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Welcome!
Since 1997, I've published "Of Interest", an occasional email dispatch to my friends on technology transformation trends. This is the archive. Please feel free to comment and contribute by emailing me at riggs@riggs.com. Enjoy!
New! now includes abstracts of articles posted on TechTransform.
All my other posts are on TechTransform.
Thanks for reading,
Riggs
How did all this come about? What lessons came out of it? (more)
Micro-SEO
Some SEO Tips
For the past year, I've described the modern customer acquisition process as a "Popcorn-Popper". It sounds funny but it makes sense. Slamming strangers into your website and hard-selling them works only when they are ready - what about the rest? You can't afford to waste the people who didn't happen to be ready to buy. Those hard, unpopped kernels need time and "heat" to pop them!
How do you make sure that you stay in touch with prospects and customers at all times? The key is the Closed-Loop Marketing process. Sure, you have systems - but it's not easy to integrate new campaigns - especially on a tight schedule.
Marketing can drive revenue through the following:
- Launches.
- Online Commerce.
- Sales Support.
- PR and Advertising.
- Campaigns (lead generation, customer acquisition, renewals, up-selling).
- Alliances and Business Development.
- Promotions.
Technology companies have unique needs. For example, product development must be driven by marketing to succeed. Here is an org chart that implements this and other classic requirements.
In the ideal online marketing model, there is very little human “sales persuasion” going on. The system is doing it. Here is a prescription for setting up the "system" - simple, scalable and successful.
I'm often asked if I conform to some formal process or other for product research and development. The answer is, yes and no. Yes, I strongly adhere to principles of quantitative market research and the proven positioning principles of Trout and Ries. But that alone doesn't do it. Here's the rest of the story, as I see it. (Includes a case study.)
Internet hosting provider Rackspace claims that 50% of its new business comes from Web sales chats. Literally, web-based sales tools are Web Sales Weapons. But it's not just about web based sales chat. It's much more.
Digital marketing (e-marketing) is a powerful tool, but there's one big problem: there's so much of it to do!
Even the top marketers (see story) don't think their digital marketing efforts are all that great. What does that say for the rest of us?
You've got to do websites, newsletters, "hot" and "cool" email campaigns to both prospects and customers, affiliate networks, search engines (paid and unpaid), commerce optimization, online PR, product evaluation, weblogs, refer-a-friend, member management, paid advertising, distributed websites - the list goes on and on.
And what about managing all the content? You know what it takes to feed a newsletter. Are all your channels getting fresh, powerful content?
And then you have to hook it in with your offline work - magazines, direct mail, telemarketing, shows, collateral materials. There's always more to do and it's always changing these days.
So call or email me. I'll be happy to spend a few minutes discussing your own marketing, both digital and print, and giving you my thoughts and ideas. In this fast-changing market, that can be useful!
A lot of people are going to take me up on this, so email me quickly if you are interested.
And even if you're not, drop me a line and say hi!
Riggs
"Forget traditional positioning and brand-centric approaches to marketing. We're now in the 'Age of the Narrative' where the biggest challenge facing companies is how to tell communicate their story in the most compelling, consistent and credible way possible -- both internally and externally." William Ryan, Founding Partner, Portola Strategies. So... we're now in the era of Narrative Marketing. What is that and what does it have to do with the problems VPs of Marketing face?
You'll also read about my eight-month engagement at Panda Software, which I just wrapped up with some nice words from the management. These guys are outstanding - they really deserve the success they'll get in 2004 in this market.
At the core of our success was a classic Gemini campaign. The word means doubles or twins, and in loyalty marketing it's about appealing to business buyers at a personal level. For instance, Frequent Flyer programs.
In our case, we made friends with the IT Managers who are the core buyers of anti-virus software. The overall theme was The Panda Challenge, and it helped to double the revenue range of the US subsidiary during the summer. Not too bad! I think we'll see a case study out of this one...
