Bridging the Gap Between Japan and the World

BizTalk: Published in the Journal of Knowledge Management

Sat, 10 May 2008 04:22:48 GMT

Well, it is official! Yesterday in the snail mail I received a thick package which contained the Journal Of Knowledge Management (JKM), Vol 12, No. 2 2008. This most prestigious journal, in the KM field holds many "current" research articles by people from around the world. And guess what? I'm in it! Yaaaay me! Need online proof? Check this out!

I wrote about this going to happen back in 360 in my post entitled, Naru Hodo, March 23, 2007, but it happened sooner than I had anticipated. I was thinking "Volume 12" meant December 2008, but I guess not.

After some editing to fit into the journal's style, it was accepted as "having value to the industry in terms of better understanding the field of Knowledge Management."

Here is a link to my article, Time for Change: Empowering organizations to succeed in the knowledge economy (damn that's a long title!) Even if you don't read the entire article, take a look at the abstract. It should give you insight into what I was working on. Download the PDF and just scroll through to get a feel for how this journal publishes. The colour scheme is quite nice, and I do like the layout a fair bit. The other articles are presented very well, and the knowledge inside is invaluable. If you like the layout and what it has to offer, feel free to subscribe.

It's here, it's published, and I hope that those who get this journal will find some nuggets of gold in what I wrote. If asked how I came to my conclusions, I can only say that I took the theory I learned, mixed it into the research that was out there, and then added a good dose of "Life-Systems Engineering Science" that I have learned from Brian Peskin and my best friend Khanada (of YES Supplements and PEO (formerly called EFA) fame) to come up with something that I believe would really work IN THE REAL WORLD.

Have a great business day!

Cam

Mammanomics: How to get screwed in the global kitchen

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:48:37 GMT

This morning I saw a very interesting topic on the news: Japan has a butter shortage!

My first thought was to write a post about this. Before I could get to it, Rob sent me an equally interesting link on the first recession ever that Starbucks is facing. You can read the article Rob sent me a link to, "The First Starbucks Recession" by the wonderfully propagandized news reporter TIME/CNN .

In all honesty I don't like Starbucks coffee. It IS too bitter, exactly as the author of the article said at the end of his commentary. And in all honesty, even though The Starbucks CEO Schultz claims McD's coffee is "less than satisfactory" (he was quoted using the word "swill"), I have found that here in Japan, McDonald's Premium Roast is FAR BETTER than Starbucks' brewed coffee which is, in my opinion, "burned toast". They burn the shit out of their beans which leaves a horridly strong acidic aftertaste in the mouth. Sure, it works for latte's but not all of us want to dope ourselves up on cow hormones and get massive carb-induced sleepies (yes, milk is a BIG carb) from it.

And soy latte's? HAHAHAHA. I've talked about how bad for us soy is, so you won't find me drinking that stuff! I have tried all cream latte's, but although I love the taste of cream, a grande cream sat like a huge lump of curds in my tummy and just rolled around there, making me feel ill. So I try the variety of brewed coffees and other "watered down shots" and stuff, but still, they are all too burned in flavour for my "Italian roast spoiled tastebuds". (Yes, it is true, the espresso in Italy is infinitely tastier than that at Starbucks).

What I DO like about Starbucks is the atmosphere, a LOT. McDonalds sucks for "atmosphere" and the other coffee shops here are all smoke filled dingy dens, even if they do try to compete with Starbucks. Ugh. But the problem is as the Fox explained, the USA is soooo hard hit by deficit and "middle class cleansing" that the masses (the poor and the rich are at the opposite ends of the economic bell curve) simply cannot afford five bucks a cup!

If you read that article, I think you will see that Schultz is not entirely on the mark with his assessment, because he is not taking into account that North Americans (Americans specifically) simply DO NOT HAVE THE CASH to go in for the "five bucks" on a regular basis anymore, and it is only getting worse.

"We Japanese" learned through our 15 year repression all about becoming "recessioned". Now it's time for America and their big companies to feel the pinch along with all the consumers who may want to buy a "five bucks" but simply cannot...

Back to my main topic of the day: butter and the amazing shortage in Japan!

This is an easy lesson on global economics and even a "house mom" who gets sleepy at simply hearing the word "economics" should perk up her ears at this topic because it really DOES affect the household, the family and a whole lot more.

It seems that Japan has basically "run out of butter" Yep. It was on the news this morning. It is a massive deficit of that creamy goodness stuff that goes in everything from the croissants and delicious breads the Japanese are maniacs for, to the buttery smoothness of tonkotsu raamen! The patisserie's are getting a fraction of what they need, or none at all. Schools have been forced to change school lunches because they can't get the breads they were using. Prices are rising, demand is strong... but there is NO SUPPLY.

What happened?

Economics.

Global Economics to be more specific.

FRIKKIN GLOBALIZATION if you want to know the truth! Globalization in all its glory that the economists and governments and businesses completely ignore when they make their decisions to cut costs by "going global" and importing products and services from overseas based solely on "price competition".

