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Mar2

Johns Wu – Founder, Developer, Sole Employee, and eventual Seller of Bankaholic.com

Posted in: Domain Names, Internet, What's Your M.O.?

Johns Wu

Founder, Developer, Sole Employee, and eventual Seller of Bankaholic.com, a consumer banking portal, to Bankrate, Inc.

October 2008.

For nearly $15 Million.

From his LinkedIn profile:

“Retired Internet Marketer”

Before his 23rd Birthday.

If you’re an Internet entrepreneur or giving real thought to chasing that brass ring, the success achieved by Johns Wu, in less than 3 years, is the story that will keep you awake late into the night and get you up well before the sunrise. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this interview with one of the best Internet success stories you’re likely to read. However, if you’re anything like me, it will have you sitting straight up in your chair and will leave you super charged to take YOUR business to the next level.

MO:
You and I crossed paths a while ago because we both had an interest in a certain domain name. However, I was well aware of your story prior to that email meeting. I’m about 6 weeks into blogging about entrepreneurs on MO.com; it excites me to know, based on your story, I’ll get to cash out for millions in just another couple years . . . ahem.

In all seriousness, your story has inspired and continues to motivate countless entrepreneurs and bloggers to make their run at glory and financial reward. First, how does that feel to know your success is being used by others to give them the drive they need to chase similar dreams? Second, is it realistic for folks to believe they can achieve such lofty results or did you just hit “the perfect storm” with Bankaholic?

Johns Wu:
I am thrilled that my story is inspiring others to build online businesses. I myself was motivated by ShoeMoney when that infamous picture of him [Jeremy Schoemaker] holding a big AdSense check was circulating the web.

As more and more commerce moves from real-life to the web, there will be countless opportunities for niche marketers to strike gold.

MO:
In your LinkedIn profile, you state you are retired. How accurate is that? My hunch is you’re still very much “online” and selectively filtering out opportunities and seeking out that next homerun. Am I close?

Johns Wu:
HA! You are very much correct! Entrepreneurs who heard of the Bankaholic sale often contact me on my LinkedIn, and I’ve been collaborating with people on various projects. I am far too lazy these days to do any actual “hands-on” development, but I am very active in “high-level” roles on many exciting projects.

I’ve been working on getting a GRAND SLAM in the works. My idea of a grand slam is: category killer domain + SEO [Search Engine Optimization] traffic + monetization. In the next couple years, I’m hoping to build a web property in the same league as Hotels.com and Wine.com. I’ve been in talks with domainers who own valuable portfolios, so hopefully this will happen sooner rather than later ;)

MO:
You have a very strong, and clearly proven, background in search engine marketing (SEM), and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies. These skills were a big part of your accomplishments in building out Bankaholic.com. Your banking portal became an acquisition target for Bankrate, Inc., primarily because you had built the property into a real powerhouse for generating big traffic in the highly competitive and lucrative banking sector online. You also had a good working relationship with Bankrate so they knew first hand what the traffic levels were and the type of conversion the traffic to Bankaholic.com was producing.

Do you believe your “blueprint” for generating big traffic to a website is repeatable in other competitive niches online? My focus for MO.com is to produce quality relevant content on a daily basis and to build and attract links to my site. So simple, yet . . . solid strategy? I know people reading this interview will be looking for that one big takeaway they can use to apply to their own online empire building. Here’s where you give us all that one cosmic silver bullet that knocks our traffic through the roof :-).

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Feb27

Pete Mayer – Founder of FoamFit Tools

Posted in: What's Your M.O.?

Pete Mayer

FoamFit Tools

FoamFitTools.com

Custom designed organizers for your tools

Intro:

If you have the entrepreneur blood running through your veins, chances are at some point you have considered creating and manufacturing your own product to sell. By creating the product and producing it yourself, you have the opportunity to control quality, cost, pricing, and margins more than if you are acting as a “middle-man” selling the product of other companies.

With OfficeSupply.com, we were fully integrated through Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) with the two biggest office supply wholesalers in the industry: SP Richards in Smyrna Georgia and United Stationers in Chicago. Those wholesalers warehouse office supply products from hundreds of manufacturers and then serve as the fulfillment partner to thousands of independent office supply dealers. Both are world-class companies that offered next day shipping for our orders at OfficeSupply.com. However, it was at a cost of course. Not only were they between us and the manufacturer—thereby adding their piece to the product cost, but after they threw in picking, packing, and freight, our margins got thinner and thinner.

As a result, I found my mind wondering off at times pondering a world where I made my own product and shipped it myself . . . controlling every aspect of cost, storage, pricing, shipping, a bit daunting, but all issues I could work through. But what stopped the train? Knowing how to design and manufacture my own product.

With these thoughts in mind, I can say that Pete Mayer of FoamFit Tools out of Wisconsin, a mechanical engineer, does what many of us wish we could do in the land of “entrepreneurship.” Mayer has the background to design his own product, which he now manufactures and ships: custom designed organizers for your tools using the Computer Aided Design (CAD) System.

MO:

Pete, let’s start by getting a better idea of your background in mechanical engineering so we can have a clearer understanding of how you were able to make use of a CAD system to design and market your FoamFit Tools product.

Pete Mayer:

I’ve been fortunate to have a good deal of hands-on experience in my career. Engineering is obviously a very academic field with a focus on calculating how a thing will work, with CAD being one of the tools engineers rely on to communicate their work to others. The challenge for an engineer is that they don’t get much time to get their hands dirty and miss the experience of actually building product.

One of my early experiences was working on a collegiate design team, designing and building a small race car for the Formula SAE competition. We actually built the car we designed and raced it against other schools. Keeping a race team composed of engineering students organized was quite a challenge.

That experience, working long hours on cars with time in short supply, definitely helped me understand the need for an organized set of tools. It also got me interested in manufacturing, and I’ve been fascinated by how things are made ever since.

MO:

Which came first…

Did you realize your background and experience with CAD systems could be applied to designing and offering custom product, and then land on the tool organizer as a good product to put it to use on?

