This past Friday I attended Podcamp in Brooklyn NY. What is Podcamp? We'll get to that in the next post, as well as include some pictures and notes about the event.
In the meantime I would like to say that I was so buzzed that I now really want to go to Podcamp Boston in the worst way. As C. C. Chapman said about South by Southwest: It's the hallways that are powerful. The sessions are great too but meeting and chatting with people that I follow but have never met in person and even approaching complete strangers and chatting about new media is the big draw for me. I can't wait for Boston and the chance to meet C. C., Chris Brogan and Joseph Jaffe for the first time, as well as reconnecting with Chris Penn and the other creative and passionate people that I have connected with.
So let's see where things are approaching July 19th (the 20th is a Saturday so I can't attend). I would love to go for free since I will miss at least half of it, but otherwise it's tempting enough even at 50 bucks.
Since I do not have the reputation of Techcrunch yet, I don't have company execs and PR people e-mailing me links to their new web services. So for now, the most logical place to look for "fresh" stiff is the advertising roll of YeshivaWorldNews.
What: A free (for the customer) service for ordering food from participating restaurants in major Jewish communities.
The Skinny: What a great way to leverage the technology built by the principals of RapidOrders.com. It's win-win for everyone as it helps the restaurants fill more orders, much the same way that OpenTable helps eating establishments fill tables online. New restaurants are being added regularly to CrazyKosher and you can put in a request to see your favorites added. All participating restaurants have their menu available and the site keeps a record of your past orders for future reference.
There is so much to say that I think I will do an in-depth on them at a later time.
New York Auto Mall has a new website
From a service standpoint, I would definitely recommend using NY Auto Mall as I had nothing but good experiences there. The prices were no-nonsense and very competitive, unlike your typical car dealership with their high=pressure salespeople and deserved reputations.
As far as the website goes - I have a few suggestions:
1. Get a professional copywriter to write some good copy for you. The about page needs a lot of cleaning up (full of typos and statements that are less than meaningful).
2. Make sure that if you have a page up on the site that it actually works.
3. You have competition from other similar leasing and sales companies in your space. Your website should engage potential customers by pushing your unique selling point. Tell us what differentiates you from the other places. Put a little personality into the site. Profile your salespeople. Profile your customers and their stories.
Sell the experience. At least the one that I had.
Yiddele
Shomer Shabbos directory Yiddele has come on the scene courtesy of BSD Advertising and Public Relations. The idea was to create a resource for Frum owned companies to be listed for FREE in an environment that is not invaded by halachic or tzniyus problems (similar to what I am trying to accomplish at MyNachas.com.
I like the fact that they get the internet business model. They are offering something of value for free, while getting subsidized by the paid ads around the page. Additionally, it leads to more business for the firm in the form of design work for potential clients that now already have a relationship with the company.
You may notice that a lot of the ads on the side link to larger full page ads hosted by Yiddele. It may seem like the easy way out, but you know what? I think it is a better and more cost efficient way to create web presence without spending the money on a site that looks nice but does nothing for you.
I have a confession to make...here it comes.
I am not a good copywriter
There. I said it. I feel better now.
There are a lot of things that I am not all that good at, but at the end of the day, I come to grips with the fact that nobody expects perfection out of me. So in the end, it isn't all that big a deal that I am not a copywriter (although, someday I may try my hand at it).
All too often, I see websites that are missing a very important component. There are a myriad of good companies out there providing clients with really nice websites. I get asked every now and then "Do you make websites?". Umm...er, well yeah I guess I do.
Truth is, it is not their fault that they ask in such an unsophisticated way. I shouldn't expect the caterer to understand my business. I pay him to make a beautiful party. That's his bread and butter.
Most people think that when you want a website, you go to a company that makes nice websites and you contract them to do the same for you. There is an important first step that seems to be missing way too often. What is your web strategy. After the initial glazing of the eyes, the answer essentially is:
My competition is on the web.
Everyone asks me why I don't have a site. Shouldn't I have one?
People say that I can make more sales if I am on the web.
A nicely designed website is extremely important. But it won't help you all that much if your copy is unreadable and full of typos. If you can't compel people and captivate them with the right words you may not win them over as a customer. So what was the point of spending all that money on a beautiful website?
Do yourself a favor. Hire a copywriter. Just as you won't be trying to design and program the site yourself, you shouldn't be writing the words yourself (unless you are really good at it). It's not anything to be ashamed about. The writer is not embarrassed that she is not good at painting her house. That's why she pays you to do it for her.
Hire a copywriter. You can't afford not to.
I recently heard a terrific teleseminar involving Seth Godin (you can download it from the linked blog post). The discussion centered around the role of social media in the changing landscape of business.
