jims_newsletter

What's the 'Underground'?

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:24:17 -0500

Cost Per Action Networks are one of the most profitable channels for Advertisers, Publishers and of course CPA Networks. The CPA Guy's Marketing Trends Newsletter is your source for the latest happenings in and around the Performance Marketing industry. Make sure to whitelist news@jimlillig.com to ensure you always receive the most recent edition. Expanding Your Business Mind - Underground 8 Underground 8. Your business needs what these under-the-radar speakers will teach you. January 04, 2011 - Read my blog and you'll know why I am a big fan of the Underground Seminar. It is subversive, irreverent, groundbreaking, mind expanding, fun, self-affirming and above all, forces you to realize how much more you can do with your own business. Underground, which is now in its 8th year, has attracted an unusual crowd of attendees and speakers. Not that Bob Parsons, CEO of GoDaddy.com doesn't speak at a lot of events, he does. What was unique about Bob's time at Yanik Silver's Underground was the content that he shared. Aside from his war stories and Danica Patrick tales, Bob gave the sold out crowd an earful about how in business it isn't about thinking like everyone else. Or when Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos (acquired by Amazon in 2009 for $928 million) shared with another sold out crowd how he built his breakout online shoe company because it had the best model to connect with customers on a one on one basis, not because he felt shoes were a commodity that he could sell to them. For Tony, it is all about creating a culture. A culture that puts the customer first, at almost any cost. Both Bob and Tony also spent time after their speeches and in Tony's case, spent a few days attending the conference and hanging out with the attendees. When's the last time you were able to knock back a shot with the CEO of one of the fastest growing phenoms in the online industry? Try doing that at Affiliate Summit or AdTech. When I saw Yanik's sales letter for the Underground event, I was shocked (and pleased) that my name was highlighted in the original group of speakers that graced the stage during Underground 1. Since then I have spoken at 3 Undergrounds and conducted an in-depth CPA learning session at a 4th. Underground is one of my favorite conferences because unlike AdTech or Affiliate Summit, it is actually a learning experience and not a rushed, too many speakers I don't care about affair. For everyone reading this who religiously attends the industry events, give yourself a break and attend a conference where you will actually meet new people who will open your eyes to a whole underground of offers and traffic you probably never knew existed. This year's Underground is no different. There are two keynote speakers and 7 main speakers sessions, in addition, there are 4 breakout sessions that will cover an incredible amount of content and introduce you to a whole new way of looking at your business. The great thing about Underground is that there are no overlapping sessions. You pay for content and networking and you get it. In spades. You can read about this year's speakers at the Underground 8 page, but I will tell you I know several of them personally, and here's what you will learn from them. Robert Hirsch, is the Managing Director for South Fork Ventures. Bob has helped me in the past with several projects and his input has been invaluable. Having grown several companies from nothing to $50 million, Bob helped me understand the value of funding and how to get it from the right partner. His insights are incredible and because he will be there for the entire show, you will be able to network with none of the most influential under the radar guys in our business today. Brendon Bruchard, helps companies like Accenture, Alcoa, JC Penney, eBay, Best Buy, Nordstrom, Levi's, Gateway, and Walgreens maximize their effectiveness. His methods are unconventional, which is why he is a #1 NY Times and USA Today best-selling author. James Schranko, from down under is a super-affiliate who is willing to share some of his most potent tactics. James and I have attended many of the Undergrounds and shared many a beer over heated discussions on the best ways to make more with your affiliate business. James opened my eyes to a number of tools he uses to automate his processes, as well as discover niches longbefore anyone else and then exploits them before anyone else. In addition to these leaders, there are over 15 other under-the-radar specialists ranging from Facebook tactics you've never seen to a Mobile App guru with over 35 Million downloads of his 46 apps. From health and wellness pioneers who have global followings numbering into the millions, to niche masters that are growing the next generation of whats hot business models. Underground is not just all info though, Yanik is a master of fun. In fact, the event a few years ago held in LA, had the entire 300+ attendees wandering the streets of LA looking for clues to solve a murder mystery. Every year it has a spy theme, and except for an appearance by mini-Kiss, the event always has a great level of non-artificial fun injected into it. This year I am told by Yanik he has pulled out all the stops with his Spy vs. Spy theme. The fun leads into a more relaxed atmosphere where networking can actually happen. In fact most of the conversations I remember from Underground's have been almost mastermind sessions. There are so many smart out of the box I've done that already type people attending that if you spent the money just to network you would have made your money back in the first hour. Mailers, SEO pioneers, software architects, business owners, investors, copywriters, technicians, blackhats, social media jockeys, CEO's, direct sale guru's and a growing number of Silicon Valley influencers are among the 350+ attendees and speakers. Most of the names you will not know, because Yanik has a very strict criteria for his speakers. They can't be a regular on the circuit, they actually make money from what they do, they can teach how they made their money (and be replicable today), and most importantly no B.S. This is where Underground differs from most of the conferences I have attended over the last decade. You actually can go back to your office and use what you learned from attending. Attach that learning with the connections you make, and for less than what most of you spend on attending any of the standard conferences in our industry, you can go Underground. Right now, you can get a HUGE discount off the regular rates. There's even a deal where you can bring up to 2 more people with you for even less. The accomodations are always top notch (it's in DC at the beginning of March). Normally Yanik will take over the bar at whatever hotel the event is at the last night of the event. This is where you will be able to meet him and also many of his connections (I think Yanik holds the record for most number of times on Necker Island with Sir Richard Branson). I love conferences as anyone who knows me can attest to, and by far this is the best one to make money from. In addition to special rates, Yanik is also making available several bonuses which can increase the value by putting you in the right place at the right time with the right people. He has arranged a VIP networking dinner for early birds, which means you will have unfettered access to all of the speakers and other VIP attendees. You will also get access to all of Underground 7's video footage and Yanik's Internet Success Video Training Series. By now you are probably asking who the hell is Yanik Silver and why haven't I heard of him. Yanik is one of the most accomplished copywriters I know, and his words have inspired hundreds of new entrepreneurs to start their businesses online and off. He started off by pioneering using public domain content and has grown into being one of the most dynamic figures (you've never heard of) in online marketing today. You can see a bit of Yanik's copywriting here, and if you want to see why people want to hang with him, check out his Maverick Business Adventures initiative. He is all about balancing fun with business. Plan on attending Underground 8 and plan on expanding your business in 2012 to new heights. And you might even find yourself having a drink with Yanik himself (sans the socks - long story). This newsletter was sent to you because you opted in to receive The CPA Guy's Marketing Trends Newsletter. If you did not wish to receive this transmission, please visit the link below to adjust your contact preferences. Disclaimer: This newsletter is not intended to be misconstrued as legal, business or tax advice for any individual or company. The articles included in this newsletter are strictly the views of one industry veteran and observer. Expect that all links in this newsletter are performance based, and should you purchase I will be compensated. Visitwww.jimlillig.com for more in-depth articles, videos and audio on CPA Networks and Performance Marketing. All images are the property of their respective owners. Copyright 2011 JimLillig.com. All rights reserved by author.

