My Tapeworm Diet Ad Joke Turned Out To Be Real…

By Tim Gross - Internet Business Blog | July 21, 2008

For a silly example of how to use my Free Sales Letter Generator software, I wrote a joke ad about a tapework weight loss diet, but the joke’s on me… turns out, it’s a real diet!  Here’s an actual 1920’s ad for it.

Blech.

Well, disgusting or not, the free sales letter generator can help you quickly pump out better sales letters, give it a try (after all, it’s free).

Hopefully you’re selling something better than intestinal parasites, ay? :-)

Topics: Cool Tools, Funny | No Comments » Trackback URL

test post using my iphone

By Tim Gross - Internet Business Blog | July 19, 2008

I just got the new iPhone,and since I’ll be doing some extensive travelling in a couple of weeks, I thought I’d try making a test post to the blog using it to see what I’m in for.Verdict: it takes longer to type. I know, shocking.

Topics: Marketing | No Comments » Trackback URL

What Element Is Most Important For YOUR Customers’ Satisfaction?

By Tim Gross - Internet Business Blog | July 19, 2008

Everybody theoretically wants their customers to be as satisfied as possible… Higher satisfaction equals less refunds and more repeat purchases.

But have you ever tried to figure out what factors are the most important for your customers? Most people don’t… and if you ask them, their answers may surprise you.

I’m in the market for a new vehicle, and if you look at expert reviews/ratings of cars and trucks, you’re only getting half the story. Consumer satisfaction ratings for those same vehicles are often completely different.

Why? -Because buyers are looking at different factors than expert reviewers are.

The Hummer H2 gets lousy expert ratings in virtually all categories except for offroad capabilities, and the vast majority of is’ customers never even TAKE it offroad (who wants to scratch up a $60,000 luxury vehicle??!)

However, customer satisfaction for it has traditionally been extremely high, because people who decide to buy don’t care about the things experts care about it.

On the other side of the coin, the Toyota Yaris is about the cheapest basic vehicle you can buy, it gets great gas mileage and it’s low on comfort and extras.

These consumers love the fuel mileage and are happy with the vehicle considering how cheap it is.

So back to YOUR business and YOUR customer satisfaction…

Are you really proud of your fancy packaging? Your customers may or may not care

Are you comfortable with shipping your product by 1st class mail? Your customers may be annoyed they can’t get it rushed to them overnight.

Consumers often gauge their product opinions on very minor things.

Example: I didn’t buy a washer/dryer set because the door hinges felt flimsy. Yeah, it’s superficial, but superficial things are often how consumers make decisions because it’s all they’ve got to go on.

I can’t tell you what your customers value most - And neither can you, unless you ask them.

Go ahead, ask.

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User-Generated Websites Being Held More Liable

By Tim Gross - Internet Business Blog | July 7, 2008

The Viacom v.s. YouTube lawsuit indicates that online companies are starting to have more responsibility for their users’ copyright violations.   Here’s the quote:

The legal tide may be turning against many of the most popular companies on the Web. Numerous Internet companies, from YouTube and Flickr (YHOO) to eBay (EBAY) and MySpace (NWS), have built their success on the participation of their users. In the past, the courts have been quite clear that if those users violate laws — by posting copyrighted video of Viacom’s Comedy Central shows on YouTube, for example — the Web company is not liable. Increasingly, however, the courts are siding with rights owners and ruling that Web sites are responsible for illegal submissions.

Taken to the extreme, the original Napster model was nothing but a method for users to share copyrighted files illegally.   Now they’re trying to iron out the “shades of gray”.

Anyone relying on user-generated content should pay close attention to this case.

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YouTube Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Is Getting Rough

By Tim Gross - Internet Business Blog | July 3, 2008

Viacom’s $1 Billion copyright violation lawsuit is getting rough. (story) Highlight:

Google will have to turn over every record of every video watched by YouTube users, including users’ names and IP addresses, to Viacom, which is suing Google for allowing clips of its copyright videos to appear on YouTube, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Viacom wants the data to prove that infringing material is more popular than user-created videos, which could be used to increase Google’s liability if it is found guilty of contributory infringement.

Viacom filed suit against Google in March 2007, seeking more than $1 billion in damages for allowing users to upload clips of Viacom’s copyright material. Google argues that the law provides a safe harbor for online services so long as they comply with copyright takedown requests.

This is going to be a HUGE online precedent, it’ll be very interesting to see which way this goes. Similar to my article a few days ago about eBay profiting from its sellers’ copyright infringements and not being motivated to shut down sellers, Google/YouTube is in the same boat.

Google argues that they’re working hard at deleting copyright infringements, it’s a bit of a wink-wink nudge-nudge process. If YouTube hadn’t been sold to Google (ie were still a small company), they would be SO crushed by this Viacom lawsuit.

Fair warning to small-time operators running a similar business model out there…

Topics: Marketing | 1 Comment » Trackback URL

Here’s A Terrible “Great” Website…

By Tim Gross - Internet Business Blog | July 2, 2008

Business websites can be very entertaining, but you can’t sacrifice usability and functionality for the “wow” factor.

I new Chipotle Grill restaurant was just built near my house, and I wanted to find out if they were open for business yet.  I found their corporate website here.

If you want to find out why I’m calling it terrible website, click that link first before you keep reading.

Go ahead, I’ll wait….

waiting…

waiting…

waiting…

waiting…

Did you realize that if you mouse over the logo  that an entire menu drops down? I first assumed that the page didn’t load correctly, and discovered the menu by accident.

Terrible.

Besides that, it’s a nice looking website, fun stuff happens when you click a link, etc, but what good is that if a large percentage of people never even figure out how to enter your website?!!

This is a extreme example, but there are a hundred other things that most websites accidentally do that hurts readership and sales.  Usually, simple is better, and the flashiest websites don’t make the most money, they plain easy-to-use ones do.

Topics: Oops (Bad Move) | No Comments » Trackback URL

eBay Fined $61 Million For Allowing Counterfeit Goods Sales

By Tim Gross - Internet Business Blog | June 30, 2008

The Associated Press is reporting that eBay has been fined $61 Million by a French court for not stopping the listing and sale of fake knockoff products of high-end brands effectively enough.

eBay claims that they pull down fraudulent listings as soon as they’re notified of them. From my personal experience and observation, they could easily do more than they do… But doing more costs them in revenue.

From what I’ve seen, they only pull down individual auction listings when they’re flagged as selling an illegal product, whether its a knockoff of a brand name, or a copyright infringement of some sort…

What they DON’T do is automatically review the similar listings of the seller.

(News Flash: If someone is selling 10 Rolex Watches on eBay and one of them turns out to be a counterfeit… most likely they’re all fake. However, when I’ve reported a seller’s listing for copyright infringement, only THAT listing is removed, not all of their listings (even when it appears that all their listings are similar, IE, all copyright infringements)

Bottom Line: eBay profits from copyright infringement sales and from illegal sales of knockoff products. They make a profit from every sale, so how motivated are they to REALLY catch every infringement?

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The Internet Is A “Destroyer Of Businesses Without Parallel”

By Tim Gross - Internet Business Blog | June 29, 2008

That headline is a quote from Time Magazine regarding Bill Gates’ retirement. The full quote is:

It’s pretty well known by now that the Internet, for all its world-flattening glory, is a destroyer of businesses without parallel. How many companies roared along for decades, minting money, only to see the Internet eat their business plans?

The reason I’m linking to the article is because it backs up one of my basic premises, that the Internet is dangerous to businesses.  You’re either taking advantage of it or you’re not… and if you’re not a competitor will, using its economy of scale to undercut your prices, out-market you, and take away your business.

This is true for local mom & pop businesses as well as larger businesses.  I don’t use the Yellow Pages anymore, I always do a quick keyword search online to find what local business I’m looking for first, and only if I can’t find it (which is rare), do I dust off the phone book.

Belts are tightening, consumers are value shopping more and more, and things are changing.  The good news is that in times of big change there are opportunities for big profits… if you’re smart.  Stay tuned for some smart tips on profiting online in the near future.

Topics: Marketing | 2 Comments » Trackback URL

How Cat Litter Can Help Your Business

By Tim Gross - Internet Business Blog | June 24, 2008

…by learning from its non-marketing mistakes regarding product changes.

I’ve got a cat. Cat litter stinks the more it gets used. The brand “Fresh Step” is way more expensive than other brands, but it’s scented, has pleasant looking white and green granules, and works better than the cheap stuff at hiding odor.

Recently, they apparently completely changed their product. They added black granules to it (makes it look dirty) and it doesn’t seem to be scented any more.

I thought I’d gotten a defective bag.

So I bought a bag from a different store, and then from a different store. I got the same thing, with these ugly black granules and no scented smell that I’m used to. The picture shown on the front of the bags still showed white and green granules only.

I called the 800 number on the bag. It was explained to me that the black granules were there on purpose, and that they helped absorb more odor (made out of carbon or something).

The new product DID seem to still be blocking odor well, but it was no longer scented, just had the new “odor eater” black granules.

In other words, they came out with a completely different New & Improved Product

…But didn’t announce it on the packaging! How stupid is that??

Here I am getting ready to switch brands because I think I’m getting defective kitty litter, when it’s actually supposed to be a new improved product that they didn’t bother to tell me about?

All it would have taken is a simple, “Now New & Improved - With Odor-Eating Carbon Granules!” or something.

Here’s what this non-marketing effort has gotten them:

  1. Established buyers like me are possibly buying a different brand because we think there’s something wrong with the product
  2. Anybody who might be willing to try the product once based on the “new & improved formula” aren’t even aware of it, so they’re losing potential new customers.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

ANY changes you make to a product can be pitched as a positive. Especially for a replenishable product, any changes that aren’t disclosed/announced to buyers could have a terrible effect on your sales.

So how can kitty litter help your business? Do the opposite of what Fresh Step does. :-)

Examples:

Did you used to sell CD’s and now you’re just selling downloadable MP3 files? That could be a negative, but you could say, “Now With Instant-Downloadable Audio!”

Are you shrinking the size of your yogurt containers by 1/3 to save on product costs? (I hate that, by the way :-) That’s actually something you’re hoping consumers don’t notice, but you could say, “Now in more convenient sizes to stay fresh until the last spoonful!”

You get the idea.

Topics: Marketing, Oops (Bad Move), Rant | No Comments » Trackback URL

George Carlin Is Dead, Long Live Intelligent Comedy

By Tim Gross - Internet Business Blog | June 22, 2008

George Carlin died today, that really sucks.

I don’t want to scare anybody, but I think my outlook and perspective on life has been shaped and influenced more by comedians like George Carlin, Chris Rock, Bill Hicks, and Doug Stanhope than from anything else.

I stay up on current events by watching Comedy Central. (John Stewart & Stephen Colbert)

A new episode of South Park is must-watch TV for me.

What do all those things have in common? -They make you think about things in different ways, or bring up issues you’d never thought of before. (And as an added bonus, they make you laugh.)

I used to like Bill Maher’s interview show because there were a lot of varied guests and some knock-down, drag-out arguments on issues. Lately he seems to just have on guests that all basically agree with each other. Uh… What’s interesting about that?

Do you seek out new ideas and opinions, or just look for ways to confirm what you want to believe? In your personal life, you’re allowed to delude yourself as much as you want… heck, it’s practically a national pastime.

But if you’re a business owner or entrepreneur, you don’t have that luxury. The deluded business owners are gonna be dropping like flies soon as things tighten up.

R.I.P., George.

Topics: Personal | No Comments » Trackback URL

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