Tag Archives: internet

Wahoo….really?

01 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by in Route 53 - Life is A Highway

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For whom the bell tolls…it tolls for thee -John Donne

What happened?….tick tick

 

As I begin this post it is currently 33 minutes past the much anticipated launch of Wahooly and the Wahooligans (social media influencers) who were selected based upon their high Klout scores to become minority shareholders in as many as 200 startups are sitting around idly waiting.  Yours truly is waiting here wondering if he should go down and get himself some lunch.

As you see by the screenshot….Now means at least half an hour..maybe more.

Such is the hype machine of the internet.  Sometime it works.  Other times it might be better to underpromise and over-perform.  I’m sure I’ll eventually get into the site, sign up for a few start-ups and tout their failures and successes as well as the value I think they can provide.

Is this a novel idea?  In a way yes, and no.  Most internet ideas and services are just online versions of what you see in the real world.  That is, the world you can touch.  About 15 years ago with the new batch of start-ups such as Amazon, AOL, NBCi, etc, those who were considered tech insiders were given what is known as “friends and family” stock, small stock portions for being associated with the company.

As a business development professional I used to receive shares in companies like these.  My 25 shares of AOL split, split and split again turning itself into a value of over $30K at one point.  not bad for just supporting a company in those days.  Now Wahooly is saying that all I need to do is support these companies through social media channels.

So the bottom line is…unless there are multiple wins in the pool of startups (2-3 Amazons) that Wahooly makes available, expectations should be managed.  A big return?  Not likely.  A chance to say you heard it first?  Yes.  I sure hope I come out of this finding at least one good company that makes it to commercial success.  The problem is the process is getting in the way.  Hopefully the process doesn’t drown the perception of these start-ups.

Internet Marketing from the Real Experts

03 Wednesday Feb 2010

Posted by in Breast Cancer - A Loving Fight, Business - Affiliate Marketing

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Internet Marketing My Shawn Collins and Missy Ward

Internet Marketing My Shawn Collins and Missy Ward

 At our recent Affiliate Summit, the organizers, Shawn Collins and Missy Ward unveiled their new book Internet Marketing From the Real Experts, a compilation of lessons from many of our colleagues in the internet marketing world.

The book has quickly risen into the top 1200 list on Amazon with very little marketing….or should I say traditional marketing.  The beauty of a book written about internet marketing is that it will likely be marketed well by those who wrote it.  In fact, the Gang of 88, as the contributing writers are called, are all marketing the book in their own way in blogs, on Facebook, on Twitter, etc.  Shawn and Missy also gave an incentive by giving all people who wrote a review online a silver pass to their next Affiliate Summit in New York in August.

The book is a quick read and for those of us in the business many of the “3 minute anecdotes” might seem trivial but for someone just entering the game and wanting some quick reference points will find this book to be a good useful starting point.  While I  found myself shaking my head at some passages I also found myself nodding my head at others.  There are probably sections I might never read, but that is why the book was written this way.

The book is written so that you can skip around and find the parts relevant to you.  Want thoughts on Twitter and Social Media?  There is a chapter.  Want to know about SEO and SEM?  Video?  There are sections dedicated to those topics as well.  The articles are based upon the writings from the first 7 issues of the of their magazine Feed Front.  Some might look at the title and say, “experts”?  Well maybe the writers aren’t experts, but they are real people in the industry who do the dayd to day work.  Thay aren’t professors or pontificators, but really the people on the affiliate line on a daily basis. 

I could go on and on, but I don’t want to reveal too much about the book because I think those interested should purchase the book themselves.  Still not sure if this book is for you and perhaps would like a reason to purchase a marketing book? At $14.93 on Amazon the book is a bargain, but not just for the knowledge gained, but because all proceeds from the sale of the book go to benefit and help the Fight Against Breast Cancer, a cause near and dear to the hearts of the authors and those in the industry.

What Should I write?

 While at the Summit I kiddingly asked Shawn to sign the copy included in my bag.  He laughed and I told him I wasn’t kidding.  Admittedly he was more distracted by the football game on the screen in front of him as his beloved Jets were playing in the playoffs.

I didn’t read what he wrote until returned home.  Hmmmmm, looks like I might have to write something for Feed Front to be included in the next edition.  Perhaps the ongoing struggle of running affiliate programs within larger corporations.