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

Arcade Introduces FF911.ORG, Social Media Network for Emergency Responders

Posted on February 21st, 2010 by John Sostak

People who know me, also know I’m a firefighter.  I like to think of myself as a taller version of Guy Kawasaki, an Internet marketing guru.  It sometimes is forgotten that the fire department is an important part of my life.

My wife is also a member of emergency services, she’s a pediatric nurse practitioner, and she works at Children’s.  Between our circles of friends and colleagues, we are emergency responder heavy.  So, we decided to launch a social network for emergency responders, FF911.ORG.

FF911 is in beta, and many more features will be added.  In the meantime, this is a great time to grab a screen name, and set up your account.  Please share your knowledge with our FF911 members.

The need for this network is to try and form a connection between emergency responders that work in the field together, but rarely communicate outside of the accident scene, or the emergency room.  FF911 is for police, fire, military, nurses, doctors, dispatchers, and anyone involved in emergency services.

FF911 is a way for us to share information, as well as influence public opinion.  Socially, we see a lot of people at their most vulnerable, on their worst day.  This comes with a responsibility, which we can expand online.  If we see a way to improve something, collectively, we can make it happen.  I am certain as the community grows, and evolves, forums will help us discover what we can do to improve our professions, and our patients needs.

FF911 is also a social media hub which we can exchange video and pictures, as well as department specific news.  Post events, like retirement parties and fundraisers.  If you have a chance, click here, and create a profile on FF911. Our goal is to become a social network and community that emergency responders can be proud of, as well as a source of information for all of us working in emergency services.

Tags: Emergency Responders, FF911.ORG, Internet Marketing, social media

Tiger Should Just be the Bad Guy-Crush Golf Balls, & Ass, & Don’t Apologize for it.

Posted on February 21st, 2010 by John Sostak

Elin and Tiger Woods

Whether or not you’re a fan of Tiger Woods or golf, if you turned on a TV Friday, there was no escaping his announcement. It was talked about on CNN, Fox, ESPN, MSNBC, AP newswire, even NPR, and every blogger on the planet.  Now his speech/apology is being played around the world. They even noted that trading on the Stock Market slowed down while the speech was on live.

I was watching it at Lottie’s, golf on one TV, ladies curling on another, then Tiger apologizing on the rest of the television’s.  I watched with Joe, who is an enormous golf fan.  Joe even caddies part time in the summer.  He noted Tiger was not wearing a wedding ring, and could name everyone in Tiger’s audience, which included Elin’s mom.

Why is this deemed worldwide top rated news?

Who does Tiger really owe an apology to?

His wife, because they did make vows to each other, which I’m sure included he would not cheat.

His family, for the embarrassment.

Possibly his employees, because people like, Steve, his caddy, need Tiger to play to make a living.  That one is a stretch, since they have done well because he is the best golfer in the world.  If they feel they need to move on because he has sat out a few tournaments, buh bye.

He does not owe the world an apology.  He does not owe his sponsors an apology.  In my opinion, if he now has a “tarnished” image, he may as well embrace it.  Be the bad guy.  Tell the media when he comes into their town, he’s gonna crush golf balls, and ass.  Pop pain killers, get great ass, and win golf games.  Let’s keep in  mind that if he never has a sponsor, he still earns millions of dollars every year.  He is the greatest golfer alive.

But we have hoards of people critiquing his apology on sincerity and authenticity, whereas I don’t want to waste my time with this nonsense- and it is a WASTE OF TIME.

This is one of the big things I hate about Main Stream Media. They have to be EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE. 24 hours-365 days a year with about 50 stations, and millions of websites competing for our attention.  Years ago, before the Internet, this would be considered entertainment news.  Tiger’s exploits would be reported on a sports or entertainment news show, not prime time news, and every media outlet.

Instead of following the latest star gossip, why don’t the mainstream media run bios of the American soldiers that died in the line of duty, TODAY?  Why not spend time explaining the environmental dangers we are overlooking, and help motivate people to turn lights off, and recycle their beer cans?  If it bleeds it leads, and everyone loves to hear about a villain, especially a famous golfer that we are all jealous of.

Tags: golf, Tiger Woods