At about 26 minutes in he asks the underlying question which every business owners needs to ask is "What business am I in?" We interact all the time with businesses that don't really understand what it is that we are buying from them. How many gyms believe that what you are buying is that little bar code to put on your key ring that lets you in at any time. Nope! You are buying a healthy, fit you. It behooves the gym to ensure that you are making good on your investment because, if not, they will lose you as a customer.
We once had a client who owned a carpet store. I got the sense that they thought that what they were selling was carpets and flooring. Uh-uh. That's not what people are buying. They are buying style, comfort and beauty for their home. It may come in the form of carpet, but you gotta know what it is that people want to advertise effectively to them.
Gourmet Lite Bake Shop (disclosure: they are a client) is a company that knows what they are selling. On the surface, they are a company that makes great tasting fat-free and sugar-free baked goods. In reality, they sell an authentic story, Matt Liebowitz's quest for a truly dietetic, great tasting snack which could back up it's claim of being fat-free.
Most people don't know it, but Matt is in the health business.
Joining Jewish audio stalwarts TorahMedia and AishAudio, IShiur now is providing downloads and streaming audio for Shiur fans.
This site too boasts a nice collection of popular speakers such as Rabbis Reisman, Becher, Rietti; even a few from Rav Shlomo Wolbe, Z"TL. The site is designed very nicely and in an orderly fashion which is easy to navigate. One thing that they bring to the table that I have not seen on the other sites is a full biography as well as a catalog for each speaker (although some bios are not available yet). The catalogs are laid out well instead of being just a list format like the other sites.
Interestingly, IShiur is the only site of the major players (Aish, LearnTorah, TorahMedia) that charges for streaming as well as downloads. Additionally, as opposed to TorahMedia which has made some free shiurim available, the only free samples on IShiur are clips from the Shiur. I am not really sure I understand how that will be enough to warrant a purchase. I am curious as to their thought process with this.
Overall, it seems like a good offering, at least the standard $4 downloads. I would like to see them add podcasting ability to their site as well.
OCNM spin: The business model of the internet today is the ad riven model built on pageviews. I am surprised that all of the shiur sites seem to be bent on only going the e-commerce route. I know that costs have to be covered, but there is so much free content out there and there really isn't enough room for so many sites offering fractional catalogs. Why not have an uber site which can provide everything for free and support the content creators with ad revenue generated. This way, the most popular speakers will make more without any production cost carried by the consumer or the creator. What do you think? Please feel free to comment and continue the conversation.
My wife and I have a thing where we go (or try at least) to eat out for at least one meal on the first day of the Jewish month. Tonight, we will be most likely dining at Al Di La in Monsey.
In honor of this, I decided to start things off with a post about restaurants. Until this past Summer, I lived in a Brooklyn, home to a plethora of kosher restaurants. I was surprised but not shocked to read this blog post about the fact that many eateries in the NYC area - even well established ones - have closed down of late.
Elan Kornblum of the Great Kosher Restaurants magazine and website (which he does a great job with. - I'd love to meet him.) is quoted in the story as saying that many of the recent closures were not surprises since "they were struggling for a long time.". I am sure that he has contacts inside the businesses which lead him to that conclusion.
Why is it so hard to keep a good restaurant going? Without having actually spoken to any owners, I figure it's based on some of the following:
High overhead in general for restaurants + the added expense of certification.
A lot of competition
Cost conscious patrons
I was thinking about this 3 new moons ago when I first saw the post. I was sitting in a nice restaurant and enjoying a real good Japanese steak. The service was OK but not great.
I asked my wife. What is compelling me to come here again? The fact that the food was good? I can have good food in other places too at about the same prices. The service? It wasn't bad, but it was nothing special either. About the same as anywhere.
I'll tell you one thing that did irk me though - the 16% gratuity charge tacked on without my permission. I want the discretion to choose the size of my tip, thank you.
Why aren't more restaurants trying to be more engaging? As engaement guru Seth Godin once said, if they took my number when I made the reservation, why aren't they calling me the next day to ask how it went? Most of the time when I go the places are not busy (!?!). Why isn't the staff spending a little more time talking to me and enticing me to come back? How many restaurants have blogs? How many interact with patrons on sites like Kornblum's? I have nothing to back me up yet but I would venture a guess that the most success full restaurants are good at the following:
Great service (like Bertolucci's)
Specially items or famous master chefs .(Abigael's)
A fan following (Dougie's, LaMarais)
Booze! (Amazon Cafe)
Enough for now, my stomach is growling. More on this later as I hope to get a chance to talk to Mr. Kornblum and other restaurateurs.
What do you say?
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