You, Marketing and The Web

The Special That Keeps on Giving

Tom Gilbert — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:53:46 GMT

A few days ago I posted information about SBI (the complete online business building service that is not hype and really works).

One of the things I mentioned was how the company that provides SBI (Sitesell.com) continually surveys both potential customers and users to find ways to offer more convincing evidence.

In the post Answer the Right Questions I go into more detail. What is most impressive is that Sitesell really cares about providing a service that works and over delivers.

Their annual Holiday 2-for-1 Special was set to expire on Christmas Day. They've generously held it over until January 3.

The amount of evidence that SBI will work for those who are willing to give it a try and have a passion to develop more than a blog or a social media presence (SBI works great to further those means, too!) is there for you to investigate. People like me who early on (in the late 1990's) to try to find ways to have websites and online businesses that work often spent thousands of dollars, only to learn the hard way that what was touted as great really wasn't all that.

SBI is affordable ($299 a year) and gives way more value than the cost. That's why I continually renew for my Your Life Is Your Story e-presence.

Answer the Right Questions

Tom Gilbert — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:07:07 GMT

What holds people back from buying?

Uncertainty - of course.

Risk - yes.

Sounds too good to be true. That one is perhaps the toughest to deal with for online advertising.

What convinces people to buy?

Take away the risk.

Testimonials, especially from people the customer knows (one of the main reasons for marketing through social media).

Being transparent.

The latter is especially important. If you can really document success and give some sort of guarantee you've gone a long way towards alleviating customer reluctance.

We also know that people buy emotionally. But I think more and more...particularly when it comes to investing in an e-business or web business, people are doing research and thinking it through.

Over and over again I'm impressed with Sitesell's SBI. They do all of the above and more. Still, you might hold back from purchasing their product for a number of reasons. Recently Sitesell conducted another survey with people who'd visited their site but hadn't purchased. They wanted to find out why .

Thousands of people replied. And they looked at all those reasons and came up with answers. Amazing! They really go all out to earn your trust. (When you visit the link scroll down the page just a bit to click on the So Why Are You Not Smiling? What Worries You?)

Now, I'm already convinced. Why? Because I've used their product since 2003 and gladly renew every year. My niche - personal history/life story preservation - is something I'm passionate about. I'm working to help people discover why they should preserved their life stories - and how to do it. SBI has become a great way to build my online business because they give me all the tools I need to be successful. I get good traffic and I don't have to be some kind of web techie to do it. Yes, there's the hard work of creating content - my content - but you do that with any site (unless you just rip off other people's stuff which is a very major no-no).

One of the greatest concerns people have this day is how to deal with the economy and also find something they can develop to earn income. Something they are passionate about.

In the end, the only way you will be successful is to work on something you care about.

SBI is worth investigating.

And right now is the annual buy-one-get-one free promotion.

Twitter Turns Five

Tom Gilbert — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 23:42:00 GMT

What started out as a fun way to update friends with status reports via computer and mobile devices is now credited with influencing political action around the globe...as well as finding a good book to read, movie to watch, marketing advice, inspirational quotes and silly banter.

Twitter just celebrated it's 5th birthday. It's surprising to me that it has been around that long, but perhaps that is because it seems Twitter has hit its stride in the past couple of years. Not too many people were familiar with it before that. Now they boast 200 million users and more than 100 million tweets a day! (See
NPR story). And this post (CNN) adds even more interesting insight.

Sometimes I think there is a fine line between a tweet and a twit. Banality and insight; Charlie Sheen and Middle East democratic uprising. What an amazing global village we live in and Twitter is definitely one of the prime locations for the social media set.

Einstein and Pi Day

Tom Gilbert — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:42:00 GMT

Did you know that today is both Albert Einstein's birthday and the day some math fans (and other "geeky" folks) consider Pi day? You know, Pi, as in the nubmer 3.14, the one that really stretches...decimals to infinity. This is the number commonly used as the ratio of the circumference to diameter of a circle.

March 14 is considered Pi day because the date is 3/14 (get it?). But not everybody thinks Pi is the best number to use for the calculation of a circle's diameter. Some are pushing for 6.28, the twice times Pi as a better calculation and are calling it "Tau" (see this CNN article). Yeah, this is getting complicated.

No worries. Have fun with it. You might even want to check out a YouTube ode to Pi.

I wonder what Albert Einstein would think about all this. Probably get a good chuckle out of it. Many people don't realize that Einstein appreciated art, philosophy, spirituality, nature and much more than mathematics. I like reading daily Einstein quotes.

Enjoy your 3/14 and have some pi(e)!

Living the Solution Site Face Lift

Tom Gilbert — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 03:18:00 GMT

Living the Solution has been an online presence and destination for the spiritual seeker since 2002. Over the years I've added a lot of content and the site has expanded and evolved.

Now the site has a face lift - and in the process a contraction of content. I've written many articles, reviews, commentaries and reflections over the years. It is not only a labor of love - it is an online documentation of my spiritual journey.

What have I discovered? Well, some of my insight has been that God does work in and through many people. I've had help from often surprising sources. It's been an adventure. Frustrations, obstacles, pain, joy, insight and great spiritual growth.

I hope you are on a journey. I hope you visit us often. I'm hand-selecting and adding back in much of the previous content. And posting new things, too.

God is big and God of EVERYONE. I think it is important for Jesus students (I consider myself one) see that Christ is in all and Lord of All. That means I look for Christ in all things, which is scriptural. Welcome seekers. Welcome skeptics. Welcome no matter your denomination or non-denomination. The Spirit is at work and I hope this is a place where we can talk and share our journeys.

Report on what's happening in your patch

Tom Gilbert — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:55:00 GMT

I'm sure you've heard the expression, "Think globally, act locally". I've noticed a growing trend on the Internet towards having people report on the news in their local areas. Examiner.com uses this model, and certainly anyone who passes along newsworthy information via Twitter or Facebook is doing something similar.

Patch.com is a site (owned by AOL) that let's you be a journalist of sorts to report on what is happening in your locale. This might be an interesting way to market yourself. People have been writing articles for the web for years as a way to gain credibility and market themselves and this is a similar approach.

For instance, personal historians (I do a bit of this work myself - see Your Life Is Your Story ) can write about the history of their communities and generate an interesting news piece as well as some possible client leads. A good example is what Marilyn L. Geary wrote and posted recently for the San Rafael Patch. Her article about the West End Training ground for champion boxers in the early 20th century is quite interesting.

Do you have something interesting to share about your community, either historical or current? Consider putting on your "journalist" hat and posting at sites like Patch.com.

Great radio voice ticket for homeless man

Tom Gilbert — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:49:00 GMT

You probably have heard by now that the attention was too much, too fast and probably a bit overwhelming for the man I mention in the original post. He's in rehab now and hopefully getting the help he needs. The original video I put below is also no longer available.

The moral - truly take it one day at a time. It's good for someone down on their luck to get a chance. Ted Williams has a gift and hopefully he'll get to use it. I hope you are using yours.

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Ted Williams used to be the name associated with one of the all time greatest baseball players. But now a down and out homeless man by that name may have found "the ticket" to a new life.

Ted Williams - the homeless guy and reportedly former radio announcer - was caught on video and posted to YouTube where it quickly went viral. Ted has been a victim of drugs/alcohol/bad luck, but now says he's clean and sober two years and he's got a terrific announcing voice. He would panhandle and do some "radio style delivery". That's what got him noticed. His video caught fire and then he got noticed by news outlets and various media and it took off from there. This is an example of what can happen in our day of instant viral social-network propelled video. I discovered the news on my Facebook account.

Lots of people have great "radio" voices. I worked in the industry for over thirty years (and while I don't have the "pipes" of Ted, I think I developed a pretty good sound and delivery).

The great story in all this - aside from the power of viral marketing - is that this guy seems genuine, humble, grateful and ready for a new shot at life. He's been offered some jobs already, including a reported broadcasting position with the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Team.

Not your typical ad agency or bunch of web geeks

Tom Gilbert — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 01:58:00 GMT

These days the competition among internet marketers is pretty fierce. And it can be a huge turnoff dealing with all the slick and "sounds too good to be true" hypsters.

But there are some good, hardworking and reputable marketers. Witness Lori Shaw and Xtramark . She and her co-horts (she works with a variety of talent tailored to a client's needs) present themselves as "not your typical ad agency or bunch of web geeks". But savvy they are about marketing and the web.

I love the sense of humor combined with the professional businesslike approach. Over the years Xtramark has garnered praise for the custom campaigns that are created to meet the goals as well as a client's budget, big or small. There is clever writing, marketing tips, samples of work and the theme of going the xtra mile throughout the well-designed site. Take a look and consider Xtramark when you want something more than a typical ad campaign.

Video of SBI on You Tube is Powerful

Tom Gilbert — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 23:39:00 GMT

SiteSell's SBI (an incredible way to build a web business) continues to give the best bang for the buck. And they market very effectively, mostly by SBI users, but also through social media, such as their videos posted at YouTube.

Take a look to see how you can build your own online business.

Is the Most Influential Person Online Some Fast Company?

Tom Gilbert — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:28:00 GMT

Who is the most influential person online? Whoever might get that title will have a heavy burden. Let's face it, as rapidly as things change in the Online Universe, being recognized as the most influential online person is probably less than fifteen minutes of fame.

Or maybe not. But I do find a certain amount of humor in Fast Company creating a project to give us the opportunity to name the most influential online person of 2010 (rapid change...fast company). It's called the Influence Project .

The explosion of social networking sites is giving voice to lots of people who might not have such a wide audience as the web potentially gives them. Of course, you've noticed that a lot of commentary on Facebook and Twitter is kind of lame, self absorbed or pointless. But there also are some interesting and thought-provoking discoveries.

Seth Godin is probably a front runner for most influential online person. he has a big following and a terrific blog.

Ken Evoy of Sitesell.com would be one of my nominees. His philosophy of slow and steady (long tail) growth by individuals dedicated to creating more than a web site (a real business, purpose with great traffic) through his line of company products (especially Site Build It ) continues to grow - and influence - people. But Ken would probably deflect the attention and steer it towards those who are being successful and influential by using the methods he promotes. Those claims are backed up here .