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Like an eSilverBullet to the Heart of Online Affiliate CRM

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Anyone who has done affiliate marketing can agree that keeping track of online publishers, affiliate networks, and numerous advertisers–across multiple platforms can be a nightmare. Although it’s not especially common to hear online affiliates talk about how they keep track of the different customers and clients that they interface with in their daily crusades throughout cyber-space, one can only ask why we haven’t heard about it sooner?

I recently came across eSilverBullet, which I think has a great solution for online affiliate crm. You can track prospective advertisers and prospective publishers… It’s packed with different online affiliate crm features. The list below breaks down their different packages, although as you can see, it is extremely packed with features, each of which has more information about it on their website.
• Import/Export Simplicity: Quickly import contact information.
• Live Contact Data: Let your contacts update their information for you.
• Task Master: Let’s you stay focused on your to-do list.
• Powerful Prospecting: provides professional grade prospecting tools.
• Sales Management: Provides integrated tools to map the sales process and close the deal.
• Account Differentiation: Manage publishers, advertisers and networks as separate customer types.
• Fast Searches: allows you find what you’re looking for in seconds.
• Communication Logs: Keep a record of calls, meetings, emails, notes and tasks in one location.
• Network Affiliations: Know who is running on what networks.
• Market Verticals: Segregate your advertisers or publishers by market.
• Mobile Access: Access contact information on your phone.
Standard Package Includes:
• Institutional Knowledge Retention: Prevents your customer list and conversation history from walking away.
• Intra-office Coordination: Allows you to divide tasks among coworkers.
• Program Management: Keep a record of your advertiser’s campaigns.
• Digital Filing: Attach agreements, insertion orders, W-9s, etc. to contacts.
• Easy Email: Enjoy one-click emailing at the contact level
• Email Templates: Stop wasting time rewriting email messages.
Premium Package Includes:
• Email Blasts: Send effective email campaigns to multiple recipients.
• Effortless Follow-ups: Automate follow-up communications with your contacts and prospects.
• Custom Configuration: Create your own data fields and tabs.

Of course eSilverBullet is coming out with another great tool for online affiliate marketers: Tracking Statistics Aggregation. This tool will allow customers to pull tracking data from multiple networks and tracking systems into a single report… Cool cool.

They’ve got a free download on their website http://esilverbullet.com for a trial package. It takes less than a minute to get in and start test-driving things and see what you think.

Their may be no panacea to affiliate marketing… but is there a silver-bullet?

MY911 LIFE SAVING APP

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In today’s fast-paced world of GPS enabled devices, the possibilities for life-saving technologies available for the everyday consumer have never been more accessible. Much like On-star provides real-time information regarding your vehicle’s status, MY911 will constantly ping your location and status information to the MY-911 platform. While my911 can certainly be used as an AVL like onstar, (although additional (very affordable) hardware is needed), it provides the convenience and flexibility of going wherever your smart phone can get reception!

At first when you look at all of the different options, it can seem overwhelming, but when you remember that you can use them all for the same price, just enjoy the ones you want to use!

Assistance
Accident and Impact Management (patent pending) $10K Abduction Reward
International and National SOS Search and Rescue $30K Coverage
Personal Location Notification Medivac $30k Coverage
24/7 Certified Nurse Line Extensive Online Tracking Management Portal
Roadside Assistance
Geo-Fencing
Weather Alert
Trip Reporting
High Crime Area and Predator Alerts
Speeding Alert
Cyber Alert Notification Management
Incident Tracking and Reporting
Homeland and Travel Status Notification

One of the cool things about this application, is you can go get a 14-day trial to see what it does for yourself.

In order to take full advantage of the software, your smart phone needs to have an accelerometer and a GPS chip.

In a recent conversation I had with the Owner and Founder of My-911, Larry Hurwitz, he confirmed that in addition to the MY911 Android App, the MY911 Blackberry App is up and working, and of course… the “I-911″ version of the MY911 IPhone Application is still on track to be released soon…

Products Change, but Good Service Rarely Does

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I recently reviewed the research work by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry on the Conceptual Model of Service Quality. Their work suggests that regardless of the product or service in question, customers use relatively the same criteria to evaluate the exchange. Although their research was published in the Journal of Marketing in fall of 1985–it may as well have been written in 2010, internet, cell phones and all!

