Whether you are a current affiliate marketer, thinking about becoming one or just wondering what the heck affiliate marketing is, you’re not going to want to miss the upcoming Affiliate Summit East in NYC.

A former panel com-padre at a previous affiliate summit, Shashi Bellamkonda, wrote a great post on his blog about the upcoming affiliate shindig.

I don’t think I could do a better job than Shashi outlining the conference so you might as well just read his post and I hope to see you at the show!

Attracting Customers the New Old Fashioned Way.

As I sit here preparing to write another article outlining the fall of the local Yellow Page directory, a call comes into my office and is routed to one of our Internet marketing consultants.  The caller is interested in learning more about our Internet marketing services. Potential leads calling my office is a fairly common occurrence, what’s uncommon about this particular caller is the way in which he found us - the local Yellow Pages. Talk about timing, I didn’t even realize we were in the Yellow Pages!

 So, does this change my opinion of the big yellow lug? No.

The Yellow Page directory is a paper dinosaur and not long for this world. Yes, we did get a lead from it today, one lead, not a very good one and the first lead from the yellow book in seven years!

Are the Yellow Pages completely useless? Not completely, even dinosaurs served a purpose. If not for the mass extinction of the dinosaurs what would all those paleontologists do?  Speaking of extinction, if you market or sell to senior citizens the yellow book may prove to be of some value in attracting customers however, this as well will be short lived. As today’s seniors move on to greener pastures they are being replaced by aging baby boomers. Boomers make up a third of all internet users and they are bringing their Internet know-how with them as they enter their golden years. The one thing these boomers are not bringing with them is their big yellow book.

Another nail in the yellow coffin has been the generation every business is talking about, the “Millennials”.  Millennials are those born between 1980 and 1995 (give or take a year or two) and their numbers on the Internet rival those of the boomers. And guess what? More than three quarters of them don’t remember a world without the Internet and a large percentage of them have never picked up a Yellow Pages directory in their life!

So what’s a local business to do when looking to market to a local audience?

Just like the dinosaurs the Yellow Page directory has evolved (assuming you buy into that evolution stuff).  The powers-that-be at the Yellow Pages believe that SuperPages.com and Yellowpages.com (referred to as “IYP”, short for Internet Yellow Pages) are the vehicles to keep them out of the tar pit.

Don’t go waiving your terrible towels in praise for the yellow mammoth just yet. IYP’s are still fairly new to the online search game and they face some pretty stiff competition. Mega search giants Google, Yahoo! and MSN have invested heavily in developing local search tools and they’re playing to win.

Search volume within the IYP’s for local products and services pales in comparison to the searches done in the major search engines (Google, Yahoo!, MSN etc.). Does that mean IYP’s have no value? Depending on your customers and your offerings marketing with the IYP might be a huge success or a miserable failure.

Here’s an example.

I have a client that operates a small regional chain of NJ car audio stores. They have been in business since the 70’s and have always advertised in the Yellow Pages. Recently they shifted to an IYP marketing solution to the tune of $1,800.00 per month.  Once my company took over the development of their new website and Internet marketing services we began to measure where there website visitors were coming from. We noticed that they were consistently getting 47 visitors per month originating from SuperPages.com. We compared that number with the visitors they were getting from Google and it wasn’t even close. Google consistently delivered over 7,000 visitors a month compared to the 47 from SuperPages.com.

Maybe the 47 visitors per month were high quality leads and worth $1,800.00 per month? We did the math. 47 visitors at $1,800.00 per month is $38.30 per visitor. Their average conversion rate from website visitor to lead is 10%.  Out of 47 visitors they can expect to be contacted by 5 potential customers (rounding up) which makes the cost of acquisition $360.00 per new lead. An average gross sale for one of their retail locations is $300.00 with an average gross profit margin of 20%. If they turned every lead into a sale they would have a net loss of -$300.00 per customer. In this case, SuperPages.com is clearly not worth it.

The success of any Internet marketing solution whether local or global is commensurate with the economics of the products or services you offer. I have another client where IYP works very well.  This particular client is a NJ Mercedes Benz dealer. They generate roughly the same amount of visitors from their IYP marketing as does the NJ car audio dealer however they sell a much larger ticket item not to mention the enormous lifetime value of a Mercedes Benz buyer.  

How can you get the most out of local search advertising?

Marketing in general is not for the faint hearted. In order to prevent your head from exploding you need to be more than a little risk tolerant. I’m sure you’ve heard the old adage, “you win some you lose some”? I have a slightly different mantra, “You lose some to win some”.  Failure is a pre-condition to success. Don’t be afraid to try something new, step out of your comfort zone and you just may be surprised with the results.

The great thing about Internet marketing is that EVERYTHING is measurable. If something is working you can tell. Adversely if something is not working you can try and make it better or cut your losses and shift budget to a program that you know works.  The only way you can truly fail is if you don’t take the time and effort to measure and manage your local marketing. If you have a set-it and forget-it mindset, Internet marketing is not for you.
Go waste your money on billboards.

No matter what online service you use to market locally be sure the service you choose offers statistics and reporting on the activity generated by your advertisement.

Measurement statistics you must have at a bare minimum:

·         CTR or Click thru rate. This will give you a percentage of how many people viewed your ad and then clicked on it.

