A House of Brands - Breaking the Scalability Barrier

A congratulations is in order for the people of PlumberSurplus.com, they managed to make the next step in successful entrepreneurship - taking what works on a small scale and mirroring it for a new market.

Someone once told me that getting to $1million in sales isn’t nearly as hard as getting to $1.00.

Having surpass the $1 (and I’m assuming the $1million) mark a long time ago - the people at PS have made what I think has to be the next most difficult step - taking a business model designed for one industry (plumbing supplies) and apply it to a new industry outdoor gear (things like backpacks, gerber knives, and tents)

Take a look at the two sites: PlumberSurplus.com and OutDoorPros.com - they did a really good job - congrats guys!

b5 BlogWorldExpo Booth

We are at BlogWorldExpo this week promoting hireahelper. By far the best presenter so far is
b5 Media, they are giving away poker chips to play for a playstation 3. You get the chips by stealing conference schwag from their competitors. Awesome.

Get Your Home Ready to Sell: Tips to Help You Sell Faster and Sell for More Money

Outside

• Mow and water the lawn; including trimming trees and planting flowers.
• Clear walks and porches.
• Paint or touch-up the outside of the house to increase curb appeal.

Inside

• Clean all major household appliances.
• Scrub tile floors.
• Clean all carpets.

Fix-It

• Fix leaky faucets, broken appliances and cabinets.
• Replace broken tiles in bathroom or kitchen.
• Paint if necessary.

Pack and Organize

• Pack and remove unnecessary furniture.
• Use old newspapers and junk mail to wrap and pack away valuables and clutter.
• Organize and pack unnecessary items from the garage and closets.

Look Through a Buyer’s Eyes

• Have a friend walk through your home like a buyer would. Get their opinion on whether or not it’s inviting, clean and organized. Make any necessary changes.

Winding up for the Pitch

The question: how do I effectively pitch to blogs? is a fairly common one– and is even discussed in the post below. Seth Godin would answer that question by suggesting, as the title of his book puts it, to turn ’strangers into friends and friends into customers’ (define the terms ’strangers’, ‘friends’, and ‘customers’ however you like to apply to your position).

The first thing you need to know: Bloggers do not care about you, or your company; bloggers care about whatever it is they blog about.

Imagine you’re at a cocktail party. You don’t walk up to someone and immediately jump into a conversation about what you’re selling. You scope out the room, sip your drink, and create small talk until you make an intelligent connection with another party go-er. This is the same strategy that should be used in approaching bloggers.

Your first step is to research your target blogger. You have to really understand what the blogger writes about, and wants to write about. If your pitch doesn’t interest the blogger, you’re wasting everyone’s time. Consider your business model. Evaluate it until it makes you blue in the face. But keep in mind, bloggers don’t want a summary of your business model, they want what’s interesting. You have to think big. Exaggerate if you must– but make your business model: ground shifting, life changing, economically effective, etc. These are the things bloggers want to write about.

Now you need to take your “perfect pitch” final draft edition, and throw it away. Bloggers are a new school of PR; they don’t want your press release or media kit– this is online PR. Pitching to blogs starts with building a relationship.

1. So now you have an idea of who your blogger is, and what interests them, right? If not, go back three spaces.
2. Now you need to figure out a way to spin your pitch off of whatever it is that interests this particular blogger. If it’s not possible, then cut the line, and cast again. Trust me, there are plenty of bloggers in the sea.
3. If you’ve made it to step three, the last step, then your final mission is to master and execute the proper approach.

Remember, bloggers want to hear what’s interesting, and phenomenal. They don’t care about your site, they care about the large-scale economic effects your site may have on the supply and demand economy.

Getting Traffic and Links to Your Website by Pitching to Popular Blogs…

Is easier said than done. I have been trying to network and have been emailing pitches to popular blogs and even the little unknown blogs for about 3 weeks now. Result- I’ve had a few mentions that got my blood pumping and kept me motivated for a few days.

Still, the question I ask at the end of everyday is HOW do you get a mention from these influential bloggers.

I have experience pitching and networking traditional news media. But when I started the job of pitching hireahelper.com to bloggers, I knew I was headed into unknown territory for me, so I did my homework first. I read countless blogs and articles about what to do, and more importantly what not to do. And then I took the plunge and dove in headfirst thinking I had my head on straight and I would be successfully tracking results within a week or so.

Everyday I eagerly search and read and pitch, only to come out empty handed. The underlying duty at hand is one that I am not skating around, but one that I am trying to short cut through. Unfortunately, I will eventually have to do. I will have to study all of these blogs and read them and comment on them everyday to build relationships as an everyday reader without dropping in solicited links and messages.

That’s hard work! Not to mention it doesn’t guarantee an article, a review or even a link.

My final thought… Does anyone know which bloggers prefer bribes?