Fanenomics

My 12 year old son has just set up his own blog, Fanenomics. He comments on his assessments of major league players and sports. Arjun is the kind of kid who considers Bill James and Billy Beane cool. In ProTrade, a sports trading site, he's making huge profits. He actually prefer general manager mode in all sports video games and is running a number of sports sim league - scary, I know. Arjun's a real fan, combining opinion with data. So, if you are a sports stat junkie, check out Fanenomics.

The Guild Wins YouTube Best Video Series Award

YouTube announced that The Guild won for YouTube Best Video 2007 Series Award! They also won the Yahoo 2007 Best Web Series Award! Our very own Effinfunny creator, Sandeep Parikh, co-stars with Guild creator Felicia Day. Sandeep plays the hyper-compulsive lovestruck Zaboo in the "real life" multi-player series game obsessed Codex (Felicia).

Even for non-gamers, the series becomes addictive. I love how Sandeep improvs a lot of his lines. Please see my favorite episide at Effinfunny.com, "Cheesybeards."

Check out all the news on this amazing series.

Congrats to Felicia and The Guild writers, cast and crew!

Social Media Presentation at Web 2.0 Conference

I recently spoke on a Social Media panel at the Web 2.0 Conference. During this session we discussed how Social Media and Advertising techniques can be used to gain visibility and increase traffic.

I discussed case studies of how social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and others can be used to increase traffic for 2 B2C firms: Effinfunny and ResponseLINK. As an online comedy video site, Effinfunny could directly target interested groups with engaging videos. They monetize via advertising, so what matters to them is traffic and time on site. For ResponseLINK, they monetize using a monthly subscription service for their medical alarm systems for home-based seniors.

Effinfunny was able to see a 200% increase in traffic over a 2 month period last year. That increase has been durable and growing since them. In their case, they use tools like TubeMogul to periodically place videos at a number of video sharing sites. They also have a group in Facebook and MySpace. Efforts like these are optimized to focus on time on site, bounceback rates and registrations. In their case, it's important to get in front of the passionate audience of stand-up comedy fanatics. A side benefit of this has been excellent search rank in Google for the keywords that matter.

ResponseLINK saw a 200% increase in non-PPC traffic by engaging with discussion sites, forums, and yes, even social media sites. People are very passionate about taking care of their parents. Because ResponseLINK offers a high quality approach, they need to engage with their audience to alert them on the things they should care about when using these types of products. This includes a self-monitoring system (for uptime), medication reminders, and when something happens, a well-trained agent who will stay on the line with the senior until help arrives. There's a great set of ResponseLINK videos that discuss why adult children bought the system as an aid for their previously strong and independent parents. This video actually ranks higher than others that employ a fear based approach.

Thanks to Daya from WebGuild for inviting us to speak. Barbara Coll of WebMama did an excellent job of moderating with Cam Blazer and Kent Lindstrom and myself as panelist. She has a nice writeup on her blog about the session.

If you want a copy of my presentation - please let me know.

AAAAI Apieron Booth Picture

Here's a picture taken by Bryan Flaherty, Apieron VP of R&D on Sunday morning (3/16/2008). You can see some of our top players, Sal (sales) and Vivek (Marketing, previously Engineering). Of course, there's the Apieron Insight and the main heading: Now FDA Cleared!

Breakthrough Asthma Management Device

Apieron, Inc. Announces FDA Clearance of the Insight™ eNO System to Assist Physicians with Patient Asthma Management

Physician’s office system for measuring airway inflammation poised to transform asthma management for improved control.

MENLO PARK, CA, MARCH 17, 2008, Apieron, Inc. Apieron, Inc. (www.apieron.com) announced today that the Insight eNO system has received clearance to market by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The Insight eNO system measures exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) which is a well established indicator of airway inflammation and asthma control. The Insight system is a highly accurate device, expressly designed for the physician’s office. It is non-invasive, safe, easy to use, and provides results in less than a minute. Apieron’s unique biosensor detects trace amounts of nitric oxide molecules in a single human breath utilizing a proprietary technology. Current methods and techniques used to diagnose, monitor and treat asthma are costly, time-consuming and cumbersome. Physician office measurement of eNO is a much awaited breakthrough in medical technology that provides physicians with a reliable tool to measure their patient’s respiratory inflammation better than ever before. Measurement of eNO has also been shown to optimize medication therapy and improve compliance among patients with asthma.

William Berger, MD, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University of California, Irvine, and Mission Viejo Medical Center, Mission Viejo, California, stated, “In clinical studies with the Apieron Insight eNO monitor, I found the ability to easily and accurately measure eNO in the physician’s office to be a major advancement in my care for patients with persistent asthma.”

It is estimated that more than 20 million people in the U.S. suffer from asthma, making it one of the most common and costly of all diseases. In fact, every day in America 40,000 people miss school or work due to asthma and 5,000 people go to the emergency room due to an asthma attack. One-quarter of all emergency room visits are asthma related and asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease.

“We are pleased to offer physicians and their patients a reliable, accurate and affordable asthma measurement and management device,” said Rich Lotti, President and CEO of Apieron, Inc., “We believe this product will improve the standard of care for patients with asthma enabling physicians to optimize medical therapy for each patient.

"The availability of simple to use, accurate, and economically feasible eNO measurement devices now enables physicians to intelligently assess and manage the key pathologic feature of asthma, airway inflammation", said Peter B. Boggs, M.D., Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, LSU School of Medicine, Shreveport, Louisiana. "Prior to the availability to measure eNO, assessing and managing airway inflammation was, for all practical purposes, little more than a guess! The ability to measure eNO in the physician's office is "one giant step" in the care of adults and children with asthma."

The Insight eNO system includes a small desktop monitor with an easy-to-read display, trend analysis capabilities and a user-friendly interface. The system uses disposable, single-use sensors to measure nitric oxide accurately and non-invasively in less than a minute. Disposable, single-use breath tubes make it hygienic and convenient for the user to exhale into the device. Patient data can be stored and maintained in unique patient cards for trend analysis or downloaded to a printer for insurers’ and patients’ files.

About Apieron Inc.
Apieron Inc. is a private, venture-backed medical device company based in Menlo Park, CA that was formed in early 2001 to develop a simple-to-use, non-invasive monitor for the measurement of exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) for the management of asthma. The Apieron biosensor technology platform utilizes a patented platform technology that allows for the highly sensitive detection of selected analytes like eNO. Apieron is committed to collaborating with physicians and patients to develop innovative medical solutions to improve quality of life and standards of care.

Refer Questions to:
Holly McGarraugh Apieron, Inc.
650-454-8101 (ph)
650-454-8190 (fax)

Apieron Receives FDA Approval

Today Apieron received notification of FDA approval for the new Apieron Insight eNO System. This was the result of a long journey for Bhairavi and myself. We were absolutely thrilled to hear the official word the day before AAAI in Philadephia. That means we can take orders for this product. We first started this quest in 2001 and are thrilled to get to this point. Finally, physicians can truly understand and manage asthma for the millions of people in the US and around the world that suffer from this disease.

We thank all those at Apieron who worked so hard to develop and commercialize the technology. You believed in us and put your heart into your work, spending countless hours in every phase of process: R&D, product & process development, clinical, regulatory, marketing, legal, reimbursement, finance, and manufacturing. So many partners worked with us on every phase - some for little more than the promise of a great dream. Our initial and current investors helped not only with money, but with time, commitment and expertise. We appreciate all your help and are excited about getting this in the hands of allergists, pulmonologists, pediatrians, GPs, nurses and technicians can make a huge difference for the 20 million asthma sufferers in the US.

Imagine the opportunity to create a brand new market with a revolutionary product. The Apieron Insight is the first step in turning the art of asthma management into a science.

So many people supported us that it will take 3 days of calls to thank everyone. This an amazing point because it removes the one risk that we could not control.

Now it's execution time - hit the the pedal to the metal!

Interesting Recession Chart

The stock market keeps dropping. This is a leading, though in this case belated sign of recession. This has been coming for some time as commodity prices and demand became overheated. Keeping interest rates so low for so long created a tremendous housing bubble that is affecting many. Overseas, globalization has resulted in rising wages, especially for skilled labor.

