Internet Marketing New York City, Figure Skating, Did The US Ice Hockey Team Get Lucky? Curling Is Just Plain Ridiculous: What your organization can learn from the 2010 Winter Olympics
Posted by Salem Global on Feb 23, 2010
Ok. Before I start to rant about the “so called” sport of “curling,” I wanted to point out a few things.
First, take a look at this picture of the Ukrainian figure skating pair. I am not sure if I should be totally wowed by the stomach muscles on the guy, or how inappropriate this picture is. Regardless, figure skating is absolutely exciting and incredible to watch. The dancing. The fluid body movements. The muscle and balance that these people have. The choreography. Pure poetry in motion. And once again, let me remind you, all this is done on ice. A much much more worthy and worthwhile sport to compete in and watch than “curling.”
Second. Congratulations to the US Hockey team on finally beating the Canadians after 50 years of trying. It’s as if someone said 50 years ago, “Wow. Those Americans stink. But maybe if they practice and work hard, MAYBE in 50 years they will be able to beat the Canadians. Still. Hockey is an amazing, fast-paced sport. I mean, I can ice skate. I can go forwards. Backwards. Cross over. Hockey stop. But do all that while chasing around a little black round rubberized piece of plastic while huge guys with most of their teeth are trying to bash you into the sidelines, all the while you are trying to get that puck into your opponents goal. I mean, come on. Now THAT’S a sport to watch and play…. not like “curling.”
Ok. But maybe you want to talk about Skiing. Well how about Bode Miller? So maybe he didn’t make it in 2005. But I don’t see any “curlers” going downhill on 1 ski at 80 KMH!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__Faa87IQhk Or how about losing your balance and not losing your ski and then bringing it back in 2006? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjMsvSof5O8&NR=1 I guess he was done fooling around this year and finally took the Gold.
And if you want MORE gold let’s talk about Linday Vonn! So what if she is the best female skier ever. I don’t see any “curlers” in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Do you? http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010_swimsuit/winter/lindsey-vonn/10_lindsey-vonn_1.html
Let’s face it people. Curling is shuffleboard on ice. There is no reason for this to be an Olympic sport. I mean, how many years did it take for snowboarding to go mainstream? Just ask Torah Bright’s parents (http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/snowboard/news?slug=jp-torah021810&prov=yhoo&type=lgns) how many concussions they had to endure before their daughter made it to Olympic gold. Or how Bright’s chiropractor had to put her jaw back together again after dislocating it. What pain or workout does a curler have to endure in order to get on the ice and slide a stone into a bullseye? Dr. John Frank (http://www.HairClinicUSA.com) also known for manning the first ever Israeli Bobsled team (http://www.israelibobsled.com/about/summary.html) can probably do just as well as any curler on the ice. Or how about the Jamaicans? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106611/ Oh, ok. I will stop being so harsh. After all, their IS emotional pain in curling as evidenced by the Danes loss of concentration due to heckling and cheering by Canadians in the audience (http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Candian-curling-fans-leave-Danish-player-in-tear?urn=oly,221320). Nuff said? Or should I go on 
How does all this relate to Internet and website marketing? Well, for starters, don’t cry like a Danish curler if your website isn’t at the top of Google. It takes months and even years of linking and content writing to get on top. Even then, you might lose a ski like Bode Miller and have to come back in four years to win a medal. But sometimes, even though we have cracked our heads open MULTIPLE times like Torah Bright, we can still come out with a Gold medal. It all goes back to hard work, consistency and patience. You might have all of your keywords and meta data in the right place, blog and write the correct content, repeat this for years and still not get where you want to be. But if you do keep at it, and never give up, you might end up with a medal. If not gold, silver or bronze, then certainly a badge of honor. Will you take the Internet marketing challenge? Will you keep your website up to date, add content on a regular basis and try to get as many links as possible? If you do, then at least you have a shot.
Want to know more about “curling” or Internet marketing NY and getting more business through the web? (Concussions not necessary.) Give me a call at 212-993-5828, send me an email at raphis@salemglobal.com or visit www.SalemGlobal.com. Come to one of my Internet Marketing Seminars. I will guarantee you the tools and training you need to at least have the opportunity to compete.
