All posts with the tag 'Your Virtual Success'

Borders Group Falls Victim To Internet Rivals

Brick and mortar infrastructure will make it progressively more difficult for companies to compete with Internet based rivals. These days the imminent casualties are pretty easy to spot, but in the future there will be many casualties which might seem surprising today. The most recent victim is Borders Group, which is the second-largest U.S. bookstore chain. According to Reuters, Borders filed for bankruptcy protection, after years of sharp sales declines that made it impossible to manage its crushing debt load, and it plans to close nearly one-third of its stores. Borders has not been able to capture market share in the online world, making it difficult to compete with Amazon and other rivals.

I’ve posted several blogs on this topic since March 2010:

Was this a moment of clairvoyance, should I quit the day job and become an Internet soothsayer? These predictions are pretty simple, just look for the cheaper and better distribution system and you’ll find the winner. Think of the Eerie canal compared to transit by horse and buggy. How about steam powered ships versus sail powered vessels? The telephone as opposed to snail mail, and email as opposed to fax. And today (and in the imminent future), Internet based or leveraged businesses will continue to win over brick and mortar businesses. Where are the next battles? Blockbuster versus Netflix, BestBuy versus Amazon and traditional publishers versus ePublshing are a few obvious matchups. Perhaps less obvious might be Walmart, shopping malls and libraries. These may seem an incongruous group, but they all face Internet based challenges, their existence predicated upon the ability to compete with cheaper, swifter and digital rivals.

Last week I purchased a new Dell XPS from Dell’s website. Upon receipt of this laptop (shipping was free), I noticed that it only had HDMI output (after all – VGA is getting old) and I needed a new nine foot HDMI to DVI cable to connect my external Samsung monitor. Online at Amazon and other e-tailers, prices ranged from $10 to $20 for many of them including shipping. Upon my arrival at BestBuy, my options were to buy a six foot cable for $40, or a longer HDMI cable with DVI converter for $90. The latter was the generic BestBuy brand, if I went with the name brand it would have been $130. This isn’t a matter of price gouging or unfair retailing by BestBuy, rather it’s a cost of doing business issue. Retail infrastructure is expensive, e-tail infrastructure is much, much cheaper. Time will tell who shall be the next brick and mortar victim, but I don’t think we’ll be waiting too long.

When thinking about Insurance SEO – Classify Your Efforts Into Major Categories

When thinking about Insurance SEO, try categorizing your search engine marketing efforts into major categories. For example, Wikipedia states that,  “SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search and industry-specific vertical search engines.” This statement seems like a good place to start, as your company should ask the following questions:

  • Is your agency leveraging images on sites like Flickr?
  • Have you posted videos or vlogs to YouTube?
  • Have you submitted your company information to Google Places and worked on optimizing your ranking for local searches?
  • Have you submitted information to reputable, vertical, search directories?
  • And last but not least, have your made on page optimization changes to your insurance agency website to ensure your website it search engine friendly?

If you haven’t asked yourself or your colleagues these questions, “Carpe Diem”, the time is now to get your insurance web marketing plan in place, and SEO one of the fundamental components of that plan.

Office Buildings Are Obsolete – Big Box Stores Too?

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Internet Marketing

Last year I wrote a blog stating that office buildings are obsolete, and this year I’m thinking the same conjecture might also apply to big box stores. I recently noticed a Yahoo post entitled, The Coming Collapse of Commercial Real Estate is Already Here, by Stacy Curtin. Stacy aptly notes that BestBuy and Target missed their expected earnings targets, and as of this writing, Wal-Mart has seen 6 consecutive quarters of negative same store sales. Further, this happened to BestBuy even though a key competitor, CircuitCity, had moved into bankruptcy. Though this has occurred in a tough economy, many of their online competitors have seen significantly better results.

Stacy’s article states that more people are buying, they are just buying online. This seems true globally and anecdotally. About a year ago, I tried to purchase a receiver from BestBuy, only a couple of miles from my home. Unfortunately the receiver was out of stock. In fact all the receivers that might have been of interest to me were out of stock. A couple of years ago, I would have driven across the street to the now defunct CircuitCity (speaking of brick and mortar retail challenges). Instead, I drove home, went online to Amazon and purchased a better receiver for less money, which was delivered a day later. Obviously, I’m not alone. Many of my friends and colleagues now make routine purchases from Amazon as progressively more consumers become comfortable with online searching and shopping.

