jatiN mahindrA doT coM

A Look Back at SXSW 2010

As usual, this year’s South by Southwest Interactive conference was a blur. Between the people, the parties, and purveyors of all things bacon, it was a twenty ring circus of the sublime and bizarre. There was no shatteringly impactful takeaway from SXSW 2010, as it seems we’ve entered a (sure to be brief) innovation lull. But, I absorbed many smaller lessons that will help guide my thinking...

To Get Clients, You Need To Pull, Not Push

In marketing, there are two main categories: Push Marketing, and Pull Marketing.   Push Marketing, also known as “interruption marketing,” is basically when you force your marketing message upon potential clients when they’re in the middle of doing something such as driving a car, surfing the web, or just spending time with friends or family. While they’re doing...

Rhea Drysdale – SEO Industry Hero

Anywhere there is controversy you will find many marketers who will opine and try to shine the lights on themselves about how wonderful they are and how much they help everyone else and how everyone should link to them in the controversy. But when the attention dies down it turns out few marketers hold true to their promises and stick with their principals. It is usually the unsung heroes that make...

A Few Warnings When Selling Online Business Websites

When Transparency is Valuable If you are selling a site which you just want to get rid of and lack passion for then there is nothing wrong with being fairly transparent and shopping it for the maximum amount you can get at an auction or such. And if you have high growth and contact an investment banker to get a bidding war going then limited transparency can help then. But if you have a high growth...

How To Start A Web Business And Survive

An SEOBook reader, Josephbm91, outlined a problem many of us have faced: when you’re starting out, it’s easy for clients to walk all over you. So let’s take a look at strategies for those starting out, be it in SEO, web design, or other small, web-based businesses. Those of you who have established web businesses, it would be great if you could share your experiences and strategies...

Cap/Redirected Offer Texting Service Update

Yesterday I wrote about this idea where a service would text you if your Affiliate Marketing offer got redirected, capped, pulled, etc. The response I got was pretty impressive. In fact, I was pretty excited to hear that this service indeed does exist already!!! Whoop whoop! (Sorry if you started making this type of service – hey there is always room for improvement). Today I was contacted...

The Marketing Worth Of Twitter and Facebook

As marketing professionals, we usually have to justify ourselves to our bosses, our clients and everyone in between—especially in the less-tested, sometimes-hit-or-miss arena of social media. But now Ad Age wants accountability, too, as they ask “if you’re getting enough out of all the volunteer work you do for Biz & Ev and Mark,” or, more specifically, “Are we all...

Social Media Done Right: Comcast

Comcast is the internet and cable service my parents have always used, so when it was time to purchase those services for my own home I went with Comcast. The Horror Story Begins: I had a terrible time getting started with Comcast. Maria and I get a house and setup an appointment to have a tech come out. He misses the appointment. We never were called… we just waited (for the entire 2-4 hour...

“By All Means. Give Me A Gift.”

“By all means. Give me a gift!” These are the words spoken from a young CEO when trying to present to a group of much older, experienced CEOs. One of the more experienced guys stops the young, upcoming guy in the middle of talking to say, “Want some feedback?” He said it in a way that left you wondering whether he was going to give sage advice or rail on him. His reply, featured...

What Do Seniors Do Online?

You know… It’s an interesting thing to think about. What does little Grandma [insert Grandma's name here] do while she is online? What about Grandpa? Seniors are one area in internet marketing that is smaller than most other areas but growing at a fast rate! And I know for a fact that they can be profitable for affiliate marketing campaigns. That being said, check out this recent Mashable...

Friday Affiliate Interviews

I wanted to take every Friday for the next couple months or more and interview an affiliate, network owner, manager, etc. Just someone involved in the internet marketing industry. I think that this will be a great way to learn and hear multiple points of view about the internet marketing industry as a whole. I’m really excited to get this going and have an interviewed lined up already which...

Don’t Be Afraid To Ask!

Being an introvert (for the most part), when something would go wrong in my business, I generally tried to figure it out via google or various other sources. If I couldn’t find a solution, I often just tried to figure out how I could ignore the issue or dump the project. I know a TON of internet marketers who are introvert and some maybe even not introvert (choleric) who just don’t think...

Book: Integrity by Dr. Henry Cloud

Since being married, I’ve picked up some good habits from my wife. Namely, reading every day. We usually go to bed a bit earlier (10:30 or 11PM) and spend 40 minutes to an hour reading. It’s a really great way to unwind compared to what I was used to doing, watching TV. So far, I recently read through Predictably Irrational. This book really was eye opening to me on various marketing...

New Mobile Payment System Aimed At Small Businesses

Is it hip to be square again? Maybe according to Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. His new startup, called Square, is a mobile payments (credit card processing) system that appeals to small businesses. But is he targeting the right customers? I think we’ve all heard rumors of a credit card reader for the iPhone—and this is it. A small, white plastic cube plugs into the audio jack of an iPhone...

Tracking202 Acquired!!

Jacob was on twitter and mentioned that Tracking202 was acquired! I was surprised and really excited to hear the news. – It appears they have been acquired by Bloosky. I’ve personally known Wes for a long time and am really happy for the Tracking202 team. I hope the deal was really lucrative for all of them! While the article does not outline how much the acquisition was for, it does...