Internet Marketing New York, The Oscars and Knowing Your Audience: What businesses can learn from the movies they watch
Posted by Salem Global on Mar 9, 2010
Last week I wrote about Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule. During one of my networking meetings I brought up this topic and my friend and associate Ron Rubin of DDR Enterprises corrected me on my interpretation of “Outliers.” He says that practice doesn’t just make “perfect,” practice actually makes “permanent!”
Interestingly related, over the weekend I saw the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with my kids. If you are not familiar with it, it’s the story about a single father (I can relate), with 2 kids (I can relate), who is an inventor, (I can sort of relate as an Internet entrepreneur) and is constantly creating and inventing things that will make his life and the lives of those around him easier and more efficient. In his creative process he creates a sucking candy/ lollipop with holes in it. Instead of thinking they are useless, he discovers that these actually are whistles and calls them “toot sweets.” When he takes them to the big corporate “Scrumptious Confectionary and Candy Company,” he is shot down by the owner. Of course at the end of the movie (which always had a happy ending way back when in 1968) the big boss realizes that the candies might not be so great for humans, but they are perfect for dog whistles! Then big scary boss man writes out a check to Dick Van Dyke, and they all live happily ever after. Well, isn’t that special?! (Did I mention there was a car involved that flies and floats and saves them from the evil child-hating kingdom of Vularia! Oh and of course he also gets to marry the beautiful daughter of the Candy King but that’s beside the point also. I have more theories about this movie too but you will have to call or email me for that as I am trying to shorten my blog posts lately 
The real point above is that I have been writing about consistency and endurance and never giving up for the past few months and I hope it is finally sinking in. Caractacus Potts never gave up. Not on his work nor his inventions. And in the long run, he persevered and succeeded. Sometimes we create things and work on things for hours and hours and with the sheer amount of time that is put into something, we can succeed either due to that amount of time and effort or something indirectly related.
Last week I also mentioned that content is one of the parts to Internet success and I would start coaching you on what to write, how to write and finding the time to write.
But before I start coaching you on WHAT to write, I want to share with you another tenet of Internet and website marketing. “Know Thine Audience!” As an example, at my networking meeting last Friday I gave a short presentation that is a 5-10 minute whet your appetite mini-presentation that touches upon the 21 things every business should know about websites and online marketing. One of the members of that group is a bereavement advisor. She helps you and your family cope with life changes that tragically come in as a surprise and challenging situations that aren’t a surprise at all. Dealing with deaths of parents, spouses etc. is not an easy task. So during my little lecture I was talking about how during the Olympics, a young male Olympian died during the luge competition (possibly due to the course being too fast but that’s another story). I had been writing about the Olympics for weeks but never touched upon this. When I mentioned to this consultant that a great article for her to write would be about the bereavement that this family had felt with the entire world watching, she agreed. So the message here is that you should be using current events to explain to your audience what you do and how you do it.
And that brings me to the Oscars. Best Picture: The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow), Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Directing: The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow). Ok ok. So I haven’t seen any of these movies. However, I did see “Up,” Best Animated Feature Film and Music, and “Avatar,” Best Cinematography and Art Direction. I don’t get out to the movies that much but I am a big fan of getting movies for free from the library. But I am in the minority. Millions of people all over the world live in the fantasy world of entertainment and movies allow us to transport to another universe for two hours at a time. Movies makes billions and billions of dollars worldwide because humans love to get away from their current lives, to dream and to stand in other peoples shoes if only for a short time. Movies are emotional. They speak to our inner senses. They make us feel happy, sad, scared and loved. They make us cry, laugh and leave us with a sense of wonder and move us to think and imagine. (By the way, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang won the Oscar for best music in 1968 and by the way I think South Park stole the music for this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH6aj8ofBXk)
And how does one get to be at the top of the mountain in the movie industry? That’s right. Either you work your butt off for years and years and years, or attach yourself to others who have been working those 10,000 required hours. Of course the winners have talent and creativity. But it is the combination of teamwork and hard work and countless hours of perfecting and making permanent the skills required to move audiences that choose to spend their hard earned money to get away from it all for about 2 hours.
