Nagel Family Website

Google needs to hire me as their Director of Common Sense. They do some pretty stupid things over there.

I first complained about various Google services exporting to Excel, which I then have to import into Google Docs. Then there was Google Reader with no search capabilities.

Today I’m wondering why, when searching Google Images, Picasa Community Photos are not included. Compare this search on Picasa vs. this one on Google Images.

Let’s get a little more technical… Google is a search engine, and part of what they do is rank sites based on authority. Wouldn’t a blog with a lot of RSS subscribers be worth more than a site with little to no subscribers? Now that Google owns Feedburner, those stats should be integrated into their algorithm.

Sorry, Google - I’m not looking for a job. But if you want to send the corporate jet to pick me up and entertain me for a weekend, I’ll consider your offer.

This entry was posted by Eric on Thursday, September 13th, 2007 at 6:33 pm and is filed under Business, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

The poker game is this weekend (not last, as I mistakenly thought it was) and I have sponsors for many of the food & drink, so I wanted to thank:

• Soceus - for funding the snacks. Specifically, those snacks that end in OS (Doritos, Fritos, Tostitos). Performing across channels - interactive websites & smart print - Soceus’ work builds deeper bonds with consumers, resonates with their clients and speaks for itself.
• One Stop - for BEER! One Stop Printing & Signs - getting the word out… on YOU! All sorts of promotional products & creative marketing ideas.
• WNYPoker.com - for pop. Sure it’s leftover… but it’s still good! If you’re looking for some WNY Poker games, check out WNYPoker.com. They cover Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, and the Southern Tier.
• Eric Nagel & Associates - coffee, what else??? E-Business strategy & consulting… Eric Nagel & Associates.

Looks like we’re going to have a full house… if the “maybes” show up, we’re looking at about 20 people! So bring your $20, $5 for food (if you haven’t yet paid it) and a package of diapers for the new dads Ed & Mark!

This entry was posted by Eric on Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 at 2:24 pm and is filed under Business, Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

A lot of people ask me what I do, and I tell them I build websites. Jason says, “my Dad builds the Internet.” I’ve been using that answer lately, too.

But it’s all a lie.

Well, maybe not all a lie, but I don’t build websites. I work on certain parts of websites, but I don’t do it all. And, to further complicate things, I’m getting rid of all my clients.

So, how do I run a website business, without building websites, and without having clients? Simple: I’ve shifted my efforts into affiliate marketing.

Affiliate Marketing isn’t hard to understand: it’s a commission-based sales position. My job is to sell things for other people. When I do, they pay me.

So let’s say I decided there was an opportunity selling pet medications online. I’d partner up with 1-800-PetMeds or another online store and we’d agree upon a commission rate (12-16%, depending on the item purchased). I’d then come up with a marketing plan, and earn money whenever one of the customers I send to them makes a purchase. To be profitable, you simply have to spend less money than you make.

There are lots of people that do this as their sole source of income. I’m the “techie” for one of these guys (Paul, ShopperUK.com) so I manage the projects as they’re implemented. Paul does the marketing and idea generation.

So these days, 10% of my time is spent on clients whose projects I’m wrapping up, 5% spent on my own affiliate marketing, and the rest on ShopperUK.

So there - now you know what I do. Steve wanted me to write about some affiliate marketing tips, which I’ll soon start. The first one will be about a little feature in Google AdWords, which I found to really screw up your ROI. I was getting like 130% ROI on a project, then activated this “feature” and dropped to 30%. OUCH! So much for technology… I’m going back to the old-fashioned way to do things… I switched things up yesterday, and am heading back up, with an 85% ROI yesterday.

Stay tuned…

This entry was posted by Eric on Sunday, August 12th, 2007 at 11:42 am and is filed under Affiliate Marketing, Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

I’m in the middle of reading The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich and I’m going to implement some of these ideas into my daily life.

It’s not that I want to work only 4 hours / week. I don’t mind working, as long as it’s fun. But I think I can work smarter, and that’s what I hope to get out of this.

For starters, I’m getting a virtual assistant from GetFriday to help take care of tasks that I don’t really need to do myself. There are some other tips from the book I hope to implement, including:

• Adding an autoreponder to my email and changing my voicemail message, so I’m not expected to reply immediately
• Only checking e-mail twice per day: noon and 4pm
• Limiting the amount of information I take in daily… no more streaming stock prices and 8 news channels going while I work
• Practice the 80/20 rule and Parkinson’s Law
• Identify tasks as important or not, and time-consuming or not. Easier to prioritize that way

There are a few things in the book I have no intention of doing: setting up a new business or traveling the world (earning in dollars, paying in rupees, living off pesos) but it has inspired me to create a list of what I want to do in life. Once I get that list compiled, I’ll get it to my virtual assistant to help me get going on it

This entry was posted by Eric on Monday, July 16th, 2007 at 10:07 am and is filed under Books, Business, Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

I’m writing this from Miami!! Arrived yesterday and settled in. Went to dinner at Hooter’s (where our waitress’s name was Jarely, named after Superman’s father, Jor-El) and had some wings, which weren’t as hot nor as good as the wings in Buffalo. My fault for even trying.

Then Paul & I went shopping at the Bayside Market, and returned back to the hotel for an early night. Going to see some gators today, then a cruise to see the homes on Millionaire Row.

Photos are here!

This entry was posted by Eric on Saturday, July 7th, 2007 at 10:47 am and is filed under Business, Photos, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

In a typical business that involves the modification of materials to create a product, ideally the cost of the product is greater than the cost of the goods + cost of labor. That’s called profit. For a business, profit is good.

Still with me? Simple so far.

So let’s say that a product costs $3. Labor is $2 and you sell for $8. You profit $3 ($8 (sell price) - $3 (raw materials) - $2 (labor) = $3).

Now, to increase profits (per piece), you either get the product cheaper, get more for your buck from the labor department, or increase the selling price. However, any of these can cause adverse effects, like a cheaper quality product, or fewer sales because of the higher selling price.

Long intro, but here’s the big point: there are businesses that pay negative money for their raw materials! What I mean is, they get PAID to TAKE the raw materials. A few examples of free or negative-cost materials:

• RWA Resource Recovery - They pick up used kitchen grease (at no cost to the restaurant), clean it, and sell as biofuel
• Modern Corporation takes used tires, chips them up, and sells the byproduct as a track/playground surface or as a fuel that burns cleaner than coal. These guys are amazing… they also operate landfills, which give off methane gas. Most landfill operators vent the gas into the air; Modern captures the gas and burns it in generators to power nearby homes. Burning methane gas gives off ANOTHER by-product: heat. The heat is then pumped into greenhouses where they grow vegetables and sell in local supermarkets. A landfill operator, selling vegetables.
• Changing World Technologies converts “organic waste from chickens, cows, hogs, onions, and Parmesan cheese into light crude oil”. Again, something that was going to be thrown away, possibly having to pay to dispose of, getting new life.

If you can come up with a business model that uses waste to create a high-demand product, you may as well be printing money.

This entry was posted by Eric on Thursday, May 31st, 2007 at 1:07 pm and is filed under Business, Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.