Entries Tagged 'Creativity' ↓

Today I got an email from Tools for Wellness. I must have purchased something from them in the past. Probably some eye mask to help me sleep.

So, I’m now in the loop with Tools for Wellness. They’ve just released the Q-Link Nimbus SRT-3. It’s a good thing, too - because I’ve been searching for a personal force-field device for a long time. All this social networking is against my nature. Reclusive, hermit-like - those are adjectives that I embrace. I crave protection.

You can imagine my delight when I was shown the image of a small USB device that plugs into your computer and provides you with a 6′ personal sphere. My only fear was that 6′ was not nearly large enough. I need a large sphere because my personal space is frequented by morons that insist on staying within at least 20′ of me. Maybe they make a booster, I wondered. I read on.

This device provides a 6 foot sphere of SRT. Great! What is SRT, though?

Nimbus represents the latest generation of Scientifically Validated ‘Active’ Q-Link SRT products, designed to help clarify and support the users biofield by enhancing the environment in which the user works, lives and otherwise occupies.

My lands. That sounds perfect. It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for. It’s terrific sales copy. Copyblogger would be proud. But it doesn’t stop there. It just gets better, making me really more attracted to this device.

Plug Nimbus in to any PC or MAC USB port or hub to effortlessly & instantly generate a 6’ friendly personal sphere of SRT you can use to enhance your well-being, performance and quality of life. An essential companion to every workstation environment - and an ideal compliment to all body-worn SRT products.

I’m still completely lost about the meaning of SRT, but I don’t care. It all sounds so terrific. I’m right in the wheel house of the prospective customers for this device, too.

Who needs Nimbus? Individuals spending any amount of time in front of a computer or at a workstation including students, IT professionals, writers, graphic artists, business people, jet-setting laptop users, teachers and others. Even casual web-surfers can benefit.

My excitement and enthusiasm have me reaching for my credit card. I’m about to put one of these devices into the online shopping cart at Tools for Wellness. My wife won’t mind. Come on, it’s going to billed from Tools for Wellness. Doesn’t she want me to be well? No problem. Besides, the copy points just continue to amp up my lust for this thing.

Transports easily between home & office. No software required. Backlit Q-Link logo indicates power-up. USB cap removes and stores on unit end while in use.

Commonly reported benefits:

Higher energy & stamina

Increased focus & concentration

Greater productivity & performance

Reduction of the negative, disruptive effects of EMF (electromagnetic fields) on the body generated by computers, mobile phones, fluorescent lighting, CRT’s, power lines, cell-phone towers and other similar influences.

What about the uncommonly reported benefits? If these are just the commonly reported ones, surely there are some other terrific benefits that aren’t so commonly reported. I’m betting this thing is way under priced. Just look at the components of this thing.

What’s Inside the Q-Link?

Induction Coil: 75 ft. of insulated superfine pure copper wire in a 25mm diameter coil amplifies the effect of the resonating cell.

Resonating Cell: The multi-frequencey pure crystalline oscillator (enhanced with Sympathetic Resonance Technology SRT-3) works like a series of tuning forks to sympathetically resonate with, and reinforce, the key frequencies of the human energy system (biofield).

Assembled Q-Link: The induction Coil and Resonating Cell assembled are permanently sealed inside a rugged, highly durable, waterproof case.

You can’t tell me this thing’s not worth $169.95. Why, I’d pay twice that for it. I’d pay three times that for it if the 6 foot range were greater. Quality components each and every one.

For the skeptics, there’s this bit of copy:

Do They Really Work?

Read an independent study conducted by Alternative Medicine magazine.

You’re a fool if you don’t get one. And SRT stands for SYMPATHETIC RESONANCE TECHNOLOGY. But this thing doesn’t just have SRT. It’s got SRT-3. Way better!

She acts. She writes songs. She sings. Zooey Deschanel is a renaissance woman. She was on NPR, so you know she’s talented. I’m a fan. You should be, too.

For the past 6 years or more I’ve sat in on a variety of conferences and seminars where one topic seems to rise to the top - “how do we take full advantage of the Internet?”

