Category Archives: Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts

CRTC Trying to Impose Usage Based Billing – Talk About a Step Backwards

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In 1989 Marty McFly and Doc Brown gave us a glimpse at the future. It might be a bit scary to think that ‘future’ they visited is just a few years from where we are now. I’m personally looking forward to flying cars since I think driving with 4 tires on the ground is just so passé.

There are actually a lot of things Back To The Future II got correct. (View the list here)

While I don’t think we’re just a few years away from flying cars, I would assume that the world, overall, is moving in a consistent direction when it comes to technology…. FORWARD.

This is why I think it’s crazy that the CRTC is trying to send Canadian internet users back to the stone-age. (Well, maybe not the stone-age since there weren’t many cavemen on Facebook, but this is definitely not forward progress.)

Stop The MeterA new decision from the CRTC will allow Canadian ISPs to charge per byte, similar to what they do for smart phones. This will result in Canadian paying a lot more for internet access. Canadian consumers already get gauged on their internet services way more than their American counterparts and now it’s all about to get worse.

A couple years ago I was in Thailand where I was literally sitting in a hut with no air conditioning, bugs flying around, and no paved roads in sight, but I was on the internet with a fast connection. I wonder if that hut is going to get better internet rates than someone in Toronto?

I have no idea what the CRTC is thinking or how they are justifying their actions, but Canadians must raise their voice and say this is ridiculous.

To have your voice be heard, sign the “Stop The Meter On Your Internet Use” here: http://openmedia.ca/meter

Random Thoughts

Happy Holidays

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I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone happy holidays and a prosperous New Year!

2010 saw the release of hundreds of new features in Elite Email and I assure you all that we have many exciting things planned for the year ahead. Our development team is hard at work to give you even more features to help you accomplish more with your email marketing.

Cheers!

Email Marketing, Random Thoughts

Idol Gives Back and Deliverability Issues

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At every seminar, conference or industry summit that I attend, the issue of “Email Deliverability” is always a hot topic of conversation. It just seems like in the circles I run in, that is a key thing people talk about all the time (and for good reason). But, it’s not so often that I hear things in the mass media relating to email deliverability.

I bring this up because last night on Idol Gives Back (Donate Now Online), host Ryan Seacrest said that comedians Jonah Hill and Russell Brand begged and pleaded to organize a celebrity phone bank for the event.

The whole thing was a joke, of course, but when asked where all the celebrities were Hill said:

“The truth is, we emailed all those people, but the email might have gone into the spam file, because our email address is Viagraman182@gmail.com.”

I can only imagine that celebrities such as Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, etc, etc would have their spam filters set high enough to screen out ‘Viagara’ based emails… I guess celebrities really are just like the rest of us. =)

Although the whole skit was a joke, I thought it was interesting to see the issue of spam and deliverability brought up on such a highly watched show as American Idol.

Random Thoughts

Happy New Year

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I wanted to take this time to wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010.

From an economic standpoint, the year behind us was one of great hardship for businesses around the globe. But, as the expression goes, whatever doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger.

Even towards the end of 2009, we were hearing much more optimistic outlooks from many of our customers. Hopefully this is a sign that we have turned the corner and are on the road back to prosperity.

While I think we are still far from having a booming economy, I am confident that 2010 will be a much better year for everyone.

I know 2010 holds many exciting milestones for Elite Email as we get set to release a completely revamped version of our program that will completely WOW all of our customers.

Offline Marketing, Online Marketing, Random Thoughts

The Effectiveness of Shock Value

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I just got back from seeing Brüno with some friends and while I’m definitely not writing a movie review (…although I thought it was very funny…), what really struck me was how much the audience really loved the ‘shock value’ of what they were seeing. It was a movie that totally pushed the envelope and challenged the limits of what could be said or done.

While I’m sure many people will object and protest to the content of the movie (Note: It’s already banned in Ukraine), I think there is definitely merit in seeing how a little shock can go a long way towards capturing people’s attention.

It really has to make you wonder if we live in a day and age where we are so saturated with media messages that in order to stand out from the crowd your message must be so out-of-the-ordinary that it shocks the audience.

With countless videos available on YouTube, it has to make you wonder how some videos get millions of views and become part of current pop culture overnight. From my experiences, it’s the videos that really shock you, the ones that have you stunned, the ones that you know are going to go insanely viral because it is just has that ‘Wow’ factor.

