E-Mail Marketers Plan to Greatly Increase Use of Videos, New Study

 

March 2, 2010

You can expect to see a lot more videos in your e-mail. Marketers plan a major expansion in their use of videos in e-mails, according to a report in Website Magazine. The magazine quotes a study by Getresponse.com.

The Getresponse suvey indicates 80 percent of respondents will insert videos in 2010. In 2009, only 15.7 percent used videos.

Sixty-five percent of e-mail marketers feel that such videos are effective. Sixty-four percent of such marketers now using videos say videos result in more sales.

Common uses of videos: Customer testimonials, product demos, product offers, and training courses.

You can see the report at GetResponse.

From the Coach’s Corner, I don’t believe the study by Gertresponse is too self-serving. It’s getting more and more challenging to reach consumers. Note this column: Of Interest to Web Publishers, Videos Continue Surge in Popularity.

For an overview of how to overcome consumer overload, see: Marketing Strategies to Cut Through the Clutter.

WA Entrepreneurs Celebrate 16 Years of Commerce Networking

 

Today, the world of commerce is buzzing over Bing’s proposal to pay the Fox media Web sites to de-list from Google. It was prompted by basically two reasons – Fox’s visionary founder Rupert Murdoch and newspaper publishers who have been frustrated about how they are treated by Google, and the goal of Microsoft’s Bing to overtake Google in the search.

Yes, this event illustrates the complexity of commerce and how it has evolved in the last 16 years.

If my memory is accurate since 1993, consider these developments:

• Fox Broadcasting Company launched programs seven nights a week. That was also the year Fox acquired the rights to broadcast the National Football League games previously owned by CBS. The network has certainly succeeded. It has delivered No. 1 ratings for 18-49 demographic ratings since 2004.
• Throughout the globe, pocket- size telephones started becoming quite the rage.
• Intel announced its 3.1 million-transistor Pentium microchip about the time Microsoft introduced Windows NT.
• Linux was launched as a free operating system and Apple Computer introduced us to its hand-held computer.
• President Bill Clinton signed NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, into law.

Meantime, a group pioneering as a leads-generation organization in Federal Way, WA has created its own buzz, and is preparing to celebrate its 16th anniversary as Referrals Unlimited.

As a leads group, Referrals Unlimited (www.referralsunlimited.org) helps its small-business members attain their entrepreneurial goals. They keep track of the commerce the group generates – the dollar amount is impressive.  Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a meeting as a guest to discuss the planned Biz Coach radio program, and met several of the charming members who are proud of their products and services.

Let’s meet some of the members:

“I offer a weight loss program for busy women who want to eat well and lose weight easily,” says Kristina Brown of Heart of Nutrition. “There is no deprivation, just yummy foods that bring your body back into balance so that the weight comes off naturally and without starving yourself.”

Ms. Brown says she’s been in business 10 years: “I bought my first health/cook book when I was just 19 and have been reading, cooking, and sharing this ever since.”

David Sobie represents a security firm, Global Technology Solutions, Inc. (www.globalts.net).

“Global Security, founded in 1988 and with offices in Oregon, Washington, and the greater Kansas City area is a full service security, fire, access control and low voltage home technology provider, “says Mr. Sobie, who boasts of more than 10,000 business and residential customers in Washington, Oregon and metropolitan Kansas City.

Richard Day specializes in identity theft mitigation and prepaid legal services. He doesn’t waste any time in succinctly explaining his services.

“My name is Richard Day protecting your assets against identity theft and giving affordable access to the justice system,” says Mr. Day (http://www.linkedin.com/in/richardday7).

Simone Perry aesthetically preserves what she calls sentimental assets at Sentimental Preservation by Simone (www.sentimentalpreservation.com).

“Whether it is something past down to you from ancestors or from a special event in your life, I can put it in a protective display for you to enjoy,” Ms. Perry says. “I also have unique textile preservation boxes for storing wedding gown, uniforms, christening gown or quilts. Call me today to preserve those treasures before they are lost.”

Isabel Tessier has marketed vitamins for more than three decades.

“Golden Neo-Life Diamite vitamin company has been in business since 1958, and I have been a consultant with GNLD for 31 years,” says Ms Tessier. She says her products deal with fatigue, stress, digestive problems, diabetes, allergies and cholesterol (www.healthplus-vitamins.com).

Renae McGregor owns Legacy Boutique Gift Baskets.

