How can you make hosting "sexy"? Selling and marketing hosting and other technical services can be hard. The technology isn't going to be of much interest to most of the target audience, so what kind of strategies can you adopt in your marketing and general positioning?
Presentation given as part of a workshop at Indie Cork in October 2016. The presentation covers getting a domain name and building a website quickly and easily
Brought to you by http://www.eBusinesses.com and http://www.Greensboro-SEO.com. This presentation is from the eBusinesses Meetup in Greensboro NC on April 6th, 2009
The old ITpreneurs Store had an old look and fell, too many pages, no very usable, not responsive and performed below average. After I wrote the redesign brief both Mur and Kheema, web graphic designs, brought to life my concept for the new store. Several of the new concepts come after analysing the analytics of the ITpreneurs Store and A/B testing. This also meant upgrading the Nopcommerce eCommerce platform from 1.4 to 2.0.
The new ITpreneurs Store was launch and soon after I saw that the performance improved dramatically
If you are using a WordPress website, understand how SSL connection can protect your users and data of your website! SSL certificate and its importance.
Presentation given as part of a workshop at Indie Cork in October 2016. The presentation covers getting a domain name and building a website quickly and easily
Brought to you by http://www.eBusinesses.com and http://www.Greensboro-SEO.com. This presentation is from the eBusinesses Meetup in Greensboro NC on April 6th, 2009
The old ITpreneurs Store had an old look and fell, too many pages, no very usable, not responsive and performed below average. After I wrote the redesign brief both Mur and Kheema, web graphic designs, brought to life my concept for the new store. Several of the new concepts come after analysing the analytics of the ITpreneurs Store and A/B testing. This also meant upgrading the Nopcommerce eCommerce platform from 1.4 to 2.0.
The new ITpreneurs Store was launch and soon after I saw that the performance improved dramatically
If you are using a WordPress website, understand how SSL connection can protect your users and data of your website! SSL certificate and its importance.
Types of SSL Certificates for Every Business Needawakish
Discover the different types of SSL certificates available and how to choose the right one for your business needs. Learn about domain validation, extended validation, and more.
Find out how you can get AMAZING video technology to create online video emails, company brochures, event/invitations. Learn to use video streaming on your website, video web-conferencing across the globe & be your own online TV show host with Video Webcasting!
All this AND an incredible home-based business to create & generate wealth especially in the time of recession. Imagine earning money every time someone sends out a video email!
These products are so EASY to use & very cost effective. Imagine for those of you having small businesses to be able to email a VIDEO of your products directly to your customers emails & customizing it with your details, website, offers etc.
The potential is endless - do check out the website to see more examples on how you can utilize video technology to take you & your business to the next level while EARNING money!!
Find out how you can get AMAZING video technology to create online video emails, company brochures, event/invitations. Learn to use video streaming on your website, video web-conferencing across the globe & be your own online TV show host with Video Webcasting!
http://www.myvideotalkasia.com/index.asp
All this AND an incredible home-based business to create & generate wealth especially in the time of recession. Imagine earning money every time someone sends out a video email!
These products are so EASY to use & very cost effective. Imagine for those of you having small businesses to be able to email a VIDEO of your products directly to your customers emails & customizing it with your details, website, offers etc.
The potential is endless - do check out the website to see more examples on how you can utilize video technology to take you & your business to the next level while EARNING money!!
Follow our Proven System:
- The most powerful opportunity in the web industry.
- You could be making up to $19,680 per month.
- You get for FREE the most powerful Web Hosting.
- A compensation plan that pays weekly.
- Global world class payout processing.
- A system that does 90% of the work for you!
You have the opportunity to...
- Be your own boss.
- Get paid for the Web Hosting services you use.
- Start earning quickly.
- Make money around the clock.
- Establish residual income that pays you over and over.
- Create the lifestyle you deserve.
Paid vs Free SSL Certificates: Which One Should You Pick in 2021?RonanMarco1
SSL Certificates are the finest approach to safeguard our websites, and they have garnered a lot of support from search engines in the recent decade.
If you intend to build a website for the long term, you should begin by investing in an SSL certificate for your website. The ideal SSL Certificate depends mostly on the sort of website you are managing and the sensitivity of your clients' information.
As a result, consider the significance of an SSL certificate and do not scrimp on it.