Cover Your ASSets How Data Breach WILL Affect Your Business

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:31:03 -0400

Cost Per Action Networks are one of the most profitable channels for Advertisers, Publishers and of course CPA Networks. The CPA Guy's Marketing Trends Newsletter is your source for the latest happenings in and around the Performance Marketing industry. Make sure to "whitelist" news@jimlillig.com to ensure you always receive the most recent edition. Cover Your ASSets How Data Breach WILL Affect Your Business Covering your data assets removes a large risk to your business and your identity. July 26, 2011 - As a faithful reader of my newsletter and blog, you have noticed that for the past 6 years I have focused on quality information and have kept the self promotion to a minimum. Todays post is no different except that for the last 6 months I have been completely consumed with identity theft issues in anticipation of launching a suite of identity theft products that spans both consumers and businesses. More on that in a minute. Lets cut to the chase, cyber criminals and hackers are after your assets, and when they find them they know how to make you pay out the arse. Back when the Internet started, it used to be that hackers infiltrated business accounts to show off their mad skills to their hacker friends and gain a standing in the hacker community as having bested a major corporations security. It used to be a feather in their cap and that was about it. Unless you have your head up your ASSets, you know it is a different story today. As we speak, 1 in 23 of the readers of this newsletter are being affected by identity theft. If you own a business, as many on this list do, over 50% of you will experience some sort of data breach or fraud perpetrated on your businesses sensitive data assets. According to the U. S. Secret Service over 60% of all data breach incidents responded to in 2009 involve companies with less than 100 employees. And according to The Verizon Communications Risk Team in a 2011 report co-authored with the U. S. Secret Service and Dutch High Tech Crimes Unit, data breach incidents involving small to mid-size (SMB) businesses are at an all time high. You can read the entire Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report report here Data security is only one piece of the puzzle, as no one can completely secure their business from cyber attacks, just as putting a cop on every corner will not deter all crime, but the process has to start somewhere. Without educating employees on best practices, they can easily fall prey to spear phishing attacks that target employees or other asset stealing techniques data thieves use to remove sensitive data for their own nefarious purposes. Think it cant happen to you? Just go and see how many of your employees have their personal and company related information posted (including email addresses on their Facebook and LinkedIn pages). A thief can easily construct from only a few sources a good picture of businesses relationships and if they have a valid email of an employee they can solicit them with phishing emails designed to get them to give up information unwittingly to a cyber thief. Such messages can direct them to a spoofed bank site or supplier site where they are asked to provide details on the business or worse, login information. All the while the thief is building a profile looking for the weak link. Here is a great example of how one company got duped by a spear-phishing attack that had them responding to supposed court subpoenas from U.S. District Court in San Diego. I will bet most of my readers would have caught it, but there are a certain number that would not have recognized it until it was too late. The scheme asked them to download the entire subpoena through a link to a .pdf file, but downloading the .pdf also included a piece of malicious identity theft stealing software (which is widely available on the internet) that installed itself on the business network and began looking for holes in their security (and no, their installed commercial antivirus programs did not catch it). The point here is, your assets are on the line and there is a constant battle being waged by cyber attackers to crawl up in there. You can try to hold the gates shut, but that is only as good as the weakest link like the new guy you hired or the third party vendor you trust with access to your servers. It only takes one chink in the armor for the data to be stolen. And once it is, you may not even be aware of it for weeks or months, in some cases - years. This is where businesses need added protection. Educating employees is the first step. Then comes a review of your businesses security measures. Does your company require passwords that give access to sensitive data to be changed every month or week? Does your companys IT staff regularly review logs of user activity looking for suspicious activity? Do you even have a data security plan? If you are like most small businesses you dont have a unified plan for addressing data security. Why? Simple, because you are too busy trying to make enough money to keep the doors open. Dont feel bad, even large companies that have millions invested in data security systems get breached. Take Sony for example, their entire Playstation network was breached and sensitive data was stolen on 77 Million users. 