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Want to Close the Deal? Try Chatting with Customers Online

People often say they do not like advertisements, but that may change if the ads start lowering their cellphone bills.

Cellular phone carriers like Verizon, Sprint and Cingular, now the new AT&T, are beginning to test and roll out advertising on mobile phone screens, and by next year, cellphone advertising is likely to be more common.

In exchange, the companies say, their subscribers will enjoy improved mobile Internet services and content provided free or at reduced prices. Other companies like Virgin Mobile USA and Amp’d Mobile are taking the idea a step further, rewarding customers for viewing ads by lowering their cellphone bills.

Amp’d, a cellphone company that aims its marketing at 18- to 24-year-olds in the United States, will begin offering an opt-in advertising plan this year. Customers who sign up will gain access to free shows and other content — if they are willing to put up with some ads.

“When people are consuming this stuff on their phones, it adds up to a lot of money,” said Brian Mullen, director for content business development for Amp’d.

Another company, Xero Mobile, plans to distribute one million free cellphones on college campuses across the United States this year and give customers 40 percent off on their calling plans, if they watch up to four commercials a day, said Rich Clayton, a spokesman for Xero. In Britain, a company called Blyk plans to provide a completely free plan on phones that are paid for by ads.

It was inevitable that advertising would hit the small screen sooner or later, industry analysts said. Cellphones are the most pervasive media device, beating out computers and televisions, as consumers keep their mobile phones at their side nearly every moment of the day.

A small but growing number of consumers, in particular, younger ones, are using their mobile phones for text messaging, surfing the mobile Internet, watching short shows, taking photos or videos and checking e-mail messages. Only time will tell if cellphones are destined to become like all other forms of media — supported by both subscription costs and by advertising.

Still, these new phone services will become mainstream only if their prices are lowered, possibly through advertising, analysts said. On average, consumers in the United States spend $50 to $60 a month for cellphone service, including data features. The average total bill has been flat for the last few years, even as voice call charges have decreased, because of the increase in fees for text messages and mobile e-mail messages.

“Advertising absolutely makes sense to extend expensive multimedia services and mobile TV to the mass market,” said Linda Barrabee, an analyst with the Yankee Group, a technology research and consulting firm based in Boston. “I think we will see consumers say, ‘You know what, I’m only going to spend this much money on my mobile phone.’ ”

In Asia, by contrast, multimedia mobile applications are more commonly used, and those services became more affordable there without advertising because of quick adaptation by consumers, analysts said.

The new uses of cellphones present vast opportunities for consumer brand companies, which are finding it difficult to reach customers through traditional media like magazines and television. Mobile phones can handle ads in many forms, including video, text messages, search and banner displays. And cellphone ads can be fine-tuned based on customer data.

But there is a chicken-and-egg factor when it comes to advertising. Big advertisers generally want to see further adoption of services before they pour significant money into mobile ads. Advertisers like Procter & Gamble, Burger King and Pepsi have been experimenting with mobile phone ads, but, in total, cellphone advertising generated only about $421 million in the United States last year, according to eMarketer, a digital advertising research firm. EMarketer predicted this month that mobile advertising would reach $4.8 billion across the country by 2011.

Despite the hopeful thinking, there is no guarantee mobile ads will catch on. “I would not want them on the phone even if that would help cut costs,” said Conor Kelly, 20, a student at Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. Mr. Kelly said he did not mind subtle sponsorships of content on his phone, but he would not want it go beyond that.

“It gets to a point where you’re almost encroaching on someone’s privacy,” Mr. Kelly said.

In the early days of the commercial Internet, some service providers tried giving away online access in exchange for showing ads to users, but those efforts did not pan out.

For the subsidized approach to work this time around, cellphone companies must prove that consumers pay attention to ads. “We have to ensure that the models that we pursue are those that actually get seen and acted on by consumers,” said Marc Lefar, chief marketing officer for AT&T’s wireless unit, which used to be called Cingular Wireless. AT&T is testing various forms of cellphone advertising, with introduction of ads planned this year.

As of now, text messaging is the most common venue for mobile phone ads. Signs, food packaging and even TV spots feature a code that phone users can text to be entered in promotions. 1-800-Flowers, for example, is running a sweepstakes in the New York area for a flower arrangement that comes in a small margarita glass. Next week, Nike will allow consumers to alter one of its TV commercials online and send their creations to their friends’ phones.

Some consumers may not realize that opt-in text message ads generate a charge for those who pay for each incoming text message. Such costs have deterred some marketers from creating mobile ads, said Sarah Kim Baehr, vice president for media at Avenue A Razorfish, an interactive ad agency that is part of aQuantive.

As mobile phones are used for more tasks, ads will pop up increasingly in more varied forms, ad executives said. Preroll video ads have already started to appear. Advertisers like Toyota have created 10-second commercials to run before miniepisodes of Fox shows, and the network promotes the strategy as a great way to reach a young audience.

