Optimized Marketing

Have you ever looked up at a billboard while driving and wondered why that particular advertiser decided decided on that particular billboard? Probably not. And have you ever wondered how that person knew that was a good way to spend their marketing dollars? Again, probably not. 

Someone put up a counter and counted the cars that pass by on a daily or weekly basis, figured out the average number of people in each of those cars, used some kind of factor to judge if those people saw it, and came up with a number. That number is the number of impressions that a billboard in that particular location gets. Take that number and divide it by the cost of the ad and the rent on the billboard, the cost of putting it up there and you get cost per impression. It works out to pennies or less. But here's the kicker. How do you know how many people walk in your door, or call you about your services because of that billboard? Kind of hard to tell. 

But, what if you could spend your marketing dollars on advertising that was inexpensive, targeted the people who wanted to know about your offering, and you could measure how well it worked. Welcome to the internet. 

Almost everything you do on the internet is measurable. Where someone surfs, how they got there, where they went after they left, how long they were on a page, where their IP address is geographically, and more can be determined by using a tool like Google Analytics. Probably most of you know by now that these tools exist, but there may be a few late adopters who have no knowledge of the kinds of back room workings of the internet business scene.

For instance, you can tell exactly how many people came to your site, and how many clicked through to contact you or buy a product. This is called conversion rate. If you find that one internet campaign is brining in an acceptable number of conversions, don't change a thing. It works. You're good or lucky or both, so don't change a thing. However, if your conversion rate is low you may have to try several iterations of ads or keywords, or a non-internet supplement to your campaign, like a mailer or a radio ad. It's still measurable, because the activity you see on your website will reflect to a degree the effectiveness of your other marketing efforts, thereby making those efforts measurable as well. 

It's great that you can get so many impressions per dollar spent. What's better is knowing the return on those dollars. Sales per dollar spent is a much better metric. If you spent the money on a website, and you don't know what you are getting out of it, then you are throwing your money away.  If you want to know more go here. This stuff is so much fun!

I'm not playing.

What a fun week I've had. I've met more cool people this last week than I care to count, but I will if you call up an ask me. The beauty of all these connections is that in every case these folks are entrepreneurial, young, smart, and tough. The media would like me to think that there is a tough economy out there, but let me tell you it's no tougher than in 1978, 1988, 1997, 2001. Watching these kids and the lines forming at the Costco checkout, makes me wonder what they are up to with this "bad economy" claptrap. If there is a recession, I'm not playing. Looks to me like the ones who are broke are the ones who took the bad loans, the lenders of the bad loans and the federal government, who happen to be the lenders who started this whole mess, by making loans for so called "affordable housing". Some of the private lenders gave out money to compete with Freddie and Fannie. Not very affordable now is it? The faster the Fed goes broke the better, but they won't. They'll just print more money or take it from those who produce something. Either way, its opposite of the role the government should be playing, because it rewards not producing. "Oh you made a pile of money on your new and fantastic invention that saved people time and money? Yeah, we'll just be taking a third of that, and for your trouble we'll give it to people who aren't as smart as you, because that's more fair. Oh and by the way, you greedy bastard, it's your duty anyway."

Here's something else that doesn't make any sense. If everyone is having to tighten their belts, why is the Federal Government not tightening it's belt? "Go further in to debt, and it will stimulate the economy!" Haven't we already tried this? Hasn't worked yet, what makes you think it's going to work this time? Keep asking those foreign investors to buy t-bills, "Tomorrow's slums at today's prices". You want to stimulate the economy? Here's how.

1. Cut the capital gains tax to 0%- you'll see money come flowing in to the U.S. like crazy.
   
2. Eliminate inheritance tax - more money for your kids to invest when you kick the bucket.
3. Pay off the national debt. This government is so over leveraged it's sick. If I were the UAE or China, I'd be dumping my Dollars and cutting my losses.
4. Switch to a Flat or Consumption tax. Everybody pays, not just the wealthy. If you are wealthy or want to be, how long would you put up with having your money stolen before you decided to close shop and move to Costa Rica or New Zealand?

The only thing the Government can produce is a safe environment in which to conduct business. Looks to me that environment is going to get a whole lot more dangerous. As my economics professor says, "Everything is economics". We've been paying people not to produce for far to long. It obviously doesn't work.

You know that guy Robin Hood? Well, he didn't steal from the rich, he stole from the government what the government had stolen from the producers. If he had stolen from the rich he would have just screwed over the people he was trying to help because the rich would have to hire armed guards making their goods more expensive. Either that or the rich would have to take the long way around Sherwood Forest making their goods more expensive. Either that or the rich would just stop selling their things in that market. Anyway you slice it, the poor get screwed when you steal from the rich.

Ever wonder why some countries are poor and others have lots of money? It's because individuals with money weigh risk. A country without property rights and a high chance of having your property taken with no recourse is a bad investment. Where would you put your money?

Want to know more? Read a book called Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

On Fatherhood

I don't care what anybody says; bringing children in to the world it the one thing in life that makes it all worth while. Being a man, I realize that my gender has it a bit easier in this regard. Setting that part of the process aside, being someone's dad is the best job on the planet. As with any position in life it has it ups and downs, but the ups far outweigh the downs. 

The responsibilities of fatherhood are huge. One of the most important things a father provides is safety. I'm not just talking about an environment free from physical harm, but one where a child is free to be safe within themselves. As a father, I must constantly be aware of the immense power I hold. Our children look up to us, and one slip of the tongue or action can do almost irreparable harm to a child's self view.

I do my fair share of yelling, and being mad when my kids do things that they shouldn't, like fighting with each other, or calling each other stupid. For the most part I try to explain to them first that there are better ways of resolving the problem, like asking themselves how they are reacting to the situation, which is pretty much the only thing we have control over anyway.  If that doesn't work then out comes the mean Dad. I don't like being the mean dad, but in my book that kind of behavior is unacceptable. At the same time I have to be careful not to make them think that I don't love them or that they have some flaw that makes them unlovable. I don't particularly like this part of the job, I mean who likes to yell at their kids? This is one of the down sides, but to me it's necessary to forging adults from children. Making good adults who will be good parents is the goal.

Last night my wife and son went out to see "Walking with Dinosaurs". I was reading and my daughter came in and asked if she could read to me. She's reading Lemony Snicket, and if you know that series of unfortunate events, then you know that there are some pretty big words in there. She's in 3rd grade, and her command of the language is incredible.  After years of reading "Cat in the Hat" and "Curious George" to the point of memorization, it was so nice to have my nine year old read to me. I felt so proud of her, and still do. Massive up-side. 

The challenges of fatherhood are many, but I wouldn't trade it for all the world because the rewards are priceless.