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SCAR CREAM REVIEWS: SCAROLOGY - WINNER, 2014 'BEST IN CLASS' AND 'EDITOR'S CHOICE' BY BUYERREVIEW.COM

Scarology: The Ultimate Scar System is the 2014 winner for 'Best in Class' and 'Editor's Choice', by independent consumer product review website, BuyerReview.com.

BuyerReview.com reviews various products from skin care to supplements, and evaluated Scarology.

According to BuyerReview.com editor, Melissa Garcia, "...Scarology scar treatment has succeeded where many other products have failed. It works in a 3-way system that not only diminishes your scars; it gives your skin the necessary vitamins and nutrients to prevent future scarring."

Garcia added, "This treatment is powerful enough to diminish C-section scars... Scarology has the necessary nutrients to effectively fade those scars."

Garcia also mentioned, "Scarology costs little under $90. Considering just how effective this treatment is, $90 is a bargain of a price. Using this product continuously for 3 to 4 months will not just fade all of your scars; it will strengthen your skin to the point that future scarring will be prevented from occurring."

Garcia concluded,"Get Scarology today... You deserve to use the best product."
To read the full review, click here now!

To get your own Scarology scar fade system click here now!

#1 Amazon.com Web Marketing Bestseller, Content Is Cash, Is Growth Hacking At Its Best

Growth hacker marketing or growth hacking is the latest buzz word for strategy that involves creativity, analytical thinking, search engine optimization, content marketing, social media marketing, viral marketing, and some good ole’ fashioned direct response A/B testing. According to Wikipedia, “Growth hackers focus on low-cost and innovative alternatives to traditional marketing,” which is especially attractive to start ups and small businesses with smaller budgets as it follows a lean launch model.

There’s a successful strategy that has been used by business large and small for over a decade, is organic, and is proven:  The SONAR Content Distribution Model.

The SONAR Content Distribution Model TM, was developed by online direct response marketing strategist, Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA, and is the cornerstone of Amazon #1 Web marketing bestseller, ‘Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz’ [Que Publishing, Paperback, ISBN# 0789741083 http://www.quepublishing.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0789...].

Content Is Cash (and it’s SONAR Content Distribution Model) focuses on using core online content curation strategies and other high-performing inbound marketing through a variety of organic online channels: Syndicate partners and content networks; Online press releases; Network and social communities; Article distribution; Relevant and targeted posts in forums, blogs, etc. – during a specified time period, which creates search engine momentum, traction and increased presence.

According to Montes de Oca, “The book centers around a systematic, synchronized strategy of using great, original content that is ‘UVA’ (useful, valuable, and actionable) which business owners and publishers may have already created, then repurposing and distributing it to targeted, relevant locations on the Web, based on audience and business objectives”.

Content Is Cash has received praise from some of the most respected direct response marketers, publishers, and entrepreneurs in the industry including Michael Masterson, Bob Bly, Martin Weiss, Ph.D., MaryEllen Tribby, Marc Charles, Brian Edmondson, Conrad Hall, Dr. Jonny Bowden, and many more.

Says Montes de Oca, “The book has been embraced by consumers and colleagues alike. I think what resonates with people is this powerful, yet easy-to-implement strategy which leverages great content for virtually no cost.  Business owners and marketers are looking for free strategically creative ways to create visibility and website traffic for their business with maximum ROI.”

She concludes, “The SONAR Content Distribution Model works with search engines, not against it. The strategy has remained viable despite several Google algorithm updates including Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird because SONAR focuses on quality, relevant content. Content really is king.  Creating solid, original content will first and foremost provide valued information to readers and encourage bonding; but it can also help with increased website exposure and visits.  That increased traffic can then be harnessed for online product sales, advertising sales, and more.”

Content Is Cash is available at Amazon.com, QuePublishing.com, BarnesandNoble.com other book retailers and e-tailers world-wide.

For more information visit http://www.amazon.com/Content-Cash-Leveraging-Increased-Biz-Tech/dp/0789741083

About Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA

Ms. Montes de Oca’s diversified background includes nearly 20 years of experience in direct response and online marketing, media, publishing, financial services and law. She’s worked for renowned publishers and Fortune 500 companies.  Ms. Montes de Oca is an Internet marketing expert with a proven track record for both acquisition and retention efforts.  During her career, she has generated over $150 million in total revenues for various corporations, consulting clients, and her own consulting firm, Precision Marketing and Media, LLC

Pay Per Click Shockers and Secrets

Pay per click (PPC), particularly Google’s Ad Words, is a marketing channel that can produce profitable results for your business, whether your goal is lead generation or sales.

I have been managing PPC for businesses, as an in-house marketing leader as well marketing consultant, for over a decade now.