Australian Verified Business is a team of professionals with over 10 years experience each in consulting, business advisory, technology building and customer service. Our passion lies in helping businesses get verified for quality and trust. Our unique verification engine technology ensures customers get to your business faster with less fear, uncertainty and doubt.
Presentatie e-commerce Xpo Kortrijk (2017) namens Feweb: "Hoe begin ik een we...Stefan Vermeulen
Presentatie namens de Belgische federatie van webbureaus (Feweb) op de e-commerce Xpo te Kortrijk (2017). "Hoe begin ik een webshop?" Deel 1, waarbij deel 2 werd gegeven door Thijs Ferryn van Combell.
Every Time You Register a Domain Name With a Hyphen a Puppy DiesBlacknight
Choosing a good memorable domain name for your online business is important. You need to make sure that the name you choose is memorable, radio friendly and that people can spell it easily. Make sure to avoid names that can offend people. Make sure you control your domain name
Types of SSL Certificates for Every Business Needawakish
Discover the different types of SSL certificates available and how to choose the right one for your business needs. Learn about domain validation, extended validation, and more.
Find out how you can get AMAZING video technology to create online video emails, company brochures, event/invitations. Learn to use video streaming on your website, video web-conferencing across the globe & be your own online TV show host with Video Webcasting!
All this AND an incredible home-based business to create & generate wealth especially in the time of recession. Imagine earning money every time someone sends out a video email!
These products are so EASY to use & very cost effective. Imagine for those of you having small businesses to be able to email a VIDEO of your products directly to your customers emails & customizing it with your details, website, offers etc.
The potential is endless - do check out the website to see more examples on how you can utilize video technology to take you & your business to the next level while EARNING money!!
Find out how you can get AMAZING video technology to create online video emails, company brochures, event/invitations. Learn to use video streaming on your website, video web-conferencing across the globe & be your own online TV show host with Video Webcasting!
http://www.myvideotalkasia.com/index.asp
All this AND an incredible home-based business to create & generate wealth especially in the time of recession. Imagine earning money every time someone sends out a video email!
These products are so EASY to use & very cost effective. Imagine for those of you having small businesses to be able to email a VIDEO of your products directly to your customers emails & customizing it with your details, website, offers etc.
The potential is endless - do check out the website to see more examples on how you can utilize video technology to take you & your business to the next level while EARNING money!!
Follow our Proven System:
- The most powerful opportunity in the web industry.
- You could be making up to $19,680 per month.
- You get for FREE the most powerful Web Hosting.
- A compensation plan that pays weekly.
- Global world class payout processing.
- A system that does 90% of the work for you!
You have the opportunity to...
- Be your own boss.
- Get paid for the Web Hosting services you use.
- Start earning quickly.
- Make money around the clock.
- Establish residual income that pays you over and over.
- Create the lifestyle you deserve.
Paid vs Free SSL Certificates: Which One Should You Pick in 2021?RonanMarco1
SSL Certificates are the finest approach to safeguard our websites, and they have garnered a lot of support from search engines in the recent decade.
If you intend to build a website for the long term, you should begin by investing in an SSL certificate for your website. The ideal SSL Certificate depends mostly on the sort of website you are managing and the sensitivity of your clients' information.
As a result, consider the significance of an SSL certificate and do not scrimp on it.
Australian Verified Business is a team of professionals with over 10 years experience each in consulting, business advisory, technology building and customer service. Our passion lies in helping businesses get verified for quality and trust. Our unique verification engine technology ensures customers get to your business faster with less fear, uncertainty and doubt.
Presentatie e-commerce Xpo Kortrijk (2017) namens Feweb: "Hoe begin ik een we...Stefan Vermeulen
Presentatie namens de Belgische federatie van webbureaus (Feweb) op de e-commerce Xpo te Kortrijk (2017). "Hoe begin ik een webshop?" Deel 1, waarbij deel 2 werd gegeven door Thijs Ferryn van Combell.
Every Time You Register a Domain Name With a Hyphen a Puppy DiesBlacknight
Choosing a good memorable domain name for your online business is important. You need to make sure that the name you choose is memorable, radio friendly and that people can spell it easily. Make sure to avoid names that can offend people. Make sure you control your domain name
Slides used during my presentation to EURALO on GDPR in February 2018.
Covering aspects of GDPR and how they relate to the business of a European based hosting provider and domain name registrar.
Slides from the webinar with Nominet held in November 2017 from the Nominet offices in Oxford.
