Monthly Archives: September 2008

Is Xobni – The Wonder Email Plugin for Outlook the future of social networking?

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Xobni Logo

I have been using Xobni (for inbox spelled backwords) for a couple of days and I must say its an incredibly handy addon. It transforms the otherwise torpid Microsoft Outlook into a powerful email client. And for a feature rich add on like Xobni, it’s hard to believe that it’s being offered free. Started by Adam Smith and Matt Brezina in 2006, with investments from several reputed venture capitalists and a few angel investors, the company has created ripples in the recent months owing to $20 million acquisition rumours by Microsoft. Apparently, after a series of discussions Xobni walked off the deal.

Nevertheless, it is a clever software which integrates with Outlook and does clever things. Xobni’s viewing panel is a revelation. It features a lightning fast search option, people profiles, message threads etc. Xobni’s search is a million times better than the native functionality of Outlook. For every e-mail a user receives, it displays information about the sender including who else they communicate with regularly. It even scrapes sender’s phone numbers from their e-mails and also looks for their Linkedin profiles attached to that email. It displays all conversation threads between the sender and the user along with the attachments they have exchanged, making it easier to track attachments, a feature I feel is extremely beneficial, for I have always struggled to locate attachments in Outlook. Not just that, Xobni also acts a small email analytics tool which not everyone will find much use for. For example, it tells you the top ten people you communicate with, the time you/they take to respond to each other, the number of emails exchanged, average number of emails you get in a day, week, and month etc. You could say it is an Analytics version for the email. These features may be worthless, but its fun. To top this all, it doesn’t reduce Outlook’s functional capabilities or speed even a bit. Xobni has accomplished what other softwares haven’t been able to, to reside on the Outlook platform without eating up its resources.

Xobni also has tremendous potential as a software in the Social Networking Arena. Clearly, social networking is still in its infancy and how companies offering social networking align themselves will define the future. There are hundreds of networking sites out there, but Facebook seems to be running away with the crown. In the coming years, it is obvious for individuals and businesses to adapt to winning social networks, just like they did to Operating Systems of Microsoft and Apple and more recently to Search Engines, Google and Yahoo. Moreover, social networks have access to an incredible amount of user information, giving them the edge to serve advertising which matches an individual’s needs and tastes. So, Xobni’s ability to reside on email clients and disseminate information which not only helps the user but also helps them connect externally will undoubtedly be a winning feature. Unless companies which develop email clients, start bundling it as a package, Xobni has the headway. Xobni’s strength is its platform. Can its platform be replicated by companies which make these email clients? This remains to be seen.

But the issue drills down to one fact…why is Xobni free and why did it walk away from the Microsoft deal, although Microsoft clearly rated the software has top notch?!?! As I understand, Xobni has broader goals than being a plug-in company to Outlook. Xobni’s beliefs are based on developing platforms rather than developing plug-ins. The company is keen on developing similar apps for other popular email clients as well as web services which will also foster creation of new products, which will ultimately show the money. Reminds me of Google in the early days, when it went on to develop a search engine without focusing on the economic side. Today, Google has stood time. Good luck Xobni!

Get Your Website Right For Driving Up Sales

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Online retailers often face a huge conundrum. Although their primary objective is to drive traffic to the site and ultimately sales, they have to battle with a variety of mediums to achieve this. From the site development and maintenance to user experience, occupying enviable spots on search engines, and reinforcing the companies presence on various forms of online media, is all a massive challenge particularly in a web 2.0 driven age. Despite the surge in internet users, online shopping is still a distinct experience from visiting a high street retailer.

Consumers Shopping online not only get a cost advantage, but they are also served with an incredible amount of information helping them make the right decision. With many price and product comparison sites, blogs, product reviews, feedbacks etc, online shoppers, usually are equipped with product knowledge prior to their purchase. However, despite a wealth of information, consumers often bank on search engines to help them make a purchase. This is where, a company’s approach to its online presence comes into play. User engagement plays an important role in the performance of a website, therefore emphasising the need to develop a site that aids consumers in making a right decision.

Arena Flowers has recently been used as a case study in a forth coming text on Internet Marketing. We are quite pleased with this new development and we feel that we are doing things right. However, there’s always room to improve and enhance customer engagement and we constantly strive to understand internet marketing in its entirety to achieve this. We do rely on customer suggestions and feedback to improve our offering. However, since we are being used as a case study in an internet marketing text, we feel that it would be wise to take suggestions from one of the authors of the text on improving our website. So we approached Dr. Dave Chaffey, a leading Internet Marketing consultant and trainer and the author of best selling books on online marketing for an interview and he gladly agreed. Watch this space for tips on optimising a website for better customer engagement.

Opinion: What’s wrong with investment firms?

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Do they really need more public money?

