This video will take 15 minutes to watch, but at the end you can make an informed decision and decide if you are going to add to my voice against SOPA.

I agree that we need to protect intellectual-property and the jobs and revenues that go along with it. I also understand we need to bolster enforcement of copyright laws, especially against foreign websites, but the fallout from SOPA can have unforeseen consequences even to us simple creators and sharers of content.

How Does SOPA Propose to Work?

From Wikipedia (I hope I do not get shut down for sharing this content”

The bill establishes a two-step process for intellectual property-rights holders to seek relief if they have been harmed by a site dedicated to infringement. The rights holder must first notify, in writing, related payment facilitators and ad networks of the identity of the website, who, in turn, must then forward that notification and suspend services to that identified website, unless that site provides a counter notification explaining how it is not in violation. The rights holder can then sue for limited injunctive relief against the site operator, if such a counter notification is provided, or if the payment or advertising services fail to suspend service in the absence of a counter notification.

The second section covers penalties for streaming video and for selling counterfeit drugs, military materials or consumer goods. The bill would increase penalties and expand copyright offenses to include unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content and other intellectual property offenses. The bill would criminalize unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for ten such infringements within six months.

If you are in the U.S. call your Congressman or call your Senator and tell them to focus on jobs, housing and the economy.

While you can go to each website and check your permissions I came across a new website called mypermission.org which makes life so much easier. You just click on the icon and it takes you directly to the Permissions page where you can review which websites and Apps have access to your account and delete old, inactive or unsavoury ones.

Who doubts the power of blogging as a marketing tool now?

My favorite blog posts I wrote in 2011 are:

Marketing to the Low Hanging Fruit

A Marketing Idea That Will Make People With Presbyopia Talk About You!

What Are Your Customers Doing Differently Today Compared to Last Year?

A Marketing Idea That Works Forever! A Kid’s Growth Chart For the Wall

Refrigerator Marketing

Why Won’t They Call Back or Answer My Email?

10 Marketing Tools You Can’t Survive Without

Tips For Writing Your Professional Bio

It has been a while since I wrote on my blog and I regret taking the time off as this blog is a key source of new business for me. So you can expect more regular hopefully useful information in the new year.

As I reflect on my business in 2011 and plan for 2012, I decided to take my own advice about where I should focus my prospecting activities this year. I am going to create marketing strategies that will attract the “low hanging fruit”. I am going to focus on  the past clients who would benefit from my services again and encourage past clients to refer new business to me. I am not going to spend as much time on Twitter, Linkedin, Google Plus or any other social media trying to attract total strangers.

I know this advice seems so obvious, but ask yourself where did your customers or clients hear about you. I made a presentation to a group of Realtors and asked them the same question and the overwhelming response was their clients were repeat clients, referrals from clients or people they had met at open houses. Few worked with a total stranger.

So I put together a simple spreadsheet for the group of Realtors so they could determine where they should focus their efforts and added marketing tools they could use to reach that particular group. Click the link for your own copy. While the tools might differ, you get the idea.

So who are the low hanging fruit? Past clients / customers, friends, people you meet, relatives and referrals. Your raving fans who have already done business with you or have been referred to you. This may seem obvious, but how much of your marketing is directed at reaching and nurturing this group? Are you mailing personal letters, making phone calls, sending note cards, writing personal emails, mailing newsletters, giving them “Items of Value” or meeting face to face?

Or are you spending your marketing budget and time reaching total strangers through print ads, direct mail, social media and your website?

There is nothing wrong with marketing to strangers, but your time and budget should be allocated proportionately.  If 80% of your business comes from clients and referrals that is where 80% of your marketing time and budget should be directed. Marketing to the low hanging fruit is not as sexy and exciting, but it is where you can expect the most business from in 2012.

The Customer Low Hanging Fruit Tree

If you enjoyed this article and don’t want to miss the next one click here to get my marketing posts by email as soon as they are published. You will be prompted for an email address and you are set to go.

Inbox With Enhanced Names

Just go to your email options where it asks for your name and add something. When someone gets an email from one of my email addresses it reads Mike Blaney – The Marketing Guy and the other reads Mike Blaney – For Email Stationery.

You can also add your phone number Mike Blaney – Marketing Guy – 800-568-8338 so it easy for people to contact you. A subtle, but effective marketing idea.

Here is where you would change the name in Outlook and Thunderbird.

Outlook Settings

If you enjoyed this article and don’t want to miss the next one click here to get my marketing posts by email as soon as they are published. You will be prompted for an email address and you are set to go.

QR Codes on Cookies

Qkies is a cooperative project of Juchem Gruppe, a German food trade company, and DFKI, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence — can be used as a playful alternative for a variety of things, from party invitations to business cards.

Qkie cookie mix is available online at EUR 6.90 per box, and will make 20 Qkies. Consumers make and bake the cookies before decorating them with the enclosed QR codes, printed on edible paper. The recipient of the cookies scans the QR code with their phone to be directed to either a video on YouTube, a photo on Flickr or a personalized web page containing a specific message, as dictated by the sender.

Everyone has accumulated documents and paper they would prefer to shred than throw away in the garbage, but in small volume it is not practical to take to a shredding company or to call in a shredding service.

