PlaceMyProduct.com Ad Auction Launch

I'm launching a new website today, http://www.placemyproduct.com/. PlaceMyProduct.com is, simply, a place to auction off your ad inventory to the highest bidder.

You can, pretty much, auction any type of ad, sponsorship, or product placement, both online or offline. It's up to you. Some basic online examples could include:

1. Banner ads on websites
2. Sponsorships on podcasts
3. Text links on blogs
4. Product placement in online videos
5. Sponsorships for your email newsletter

Those are just a few examples for online ads. You can auction offline ads as well, like ads in a niche magazine or outdoor ads.

I created an auction for a banner placement in TradePals profiles. Have a look and place a bid if interested.

Bad Ad Placement

Sometimes ad placement is just bad (check the positioning of the exhaust pipe)...

ScratchBack.com And The Future Of Online Advertising

A smart, entrepreneurial fella by the name of Jim Kukral launched a new online (blog) ad network that goes by the name of ScratchBack.

THIS IS THE FUTURE OF ONLINE ADVERTISING!!!

Let me elaborate. I don't mean that ScratchBack, as good idea it actually is (and it is a great idea), is the future of online advertising. Rather, it's the way it is set up that is the future of online advertising.

Traditionally, an online ad network works like this: The ad network signs up thousands of advertisers that want their ads shown across a network of websites. Website publishers post the ad code on their site and the ad network automatically populates the ad space with ads paid for by the advertisers. This works well and makes a lot of money.

But a new startup cannot compete with these networks because they're huge and already ingrained into the fabric of the web. Any new entrants to this competitive market are apt to fail because they would need a huge critical mass to be a success. New advertisers won't sign up because their network of websites won't be big enough to advertise on. New publishers won't sign up because there aren't enough advertisers so they won't make any money. Even with a cool new way to distribute the ads (Turn.com) will be difficult to launch because of the absolute giants in online advertising that you'd have to compete with (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.). Just see Turn.com; it's received $26 million in funding and seems to be forever stuck in beta.

Now, take ScratchBack. It doesn't need a critical mass of advertisers and publishers to launch because it works differently than the standard ad networks. Check it out: www.ScratchBack.com and try it on your blog (if you do, indeed, have a blog).

I've added the SratchBack widget on the side panel, the one that says "Are you in my topspots?" I'm testing it out but I probably won't keep it up long as the audience of this website is probably not the type of audience it would be applicable for.

I'm interested in ScratchBack for another reason. I'll be launching a new ad network some time in the coming weeks as well. Like ScratchBack, it's success doesn't hinge on achieving a big critical mass of advertisers and publishers, although it will need some to kick it off. So, I'm interested in seeing some of Jim's marketing strategies, how well they work, and perhaps borrow a few of his marketing strategies myself (I do have some unique marketing strategies which I'll use that haven't really been done in an organized way yet).

Join The Conversation - Joseph Jaffe

I don't normally buy marketing books, but I bought one... for the cover. I recognized so many faces on the cover that I had to buy it...


Join The Conversation is Joseph Jaffe's new book. See how it Bumrushed the Amazon charts.

50 Most Important And Influential People In The Tech Business

According to, soon to be no-more, Business 2.0 magazine, the following people are the 50 most important, most influential in the tech sector of business:

