Bryan Landaburu (aka Reno Bryan, Willie Vega, and Fuze) | Dont call me a blogger

Sirius XM Merger Great (in theory) but shit really, for subscribers.

2008-11-16T10:54:17-08:00

I am a subscriber and early adopter of Satellite radio. I was right there with a Sirius subscription in hand when my hero Howard Stern left terrestrial radio in the biggest media frenzy, and biggest contract ever signed by a radio personality. I have had Sirius in 2 cars and at home on a Tivoli for years. Recently i purchased a GM model luxury SUV (he who shall not be named) and it came with XM only. So, of course i activated this subscription and i have to say that i enjoy the programming more. Here is my take on each of these companies, and why neither was fulfilling my desires:

Sirius Satellite Radio

Howard Stern - Hands down the main reason i signed up. They also have NFL, NASCAR, and other exclusives which i don't care about.
Faction - enjoy this station because of Ellis, Bam, Tony Hawk, etc.
Radio programming (music channels) isn't that great. A LOT of repetition on the music channels
Overall i think its ok, but...
No MLB - this sucks. I drive a lot and LOVE listening to baseball games. XM has em, Sirius doesn't. This blows. But, they have Howard so i keep it.
Pause/Record - The device at the office and in one car allows me to pause/rewind, the broadcast, even record it, like a Tivo/DVR. That rocks.

XM Radio

Forced on you by GM
Music stations are better. Less repetition, more variety, better distinction between genres. All around better than Sirius
MLB - they have the MLB contract so you can listen to literally EVERY MLB game that is live. This kicks ass
No Howard Stern - not an option.
aside - the XMradio.com website is mostly flash making it useless on a mobile device. nice job dolts.

Both

They both, just like my cable provider at home, have crap loads of useless (to me) stations that are there for the sake of filler. They suck. I wish, like i wish at home, that i could pick the 10 channels i want to watch and put the rest in the recycler.
Both have streaming websites but neither has an iTunes integration - this is lame
Both charge for EVERY radio, so, my monthly nut for my "radio privileges" is: $48. A lot these days for a passive bit of entertainment
Both, 100%, without question, are 10,000 times better than any terrestrial radio feed on the planet. I haven't listened to regular radio since the day i switched with the one exception, the Adam Carolla Show, which i listen to at drive time, and then quickly turn off after 10am PST. See, i enjoy Howard stern in the morning, but on satellite with an east and west feed, plus a repeat, i can listen to that daily show whenever i want.

Ok enough of the review...here's why i am pissed. I am pissed because i have both of these dumb services, and i pay them the afore mentioned $48/month for services. When they merged i expected this to be my hay day. All the things i am missing from each will be fulfilled. All my fantasies of radio coming true. Life is grand. BULL SHIT! Here's how they did it:

No notification in writing or email that this was happening...it just "did".
No explanation of how it was going down or how, as a subscriber, i was supposed to receive the new channel line up or how it was going to effect my devices
Ok, the stations are there on both (they picked a Sirius heavy music line up which blows, and they didn't give us a chance to vote), but some are missing...hmm.
Yes, i cannot listen to Howard Stern on XM, even though i am a Sirius subscriber and an XM subscriber...if i want the "best of Sirius" or the "best of XM" I have to PAY MORE, and not just more one time, more on EVERY DEVICE I HAVE. This sucks you pricks!

These asshole companies wanted us to fight for them in congress and with the FCC. They want us to bandwagon and evangelize their service. But, this merger, once passed is just going to cost me MORE MONEY. It doesn't benefit me AT ALL! If i want Howard stern on my XM device, i have to pay a new premium (note, this link isn't direct because XM jackasses built their site in flash) if I wanted MLB on my Sirius devices, i have to pay an additional premium. This seems like racketeering and i am pissed...why? Because i am probably going to forgo another tipple latte/month and pay! But, i am going to cancel some of my cars which is an inconvenience for me. Frankly i cant justify this much outgoing for the privilege of their feed. It could have gone down so much simpler, and they could have built such a groundswell without raising prices at a time where people are killing EVERY SINGLE UNNECESSARY expense. Wanna hear my concocted[perfect] scenario:

Bryan's Awesome Deal | A Satellite Service (which carries the acronym: BADASS)

