Dan & Kelly’s Reception Video, from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin

Posted on February 20th, 2010 by John Sostak

I should have posted this in September.  Dan and Kelly were married in McGregor Iowa, August 29th, 2009.  The reception was at The Barn, in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.  These are both beautiful towns, right next door to each other.

Kelly is reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe.  Dan was actually smiling the entire day, despite our attempts to embarrass him.  This was a great wedding, and a great partnership between two people that are meant to be together.  I would call it my favorite wedding ever, but my sister Jenny’s second wedding, at the Paris casino in Las Vegas was pretty special.

You can see in the video, there were a few hundred people that would agree with me.  Everyone had a fantastic time.  Thanks Kelly and Dan.  I’ll handle the video when you have children.

Tags: Chicago, Family, video

Google Adsense is User Friendly, & a Lot of Work.

Posted on February 18th, 2010 by John Sostak

I started furlough on Monday.  Furlough is a Fire Department word for vacation, or holiday.  I have 5 shift days off, which equals 17 days without having to show up at the firehouse.  Great gig.

When I have a vacation, I like to figure out how to pack more work into this valuable “time off.”  My mission began with the successful roll out of FF911.  But there is a lingering issue I needed to address.  Domain name management, and affiliate traffic.  Doesn’t seem like there is heavy lifting in this mission.  There was, and I am sooo glad it is over.

I own about 150 domains, and manage about 300, for clients.  I am very aware that everything depreciates, and have been trying to find time to address the domains, what is parked at each domain.  This also means I need to go through the affiliates analytics. Commission Junction and Google Adsense are the big ones, and we have about 20 small ones.  This is a painful process.

The days of spamming lists are gone.  I hate to be the guy to reveal this to the countless spammers trying to sling me dick pills every day, but it doesn’t work.  We are being delivered the same bullshit messages way to many times for any online pharmacy, dating site, Nigerian lottery, to work.

I am curious what the conversion on this crap is.  I wish I knew a spammer (I know a couple) that is honest enough to tell me the truth.  I suspect it isn’t working.  We have everyone in the US online, so the first fools are no longer as fresh as they were when they first plugged in their PC and jumped online, through AOL.

I am always thinking about our traffic, where it came from, where it is going, and why.  If you are careful, there is an enormous amount of information in every visitor, and each click.  This information is potential revenue.  Google and Go Daddy are huge, because they protect the pennies.  They spend money, but these small revenue streams that are all service and advertising related are never overlooked by the big Internet pioneers.  Google has turned pay per click into billions in revenue.

So much of our world is automated, I forget how to plant myself in front of reports, and make the small changes, that require a little thinking, and a lot of mouse clicking.  Adjustments and tweaking are needed, but it is painfully slow.  It isn’t exactly grunt work either.  It doesn’t take skill, or talent, but you have to address the research and care enough to make changes that help the conversion of your traffic.

The past three days I have been dialing in these small elements that affect affiliate traffic, SEO, PPC, and advertising revenue.  It is the kind of thing that can go on forever.  When you are working inside of Google Adsense, and then tweaking banners, links, keywords, you lose track of how much time passes.  Each action requires multiple changes and corrections.

I have been working in Go Daddy for redirects.  Google for Adsense, and Analytics.  Create smart zones and populate some with PPC advertising through Google, others will carry Banners that pay through affiliate sales.  Contacting affiliates, like CJ, HostGator, Go Daddy, 37 Signals, etc. to get better landing pages.  Each web page (which equals 1,000’s) must be considered, so, I need to update XML site maps.  While checking site maps, might as well address broken links.  Broken links mean 404 redirects….  This is not fun.

I was just reminded that marketing 101 is relevant, and hard work.  May not be the same as fighting a fire, or pouring contract, but hard.  I think what really makes it painful, is you never feel like you are done.  If you walk away, you know there are things that still need to be done, and you have to be back on it, or your marketing campaign is less effective.

The fun activity in marketing has NOTHING to do with PPC, SEO, or affiliate marketing.  Yet, PPC, SEO and affiliate marketing are the tools that monetize the fun stuff we do in business, and online.  Luckily I can drink beer while doing the tweaking of our domains, PPC, SEO and affiliate accounts.

Tags: Go Daddy, Google, social media

Greg Whisenant Founder of Crimereports.com Profiled on Reuters.com

Posted on February 17th, 2010 by John Sostak

Reuters.com, Chicago small business and entrepreneur reporter Deborah Cohen reported on crimereports.com, and Greg Whisenant.  This is a very nice story, Greg’s success story can be found on Reuters.

Read the entire article on Reuters.  If you are a small business owner, entrepreneur, or just a fan of hard workers, this is a great story.  Greg is an example of a guy that creates success.  His idea was great, but his dedication and commitment is why it has worked.

“I’d never been a crime activist or particularly concerned about my personal safety,” said the founder of CrimeReports.com www.crimereports.com, who was working as a Washington lobbyist when he began attending community policing meetings in the D.C. suburb of Arlington, Virginia. “But I raised my hand, everybody clapped, and I was off the races.”

