Four For Friday

Q1 - Legacy: Three famous people passed away this week. Former Tonight Show sidekick Ed McMahon died on June 23rd after fighting pneumonia, bone cancer, and other medical problems. Farrah Fawcett, best known for her stint on television's "Charlie's Angels," died on the 25th of June after battling cancer for the last three years. And last but certainly not least, Michael Jackson, regarded by many as the 'King of Pop,' died suddenly on June 25th after suffering cardiac arrest. Each lived storied lives full of highly publicized ups and downs. When thinking about their lives ten years from now, do you think you will remember each more for their entertainment-related accomplishments or their eccentricities?

Q2 - Listening In: On this date in 1963, President Kennedy visited West Berlin, where he made his famous declaration: "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner). If you could have been in the audience for any previous speech, presentation, or performance, which event would you have attended?

Q3 - Health Insurance: If your current employer provided a health insurance plan and you suddenly lost your job, would you make it a priority to find new health insurance?

Q4 - Trust: Most Americans, 75%, don't believe CEO statements surrounding the financial outlook of their companies. What do you think... can CEOs be trusted to tell the truth or are they just as bad as some elected officials who seemingly care more about getting reelected than they do about telling the truth and solving real world problems with workable solutions.

Four For Friday

Q1 - Damage Control: If you damaged someone else's car in an accident and agree to give them money to repair the damage, would you be upset if you learned they used the money pay for something other than fixing the car?

Q2 - Sense of Humor: How do you think most people would typically describe your sense of humor: Goofy/Silly, Witty/Clever, Humble/Self-Deprecating, Dry/Deadpan?

Q3 - Wedlock or Deadlock: Fox TV stations in New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Tampa, Phoenix, Orlando and Memphis are planning a six-week test run of a new show titled "Wedlock or Deadlock," starting late-July. The show, according to published reports, features a well-known psychologist and life coach who each week determines whether struggling engaged couples should marry or split up. The couples reportedly share their hopes and fears with the show's host, who then gives them her blessing for marriage or literally tears up their marriage license. Based on this description of the show, would you take the time to watch an episode if it were playing in your local market?

Q4 - Access Denied: Taking the exact same position as the Bush White House adopted from 2001-2009, the Obama administration this week denied a Freedom of Information Act request seeking access to White House visitor records. According to the American Society of News Editors, disclosing visitor records--which were recently sought by MSNBC--poses no direct harm of any kind. However, according to a White House spokesperson, the administration ought to be able to hold secret meetings in the White House, such as an elected politician interviewing for a Cabinet position or a career diplomat visiting the White House for a discussion on issues that might possibly affect international relations. What do you think... should the White House's visitor logs be made available upon request? Why or why not?

Play Dead Dog

How long before this dog shows up as a gag in a Will Ferrell or Judd Apatow movie...

Shout-out to the good folks up at Portland, Oregon's very own Green Dog Pet Supply for the tip about the video (which I found on their Green Dog Blog).

Four For Friday

Q1 - Movies: As a rule, when you go out to watch a movie, do you try to make it to the theater in time to watch all of the previews? Related: Do you ever stay all the way through the credits?

Q2 - Pay For Free: Video calls via Skype, NPR, Facebook, Public Television, MySpace, Twitter, the online edition of The New York Times, and millions of other things in this world are available to you for free. What are some things you now use for free that you would gladly pay to use if charged a reasonable fee?

Q3 - Crime: According to the FBI's Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report, the U.S. experienced a 2.5 percent decrease in the number of violent crimes and a 1.6 percent decline in the number of property crimes for 2008 compared with data from 2007. The report is based on information that the FBI gathered from 12,750 law enforcement agencies that submitted six to 12 comparable months of data to the FBI for both 2007 and 2008. In 2008, all four of the violent crime offense categories declined nationwide compared with data from 2007. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter declined 4.4 percent, aggravated assault was down 3.2 percent, and robbery decreased 1.1 percent. Does it feel to you as though crime has dropped over the last year, stayed about the same, or gotten worse?

