Episode #73 – “Marketing Helps Me Make Decisions”

Websites and resources mentioned in the show:

BoomText Special Offer (Get a FREE 30 Day Trial and a 60 minute consultation)

Domain Typo Tool (Research common mis-typings)

GotBiz WebTV Network (The NEW Place for Unconventional Business Education)

NiftyClicks (Discover the very latest web tools and resources)

Get a Private Telephone Consultation with me (to Help YOUR Business)

Buy This Week’s T-Shirt (from National Media Services)

This is an exciting week for me, and hopefully you too. Why?

When was the last time you used a Yellow Book? Personally, I can’t remember. I dusted mine off the shelf for this episode, and I’d love to know if you’re like me, using online tools to search for local suppliers, rather than books like the Yellow Pages.

The question that’s raised is all about how to spy on competitors pay per click campaigns. It is possible, and I’ve got two web resources for you, one of which is free.

Many people mistype words when they type a domain name into a browser. This is for a number of reasons that I’ll explain, some of which might be surprising to you. Fortunately, there’s an excellent free tool that will tell you what the likely mistakes are for any domain name, even one you haven’t registered yet. This is really useful because you might want to register some of those mis-spelled names and register them, in order to forward the visitor to your website.

Finally, the show wraps up with a big marketing lesson from Dell, the computer company. Dell sent me an invitation to their ‘signature event’ which caught my attention, and so I’ll explain why ‘event’ based marketing is so effective for ANY business. Yes, including yours.

Let me know your opinion about the show – simply write a comment below.

Enjoy the show!

Regards,

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Episode #69 – “If You’re Interested in Time Travel: Meet Me Last Thursday”

Websites and resources mentioned in the show:

Infusion (Download the free guide from Infusion)

Outrageous Advertising Book (from Amazon)

The Most Successful Outrageous Salesletter (You can download it from here)

Blurb (Full Color Book Printing)

NiftyClicks (Discover the very latest web tools and resources)

Get a Private Telephone Consultation with me (to Help YOUR Business)

Buy This Week’s T-Shirt (from National Media Services)

What’s going on with taxi drivers? I was down in San Diego last weekend and on every trip I took around town, the taxi drivers decided on their own tip, by giving me back my change, LESS their tip! What’s up with that?!

This week’s ‘Ask Andrew’ question is all about web design from…a web designer. That’s okay. Many designers favor form over function, or marketing effectiveness. I’ll give my suggestions, including why you should NOT use flash in your web design if you want it to be found by the search engines.

The ‘nifty click’ resource is a company that enables you to create a bookstore quality book, with a minimum quantity of just one! Price varies according to how many you order, and the number of pages in the book.

The BIG marketing lesson comes from Jamba Juice, who have opened up a new market for themselves by offering a delivery service. Fax your order, and it can be delivered. The key lesson is widening out the way you do business.

If you’d like to share YOUR favorite little known website, simply write a comment below!

Enjoy the show!

Regards,

Having trouble viewing this video? Try the QuickTime version.

Episode #66 – “Global Warming: All the Cool Planets are Doing” It

Websites and resources mentioned in the show:

Infusion (Download the free guide from Infusion)

Lifehacker (Great blog for busy business owners)

TubeMogul (Free video distribution)

Traffic Geyser (Premium service video distribution)

NiftyClicks (Discover the very latest web tools and resources)

Get a Private Telephone Consultation with me (to Help YOUR Business)

Buy This Week’s T-Shirt (from National Media Services)

I start this week’s show with an amusing exchange between one of those Nigerian scammers and an Australian guy, and it all happened on Skype.

Awhile back Business Week had an issue that featured ‘the pet economy’, which, it turns out is not just big, but HUGE business, and maybe that could include you too?

This week’s question is probably on your mind too – how do you promote your site better? See if the tips I give can be applied to your website.

I love Lifehacker. It’s a difficult to describe blog with an amazing array of useful content. At least, I think so. Let me know what YOU think of it.

The BIG marketing lesson is from M&M’s candies, or is that sweets as we say in Britain? It’s a marketing concept that most businesses can adopt.

Enjoy the show!

Regards,

Having trouble viewing this video? Try the QuickTime version.

Episode #65 – “Let Me Drop Everything and Work on YOUR Problem ”

Websites and resources mentioned in the show:

Infusion (Download the free guide from Infusion)

AVG Anti-Virus Software (Get it – it’s free!)

