Write Down Your Goals to Achieve Them!...

"Life is difficult as it is so let us be good to each other." - C.S. Lewis

Today, I'd like to take a moment to highly recommend a book that has helped me greatly since the first time I read it and that is Brian Tracy's Goals!

I write down my top 10 goals everyday! Inspired by the author of Goals! Brian Tracy (I also recommend another Tracy book, Focal Point)

In Goals! Tracy talks about how, if you are to succeed in life that you need to write down your goals in order to be able to achieve them. "Sure!" Everyone thinks this but I know few who actually do write them down. Trust that writing them down does help your sub-conscious to actually remember and activate your  brain to achieve the goals you set forth for yourself.

I write down my goals everyday in the morning when I wake up and, not only does doing so help me to achieve them, it also helps me to relax and stay much more focused. Who doesn't want to stay more focused in this day and age when our "in-box" includes, for most people, several e-mails accounts that are constantly filling up as the day goes by and consistently altering our priorities? Or an Internet world filled with Social Media like Facebook, Mixi (in Japan) and Linkedin accounts (among others) to attend? Twitter and Pick, are no longer for just sending messages to your friends, but they too, have been co-opted into the business world and your boss orders you to use them, or blogs and SNS, to get the company message out...

How in the world can anyone get ahead of the pile in the "in-box"?

The book promises that you will "Get everything you want, faster than you ever dreamed." Sounds like grandiose claims but let me point out that writing down your goals and purposes is like having a sort of road map to where you want to go. When you write them down, they enter your subconsciousness, they cause your inner brain to focus upon the Law of Attraction. If you do not write down where you want to go - if you do not have a map - then how will you know where you are going?

The publishers write:

Why do some people achieve all their goals while others simply dream of having a better life? Bestselling author Brian Tracy shows that the path from frustration to fulfillment has already been discovered. Hundreds of thousands--even millions--of men and women have started with nothing and achieved great success. Here Tracy presents the essential principles you need to know to make your dreams come true.

Tracy presents a simple, powerful, and effective system for setting and achieving goals--a method that has been used by more than one million people to achieve extraordinary things. In this revised and expanded second edition he has added three new chapters addressing areas in which goals can be most rewarding but also the toughest to set and keep: finances, family, and health.

Using the twenty-one strategies Tracy outlines, you'll be able to accomplish any goals you set for yourself--no matter how big. You'll discover how to determine your own strengths, what you truly value in life, and what you really want to accomplish in the years ahead. Tracy shows how to build your self-esteem and self-confidence, approach every problem or obstacle effectively, overcome difficulties, respond to challenges, and continue forward toward your goals, no matter what happens. Most importantly, you'll learn a system for achievement that you will use for the rest of your life.

One of my goals are to become a multi-millionaire. Laughable? Maybe. But at least I have a road map and I am consciously working on that everyday... 

And I really do have proof! I have evidence that Tracy's philosophy and ideas in Goals! work.  I have shown myself that actually writing down goals are critical to achieving them. And my proof stands in something that, for me, is much more important than the Rat Race and making money: it's being the best dad I can be. 

It used to be my #1 priority was, "To make $15,000 a month..." then, one day, when I got a flash of irritation at something my son did - then thought about that flash later on - I realized that the most important thing for me was not money. By far the most important thing for me was to be a great dad. 

Now my #1 priority goal that I write everyday is; "I am a kind, loving and patient father and husband today and everyday" (with today's date added).

Folks, trust me. This really works! Since starting this habit, I have caught myself several times with a flash of irritation at my son - that  before would have caused me to get angry or upset and maybe raise my voice - but since I started writing down everyday my goal of  being patient and kind, my mind recalls that goal immediately and has killed that flash of anger instantly its tracks. 

Why ruin what could be a good learning opportunity and great memory with an out burst of irritability? What for? Life is too short to be getting upset at the small stuff all the time. 

As the great writer C.S. Lewis wrote in Chronicles of Narnia, "Life is difficult as it is so let us be good to each other."

Try reading Brian Tracy's Goals! Write down your goals everyday. You'll be glad you did. 

(This article was inspired by a meeting I had with a most interesting fellow named Roger Marshall. Thank you, Roger!) 


Also read: 

Pocket Notebooks: The Secret of Millionaires and People Won't Listen! 


One Easy Step To Becoming a Better Parent and More Successful at Life 

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keywords: Pick, C.S. Lewis, Twitter, SNS, e-mail, Goals!, Blogs, blogging, Youtube, U-stream, Brian Tracy, Narnia, Facebook, Mixi, Linkedin, Japan, SNS, Internet, business, Japanese, priority, Social Media

The Collapse of Old Media - the Rise of Wi-Fi Broadcasting!

It's a recurring theme in many of my blogs; the old order is quickly collapsing right in front of our faces; TV and radio are dying a slow death. Now here is an explanation how Wi-Fi could be the final nail in the coffin.

Viewership and listenership of TV and radio are sliding down a steep slope. Of course, as for TV, think about it; anyone who has the time, in this day and age, to sit for 3 or 4 (more?) hours a day, everyday, in front of the TV must either be;

a) Jobless
b) Poor
c) Inactive
d) Lazy

Hate to be so rough sounding but I can't think of any sponsors who want to advertise or market to people who are inactive, lazy or have no money... Unless, of course, the sponsors are fast food or ice cream and sweets...

Most TV & radio stations are both heading the way of the Short-Wave or Ham radios. The Internet is allowing for totally new ways for entertainment to be delivered to a targeted audience. Why would sponsors waste huge budgets on TV advertising that advertises to EVERYBODY when they can target their select group?

