double POSITIVE Marketing Group, Inc.

Post By
Sean Fenlon

Three years ago, I blogged about my favorite Internet navigation shortcut trick:

http://blogs.doublepositive.com/2007/04/20/it-is-better-to-be-lucky-than-it-is-to-be-good—are-you-feeling-lucky/

I use the trick ten times a day at least.

Today, however, the trick does NOT work.

Today, the trick invokes the “Insert Coin” button, which then in turn subjects me to a real-time instance of Pac Man – YES right there on Google.com

Please don’t tell anyone, but I made it to Level 6 before losing. ;-)

I still firmly believe, though, that it’s much better to be lucky than it is to be good.

SPF

Post By
Sean Fenlon

LeadsCon Follow-Up and Strategy Session with TARGUSinfo, DoublePositive & Leads360 on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 2-3pm

Please attend – it is guaranteed to be fun and highly-informative. :-)

SPF

Post By
Sean Fenlon

This screenshot below is evidence as to why Google is excellent at everything EXCEPT predictions and forecasts:

Something tells me that the “forecast” area shaded above will be very wrong in the first few months of 2010.

Forecasts are difficult.  Especially those that have to do with the future. ;-)

All I can say now is that I am even more excited than ever to visit New Orleans for the very first time in May 2010 for the TARGUSinfo inaugural “Scoring Summit”:

http://twitter.com/OLQS/status/6533499673

Speaking of Twitter, bummer that it could not handle the exuberant Super Bowl overload from its users, otherwise I would be Tweeting this rather than blogging about it (like last year):

http://twitter.com/seanfenlon/status/1168717469

SPF

p.s. Bravo to the Saints, but also Bravo to Champions and Athletes everywhere.  This was even a huge moral win for the Manning family.  Archie Manning (Peyton’s and Eli’s dad) was THE BEST quarterback ever on THE WORSE team in the NFL.  The Saints winning the super bowl is a huge win for Archie:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Manning

Post By
Sean Fenlon

According to Google @ 11:59PM:

Cheers! :-)

SPF

p.s. where did the other 19 minutes go?

Post By
Sean Fenlon

My personal favorite business metric is Average Revenue per Employee.

Compare these businesses:

Company	Revenue ($ MM)	Employees	Revenue per Employee ($)
The DIRECTV Group, Inc.	17246	11300	$ 1,526,195.00
Steel Dynamics, Inc.	8081	5940	$ 1,360,357.00
Google	21796	20222	$ 1,077,814.00
Apple	32479	32000	$ 1,014,969.00
Costco	72483	75000	$ 966,440.00
Amazon.com	19166	20700	$ 925,894.00
NVIDIA Corporation	4098	4985	$ 822,038.00
Dell	61133	80800	$ 756,597.00
Biogen	3172	4300	$ 737,586.00
QUALCOMM	11142	15400	$ 723,506.00
Research In Motion Limited (USA)	6009	8387	$ 716,514.00
Broadcom Corporation	4658	6853	$ 679,720.00
Microsoft Corporation	60420	91000	$ 663,956.00
Lam Research Corporation	2475	3800	$ 651,292.00
Juniper Networks	3572	5879	$ 607,651.00
Cisco	39540	66129	$ 597,922.00
Ebay	8541	15500	$ 551,049.00
Yahoo!	7209	14300	$ 504,091.00
Apollo Group, Inc.	3141	17736	$ 177,093.00
Paychex, Inc.	2066	12700	$ 162,702.00
Starbucks	10383	172000	$ 60,366.00
Infosys	4176	103078	$ 40,513.00
Cognizant	2136	59500	$ 35,892.00

Happy Thanksgiving all. :-)

SPF

Post By
Sean Fenlon

I have never once posted anything even remotely music-related on this blog before now.

Leading like great conductors is more business than music.

Enjoy:

http://www.ted.com/talks/itay_talgam_lead_like_the_great_conductors.html

SPF

Post By
Joey Liner

“Hey this is Jim, Mortgage Rates are at their all time low due to the government bailout. Press 1 to speak to a specialist right now” We all get them on our cell and home phones, even though we are on the do not call list!

If you are in the mortgage, loan modification, auto or debt vertical you want to read this.

The FTC is banning Voice Broadcasting as of September 2009.

