Monster the Energy Drink company and their parent company Hansen Beverages has stirred up quite the hornets nest on the Internet recently by sending out a slew of cease and desist letter/emails to businesses running products/services with similar names as their Monster Problem Energy Drink (link contains N.S.F.W. language, post by Allyn Hane). One of these businesses is the Rock Art Brewery.

In the above video about my take of the Monster Energy Drink fiasco I make a couple of points. Here they are in recap:

1. Monster is doing what businesses do every day and should be doing every day in order to stay relevant. If the shoes were flipped, Rock Art Brewery would be doing the same thing. This is evident by the fact they trademarked their beer to begin with.
2. Monster and other businesses like them trying to protect their brand are going about things the complete wrong way. Hitting people over the head with a 2×4 is not the best way to get your way. People will either roll over and die, stand up and fight or watch the fireworks that ensue by doing either of these things.
3. Monsters best bet at resolving the firestorm that has flared up around them is to get down and dirty and start righting the wrongs. The only way to do that is to treat people like human beings first, then hit them over the head with said 2×4 if an agreement can’t be reached. This approach would serve to limit huge amounts of bad press because you tried your best and that was the final outcome.

What can we learn from all of this craziness that is going and will continue to go on as long as people have super easy ways to communicate and spread ideas?

1. Continue to do what businesses do and protect your interests so long as you…
2. Treat people like humans and you’ll have less problems.
3. Explore other options to reach the same conclusion.
4. Tell people why you are doing what you’re doing.
5. Then sic the law dogs on your competitor.

Now I am no lawyer and I am not offering any legal advice on whether or not this method screws something up, but I am sure it would probably work much better for all in the end.

What did you think of that awesome intro? That was courtesy of Steve Sherron and his amazing video skills. Be sure to stop by and check him out on his video blog Blogger Lens.

To achieve maximum market penetration and to reach as many potential customers as possible, a multi-channel sales strategy is vital. As an online retailer selling you should identify and use as many sales channels to profit your business. Some channels are better than others, some channels are costly while others are time consuming. In this post I hope to list the different multi-channel sales strategy options available today and to highlight some pros and cons for each channel.

Selling Online? – 10 Multi-Channel Sales Strategies to Consider:

1. Invest in online merchandising – As an online retailer your website is really your lifeline. When it converts well the business is making money and when it converts poorly the very existence of the business is in question. When it comes to online merchandising work never ends. Images could always improve, text could always better explain the product and the products themselves could always be better positioned across the site. The pros of online merchandising are low investment and quick turn-around as it is really up to you, while on the cons side it could be time consuming at times if you don’t have a defined plan.

2. Sell over the telephone – At first glance it seems that using the web to promote telephone orders might not be cost effective for an online retailer, however when you consider the fact that it suddenly opens the doors to up-sale and cross-sale other products it becomes clearer. On the pros side, trained customer support agents could better ‘close’ a sale over the phone, better deal with possible objections compared with content on the site and funnel feedback back to the management team. On the cons side this channel could prove costly to the business and make it too easy to order over the phone than through the site.

3. Advertise off line – When considering to advertise off line we’ve always raised an eyebrow because tracking and reporting on the effectiveness of this channel was always questionable. Once we learned how to track sales from off line advertising by analyzing a dedicated landing page in Google Analytics, offering a unique telephone number and asking customers to quote a reference number this channel became more viable. On the pros side it gives the business more options to reach its target market especially using niche publications, but its cons are the large investment needed and low conversion rates when compared to other channels.

4. Sell on eBay - To better understand its size and positioning as a sales channel, eBay’s turnover is larger than the GDP of many countries which means eBay is big, very big. As a true online retailer you must consider selling on eBay to reach as much of your target market as possible. The pros of selling on eBay are tapping into its high level of traffic and attractive costs, while the cons are the fact that you will be competing with other sellers which might require you to reexamine your pricing structure and often compete with better priced re-furbished / re-sealed products.