They won't. That's why old media is dying a slow death. Read more about that here and here in two articles I wrote about the Long Tail.

What a waste of a life. People who fear death, 

yet don't know what to do with themselves on a slow Sunday.

To prove that this collapse of the old order is not happening just in Japan, here's an article from the Washington Post that talks about TV getting the worst ratings in history:

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans avoided television in historic levels over the past week.

CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox together had the smallest number of prime-time viewers last week in two decades of record-keeping, the Nielsen Co. said. Given the dominance of the big broadcasters before then, you'd probably have to go back to the early days of television to find such a collective shrug.

The first week of July tends to be among the slowest weeks of the year in television, anyway, with families more engaged in barbecues and fireworks. The problem was magnified this year because July Fourthcame on Sunday, largely knocking out one of a typical week's biggest viewing nights.

Together, the four networks averaged 18.9 million viewers last week, Nielsen said. During the season, "American Idol" alone usually gets a bigger audience than that.

I'm sure that this sort of article will be coming out less and less in the near future. Why?

Because every week will be worse than the last one for TV, radio, magazines and old media. And this sort of story is becoming old hat really quickly.

The only place that will shine from here on out is the Internet. The revolution is being televised - not by what TV is showing, but by what they don't show.

Also, and this is not yet widely publicized but, data currently shows that 68.4% of all Japanese household now have Wi-Fi. It is estimated that by 2017, that number will be over 88%. Also consider the fact that many people now use "pocket" (portable) Wi-Fi in their cars and outside. Wi-Fi is, folks, a broadcast signal.

Wi-Fi can carry both television and radio and Internet broadcasts (of course)... Now, think about this, folks...

It is estimated that a near 100% penetration of all Japanese households will be achieved by 2023. If Wi-Fi is a broadcasting signal, which it is, then de-facto Wi-Fi can broadcast TV and radio, etc. then why does a manufacturer like, say, Panasonic, need a TV or radio station for?

They don't.

Think about it. A company like Panasonic wants to communicate directly with customers, but under the old order (Broadcasting laws), they can't. The middleman in all communications as of today are the mass media... But what happens to the mass media when companies like Panasonic, Sony, Toyota no longer need them and can communicate directly to potential customers via Wi-Fi? And, since Wi-Fi is an extremely short distance signal, Wi-Fi REQUIRES NO BROADCASTING LICENSE!

The only thing the major manufacturers and sponsors need is content. They DO NOT need TV and radio stations for content. In fact, most TV and many radio stations (especially in Japan) do not create content: outside production companies do. In many cases, especially in Japan, broadcast stations are merely a platform.

This means that companies like Panasonic (or your favorite company's name  here) no longer needs to pay the middleman broadcasting companies anymore. They can use their own broadcasting set-ups going into the homes through Wi-Fi... Wi-Fi has an unlimited number of channels too!

And, then, think about this, if the advertisers and sponsors can create their own content and go directly to the audience, then why wouldn't they? And when that happens, who will the TV stations and major mass media get to buy their broadcasts?

No one, I reckon.

Content will always be king, but broadcasting platforms, like TV, radio, cable and satellite TV channels are in trouble. By the way, most of the upper executives at broadcasting stations already know about this (at least the smart ones do) so what I am telling you isn't a shock to them...

Like I said, TV and radio are dying a slow death. This news isn't a revelation; it's a death sentence.

Last Week's Twitter Attack Unintentionally Originated from Japan!?

I have written extensively before on how I question Twitter's long-term viability as a solid business in the west before. See here and here and here. But I have always thought Twitter would do well in Japan because Twitter allows 140 characters - I think it is often too short for English, but, in Japanese using Chinese kanji, one can write a mini novel on Twitter since kanji often represent entire ideas.

But now here comes some news that claims last weeks terrible Twitter hack problems originated from Japan!

From Google News:   

This week's Twitter attack that caused a widespread headache for the micro-blogging service appears to have been triggered by a Japanese computer hacker who says he was only trying to help. The attack, which emerged and was shut down within hours Tuesday morning, involved a "cross-site scripting" flaw that allowed users to run JavaScript programs on other computers. The originator is believed to be someone who uses the name "Masato Kinugawa" in cyberspace and acknowledges creating the Twitter account "RainbowTwtr" that demonstrated the vulnerability. Through his Twitter account and personal blog, Kinugawa regularly tracks down possible computer security loopholes and notifies companies of their existence. There are "Twitter-like" competitors in Asia. The best is Pick. Pick allows you to place a photo right on your tweet (or I guess I should say, Pick") so you don't have to click-through to a different page like "Twit-pick" and, with how conscious of their privacy Asians are, these kinds of trouble for Twitter spell big opportunity for the Asian companies. We'll see how this all plays out.... Either way, more bad publicity for Twitter.     See original article.

Marketing Japan: Number of US Companies Using Blogs for Marketing Rising...

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

I just ran across an article that made me feel a bit vindicated. I often meet people who think that the meaning of the terms "Social Media" or "Social Media Marketing" extend to things like Twitter, Facebook,  Myspace and Pick and stop there. I do not agree at all.

I think that if you believe that just putting information out on Twitter is good enough for Social Media Marketing (SMM) then you are not even doing 1/4 of what needs to be done. 

I firmly believe that a solid, well-written, interesting blog, that is updated at least once a day with useful and free information, is critical to the success of any Internet marketing program. Whenever climbing any great mountain (your marketing target) any expedition team will need a good base camp (your blog).