But, how do you get that ‘Wow’ factor? What is the formula? And, how risky is it to go after because an attempt for ‘Wow’ can become a disaster in a moment?

As someone who speaks to marketers and business owners all the time, I’m always encouraging them to think about the ‘Wow’ factor and how to make it work for them.

I don’t think there is a specific formula. I just think it’s something that requires a little outside-the-box thinking… a little brainstorming…and a little creativity.

Online Marketing, Random Thoughts

The Importance of Friendly Error Messages When Sites Go Down

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Everyone knows that websites can go offline. From the smallest little website to the huge websites operated by major Fortune 500 companies. It’s simply a fact of life that people have to get used to.

At Elite Answers we spend tons of time and countless resources safeguarding our servers, creating redundancy, drafting emergency plans, etc, etc, all in an effort to make sure that when our customers want our service it is there for them. And, in the vast majority of cases it is (…goal achieved!), but I’d be a liar if I said we never have even the smallest hiccup.

The equation is rather simple, websites run off of computers and anyone who has ever touched a computer knows that they can crash.

Even with the best backup plans that could possibly be designed, a few minutes of downtime or an error here-and-there is bound to crop up over the years.

When catastrophe does strike and a website is down for a few seconds to a few hours, it is important to communicate that back to the users of that website. The “not knowing” what is going on is often the worst part of the experience when someone goes to their favorite site and finds out it isn’t there.

That is why showing an informative error message is so important.

If a visitor to a website just sees a dreaded “404 Page Not Found” error or an “Internal Server Error” message then they don’t know what to think. How long will this website be offline? Do I have to wait seconds, minutes, days or hours?

But, if instead, the website has a friendly “We’re doing routine maintenance” or “Something unexpected happened, but we’re working on it”, then at least that is being conveyed to the website visitor.

I recently went to update my Twitter status and the website was offline. Instead of getting a nasty error, I saw this fun graphic. I think Twitter has the right idea with this message because not only does it convey that things will be back soon, but it is simple, clever, creative, and humorous.

Twitter Maintenance Screen

Personally, I think this looks a whole lot better than a nasty default error message. Don’t you agree?

Online Marketing, Random Thoughts

.ca Domain Extension Turns 10, But Is It Highly Sought After?

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The .ca domain extension is celebrating its 10 year anniversary, but with a decade under it’s belt, how is this top level domain performing?

Michael Geist wrote an article in the Toronto Star citing how the current mandate of CIRA seems to be different than the objective it originally and officially set out to achieve.

While the direction CIRA decides to go in is somewhat up in the air, I am left wondering how the average Internet user and domain purchased feels about the .ca extension.

The sales agents for our web hosting division tell me that just about all customers we have in Canada still choose to have a .com address as opposed to a .ca.

This is largely because the Internet population overall, seems more comfortable typing .com at the end of a web address, than they do anything else.

Even with the plethora of top level domain names to choose from, .com is still the overwhelming favorite by a landslide.

In the ideal scenario, our customers choose to register both the .com and .ca version of their domain name just to make sure they are covering all their bases. After all, if you can make sure that your website is everywhere a visitor may go looking, then you can probably sleep easy knowing you’ve got everything covered.

Other customers are forced to go with the .ca domain name because the .com is taken.

That begs the question of whether Canadians only view .ca as a backup if the .com is taken? That probably isn’t what CIRA wants to hear!

And, if the .ca is simply a backup choice, can CIRA do anything to change that in the next 10 years?

Random Thoughts, Social Marketing

CNN 2.0: The YouTube Republican Debate

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TIME Magazine CoverTIME Magazine CoverAs I sit here watching the CNN YouTube Republican debate, I can’t help but think that this is CNN 2.0 and maybe even the evolution of TV. If Web 2.0 is defined as the age of consumer content and interaction, then CNN hit the nail on the head.

 CNN recently revamped their website to a more Web 2.0 style and clearly that is carrying forward into their broadcasts as well. Their much advertised YouTube Debate (just look at that YouTube branding!) aired tonight and featured members of the general public asking questions via YouTube videos right to the candidates. Is this the direction we’re heading?

First TIME Magazine names the person of the year in 2006: “YOU”
And now we’re dictating what content earns a slot on a primetime national news network. Wow, we’re coming a long way!

