created.
Attractive Displays – If you want customers to part with their hard earned cash, you need to offer a visually compelling reason why. First the overall store needs to look attractive and have its own personality. These factors help the customers feel as if they belong to a part of larger community. People who love Apple love the feeling of belonging in the electronics/tech community as they enter the tech geared location. Heck some even feel a bit too comfortable and use the Apple store as a means of expression…through randomly dancing. Ron Johnson, the former senior VP at Apple for retail confirms this consumer desire, “A store has got to be much more than a place to acquire merchandise. It’s got to help people enrich their lives. If the store just fulfills a specific product need, it’s not creating new types of value for the consumer.”
I recommend walking into national and local retail stores offline that are in your niche. Get a feel for the aura and in the same way, try to translate your brand’s personality and aura in your website design. You also want to know your demographics so that you can craft your affiliate online store to appeal to your target audience. Secondly the individual displays should compensate for the customer not being able to see the product in person. Imagine your site as a retail store and customers are actively strolling from display to display instead of having the mental image of them passively browsing through your site. How would you organize the store in order the grab the customer’s attention and attractively display the items? Try to replicate these attention grabbing techniques online. Honest and appealing product displays also contributes to the trust factor. If the site appears to be a scam, keyword ridden, spammy, difficult to navigate, has unconvincing displays and is poor in quality then it will scare off potential online shoppers customers.
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| Opening Day at Walt Disney World, Florida. Life Magazine December 1971 |
Offer an Experience – Retail stores offer a memorable experience. Many people love to spend a day shopping at the mall with their friends because the retail/department stores within the mall cater to their interests and create a positive feeling. Don’t forget that we live in a consumerist society; therefore people consider the very act of purchasing products or services in a comfortable & interesting environment an experience. Once again appeal to the emotions, then the cognitive. What experience can you provide online that physical retail stores can’t? Consider fun quizzes, interactive videos involving the products, a blog discussing the latest products in your niche, games, contests and/or product memes - especially try to provide sharable experiences. I think that a “Siri” geared towards assisting customers with product purchases would be a fun tool for a developer to design in the future.
Unique Offline Relevance – Due to Google’s Panda updates, the age of solely depending on search engines for traffic has abruptly ended. Although eCommerce is primarily online, you need offline relevance for your site to become viral through word of mouth so that traffic will visit your site directly. In fact social media marketing is based on fans sharing content to friends they have mostly connected with offline. Give people a reason to get curious about your site and use it for offline activities.
Amazon and Folica are well known for their in-depth reviews that are so informative that people even read these reviews before shopping offline. Video reviews are also quite helpful and popular, once again provide a visually compelling case for your products. Perhaps you could create or curate video product reviews or write guides on how to utilize the more complicated products. Forums and blogs also meet the criteria for being helpful and sharable.
eCommerce affiliate marketers need to get back to the basics and understand the core reasons why customers purchase products so that they can develop solid strategies for selling products. After Google's Panda updates, you are no longer just selling to search engines but to people.
Thanks for reading the Analyst District, I appreciate all comments!
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Monday, January 30, 2012
What’s Weakening Your Online Brand?
The Obstacles to Having a Strong Online Brand
1. Not having a well-known or even budding offline presence- Your offline presence is used as proof that you should be taken seriously online. Strong branding almost comes naturally when your offline presence is established. Being an authority or unique figure in your field attracts social networks, backlinks to your points of contacts and online influence. The masses are still living the majority of their life offline therefore your talents and skills need to be appreciated in your field offline even if it’s just locally. Your offline brand and presence creates a more rich online image and evidence that your claims of skill are credible. What you do offline creates a richer online brand due to knowledge you gain, the people network with and the portfolio you build. For example, instead of blogger just focusing their efforts on writing content online an ambitious writer could make plans to write a novel. Bestselling novels attract media, admirers that will find you instead of you wasting time trying to find random people who don't have a vested interest in you.
Offline is your time to let people grow to know you and feel personally connected to you through your content or product instead of you shouting in the wilderness. In other fields such as photography or web design networking offline and moving up the ranks gets the buzz going online. Just remember that your online image extends your brand but it doesn't necessarily start it. However there are special cases when YouTube stars blow online. However even they provide value for their audience offline in the form of entertainment, makeup or other tutorials. Even people that become "internet famous" move offline. Become successful offline or doing something that attracts gossip and people will want to want more about you online. For example, Bad Bail Boys lost their Google ranking and therefore starting going to games wearing their company shirts. This offline controversy helped them to increase their rankings online. People want to appreciate what is tangible in order to build a relationship or connection with it. Even online giants like Amazon are connecting people to offline products. Create significance or add value to someone's life offline even if you are solely online.