Over the weekend, I was quite disappointed to find the fourth largest investment firm, Lehman Brothers collapse. There had been plenty of speculation on companies that could bail out Lehman, and with Barclays walking out late Sunday evening, Lehman had no option but to file for bankruptcy. As far as my memory recollects, even last year, Lehman had posted above average net profits, despite the volatility in the market. Filing for a chapter 11 bankruptcy protection comes as a huge surprise. Arguably, it is one of the biggest collapses of the century. With a little over £300 billion bankruptcy, is the largest company ever to file for a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection, sending the world markets into a turmoil. A Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection allows businesses to continue trading while they restructure and reorganise their sick units. This could also spell thousands of job losses around the world for a company which employs over 25000 people.

In essence, the public feel the pinch for Lehman’s failed fortunes. The repercussions may be varied affecting economies all around the world. A situation which even Adam Smith wouldn’t be proud of to theorise his learning. Yesterday, one of the employees of Lehman brothers was quoted in a leading national daily about how there were no jobs in the economy and how he had managed to save enough to last the gloom without seeking employment. Despite the economic gloom in the last couple of years, finance executives have paid themselves unimaginable and envious bonuses, for investing in financial instruments which are incomprehensible to the common man. Shares, bonds, yields, derivatives, mortgages, swaps, futures and all other complicated jargon you could find in a finance text book. But in the end, who shoulders the burden of a failure? Many companies have been bailed out recently. From Northern Rock in the UK to Bear Sterns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the US. With Merill Lynch selling itself to avoid a similar situation and a troubled insurer AIG facing a similar collapse, are we prepared for another bailout?

Firstly, a collapse of such magnitude could potentially wipe out other valued businesses. Since the announcement yesterday, markets world over have nearly lost one third of their values. It is hard to unravel Lehman’s investments as it literally works with every major entity worldwide from Governments to businesses and financial institutions. It manages funds and investments for these entities. So a collapse would mean the credit in the market has evaporated. Which again means no 0% finance on anything, from credit cards to housing, macbooks to automobiles, iphones to holidays, everything on credit will be seen as a risk. When there is such apprehension in the market, the consumer spending power reduces drastically, resulting in a severe economic crisis. Moreover, such failures will result in lower capital inflows to developing countries leading to a slower investing growth. End of the India Shining story unless the Government intervenes to relax regulations for businesses to borrow from overseas. For individuals, bridging the rich and poor divide becomes much more harder as banks tighten their policies towards mortgages. There was a nice illustration by an Indian TV news channel when Bear Sterns went bust. “Mr. India cannot afford a house because, Mr. America had defaulted on his mortgage payments”.

It all started with one mismanagement – that of Bear Sterns which has had a Domino affect on the world financial industry. Inadequate regulation, which in effect, allowed financial firms to risk investments should have been tightened earlier to avoid such crisis. This would have encouraged financial firms to spread their bets evenly rather than exposing investments to a high degree of risk.

Economics is indeed a complicated subject!

Crafting a Green Business Strategy

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Going green seems to be the industry buzz word these days. Everyday I get many emails announcing the launch of eco-friendly, ethical, green websites and services. Clearly, green seems to be selling. Businesses are trying to cash in on this phenomenon. Not the Arena Flowers is lagging in terms of being green. From the beginning we have shaped a green, ethical outlook to our business. We are trying to differentiate our USP by being a green florist. However, there are still many areas where we could improve and we are working on this.

In the recent years, a company’s environmental emphasis has become one of the most important issues. Businesses across various sectors have discovered that a certain section of consumers will buy products, or avoid their purchase, based on the firm’s environmental performance. These consumers are more ethically aware and reach out to seek information on how a business responds to their environmental concerns. As this segment of environmentally aware, green consumers amplify in numbers, a green strategy beyond doubt becomes the way forward for businesses. Government legislation, reaction to competition and other dynamics within the industry is also driving organistions to etch a green commitment.

Businesses are being constantly monitored for their environmental performance by their stakeholders, more so in the flowers business as the industry has invited severe criticism for sourcing air freighted flowers from third world countries. Air freighted flowers in refrigerated units spells a heightened environmental concern due to the high level of CO2 emissions involved in the process. Also, the exploitation of workers in third world countries is another cause of worry although this seems to have been mitigated in the recent years through the presence of organisations such as Fair Trade which monitors the human as well as environmental concerns. However, there is a perennial debate about the ethical benefits of fair trade affiliation as a majority of producers governed by the Fair Trade code of conduct tend to be larger organisations relying on cheap labour.

Also, despite the popularity of green initiatives and a willingness by a section of environmentally motivated consumers to pay a premium for green products, such strategies might not yield the desired results yet. There is still a higher proportion of demographics which inspite of showing an ethical commitment, might place their self interests above the environment. After all, the fundamental principle businesses thrive on is to address consumer needs by creating a valued offering. There are a variety of aspects which could create these valued offerings and going green is one of them. Under these circumstances, it becomes comfusing to pursue a line of green strategy which is beneficial to organisations as well as the stakeholders and the environment.

There are many reasons for a business to think green. The external business environment in which a business operates in offers plenty of leads to begin with. The big retailers in the UK are a good example. Taking cue from each other, all big retailers are treading the green path. Waitrose, Marks and Spencer, Tesco, Asda etc have all adapted green initiatives. A good green marketing strategy could form the basis of a competitive advantage. Also, a business seeking to leverage a competitive advantage through a green strategy should be confident that such a strategy could be ingrained into the ethos of the company. Also, there are plenty of hurdles if a business adapts a green. I guess green businesses are subject to closer scrutiny by the public and media and the shortcomings are easily picked.

