Don't look for a job at the U.S. Mint

A bit of a mindless op-ed post for a Saturday...

I've noticed in recent months that I'm carrying less and less cash in my wallet. Yeah, we bought some Visa stock a while back, but that definitely was not the primary reason for me making a migration to plastic (primarily debit cards).

In particular, I think a lot of people have a fear of using debit cards for everyday/small purchase items (i.e. gum, coffee, etc.) for fear of being labeled as that person who is using credit to by gum, coffee, etc. When, in reality, most people are using debit cards for that type of transaction. In addition, I think some feel like they're "holding people up" when paying electronically for small ticket items, versus whipping cash out of their wallet. I am not one of these people. I'll pay for a $.25 sucker with a debit card, if the establishment accepts it.

I think a number of things came together (in subtle ways) which contributed to this shift:

1) To me, the risk associated with carrying cash is way too high. If you get mugged, lose your wallet, or misplace it, you're out 'x' amount of dollars. Gone.

2) If you get mugged, lose your wallet, etc. and you have fraudulent charges on either your debit or credit card, all you have to simply do is cancel the card and report the erroneous charges to your bank. Nearly every time, they will credit your account for these charges. I've had to do this a few times...with 100% success rate. A much higher recovery rate than losing a wad of cash.

3) Nearly 90% of establishments accept any number of payment processing networks (Visa, MC, Amex, etc.) so coverage is very high.

4) Going to the ATM or using a "cash back" terminal to retrieve $20, $50, or $100 at a time is just a pain in the butt. Too much wasted time.

5) If you're going to create a decent budget for yourself/family, you need a way to track expenses right? Well, if you're constantly using an ATM and paying with cash, how do you track where you're spending money? Very manual and highly inefficient. If you constantly use your credit/debit cards, you will have all merchants/categories/expenses in any easy to consume format for software like Quicken, Quickbooks, or even Mint.com to track these items. Try it for yourself. Open a Mint.com account, suck in your checking account, and watch how quick it is to see how much money you're spending at Starbucks!

6) Avoiding ATM fees. Ever add up how much money you lose each year due to ATM fees? It's not pretty for most people. If you're in a pinch and can't find your own banks' branch, you're going to loose $2-4. Why not just avoid these situations and save yourself a couple hundred dollars per year?

Ok, so I know there will always be those emergency situations in which cash is needed...so have that $20 tucked away next to your library card in your wallet/purse.

I think it's quite clear to see that in 50 years, cash will largely become a thing of the past. For me, it already is!

Chicken or the Egg with Online Advertising?

If you're in the business of matching up publishers with advertisers, I'm sure you or your company has had a hard time dealing with the chicken or egg scenario. Whether your revenue model is CPM (cost per thousand), CPC (cost per click), CPL (cost per lead), or CPA (cost per acquisition), the challenge remains the same: do you focus your resources on appealing to publishers (sellers) to maximize eCPM (effective cost per thousand impressions) or to maximize ROI (return on investment) for advertisers (buyers)?

From my experience, far too many online exchanges are focusing on the advertiser versus the publisher. What often drives this focus is plain and simple: short-term revenue. Yes, it is a critical component of any business. However, what I have found is that in the early years of establishing relationships between publishers and advertisers, the focus should be on the publisher side of the equation. As it exists right now, publishers don't have enough outlets to monetize their web traffic for the highest eCPM possible. Many ad exchanges in the industry suffer because they are using legacy monetization strategies that don't generate the highest possible payouts for the publishers and are solely focused on selling web traffic this isn't of value. This in turn equates to lower value/demand for advertisers.

The answer is to shift the balance from advertisers to publishers. This can be done with a strategy that focuses on a) simple, high-converting, lead gen mechanisms b) scrubbing data to ensure highest lead quality imaginable and c) requiring that integration with the publisher to be as simple and seamless as possible. By employing an world-class lead gen strategy with your publishers, you strengthen the relationships you have with them and begin to take market share away from other less effective advertising models. As you build and focus on a strong foundation of quality traffic from your publishers, you will build an everlasting foundation that will always be in high demand by advertisers. Even if those leads that might not be easily sold at first due to less focus on the advertiser side of the equation.

My simple thinking: if you build it, they will come. You don't make a lot of money getting golfers to come play at your brand new golf course, if little thought was put into the individual holes, quality of facilities, strategic placement of bunkers/trees, etc. You won't get a big following by golfers as they soon discover that there's nothing to your product. Same with online advertising. You can't just build a marketplace of non-converting, low quality leads, and expect that advertisers will come, and come often. Build a strong base of publishers/traffic, with the buyer in mind....and when the advertisers come, they will come in droves.

Whether your in the business of creating a marketplace of buyers and sellers or you yourself is a buyer/seller, be sure to work with a company that executes a similar strategy.