Putting A Dollar Value On Social Media

Posted on by Jeff Posted in good business ideas, web development — No Comments ↓

spokesguy There has been speculation for months about how a business might calculate the value of social media.  Businesses large and small are using facebook, twitter, linked in, and lots of other social media outlets to promote their products and keep in touch with their customers.

Ford Motor Co. has perhaps crawled further out on the social media limb than any other company, at least in terms of investing hard assets in this marketing channel.

In order to introduce their newest car, the Focus, Ford ignored the usual television and print outlets, and, instead, provided new Focus’ to 100 of the most influential bloggers in the country.  Each blogger got to use the car for 6 months. All these social media market makers were required to do was make a video about the Focus once a month and upload it to YouTube and be willing to discuss the car-no holds barred-in their other social media postings.

Today a search of YouTube for the term “Ford Focus” returns 17,200 hits.  If a reasonable percentage of those reflect favorably on Ford, then they got their money’s worth.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords andOnStage Stand mic stands.   Click here to sign up for our newsletter.  We’re on YouTube too!

Ready To Make Your Own Glow Tape

Posted on by Jeff Posted in good business ideas, tape, Uncategorized — No Comments ↓

ted_head.jpg The idea that the products we sell might someday  be generated organically and thus solve the disposable problems that selling expendables cause is exciting.  I have written about this in the past.

A recent article in  the Telegraph highlights the discovery of bomber worms, an aquatic organism that lives in the Pacific ocean at depths of several miles.  These creatures, up to 3 or 4 inches in length, have the ability to release  fluid-filled balloons which glow in the dark as a way to apparently defend them from predators.  Once the balloons are released, the worms have the ability to regenerate more.

Bomber worm

The chemical science of making glow tape is complicated and requires a multi-step process which creates some environmental waste disposal issues.  A way to do this organically would be a great advance.

Maybe someday the organic process used by the bomber worm will lead us to making glow in the dark products that can regenerate and dispose of themselves.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.   Click here to sign up for our newsletter.  Here’s a link to our new “How To” animation series.


My Phone Needs Another Button

Posted on by Jeff Posted in customer service, good business ideas, Uncategorized, web development — No Comments ↓

ted_head.jpg The ability to make a free (or almost free) phone call by using a computer with a broadband connection is a great innovation. It opens up lots of opportunities for new telcom services and helps keep the big phone companies  like AT&T scrambling.Unfortunately, this technology is not quite ready for everyday business use.

While it is fine for casual phone calls, business users who are trying to make an impression or make sure that detailed information is transmitted accurately run into lots of problems.  VOIP calling (voice over internet protocol) is still not ready for these users.

The biggest problem we have encountered is receiving customer calls that we don’t realize are being made on an internet connection.  The call sounds clear but there is a delay between the time the customer speaks and when we hear them. When there is a delay, you tend to talk over each other’s words and both parties to the conversation can appear that they are being rude to the other.  At worst, its embarrassing.  At best, it can still be confusing.Until this technology is perfected, I wish I had a button on my phone that would tell me that the caller was speaking through a computer.  It would make things a lot easier.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.   Click here to sign up for our newsletter.  Lots more good ideas at our Twitter feed.

Wirelessmic.net

Posted on by Jeff Posted in audio visual, batteries, microphones & mic stands, Pro Sound, web development — No Comments ↓

mike2 We’ve found over the years building “information only” web sites has been an effective way to drive traffic to our e-commerce sites.  The ability to provide information and host a forum for the exchange of ideas is a great way to build a community.

One of our sites, wirelessmic.net, has suffered from lack of attention over the last several months, and there have been some very important developments in how wireless mics are used.  We’re ready to get back to work posting new, useful information.

The changeover to digital television in June has changed how many  frequencies traditionally used by wireless mics are allocated by the FCC.

If your church or school uses wireless microphones, you need to be aware of how the frequencies your mics transmit on have been affected by theis reallocation.

If you have info to share with other mic users about how these changes have affected you, wirelessmic.net is the place to join the discussion.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.   Click here to sign up for our newsletter.  Lots more good ideas at our Twitter feed.

Blogging For Robot Readers

Posted on by Jeff Posted in good business ideas, tape, web development — No Comments ↓

spokesguy I have been posting to this blog on-and-off for about three years and have found it to be a useful way to organize my thoughts.

We got lots of valuable comments from readers and it is a good way to work on my writing skills. Recently I started a new blog, written not for our customers and regular readers, but rather for search engine spiders that regularly scour the web for information based on key words.

We are posting information about one of our products every day in hopes that robots from Google, Yahoo and others will come across these posts and provide information to syndication services that push this data to subscribers. The idea is to place links to our products, accompanied by what I hope will be useful information, to potential buyers.

We’ll see how it works.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.   Click here to sign up for our newsletter.  Lots more good ideas at our Twitter feed.

The 20 Amp Extension Cord Mystery

Posted on by Jeff Posted in audio visual, extension cords, POWERCON, Pro lighting, Pro Sound — No Comments ↓

We have a great line of extension cords intended for heavy duty use.  They use 12 gauge cable which gives them a 20 amp capacity, but we can’t really call them 20 amp cables because of the connectors that we use.

This has led to more than a little confusion among our customers.

Here’s why.

If you are familiar with standard wall outlets, you are probably aware that there are two different versions of outlets that look almost identical.

The standard 15 amp duplex receptacle (wall outlet) has openings for two parallel blades and a semi-circular ground prong.  This has been standard for almost 50 years.

duplex.jpeg

An almost identical version of this outlet has an additional slot set at a right angle as part of the parallel blade opening on one side.

duplex_20_amp.jpeg

If the outlet has this additional right angle slot, it is intended not just 15 amp service, but 20 amp service as well.

A true 20 amp connector (male) on an extension cord will have, not two parallel blades, but rather two blades set at right angles to each other.  Otherwise they are identical.  Same size connector body, same size blades, same everything else.

15 Amp(Nema 5-15)15_amp.jpeg

20 Amp (Nema 5-20) 20_amp.jpeg

If we sold our “20 amp” extension cords with a  20 amp rated connector, they it would only plug into the version of the wall outlet that is designed to accomodate both types of blades.

20 Amp Wall Outlet(Nema 5-20)20_amp_outlet.jpeg

While we are confident that the product we sell is designed to handle a true 20 amp load, in order to truly rate an extension cord as being “20 amps” it must have one of its connector blades at right angles to the other.

Want to know more?  Here’s a valuable Wikipedia article.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords andOnStage Stand mic stands.   Click here to sign up for our newsletter.  Lots more good ideas at our Twitter feed.

So Much For That “Warm” Analog Sound

Posted on by Jeff Posted in audio visual, mic cables, microphones & mic stands, Pro Sound — No Comments ↓

spokesguy USB microphones have begun to make inroads in semi-pro audio, primarily among podcasters, since it allows you to record directly to your computer without a mixer or preamp.  Sound quality is much better than the mic built into most computers.

Higher end pro audio users have been slow to adopt this technology because they don’t want to give up the familiarity they have with the sound quality of their favorite mics.

Blue Microphones has gone a long way towards bridging this gap with their  Icicle, a XLR/USB preamp/converter that will allow you to plug a regular dynamic or condenser mic directly into a USB port on your computer.  No other outboard gear is needed.

 icicle

In addition to having standard female XLR3 and male USB connectors, the Icicle has a handy volume knob so you can control volume in the conventional way, not with an onscreen slider.  It can also provide 48v phantom power so it works with most condensers.

This is an “instant on” device (no drivers to install) and is designed for a fully balanced input.

Best of all, the Icicle logo glows blue when it is plugged in.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.   Click here to sign up for our newsletter.  Lots more good ideas at our Twitter feed.

 

Take The Big Mick Challenge

Posted on by Jeff Posted in audio visual, mic cables, microphones & mic stands, Pro Sound, speaker cables — No Comments ↓

mike2Big Mick Hughes is one of the best known live sound engineers in the concert industry.  He is the long time front-of-house mixer for Metallica, a larger than life personality, and until now, someone whose reputation as a legend was well earned.

The recent trend in print advertising to have technicians endorse audio products is, in general, a good one.  They normally have a useful perspective and their endorsements have value.  Big Mick has put the value of those endorsements at risk.

Here’s what Big Mick says about his microphone of choice, Audio Technica in May’s Pro Sound News.  “I love Audio-Technica mics.  You can definitely tell an Audio Technica gig as soon as you walk into it.”

Now, I’m no “golden ear” but I do know that between a microphone and my (and Big Mick’s) ears there is (at minimum) a mixer, an amplifier, speakers, and cables, all of which color the sound you hear, regardless of their quality.

The idea that you can identify a brand of microphone just by listening to a live sound system is laughable.

Put on your blindfold, Mick, and step into any music club in America.  Even your ears aren’t that good.

I hope Audio-Technica is paying you well.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.   Click here to sign up for our newsletter.  Lots more good ideas at our Twitter feed.

Copper Prices

Posted on by Jeff Posted in batteries, duct tape, extension cords, good business ideas, microphones & mic stands — No Comments ↓

spokesguy  I came across an interesting article in last week’s Wall Street Journal regarding the continuing strength of commodity prices based on demand in China.

This article speculated that a lot of the Chinese buying was a stockpiling of material for which China’s manufacturers had no real demand.  If that’s true, then the Chinese buying binge may be over.

This may well explain the recent downturn in copper prices after a steady rise over the last six months. This rise made little sense in light of the overall worldwide decline in manufacturing.  If this downturn is real, it could be a harbinger for lots of commodity price reductions.

Why do we care?  The cost of extension cords (copper and rubber), mic stands (steel and aluminum), tape (cotton, oil and chemicals) and batteries (tin plate and many minerals) are all tied to world commodity prices.

Lets hope that if this recent reversal in commodity prices is real, that we will see it passed through to the products we sell.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.   Click here to sign up for our newsletter.  Lots more good ideas at our Twitter feed.

Looks Like Google “knol” Is Going “Knolwhere”

Posted on by Jeff Posted in good business ideas, microphones & mic stands, Pro Sound, web development — No Comments ↓

spokesguy I said I’d get back to you with a report regarding Google “knol”, their new project to build a knowledge base.

I posted two knol articles back at the end of April to see if Google was ready to take on Wikipedia. I’m proud to report that my knol posting about microphone stands has had a total of 42 page views, several of which I am sure were me.

No one has bothered to rate it and no one has made any collaborative contributions.

While it appears that I might be right about Google not being in a position to challenge Wikipedia, I am certainly wrong about Google using knol as another way to display relevant ads.

The google ads on my mic stand knol page are about cell phones.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.   Click here to sign up for our newsletter.  Lots more good ideas at our Twitter feed.

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