From the category archives:

Ravi’s Rants

Purple Shoe from Nike

January 9, 2008

It’s not really purple in color. But I did mean that it is Purple. Why? It’s because of the way it was successful in creating an entirely new industry of “athlete marketing” like never before. Because of how it created a frenzy among consumers. Because of the innovative ways Nike marketed it [for instance, they [...]

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My Chat With A (Rather Clueless) Google AdWords Support Specialist

January 3, 2008

My question was very simple: I wanted to know how I could promote products using CPA (Cost Per Action) on the Google Network and allow publishers who have access to “AdSense Referrals” to promote my products by placing a piece of code on their web sites, and when someone clicked over to my web site [...]

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54 cent refills for Starbucks Coffee

December 9, 2007

If you drink coffee at Starbucks, you’ll surely appreciate this: 54 cents Refills For Starbucks Coffee .

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How To Sell A $3,200 Product Using Free YouTube Videos

December 3, 2007

If you’ve ever wondered about the power of influence that videos – even free ones – can have in selling commercial products, look no further. Recently, I was on the receiving end of this power, as I shelled out about $3,200 to buy a Yamaha Motif Keyboard – thanks(!) to two powerful videos on YouTube. [...]

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Blog-o-Phobia: Fear of Criticism

November 27, 2007

I recently asked a very close non-blogger, never-blogged-before friend to start his own blog on my new multi-blog site, YehHaiIndia.com (driven by WordPress Mu – very cool software). His immediate response was: The problem with blogging is you need ideas and thoughts you want to write. And you are assuming I have thoughts that are [...]

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Can I get my morning breakfast without the “Bacn”?

November 27, 2007

“Bacn” – pronounced as “Bacon” – is spam (kind of), but not really the lewd, disgusting, “killing my inbox” type. From Jargon Watch at Wired.com: It’s not really spam. You want to read it (and probably would), you just don’t have the time. Thanks to the folks at PodCamp Pittsburgh, there’s a new web-term you [...]

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Adsense For Video (YouTube) Is Here

October 10, 2007

My “Video Unit” link wasn’t available yesterday when the announcement was first made. Was able to see it today. “Linked” my Adsense account with my YouTube account. Got the confirmation from Google in a few minutes (they do warn that it could take up to 12 hours). Created my “player”, got the code. The ads [...]

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7 Steps To Remarkable Customer Service

October 8, 2007

Going by the PageRank (PR 6), you can guess how many sites are linking to this post on JoelOnSoftware. The content is that powerful. Here’s the summary: 1. Fix everything two ways 2. Suggest blowing out the dust 3. Make customers into fans 4. Take the blame 5. Memorize awkward phrases 6. Practice puppetry 7. [...]

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Membership Sites: Not Easy To Monetize. Proof? NY Times

September 25, 2007

In this era of the open web, it is hard to monetize information that you can easily get elsewhere. Want to read about what’s going on with the presence of Iranian dictator Ahmedinajad in NY City? Just Google-News it up (yes, that’s different from Googling it up), and you’ll get all the latest relevant news [...]

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Google Supplemental Index

September 24, 2007

In my book “No Business Like E-Business“, I write about the Google Supplemental Index (GSI – Ravi’s acronym). Basically, this is like the “alternate” Google database, where sites that are “on the way in” or “on the way out” show up. If yours is a new site, it may show up in the GSI before [...]

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Google says it loses $1 billion a year to false ad clicks

September 18, 2007

“Our invalid clicks rate – the activity rate – has remained in the range of less than 10% of all clicks every quarter since we launched AdWords in 2002. At Google’s current revenue rate, every percentage point of invalid clicks we throw out represents over $100 million/year in potential revenue foregone.”, says Google’s Inside Adwords [...]

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Animoto.com: Making your pictures come alive on video

September 15, 2007

I found this amazing site yesterday through one of the feeds on LinkOverLoad.com. Awesome video coming right up… Animoto basically turns your pictures into a fantastic MTV-style video, with some great soundtracks available on their site for free, or you can use your own audio – with your pictures almost flashing in rhythm to the [...]

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Google Finally Starts Video Advertising on YouTube

August 23, 2007

We all knew this day would come, but I had been more curious about the type of video ads that would show up: would they be pre-roll (first show the ads, then the actual video)? Would they be post-roll (after the video) or some kind of pop-up (probably not, knowing their Adsense policy about pop-ups)? [...]

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Something Strange, In The Neighborhood. Who You Gonna Call? Bond, Bourne or Bauer?

August 16, 2007

James Bond Jason Bourne Jack Bauer   Think it’s a coincidence that these three super crime-fighting-machines share the same initials? I think not. Bourne was bourne as America’s answer to the ultimate killing machine and British super spy who is the only one (other than God) who can save the Queen: James Bond. Last night, [...]

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Hair-raising Video Of A Fight For Survival

August 12, 2007

Watch this hair-raising video that shows a herd of buffaloes trying to fight a pride of lions, trying to snatch a baby calf away from the jaws of 5 lions and 2 crocodiles! Will the baby calf survive? Make sure you have nerves of steel before you watch it. I hope this fight inspires you [...]

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You, Me and Mona Lisa

August 7, 2007

Creating an e-business… Learning a new skill… Being the best at what you do… Building something worth building… Creating something worth creating… Saying something worth saying… Doing something worth doing… All of these take plenty of time – and effort. It is very easy to just look at the end-result of other people’s successes, ogle [...]

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Citizen Marketing

August 6, 2007

The sad thing is that along with the “Citizen Marketers” come the “Citizen Abusers”. Any form of user(citizen)-powered marketing will always eventually be subject to abuse, and then the distinct line between a legitimate “volunteer” citizen and a “paid” citizen suddenly becomes very thin. Point in case: Digg.com, BzzAgent.com or a PayPerPost.com. As time goes [...]

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How Much Money Can You Make From Your Blog?

August 6, 2007

Maybe quite a lot, and mostly not a lot. “Huh?”, you say? If you look at this “top bloggers” list, you may end up buying into the fantasy that blogging will make you big bucks. Not every blog will make that kind of money. Actually, it would even be fair say, that less than a [...]

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How To Get Back 43 Days Of Your Life (Hint: Grocery List)

June 13, 2007

I save about 1/2 hour every week on grocery shopping thanks to this list. That’s 26 hours a year. Assuming I would have done this for at least 40 years of my life by the time I’m dead, that means 1040 hours saved (26 * 40). 1040 Hours = 43.33 Days Yes, I get (at [...]

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Steve Jobs said…

May 19, 2007

“Steve Jobs said: “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?” Did you know that you have big things to accomplish in life? And did you know that those big things are getting rather dusty while you pour yourself another cup of coffee, and decide to mull things [...]

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