Money From Social Media (Free guides about profiting from social media)

‘United Breaks Guitars’ (Full video on YouTube)

Top 20 Viral Videos (take a look at these for ideas and inspiration)

NiftyClicks (Discover the very latest web tools and resources)

Get a Private Telephone Consultation with me (to Help YOUR Business)

Buy This Week’s T-Shirt (from National Media Services)

Another packed show for you this week…

Have you heard about the ‘United Breaks Guitars’ video that’s gone viral online? I talk about that, and how United Airlines really dropped the ball. They now look like a bunch of fools in my opinion because they acted too late.

I’ll also announce the winner of the Magical Marketing Experience competition for 2009/10. I’m thrilled to give this tremendous prize to a very deserving winner. If you entered, it could be you…

The ‘ask andrew’ question is all about creating viral media. I’ll explain that although it’s impossible to design something that’s guaranteed to go viral, there are some principles you can learn and understand that will at least help you go in the right direction.

How about a nice new nifty click? When I buy a new computer there’s one important piece of software I install before I do anything else with it. Any idea what it is? Well, it’s free, and you can find out more in this episode.

The BIG marketing lesson is from Delta airlines. They’ve done something very different, and it’s a great idea that you can adapt to help your business.

Enjoy the show!

Regards,

Having trouble viewing this video? Try the QuickTime version.

Episode #52 – “Don’t Believe Everything You Think”

Websites and resources mentioned in the show:

The Continuity Summit (details to join me in Stamford, CT May 15-17th.)

Grab Your FREE Isssue of Microwave Marketing (my best ever offer, a $77.00 value.)

Buzz Marketing (outstanding book by Mark Hughes)

Dean Hunt (he’s a master at creating buzz for online businesses – checkout his blog)

280 Slides (online presentation creator)

NiftyClicks (discover the very latest web tools and resources)

Get a Private Telephone Consultation with me (to Help YOUR Business)

Buy This Week’s T-Shirt(from National Media Services)

My, how time flies when you’re having fun. This is episode #52 which means the show has been running for a year already! Thanks for your support and encouragement along the way, and hopefully I’ve given you lots of things to think about to help improve your business. Of course, this is still early days and I’ve got a lot more to share with you in future episodes, especially when the show moves to the new www.GotBiz.tv network in May.

Well, I took the cameras out and about in my local area this week. Why? So I could show you first hand, how so many companies (the majority in fact) use meaningless names for their businesses. I’ll also prove to you why it’s so important to come up with an intelligent name for your business.

Vladimil submitted a question about how to compete against a well known, well established company in the same niche or field. I provided a suggestion that any business in the same situation can use, so look out for that marketing tip.

Then it’s on to the Nifty Click of the week. This time I feature a free online presentation creator called 280Slides.com – I really like what this company offers, and I encourage you to check it out.

Finally, the BIG marketing lesson is from Entrepreneur magazine’s SmallBiz books division. They’ve done something very smart that you can copy in your business. It relates to buyer psychology, and beyond the Entrepreneur example, I’ll give you a couple of other examples to prove the point about how effective this technique can be.

Enjoy!

Regards,

Having trouble viewing this video? Try the QuickTime version.

Episode #49 – “10 Out of 8 People Have Trouble With Fractions”

I stayed at a resort in Phoenix, AZ recently while I was attending a seminar, and the ‘welcome’ I received at this luxury resort was rather unusual. See if you can relate…

I realize that a lot of people aren’t tech minded when it comes to creating and selling information products online. This week’s question is all about that situation – what to do if you’re not the most technical person, how to get your first product up and for sale, making money as fast as possible.

This site you’re reading now is a WordPress blog, the industry standard for blogs. Did you know that there are thousands of themes (template designs) available for WordPress to customize the look and feel of your blog? I’ll tell you about my very favorite collection of WordPress themes.

Dell are one of the most well known computer manufacturers in the world, and they didn’t get that way without having a good understanding of marketing. The simple technique I reveal in the BIG marketing lesson is something that every online business should be doing, but you rarely see it. It revolves around what happens after they notice ‘shopping cart abandonment’ from a customer.