For starters, I’d like to see how many businesses take full advantage of anything. Few of us are efficient enough to do that. Fewer still even know what advantage they’ve got in the first place.

The Internet has been seen by too many traditional businesses (i.e. brick and mortar) as a panacea. Whatever ails us can surely be fixed somehow by the Internet, can’t it? I know, let’s create an email newsletter. No, wait a minute, we’ll produce an ebook. Could we build a shopping cart and sell our stuff online? On and on it goes with mindless dialogue of people seeking fast answers for complex problems.

For many years Seth Godin and others have been preaching a reverse strategy that is contrary to conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom is build a good business, then incorporate technology, including the Internet. New wisdom is build a business that centers on new technology and social trends. In other words, consider Facebook and the Internet when you architect your business model.

But there is yet an even newer business model, which isn’t really a model at all. I’m not sure what you’d call it. It’s a process, a philosophy and a rough sketch. It baffles traditionalists. Amazon made no sense to most people. For years Amazon lost money. Yet it was valued at ridiculous numbers. Few understood the phenomenon. But other sites began to do the same thing - build traffic. Build traffic, then figure out how to make money later. Such thinking turned the world upside down. Wall Street didn’t understand. Hardly anybody understood. It was counter-intuitive to everything we knew to be true in the world of business.

Today, there are thousands, perhaps millions, of start ups that are trying to climb the mountain of bassackwards business. They’re trying to build web traffic. SEO (search engine optimization), Google Analytics and other technologies are part of the process. Content isn’t always king. Sometimes things just catch fire thanks to a YouTube video, or a high-profile blogger writing about something or somebody - and the next thing you know, it’s red hot!

Things can happen fast on the Net, or not at all. Aaron Wall started learning SEO in 2003. He became one of the top SEO experts earning well over $500 an hour. He wrote a critically acclaimed, and highly usable ebook, SEO Book. He launched his website and things rolled along nicely. But recently he’s abandoned the ebook business model. It wasn’t a model he was in love with. He just went that route because he knew the world of SEO changed so fast that no printed book could possibly keep up. The ebook technology solved that problem. But now he’s migrated away from the ebook to a subscriber-based website. He also migrated to Drupal, a content management system that is more elaborate and allows him to better manage a subscriber-based site where most of the content is premium (or paid for).

Wall is typical of the genius required to change and adapt. He hasn’t attempted to squeeze his services into a preordained model. Rather, he’s allowed the technology advances to dictate how he’s able to best serve a customer base that suits him. The ebook got him many fans, and readers. But many, like me, were amateur SEO folks. I bought the book, but I’d be lying if I told you I use it regularly. I’d be lying if I told you I read it all the way through. It’s an extensive volume. But there are others who are actively involved in SEO. They need dedicated help that no ebook can provide. They’re willing to pay more than a one-time charge of $79 for an ebook. So Wall now has a service for these people. $100 monthly. No contracts. Cancel at any time. It’s a month-by-month service. Many people who need SEO right now can subscribe. Then as their needs, or interests change, they can unsubscribe if they like. Wall will be able to extract the more serious SEO clients from the merely curious. His services will likely be more precise and efficient. And his clients will be paying a premium (and likely well worth it). Wall delivers value.

Wall is just a single example of the bassackwards business model where the business doesn’t dictate the need to squeeze in some use of technology. Rather, the technology allows a complete change in the delivery of the service, the business.

Today it would not be unwise to consider how to best reach prospective customers with technology and construct your business accordingly. It’s all about delivery. It’s about access. It’s about traffic. It’s about management of all those things. Traditionally business has been interested with these things, but we’ve had to limit such ideas to the physical realm, not the virtual realm. So, it’s high time for most businesses to turn themselves upside down, inside out and examine their approach. It’s not time to hammer a square peg into a round hole. Is it ever?

The Internet is not a quick fix. It’s not a magic bullet that will solve every sales or revenue problem facing businesses. You must do more than build a website. It is not true, if you build it they will come. They won’t. Getting traffic is extremely difficult. But if you find a way to get them to your site, then you must give them some compelling reason to stay, and you must provide something valuable for them (either free or fee-based, or both).