Or

Did you see a need for a better, and more cost effective, tool organizing system and then realize you could use your CAD experience to create your own?

Pete Mayer:

I knew that keeping tools organized was a real challenge, but the idea for FoamFit Tools didn’t occur until I had a bunch of experience with CAD software. Anyone who draws in CAD can tell you that it’s extremely complicated. It takes a lot of clicks and a lot of time to get things done. For me this was always a source of frustration, and by trying to speed up and simplify the drawing process in CAD we learned many of the tricks that make it possible to design custom foam tool organizers quickly and economically.

MO:

Are you targeting individuals like Brian Null sitting in the middle of Missouri needing an organizer for his tool set? Or do you focus more on marketing your tool organizers to businesses and other organizations?

Pete Mayer:

Our goal was to appeal to individuals by offering a custom product without a minimum order requirement. We also put all our prices right on the web site, so people could see that this wasn’t a solution just for the big guys.

In reality, our customers are a mix of individuals and businesses. We’ve expanded our product offering a bit since our initial launch, and we’ve found that our custom-designed organizers are a big hit with small businesses. We’ve added ready-made organizers which are a simple solution that appeals to individuals.

Marketing has been an area where we’ve learned a lot through trial and error. We’re confident in our products, but there’s plenty we don’t know about the best way to reach our customers.

MO:

How long did it take you from initial idea, to having a tangible product and making your first sale? Can you take us through a brief outline of the steps it took to go from idea to launch?

Pete Mayer:

We toyed around with the idea for a year or two before really jumping in. From that point, it was about 12 months to develop the manufacturing process and get our first sale.

There were several interesting tasks along the way. Some of them were technically challenging while others were interesting just because I had so much to learn. Looking back, it seems like the technical tasks went the quickest. We modified our computer-controlled cutting equipment and ran trials with different materials and cutting tooling. Once we had the manufacturing process somewhat sorted out, we wrote a bunch of software to streamline the process of creating a drawing and generating g-code, the computer instructions that control the CNC cutting equipment. Then it was building a web site, getting setup to take orders, and learning all about shipping.

MO:

What marketing strategies are you employing to get the word out about FoamFit Tools? Are you currently doing any Internet marketing or primarily “feet on the street” marketing and word of mouth?

Pete Mayer:

We do a small amount of internet marketing, but it’s been a challenge to reach potential customers because our product is so unique. There isn’t a great deal of search volume for custom foam tool organizers.

The strategy that really got things started for us was selling foam organizers on eBay. Many customers who bought pre-made organizers from us on eBay came back and had us design custom foam organizers for additional drawers in their toolboxes.

MO:

You’re an entrepreneur from Wisconsin… so I feel compelled to ask: Who had a better year, Aaron Rodgers or Brett Favre?

Pete Mayer:

An entrepreneur has to be focused on today with one eye toward the future. That being said, Aaron Rodgers is doing a great job, and he’s going to do fantastic things for us next season.
Feb24

Jamie Stephens – Founder of Bookd.com

Posted in: Ecommerce, Internet, What's Your M.O.?

Jamie Stephens

Founder of Bookd.com

Based in Columbia, MO

Bookd.com is an online system designed to help businesses, both big and small, market and book their services. Book’d aims to simplify these everyday processes. From the “About Us” section on bookd.com, Jamie also explains:

“Book’d is more than just a Website for your services. It also has a powerful administration area that allows you to manage all your bookings, send online invoices, and track information about your customers. We have worked hard to make sure we cover all the right steps of managing your services and bookings.”

MO:

They say necessity is the mother of invention . . . was that your inspiration for Book’d? Were you finding a lack of online scheduling services available for local businesses and then decided that was a problem worth solving? Can you tell us a little about what the spark was for you and how the idea evolved, going from idea stage to product stage?

Jamie Stephens:

Creating a site for people to accept and manage bookings online was certainly not unique. There were actually a handful of companies already doing this previous to Book’d, but I didn’t feel like any of them were offering a compelling solution to consumers. Their interfaces were clumsy, and they simply didn’t look like much fun to use. At the same time I noticed there were countless booking applications on the Web that were started and abandoned. It looked like there were all kinds of people who had the same idea, but gave up on it for one reason or another. These two things encouraged me. I figured if the problem was really hard (or at least hard enough for others to give up on it), and I could come up with a simple interface for solving it, then I might have something.

My main goal in developing Book’d is to keep it simple. From the beginning, I realized this was going to be a challenge if I wanted to offer a booking solution to multiple industries and not just focus on a single vertical market. Physical trainers have different needs than hair salons; massage therapists have different needs than accountants. With each potential feature, I had to discern whether it would likely be used by the majority of my customers or whether it was just designed for a certain group of users. I found myself saying “no” on new features quite a bit. I’m hopeful that this has resulted in a simple system that is easy for anyone to immediately understand and use.

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Feb18

Scott Hastings – PrivateSuites.com

Posted in: Directories, Ecommerce, Internet, Social Media, Sports, What's Your M.O.?

Scott Hastings

PrivateSuites.com

MMATraining.com

CrashMMA.com

A person considering whether or not to start a business often hears advice from others to “follow your passion.” In many cases, the building of a business is itself the entrepreneur’s passion. However, there are those times when the passion to build a business can meet with other things an entrepreneur is passionate about. When I owned and operated GolfCourses.com and GolfResorts.com, I was in that position, experiencing the excitement of building a business around something I truly enjoy, golf. Now, truth be told, I golfed a lot more AFTER I sold those, but hey, it really was great immersing myself into the golf biz for that time. I mean, heck, I was in the position to go on golf trips and be able to tell my wife I had to go . . . for the sake of the business!

Scott Hastings, President of PrivateSuites.com, seems to have taken the “follow your passion” mantra to the next level while building his interrelated Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) businesses. Scott is a big fan of MMA and his sites CrachMMA.com and MMATraining.com cater to fans and devotees of the white-hot sport. Scott has really done an amazing job of leveraging each business to help grow his others. MMATraining.com focuses on fighters and their training regimen and builds relationships with the MMA participants. CrashMMA.com puts together tour packages for attending MMA events and through its MMA relationships can put together some great opportunities for MMA fans to meet the big names in the sport, folks like Randy Couture, one of the biggest names in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.