2. Barriers to creating an online brand or presence are low therefore competition is more intense - Previously the effort to stand out was low. The early age of internet enabled people who didn't even have an offline presence to build a strong brand. In a sense they had proven themselves to be experts by being the first to know how to capitalize on the opportunity. Now with everyone jumping on board it seems less authentic. There are scammers and people that offer no value that are diluting the internet. Also the amount of platforms to build your online brand has skyrocketing diluting the strength of the relationship. In the past you could just master one or two platform(s) since the retention rate of the audience was higher. There were less places to hangout online so people just stayed in one area growing together for longer period of time, building trust and genuinely networking. It wasn't the competition of the next shiniest platform. Therefore it's important to remain consistent and remember that since the barriers to entry are low, many will discontinue their efforts.
Most importantly you want to be interesting and have the clout of personality. So focus your efforts and skillfully put your all into it. Don’t be the low quality or scammy AdSense ads that are almost on every site and usually ignored. Be the brand that is able to capture the attention of the audience through personal connections such as through social media and other interesting innovative marketing techniques. That's core of branding! This same outlook can be applied to online branding. Don't be the wallflower AdSense ad but strong & personal brand.
Most importantly you want to be interesting and have the clout of personality. So focus your efforts and skillfully put your all into it. Don’t be the low quality or scammy AdSense ads that are almost on every site and usually ignored. Be the brand that is able to capture the attention of the audience through personal connections such as through social media and other interesting innovative marketing techniques. That's core of branding! This same outlook can be applied to online branding. Don't be the wallflower AdSense ad but strong & personal brand.
3. Negative online image- A negative or contradicting image can destroy your efforts to portray yourself as the ideal professional or authority in the field. Offline brands face similar dilemmas. There was an uproar over Sasha Grey reading to elementary students even though she is no longer a porn star. Your online image is quite similar. You will be judged by your past. Even if you change or just have a multidimensional character, your online brand must remain consistent so that it doesn't weaken. If you are accused of doing poor work try to openly resolve the issue with a pleasant tone. Always have your portfolio easily accessible online and large social network that naturally backfires against claims.
Your portfolio doesn't have to an official portfolio but you need proof of your work. For an example a person can claim on a hate site that a beauty guru does make up terribly. However that beauty guru’s brand should be so strong that she ranks well in Google and her social network/audience should be so strong that it pushes your brand to the top. Others can view her videos for themselves as access if the claims were true. A support social network and audience that gives you positive feedback also can combat negative online image.
4. No strategy and lack of knowledge about branding - The dangers of going in full steam without knowing what you are doing can inadvertently result in you have a negative and/or weak online brand. You'll write weak social profiles as - Annemarie Cross elaborated in Are Your Building or Damaging Your Online Reputation - and showcase a blog with poor content and an amateur design. You won't be perfect when you first start building your brand but you want to at least know that you need to edit and redefine. That knowledge can help you refrain from avidly advertising a weak brand. If you are unfamiliar with branding or social networking, start off by using your observation skills, exploring and being a casual participant. Watch how the experts skillfully use platforms before plowing ahead and then being full of regrets. I remember reading a blog post, of a now experienced blogger, about her Digg account getting deactivated when she was a new blogger. Due to inexperience and naiveté she shared too much of her own content. That probably resulted in lost contacts.
In my own experience, I deleted an account from a forum that might have been very useful today. When you are equipped with the knowledge then you can strategize. I can identify since I'm still trying to redefine my social media activity. Strategists think about the content that aligns with their brand, which online platforms are best for promoting their brand and they know how to navigate the various cultures of social platforms. With knowledge and a strategy you can confidently trail braze through.
In my own experience, I deleted an account from a forum that might have been very useful today. When you are equipped with the knowledge then you can strategize. I can identify since I'm still trying to redefine my social media activity. Strategists think about the content that aligns with their brand, which online platforms are best for promoting their brand and they know how to navigate the various cultures of social platforms. With knowledge and a strategy you can confidently trail braze through.