Michele provided an overview of the key topics from ICANN Abu Dhabi that could impact registrars
Presentation slides from INTA's annual meeting May 2016, Orlando, Florida. The deck is part of a larger panel presentation covering various aspects of how domains, new TLDs and ICANN can matter to trademark holders and other brand owners.
Presentation given at Showcase Ireland by Stephen Marron on online marketing and SEO. The presentation also gives a basic introduction to using a content management system (CMS) such as Wordpress to manage your site.
.irish and .ie are natural competitors in many respects. Both domain extensions serve the "Irish" market, but while one is very strictly controlled, the other is completely open.
Navigating in a sea of infinite choice. Challenges and opportunities with new TLDs. With hundreds and soon over a thousand top level domain names to choose from, which domain name(s) should people register? As a registrar or registry how should you market them? What do end users want? Is .com still king?
Business opportunities with domain namesBlacknight
Presentation on business opportunities with domain names, hosting and other services presented at the Dominios LatinoAmerica conference in Mexico City, Mexico, October 2014
Net Neutrality with puppies, dragons and cats ..
Net Neutrality has received a lot of media attention over the last few months. What's it about? Why should we care? What are the different elements? What is the impact?
Presentation given to UCD Law School students, February 12, 2014. Gives an overview of ICANN and its function / role within the internet governance context. Moves into the conflicts between ICANN's contracts + policies with local laws, specifically privacy
Presentation from Domain Forum 1 November 2013, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Covering some of the challenges and possible solution for marketing / selling new domain name extensions (new TLDs)
ICANN is a California based corporation yet it enters into binding contracts with companies all over the world.
Some of the contractual requirements may be in direct conflict with national law, so how do you strike the balance
Presentation slides on "Hosting in a Global Village". Part of the "Globalisation Afternoon" held at Carlow's Institute of Technology on October 22 2013.
Cookies 101 - EU Cookie Law (privacy) - Michele Neylon, BlacknightBlacknight
Presentation on the practical aspects of the EU Cookie Law in Ireland (Statutory Instrument Number 336 of 2011 European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services)(Privacy and Electronic Communications) Regulations 2011) given to the Ir
Mastering Multi-Touchpoint Content Strategy: Navigate Fragmented User JourneysSearch Engine Journal
Digital platforms are constantly multiplying, and with that, user engagement is becoming more intricate and fragmented.
So how do you effectively navigate distributing and tailoring your content across these various touchpoints?
Watch this webinar as we dive into the evolving landscape of content strategy tailored for today's fragmented user journeys. Understanding how to deliver your content to your users is more crucial than ever, and we’ll provide actionable tips for navigating these intricate challenges.
You’ll learn:
- How today’s users engage with content across various channels and devices.
- The latest methodologies for identifying and addressing content gaps to keep your content strategy proactive and relevant.
- What digital shelf space is and how your content strategy needs to pivot.
With Wayne Cichanski, we’ll explore innovative strategies to map out and meet the diverse needs of your audience, ensuring every piece of content resonates and connects, regardless of where or how it is consumed.
When most people in the industry talk about online or digital reputation management, what they're really saying is Google search and PPC. And it's usually reactive, left dealing with the aftermath of negative information published somewhere online. That's outdated. It leaves executives, organizations and other high-profile individuals at a high risk of a digital reputation attack that spans channels and tactics. But the tools needed to safeguard against an attack are more cybersecurity-oriented than most marketing and communications professionals can manage. Business leaders Leaders grasp the importance; 83% of executives place reputation in their top five areas of risk, yet only 23% are confident in their ability to address it. To succeed in 2024 and beyond, you need to turn online reputation on its axis and think like an attacker.\
Key Takeaways:
- New framework for examining and safeguarding an online reputation
- Tools and techniques to keep you a step ahead
- Practical examples that demonstrate when to act, how to act and how to recover
Come learn how YOU can Animate and Illuminate the World with Generative AI's Explosive Power. Come sit in the driver's seat and learn to harness this great technology.
Short video marketing has sweeped the nation and is the fastest way to build an online brand on social media in 2024. In this session you will learn:- What is short video marketing- Which platforms work best for your business- Content strategies that are on brand for your business- How to sell organically without paying for ads.
Digital Money Maker Club – von Gunnar Kessler digital.focsh890
Title One is a comprehensive examination of the impact of digital technologies on
modern society. In a world where technology continues to advance rapidly, this article delves into the nuances and complexities of the digital age, exploring Its implications across various sectors and aspects of life.