77 Million thats more than Frances entire population. And now they are being sued by their insurance company Zurich American claiming that they are not responsible for the multitude of lawsuits that have followed (55 as of the writing of this). The Wall Street Journal estimates that Sonys breach will cost them over $1B to repair the damage done, and many experts are not sure that they will be able to completely recover. So if Sony can be breached, what does that say for SMBs? Without sophisticated data security in place and no dedicated IT staff to watch log files and other red flags what can a business do? This is where the products I have been working on for the last 6 months come into play. The focus of the entire team has been to provide SMBs with a comprehensive suite of tools as well as include insurance coverage options to offset the cost of a breach. While there are other SMB data breach offerings, few if any focus on the broad range of education materials, protection measures and insurance coverages that we have included in the data breach protection plans we have created. IdentityIntactforBusiness.com was developed with the SMB market in mind. This unique and timely service provides businesses with the most complete set of pre-incident documents and training for employees and owners, coupled with the following insurance coverage options: Business Identity Fraud Insurance Most businesses arent even aware their business has an identity (like their own personal identity) and that it too can be hacked and used to set up bogus bank accounts and assume loans in the businesses name. Business fraud insurance helps to cover losses stemming from a businesses identity being stolen and used for unauthorized access to funds. Information Security and Privacy Liability Insurance Provides insurance coverage when your own privacy policy is not adhered to by your employees. It also provides coverage for response to unauthorized access, theft of or destruction of data, denial of service attacks and virus transmission involving the insureds computer systems. In addition is also provides added firepower for items not covered under most general liability insurance related to exposure of electronic content including advertising injuries. Employee (Personal) Identity Fraud Insurance This provides coverage to mitigate the expenses associated with correcting identity fraud. When combined with provided prevention and resolution services, it provides an added layer of protection and represents an excellent employee benefit, often times eliminating the need for expensive retail identity protection products. Data Breach Incident Response and Consumer Remedies Notification of those affected by a data breach is required by 46 states and is also being discussed on the federal level. Responding to a data breach incident can be costly and oftentimes a maze of confusing state-by-state regulations making it hard to be compliant. The coverage includes compliant notification expenses as well as reimbursement for certain losses arising from extortion, crisis management, expert services (for forensic investigations) and identity protection services. Insurance is only one piece of the puzzle. To protect your assets you also need an education program and a solid data security plan to prepare and respond to a data breach attack. This is why we developed the Small Business Preparedness Kit. This set of documents, templates and protocols (over 130 pages in all) is designed to assist small to mid-size businesses with the setup and ongoing implementation of a data breach prevention plan. If this sounds expensive, it isnt. In fact plans range from $299 to $1999 annually. Its impossible to say for sure that your business will be affected by data breach, but it is really not a matter of if, it is a matter of WHEN. If your business collects data (and who doesnt) or even just takes payments online you are a target. Get the training you and your employees need, a solid pre-written data security plan and insurance coverages that can defray the expense of a serious breach incident by visiting www.identityintactforbusiness.com. And I would be remiss if I didnt mention that there is also individual identity theft protection available at our main site www.IdentityIntact.com. When large companies lose your data you really have no recourse except to protect yourself from the costs associated with identity theft by having insurance against it. We have trained Resolution and Recovery Specialists available 24/7 to respond to requests who begin locking down your identity and start the recovery process. In addition, if your business works with other businesses, associations or subscription models, there are opportunities to promote our IdentityIntact(r) (comprehensive identity theft consumer protection), IdentityIntact for Business(r) (business data breach protection) or our embedded products suite, IDIntact360 degrees(r) (lower cost ID theft solutions for mass subscription consumer models). Please contact me at jim@wheatenworldwide.com for more information on how you can capitalize on assisting your contacts prepare and defend themselves against personal identity theft and business data breach attacks. Remember, its your ASS-ets on the line. Cheers, Jim Lillig This newsletter was sent to you because you opted in to receive The CPA Guy's Marketing Trends Newsletter. If you did not wish to receive this transmission, please visit the link below to adjust your contact preferences. Disclaimer: This newsletter is not intended to be misconstrued as legal, business or tax advice for any individual or company. The articles included in this newsletter are strictly the views of one industry veteran and observer. Visit www.jimlillig.com for more in-depth articles, videos and audio on CPA Networks and Performance Marketing. All images are the property of their respective owners. Copyright 2011 JimLillig.com. All rights reserved by author.

