Write A Review!

A few years ago I wrote a blog post about my new lemonade stand policy - that henceforth I would stop at every lemonade stand I drove by....if for no reason other than to encourage young entrepreneurs. See - Encouraging Children.

(Although this past summer I once stopped, prepared to buy, at one and these "rich kids" were asking for $3 for a Dixie cup of powder-mix lemonade! I told them the price was too high and drove away - an economic lesson nonetheless.)

Last week I was standing outside a small Italian deli/eatery here in London trying to figure out whether or not to take a chance on eating there. Quite frankly, some of the food here in London really sucks. "Overpriced" is bad enough, but when it sucks too you really get indigestion.

Google Reviews were scant on this little Italian place.

I took my family in and was amazed at how good the meatballs and bolognese sauce were.

Of course it was pricey and the portions were small...

But I went home and wrote a glowing 5-star review for the place on Google.

And a couple months ago I did the same thing for my mechanic. I actually asked him what site he wanted the review on.

First of all, you should support these places that are good....because otherwise they will be gone. So a positive review, in the year 2014 AD, can really help.

Secondly, if you offer to write one, you may even wangle a free dessert or otherwise ingratiate yourself at the establishment.

Reviews are VERY IMPORTANT. You can have the best product/service in the world but if you suck at marketing you may be doomed.

A lot of people are good a making meatballs or whatever BUT they don't know $hit about how important reviews and marketing are.

The World Is ENDING!

And I'm not talking about the imminent crash of the stock and bond markets....or any other such trivialities.

I just now joined both Twitter AND Pinterest!

I actually only wanted to join Pinterest....but I needed a Twitter account in order to create an anonymous profile. Otherwise it syncs with your real name on MyFaceSpaceBook.

What can I say?

I'm experimenting with traffic generation for HomeschoolDad.com...

Website Building Chronicles - 5 - Wasting Time?

For the first 15+ years after I graduated from UPenn I spent all my time, and some of my energy, on *trading*. I pretty much did nothing else on the side except blog, golf, read non-fiction, move (6 homes!),....and consume adult beverages.

But now that I'm trying to reinvent myself, and my career as an edu-preneur of some sort I've been drawn into all new intellectual territories, e.g. the fields of marketing, product creation, service, website development, and networking.  Just check out my reading list to see how my focus has evolved over the years from history and pontificators....to entrepreneurs and more practical subjects.

Here's a decent link-fest I just came across that some of you might find interesting:

The Best and Worst Startup Stuff - 2011

Although one item in particular on it caught me in the mid-section/balls:

Worst startup mistake: Having a big burn rate.


Runner-up: Procrastinating by reading (or writing) blogs. Excuse me, I gotta get back to work.

Blogs?  A waste of time?

Perhaps.  There's at least a point of *diminishing returns* to time spent on them - as with just about anything else.

While I continue to trudge ahead with HomeschoolDad.com....in the back of my mind lurks significant doubt that I should even be messing around with incorporating a blog of *free advice*. So that's why the content is thus far mostly light and self-promotional on that website.

But even with still scarce posting it seems like the work keeps piling up...

Because I could probably just create my info-products: videos, lessons, worksheets, etc. and just put them out on ClickBank with a high affiliate commission. That would effectively leave ALL of the pain-in-the-butt *marketing* to others.

See also:

Website Building Chronicles 1 - For Morons

Website Building Chronicles 2 - Eben Pagan Selling Me On Change

Website Building Chronicles 3 - The Sales Letter

Website Building Chronicles 4 - Facebook

Website Building Chronicles - 4 - Facebook

I've spent the last couple days learning about Facebook marketing and how I can use it for my new edu-site - HomeschoolDad.com.

I purchased the young lady above's product for $97 and am powering through the 20 training videos. (It might be a little pricey for what it is, nonetheless it is helpful.)

I must say that despite being a Headbook-hater, the immense power of the platform is not to be denied - especially for someone looking to sell a product. It's really opened my eyes.