Financial curveballs sent many American families reeling in 2023. Household budgets were squeezed by rising interest rates, surging prices on everyday goods, and a stagnating housing market. Consumers were feeling strapped. That sentiment, however, appears to be waning. The question is, to what extent?
To take the pulse of consumers’ feelings about their financial well-being ahead of a highly anticipated election, ThinkNow conducted a nationally representative quantitative survey. The survey highlights consumers’ hopes and anxieties as we move into 2024. Let's unpack the key findings to gain insights about where we stand.
The session includes a brief history of the evolution of search before diving into the roles technology, content, and links play in developing a powerful SEO strategy in a world of Generative AI and social search. Discover how to optimize for TikTok searches, Google's Gemini, and Search Generative Experience while developing a powerful arsenal of tools and templates to help maximize the effectiveness of your SEO initiatives.
Key Takeaways:
Understand how search engines work
Be able to find out where your users search
Know what is required for each discipline of SEO
Feel confident creating an SEO Plan
Confidently measure SEO performance
Most small businesses struggle to see marketing results. In this session, we will eliminate any confusion about what to do next, solving your marketing problems so your business can thrive. You’ll learn how to create a foundational marketing OS (operating system) based on neuroscience and backed by real-world results. You’ll be taught how to develop deep customer connections, and how to have your CRM dynamically segment and sell at any stage in the customer’s journey. By the end of the session, you’ll remove confusion and chaos and replace it with clarity and confidence for long-term marketing success.
Key Takeaways:
• Uncover the power of a foundational marketing system that dynamically communicates with prospects and customers on autopilot.
• Harness neuroscience and Tribal Alignment to transform your communication strategies, turning potential clients into fans and those fans into loyal customers.
• Discover the art of automated segmentation, pinpointing your most lucrative customers and identifying the optimal moments for successful conversions.
• Streamline your business with a content production plan that eliminates guesswork, wasted time, and money.
SMM Cheap - No. 1 SMM panel in the worldsmmpanel567
Boost your social media marketing with our SMM Panel services offering SMM Cheap services! Get cost-effective services for your business and increase followers, likes, and engagement across all social media platforms. Get affordable services perfect for businesses and influencers looking to increase their social proof. See how cheap SMM strategies can help improve your social media presence and be a pro at the social media game.
Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
Key Takeaways:
Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
It's another new era of digital and marketers are faced with making big bets on their digital strategy. If you are looking at modernizing your tech stack to support your digital evolution, there are a few can't miss (often overlooked) areas that should be part of every conversation. We'll cover setting your vision, avoiding siloes, adding a democratized approach to data strategy, localization, creating critical governance requirements and more. Attendees will walk away with actions they can take into initiatives they are running today and consider for the future.
Unleash the power of UK SEO with Brand Highlighters! Our guide delves into the unique search landscape of Britain, equipping you with targeted strategies to dominate UK search engine results. Discover local SEO tactics, keyword magic for UK audiences, and mobile optimization secrets. Get your website seen by the right people and propel your brand to the top of UK searches.
To learn more: https://brandhighlighters.co.uk/blog/top-seo-agencies-uk/
When most people in the industry talk about online or digital reputation management, what they're really saying is Google search and PPC. And it's usually reactive, left dealing with the aftermath of negative information published somewhere online. That's outdated. It leaves executives, organizations and other high-profile individuals at a high risk of a digital reputation attack that spans channels and tactics. But the tools needed to safeguard against an attack are more cybersecurity-oriented than most marketing and communications professionals can manage. Business leaders Leaders grasp the importance; 83% of executives place reputation in their top five areas of risk, yet only 23% are confident in their ability to address it. To succeed in 2024 and beyond, you need to turn online reputation on its axis and think like an attacker.
Key Takeaways:
- New framework for examining and safeguarding an online reputation
- Tools and techniques to keep you a step ahead
- Practical examples that demonstrate when to act, how to act and how to recover
AI-Powered Personalization: Principles, Use Cases, and Its Impact on CROVWO
In today’s era of AI, personalization is more than just a trend—it’s a fundamental strategy that unlocks numerous opportunities.
When done effectively, personalization builds trust, loyalty, and satisfaction among your users—key factors for business success. However, relying solely on AI capabilities isn’t enough. You need to anchor your approach in solid principles, understand your users’ context, and master the art of persuasion.
