Obama won the presidency not only because of his message but how it was marketed. There was a clear difference between the Obama brand and the McCain brand. Here are some business ideas we can use in our businesses.

1) Use technology the right way
When Obama launched my.BarackObama.com, it was an instant hit. It allowed people to be part of the campaign by phone banking, donating, blogging, and etc. Obama had an iPhone app, YouTube channel, Facebook, MySpace, TXT, Twitter, and the list goes on. While the BarackObama.com probably cost loads of $$$, the rest is pretty much free. McCain launched McCainSpace late in the game. Additionaly, the name is so dated and out of touch.

Spend what you need to get your main website going but also work as hard enhancing your MySpace page. If you check Obama’s MySpace, you will notice how it’s themed the same way his site is. Think of these other sites as an extension of your main one. Use them to drive traffic.

2) Be consistent
Obama’s message stayed consistent since he 1st gained attention from his 2004 speach. He was disipline enough to keep that message through the primaries and the presedential race. This gave the voters a sense of dedication know how. McCain had a different theme every week confusing voters and distracting his “customers” from the real prize.

If your business has a clear and consistent message, your brand has a better chance against the competition.

3) Stay positive
Once thing that turned me off with the McCain & Clinton teams was the negativity. I believe all the terrorist talk turned off many voters. Most people are not that stupid.

Be positive about your products, industry, and competitors. People generally want to be around happy people. If you have a blog for your business, talk about the highs and lows but always try to leave it at a high note. Depressions doesn’t sell products.

4) Crowdsource
Obama started grassroots and ended grassroots. Starting with little money, he was able to raise record breaking funds. The Obama team was able to people to work for him for free because they believed in him. People were making their own campaign videos, exposing the competition, creating banners, calling undecided voters, registering new voters…..you saw them in the streets and online.

Your business should be trying to create passionate customers. These folks will work for you for free and bring more benefits than any paid employee could.

5) Be transparent
Obama ran an honest campaign. It was great to hear him say that he didn’t know everything and would need help. That was a stark contrast to McCain wanted us to believe that he had all the answers due to his time in the senate. Sarah Palin pretending she knew wha tthe Bush doctrine was. If you don’t know, admit it.

If you have a product defect and it’s been called out in the comments or forum of your site, admit it and tell your customers what you will do about it.

The Obama campaign manager should write a book on his experience. Look out Seth Goodin!

While I understand the need to protect your work, you need to understand that you don’t own your content – everyone does. What do I mean? Unless your going to keep all your precious work in a closet, someone will be able to copy it and do as they wish with it and you can’t do anything about it. The record companies tried to keep a lock on their data with DRM and failed miserably.

This is especially true if your an online business or you primarily use the web to market you goods. The public will use their brains and technology to take your stuff.

Here are some things you can to do react to this truth:

• Watermark your product – stick a graphic overlay with your logo over images
• Create a premium product
• Give up and give it away for free and hope people will donate
• Think of another business model