Check out this graph published in NYT's Freakonomics blog:


The graph indicates growth or decline in non-farm payroll. Down is bad, up is generally good. The gray bars are recession periods as defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research. I'm hoping that this does not last long, but we are crossing 0.1%.

What to do if you are in search marketing? As stated in a previous blog, I believe that those who are in the game will spend more here, because the results can be tracked at every stage. Most businesses need to invest in new customer acquisition, regardless of the economy. We have the people, process and technology to get them there.

Luckily for us, we have clients that help those in heavy debt like Bills.com or those concerned about foreclosure like Home Assure. We are also expanding in Southeast Asia, an area that is absolutely booming, and Europe, where the euro and pound are super strong. We also have some really cool ideas under wraps for tools and business concepts.

Security Gone Silly

Here's an interesting one. Yesterday, I went to check out Effinfunny and could not view some of the videos. After checking with a friend, it turned out that he (Sam) could run them just fine. However, Sam was outside my office. He said to check Revver.com and then MySpace. I got this error:

This site is blocked by the SonicWall Content Filter Service.

URL: http://www.myspace.com/

Reason for restriction: Forbidden Category "Adult/Mature Content"

Turns out that the guys at SonicWALL way overdid their firewall software. It's one thing if I was checking some bondage site - "research" in the Internet Marketing business - but c'mon. This is way over the top.

It's one thing to get searched three times while walking between terminals at Frankfurt or Heathrow and having to discombobulate yourself for all sorts of random fears. But this restricts hurts legimate businesses. Someone creates a site about Internet Marketing, posts videos in Revver and uses them as they video player, but finds out that many of his target audience can't see the video. Now people can always complain to IT, they aren't necessarily going to call their network admins and tell them to enable MySpace traffic.

So we've sent this to the SonicWALL folks. Hope they fix this. Hope other firms don't go security-silly.

Marketing During a Recession

John Quelch, Marketing Professor at Harvard Business School discussed how to market during a recession in his HBS Working Knowledge blog. He generally takes the point of view that this is a time to strengthen your advantage rather than cut back as it pays tremendous dividends in market share, customer and employee loyalty when the market turns around.

Amongst his points, the following reasonated with me:

Research your customer: since customers will be redefining their value equation, you need to learn more about which features are considered must-haves and the price elasticity curve.

Maintain marketing spending: this is a time where an advertiser can greater value for their marketing dollar. Customers are looking for reassurance during this time and the company that markets will appear even more solid before. In industries where brand value is high, this is a time to increase durable market share. If marketing spend must be cut, substitute less expensive forms of marketing - radio vs. TV, direct marketing over pure branding.

Adjust pricing tactics: rather than cutting list prices which create a new threshold that is difficult to raise during an upturn have more temporary price promotions, reduce thresholds for quantity discounts, extend credit to long-standing customers, and price smaller pack sizes more aggressively.

Emphasize core values: rather than cutting back on employees or services, this is a time to focus more energy on existing customers and retaining the best employees. This buys incredible loyalty for when the economy turns around.

Quelch also discussed finding ways to add the distribution channel, adjusting product portfolios and focusing on market shares. Most of these are strategies when you have a strong cash balances and favorable profit margins. It would be interesting to hear what he would cut if it was necessary, but I suspect it has a lot of do with researching the products value proposition and adjusting accordingly.

Idol Projection: David Archuleta Wins

Since I'm nearing 40, I can admit that I watch American Idol with the kids. I gotta tell you the winner is going to be.... David Archuleta. He's simply the best of a very good field of men - a group for the first time that is stronger than the women. The way he did the Lennon song, "Imagine" could have been a disaster because it is heartfelt and powerful in its simplicity. It does not, however, stretch a person vocally. David did it all. He has that connection with the audience. It was unbelievable. He's gotta win.

Reflections from India and Singapore

I just returned to the US after a whirlwind 1 week trip in India and Singapore. This time we accomplished quite a bit - reviews of progress with the Client Management, Delivery, Tech and Administrative Team along with some focused business development activity. Rather than recounting each aspect of the trip, here are some random observations...

- Singapore Airlines great, Euro/US airlines so-so to suck. I fly coach, it's shareholder money y'know, but nothing beats the service of Singapore. You are treated like a real person as opposed to cattle. Friendly stewardesses that get you whatever you want whenever you want. I'm not saying that because they choose so well or dress attractively. It's all the other stuff too: a menu with drinks to order and well-presented meals (silverware, no plastic) with ice cream desert, a 10 inch personal screen with a massive on-demand selection, little care packet and just a generally good attitude. Everything they give you is just a little better than other airlines. They don't make you feel bad that you went coach vs. business class. The price was similar to Lufthansa and United, but the aircraft was newer and fresher. Rather than previewing the latest chick flicks for my wife on old burned out cathode ray screens, I took advantage of 6 movies, 3 TV shows, 4 book summaries and 1 Hindi course in the 40 hours of travel.

- Mumbai airport super fast and low on hassle, Bangalore needs lots of help. Bangalore can't get a new international airport soon enough. I don't know how many deals have not happened as a result of a terrible airport experience. Bangalore, now the mouthful Bangaluru, is overcrowded to get your bags. It's like warfare as people create gridlock with baggage carts and pushy people trying to box out for their spot. Then you are accosted by taxi guys as you walk out. It's hard to find to the driver sent for you while these guys are in your face. Finally, there's a mess of a drive off spot where the accosting behavior continue. Normally, people from Bangalore are fairly shy and very service-oriented. This stuff just puts prospective deal makers off. In Mumbai this is not the case. People wait behind the line and you can sign up for a prepaid taxi before you leave the quieter confines of the airport. To get in, you don't have to endure long lines to get security-checked in. Or watch as self-important Europeans pay off baggage handlers to get them in front of the line. None of them actually carry bags, they just remind Indians of that Raj mentality - just needs to end. As you can tell, it burns me because I see the potential of a great country.

- Prices rising everywhere. It's not just gas prices in the US, it's salaries in India and costs in Singapore. The age of globalization has brought on an age of demand for skills and products - across the board. The cost of a movie ticket is about $5 in Mumbai - hey that's not far off. Though the seats were sold out, they were not filled. A lot of people can afford to blow off the movies. In Singapore, a lunch entree at a mid-level restaurant cost $10-15. It still costs less in India, though our night of drinks and snacks (no entree) at the posh Pause in Mumbai cost $300. Shots of Jagermeister costs just as much as the US.

- Salaries will meet the US slowdown...er recession. There are young adults in Bangalore that have known nothing but 20-100% salary increases year after year. With companies laying off 1000s in India due to a slowdown in growth and a rising rupee, harsh reality will set in. If you want to do better, do better work. Employers will not consider 4 months in the job as anything resembling real experience.

- Quality is rising. The level of foreign investment in India and Asia has raised quality expectations. In Japan, this took time before cars went from poor quality in the 60's to high quality in the 80's. In India, I've seen people respond very quickly. People are so eager to do well, I've seen turnarounds in as little as 2 months. As the quality expectation gets built in, competitiveness will need to rise in developed counties.

- US retail still the most efficient. I thought that prices for electronics in Singapore would be low due to its proximity to China. I thought that brand name clothing would be cheaper in India due to lower salaries. Same thing for hotel prices. A room at the Intercontinental in Mumbai goes for $500/night (and there's no pool), Dockers in Bangalore costs $40, a Canon HD video camcorder goes for $1200 vs. $660 on Amazon.com in Singapore. Except for groceries and souveniers, US retail is king.

- Cranes everywhere. I saw at least 20 cranes in the Mumbai skyline and at least a dozen in Singapore. I hope they've figured how to get people to all those places. I'm sure Singapore has - it's the model of hyperefficiency.

- Pollution...argh. It's a big deal in India. People really need to get involved and do something about it. Even with the price advantage of CNG and LPG, not enough people have converted. There are still too many rickshaws, scooters, cars, buses and trucks spewing all kinds of toxic stuff out of those tailpipes. I've stopped running in India - walking is enough indoors. I feel for all those kids. It took the US 30 years to turn it around. I hope India finds a way to do it as well. It's an amazing country that has progressed in so many ways. The people just have to want it.

