What is a "Flog"?

A Flog is a new term for "Fake Blog." I first heard this term on What Really Happened and thought it needs to be spread out as soon as possible and as far as possible.


The description that What Really Happened uses is quite good. 
It says;


"...The money-addicts working against freedom and democracy are in a panic, and trying to shut down all opposition to their plans. Everyday more and more honest blogs are vanishing, to be replaced with well-funded "Flogs"; fake blogs designed to wrap the same old lies in new high-tech wrappings in the hopes that the people will fall for it."  


You just knew this was going to happen; it has started to creep in with tool's that rate people's influence and claim to show how much of a leader a blogger is in influencing opinion or what consumers will want to buy.


Even the Wall Street Journal Chimes in on this: 


If the word “influence” in all its forms isn’t topping the 


list of marketing jargon, then it will after 2011 is done

with it. In the marketing and PR context, it refers 


to a person’s online reputation, and his or her 


ability to sway consumers.


Hmmm.... This is beginning to reek of money changing hands.... Nothing wrong with that, but that starts to sound like "blogging for money" which sounds like why we hate the Mainstream Mass Media (MSM)...(We hate the MSM because they lie for mney) I thought that is what the Internet wasn't supposed to be.

Several times over the last few months, I have been approached by people asking me to blog about their product in return for payment.


One party told me to send my resume and other documentation, along with samples of my writing, so that they can review them and decide if they wanted to hire me to be a writer for them. I am not so conceited to think that I am above all that, but I thought they had it backwards: I wasn't applying for a job to them; they were asking if I'd blog about their products.


Those products were fashions and designer jeans. People who know me personally would know just how laughable a proposition that one is: Mike Rogers blogging about how cool the new fashion jeans are!? Are you kidding me?


I am reminded of the one time the Hip Hop fashion maker, X-Large, asked me if I wanted some sample jeans to wear. You know X-Large, right? They were the company that made those huge baggy jeans for street and Hip Hop people (that some artists wore backwards).


Anyway, I was the disc jockey of a very highly rated FM radio music program at the time and we played all sorts of underground music. The rep from the fashion maker was visiting because we played some Hip Hop too. The conversation went like this:


X-Large: "Yo! Mike, wassup Dawg? We love what you are doing. Would you like us to give you some X-Large fashion jeans to wear?" 


Me: "Er, okay. Word up.... Er, Do you have the X-Large in the small size?"


.....We .......didn't........ talk.......... 


......for..... long........


....after......


that.

Riiiiiight! Can you imagine me, Mike Rogers, 

wearing baggy pants like this?

Ridiculous! What would my mom say?

I don't buy clothes. I haven't bought clothes in years. I hate shopping. My wife buys all my clothes. Before I got married, my mom bought all my clothes. 


When I was a teenager and into punk rock, I would put pins and chains on the fashionable jeans and T-shirts that my mom bought for me at K-Mart. That's the extent of my fashion buying. Imagine someone asking me to blog about designer jeans!


I've always thought that guys who care too much about clothes were a bit too Metro-sexual for me. But to each, their own.


(PS: I'd like to give a shout out right here to my grandma who buys me underwear and socks at Christmas every year! Yo! Grandma! Wassup? You rock!)


Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah... Flogs.


The point of all this is that you, the reader, are going to need to keep a sharp eye out for real alternative news and media and things like Rupert Murdock starting a blog. In fact, just the other day, I got a mail from a nice lady telling me about her companies new product that is a newspaper just for iPads... "How cool!" I thought.... Until I went to check it out and found that this service was a part of that very same Rupert Murdock News that brings you that fine Fox News. (It's part of the Murdock empire so that's why I do not link to it).


So, anyway, as far as this blog is concerned, I want to write about what I want to write about. I already have to sometimes bite my tongue due to personal and political considerations, but I feel that I need to do my duty and report the truth as I see it. 


That's why there are no ads on this blog anymore. I got sick of bashing Groupon on to have the Google algorithm place Groupon ads on my blog.


To reiterate; readers beware! There is a movement afoot by the US government to seize domains and blogs under the guise of "Copyright infringement" but it is really a ruse to silence sites that do not tow the government line.


See Activist Post here:


Apparently the Department of Homeland Security is now authorized to rewrite and enforce copyright infringement laws.  In a stunning precedent, the recent round of domain seizures to shut down websites that allowed illegal streaming of the Super Bowl also included a few other websites that were seized simply for linking to infringing content.


