Life and Times

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2010-04-29T13:15:00.001-07:00

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Rules for employing woman - 1943

2008-06-28T16:29:00.000-07:00

I loved reading this on Learning visions. Thanks Cammy Bean.

Cotton Ball Clay

2008-05-18T10:21:00.001-07:00

Every week Dhwani has to work on a creative project, write a report and talk about what she did। The class is given an ingredient to work with. This week's ingredient: cotton balls.

We looked into doing the usual things with cotton ball rabbits, chicks, painting project etc. And then we came across this really cool project. Make clay with cotton balls. What I loved about this one - the kids could participate in this totally. And it was soooo much fun. Great way to spend a hot Saturday afternoon. I loved it.

The girls and I tore the cotton balls to pieces, stuck it in each others hair and generally made a mess before putting them into the bowl. We had a contest on who could punch the cotton balls the hardest while mixing it with water (of course I won hands down). We all wanted to roll the clay into the cloth so instead of using one piece of cloth, we used 3 (more laundry). Not to mention we used up 3 saucepans to make the clay. This project was supposed to take 15 minutes. It took us 1 1/2 hrs. 90 minutes of unadulterated 'mom and girls' FUN!

Somehow I don't remember my 2nd grade homework being so creative and so enjoyable.

2008-05-15T15:56:00.000-07:00

Competitive advertising.

Experience with clients consistently confirms that competitor names make great keywords. People searching with the name of the company are usually very close to making a purchase decision. Across categories we have seen these keywords to have excellent conversion rates. Though they start with high CPL's, over time the CPL values are also very good. One should not use competitor name keywords in the ad for 2 reasons:

1. That would = branding effect for your competitors
2. Search Engines do not allow trademarked words or use of competitive advertising in ads.

EXAMPLE

We have a client who has path-breaking technology in an established industry. The biggest player in this industry with a huge market share is “B”. I saw an ad by another competitor advertising on the keyword B using the ad message 'Less expensive than B' .

When I called Google on this, they said B was not a trademarked term and as such could be used in the ads. Further, they said competitive statements like 'less expensive' may be used so long as proof for the same is depicted on the landing page. This is very interesting news. So potentially, we may now advertise on competitor keywords and use their names in ads if the product/service is demonstrably and legitimately better than them.

So that’s what we plan to do…

Some caveats:
1. If you are a market leader, don't do this. You might be acknowledging the existence of a competitor your TG is unaware of.
2. This is only possible if your competitor has not trademarked his name.
3. It can be used very well if your competitor has a generic name like 'American Homes' or 'The California company' or something like that.
4. As a courtesy, if the competitor complains, pull the ad. It is a very small world. Relationships are important.
5. Don't use the competitors name on the headline. That is still prime real estate that should be used for your own branding.

Please add to this post and comment. Let me know your thoughts.

Dhwani's musical - Lion and the Mouse

2008-05-06T16:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the 2nd grade musical at school. The theme was Aesop's fables. Dhwani was acting in Lion and the mouse as .....the LION. I was super excited that she got the part. Predictably, she was'nt quite as excited. She thought it was a BOY's part.

I remember back in my school days I took part in every annual day celebration. Some times I acted in multiple events - a dance, a drama, a chorus etc. 99% of the time I had a male part. And usually the villains role. I absolutely loved these parts. They were far more fun than the 'little miss goody 2 shoes' parts the heroines would get.

Dhwani felt a lot better about her role once I told her about the parts I took on. See how much fun she had!

Great pictures

2008-04-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love the look of total happiness on her face.

soumya

2006-10-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

Myths of PPC advertising

I started this post 10 days back - original title: 10 big myths surrounding PPC. Even as I was consolidating my thoughts, Rajiv posted his PPC myths article and stole my thunder. well almost.... . I just changed my title (so there is no pressure to discover 10), racked my brains and here are the realities as I see them.

Myth 1: X, Y and Z are important keywords. They will generate a lot of clicks/sales.

This myth is a throwback to offline. Underlying this myth is the belief that we have near perfect understanding of our brand/product, our target group, kw's for every stage of the buying cycle.

Reality -
a. Keywords rarely stand alone in determining their success. Clicks happen to the kw+ad combinations. Sales happen to the product +landing page combination.

b. Searches happen on one kw, but sales rarely happen just on the basis of 1 search or 1 kw.
There are at least 3 steps from search to sale:
Step 1: general keyword,
Step2: specific phrases - price related or sales related or kw, and
Step 3: product/brand or company name - the sale concludes.
The kw's in step 1 and 2 do not get the sale but are the catalysts to the sale.

Myth 2: Nobody reads beyond the headline of an ad.

Reality -

The headline is the most 'eye catching' statement on the ad. But if visitors only read the headline, then adding a dunamic kw insertion to the ad should ensure a click. It does not. For every kw there are at least 5 to 7 ads. 90% of ads carry dynamic insertion kw's in their headline. The customer has to read beyond the headline to make a choice.

Dare I say, with dynamic insewrtion, headline may soon be the one line that leaps to the eye, but nobody reads?

Myth 3: Leads and sales through PPC increase exponentially forever.

Reality -

All campaigns, irrespective of search engine, have a maximum cap. This is especially true for campaigns where cost per lead has to be maintained at a fixed number. Long tail keywords help maximize the potential of an account, but there is a cap on the number of leads/sales you can generate tough 'a' campaign.

Myth 4: Daily budget is one of the critical factors in the relevance factor. Increase your ad spend budget, and your CTR's will increase while CPC's decrease.

Reality-
If Daily budget is a factor at all, it is a very small factor. Daily budget determines the number of impressions the kw gets. nothing more.

Myth 5: There is only 1 way to optimize an account. And you optimize forever using the same formulae or set of rules.

Reality -

PPC optimization is a series of changes puntuated by regular overhauls. It is not a 1 step processs or a set of definite rules. At every stage, we need human judgement. The process for each step is dependent on the outcome of the previous step. outcome of a step is dependent on timing, intensity (of the change) and value of the change.

Myth 6: Knowing the product is the most important part of PPC or For PPC, you dont need any knowledge of the product/brand or its marketing.

Reality -

Both these statements are incorrect. Best performing accounts are created when a thorough knowledge of the product is married to extensive experience in PPC. Both form critical pieces of setup and management of a PPC account.

I will add to this post when something strikes me. leave your thoughts.

2006-09-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

The 10 numbers a PPC advertiser should know.

PPC - Pay per click advertising - Advertising through search engines. e.g google adwords, msn adcenter, yahoo search marketing. Buying advertsing space on these search engines is through an auction system. And you don't pay for people seeing your ads. You only pay if they click on the ad. Hence the term pay per click.

1. Ad spend budget - How much can the advertiser spend? Per week, per month, for this quarter, annually? How much will it grow to?

2. Goals - How many visitors, conversions (leads/sales) does the advertiser want? Define per day/perweek/permonth/per quarter/per year goals.

3. Impressions - How many people saw the ad?

4. Clicks and CPC - Everytime someone clicks on the ad, it constitutes a click. In simple terms, 1 click=1 visitor. CPC is the cost per click. How much do we pay to gain a visitor?

5. CTR % - of the total people who viewed our ad, percentage of people who clicked on it.
CTR = (Clicks /impressions)*100. A high CTR (2% +) indicates
a. A good Keyword fit with advertisers products or services
b. Effective ad copy.
CTR should be measured at kw, ad, ad group(order,category), campaign and account level.

6. Total cost - What is the actual ad spend per day/per week/per month.
a. Do your impressions/clicks/conversions increase with increased budget?
b. Does your CPC and cost per conversion decrease with increased ad spend cost?
c. what is the optimal spend?

7. Conversions and cost/conversion -
a. define a conversion - is it a person filling out a form, starting a download, completing a sale, ordering a newsletter?
b. How are you tracking conversions?
c. How many conversions do you get per day/per week/per month? at what cost per conversion?
d. Are you achieving the goals set in 1.

8. Sales and Revenues
a. Number of sales achieved through PPC
b. Revenue per sale.
c. Total revenues, revenues through PPC
d. Total Profits, profits through PPC
e. How does PPC advertising compare with other marketing programs

To understand more on how to calculate sales, revenues, margins and profits refer to Rajiv's excellent post on this topic (complete with formulae!)

9. KPI's - Key Performance Indicators - KPI's are percentages and comparitive charts to help you better your achievements. They help answer the question - How do you evaluate the performance of your campaign?
Start with evaluating your bottom line. How much of your profits come from sales generated through PPC?

Then move backwards:

How many visitors, conversions did we get this week/month/year compared to last year? At what cost?

10. Of the 9 numerical values above

a. which numbers have to improve
b. which numbers have reached their best performance

2006-09-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

What the heck is a blog?

What the heck is a blog anyway? Sounds like a cross between a bob, a lob and a hog.

This definition by 'bytowninternet.com' is the popular opinion.
"Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site".

I, of course, as is typical, beg to differ. A blog to me is an un-diary.

A blog is
for public consumption. it is written with the reader is mind. it is written to capture and keep the readers intrest. comments and discussions are solicited and welcomed.
A diary is
an intensely private document. it is a sacrilege to read another persons diary. And to admit you read anothers diary, comment on its contents or worse discuss it with anyone or anywhere would be social suicide.

A blog documents an opinion or a stance. A diary reflects thoughts and a thought processes.

Blog is an advertisement to the author. and like all ads, it has a pinch of fluff and dare i say falsehood? a diary is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the true represeantation of the author.

But where the blog scores against the diary is in its kaleidoscopic representation of the authors nature. it reflects the true human personality. no man is completely unidimensional in his intrests. A blog offers the perfect outlet to write, dicuss, diplay knowledge on all topics that come to mind. I like this facet of a blog the best.

so to answer the question that started this post, here is what I think a blog is

A Blog is
1. a document of an experts* opinions, ideas, thoughts and actions
2. with an invitation for interactive dialogue and exchange
3. across a diverse range of topics.

* - an expert is defined as one with knowledge or experience or both, who can offer an effective debate on the topic. In the case of blogs, people generally write on their own thoughts and experiences and are open to dicsussion and debate on their written word.

Thats what I think. comments invited....

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