Detroit, Michigan – This Friday marks the 10th Anniversary or 911. The tragic and horrific events have forever changed the way America looks at itself and at the world at large. So much has happened to this country since then and you can feel the impact on the way business is done and how we contact one another. This is never been more so true in Michigan. In recent years Michigan has lost several outstanding news sources including The Ann Arbor News, Eccentric, and niche papers such as the Phenomenews. The distribution of essential news and advertising has reached a cliffhanger. Recently an online publisher is about to open the flood gates of opportunity.
Ted Cantu, an Ex-Art Director in advertising, sat in many Internet web studios prior the events of 911. He was part of the ill-fated “Dot Com Era” which was an age when search engine technology was yet in its infancy. As you may recall a lot of investment dollars from venture capital funding was fumbled and lost during this time period. As a result of that experience Cantu has led his team into developing web presence that works and delivers first page visibility on search engines. This is something many business owners have tried in vain to do over the years without paying a small fortune in paid search marketing.
Putting service based companies and professionals on page 1 of Google, Bing and Yahoo is only part of the big picture. A recent problem that has come up has centered around the effectiveness of direct mail. The U.S. Post Office is losing billions of dollars of revenue per year and there has been more participation on the Internet. The popular view of the clients that Cantu serves has been in favor of more aggressive campaigns on the Internet. They have expressed a great disinterest in the traditional media channels including billboards, radio, television, postage and newspapers. The client list includes doctors, home remodeling companies and other professional positions.
Cantu and his team have been developing direct contact with the right prospects online thanks to social media tools like Twitter, and Facebook. They have been creating lead generation through this type of intimate high touch environment. In addition, they are finding financing for their professional clientele to create more positive economic outcomes in Michigan.
To get more information on Cantu and Co. contact them at http://www.1seomichigan.com and at 248-631-9211.
Thursday, September 08, 2011
DAN KENNEDY - Best Book In Years !! Price Guide Offers Powerful Advice
No B.S. Price Strategy - by Dan Kennedy
Okay - I admit - Kennedy and I are pretty hard on eachother. Keep in mind that I have studied in the lions den with a lot of his students. The last post I did on him I more or less trashed his book about marketing in the new economy. I said it was a rehash. I have read a ton of his books and newsletters and can speak his language. But lets forget all that.... His points are valid and if you are not already a convert you should get all of his stuff. Lets move on....
This new book, "Price Strategy" is dead on. I have gotten a lot of useful insight out of this book and to be quite honest a lot of the view points are powerful. I see a lot of businesses I consult for ask for ridiculously low fees. I think a lot of them suffer from low self esteem. This can stem from depression era thinking. On the other hand a lot of them think in the commodity mindset. If Kennedy didn't write this book than someone had to do it and come forward because it really lays it on the line. By that I mean that it speaks from real world experience. If you are used to talking nicely to your boss or live in a cube and live in a world of permission you may not relate. Its a must read for every street guy who is out there fighting for a living and selling to put food on the table and to keep the bills paid. Its blunt, its offensive to some, but accurate.
How Can This Book Help You?
If nothing else it can help you cut through the clutter. By that I mean that you can save a lot of time on the phone haggling over price. You can also use it to sniff out weakness. I was able to sharp shoot some potential clients on the phone to find out if they are broke or not and saved myself 4 hours of meeting them in person, (including the drive over to the meeting location etc.). This sort of habitual meeting policy can criple your financial health. This is a fundamental that I am constantly trying to improve on. I do not take on every Tom, Dick and Harry I meet on the street as a client. That sort of thinking can bring your business to a grinding halt. You also let in a lot of Yo Yo's who can fly apart without a minutes notice and bring in an extroadinary source of unwanted drama.
Price is a complicated issue. Its more than numbers. Its more than what you think your product is worth. It has everything to do with the people you are trying to service. This includes a lot about perception on price and what it is that you are really selling. This could be about saving someone time. This could also be about selling money at a discount, (a big concept in all of Kennedy's teachings).
