Tuesday, November 06, 2012
Microtesting Pt. 2
So the Zeekler experiment didn't go as planned, but that doesn't mean the lessons weren't valuable. This also doesn't mean they were worth $300, but I was very lucky compared to most other victims. It was a worthy try, but as I stated in my last post, there are no short cuts to wealth, though that does not mean one can't leverage technology to maximize one's results while minimizing one's effort.
Essentially, you, the potential entrepreneur, need data to set up your business and successfully entice someone to make a purchase. A classic example of this notion is found in Thoreau's Walden, of all places. When describing a Native American who was trying to sell baskets to the people of Concord, MA, Thoreau stated that no one in the town would buy them. The Indian then asked if the townspeople meant to starve him. Thoreau responded that the seller had not convinced anyone that these baskets were somehow needed, and therefore couldn't sell any. The key, as with any business, was marketing information, or in this case, the lack thereof.
The Indian could have sold his wares by extolling the quality of his work compared to the local craftsmen, or by convincing wives that the baskets would make for a better home than her friends who did not buy them, or whatever. To take it a step further, he may never had understood what was needed to convince Concord residents to buy his baskets, or that they may never have bought them, since on both counts he was an outsider. Had he known this, he could have found another way to make money.
Fast-forwarding to our present day, I cannot say if the need for information has lessened, but the effort and expense collecting it has certainly diminished. I refer to the Internet, of course. Actually, because of the Internet, the need for marketing services has diminished, even if marketing is still required. It isn't discussed in polite circles, but most marketing isn't done by people anymore; it's done via computer generated algorithms.
Most people understand the process via tracking cookies. If you visit a website and search for chocolate chip cookies, you may get ads that direct you to recipes, or a local cupcake store, or a coupon for Toll-House morsels (which sounds really yummy on this late hour of Election Night 2012). If you search for the cookies as well as diabetes treatments, you may get coupons for a gourmet chocolate store that specializes in sugar-free desserts. You get offers seemingly tailored to your needs and desires, thereby making a sale more likely.
Or you may get complete nonsense. This was my experience while posting photos from my trip to Petra in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on Facebook. For the next 6 months or so, all my Facebook ads were in Arabic, and I couldn't seem to block the ads fast enough to force the company to show ads that have some dismally small chance of making a sale, or even causing me to click "like." As absurd as this experience was, it taught me an important lesson (that didn't cost $300!).
The lesson, and this is where the notion of micro-testing truly comes into focus, was these ads had really no cost and therefore no risk. You supplied the data, and a computer program chose a small ad to possibly convince you to buy something, download a game that itself is chock-a-block loaded with ads, or whatever. With every successful sale, the algorithm is further adjusted with the hope of increasing sales in the future. Obviously, my experience with advertisements in a language I can't read shows the system isn't perfect, but changing the system is close to free. Of course, Facebook does need to generate some revenue, so somewhere someone needs to buy something sometime to keep the ad revenue flowing.With the stock price in the toilet, I cannot be certain of their overall success.
I'm not close to setting up an online venture where pay-per-click ads would be involved, but I can explore my options in other ways while minimizing my time and effort. It was with this in mind that I clicked on an offer from Groupon. This particular sale was for an ESL program run exclusively online via TESOL.com, and the price was $69. Normally, the cost would be $500. It was an offer I couldn't refuse, even though my last foray into ESL was less than successful. The key is the minimal expense and 120 hour time requirement. The college's ESL program was roughly the equivalent of 18 credit hours in one semester, and coupled with registration I almost had a nervous breakdown. If this doesn't work, then I leave ESL to more capable people. If I do enjoy it, then I'll take the school's program again, this time armed with the work from the present course. That's certainly my aim, and if ESL doesn't pan out, then the simplest avenue to offshore income will be closed, meaning living overseas will require a great deal more research and planning, i.e. work.
Essentially, you, the potential entrepreneur, need data to set up your business and successfully entice someone to make a purchase. A classic example of this notion is found in Thoreau's Walden, of all places. When describing a Native American who was trying to sell baskets to the people of Concord, MA, Thoreau stated that no one in the town would buy them. The Indian then asked if the townspeople meant to starve him. Thoreau responded that the seller had not convinced anyone that these baskets were somehow needed, and therefore couldn't sell any. The key, as with any business, was marketing information, or in this case, the lack thereof.
The Indian could have sold his wares by extolling the quality of his work compared to the local craftsmen, or by convincing wives that the baskets would make for a better home than her friends who did not buy them, or whatever. To take it a step further, he may never had understood what was needed to convince Concord residents to buy his baskets, or that they may never have bought them, since on both counts he was an outsider. Had he known this, he could have found another way to make money.
Fast-forwarding to our present day, I cannot say if the need for information has lessened, but the effort and expense collecting it has certainly diminished. I refer to the Internet, of course. Actually, because of the Internet, the need for marketing services has diminished, even if marketing is still required. It isn't discussed in polite circles, but most marketing isn't done by people anymore; it's done via computer generated algorithms.
Most people understand the process via tracking cookies. If you visit a website and search for chocolate chip cookies, you may get ads that direct you to recipes, or a local cupcake store, or a coupon for Toll-House morsels (which sounds really yummy on this late hour of Election Night 2012). If you search for the cookies as well as diabetes treatments, you may get coupons for a gourmet chocolate store that specializes in sugar-free desserts. You get offers seemingly tailored to your needs and desires, thereby making a sale more likely.
Or you may get complete nonsense. This was my experience while posting photos from my trip to Petra in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on Facebook. For the next 6 months or so, all my Facebook ads were in Arabic, and I couldn't seem to block the ads fast enough to force the company to show ads that have some dismally small chance of making a sale, or even causing me to click "like." As absurd as this experience was, it taught me an important lesson (that didn't cost $300!).
The lesson, and this is where the notion of micro-testing truly comes into focus, was these ads had really no cost and therefore no risk. You supplied the data, and a computer program chose a small ad to possibly convince you to buy something, download a game that itself is chock-a-block loaded with ads, or whatever. With every successful sale, the algorithm is further adjusted with the hope of increasing sales in the future. Obviously, my experience with advertisements in a language I can't read shows the system isn't perfect, but changing the system is close to free. Of course, Facebook does need to generate some revenue, so somewhere someone needs to buy something sometime to keep the ad revenue flowing.With the stock price in the toilet, I cannot be certain of their overall success.
I'm not close to setting up an online venture where pay-per-click ads would be involved, but I can explore my options in other ways while minimizing my time and effort. It was with this in mind that I clicked on an offer from Groupon. This particular sale was for an ESL program run exclusively online via TESOL.com, and the price was $69. Normally, the cost would be $500. It was an offer I couldn't refuse, even though my last foray into ESL was less than successful. The key is the minimal expense and 120 hour time requirement. The college's ESL program was roughly the equivalent of 18 credit hours in one semester, and coupled with registration I almost had a nervous breakdown. If this doesn't work, then I leave ESL to more capable people. If I do enjoy it, then I'll take the school's program again, this time armed with the work from the present course. That's certainly my aim, and if ESL doesn't pan out, then the simplest avenue to offshore income will be closed, meaning living overseas will require a great deal more research and planning, i.e. work.