MobiRescue Saves Cart Abandons With Text 833% ROI

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 08:15:16 -0400

Cost Per Action Networks are one of the most profitable channels for Advertisers, Publishers and of course CPA Networks. The CPA Guy's Marketing Trends Newsletter is your source for the latest happenings in and around the Performance Marketing industry. Make sure to whitelistnews@jimlillig.com to ensure you always receive the most recent edition. MobiRescue Saves Cart Abandons With Text - 833% ROI Mobile is saving online, especially when 71% of carts get abandonded. April 22, 2011 - 833 percent ROI. That's what one payday loan website experienced in a 10 month case study usingMobiRescue's SMS Cart Abandonment Solution. A health and beauty site saw 400% ROI. Impressive when you think that only 160 characters can achieve this. Using mobile phones to save shopping cart abandons is the latest (and I am thinking the smartest) solution yet to win back customers after they have flown the coop, so to speak. Solutions for saving shopping cart abandons have grown up a lot since the earliest days of eCommerce. Since the first online transaction in 1979, online consumers have jumped from shopping carts in greater numbers than lemmings into the sea. Thirty-two years later, nearly 80 percent of the population have internet access in the US and 154 million people in the U.S. made online purchases totalling $155.2 billion in sales. That's over $1000 per person. In a recent Forrester report on cart abandonment, they estimate that 71 percent of the time consumers abandon online merchant's shopping carts. If you total that up, that is a huge amount of missed opportunity in the order of billions of dollars. According to the report, here are the major reasons why carts get left behind: Shipping and handling costs were too high 44% I was not ready to purchase the product 41% I wanted to compare prices on other sites 27% Product price was higher than I was willing to pay 25% Just wanted to save products in my cart for later consideration 24% Except for the shipping costs, all the rest of these issues can be reduced through a campaign to better follow up post abandon with the customer. In fact, the passage of time coupled with engaging relevant message content can actually play into the favor of merchants looking to get the customers back. The key element is actually doing something to get them to return and purchase. There are several remedies to the maladies of cart abandonment. You can optimize your cart experience. This is the first place to stop the bleeding. The second line of defense are "chat bots" that pop up and try to emulate the salesperson in the store who will help you with your questions or issues with your purchase. Although they were initially effective, their average "save rate" is between 2 percent and 7 percent. Even live person chat bots fail to raise the meter much higher. The cousin of the chat bot is the exit pop. You know the annoying rectangles that send you screaming to push the right button to let you get on your way. These can be minimally effective, but are still very poor at converting the determined cart jumper. The next logical remedy is to send an email. This assumes that a merchant has actually thought to design their cart with Ajax or the more old fashioned method of adding a 1st page to the sales process that collects vital information like name, email and phone. Then using a solution such as Listrak's triggered event email shopping cart abandonment email series you can recoup a few more percentage points. (If you are a glutton for punishment and want to actually see how much you are losing, try this shopping cart abandonment calculator.) But with email open rates averaging around 20% and click thru rates from those opens at 3.74 percent, you have a 1 in 5 chance of getting them to open, and of those only 1 in 26 of those will actually click back to the cart page again. Out of 1000 cart abandons, an online merchant can expect only 7.5 of the original 1000 cart abandons will click and only 2 of those might actually re-engage and buy. That sucks. This is a gratuitous video moment, click the clip below and see what most online merchants are experiencing. But with nearly every adult in the US (and certainly the tech savvy cart jumpers Forrester identified) possessing a cell phone, and a text message open rate of over 98% according to Foster and Sullivan it just makes sense that you would want to use a mobile device to extend your efforts of re-engaging your customers. This is where MobiRescue really comes to the rescue of online merchants. If the Forrester report can be trusted and cart abandons are driven by the need to get a better deal, or delay the purchase until they have done more research, sms can be the right message at the right time. If you have used all of the above methods and haven't moved the needle much, MobiRescue will give you an additional channel that you can not only help to save sales with, but increase additional sales opportunities by being able to send additional messages with discounts and coupons and know that at the very least a majority percentage of your visitors will be seeing your brand and your message in the palm of their hands. Repetition builds familiarity and sets the stage for future purchasing decisions. Using SMS text messages to save cart abandons is of course already happening, but only a small percentage of retailers use this highly effective method. Those that do are seeing incredible results. MobiRescue reports ROI between 50 percent and 1291 percent. Using a simple 10 percent off message for one Health and Beauty merchant who averaged a 400 percent ROI. MobiRescue has really thought this all out. The first step is to review your privacy. In the age of do not track and permission based marketing, this step is essential to make sure you can send your customers text messages. Next it is a simple one step code install to send an automated response. You then need to ensure that you are collecting mobile phone numbers early on in the shopping cart process. The last step is all about timing. This is where you can have fun testing how long you want to wait to send your message. Varying send timing on sms messages can result in some very interesting results. For example, if you vary timing by category you may find those who buy sporting goods need to optimally receive their message within a few hours of abandoning whereas an electronics purchase may benefit from sending out after a 24 hour period (after they have had a chance to compare a little bit). The possibilities of this method may reveal insights into a customer's buying behaviors that can increasingly improve all aspects of the shopping sales funnel overall. This feature is baked into the MobiRescue solution. But you aren't done, you've only just started. You are now in a very personal conversation with the consumer, you have their mobile number and they looked at your message and they possibly clicked on the link in the text message or called the toll free number to take advantage of a special cart saving offer. But now you can send another text, this time with a coupon or a discount on a similar or like product and have a good idea that they will at the very least see the message, and in the best case scenario respond. Merchants like Best Buy® or Sears® can learn from this as they can drive online cart abandons to their bricks and mortar locations. The possibilities are only bounded by the imagination of their marketing managers. If tech savvy users are abandoning carts to get a better deal, then waiting a little while to send them a reminder may just put your brand and products in front of them at just the right time. Think about it, they have now had time to do their due diligence and possibly hitting them at the right time to get them to return with a small discount is just the thing that pushes them over the edge. MobiRescue makes starting the conversation simple and easy, and actually affordable, as MobiRescue only takes a percentage of a closed sale. There is no risk, no up-front costs, or per message fees to their clients. MobiRescue takes all the risk and integrates between the customer's website and their SMS gateway. This performance model is not new, but it is for a mobile based cart abandonment solution. MobiRescue only gets paid if they rescue sales. They predetermine their fees in writing with the client, either a percentage of sale or mutually agreed dollar amount. Sure it isn't 100% of the sale, but you have gained an even more valuable asset, the right to be in someone's pocket. If you don't abuse it and treat the customer with respect while engaging them in a relevant way, you might just be able to increase their lifetime value to your brand. So what do you have to lose. Oh yeah that's right - your customers. I hope you find this helpful. Cheers, Jim Lillig This newsletter was sent to you because you opted in to receive The CPA Guy's Marketing Trends Newsletter. If you did not wish to receive this transmission, please visit the link below to adjust your contact preferences. Disclaimer: This newsletter is not intended to be misconstrued as legal, business or tax advice for any individual or company. The articles included in this newsletter are strictly the views of one industry veteran and observer. Visitwww.jimlillig.com for more in-depth articles, videos and audio on CPA Networks and Performance Marketing. All images are the property of their respective owners. Copyright 2011 JimLillig.com. All rights reserved by author.