Alan Samuels of People Capital Interviewed by Transcapitalist Blog
Posted by Salem Global on Feb 16, 2010
Last week a blogger from Transcapitalis.com sat down with Alan Samuels, Chief Product Officer at People Capital (www.People2Capital.com) to discuss People Capital’s Human Capital Score and how it is revolutionizing the way student loans are given. They wrote:
The HCS [Human Capital Score] innovation shows potential to greatly improve the current approach to education financing in two major ways: 1) More fairly and accurately evaluating the risk of young people seeking loans for educational purposes; and 2) More robustly challenging future students to think critically about what the education they seek will realistically help them achieve post-graduation before making such an investment in time and debt.
Check out the rest of the post here and check out People Capital at www.People2Capital.com and learn more about the Human Capital Score and how it can help you get a great student loan at www.HumanCapitalScore.com.
Internet Marketing in NYC, The Olympics and Fashion Week: What Your Business Can Learn From 97 Million TV Viewers, Doritos and Your Own Events
Posted by Salem Global on Feb 16, 2010
Its snowing in New York City and it is beautiful. As I write this week’s piece, there is a heavy downfall over Bryant Park outside my office window. And of course, it’s February. We shouldn’t be getting this much snow. But whether you believe in global warming or just the universe and weather, its here. And it leads me to talk about the Winter Olympics.
97 million US viewers tuned in to watch the first 2 days of the Olympics this year. That’s close to the 100 million that tuned in in 1994 when U.S. figure skater Tonya Harding’s ex-husband and bodyguard attacked Nancy Kerrigan. I also read that if every Chinese household watches the Olympics, that’s over 1 billion viewers right there.
But no matter how many people watch the Olympics on TV, it still will never compare to the amount of people who will tune in via the Internet on home and office computers. Sad thing is, according to Bloomberg (businessweek.com), Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE has said NBC will lose $250 million airing the Vancouver Winter Olympics (ok – not really THAT sad). Darn it. Why hasn’t NBC called me yet to help them with Internet strategy! HOPEFULLY they make that money back by airing things on YouTube and Hulu and on their own site. Interestingly enough, 183,000 views have been recorded just to the commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUlJahUtm04 for the Vancouver, BC, Canadian 2010 Winter Olympics. I predict that for actual content and clips of various events and happenings, the true number will far exceed a measly 100 million. I would say at least a billion for US and then billions more worldwide. And if the various media vehicles monetize correctly, it should spell out to gross much more than the $250million lost on the antiquated boob-tube.
And just to keep things in perspective, 2 weeks ago I reported on Super Bowl commercials. It appears that the winner in this race is the spot for Doritos named “House Rules” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0EVSP_6XZA). But wait, there’s more. Doritos didn’t even create the commercial. If you check out the site crashthesuperbowl.com, you will see that these commercials were created for free. All user-generated content. Doritos paid for it with a $25,000 contest for the 6 finalists. Then one of them gets an additional $1m, $600k and $400k. Basically, instead of paying an advertising agency millions of dollars, they are throwing it back to the work out of your house creative geniuses who don’t work for corporate America 9-5. (On the other hand, maybe they DO work in a corporate job and did this in their spare time and made a cool $25k – $1mm in their spare time.
My point is that the Internet keeps on winning out as the best way to market your product. Get fans of your product to sell your product for you. And reward the people who make it happen. There are plenty of terrible commercials (and websites) out there, created, written and produced by huge advertising agencies for millions of dollars. If advertisers want to get the biggest bang for their buck, they will listen to me and rely on the web to sell their product with smart Internet marketing managers (hopefully me and my company And as my new sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer says, “you need poll your own audience.” He suggests creating a seminar and inviting all of your customers. And whether they can come or not, ask your customers why they buy from you. You will be very happily surprised to get these answers. Then obviously use this information to get new customers and buyers of your products and services.
It’s also the 2010 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week here in New York, NY in Bryant Park. As I watch model after supermodel get in and out of taxis on my block, I realize that they have a pretty good thing going on. Each year, fashion designers from all over the world come to my house (ok, across the street from my office) and strut their stuff on the runway. Once again, if you think that it’s about the event, think again. When I searched for “2010 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week,” Marc Bouwer comes up with the #1 video with over 40,000 views. I guarantee you that Marc is having a great show this year!
So my message this week is to think about the short term with the long term marketing in mind. Photograph your events. Video them. Write about them. Blog about them. Oh. Did you say that you don’t have any events going on? Well then, CREATE them! Can’t think of an event to create, borrow one from the newspaper, current events, the sports section or the calendar. In addition to the Olympics and Fashion week, this week is the beginning of Baseball Spring Training. And it was also Valentine’s Day and President’s Day and the Daytona 500.
Need help figuring out a long term, short term or event driven NYC Internet Marketing strategy, give me a call at 212-993-5828, send me an email at raphis@salemglobal.com or visit www.SalemGlobal.com. I will guarantee we will come up with something in 5 minutes of having a conversation. Next week we will talk more about the Olympics, content and Internet strategy. Oh and my latest book, Slackonomics by Lisa Chamberlain.
Internet Marketing in New York, NY, NFL Football’s Super Bowl 44 and TV Commercials: What Businesses Can Learn From 106.5 Million TV Viewers
Posted by Salem Global on Feb 9, 2010
This week there is a lot going on. First, we (as in, the USA) had the Super Bowl. (Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints with their 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts.) Then we (as in SalemGlobal) have a breakfast Wednesday morning, a Poker Networking event Wednesday evening, and finally an Internet Marketing Seminar Thursday morning. Oh. And possible snow!
According to NFL.com – the official website of the National Football League, this years Super Bowl was “seen by an average of 106.5 million people, …the most-watched program in U.S. television history.” So immediately my marketing side of my brain starts thinking, “Wow! What if I had a commercial air during Super Bowl XLIV?” So then the analytical side of my brain says “Ok. Here is my $3.1 million dollars… lets see what happens.” And then I do the math. First I take a look at the demographics and say football is usually mostly watched by men ages 18 – 49. But certainly if this is the 44th Super Bowl, older men are going to be watching too. Then I also account for the fact that with the women’s liberation movement and overall change in our egalitarian world, more and more women are going to be watching too. So technically the demographics are going to remain the same and I am only going to advertise my products to that segment of the population. And I can say that as an added bonus, I will get some women and older men to watch my commercials also.
So now lets analyze the types of companies that did indeed pay the $3.1mm for a :30 second spot and see if you can spot the trend. First, click on this link and you will get to nfl.com’s page that lists (mostly) all of the 60 commercials that were aired during the Superbowl. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-super-bowl-commercials?icampaign=SB_HP_SBTVComm#orderBy:allTimeViews. Note however, this is the NFL’s site and not YouTube which might give us a more accurate view of the most popular commercials. Regardless, NFL might show a smaller subset of the true number.
As you can see, here are the top 10 commercials ranked by “most viewed” according to company and industry, with added values:
By the way – just for full disclosure, there must be some politics going on with this since they don’t have my favorite commercial with Betty White and Abe Vigoda for Snickers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rauK4fBjkI
Doritos – snack food (sex + comedy)
Hyundai – car (celebrity + comedy)
Volkswagon – car (comedy)
Monster.com – job search (comedy)
Bud Light – beer (comedy)
Doritos – snack food (comedy)
TruTV – online TV (celebrity + comedy)
Honda – car (? Creative but not great IMHO)
Teleflora – flowers (sex + comedy. Hey Valentine’s Day is this coming Sunday)
Focus on the Family (pro-life (celebrity + some comedy)
Then comes more Bud Light, more Doritos, Dodge, eTrade (my 2nd favorite btw http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-super-bowl-commercials/09000d5d81644636/eTrade-commercial – milkaholic – milkaWHAT?)
A full analysis of all of the commercials would take up too much time for me. I personally fit right into the center of the demographic. I am 40 years old. Male. Two Kids. My interest SHOULD be in sports and football (they aren’t my top but are for many 40 year olds). I also personally like to watch the Super Bowl for the commercials but now with the Internet, I don’t have to waste my time with the actual game. OTOH, I like to get together with my friends, eat and drink and banter. So it’s usually a good party. I also like beer, I drive a car, I don’t need a job, I like to snack, I am online all day, every day and I love comedy – ok – the sex thing works for me as well but as you can see, most companies go for comedy because that is the value that goes viral. So the commercials are pretty much in line with what they should be doing. And now because of the Internet, when a video is good, it gets passed on from computer to computer just like a virus, thus achieving “viral” video.
So you want to learn how to take advantage of the lessons learned at the Super Bowl and you don’t have $3.1 million? Well, easier now than it ever used to be.
Step 1 – buy yourself a flip cam or any competitor (a client of ours found a Kodak that had similar features).
2 – Think of topic to “vlog” about (video log).
3 – Stand camera on tripod or position yourself correctly with an appropriate background
4 – Turn on the camera
5 – Record
6 – Upload
7 – When uploading, make sure you post the correct URLs and descriptions that will brand you and get links back to your main website.
The main thing you want to do is be able to shoot the video and use the software that comes with it, then quickly upload it to YouTube and TubeMogul. In this race, the rabbit always wins when it’s the same video as in the case where people steal commercials and post them. Advertisers though sometimes don’t mind about copyrights because the general public is helping their brand sell more product. This is different from TV shows that don’t get paid because people watch TV for free and broadcasting companies rely on the advertisers to give them cash.