So how does it work?

Contract a local mobile shredding company to bring a truck to your location on a Saturday and invite all of your clients to bring any documents they would like to shred. Open it up to include their home-based businesses and even their personal businesses too. Send an invitation in the mail, email an invite and write a blog post about it.

Serve refreshments and maybe even hire a balloon artist, face painter or bouncy castle to make the event more fun.

Not everyone will attend, but your clients will perceive this to be a green, thoughtful and useful service and will keep you top of the mind.

No it is not a run for the Presidency by Oprah; it is the inability for some of us more senior people to read things close up.  That would include me and almost everyone I know over 45 years of age.

So what is the big idea? Have reader glasses on hand to offer to people you deal with. Think about your business or service and consider when your clients or customers might have to read something. If we forget our glasses here are a few things we cannot do:

1. We can’t read a menu
2. We can’t read a credit card receipt we are signing
3. We can’t read clothing sizes
4. We can’t read a map
5. We can’t read a contract
6. We can’t see a photo
7. We can’t read directions
8. We can’t read ingredients
9. We can barely see our iPhones!

The most obvious place to have reader glasses on hand is in a restaurant. We have been to hundreds of restaurants and have only been offered reading glasses once. Another time our server went to the hotel gift shop, bought a pair, loaned them to us and kept them as he needed them too. Why can’t a restaurant have a few pairs in a case that can be offered to people who are holding a menu at the end of their reach or who are crowding around the only candle to get more light? Better yet why doesn’t an enterprising Realtor buy a few pairs, stick them in a branded container and offer them free to a restaurant to loan out.

If you are a Realtor, Mortgage Broker or Insurance Agent you are handing small print for people to read all the time. What if you noticed someone holding the paper at arm’s length and offer them reader glasses? They will be grateful and I bet will tell everybody about your thoughtfulness.

I know this doesn’t rank at the top of my marketing ideas, but give this one some thought and try to work it into your services.

On August 22nd, 2011 Guy Kawasaki posted (read it here) about a new Snuggie type

blanket called the Thuggie that was tweeted to his almost 400,000 Twitter followers. Web traffic for the Thuggies site jumped more than 140 per cent. Now the title of the post is starting to make sense isn’t it. From an article in the Vancouver Sun newspaper:

“In a typical week, Bowie said the company averages 10 to 30 sales. In the past two days, it has chalked up 100 sales: 80 Thuggies, 15 Thugglets and five six-packs of

Thuggies

Chuggies. (a cozy for beer bottles and cans).

Web surfers flocked to the site, with 70 per cent of the traffic coming from the U.S. and the rest from Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and France.

“We usually get between 16,000 and 20,000 hits a month; in the last two days we got over 20,000 hits,” said Bowie. “It’s crazy.”

So how do you capitalize on the new Word of Mouth through blogs and website and Twitter? (I am going to coin the term Twiral for viral via Twitter right now before anyone else does. Just did a search and I am the first!)

So how do you capitalize? Give away something in exchange for a Tweet using a new, free service called Pay With a Tweet. From their website “In today’s world the value of people talking about your product is sometimes higher than the money you would get for it. ‘Pay with a Tweet’ is the first social payment system, where people pay with the value of their social network.  It’s simple, every time somebody pays with a tweet, he or she tells all their friends about the product. Boom.

Let’s say you have written a White Paper, have a teaser for a book, have a part of a new song or even a movie trailer. Create a download button from Pay with a Tweet and let your users decide if they want to pay with a tweet on Twitter or with a post on their Facebook wall to tell all their friends about you, your product and your brand. After they choose the method a canned Tweet or Facebook post is created that you can edit and after approving it you have access to the product or service. Below is a sample of Pay By Tweets I Tweeted to get 2 books.

Pay With a Tweet sample

This service is incredibly easy to use and if one person Tweets to 1000 Twitter followers and a few of those retweet, then before you know it you have reached thousands of potential customers. This is called Twiral and you read it here first!

If you enjoyed this article and don’t want to miss the next one click here to get my marketing posts by email as soon as they are published. You will be prompted for an email address and you are set to go.

Every Minute on the Internet…

• Google serves more that 694,445 queries
• 6,600+ pictures are uploaded on Flickr
• 600 videos are uploaded on YouTube videos = to 25+ hours of content
• 695,000 status updates, 79,364 wall posts and 510,040 comments on Facebook
• 70 New domains are registered
• 168,000,000+ emails are sent
• 320 new accounts and 98,000 tweets are generated on Twitter
• iPhone applications are downloaded more than13,000 times
• 20,000 new posts are published on Micro-blogging platform tumbler
• Popular web browser FireFox is downloaded more than 1700 times
• Popular blogging platform WordPress is downloaded more than 50 times
• WordPress Plugins are downloaded more than 125 times
• 100 accounts are created on professional networking site LinkedIn
• 40 new Questions are asked on YahooAnswers.com
• 100+ questions are asked on Answers.com
• 1 new definition is added on UrbanDictionary.com
• 1,200+ new ads are created on Craigslist
• 370,000+ minutes of voice calls done by Skype users
• 1,600+ reads are made on Scribd, the largest social reading publishing company