SMS Mobile Marketing Has its Legal Risks

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:01:11 -0400

Privacy Bill Of Rights - Are Two Agencies Better than One?

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:12:04 -0500

An App with No WAP Is Crap

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 13:54:10 -0500

Cost Per Action Networks are one of the most profitable channels for Advertisers, Publishers and of course CPA Networks. The CPA Guy's Marketing Trends Newsletter is your source for the latest happenings in and around the Performance Marketing industry. Make sure to whitelistnews@jimlillig.com to ensure you always receive the most recent edition. An App with No WAP Is Crap Mobile Marketers don't make the mistake of getting app blind. January 18, 2011 - It's true. If your long awaited App for iOS, Android, Blackberry or W7 doesn't have an associated WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) enabled mobile website, then you more than likely just blew a large chunk of your marketing budget like a freshman at a Jack Daniels chug fest. Just hope you didn't get it all over your shoes. Mobile device applications are creative to say the least, from farts to fantasy girlfriends, to kissing lessons and Trekky tricorders. There's an app for that, but for most companies, there's no WAP for that (brand). It's sad really, when you think of all the effort that goes into creating an app that the marketing team would miss the entire point of the execution. The reason companies build apps for themselves is to increase customer retention and brand awareness and in some weird extended metaphysical blended with mobile technology way, endear the brand to their customer. That's a lot to ask a few lines of code to do. A brand's app, or apps, need to be first and foremost relevant to the user as they relate to the brand. The brand messaging needs to scream from the app but not through branding. The sheer usability should prove its necessity. And most important, the customer has to want to raise their hand and ask for more. But when they do, developers rarely think about extending the hand back to grab it, and the customer slips away into the unknown abyss. And you as the marketer, will never to have had the fleeting moment of joy capitalized on. Thus I have coined the equation: App + (-WAP) = Crap There are already something like 4 times the amount of mobile phones in the world compared to laptops and PC's. If this fact alone doesn't make you respect the smaller screen, think about this. In many parts of the world, the mobile phone is one's only connection to the world. It IS their PC. And if you think this is only for 3rd worlders, think again. A good proportion of those under the age of 30 use their phones for more web tasks such as banking and checking email. If that weren't enough, by the end of this year, mobile wallets will be widely in use making the phone now a pocket sized ATM. Everyone has one, so why are you forgetting about it? OK, so what of it. I have an app and if they want to connect with me they will simply use the app. Touché. But what if the app doesn't have the information they are looking for? Where are they going to go? I would think they would turn to their old friend the mobile browser. What's that, you don't have a mobile version of your website? And this is what leads me to the (-WAP) part of the equation. If you are not accessible on all screens today, you simply don't exist to a growing part of your customer base. If you spent all that money on an app and you didn't collect a single piece of information about the user, what have you gained? Actually, the better question is, what measurable gain have you achieved? Anyone can spend their ad budget to get their app in the top rank in iTunes or Android Store for a few days using AdMob or inMobi. But it is the true marketer that can actually prove that the app did more than satisfy the boss's ego because his other CEO buddies have apps and he didn't. This is where having a mobile enabled website comes in. From the moment someone downloads your app and engages with your brand, you should be thinking what can I do to extend this relationship. How can I better serve and delight my customer. I am willing to bet you could do sell more (of anything) if you knew more about your precious customer. Once they have engaged, and I mean almost immediately, ask them for their help in serving you better. Ask them to fill out a short survey and leave their information so you can send them a terrific gift. That can be in the form of a coupon, a free sample or some other promotional item that once again reinforces that your brand is relevant to them. Heck, give them a choice of what they want from you (works for Kiehl's). In this way you are giving your customer a benefit, meanwhile you can also show that your hard work actually did something other than get downloads. In using your WAP mobile website as your always on, always in your pocket go to site for what they need (assuming you have made it easy to navigate and useful to the customer), your customer will reward you with giving you the feedback to know how to better serve their needs. Okay say it with me - they'll buy more. If you still need convincing on why a WAP site is a must, take a look at your server logs. Chances are good, mobile visits to your website total 3% to 12% of total traffic. That's 3% to 12% of the people to your site you are simply driving away because you have neglected the one piece of machinery you yourself cannot live without. A mobile site is not always as complicated as you might think, in fact most can be done for less than $5,000.00 for a well functioning cross platform compatible site that can mimic the most important customer facing elements of your desktop site. If you need the mobile redirect code, I will even give it to you here. The point is, if you are proud of your app, then you should go the full monty and get your WAP in order as well. While an app is technically always with the user, so is your mobile website. In fact, most users while they are surfing the web on a mobile browser will rarely stop to open an app, preferring to go to your mobile website instead. In addition, you can effect changes to your mobile website much easier and faster than you can to an app. And as if you needed one last push over the proverbial edge, the this one goes to 11 nudge, here it is: your WAP mobile site works on all phones. Apps only work on some phones. Please don't build a crappy app, because that's just wrong. And don't compound your miserable slide into marketing mediocrity by neglecting the unwired. App's and WAP's should live in complimentary harmony, not in a struggle for resources. Collecting and using information users are willing to give you, from any interface, is important to the survival of any company in today's have to be everywhere at all times digital environment. So here's an example of an excellent execution of integrating a mobile website and a mobile app. - Build a scaled down version of your website and install mobile redirect script. Chase Banking has a great mobile site (mobilebanking.chase.com) simple and only has navigation that is relevant to a mobile user such as Log On, Branch Finder, FAQ's and Contact. - Encourage users to engage with you by giving up email or phone and then send relevant messages via email and text. (90%+ of text's get read). Chase sends out text message alerts and emails simultaneously when my balance drops below a certain amount, or if I get a deposit. I always read these texts. They could even put a marketing message or a click to call for an offer in them and I would click on it. - Build an app that users cannot live without. Once again, the Chase Mobile Banking App gives users the ability to manage their account right from the app on the go. Check balances, transfer money, make deposits (using my phone's camera), and make payments all from the convenience of wherever I am. Wasting your ad budget is a terrible thing. Don't forget to chime in at your next what are we going to do in mobile meeting with the formula, an app with no WAP is crap and BE the hero for your customer (and your career). -------- BTW, as a side note, If you are in need of an App and a WAP or just how to get your share of the mobile market, feel free to contact me, and the team at Wheaten and Wheaten will make it a reality, complete with revenue. No pun intended, but we know our crap. I hope you find this helpful. Cheers, Jim Lillig This newsletter was sent to you because you opted in to receive The CPA Guy's Marketing Trends Newsletter. If you did not wish to receive this transmission, please visit the link below to adjust your contact preferences. Disclaimer: This newsletter is not intended to be misconstrued as legal, business or tax advice for any individual or company. The articles included in this newsletter are strictly the views of one industry veteran and observer. Visitwww.jimlillig.com for more in-depth articles, videos and audio on CPA Networks and Performance Marketing. All images are the property of their respective owners. Copyright 2009 JimLillig.com. All rights reserved by author.

