Paying for Privacy

I just finished reading an article that spoke about a Carnegie Mellon University study that showed that people are willing to pay more to buy from an online retailer who makes their privacy policy clear.

The results stated that “people were more likely to buy from online merchants with good privacy policies, as identified by Privacy Finder and were also willing to pay about 60 cents extra on a $15 purchase when buying from a site with a privacy policy they liked” So if you are an E-Tailor, spend a little time on your privacy policy, make it easy to find and you can charge a little more for your product.

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Do you need to solve a business issue?

Remember I have written an article 99 Business Tips that you may find very helpful.

Google Maps for Mobile Updated with GPS

I use a TomTom 700 GPS unit in my car because my Ford Explorer did not come equipped. I would never consider owning a car without GPS now that I have experienced the pleasure of driving with it. One of my favorite things is discovering new places to eat, I just punch in the food that I am looking for and the area of town, it takes me on a little drive and Bang! a new experience.

As you know I have the Blackberry 8800 and the latest version of Google Maps Mobile (1.5.1) has GPS support. All you need to do it press “0??? and the satellites quickly pinpoint your location within a few feet with a glowing blue dot. You can use it to get direction by choosing your current location as either the starting or the ending point and with fully updated satellite images from Google Maps this application is absolutely amazing.

Google has also announced that it will be providing traffic details for 30 major metropolitan areas so you will be able to see the traffic as an overlay to your directions. I am confident that they will soon be routing traffic based on traffic so that your phone will become a full featured navigator.

Visit Google Maps Mobile from your phone’s browser to download.

Googles Pay Per Action

PPC and PPA Advertising

Feel free to forward this tip to friends, co-workers, employees, customers or relatives who you feel might enjoy it or benefit from it. To subscribe to Brad’s weekly tips on line go to: www.bradslavin.com.

Are you wasting your money?
After two years of grad school and an MBA in Marketing I can share one truism of advertising. This is the fact that 50% of your advertising budget is wasted! The problem is that you just don’t know which 50%. Every business understands that in order to attract more customers that you need to advertise. Every business that has ever advertised knows that it can be a lot of money with very little return.

View, rinse, repeat

We have all done the traditional Yellow Pages Ads, small newspaper or trade publication advertising and perhaps you have even advertised on the radio or TV? The average prospects needs to hear a message seven or more times before they trust the brand and are willing to try the service. This means that you could be spending all your money without actually increasing bottom line. Businesses don’t maintain their advertising over the long haul if there is a disconnect between money spent and results.

Click Fraud is as high at 30%
This is where the traditional Pay-Per-Click services like Google AdWords or Yahoo Text Ads gained popularity, this way you bid an amount and you only get charged when someone actually clicks your link. Most advertisers believe that “the prospect has shown some interest, so I am willing to pay for them to see my product.” Advertisers like this because they only pay when a potential customer is in their hands, the trouble is that prospects or competitors are clicking and driving up your costs and you have a terrible conversion ratio. This is known as Click Fraud and it is a bigger problem than Google and Yahoo are letting on. It makes them money and costs you the advertiser money, this type of fox in the chicken coop system has been the subject of debate over the past few years.

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Freedom from 9-5

Word about 4hww is flying around fast indeed. I could find so many people, talking, discussing, interviewing 4hww and Tim Ferriss and getting back on the net about it all. For everyone sandwiched between 9 and 5, having their personal lives tossed around by work related deadlines, this book brings emancipation!

Editor’s Choice: Some insightful highlights of Tim Ferriss’ interview | ScobleShow: Videoblog about geeks, technology, and developers has Tim Ferriss live! Play the video and watch the highlights of the interview on ScobleShow.

In a time when courage is tested.

Alfred Adler states that – It is always easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up to them.