TELNET

You know it.

Black screen.

Green Letters.

Kind of like The Matrix, but far less entertaining.

At least I never saw “blonds, brunettes and redheads” while staring into the screen. Well, maybe that’s not true but they were reflections of people walking behind me while I continued to be lost in the pixels.

Twenty-one years ago today, it was my first visit to the offices of my first soon-to-be-called-dot-com-industry job.

We sold TELNET software for the Macintosh–these days it seems that the term Macintosh is as cool as a pair of sequined bell-bottom pants. I’m supposed to say Mac–to government contractors and Fortune 1000.

The punchline is that we sold this software against some stiff competition. That was a public domain TELNET application written by our own CTO while still in college.

You think your market is tough? Give away a free version of your product and sell directly against it for $100s a copy. Go ahead. I dare ya.

It’s time for a new year. On a cosmological scale, the distinction is quite arbitrary. Next month is also the anniversary of the rotation around some random point in the universe too.

This is as good a time as any though to make a change.

What are you going to do? With your job, your business, your service, your products. Whatever.

How would you sell yourself against a perfect replica of your offering that’s made available for free? It’s a perfect replica so you can’t change the features in your commercial version. Even if you did, the reality is usually those differences are nothing more than window dressing.

And yet, maybe window dressing is the clue.

What’s the difference between a storefront with well-maintained, fresh displays that are constantly tweaked without actually changing anything about the products offered and a store with some dusty old sign in the window that’s two seasons out of date?

The answer is simple, business A gives a crap.

How would your business change if you put a little life into it? I mean the kind of life that doesn’t require the proverbial mirror placed under your nose to see if you’re breathing.

What if the only thing you did differently this year was to do what you did in 2011, but do so on purpose and with purpose.

Same hours.

New energy.

New impact.

The other guys aren’t wearing kid gloves and waiting for you to get on your feet before engaging in some “friendly competition.” They don’t matter anyway. Chances are you’re the biggest risk to your own wants and dreams.

I’m not going to use the cliche about getting out of your own way. I instead advocate getting behind yourself and pushing yourself into oncoming traffic. Try playing your life like you’re the main star of Frogger for a while. It may not be a good way to live your life 24/7 but how do you think you’re ever going to level-up if you don’t stick your neck out and take a real, intelligent risk?

Step up.

Step out.

Make a difference.

Act like you really care.

“Watch your thoughts for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become…habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny!” –Margaret Thatcher

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The state of Texas aims to collect sales tax from businesses who have affiliates operating from their state. To do this Texas House Rep Elliott Naishtat has introduced HB 1317 to collect tax from online purchases by redefining what it means for a business to have a physical presence in the state.

Kudos to the Texas government for finding new and creative ways to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. The most obvious "how can you not see this coming" response is to block affiliates from states with such clueless governments. Companies have already done exactly that to affiliates in other states where such physical presence definitions exist. It’s a double-whammy for the state: they won’t be able to collect sales tax from the business or collect income tax from the affiliate as they drive affiliate marketers to the curb.

I think people like Elliott Naishtat should read Atlas Shrugged, or at least a Cliff Notes version with pop-ups. While Ayn Rand takes an absurdly extremist view in illustrating her view of measures like this, it’s funny to read depictions of similarly clueless government officials as they express surprise towards any resistance to such forms of highway robbery taxation.

Thanks to Shawn Collins for first reporting on this over at his blog.

http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/texas-advertising-tax-bill-introduced

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One of the more interesting ads from the Superbowl last night was a spoof on the 1984 ad from Apple. Some of the chatter on Twitter, Facebook and marketing blogs is talking about the ad in terms of product features; the Motorola Xoom vs Apple’s iPad. This seems odd because I didn’t see any discussion of features in the ad.

Instead, here’s my take on the ad. I’d love to hear your comments too so chime in below.

When the 1984 ad came out, one of the main reasons to buy a PC was conformity. It’s what “all businesses” used. If you bought a computer for home, it only made sense to buy the same thing you had at work. PC users were the “blue suits” and Apple presented the Mac as a way to stand out from that scene.

Never once did the 1984 ad say “the mac is a better computer.”

It said “the Mac isn’t a PC.”

Or, more importantly, it said “if you own a Mac, you’re not one of ‘them.’”

The ad was a statement about conformity.

What’s the landscape now?

Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world. Their market valuation makes them bigger than Microsoft.

The little white earbuds may give awful sound but they send a signal to people on the street.

“I have an iPod.”

Of course, with the amount of iPods, iPhones—and now iPads—sold, “everyone else” has one too.

That’s right. Apple is no longer the sign of hipster coolness.

Apple is no longer the underdog.

