Brads World Land

Posted By Brad on February 8, 2010

Not too long ago I remember being asked (told) to pull some data to support a trend, or answer why there was a $50,000 increase in sales month over month, or why publisher xyz’s numbers are trending down. I used to hate these reports. I would roll my eyes and dive into data for a good part of the day.

Fast forward to today, and I can’t live without these reports. Several times a week I do a deep analysis of what’s performing for the business, what trends are like, and what’s the forecast for month end. Without these reports I would be flying blind and quite honestly, I wouldn’t have a clue as to what’s going on in the business and how can we use this data to help grow and be even more successful. If I had a dollar for every time I heard the phrase, the devil is in the details, I’d probably have about ten bucks, but you get the picture.

Let’s say for example you see a $50,000 increase is sales month over month. If you just write that off like great, good job everybody, keep up the good work, and don’t dig into the reports, chances are you’ll only sustain that $50,000 increase one time or possibly even loose it and never  give your company the chance to grow off of that initial surge and turn it into $60,000, $75,000 or $100,000 increases month over month.

If you don’t analyze the data you’re going about your career or business half-assed and you company will suffer. Who knows, perhaps that surge came off a new publisher testing your offers, you reach out, communicate and strike a better deal with them and now they drive you $75,000 in additional revenue each month. If you just left that publisher alone, they’ll probably just write you off like you don’t give a damn and most likely move on to another company who cares and wants to grow their business together.

You must analyze your data if you want to be successful.

Category: Online Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: Analyze, Data, Reports

Posted By Brad on February 6, 2010

• Managing two Twitter accounts is challenging.
• Nebraksa Mens Basketball is disapointing and painful to watch all at the same time.
• Bing will become the search engine on the iPhone (most likely OS 4.0 release).
• What’s another five inches of snow when there is already two feet on the ground.
• The Huskers landed some good recruits on signing day.
• The Omaha Metro Area Bicycle Map is a cool thing to have.
• The city of Omaha needs to stop marking streets in town as bike trails.
• You can rent out “The Situation” for $2,000 a night.
• A dogs anal glands can get swollen or infected.
• It costs $84 to relieve that pressure.
• Hiring the right people is a challenge.
• Conquering the Old Chicago World Beer Tour will take some time.

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Posted By Brad on February 5, 2010

So let’s say you have a local business and things are going pretty good, but you wish you had more business coming through your door. You probably have a website, dabble in some PPC (pay per click advertising), possibly have a blog or twitter account, and you send out some emails from time to time. Traffic is good, but again you’d like more and that’s where I think taking a good hard look at Goupon may provide a boost for your business.

Groupon is a way for a collective group of individuals in a community to purchase special deals at a local business.  Each day Groupon features something cool to do at an unbeatable price. Their main goal is to beat any current advertised special that day. So let’s say you’re running a Pizza and Pint special for $10.00. If you use Groupon, they want you to beat that special and advertise something crazy like a Pizza and Pint special for $5.00, thus beating out any current specials on that day.

How it works, is that for one day your crazy $5.00 Pizza and Pint special is advertised to your local community via Groupon.com/Omaha (or whatever you city may be). If enough people collectively agree to pay $5.00 for your special (which they call the tipping point) the consumers credit cards will be charged and they will be sent a link to print that coupon/special. Thus opening the flood gates and driving valuable new customers to your business, guaranteed. Since a minimum number of people must buy for the offer to be valid, Groupon guarantees paying customers. These subscribers are not looking for “the perfect deal.” They’re looking for the perfect excuse to try something new.

I’ve had the opportunity to see Groupon in action and I can honestly say it really does work. However, be prepared for the number of people wanting your deal. We’re not talking ten-to-twenty people through your door for a quick cheap deal. Try hundreds if not thousands from one Groupon, on one day.

You can check out GrouponWorks.com for more information and if you’re a consumer visit Groupon.com

Category: Online Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: Coupons, Groupon

Posted By Brad on February 4, 2010

Now let me set the record straight, I’m not trying to be a Seth Godin or Gary V and turn this blog into a self promoting, seize the day, crush it kind of blog (although I do follow them). Most of my readers know that I use this blog as a personal space to keep me on track, keep me focused in the online marketing space, and on top of industry news. I use this blog daily to jot down ideas, thoughts, strategies I use, strategies I’d like to use, and just about everything that pertains to online marketing. But there is one thing in particular that has helped me get to where I am today and thus I need to remind myself to Do Something Every Day That Gets Me Closer to My Goal.

