Where has Harlan Been? Where is Karmaback Going?

I’ve been away from my Blog lately, and recently realized that not only do I miss it; some of my faithful readers miss it.  What can I say, I’ve been busy working!  Read on to see exactly on what…

So where have I been?  
First, I’ve started living what I preach: I’ve taken on some major contracting/consulting work in Marketing.  I am leading the Marketing strategy and teams at 2 different companies, and advising on marketing at several more.  Why?  Well, I needed some steady income as Karmaback is on hold [more on that later].  Second, I really wanted to put into practice all I’ve been saying here on this Blog into the real world.  The great thing is, that because I’m working with several companies, I can leverage what I learn one place at another, and vice versa.  I can also take what I learn and post it here, for you!

What companies are you working with?
I think it may be interesting for you to follow some of what I’m doing, so here’s a quick rundown of companies I’m helping with Marketing.  First, an iPhone Game/App company called ingZ, Inc.  This is my primary contract and I’m basically full-time here running all of Marketing and Sales.  Second, a Facebook Game company called Night Owl Games.  This one is part-time contract only, but I’m fully in charge of all Marketing and Sales efforts.  (cool side-note, my Marketing assistant starts today!)  Third, I’m helping several young startups with their Marketing direction and also general strategy.  I can’t list those all here, but one of my favorites that I’m helping is CuttingEdgeGamer who “leases” high end graphics cards, WITH infinite upgrades!   Why all the gaming companies?  Well, mostly because I’m a gamer and love it.  But also because it’s been “my industry” now for almost 10 years… so my industry expertise and contacts help me to land gigs like these.  You’ll be hearing more about all these companies and all my goings on right here in the future!

So what’s up with Karmaback?
Very short answer is that it is “on hold” from a growth standpoint until our new server work is completed.  We actually grew too fast (really!)!  We outpaced our server infrastructure and had to move to a multi-server, cluster approach that is taking time to get just right.  When we’re done, we’ll be able to sustain a MEGA twitter blast from the likes of Kim Kardashian or Terrel Owens twitter feed: up to 10,000 hits per second shouldn’t be a problem!   We’ll be able to take on bigger customers and help smaller customers get BIG bang for their marketing dollar.  In addition we’ll be rolling out new products and new features at a very nice pace: and generally speaking, Karmaback will be back in business.  We’re hoping to get it all ready by the end of the summer.

So, what about the blog?  
Here is the good news, I’ve been reading Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin (for the third time) and realized I not only am passionate about Marketing, I am passionate about talking about Marketing: SO… This blog is going to grow.  I’m going to start doing regular video blogging, and also starting a Facebook Fanpage, just for blog readers.  Stay tuned: MUCH is coming very very soon!

WordPress For the Win.

I know countless other people have said that WordPress is amazing.. that it’s powerful, complex, rich, and easy to use.. that it is the only thing people should be building websites on today! Let me add my thoughts on WordPress: THEY ARE RIGHT!  I’ve been using it for about 6 months now on a number of marketing projects,  and every time I use it to: create a quick web-page, post a blog, add a side-bar widget, add a social plug-in, or build a site in a week or two… I get goosebumps.

If you are building a new website, and you are not using WordPress (and running a Blog too), I wonder at your sanity!

Working in Spurts improves Productivity

A Spurt, a Wave, a Session… whatever you call it: working in spurts can be more productive than trying to work a full day non-stop.  This is especially true when you can design your spurt session for a specific objective/milestone.  Not a “full project” but one piece that you are going to get done in this spurt.  The amazing feeling of accomplishment you get when you complete your “SpurtSprint” motivate you to take a short break, and then execute on another SpurtSprint.

So, don’t “grind away your day”, barely working.

Work in “SpurtSprints” and take 10-15min breaks in between.

Not only will you feel better (from the breaks and the sense of accomplishment), but you will almost CERTAINLY be getting more done than facebooking.

Marketing Innovation now moves FASTER than Technology Innovation

Technology is now moving slower than marketing.  Think about it: WordPress and Web 2.0 are 1999 technologies still used everywhere.  Web 3.0 is just Web 2.0 but easier, and more broadly used, not really “new technology”.  Today, what distinguishes a great blog, website, or online application is how it is marketed.  And the marketing of websites, blogs, online applications and the like is evolving faster than we can even imagine; much faster than the technologies they run on. 

At Karmaback, we help companies experiment with new forms of online marketing: Sweepstakes on Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare, Viral Coupons, Groupon-like Online Coupons, Referral Contests, Rewards Program, Loyalty Programs, and much, much more.  Most importantly, we have technologies and reporting tools that let marketers determine IF what they are doing is effective.

Karmaback now has almost 2 years of experimentation, best practices, and data in all things Marketing in this new era of marketing dominating technology.  We can tell you what works, what doesn’t, and a little bit of why.

Check out what we do at Karmaback with our Social Sweepstakes, Social Coupons and Social Feedback System.  Find out how to keep pace with “The New Marketing”!

Never be out of work. DO!

Never be out of work.  It just looks bad.  “I’m looking for a job” has never been a bigger turn-off to employers.  Who wants to hire someone who doesn’t at least have “something” they are working on.  At least run a blog and offer some consulting services.  Lean forward.  Do!  Don’t just “be out of work”… or “look for work”… make something.  It’s never been easier to start a small business and offer some consulting services or build a simple app or make a craft or something…

Turning “Visitors” into “Loyal Evangelists” is Impossible.

The verb turning implies that you actually turn something.  I believe it is impossible to “turn” a visitor of your website/store/product/service into a “Loyal” evangelist.  It is hubris to believe that we caused a “turning” to happen on a person.  So, instead, we must console ourselves by giving our visitors/customers every possible reason to decide to turn themselves!  Here is a short-list of things I’ve tried to “turn” visitors into evangelists…. and the success thereof.

  1. Make the website/app look good.   Result: fail.  Opinion: good looks are not enough… they are expected.
  2. Make the website/app easy to use.  Result: helps.  Opinion: combined with good looks… it is definately a “reason” someone might turn themselves into an evangelist.
  3. Cheap Rewards.  result: fail.  Opinion: cheap rewards (such as useless points, etc.) are not effective.
  4. Expensive Rewards.  result: so-so.  Opinion: if combined with other “reasons” it can push some % of visitors/customers over the edge.  *See loyalty cards.
  5. Charity involvement: result: fail.  Opinion: Charity connections really don’t motivate like they used to.
  6. Delight the customer… underpromise, overdeliver.  result: WIN.  Opinion.. if there is ever any reason that a person might have to “turn” themselves into a loyal evangelist… this is the one.
An anecdote: I am a fanatic about Audible.com.  I use it for 2 hours every day (on my drive to/from work, I listen to books).  It’s super easy to use website is reasonably attractive, and never fails me.  I always find new books I want to read, and the simplicity of sending them to my iPhone is delightful.  I am a delighted Audible fan, and for that reason (and maybe a few others), I am a loyal evangelist for audible.
The question: how can a Marketing Company (like Karmaback) help other companies DELIGHT their customers?  (and how can we measure it)?

Getting more Twitter Followers does NOT magically lead to sales

So, you have a lot of new Twitter Followers eh?  You may have gotten them by running a Karmaback Social Sweepstakes, or maybe you just been collecting them a while?  Well, here’s a news-flash, just having twitter followers is NOT enough to get you sales.  You have to do something else, 2 things actually, and one of them has to be “extraordinary”.

First, and foremost, you have to offer a product or service that is TRULY valuable to the target market.  It won’t have value for everyone.. but to those that it was built for, it has to be THE most valuable solution they can think of.  Your product/service has to be “extraordinary” to the target market.

Example: You make Caramel Ice Cream, with Caramel Swirls, and Caramel Candy inside, with Caramel topping.   You make the “Quadruple Caramel Ice-cream”.  *** THIS is PERFECT for me (Harlan) the target customer and people who: 1.) wants ice-cream, 2.) loves caramel, and 3.) can order the ice-cream (either lives nearby or can get it delivered).

Example 2:  You fix Small Business Tax Problems, by training small business owners the “simple steps to managing your books and filing taxes” and provide backup tax help hourly at just $40 per hour.  *** THIS is the PERFECT solution for me, and People who: 1.) have a small business, 2.) have tax headaches and fears, 3.) want to do as much as we can ourselves to save money, but 4.) need to have backup ready instantly, and 5.) can order/use the service (either via Web or in the same city).

NOTICE: These examples are VERY specific products, and NOT built for everyone in the whole world.  (some fools actually don’t like Caramel!)

Now, you’ve got an EXCEPTIONAL PRODUCT… you’ve got to make an EXCEPTIONAL DEAL to the PEOPLE THAT NEED IT, and then, and only then, will you get sales from Twitter.

EXAMPLE;   @QuadrupleCaramelIceCream  live in Austin?  Try a Quad Caramel Ice-cream from #QCIC for just $2 with this code: bit.ly/34f6

or

EXAMPLE: @SMBTaxHelp get a $250+ training and tax consultation for just $40 with this code: bit.ly/554d

….

Are you getting it?
To me, (who wants/needs both of those things already)… I’m DEFINITELY going to get the icecream.. and I am GOING to check out SMBTaxHelp and see if it really is $250+ in value.

…
Engineering Formula:
(ExceptionalTargetedProduct + SpecialOffer) * TwitterFollowersThatNeedYourStuff = Win Sales with Twitter

Let Karmaback help you win: http://karmaback.com/platform

*photo from: http://slurplog.blogspot.com/2005/10/food-fanny-ice-cream-vietnam-hcmc.html

Networking 101: winning a crowd is easy!

It’s easy to win over a crowd.  The crowd is fickle, simple, and easy to manipulate.  Social science and thousands of years of conditioning have trained us humans to be “social” and move like a herd.  Here’s a few tips to try out at your next Networking event… they all work (for me):

  1. Be the one who asks the most questions!  (people like people that ask about them & listen).
  2. Be the one that “merges” groups of people/makes introductions (even to people you just met).
  3. Wear something flamboyant (a piece of flair)… it breaks the ice, and makes you memorable.
  4. Above all else, smile, have fun, and keep it light: nobody likes the serious one…   
    1. Tell a VERY SHORT story or two.
    2. Ask lots of questions.
    3. Listen to peoples responses, and use what they say to make connections for them (ideally AT the event).
  5. PASS OUT and COLLECT business cards with anyone and everyone you find even remotely interesting or interested.  Why not!  It’s the point of networking right?
Enjoy!
Go, Network.
It’s easy.

Why Selling Products is EASIER than Selling Services.

I’ve sold both products and services.   I’ve sold them together, and separately.  Without a doubt, no question about it, selling a product is far easier than selling services.  Here are some examples of stuff I’ve sold, and why products were easier than services:

At the age of 10, I was the youngest kid in Lima, Ohio (where i grew up) to ever have their own paper route.  My job was to deliver papers (the easy part, and fun on my bike), and to “collect” payment…  People see newspaper as a service… and collecting that $5 per month was the bane of my existence.  People just didn’t want to pay me.  “The kid is knocking again” would be their complaint… when I came knocking, door-to-door to collect the monthly fee for the Lima Newspaper.  The problem: they weren’t “getting a product” at that moment.  Those same houses would gladly fork over $1 for a candy-bar sale, or $5 for a dinner plate…but newspaper service… “ah, come back tomorrow when I’ve got some cash”.

At 16, I went door-to-door selling “Ariel Photography”… it was much easier than selling newspaper service!  I could show them a picture of their home… in full color and a huge picture.  “Yours right now for $100”, I’d start out.  Surprisingly many would say yes!  (even though I’d go as low as $25 for the sale).  Why? It was a product.. it was done.. it was right there…  and I would “fake-walk-away” to close the sale all too often.  Don’t get me wrong… walking door-to-door is always hard… but selling a Product was far easier than selling the service.  Imagine: “Hi, I’ve got a plane, and would like to fly over your home and take a photo for just $100, can you please pay me now, and then I’ll send you your picture?” —> yah, that wouldn’t work at all!

Selling Killer NICs from my startup Bigfoot Networks was easy too: list the product at the store… tell people it’s there… get some press… watch sales happen.

Same for selling Psyko 5.1 Surround Sound headphones: get listed, get decent reviews, market a little… watch money come in.

Now try selling “social marketing”.. such as I do with Karmaback.  Selling it as a product: “click here to setup your sweepstakes now for $49” vs. a service “call us or email us for a free quote in 24 hours”… which do you think is “easier to sell”?  The product is easier to sell (as long as it satisfies the needs of the customer)…  unfortunately a Sweepstakes alone often doesn’t satisfy…  customers often want more… (how to turn it into sales, how to customize how it looks, strategy, iphone apps, coupons, etc. etc.)…    these additional needs DO mean additional revenue opportunities.   But selling them is harder: figure out needs, work up a proposal, develop a relationship, build a plan, get consensus, get internal acceptance/approval, etc.

So, if you can possibly “productize” your “service offering”.. go for it!  Karmaback is sure trying to do just that: stay tuned!

p.s. buy the t-shirt here: