PostcardPerfect.com/blog

I just finished filing for a utility patent. For those not familiar the process, it’s detailed, time consuming, and expensive. And, to top it all off, I hear that the patent office is backed up. I don’t expect to get an answer for a couple years.

Anyway, on a semi-related note, I was restocking our bathroom last night when I noticed something interesting. According to the Charmin Ultra Soft packaging, The toilet paper I was handling was “made under one or more” of a list of 40 US patents. 40!

We’ve come a long way, huh?

So just a warning, if you think you’re thinking about getting into the TP biz, you may want to reconsider. I think Procter & Gamble may have it pretty wrapped up.

PS. Check out this site I just found: Toilet paper: the interactive user experience of the last 1.5 centuries

Tony at Zappos twittered last night about seeing one of those crane games that usually retrieve stuffed animals and candy. This one, however, allowed you to catch live lobsters. According to one sign: You catch ‘em, we cook ‘em, and you eat ‘em.

I love unique product ideas, and I’m pretty impressed by this twist on a tired classic. Apparently it does the job, too. According to Tony:

“Lobster game machine at bar is brilliant. Watched people spend $20 in past hour trying to catch a live lobster. “

A little web research brought me to the the site of Lobster Zone, Inc. The company claims to have over 300 such games placed around the US and has been around for roughly 10 years.

The “press section” of the site has an interesting article written back in ‘98. It says that many of the machines (placed primarily in seafood restaurants at the time) were making over $1000 a week. It also estimated that it took a patron 18 tries with the crane before they mastered it.

The price was only $2 a try back then, and after 10 years -it still hasn’t budged. So there, quit your complaining about inflation.

Here’s a YouTube video of the crane in action: Lobster Game

I canceled our cable a few months ago and, for the most part, have been very happy with the decision. I waste much less time on the couch and don’t really miss it all that much. Of course, when I do want to watch some tube - I can always jump online where, thankfully, many networks have decided to post full episodes of their shows.

This weekend I decided to catch up on some of USA’s programing and headed over to their site to watch the built in video player. USA shows one 30 second commercial at the beginning of each episode, and then another every 10 minutes or so. All in all - nothing new. What was interesting though, was the two types of ads I saw.

Saturday morning I pulled the laptop into bed with me and comfortably caught up on season two of Burn Notice. Almost every ad I saw was for Blackberry, so it’s safe to say I saw 12-15 Blackberry spots over the period of three episodes.

Here’s what I remember:
The spot showed a guy with a soccer ball. When he kicked it, it exploded into lots of different pictures and logos. They all came back together to form a Blackberry. Within the array of images I only remember a Facebook logo and a text message (”c u tonite”). At the end there was a slogan, but I can’t remember what it was. Something about Blackberry being able to handle everything in your life, I think.

Sunday night my wife and I watched one episode of Psych before bed. The structure was the same (4-5 total commercials), but these ads, all for the new Honda Pilot, were interactive. They moved for about 10 seconds, and then allowed us to click around for more info, change the car’s color, etc.

Here’s what I remember:
The Pilot has a backup camera, hill start assistance (so you don’t roll backwards), navigation, seating for 8, and comes in 7-8 colors. It looks coolest in Tuxedo Black and has a gear shifter in the interior that I don’t really like.

See the difference?

Even though I may not (OK, I straight out won’t) be rushing out to buy a Pilot, I learned and remembered much more about it than I did about the Blackberry. Remember, I saw three times the amount of Blackberry commercials too.

The other cool thing (from an advertiser’s point of view) about the Pilot spots is that they weren’t limited to 30 seconds. There was a count down clock and when it hit zero it allowed us to click to resume the show. However, we were free to keep exploring the vehicle for as long as we wanted. In fact, most of the time we’d be playing around and then realize that we could be watching the show if we wanted. Who knows how long we actually spent interacting with Honda.

Well, Honda knows - which is yet another great feature. I’m sure they can see how long people stayed, where they clicked, etc. That type of data is gold to marketers trying to evaluate their efforts.

Anyway, I guess it just reinforces that the opportunities online are much different than those in traditional media. It’s cool to see some companies embrace the technology and take advantage of the interactivity that the net offers. On the same token, it’s kind of puzzling to see the ones that haven’t adapted yet.

PS. Speaking of unique internet marketing ploys - check out nograpesnonuts.com.

Most fast food places use the back of their receipts to get you to take a survey, but I thought the Quiznos approach was kind of interesting. Observe:

If you visit the website, you get ten changes to win. TEN! Wow!

Of course, if there is only one winner per day, and everyone gets ten chances - then the odds of winning didn’t really change, did they? Very tricky, Quiznos.

