Paid Pins?

Tonight I received an email from Pinterest founder Ben Silbermann announcing the start of promote pins.  First thought, "No, here we go with the invasion of social time." And maybe that's what it will feel like but I was impressed that (1) I was sent a "heads up" to know what was coming and (2) Ben promised a few things:

Tasteful—No flashy banners or pop-up ads.

Transparent—We’ll always let you know if someone paid for what you see, or where you see it.

Relevant—These pins should be about stuff you're actually interested in, like a delicious recipe, or a jacket that's your style.

Improved based on your feedback—Keep letting us know what you think, and we'll keep working to make things better.

I hope that is the case but I can't help but think of how ads feel in Facebook when they enter the "timeline" it's like you're watching your favorite television program and a really obnoxious commercial comes on - makes you want to leave the room.  Or in this case leave Facebook.  So I really hope that Ben keeps that in mind.

I have to say though, that it's probably about time.  How else does Pinterest make money if it doesn't allow ads?  And if you want to keep good thing going you'll have to start generating serious revenue at some time or another.

From the standpoint of a potential advertiser, I am excited.  I don't want to alienate anyone with my ads but at the same time with all the pins it's hard to keep anything at eye level in any category on Pinterest.  I'm looking forward to the prospect of pushing my pins to the top - although you and I both know that only the pins that generate the most "repins" will be the best content on Pinterest.  As it should be.

So to Ben and the rest of the Pinterest crew - best of luck!  All of us internet marketers  (and avid pinners!) will be watching.

Cheap Doesn't Always Mean Frugal

As some of you know, I'm what you would call a "hobby mechanic". I like to work on small car engines & suspension parts in my spare time. Last summer I had finished the rebuild on the motor in my 1991 Eagle Talon TSi AWD and had spent a sizeable amount of money purchasing performance parts, having things sent in to machine shops and shipping large, heavy metal objects across the country.

It was towards the end of the summer months that I finally had the motor together and put back into the car, I was so happy. I had finally gotten the vehicle running again and got to drive it.

A matter of weeks later, it all came to a halt.

In my fervor to get the vehicle running, and my enthusiasm for "go fast parts", I cheaped out and bought a crank pulley (aka "harmonic balancer") from a knock-off company. I had read a couple reviews saying it "got the job done" and against my better judgement went ahead and bought it, since the part could be at my door in two days, and it was MUCH cheaper than the OEM alternative.
As stated, just a matter of weeks after having the motor together, the part I cheaped out on split in two, causing a catastrophic failure of the motor, and sent my pistons colliding with the valves inside the motor. Needless to say, I had to tear the ENTIRE THING apart again, and start from scratch.

Lots of time, money & enthusiasm WASTED.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen the exact same thing happen when I have to crack open a client's preexisting website. 

We get a lot of clients who come from relatively cheap developers, unsatisfied and disillusioned. They ask us to take control of their website and "bring it up to standards" and often end up kicking themselves in the butt and realizing it would have been a whole heck of a lot easier, cheaper, and effective if they had just bit the bullet and bought quality "parts" to begin with.

So in an effort to save you from the pain and suffering I went through when my beloved Eagle Talon's motor exploded that I meticulously put together, please save yourself the heartache, don't waste your time or money investing in fly-by-night web development companies who make promises they can't deliver with prices that don't make you think long and hard about making the purchase.

Building your company's website is a value-adding investment, and needs to be treated at as such. Don't buy cheap parts when you're rebuilding your engine, and don't waste your time and money paying someone to build you a sub-par web presence.

Cheap doesn't always mean frugal.