·         Actual clicks. You need to know how many people in a given period clicked on your ad and visited your website.

Any online marketing service worth it’s salt (what does that even mean)should be able to provide you with these stats and if they can’t don’t  use them.

Measurements you can do without:
Impressions. Ad agencies (my favorite people in the world) and online advertising sites are famous for touting how many “impressions” your ad had. This is how many times your ad is viewed by a searcher no matter if they click on it or not. This number is always large and in any search scenario, irrelevant. No one ever remembers what they don’t click on.

A few tips for succeeding in local search advertising:

·         Get the absolute most out of your advertisement space.  Make sure you put as much information into your ad as allowed. Google Local allows hours of operation, pictures (a logo goes a long way here), videos, links to your website, multiple categories, payment types and more. Use everything offered to you, you never know what will connect with a potential customer.

·         Use as many listing enhancements as budget allows. Most local search sites offer enhanced listings such as bold text, colored background or even preferential placement. With all the choices today’s connected customer has you need to do whatever it takes to get your marketing to stand out in the crowd.

·         Think like a customer. Remember, customers search for problems not solutions so be sure to address their needs in your ads and speak their language. Forgo the industry jargon in lieu of the problems you can help a customer solve.  The better you connect with their needs the better your chances they will connect with you.

·         Utilize your peers and their experience. See what works and doesn’t work for others in your industry. People love to talk about their successes and adversely complain about poor services. Just be sure to take everything your told with a grain of salt (two salt references in the same article) and try to get details. Should your peer have the set-it and forget-it mentality the service was doomed from the door.

I know this looks like a lot of work and that’s because it is but the effort pays big dividends. If you think showing up properly and productively in local search isn’t worth the effort, then gather up all of your employees for a moment of group prayer and pray that your competition thinks just like you.

Chris Perrin, a food writer who lives near Kansas City, was trying to decide where to vacation with his family this summer.

The destination had to be kid- friendly, have decent shopping and interesting cuisine. So, he asked for recommendations on Twitter, a social networking blog.

Elizabeth Norton of Cape May offered her South Jersey town, known for its quaint Victorian architecture and easy pace of life.

“She told me she would send me a list of restaurants up and down the beach,” Perrin said.

Norton, a 27-year-old mother of two, was happy to oblige. “We have seafood, and there’s a place here that makes hot dogs a million different ways,” she said.

Consumers like Perrin and Nor ton are increasingly turning to social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to find the best deals on travel, products and services. Cyberspace neighbors are replacing the trusted friend or relative who once dispensed advice on where to go to buy a product wholesale.

“You have a built-in group of experts whose opinion is more valuable to you than a professional product reviewer,” said Allen Weiner, an analyst for Gartner, a technology research firm in Stam ford, Conn.

Savvy companies are also finding ways to join the virtual backyard discussions.

“More and more product companies are going to these sites and trying to get feedback on their products,” Weiner said.

For example, Starwood has a Facebook account that asks members where it should build new hotels. Hertz, the Park Ridge-based rental car company, has a blog on Twitter for ConnectbyHertz, a new service that lets customers rent vehicles by the hour.

“A lot of the people we are trying to reach with ConnectbyHertz are young urban professionals who are into social networking,” said Don Serup, Hertz vice president of internal audit. “It’s a really good way to get the word out about what we’re doing.”

‘CUSTOMERS ARE IN CONTROL’

But tapping into social media sites can also pose risks for compa nies. A clumsy pitch or false move can put a company at the mercy of other bloggers who can instantly criticize their brand and mobilize public opinion against them.

Successful social networking re quires relinquishing control of your company’s message, brand and even logo, which is something many marketers are loathe to do, said Larry Bailin, chief executive of Single Throw internet Marketing, a Wall Township firm that advises companies on social media.

“Most companies are afraid to fail in social networking, or if they are really big, they just throw money at everything and hope it works,” Bailin said. “Customers are in control of the medium and the message, and they know more about your product than you do.”

Wal-Mart was criticized in 2006 when it put out a blog called “Wal- Marting Across America,” that ap peared to be written by a couple who were traveling the country in a recreational vehicle and staying in Wal-Mart parking lots. The blog was actually written by two employees for Edelman Public Rela tions, which represents Wal-Mart.

Sony and its ad agency, Zipa toni, also ran afoul of the blogging community that same year when they created a fake blog about a guy who was hoping his family would buy him a Sony PSP gaming station for Christmas.

Companies have to maintain credibility when they create blogs and provide useful information rather than another marketing message, according to Bailin.

“Sony and Wal-Mart tried to trick people,” he said. “Companies have to remember that if you make somebody unhappy, they can tell thousands of people with a keystroke.”

Social networking can prod companies into taking action.

For example, Toys “R” Us was mentioned in the best-selling book, “Groundswell,” by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, which chronicled how social media is changing commerce.

The authors pointed out that while shoppers on the Toys “R” Us website were active in social net working, the Wayne-based retailer was failing to tap into those discussions.

In October, the company changed its website to give more prominence to its “Mom’s Favorites,” so mothers “can rate products and share valuable information with others,” said company spokeswoman Jennifer Albano.

The retailer also created a “My Deals” section designed to give customers access to special offers and the ability to sort deals by category.