5. Sell on amazon – Similar to eBay, Amazon has high levels of traffic and now days allows sellers to sell on its web properties similar to eBay. The pros of selling on Amazon are its higher conversion rate compared to eBay, its large affiliate network and ability to rank highly in the organic search results, while the cons similar to eBay are the fact that you will be competing with other sellers and its approach to uploading new products isn’t as easy as it could be.

6. Use Google Merchant – Also known as Google Base, this free service from Google allows online retailers to list products on its first page results. In most cases products will appear just below the paid results and will include an image, title, price and direct link to the product. The pros are the fact its free and quick, while there are very few cons, perhaps the initial investment of creating and automating a product feed.

7. Invest in natural SEO – The most cost effective sales channel with the lowest cost per acquisition is the natural traffic channel also known as organic traffic. By optimizing your website in accordance with the search engine guidelines you will notice that with time organic traffic will find its way to your site. In terms of pros, the traffic to your site is free and qualified meaning you are likely to convert well, while in terms of cons it might take a while to build. A good start is to look at your backlinks and build them up.

8. Use Google paid search – Although Yahoo and Bing offer paid ads services, Google AdWords is the biggest which makes sense starting there. Using targeted ads, you are able to place your products or services in front of your target market. In terms of pros, you are getting access to large numbers of potential customers while their state of mind in intended on purchasing, on the other hand in terms of cons it could prove very costly, especially if the price per click is high and the overall conversion rate is low.

9. Launch an affiliates programme – Using affiliates to promote your products or services is a true multi-channel sales strategy because some affiliates can act as paid search partners, some as organic search partners and some offer highly focused niche traffic. The pros of running an affiliate programme are mostly financial as you would expect to pay commission only for success, while the cons are the resources needed to managing the programme to maximize its effectiveness.

10. Turn your customers into your brand agents – This channel, often overlooked is a method of turning your customers into brand agents or brand ambassadors to complete your multi-channel strategy. To achieve this, your product or service (many times both) have to be at their highest levels, your site has to have tools for sharing information easily such as bookmarking tools and a referral scheme will help as well. In terms of pros, customers value recommendations highly and often friends share the same taste which will result in high conversion rates, while on the cons side you would need to ensure the referral scheme isn’t open for abuse.

What is your multi-channel sales strategy?
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This is a guest post by Ran, online marketing manager of Photo Paper Direct, a UK based online retailer selling a rage of office supply and Inkjet Cartridges. If you’d like to submit a guest post on the Unconventional Marketing Blog

I am not going to give you a list of crap to sell for your school or pet project, but I am going to give you the gift of instilling confidence in kids. Always support your kids and the kids of others!

At one point we were all kids and had to help “raise” money for our school or sports team. I was one of those ground pounding kids that sold stuff to any and everyone I could find. I didn’t always win the competition because my parents weren’t loaded and buying all of my fundraising wears, but I did always do well and sold to tons of different people.

Parents and administrators have the ability to help kids gain tons of self confidence by building the little block of success. Eventually, those little successes kids have along the way on the path to their adult lives will greatly help them in their ability to sell themselves and their products, services or whatever.

Help them to get off on the right foot by NOT sitting in the car while they go door to door and show them how to properly take charge and convey the value of what they have to offer. After one or two of these little successes they’ll get how things work and be able to sell ketchup Popsicles to ladies in white gloves. That is when you go and sit in the car and wait for them to finish. See how this works now?

Be there for your kid in the beginning and impart the knowledge and confidence they need in order to go out on their own and knock them out of the park. The coolest thing in the world is seeing a kid that still contains the blind confidence in their ability to do and be whatever they want. I love seeing that! It gets me excited about all of the possibilities that kid will have in the years to come, if they keep their ideas alive.

I am very optimistic guy. I can’t help it, but when I see a sad kid trying to sell stuff to raise money for their school and possibly winning an xBox or Wii for their hard work, I want to cry. There is so much better stuff they can be winning like confidence, little successes and bonding with their parent.

The video above is on my new viddler account www.viddler.com/therealjosh as I continue to move in that branding direction and expand it across the net. If you want to watch the video, here is the original post School Fundraising Ideas for Kids and Adults.