Though the years I have noticed many secrets to success that I wanted to share -- especially with business owners and marketers that haven’t tried PPC yet.

First, I’d like to clear the air about a big shocker… or actually a fallacy… that you need a big budget to run an effective PPC campaign.

You don’t. If you happen to have a large budget, your ads will be shown more and you can spread out your ad groups and test different types. With a smaller budget, you do need to be more judicious with your efforts. But if you market smarter, not broader, your campaigns can still produce positive results.

I have run PPC campaigns with total monthly budgets of $1,000. I have run campaigns with total daily maximum budgets ranging from $25-$50. These campaigns brought in both sales and leads despite their limited spending. But they do require active management, strategic thinking, deep PPC knowledge, and refinement/optimization.

The PPC Tri-Pod

What is going to determine the cost and return of your campaign are 3 simple things I call the “PPC Tri-pod”, as it supports your entire PPC efforts:
1) Keywords
2) Creative (or banner ad, if it’s running on the display network)
3) Redirect URL
So in order for you to get the most bang for your buck with PPC you should be aware of a few things regarding the PPC Tri-pod:

Keywords. The more popular the keyword, the more cost per click (CPC) it’s going to have. So it’s very important to do your keyword research before you start selecting your keywords as you’re setting up your campaign.

I like to use Keywordspy.com. The ‘lite’ version is free, but you can also upgrade to the full version and see more results and have more capabilities for a monthly fee. Google used to have their Keyword External Tool, which has since morphed into Google Adwords Keyword Planner. You need a gmail account to access this free tool.

Either of these tools will allow you to enter keywords or keyword phrases and then view popularity (actual search results) as well as what the average CPCs are. This is important for your keyword selection and bidding. You can also type in your ‘core’ or focus keywords and get additional ad group/keyword ideas. To help refine your search terms you can also choice broad match, broad match modifier, phrase match, exact match and negative match.

If you pick a word that is too vague or too under-searched, your ad will not see much (or any) action. Impressions will either not be served, or if they are served (in the case of a vague word), it may cost you a high CPC. In addition, a vague keyword may not be relevant enough to get you a good conversion rate. Since you pay by the click, your goal is to monetize that click by getting an instant conversion. And conversions, my friends, will be the role of the landing page. I’ll talk about that more in a moment.

Creative. This is your text ad (or banner ad, if you’re running in Ad Word’s display network).  For Google to rank your ad favorably, and more important, for you to get the best conversion results possible – there needs to be a relevancy and synergy between your keyword, text ad and landing page. Google will let you know if you’re not passing muster by your ad’s page position and quality score. Once you carefully researched and selected your ad group keywords, you want to make sure those keywords are consistent across the board with your ad and landing page. Your text ad has 4 visible lines with limited character count:

Headline (25 Characters)

Description Line 1 (35 Characters)

Description Line 2 (35 Characters)

Display URL (35 Characters)

Your keyword must appear in your text ad as well as follow through and appear in the content of your landing page.

This will give you a good quality rank with Google, but also help qualify the prospect and carry the relevancy of the ad through to the landing page. Why is this important? It helps maintain consistency of the message and also set expectations with the end user. You don’t want to present one add and then have a completely different landing page come up.

Not only is that a ‘bait and switch’, but it’s costly. Since you’re paying for clicks, a great ad that is compelling and keyword rich, but not cohesive to your landing page will not convert as best as one that is. And your campaign will actually lose conversions.

Redirect URL. This is your landing page. Different goals and different industries will have different formats. A lead generation campaign, which is just looking to collect email addresses to build an opt-in email list, will be a ‘squeeze page’. This is simply a landing page with a form asking for first name and email address in return for giving something away for free albeit a bonus report, free newsletter subscription or similar. It’s got its name since it’s ‘squeezing’ an email address from the prospect. Some retail campaigns will direct prospects directly to their ecommerce site or catalog page  (as opposed to a sales page). Direct response online marketers will drive their traffic to a targeted promotional landing page.  Where it’s not typically a webpage where there’s other navigation or distractions that will take the prospect away from the main goal. It’s more streamlined and focused. The copy is not technical, it’s compelling and emotional, like promotional copy you would see in a sales letter. The anatomy of your redirect URL will vary on your goal and offer. It will take optimization and testing to see what’s working and what’s not. And that’s par for the course. If you’re testing, I suggest elements that scream and not whisper, such as long copy vs. short copy, or headlines and leads that are different themes. However, no matter what your goal, whether it’s going for the sale or the email address, you still need keyword consistency between all creative elements.