Now tie in PrivateSuites.com, Hastings’ business which offers companies, groups, or individuals a great opportunity to catch an event from a, well, private suite at various venues across North America. This business weaves in nicely with CrashMMA.com and the tour packages it puts together for MMA fans. However, PrivateSuites.com also services fans for other events such as concerts and other sporting events.

MO:

Scott, how about we start with a recap of last week’s CrashMMA.com trip to Las Vegas for UFC 109. This had to be an incredible weekend to be in Vegas with it being Super Bowl weekend in addition to the big MMA event. We all know the dirt stays in the desert, but what morsels can you share from that trip?

Scott Hastings:

Overall it was another fantastic UFC weekend. I have been to every major sporting event in North America, and I can honestly say that a live UFC event tops them all.

This was our 4th trip to Las Vegas with a CrashMMA event, and they keep getting better each time. We had a Private Suite rented for the fights, filled with food and drinks, had a great Private training session on Thursday at the world famous Xtreme Couture, and an after-party at an awesome Las Vegas club on the strip, with a number of UFC fighters hanging around.

We stayed at Mandalay Bay and enjoyed all the sights and sounds that Las Vegas on super bowl weekend has to offer.

We’re trying to give fans the weekend from an ‘insider perspective’ and at the same time trying to expose a new group of people to Mixed Martial Arts and the UFC. It’s a great sport and an unbelievable live experience. If we can offer things like meeting a favorite fighter and access to an unbelievable after-party, we know the customer is getting that ultimate VIP treatment, and that’s what we want.

MO:

People who read MO.com and who know me, know I am a big believer in getting a great domain name on which to build your business. MMATraining.com is solid and clear on the subject matter, CrashMMA.com has the sizzle that goes with the sport, but PrivateSuites.com is a real gem, perfectly describing the offering. How much weight did/do you put in the naming of the business and tying that in with your ability to secure the matching domain name?

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Feb10

Entrepreneur Ira Zoot – Founder of Ticketstub.com

Posted in: Domain Names, Ecommerce, Internet, What's Your M.O.?
What I have come to know in 46 years:
- Have a friend with a pool
- Have a friend with a boat
- Have a friend that can get good tickets!
Meet my friend Ira from Ticketstub.com

Entrepreneur Ira Zoot – Founder of Ticketstub.com

The ticket industry looks pretty straightforward from the outside looking in, but spend some time trying to navigate the inner sanctum as you write your business plan and you may decide that sitting in a 6 by 8 cubicle at corporate headquarters ain’t so bad after all… But Ira Zoot has managed not only to learn the infrastructure of this enormous industry, but also to thrive with his website Ticketstub.com. If you’ve looked into purchasing tickets online in the past few years (who hasn’t?), chances are you have been a visitor on Ira’s website.

MO:
Ira, you have carved out an online business in a complicated and highly competitive space. What attracted you to the niche and how did you “cut your teeth” in the business? What year are we talking about and how old were you at the time (if you don’t mind sharing :))? Did you learn the ropes in an offline business first and then bring that experience to begin selling online, or did you go online right out of the gate?

Ira Zoot:
Mo … where to start? Well, I got my first domain in late ‘95 . . . Zoot.com. I wish I had some idea of where domain names were going to go. But it was for my photo/design/Illustration business that I registered it. That and hey, it’s my last name. I started “collecting domains” in ‘98 when a friend of mine who was doing it turned me on to the “game.” It was amazing how quickly I got sucked into it. Everywhere I went I had my pad and paper . . . got home and spent far too many hours regging domains, while at the same time I was still doing freelance digital illustration/design.

It was an interesting and expensive learning experience. Coming from an advertising background I spent too much time “creating brand names”. “creating brand names.” I did get some of what I think were good domains but also got A LOT of junk. After learning more about what businesses could be created, I started focusing on more usable domains . . . various product niches. Gambling, Finance, Art, Watches, “Digital” and of course, Tickets.

Anyhow, I was working as a designer for a large toy manufacturer, and we ended up parting ways, and here I was having to go back into the freelance market . . . which had changed considerably. Photoshop and Illustrator had become common courses in “Art School,” and every kid thought he [or she] was an expert. Killed the freelance market … as they would work for a fraction that I would/could.

At that point I had been doing some pay-per-click (ppc) and domain selling with enough success that I could cover my bills. I had a buddy online . . . Tony . . . who turned me on to the ticket business. He was doing very well with Ticketsnow.com, and he made it pretty hard not to give it a shot. I still hadn’t had a ton of experience with selling online . . . tried some of the Affiliate companies but nothing ever really produced. I would get more into it but another time and place :)

So I started looking for ticket related names and amassed what I feel is a pretty nice portfolio of related names to start with and signed up with Ticketsnow. I played around with template sites and banners on other sites and they did ok. I came across Ticketstub.com from a fellow domainer. When I saw the domain name something clicked for me, and I knew that was going to be the perfect one to use. Then I built out a pretty simple site with deep links, and things started moving well; organic traffic started coming in, and I placed ads on Google, Yahoo and some others.

All along I was learning the business. Nothing like on the job training. I had a great collection of domains that directed very targeted traffic to the site as well. I also decided that I was going to be different than other “affiliates” as I wanted to offer phone and online support. This kind of support was and still is highly unusual for someone who is not a “true broker” (one who buys their own inventory as well and lists it in the network).

I have to say that wanting to do my own support and CSR didn’t really go over big with Ticketsnow at first, but with time they saw the value and the sales I was able to bring in this way. I can totally understand, because if it was done without knowing the right answers it could be disastrous for those providing the ticket feed, the customers and the site owner. So I spent a lot of time picking the brains of the affiliate managers. One in particular, Pat Gavin, went out of his way to make sure that Ticketstub.com had what it needed, and I was able to learn the ropes. Let me also say that I wasn’t very “low maintenance in my requests and he stood by me where I wouldn’t have blamed him to have said “enough already!” So I would feel like I left something crucial out if I didn’t say that a great affiliate manager can really make or break the business.