At Arena Flowers, we have realised that by being transparent with regard to our environmental policies including our production, packaging and disposal, we seem to evoke a higher interest among our customers, while we have strong foundations to contribute towards a clean and green environment. We believe that if given access to the right information, customers often make the right choice. For this reason, from the very beginning we have placed a special weight on how we respond to the environment.

The Power of Email Communication – How to Win People

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For a marketing professional, I am rather quiet and reserved, though I am aware that I need to be bit more outgoing to nudge ahead of my career. So for the past few days, I have been reading a few self-development books and one of the first ones I picked was the much celebrated self-help classic by Dale Carnegie, “How to Win Friends and Influence People“. Although I believe that soft skills are often intrinsic, this book certainly has the right ingredients to change your approach towards people. Not that I have been conscious of how I have interacted with people, but it certainly is an interesting read. What makes it interesting is that I relate to the book more often now, particularly when people around me approach others.

A couple of days back, I got an email from an individual selling a affiliate services. Though I was least interested in pursuing it further, the email was so compelling that I decided to respond with a polite refusal. A couple of days later I got a reply pushing the service further without being imposing. The first section of Carnegie’s book which speaks about “Fundamental Techniques of Handling People” encourages readers to use a similar language which is sure to win people. In Carnegie’s terms it is important to “arouse in people an eager want”. Had it not been for our previous experience with companies offering similar services with a slightly different marketing language, his emails are extremely convincing.

Here’s our correspondence:

I hope that you don’t mind me emailing out of the blue – I have just ordered my second bunch of flowers from Arena, I love the quality of the products, and thus I sought out your contact details to see if my company could help you grow online sales even further.

I’m sure that you’re using an affiliate network at present, but my company “XXXX” is the “XXXX XXXX XXXX” and we have been winning many clients from the UK over the past 2 years.  I would love to have a quick conversation with you when you have 5 minutes to highlight a couple of differences that we can make, and also our experience in the flower sector.

Best number is always my mobile and I’ll look forward to hearing from you Adarsh.

For which I had replied that it isn’t feasible for us to join another network as it adds little value in terms of incremental sales. And I got another reply highlighting how the network could improve our sales. Also, there’s a catch. He wants us to consolidate our services with other companies to his company, which means that we have to terminate our existing contracts with the networks we already participate in.

Thanks for your reply, and I am indeed not surprised to hear that your additional networks have not provided an incremental increase in sales to warrant the additional resource.

This unfortunately is standard across affiliate networks in the UK market, and something that our clients experience before joining “XXXX”

We work very differently for our clients and being the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, our experience in the online florist sector I believe will interest you.  Perhaps though only if you were willing to consider consolidating your other two networks into “XXX”, I could showcase the strategy to provide the missing incremental increase in sales.

Is there a number that I can reach you on Adarsh, or a meeting that we can schedule for next week with your colleagues and co-decision makers to propose a solution?  I can only reiterate that I am a firm believer in the Arena service and see a clear opportunity to help you grow sales further.

On a personal note, the email is certainly baiting the recipient and I find it to be an incredible example for email marketing. It certainly livens Carnegie’s fundamental principles.

Google Adds Fuel to the Browser War

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When Will asked me to do a post on a website trying clone Arena Flowers, it coincided with Google’s launch of the Chrome web browser. I had related the two and was about to hit the publish button, when I realized it makes little sense to tie in a search behemoth to a little known flower website based in Australia. So abandoned the post and decide to port it to my blog instead.

Over the years we have seen many successes being replicated and at times these imitations have gone on to do better than their predecessors. Take the issue of Internet browsers for example. Internet Explorer has ruled the roost for years despite constant threats from other better, feature rich browsers. But in the last few years, browsers are technically superior, less resource intensive and feature filled. Firefox is the best example. Year on year, IE’s usage has been declining by 7-8%, primarily due to a similar increase of Firefox users. Following the success of Firefox, which in essence is bankrolled by a company which dominates the web world, Google, the very firm has announced the launch of Chrome, a next generation web browser which represents a technological shift in the browser market.

Google’s entry to the browser market raises several interesting questions to the search marketing industry. Following the recent launch of Internet Explorer 8, which packs in advanced privacy settings preventing search engines, Google in particular from collecting user centric information related to ad performance, a nifty search bar and several other features which are predominantly inclined towards Microsoft’s services including Live Maps, Encarta and Live Spaces etc.

In any case, retreading the history of Internet browsers is quite laborious, but what spurs the interest is how the search industry reacts to chrome in the coming days. The blogosphere is abuzz with Chrome’s launch and the first screen shots have started trickling in along with a detailed technical view on the browser through the official comic book by Scott McCloud. It’s a pity that there’s no news of Chrome for Mac, but knowing Google it should be on the way soon. In any case, whenever it is available, you can download chrome from here.