Yesterday I had the great pleasure of catching Jon Olson on Twitter share that he was available for some casual conversation if anyone wanted to join his semi-private chat room, and so I did. Over an hour or so discussion covered a variety of topics but what caught most of my attention is the strong message Jon shared around simplicity.

In the Traffic Exchange industry there are some very basic fundamentals to running a successful operation, one of which is not over-complicating the technology. There are some Traffic Exchange websites that have great solutions without adding bloat. On the other hand there are those which don’t even offer unique selling points beyond changing very basic details and sometimes not even investing time/money to clean up the out-of-box solution so that it’s user friendly.

This “keep it simple” idea isn’t just about Traffic Exchanges. Look at Groupon for example – stupidly simple concept, who would have thought selling discounts to restaurants, spas, etc. would turn into one of the fastest growing businesses in 2 years? Look at Apple, their logo is almost laughable but you know it’s “Apple Inc” when you see it.

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February 10th, 2011 marks a day of changes in Facebook that open to door for brands to compete. It comes with no surprise that we’ve witnessed another set of big changes to Facebook pages, otherwise known as fan pages or “like” pages. The community of Facebook users will never completely agree that the changes (past and present) are or were a good move, and thus once again this is the case. Unfortunately it is not up to the users to determine what they want as Facebook makes the ultimate decision – if you don’t like the changes you’re more than welcome to stop using Facebook, but that rarely every happens. Keep in mind, the new facebook pages will be pushed live for all pages by March 10th. Take some time to look over the new features/layout to get comfortable before it’s set in stone.

The new layout will show a page in the same format as a user profile. Though it will not be as clear whether you’re looking at a page or a profile, there are still a couple differentiators to distinguish the two; you still “Like” a page and below the name of the page you still see the type such as “Website” or “Public Figure”. So what are the changes? Here’s a list:

Jumping into the restaurant business can be a dumpy road. Many have to close due to lack of customers whether it’s due to location, poor management or the most obvious unsatisfactory food. Due to the hot, growing trend of local shopping and services like 4Square and Yelp, getting your customer to come back is your #1 long-term goal- no returning customers will eventually kill your business.

So how do you target customers who don’t eat at your restaurant? Simply answer: give away food for free.

Yup, you read correctly, and Panera Bread has pulled off something unbelievable. As CEO, Ron Shaich, explained at a TED event, Panera Bread “cares” is all about a give-and-take concept. Instead of telling everyone they must pay XX dollars for a sandwich, bowl of soup or cold beverage, they decided to leave it up to the customer. Some people can’t afford a $7.50 sandwich so they give $2.00 (or nothing at all) while others are willing to pay $9.00 for that same sandwich.

But just how successful can this be – wouldn’t everyone just want a free meal? Much to my surprise the concept has worked amazingly. At the beginning, according to Ron, it was certainly a learning experience as people attempted to abuse the system as they didn’t understand the concept. The idea isn’t about taking free food but rather about helping those who are unable to enjoy a Panera meal (or any decent meal).

When you listen to Ron talk about the story and purpose of Panera cares you can’t help but think “You know, this is such a great idea and I hope to see it throughout the country.” Do you think this idea can continue to be a success in many more cities throughout the country?

You may or may not know but I’ve been involved, in some way, with internet marketing for about 7 years now. When I started back in college there was VERY little quality coaching available, nearly more than 2 or 3 “social” networks (they weren’t too social), only a handful of reliable marketing tools, and more rip-offs than anyone could count.

Starting out in network marketing was certainly an experience. It was a challenge to cold-call leads, get them to listen to your speech while trying to sell them a product AND opportunity without sounding like a recording.

Today, it’s a different ball game. You can nearly do everything (expect a true cold-call) directly through the internet. From generating leads to sending follow-up emails, to marketing initiatives – the internet has opened far more doors for thousands and thousands of people. But it has also opened opportunities to do more harm to yourself than good.

It would surprise me if you haven’t come across a “scam” opportunity (“program” is probably a better term) while surfing the web. There are plenty of them, in reality far too many. It’s in your best interest to be cautious with what you decide to get involved with because even though you may have the potential to earn a lot of money, it doesn’t mean it’s ethical, moral or legal, and that may come back to haunt you later.

People talk. Your name has a reputation that is important whether you think so or not. You could have 100 people join an opportunity with you but it only takes 1 of them to start spreading bad news about you, that of which can spread very quickly. Once something is written on the internet about you that is negative, it can be hard to get it removed or reverse the damage it will do.

Think of yourself as a brand. If people buy your products and share with their friends that your brand makes poor products, do you think their friends will buy from your brand? And those friends will tell THEIR friends. It’s a vicious cycle but in retrospect, it can be positive if you build a good reputation. No, you will not satisfy every single person 100% but if you strive to do good and focus on being careful with the promotions and opportunities you involve yourself with, you’re more likely to succeed than fail.