50. Jay Adelson - CEO of Digg.
49. Jason Calacanis - Jason was the founder of Weblogs, Inc, which was sold to AOL in 2005. His latest internet venture is Mahalo. "Mahalo" means "thank-you" in Hawaiian.
48. Gina Bianchini - Gina is the CEO of Ning, a website that allows people to create their own social networks, like the Brooklyn Art Project, for example.
47. Ed Iacobucci & Vern Raburn - Co-founders of Citrix Systems and, soon-to-be, DayJet air taxi.
46. Paul Graham - Founder of Y-Combinator, a new seed fund that takes a hands-on approach to nurturing startups.
45. You - Almost as cheesey as Time's person of the year.
44. Evan Williams - Founder of Twitter, and the man responsible for "daily tweets."
43. Elon Musk - Currently involved with 3 ventures: Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and Solar City.
42. Doug Melton - Co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
41. Tim O'Reilly - CEO of O'Reilly Media and the person who coined the term "Web 2.0."
40. Sam Zell - Print media mogul and not afraid of picking fights with powerhouse Google.
39. John Edmond - Co-founder of Cree, an LED lightbulb manufacturer
38. Arianna Huffington - Political blogger Ariana's wildly popular Huffington Post is one of the most visited blogs on the internet.
37. Fake Steve Jobs - The real Dan Lyons is AKA Fake Steve Jobs.
36. Kevin Walsh - Walsh's Renewable Energy division at GE Energy Financial Services plans to spend $4 billion on renewable energy investments trough to 2010.
35. Howard Draft - CEO of DraftFCB, a big-time marketing agency.
34. Mark Zuckerberg - The face of The Facebook. Mark started "The Facebook," which is now just Facebook without the "the."
33. Richard Branson - Virgin.
32. Indra Nooyl - CEO of Pepsi. Coca-Cola is better!
31. Mukesh And Anil Ambani - Billionaire brothers from India.
30. Charles Phillips - President of Oracle.
29. Nicholas Negroponte - Chairman of non-profit One Laptop Per Child.
28. Reed Hundt - Vice Chairman of Frontline Wireless.
27. Janus Frils & Niklas Zennstrom - Co-founders of Joost and Skype.
26. Tom Cogan - Chief Project Engineer at Boeing.
25. Philip Rosedale - Founder of Linden Labs which created a Second Life for people with no first life.
24. Tony Fadell - Senior VP at Apple
23. Min Kao - CEO of Garmin, a manufacturer of GPS devices
22. Michael Arrington - Getting TechCrunched can do wonders for an internet startup.
21. Randall Stephenson - CEO of AT&T.
20. Shigeru Miyamoto - Senior Managing Director at Nintendo.
19. Martin Eberhard - CEO of Tesla Motors
18. Agile Software Development - Not really a "person."
17. Robin Li - Cofounder of Baidu, China's biggest search engine.
16. Barry Diller - CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp, which owns Ask.com.
15. Bruce Chizen - CEO of Adobe.
14. Mark Hurd - CEO of Hewlett-Packard.
13. Jimmy Wales - Founder of Wikipedia. Check out what Michael Scott has to say about Wikipedia in the video below:



12. Jeff Bezos - CEO of Amazon.com
11. Brian McAndrews - CEO of aQuantive.
10. Katsuaki Watanabe - President of Toyota.
9. John Chambers - CEO of Cisco Systems.
8. Arnold Scharzenegger - Governor of California, AKA The Governator
7. Susan Decker - VP of Yahoo!.
6. Rupert Murdoch - CEO of Newscorp, which owns MySpace.
5. Paul Jacobs - CEO of Qualcomm.
4. Michael Moritz - Managing Director at Sequoia Capital.
3. Private Equity - Also not a real person.
2. Steve Jobs - The REAL Steve Jobs
1. Eric Schmidt, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin - Google is taking over the world!

Rich People Are A Drain On Society - Watch The Video

The rich are unwise with their money. We need social programs to help them become super rich. Otherwise, they'll continua to be a drain on society... Watch the video:


In The Know: Are America's Rich Falling Behind The Super-Rich?

Cold Calling Still Works!!! Yeah, Right.

Business Week recently did a survey asking how salespeople get generate their sales leads. The top three results were:

1. Referrals from clients (22%)
2. general referrals (16%)
3. Cold calling (13%)

So, cold calling is the third most popular method of generating sales leads. Does this mean it still works? Business Week tends to think so. I don't. Just because 13% of salespeople, according to their survey, do it doesn't mean it works. It just means that people are still doing it.

So salespeople still cold call. Even with all of the modern sales prospecting methods now available, they still do it. That's unbelievable to me.

Becoming An Online Marketer - About.com Online Advertising Shows You How

About.com receives over 30 million visitors every month. It is a professional content site categorized by hundreds of different topics. One of their newest topic categories, which was just recently launched, is online advertising. Visit the site at onlineadvertising.about.com.

Writer, Cory Treffiletti, writes about topics such as:
•Media buying basics
•becoming an online marketer
•Choosing agencies, affiliates, and partners
•Measuring metrics and analytics
•Advertising in online video
•Advertising in online social networks and user-generated content

It's a good read for anybody involved in online marketing, from the beginners to the experts.

Canada's 100 Fastest Growing Companies - By Profit Magazine

Wouldn't it be nice if you can start a business and then watch it grow by 33,700% per year? That's the revenue growth rate of Canada's fastest growing company, as reported by Profit Magazine.