“Look around,” said Mitch Feinman, senior vice president of Fox Mobile Entertainment. “All the young males and kids, they’re on their mobiles.”

Advertisers are generally paying a high price to try cellphone ads, about $40 for a thousand viewings of their ads, or twice as much as many TV spots, analysts said. The performance of these ads over the next year or so will determine whether they are likely to provide enough income to justify giving customers a price break on service fees.

Some companies are not waiting to find out. Virgin Mobile USA introduced a program last summer it calls Sugar Mama that compensates its phone users with free calling minutes for watching commercials, reading advertiser text messages and taking surveys from brands. Since last July, about 250,000 phone users have participated, earning a total of about three million minutes, said Howard Handler, chief marketing officer of Virgin Mobile USA.

Advertisers like the United States Navy and Levi Strauss Signature are showing ads through Virgin Mobile USA’s program, in part, because they liked the idea of compensating consumers for the time they spend watching their ads. “It gives us the assurance that our message is being heard,” said Stacy Doren, director for media and online at Levis Strauss Signature.

The carriers have so far been wary of exposing their customers to ads because the wireless marketplace is so competitive, said Scott A. Ellison, vice president for mobile at IDC, a technology and communications research firm.

“Advertisers are always hungry for new ways to reach people, however that’s a little scary for the carriers because they’re concerned over how the end user experience will be impacted,” Mr. Ellison said.

Google and Yahoo are also investing in mobile advertising, moving their search capacities to phones and selling sponsored search ads. Google executives have said publicly that they think phone service will one day be free and supported by advertising.

If advertising on mobile phones generates enough income to offer significant phone subsidies, many companies will probably allow phone users to choose whether they want ads, analysts said.

There are some consumers who would not want much advertising, no matter the price break. Younger consumers, whose parents do not want to upgrade their phones, and lower-income shoppers who cannot afford the upgrades may be the most receptive to ads.

Future ad packages might include free text messaging for people who agree to receive text message ads, said Roger Wood, senior vice president and general manager of the Americas region for Amobee Media Services, a company that is working with cellphone companies to test advertising-financed services in the United States and abroad. Underwriting mobile phone services would be a good opportunity for brands to provide value to customers rather than just blasting them with messages, said Mark Kingdon, the chief executive of Organic, a digital ad agency and part of the Omnicom Group.

Danny Herb, an avid text messager, said he would welcome advertising if it helped him cover his phone’s mobile video and Internet capacities. Mr. Herb, 25, said he did not use other features on his phone because they were expensive. But he said he would use them if they were free with ads.

“I wouldn’t pay for mobile Internet or video,” Mr. Herb said. “My text messaging costs me too much.”

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Is Nature a Marketing Guru?

The Most Important Part Of Any Ad

Technology rules. Yeah, for about five minutes--then natural instincts take over. Are you stupid enough to fight Mamma Nature? Well go ahead and rewrite the rules if you can, cause the Big Mamma knows one thing. She’s tried and tested it all. And if you want to play by her kooky rules, she is willing to teach you a thing or two.

The question is, are you willing to learn?

Do You Pay in Advance?
Have you noticed how big a brand Red Bull is today? Or how insignificant their advertising is? Red Bull shuns print advertising and has never done a triple back flip on a web campaign. Yet, it has found roots in over 50 countries. And has cemented its loyalty in the fickle land of teenagers.

So what’s Red Bull’s big secret?

It’s called GIVING.

Their marketing strategy was simple. They enticed students with free cases of Red Bull, if they threw a party. Guess how many students need an excuse to have a party? With a simple act of giving away free cases to the right target audience in the right universities, Red Bull became a very rich Red Bull.

Yet Where Are Most Marketing Plans Aimed?
Too often marketing is aimed solely at GETTING. Look at all those marketing plans, those many advertisements blaring away on the radio and TV. It’s get, get -- all the time!

Yet, nature pooh poohs the stuff. Putting a carrot (not cart) before the horse, nature works on the giving part first. In its own little marketing and advertising way, a flower works contrary to most marketers. Using the bait of colour and nectar, it draws the bees, knowing full well that its very existence depends on giving bees what they want first, so the bees will carry their pollen.

Wander down the supermarket aisle and you’ll see what I mean. Fifty thousand brands stare at you, screaming at you to buy them. Then a little ol’ lady offers you a sample of a product. Fifteen seconds into your tasting session, she gives you another sample. Then, for no apparent reason, a bottle or two of the product finds itself in your cart. Were you sold? You betcha!

Giving works for a simple reason. Nature hates imbalance. If the deer get faster, so do the cheetahs. It’s a classic system to keep things in balance. Which effectively means that to create an imbalance in marketing in your favor, you’ve got to give first.