Tips And Tricks For Maximum ROI

Whether you have a big or small budget, there’s a few things I’ve learned over the years that help the overall performance of a PPC campaign. Some of these are anecdotal, so if you’ve seen otherwise, I suggest testing to see if it makes a difference to your particular industry.

Ad and Landing Page. In general, I have noticed that shorter, to the point, landing pages produce better results. And the rationale is quite obvious. People searching the Web are looking for quick solutions to a problem.  This means your creatives have to not only be keyword rich, but compelling and eye-caching. You have seconds to grave a Web surfers attention and get them to click. In the same essence, the landing page has to be equally relevant and persuasive, and typically shorter in copy. Keep in mind Google has many rules surrounding ad copy development. So write your text ads in accordance to their advertising policy.

Price Point. Again, in my personal experience, most Web surfers have a price threshold. And that’s items under about $79. When running a PPC campaign, think about price points that are more tolerable to ‘cold’ prospects, that is, people that haven’t built a relationship with you or know anything about you. They have no brand loyalty. They don’t know you from Adam. So getting a sale at a lower price point is an easier sell than a product you have that hundreds of dollars. Luxury items or items with strong recognition and brand loyalty are the exception to that rule. As a direct response marketer, I urge you to price test and see for yourself.

Campaign set up. There’s a few tactics I noticed helps with ad exposure, clicks and saving money. When you’re setting up your campaign you can day part, frequency cap and run ad extensions. Day parting allows you to select the hours of the day you’d like your campaign to run; Ad extensions allows you to add components to your text ad to help visibility and call to action such as location, site links, reviews and more; And frequency capping lets you set a 

threshold on how many times you’d like a given person to see your ad (based on impressions).

PPC Networks. It’s smart not to put all your eggs in one basket.  In addition to Google Ad Words, try running campaigns on other PPC networks such as Bing/Yahoo, Adroll (retargeting through Facebook), Advertising.com/AdSonar.com, SiteScout.com (formerly Adbrite.com), and Kanoodle.com. Then see where you get the best cost per click, cost per conversion, and overall results.

I’ve only touched the surface here. There are more tactics and features that can help a PPC campaigns performance. So get yourself familiar with it, read up on the best practices, and don’t be afraid to put your toe in the water.  As with any marketing tactic, some channels will work for your business, and some won’t. But you won’t know unless you test. Just remember the foundation of success hinges on the PPC Tri-Pod. The possibilities are endless.  

UPDATE: If you'd like to get more for your budget... or you are new to PPC and want to put your toe in the water for a minium budget, try testing Bing before you try Google Ad Words. Bing is effective and typically has a lower cost per click, therefore you get more for money with your overall budget. I ran two campaigns at the same time, identical keywords, one on Bing and one on Google. For one month, the Bing campaign had almost 4x higher click rate, and cost me about $500. The Google campaign, with the same ads and keywords, cost me about $1500 and had a click rate of between 1-2%. Part of the reason is market share. Google has more and hence more people are bidding for the same keywords driving up the cost per click rate. 

How to Create High Performing Sweepstakes for Lead-Gen Efforts

Republished from my latest article in Target Marketing:
http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/blog/how-create-high-performing-sweepstakes-lead-gen-efforts

OK, I know what you're thinking … viable leads typically don't come from sweepstakes and contests.

And when not done correctly, that's exactly right.

However, just as any online direct response tactic, this one is no different. Over the years, sweepstakes marketing has become refined through testing and targeting. And since the boom in social media, sweepstakes are more popular than ever.

But before you embark on this tactic, there are a few core concepts to know—as well as best practices.

The Precursors

It's important to get to know your list to help determine its value and how much you are willing to give away for a lead, such as:

• What is your average conversion time (how long does it take someone to move from a lead to a buyer—30, 60, 90-plus days?)
• What is the lifetime value (LTV) per buyer?
• What is your average revenue per name?
• What is your average cost per lead (CPL)?

Conversion Time. Monitor a group of new names (perhaps by campaign) who come on your file and see at what point, at what percent and for what dollar amount your leads convert to buyers. This will help you know how much and how long it takes a lead to convert. Let's say you have a pay-per-click campaign and, in the first 30 days, 20 percent of the leads convert and the average unit sale is $50. This shows you your time threshold for getting a sale. You'll know when to anticipate revenues and can manage your budget accordingly.

LTV. You take the total your buyers purchased: Let's say over five years, this group collectively spent $100,000, and divide that amount by number of buyers (let's say its 500). Your LTV is $200. This will show you the potential long-term opportunity for a buyer's worth, as well as the loss (if the customer leaves your list).