TIME Magazine Cover

If consumers are demanding to be the directors, is it long before we’re doing that on sitcoms? We already know about “America’s Player” on Big Brother, so we can check realty TV off the list.

This could end up being cool…
(Side Note: Is this why the writers are on strike? Because WE are collectively stealing their jobs…JOKES!)
Or maybe it’ll be brutally awful.

I know I would have liked to tell Jerry Seinfeld what to do a few times or maybe tell Ross just what to say to Rachel…heck, more recently, if I could direct Peter Petrelli, I couldn’t be happier!

I just can’t help get the feeling that if “WE” are breaking into mainstream broadcast programming on certain networks, it won’t be long before the other networks latch on.

I know how many of my friends feel about realty TV these days, they can’t stand it!
If this plays out as I think it might, is it long before we start saying “Geeze, I can’t stand US!”? Or are we going to embrace “US” as the future of media?

Offline Marketing, Online Marketing, Random Thoughts

Give Thanks… For Your Customer’s “Attention”

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Seth Godin wrote an interesting Thanksgiving post where he thanked his readers for giving them a wonderful gift, their “attention”.

This is a very important concept that many business owners I talk to seemingly overlook. In today’s world there are a million distractions. Between TV, radio, books, billboards, iPods, bus advertisements, web sites, email ads, text messages, cell phones, Blackberry’s…well, the list goes on and on. The point is, there is always something vying for your attention. With only 24 hours in the day, that makes someone’s attention a highly sought after commodity.

Often times I hear business owners say something to the effect of “I don’t understand why my customers didn’t read all the way to the bottom of my email advertising campaign”. Then, I’ll take a look at their email and it appears to contain half the text from the Encyclopedia Britannica! I then ask the business owner if they would have time to read the whole thing, to which the reply is often a hesitant delay (realizing their blunder!) and then the statement “maybe not”. Well, if you won’t give you own content enough attention to get all the way to the bottom, you better believe that your customers are willing to invest a whole lot less than you are!

This is why it’s vital to put the most important pieces of information at the very top of your web page, your email, your hand-written memos, etc. If you assume that people are only willing to give you 15 seconds of their time, then you can strategically approach the way you present your content.

So, this Thanksgiving, while you’re giving thanks, don’t let “attention” slip your mind because if you don’t appreciate your customer’s attention, then it may not be long before you lose it.

I thank you all for reading this =)  […I guess it’d be hypocritical to not say that!]

I’ll close with this quote:
“On Thanksgiving Day all over America, families sit down to dinner at the same moment – halftime.”
— Unknown

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Random Thoughts

To Blog Or Not To Blog

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For the longest time now my friends, co-workers and customers have been asking me why I don’t maintain an active blog.

My answer to them is always the same: There are only 24 hours in a day, I only have two hands and, as such, I can only get so much done.

So, does that fact that I am now starting up a blog mean that I have crafted a time machine or grown extra limbs to combat the aforementioned problems? No, unfortunately that is not what it means. (All my efforts to create the time machine have ended in disaster…might be time to throw in the towel on that venture!)

What it does mean is that I’m going to get back on the horse (…I tried a blog a few years ago…) and see if I can cram more into my jam-packed day.

I honestly feel that I owe it to all our EliteAnswers.com customers to start a blog. I have consulted with for so many of them on various topics such as online marketing, email marketing and social marketing. What I have found is that most business owners (almost regardless of industry) have the same questions and are seeking the same answers.

In this blog I will often highlight customer problems and the proposed solution. I won’t claim to always have the right answer or miracle solution, but when I’m consulting I try to present the absolute best recommendations given all the information I have.  (I’ll also make up fake names to protect people’s privacy.)

I also won’t be censored. I don’t tell people the answer they want to hear, I tell them the raw uncut and direct truth. If you want a ‘yes man’, then go somewhere else. That’s not who I am and that’s not what I provide.

So, here we go…  I guess I should have some dramatic closing line as we embark upon this new blog…

…It’s one small step for man, one giant leap for man…. Damn, taken!
…I have a dream… shucks, that’s  taken too!
…ask not what you can do for my blog, but what my blog can do for… sheesh, taken as well!

I guess we’ll forgo the dramatic closing for the moment, since all the good one-liners seem to be taken already. I’ll simply close with my mantra of: GO BIG OR GO HOME!