I remember when we started DoublePositive, Fax Blasting was very popular. I was competing against so called marketing companies that were selling Fax Blasted (Junk Fax) Leads. Once the government started to take action and send out fines with cease and desist orders that all changed pretty quickly. The so called competitors that were selling leads via junk fax had to go into a different form of shady marketing or just shut down completely. Then all of a sudden this voice broadcasting thing starting growing and growing and growing. You get the point.

Look…. its dirt cheap, easy to host and companies have made tons of money doing it. But it’s wrong! It’s not a true expression of interest and finally the government has put their foot down once again.

Here is an excerpt from the FTC press release from August of 2008:
The first will expressly bar telemarketing calls that deliver prerecorded messages, unless a consumer previously has agreed to accept such calls from the seller. This means the current forbearance that permitted calls to consumers with whom an EBR existed is coming to an end. This provision requiring the consumer’s permission prior to delivering a prerecorded message will go into effect on September 1, 2009. Also, beginning on December 1, 2008 prerecorded messages must at the outset of the message include an automated keypress or voice-activated interactive opt-out mechanism so that consumers can opt-out as easily as they can from a live telemarketing call. The amendments will not affect consumers’ ability to continue to receive calls that deliver purely “informational” prerecorded messages – notifying recipients, for example, that their flight has been cancelled, that they have a service appointment, or similar messages. Such purely “informational” calls are not covered by the TSR because they do not attempt to sell the called party any goods or services. FTC Chairman William E. Kovacic was quoted as saying “Just like the provisions of the Do Not Call Registry, these changes will protect consumers’ privacy.” “The amendments now directly enable consumers to choose whether they want to receive prerecorded telemarketing calls.”

Our next webinar’s topic is telemarketing compliance, with a focus on voice broadcasting. There are so many companies that my sales team and I speak to on a daily basis have no clue it’s illegal. In troubling economic times your company can’t afford to take a compliance hit.
PossibleNow is offering this webinar FREE because of their relationship with DoublePositive. Since DoublePositive opened back in 2004, we have always made sure we stayed on top of the telemarketing rules and regulations. These folks are specialists in the space and do this 24/7, 365 days a year.

No more Voice Broadcasting, Are you compliant?
Wednesday, May 20th @ 2PM EST.

No more cold calling, no more fax blasting, no more voice broadcasting…… What’s left? Find out during the webinar!

Hope to see you there!

Joey

Post By
Sean Fenlon

Was I the only one to catch the Terminator trailer “Tags” – Survive & Advance on the ad during the game?

If you’re familiar with this phrase, it’s probably because you’re familiar with Jim Valvano – aka Jimmy V.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=active&rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS316US316&num=100&q=survive+advance+valvano&btnG=Search

Jimmy V’s name has come up more than once on the DP blog:

http://blogs.doublepositive.com/2009/01/12/who-is-your-role-model/

I found this this version of the movie trailer on YouTube, but the spot on the National Men’s Basketball Championship broadcast was different

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYc3vOmof_8

Special note to the Redeem Team:

http://blogs.doublepositive.com/2008/08/25/the-redeem-team/

Play like either UNC of Michigan St. did and we’re a lock for 2012. :-)

Watching athletes compete in championship games is awesome.

SPF

Post By
Casey Cook

Let’s take a look!

YouTube launched its “Educational Hub” recently and I was fascinated.  If a fish swims in water, my fishbowl the last 10 years has been education and the internet.  I first heard about the YouTubeEDUHub when Sean Fenlon sent me a link with the suggestion I blog about it.  If I’m going to blog, then the first thing I need is an acronym.  To simplify things YouTubeEDUHub is now YTEDUH.  That’s better.

