Burger King is giving overzealous Facebook frienders a way to dump some unnecessary online weight in exchange for a little real-life weight. If you drop 10 Facebook friends, Burger King will give you a free Whopper as part of its "Whopper Sacrifice" promotion.
Considering the average Facebook user has 100 friends, there is no doubt untapped demand for such an excuse. CNET's Webware blog has tips for when and when not to befriend. Perhaps a little hindsight is in order?
As of this posting, 101,978 friends have been thrown to the fire. That's a lot of Whoppers!
Do it for the beef!
UPDATE 1/30: The "Whopper Sacrifice" raises questions about how to unfriend people, when to do it, and how to do it quietly.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
ForeWord Magazine Begs for Your Advertising Dollars
I got an unconventional email pitch from an ad rep yesterday: a "shame on you". It was a form letter which, in some ways, makes it even more offensive. Taken alone, the email is galling. Here's an excerpt from the 600-word email (the boldface is my addition):
"I pay the (below industry standard) salaries to editors, art/design, reviewers, salespersons and web tech personnel out of advertising revenue. I pay the printer, for paper, for postage and shipping to chain bookstores out of advertising revenues. I pay our rent, office supply, computer, internet and utility bills out of advertising revenues. I pay for trade show participation at BEA, ALA and some regionals out of our advertising revenues. I pay for ten years worth of your reviews archived at our website out of advertising revenues. As you work hard at putting out beautiful books for the marketplace, we try just as hard putting out a beautiful magazine..."
"Quite frankly, ForeWord Magazine has never really been supported fully by the independent press community we most prominently feature in our review pages. As I look through issues over the last ten years, I feel frustrated by the continued coverage of so many presses with nary a dollar of ad support in our ten year history. You can quickly check to see the amount of coverage your press has received by doing a search at our website. In the past, I could overlook this unfairness because we had ample advertising from small presses who were so thrilled to have an affordable means to reach such a valuable audience. Those days seem to have gone. And as entrepreneurs, (perhaps like you are/once were) we don't have a corporate parent to make sure we stay flush."
"I am actively engaged in exploring other options for our efforts. As a business person, I'm sure you would agree that it does not make sense to support a community of great book publishers when they appear to have no interest in supporting us. However, the possibility remains that I am overlooking some significant reason that is preventing you from supporting us. If we can improve our offering and it would mean your help in keeping us in print, I hope you will feel free to share. You grow thick skin in this business."
I guess the takeaway messages here are:
1. ForeWord is a business that has expenses.
2. ForeWord is sick of you moochers.
3. ForeWord deserves your money.
4. ForeWord is really kind of pissed at you for not giving it your money.
5. ForeWord is probably going to stop supporting small publishers.
6. Hey, maybe you have a good reason for not giving us your money?
Like, say, the worst recession in decades? Or Borders's near bankruptcy and stock adjustments? Or perhaps the loss of three months of revenue from the AMS/PGW bankrupcty two years ago?
Considering that I have given a few thousand dollars to ForeWord over the past few years, I thought the tone of this email was inconsiderate. I prefer the approach of my old ad rep, Pete Chamliss, who often sent chummy reminders to support our books with advertising in one of the most affordable of the widely-read publishing magazines.
This ad rep's approach is a little more entitled. Maybe that's why I've barely advertised with ForeWord since Pete got canned?
"I pay the (below industry standard) salaries to editors, art/design, reviewers, salespersons and web tech personnel out of advertising revenue. I pay the printer, for paper, for postage and shipping to chain bookstores out of advertising revenues. I pay our rent, office supply, computer, internet and utility bills out of advertising revenues. I pay for trade show participation at BEA, ALA and some regionals out of our advertising revenues. I pay for ten years worth of your reviews archived at our website out of advertising revenues. As you work hard at putting out beautiful books for the marketplace, we try just as hard putting out a beautiful magazine..."
"Quite frankly, ForeWord Magazine has never really been supported fully by the independent press community we most prominently feature in our review pages. As I look through issues over the last ten years, I feel frustrated by the continued coverage of so many presses with nary a dollar of ad support in our ten year history. You can quickly check to see the amount of coverage your press has received by doing a search at our website. In the past, I could overlook this unfairness because we had ample advertising from small presses who were so thrilled to have an affordable means to reach such a valuable audience. Those days seem to have gone. And as entrepreneurs, (perhaps like you are/once were) we don't have a corporate parent to make sure we stay flush."
"I am actively engaged in exploring other options for our efforts. As a business person, I'm sure you would agree that it does not make sense to support a community of great book publishers when they appear to have no interest in supporting us. However, the possibility remains that I am overlooking some significant reason that is preventing you from supporting us. If we can improve our offering and it would mean your help in keeping us in print, I hope you will feel free to share. You grow thick skin in this business."
I guess the takeaway messages here are:
1. ForeWord is a business that has expenses.
2. ForeWord is sick of you moochers.
3. ForeWord deserves your money.
4. ForeWord is really kind of pissed at you for not giving it your money.
5. ForeWord is probably going to stop supporting small publishers.
6. Hey, maybe you have a good reason for not giving us your money?
Like, say, the worst recession in decades? Or Borders's near bankruptcy and stock adjustments? Or perhaps the loss of three months of revenue from the AMS/PGW bankrupcty two years ago?
Considering that I have given a few thousand dollars to ForeWord over the past few years, I thought the tone of this email was inconsiderate. I prefer the approach of my old ad rep, Pete Chamliss, who often sent chummy reminders to support our books with advertising in one of the most affordable of the widely-read publishing magazines.
This ad rep's approach is a little more entitled. Maybe that's why I've barely advertised with ForeWord since Pete got canned?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Kindle 2.0 on the way, Amazon dropping rival e-book formats
Amazon has offered yet another indication that it wants to control how books are sold and read; the company announced that it will stop selling e-books in the Microsoft Reader and Adobe formats. Instead, Amazon will only sell e-books in its proprietary Kindle and Mobipocket formats. Fortunately, it seems that many devices are compatible with the Mobipocket format but not Mac and Linux devices.
A day later, the company announced a release date for its second version of the Kindle.
A day later, the company announced a release date for its second version of the Kindle.
Mercury Never Tasted Better!
The U.S. media is in a tizzy about a report that has found detectable levels of mercury in 50% of all high-fructose corn syrup and nearly 33% of 55 popular name-brand foods for which high-fructose corn syrup is one of the key ingredients.
This USA Today article links out to the study, the report, and the list of 55 mercury-containing foods. Of the 17 products found to contain mercury, I've eaten at least 10 of them. These are the ones that are in my fridge or pantry right now (but not for long):
Score another blow for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and against the American consumer!
For the other side, please refer to the Corn Refiners Association, which claims that high-fructose corn syrup is safe because it has been made without the use of mercury "for several years". Comforting.
One of the study's authors admits that 90% of U.S. production of high-fructose corn syrup is made without the use of mercury (leaving 10%!), but also that the ingredient is produced globally and imported.
Finally, "detectable" does not mean "dangerous". The conventional wisdom is that no amount of mercury is safe to consume, especially for kids, babies, and pregnant women, but toxicologists love their mantra that "dose is everything". A ConAgra spokesperson said that someone would have to eat 100 lbs. of Hunt's Tomato Ketchup per day to approach the EPA's stated maximum safe limit.
This USA Today article links out to the study, the report, and the list of 55 mercury-containing foods. Of the 17 products found to contain mercury, I've eaten at least 10 of them. These are the ones that are in my fridge or pantry right now (but not for long):
- Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
- Coca-Cola Classic (maybe)
- Smucker's Strawberry Jelly
- Nesquik Chocolate Milk
Score another blow for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and against the American consumer!
For the other side, please refer to the Corn Refiners Association, which claims that high-fructose corn syrup is safe because it has been made without the use of mercury "for several years". Comforting.
One of the study's authors admits that 90% of U.S. production of high-fructose corn syrup is made without the use of mercury (leaving 10%!), but also that the ingredient is produced globally and imported.
