Where is the Puck?

Network Marketing!

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:14:26 +0000

Seth Godin said that “There is no secret to marketing: word of mouth is all that matters“. Well, it looks like the word of mouth marketing became now even more important than ever because of the Internet: whatever we say to our online friends about a company or a brand not only now spreads much faster, but it also gets recorded and stays there forever (see also my earlier presentation on TEDx ).

With the growth of importance of word of mouth and viral marketing, one particular form of marketing deserves a special attention. Call it Network Marketing, Multi-Level Marketing, Direct Selling or Referral Marketing, but this old-fashioned door-to-door type of business model is now being completely reinvented thanks to the Internet. The new approach to network marketing doesn’t any longer require anyone to “sell the soap to the neighbors”… With the Internet, network marketing means selling pretty much any products anywhere online be it through the social network of our online friends (and their friends!), through affiliate marketing, or through Internet marketing tools such as Google’s pay-per-click advertisements.

The world of business has changed. No one can count on perfect, long term stability and security in the corporate world. Building one’s own business and one’s own passive income is a new business paradigm. Quite a few authors, business persons and scholars consider Network Marketing as one of the best businesses in the future:

- Richard Kiyosaki, one of the world’s leading financial experts, considers network marketing as “The Business of The 21st Century” (thebusinessofthe21stcentury.com/)
- Fortune magazine considers direct selling/ network marketing “the best kept secret in the business world”…. The industry has experienced 91% growth in the last 10 years;
- Billionaire Warren Buffett, after purchasing a network marketing company, called it the best investment he had ever made (www.entrepreneur.com)
- Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence, calls it the first truly revolutionary shift in marketing in the last 50 years;
- Donald Trump started network marketing business himself
- Charles W. King, Professor of Marketing at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and one of the world’s leading experts on network marketing, says that the network marketing is now $109 billion industry with more than 61 million business owners involved.

New Business and Technology Trends in “Business in Vancouver” by Cyri Jones and Ivan Surjanovic

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:46:17 +0000

“Business in Vancouver” has just redesigned its online version of the magazine. Check out Cyri and Ivan’s business and technology column here:
http://www.biv.com/columnists/Jones-Surjanovic

Google Drive!

admin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:20:37 +0000

A few months ago, my colleage Cyri and myself wrote in “Business in Vancouver” about many new file storage and file sharing technologies. Well, there is now a brand new one. It is called Google Drive and, according to Gizmodo, this is a “beefed up version of Google Documents” and it will present a big challenge to Dropbox. With Google Drive you can get up to 5GB of space for free, after which you can upgrade. It’s $2.49/month for 25GB, $4.99/month for 100GB, and $49.99 a month for 1TB. Open your free account at drive.google.com

Internet Ad Revenue Grew by 21.9% in 2011

admin — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:13:06 +0000

According to research done by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, Internet advertising revenues reached a record $31.74 billion in 2011, representing a 21.9% annual increase. Online ad revenues are now higher than cable TV ad revenues (including national networks and local cable TV). Read more here…

First Impression and Exceeded Expectations Critical for Customer Loyalty

admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:00:14 +0000

Companies should forget about trying to build loyalty with customers who are considering switching to a competitor, finds ClickFox in April 2012 survey results. When asked the most critical time for a company to gain their loyalty, 48% of the consumers surveyed said it’s when they make their first purchase or begin service. 4 in 10 indicated it is when a company exceeds their expectations in resolving an issue… Just 1% believe the best time to gain their loyalty is when they consider switching to a competitor. Via MarketingCharts.com

Creating WOW! Through Inspiration on TEDx

admin — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:51:32 +0000

Here is the 16 minute TEDx video version of my four-year PhD research on viral marketing, wow factor, new trends in marketing, WOW IQ, my 10-300% principle and – WORD OF MOUTH EQUITY formula!

Web Economy Will Double by 2016

admin — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:44:07 +0000

The value of the web economy in G20 countries will nearly double by 2016, according to study done by Boston Consulting Group.

UK is the ‘most internet-based major economy’! The web economy in the UK is predicted to grow at a faster rate than in the US and China. The internet contributes to 8.3% of the UK economy, a bigger share than for any of the other G20 major countries, a new study suggests.

The Fun Theory

admin — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:25:30 +0000

We often talk on this blog about the power of “wow” factor and viral marketing. Is “fun” part of going viral? Acccording to the Fun Theory, an initiative of Volkswagen, something as simple as FUN can change our behavior for for the better.

Can we get more people to take the stairs over the escalator by making it fun to do?

Can we get more people to obey the speed limit by making it fun to do?

Can we ensure everyone keeps their safety belt on by making it fun to do?

Shift Toward Digital Media

admin — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:37:17 +0000

How much of your marketing budget is spent online? According to research done by BIA/Kelsey, “by 2016, digital media is expected to account for 25.5% of total ad budgets, up from an estimated 16.0% in 2011″. Read more on marketingprofs.com

US Online Ad Spend is Forecasted to Grow 23.3%

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 01:06:20 +0000

US online ad spend is forecasted to grow 23.3% this year and reach app. $40 billion, according to a February 2012 forecast from eMarketer.

According to eMarketer, the leading US online advertising categories by share in 2012 will be search (49.4%), banners (23.3%), and video (7.9%), followed by classifieds and directories (6.4%), lead generation (4.9%), rich media (4.2%), sponsorships (3.5%), and email (0.4%). Search, banners and video will make up 80% of all spending through 2016, eMarketer predicts. Search is and will remain by far the leading format, although its share of total online ad spending will slip slightly from 2012 to 2016 as online video ad spending nearly doubles its share from 7.9% in 2012 to 15% in 2016.