Monday July 30th, 2007: Issue #827
I want to start today’s Kickstart with a huge thank you.
Thank you to the dozens and dozens of people who wrote to me with suggestions for Delia about how to deal with her plantar fasciitis. We have read every single email, and Delia has started doing some of the exercises recommended. She also wants me to tell you that the ice pack idea hurts more than the PF - but she’ll persevere with it!
I had no idea that PF was such a common complaint. In case, like me until very recently, you’ve never heard of it, it is a searing pain in the heel.
If you have emailed, I hope you’ll understand that we can’t reply to everyone individually but be assured that we greatly appreciated your taking time to offer sympathy and suggestions. Apart, that is, for the one person who suggested amputation! Delia wasn’t amused at that!
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Why do you use the search engine that you do?
Do you always use Google, Yahoo or MSN out of habit, or is there something about your favorite that you prefer?
The latest figures I’ve seen, from June 2007, say that 52.7% of people use Google, 20.2% use Yahoo and 13.3% use MSN, with another 13.8% of folks using some other search engine.
What would it take for you to change?
Here is one thought. Did you know that the search engines keep a record of your searches by placing cookies on your computer and storing your IP address on their servers?
I didn’t realize that, but I’ve been interested to read that the three major engines have announced very different periods for how long they will keep that personally identifiable data.
Google will have all your searches on file for 24 months.
MSN will keep your data for 18 months.
Yahoo store information about you for 13 months.
So if you are concerned about the search engine big brother culture that we now live in, and want to keep your exposure to a minimum, it may be time to change your allegiance in favor of Yahoo.
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Hannah moved into her new home on Friday. My little girl is a proper grown up now (can one’s daughter ever really be grown up?) and is out in the world doing adult things. Like paying bills and dealing with the endless telephone menu systems of utility companies.
So there we were on Saturday trying to come to terms with the sudden gap in the house. But the gap didn’t last long - she came home for lunch on Sunday! 
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For the last hour or so I’ve been watching some videos about a new product that is due to launch tomorrow - and I must say that I’m getting quite excited about it. [Hype alert - understand this: I’m English. That first sentence is about as hyped up as I get!]
Everyone in Internet marketing knows and accepts that there is one major problem that we all face - the fact that the vast majority of people who visit our websites leave before they do anything. That’s right, no matter how brilliant your copy, how attention-grabbing your headline, how seductive your offer, more than 90% of the people who land on your page will leave again without taking any action at all. Some people say that the wastage figure is as high as 98%.
Over the years a lot of time and effort has been devoted to finding a way to reduce that wastage with on-exit pop-ups, pop-unders, drop-downs, slide-ins and all the rest. Annoying and intrusive they may have been while they worked, but they were almost always effective.
Lately though, there has been something of a lack because most methods have either been blocked, or are just not intrusive enough to make all that much difference.
Tomorrow a new product will be launched called Traffic Regenerator and from what I’ve seen so far, it will put everything that has come before into the shade. It predicts when a visitor on your site is about to leave and then lets you ask them to take another action. It is intrusive, but very effective indeed. It does a whole lot more than I can say here, but the videos will make it all very clear.
Now as you know I don’t like to promote anything that I haven’t tried out for myself, but as I’m not a beta tester I can’t personally use Traffic Regenerator yet. I WILL be first in line to buy it when the doors open tomorrow (I don’t even know how much it is going to be yet) and I’ll tell you more when I have more experience.
Meanwhile, I’m sure you’ll be as fascinated by the concept as I am and will find the videos very interesting indeed.
You can get to see the videos by using this link: http://www.trafficregenerator.com/invitation/martinavis
[Note - that is my affiliate link. Apparently you can’t get to the videos unless you go through an affiliate link. The direct URL won’t work.]
The first two videos are interesting, but a bit long. Video three shows you the Traffic Regenerator system and how to set it up step-by-step. But it is video four that has especially blown my mind. That one shows how you can actually capture and recycle visitors to other people’s websites! My mind is just buzzing with the possibilities of THAT!
Take a look at the videos for yourself and prepare to be amazed.
You can’t buy it until tomorrow. Just relax and see the potential.
[A quick sidenote - a lot of Kickstart readers bought Mark Vurnum’s excellent set of videos about how to make money from selling leads that you generate with tailor-made websites. If you are one of them pay particular attention to Traffic Regenerator because I believe that it will put Marks system on super-steroids!]
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An Inspirational Thought
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Not an inspiration today, more an observation.
I Googled the phrase ‘inspirational thoughts’ this morning and got 2.45m results. After scanning the first 100 it struck me that taking out all the irrelevant stuff, most of the results were Christian based sites offering inspirations from Biblical scripture.
I don’t have a problem with that, but it made me wonder why, in Google’s top 100 listings, are there no sites offering Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim or Hindu inspirations.
So I Googled some more:
‘jewish inspirational thoughts’ … 563,000 results.
‘buddhist inspirational thoughts’ … 461,000 results.
‘muslim inspirational thoughts’ … 440,000 results.
‘hindu inspirational thoughts’ … 203,000 results.
The sites are there, but unless you specifically ask for them, you’ll get Christian inspirational thoughts.
I’m not seeking a religious debate - just curious about something that seems odd.
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The Quote of the Day
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Robert Frost said,
“The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning, and does not stop until you get into the office.”
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Today’s Power Thought
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Customer dis-service
There is a growing trend for successful (and not so successful) Internet marketers to get too big for their boots.
It is basic marketing sense for anyone running a company, however big or small, to offer good customer service. I don’t mean that they should blindly follow a ‘customer is always right’ policy. Sometimes the customer is just an argumentative idiot. But I do mean that a company should open and willing to take customer comments and questions in whatever form the customer is most comfortable send them.
Anything else is self-serving arrogance.
Yet online businesses are increasingly saying to customers, “If you want to contact us you MUST use our customer support system or we will ignore you.”
Many of them actually say that if you send them an email they will deliberately ignore it.
That’s a funny kind of customer service. yet these marketers seem to think that by limiting the means by which their customers can get in touch is actually in the customer’s best interests.
Madness.
I’ve been around the block a few times and generally know what I’m doing online, but some of the customer support ‘ticket’ systems leave me baffled. They insist that you log on before you can send a message and then expect that you can remember the password. If you don’t remember to go back to check for a reply you may never get a notification.
There is one well-known marketer who, if you send him an email with a question will send you a personal email back (not an automated reply) that berates you for not using his ticket system and tells you to do so. If he answers the email, why not answer the question?
I see people asking questions about problems with certain marketers or software on forums all the time. It isn’t (as other posters often try to imply) that they are too lazy to send in a support ticket, it is usually because they have no idea how to get to the support desk and the marketer refuses to answer emails.
Support ticket systems are a good thing. I’m not criticising the concept. What I am criticising is the blind assumption that everyone should use them no matter what.
Some marketers seem to be devoted to running their businesses the lazy way. they want to provide minimal input and have as hands-off a life as possible. Customer support ticket systems is one way that they seek to minimize their own efforts.
I wonder, does that make them caring business people, or just arrogant marketers who want maximum returns for minimum effort?
Or maybe I just need to polish the tint off of my rose-tinted glasses.
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Fascinating Facts
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Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty degringoladed.
Doesn’t have the same ring to it does it!
To degringolade is to fall and disintegrate.
Try and work that one into your conversations today!