Now, Adweek data seems to come out and confirm what I have suspected. It is estimated that, by 2012, 43% of all US companies will be using a blog for marketing. That's smart. From the article: 

In many studies, company use of social networks and Twitter outpaces the use of blogs, but the platforms are not mutually exclusive. "Companies are finding that blogs fill a specific niche that other forms of social media do not," said eMarketer senior analyst Paul Verna.

"Marketers perceive blogs to have the highest value of any social media in driving site traffic, brand awareness, lead generation and sales -- as well as improving customer service,

So, it seems to me that the lesson here is obvious: Twitter, etc. is good as a snack (but has many problems on the horizon), but somewhere down the line, people need to sit down to a proper meal. It's going to take at least two years of dedication to build a reputable and credible blog... I reckon it's best to get started ASAP.

For further information on this subject, and how you can find help for yourself, click here. As always, it's all free and there are no signups or surveys!

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Keywords: Blog, Twitter, Pick, Myspace, Facebook, Adweek, Mike Rogers, Marketing Japan, Mike in Tokyo Rogers

I'm a Twitter Quitter!...

This is the third time that I will write about Twitter. It is also the third time that I do not have flattering things to say about it. Twitter is quickly becoming synonymous with frustration. Twitter will never even come close to taking down Facebook.

Today, again, Twitter is down and not in service in Japan... Again. Not only is it not in service, their excuses for why it isn't working keep changing.

I wake up earlier than most people do, I think, and I go on my computer and do the things I need to do; check my e-mail; see how much money I lost that night... Write. Whenever I write my blog, I always use Social Media to promote what I have written. My favorites to use are Facebook, Mixi, Myspace, Pick and Twitter.

You know what folks? I have never once had any irritation with Pick, Mixi, or Facebook (sometimes Myspace irritates me) but Twitter frustrates me far too often. I've come to expect that there will be some sort of trouble with Twitter. I never expect any trouble, with, say Google.

That's the way the Internet is supposed to be. Twitter? Problems at least once a week. Sometimes two or three times.

Not only is Twitter frustrating because I cannot put enough text into the short space allowed but also because Twitter experiences technical trouble far too often. Today is the fourth or fifth time in the last few weeks that Twitter has not worked properly. Throw on top of that Twitter admitting that they manipulate their "Trending" and it makes you wonder "What good is it then?"

I became a bit suspicious about the last time Twitter claimed that their "Service was over-capacity" as I had noticed that Twitter kept changing the excuses as to why the system was down. One time the screen would say, "Over-capacity" the next moment it would say, "Technical error." They've done the same thing today.

How is it that one minute Twitter says that the system is "over-loaded" - meaning that "we are too popular for you," (you know, like the prom queen would actually attend your birthday party!? Harrumph! Absurd!) then, a few minutes later, the screen says something completely different? This time they say it's a problem of technical errors (I believe that!)

Which is it Twitter? Over-load or tech problem? Either way, get your story straight. Some people might think you are confused... Others, like me, might think that you are amateurish and can't get the story straight... Er, well, people like me think you are lying - to put it bluntly.

Lying on the Internet is bad business no? Or do you lie because you want some fat-cat idiot company to give you more money? Isn't that really bad business?

You already committed several cardinal sins by manipulating your "trending" topics (For proof and admission, See here) so your credibility is already questionable. But lying about your service (again!)? That is just low-grade and no class.

Check it out. Here what Twitter landing page says at this moment:

It says, "Twitter is over capacity. Please wait a moment and try again. 

For more information, see Twitter status."

Folks, it is now 7:10 am Tokyo time, I have been trying Twitter since 6:30 am and this is still going on. Poor work Twitter! And, like I said, the fourth or fifth time, at least, in the last ten weeks.

No, Twitter. You are not that popular in Japan at this moment in time and at 6:30 in the morning.

But, then again, like I also pointed out, Twitter commits the ultimate sin of lying about the problem. Twitter, you are not over-capacity. That is not true. You even admit it with the Twitter status link above.

Check it out... I want more information. So, I click "Twitter status" what do I get?

This one says, "We're currently experiencing a high error rate on Twitter. Our infrastructure and operations engineers are responding to the incident."

Heck, Twitter, that's poor. I remember about a year ago when Google was having trouble with their G-mail. Sometimes it wouldn't work correctly for, oh, say sometimes ten minutes and then they had it up and fixed immediately....

You guys? Well, it's now almost an hour (at least one hour)...

This really sucks Twitter. No wonder 60% of all Twitter users quit using Twitter within the first 30 days. twitter can be incredibly boring and the service is poor.

I can honestly say that I have just about had it with you guys too. The way this is going, Twitter, while maybe not dead, will be just like Myspace or something that a few people use for a storage garage to keep their junk... I really predict Twitter will be a real dog by 2014.

As for me, just sign me, Twitter Quitter!

Twitter Sucks.

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Mike Rogers, Marketing Japan, Mixi, Facebook, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Twitter, Google, G-mail, Twitter over-capapcity, Twitter high error rate, Pick, Twitter Quitter, Social Media, Japan, Myspace 

Creating a Buzz Requires Credibility

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

A good friend of mine once said to me, "Credibility is hard to get but even harder to buy." When I heard this I thought it was simply genius. It's so absolutely true.

Lately, I've been reading Malcolm Gladwell's most recent book, "Outliers." In one section at the front of the book, he writes about how kids get into the Canadian Major Junior A Hockey League; the premier league for children and teens hoping to become professional hockey players.

Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers

Gladwell writes:

You can't buy your way into Major Junior A hockey. It doesn't matter who your father or mother is, or who your grandfather was, or what business your family is in. Nor does it matter if you live in the most remote corner of the most northerly province in Canada. If you have the ability, the vast network of hockey scouts and talent spotters will find you, and if you are willing to develop that ability, the system will reward  you.

Gladwell then goes on to point out that there's a lot of luck and being in the right place at the right time is so important towards becoming successful... But he also delves deeply into working at success and dedicating time and effort practicing and honing one's skills.

I'd like to point out that if a kid gets into Major Junior A hockey in Canada, then that kid gets "status." With Major Junior A hockey comes credibility. And this credibility is impossible to buy.

It's the same when you are trying to build a buzz for your product or service... Credibility is crucial. Without credibility, you will never build a long-term lasting success. Quality is crucial to credibility.

Not only is this critical for other people's perceptions, but it is also, I think, the deciding factor for yourself and your team. Think about this: If you or any of your team member's are not 100% sold on your idea, product or service; If you do not have complete and total faith in what you are doing, then you will have doubt in the back of your mind somewhere...

This doubt, no matter how small, will do great damage to your efforts so the elimination of this doubt is so important... This is where, even more than what others think, what you think, in your heart and in your sub-conscious, is critical. You must believe in what you are doing to be successful. It is even written in the bible, "Belief can move mountains."

I've told this to many people that I work with; creating a buzz and almost everything else we do is a form of sales. In sales, I must believe in my product absolutely to be totally effective. Why? Because sales is not a transference of data. If it were just passing along facts, then car salesmen could sell the best cars with a copy of a pdf. But it doesn't work that way. Sales is a transference of emotions. I, the salesman, must transfer my excitement and belief about my product to you, the customer. You must get excited about what I have to sell.

I have to believe. You have to believe. This is the key to sales (and creating a buzz)!  

I am now working with partners on promoting tourism to a former Eastern Block country in Europe. In some circles, this promotion has been extremely difficult. Why? Because twenty years ago, this country was involved in a civil war and many Japanese people still have the image of war when they think of this nation.

We have to change that image among the Japanese. Maybe you have guessed the name of this country already.... A war 20 years ago in Europe? Yes. It had to be one of the countries in former Yugoslavia. I'm talking specifically about Croatia.

Actually, Croatia is nothing like the image that many Japanese people have; a cold and dreary former Soviet Bloc territory. Croatia has a rich history; formerly part of the Hapsburg Empire; formerly Rome. Croatia's tourism promotional copy is "The Mediterranean the way it used to be." Croatia has 7 world heritage sites, glorious architecture, fantastic gourmet (including seafood) and more! See some sites here.

But some Japanese still have the image of war.

Recently, two things have greatly helped us to gain trust and credibility among the Japanese. One has been the push from Japanese travel agents for Japanese tourists to visit Croatia. It really helps to show people the tourism and travel brochures made by reputable Japanese companies like Japan Airlines (JAL), All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) recommending Croatia. I mean, if Croatia weren't safe, they certainly wouldn't recommend it.

Regent Esplanade Zagreb

But the most recent thing that I think will be the watershed moment for Croatia tourism will be this December. From this December, Tokyo FM (TFM) will run a station-wide promotion on air and on the Internet (this will include, of course, SNS, blogs, Twitter, Pick, Mixi and Facebook!) The promotion will be for three lucky couples to win a vacation to Croatia including airfare and hotel....

The hotel stay is at one of the most prestigious hotels in all of Europe! It's the Regent Esplanade Zagreb. See photos here that will drop your jaw.

See more photos of the Regent Esplanade Zagreb here

There's not a person in Japan over the age of 18 who hasn't heard of Tokyo FM. Tokyo FM is the flagship station of a 34 station Japan-wide FM network. Tokyo FM is prestige.

Will Croatia become the huge buzz and "place to be" amongst the Japanese within the next two years? That remains to be seen, but Tokyo FM accepting Croatia as a partner for a big Christmas campaign gives Croatia the respect and credibility Croatia needs. With this credibility in hand, it is the final critical factor needed to build the buzz among the Japanese who like to travel.

Now, with this credibility, they can get to work on building a buzz.
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Keywords:
Croatia, SNS, ANA, Europe, Twitter, Social Media, Outliers, Japan, Christmas campaign, All Nippon Airways, credibility, Mike Rogers, Tokyo FM, U-Stream, Tokyo, Pick, Regent Esplanade Zagreb, blogs, Internet, Japan, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Malcolm Gladwell, The Mediterranean the way it used to be, JAL, Japan Airlines, Japan Travel Bureau, JTB

Why the Digital Conversion Will Destroy TV Tokyo and TBS

Yesterday I wrote about why the conversion in Japan by television stations from analogue to digital is going to wipe out a bunch of FM radio stations. Today I will write about why this will also kill off some of the poorly rated TV stations too (good riddance!).

The digital conversion that is scheduled to occur on July 24, 2011, is going to kill off a bunch of FM radio stations in this country (especially Tokyo) because you will no longer be able to hear FM radio in your Toyota or Nissan without special equipment. The digital sets are not compatible with analogue.

Also, the economic consideration that analogue equipment is not manufactured in Japan anymore plays a big part. It may not be so much a matter of what the consumer wants, but what the manufacturer wants.

