Hey There-

The latest NetPositive Meetup was a great event with a solid turnout. Everyone seemed to enjoy the quality and caliber of people… and some good new connections were made.

To make meetups easier for us, I’ve put together NetPositive Meetup List that you can sign up for. Sign up below if you’ve been invited to NetPositive and I’ll make sure and let you know about upcoming meetups.

Sign up here: NetPositive Meetup List

For New People
If you have someone you’d like to propose to join the group please have them email me with an intro about them and what they’re up to. I generally like to try and meet and know whomever comes into the group- that way the community follows the purpose here. (Smart+Good people)

If you’re brand new and don’t know anyone in the circle but you’re interested and you’re in the LA tech/internet/media world please post a comment here and I’ll connect with you.

Talk soon and be well…

Chance

I’ve had a growing interest in the mobile space- particularly around mobile search and developing a business that caters to local searchers in a useful way.

First, a bit of context on Why it has my attention and interest.

Stay with me while I share some tidbits on local search and some of the current goings-on.

Local Search Statistics

Here are a few quick stats I’ve read:

• Microsoft’s Bing search estimate 53% of mobile users search for local purposes
• Google estimates that 20% of ALL SEARCHES have a local intent
• The SERP’s (Search Results) on Google are prioritizing local content more and more

Around this last point regarding the changes at Google, if you haven’t seen the recent changes to Google’s SERP’s then take a look these screen shots below that were taken today 11/16/10…

Changes to Local Search Results on Google

This first image below is a Google search query simply for “lawyers.” Google immediately assumes that the searches intent is local, they automatically read my IP address and geo-target my search… and then display a map and loads the left hand column results with location/places with alphabetical Place Pins. In this case those denote lawyers by location.

screenshot of localized search results at Google

This second image is a search for “San Francisco coffee shops.” You’ll see how the entire left column of natural search results is filled by location/Places content instead of simply links to top ranking websites for this keyword phrase.

Google Local Search Results including City Name

The focus on localized search results and local content by many of the biggest companies including Google and Facebook (with Facebook Places), and hence the growth in this space in terms of the aggregation and serving of localized ads/content is pretty fascinating.

So that explains a little bit about Why I’m interested in the space.

Seeing Opportunities In Local Search & Mobile Users

Of course, being a tinkerer with tech and systems and an entrepreneur, I couldn’t help but start to think about what new and better ways there might be of providing value to users on the go when they search with their mobile device in a specific location and want to search or discover something new.

And after taking in what I’ve just thrown at you and more for the last 6 months or so, an idea has stuck in my head for a new business in the space.

Here’s where it’s getting interesting though:

How do you go from big messy idea to implementing a real strategy for not just providing the product/service but for growing your business with users, engagement and revenue? And in this new space – can the same strategies I usually employ to test and launch startups be applied?

Well, in you haven’t ready my blog before I guess I could sum up my philosophy with launching new online businesses in the past as “Choose & Determine Your Market First.”

As in… you need to first test to determine what the existing and CURRENT demand is for what you’re doing, and do it in one or more specific marketing or advertising channels that has the potential to scale the growth of your business to where you’d want to grow it to.

For example, in my Mixergy interview with Andrew Warner on Ensuring Success Before You Launch I discuss evaluating your idea/product by testing it with Google search ads and using the results there in terms of Cost per Conversion and how many Searches and Clicks are available for qualified keywords.

So in the interests of taking my own medicine, one of the first places I’ve started is by seeing how the idea and concept of what I would build might do by first TESTING a vary simple version of my idea. Long story short, I’ve boiled down the idea to it’s simplest form and have begun testing it on the actual CHANNELS where people would discover and want to use my idea – on mobile devices.

To do so I’ve started using a variety of the mobile ad platforms out there including in app advertisements (location and phone platform specific)… as well as using local search results ads (primarily Google)… all in an effort to learn some of the following:

• In paid ads, what are the average CPM’s and CPC’s out there?
• How hard is it to rank for key terms in local areas on Google given location-targeted content?
• How do mobile users/searches behave differently and what do they respond to and not respond to?
• If I had a mobile site, or mobile app – how much would it cost on average to drive a new visitor, subscriber or app install?
• What are the most efffective revenue models in this space?

These are just a few of the very rudimentary questions I’ve started to answer and am testing for. I might share more as things evolve, but I’m busy and this is a part time “pet project” for now.

If you’re doing anything interesting in the mobile or local space and want to connect post a Comment here please. I’m looking for learning resources and to get to know some smart people in the local search, local SEO and mobile space.