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Monday, October 24, 2011
Questions to Ask Yourself When Inventing a Product or Coming Up With a Business or Start-up Idea
For many budding entrepreneurs, the ultimate dream is to invent a product that becomes wildly popular or to come up with the next big idea. Starting up a business that doesn’t appeal to customers is demoralizing and costly. Eric Ries of Lean Startup personally knows the pain of start-up failure. “It’s frustrating and embarrassing; a terrible experience.” Therefore you want to carefully decide if your business will be received well by the public. There are businesses and start-ups that are lucrative however their sustainability is questionable. However timeless and revolutionary products and services remain a part of the U.S. and even global economy for years to come.
How to Know if Your Business or Start-up Idea has the Potential to be Lucrative
1. After using your product or service will people wonder: "How Have I Lived This Long Without It?"
Many revolutionary products are eagerly adopted and integrated into people's daily lives after a few nudges by word-of-mouth. Therefore think to yourself, does my product or service fill a hole in people’s lives? Could you imagine comfortably living without items that we consider basic necessities such as undergarments, toothpaste, soap, tissue, etc.? Even "luxury" items or services such as computers, electric washing machines, cars, cellphones, email, YouTube, video cameras and televisions are considered a necessity for many in America. Some products and services are more psychological or have entertainment value such as people believing that they cannot live without makeup, books, sports or music. Whether your product or service actually is a necessity or an indulgence, think to yourself whether your idea has the potential make people believe that without them, their quality of living is significantly lowered. No amount of marketing can convince consumers that they need a completely useless product or service. Ries elaborates, “I kept having start-ups fail even if the technology was really good...So I tried better technology, better product design, better engineering methodology but I kept running into this core problem. Fundamentally the problem wasn’t that the technology wasn’t good. It’s that we were building the wrong thing. Customers didn’t want it. It didn’t have a viable business model.”
Innovative products or services have such a valuable function and powerful effect, that they change the way people live and think about themselves or each other. They transform our social world. For example women can inadvertently get fired for not wearing makeup, a CEO without an email address would struggle to compete and the printing press spurred the mass production of books which has helped to advance society intellectually. Will your product or service become so ingrained in culture, that late adopters feel pressured to use it? There are many that would abandon Facebook once given the chance. However so many people are using Facebook that these people feel forced to stay on board. When your service or products has this effect, its staying power is strong which makes it difficult for other competitors to steal away your market. For example the Google profile social platform is having a difficult time flourishing because of Facebook’s popularity and soft power. Another way to ask this question is will people need your product or service to remain relevant or financially & socially advance?
Do you have an exceptional skill or talent that is light years ahead of the general population? For example the idea of college drop outs building computers in a basement was so extraordinary that Apple has had a strong cult following from the beginning. People want to know that they are spending their hard earned dollars towards something that they couldn’t do as expertly, efficiently, timely and/or frugally. Also the more complex or quality your product or service is, the harder it is for competitors to replicate it. Eventually your idea will be replicated however you want to be your brand to be strongly rooted so that you still garner much of the profit and retain consumer loyalty. In short, you want a monopoly on the idea and the consumers.
Businesses must be able to provide access to resources that the average person does not have to or as an economist would say, businesses need absolute advantage, which is when “one person, firm or country can produce more of something with the same amount of effort and resources, they have an absolute advantage over other producers.” For example, the average person probably would not have the connections, computer science skills or resources to develop a search engine. Therefore search engines are widely used and appreciated. Some services are not very complex, however if you have characteristics that put you above the rest such as above average stamina & strength or a keen eye & admirable attention to detail, etc. then you have leverage over potential competition and appeal to potential customers.
3. Does Your Business Solve Limitations, Combat Nature or Constructively Exploit Human Behavior?
Try to create a service or product that everyone can appreciate due to common boundaries, the harsh environment and unpleasant aspects of human nature. For example let’s think about video games. They solve monetary limitations and legal limitations since many people aren't able to spend thousands traveling and having adventures or brutally fight strangers without consequences. Video games exploit either the violent tendencies of humans or the desire to sit and do nothing. For many people, videos games provide a mental escape without going to jail, spending exorbitant amount of money or expelling too much energy. Farming tools fight against natural forces that harm healthy crops while email and social networking solve the limitation of distance. Once again, you want your business or start-up idea to be the most appropriate and effective way to address human flaws, errors, malfunctions in society or negative natural occurrences. You also must notice the initial stages of modern trends and try to think about their impact and how you can solve the negative consequences. Currently we are in the computer age, so it would be wise to start thinking about computer related issues. Data backup services were able to foresee instances of businesses losing important files and due to this many of them have been able to beat to the recession.