Rev Per Name. This is more for the current buyers on your file not long term, as with LTV. Take the total your buyers spend at 30, 60 and 90 days; and at each time point, divide that amount by the number of buyers. So let's say at 30 days, your newest names bring in collectively $10,000 and there are 1,000 buyers. That is a $10/rev per name. This will show you current buyer worth and your threshold for acquisition costs.

Cost Per Lead. When you're doing an acquisition effort, how much does it cost you per name? Take the cost of the media buy and divide by the number of leads that came in. This will tell you how much you typically spend to bring in a new name. Ideally, you want to keep you cost per lead much lower than your revenue per name and LTV. I like to hover between $5 and $25 CPL. CPLs will be different by channel. However, if you bring in a lead at $50 and you know, based on your list performance, that name will spend $75 in the first 6 months, you can afford to take an initial loss.

The Offer

What are you going to give away? The value of the giveaway should be something that won't be viewed as too good to be true by users as well, as one you can earn back (based on the aforementioned list criteria and in a certain time period). So knowing your giveaway threshold is important.

In addition to being realistic and appealing, the offer should also be relevant and interesting to your target prospect.

I've seen random sweepstakes offers on the Web, as I'm sure you have. One in particular, a publishing company, featured an offer: "Win a free iPad."

This makes zero sense to me in so many ways …

Unless this publishing company is uploading an app on the iPad with a free online subscription to one of their publications, I don't see the relevance for the end-user. This publisher will likely wind up with thousands of leads, but they will be unqualified, irrelevant people looking for a free electronic device and not in the other information products they offer.

Plus there's an out-of-pocket cost for the product and shipping of the product.

This, in my opinion, is typical of the "old" sweepstakes offers where little strategy and direct response knowledge seemed to go into planning the campaign.

However, one website I discovered in my research for this article seems to hit the nail on the head and offer something synergistic to their leads, as well as qualifies the lead for future potential sales via cross-sell and upsell efforts.

Take skin care company, Dermagist. Their sweepstakes offer is for lead generation, touts a "$200 shopping spree," and is featured on their website and Facebook page. The tactics they are using can be applied to most any industry.

Leads have to "register" by liking Dermagist's Facebook page, as well as post on Dermagists' Facebook page why they love the product. Winners are chosen monthly and given a promo code worth $200 toward anything in their store. No purchase is necessary.

What I Like …

The offer is ongoing, so it's a continuity of new leads (email addresses) coming in on a monthly basis to help build the list and offset any attrition.

The prize is realistic, targeted and qualifies the recipient based on relevant interest—it's appealing to those interested in skincare products and is a great way to get repeat and referral sales.

Leads have to "register" by liking Dermagist Facebook page, as well as post on their Facebook wall why they love the product. This strategy helps with social media engagement (boosting page "likes," visibility and credibility), as well as product awareness.

I also liked that on the website's sweepstakes registration page, last month's winner's name was posted. This helps reinforce contest legitimacy.

Location, Location, Location

Where you promote your sweepstakes is equally important for targeting and relevance.

There's the obvious, such as having a banner ad, header content or interstitial on the website's home page mentioning the promotion.

You can also promote it on your business' Facebook page organically (through fan page timeline and wall posts), through apps, as well as through targeted ads and boosted posts, selecting audiences in the Newsfeed that are like-minded with your target customer.

Tabsite has a variety of Facebook-friendly apps for contests and sweepstakes (photos, trivia and more).

A word of caution: If you are promoting a sweepstakes on Facebook, make sure to follow its guidelines or your campaign may run the risk of getting shut down.

Promoting it organically with search engine marketing is another tactic, such as with free online press releases.

And, of course, if your budget allows, you can promote your sweepstakes through targeted media buys (banner ads, email list rental) and pay-per-click. These costs should be factored into the overall campaign effort and cost per lead.

So when you start thinking about your acquisition efforts and how sweepstakes may be used, know that through the evolution of the consumer and Internet marketing in general, this is not your father's sweepstakes anymore.

Being a creative and strategic marketer will help you take this strategy to a whole new, high-performing level.

2014 Word Cup News: Uruguay vs. Italy. An Open Letter to Sports Press and FIFA

(***Abajo es en Espanol)

I typically never vent or rant on my blog,  but I feel compelled to today. So although I typically write about marketing, today are my thoughts on the game between Uruguay and Italy.

I am disgusted with what I witnessed. I admit I am no soccer fanatic, but I know right from wrong. And I witnessed wrong on so many levels. Shame on you Ref and Italy.

The Ref was blatantly showing favoritism to Italy.  Italy repeatedly held (which is a foul), hit, and even kicked, Uruguay players and no yellow cards for Italy. This happened so many times, I stopped keeping count after 5. Only once did Italy get a verbal ‘warning’ from the Ref.

