Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Complete Collection of Weekday Domains available for the first and last time.

For what is possibly the last time ever in any Domain Name registry in the world the complete set of Weekday domain names is available for sale.

It would be near impossible today to secure any of the weekday names individually at any of the global registrars. Given the entire set of .co.nz weekday domains are available is an almost unprecedented opportunity to the right bidder to own an iconic part of internet real estate.

A good top level domain name makes it easy for people to recall and find your website in what is an increasingly crowded space. Getting top-level keyword domain names like www.sunday.com or in the case of the New Zealand registry www.sunday.co.nz is near impossible because they were all snapped up several years ago. Most have now been incorporated in brands or at very least being used on landing pages to attract the now lucrative Google Adword income.

My early involvement with the internet having assisted hundreds of individuals and businesses into good domain name ownership prompted me to secure some great domains while they were available, this collection being some of them. While the Thursday.co.nz domain eluded me at the time we have been able to secure a short term agreement with its owner to make the list complete and market available.

Monday.co.nz
Tuesday.co.nz
Wednesday.co.nz
Thursday.co.nz
Friday.co.nz
Saturday.co.nz
Sunday.co.nz

While it is obviously possible to sell the domains individually the real value lies in the collection for the right project. If they should be divided, like the rest of the world domains they will never be available again as a complete set.

If anyone is interested in discussing the further please contact me directly.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Inspiration through a great message – Online Branding at work

I’m posting this video not because of its use of an iconic musician or because that it was placed in one of the high profile super bowl slots. I’m posting this because I like it. It’s certainly isn’t a destination advertisement for Detroit but it does make me look at Chrysler with a new level of respect.

I like the way that they have used the message that a back to the wall working class city like Detroit can produce a brand that represents quality and the finer things in life. No fancy backdrops, no beautiful models but a message we can all be inspired about and learn from.


Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Why should Sales People use Social Media?

Sales and Marketing perform very different functions within a business. Marketing is about awareness, brand and long term commitment; marketers are about “feeling the love”. Sales people on the other hand are hunters; they are there for a specific purpose and that it to make a sale, to close the deal and bring in the bucks.

This is an over simplification of the variations and complexity of the sales funnel so making the statement that Social Media is a toolset for the marketers while more traditional media, including the website, is more of a sales tool risks the same inconsideration. Having made this comparison we have to ask ourselves why sales people should bother to use Social Media?

Sales people have been using tried and tested techniques for years to engage and close deals with customers. They perform what is arguably one of the most important functions in the business cycle; in ensuring businesses maintain cash flow. Research indicates that sales teams that use Social Media proactively have a 17% greater win rate, is this enough to convince “traditional” sales people to adopt Social Media. I would hope this should be enough to spark some interest at very least.

I am definitely a convert of the power and potential of Social Media. It does live up to the hype at some level but it is not the answer to all our business needs by any means. If used in conjunction with other tried and tested marketing and communications strategies given its ubiquitous and global reach, it becomes a serious contender for our future client engagement strategies.

Let’s compare some of the more popular platforms with more traditional communications mechanisms:
  1. Twitter: This can be compared to the “Coffee Break” chat with colleagues. Small sound bites of information in an on-going and seemingly random stream of conversations. Much of the chatter is immaterial, sometimes interesting, and occasionally highly relevant. Filter the conversations and engage with those who are either able to assist your needs or be helped by you and it’s a money maker. If you keep at this, and it does take time, Twitter will be less noise and increasingly relevant to you, your interests, and your industry.
  2. Facebook: Compared to the conversation that is Twitter, Facebook shows itself to be the full coloured expression of people’s lives, dreams and hopes. Videos, photos and discussions with friends are there to be shared and displayed for all invited into their worlds. To the older generation (Baby Boomers back) this can be the step too far – after all we know how few real friends we really have and our lives are our business. These fears are valid; many careless Facebookers have become victims of their inability to keep their lives personal and private losing the respect of real friends and the confidence and trust of loved ones.  Lessons have and are being learnt about the rights and wrongs of self-publishing but the enormous network potential of over 600 million active users can’t be ignored. One thing to keep in mind is that the Facebook Profile (You) and the Facebook Business Page are quite separate things. The old saying, “do not mix business with pleasure,” applies here. They should and can be two very separate things.
  3. LinkedIn: This is best compared to the Tradeshow. You go along the meet likeminded folk who have a shared knowledge and interest. I often refer to LinkedIn as the “Grown-ups Facebook”. It is designed for professional networking and ideas exchange. The many groups and forms, some open, many closed, are typically focussed on a specific subject. As a rule of thumb “connect” with anyone you would normally give your business card to.
So what’s the answer, do you use it or not? If I were asked outright for a yes or no answer the answer is yes.

What no-one can do though is make you. You need to “get it” and have a clear strategy or purpose for what you are trying to achieve. This may be simply that you want to have one form of authentic exchange with every one of your major clients each week. It might be to allow your customers an opportunity to learn from your experience by writing regular blog posts that will assist them in their own endeavours. It may be that you can use your highly developed networking skills to introduce customers to others in the industry they should know.

Whatever the approach you take, if it’s genuine, it’s focussed and consistent, it will pay.