No "Real" Posts Today
I am heading out to a Bear Flag League Lunch so will be away from the computer today. It will take me over an hour to drive there, but I managed to wrangle a business meeting in the area afterwords, so at least I can get reimbursed for the mileage (heh). It will be a smaller gathering than last weekend's BFL brunch, but I hope to post a few pictures this weekend.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:56 AM (Permalink)
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Blogging and Marketing
An entry over at Techdirt comments on an article about the attempted use by marketers to use blogs. The direct link to the article is here, and is a rant on what is admittedly the questionable marketing practice of companies paying people to leave positive product comments on blogs. While the author has a point, the problem is that she damns by association nearly all internet marketing to "sleaze" and promises "never trust a blogger's recommendations again!". (I'm crushed she won't trust my positive review of Netflix or the fact that I thought Last Samurai was a pretty good movie).

It's a marketer's job is to find new ways to reach potential customers, and the fact that marketers are trying to use blogs should be seen as a positive - it is an indicator of the rise of the stature and popularity of blogs. That being said, there is definitely a right way and a wrong way that marketers can use blogs:

WRONG: Paying people to leave comments/blog about products - This is what the author was ranting about and is probably not a common or successful practice. Instapundit probably generated a lot of potential sales leads when he blogged about cookware, but imagine how much credibility that site would lose if it was found out he was paid to write about it. Even the 50-70 people who hit this blog daily would probably stop coming by if it was found out I took money for shilling for Netflix (yes, it was my honest, unpaid, opinion).

There is also the issue of its effectiveness versus the costs. There are a lot more cost efficient and proven methods to generate sales leads than paying 5-6 people to leave positive comments about a new video game in some gaming blog. If people like your product, chances are they will blog about it for free.

RIGHT: Create a Blog About You, Your Company, or Area of Expertise - As I mentioned in the comments section in Techdirt, Techdirt itself is an advertisement. The guy who writes the site provides consulting and other services to companies, and when I first hit his site, I contacted him to find out about his services since I liked his blog, the way he wrote, and the information he provided.

Essentially, blogs seem like a good marketing tool for personal services such as market consulting, legal services and the like. If you are a market consultant, create a marketing blog to talk about your expertise. Similarly, if you are a lawyer, create a blog about new laws and rulings. Heck, I bet a plumber who created a blog about his daily travails would probably pick up some additional business.


So "blog marketing" (bloggeting?) is not an evil if done honestly.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 3:07 PM (Permalink)
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Remember: They're Still Commies
Very appropriate news for the blogosphere:

China Targets Blogs in Latest Internet Censorship - China is targeting blogs - personal pages for Internet users (DM: Oh, that's what they are!) - in its latest attempt to censor the increasing popularity of the web.

I have always been ambivalent about the U.S. treatment of China. The strategy has been to open them up to trade and make them capitalists, creating a growing middle class that would demand democratic reforms (sort of a reverse Marxism). While this strategy does seem to be working long-term, expect moves like this by the installed base of bureaucrats to keep a hold of information, and thus power.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:06 AM (Permalink)
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Consumer Review: Netflix
Thumbs up! I have been thinking about signing up Neflix for half a year now and finally did it after wandering into my local Blockbuster and finding absolutely nothing to rent (never mind the fact that I pay $15 a month for HBO and except for the Sopranos, they never seem to have anything on).

For those of you not familiar with them, Netflix is a video rental company (DVD only) that operates through the internet and mail. You sign up over the internet for the movies you want to watch and they mail you the first three in your queue (you can also sign up for an 8 video package). You keep the movies as long as you want - a week, a month, whatever. When you are done with a movie, you send it back in the pre-paid envelope and they mail you the next movie on your queue.

You can watch any number of movies you want for a flat fee of $20 a month, so if you rent more than five movies a month from Blockbuster, you are in the money. In only my first week I have already received my sixth movie. The mail times are great (for me, at least). It took one day from the time I signed up until I received my first movies, and it is a two day turn from the time I return a movie until I get the next one in my queue (one day for them to get, one day for me to receive).

Another nice feature of Netflix is their browsing and recommendation software. Similar to Amazon, you rate the movies you have seen and they will suggest titles based on your selections. It's fun to sit down for a few minutes at a time and rate movies - I have done it for 500 titles so far, and I really don't consider myself a serious movie watcher.