Yep. Big business really screwed up this time, and it looks like it's going to take a long time to fix this mess.

It is a serious problem.

In the past, prices for milk in Japan started to go up. So butter manufacturers decided to buy from India and China. Well, guess what happened out there? Their GDP (income) has increased dramatically, and they are demanding more milk-related products, more grain-related products, more "obesity-related carbohydrates" just like we in the west. They are following on our heels quickly. But because their population is so vastly ginormous compared to ours in the west and here in Japan, the demand for these "new foods" like dairy, cheese in China which was until recently shunned as "not fit for human consumption" has created a giant vortex in the production so that prices have skyrocketed out there, as supply gets all sucked up.

I can't blame this entirely on "out there" of course, because the consumption of "designer breads and pastries" as well as cheese products is skyrocketing here as well, eating up huge amounts of milk products before it ever gets turned into butter (the last thing on the milk-product food chain to be made).

In the past Japan was buying a ton of milk from China and India to meet the demand, and throwing out the more expensive Japanese milk because nobody here would buy it at the high prices. Then prices out there went up as it does when more people want something (that was the economics lesson by the way, right there), and they stopped using the foreign milk.

So the companies that produce butter have tried to return to using the now "cheaper" Japanese milk, but because they stopped using the J-Milk processors and dairy farms here a lot of dairies went teats up. So guess what that means? It means that now there is not enough supply here in Japan to be shunted off for butter production and for the first time ever, there is a SERIOUS shortage of butter. This is causing major problems across the land here, and not just in the home kitchen, but in retail as well.

So, thanks to "globalization", we are not only screwing our blue and white collared middle class "bread winners", we are screwing all of the mamma's working hard to feed their children, keep within the budget and try to stay alive amid dwindling salaries, skyrocketing healthcare, and basic loss of position in the social bell curve.

You can read this good article from the Japan Times Online, "Butter supplies running short at supermarkets" , written April 6th. Today, three days later, we are actually at a more dire situation than they let on here, as seen on TV news this morning.

On a final note, I just want to say that I sure hope the Margarine manufacturers don't capitalize on this and "marketize" (brain wash through marketing) the kitchenplace to convince them (again) that margarine is "good for you". It isn't. It's one of the worst things you could EVER put in your mouth. A plastic food that won't ever rot is scary enough, but when you understand how it works on a biochemical level and takes over the receptors that require healthy Essential Fatty Acids that are found in butter, cheeses, proteins, eggs and stuff, and basically prevents the cells from GETTING what they really need... and you begin to see the true health nightmare that "no cholesterol!" margarine has done to our health. It is a true "fake food" not fit for even our worst nightmare enemies and ghouls!

It's lunchtime, and I'm hungry so I'm heading over to the kitchen, going to open up the fridge and enjoy a nice cold slice of delicious (and expensive) designer butter.....

Cam

Biz Talk: Maslow's Hierarchy of Sandwiches

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:02:50 GMT

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology that Abraham Maslow proposed in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation, which he subsequently extended to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity.

Mr. Neuendorf has proposed Maslow's Hierarchy of Sandwiches based upon the "standard" five levels discussed by Abraham Maslow in his "classic" Hierarchy of Needs. I, have come to believe that there should be a new level, a sixth level, in order to further expand upon our needs through life.

As we have moved out of the 20th and into the 21st century, the baby boomers who are now beginning to retire en masse no longer crave the complexities of life and are instead looking to "roll back the clock" to a time where life was simpler. And for this sense of "needs" we must look to a new sandwich to fulfill their desires...

Maslow's Hierarchy of Sandwiches

By Andrew Neuendorf

Stage Six added by Cameron Switzer

- - - -

S T A G E O N E

Mayo and Bread

A subsistence sandwich, strictly for survival. The foundational food of the penniless poet who must silence the Sturm und Drang of the stomach long enough to contemplate where his next check will come from. The staple sandwich of the sociopath who maintains an ascetic lifestyle, keeping only two ingredients in his refrigerator while scrapbooking thousands of photos of as-of-yet-unspoken-to neighbors. Also, the prized sandwich of the mother of 14 on food stamps.

S T A G E T W O

Bologna Sandwich

When enough financial security has been achieved, meat can be slapped on top of what was previously a rudimentary meal. The newfound protein generates enough energy to stabilize and secure one's lifestyle. Bologna is the sandwich for budget-conscious lower-class and lower-middle-class folks who can feed their children pseudomeat while saving time on meal prep and avoiding the high prices of cooking gas.

S T A G E T H R E E

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Once stability arrives, people naturally pine for the comfort and intimacy offered by relationships. Few things belong together like peanut butter and jelly, which, when placed face to face, meld like an almost sexual union of opposites. Sticky and sweet no longer compete, but instead congeal into a mortar that warms the roof of the mouth while plugging the gaps in the heart's levee. The snack sandwich a giggling brother and sister share after Mom has cut off the crusts.