From that blog:

After July 2011, on your dashboard, you will have a digital GPS, Internet, digital TV and digital radio. Want to do Social Media, YouTube, Twitter, U-Stream, blog? Got you covered. Need to Google or Yahoo search? Sure. When you need traffic conditions, just a click on your GPS will give you up to the minute details on traffic and road conditions. All the TV channels? No problem. Throw on top of that 6 digital radio channels and, of course, a CD player and probably an iPod connection, and you have the next generation of car entertainment system. 

Read that entire blog here.

Today's blog will show you why I think this digital conversion is going to kill off TV stations like TV Tokyo and TBS who are consistently last in ratings.

It is important that you good folks have an understanding of the Long Tail to fully grasp this. For a brief explanation of what the Long Tail is, read here and here.

When the digital conversion happens in July of 2011, suddenly there is going to be massive choice on your television. The playing field will be evened quite a bit. Instead of being able to receive just 4 ~ 6 channels like today's analogue TV does, your system will be able to receive hundreds of TV channels.

Now, what happens to people when they are given a choice? Do they stick with watching the same 4 channels, or do they TV zap and try many channels?

History shows us that when people are offered a choice, they will let their own personal tastes dictate what they decide to consume whether we are talking about TV programs, restaurants, clothes, or even  jams and jellies for toast.

Let's use jam and jelly for our example.

Go to any convenience store where shelf space is limited. How many jams and jellies do they offer? 4? 5? Go to any grocery store. How many jams and jellies do they offer? 18? 20? Go to Amazon.com, how many jams and jellies do they offer? Over 1,300.

Now it makes sense that if Joe-blow is buying the lemon-tangerine marmalade made in Holland, that is one less purchase of the generic brand "STRAWBERRY JAM" that he is going to make, right?

Get it? Having more choice doesn't mean that people will buy more jam; it means that people will diversify their tastes. The more people are offered, the more wide-spread their choice becomes, the more dispersed their spending will be. More choices will result in a displacement of time and money from the old choices that were dictated simply due to lack of choice (caused by limitations due to time, money and space).

When people have wide choices they will exercise more discretion 

and more personal taste and freedom of choice

It is the same with TV.

When there are 300 TV channels competing for your attention and sponsor's money - both of these critical factors to the survival of TV (audience and money) will be more widely dispersed.

Think of it this way: You are the maker of, say, outdoor goods like tents, bicycles and barbeques. Say, the price for 25 TV ads on a TV station like TV Tokyo is about $150,000 (USD). The price of 35 TV ads on the sports channel is $14,000. Sure there are more viewers on TV Tokyo, but Sports TV offers a targeted audience of men who like sports (and, by the way, many are probably are married, have families, and like the outdoors).... TV Tokyo's audience ranges from 10-year-olds to 80-year-olds; Sports TV target audience is mainly 30 ~ 50-year-old men.

Now, where would you spend the money if you were the sponsor?

It is obvious that you would go for the Sports TV. It will be the same for all manufacturers whether they make diapers or women's fashion brand shoes. The diaspora of audience will make targeting even more important as time goes by.

But there will still be a place for the catch-all, wide audience accepted platform to advertise hit products; say the new Hollywood Blockbuster or the new Disney Park attraction that appeals to the entire family. Those will still be handled by the old style TV stations. The old style TV station thats target a wide audience will be amply served by today's #1 rated (by far) TV stations: Fuji TV and Nihon TV (at #2)... The stations like TV Tokyo and TBS, who fight it out for last place, will find it more and more difficult to find buyers for their ad space and are headed for very tough times and difficult decisions.

Sports TV can sell TV ads for 1/10th the price of TV Tokyo because they only have about 60 employees... TV Tokyo has over 700! TV Tokyo group has over 1,000!

Guess what? When the playing field is evened, then everyone will have to tighten their belts, but guess who is going to have to fire 50 ~ 70% of their employees and probably merge with another company? TBS and TV Tokyo.

While today, the stations like TV Tokyo and TBS are all crowing about their new digital channel... The content is still the same. Only the broadcasting platform has changed. What makes them think that just by changing platforms that their ratings and income are going to increase? Good question. If anything, their viewership is going to decline due to more choices being offered and some people opting out of buying an expensive new TV (at my home, we opted out of TV over seven years ago and haven't missed it once. I wrote about not having a TV and the benefits of that here and here.)

Today, TV Tokyo's ratings are dead last and they are losing millions of dollars a year and having to borrow massive amounts of money from banks to stay afloat. How long will banks keep lending them money? (Their FM radio subsidiary, InterFM alone is losing somewhere in the neighborhood of one million dollars a year!) What makes TV Tokyo management think that, when digital goes online, and the competition increases one-hundred fold, that their fortunes will get better?

Fuji TV consistently #1 in ratings by far.  

Strong on branding and image and logo is the same each and every time.

I think that they are in for a quite rude awakening, in spite of their current bravado and high hopes that digital is going to save them from their current conundrum... (I've mentioned before that "hope" is a very poor business plan).

I also think that their poorly designed Digital 7 TV logo is a sign of things to come for them. Of course my opinion here is very subjective but I think this logo looks old-fashioned, cheaply designed and not "cool" at all. It looks old-fashioned but not "retro" and looks like a design that wasn't made by a world-class professional. Like I said, it looks very poorly thought out and very cheap. Also, in typical TV Tokyo fashion, every time you see it it is a bit different.... Why don't these guys take classes in Marketing and Branding 101?

This is TV Tokyo's Digital Logo. 

Sorry, guys but this looks really cheap. 

How about some shadows or gradation? 

Why don't you hire a professional designer?

Let me get cute here and say that, I think, in this case, "7", for TV Tokyo is not lucky. In this case, 7 is their second number (on analogue they were channel 12) and if you've ever played Craps, you know that 7 on your second number means, "Loser."

This is why I say that the times they are a changin'... Look for no TV Tokyo and no TBS TV by 2030!

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Keywords:

Social Media, FM radio, FM, blogs, Yahoo, U-Stream, AM radio, Nissan, Tokyo, Pick, Twitter, Toyota, TV, YouTube, AM, blog,  Internet, Japan, digital TV, digital radio, Japan, TV Tokyo, TBS TV, 

One More Phase in the Shattering of Mainstream Media

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

I rode the Tokyo subway today and saw a sign inside the car that notified the passengers that as of July 24, 2011, terrestrial television stations will no longer broadcast analogue signals in Japan and will finally make the switch to digital.

This signals what could be the final nail in the coffin of many of the FM radio stations in this country and the collapse of TV Tokyo and TBS.

I predict that InterFM will either be bankrupt or sold to a new owner by 2014 and TV Tokyo will be in the same situation: insolvent or absorbed by another company by 2016.

I'd like to explain why in this post but first let me give you some important details involving the background of broadcast signals so that you may have a better understanding and why I think this way. Let's see if you come to the same conclusions that I have.

Let's start with AM and FM radio.

AM is called "Amplitude Modulation" and its signal is wavy. When an AM signal comes to an obstacle like a mountain or a tall building, it bounces off of it in many directions and continues going. This is why, in many areas of the United States, there are some AM stations whose broadcasts can be heard over 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) away. The AM signal is like an ocean wave so, if there are no mountains to make the signal deflect into the heavens, the signals will bounce along the earth's surface.

This makes AM radio great for talk and the friend of people who drive long-distance trucks.

FM is called "Frequency Modulation" and it goes in a straight line. When an FM signal hits a mountain, tall building or other obstacle, it stops. We've all had the experience that our favorite FM station drops off when we go through a tunnel or through a valley. That's the shortcoming of FM radio.

What many people do not know is that terrestrial TV uses the same FM frequency for its broadcasts too.

People who were brought up in Japan may remember from their childhood small portable transistor radio that had the AM / FM band on them but also played TV channels NHK and NHK Educational (1 & 3).  If you understand that analogue TV uses FM frequency to broadcast, then you now understand why those old transistor radio's had TV channels on them.

This is important so keep this in mind.

On July 24, 2011, the TV channels will stop broadcasting analogue signals. What this really means is that they will stop using the FM band for transmitting their services and go to terrestrial digital.

FM, Frequency Modulation, is a broadcast wave. Digital broadcasting is not a wave at all. Digital broadcasting is a completely different technology. Digital broadcasting is not a wave, it is binary data.

I suppose that some of you have seen binary data before. It's a series of zero's and one's and looks something like this:

00110010111100101101001110100010000100001000001

00110001000011101110001010101001001000100111000

01011110111101111011011111110010001000001101010

That is binary data. The reason why digital broadcasting is so clear and high quality is that, with binary data, it is either "on" or "off" unlike an AM or FM signal that can be blocked or deflected by tall buildings, mountains or even trees. Binary Data is crystal clear.

Now, how does this spell the end of FM radio? Bear with me here, cause now we're getting to the nitty gritty.

The future of FM radio doesn't lay in what they broadcast or how they up the ante of quality of content (but, of course, it will always be a competition between stations for dwindling audience and sponsorship dollars)...

The future of FM radio depends on what Toyota does.

That's right. Toyota is the one who decides what is going to happen. In my opinion, it is obvious that FM  is is serious trouble and that we are now witnessing the end of an era; and it's happening, in slow motion, right in front of our eyes.

But, don't take my word for it, decide for yourself. Let me explain further...

Think about this: Where do most people listen to FM radio? In cars, right?

The Japanese government and all the big manufacturers in this country, Sony, Panasonic, etc. (who, by the way, all have an incestuous relationship with each other and Toyota in stock holdings) are pushing for the digital conversion big time. These manufacturers need their flagging fortunes to get an injection of sales and profits that new broadcasting and new equipment will generate. Digital equipment costs anywhere from $500 - $2,000 (USD) a set. The Japanese manufacturers want and need for the Japanese public to go whole-hog into digital broadcasting. They need the public to dispose of their analogue equipment and buy the new digital equipment... (By the way, a cursory check of analogue equipment at Bic Camera the other day - what little I could find - showed that all the analogue products were all manufactured outside of Japan).

If digital broadcasting is a failure in this country, then it's going to hurt Japanese manufacturing for a very long time... The analogue equipment I saw was all manufactured in Malaysia, Indonesia, and I found some from Taiwan (which was surprising).

Now, how does Toyota fit into this equation?

Imagine your car dashboard. It has a GPS, CD player, and television/radio set all built together. Most people have an analogue device (with terrible TV reception!) From July 2011 there will be no cars that come with that device. They will all be digital.

After July 2011, on your dashboard, you will have a digital GPS, Internet, digital TV and digital radio. Want to do Social Media, YouTube, Twitter, U-Stream, blog? Got you covered. Need to Google or Yahoo search? Sure. When you need traffic conditions, just a click on your GPS will give you up to the minute details on traffic and road conditions. All the TV channels? No problem. Throw on top of that 6 digital radio channels and, of course, a CD player and probably an iPod connection, and you have the next generation of car entertainment system. (In Japan, as of now, there are 6 digital radio channels that are shown on CS or BS television. These channels broadcast soft jazz and classical music).

Toyota HD Digital Screen. 

All sorts of fun things like iPod, digital TV and digital radio... 

Do you see FM or AM radio? I don't

Remember I wrote that digital signals are binary data and analogue is a broadcasting wave? This is important now.

I ask you, dear reader, to consider; Since Sony, Panasonic, etc. and companies like Toyota and Nissan all have an incestuous relationship as to stock holdings and company ownership, and they desperately need to have the Japanese public buy their digital devices that cost at least $500 each... And digital devices receive binary data and are not analogue compatible... Do you think that Toyota will cut a hole in your dashboard, just under your $500 digital GPS, TV, Internet, radio device in order to install a $1 dollar made in Indonesia FM tuner?

I don't, and I think it is insane to think otherwise. Actually, the notion is laughable, isn't it?

So, if people can no longer hear FM radio in their cars, then where are they going to listen to it? In the subways with their white earplugs through their iPods and iPhones?... Get serious. Nobody does that now!

If there are any folks reading this who remember how popular short wave was way back when compared to what it is today, then they have a good idea what I think the future of FM radio in Japan looks like....

No FM radio in the car spells doom for the FM stations because if no one can listen in their car, then FM will have no listeners at all... No listeners means no sponsors. No sponsors means no money. No money means no FM...

I cannot imagine how they will survive the next 5 ~ 10 years.

If I were a station like J-Wave - that still has good ratings and high listenership - I'd get into negotiations real soon for an open digital radio channel... And, no, the license and digital conversion are not cheap. We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars. The smaller stations will never afford it, so they are dead.

And that's why July 2011 is the last nail in the coffin of FM radio in Japan.

But what about AM radio you say? Ah, that's the interesting contradiction. AM radio will probably survive. Because AM car radio is the bottom of the pit for basic car equipment (besides nothing at all)... Almost every Tokyo Taxi has an AM radio in it. Few have FM radios.

Tomorrow I will explain why this entire situation bodes ill for TV Tokyo and TBS TV.

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Keywords:
Nissan, Tokyo, Pick, Twitter, FM, Toyota, FM radio, Yahoo, U-Stream, J-Wave, Social Media, TV, YouTube, AM, AM radio, blog, blogs, Internet, Japan, digital TV, Panasonic, digital radio, Japan, TV Tokyo, TBS TV, iPod, iPhone, Sony, Google, Tokyo subway

Using U-Stream to Promote Real Time Concerts

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

The big summer concerts in Japan are having a hard time selling tickets... In fact, from what I hear (and I have excellent sources) ticket sales for Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic are dismal at best.

The word on the street is that ticket sales for any shows are bad but there is one ticket that is impossible to get as all four shows are completely sold out!

George Williams at GG10 July 21, 2010 (photo by Yoji Kawada)

Four four days this week, Music On! TV and host George Williams have held the 9th annual "GG" concert series this year at Shibuya Ax and this is the hottest ticket in Tokyo.

GG10, as this year's shows are called, have a logical, well-planned lineup (see line up here) - along with a crowd pleasing ticket price of ¥4,200 (about $45 USD). This blows Summer Sonic out of the water! Summer Sonic has a artist lineup that probably pleases no one (Who in the hell wants to pay ¥29,800 (about $320!) to see Offspring open for Jay-Z?)

On the other hand... It might be better than going to the other side of Japan and spending over ¥82,000 ($900 USD) to go see Fuji Schlock where a bunch of geriatric old folks relive the crap music of the late 60's and early 70's...

Not only did the Music on! TV folks do a superb job of lining up a killer roster of artists, they promoted the shows well and they were sold out long ago.

Eat your hearts out Creative Man and Smash!

On top of this, I was extremely impressed as to how George Williams used his own Internet media page, "The Music Revolution Starts Here" to promote the shows real-time and give us updates using Social Media such as, Pick, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, and U-Stream. See George's The Music Revolution Starts Here, er, to go to that page click this entire sentence....

So, while all of Japan withers in this economic slump, George Williams and Music On TV sell out four shows in a row... They used a great mix of old media and Internet to sell the tickets and the great line-up gave them killer credibility. Sorry, Summer Sonic, but no one wants to pay to see Taylor Swift open for Stevie Wonder... Jeez! What a lame-o line up!..

I wonder why companies like Creative Man don't understand the simple concept of "Credibility is hard to get. It is even harder to buy"?

On top of this, George Williams uses the Internet and Social Media to give the concert goers - as well as the unlucky folks -who wanted to get tickets but couldn't - a chance to see what's going on back stage! Wow!

That's not just cool... That's intelligent business!

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Keywords: The Music Revolution Starts Here, Tokyo, Pick, Twitter, U-Stream, Social Media, Summer Sonic, Music On! TV, Stevie Wonder, YouTube, blog, blogs, Internet, Japan, Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Offspring, Fuji Rock

Watch Out for a New Scam on Twitter....

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

Probably not so many people in Japan have the same trouble with Twitter that I do  because, in Japan, Twitter is a new thing and still not that many people are using it (though it is doing well). Most Japanese follow Japanese people (of course) and, since Twitter is relatively new here, it isn't filled with so much noise like I've been noticing coming across Twitter from English speakers recently. I hope that today's short blog makes you consider and think about your own experiences.

I think that, if what is going on now with Twitter in the west continues to grow at the pace it seems to be growing, then Twitter will not be doing well in 3 years. If what is happening with Twitter in the west, starts happening here in Japan, then Twitter will have a very bad future very quickly.

I don't like what I am seeing from many Twitter users in the west.

I mentioned in a previous post how 60% of new Twitter users drop off in the first month and how that spells bad news for the future of the business. But today I'd just like to write a short blog about two things on Twitter that I really don't like and that I've been noticing more and more of in these last few weeks.

I'd like to think this information can be useful to anyone in marketing, bloggers, advertising, PR, Social Media, people who U-Stream, Pick, YouTube, video blog (vlog) and business in general people in Japan. Anyone who thinks or plans on using Twitter for any sort of promotion in Japan should think about this.

What's the problem? There seems to be a huge surge in what is being called "Twitter Junk Mail."  "Twitter Junk Mail and "Twitter Spam" seem to be different animals all together. Whereas Twitter Spam is malicious, Twitter Junk Mail is automated Twitter posts that are generated by computer and ask us to buy something or direct us to some sort of sales gimmick. Sometimes I will get 10 Tweets in a row, all within a few seconds of each other, all from the same person (no one can tweet that fast) and all asking me to buy something.

I always stop following those accounts immediately... Frankly speaking, I've been spending most of my time on Twitter recently canceling accounts that I followed. 

These things - from the west - seem to be exploding on my Twitter account. How about yours?

Most of these Tweets ask me to go see some new and exciting way to make money on Twitter. One recent one - that really motivated me to write this - was a sales method that guaranteed that I could get my Twitter followers up to 20,000 ~ 40,000 people by paying money. There have been several others that claimed that I could make $30,000 a month doing Twitter from my desk! They often ask me to watch a video or short presentation as to how I can make money convincing people to sign up for these pay-as-you-go membership drives. 

One of the pages that I clicked showed that if I wanted 1,000 new Twitter followers then it cost $400... If it were 2,000 new followers, it would be $500... The prices kept going up, with guaranteed results, to 50,000 followers.  

When I would check the Twitter page of the person who joined my group (why they joined my Twitter group is as much a mystery to me as it is to you) and told me about these wonderfully fantastic ways of making money with Twitter, I could see that they had, say, 8,000 followers and were following 8,000 other people. This, seems to me to be a sort of scam and defeating the purpose of Twitter.  

Why anyone would want to pay for a bunch of uninterested followers that have no connection or interest in them is beyond my comprehension. Also, what good is following someone on Twitter when you are also following 20,000 other people?

Junk Mail in your mailbox or Junk Mail on Twitter, what's the difference?

Is having 20,000 followers a sort of bragging right? Perhaps you could make money on this for a short time conning people who are unfamiliar with how this all works (yes, there's LOTS of those still) but this scam will not last long.

It's like getting high rankings on an Internet chart or something by sitting at a desk and clicking on your choice a few million times. Sure, the ranking is good, but it really means nothing.

The purpose of Twitter is to keep up on the latest news of your close friends and family and other topics that interest you. Following 20,000 other people and having 20,000 people following you seems like having a post box outside your home crammed and ready-to-explode with 20,000 pieces of crap direct mail that no one is ever going to look at.

Why would the postman keep delivering to a mailbox like that?

This reminds me of the early days of Myspace. I remember an artist named Cary Brothers coming to the studio a few years ago. Cary was a very nice guy and his music was contemporary.

Before he came to visit me at the studio his company record promoters (I think it was Warner Records) had told me that, "Cary Brothers was a sensation on the Internet and he had a million fans on Myspace!" 

That was his claim to fame and why they signed him. 

When I met Cary he told me that he had spent 8 hours every night, night after night, for over 5  years contacting people on Myspace and asking them to join his fans group on Myspace.

Now, not to detract from Cary Brothers at all as he was one of the earlier musicians to recognize what Myspace can do for an artist, and he is a very talented, intelligent guy (for at least recognizing that these record company executives still haven't a clue about the Internet), but I do want to trash the record company for being so dim about how Myspace works.

On Myspace, generally speaking, unless you are very famous, then you have to go looking for fans; they rarely come to you. What I mean to say is that Bono is not sitting at his computer trying to get people to listen to the new U2 record... But an unheard of artist like Cary Brothers at the time had to ask people to join him in order to get people to sit up and listen. Myspace is a reciprocal SNS service so it is generally as sort of, "You join my Myspace and I'll join yours."

That was in the early days of Myspace when everyone wanted tons of "friends." At that time, pretty much everyone accepted anyone as a friend.

So, I do not want to detract from Cary Brothers as he put in the time and made the effort to create a buzz... I hope that, if you are a good artist, and have great tunes, and you are willing to dedicate yourself fully to thousands of hours in front of a computer then you can get results... If you do, you vindicate the Long Tail.

But to think that someone on Twitter who has, say 10,000 followers, and is following 10,000 themselves is some sort of measure of popularity is, I think, nonsense.

In my opinion "Popular on Twitter" would be someone who has a huge number of followers and very few people they follow.  

Here's a good example of a serious, credible Twitter account:

Lew Rockwell has 3,625 Twitter followers, yet only follows 22 people 

Lew Rockwell has 3,625 followers and yet he follows only 22 people. These are the kinds of numbers that make sense. These other people who have several thousand followers and several thousand that they follow are here today, gone tomorrow. Trust me. 

This scam on Twitter, plus poor retention, is going to spoil Twitter's future. Can they do something about it? Or will they wind up another "Also-ran"?

I predict "Also-ran" like Myspace. 

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Keywords: marketing, Pick, Social Media, business, Twitter Junk Mail, Myspace, PR, advertising, Japan, Twitter, Japanese, Lew Rockwell, followers, bloggers, U-Stream, video blog, vlog, Youtube, Twitter Spam,