Are You Ready To Do the 1-2-3 and Cha-Cha-Cha?
Do you play the dating game? Or do you rush in to conquer most of the time? Mamma Nature knows that haste makes waste. Yet marketers think nothing of blowing squillions of dollars on various hare-brained, get-rich-quick schemes that achieve far less than their potential.

Here's an example. Harley Davidson has been to hog hell and back. Just in time to save its bacon, it decided to work on the cha-cha-cha instead of the wham, bam method. The reward has manifested itself in thousands of die-hard Harley fans that would go all the way on their Harleys. Even today, despite being in an enviable position, Harley still finds time to wine and dine its customers while thumbing its nose at traditional media.

Another good example of cha-cha-cha marketing is how the British operated in the 19th century. Instead of slamming their way into conquering new lands, they went as traders. Whether history likes it or not, they maximized their potential in a systematic and natural marketing manner.

What Happens When Nature Goofs Up
Even nature loses out when it fails to obey its own rules. As long as it sticks to its spring, summer, autumn, winter routine, we go along with the "relationship." Yet every time it does the 60-second prime time TV spot on us, we absolutely hate it. Oh sure, there’s great colour, drama and pizzazz in a whirling tornado, but there’s zero empathy and a whole lot of defiance.

Turn on the music, move those feet. This isn’t some behemoth CRM program we’re talking about. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but flowers arouse less suspicion. Do the cha-cha-cha and the getting to know your customer. It’s cheaper, it follows steps, and it works.

Is Your Target Audience "Everyone?"
Nature would laugh at you and laugh heartily. Are you setting yourself up for disaster or what? Even a pimple-ridden 13 year old knows exactly who her knight in shining armor is. While the concept of being in the company of 20 gorgeous men would set her eyes alight, her brain knows better.

Yet most businesses horrify the heck out of Nature. In an apparent suicidal move, they go after a general audience in order to maximize their returns. Some of the biggest brands today are built on single-minded focus. Mercedes, Volvo, Rolex, McDonalds, Red Bull and Playboy all have a clearly defined target audience.

If you doubt it, take a look at a wild dog attack on a National Geographic broadcast. Have you noticed the focus and strategy of their attack? They single out the prey and go after it in a pre-defined relay system. It gets results, and isn’t that what you want?

Gotta Keep on Dancing
When was the last time your heart stopped beating? And isn’t that good, because if it did, you’d be taking harp lessons in a big hurry. Nature doesn’t stop its marketing campaign and neither should you. The first thing businesses do when the economy takes a downturn is pull the plug on marketing. Fat good that’s going to do you! That’s like telling your heart to work at half the heart beats when things aren’t good.

The planet doesn’t stop rotating, the trees don’t stop growing and the fish don’t stop swimming. Yet in an absolute violation of the most basic law of nature, we stop and start like some trainee driver.

There Ain’t No One Like Me!
Nature doesn’t brand-extend. It creates something and then it throws away the mould. When it creates a product, it makes sure that product thrives, grows and multiplies. It adds colour, shape and size for a bountiful variety, but brand extension is a no-no.

Yet look at some of the biggies out there. They put out their brands and then put their names on everything from computers to soap. Dove still stands for soap with 1/4th moisturising cream. Yet, in the supermarket, Dove tries to take on the full force of nature by brand-extending.

Does it work? Yes and no. People have too much clutter in their heads already. To add to that clutter is asking for trouble. Our brains identify with one object when we are given a name.

From Nokia to Chimpanzee
When I say Nokia, you say mobile phone. Yet Nokia sold everything from gumboots to computers -- even TV sets. Then one day it dawned on them that they could conquer the world with a brand name that stood for one thing and one thing alone.

Sure a chimpanzee and a baboon are both monkeys, but they’re essentially different products. You won’t find a chimpanzee light or a chimpanzee diet in the species. They’re either chimps or they’re baboons! Besides, their unique brand name allows you to identify them with zero confusion every time! Uniqueness is your brand’s birthright. Use it well.

Here are some "Au Naturel" guidelines to business and marketing strategy:

1) Pay in Advance: First you shall sow, and then you shall reap. And you must sow in fertile ground not on rocky soil. Give, and you shall receive. Does this all sound familiar? Are you giving away anything worthwhile on your website, through your advertising, in your brochures?

2) Do the dance one step at a time: You’ll just make a fool of yourself if you don’t build up your reputation with your customers. Give them the best you possibly can. When nature puts on a beautiful butterfly, it starts with a worm.

3) Put on the glasses: Get focus in your life because Nature will make sure you pay big time if you don’t. Sure you can get business, but think of what’s possible if you focus. A little focus right now reaps long-term rewards. It’s your choice.

4) She’s only happy when she’s dancing: Is that a Bryan Adams song? Or is Nature telling us what we should be doing? She’s on the floor. Go on and boogie.