Talk soon~

Chance

Los Angeles Tech & Marketing Meetup:

Hey-

I’ve put together a private group gathering made up people I know and like who are:

• Smart and driven
• In the internet, tech or media space
• Doing interesting things (often entrepreneurs)
• The kind of people you might actually enjoy spending time with

If I sent you an invite please leave a Comment below so we can have a collective invitee list here so everyone in the group has an easy time following up with each other. When you post your info below please include:

• Your Name
• Most Recent Role/Title
• Link To Your Blog or LinkedIn (so people can’t contact you)

Details On The Event:

What: Tech/Marketing/Media Meetup
When: Wednesday, November 17th, 7:00-10:00pm
Where: Hotel Erwin Rooftop Lounge
1697 Pacific Ave Venice, CA – valet parking available
Google Map
Yelp Page

The purpose of the night is to get smart, interesting good people together to share ideas and create a better community for ourselves – and help each other where we can.

I did a similar event a while back and the feedback and response was great. People got value and enjoyed it. This time I’m expanding the circle a little bit to bring some good new people into the mix.

The invite list consists of:

• Some tech/internet CEO’s
• A few CTO’s
• Some serial entrepreneurs with a few nice exits (sales)
• Several lovely & talented internet marketers, authors and experts
• A couple of folks doing cool stuff in the mobile space
• Some web & app developers I like
• Several super sharp Advertising and Media Buying folks
• A few VC’s & Angels
• And if you come… YOU

The evening will be a fairly casual gathering of minds up top the Erwin Hotel at the rooftop bar. It’s one of the very best views in Venice too, so you won’t want to miss it.

Why Am I Doing This Event?

I’ve always felt that Los Angeles could have a more cohesive technology and internet community- the way the Bay Area does.

With that said, there are some solid groups like DocStoc CEO Jason Nazar’s Startups Uncensored. Their events are usually posted to his blog and give real value to the startup folks of the world.

There are also some other internet-centric communities including:

• DigitalLA for the networking digital minded
• Twiistup events
• The Digital Family

What I’ve sought to do over the past year or so is bring together a smaller more intimate group of like-minded internet, technology and marketing folks who are all the kind of people I enjoy sharing ideas with and getting to know better.

It’s always great to connect with smart people, and I enjoy introducing the smart people I like and know to each other so everyone benefits.

If you’re in the LA tech community please also feel free to post here and say hi and introduce yourself. If we connect I can try and invite you to the next event.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”
-Leanardo DaVinci

See you there and be well!

I’m getting a group of savvy, smart fun people in tech/media together Thursday night in Santa Monica.

Here are the details…

What: Savvy Folks Meetup
Where: Bar Chloe 1449 2nd St. Santa Monica, CA
When: Thursday 11/5 at 7:45pm

I bring this group together because I like connecting with smart people who are also interesting good people, and sharing in return. It’s not very formal- more an opportunity to hang with smart folks doing great things at a cool place for the evening.

Focus on technology, marketing, media and startup entrepreneurs.

Networking, helping other people and talking about big ideas highly encouraged.

Our last meetup at the Hotel Erwin rooftop was a great group, and some great connections and friendships were made.

The group I’ve invited so far for this event are smart, successful and generous in spirit… and I want my friends to meet and hang with other good people like them. If you’d like to come and you’ll bring value to the group with what you’re doing, then come by.

Please RSVP so I know how many we’ll have. I have tables already reserved. RSVP by Commenting here on my Blog, or if you’re a FB’er, on the Facebook Event Page.

So far on the invite list:

Jackie Peters – Heavy Bag Media
Drew Kossoff – Rainmaker Ad Ventures
Wil Schroter – Founder & CEO, AffordIt.com
Kyra Reed – Markyr Media
Mark Schelbert – Shackleton Advisors
Angela Poe – The Gary Group
Brian Cooley – Wicked PR
William Barnes – uCrave
Dan Bliss – PerfectBusiness.com
Sean Stolper – Sony Pictures
Tyler Crowley – Mahalo.com
Jason Nazar - Co-Founder & CEO, DocStoc.com
Jeffrey Morgan – pausing post exit
Marc Vermut – Control Room
Ryan Born – AudioMicro.com
Dave Conway – Little Radio
Brad Barrish – Topspin
Jennifer Berson – Jeneration PR
Kit Cooper – Quality of Life Project

P.S. We’re a bit light on folks on the development side of things. If you know any developer folks who would play well in the group, let them know.