Since I’ve made the jump from a mind numbing, working for the man or woman, sitting in a beige cubical for 8 hours a day, asking for permission to leave, kind of job I have reached many goals that I have set for myself and for the business. Now granted I work even more hours and still work for the man or woman (clients) and my office is now a seafoam color, slightly bigger and with a dog, it is still just as important to set new goals and do something every day to reach them.
As for you, the goal could be to hit the gym every day this week, call one new client each day, close one sale each day, post a new advertisement, whatever it may be. DO IT! And do it with drive and focus. Otherwise you’re just going to be like the guy or gal next to you bitching about your life or job. I can honestly tell you that I haven’t bitched about my life or job for months since I’ve reached my initial goals and now it’s time to make some new goals.

I’m not talking about your typical goal of making it to work on time, avoiding your boss, or answering emails. I’m talking about life changing goals, like starting your own business, owning a home, moving to a better situation for your family, or even flying to the moon. Whatever it may be, make it big, and do something every day that gets you closer to reaching that goal.

For me, it’s all about affiliate marketing. I work and live in the industry and if I’m not constantly out recruiting new affiliates, re-recruiting past affiliates, optimizing text links, banners, datafeeds, analyzing data, testing new strategies, or you name it, than I’ve wasted that day and more importantly, I’ve wasted the time of the merchants which I represent, and chances are I’ll be right back in that lovely beige cubical asking for permission to leave 15minutes early.

Nobody wants to be there.

Do Something Every Day That Gets You Closer to Your Goal.

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Posted By Brad on February 3, 2010

I’m not convinced that many of you are aware of what’s going on with the so called “Advertising Tax” (Rhode Island and North Carolina already passed this bill) but I think it’s time you stop pushing this issue aside and really take a deep look at what is happening.  If you participate in affiliate marketing, then this especially pertains to you, so listen up. Take 10 minutes of your busy day to watch a really good, basic, and easy to understand explanation of what’s happening in the Senate today.

Thanks Scott from Affspot for pointing me to this video.

Category: Online Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: Advertising Tax, Affiliate Tax, Affspot

Posted By Brad on February 2, 2010

If you still send out mass business emails through your Cox, Hotmail, AOL, MSN, or Gmail email address, than this is a wake-up call for you to STOP IMMEDIATELY! You’re wasting your email marketing efforts, your time, and most likely the opportunity to bring in revenue, which is why you’re sending these emails out in the first place.

Sign yourself up for some email marketing software and start optimizing your emails to provide the biggest impact. Now I know most of you get a little skittish when you read the words email marketing software but there is no need to worry these days. Most email marketing software is web based, meaning there is no need for you to purchase, download, and install anything on your computer. Simply pick the email software you like best (I prefer Aweber ), create an account, pay a monthly fee, and begin sending emails. It’s all pretty simple really.

The reason I insist on signing up for an email marketing software service, is because now you can actually see the data on what’s happening with your emails vs. sending out your emails via your Gmail, MSN, or whatever account and not knowing who opened your email, who passed it along, or who never received your email in the first place.  With online email software, you get actual analytical data like:

• Tracking who opens your messages and who doesn’t.
• Tracking who clicks your links and who doesn’t.
• See sales revenue generated by subscribers.
• Track website clicks using your own domain name, without ugly click tracking links.
• Segment and follow up with subscribers based on their click, open, and sales activity.
• Split test messages and forms to see what works and what doesn’t.
• See which ad campaigns or signup forms bring you the most subscribers
• Follow your list growth over time

Why would you NOT want to know this data?

All of these bullet points play a major role in effective email marketing and if you’re not taking advantage of these tools and services available, then you’re simply not taking your business seriously and you’re wasting your time with half-assed marketing efforts and your business will reflect your efforts.

Category: Online Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: Aweber, Email, Marketing

Posted By Brad on February 1, 2010

As I’m doing my most favorite thing in the world today, month end reports (no, not really) I came across something that inspired this post, and that is to never let your affiliate program run on autopilot. Here’s an example of what might happen.

Say you have a publisher in your program who’s been driving $xx,xxx per month in affiliate sales consistently for the last year. Then this past month you noticed they have dropped off in sales significantly and are trending downward yet again for this month. If you’re not digging into the reports, watching trends, or listening to your publishers, chances are your letting your affiliate program run on autopilot and you will never know what happened to those sales. I bet you’ll probably just write it off to volatility in the market place, competition amongst publishers, or better yet blame it on the seasons without ever really knowing the true answer.

That’s why it is essential to be active in your affiliate program on a daily basis. Check reports daily, answer emails, follow the trends, follow the industry and ensure a successful program. If you’re in tune with your affiliate program, it’s really simple to get a true answer as to why your $xx,xxx publisher isn’t producing like they have in the past.

Shoot them and email, give them a call, hit them up on IM, what ever it takes communicate with that publisher and simply ask what you can do to help. There is no harm in asking. I’m willing to bet your publishers will be thankful you reached out to offer support. Who knows, maybe they’re testing another offer against yours, maybe they got slapped by Google, maybe they need a higher commission, or maybe the just got tired of working alone with no support from your program.

