New Logo for Frank Schillings Blog November 29, 2007
Posted by eCommando in : eMarketing, domains , add a commentOk.. I admit it, I’m a domainer… I love domains… I have hundreds of them (like WhoTube.com) they’re fun.. I’m even working on a very cool domain related proj… uh.. ooops… almost let the cat out of the bag 
Anyway… what I like more are the people who like domains. The other domainers. They’re crazy, and they work completely on speculation. Fun, fun.
One of my favorites is Frank Schilling, who publishes the blog SevenMile.com.
When I heard he might be looking for a new logo, I decided to give it a whack. Let me know what you think.
I wanted to keep the beachy theme, and also the colors, but make it more web 1.8 (Frank’s not quite Web 2.0, so why go all the way, right?)
I mean, you got beach, you got palm trees… the only thing missing is some beer, some rum… hmm… Oh.. sorry
At any rate, someone tell Frank, will ya?
Cheers!
Randy
Lose the control, freak! May 18, 2007
Posted by eCommando in : eMarketing , add a commentSo many of us get great ideas, and then those ideas stall because we refuse to loose the reins and let others in to help. Others simply refuse to share their ideas for fear that others will take them and run.
While that’s a legitimate concern, it can be dealt with using standard legal documents like non-disclosures, non-competes, and non-circumvention agreements.
Bea Fields has some ideas on how to move from the entrepreneur, the one who has the idea in the first place, to the field marshal, someone who can manipulate the implementation of the idea through others to make it come to fruition with less effort overall.
Click here to read how you can do this too.
New Article May 17, 2007
Posted by eCommando in : eMarketing , add a commentNot networking as well as you want? Leni Chauvin has some ideas on how to improve your networking process.
Click here to read the article.
Google Takes Over The World!* April 23, 2007
Posted by eCommando in : eMarketing , add a commentWell, not exactly… yet…
Google has, however, overtaken Microsoft and Coke as the most powerful GLOBAL brand of 2007.
According to a USA Today article, which cites a global study of brand awareness, Google has surpassed companies such as IBM, Coca Cola, Microsoft, General Electric, and Toyota, as the most valued brand worldwide.
This is important because 10 years ago, Google didn’t exist. Yes, some semblance of the company did exist as “BackRub” but apparently the company wasn’t incorporated until Sept. 1998.
By contrast, we have Coca Cola at 115 years old (founded 1892), GM at 99 years old (founded 1908), Toyota at 74 years old (founded 1933), and Microsoft, the youngster of the group at just 32 years old, all with massive head starts in marketing and brand awareness being usurped by a company with no physical products.
No physical products.
Let it sink in for a minute.
I wouldn’t have believed it was possible 10 years ago. Would you have?
New FREE Service I Just Launched! February 24, 2007
Posted by eCommando in : eMarketing , add a commentAs of 8am this morning, I just launched BoldURL.com.
It’s a utility for shrinking URLs, with a big twist. It allows you to create a FREE account and save the URLs you put into the system and track click activity by hour, even sales conversion!
Check it out here:
http://boldurl.com/UBjcKNr
Please let me know what you think!
Randy
Secure Your Ideas… January 21, 2007
Posted by eCommando in : eMarketing , add a commentIn a recent meetup I held, I had several people approach me with ideas for products. Now, this is not a rare occurrence, it happens every month at each of my meetups. However, most were surprised by my response…
“Don’t tell me anything.”
I said to her “Until you have a non-disclosure in hand, have the idea documented and ready to go, don’t tell anyone who isn’t willing to sign the non-disclosure any details of your idea, even your friends and family.”
The fact is, truly good ideas are very, VERY rare. They do occur, however, and more times than not, the originator of the idea tells everyone they know in order to gauge the viability of the idea.
One person in particular had an interesting idea and she had shared with me another interesting idea the week before without getting any sort of non-disclosure from me or anyone else she shared it with. Chances are, nobody else in the group had any interest in it as she’s in a vertical market.
However, since the product needed to be manufactured, all that had to happen was for one enterprising member of the group to make a phone call to a friend in the manufacturing biz and BAM! It’s all over.
I try to foster an atmosphere of sharing at the Dallas Internet Entrepreneurs meetup, and for the most part people are open and sharing with ideas that help each other, in the hope that it will be reciprocated.
That said, I personally urge everyone reading this to only tell your ideas to those who are willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and you can get them at your local office supply store.
If they’re not willing to sign, you shouldn’t put your ideas, or your future livelihood at risk.
Trust, but verify.
The Obvious Expert July 7, 2006
Posted by eCommando in : eMarketing , 1 comment so farFor those of you who attend my monthly meetup (click here for info), you’ve always heard me speak about “the obvious expert.”
The “obvious expert” is anyone who is perceived, rightly or not, to know more about a subject than anyone else. This person is usually a “go-to” person for clients, meaning that before a client does anything in that space, they consult with that person to validate their ideas before they act.
The benefit of being the obvious expert is, well, obvious. You get the benefit of the doubt on all subjects relating to your topic of expertise. Customers defer to you, news sources quote you, and best of all, people pay you for your knowledge and insight into that subject matter and how it relates to their business, lives, etc.
Someone I consider an “obvious expert” is Paul Hartunian. Paul has positioned himself as one of the best sources for generating free publicity on a very large scale. His entire business, which generates several million dollars of sales each year, is showing people how to generate very low cost public interest in their businesses using press releases and other media sources. For more information on Paul’s business, click here.
Another “obvious expert” I know in a similar space is Emmy Award winning television reporter Jeff Crilley.
Jeff is a reporter for the Fox Television Network affiliate in Dallas, Texas, and has written a very easy to read book about how the average person can get free local and national television airtime, simply by framing their story properly.
Jeff is also speaking regularly at a meetup group in North Dallas. Conveniently, his book is usually available there and it’s only $10. You won’t find a better investment. For more information on Jeff’s book or to join his mailing list, click here. To attend the meetup on July 19th 2006, click here.
The $64,000 question is: How do *you* become an obvious expert?
Well, if you look at the two guys I just mentioned, you’ll see a pattern. Even with only two data points, it’s glaring.
They know their stuff.
There’s no question about it.
And without being too obvious, they’re both coaches.
That’s right. They both coach you in the creation of “buzz” without spending a lot of bucks.
They’re both showing you how to work the system, without having to deal with the hordes of companies that want to charge you $200 an hour to write a press release that, surprise surprise!, takes 20 hours to write and never gets published in any major press outlets.
If you can’t see where I’m headed here… Stay tuned.. I’ll wrap it up in the next post…
Cheers!
Randy