Join us as Sarjak Patel and Naitry Saggu from 3rd Eye Consulting unveil a transformative framework. This approach seamlessly integrates your unique context, consumer insights, and conversion goals, paving the way for unparalleled success in personalization.
In this presentation, Danny Leibrandt explains the impact of AI on SEO and what Google has been doing about it. Learn how to take your SEO game to the next level and win over Google with his new strategy anyone can use. Get actionable steps to rank your name, your business, and your clients on Google - the right way.
Key Takeaways:
1. Real content is king
2. Find ways to show EEAT
3. Repurpose across all platforms
3. Who am I?
Michele Neylon
- Founder / CEO Blacknight
- http://ceo.hosting
- @mneylon
- http://michele.me/blog
- http://blacknight.blog
- Winner IIA Net Visionary 2013
- Irish Internet Hall of Fame…
12. We Did It (Sort of)
• 40 staff
• 4500+ physical servers
• 250,000+ websites
• 90,000+ clients
• 10,000,000 + emails daily
• 155+ countries
• And a LOT of coffee!!
13. So What Am I Going to Talk About?
• Sex?
• Hosting?
• Servers?
• Domains?
16. • Sex *might* sell, but the cost of the sale is
high
• Do you really want to alienate women?
• (As an aside you should look at:
http://bk.ie/diversity - the i2c are doing stellar
work)
43. • Content is (still) king
• Social media (Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest /
Instagram)
• Blacknight.press – all our media mentions +
press releases
• Blacknight.blog – variety of content (and it
wins awards!)
• Good content => *some* media interest
44. • Being available to journalists 24 / 7 / 365
• Investing time with journalists
• Provide commentary on *all* technology
stories
Hi everyone. My name is Michele Neylon, and I think domains and hosting are sexy.
That’s understandable: I run a company called Blacknight. We’re Ireland’s number one domain name registrar and web host.
We started in a spare bedroom in 2003.
Now we employ 40 people managing 4000 servers, hosting over 220,000 websites, with 84,000 customers in more than 130 countries.
We handle 6 million emails every day.
We think that’s pretty sexy!
That’s me with my business partner, Paul Kelly.
The dragon looking over my shoulder is Bert – more about him later.
When we started our company in 2003, we knew all about hosting, and domains and servers and technology. We didn’t know about marketing.
But that was OK, because the people we were marketing to were geeks like us.
And like us, they thought Linux, and RAID, and PHP and databases were sexy.
But as the company grew, we ran out of geeks to sell to.
Don’t get me wrong – the geeks shall inherit the earth. You’re still very important!
But the problem is that the only way to sustain our geeky lifestyles, is to market our products to ordinary people.
Sexy people.
Now I know I’m going to get into trouble using words like “sexy”. (That’s why we put it right up there in the title.)
But let me explain – I’m not talking about sex.
‘Sex sells’ – is an old marketing motto, we are told.
Except it’s not really. Not unless you want to be cheap and exploitative, objectify people – and ultimately cheapen your brand.
Now I know I’m going to get into trouble using words like “sexy”. (That’s why we put it right up there in the title.)
But let me explain – I’m not talking about sex.
‘Sex sells’ – is an old marketing motto, we are told.
Except it’s not really. Not unless you want to be cheap and exploitative, objectify people – and ultimately cheapen your brand.
We’ve seen people do that over the years - in the automotive industry it was almost a cliché.
In less enlightened times it was common for big brands
And we’ve even seen it in the domain names industry (GoDaddy)
In Ireland, this kind of sexual marketing reached ridiculous levels with the “Irish models” phenomenon.
Every day on Grafton Street, women in bikinis would pose in photoshoots for product launches, event announcements, PR campaigns.
If you’ve been to Ireland, you know that Grafton Street can be a little cold for bikinis – at any time of the year.
You don’t see the Irish models on the street as much anymore - because eventually everyone realised that they looked ridiculous.
The other reason is that using sex to market a product which has nothing to do with sex is …
Exploitative
Sexist – obviously
Cheap and tacky
It reflects badly on your product or service,
Because it’s inappropriate
But there is an exception to that rule.
Of course it’s inappropriate to use sex to market cars, or railway tickets, or power tools
But we thought it would be ok to use sex to market sex
Or in this case: the .XXX top level domain
When we found ourselves in the position of marketing the new .XXX top level domain which is strictly for the adult entertainment industry, we just had to have a little fun.
And the key word here is fun.