I pay a family plan and get 5 devices for a reduced fee - encouraging me to spread the word.
Different programming could be controlled by the subscriber at each device (parental controls and minimizing the station count so I can scroll through them faster).
All the channels are there, or, i get the option on my plan to choose the stations i want and pay only for them. Currently you cant OPT OUT of a channel, but on BADASS you can kill all the gospel, country music, political slur, all pop music, and the lame ass overpaid radio personalities who have a place on Sirius and XM.
No Oprah (and any of her associated nonsense (NOprah))
No Martha Stewart (better than Oprah, but still see above)
No Playboy channel (seems controversial from a red-blooded male, but this is as watered down as the brand is...maybe even worse)
I would develop a pyramid scheme for billing...every person a subscriber refers reduces their monthly...worked for Amway, why not radio.
I get to stream from my iPhone with a 3G or WiFi connection
I can only be authenticated in 5 places (including my streams) - meaning i have a 5 user license
I can be authenticated in iTunes and play through iTunes as a device
The premium (if we must charge) content should come AD FREE - currently to listen to Howard Stern, BTLS, MLB, etc. you have to sit through commercials, just like regular radio.
When i sell a car, or want to turn on/off a device, i can do so on an easy to navigate, standards compliant website that works on all screens.
When new content is added, and new software is available, it streams right through to the device (like an iPhone)
My services and traffic and the like will be GEO TARGETED, using those fancy satellites to do something more than stream, how about real time traffic on my Nav, how about Nav period? Maybe a concierge concept powered by Yelp.
I would have a limited Internet browser on the next gen device, for sure hands down. Voice commanded.

Thats just my roll out plan developed in the heat of this post. I am full of [shit]ideas so just ask you SiriusXM jerks. The process you are going through turned from something i was excited about, talked about, and wished for, to something i am confused about, angry about, and frankly, considering taking away subscriptions. Is that what you wanted you scallywags?

I have to go, I need to go find my radio ID and try to make Howard come on in my SUV by the morning...any bets on how much it will cost, how many phone calls, and how much time (that I don't have) this will take?

SUCKIT Sirius XM. If there was an alternative, I would consider it.

Signed,

Disgruntled BADASS

Now here's a novel concept, anyone remember Sears LAYAWAY?

2008-11-14T10:05:05-08:00

Back in the 70's I used to look through the JC Penny, Spiegel, Sears, etc, catalogs about this time and pick out the hero toy of the season. To afford said toy for my brother and I my not-rich parents would use something called LAYAWAY to acquire the toy for us before Santa Day. For those of you that haven't ever heard of this, its a concept where you actually pay for something BEFORE you take it from the store. This little known concept went the way of the dodo during the decades of decadence that happened from the 90's to present. Credit cards and home equity made Christmas' quite bright all over the US in the last decade, but here we sit all broken hearted and this year retail will be a different scene. To address this, while JT was bringin sexy back, Sears is bringin Layaway back:

Is this a sign of true change? Why do i comment on Sears email so much? I dont know the answer of either, i just know that this is an email you would have never seen 2 years ago.

Lemme put a lil sumthin' on it...

Christina Aguilera for Target | Yes Please.

2008-11-12T12:26:45-08:00

I will be shopping at Target almost specifically because of this ad. Cole needs a Big Wheel and I heard Target has the original artifacts. Anyway, the spot below featuring one of the hottest mommies ever, Christina Aguilera, is awesome on so many levels:

courtesy of AdGabber

I love comic books. Reminds me a little of Sin City (where I feel in love with Jessica Alba). Which also reminds me, can't Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez release Sin City 2 faster? Waiting till 2010 seems a tad excessive to me.

Something fun here for hump-day at the Fuze. Back to wireframes...

Vote for David Bobzien - Nevada Assembly District 24

2008-11-04T00:51:49-08:00

I am not a huge political activist to be frank. I find politics to be not much different than Hollywood acting. Believe in who you want, its not relevant to me. That doesn't mean I don't care, just means I am not the person who will convince you to put your faith in someone who I don't personally know. I cant endorse and stand behind someone whose party pays speech writers to come up with their stance, tone, and message. Someone who buys more media than imaginable to promote their brand. Somewhere in political messages is a shred of truth, but its rare to see much authenticity in the sense that I typically refer to it because at the highest level of politics, you lose your authenticity and become a puppet. Oh flame on you flamers...i don't care. If you were honest about it you would agree.