My New Gig New Predictions for Performance Marketing

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 10:18:04 -0500

If you read my last blog post then you already know that I have landed at Wheaten and Wheaten, a Chicago based full service digital ad agency and CPA Network. If you read it then you also know why I think 2011 is going to be the year Performance Marketing comes out of the closet to assume it's rightful spot as the third (and most important) channel open to brands and advertisers. Having spent the better part of this year growing OfferMobi into the largest all mobile CPA network, I got a little distanced from the online CPA world. Being back in the thick of things at Wheaten (adFoundry.net), I am starting to hear more and more from larger brands sniffing at the door of performance. One old friend who works for a major Fortune 500 with 1000's of locations in the US remarked to me this week that his boss (an agency guy) literally spends all day figuring out which banner gets more clicks. What a waste of time. What he should really be looking at is what happens after the click. But there is hope. The mere fact that my friend was even able to get the clearance to speak with me regarding lead gen for their major brand was a breakthrough. Now the real challenge is getting his agency to listen to anything that isn't CPM or CPC. The advertiser wants it but their agency cannot figure out how to get paid, and that's where the issue lies. Agencies are terrific at writing checks, but not so good when they have to be graded on performance. This scares most of them to death. Yet it is a fact of life that everyone in Performance Marketing understands without question. Advertisers want to get past the click and want to engage their target markets, but too often the metric for success in online is simply number of clicks, or worse Hits (How Idiots Track Success). All the fancy metrics in the world cannot replace a solid lead being generated. When a brand stops at the Impression or the Click, then it really isn't getting all it can out of its digital campaigns. I challenge brands to go beyond the impression and click and reach for true ROI and performance in their online campaigns. Once they peek behind this artificial veil they will see that with the proper application of testing and optimization, the target market they are looking for will take the actions they so desperately want. Namely, connecting on a one to one basis with them. But until agencies are willing to work on a performance only basis as most of us in the CPA industry do, brands will more than likely be stuck with lackluster performance in their digital campaigns. So make sure to hit me up in Facebook or LinkedIn and let's start making the online space a whole lot more profitable for 2011. Go beyond the click and impression, and start looking for ways that you can engage your customers and potential clients through performance marketing. I am looking forward to my new position with Wheaten and Wheaten as their new Executive Vice President. They have a terrific team here and I am feeling back home again in full metal network mode. If you want to discuss getting your campaigns moving in the performance space (as well as the mobile space I know so well now), feel free to contact me. I am still the same old Jim, but now with a high integrity network, a dedicated team of professional performance marketers and the resources my last several positions lacked, I am ready to take your campaigns to the next level. Thanks again for reading and stay tuned for what we are doing to break the barrier of performance marketing on mobile - hint hint. Cheers, Jim PS here are my new contact details: jim@wheatenworldwide.com O: 312-226-6200 ext210

