Could this map of the social media landscape be one of the reasons that General Motors pulled its FB ad budget a few months ago?

Digital marketing is confusing—really confusing—as this insane graphic makes clear. Trying to navigate through the various new social media categories, blogs, sharing sites, and social media firms is an absolute mess.

Want our opinion?  There are only a dozen or so things that you need to do to stay ahead of the curve (and your competitors) to get more traffic from this source of noise but if you ignore SM altogether, your brand will suffer.

Have You Got Great Guarantees?

If not, consider the following.

If you want to reassure your prospects and increase conversions, you need to write a kick ass guarantee. Below are three types of product guarantees that we have used for Clients in the past and a few side comments added in for color.

No Questions Asked, Full, Money Back Guarantee

I even amped our guarantee up for a coaching service a few years ago to make it a BETTER THAN MONEY BACK GUARANTEE by offering to donate $100 to my Client’s favorite charity in addition to allowing them to tear up the check they were writing to me (US Customers). Can you guess how many people took me up on that offer? That’s right, ZERO.

Heck, I even have a killer guarantee on my copywriting services and that’s something most copywriters would swear you couldn’t do!

I am NOT saying that no one will ever take you up on your guarantee. More than likely a percentage of people will. Most people who return quality products are freeloaders and moochers who outright plan to rip you off. BUT, the amount of ADDITIONAL SALES you make because of your guarantee will far outweigh any refunds you will need to make if your product quality is reasonable and your bedside manners are a bit above average. 
With that said, here are 7 tips to creating a killer guarantee.

1. Phrase the guarantee to make it exciting, if not dramatic.
2. Make it a long guarantee (90 days at least) – short term guarantees can stimulate refunds.
3. Value: offer a guarantee that means something to your target Customers.
4. Use multiple guarantees when appropriate.
5. Unconditional vs. conditional: Primary guarantee should be unconditioned, secondary guarantees can be conditional.
6. Reiterate your promise in the guarantee.
7. Guarantee plus: offer a money back plus something else.

Gurantees are important when you need to:
Encourage people to buy from a new or unknown company
Encourage people to try a new product or unestablished brand
Remove all risk

The phrasing is important (you need to keep it simple) and you need to be firm about your conditions.

Examples:
“We take the privacy and security of your information seriously. We are independently audited by TRUSTe and ScanAlert regularly to verify that our privacy and security measures are state-of-the-art. Further, we stand by our refund policy 100%. If we don’t honor to the refund promise we have made here, you can report us to GuaranteeGuarantee.   Finally, we are a merchant many years in flawless standing with PayPal. We provide top-notch live 24 hour customer care to protect that status, and more importantly, to protect the trust you, our customer, have placed in us.”

“I’m 99% certain you’re going to love this product, and that’s one reason why my current return rate is so low. I want to make sure that you’re 100% happy with our services, the product and your purchasing experience which is why I always offer a full, no fuss money back guarantee if it turns out it’s not for you for whatever reason.”

“If after my program you are not completely satisfied, I respectfully ask that you tear up my check. I make this bold guarantee because out of the thousands of programs I’ve presented no one has ever requested their money back. Once again, I give you this guarantee so you can feel completely confident in your decision to utilize my services.”

“We’re so sure that you will be delighted with our new widget that we offer a 90 day money back guarantee if it fails to get the job done in your home”

“We are committed to providing products and services that will exceed your expectations. If you are not completely satisfied, you can receive a refund of the cost, minus the processing fee.”

“We are committed to exceeding your expectations. If you are not completely satisfied, you can receive a refund within 30 days of purchase – no questions asked.”

“We do everything in our power to delight your readers with your new App and to relieve you from additional work – making your experience with BoxOnline a positive one. We are 99% certain that you will recommend our services to others but we want to make sure that you are 100% happy with our services which is why we offer a Money Back Guarantee for 90 days after your App has been launched in the iTunes or Google stores.”

“We Transform Your Publications Into Engaging Apps Within A Week. 99% of our Clients are delighted but we want 100% to be happy so we offer a refund if you are not satisfied with our services.”

When it comes to coaching or consulting services where you spend time to help your Client achieve a particular objective, the wording may need to be tweaked a bit more. Here are a few examples that put the ball in your Customer’s court.

The two step legal logic approach:
At the start of our first session I request that each Client signs a Client Agreement. This makes clear what I am able to help them with, the results they can expect and their responsibilities as a Client towards making a given process work. The agreement is more detailed than what I say on the phone and, importantly, it specifies that the Money Back Guarantee relies on each Client doing their agreed tasks outside of our sessions together.