The technology market is doing great but it is highly competitive. I'd love to help you develop and execute your revenue growth campaign. It's not just about marketing. Drop me a line!
And may the coming year bring continued happiness and success to you and yours.
Riggs
Mitchell Levy just came out with his CEOnetworking's Top Ten 2004 Business Trends and it's pretty cool. Of course, you already know these stories: virus attacks worsening, globalization continuing, wireless everywhere, internet phone calls, tech consolidations, tech market improving, e-commerce red-hot (as always). Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now tell me something useful. What's the real story for 2004?
Panda Software - what a rocket ride. I engaged personally in February to expand US operations - and in 8 short months we doubled the revenues and created a new software player in the
This is a "stealth" project, meaning I can't tell you much, just yet - only that it's a wireless technology that will transform film and videogame production, with even greater impact in other areas. The investors came from the sector. I hope to be able to tell you more about this soon. Amazing stuff.
Our "convergence team" (meaning the convergence of technology and entertainment) has been working on this project since we did the business plan a year ago. I'd like to personally thank and congratulate team members Stefan Jacobs, Kevin O'Brien and Lynn Hirshfield! They have been working hard and brilliantly on this achievement.
Now a big part of the tech boom is the "networking of everything", and much of it comes is known as Web services. This innocent-sounding term will impact us all, and I've explored the good and the bad (from personal experience), in a new article called The Web Services Wave now posted at TechTransform.
On a personal note, Avis and I appreciate your many wishes on the passing of Avis' uncle, comedian and humanitarian Bob Hope. Bob lived a full life and had many more friends than anyone imagined.
Riggs
Did I tell you that I'm now running Spain's anti-virus software developer Panda Software, here in the USA?
I thought the anti-virus market was mature and not very interesting. Hah! Turns out virus protection drives a lot of business in these insecure times. I'd love to see how we could do something together .
And because you're on my list, the company wants you to have a free copy of its professional anti-virus and anti-snooping software, Platinum 7, one year's virus updates included. Just hit Reply and I will get you activated. Platinum's top-rated, too: see this latest review.
And TechTransform?
TechTransform is alive and well. We have three good projects with active teams running them, and I continue to help make them a success . As always, I am happy to help you or your project find new connections.
I'm also finding time to post new articles on the TechTransform website. Check out my front page report on Geoffrey Moore's new Provocation Selling seminar. Moore was all about hi-tech hypergrowth, so what's he got now? I'll send you the notes on request.
Coming soon: a Web services nightmare story, would you believe? Stay tuned...
And please - let me know how you're doing!
Riggs
(links updated 14 March 2005)
It doesn't take a high-powered seminar to understand that selling technology has
changed dramatically. But Geoffrey Moore's latest seminar on Provocation Selling makes some great points on how to approach the tough selling climate.
In this market, the closer you are to the actual commerce of the internet, the more likely you are to make money - big money. But the farther away you are... the harder it will be to make a living. This explains why "The e-commerce sector is far from dead. In fact, it is booming", while "The environment will remain difficult for high-tech firms seeking capital infusions. Venture capitalists ...foresee little change through late 2004."
Now that Yahoo has renewed with Google, "the potential exists for about 70-80% of all web searches coming from a direct or indirect result of a Google listing." That's the message from search engine veteran Dave Kelly. He goes on to say... (with counterpoint by Scott Anderson of Shadow Marketing!)
Starting to use wireless to do business? What you don't know can seriously hurt you. Here's a must-read checklist from ZDNet Tech Update.
Someone calls you to pitch a product or venture. Now tell me you're not instantly browsing their website to see what they're about! The truth is that there is nothing more important than your website. Period. In that spirit, here are some basic, basic tips from marketer Jim Daniels. Does your website apply these?
What a difference a year makes.
So... how are you these days? Take a look at the TechTransform website for new articles on the End of Email and The Commoditization of Everything. (Don't worry, email's not dead and not everything's commoditized!)