5) And then there was one: Is your fingerprint different? Is your iris different? Do you have a clone? Nature doesn’t think it works in real life. Why do you think differently?

6) And finally: Take off your headphones and look at what nature is saying.

It’s showing you the colour of money!

By Sean D'Souza, http://www.psychotactics.com/

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Open This

Write a Keyword-Rich Article to Increase Site Traffic

Comedian/Actor Jack Black on Millionaire Comedy Edition

Want to increase traffic, build credibility, improve your search engine rankings and get people talking about your business--at no cost? Then open up your word processor, and start writing. By determining your best search keywords, writing an article that includes those keywords and getting it distributed online, you'll be putting yourself on the radar of people looking for what you provide.

Step 1: Set up your site for maximum "searchability."
Your site has to feature the keywords your potential customers use to search for your product if you want them to find you. To determine your keywords, type a word or term you think people in your market might search for into Yahoo! Search Marketing's Keyword Selector Tool to find out how many people searched for that particular term over the past month. It'll also show you a list of related words and phrases and how often they were searched over the last month, too.

Once you’ve generated a list of useful keyword ideas, you can do some more serious research. Wordtracker goes into more depth to show you not only what people are searching for online but also how many other sites are competing for the same audience. You're looking for search terms that are popular but don't have too many sites competing for them. Wordtracker is a paid service, but you can sign up for a day for less than $8 and for a week for less than $27.

Now that you have some great keywords for your market, find as many places as you can to plug them into your site. Use them in your title tags, source code, page copy, headers and subheads, and your opt-in.

Step 2: Create a keyword-rich article.
Write a keyword-rich article that relates to what you sell, then give it away to other sites--for free. Believe it or not, this is one of the best ways to drive a steady stream of eager customers to your site.

Why does it work? Well, people basically come online for one of two reasons: to check their e-mail or to look for information. Sure, some of them end up making purchases, but this isn't generally the reason they log on. They want the answer to a question or the solution to a problem--and you can provide that in a short article.

Make sure that each article you write contains rare, valuable or hard-to-find information. Not only will this increase the chances that other site owners or managers will post your article, it'll also increase the number of visitors who click through to your site after reading it.

For example, if you have a site that sells used golf equipment, you could write an article about three things to look for in a good, pre-owned putter. Or if you sell an e-book about setting up your own home computer network, why not write an article about common problems people have in setting up a wireless router?

Look for article ideas in the questions people ask you all the time or in the things you often see people doing wrong. Share hot new tips on how to use the products you sell, or talk about trends you've spotted in your industry. Your quick piece should:

• Be no longer than 400 words (not even a whole page in Microsoft Word)
• Contain a relevant keyword in the first 90 characters
• Contain the keyword in the first and last paragraphs
• Have a short, credibility-building bio with a link to your site at the end. For instance, "Joe Smith is a recognized authority on the subject of widgets. His site, www.JoesWidgets.com, provides a wealth of informative articles and resources on everything you'll ever need to know about widgets."

Step 3: Get your content headed everywhere on the web.
Once you've taken the time to write one or two articles, head to one of these top online content distribution sites. Upload your keyword-rich content to:

• www.contentdesk.com
• www.ezinearticles.com
• www.freesticky.com
• www.goarticles.com
• www.ideamarketers.com
• www.findsticky.com

These sites carry hundreds (some carry thousands) of articles on a range of topics. If someone's looking for content for their site, they can download or copy an article from the distribution site without paying a dime to use it. They can't change the text of the article, and they must publish it with the author's name and information intact.

Now people plugging your keywords into search engines will be directed to your content at these highly ranked sites, and site owners looking for fresh, search engine-attracting content will download your article--along with your bio and link--and put it up on their pages. And once visitors see that you know what you're talking about, they'll click on the link in your bio and head straight to your site.

Some content distribution sites also offer "send to a friend" links next to articles posted on their sites, so make sure you're uploading your articles to sites with this kind of capability. Every time someone enjoys your article enough to pass it on, your audience grows. And since people don't forward bad content to their friends, they're basically recommending you as a credible source just by passing it on.

The best thing about this strategy is these visitors are quality, targeted traffic--they actually want what you're selling because you're meeting a need or giving them help with the problem they came online to solve.

Derek Gehl is Entrepreneur.com's "E-Business" columnist and the CEO of the Internet Marketing Center, an internet marketing firm that has helped thousands of people learn to start and run their own online businesses.

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Why long term memory has a long term marketing effect

Six reasons why most home based businesses fail

I have a lot of glaring faults, and very few advantages in life… but the one advantage that has helped me the most in my career has been my memory.

I’m no savant. I often forget why I came into a room… the names of even close friends often disappear from my mind like smoke in front of a fan… and if I hadn’t mastered the art of making lists, I’d be one lost and startled puppy during the workday.