“From Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, our gourmet gift baskets contain the most mouth-watering foods” Ms. McGregor proudly states.  “Our baskets are filled with Northwest Coffee, Chocolates, Salmon, Mustard, Cookies, Summer Sausage, Nuts, Died Fruit, Popcorn and Oh! I can’t forget Tim’s Chips! Even our Beer and Wine are from the Pacific Northwest.”

With the exception of the month of December, she guarantees next-day shipping.

“Our web site www.legacyboutique.com, displays a variety of categories, for example, baby, bath body-spa, beer, birthday, chocolates, student, corporate, custom, get well-sympathy, as well as gifts for women and men, housewarming and wine to name a few.” 

Referrals Unlimited’s treasurer is a banker, Marty Markey, who introduced me to the group. She is the branch manager at Rainier Pacific Bank (www.rainierpac.com) at its Twin Lakes branch. (Disclosure: I’ve known her as a businessperson, and I’ve observed her outstanding customer service skills for a few years.)

“Rainier Pacific Bank builds profitable relationships by providing valuable financial solutions for its customers,” says Ms. Markey.  “We have served the diverse financial needs of our customers in the Tacoma-Pierce County market area of Washington State for over 75 years with consumer and business banking services, income property lending, investment and insurance services.”

As you might expect of a banker with unusually good customer service skills, she is very enthusiastic.

“We strive to be the choice for financial services in the markets we serve, and enjoy a deep level of community involvement throughout our history as a financial institution. Come see us in the local markets of Federal Way, Tacoma, Gig Harbor, Spanaway, and Puyallup!”

Amen. As a kid growing up, a family friend and employer, Andy Andrews at the Palm Springs Tennis Club used to reward me with tickets to the spring training games of the then-California Angels. That’s where I had the thrill of watching baseball stars, such as Willie Mays, play in the desert sun.

As I thanked him for the tickets, Mr. Andrews once told me: “It isn’t what you know, it’s who you know.”

So, to the Referrals Unlimited members, happy anniversary, kids!

From the Coach’s Corner, SCORE (www.score.org) has a site providing numerous business-management tips: http://www.score.org/business_tips.html.

Will Social Media Take Driver’s Seat in Search?

 

A study shows about one in five Internet users now use social media instead of portals and search for their online navigation. That’s the finding of The Nielsen Company, www.nielsen.com, in an online panel survey of 1800 respondents in Aug. 2009.

“While still a smaller percentage than those who use search engines or portals like Yahoo! or MSN, it is a significant figure,” wrote Jon Gibs, VP Media Analytics at Nielsen. “And as social media usage continues to increase (unique visitors to Twitter.com increased 959 percent YOY in August), I can only expect this figure to grow.”

What type of Web sites do the respondents use for search?

• 37 percent - search engines
• 34 percent - portals (e.g. Yahoo, MSN, AOL)
• 11 percent - specific sites
• 9 percent - Wikipedia
• 5 percent -  blogs
• 4 percent - Facebook, Myspace, Twitter

(The latter three, totaling 18 percent, are considered social media.)

With vast number of Web sources of information, Gibs indicated Internet users feel the effects of consumer overload.

“Socializers – those who spend 10 percent or more of their online time on social media – feel this effect more than others do,” he wrote. “When asked, 26 percent feel that there is too much information available on the Internet, compared to 18 percent of people who predominantly use portals and just 5 percent of people who primarily use search engines.”

Why this scenario?

“Socializers trust what their friends have to say and social media acts as an information filtration tool,” explained Gibs. “This is key because Socializers gravitate towards and believe what is shared with friends and family. If your friend creates or links to the content, then you are more likely to believe it and like it. And this thought plays out in the data.”

He stated nearly 15 percent of the Socializers trust blogs and 20 percent rely on information posted on message boards.

From the Coach’s Corner, Nielsen reports higher-income urban dwellers tended to be Socializers.

“Nielsen’s online data shows that about half of the U.S. population visited a social networking website in the last year and that number grows every quarter,” said Wils Corrigan, AVP, Research & Development, Nielsen Claritas. “The rising popularity of these sites and the deep engagement consumers have with them has advertisers and marketers asking for more and more detail as to which lifestyles should be targeted for their online advertising and promotions.”

Other findings:

• Facebook users have a largely upscale profile. The top third of lifestyle segments relative to affluence were 25 percent more likely to use Facebook than those in the those in the lower third.
• The bottom third segments related to affluence are 37 percent more likely to use MySpace than those in the top third.
• Users of Facebook were also much more likely to use LinkedIn, a network geared towards business and professional networking, than those who use MySpace.

