Episode #10 - The Advertising ‘Assault’, One Click Upload to Your Website or Amazon S3 Storage, How to Contact Google & Unconventional Marketing from Walmart
June 24, 2008New to this website? View Episode #1 to bring you up to speed (we don't want you to miss out). Oh, and don't forget to sign up for show updates (top right corner of this page)
Episode #10 - I discovered an amazing stat about how we’re bombarded by advertising, there’s a viewer question about how to contact Google, a nifty web resource that allows you to upload files to your website or to Amazon S3 storage with just one click, and an unconventional marketing lesson from WalMart.
Resources and websites mentioned in this episode:
Regards,
June 25th, 2008 at 5:29 am
Hi Andrew,
How interesting that you talk about advertising overkill in this episode. I was just trying to read Vanity Fair this morning. Guess what? I could not believe it, as I do not usually read magazines much - and now I know why. The first 60 (SIXTY) pages of the mag are full-page ads. Unbelievable!
Regarding the last couple of items I purchased, they were all from Amazon.co.uk.
Reasons? Many - but among others, competitive prices, items in stock, super-quick delivery with Amazon Prime, 30 day price drop guarantee, no-hassle returns&refunds, great customer service.
There’s a free alternative (well, there are a couple) to TryUpright, but here’s one of them, called Fling:
http://www.nchsoftware.com/ftp/index.html
Thanks for another great and fun episode!
June 25th, 2008 at 5:55 am
Andrew-
I very much appreciate your comments on my website TudeFitness Exercise Tips. I really didn’t realize it had become so ad oriented. I removed most as per your suggestion but adsense stays as I use that to pay for my wife’s medical bills and prescriptions. But also note there is no black hat at all there so I’m still irritated with Google.
I could partially agree with you as to the thoughts behind Google not being contactable, but I myself and a number of other people I talk to have started migrating back to Yahoo for many searches simply because there are a lot of good sites there that, for whatever reason, don’t get listed or get kicked off of Google.
I do appreciate the comments and look forward to the 3 month free subscription I had no idea I would get. I’ll need to keep my eyes ono my email so I don’t miss it.
June 25th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Andrew,
You’re correct that we are bombarded with millions of pieces of advertising everyday. Our job is to cut through the clutter and information overload and pick the parts we need. Thanks to you, you’re helping all of us by giving us valuable resources.
Have you thought about having a “roledex” on your site that would list your resources for quick references from your episodes? Maybe even references them to the episode number so we can actually go back and get the skinny on them.
I’m just lazy and sometimes want the quick answers, but I do enjoy and look forward to each episode.
June 25th, 2008 at 7:35 am
I had a need for a voice recorder. I wanted one that was teeny-tiny and inexpensive since it was to be used while on-the-go. As usual I searched Amazon and other online stores. None of the devices being sold as voice recorders were even close. Way too big and way too expensive. Come on, why make something bigger than it needs to be?
Finally I accidentally discovered that many mp3 players have microphones built in. And they’re tiny. And inexpensive. Perfect! I ended up choosing the one that had the best reviews on Amazon and elsewhere. And it had a simple clip for attaching it to my person that none of the others had.
I almost didn’t buy it though because the manufacturer website had no info on it because it was no longer being produced. That annoyed me. In the end, the positive reviews swayed me and I’m pleased with the purchase.
I’ve never seen or heard an mp3 player ad in my whole life, so conventional advertising had little influence on my purchase. Actually, I don’t watch TV, listen to commercial radio, and I use very effective ad blockers for my web browser, so I see far less than 16,000 logos, etc., a day — thank God! I suspect I’m not the only one who consciously avoids advertising.
Perhaps you would want to address on a future show how to attract people like me who are positively fed up with conventional advertising. Hint: getting your ad around my ad blockers only manages to put you on my “do not buy” list. When will companies stop being adversarial in their marketing? What it comes down to is I only want information (not a pack of lies) on the products that I have an interest in and absolutely no others.
Thom Falter
June 25th, 2008 at 11:59 am
The last thing I bought was movie tickets - but other than that it’s hard to think of very many things. I guess a good example would be the LCD monitor I watched the show on, which I use at the same time as my regular laptop screen.
About two months ago there was some news about “research” that was supposed to show that having a second monitor would add something like 2-3 hours to your day - I don’t know how realistic that is but I’ve known for a long time that all programmers can benefit from having two screens (between all the things that have to be done simultaneously it’s rare not to be looking at two things at once). Since my business is developing websites I knew it couldn’t hurt.