MOTHER KNOWS BEST

Mothers carry a lot of weight on the internet, according to Melissa Garcia, a self-described mommy blogger and founder of consumerqueen.com, a social networking site for women who are looking for good deals.

“Moms want to hear from other Moms,” said Garcia, who lives in Edmond, Okla. “If a Mom sees the Gap has clothes for 50 percent off, she can share that because everybody is looking for ways to save a buck.”

Twitter is important to her “be cause companies are contacting me to do product reviews,” she said.

Last month, Dirt Devil gave away a dozen free vacuum cleaners on her site as part of a contest, she said. Garcia also said she received a free laptop from Dell in return for reviewing a computer.

“There were no strings attached,” she said. “I just have to tell my readers if I like it or not and what I would change about it. I post reviews, whether they are good or bad. So, companies know my good reviews are all the more real.”

Community networks can also help consumers engage with each other, according to Jim Willis of Red Bank.

“I think most everyone who uses social networking sites has at one point used them to get recommendations on products or services,” Willis said. “I don’t know anyone who uses those sites exclusively for recommendations, but it is a typical use of Facebook or Twitter to solicit feedback.”

Willis, who has a website at http://jimwillis.org, runs a Red Bank newsletter called redban keastsideparkneighbors. It has 120 subscribers who trade information about everything from baby sitters to carpenters and tree cutters.

He turned to his newsletter friends when he wanted to waterproof his basement this month. Another neighbor had received bids from several contractors and for warded them to Willis.

A neighbor’s recommendation carries a lot of weight, he said, be cause group members must iden tify themselves.

“Because there are names and addresses attached, there is an implicit sense of credibility because it is not anonymous,” said Willis, who formerly worked as chief information officer for the state of Rhode Island. “I’m associating my reputation with any recommendation I make.”

Not every internet champion is going on-line to get the best deals. Debbie Galant, who runs the popular Baristanet.com website, an Essex County blog, said she prefers to patronize local merchants.

“I can’t think of anything I bought because someone recommended it on Facebook,” she said. “I’m not one of those people who sits at a computer and is trying to shave $5 off something.”

Joseph R. Perone can be reached at jperone@starledger.com or (973) 392-4262. [

Once a year I make a pilgrimage to Giants stadium (not much of a pilgrimage, the stadium is only an hour from my house) to watch my favorite NFL team. This year I watched the Giants trounce arch rivals the Dallas Cowboys 35 – 14 (NICE!)

As a marketing author I tend to be hyper-aware of the marketing surrounding me. From the minute I entered Giants stadium my mind switched to overload. Talk about marketing noise! Everything is sponsored from the tickets to the garbage cans.  If they can squeeze someone’s logo on it they will.

Easily there were hundreds of sponsor companies marketing throughout the stadium, so why can I only remember two? 

Dunkin’ Donuts was everywhere. They have a huge presence with signage all over the stadium. Dunkin’ Donuts mentions over the PA system after plays and they sponsored at least three in stadium giveaways that I can recall. They are on the ticket, program guide and team photo. I remember them because they made themselves memorable. Every mention of Dunkin’ Donuts was followed by their tagline, “America Runs on Dunkin’”.

Dunkin’ Donuts was so memorable that during half-time I didn’t want a cup of coffee, I told my friend Bruce that I needed a cup of “Dunkin’ Donuts coffee”.  I’m not a huge fan of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee (If you read my book you’d know that I’m more of a Starbucks guy) but I really wanted it!

Dunkin’ Donuts used every element at their disposal to insure their marketing connected with me. They executed very well. I left the stadium with, “America runs on Dunkin’” echoing through my head.

The other sponsoring company is memorable for quite the opposite reason, they were non-memorable. They made no attempt to be memorable or drill anything into my head and they had a better opportunity to do so. In fact they could have had everyone talking about them long after they left the stadium.  The only reason I remember them is because I’m a marketer and noticed the missed opportunity.

The company was Pfizer and the product was Viagra. There were a few Viagra logos around the field and a few mentions over the PA system but they went completely un-noticed. Every now and again I’d hear, “this replay sponsored by Viagra”, that’s it, no tagline, no memorable elements just a product name.  

Viagra had a HUGE opportunity to be memorable and they blew it! Viagra is sponsoring an event where 90% of the attendees are men. Where can you get a better opportunity to market to your prime demographic!

The Viagra tagline, “E.D. is more common than you think” is a bit of a downer for the hordes of testosterone filled football fans so I understand why they didn’t use it but the game of football is filled with opportunities for memorable euphemisms.

·         Viagra, makin’ the hard plays!

·          That long hard throw brought to you by Viagra!

·         Viagra, bring the goalpost home!

·         Viagra, don’t wait till your fourth down.

·         Viagra, kick it through the uprights!

They’re sponsoring a team called, “BIG BLUE” for God’s sake! How do you let that one get away!

I think you get the idea. I know that I’d be laughing my ass off and telling everyone in the office about the Viagra spots.

Sponsor the goalpost; put the Viagra logos on the urinals in the men’s room, could there be a more perfect time to have your primary targets attention? (Could I sound more like Chandler Bing?).

How about the snack bar? All drinks purchased at halftime will be supersized courtesy of Viagra.  The list gets longer and longer (pun intended).