My CPA buys all his books on his Kindle, as do I, a faster, easier and more cost effective alternative to the brick and mortar bookstore. The challenges for BestBuy, Target, Wal-Mart, Blockbuster and Barnes & Noble are obvious, perhaps most evident by the huge electronic book display in the premium retail location at the front of the Barnes & Noble stores. B&N appears to be working hard to transition to a Kindle type operation with their new Nook. Better late than never, or simply too late for the date? Only time will tell, though their extensive brick and mortar costs may result in too much ballast for them to successfully navigate from retail to e-tail.

But retail isn’t alone in the commercial real estate challenge. Traditional office buildings will face a virtual workforce shift, as progressive companies opt for less costly and more efficient work from home staffing. This is happening with small virtual companies like StartUpSelling, Inc. and giants like IBM. Working virtually has amazing advantages, from resolving the commute related issue with today’s snow storm in Boston, to using highly cost effective tools like Skype which allows multistate, multiparty video conferencing for pennies a day.

Do these changes spell the imminent destruction and removal of office buildings and big box retail? I think this is too strong a statement. There will likely be a need for many types of retail establishment, from groceries to lumber, from household items to convenience items. And there will be office based businesses that require some or perhaps many employees to congregate. That said, the changes to brick and mortar retail and offices are upon us, gaining speed every day, as the convenience and cost efficacy of virtual business and e-tail offers a more convenient path for the rapidly increasing, interconnected internet world.

The Virtual Storm Changing Marketing And PR

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Web-based Strategies

There is a new approach, a new way, a virtual storm of change swirling around marketing and PR. Take for example, the new reach of internet based PR methods including free PR websites, social media marketing opportunities, RSS feeds, blogging best practices, and pod casting. These are just a few of the innovations changing the landscape of publishing, journalism and public relations, a virtual storm within which we all now live, as the winds of change continue to alter the business climate.

These winds can be highly favorable to many businesses, including smaller and midsized companies, offering an opportunity to level the playing field regardless of employee count or cash reserves. The business world continues to experience a virtual evolution; some might argue it’s more akin to a virtual revolution. One of the dynamically changing elements encompasses the evolution of public relations. With inexpensive and even free PR sites available to any business; it’s fairly easy to create and implement an effective PR strategy, and carry the message to millions. This opportunity is compounded when leveraging social networking sites such as LinkedIn, FaceBook and Twitter. And businesses can take advantage of these new virtual opportunities while simultaneously helping their SEO and Search Engine Marketing.

There are many good sites to choose from. Some of these are free, some have a modest annual fee, others charge on a per press release basis and some offer all three of these options. The big difference between the free and fee based press releases revolves around the appearance of the actual release. Free sites typically incorporate ads around the press release in a similar way to article directories or search engine results pages (SERPs). This is essentially a PPC strategy whereby these free press release sites derive revenue from traffic and clicks. Fee based sites eliminate the ads, create a more attractive and professional release, and derive revenue for the fees. And some sites offer a combination of both offerings.

There are many press release sites available for use. Two of the sites I have recently used include:

Both sites work well, distribute the press releases promptly and do so to a wide audience, send a confirmation email once the release is accepted and distributed and offer a link to the posted release. Of course there are a plethora of other sites available including: PR.com, 1888PressPrelease.com, TheOpenPress.com, FreePressReleaseCenter.info, Information-Online.com, OpenPR.com, PR-Inside.com, PRdb.net, PressAbout.com, PressMethod.com, PressReleasePoint.com, YourFreePressRelease.net, BusinessWire.com, MarketWire.com, PRWeb.com, eWorldWire.com, PRLeap.com, eReleases.com, PRBuzz.com andPRNewsWire.com to mention just a few of the choices your business might consider. PR sites are often measured by page rank and Alexa rank. These are relevant in so much as a higher ranked PR site theoretically packs more internet punch than a lower ranked site. However, your results may vary based upon your industry, niche and specific PR strategy.

