Teddy Bear Blog

I was thinking about the London Olympic Games 2012. I put in my bid for tickets at about 11.30pm last night. It kept crashing but then it half-worked and I managed to pay for tickets that I’d selected about 3 weeks ago but hadn’t finished the transaction process. OK, so I should have done it earlier, but with a million and one things to do life is just so busy.

So that gives me about a 1 in 1000 chance of seeing the mens 100 metres final which will probably be the most sought after event. Or am I being a little over optimistic? Perhaps 1 in a million? Who knows?

I didn’t bother putting down anything else. I wonder if that will be the same with the other hordes who applied. Are we all applying for the same tickets and will there be loads left during the weekdays, and especially for events that are not as popular?

Anways, what Teddy Bear Friends is now thinking is will there be a soft toy mascot for the London Olympics - there’s that strange logo which took ages for me to realise it actually read 2012! I thought it was a lion or something at first. Wasn’t it supposed to be a moving logo that worked in animation? Has that idea been dropped quietly. Maybe someone should remind the PR types.

There’s always a soft toy or teddy bear mascot. But have you seen what’s been dreamed up for this event? A motley crue of the most bizarre looking things you’re ever likely to see. Take a gander at these London 2012 mascots and tell me what the heck is going on. Mandeville and Wenlock - more like power rangers who didn’t make the grade.

I guess we’ll be seeing more of these delightful characters in the months leading up to the games but I’m not sure if they’ll go ‘missing’ along with that animated logo, only to be replaced with a teddy bear wearing an Olympic logo on a t-shirt. We’ll see. And if there is, you’ll find him at that last link.

I was there when Google was just a buzzword - hey have you heard about this brilliant new search engine. It’s super fast, gives great results, has a clean interface and is easy to use.

I switched from AltaVista mainly although in those days of the late 1990s we had a reasonable choice including excite, Hotbot, Lycos (remember the dog), dogpile and of course Yahoo! I was never a really big fan of Yahoo! as it was created: employing a series of directories that you had to navigate. It could take a good few minutes to get a result and these were limited to those websites who were established.

Google was the new kid on the block. It was fast. It was relevant. It seemed less corporate. It was better.

Yahoo! must have thought so, they started using Google to do the search queries. Very quickly, no one bothered searching through directories anymore. Unfortunately for Yahoo!, they didn’t see the future. Should have built their own search facility (or bought out Google) but they were wedded to the easy bucks of people paying to be in a directory. Didn’t realise the opportunity cost they were missing.

Soon Google streaked past Yahoo! and became top dog. And that’s when it all started going wrong.

Google got religion

Google got all preachy. You mustn’t do this. You mustn’t do that. This is what we want. If you don’t do as we say. And of course, Google doesn’t do evil so they must be right. Hmmm. Global corporation not doing evil. Doesn’t quite ring true. Can it be real?

Google says put your hands on your head

So now Google was telling people how they should develop websites. Build links if you want to appear in our listings. You must be great if you’ve got loads of links says Google.

So the savvy guys built lots - and I mean lots - of links. Google put them at the top. What a brilliant set of results Google now had. Or did it? No, of course, it was just filled with pages of SERPs where people had gamed the engine. No normal website would get that many links so quickly.

So, Google changed the algorithm. Tweaked it a bit here, tweaked it a bit there. Each tweak, rather than taking it nearer to better results ended up taking it further from great results and concluding with a front page full of spammy links and results from the savvy guys who were now tweaking their sites as soon as Big G tweaked the algo.

Anyone without a budget of millions to throw at SEO and all it entails slipped further down the list. Websites that had had their content scraped were now ranking below the scrapers - often not even ranked at all with the scraper listed instead. So much for the quality.

Google had tied itself up in knots. On top of this the results pages jumped up and down, changing as you typed, markers and signposts added left, right and centre, cluttering up the interface - the clean interface was a distant memory. So we had rubbish results and a rubbish interface.

Google advertises Bing

Meanwhile Microsoft had bought out Yahoo and renamed Live to Bing. They had a proportion of the search but weren’t pulling up trees. And then Google shot itself in the foot. Started a debate about Bing stealing its results. Bing?? thought the general populace. Who are they? Wonder if they’re any good? Can’t find what I’m looking for with this revamped Google. I’ll give Bing a try.

And, what did those looking at Bing for the first time discover? They saw a brilliant new search engine. It’s super fast, gives great results, has a clean interface and is easy to use.

Sound familiar??

Teddy Bear Friends is endoring Bing. We don’t get paid by them. We don’t expect payment. We just want a half-decent search facility when navigating the web and now that Google has decided to move away from it’s core values, it’s time for a change. Goodbye Google, Hello Bing.

You know the rest of the Monty Python song… it’s where we got the name from for all the rubbish that the idiots of the world send to us.

My email box is full of ‘em… Affordable watches. High-end watches. Luxury watches. Fantastic watches… etc etc

The porn stuff is heaped especially high - no pun intended. I won’t go into details here but if I ever need an enlargement (I’m not talking photos) I won’t be clicking that link. I mean would you trust them with your manliness??

However, I’m really keen on one of those diplomas - that will get me sorted for my next job… Yeah, right. Then again if I’m really bothered with obtaining a fraudulent qualification I think I could print my own off thanks very much.

What’s the point of all this spam? Does anyone ever fall for it? Is it some kid just being naughty or are we talking crime syndicates making loads of dosh from unsuspecting and curious minds?

Got one today that says, “Your boss needs to be slapped.” That’s almost one where you want to click on it just to see what they’re on about. Probably viagra or vagra or vigara or some other rubbish spelling - all picked up of course by my secret spam weaponry - makes you wonder why they bother. Is there anybody out there who still uses a computer without spam protection. Should be a government health warning. Practice Safe Surfing At All Times Or Your Inbox Gets It!

Anyways, I must go. I’ve got loads of UPS and Fedex parcels waiting for me… And I really need to respond to all those peeps from Facebook who I’ve never heard of… Minutes more of my life ebb away.

I’ve been pondering this question for a while now. And I can’t quite come down on one side or the other. Are affiliate programs a help or a hindrance?

We operate a small independent ecommerce shop and are always looking for new ways to bring in traffic and prospective customers.

Don’t put your eggs into one basket

Reading through numerous forum postings we have been told what equates to the age old adage don’t put your eggs into one basket - which equates to don’t rely on free search engine traffic alone. If Google, Yahoo, MSN or whoever is next on the scene suddenly takes a dislike to your site then you can go from traffic aplenty to none in a split second.

So spread your marketing by getting into affiliate programs, where voucher sites, discount code sites, banner ad linking, money off sites, and shopping comparison engines all take hold of your content, images and site data and try to promote you, to make you, and them (through commission), money.

Well, that’s the idea anyway - from a merchant’s perspective.

What is the reality

But what is the reality. What is the goal of the affiliate? What is the goal of the affiliate program? Of course, to make themselves money. But which side are these affiliate programs on? Or are they purely impartial?

Does it matter who gets the commission (affiliate) and the sale (merchant) so long as the affiliate program gets their cut. What practices are deemed out of bounds? Will the affiliate program ‘protect’ the rights of the merchant or those of the affiliate?

Now I’ve been working with an affiliate program for a few years and my personal take on this, is that the affiliate program is more on the side of the affiliate than the merchant. They want the merchant to do a great deal of work to earn the priviledge of appearing on a discount code website.

Special Promotions - customers worth having?

Of course, on top of the standard 15% commission (not including overcharge, set-up fees, monthly fees etc) paid to the affiliate they want you to offer a special offer - 40% off or buy one get one free to grab the customer’s attention.

So for a short period you’ll get plenty of customers who want everything at half-price. But are these customers worth having? Will they, at a drop of a hat, go to another special offer on a competitor site, as soon as your special offer finishes?

You’ve not made money on these customers but are hoping to have built a base who you can sell to in future. But they’re not ‘loyal’ to any brand but to cheapness. Unless you go on being so cheap you’ll be out of business, they won’t use you. Basically, are they customers worth having?

Using your content

I have no problem with affiliates using my content to send me prospective customers. But what I’m wondering is, am I really getting the benefit?

They do their SEO tricks and appear higher than - often eliminating - the originating website from the SERPS. So I lose my free search engine rankings and for my troubles I also have to pay 15% to the guy for appearing higher than me, with my content.

Am I stupid?

OK, so I’ve spread my risk, but for what?

I’m losing customers hand over fist who click on the SERP (where I might have been) and then get taken to a comparison engine who tells the customer that someone else is offering the same product at a lower price / on a special offer / just badly placed so that the customer is less likely to click through to me.

What’s your experience?

I’d like to know how other merchants have used affiliate programs; whether they worked well and brought in repeat customers, or whether the merchant decided to end the program deciding it just did not provide the anticipated spread of risk that they thought on starting out.

What I’m wondering is if there are other baskets where I could put my eggs to much more profitable use?

Who is this Joe the plumber? Just been watching the 365th day of coverage of the US election - and I reckon it’s sending me crazy.

Reminds me a little of the Don’t Tell Sid adverts the Tories ran when they sold off the gas in the 80s. That seemed to work as people love the common touch. Either that or they knew they were getting a bargain and bought into it just to make a quick buck.

So will people buy in to Joe the plumber? Maybe we should get a teddy bear called Joe the Plumber - could be a big seller if John McCain gets to be president.

Only problem for us is that we don’t deliver to the US and I’m not sure people in the UK could care less who this average Joe is. By the way, we have our very own average Joe - he’s called Joe Bloggs.

Top 10 Citizens Who Didn’t Make the “Joe the Plumber” Cut

I put it off and put it off but finally I have admitted myself to the new world of blogging.

Talk about getting set in your ways. I’ve been online since 1996 - way back when the first Mosaic browser came out and downloading via ftp and stuff over JANET. But then I got comfy with the easy browsing and bored with learning another half dozen programs a month and said “right, that’s enough for me.”

I’ve been meaning to have a go, but didn’t know what to write, didn’t think I had anything to say. Well fancy that, seems just like every one else was in the same boat.

But now I have a purpose - to inform the world about teddy bears and teddy bear stuff. It’s a bit of publicity for our company, Teddy Bear Friends, but I’m hoping it might become something that can be useful and used by others so I’m welcoming anyone and everyone to take part and see what we can cobble together.

So here goes, and if I start spouting rubbish please tell me.