That said, I do believe that some people enter the political arena without a personal agenda. These needles in haystacks are few and far between. Over the last 10 years I have had the privelage to know and work with one candidate for State Assembly, David Bobzien. I dont really know what people know about David as a person, so let me tell you a few things about him, from my perspective.

Were it not for David, myself, and most of the people in our office wouldnt know all that much about local politics and how the decisions we make effect our state, positively or negatively. David knows about both sides and pines over decisions...putting the needs of the greater good in front of any personal agenda. David is the most technology savvy candidate I know of. He is an activist for almost any non-profit who asks for his time. He is a worthy recipient of a 20 Under 40 award for 2008. The list goes on. His political alignment is Democrat, but he is also a Nevadan, and he thinks like a Nevadan. He is young, brilliant, and energetic about everything he tackles in life. I know, because I know David personally.

I have employed David as our Director of User Experience for about 2 years now...and I hired him with the full understanding that he would need to be in session, and that he would likely have to campaign. His dedication to his family, political career, and his job at Fuze are amazing. I often ask him, why in the hell do you want to do this? Why go through the aggrivation? Christ man you have twins on the way...I just dont get it. His answer is the same now as it was when he told me years ago when he ran the first time:

"Because I believe that I can make a difference."

He has, and he will, without sacraficing who he is as a person, who he will be as a father, and what he means to my company. I support David 100% in his political aspirations and hope that you will too with your vote on November 4th, 2008. He deserves this seat, and he will do what's best for our state. I cant even vote for him but if this message influences even 1 voter, it was worth writing.

Best of luck to you David, I hope its a landslide. And congratulations and best wishes to you and Lisa on your baby boys.

Your boss and friend,

Bryan

Information on David:

Google, I'm the REAL Reno Bryan.

2008-10-29T19:37:55-07:00

Certainly there's no arguing that I am the real Reno Bryan.
But, thanks to Google, I no longer can brag about this to impress nerds and the easily impressed in bars and public spaces. Their [google] last reindex has me plummeting in rank from #1 (where i have been for a year) to the unmentionable doldrums of the interwebs. I really don't get it. I am Bryan, I live in RENO, I've had a web development firm in Reno for 7 years, I'm on the board of the Reno Tahoe Young Professionals Network (who are having ther 2nd annual Leadership Summit next friday), and I frequently comment on the trials, tribulations, and happenings in the biggest little city in the world, more recently branded the Greater Reno[dash]Tahoe area. Even friends and other Reno bloggers like Ryan and Myrna think I am reno bryan, i just dont get it.
I am certain that all of you with companies re-test your search rankings every day right? Every week? Month? Come on...you don't think Google doesn't shuffle the cards every now and then do you? Call if you need help.
At least I can rest on the laurels that our clients are top 5 for other Reno terms like: reno riverfront condos, reno mail house, reno printing companies, etc. etc. You cant look for any photo ID product any ID card printer under the sun and not find IDWholesaler.com or at least one of our clients. I am supposed to know how to do this, so I am on a mission. I will reign supreme as reno bryan again. Until then i will just have to be #4 for Bryan in Reno. But I'll be back. Mark my words.
[maniacal hand rubbing]
I'll get you my pretty...and your little dog too.
Angry Bryan
PS
So help me if Wolfy says, aren't you in sparks, its on. I'll whack him with a tall boy next time i see him on his huffy 10-speed.

My day...

2008-10-28T04:29:14-07:00

Heading to bed at 4:15am is rediculous. Hey wanna be entrepreneurs, want to know how my day goes? Heres a look at Monday:

Wake 7am - read NY Times on iPhone, return emails from the weekend, request project updates from extended team.

7:30am - bathe, feed, dress Cole and get him ready to roll

Out the door at 8:15am

8:30am standing conference call

9am - drop cole off while muting phone and carrying on call

10am - update job lists and print job reports
1030am - check email

11am - conference call - development partners MN

Noon - errands, lunch, make someones day

2pm - rescue clients dead email servers, prep for con call, try to check email and return calls

3pm - interactive team production meeting

330pm - client meeting server migration plan

4pm - rescheduled all-hands Fuze production meeting. Introduce new time sheet policy and review all open projects, for all clients.

5pm - one last whack at email (30 still unanswered from monday)

530pm - pick up cole from nanny

6pm - arrive at YPN 20 under 40 awards social

7pm - Cole melts down at party, we leave

730pm - feed cole and get him ready for bed

830pm - fall asleep on the couch

Midnight - wake up and realize that i have 3 proposals incomplete

1am - check social sites and reply to inbound (aka procrastination)

2:30am - realized I never ate dinner, cold cereal, vitamins, Chardonnay.

