That’s the question a weekend New York Times article sought to answer. The fact is, there’s no clear-cut answer. But for us non-superstars of the Internet, my favorite Web hosting company is NearlyFreeSpeech.Net. Why? Their pay-as-you-go, pay-for-only-what-you-use hosting plan. Like many people, I own a bunch of domain names, most of which are nearly dormant, …
Have I got a car (or two) for you
How bad is the auto business? So bad that a dealer in Europe is offering two-for-one: Buy one car, get a second one free. How can he afford it? Distributors in southern Europe have been so desperate to get cars off their lots that they were selling them at huge discounts. From a marketing standpoint, …
The missing ingredient in (most?) word-of-mouth
In yesterday’s post, I mentioned Andy Sernovitz of MarketingProfs and his list of ingredients found in good word-of-mouth marketing. Then I asked you to figure out what was missing from my list. (Note: It’s on Andy’s list, but I purposely omitted it to make a point.) The missing link is the same thing that causes …
New Zillow service protects borrowers' privacy
Let’s face it, none of us like dishing out our personal information online, especially to a company we don’t know or haven’t done business with before. It can result in all sorts of unpleasantness, including spammy emails. Zillow, the real estate valuation website, is launching a service that I think is simply brilliant. Mortgage Marketplace …
Amazon strikes again. Retailers, be very afraid.
Amazon, which has already revolutionized the way we shop and buy, has taken what I think will be another giant step forward. It is satisfying our passion for comparison shopping with a new service that lets you compare prices — and make a purchase, of course — with a few quick taps on your cell …
Why you should be grateful for your competition
Wouldn’t it be nice if your business had no competitors? Imagine — if customers wanted to buy what you were selling, they’d have to buy it from you. Or do without. Think again. If your small business really had no competition, something would be very wrong. It could mean there’s simply no market for your …