At international academy of design and technology. Talking to a web design class about how the industry works….with my boy Joe Patti.

The Liaison Capitol Hill in Washington DC is a miserable excuse for a hotel.

I’ve been spending the morning on hotel review sites, trying to warn visitors to Washington DC about the miserable hell-hole that is the Liaison Capital Hill. I was there last week for a work conference. This was the absolute worst hotel stay of my life. Upon arriving to my room, I was greeted a stench that I can only describe as something between spoiled dairy products and dead prostitute from 1991.

I had to haul ass to meetings, so I notified the hotel staff when I returned that the condition of my room was completely unacceptable. They basically told me to screw myself and sent a guy upstairs 30 minutes later with this magic green potion that converts musty, cheese covered deceased bordello worker stink to something that approximates these guys pissing on your luggage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJn79MzksCg

(2010 World Asparagus Eating Contest – The Finals!)

Not good. Do not stay at the Liaison Capital Hill in Washington DC.

For my Spanish-speaking readers: No bueno. Usted no debe ir a Liaison Capitol Hill.(Love to Free Translation, with the hope that it translated correctly.)

To make matters worse, after I received their survey and gave them all 1s the manager asked if we could talk. I just got off the phone with her. After telling her that I would rather eat a bag of raw horse penis than stay at her hotel again – EVER – she asked if she could make up for it by offering me a free night…

…for a future stay.

Awesome.

We’re in the process of emailing back and forth right now, and since she’s clearly a moron I’m going to start having fun with it. Will post the thread soon.

A few weeks ago, I had the immense pleasure of seeing Bruce Hornsby live for the first time. I have to admit, I wasn’t that excited at first. I was only familiar with Bruce’s work that went mainstream – songs like “Mandolin Rain” were what I thought represented the bulk of Bruce’s creative stylings…and his crossover album with Ricky Skaggs.

BoywasIwrong.

I was absolutely floored to learn that Bruce’s music is a lot more like highly technical jam band/roots rock than the pop stuff I’ve heard on the radio for all these years.

So check out his music, particularly “Noisemakers.” Totally rad. Great grooves. The man is also a jaw-dropping technician…so much so that 2 non-musicians in our group were even overwhelmed by what the guy can do on a piano. But that’s not the point of this post. The point is to talk about what happened after the show.

Thanks to my good buddy Joe Patti, we were lucky enough to spend some time backstage with Bruce himself, where I learned a hugely important lesson that applies to music, business, and life in general!

Some background: Bruce has been touring consistently for 10, 15 years or more. He has very high retention with his band members. In fact, many of the band members have been with him for the bulk of his solo career. I knew this going into the performance because my buddy Steve is a huge Bruce Hornsby fan.

One of the things that really stood out about Bruce and his band was how happy they seem to be while playing. These are guys that have been playing together for many years, many shows, many frustrations and yet they still seem to be so happy to be playing with one another. What gives?

Once we got backstage I had the opportunity to ask Bruce that question. He said it’s really simple. He keeps things fresh by “f***ing with them” all the time. (His words, not mine.)

When asked to elaborate, he said he keeps things from getting stale by changing key signatures, time feels, grooves, bridges, jam sections, tempos, etc. on his guys. He keeps them challenged by keeping it challenging. He doesn’t let them fall into the “yet another day at the office” rut.

The music sounds fresh because it’s fresh. The band looks happy because they’re happy.

The most important portion of this lesson, though, was how he left it. At the end of the conversation, he said that in order to keep things fresh for his band, he has to take a lot of musical risks…risks that could end in the band sounding loose and sloppy. However, the risks are worth it because of what happens when he takes a risk and it works. He said that he is willing to have the band sound okay or mediocre 70% of the time if it means that the other 30% will blow his listeners out of the water.

Great business insight from a music industry monster! You can apply this to site builds, product launches, new hires, promotions…wow!

Questions: Are you okay with letting your employees/business partners/clients/children fail occasionally if it helps them achieve excellence? Have you created a culture at work or at home that teaches that it’s okay to take risks so long as those risks are calculated, and that you are not simply setting yourself up for failure?