415am - proposals complete, thought about billing, but didnt get to any, mind racing, just replied to an email from a friend on CST who is already on his way to work (he and I have a meeting in 5 hrs)

Ever wanted to know what its like to be me? There ya go. Super glamorous isn't it? Gucci, confetti, lavish meals, bikinis and beaches, its really the life-o-riley. I would say that 3 of 5 days a week my schedule resembles this. Thinking of running your own show, welcome to the big time. Sometimes being a number has its privileges.
Goodnight/goodmorning...
B

Crutchfield.com Customer Reassurance - get ready for more of this

2008-10-24T17:41:20-07:00

I have long been a fan of Crutchfield.com and we have admittedly "borrowed" from their research and concepts for some of our own ecommerce clients projects (don't act like you've never done it). They are true innovators, the best of the best customer service wise, best catalog, best marketers, best photos, best descriptions, best content overall. Not however, the best prices but I digress. They kick ass. Today, in kickass fashion the CEO, Bill Crutchfield (go figure) sent out an email to all his customers that is preemptive and simply awesome as we approach the holidays. It's also a nice "suckit" to their competitors in consumer electronics online retail. Wanna see it, here ya go...

There is one particularly notable paragraph that demonstrates this CEO's smarts and the company's ability to see past the end of their damn noses:

"For many years, I have been concerned about the growing credit bubble. It was obvious to me that it was unsustainable and that an inevitable day of reckoning would come. To protect our customers, our employees, and my family from the disastrous consequences of a financial meltdown, I positioned Crutchfield to withstand the worst. We became very frugal with how we spent money. We did not pay outlandish executive salaries and bonuses. We did not build fancy facilities. We did not expand our retail store operations. And we did not buy other companies. Instead, we worked extremely hard to improve how we serve our customers, while we managed every aspect of our business with excellence. Furthermore, we paid off all of our debt and accumulated cash reserves."

Hot damn! Makes me wanna buy a big screen for the den! Seriously though, get ready for more of this from responsible and prepared companies as doom & gloom runs rampant throughout online commerce this holiday season. Crutchfield is a company that will weather the storm and this sincere, and this authentic letter has me evangelizing for them and committed to them as a company.
Nice job Bill. I hope someone on your PR team sees this (because I actually do matter, or so my mom says).
Happy FriDEE!
Bryan

Zhiing is a new way to connect, we all need that.

2008-10-20T17:54:37-07:00

Hey, look, I'm writing about what I actually do around here all day! So, I'm typically a bandwagoner and a little nerdy for new releases of anything social (form an orderly queue ladies). I am personally fascinated with Geo-based applications that connect people, businesses, etc, and the possibilities they present are endless, IMHO. The new breed of mobile apps are popping up with great regularity but one we recently had the opportunity to be involved with at the Alpha phase is a new app called Zhiing.

With Zhiing you have the ability to communicate your location to anyone with a mobile phone. As you say so what, in that same message you are providing turn-by-turn directions to where you are (see how it works). You are also able to broadcast your location to a group of people...something you cant do with other Apps. Surely there is Brightkite, Loopt, WhosHere, Plazes, to an extent, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Plaxo, etc, etc. but all require the recipient to ALSO HAVE THE APP or be "in da club". Zhiing doesn't require this. Zhiing also works as a Firefox plugin, so you can Zhiing folks from your desktop as well. Here's a little video on how it works...

They have thought through a lot in this initial release. I'm going to play with the public version and see what i think, utilizing it with my friends and family. We have our PR and Project teams on it as well. Will be interesting to see how we find uses for it.

There are fully functional apps for iPhone, and Blackberry available for download now. This just released TODAY so in the App store you will need to search for Zhiing to find it until the index picks up. You can learn more about the uses of the product on their website or their blog.

This is a public service announcement and I get NOTHING for the success or failure of this app. I am pimping it because I had the opportunity to provide my input on the development (after all I am a Thetan Level 10 Social Media App Sherpa). I have always enjoyed playing with the various location based, friend-to-friend apps that are out there, but they've all left this reviewer limp. So, I hope that our influence on the development and our evangelism leads to a fast moving app. Best of luck to the guys at Zos.

Send your feedback and comments here, oh loyal readers, or in the iTunes App Store, or wherever you like. Or if you dont want to try it, then you, sir, are no friend of mine.

