I recently became aware of a bait and switch happening in Facebook-land. Last year I added the 'My Starbucks' application to my Facebook profile, allowing me to declare my public preference for the "Grande Non-fat Caramel Macchiatto". The app was pretty simple; just some drop downs to select your favourite beverage and mods and then it displays a picture of the drink on your profile.

This was back when everyone was still killing Zombies and other random wastes of time on FB. I didn't participate, but I did like the Starbucks idea. I'm pretty sure (based on what has recently happened) that Starbucks the company had no hand in protecting their trademark in this realm, but at least they didn't pull a Scrabulous and make a big stink about it. Perhaps now they wish they had?

Next week, My Starbucks's name and functionality will be changed to SpeedDate. Data entered into the original app won't be used anymore. Soon you'll be able to try SpeedDate, the fastest way to meet new people, so stay tuned! P.S. If you want to opt-out of this app, click here. on Thursday

Starting next week, the app that is installed on who knows how many million profiles will change its name and functionality... wait for it... into a dating application. Coffee and dating seem pretty similar, right? Imagine if you painted your house purple, then one day the paint company sent you a notice that all purple paint that had been installed was about to switch over to Plaid Wallpaper?!? No, that seems totally fine.

Obviously Facebook's developer guidelines require them to post a status update with the above warning, but how many million people will not heed or care about the warning until it's too late. I guess they only get one shot at it though, because people simply aren't installing silly apps like they used to...

If you don't know what StumbleUpon is, imagine a remote control for the internet. You can use it to channel surf the web and 'Stumble' upon all kinds of things that interest you. You also have the ability to give something a thumbs-up or thumbs-down based on what you like, and this improves the systems ability to feed you content you will like.

So-- StumbleUpon Advertising (Stumbleads) is the contextual deployment of sites in front of users WHEN they choose, ABOUT topics they choose. It only makes sense. If I've said that I like sports, soccer, and shopping, then it would be only natural for SU to show me an advertisers page with (and here's the key) CONTENT that interests me: Like the newest Shoe from Nike. Not just a page with an e-commerce engine for me to buy the shoe-- I would give that a thumbs-down, but a page with interesting content ABOUT the shoe that I will read, share, and the MAY lead to a purchase.

How does it work?

If you're a media buyer, you're probably crying now. How hard will it be to not only convince a client that they should be doing this, but that their normal methodology won't work! They need to create valuable and interesting content to cut through the clutter. If they do it right, they will benefit from the 'StumbleUpon Effect' which is a long-tail like future for site traffic, and if they do it REALLY well, then they will enjoy other effects too, as all these savvy users of SU also use Reddit, Digg!, and Delicious.

Prepare to be crushed when you try to explain to your client that their existing website just "isn't cool enough" and doesn't offer enough 1-second-value to the reader to engage them in a channel-surfing web world.

For those thinking about using Twitter for their company or brand or product (not just themselves as a person), here are a few things you should know, and that could help with the internal sell. This a good reference too, from Hubspot, makers of the Twitter Grader.

So, as I mentioned Here, Here, and Here, I'm selling some of my cool, but completely useless-to-me domain names.  There's no point for me to keep them, and honestly, I think Claire would be happier if I lost domaining from my list of hobbies.   As I've said before, if you want one of these, or you know someone who may like one, let me know or send them the link.  Let's make a deal...

Win a book if you follow me on Twitter. http://twitter.com/andrewkinnear It seems like there are some new and exciting ways to raise your profile on Twitter, and the simplest is an honest and relevant competition. I was reading ProBlogger Darren Rowse's TwiTip blog about the positive and negative attributes of a competition, and what stuck out the most for me was the necessity of making sure that the prize was relevant. I thought since my blog and tweets are primarily marketing focused, with a flavour of bizarre, Gladwell's new book would be a great prize. Also, since Indigo sent me two copies by mistake, I would gladly send one on to a lucky winner.

Follow me on Twitter for your chance to win. I'll end the content on March 1st giving me roughly 1 month. (I don't get that many hits or follows as it is, so this should be a fair amount of time.)

I really only want people following me that are interested in what I might have to say. If you are passionate about new ideas, innovation, marketing and marketing ideas, social media, technology, design and other generally cool things-- please follow  ///

It may seem like I'm picking on Rogers, but it's just because I have them as a provider and can find great material that much faster.  The truth is that Telus and Bell also have the fees.