S T A G E F O U R

Reuben

Social and familial bonding, though important foundations, can only take people so far. Enter the Reuben, which fuels esteem and self-worth with its layered, corn-fed meats and melted cheeses. The sandwich sizzles on the grill like a Dionysian figure keeping his cool as he skates across Hades' fiery lake. The Reuben is so confident that it sports sauerkraut without fear of reprisal from finicky eaters. The sandwich for self-composed delicatessen-goers who order and eat while selling stocks on cell-phone headsets and slipping business cards into the pockets of attractive people 20 years their junior.

S T A G E F I V E

Muffuletta

When the needs provided by conventional sandwiches have all been satisfied, people begin to seek the whole loaf, which is ample enough to support a complex amalgam of ingredients, including layers of provolone, salami, and ham. Additionally, the muffuletta's olive-salad spread, a mixture of 13 ingredients, unites and surrounds the meat and cheese like a salty oversoul. A product of America's melting pot, the muffuletta is a global sandwich large enough to feed a table full of hungry immigrants who can set aside their differences and break bread in recognition of their common humanity. The muffuletta does not exist as a result of the stomach's emptiness, but was born from the fullness found deep inside us all.

S T A G E S I X

BLT

In Stage 6, the good life finally blends with the desire for the austere simplicity of our youth. The trials and tribulations of a hard life achieved, while facing the stresses of a dysfunctional social network that rewards not the hard working, but the unscrupulous have taken a toll on those who "have everything". Life is finally slowing down, but in a beautiful sunset sort of way where the last rays of sunshine burst forth before the crisp cool night envelopes the world. In order to provide this "soulful regeneration" into the later ages of the golden life in which we have lived, we no longer require the fulfilling muffuletta richness, but instead deem simplicity and austerity as the purest form one can attain.

This would be STAGE SIX, and it would be expressed through the enjoyment of a bacon lettuce and tomato (BLT) sandwich, consisting of delicious crispy full-bodied bacon otherwise known as "food of the gods" between two slices of whole-wheat toast slathered in the mayonnaise of our youth to remind one of the good times enjoyed "just surviving". Add to that the zing of a thickly sliced piece of fresh tomato and some crispy lettuce. Top it off with a bit of salt and pepper to bring back the nostalgia of the former "spice of life" years and you have the perfect sandwich to enjoy through the much deserved golden era of life.

Biz Talk: Meandering Through Carbon Offset Fantasies

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:07:22 GMT

My friend Rob just wrote today a very good blog about the recent Prius Bashing that seems to constantly go around. Apparently (I didn't know this, but that's not surprising since he seems to know billions and billions of bits of information more than I do) there is a "Dust to Dust" report that compares the "total running costs" to the environment of a Toyota Prius to a Hummer and concludes that the Hummer is more efficient and better on the environment.

You can read the entire blog, entitled Cars here, and I recommend it. It's interesting, to say the least, especially because Dunnster always finds the most interesting controversies to share with us and he never ceases to amaze me.

As often happens to me when I have a bit of time to ponder, I started writing a comment. And then I edited it, and wrote some more, and some more and the next thing I knew it was a blog-in-a-blog. So, I extracted it from there, and decided to write it here instead so as not to take up too much space on his site. I'll go back and link this blog to my comment so those reading his excellent blog can pop over here if they wish to see my thoughts.

I know there are pros and cons to the system of businesses, industries, countries buying "carbon offset coupons", but if that money collected is actually USED for the improvement of CO2 reduction in some way, and not just considered a profit that goes back into the pockets of the investors, I think it could work.

If such were the case then it would be interesting I think, if individuals could do their part by purchasing environmentally-friendlier vehicles and at the same time a portion of their purchase price would be allotted to their receipt of carbon-offset coupons. This doesn't necessarily mean that the profits of the company have to decrease. If we were conscientious buyers, and wanted to buy into this system (after understanding it), then adding to the sticker price the option of purchasing carbon offset coupons when buying the vehicle would be a nice extra option, I feel.

The company could issue specific coupons in paper form, just as if we bought securities, that could be saved, traded, bought or sold openly on the market at market values, and it could become a new commodity that would be born every time we decided to invest in the improvement of the environment. Why not? If countries can print money and make it appear out of thin air, why not print "enviros" that can be used with other businesses as "points" for reducing future prices of other environmentally-friendly purchases? I like the concept. I'd buy into it.

It's just like when you purchase books from Amazon you get points that you can use to reduce your costs for future purchases. Why not be able to purchase carbon-offset enviros that would act in the same function and could be redeemed for discounts when purchasing certain products or services that were recognized to be produced by organizations who were doing their part in developing more environmentally-friendly goods?

Yes, we can change our light bulbs, drive less, turn off the lights, use less bottled water, turn our dishwater temperature down, stop using weed killer, reduce our plastic consumption, buy recycled tires, and more. No doubt there is a huge amount we as individuals can already do (and should be). I was shocked when I visited Bob in Asheville (where everyone buys "organic") to find out that ALL of their trash (glass, bottles, plastic, food, paper, everything) all goes out in one bag to the dump - shocked I tell you!