But wait, maybe they did. What about the poor suckers that call to do the survey? They only get one entry into the contest. There’s a cost saving measure if I’ve ever seen one. I’m sure the online survey is much cheaper to administer. Again, well played, Quiznos.

I was going to end the post there, but I decided to do some investigative journalism (just for you), so I took both surveys (and not-so-coincidentally got 11 chances to win).

Last time I took an online survey I was very unimpressed. This one didn’t do much better. It was kind of entertaining though. Here are, without further ado, my top 5 questions / screens.

5) Surprise, I didn’t win.

4) Despite asking the date I visited (two weeks ago), they wanted to know if I had purchased specific items “today.” I was tempted to say no across the board, but I decided to cut them some slack.

3) They nailed it. I come to Quiznos for the visual enjoyment…

2) I’m not very health conscience. Do they really have to rub it in three times?

1) And my favorite question: “Why not?” There was nothing proceeding it. I was just instructed to think about my recent visit.

The phone survey was kind of clumsy as well. It took about 6 minutes and “using my touch tone phone,” I had to type in half the info from my receipt before I could start. There were many of the same questions, but it was definitely shorter. My favorite part was in the middle of the survey when they said:

“Tell us why or why not you enjoyed your visit so that we can improve.” Then, with no warning: beep - it was recording.

My answer? “I liked watching my meal being made.”

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No long surveys : subscribe in a reader

PS. The new site is finally up. Go check it out.

I’ve never been a big fan of the “answer these questions in your blog and then tag others to do the same” posts. However, Naomi at IttyBiz put out a home business challenge to answer a few questions about what your business actually does. I probably would have ignored it if I wasn’t due for a post anyway. But I was, so I won’t.

Wait, talk about PostcardPerfect on the PostcardPerfect blog? That’s right. Thaaaat’s right. OK, here we go…

1) What’s your game? What do you do?
Monopoly.

I started PostcardPerfect as a way for people to send real, custom postcards without searching for a stamp. They create cards digitally, and we make them tangible by printing and mailing ‘em.

Each card has a picture on the front (usually one taken by the customer’s digital camera), and a message on the back. They are professionally printed, given a protective coating (to stand up to the USPS), and mailed out first class.

It’s simple. It’s sexy. It’s what we do.

We have self service kiosks that let users create cards on location (tourists, for example), as well as web ordering so that you can play along at home.

2) Why do you do it? Do you love it, or do you just have a knack?
I mailed my wife a short letter every day for the three months leading up to our wedding day. It was partly a countdown and partly just a way to make her smile as she stressed over all the wedding details. She still has them all. She can’t say the same thing about e-mails I sent her during that time.

My sappy attempts of romanticism aside, I mention that only to illustrate that I really believe there’s something about tangible mail that the electronic world can’t touch. It’s personal. It’s thoughtful. It’s unexpected.

That, along with the hope of a financial payoff, is why I do it.

3) Who are your customers? What kind of people need what you offer?
PostcardPerfect has three types of customers:

1) Kiosk – People that run into one of our machines. Details here.

2) Web – People that use our online service to send holiday cards, save the date cards, invitations, etc. These are customers that want to quickly send a bunch of cards (usually 5+) without writing each one out. They send us the picture, message, and addresses – and we take care of the rest. Details here.

(Update: We now offer individual cards online too. Yay! Details here.)

3) Business – Individualized postcards provide a powerful way for companies to let consumers interact tangibly with their brand. I’m looking for companies that want to try something new. This could mean hosting a kiosk and allowing customers to use it for free. It could be integrating with us online. It could mean a lot of things. Details here.

Oh, we can also do direct mail - but that’s not nearly as fun.

4) What’s your USP? Why should I buy from you instead of the other losers?
There are no other losers. Really. If you want to create and mail a custom postcard on the spot (kiosks) - I’m the only loser that can help you. I told you my game was Monopoly.

The UPS (”unique selling proposition” for those not hip to the marketing lingo) varies a little depending on the type of customer.

Kiosk users get to easily share their experience in a personal way. Web customers get the convenience of communicating tangibly from their desktop. Finally, businesses get the ultimate promotional product. Since the postcards are branded AND personalized (read: not going into the trash) they become a unique mix of user generated content and direct mail.

5) What’s next for you? What’s the big plan?
World domination, one postcard at a time.

Learn more at postcarderfect.com. Questions? What to join the postcard revolution? Contact me: David (at) postcardperfect dot com.

I’ve found it - the app of all apps. It’s improved my productivity, created break though results, opened new markets, and saved me tons of money. It has transformed my life, and it’s free!

Actually, none of that is really true. I want it to be though - which is why I relentlessly search for the next web-based tool that I won’t be able to live without. My obsession to “test ‘em all” has left an untold amount of inactive accounts scattered around the web. The same thing happens with almost frightening regularity: I read about a new tool, I sign up, I play with it for a few days (or less), and then I never come back. I’m the reason why companies have to measure active users instead of just users.