Apple is the symbol of conformity.

From this context, the Motorola Xoom ad is absolutely brilliant. They don’t talk about apps, battery life, or the number of cameras mounted on the thing.

The message is identical to the original 1984 ad. If you buy an iPad, simply because it’s an iPad, you’re a conformist wonk.

Hilarious.

Here’s the Motorola Xoom ad

and here’s the original Apple 1984 ad

P.S. I love my iPad.

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A new service from encoder.com was released today called vid.ly Upload a video to vid.ly and they will encode it into a bunch of format and give you an HTML5 universal embed code which lets you share that video with a very long list of devices.

To try it out, I uploaded a 4:26 minute video and about 10 minutes later it was all ready to share. Given the list of formats into which the video is encoded I imagine that it would have taken me several hours to do the same series of encoding on my PC.

Assuming it all worked as advertised, the following video should play “everywhere.”

The direct URL is http://vid.ly/7u9m5i

and here’s the embedded version.

Vid.ly is free, with a pro version “coming soon.”

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If you’re a politician or a PR wonk from a major industry, you probably obsess over one thing: being “on message.” After all, a group of copywriters spent a long time crafting your message. You’d better make sure that–even if you’re asking for directions to the bathroom–you’re communicating it constantly.

Unfortunately, being on message tends to come at the expense of authenticity. People can smell “messaging” from a mile a way. It carries quite the odor of manipulation and “demographic targeting.”

Consistency, that’s born of your values, is one thing. It demonstrates integrity, congruency and passion. Carefully crafted media responses are rarely derived from such things and fall flat on the ears of those you most want to hear.

Comments or questions? Leave them below. I’d love to hear from you.

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First, a party to kick of the Screen on the Green season here in Washington, DC.

Next, a sweet lineup of films

July 12 – Goldfinger

July 19 – The Goodbye Girl

July 26 – 12 Angry Men

August 2 – Bonnie and Clyde

Each film starts playing at dusk on a projection screen located on the National Mall between 4th and 7th St, NW.

If you’re from outside of DC, we call the big landing strip of open grass—between the Washington Monument and Congress—“The Mall.”

It’s probably some Free Mason thing.

For a bit more info on the Screen on the Green project, check out program director Jesse Rauch in this News Channel 8 appearance.

Here’s some additional history on Screen on the Green.

This is great entertainment, and it’s free. Sure it’s hot outside, but it’s hot everywhere around here. Suck it up and have some fun.

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For the last couple of weeks of December I listened to my collection of recordings from notorious grump and marketing master Jedi Dan Kennedy. During one discussion he mentioned how he never has “feedback forms” available for the audience. Why?

Because

a.) he doesn’t really care about their input. If people are buying, he’s doing things right.

b.) the audience isn’t qualified to give him relevant input. The comments usually say more about the person making the comments than the recipient.

This makes sense to me because “unqualified input” seems to come from everywhere. When I’m doing a copywriting project for a client, the English Major who insists that single sentence paragraphs “aren’t allowed” may be qualified to critique my next book but certainly knows nothing about writing ad copy.

While I love Toastmasters, the obligatory “uhm counter” role carried out by the grammarian is a minor surface issue. Watch the top paid talk show hosts and listen to how many times they say uhm. Now, do you want to tell me that you can’t be a successful speaker if you say uhm when you talk?

Now, if you dig deeper and build a person’s confidence as a speaker (which is what Toastmasters is great for), the uhm’s will magically reduce in frequency on their own and the remaining uhm’s don’t sound like they’re coming from a Nervous Nelly anymore.

That doesn’t mean I don’t listen to feedback. For example, I listen to what clients say they’re looking for. That tells me something about them and there’s often more in their feedback than what appears on the surface.

“Perception is reality” is only reality for the person with the perception. Speak in front of 100 people and ask for feedback, you will receive the results of 100 different perceptions.

So which reality is reality?

All of it and none of it.

Sonia Simone at Copyblogger posted about this topic as well.

How about you? Have you ever been derailed by feedback?

Technorati Tags: Branding, Dan Kennedy, Marketing

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When it comes to marketing on the Internet, your brand is your identity. It lets potential clients know exactly who you are and what you and/or your business are all about, and can go a long way toward separating you from the rest of the crowded Internet pack. Your brand is what it is based on who you are, how you do business, and how you provide value. That is why personal brand positioning is so important if you are serious about making your presence known online. Without it your website will quickly get lost in the shuffle. Here are a few steps that can help position yourself for success on the Web.