You can bring your business to the top of Google and to the top of your industry if you just invest the time necessary to make it happen. And here is a secret to making your business a success with Internet marketing… You can do it all for free. And in your spare time. And you can also hire interns to do it for you. That’s right. All of the tools necessary (see my 21 things businesses need to do to be a success online here: http://www.TheSeminarSeries.com, of course you can also sign up for my seminar where I teach it to you too) are all on the Internet right now.
So today start blogging, writing, hiring interns, create links, make videos and anything else you can do to move your company closer to success. You will be glad you did. And if you want to know more about movies or Website and Internet marketing NYC, email me at raphis@salemglobal.com, just call me at my NYC office at 212-993-5828 or visit www.SalemGlobal.com for more information.
Internet Marketing in NY, Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers and Olympic Hockey: What your business can learn from 10,000 hours of practice makes perfect
Posted by Salem Global on Mar 2, 2010
SalemGlobal has been in business for over 13 years. We started out very small in an Upper West Side two-Bedroom apartment, moved to a loft in the Garment District on 36th Street West of 8th Avenue and now have an amazing office on 40th Street across from Bryant Park with a view that only a few are privileged to have in a small crowded concrete jungle like New York City. We also have achieved something that I am very proud of and wasn’t even going after. True we have been in the number one position for “Website Marketing NY” and backwards “NY Website Marketing.” And also New York Website Marketing etc. etc. And let’s not forget “Internet Marketing NY and NYC.” But last week we reached the #2 position right behind Wikipedia for “Internet Marketing.” Here is the proof: http://websitestrategymarketing.com/salemglobal-number-2-for-internet-marketing (”Internet Marketing” is searched more often than “website marketing.”)
By the way, you will get the same results if you live in Brooklyn or on the Upper East Side. But what is frustrating is that in Westchester we are no where to be found… So the question is: why does Google show us different results in different locations? Why don’t they have the same results across the board; locally, across the country and all around the world? Is it because part of their algorithm is to show results based on traffic coming from your own IP address? Is it because they want us to see ourselves in a high position so that we can feel good about ourselves? Where do you see us for those keywords? Where do you stand for your own keywords?
Lately I have been writing about “consistency.” Keeping your name consistently in the Internet spotlight. Day after day, week after week, month after month. Each week and month, we create content for ourselves and our clients and then promote it out to the various new media. Corporate websites, press release distribution websites, article distribution websites, blogs, video sharing services, social media like Facebook and LinkedIn and much much more.
In his latest book “Outliers,” Malcolm Gladwell writes about how some of the most successful people in the world have devoted and invested at least 10,000 hours towards their desired profession or hobby. Some examples: Bill Joy, the programmer behind Sun Microsystems and UNIX. Bill Gates of Microsoft. The Beatles. You might not know this if you didn’t read the book but each of these people (and of course the band), put in thousands and thousands of hours into what they did before they became famous (and of course rich beyond anyone’s dreams). Bill Joy and Bill Gates had access to huge IBM mainframe computers in their schools, neighborhoods and universities in the late 60’s and early 70s before anyone knew what they were. The Beatles actually played in Hamburg Germany for hours and hours and more hours because the musical sets in that particular party scene called on bands to play for 8 hours a night. If you go to downtown NYC or any club in NY or LA, a new band is LUCKY to get a 15 minute set. The Beatles were on stage for so many hours, the needed to learn how to play every single genre of sound, cover every band and artist AND make up their own material in order to stay on stage. They weren’t getting paid a lot but they were absolutely perfecting their skills.
And what do I tell my kids every day (if and when) they have a complaint that “this is too hard” or “I can’t do this!” PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!!! (Of course I have banned the word “can’t” from their vocabulary because I am a positive thinker and think that mostly anything is possible). Nothing is too hard and nothing is out of reach when you are disciplined and motivated. (Which is what I actually worked on in my military service as an organizational behaviorist and advisor. Though I had a BA in Psychology at the time, I still was working with soldiers that didn’t believe in themselves “enough.” And if the military can help change or modify behavior through motivation and/or discipline, a defense force will be that much more effective).