If it were true that they were seized merely for linking then why doesn't the government seize Google or Yahoo? Isn't it obvious? Major mass media in cahoots with the government is trying to take control of the internet so that things like Egypt don't happen in the USA.


This is highly suspicious evidence that something is afoot. 


Will the bad guys succeed? Only time will tell.


Readers! Beware of Flogs! 






Comments? Comments should be succinct, constructive and relevant to the story. We encourage engaging, diverse and meaningful commentary. Comments that include personal attacks, racial, religious, or ethnic slurs are not permitted. We will remove any inappropriate comments. 

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.

More Tips For Better Google Rankings!

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

Once again, here's an article that can help you get better rankings on Google. I've written about that before here also. And here is information concerning the value of consistent blogging. 

There is also very critical information that you need to know here about Google Caffeine here. Caffeine is Google's new search engine.

But today, here's another quickie that can help you with your blog writing. Originally from American Express, the 4 tips for writing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) friendly blogs.

The 4 tips are:

1. Always Include Search Terms in Your Post’s Title

When Google reads a website to index it, it reads the code directly, not the snazzy presentation that humans see. The way most blogging platforms are built, the headline or title of your blog post is among the first things Google sees, and Google generally assumes the words that appear earliest are the most important. That’s why the title is the most important part of your blog post when it comes to SEO.

2. Link Important Words to Earlier Blog Posts

Search engines generally assume that a blog post that has been linked to has more authority than one that has not. They also consider exactly what word or phrase linked to the post; a blog post about the iPhoneis going to be more likely to show up in Google searches on the subject if another page links the word “iPhone” to the post.

3. Hit the Tagging Sweet Spot

Most blogging platforms let you apply tags to your posts. Tags help organize your blog so both humans and search engines can find what they’re looking for. They’re terms like “consulting,” “local” or “technology” that reflect the topics and content of the post.

4. Use Google Insights to Find the Best Search Terms

You don’t have to play a guessing game about the best tags or search terms to link or put in your post’s title. Since Google is the most popular search engine, it makes sense to focus your efforts there. Whenever you’re not sure which terms to go with, hit up Google Insights, a web-based tool that compares the popularity of any search terms you want to know about.

For further details nd complete article see here.  

http://mashable.com/2010/09/01/how-to-seo-blogs/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Mashable+(Mashable

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!).

July 24, 2011. One year from the writing of this article

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 2015!

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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, 

Marketing Japan: George Williams lands major weekend show on Tokyo FM starting 7/3/10!

George Williams Starts Saturday Show on 

Tokyo FM starting 7/3/10!

Big News! ジョージ　ウイリアムズがＴＦＭ土曜日の朝の番組にレギュラー出演決定いたしました。

おめでとうございます。

Just goes to show you how effective his Internet marketing has been in Japan! George blogs, does U-Stream, Mixi, Twitter, and Pick. 

See? It does pay to stay online!

------ 

keywords: Pick, Internet, blogs, Japan, U-Stream, marketing, Pick, Tokyo FM 
Pick, 


keywords: blogs, Japan, Pick, Internet, internet marketing, Tokyo FM, Mixi, U-Stream, marketing

Marketing Japan: How to Find Social Media and Internet Experts in Japan (Part One)

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers


There are many many companies in Japan, and here in Tokyo, who sell their services as "Experts on the Internet" and/or "Experts on Social Media". It was actually a pretty big eye-opener when I realized that all these people, who knew little about Internet and Social Media, were going around and selling themselves as "Internet savvy" and full of experience and expertise when, in all actuality, they were not.

Hey! I know this guy!

It is very surprising. I mean, when they know less than I do, there's no way they can claim expertise. This Internet and Social Media business is an education in progress.

I have also had some other friends and companies ask me to introduce them to good, dependable, experienced people to handle their business or services or Internet duties in Japan. That I can do... But, even though I know many people here, there are only a few that I could, in good faith, recommend. (In Japan, recommending people carries along with it responsibility to the person that you are recommending to. So if something goes bad, I lose face.) 

But the one thing that I'd really like to point out about people who claim to be experts on Japan (who aren't) and people who claim to be "Internet Savvy" (who aren't either) is they have one thing in common; they talk a good game, but the actions do not support the words.

