Sunday, September 29, 2013

An important note from Squidoo

If you're not familiar with Squidoo, it's essentially a user-generated website where users can create pages (called lenses) for subjects that interest them. These pages can then be used to sell products for profit or charitable donation. Topics run the gamut including food, books, travel, arts and many others. And, oh yeah, it was started by that dude named Seth Godin.

I visited the site in hopes of finally participating in the dialogue when a very interesting notification window popped up. Being a content guy myself, I was quite impressed by the notice, as it provided some guidelines on how content should be created on the Squidoo site. Creating engaging, digestible content isn't about trying to game the system; rather, it should be about real, authentic and personal content.

I repeat, it should be about real, authentic and personal content.

So kudos to you, Squidoo for taking this approach with your community. Many other content creators (myself included) should take heed and follow your mantra!

I've copied and pasted the word-for-word text from the pop-up notice below... 


An important note from Squidoo to all of our members!

We have a challenge and we need your help...

Thanks to you and the millions of Squids who have embraced The Scroll of Originality, Squidoo has reached records amount of traffic, charitable donations and user revenue. We stand (we always have) for passionate, original content. Squidoo is about storytelling, first hand reviews and recommendations.

Our site is only as good as the pages our users build, and lately, too many people are taking a short-term view and building pages that don't work, pages the search engines don't like, and pages that are cookie-cutter instead of personal.

We need all of our users to reconfirm that they're committed to our approach to content. The important rules are still the same: share your passions, tell stories and be personal.
Starting in March, 2013, we'll be running scans on all of our featured lenses to more aggressively detect spun content, junk and keyword stuffing. If your lens gets flagged it will get locked (and eventually deleted without notice) but you have the opportunity to fix these lenses and make them better. And you can start right now.

Check out this lens which explains how you can fix some of the widespread problems we're seeing before you get flagged. It's entirely possible that your lenses need no improvement at all, but if you've actively swapped ratings, added countless affiliate links and focused on the short-term, we need you to take action now.

It's simple: go through your lenses, make them personal, delete extraneous affiliate links and ugly buttons. Make them the sort of thing you'd like to see, not the product of gaming the system and industrialized linkbaiting.

98.4% of Squidoo is amazing. If we work together, we take all of our pages where they need to go.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Part Two: Everything's negotiable. How much do you want to make a bet?

A few months ago I posted a piece entitled, Everything's negotiable. How much do you want to make a bet? I think the title was fairly self-explanatory. The eBay case study below further supports the claim in my post.

I won't apologize to eBay (okay, maybe just a tad bit) for constantly using them as a test ground, but what can I say? I'm a marketer and testing is in my DNA. But I love eBay and they're still making money from me. Thanks, eBay for enabling me to find unique stuff, sprinkled with the added excitement of negotiating.  

Below is a real-life communication thread between me (buyer) and the seller. The item I negotiated for was a brand-new pair of J.Crew Union Shorts.Consequently, when I originally saw these shorts at the retail store they were selling (as I recall) for $68.00. At that price, I should get the entire pant.

A few things to note...
  • The seller is from the U.S. and originally listed the shorts with a buy-it-now price of $29.99, plus $6.99 shipping. 
  • My negotiation with the seller transpired over a 24-hour period.
  • I left the communication as it was and didn't edit for spelling, punctuation, grammar, case, etc.  
eBay: A Case Study On Negotiating

Me: Will you take $25 with shipping to California already included?

Seller: Can u do the buy it now and ill do free shipping for 29.99?

Me: $25 is my budget :) Let me know if you change your mind.

Seller: Ok deal.

Me: cool...can you go ahead and update your listing and I will purchase? thanks!

Seller: offer 25 and ill accept and ill change shipping on the invoice.

Me: actually I found another pair of shorts that's a bit less. is $25 your absolute best price?

Seller: Yes. They in excellent condition and a steal at this price I think

Me: okay. I realize you say $25, but I'm going to throw an offer of $22 out there anyway. there's another pair of shorts I'm looking at. if you change your mind, let me know by noon tomorrow (Monday) pacific time; otherwise, I'll purchase the other ones although I'd prefer to pick up the one you have. thanks again!

Seller: We sort of agreed to 25. I would say honestly the 3 dollars wouldn't make a difference to me so ill agree to it but I truly won't go lower than that. Offer 22 and I will accept. If you decide u don't want the shorts no problem. 22 is my last agreement. Thanks!

Me: okay I appreciate that. so that's $22 with shipping to california already included, correct?

Seller: Yes!

There you have it. I closed the transaction at 59.49% off and saved $14.98. Do you have a "negotiation" story you'd like to share?

Friday, September 6, 2013

Successful selling is a result of constant drips

In Julien Smith's blog post, Waterfall he writes that the majesty and sense of wonder in our natural environment is made by erosion; one drop at a time over a long period, instead of one big waterfall. The same really holds true of anything, including sales. The more time and effort you put into it, the greater your successes.

Over the last few months, I've been talking to a client (a marketing agency) about some potential freelance work. The project would entail helping them with their social media strategy.

As a side note, if you've worked for an advertising/marketing agency like me, you'll likely be able to attest to this. They really do a great job at marketing their clients, but an absolutely horrible job at marketing themselves (of course, there are exceptions to the rule).

During some conversations with my client, they mentioned wanting to create one piece of content that can be used as their showcase piece; but as Mr. Smith's post suggests, a "constant drip" is a more sound strategy, instead of one big waterfall. Successful social selling requires a longer-term perspective. I think creating occasional pieces of content here and there is rather short-sighted and will miss the mark (and this has been corroborated by experts many times over).

Instead of focusing so much energy on one "be all, end all" piece of content, for this client to be perceived as a key player, content needs to proliferate. Not that they want to be ubiquitous, but they'll want to be more involved in the process. For example, joining the social conversation around various key areas of focus for them (like Big Data, since they're also a data company) can help with their search strategy (link building). Also, creating relevant, digestible content for their blog can help drive traffic organically to their site. Successful social selling is not a do-one-thing and that's it exercise. It needs to be more fluid and companies need to go along for the whole ride, as this is how it will pay dividends.

I really believe my client has a pretty compelling story to tell. Their suite of services is a solid value proposition for both existing clients and prospects. It will also help to build brand clarity and remove the stigma that they're just a "marketing" company. And unfortunately, the longer they wait, the further behind they'll get.
 

I've noticed that there are more content-specific roles out in the job marketplace. This has been confirmed by some discussions I've had with folks from various companies across different verticals. 

I'm curious to know if anybody else can shed some light around this. Are you hearing the same thing in your dealings with contacts, colleagues or clients? Please do share.