Archive: July 2007
Let's talk about giving the advertisers the maximum return on their investment. I knew I wanted to tackle this topic as soon as I got this gig.
I am not an expert on all things Postie-related. Neither am I a novice. I like to think of myself as Everyman, and I will try to bring that perspective to my posts over here. Plus I look good in hats.
One thing I have learned in my time as a Postie is that it is often hard to find a definitive answer to certain questions and issues, as you will see.
When taking an opp, I have always been mindful that basically I am being employed by the advertiser. Now, I don't know about you, but wherever I have worked I have always strived to be a good employee. I like to think I bring the same work ethic to my opps as I do my day job. I want them to like me, and I want them to feel that the job I have done for them was worth the money they paid.
I do this partly because I want to get a good tack rating, I do it partly because I know that the happier the advertiser is the more likely they are to advertise again which is good for PayPerPost, and I also do it because...well...it's just the right thing to do, darn it. Hey, don't judge me soley by what I write on my blogs. I was raised right, you know!
Don't look at me like that.
Anyway, I try to make sure I do something above and beyond just what is an "acceptable job". Now, for a long time I would include extra links in my posts as often as I could. I figured "Hey, if they are happy if I do one link, then they'll really be happy if I do three meaningful links!" And maybe it worked, because I had a tack rating of 5.
Then I got wind that some advertisers didn't like it if you included extra links. There was some theory that too many links diluted the worth of the post. Hmm... I looked on the boards but couldn't find a definitive answer. In fact, I started a thread on the topic the other day in anticipation of writing this post and still it seemed to be a gray area. The only real consensus was that some advertisers appreciated extra links and some didn't. However, there is no way to tell when you take an opp which school of thought that particular advertiser belongs to (if they belong to one at all).
In any event, I stopped putting in extra links for fear of taking a hit on my tack rating (more on tack rating in a bit). Instead what I tried to do was give them more words than they required. I usually did that anyway, but after deciding to include just the links required, I really concentrated on doing it. In a way, I think it improved the quality of my posts even more because I then tended to take opps that I felt extremely comfortable with, such as finance, sports, and entertainment. I can knock out 200-300 words on those topics without breathing heavy.
In contrast, I think we all know what it's like to take an opp that has a decent payoff only to find out that once you get into it, you think "Huh?" and then have to struggle to reach that required wordcount because you don't really understand the subject matter very well.
I've been guilty of doing that in the past. Not anymore though. There have been several times I have taken a $15 opp only to take a second look and throw it back. These days I would rather take a $10 opp and do what I know is a really good job on it than to take a $20 opp and after I submit it still not know what the heck I was writing about.
In other words, I don't like to have to fake it.
Does giving the advertiser more words than required give them a better return on their investment? Again, there doesn't seem to be any definitive answer on this that I can find. It makes me feel better though, and I figure it can't hurt, so I keep doing it. And my tack rating is still five.
And what about that pesky tack rating, anyway? How important is it? There are different schools of thought on this as well, and I could probably do a whole separate post just on tack rating (goodness knows this post is long enough as it is) but the bottom line for me is that I take pride in my work and I tend to be a bit competitive and obsessed, and so I am going to do everything I can to make sure I have the highest tack rating possible.
So what have we learned here today, kids? Well...we learned that I don't really have any answers. There are more theories about a lot of this stuff than there are about the Kennedy assasination. But you can't go wrong with the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Picture yourself as the advertiser (and heck, quite a few Posties have also been advertisers). What kind of job would you like your employees to do for you?
There is your answer. Or at least as much of one as I can give you.
And if you have made it all the way to the end of this post, I admire your stamina. As your reward, here is another embrassing photo of me:
The mocking may commence.
Club Ted:
In this episode of RockStartup, the company heads down to Club Med for the first PayPerPost company retreat.
Technorati Tags: club med, documentary, payperpost, ppp, reality tv, rockstartup, ted murphy
Well, maybe I am being a little dramatic. This Sunday I will turn 26.... I mean 31 years old. I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. It seems like it was just yesterday I was a kid playing stick ball on the beach. I just can't believe that I am in my 30s, how did that happen so damn fast?!?! Mr. Fab's post inspired me to look through some of my old photos from growing up.
Take a look at my father and I here:
That couch looks awesome. Apparently it was comfortable. Man... those were the days. No job, no mortgage and all my meals were prepared for me.
I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bummed out. 31. hmmm. Sure doesn't seem to have the same magic and excitement as 21 did. There's nothing really special that happens at 31. There are no new privileges, no laws that I am not breaking any more. It's just 31, one more year. I suppose if I was a tree I would have another ring in my trunk, but that is about all I can think of and I am not a tree (anymore).
But maybe, just maybe I am misinformed. Maybe 31 is the best year of your life and I should be celebrating in the streets and bragging to my friends. Maybe they should start making shirts that say "I''m 31 and I'm a badass". The only people that know are those of you who have seen 31 come and go. You are the people I want to hear from. If 31 was the best year of your life (hell even if it was just a pretty good year) I want to know. What happened? Any awesome milestones to look forward to.
Give me hope (and send cake) : )
I am heading off to LA this morning. As always my flight is delayed... so happy I got up at 4am only to sit at the airport : ) I'm actually lucky that this flight is delayed, cheaptickets.com totally messed up my reservation and I would never have made my flight.
I tried to check in via the kiosk and that didn't work so I had to get in the regular line. As I got to the front of the line they call me on my cell phone and say "we're sorry, we didn't actually make a reservation for you. We can get you on another flight later today that flies into San Francisco and then connects to Los Angeles." I was like what? I have a print out with my confirmation number right here! "Yes, we understand that but we didn't actually book that and your flight is sold out". Great timing guys.
