Everyone’s talking about how great Google’s AdWords program is. That’s the best pay-per-click advertising program on the web. It’s a great model: You pay for an ad and it appears on the screen when someone is searching for that product or service! But you only pay when someone clicks on the ad. So you can really make sure your advertising pays off.

But when you’re the first, there are going to be competitors that improve on the model. A new company is about to launch and they are taking direct aim at Google’s ad revenue.

I’ve arranged for all my readers (and their friends) to get $50 of ad dollars on a new search engine created by my buddy Paul Cohen, who is the genius behind the teleconferencing service that many speakers use for their teleseminar lines.

He’s going to launch this service by the end of the week, so you can get in early.

It’s like getting a shopping spree with free ads. If it works, you win by getting more traffic to your site and make more sales. If it doesn’t work, then you’ve done a test and are closer to finding what does work! You can’t lose. And $50 in ad dollars goes a long way when average pay-per-click is just 10 cents. You can test a lot!

The search engine is called “Search Big Daddy.” Don’t worry about the funny name. The search engine is based on DMOZ, which is the heart and soul of Yahoo and many other top-ranked
search engines.

Click here for details:
http://www.bigdaddypays.com/prleads

Yes, you’ll have to wade through the typical sales letter you see all over the net and some third-grade graphics, so scroll to the bottom and fill out the
form and you’ll get your ad dollars. They’ll tell you what to do next. Please send them your questions. It’s not my
business. I’m just trying to do everyone a favor!

It’s a pretty good search engine too — it’s based on DMOZ, which is what Yahoo and Google are based on. So there’s
no risk and you’ll get advertising – no strings attached. Try your own searches and see what you think. You can promote your
books, your consulting practices, your coaching services — at no real cost to you!

Click here for details:
http://www.bigdaddypays.com/prleads

If you want your friends to get in on this, send them this link:
http://www.bigdaddypays.com/prleads

I like to think of it as a social network for approved merchants and trusted advertisers since the only people who will
know about this are people who are invited in. So beat the Internet Marketers and grab the top listings before they do!

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
http://www.prleads.com

PR LEADER Ted Demopoulos has an interesting interview on this topic:

http://www.bloggingforbusinessbook.com/blogging_for_business/2006/04/book_blogs_for_.html

Do Amazon #1 campaigns really work?

You know what I’m talking about: You get an email from a friend saying they are trying to push their book to the #1 position on the Amazon best seller list for one day. They offer your a ton of free digital products if you buy the book on that day.

I’ve seen many people actually fool, trick, manipulate and otherwise coerce Amazon into landing the book on the top position, or even as high as 2 and 3. Amazon can definitely be maneuvered!

But does this lead to any long-term success for the author?

I’m interested in knowing your stories to see if you’ve done this and what the long-term results were. Did you get long-term sales? A distribution deal? A foreign offer. Or just lots of sales in one day?

Please post your response to the blog. Since there are so many people trying to do this, or thinking of doing this, I’d like to offer a public service to see if it is worth it.

Good luck!

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

Dr. Mark Hyman, “Ultrametabolism : The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss ” is on the best seller lists at the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal! It is in the top 100 on Amazon.

While running through the airports, I saw these books prominently displayed at Hudson Books:

Jeff Thull:
Mastering the Complex Sale: How to Compete and Win When the Stakes are High!

Dave Anderson:
If You Don’t Make Waves, You’ll Drown: 10 Hard Charging Strategies for Leading in Politically Correct Times (Former PR LEADER and current teleseminar client)

Jeffrey Gitomer:
Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book of Sales Answers : 99.5 Real World Answers That Make Sense, Make Sales, and Make Money by Jeffrey Gitomer (former PR LEADER)

We’re anxiously looking for new books with major exposure from Lynn Robinson and Debra Condren!

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

Generating positive word of mouth on the Internet is the best way to get consumers to buy your products.

