July 2009 - Direct2Dell

Yesterday Dell laced up its kicks and threw on a helmet as an official sponsor of X Games 15 in Los Angeles. Over the next 3 days, the Dell Lounge will come alive as a creative hub of design, self expression and excitement.

Inside the interactive Dell Lounge, fans can try the Transposer, superimposing an image of themselves busting a move without having to worry about busting their arm - for an awesome action shot to share with friends or send to their Dell Lounge account. Or gain a new perspective of the venue by heading upstairs to the Roof Lounge that offers panoramic views and a chance to win prizes. Visitors to the lounge can even create an X-treme music video with our Green Screen Karaoke station, and watch it later in the Lounge and share it with the world. Feeling artistic? The Dell Lounge will have its own Design Studio where fans can express themselves with personalized buttons, stickers and even laser etch Dell's designs onto their cell phone or MP3 player. All this will be taking place as Filth, a featured artist from the Dell Design Studio, creates new artwork, live from the Lounge.

If you're stuck behind a desk missing out on all the fun don't worry, the Dell Lounge is online too. You can experience the X Games without even being there, just by clicking on the photos and videos. Follow the action each day at the DellLounge.com and through Twitter and Flickr.

There’s been a fair amount of buzz online about a recent pricing situations in Taiwan, and what Dell has done so far to attempt to resolve it. While there are things I can’t address at this time, it is important to us to address those things we can.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the details, here’s the deal. There were two different pricing errors that occurred in on the Dell.com website in Taiwan. The first was for a 19" flat panel monitor plus other accessories and the second was the Latitude E4300 laptop. We fixed both errors soon after we discovered them and began to reach out to affected customers. We also provided toll-free numbers to call if they have questions, and offered a discount to customers whose orders were affected by the price correction.

This whole thing has resulted in some pretty heated discussions like those found in this Malaysia forum. There's more balanced discussion over at Engadget's recent post in reaction to the pending fine. To be clear on one point, Mark Leach is right in his comment... no orders went through and no customers were billed.

Update: Some customers were billed for the inaccurate price. In those situations, we are contacting these customers to issue refunds.

While I can’t talk directly about government actions taken against Dell, we can say we are working with government leaders to reach a fair resolution to the situation for everyone involved. We apologize for any frustration these pricing errors have caused. I’ll update this post with more information when I have it.

Update 2: Affected customers in Taiwan who have questions can contact Dell here: 00801-863-060 (international toll-free; Monday-Friday 8.30am-5.30pm, Taiwan local time). Or, if you would rather join the discussion online, you can visit this topic on the Dell Taiwan bulletin board.

Strategies to make the most of the summer slowdown

When most people hear the word “summer,” thoughts turn away from work to days at the pool or beach, summer sports with kids, and ice cold drinks. We normally think of summer as a time when work generally slows down (unless you’re in the sunscreen or swimsuit business). However, spending marketing dollars during a slowdown has actually been shown to increase sales once spending picks up-  according to one study, businesses that increased advertising budgets during the ‘81-‘82 recession saw sales increase an average of 2 ½ times more than businesses who kept ad spending flat.  Here’s how to get a head start on online marketing efforts this summer:

Stay Current.

An online marketing strategy like SEO or SEM only works well if your site is equipped to deal with the increased traffic.  Hire a web developer or web programmer to make sure your site is easy to navigate, well organized and has the capacity to handle more visitors. If you don’t have an ecommerce section, now is a good time to accept credit cards on your site and build a shopping cart. Companies providing merchant services could also have special rates given the economy and season.

Try New Ideas.

If you’ve been putting off launching a social media strategy, such as starting a blog or using Twitter, now is the time.  During the summer, you’ll have the time to implement a strategy, hire interns to do the leg work and track different programs making adjustments along the way.

Take advantage of summer talent.

A good online marketing campaign requires a certain level of maintenance, or day-to-day monitoring.  Hiring a summer intern is a great way to get skilled help for very little cost- sometimes even for free.  Check with your local community colleges, universities, and graduate schools to see if they offer school credit to students who work for local businesses. 

Assess Results.

The summer is also a great time to assess your yearly progress and make adjustments to your online marketing plan.  Consider the recent strategy of the Cleveland Indians, who tracked game attendance statistics according to factors like school vacations, weather, and special promotions.  Unsurprisingly, games were more heavily attended when children were out of school, and less crowded when rain was forecast.  But they also found out that certain promotions were overwhelmingly more popular than others- the appearance of one specific former player increased ticket sales by 6,600. 

In the summer, you have at least half a year’s worth of sales information to track.  Figuring out which strategies work will allow you to plan better for the rest of the year. 

The Federal minimum wage rose from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour on Friday, bringing with it controversy about whether the increase is good or bad for the economy.

The raise, which affects about 4 million workers nationally, is the third and final increase mandated by Congress in 2007. For a full-time minimum wage earner, the bump up means $28 a week more. But for small-business owners struggling to make a profit, the mandated increase may present problems.

The U. S. Department of Labor says the change will mean a favorable raise for minimum wage workers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act in 30 states where state minimums were lower than the federal rate. In New York alone, the minimum wage rose 10 cents an hour with the federal increase. The state’s previous minimum was only $7.15.

Generally, the federal law covers workers at companies with sales of at least $500,000 a year and those that engage in interstate commerce, which includes accepting national credit cards, so most all workers will be covered by the federal increase.

A study by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago estimated that the minimum wage increases in July 2007 and July 2008 generated $4.9 billion in consumer spending, and that this year’s increase would boost another $5.5 billion into the economy.

Small Business owners and a few economists say the required increase is coming at the worst possible time, and that this is due to Congress not foreseeing the current recession when they implemented the three-step program three years ago.

In a report released by the Families and Work Institute said the recession caused revenues to fall for two-thirds of employers, and 90 percent of those with lower revenues have had to cut their labor costs by reducing workforce.

Those against the minimum wage hike say that higher rate will cause employers to raise the quality bar for employees, therefore shutting out the least-skilled workers, the very ones the law was originally designed to help.

In actuality, only a small percentage of U. S. workers earn minimum wage because market forces have pushed average wages higher. Indeed, it’s difficult in many cities to find minimum wage earners, even among food service workers.

In addition, the National Small Business Association reported this week that the number of small businesses hiring new employees in the past 12 months dropped from 18 percent in December to 9 percent in July, and about two-thirds reported decreases in sales and profits.

How does the new Federal Minimum Wage Rates affect your Small Business? And how do you see that affecting your business in the future?

Join us as we launch our newest Dell Twitter account, @DellDigitalLife!

Dell Digital Life is intended to be a source of two-way conversation on the latest in Dell consumer and electronic products, as well as news and activities that have a bearing on our digital lifestyles.  Whether it’s audio/video, home entertainment, mobile technology and more, stay up to date and in the loop by following @DellDigitalLife on Twitter.

In celebration of the launch, we’re holding a Twitter contest that is open to all followers of the @DellDigitalLife account.  Each day from July 27-31, two Dell Mini netbooks will be given away to randomly selected individuals who Tweet a specified message, as well as correctly answer the question of the day on the Dell Mini product line.  That’s two chances to win each day of the contest!

So how does it work?  Well, it’s easy as 1-2-3:

1. Follow @DellDigitalLife on Twitter.

2. Tweet the phrase:

I just followed @DellDigitalLife for a chance to win one of 10 Dell Mini netbooks! More info at: http://bit.ly/DellTwitter

3. Answer the following daily question:

(Sweepstakes Ended)

Click here to find the answer

Once you have the answer, send a Tweet using the following phrase:

Hey @DellDigitalLife the answer is [answer].  Find more answers here: http://bit.ly/DellMini

That's it.  Follow the steps above, answering the question in the correct format, and you are automatically entered to win either a Dell Mini 10v or Mini 12 netbook!

Check back daily for the new question of the day and list of winners.

For official rules, click here.

Congratulations Sweepstakes Winners!

Day 1 Jan-27

Dell Mini 10v: @mxwll

Dell Mini 12: @Mr_Spyder

Day 2 Jan-28

Dell Mini 10v: @shoplifter110

Dell Mini 12: @deenawarwick

Day 3 Jan-29

Dell Mini 10v: @jenni104

Dell Mini 12: @dombryant

Day 4 Jan-30

Dell Mini 10v: @PsychoCoder

Dell Mini 12: @jason_purdy

Day 5 Jan-31

Dell Mini 10v: @bsw529

Dell Mini 12: @mixner3

Connect with other Dell Mini owners on Twitter