This combined approach is good for the Client because it is clear and easy to understand. And it is good for the Coach because it places the responsibility back onto the Client to contact you if they’re not entirely happy with their results. Think about it, when a client doesn’t contact you after a session you can now rest in peace, knowing that they’re happy with the result. And if they contact you then you’ve got an excellent opportunity for some high quality feedback that will allow you to become an even better coach in the future. A win-win!

“I offer a money back guarantee. What that means is that after we have finished our sessions together that if you are not entirely happy you can contact me within 30 days and I will either work with you for free until you have your outcome, or refund your money if we both agree that your outcome is not achievable together.”

The one step fair and transparent approach:
Never apologize for asking for a retainer, taking a deposit or asking your customer to explain why the product isn’t for you, but do make sure your terms are friendly, fair and crystal clear.

“I always conduct a free 30 minute consultation to make sure my program suits what you want to achieve. When you book a block of six sessions, payment is up front but if you decide after any session that you don’t want to continue, I’ll refund you the cost of the remaining sessions.”

If you get tons of tire kickers – people who never actually planned to make a purchase or better said, people who planned from the very beginning, to return the product for a full refund, then these examples may suit your needs. The approach is called the no guarantee method but it is still a guarantee policy and it is designed to deter tire kickers. It works best if you have an established brand, a passionate following, clear content explaining what the product is in detail and visible results or testimonials.

Many people who implement this form of guarantee, let readers know that they are super confident that the product will rock their world, if they are committed to making it work.

“I want to let you know that this is a no-refund course and the reason I include this statement is because I work people pretty hard to get them the results that they desire and I’ve found that the ones who are willing to jump in and commit from day one, always do amazingly well. If you have any doubt that this may not be for you or you don’t have enough time to dedicate to the course right now, then please set it aside until you are ready to put in the hours. I hope to see you in one of my future courses when it is the right time for you!”

How about you? What guarantees do you look for in products and services that you buy and what kind do you offer to your Customers?

Have you ever not purchased a product because of the guarantee or lack of one? Let me know in the comment section below.

The average Manhattan taxi driver generates $90,747 annual revenue. We have approx 13,327 taxis in NYC. A few years ago, the city forced cab drivers to take credit cards and there were lots of objections mostly due to the fear of reduced tips. The city required a payment system that came with a touch screen and, wouldn’t you know it, the programmers knew about the objection and added 3 magic buttons to the screen to make the transition less painful for the cabby. If you’ve ridden in one of these cabs recently, you are probably well aware of the buttons because they really play with your emotions during the payment process. See the image – there are three blue buttons for tipping: 20%, 25%, and 30%. Now for the magic… when cabs were cash only, the average tip was around 10%. After the introduction of the touch screen with those magic buttons, the tip percentage more than doubled to 22%! Implementing those buttons delivered $144,146,165 of additional tips in a single year. Want a magic button? Let us have a look at your sales process so that we too can apply some predictably irrational magic buttons within your App’s design.

2011 was the year where in-app purchases and the freemium business model became one of the most important monetization strategies for mobile developers. Half of the revenue of the 200 top grossing apps in the Apple App Store for iPhone is now generated by freemium apps. This proportion is even higher in the Google Android Market where 65% of the revenue from the top grossing apps is generated by freemium apps. (according to DISTIMO)

The whole purpose of a freemium business model is to introduce potential Customers to a starter version of its product(s), so that they will see its value and hopefully decide to purchase the premium version of the product. This type of business model works great for newer products that do not have established brands, as it gives users the opportunity to try out the product without purchasing it. This allows the product to sell itself and hopefully convince the user that they should purchase the premium version of the product. The key to success with the freemium business model is that the seller is able to differentiate the starter and premium products in a way that encourages users to purchase the premium product. To move to a cause business model, a company simply increases its freemium product price to a minimal fee and gives all proceeds away to a selected charity or cause. The idea is that aligning your company name with a social cause generates positive press and enhances the overall value of your company’s brand, while at the same time still acquiring new Customers through the low overall starter product cost. For most established products and/or brands, the cost-benefit comparison will be positive because the number of Customers lost due to the increased price will be small relative to the number of new customers acquired through the cause generated publicity. The reasons why this works are:

- Customers love deals and equate more value to goods they pay for than free products
- Consumers like to help others, as it produces a feel good sensation, and they are willing to pay a premium on products in return for this feeling.

