Whooah Biz

I have just signed up for a website that promises to split its commission with the users.

Good or bad marketing?

What do you think of their email below?

Hi,

I’m a member of a great site called wepromiseto.co.uk.

wepromiseto.co.uk saves me money and I thought you might like to join too?

Every time I shop online from hundreds of retailers I get cashback. I also get cashback for registering with other sites, completing surveys and even essential items like insurance renewals.

By referring a friend using my special link below I get £5 too

If you join, don’t forget to use my special refer a friend link below:

http://www.wepromiseto.co.uk/r/10754

Thanks,

Leo

For the longest time I could not understand spam. I failed to see the benefits of a promised breast enlargements or a new Gold watch that is not offered on Amazon. To put it frankly I considered it a total waste of everybody’s time. Why did some yo-yo sit there comprising emails that make no sense with links that would never be clicked upon or is that the case?

For the average educated person one can assume there is no interest in spam. The Spam market is for the poorly educated who most probably have little or no education. It is this type of user who is the most susceptible to this type of marketing. (third world countries) Unfortunately the spammer cannot differentiate from the email address the country of origin. (maybe we should start using country domains on our emails)

Spam exists because it does achieve it objects. 17 percent of the emails sent out will be clicked upon on and presumable a slightly smaller percentage will buy the products offered.

Of course due to the low cost of this form of marketing it is very attractive marketing for certain products. I was going to write companies here but I know any western company caught associating with this would face legal proceedings.

There is millions of pound spent on anti spam software, hundreds of thousand man hours on security. Is it effective? Well yes intill we have the next round where it starts again each side trying to better the other in spam wars.

So how do we defeat Spam? Educate People so that they know better would be my choice. It might solve one or two other problems too.

For Further reading on this topic check out Bruce Schneier excellent article http://www.schneier.com/essay-143.html

Last couple of days if would appear that we hear nothing else on the radio and TV other than the banking crisis that is happening around the world. It would seem unlike the days of old.  When things in the 21^st  century happen they happen at lightening speed. In the matter of 6 months I never heard so much analysis over the current credit crunch. The more we talk about it the less real it becomes.  Just today ideas are being floated for a government managed mortgage lending. In a free society this pushes beyond the realms of reasonable.  Is all this discussion helping us? do we need someone to make a decision? What do you think?

It is not particular hard to understand that what goes up must come down. We can not expect to have year after year growth in housing prices. It is just not possible. Of course the problem is nobody wants to feel the pain to put it right. Least of all the current Labour party, but I suspect for a lot people there will be real hardships in this changed environment.

What would be your strategy?

July 08 saw a by election defeat for Labour. Only two days before the election they had seemed to be doing well. To say that it was unexpected is putting it mildly. So why did Labour lose the seat. They appeared to be running a well run campaign. All the polls before polling day thought that they would hold the seat. I remember watching it at home on TV. While the current most talked about reasons is general unhappiness with the economy, houses prices, and the credit crunch. I think it was something else too.

What was very interesting while watching this on TV was the way Margaret Curran the Labour candidate behaved. There has been some speculation that the former Labour MP had behaved in a dishonorable way with relation to his expenses. The by election was called due to him standing down claiming ill health. When the current candidate Margaret Curran was asked about this on TV she tired to ignore the question. She than tried to demonstrate what a strong candidate she was by talking about her own agenda. What she failed to realize was that nobody was really interested in her agenda; they wanted to know about the former MP and his expenses. When repeatable asked whether she had visited the offices of the former MP who was claming it as an expense. She looked most annoyed and carried on ignoring it. She could have done much better to have said the truth. If she did not believe it was ill health than she should have said so. A least people could have warmed to her, or more importantly believed her. Instead she carried on denying it and acting in a most unreal manner. I think it was that moment that people decided they had enough and rightly so. At least with the other party (SNP) they are selling something they believe in.

They are two morals to this story, one sort out your history and two believe in what you are selling.

Professional Networking Sites - In no particular order

This has been an adapated post from here: http://www.relevantlyspeaking.com/2008/2/6/social-media-marketing-essent… Thanks.

1. LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a popular networking site where alumni, business associates, recent graduates and other professionals connect online.

2. Ecademy: Ecademy prides itself on “connecting business people” through its online network, blog and message-board chats, as well as its premier BlackStar membership program, which awards exclusive benefits.

