YEARS AGO, I worked with a sales rep who had a great personality and a real knack for building relationships--outside of sales calls. As soon as he got in front of a prospect, his whole demeanor changed. He became a robot, spitting out the sales pitch he had memorized and virtually shutting out the customer. The guy with the great personality disappeared, and the salesperson showed up in his place.
Sure, customers want you to know your business. They expect you to have the facts at your fingertips. They need you to be thinking all the time. But what they really want is to make a connection. It can't be said too many times that people buy from people they like, trust and respect. If you use just your brain on a sales call, and not your heart, you'll be like every other Tom, Dick and Sally, working as hard as you can and making very few sales.
Here are four ways to use both your mind and heart to make your sales sing:
1. PREPARE. This is the "just the facts" part of the sale. Do your research. Gather as much knowledge as you can about the person you're selling to, the company he or she works for and that company's customers. Make sure you're armed with information about your own product or service as well.
2. BUILD A STRUCTURE. Set goals, and outline how you would like the sale to go. This is not a script that you follow, but rather a general idea of the direction you want to pursue. Any event, whether it's a one-on-one sales call or a presentation to a large group, is only as strong as its structure. If there is no foundation, a single question or comment can throw you completely off track. Having a structure allows you (or the customer) to go off on a tangent but then find your way back quickly and efficiently.
3. LET GO. Once you have the structure established, let it go. I've talked before about mushin, the martial arts concept that means "no mind." When you have really practiced a martial art, you don't have to think about every move you make. Your strength and agility are based on your previous training. In a sales call, you've got to rely on your training as well. It becomes easy to go with the flow, instead of following a rigid script, when you have experience and have done all the research. When you learn to trust your instincts, you can allow yourself to react naturally and believe in your abilities.
4. SELL FROM YOUR TRUE, PASSIONATE HEART.
Customers want to deal with the real you. They want to believe in both you and your product or service; they want to know that buying from you is the right choice. When you're passionate and enthusiastic, you spread those emotions directly to the customer. I deal with high-level customers every day--from sports legends and famous comedians to CEOs of billion-dollar corporations. People in those positions don't buy because a salesperson has the most polished presentation. They want to cut through all the layers and make a connection. They want to see inside you, not right through you. When they can see your true spirit and tell you're on the same level, they can be confident you have their best interests at heart.
As Shakespeare wrote, "This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man." Follow the four steps outlined above, and you have the perfect formula for a successful sales call.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
IBM Eyes '100 Percent Mandate' for Online Software Sales
IBM is offering a 10% discount on software obtained through IBM.com. Already, IBM claims 60% of the site's software sales in the Americas are fulfilled electronically, up from the low teens at the end of 2000. The site now carries for sale only smaller software packages such as Lotus Notes and WebSphere Commerce Suite for OS/390, which run on workstations or midrange servers and can be downloaded in a relatively short time.
As for cutting costs, IBM estimates that sales completed online with help from a telesales representative cost 40% less than sales completed face-to-face; sales completed online with no human intervention cost 80% less. It won't state absolute dollar savings. To help, the company is sprucing up its software to make it easier to sell online.
IBM director of e-business enablement Darryl Turner attributes part of last year's jump in IBM.com's software sales to new technology IBM developed to speed and restart software downloads. IBM's labs are also investigating ways to break software into modules so it can be downloaded in smaller chunks, an effort Turner says is in the "very early planning stages."
Who will buy? Yet corporate customers say that IBM—or any software vendor, for that matter—has a long way to go before they would consider buying all their software online as a routine practice.
In general, IBM sells very complex software whose online delivery time can be measured in hours. "Would we buy online? With little items [like Java licenses], no problem, but with big items like Content Manager, we would want to discuss with [the IBM support staff] whether we need it," says David Bush, CIO of corporate truck and fleet management company LeasePlan USA, which uses IBM software to manage documents electronically.
Resellers of IBM software may lose revenue from IBM's shift online, but one integrator says the benefits of having customers educate themselves and try out software before embarking on a major project will be well worth it. "All of the other software vendors will follow this if they aren't doing it already," says Richard Came, CEO of global business strategy for Dimension Data, a technology services company.