- Singapore... an expat heaven. There are a lot US expats in Singapore. It's understandable why. Everything is first class - the dining, shopping, clubs, infrastructure. Singapore has an unbelievable airport with direct connections to everywhere in Asia. It's a super clean city where as long as you play by the rules you can do anything you want. There's are even government sanctioned brothels, something that the cab drivers are happy to tell you about. Take that, Thailand! I've seen the super-efficient business side. I hope in my next trip I see some of the soul.

- Happy to be home. My family let me sleep this weekend. Ready to hit the ground running.

Microsoft: Why is Quality So Hard?

You would think that with Microsoft bidding for Yahoo, I would be writing about my opinion of it (it's good if they can execute extremely well). Instead, I want to reflect on how we deal with such lower quality expectations with Microsoft dominated products. Today, at the San Jose Tech Museum, a number of exhibits were down due to application freezes, execution errors, or just the blue screen of death. This combines with my daily battle with Outlook - every time I don't clean out my Inbox, my whole computer freezes. Applications endlessly need to be restarted.

Why is this so difficult? You would think that a company that has been in business for 23 years would have found a way to make it's product bulletproof. If you talk to people in the company, there is a preponderance of brilliant people. Yet, after multiple iterations of the OS and Office application set, there are continuous quality and performance issues. Microsoft could tell the hardware folks exactly what they want. They could tell the peripheral and component makers exactly how they want products to interface with the OS. Yet, for whatever reason they don't do it well. Here's one example: my son has an XBox which we recently threw away because it crashed and will not start up again. Microsoft controls every aspect of that box. Yet his old (and new) Playstation keep motoring on.

Even upgrades confuse people. Our CFO is an Excel expert yet he has lost functionality with Excel 2007. On Outlook 2007, I still can't find the Picture toolbar to crop images. You'd think an upgrade would give you more multimedia functionality.

Now as an SEM agency, we love Microsoft because they provide an alternative network for search and advertising content, even though we suffer highly functional, low reliability interface (everyone in SEM knows what I'm talking about). However, I'd ask the good smart folks at Microsoft to spend their energy on 2 things - reliability and performance. That would be good for all of us and truly cement their hold on computing.

Search Spend Way Up Though Economy Flat

In a previous post, I discussed how SEM would actually do well in a recession. Well see this NY Time article. Key quotes:

"Google said it has seen no effect from a slowing economy on its advertising business, as it reported a 17 percent jump in profit and a 51 percent growth in revenue in the fourth quarter...

Remember, the US economy grew an anemic 0.6% in the 4th quarter.

“We have not seen any impact as of now,” said Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, in an interview Thursday afternoon after the financial report was announced.

"Mr. Schmidt said he had yet to see weakness in any advertising category.

Bottom line: business has to advertise. Search is more results-oriented and therefore harder to cut in lean times.

Web 2.0 Conference - Social Media

See me speak during the WebGuild Web 2.0 conference. I will be on the Social Advertising and Social Media panel discussion at 1 PM. My focus with be on practical examples of how to use Web Outreach and Social Networks to grow awareness for entrepreneurial & growing companies. This will include Effinfunny and ResponseLINK.

Stop by and ask a question or 2.

Ted Kennedy Again

I was there when Ted Kennedy ran in 1980. My father loved JFK and felt tremendous affection for all things Kennedy. When he lost the NH primary and walked into the Manchester, NH office, he electrified the crowd. It was exciting to be 12 and feel the energy in the room, except...

In 1980, he upended the incumbent, Pres. Jimmy Carter, in a show of ultimate party disloyalty. Carter was dealing with a difficult economy, high interest rates, high inflation, and the Iran hostage crisis. I remember how he had all that momentum behind him until that article came out in Reader's Digest about Chappaquiddick incident. I'm sure that Kennedy did not make it easy for Carter's run when he fought it all the way to the convention.

Now he's considered a great senior Senator. No one doubts his dedication or his desire to help the working man, but to jump in over a tough campaign seems irrational. That's what primaries are all about. Get the tough stuff out there, so that people are battle ready for the general election. He has the right to advocate for whoever he wants, but to do it because of a hard fought primary?

The $150 Billion Waste of Money

Many are concerned about growing signs of a recession. The same administration that went on for years on a tax cutting and spending binge is now working with Congress to do a cash giveaway to get people to spend more money. Fuel prices are up. Biofuel demand is pushing up fuel prices up. The savings rate is negative. Inflation and unemployment are up. Would giving people a relatively small slug of cash spare us a recession? Does this make sense?

The real answer is no. $150 billion is small change in a $10 trillion economy. It is unlikely to move much of anything. People will buy some things and maybe that will help some folks, but it is not a consistent behavior over time. Consistently more money in people's pockets will lead to more spending, however is this the behavior we want? We've actually had a stimulus for some time. It the Iraq and Afghan war - to the tune of $1 trillion since 9/11. This money has flowed largely into the US economy to pay for military equipment and personnel.

What we are really doing is adding more debt to the economy. This spend-heavy generation has burdened our children to the tune of $29,000 of debt for every man, woman and child. We can't really just grow our way through it as the US is a mature economy with a long term growth rate of about 3%. We have underfunded Medicare and Social Security to such an extent that the real deficit is even greater if we used corporate accounting.

How did it happen?

Interest rates held down too low for too long + subprime fueled easy money and massive spending. People levered up on debt to go on a spending spree. They didn't read the fine print on their adjustable rate offers. This was exacerbated by tax cuts. They kept buying more expensive homes, some got into McMansions. Oil prices are 5x higher than just 3 years ago. To reduce oil consumption, the US is pushing ethanol, so that is impacting food prices. US spending on imports have led to massive growth in China, and to a lesser extent, in India. Salaries are rising. As Greenspan says, the price depressing weight of globalization is diminishing as overheated demand in fast growing developing economies raise import prices.

Now the bubble has popped. Homebuilding is way down with a massive amount of unsold inventory. Foreclosures are way way up. Inflation is finally recognized as rising in official reports. Worse, the subprime crisis has dramatically tightened lending. If this continue, people will not be able to refinance to lower rates. If the value of your house is down, no bank will lend you money even if you are carrying the load at a higher rate.

The US needs to move away from debt. We need to realize that we are a fully developed economy. Trying to grow out of debt just loads up obligations on future generations. The growth is just not fast enough to make sense. The US needs to be strong. Capital should not be used to prop up the US government, rather it should flow to private sources, lowering the cost of capital for all.

Moreover, savings should be encouraged, not spending. People who save can take risks, can start their own business or deal with an emergency without going to the government for a bailout.

So it's one thing if the Fed drops interest rates to spur growth. That's a significant macro effort as it impact everything from mortgage interest rate to corporate borrowing rates. A $150 billion giveaway leading to a slug of one time debt is not the answer.

It's time to get our house under control.

2008 Olympics Will Expose the Price of Growth

A recent NY Times about the Beijing smog discussed the concern of athletes about the impact of pollution on their ability to complete. The US team physiologist, Randy Wilber, is recommending that athletes where a mask to particulate filter as the Beijing air has pollutant 5x greater than WHO levels for safety. The marathon world-record holder Haile Gebrselassie has allergies, and the world’s No. 1 women’s tennis player Justine Henin has asthma.

I ran the Mumbai Marathon in 2007. I thought it would be exotic and kind of cool to run in the country where so much of our business was. The heat was one thing. The pollution was another. Even though Mumbai has oceanfront and the marathon was on a Sunday, it definitely had an impact on me as much time was 30 minutes slower than previous marathons. In addition my shoes had a clay like tint even though the streets were thoroughly clean.

The IOC should really think about where it stages the Olympics. Developing countries are great, especially since they provide hope and inspiration for the country's citizens. However, rapidly developing countries like China and India are willing to sacrifice the environment and their citizens' health for growth and prosperity. Remember the US clean-ups began in earnest as little as 40 years ago. Yet, that is no reason to sacrifice the health of athletes. As exciting as it is to have the Olympics in China, will it be worth watching great competitors ruin their health?