When the reality is that their own value brand, Fido, advertises NO system access fee. How can one part of a company try to gain customers with a message like NO SAF, implying that other brand have it, when those implicitly described are part of the same mother-ship.

You would think someone at the top would raise a stink. Why can't I just call Rogers and say "If you don't get rid of the SAF, I'm taking my number and switching to Fido. (or Koodo or Solo)" Shouldn't they listen?

The System Access Fee is something that preys on the average customer.

As I continue on the trend of liquidating domains, I have another batch of somewhat interesting .coms to discuss.  If you'd like a better explanation of what I'm doing, and for some of the domains that I've already put on the chopping block, read this, and this...

Washvertising.com, WashMarketing.com, MessageWasher.com - This was an extremely short-lived, but fun adventure in new marketing.  Like an idiot, I registered more than one domain because I wanted to capture more than just the SERP traffic, I mistakenly thought I needed type-in-guess-traffic as well.  The idea was a business based on power-washing a laser-cut stencil over dirty sidewalks to leave a clean logo or message behind.  Called Reverse Graffiti, this concept ultimately was not viable as a stand-alone business because Toronto simply isn't dirty enough.  Many have attempted, and some have even succeeded in Toronto on a one-by-one basis, but after testing mnay different sites, I determined that this was not worth my time.

FlipFuel.com, StartFuel.com - A long time ago I had a dream about starting a bio-diesel company.  The basis was going to be changing consumer behaviour (hence the flip) or possibly getting new drivers and new car buyers to see the alternative (hence the start).  That never happened.  I do think these are cool names for something energy related but since I'm not energetic, these are on the block.

LightningDelivery.com, IsInTheMail.com - Both were for different ideas, but could be used for anything involving delivery, shipping, customization, payments, etc.  Lightning Delivery for me started as an online ordering of offline products (i.e. a website where you put in your group starbucks order and pay, then it gets delivered).  IsInTheMail was an idea for a company that would put together a personalized product for you (my idea was cereal in a tube) and then it would be put in the mail.  Could be anything though...

In my last post about the liquidation of some domain names I registered, I mentioned that these domains are somewhat valuable, but probably only to a select few people.  If you know someone you think may be interested-- send them the link.  Who knows?

McDPoints.com, ArchPoints.com, ArchRewards.com - A while back when I was running the loyaltybank.com and making pitches for B2B loyalty and rewards programs, I took it upon myself to register many variations and ideas and competitive placeholders for some program domains.  These ones were obviously for McDonalds (either in Canada or somewhere else) but I also have some that would work for Starbucks, CaraFoods, BurgerKing, the Keg, SIRcorp, and Tim Hortons. These could be consumer programs, or more likely, Employee recognition or rewards programs.  I'm confident that all of these domains avoid infringing any trademarks, but they are recognizable enough to be relevant.

Poopipedia.com - This was a bizarre idea I had for creating a series of Bathroom readers based on creative commons licensed content from Wikipedia.  There are many incredibly interesting and wacky articles in Wikipedia, and people always need something to read on the john.  This idea never came to fruition. 

GreenMyWallet.com, GreenMyAuto.com - These two sites came from an idea to create a brand of site "GreenMy" specializing in certain parts of your life.  GreenMyWallet I managed to get off the ground, and it has actually seen some tremendous traffic from StumbleUpon and Digg, because there's some useful info and some great links.  I just don't have the time or desire to maintain this...  

RegistryPoints.com, Registry-Rewards.com, HerPoints.com - The thinking, going back to my consumer loyalty plans from above, focus around creating a site where people 'Register' for their weddings, babies, etc but instead of items, people just buy points for the lucky bride (or mother).  Then they use an Amazon-like interface to spend those points on whatever they want.  It's basically a way that facilitates the event, but without the limitations of a single store (like the Bay) and instead lets you spend your points on ANYTHING.  It would also track it nicely so that you could send thank you notes and all that other girly stuff that you have to do when you go through this kind of thing...

Why do people still make Facebook Groups when they should be making Facebook Pages? Does anyone even still join groups? In short, a group is a for an association of people identifying an affinity or cause.  It's grass-roots.  The problem is it's limited from a true marketing perspective.  Outbound messaging is the true measure of capability in Facebookland, and short of the small number of messages permitted to a small part of a group (limited to 5000 members I think), your message isn't going to get out.  

I've decided that I have entirely too many domain names registered. Though I thought early on that I could turn each of them into 'something', many have never materialized into businesses or revenue generators or even gifts. (I'm amazed when someone is told they can have their domain name as a gift, and they shrug with a "no, I'm good thanks"...) Oh well. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to post some domains that I'm selling. Even though many of these domains were registered for under $10, they do add up, and yearly registration is simply something I want to eliminate as a cost cutting measure. (I think my wife would be happy about this as well).

GordonNixon.com - Gordon Nixon is the CEO of RBC. As far as banks go RBC is pretty big, and Gordon Nixon has been recognized as one of Canada's top CEOs. I thought this would be a good guy to meet, and maybe owning his domain name would get me a meeting. CEOs have to keep their personal online brand reputation in line with their company, so as not to affect PR value.

DominicDAlessandro.com - Dominic D'Alessandro is the outgoing CEO of Manulife. He was the guy who took Manulife from a medium size Canadian financial services company and turned it into a mega-international financial powerhouse when they bought John Hancock. This is another situation where I thought that rich important guys from Canada would be a good investment as far as domain names. Mr. D'Alessandro was recently named Canada's top CEO.

MichaelSabia.com - As the former CEO of BCE, Bell Canada Enterprises, Canada's largest telecommunications company, Sabia took the company private in 2008, just before he left the company, when BCE was sold to the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan for $52 billion. As far as important executives personal reputation, Sabia caught my eye because he's in his prime to write a book or join a board somewhere, and upkeep of your personal brand is super important when you no longer have the luxury of an 'About Us' executive profile. You're limited to what ever the Globe and Mail prints.

PhillipCrawley.com - And speaking of the Globe and Mail. Mr. Crawley is the publisher (top dog) at the Globe and Mail, part of CTVGlobeMedia, one of Canada's largest media companies. As someone in Media and Press, I figured this domain would be a good one to have. Maybe one day it would be interesting for a 'Phillip's Thoughts' blog on old media. Who knows...

I'll tell you why.  For the last few years, as the technology of Google, Yahoo and other search engines has improved, their ability to find current or virtually real-time publishing of traditional news has improved.  The obvious problem with this is that real news is restricted to articles or even blog posts that are 'Written'.  These may be copy-edited, spell-checked, proof-read, (or not) but at the end of the day, they are longer than 140 characters.

There are a few reasons why rebates are offered instead of just reducing the price of a product. I managed to learn a few things from the loyalty industry over the past few years, not the least of which are the concepts of breakage and float.

The 73,000 elementary school teachers in Ontario, part of the ETFO, have threatened to vote on Job action pending a skirt-lifting by the school boards on Friday February 13th (great date, BTW). So what if these teachers do vote for job action, and that action isn't 'work to rule' but a full blown strike (anticipated in late march were it to happen)?

QR Codes, the funny looking 2D barcodes, are a fast way that someone with a web-enabled mobile device can access a long URL via their device.

How cool is that? These have been around for years, so why aren't they ubiquitous yet? We've all got cell phones with cameras. Most of us have mobile access to the web either with a terrible WAP browser on an older cell or a sweet fully-functional browser like what you'd find on a Blackberry or iPhone. Nobody likes typing OR remembering things. It only makes sense that every outdoor, bus shelter, subway, transit or billboard ad would start to feature these QR Codes that you can even make yourself.

I think the problem (at least in Canada) is getting the software on the devices themselves. It's too much of a hassle for people to do it themselves, so the carriers need to make the QR code reader a native app.

Picture a situation where you're in a movie store, and all the movies have codes, you scan it, and then you can watch the trailer for that movie. Or you're at a bus stop, looking at an ad for a restaurant, you shoot the QR code and then you can immediately read the menu from their website. The possibilities are limitless. My suggestions have limits.

Ok, so how can the average person use a QR code? Put one on a resume to look cool (nerds only). Put one on a t-shirt with your phone numbers (nerds only)-- ok wait-- these are possibly only cool for nerds at this point...