Domestic Geek

Companies spend tons of money every year on promotional products to get their name in the face of consumers and clients. I think one of the biggest mistakes they make is not considering that prospective customer's needs before choosing a product to distribute. For instance, plastic key chains? Who really uses those? Magnets? I have enough, thanks. Provide me with something useful or out of the ordinary and I'll not only use it, I'll definitely think of your company when I need services or products such as yours.

One of the coolest things I ever received is an Illuminated Mouse Pad and USB hub from CDW. Not only is it something I use daily, but it is related to the products they offer.

Edited to add on 2/27/2014: The company I now work for is the worst at this. As employees, we get some of the same things they give to our clients. This year, a picnic blanket with the company logo. Previously, tons of camping chairs, flashlights, etc. Not related to the printing industry whatsoever.

I love pin backed buttons. I used to have quite the collection of them when I was in high school. Back then, it was in to cover a denim jacket with buttons. I've mentioned it before, but in case you didn't know, I own a Button Maker. It's pretty cool. Marcus and I have used it for many things in the past. A friend of ours had us make buttons for his 2020 presidential campaign. I've made buttons for a dance instructor to give to her students that completed her class. I plan on designing a button to send to people who pledge their support for my next blogathon effort coming up in July 2007.

I've decided I'm going to get serious about putting the button machine to good use. I'm envisioning a line of t-shirts with matching buttons. Now I just need to get busy and design the things. One of the things that has held me back from actually making money with my machine in the past is the circle cutter that came with it. It's really lame and hard to line up. I'm going to invest in a punch cutter. That should make the process a whole lot easier. I also need to invest in machines to do other sizes. Mine currently does the 2.25" buttons, but there have been instances where I wished I could make bigger ones. Those little 1" buttons are really cute, too.

So, help a girl out here — what would you want on a button?

I've been doing a lot of reading on search engine optimization (SEO) during this job-hunting period. Since it seems that a lot of companies are requiring SEO skills of anyone their hire to do any web work, I wanted to see if it was something I really wanted to learn. The truth is, SEO is an animal unto itself. It takes a lot of knowledge to get the search engines working for your business. It's not enough to get clicks to your site, you need to be able to reach the people that will actually buy and use your products or services. If these companies were smart, they'd obtain the services of a company that specializes in Search Engine Marketing.

Apogee Search is one of those companies. They have recently joined an organization named SEMPO whose goal is to educate and foster awareness of SEM and its role in marketing. SEMPO has the sponsorship of search engine giants Google and Yahoo. Anyone who has surfed the Internet recently is aware of many of the unsavory tactics going on to boost search engine rankings. Apogee hopes their involvement in SEMPO will promote fair and ethical practices in the SEM field:

Apogee Search is in full agreement with SEMPO's recent moves toward establishing standards of behavior that will hopefully aid in cleaning up the dirty underside of the Search Engine Optimization and Pay-Per-Click industry. Apogee Search CEO/President William Leake, a frequent international lecturer and guest speaker on topics such as "Avoiding Search Engine Marketing Malpractice" has long believed that SEMPO could play a more positive role in advancing the overall industry.

For something as important to a business as optimizing their sites for search engines, they really do need to leave it to the professionals. I'll keep the folks at Apogee Search in mind when I get my own online business going in the future.

I came across this site a couple of weeks ago and meant to blog about it and totally forgot. Although tagged as an Internet business blog, James Brausch's writings can pertain to almost anyone's life. He has written several articles that "hit home" as to why I'm stuck and have not succeeded in any of the goals I have set forth for myself. In "Three Major Causes of Failure," he writes that one of the reasons why people don't succeed is they don't take action. I personally have learned a lot, both through life experience and school, yet I have failed to turn that knowledge into action. "Attitude Check" talks about the problems of focusing on the problems instead of working on solutions.

"Creative Thinking… or Gearing Up the Old Brain!" dealt with stimulating one's brain into thinking. It turns out those showers I always take when I've hit a creative block or just need to think are exactly the right course of action!

As far as his writings on Internet business, he offers guidance on product creation, traffic generation and copywriting. His easy-to-read style and practical advice are two things that are going to keep me coming back to his site for more.