Advantages of Using a Marketing Agency

Market researchers like Forrester and iMarketer are estimating 20+% growth per year over the next 5 years. The field is changing rapidly with Google and Yahoo changing algorithms for natural and paid search. Social networking is creating rapid change in how companies can reach and retain potential customers.

With so much growth and change, should you go in-house or hire an agency? Depending on the size of the company and the ad budget, there is a mix of answers. If you are going to invest any decent level - at least $10,000/month, then having an agency in the mix is essential.

Here's why:

- Expertise: Search agencies have multiple clients frequently from a wide variety of industry. This creates strong bonds with search engines as well as a push to know as much as possible about the industry. We have clients in medical services, consumer products and software as a service. Due to our business volume, search engines beta test PPC algorithmic changes with us. Our own clients inform us of things they learn. New firms like blog rating and aggregation firms are contacting us. In addition, we are attending and presenting at the top industry forums.

- Technology investment: To ensure clients reach maximum potential, search firms invest in technology - either on their own tools or from tools firms. Due to experience with a variety of clients, agency teams can apply best practices from one industry to another and then embed that in technology. Clients could purchase the technology themselves, but unless they are very large will not know the underpinnings of it in detail. Imagine letting a black box manage your money without understanding how it works. I'd rather have a skilled operator who knows what the underlying algorithm are and how to modify them.

- Operational processes: The best firms have operationalized their processes and are continuously innovating. This allows the agency to provide top notch services along the wide range of services that make us search marketing. The range of competencies include online strategy, ad creative, media planning & buying, bid management, web technology & development, analytics and project management. There is serious complexity in getting the best people and getting them to work together efficiently and robustly. Each client has a different strategy or industry, therefore the process has to be robust enough to deliver results in a customized manner. We measure every step in detail to learn and improve.

- People and Turnover: Top marketing, technology and operational people are attracted to agencies because of the variety and the ability to be on the leading edge. They enjoy the training and the learning experience. In addition, there's the opportunity to try new things. Imagine getting paid to play on Facebook? Or developing cool algorithms to model bid pricing behavior? Or writing copy for rock band texting one day or source code optimization software another? Agencies can hire people across niche competencies and create a symphony through robust processes. Unless a company is large, hiring the variety of talents is impossible. Even then, how would you get the experience you get from variety. This is why almost every firm hires outside counsel. In addition if you hire in house, you are subject to turnover. While there is turnover in agencies, our processes are designed to retain client knowledge through multiple levels from executive to client manager to deliver manager. We know there will be turnover, so we build systems to retain knowledge.

- Value and cost: The best search agencies have operationalized their processes to provide value from top notch people, processes and technology. Well designed processes should provide a cost advantage vs. going in house. A copywriter will cost at least $50k/year. An SEO specialist starts at over $60k. With our worldwide infrastructure, we go a step further. We can provide a whole staff for the cost of a full-time equivalent knowledge worker. For many firms, our client manager is equivalent to VP of Online Marketing and reports to the President. On top of that there's a whole staff behind them that executes.

Are there reasons to go in-house? Yes, but not completely. Many times in larger companies it makes sense, especially if there are large groups to coordinate or multiple products. I would not recommend completely going in-house because of the loss of leverage from industry knowledge.

So these are the main advantages of a search marketing agency vs. going in-house: expertise, technology, process, people, value and cost. With so much change in this new exciting media form, you cannot afford not to use a top, results oriented agency.

The Position2 WebEx Makeover

Bill Ross, our Director of US Sales, was interviewed about how we used WebEx to improve our cost of acquisition and volume. They are doing this one day at a time. Here's our first day:

Recession and Search Marketing

There are growing signs of a recession in the US. The subprime crisis has caused banks to cut bank on lending while they revalue their assets and seek liquidity. As a result foreclosures are up and today the NY Times reports that spending has slowed significantly. The national savings rate is low to negative because people relied on increases in home equity to spend. It looks like the American spending machine is going to take a breather. High nergy prices have cascaded throughout the economy. Even food costs more as rising ethanol production is increasing the price for food throughout.

What does that mean for those in the search marketing space? Typically marketing budgets are the easy places to cut when sales drop. It tends to be a discretionary activity to slice back on to help hold the line on costs. For search marketing, this actually should not happen. Unlike other forms of marketing, it is search marketing is the most measurable method of marketing. You can study each step of the process from click to lead to close. You know the numbers at each stage of the process whether is click price, cost per lead or cost per sale.

Rather than spend on a significant TV campaign where returns are distant and difficult to measure or highway billboards, crank up your search marketing budget. Run more campaigns because you know what you are getting for your marketing dollar.

I'd love to get some feedback on this...

The $2500 People's Car

Today was a momentous day - the introduction of the Tata Nano - a car priced at $2500-3000 that will open up the auto market for the masses. This could be the 21st century Model T. I couldn't help but be excited by the fact that it took an Indian company to create this kind of fundamental innovation.

Here's a link to the article: http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/tata-nano-the-worlds-cheapest-car/

Here's my comment to much of the unusual criticism:

This is a huge milestone. I’m impressed that this came from an Indian company rather than a Chinese one. It demonstrates out-of-the-box thinking in opening up personal car travel for a whole new market.

As a person who frequently travels to India, this may not have all the terrible consequences that people imagine - much of which is hypocritical.

Rather than that family of four on a little scooter, this would be a heck of a lot safer. A lot of those scooters and rickshaws emit some ugly stuff. This would actually burn cleaner with a lot less soot. Maybe a lot of those rickshaw drivers would buy these vehicles instead allowing for safer, faster and cleaner travel (really hope they have a natural gas option). Vehicles may actually stay to their lane with fewer scooters and rickshaws. It’s a bit freaky when you see scooters, motorcycles, rickshaws and cars cram into every available inch of space.

People may now expect a better travel experience than before. There might be more demand for newer, cleaner burning buses and mass transit. There might be demand for better infrastructure and more effective traffic management.

120,000 rupees is a little over $3,000 dollars. It’s still expensive for many, but they have made vehicles affordable for a wide range of people. This would allow greater mobility and greater participation in the workforce. Right now, it is hard for a woman to work evening hours because the transport options are limited - understandably, scooters are not a great option at night. Hell, maybe we’ll buy a few so that our folks who work late can go home without a problem.

Congratulations to Tata!

Position2 Scores with Large Clients

Every firm wants to have a set of large brand names with multiple billions in revenues. It gives everyone a sense that the firm is solid and produces quality services. Well imagine waking up in the morning after running your business for 2 years and knowing that you had the following big names:

Johnson & Johnson
Northwestern Mutual
EBay
MIT
Reliance
Convergys
Cox & Kings


If you are from the US, you've definitely heard of the first 4. Reliance is a multi-billion dollar world wide conglomerate, Convergys, a multi-billion dollar IT services firm and Cox & Kings, a large UK-based India travel operator.

We also have a strong client base of fast growing companies with more added every month.

Hitting the Next Stage

I was sitting there with a group of CEOs discussing how to manage growth. How do you get to the next level? There are only so many hours in the day and people demand your time. This is such a fundamental issue. Many businesses hit a brick wall when they hit a particular size. They basically stop growing. This owner/founder is not able to hire a management team. He feels he's the only one who really cares about the other business. Everyone else is in it for the money, not the passion. He's tried to hire people in the past, but they just didn't work out.

The owner should look in the mirror. He is not acting as a CEO. He's afraid of ceding control. He's afraid that someone will take advantage of him and potentially lose his money. He's not willing to take the time to train his team, however qualified. It is first hard to hire a strong team. It is harder to work with them on making sure they understand their role. The hardest is letting go of decisions.

An interesting point was about deadlines. Some entrepreneurs don't typically like deadlines. They are working very hard to create something new. They can only work as hard as they can. They don't know what it's like to waste time. Many times they succeed because they are dedicated, however this is not scalable.

If you want to create a management team, you need dates. You need drivers who enjoy the motivation of deadlines. To make them stick, you need to hit them as well. You need to have incentives and consequences.

Imagine doing something one way for years, then changing by hiring sharp folks, ceding control and then changing the way you works.