Facebook basically killed the growth of this blog - and it did so in two ways.

First, everyone started spending all their time on the social network; they stopped prowling the web for interesting and hilarious blogs.

And secondly, I myself never took the time to promote Marginalizing Morons on Facebook. I tried for a minute but didn't know what I was doing.

I'm seeing now that although my blog is too *general* for Google keyword optimization and promotion....that there are still many ways I could have, and can successfully promote it on Headbook.

Whatever, moving forward...

I think Facebook is so powerful from a marketing standpoint, that a well-done Fan Page can conceivably even preclude the need for a website altogether.

It's just easier for word-of-mouth and links to go viral on it than via the vast World Wide Web of unconnected and mostly anonymous people.

So I'm working on the HomeschoolDad.com Fan Page, among many other things, at the moment.

Oh and I also subscribed to a few Facebook marketing blogs. Thankfully, there doesn't seem to be too much to learning and implementing the basics.

See also:

Website Building Chronicles 1 - For Morons

Website Building Chronicles 2 - Eben Pagan Selling Me On Change

Website Building Chronicles 3 - The Sales Letter

Website Building Chronicles - 3 - The Sales Letter

Do y'all know what a *sales letter* is?

Of course you get them in your junk(!) mail nearly everyday.

But they are alive and thriving online too. In fact they are all over the freakin' place since stamps are cheaper on the web.

These days I've been working on my own for HomeschoolDad.com.

One expert resource I've found is Dan Kennedy. I had previously read one of this other books and was very impressed. All these other guys (like Eben Pagan) mention him repeatedly and Kennedy certainly lives up the hype, IMO.

I just procured Kennedy's The Ultimate Sales Letter: Attract New Customers. Boost your Sales., I devoured it, and must say it was very helpful.

You have to understand that these guys have VAST experience; they've split-tested everything from fonts to formats to diction; and have amassed expertise that we could never acquire independently.

Heck Kennedy's book is only $10 AND I did one better - borrowing it from my library.

The other thing you can do, of course, is just read a bunch of successful sales letters/pitches online!

In fact Tim Ferriss recently did a blog post on the dude who's made tens of million$ from "The Truth About Six-Pack Abs" info-products. So I watched his sales videos closely and jotted down a few important notes.

Building a sales page, website, ebooks, etc. is a *process*. What I've learned is to overcome my school-induced perfectionism and to just throw something up and tweak/refine on the go.

I grabbed some popular software to help make snazzy sales pages - OptimizePress - for $97 or so.

Actually when I'm done I will have SEVERAL sales pages to which I'll direct different audiences depending upon demographics, specific group bigotries, etc.

One thing that's holding me back, still, is that I'm not entirely clear WHAT I'm selling and TO WHOM.

But the more research and brainstorming I do, the more clarity I'm gaining.

See also:

Website Building Chronicles 1 - For Morons

Website Building Chronicles 2 - Eben Pagan Selling Me On Change

Golf Spam

Everywhere on the web I go I see an ad for this golf instructor...

I signed up for his *free tips*...

And he proceeded to spam me with about 20, TWENTY freakin' emails within two weeks.

Obviously I had to unsubscribe and I may or may not go back and read/watch what he sent me originally.

But c'mon whoever his *web consultant* is needs to get a clue. He may be hitting the ball far and straight down the fairway but his online marketing is a complete shank.

The people signing up for HomeschoolDad.com....I'll email them only once in a blue moon.

Website Building Chronicles - 2 - Eben Pagan Selling Me On Change

The guy is one of the biggest names in internet marketing. Apparently he's already sold over $100 million worth of info-products online. Some of you might recognize him as *David D'Angelo* of *Double Your Dating* fame.

Anyways I paid $1997 last week to sign up for his Guru Masterclass - in hopes that it would get me moving along with HomeschoolDad.com.

