The UK Business Forums had a good post on the costly marketing mistakes you should definitely avoid. And you should avoid them. You need to do the right things too, of course, and there are lots of articles about the very best marketing tips.

But every costly mistake you make is, well, costly. Making mistakes is like taking one step forward and then two steps back—a big barrier to your business' success and no way to get ahead. According to Ejayz [2007] these are the top ten most serious blunders that an online marketer can make:

• Forgetting to present a professional image.
• Focusing on yourself or your company instead of on your prospect or customer.
• Emphasizing the wrong elements in your ads or promotional literature.
• Cutting your marketing budget during slow times.
• Not giving prospects a compelling reason to take action.
• Neglecting current customers.
• Not using testimonials in your marketing literature.
• Not offering a guarantee.
• Not testing your market and tracking your results.
• Not diversifying your marketing methods.

Sources and Related Posts:

Ejayz. "Costly Marketing Mistakes You Should Avoid," UK Business Forums 06/11/07.

Basics of Internet Marketing

10 Reasons to Make Top 10 Lists

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

One of the keys to avoiding conflict, especially with contractual partners, is to plan ahead - and make certain the foundation of what we build together is as stable, comprehensive and complete as possible. Like so many scenarios I’ve discussed in this blog, we’ve heard variations of all of this before and most is just good common sense, but we can never hear these things enough and we still sometimes resist putting them into practice. I recently had the opportunity to speak with my friend Chad Belville who shared quite a bit of information on creating and surviving a contractual relationship!

Chad’s job is to keep people OUT of trouble and that’s his focus. Visit his site at: ChadKnowsLaw. He is Senior Counsel to Kink.com and practices in the areas of Adult Entertainment Law, Internet Law, 2257 Compliance, and Contract Law.

ELEMENTS OF A CONTRACT

Meeting of the Minds – Agreement!

Offer and acceptance:

- A counter offer is a new offer.

Mutual Consideration.

- Both sides give something of value.

Performance or delivery.

- Somebody does something according to the agreement.

Not against public policy.

- You cannot have a binding contract for an illegal purpose.

Put things in Writing
You do not need a lawyer to write a simple contract.
A simple contract you write yourself is always better than a verbal agreement if it contains all the elements of a contract.

The truth about oral contracts:
Remember, an oral agreement is worth the paper it is written on.
Memories of each party can be different.
An agreement on a bar napkin can be a contract, if it has all of the elements.



PREPARING FOR THE WORST

Conflict Avoidance

- Start by working with people you trust.

Too often when considering the elements of a good contract we are focused on all the upside project potential:
Everybody is excited about the new project.
Expectation is for success, never failure.
Everybody is willing to give 100%.


Unfortunately, the best contracts must deal well with… When things go wrong...
Plan ahead for pitfalls.
Consider what can go wrong.
Decide how to handle failures and setbacks.


Communicate when the First Thing Goes Wrong

• Address the problem.
  
• Look to your contract for the method.
  
• Review the agreement and revise if necessary.
  
• Use the terms of the original contract to resolve the problem.
  
• Keep calm.

Contracts must also address all the potential negative issues:

• Can one party decide to terminate the agreement?
  
• If one party wants out, will the purpose of the agreement be destroyed?
  
• Fights do happen.
  

RESOLUTION OF THE CONFLICT

Termination of the Agreement


Mediation

- Best solution because all sides agree and are part of the resolution.

Arbitration

- Like mini-court.
- Quicker and easier.
- Lower attorney fees than going to court.

Included must be defining procedures for the worst possible outcome – the end:
How do you split up the assets?
How do you split up the liabilities?
Some assets and liabilities are brought in by the parties…
Some assets and liabilities are assumed during the agreement…


The Courtroom

Last Resort.
Must file a complaint.
Must go through discovery.
Motions for Summary Judgment.
Preparation for trial.
Jury trials and Bench Trials.
Appeals.
Paying those damn lawyers.