Now that you have successfully written, directed, filmed, starred in and uploaded your own commercial for your own company or practice, repeat the process. Be inspired by Super Bowl commercials and know that someday, if you have a product that warrants it, maybe you too will have a Super Bowl commercial. But if you are just like the rest of us, then you need to implement your video strategy and integrate it into a larger marketing program.
And of course, I might as well plug here that my Internet Marketing New York City Seminar is coming up this Thursday. So if you want to know more about Internet marketing, video marketing and the 21 things you need to know to succeed online, come on down to my office across from Bryant Park (sign up at www.TheSeminarSeries.com) at 8AM and you will be on your way.
Next week we will get back to our regularly scheduled schedule teaching you how to marketing your company, brand, practice and products over the Internet. And of course, if you don’t want to wait until then, give me a call at 212-993-5828, send me an email at raphis@salemglobal.com or visit www.SalemGlobal.com and let’s set up a meeting by phone or in person.
Millennium Personnel Featured on Fox News
Posted by Aryeh.Landowne on Feb 2, 2010
This Past Friday, NY Staffing Agency and Salem Global Client, Millennium Personnel was featured on a Fox News segment, “On The Job Hunt” The report detailed the rise of companies using temporary employees and how it effects the employers, employees and staffing agencies.
Millennium Personnel is the leading, full-service staffing organization for temporary and permanent office support personnel in New York City such as receptionists, secretaries, &administrative assistants. When it comes to selecting the right candidate for the right position, Millennium has an excellent track record for getting it right on the first try.
Check out Millennium Personnel at www.MPC-NYC.com.
Internet Marketing in NY, SuperBowl XLIV, Poker in Vegas: How Your Business Can Benefit From The Most Watched TV Event In The World
Posted by Salem Global on Feb 2, 2010
Before we get into the whole crazy Super Bowl football mania that will take over the world this Sunday at 6:30PM EST, I just wanted everyone to know that I won a Texas Hold’em poker Tournament in Las Vegas this past weekend. Don’t get sooooo excited… I was not on TV and won’t be entering the World Series of Poker anytime soon. No I didn’t win a million dollars (but I am quite happy with my take If you want to know more details about the 65 year old shark at the table at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, the English guy who looked like Sting and how I still won after my opponents 2-3 diamond suited flush beat out my A-K, please email me, I will be more than happy to brag For those of you who don’t know anything about Hold’em or poker or cards, let me give you a free lesson…
Patience and Consistency. As I mentioned last week; business, website marketing and Texas Hold’em poker tournaments have a lot to do with consistency, together with a degree of math skills, memory skills, psychology skills, interpersonal skills and a whole lot of patience. Consistency is the act of being in it and sticking with it. There are lots of people who, whether they are in business or in a card game, don’t have the patience to see things through. They get cocky and ants in their pants and if they don’t strike it rich pretty quickly, they start to get sloppy and lose their cool. They also don’t achieve the balance of how much money they need to “invest” or “spend” in order to get a good ROI, Return on Investment.
In Hold’em, the 2 people to the left of the dealer have to put up a small blind and a big blind. These are equivalent to your businesses operating expenses. You have to pay for your rent, utilities, employees, technology, phone and internet service in order to have a business. You can’t skimp on the basics. Just like paying taxes these are your “antes.”
However, after the “flop,” the first 3 out of 5 cards that are shown and communally shared, which is sort of like your first 1-3 years in business. With 2 cards in your hand after the flop, you can get a good picture of whether or not you have a good thing going, a bad thing, or potential. This is the place in cards and in business where you can set yourself up to win or drop out. This is also the place where you have enough information to say that you are going to “invest” in additional business expenses such as marketing, or “bet” that your cards are better or going to be better than everyone else’s. And the biggest difference is that in poker you can bluff, but in business you can’t. These are 80% of businesses that fail in their first 3 years. Businesses that have the potential but don’t invest in themselves. They think they can ride it out but they don’t put enough effort (not necessarily money) into it and then they fail. I say “effort” instead of money because there are so many things you can do now in the year 2010 yourself online for free (instead of paying a professional like me to do it for you) to help you “after the flop.”