What ever the reasoning may be, it’s essential to communicate with your publishers and find out what you can do to help them succeed, get them back in your program, and driving even more sales. If you don’t, there’s a pretty good chance the thousands of dollars in monthly affiliate revenue will be lost forever.

Category: Online Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: Affiliate Marketing

Posted By Brad on January 31, 2010

Let me start off by saying I am by no means a social marketing guru. However, I use social media every single day to communicate and understand its place in online marketing. Unfortunately there are still some businesses out there who don’t understand the importance of communicating with their customers or clients which is why I’m going to give you a little rundown on how to use Twitter effectively with one simple rule: Converse with your followers.

Twitter is all about communication and engaging with your followers. You should check your replies daily if not more often to see if anyone has replied to your tweets or has mentioned you or your business in their tweets. You can find the replies link in the right hand column of your Twitter page directly under the HOME heading and the link will look something like @bradsworldland. Click this link and it will take you to a results page that has every mention of your Twitter name.

Use this page like your inbox for email and reply to every single mention. If you’ve just discovered this feature on twitter and see there’s been a flurry of activity mentioning your @name, don’t panic, it’s not too late to reply, you haven’t lost them yet. Simply respond, no matter how late of response it may be, and most importantly be honest. Don’t make an excuse for the delayed response, don’t be generic either with a “hey sorry for the delay, ya we deliver” kind of response. Be genuine with something like, “Thanks for reaching out. Yes we deliver! Sorry for the late response, we’re new to twitter and still figuring it out.” Remember it’s all about connecting and communicating with your followers and this type of response will go farther with your followers.

Also, don’t rely on direct messaging, it’s usually filled with spam and people trying to get you to buy or see something and is not as effective as the replies page. At the same time, don’t neglect your direct messages either, occasionally you’ll receive messages that are actually intended to receive a response. I would monitor this on a weekly basis but check your replies page daily if not more frequently and remember to participate in the conversation.

Category: Online Marketing | 1 Comment »
Tags: Twitter

Posted By Brad on January 29, 2010

The Husker Mens Basketball program that is. Off to a good start in the Big 12 this year. 0-5. They’ve been beaten by the 11th placed, 10th placed, and 9th, placed teams this year already so naturally we’re at the bottom of the barrel. Granted we were projected to finish 11th in the Big 12 so I guess you could say we’re not doing as well as projected.

I had an interesting talk with my brother the other night about the idea of paying the top 5 basketball players in the country to come play for Nebraska. Now I know this is illegal and Nebraska would most likely go on probation but lets look at the upside to this. We’ll at least have an entertaining few years of Husker Hoops. They will probably beat most if not all their opponents (lets not forget these are the top 5 players in the country). There will be major buzz around the program which will create interest in Nebraska Basketball and finally there will be something worth watching and rooting for during these cold ass Nebraska winters.

Think about it.

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Posted By Brad on December 14, 2009

Last Thursday I had the privilege to attend the Omaha Blog Co. Meetup 3 which took place at The Brazen Head in Omaha. Going into this I had no idea what to expect, who would show, or what we would even talk about. I personally was there in attendance to learn about what other people are interested in and what they are passionate about. I mean after all, Brads World Land is basically a life blog with random spatterings of whats going on in my life and not so much my passions or interests.

As I sat there with my tasty Fat Tire (nothing better on a cold snowy evening) I got a chance to listen to eveyones story and drive behind their blogs which was pretty cool. I met two ex coworkers, one who writes for the new Momaha.com blog and another who has built a successful photography business bosleycreative.wordpress.com. I also met a fellow who was extremely passionate about the sport of Cricket, which was cool to see someone so involved in trying to get the sport of Cricket on ESPN and I honestly think he will contribute immensely to that becoming a reality.

I also met a guy form New Jersey, who by a crazy leap of faith ended up in Omaha and is now developing Omaha.net into a successful venture. On top of that, he’s familiar with affiliate marketing which made the attendance even that more fulfilling since I am an affiliate manger 24/7.

Also in attendance was a man behind the scenes of Silicon Prairie News, a fellow from Wolf Theory who helps entrepreneurs create successful businesses, and a young woman who was completely new to the blogging idea but wanted to come out, meet some others of similar interests and gather ideas. I personally look forward to hearing what direction shes decided to take her blog and listen to her future plans.

All-in-all I had a great experience. I met some new people, drank some good beers, and listened to 7 wonderful stories and future plans of peoples passions and interests. The Omaha Blog Co. is pretty cool and laid back. Nobody’s pushing business or judging your direction rather they are listening and helping you with your goals and ideas. I’m pretty sure I’ll attend the next meet up. If you’re interested in joining you can find more information at http://www.meetup.com/the-omaha-blog-co/

Category: Brads World Land | No Comments »
Tags: Blogs, Omaha