And that is why I believe the Canadians are the best Hockey players in the world. It’s not a matter of fact that they just won the Gold (after edging out the USA in overtime); it is most probably because they have more ice time than anyone else. From an early age, Canadians are on the ice, stay on the ice, continue on the ice and practice practice practice. It’s also colder up in Canada so they have more access to an ice rink. Which also is related to Joy and Gates having access to computers before anyone else. (Of course we can also debate this since according to Gladwell at some point their is a saturation point or “enough” ice time to make a team or a player great - but that is for another time)
So in conclusion for this week, your business can benefit from these lessons of hours and hours makes one perfect. Ok, maybe not “perfect” but certainly higher up on the search engines. We have been in business and writing and blogging and linking and building websites for over 13 years. Day after day, week after week, month after month. We haven’t given up. We do the same thing for our clients. If your business follows in our footsteps or let us create a path for you, you will most probably enjoy the same benefits we do.
Next week we will talk more about branding, identity and what to write for your business. If you want to know more about Gladwell, Hockey or Internet Marketing Manhattan (after all, we are #2 after Wikipedia and you can’t get them on the phone), Give me a call at 212-993-5828, send me an email at raphis@salemglobal.com or visit www.SalemGlobal.com for more information.
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.
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.
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.
Internet Marketing, Football and Poker: You Win Some, You Lose Some. What we can learn from the Jets loss, the Colts win and consistency
Posted by Salem Global on Jan 26, 2010
So the Jets lost and the Colts won. For all of you New York Jets fans, Sunday wasn’t the greatest. Of course most of you watched the game on TV. My cousin actually drove to Indianapolis for the game. So you gotta ask yourself. Would you rather drive 11 hours TO the game being all psyched and watch live… and then have to drive back home for the same ELEVEN hours! Well. That all depends on your attitude and your overall take on life. I would tend to think that most people would really enjoy a road trip from NY to IN when they have something to look forward to. And they would certainly enjoy being at the actual stadium, feel the actual cold air, watch the pigskin get tossed, and relish the thrill of being in a place where history had the potential of happening. Mind you I am a New Yorker so of course I was rooting for the Jets. Heck, even my friends who are Giants fans were rooting for the Jets. But I have a positive attitude and though the Jets lost and the drive home with a loss is MUCH longer than a drive home with a win, there is something to be said about making the effort.
When I was in Junior High School I was pretty good in math. If I studied, I got an A. If I didn’t study, I usually got a B. Teachers hate us sort of kids. We set the wrong example for the others in the class. And if you are a jerk (like I was), you probably told more than a few people when you studied and how much and when you didn’t and you get the picture. Well, about three months into the school year after acing most of my tests, I decided to take a break from studying before a test and failed miserably. I was devastated. My teacher marched me into the principal’s office and they gave me the bottom line. They didn’t like my attitude and were kicking me out of honors. I was so upset I began to cry. Loud. Everyone in the next classroom heard me. And then on top of it all, I was demoted to the “regular” class. That memory is stained on me and I never want to repeat it. Did I always study from then on? No. I was not a consistent student and I didn’t learn from my mistakes. But now in my adult and professional life, I try to remember this story and the stain and the pain. I try to remember that if I study and keep it up, I will not fail. And if sometimes I do indeed fail, I try to realize that there are always second chances. I will be behind and it will be a struggle to get back but if I keep at it and keep a positive attitude, I will make it to the top.
Last week I met up with some colleagues of mine. A CEO of a video production company and a CEO of an advertising agency. We were talking about our businesses and what we can do together to drum up business in 2010 and beyond. Economy Eshnonomy. People are doing business in this market and we need to do something that will land new accounts. Well, after talking for an hour, the ad agency guy asked me a standard marketing 101 question. “What makes you unique over your competition?” I have a very cool and quick answer for people that ask me that question. Basically there are 5 ways of saying New York; “NY,” “NYC,” “New York,” “New York City” and “Manhattan.” I am in the “Internet Marketing” and “Website Marketing” Business. When you Google those keyword phrases, SalemGlobal comes up #1.
SalemGlobal did not become #1 overnight. It took many years of hard work, strategy and time to get to the number one position. It took patience and it took consistency. So when I meet potential clients, I tell them my story. I evaluate whether their website warrants being in the #1 position for their keywords. I look at their competition and I give them the analysis they need in order to decide whether it’s worth competing or not. The funny thing is that I have found that it is only a select few who realize the power of the web and what I am telling them.
There are three basic ways to do business development in today’s super competitive world. As a business owner, you can place an ad in traditional media (this includes direct marketing as well as print, mail, radio, TV etc.) and wait for the phone to ring, you can network or you can cold call. My answer for the past 13 years has been the web! Internet marketing rules in this new tech based economy. There is no more efficient way to market yourself than using technology. The numbers don’t lie. More and more people are using the web to search for things they need and want. If you aren’t competing online in 2010, you are going out of business. Of course I don’t want to put down networking or cold calling. They work too. But you certainly can’t compare the global reach of the web to your personal local networking. And though you can make a phone call to mostly anyone anywhere in the world, there aren’t enough hours in the day to reach as many people as internet users. So in the playoffs of sales, the Web wins hands down!
So Raphi, all of your theory sounds good, but can you give us a real life example? Sure. Take www.4StarCleaning.com. They have been doing PPC (pay per click) on Google for the past four years straight for keywords “cleaning services” and “office cleaning.” We have had our ups and downs with the campaign, but the President, Fred Ross, recognizes how you have to be in it to win it. He recognizes that consistency wins the race. You don’t just turn on the campaign when you THINK people are going to call you. You let it ride. And though the past two years have been rough, we have witnessed calls come through when we least expect it (and when we most expect it too.)
As an entrepreneur and business owner since 1997, if I gave up every time there was a problem I would’ve had a new corporate job each new moon. I wonder if they teach you how to deal with problems and failure in business school. It seems fundamental to me to have the resiliency to bounce back after every setback. But maybe that’s what separates successful businesses from non-successful ones. Not how to deal with the good times, but how to deal with the bad times.
In poker, the idea is not to win every pot. The idea is to win consistently over time. A little pot here and a little pot there. A monster pot every now and then. And not to lose the monster pots. But you aren’t supposed to play every hand. When dealt a 7-2 non-suited, you are supposed to fold. That doesn’t mean you cash in, it just means you lose your ante and wait until the next round of cards are dealt.
So whether you are the Jets, a business owner or a poker player, remain consistent. Keep playing, keep blogging, keep developing, keep at it. The only obstacle in the way of your success is you. And the only person that can make it happen is you. Make the decision to be successful and keep a positive attitude and stay in the game. Next week I will share with you my son’s Chess game anecdotes. We will also cover more content strategies, newsletters and blogging for your industry. And of course if you want to know more about internet marketing NY and poker and networking, give me a call at 212-993-5828, send me an email at raphis@salemglobal.com or visit www.SalemGlobal.com.
Internet Marketing, The JETS and Martin Luther King Jr: What We Can Learn From Current Events, Sports, Keywords, Forums and Blogs.
Posted by Salem Global on Jan 19, 2010
Let’s start off this week by paying homage to Martin Luther King Jr. A great man who was taken down by the forces of evil that exist in this world. May his memory never be forgotten. May his soul rest in peace.
