Looking for a Running Mate
Call it viral marketing, the snowball effect, or just plain common sense appealing to today’s common man…or just call it all about me. Ever since I was seen carrying that torch those many months ago, there has been a groundswell movement a foot.
And for those that know me well and have been to my office, those pictures of me and Hillary and me and Teddy Kennedy may just have to move over just a bit per this exciting piece of news.
The word is out!
If elected, I will serve – that’s a no brainer. The bigger question is who would be my running mate. Of course, Brett Hurt of Bazaarvoice (www.bazaarvoice.com) was my first choice as I would like to stop all the bickering between the two major parties and begin to heal our industry, but alas, he still does not take my calls.
I’m still drafting my “short list” and will let the final choice be heard within days, until then just remember – a single voice can make a world of difference!
The Recommending Recommender
Last year I bought a new digital camera. Of course I read all the reviews and picked the right one for me – great for travel, easy to use, simple controls and fits in front pocket. And like the rest of you out there, I was in a huge rush during the online shopping process so I quickly ran through the online ordering process, caring only that it would arrive before I left on vacation, which of course it did.
The real “problem” occurred when I opened the package during my flight to Buenos Aires, instantly realizing that the memory card that comes with the camera is as basic as it gets, allowing me to take only 8 pictures before it runs out of memory. If only I had been reminded to buy an additional larger memory card during the shopping process I could have avoided spending half of my first morning in paradise looking for a camera shop in order to buy a hugely over-priced starage card.
Luckily, memory cards are fairly easy to find. But what if it had been something more critical, something that kept me from taking even a single photo on my holiday vacation? Avoiding this kind of experience is at the heart of the new Social Cross-Sell function available in the PowerReviews review solution and here’s why I think is such an important new feature:
What could be better than someone giving a great product review? Someone who recommends other products to go along with it, giving a complete “product experience” review, that’s who!
Here is what I mean…
If you are familiar with our tag-based review solution, then you know the incredibly valuable insights that are shared about a product during the review submission process. But why stop there? What if we could make it easy for that same enthusiastic customer to share even more insights – giving further advice and insights about how to get the most from using that product? Well we have with the introduction of our new review solution feature Social Cross-Sell.
Working with our dear friends at B&H Photo we developed a highly impressive new feature to our review solution, Social Cross-Sell, that is designed to leverage the enthusiasm of your customers and capture highly credible and influential cross-sell and up-sell recommendations during the review writing process.
In a nutshell, Social Cross-Sell adds two questions to the review – “Accessories I Recommend” and “Similar Products I Own” – and then displays the recommended products within each review as seen here:
Social Cross-Sell in action!
The application here is endless as matching product to product for the best ultimate combined “product experience” is universal, including my favorites of skis and bindings, shirts and ties, shoes and belts, and of course my personal favorite peanut butter and jelly.
To learn more about this new functionality simply contact client services at accounts@powerreviews.com and learn how easy it is to further empower your shoppers, turning them into recommending recommenders!
Olympic Glory: Going for the Gold!
Sorry about the lack of blog postings these days but who can blame me? These Olympic Games have captivated me like no other and I have been riveted to not just the TV but web updates and broadcasts from the moment I wake-up!
This morning’s news. that the USA Olympic Team crossed the 100 medal threshold count with a combined 102 medals (31 Gold, 36 Silver, and 35 Bronze) put a big smile on my face and not because we are “big winners” in this game, but the manner in which we do it! We work hard, play right and give it our best…certainly words of wisdom to all of us no matter what we do in either our personal or professional lives.
And for those of you that think I am just getting on the Olympic bandwagon here, think again. I grew up in southern California which not only has produced a bevy of world class swimmers including long distance swimmer Janet Evans (who’s father was our family veterinarian) but hosted the summer games in 1984 with several of the events ocurring on my college campus. I’ve seen and experienced the Olympics up close and personal…but I digress.
Once I heard that Beijing had been awarded the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, I hustled over there myself as I know China would never be the same. And from what I have seen on the TV, I was right – much has changed since I was there in 2001, well bewyong the arrival of the Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest buildings and certainly more than I can get into here.
So when I heard that the Olympics Torch Relay would pass within one city block of the PowerReviews offices this past April, I felt like my journey to China had come full circle, this time with China coming to visit me. Of course, many of you might recall the “bait and switch” that occurred with the Torch during its visit to our City, but that didn’t stop a die hard fan like me. I made sure, one way or another (and with a little help from Photoshop) that I would be a part of these games too!
GO TEAM USA!!!
Customer Reviews Made My Weekend!
This past weekend I had a blast…and all because of customer reviews!
I flew down to my old hometown in Orange County, CA this past weekend to attend my second-cousin’s 5th Birthday Party! And like most birthday parties for 5-year old kids, there was an overabundant amount of single-digit aged kids as well as enough sugar around to power every ant farm in the world!
It took just 10-minutes, therefore, for my panic to sink in as I began to assess my best chances for survival. I quickly looked left, then right, scanning both the crowd and the overall scene in hopes of finding some kind of haven – but no such luck.
