At least I think that is what he is saying.  Here is a song I came across at the NewGrounds.com audio portal.  It is definitely a pick for a gamer who is feeling a loss after beating his favorite game…

Now You’re a Hero - Reachground

Brands.  Any company has one, whether it be great or not so great.  Even if the company doesn’t want to admit it, they are responsible for what their brand portrays to their customers.

Today I heard about an up and coming internet reality tv show which was dirtied (in my opinion) by one of the coaches.  I won’t go into detail with that, you can do your own research, but it just goes to show you that if you don’t keep tabs on what your employees are doing, you will likely suffer to some extent.

Here are some things that might help keep the people who don’t know any better from doing something stupid:

• Flat out tell them that they are not allowed to discuss the project, business, or whatever with other people.
• If something does get out, then publicly address it.  If you have to, then reprimand your employee.
• Along the same lines as discussion, don’t allow them to release any media without your approval.

In business your brand is your image.  It is often your customer’s first impression of you.  No matter what you do, you brand will at some point get tainted.  How you deal with it is up to you.

I was at the public library yesterday and I came across a technology/business magazine (can’t recall the name) that was about 3 years old.  I figured it might be interesting to see what the ‘experts’ were talking about back then, so I picked it up and looked it over.  Surprisingly, the articles were basically the same as they are today.  Web 2.0 and where they think the internet is headed with Social interaction type sites is all I could find.  So nothing original or earth shattering in my opinion.

However, what I did find, in the most unlikely of all places, was an advertisement.  Hah, I can’t remember who was advertising, perhaps a financial institution, but here is the primary text in the ad:

Shovels do not hope,

Shovels do not wish,

Shovels only dig.

If that isn’t inspiring, then I don’t know what is.  It applies directly to anything that requires an ounce of effort from anyone.

I think that we as human beings on this planet called earth apply too much emotion in the things we do.  Yes, the emotion side of things does differentiate us from robots and emotion can sometimes be a good thing, but I think we put a lot of un-needed emotions into our work.  I’m talking about the types of emotions that hold you back or slow you down because you are trying to stay safe and keep your head above some illusion of water.

The quote above hits the nail on the head.  Concentrate on digging.  Stop wishing and hoping that you will achieve your dreams and just do whatever you feel you should do.

I heard about Brass Media a few months back from the following video and like few things in life it inspired me. If you haven’t heard of it yet, Brass Media is fundamentally money management for young adults. As you listen and learn in the below video, you might be at first entranced and then enthused (as I was) with the story of the actual founding of Brass Media - told by founder Bryan Sims. His story is proof that if you put dedication, heart, a little hope, and a lot of effort into anything you will succeed.

You also might want to check out a new project that Brass Media has just launched called ShareBrass.com. Right now the site has a lot of info about a project called BrassTV. Here is how they describe BrassTV,

“It is not a financial show, though it contains plenty of financial content. It’s not a reality show, though it’s rooted firmly in reality.”

I was looking over a few of the blogs I read once a week and I noticed something.  First of all, I’m about half-way done with a book called, “The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II,” by Dave Balter.  (or you can download it free-and legally) Word of Mouth is a book about… word of mouth marketing.  I’m likely to write more about the book later, but now I just want to talk about one section.

At one point the author describes a group of people, who he receives emails from all the time, who hate him.  They hate word of mouth marketing and probably any other form of marketing out there.  Now I don’t personally know the author, and I really don’t know what type of a person he is.  What I do know is that he is a great writer and knowledgeable marketer from what I have read thus far.  This is why I find it hard for someone to hate him and his work.  However, after reading the following reasons, I realize what leads people to hating marketers.

Here are the forms of marketing perversions listed in the book:
The leaner, who poses as a product advocate, but really couldn’t care less.  Often seen at bars, loudly ordering brand-name beverages.

The phony tourist, who asks real people to take his picture with a cell phone camera, making sure to mention the brand name.

Street teams, who create trumped-up scenes that disrupt the flow of real city life.

Guerilla marketers, who think of marketing as a kind of warfare, with sorties carried out against unsuspecting citizens.

Could you be considered one of these?
Whenever I do anything concerning anything, I always look at it through my ergonomic yet somewhat unfashionable moral goggles.  There is no real in between, at least non which I can think of, in terms of morality.  It is either right or wrong.

Bloggers and Useless Information

This is the reason I started writing this post- bloggers who market shamelessly.  You know the type and I’m not going to name names.  Every post for an entire week might be a product they are pushing.  Or every other post lately is some product that they somehow found time to try since they wrote their last post.  The posts themselves look like those long sales letters you see on the net for informational products- 5 screens in length, a ton of screen shots, and of course 15 call to action links.  The only difference between the sales letter marketers and these bloggers don’t tell you that they are selling you something. Where does it end?  This is the reason I dump a lot of blogs and stop reading them.

I used to attempt to make sense of this blog marketing by believing that the readers must definitely know that the author is promoting something for financial gain.  I figured that most people know this and would make their decision with that knowledge.  Yet, I soon came to the assumption that something else is in fact true.  This is especially true in the MMO niche of blogs.  The reader has come to the blog to find value and usually trusts the information that the author is giving them.  When the author promotes something, a lot of people see it as an honest review for a product of value.  A visitor might just trust the author enough to go out and buy whatever it is they are promoting because of that review.