Of course for an organization to take good care of the customers, the employees and workers need to know what that feels like themselves. In other words, for the most part we can step beyond your customers and think about our employees, partners, co-workers etc.

Whether you’re rating on a five star scale, by thumbs up or thumbs down, 1-10, or whatever, the criteria is summarized in the following points:

  • Reliability: Are you delivering what you said you would? Are you doing it over and over? Consistently, accurately?
  • Responsiveness: Are you delivering on time? Are you demonstrating a willingness and readiness to provide the service? What’s the spirit of service you are conveying?
  • Competence: Do you have and can you demonstrate that you have the skills and knowledge to perform the service?
  • Communication: How well do you listen to your customers? How well do you keep them informed?
  • Credibility: Are you believable? Do you demonstrate it in your conversation? Appearance? Marketing?
  • Courtesy: Friendliness of personal. Is the golden rule of treating others the way you want to be treated
  • Access: Are you approachable and easy to contact regarding questions? (In today’s world of emailed customer service queries this can be the most frustrating).
  • Customer Knowledge: Do you speak the customer’s language? Do you really know their needs and objectives?
  • Security: Do your customers feel safe? Can they trust you with their financial information, account confidentiality etc?
  • Tangibles: What physical impressions do you leave with your customers? Appearance and condition/quality of facilities? Reports and inspections etc…

What strikes me about this list is two fold: First, the businesses I know that do this well, do business well.–It’s the open secret of customer service. And Second, well, very few businesses do this well :)

17 Mistakes That Entrepreneurs Make

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John Osher in inarguably one of the most successful entrepreneurs of age. What makes him so successful is his ability to replicate his success. In today’s world where we like things packaged and clearly organized, he has set forth a list of 17 top mistakes, which if avoided would certainly create the “perfect company.”

For those who would like to find a full copy, I recommend this website, for those of you who just want to know what the mistakes are and think you can figure out how to avoid them on your own, I’ve posted a condensed list below:

Mistake 1: Failing to spend enough time researching the business idea to see if it’s viable.
Mistake 2: Miscalculating market size, timing, ease of entry and potential market share.
Mistake 3: Underestimating financial requirements and timing.
Mistake 4: Overprojecting sales volume and timing. Mistake 5: Making cost projections that are too low.
Mistake 6: Hiring too many people and spending too much on offices and facilities.
Mistake 7: Lacking a contingency plan for a shortfall in expectations.
Mistake 8: Bringing in unnecessary partners.
Mistake 9: Hiring for convenience rather than skill requirements.
Mistake 10: Neglecting to manage the entire company as a whole.
Mistake 11: Accepting that it’s “not possible” too easily rather than finding a way.
Mistake 12: Focusing too much on sales volume and company size rather than profit.
Mistake 13: Seeking confirmation of your actions rather than seeking the truth.
Mistake 14: Lacking simplicity in your vision.
Mistake 15: Lacking clarity of your long-term aim and business purpose.
Mistake 16: Lacking focus and identity.
Mistake 17: Lacking an exit strategy.

Top 3 of 25 Student Entrepreneurs

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This past few weeks has been an exciting blur. I recently had the opportunity to participate in the Utah Student 25 Event, where David Kasteler and I placed in Utah’s top 3 student entrepreneurs. Third place isn’t bad for a true social venture to place in a competition like this.

I expect to see more social ventures show up in the future…

It was a lot of fun to see the businesses that were represented there. It was a spectacular event with addresses from the Governor, Steve Gibson, (I’m a big fan of that social entrepreneur), Josh James, and others.

Again congratulations to first and second placers, Taylor Turnbull and Craig Guincho. Both emerging business leaders in the beehive state!
I want to thank everyone who supported and cheered for Worldwide Book Drive!

If it wasn’t for everyone else who made Worldwide Book Drive a reality, it certainly wouldn’t have been able to donate and recycle the millions of books it has to date. Thank you!

BYU Student Entrepreneur Of the Year 2009 (SEOY)

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This past week I, (John Keller) had a great opportunity to participate in the BYU Entrepreneur of the Year event. This is the first time in nearly 5 years that I’ve entered a competition like this. Amid building a number of different businesses, it was a challenge to find the time and focus to put together a compelling argument. I feel extremely blessed with a talented and flexible team at Worldwide Book Drive team and an extremely supportive wife to actually help me pull together.

