Opinioneer
E-Commerce Marketing, WordPress and a bit of Zen
Customer Service Sells
In: On Various Stuff
27 Aug 2008It’s been a while since I posted anything here, and for a good reason; I had no time. But here is a great story from this past weekend.
I was looking to buy a mattress, but it never occurred to me that mattress sales people can be like used car salesmen. I walk into the first store, Sleepy’s, and this pretty girl comes up to me and starts showing me mattresses. She is having a hard time showing me something that I like and within my price range. Finally, she shows me something a few hundred dollars over my price range and starts the “let me see what I can do” game.
As a side note, she seemed inexperienced in sales, while at the same time, this was the only mattress she showed me that actually felt comfortable.
Anyway, after telling me that the mattress that was normally selling for $1599.00 is only $1299.00 without the box spring, I tell her that it still is $600 more than what I’d like to spend. That’s when she quickly remembers that there was a recent sale and she goes to the manager to find out what the sale price was. Well, it turns out that in the most recent sale they had, the mattress sold for $1099.00 and she would be willing to extend that price if I bought on the spot.
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- Tags: customer service
Instructing others
In: On Zen
20 Apr 2008A man should first direct himself in the way he should go. Only then should he instruct others.
- Buddha
On the way to CTIA
In: On My Projects
31 Mar 2008It has been more than a few years since the last time I attended CTIA, but this year I hear it is the place to be. It is also a good time to launch the new service I’ve been working on for a while now. WirelessCareer.com is still in beta, but it is officially open to everybody.
Not much else to say right now because I have to get to the airport, but I will post more details in the next few days.
Finally an inspiring theme
In: On Wordpress
27 Mar 2008I think I have finally found a theme that inspires me to write. I have tried working around several themes but none really did it for me. They were all nice, each one had its pros, but this one seems more inviting.
Anyway, it’s been a while since the last time I posted anything and that is for a good reason. I am working on launching a WordPress based site that kicks butt. After all the testing is done, probably a few more weeks, the theme will beavalable as a Premium Theme.
All I can say now is that a theme like this has never been done with WP before. More on this soon.
Everyday Life is the Path
In: On Zen
5 Mar 2008Joshu asked Nansen: `What is the path?’ Nansen said: `Everyday life is the path.’
Joshu asked: `Can it be studied?’
Nansen said: `If you try to study, you will be far away from it.’
Joshu asked: `If I do not study, how can I know it is the path?’
Nansen said: `The path does not belong to the perception world, neither does it belong to the nonperception world. Cognition is a delusion and noncognition is senseless. If you want to reach the true path beyond doubt, place yourself in the same freedom as sky. You name it neither good nor not-good.’
At these words Joshu was enlightened.
Mumon’s Comment: Nansen could met Joshu’s frozen doubts at once when Joshu asked his questions. I doubt that if Joshu reached the point that Nansen did. He needed thirty more years of study.
In spring, hundreds of flowers; in autumn, a harvest moon;
In the summer, a refreshing breeze; in winter snow will accompany your.
If useless things do not hang in your mind,
Any season is a good season for you.
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- Tags: koan
On Daily Living
In: On Zen
23 Feb 2008A few days ago I read this excellent post over at Zen Habits but I only found the time to blog about it today. No point to comment, because it says it all. The only thing I would have written differently, is that I’d caution against drinking too much scotch, since I don’t drink tequila. So just go read it. Again and again… and then once more:
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- Tags: advice, daily living, On Zen
A Cup of Tea
In: On Zen
19 Feb 2008This Koan kick starts the Zen category which will include various bits and pieces of wisdom, most of them applicable (in a mysterious way) to both work and daily life.
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”
“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
Reorganizing
In: On Various Stuff
18 Feb 2008After giving it some thought, I decided to reorganize the sections of this blog and give it some structure, rather than make up categories as I go. That actually helps me structure my thoughts, not just the blog. What a realization!
As of today, every post will fall under one of 7 categories. More will probably be added as needed but for now it is just seven. Cheers!
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- Tags: blog, categories, reorganizing
Why Sedo?
In: On Domains
5 Feb 2008I’ve had a terrible cold for a few days now so everything was put on hold, but today I got back on my laptop and decided to check my Sedo account. In the past 32 days, according to Sedo stats, these domains seem to have had quite a few visitors, yet only made me $4.64 in ad revenue. I am not greedy but, really, is that bad or what?
I am starting to think that I should start running these domains on my own platform soon. In the meantime I am in the process of customizing a new CMS platform where I will run a new-old publishing network. I used to operate a network of sites with daily b2b news. At the time there was no AdSense and the whole thing was a journalistic endeavor. After I sold most of the assets to a larger online publisher I let some of the domains expire while I kept other and shut some down.
In the past couple of months I purchased some of the domains I had let expire, and I am preparing to get the whole thing up and running again. This time it will be tweaked to require minimal input from me as it no longer is a journalistic endeavor, but a domain monetizing project. Having said that, I think many will agree that if the content under each domain is relevant and of quality, then the revenue will reflect that.
I just need to finalize the layout of the sites and we are up and running.
What’s the (Sedo) deal?
In: On Domains
30 Jan 2008I just checked my Sedo.com account to see how the 50 domains I have parked there are doing. Well, in the last 30 days or so they have made me $3!!! Sedo has made me rich and I am retiring next month. Right before I retire I will retire my domains from Sedo as well.
The truth is that, prior to parking them with Sedo, most of those names where collecting dust because I didn’t have time to even built a landing page. But two of those domains had their own mini sites prior to Sedo parking and they were doing much better than they are now.
Which means that I need to move my domains to my own landing pages and put some decent content there. I bet that the $3 that Sedo makes me will multiply by 3. Now if I can only find the time…
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- On Domains (5)
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- On Various Stuff (5)
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