Make More Money Giving Away Stuff for Free

If your business is not selling as you wish it would or if you are not getting the page hits or enough people to sign-up for your e-mail magazines, then let me suggest to you that you increase sales by starting to give away stuff for free...

You read correctly. Free.

"What!? Rogers, are you out of your mind? We aren't making any money now as it is... We can't afford to give stuff away for free!" I can almost hear you say it...

Trust me, you do not have to give away the entire store, but I suggest that if you want to get good internet page views and good traction, then start giving things away for free... That not only includes great internet content for free, but also product or services. For a good example of a page that does everything for free, check this... I typed in "free" on a Google Search and this was #1: free.com

Marketing Japan: Apple iPhone 4 More Reliable than 3GS!!!...

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

Well the results are in. Fortune magazine reports that customer satisfaction with the new iPhone 4 is a disastrously low 93%...

93%!? That's not low... That's great! Er, wait a minute. Let me re-check those stats... Let's see here. ...Yep. That's what it says, 93%.... 93% customer satisfaction!? That's great!

The article says:

"ChangeWave poll finds 93% satisfied with their new iPhone, down from 99% last year."


Yeah, I guess those are disastrous numbers.... I mean if you are a kick a*s company like Apple Computers. If you were most any other USA company like Ford, Microsoft, Chevrolet, General Motors, (your pet peeve American company's name here), you'd probably be happy if 60% of your customers didn't want to go postal on you at one time or another during the calendar year.


Yeah, disastrous. Last year's customer satisfaction with iPhone 3GS was 99%... I guess if they didn't hit 100% this year, it would have to be considered a failure. 


Yeah right. Failure. Michael Jackson's "Thriller", the biggest selling album in music history, sat at number one on the Billboard charts for 37 weeks and sold more than 25 million records in 1982. Second only to West Side Story.


Jackson's following album, "Bad", only sold something in the neighborhood of 18 million records, so, I guess compared to Thriller, many people thought "Bad" was a failure.


Fortune Magazine surveyed 213 new iPhone 4 owners and the results were excellent. The biggest surprise was that, in spite of claims, the iPhone 4 was more reliable than the iPhone 3GS, when it came to dropped telephone calls than the iPhone!


"The biggest surprise, however, was that when iPhone 4 owners were asked how frequently they had experienced dropped calls, the results were actually lower than when iPhone 3GS owners were asked the same question last year: 5.2% vs. 6.3%, a 17.46% reduction in reported dropped calls." 

Now isn't that a nice surprise! 


I did write before that I thought it wasn't good that my hero Steve Jobs made excuses, but I am very happy to hear this news...


Especially since I nightly stick pins in my Bill Gates voodoo doll.


Good news for Apple. Now, for the next iPhone, let's go for 120% customer satisfaction! If any American company could pull that off, Apple can!


See original Fortune Magazine article here.


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Keywords:


General Motors, Mike Rogers, Apple, iPhone 4, Microsoft, Steve Jobs, Fortune Magazine, iPhone 3GS, dropped calls, Bill Gates, Marketing Japan, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Ford, Chevrolet, Michael Jackson, Bad, Thriller 

Marketing Japan: Yahoo Japan Starts Long Decline...

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

What did I tell you? When those fools at Yahoo Japan decided to throw in the towel to Google and start using Google's search engine, I said it was the beginning of Yahoo Japan becoming an "also-ran." Now we have Yahoo Japan making excuses, sputtering out "spin"by making statements claiming that they are going to remain "competitive."

Yahoo Japan is following Myspace... You'll see.

From the Japan Times article "Yahoo Japans Vows to Stay Competitive":

Yahoo Japan Corp. will remain competitive with Google Inc. even after adopting Google's Internet search engine and online ad technology, because the two firms will use their own editing and advertising policies, Yahoo Japan President Masahiro Inoue said. "We will operate the search engine under an editing policy that is independent (of Google's) and also have different screening criteria when it comes to advertising," Inoue told reporters, dismissing criticism by Microsoft Corp. that the Yahoo Japan-Google tieup is anticompetitive.

Forget about what Microsoft is saying. Read in between the lines. Microsoft doesn't give a hoot about Yahoo Japan anymore, they are a lost cause, Microsoft only cares about Google's rapidly growing dominant position in Japan. A dominant position that, I might add, has quickly become irresistible.

By the way Microsoft owns Yahoo Inc. (USA) and Yahoo Inc. owns 37% of Yahoo Japan. So Microsoft must be be really steamed about this Japan deal!)

I suggest this for Yahoo Japan's new logo: A long decline.

You can also disregard what Yahoo Japan president Masahiro Inoue says too... This nonsense about remaining competitive due to a difference in Yahoo Japan having an "editing policy" different than Google is just that; nonsense.

A different "editing policy"? Right. When ad revenues are hard to come by, and you have voluntarily become second rate, you are going to start denying people who walk into your doors with money to spend?

Guffaw! 

If Yahoo Japan is going to use Google's search engine, then Google will always at least a one step advantage on Yahoo Japan. If you are an advertiser, why go for the second choice unless you don't have money for the first choice?

This means that Google will get the first tier sponsors and Yahoo Japan will get second tier or less.

When any media stops getting the best advertisers, look at what happens to them, especially in Japan. For evidence of this, one need look no further than the television examples of TV Tokyo or TBS TV. The number one TV station in Japan, Fuji TV has ads for Toyota, Nissan, Canon cameras and copiers, high end household goods like Panasonic refrigerators and HD TVs... TV Tokyo has ads for discount car insurance, pachinko parlors and local businesses like Parrot Cage Emporium.

It's rare to see high end goods advertised on TV Tokyo. 

When Yahoo Japan switches to the competitor's search engine, it's game over for them... Regardless of how they try to spin it.

See original Japan Times article here.

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Keywords: Google, Yahoo Japan, Microsoft, Japan, Tokyo, Panasonic, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Marketing Japan, Mike Rogers, Nissan, Tokyo, Canon, TV Tokyo, Fuji TV, TBS, television, Yahoo Japan President Masahiro Inoue

Shocker! Yahoo Japan Throws in the Towel to Google Japan

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

For so many years here in Japan, Yahoo.jp was the preferred search engine for the average Japanese person. Then, about two years ago, Google.co.jp started making serious moves into Yahoo Japan's dominance.

Last year, for the very first time, Japanese users found Google to be the search engine of choice for their needs.

Now, Yahoo Japan seems to have given up...

From the Yomiuri Newspaper:  

Yahoo Japan aims to improve the quality of its services with its recent decision to use Google Inc.'s search engine, a move that will cause the firm to rely on a rival company, according to analysts. The partnership between Yahoo Japan and Google of the United States is indicative of the fierce competition in the Internet market. The deal, announced Tuesday, means Google will dominate about 90 percent of the Internet search market in Japan. While both firms will use the same search engine, each company will provide services using its own information. "The competitive relationship will continue," Yahoo Japan said. By utilizing Google's search engine, Yahoo Japan hopes to optimize its business resources. Yahoo Inc., which owns 34.7 percent of Yahoo Japan and is its second-largest stakeholder, suspended development of its search technology and now utilizes rival Microsoft Corp.'s Bing search engine, hoping to catch up with Google--the leader in the U.S. Internet search market. What a load of "spin." Yahoo here actually admits in public that Google search engine is superior (but you and I already knew that!) when they say,  Yahoo Japan aims to improve the quality of its services with its recent decision to use Google Inc.'s search engine I'll bet this steams the buns of Yahoo Inc. in the USA. By the way, like the article says, Yahoo in the USA owns 34.7% of Yahoo Japan so you can bet that there were some heated debates about this pulling up their skirts and running for cover.  No doubt about it anymore... Google has kicked Yahoo's butt!   I have been to both Google Japan's office's and Yahoo Japan here in Tokyo. I can tell you from experience that there seems to be much more of a "buzz" at Google and I get the impression that the Google people just know that they are kicking the butt of the competition. It reminds me of the atmosphere difference between Apple and Microsoft. At Apple Japan, things are happening and people just brim with excitement. At Microsoft I get the impression of a company that is fat and resting on their laurels. It's the same at Yahoo Japan and Google Japan... With this deal, Google Japan gets 90% of the search market in Japan. Look for Yahoo to slip back to more and more of a bit player in the Japanese market over the next 5 ~ 10 years.    ---------- Keywords: Google, Yahoo, Yahoo Japan, Google Japan, marketing, Apple Japan, Internet, United States, Microsoft, Japanese, Tokyo, Marketing Japan, Mike Rogers, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, search engine,

Marketing Japan: Apple Not Perfect? Impossible!

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

I hope the title of this blog grabbed your attention. I mean, Apple is god. Welcome to my Saturday blog.

Well, first up, Apple CEO Steve Jobs admits that, as far as Apple is concerned, "We're not perfect." What!? That's impossible! As far as I am concerned (and millions upon tens of millions of Apple product users too) Apple is perfect. And, make no mistake, I am not one of those frothing at the mouth Apple lovers that you see running around.

I am cool and collected when it comes to Apple products. I don't drool and lust over them like most of my foolish friends do. Yes, I admit that I have two Apple computers and two iPhones, but haven't yet been rabid enough to buy an iPad. I am considering that purchase as any responsible adult should.

But frankly speaking, Apple is nothing like Microsoft. Microsoft ships us out a crap product that doesn't work properly even before it is shipped (OK, so this time iPhone has a bug); Apple offers us service and after care; not like Microsoft where, if you have a problem, good luck getting any human interaction to help you and answer your questions; and Apple is an innovator. Microsoft seems to have lost that "zeal," that lust it once had.

Microsoft is turning into a company like 3M... They will always be around. They will always make money... But, like Scotch Tape, their products do not capture the imagination... Especially of the young.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs dropped my jaw when he admitted something at a press conference that I thought I'd never hear him say, "We're not perfect..." He added "Phones aren't perfect."  

Apple not perfect!? APPLE NOT PERFECT!? APPLE NOT PERFECT!!!??? Kill me now, God, for I am ready to die!

Then Jobs adds fuel to the fire by saying something stupid like the president of Toyota would say, "We're not feeling right now that we have a giant problem we need to fix. This has been blown so out of proportion that it's incredible."


No! No! NO! Jobs! You just have to say "We're very sorry. We guarantee that we will make our customers happy. Everyone will be satisfied with our solution. We will fix the iPhones or replace them. We will be the best. Why? Because we are Apple." 


Mr. Jobs, you are Apple. This is what people are expecting to hear. Not wimpy excuses.... We don't want to hear this poncy hairdresser stuff coming from your mouth. ....


Oh, wait, what's that? He does, later on, say what needs to be said?


"We're going to do whatever it takes to make them happy and if we can't make them happy we're going to give them a full refund and say we're really sorry we inconvenienced you, and we're going to do better next time,"  


Very well done, Mr. Jobs. That's what we wanted to hear. That's what Apple does. On the other hand, Microsoft would have offered to send out a patch (that didn't work) and then another patch after that to fix the first patch, and then so on and so on... (If the patches don't work you get to call someone in Bombay.... Good luck with that!)


Great! So Apple is back to being Apple. Now, how to get my wife to give me the money for that iPad that I have been lusting after?... I could sneak the money out of her purse when she's not looking, or....


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Keywords: Apple, iPhone, Steve Jobs, Microsoft, Mike Rogers, iPad,