QUICK CONTRACT SUMMARY
Get it in writing.
Address possible bad outcomes.
Imagine writing a pre-nuptial agreement.
Address problems early.
Keep communication open.
Try mediation, then arbitration, or as a last resort go to court.


Complementary Post
You Get What You Negotiate

Email marketering service bureau MailChimp conducted a study of its customers' email campaigns and found that some of the most harmless words can spell disaster when included in email subject lines. Because of bulging inboxes and an endless torrent of spam, the study found that readers treat new emails as guilty until proven innocent.

The study concluded that if a marketer wants their emails to be read, both by friends and business contacts, there are a few words that a marketer would be well served to avoid. Based on the results of this study, MailChimp has created a list of the top three words to avoid in a subject line based on analysis of over 200 million emails:

• Help - Never put the word "help" in the subject title. It may be like a crime in progress where passers-by keep on walking, or maybe most readers have just reached their respective capacity to "help," but most readers do not respond to this word. The reluctance to open "help" messages may also stem from well-known scams asking for assistance. The most common source for these scams is Nigeria.
• Percent Off - While it may be counterintuitive, the stronger the commercial pitch in the subject line, the less likely it's going to be read. Consumers have had to become savvy in navigating their email inbox -- as soon as an email smells like a sleazy offer it's zapped with the delete button.
• Reminder - Always avoid using the word "reminder" in the subject line. If a marketer needs to send out a reminder, MailChimp recommends to avoid the word "reminder" and, instead, communicate in the subject line that there is useful information inside that the reader is going to want. Analogous to "reminder" is repeating the same subject line for a particular event and sending out several emails in advance. The first email may get read, but after that, it's splitsville.

The three innocuous words above are joining the ranks of other all-too-popular spammy words including Free, Sex, Cialis, and you probably have your own [not]favorites. Not only will an email not get read if the subject line or body is peppered with these spam words, the odds are it won't even get to the reader.

And getting an HTML email to the targeted inbox has become even more of a challenge thanks to firewalls and spam filters. The net result is an obliterated email that never gets to the intended recipient. By avoiding the three words mentioned above, email marketers should be more successful in getting their intended audience to open their emails.

MailChimp started out as a Web development company way back in April 2000, building websites and applications for hundreds of clients around the globe. They subsequently promoted their email marketing tool as “so unbelievably simple, a monkey could use it. - Thus the name "MailChimp.”

Related Articles
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Email Marketing Tops $2 Billion by 2012

List Management and Your Proprietary Newsletter

Over the years there has been unending discussion and debate as to whether email is dead and the function and capabilities of mail lists and newsletters in the post CAN Spam era. Numerous industry attorneys have published guidelines for continued mailing and newsletter management, but as in so many things in business and life, it’s mostly just common sense. Here are some ideas generally encouraging the use of Push Technology to get your word out.

One requirement that likely provokes a ‘duh moment’ as you read this is to simply provide an obvious opt-in newsletter email collection field on your site, and an equally obvious opt-out on the newsletter. There are a multitude of services which allow you to easily manage subscribing and unsubscribing.

For already existing customers you would like to have receive your newsletter, send out an initial one-time option to subscribe – with an appropriate invitation - to a wide audience, and then respect the decisions of the recipients. Provide multiple alternatives, including email, RSS feed, and reading online only.

Don't subscribe someone who did not request your newsletter, and don't send messages to people unless they want to receive them from you. Otherwise, you will be viewed as a spammer and your messages will annoy the recipients rather than please them.

Store an archived copy of each newsletter. In each issue, include a link to the archives. This will allow others to link to your newsletters, and new subscribers the opportunity to review your historical text depending on your topic area and coverage.

If you are a member of multiple forums (Yeah, I know, Ha, Ha!) don't daisy bomb them all with the same message. If your thoughts are relevant to more than one of your forums, create a brief custom version of your thread in advance, specific to the environment of each forum. You know that each forum has its own core group different from every other and it is this group you must convince that your message is relevant, and then you can include a link to the full message which is posted elsewhere. Generally, the guideline is just community respect.