If you never thought about your prices you need to take a closer look at it. Find out why you come up with your numbers. Find out if these numbers speak about your business or if you are following someone else's defination of your industry. Here is my spin on it....
I have the tendency to take things to another level and I will touch upon just a few points.
RELIGION
This is a deal killer for me. Often prospects will ask me for information regarding my spiritual beliefs during a presentation which I find severly off topic. I usually blow off the question. But I find that a lot of people who bring this issue into a business offering have very poor wealth attraction. They will often use the God element to defend their price position and often will drag in scripture into the negotiation process. This is bad news and you should be aware of it.
GOVERNMENT FEARS
I get a lot of people in the medical community that talk about the horrors of chem trails, conspiracies, and poisoned water supplies. While I find this sort of talk unnerving and highly disturbing I do not find it nearly as disturbing as the amount these prospects are willing to cough up for my services. To put it politely these fragile souls can barely come up with a fraction of my current fee schedule. They also make THE WORST clients and quite honestly should leave business altogether.
There was a really good article a few months back on USA Today regarding the different types of God people believe in. Some of these versions judge harshly and hand out intense punishments in the form of hurricanes and destruction. Another version of God is more Universal and is more balanced in the aspect of karma. All in all there was roughly 12 different types of God people subscribe to. This can also bring into play how people view money and prosperity.
Now I know Kennedy did not go into all of these aspects in his book but I am merely elaborating on past concepts that I have heard in his circles. I draw my own personal experiences into this as well. I want to also mention the importance of NLP, Neuro Linguistic Programming, which is the study of human communication, (verbal and non verbal) into the price and sales process. These things should be studied closely when you deal with the whole spectrum of the sale.
This has everything to do with trust and building adequate raport. This will enable one participant to deliver money from his account directly into yours.
There are parts of this book that have already been dog eared. Within just a few pages I sensed fresh material and honestly I haven't enjoyed a Kennedy book this good in years. I can hold it up to his No B.S. Sales Guide.
The Book Has My Vote
Years ago I dabbled into the GKIC groups, (Kennedy's Marketing Groups) and met a lot of his herd toe to toe. While those meetings were very influential upon my marketing growth I have found getting the straight source from the author himself to be the best experience. Although getting the straight dope can be a bit of a challenge. A lot of Kennedy's top students will often contribute to the books, ( yes, there are guest authors in this book too) as well as some of his courses. I have found that getting Kennedy to open up with some solid and fresh content to be somewhat of a rarity these days.
Part of the reason for this is that his corporate partner, Bill Glazier, oversees the course material and the publishing aspect of his business. I am hungry from the real source from the man himself. I was fortunate to spend a day with him in a closed room session in Nashville, TN a few years back. I can tell you that this book touches upon some of that magic and it is worth picking up.
Its the best thing he's written in years.
Nuff said on that.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Borders Bookstore Succombs To E-Culture
THE SILENCE OF A GIANT
What was the blame for the recent closing of so many Borders book stores? The speculation that surrounds it is interesting. Years ago when digital media was making a huge headway there was a lot of talk about digital books, (back then they were called Titles) and companies like Voyager Media were just coming up and around. Borders Books actually had a section for this new type of media. This little tech wave occured right before the web so many of you may not remember this.... it was very short lived.
I had hopes that this type of thing would make a comeback. There was a lot of great visual titles like, The Residents, "Freakshow", and Laurie Andersons, "Puppet Motel". I wanted to see more of this type of media come out. Thanks to the web I guess this request has been answered but to me it is not the same. With the coming of the new Kindle Readers I had no idea that this type of media would bring a crushing blow to physical reading material. I never thought it would crush a giant book store chain like Borders.
I wanted at least a few of these stores to remain open because they have an aweseome collection. But as of this week all of the remaining stores are to close.