As I learned when my former company was applying for ISO14001 and we were studying about it, there is only so much reduction you can do before you can't do any more. It doesn't make sense to "suffer" to save the world, because that is not our lot in life. We should be able to prosper while working to improve the environment, and profit from it at the same time.

To actually be able to purchase more carbon offset (on a voluntary basis), would be an excellent way for those really interested in serving the environment further, those who have done all they can to reduce but still want to do more and not suffer from it (i.e. never use electricity), to do so.

How about this radical idea: Instead of paying a tithe to the church, don't you think "God" might prefer to see us keep our globe operating at a healthier level by buying carbon offset coupons? I'd like to think so.

When I was in Asheville, NC, I was looking into renting a car. One company (Alamo, I think) allowed us to choose a "carbon offset plan" which billed an extra $1.25/day for carbon offset. On the surface it looked like a good idea, but there was nowhere I could find in the site that told me where that extra money was going. Did Alamo plan to make us feel good by letting us "buy carbon offset", and in reality it was just going to go into their coffers? Or did they have a plan where they were using it to purchase offset coupons as a means to decrease their exhaust output on a "carbon-based basis"? I couldn't find so I didn't purchase. But I seriously considered choosing that over the other vehicles, even if it meant paying a little more per day. IF that money was going to true carbon offset in some way, and had it been explained, I would have paid extra to do my part on that scale.

So I think there is potential here for such a system for the individuals, and I hope that it eventually gets implemented in creative ways (not "creative accounting ways") that we, the boys and girls in the street can do just a little bit more to do our part. It's time to stop complaining about the destruction of our planet and start acting. All complaining does is bring back more destruction upon us; it serves no positive constructive purpose. If you believe that the energy you transmit out to the Universe comes back multiplied, what is the use of sending out negative energy? We need to act, to show our positive intent in order for that positive ripple to turn into a tsunami of change, rather than a tsunami of destructive force.

I think that the automakers could really lobby for a movement in this direction if they aren't already doing so and it would, in turn, be a good marketing tool for the environmentally conscious, as well as assist them to design and develop more models that have the energy-saving, or energy-replenishing concepts. After all, the faster they can get these new tech vehicles down in price to the mass-market price point, the faster we will all be able to switch over and make petroleum a "resource of the passed".

Couldn't Amazon.world find some creative way to introduce this into their point system? They have a monstrously successful business model with phenomenal logistics. I think that they probably could. Then for those of us who want to buy books online, Amazon.world could be our environmentally friendly choice which might give them a competitive advantage over other online bookstores (not for long, of course). I think they could do it, if they sat down with creative minds and worked it out. I would most definitely buy into that since I like this company already! (two books just arrived today, Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" and a Japanese novel for Mayu.)

But having said so, I don't think it would be good to be passed as a "carbon offset tax" where everyone was forced to do their part. Sure, it would force people to change their habits (one of the outcomes on economics as we know is to change habits by levying taxes and tolls, not just to make more money), having it as OPTIONAL would allow those who can to do so with a conscious mind, and those who were not at a point in their lives to do so, would not need to feel angry that their "hard-earned dollar" was being taxed even further for something they may not believe in. And it wouldn't be forcing people to do something they weren't ready for, so they would not need to feel resentment toward it.

Not everyone would go for this, and that's fine. Those that want to, should be able to do so, and those that don't, really shouldn't be forced. Not yet anyway. Maybe in the future when it needs to be forced if we are at such a point of global environmental crisis, but I would prefer to think that as people become more aware, they realize the merits of this system and come on board on their own accord, and with their own understanding and desire to do so. So much more can be accomplished when you WANT to do it, rather than when you are FORCED to do it against your will. "How much can I give for a dollar" as opposed to "How much can I take for a dollar", is a similar analogy.

Cam

Biztalk: Cutting Edge Customer Service

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 05:04:38 GMT

The other day I had a product failure.
The company took care of it.
Extremely quickly.
I'm a happy customer.

*****

Cutting Edge Customer Service

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBcgEzEFVdU

*****

No matter where I am, I always try to see people around me as "customers". This allows me to treat them with the courtesy and respect they deserve and it helps me to appreciate their efforts on a deeper level.

Cam

How NOT to run an Email Campaign

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:22:59 GMT

In any venture, whether it be business, politics, government, whatever, the proper use of marketing tools is essential. Email is probably the single best way to reach out to nearly everyone on the planet who is wired into the Internet.

Marketers know this, but do they know how to maximize their potential returns (ROI) utilizing this high-powered marketing tool? It seems like the marketing teams for the U.S. presidential candidates could use a few basic pointers.

For those of you interested in learning how to improve your return on investment in marketing (SOHOs, private business owners, small, medium, even big-business readers), take a look at this independent study which utilizes industry-standard business e-mail marketing tactics as a benchmark and compares the email campaigns of Obama, Clinton, Romney, McCain, Edwards and Huckabee to see how they measure up.

