As a girl working in the technology industry, I’ve got a lot of tech-obsessed buddies on my list this year. So, I’ve been paying pretty close attention to what’s new and exciting in the bright and shiny electronics world. At this point, I’m panicking. December is rolling on under me like a breakneck speedster and, well, I am completely overwhelmed by the stunning volume and variety of new tech gadgets: Nanos and Kindles and Androids in The Cloud or something? Not only don’t I know what my friends want, I don’t have time to figure out what everything even is! If you’re feelin’ me right now, then stay tuned, because I have the solutions to all of your tech gift-giving problems:

1) Web Hosting
2) Domain Names

In today’s world, many of us spend more time interacting in cyberspace than we do in originalspace. It’s where we socialize, do business and stay informed. As more and more people all over the world gain reliable, regular access to this global marketplace, online real estate will only become more and more vital and necessary in our everyday lives. What better gift at the holidays than a juicy plot of land in our global village? No matter what gadgets your friends have, they can always use online real estate.

Once you’ve got the house, you need an address. Giving the gift of a domain name, with web hosting or on its own, is a great inexpensive way to help your friends expand their online empires. Tell them to think of picking their domain like naming a band. That always helps me.

Whether your friends are techtastic like mine, or have always wanted a website but haven’t gotten around to setting one up, web hosting and domain names make excellent gifts. And, if you’re really ambitious, install WordPress and build a blog to get them started! Think of it as the ultimate holiday card.

Anneke Rudegeair
Marketing Director

It’s a curious thing about people but, despite tough times, when it comes to gift giving we always feel generous. In hardcore, ramped-up holiday America, that makes us delicious morsels for anyone who is selling something. Don’t get me wrong, I’m the Marketing Director for a web hosting and web conferencing company: I’m selling something too. So, maybe don’t trust anything I say. But right now I’m putting on my hypocritical hat to balk at the maelstrom of advertisers all around me. I’m in an advertising soup. These noodles want my money! And, strangely enough, while one part of me is bothered by the assault, another part of me actually does want to buy stuff.

So, the question is: What advertising actually works? What cuts through the creamy broth? Where’s the beef? (And by that I mean sales.)

Personally, I appreciate an up-front, old-fashioned discount. What can I say? I enjoy a sale. But I don’t just want to feel like I’m getting something for less than I should be. As a consumer, I actually want it to be true. Needless to say, at the same time that I want an honest-to-goodness bargain, all those business-ladies out there still have to make a buck. So, you might ask, “Where, Anneke, do the twain meet?” Well, reader, I might answer: in the lovingly-crafted compromise.

Before you call me a Socialist (and I wouldn’t be mad if you did) remember: in tough economic times more than any other, it’s the returning customers that sustain your business. Loyalty leads to word-of-mouth and word-of-mouth leads to more customers (which leads to more word-of mouth, which leads to more customers… see where I’m going with this?) With big corporations leaning heavily on the tax-payer, honest, sustainable businesses have become an invaluable commodity in America. And in an age of social networks, reputation is more important and spreads faster than ever.

The focus-on-the-customer idea isn’t new. But the give-the-customer-a-real-discount-such-that-you-don’t-make-a-big-profit idea, is. I contend that the potential value of that customer’s positive experience outweighs your immediate monetary profit. Obviously you can’t run your business that way all year round or you’d never make a dime, but at the holidays in a tough economy, when customers are inundated with options and strapped for cash, your deep discounts will really matter. Allowing a customer to be able to afford your product or service at the holidays can make it possible for that customer to give a meaningful gift to a loved one. If that doesn’t engender loyalty, I don’t know what will. This is an honest, legitimate, practically and emotionally significant way to build your business.

In summary: providing unprecedented discounts can really set retailers apart in the mad scramble this season, and can set them up for unprecedented success in the new year.

Anneke Rudegeair
Marketing Director