inluminent

The next time someone asks you about “monetizing social media” or asks “what about Facebook, do you have a way for us to make money with Facebook?”, send them this article:

P&G Ad Man: “I Don’t Want To Buy Any More Banners On Facebook.”
Nicholas Carlson | November 17, 2008 5:15 PM
Procter & Gamble spends more than $300 million a year advertising its soaps and foods. If Facebook’s going to be an ad-supported business, it needs some of that money.

Too bad then, that Procter & Gamble’s GM for interactive marketing and innovation, Ted McConnell,” just told a conference: “I really don’t want to buy any more banner ads on Facebook.”

“I have a reaction to [Facebook] as a consumer advocate and an advertiser: What in heaven’s name made you think you could monetize the real estate in which somebody is breaking up with their girlfriend?”

McConnell says branded Facebook applications could work, but that mostly, he rejects the idea that Facebook is social “media”:

“Who said this is media? Media is something you can buy and sell. Media contains inventory. Media contains blank spaces. Consumers weren’t trying to generate media. They were trying to talk to somebody. So it just seems a bit arrogant. … We hijack their own conversations, their own thoughts and feelings, and try to monetize it.”

Facebook won’t be able to win over ad buyers like McConnell with its new “engagement ads.” Advertisers want to be seen as providing new functionality on the social network; they don’t want to pay extra for users to comment on their banners.

Here’s what Facebook should do instead. First, extend Facebook Connect to online retail stores. Second, analyze users’ spending behavior and activity on Facebook, make that data anonymous and sell it to marketers. Third, turn on personal ads and charge more than the New York Times does — about $48/week.

My buddy sent me this today, with the title “Best iPhone Support Message Ever”.

Here’s the whole thread on Apple’s forums, if you want to read the gory details.

LOL!

“You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.”
Ray Bradbury (1920 – )
American author

I love this cartoon from Hugh:

Classic.

More great cartoons here.

This had to hurt:

This is priceless:

Did you vote yet? I did.

Go vote.

You’ve gotta see this to believe it:

I miss reading Shel Silverstein. I’m going to have to buy some books of his, to read to the boys. His books encourage the kind of limitless wonder all kids (and adults) should have:

“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” –by Shel Silverstein

“You cannot keep determined people from success. If you place stumbling blocks in their way, they will use them for stepping-stones and climb to new heights.” - Mary Kay Ash (1918–2001)

A few months ago, my wife asked me to send an email to our Senators and Congressmen, after watching an episode of Oprah about Senate Bill 1738. So I did.

Here’s the response I just got from my Senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison (who I’d love to see run for president, btw):

from: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison <senator@hutchison.senate.gov>
to: John Engler
date: Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 5:17 PM
subject: Constituent Response From Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

Dear Mr. Engler:

Thank you for contacting me regarding on-line child safety. This is an issue that is very important to me, and I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Children in schools and households across the country log onto the Internet every day to access a wealth of information resources, to communicate with friends, or simply to seek entertainment. For predators, however, the Internet represents a vast unregulated space in which they can target and victimize innocent children. This is a frightening reality that we must confront as explicit material becomes increasingly available online. Since 1996, the FBI has documented a 2,000 percent increase in the amount of child pornography on the Internet. According to a study conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ), 25 percent of all children have been exposed to unwanted sexually explicit material. Those numbers are alarming, and we must act to protect our children so they can safely use the Internet as an educational tool without being exposed to illicit material or targeted by predators who try to trick them into revealing personally identifiable information.

Safeguarding our nation’s children has been my longstanding priority. In 2003, I sponsored a bill that was later signed into law and that created the National AMBER Alert Network. Since its inception, the alert system has safely returned 420 missing or abducted children to their parents. I also cosponsored the Internet Safety Act. It was signed into law in 2006 when provisions of the bill were included in the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which directed the DOJ to conduct training of state and local law enforcement to effectively deal with computer-aided child exploitation crimes. We must ensure that the law enforcement community possesses all necessary tools to pursue and apprehend child predators, from enlisting the support of Internet providers, to educating local law enforcement, to bolstering awareness among parents.

On June 28, 2008, Senator Joe Biden introduced S. 1738, the Combating Child Exploitation Act of 2008, a bill I joined as a cosponsor. The Combating Child Exploitation Act directs the Attorney General to create and implement an initiative known as the National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction. This legislation will also help strengthen cases against criminals by requiring Internet service providers to provide information on the Internet identity and geographic location of suspected sex offenders, and preserve electronic evidence of child exploitation. I am pleased to inform you that the Combating Child Exploitation Act of 2008 has been passed by both the Senate and the House, and has now been sent to the President.

In addition, I have also cosponsored S. 431, the Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act of 2007 (KIDS Act), and S. 1965, the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act. The KIDS Act requires a convicted sex offender to register any email address or online identity in the National Sex Offender Registry and requires the Attorney General to maintain a system that allows companies to check the database prior to granting an individual access to social networking sites such as MySpace and Face Book. The Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act contains important provisions that raise public awareness. It requires schools and libraries that receive support from the federal universal service telecommunications fund to provide age appropriate Internet safety education for all children. The KIDS Act has passed both the House and Senate, and will now be sent to the President. S. 1965 passed the Senate by unanimous consent, and was passed by the House of Representatives as part of another bill. It will also be sent to the President.

I will continue to support efforts to combat child exploitation and to ensure that those who prey on our children are punished to the full extent of the law. I appreciate hearing from you, and I hope that you will not hesitate to keep in touch on any issue of concern to you.

Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Senator

284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5922 (tel)
202-224-0776 (fax)
http://hutchison.senate.gov

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY to this message as it is not a valid e-mail address. Due to the tremendous volume of mail Senator Hutchison receives, she requests that all email messages be sent through the contact form found on her website at http://hutchison.senate.gov/contact.cfm.

If you would like more information about issues pending before the Senate, please visit the Senator’s website at http://hutchison.senate.gov.  You will find articles, floor statements, and press releases, along with her weekly column and monthly television show on current events. You can also sign up to receive Senator Hutchison’s weekly e-newsletter.

Thank you.

Thank you Senator! And thank you Oprah for bringing this bill to light, so I could voice my concern.

From Entrepreneur.com this week:

Forget the Sale–Go for ‘the Kill’
Create the scenario that can help you establish invaluable business relationships.
By Mark Stevens. September 22, 2008

All across the nation, thousands of salespeople are preparing for sales meetings. Sales calls. Cold calls. Networking sessions. You name it.

All are variations on the same thing. All are wastes of time. All are counterproductive. All are based on clichés taught by “sales trainers” who have never sold anything.

It’s time to change all of this Willy Loman nonsense, toss it in the waste basket and reject it as busy work that leads to the big looming question that haunts so many would be salespeople: “I wonder why I didn’t close the sale.”

A sales classic!