The tech rebirth I was predicting last year is starting to gather momentum. Of course, as one of our reseller friends said, "We're not seeing the $4MM contracts this year but lots of $100,000 contracts", but...that's a start. Read more about it in my new article on www.techtransform.com.
So... let me know how you're doing and what you think of the tech rebirth - and I'll see you on Ryze!
Riggs
According to
I hope you're doing well in this astonishing tech resurgence. Why is it astonishing? Because it's so uneven. The reason, I think, is commoditization. Technology is always vulnerable to commoditization (which means less branding value)... now more than ever. Here are just a few examples.
After the boom and the crash, here's a landmark event: according to a recent study, people are now spending less time on the Web looking for pornography and more time searching for business information!
You can subscribe right here, on this page - just enter your email in the submit box to the left.
Riggs
That's why I like my friends at AdScience. They specialize in minimizing extra clicks and those deadly delays. They get awards for that. We get more time to go out for coffee.
These guys are so good they built a whole web-based software product from the ground up! Check out "Best Practice Now" from Itensil, an amazing system for sharing knowledge using a simple timeline format. And it lives on the web, and did I tell you it's FAST?
**The Riggs Connection Insider Offer**
AdScience will study your user experience (for your web site or software product) and make specific recommendations that you can use, with or without their help. Reply to this and I'll get you hooked up.Riggs
What is this managed network thing, and why is it so different? In another article we discuss the details, this will introduce the concept. As always, I welcome your questions. Our program is about recruiting people who will refer business to us through e-commerce. They are commonly called affiliates. Amazon devised this program originally and they explain it well.
There is one proven strategy that will help make your product a world standard and it doesn't rely on any one partner, and it is to make the full product license FREE for personal and educational use.
Say, have you noticed that the tech comeback is about reality in technology, companies, revenue, marketing?
It's back to basics, with a vengeance. The high-flying stuff is gone and discredited - but, quietly, much business is being done. A friend of a friend just signed a five MILLION dollar software development contract, and Stu Sjouwerman's Sunbelt Software is soaring on the Inc. 500. Go Stu!
So in tech marketing, what's real? Here's my list:
1. Affiliate networks. Guess what, you can now recruit and manage your partner network and even your resellers with an old-fashioned affiliate marketing system. Cool, huh? That's because they're on the internet, too. (Better do it right, though.)
2. Great web-based user communication. The networks that are doing great, like eUniverse, understand how to help people communicate with each other and with merchants. Check out their huge Flowgo network.
3. Wireless is hot, if you know what to do. Agencies like AdScience know how to build wireless-real sites. Jon Schreiber's Infinite Mobility found profitability in mobile software for NBA scouts, for heaven's sake. But location-based marketing? Hmmm, not quite there yet.
4. Know a good PR person? Yes, after a period where PR people had to go take jobs in the auto detailing industry (just joking!), clients have now realized the value of really good publicity and are looking for effective PR people. But ... need I say it has to be real and totally one with your partner strategy?
What about us? You bet, we like the Real. We especially like those partner networks and those dialog-friendly websites.
Let me know what you think. This is turning into an interesting year!
Riggs
At no time in technology history has there been such a gap between customer demand and the supply of technology and talent. Clearly, there is a need for a trusted intermediary to help bridge this gap.
Consider this: a recent survey of a broad range of companies found 83% planning to begin new e-business projects in 2002.
That's a good thing, because most companies are waaaay behind.
For example, while 45% of online shoppers choose sites based on word-of-mouth recommendations, only 7% of companies are putting in tools
to allow them to support the recommenders.
So... 2002 will be about companies hurrying to close the e-business gap. The key, for both customers and vendors, will be to keep it easy and simple.
I'm reporting on this and other trends on the expanded TechTransform site.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Riggs
*e-business: a range of online activities spanning procurement; supply-chain management; customer relationship management and sell-side e-commerce; business intelligence; Web services; enterprise resource planning; content management; and integration.
It's a good thing that, by recent survey, 83% of businesses are planning to begin new e-business projects in 2002. Boy, do they need it!
In Business 2.0's Barely Managing newsletter, editor Thomas Stewart spotlights a book by Robert Sutton (a teacher at Stanford's engineering school), called Weird Ideas That Work.
We have noted the increasing importance of public relations and of reaching decision-makers directly. Sheree Johnson makes that point in excerpts from her talk with BtoB's Kate Maddox.
In today's issue of his Rapid Results Marketing Newsletter, author Joe Nicassio found a great way to revisit the pleasure/pain principle for marketing.
Red Herring's interview today of Emory Winship, managing partner of the Conversus Group, included a tally of his "list of 16 deadly business sins committed by startups". It is excerpted here for reference.
What's Talkie? Well, if you think about it, the best computer interface would be a person. And Talkie characters are astonishingly lively, helpful and 'real' - what I call "social creatures". Take a look at the demos.
Our job is done... on to the next! We wish Talkie the greatest fortune as they take their venture to the next stage.
By the way, our client roster is now posted - take a look!
Riggs
I think after the shock has passed, we all want to know now: what's in store for
When Red Herring published an excellent set of guidelines to managing down rounds and other horrors, they included Mayfield general partner David Ladd's previously-published advice for struggling entrepreneurs facing tough times.
- They deceive themselves as to what they have that is valuable in the market,
- they hold onto an internally generated theory about their business model,
- they don't test every assumption,
- they don't look for other models,
- they don't recognize the successes early on,
- they don't triage multiple models down to one,
- they don't execute on successes,
...and if they do any of the above, they don't do it fast enough.
Riggs Eckelberry
(Original date is approximate)
Forget the VCs for the moment - the action is in bridge loans and small angel rounds. How do I know? Because TechTransform's clients are all in rounds or discussions. Quite a change from a couple of months ago.
In fact, it's changed TechTransform from an intervention firm to an intervention firm that can get funding! Which, of course, has transformed TechTransform's business, but that's another story.
I do want to say this: the only thing that could hold you or your company back in this new wave would be... baggage. 'Nuff said, do what you need to do. Don't fail to power into this new wave.
Finally, as you can see, "Of Interest" is back - my occasional dispatch on matters I find interesting in the high tech world. You're on the list - do let me know if that's not OK. To unsubscribe, simply reply with "remove" in the subject line or body.
So, anyway, let me know how it's going with you in this new environment - and if you agree with me that funding really has started to come back. (Read Posted Feedback)
Riggs
As an early stage technology company, it's more important than ever before to gain early customers and revenues from your products.
On August 14, we wrote that funding appeared to be returning to the venture marketplace. Here's what we thought.
We are once again seeing funding opportunities in the high tech landscape, apparently predicting the end of a long drought... Lots of reader feedback to this one - check it out!
In an Information Week article on smart cards in retail, Patrick Gauthier, Visa U.S.A.'s senior VP of smart-card applications, said that tech-savvy retailers are taking advantage of the slower economy to leap-frog competitors.
"Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France by relentlessly attacking his opponent not on a long, flat run, but in the mountains," Gauthier says. "It's on the tough terrain that you see the difference between leaders and followers." Companies that invest in IT during tough times will emerge as leaders, he says.
Customers don't want to deal with new vendors right now; they are interested in getting more value out of what they have already purchased. The trick, then, is to become an existing vendor.
Remember how hot banners were until about 97? This article discusses how to avoid the 'banner fate' for the new hot format: rich media.
The following timetable for testing three business model options was developed by TechTransform consultant Steve Glovsky for a client company.
Well, I'm only through the seventh chapter, and... I'm blown away. David has clearly shown us the future - and how to attain it today.
Very simply, he outlines a process by which any enterprise can achieve fierce and total audience loyalty.
It's not 'just' about marketing anymore, it's about a complete change in viewpoint - to a total, winning focus based entirely on enterprise-wide collaboration with each and every customer.
I highly, highly, highly recommend this book. Read it today.