One company that has benefited greatly from its move to the cause business model is Atlassian. In 2009, Atlassian decided to test the charity business model waters by temporarily converting its JIRA starter software to a cause business model in an attempt to get more traction in the small business segment. They did so by running a 5-day campaign where they charged $10 for 10 licenses and donated all their proceeds to a literacy charity called Room to Read. After 5 days they more than quadrupled the forecasted sales and decided to test the model over a longer period of time. Realizing that the cause model was generating more interest in their products in the small business segment and overall, they decided to extend the test to see if the increased consumption behavior was sustainable. The trends continued and Atlassian decided to fully adopt the cause business model. Atlassian credits the business model for its significant increase in customer acquisitions and upsell percentage. However, this is not a one strategy fits all scenario. The cause business model works best with companies that:

-Have established brands
-Have consumer focused products
-Sell high volume products

On the other hand, if you develop, produce or publish mobile Apps, freemium is the speeding train that you don’t want to miss out on this year.

Right now, 30 out of 40 of the newest Apps are free, that is 75 percent – the highest it’s ever been before. According to IHS, the majority of Apps downloaded in 2011 were free. “Smartphone users overwhelmingly prefer free Apps to paid Apps, as we estimate 96 percent of all smartphone Apps were downloaded for free in 2011,” said senior analyst of mobile media, Jack Kent.

It has become more difficult for App developers to make money on Apps that require an upfront purchase. According to the report, in-App purchases, which is one way developers make money with freemium Apps, accounted for 39 percent of total market revenue in 2011 with a dollar amount of $970 million. Those numbers are predicted to increase to 64 percent and $5.6 billion by 2015.
Freemium Apps are free to download with offers to upgrade an item, buy game coins or points, or unlock additional levels by paying for them through in-App purchases. In 2010, App Store reviews from users were trashing the in-App purchase model as a sneaky way of getting money out of users. Plenty of reviews stating, “Free to download, but you have to buy stuff if you want to get anywhere in the game. No thanks, I’m deleting this App.” can be seen in older review comments for the first wave of “freemium” Apps. Soon it will be difficult to find Apps that aren’t using a free-to-download model.

Even non-gaming Apps have to compete in the freemium market. Just as porn pioneered the web business model, “Games pioneered the in-App business model,” said Kent. “Now, the Approach has proven so successful, companies building other types of smartphone Apps must adopt this strategy if they are to maximize their mobile App revenues.”

The most popular in-App purchase was for game features like unlocking weapons or changing outfits and they accounted for 22 percent of the most popular in-App purchases. Time limited navigation services, dating and premium social networking access, photography and video Apps are also on the list of popular freemium money makers.

Freemium Apps are obviously working both for consumers and developers/publishers, and the trend will clearly continue in 2012. Already of the top-ranked 250 iOS Apps across all categories, an average of 88% are free to download, monetized with advertising and in-App purchases. If current trends continue, this time next year in certain categories all relevant iOS Apps will likely be free.

At the end of 2011, both the Apple App Store for iPad and the Apple App Store for iPhone still beat the Google Android Market in terms of the total revenue generated by the 200 highest grossing apps. IN fact, the Apple App store for iPhone generates about four times the revenue that is generated in the Google Android Market.

The number of downloads in the Apple App Store for iPhone in China increased dramatically this past year. Comparing the number of Apple App Store downloads in the US with the number of Apple App Store downloads in China, we see that China now generates 30% of the total downloads of these two countries in the Apple App Store for iPhone. The number of downloads generated in the Apple App Store for iPad in China are even closer to those generated in the US: China generates 44% of the iPad downloads of these two countries!

Where or where did Europe go?

According to Verizon in the US, download volumes on the iPad are converging toward those of the iPhone.

In terms of revenue, the top iPad Apps generate almost four fifths of the total revenue generated by the top iPhone Apps.

It’s time to optimize your Apps for Tablets!

SOPA PIPA

It’s about the Internet. Our Internet. Your Internet.
The foundations of the Internet are at risk!

SOPA and PIPA legislation is about to construct a global firewall limiting free speech and putting websites at risk of shutdown for copyright infringement even if a person were to leave a comment on a page of the site that, in some way, breaches a copyright. In fact, even a search engine could face infringement charges and penalties for allowing links to sites that infringe copyrights.

If you don’t think this is right…
Call a US Senator today or visit http://stopthewall.us

The Internet is a thriving ecosystem that powers our economy and our society.

PIPA and SOPA threaten the web.

PIPA
PIPA is an acronym for the Protect IP Act, and was first introduced to the U.S. Senate on May 12, 2011 by Senators Patrick Leahy, Orrin Hatch and Chuck Grassley. It is also good to take note that PIPA is a re-written legislation, the original failed to pass and was called the ‘Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) of 2010′.