This is why so few actually make it. It's hard to change, but the best know they need to mold themselves to each stage. Go from operational to strategic. Go from doer to the manager to the leader. Shift from becoming the operator to the teacher.

That's what it takes and you can do it.

A Great Day for America

This has been an exciting week for America. On January 3rd, Iowans voted for an African American - Sen. Barack Obama. On January 8th, New Hampshire voted for a woman - Sen. Hillary Clinton. This is the first time a woman and a minority have won a major primary or caucus in American history.

One day this will be commonplace. My daughter might have the realistic opportunity to run for President. She will not have to grow up with a glass ceiling. Can you imagine, not too long ago neither group had the right to vote. No matter what you believe, this is a historic day - one day of a historic year.

Bad Math Hits CNN

Americans need to learn better math. It's sad that kids are afraid of the stuff. It's scary when CNN allows bad math to get on TV. Roland Martin stated his analysis of the polling. There was a 9 point lead in the polls yesterday, however 15% was undecided. They broke towards Clinton's emotional appeal and swung the vote. See, no problem with the polling, it was the last minute undecideds.

Oh really, now how does that work? Clinton won by 2 points over Obama. She was down 9 points the day before. So 11 out of 15 or over 70% of the undecideds went for Clinton. Hmm... she won 39% of the vote overall.

That is just bad math. Anyone who understands statistics knows that the numbers don't work that way. It's clear that either the polls were wrong or Clinton's base was much stronger than projected.

C'mon, CNN stats guys, hit Martin over the head.

NH Presidential Debates

As a political junkie, I'm starting to spend even more time watching the process unfold - even more time than I normally would. I think it's cool that both sides are debating on the same night at the same place. The format is pretty open would candidates taking questions and pushing each other. This is a great way to see the democratic process unfold.

It's even cooler that the debate is being held at St. Anselm College. It is less than half a mile from where I lived in Goffstown, NH. I used to run by there all the time.

Now to watch, wish I could be in the room...

Iowa & New Hampshire - Will It Matter?

With this front loaded primary season and heavy spending by candidates and associated groups, you have to ask if any of this will matter to the 2008 Presidential race.

My answer is no. And I'm a New Hampshire boy - even wore my UNH shirt to Disney World today.

In the past Iowa and New Hampshire could set the table. Candidates could conduct retail-style politics, talking to small groups, honing their messages and building support. These states acted as filters for the rest of the country. Candidates would then move from state to state building support all the way into late summer conventions. There was a time where national conventions actually were interesting. There was drama - lots of battling over platforms and who the delegates should choose.

Then a bunch of states moved up their primaries. Iowa and New Hampshire still had influence. Now it would be hard to believe these states have any influence at all.

Before, the media hype would allow the winners to gain visibility. Lesser financed candidates would have time to raise money and build their organizations for the states following Iowa and New Hampshire. Iowa allowed people to see the power of the candidates organizations. New Hampshire would show how the general public responded.

I do not not see how that can happen today:

- First, it's just too early. Candidates are running starting in late 2006 - 2 years before the general election. Most people are not thinking about who's running in 2007. They are still in post-holiday mode before the primaries hit them over the head. Have any of them seen the rash of debates?

- It's all bunched up. Within 5 days of Iowa, there's New Hampshire. I still don't get how a caucus is in any way a representative way of electing someone, but 5 days is not enough for a victory in Iowa to influence anything in New Hampshire. I realize that the caucus has allowed predominantly white Midwestern citizens to get boondoggles for their farmers and their state, but c'mon. If you don't read the news for a day or 2, before you know it, New Hampshire is there. Even New Hampshire has little value. There are a bunch of big and little states that come in the next couple of weeks. Even though the DNC has tried to deny Michigan and Florida their delegates, winning in their states will matter.

- The national primary is Feb 5. It's over - 22 states including California and New York. After that does it really matter? Sure there's are other big states including Ohio and Pennsylvania in March and April, but if you are not close with a boatload of cash and organization, you are basically gunning for a VP or Cabinet post.

On the Democratic side, that means it's between Clinton and Obama. The Republican side is more confusing with Giuliani, Romney, McCain and maybe (though unlikely) Huckabee.

Let's focus the Democratic side to illustrate. As long as it is close for Clinton, Obama and Edwards in Iowa, Edwards is essentially done. While he will probably do well in South Carolina, he does not have the money or the organization when the big primaries hit. Obama and Clinton have locked up most of the endorsements, money and organization to reach voters. It is unlikely that Californians and New Yorkers will be interested in his message, because they won't even hear it. California has 30 million citizens and is a huge state. Clinton has raised over $100 million in 2007 - an incredible sum that gives hear tremendous reach. Obama has similar money.

As you can tell, I'm not a fan of the Iowa caucus or any hyper influential caucus. It's a confusing mess. What does getting a bunch of folks to sit in a room and argue for hours have to do with electing a President? It may work for passionate supporters and party veterans, but who is going to leave work early, go home and change, go to a caucus, figure out a complicated system run by people who sound like they know what they are doing and then drive home late at night? This is the same country where people had issues with punching a hole through a ballot.

At one time, it mattered just like when Senators were elected by state legislatures or when delegates actually had multiple votes at a convention. It's old and outmoded and not truly representative of our country. California was forced to put ethanol in gasoline - subsidized by price supports on corn and a straight-up 54 cents per gallon government handout.

Even Iowans feel disenfranchised by the system. Many have kids to care for or jobs that don't allow them to leave at night. Only 124,000 out of 2.9 million voters participated in the 2004 election. To learn more this article.

While I don't think New Hampshire is necessarily representative of California, at least it is a primary. Like California, there is some hi tech and med tech industry along with plenty of rural regions. The proximity to Massachusetts helps. However, with California less than a month away, it won't matter much anyways. I feel sorry for all those NH hotels and restaurants in 2012, because the party's over.

I liked the idea of the 4 state regional primary system. 4 small states representing distinct US regions voting around the same time, giving us a way to see the candidates a little closer than normal.

So who wins? Those candidates who can raise a ton of money and nail down support very early. Is this a good system? No, a pure media and money driven campaign means the ordinary citizen moves farther away from American democracy - not closer to it. It's just too bad.

But until people get really fired up, this is the way it's going to roll for a while.

Disney - Power of Pricing

Today's my first day back at Disney World after 5 years. Yes, my kids remembered. As much fun as it is, I'm impressed by how Disney has priced it's product. They have set things up so that families are induced into spending their time their to the exclusion of anywhere else. In fact, because it's done so well, it's a win for everyone.

Check out the chart below which represents our family of six:


We have 6 days on the ground. When we got here, we thought we'd do 4 days in Disney then 2 between the beach and Kennedy Space Center - or maybe Universal. Well, maybe that won't happen.

As anyone can see, after the 3rd day, it really doesn't make a difference if you go 3 days or 10. You will pay the same to get in regardless. (not including parking, food, Disney stuff). Now if you want to hop parks, that's an extra $45 per person. Not really a big deal when you are talking about 6 days and your once in 5 years Disney vacation. They've made that easy - employ that option only if you want to - any time - no stress for now if you want to pay less.

So what have they done? They've basically made going to the competition - Sea World, Universal, or wherever - more expensive and more of a hassle. They've also made a family's vacation less stressful. Normally, as a Parikh (read super thrifty family), we would be planning our day in detail, coming in early, optimizing Fast Passes and then staying late into the night. Eat quickly so you don't miss a ride or show - go, go, go! Now we can take it slow - let the kids play by the water fountain, toy with the new interactive stuff, look at the pretty lights on the street. Hey, we were only going to spend 4 days to cover each park, now we can do 6. Disney keeps us in and mesmerized - subtly getting us to buy more of their goodies and spending more at their restaurants. Of course, we buy every form of their movies anyways.

This has come with some additional complexity. The tix expire after 14 days (unless you pay more) and cannot be transferred (your fingerprint is tagged to the pass). This kills the "cheap ticket" secondary market and does not force us to save those passes forever. No more guilt for forgetting the damn pass from 4 years ago. Also, Disney can book all the revenue now and not have to hold it in reserve giving them greater certainty.

