EricEwe.com

The once high flying Sharper Image is back, but utilizing a different business model with funding from Camelot Venture Group. I doubt that they are able to breach their ever successful pre-2004 strategy and this holiday season is going to be a good barometer. Their present model evolves around selling to consumers through other retailers as well as maintaining a presence online. I have no doubt that Sharper Image invested millions of dollars in building its brand since their inception, but having another retailer sell your products is similar to having Wal-Mart sell your product among the 5 other brands that they sell.

Some of their brick and mortar retailers that are selling their products are Best Buy, Staples, Kohl’s, Bed Bath and Beyond to Macy’s. Well, they are not in Wal-Mart yet but just image, if you are going to get Dad an electric shaver, would you go with something like Remington, Norelco, etc which produced quality shavers for a living or Sharper Image which sources for products and slap their brand on it? Hummm???

If they have a Sharper Image store, then it is a different story as they only carry and selling one item; not items with multiple brands.  So making a sale with Sharper Image product sale is much easier at a Sharper Image store as opposed to a store like Bed Bath and Beyond. Blanketing the nation with retail stores will not work too [read on].

As for their website, it is OK. It did not blow me away and hosting videos on YouTube. If one is on a shoe string budget to setup the website, then YouTube is the way to go. i.e. the “The Sharper Image® Deluxe Nose & Ear Trimmer With Vacuum” video was hosted on YouTube. Why not create a video hosting engine and not distract online consumers with another brand like YouTube – they are on your site, focus on selling your brand and your product.

Overall, it is a good effort to kick start a brand that went through bankruptcy in Feb 2008 and I sincerely hope that they do turn around and make a profit… plus bring back the retail stores. Brookestone which is their closest competitor are still going at it and can be found at Malls. With the retail stores, just don’t go over crazy and maybe test out revolving mall stalls that is established in Q4 like what ToysRUs are doing currently to capture the holiday shoppers.

I was browsing one of the tech sites and I stumbled upon this company – Swoopo.com. Pretty interesting and lucrative business model  – NO DOUBT!!!

Basically, they are an auction company which sells directly to consumers. Swoopo started in Germany and is making an impact in US. They focus on electronics like LED TVs, SLR Cameras, laptops, ipods, top end cell phones like the Nokia N97, etc

This is how their business model works.

1. Like eBay, you need to bid and be the highest or last bidder when the auction closes.
2. The highest bidder will pay for the item price at the close of the auction.

Simple and straight forward huh? So what’s the catch?

1. The bid increments are predetermined by Swoopo. I have seen mostly increments of $0.06 per bid.
2. In order to place a bid, you have to buy credits at $0.60 per credit.
3. As opposed to having the auction end at a predetermined time, it is always a moving target as to when the auction will close. See # 4 below for moving target details.
4. Every time somebody submits a bid, it will add 15seconds (sometimes 20 seconds depending on the item) to the auction closing time.
5. The key to winning is to be the last person bidding on the item when the countdown timer is zero.
   i.e. Assuming that I am looking at bidding on an Apple iPhone 3Gs. The countdown timer to the auction is 7 seconds when I submit my bid, it will add 15 seconds to the countdown timer making the timer 22 seconds. The goal is to be the last bidder when the timer is zero. It will cost me 1 credit which is $0.60 per bid.

Here is how it gets super duper lucrative: -

I was observing an auction for a Nokia N97 cell phone. Retail price on Nokia.com is $571, with the retail price of $699 but who pays retail.

The last bidder who won the item was Racer13 with 432 bids plus $119.76 for the item.

Auction Price:	$119.76
All prices are in US Dollars
Bidder:	Racer13

Worth up to:	$699.99
Placed bids (432):	$259.20
FreeBids (0):	$0.00
Auction price:	$119.76
Savings:	$321.03

By their calculations which I verified, Racer13 paid $373.56 for the phone (@ $0.60/bid X 432 bids  + $119.76 for item). He got a pretty decent deal as you can pick up a Nokia N97 for about $400 on eBay.

