Rahvalor - Latest Comments

Re: Why The Boy Scout Who Sold Me Caramel Corn Is A Marketing Prodigy

Scott Fisher — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:18:00 -0000

UPDATE FROM DAD: Although he has a bit of popcorn remaining for another good weekend worth of sales, the 2011 Popcorn Season is coming to a close for Donovan "The Popcorn Scout." Thanks again for the Shout-Out on Rahvalor Blog. I'm sure Donovan will see everyone again next year as he scouts to Eagle. Over $9200 later since starting this year, I look back on dozens of hours following Donovan around and delivering popcorn from the car while listening on Speakerphone as he improved upon his interactions and built the relationships with his customers. He turns 12 on Thanksgiving. Feel free to stop by ThePopcornScout.com and wish him a Happy Birthday.

Re: Why The Boy Scout Who Sold Me Caramel Corn Is A Marketing Prodigy

Scott Fisher — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 04:41:00 -0000

Another
GREAT WEEK for Donovan "The Popcorn Scout" supporting the Scouts and
also the Troops around the world serving our country! Last year ended at
$7011 and this year is approaching $5000 with nearly $1200 in Support
Our Troops donations!

Way to go on those 180+
"Likes" already for your article Donovan! Pretty Popular! Even having
some new "fans" going to your "Shop Now" tab at ThePopcornScout.com and "Supporting Our Troops"
right from your Facebook Page. Pretty PROUD!

Re: Why The Boy Scout Who Sold Me Caramel Corn Is A Marketing Prodigy

Jerry Pittman — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:13:00 -0000

Donovan The Popcorn Scout came to see me again this year too. I agree Mr. McKelvey, he is a great person to know. Needless to say I made the same purchase as last year and all the info was at his fingertips. This year my Better Half answered the door and she knew who he was and called me to the door also. That was a very nice blog you wrote and I can't wait to see Donovan again next time.

Re: Why The Boy Scout Who Sold Me Caramel Corn Is A Marketing Prodigy

Scott Fisher — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:37:00 -0000

Donovan thanks you for your kind story, Mr. McKelvey. (He's a Scout, so it's still Mr.!) Check out the response to the article. It's good to see that the Boy Scouts of America and "Support Our Troops" are still popular topics in America.

When you talk about "How many pre-teens do you know who could stand in front of a complete stranger . . . " I actually told Donovan last year that HE was one of my heroes. I think his response was something that reminded be ABRUPTLY that he was still just 10 years old. (Oh well, dads have to have their moments -- even if short-lived.)THANKS AGAIN!

Re: Should you use a captcha? (Spoiler: No.)

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 04:06:00 -0000

Yes, I should use the CAPTCHA. We all know that its come when we registered in any website. It is necessary for security purpose and stopping the spamming.

Re: Should you use a captcha? (Spoiler: No.)

Ralph M. Rivera — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:16:00 -0000

One thing I should have worked into this post was that my thoughts have a different impact on companies at different scales. A company with a handful of unique visits or submissions per day has entirely different needs and concerns than a company with hundreds of visits or submissions.

Mollom sounds great. If it helps with the signal to noise ratio then I'm all for it.

And for the record, I hate cicadas more than i hate captchas.

Re: Should you use a captcha? (Spoiler: No.)

Amy — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:02:00 -0000

I can understand your frustration with captchas — they're always at least mildly irritating, and sometimes require two or three tries to get right. But at the same time the level of spam out there is ridiculous — especially when it comes to things like blogs and contact forms.

The company I work for develops in Drupal, which besides being a great CMS, also has a nifty module called mollom. It's like a back-up captcha. When a person comments on our blog or fills out our contact form, they are NOT presented with a captcha. But mollom is clever: if it detects a lot of links in an email, or occurrences of certain words typically associated with spammers (medical enhancements, anyone?), it will present just THAT user with a captcha when they submit their comment. Then they'll have to fill out the captcha and submit the comment again.

mollom is pretty smart, and you can help it "learn" by adding terms to its filter settings, and reporting spam comments that DO make it through. Best of both worlds.

Re: How to lose a customer gracefully

Barton Stabler — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 21:21:00 -0000

I can't imagine where you get you're inspiration! Good words to live by!

Re: 10 spelling and grammar mistakes that can ruin your ad, blog, email or business communication

Dianne White — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:22:00 -0000

Yep, no matter how technologically advanced we get, grammar and spelling remain important. When you write, you should always double check your content: one mistake in spelling is as bad as several mistakes. In things such as web content and SEO, poor grammar will cause problems if you want to get noticed online.

Re: 10 spelling and grammar mistakes that can ruin your ad, blog, email or business communication

Lawrence Spring — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 18:38:00 -0000

These can be pretty simple, but they can end up causing some bad cracks on your website. Bad spelling can be a problem; for example, it might mess up your SEO keywords, which won't help out your website at all. Spell check will help you out, but be sure to practice good grammar on your own... for your own good!