Why the presidential candidates flunked the email test

All of the presidential candidates fail to make the grade.

Don't be a failure in your email marketing campaigns; learn from their mistakes. Take a few minutes to read this article (set to printer friendly page to reduce your click-thru time) to see if you can improve your own returns.

Cameron

The Domain of Frustrations

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:24:29 GMT

How many of you have your own domains? I know that it's pretty much a thing of the past to have your own website that is not a blog. I have two: japanippon.com and intrmarketsolutions.com. I actually have a third one, globalizedlove.net but I haven't really gotten around to figuring out how to use that for the original goal we GLCites had in mind.

These days, people purchase their own domains so that they can link blogs to the domain and have a presence in that sense, on the internet. In the old days, we made websites! My Japanippon.com houses a LOT of my life from about 1997 to when blogging became easy: 2005. It is also the domain holding all of my private POP3 email addresses. If I ever lost that domain for any reason, I would be inconvenienced (a lot), but it wouldn't be the end of the world.

My work domain, intrmarketsolutions.com houses my website (looks nice, but doesn't bring in any revenue), income-related email as well as is-linked to various other important things like paypal, and more. If I lost this one, I think I would lose considerably more time setting up something else that all of my clients and vendors could get me at.

I'm in a bit of a bind, you see.

For the past year, the service provider (Hyperhosting.com) that I have been with since almost the beginning, has stopped responding to any of my emails or trouble tickets. Their systems and servers seem to crash semi-regularly and it can take up to a week before it starts running again. That translates to a week of not being able to send or receive any emails. Nothing outside of the webmail addresses which I don't like to use as they are not "professional" for work. I also don't really like working through a web-based interface. I much prefer my Outlook Express interface (or Thunderbird, or whatever).

It is time to move away from Hyperhosting, but since Todd doesn't reply to any of my emergency messages (from my Yahoo Mail or any mail for that matter), telling him that the servers have crashed again, and that I do NOT want him to charge my credit card for another year of service, and that I want to leave his services as soon as my year is out... He doesn't seem to be there at all!

I recently had an incident where I needed to update my address on my domain names (a headache in itself when things run smoothly at best) but because he never gave me the domain name registrar account login password, I was not able to make the changes! I had to battle with the top-level registrar to get them to do the work for me because their wholesaler (Hyperhosting) simply was not replying to my pleas. We got that settled.

While I was away in the USA their servers crashed for a week. Now they are down again. My websites don't exist in this situation, and in fact, hyperhosting.com doesn't exist either!

Yesterday when I was up at 4am I was looking around for new companies to switch to. This morning at 3am when I awoke, I was doing more research to find something semi-reliable (anybody know of any ultrafantastic ones?) that I could transfer to.

It was then that I realized that in order to make the transfer I need an Authorization Code from.... guess who? My current service provider: Hyperhosting! And guess what? They aren't responding to any communication!!!!!

It gets better, though. Near the end of March one domain will expire. Near the end of April the other domain will expire. I need to renew them. I cannot renew them at some other place unless I transfer the domains to some other place. And I have no idea if Hyperhosting would even be around to bill my credit card the amount for the 1year domain registration that I need to do!

Oh, and I also discovered that if you have less than one month left on your domain before expiration, most companies will not allow you to transfer to them! Isn't that cool?

This may be one of the reasons why I am still waking up at 3am, wide awake, and unable to go back to sleep. My brain seems to be going crazy trying to solve this puzzle.

Hyperhosting USED TO BE good. That was why I stuck with them for so long. But the last couple of years they seem to have gone down... and they are taking my domains (and my livelihood) with them and there seems to be very little to anything at all that I can do about it.

Have any of you experienced the "wonders" of struggling through domain renewals, changes and transfers? I certainly hope not!

Here is the worst-case scenario: Hypehosting disappears, and I cannot get an authorization code to allow me to make a transfer of my domains to someone else who can renew my domains. The domains expire. They die. I lose them.

What will I do?

I can let Japanippon.com go to the grave; it has had a loooong life and I have been very happy with it. Intrmarketsolutions.com I guess.. I can start fresh by making a new domain name or buying it back 90 days after it has sat dormant, and unaccessible. It would mean a lot of work rebuilding my online presence and my communication for business (i.e. my livelihood), but it's not the end of the world.

Right?

I love you!

Go hug someone today.

Cam

P.S. The moral of this story (my interpretation of it) is that even good companies with great service can forget their roots, and become bad companies. Don't ever become one of those good companies gone bad.

Biz Talk: Giving Reasons Makes a Difference

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 23:13:01 GMT

Today's Helpful Hint from "the bird's beak" came at a very interesting time. My best friend Carrie has just written a blog talking about how a friend of hers wrote a blog re. the book she has written and is collecting donations to help get it published.

The book talks about the grief of losing her son Rolando. Carrie hopes it will be inspirational to parents around the world suffering similar grief due to the loss of a child.