Cavani was in perfect position in front of the goal and Italian player literally held him, putting his arms around Cavani, and pushing him to the floor. Cavini and the coach for Uruguay held their arms out to show the Ref 'holding'. But no warning. No yellow card.

Two Uruguay players got kicked hard, what looked to be deliberate (based on the slow-mo…one instant replay) one in the ribs and the other in his shin/lower leg with the soccer cleat. Yet no commentators talked about this obvious and blatant show of favoritism and improper conduct.

Italy played with arrogance for a long time... like they were untouchable.But who could blame them after all the 'free passes' the Ref gave them? The Ref finally gave them a red card for their bad behavior in an incident that simply could not be ignored..

I guess the Ref had to throw Uruguay a bone and make it look somewhat like he was impartial. At least for appearances sake.

Then, to add insult to injury, Italy’s head coach actually had a smirk on his face when the Uruguay player kicked in the ribs was down on the floor. The TV camera panned in on his face. He thought it was funny. It was in ill taste.

The Uruguayan team and the coach kept looking at the Ref with puzzlement in their faces.

The other joke was that Italy kept throwing themselves on the floor or completely over-acting just to run the clock down. They all should get Oscars for their theatrics. It was unbelievable that the Ref didn't give any warnings or yellow cards for their blatant clock-running.

The Ref actually let Italy players take their sweet time and slowly walk off the field, pretending to be injured. Then, the same players would hop back in to play 5 seconds later as soon as they got to the side-lines. That was a quick recovery.

So transparent, but yet no sports commentator said a peep.

The entire game Uruguay took hit after hit, and foul play after foul play, and the only eyes that didn't seem to catch it was the Ref.  Hmmm.  Coincidence?

The Ref had the audacity to actually give the goalie for Uruguay a yellow card for ‘taking too long’ to throw out the ball… but no yellow cards for Italy’s repeated slow walk offs, disturbances, distractions, and unsportsman-like conduct.

FIFA should take action against this Ref.

One of Italy’s players, Chiellini, hit Suarez in the mouth than was trying to insinuate that Suarez bit him by pulling down the shoulder of his soccer jersey. And if you look at the close-up photo on Ovacion of the alleged bite, the mark looks more like freckles than anything else.

Could this just be sore loser syndrome? A bit hypocritical?

After 90 minute of hard play against Uruguay, now the Italians are going to call for un-necessary roughness?

 The press’ attention is all over Suarez for a ‘supposedly’ biting, but none of this same press made any comments about the kicks and hits Italy was giving Uruguay for 90 minutes.

But of course whether it's true or not, Suarez has this reputation for biting, so  the perception is reality. Sports commentators and press have already condemned him.

Despite all of these adversities, in around the 80th minute, Uruguay scored a beautiful goal. Now the Ref really had to act. It seemed his job was to ‘help’ Italy and wouldn't you know he lived to that promise.

Not only did he give several foul/free/corner kicks to Italy to try and at least get them to tie the game (cause if they tied, Uruguay would go home), but he also added 5 minutes to the clock extending game to 95 minutes.

But that STILL wasn't enough.  The Ref went nearly 2 minutes over the 95 minutes and didn't blow the whistle to almost 96 and half minutes.

Uruguay’s coach was pointing to his watch at around 91 minutes like, “What’s up dude, the Game is over, blow the whistle and let it go.”

I guess the Ref was holding out to the very end that somehow he would do his part to help Italy defeat La Celeste.

No such luck.

Uruguay’s skill and sheer heart helped them win, 1-0. And Italy is now going home.

Instead of the commentators focusing on the victory and determination Uruguay demonstrated today, they are now focusing on Suarez’s alleged ‘bite’.

Let it go.  Uruguay won after getting physically beaten for 90 minutes. Dirty plays involving hits, holdings, kicks and more from Italy.

Press: If you’re going to talk about unsportsman-like conduct…then talk about the ENTIRE game and Italy’s players' and coach’s behavior. Bottom line: If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Let Uruguay enjoy their victory. They earned it (and should get hazard pay for this game). And you all know it. Even though it's contrarian, speak up and talk about the four time world cup winning Italy's bad behavior against the 2 time world cup winning Uruguay. Stop making Suarez the scapegoat.

FIFA: You should re-watch the footage of this game and the blatant, offensive and ridiculous calls the Ref made OR didn't make (depending on which team you're focusing on). Clearly selective enforcement and not behavior becoming of a FIFA referee.

======= EN ESPANOL======

Noticias de la Copa del Mundo 2014: Uruguay vs. Italia. Una carta abierta a la prensa deportiva y a la FIFA

(***arriba es en Ingles)

Típicamente, nunca descargo o vocifero en mi blog, pero hoy me siento compelida. Así, aunque típicamente escribo acerca de marketing, hoy mis pensamientos están en el juego entre Uruguay e Italia.