If you’re interested in online marketing for your business, there’s something important you should know about the people you are looking to become your subscribers or customers.

It’s a process that every single user online is doing, and they’re doing it every day, every time they decide to open up their computer. I call this process the “User Bubble”, and I’m going to explain what it is and why you need to know about it.

First, a few things you need to get before you see what I’m talking about clearly…

Blind Spots As An Internet Marketer

We all have a psychological “blind spot” when we cross over from being USERS of a product or service to being the CREATOR of our own product or service.

Here’s what I mean…

As a USER we’re in a hurry.

We don’t want to have to read all the text on a page. We want to get what we want in 2 seconds or less, and we don’t want to have to give anything up for it.

As a CREATOR… we assume that users should pay attention to us and care.

We want our users to read all the text on our page. We expect to get the users attention and for them to stay engaged and do what we assume they will want to do for minutes on end.

You see the clear disconnect, yet most of us can’t help but fall into this blind spot when we move into being a CREATOR.

Great marketers are often people who think past or overcome this blind spot, and build and design with THE GAP between USER and CREATOR in mind.

Ok. Now that you know a tiny bit about the User/Creator Gap, there’s something 99% of of web/email/mobile users do that we practically all forget about when we go to create and market something of OUR OWN.

The User Bubble

Humans are creatures of habit.

Being creatures of habit, we tend to like or trust things we already know about and have seen before MORE than we like things we haven’t seen or heard about.

We also generally follow the same routes and paths to getting things done on a daily basis.

Examples…

• you take the same route to work
• you filter and respond to email messages at a given address
• you use the same search engine or search bar on your browser
• you talk to the same friends
• you eat the same things
• you watch the same tv shows
• you visit the same websites
• you log in to the same social networks
• you read the same blogs or social feeds

The list goes on.

The process users do day-in and day-out of finding and filtering information from the same people, the same places and doing it in the same ways online is what I call the User Bubble.

Here’s a visual aide from the BBC on users daily routines in media that’s both funny and revealing…

Online Marketing Strategy - Understanding User Routines

Now, you might ask why do people do this? Why do we live in “bubbles?” One reason is that we create habits to make our lives more manageable- to find a rhythm in the chaos that is the overload of Information, knowledge, work and entertainment today.

The point is, we largely do the same things in our lives over and over again, including what we do and where we go and visit online and on the web.

This becomes really important to know when you think about how to get your product or service in front of a real life human being you’d like to become your user or customer. It becomes critical to consider if your business and marketing plan calls for you capturing thousands or millions of users.

The reality is that if you want to get in front of users today, you have to get into what I call their “User Bubble.” You have to find a way to get into their bubble or communication “loop.”

This means that you not only have to be using the channels/mediums they’re repetitively using… but you might have to get a real individual talking about you or mentioning you to their network for many users locked in tiny Bubbles of their own to ever hear about you and come across you in their daily Bubble.

Getting Into Your Users Bubble

Knowing about “User Bubbles,” where do you need to be at to get into your users bubble and daily info “loop”?

I’ve acquired several million subscribers in businesses over the last 7 years.

In the Web 1.0 era there weren’t that many options. Banner ads, forums and email. Search used to be much less crowded. Now there are tons of options, and you need to pick and choose. Most importantly, you need to FOCUS.

Not only does your user and where they are online determine where you need to be to get into their Bubble, but your product or service often determines this as well.

Email has been a great way for marketers and brands to try and get themselves into users Bubbles, and stay there. That’s part of the beauty of email. If you have a users “good” email address, you can bet they’ll at least come across your message when you want to push it to them. But email isn’t as effective as it used to be for many businesses, and users are trying to spend less time be “marketed to” via email. (opening and clicking less non-personal emails)

The social web has expanded many users Bubbles. Now many users have 1-2 email addresses, 1 or 2 social “identities” where they share and glance at feeds, and likely several sources of info/news – blogs, newsletter subscriptions, or Twitter for real time news.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your users will abandon their habits and break out of their Bubble for you. Instead, make sure you’re finding great relevant ways to have them invite you in.

So think about it…

Knowing about how users live in Bubbles, what’s the best way to get into their loop, and stay there with recurring messages, recurring value and give them reasons to continue to interact with you?

Tip of the hat here… I’ve been thinking about writing about the User Bubble phenomena for a few weeks now, and finally got around to it after being inspired by a panel put on by two smart cool folks Tony Adam and Jackie Peters on knowing and finding your Customer at The Perfect Pitch conference.

You should attend this event if you’re involved in the startup community in Los Angeles or on the west coast…

The Perfect Pitch 2009

I spoke on a panel the other night at Jason Nazar and DocStoc’s Startups Uncensored event in SM and met Dan Bliss who was on the panel as well. Dan’s the guy who’s brought this amazing event together.

At this event will be some of the top people to know in for Venture Capital, Angel investors, as well as other startups and entrepreneurs who are making things happen.

If that wasn’t enough, the Keynote for the event will be given by Sir Richard Branson.

It’s at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina Del Rey on October 26th.

Some of the speakers and people to meet at the event include:

• Sir Richard Branson- Founder, Virgin Group
• Tim Draper- Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
• John Babcock- Partner, Rustic Canyon Partners
• Mark Suster- Partner, GRP Partners
• Scott Sangster- Angel Investor; CEO of OrganicStartup
• Jason Nazar- CEO & Founder, Docstoc
• Shawn Colo- Co-Founder/Head of M&A, Demand Media
• And other smart folks to meet…

I definitely recommend getting a ticket and attending this event.

Registration is limited, so get all the details and get your ticket now here:

Perfect Pitch 2009 Sign Up

Let me know if you’re going, and see you there…

Hey… I wanted to give you a heads up about a very cool event a friend and all around cool thoughtful guy Kit Cooper has put together.

It’s called The Quality of Life Forum, and it’s a monthly speaker series in Santa Monica in which well known and inspiring guests discuss the things that contribute to their quality of life.

It’s run by a local non profit Quality of Life Project that interviews people like Richard Branson, Jacqueline Novogratz, Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Skerritt and then shares their best life practices and perspectives with others.

There are real usable tips here that will help you enjoy more of the success you’re working towards, or already have.

The guest at the next event, Wednesday October 21st, is Mark Thornton, author of Meditation in a New York Minute, executive coach, expert on how meditation can improve both your personal and professional life.

Mark helps people and companies including Wharton, McKinsey and Harvard Law School. Mark used to be the COO of JP Morgan London and is now focused on teaching people that they really can have their feet in both the business and spiritual worlds.

Check it out.

How To Attend:
This event is FREE if your Register.

To register and get details go to www.qualityoflifeproject.org/qolf

Some quick words and an important tip for you…

It’s something that came up the other day while working on copy and design around a critical conversion point in my new venture http://gig.fm (follow @gigfm)

Here it is…

The most successful business and marketing plans I’ve seen and watched grow have been those aimed not at a broad group of “everyone” but at a very specific type of person.

So specific, in fact, that it seemed in most of these cases that there wouldn’t be many people (a large market) who matched that description or would fit into that group that was the intended market.

But the incredible part is that, time and time again, it’s the very well-defined and targeted strategy that works.

This picture sums it up pretty nicely.

Attribution: this picture is from 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School by Matthew Frederick

A take away…

When you try and market and sell to everyone, you often get no one.

It’s not what EVERYONE will like about your product that will lead individuals to buy it. It’s what ONE INDIVIDUAL will light up when hearing that will create your success in marketing.

Many people forget that you aren’t communicating One-to-Many in todays world. Instead, you’re communicating One-to-One in almost every context… even when the One-to-One dynamic is spread across thousands or millions of users and you.

So think about it. This principle of Specificity is an important design principle, but it’s also VERY important in marketing and copywriting and most forms of communication. The more specific your communication, the more people can grab on to it.

Tip of the hat to John Weir for sending me the image and the design conversation and learnings shared.

Are you interested in or using Twitter some way for your business?

If so, then you’ve hopefully been paying attention to some of the great development going on around Twitter’s API and Twitter Search.

I’m doing some work and thinking around Twitter right now, but when I saw this article I was glad to see someone talking about it:

Search Enginge Land: Twitter’s Real-Time Spam Problem

I had some thoughts that I wanted to share of my own and posted a Comment with one possible solution to what could keep growing into an even bigger spam problem for Twitter.

Crowdsourcing.

I think that if Twitter introduced a small button to allow users to tag a Tweet as spam, it could help. Enough tags and a Tweet is deleted and/or the account is frozen.

I love the elegance of letting the community do the work.

I also shared in my Comment on Search Engine Land why I compare Twitter Search to “A Free Google AdWords System.” Go check out the article if you want to read more.

Again, it’s here: Twitter’s Real-Time Spam Problem

What do you think?

Hey- if you’re interested in learning about how to get your online business off the ground and convert visitors to your site into customers, then you need to check out a video interview I did with Andrew Warner over at Mixergy on How To Ensure Success Before You Launch.

