It took me long enough, but I finally installed Joomla for myself and am giving it a go around. So far, I like what I see. It has a bit of a learning curve around its terminology and such, but overall it works very well and is easy to implement once you get the hang of it.
The Content Management System takes a bit to get used to, but works fairly well. I think the best part of this all is that Joomla is free and open source. This leads to a lot of great plug ins and mods from the community.
For those that are not coders you can even download templates and work on those. Those of us who are coders, however, will find flexible tools and modules, and a editor to let you creat your own templates. Very cool stuff. There is also a lot of web support do to its open source nature. Granted Joomla does simplify the website creation process, it is still best to have a professional web guy setup the site for you to make sure everything works properly. Want to start your own website with a built in CMS tool? Check out Joomla now!
This weekend I head out for Shreveport, LA to visit my brother Steve. It has been a little over a year since I last saw him, so I am pretty excited about the trip. It should be a great week, and I will have my last chance to experience nice weather again before winter hits! I look forward to gumbo and gator meat, too. Good times to come.
There has been some tremendous wind these past couple of days. It has been so severe that it has knocked trees down, and power as well. Such is the case where I live. We had some hiccups in power yesterday, and lost power for a few hours today. Sadly, my surge protector stinks, and I really need a better battery backup. My computer got all screwed up thanks to the outages. It works fine for a while, then the fan gets incredibly loud then restarts. I tried shutting the computer off and it just locks up and makes the fan get loud and violent, causing me to manually turn it off by shutting off my surge compressor. I am now writing this post on a laptop (thankfully I have this as a backup) but man this stinks. I had the computer for a little over a year, and really don’t like having to deal with this problem now. I will most likely have to replace the power supply or the motherboard (I really hope I don’t have to replace that). Hopefully I can get it fixed under warranty. Here goes nothing!
I just checked out a lead generator tool from Xiosoft called, well, Xiosoft Lead Generator. This allows users to create simple landing page opt in forms for generating leads and sales. It was created by marketing guru Rick Raddatz, and provides tips on making great landing pages with good conversion. The layouts they offer really do follow points I’ve seen before for increased conversion, so I’m excited to see how well this works. While it’s true that I know html, this site makes it quick and easy to create these pages without having to touch code. They even send auto responders for you. Obviously, this website must be coupled with either a good email campaign or SEO strategy to be successful. It is only $1 for a week trial, though, so it is worth a try.
I just got Frank Kern’s Mass Control Give Away DVDs in the mail!The videos promise to increase sales through great sales and marketing tactics. The free videos he posted already have great examples of how to increase response rates for email campaigns.
What did this bundle come with? It came with a total of 9 DVDs, a binder, and newsletter. There was also a DVD sleeve labeled “Place Mass Control Monthly DVD Here”. Obvious marketing ploy there, but can you really blame him, or expect any less? All I paid was shipping and handling for the whole thing, thanks to the give away that went on earlier this month. Pretty good deal if you ask me.
I’ll be sure to keep you all posted on what I think about this free bundle I received.
For a long time now, marketers have been using fear and negativity in marketing. We all know this. We see it in envelopes with a big “WARNING!” label written in bright red letters to grab attention, to cigarette ads with hidden, derogatory images. Frank Kern has even released a free video on what he calls the “Rubber Neck Effect“, concentrating on email campaigns with negative subject lines.
We’ve all noticed that negative or dangerous things seem to stick more than positive ones. How well do you remember someone telling you that you did a good job versus someone chewing you out? Now with that, what is going on here?
Stimulus related to danger or fear stimulates parts of the brain (believed to target the amigdula). In fact, studies have shown that of all the emotions, fear uses the most space in the brain when activated. It effects memory substantially. The memory response is very quick, and the retention is very high. This may be thought of as a defense mechanism saying, “Ooh, that’s bad, stay away from that.”
How do we use it in marketing? Ask yourself this, “What is my audience afraid of, and how can I provide a solution to that?” For example, you may have a message that says, “Danger! Your competition is taking your sales.” You provide the solution by telling them how you can step one up above the competition so it doesn’t happen. In other words, “You are in danger of losing sales unless you use us.” Sound harsh? Yes. The message doesn’t have to be so blunt all the time, though. Effective? Ditto.
Yesterday, Buzz guru Ron McDaniel released a free video with answers to 7 common questions people have about blogs and blogging. There are a lot of misconceptions of blogging, like people expecting instant, miraculous results, or others who fear they have to post every day. Ron touches on these things in his latest video. Check it out on the Buzzoodle Blog.
Ah yes, Twitter. I remember when you were released. For those not in the loop, Twitter lets people post short quips that tell others what they’re doing this instant. You can add your lines through the web or mobile phone. I was one of the early adopters…then early abandonment. I wanted ot try it to see if it would be worth it from a buzz marketing standpoint. At the time, it looked like it had some potential, but damn was it slow.
I eventually abandoned it, probably because of my impatience. I also wasn’t sure if it would catch on, given the slew of social media sites already fighting for web space. I half expected the thing to just fade away. Lately, though, I noticed it gained quite a bit of popularity. It might actually check itout now and see if it is worth it. If your creative with it, it just might be. Time to check it out further!
Oh, and if you are curious, here is my twitter profile.
I’m drooling now.
I have just returned from Madison, Wisconsin after attending an event where the Dalai Lama was speaking. He spoke on life, philosophy, the situation with China and Tibet, and answered some questions from people. He was incredibly kind and had something charming about his character, and I couldn’t imagine anyone who would meet him to possibly not like him. His energy certainly gave off very positive vibes.
He talked about a lot of things, and time went quickly. One question that was asked was, “What is the source of your strength?” The Dalai Lama smiled and first replied, “Good sleep. Good food!” He and all of us in the auditorium all laughed, then he answered more seriously.
He said that effort was strength. Making right effort in your actions and pulling through with it, despite your obstacles. This is so true in life. With effort, I believe determination fuels your effort, and that effort certainly is strength. In short, it is DOING. So many sit on the sidelines, talking about action, or what they should do to be better, but never take action, whether it be fear of change or the unknown, or uncertainty in direction.
Without effort, there is stagnation and no change. Without this, you can’t grow. The passive nature of that is weakening and lack of strength. With it, you can achieve things you never thought possible, and the adrenaline from it really gives you a positive outlook. Let it drive you and continue to move like a locomotive.