No — it’s my long-term memory that has served me so well. It’s not like I could tell you what I ate for lunch forty years ago on this date (that kind of specific memory recovery apparently happens to some people as they age, though). But I CAN tell you what it felt like to be, for example, a teenager in the early spring of 1968. Not just the sixties, mind you — 1968 specifically, with all the events and Zeitgeist of that particular year.

And not in an annoying “Boomer rosy glasses” kind of way, either. It wasn’t paradise back then. Things weren’t “better”… just different.

What I recall (besides certain specific adventures and discoveries and humiliations) is the nature of being young. I’ve always been able to bond quickly with people of all ages, from all sorts of different backgrounds… mostly because there’s almost always something in their life experience that I can genuinely identify with.

Because I remember how it felt.

I vividly recall being a small kid, a rebellious teen, an arrogant college bon vivant, a clueless young adult, and on up the ladder. Through a series of lucky and unlucky accidents, I experienced — early, so the lessons burned themselves into my brain — true love and angst-ridden heartbreak, death-cheating misadventures, and an insider’s view of every social revolution that rained down on the western American landscape last century.

This avalanche of experience is not unusual for someone my age.

What IS unusual… is that I remember it all. It’s rare for me to meet a contemporary who has any good stories from those years, even though their eyes light up whenever I remind them of the particular “feel” of those times.

Many people consider looking back to be an unworthy skill. What’s done is done, and all that. Don’t live in the past.

Not for a writer. I’m not ready to pen my autobiography yet, but I think about it. Not because I experienced any kind of high drama that would make Hollywood swoon… but because living a full life means knowing how others have lived theirs.

And I want to be part of that link between the future and the past.

I’m a sucker for biographies. Unless you devour at least a few biographies, you will never know what it was like to live in a different time. Each era is fascinating, from ancient civilizations through the fall of Rome and the Dark Ages, right up until this afternoon in certain parts of the world. You lose something important by ignoring what life was like for a medieval peasant, or a Ming Dynasty monk, or a 17th century Dutch explorer.

And yes… this kind of knowledge actually helps you with marketing and advertising.

Because, at its most basic, marketing crosses paths with behavioral psychology (why people do what they do), anthropology (the study of man’s quest for civilization), and the evolving history of good old street-level “get through the day” survival skills.

Dan Kennedy and I have discussed the nature of the modern entrepreneur. We like the ambition and attitude of the younger guys out there tearing it up online… but, as older marketers with proud scars from a lifetime of economic adventure, we also marvel that many of them have yet to experience a true recession. It’s easy to imagine that many of them would get blown away by a real disaster like so many puppies caught in a hurricane.

The dot-com bust of 2000 was really just a burp in the system, and even the 9/11 downturn was mild compared with past economic upheaval.

Since the late eighties, in fact, the American economy has gone apeshit. A sober look at the climb of the of Dow Industrial Average can ignite a fear of heights.

Nevertheless, there are MANY younger entrepreneurs I know who I would bet on in any crisis. They may not have lived through the full spectrum of business horrors, and may be utterely dependent on the Web for survival… but they all share a curiosity about life and their fellow man that will help them thrive no matter what happens down the road.

And that curiosity leads them to seek knowledge and advice from the rich resource of books and the stories of veterans. Including biographies of people long gone.

I’m not looking forward to writing my own biography in order to enjoy any notoriety or fame it might bring — in fact, if I’m gonna be totally honest, I have to wait until many of my friends are dead before I can share some of the juicier chapters. I wouldn’t dare reveal the truth while it could possibly hurt their careers right now. I’m not that guy.

So it will have to wait a bit longer before being published.

No, there’s another reason why I want to write it. I have a pretty typical American past — which means almost no verifiable past at all. My father’s lineage ends with his father — I have no idea who my paternal great grandparents were. No photos, not even names. And my mother’s history ends with her parents, too. My grandfather ran away from home at 13, met my grandmother when she got off the boat as a fresh immigrant from France, and that was that. There’s a couple of old tintype photos floating around the family, but no identifying notes on who’s who.

One of these ancient photos, though, is of a young man who vaguely looks like me. It startled me when I first saw it. From his clothes and certain other clues, I’m guessing the shot was snapped just before World War One. This relative, whoever he is, would have been long dead before I was born.

And I wonder what his life was like. And I imagine what a genuine thrill it would be to find his diaries or — even better — a real autobiography he’d written. It wouldn’t matter whether he’d lived a grand life, or a mundane existence without drama.

I just wonder what it felt like to be him. Living then.

And so, I want to write my autobiography — and tell the brutal truth, as I experienced it — not for me, or my friends. But for that kid down the line, who might not have a clue what it was like now.

I’ve always had friends of vastly different ages. I often find myself having a thoroughly engrossing conversation with two people who are, respectively, fifteen years older and fifteen years younger than me. When they’re open to each other’s views, it’s a wonder to behold (and a conversation worth having).

