One of the things I’ve always loved about the internet is that a company can use it to react to a business need in real time. The Spinach Needs a Blog post by Steve Rubel is an excellent example of how Dole leveraged the internet to educate consumers about the spinach recall while at the same time cultivating Dole brand awareness.

Via micropersuasion.com

Yes, reflections are the new drops shadows. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Via Daring Fireball.

Mike Arrington of TechCrunch weighs in on why some Web 2.0 companies succeed while others wither.

Via Digg.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who hates iTunes 7. The Sydney Morning Herald reports:

Both Mac and PC users appear to be affected by the glitches being reported, and numerous different threads on the Apple discussion forum have described a range of technical issues.

One of the most recent threads is titled:” ITUNES 7 RUINED MY LIFE!!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP”, while another asks: “Is anyone not having problems with the new update?”

Vie engadget.

I don’t have time to get into specifics at the moment, but I just want to say that Apple has made iTunes my enemy with the release of version 7. All I want is to be able to update podcasts on my iPod the way I used to (which was easy and only required me to check some little boxes). Now I find myself locked into some Apple employee’s idea of the ‘correct’ way to manage my content and I am not at all happy.

Imagine me on one side of a crevasse and my little iPod buddy on the other side with the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail blocking the bridge between us. That’s how I feel right now.

I was thrilled to hear a client of ours would be switching to paying us electronically, via the wire, through the air (you get the idea).

It’s true – they are now doing it. The money automagically appears in our bank account. Then I noticed some other things that appeared in our mailbox…

• a notice in the mail from the client’s AP department noting the transaction
• a notice from the bank in the mail noting the transaction (minimum two pages)

So – what used to be a check to us in the mail is now two separate mailings from two separate offices. What are we saving?

Thank goodness we’re not scanning in our snail mail and then printing it…

This is one more reason I think we need to reexamine a global system of pneumatic tubes.

Don’t laugh.

Bill Bumgarner highlights a shining example of the difference between ‘information architecture’ and ‘user experience’:

How can Dell, a company that built its fortune on direct sales, justify focusing so much energy on impeding the online purchase process?

Via Daring Fireball.

I found this article over on Digg of the 50 most expensive adwords on Google (I’ll save you the trouble – “school loan consolidation” is on top at $69.16 per click). Beside feeling somewhat sorry for all the school loan consolidators who are are paying a lot of money today because a bunch of Diggers are clicking their ads out of sheer bloody-mindedness, I’m also somewhat perplexed by Ditech.

You know, Ditech. The loan people. Apparently there’s a lot of money in loans since the overwhelming majority of the 50 most expensive words are somehow related to debt. In any event, “Ditech” is the only brand name on the list. As of today, they’re paying over $46 every time someone clicks their sponsored link at the tippy top of the page when the very same link is a measly 100 pixels away at the top of the natural results. I suppose this demonstrates two things about the loan industry. One, there’s boat loads of money in it (duh). Two, competition is so intense in their world that Ditech is happy to fritter away a whole ton of money to get both the top results when someone searchers for their own name.

Amazon got it right when it launched its customer review strategy in the 90s. I could tell the world of online shoppers (which was much smaller at that time) why I loved my new Hoover vacuum and why it’s so great to clean. Or I could warn fellow shoppers about how the battery on my hand vac is only good for about a year and how my favorite cleaning device suddenly became my nemesis. It seems to be human nature that we all want to know what other people think before trying a new product/service. I’m famous for asking the server at a new restaurant, “What’s the most popular item on the menu?” I assume if other people are ordering the pickled ham and cheese sammy, then it must be good. However, that doesn’t always mean that I order it. I just want to know. It usually says something about the house specialty or the community.

Sites like digg.com, del.icio.us, tailrank.com, and a lesser-known site — winelog.net (one of my more recent favorites) are all based on the concept of sharing information and engaging in content based on someone else’s opinion. If no one else is diggin’ it, then why should I read that story about Minnesota’s new state fruit? The fact is, I probably wouldn’t see the story since it would be buried amongst the duds.

Here’s why we love these sites:

1. These people are smart and I value what they think
2. I’m clueless and I need some direction
3. It’s fun

Question. What’s more important: A million people on your email list or 200,000 active and engaged recipients? What if you have both?

I’ve touched on this before, but in today’s world of email marketing, focusing on the size of your list is very old school. In the world of physical direct mail marketing, if you have a house list of a million addresses you know your message is getting delivered to pretty much all of them (and that the vast majority ignore it no matter how many you send – Hello, American Express? Yeah, I’m talking about you.). Many email marketers (or the executives above them) confuse the size of a list with its relative value. This is unfortunate since it will drive said marketers to sources of new addresses that are less than perfect. It will make them focus on quantity over quality and approach address acquisition the same way building contractors look for day laborers.

What counts in email marketing is engaged people. It’s just the opposite of direct mail. If someone signs up to receive your email but then never opens or stops opening or becomes undeliverable, who cares if they’re on your list? If you have to report a metric, report how many actual people look at each message you send them and then how many take some kind of action. Sending vast numbers of messages, the overwhelming majority of which are never opened, does little except drive down the cost of each send.

If I ran the world, besides making everyone wear color-coded jumpsuits, this is how I’d change the way many approach email marketing:

1. Consider the source. Do not make the cost of acquisition the most important part of your list-building strategy. That will lead to poor quality addresses since the cheapest ways to acquire names is usually the one that brings you the broadest audience. I don’t care what you sell, chance are a random sample of the general population does not represent your target audience.
2. Know their value. Before you can decide what an acceptable acquisition cost is, you need to figure out (or guesstimate) what an engaged customer is worth to you. Is it $10 in incremental sales a year? Is it $100? $1,000? OK, what’s an acceptable investment to try to get those sales?
3. Size does not matter. Never report the gross size of the list to anyone. It’s worthless. Report how many customers you engaged instead.
4. These are real people. If they asked to receive your emails, and assuming you got them on your list in a way that ensures they’re interested in what you sell or represent, then they’re on your side from the beginning. Stay relevant and they will reward you. If they sign up only to receive a one time bonus or thinking they’ll get something you can’t deliver, you will be punished. People can tell when they’re being treated like a commodity. By cheapening them, you will end up cheapening your own brand.
5. Practice good hygiene. When you develop the plan to build your list, develop the rules that clean it off at the same time. What’s the definition of an engaged person? How long will you allow them to stay inactive before you either try to reengage them or drop them? It’s better to establish these rules and expectations up front before you build your list than it is afterwards when you have to explain why you made it smaller.