The purpose of her friend's post was to help give Carrie some blog-support/publicity so that Carrie can reach her goal of an additional $500 in funds. When she reaches $1,000 there will be an equal donation of the final $1,000 from an institution. This will give her enough to have her book published and she will be able to put it on sale.

Apparently someone wrote to her friend and suggested that Rolando's death might just be a scam for her to collect money from everyone. Those of you reading this may be shocked because you know the truth is really out there (and yes, even I has to admit that an April 1st murder really is an "out there" truth!). We know it isn't a scam, but your "average Joe Skeptic" who still thinks that all internet bloggers are really internet axe murderers looking to "get into your virtual pants", and then murder you if you ever dare even consider meeting someone from the 'net, likely does not understand.

In this world in which we live, there is so much deceit (there always has been), but even more so, now that communities and society in general is suffering a complete breakdown. Along with all the global barriers and walls of misfortune that have come down thanks to basically the internet and the failed dot.com bubble in the late 80's, paving the way to instant, CHEAP, global communication, came down some of the "good" walls, that kept us safe and sound in our tightly-knit communities.

This cannot be denied, and I am watching society fall apart even now in Japan at an incredibly accelerated pace (Japan is always slow to start, but superfast when the ball gets rolling). It is frightening to know in advance what the outcome will be (can you say, "follow the leader", or the "lemming effect"?)

Without any reason, most people these days who don't know our Globalized Love Community and what we are striving to bring to the world "one soul at a time" WOULD probably consider this "just another scam". Heck, there were people that questioned the Cam2PR Kayak.Wedding Fund drive that we all participated in 2007 for getting me (and Rolando's dragon, "Ama no Ryu") to Carrie's wedding.

I am here to tell you it is not a scam, but a very noble effort on the part of a woman who will grieve for the loss of her child for the rest of her life to try to bring some peace, love, support and happiness to others in a similar situation. Now THAT is what Globalized LOVE is all about!

I was constantly explaining, reassuring, describing, developing, offering different ways to understand what we were doing with the Cam2PR Fund, where we were going and why we were doing this for "non real friends" (as the skeptics like to think of us - I have to laugh at that). I was constantly working my ass off (publicly and behind the scenes) so that people did not think it was a scam.

And you know what?

It paid off.

With HUGE rewards.

At least I think that Carrie will agree it paid off.

And I'll bet that most of you will agree as well.

The return on our investment was more than any CEO from a "hot new company" could ever get for his investors. Bar none.

You can't get the kinds of returns that we got from our investment (and continue to reap those rewards) if you do not understand the Globalized Love concept.

How does this relate to the "Reason-Why" copy of the Bird's Beak Helpful Hints?

I think once you read his helpful hints, you will see why.

Keep up the good work, everyone! Spread our Globalized Love Community (GLC) far and wide as much as you can! Work relentlessly to explain it to the disbelievers and try to sway their skeptical minds because you know as well as I do, that when you start to really feel how good it is to be loved and trusted unconditionally by our GLC, ALL of the barriers to community that were put up to block us from being the social creatures that we really are, come crashing down in an instant! And what lacks for "community" in the neighbourhoods, the streets, and districts in which we live, we are re-creating right here.

Right now.

One soul at a time.

I love you!

Cam

P.S. And yes, I too have an ulterior motive to all of this: hopefully some of you will read this, follow the links and help Carrie spread her healing touch to those out there not connected to this GLC through the blogs, but suffering still. We NEED to reach out. I hope you will, too. I do love you!

P.P.S. I think you can see that these hints (or the way I "translate" them into "cammyspeak") apply to far more than just "business"; they apply to LIFE. So use them whenever you can to enrich your life and become wealthy beyond your wildest dreams!

One more thing. If you are wondering why I have all these periods between paragraphs, it is because a year ago, when Yahoo did an upgrade, their formatting went berserk. Now, when we type something in another program and cut and paste, all of the paragraph carriage returns get deleted. In order to maintain the break, it requires putting a character in the space. Silly, I know. But it is one of the many things that Yahoo did wrong which led to the demise of this 360 popularity. Live and learn. I asked them over and over again. And you know what? They never gave me a reason.

**********************

Drayton Bird's "Helpful idea no16: 'Reason-why' copy"