I had the pleasure of talking with Gary Vaynerchuk last week about his new book “Crush It! Why NOW Is The Time To Cash In On Your Passion.” I received a copy of the book a couple of days before and was able to read through it in short order (about 2.5 hours). I highly recommend you get a copy. Below is the video I put together for your viewing pleasure (with the help of Brian Matson, Mr. FargoMoorhead).

The biggest takeaway from the book and talking with Gary was the focus on branding and how to pursue branding to the ends of the earth. In the end, everyone has their own brand and if you aren’t managing and interacting with others, your brand will be determined for you. So as Gary would say, jump in the trenches and get dirty.

All of this brand management and social interaction comes at a great cost of time and participation. It doesn’t take a lot of money or talent to set up a Twitter account and start talking to people. But the currency of the day is sweat, not dollar according to Gary. The more you spend doing what you love and building your relationships with others, the more successful you’ll be. The reality is this works for everyone and everything. That is why Gary’s message is priceless. Here is the video he references in the interview, The 80/20 Business Rule.

I mentioned the other day on Aylln Hane’s Video Blog that it really boils down to what you want, your goal. Without knowing your end goal or desire it doesn’t matter who you get your information from: Vic, Griz, Problogger, Gary Vaynerchuk, Seth Godin, Warren Buffett or whoever. You have to know what your goal is, find the person who best fits your personality and style to model, then spend every waking moment (minus family and work) pursuing that goal. And guess what? You’ll reach it.

Reading Gary’s book “Crush It!” is one way to help you reach your goal. I said before I highly recommend you pick up a copy and get fired up. This book with help you tremendously in organizing and prioritizing your work to reach your goal the Gary Vaynerchuk way. If you don’t want to go the same route as Gary to reach your goal(s) then use the book as inspiration to get fired up about your goal and dominating everyone else in your niche.

I give the book two thumbs up and will reference and recommend it to just about everyone. It’s your choice in how you pull information from the book and apply it to your life. For $13 or so, it is more inspirational and packed with solid info than any other e-book. Most of the information presented in the book can be found on GaryVaynerchuk.com and if you started at the very first post you’ll gain a lot and save the $13 and reading time. Knock yourself out and Crush It in one way or another!

I would never advocate you try to become and do something that you are not. But if you’re so excited about your goal or a subject that you can’t sleep and want to connect to every single person on earth about it, Gary and Crush It has the formula for you. Care more about everyone you come across in life and business and you’ll win.

The past year or so has seen it fair share of ups and down with the economy, and with that we see some interesting marketing ideas. I love coffee and occasionally visit the local Starbucks or Dunn Bros. A recent idea someone at Starbucks dreamed up was to reward your receipt with a stamp that will discount your next coffee if you return the same day. If you cant tell I love coffee.

I admire Starbucks for trying, but I don’t see anyone talking about the new marketing scheme. At least they are rewarding the people who visit their stores multiple times a day, which can be up to 3 times before 10 a.m., according to one Starbucks worker.

Within a week, Dunn Bros. Coffee offered me the same deal as Starbucks. Do they really think giving someone a $1 off their next drink will stir up buzz and bring people flocking in? It won’t. The reason is simple. Nobody cares about saving $1 with the condition of having to return within a few hours. And most of us are probably going to be annoyed that we were even told about this lame deal.

If I were in the decision-making process of one of these two companies, I would reward the faithful customers by going over the top. Working the early morning shift at a coffee shop, you would learn quickly who are the talkers and frequent customers. I would then greet those customers with a limited edition card (like the Black Centurion Card). The card would be worth a month’s worth of free regular coffee if they return it at the end of the month. I would maybe make about 20 of these, depending on how much business is done at that particular store.

I would then create a couple more cards (different colors) like that in greater number that would be worth between 25-50% off for the month. Now you have a product that people will talk about. Plus you have just placed that into the hands of the talkers. It won’t take long for that to be passed around and a month is just long enough to get it into the hands of another talker as the first gets less excited.

Then I would run a campaign in the store showing the picture and posters of “Have you seen this card?” Let everyone know who comes to the store they could potentially get one of those cards. Now that is an idea worth sharing. Scarcity and Reward. Scarcity to create a desire and a reward to the talkers and return customers.