Stunning Results from Internet-Ad Study Calls for Innovation

 

However, banner ads are the most effective of all Internet ads, if they are accompanied by paid search.

A 2009 ComScore-Starcom study may cause marketers to rethink their approach – only 16 percent of Internet users are clicking on display advertisements. That represents a 50 percent decrease in 24 months.  

After reading the study entitled, “Natural Born Clickers,” and published by Advertising Age (www.adage.com), my sense is there are two obvious red flags:

1. The click-through model is becoming increasingly undesirable.
2. Advertisers who depend too-heavily on Internet advertising are not likely to get their desired returns on investments.

What’s worse about the rock-bottom click-through rates, only eight percent of Internet users account for 85 percent of the ad-clicking.

That follows disappointing news from a study that was released in 2008. It revealed lower-income young adults account for 50 percent of all the click-throughs.

However, the study reveals some good news:

Banner ads are the most effective of all Internet ads, if they are accompanied by paid search. It appears that Internet users who see a display ad are 65 percent more inclined to check out an advertiser’s Web site within seven days.

Furthermore, Internet users are 45 percent more likely to visit the advertiser’s site even up to 30 days later.

Meantime, while advertisers try to find an alternative to click, here are five marketing conclusions:

1. Clicks, as a direct-response measurement, are still easier to source than ads in most other mediums.
2. Display ads still provide value when used in search – if the ad is cost-effective in terms of attracting prospects.
3. Creative must be strong and are more effective when enhanced with rich media.
4. Outstanding sales and customer-service people are vital.
5. Sales are the bottom-line – the cash register has to ring.

For the big picture, of course, this also underscores the need for a strategic mix in marketing investments to attract visitors to Web sites and to make purchases. That means radio, TV, Internet, public relations, cause-related strategies, community service, social networking and print.

ComScore, www.comscore.com, is an Internet marketing research company. Starcom, www.starcomworldwide.com, is a media agency.

From the Coach’s Corner, here is the key to sourcing your Internet advertising investments:

Analyze your Web site visitors’ data to see how they landed on the site.

It is also a good idea to continually evaluate the effectiveness of your Web site and its promotion, including:

• Research of the referring search engines
• Referring sites
• Hosts’ IP addresses
• Which of your pages are entered and exited
• Visitors’ search keywords and key search phrases

PRESS RELEASE: No.1 Topic at Biz Coach Site is ‘quite a Surprise’

Press Release Celebrating The Biz Coach’s First Month Anniversary: Economic, political liberties are surprising No. 1 topic of visitors

 

Sept. 9, 2009

Yes, users are reading the performance-enhancing strategies at this new business-coaching Web site. Informative articles range from planning to technology. However, data shows the overwhelming visitor preference is public policy – and how it affects economic and political liberties.

Based in the greater Seattle area, Biz Coach Terry Corbell knows what to write for readers at The Biz Coach: www.bizcoachinfo.com, “Proven Solutions for Maximum Profits.” After analyzing the first month’s results of the site formally launched on July 29, he is happy with the reader response.

“But it is quite a surprise to learn the extent of the popularity of the first column dealing with economic policy, and economic and political liberties,” Mr. Corbell said. “I’m also surprised to learn where those readers live.”

The most-popular column suggests that governments at all levels in Washington state can help create jobs and set a leadership example for the rest of the nation – if they take new actions for economic development. The No. 1 column has a clear lead over the others – 20 times more readers than the second-place column.

“Sixty-five percent of the public-policy-minded readers are from the U.S. Five percent of them live in Washington, but 19 percent live in Michigan and 16 percent in California (70 percent of California readers live in the Silicon Valley),” Mr. Corbell added.

The most-popular column is entitled, “Analysis: Steps for Economic Success in Washington State.” It was the kickoff column to launch the site and the column continued to gain in popularity even though the site is updated every other day with a new column.