Business can also be perceived as the means of profiting and exploiting human flaws in a way that benefits you and also benefits society and enhances the standard of living. In other words, businesses help improve society by providing viable solutions to deep seeded issues. Without many products and services, society would experience a decline. The goal is to invent or develop a product or service that directly or indirectly addresses the lack of specialized knowledge, strength or honesty of the average individual. Or your business could deal with societal injustices or such as the conflict between the overwhelming amount of demands and the desire for leisure time. For example, think about the historical demands of motherhood. Washing machines, in a sense, addressed the lack of equity in the division of household labor. Imagine how time consuming and strength sapping that hand washing clothes were. Even though most of the women probably desperately wanted a way out wearing out their fingers, they lacked the know-how to design and build their own washing apparatus. This is where a business came in to provide a solution to these societal and family problems through the electric washing machine. Decades later, the lessening of grueling household duties has helped women develop outside interests. Electric washing machines are also timeless. Even as women gain more freedom, there is a still place for electric washing machines. Does your product or service provide freedom?
The overall message is to question yourself before investing thousands or even millions into a business idea that doesn’t have a chance at resonating with the general public. I hope that these questions help, if so make sure to comment or share!
Follow Analyst District on: TumblrTuesday, October 18, 2011
The Marketing Behind Google’s Self-Driving Car and Forbes’s Art Collection
When the Irrelevant Becomes Relevant: Self-Driving Cars Marketing a Search Engine & Art Collections Adding Credibility to a Magazine
A month ago I attended a Google Recruitment Talk at Duke University and Conversations on Collecting by Robert Forbes at the Ackland Art Museum. While I was at the events, I thought "Why the self-driving car if you are a search engine? Doesn’t the art collection distract Forbes from their website and magazine?" However upon further investigation, I realized that these side projects added meaning to their business and they had a powerful marketing effect. In a sense they became a natural outflow of advertising and branding.
How Side Projects Market Your Primary Services and/or Products
Attract Press – The publicity from side projects is an effective method of tapping into a diverse set of demographics. Robert Forbes speaking at the Ackland Art Museum demonstrates that side projects can help you get invited to related events and introduced to more audiences. Your audience may not be involved with your main service or products; however side projects give you the opportunity to indirectly target a market that has a higher chance at being interested. It gives the press, media and other relevant institutions more chances to connect with you and it opens up more doors for you to connect with audiences at a more personal level. It wouldn’t had made sense for a museum to ask the president of Forbes Lifestyle to give a presentation. However it does make sense for the museum to invite Robert Forbes to speak about art collecting. A major aspect of marketing is to meet your audience where they frequent.
Side projects help your business remain relevant to the news and society. Society is continuously evolving and the media is always looking for breaking news or information, therefore side projects can keep you on the map. Interesting side projects will capture audiences when your main service or products start to seem dull…even if they are high quality. Google initially tried to hide the fact that they were developing a self-driving car which raised speculation. Positive speculation is great for creating buzz about your company. Once the story was confirmed as true, it became a media frenzy.The New York Times article “Google Cars Drive Themselves, in Traffic” gained nearly 300 comments while on the same day a similar article Techcrunch received thousands of tweets and likes.Google secured free press and marketing that was social, subtle and unobtrusive without having to speak about their search engine or other products.
Recruitment and Networking Tool - An innovative, artistic or creative side project can appeal to highly skilled applicants with similar interests and hobbies. It also gives future applicants more information about your company because your side project reveals your mission, purpose and culture. The self-driving car shows to the world that Google is the place for bright engineers that want to be involved with developing cutting edge technology. Side projects provide a source of free recruitment and put you on the radar of talented individuals.
Larger than Life – We live in an entertainment world; therefore you want your business to be perceived as an exciting event and connected to something greater. You also want to be viewed as an empire. These qualities can help you become viral as people associate your business with positive experiences and expertise. Self-driving cars have a strong entertainment component. The recruiter also showed funny clips of a self-driving golf car which left a positive impression. It’s also enjoyable and satisfying for Forbes’s target audience to visit the Forbes Galleries.
The Forbes Galleries, helps Forbes Magazine appear to be highly cultured. It’s beneficial to have noble goals above just making money and a mission focused on caring about or enriching the public. Google has claimed that the self-driving car in part was motivated by the desire to reduce deaths and give freedom to those who are too disabled to drive. A commenter on the New York Times article from New York, NY stated “It is nice to see Google working on this type of technology. Larry Page has spoken of the tens of thousands of highway fatalities annually as a major problem which can be solved with technology.”