Now Disney is probably leaving some money on the table as this amounts to $34 per person per day, but we are more likely to avoid the "long hellish wait" ride today and come back tomorrow. We are more likely going to refer others because we'll be happier. We are less likely check out the competition. We are actually going to think that we got a "deal" from the Mouse House. And, we may even come back before another 5 years.

Patriots 16-0!

While on vacation at Disney, I was fortunate enough to catch the big 16-0. During the first half, this was a pretty even game - though the Giants led at halftime. It was when the Giants went up by 12, that things were looking scary. Eli and team were running up and down the field at will. They were stopping the normally prolific Pats.

Then something happened. Though I had a feeling of dread, I felt that they would turn it around. If they truly were a Super Bowl caliber team, then that is what greatness is all about. You don't have the luxury of always being ahead. Circumstances like a kickoff return touchdown or a dropped pass can put you behind. In the Giants' case, it was just good aggressive play.

The Patriots must have felt the same way, because they turned it around. Brady found his passing touch, the offensive line held their opponents, and the receivers found their slots. Having Watson back allowed for the short inside option. Welker and Faulk played the slot and Brady found them. You could feel the energy as the Patriots narrowed it to 5 with 12 minutes to go. The defense held the Giants to a quick 3 and out by heavily blitzing Manning. A few possessions later, Brady threw that 2nd bomb for the pivotal touchdown with little real time remaining for 2 scores.

This truly is the mark of greatness - when both the offense and defense step it up to take out a strong playoff team that was playing for the spoiler in what normally would be a meaningless game. This is actually good for the Patriots. They know that they will have to play 60 minutes to win. Sometimes, the defense of a high scoring team settles a bit, but this one knows that they will have to make the big play, like Hobbs' amazing sideline interception. They can't too cocky, because they did not blow them away.

I remember this with teams like Minnesota and St. Louis where over-reliance on a high scoring offense ruined their chances in the playoffs. You have to be strong on both sides of the ball.

Belichick never let his team get ahead of themselves. He treated each week as a mini-season. Never worry about 16-0, just about winning the next game. Similarly, he will not allow this team to get caught up with thinking they have won the Super Bowl today. He will have them break down the film and critique each error. Moss will not get away with the silly end zone celebration. Harrison will not get away with stupid personal fouls for trash talking or late hits. Great leaders find a way to focus their team on the next goal - not on uncontrollable distractions.

What should have been a meaningless game became important because it was for the coveted 16-0 record and pride on the other side. Both teams played well. These are great life lessons. It's important to always be on your toes. Never get down on yourself if you are behind - stay confident and cool under pressure. Draw deep inside to learn and find a way to win. The best know how to do it. Others just have excuses.

Can't wait till the playoffs.

Bought a Mac - Wore Black

To commemorate the purchase of my first Mac, I wore all black today. Our home PC died either via fried motherboard or for some other reason, so I thought there's no better time than now to try out a Mac. Since I didn't want to spend a whole lot, I bought the Mac Mini. My initial experience has been... very cool.

Apple has really thought through the whole experience from the retail outlet to install and setup.

At the store, friendly and knowledgeable people guide you to understanding the product to making the whole purchase easy. They carry little handhelds that allow you to do it on the spot. They answered all my questions about the differences between the Mac and Windows world. While it may cost a little more to run Windows apps, it seemed worth the try. Having the store for what is a missionary sale is genius. Remember the failure of the Gateway store. The Apple store integrates with the brand experience and just makes you feel comfortable. You know you can ask questions or even attend one of their free sessions - very clever.

After getting them to put in some more memory, I bought a wireless keyboard and mouse. The concept of going completely wireless was very cool, so what the hell, I went for it. It was very clever product design to bake Bluetooth and WiFi into the system.

The install process was ridiculously easy. Connect power and the monitor and turn it on. I had to fill in some forms for registration but the system found the mouse, keyboard and home wireless network. There was really nothing much to do.

Now I did encounter one problem. For some reason my password was not in the system correctly (hard to screw up a password verification). So it required a tech support call. This was also very easy and handled very well by a knowledgeable tech support person from the US. I don't ever remember Microsoft or Dell being so easy to work with. The fix was relatively easy and I was off and running.

Even the box is cool. The packaging is well done - minimalist, yet classy. It's just like the iPod, you can see the refinement at every step. The system itself looks nice. It's amazing how much functionality is in what is essentially a large paperweight. No big system with loud fans and heat blowing out. Just a little box that is simple, cool and attractive to look at. There a slot for a DVD and that's it.

Very quickly we were off and running. I couldn't help but be impressed by the interface, speed and easy to use functionality. Figuring out the Safari browser was easy as was many of the preinstalled apps. For some reason, browsing seems faster on Safari than on Firefox on my Dell laptop. The little remote control on the Mac mini was also cool. I love how the thing goes to sleep to save power and then easily wakes up at the click of a button or move of the mouse. My laptop is a pain by comparison.

For some reason, the viewing experience is cleaner and inviting. It's hard to explain because the functions are different. It's something I wrote about in the Blackberry article. There's a higher sense of refinement in the product in the way windows open and close, how the Dashboard appears, or in changing preferences. The fonts are cleaner and dash is very clever in presentation. In the Windows world, it is cryptic and a bit scary because you could actually do something to mess things up. In the Mac world, it seems so easy and painless.

The true proof in the pudding will be if all the apps run without reboot and the system functions flawlessly. Everything I've heard is encouraging thus far. Instead of MS Office, I'm actually going to try the Apple apps.

So far this is fun. As a marketer, I love the integrated brand experience at every touchpoint. It is so clean, refined and tasteful. They make spending money easy. Maybe the Microsoft universe has something to worry about. Maybe the days of getting away with poor quality and unreliability are numbers. Imagine not having apps that crash daily or force you into doing wasteful things like archiving because of design flaws. This is more than 20 years after the first PC.

If I can get reliability and great functionality with having an issue with apps maybe we'll move the whole company over.

Treo Follow Up - Poor Quality Hits the Bottom Line

Today's Headline in Bloomberg

"Palm Forecast Misses Estimates as Customers Defect (Update4)

Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Palm Inc., the maker of the Treo e-mail phone, forecast a wider loss than analysts had estimated after customers defected to the BlackBerry and iPhone. The shares plunged 11 percent in late trading."

Now this article attributes the losses to the following, "Palm has trailed BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. in updating product design."

I don't think so. This is not a feature thing. The latest version of the Treo has more features than the top of the line 8830. The issue is reliability and refinement. What's refinement? Read a Consumer Reports auto review. You know when you have it vs. when you don't. In Blackberry's case, it is that the features work as expected. When you are using voice dialing, it works. If you need to flip to speakerphone, there's no issue. Email is clean and synchs beautifully with your desktop. You are given options on how you might contact someone. Even though you can't jump by touching a point on the page, you are willing to sacrifice that for a screen that doesn't get dirty. Moreover, the damn thing never freezes while you are typing a message.

See, Palm has to spend a lot of money on marketing it's products. They are not getting positive word of mouth from their existing products. They need to suck people into a feature comparison and hope they are not dumb enough to talk to other people. Palm also has to hope the cell phone store salespeople keep quiet when someone is looking - even though it is in their incentive to have happy customers. In a market where margins are razor thin, spending extra money on marketing to acquire new customers without retention is a loss machine.

Then Palm goes totally low end with the Centro with the worst of all carriers - Sprint. At least in their case the user does not know who to blame poor quality service on. It's like putting 2 bad tennis players together to make a good doubles team - good luck.

I just used my Blackberry 8830 on a round the world trip. Whether I was in Germany, India, Thailand or Singapore I had email, web and voice access. If I had problems, I called the Global Support line and they fixed it quickly. Most of the time, it was in obscure locales where the phone needed to differentiate carriers. The best part was that I could be IM with my son while on a bus in Thailand. I was in touch with my clients and team everywhere - very cool.

Bottom line: build quality and reliability for long term profitability.