I start reading YTEDUH.  It said, “Do you EDU? Education Hub (YTEDUH) Launches:  Using YouTube as a vehicle to democratize learning is one of the coolest, unintended outcomes of its existence.”   Huh? What does that mean really?  I better do is look up the word “democratized.”   Merriam Webster says:  “To make democratic.”  Fantastic.  Helpful.  Ok, I better look up democracy:

1.       a: government by the people ; especially : rule of the majority

         b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people

2.       a political unit that has a democratic government

3.       capitalized : the principles and policies of the Democratic party in the United States

4.        the common people especially when constituting the source of political authority

5.        the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges

I imagine from these definitions that the YouTube folks are leaning towards numbers  4 and 5 above and that the goal for YTEDUH is to eliminate roadblocks for education.  Undergirded in this desire is the premise that currently at least some education is reserved for those with money and privilege, and those that don’t have access to cash have limited options.  Ok, so now I get it.  I don’t agree 100% but I get it.  I went to an Ivy league school.  Most folks were wealthy.  A minority of folks were there on a scholarship at a discounted or free rate (As a side note, everyone was cold at Cornell).  I do agree that not all qualified people could go.  It was expensive.   On the other hand, many of my friends went to more economical state schools and got incredible educations.  The really smart ones did so in very warm weather.  

So far I have concluded that a great education can be expensive, but it can also be reasonably priced (whatever that means). 

This brings me to the real question that has been bouncing around in the halls of Washington (what does that mean?) and scaring many of the for profits and perhaps some not for profits that love profit as well.  Should the price of education be regulated or even free (free as in the sense that in Sweden education is “free”)?

This is an emotional issue.  I feel the rising tide of concern on in the for profit world.   Here is my take.  I’ll tackle this from 4 angles: 

1.       Washington DC

2.       The For Profit Educators

3.       Education vs. Accreditation

4.       The Big Boys

Washington DC:  It is no secret really that the currently administration and the democratically controlled congress is not a friend of for profit education.  Take this sentence.

“Oil giant Exxon posts biggest profit ever. “

Now change it to,

“Education giant ________ posts biggest profit ever.” 

How dare they do such a thing in a recession?   Somehow profit has become a bad thing.   There is pressure from Congress on the for profit EDU providers.  Most of this pressure comes from Title IV (student loans) concerns.  It is true that the for profit educators benefit from government backed student loans.  Let me present the issue from business week’s perspective.

Here is a link to a businessweek article attacking University of Phoenix: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_12/b4124020629165.htm

Here is Phoenix’s well written reply:

http://www.upxnewsroom.com/_downloads/UPX_Businessweek.pdf

I must point out that the writers of the Business Week article, Ben Elgin and Jessica Silver-Greenberg, are graduates of University of California at San Diego and Princeton respectively.  I assume both of these schools lower their costs whenever they can (especially when their endowments grow to 15 Billion dollars or so). 

Will education be nationalized?  I don’t think Cornell, Princeton or UC San Diego has anything to worry about quite yet.  I think the target here are the for-profits.  Would our country be better if all the for-profit EDU companies didn’t make as much money (and thus employed tens of thousands less people)? 

 One of the great ironies here is that the for-profit EDU companies educate those that the traditional universities cannot accommodate.  The single Moms, the working adults, those that want or have to go to school and work (and quite possibly not want to fight the customer service black hole of many community colleges).  The last I checked only 17% of college students go to 4 year traditional campus based schools.  For reference, that stat came from my memory.  For accuracy sake, please note that the 17% is probably wrong, but very close.  Most students don’t spend 4 years on a campus, living in dorms.

During the last few weeks, we’ve seen a “merger” of private companies and the US government, not by anyone’s design or desire.   Let’s contrast AIG or the auto industry with what we see happening in education.  Here is an example of the government and private industry working together for the common good.  The government is providing loans for students and entrepreneurs in the proprietary EDU world are providing the education.  People who never before could get an education, now can.  This is a win win.  Maybe even a win-win-win, or a tri-win…… right?

The For Profit Educators.  I just mistakenly closed out of YTEDUH.  When I googled it, it took me a second to find it again.   What came up made me laugh out loud.  A news site listed a short description of YTEDUH along with a link.  I was about to click the link to take me to YTEDUH when I saw the ad underneath,  an ad from the University of Phoenix!  See the irony here?  The purpose of YouTube’s EDU hub is to make education accessible to all regardless of societal class.  The internet’s major financier over  the past 10 years has been University of Phoenix.  YouTube is at least partially supported  by a yield management ad model  system, a model based on making the most money possible. 

IMHO, this is worthy of more commentary.   The Phoenix ad says, “Become a Phoenix.”   What does that mean?  Click and find out and you are given the stories of many who had no opportunity to get an education if not for this big bad for profit.   UOP even says that they serve the “under served.”  Brilliant. 

For real brilliance take a look at this new commercial put out by Kaplan University, courtesy of…… Youtube.   Warning you will get goose bumps!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e50YBu14j3U 

On one hand the thought is education ought to be accessible and free for everyone.  Big profit bad.  On the other (hand), because John Sperling, founder and chairman of the Apollo Group (APOL), had the wisdom and entrepreneurial courage to start a company, he has educated hundreds of thousands and employed 10’s of thousands over the last 30 years.

True, he has made billions, and bravo to him!  Here is where the irony here gets even tastier.  Mr. Sperling, a man who I greatly respect is openly and outwardly very left leaning politically.  A quick google will fill you in on all his leanings.  But instead of fighting the red ocean of education 30 years ago, he created his own system.  He felt a social responsibility to educate those who were historically left out, the single mom’s, the blue collar folks who could only go to school at night and he did so by starting a business (a for profit).   

How did he go about it?  He didn’t propose a duel between himself and the President of Harvard.  He didn’t try to bring others down.  He started his own company, way out deep in the middle of the blue ocean.  Many probably laughed when they saw him building out there in the middle of nowhere (remember the movie Bugsy when Warren Beatty paints the picture of a vacation paradise in the middle of the desert?).   Mr. Sperling knew where the demand was.  He started very practical programs, and because of him 100’s of thousands of students have bettered themselves, students who couldn’t be serviced by the traditional schools. 

Here now is the proverbial cherry on top.  Mr. Sperling came from poverty (capital P) and lived the American dream.  He is a fighter.  He is an entrepreneur.  His once small business is now valued well over 12 Billion dollars (US Dollars).  It’s funny how everyone is all for small businesses owners…. until they become big business owners.

I am a fan of University of Phoenix.  In full disclosure I worked with them when I was Advertising.com for nearly 8 years.  I even architected an exclusive deal between University of Phoenix and Advertising.com.  It didn’t last and I don’t work with them anymore.  My past relationship gave me insight to their model and I have a great respect for it and for the dozens of other for profits making education better.

Education vs. Accreditation

So where is education going, really?  Will it be offered free online via YouTube?  My answer is that education, when defined broadly has always been free.  We’ve gone from readings in the public square to books to tapes, to cd’s to DVD’s to Podcasts.  There has never been a cost to join a library, and gain access to most information.  Personally  my family has a family pass to Port Discovery in Baltimore.  It is $50 bucks for the year.  We went Saturday (10 million kids running around unsupervised).  Very reasonable, and subsidized by Baltimore City.  Good for Baltimore.

And I believe it is fantastic that we can get on YouTube and see great lectures from MIT and Stanford. But here is the kicker:

Education without accreditation is still education, but I’d call it learning.  Access to learning ought to be free.  A smart kid from the rich suburbs or inner city could watch every lecture MIT offers for free and learn just as much as students on campus but…… he/she will not have the diploma from MIT and their accreditation body.  That brings me to the last and final question:

Will one of the Big Boys Jump In?

Will Google or MSFT buy one of the for-profit or not for profit universities?  I believe the answer to the first question is yes.   And I predict that this will happen sometime soon (or maybe a little after that).

Will they “democratize” that university, slash the prices and or make it free?  I believe the answer to that is no.  Why?  Simply for the same reason that Google sells clicks, and MSFT sells Microsoft office.   

The critic in me also believes that the same people that don’t want the big for profit EDUs to make a profit would most likely not give any credibility to a degree that could be obtained from a university that was free.  “You went to GoogleU? Well isn’t that nice.” 

Washington DC (on both sides of the aisle) is still run for the most part by the Northeast (educated in) elite. 

15 years ago I imagined a world where the average college student would spend one year on campus, one year online, one year abroad and one year in a work co-op program.  The error I made was that I put these 4 years in silos, with the student progressively jumping from one silo to the next.  The interwoven student is here now.  The fabric of education is rich and the opportunities are growing.   I now imagine a student living anywhere in the world, going to any university in the world, and working at any company in the world, all at the same time, and all the while sharing the world through facebook and twitter (and drinking red bull, blogging, and doing all this in real time, or at least Jack Bauer real time).  Hopefully this student will also post his/her thoughts on YouTube, for free.

Cc

Ps.  I know you didn’t really watch the Kaplan commercial. Take a look http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e50YBu14j3U