Finally, "detectable" does not mean "dangerous". The conventional wisdom is that no amount of mercury is safe to consume, especially for kids, babies, and pregnant women, but toxicologists love their mantra that "dose is everything". A ConAgra spokesperson said that someone would have to eat 100 lbs. of Hunt's Tomato Ketchup per day to approach the EPA's stated maximum safe limit.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Use Your Broadband Connection to Save Money
This is where I get all cocky and proudly report that I've done everything recommended in a New York Times article before the article was published.
David Pogue's recent article "Many Ways to Plug In to Tech Savings" lists several ways to cut back on what I call "copper spending": TV, internet, and phone service. Pogue's argument, which is common sense for anyone who's been on broadband for a few years, is that you can use your broadband internet connection to replace older, more expensive technologies.
His recommendations:
David Pogue's recent article "Many Ways to Plug In to Tech Savings" lists several ways to cut back on what I call "copper spending": TV, internet, and phone service. Pogue's argument, which is common sense for anyone who's been on broadband for a few years, is that you can use your broadband internet connection to replace older, more expensive technologies.
His recommendations:
- Cancel your cable tv or satellite service and watch TV online. Online TV is free through the major networks' websites and aggregator sites like Hulu.com or Joost.com. Online TV ads are just a minute or two per show, compared to 10+ minutes on TV.
- If you can't go TV cold turkey, cancel all those movie channels. C'mon, is anyone really getting their money's worth paying for dozens of movie channels? Doesn't it make sense to choose the movies you want to see instead of what your provider is offering? Switch to a DVD-by-mail or on-demand download service like Netflix.com or Blockbuster.com. Cost: As low as $9.99/month.
- Cancel your cell phone service and switch to a pay-as-you-go plan. Seriously, is cell service really worth $40 or more per month? You can get the same phone quality and connectivity on a T-Mobile pay as you go plan, which can be as cheap as $8-9/month. Yes, that's $8.00 or $9.00 per month.
- While you're at it, cancel your traditional landline phone service. Why pay $60/month when you can use VoIP services like Vonage for $20/month or Ooma, which is 100% free after you buy the device (check Costco and Amazon for promotional pricing. We got ours for $190).
- Buy refurbished computers. Or, don't buy them at all. Do you really need a 3.2 ghz chip? Do you really need Vista or Windows 7? If you're not doing processor-intensive tasks like video or sound editing, more RAM or a faster rpm hard drive will probably get you the performance you need. If you're attentive and quick, you can get people to give their old computers to you for free (see Freecycle, Craigslist) or for cheap (eBay). My desktop is a hand-me-down 1.7 ghz Pentium 4 with WinXP, and I got a similar laptop on eBay for $270. After some cheap upgrades, I've been happily using both for a few years now.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Reminder: Skiing is Dangerous. Stay In Bounds.
Ski resorts in the Rocky Mountain West are setting off avalanches only to have those same slopes slide again hours later, and three of thirteen avalanche deaths in the US this season have been in-bounds.
If you're dead set on backcountry skiing, don't forget to check the Colorado Avalanche Information Center's website carefully for its latest warnings.
If you're dead set on backcountry skiing, don't forget to check the Colorado Avalanche Information Center's website carefully for its latest warnings.
Friday, January 9, 2009
How to Schwag
An author of mine emailed me recently to ask if there was time and budget available to prepare some schwag to promote his book at an upcoming event. His question was a perfectly reasonable one to ask, and I certainly appreciate his sensitivity to both lead time and budget. Some of his schwag suggestions, however, were a little off target:
The idea behind schwag is simple: you give something to potential customers in exchange for a moment of their attention. During that moment, good schwag will explain the benefit of your product and this will hopefully compel the customer to buy it (a product focus). Alternatively, you can simply try to buy their love and loyalty (a company focus, aka "branding").
Marketers must match the schwag to both to their product and their customer. If the product is low volume and low margin (as it is for a small book publisher), the marketer must keep schwag for end consumers as cheap as possible. In this market, the marketer is likely better suited to buy the cheapest schwag there is: advertising. It's cheap schwag because it offers nothing to the end consumer, yet it reaches vast numbers of them. The marketer can consider more costly schwag for the B2B channel because those buyers (like a bookstore chain buyer) or influencers (like a triathlon coach) represent underlying sales.