Why We Got the Blackberry - and Dumped the Treo

A week ago, we went over to the Verizon Wireless store to pick up the Blackberry for each member of the US team. I made the decision to take people off their existing plan and phones for a simple reason - quality and control. I wanted to make sure each person could be connected to the clients and the company at all times. We needed a mobile experience where everything worked seamlessly - no reboots, bad voice quality or botched data transfers. We had already gone to an Exchange hosting service to ensure reliable email delivery and integrated calendaring. Up till now everyone had a different phone, different service and individual patterns of access. Now it was time to complete the circle.

Because our team is around the world and our clients are dispersed around the country, time in the office does not reflect a true workday. Work can take place in the middle of the night or early in the morning. If the client has an issue, you need to know right away and respond quickly. We could not afford to waste a moment or give the client a poor connection. Since we are responsible for spending client money, they needed to be assured that the team was on top of things regardless of the situation. There was no excuse for a Client Manager to be out of the office and not receive a critical client email.

This was important after the Treo 700p nightmare that I went through. Great features, poor execution. Reboots happened every day because the damn thing froze all the time. Sometimes, the Treo would reboot when I was in the middle of a call. The Bluetooth connection was uneven. It was maddening and that was even after all the integration and improvement that I got when we implemented the Good Technology software and service. It was as if the people at Palm jammed a bunch of features in to make them look good in product comparison, but they forgot that if the phone is unreliable, you tend not to value the feature. This was the old Microsoft way - fill up the data sheet but don't worry about quality.

Reliability is an expensive investment and difficult to quantify, but people are willing to pay for it. This is what I have seen with the Blackberry 8830 - no crashes, no reboots and amazing integration. Great spell correction, decent voice dialing and just a lot of little touches. Voicemail dialing was preprogrammed. I didn't have to figure out the pauses before auto entry of the password, it gave multiple options in terms of how to contact a person, and the screen is fantastic. As much as I miss the camera, I especially like the idea of getting data access wherever I go around the world. This phone works with GSM and CDMA. Let's also not forget the huge number of free apps for the Blackberry. It makes things a lot easier - from the weather app to Google Maps to Facebook Mobile. I'm still learning all the things I can do and customize. Right now, I'm testing the Jawbone headset because my voice just doesn't carry with these headsets - just didn't get the deep voice genes :).

RIM focused on the needs of the business user with their product and service design. Palm was focused on competing with Microsoft CE and couldn't make up its mind on the business user or the consumer. Their OS is not built for reliability. Quality is worth paying for as is easy integration and functionality. It's not easy to sell, but just ask the guys at the store which phone gets the complaints - it's pretty easy. Email integration is critical for the business user, especially the ability to synch with Exchange & Outlook. That combined with the higher quality Verizon network means that my team is available everywhere.

Our Client Managers were especially happy about the 4 GB memory for their photo and music files as well as the ability to tether with their PC - that means connect their PC to the Net all the time. Then there's the Bluetooth headset and all the accessories. I want them to have fun. That means they're enjoying their job and they're connected - all the time.

This is part of the evolution of the company. When we first started, it was all about keeping burn to the absolute minimum while we figured out our business. Now that we have high profile clients and a proven model, we need to have the highest quality and efficiency possible.

Some people would say that now work is 24 hour. I say it has made work more fun because you can get things done anywhere.

Because communication is more reliable. I'm able to get more done and call more people. That's a good thing for me and Position2.

RIM gets it - execution matters...

Red Sox Win the World Series!

What an amazing day! Watching the Red Sox sweep the Rockies for the second World Series in 4 years. This team was absolutely fantastic to watch. There was not any of the paranoia of the 2003 where every win was too good to be true. The 2007 was stacked with great veterans and with never-say-die rookies. So glad I got to see future greats like Ellsbury, Pedroia, Youkilis, Matsusaka, Okajima and Papelbon combined with stars like Lowell, Beckett, Schilling, Ramirez and Ortiz. Hell, even Lugo and Drew came through. Francona and Epstein, thanks for putting together and running a dream team that made this season super fun to watch. These are one of those times to treasure, because you may never see your team in the World Series for a long time - much less win in 2 sweeps.

Now, time to get some rest. This stuff takes a lot out of you!

Red Sox Win!!!

Right now there's no better time to be a New England sports fan. The Patriots are dominating, the Celtics are stacked and now the Red Sox come back from behind - to go to the World Series! Today, the whole family was on edge. The game was so close, a nail biter, until the 7th. Ellsbury was a absolute spark plug. The Pedroia gets up to bat and pow! A 2 run homer. I was sitting there with Sanju and Arjun and told them with absolute certainty, "He's gonna get a homer." And Pedroia delivered - a rookie. It just goes to show that experience means nothing - it's what's in your head and heart. The young guys delivered for the Red Sox - Pedroia, Youk, Ellsbury, Papelbon and the unbelievable Beckett. What an amazing team.

It's better that this team came back from being down. They will have something to draw from when the chips are down. It will be the thing that should make them stronger against the Rockies.

Another 4 to 7 games of baseball. Woo hoo!

Union Stupidity

For over 20 years, US auto industy has been in decline. Part of it is due to poor product development and quality. Part of it is an inflexible work force. Now, while the US-based auto companies are reeling from a decision not to build fuel efficient cars, the unions are striking again. The unions are concerned about continued job losses and want job guarantees. GM is concerned about a $1500/vehicle health care cost differential due primary to a small work force carrying a large retired base. In trying to deal with the union in the past, GM management has acceded to stupid measures like the Jobs Bank where union workers are paid to sit around.

Meanwhile, Japanese auto companies continue to grow, with Toyota overtaking GM. They are growing worldwide and in the US. Because the transplant work force is not unionized, the US players are at a disadvantage. The Japanese get great flexibility with labor.

It's time to change the game - grow the pie rather than slicing it. Working with the union should not just be about greater leverage vs. the employer, it should confer advantages. Things like a trained workforce, greater management of benefits payouts, greater retention of skilled labor, etc. Unions should act like partners rather than adversaries. Now GM's supply chain will grind to a halt, throwing thousands, with suppliers, millions out of work. Toyota will chug along, GM will lose a tremendous amount of money.

The unions cannot erase past poor decisions, but at least they can find a way to make their companies more competitive.

Paint My Fence

Do you remember the Tom Sawyer story about how he got neighborhood kids to paint his fence for free? Tom made it look so fun, they were dying to do it. In fact, they paid him to do his work. I couldn't help but have a smile on my face today as Manju from our company got visitors to our SES booth to paint our fence. Around us, people we giving away pen, toys and iPhones. However, the crowd around our booth came in to learn about our services, buy a book and have an invitation to a free (for now) Search Engine Marketing Seminar.

We ended up selling a ton of books and overbooking the seminar. People are truly hungry for this info especially in bite sized chunks. For us, we get to educate the community and get more highly qualified prospects - people who see clear value for them. We are OK with sharing our knowledge because deep experience and execution matter more. Because of our infrastructure, people could never afford to compete whether inhouse or as an agency. If they walk away with something that helps them well then we have a better image. This can only help in a highly connected region.

Before, we would give away books to those who were "qualified" but since when did you ever read a book that was given to you for free? How many of you actually go to the library? So go ahead, give away your pens, yoyos, shirts and doo-dads. Most people will simply give them to their kids or throw them away. Come to our booth and get yourself a book at the 30% off list and signed by the author!

Now the money off the book did not make us very much money compared to the cost of the show, but it was a classic trade-on. Viral or Web 2.0 marketing is about getting others to paint your fence. In this case Manju at Position2 was the clear winner.

Search Engine Strategies - The San Jose Bash

Just came back from Google Dance - a massive party done up like the bashes of the Bubble Days - dancing, karaoke, beach volleyball, food, beer, wine and free T-shirts. Oh, and you could also talk to various Google engineers about new offerings. There were even party crashers that even went out of their way to get SES badges so they could get in. Why be a wedding crasher, when you can be a corporate bash crasher? It was fun to soak it up with Microsofties and Yahooligans at their competitors expense... though I'm sure someone at Google is justifying that as a show of dominance or invitation to join.