How To Be Internet Marketings Biggest Loser

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:12:54 -0500

Turkey day is only 48 hours away. You are used to getting emails from me that focus on Internet Marketing and how you can capitalize on it. But today I want to break from that for a minute and help you with your waistline. I have lost 40 lbs or more in the last couple of years and I know how hard the Holidays can be. What with the figgy pudding and the endless variations on turkey leftovers, our belts all can use another notch. But there are a few simple rules you can follow that will mean the difference between wearing your big boy/girl pants this holiday and fitting into the clothes that make you look the best. So if you will excuse the diversion for a few minutes, I want to share some of the secrets I have learned from my good friend, Jon Benson, author of the wildly popular Fit Over 40 training series. TIP 1 Ditch The Starch Starches, such as rice, potatoes, some veggies, oats, etc. are often considered health foods. While they can be healthy, they can also pack on stomach bodyfat like crazy if you overdo them. But, you don't have to give them up completely, check out how Jon shows you how to lose weight without cutting out too many starches. http://www.jonbensonfitness.com/go/tweetcash/eodd <--- Good 30-second fatloss tip Here's the gist of how it works.... Take a weekly approach to foods rather than a daily approach. This keeps your metabolism guessing. If your body cannot figure out what you're up to, fatburning is that much more powerful. And you can get by with eating starches... at least a specific times on specific days. OK, so you don't want to follow Jon's extensive Every Other Day Diet, no worries. Simply cut starches out entirely for 4-8 weeks. Then slowly add them back a few days per week. While this is no where near as effective (or as fun) as the Jon's method, it will get you pointed in the right direction. TIP 2 Can The Sodas Why diet-sodas? A recent study revealed that people who drank diet- sodas actually increased bodyfat when compared to those who drank sugar-sodas. What the... ?? Yep. Your body cannot be fooled by aspartame and chemicals. Sorry, but that's the truth. When you cut out the diet-sodas you'll notice your bodyfat drops like a rock in a pond of clear water. And that's what you need to be drinking: A quart of pure water per 50 lbs of bodyweight a day. Mix it with lemon and a bit of Stevia (an herbal sweetener) and make lemonade. It's wonderful! TIP 3 Stay Hungry You cannot rest on your butt and stay hungry. You cannot think you've arrived and stay hungry. It takes a special person to be hungry... and an even greater one to stay that way. You should stay hungry in two ways: In how you workout and literally... stay a bit hungry before you go to bed. Not starving... just a bit hungry. For your workouts, I have a great solution. There's a revolution going on with the time/energy equation... physics applied to physical fitness. Jon started it, and believe me, a lot of very famous people are riding the coattails of this get it done faster phenomenon. If you want to see the original (and I think the best) 7-minute workout plan, go here: http://www.jonbensonfitness.com/go/tweetcash/7mm <--- 7 minutes a day, 5 days a week.. no joke! You see, progression -- forced progression -- is the best way to stay hungry. Jon's 7 Minute Body System forces you to progress without thinking about it. Progression is built into the System. As far as staying hungry at night? Check with your doctor and if he/ she okays it take 500mg of potassium and 1000mg of magnesium/calcium a few hours prior to bed. This helps with the hunger pangs. Also, keep hard-boiled eggs in the fridge. If you get really hungry, eat one with half the yolk (toss the other half.) It keeps me full for an hour at least. TIP 4 Cardio Clarity Hours and hours of cardio a day is not the answer. However, you can do light cardio (i.e. brisk walking, or riding the bike at 60% of your max) just to burn off calories. That's okay... and personally I don't find it that boring if I'm watching a TV show. It does not interfere with my main fatloss exercise (weight training... YES!) and it burns off about 400 calories an hour. What does work is early morning fasting cardio... but you only need 9-15 minutes. Watch this short presentation on it... very good workout tips areincluded: http://www.jonbensonfitness.com/go/tweetcash/7mm <--- Brief workout tips TIP 5 Get Raw At Night Raw veggies with your last meal and as a snack will really help your fatburning along. I started with red peppers because they're sweet. Now I eat virtually every veggie raw at night without thinking about it. Give this a shot. The fatloss is well worth it. So there are some easy ways to keep the pounds off and the clothes you want to wear on. Before you start packing in the lbs this week, take a look at how Jon has helped 1000's of people achieve their weight loss goals. More importantly, you'll feel better and you won't need to go to the back of the closet searching for the clothes you set aside for your fat days. Cheers, Jim P.S. I personally believe it all starts with a dietplan that's realistic and doable. Without that even the BEST workout is doomed to let you down. So here's your best bet: Get Jon's Every Other Day Dietplan, and then get his 7 Minute Body System - right now he has cut the price in half (like your body fat count after Jon is done with you). http://www.jonbensonfitness.com/go/tweetcash/eodd <--- Discount-page