Now there is nothing wrong with promoting products of value on your blog, but at least be honest to your readers and yourself.  Don’t post some product every other day.  After all, have you gone out and really tried every single product you are promoting?

In conclusion, I now know why their is a hatred of sorts in forums such as WF for MMO blogs.

I’ve always been the type of person who believes that you can, at least 99% of the time, find a free alternative to everything.  Specifically when it comes to software there is usually someone who spent the time to come up with some similar free software that does what you want it to do.

Awhile back I remember reading a lot of talk about something called BANS (build a niche store).  Here is an excerpt from their site:

BANS (Build A Niche Store) is a website builder which enables you to create a network of traffic pulling, money making niche websites focused around the eBay affiliate opportunity.

And it looks like the software costs $97.00.  I was moderately interested in the software but not enough to actual go and purchase it.  The concept seemed so simple that I could have created something similar if I wanted.

However, after looking over at WF today, I saw a post about something called McJiffy.

McJiffy EASy is an open source project for quickly creating dynamic storefronts for the eBay affiliate program. Sites made with EASy can either be used as stand alone websites or included within an existing website.

What does it cost?- Nothing!  After all, you can’t beat free…
So you see, most times you can find a free alternative to most programs.  And if you can’t then maybe you aren’t searching hard enough…

I received this mouse a few days ago and have nothing good to say about it.

As you can see, you hold it like a Wii Nun chuck- buttons on the bottom, and a navigation ball on the top.  The concept is great, the reviews seemed okay, but nobody told me the thumb-controlled ball was sticky and non-responsive.  First of all, you have to understand that I use a trackball mouse on my desktop (previously posted image) and it will fly from top-to-bottom, left-to-right, and all over the screen.  Flip your thumb and the ball has a lot of “give” (if that is what you call it).  Nonetheless, the fish mouse ball is its major problem.

I probably won’t return the mouse anytime soon.  I’m thinking about using grease or graphite to get the sticky rollers working better.

So if you are thinking about a hand held mouse, then stop already.  The whole reason I needed something like it in the first place was for my laptop.  I actually changed my opinion on the mini-mouse and bought one for about $30 that works wonderfully.

First of all, I don’t do any e-mail marketing, but this is just something I thought of while checking my e-mail.

Some time ago I somehow got on publisher clearing house’s e-mail list and haven’t taken myself off for one reason. No, I am not hopeful of becoming a millionaire through the e-mails, but I like to see what tactics they use to get leads for their affiliate programs.

What you can Learn…

The Subject Line

This is logically the most important part of this e-mail marketing thing. If you can’t get the user to open the e-mail, then you have wasted your time writing the e-mail in the first place. Every time I see a PCH’s subject line, I must admit that I get a little excited. And that is an important part of any marketing- invoke emotion. For example, here is the subject line from the most recent e-mail:

You could be announced a multi-millionaire!

Not, “you could be a millionaire,” or “win a million dollars.” The subject line is indeed interesting and unique when compared to what I would usually see from the net’s incentivizable offers. The subject line doesn’t promise anything, but sort of lies between a statement of chance and one where you have already won something. With this subject line, I will read it, sometimes open the e-mail and then do a double take to read it again.

E-mail Content

This is also a very important part of the strategy that PCH uses. Right away after reading the first few lines of the e-mail is that they use a sensory word right away to get your attention, “You may have seen…”

The next thing I always see in their e-mails is a statement that makes you visualize something:

The PCH Prize Patrol will climb into their van and head out to deliver a millionaire-making SuperPrize®.

Again, this is just like the emotional words they use, it does basically the same thing by making you feel something.
The rest of the e-mail is pretty much just a statement of urgency and a call-to-action.
Conclusion

You can learn a lot just from doing something simple like subscribing to a company’s e-mail list. Become a customer. Not for the sake of being a customer, but instead acting as an observer. After all, it’s FREE!

I’ve been slightly annoyed by my laptop built in mouse pad ever since I got it (and ever single laptop I have used).  Yesterday I purchased something called a Fish Handheld Mouse from KlearGear.com.  It reminds me of the nunchuck extension on the Wii controller so I figure I will give it a try for $11.99.

In the past I have tried using the mini-mouse, but didn’t like it because I don’t have mini-hands.  Also, I didn’t like having to use desk space (which I usually don’t have with a laptop) when using a mini-mouse.

So I have this Fish thingy on the way and will post a review when it gets here…

Oh, I almost forgot.  I was wondering what other people are using on their desktops and laptops.

Here is what I use on my desktop:

I love this thing!  It looks weird and awkward, but once you get the hang of it, you will never go back to the 2d move around your desktop mouse.

What do you use?

I was watching this movie called, “Untraceable,” the other day and had a thought related to affiliate marketing.  Don’t you think that guy could have made bank by running some sort of affiliate offer on his kitten killing site…  I wonder how the merchants would respond if they were advertised on such a site.

Hmmm… Maybe I should start a kitten killing site… It would be like taking bonsai kitten to the Web 2.0 world. lol