The .XXX top level domain was introduced a couple of years ago with the idea of making X-rated websites easy to identify, both for those who wanted to access them – and for those who wanted to avoid them – or prevent others from accessing them.
The image above was inspired by a humourous poster (and postcard) which was popular in the 1980s. The original caption was “expose yourself to Ireland”.
So when we were trying to market .xxx domain names we did an image inspired by that.
The point about these ads is that they are designed to be funny – not arousing.
They’re tongue-in-cheek.
Are they offensive? I don’t think so.
And let’s face it, in this case, we’re selling a product that is associated with sex.
Theses ads are meant to be cheeky – to raise a smile.
Are they sexy?
Yes they are – if sexy means, funny, clever, cheeky, flirty – provocative.
Are they exploitative? Not in this case – because the message is about sex.
And the message is “Let’s be adult about it”
They are meant to be sexy – but not sexual.
These images are designed to make you laugh – not arouse you.
And laughter is sexy.
What do I mean by sexy?
“Sexy” is what turns you on – what’s cool.
Sexy is beauty – sure – attractiveness. But it’s also intelligence – it’s fun – it’s humour, it’s art - it’s what drives you, what motivates you, it’s what gets you going.
Sexy means different things to different people
I work with people who find servers sexy. These people are vital to our organisation – they keep the wheels turning. They keep our servers up and available.
But we don’t let them meet the public
Because this is the paradox of successful marketing.
Your customers don’t care about your sexy stuff – they care about THEIR sexy stuff!
We sell hosting and domain names, web-site building tools, email Open Exchange and Microsoft Office 365.
These things are important – our customers need them – but they don’t get excited about them.
We sell – yawn - Backup solutions
We sell security and peace of mind – we’re certified to ISO 27001.
We’re excited about that – we worked damn hard to achieve it!
But how do we communicate that excitement to our customers?
Mood lighting?
It’s going to take more than that.
Some of our customers are geeks, as I’ve said – but the majority are not.
Our customers are internet users – sure – but they sometimes don’t even realise that they are.
Let me ask you: what is the hottest mobile phone app at the moment?
Pokemon Go is the hottest mobile phone app at the moment.
Do you think that these Pokemon Go players are thinking about the servers they are using?
Are they thinking about the storage required, or the data throughput?
How many of them wonder about security and privacy of the data they are generating while they play?
It’s just not sexy.
Does Niantic care about the technology? Do their engineers?
Sure they do. But that’s not how they market the game.
Another example
Most of our customers don’t know the difference between a browser address bar and Google’s or Bing’s search box.
So did the browser providers get up on a high horse and decide to tell their customers that they were doing it wrong?
No – they got with the programme – the customers programme – and allowed search queries to be typed directly into the address bar.
It’s a perfect example of the gap between what engineers think is important – and what customers think is sexy.
Another example: Instagram – didn’t have a web aspect to it until recently.
Snapchat still doesn’t.
But these are among the hottest apps – and uses of web and internet technology there are.
On the back end, we’ve still got servers and data centres
The customer – especially the end user - doesn’t know that – they care even less.
And so we are in danger of falling into the trap of talking about our unsexy products
And being irrelevant in the sexy, vital, exciting life of our customers.
So our customers don’t think our technology is sexy – we’ve established that – and we’re ok with it … kinda
But do you know what really isn’t sexy?
Downtime.
Lost business. Lost opportunities. Lost data. Lost customers.
Lost money.
We’re like insurance. They need us and our dull and boring products – they just don’t always realise it.
The challenge to us is: how do we make it sexy for them?
How do we make it cool? Attractive?
Now once again, I must stress that when I use the word sexy, I don’t necessarily mean sex.
But – as it turns out – this is yet another example of how those pioneers of the internet – the porn industry – have, once again led the way.
How many of you have heard of a website called PornHub?
PornHub doesn’t advertise on prime-time TV –mainstream media outlets won’t take their money.
What they do however is kind of sexy!
And remember when I say sexy – I mean clever, witty, cool, cheeky – and especially funny
Because pornhub ads can’t show you their product.
But they can suggest it – imply it – nudge, nudge – wink wink and joke about it
And pornhub do something else that’s sexy – I mean clever
They create media-ready news releases based on ”research” – and news organisations who would not accept their ads, are lapping up their content instead
For Pornhub, Sexy PR means “cheeky”, “manipulative”, “media-friendly”
PornHub has something big in common with the hosting industry.