The early CrimeReports web site, which allowed police departments to register for free, essentially served as an elaborate email system, creating a conduit for municipalities to send localized alerts to members of the general public who signed up.

Today CrimeReports provides comprehensive local crime-mapping data to some 750 police departments, including cities such as San Francisco and Boston, and the entire states of Maryland and Utah.

Depending on their size, clients pay between $100 to $200 a month for data on homicides, break-ins, auto thefts and other crimes occurring in their service areas. The company also has a handy iPhone application, and offers police internal analytics for an additional monthly fee of $300 to $1,000.

“President Obama has made it an issue to be more transparent,” said Whisenant, whose public-policy career included stints as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah), and later as a law-firm lobbyist working on technology and telecoms issues for large corporations. “There’s a lot of appetite at the federal level for more visibility and transparency, so it’s helped us.”

CrimeReports received a second round of venture financing totaling $7.2 million in August of 2009, and it expects to be profitable later this year. In the last year Whisenant has expanded his full-time staff from 10 to 37, made up mostly of engineers, sale reps and support personnel.

Whisenant called this growth a “rollercoaster” ride, recalling how for years he operated the site out of his home as a sideline project that wouldn’t go away.

“If the site ever went down, I’d start getting calls from the police and the public,” he said, noting that he sometimes ignored CrimeReports for months at a time. “I knew there was something there.”

Tags: entrepreneur

Will We See a Backlash Against Social Media, & a Renaissance of Old Media?

Posted on February 16th, 2010 by John Sostak

Don’t bet on it.  Arcade Digital is firmly planted on the side of new media, and social media marketing.  Micro blogging and niche communities offer a perfect fit to advertisers trying to target a demographic for clients with ever shrinking advertising budgets.

I am responding to a very interesting blogpost by Greg Satell.  His take on social media marketing.  It is called 5 Social Media Myths, and I think he could not be more off on his theory.  His belief that there will be a backlash against social media, and a renaissance for old media is a 180 from my beliefs, and it is trending toward my beliefs.

I replied below.  Hope you enjoy.  Please let me know your thoughts.

You’re way off on this blogpost Tonto. I, and millions like me use social media each day for buying. Not to mention this is what is working for our businesses and our clients businesses. Amazon has never advertised anywhere but online, and they are the Wal Mart of the web, because of their community.

Yelp is more important to a business then all 4 major networks…put together. That may seem a bold statement. I will stand behind it in 5 years if you throw it in my face because they close shop, and their is a 5th major network.

Brand is becoming less important everyday, which is why every retailer has a private label option (not generic). I buy the Kirkland brand at Costco, and we haven’t seen them advertise. 7-11 is a client of my companies, and they have rolled out a private label, and it works! A private label selling well in a c-store!

TV is providing pay per inquiry airtime, because they and their agencies cannot fill all the open slots.

I think the social media promotional strategy is the only innovative advertising strategy for a big brand. See a post I did on Tempur-Pedic and their Twitter approach, http://arcadedigital.com/johnsblog/archives/369 It features a CNBC interview with their CEO Mark Savary.

I believe the backlash will be the opposite of what you predict. I believe unsolicited advertising will become a brand killer. As we become busier and busier, our time becomes more valuable. Brands that interrupt our lives, will be blacklisted. The big brands that build great social media buzz, will be viewed positively, and will be embraced.

Good post, but you are missing the bullseye…unless you are trying to build online buzzzzzzz…

Tags: social media

Save March 5th, CFD Blaze Fundraiser at Murphy’s Bleachers in Wrigleyville

Posted on February 16th, 2010 by John Sostak

The CNA building in Chicago paying tribute to the CFD, Chicago Fire Department

The motto of the Chicago Fire department is “We’re there when you need us”. We don’t just say that motto, we believe it. Our charities need us, but we can’t support them without your help.

The Blaze, the CFD football team is hosting a fundraiser at Murphy’s Bleacher Bar, in Wrigleyville, Chicago, March 5th.  Tickets are $30.00 and include all domestic beers, drinks, wine and appetizers.

Parking is included, but no need to drive. Murphy’s is conveniently located one block from the Addison Red Line stop.

Get excited, we will not only have booze, and friends, but you can WIN cool prizes! Raffle tickets will be available for a chance to win (among other items) a 40″ flat-screen TV and four rooftop tickets to a Cubs game.  I am certain it won’t take a lot of arm twisting to get a split the pot raffle going.

We will have CFD Blaze t-shirt’s for sale. Show off your team spirit!  Buy a few shirts for yourself, and your friends and family.

The Blaze’ first game is April 7th against the Chicago Police Department. Purchase space in the ad book.  Real estate is going fats, and this is a great way to reach a lot of police, firefighters and family members of City of Chicago employees.

Murphy’s Bleachers March 5, 7-10pm
3653 N. Sheffield
(Parking Included)
Conveniently located one block from the Red Line (Addison stop)

Proceeds from the evening will go to support several amazing organizations including The Gold Badge Society, Ignite the Spirit and The Illinois Burn Foundation.

Tags: CFD, CFD BLAZE, Charity