Hi Cameron,
.
Maybe you saw it, maybe not, but on a TV show years ago a man was giving away genuine £5 notes on Waterloo Bridge.
.
Nobody would take them. They all thought there must be a catch.
.
That true story leads me to talk about what may be the simplest, most powerful persuasive technique there is.
.
It's over 150 years old. It's called "reason-why" copy and it works like a charm - yet I've ignored it so far.
.
Let me explain why.
.
When I first started this series perhaps you said to yourself, "Drayton seems an extraordinarily helpful soul. I wonder why?"
.
But you're not stupid, Cameron - and you're a marketer. You quickly twigged that I send you these little suggestions because I have an ulterior motive.
.
I hope that you - or someone you know - will have a problem one day and think of us. I didn't expect you to leap up after three messages and say "Get me those Drayton Bird people" because you don't need help every day. .
But when you do perhaps you'll think of us.
.
I didn't even bother to explain what I was doing, because I was pretty sure you knew.
.
But the average customer is nothing like you. You're familiar with marketing techniques. You know what I'm up to. They don't - or at any rate not many of them do.
.
So when writing to the average prospect ninety nine times out of a hundred I would be wrong not to give a "reason why". It is one of the most powerful persuasive levers you can have working for you.
.
Yet how often do you see marketers explain why they are making a wonderful offer? Do they realize that whilst few customers are geniuses, most are suspicious. and the more seductive the offer, the more suspicious they tend to be - like those people who refused the £5 notes.
.
And the best way to allay their suspicions is a secret weapon called the truth, which is the basis of "reason why" copy.
.
The idea was developed in the middle of the 19th century by a man called John E. Powers.
.
His great discovery was that if you give people a reason for what you are saying they are more likely to be swayed by your arguments.
.
Powers was so honest that one of his employers, John Wanamaker, founder of the great Chicago department store, eventually fired him, exasperated by copy such as: "We have a lot of rotten raincoats that we want to get rid of." Or, "(The neckties) are not as good as they look but they are good enough - 25 cents."
.
You may ask yourself: does this advertising archaeology have any relevance today? The answer is an emphatic "Yes". Even today, few advertisers appreciate the importance of giving a reason why.
.
Suppose you are planning a sale. You do much better if you give a reason for it. 'Closing Down Sale' is more convincing that 'Sale'. People think if you are closing down you really do have to sell off your stock cheaply.
.
So that's today's helpful hint - No 16.
.
Tomorrow I will make you an offer you may find hard to refuse if you need better results - and you can be sure I'll give you a reason why!
.
Best,
Drayton
.
Drayton Bird Associates, 32 Newman Street, London, England, W1T 1PU, UK.

Biz Talk: Cam Switzer's Helpful Hints # 469.2b - Over the top customer support

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 02:51:53 GMT

Today I received another marketing helpful hint email from that Drayton Bird guy over in the U.K. I enjoy them. This one explains why giving a reason for why you are offering something helps people to understand, and can increase your results. It's true.

For example, when you see a big sign that says, "Sale! All items 22.46% - 73.8% OFF!" , don't you think to yourself, "Why are they putting it on sale? They won't just do a sale to lose money selling their products so they must obviously be STILL making money even if it is 73.8% off!" I sure do.

But if I see a sign that says, "Going out of business Sale! All items 22.46% - 73.8% OFF!" immediately my paradigm shifts and I look at it in a different light, thinking, "They HAVE to sell their stuff off because they need to liquidate all their stock and recover capital as best they can." (And if they didn't go out of business after that sale, they sure would due to word of "badmouth").

A while back I wrote to Drayton and asked him if I could use his vignettes to share with you in my blogs and maybe give some of you doing business some extra little hints. Of course me, being me (just as I am doing now), I could never just copy and paste it in without some teeeny introduction on my part, relating it to the experiences in my life, and how I see business. He never responded. And believe me, I waited.

So today, when I was reminded of this marketing faux-pas by a marketer, consultant who should have known better, I sent him the following email. Let's see if he replies, shall we?

(I'll put in today's Helpful Hint after this blog, with my introduction and what it got me thinking about.)

Have a great day!

I love you!

Cam

P.S. Last night after midnight one of my customers sent me some editing requests for today. I responded immediately because I knew she was there, and also because I knew that if she was sending me work that late in the evening it was obviously important enough to require a late-night reply. And had I been in bed at the time, and gotten up for a 3am pee, I would have replied. Why? Because I believe in "over the top" customer support. And a "customer" does not just mean from a money-making venture; it means (in cammypedia.org) anyone connected to me in any way.

***********************

.
.
Drayton,
.
Thanks for the hints. I enjoy reading them. I often refer to them on my business and private blogs (and yes, I include your name and a link and give you the credit, except for the introduction and the lead in which relates to my life experiences and business philosophy).
.
Today's hint for YOU relates to an email I sent you a while back. You had asked us to drop you a line and let us know if there was anything.... etc.
.
I did.
.
You never replied.
.
A non-reply to a customer can kill a business relationship faster than a defective product. Why? Everyone knows that nothing is 100% perfect, and even the best product can have defects. Those problems are easy to solve. But when you ignore a customer's inquiry, you are basically saying, "I don't think you are worth my efforts." And as soon as you do that, even if you offer the best products at the cheapest price you will not only fail to retain that client, you will lose a LOT more clients due to the snowball effect of viral marketing: word of "badmouth".
.
In this day and age of globalization, all products are approaching equilibrium at a faster pace than ever before. Barriers to entry are getting lower and lower which means that the number of players globally competing for your product can increase at a much faster rate than ever before. This means that even new products and services have very little time before the "infinite" competition drives your profits (and theirs) down to zero and makes the products extremely attractive to consumers.
.
When this happens, it doesn't matter anymore how great your product is, or how fantastic your price is because the competition will be right on your heels. And if they offer even one Yen cheaper, and you have nothing else to retain them, you have lost.
.
This is why it is essential to retain those clients with "over the top" customer support and service in the HR (Human Relations, not Human Resources) department. It is, in fact, close to the only thing left that offers a competitive advantage (that and the accumulated wealth of knowledge among all employees in a company).
.
Now I'm a very positive guy and I have a lot of tenacity which is why I overlooked that little glitch in your marketing system. I also know that maybe you didn't receive my email, although that is doubtful.
.
So, let's give it a second chance and test the Drayton Bird Associates quality for "over the top customer support", shall we?
.
The clock is ticking.....
.
Have a great day over in the U.K. I enjoy your little hint vignettes.
.
Cam Switzer
Intrmarket Solutions
www.intrmarketsolutions.com