The two things that come to my mind when I think about the great Reverend Dr. are Freedom and Dreaming. Freedom to live and work in this world, in the place that I want. To practice the religion of my choice. To maintain the lifestyle that I desire. And of course to dream. To raise my children in a world of peace and tranquility. Happiness and not sorrow. Pleasure with minimal pain. Should I go on? Well - just 1 more thing…
Sunday night I was with a group of friends after the JETS game and 1 guy walked in and he said he had been DREAMING of a JETS playoff and Super Bowl championship. So “dreaming” really can be whatever you want it to be. For the past 26 years (he is older than that but only been a JETS fan since 1984?, he has endured the PAIN of the JETS not winning a Super Bowl. And by the way, there are plenty of JETS fans older than him that have endured the pain of a no win since 1969 (before he was born…)
So what can we learn about Internet marketing from these two timely events? Well, for one thing, if I am a young student learning about King, all I have to do is go to Google or my search engine of choice and put in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Actually - before I type in the full name I will see “suggested searches.” These suggestions range from King’s name to “moving speech video” to “biography” “quotes” “speech” “speeches” “pictures” “timeline” “day” and “letter from Birmingham jail.” Obviously these phrases are the most searched and will give me the results I am most likely looking for. This goes back to how important it is to have proper keyword research and implementation into your meta data. If you don’t have the proper keywords, you will not be found. If you are not found, you will lose out on lead generation emanating from your website. (Incidentally, it is also helpful to have a 2nd grader come home and want to use your computer to search for Ruby Bridges so you can be reminded that she was the first black student to integrate a white school in New Orleans.)
Which leads me to why you really are reading this post. Because world peace and desegregation are nice and all, but on the cover of the NY Daily News today http://www.nydailynews.com/news/galleries/new_york_daily_news_front_pages_for_january_2010/new_york_daily_news_front_pages_for_january_2010.html as you can see, Gary Myers tells us why the JETS will win. As an Internet guy, I found it more interesting to search for “why Jets will win” and also “why Colts will win.” Even more interesting is that for each of these results you get daily newspaper article results as well as forums.newyorkjets.com and forum.colts.com which leads me tell you that forums and blogs are a great way to market your product and company. (And don’t forget to check out former NFL San Francisco 49ers tight end Dr. John Frank in honor of the upcoming football frenzy http://www.HairClinicUSA.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpajAIaULs8)
If you want to know more about freedom, dreaming, keywords, sports and forums, Give me a call at 212-993-5828, send me an email at raphis@salemglobal.com or visit www.SalemGlobal.com. I guarantee it will be worthwhile to you and your company’s marketing efforts. Next week we will find out what happens when the Jets play the Colts and what searches and results come up and how content affects you in the search engines and your bottom line.
Internet Marketing, Derek Jeter and the Jets: A Quick Primer On Evaluating Your Website For SEO
Posted by Salem Global on Jan 18, 2010
I have come to realize that the more I write about things in the news and specifically anything related to sports, I get a higher open rate, reader rate and response rate to my emails and blog posts. So have I been fooling myself over the past 13 years that people have been reading and are genuinely interested in my thoughts and tips on Internet marketing? Well. The numbers don’t lie (as I have recently come to understand more about statistics and economics from my latest read; Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner). The fact is that my numbers are higher due to more interesting content.
So the fact that my writings and more specifically my subject headlines mention sports together with higher response rates proves that indeed I HAVE been fooling myself. The fact is that internet marketing might be really boring to you. Even though your business may benefit from it and might help you make more revenue and profit by gaining more clients and customers, it just isn’t as interesting to you men that blogging about relevant things to your audience is more important to your business than the fact that the Jets had another great winner on Saturday. Oh - and sorry ladies… Derek Jeter (or his PR firm) just announced that he is tying the knot to some actress named Minka Kelly. (I admit it, I had never heard of her before today. But I have heard of his past girlfriends Mariah Carey, Jessica Biel, Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Alba. Oh and something else you should know is that Minka is 29 (Jeter is 35) and is the only child of former Aerosmith guitarist Rick Dufay and former Las Vegas showgirl Maureen Kelly. Ok. I just realized another thing. All of this information might actually be more interesting to guys than the Jets winning on Saturday also.)
So Raphi, what does all this have to do with Internet marketing and evaluating your website for SEO purposes? Well, that’s easy. The answer is content.