Here's a table showing how marketers for various margin and volume markets should schwag:
It's true that schwag often makes a stronger impression than advertising. Customers of any kind are more likely to remember the personal connection made when someone gives them something for free, especially if that schwag is personally meaningful to them. E.g. A t-shirt commemorating an experience (like "goodminton") will reinforce the positive memory. A keychain is just a keychain, a pen merely a pen.
Because schwag can make such a strong impression, marketers should reserve their best schwag for branding a high margin, low volume product. The high margin makes the schwag affordable, while the low sales volume makes it a more potent tool to capture market share.
Companies with low promo budgets should spend on cheap schwag or advertising and take a pass on creating a few hundred t-shirts. While advertising makes less of an impression on potential customers, it reaches thousands instead of hundreds. And an ad with the right message in the right place at the right time goes a long way.
Ultimately, I was able to sell my author on a new idea that will integrate inexpensive schwag and advertising on a social network. My thought is that the schwag and the advertising will reinforce each other and the social network will spread the message that's contained in both. More on this later!
- "I'd LOVE black t-shirts with the cover art."
- "Or cycling caps with text from the cover."
- "Or headbands."
The idea behind schwag is simple: you give something to potential customers in exchange for a moment of their attention. During that moment, good schwag will explain the benefit of your product and this will hopefully compel the customer to buy it (a product focus). Alternatively, you can simply try to buy their love and loyalty (a company focus, aka "branding").
Marketers must match the schwag to both to their product and their customer. If the product is low volume and low margin (as it is for a small book publisher), the marketer must keep schwag for end consumers as cheap as possible. In this market, the marketer is likely better suited to buy the cheapest schwag there is: advertising. It's cheap schwag because it offers nothing to the end consumer, yet it reaches vast numbers of them. The marketer can consider more costly schwag for the B2B channel because those buyers (like a bookstore chain buyer) or influencers (like a triathlon coach) represent underlying sales.
Here's a table showing how marketers for various margin and volume markets should schwag:
It's true that schwag often makes a stronger impression than advertising. Customers of any kind are more likely to remember the personal connection made when someone gives them something for free, especially if that schwag is personally meaningful to them. E.g. A t-shirt commemorating an experience (like "goodminton") will reinforce the positive memory. A keychain is just a keychain, a pen merely a pen.
Because schwag can make such a strong impression, marketers should reserve their best schwag for branding a high margin, low volume product. The high margin makes the schwag affordable, while the low sales volume makes it a more potent tool to capture market share.
Companies with low promo budgets should spend on cheap schwag or advertising and take a pass on creating a few hundred t-shirts. While advertising makes less of an impression on potential customers, it reaches thousands instead of hundreds. And an ad with the right message in the right place at the right time goes a long way.
Ultimately, I was able to sell my author on a new idea that will integrate inexpensive schwag and advertising on a social network. My thought is that the schwag and the advertising will reinforce each other and the social network will spread the message that's contained in both. More on this later!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Exploding Trees and Boulder's Olde Stage Fire
High winds knocked down a power line in north Boulder yesterday, sparking flames that could be seen miles away. A second fire, probably started by windblown sparks from the first, converged with the first fire to torch 1,400 acres of grassland, trees, and several homes.
While driving home last night, I could easily see the fire line moving up and out along a hill.
Firefighters detonated a tree that was burning from the inside out. Check out the video:
Full (and impressive!) coverage of the story is at Boulder's Daily Camera website. Coverage includes these tidbits:
While driving home last night, I could easily see the fire line moving up and out along a hill.
Firefighters detonated a tree that was burning from the inside out. Check out the video:
Full (and impressive!) coverage of the story is at Boulder's Daily Camera website. Coverage includes these tidbits:
- "Most ignored evacuation warnings: Although Boulder County sheriff’s officials said they called more than 11,400 homes within a mile radius of the fire’s path — telling them to leave — sheriff’s Cmdr. Phil West said an assessment made Thursday indicated only 1,300 to 1,400 families actually evacuated overnight."