The marketing landscape is overcrowded and riddled with noise. Getting through to consumers is a challenge that most companies fail to meet.  Sex sells, humor sells and when you can combine the two and don’t, you’ve missed a golden opportunity. Is Viagra too serious a product to advertise this way? Are they above this type of humor? Comon!  It’s a football game!

Whose sensitivities are we worried about? This guy???? Sponsor him too!

To summarize this extremely long (pun intended) article, marketing is all about making a connection. In order to connect with customers you have to separate your message from the noise. Being different like everyone else just won’t cut it anymore. Make some noise and get people talking about you, your company, your product, your service any way you can. Strive to make your marketing different and you’ll connect every time. 

 I’m confident you can “rise to the occasion”.

Legendary rock band AC/DC just released, “Black Ice” their first new album in over eight years. Black Ice was released on October 8^th and rocketed to the top of the charts selling nearly 800,000 earning it the distinction of being the year’s best-selling rock debut.

Black Ice marks the band’s second stint at #1 (1981’s For Those About to Rock … We Salute You reached the peak several weeks after its initial release), and the first chart-topping debut of the band’s more than 30-year-career.

So why am I writing about AC/DC on my marketing blog?
One, I’m a head banger from back in the day and a huge AC/DC fan.
Two; it’s not every day that a marketing strategy can easily be classified as both insane and brilliant, this one has me torn. I may just have to put it in the things that make you go, “hmmmm” category.

The marketing strategy was to go low tech or as AC/DC’s website boldly states, “Low Definition™”

1.     In the U.S. this album was sold exclusively through Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and the band’s official Web site. You cannot find the album for sale or download at Amazon or iTunes in fact I can’t find it for download at all. You have to buy the physical CD. In today’s iPod centric culture this would seem to be a very risky marketing plan.

2.     A viral video campaign was launched post album release, October 23^rd to be exact. The video which can be viewed on YouTube or downloaded is done completely in Microsoft Excel and being described as, “The world’s first music video in an Excel Spreadsheet. AC/DC smashes through the corporate firewall with real rock ‘n’ roll. Watch the video playing back as ASCII art in Microsoft Excel!”  - Excel? Really? Maybe I can order a cool AC/DC tape dispenser or desk caddie??

My first reaction to this marketing campaign was disbelief. AC/DC sold out! Selling exclusively in Wal-Mart!?! A video created in Excel designed to, “smash through the corporate firewall”? What’s next, a concert at Disney? Who are they trying to reach? Head bangers don’t hang out at Wal-Mart! We go to the local record store to get our…oh wait a minute…there are no more local record stores and head bangers are now in their 40’s with 2.3 kids, 9-5 jobs, safety rated vehicles and a house in the suburbs. Oh crap! We do hang out at Wal-Mart!

When you ponder the fact that AC/DC achieved critical mass in the 80’s you soon realize that the average fan has become just that, average. The days of dreaming of Tawny Kitaen writhing around on the hood of a jaguar in Whitesnake’s, “Here I go again” video are long gone. The rock anthems that played over and over in our minds, songs like Twisted Sister’s, “We’re not gonna take it” and Ozzy’s, “Crazy Train” have been replaced with the Sponge Bob Square Pants theme.

Guess what else? It turns out we use Excel too. Not only do we use it, most of us like it. Think about all the cool things we do with Excel like calculations, equations and rockin’ macros! No one rocks a spreadsheet like we do, always trying to get our forecasts, “back in black”.

AC/DC didn’t leave the current generation of rockers out either. AC/DC will be the first band to get to get its very own version of MTV’s video game phenomenon, “Rock Band,” which is due out November 2nd for the PS2, PS3, Xbox and Wii and will be sold exclusively (where else) at Wal-Mart /Sam’s Club.

It doesn’t hurt album sales (are they still called albums?) that just about anything from the 80’s is popular again, you know, “what’s old is new”. AC/DC is cool (do they still say cool?) again for a whole new generation to rock out to. Maybe buying a CD brings back fond memories for the current generation the way buying an 8-track would to mine.

Okay, so maybe AC/DC is on to something with their Wal-Mart sellin’ spread sheetin’ ways. I guess I should be happy, one of my favorite bands didn’t sell out, they sold in, sold in to my surroundings making it easier for me to find and enjoy a great band with a great brand at an everyday low, low rock ‘n’ rollback price!

The only question I have now is how AC/DC will market to me in the next chapter of my life? Maybe my pacemaker will have download capabilities and be able to beat my heart to dirty deeds done dirt cheap?

Larry is the best selling author of the marketing book, “Mommy, Where Do Customers Come From?” and is a renowned professional keynote and conference speaker, speaking 30 times per year to organizations across the country.

I recently had the opportunity sit down with him and talk about the Internet Marketing landscape.
Here is the transcript of part two of a two part interview:
(If you missed part one click here)

Steve: One question I get from people thinking about starting an online business is “do I need an Internet marketing plan”? What is your philosophy on this type of thing?

Larry: That’s an easy one. 100% yes. A plan is crucial. You would not build a bird-house without a plan why would you not take the time to create one for your business? The Internet is now and will continue to play a critical role in every company’s ability to attract qualified customers. There are few companies out there that are not adding Internet marketing to their overall marketing strategy. You leave it out and you get left behind. We live in a clickable culture and to ignore that fact would be foolish.

Steve: As a follow up question, what are the typical types of Internet marketing services involved in an Internet marketing plan?