Well so far it most certainly has. I've learned from him that my innate aversion to *sales/marketing* is something I HAVE to exorcise if I want to remake myself as an edu-coach.

He's got me working on all the basic sales tactics that many of y'all who've been in that line of work are no doubt familiar with: an elevator pitch, copywriting, understanding the prospective customer, etc.

While most of it appears to be commonsense I submit it MOST CERTAINLY IS NOT. Plus it represents a whole new mindset for me. Eben asserts that online wantrepreneurs should spend 80% of their time on MARKETING and only 20% of their time on the PRODUCT. That certainly sounds shady, does it not? Whatever. Like it ain't SHADY to work for a hedge fund, a morally bankrupt corporation, the government, be a union thug,...

There are all these scientifically proven lines of conversation, tactics if you will, to get a customer to essentially do whatever you tell them . It's all about emotional hot buttons, sequencing, selling *benefits* instead of products, etc. For a successful marketer, the key is to not just help people, but more accurately you have to *help them help themselves* AND they will magically pay whatever you charge! Eben preaches this as nothing short of gospel.

I already gave it a whirl, sort of, and this new mindset landed me $12 or so right off the bat.

Yesterday there was a guy at the driving range next to me hitting balls. I instantly noticed that he was making a common error with his swing. A few minutes later his wife came by and told him that they had to go, that they were up next on the tee. Now I hit balls at this course a lot - recall I bought 40,000 range balls there last summer - and usually Hackers get to the course late, foolishly buy more balls than they can hit, and then have to leave a bunch at the range when called to the first tee. Obviously, ball-beaters like me scoop those extras right up.

I said to myself, I bet if I give that guy a tip on his swing he'll give me the balance of his range balls. But what a manipulative, slimy thought, right?

Well I interrupted his practice and told him he was casting real bad, releasing his wrist cock at the top of the swing. About 5 shots later he was beaming and thanked me profusely - even loudly asserting that I should *teach*. He then handed me an entire jumbo bucket of balls that he had sitting there and ran off to the tee.

Now I didn't know he had that many balls he had left but nonetheless, I was positively chilled by the way this played out - how the transaction unfolded just as I imagined.

The balls? Well a year or so later I've hit about 23,000 of them. My left hand is always calloused BUT my swing is at a whole new level!

See also - Website Building Chronicles - 1 - For Morons.

Terrific Marketing Imagery!

Say what?

Magic is *comfortable in his own skin*???

Well we already knew that he wasn't comfortable in latex or organic sheepskin!!!

The Marketing/Usage Divide

I saw this item - the Biju Twin Head Massager - at the mall yesterday. Note the anatomical target on the product box:

But check out the *labeling* on the unabashedly truthful World Wide Web:

It reminds me of those semi-automatic guns that used to sell like hotcakes. They were engineered specifically so it was easy for yahoos to convert them to fully automatic weapons. Paul Mitchell probably has a cache of them!

What do they call this in the Big Pharma world - off-label use or something?

Bleepin' Salesmen

So I go to look at certified pre-owned minivans last week...

I tell the guy that my wife will have to come and look on the weekend, maybe.

That was Tuesday; since then, he's emailed me three times, someone else (secretary?) in his office also emailed, and he personally called me three freakin' times.

Meanwhile, Mrs. C-Nut has been so busy (home at 10:30pm on Wednesday and 8:30pm on Thursday) that I have barely even had time to talk about a *new car* with her.

Yet this huckster keeps badgering me, wanting to know when I might bring my wife down.

He just called now and I cut him off, and told him off. "DO NOT TO CALL OR EMAIL ME AGAIN UNTIL AFTER I CONTACT YOU!"

Most of these guys are clueless - that ain't how to sell - not to me anyway!

I'm tempted to contact his manager, call this clown out, and ask to deal with another sales rep - except that....that might not be so fair.

It's probably the sales manager who's been yelling at the guy to *follow-up* and SELL, SELL, SELL in the first place.