Now, I also want to share some things I didn’t share on the call- one of which is an easy Landing Page Formula. With the theory and insights and tips I gave about Positioning your business, finding your market online and “framing” your product to a hungry crowd… when it comes to actually sitting down and deciding what’s on your landing page, it can be a challenge knowing where to start.

Before I show you where to start, you should remember what I said in the interview-

Creating a great landing page (given time) is not all about being a great copywriter or designer. It’s also a function of being a great tester. (Although talent and experience are the ultimate time savers and leverage – considering time and expense)

So… with that, here’s a quick formula to follow as you’re developing your landing page and the elements to include and test within:

Element #1: Lead With “Finished Story” Benefits

Every page needs a place where the visitors eyes are initially drawn that focuses their attention. Traditionally this is a headline, image or tag line. Make sure that you have this initial element be an attention grabber that let’s your visitor know what they’re going to get out of staying and engaging with you. Remember, you only have a few seconds for a user to decide if your page (and your site/service/product) is or isn’t for them.

The way to make sure that this initial attention element has the result of making your visitor stay and then convert is to talk about what I call “Finished Story” Benefits. These are benefits about what the finished story will be for the visitor after they engage and/or take the action you’re suggesting with your product.

Making your visitor visualize and imagine what they will get and how they will feel after using your product is your goal.

Again, on our call I talked about the company I helped with their business plan template marketing. The “finished story” here wasn’t the obvious – a finished business plan. It was farther removed than that. It was having raised money successfully with the polished and professional business plan.

Long story short, make sure you’re not talking about all the work that might go into your visitor getting the result they’re after. Make sure you’re getting them to connect then ultimate end goal – the finished result and REWARD.

Do this well, and you end up tying the purchase of your product directly to their desire for that end result. Once this happens, most resistance and objections from your visitor will have been removed.

Element #2: Social Proof

I’ll run through these quickly. There are LOTS of examples out on the web of each of these you can find if you just do some Google searched and click on the Paid Adwords ads and see the landing pages there.

Bottom line- new visitors to your site don’t know who you are. Make it easier for them to take the risky move of sharing something with you and inviting you into their world.

Element #4: Offer/Value

You can write great copy on your landing page, and design a great layout… but if what you’re asking for and offering on your landing page doesn’t boil down to a great offer then you’re wasting your time.

A lot of people these days are trying to build their list, or build their social friendships or “followers.” If you’re asking for anything like this, let alone asking for a sale, on your landing page, you better make you’re visitor feel like they’re getting the better end of the deal.

So what do I mean by a great offer, and what does one look like?

A bad offer, if you’re looking to drive email signups from your page, is essentially offering nothing but the chance to “sign up” in exchange for the visitor giving up their precious email and expose their inbox to you.

Arguably, that’s not an “offer” at all. But the crazy thing is, most people’s email sign up forms on their landing pages are framed in this manner.

Instead, what can you create and provide in exchange for a user putting in their email? And how can you tie this directly into their “finished story.”

This question is exactly what I love the “free report” give away or white paper type free line content. It creates an instant “offer” that makes a visitor feel like simply sharing their email address in exchange for this information is giving them the better end of the deal.

Element #5: Call To Action

This is what inexperienced copywriters and marketers have the most problems with. They either don’t even use a call to action, or they make it so weak and passive that they might as well not have one.

A great call to action does the following:

Gives specific instructions on exactly what action you want the visitor to take
Tells the visitor exactly how to do this
Uses the already “anchored” benefits you’ve put in your visitors mind and reminds the visitor of what they’ll get by taking this action

Here’s a bad call to action if you’re trying to drive email subscribers-

“Sign Up Here And Get Our Emails.”

Just what we all want, more email. No thanks!

Ok, now go out and get on the web and look at 30 or more landing pages by doing all kinds of searches and clicking on paid ads. This will start to bring some of these 5 elements into your awareness and give you ideas on how to go about writing and designing your landing page.

And don’t forget to test, test, test.

Let me know how it goes.

And here’s some Recommended Reading:

To better understand how and where to “frame” and place your business in your market, read Position by Al Reis and Jack Trout.

For a great overview of the psychological principles and operators to be aware of and use in your landing page copy and offer read Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Cialdini

For design guidance and insights, go get Universal Principles of Design (design insights with the psychology behind them) by Lidwell, Holden & Butler.

For your copywriting bootcamp, get all 3 of these books and study them regularly as you’re writing copy: Ogilvy On Advertising, Tested Advertising Methods and The Ultimate Sales Letter.