The product they are selling is unmarketable.
PornHub ads in mainstream media? No one wants to see that!
Servers and datacentres and standards advertised in mainstream media? No one wants to see that!
Do you see the connection?
Of course pornhub’s content is sexual titillation – but more importantly – it’s media manipulation
And it’s cheaper – and more effective than advertising
That’s something that another Irishman knows all about
Does anyone know who this guy is? He’s Irish.
Maybe this picture will help?
That’s Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair - Europe’s largest airline – and the 5th largest in the world by passengers carried.
As you can see – he’s a cheeky chap
Ryanair is a low-cost, no frills airline.
The sell lots of airline tickets very cheaply – and they manage their costs aggressively.
One of the things they don’t like paying for is advertising.
So instead they get their publicity for free – by being as outrageous as they can
Michael O’Leary believes that there is no such thing as bad publicity.
In the last few years they have reportedly been considering:
Charging passengers £1 to use the toilets
Introducing a standing-room only section on planes – no seats
Charging extra for overweight passengers
So lets get back to hosting. What can we learn from these people?
My company has over 40% of the Irish web hosting market – but by international standards we are tiny.
I can’t compete with large international companies and their big advertising budgets
Like Pornhub – my product is unmarketable.
Like Ryanair – I like to give the media something to talk about.
Like both of those companies – I think that creativity is perhaps the sexiest thing of all!
Content Marketing
We have two blogs, a podcast, a Youtube channel, and we’re active on social media – especially Facebook and Twitter.
We also write press releases for the media – not just about our own news – but about topical issues relating to technology and security.
This is a blog post we put out last week - which was shared by our local chamber of commerce in their newsletter.
Content Marketing
We have two blogs, a podcast, a Youtube channel, and we’re active on social media – especially Facebook and Twitter.
We also write press releases for the media – not just about our own news – but about topical issues relating to technology and security.
This is a blog post we put out last week - which was shared by our local chamber of commerce in their newsletter.
Content Marketing
We have two blogs, a podcast, a Youtube channel, and we’re active on social media – especially Facebook and Twitter.
We also write press releases for the media – not just about our own news – but about topical issues relating to technology and security.
This is a blog post we put out last week - which was shared by our local chamber of commerce in their newsletter.
Content Marketing
We have two blogs, a podcast, a Youtube channel, and we’re active on social media – especially Facebook and Twitter.
We also write press releases for the media – not just about our own news – but about topical issues relating to technology and security.
This is a blog post we put out last week - which was shared by our local chamber of commerce in their newsletter.
Content Marketing
We have two blogs, a podcast, a Youtube channel, and we’re active on social media – especially Facebook and Twitter.
We also write press releases for the media – not just about our own news – but about topical issues relating to technology and security.
This is a blog post we put out last week - which was shared by our local chamber of commerce in their newsletter.
Content Marketing
We have two blogs, a podcast, a Youtube channel, and we’re active on social media – especially Facebook and Twitter.
We also write press releases for the media – not just about our own news – but about topical issues relating to technology and security.
This is a blog post we put out last week - which was shared by our local chamber of commerce in their newsletter.
Content Marketing
We have two blogs, a podcast, a Youtube channel, and we’re active on social media – especially Facebook and Twitter.
We also write press releases for the media – not just about our own news – but about topical issues relating to technology and security.
This is a blog post we put out last week - which was shared by our local chamber of commerce in their newsletter.
We’ve done print advertising in trade publications and mainstream newspapers
We do a lot of online advertising
We have our own in house designers – and we try to be as creative as we can.
We had a lot of fun with the .SCIENCE top level domain
This is Bert, by the way. I mentioned him earlier.
Every knight needs a dragon to slay – but really, Bert is a bit goofy.
He crops up a lot in our more humorous ads.
What about this one? Too cheeky?
The new top level domains have led to lots of opportunities for humour.
And we’re back to .XXX again.
Remember: by sexy, I mean: Funny and Cheeky
But also innovative, creative
But there are other ways to be creative – besides being cheeky and funny.
I may not be able to compete for advertising with big international brands – but I can play to my strengths as a relaitively small local provider – and the identity I share with my own community
Blacknight is an Irish company – Irish owned and run. That means we have a unique identity in the English-speaking world.
Whether or not you’ve ever been to Ireland, you may or may not be familiar with some of the cultural touchstones by which Irish people recognise each other.