Japan experts are harder to find than people who claim to be "Internet savvy" but just what is an "Expert"? Can they speak Japanese extremely well? I like to think that I can speak Japanese very well - I've even hosted TV and radio programs here - but I am reluctant to claim to be an expert on Japan... I've met lots of people who speak poor Japanese but still claim to be experts on Japan. 

Well, I suppose everything is relative. (Yes, I guess I am more of an expert on Japan than some guy who has never been outside of Idaho.) 

People who claim to be "Internet savvy," but are not, are easy to spot with just one question.  

I will give you that one question that you can use to judge if someone has some credible expertise, is Internet savvy, or up on Social Media; or is just blowing smoke in your face.

The other day, I mentioned during a conversation that a friend was "not Internet savvy at all." This friend heard about it and seemed to take offense. I don't know why. I meant no offense and that person is not Internet savvy by any stretch of the imagination. 

I've stayed in hospitals before but I wouldn't be telling people that I am an expert on hospitals or the medical profession. 

When this friend complained to me about that comment, I brought up a point that you can surely use in the future yourselves when you are searching for someone to help you with the Internet or Social Media. I said to my friend,

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were Internet savvy. What is your blog URL? How about Twitter, Pick, Mixi, Facebook, Myspace, or anything else? Can you send me your URL's by e-mail so I can check them out?"

Of course, this friend did not do any blogging or any of those other things. (Anyone who blogs would love for you to visit their blog. Blogging can be a lonely job!) And I haven't received any e-mail.

Of course he knows what these things are, but knowing of something and actually doing it is a world of difference. To be sure, just knowing how to surf the Internet or send e-mail does not make one 'Internet savvy' by any stretch of the imagination. So, whatever we do, if we do business, let's do smart business. If we market, let's do smart Marketing. 

So, for at least preliminary investigations into possible Internet or Social Media partners, pay attention to what they do, not what they say they do. So ask the one question, "Can you send me the URL's so that I can check them out?"


It works every time.


In Part Two, we'll hear directly from an expert who, in a little over six years, built an Internet company that had sales of over $50 million (USD) per year and went public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

------------

Keywords: Social Media, business, Pick, japanmarketingnews, expert, experts, Tokyo, URL, Internet Savvy, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Marketing Japan, Mike Rogers, Google, blog, smart marketing, catchy idea, promote,  U-Stream, Buzz, Twitter, advertising, Japan, marketing, Internet,  blogs, 

Internet and Social Media? Get a Great Name

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet." -  Juliet from Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

What's in a name? Most people would say, "Not much." But in these days of Social Media and with how the Internet is coming to dominate business, then what is in a name means a whole heck-of-a-lot.

Today, I want to talk about how having a unique name is critical to smart marketing for you. And how you will need a unique name if you want to have any hope of creating a buzz.

And this is not only in Japan, but all around the world. Having a great name for yourself for your business, product, service, or Internet idea is critical for success; especially in this day when people are actively searching for a special topic or item.

Take the example of a blog. The other day, a friend of mine, who is not Internet savvy at all, told me that he was thinking of a name for an online television show that he wanted to begin and he called me to ask me if his idea for a name for the program was good. The program was about interviewing foreign businessmen in Japan, in English, about doing business in Japan.

My friend seemed very pleased with the title he thought up for the TV show. It was, Tokyo Exchange.

Sounds like a typical business interview on your typical terrestrial TV station, right? Sure. It does to me. Now just think about how poorly terrestrial TV is doing. Do you want your business to emulate them? I sure hope not.

I told him that this was very old-fashioned thinking and that Tokyo Exchange was a terrible name... Can you imagine what people will think when they see a, er, "catchy name" or press release that says "Tokyo Exchange"? When someone hears this, the first thing that will pop into their mind will be the Tokyo Stock Market.

If you do a Google search on Tokyo Exchange, then you will get 25,400,000 results.

Now think about this for a moment. If you do, you will realize why this kind of name has to be one of the worst ideas a person could have. My friend is going to do an online TV show on a small Internet TV station that few have ever heard of. Now, if someone like you or me want to find his show by doing an Internet search, we would enter Tokyo Exchange in the search engine.

Now, also consider just how many tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of people per day search for financial information concerning the Tokyo Stock Exchange... How in the world will anyone find my friend's online TV show? They won't.

The resulting Google search page that shows my friend's TV show will probably not be even in the first 100 pages... It probably wouldn't hit the first 1,000 pages. And, as you know from your own personal experience, if you do a Google search and the result that you are looking for does not show up in the first page - maybe the first 2 or 3 pages - then you'll stop looking.

