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While I continue to drop these prices at the same absolute amount, it means that the relative amount is actually increasing. A $3000 price drop from $60k to $57k was only a 5% drop, but at these levels it is now a 10% drop. Essentially we’re getting to the point where every price drop from here will be relatively MASSIVE. Thus, pay close attention to what you want in the coming weeks. From the nibbles I am getting, I predict there are very few weeks left before one of these disappears and the entire triple domain offer will disappear with it. An interesting note on Laptop.cn. I think it actually increased in value this week with the Chinese governments attempt to regulate .cn purchases on all new domains. Thus, existing .cn domains now have grandfathered in value. Check out these reduced prices: DrinkRecipes.com: US$33,700 REITs.com: US$28,700 笔记本.cn: US$25,800 Remember, once one domain sells, the other two go off the market. If you are interested, drop me a note in the comment section or via one of my dozens of other online pipelines. How much is a Yelp review worth to your business? The price of your core product? A free meal? A discounted session? Yelp ExampleThis summer I posted a review of a restaurant Katie and I visited while on a road trip. The restaurant/farmer’s market was a bit too dirty for our tastes and we did not even stay to eat. I posted the review on Yelp giving it only 2 stars (out of 5) and a full explanation of the flies we saw on the food. Well, interestingly enough, I’ve had frequent contact with the restaurant ever since. Afterward, we had a little bit of back and forth with me mentioning I would swing by on my next trip. Then, last week, I received another message on Yelp from the owner, explaining that they had cleaned up the restaurant thoroughly and asking if I could remove the review. Apparently my Yelp review was showing up under a Google search for their restaurant and was clearly hurting business.
While proud to see my impact, I have been more impressed with the restaurants active management of their online presence. I removed my review and let the owner know I would be up to visit and see the cleaner setup in the Spring. Interestingly, though, I did hesitate to remove my review. For one, I have not been back to the restaurant to see the improvements. Even more so, though, I do not feel I was sold hard enough on the owner being sorry. I felt my review was actually worth something at this point. Something was missing. Well, sure enough, after removing my view, I got another message back with exactly what I was subconsciously seeking:
Reactive Web Presence ManagementThe point is, your small business web presence has value. Most businesses spend money proactively to manage their web presence – building a website or setting up a Facebook page – but far fewer manage it reactively. Even the reactive web presence management needs improvement, however. It should be treated as an all out customer service position. Reactive web presence management is a powerful approach for companies going forward. A value can already be placed on the customers review. On Yelp for instance, how far down the list of Top Sushi restaurants in LA does that 1 star rating drop you? How much more business does being at the top of that list generate? Twitter feedback can be studied similarly. One strategy we discussed last week for reactive web presence management revolves around the potential of Foursquare, Google Latitude, or whatever location based social media tool really takes off. Foursquare, I’ve heard, is considering teaming up with local businesses to offer rewards to those “mayors” who visit their shops most often. This is an incredible opportunity for small businesses to react online to customers who are already showing their support for your product. There are small business reactive and proactive opportunities growing out of new online technologies and established web platforms all over the place. The next important leap will be in placing an accurate value on the cost and benefits of that management. Only time will tell how long it takes to educate small businesses on this value.
“One more year! One more year!” Normally those fourth quarter, final game chants are a way of saying thank you to an amazing athlete that should surely make the jump to the next, professional, level. Not this time. Jake Locker, the University of Washington Huskies star Quarterback, is actually coming back for “one - more - year.” Locker essentially sealed his fate as my favorite Husky of all-time this year after their defeat of #3 ranked USC early in the season and then one of the most impressive combination of running and passing performances I’ve seen in years in his season finale against ranked California. Save me seats, Seattle. I plan on being up there as much as humanly possible this Fall. The Huskies will be looking at a potential 8 win season as Sarkisian’s influence grows and his players continue to improve. Big bowl games look to be back in the Huskies future. Even bigger, however, will be the pre-season Heisman marketing campaign for Jake Locker. While Heisman potentials change rapidly as the season progresses, Jake will be the most closely watched Quarterback in college football. Under the expectation of him coming out this year, he was ranked as the #1 or #2 Quarterback in the draft. Well, with one more year under his belt, everyone will surely suspect a top performance. One of the things that Locker has going for him is that he does not need to win a National Championship, and maybe not even a Pac-10 championship, to win the Heisman. Guys like Tim Tebow had to rely on their teams performance to boost their status. It is well understood that Sark’s Huskies are still young and “rebuilding” and thus their national expectations are not as high. So, if Locker can get even a decent season out of this team next year, he will be a major favorite. Beyond the Heisman, however, one of the important things about this return is the potential for Washington Huskies football future. But, as I think about the potential to bring in great new recruits and build a National powerhouse team again, I realize that what I really do enjoy watching are the amazing athleticism and competitiveness of Jake Locker. I would rather have him stay than get 10 new recruits that bring the Huskies a National championship. Locker is that much fun to watch. *image source: seattletimes.nwsource.com |
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