All the while business kept growing, people really liked that I was there to help if needed and that I was an oddity in the business and not as “hardened” as some old time brokers can be. By the way … this additional effort on my part helped to boost me to super affiliate status and one of their top 3 sellers. So people should never be hesitant to ask for more help or services from those affiliate managers they work with. You might come off as high maintenance but if it increases your gross sales it means more revenue for you and THEM. Amazing how making people money softens their positions on things. :) Sometimes …there will also be those that have a firm set of rules and you just have to live with them. It is frustrating but better to be frustrated and making money than not.

Then I decided to switch from the more simple deep link site to one with an XML feed, among other things, that were beyond my coding ability. So through some online forums I found fellow domainer/developers, and we collaborated on the site . . . I, at first, wanted to do the design myself and then thought I would give them the chance to show me what they were thinking. I ended up supplying the logo art and some other things, but they ended up doing a great job creating the site I roughly laid out for them. This is the “condensed” version of how Ticketstub.com got to where it is today … it was an interesting path to say the least. :)

MO:
The name of your main website is Ticketstub.com. That’s a fantastic domain name and brand. Was that your initial domain name or did you acquire it after you had already gained some traction selling online? When we sold office supplies online, our first site was at OrderSuppliesOnline.com. We operated on that name for maybe 6 months if I remember right. Once we saw we had a real business, we made the move to acquire the domain name OfficeSupply.com.

Ira Zoot:
Thanks Mo … I really like it too. It is a great brand that I have been able to really make work for the business. The business name is really so key in building trust … which is especially true when people or corporations in some cases will be spending thousands of dollars and have their jobs on the line when buying for their bosses or clients. There are a million ticket sites out there. But what separates them? The name . . . well, and me on the phone lines for the first initial years helping people. Building brand trust is the key to having return customers . . . especially in an affiliate business where in this case the ticket company providing the feed and its brokers are focused on taking over your customer after that 30 day cookie goes away. Because I frequently speak with and assist some of my larger clients, they call me directly in some cases and in most they have come to trust Ticketstub.com to get them the tickets they want with minimal headaches and deal with any problems that may arise. I get to know them and build a relationship in which I know they will come back directly to me for the their next order. Trust even trumps when they might find prices for similar tickets at lower prices on other sites ( not often … we try to be competitive and where needed to close deals will offer some discounts depending on the situation ).

I am probably luckier than most in that I never had any major fulfillment nightmares. The few issues that had arisen were able to be dealt with successfully and with happy endings. though, there was a time that a sale over lapped with another in the feed and my customer was second … then never told they didn’t get their tickets until the day before. After talking with them and finding out the tickets were for their father’s 80th b-day, I felt terrible. So I found a comparable set of tickets for them but with a real step up in price. I decided to pay the difference for them. I know “What a sucker” :) But in this case not so much. They still buy tickets from me almost 3 years later. Lol … am I rambling again?

Mo, honestly as I sit here now I can’t off the top of my head remember what the first site name was. A few of the earlier ones were Goodseats.com, Ticketseller.com, VipTix.com but nothing clicked for me right away like Ticketstub.com.

MO:
Do you see any big shake-ups or transformations on the horizon for the ticket industry, or has it already gone through the major transformations and settled in as a ‘mature’ industry online.

Ira Zoot:
Wow. I am going to have to get my crystal ball out to answer this question, Mo. Honestly though; all I can do is look at my little corner and view. I think from the “true brokers” perspective that it was earth shattering when Ticketmaster bought Ticketsnow because it brought in concerns of “regulations on resale” . . . and same with this Ticketmaster/Live nation merger. If they got affected . . . so would I. But so far the only major change for me is that I moved from Ticketsnow to Ticketnetwork and they have been rock solid. . . a totally different business model than Ticketsnow because one company processes all the orders etc. and now all orders go to each listing broker. It definitely complicated things for me on large orders where there were different sellers involved, but so far no major issues. Ticketnetwork has been very helpful in my transition to their feed.

Is online ticketing a “mature industry”? I would for the most part say yes. There are some major sites out there doing VERY good business and the need for full-blown brick and mortar ticket agencies is minimal. It is nice to have local offices for ticket pick up and such but with the cooperative systems and networks of legitimate brokers, local offices are luxuries … and again for a “super affiliate” like myself totally unneeded since tickets never come into my possession. Well, I shouldn’t say totally or never … I have been talking with some partners about expanding into a “true broker” with our own inventory to add and the ability for people to list their own tickets. But that is on the burner now until lots of numbers are crunched, and it can be shown that it would really boost business. I am really happy with how Ticketstub.com is working. I am not completely sure I want to complicate the business or my time with the additional responsibilities and costs. But at the same time I know that I haven’t even scratched the surface when it comes to the profitability levels that Ticketstub.com can be taken to. I think when I’ve met the right partners I will expand the business in a number of ways. I just can’t do it all as a one man operation as I do now. It is, after all, about working smarter, not harder. :).

MO:
I’ve been in a couple industries that were seasonal. Golf is one example. Do you see seasonal surges and dips in the ticket biz or does it stay relatively steady throughout the year?