Q4 - Bring It!: If you could will any one thing to fall from the sky and harmlessly land in your lap -- aside from money, jewelry, precious metals, or a winning lottery ticket -- what would it be?

Four For Friday

Q1 - Lost & Found: If you found a wallet or purse in a Starbucks or other public location, that was stuffed full of cash (we're talking lots of cash here, people) along with its owner's contact information, would you turn it in to the facility where you found it or--because of the outrageous amount of cash/the opportunity for a handsome reward from its owner--contact the owner directly for its safe return?

Q2 - Uniformly Slippery Slope: The Phoenix Mercury (2007 Champions of the Women's National Basketball Association) and LifeLock (a fledgling identity theft protection company) have entered into a marketing sponsorship agreement that replaces the words "Phoenix" and "Mercury" across the team's road and home uniforms with the word "LifeLock." Under terms of the agreement announced this week, the Mercury's team logo will now appear above the word "LifeLock" on the left side of the uniform. If your favorite sports team chose to enter a deal like the one the Mercury entered--which includes your team's jersey changing so dramatically--do you think your enthusiasm and support for the team would stay the same as it is now or change for the worse? (Note: In the case of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, existing fan jerseys with the Mercury's name will continue to be sold at retail outlets, but once they run out, only ones bearing the LifeLock name on the front will be available for purchase.)

Q3 - Ambassadors: President Obama this week announced eight new ambassadorial appointments, including three people with no foreign policy experience but who collectively helped raise more than $1,000,000.00 for the President's campaign and post election inauguration. While U.S. presidents have long rewarded big campaign donors, fundraisers and other supporters with ambassadorships, President Obama himself criticized the practice while campaigning for the Presidency and made the appointments nonetheless. Do you feel it's in the United States' best interests to allow the President to appoint whomever s/he wants to political posts, or should minimum standards be established for certain posts like ambassadorships?

Q4 - Washed Out Doubts: In an online survey conducted this spring, 94 percent of U.S. adults said they always wash their hands after using a restroom. However, when asked what percentage of other people they thought washed their hands each time after using a public restroom, 99 percent of U.S. adults felt that other people don't do so each time, and almost half (48 percent) felt that people wash their hands less than 50 percent of the time after using a restroom. What percentage of people do you think wash their hands each time after using public restrooms?

Four For Friday

Q1 - Free Time: How much time do you have on a daily or weekly basis that you would classify as "free time," and what do you tend to do most during that time?

Q2 - Campus Clubs: Liberty University, the evangelical college founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell (and now run by his son), recently revoked its recognition of the campus' Democratic Party club, saying "we are unable to lend support to a club whose parent organization stands against the moral principles held by" the university. According to an e-mail message the club said it received from the University's VP of Student Affairs on May 15, the club was told to stop using the university's name, holding meetings on campus, or advertising events. Violators, according to published reports, could incur one or more reprimands under the University's conduct code, and anyone who accumulates 30 reprimands is subject to expulsion. Do you feel it's okay for private colleges and universities to restrict free speech / prohibit students from organizing and engaging with one of the nation's two major political parties?

Q3 - Sales Tax Holiday: In recognition of National Hurricane Preparedness Week, the State of Virginia now offers its residents a tax break on the purchase of items considered useful during and after a hurricane. (Background: A sales tax holiday, according to the State of Virginia, is a temporary period during which purchases of certain items are exempt from the sales and use taxes.) Following legislation enacted by the 2007 Session of the Virginia General Assembly, Virginia now has three annual sales tax holidays (in addition to the one mentioned above, there's a School Supplies and Clothing Tax Holiday in August and a Energy Star Sales Tax Holiday in October. Would you be compelled to shop during such a tax holiday, or is a 5%-7% saving just not worth it to you?