Rays in 4.

Bryan

What Happened to Our Economy by Xplane

2008-10-09T12:56:39-07:00

I am one who feels that people should be allowed to hang themselves. Meaning, that you are responsible for your own actions. As our country (and the world) face serious economic crisis, it's this time that we need to rethink a lot in our lives. Politics aside, an administration didn't do this to America. I am not even going to state a side on the Presidential race because while McCain and Obamas version and solution for the economic issues are interesting to debate, this doesn't seem presidential related to me. The video below from Xplane gives a nice, short overview of exactly what happened to our world from 2000 to present. This all has to do with greedy, dumb people.

Give it a watch and I really hope that my 5's of loyal readers who don't know what a sub-prime loan is, or how our lives will be forever changed by the last decade of decadence, hear the message. I know several friends who have had their homes foreclosed on, are losing their cars, and (hopefully) some dignity. These are good people but they have bad priorities and make dumb decisions. Personally, I have an expensive lifestyle, and things aren't always rosy in my world, but dammit, I made my own bed and I'm sleeping in it. I can't blame a bank for holding a gun to my head to buy a mortgage I can't afford only moments after I Visa'd up a new pair of True Religions. In my business, there would be no bail-out for Fuze making dumb ass business decisions. We would just fail. Like a wildfire in the forest, failure is a cleansing of society and this needs to happen.

Frankly, I am on a serious grandparent rant these days because days where true concepts of money, financing, and personal dignity have gone the way of the Dodo in favor of bigger rims and cooler boats. A lot can be learned from your grandparents if they're still with you...they have lived through this. What we face going forward, could actually be that bad.

Learn from the past. Rethink your life. Make smart decisions. Market yourself and your business and emerge a leader.

Ever forward,

Dr. Vega

Rethink, refocus, refreshing...reward.

2008-09-16T17:25:00-07:00

Thinking I haven’t been posting much lately, maybe that’s because I haven’t been flying much. When I fly I tend to take some time to day dream and think. The idle time is nice. There are a myriad of personal reasons that I have been much more grounded on the west coast and home more than not. I’ve long pined about how much I want to reveal about my personal life but sometimes it just feels better to write and let things out than hold them inside. I may get some flames for this, or, people may actually learn more about who I am and who the person is that’s driving the business. Risks we take.

Today I am flying from Atlanta to Reno, and I am looking at an overwhelming pile of work ahead of me when I return. I’m mentally tired, and while I can honestly say that I feel happy today, there remains a shadow of discontent. As I fly, my grandmother is sitting in ICU, on life support, fighting pneumonia, fighting really hard. I need to visit her as soon as I can because who knows how much longer she will hold on. She’s a fighter but so very weak. She is a beautiful, crazy woman and I love her. All this reality of life, has me rethinking things, or at least reprioritizing. I’ll start with work and come back to me…

Our business has grown, we have an amazing client list, new partners, new people, new products, everyone is really working well together. We have, in the last quarter found that we have some clients that simply will not make next years roster. I feel like this year we made some big mistakes with our business, management of accounts, receivables management, and pursuit/selection of certain projects. These decisions are draining the business, and our excitement about working. That’s really bad. I want to get back to the excitement of new projects for our clients.

An example. ID Wholesaler/Plasco have been clients since the day I went into business for myself (some 8 years ago). We just worked with them on their biggest shows of the year and everything was a giant success. Their 2009 looks amazing and we are excited about what we’re going to be working on. This client is defending their leadership position with our help, that’s really cool. Another example. Dickson Realty, during the most down economy my memory, has chosen to partner with Fuze to launch an amazing new web experience, ground up. They need this to reposition their business and restate their leadership position. There are few details that can be shared other than there will simply be no web presence like this in our region, state, on par with the best of the best. A new client example, Clearstar. Naysayers say what you will about this small credit union. They have some fantastic ideas for the way they will approach the market and present their business in 2009. We are so proud to be part of this business effort. I bring up these clients in particular because these clients are my partners, my friends, our bread and butter and I value their business more than I can express. These sorts of relationships cannot be recreated with an order, or a fancy dinner, these are years in the making, customers for life.

The common thread in these relationships is the trust, collaboration, and mutual respect between our companies. I will bank my future on these companies success. We have skin in the game. So how do we cultivate new client relationships like these? How do we remain accountable to these relationships and provide creative vision and technical execution to new clients, new projects, new opportunities. I believe that several of our current clients have this direction as a possibility: The Entrust Group, Watt Companies, True Blue Gaming, Boyd Gaming, Artown, CLP, Legends Reno Tahoe Open, Education Collaborative, NNDA, Great Basin Wind, etc, etc. I don't mean to leave clients out, we have many more, and I don’t say this simply to restate our client list. I say this to chart a course, a public course to our own destiny. Taking all orders is over, its diluted who we are, its made our people frustrated, its made the clients frustrated, and its made me frustrated. We veered a bit off course chasing shooting stars we have chosen to latch to. These projects have taken our focus away from our core capabilities and our core culture. We are changing this, now. Our clients must possess a drive to lead their markets, be pioneers, take some risks, push the limits, and trust, trust our abilities to the job they hired us to do.

We feel that better stating who we are up front may help us find our kindred souls. To this end, we embarked on the redesign of ifuze.com (or whatever our new website will reside on). In the next 3 months we will be building a new world for ourselves online and our direction will be very clear. Watch for that on the horizon.

2008 has been a wild year for me personally. With my wife and I deciding to split and share custody of our beautiful son, life has certainly changed. This roller coaster continues for me but things are getting to a point where we are rebuilding respect and friendship…we both love our son and eachother, just separately and in a different way than before. I finally feel good about this. As I look out of my cramped coach window seat, I stare out on the horizon and I can almost see the future (for myself). I will say that today, I am truly happy and excited, and that’s a feeling that has been missing for a while. I see a lot of new beginnings for me and for my company. With all this said, my head and heart sit with my grandma right now and I really hope she will pull through.

I don’t know how many company presidents would air out 100% of their thoughts and I frankly don’t care. When you choose a company to do business with, a company to put your hard earned money into, it requires a gigantic level of trust. Knowing where the ship is driving, and who is driving it, adds to the authenticity of the business. We force our clients to communicate authentically every day so I am just practicing what I preach, I guess. Comment, flame, yawn, or appreciate the sentiment. Sometimes you need to reinvent yourself, business and personal, to keep focus on what makes you happy, and stimulates your soul. I am not quite there. I see it, but I cant reach it, yet.

Why does B to B usually mean Boring to Boring?

2008-08-13T10:37:53-07:00

Here at Camp Fuze we are heavily vested in several vertical industries, but the some of our largest clients are true B to B players. It is often that these clients revert back to being conservative vs. sticking their next out a little bit. This tends to go against our advice, but for the sake of being safe, they opt to go this direction. The results are watered down advertising and campaigns that struggle for relevance and meaning. A watered down campaign makes the intended audience yawn and say, "so what?". In some cases you insult their style by assuming they have a "lack of", and quite simply, you lose their attention which goes a long way towards eliminating any interim interest or final conversion.

To defend my point, I came across this video blog post from marketing guru Martin Lindstrom who clearly explains the Boring to Boring concept and why companies are losing out on $$ and opportunities because they are underestimating their customers ability to enjoy witty and fun messages just because they wear a suit and tie to work every day.

View Martin's message here...it'll take you a whopping 2 min and may change your focus some.

Boring to Boring - Video Blog [link]

Stay witty businesses...

BL

The Allyance produced a great spot, doin big things.

2008-08-12T12:16:51-07:00

Semi-known surf/skate/snow lifestyle brand, The Allyance released a killer new TV spot currently running only on FuelTV. The spots aptly fit their brand direction dubbed as "Rogue Heros" and are some of the most unique spots I've seen in some time, especially for a small emerging brand. Allyance also stepped up and opened their own retail front my beloved myNOHO at Edge (on Bleeker bet. Broadway & Bowery).

Enjoy the spot, and consider supporting these creative folks.

WBV

Approved with changes...

2008-08-01T17:12:15-07:00

I haven't posted in a while. Screw you, I've been busy. :-)

Anyhoo, from the smarties at shankman.com I am passing along this video. It's really for anyone who is regularly converted from campaign creators to utilitarian word art designers, or for those of us hear the term "approved with changes" or "we have a mionor update/resize/copy change/addition/etc.". If this is you, then this video will warm the cockles of your heart as much as it does mine.

http://view.break.com/542649 - Watch more free videos

Enjoy here at the end of your Friday. Here's to a great weekend and smooth week next week.

May your Mojitos be made with only the finest rum...

B

Bad Email Marketing - Sears

2008-06-18T12:32:01-07:00

Wow, I was blessed to be on the opt-in list of Sears, a small chicago-based retailer, who sent out a lovely pair of emails yesterday. I thought I would pass this along in my 2008 series of bad email crap because what they did was really lame for a company that mighty.

Here is message 1:

and here is message 2 that followed a couple hours later:

Thats just awesome that a giant company fires off a we f'd up email to probably 250,000-500,000 folks. Just goes to show you that its not small companies and their associated agencies that screw up. The big guys eat poo-poo too. My hunch is that there are probably job openings for an e-mail campaign manager and proofer up at Sears marketing HQ. Hmmm...I wonder what it pays.

BL

Wine Retailing, An Uncorked Opportunity (were it not for lame laws)

2008-06-10T23:16:25-07:00

Today I was skimming through this month's Internet Retailer and I was impressed with several things.

the general tone of the publication is one of success stories and best practices. This is refreshing when all we hear is doom-gloom about the economy.

The magazine is about a third of an inch thick. The advertisers are not pulling back ads to this viable audience. Everything from marketing to analytics to warehousing...and on. Its full of advertisers. This says something when nearly every other business publication has been reduced to pamphlet size because advertisers are running for the hills.

Some great articles on what some very successful merchants are doing online. There is still a great business there, but the challenges are very steep.

All in all i am thrilled to see this. Not even sure what made me devote 15min of time to it but i am glad i did. As an agency fairly vested in eCommerce clients businesses, this was a very cool read for me.

I think the challenges that face online merchants are steeper than ever. There is no longer the ability to just throw open a store, buy some AdWords and start sellin'. That no longer scales. Merchants have to focus on strategy, architecture, UI design, development, merchandising, up-sell, cross-sell, pull, push, viral, email, SEO, SEM, PPC, analytics, testing, scalability, and on and on. To be a player in the game, you have to bury yourself and your team in the concept and its success...go all in...or be relegated to being what i refer to as Martha's Yarn Barn, a hobby business you spend your hard earned savings on but probably shouldn't. If however, you embrace all thats possible, and focus, there are still a lot of opportunities and markets to tap into, and build a better mousetrap. Unless of course, government(s) over-regulates online commerce.

One particular industry I am fascinated with is the wine industry. The related article below about laws regulating online wine retailers/shops gave me the motivation for this post.

Read the full article called: Patchwork of Laws on InternetRetailer.com

A confessed wine-o, I am a member of several wine clubs and in addition, I buy a lot of wine online. I have my favorites but I'm always open to experimenting with new brands. As I read the IR article I realized that I have the privilege of living in Nevada, one if the 15 states that legally allow retail-to-consumer wine shipments. Nine additional states allow a sorta "gray area" acceptance, but could choose to enforce established regulations on internet merchants at any time. 15 STATES - WTF!? While I can respect every state (except the Silver one) not wanting to legalize prostitution; we're talking wine here folks. Other than Utah, I certainly don't see why there are 34 other states that won't allow this. Some of these states have drive-thru liquor stores, but wont allow a bottle of Zinfandel to grace a UPS truck's cargo bay. The basis of most regulations date back to prohibition. As I digested this, it got me thinking. Online wine stores are a big business now but imagine if laws change and more states (except Utah) open up their regulations. What happens next is that online wine retailing becomes a land rush.
"Wine.com CEO Richard Bergsund estimates U.S. retail wine sales at about $25 billion, with between 1% and 2% of that currently conducted online. “Most categories that don’t have regulatory constraints do about 3% to 5% online, so that is where this seems to be going long-term. If it gets to 5%, that would be over $1 billion,” he says."
Great future opportunities await folks like Gary Vaynerchuk, WineZap, WinesTillSoldOut, and others who have a strong hold and online reputation that will always keep them on the top seat. But, there are also ripe business opportunities for smart entrepreneurs, small wineries, big wineries, and others who want to break into a boom industry. The state laws simply make no sense and hopefully they'll change...someday.

Well thats my story for today. I have been a little absentee from my posting lately because of a variety of personal life changes afoot in my little world. Rest assured my loyal 10's of readers, I am still full of "it".

Till later...drink more wine.

BL

PS
Sparks Farmers Market starts this Thursday, June 12th. Fuze balconies will be open for VIP's (and even some IPs). Call ahead for reservations. :-)