Ira Zoot:
For sure there are seasonal ups and downs in the industry. With the various championships, playoffs, big prize fights, xmas … errr the “winter holidays”, just announced tours of hot bands for the highs and then the off season for the sports, end of tours etc. I think I have been very lucky to have never had any huge dips in revenue. There are some months that are average rev and others during the hot times that I see a big increase in sales. I think with the economy doing the flip-flops it has as of late things, have been on the more “average” side. People aren’t spending as big $$ on super bowl or playoff tickets, etc. but buying less expensive sets. I think that due to a good balance between corporate and fan clients it has kept me pretty stable. Again, I really think that a good brand has a lot to do with keeping customers in economies like this. It also helps in this case since I am not a “true broker” that has had to tie up huge amounts of money in inventory always with the risk of not selling enough to make it to the profitable level; it has been an advantage for me. That is one of the great things about an affiliate business with a good working relationship with the provider and a provider that is dependable in their fulfillments etc. There are too many companies that don’t know how to run an affiliate business, treat their affiliates or customers. It is all about getting that first sale and not caring much about getting more from their affiliates once they get the customer info and the cookie dies. Very frustrating at times … but if you put your mind to it, all can be made to work through trial and error with the various companies.

MO:
You are also quite accomplished at computer graphic illustration and design. How do you go about balancing the time demands of Ticketstub.com and your work in graphics?

Ira Zoot:
Again MO, thanks :) Yeah, that was my main focus for so long. I could go on forever about it .. but rather than do that if any of your readers are interested in seeing what I was doing they could check out www.zoot.com.

The last few years any art has really been for friends or myself. I just got kinda burned out … well, the artist version of “writers block, mostly due to unexpected health issues. Between those health issues and the meds, I really didn’t have a “creative flow.” So what I decided to do is concentrate my efforts on Ticketstub.com and some other domain related projects.

Fortunately, my health is almost back to where I would like it to be, and I am focused on getting some new projects going, still site development related . . . at least one will be heavily art and product design related . . . can’t give info just yet. Also, a ton of others I want to get to that cover a variety of niches. It is just overwhelming sometimes deciding which direction to go. I have to admit … I am spoiled by the ticket business and feel I should expand on this with a network of sites. But I did learn something very important when I was a designer/photographer, that it is best to be diversified … “never put all your eggs in one basket” as my grandfather used to say. It is really very true … you never know what can happen. Especially with something like online businesses that rely on other companies over which you have no control.

Anyhow . . . so Zoot the Artist has been “kinda outta da house” for a bit but he is coming back and I can promise that I will return with something people will remember:) That being said … I will always have some kind of online businesses going in tandem with whatever future endeavors I take. The Ticket business has been an amazing one to be part of and I hope to see Ticketstub.com keep moving forward and growing. All the while there are 2 main things I will always put first in my efforts … the brand and making sure that my customers are as happy as I can possibly make them!

MO:
The Super Bowl is coming up very soon. Can you get me tickets about 12 rows up, on the 50-yard line?

Ira Zoot:
Sure MO. I think we can help you out there :) Well, as long as I get to tag along. Since I started selling tickets I don’t seem to get to any of the games or shows anymore!
Feb8

Entrepreneur Jeff Edelman – Student.com

Posted in: Internet, Social Media, What's Your M.O.?

Jeff Edelman

Student.com

Based in New York

Entrepreneur Jeff Edelman – Founder of Student.com

If you want to read about the evolution of a great social website for students, be certain to check out the history of Student.com here:

Student.com/history

I think this is a great read on how something that started “very, very small, with not much content” can evolve into a website with 940,000 members. Folks, we’re talking about nearly a million members! MO.com only needs a million more members to hit that mark.

About Student.com

The site was founded by Jeff Edelman in 1995. I’d venture to guess many reading this interview were not yet even ON the Internet yet in that year, let alone founding a website. I’m not even sure I could spell “www” at that stage of the game. The website caters primarily to high school students and college students, providing helpful articles, forums, blogs, advice, and much more.

MO:

Jeff, you were clearly an early mover on the web. How were you introduced to the Internet? Were you a student at the time yourself?

Jeff Edelman:

I was already over the hill by the mid 90’s. :) I had a friend from college who was one of the original computer nerds. He was one of the founders of Physicians Online, a successful Internet community for Doctors. In early 1995, I was the head of a catalog of New York City designed t-shirts, hats, and boxer shorts called Soho Design. My friend called me over to his office to show me the Internet and told me that I had to get my catalog online. In time, I saw that it made sense to create a community of students online just like he had created a community of doctors. And we got the site up and running in June 1995.

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Feb4

Bruce Marler – Show Me The Entrepreneur

Posted in: Blogging, Internet, Social Media, Web Design, What's Your M.O.?

Bruce Marler

LocalTek, LLC

Missouri.me

BruceMarler.com

HyperlocalSEO.com

Show Me The Entrepreneur

Spending most of my day online, I communicate with folks from all over the world via email and online forums. The Internet has truly made the world smaller by opening the lines of communication like never before. But every now and then… ya bump into someone online, that’s essentially right in your own back yard (in Internet distance). Bruce Marler is a fellow “Show Me State” entrepreneur right here in MO, or Missouri, as he may like to call it (See: Missouri.me). I first came to know about Bruce by reading a story that he was the owner and developer of Missouri.me, which caught my interest. I’m proud of my home state, and I had to see what this was all about. The more I researched, the more I realized Bruce must not sleep much. He is a very active entrepreneur with his development company, LocalTek; his power blogging at BruceMarler.com; and his newly launched HyperlocalSEO.com. Just visit his websites, and you will get that sense also. So I had to reach out to my fellow Missourian and get to know him a bit more. This interview will help you get to know him a bit more also and get a sense of how “alive and well” entrepreneurship is in Missouri.

MO:

It’s great to see a resource being built for our fellow Missourians. How is the build-out of Missouri.me going? Have you all been out pounding the pavement talking to local businesses about the site or is it primarily by phone and email?

Bruce Marler:

We believe a “feet-on-the-street” sales team is the only way to accomplish our goals. Although we focus on search engine optimization and bringing businesses online, at the end of the day many of these businesses in the rural areas need to be educated on the value of being found in the proper places online. They also need to be taught to realize how the Internet is changing their marketing plans for the future.

This means we are conducting seminars, speaking to chambers of commerce, and in some cases going business to business. We have been fortunate to get 100 customers in less than 6 months of selling.

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Feb2

Entrepreneur Raymond Troy – The Nuclear Entrepreneur

Posted in: Ecommerce, Internet, What's Your M.O.?