Nonetheless, says office automation consultant Amy Wohl, customers will still want to keep a physical copy of the software on hand. Otherwise, when software goes bad, "I have to go back and get if off the Net," she says. Meaning: You have to re-download software you thought you already had.
Maine says IBM has spent the last two years rebuilding IBM.com, after learning the hard way—from highly public outages like that which occurred during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta—that "men in ponytails and earrings" were not sufficient to provide the "traditional IT structure and processes" that the job required.
With help from its R&D organization, IBM runs the site on IBM products—hardware, DB2 database, and WebSphere application server, and incorporates changes into the software as needed. On the technical side IBM is simplifying IBM.com, which consists of around 4.5 million Web pages and 2,200 separate URLs, and has integrated browsing and shopping so that customers can purchase an item immediately without backing out and clicking through a separate "Shop IBM" channel.
On the business side, IBM has embarked on a 4,500-seat installation of Siebel's customer relationship management (CRM) software, the largest in Siebel's history. Telesales representatives now handle customer support and some sales and are available to IBM.com customers through "Chat" and "Call Me" buttons on the site. They can also intervene to encourage customers to finish shopping when they suspect an abandoned shopping cart.
As for cutting costs, IBM estimates that sales completed online with help from a telesales representative cost 40% less than sales completed face-to-face; sales completed online with no human intervention cost 80% less. It won't state absolute dollar savings. To help, the company is sprucing up its software to make it easier to sell online.
IBM director of e-business enablement Darryl Turner attributes part of last year's jump in IBM.com's software sales to new technology IBM developed to speed and restart software downloads. IBM's labs are also investigating ways to break software into modules so it can be downloaded in smaller chunks, an effort Turner says is in the "very early planning stages."
Who will buy? Yet corporate customers say that IBM—or any software vendor, for that matter—has a long way to go before they would consider buying all their software online as a routine practice.
In general, IBM sells very complex software whose online delivery time can be measured in hours. "Would we buy online? With little items [like Java licenses], no problem, but with big items like Content Manager, we would want to discuss with [the IBM support staff] whether we need it," says David Bush, CIO of corporate truck and fleet management company LeasePlan USA, which uses IBM software to manage documents electronically.
Resellers of IBM software may lose revenue from IBM's shift online, but one integrator says the benefits of having customers educate themselves and try out software before embarking on a major project will be well worth it. "All of the other software vendors will follow this if they aren't doing it already," says Richard Came, CEO of global business strategy for Dimension Data, a technology services company.
Nonetheless, says office automation consultant Amy Wohl, customers will still want to keep a physical copy of the software on hand. Otherwise, when software goes bad, "I have to go back and get if off the Net," she says. Meaning: You have to re-download software you thought you already had.
Maine says IBM has spent the last two years rebuilding IBM.com, after learning the hard way—from highly public outages like that which occurred during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta—that "men in ponytails and earrings" were not sufficient to provide the "traditional IT structure and processes" that the job required.
With help from its R&D organization, IBM runs the site on IBM products—hardware, DB2 database, and WebSphere application server, and incorporates changes into the software as needed. On the technical side IBM is simplifying IBM.com, which consists of around 4.5 million Web pages and 2,200 separate URLs, and has integrated browsing and shopping so that customers can purchase an item immediately without backing out and clicking through a separate "Shop IBM" channel.
On the business side, IBM has embarked on a 4,500-seat installation of Siebel's customer relationship management (CRM) software, the largest in Siebel's history. Telesales representatives now handle customer support and some sales and are available to IBM.com customers through "Chat" and "Call Me" buttons on the site. They can also intervene to encourage customers to finish shopping when they suspect an abandoned shopping cart.
Ableauctions - J.M. Wood 34th Annual Late Summer Auction Sells $1.3 Million Online, Setting Internet Sales Record for J.M. Wood for a September Auctio
J.M. Wood Vice President Bryant Wood said, "We are seeing tremendous results from our online auctions and NAALive does a great job of adding to the excitement of our live auctions."