Larry: That would vary depending on the type of business and where potential customers can be found for your offerings. Some people would have you believe if it exists than you need to do it. I could not disagree more. I only want to be where my customers are. If my potential customers are on Facebook I’ll be there. If I cannot identify that there is opportunity for me on MySpace than I will move on.

You need to investigate everything and only take on the solutions that have the opportunity for return. Take note, I said opportunity for return not guaranteed return. If you’re looking for guarantees buy a car.

The one constant that every marketing plan should have is a focus on the website. A company’s website is the center of their marketing universe. Everything points to your website, social networking, blogs. Brochures, whitepapers, email everything. Even handing someone a business card leads to them saying, “I’ll go check out your website”.

Just having a website is not enough. You need to be 100% convinced that it will attract, connect with and convert potential customers. We have taken good websites and made them great by insuring that nothing is left up to chance. Every element, line of text, hyperlink and image exists for one reason, to persuade a potential customer.

If your marketing plan does not contain a hard focus on creating a customer centric website you are short changing every other marketing solution you put forth.

Steve: Since you are both product and service-focused clients, are they different in any way? What are some distinctions in how you focus their Internet marketing strategies?

Larry: Primarily product and service companies are different only in their sales processes and by that I mean the last part of a sale. Product sales are more transaction oriented. Services are more relationship oriented and utilize a consultative selling model.

Contrary to popular belief there is little difference between the two when it comes to Internet marketing. The reason for this is that the customer is the same. Buying behavior is very similar from product to service. I rarely change my buying habits based on what I’m buying. I still need to know I’m making the right choice which means you have to inspire confidence in your potential clients. We have to instill trust, professionalism and expertise. All three of these qualities are vital for both products and services.

Both types of sales end with a success transaction. The product sales ends much sooner as the success transaction is the purchase / ordering of said product. Service transaction success online is a different success transaction, typically a contact choice. At the point of contact the sales process for a service continues off-line.

Steve: To close our interview I would like to get a “Top 5” from you. Since we are facing some tough economic times ahead for possibly the next 12-18 months, what are the Top 5 things you would recommend to companies to leverage their Internet marketing strategy?

Larry: I recently spoke at an Affiliate Summit event in NYC. After the event I followed the chatter about my presentation online via blog’s, twitter, forums and across multiple social networks. My favorite quote was, “Larry Bailin is a brilliant non-traditional e-marketer”. That being said I’m going to apologize in advance because my top 5 are not the average picks I see others pushing such as, video, twitter, Facebook and alike.

1. Strive to put the marketing back into Internet marketing. I’ve watched e-business evolve into business and now I watch as Internet marketing evolves into marketing. Internet marketing is not a technology solution. The technology has become ubiquitous. True results will come from the connection your solutions make with potential customer. Making a connection is a core fundamental in order for any marketing to succeed.

2. When hiring any Internet marketing company you must be sure they do not build anything for you. You are not hiring them to build things to make you happy; you need them to make your customers happy. My company strives to look though our customers. Everything we build or develop is designed for our customers’ customers.

When an Internet marketing company can build solution that makes your customers happy, trust me, you’ll be happy.

3. Measure, modify, test, measure and repeat. Just because your solutions are producing does not mean they cannot be better, in fact I guarantee they can be better. There is no such thing as perfect. Even our country’s constitution alludes to a grammatical fallacy, “a more perfect union”. There is no such thing as, “more perfect” but the concept is sound, never settle for perfect.

Always measure, modify, test and measure again. Push your solutions to the limit. Now more than ever you need to insure you’re getting the most from your budget, nothing is ever perfect.

4. Step outside of your comfort zone. I did a podcast with eight (8) time Mr. Olympia winner Ronnie Coleman a couple of years ago. Ronnie is considered one of the best in the sport. He has won eight (8) consecutive Mr. Olympia titles in a row and is tied with Lee Haney for the most wins ever. No one has ever won nine (9) titles (consecutive or otherwise). When Ronnie went for his world record ninth win he lost to Jay Cutler.

When interviewed in my studio he was asked if he was going to retire. He answered, “no way! I’m going back to win number nine”. When asked if it was possible to be bigger and better than he currently was, without missing a beat he stated, “absolutely! I just can’t keep doing the same things that got me here and expect to grow. I have to add more weight to the bar”. As marketers we have to develop what I now affectionately call, “Marketing Muscle” and like Ronnie Coleman, add more weight to the bar.

5. Make time before all you have is time. More often than I care to hear I’m told by my customers that they do not have the time needed to do everything I recommend. My answer is always the same, “You need to make time before all you have is time. If your competitors find the time they will take your customers and then you will have more time”.

To read he original interview click here

On October 5th I was a marketing speaker at an Affiliate Summit on Social Media in NYC. My topic was, “Making Money with Social Media”. I had my presentation all planned out but ended up changing it at the very last minute.

While waiting to speak I was reading Feed Front magazine (the official magazine of Affiliate Summit). An article caught my attention.  The article mentioned that, “marketing” needed to be put back into, “affiliate marketing”. I thought the article was on the right track but had not taken the concept far enough. Before you can put the marketing back into affiliate marketing you have to a step back and put, “sales” back into, “marketing”.