Raymond Troy

Selling Sunglasses online at:

Nine A Pair

Based in Columbia, MO

The Nuclear Entrepreneur

When meeting a group of business minded people for the first time, you often get a sense of who in the group might have that super heated passion to launch, thrive, and succeed in business. I got that impression very quickly from Ray when listening to him at an entrepreneurs meet-up here in Columbia, MO. Only later did I discover he had a Masters Degree in Nuclear Engineering and he was starting his PhD program at Mizzou. I’m not really sure what Nuclear Engineering is, but it seemed a good match with someone of Ray’s energy and drive. His website NineAPair.com is one among several opportunities he is pursuing, so I expect him to be a repeat interview as his ventures take shape.

MO:

When I was taking classes as a history major at Colorado State University, it was a Herculean effort for me just to get my assignments done on time. So it’s hard for me to imagine someone in a PhD program for Nuclear Engineering finding the time, and more importantly the energy, to run a business at the same time. How do you manage your day-to-day schedule and has the fact that it’s an online business been a key component to making the schedule work for you?

Raymond Troy:

Brian, I am always busy. Always. I wake up at around 8-9 a.m. every day and I don’t stop moving until midnight. Every day. I like to get a workout in the morning and then off to work for the rest of the day. I think working out really gives me a boost to get through the whole day. I never drink coffee or pop, as it is called in Chicago where I am from, to get the extra energy.

Raymond Troy of NineAPair.com on an adventure

The only business I could start was an online one and that was for many reasons. The biggest one was money. I funded the business myself, and I couldn’t afford retail space. Had I been constrained to a retail store, I would have to be there all the time, leaving no time for class. An online business was the only choice. Owning an online business was perfect because once a day for about 45 minutes I would fill orders. The website did all the work. I really have to thank my web developer Jeremiah Fish of Clearpage Interactive for working with me to create something that would save me time in filling orders and running the business.

MO:

I had to ask you three times what the name of your website was… NineAPair.com. I didn’t get it at first, but once I got the explanation that it was a website selling replica sunglasses at $9 a pair, the name has stuck… an odd coincidence as we both have companies with the word “Nine” in the name and I also tend to get asked three times what I said… (My main company is Beach Farm Nine). What was the thought process when selecting the name of your business and how much did finding an available domain name play into the choice?

Raymond Troy:

I started this whole business as a sort of an experiment that might make me some money. The whole idea was to learn e-commerce and business. I knew nothing about both when I started. Nothing. I picked something to sell and that happened to be sunglasses. I had the idea to “Walmart” everyone and be the cheapest on the Internet and hopefully make up the losses in volume. I have no idea how the name was born; I can’t remember. I knew the price was my biggest selling point, so I thought that should be in the name. I wanted people to say they got them from nineapair. Since I was selling sunglasses, I thought the name was self-explanatory. Like anyone who creates something, I am biased, but I think nine a pair has a good ring to it. The legal business name is www.7apair.com L.L.C. and after rethinking some of my costs I knew I had to charge more. I wanted it less than $10, but 9.99 didn’t sound good, so 9 sounded best. The differences in the prices of the models of glasses didn’t deviate too much from each other so I got the idea of flat pricing. I picked a median price and then added my costs from there, which being new to eCommerce and business, I grossly underestimated. I realized it always costs more than you think.

MO:

I’ve run a few eCommerce operations selling various products. However, to date, I have always found a strategic partner to be my fulfillment partner… stocking, picking, packing, and shipping the product as we generated orders online. With Nine A Pair, you actually purchase and stock the product. Can you speak a bit about that process in terms of finding a supplier, negotiating product cost, price points, holding inventory and shipping costs? That’s a mouthful… I may need to buy more disk space for the answer, just let me know…

Raymond Troy:

Finding a supplier was a bit of a journey. When I made the decision to sell sunglasses I started to look at the kiosks in malls where I traveled. There were two companies that I found, NYS Sunglasses and Toucan Sunglasses. Toucan was later bought by Solar X Eyewear. I also did an online search for wholesale sunglasses and got some other ideas. I sent emails to some companies to talk to them. Only one responded, Toucan. So they got my business.
In terms of negotiating prices I tried to get a better price but I do not do enough business to warrant a price break from Solar X. I just order off their website in wholesale quantities and then stock them in my room. Holding inventory is not a problem and doesn’t cost me anything other than inconvenience and space in my room.
Shipping is a totally different story. I have been through many ways to ship. Only until recently have I changed my shipping price. For the first 2 years of the business it was free shipping on any order. I felt that on the Internet there must be free shipping or the customer would feel they could get it at the store. It was no longer a convenience. Recently I needed to increase my revenue so I started to charge a small fee for orders under 3 pairs. I couldn’t start charging more for the glasses due to the name of the site.

For my first attempt at shipping I just bought a Dymo printer and had my web developer export the addresses from the shopping cart to a white adhesive label. I then used Endcia to print postage. I weighed each box and affixed the stamp. It worked ok but I lost a lot of packages because I found people don’t know their addresses or didn’t double-check them when entering. I then switched to the USPS API. It was awesome. It checked the addresses versus its database and made corrections when needed. It was also free, the best part. It also generated labels for me. From there lost packages went to almost zero. As the business grew it was taking more and more time to ship products so I switched again to Stamps.com. This is a great system because it allows postage to be put on the label right when it is generated. This was not available with the USPS system. I then weighed each pair of sunglasses, and I became familiar with the weights of the one pair box, the two pair box, the three pair box, etc., so Jeremiah wrote a program to calculate the weight and feed it to the Stamps.com API so the postage is correct on the label with no weighing. This saved me a lot of time as well as gave different options such as Priority and Express mail to my customers. I have been very happy with it.

International shipping is something that is brand new to 9apair. We just started it Feb 1. We used to do international orders by email only, but now we will be able to process the order normally, like a domestic order. We partnered with BongoUS, a freight forwarder, to provide our international shipping.
UPS is a different beast. I wanted a system from UPS like stamps.com where the label would be generated from the site so all I would have to do is print it up and put it on the box, then drop it off. UPS has a very strict authorization process to allow the website to generate labels. It is taking a long time to get this integrated but it is coming along. It won’t be long before UPS label generation is at nineapair.