Q4 - Summer Blockbusters: Star Trek, Angels and Demons, The Brothers Bloom, Terminator Salvation, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Up, The Hangover, Land of the Lost, My Life in Ruins, Away We Go, Tetro, Imagine That, The Taking of Pelham 123, The Proposal, Year One, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, My Sister's Keeper, Cheri, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Public Enemies, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, All Good Things, G-Force, Funny People, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Julie and Julia, Shorts, When In Rome, The Time Traveler's Wife, Inglourious Basterds, Post Grad, The Boat That Rocked, and All About Steve... which Summer 2009 movies are you most excited about and planning to see?

Four For Friday

Q1 - Pillow Talk: Over a quarter of UK employees are so work obsessed they can't resist using a mobile device such as a laptop in bed before they go to sleep, according to a survey released this week by CREDANT Technologies. The survey discovered that of those people who do work in bed, 57% do so for between 2 and 6 hours every week, while nearly 10% admitted they spend more time on their mobile devices during the evening than talking to their loved ones (i.e., husbands or wives). Do you work at night while in bed (hey, it's a serious question... get your mind out of the gutter)?

Q2 - Staying Home: Nearly 350 Boulder, Colo. teachers played hooky this week in protest of that town's school district's latest teacher contract offer. Last week, contract negotiations broke down between the Boulder Valley School District and the local teachers' union, the Boulder Valley Education Association. The union wants a permanent cost-of-living increase to the pay scale, but the school district says it does not have the guaranteed revenue to make that change. Do you think certain 'essential' professionals -- such as teachers, firemen, doctors & nurses -- should be barred by law from walking out and striking, or is going on strike as American as musicals, college football, and apple pie, and therefore should never be viewed as illegal?

Q3 - Turning Around and Going Back: Everyone's done it at some point in their lives... forgotten something at home or work and had no choice but to turn around, go back and retrieve what was forgotten or left behind. When was the last time you had to do this, how long did it take, and what was it that you forgot in the first place?

Q4 - Different Path: Assuming you had never gone into the career you are currently in, what would be doing now professionally?

Bad Words of Mouth

Feedback I just provided to the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA):

Dear Word of Mouth Marketing Association,

Thank you for sponsoring yesterday's webinar, "Best Practices on Facebook: How & Why All Companies, Brands & Non-Profits Should be Engaging with Customers & Fans via Facebook." I thought the information was good and timely, and I really appreciated the presenters' sharing so much of their intellectual capital.

Word of mouth to the wise though... advise your webinar presenters to hang up their telephones immediately after their presentation is over. Yesterday's presenters did not, so anyone who did not hang up their phone immediately after the presentation ended was treated to the presenters' debrief, which included choice and sometimes nasty words and speculative comments about some of the questions logged by attendees, as well as what could be considered inappropriate editorializing about whom some of those questions came from and with what intent they were asked.

While I was not personally offended by what I heard ("shockingly amused" is more like it), I imagine others could have been highly offended by the broadcasted dialogue which ensued unbeknownst to the presenters themselves. Kind of ironic, isn't it, that a presentation focused on the benefits of creating positive buzz and engagement on the world's leading social networking platform, could lead to the type of buzz no one ever wants.

Sincerely,

Mikal E. Belicove

Seriously, what were these people thinking? Rule #1 in webinar presentation... make sure the platform works and your presentation is fully loaded. Rule #2... hang up the phone when you're done presenting!

Southern California Edison Toll-Free Numbers Do Not Work

Despite the fact that area codes have become ubiquitous, some businesses continue to refuse to accept incoming calls (to their Customer Service departments, mind you) on their published toll-free lines from area codes outside their service area. Case in point: my local utility provider in Laguna Beach, California -- Southern California Edison, the largest subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE: EIX).

For someone like me who uses an area code different from the ones in Southern California Edison's coverage area, I recently found out that I have no choice but to call the utility--which serves 11,000,000 people in southern California with electricity--from a telephone line that deploys a local area code. And, if you're one of the estimated 22 percent of households who had only cell phones during the last half of 2008 (that figure, by the way, comes from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey released earlier this month), and you're a mobile worker like I am, chances are becoming greater that your cell's area code might be different from the area code in which you reside.