You see, your website consists of a “Front-end” that consists of content, graphics and links. And a “Back-end” - programming gobbledegook consisting of HTML and other various scripting languages. Google and other search engines are logical tools and work from the top down. That means that the higher up on the page you prioritize the content you want to be found, the higher up in search results it will position. Search engines are similar to humans in terms of what is interesting. So if you place your keywords in the header or at the top of your page, humans and search engines will prefer and rank you relative to your competitors. However, if your programming conflicts with this; meaning, your programming supersedes your content and displays your keywords on the front-end but doesn’t reflect this on the back-end, you might lose the SEO battle for your most important keywords.
Solution: Have me (ok ok, or some other professional) look at the source code with you. This evaluation literally takes a few minutes. An Internet marketing professional will teach you how to look at your source code and make sense out of the gobbledegook.
Remember: If you want to be interesting to people and search engines, put Derek Jeter and the Jets and football at the top of your content. But seriously folks. If you want to show up higher in search engines, your website needs to be evaluated and then you can implement suggestions made by an internet marketing professional. Start off with getting an evaluation. After all, it’s free. You have nothing to lose. Unfortunately, there are 20 other things that I recommend for all of you who are considering improving your website marketing in 2010. Next week we talk about industry keywords and how to research. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and install Google Analytics on your website. If you do, within a week’s time you will have some very valuable information regarding keyword research and your website.
What I didn’t talk about this week: if you love football, you should check out one of our newest partners Dr. John Frank, former tight-end for the SF 49ers at http://www.HairClinicUSA.com, a doctor with a passion for medicine who gave up his NFL career after 2 Super Bowl rings, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, the $100 raffle winner who doesn’t know he won, ice-skating in Bryant Park, Team America, The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach and “Goo-gled: The End Of The World As We Know It” by Ken Auletta. And of course, if you would like to know more about evaluating your website, just give me a call at 212-993-5828, shoot me an email at raphis@salemglobal.com or visit www.SalemGlobal.com. Its free you know. As in no charge Now - isn’t THAT interesting?
Internet Marketing, Football, Sylvester Stallone, Ball Droppings and Insanity
Posted by Salem Global on Jan 5, 2010
Last week after writing about football and poker and what they had to do with Internet marketing and well, life itself, I received more feedback (positive feedback) than any of my posts over the past year. Well Happy 2010 everyone and thanks for the communication. After all, after writing, blogging and vlogging for the past 13 years, I deserve SOME form of acknowledgment that people are reading what I write. And it’s not all gushy mushy feel good stuff either. Its hard core marketing lessons that I have learned since I started up this company in 1997. Heck. I was blogging when people didn’t even know what blogging meant. My company pre-dates Facebook (so what) and Google! (Really?!?) Yup. And I have the domain name to prove it: Check out the waybackmachine for SalemGlobal.com - pretty cool huh?!
As I was saying, last week’s post got more feedback not because of my Internet marketing guru-ness, but because I finally gave the people what they wanted… Football! (Yes my friends. Football was more captivating than poker. Sad for me - but true)
And that leads me to write about getting back to basics. Think Rocky. (Gonna Fly Now - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8ABifVq0pA - Eye of the Tiger - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4kLlL6c2Pk) Think about how here was this street kid fighter from Philadelphia who was a nobody but he worked his butt off in the gym, ran up the steps to the liberty bell, lifted up his hands in victory and beat up Apollo Creed. But that’s not the real story. For those of you who don’t know this, I am proud to share with you the REAL Rocky story. The story of a writer, director and actor named Sylvester Stallone who walked into Hollywood, got pushed around and beaten up, but kept coming back for more. You see, Stallone WROTE the actual story and told Hollywood that he wanted to act and direct in it. They said they liked the screenplay but that they would get someone “famous” to play the part. Oh, and there would need to be some editing. Stallone said no way and walked out. They then walked back and said, “ok, here have some more money,” but he still said no. And he kept on saying no until he got his price and name in the credits. Well, as you know, Stallone went on to be one of the biggest action actors in Hollywood in his time. Imagine if he didn’t hold his ground and sold his book screenplay for a measly few thousand dollars. Where would he be today? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075148/trivia
So who saw the ball drop in Times Square Thursday night? Who watched it on TV? I didn’t. I actually don’t own a television. But I do have a computer with Internet access. And guess what? Some creative geniuses started to broadcast the Times Square NYC ball dropping a number of years ago and now they get MILLIONS of viewers to watch. But wait - there’s more. Some dude I met at a comedy club (Comix NYC) actually was one of the hosts interviewing people in Times Square. Harrison Greenbaum went from emceeing an open mic night to being broadcast into millions of home computers all over the world by being creative. True he wasn’t on TV. He isn’t in LA where thousands of comedians and actors are waiting tables until their lucky break comes. He got his face on the Internet and now he is on his way to stardom. Good going Harrison.