MO:

The entrepreneurs group we both attended was focused on Web Marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). What strategies are you employing for NineAPair.com? Do you market primarily online or are you also getting word out offline, and if so, in what ways?

Raymond Troy:

Brian, I do not participate in offline advertising other than donations to organizations that put me in their literature or on the event tee shirt. Some of these are Alpha Chi Omega’s philanthropy, Newman Week, Mizzou Racquetball and Special Olympics.
I don’t advertise at all. I used to do Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising but my margins are so low, they were costing me money. I do believe it is a viable strategy if you do all the revenue and conversion calculations correctly. All my traffic is word of mouth or search engines. I am so surprised at how many people that I have never met type www.nineapair.com into their browser. I have quite a few return customers and I can’t believe the word of mouth generated from customers. It is so crazy that a person who knew nothing about e commerce 2 years ago has a business that people refer friends to.

As for specific things on nineapair, there were a lot of changes to the site for search engine optimization (SEO) from its inception in October of 2007. A list of SEO features for 9apair are: clean urls, content on all the pages, the ability to edit meta data on all pages, and 301 redirects. Both 9apair, nineapair, and 7apair all redirect to the home page nineapair. The content on all pages was the one that really helped.
The second is link building. I buy links from a company called Linkworth. It has really helped me on the search engines. May people don’t like the idea of buying links but so far it has only helped. If business goes well in the future I will be able to get away from Linkworth and get some higher quality link building strategies, mainly run from my friend JC. The problem with Linkworth is that if I stop I will drop in the search engine rankings, and a different link strategy won’t have this effect.

MO:

Thanks for making time for the interview Ray. I know you have some other exciting ventures in the pipeline; will you drop back in when you’re ready to share some information on those?

Raymond Troy:

Brain, if you will have me, of course I will stop by and share my endeavors. I hope my interview helps someone out there because I want to help anyone, especially one who is an entrepreneur. Thank you for this opportunity and I look forward to working with you in the future!
Feb1

Erick Arbé – Golf’s Entrepreneur

Posted in: Internet, Software, Sports, Web Design, What's Your M.O.?

Erick Arbé

Golf Web Design

SwingLoft

Avenue Three Media

Golf’s Entrepreneur

MO:

Let me see:

- Card-carrying member of the PGA of America
- Software Designer
- Founder of a Web Design company

Any other skills we should be aware of?

Erick Arbé:

Well, not any that I can say in this interview. I would like to think my management and personal skills are strong points as I continue to grow my businesses.

MO:

When I first met you on the golf course in Myrtle Beach, I thought you were nothing more than a . . . damned good golfer. So I was a bit surprised to later discover you had created video software for golf swing analysis, specifically for the MAC, for golf professionals to use while providing golf instruction. Can you tell me a bit more about SwingLoft and how you came to the decision to target the niche of golf instructors who use a MAC for the video swing analysis of their sessions?

Erick Arbé:

I have always had an interest in graphic design and art. My love for golf seemed to overtake that interest and led me to become a golf professional – first a teaching professional; then my focus shifted on playing professionally. I have always had an interest in computers too. After I got my first Mac computer I was hooked. After teaching golf for 2 years in California, I realized that there were no good video analysis applications for Mac computers. Golf professionals and other sports coaches were stuck with using Windows for their operating systems. I figured, Why not create a software specifically for Mac that any sport professional could use to give a video lesson! I would use it myself, so why wouldn’t other professionals have the same need?

MO:

You’ve been doing web design work for companies in the golf industry. You surprised me yet again recently when you told me you had gone out and acquired the domain name GolfWebDesign.com (GWD) for your business. You know I’m a big fan of that strategic acquisition, but how much do you believe it will play into your efforts to continue to grow your business?

Erick Arbé:

Funny story about how we got that domain name. I asked a good friend and fellow PGA Professional if he wanted to get into the web design business – specifically focused on the golf industry. We had done some work beforehand together on a few web design projects, so I figured why not. We called ourselves PGA Web Design and bought the domain pgawebdesign.com. We figured this would be OK since we are both members of the PGA of America. Unbeknownst to us, the PGA didn’t like us using this name! So after several days of research and deliberation we found out that the most generic and to-the-point URL was already purchased. We contacted the individual who owned GolfWebDesign.com and made an offer. He had the name for sale and never really did anything with it prior to our offer. The rest . . . is history.

MO:

You’ll have a booth at the huge PGA Tradeshow coming up very soon in Orlando, Florida. I attended the show back when I owned GolfCourses.com and my other golf related Internet properties. It’s a big show, and I recall leaving there with bags full of brochures and pockets full of business cards. It was a great way to pack in a year’s worth of networking in just a few days. Have you put a booth together for a tradeshow before? How is that experience? Will you focus on promoting Golf Web Design or SwingLoft, or both?

Erick Arbé:

I actually just returned from the PGA Merchandise show – it was a blast. We were approached by a company called V1 Pro to form a strategic partnership where GWD would provide the website design for customers who needed it. V1 Pro is actually the main Windows competitor of my software, SwingLoft. I had to set aside my goals for SwingLoft in order to make this partnership happen with GWD. We shared a booth with them at the PGA Show and it turned out great. V1 Pro already has a fantastic reputation and only helps our web design company by being associated with them. We met a lot of incredible contacts at the show and we’re excited about the coming months. This was my first time at the PGA Show as an exhibitor, and it couldn’t have been better.

MO:

When I’m launching new ventures, I tend to get what I consider “good insomnia”… I just can’t sleep because the opportunities are big, and I want to go after it 24 hours a day. I like it. How ‘obsessed’ do you get with building and promoting your product offering? I guess the good news for you is a day on the golf course is ‘research’ for your business.

