Flash Cab picked me up in a Scion…

Posted on March 7th, 2010 by John Sostak

Scion Taxi Cab in Chicago

I called a cab yesterday, Flash Cab, in Chicago.  I was a little surprised, they picked me up in a Scion.

The Scion looks like a car for kids into the Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift.  The Fast and the Furious franchise is one hell of an indication that we are a different world.  It’s not Rocky, or Die Hard or Lethal Weapon.

This post isn’t about bashing Toyota.  I know the recall has people who own Toyota’s annoyed.  It also has people who don’t own Toyotas acting like they are smarter then people who do.  The American made gene in me gets weaker every year, and every year I become more practical.  Buy a Toyota if you like it.  Millions of people have owned them, and have liked them.

Surprisingly, the Scion seems to be a very practical, utilitarian automobile.  I was shocked at how much leg room was in the back.  I own a Mercedes ML350, and there in NO leg room in the rear seat if you slide the front seat all the way back.  I’m 6′3″ tall, so my seat is pretty close to maxed out.  The Scion was roomy for 4 full size adults.

This also made me think about fuel efficiency.  I consider myself to be pro environment, so fuel efficiency is very important to me.  I am certain the Scion gets great gas mileage compared to my Mercedes.

This practical approach to building and buying vehicles is refreshing.  This car is much more practical then an SUV.  I hope this continues as we develop as a culture.  In Europe cars that have smaller engines are coveted.  A big block muscle car would be laughed at in Ireland.

I’m impressed by the Scion XB, so maybe I’m pro Toyota.  I’m definitely not furios that they have done a major recall.  The reality of manufacturing complex equipment things go wrong.  I’ve owned enough Chevy’s to be able to one up anyone on a broken car story.

Toyota may have a marketing challenge in front of them.  They will have to change a public perception that becomes negative quickly.  The Internet has opinions shifting quickly.  One day Toyota is a solid car, the next day they are death traps.  To control the social media and perception of your brand is a challenge.  Toyota be working hard to win back it’s reputation. Toyota competitors, like GM, Ford, Honda and Hyundai will be using the Internet and public relations to try and gain market share in auto sales.

I think if Toyota keeps making practical cars that are environmentally friendly, like the Scion XB that Flash Cab picked me up in, Toyota will recover quickly.  They are ahead of most automakers when it comes to Hybrid engineering, and when the media shifts away from the recall, Toyota will use the Internet to market this message.

Tags: Internet Marketing, Media, PR, Public Relations, social media

Arcade Digital is proud to launch WWW.CFDBLAZE.COM

Posted on March 5th, 2010 by John Sostak

The CFD Blaze

The CFD Blaze are the Chicago Firefighter and Paramedics Football Team.  They play in the NPSFL, which is the National Public Safety Football League.  Arcade Digital is very happy to take their new site live.  Click here to experience the CFD Blaze.

Arcade focused on the user interface, and back-end functionality developing a very sophisticated content management system (CMS) and Wordpress blogging platform.  The site is an Arcade custom web design and user interface built open source with WP 2.9.  Although not completely populated, is still a fun site to visit.  Like the team, the website has a strong blue-color feel, and an intuitive navigation and user interface.

This site will be rich in media,  These guys are not only football players, but firefighters, so they have great media content and a fabulous story.   We wanted to make compelling galleries and video as accessible and easy to share as possible.

Marketing needs demand social media integration, and with compelling media, we can use social media websites and Internet sharing as a low cost marketing solution.  By using YouTube and Flickr, we have social media partners that also contribute to the reach of this first year football team.

The 2010 season will be the first year the Chicago Fire Department fields a team in the 14 year old NPSFL.  A 1st year not-for-profit is as; or more, challenging then a young entrepreneurial for-profit start up.  Arcade wants to make sure that the compelling message of the firefighters and paramedics that compete in the NPSFL is well spread online.

Each of the players, coaches and administrators in the NPSFL, and the CFD Blaze are volunteers.  No one involved in NPSFL Football receives a salary, and they play for charities.  The Chicago Fire Department charities include The Burn Camp, which is operated by the IFSA and has been renamed Camp I Am Me.  It is a summer camp for Illinois children that have been scarred, and is a place where these children can interact without feeling uncomfortable because of the injuries and scars they have sustained.

The CFD Blaze are also playing for the Gold Badge Society, and Ignite the Spirit.  Ignite the Spirit is a very high profile organization, responsible for the annual Chicago Firefighter Calendar as well as the annual Chicago Firefighter-Paramedic Ball.

The Blaze are playing their first official NPSFL Football game on April 10th in Chicago.  They CFD Blaze will be playing the seasoned CPD Enforcers.  The CPD Enforcers are the Chicago Police Department’s NPSFL team.  I am certain that from game one, this will be a fun rivalry.  They play each other in baseball every year, and it is a great game, held at Comiskey Park (US Cellular Field).  Keep track of the Blaze on their site.

Some modules that will be introduced on the Blaze site very soon will be the Blaze store, which will make posters and t-shirts available.  The current store link on the site is merely a redirect to the Ignite the Spirit website and store, which has a few Chicago Firefighter calenders remaining.

The Blaze site will also offer ticket sales.  They will play 2-4 Chicagoland area games annually, as well 2-3 road games.  Our online ticket process will make it easier to lock in game tickets.  The men are playing stadiums that will be crowded, so as family, friends and fans, we want to insure we are in the arena.  Online ticket sales also allows for more efficient Internet marketing, with clear conversion statistics, which benefits the club, and the charity.  To be able to clearly predict what a game or fundraiser will generate allows the CFD Blaze to more accurately sponsor charities in need of benefactors.

