Yahoo and AOL Go On A Second Date?

It’s been rumored all week. Yahoo and AOL are leaping beyond eyelash-batting and late-night IM’s, and taking that getting-serious next step: the Second Date. Proof that the flirtation has gone past speed dating? They’re introducing their books to each other, engaging in ‘meaningful’ due diligence.

Does this mean a merger (wink-wink) is on the way? Or is Yahoo leading AOL on, like it did to ex-swain Microsoft, who Mom really-really would have loved? Or will Google’s search advertising partnership once again stand in the way of a deeply satisfying monogamous relationship for the Purple One?

Then there’s on-again, off-again Time Warner, who Yahoo turned to after Microsoft got a touch too possessive last spring. “Just because you have $47.5 billion doesn’t mean you can act like you own me!” snapped Yahoo, stomping out of Starbucks in awesome Sarah Lacy-style boots.

And then, like it was so random, but somehow Microsoft read some tweetsabout Yahoo’s hook-ups with Google and TW, and got ticked and yanked its $33-per-share proposal like right before summer vacation. But when Yahoo turned back to Google, thinking they could still be bffs, Google made up some bogus excuse about the government or the FBI or something not letting them be together.

Now everybody’s shares are way down, especially Yahoo’s, which crashed by 63%.  So this Second Date, is like, HUGE.   To help the courtship along, Guru turned to the romance experts at AskMen.com, who offer up this advice on how to handle that important Second Date:

So you made it to the second date. Good job. You’re relieved, you obviously made a good impression and she wants to see you again, but now what? What is she expecting? And, more importantly, what could ruin the potentially good thing you have going on?

K.I.S.S: Keep it simple stupid.
Don’t do anything spectacular or you’ll scare her off. Plan an activity that’s different from the first date, but make sure it’s nothing too demanding. The second date is about getting to know each other better. Have a few options planned, but don’t force her to choose or she’ll feel put on the spot.

Wise words.

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Is THE GLOW PROJECT Going To Be Bigger Than THE SECRET?

Is the GLOW Project with its movie, magazine and sold-out events the next phenomenon?  Bound to be bigger than The Secret?

The site explains the GLOW this way:

How is it that some women are wildly successful, while others, with the same relative education, experience, passion and goals for success, struggle? We all have the same amount of hours in a day, yet some are able to accomplish so much more. What is it that they do so differently? What is it that they possess that is unique? What is it that makes them GLOW?

There is a powerful essence inside of every woman—a critical ingredient that only women possess. When realized, nurtured and expanded, it becomes the key to true happiness and success. You deserve happiness, fulfillment, and the opportunity to achieve wild success. STOP what you are doing. Take a breath, and connect with your GLOW.

“You gotta GLOW, girl.”

Guru’s Note: There’s an amazing group of women powering this potential phenomenon. They’re not just inspiring, they’ve got life, business and intellectual capital galore. And how serendipitous to launch just as our world is falling apart. Women are the ones who are going to have to clean up the mess. As always. We’d better figure out how to GLOW.

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The New Consumerism: Freecycle Registering 50,000 More Each Week Since Wall Street Crashed.

I’m an avid Freecycler. Not only am I saving money and helping the planet all in one fell swoop, I get to meet awesome and imaginative Freecyclers. A while back I posted an offer for the eleven (yes, 11) remote controls I somehow managed to accumulate. Sure enough, a guy wanted to take them all. I had to know — why on earth do you want all 11? Seems he is a night photographer who needs the tiny infrared chips.

Another Freecycler couldn’t use my beat-up bamboo chairs but gave me a carton of speckled eggs from her own chickens. Another loaded up my leftover lumber; she brought me wild blueberries, a great smile and a dose of neighborliness I sorely need.

Freecycling is all about serendipity. You never know who is going to turn up to pick up your treasures or offer up a treasure of their own. Recently we received a grand player piano — an unwieldly ancient bulwark of a thing that required three men to lift. The beauty came with a set of equally ancient piano rolls; the kind of thing only an early jazz lover would adore. It just so happens that my ex-husband is one of those jazz fanatics with a lust for 1920’s tunes. And it just so happens that my ex-husband is recovering from cancer and needs to pump those weak legs of his — which is how those piano rolls work. It takes powerful pumping to get them going.