Erick Arbé:

Haha, I wish that was the case. I am playing much less golf right now and sitting in front of a computer much more! Once our business gets big enough to hire a full time programmer, I will hit the links much more often. I am right there with you on the good insomnia – I haven’t worked this hard in my life. I am constantly thinking of new ideas for Golf Web Design and how we can continue to get new clients. I love designing and building great looking and functioning websites, so to see the end product and make clients happy is truly satisfying. Almost as satisfying as winning a golf tournament!

MO:

So you’ve had the great pleasure of seeing my golf game a few times now… should I pursue a career in the Senior Tour or do you recommend I continue to bask in the glow sitting in front of my computer monitor?

Erick Arbé:

Ha! You typically have a good time on the golf course, and I would hate to see you raise your standards any – that would only lead to more frustration! Although that little draw you play would definitely help you out on the tour…
Jan22

Entrepreneur Terrell Miller – Rancho Media, LLC

Posted in: Agricultural, Domain Names, Internet, Software, What's Your M.O.?

Terrell Miller

Company: Rancho Media, LLC RanchoMedia.com

Blog: Keeping it Rural KeepingItRural.com

Software: EquineMax EquineMax.com

Terrell Miller – Rancho Media

One of my favorite things about talking and networking with other entrepreneurs is learning about the almost endless opportunities that exist for niche businesses. I constantly find myself shaking my head and grinning “wow, I had no idea there was a business niche for that.” I met Terrell Miller on an online forum for domain name investors and have been impressed with his understanding of domains, search engine optimization, and other aspects of doing business online. It was later that I discovered Terrell was actually a successful business owner providing software solutions to help folks manage their animals… e.g., cattle and horses.

MO:

Terrell, you seem to have combined two passions: software development and love for animals. Which came first and how has the blend of passions helped build your business?

Terrell Miller:

My wife (Penny) and I were approaching graduation from Texas A&M University in 1999, her with a degree in Agriculture Leadership and me with a degree in Business/Information Systems. I had job offers in the large cities while her experience was in rural areas. Finding a location that would offer each of us satisfying career paths was difficult. We decided that since we couldn’t find our dream job we would have to create it.

Terrell and Penny Miller Rancho Media

Our first product was a software application for cattle ranchers to manage their beef cattle, based on a program we created in college. We later added software for Texas Longhorn cattle and horses. The income from the software businesses has funded our expansion into websites and domain names.

MO:

Do you outsource things like the web design and online marketing for EquineMax.com, or is this something you take on yourself? Among the many other aspects of running a business…

Terrell Miller:

The web design, customer management system, and online store were all developed by freelancers. Over the years, I’ve been able to build a network of go-to people for specific technologies. My keys to success with freelancers are 1) Treat them just as you would someone in your office 2) Be hands on to clearly communicate goals but know when to step back and let them do their job 3) Cheapest isn’t always the best

Since going to online-only advertising, after running 50+ print publications a month, Penny and I do all of the marketing ourselves. The bulk of the marketing is Pay-Per-Click (PPC) management and conversion rate optimization on our website.

MO:

My wife and I started off with no animals lo so many years ago… then came the first puppy, and then the next… we are now up to 3 dogs, 2 cats, chickens, turkeys, a tortoise (no, seriously), and now… 4 horses… at what number of horses does a person become a good candidate for EquineMax.com ? Our current level of equine management sophistication is when my wife gets home and says “honey, did you feed the horses today?”

Terrell Miller:

Wow it sounds like you have a real animal farm. Horse owners with as few as two horses use our software, with the big determining factor being the level of detail they need to keep. Some owners like to extensively document shoeing, dental, treatments, and tests. Others may show or compete and want to keep up with their wins. As a horse owner, you know how much horses cost to maintain and our software can help provide the peace of mind by knowing you have good records in a central location.

One of the unique things about EquineMax is the diversity in customers. We may receive an email from a customer 10 miles from our house and the next email from a equine manager for a sheik in Dubai. Between our cattle and horse software, there are cattle ranchers and horse owners in all 50 states and 56 countries keeping their records with our software.

MO:

I’ve read some of your ideas on how to get your product in front of potential customers, are there any techniques or strategies you can share for other entrepreneurs looking for solid marketing ideas?

Terrell Miller:

We are in such a time-deprived society now that it’s tough to get in front of potential customers. When you do get that chance, you need to quickly answer their #1 question – “What’s in it for me?”.

Despite the recent economic downturn, it’s not about having the lowest price as that’s simply a race to the bottom. Customers will still pay for a quality product that solves a problem. It’s up to you as an entrepreneur to communicate that your product does what the customer needs.

Having a good website, on a good domain name, with good search engine optimization, is essential for most businesses today. A website is a lot like a sales person – it has to be nurtured, evaluated, and nurtured more. So many businesses make the mistake of designing a site and not touching it for years. It’s essential today that businesses continually optimize and test their website for conversion.

MO:

During the course of this interview, I discovered you are the owner of the website: PaintHorse.com. Would you believe… that is exactly the type of horse I have had my eye on for when we get a horse for yours truly (me). Perhaps you’ll let me guest post on your site once I’m the proud owner of a paint horse?

Terrell Miller:

The Paint Horse is a beautiful breed of horse. I chose Paint Horses because, as with my Texas Longhorns, I like a breed of animal that I can look across the pasture and know which animal is which. My 18-month old son has several stuffed paint horses in his room.

PaintHorse.com is a work in progress that I hopefully will get around to giving the treatment it deserves. You are certainly welcome to submit some photos or articles!

MO:

Longhorns… you are a Texan that actually has longhorns… what little-known fact can you tell us non-Texans about these cool looking creatures?

Terrell Miller:

Terrell Miller and one of his longhorns

They are truly magnificent animals. A little known fact is that the Texas Longhorn breed was once almost extinct until conservation efforts in the 1920’s. Nowadays, Texas Longhorns can be found throughout the country as they are prized for their beauty as well as their lean meat. Ours are gentle enough that they will eat from your hand – but do watch those 6+ foot of horns!