Once I stepped onto the stage and took the podium I began to discuss the concept of sales and marketing and how they related to making money with social media. I was not sure how it was going to go over with the audience. Based on the feedback I received as well as the buzz on Twitter and across the blogosphere I’d say it went well. One attendee went as far as to post a tweet stating, “Larry Bailin is a brilliant non-traditional e-marketer”. I guess the message resonated with the crowd.

After my presentation I was approached by Shashi Bellamkonda, Social Media Swami (that’s what’s printed on his card) for Network Solutions. Shashi was a speaker at the event as well. Shashi asked if I would do an interview for the Network Solutions blog, “Solutions are Power”. The interview ended up being a two part series with Steve Fisher. Here’s part one.
—————————–
Larry Bailin is the founder, CEO and thought leader of Single Throw, Inc. Larry is involved in the day to day sales and marketing activities as well as spearheading research and development of new Internet marketing services. Larry founded Single Throw Internet Marketing in Late 2000 and opened the doors of the company’s first office in Lakewood, New Jersey in early 2001.
Under his leadership Single Throw has grown to be the top Internet marketing companies in New Jersey and one of the best Internet marketing companies in the nation. Single Throw has provided Internet marketing services to some of the top companies in the world.

Larry is the bestselling author of the marketing book, “Mommy, Where Do Customers Come From?” and is a renowned professional keynote and conference speaker, speaking 30 times per year to organizations across the country. I recently had the opportunity sit down with him and talk about the Internet Marketing landscape.

Here is the transcript of part one of a two part interview:

Steve: Your firm has been doing a lot of pioneering things in the Internet marketing space. Could you tell us your vision and mission for Single Throw?

Larry: I’ve never been a big proponent of corporate visions and missions. In my experience they are written for the corporation and not the customer. Missions seldom seem to be followed and end up being a valueless proposition that no one believes or adheres to.

If I had to pin just one philosophy to my company, I guess it would be to never take on a client we cannot help and never sell a solution where we profit more than the client.

I’m sorry for the limited answer but my company’s vision is ever-changing and always evolving so I guess my mission is to always improve my vision.

Steve: What are the Internet marketing services you provide customers?

Larry: We have quite a wide breadth of services we offer. Primarily any type of marketing that uses the Internet to help our clients connect with a customer we handle. We do everything from customer centric website development, conversion enhancement, application development, search engine optimization, social media / networking campaign development etc.
What we won’t do is anything we cannot completely support in-house. That’s not to say we don’t recommend services we don’t offer. If we feel that a client will benefit from a service we will recommend it even if we don’t offer it. We won’t do something just because we can. Sometimes we can best serve a customer by referring them elsewhere. An example would be affiliate marketing. There are so many great people out there that specialize strictly in affiliate marketing that we refer our clients to the people that can help them the most.

Steve: You have been building Single Throw for the last few years. Since this not your first startup, what are some lessons learned, good or bad, which you have applied to this venture?

Larry: One major lesson I learned early on is that failure is a pre-condition to success. We have failed more times than I care to count but each time, each failure contained lessons that lead to great successes.

Steve: Since you are a serial entrepreneur and have been through many business cycles, with the economy in a tough spot these days, do you feel it is a good time to start a business?

Larry: That is a very difficult question to answer. I was moving furniture into my first office at 9:00 am on September 11th 2001. Living and growing up so close to the twin towers at the end of the day I had many emotions flowing through my head related to the tragedy of that day, I also wondered if I would be able to sustain my fledgling business in most uncertain times I’ve ever experienced. To make matters worse I had to overcome the stigma of the dot-com bubble bursting and the fact that very few people knew what Internet marketing was or believed that they needed it.

As someone that started their business at one of the worst times in history to do so I’m a big believer that if there is a need for the services or products you offer than there are no other factors that matter.

All a bad economy is going to do is make it harder to sell your services. I know that sounds like a big thing but it’s not that it just means that you have to be a better salesperson and work harder. If you’re adverse to enhancing your sales skills or working harder then you shouldn’t be starting a business in any economy. Case in point, my business will be up over 25% this year and the third quarter is shaping up to be the best in our six year history. I have to work harder, longer and smarter but we’re thriving. As far as sales skills go I’m proud to say I’m not someone a competitor wants to go head to head with. I never stop working on my sales skills and I have yet to ever lose a deal to a competitor, good economy or bad.NEXT TIME: In part two of this two-part interview, we discuss Internet marketing plans, differences between marketing product and service-focused companies, advice for the next 12-18 months.

Original Interview Can Be Read Here>

Two of my favorite restaurant chains have fallen victim to the economy and possibly disconnected marketing. Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and stores owned by its parent company will shut their doors.

The news appeared to be a shock to most of the company’s employees, but some may have had an inkling that the company was not doing well. Steve, a Bennigan’s waiter in Plano Texas, said he recently went from making $30 on a good lunch shift to only $10. “Business has been slow,” said Steve, who said he relies on tips. “I went from making a lot of money on a shift to making very little.

I’ve shared many a laugh and a meal within the walls of these two restaurants and I’m sad to see them go. I fear this is just the beginning for the restaurant industry unless a major marketing mind shift takes place.

At first glance the closing of these two casual dining mainstays seems to be indicative of the economy. Sure the economy has something to do with it but I’m not 100% convinced all the blame lies on the economic downturn.

