“It’s better to have a kick ass half, than a half assed whole.” – Rework, Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
What does that mean? It means, stay with the KISS model. Keep It Simple Stupid. In the health care debate, Republicans have been able to find a simple message that can cut through the clutter of voters’ lives. Voters understand exactly what a government takeover of health care really means.
I believe traditional websites are fading away and more candidates and businesses will start using social networks as their central online hub, specifically Facebook.
My latest post for TechRepublican.com.
I shot this video last week and hesitated to post it because I know I’m going to catch all kinds of hell with even suggesting using purchased lists. But I’m here to talk about the results I’m having and this is what I’ve found.
Purchased and rented lists typically have a HORRIBLE open rate, but you can have some strong success if you use them strategically and very sparingly with the goal of grabbing new organic subscribers – prospecting. NEVER dump a purchased list into your organic list and absolutely 100% never ever ever SPAM the crap of folks with tons of unsolicited emails every week. Use them in the midst of hot button issues only when folks will be spurred to action.
I should have also mentioned stolen lists in this video. This year alone I’ve ended up on about ten new mailing lists because consultants are stealing candidate’s lists and giving them to other candidates. Seriously people…quit with the dumb shiz.
I’m very excited to be the newest contributor to TechRepublican.com. I’ve been talking to you folks here about Google Wave and TubeMogul.com a good bit, but if you’re still interested, here are two quick videos I did to catch the TechRepublican.com crew up on these very handy sites.
My buddy Brett has been hitting the iPhone live video hard, which has convinced me to give it a try. Forever I’ve been thinking how cool it would be to have a flip cam that connected to the web and let us broadcast live.
Is the iPhone the answer?
Maybe. Today I tested the qik and ustream iPhone apps on a 3G network and hooked up to wifi. Note that I’m using an iPhone 3G and not a 3GS. Yeah, I know. How can I confess my love for Apple without having the updated iPhone? It’s because my love is unrequited. In other words, Apple really screwed over its current iPhone users by not cutting us a deal.
My thoughts on a new blog post by Tim Ferris about “the benefits of pissing people off.”
Here are few quotes from the post:
“Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity: you’ll avoid the tough decisions, you’ll avoid confronting the people who need to be confronted, and you’ll avoid offering differential rewards based on differential performance because some people might get upset.”
- Colin Powell
“To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”
– Elbert Hubbard
When building your site, it’s not about fancy bells and whistles. It’s all about good content and simplicity. Ditch the flash. Ditch the slideshows that never change.
A question from a blog visitor: How did you learn all this Internet stuff?
We’re political operatives, not schooled tech experts. We know what we want from a strategic standpoint and then its all about:
Answering a couple questions about website platforms and plugins.
We build nearly all of our sites on Wordpress. My favorite plugin is the Share This plugin that allows a reader to spread your message for you without you having to do anything.
Last week I met with a guy looking at getting into politics and wanting some advice. The best advice I can give anyone wanting a piece of this crazy action – don’t plan on doing anything else.