Arcade Digital is looking forward the CFD Blaze season, and I hope everyone who reads our blog commits to helping the newest team in the NPSFL and the Chicago Fire Department Charities.

Tags: CFD BLAZE, CPD Enforcers, flickr, football, Internet Marketing, NPSFL, social media, youtube

Do most businesses really need “exclusive, custom” websites?

Posted on March 5th, 2010 by John Sostak

ReWork, the new book about business by 37Signals.

Do most businesses still need websites?  Would we be better served to operate our Internet hub from a business appropriate social media site?

Are we being fair to our clients when we sell them expensive websites?  In this day and age, with the big social media outlets, does EVERYONE need a website?

Think about being an online retailer, maybe you sell through Amazon?

Many of us on LinkedIn are consultants.

Facebook is a wonderful outlet for traditional retailers, clubs, celebrities and individuals.  You are able to interact in a place people spend a lot of time in.

You Tube may be one of the single most influential guerilla marketing resources ever made.  I can’t imagine Reuters or AP being able to push traffic online the way a viral video on You Tube does.

Can anyone deny that Blogger, and Wordpress are great?  Matt Mullenweg has taken a blogging platform and turned it into a sophisticated Internet marketing and software development vehicle, through the wordpress.org open source community.

The rules are changing again, and with a renaissance mentality, perhaps, as Internet marketers and consultants, we can do more for our clients.

My professional thoughts are that a website that acknowledges mobile, and has appropriate social media share functionality can be well built, on a very modest budget.  This approach should work for 90% of businesses.  These same businesses still need Internet budget.  It should be invested in social media, email marketing, mobile web strategy, image and branding, search and ppc.  In that order.

I think ALL companies need a thorough Internet business strategy, and it rarely requires a complex personal website.  Resources could be used more efficiently if you commit them to the sites that could yield a return based on carefully targeting your business goals and needs.

I would love feedback on this philosophy.  I have been applying it to two clients, and it is in it’s early stages.  I know there far savvier Internet marketers that could contribute to our new direction.  Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin, Matt Mullenweg, Jason Fried, any thoughts you care to share?  And yes, I already bought Getting Real, and have ordered Rework (can’t wait to read it), thank you 37Signals.

Tags: 37Signals, email marketing, Internet Consulting, Internet Marketing, Jason Fried, LinkedIn, Matt Mullenweg, Seth Godin, social marketing, social media, website

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

When Valentine’s Day goes bad! Bitten on the way to the Old Country Buffet.

Posted on February 15th, 2010 by John Sostak

Joy playing catch with Abby at the beach

I have to say, my wife Joy is a fan of Valentine’s Day, all holidays for that matter.  She is very thoughtful.  My wife’s superpowers include; she works on average, 60 hours a week; she is actively involved in post graduate education and continuing education; works out 7-10 hours a week; takes great care of our dogs (and me); she never misses a holiday or significant date.

I am not able to keep track of these dates, or holidays.  It isn’t because I want to seem macho, or that I am insensitive to significant dates.  It’s just how I am wired.  I regret it.  I have my own “superpowers.” I won’t list them here, this blog post is about Valentine’s Day, and before I detail why it needs to be ignored, I wanted to thank Joy.  I am lucky to have her.

I am a marketing professional, and respect how Hallmark, FTD, gift shops and human nature has created significant dates, like Valentine’s Day, Sweetest Day, Mother’s and Father’s Day, etc.  Through their collective marketing endeavors, we are required to treat these days like events similar to Christmas, Yom Kippur, Hanukkah, the 4th of July and News Years Eve.  Now, each person we love should be appreciated regularly, and for us to pick a mandatory day is a brilliant marketing play.  These companies have created nationally recognized days that require we plan, shop, modify our schedule, make reservations, and basically conform to their corporate driven agenda.  Brilliant, I am golf clapping because these companies should be proud.

This also creates stress, and expectations that cannot always be met.  Not everyone’s spouse is as understanding as mine.  Some flip out when they are given a stuffed animal on the way to the Old Country Buffet, because they wanted an ankle bracelet, or new tattoo, or God know’s what they expected.  The following news report was taken from the Chicago Sun-Times, and it details what happens when Valentine’s Day goes bad.

A northwest Indiana man was arrested Sunday after calling police to report his girlfriend battered him during a fight over a Valentine’s Day gift.

Indiana State Police found the woman walking on eastbound I-80/94 just east of Ripley Street (Route 51) about 4:12 p.m. Sunday with a fat lip, a scratch below her eye and a fresh bite on her left arm, according to a release from police.

Police learned Deaundre J. Gray, 20, was taking the woman to a buffet restaurant in Michigan City when she told him she didn’t like the Valentine’s Day gift he gave her, a stuffed animal with balloons attached, the release said.

Gray began to hit her, but she defended herself, and in so doing, kicked the front windshield, putting a crack in it. She was also bitten during the attack, the release said.

The woman attempted to call 911 on her cell phone, but Gray broke it in half, the release said. He then stopped his 1999 Oldsmobile Alero in the right lane and pushed the woman out of the car. She picked something up and threw it at the car, putting a dent in the bumper.

Gray went to a gas station at U.S. 20 and Route 249 in Portage, where he called to report being battered. Instead, he was arrested and charged with one misdemeanor count each of battery, interfering with reporting a crime and criminal mischief, the release said.

I wanted to post this to help people remember that Valentine’s Day, is only a day.  Please do not go to jail for biting each other before you even get to the Old Country Buffet over a stuffed animal that your Boo may think is to small.  Remember, this is only a Hallmark holiday.  Love each other every day, and keep it civil.

In the immortal words of Jackie Moon, “ELE! Everybody, Love, Everybody!”

Tags: Holidays