3. Xing: An account with networking site Xing can “open doors to thousands of companies.” Use the professional contact manager to organize your new friends and colleagues, and take advantage of the Business Accelerator application to “find experts at the click of a button, market yourself in a professional context [and] open up new sales channels.”

4. Facebook: Facebook is no longer just for college kids who want to post their party pics. Businesses vie for advertising opportunities, event promotion and more on this social-networking site.

5. Care2: Care2 isn’t just a networking community for professionals: It’s touted as “the global network for organizations and people who Care2 make a difference.” If your business is making efforts to go green, let others know by becoming a presence on this site.

6. Gather: This networking community is made up of members who think. Browse categories concerning books, health, money, news and more to ignite discussions on politics, business and entertainment. This will help your company tap into its target audience and find out what they want.

7. WorkConnexions: Ok I am biased here, but this is a great little site for developing your business sales techniques or wanting to find out more about keeping and interacting with employees online.

8. http://friendfeed.com (http://friendfeed.com/leoc)Friend feed is one of those sites that will be very important in the coming years may be more so than Twitter because of the way it combines all your web activity in a simply effective way.

Social-Media/Social-Bookmarking Sites

(Share your favourite sites on the Web with potential clients and business partners by commenting on, uploading and ranking different newsworthy articles. You can also create a member profile that directs traffic back to your company’s Web site.)

1. Twitter: Use twitter to get the most update information in your areas of interest, or just stay in touch and see what your contacts are doing. Try my profile here http://twitter.com/LeoC

2. Digg: Digg has a huge following online because of its optimum usability. Visitors can submit and browse articles in categories like technology, business, entertainment, sports and more.

3. Del.icio.us: Social bookmark your way to better business with sites like del.icio.us, which invite users to organize and publicize interesting items through tagging and networking.

4. StumbleUpon: You’ll open your online presence up to a whole new audience just by adding the StumbleUpon toolbar to your browser and “channel surf[ing] the Web. You’ll “connect with friends and share your discoveries,” as well as “meet people that have similar interests.”

5. Technorati: If you want to increase your blog’s readership, consider registering it with Technorati, a network of blogs and writers that lists top stories in categories like Business, Entertainment and Technology.

6. Ning: After hanging around the same social networks for a while, you may feel inspired to create your own, where you can bring together clients, vendors, customers and co-workers in a confidential, secure corner of the Web. Ning lets users design free social networks that they can share with anyone.

7. Squidoo: According to Squidoo, “everyone’s an expert on something. Share your knowledge!” Share your industry’s secrets by answering questions and designing a profile page to help other members.

8. Furl: Make Furl “your personal Web file” by bookmarking great sites and sharing them with other users by recommending links, commenting on articles and utilizing other fantastic features.

9. Tubearoo: This video network works like other social-bookmarking sites, except that it focuses on uploaded videos. Businesses can create and upload tutorials, commentaries and interviews with industry insiders to promote their own services.

10. WikiHow: Create a how-to guide or tutorial on wikiHow to share your company’s services with the public for free.

11. YouTube: From the fashion industry to Capitol Hill, everyone has a video floating around on YouTube. Shoot a behind-the-scenes video from your company’s latest commercial or event to give customers and clients an idea of what you do each day.

12. Ma.gnolia: Share your favorite sites with friends, colleagues and clients by organizing your bookmarks with Ma.gnolia. Clients will appreciate both your Internet-savviness and your ability to stay current and organized.

Just recently security failed at work. This meant that all the doors had to be kept open. For the first time one could walk freely from one side of the building to the other side unimpeded without having to use a security pass. It was wonderful for a couple hours it was pure bliss.

What is the cost that security is placing on our businesses and our personal movement? George Orwell never had it so right. I am not talking about the physical cost of these systems and running them. More the emotional side of it. For example if someone forgets there pass. They are effectively stranded at work. Resorting to having to wait for colleagues who have their passes or leaving doors unlock.

We may not notice but it builds up stress. It is well known in the security industry particularly prison guards that retirement is short. Due to the pressures of work there is a high percentage that die with in a couple of years of hanging up their keys.

Are we more secure with all this security? What’s your opinion?

Could we better spend money on others things, or do we need to build better working secure systems that cause us less stress?

One of the biggest problems with running a company is having the chance to think like a Director. If you are busy with everyday work so that you never have the chance to focus on how to grow and develop your business. You will be effectively shooting yourself in the foot. Leading your team to victory does require a clear strategy and understanding of the markets. Less work and more time thinking. It is not what you do it is how you do it. The work will always be there.