Estoy disgustada con lo que vi. Admito que no soy una fanática del fútbol, pero distingo lo correcto de lo incorrecto. Y vi incorrección en muchos niveles. ¡Qué vergüenza juez e Italia!

El juez estaba mostrando abiertamente favoritismo hacia Italia. Italia agarraba (lo que es foul) repetidamente, golpeaba y aun pateaba a los jugadores uruguayos y ni una tarjeta amarilla para Italia. Ocurrió muchas veces, paré de contar después de 5. Solo una vez Italia recibió una “amonestación” verbal del juez.

Cavani estaba en perfecta posición frente al arco y un jugador italiano literalmente lo sostuvo, poniendo sus brazos a su alrededor y empujándolo al piso. Cavani y el entrenador de Uruguay mostraron sus brazos en señal de abrazo para mostrar al juez el “agarrón”. Pero ninguna advertencia. Ninguna tarjeta amarilla.

Dos jugadores uruguayos fueron duramente golpeados, lo que pareció ser deliberado (basado en la repetición instantánea en cámara lenta), uno en las costillas y el otro en la canilla (espinilla) con el taco del botín. Sin embargo, ningún comentarista habló acerca de esta obvia y abierta muestra de favoritismo y de conducta impropia.

Italia jugó con arrogancia por un largo período… como si fueran intocables. Pero ¿quién puede culparlos después de todos los "pases libres” que les dio el juez?. El juez finalmente les mostró tarjeta roja por su mal comportamiento en un incidente que simplemente no podía ser ignorado. Al menos para cubrir las apariencias.

Supongo que el juez tenía que tirarle un hueso a Uruguay y hacer parecer que era imparcial. Al menos para cubrir las apariencias.

Así, para añadir sal a la herida, el entrenador de Italia tenía una sonrisa burlona en su cara cuando el jugador uruguayo pateado en las costillas estaba tirado en el suelo. La cámara de TV paneó en su cara. Pensó que era divertido. Fue de mal gusto.

El equipo uruguayo y el técnico se quedaron mirando al juez con perplejidad en sus caras.

La otra broma fue que los italianos se tiraban al piso o sobreactuaban para hacer correr el reloj. Todos ellos deberían ganar Oscar por sus actuaciones. Fue increíble que el juez no hiciera ninguna advertencia o mostrara tarjeta amarilla por su abierto hacer tiempo.

El juez dejó, de hecho, a los jugadores italianos tomarse su dulce tiempo y caminar lentamente fuera del campo, pretendiendo estar lesionados. Entonces, los mismos jugadores saltarían de vuelta al juego 5 segundos más tarde, tan pronto tocaban la línea de banda. Eso era una recuperación rápida.

Así de transparente, pero ningún comentarista deportivo dijo un pito.

Todo el partido Uruguay recibió golpe tras golpe y juego sucio tras juego sucio, y los únicos ojos que no parecieron captarlo fueron los del juez. Hmmmm. ¿Coincidencia?

El juez tuvo la audacia de mostrarle al guardameta de Uruguay una tarjeta amarilla por “tomarse demasiado tiempo” para sacar el balón… pero ninguna tarjeta amarilla para las repetidas lentas salidas, perturbaciones, distracciones y conductas antideportivas de Italia.

FIFA debería tomar acciones contra este juez.

Uno de los jugadores de Italia, Chiellini, golpeó a Suárez en la boca y estuvo tratando de insinuar que Suárez lo mordió bajándose el hombre de su camiseta. Y si se mira al acercamiento de la foto en Ovacion del supuesto mordisco, la marca parece más pecas que cualquier otra cosa.

¿Podría ser esto solo un syndrome de mal perdedor? ¿Un poco hipócrita?

Después de 90 minutos de juego duro contra Uruguay, ¿ahora los italianos van a demandar por innecesaria brutalidad?

La atención de la prensa está toda sobre Suárez por un “supuesto” mordisco, pero ninguna de esa misma prensa hace ningún comentario sobre las patadas y golpes que Italia estuvo dándole a Uruguay durante 90 minutos.

Pero, por supuesto, sea o no verdad, Suárez tiene esa reputación de morder, así la percepción es realidad. Los cometaristas deportivos y la prensa ya lo han condenado.

A pesar de esas adversidades, alrededor el minuto 80, Uruguay marcó un bonito gol. Ahora el juez realmente debía actuar. Parecía que su trabajo era “ayudar” a Italia y ¡vaya si vivió esa promesa!

No solo le otorgó varios fouls/libres/corners a Italia para tratar y al menos llevarlos al empate (porque si empataban, Uruguay iría a casa), sino que además adicionó 5 minutos al reloj extendiendo el juego a 95 minutos.

Pero eso TODAVIA no fue suficiente. El juez fue cerca de 2 minutos más de los 95 y no pitó hasta casi 96 minutos y medio.

El técnico de Uruguay estaba señalando su reloj alrededor del minuto 91. “¿qué pasa dandy?, el juego ha terminado, pita y déjalo ir”.

Supongo que el juez estaba pensando hasta el mismo final que de algún modo el debería hacer su parte para ayudar a Italia a vencer La Celeste.

No tuvo suerte.

La habilidad de Uruguay y su puro corazón lo ayudaron a ganar, 1-0. E Italia ahora está yendo a casa.

Los comentaristas, en lugar de enfocarse en la Victoria y determinación que Uruguay demostró hoy, están enfocados en el supuesto “mordiscón” de Suárez.

Déjenlos. Uruguay ganó después de haber sido golpeado durante 90 minutos. Juegos sucios que involucraron golpes, patadas y más por parte de Italia.

Prensa: Si van a hablar de conducta antideportiva… entonces hablen del juego ENTERO y del comportamiento de los jugadores y el técnico italianos. Finalmente: Si no tienen nada lindo que ceir, entonces no digan nada. Dejen a Uruguay disfrutar su victoria. Lo ganaron (y deberían ganar una prima por peligrosidad por este juego). Y ustedes todos lo saben. Aún si es contrario, hablen y cuenten sobre las cuatro copas mundiales que el mal comportamiento italiano ganó contra las dos copas ganadas por Uruguay. Paren de hacer de Suárez el chivo emisario.

FIFA: Deberían volver a ver la película completa del partido y los descarados, ofensivos y ridículos fallos que el juez hizo O no hizo (dependiendo de en qué equipo se focalicen). Claramente selectivo para hacer cumplir el reglamento y no un comportamiento esperable de un juez de la FIFA.

7 Ways to Maximize Fulfillment and Collateral Pieces for Profits

 My latest article in Target Marketing...

Sure, fulfillment and inserts aren't as sexy as other forms of marketing, but they can be viable ways to bring in steady, ancillary revenues.

I've seen some online publishers bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars with a carefully thought-out insert program. For instance, taking a direct mail control piece and adding it in customer fulfillment packages as an insert. A no-brainer, right?

Wrong! You'll be surprised how many businesses are leaving money on the table by not doing this.
Are you leveraging your fulfillment kit? Do you have a strategy for your inserts?


Here are some simple ideas, when applicable, for print and electronic fulfillment that help encourage sales (cross-sells) and help customer lifetime value:

1. Personal Welcome or Thank You Letter (whether it's for newsletters, products or services. It could highlight all products OR current top sellers). This is the first thing a new customer will see. Make sure it is written in a personal, comfortable tone—welcoming the customers and reiterating what a good decision they just made and thanking them for their purchases. You can also add a little verbiage about your core values and what makes you unique in the marketplace. Be sure to reiterate any product guarantees you have, as well as customer service contact information.
2. Cross-marketing Piece. This can be a current direct mail piece edited for insert purposes. A flier highlighting a current hot product OR a natural, synergistic upsell from the product ordered. Or a "customer favorites" catalog. This encourages continued purchases now and down the road.
3. Coupon or special discount offer. (or if electronic, coupon/promo code for online ordering). Consider offering a special "thank you" coupon or a "share this with a friend/family member" coupon for additional sales and viral/word of mouth marketing.
4. Free Sample. (Women may remember Avon used to include tiny little lipsticks or perfume with their order. This approach can be translated in most any business—it could be a small, economy/sample size product, a bonus report, or more. Customers love, love, love freebies!
5. Renewal at Birth. This is a popular publishing term. If you're selling a subscription service or continuity program, you can include a renewal order form with your first issue at a special early discount rate.
6. Packing Slip. Many people overlook this fulfillment piece, but it can be used for more than printing out what is being sent to your customer. You can print your return policy/instruction on this piece of correspondence, as well as adding several product return reasons to help evaluate customer satisfaction and product refinement, going forward.
7. Feedback/Testimonial Form. Have a form to solicit customers' feedback and testimonials. This information could be priceless, as far as customer service, marketing, and new product development. Make sure your testimonial collection process is compliant so you can use stellar comments in future marketing efforts.

As most direct response marketers know, the first zero to 30 days is when a customer is red hot—as legendary entrepreneur and best-selling author of, "Ready Fire Aim," Michael Masterson, would say—in their "buying frenzy." So don't leave 'em cold. Give them cross-sell and upsell options.
Leverage this timeframe with your communications and turn your fulfillment pieces into another way to increase sales and relationship-build with your customers.
You may just turn on an additional revenue stream for your business!