Anyway, occasionally I’ll find tools that pass the three day barrier. Some will even hold my attention for a few weeks. Very few, however, get used more than a few months. Here are three that have. I have no financial interest or affiliate connection to these sites - I just thought I’d share ‘em cause they’re cool.

In no particular order:

LogMeIn.com
Log Me In is remote access tool that allows you to control another computer and work as if you were sitting in front of it. I started using it as a way of managing the PostcardPerfect kiosks from across the country - and later installed it on my other systems.

Basically, it lets me to log into any one of my machines from anywhere with an internet connection. For example, when using an internet terminal at a conference, I can skip logging into the webmail, VPN, Messenger, etc. I just plug directly into my work computer and BAM - I have access to everything I need.

You only have to install it on the computers that you want to control, so there’s no downloading every time you need to log in from a new location. The free version has all of the features you need, and they aren’t overly pushy in getting you to upgrade. Overall, it’s quick to set up, easy to use, and very handy.

Jott.com
Jott sends messages when you don’t have access to your computer. It works like this: you call Jott (proper noun), you tell Jott who you want to jott (verb), you speak your message, and Jott transcribes it into text and sends your jott (common noun) to that person as an e-mail.

I’m not 100% comfortable with the quality of transcriptions. They’re pretty good - but there’s also a fair share of mistakes. That could be because I slur my words after a few drinks - but that’s beside the point. The point is that I don’t use it so much for other people as I do for myself.

Let’s say I’m driving to work and I have a great blog post idea (”Three Things Marketers Can Learn from the Macarena”) that I don’t want to forget. I simply call Jott (speed dial 6…which may tell you something about my social life) and speak my idea. When I get to work - it’s waiting in my inbox. There are other features as well (jott to twitter, to-do lists with reminders, etc) but I haven’t really gotten around to using them. For me, it’s just a quick way to record my thoughts when I’m on the road.

Mint.com
I didn’t think Mint would last - but I’m coming up to four months and still check it multiple times a week. It is, at the core, a financial visibility tool that pulls data from all of your accounts into one place. It’s great for me because between my company, my wifes business, and our personal affairs - we have a lot of accounts (checking, savings, credit cards, etc.) to keep an eye on.

Mint grabs all of our recent activity, categorizes each transaction, pops the results into handy charts (so I know how much I spent at Wendy’s vs. Arby’s), and fires off alerts about our financial status. That’s it. You can’t execute any financial transactions; it’s more or less read only.

Mint isn’t the place to manage your finances; it’s the place to track them. If most of your transactions are electronic or plastic, it’s a very simple (and free) tool for keeping a pulse on exactly where all your money goes.

The Wrap-up
I know these three services are good because the novelty has worn off and I still use them. They aren’t the end-all of applications, but they do work well and serve worthy purposes. If you have time, I’d check them out.

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Free. Useful (kind of). Web-based. : subscribe in a reader

Skybus, a four year old “you’ll pay extra for anything remotely close to a frill” airline, shut down unexpectedly (at least to ticket holders) last week.

Their business model was fairly straight forward:

1) Fill the Seats With Really Low Fares
They offered the first 10 seats on every flight for only $5 (I think; I’m shooting from memory because their site has been taken down), and very low prices from there.

2) Keep Costs Down
They used the cheapest airports they could find. “Chicago”, for example, was actually a third tier airport in Indiana (which, for the geographically challenged - is the next state over). Boarding was done from the runway, and I believe the only way you could book a trip was though their website.

3) Exploit Extra Revenue Sources
Nothing but the seat was included with the ticket price. They sold food & drinks, the ability to bring baggage, and rumor has it - seatbelts (unconfirmed). Additionally, both the interior and exterior of planes were sold as billboards to advertisers.

So why did they fold? Here’s the official statement from their website:

Skybus struggled to overcome the combination of rising jet fuel costs and a slowing economic environment. These two issues proved to be insurmountable for a new carrier.

Why this makes sense on the surface:
As any gas consuming American can attest, prices are up. Skybus’s policy of using some of their tickets as a loss leader had to be hurting them. They couldn’t very well jack up the price for peanuts to make up the difference.

The “slow economic environment” (SEE from here on out) means that leisure travelers would probably be taking less flights. And, since they didn’t have much of a following for business travel, this did directly effect their core customer base.

Why, when you think about it, it’s kind of a cop-out:
Jet fuel is up…but it’s up for everyone. The other carriers have raised prices, so Skybus should have been able to do the same while maintaining it’s lowest fare position. If a commodity issue affects a whole industry, it’s not a good excuse as to why others are winning the competitive struggle.

The SEE means people have less money to spend on travel. Fair enough, but as the discount carrier - shouldn’t have this worked to their advantage? Meaning, even though less people may be flying, the ones that are will be more likely to shop for the lowest price. You’d think that they would actually be worse off in an FEE (the F is for fast…or fantastic - take your pick).

The Real Reason:
I considered flying Skybus in February and was pretty unimpressed. The fact is, once I considered all the extra costs and inconveniences - it just wasn’t worth it. And that, I believe, is why they ended up in the big terminal in the sky. SEE’s had little to do with it. I think other discount carriers offer low enough prices that Skybus couldn’t undercut them enough to make flying them worth the inconvenience.

Agree? Disagree?

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Be the first to know if I fold unexpectedly: subscribe in a reader.

Last week I picked a comment fight with Marketing Prof’s blogger Jeanne Bliss.

Her post was about the decision famed online shoe retailer, Zappos.com, made to stop advertising free overnight shipping. They claimed that people didn’t really appreciate it, and they would rather just randomly “surprise” customers than promise it to everyone.

Jeanne wrote the praises of Zappos (which is known as a very customer centric company), but I questioned the true motive. What appeared to be a customer service move on the exterior seemed to me to be a cost cutting measure to combat raising fuel / transportation costs. I’m cynical, what can I say?

Anyway, we would have had to just “agree to disagree” - if Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh didn’t surprise us with a comment that settled the debate. He left us a brief note explaining that the same percentage of people getting free overnight under the old system would get it under the new system. Essentially - they weren’t cutting costs and I was wrong.

Didn’t see that one coming.

I actually think it’s pretty cool that he’s watching net chatter close enough to step in and settle arguments (and conveniently protect the goodwill of his company). Also, props to Jeanne for giving them the benefit of the doubt up front.

As for me, I’m still not 100% convinced. High 90’s, maybe. I think that eventually they’ll lower the percentage of “surprise” overnights. Nobody will know the difference, and the savings will go straight to the bottom line.

Of course, I could be wrong. Again.

PS. You can read her post and our comments here: http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2008/03/zappos_true_to_their_sole.html

Well, March has come and gone, and I’m proud to report that that I carried though with my new month resolution and got a lot done. The two biggest accomplishments were finishing my taxes (daunting), and launching a new website at postcardperfect.com (more below). Not to shabby…considering the little I accomplished in Jan and Feb.

FYI - offsetting your normal income with losses from a fledgling start-up is apparently a big red flag to the IRS.

Well, that…and I claimed 7 children.

Kidding.

Anyway, the website. I’m not 100% happy with it yet (I’m a recovering perfectionist), but it’s nice to have more than a one page when new people visit. The new “expanded content” site touches on the kiosks, business solutions, and can take online bulk orders. Go check it out: www.postcardperfect.com.

For April, my resolution is a little more results orientated. I’m going to accomplish two things (at least).

1) Add the ability to take single orders online (a little more complicated because I have to make the back-end efficient enough that I can handle orders profitably).

2) Speak to four new locations about hosting kiosks. To keep me from doing it all on the 30th, two of the contacts have to happen by the 15th of the month.

Wish me luck.

I tried out Facebook’s pay per click advertising system in the weeks leading up to Christmas. It was pretty easy to set up. The steps were more or less:

1) Choose the demographics and keywords you want to target
2) Write the ad (and add a picture if you want)
3) Bid an amount per click

After the first couple of days I noticed that my Facebook click though rates were much lower than my Adwords campaigns. It made sense; the people that see my ads on Google are searching for something similar to what I’m selling. Facebook however, serves ads based on, among other things, age, sex, and things that prospect profiles indicates they are interested in.

So far, nothing new.

Here’s the thing though: I quickly realized that I was getting a lot of eyeballs for very little expense. Essentially, the picture ads could become free billboards that people see but don’t act on. This, from an advertisers point of view, is a fairly good proposition.

From a users POV though, it’s bad news. It means companies can freely place ads they know you won’t click on. It means advertisers have no incentive to target specific customers. Almost everywhere else (TV, print, etc.) marketers have to pay for eyeballs. Consequently, they try to target the right people.

When they aren’t paying though - they don’t care. How else can you explain the ads I’ve seen for engagement rings and womens apparel? Facebook knows (via my profile) that I’m married. And, as far as I know, there’s no indication that I’d be interested in cross-dressing.

I know non-producing ads don’t last too long (Facebook swaps them out with ones that earn them money), but they do give new ads a trial run each time one is created. That means for a company determined to raise brand awareness on the cheap - the system can be (and apparently is) abused.

I think they should flip it. Ads that don’t get clicked should cost more than the ones that do. That would help restore the balance required to keep irrelevant eye spam to a minimum. Just a thought.