Flybuys mass mail out

The Coles Myer + other partners loyalty program 'flybuys' was recently re-birthed somehow issuing brand new cards and collecting updated information. According to the informational video on the Flybuys website and other promo videos flybuys have been sent out to 16 million houses.

I am a member of this system simply because I can earn some gift cards every so often for doing my regular shopping.

Anyhow I received my flybuys activation package that included the envelope, an activation form, a little presentation sleeve that housed the new plastic cards, a guide booklet and a piece of associated advertising.

I decided to figured out how many resources were involved in this mass scale send out. The total amount of paper weighed 47 grams - Multiply this by 16 million and that totals 752,000Kg or 752 ton. That is a lot of paper/card.

Not to mention the computer time and printing works with their demand on electricity and inks/dyes. Then there was distribution via the postal service and the fuel they use. Finally the time it took of someone's life to deliver the mail.

Worth it? How should the delivery be different?

I'm not convinced this roll-out was such a good idea...aren't we headed in in the direction of using our 'smart' phones/devices to minimize the amount of cards people handle?

Keeping my word - Funds for Solar

Hey everyone,

I'm guessing most of you might be wondering what I am talking about.

When I begun this blog as a pastime and sort of like keeping a journal I recognized the potential to make a bit of money from it too. Hence the non-invasive (I hope) advertising hosted on my pages which I receive a percentage of when/if I strike it lucky (??) and create some content that attracts not only my regulars and followers but also new visitors and casual browsers.

Too my surprise not 12 months in from creation I was paid - Mmm incentive :D

Anyhow...from the very beginning I promised money generated would be used towards converting to Solar Power in efforts of removing my relevance on energy providers.

I was given a minimum payment...which isn't enough to do anything with, so it has been put into a safe lower interest bearing account so it is not only being put aside for it's purpose but slowly but surely getting me closer to the end goal.

Below is a picture of solar cells and rechargeable batteries I got out on a particular sunny day during the festive season which I hooked up to various electronics in attempts to get me more motivated to create the best content I can and provide it on a regular and ongoing basis :)

Please note that money generated from ads hosted on this site were not spent on this set up - The set up planned with proceeds from ad revenue will be a efficient system with a designated task which can have addition cells added to where more finance becomes available - One concept is to power a computer 24/7 which contributes to a distributed computing project such as Folding@Home

A note on Advertising

I have noticed lately that professional and respected websites have made comments on advertisements hosted on their pages. As someone that endeavors to be professional and host to a respectable project I found it important to be open and honest in regards to revenue generated by view*know*do and other, somewhat associated projects.

I will host ads as permissible by Google's ad hosting service wherever I can. I would like readers to understand that whatever sum of money that may be generated is spent towards achieving personal Carbon neutrality for the author (AKA yours truly).

Obviously as contributions towards this noble goal (if I do say so myself :P) continue, the day when the dream is fulfilled draws closer - So what happens with the proceeds when that day comes? To be honest I'm not sure...I'm thinking either financing research which I will publish results of freely and openly, or donating to charity. Personally, at this point in time, I'm thinking the money would be better spent on research.

Invitation to earn revenue from your YouTube videos

The title of this blog entry is the email subject received recently. It was good to finally see this particular email arrive in the email inbox - YouTube is great.

Unfortunately the ideas one may have about video content for YouTube may consist of content which would render the video ineligible for earning income with - Content including video game/software footage, favorite music and video scenes.

These restrictions are what some would call unfair. On one hand people are encouraged to 'share' YouTube content on popular online networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogger etc promoting things like songs and movie/video game trailers...on the other hand, individuals don't have the rights to "use" the content to liven up their own videos.

One can 'favorite' items, subscribe, comment on videos, link to, 'share' and so on...but to include any content that isn't yours, and making money from it is out of the question.

As an individual, what chances would one person have in gaining permission from a major copyright holder to use their material in order to make a few extra dollars on the side? Extra dollars earned online, with the proceeds spent on internet access.