I think brevity is the keyword in emails and newsletters, and as Alec Helmy would confirm the Lord knows I’m not the one to write about that. Keep your newsletters short, succinct and vital. If possible, keep them to one page and your chances that they will be read increase geometrically. Always avoid sending messages with attachments. Post any necessary files on your site and include links instead.

If you include your name and contact information in each communication, people will know who sent it and whom to contact with feedback and suggestions. The more information you give them the more credible you become, as you help build a positive reputation for yourself and your company or organization. Building credibility and that positive reputation should always be foremost in your endeavors, and good luck pushing your important message!

Related Articles
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REAL MANAGEMENT SKILLS

It just doesn’t matter how educated or qualified we are, there are certain things we just can’t hear too many times, and when it comes to specific management skills, I want to hear everyone’s ideas. Here are some thoughts for consideration as you map out your project management strategy and next six month plan.

Enable your team to make more expedient qualified decisions through collaboration, the reuse of knowledge in your company repositories, and innovative delivery of information.

Encourage critical thinking and problem solving in yourself and your team, and make certain company bureaucracy does not impede discovery of internal information and resources. Allow as much personal creative freedom as possible and don’t stifle your team members’ ambition or destroy morale through debilitating micromanagement.

Recycle and repurpose existing successful or discarded company ideas, systems, documents and expertise. Never forget that company resources were already expended to create these assets, so monetize them whenever you have the opportunity.

Organize to eliminate the Department of Redundancy Department.

Mistakes are opportunities to learn and advance, but only the first time they are made.

Know ‘who’s who’ through HR, and always endeavor to recruit existing experience and special skills expertise from within your team and through employee referrals. Don’t allow yourself to be surprised to learn that someone has special insight and skills not obvious in their current job duties – talk to your people, take interest, and get to know them. Time expended will pay huge dividends.

Don’t hide important information; share it and use it. If you can’t trust your team and staff with important information you are either up to no good, or need to clean house and begin again.

If you develop a sequenced system to handle operations that works, teach it and make it your standard.

Time and motion studies are not dead, encourage self and team analysis and reward innovative ideas that streamline company functions and reduce expenses. You grow through innovation.

Small businesses drive the global economy from the foundation. If you can’t leverage the size of your company, leverage the power of your team and employees.

Demonstrate to customers how you utilize their feedback and participation to improve your products, delivery and customer care.

Strive to make scarce resources within your company more widely available and always attempt to extrapolate and apply successful problem-solving initiatives to cover other challenges within your organization.

Related Posts
Managing Employees - Instilling Loyalty

Get Business Results Having a Little Fun!

Improve Your Working Environment

The Motivating Workplace Environment...

Over 25 years, the Gallup Organization has surveyed over 1,000,000 employees to discover what employees felt were the important elements needed to attract, focus and keep the most talented staff. In their book “First Break all the Rules,” Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman tell how the Gallup Organization found that measuring the strength of a workplace can be simplified into twelve questions. While they don’t capture everything, they do capture the most important information you want to know about hiring, retaining and training staff.

What employees want to know...

(1.) Do I know what is expected of me at work?
(2.) Do I have the resources I need to do my work correctly?
(3.) At work, do I have the opportunity to do my best every day?
(4.) In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
(5.) Does my manager, or someone at work, care about me as a person?
(6.) Is there someone at work that encourages my development?
(7.) At work, do my opinions seem to count?
(8.) Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important?
(9.) Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
(10.) Do I have a best friend at work?
(11.) In the last six months have I talked with someone about my progress?
(12.) At work, have I had the opportunities to learn and grow?,br>

These twelve questions measure the strength of the workplace to retain and encourage top people. Each one is linked to four business outcomes. Productivity, Profitability, Retention and Customer Satisfaction… As a manager you can build a strong productive workplace based simply on these questions.