All of this of course would be avoidable if Southern California Edison, and others like them, did one of two things:

1. Printed local--in addition to toll-free--numbers on their statements, which they do not; or
2. Wake up and smell the coffee that their electricity allows people to brew in the first place, and open the system to accept calls from all area codes (trust me, it's not like people in other states are sitting around thinking up ways to stick it to Southern California Edison, with calling their toll-free line in an attempt to increase the company's telephone bill being chief among them!).

Of the 15 or so different telephone numbers listed on Southern California Edison billing statements, all are toll-free, including those dedicated exclusively to the company's Cambodian, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Spanish speaking customers.

My hope is that enough people say something about this to Southern California Edison and they change their approach to be inclusive of all of their customers, despite which area code they may be calling in from.

Four For Friday

Q1 - Handling Disagreement: President Barack Obama will receive an honorary degree Sunday when he delivers the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame du Lac in South Bend, Indiana. The President's scheduled appearance, as well as the University's invitation and plans for conferring upon him an honorary degree, has drawn opposition from a number of students and alumni because of the President's stated preferences and beliefs on a woman's right to choose to abort a pregnancy, and stem cell research. For the uninformed, Notre Dame is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross and its Catholic identity permeates into student life. More than 93% of students identify as Christian, with over 80% of them being Catholic. Collectively, according to the University's own Student Life FAQ, Catholic Mass is performed over 100 times per week on campus. If the President of the United States--or anyone for that matter with whom you disagree--were scheduled to deliver the commencement address at your college or university, and you disagreed with some of her/his policies, would you protest and skip the event altogether or do you believe university campuses should be forums of ideas where even if we disagree, we should still take the time to listen and peacefully participate in the dialogue?

Q2 - Shutter the Impact: General Motors announced today it will shutter more than 1,500 of its U.S. auto dealerships as it continues to struggle in an attempt to slash billions of dollars in debt and operating costs before an anticipated bankruptcy filing by the end of May. When combined with a similar announcement by Chrysler just yesterday, nearly 2,400 U.S. auto retailers have been put on notice that they are being eliminated by the two struggling automakers. Will the closing of so many car dealerships create difficulties for you and your family?

Q3 - Giving Trends: The former CEO of Trammell Crow Residential Company -- J. Ronald Terwilliger of Atlanta, Georgia -- yesterday donated $100,000,000 to Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit organization that coordinates the building of simple, decent, affordable housing in partnership with people in need. According to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, Terwilliger's gift, which comes at a time when philanthropic giving in the U.S. is expected to drop, is by far one of the largest in recent years to a group devoted to social services. How has your giving been impacted by the presented economy? Do you give more than you normally do, about the same, a little less than normal, or a lot less than normal?

Q4 - Singalong: According to the Guinness Book of World Records, "Happy Birthday to You" is the most well recognized song in the English language, followed by "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" and "Auld Lang Syne." When you hear the Happy Birthday song being sung in a restaurant to someone who is not sitting at your table, do you sing along?

Facebook and Twitter for Online Retailers

Community sometimes sells. Members discuss shared interests -- hobbies, travel, politics, medical conditions, favorite foods, you name it. They create their own buzz and 'user-generated' content about their favorite products and services. They recommend things to one another -- everything from the cars they drive and the restaurants they frequent to the places they travel for vacation and the online retailers they absolutely trust and adore. Think about it: Are you more likely to purchase something based on the recommendation of a salesperson or a family member or friend?

We all belong to communities already -- our family and friends, your neighborhood, perhaps a school or church or a professional organization. All of these communities can help you research popular products and services and spread the word about what you do and the products and services you sell.

You can tap the full potential of these communities, extend them, access different communities, and even create new communities online via social networking sites and services, including two of the most popular: Facebook and Twitter.