Apparently recording software (i.e. A video demonstrating what Apple iOS 5 is capable of/how it works/what it looks like) is deemed more 'commercial' than educational  and it is not permissible where one intends to generate income from the video (yet some people pay for private education all the time).

You'd hate to think that people that create good video content will stop because what they can and cannot do is controlled to the point where it's not worth the trouble in trying to do something good both for themselves, as well as for others.

Selling Movies - Wasting potential

"Potential what?" I hear you ask...well I'll type my thoughts out and let you answer that yourselves :)

Recently I noticed something...it seems most places you go, no matter really where you are there's always someone trying to sell you a movie. What am I talking about? The advertising for the movie Bridesmaids.

It's everywhere, it's available on DVD and Blu Ray, Movies on Demand (PayTV), as well as download for rent or to own. Supermarkets are trying to sell it, department stores, internet stores, video libraries...you get junk mail where the cover of it alone takes up about 1/3 of the page, it's sponsored on websites like YouTube and the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) and I bet it's been promoted on social network sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Considering the movie costs typically about $20 at most of the places selling it I believe everyone actively promoting it are running a significant risk seeing as how competitors doing exactly the same thing they are.

I doubt I'll ever buy that particular movie, if I do chances are someone will show it to me, or I'll rent it... preferably when it gets cheaper to rent seeing how I'm not running out to see it. This means all the promotions and advertising was wasted on me, buy a lot of different businesses.

The philosophy behind advertising and persuading a consumer aside...

What I don't like is the grade of film that has this financial risk associated to it. Discs, cases, covers, posters, junk mail (printed catalogs - paper, ink, graphical designers, printers, delivers), transporting and someone putting them up for display/sale...all for the price of $20. How many people do they expect to buy it for $20 before copies end up in bargain bins for $5 a pop?

I can envision that this movie also has some product placement, which I have written about previously about a somewhat similar production The 40 Year Old Virgin

The budget for the project has been estimated at $32.5 million (IMDB) and has generated $281 million worldwide as of September 4 2011 (IMDB).

I can't help but think of how that money could have been spent, and the time and effort people put into it from the beginning the the end of production, distribution and sale.

Advertising - Banks, Charities, Booze and Insurance

Today I logged into Facebook, had a quick look to see if anyone said anything original, shared anything entertaining or enlightening, or if anyone had posted on my wall or anyone had requested friendship - You know, the usual...I spent about 5 minutes there :P

One thing jumped out at me, a 'sponsor' ad for my financial institute. They have turned 100 years old (or are going to shortly) and are offering $100 to those that sign up two different account types with them by the end of the month AND use their card 5 times by December 14. It turns out you have to apply in-branch and it applies for the first 10,000 customers only - Meaning if they all take up the offer, the bank is giving away 1 million dollars...Brilliant.

This really irritates me. I mean it's my bank paying money to run an ad, trying to capture more clients and doing this by giving away funds. I've been a member of the bank since I was like 3, that's just over 20 years. I'd rather they look after loyal clients like me than run with these gimmicks.

I understand some believe that you have to spend money to make money and that this will be a good investment in the long run but I have different thoughts on the matter. If customer satisfaction were to be increased and clients of the bank seemed to be well of financially, these people would be more inclined to recommend the bank to their friends, family, peers, work colleagues, etc and anyone else that might ask.

I got thinking about other advertising that I can remember off the top of my head.

Red Cross Blood Donations - I saw this on Windows Live Messenger. The first thing I did was open a chat window with a friend that is Anti-Microsoft and asked him if he figured the Red Cross paid for the ads or if Microsoft gave it to them for free, or gave it to them and claimed it on tax somehow. He figured the latter, I still wonder...

Everything else I notice tends to be for Alcohol and Insurance...oh and Fast Food too I suppose.And I tend not to notice ads on websites...