I did get around to discussing this with my wife a bit but we are at an impasse.

We're just not sure if we want to spend 17-18k on a used minivan (Town & Country with 30-40k miles on it, 1-3 years old).

We already have a 2006 Tahoe...

So maybe we just need an $8,000 *little* car for my wife to take to the train station and for me to use for weekend golf trips and whatnot? $5 per gallon gas will be here within 2 years - I predict.

Do any of y'all have opinions on buying a one year old car with 30,000 miles on it? These cars, this young, are all from rental car fleets. Having only EVER had clunkers (until the Tahoe semi-gift from MIL this year), we don't know cars or the first thing about buying them at all.

My question is really - does putting all that mileage on a car over a short period mean reduce the quality of it?

The sales guy said that those cars have mostly lower-impact *highway* miles on them PLUS they are meticulously maintained by the companies - at least in terms of regular oil changes and whatnot.

AND he said that they generally get them from rental companies for cheaper prices so that means they are cheaper on his lot.

After some deliberation, I've concluded that essentially everything is pretty much priced in. And all a buyer has to calculate is how much they are willing to pay, and for what.

But it's just brutal having to deal with these small time *skimmers*.

This Can't Be Real!

Turn your speakers on, click this link, and listen to the perky young lady's irresistible sales pitch.

Ethical Pricing?

In my Better Blogging research, I've come across a bazillion online hucksters selling their wares.

They use every techno-slick tactic out there to convince MORE people to buy their products. They have testimonials, SEO-optimized keywords, money-back guarantee hooks, affiliate bribery, and use what are now scientifically proven *internet marketing* templates.

Sure, I'd like to make some money online, who wouldn't? But my ambitions are, and have forever been, held in check by my morals. The last thing in the world I want to be is an *online skimmer*.

If I want to *skim*....I'll just stick with trading - only I'll actively solicit OPM ("other people's money") to gamble with.

There's a thin moral line, I think, when it comes down to pricing and marketing a product.

For example, say you want to sell an informational product that claims to teach people how to make $$$$ online - with their blog, website, or whatever.

And say you price it at $100.

But, only 1 out of 1,000 of your customers has success with it. Assume they go on to get rich, move out of their mother's basement, live like Tim Ferriss, etc.

That's great, right? You can, and without a doubt will, tout this success in additional marketing for your product.

Except that you might have 999 people who feel like they were ripped off - who feel like they were sold a bill of goods.

This is only a personal judgment, but I'd feel bad about the people I duped into buying. I'd feel more like I just conned $100,000 out of delusion Morons than I'd feel like I *made* one success story.

Probably the enlightened libertarian/capitalist response to my wussy conscience is - "People have to be or assumed responsible enough to make their own purchasing decisions..."

And I get that, I think.

Except that....that ought to be weighed against all the scheming and sneaky marketing that was utilized upfront.

So what's a morally confused business man to do?

I don't well know.

Price things low - to be safe, maybe?

And, perhaps only target customers whom you think the product appropriate?

Golf Channel's Birdies

All I have to say is that this show, now in its perhaps third installment, where young golf chicks compete for entries into lower-tier LPGA golf tournaments was a brilliant business/marketing play.

Realize that Golf Channel needs filler for its broadcasts beyond the latest informercial practice-aids that are *guaranteed* to lower one's handicap.

And not only is self-produced reality TV a great low-cost option....but this particular show is well-targeted to the typical Golf Channel addict - 'old coots'!

These dirty old men are all watching this program, and why wouldn't they? The producers pick only the youngest, perkiest female contestants. And in the course of the *drama*, they are continually bending over, stretching, and bouncing around in their skirts and tight blouses.

You non-males and non-golfers out there have to understand that seeing an attractive woman out on a golf course is nothing short of like espying an oasis over the desert horizon.  Seriously.

Both Cialis AND Viagra wanted to badly sponsor this show, and Golf Channel really wanted their money, but big wigs thought it would have been a bit too revelatory!