Source: First Break All The Rules. What the world’s greatest managers do differently. Authors, Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, Publisher, Pocket Books. Available at Amazon.com.

Cam Sites and the Webbilling Direct Debit Platform

In our ongoing discussions with Cam Site Owners interested in expanding their European penetration and access to EU surfers and webmasters, we have received considerable feedback regarding opportunity cost, security and profitability. Program owners’ concerns are justified, as the European and North American markets are very different, and success in Europe starts with understanding the culture, habits and expectations of the individual markets within greater Europe.

Owner Fears:

• Higher payment costs than credit cards (Discount Rate and Transaction Fees).
• Higher charge back levels.
• Resulting in less money to pay out to models/webmasters.
• Resulting in charge back fees [but no real limits or fines].
• We already have credit cards for Europe, why would we need anything else?

Cam Site Owners’ Reassurance:

• European Direct Debit is an addition to your existing payment methods. Your current solutions should all stay in place; with European Direct Debit there is no cannibalization of your existing billing revenue streams.
• Discount rates are competitive with credit card rates, and even if slightly higher would only apply to the "found money" - new revenue. Keep your existing billing - just add an additional payment opportunity for your users.
• European Direct Debit is not considered "Alternative Billing" in Europe; but the preferred primary payment choice.
• Webbilling.com also offers push Direct Payment, which is 100% charge-back-free. But Direct Payment is not recurring and involves more action from the users as a push payment. While not as effective as pull direct debit, Direct Payment is one more option for the rest of Europe where a physical signature is still required for debits.

Individual Risk Management

Webbilling.com can limit the risk to a minimum - almost to zero. Choose your comfort level.

• Scenario 1: PINCall: with or without further personal spending limits as described below. In addition to all other fraud checks, in the join application the user must provide a phone number where he receives a real-time pin call in his language which he enters on the join form. In many cases this is sufficient for the collection department to successfully recover any charge backs.

• Scenario 2: SecurePIN: with or without further personal spending limits. The user must prove access to the bank account entered by retrieving the PIN from within his bank account.
  
  Very low initial personal spending limits, which will be extended after the user shows he is willing and able to pay. Example: a new user can spend 40EUR in the first four days, 70EUR in the first seven days, OR he can send official documents (bank account statement, passport...) proving his legitimacy. The Individual Merchant can use our flexible system to experiment and perfect their process, depending on their individual comfort level. We can also implement a spending limit for "older" established users, which is again individual to the Merchant. Example: 100EUR per day, but not more than 300EUR per week for "normal" users; 300EUR per day but not more than 1000EUR per week for users who have sent in official documents. Webbilling.com is TOTALLY flexible and more than happy to define an individual strategy for every merchant in consultation with risk management. Of course this would all be in addition to the merchant’s own risk management structure and strategies.

• Not only extensive risk management but also extensive fraud checks.
• The Merchant can own all the user data.
• Following One-click-buys.

Additional Benefits to adding Webbilling.com EU Direct Debit:

• More webmasters with European traffic will send traffic.
• Your existing webmasters will produce and earn more revenue.
• Your models will earn more, as there are more potential customers.
• You don´t leave 77% of potential European revenue on the table.
• Expect European revenue breakdown to approximate 80% EDD, 15% CC, and 5% miscellaneous.
• The USD/EUR exchange rate is + 1.50.
• Aggressive proprietary collection services on all charge backs with unparalleled recovery ratios.
• No EU business entity, merchant, or bank account is required to access the Webbilling.com billing platform.

Definitive stats admin and competitive rates.

WEBBILLING B.V. is a leading provider of real EU Direct Debit services to e-commerce companies worldwide. Webbilling provides real direct debit solutions for Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, and the UK. With a negative database developed over ten years, superior fraud detection and established collection services, Webbilling has the experience to maximize your revenues, and the expertise to guide you to the best EU conversion rates possible. For more information, Just mail me. Your only risk is more revenue!

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Xbiz Profile: Webbilling.com Charges into the Future

EU Revenue Next Week

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AVN Article: Company helps serve EU majority who don’t use credit cards.

Make This Your Best Show Ever

Sherri, Gary and Gervaise have really been focused on creating a varied Phoenix Forum seminar line-up encompassing the broadest industry appeal while enabling the greatest possible participation levels. With a little nudge from my friend Harlan I will be participating in two areas I really love, marketing and media and multi-national e-commerce.

On Saturday from 10-11am, I’ll be with Alec, Monty, Greg and Connor to discuss The Inside Scoop - A Media Perspective – which should obviously appeal to anyone with a business or themselves to promote – which is every attendee…There is a consolidation going on in the online media outlets just as we saw with programs in the past, and the effective use of marketing dollars is always a prime budgeting concern for sponsors. I expect we’ll cover traditional advertising, unpaid exposure, tradeshows, media access, shameless self-promotion, marketing expertise, blogs and forums, Internet radio, and the use of social networking models.

I hate the expression “pet peeve,” so I’ll be distributing a scholarly eight page guide at the seminar on press release creation, utilization and distribution, Compliments of Webbilling.com. In my many years as a media editor, press releases were the bane of my existence, and they are probably the most inadequately utilized form of free press exposure in existence because they're not properly produced. So attend this seminar, and learn how to capitalize on the power of the media and harness it for yourself!

Again on Saturday from 1-2:30pm, I will join a distinguished group to discuss international markets, opportunities and expansion at Championing International Markets – An International Perspective. I have always loved everything European, and since attending the first Eurowebtainment in Berlin in 2001 have made the EU markets a recurring focus in my professional life and the dissemination of information concerning these markets to all of you a constant endeavor. Opportunity in the EU and Asia has never been greater and anticipating and innovating to capture emerging opportunities will position you well ahead of the competition for the foreseeable future. Opportunities in both adult and mainstream e-commerce, niche marketing, computer and mobile access, billing and fulfillment, and all the services supporting everything we access online are still growing at unprecedented rates. Many forget to consider that the combined European population is significantly greater than that of the US and the EU economies are quite strong and should remain so. Considering the potential of the Asian continental markets of course leaves us awestruck, and we constantly brainstorm on strategies to overcome the barriers – both to entry and access – presented in these regions. Join us for what should prove to be a thought provoking discussion and let’s plot a personal course for international expansion throughout 2008!

I’ve published countless articles by now on maximizing tradeshow ROI and I hope you are utilizing the tried and true methods as we all head out to Phoenix for our favorite show. One important principle which never gets enough emphasis IMHO is attendee contribution. At what level do you personally participate? Every show I attend is successful for me and I never cease to marvel at the people lamenting their attendance at an unproductive event and expostulating ad nauseum on the boards regarding their disappointment in a particular effort or complaints on the overabundance of events in general. Each of us is expected to significantly contribute while we are in attendance – that is essential for the maximization of returns for everyone – and few events offer a venue so conducive to networking –

What venue is better than the courtyard at the Mission Palms? Actually, there is only one, and that is the pool bar at the Island Gathering, but that is another blog post in October ;-)

Introduce yourself to everyone in the courtyard at The Phoenix Forum that you don’t already know! Arise early and strike up conversations at the breakfast/snack bar! That's where I spoke with Alec Helmy the first time - ask him about it, we've been friends ever since. Only sit at a table where you don’t know anyone! Maintain Decorum! Set up meetings! Ask CCBill staff and Media Team members for help with introductions! Or ask my buddy Mike B – he can talk to anyone! Write notes on cards! Look in the show bag when you receive it and use the materials inside! News Flash: CCBill includes marketing aids in the TPF bags. Commit to doing your part to make this the best Forum ever, for everyone.

Webbilling co-founder and senior partner Michael Reul and I will be hosting individual meetings for anyone who would like to add a significant additional stream to their existing EU revenue. If you do not offer our pull direct debit platform to your German, Austrian, Dutch, Spanish and UK users you are potentially missing up to 75% of your gross billing capability. ‘Think you don’t have EU traffic? If you cannot bill utilizing the preferred primary method you will never reach your potential EU market penetration. Find me at The Phoenix Forum, and I will show you that implementation is easier and less expensive than you think. Just mail me or ICQ 377-592-518 – to schedule a meeting. Your only risk is more revenue!

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The European region recorded its largest ever Internet audience in September 2007, with a 5-percent year over year growth, reaching 226.7 million unique visitors age 15 or older, according to comScore data. Russia had the fastest growing online audience this period, increasing 23 percent to 14.6 million unique visitors, followed by Spain, which grew 18 percent to 14.5 million unique visitors, and Ireland, which grew 16 percent to 1.5 million. These are important figures for companies including Webbilling.com and others able to process joins for many EU markets.



The country with the largest online audience was Germany with 33.2 million unique visitors, followed closely by the U.K. with 32.2 million. Together, they represented 29 percent of the total European online audience. Europe’s third largest online country, France, was also its fourth fastest growing, having enjoyed a 14-percent gain and reaching 27.3 million unique visitors in September.

Internet adoption was highest in the Netherlands, where 82 percent of the country’s population age 15 or older was online in September. After the Netherlands, adoption rates were highest in the Nordic region, where the Internet was accessed by 73 percent of the total population of Sweden, 72 percent of Denmark and Norway, and 66 percent of the Finnish population.



The Nordic region also produced some of the most active online audiences in all of Europe. On average, Internet users in Sweden viewed more pages than any other European country - 3,844 pages per visitor. The country also spent the second longest average period of time on the Internet in September at 30.1 hours per visitor. Finland’s online audience viewed the second most number of pages, averaging 3,266 pages per visitor.

The U.K. Internet audience spent the most time online at an average of 33.0 hours for the month. It also viewed the highest number of pages outside of the Nordic region, averaging 3,252 pages per visitor per month, slightly ahead of the Netherlands with 3,051.

“Many countries in Europe are still demonstrating robust growth in Internet usage,” said Bob Ivins, comScore EVP of International Markets. “And given the relatively low Internet penetration in several major European countries, there is plenty of upside in the European market. Russia, with only 12 percent of its population online, appears poised for substantial growth.”

How are you billing the top EU markets, and what are you paying to do so? Write to JoeD at: marketing@webbilling.com or visit www.webbilling.com to request more information on unique direct debit solutions for billing Europe.

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Your 'Alternative' Billing Self-Test

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Do You Really Bill the United Kingdom?

How will you spend your 2008 EU revenue?

The Webbilling Team will arrive in Phoenix on March 26th for the best large networking show in the industry! Europeans billing Europe. Client Merchants choosing to participate in the current strength of both the Euro and the British Pound may wish to speak with us at the show for more information on implementation of this pull direct debit program for Germany, Austria, Spain, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

We can help you with your online virtual sales in all our regions as well as online hard good sales for those of you with EU distribution networks. Use us with all your current billing mechanisms – we provide the primary preferred billing method for our regions and do not cannibalize any of your current revenue streams – we bring you additional revenue.

Implement us in NATS and MPA3 or in your own proprietary management system. If you want the ultimate control, implement us on your own join page – all Webbilling.com join pages can be customized with your own translated text and exclusive graphics.

Take the motivating content right through to the join button!

You won’t be able to miss us at the show, and see us at the Championing International Markets Seminar on Saturday, 1 - 2:30, in the Palm Ballroom.

For more information and to schedule a meeting, visit Webbilling.com and mail JoeD at: marketing@webbilling.com or ICQ 377-592-518 – Your only risk is more revenue!