I spent an hour at the airline counter this morning clearing that mess up. The person at United was awesome and took care of me, getting me on the flight that was sold out. Luckily I still got an aisle seat. Are you an aisle or window person? Is there such a thing as a middle person... someone who actually prefers to be in the middle of a hot, smelly stranger sandwich?
I don't have dinner plans tonight so if anyone is bored and would like to meet up that would be cool. I am staying at the Marriott Courtyard in Marina Del Ray. Drop me a comment if you are in the area.
Greetings and salutations!
Mr. Fab here, your new roving reporter and Postie mouthpiece, dropping in to say hi, introduce myself, and let y'all know what my function will be here on the PayPerPost blogs. That is, if I can learn how to use this Typepad thingy.
For those of you that don't know me, don't believe what anyone tells you. For those of you who do know me, I can hear you out there, taking bets on how long it will take me to blow this gig by talking about something I shouldn't.
Well, the joke is on you. I can absolutely work G-rated. There are many sides, many moods, many layers to Mr. Fab. I am like a chameleon or a salamander, or whatever that creepy lizard thing is that changes colors.
Plus Ted has already had "the talk" with me. I'm not foolish enough to disobey him. Are you kidding? He's just about the most powerful man in the entire online world. One mistep from me and he could have me whacked. He wouldn't even have to say anything. Just a slight nod of the head to one of his minions and in a couple of hours I'm waking up to some guy in my bedroom holding a pillow over my face.
I plan to be a good boy.
In the tradition of the "Where Were We Then" posts, I thought I might delve into my past and retrieve a picture of a younger, more innocent fellow. This was me, pre-Fab:
Prom night, 1980. Powder blue tuxedos never go out of style, do they?
I even had hair back then. Although you can already see the hairline beginning to retreat. Stupid hairline.
Not much has changed in all these years. The 44 year old Mr. Fab got fired from his job in 2006 because of his blog, and the 18 year old pre-Fab got suspended from high school because of a book he had written about his fellow senior class members.
At least I'm consistent, right?
Anyway, back to what the heck I'm doing here in the first place. I'll be blogging about what is going on in our community, what the hot button topics of the moment are, what it's like to be a Postie, not just from my point of view but from yours as well.
I'll also be writing about ways to be a better Postie and how to provide advertisers with maximum return (a topic near and dear to my heart). I'd like to think of my role as kind of a Postie advocate, so if you've got any ideas about topics you would like to see covered or if you have a story to share or if you just want to tell me how good I looked in that powder blue tux and ask me if I can still dance to Peaches and Herb's Shake Your Groove Thing please feel free to write to me at tjotjog(at)yahoo(dot)com.
I'm really looking forward to this. We're gonna have a lot of fun!
Today was a very special Pot Luck Friday, not only did we have a crazy amount of food again but we also gave David a surprise baby shower. Enjoy the pics!
CakePlow Time! Poor David..
I am pleased to announce that starting this weekend Mr. Fabulous will bring his unique style and wit to the PayPerPost Community and Postie Blogs. Mr. Fab will be reporting on the latest drama in the forums, cool happenings in the lives of our Posties and how to become a better blogger. Welcome Mr. Fab!
As many of you know we do a pot luck lunch the last friday of every month. Last night I decided to cook up a big batch of 40 chicken and apple sausages for the team. This morning that became 39. I have been drinking smoothies for breakfast the past few months and I needed a change. Brit egged me on and I decided to grab a sausage from my tray and make it 39. They are even better cold.
Noobies in the houusseee! Customer Love has opened its ever-loving arms to a lovely lady, Carri! Carri hails from Ohio. We're so glad to have a new teammate, now it's your turn to meet Carri!
Welcome back 1989. This is me freshman year in High School. I look at this picture and mostly I remember just how long it took to get my hair to look like this. Teasing and spraying lethal amounts of Extra Super Hold Aqua Net (in the pink can) with my ride honking out in the driveway. I am pretty sure that I single handedly caused Global Warming.
At this point in time I believe I wanted to be a Broadway actress. (None of that glitzy Hollywood crap for me. I wanted to be a real actress.) A few years later I wanted to be a Curator at the Tate Gallery in London. Mostly for their extensive Pre-Raphaelite collection and the Rothko room.
Carri Facts:
-I have a degree in Art History from Kent State University. I completed all the coursework for a Master’s, but moved to Florida before writing my thesis. Although, I did pick a topic, The Myth of Misogyny in Revisionist Art History. I still believe that one day I’ll finish it.
-I have the same two best friends that I did in High School. One is a radical left-wing poet and the other teaches 6th grade Social Studies.
-My favorite movie of all time is The Philadelphia Story followed closely by The Jerk. Every time I get a phone book (which is a lot – I’m not sure why, but the phone book fairy frequents my house often) I run around the house with it yelling, “The new phone book’s here!”
-I don’t think much of time. It’s a man-made construct to order the chaos of the infinity of space.
-Huh?
-I truly admire the organizational structure of both the Military and the Mafia.
-I have lived in the same place for 5 years and have no clue what any of my neighbor’s names are. I identify them by their most prevalent trait (car guy, feral children, no shirt guy, 12 step).
-Okay, I think that’s enough. If I tell you anymore about myself then you’re going to start thinking we’re friends and I’ll have to remember your name.
Loveeee,
Evil Ted
Ted is speaking in Toronto and runs into arch nemesis Mike Arrington.
You can also watch, download and embed the video from these locations:
Special Thanks to:
Loren Feldman of 1938Media
Technorati Tags: 1938media, arrington, blog, documentary, mike arrington, payperpost, reality tv, rockstartup, techcrunch
