Do you want to save time and money? Buy prescription eyeglasses online.

I read an article and watched the accompanying video about buying prescription eyeglasses online. The article is on the website of WZZM 13 ABC. The article mirrored the video and acknowledged zennioptical.com is an online store from which you could safely purchase prescription eyewear.

In the article and video, both which are available under the SuperSaver tag ("Channel 13 on your side"), the investigators found a woman who ordered glasses from zennioptical.com and was very happy with the results. The TV team took the eyeglasses to a local optician to have the frames and prescription checked. The axis on the eyeglasses was off by one digit, but the optician said it was well with normal limits. Evidently, the optician is aware of his online competition, but really cannot beat their prices. He did mention that online stores do not have to offer customer service, nor do they have overhead.

I have heard of zennioptical.com before, but have not made the commitment to book an eye exam for a new prescription. My current prescription eyeglasses are about five years old. I think it is time to splurge on new eyeglasses and I am going to order them from zennioptical.com. They are the least expensive, have flat rate shipping and offer a 50 percent refund/30 day policy if you are unhappy with your new glasses. The report discussed two other online optical stores but they were both more expensive than zennioptical.

Tags: zennioptical, prescription eyeglasses, online optical store

Live Webinar: Blogging for Business

Successful Business Blogging Webinar

Tuesday, March 22 at 1PM ET

Presenters:

• Paula Berg. Manager of Emerging Media
• Josh Hallett, Director, Voce Connect at Voce Communications
• Jason Keath, founder of Social Fresh
• Kipp Bodnar, Blog Manager at HubSpot

Topics covered:

• The key elements of blogging for business
• What blogging platforms you should consider using
• How do you measure your blogging success
• How to promote your blogging content
• Q&A
  

Sign Up for the Webinar Now!

Tags: free webinar, business blogging webinar, blogging for business, blogging platforms

Wal-Mart Regulating Sustainability Now

Wal-Mart has been requesting information from vendors on their greenhouse gas emissions and wants to know their plans to reduce them. Wal-Mart wants vendors to invest in their local communities.

For vendors that make food products, Wal-Mart has asked them to reduce sodium 25%, sugar 10% and all trans-fatty acids by 100% by 2015. This data will be collated into The Sustainable Product Index that interested customers will use.

Move Over Government, Walmart's the New Regulator in Town | News - Advertising Age

Wal-Mart began work on this index 19+ months ago, led by academics at Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas and now with 65 members in total, including most of the major packaged-goods marketers, a couple of other retailers including Ahold and Marks & Spencer, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and World Wildlife Fund.

An environmentalist Paul Hawken wrote The Ecology of Commerce in 1993. He argued that corporations, not governments, would drive environmental change because governments lack the resources to do the job.

Go, Wal-Mart! If you can do anything about oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy, the world will be a better place.

Tags: wal-mart, sustainable product index, sustainability

How to Become Local Marketing Expert

Update: 4/2/2011

Did you miss the local marketing webinar? The recording is not an interactive transcript that you may view.

View the Interactive Transcript Now!

HugSpot Live Webinar : Become an Expert in Local Marketing

Time: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 1pm ET

Presenters; Eric Vreeland & Maggie Georgieva Inbound Marketing Experts, HubSpot

Are you a small- to medium-sized business trying to leverage your local marketing using the Internet? You may optimize your site for SEO and use geo-targeted keywords, but is it enough to succeed?

You may want to attend this webinar and learn to use Internet channels such as Google Places, Yahoo Local, and Foursquare for local marketing.

• Local SEO optimization
• Incentives for customer acquisition
• Rewarding loyalty
• Community building
• Bridging online and offline narketing

As always, the webinar is free, but you must register. Click here to register at HubSpot.

Tags: webinar, hubspot, seo, local marketing

Etiquette Needed In Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing

A report from Exact Target and CoTweet, called The Social Breakup, explores the reasons why and actions by which members terminate relationships developed by email, Facebook and Twitter.