The scoop on Freecycle:

Welcome! The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,617 groups with 6,030,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them’s good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on “Browse Groups” above the search box. Have fun!

Business Week has a great article on this growing trend. Send it to your favorite AIG agent. Maybe he can Freecycle a few of those souvenirs he picked up at the St. Regis Resort the week we after we bailed them out.

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The Surprisingly Simple Way To Seduce Him This Halloween. (It Doesn’t Work on Her.)

Forget oysters, Vitamin E, and even a glass of bubbly. Research reveals that the sexiest aphrodisiac of all may be round, squishy and . . . orange.

Alan Hirsch, M.D., neurological director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, invited a group of 30 women to sit in a lab, attached to a device that measures vaginal blood flow, and sniff 30 different odors, ranging from licorice to gooey cheese pizza. He also asked a group of (oddly cooperative) 31 men to sit in a laboratory, their penises attached to a machine that measures blood flow and sniff the same 30 scents.

The surprise? The big winner for most arousing smell — pumping the penile blood flow by 40% — was the mingled scents of pumpkin pie plus lavender. The runners-up were doughnuts with black licorice (32%) and pumpkin pie with doughnuts (20%). (Leading Guru to wonder how many cops participated in the study.)

Women are a different story. Number one turn-ons: the mingled aromas of cucumber and licorice; and the sweetly innocent scent of baby powder. (Remember Love’s Babysoft cologne, a big hit of the seventies?)

A Halloween heads up to the guys: Three scents actually turned women off: cherries, barbecued meat and men’s cologne.

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It’s the Recession, Stupid: Introducing The New Rules of Recession Etiquette.

First, let’s look at what’s happening out there:

• 44,000+ layoffs in the tech industry alone
• Consumer confidence at an all-time low
• House values down by an average of 17%
• Ed McMahon’s house now owned by Donald Trump
• Mother’s Cookies crumbled.

With these sorry facts in hand, it may be time to foreclose on our existing Rules of Etiquette.  Especially old chestnuts like ‘the one with the most toys wins’ and anything that includes the words ‘disruptors, Tesla, bling, or second-round-of-funding.’

Here are the New Rules of Recession Etiquette:

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Virgin Active Says Leave the Cleavage to the Girls. We Say Leave the Moobs in London.

We’ve had Carrot Mobs, Grand Central Freezes and now — Moob Men. Recently, a dedicated team of men with man boobs — aka moobs –mobbed London and nearby cities, with the mission of raising awareness of obesity and encouraging the British public to get in shape. Virgin Active’s viral campaign highlights part of the body that many feel embarrassed about, such as bingo wings, wobbly bellies and muffin tops . The buzzy slogan “Love your good bits, lose your bad bits”, aims to persuade people to start exercising and get the body fit ‘the old-fashioned way.’ That is, with sweat, not surgery.

Celebrities who have been ridiculed for their man boobs include Simon Cowell, Tony Blair, and ex Monkey Davy Jones.

If the campaign is as viral as other WOM winners, American men may suddenly start obsessing about their bingo wings and muffin tops. Lord only knows Wall Street needs to worry about something other than the stock market. NASDAQ? Housing Starts? Muffins Tops? No contest.

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Surprise! Which Hot New Game Zoomed Up the Facebook Chart This Month?

If you’re in the Travel Industry and considering launching a Social Media app, read on. The Travel Channel’s Kidnap blazed onto Facebook’s gaming charts with over 2 million monthly active users only a few months after launch. New users are growing at an astonishingly viral 50,000 a day, many in that industry sweet spot: the travel-hungry late twenties. Travel Channel and Rapp Collins worked with social marketing app wizards Context Optional to build a social game where users kidnap their friends to far off places. In order to escape, the hostage must answer a question –and (natch) the answer can only be found on the Travel Channel. This clever segue leads to an impressive conversion rate: 50,000-80,000 players get turfed over to TC’s rich content. Jeff Feldman, Director of Business Development at Context Optional, tells me that while “there was some marketing spend initially, primarily on Facebook, the growth is almost entirely viral.”

