Curation Revolution

Lots of questions after our presentation of asking the right Ecommerce questions last week to a group of about 40 Small to Medium Sized Businesses in Raleigh sponsored by FedEx. Instead fo writing more, we took a different approach and developed short "Video Notes" adding Curagami YouTube links to our Haiku Deck:

Find the Haiku Deck Here
http://shar.es/1gssvu

Find Introductory Video Notes on YouTube Here
https://youtu.be/T3KVhY_yK10 

Find Video Notes about creating online community here
https://youtu.be/KXmON4U1I_E 

Will add more video notes soon.  

Why Content Curtation Rocks SEO
The slide deck from @Scoop.it about how content curation impacts SEO is an excellent SEO & content curation primer (embedded in the post), but let’s do a deeper dive to understand how content curation ROCKS SEO and every site's Uber-Goal of creating sustainable online community.

This Curagami post creates an interesting comparison between Oprah and Amazon. One knows how to create online community one doesn't. Both have great tips to share.

When Google went public 10 years ago, co-founder Larry Page said he wanted to get his search engine's users out of Google and to the right place as fast as possible. Today, Google is often doing the opposite. WSJ's Rolfe Winkler reports on the News Hub with Tanya Rivero. (Photo: Getty Images).

Marty Note
10 years old Google is moving from search to a content and commerce portal. Increasingly Google wants to be s destination not simply the world leading sieve. Content is king and the king is beginning to emulate one of their subjects - Amazon.

Amazon has been successful at balancing their business between content and commerce. Many Amazon interactions are "rich search" engagements where we use Amazon's reviews or vast scale to teach us something about an online marketplace.

Look at Amazon's nascent entry into streaming video market. Using their loyalty program, Prime, Amazon has the most addictive and best looking streaming option. Amazon's advantage? They SELL movies as well as giving away what feels like about 1/3 of their titles FREE to prime members.

BRILLIANT use of a loyalty program since it reinforces a key benefit, access, and creates a crack cocaine like addiction. When I want to find a movie Netflix doesn't have Amazon is where I go. Lately I even pay to "rent" or "buy" a title too having plowed through free titles.

Now let's turn back to Google and realize that content, search and content are VERY different things. Amazon's use of prime to improve their streaming option into a viable digital marketplace demonstrates the interconnected synergies a commerce & content player like Amazon can achieve.

Can Google become equally as successful at content and commerce? Perhaps, but one need only look at Yahoo's struggles to be both search and content portal to question whether either is sufficiently difficult to demand full attention.

As we search less and differently Google wants to diversify and protect the kingdom they've built. Entering oceans made red with competition as both content and commerce are is a different gig. Will be interesting to see how the king adapts to being a lowly prince.

Amazon Ecommerce Mus Steals Fro 2014 Continues with #6 - 10:

* Gamification.
* Speed.
* Shipping.
* Algorithms not people.

* Think Different.

Add teset to must steal tactics 1 - 5:

* Content Curation.

* Information Is Half The Profit.

* Price Arbritrage.
* Arbritrage Everything.
* Think in SCALE.

and you have an RX for ecommerce victory in 2014. Steal any 3 of those tactics and you will make more money this year than last.

1 - 5:
http://www.scenttrail.com/top-10-reasons-amazon-will-kick-ecommerce-butt-2014/

6 - 10
http://www.scenttrail.com/ecommerce-steal-these-amazon-tactics/

More than a loyalty program, Amazon prime is ecommerce's future. Amazon Prime builds community, reduces customer risks, is easy and fun so steal this...

Hero Marketing combines passion, customer focus, exponential thinking and the creation of movements to help Small to Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs) compete with Amazon.

Created this new Haiku Deck for a conference in Baltimore sponsored by FedEx on 2.26.

This panel discussion at the 2014 Miami Book Fair discusses Amazon's predatory practices, what a "book" will be in the future and who will have the rights to our intellectual property.

Top 5 Reasons Today (5 more tomorrow)
This post got so good to me I had to break it into two. The top 5 reasons Amazon will be kicking ecommerce butt and taking names next year:

* Content Curation (they are better at riffing, snipping and spinning content than anyone). 
* Understand INFORMATION = more than half the "profit" of an online transaction. 
* Price Arbitrage (no prices is ever static on Amazon). 
* Arbitrage Everything (Amazon will trade anything and everything). 
* Amazon Thinks in web "scale" and that is BIG and BIGGER, Fast and FASTER. 

Don't despair. Yes Amazon will be kicking all of our butts for quite a long time online, but that doesn't mean we can't grab bull by horns and narrow the gap in 2014. Knowing what Amazon is so good at is a great place to figure what you can STEAL. 

Doesn't cost much to CHANGE your thinking and may win the day!