R
I trust you're doing well in this new phase of the Internet. For my latest, please click on this link.
R
From: Amazon.com [mailto:music-store-news@amazon.com]
Wednesday, May 31, 2000 1:37 AM
Olive's "Trickle"
Dear Amazon Customer,
As somebody who's purchased music by the postmodern trip-hop artists Massive Attack in the past, you might like to know about the arrival of Olive's new album, "Trickle." Following the same blueprint of simmering beats and rhythmic intensity that Massive Attack often employs, Olive's approach is blissfully light, with slow-burning grooves and bright melodies. For the next few days, you can order your copy at a savings of 30% by clicking here.
It comes down to the difference between Commercial and Guardian moralities.
"Commercial morality is employed by businesses and depends on continuing innovation and development of relationships: shun force, come to voluntary agreements, respect contracts, be optimistic and competitive. Anyone who hopes to do business with strangers must proceed with the assumption of competitive good faith.
"Guardian morality, on the other hand, employed by governments and not businesses, depends on secrecy and tradition: be obedient, respect hierarchy, take vengeance, be fatalistic and ostentatious."
I agree with the minimum Guardianship required to keep us all safe; beyond that, let's stay with the winning morality.
Riggs
SOURCE:
The quote comes from Douglas Rushkoff's very cool book on thriving in an age of chaos, Playing The Future (New York: Harper-Collins, 1996). Here, he is paraphrasing Jane Jacobs in Systems of Survival, who used these fundamentally different moralities to explain international relationships.
Links to these books:Playing The Future
Systems of Survival (out of print)
This is a program they sell for $29, but it's yours by simply going to a special page on their site and downloading the full-featured product.
Why SurfSaver?
If you've ever tried to save browser pages with all the links and pictures, you'll know that you often lose those pictures and links. That makes those pages useless.
Surfsaver instantly saves any web page to a folder you designate, so that you can save, say, all the cool forms you admire, into a Forms folder. Retrieve anytime, send to a co-worker, you get the idea.
It's a very useful utility, it got the 5-start Editor's Pick from ZDNet, and it's yours with no strings attached, except that it's only for you.
Can others get this for free? If you'd like a friend or colleague to have this program, please ask them to send me mail with "subscribe" in the subject line.
Note: this page will only be open through Monday 25 January, after which you can still get the program, but you will need to go through a longer process to unlock it.
Enjoy!
Riggs
First, Peter Price:
"...last year we met the guy who along with his VP of Marketing invented the story for an advertising campaign when they were at NCR - he said it was the most successful campaign they ran!"
John Earle adds:
"I worked for Teradata and the man attributed with starting the myth. We had done a data discovery for Osco Drugs...looking for affinities between what items were purchased on a single ticket. Then we suggested tests for moving merchandise in the store to see how it affected affinities.
"...Our 'fearless'leader, Thom Blischok, when talking with prospects and the press, didn't distinguish between the actual affinities tested and our hypotheses. Our job was to sell the value of systems. Sometimes in selling, fact blurred with folklore.
"Anyhow, you can imagine our surprise when a company ran a full page add in the Wall Street Journal with a beer drinker in diapers to promote their data warehousing technology. We all laughed uncontrollably."
So, having completely exhausted this subject (I think), I wish you Happy Holidays and a great 1999!
Only problem is, I've yet to SEE diapers and beer next to each other in stores, and, sure enough, here is the real story (thanks to Ed Rigdon for posting this to the Market-Electronic Research list):
Article Link
According to Rao, this old chestnut, about getting increased sales by merchandising diapers and beer together--a well-known story in the data mining field--is no more true than the story about subliminal Coca-Cola advertising increasing Coke sales at a New Jersey theatre.
change of any of your current or prospective customers.
In other words, the 20 million people who rely on the Internet represent the hottest portion of your audience, whether or not your product or service is "Internet".
What this means is that the Internet is your best chance to achieve major change in your market share.