I measured the space at the top of my desk, compared sizes and prices online, and bought the cheapest one that maximized my screen space (my girlfriend saved me $100 by looking for a few second longer than me). I believe I first heard that this was a good idea around 2000, so it’s not quite an impulse buy! It has worked out very well though - anything that involves more than one window is easier now.
Thanks for another great show!
June 25th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
i enjoyed your theory on advertisements. i work at a newspaper production department so i see advertisements all day.
June 25th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Let me first say what a delight it is to read all your well thought out comments. So many blogs these days are full of useless or negative ‘noise’ that add nothing worthwhile to the conversation.
You guys (I include both sexes) are different, and I thank you for adding value to this blog.
Lisa: Fling looks like a great recommendation, I will definitely check that out.
Bob: Stay focused on serving the customer and you’ll do well. I’m delighted to hear that AdSense is covering your wife’s medical bills, that’s fantastic!
Pat: This site is definitely a work in progress and your suggestion is a very good one. We have the ‘cloud’ of words which indicate which topics are most popular, but I agree that a more structured index would be helpful, we’ll look into that.
Thom: I use the Olympus WS-300M which you can plug directly into your computer to transfer the files. It’s small and works well. Another option is Jott.com which transcribes your voice messages and sends them to you via email. It’s really cool.
Richard: I also use two monitors (my friends think I’m a geek), but I like having the extra space to work in. Thanks for your comment.
Trey: Wow, I don’t know how you put up with that. I’d be interested to know if advertising is still as popular in newspapers as it used to be - if you or anyone else knows, please drop me a line.
June 25th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Another great show, Andrew. Thanks for fixing the “share” feature.
I’ve got some of my info products bundled that I use for an upsell. I’m just promoting the straight bundle tomorrow. We’ll see what happens. Beauty of digital download info products, you can bundle them together at no cost!
June 25th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Just look what has happened in the last 35 years. In 1973 when I did my Masters in Advertising & PR the number was 3,000 messages per day. Now it is 20 TIME MORE!
June 27th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Hi Richard. First time listener of the show. Overall some good tips!
In episode #10 you received a question by one of your listeners, and I feel that the answer you gave was somewhat incorrect. This is in reference to Bob - who’s site was banned by Google for whatever reason. You told Bob - and I quote - “that it’s not possible to contact Google to ask them for specific advice on how to get a site relisted in the search results”.
I would have told Bob that there is a feature in Google’s Webmaster tools to help with these instances precisely. There is a big link that says “request reinclusion” once logged in. (https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/reconsideration?hl=en). This takes the webmaster to a contact form where one can report and state their case to Google for human review and reevaluation.
I feel that Bob should have been told to go ahead and follow this process, rather than tell him he is out of luck, and there is no way to contact Google when things like this happen - when there clearly is. Furthermore, Webmaster Central has a forum (through Google Groups) where webmasters can interact with Google employees. Bob - if your reading this post - this ones for you.
Overall, I enjoyed the podcast and look forward to future episodes.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Avi: Thanks for your input and your recommendation is a good one in general - webmaster tools is a useful resource.
The question in this case was whether it’s possible to contact Google for advice on what they didn’t like about the site. Google openly state that they can’t and won’t reply to specific questions about rankings on individual sites. The ‘request reinclusion tool’ is to do just that - request reinclusion once changes have been made. While Google provides a range of guidelines, they won’t tell you ‘do these 3 things’ and we’ll relist your site.’
June 27th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Aloha Andrew,
Listening to you LIVE in Vegas right now (the chica in back of the room in pink jacket typing away on her puter - yet laughing at your entertaining speaking style)
Your TV show Rocks!!!
You’ve got the entire audience Literally sitting at the edge of their seats AWAKE despite the late hour & competing entertainment on the strip outside.
Nice job at captivating our attention & cutting through the noise!
Deborah Micek
Author, Secrets of Online persuasion
June 29th, 2008 at 8:07 am
it is amazing how much advertising we are hit by each day. i know that the influence advertisers have works on the generations that are aware, what will happen to the newer generations to come? will anyone really think through before they purchase?
June 30th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Andrew,
Another great tool that I forgot - also for right-click uploading of files to your server. Also freeware, and even better than the one I suggested earlier:
http://rightload.org/
Cheers!
Lisa