And what’s fascinating is that — while we all retain a certain arrogant attitude about our own experiences — at the heart of it, we’re all stunningly similar.

Marketers who understand this are way ahead of the game. You don’t have to struggle to wonder “what the kids want” in new products, and you don’t regard people older than you as grouchy alien beings with unknowable needs.

What I’m telling you is that a good salesman plucked from the Middle Ages — once he got over the shock of the new technology of modern life — would still be able to sell stuff to YOU, today.

Dull marketers share the very wrong notion that there is nothing to be learned from the past. They will forever struggle, because they lack perspective… and future changes (which are happening faster and faster) will throw them, because they don’t have an overview of life that allows for quick adaptation.

I really enjoy modern life. But I liked it just as much before personal computers came along, too. I’m rolling with the punches… armed with the knowledge (earned from reading biographies) that things will ALWAYS change.

And there will always be a way to adapt and thrive.

One of the things I remember about being young is that — as a teenager — more stuff will happen to you in a day, than will happen to an adult in a month.

When you’re still full of piss and vinegar, that’s fun. I liked living through radically-new adventures each week, never knowing where I’d wake up Sunday morning.

But I also like being settled in middle age, and getting into productive routines as a veteran writer and marketer. I can finally take longer views of things, and plan ahead. What a concept.

Still, though, when necessary during a consultation, I can quickly bring up the feeling of living day-to-day at an age where the world is still mostly a mystery. There are good parts to this feeling, and bad parts. It’s complex, like all humans are.

But you can learn to understand where the other guy — or the other prospect — is at in their life… by applying the lessons you’ve learned in yours, and the lessons you’ve gathered from studying people in general.

Your market is one long passing parade, and it can look like a disorganized mob scene if you don’t understand the fundamentals of how people live their lives.

With perspective, it all comes into focus. People are people. Their needs, dreams and fears haven’t changed much since the dawn of time.

My recommendation: Work a few biographies into your reading schedule, and soon. And strive to feel what it was like back then.

What you learn — about yourself, and about your fellow man — will help you become a better communicator and (if pay attention) a killer salesman.

Stay frosty,

John Carlton, http://www.marketingrebelrant.com/

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Newest Fad In Farming: The Internet

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Tucked away in the den of his 127-year-old farmhouse, Ed Winkle huddles over his computer. The screen's soft glow lights up his eyeglasses, reflecting messages about tractors, corn hybrids and crop insurance.

Winkle is checking the latest postings on his favorite Internet farm forum. Advice from fellow farmers around the country has enabled him to increase his corn and soybean production, better market his crops, learn how to rebuild engines and get good tires for his tractor.

Online forums, message boards and chat rooms are replacing rural coffee shops and feed mills as places for farmers to talk farming and trade tips as more of rural America goes online.

"You get the best thinkers in agriculture," Winkle said of the forums. "You're mixing such a diverse group of people — from different areas, from different backgrounds, different experiences, different ways of farming."

Fifty-one percent of U.S. farms have Internet access, according to a July 2005 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, up from 48 percent in 2003. More than two-thirds of them still use dial-up access.

The popularity of online farm forums has grown as well, said Mack Strickland, an agricultural engineer at Purdue University and farm-computer expert, with some forums claiming to have as many as 30,000 registered users.

The Internet division of Farm Journal Media, www.agweb.com, says user traffic doubled between October 2005 and October 2006, with the forums on the site enjoying similar growth. Traffic on the Des Moines, Iowa-based www.agriculture.com has increased 20 percent to 25 percent over the past year, said editor John Walter. Both sites are funded by ads and free for users.

Enthusiasts say the forums have improved farm production and saved farmers precious dollars by helping them avoid costly mistakes in planting, fertilizing, equipment buys and maintenance. And forums have enabled farmers — many of them miles from their nearest neighbor — to educate each other and build community.

"We all like to talk to folks like ourselves who have the same problems," said Stan Ernst, a marketing instructor at Ohio State University's department of agricultural economics. "We have so much riding on many of our decisions economically that you've got to find people with experience."

A farmer can spend as much as $160,000 on a combine, for example. If it breaks down during a critical harvest time, that could mean the difference between a profit and a loss for some farmers.

Walter said the average visitor to www.agriculture.com spends 11 minutes at a time on the site.

"It's enough time to have a cup of coffee and a conversation and learn something," he said. "It's just rearranged who their neighbors are in a sense. You can't help but think that has changed farming to some degree."

Rural America has lagged behind the cities in Internet usage — especially broadband — because wiring the population-rich cities is more profitable and wiring the countryside more expensive due to long distances and natural barriers such as hills. In addition, rural businesses haven't needed the Internet as much to compete.

However, farmers and existing rural businesses are becoming more reliant on the Internet to be competitive, and rural communities are becoming more aggressive in seeking Internet access. They see it as a way to attract white-collar jobs, and urban dwellers who have moved to the country are demanding it.