- "Llama rancher returns to burned home"
- Fire photo galleries
- Fire videos
Saturday, January 3, 2009
What is TraceMonkey? (Why you should be drooling over Firefox 3.1)
TraceMonkey is a new technique that Firefox 3.1 will use to compile javascript. Javascript is the web coding language upon which many feature-rich websites are built. Websites that run inside your browser but which have functions similar to a software program on your desktop, like Gmail and Blogger, run on javascript. Firefox 3.1 with TraceMonkey will run these websites much faster than the current version, which is Firefox 3.0.3.
Lifehacker explains how TraceMonkey works and how much faster it will be.
I can hardly wait! TraceMonkey is available now, if you're willing to install the pre-release version of Firefox. Last time I was ahead of the official Firefox release schedule, though, I got burned with all sorts of bugs that forced me to go through a tedious and time-consuming troubleshooting and reinstall process; I'd prefer to wait patiently for the upcoming speed.
Lifehacker explains how TraceMonkey works and how much faster it will be.
I can hardly wait! TraceMonkey is available now, if you're willing to install the pre-release version of Firefox. Last time I was ahead of the official Firefox release schedule, though, I got burned with all sorts of bugs that forced me to go through a tedious and time-consuming troubleshooting and reinstall process; I'd prefer to wait patiently for the upcoming speed.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Facebook Will Soon Waste More Time Than Google
TechCrunch has unearthed some interesting statistics on Facebook usage. If you have even a little bit of professional interest in Facebook, you should check out the stats TechCrunch highlights.
After you pick your jaw off the floor and work it back into its sockets, please remember that Facebook is designed to waste time, while Google is designed to save it. I have a conspiracy theory that Facebook's user interface is intentionally confusing in an attempt to keep users thrashing about the site. But more on that later...
After you pick your jaw off the floor and work it back into its sockets, please remember that Facebook is designed to waste time, while Google is designed to save it. I have a conspiracy theory that Facebook's user interface is intentionally confusing in an attempt to keep users thrashing about the site. But more on that later...
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Those Dang Kids and Their Interwebs! Kids Are Socializing, Learning Online
It's routinely entertaining (and a little disheartening) to hear the old guard at the annual PubWest conference bellyache about how these kids today aren't reading and instead are playing video games and messing around online.
At the conference this past November, the closing plenary session recruited some high school and college age kids to talk about how they read. I was curious about the session, thinking it might be a bit like a focus group. As it was a book publishing conference, the recruits were, unfortunately, self-selected heavy readers and current or future English majors. (They were all female, and two were daughters of a conference attendee.)
To be fair, the conference has become increasingly web friendly over the past two years, in part because of excellent keynote speeches from Kevin Smokler of BookTour.com and Andrew Savikas, from O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing conference.
Yet the entrenched wisdom among those who have been in publishing since before the Mac is that those intertubes are a waste of time for kids.
University of California Berkeley to the rescue! The Digital Youth Research project finds social and educational value to all those "OMG"s and "LOL"s and even "ROTFLMAO"s. If you are one of publishing's old codgery coots and somehow read this blog post, check out what those hippies from Berkeley have to say about the web. Not one for white papers and executive summaries? Turn, then, to the Old Gray Lady's take on the subject (online, natch, not in print).
At the conference this past November, the closing plenary session recruited some high school and college age kids to talk about how they read. I was curious about the session, thinking it might be a bit like a focus group. As it was a book publishing conference, the recruits were, unfortunately, self-selected heavy readers and current or future English majors. (They were all female, and two were daughters of a conference attendee.)
To be fair, the conference has become increasingly web friendly over the past two years, in part because of excellent keynote speeches from Kevin Smokler of BookTour.com and Andrew Savikas, from O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing conference.
Yet the entrenched wisdom among those who have been in publishing since before the Mac is that those intertubes are a waste of time for kids.
University of California Berkeley to the rescue! The Digital Youth Research project finds social and educational value to all those "OMG"s and "LOL"s and even "ROTFLMAO"s. If you are one of publishing's old codgery coots and somehow read this blog post, check out what those hippies from Berkeley have to say about the web. Not one for white papers and executive summaries? Turn, then, to the Old Gray Lady's take on the subject (online, natch, not in print).
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