Re: Three ways to make your email marketing campaigns more effective

Toby Benjamin — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:28:00 -0000

I wish more companies would abide by these guidelines. There's a fine line between a marketing email and spam, and it's important for marketing companies to keep conscious of that.

Re: Don’t be a Weiner* Protect yourself from hacks, security threats and privacy concerns

Jennifer — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 03:50:00 -0000

Good article, here is interesting analysis on why having a password with three common words is more secure than complex passwords required by some systems - http://www.baekdal.com/tips...

Re: The 10 commandments of marketing

Anissa Berger — Tue, 24 May 2011 18:26:00 -0000

That was awesome Carol Lynn! I will call you at 9am on Saturday to discuss. Lol.

Re: Why A Price-Focused Marketing Message Is Risky Business

Ralph M. Rivera — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:25:00 -0000

Agreed!

Re: Why A Price-Focused Marketing Message Is Risky Business

John Kenyon — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:06:00 -0000

You are 100% correct.. This new economy has completely changed buyer behavior which has forced retailers to adjust just to survive. A company trying to hold on to old values will have to be prepared to weather this long storm!

Re: You’re Fired: When to call it quits with a client.

Becky — Mon, 09 May 2011 13:59:00 -0000

Hi Ralph,

Great post, and good topic for entrepreneurs to have to think about. No one ever wants to think that they'll have to fire a client, but as you said, sometimes the writing is on the wall. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I've only had to do it once, and frankly, I've never made a better decision for my business. There is a short-term pain, but the long term opportunity more than makes up for it.

Thanks for sharing,

Becky Blackler

Re: All I really need to know about marketing I learned from planning my wedding

Anissa Berger — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:42:00 -0000

Great story, but how could you not work the waiters walking around the two of you with flaming dessert dishes while you slow danced with each other into it? The absolute highlight (for me) of your wedding! Enjoyed the read. Thanks!

Re: Logo Language: A Designer's Perspective

Michael Campasano — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 22:01:00 -0000

Sounds like a good plan Gary. Thanks for the kind words!

Re: Logo Language: A Designer's Perspective

Gary Lockwood — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 21:38:00 -0000

Great post Mike, I think I'll bookmark it and send it to new or problematic clients.

Re: Logo Language: A Designer's Perspective

Toby Benjamin — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 21:10:00 -0000

I've dealt or heard about far too many clients who think graphic design is a weekend chore.

A good logo can make or break a business, especially one that's just getting started. It's the first thing people notice about your business and the quickest way people can recognize you.

Think about the familiarity of the "Golden Arches," and recall the uproar over Gap's helvetica logo (you know, the one that was trashed about 6 days later); clearly, there's more to logo design than just "cool" fonts and flashy graphics.

Logos are about creating a brand image, and that's something best left to a trained if not experienced professional.

P.S. - Stay the hell away from Comic Sans and Papyrus. You have been warned.

Re: 10 spelling and grammar mistakes that can ruin your ad, blog, email or business communication

Rahvalor — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:44:00 -0000

Add that to the list of grammatical pet peeves! It’s definitely a long and growing list. I think people who use “myself” are hedging against making a mistake with me and I.

Re: 10 spelling and grammar mistakes that can ruin your ad, blog, email or business communication

Profelinda — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:13:00 -0000

Am I the only person who thinks that reflexive pronouns have become horribly misused? "You can call Bob or myself if you have any issues with your account." "Bob or myself will call you back immediately with a solution." I want to run screaming from the building!

Re: Tales from the trenches: How to drive a web developer mad by asking why the competition is cheaper

Carol Lynn Rivera — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:45:00 -0000

Steffan, I like your analogy to babysitting. We usually use the "building a house" analogy but I might have to borrow yours. Most clients do eventually learn, but it's too bad they do it the hard way. We'd love to hear your stories, too. It's always nice to know someone out there is coming from the same place!

Re: Tales from the trenches: How to drive a web developer mad by asking why the competition is cheaper

SteffanAntonas — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:39:20 -0000

Man, I loved reading this. Every designer has a few horror stories like this. You hit the nail on the head here -
"What it's surprisingly difficult to do, especially in a cost-conscious society at a very cost-conscious moment in history, is convince clients that building a web site is only a fraction of the equation. It's about why you're building a web site, and what you want that web site to do."
I couldn't have said it better.
Unfortunately we all learn the hard way, not once, but multiple times, over the course of growing as a designer. But you know what, clients learn too. Many people who opt to go for these cookie cutter websites learn the hard way when they realize how much effort and thought goes into making a website actually WORK for them and their business. Those people go to professionals when they've been in the trenches doing it themselves. Making a web presence work isn't like a few nights of baby-sitting. It's like raising a child. Two totally different things. The value clients look for changes over time. The trick is...to build in as much rigor into your design process as possible to make sure that people are getting the most value for your time as possible.
I'll share a few of my war stories offline with you over beers one day...and it will be gut-busting. That's a promise ;-).

Re: How to waste money on your website: Stupid Idea 13

Ralph M. Rivera — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 08:35:26 -0000

Thanks! Glad you liked it.