Paul Butler, who grows corn and soybeans on 260 acres in Macon, Ill., returned to farming four years ago after 25 years in the computer business. He doubts he would have made it without the Internet and online advice from fellow farmers.

"I would have made a lot of expensive mistakes," said Butler, 39, who logs on using broadband. "Purchasing seed is a pretty complicated decision. It was nice to have 20 unbiased people that weren't selling seed that could give me an opinion on it."

Eric Neer, 24, of Davenport, Iowa, discovered farm forums from fellow students when he was in college.

Although he seldom posts a question, Neer — who works for a farm equipment manufacturer — devours the information he sees on precision farming, using the forums to shop for equipment and information about tractors and combines that are steered by computers linked to global positioning satellites.

Machinery — the universal language of farmers — is a hot topic in farm forums. So is when best to take crops to market to get the best price. Sometimes the talk veers away from pure farming.

In a recent exchange on www.newagtalk.com, a popular farm forum, an Illinois farmer complained that the starter on his pickup truck was acting up. A fellow farmer replied that the electric solenoid atop the starter was probably worn out and the contact sticking in the closed position.

"I would put a whole new starter on it," he wrote. "Fix it now before it ruins the flywheel teeth."

An Ohio farmer wondered if he should replace his fuel-oil furnace with a geothermal heating system. The idea got high marks from a farmer in Indiana who said a geothermal system leaves no smell or residue, makes less noise and leaves no hot/cold spots. Then he offered tips on insulation and heat distribution.

Farmers have to decide themselves whether the advice they get is sound. Walter said he tries to screen out the hokum, blowhards and occasional shyster. Strickland said some users give opinions not based on fact or research.

And some farmers still rely on the neighbor they know.

"You can get some good ideas from people in other states, but they're dealing with different circumstances," said Jim Meimer, who raises corn, soybeans and wheat on 900 acres.

Meimer, 28, goes online to get market data but prefers to get advice from friends and neighbors. He often sees them at the feed store and fertilizer plant when he goes into nearby Mount Gilead, Ohio, to pay bills.

Glen Feichtner, 48, who raises 300 head of cattle near New Washington, Ohio, prefers to get his tips from fellow farmers at the stockyard and grain elevator because he knows they have been successful.

"I get face-to-face interaction," he said. "I know these people. I know their story."

Winkle, 57, became a believer when a tip from an Iowa farmer prompted him to change his no-till farming technique. Winkle increased his yield by about 30 percent.

During the winter, he spends about two hours a day wading through the forums from his farm, about 40 miles northeast of Cincinnati. Since April, he has posted 1,738 messages on one forum alone.
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7 Habits of Business Success

Big Fish, Small Ponds

The elusive dream of business success captures the imagination of aspiring and existing business owners everywhere. A vision of flowing profits, industry respect, thrilled customers, and a balanced life. This vision is only possible by developing habits that drive business success. Take the time to learn the 7 habits of business success.

The 7 Habits of Business Success

Habit 1. Cultivate Inner Networks: Entrepreneurs practicing the art of business success know the power of networks. They take the time to identify and build relationships with key peers, mentors, and advisors. This inner network provides support, direction, and an increased number of people to assist. Having an inner network of 5 people who have a network of 5 more, grows the network exponentially.

Habit 2. Customer Centric: Business success requires an unwavering commitment to the customer. This commitment encompasses a mindset of understanding the customers' world. Understanding the customers wants and needs provides the business with a greater opportunity to earn a loyal customer base. Focus away from business and profits, and toward what you can do to improve the life of your customers.

Habit 3. Humble Honesty: Business success requires the ability to know your strengths and weaknesses. Being open and honest about yourself and your business creates growth as an individual and as a company. Don't spend time developing weaknesses. Find help for weak areas, enabling you to focus on strengths. In the book, "Now, Discover Your Strengths", Gallup Organization reveals that building our strengths instead of fixing our weakness is the path to mastery and success. Take the time to know yourself and business.

Habit 4. Adaptability: Business success requires the ability to adapt to changing situations. Nothing ever goes as planned. The world of business is full of surprises and unforeseen events. Using the habit of adaptability allows business owners to respond to circumstances with the ability to change course and act without complete information. Being flexible allows us to respond to changes without being paralyzed with fear and uncertainty.

Habit 5. Opportunity Focused: Problems are a regular part of business life. Staff issues, customer misunderstandings, cash crunches- the list is endless. To achieve business success, look at both sides of the coin. Every problem has an opportunity. Being opportunity focused makes the game of business fun and energizing.

Habit 6. Finding A Better Way: Productivity is the cornerstone of business success. Formulate the habit of finding a better way to make your business more productive. This will create more time to focus on the critical issues that drive sales and profit. Productivity can be enhanced by technology, automation, outsourcing, and improving business processes.

