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, November 3, 2010
Over the past few months I’ve used my blog to talk about my deep commitment to the community and how ethical business give back to their community. I try to help the business community by running my company ethically and giving advice to other entrepreneurs on how they can do the same. I’ve also been working to help the global community by sponsoring children through World Vision and aspiring small business owners through Kiva. Now, I’ve decided to help out the local Edmonton community. I started out this effort by working with Santas Anonymous to provide hundreds of Christmas presents this December to children who are part of low-income families. My next initiative is more direct. My staff and I have decided to become volunteers for The Mustard Seed – a local food bank. On November 4 we are going to go down and cook and serve a healthy warm meal to people living in poverty in our inner city.... 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, September 10, 2010
Today, I want to talk about one of the most important ethical problems facing the Internet marketing community: spam. We all get it in our inbox or spam basket, and we can’t believe anyone falls for it. But, not everyone is Internet-savvy – and unfortunately, unethical businesses take advantage of less aware people, and give all of us who rely on email for sales a bad name. This is not to say that sending emails to your customers is always a bad thing. It’s only when you do it too often, or send it to people who are not interested, that it becomes an ethical challenge. That’s why an ethical marketer uses email marketing in a fair, conservative way. When you collect emails to build your list, make sure people understand that you will be contacting them with information and special offers. Next, make sure you send out email blasts only when you have a sale or a new product... more »
Posted by Jesse Willms on Thursday, September 9, 2010
Lose 30 Pounds In 30 Days! She’ll Love You More When You Use Herbal Viagra! Start Making Six Figures A Month From Your Home Today! Do those statements sound familiar? I bet they do. I just found each one of them in less than 10 seconds simply by looking in my spam box. Cruise around the Internet for any length of time and you’ll quickly find similar statements. What do they have in common? They are all false. While I guess technically you could lose 30 pounds in 30 days, but likely no product alone could make that happen. And herbal Viagra may do what it’s supposed to do, physiologically speaking, but the description could be much clearer. And that last one is disingenuous for a variety of reasons. False advertising claims give a bad name to Internet marketing. They are unethical, and really, they are unnecessary. If you have a decent product or service, it will sell – but... 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 Sunday, September 5, 2010
I promised you when I started this blog that I would use it to share with you my code of ethics. Today, I decided it was time to start making good on my promise. After all, that’s part of being an ethical person. Overall business ethics is a complex business, so I want to break it down into several different blog posts. To start, I’d like to discuss basic email ethics. Email promotions are an area where many companies fail in their ethical efforts. While one of the most effective marketing tools ever invented, it’s also the one that people trust the least due to spam, phishing scams and the threat of viruses. That’s why email ethics are a critical part of any company. Here are the email guidelines I’ve created for my company. Transparent copy. You can score a quick buck with a misleading email, but that won’t help you or your customers. And, it will destroy long-term profits.... 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