A recent survey in Editor and Publisher magazine confirms this startling statement. More people, by far, rely on the web than on newspapers, magazines and TV for information about what products to buy.

Want to know the worst medium?

Radio.

I’ll show you why you need to write articles and syndicate them on the Internet so you can build traffic to your website and make more sales in this Thursday’s teleseminar at 2 p.m. Eastern time on April 6, 2006.

You’ll also learn how to:
-write articles that are sure to hook your readers
-submit your articles to syndication sites
-get editors to reprint your articles without sending one piece of email
-get readers to visit your site
-get visitors to take action to build a relationship with you that can lead to sales

To register for the free teleseminar, entitled “How to Syndicate Your Articles on the Internet to Build More Traffic and Make More Sales,” click here:

http://tinyurl.com/o4om2

If you can’t attend the session, you can order the transcript for $9.95

http://tinyurl.com/oazg8

All the best,

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
952-380-1554
dan@prleads.com
http://www.prleads.com

Have you ever tried calling yourself to see what happens?

No, this isn’t an existential meandering. It is a customer service rant.

I had to return phone calls to three people and here’s what I heard:

1. A fax beep. Please disconnect your fax machine from your phone line. Nothing is worse than hearing the shrill fax siren in your ear. Okay, maybe a paper cut is worse.

2. Dial the person’s extension. That might be fine IF the person actually left an extension number to dial. If you leave a phone message, leave your extension number. Otherwise you’ll hear the phone directory from hell.

3. “Please enter the person’s first name.” Have you ever had the greeting that lets you ask for the person by their first name? Sounds cool until you realize there are about 37 ways to spell Jennifer. And if your name is Rick, but people know you are Richard, they’ll never find you. Simple solution: leave your extension number or direct dial number. After all, you left a message for them to call you — why are you making it difficult do to so?

3. Long advertisements for your seminars. It is one thing to say your are an author or a speaker, or visit www.mycompany.com. But don’t launch into a 3-minute ad for your seminar. I timed it.
If a reporter can’t get hold of you fast, they won’t try again. Same for your customers.

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

When I was in journalism school, the first thing the professors had us do was interview a classmate. It helped to build rapport with other students and let us practice our new interviewing skills.

But it also gave us a shocking insight into the news writing process.

There wasn’t a person in the room who didn’t think they were misquoted!

Why was that? After all, we students had no need to intentionally misquote someone.

It was because people don’t always express themselves clearly and reporters don’t always hear clearly either!

I wish there was a way to improve human communications, but I’m sure you’ll agree that everyone from your boss to your kids misunderstand you from time to time. Why shouldn’t reporters?

Oh well, not to make light of the situation, because it is very serious if the reporter mispresents you. So the question of the day is, “Have you ever been misquoted and what did you do about it?” Please submit your responses to the blog for everyone’s benefit.

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

Remember the first time you drove a car?

Wasn’t it the biggest day in your life?

Same is true for my niece who is 9-years old and just drove her first car at Disney World’s go kart ride.

She was really thrilled because:
1. She was 51 and 7/8 inches and the sign said you had to be 52 inches. She just passed by standing up very, very straight.

2. She could do it and her sister, who is a year younger, couldn’t.

3. She could drive for the first time — and it wasn’t just a kiddie bumper car ride.

However, her enthusiasm passed when she realized that her friends back home told her the best ride was “Space Mountain,” the roller coaster ride with a long, long line.

I’m not sure she really likes roller coasters, but she sure does react to her peers. And if they say sitting in a roller coaster and holding on is better than driving a car for the first time, then who am I to argue?

Space Mountain was all she could talk about.

So if you are marketing to the under 10 set, remember that peer pressure is the big factor, not internal motivation.

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

When I was growing up in the 60′s perhaps the biggest status symbol was a Mickey Mouse hat. You know, the black beanie with the big ears and your name stitched on the front.

It was the sign that your family went far away to the best theme park in the world.

People wore their ears with a badge of honor. Yes, they looked like dorks outside the Magic Kingdom, but the power is in the brand. They wore crowns.

You could see them coming with the big ears and their name stitched in front.

What great branding!

But the minds at Disney thought: How can we make this even better?

They did.

Now they have a distinctive logo on the front of the hat: the Mickey Mouse Club. Or a leprechaun in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Or one of several other Disney themes and characters.

What happened to the wearer’s name?

It is still available, for an extra fee, to be stitched on the back of the beanie.

Call me crazy, but I have to hand it to Disney. They weren’t happy by just branding the cap with the ears. They had to put another picture or logo on the front to reinforce the message.

I guess I’m still a traditionalist, but I’d rather they kept the black hats the way they were. But times change and if people want pink caps or tie-died caps or gold caps, them let them.

I just admire Disney for leaving no real estate unbranded.

Speaking of which, there is a utility pole with wires that looks like the Mickey Mouse logo with the ears. That’s right. They are tied in with the utility grid. But instead of having a dull cross-pole, their pole looks like their logo. Absolutely brilliant. My beanie is off to you folks at Disney!

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

My favorite ride at Disneyland is “Its A Small World” which features a cute song and thousands of puppets that portray the peoples of the world. I’m delighted that my nieces and nephew liked it so much they wanted to go on it a second time. Fortunately, there was no line and we even stayed in the same waterboat.

As we entered the ride and heard the music playing, I could hear a woman in the row behind me take out her cell phone and call someone. That’s right. In the middle of the ride, she calls someone. Then she hands to phone to each family member on the ride so they could talk to grandma or whoever was the mystery caller.

I couldn’t believe that she felt it was more important to call someone than to experience the ride — and to interrupt her family’s experience of the ride to talk to someone.

Couldn’t she wait until the ride was over? For pete’s sake, the lines at Disney are long enough that you could call everyone in your phone book while killing time on a ride! But no, she had to call DURING the ride.

Wait a second, folks, I’m not ranting here. Well, I am, but I really have a point to make and it is probably the most important point I’ll make all year. I’m that serious.

Because of what she did and when she did it, I finally realized that we are undergoing a sea change in communications.

For her, it was MORE important to SHARE the experience with someone who was not there than to enjoy the experience as presented by the provider, Disney. She could have called grandma before the ride or after the ride, but no, she felt it was important for grandma to hear the music and maybe even see a photo if her cell phone was equipped with a camera (aren’t they all?) AND to have her children talk to grandma during the experience.

For her, this phone call ENHANCED the experience! (Forget my displeasure in overhearing the conversation. I think we can all agree that cell phone users don’t care what happens to people around them who can listen in on their private calls).

I’m not sure what to make of her, frankly. But I do see her as the point person for a new trend that is changing human interaction (I told you this would be heavy).

The signs were all around me and I failed to see them for what they really were:

I’ve seen people like her at baseball games who will call their friends at home to tell them they are at the game.

I’ve seen people like her at baseball games who will call their friends who are AT the game and stand up and wave to them — with their backs to the field so they can’t even see the game!

I’ve been a maniac in thinking these people were rude rubes who have no life.

But I made the mistake of lumping the people who drive their car and talk on the cell phone along with the people in the waiting rooms who talk at the top of their lungs with the people who are at an event and make a phone call.

Now I realize that I’ve missed the landmark a hundred times over.

These people are creating their own experience with their friends and families by using their cell phones.

I’m not sure what to make of this. Are they self-centered egotists? Are they so family oriented they block out the world? Are they bragging to their friends that they are here and you are not? Are they sharing the experience with a bed-ridden relative who can take pleasure in the event because they are being thought of at this very precious moment?

I really don’t know. All I know is that something BIG is going on and it will affect everything we do.

We are becoming a cell phone nation and its implications for changing human interaction is huge.

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com