The Web site’s other 10 most-popular columns:

1. Case Study: Mistakes Companies Make When Losing Profits

2. Airbus-Boeing Rivalry: Lessons in Strategic Planning

3. 5 Safety Measures to Thwart Mounting Social-Network Attacks

4. Need a Job? Recession and Offshoring Don’t Have to Be Obstacles

5. Planning an Event? Consider 25 Emergency Preparedness Tips

6. What No One Tells You about Raising Investment Capital

7. New Strategies for International Trade

8. How Can Micro Businesses Position Themselves to Win?

9. Cause-Related Marketing Can Increase Sales by Double Digits

10. Web Security Checklist, Warning about Mobile Banking

As a business-performance consultant and profit professional, Mr. Corbell’s Web site provides proven solutions for maximum profits on eight topics:

• Planning

• Operations

• Marketing/Sales

• Finance

• HR

• Tech

• Public Policy

• Wall Street

The site also provides late-breaking video reports on each hour’s featured business story. Other news-video categories include:

• Economy

• Regulatory Compliance

• Personal Finance

• Sci-Tech

• Health

• Press Releases

The average Biz Coach visitor returns twice, reads more than six pages, and reads for more than six minutes each visit.

The top 10 countries in visitors:

• U.S. (80 percent)

• Canada

• Austria

• China

• Philippines

• Great Britain

• Sweden

• France

• Australia

As one of the Northwest’s longest-running columnists, Mr. Corbell has written 450+ business-coaching columns since 2001 for several media Web sites. He currently writes an Internet business-coaching column, The Biz Coach, for the Money News page at Seattle’s KIRO (www.kirotv.com), the “2009 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winner for Overall Excellence.”

Many of Mr. Corbell’s business-coaching columns are updated and archived on The Biz Coach Web site, which was developed by Solid Technology, www.solidtechnology.com, “Trusted Experts, Solid Results.” in Portland, OR.

He is a member of Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW). 

The New York Times featured Mr. Corbell twice in 2008. For some his business tips, simply Google each of these headlines:

• Been There… Done That… Here’s How

• Advice on Taking an Entrepreneurial Leap

As a profit professional, he developed The CMS Approach. To relieve a company’s financial stress, The CMS Approach includes a financial turnaround program on a pay-for-performance basis. Mr. Corbell provides complete solutions for a small retainer and one percent of the net-profit increase.

For external challenges, he provides a full marketing program from public relations to advertising and guarantees a 10 to 55 percent higher return on clients’ investments. He has deep media relationships and includes strategies such as social networking to newsworthy senior-executive videos, and TV commercials.

His firm, CMS Associates LLC, www.cmsassociatesllc.com, has been long-known for providing “Solutions to Increase Revenue.” CMS is an excellent company with an outstanding record of success since 1992. The firm has insights, systems and strategies to save companies time and money while increasing revenue.

Mr. Corbell is also focusing on economic development. He and KIRO are partnering to promote the economic climate of Western Washington communities.

He’s writing a book tentatively entitled, “How to Watch Your Back in the Jungle – Avoiding Business Predators.”

Space for banner advertising on The Biz Coach Web site is still available at reasonable Charter membership prices. In addition to the Web site, advertising for The Biz Coach concept will soon be available on Seattle radio, “The Biz Coach Roundtable.”  

Charter sponsors for The Biz Coach Web site and radio program will receive special incentives and priority red-carpet benefits. For details, visit “Our Services” page: http://www.bizcoachinfo.com/our-services.

Why Two TV Ad Sales Execs Hit the Road

 

As a result of the Seahawks’ championship-calibre play en route to their sole Super Bowl appearance in 2005, Northwest TV advertisers were rewarded for their investments. Enroute to the Super Bowl, the Seahawks generated sky-high Seattle Nielsen TV ratings in their playoff victory over the Carolina Panthers – an astounding 52.8 rating, which basically equates to an 80 percent share of viewers.

That was even higher than the 51 rating in 1999 for the Seinfeld finale and the 50.5 rating for the Mariners’ playoff victory over the Yankees in 1995.

But national advertisers had reason to be alarmed about their investments of $2.6 million for a 30-second commercial in the Super Bowl, according to Nielsen. The playoff game’s national ratings were down significantly in the desirable 18-49 demographic. The game drew a 10.7 overnight rating – down 33 percent from a comparable time period last year.

Two reasons for the decline: 1. The Seahawks and Panthers didn’t have massive national fan support. 2. The Seahawk victory was never in doubt.

National ratings dropped by more than 50 percent in the final 30 minutes. For viewers in other cities, the game was as dull as a dark, overcast Seattle sky in January. 

A lot has changed since Volney B. Palmer opened the first advertising agency in Philadelphia in 1841; and in 1976 when the Seahawks entered the NFL, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that commercial speech is protected by the First Amendment in the Constitution.

Several new mediums were created in the last century including radio, television, cable, and the Internet.

But those proven mediums are being challenged. As newspaper ad revenue remains a flat and the viability of television ads is under attack in this complex mobile age of business, new techniques are constantly being implemented as marketers and ad agencies relentlessly scramble for new ways to reach customers.  