I know that if it doesn't show up in the first five on page one, I rarely search farther.

My friend would be better off with a name like "ZZXZ Dorky Tokyo." I'd bet they'd show up on the first page of an Internet search with a name like that.

Of course, I'm not saying that ZZXZ Dorky Tokyo is a great name. But it is a heck of a lot better than Tokyo Exchange.

To prove to you that I know what I'm talking about here, think about my name. My name is Mike Rogers. Mike Rogers is a very common (boring) name. If I do a Google search on Mike Rogers, I find a US congress-critter; a K-1 fighter; a professional hockey player; and a zillion others.

But Mike Rogers is a western name and I live in Japan. Ah! A unique name: Mike in Tokyo Rogers.

Now, let me brag to prove to you that I do know what I am talking about here. If you do a Google search of my name; "Mike in Tokyo Rogers", you'll find me #1 on a search. If you search "Mike in Tokyo" (without knowing my last name) you will find me #1. If you search merely "Mike Tokyo" I show up in the top 3.

Now that is a useful and killer name!

So it doesn't matter now what I do. Whether it is Twitter, Pick, blogging, U-Stream or any Internet Social Media or promotion or marketing. I always use the name "Mike in Tokyo Rogers."

So, before you decide on what name you will use, do Google searches. Use your imagination and find something unique. Use your middle name or find a new and cool moniker.

Make and use a name like this and people will find you.... If you don't, you or your service will be just like one of the millions of pieces of paper on the floor at the end of the trading day at the Tokyo Exchange; lost in the shuffle and headed into the trash.

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Keywords: business, Pick, press release, Mike Rogers, Marketing Japan, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Google, Tokyo Exchange, blog, smart marketing, catchy idea, publisher, Google search, terrestrial TV, web page, promote,  U-Stream, Buzz, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Twitter, advertising, Japan, marketing, Internet, Social Media, blogs, 

How to Capitalize on Events and Happenings

Staying in the public mind is a mightily difficult thing to do. You need to constantly be thinking and upgrading your efforts. You always need to keep one step ahead of the others. Today I will show you an example of how a tiny country like Croatia does a job a hundred times better than many of her European competitors.

This is not heaven or Hawaii... It's Croatia!

In this day and age, the Internet is the key to doing so. But many companies confuse the issues. As Brian Tracy writes in Focal Point:


Many Internet companies define themselves as providers for free information geared towards attracting as many eyeballs as possible. In reality, the Internet is a communication and distribution channel that must be focused on selling products or services and making a profit, like any other business.

Anyone who reads this blog with any regularity knows that I often harp upon the need to giveaway great free content to get readers... But how to reconcile that with the need to make money? That's what I'd like to blog about today; giving away great content online and offline and using that offline content to increase your online appeal by use of press releases and more.

Let me introduce you to a guy named Edouard Tripkovic Katayama. Edouard is in charge of the Croatian National Tourist Board in Japan and, since he set up the office here, three years ago, they've been a party to a 300% increase in sales and Japanese visitors to Croatia. That's incredible! (Disclaimer here: Before I go on too much, I must state that I know these things to be facts as I am proud to be a part of Edouard's promotional/marketing team and an advisor to such a cool service and wonderful country).


A 300% increase in Japanese visitors to Croatia? And in a down market? Are there any others who could make the same claim? I doubt it. Those are amazing results in any market, not to mention in a down one. I can't think of another organization that has shown such excellent results in Japan.


Of course there are many things that have all played a part in this success story, but let me give you a good example of one that we have coming up that is a marketing dream. The event will fulfill all the requirements that I always mention that are necessary: online and offline elements; news releases; promotion before, during and after; and mutually beneficial tie-ups to help defray costs amongst the partners.


Edouard had correctly decided that Croatian needs a URL that is Japan specific (I wrote the reasons for this here) so we are about to launch an Internet Funnel site for them. At about the same time that the Funnel site will be launched, a famous Croatian Classical Pianist named Kemal Gekic will be touring Japan...

Hear some of Kemal Gekic's fabulous music for free here!

Croatia is launching a new Japan specific Funnel site? A famous Croatian Classical Pianist is touring Japan?


I smell a great promotional opportunity!


Now, here we have an incredibly lucky convergence of events that we can use to promote Croatia Tourism, Kemal Gekic's tour, Croatian cuisine, and to increase awareness amongst the Japanese of just how cool and cultured Croatia is; and what a wonderful travel destination it is for the entire family. Not only that, since there are several parties with vested interests here, we can keep the costs way down. Anyone can spend massive amounts of money and run a good event. It takes imagination, planning and creativity to run a great event on a shoe-string budget!

Croatia: The Mediterranean as it once was

昔のままの地中海

What we are planning is to have a get-together with 30 - 40 of the most important writers for Tokyo's top Women's, Travel, Dining and Culture magazine's. The event will serve several purposes. It will be the announcement and unveiling of the new Internet Funnel site for Croatia as well as an opportunity to show off Croatian Culture with Mr. Gekic. We will also announce a secret (it's so secret that I can't announce it yet) promotional tie up with the most famous Pizza  delivery company in Japan...Also, we will use the event of create a buzz and to kick off our weekly newsletter that will come as part of joining our web community. (Concurrently running along at the same time as all these other goodies we have planned will be updates using our favorite Social Media like Twitter, Mixi, and photos (of course) with Pick).

The event will be held at the Croatian Embassy and we plan on featuring a short speech by the Croatian Ambassador as well as delicious food and refreshments from the top Croatian restaurant in all of Tokyo, Dobro. Throw this in with a few videos showing the striking beauty and history of the country and, there you have it, the seed of the buzz has been planted.  

Of course, as I said, this is a marketing dream. Everyone gets what they want; The magazines get exclusive information (as well as delicious free food and drink); Croatia Tourism (organizer) gets people to notice; the Embassy (provides the banquet hall) and makes themselves accessible; Kemal Gekic (performs) and his promoter gets people to see and hear his music and, perhaps, write about him; the restauranteur (provides food and drink) gets access to the magazine people who really matter and then he can invite them to write about his restaurant...

Dobro Croatian Cuisine in Kyobashi, Tokyo

〒104-0031 東京都中央区京橋2-6-14 日立第6ビル1F      03-5250-2055

This is a beautiful promotion that can cause nothing but smiles and handshakes (well, in Japan, lots of bowing)... And what does this cost Croatia Tourism? Almost nothing but the time it took to come up with this idea for a great opportunity and make the phone calls to bring in the partners.


So, perhaps, you might have guessed, even now, that this blog you are reading is, in fact, promotion for this event. It is the beginning of the creation of the buzz... I hope I have provided you with some ideas as to how you could steal my ideas and use it for yourselves.... If you can, by all means, please do!

Take a short video tour of Dubrovnik, Croatia here

But please don't forget to go back to the top of this blog and see what was written in the third paragraph;


"the Internet is a communication and distribution channel that must be focused on selling products or services and making a profit, like any other business."


So, I hope you get good ideas from this post that you can use to create your offline events and how to use them to benefit your online activities... I also hope that you've gotten some good ideas on how you can use your Social Media and blogs to sell your products/services without having to say, "BUY! BUY! BUY!"




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Post-note: Of course, as I mentioned in a previous blog, weekly press releases are a must. The above gives us several weeks of press release material before, during and after the event... It also allows us to create a buzz whereby it is easier to get good partners for future events... Heck, who knows? If they go so well, we might even be able to sell sponsorships to these events and have the sponsor pay for everything. So, just remember, the ceiling is your imagination!


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Keywords: business, press release, blog, smart marketing, catchy idea, weekly magazine, publisher, web page, promote,  U-Stream, Buzz, Tweet, Pick, George Williams,  advertising, Japan, marketing, Croatia, European, Internet, Social Media, blogs, 

Social Media for Businesses - Create an Online Persona

Creating a useful and powerful way to utilize social media for businesses and corporations can be tricky. Social media is not conducive to "in-your-face" advertising. In fact, if a company is not careful using social media such as Twitter or Mixi to sell product, it can completely backfire and be a total turn-off. A good way to get many people to stop following your, say, Twitter account or blog is to consistently bombard them with information that says, "Buy Me!" or "Sale!" Not cool. Think about it... Would you look forward to, or like to read, blogs or tweets like that?

American icon Betty Crocker sold millions... 
She never existed except on boxes and TV

For your websites and social media to be effective, they need to give and not to take. The killer blog and/or Twitter will be giving away great content for free and doing it consistently. Then the receivers pass the information on for you.

Just as your website should not be a one-way sales brochure, so should your social media usage be geared towards giving away something for free to the receivers so that they actually look forward to your tweets and updates.

I am about to start helping some friends of mine with their online sales of adult beverages. Sure, they have a great line-up of the usual suspects; e-mail magazine, easy to look at web page, etc., but they need something different. They need that extra "Umph!" to push them over the edge. They need something that sets them apart from the competition. While all the other online beverage retail sites say basically the same thing, my friend's site needs to take it one level higher.

As Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap fame would say, "These go to eleven."

Yep. Go to eleven. With all the millions of sites on the Internet doing something near or similar to what you are doing, how do you go to eleven?

I'll tell you; give away great content.

Many companies start up their own business blogs or order their staff to write Twitter pushing company product. These never go well... For one, the people asked to do the blogging or the tweets are not the kind of people who should be, or are good at, blogging... Or they might even think, "This sucks. I hate doing this Twitter, but my boss makes me do it." Resentful staff do not make good bloggers...

Think about that for a minute. If the person that you've ordered to blog is not very motivated to do a good job, do you think they will be able to write great material? And everyone knows, in this day and age, if the material on the Internet is not great, then it doesn't cut it.

If the person writing the Twitter or blogs doesn't like it, then why in the world would the "outside" people want to read it? I don't think they would. In fact, if the blog or Twitter is poor, or is not gaining traction or popularity, I'd suggest stopping it until you do find a formula that "works."

Here's a tip: Instead of forcing one of your staff members to do the blogging or Twittering, why don't you have a brainstorming session at the office (maybe after work with a few drinks?) and come up with a virtual person? An online persona? How about a sort of "Internet Milli-Vanilli" to represent your company (for you younger people in the crowd who do not know who Milli Vanilli is, please ask your parents....) Make the character fun. This way, you create a fun atmosphere around this person and it also allows the online persona to have more personality and state more likes and dislikes online.

Make your own Colonel Sanders; or, even better, make your own Bart Simpson as your sales rep. Why not? Who wouldn't want Bart Simpson to be their sales rep? Sometimes he says it like it is. What great promotion!

Everyone loves a character who is sassy, talks back, has an opinion, and not kissing ass and telling us how wonderful the world is all the time.

Volkswagen did this and the results were fantastic. They created an online persona whose name was Helga. The staff of Volkswagen got together and created Helga. Who she is; how old she is; her hobbies; likes; dislikes, even where she was born. She was an immediate Internet hit... And she doesn't even really exist.

(1) Helga on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/misshelga

Her catch copy says, "Don't be sucking." 

 Hilarious! I love it! 

Now, don't think that this sort of thing is so easy to do. If you realize that a character like, say, Homer Simpson was a creation that has a consistent personality, then you'd realize that this same "creation of a persona" process took place in the birth of Homer. The staff of the Simpson's got together and worked on the characters for a long time before they came to fruition. Homer is funny because he is who he is...

This didn't happen on a whim. It was planned; the creators of Homer Simpson, or Helga, or even Betty Crocker got together and decided everything about this persona... Everything! Every conceivable detail about who they are and what they like...Probably even up to who their parents  were.

This sort of persona creation can be fun and it should allow your company employees to have fun with the tweets and blogs for the virtual character.  It also takes the extreme pressure off that one staff member (who could be slightly resentful) who is supposed to write the blogs and Twits.

You can ask the staff to blog or tweet when they have a good idea... (Like I said, if your staff hates blogging, then you have the wrong people doing it)... If your own staff just won't budge, then there are hundreds of thousands of good people all around who'd love the opportunity to work and write for you as "piece-work." Or, heck, like I said, if the character is fun, you might even find that you like doing the blogging. It's always fun to write behind a mask, if you are so inclined to writing.

Or why not even hold an online contest on your web page or forum whereby your e-mail magazine members (new and old) can join a contest where they can win some great prizes by either writing some great text for you or even creating your character? There are a million and one ways of doing this and the ceiling is your imagination.

So don't forget, the point of the Internet and the blogs and Twitter: Do Not Take! Do not do "in-your-face" sales! Give great content free and create a buzz...

When you create a buzz, they will come... Even if your buzz creator doesn't really exist.

(1) Helga from The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott.  Page 179


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Keywords: Helga, David Meerman Scott, New Rules of Marketing & PR, Twitter, Internet, blogs, free content, buzz, Internet Milli Vanilli, Mike Rogers, Marketing Japan, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Betty Crocker