Habit 7. Balanced Lifestyle Management: A business can consume an owner's time and energy. It's easy to allow the business to take control of your life. Business success requires the habit of balancing all aspects of your life. Separating time for daily business tasks, profit driven tasks, and free time is a habit that will make your business and life more enjoyable. Take the time to plan each week.

Learning and instilling new habits in your daily business life can have a dramatic effect on your level of success. Review each of the 7 habits. Choose one habit to focus on for a month or until you achieve mastery. Gradually incorporate each of the 7 habits of business success into your life and attain your business dreams.

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Murrieta inventor solves your everyday problems

Is Text Link Ads A Perpetual Money Making Machine?

From baby products to portable billboards, Murrieta inventor Mike Donine makes his living thinking up solutions to everyday problems.

You may have seen his latest creation, The Xcuse Box, at Target.

The $10 key chain accessory plays high-quality background noises, including sirens and a carpenter's saw, that make it believable when you tell a chatty friend you have to get off the phone or let your boss know you have to miss a meeting.

"This is a canvas; you have to provide the story to go with it," said Donine, 47, who has used the box's auto repair shop noises when running late. "You could be sitting in your car and say 'I'd love to talk but I'm getting on an airplane' and hit the button."

The box, which has 10 one-minute sound bites, also can be found at Rancho Carwash in Murrieta, in the Solutions catalog, online at www.XcuseBox.com and soon at Restoration Hardware stores.

Friend Angela Studivant, of Temecula, called the contraption clever and quirky.

Target liked the novelty item so much it commissioned three more sound-related products from Donine, including a sequel to The Xcuse Box with barking dogs and kids bickering in the backseat.

Unlike many inventors, Donine did not have a lifelong ambition to create. It was his wife, Laurie, who convinced him to pursue the talent.

Raised in Los Angeles, Donine got a business degree from USC in 1982 and became a stock broker.

He conceived his first project while stranded on a stalled chair lift in Breckenridge, Colo., in 1987.

Plagued by old football injuries, Donine's knees were aching after an hour dangling in the cold.

When he got home, Donine used some webbing, nylon and an industrial sewing machine set up in his garage to make the Lazzy Legs Leg Lifter, a lightweight strap carried in a fanny pack and dropped down to ease the weight of skis when the lift stopped.

Later, he'd take the straps with him on the quad chair and sell them to admiring fellow skiers out of his backpack for $50. Lazzy Legs was carried at sporting goods chains until an ongoing drought knocked the bottom out of the ski market.

Donine was trying to sell Lazzy Legs to a snowboard shop when he met the man who invented Rollerblades. One try and Donine was hooked.

He used his leftover supplies from Lazzy Legs to make a bag that held one of the first versions of the inline skates. Donine happened to see an employee at Nordstrom setting up a display of the skates, and managed, on the spot, to sell the store on his skate bag, wrist guards and kneepads, which he hadn't even produced yet.

"That was a very creative period for me. I have great ideas that can translate quickly onto paper," he said from his small home office, surrounded by posters and framed patents of his products.

Selling ideas is the hardest part of the process, said Andrew Krauss, who teaches inventors to market their products through the 2,500-member Inventors Alliance.

"There's a whole host of people who just have ideas, but ideas aren't worth much if you're not able to sell them," Krauss said.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued 183,187 patents last fiscal year, more than double the number 20 years ago.

Most inventors don't have the business sense for manufacturing, bookkeeping, marketing and managing cash flow, Krauss said.

That's where Donine's business background comes in handy.

Carl von Hirsch, owner of a Temecula machine shop and Donine's fabricator, praised his business sense as well as his cleverness.

"Mike has a very creative mind. He finds materials that make it possible to make a product that is economically feasible to present to the market," von Hirsch said.

Donine invents out of necessity. When his four daughters, now ages 8, 9, 11 and 12, were babies, he designed 30-plus items for One Step Ahead, a baby products catalog.

In 1997, he created the Theodore Bean baby carrier. Two years ago, Donine sold the design to Maclaren, a producer of high-end baby products.

Now Donine is peddling his latest creation, the steel Billboard System that slides into a vehicle's trailer hitch for easy removal. It's ideal, he said, for real estate agents, contractors, restaurants and casinos.

He's also marketing his Pac-Rac, a sort of utility cart that snaps onto a Jet Ski and carries chairs and a soft-sided cooler. The rack is carried at Malcolm Smith Motorsports in Riverside, Chaparral Motorsports in San Bernardino and Temecula Motorsports, among others.

In the meantime, Donine said he is enjoying the satisfaction of being an inventor.

"Life is more fun because you don't know what's coming around the corner," he said. "You're looking for the project that will catapult you to wealth, but in the meantime, it's an adventure."

[via pe.com]
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