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I am here in the Apple store on Fifth Avenue again checking some things out, and they have some awesome point of sale (POS) technology. There are people walking around with handheld credit card scanners to complete the purchase. The only catch is that they don’t print receipts. How do you get your receipt, you ask?

Email!

What a great way to build the customer database for future direct marketing efforts. When they email you the receipt, they can probably send you an offer to make an upsell purchase. They may also re-offer you that extended warranty you passed on before. The sky is the limit with this technology. I am constantly impressed with the way they do business (the rep next to me is speaking in Spanish to a customer, BTW), and I am glad I bought some AAPL stock a couple of weeks ago.

I am curious if buyers are automatically opt-ed in to receiving future solicitations by allowing them to send your receipt via email. I may just have to make a purchase to examine their after sale direct marketing efforts. Regardless, they are certainly building a huge database with a ton of transactional information.

Just received some good news from Jerry Nolte and Mike St. John about their Domainer’s Magazine publication. These guys (and the magazine’s staff) have worked incredibly hard, and this is an offer that should be graciously accepted by everyone who is interested in the domain industry. Thank You!!”

Matamoras, PA, December 3rd 2007-Domainer’s Magazine will mark their one year anniversary by offering the online version of their magazine free of charge for the year beginning with the January/February 2008 issue and are also offering the ability to view any of this past year’s issues as well. Fellow domainers and creators of the publication Jerry J. Nolte Jr. and Mike St. John stated that they are happy to offer this “gift” to its readers as a show of gratitude for their tremendous growth this year. Additionally, the two believe the increase in viewers will allow their advertisers to reap even more benefits than before!

Over the past year, Domainer’s Magazine has grown in size, advertisers, and distribution. Managed by two domainers themselves, it is believed that their experience assists the team in knowing the issues to cover in each issue. Staffed by a team of professional writers with true unbiased journalistic integrity it appears the magazine is able to hit topics readers want to see while giving the information in an impartial manner.”

About Domainer’s Magazine: Domainer’s Magazine was designed to provide valuable insight and thought leadership into the domaining world. It is a first class publication and the original magazine that targets this industry which is becoming noted by some of the premier financiers of our time. Their goal is to continue to be a world class publication that is the eyes and ears of the “domainer”. It is a sister company to iMonetize.

About iMonetize: iMonetize.com was founded in 2005 and is one of the fastest growing full service domain management, Meta-PPC optimization companies. It provides a suite of services for domain holders, expired domain speculators, registrars and web hosts to maximize revenue while accurately analyzing performance and origin. iMonetize provides the most user-friendly and detailed domain name statistics in the industry in most cases all the way down to the individual domain level.

Below are a few unregistered domain names I believe have some potential. Although I am not charging anything for researching these names, I am requesting that the person who registers each makes a donation to a non-profit organization.

AftermarketSite.com  
OldAgePlanning.com
GeriatricPlanning.com
Rescuing.mobi
AssistVeterans.com
SoldierCounseling.com
AgreementTemplates.com
HandheldCovers.com
OnlineStripteases.com
RemoveRubbish.com

Three new additions – 2:30 update:  
CheapestGadget.com
CheapestDevice.com
ForeignLodging.com

A few non-profits I recommend (with the link to make a donation):

At this point, I usually recommend about 10 charities I think make a positive impact on the world. This time, I am requesting that readers make a donation to a single cause. One of my blog readers sent me this tragic story, and I am asking that anyone who buys one of the names above, makes a donation to the family of this tragedy to help them through this difficult time.

Please send donations to:
The Cain Family
183 Wayne Street
Mount Airy, NC 27030

Charities Previously Helped By Generous Readers of My Blog:

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
ALS AssociationCystic Fibrosis Foundation
National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Kiva

I am looking to buy a US city .com domain name, and I am willing to pay up to $50,000 for the name.

Requirements:

1) City should have 50,000 or more residents
2) The domain name should be the correct exact spelling of the city
3) Domain name must be a .com

Please send your names in the comment section of my blog, and I will be in touch if I am interested.

An English cheesemaker has capitalized on a great marketing campaign by auctioning off a slab of cheese that had been the focus of 24 hour web television coverage seen by visiting cheddarvision.tv. After receiving over 1.65 million views on the website since December of 2006, and countless other views on its dedicated Myspace page, the 44 pound block of cheese is now listed for sale on Ebay.

This has to be one of the smartest interactive marketing campaigns I’ve seen in a while. The cheesemakers created interest for the past year using a .tv website, a Myspace page and a YouTube listing, and now they are using their website to direct interested viewers to the auction. The bidding is currently up to £520.00, and I can only hope that the typical scammers that place shill bids leave this auction alone.

I was with a friend last night discussing the advantages of interactive marketing. There are far too many to name, but I think the ability to be creative is one of the most compelling reasons, followed by the opportunity for viral messaging (peer to peer). One problem some people have is finding trustworthy partners who can produce top quality material. It’s true that the really good people are always busy working on other projects. The key is to engage them ahead of time and not expect a finished product overnight.

I hope to give more insight in future posts, but I wanted to share a great campaign my friend created while working at his former advertising agency. His task was to introduce the Philips Bodygroom shaver to the American market.

His campaign won a ton of creative awards, including:
The One Show Interactive: Gold Award (2007)
Clio Interactive: Gold (2007)
Art Directors Club: Distinctive Merit (2007)
Webby Awards: Webby Award & People’s Voice (2007)
Cannes Cyber Lions: Gold (2006)
The FWA: Site of the Year (2006)
The FWA: Site of the Month (2006)
The FWA: Site of the Day (2006)
Design Interact: Site of the Week (2006)
Advertising Age: Digital Campaign of the Year (2006)

Check it out when you have a chance:
http://shaveeverywhere.com/

And if you want to get in touch with my friend for your interactive marketing needs, let me know. He now works for a highly creative firm that can help make a big impact on your marketing.