Here is the complete list of Canada's fastest growing companies, followed by percentage revenue growth, name of the CEO/President, and the loaction of the company:

1. Rentcash: 33,700%; Gord Reykdal; Edmonton, Alberta
2. Digital Oilfield: 8,757%; Rod Munro; Calgary, Alberta
3. Rutter: 8,114%; Donald Clarke, St. John's, Newfoundland
4. Digital Rapids: 6,972%; Brick Eksten; Markham, Ontario
5. BTI Photonic Systems: 5,607%; Lance Laking; Ottawa, Ontario
6. Savanna Energy Services: 4,649%; Ken Mullen; Calgary, Alberta
7. Solium Capital: 4,337%; Jeff English; Calgary, Alberta
8. Optimal Geomatics: 4,025%; Colum Caldwell; Vancouver, BC
9. Peer 1 Network: 4,016%; Fabio Banducci; Vancouver, BC
10. Knor Plast: 3,964%; Eric Lang; Cornwall, Ontario
11. Canada Web Hosting: 3,830%; Brian Sheppard; Kelowna, BC
12. I Love Rewards: 3,675%; Razor Suleman; Toronto, Ontario
13. Geotech: 3,196%; Ed Morrison; Aurora, Ontario
14. Brahma Compression: 3,127%; Don Schafer; Calgary, Alberta
15. Rapid Technology: 3,120%; Michael Jones; Calgary, Alberta
16. Kaboose: 3.068%; Jason DeZwirek; Toronto, Ontario
17. Communicate.com: 2,951%; David Jeffs; Vancouver, BC
18. Coastal Contacts: 2,901; Roger Hardy; Vancouver, BC
19. Disc Go Technologies: 2,882%; Mark Chaplin; Langley, BC
20. QuestAir: 2,633%; Jonathan Wilkinson; Burnaby, BC
21. CityXpress: 2,556%; Phil Dubois; Vancouver, BC
22. Workbrain: 2,482%; David Ossip; Toronto, Ontario
23. Pareto: 2,469%; Kerry Shapansky; Toronto, Ontario
24. N-Able Technologies: 2,411%; Gavin Garbutt; Ottawa, Ontario
25. Arthur's Fresh Company: 2,398%; Travis Bell; Toronto, Ontario
26. iVedha: 2,246%; Kumar Ratnam; Toronto, Ontario
27. WebTech Wireless: 2,244%
28. The Skor Food Group: 2,232%; Vince Capobianco; Vaughan, Ontario
29. Poptech: 1,963%; David Minister; Toronto, Ontario
30. Armament: 1,949%; Andrew Webber; Halifax, Nova Scotia
31. Magnetsigns Advertising: 1,904%; Stuart Erskine; Camrose, Alberta
32. Radialpoint: 1,899%; Hamnett Hill; Montreal, Quebec
33. Grey Island Systems International: 1,752%; Owen Moore; Toronto, Ontario
34. Carmanah Technologies: 1,751%; Art Aylesworth; Victoria, BC
35. Latitude Geographics: 1,603%; Steven Myhill-jones; Victoria, BC
36. GDG Informatique et Gestion: 1,592%; Gaetan Duchesne; Quebec City, Quebec
37. The Fulmer Development Corp: 1,584%; Yuri Fulmer; Vancouver, BC
38. VRX Studios: 1,570%; David MacLaren; Vancouver, BC
39. Optrics Engineering: 1,521%; Bording Ostergaard; Edmonton, Alberta
40. Vanguard Global Services: 1,459%; Richard Court; Mississauga, Ontario
41. CCS Income Trust: 1,408%; David Werklund; Calgary, Alberta
42. AirIQ: 1,376%; Stephen Wiley; Pickering, Ontario
43. Itergy International: 1,326%; Ralph Loewen; Montreal, Quebec
44. Virtual Causeway: 1,298%; Rick Endrulat; Waterloo, Ontario
45. Dynamic Source Manufacturing: 1,285%; Duane Macauley; Calgary, Alberta
46. Henederson Builders: 1,281%; Scott Henderson; Sarnia, Ontario
47. PQA: 1,242%; Keith McIntosh; Fredericton, New Brunswick
48. Procom Quebec: 1,171%; Andre Couillard; Montreal, Quebec
49. MediaWave Communications: 1,165%; Grant Robertson; Kamloops, BC
50. Big Eagle: 1,163%; Roger Stokowski; Camrose, Alberta
51. Pethealth: 1,149%; Mark Warren; Oakville, Ontario