I decided to finally take advantage of self employment and remote office from my folks’ condo in beautiful South Padre Island, Texas. More information, photos, etc, are forthcoming but as I sit here, surrounded by sun and sand, drinking a Dos Equis and responding to e-mails, I wanted to get a few thoughts out.

First, this is awesome. I woke up this morning, had a great breakfast and sat down to work. On the beach. I’ve been working for myself for a year or so and this is my first crack at really enjoying the lifestyle it affords. Shame on me for not doing it sooner!

Second, there is nothing more delicious than eating a fish you just caught a few moments earlier.

Third, some love for the local businesses:

Captain Mark Guillot from Parrot-Eyes Fishing Charters showed us a great time yesterday and put us on the sea trout you see in the pic above. Thanks a bunch Captain Mark! If you are ever charter fishing in South Padre Island, look him up.

Jesse from Jesse’s Cantina runs a hell of a restaurant and bar and is an all around good guy. If you ever find yourself in South Padre, head for Jesse’s Cantina! Sadly, he doesn’t have a web site yet, but here’s the address info:

2700 Padre Blvd, South Padre Island, TX 78597
(956) 761-4500

Matthew Inman is a goddamned genius. For those of you not familiar, he is the guy behind The Oatmeal. I found The Oatmeal just a few months ago. It is now one of my favorite sites. Inman is hilarious, plain and simple.

He’s also an internet marketing stud, having taken The Oatmeal from concept to 30 million views per month in just under 2 years.

Here’s an article I just came across in which Matthew Inman talks about branding and some essentials for viral content.

You can read the totally awesome article I am referring to by clicking on this really really really really long link.

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/03/everprivate.shtm

I just saw this settlement come through. If you work in the payday loan space, you’re no doubt familiar with FTC vs. Swish Marketing and Jerry Klein, a.k.a. the “prechecked opt in buried in the footer” case.

Not much to say to the above, other than “ow.” One of the defendants is going to have to pay $350k up front and another $450k in 10 annual installments.

Ow.

Have I mentioned how important it is to work with good compliance counsel, such as my buddy Bill Rothbard from FTC Ad Law?

If you’re marketing online and haven’t had him (or someone like him) review your ads, landers, and processes for compliance, you are doing yourself a huge disservice.

Anyone who has ever worked with SellingSource or PartnerWeekly knows Corey Owens. He initially came out to Las Vegas to work at PW while I was president, tasked with bridging the business development side of the business with technology and operations. He was quickly promoted to VP of Operations, and today runs SellingSource’s entire consumer acquisition division.

I was really happy when Corey moved to Las Vegas – not just because I was going to have a fantastic operations guy and technologist keeping things humming, but also because Corey and I played in a band for 4 years while in Chicago. Our plan was to invade Sin City and kick some internet marketing ass while rocking out.

(Tangent: Mission accomplished.)

I’ve harassed Corey for a number of years about blogging. It seems to make sense that an online marketing heavyweight should blog about his random thoughts, observations, or some other whimsical shit so we can all laugh, cry, and learn together, right?

Wrong.

I attribute Corey’s lack of a blog to several factors:

1. He has a very short attention span.
2. He has more important shit to do.
3. He never learned to read.

Ok, just kidding about #3.

Anyway, he sent me an IM today and let me know that FINALLY he has a blog up. Woo ha! On behalf of the interwebz, welcome to blogging, buddy. Have a great time.

He’s just getting started so bookmark this mofo and check back frequently.

Corey Owens Blog

Source: Angel D. at Revenews.com

Oh, Illinois – when will you learn? In addition to recently passing a corporate tax bill making it one of the least favorable places to do business in the industrialized world, Illinois – who I would think is begging for companies to come within their borders – is working on chasing online marketers straight the hell out of the state.

(Hang on. Let’s reread that and make sure it sinks in. Illinois, upon passing their recent corporate tax hike, has become the least favorable place to operate a business in the industrialized world. Please remember this fact as you read the rest of this article.)