Judging Marketing Creativity: The Boring Way

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:38:13 GMT

Somehow some guy named Drayton Bird has started sending me email marketing hints. I don't complain, though because they are short, and usually when my brain is working, I can get something out of them.

Today's Marketing hint discusses the importance of making the message clear and concise to avoid losing clients through otherwise ambiguous advertising. This happens all too often in the advertising world, so if you have any interest in "marketing it yourself" you may want to keep these things in mind when you run your next marketizing campaign, be it small or large scale.

I see a LOT of Japanese TV advertising in the mornings because my wife turns on the TV as soon as she gets up and leaves it on until she has her coffee after breakfast. She claims she needs the TV "news" to be able to have conversations with her coworkers and friends.

What I see more than the propagandized "opinionated news", is a LOT of commercials that make absolutely no sense to me. Now of course they aren't targeting a 40 something, tall, white, Canadian market segment, but I would like to think that after being here for nearly two decades, I should be able to appreciate the commercials (CM). I don't. They are extremely glitzy, and often very wild indeed. Were I to be judging a lot of these commercials, I would have to say that they fall out of most of the hints that Mr. Bird suggests below.

But then again, what do I know? I'm just a gaijin barbarian in a foreign land, right?

Here is the newsletter for you to read, edited to suit my tastes. I can't imagine I'm going to hear a little birdy complaining too much since he never bothered to respond to an email I sent him a month or more back. Funny how that works, don't you think?

Cam Switzer

**********************

Do you have to judge creative work, Cameron ?

Bloody hard, isn't it?

So maybe you're not that amazed at some of the weird stuff that emerges.

Do you recall an old TV campaign for Barclays? It must have cost millions, and featured Samuel L. Jackson walking though the country accompanied by a most appealing pig.

Being a bit thick, I didn't see what this had to do with banking.

So I asked an audience of 1,500 salespeople if they thought it would persuade a single person to switch to Barclays. One person did. Most of the rest thought it would do nothing - or actually lose customers.

Then I asked a class of marketing students what they thought. Not one could even understand it - and even if they had, the most lucrative customers for any bank are middle-aged or older.

To be honest, I wonder if those who created or approved the ad had any idea what makes advertising persuade and sell. I imagine they just fancied the idea of meeting and working with Mr. Jackson. Or maybe they just liked pigs.

Nothing changes. Now Barclays runs guff like "the hole in the wall" and deeply embarrassing stuff about their staff outside their banks. Trying to be matey and friendly, I imagine.

What do you want from your bank? I know one Barclays customer very well. She just wishes they could be vaguely efficient from time to time. No signs of that, though.

Enough! Here is today's helpful idea.

For more years than I care to contemplate I have tried to determine what makes messages sell. Not based on my opinion, but on all the available research and testing.

So here's a checklist based on what I learned you must look for if you want to sell.

A quick creative checklist:

1. The opening must quickly offer or clearly imply a clear, strong benefit.

2. Is everything instantly clear. If it's funny, clever or obscure - beware.

3. Unless you give every sensible reason to buy, answer obvious questions, overcome all reasonable objections, you'll lose sales.

4. Is what you sell fully, clearly described?

5. Is the tone right? Don't be funny about serious things (eg, charity, business or money)

6. Show it to someone uninvolved, preferably a likely prospect. Ask if they understand it - and if they would buy

7. Do you prove your claim is true? Testimonials? Independent figures?

8. Do you ask firmly enough for a reply, tell people precisely what to do? Repeat your arguments at that point.

9. Is the coupon, order form or request to reply big enough, clear, simple and easy to use?

10. Read the copy aloud. Does it sound like someone talking? Good!

You may find using this check-list a bit of bore. But a lot less boring than stuff that flops.

Because if you want to sell, you'll find that some, perhaps many of your messages miss one or more of the points above. And if you look out for them I promise you will improve your results - perhaps so much it will surprise you.

By the way, the principles are similar, but not identical, in advertising not designed to sell immediately, which usually (but not always) has less copy. And usually (but not always) would be a damn sight better if it did try to sell immediately.

Drayton Bird Associates, 32 Newman Street, London, England, W1T 1PU, UK.