IS DIGITAL MEDIA KILLING OUR CURRENT CULTURE?
I still miss Tower Records. Even though Itunes has replaced it for the most part I still miss going to a record store just to look around. I don't miss the snappy young twerps at the counter who thought THEY were rock stars. I never championed the culture that surrounded record retail. I also never thought that the digital market would completely crush the record giant - Tower.
I am going to miss some of the newspapers too out there such as The Ann Arbor News, and some defunct magazines.
Are we to become the new publishers?
Posted Sunday June 24, 2011
What was the blame for the recent closing of so many Borders book stores? The speculation that surrounds it is interesting. Years ago when digital media was making a huge headway there was a lot of talk about digital books, (back then they were called Titles) and companies like Voyager Media were just coming up and around. Borders Books actually had a section for this new type of media. This little tech wave occured right before the web so many of you may not remember this.... it was very short lived.
I had hopes that this type of thing would make a comeback. There was a lot of great visual titles like, The Residents, "Freakshow", and Laurie Andersons, "Puppet Motel". I wanted to see more of this type of media come out. Thanks to the web I guess this request has been answered but to me it is not the same. With the coming of the new Kindle Readers I had no idea that this type of media would bring a crushing blow to physical reading material. I never thought it would crush a giant book store chain like Borders.
I wanted at least a few of these stores to remain open because they have an aweseome collection. But as of this week all of the remaining stores are to close.
IS DIGITAL MEDIA KILLING OUR CURRENT CULTURE?
I still miss Tower Records. Even though Itunes has replaced it for the most part I still miss going to a record store just to look around. I don't miss the snappy young twerps at the counter who thought THEY were rock stars. I never championed the culture that surrounded record retail. I also never thought that the digital market would completely crush the record giant - Tower.
I am going to miss some of the newspapers too out there such as The Ann Arbor News, and some defunct magazines.
Are we to become the new publishers?
Posted Sunday June 24, 2011
Thursday, June 09, 2011
The Money Machine: Returns
This is the podcast that started it all....
If you've never heard this show before you are in for a surprise. There are some great tips on here about how to strategize your business.
Many of these recordings were made before the BIG SEO wave. It is loaded with surprises... do check it out...
http://911copywriter.podomatic.com/
http://911copywriter.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-26T13_46_12-07_00
If you've never heard this show before you are in for a surprise. There are some great tips on here about how to strategize your business.
Many of these recordings were made before the BIG SEO wave. It is loaded with surprises... do check it out...
http://911copywriter.podomatic.com/
http://911copywriter.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-26T13_46_12-07_00
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Growing Up Digital: The Changing Face of The Economic Landscape
REMEMBER THE 1990'S? BACK WHEN WE HAD JOBS?
Job culture was great. It was short and sweet. I caught the tail end of it when I worked in Chicago and New York City. Those were fun days. Little did I know that it was going to be short lived. My oh my have things changed. Back in the Dot Com Era my idea of a good time was getting a paycheck for $2800 for two weeks honest work. Now I am able to bang that out in a single day. In the 90's I wanted to work for MTV and be a creative director. Nowadays MTV is little more than Maternity TV. Its a sound board for knocked up teens.
The funny thing is that even in this modern age those annoying teens complain about how lousy thier lives are. That is amusing. We are living in America but you would hardly know it. Now that people are being thrown onto the street they live their lives like they are nothing more than imprisoned inmates.
We have more television channels than ever before, (my carrier has over 800) and gazillions of websites. And do not forget the thousands of satellite radio stations all over the world. Traditional television is mimicking the web. You won't find television shows like, "The Odd Couple", (man I miss Felix Unger) or "Happy Days" anymore because we are all too busy bitching at one another on national television. A lot of what you see is called reality television in America. I am not sure how things are in other countries but in the USA we have regressed to a nation of spineless whiners.
Its war now in America and I am on the street. I know how to sell and maneuver through all the nonsense. I have to tell you that I am having the time of my life. I am a hustler and a self professed go getter. I don't know if I could ever adapt to job culture. It makes me uneasy to have to hear water cooler chatter about birthdays, 3 way love triangles and sharp shooting office politics.
I am too old to have a job according to the New York Times. I am over the grandaddy age of 39 and considered irrelevant by many standards. That was in the Sunday edition a few weeks back. Well this ancient old man has a few things to say about the job situation. If we are going to let our advertising and tech companies fall into the hands of over educated 20 something industry newbies we are generally screwed.
Retail is really in grave danger. Don't forget that the old ways of getting the word out in the forms of television, radio and newspapers is a thing of the past. I'd like to throw the concept of middle management in there as well. Its all useless. Meanwhile, who is going navigate the business populace through all of this muck?
THE COLLAPSE OF MEDIA CHANNELS
Newspapers are falling apart. I don't mean consilidation here I am talking about newspaper companies closing their doors altogether. Radio on the other hand is getting more desperate and its also getting more expensive. Television is just as ineffective as ever before and worse -- nobody is paying attention to the commercials. The only time that the public seems to notice is to watch someone else's wretched life fall apart on some reality television show.
Nonsense aside who is going to advertise for the business class?
Is anyone capable of doing a good enough job? Limo rental in Livonia Michigan uses the web to get the word out. Things are actually pretty bleak when you think about it. Now the old vanguards of the advertising set are suddently the shoulder of comfort when it comes to SEO search engine optimization and social media. Like rats on a sinking ship these old fossils are becoming overnight saviors in the media. I can't blame them for trying to stay alive in this blazing inferno of tech overload.
Does that mean you should do it? Why is CBS Radio hawking SEO services? The web is a complex animal and it is going to take more than rotating banners to sell a product or a service. The phone companies are offering template websites that do little more than pop up on cue. These really under perform when it comes to the vital stats that keep a business afloat. When it comes to creating links, and achieving page rank the crusaders of tech fall silent.
But that is just the beginning of the charade.
Posted by Ted Cantu, http://www.1seomichigan.com http://www.tedcantu.com June 7, 2011
Job culture was great. It was short and sweet. I caught the tail end of it when I worked in Chicago and New York City. Those were fun days. Little did I know that it was going to be short lived. My oh my have things changed. Back in the Dot Com Era my idea of a good time was getting a paycheck for $2800 for two weeks honest work. Now I am able to bang that out in a single day. In the 90's I wanted to work for MTV and be a creative director. Nowadays MTV is little more than Maternity TV. Its a sound board for knocked up teens.
The funny thing is that even in this modern age those annoying teens complain about how lousy thier lives are. That is amusing. We are living in America but you would hardly know it. Now that people are being thrown onto the street they live their lives like they are nothing more than imprisoned inmates.
We have more television channels than ever before, (my carrier has over 800) and gazillions of websites. And do not forget the thousands of satellite radio stations all over the world. Traditional television is mimicking the web. You won't find television shows like, "The Odd Couple", (man I miss Felix Unger) or "Happy Days" anymore because we are all too busy bitching at one another on national television. A lot of what you see is called reality television in America. I am not sure how things are in other countries but in the USA we have regressed to a nation of spineless whiners.
Its war now in America and I am on the street. I know how to sell and maneuver through all the nonsense. I have to tell you that I am having the time of my life. I am a hustler and a self professed go getter. I don't know if I could ever adapt to job culture. It makes me uneasy to have to hear water cooler chatter about birthdays, 3 way love triangles and sharp shooting office politics.
I am too old to have a job according to the New York Times. I am over the grandaddy age of 39 and considered irrelevant by many standards. That was in the Sunday edition a few weeks back. Well this ancient old man has a few things to say about the job situation. If we are going to let our advertising and tech companies fall into the hands of over educated 20 something industry newbies we are generally screwed.
Retail is really in grave danger. Don't forget that the old ways of getting the word out in the forms of television, radio and newspapers is a thing of the past. I'd like to throw the concept of middle management in there as well. Its all useless. Meanwhile, who is going navigate the business populace through all of this muck?
THE COLLAPSE OF MEDIA CHANNELS
Newspapers are falling apart. I don't mean consilidation here I am talking about newspaper companies closing their doors altogether. Radio on the other hand is getting more desperate and its also getting more expensive. Television is just as ineffective as ever before and worse -- nobody is paying attention to the commercials. The only time that the public seems to notice is to watch someone else's wretched life fall apart on some reality television show.
Nonsense aside who is going to advertise for the business class?
Is anyone capable of doing a good enough job? Limo rental in Livonia Michigan uses the web to get the word out. Things are actually pretty bleak when you think about it. Now the old vanguards of the advertising set are suddently the shoulder of comfort when it comes to SEO search engine optimization and social media. Like rats on a sinking ship these old fossils are becoming overnight saviors in the media. I can't blame them for trying to stay alive in this blazing inferno of tech overload.
Does that mean you should do it? Why is CBS Radio hawking SEO services? The web is a complex animal and it is going to take more than rotating banners to sell a product or a service. The phone companies are offering template websites that do little more than pop up on cue. These really under perform when it comes to the vital stats that keep a business afloat. When it comes to creating links, and achieving page rank the crusaders of tech fall silent.
But that is just the beginning of the charade.
Posted by Ted Cantu, http://www.1seomichigan.com http://www.tedcantu.com June 7, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Can Gold Merchants Really Benefit From The Yellow Pages?
http://www.ronniesjewelryloans.com/keywords
http://www.1webuygoldwatchesmichigan.info/keywords
The media collapse is interesting. I pay attention to things like that since I am right in the middle of one of the biggest implosions in modern history. Newspapers like the Ann Arbor News are no longer serving the public. The old Eccentric newspaper building is the host now to a series of new offices for some unrelated industry. The past is the past.
What is emerging now on the streets is nothing short of breathtaking and quite honestly a little scary. As a marketer on the street I see a lot of strange people hustling for a quick buck. The jobs in Michigan are scare and practically nonexistent. A lot of media reps are barging into unsuspecting businesses and trying to hawk their Yellow Page advertising and its not cheap. The SEO component on it really intrigues me.... With all of the breakthroughs on the web I am questioning if it is even needed.
Restaurants still market on the web with individual websites. But they don't break their backs to get something out to the public. There are a lot of Web 2.0 services that will promote pretty much anything for free. A lot of lazy restauranteers are happy to oblige doing the bare minimum. That is to say a lot of them do nothing with their marketing and leave it up to customers to post reviews all over. These go to the top of page 1 on popular search engines and that will actually drive traffic over to their websites.
Gold Merchants: Buying and Selling on the Web
But what about gold merchants? Can they really benefit from being on the web? Is it worth paying $12 grand a year in advertisements in phone book advertisements? Some say no. I would only consider paying those kinds of fees if the placement on the search engines was a sure thing. I am getting a lot of fluff about having to wait for seven months for any type of results.
That is the kiss of death for most Michigan businesses. As an SEO marketer I can see a lot of businesses folding up shop and calling it quits. A lot can happen in 7 months. There could be emergencies, lightning, floods and other acts of God. You can expect to see a lot of tragic things happen in a city like Detroit. That is a very unacceptible time frame to get any sort of customer response.
Right now there is actual blood on the streets. Business owners are struggling to get foot traffic into their shops. Someone told me the other day that all brick and mortar businesses are obsolete which is complete gibberish. This is another myth that goes hand in hand with the paperless office and the elimination of US cash. It is always dangerous to heed the advice of fear based monocratic minded nincompoops who have never scratched dollar one in their industries.
What is happening out there on the street does cause for some alarm. Media vultures are now trying to cash in on the ultra sexy profit margins of SEO - search engine optimization and other high end visibility tactics. Keep in mind that just a few scant years ago this type of marketing was considered geeky and too technical. Most business owners found it boring and unimportant.
Now that the world is changing we are reconsidering the importance of search engines. Media vultures and media reps see the monetary potential and are out combing American businesses. They can get into the shops quite easily even if there are no soliciting signs if they are already customers and buying phone services. But before you sign that contract you should be aware of your other options and there are many out there......
The results we pulled for a gold store are posted above......
We were able to pull all of page 1 results in a matter of weeks... instead of months.
We have created a new style of advertising for a new age.... The results are staggering are worth taking a look at.
This is the new standard that is keeping a lot of Detroit, Michigan businesses open.
Posted by Ted Cantu, Saturday April 16, 2011
http://www.1webuygoldwatchesmichigan.info/keywords
The media collapse is interesting. I pay attention to things like that since I am right in the middle of one of the biggest implosions in modern history. Newspapers like the Ann Arbor News are no longer serving the public. The old Eccentric newspaper building is the host now to a series of new offices for some unrelated industry. The past is the past.
What is emerging now on the streets is nothing short of breathtaking and quite honestly a little scary. As a marketer on the street I see a lot of strange people hustling for a quick buck. The jobs in Michigan are scare and practically nonexistent. A lot of media reps are barging into unsuspecting businesses and trying to hawk their Yellow Page advertising and its not cheap. The SEO component on it really intrigues me.... With all of the breakthroughs on the web I am questioning if it is even needed.
Restaurants still market on the web with individual websites. But they don't break their backs to get something out to the public. There are a lot of Web 2.0 services that will promote pretty much anything for free. A lot of lazy restauranteers are happy to oblige doing the bare minimum. That is to say a lot of them do nothing with their marketing and leave it up to customers to post reviews all over. These go to the top of page 1 on popular search engines and that will actually drive traffic over to their websites.
Gold Merchants: Buying and Selling on the Web
But what about gold merchants? Can they really benefit from being on the web? Is it worth paying $12 grand a year in advertisements in phone book advertisements? Some say no. I would only consider paying those kinds of fees if the placement on the search engines was a sure thing. I am getting a lot of fluff about having to wait for seven months for any type of results.
That is the kiss of death for most Michigan businesses. As an SEO marketer I can see a lot of businesses folding up shop and calling it quits. A lot can happen in 7 months. There could be emergencies, lightning, floods and other acts of God. You can expect to see a lot of tragic things happen in a city like Detroit. That is a very unacceptible time frame to get any sort of customer response.
Right now there is actual blood on the streets. Business owners are struggling to get foot traffic into their shops. Someone told me the other day that all brick and mortar businesses are obsolete which is complete gibberish. This is another myth that goes hand in hand with the paperless office and the elimination of US cash. It is always dangerous to heed the advice of fear based monocratic minded nincompoops who have never scratched dollar one in their industries.
What is happening out there on the street does cause for some alarm. Media vultures are now trying to cash in on the ultra sexy profit margins of SEO - search engine optimization and other high end visibility tactics. Keep in mind that just a few scant years ago this type of marketing was considered geeky and too technical. Most business owners found it boring and unimportant.
Now that the world is changing we are reconsidering the importance of search engines. Media vultures and media reps see the monetary potential and are out combing American businesses. They can get into the shops quite easily even if there are no soliciting signs if they are already customers and buying phone services. But before you sign that contract you should be aware of your other options and there are many out there......
The results we pulled for a gold store are posted above......
We were able to pull all of page 1 results in a matter of weeks... instead of months.
We have created a new style of advertising for a new age.... The results are staggering are worth taking a look at.
This is the new standard that is keeping a lot of Detroit, Michigan businesses open.
Posted by Ted Cantu, Saturday April 16, 2011
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