Here’s an update for the could it spread blog below….
Current bid $174 bone fide
Number of bids: 19
Hilarious Q & A’s….
Click the link to check it out !
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190182136361
Category: permission marketing
Facebook Apps vs Advertising
There’s no shortage of both of these now, although we’d like to know why anyone would invest money in advertising on facebook, when one can more cheaply create an application?
There’s no shortage of useless apps out there…. No I don’t want to be a vampire, but I do want to:
- keep a record of which cities I’ve been to (thanks – tripadvisor.com)
- learn to speak Chinese (thanks – learn-chinese.com)
- sell my art on facebook (thanks – portfolio)
If I’m interested and the app is good, it will find me. If there is an advertisement in a side bar, I’m generally going to ignore it. I’m not on facebook to look at advertisements, no matter how targeted.
At Rentoid.com today we launched “Where did my money go?” An app which
– helps calculate the value of idle assets
– gives cools icon gifts to share
– shows people how to unlock their idle asset value
– enables users compare the value of their stuff
All while being part of the reason people are on facebook. We did this with just a little bit of coding. Check it out here.
Good app’s which are fun, useful and have a reason to link back to your business are an absolute boon. We can always improve an app over time by paying attention to user feedback. We’ve been gifted to have a free open platform with 52 million members. Instead of advertising on facebook and being an ancillary, build an app and be part of the ball game!
Inventing Jargon
web 2.0
permission marketing – Seth
interruption marketing – Seth
bootstrapping
startup
SPAM
BACN
badvertising (startupblog)
radvertising (startupblog)
goodvertising (startupblog)
longtail
Blog
ideavirus – Seth
Purple cow – Seth
Cutting edge
TV industrial complex – Seth
……
People like jargon for a few reasons. It puts them in the inner circle, it makes them feel smart & exclusive. When it’s great jargon, it simplifies an important explanation.
But jargon’s a bit like fashion. Things come and go and it’s important you’re using ‘fashionable’ jargon and avoiding the old embarrassing terms like ‘thinking outside the box’.
Seth Godin is a master at ‘inventing jargon’. There’s a little “Seth” next to his ones.
Taking the lead from Seth we’ve invented some jargon to explain important concepts for rentoid.com the place to rent anything including:
Unlocking idle assets
Digital networking of temporary needs
Go on and invent some jargon to sell your story.
Best way to differentiate your online startup
Have an actual phone number listed on your site where you can be called. Anytime.
A real phone number, with a real person answering, in real time, for real customers / members / web surfers. Real easy.
Why? Have you ever tried to call Yahoo, Google or Ebay?
There’s no easier way to differentiate your start up and outdo a big guy.
How to blog about your business
We all know it’s good practice to blog about our business or start up. We want to be authentic, transparent and build a relationship. But often we struggle with what to write about.
What we’ve done at www.rentoid.com is try to make sure it’s a dialogue and not a monologue.
You can check out the rentoid blog here.
So here’s a super list of ideas on how to blog about your business:
Don’t just blog about your business
Blog about other things your people may be interested in
Comment on other blogs similar to yours
Ask for feedback
Act on feedback
Answer comments on your blog
Put pictures on your blog
Tell your people about cool stuff your business is doing
Tell your people about mistakes you’ve made
Tell your people about delays in product releases
Ask your people what they want to hear about
Find other blogs / business geographically close to you and connect
Blog about your company values & beliefs
Blog about other cool businesses with similar ‘values’
Put a blogroll on your sidebar of similar businesses
(sounds counter intuitive, but keeps you honest and frames where you belong)
Put what your blog is about in the sidebar
Give your people a reason to come back
If it’s relevant link to another story or blog
Blog about your launch
Give a sneak preview
Blog about something funny that happened in the office
Blog about your people
Blog about your media coverage
Blog about why you’re better than the competition
Blog about why you’re worse, and what you’re doing about it
Show pictures of product / design / your retail outlet
Post your advertising
Run a sampling campaign via your blog
Focus on the theology of your site & business
Add comments to this blog entry to add more ideas….
The truth about social networking
The old fashion methods of social networking have always been and will always be, the best way for making connections.
Sure, I’ve got a facebook and linkedin page. But the reality is this:
Unless we have a persons phone number in our cell,
their email in our address book,
we would say ‘hello’ if we passed them on the street,
or we could comfortably have coffee and chat,
they are not a ‘real’ contact.
This is not to say that we should limit ourselves to who we already know, but to nurture our current ‘real’ relationships, which will lead to more ‘real’ relationships. Repeat.
Facebook et al are a great way to ‘re-find’ people, but can we imagine going to meet someone we’ve not been introduced to the old way and have a valuable business meeting with them? Can we imagine meeting with a random social network inviter and becoming close business or personal associates?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Old in the new New.
Great Viral – Wilkinson Sword
When you click on the link below I’m sure you’ll agree why Fight for Kisses is a benchmark viral. It’s nearly as good as the Mini Copper S campaign last year. It’s much better than the Cadbury Gorilla this year, and here’s why:
It’s relevant to the product they’re selling.
Not simply entertaining and funny. (which by the way it is)
Click here to watch it.
Kudos – Wilkinson Sword.