First of all, to achieve successful personal brand positioning, you need to take a close look at who you really are by taking the time to explore things like your core values and your passions. This will help you find your special niche, which leads to the writing of your brand description. Next, take the time to define your dreams and put them into action. Develop what it is that you are really trying to accomplish with your brand. Without an end result to strive for, you will simply flounder along without direction. Then, it’s time to take action. Define your target market and pursue them with passion.

The next step in personal brand positioning is to figure out what may be stopping you. Maybe it is a fear of failure, or even a fear of success. Whatever it is, you need to identify it and find a way to overcome it, or you will simply crash and burn. Another step in brand success is to recruit a squad of brand “cheerleaders.” It is tough to make it in any business venture on your own, so you need a corps of folks around you who will keep your spirits up during the inevitable tough times. Next, you need to learn how to package your brand. Since appearance is everything when it comes to marketing, your package needs to communicate who you are with just a quick glance.

Another important step is to develop your own unique style. This will serve to differentiate yourself from your competitors, and give your brand a distinct online presence. Finally, it is time to roll your sleeves up and get to work. With patience, perseverance and a strong personal brand, Internet market success is within your grasp.

Author: Jean Klett
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Excise Tax

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If Google is the Godzilla of the search market and Bing is Mechazilla, Yahoo! is Mothra: Kind of sad and dorky looking but people still know who he (it) is.

Of course, it wasn’t always that way. I remember when people talked about Google as being a “pipe dream” if founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin thought they had any chance of making a dent in Yahoo!’s market dominance.

Some dent.

As mentioned in this CNN Money report, Google and Bing are kicking Yahoo! to the curb. Google’s dominance in the search world is uncontested. Today, they own the game but the former lordship of Yahoo (and Netscape, and MySpace, and Friendster, etc.) should serve as a reminder that when it comes to playing King of the Hill on the Internet, the higher ground doesn’t really mean much.

Here comes Bing. Even though Bing is 3rd in search market share, it’s rapid growth is made only more worthy of note when you consider the money machine behind it. Microsoft can afford to play with Bing until they figure out the magic formula for search (if they haven’t already).

And money is something Yahoo! is no longer swimming in. This past week they “shutdown” to save money. While this WSJ post mentions that Adobe also shuts down at the end of the year, Adobe isn’t having cash problems.

Yahoo! apparently has some money for unique marketing ideas though. They paid the extra bag fees for passengers at SFO and SJO on Dec 23rd. Did everyone get Yahoo! luggage tags in exchange for having their bag fee paid?

But with Yahoo! ending their search engine arms race, what’s left?

I’m sure these guys aren’t going to give up without a fight, but what does the Yahoo! brand even mean anymore? Creating a brand out of thin air is one thing, but having the elements of your brand fall off and try to connect that brand to “new things” is sort of like opening a can of Coke to find a lemon-lime soda inside…or New Coke!

Ewwwwwwww

What do you think? Is Yahoo! still Yahoo! without search? What do they represent to you today? How is that different from a few years ago?

Technorati Tags: bing, Business, Google, Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Yahoo

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From the “huh, that’s kind of odd” category, Twitter has hard-coded 370 passwords that you may not use.

To check it out, simply visit the sign up page, view source and look for the source code that starts out like this…

<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
  twttr.BANNED_PASSWORDS = ["111111","11111111","112233","121212"…

The entire list is there for you to enjoy.

To some, the contents of this list may seem obvious. In general hackers tend to be clever. The ones who aren’t tend to run hacker tools which are written by those whom are clever.

In the movies, we’re led to believe that cracking a password requires some amazing effort and lots of processing power. In reality it usually requires knowing the name of your first born or your pet.

People really do pick OBVIOUS passwords.

If your passwords can be found on page 1 of a paperback dictionary, you might consider an update. At the very least, check out the following list from Twitter’s list of banned passwords and make sure you’re not using them anywhere else.

