Posted by Jesse Willms on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Hi, this is Jack Stanton once again, filling in for my friend and co-worker Jesse Willms on his blog. He asked me to post an entry today about a discussion we had in his office last week. Over a year ago, Jesse decided to start helping out the Kiva Foundation as it works to fight poverty by offering microloans to budding entrepreneurs in third-world countries when banks are unwilling to. This can help create an emerging middle class in the third world. Jesse has been proud to support Kiva, but was disturbed by recent news articles that have put microfinancing in a bad light. He brought me into his office to discuss the situation and decide if we still wanted to support Kiva. Over the course of the next few hours, we went through all of the available information about the microfinancing controversy. What we discovered was that certain people not associated with Kiva were taking advantage of the microfinancing... more »
Posted by Jesse Willms on Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The 4Chan group that is known as “/b/” or “Anonymous” is back to their old tricks and in the news again. This time it’s because they decided to exact vengeance on something they considered a threat to them. It seems that the U.S. Government contracted with the well-known computer security company HPGary to find out what they could about who Anonymous really is. HPGary then hired Aaron Barr to infiltrate the group. Taking that job may have been the biggest mistake of his life. Barr apparently managed to get some information about the group, which he planned to sell to the FBI. But, Anonymous was one step ahead of him. Before he had the chance to do it, they hacked his computer. First they put 50,000 of his confidential emails on the Internet. Then, they hacked his Twitter account and used it to post his Social Security Number and other private information that could be used by identity theft specialists.... more »
Posted by Jesse Willms on Wednesday, October 20, 2010
I have one rock solid rule for all of my Internet marketing efforts: Never use the word “free” in any ad or promotion whatsoever. I know this goes against what people think are the “rules” of marketing. Heck, any time you read a book by a so-called “marketing guru,” the first thing they tell you is that “free” is a powerful word that will motivate customers. However, I disagree. Nothing in life is free, and most potential customers know that. In fact, most people don’t want free products. It makes them feel cheap. Instead, they want to buy something they consider valuable that they can show off. Think of it this way – people perceive things based on their expectations. When someone pays $150 a ticket to see a famous band in concert, they almost always have a good time, because they expect to. After all, if the tickets are expensive and hard to get, then the band must be... more »
Posted by Jesse Willms on Thursday, October 14, 2010
Today I wanted to talk about another one of my ideals in business – always try to provide full disclosure on prices and products. Now, when it comes to products I know that full disclosure can be a tricky business. After all, we don’t always know everything about the products we sell, so it’s possible to accidentally overhype a product. Just think of Apple, one of the most honest companies in the world and what happened to them last month. They launched their iPhone 4 saying it was going to be the best iPhone yet, only to find out that when it was used in the real world there were major problems with it receiving signals. So, yeah, it’s possible to fail at full product disclosure. But, what you can do is what Apple did – they apologized for the problem and then sent people kits to fix it. Now that was great customer service! That’s what I mean about... more »
Posted by Jesse Willms on Friday, October 1, 2010
Most of my time on this blog has been spent talking about ethical business practices, and why it’s important not to do anything shady that can mislead potential customers into buying your products or services. But, today I want to write about something different – about giving back to the community and supporting worthy charitable organizations. It’s long been an adage that philanthropy is part of being an ethical businessperson. You shouldn’t use your company to simply make money for yourself; you should also use your company to try to make the world a better place. I’ve spent a lot of time building up my company to make a fair amount of money but, lately I’ve spent even more time researching and supporting meaningful charitable institutions. While I didn’t come from an overly privileged family I had a much more fortunate situation than many in the developing world. And I think that’s the case for most of us who are... more »
Posted by Jesse Willms on Saturday, September 25, 2010
Being ethical in all of your business dealings should be your first priority. That also should be second nature, but many people fail to grasp this basic concept – especially in the online marketplace. They’d never lie to someone in person and if they ran a brick and mortar operation; they’d be honest because they’d have to look their customers in the eye. But, the anonymity of Internet marketing seems to create a distance that makes many of us forget we are dealing with real people, and not just a bunch of electronic wallets. It can be all too easy to behave unethically online. Bad people and scoundrels have created a lot of software that makes it simple to hide IP addresses, disguise where your email is coming from or simply disappear when a customer has a complaint. But, taking advantage of any of these tactics is pure folly. Sure, you might get some short-term profits; but you will hurt... more »
Posted by Jesse Willms on Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Full disclosure: I’m a good businessman and I like making money. Now that I’ve gotten your attention, I want to talk about today’s topic: the importance of good disclosures on your website. And, by that I mean that any and all disclosures on your site should be transparent, written in plain English and easy to find on your site. Your disclosures should include everything your customers need to know about your product and about any and all fees and charges associated with your business. It’s the right thing to do, it’ll save you a lot of headaches, and over time it will generate the kind of customers you want to do business with and help grow your reputation. Here are some tips to keep handy when you’re looking to include a disclosure on your sales website: 1. The disclosure should be available from a link on your home page. The link should be easy to find, and the font should... more »
Posted by Jesse Willms on Thursday, August 6, 2009
Hi. My name is Jesse Willms. I’m the founder of Terra Marketing Group. Over the years I’ve gotten very frustrated with how unethical many people in our business are. That’s why I’m in the process of creating a Code of Ethics for our industry. I’m going to post it here when it’s ready – but in the meantime I’d love to hear your suggestions. Thank you, Jesse Willms