Email Marketing Facts

• 95% of U.S. online consumers use email
• 93% of U.S. online consumers are SUBSCRIBERS and receive at least one permission-based email per day
• 83% of U.S. online consumers say they check email at least once per day
• 64% say they check email several times per day
• 70% say they always open emails from their favorite companies
• 77% of U.S. online consumers say they are more cautious about giving companies their email address over the past year.
• 91% of email users have subscribed to a company’s email and then later decided they no
  longer want to receive the emails
• 18% say they never open email from companies
• 23% of subscribers will continually delete or ignore email from companies with whom they no longer wish to interact, rather than making the effort to unsubscribe or hit the spam button.
  

Why We Unsubscribe

• 54% of e-mails came too frequently
• 49% say the content became repetitive or boring over time
• 47% receive too many emails and needed to get off some companies' lists
• 25% feel the content wasn't relevant from the start
• 24% prefer to seek out information instead of having companies push it
• 22% signed up for a one-time offer
• 13% say that their circumstances changed (i.e., moved, married, changed job, etc.)
• 8% switched to another company that provided better information
• 6% found they could get the information another way (e.g., via blogs, Facebook, etc.)

How We Unsubscribe

• 67% Click the link to "unsubscribe"
• 17% Delete emails when they arrive
• 8% Click the "spam" or "junk" button
• 6% Just ignore the emails
• 2% Setup a filter in email program

Facebook Facts

• 73% of U.S. online consumers have created a profile on Facebook
• 65% of U.S. online consumers are currently active on Facebook
• 42% of U.S. online consumers are FANS (have “liked” at least one company)
• 64% of Facebook users are “FANS” (have “liked” a company on Facebook)
• 84% of Facebook users check Facebook at least once per week
• 68% of Facebook users check Facebook at least once per day
• 55% of Facebook users have “liked” a company and then no longer wanted to see that company’s posts
• 51% of FANS say they rarely or never visit a company’s page after “liking” them
• 71% of FANS say they have become more selective about “liking” companies on Facebook
• 11% of people who created a Facebook account have stopped using Facebook

Why We Unlike Companies on Facebook:

• 44% say that the company posted too frequently
• 43% feel that their wall was becoming too crowded with marketing posts
• 38% say the content became repetitive or boring over time
• 26% say they only "liked" the company to take advantage of a one-time offer
• 24% decided that the company didn't offer enough deals
• 24% feel that the posts were too promotional
• 19% say that the content wasn't relevant from the start
• 17% describe the company's posts as too chit-chatty; not focused on real value
• 14% prefer to seek out information instead of having companies push it
• 12% say personal circumstances changed

Twitter Facts

• 17% of U.S. online consumers have created a Twitter account
• 9% of U.S. online consumers are currently active on Twitter
• 5% of U.S. online consumers are FOLLOWERS (have “followed” at least one company)
• 56% of active Twitter users are FOLLOWERS
• 64% of active Twitter users check Twitter at least once per day
• 48% check Twitter several times per day
• 71% of FOLLOWERS expect to receive marketing messages from companies
  
• 41% of Twitter users have “followed” a company on Twitter and then stopped following
  
• 47% of those who created a Twitter account are no longer active on Twitter

Reasons People Walk Away From Twitter

• 52% found Twitter to be pointless
• 38% said it got boring
• 23% think Twitter is too chaotic

Summary

Most relationships come to an end and online consumer-brand relationships are no exception. Whether forged through email, FaceBook or Twitter, if communications demonstrate the company does not respect or care for the subscriber, the relationship is over.

• Consumers want brands to e-mail them relevant content. They expect marketers to honor permissions, and show restraint when it comes to email frequency. They measure your emails against the best senders in their inbox.
  
  
• Consumers use Facebook to engage with brands they know and trust. They expect marketers to keep their Facebook pages fresh and interesting, and to limit their posts.
  
  
• Consumers who actively use Twitter expect frequent, focused Tweets from brands. They expect to receive prompt answers when they ask questions via Twitter.

Download the entire report in PDF here.

Tags: the social breakup, exact target, cotweet, email, facebook, twitter, social etiquette