Getting Connected on Facebook

Facebook was created for college students to keep in touch but has expanded to serve a variety of communities - from extended families to alumni groups, fan clubs, advocacy organizations, and everything in between.

After you join Facebook (membership is free) and create a personal profile, you can then invite people to become your "friends." Other members can invite you to become their friends or request to be your friend, but both members must consent. Only friends have access to one another's profiles and other content they choose to share (unless you change your settings to allow everyone to see you and your activity). As soon as you have a few friends, you can communicate with them in the following ways:

• Post a message on your "wall" for all your friends to see. Messages can include text, photos, links, video clips, or birthday wish lists.
• Join or create a "group" and share content with members of that group. Groups may include thousands of members.
• Email friends for more private discussions.

Tip: If you must sell, soft-sell. Facebook is a social site, not a sales site. Posting a short message about a product or service you like (and perhaps have for sale) is acceptable, as long as you don't abuse the privilege. If you wouldn't do it at a family or class reunion, don't do it on Facebook.

Facebook is good for:

• Getting a better feel for popular trends


• Identifying potential opportunities


• Promoting items for sale (soft-sell only)


• Letting friends know about your website or blog


• Notifying your friends of a new post on your blog


• Connecting with people who share your interests

Facebook is not good for:

• Hard-sell advertising
• Sales pitches

Keeping in Touch with Twitter

On Twitter, the question of the day, every day, 24 hours a day is this: What are you doing? And on Twitter, millions of members are constantly in the process of updating that question and reading other people's answers.

Each Twitter update is considered a "tweet" and is limited to 140 characters. Members (membership is free, by the way) can post messages using an Internet-enabled computer or via cell phone or a third-party application like Seesmic. Messages tend to be simple and direct, and conversations move along quickly.

You can also send private, "direct" messages when you don't want to share with the entire Twitter community. For example, if a person has a public question about a business, and you did not want to share your answer with the whole world, you can reply directly so that it would be seen only by that individual.

Spotting Popular Topics and Trends

Tweets are archived, and you can search them at www.search.twitter.com. This is a great way to identify popular topics, market trends, and individuals who are most actively involved in various topics of interest.

Attracting Your Own Following

When people find someone interesting on Twitter, they "follow" the individual. Typically, your "followers" can see all the tweets you create instantly - if they are either at their computer or they have their cell phones or third-party Web applications like Seesmic set to receive your messages. If not, your messages get buried by newer tweets.

By looking at a Twitter user's profile, you can see all the people they follow and all of their followers. If you are interested in following people who discuss eBay, you can choose to follow Richard Brewer-Hay of the eBay Ink blog. Then, just look at who follows him, and you'll find lots of other people to follow who are also interested in eBay. Similarly, if you sell American Doll apparel and have followers who buy what you sell, chances are good that the people who follow your followers may also be inclined to purchase American Doll apparel.

You can tag your account with up to three terms that describe your interests. To tag your account and find others who share your interests, visit www.wefollow.com.

Tip: One way to grow your list of followers is to put a Twitter badge on your website. Twitter supplies the code, so you can install it yourself. The badge shows visitors your latest messages and lets them see you are involved and current. It also gives them a way to follow you in the future.

Many Twitter users feel it's polite to follow anyone who follows them. Some automate the process -- which I do not recommend doing -- by using a free service such as TweetLater (www.tweetlater.com). If you follow a large number of people, a large percentage of them will auto-follow you, increasing your list of followers, but the numbers can be deceiving and misleading if generated automatically.

Recognizing Tweeter's Marketing Limitations

Marketers have yet to truly figure out a way to successfully monetize Twitter. Some say if you have a huge list of followers, you can tweet about your business and drive sales. While there are some success stories, they are the exception. Consider using Twitter more for eavesdropping on discussions to find out what's hot and what's not, as well as a permission-based marketing tool to promote sales and events related to what you sell.