Competition for Ad Dollars

Whether it’s mobile couponing or click-to-calling, media buyers are frantically looking for the next opportunities in mobile data services to connect with consumers using hand-held devices. Other techniques, of course, include honing trend-spotting skills, blogging, podcasting, and word-of-mouth advertising.

Some participants in Word of Mouth Marketing Association, www.womma.org, have erroneously indicated they believe traditional advertising is dead, and that word-of-mouth marketing agents do not have to divulge they’re being paid to hawk products. Fortunately, at a recent convention, they heard a report on truthfulness from Walter J. Carl, Ph.D. of Northeastern University in Boston. He also said 75 percent of consumers approached by word-of-mouth agents will react favorably, if they trust the person.

It takes a lot to motivate people to trust marketers. That includes sports fans who have been weary from decades of mediocre performances. Selling requires a “happy buying environment” so the buyers feel an emotional connection.

Many of the 67,837 fans just outside Qwest Field attending the Seahawk victory experienced a new twist in marketing, GoMobile Advertising. Two well-known former Northwest TV advertising sales managers – Chris Schuler and Mike Seifert – are the partners in the firm taking advantage of the happy buying environment. (Note: I’ve known them and some of their clients for many years.)

Considering their extensive media experience, their new medium, is a surprise. They tout their environmentally friendly biodiesel-fueled truck as an advertising complement to TV, newspapers, and the Internet.

Before and after the game Sunday, thousands of Seahawk fans streamed by the parked GoMobile truck.

It has eight scrolling billboards on each side that change every 6 seconds. It’s a high-tech truck but is reminiscent of the old-fashioned whistle-stop election campaigns of Franklin Roosevelt. When not parked at high profile events, the truck is driven on heavily traveled routes, much like a bus.

Why Change Careers?

So what motivated the two respected television advertising professionals? “People are clamoring for new ideas. They’d say give us something new and creative,” said Schuler, the GoMobile president.

“We did a lot of revenue models – we just kept finding limitations,” he said. Then they found a company that uses an Isuzu chassis to build box-like trucks with the technology to scroll advertising signs.

GoMobile Vice President Seifert says they’re also donating space: “12.5 percent of the panels, for non-profits such as Pacific Northwest Ballet, for the price of an $800 production fee.”

“Their approach is different than what PNB usually purchases in our advertising mix, and that’s why we wanted to try GoMobile,” said Lia Chiarelli, the ballet’s associate director of marketing and communications. “Their routes are well targeted to get our message into neighborhoods we might not reach with traditional outdoor advertising.”

Chiarelli is enthusiastic about other GoMobile benefits: “The promotional component of having the truck at targeted events, passing out coupons, etc., adds value to advertising with GoMobile, she said. “It’s a new vehicle to share our message and it’s exciting to be a part of something fresh.”

An anchor sponsor concurs: “I see it as we have a very mobile society, the majority of the population loves their vehicles and spend time driving vehicles instead of taking the bus,” said Ken Huttman, CEO of www.AutoExpressUSA.com. “We have found increased traffic from the Eastside ZIP Codes since we have been with Go Mobile.” (Note: Huttman also owns a TV production studio, which produces commercials for my clients.)

But is the GoMobile business model profitable? “After 90 days, we’re in the black,” said Schuler. His firm also has a second source of revenue.

The truck’s designer granted GoMobile marketing rights, which allows them to sell the trucks, too. They’ve developed a relationship with a business lender, Westover Financial, www.westoverfinancial.com,, which finances GoMobile’s truck deals.

The truck sells for $99,000, which is why some buyers prefer a lease option. “Two, so far, and we have 10 in the works, as we speak,” said Richard Abbajay, a Westover regional account rep. 

When media salespeople approach me about my advertising clients, one of the questions I ask is “What are you doing to promote yourselves?” What is Seifert doing to promote his company? “We’re also working with Violeta Strash.” (She’s the General Sales Manager of Radio Sol/Salem Radio, which broadcasts the Mariner games in Spanish.)

“We’ll get high visibility at Safeco Field by parking our truck next to theirs,” said Seifert. “Mass advertising generally only reaches 71 percent of consumers; so it’s very important to reach the other 29 percent. This helps us set up a dialogue with minority groups.”

From the Coach’s Corner, here’s a  Seifert tip on marketing: “Diversify, serve the community, reach out to minorities, be environmentally conscious, look for ways to provide value, and work hard.”

Postscript to a recent column: One of my conclusions was that North Carolina has a healthier economy than us. That’s primarily because North Carolina is more progressive in public policy – its lawmakers and public officials have a spirit of cooperation with business for economic development and job creation.

A Tacoma reader responded by sending me an article, “California Ranked Worst for Business,” from www.chiefexecutive.net, which has interesting conclusions from a poll of 339 readers.

Their priorities in picking states to establish business operations: Work force quality, 20.6 percent; labor costs, 18.3 percent; and taxes, 15 percent.

The article included a map of states, which named North Carolina as one of the top five states “to do business.” The Northwest states weren’t ranked as leaders. Oregon was named one of the “worst.” Idaho and Washington fared better; they were rated as “good.” (The five grade levels: Best, good neutral, not good and worst.)

Experts Converge in Portland to Ease the Marketplace Roller-Coaster Ride

 

Consider these developments:

With the mounting global use of broadband, TiVo and increasingly sophisticated Web-technology, some companies are exploring alternatives to saving money on TV production and advertising schedules. They’re substituting online videos on their Web sites with interactive, virtual experiences for TV commercials.

Recession spending for advertising slowed down. Primarily, the spending fall-off adversely affects radio and TV stations as well as local newspapers. Online advertising, which was attracting funds originally on traditional media, has slowed, too.

Publishers admit revenue questions keep them up at night. Over 80 percent are finding it difficult to make revenue from advertising, according to a 2007 study by YUDU Media, a digital media company. The survey of 300 publishers also showed 72 percent are troubled by circulation woes and 64 percent worried about increasing distribution and print expenses.

At least one trend in online advertising served as fodder in court cases. Google was sued for trademark infringement by American Airlines, www.aa.com and GEICO, www.geico.com. The airline’s lawsuit, for example, complained Google used the airline as keyword triggers for other advertisers so they can attract Web surfers as customers. They weren’t the first to complain. Google has prevailed in similar lawsuits, but the airline and insurance company settled their cases.

Depending on your favorite research source, Google maintains its dominance with its 60 to 80 percent share of all searches. But Microsoft’s Bing, www.bing.com, is making headway.

Such developments represent quite a shakeup and reflect chaos in the somewhat turbulent landscape. It’s increasingly important to better understand how to anticipate connecting with consumers.

To improve odds for success, it’s important to stay grounded and rely on history for direction. In this case, I’m reminded about this quote by Albert Einstein: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

With all these fast-changing dynamics converging on the minds of marketers, a Portland technology professional has a vision. His solution? Experts from all allied fields – from advertising to interactive technology – share their insights at an event called “inVerge” in Portland every September.

“With the digitization of content and the democratization of distribution, the lines are blurring across industries, professions and corporate silos,” said Steve Gehlen, the conference founder. “So, the timing seems right for a multi-disciplinary conference where we can come together, interact with experts across various fields, and learn from each other.”

How and why did he originate the conference? “I am driven to bring creative and technical professionals together for networking, education and professional development,” he said. “…I left a 12-year career as a corporate Internet strategist (for companies such as Nike, Hollywood Entertainment and Oregon Health & Science University) to focus on that passion.”

Sponsored in part by the Portland Development Commission, www.pdc.us, Gehlen is enthusiastic about the venue location.

“As a location for inVerge, Portland has the advantage of being away from traditional industry centers while also being one of the country’s most lauded cities and a well-regarded source of creative innovation,” said Gehlen. “It’s an obvious neutral location to bring together thought leaders, influencers and cultural creatives to discuss new ideas about how to invite and excite consumers to interact with brands and each other.”

Here are some concluding Biz Coach thoughts:

Gehlen’s vision is welcome. In essence, news outlets need revenue in order to hire journalist, in-part, so they can supply readers with quality information. So the print companies need to monetize their online content. Consumers won’t visit your video-rich Web site to buy your products and services unless you’re a brand name, which also underscores the value of your quality local news outlets.

Whether you’re in academia or business – attending inVerge appears to be a wise investment – in order to put it all together to ride the marketplace roller-coaster.

For more on the conferences, visit: www.inverge.com.

From the Coach’s Corner, there’s also some excellent activity at Oregon State University.

OSU provides assistance for new businesses. Here’s a link: http://oregonstate.edu/research/technology/startup.htm

In invention-licensing deals, the school made news when it earned $2.48 million. The top inventions include a creation in wood glue and varieties in wheat and potatoes. These developments primarily help the inventors and the school, financially.