Not one to give up easily, I decided to change my approach. Instead of retreat, why not command and conquer? And with this new resolve, I scanned the scene again but with a different goal in mind. I would turn complete mayhem into controlled chaos. I would become the Snow Cone Man!
So with a jumbo bag of ice, a half-dozen choices of flavored syrups, and what appeared to be a very small, easy-bake-like oven, child proof plastic snow cone machine I set up shop. Well this was no ordinary snow cone machine it was a workhorse, churning out dozens of snow cones in just minutes – making me an instant “hit” with the kids. Well, that, and my decision to empower each child with selecting and dispensing their own snow cone syrup…
Hours later and after all the ice had felted, I finally had a chance to tell my Aunt what a killer find that snow cone machine was. And, of course, I had to ask her, “where did you get this, this thing ROCKS!” Now keeping in mind that my family doesn’t know that I do for a living, my aunt honestly and simply replied, “from Toys “R” Us. I read the reviews and bought the one they all said was the best.”
So kudos to Toys “R” Us, one of our favorite PowerReviews clients, and thanks for not only helping make a fantastic party for my favorite 5-year old, but for helping me maintain my sanity by becoming “The Snow Cone Man” I always knew I could be.
"Snow Cone Man" and his loyal fans
This Little Piggy Went to Market…
…and I feel just about like this luau piggy!
(The picture is of me at the luau party commiserating with the little piggy that just “stayed home.”)
Folks, I feel just like this pig as I am nearly wiped out from going to market – the four-day eTail East 2008 event which just concluded last week in Washington, DC. Not only was this a big sales show for us, but a big marketing show as well. Dozens of our clients were in attendance with many honored to serve as Chairman, Speakers or Panelists during the four days. Here are just a few of the fun folks that stopped by our booth to say hello:
Toys “R” Us , diapers.com , Ace Hardware , Adorama , B&H Photo , TimeLife , Spencer’s Gifts , Smart Bargains , Redcats , Taylor Gifts , Modell’s , Paragon Sports , National Geographic, Personal Creations , Vitamin Shoppe , DYMO
Okay, I know what you are thinking…that I have been holding out on you, that you were unaware that half of these folks were even clients of ours. Well in my own defense, lets start by saying that with over 300 signed clients and powering the customer review functionality for more than 2,300 websites, I should be allowed to be somewhat remiss from time to time in terms of what we have found time to annouce – smile.
So for those of you who want to see a more comprehensive list of more recent publishable clients, well just feast on this:
Ya I know, enough of this chatter so back to the show…
In terms of all the ecommerce shows I attend throughout the year, I must confess to an enormous affinity for this specific show. Whether it’s the distinctive “east coast persona” this show seems to exude every year or perhaps it is these more “intimate experiences” normally associated with smaller (relatively speaking) shows, this one is a favorite of mine because it is so much easier to connect with partners, clients, prospects and come away with a solid sense of where the marketplace is these days in terms of what’s hot and what’s not.
And in terms of what’s hot, the “early announcement” of our new review solution specifically targeted to small online retailers has the mercury boiling! Other thematic items included the growing negative impact that retailers are seeing from the downturn in the economy combined with the rising fuel charges that FedEx and UPS are leveling at them.
As for the content, I heard many great things from both keynote speakers and key tracks and panels with a special call out to my longtime friend and colleague Pinny Gnwish from Ice.com who again wowed the audience with his trademark unique, funny and entertaining manner. Who else could turn the correct way to peel a banana into a business axiom for success – the best ideas and plans come from the bottom up!
In closing, it was my distinct pleasure to again serve as Chairman for the Word-of-Mouth/Social Media Day held the final day of conference. The room was packed, the content superb and interactive presentation style of the presenters was very well received.
I encourage all retailers and vendors to keep this show on your list for next year!
Calling All Small Online Retailers!
As I am sure many of read in my last blog or perhaps read in the recent article our friends at Internet Retailer Magazine penned earlier this week PowerReviews To Test Customer Reviews Service for Smaller E-Retailers. This vision of ours, to bring to market a review solution designed with the challenges that smaller online retailers face in mind, has certainly created waves and an intense BUZZ in the marketplace – a little earlier than planned!
So in the spirit of fully embracing opportunity, I am pleased to announce Origin: the new ON DEMAND review solution by PowerReviews specifically designed for today’s smaller online merchant!
And, we are currently accepting applications for the beta phase of Origin. If you are a small sized retailer interested in adding customer reviews to your online shopping experience, then we invite you to use the online application for found on our corporate site.
The Word is Out
With just a simple slip of the tongue in the blogging world and months of research and product development spills out well before its intended time. And that is exactly what just happened to our soon to be launched exciting new product and service.
The tech copywriter contracted to write the integration documentation got a bit carried away at having completed the assignment. He was so excited in fact, that he posted (in painful detail) key pieces of information to his personal blog.
That post along with subsequent others now allows me to make the following announcement.
Ladies and gentleman, let me be the 67th person (but the first official one) to announce the imminent arrival of our second review solution – specifically designed with the small retailer in mind.
That’s it, that’s all I’ll say for now – but I expect to share with you the overwhelmingly positive response our beta clients have given our new hosted review solution. More juicier details can be found through our friends at VentureBeat. www.venturebeat.com
