Intellect Interactive

I know I am timing in a little late on the conversation, but I just came across the post. My employer has given me the task to explore and explain the blogosphere to my employer (you will have to do the research to find out who that is). Since then, I have been paying close attention to Kevin O’Keefe’s blog LexBlog. Kevin’s insight has been a great help in both my personal and professional exploration into the blogosphere.
In his post titled “Website not best way to maintain Internet presence”, he states:

The best way to maintain a positive and effective Internet presence is by entering into the Internet discussion to network with others in your target audience. Blogs and RSS are networking tools. A Website is as useless as my running shoes in networking so as to maintain a positive and effective Internet presence.

Kevin was commenting on an article from another blogger, Dennis Kennedy. Kevin makes the point that a website is “as useless as my running shoes in networking so as to maintain a positive and effective Internet presence.” Why I agree with most of what Kevin says on his blog, to say that a website is not the best way to maintain internet presence is somewhat wrong. I say somewhat not to avoid confrontation but to help with a point. Both websites and blogs are great for maintaining a web presence, but both, especially in today’s world, must be used correctly to maintain an interactive presence.

Websites are great for presenting large amounts of information about any, or multiple, topic/s. No blog can replace the information that is given on a well-designed company website. If websites were not important to maintaining an online presence, why would Kevin continue to maintain LexBlog.com. If it were not an important part of the equation, Kevin would abandon his website and stick with just the blog. Nevertheless, as Kevin pointed out, websites stink at building online networks or inserting the company’s input into a global conversation, even with the creation of RSS feeds. I agree with Kevin and Dennis in that the best way to network interactively is by blogging. But don’t discredit the standard website either. Just as a carpenter cannot build a house without a hammer AND a saw; an individual cannot build an interactive presence without both a website and a blog. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that they are interchangeable. The most successful companies understand the idea of integration, all parts work together to create one message. With both web design and blogging being relatively inexpensive, there is no reason an individual cannot do both.

Technorati Tags: blogging,

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Simple put, it is a great way to get your name in front of many people with very little cost. The Pew Internet & American Life Project just released a study stating the 12 million adults blog and 56 million read blogs. There is some interesting information in the report about the audience. My bloggers are tech savvy and under 30. If you own a .com, blog. It will help your business, if done correctly.

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Bloggers, Business

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Marketing minds like to break everything into different categories. While Economist are known for the phrase “on the other hand,” marketing people use “can be segmented into.” In hopes of segmenting the tools that marketing professionals use, the industry has dreamed up two new acronyms: ATL and BTL.

In a post on CREATIVE BAZAAR, Serge Zuev gives a basic explanation of the difference.

Basically marketers separate all the marketing efforts into 2 categories: (ATL) above the line and BTL (below the line).

ATL – all conventional marketing weapons like mass media brandwashing (tv spots, magazine ads, etc). It is not very targeted, extremely expansive and get less and less efficient nowadays. If you have TiVo and unsubscribe from the magazine because they cannot offer you anything you cannot find on the net – you get the idea.

BTL – is the rest of marketing actions, usually much less expensive, very targeted and easily monitored. Direct mail, insert media, interactive, guerilla marketing etc. “Below-the-line creates measurable results and ROI metrics, which are important to marketers under growing pressure to prove the value of their campaigns” said Bruce Biegel, managing director of Winterberry Group.

I like the explanation. The tools listed in the BTL section don’t ever seam to be considered as sexy or cool as those in the ATL sections, however the BTL tools offer more tailored and customer forced marketing. I have always recommended the BTL marketing tools, even before I knew of the classification, to all of my clients or friends. Some companies have the money to drop a nuke on their clients (ATL Marketing), but most business can only afford to hire a sharpshooter (BTL Marketing). Given the two choices, I would rather spend the money on an army of sharpshooters (BTL Marketing) that know how to make every shot count.

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In the Wall Street Journal, Ellen Sheng today (5/3/2006) reported, “Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. reported sharp increases in subscribers and revenue but said its firs-quarter loss winded substantially, due mostly to stock-related compensation for shock jock Howard Stern. “ –Wall Street Journal, print addition. P. B3 “Sirius Reports a Wider Loss,” Ellen Sheng

I have been a fan, subscriber, and a previous shareholder of Sirius Satellite Radio. The reason why I have always been a fan of Sirius is the focus on content and service over technology. Their main competitor, XM Radio, is almost twice the size, has twice the technological capabilities, and has almost twice the financial backing; but XM focus most of its energy on securing customers through technology improvements versus content.

While XM has partnered with Sony Corp. to create a bunch of cool wireless receivers that can pickup Satellite on the move, Sirius has spent its time creating deals to make sure its content is superior to it competitor’s. Example of this is its high priced contracts with shock jock Howard Stern, the NFL, NASCAR, Martha Stewart, rapper Eminem, and extreme sports supper star Tony Hawk.

In sports there is a saying: “Offense wins games, Defense wins championships.” In the tech age of business, if propose this phrase: Tech wins awards. Service wins customers. While both tech and service are important, bet on the company that is focusing more on service.

The proof is this article.

Revenue for the quarter nearly tripled to $126.7 million from 43.2 million as Sirius continued to increase its subscriber base. It added 761,187 subscribers during the period, ending the quarter with 4.07 million. By contrast, larger rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. added 568,900 users in the same quarter. Sirius said it expect to have more than 6.2 million subscribers by year’s end, up from its previous estimate of just above six million. XM has said it hopes to have more than nine million subscribers by year’s end.

Sirius CEO Mel Karmazing has been criticized in the past for focusing so much on the content of his company and not enough on cost cutting and tech development. It looks like his focus on content is starting to pay off. I knew there was a reason I liked this company.

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Ever have a great idea only to find yourself halfway into the project and realize that it was the dumbest idea ever imagined. Well, for the past week I have been in that prices situation. I am moving into a new apartment this week and decided that it would be a great idea to paint the entire apartment. At first glance, it seamed like it would be a piece of cake; I was wrong.

When I started the project last weekend, I had this grand flawless plan that would have me moved into a newly painted trendy, six room, rehabbed Chicago apartment in less than one week.

As reality strikes in the middle of painting- it was about 10:30 pm- I start cursing the person that imagined this GREAT idea. Unfortunately, the person that dreamed up
this idea, and created this mess, was the intelligent, imaginative and insightful I. Bummer. Well not every idea can be a winner.

The good news is that I came up with a great Master Card ad:

7 cans of paint: $149.83

15 rolls of tape, paintbrushes, 1 tarp, paint trays and rollers: $52.47

1 can of Goof Off: $7.00

Realizing why normal people hire professionals: Priceless

As soon as I manger to work my way out of this fantastic idea I will start posting some real articles. Check back sometime next week.

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The idea of Social Networking is nothing new to the younger generations. With MySpace and IM, students and young professionals have been developing online relationships for years. But only over the last few years, corporate America has started to experiment online communication beyond e-mail. Now, a start up called Visible Path is trying to bring Social Networking to the business world.

In short, social networking is a web community that links versus people by location, interest, education, or common acquaintances. Social networking has become one of the new online fads with computer savvy teens and college students.

Networking and communication is the lifeblood of modern business. Finding ways to meet new people, at first glance, always seams like a great idea. However, with website like MySpace receiving tones of negative publicity, I caution any executive that wants to experiment with this technology. Most teens are finding their way into trouble by posting too much personal information. As tempting as it may be, beware of the going down the same path as your 15 year old. Once the information is on the web, you have no control of where it goes or who sees it. From a PR perspective, this is just one more medium to reach customers. But executives need to approach every post with the same strategic precision as the PR world.

I wish Visible Path the best of luck with their new venture, but I caution every business to make a strategic plan before allowing any employees to take part in the experiment. If worked properly, social networking could open an uncountable amount of doors for your organization; implemented poorly, you could close just as many doors.

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Once again, the Webby Awards have officially opened for voting. The Webby, often considered the Oscar of web design, is an award given yearly to the best designed website in its respected category. I encourage anyone interested in seeing some really cool websites to checkout the finalists. Go to http://peoplesvoice.webbyawards.com/login.mhtml to view the contestants and cast your vote.

My personal favorite is Select Italy, which is under the Tourism section. I personally know the design tea, and they are greata bunch of guys. They have done a magnificent job designing the website to make it as esthetically and functionally appealing as humanly possible. I do have to admit that I am kind of bias toward my former employer, but don’t let that keep you from seeing for yourself.

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In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Beyond Howard, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazing tried to rally investor support for Sirius Satellite Radio SIRI. The article is a one-on-one interview between reporter Sarah McBride and CEO Mel Karmazing. The article provided a very interesting insight into Mel’s plans for Sirius Radio. Despite my finance savvy friend’s objections, I am looking at Sirius future optimistically. Sarah’s article in the WSJ only strengthened my support in the company.

Unfortunately, the WSJ.com is a pay-to-read site. If you can score a password or someone’s hard copy from Monday (April 3, 2006), I would encourage you to read the article.

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Recently I had a conversation with a fellow small business owner who told me: “I finally now know where I want my business to go. I want to be number one in my industry, and I want to double my revenue the next two consecutive years.“

When I asked him if he had a plan, he responded with, “I have a plan but I don’t have it typed out.”

The difference between a plan and an idea is simply one is a well thought-out idea that is written down. Electronic or paper, an idea turns into a plan when someone other than you can read it.

Unfortunately, small business owners often neglect their ideas by not turning them into plans. This time consuming, but critical, step creates a blueprint that leads the business to its end goal.

Plans can make or break an organization, here is why. When an entrepreneur, who is usually pretty creative by nature, relies on an idea, his end goal often will become distorted, evasive, and unattainable. It is the job of business owners to constantly look at a process and find ways to improve on what is already working. The idea that is planned out in the head of the entrepreneur will keep modify itself if the plan is never written down. To an employee looking to help the organization grown, there is nothing more frustrating then a goal that never seams to be consistent.

A plan creates a blue print that his colleagues, partners, and employees to follow. By allowing the other stakeholders take part in company’s direction, the owner delegates some of the responsibilities of micromanagement and short-term planning, leaving him more time for developing long term strategy.

Business owners shouldn’t shoot themselves in the foot by trying to implement ideas. Turn those ideas into plans; it makes implementing strategy so much easier. After all, Life of a small business owner is hard enough.

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