Instructional

Milk the Whale

We created a LinkedIn group to utilize their platform and facilitate discussions centered on all things related to customers. A new site entitled Milk the Whale will be launched this month. More details to follow on the site as soon as it is launched. You can join the Milke the Whale Group here on LinkedIn.

Here is the welcome message for the new LinkedIn group.

Welcome – it’s Time to Milk the Whale
Thanks for joining. This group focuses on customers and revenue. How to get them, how to keep them, and how to “milk” them. Milking a customer may sound terrible but it is meant to get your attention. The point is that every business wants customers, wants to retain their customers, and wants to derive as much value from each customer as possible.

Definitions for the purposes of this group.

“Customer” – anyone your business/site interacts with regardless of whether or not they actually buy anything from you. They may directly or indirectly impact your revenue.

“Value” – the goal that you want to derive from a person or group of people.

Examples of “Customer” and “Value” to emphasize how broad these terms are:
- an individual (Customer) purchases a subscription (Value) to your service;

- an individual (Customer) buys goods/products (Value) from you;

- an individual (Customer) returns to your site to read articles thereby increasing your pageviews (Value) and potentially advertising revenue (Value);

- an individual (Customer) buys a product (Value) and loves your customer service telling everyone they can via Twitter becoming an evangelist (Value) for your business;

- a developer (Customer) uses your API, becomes and affiliate, and creates a site displaying your products for sale or other content and drives traffic to your business (Value);

The above illustrations are to emphasize the point that a “Customer” and “Value” can be defined by you depending on your business model.

Whether you run a business, market a business, am an affiliate of one/or many, or just wish to learn about customers are revenue, this is the place.

FTC, Affiliates and Endorsement Guidelines

Let me first say I am not being paid by the FTC to write this article. Now for the fun stuff. The FTC has updated their guidelines and of particular interest are the Endorsement Guidelines. These are being applied to bloggers. They have created a series of short videos to answer the basic questions.

Getting to Plan B and Randy Komisar

If you have read the book The Monk and the Riddle you are no doubt familiar with Randy Komisar. Randy is currently a partner with KPCB (Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers). Per his bio on the KPCB site he was ‘co-founder of Claris Corporation, served as CEO for LucasArts Entertainment and Crystal Dynamics, and acted as a “virtual CEO”‘ for multiple companies. His background is extensive and impressive to say the least.

I have been fortunate enough to meet Mr. Komisar while I was at a startup in the valley. As one can imagine, of all the KPCB folks, he is a wealth of information. If you are like me you strive to learn from the best in the industry, so pick up a copy and enjoy the book as I am sure it will be enlightening.

New Book
Randy has a new book out, along with co-author John Mullins entitled Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model. This is not a review of his book as I have just ordered the book but I am sure it is going to be an excellent read. Here is Amazon’s description:

Unlock better opportunities with a new strategy for reinventing any business model. Succeeding with a new business whether in a corporation or a venture based setting requires taking a leap of faith. But in order to grow, the business will need to morph and adjust many times before it meets the needs of a viable market. “Getting to Plan B” guides you through specific steps to effectively reinvent your entrepreneurial business model.

Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model

The Monk and the Riddle: The Art of Creating a Life While Making a Living

Homepage Redesign Done Right by GeniusRocket

Originally I wrote about the GeniusRocket service (Get Superbowl Quality Videos at Genius Rocket) as a great new service and place to get high quality videos, banners, logos and more by choosing from multiple submissions. You receive multiple submissions to choose from.

Today, I see their site has been redesigned. The first time I visited their site I was confused as to what they were offering. While their service has always been nothing short of amazing, their homepage did not convey why I was there or what they offered. We all know about landing pages and squeeze pages which typically have one purpose and that one page is focused on that one goal, a sale or registration etc. But what about a business with multiple product and service offerings, and what if it is also a new method of buying or simply a new business model that no one is familiar with? How in the world do you convey that on a homepage, very difficult. I should say, easy to articulate, difficult to actually create. So here is GeniusRocket as an example.

Unfortunately I do not have a screen shot of their original home page, however take a look at this new image, and more importantly the entire homepage of GeniusRocket here.

Above is a screen shot, it is only a small portion but the area of the home page that grabs your attention. When you look at the homepage do not click into the site. Look to see if you can determine what they offer and why you would use them. Next look to see if they have the copy and links to answer your next question. I will not say what your next question would be after viewing the homepage, but I feel confident they have anticipated it.

Bookmark their site so you can revisit it once you need to redesign an homepage. In my opinion and excellent example.

Understanding Google AdWords and Google Analytics for Conversion Tracking and Business Intelligence

Here is my guide to setting up, finding the data, and understanding the differences between Google AdWords Conversions and Google Analytics Goals and Filters.