The one unknown is the availability of "hot" new releases, but with my queue of over a dozen movies and growing, I won't mind if it takes a few extra days to get a new release versus dealing with Blockbuster. One nice feature I am looking forward to is getting a few movies to take with me for long business trips. With no late fee, I can take them with me and watch on the plane, hotel room, etc. on my DVD playing laptop and just mail them back when I get home.

Netflix's business model is being copied by several others, including Walmart, and there are indications that even Blockbuster will do something similar, so I think they hit on something here.

Update: I took a look into their stock since I liked their service, but with a PE of 341 and a business model that can be copied, I'll cheer from the sidelines.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 12:24 PM (Permalink)
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How Do Democrats Handle Good Economic News?
By ignoring it. Have you seen any major play of the following stories today? (links require paid subscription):

Hiring Plans Increase, Survey Says - In the highest showing in three years, 28% of U.S. employers plan to add workers in the second quarter, according to a closely followed employment survey

Industrial Production Rises 0.7% - U.S. industrial production grew a stronger-than-expected 0.7% in February as factories raised output of such items as cars, computers and semiconductors.

Kerry needs a poor economy to have a chance in the election, so I expect him to continue to talk about jobs as the unemployment rate decreases, complain about the economy as it increases output, and rail against "outsourcing" as foreign companies add U.S. jobs at a faster clip than those being lost to outsourcing.

It's actually rather sad that Kerry has to present a fantasy world to the electorate in order to get elected. It's even sadder that a lot of people believe him.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 1:54 PM (Permalink)
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Yeah, Let's Boycott All Those Products From Spain
Now that the cowards from Spain are cutting and running (you know, they are the SIXTH largest force in Iraq), there have been calls to boycott all those goods from Spain like...um, products such as...well, they really don't produce anything the world wants, do they? (Ed: Tapas?) At least the Poles produce some fine vodka.

So they'll be a country of cowards safe in their little homes producing nothing the world wants while being safe from the terrorists who dictate their domestic policy.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:50 PM (Permalink)
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Some Outsourcing Data You Won't See Get Much Play
The WSJ reports (link requires paid subscription) that more jobs are outsourced TO the U.S. than are outsourced FROM the U.S. Long story short, the U.S. has a net "inflow" of $53.6 billion outsourcing jobs ($131 billion sent to the U.S. for outsourcing work versus $77.4 billion outbound). In addition:

- The U.S. inbound (more jobs here) number is up $8.4 billion from 2002 to 2003.

- The U.S. outbound (exported jobs) is up $8 billion from 2002 to 2003.

So the increase in 2002 outsourcing from the U.S was more than matched by outsourcing to the U.S.

I don't think outsourcing jobs is a good thing, and I think some companies are doing it without looking at all the financial numbers or project issues (Dell has reversed some outsourcing as has some software companies). But the bottom line is outsourcing is the decision of companies, not the government. If you listen to politicians, you won't get the whole story. You'll hear sad stories about software people or call center people who lost their jobs, but you won't hear the fact that limiting outbound outsourcing will result in retaliatory measures from other countries that will hurt more Americans than it will help.

The people clamoring for outsourcing laws are of course the people most affected by it. And they have no compunction if more people lose their jobs, as long as they get in or stay in theirs. I am not blaming them - it's human nature. But if the job of the economy is to provide the most economic benefits to the most number of people, then laws limiting outsourcing are not the way to go.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:28 AM (Permalink)
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Sopranos Episode 2: Booooring
Okay, maybe they're still setting up the plot lines, but I practically fell asleep in tonight's episode. Yeah, there are some questions like: is Tony's cousin Tony really going legit after getting out of prison, or is this some set-up? Are the feds finally going to get some dirt on Tony?

As the final season of Sopranos, bets are that Tony gets wacked - how better to end a series on a mobster? So all the plot lines on the fed crackdowns seem like a red herring to me.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:30 PM (Permalink)
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Message to Spanish Government: Appease Terrorists
Like a lot of democrats, the electorate in Spain wants their government to do anything and everything to appease terrorists: Spaniards Vote Out Government Over Iraq, Bombing.

After all, the world would be such a better place with the Taliban and Saddam in power, and if Western nations did nothing, then all terrorism would go away, wouldn't it?

Update: Outside the Beltway is thinking along the same lines: Terrorists Winning in Spain.

Another Update: All sorts of similar commentary from Instapundit to War Watch, and lots of others. Seems to be the theme of the day this Sunday.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 4:43 PM (Permalink)
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