JM Wood Auction Company Inc. has been in business, specializing in construction, forestry and county surplus auctions, for 34 years and attributes their accomplishments to their advertising and professional staff. Teamed with a staff that holds years of experience, J.M. Wood has built a mailing list of 75,000 national and international prospective buyers and advertises in national publications such as: Rock & Dirt, Rock & Dirt En Espanol, Machinery Trader, Equipment Trader and Contractors Hotline. Through these marketing tools J.M. Wood expects continued success at their two locations in Montgomery, Alabama, and Columbia, South Carolina.
About NAALive
NAALive is an Internet-based broadcast service for NAA members who conduct real auctions. Utilizing NAALive's real-time software, auction houses broadcast over the Internet and online bidders participate in live auctions as if they were physically present at the auction. NAALive also enables bidders to review auction catalogs and place absentee bids prior to an event. NAALive is rapidly becoming the standard for live Internet auctions and the premiere Web site for consumer access to the auction industry. This means thousands more potential bidders for your auctions.
About Ableauctions.com
Ableauctions.com Inc. (AMEX:AAC) is a high-tech liquidator and on-line auction facilitator that operates the domains iCollector.com, Naalive.com and Unlimited Closeouts.com.
As an on-line auction facilitator, the Company, with the experience of over 3,000 auctions, has developed state-of-the-art technology to broadcast auctions over the Internet (www.ableauctions.com/technology) and currently provides the technology and related services to auction houses, enabling them to broadcast auctions over the Internet. The Company broadcasts business and industrial auctions over the Internet for auctioneers and members of the National Auctioneers Association (NAA) and art, antique and collectible auctions for numerous galleries and auction houses around the world through eBay Live Auctions.
As a liquidator, the Company, through Unlimited Closeouts, purchases overstocks, order cancellations and discontinued products from major manufacturers and importers, then sells the merchandise to major retail chains, other resellers or the public.
For a comprehensive Corporate Update and prior releases, visit www.ableauctions.com. For more information, contact Investor Relations at investorrelations@ableauctions.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, particularly as related to, among other things, the business plans of the Company, statements relating to goals, plans and projections regarding the Company's financial position and the Company's business strategy. The words or phrases "would be," "will allow," "intends to," "may result," "are expected to," "will continue," "anticipates," "expects," "estimate," "project," "indicate," "could," "potentially," "should," "believe," "considers" or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements." Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, involve known and unknown risks, a reliance on third parties for information, transactions or orders that may be cancelled, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in our industry, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results include risks and uncertainties related to the performance of our staff, loss of management personnel, an inability to obtain financing as and when we need it, competition from other on-line auction businesses, our ability to implement or manage our expansion strategy, general economic conditions, our ability to license our software to other auction houses, our ability to acquire profitable companies and integrate them into our business successfully and other factors that are detailed in our Annual Report on Form 10-KSB and on documents we file from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on such statements. The Company does not undertake, and the Company specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statement. E.&O.E.
JM Wood Auction Company Inc. has been in business, specializing in construction, forestry and county surplus auctions, for 34 years and attributes their accomplishments to their advertising and professional staff. Teamed with a staff that holds years of experience, J.M. Wood has built a mailing list of 75,000 national and international prospective buyers and advertises in national publications such as: Rock & Dirt, Rock & Dirt En Espanol, Machinery Trader, Equipment Trader and Contractors Hotline. Through these marketing tools J.M. Wood expects continued success at their two locations in Montgomery, Alabama, and Columbia, South Carolina.
About NAALive
NAALive is an Internet-based broadcast service for NAA members who conduct real auctions. Utilizing NAALive's real-time software, auction houses broadcast over the Internet and online bidders participate in live auctions as if they were physically present at the auction. NAALive also enables bidders to review auction catalogs and place absentee bids prior to an event. NAALive is rapidly becoming the standard for live Internet auctions and the premiere Web site for consumer access to the auction industry. This means thousands more potential bidders for your auctions.
About Ableauctions.com
Ableauctions.com Inc. (AMEX:AAC) is a high-tech liquidator and on-line auction facilitator that operates the domains iCollector.com, Naalive.com and Unlimited Closeouts.com.
As an on-line auction facilitator, the Company, with the experience of over 3,000 auctions, has developed state-of-the-art technology to broadcast auctions over the Internet (www.ableauctions.com/technology) and currently provides the technology and related services to auction houses, enabling them to broadcast auctions over the Internet. The Company broadcasts business and industrial auctions over the Internet for auctioneers and members of the National Auctioneers Association (NAA) and art, antique and collectible auctions for numerous galleries and auction houses around the world through eBay Live Auctions.
As a liquidator, the Company, through Unlimited Closeouts, purchases overstocks, order cancellations and discontinued products from major manufacturers and importers, then sells the merchandise to major retail chains, other resellers or the public.
For a comprehensive Corporate Update and prior releases, visit www.ableauctions.com. For more information, contact Investor Relations at investorrelations@ableauctions.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, particularly as related to, among other things, the business plans of the Company, statements relating to goals, plans and projections regarding the Company's financial position and the Company's business strategy. The words or phrases "would be," "will allow," "intends to," "may result," "are expected to," "will continue," "anticipates," "expects," "estimate," "project," "indicate," "could," "potentially," "should," "believe," "considers" or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements." Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, involve known and unknown risks, a reliance on third parties for information, transactions or orders that may be cancelled, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in our industry, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results include risks and uncertainties related to the performance of our staff, loss of management personnel, an inability to obtain financing as and when we need it, competition from other on-line auction businesses, our ability to implement or manage our expansion strategy, general economic conditions, our ability to license our software to other auction houses, our ability to acquire profitable companies and integrate them into our business successfully and other factors that are detailed in our Annual Report on Form 10-KSB and on documents we file from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on such statements. The Company does not undertake, and the Company specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statement. E.&O.E.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Tooling University supports Kennametal Inc. for online education: tooling and training companies team up to provide high-quality applications engineer
Tooling University, the leader in online education and training for manufacturing and shop floor trades, has agreed with Kennametal Inc., a leading global supplier of tooling, engineered components and advanced materials, to launch the company's first-ever online technical education program. It will be an extension of Kennametal's Educational Services (KU) and will allow the company to certify its sales force as experts in metal cutting applications engineering. The program is targeted to start in July 2005, according to Jeffrey Holst, Kennametal director of organizational effectiveness.
KU is dedicated to providing expert instruction in Metal Cutting Application Engineering. Courses are offered at the basic and advanced levels, and include classroom, lab, and machine demonstration. Course content is designed to provide the metalworking professional with necessary skills to gain optimum performance in metal cutting operations.
"We're continually looking for ways to optimize productivity for our manufacturer clients," said Holst. "Tooling University's training tools allow us to verify and account for gains in expertise, while our sales force gets to access the knowledge on a 24x7 basis."
Tooling University was founded by Jergens Inc., a sixty-year-old Cleveland-based manufacturing company, to solve manufacturing problems. The Cleveland manufacturer first developed its curriculum and tools of assessment and ongoing measurement in 2000.
Jack Schron, CEO of Jergens Inc. and Tooling University, originally began developing curriculum offerings for his employees in response to global economic pressures for greater shop-floor productivity that continue to compound. Through discussions with vendors, suppliers and customers, he realized they each shared a challenge for continuous skills training and productivity knowledge on the shop floor, field sales and customer support. He also realized that a web-based service could respond to these challenges more effectively and efficiently, regardless of location.
"We're responding to the global need for training that ensures productivity gains while assuring quality and safety," said Schron. "We do it by providing learning sessions that can be scheduled around production requirements or personal needs, offering learning opportunities at the convenience of the trainee and giving management real-time access and measurement of results."
KU is dedicated to providing expert instruction in Metal Cutting Application Engineering. Courses are offered at the basic and advanced levels, and include classroom, lab, and machine demonstration. Course content is designed to provide the metalworking professional with necessary skills to gain optimum performance in metal cutting operations.
"We're continually looking for ways to optimize productivity for our manufacturer clients," said Holst. "Tooling University's training tools allow us to verify and account for gains in expertise, while our sales force gets to access the knowledge on a 24x7 basis."
Tooling University was founded by Jergens Inc., a sixty-year-old Cleveland-based manufacturing company, to solve manufacturing problems. The Cleveland manufacturer first developed its curriculum and tools of assessment and ongoing measurement in 2000.