The SES show was better than in previous years, specifically in terms of the research data and the multimedia SEO content. Last year, tagging and social networks were all the rage. Now it's old news. Google Universal is all the rage given how it will change the look and feel of search engine results as well as what we do with SEO. The Golden Triangle is breaking to the "E". It goes to show you that the game is not really over. As much as Google is dominant now, with broadband media taking shape, it does not mean that it will retain dominance. Hell, I even met a company putting together an "answer machine" based on chaos theory. If only the founder could explain it like Charlie Epps in NUMB3RS.

Based on last year, I did not really see this as a show about getting any leads, but I'm told we received quite a few. I saw this as a way to stay ahead of the curve, get sources for our upcoming books & seminars, and establish our brand firmly in the Bay Area. Little did I know that Manju would actually offer our book, Insider SEO & PPC, for sale. By selling it instead of giving it away, people realized its greater value. Moreover, as part of our education effort, we also promoted our upcoming Search Engine Roundtable in Santa Clara on August 30th. Yeah, it's free - for now!

I'll be writing a lot more about the specific sessions I found interesting, but this is a golden time for anyone to be doing something on the web. For those who want to break through with media or run an SEM agency (good luck doing all this inhouse), these are exciting times.

Position2 Rolling

The progress continues at Position2 with some excellent new client sign-ups. Our new bid management tool is showing excellent results for our clients. Check out new sites that have just gone live with Clubspaces and ResponseLINK - our designers, developers and SEO team have done a terrific job.

Rush Concert - With Son

Today, like many who lived their music days I went to the Rush concert at Shoreline Amphitheater. There were many like me - many gray haired and balding - but enjoying every second of "Freewill" or "Subdivisions." We did, of course, sit down during parts to rest our feet.

Arjun, my 11 year old son, had a blast. He's an old soul who enjoys Papa's music. We listen to "Rush's Greatest Hits" on the stereo. So, like me, he knew the old ones from "2112" and "Hemisphere's," but really not much past "Grace Under Pressure. " Of course, we had a blast during "Tom Sawyer," "YYZ," and the mega Neil Pert solo.

It's kind of funny... I never would have dreamed of going of a concert with my father. He was from India, so he didn't relate to rock n' roll. We're very close, but there's this generational distance when it comes to culture. I wonder if I'll deal with the same adolescent rebellion that I put my father through, because this kid actually likes the same things I like.

What a dream that would be.

How a Well Connected Industry Gets a Free Ride

I love the business of business, especially entrepreneurship. However, nothing is worse than a free ride on our tax money. In the NY Times article, "Energy Bill Aids the Expansion of Atomic Power Plants," there's a little known provision tucked into an energy bill that has government guarantees for the nuclear power industry. Essentially, the "Department of Energy would be allowed to guarantee 100 percent of the loans and up to 80 percent of the total cost to build a reactor." That's to the tune of $25 billion!

What? So utilities get guaranteed loans. No risk for them. Pay too much, pick the wrong technology, overestimate the market - hey no problem. We the taxpayer will take care of you. All of us entrepreneurs have to schlep on bended knee to investors and banks who assess their investments based on risk. But the nuclear industry gets a free ride. How wonderful is this? Be an industry exec and get paid a lot to take no risk.

I'm all for incentives and sometimes a subsidy if it is in the national interest. Nuclear is a part of the energy equation - especially in a carbon threatened world. However, this is absolute bunk.

No risk, no return - last I checked that's the difference between business and government. If companies like GE and Exelon need a free ride, then there should be a price for it. If you need a government guarantee to do business, then you need to take a government salary. Or you need to give up a commensurate amount of equity warrants to the Social Security trust fund. If the taxpayer is going to fully guarantee a loan to build a reactor, then there needs to be equity upside for the risk the taxpayer is taking in return for our risk and the lower interest rate from lenders.

Now don't start me on how big money has bought our politicians...

Sicko

I had the opportunity to watch Sicko during vacation. It was very interesting to see Michael Moore's treatment of a subject that affects so many personally and is also now 1/7th of the US economy. What is very striking is how so many are caught up in denial of coverage and reimbursement. This is contrasted with the examples of Canada, UK, France and Cuba where medical coverage is free and in the movie - effective for the citizenry.

I was fired up enough about the film to do something about it. Given that so much of the US economy is intertwined in healthcare, it is unlikely that the single-payer government run system will actually take place anytime soon. But something is coming from my company that will enable Americans to get better care at lower costs - you'll see in the next 6 months.

Lou Dobbs the Demogogue

While working I had the unfortunate opportunity to listen to Lou Dobb's immigration demogoguery about Hillary Clinton's "ties to India" due to work with the Congressional Indo-American causus. He makes it sound like the Indians (italics for emphasis) are stealing jobs from Americans for getting H1B visas. And, oh many of them, stay. Last I checked, getting an H1B confers no citizenship rights, but you still have to pay US taxes. Many of these Indians have graduate level educations in science and engineering and stay to create new American businesses. Hey, they could just stay in India and start the businesses there. What is worse is the way he says Indian, like it's some kind of slur like a conservative saying "liberal."

Oh, by the way, after the attack on Clinton in the trailer, it was pointed out that almost 37 Senators and 118 Congressmen are the Indo-American caucus equally split between Republicans and Democrats. Yes, it is a good idea to align with a successful ethnic group and a large, fast growing democracy.

Let's be real Lou, globalization is all around you, being a curmudgeon is getting old.

How to Force Pop Ups

It's interesting how 2 properties like the nytimes.com and boston.com (Boston Globe) both are owned by the same parent, yet one makes more off of me than the other. Due to the quality of the writing, the nytimes.com gets a lot of more of my viewing time, yet I see more of boston.com. Here's why, I allow pop-ups from boston.com because they have cool slide shows and polls of the Red Sox and Patriots. It's not video, but I get to interact with the content, I enjoy seeing how Ortiz gets a 'B' for a .321 average vs. Pedroia an 'A' for a .315 average (it's all because Ortiz doesn't have 20 home runs). With the NY Times, there's no compelling reason. With Boston.com, they have in-depth coverage of my favorite teams, so I'm willing to put up with those ridiculous expanding ads and fly-ins. I actually don't mind it as long as they keep giving me detail about Youk and Pedroia.

I have all the necessary ad blocking software in Firefox, Norton, and a spyware package.

So there's the lesson of the day: you too can push your way into the users face if your publication can produce compelling content in a useful format.

US Trade Deficit Marketing

Anyone who follows business and news constantly hears about the fast growing US trade deficit with the world. We are led to believe that this is a consequence of a highly developed post-industrial economy. Given the growth of China and its labor cost advantages, it is only natural that goods would be produced there and shipped to the US. Consumers benefit through lower prices and generally increase their skills to a more service-oriented economy.

While this makes some logical sense, the data does not support this point of view. Go to the last page of the Economist (July 7, 2007) and look at some of the tables:

Country Current Account GDP Budget Balance
($ bil) (%) (% GDP)
United States -803 -6.0 -1.4

Japan +187 +3.4 -4.4
Germany +168 +4.9 +0.3
Britain - 93 -3.2 -2.8

Those are large developed economies. Now some fast-growing ones...

China +250 +8.1 -1.3
India - 10 -1.8 -3.3
Russia + 87 +5.7 +2.4

Oh yes, and here's the big winner...

Saudi Arabia + 95 +21.4 +16.6

The US has gone for a creditor nation to a debtor nation. Imports exceed exports. There's a significant budget deficit because the deficit does not include future Social Security and Medicare liabilities. Meanwhile developed economies like Germany and Japan have fund inflows greater than it's deficit. Look at the numbers. They are fully developed nations that are net exporters. Unlike the US, they have retained their manufacturing prowess. The US is a great economy - still the greatest and most innovative in the world, yet it is ceding its advantage due to it's twin deficits. For now, trading partners are balancing US accounts by purchasing Treasury bills. However, the US cannot rely on this forever. When countries lose interest, the US will need to keep it's interest rates artificially high to attract foreign investment. That will hurt US businesses and consumers.

The above data shows that great economies do not need to run deficits of any type. It also shows that fast growing developing economies do not necessarily need to run large surpluses. However, those with large surpluses like China and Saudi Arabia can exert pressure on the countries they have their money in.

So don't buy into the marketing. The US can do much better.