The Forbes Galleries, helps Forbes Magazine appear to be highly cultured. It’s beneficial to have noble goals above just making money and a mission focused on caring about or enriching the public. Google has claimed that the self-driving car in part was motivated by the desire to reduce deaths and give freedom to those who are too disabled to drive. A commenter on the New York Times article from New York, NY stated “It is nice to see Google working on this type of technology. Larry Page has spoken of the tens of thousands of highway fatalities annually as a major problem which can be solved with technology.”
Google’s self-driving car is an ambitious project that is ahead of the times while the Forbes art collection is timeless. Both of the side projects help the companies build a legacy that can be spoken about and admired for years to come. Even after the death of Malcolm Forbes, a publisher and the son of Forbes's founder, people are still talking about his art collection. A loyal following and generational admiration is a major aspect to having longevity and maintaining leverage over the customer base. Google’s self-driving car will go down in history, just as Malcolm Forbes’s art collection has historical significant. Years in the future people will discuss how Google revolutionized cars. A commenter from Cheyenne, WY out of shock stated, “Wow. I've always been thinking that cars like this might happen in my grandchildren's time, say, by 2050 or so. But eight years away, wow?”
Embody a Dream and Lifestyle – A self-driving car is a technology enthusiast’s and the sci-fi obsessed wildest dream. The fact that Google is fulfilling a dream will draw in these demographics and encourage them to use the search engine and other Google products. Someone aspiring to be wealthy or who is wealthy can connect with the idea of having an renowned art collection. These side projects add legitimacy to their main business and help audiences relate to them. The self-driving car validates Google as a leader in innovation, proves their competency and provides an example of why they dominate the web. Therefore users subconsciously associated their search engine as having the most advanced algorithms. In the same manner, the art collection validated the Forbes lifestyle and their wealth. Therefore the magazine is assumed to be reliable source of information about acquiring wealth and wealthy people. Your side project is a form of marketing to your core users by resonating with the people, becoming a reference for the industry and helping you be perceived as an authority in the field.
Multidimensional – Dynamic side projects are a major step to avoid being a static company. It gives your business more personality and character which can attract a range of demographics. For example, it’s usually people interested in SEO that will actively read news about search engines. However the self-driving car shows a side to those who are not search engine junkies. By engaging in outside interests, it also humanizes the company and helps the company become more endearing.
It’s also about being able to start a conversation with those that otherwise might not be able to relate to your main service or products. For example Mashable had a poll discussing if people would drive a self driving car, encouraging people from all walks of life to talk about Google. During the recruitment talk, the Duke students were very engaged and asked many intricate questions about the car. Imagine all the visitors that were impressed with the Forbes Galleries that talked about the collection to their associates. It’s all about finding new methods to generate word of mouth.
Distinctive Branding – There are so many startups and comparable businesses therefore it’s important to use branding techniques that stand out from the crowd and give you the marketing edge. Google’s self-driving car gives them individualized press away from Yahoo & Bing and helps them appear more creative and fun than other search engines. Yahoo or Bing doesn’t have a self-driving car, therefore they are left out of these conversations and Google can enjoy the spotlight. Since other search engines do not have futuristic projects, Google has further established their brand as a leader in technology and innovation. In the same manner, Forbes will be branded as a magazine for those that are aspiring or enjoy the finer things in life due to the art collection. Your side project in sense is a safe haven since you can use it to participate in a market that your competition doesn’t have the resources or experience to compete in.
Final Thoughts
In addition to having a natural marketing effect, the side projects are also beneficial for generating a side income and improving the quality of your services or products. It’s always important to have multiple streams of income and incentives to improve your products and services. Side projects help you look at your company from a different angle and make much needed adjustments. Google is using the self-driving car project to improve their maps and navigation. They are also setting the foundation to capitalize off the auto industry. Robert Forbes most likely gets paid for speaking engagements and the art collection add richness the Forbes culture.
Before investing in a side project make sure that you are financially stable and that your brand is established. It also should be an organic outgrowth of your business and an outlet for your interests. I doubt that these side projects were solely created for marketing purposes; in fact both were developed from the dreams and hobbies of the founder and/or current president.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
The Marketing Behind Google’s Self-Driving Car and Forbes’s Art Collection
Friday, October 07, 2011
Learning From Tavi Gevinson and Krystal Harrell
Entrepreneurship is gaining steam, especially among the next generation. The ideal of working at a stable company until retirement is long gone. Instead we've all been inspired by basement inventions and motivated by the "Great Recession" to create our own paths. Here are a couple of "Next Generation" Entrepreneurs that I enjoyed reading about!
Age: 15
Her Story: I thought this would be pretty inspiring for other bloggers that want to expand beyond just blogging.
Tavi Gevinson gained legitimacy in the fashion community by designers and critics through her blog Style Rookier. CNN reports that Gevinson is going to launch an online publication of her called Rookie magazine, which will further make her mark in the fashion industry and strengthen her brand. Gevinson already has a loyal following that believes in her plans for the future and want to contribute."After announcing her plans to to launch the online mag through her blog, she received 2,900 email submission to join her writing team within 10 days."
With Rookie, Gevinson explains to CNN, "she wants to offer no-nonsense, "honest" content about fashion, feminism, and life issues for girls -- much like Jane Pratt's Sassy provided a breath of fresh air for feministas in the 1980s and early `90s."
Gevinson has used her exposure and networks to attract celebrities, influential figures in Hollywood and fashion for original and fun content. "Her recent Rookie posts include a dramatic first kiss tale by Bridesmaids director Paul Feig, an interview with actress Aubrey Plaza of Parks & Recreation, and guest contributions from Joss Whedon, Zooey Deschanel, Dan Savage, and Jack Black."
Gevinson now has her sights to expands offline to showcase "the site's writing, photography, and illustrations in a semi-annual print issue." and perhaps even gain a larger audience. She hesitates to call her blog and online publication a job. "It doesn't feel like a business right now," she says. Despite the ad sales which result in revenue, her and her editorial director will not earn a salary. They most likely will use as much money as possible to reinvest back into the business and the joy of seeing her business grow is payment enough for now. "I get a lot of creative satisfaction out of doing it."
My Thoughts: The set-up costs for starting a blog are very low. Therefore if you want to start a magazine and don't want to risk the funds, consider starting a quality & authoritative blog instead. Also don't just blog in a vacuum, let other news outlets, industry leaders and community members learn about your pursuits. Then others will be more interested in participating which will futher increase your connects and talent pool.
Age: 23
Her Story: I've grown a deep interest in design and marketing, therefore her story captured my attention.
Instead of Krystal Harrell using her money for the next outfit like other 13 years olds, she used her $20 loaned to start Lucky You Design. She was 16 when Harrell "expanded the clothing company from pajamas to customized apparel and accessories." In 2009 she sold Lucky You and used the funds to start up her next venture, Create Exposure, in 2010. A related business that she gained experience though from her first venture....marketing research, PR and design services focused on appealing to young consumers.
CNN reports, "In Harrell's hometown of Charlotte, N.C., the company has worked with clients such as SKYY Vodka and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation." Her small staff of two and six long-time freelancers are already making plans participate in the next major and big event by developing online social tools for the Democratic National Conventions which will be in Charlotte. As a started in my review of how True Religion Jeans started, look for opportunities in your area first. Make an impression in your community and you would have proved yourself worthy to work with companies and business in other cities.
In addition to her marketing firm, Harrell is also exploring other untapped business ventures...camel milk. CNN explains, "Working with a female business partner in Karachi, Pakistan, Harrell has developed partnerships with farmers and manufacturers in North Carolina and plans to hit the ground running with her own U.S. camel milk brand when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves the product, which Harrell bets will happen in early 2012."
My Thoughts: Don't do what other less ambitious people are doing. While other 13 year olds were trying to become popular and trying to avoid being labeled a nerd, she was thinking about her future. Think about your future and how you want to impact the world even if a small segment pursuing similar goals or taking on the same action.
If you are trying to sell a business, you don't necessarily need to be an expert in the field, it just needs to be a novel idea such as YouTube. When starting ventures, think about your lifestyle and talents. What sector of the economy can you reach that others don't have the insight or knowledge to attract? Once you think about these factors then you are almost ready.
Once again you must build relationships with other leaders in your industry. She is networking with another female entrepreneur in Pakistan, developing partnerships with farmers in her hometown state and staying in contact with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. These contacts will streamline many seemingly complex processes.
You can check out the gallery of six more entrepreneurs compiled by CNN at: 25 and under: Next-gen female entrepreneurs
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