Holiday Marketing With SMS Text Messages - There Is Still Time

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 18:07:29 -0500

Santa's sleigh will be filled with smartphones this year, which is good news if you are an advertiser or an affiliate. Mobile marketing is well on its way to becoming the preferred channel for many US consumers to connect with brands. Those that get in early will have the advantage. Until recently I was the VP Business Development for the largest performance based mobile ad network in the US, and as such I have been able to chart the meteoric rise in interest in mobile marketing from merchants, retailers and consumers. What seemed to work was connecting with mobile users through their phones. Not so much through apps, but through mobile websites that collect information which is later followed up on with additional messaging, much of it coming in the form of text messaging. Mobile Marketer has reported that over 95% of sms messages get read. Additionally, research by Hipcricket last year shows that 83 percent of consumers are still waiting for a favorite, trusted brand to market to them via their mobile phone. For both affiliates and merchants, text messaging needs to be a solid part of your digital campaign strategy this Holiday. While many consumers will use mobile to search and find local coupons, many more will find what they want on mobile and finish the transaction on their desktop. But because of the device limitations and lack of a mobile wallet (like Amazon and eBay have used to rack up over $1bn each in the last 12 months) many advertisers will miss out on the chance to capture those users coming to their site (mobile enabled or not). The use of SMS text messaging can be the answer to solve this. Text messaging campaigns are highly effective when applied correctly. They can: alert subscribers to sales and discounts be used for order confirmations or shipping changes push end users towards mobile coupons conduct surveys and sweepstakes use for groupon type promotions keep your brand top of mind with useful tips and links drive calls to phone rooms You can of course get as creative as you want, the bottom line is that consumers read their text messages like 90% or more of the time. Compare that to the less than 20% open rates for email. If you want to get started fast you can use a shared short code that can be set up in as little as three days and for less than you would imagine. Merchants, you can send emails to your list asking them to opt into your Text Message Club. Once they confirm you can ask them to self select for different keywords (i.e. Text Deals to 55555 or Text Sweeps to 55555, etc.). Letting them self select allows you to tightly target the messages and be more relevant. It's only 160 characters so it is actually less work than email and way higher open rates. The link in the text can be to a mobile enabled site, ask for their email (and follow up with them through that channel) or to a phone number where they can finish the transaction. You can also display the Text Message Club on your website, in emails, on social media sites, etc. The goal is to get them opted in so you can market to them all year long through their always on, always with them device. If you do not have a mobile enabled version of your website, you are missing anywhere from 3% to 12% of your traffic, and that number is only going to go up. Affiliates, you can use this in the same way as a merchant, but you more than likely you will not get traffic to a mobile site unless you have one of the top 2 positions in Google mobile search. The better way is to use your existing database and solicit them to receive daily offers through their phone. If this all sounds a bit confusing or too daunting, not to worry. I have found one of the simplest and easiest to use SMS marketing solutions out there for getting text campaigns going fast. The site can get you up and running within a day or so. This way you won't be missing the boat when it comes to this Holiday (and you'll be even better prepared for it next season since you will have some data to review and make better decisions with). Visit Trumpia today and see how their easy to use interface makes getting started in SMS marketing simple. Oh yeah, did I mention there is a 15 day no cost trial for this. So really no reason for you to not try it out. Visit the site and make sure to check out their super low rates for getting started. Happy Holidays and let's get those mobile campaigns going. Consumers are wanting it, you just have to give it to them. Cheers, Jim www.jimlillig.com _________________________

RE: A Conference that doesn't suck...We Make Sexy Time - No?

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 01:52:13 -0500

Hey there, OK, they tell me that email works better when you have a bonus. Here's your bonus, 10Gb of storage free. No strings. (Not an aff link either) http://www.humyo.com/ OK, there's your stinking freebie (there's another one below as well). Now read what I have to tell you about Yanik "I Secretly Wear Borat Swimsuit Under My Clothes" Silver. Verrrrry Niiiiice. (On Halloween, Yanik never breaks character. As Borat at a neighborhood Halloween Party in a neighborhood he had just moved into, he kept it up and I believe offended as many of the women as possible - "We go make sexy time now.") Yanik loves to have fun, I mean alot. Who else would start a business based on connecting business leaders in an environment at zero gravity or with 3 inches of Baja sand in your pants from driving a souped up buggy for three days with Jesse James. The guy loves his good times, and he also loves making money. I sent you a note about Underground 7, the marketing conference that I have spoken at and attended regularly for my best cutting edge ideas and networking. The deadline to save over $1000 is Monday, November 15th at Midnight. Go there now and sign up to attend. Now Yanik can write 35 word headlines like the Pope can recite the Lord's prayer backwards. But make him write banner text and, well let's just say he's no Pope in that department. So excuse him for the "package" name he came up with. The Super Early Bird Package (c'mon Yanik, how about "Platinum Partner" or "The Gold Club") includes: 1. A *big*, almost ridiculous discount (in the $1,000s) off your ticket to Underground 007! 2. FREE Ticket(s) to the VIP Networking Dinner (pssst all the speakers attend this) 3. A gift copy of the entire Underground 6 Seminar Video Series 4. Not just 1 but 2 discounted Guest Tickets 5. The chance to split up your ticket payment into 4 Easy Installments (last chance to do this is midnight, November 15th!) The package - I am dubbing the "Freaking Smart Mutha's Package" - saves you a total of $2,869. OK, so you say, Jim, I can't do another adTech or Aff Summit. This isn't either of those. This is a unique conference attended by some of the best marketing minds working today. You just aren't going to read about them. They are Underground. And you have a unique (and let me stress fun) opportunity to actually go to a conference and LEARN something. Actually learn something? I know, it will feel strange at first, but you will be applying the techniques you learn at Underground almost immediately. I personally have gone back to my room and actually made tweaks to my sites based on what I heard in the sessions. I never do that at other conferences. You know what, I could have just copied and pasted Yanik's excellent swipe file, that all of the other promoters will do. I seriously thought about it - for like a minute. While Yanik's copy is good, I really want you to understand that this is really one of the conferences I personally recommend for anyone who is charged with marketing online (and off). So enough of an endorsement. If you don't attend Underground 7 you will be behind the curve and wondering how in a down economy others are making a killing. More than likely they are executing while you are still learning. And what are they executing, all the topics you are going to learn about at Underground 7. Don't be a dumbass. Spend the money (it's a lot less than you think an event like this would cost) and get your"marketing" on. I guarantee that if you attend, it will change at least one (if not several) aspects of the way you look at your online (and offline) marketing. Sign Up NOW For the Freaking Smart Mutha's Package before you miss the deadline on Monday Night (that's tonight). In all seriousness, go do it. You can thank me by buying me a drink at the bar at the event. Cheers, Jim Lillig PS, Here's the other freebie. Join Trumpia for 15 Days at No Cost. SMS, eMail and IM messaging in one simple interface. If you need a fast solution for the Holiday rush, SMS can increase sales by at least 10%. They'll set your campaign up fast and you can send out coupons, special discounts, even a groupon style promotion with your own list. They even will help you collect the phone numbers from your existing list. OK, don't maximize this holiday. Your competition will be. Get your 15 day trial for nothing right here. Now doesn't that look fun? ---------------------------- JimLillig.com 2030 N. Oak Wood Dr. Arlington Heights, IL 60004