Twitter is good for:

• Spotting trends


• Connecting with trendsetters and keeping up with their latest activities


• Notifying people of a new item for sale or post on your blog


• Getting quick answers to questions through informal polls


• Maintaining contact with people in your field of interest

Twitter is not good for:

• Driving substantial sales


• Replacing a website or blog


• Developing loyal customers and solid business relationships


• Creating deep or lasting content that people will read in the future

Supplements, Not Replacements

Both Facebook and Twitter should be considered helpful tools to supplement your current business. Neither of them can replace your website or blog. They can however, increase awareness, drive traffic to your website or blog, and establish you as a credible source of information in a particular subject area (if what you're sharing is credible).

Facebook and Twitter are free and relatively easy to use. Take some time to sign up, create your profile, and get connected. In time, you too will gather many friends and followers and have a community in place to clue you in on what's popular and do some of your sales and marketing for you.

I Now Write for Entrepreneur Magazine

Unless you've received an email message from me lately and happen to be the only person to actually read my email signature/bio, you may not have known that I'm now writing a column for Entrepreneur magazine. The "Build a Website" column focuses on website design, usability, and management for start-ups, entrepreneurs, and other business owners.

Recently, Entrepreneur received the Western Publishing Association's prestigious 2009 Maggie award for Best Business, Finance, Management & Retail title. To be associated with a magazine on this level is truly an honor and blessing, as is the opportunity to share my insights and ideas with our engineers of ingenuity (i.e., Entrepreneurs).

For more information about Entrepreneur magazine, pick up a copy at your local newsstand (but not the newsstand in Laguna Beach because I already bought out their entire inventory for May... sorry, couldn't help myself), or visit Entrepreneur online, where you can subscribe to the magazine and access many interesting and information-packed articles, columns, resources, and more.

Four For Friday

Q1 - Airport: When you pick someone up at the airport, do you park in short-term parking and meet them inside the airport, or do you do the drive-by until you can pick them up from the passenger pick-up area outside of baggage claim?

Q2 - Foreign Affairs: If you found yourself in a foreign country, would you rather speak the language or have a pocket full of the local currency?

Q3 - Thievery: Sans money, if you could steal any one thing and not get caught, what would you take and what would you do with it?

Q4 - Delivery: If you could have one thing delivered to your home on a consistent basis that just isn't available for delivery, what would you have delivered?

Four For Friday

Q1 - Church and Torture: The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey. More than half of people who attend church services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- told the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to church services agreed. Why do you think people who attend church services are more likely than those who do not to approve of torturing suspected terrorists?

Q2 - Expeditions: This past Tuesday marked the 61st anniversary of a six-person expedition that sailed from Peru aboard a wooden raft on a 101-day journey across the Pacific Ocean to Polynesia. If you could go back in time and participate in any previous expedition, in what expedition would you like to participate? If nothing from the past interests you, how about something in the future?

Q3 - Calming Influence: When it comes to testifying in court there can be a lot of stress and anxiety in getting up on the witness stand. However, imagine how difficult it is for kids. Now, thanks to a trained facility dog named Dory, children testifying in sexual abuse and physical assault cases in San Diego, Calif., have a friendly advocate by their sides when taking the witness stand. According to court judges and prosecutors, having Dory the dog available to children before, during, and after testifying in open court is a calming influence in a traumatic time. If you were facing a difficult situation, do you think having a dog by your side would help? If not a dog, what would you like to have with you?

Q4 - Social Distancing: News this week of a human-borne "swine" flu outbreak has given rise to targeted social distancing. Never heard of "social distancing" before? Me either. Apparently, it refers to deliberate steps taken by governments, communities, or businesses to mitigate the spread of potentially pandemic influenza (think high schools canceling athletic competitions or companies postponing annual user conferences). Have you experienced social distancing due to the oink-oink flu outbreak?

What I Really Think About Twitter

Josh Faure-Brac crawled inside my head, read my mind, and created this cartoonic salvo: