Trends

The first one is in Japan where they complain about the boss, life etc.
Complain choir

The New Year is here and the time to do some serious planning in your business has arrived. As a small business owner you have to be careful where you put your money. It still amazes me to see people spending money in advertising when they have no way of tracking or when they saw less than exciting result in the past. This is true online too. People still buy ad space in sites that have no traffic and don’t offer any tracking system. Even when the ad space is good, business owners don’t think about having a piece that provides immediate results. Simple things like an offer, a deadline and many ways to contact the company. Let me introduce you to direct response marketing. Here is the definition according to Wikipedia:
Direct-response marketing is a form of marketing designed to solicit a direct response which is specific and quantifiable. The delivery of the response is direct between the viewer and the advertiser, that is, the customer responds to the marketer directly. This is in contrast to direct marketing in which the marketer contacts the potential customer directly. Like direct marketing, direct-response marketing seeks to elicit action. It is inherently accountable since results can be tracked and measured.
Simple and yet extremely effective.
Many people think direct response advertising is done only with direct mail. Direct response advertising rules apply for offline and online marketing and should be used by every business owners, especially because they see results fast and can track these results.
In this new year, leave behind old ineffective advertising habits and try something new.

While we were in Vegas attending BlogWorld, we took sometime to see Cirque du Soleil Ka.
I’ve to say I waited many years for this opportunity. I used to watch some Cirque du Soleil snippets on TV and be amazed by it. A month before our trip to Vegas I finished reading Blue Ocean a book that talks about how Cirque du Soleil created a unique set of products were they face no competition. So, as you can imagine, I was really excited to attend this presentation. Funny thing, when the time came I was going to a very bad cold and almost did not go. I would really regret not going.
Nothing prepared me for the kind of experience I had by attending the show.
I’d like to be able to explain in words how a performance can involve your six senses all the time even before it starts. The moment you approach the theater the experience starts. The mood, lights, costumes, the performers showing in different spots and interacting with the audience, the seats with headsets and sound effects that sets you in the right spirit, every detail contributes to the performance and the storyline.
The stage and its metamorphosis during the whole time is beyond amazing! There are lots of pyrotechnics, puppets, martial arts and you get yourself asking many times, is that even possible? It was a visual treat!
The scene underwater was breathtaking! We lived in another world for 90 minutes and they were the best 90 minutes in a theater so far!
This show is what entertainment really means and it is a lesson on how to engage an audience.

We really hope you have an amazing one!
Right now you are probably planning your new year. Don’t forget to do the same for your business.
Work on a marketing calendar. Try to have promotions going for special dates and maybe some funky dates out there. It is amazing the kind of response you can get with this simple strategy.Some will give over 40% return.

You also want to plan your online marketing. Make 2010 be a year where you don’t waste time online or on social networks. That is very easy ti happen. Plan your strategy with online tools before jumping into them. Think what is the outcome you are looking for: branding, generating leads, more sales? You need a specific strategy for each.

Pay a lot of attention how you are going to advertise this year. If it is not working, don’t keep doing it. Look for channels where you can really track the outcome or think of resources that gives you control. Ask if your business is really at the point where you want to advertise to brand your company or if it would be wiser to look for other resources.Trying to advertise to brand a small business can eat a lot of money. There is a right time to do that and on a first moment you may want to use direct response marketing which brings you direct results.

Talking about direct response and online marketing, we now have a strategy that combines local search, seo, and online video and that really puts you on the first page of Google in a matter of days generating leads on a constant basis. The best part is that you don’t have to do anything. We take care of it all. If you are a local business and wants a flow of new clients, check our program to get new clients at Clients in a Flash.com.

There are some events we try to attend every year, and 2 of them are a must for us, the Super Conference and BlogWorld.

BlogWorld stands out from other events for several reasons. First, if you are in an industry that puts live events, seminars, workshops or expos, you need to see what the folks at BlogWorld do. They have the right formula to mix information, tradeshow, networking and entertainment like few I’ve seen so far. Over the years they have also mastered creating an event for a diverse group of people, from the young techie crowd to seasoned entrepreneurs. They have also increased the reach of topics from blogs to new media to an almost full scope of having a Web 2.0 business.

I usually avoid attending the panels because they rarely go deep into the subjects and most of the time they turn into a lot of jokes or go out of topic. This year there were a few exceptions. The panel about the new FTC rules and the one on social media customer engagement and customer loyalty were good. The last had the audience participating a lot with good questions and good answers.

Among the speakers, my favorite this year was Paul Coligan with 7 Proven Monetization Strategies For Podcasts and New Media Producers. This was a presentation full of content, no B.S. and to the point. Tim Street on video and cable television was amazing and Jason Van Orden on how to build a large audience was also very good. The tracks that covered continuity programs and membership sites were not well attended, maybe due to the titles not being very creative and/or enticing, but the content was very good. Again the audience had lots of questions on these topics. I give here a suggestion to topics related to member retention in continuity programs. Lots of questions on this topic were left unanswered.

I missed the presentations on new media and book publishing but heard good comments about those. Only the closing with Guy Kawasaki and Jenny the Bloggess was a little disappointing. I understand that after 4 days, something funny would go well, but that one bordered bad taste for jokes. The trade show was interesting with some new companies we need to pay attention to. The highlight for me was the company MediaFly a delivery platform for content networks and all the possibilities it gives small businesses and online video for the near future. Yubby.com has an interesting concept where you find, collect and publish videos that we still need to take a deeper look into its features.

I wish I could have attended all the parties but I had a bad cold during the four days and that did impact my ability to network and party. I went to 3 of them and they were fun! The organizers at BlogWorld did an amazing job with the last party by the hotel pool. For the first time in 3 years we were in an environment that we could move around, sit at different tables, talk and get to really know people. It was a great night to finally sit with some colleagues and to meet new people. No loud music, lots of room, big tables. This was the best night for us!

This is a month we plan for the new year and BlogWorld is on our A list!

This is one of the best things you can do during the holidays, read Seth Godin’s new e-book.

We had a lot of fun on this interview. We are talking about videos online and how small businesses can benefit from videos

RSS Round Table with BuzzBooster -December from Drew Tyler on Vimeo.