52. Arctic Spas: 1,117%; Trevor Wasney; Oakville, Ontario
53. Eveready Income Fund: 1,097%; Rod Marlin; Edmonton, Ontario
54. i3DVR: 1,081%; Jack Hoang; Toronto, Ontario
55. Verbois: 1,067%; Andre Boucher; Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec
56. MaxSys: 1,066%; Bryan Brulotte; Ottawa, Ontario
57. Claybrooke: 1,011%; David Harvey; Oakville, Ontario
58. Maxim Group: 999%; Craig Nadeau; Calgary, Alberta
59. Inter Pipeline Fund: 998%; David Fesnyk; Calgary, Alberta
60. Atrium Biotechnologies: 983%; Luc Dupont; Quebec City, Quebec
61. Nexstaf: 978%; Brian Edmunds; Toronto, Ontario
62. CH Express: 961%; Serge Hubert; St-Jean-sur-Richeleau, Quebec
63. Protus: 958%; Joseph Nour; Ottawa, Ontario
64. Kerr Construction: 940%; Doug Kerr; Vancouver, BC
65. RIM: 933%; Mike Laziridis & Jim Balsillie; Waterloo, Ontario
66. Cogsdale: 926%; David Perry & Duncan Shaw; Charlottetown, PEI
67. Frantic Films: 910%; Jamie Brown; Winnipeg, Manitoba
68. Price Mattress: 908%; Gerry Price; Toronto, Ontario
69. RecoverCorp: 908%; Charles Miller; Pickering, Ontario
70. Mezzanine Consulting: 872%; Lisa Shepherd; Toronto, Ontario
71. Netfirms: 865%; Thomas Savundra; Toronto, Ontario
72. GARDA: 835%; Stephan Cretier; Montreal, Quebec
73. Digital Payment Technologies: 831%; Andrew Scott; Burnaby, BC
74. Fusion Learning: 830%; Kevin Higgins; Toronto, Ontario
75. Wellington West Capital: 823%; Charlie Spiring; Winnipeg, Manitoba
76. Data Direct: 798%; Ebraham Sesook; Mississauga, Ontario
77. SelectCore: 795%; Keith McKenzie; Tecumseh, Ontario
78. Matias: 794%; Edgar Matias; Vaughan, Ontario
79. Dyrand Systems; 782%; Trent Dyrsmid; Burnaby, BC
80. Triglobal Capital Management: 782%; Themis Papadopoulos; Westmount, Quebec
81. Evertz: 778%; Romolo Magarelli; Burlington, Ontario
82. Maxim Power: 768%; John Bobenic; Calgary, Alberta
83. LIJA: 763%; Linda Hipp; Richmond, BC
84. 1-800-GOT-JUNK?: 749%; Brian Scudamore; Vancouver, BC
85. Cistech: 726%; Vineet Srivastava; Ottawa, Ontario
86. Rocky Mountain Soap: 723%; Cameron Baty; Canmore, Alberta
87. Energy Savings Income Fund: 711%; Rebecca MacDonald; Toronto, Ontario
88. Premier Executive Suites: 700%; Tim Moore; Halifax, Nova Scotia
89. Marketingisland: 693%; Bryan Bogensberger; Montreal, Quebec
90. ByTheOwner.com: 656%; Nicolas Bouchard; Charny, Quebec
91. Ikron: 653%; Robert Eisses; Burnaby, BC
92. Rapid Snack: 650%; Martin Joyal; Lasalle, Quebec
93. PlastiSoft: 647%; Jacob Aharon; Toronto, Ontario
94. Apex Distribution: 646%; Donald K. White; Calgary, Alberta
95. National Waste Services: 642%; Danny Ardellini; Ajax, Ontario
96. Ideaca: 633%; Muneer Hirji; 633%; Toronto, Ontario
97. Gibraltar: 632%; Don Lee; Mississauga, Ontario
98. PointClickCare.com: 631%; Mike Wessinger; Mississauga, Ontario
99. Pacific R.I.M.: 630%; Phil Goddard & Dwayne Stewart
100. RedPoint: 620%; Don Graves; Calgary, Alberta

Chicks With Swords - Ask.com

Aks.com launched a fun new commercial:



It got me curious... But when I searched for Chicks With Swords I didn't find what that guy was looking for. My results were slightly different.

Commercial found via Techcrunch

SiteNeighbors

I'm just having a look at this new widget from siteneighbors and how it would look on my blog: