Don's Internet Marketing Blog

scribd

2009-03-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

Not sure if this was mentioned before but I just stumbled upon scribd, a document sharing site. I was looking on information on fudge factors for Vasicek trees (speak - fixed income stuff ;-) and found a whole host of docs! sign-up was free and I downloaded 10 really nice and intense academic papers (on yield-curve dynamics, multi-factor models etc. :-)

Selling on Amazon

2009-03-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

I recently looked at my bookshelf and realized the amount of books I have collected during the past 18 months. As I am going to relocate to Hong Kong after the MBA, I wanted to purge my collection of those books that I either did not like or would not read again.
My first instinct was ebay, but I then remembered that you can sell used books on Amazon. So I set up my account (5 min) and entered the two books I wanted to sell. One of them (What color is your parachute) was the 2008 edition so I set the price quite low (the 2009 edition is already out.)
Within 20 minutes (!) I received an email that the book had been sold. Back to the amazon webpage and I found a link to a complete order delivery slip. I just needed to print it, cut out the address and stick it on the box I used to send the book. The rest of the order slip I put into the box with the book. Off to the post office and the first sale was complete.
This was (obviously on a small scale) a good example of how amazon is levering its database, reach, supply-chain experience and organisation to establish a second-hand marketplace. And with the powerful voting mechanism in place the risk of abuse is minimized as well.
Very impressive!
Don

Google reports and statistics, anyone?

2009-02-22T16:25:00.000-08:00

It is really strange. Until yesterday all our ads had similar CTRs. Now only one group generates any CTRs. We looked into it and found that despite our average position being between 3.8 and 4.7, we did not have any clicks. BUT when actually searching for the leading keyword, our ads are only on the second page. So - why is the rank wrong?

The joy of adwords

2009-02-19T05:31:00.000-08:00

Having started the google challenge I find the whole process highly interesting. It was really exciting to see the ad appear live! And the follow-up process of watching and refining is also great. We are suffering from low CTR rates right now but have started on variations and have created a more targeted placement strategy.
One question that came up from our client was - does google adwords affect the organic ranking? They found that their ranking had suffered (!) while the common question on the internet is whether the paid adwords actually improve the search ranking (more links to a site, more visitors).
The answer is no: the database and spiders/bots are different and even hosted differently. And the adwords links are not counted in pagerank.
The indirect effect is that if you optimize a page for adwords then this will also help your organic rank (naturally). But there is no direct effect.
Any other first-day revelations, findings, hints or tips?
Take care,
Don

The future of Apple?

2009-02-12T16:55:00.000-08:00

For a slightly more financial perspective of Apple - the stock performance. So we have several concerns - attitude and product wise. And their products are premium products which people might not be willing to buy in a recession. While the stock performance can easily be attributed to the general market conditions, I think that part of the depressed levels can be attributed to a negative outlook for the company.

Books on SEO?

2009-01-29T12:10:00.001-08:00

Hi all,

these three books all have good reviews - I just don't want to buy three books on the same topic. Any opinions?
Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day - Jennifer Grappone
Get into Bed with Google: Top Ranking Search Optimisation Techniques - Jon Smith;
Get to the Top on Google: Tips and Techniques to Get Your Site to the Top of Google and Stay There - David Viney;

Cheers,
Don

Fun

2009-01-26T14:21:00.000-08:00

Pit Crew Fail

Rich Jerk

2009-01-26T10:48:00.001-08:00

once I started searching for "Internet Marketing" it is amazing what I found. Including very resourceful sights and blogs.

And then I came across "Rich Jerk" . An online marketeer who advocates his methods (and sells them) for making money fast. Since getting started on the web in 1994, I have seen tons of these scams. What is special about this one are the number of "reviews" in favor of him (i.e. a hidden affiliate program) and the number of websites arguing against him (and selling something else instead).

So it seems highly fishy and phoney. The question is - shall one risk GBP 8 to get the book? Is the downside of submitting personal and financial information high enough not to take the risk? I think I will give it a try and let you know ... but tell me what you think!

cu don

Apple - disappointed

2009-01-25T11:08:00.000-08:00

I switched to a Mac in July and was nothing but happy. Software runs smoothly, XP under Fusion runs faster than on most native laptops and adding hardware is effortless. Until xmas.

I got the new Apple LED cinema display from my gf for xmas. Tried to attach it to my 6 month old laptop - did not work. Looked on internet - they changed the port and THERE IS NO ADAPTER. Nothing but the newest laptops can be connected! They published the interface specs for anyone to produce an adapter - but how can you
- discontinue the previous display size in favor of the new one
- tell people on the phone that it connects to any Mac
- and then produce a display that only connects to the most recent ones?

There is a huge uproar on the net - a lot of customer are upset. This kind of attitude we were used from Wintel, but not Apple. They seem to be thinking that everyone should now upgrade to the new Macs. Very very disappointing.

Back to the roots

2009-01-21T15:58:00.000-08:00

I recently stumbled upon this famous ad - only shown once but very famous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeR0zY-AkKM

It is simple, effective and very memorable. In effective it has all the ingredients for successful (internet) marketing.

Continuing the search ...

2009-01-18T08:38:00.000-08:00

We had a couple of interesting leads - surprisingly enough most of the companies we contacted in the sports and leisure area already actively use google adwords. We however managed to finally find one - just need to iron out the details.
I am certainly surprised by the amount of information as well as the resources available. Mindblowing! Certainly a big step since I had my first online diary in 2002!
Take care,
cu don

Getting started ...

2009-01-12T08:21:00.000-08:00

so here we are, the start of this new class. It sounds very applied and already we are reasonably deep into setting up blogs including aggregation of comments. Sounds good.
We are also debating within the group which company to go after - choices are scuba diving school (small wonder this suggestion came from me ;-) and a lingerie shop ...
More next week.
cu don