Back to the issue at hand: For those of you unfamiliar with the “Amazon Tax,” it’s a piece of legislation enacted by a number of states (including CO, NY) to address online-only retailers’ ability to operate without collecting state income tax. Ordinarily a retailer needs to have a tax nexus (brick and mortar location) within a state in order to be subject to sales tax. Amazon Tax legislation, although slightly different from state to state, defines not only a retailer’s brick and mortar presence, but also the presence of any online affiliates promoting their products, as a tax nexus.

In the case of IL, this is being done in the name of “fairness” because other retailers with brick and mortar presences in the state (eg Sears, Wal-Mart) have to charge sales tax on items purchased on their websites. They have a tax nexus so they pay sales tax.

I join the rest of the online marketing community in calling horseshit, for three reasons:

1. The Fairness Deception: Gov. Quinn’s people said that the tax was being passed out of “fairness.” While this move is anti-business on Illinois’ part, they’re a pretty anti-business state. Thus, passing the Amazon Tax didn’t surprise me. What does surprise the heck out of me is this “fairness” label.

Last time I checked, we live in a constitutional republic. We are allowed to transact over state lines, and have been doing so for many many many years. You used to be able to buy your home from a catalog, for God’s sake. And if the sale does not occur in-state, you don’t pay sales tax.

For something to be fair it needs to go both ways. Is Sears refunded the portion of their state taxes based on revenue generated when products are shipped out of state? If we’re being fair, does the Amazon Tax also apply to mail order sales, since a consumer’s phone could also be considered a tax nexus?

No and no. This is just a budget balancing cash grab on the backs of small business owners and workers. (Tangent: Where are the protesters?)

(Another tangent: Illinois isn’t “fair” with respect to the 2nd Amendment – I can’t bring my NV legal semi-auto pistols or AR-15 anywhere near Cook County. Yet all of the sudden we’re worried about interstate “fairness.” Pat Quinn is a liar. More on that later.)

2. Net Neutrality: Not sure why this isn’t being discussed, but the Amazon Tax is a huge net neutrality issue. Taxation is a great way to regulate control of the internet, ain’t it? The Amazon Tax starts us down a slippery slope that invites further regulation, taxation, and limitation of access by state and federal legislatures.

3. Governor Pat Quinn is a Liar:
Take a look-see at his campaign promises related to job growth. The Amazon Tax is a huge “encouraging small business” fail. It is also a “keep and grow jobs in Illinois” fail, and finally a “fosters more new businesses” fail. Apparently, Governor Quinn wants the workers of Illinois to remain low-tech, because he has no problem whatsoever doling out loads of Illinois cash for capital projects – $31 billion for “Illinois Jobs Now” – but God Forbid he would allow online businesses to flourish in his state. I think Illinois Jobs Now is a great initiative. Repairing roads is really important. After all, the Illinois freeway system is very soon going to find itself overstressed by all the businesses leaving their borders.

Speaking of which…

My Invitation

I’m a proud small business owner in the pro-business state of NV. I am a member of the Amazon affiliate program. I’m a former resident of Illinois, and I want my fellow affiliate marketers to succeed. That said, if IL-based affiliates would like to come work for my company for a very aggressive revenue share, as an “outsourced SEO/SEM/Content person,” I have positions available.

Wrapping it up, I’d challenge my fellow online marketers to give Illinois a Cartman-like “Screw you guys, I’m out of here” and head for the border. If you head for NV I’ll buy your first beer.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/10/pf/debit_cards_limit/?npt=NP1

Looks like banks are trying to figure out how to recoup fees lost when interchange was capped.

This is a great example of Congress screwing the consumer while thinking they are doing something good for “us.” Interchange fees are charged to retailers as a way for banks and payment processors to earn revenue for the services they provide. With interchange being capped, banks need to figure out how to still offer these products without losing money. So instead of passing fees on to retailers in the form of processing costs, they are going to hit Joe Consumer with fees related to using a card/checking account.

$15 per month checking accounts? $5 per month debit cards? No thanks – I’ll take interchange any day.

…Another way Congress is saddling us with an increased cost of living via legislation that “means well” – saving us from those “greedy Wall Street bankers” – but actually shifts more financial burden to consumers.

Thanks guys!