Websites and resources mentioned in the show:

Amazon Kindle (The NEW Kindle Wireless Reading Device is must have for serious entrepreneurs)

Revolution WordPress Themes (The best of the best of WordPress themes)

Info Product Dashboard (Great training program that guides you through the process of creating your first product to sell online.)

NiftyClicks (discover the very latest web tools and resources)

Private Consultation for YOUR Business (with me)

Microwave Marketing Training System (special offer for you)

T-Shirts for the show are supplied by National Media Services – check out their excellent service

Regards,

Having trouble viewing this video? Try the QuickTime version.

Episode #48 – Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, you’ll know that Circuit City, the nationwide U.S. electronics chain has finally bitten the dust. I thought it was funny listening to all the financial analysts thrown in their 2 cents about the reasons for Circuit City’s demise. I’ll share my thoughts on the subject – let me know if you agree or disagree.

PayPal has grown from being an upstart startup to a goliath like company. Should you accept PayPal payments, or should you stick with regular credit card merchant accounts? That’s the topic of the question this week. Share your experiences with PayPal – good or bad.

Marlon Sanders has a knack for creating genuinely useful and practical training products. A lot of people ask me for help creating their first information based product (‘how to…’) to sell online, and while I’ve created some material in that realm, there’s an even better resource, and that’s the one that I talk about in the video this week, from Marlon.

The BIG marketing lesson comes from Old Navy, a popular clothing store in the U.S. They sent a package to my wife, Luci, that was innovative and caught her attention, and that’s what marketing is all about, isn’t it?!

Websites and resources mentioned in the show:

Amazon Kindle (The NEW Kindle Wireless Reading Device is must have for serious entrepreneurs)

Info Product Dashboard (Great training program that guides you through the process of creating your first product to sell online.)

NiftyClicks (discover the very latest web tools and resources)

Private Consultation for YOUR Business (with me)

Microwave Marketing Training System (special offer for you)

T-Shirts for the show are supplied by National Media Services – check out their excellent service

Regards,

Having trouble viewing this video? Try the QuickTime version.

Episode #47 – Not sure if you spotted the news item about Microsoft asking for money back from employees who’d been axed.  Let me know your thoughts about that.  I just heard that Microsoft decided to let them keep the money – was that the right decision in your opinion?

This week’s question is about using humor on your website?  Should you, or shouldn’t you?  You might be surprised by my answer on this one.

I discovered a really cool nifty click resource to share with you this week.  It allows you to research your competitors keywords as used in their pay per click (PPC) campaigns, so it shortcuts the research process for your own PPC campaigns.

The BIG marketing lesson comes from the German airline, Lufthansa.  I didn’t even realize they were persuading me to begin with!  I’ll share the story with you in this episode.

Websites and resources mentioned in the show:

Amazon Kindle (The NEW Kindle Wireless Reading Device is must have for serious entrepreneurs)

KeyCompete (Great keyword research tool to discover competitors keywords in their PPC campaigns)

NiftyClicks (discover the very latest web tools and resources)

Private Consultation for YOUR Business (with me)

Microwave Marketing Training System (special offer for you)

T-Shirts for the show are supplied by National Media Services – check out their excellent service

Regards,

Having trouble viewing this video? Try the QuickTime version.

Episode #46 – Have you checked out at a shop where they use one of those ‘self-checkout’ systems? I hate them with a passion, and I’ll tell you why.

This week’s question is from a company that wants to sell on eBay, but they’re worried about upsetting their existing distributiors. What do you think? Should they or shouldn’t they? Find out what my answer is on this.

Once upon a time there used to be ‘clipping’ services where companies would watch the news and if your industry or business got mentioned, they’d clip the story from the newspaper and send it to you. Now, you can have virtually that same service via a free resource called FiltrBox. It’s like Google Alerts on Steroids!

Finally, this week’s big marketing lesson is from UHaul, the company that rents trucks across the USA. What can you learn from a trucking company? Watch the episode to find out!

Websites and resources mentioned in the show:

eBay (Do I really need to explain what eBay is?)

FiltrBox (Excellent news gathering and notification resource for any keywords that you specify)

NiftyClicks (discover the very latest web tools and resources)

Private Consultation for YOUR Business (with me)

Microwave Marketing Training System (special offer for you)

T-Shirts for the show are supplied by National Media Services

Regards,

Having trouble viewing this video? Try the QuickTime version.