San Francisco based Context has been on a roll lately, launching applications for major brands including: Kraft One Minute Mogul; Absolut Top Bartender; Miller Today I’m Toasting; and Microsoft Got Pies (for IE8).

For more Facebook gaming news, check out InsideSocialGames. A teaser: Friends For Sale takes a big drop while Facebook platform leader Lil Green Patch extended its lead by nearly half a million monthly active users to 6.5 million total.

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The Top Destinations in the US: Did Your Town Make the List?

For the past 21 years, Conde Nast Traveler has asked its travel-savvy readers to weigh in on the best destinations, lodgings and transportation in the world. The 2008 Readers Choice Awards have just been announced.

I am proud to say that my hometown, the eco-paradise of Carmel, California, ranks #6 on the list of Top Cities in the U.S., behind San Francisco, Charleston, S.C., New York City, Santa Fe, and Chicago.

Here’s the word from Conde Nast Traveler: The 21st annual Readers’ Choice Awards is really a double celebration: It is not only an award for the destinations, lodgings, and modes of transportation that manage to exceed our expectations, it is also a credit to the worldly expertise of Condé Nast Traveler readers—passionate travelers for whom no island is too remote, no city too challenging, no hotel too untested. Winners all! Guru’s Note: An astonishing 32,633 readers participated in the annual survey, with more than 1,000 travel experiences rated and ranked.

Click here for more information on travel to the Monterey Peninsula from Conde Nast’s concierge.com.

Guru’s Note: I invite you to visit one of the most droolworthy places in the world. Stay at our eco-luxe hotels in Big Sur; gawk at the white wave views from the Highlands Inn; tuck yourself in under a quilt at one of the adorable cottage-y B & B’s in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Romp on our white sand beach with your soon-to-soggy pup and afterwards, the two of you can take tea and treats at Doris Day’s dog-friendly Cypress Inn. Stop by Mission Ranch for dinner, where you might spot owner Clint Eastwood hanging around the sing-along piano bar. True to his legendary movie hero style, the former mayor rescued the historic property from the condominium developer’s wrecking ball back in 1986.

Next day, leave the fog behind and meander out in your rented convertible to laze away an afternoon on sunny Carmel Valley Road. Marvel at the grace of the horses galloping by and sample a glass of prized, organic wine at Heller Estates Tasting Room, domain of talented winemaker, Rich Tanguay. The next day, golf at legendary Pebble Beach and genuflect to the memory of the masters, present and future. Stay at one of Pacific Grove’s gingerbread Victorians and fall asleep to the sound of seals barking. Get your hands wet in the Splash Zone at the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium.

But then please, mosey on home. We natives love that the Peninsula is podunk. We love that much of what passes for civilization, especially strip malls and traffic jams, is 60 miles to the north. We love that Carmel Valley Road is littered not with cans or wrappers but rather with homemade cardboard signs that say ‘Happy Birthday, Sweetie, We Love You” and “Carmel Fire Fighters Rock.” We love that you love our little award-winning town. Now go home.

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The Social Networking Site Facebook Should Have Created.

It feels like a no-brainer.

All those millions of college students storming Facebook everyday.  Doesn’t it make perfect sense for the edu pioneer to design a “new platform for college students to share reviews, photos, videos, documents, and more with students on their campus and across the country?  Wouldn’t they be the obvious choice to design a site the best place for high school students to find out what life is really like at America’s colleges, and to make friends to help them find the school that’s right for them?”

Guess again.  It’s not Facebook, it’s a new site called UNIGO.  The brainchild of Jordan Goldman and interactive agency, Deepend New York, the site aims to give current and prospective students a social-media-centric way to learn about colleges on the Web.  Although still in beta, more than 200 colleges are already profiled — I found my alma maters, University of Wisconsin and University of Oregon easily.  Unigo has plans to include every college in America.