Hands down, one of the funnest parts of the event was getting to know the other emerging Utah entrepreneurs. Tyler Turnbull and Craig Guincho are both very talented entrepreneurs whom I expect to hear a lot more of in the future.

For a social venture to play an integral part of a entrepreneurship competition in Utah is a great accomplishment. Go Worldwide Book Drive!

Building Utah, 1 Utah Homes at a Time

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It’s always refreshing to hear when new businesses are starting in tumultuous markets. There are few industries that have been hammered worse that real estate. While the Utah real estate market hasn’t been hit near as hard as Arizona or California, there’s no question that it’s seen better days.

New Homes in Utah are being produced by a few very successful builders. A number of elements are contributing to the ability for new home buyers to afford great quality homes at a reasonable cost. Among these factors, reduced access to traditional credit has lowered the cost of sub contractors, building materials and land.

It goes without saying that current market conditions have created the perfect storm for buying a new Utah home. I’ve had the opportunity to see the 1 Utah Homes model from the inside, and the attention to detail, cost and customer service is among the very best of Utah Home Builders.

Premier Data Center Coming to Utah

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Every business that stores, organizes or shares large amounts of digital information, uses a data center in one form or another. Whether in house, (often found in a retrofitted closet or larger room) or outsourced, (just about anyone who has hosted a webpage somewhere has used a data-center space).

With the large amount of Utah Tech Companies growing regularly, it’s no surprise that there is more than one utah data center. However, most data centers in Utah are either extremely old themselves, or retrofitted within an older space. Three general rules for data-center technology is 1) More power 2) More power and 3) You guessed it… More power.

That’s what makes the announcement of Consort so exciting. As a modern data center facility in Utah that offers colocation (ping power pipe, Software as a Service (SAAS), Platform as a Service, (PAAS), this data center will will draw on state of the art architecture built into one of Utah’s premier mixed use developments, The Proscenium. A unique aspect of the location and layout of this data center is that it is situated between two of Utah’s largest and most reliable power grids–Thus ensuring many years of more than enough energy for the data center technology upgrades sure to come.

Named Consort, from the “Consort”ium of experienced businesses coming together to provide this service, this combined entity has experience in both data center and building facilities management. Contributing to safe, secure and carefully managed environment.

For more information, visit the Consort webpage.

Utah Mentor of the Year

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On Tuesday, June 23rd, I had the pleasure and honor of attending the Utah Angel Investor of the year award banquet.

It was fun to see and meet with so many of Utah’s active Angel community. It was also really fun to see them bestow recognition to Greg Warnock as Utah’s Mentor of the Year.

I am certainly one of the myriad of entrepreneurs who have benefited from Greg’s mentorship from the Junto Partners Program and many of the other programs at which he frequently lectures.

Thank you Greg and Congratulations!

Community Foundation of Utah and Ernst and Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year

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This past Friday, I had the great opportunity to attend the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the year award. It was an inspiring program to see so many talented and driven entrepreneurs who had been successful in their ventures. Perhaps the most inspiring part of the program was how many of the entrepreneurs shared their “big pie” mentality as a driving force for their success.

I had the unique privelage of sitting at the table with Fraser Nelson, Greg Warnock and a number of successful entrepreneurs and humanitarians. 2009, was the first year that Ernst and Young has ever had a Social Entrepreneur category. Although this year it was limited to only 501(c)3 organizations, (I understand their need to simplify, although I feel strongly that sustainability should be a top priority over classification) I was excited to see the finalists gain recognition for their efforts.

As more and more entrepreneurs are looking to tackle social challenges through innovation and sustainable programs, the Utah Community Foundation has certainly done well to provide a platform for this growing segment. As a sponsor of this year’s Entrepreneur of the Year award, the community foundation did well to stress the need of bringing entrepreneurs to the attention that our skills and talents need to reach beyond a single bottom line.

It may come as a surprise to some people, but Utah is the first state in America to have a social entrepreneurship category for the Ernst and Young Award. Hmmm… That’s a pretty big deal I think. Thanks to The Community Foundation of Utah for pushing for it.

I imagine we’ll hear a lot more about the Utah Community Foundation and things move forward. I also think social entrepreneurship will continue to gain momentum within the Non-Profit and For-Profit arenas.