Jack Schron, CEO of Jergens Inc. and Tooling University, originally began developing curriculum offerings for his employees in response to global economic pressures for greater shop-floor productivity that continue to compound. Through discussions with vendors, suppliers and customers, he realized they each shared a challenge for continuous skills training and productivity knowledge on the shop floor, field sales and customer support. He also realized that a web-based service could respond to these challenges more effectively and efficiently, regardless of location.
"We're responding to the global need for training that ensures productivity gains while assuring quality and safety," said Schron. "We do it by providing learning sessions that can be scheduled around production requirements or personal needs, offering learning opportunities at the convenience of the trainee and giving management real-time access and measurement of results."
Earn your living online: 10 ways to increase your cash flow by becoming an eBay PowerSeller
More than 430,000 people earn part or all of their living selling products on eBay, but only 90,000 have achieved PowerSeller status by selling at least $1,000 worth of goods each month and maintaining at least a 98% positive feedback rating. PowerSellers have mastered the art of selling online through hard work and savvy buying and selling.
1. Focus on one product category.
Former co-workers Raymond Ramsey and Charles Ross Jr., co-owners of Cash Money Buyers in Chicago, opened a retail store in 2004 to buy and resell a range of products. On eBay, however, they specialize mainly in consumer electronics and power tools. eBay sales now account for 45% of Cash Money Buyers' business.
2. Buy low, sell high.
PowerSellers research prices and routinely monitor demand using free reports at the site. Ramsey and Ross buy their inventory wholesale, then clean, test, and prep the items before listing them. But "the beauty of eBay is that you may get a bidding war," says Ross. "Even if a saw is worth $100, [a buyer] may pay $200."
3. List in volume.
Cash Money Buyers lists about 200 or more items a month, while James and Brenda Daniel; owners of Best Designer Wear in Woodstock, Georgia, list more than 400. They sell new and used women's fashions from Jones New York Ann Taylor, and Gap at more than 50% off retail.
1. Focus on one product category.
Former co-workers Raymond Ramsey and Charles Ross Jr., co-owners of Cash Money Buyers in Chicago, opened a retail store in 2004 to buy and resell a range of products. On eBay, however, they specialize mainly in consumer electronics and power tools. eBay sales now account for 45% of Cash Money Buyers' business.
2. Buy low, sell high.
PowerSellers research prices and routinely monitor demand using free reports at the site. Ramsey and Ross buy their inventory wholesale, then clean, test, and prep the items before listing them. But "the beauty of eBay is that you may get a bidding war," says Ross. "Even if a saw is worth $100, [a buyer] may pay $200."
3. List in volume.
Cash Money Buyers lists about 200 or more items a month, while James and Brenda Daniel; owners of Best Designer Wear in Woodstock, Georgia, list more than 400. They sell new and used women's fashions from Jones New York Ann Taylor, and Gap at more than 50% off retail.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
In less than a year, it has caught on with such industry heavyweights as deejay Rick Dees, Justin Timberlake and Kanye West, and attracted such adver
Performics is the performance marketing division of DoubleClick, which provides technology and services that empower marketers, agencies and web publishers to work together successfully and profit from their digital marketing investments. Our focus on innovation, reliability and insight enables clients to improve productivity and results.
Since 1996, DoubleClick has empowered the original thinkers and leaders in the digital advertising industry to deliver on the promise of the rich possibilities of our medium. Today, the company's DART and Performics divisions power the online advertising marketplace. Tomorrow, we will continue to enable clients to profit from opportunities across all digital advertising channels as consumers worldwide embrace them.
DoubleClick has global headquarters in New York City and maintains 21 offices around the world to serve its more than 1500 clients.
The corrected release reads:
ONLINE MARKETERS CAN EXPECT BIG NUMBERS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON: PERFORMICS 50 PREDICTS GROWTH OF 53% FOR ONLINE SALES OVER LAST YEAR
Growth in search engine marketing continues unabated, with year-over-year conversions, search spend, and impressions displaying increases of nearly 50%; active keywords have grown by a robust 58% and total clicks by 32%. The Performics 50, a representative index of well-managed paid search campaigns designed to monitor the growth of paid search advertising, indicates much of this growth is due to online marketers' increased knowledge and sophistication of search engine marketing.
The Performics 50 forecasts that sales during the forth quarter will surpass last year's sales by 53%. As a general rule, marketers can expect to see Q4 activity equal to the sum of Q1 and Q2 activity. In other words, sales during the fourth quarter of this year, which includes the busy holiday shopping season, are likely to equal the combined sales of the first half of '06 (Q1 and Q2). The same holds true for budgeting and marketing costs.
"Online marketing is passing over a huge hurdle," said Cam Balzer, director of search strategy at Performics. "Experienced SEMs and program managers are harnessing the full value of search and realizing that maintaining an aggressively managed campaign onlineCoone that drives online sales, offline sales, increases brand awareness and maximizes your search budgetCois critical to overall marketing success. This potentially means big business for the final quarter of 2006 and the upcoming holiday season."
The Performics 50 identified an increase in competition for higher-priced and more popular keywords in the last quarter as well as marketers mining the 'long tail' of key terms to balance out their keyword portfolios. This type of program management led to a relatively stable cost per keyword (CPK) environment, increasing only $.14, or less than 0.5%, from first quarter averages, and demonstrates online marketers' aptitude for mounting, targeting and maintaining complex search engine campaigns.
Marketers can analyze and combine their first and second quarter budgets in order to determine their likely spend for all of the fourth quarter. Additionally, October is the optimal time to detect and correct any campaign variances in order to capitalize on the holiday rush. Intervention at this time can prevent substantial loss and improve November and December revenue.
Please go to www.performics.com to download a complete copy of the Performics 50.
About Performics
Performics is the performance marketing division of DoubleClick, which provides technology and services that empower marketers, agencies and web publishers to work together successfully and profit from their digital marketing investments. Our focus on innovation, reliability and insight enables clients to improve productivity and results.
Since 1996, DoubleClick has empowered the original thinkers and leaders in the digital advertising industry to deliver on the promise of the rich possibilities of our medium. Today, the company's DART and Performics divisions power the online advertising marketplace. Tomorrow, we will continue to enable clients to profit from opportunities across all digital advertising channels as consumers worldwide embrace them.
Since 1996, DoubleClick has empowered the original thinkers and leaders in the digital advertising industry to deliver on the promise of the rich possibilities of our medium. Today, the company's DART and Performics divisions power the online advertising marketplace. Tomorrow, we will continue to enable clients to profit from opportunities across all digital advertising channels as consumers worldwide embrace them.
DoubleClick has global headquarters in New York City and maintains 21 offices around the world to serve its more than 1500 clients.
The corrected release reads:
ONLINE MARKETERS CAN EXPECT BIG NUMBERS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON: PERFORMICS 50 PREDICTS GROWTH OF 53% FOR ONLINE SALES OVER LAST YEAR
Growth in search engine marketing continues unabated, with year-over-year conversions, search spend, and impressions displaying increases of nearly 50%; active keywords have grown by a robust 58% and total clicks by 32%. The Performics 50, a representative index of well-managed paid search campaigns designed to monitor the growth of paid search advertising, indicates much of this growth is due to online marketers' increased knowledge and sophistication of search engine marketing.
The Performics 50 forecasts that sales during the forth quarter will surpass last year's sales by 53%. As a general rule, marketers can expect to see Q4 activity equal to the sum of Q1 and Q2 activity. In other words, sales during the fourth quarter of this year, which includes the busy holiday shopping season, are likely to equal the combined sales of the first half of '06 (Q1 and Q2). The same holds true for budgeting and marketing costs.
"Online marketing is passing over a huge hurdle," said Cam Balzer, director of search strategy at Performics. "Experienced SEMs and program managers are harnessing the full value of search and realizing that maintaining an aggressively managed campaign onlineCoone that drives online sales, offline sales, increases brand awareness and maximizes your search budgetCois critical to overall marketing success. This potentially means big business for the final quarter of 2006 and the upcoming holiday season."
The Performics 50 identified an increase in competition for higher-priced and more popular keywords in the last quarter as well as marketers mining the 'long tail' of key terms to balance out their keyword portfolios. This type of program management led to a relatively stable cost per keyword (CPK) environment, increasing only $.14, or less than 0.5%, from first quarter averages, and demonstrates online marketers' aptitude for mounting, targeting and maintaining complex search engine campaigns.
Marketers can analyze and combine their first and second quarter budgets in order to determine their likely spend for all of the fourth quarter. Additionally, October is the optimal time to detect and correct any campaign variances in order to capitalize on the holiday rush. Intervention at this time can prevent substantial loss and improve November and December revenue.
Please go to www.performics.com to download a complete copy of the Performics 50.
About Performics
Performics is the performance marketing division of DoubleClick, which provides technology and services that empower marketers, agencies and web publishers to work together successfully and profit from their digital marketing investments. Our focus on innovation, reliability and insight enables clients to improve productivity and results.
Since 1996, DoubleClick has empowered the original thinkers and leaders in the digital advertising industry to deliver on the promise of the rich possibilities of our medium. Today, the company's DART and Performics divisions power the online advertising marketplace. Tomorrow, we will continue to enable clients to profit from opportunities across all digital advertising channels as consumers worldwide embrace them.
Pyramid Power? No, say execs at music download firm BurnLounge. They see 'concentric marketing' as key to sudden sales surge
In less than a year, it has caught on with such industry heavyweights as deejay Rick Dees, Justin Timberlake and Kanye West, and attracted such advertisers as Cadillac and Nokia.
Moreover, it has enlisted an online army of more than 40,000 retailers known as "burn team members." They sell music for downloads, and the retailers share commissions with those who enlisted them.
Founded by Chief Executive Alex Arnold, Chief Operating Officer Ryan Dadd and Chief Creative Officer Stephen Murray, the company combines iTunes-type music downloads and eBay-style retailing with traditional multi-level marketing.
But could BurnLounge's business model be the cover of an old tune: the pyramid scheme?
BurnLounge's Arnold bristled at the suggestion that his company's multilevel marketing--he prefers the term "concentric sales"--could tip into anything illegal.
"I would call it more of affiliate marketing meets fan-to-fan promotion."
Multilevel marketing can be tricky terrain. Even successful mainstream multilevel marketing firms, such as Herbalife International Inc., have wound up in legal hot water by not managing their operation correctly.
In order for a multilevel marketing model not to be considered a pyramid scheme, the majority of the proceeds from sales must go to the retailers, not to those who recruited them.
The deal
The business works like this:
Users create pages where they post and sell artists' music of their choosing for buyers to download. Downloads of a song typically go for 99 cents. Each participating artist signs a non-exclusive, one-year license agreement with BurnLounge and gets between 50 percent and 70 percent of the revenue generated by sales of their songs.
Of the remainder, BurnLounge corporate takes 60 percent while the retailer who sold the song gets 40 percent. However, the retailer must give 20 percent of his take to the one who recruited him. The recruiter must pay a percentage of his take to the one who recruited him, and so forth.
In addition, each retailer gets a $50 bonus for each new retailer recruited; all retailers are part of a "Burn Team," directly tied to the person who recruited them.
"You get rewarded for your team's sales. Music is a fairly low margin product, so you are earning pennies and cents--a little bit of a lot of people," Arnold said. "That's the beauty of it; nobody makes that much money on a single album sale."
BurnLounge is not a pyramid scheme because financial success for the retailers is not solely dependent on recruiting others. A pyramid scheme relies on enrolling new sales people in order to make money. However, there are elements that resemble those traditionally associated with pyramid schemes, including recruitment presentations in hotels and special events designed to entice potential sellers.
But Arnold pointed out that rather than a commodity or a line of products, BurnLounge sells various music that's highly segmented and user-specific. Small, independent bands are the linchpin of BurnLounge's content library.
In fact, the increased exposure and payment for the legal downloads is luring hordes of garage bands and their followers. BurnLounge already has almost 2 million tracks posted for purchase. Every user can configure his download page to promote bands of his choice, so the more friends and fans who sign up, the bigger his potential audience.
True believers
Not surprisingly, most of those involved with BurnLounge are true believers.
Robby Welles, a former real estate agent who now hosts BurnLounge recruitment seminars at hotels and other rented spaces, started an online download store in January.
Welles said he was skeptical when a friend asked him to attend a BurnLounge presentation, and that he resisted multiple invitations. Finally, in return for dinner and drinks, he agreed to go.
"My first reaction was, 'Thanks, man, but I don't have time for anything like that'," Welles said.
After the presentation, Welles said he was impressed and signed up right away. He said that within three months he had left his job to focus on his stores and now has more than 4,000 members on his two "burn teams."
"I heard who was involved and I felt my reputation was no longer on the line, that it was legit," Welles said. "The company is changing the direct sales industry because it's making it cool and fun. The money's good and it will just keep getting better."
Moreover, it has enlisted an online army of more than 40,000 retailers known as "burn team members." They sell music for downloads, and the retailers share commissions with those who enlisted them.
Founded by Chief Executive Alex Arnold, Chief Operating Officer Ryan Dadd and Chief Creative Officer Stephen Murray, the company combines iTunes-type music downloads and eBay-style retailing with traditional multi-level marketing.
But could BurnLounge's business model be the cover of an old tune: the pyramid scheme?
BurnLounge's Arnold bristled at the suggestion that his company's multilevel marketing--he prefers the term "concentric sales"--could tip into anything illegal.
"I would call it more of affiliate marketing meets fan-to-fan promotion."
Multilevel marketing can be tricky terrain. Even successful mainstream multilevel marketing firms, such as Herbalife International Inc., have wound up in legal hot water by not managing their operation correctly.
In order for a multilevel marketing model not to be considered a pyramid scheme, the majority of the proceeds from sales must go to the retailers, not to those who recruited them.
The deal
The business works like this:
Users create pages where they post and sell artists' music of their choosing for buyers to download. Downloads of a song typically go for 99 cents. Each participating artist signs a non-exclusive, one-year license agreement with BurnLounge and gets between 50 percent and 70 percent of the revenue generated by sales of their songs.
Of the remainder, BurnLounge corporate takes 60 percent while the retailer who sold the song gets 40 percent. However, the retailer must give 20 percent of his take to the one who recruited him. The recruiter must pay a percentage of his take to the one who recruited him, and so forth.
In addition, each retailer gets a $50 bonus for each new retailer recruited; all retailers are part of a "Burn Team," directly tied to the person who recruited them.
"You get rewarded for your team's sales. Music is a fairly low margin product, so you are earning pennies and cents--a little bit of a lot of people," Arnold said. "That's the beauty of it; nobody makes that much money on a single album sale."
BurnLounge is not a pyramid scheme because financial success for the retailers is not solely dependent on recruiting others. A pyramid scheme relies on enrolling new sales people in order to make money. However, there are elements that resemble those traditionally associated with pyramid schemes, including recruitment presentations in hotels and special events designed to entice potential sellers.
But Arnold pointed out that rather than a commodity or a line of products, BurnLounge sells various music that's highly segmented and user-specific. Small, independent bands are the linchpin of BurnLounge's content library.
In fact, the increased exposure and payment for the legal downloads is luring hordes of garage bands and their followers. BurnLounge already has almost 2 million tracks posted for purchase. Every user can configure his download page to promote bands of his choice, so the more friends and fans who sign up, the bigger his potential audience.
True believers
Not surprisingly, most of those involved with BurnLounge are true believers.
Robby Welles, a former real estate agent who now hosts BurnLounge recruitment seminars at hotels and other rented spaces, started an online download store in January.
Welles said he was skeptical when a friend asked him to attend a BurnLounge presentation, and that he resisted multiple invitations. Finally, in return for dinner and drinks, he agreed to go.
"My first reaction was, 'Thanks, man, but I don't have time for anything like that'," Welles said.
After the presentation, Welles said he was impressed and signed up right away. He said that within three months he had left his job to focus on his stores and now has more than 4,000 members on his two "burn teams."
"I heard who was involved and I felt my reputation was no longer on the line, that it was legit," Welles said. "The company is changing the direct sales industry because it's making it cool and fun. The money's good and it will just keep getting better."
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