I have been a keynote speaker for the New Jersey Restaurant Association numerous times and my Internet marketing company has prominent restaurant clients such as Charlie Browns Steak House, The Palm Restaurant, Glen Rock Inn and New Brunswick, New Jersey’s historic Frog and The Peach, I’ve been privy to conversations about the economic outlook and its effect on the restaurant industry, casual dining specifically.

Yes people are not dining out as much and when they are they are either going somewhere quick and cheap or making it special by going somewhere a bit more high end and memorable. Diners have literally cut out the middle man! Casual dining has taken a huge hit while their gourmet and fast food counterparts also feeling the effects of a slow economy are able to survive and even thrive.

Take my Internet marketing client The Frog and The Peach for example. It is one of the best restaurants in NJ and saw the economic writing on the wall. Its management began to shift marketing efforts from offline marketing to online marketing in order to target diners looking for, “something special” on which spend their hard earned money .

In a few not- so- easy steps (nothing good ever comes easy) they were able to take advantage of an opportunity that came from the economic fallout.

Step One
Create a new and improved professional website development strategy that let diners looking for that special experience know that the Frog and The Peach atmosphere, customer service and cuisine is exactly what they are looking for. A place where they can satisfy their appetite and their need to feel their money was well spent.

Step Two
Use search engine optimization strategies to target core search phrases hungry diners are searching for when they want the best. Type (without quotes) “Best Restaurants in NJ” into Google and you’ll see The Frog and The Peach on page one.

Step Three
Keep a strict diet of regular fresh content, delicious events and scrumptious news to entice previous diners and keep the site intriguing to search engines that are driving valuable dining masses.

These steps illustrate how a high end restaurant is working harder and smarter to stay ahead of economic failure. But what about the struggling middle market, the casual dining restaurant? After all, they are the ones that are hurting and in need of an Internet marketing strategy.

Charlie Browns’ sister establishment, The Office is hoping to attract new and existing clients by leveraging the informal social atmosphere of their brew pub while at the same time touting their affordable but delectable menu to patrons at their exact time of need. Here are the steps they have planed to incorporate in order to avoid the effects of the economic slump .

Step One
Create a professional website development strategy that allows diners to take advantage of the social interaction the Internet is becoming known for. Patrons will be able to upload pictures of their friends enjoying a drink at the brew pub right from their cell phones. Allowing friends to comment on these images on the restaurant’s website when they get home will help to create a much needed viral component for the restaurant.

Step Two
A mobile version of the restaurant’s website will allow a potential customer to use their mobile phone not only to search for an area restaurant, but peruse restaurant specials and events. This is a great feature for those leaving a movie looking for a local hot spot to grab a bite with friends.

Yes the economy is terrible and there seems to be no end in sight but the companies that have succeeded in tough times historically were the ones that sought out opportunity while their competitors whined about how tough things were.

The Frog and the Peach and The Office Restaurant are two restaurants that are hungry enough to make a change and prove that they have something to offer no matter what the economy throws at them.

Happy marketing and Bonappetit.

My office is a two story building located on Route 34 in Wall New Jersey. My Internet marketing company occupies most of the second floor and there are three other companies in the building.

For the last eight weeks, each day I enter the first floor lobby I see four plastic bags sitting inside the front door.  Can you guess what’s in the plastic bags? Garbage? Not exactly but very close.

If you were to open the bags you would find the most recent Yellow Pages or Yellow Book or whatever the hell their calling it these days. These bags have been littering the lobby floor for over two months – nobody wants them! It’s just a matter of time before they end up in the recycling dumpster in the back.

It appears that no one wants their fingers walking anywhere aside from a mouse and keyboard and I have not met anyone in the past 5 years that can answer the burning question, “why be yellow?” When will this book die?!?

We live in a clickable culture where everything we want is just a click away. Whether local, national or global our connect customers turn to the Internet, search engines to be more specific, for everything they want. Companies are spending their former Yellow dollars on Internet marketing such as search engine optimization, Pay Per Click, podcasting, blogging, email, social media and alike, and rightly so.

The yellow pages failed to adapt quick enough, they rested on their laurels and now they are paying the price. Back in the day the Yellow Pages controlled all the information and companies’ payed big money for their coveted listings. Along comes the Internet and the Yellow people decided that they were not going to give away their information. The thought process was that their reputation and market share would keep the book at the top of mind of consumers. They were wrong.

Along came search engines like Yahoo!, Google and MSN. These search engines began to categorize and index businesses for free. Consumers began to see the benefit of having the world (not just their county) at their fingertips. Yahoo! launches local search and put yet another nail in the Yellow coffin. Now all search engines have a local component complete with detailed maps and driving directions. In just a few short years the market completely shifted from Yellow page lookups to online queries.

The yellow response to all this change, Superpages.com and YellowPages.com. Too little too late. Even with big budget advertising campaigns featuring Kung-Fu star David Carradine (I liked him better in Kill Bill), the Yellow online movement never takes hold and now just like their spokespersons Kung-Fu character,”Caine”, they are destined to aimlessly, “walk the earth”.

Contrary to what business people are being told by Yellow sales reps, no one goes to SuperPages.com or YellowPages.com to find the products and services they need. If we did, we’d be, “Yellowing” people as opposed to, “Googling” them.

I personally deal with businesses of all types and sizes and I hear the inflated claims made by Yellow reps. I’ve heard it all from inflated numbers of searchers to claims that SuperPages.com powers Google! Some businesses fall for it but far more have and continue to shift budget to online offerings. At best companies are hedging their bets by keeping a very small ad in the book and a listing within the online Yellow counterparts.

Here’s a quick little fact. One of my clients is Zippos Car Audio. Zippos is one of the top car audio dealers in NJ. They own four car audio stores in New Jersey. In the past they have been big Yellow Pages advertisers in multiple books. The budget was staggering. They were convinced (by their Yellow rep) to add their listing to SuperPages.com to the tune of almost $1,800.00 per month. The Yellow rep told them that they would get tons of traffic to their site because SuperPages.com is the largest shopper’s portal on the Internet.

Once my company was hired we re-developed their website and began an intense search engine optimization program. We started watching where traffic was actually coming from. On average Zippos.com receives 3,700 visits per month from search engines (Google, AOL,Yahoo! Ask and MSN). SuperPages.com delivers a whopping average of 42 per month. Not 42 hundred or 42 thousand, just plain old 42.

How much do you think Zippos spends with SuperPages.com now? Zero. How much has it impacted their business when they stopped spending almost $22,000.00 per year on SuperPages.com? Again, zero.

All this being said I don’t want the Yellow Pages to go away. There are plenty of great uses for the Yellow Pages. Makes great kindling, can be used as a booster seat for children, doorstop, origami paper supply and that’s just off the top of my head! Plus what would all those tough guys at the gym rip in half to impress women if the Yellow Pages went belly up?

On a personal note I just hired a new landscaper. Guess where I found them?

The Better Business Bureau reports that car dealerships are the most complained about business type with cell phone sales a very distant second. No big surprise that car dealers are the brunt of consumer complaints. Car dealers have historically had a reputation for underhanded dealings which is why the term, “car salesman” evokes images of plaid jackets, patent leather shoes and toothpick sucking shysters.

To be fair, not all car dealerships are bad and not all car salespeople are scam artists, in fact most of them are quite the opposite. There is no shortage of bad salespeople and unscrupulous businesses in every industry, car dealers just seem to have gotten permanently tattooed with an unethical moniker.

In my marketing book I rant about the uselessness of car dealer websites. I ramble about the absurdity of practically every car dealer on the planet using one of three companies to develop their websites, email marketing and just about any other type of online advertising a dealership does. 

When it comes to marketing why would you use the same company that your competition uses? Every car dealer website seems to be a variation on every other car dealer website. The same useless information used over and over again.So why do car dealers do this? I’ll tell you why, because it’s easy. They have to put zero effort into it. They pick a template and all the content is created automatically. Even in their email marketing they just have to choose a few canned articles and voila! Instant email!  Sounds pretty easy right? When was the last time anything easy produced worthwhile results? The same car dealers that have been accused of scamming consumers seemingly have forgotten one of the oldest rules in the book when it comes to sniffing out a bad deal. “If it sounds too good to be true…”

With the car sales industry taking a major hit due to our current economic landscape it seems that dealerships are taking a second look at the web as a marketing tool and an even closer look at the services they are paying for. Recently I was called into a very prestigious Mercedes Benz dealer in New Jersey to take a look at their Internet marketing efforts.

After looking at their website, pay per click programs and email marketing it became abundantly clear that they were being ripped off. First off their website was exactly what I expected it to be, useless information. What I didn’t expect to see was a search engine spamming technique called, “cloaking”. Cloaking is where you use technology to show a search engine spider one thing and a website visitor another. This type of tactic is what got BMW banned from Google a couple of years ago.

On the Pay Per Click side of things they were paying for a ridiculous amount of irrelevant key phrases. One of the first questions I asked was, “do you sell Mercedes Motor Homes?” the answer was no so I wondered why they were paying to show up under that search phrase? The company handling this program for them gets paid on the clicks so they targeted lots of phrases even if they had no relevancy or benefit to the dealership.

Their email marketing program was no better (big surprise). Again, they are using the same service as all of their completion. Here’s how it works. Every month they select a few canned articles and an email newsletter is sent out to their list of 27,000 names. I asked if all the email addresses were people that purchased vehicles from their dealership. Half were and half were just people that requested information or stopped in while shopping for a car and end up purchasing elsewhere.

At first glance you may not think this is a big deal especially since they told me that they are getting some response. Here’s the catch. If I did not purchase a car from them and I’m on their mailing list chances are I’m on the mailing list for other dealerships as well. If they are all using this email marketing service that means I’m getting the same content from lots of dealerships. This is not only annoying but shows a lack of effort on the part of the dealership. They can’t event take the time to create something original? Here’s an opportunity to show your expertise and all you do with it is show that you’re the same as every other dealer and that I’m not worth the effort.

Long story short (too late) make sure you are involved in your marketing efforts. Know what people are doing on your behalf and stop being lazy! Nothing good happens without effort. If you truly want to connect with your customers show them that you care enough to put the effort in.

Some of you may say that it’s poetic justice that car dealers are being ripped off. Keep in mind each time they rip off a car dealer we the consumer end up paying for it in the end so if you happen to run across any of these car dealer centric marketing companies be sure to show them your appreciation.