7 Tips for Using ‘Power’ Polls For Listbuilding

[From my Target Marketing blog post http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/blog/list-building-20-using-power-polls-for-prospecting]

Most people know Web 2.0 is simply the evolution of the Internet into an environment of interactivity, reader participation and usability. Web 2.0 opens up the dialog between user and website or blog. This connection can help generate traffic and a viral buzz.

But from a search engine marketing (SEM) standpoint, the benefits are clear and measurable: More traffic and frequent interactivity (or posts) equal better organic (free) rankings in search engine results. Getting good organic rankings is a powerful way to find qualified prospective customers.

So what online tactic encourages Web 2.0 principles as well as helps with search engine results page rank, visibility and listing-building efforts? Targeted online prospecting polls, also known as "acquisition" or "lead generation" polls.

Based on the specificity of your poll question, online acquisition polls can help you: collect relevant names and email addresses; gauge general market (or subscriber) sentiment; and generate sales (via a redirect to a synergistic promotional page). Polls also allow for interactivity, where participants can sound off about a hot topic.
I've been including strategic acquisition polls in my online marketing strategy for nearly a decade now and have rarely been disappointed with the results. Some websites, like surveymonkey.com, allow members to set up free or low-cost surveys and polls. However, it may not allow you to include a name-collection component or a redirect to a promotional or "thank you" webpage, which is essential for a success.
If that's the case, either ask your Webmaster to build you a proprietary poll platform or use a poll script. You can find examples at hotscripts.com, ballot-box.net/faq.php, and micropoll.com.
Here are seven ways to help create a winning prospecting poll campaign:
1. Engage. Your poll question should engage the reader, encourage participation, pique interest and tie into a current event. And be sure to have a "comments" field where people can make additional remarks. Sample topics: politics, the economy, health, consumer breakthroughs, the stock market, foreign affairs.

2. Relevance. Your poll question should also be related to your product, free e-newsletter editorial, or free bonus report (which can be used as incentive). This will greatly improve your conversion rate. Let's say your free offer is a sign-up to a stock market e-newsletter and the upsell is a redirect landing page promotion to a paid gold investment newsletter for $39/yr. In that case, your poll question should be tied with the editorial copy and product, something like "Where is gold headed in 2013?" Investors who favor gold (your target audience), will respond to this question … and engage. You are gaining these qualified prospects as leads and perhaps buying customers.

3. Incentive. After people take your poll, tell them that to thank them for their participation, you're automatically signing them up for your quality, free e-newsletter or e-alerts … which they can opt out of at any time. To reduce the number of bogus email addresses you get, offer an extra incentive free "must-read" report, too. And assuming it's your policy not to sell or rent email names to third parties (and it should be, based on email best practices), indicate your privacy/anti-spam policy next to the sign-up button on your email sign up form. This will immediately reassure people that it's safe and worry-free to give you their email addresses.

4. Flag. Having your poll question somehow tie into your product makes the names you collect extremely qualified for future offers. Each name should be flagged by your database folks according to the answer they gave by topic category. You can create buckets for each product segment. Using our investing e-newsletter example, categories could be gold, oil, income, equities, etc. Segmenting the names into such categories will make it easier for you to send targeted offers later.

5. Results.  Use the poll feedback for new initiatives. In addition to collecting names, online polls will help you gauge general market opinion—and could help you come up with new products.

6. Bonding. Strengthen your new relationships. You need to reinforce the connection between the poll people just participated in and your e-newsletter. So make sure each name that comes in gets an immediate "thank you" for taking the poll. This could be via autoresponder or redirect "thank you" page. On your "thank you" page/email, can be a link for the downloadable, free e-report you promised. Consider sending a series of informational, warm and fuzzy editorial autoresponders to help new subscribers get to know who you are, what you do and how your e-newsletter will benefit them. This will help improve their lifetime customer value.

7. Results. Gratify participants with the results. Don't just leave poll participants hanging. Make sure you tell them the results will be published in your free e-newsletter or on your website (to encourage them to check it regularly), and then upload the results, as well as some of your best, most engaging comments. This is great editorial fodder, as well as helpful to increasing website readership and traffic.

Marketers have used polls internally (on their own company websites) for years. But now more than ever, with its cost effectiveness and efficiency, polls can be used to collect targeted leads and interact with prospects.

Polls aren't just for finding leads, either. They are also great for measuring market sentiment, doing competitor analysis and new product development; which, in turn, can help customer retention, customer service and sales.