Unigo is packed with the social networking features this generation craves, from candid videos, ratings and reviews (already there are 30,000+) to friend requests/messaging.  There’s even a network of Unigo reps on campus (UW’s seems to be a guy named Phil), to potentially create an offline presence.

Unigo launches just in time for all those high school valedictorians to get help with their Early Decision decisions.  Smart.

Guru’s Note:  Although I can see why Facebook didn’t pursue this natural brand extension, it had to be enormously tempting. Strategically, the social networking leader needed to move beyond singlemindedly serving only its traditional psychographic, as it did in 2006 when it opened the site to users beyond the edu address. But imagine if MZ and Company simply tapped into the huge percentage of Facebooking college students (some 85% in the US) and asked them for Ratings, Reviews and ‘the truth’ about their colleges. I’m glad they didn’t. It’s a healthier economy when smaller players get a piece of the pie, too.

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Study Reveals 93% of Americans Expect Companies To Have A Social Media Presence.

It’s one of the first questions I get when I’m speaking at an event, no matter what topic’s on the program. Whether it’s mom marketing, green products, new trends, or travel/tourism, the question is always the same: Should my company have a social media presence?

Before this new social media study, I had a pat answer. You already have a social media presence online. Your customers are already talking about you. Tweaking your brand. Kvetching about your customer service. Tagging you. Whether you like it or not.

You’re simply not participating in the conversation. Yet. Then I usually wrap up my spiel with a plea to jump on board to join the party in progress.

But now I’ve got some powerful new ammunition on my side, thanks to the 2008 Business in Social Media Study, conducted by Cone. According to the research, if your company does not have a social media presence online, you are missing out on the 93% of Americans who believe you should, and the 85% of Americans who are expecting to interact with your company through social media.

This study should crush any remaining questions about whether corporate social media interaction is necessary. A solid 60% of Americans are now interacting with companies using social media –and one in four are interacting more than once a week.

Customer satisfaction, always at the top of every company’s To Do List, is also now proven to be higher for businesses with a social media presence. 56% of consumers feel a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they interact through social media.

This encouraging stat strongly jibes with one of the emerging themes from various Social Media Competitive Landscape research studies I’ve conducted for some of the major online players. As they say, ‘the Internet changed everything’ — and seldom is this more true than with customer care. When “Tom” posted his white T-shirted self on every new MySpace page and used the site’s pioneering social media tools to invite millions to IM, email and be his new bff, it made other customer care strategies feel stale and corporate. The majority of his MySpace friends likely have no idea that their own personal Go-To-Geek “Tom” is actually the gazillion dollar co-founder of the empire. Not since Steve Case’s weekly letter to AOL members has a Founder been so sociable. 

This is clearly promising news for brands looking to build or deepen relationships. Rather than view a company’s social media efforts as an intrusion, Americans are welcoming the open door to discussion.

More numbers from the Cone study reveal that Consumers believe:

• Companies should use social networks to solve their problems (43%).
• Companies should solicit feedback on their products and services (41%) via social media.
• Companies should develop new ways for consumers to interact with their brand (37%) through social media.
• Companies should market to consumers (25%) using social media.

And lest you think that social media only attracts the collegiate Facebook crowd, the study also showed that the most lucrative higher-income households are expecting social media interaction with companies they do business with. Households with incomes of $75K+ believe that companies should seek to reach them via social media and two-thirds of the wealthiest households say they feel a stronger connection to brands they can interact with online.  This bodes very well for categories such as travel and leisure and technology.

What does this mean for your business?  Do you still need convincing?

Social media has rapidly gone from a Maybe to a Must-Have in your marketing plan. Your customers are expecting you to be present in social networking communities, to provide social networking features on your own sites,  to interact with, listen to and engage them in authentic and meaningful conversation. 

Are you going to say “no” to the 93% of consumers expecting you to join the conversation?

This study was conducted online September 11-12 2008 and surveyed 1,092 adults.

Thanks to Erika Preuss at Business Social Networking.”

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