After 1-3 years, you know whether you have potential or not. But it’s the small company that doesn’t invest the time, money OR effort into the CORRECT marketing that usually kills them. Either they don’t make the cold calls, knock on the doors, send out direct mail or spend a few extra hours a day updating their website, blog, creating a YouTube video or sending out a press release or any number of the 21 things you need to do to be successful on the web. They go home after 5PM or maybe 6PM, have dinner, watch some TV, go to bed and hope for a better tomorrow. But tomorrow will only be better if you change it up and do the things you need to do to get your message out there.
I have been listening to a book called “The Little Red Book of Selling” by Jeffrey Gitomer. If you aren’t familiar with it, you should be. I share with the author the activities of writing and marketing while others are watching TV at home after hours. After the kids, wives and girlfriends all go to bed, he says its real quiet after 11PM and he can get a lot done between then and 1AM. Try it once a month, then once every 2 weeks, then once a week and see how you can turn your business around. And if you don’t like to work late, wake up early. Whatever you do, whenever you do it, just keep on doing it. Have patience, positive attitude and be consistent.
Second lesson comes from Super Bowl XLIV. Since 1967 when the Green Bay Packers beat out the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10, teams have battled for the diamond studded NFL ring. (Next week I will have the link for the video from Dr. John Frank http://www.HairClinicUSA.com where he shows off his two Super Bowl rings from when he was a tight end for the San Francisco 49ers.) This coming Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts (AFC) will go up against the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New Orleans Saints. When I was a young advertising agency media research executive (ok I was just an intern), I was actually running the numbers on how much Super Bowl ads should cost. This year according to the research out there, approximately 90 – 100 million people will watch the Super Bowl. This will cost advertisers approximately $3 million US dollars for :30 seconds of airtime. (Check out these commercials from past Super Bowls: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=superbowl+commercials&search_type=&aq=1&oq=superbowl+co)
So you take a look at the advertisers and you think a few things: a) who are they? b) can they afford it c) is it worth it? So let’s answer one by one.
a) Blue chip, very large, high ad budget companies advertise during the Super Bowl
b) Yes they can afford it
c) Yes it is worth it because they have a product or are launching a product that is relevant to the male dominated watching of the sport.
Cars, beer, pizza, movies, domain names, business, insurance and much more. What you won’t see are tampons, tea, female weight loss and products that women purchase and/or women supposedly buy like baby food.
So the lesson is that you should be advertising to the audience for you. If you are going after the male demographic and can’t afford the Super Bowl’s three million dollar ad (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRVRTTMwhK8), maybe tone it down a bit and find a different venue for your product or service. During one of my poker tournaments in Vegas I met a woman from California who claims that women are great poker players because they are so unpredictable. In poker she might be right and then again she might THINK she was right. She was good but she wasn’t experienced. The 65 year old shark and I took her down after the other players sloppily lost their stacks to her. We were patient, consistent and played smart.
As a business owner, you HAVE to market yourself; otherwise your competition will take you down. But don’t guess. Go after your audience. Research them. Find out where they are online and then go after them. One by one or 90 million at a time. Stop being so unpredictable and do the obvious. I don’t know who will win the Super Bowl, but I can guarantee that there will be many many men who will drive to their friends houses in their cars, drink beer, eat pizza and snacks during the game, and then will go to work the next day. (Of course with so many people out of work, I also predict that Monster.com or Yahoo Hot Jobs and or some other job search related website will be airing)
So watch out for the unpredictable wardrobe malfunctions, enjoy the game and half-time show, play some cards, and do obvious things that will help you and your business in the short term AND the long term. Do NOT repeat the golden farcical mistake that Pets.com made a decade ago by spending millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads before they went out of business. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sICSyC9u5iI)
And if you want to know more about Internet marketing New York, poker or what demographics are, give me a call at 212-993-5828, send me an email at raphis@salemglobal.com or visit www.SalemGlobal.com. Next week we will talk about the Super Bowl winner and how to take fame and branding further after you make it.
People Capital Featured in Article About Fresh Approaches to Academic Funding
Posted by Aryeh.Landowne on Feb 1, 2010
People Capital, the leaders in peer to peer student loans, was recently featured in an article on the Student Loan Blog (www.studentloaninfo.org). Author, Sally Croft, writes,
Discover a fresh approach to academic funding at People Capital. At People Capital, they are committed to helping credible lenders and borrowers find one another without involving a traditional financial institution. This peer-to-peer lending approach is revolutionizing student lending with a new credit risk methodology, where lenders who offer the lowest interest rate “win” borrower loans.
To check out the rest of the post click here and also check out www.People2Capital.com to learn more about the Human Capital Score and People Capital’s approach to student loans.