It also means that if you don't do it, somebody else will. Look at Barnes & Noble: still trying to play catch-up to little upstart Amazon.com... think they ever will?
Thanks,
Riggs
FIND/SVP: The Internet is indispensable to 20 million US netizensAug 14 1997: A survey conducted by The Emerging Technologies Research Group has concluded that the Internet has become a crucial part of over twenty million US netizens' lives. 9.3 million of those surveyed have logged on in the past year but do not consider themselves regular users and nearly half of all users believe the Internet is difficult to use and confusing. Half of all regular users and 60 percent of email users go online every day. Online shopping has increased from 19 percent in 1985 to 27 percent this year [a third of these shoppers came from ad-clicks]. The amount of women online has trebled in two years to 9.9 million. 55 million US non-users plan to go online in the next year. The Internet accounts for 20 percent of total news intake for regular users and use of TV, Magazine and Radio has drastically decreased for those users.This report comes to us courtesy of NUA Internet Surveys
This is the last gasp from ONLINE USER magazine.
The publisher says here that ONLINE USER's potential advertisers are promoting almost exclusively on the web, and they are investing in free information as the number one draw.
More evidence of the growing power of the online channel.
Riggs
Strategically Speaking
In this space over the past 18 months I have written about many new trends and exciting changes affecting the world of electronic research. Now I must report that this issue of ONLINE USER will be the last--at least for now.
As you know, ONLINE USER has been free to qualified readers, and consequently the ads, not the subscriptions, pay the bills. Less than two years ago when we started ONLINE USER dozens of new products for the business online user were coming into the market. And early market research showed there was a shortage of ways to reach those users. We quickly built a large, qualified subscription list and the magazine became an excellent vehicle to market these products and services. As the business user became a primary target for many of our advertisers, we emerged with a highly qualified audience of 50,000 business information users.
Unfortunately, two key factors have challenged ONLINE USER--and are challenging advertisers as well:1. Web Advertising: This development has played a major role in the marketing plans of many potential ONLINE USER advertisers. The web has emerged as a viable advertising medium offering cheap ways to reach target audiences, and we have found that many new companies have chosen web advertising and word-of-mouth as their sole marketing plan.Simply put, we cannot continue to produce 50,000 print copies of ONLINE USER without an expanded source of revenue. As some of you know, we tested a conversion to a paid magazine. While the response was heartening by the usual benchmarks of conversion percentages, it was still not enough to overcome the shortfall in advertising income...
2. Free Information: Clearly, the business user is drawn to free information. Our editorial coverage of free information sites has often served as their only marketing. Relying on large hit counts and getting good response from ONLINE USER readers, these companies are not advertising in print. Instead they're investing in the free information that makes them competitive.
Kudos to Elissa Murphy, Quarterdeck's Director of Product Management for Business Utilities!
Riggs
It documents the effectiveness on the net of offering valuable information vs. advertising-type offers.
Riggs
-----------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 06:45:26 -0500
ONLINE-ADS>> Banner Content Makes a Big Difference
We use Link Exchange banners to announce our "Airline Fare Wars" mailing list, a majordomo list that provides free e-mail notification of airline
fare sales.
Since last November our banner rate has been 39 to 1.
Several weeks ago we changed the banner to announce "Rebates for Online Travel Bookings" and immediately our rate decreased to 110 to 1.
This shows that readers are more interested in receiving "information" than ads that announce how much money can be saved.
[...]
Dennis Anderson
Traveler's Net
These business executives report that: "Although 49 percent said that specialty business-to-business trade magazines would garner the bulk of their increased marketing budget in 1997, a full 40 percent reported that the Internet would be their advertising medium of choice."
General interest magazines lagged far behind at 8.2%.
Riggs
(BusinessWire)
****National Survey: Business Executives Discovering Internet Advertising A new survey of 400 business executives conducted in February by Chaners Business Confidence Index (CBCI) shows that businesses have increased marketing dollar expenditures in Internet advertising up 5.2% since last year. Investment in internet advertising is increasing overall.