PIPA, if passed, would:

• Give U.S. corporations and the government the right to seek affirmative legal action with any website that they see as enabling copyright infringement whether of U.S. origin or not. Here is a breakdown of all that they will have the power to do.
• Force U.S. internet providers to block access to websites deemed as enablers of copyright infringement
• Seek legal action by suing search engines, blog sites, directories, or any site in general to have the black listed sites removed from their website
• Force advertising services on infringing websites, and those supporting of them, to remove them from their advertising accounts
• Give companies the power to sue any new websites that get started after this bill is passed, if they believe that they are not doing a good job of preventing infringement

SOPA

SOPA is an acronym for the Stop Online Piracy Act, and is a bill introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Lamar Smith on October 26, 2011.  SOPA is also built on previous legislation. This legislation was the PRO-IP Act of 2008.

SOPA, if passed, will work in conjunction with PIPA and is nothing more than a black list. Here is a breakdown of the power given to the US government and private corporations.

The U.S. Attorney General can now seek a court order that would force search engines, advertisers, DNS providers, server hosting firms, and payment processors from having any contact with allegedly infringing websites. You could lose your online business overnight!  You could lose your online business before even getting a date to defend your case in a court of law.

SOPA will allow private corporations to create their own personal hit lists composed of websites that they feel are infringing upon their copyrights. These companies would even be able to contact a website’s payment processor(s) directly and serve notice to cut off all payments involving the targeted website. The payment processors and website in question will have five days to act before the site is simply taken offline by the government authorities. Payment processors will have the power to cut off any website they work with as long as they can provide a reason why they believe a site is violating copyrights. Truth be told, payment processors can do this today too but SOPA forces them to be extra diligent and receptive after receiving correspondence from a corporate attorney who desires to attack using this broad brushstroke method of putting you and your site out of business.

If this isn’t scary enough, just imagine the internet becoming a hunting ground for any potential copyright violation. Of course the US government loves blogs and bloggers, so it is only natural to think that they will receive a lot of special attention. These acts make the blog owners responsible for everything that is displayed on their site, including comments left by visitors.

So say that an article is published on a blog featuring a logo, or trademark, of a given corporation and that given company doesn’t like that it is being put on display on the blogger’s site. Forget for a moment that the author of this article could have used the marks and logo as a teaching aid, critique, model of good design, or anything else, the author could be charged with copyright infringement and risk having the entire blog shut down within five days as they get added to the SOPA black list.   Think about it for a moment….The entire blog might not even belong to that author.  Is that a power that you want to put into the hands of corporations whose only interest is in discovering and shutting down cases of alleged copyright infringement online?  Please contact your Senator or or visit http://stopthewall.us today.

This is fabulous technology that one of our partners has come up with during the past years and now, it has reached a level of maturity where the start to finish cycle of initiation to delivery can be as tight as 3 weeks. The more desirable and considerably less stressful, planned implementation is a 5 to 6 week cycle. In order to deliver such a project, we need quite a bit of information, often local government approval and a firm commitment from each of our Clients and their sponsors but the end result is an audience gasping for breathe as they witness something 3D that defies explanation and gives fresh meaning to the phrase “you had to be there”. Today, not even Disney is doing this sort of thing but, we expect them to catch up very quickly.

Have a look for yourself,
It’s pretty amazing stuff.
Here is a collection of projects that our team Nuformer delivered.

My mentor wanted to put a ding in the universe. Whether or not you think he succeeded, there is no doubt that he put one in the universal consciousness of consumers.

Below are some of my most memorable Steve Job’s quotes.

“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”
~ Steve Jobs

“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick, don’t lose faith.”
~ Steve Jobs

“stay hungry, stay foolish”
~ Steve Jobs

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose”
~ Steve Jobs

“Death Is The Destination We All Share”
~ Steve Jobs

Want an Android tablet this year? Head on into Switzerland or over to the Netherlands while supplies last. Apple has just scored a big victory in Europe thanks to a German court which granted a preliminary injunction against the distribution of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the EU. Oddly enough, The Netherlands still get to sell it and Switzerland too since it is not part of the EU.

Apple is suing Samsung on a worldwide scale over patent infringement related to the 10.1-inch tablet’s design. It is apparently too similar looking to the iPad.

Apparently Apple asked the Landesgericht in Düsseldorf, Germany, to order an injunction under which Samsung will be levied with fines of up to EUR 250,000 for each violation or imprisonment of Samsung’s management for up to 2 years in the event of continued infringement. Those are standard sanctions under German tort law for contempt of a preliminary injunction.

With Europe out of the game, at least for the foreseeable future, Samsung will have real difficulties making any kind of profit off this device. Add to that the Android patent infringements that were announced last week and it’s not likely that many developers will continue coding for the platform if they expect to earn money with their wares.

We are ready to build a few more Apps this week…
Have you got a publication that you’d like to see on the iPad? Do share your thoughts.