On the flip side, Swoopo made a killing selling this auction.

When I was looking at the auction, there were about a dozen people actively bidding on it. This is based on my unscientific observation.

If Racer13 paid 432 bids to be the winner, it would be safe to say that those other dozen or so bidder might have utilized 1/2 of the total # of bids that Racer13 used.

Total bids for that item:
=Racer13′s bids + 12 other competitors bids which is half of Racer13′s bids*
=432 + 2592
=3024
*Avg 216 bids per bidder X 12 bidders = 2592 bids

Total amount collected by Swoopo for the Nokia N97
=Item sold + (total bids X $0.60 per bid)
=$119.76 + (3024 X $0.60)
=$119.76 + $1814.40
=$1934.16

I would think that if you buy the N97 phone at wholesale the price, you might be able to get it for $270-$300. Making $1934.16 from $300 item, that is a 6X return and that ain’t too shabby.

Now, eBay would be kicking themselves while saying “Why didn’t I think of that?”

If you think that Swoopo is for you, you can sign up and test it out with 3 free bids, expiring 12/31/09. CLICK HERE

If you have yet to plan your holiday email schedule, you better start ironing it out. Many companies are already counting down the days to Christmas and hoping to get an edge over their competitors in a challenging economy. TigerDirect, an electronics giant based in Miami started counting the weeks until Christmas recently while ShopNBC stated their countdown with 100 days before Christmas.

Seeing that it the economy is still recovering, more and more companies are using emails with different messaging tactics to drive sales besides trying to reach their customers earlier.  KMart is clearly pushing the layaway message, while other companies are going with promoting refurbished products, payment plans, etc.

Here are some companies that planned ahead and started their emails early.

PetsMart, 10/29/09 — Find coupons inside specially-marked Holiday Bonus Bags of dog & cat food!
Ralph Lauren, 11/2 — First Look At Holiday Gifts
Nordstrom, 11/2 — Holiday Free Shipping (Details Inside)
Blue Nile, 11/2 — Shop Early and Save 10% on Holiday Gifts + Free FedEx Shipping

If you have yet to plan out your Holiday Season Email schedule,  grab a pen and take note of these best suggested to avoid by iContact.

Avoid:
1) Sending too Many Emails: Spam is defined as any unwanted message. If you plan to send multiple holiday emails, be certain your recipients will value each of your messages.

2) Relying on Discounts Alone: Discounts alone are not enough. Be sure to communicate key values, elements, and features. What is unique about your product or service? Why do your happiest customers like you?

3) Sending Without Tracking: Many businesses don’t realize that when they send emails “in-house” (without an email marketing service) it’s impossible to know if the emails reach the recipient. The sender can land on just one “spam list,” which will reduce the message delivery rate by up to 50%!

Reaching your potential customers is critical to drive sales and email marketing is one of the lowest cost in any marketing channel. Email marketing is valuable to any business owners as it can be used to trigger sales, send out reminders or just used as a tool to reinforce a sale.

I have been blessed to worked with many email tools from custom programs and BCentral (Microsoft’s first attempt to penetrate the business community with their B2B applications which consisted of an email program) to some newer Email Service Provider (ESP) tools like iContact and Email labs.

Of all the ESP that I have used, I would recommend iContact due to its functionality and ease of use.

Here are five good reasons why iContact is better than some of the other email applications that I have used. Click here to learn more about iContact.

	KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) Dashboard You do not to be a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon to use it. The dashboard is easy to understand and getting to the functionality you are looking for is never more than 3 clicks away. It is easy to setup and manage a new email campaign. You can easily segment an email list and see its performance easily without knowing any programming or queries. See screenshot below.
	No hassle management I have managed email systems where we would send out more than a million opt-in emails a month. You can have an award winning HTML email, or you can be giving away a trip to the moon but without a good delivery rate, it is worthless. I can tell you honestly that it can be a big hassle to manage the whitelisting process with ISP but with iContact, they have contracts with major ISPs to whitelist your list and promise a deliverability rates between 98%-99%.
	Emails, Surveys, RSS, social tools and more iContact provides email and other sophisticated features such as surveys, RSS feeds, autoresponders, to social tools and in one easy-to-use all-inclusive product without any additional charges. They often enhance their products often push out new releases without any upgrade cost.
	Tools to help you started If you do not know HTML or don’t want to pay a expensive graphic designers to come up with an email newsletter, iContact provides over 250 free professionally designed email newsletter templates . You can simply pick the design theme that fits your business or message, modify it with your own message and send it through their simple yet reliable system.
	ESP Free Trial If you are just looking to test the water, check them out as they have a free trial. Click here to find out more about iContact.

I have been working with Google since they were a fledgling company that was trying to claim market share from Overture/Yahoo and one of the beta testers for Gmail. When a company grows so fast, sometimes they will get sloppy.

Here is a good example, I signed up for a new MCC account for the Google Pay Per Click aka Google AdWords, the MMC confirmation email goes directly to the SPAM FOLDER in my GMAIL. I think there are simple things they overlooked….”to have Google emails not go into spam for Gmail accounts”.

 See email I got below which went into GMAIL SPAM.

Hello Eric Ewe,

We’re delighted that you’ve joined the Google Advertising Professionals Program. Using the components of this program – including online training and qualification, as well as marketing materials designed for your needs – you can more efficiently manage client accounts, extend your AdWords expertise, and attract more prospects.

To get started with the program:
1. Log into the Google Advertising Professionals Program site at https://adwords.google.com/professionals/account/?hl=en with the Google Account username and password you used during the program sign-up process. Familiarize yourself with the various elements of the site – it’s where you’ll be tracking your online training and qualifications for the program, as well as accessing useful resources such as marketing materials.
2. Create a Company account, or ask the Administrator of a Company you want to join to invite you as a Professional member (this allows you to take full advantage of the program features and benefits).
3. Create a My Client Center (MCC) account, if you don’t already have one, so you can more easily manage multiple client accounts. Managing a certain amount of spend in your My Client Center is also a requirement for qualification in the Google Advertising Professionals Program, so you should take a moment now to set up your MCC account by visiting http://www.google.com/adwords/myclientcenter.
4. Link your MCC account to your new Google Advertising Professionals Program account so that your managed spend can be associated with your account. Read this FAQ to learn how: https://adwords.google.com/support/select/professionals/bin/answer.py?answer=148358&hl=en.
5. Start learning! Visit the AdWords Learning Center to begin training for the Google Advertising Professionals Program exam. Once you pass the exam and have achieved the minimum client account spending requirements in your My Client Center, you’ll be eligible for qualification in the program. Access the Learning Center at: https://adwords.google.com/support/aw/go/learningcenter?hl=en
6. Explore our Help Center, which is full of useful information about qualification, training, and more. Visit the program Help Center at: https://adwords.google.com/support/select/professionals/?hl=en
7. Take advantage of AdWords promotional coupons: Once you become qualified through the Google Advertising Professionals Program we will provide you with 20 coupons, in the amount equivalent to $100 each, which may be applied to new client accounts. You can use them as an incentive for new advertisers to try AdWords and sign up through your company. You will receive your coupons in a separate email from us within one month of qualifying as a Google Advertising Professional – please note terms and conditions apply.
Congratulations on your enrollment in the Google Advertising Professionals Program! We look forward to all the great things you’ll do as a member.

If you have any questions or comments, please click the ‘Contact Us’ link at the bottom of your program page after you log in.

Sincerely,

Google Advertising Professionals Team

You have received this email because you recently signed up for the Google Advertising Professionals programs.

I was in Seattle recently and I met up with some of my friends from college, most of them worked for Microsoft. Wait, I think it was everybody who worked for Microsoft and there were people from the server group, guys who were working on the long awaited Windows 7 to some guys working on the infrastructure of their internal applications. One thing I heard from them were “Microsoft and the new anti virus” and everybody was given a beta copy.

Recently, Microsoft entered into the highly lucritive anti virus industry. In 2006, the industry was estimated at $4 billion and growing at 13.6% from the year before and that industry continues to grow as computers become more affordable. The new software released on Sept 29, 2009 is called Microsoft Security Essential and the it is a free download. Yes, FREE. The Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. 

Reviews so far looks positive as it is simple to use, quiet and efficient. It is compatible with WIndows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and you must have a genuine Windows to run the program. One cannot run Security Essential with other anti virus applications. The Security Essentials public beta also took fourth place in a recent roundup of free antivirus software. In a tests conducted by AV-Test.org, the Microsoft Security Essentials beta detected 97.8 percent of malware.

For a free application, I give it two thumbs up!

Link to download Microsoft Security Essential

Earthlings, in the show of their military might are flexing their muscles and literally taking a shot at the moon. In the pre-dawn hours Friday, a rocket is scheduled to punch a 13-foot-deep hole in the moon’s south pole to deter an Martians from invading Planet Earth. This bold action was planned many moons ago when the rocket was launched in June 2009 and it is set for impact on October 9, 2009. The target of impact is the Cabeus crater which located in the south pole of the moon and upon the rocket impact, scientist expect a dust cloud rising as much as six miles above the lunar surface, providing a rare show for amateur astronomers.

According to some news reports, thousands of people are expected to show up tonight at the Ames complex south of San Francisco for an evening of music and movies that will culminate with a live video feed of the impact. “It’s kind of hard to keep on top of how much interest there is out there..I’ve heard 10,000 are coming.” according to Dan Andrews, the project manager at Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., which designed the rocket’s instruments.

Actually…

There are no Martians. Sorry to burst your bubble. The project by NASA to send a rocket into the moon was planned a long time ago and it is definitely not an expenditure in fiscal policy by the Obama Administration to stimulate the economy. Although this exercise will cost $79 million, their goal is to find out whether ice is hidden in a crater that hasn’t seen sunlight in billions of years.

The initial rocket will crash into the Cabeus crater at 5,600 mph around 6.30 AM CST. Four minutes later, if all goes as planned, another spacecraft will fly through the cloud of debris that will rise above the lunar surface. Before crashing itself less than a minute later, the satellite’s nine instruments will analyze the dust and debris for evidence of water.

The impact is theoretically, visible with a telescope throughout the southwest and as far away as Hawaii if good viewing conditions are ideal. Because the debris cloud from the impact is expected to last less than a minute before settling back down on the lunar surface, viewers need to be punctual and have sharp eyes.

If we get invaded by Martians or Moon-tians, “we asked for it”

I was privileged to go on the Boeing Factory Tour in Everett, WA and witness the production of 747, 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliner; I even saw a 747 DreamLifter on the runway. Boeing Factory lies about 30 minutes from downtown Seattle and it was very impressive. Before I went on the tour, some of the people I met gave me “facts” about the Boeing factory and I discovered that the information was false after the tour. So maybe you can call your friends out when they boast about the knowing everything

Boeing Factory Tour in Everett, WA 90 minutes tour. There will be a short movie clip about Boeing before the tour. Cost $15 per adult / $8 per child (6-15 yrs old) and there is a min height requirement of 4ft. Go early in Summer as tickets can be sold out early. Wear something comfortable as there will be lots of walking and moving around. Keep your phones, camera, purses, pda, etc in your car or in the coin lockers as they do not permit it. Contact: 1-360-756-0086

Here are 10 myths / facts about the Boeing Factory.

Largest Building on Earth?
TRUE. Guinness World Records list the Boeing Everett factory as the largest building in the world by volume at 472 million cubic feed (13.3 million cubic meters).

Boeing City?
True. The Everett factory is like a small city, requiring its own fire department, security force, fully equipped medical clinic, electrical substations and water treatment plant.

Boeing Factory employees 100,000 people?
False. There are about 30,000 people working at the Everett facility, and they work in three shifts around the clock.

The Boeing Factory is so big it that is rains in the factory?
False. Although the factory is the world’s largest building, it does not rain nor does it create any cloud / rain inside the factory building. However, when the factory was first built, clouds actually formed near the ceiling. The weather cleared when an air-circulation system was installed.

There is no air conditioning (a/c) on the production floor?
True. Due to the weather in Seattle which seldom peak over 90′, the production floor does not have any a/c. The temperature is regulated by two things, the weather outside and the light bulbs. If the factory is too warm, they would open the factory door and run fans to blow air into to the factory. And if it gets too cold, they rely on the light bulbs above the production floor. The factory uses over 1 million light bulbs!

Conventional cranes are used to move planes around during assembly?
False. There are twenty six overhead cranes that run a network of 39-miles of ceiling tracks throughout the factory. These ceiling cranes are used to lift and move airplane components and sections during the production process.

Is there a maze of walk way running below the factory?
True. There are 2.33 miles or 3.7 kilometers of pedestrian tunnels running below the factory. The tunnels are also utilized for operating the utilities and comes in handy during winter when getting around in the cold and snow can be a challenge.

There are 1,000 bicycles in the factory to help employees get around?
False. There are 1,300 bicycles and tricycles in the factory that is used by employees to get around.

The have the largest mural in the world?
True. According to the Guinness World Records, the mural on the six factory doors is the largest digital graphics in the world.

Rail running to the factory?
True. Boeing not only have a rail running to the factory but the rail spur running uphill to the factory from Great Northern Railway’s track is the steepest active standard-gauge railroad in the United States.
****Correction****
Per mentioned by one of the visitors, Matt Cawby which runs paineairport.com, he mention that the Great Northern Railway’s is managed by BNSF. Upon doing further research, Matt is correct and my apologies.

Today, Google sent out about 100,000 invitations to the Google Wave for the Beta users. The Google Wave project was revealed at the Google I/O on May 27 – 28, 2009 in Moscone Center, San Francisco and limited account were given to those who attended. On Oct 1, 2009, it was released to beta tested who did not attend the I/O. The Google Wave is basically a communication and collaboration tool that works with richly formatted photos, text, videos, maps, and more. According to Google Wave‘s website:

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

This created a buzz in the online tech and create a market for “entrepreneurs” who got the invite. Within minutes, ebay was flooded with Google Wave Invitations and some of the invitations were listed and sold  for $89.99.

Humm… so next time, be one of Google’s tester or be on their active list and you might be able to make a lot of dole.

I was one of the first few people who got a GMail invite when they were beta testing it and I could have sold mine for a fortune on eBay but it wasn’t in me. I did give out a dozen free invites to co-workers, friends out of the 100 invites I got. So, anybody for a free Gmail invite? 

$89.99/invite X 100 invites = $8,999 (Quite a nice change…)

Adv: Send money internationally via Xoom

Saturn was the shooting star of the and was the “the” company that was aiming for the moon and beyond. That was in the 1990′s when Saturn was positioned by GM as “a different kind of car company” and that brand cultivated a huge following where Saturn owners would driver across the country to Spring Hill, Tennessee for special events and gatherings.

Last week, I was reading through Consumer Report and came across an article about Penske Automotive Group buying up Saturn and the tentative deal is done. Apparently Penske was at the negotiating table with GM for the past eight weeks and ironing out the details about buying the ailing GM brand. Penske plans to buy the distribution channel and identify a strategic automotive manufacturing partner to build / sell cars under the ‘new’ Saturn brand.

Yesterday, the deal collapsed after Penske was told by an unidentified manufacturer that its board had rejected a deal to make cars for the new Saturn. Apparently, GM which is owned by the Federal Government which honor all Saturn warranty but join the antique brands like Olsmobile (retired: 2004) and Pontiac (coming soon).

Well, if you are looking for a car in the next few months and plan to drive it into the ground, Saturn might be a good car to pick up. Warranty is still in effect, and GM promised to produce parts to support Saturn so one might get an excellent deal on a car or SUV as GM closes over 350 dealerships nationwide.