There’s the music, obviously, and Irish dancing. Irish sports stars and musicians like U2. You’ve heard of Saoirse Ronan and Sinead O’Connor.
That’s Colm Meaney – who played Chief O’Brien in Star Trek.
Whether or not you’ve ever been to Ireland, you may or may not be familiar with some of the cultural touchstones by which Irish people recognise each other.
There’s the music, obviously, and Irish dancing. Irish sports stars and musicians like U2. You’ve heard of Saoirse Ronan and Sinead O’Connor – and Chief O’Brien
There are probably also some things you might list – which are as alien to actual Irish people as the Cardassian’s were to Chief O’Brien - like leprechauns, and St Patty’s Day, and “top of the morning to you”!
Probably the first thing non-Irish people notice about Irish people is that we have a distinctive accent, and some unique ways of using the English language.
To be fair, we speak English very well, but it’s not our language.
This is our language.
Can anyone tell me what those words mean?
(The N.S.A does not understand Irish)
You see – because we speak English so well – people outside Ireland are not always aware that we have another language all our own, a language with an older written literature than English, or any other European language for that matter.
And so, the Irish language is one of those tools – a cultural ‘shibboleth’, if you like – which Irish people use to recognise other Irish people.
So - we use it in our marketing.
Here’s an ad we did, featuring Bert for a special offer on selected domain names to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.
The words in the bottom left “Tairiscint Spesialta” mean “Special Offer”. I’ll explain the rest of it later.
We also blog regularly in Irish, and podcast. And we’ve re-dubbed the audio on promotional videos for domain registries with an Irish-language soundtrack
Why do we do this, when Irish is spoken regularly by less than 5% of the population?
Firstly, because it is a creative way to server niche group. It doesn’t cost us much but our efforts are appreciated. It gives us credibility and brand loyalty with Irish speakers.
Secondly, while Irish is spoken by a minority – a majority of the people are sympathetic towards the language and recognise its importance in the national heritage.
Sponsorship of the Arts is a great way to make your brand sexy
On Saturday Next, the IndieCork Festival of Film and Media Art begins in Cork City – it will run for a week.
Blacknight is a sponsor this year for the first time. We’re sponsoring the Blacknight Festival Centre which will act as a hub for the festival – open 12 hours a day for 8 days – with our branding on it.
Having a festival hub open all week is a big step forward for this festival – and our sponsorship has featured heavily in media coverage of the event
Our sponsorship is appreciated, not just by the organisers, but by the filmmakers and artists participating in the festival, by the patrons and supporters and the audiences attending the festival – by local community groups and elected officials
Who tweet and like and post their appreciation for our involvement …
All the way up to, and including the Lord Mayor of the City of Cork – who posted this tweet.
He was replying to another tweet from a reporter on a national daily newspaper, the Irish Examiner
Now that’s sexy!
And we make sure to capitalize on it.
Here’s our media guy Conn, attending the press launch for the event last week and shooting videos with the organisers and participants – he’s been working on putting these videos out on social media channels this week.
Here’s another special interest in the community, and also something uniquely Irish in a way.
For generations in rural Ireland, in September when the harvest was done, country people would go in search of love and romance in Lisdoonvarna – a holiday resort in County Clare.
The tradition continues today – for 5 weekends every year – this little town is packed for the annual matchmaking festival.
And for the past four years the last weekend of that festival has been devoted to a section of society who recently had their rights vindicated in a historic referendum on marriage equality in Ireland: the LGBT community
The event is called The Outing – and this year, it is sponsored by Blacknight
So sponsorship is good, the arts are good, niche interests and community groups are all good.
And all of these groups include people who are our customers or potential customers.
But we wanted to go further – so we teamed up with a media company who organised awards events, and we inaugurated an awards ceremony designed to celebrate the SEXIEST people we know: the people who run small and medium enterprises or SMEs.
Now in its third year, The Blacknight SME Awards turns the spotlight on what our customers really think is sexy: their own businesses!
To conclude here’s Bert again with his message in Irish
The quote is an Irish proverb, which is quite appropriate in the context of choosing a good domain name.
It says: “If all you have is one goat – seek out the best place in the market to sell him”
In other words, when it comes to marketing
Put your best foot forward
Make the most of what you’ve got
Be clever, creative, resourceful and manipulative
Find common ground with your customers
Find ways to market the unmarketable
And if all you have is a goat – pimp him out – and make him sexy!