Which one is right for you? That depends upon your goals. Is your business trying to drive traffic to your website? Is your goal primarily SEO based as you try to move your business up in the rankings? Are you seeking to capture the attention of a highly specific audience? Is your goal to merely augment your search engine marketing strategy? Are you seeking highly tailored, branded results and wish to ensure there are no PPC ads on your releases? Do you need more advance functionality for tracking and monitoring your prior releases or scheduling upcoming releases? Predicated upon your goals, your business can determine which site(s) are most appropriate and if you need free PR, fee based PR or some combination of both. The level of marketing proficiency to submit consistent press releases for your organization is relatively low. That said the level of marketing discipline to do so often remains beyond the reach of many small businesses, usually the result of a lack of personnel, thus offering a relatively painless outsource opportunity for those companies which just can’t get the PR job done. For more information read Your Virtual Success (Career Press)or contact StartUpSelling:  http://www.startupselling.com/contact.html

Top 5 Tips When Creating A Virtual Business

Here's to "Your Virtual Success"!

Perhaps you’re considering creating a business or expanding a current business. As with many businesses, investing in inventory, product development or warehouse space might seem requisite. And perhaps this appears to be a reasonable or even logical approach, borrowing the famous quote from Field of Dreams, “if you build it, they will come.” After all, your simple business plan projects profits after only a modest startup period. My advice is to think about this again. When creating a new business, it’s highly advantageous to operate in a way that is both conducive to a flexible lifestyle while mitigating downside risk, including ramp up time or significant upfront investment.

Then again, you might be thinking that you can alleviate the risk by securing a bank loan, tapping into your home equity or even attracting venture capital. My advice, once again, is to think about another path, preferably one revolving around the golden rules above. Yes, there are a select few who can beat the traditional small business odds which are often estimated at 5 to 1, where only 20% of new businesses succeeded in the first 3 years. Venture capital odds are surely the worst, where many experts maintain the odds that you will succeed (find VC funding, maintain control of your company and enjoy a positive liquidation event) are about 5,000 to 1. How difficult are these odds? At roughly 5,000 to 1, you would odds comparable to getting struck by lightning.

Bootstrapping your virtual business should be much easier than funding a traditional brick and mortar business. Before opening a traditional storefront, or investing in a physical office, ask yourself if you can work from a home office, or if you can adjust your operations to accommodate a virtual business model. Instead of getting on a plane or train, are you sure a “face to face” Skype conference call wouldn’t suffice? At a cost of about $5 per month, you can simultaneously video conference with multiple people, regardless of their location. Instead of investing up front in capital equipment, can your new business secure orders in advance, or even deposits in advance of delivery?

  1. A short path to the money (limited ramp-up or development time)
  2. No upfront capital
  3. Customer deposits in advance of delivery
  4. Contractor based assistance for delivery
  5. Niche marketing opportunity (it’s much easier to target a vertical than a horizontal)

When thinking about your next venture, think about the Top 5 virtual business startup tips and if possible, find a virtual business model that leverages these for your new or existing business. Try to follow some or all of these.

Colossal, Exponential, Gargantuan, Humongous Internet Growth – And Then Some

The Internet has experienced colossal  growth over the last decade. Perhaps colossal isn’t sufficiently substantive to describe the growth, if so, you should choose your favorite adjective: enormous, exponential, gargantuan, gigantic, huge, humongous, immense,  mammoth,  or titanic might better suffice, though the latter does have the negative connotation associated with icebergs and boating. Regardless of your preferred adjective, we can agree that the numbers are truly staggering. Here are a few mind blowing stats which were gleaned from the www.royal.pingdom.com website (you have to like that domain name):

  • 107 trillion – The number of emails sent on the Internet in 2010.
  • 2.9 billion – The number of email accounts worldwide.
  • 25% – Share of email accounts that are corporate.
  • 255 million – The number of websites as of December 2010.
  • 21.4 million – Added websites in 2010.
  • 202 million – The number of domain names across all top-level domains (10/2010).
  • 1.97 billion – Internet users worldwide (6/2010).
  • 152 million – The number of blogs on the Internet (as tracked by BlogPulse).
  • 175 million – People on Twitter as of September 2010
  • 600 million – People on Facebook at the end of 2010.
  • 2 billion – The number of videos watched per day on YouTube.
  • 35 – Hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute.
  • 5 billion – Photos hosted by Flickr (9/2010).
  • 3+ billion – Photos uploaded per month to Facebook.

Both the growth and sheer size of these numbers represents a new reality, a virtual, interconnected world which will define new rules for marketing and communication, from both personal and business perspectives. The internet has redefined businesses, from giant new players like Google, to small virtual companies like StartUpSelling, Inc. As with all things there are positives and negatives, winners and losers. On the winning side are emerging countries benefiting from information previously unavailable to them, social networking for individuals and business, and new and existing companies embracing an internet based business paradigm. On the losing side are traditional businesses from book stores to publishing companies, from video stores to brick and mortar consumer electronics, and countries imposing censorship restrictions on internet use.

In the near future, however, this titanic explosion of internet use will offer benefits to those who leverage the opportunities. Yes, there are risks here, including privacy issues, inappropriate content for children, security issues and potential viruses. That said, most people would agree that the colossal expansion of the internet offers great potential and an expanded knowledge base. For example, as a quick check to the figures noted above, I went to the web and found another site listing total internet use at 1.966 billion, essentially the same number quoted above. The ability to find germane information at ones fingertips is unprecedented, we are very fortunate to benefit from this innovation. Perhaps we should then refer to the increased internet use as a gargantuan increase, as opposed to a titanic increase, realizing of course, there may be virtual icebergs in cyberspace too.

Recently Published Articles on Virtual Business & Insurance Agency Web Marketing

Here are some recently published articles on virtual business, insurance agency marketing and insurance agency web marketing:

  1. http://www.articlesbase.com/social-marketing-articles/insurance-agency-digital-marketing-platforms-or-insurance-agency-marketing-solutions-3918638.html
  2. http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/what-is-the-difference-between-insurance-search-engine-marketing-insurance-seo-and-insurance-ppc-3751968.html
  3. http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-tips-articles/insurance-agency-websites-and-the-call-to-action-3742544.html

For more articles join our LinkedIn Group:  Virtual Business – Virtual Marketing and Lead Generation Strategies for Your Business

Or go to: www.startupselling.com

New Year Goals – New Year Resolutions

Every New Year, many of us reflect on our past accomplishments and future goals, some referring to this as their New Year’s Resolutions. For the last two decades, I’ve been in the habit, arguably the practice, of reviewing my past written goals and concisely writing goals for the upcoming year. I usually have five to ten bullets, goals I strive to accomplish in any given year. This ritual happens around this time of the year, but always prior to January 1st. These goals are written on a small piece of paper, added to prior annual goals, neatly folded and placed in a bedside drawer. From time to time, when reaching for an alarm clock or a mundane artifact which might be hidden there, or tossing a seemingly eclectic item which would be better stored in a waste basket, I happen upon these goals.

Some of the goals might be personal, others business related, some health oriented and some might be financial. For example, in 2008, my goals included:

  • Write a business book
  • Take 3 interesting vacations
  • Take a trip to Bermuda for one of the vacations
  • Scuba Dive
  • Take Advanced Scuba Diving Training Course
  • Wake up weight of 180 pounds

These were six of my ten goals at the end of 2007.  When I reviewed them at the end of 2008, I accomplished five of them, double dipping by receiving my Advanced Scuba Diving certification with a trip to Cozumel. Another major accomplishment, at least for me, was the significant headway achieved in the writing of my first book, ultimately called Your Virtual Success, which was sold in 2009 and published in 2010. This goal had been mentioned as early as 2002, recurring each year until finally accomplished about 6 years later. My personal perspective on my New Year’s Resolution ritual is to achieve as many as reasonably possible, realizing it may take more than one year to achieve all of them. Which goal remained outstanding at the end of 2008?  Waking up at 183 pounds on January 1st, I’d like to claim the festivities on New Year’s Eve were the catalyst for this near miss, but a simple check of my 2009 and 2010 goals found the same weight related goal, and this morning on my daily weigh in, the same number was still to be seen, 183 pounds. So, what are my goals for 2011, at least those which I can share on this blog?

  • Write a second business book
  • Take 3 interesting vacations
  • Spend at least two weeks in a warm climate
  • Publish at least 25 articles – 15 on Insurance Agency Web Marketing
  • Wake up weight of 180 pounds

Granted, there are always a few bullets relating to very personal goals, assisting a family member in need, spending more time in charitable pursuits, etc. Ten is the maximum number of goals which seems reasonable for me; five or six is often preferred. It is a cathartic process for me, one you might find beneficial too.  In 2011, I can virtually guarantee that four out of the five goals above will be accomplished. Now if I can just cut back on some of those carbohydrates!

Will The Majority Of The Workforce Work Virtually – The Changing Climate Of Business

The perfect virtual storm appears to be on the horizon and the winds of change will soon transform the current business landscape, eroding traditional office based positions in favor of virtual positions. There are a plethora of compelling reasons which seemingly guarantee this change, ultimately resulting in a new working venue for the majority of the white collar work force. Of course, “white collar” is arguably an anachronistic term, since many virtual workers can include “blue collar” jobs which can be dispatched from home offices can also work virtually, saving on time, energy and overhead. Further, white collar virtual jobs may result in the demise of “white collars” per say, as virtual workers are very unlikely to don a shirt and tie, preferring their favored casual jersey or t-shirt. This virtual storm will change the working landscape and the change is happening now. Progressively larger segments of the population are going virtual, from technology consultants to computer maintenance crews, from computer programmers to auto repair technicians. This trend is accelerating due to many interrelated elements. These include:

  • Cost effective or free web meeting tools GoToMeeting, Dimdim, etc.)
  • Increasing costs related to energy and commuting
  • Inefficient use of time caused by commuting and travel, reducing productivity
  • Inexpensive or even free real time communication both real time (Skype, Instant Messaging)
  • Inexpensive or free asynchronous collaboration tools
  • Pervasive global internet accessibility
  • Powerful and inexpensive cloud computing solutions
  • Rising costs and challenges impacting travel
  • Significant savings opportunities relating to overhead for employers
  • Social networking tools including LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.

I believe the compelling factors above will continue to provide the climate necessary to perpetuate this storm, until such time as a majority of the workforce will work from home.  Over the last several years, I migrated from a traditional land line ($50 per month), to a VoIP line ($25 per month) and I am now in the process of moving to a purely Skype based line ($3 per month).  Arguably, Skype offers great reliability, a simple click of a mouse on a PC screen to make a call, and allows me to use a PC headset while on the call, providing for ease of keyboard use while in discussion. I offer this example merely as a microcosm, a small leading indicator of the migration to more virtual and more cost effective opportunities.  Granted, VoIP can be accomplished in a brick and mortar environment, but it also provides a simple and cost effective way to communicate face to face with a distributed, at home work force. This is just the tip of the iceberg as the winds of change should propel us to a more virtual, less commute centric future. Does this spell the ultimate demise of office buildings and a complete metamorphosis in the urban landscape? With an expanding global population and the many jobs that still require onsite presence, there will be a need for a partially centralized and non-virtual workforce. That said, those companies which can embrace a partially or completely virtual business model will enjoy a significant competitive advantage over those which have not. It’s provided a windfall advantage for my virtual insurance marketing agency, and I’m confident the same approach will work for almost any business.

Our Lead Lead Generation Is Morphing From Outbound To Inbound – We Eat Our Own Dog Food?

StartUpSelling, Inc. is having a banner year, something we’re particularly proud of considering the lackluster 2010 economy. One of the most preeminent sources of business in 2010 has been inbound inquiries from our Social Media Marketing, SEO and ePublishing efforts. In 2008 and 2009 for example, over 80% of our business came from eMarketing and Webinars. In 2010, we expect over 40% of our business to come from Social Media Marketing, SEO and ePublishing. This will be roughly equal or even a slightly greater contributor than our eMarketing and Web Seminar Marketing initiatives, which are expected to produce about 40% or our business in 2010. This trend is accelerating, along with our own efforts to create quality content to drive “in profile” prospect traffic to our website. Our Social Media Marketing focuses on our LinkedIn activities and LinkedIn groups, blogging, ePublishing, Facebook, Twitter and assorted and sundry other venues, and of course, search engine optimization (SEO).

These are the same activities we do for our clients. Our activities range from insurance agency web marketing, to law firm SEO, to B2B website design, to high tech eMarketing and web seminar marketing. Thus the old adage, we eat our own dog food. We take our own best practices, including our 75 step checklist for a successful eMarketing and Web Seminar campaign, and apply it to our own initiatives and, simultaneously, on behalf of our client initiatives. Perhaps a better frame of reference might be to call this methodology and resulting paradigm shift a “win-win”.  Even though we’re dog lovers, “we eat our own dog food” creates a bad marketing visual!