Albert Einstein is quoted as saying “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Well, that is why a lot of organizations went out of business over the past 2 years. Sure, you can blame everything on the economy, on Madoff, on the president, on your personal troubles, whatever. That is what truly sets the winners apart from the losers. Simply put, losers give up. Winners adapt. Winners stay at it. Winners stay in the game and modify their strategy. And that is what you need to do in today’s cut-throat, dog-eat-dog world of business. It’s a war out there and many companies are dying. Business is slow. No one is buying. Everyone is cutting back.
Well guess what? That only means that truly the strong will survive. The endurance runners. The Shackeltons. The Rockys and the Harrisons.
So this year, as your competition prepares for another bad year of business, you need to get creative. You need to think about what you have been doing over and over again and what isn’t working and stop your insane behavior. You need to change it up. Yes its cliché but you still need to think out of the box. But this comes with a warning label. Don’t throw away what you have already done. Use it to your advantage and beat out your competition.
As an example, I know the value of a good domain name when I see one. Over the past year I have picked up some excellent domain names that have been around for years that were let go by businesses that didn’t see the value of a good DOTcom and let it go for peanuts. I can buy a domain name for $30 and turn it into $300, $3,000 and eventually (hopefully) $30,000. With each passing year, the value of a domain name goes up. Not just in price, but also in search engine value. That’s why perhaps I am somewhat of a packrat.
In addition to buying up domain names in the graveyard (you can get good rates on domain names at 1and1), SalemGlobal will be resurrecting 2 particular projects and starting up 2 new ventures in 2010.
First, we will be re-launching our MarketingDirectories.com directory and lead generation project.
Second, we will be re-launching our NYC Internet marketing seminars at TheSeminarSeries.com
Third, we will be opening up our offices to one to one private instruction for companies that can’t afford to hire a website marketing firm but can afford to train someone on staff to do some of the things that we do. Why not learn from the experts at a fraction of the price?
And finally, for now, I am proud to announce a new concept in business networking: Poker Networking. That’s right boys and girls. I am finally marrying 2 things I enjoy very much. Business networking and poker. Details available at www.PokerNetworking.us. Basically, we are starting up an exclusive group that wants to tell everyone who they are, what they do and get leads and referrals, but are tired of the mixers and minglers and breakfasts and lunches. Hey - we have all been networking and running around in the same circles for YEARS. Let’s have a little fun now shall we?
So this week’s message is simple yet you are still going to have to exercise that left-side of your brain. Get out of the box. Be creative. Don’t throw away the marketing you have done to date. Work with it. Review it. Modify it. Apply it and beat out your competition. After all, people and companies are ALWAYS going to need your businesses services. And if you are one small step ahead of your competition, you will win the race.
Want to know more about Internet marketing, football, poker, Rocky, domain names or private website marketing instruction? Give me a call at 212-993-5828, send me an email at raphis@salemglobal.com or check out www.SalemGlobal.com. Next week we get back to the 21 basics of Internet marketing; Evaluating your website for improvement. Oh. And Ice Skating, Freakonomics, Team America, Zack and Miri.
Happy 1st Quarter 2010 Everyone!
Raphi Salem