Category: Uncategorized

Sleep Talker Blog

Nate
Jan 22 |20:14

The last hour or so has seen a huge spike in the web traffic of my sleep talker blog. I think it is due in part to the sensation of the Sleep Talkin Man sensation that has been sweeping the web of late.

My roommate and I started the site a long time ago while I was still in college. I kept them up at night with my ramblings and we decided, just for the fun factor, to put the recordings up on the Internet for all to see. While the site itself is somewhat weird and obscure in it’s description of me, the recordings are 100% legit. I do take out the dead space in between my where my voice activated recorder picks things up.

I have not recorded myself in my sleep in sometime due to the fact that the transcription of doing so takes some time–which I generally don’t have because of all of the other things I have going on. However, because of the viral nature of the latest sleep talking episodes with the online searches for sleep talkers, it may be wise to start posting again. I did put something up there today that was from a long time ago, but is fairly new.

I hope you all enjoy as I may start posting more regularly.

~nate

 

My New Verizon/Google Droid Review

Nate
Dec 11 |22:32

Those familiar with my life know this week has been a little insane. From Phoenix to San Fran and back home–then there was the other drama :) I ordered my new Google Droid phone, powered by the 3G network of Verizon last Saturday. Shoot dang, I’m not the most gizmo obsessed person on the planet. I’ve never been much for video games or been obsessed with too many things, but this thing is just so dang cool.Google Droid

There has been a lot of talk about integration with various smartphones. I spent like two hours just downloading a bunch of apps–which were mostly useless. I think my personal favorite is the Pandora app, which allows me to listen to virtually uninterupted radio of my choosing right on my phone. One thing that impresses me is the fact that the screen seems clearer than that of the iPhone. There are a couple of downsides worth mentioning. First, the storage space is somewhat minimal for music. It’s not like the iPhone where I can have like 16 Gigs–unfortunately.

Another thing I found as a downside is the physical keyboard is somewhat small for my fat little thumbs. The on-screen keyboard is much better for sending text messages and writing emails.

All-in-all, I like the stupid thing. My favorite part about it is the ability for me to communicate anytime, anywhere and in any method I want. It’s freakin’ sweet.

 

“The Life of George Washington” by Washington Irving

Nate
Dec 4 |17:21

I just got done muscling my way through The Life of George Washington by Washington Irving. I’m not even going to say how long it took me to get through the stupid thing, but it did have some good gems within it. Part of the problem for me in reading it was the fact that Irving was a contemporary of G.W. which made the read a bit less friendly to the 21st century reader.

I will be eventually be posting some quotes from the book here on the blog. I’m almost finished with John Adams by David McCullough–I’ve been enjoying that one immensely. While he earned the Pulitzer for John Adams, I personally like 1776 the best.

Stay tuned. I just hope it won’t take me a month to get to :)

 

The Three Digital Media Imperatives for 2010

Nate
Nov 15 |01:20

In spite of all the unemployment and recession woes, marking and branding are necessary as the Earth continues to spin on is axis. 2010 will most likely be the year we at least begin to pull ourselves out of the doldrums of what has been a pretty harsh environment. Certainly, more jobs will be lost before it is all over, but we’ll come out of it stronger because and not in spite of it all. Going forward, for localized, internal marketing, there will be three necessities that must be implemented into your bag of tricks for 2010.

Mobile Marketing

No longer is mobile marketing about SMS alone. No, the mobile phone has increasingly become the pocket billboard. Mobile marketing will certainly lose its effect as the years move forward, much like email spam has, but it will continue to be a driving force for future campaigns. Opt-in messaging and localized traffic driving can be done very easily with a cell phone campaign.

Digital Signage

I, of course, have a little more reason to promote this specific market niche (I write fairly regularly at the digital signage blog), but it will continue to be a growing segment of internal and external marketing and advertising campaigns. Digital signage’s capabilities and applications are wide and expansive. They will continue to be installed rapidly into restaurants as menu boards, corporate lobbies, transportation vehicles, libraries, schools, fire stations…I could go on and on. Simply put, digital signs will, in the near future, literally inundate our lives.

Internet

Whether it’s Pay-Per-Click, organic search, or local listings, getting your business recognized on the web can be as hard or as easy as you make it out to be. In many cases, lack of knowledge here is the biggest barrier to getting things done. For instance, I have a friend that runs a homeschool site. I spent 3 hours with him one Saturday a while back, talking about how we could improve his site in the rankings and literally double his companies revenue–which is already fairly significant. Whether it’s local search or targeting your specific long-tail keywords, web marketing will be essential going forward.

These three fairly new and innovative digital marketing mediums can and must implemented in 2010. It’s not an “everybody else is doing it” mentality, but more of a “necessity is the mother of invention” take on what should and should not be done to promote your brand.

 

Negotiation Execution, 7 Steps

Nate
Nov 5 |02:39

I’ve been perusing some of the book Closing Time recently and thought I would share some out of chapter 14 which is entitled, “The 7 Steps Guide: Executing Your Negotiation Plan.” It’s a great book for those of you wishing to further expand your understanding and knowledge in negotiation ability. Some of the following seven steps are really good at understanding the art of negotiation.

1. You must be the buyer’s #1 choice

This goes back to an earlier post wherein I spoke about differentiation. In that post I quoted Tom Reilly:

Value added salespeople sell three things—the product, the company, and themselves.

Step #1 is similar in that it states, “If you are the number one choice, it is because you have put in a superior sales effort and proven that you are the best solution; therefore, you should command a price premium. Never enter into a negotiation without knowing you are the Buyer’s #1 Choice.”

2. Know the financial benefit your solution creates

This has been a struggle for digital sign software companies for sometime. Struggling to show an ROI is quickly becoming obsolete. However, if one is unable to show the financial benefit the solution produces, “you will be forced to defend your price rather than focus the negotiation on the value your solution provides.”

3. Anticipate getting the squeeze on price

Ron Hubsher states in the book:

“Price negotiation is not cost justification. If you are the Buyer’s #1 Choice, your buyer wants to buy from you. The next question is, “What is the lowest price I can get it for?” Buyers will try to squeeze you on price. You must be prepared to resist squeezes by refocusing the conversation on the benefits of your solution. By refocusing on the benefits of the solution, you are giving a polite ‘no’ to their request for a discount and offering them a face-saving way to agree to the sale.”

4. Remove decision making obstacles and be proactive on budget

“If you know the budget and decision-making process, you can proactively remove obstacles that you may encounter and proactively get budget allocated from the current budget and future budgets so that you can command price premiums and get your full asking price–or better.”

5. Use non-monetary “trade-ups” to expand the pie

Using a non-monetary trade-up is a great way to avoid price negotiation. Giving non-monetary value to the buyer which are low cost to the provider aids in the process of sales.

“You have the opportunity to increase the value you deliver to your buyer and at the same time create more value for yourself as well. You can do this and still maintain a price premium by creating a set of non-monetary trade-ups.”

6. Never give without receiving

“‘Never give without getting’ is a fundamental of negotiation. If you give without getting the buyer will perceive that ‘give’ to have little value and it will have set you up for future discounting with the buyer on future sales opportunities–as well as encourage him to ask for more discounts on this sale.”

7. Know your “walk away” price and conditions

“When you are prepared to walk away, the buyer knows he has gotten all he can out of you. It also allows the buyer to rethink his position and consider the poor alternatives which may occur by not completing a sale with you.”

Some great pointers here from Mr. Hubsher. For more information, or to buy the book. Visit his website.