As soon as the iPhone hit the market, BlendTec purchased one and made the following clip and put on YouTube. So far, the clip has been viewed 2,041,340 times, commented 6,048 times, and favored by 4,383 people.

Monthly sales through the web for the Total Blender is currently running at more than 5 times our previous “record” month. This number continues to grow each month.

George Wright
www.blendtec.com

Looking to bring in new business? Then you’re probably on the watch for government contracts coming up to bid. If you’re not, you should be.

Together, federal, state and local governments buy over a $1 trillion dollars in goods and services each year. A not-insignificant amount of that money gets funneled into multimillion-dollar constructions projects. But other federal, state, county, city and town funds get earmarked for smaller projects - everything from website development to brake parts, motivational speakers, pre-printed plastic bags, and alfalfa. Some of that money could be yours if you pursue and win government contracts or subcontracting work from the companies that win big contract awards.

Web sites you may find useful:

1. www.fedbizopps.gov
2. www.onvia.com
3. www.findrfp.com
4. The Dodge Report

Read this very useful article at Business Know How.

Have you ever wondered …

• Why even the highest priced or lowest quality products sometimes outsell their competitors’?
• Why and how your prospects buy the products or services they do, even if their choices seem irrational or impractical?
• Why some brands have a devoted cult-like following while others have zero loyalty?

Will The Real Decision Maker (In Your Brain) Please Stand Up? — According to neuroscientists, there are 3 main parts to the brain, each functioning as a brain unto itself. These “three brains” - nestled inside one another — are as follows.

• The “Human” (”New,” or outer-most) Brain: Most evolved part of the brain known as the cortex. Responsible for logic, learning, language, conscious thoughts and our personalities.
• The “Mammalian” (Middle) Brain: Also known as the limbic system. Deals with our emotions, moods, memory and hormones.
• The “Reptilian” (Old) Brain: Also known as the R Complex controls our basic survival functions, such as hunger, breathing, flight-or-fight reactions and staying out of harm’s way.

Our “old” brain often overrides our voice of logic and drives all buying decisions for reasons beyond our conscious awareness. To influence your customer’s buying decisions, you must learn how the “old” brain operates and speak its “language.” Below are 7 key insights about the old brain that can add to your bottom line.

1. The old brain is driven by emotions.
2. The old brain “decides” on the basis of the gain vs. pain tradeoff.
3. The old brain is highly influenced by beginnings and endings.
4. The old brain is visually oriented and responds rapidly to images.
5. The old brain perceives the “pain of buying” in relative, not absolute, terms.
6. The old brain understands only what is tangible, physical and concrete.
7. The old brain’s control over buying decisions varies from culture to culture.

While neuromarketing is still in its infancy, it has the potential to revolutionize the way we market our products/services. The most important point is to use it for the right reasons. That is, as a way to better understand your customers and ultimately to better serve them. When used in this way, it can have a dramatic impact on your bottom line.

Business Know How

When pop princess Ashlee Simpson was first photographed last summer post-nose job, it wasn’t just her plastic surgery that garnered mass attention. Sales of the dress she was wearing in the photo skyrocketed.

In the current celebrity-obsessed scene, an A-list star - on or off the red carpet - shown wearing a new designer’s creation can almost singlehandedly launch a fashion frenzy.

When Jessica Simpson stepped out recently in West Hollywood with Sang A’s “jade” clutch in blue python, blogs were quick to post her picture and solicit comments. And with the attention, from sites such as Pop Sugar and Style Minded, came demand for Sang A’s new $1,576 handbag.

Accessories designer Sang A learned early on that reaching out to the online community could be a crucial element of hawking her high-end handbags, which range in price from $1,500 to $15,000.

With a limited budget for marketing, Sang A has since come to rely heavily on blogs not just for attention, but also feedback.

The sites she chose to sell her wares, such as luxcouture.com and lagerconne.com, have developed mutually beneficial relationships with bloggers by incorporating reciprocal links.

“Blogging is absolutely important because it reaches the people that aren’t inside the fashion industry,” Sang A said.

CNN Money

For business owners, the $1.6 trillion “Mommy Market” is well worth pursuing. In the book Trillion Dollar Moms, Maria Bailey and Bonnie Ulman teach you how to take advantage of this lucrative market. They describe three generations of moms: baby boomer moms, Gen X moms and Millennial new moms. If your company is still marketing to soccer moms, you’re missing two-thirds of the mom market.

Their book examines how recent generational shifts have impacted the buying behaviors of today’s mothers and moms-to-be.

1. Focus on networks
2. Embrace technology
3. Offer education
4. Save them time
5. Get to the point
6. Market to the individual

Want more information on marketing to moms? There’s a Marketing2Moms course offered by Moms in Business. It’s a 16-week e-mail course that’ll help you understand and market to today’s mom.

Entrepreneur

Online video is becoming the killer application of the Internet as b-to-b marketers embrace it as an integral part of their marketing programs, using it in such disparate formats as 15-second banner ads and long-form documentaries.

Spending on online video advertising will more than triple in the next three years, growing from $775.0 million this year to $2.90 billion in 2010, according to research company eMarketer.

With the anticipated surge in spending, media companies are scrambling to get in on the action, as demonstrated by the partnership announced last month by NBC Universal and News Corp. to form an online video ad network.

In announcing the as-yet-unnamed venture, News Corp. President-COO Peter Chernin called it “the largest ad platform on earth,” with an audience that will reach about 96% of the U.S. Web viewing audience. The video network will be distributed by partners including Microsoft Corp.’s MSN, News Corp.’s MySpace, Time Warner’s AOL and Yahoo.

Already, the video venture has lined up charter advertisers including Cisco Systems, General Motors Corp. and Intel Corp.

BtoB Magazine

What happens to businesses when people expect to get things free? Especially small businesses? Surprisingly, an increasing part of our economy is based on the concept that customers get something for nothing.

The Internet is the prime example. Sure, you may (or may not) have to pay to access the Internet, but once you’re there, you expect to get information, entertainment, advice all free. Good for you. Good for companies that sell technology to Internet companies. But is it good for companies that create the information, entertainment, provide the advice?

Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired magazine and author of The Long Tail, explained the economics of giving stuff away in his keynote address. Anderson’s a proponent of the concept of giving things away free, and his next book, “Free: The Economics of Abundance and the Price of Zero,” is likely to further spread the gospel of that business model.

Moreover, people don’t value what they get free. Even Anderson recognizes this, “When the price of something falls to zero, you get waste.” People value what they pay for. A person who pays $100 for a ticket to an event is likely to show up; when they get it free, they’re just as likely to be a no-show. That’s why I advise entrepreneurs that even when you give your products or services away, especially to a prospect or current customer, you should always indicate the price, then waive it. It shows the true value.

Small companies are not in the same position to give stuff away free — whether it’s a physical product, intellectual property (content, music, art, consulting), or time. Their resources, both of money and time, are far more limited.

But the reality is that the “free” movement will continue, and small companies are going to have to grapple with this challenge. New business models are going to have to emerge for small entrepreneurial companies to survive.

By RHONDA ABRAMS @ Gannett News Service