Note: Some Links may be out of date.

Blitz Ezine # 198 January 20, 2003

Note: This is an archived issue. Some links and/or content may be outdated

Getting your site listed in Froogle
The Blitz-Promotions News Letter.
Issue no. 198, Jan. 20, 2003
This issue on the web -
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz198.htm
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************ In This Issue **************
Comments
Food for thought
Articles
The Classifieds
Next Issues
Link to this issue online -
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz198.htm
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Blitz Comments
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Today we get off the database track for a bit and include the steps / how to get listed in Froogle, Goggle's new shopping search engine.

This year we're going to search our archives for some golden oldies. Articles we published in 2000 that are still relevant today.

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Food for thought
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Loads of food for thought can be found in Marketing Sherpa's marketing inspiration for 2003. Almost 700 tidbits of wisdom and advice, including something from yours truly. You can find it at the link below.

http://inspiration.marketingsherpa.com/

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How to get listed in Froogle - A step by step guide
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Some reference notes -
Information / Froogle FAQ
http://froogle.google.com/froogle/merchants.html

What is Froogle
http://froogle.google.com/froogle/about.html

Step 1 -

Fill out the form you'll find on this page -

http://services.google.com/froogle/merchant_email

Froogle Response
-----------------
Thanks for your interest in Froogle!

We are excited to hear from you.

Our recent launch has resulted in a lot of interest in Froogle. We are working hard to respond to all email as quickly as possible, but currently it make take us up to 5-10 business days to respond to your inquiry. We will contact you via email as soon as your request is processed. In the meantime, thank you for your patience as we strive to provide you with better service. You'll hear from us soon.

The Goggle Team
-- end note --

Since the first step takes a bit, you can start getting your products setup for the feed - this is what you will need.

Product URL
Name
Description (up to 1000 characters)
Price
Image_Url

If you sell Books, Music, Videos you will need different feeds for each type of product. And you will need -

Books - ISBN, format (paperback or hardcover), author, publisher, pages.
Music- format, artist, release date.
Video - format, director, release date, starring, rating.

This is just to help you get ready for Step 4.

Step 2 -

--- one week later we get this note -------- 1-7-02

Froogle Note #2

Thanks for your interest in Froogle. In order to send us a data feed, you will need to fill out the form at the following address, with the provided username and password:

username: your froogle username will be here
password: your froogle password is here http://services.google.com/froogle/merchant_agreement

Once you have filled out the form and accepted our merchant agreement, we will e-mail you instructions for formatting and uploading your feed. If you have any questions, please e-mail us at feeds-support@google.com.

Thank you. The Google Team
Original Message Follows
: ------------------------

Going to the agreement URL we basically fill in the same information as before, this time we do have to agree to the terms. Here's the required information.

------ start form page -----------
Username: * *
Password: *

Find your assigned username and password in the email message that Google sent to you.
* Name:
* Title:
* Company:
* Email address:
* Phone number: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
* Store Name: This name will appear on your Froogle results.
* Store URL:
Additional notes: Optional -- use if you need to clarify any of the above information.
----- end form page ----------
They also have a 'terms' box which you must accept. Clicking accept you get a generic thank you page -

Step 3 -

The same day we got this note -

Thank you for filling out our merchant agreement. We've attached the document describing how to format and upload your data feed. When uploading your data feed by ftp, please use the same username and password you used when filling out the merchant agreement. For reference, those values are quoted below.

If you have any questions about how to send or format your feed, please e-mail us at feeds-support@google.com.

Thank you,
The Google Team

We'll talk more about setting up the actual feeds next week. If you haven't done product setup from Step 1 above, you should work on that till then.

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From the Archives - Blitz 83
Oct 2000
Customer Service how the little guys can win.
Continues next week.
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It all started a couple of years ago when my Ezine was getting too big for me to send comfortably by myself. I searched the web and found a nice family business that sent out the Ezine for a very reasonable price. The service was great. The owner of the list actually contacted us to do some promotion work for him..ahh life was great.

A few months ago I got a note from the publisher that he had sold his business to a big dot com (one that you see regularly advertised in all the trade magazines). Now is when the trouble started. The first few weeks went without a hitch (I think this was the time when the system remained on the old publishers server)—in an effort to cut down their costs they moved the newsletter to their server.

The next week I couldn’t send out my newsletter. Finally I found an email and emailed them. No response. Digging in their website I got a toll free number (a good thing) and called the company. Nobody was home. You had to have an extension number to get to the right person, or you had to know the name of the person you were calling….. Fortunately during the middle of that week they sent me a note saying that I needed to update my billing information so I could pay them or they would closed down my account ??!!?? At least this note did have a name and an extension number. Called it. Got the extension and of course voice mail. Left a message- they did not call me back that day or the next.

Obviously these folks didn’t have the slightest clue about newsletters or publishing, they wanted me to pay them- but when my newsletter doesn’t go out I don’t get paid. To make a long story shorter I phoned the big dot com at least 10 or 15 times. During 4 weeks my newsletter was late 4 times.

I heard every excuse in the book (too many to list here). At the end of the four weeks it became apparent to them that they couldn’t run a newsletter list (duh..), they then had the nerve to recommend someone to run the list for me. In fact they called me four or five times trying to get me to sign up with the new company.

The reason I am telling this story is because this is one reason why the small company can survive…Superior Customer Service. During the next eight weeks we will include a tip on improving your customer service and how to keep your customers and get them to return to buy your products or services again and again.
C= Cultivate your Relationship
U= Understand your customers.
S= Support is not a four letter word.
T= Treat them with respect.
O= Own up to your mistakes.
M= Meet and beat their expectations.
E= Email (Communication do’s and don’ts)
R=Refunds/Returns

The Power of Habit and Commitment
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I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half the things you do, you might just as well turn over to me, And I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done, And after a few lessons I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great men. And, alas, of all failures as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine. Plus, the intelligence of a man. You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin; It makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me And I will put the world at your feet.
Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.
Who am I?
I am HABIT!

It makes your knees shake, it makes your stomach tight, it makes you calm with relief.
It can determine the way you feel and the way you act.
It's what creates business relationships and also what can destroy them.
It's something we succeed at one minute and fail at the next.
It distinguishes doers from dreamers, champions from wanna-be's.
It sorts our confusion, clarifies the mysterious and has the ability to dramatically impact your business.
It can alter the quality of your life, the extent of your achievements, and the measure of your success.
It has the power to create what is possible.
It's called commitment! © 2003.

Ed Hirsch - ed@dreamstyles.com

Ed Hirsch has been involved in pioneering a new concept for Network Marketers who want to totally work online for the past 8 years and teaches "networking the net" to thousands of people all over the globe. His online community can be found at
http://EZNetGroup.com/member/edhirsch.

He can be reached directly at 650-872-1024.

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News you can Use
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Everyone knows about identity theft - check out the site below to learn how to prevent it, some of the current s ca ms and how to report it.

http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/