Proof of how hard all this really is are the abandoned sites that litter the Net. Digital space is full of derelict sites that haven’t been updated in years. People and companies thought it would work better than it did. They thought it would happen faster than it did. They found it harder than it first seemed. So they just stopped. Some presumably searching for the next magic pill that would fix their problems.

I often wonder why some companies are paying for hosting on a site that hasn’t been updated since 2004. What are they thinking? No web presence is better than a derelict presence. Like any business activity, web-based activities require smart thinking and hard work. Just because it looks easy doesn’t mean that it is.

Reverse your thinking. Stop thinking about your widgets and think about your customers. How can you better reach them? How can they find you? What can you deliver to them? How can you best serve them?

Wait a minute! This isn’t really bassackwards at all. Isn’t this how it should have been all along? Putting customers or prospective customers first - then figuring out a way to better reach them, and serve them?

Free is free. That means, no cost. It’s FREE!

But FREE isn’t often worth it. In fact, in my recent experience FREE is worthless. Perhaps it’s because “you get what you pay for.” Nothing gets you nothing.

The Internet is full of freebies. My inbox is deluged with free offers. Free webinars and free ebooks abound. I’m overwhelmed with them. Few of them offer anything worthy of my time.  There’s the rub - my time, which is NOT free!

Marketing geniuses are among the worst offenders. I suppose that means these free offers work because companies like Peppers and Rogers (I enjoy their books and have benefited from some of their free offerings) continue to do it. On average, I get an email from Peppers and Rogers every other day. Each one offers a free webinar or whitepaper. Each time you must complete all the contact information. It doesn’t matter that you gave them the same information two days earlier. Do it again. Sometimes, I bail out deciding that this free whitepaper isn’t worth the time required to give them my vital data, AGAIN. I enjoy the Peppers and Rogers publication 1 to 1, but their emails whip me.

You’d think these guys would know better. They’re smart people. They’re sought after experts in the field of one-to-one marketing. I know I could opt out, but I really don’t want to opt out entirely. I just want them to offer me something worthwhile and stop offering me free stuff ALL THE TIME.

They’re not the only ones doing it. They’re just the most ironic ones on my list. The webinars are worthless. Some titles have captivated me, but they’re simply glorified pitches for other services by partnering companies. If you read and keep up with current business practices (as I do), you’ll not learn anything new by wasting an hour of your time listening in on a free webinar. I defy anybody to prove to me that a free webinar provided any value whatsoever. If you’ve experienced one, please tell me about it. It’s an hour you’ll never get back. If you earn $10 an hour, that free webinar was expensive - costing you ten bucks. Give me 10 bucks and I’ll find something free to give you. Just PayPal it to me.

Free will always cost you time. No matter what. And sometimes it’s worth it, but not often. Some years ago my wife and I spent a few days at a rural resort. Upon our arrival I was offered a substantial discount if I’d be willing to invest two hours to hear their time-sharing sales pitch. It was a rather new resort and part of the pitch included a tour of the place (something I was interested in doing anyway). The discount was $150 (about half off the price of a single night). I thought it was worth it. And it was. It was also something free that gave me value. In addition, my expectations were clearly established. I knew there would be a sales pitch. I was prepared for that and had no trouble spurning the offer. I also knew I’d be given a $150 discount (a coupon given to me upon completion of my time spent hearing the pitch). No problem. Value. Expectation. Both made free worthwhile.

That’s so rare these days. Deception is behind almost all freebies. It’s free because it’s worthless and your expectation won’t be met. It’s free because it’s designed to pull you in and sell you something that has a higher cost (and greater return to the company/person making the offer).

The way to capitalize in this age of sound and click clutter is to be unique. Be different. If you’re marketing anything, stop blitzing people with free offers. Stop playing the numbers game thinking if you aim the shotgun at the most people and pull the trigger that a bigger number of us will drop to our knees for your stuff. Rather, give us something of value - something we can’t get anywhere else* - and don’t disappoint us. Rather, shock us by giving us more than we expect. Do that and we’ll be blown away because NOBODY is doing that.

* I read lots of books. Peppers and Rogers are perfect examples. You know why I logged onto their website year’s ago? Because I’d read their books - and continued to read the new books they publish. I own every book they’ve ever written. You know what you get in the webinars? Hi-lights of what they’re written. I realize many people - maybe most people - haven’t read their books. But I have. That makes me a good customer. I’m a buying customer already. They give me NO VALUE because I already know the material they give away for free. I bought the books and invested the time to read them. So, I’m insulted and annoyed.

“The eyes are the groin of the head.”

Truth in advertising. Honesty. When it’s easy, it’s quite easy. When it’s hard, well - that’s when people lie.

If you visit classmates.com you’ll find the following Story Wizard designed to help you write “your story.” I wonder what percentage of people answer these questions at all. And I wonder how many answer them truthfully like I did. I fear I’ve revealed way too much, but I cannot tell a lie. Here are my answers:

1. How do you hope old friends remember you?

Answer: As being much younger and more popular.

2. I always wanted to be a (blank) when I grew up. My family and friends though that was a (blank) idea. As it turns out, they were (blank).

Answer: cartoonist/writer (in first blank) / ridiculous (second blank) / idiots (third blank)

3. How do you blow off steam? Describe your favorite way to relax.

Answer: sex / ditto

4. What’s the wildest thing you ever did in school?

Answer: show up

5. If I’m going to work somewhere, I need to have (blank), and (blank) and (blank) to be able to deal with the day-to-day.

Answer: Dr. Pepper, snacks and wireless hi-speed Internet

6. Do you have a hero? Talk about where your inspiration comes from.

Answer: Wonder Woman / (I’m not sure what one has to do with the other really?) I’m mostly uninspired

7. Where have you lived? Why did you move?

Answer: Classmates only allows 20,000 characters to supply ALL the answers. I omitted this question due to insufficient space to provide the answer.

8. The one person from my past who I’d most like to see again is (blank / blank), because (blank).

Answer: the guy in junior high to racked me (I don’t know his name) / so I could knock his nads up into his throat

9. Sports. Reality TV. Pets. Share your obsessions.

Answer: sex

10. Life doesn’t always turn out the way you expect. What’s been your biggest surprise?

Answer: Everything in life shocks me. I’m in a constant state of amazement.

11. If I could improve my home, I’d remodel (blank) and add on a (blank). My dream home would be (blank).

Answers: almost every room (first blank) / bowling alley (second blank) / paid for (last blank)

12. Parent? Share what you’ve learned from your kids.

Answer: Yes, I have one. Yes, I am one. That I’m an idiot and they’re not. I never figured out how parents who are morons can birth geniuses.

13. Which teacher would you love to see again? Why?

Answer: A 4th grade teacher I shall not name because if something bad has happened to her I don’t want the cops to visit me. Because I’d like to berate her like she berated us. An awful teacher!

14. If I won $100 million, I’d give (blank) of it to (blank), then spend the rest on (blank) and (blank).

Answer: $15 million to establish a foundation (invested so the passive income could continually donate to good causes) / spending wouldn’t likely be what I’d do; rather, I’d invest and architect a life of service (and writing)

15. Ever live in a dorm? Join the Greek system? Talk about campus life.

Answer: I only visited dorms, which is why I never lived in one.

16. To be truly happy, you would be where, doing what, with whom?

Answer: Happiness is highly overrated. I stopped looking for it decades ago. Happiness hides too well.

17. My current age is (blank). When I was 12, I thought that people my age now would be (blank). I was so completely (blank).

Answer: undisclosed (first blank) / dead (second blank) / stupid (third blank)

18. Working hard? Reveal your career aspirations.

Answer: yes / no ambitions or aspirations

19. What happened to your first crush?

Answer: It worked. I was crushed.

20. My best friend would tell you I’m (blank), but people who don’t know me very well would probably describe me as (blank).

Answer: entertaining (first blank) / entertaining (second blank)

21. Still dress like you did 10 (or 20) years ago? Talk style.

Answer: I still dress like I did when I was a toddler, but now I wear dark socks. I’ll talk style when you talk money.

22. What’s the weirdest job you ever had?

Answer: All my jobs have been weird.

23. I share my home with (blank), which I find (blank).

Answer: dogs (first blank) / gassy (second blank)

24. Got trophies on your mantel? Share a big victory.

Answer: World’s Best Lover / winning my wife was my biggest victory (it was her worst defeat)

25. You get one do-over. What do you do differently?

Answer: One do-over profits me nothing. I need many, many more.

26. In 10 years, I hope to be (blank). I’m going to get there by (blank).

Answer: alive (first blank) / living (second blank)

27. Talk about your oldest friend? How you met and why you clicked.

Answer: he’s 93 / I knew his parents, we clicked because I laughed at how he whistled his S’s

28. What about you would surprise everyone at your high school reunion?

Answer: My tremendous wealth and stunning good looks. Those attributes would slightly overshadow my quick wit.

29. My first job was at (blank), where I got paid (blank) to (blank). What I remember most about it is (blank).

Answer: a blacksmith shop / 5 cents a day / shoe horses and fix wagon wheels / the heat

30. Share a childhood memory you’ll never forget

Answer: Apprenticing at a blacksmith shop

This guy has a problem many audiophiles have, including me. A love of music, some nice audio gear and no place sufficient to set it up and enjoy it. He appears to have negotiated a closet and he’s been pretty inventive in assembling components that hopefully work well for him.

Not all audiophiles have this problem. For instance, this fellow seems to have all the space he wants. There are lots of guys like this, but I’m not one of them. And I suspect there are more of us, but we just don’t post pictures of our closets or small spaces. Tricked out Hummer owners post more pics of their rides than those forced to ride around in 1978 Honda Civics. The same is true in audio. Or anything else I suspect.

I’m going a different route. For starters, I’m selling my loudspeakers and the amp designed to run them effectively. The combination is very magical when they’re set up in a room that can be properly configured. But I don’t have a properly, or even improperly, configured space. And the set up represents quite an investment that seems wasted sitting boxed up.

I’ve taken a few steps to remedy my situation. It’s probably an unwise strategy, but it’s the only one I’ve got (for now).

1. I decided to sell the components that need a proper room. This includes a set of speakers and one amp (yes, I have more than one amp). The amp I’m selling is designed to drive single-driver speakers. So, it’s not the most versatile amp out there, but it’s incredible with single-driver speakers that have no crossover.

2. I’m keeping the components that can be engineered to work in a very small space. This includes another amp that will work with most any speaker. It’s a high quality amp that is pretty “speaker friendly.” I’m also keeping my source component, a heavily modified DVD player (used only to play CD’s, DVD-Audio or SACD’s) with a tube output stage, and a buffered-passive preamp (a glorified volume control). I’ve also got a cheap CD changer, for just grins and to use when background music is more the goal.

3. I purchased some mini-monitors to use in a nearfield situation. I may have to play with the placement when the speakers arrive, but I think they’ll be fine. I’m not worried about lack of bass because I’m not a low frequency hound anyway. And there are always subwoofers that can remedy those concerns.

4. But my primary move is the most space saving of all - headphones. I’ve been the longtime owner of a pair of Senns HD600. However, I’ve never owned a headphone amp before. So I bought one. A portable one. Battery powered, or wall wart powered. And it works like a champ! It even makes my iPod or iPod Shuffle sound terrific - and I’m a huge opponent of compressed music.

In the end, that last item may be my final state. I may wind up selling all my audio components knowing that wherever there’s room for my head, I can always slap headphones on and hookup to an iPod or my Mac laptop.

Jimmy Buffett’s “Pirate’s Look at 40″ realized he was “an over 40 victim of fate, arriving too late.” He lamented that there was no longer anything to plunder because he arrived too late on the scene to be a real pirate. I’m an over 40 victim of fate with no space - no room for the music anymore. Except in the car and through my headphones. Thankfully, technology is on my side. The sound is pretty spectacular.

I do miss the days of being able to sit quietly and listen to a great record. But, that’s what happens to audiophiles like me and Pwfletcher. We just go back into the closet to listen to our music.