1. 111111
2. 11111111
3. 112233
4. 121212
5. 123123
6. 123456
7. 1234567
8. 12345678
9. 131313
10. 232323
11. 654321
12. 666666
13. 696969
14. 777777
15. 7777777
16. 8675309
17. 987654
18. aaaaaa
19. abc123
20. abc123
21. abcdef
22. abgrtyu
23. access
24. access14
25. action
26. albert
27. alexis
28. amanda
29. amateur
30. andrea
31. andrew
32. angela
33. angels
34. animal
35. anthony
36. apollo
37. apples
38. arsenal
39. arthur
40. asdfgh
41. asdfgh
42. ashley
43. august
44. austin
45. badboy
46. bailey
47. banana
48. barney
49. baseball
50. batman
51. beaver
52. beavis
53. bigdaddy
54. bigdog
55. birdie
56. bitches
57. biteme
58. blazer
59. blonde
60. blondes
61. bond007
62. bonnie
63. booboo
64. booger
65. boomer
66. boston
67. brandon
68. brandy
69. braves
70. brazil
71. bronco
72. broncos
73. bulldog
74. buster
75. butter
76. butthead
77. calvin
78. camaro
79. cameron
80. canada
81. captain
82. carlos
83. carter
84. casper
85. charles
86. charlie
87. cheese
88. chelsea
89. chester
90. chicago
91. chicken
92. cocacola
93. coffee
94. college
95. compaq
96. computer
97. cookie
98. cooper
99. corvette
100. cowboy
101. cowboys
102. crystal
103. dakota
104. dallas
105. daniel
106. danielle
107. debbie
108. dennis
109. diablo
110. diamond
111. doctor
112. doggie
113. dolphin
114. dolphins
115. donald
116. dragon
117. dreams
118. driver
119. eagle1
120. eagles
121. edward
122. einstein
123. erotic
124. extreme
125. falcon
126. fender
127. ferrari
128. firebird
129. fishing
130. florida
131. flower
132. flyers
133. football
134. forever
135. freddy
136. freedom
137. gandalf
138. gateway
139. gators
140. gemini
141. george
142. giants
143. ginger
144. golden
145. golfer
146. gordon
147. gregory
148. guitar
149. gunner
150. hammer
151. hannah
152. hardcore
153. harley
154. heather
155. helpme
156. hockey
157. hooters
158. horney
159. hotdog
160. hunter
161. hunting
162. iceman
163. iloveyou
164. internet
165. iwantu
166. jackie
167. jackson
168. jaguar
169. jasmine
170. jasper
171. jennifer
172. jeremy
173. jessica
174. johnny
175. johnson
176. jordan
177. joseph
178. joshua
179. junior
180. justin
181. killer
182. knight
183. ladies
184. lakers
185. lauren
186. leather
187. legend
188. letmein
189. little
190. london
191. lovers
192. maddog
193. madison
194. maggie
195. magnum
196. marine
197. marlboro
198. martin
199. marvin
200. master
201. matrix
202. matthew
203. maverick
204. maxwell
205. melissa
206. member
207. mercedes
208. merlin
209. michael
210. michelle
211. mickey
212. midnight
213. miller
214. mistress
215. monica
216. monkey
217. monkey
218. monster
219. morgan
220. mother
221. mountain
222. muffin
223. murphy
224. mustang
225. naked
226. nascar
227. nathan
228. naughty
229. ncc1701
230. newyork
231. nicholas
232. nicole
233. nipple
234. nipples
235. oliver
236. orange
237. packers
238. panther
239. panties
240. parker
241. password
242. password
243. password1
244. password12
245. password123
246. patrick
247. peaches
248. peanut
249. pepper
250. phantom
251. phoenix
252. player
253. please
254. pookie
255. porsche
256. prince
257. princess
258. private
259. purple
260. pussies
261. qazwsx
262. qwerty
263. qwertyui
264. rabbit
265. rachel
266. racing
267. raiders
268. rainbow
269. ranger
270. rangers
271. rebecca
272. redskins
273. redsox
274. redwings
275. richard
276. robert
277. rocket
278. rosebud
279. runner
280. rush2112
281. russia
282. samantha
283. sammy
284. samson
285. sandra
286. saturn
287. scooby
288. scooter
289. scorpio
290. scorpion
291. secret
292. sexsex
293. shadow
294. shannon
295. shaved
296. sierra
297. silver
298. skippy
299. slayer
300. smokey
301. snoopy
302. soccer
303. sophie
304. spanky
305. sparky
306. spider
307. squirt
308. srinivas
309. startrek
310. starwars
311. steelers
312. steven
313. sticky
314. stupid
315. success
316. summer
317. sunshine
318. superman
319. surfer
320. swimming
321. sydney
322. taylor
323. tennis
324. teresa
325. tester
326. testing
327. theman
328. thomas
329. thunder
330. thx1138
331. tiffany
332. tigers
333. tigger
334. tomcat
335. topgun
336. toyota
337. travis
338. trouble
339. trustno1
340. tucker
341. turtle
342. twitter
343. united
344. vagina
345. victor
346. victoria
347. viking
348. voodoo
349. voyager
350. walter
351. warrior
352. welcome
353. whatever
354. william
355. willie
356. wilson
357. winner
358. winston
359. winter
360. wizard
361. xavier
362. xxxxxx
363. xxxxxxxx
364. yamaha
365. yankee
366. yankees
367. yellow
368. zxcvbn
369. zxcvbnm
370. zzzzzz

Technorati Tags: password, Social Media, twitter

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