You don’t have to like or get social media — just don’t let that prejudice shut you out of business opportunities
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source: infoworld.com
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Restaurant Hoaxes Seattle, Boosts Chowder Sales 400%
November 19th, 2009An underwater billboard hoax helped a restaurant on the Puget Sound increase chowder sales by a factor of four.
source: mediabuyerplanner.com
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Consumers Rebel Against Irrelevant Promotions
November 18th, 2009Though 64% of consumers say promotional offers dominate both the email and traditional mail they receive, only 41% view them as must-read communications and many even steer clear of a brand in protest of such irrelevant mailings, according to a study by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and InfoPrint Solutions Company. Click here to read the rest of the story
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Always do what you are afraid to do.
November 13th, 2009Advice I once heard given to a young person, “Always do what you are afraid to do.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Fire your ad agency and hire customers? Unilever did it.
November 11th, 2009Will your target audience do your work for you and create advertising and products at minimal cost?
I read this in a recent blog regarding crowdsourcing. This word had me curious. What did it exactly mean? Basically I learned it was having your customers do your ad work.
Some major consumer product companies have fired their agencies and then hold “contests” for users of their products to create ad campaigns.
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Great book on ‘Creating Demand
November 4th, 2009Great book on ‘Creating Demand: Generate Cool, Custom Marketing Ideas’ by Gerardo V. Tabio, Sally Beamer Click here
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Writing Articles: How To Get Your Creative Juices Going
October 26th, 2009Writing an article doesn’t just mean putting down thoughts into words then typing and writing it. You have to capture the interest of your readers and get them to keep on reading. To send your message across you have to get the attention of the reader and have a firm grasp of their interest and pique their curiosity. Grab their Attention!
The main ingredient in baking up an article is a large dose of creativity. While creativity may come natural to many people, some just gets into a block or something to that effect that can drive someone crazy. Many writers have literally torn their hair out when they get writers block and just can’t seem to get their creative juices flowing.
Putting words into images in the readers mind is an art. A clear and crisp depiction requires a certain flair that only creativity can provide. Similes and metaphors help a lot, but the way an article gets entwined word for word, sentence by sentence then paragraph by paragraph into a whole article develops the essence of the article.
So just what do you have to do when nothing comes to mind? There is no surefire ways to get the perfect ideas but there are easy ways to get your creative juices flowing. No one can guarantee you of having the perfect mindset but many methods may aid you in achieving that state of mind. Here are five easy ways for that.
1) Keep a diary or a journal with you always. Ideas can be triggered by anything you may hear, see, or smell. Your senses are your radar in finding great ideas. Write all of them into a journal and keep it with you for future reference. You may also write down anything that you have read or heard, someone’s ideas could be used to develop your own ideas and this is not stealing. Remember that ideas and creativity can come from anywhere; it’s the development of the idea that makes it unique.
2) Relax and take time to sort things out. A jumbled mind cannot create any space for new ideas. Everyone must have a clear mind if one wishes to have their creativity in full speed. Get rid of all obstacles that can be a hindrance to your creativity. If you are bothered by something, you cannot force your mind to stay focused.
Try to relax every time that you can and think about your experiences and interactions with others. Your experiences are what shape your mindset and your opinions which could be reflected on your writings. Try to discover yourself, find out what triggers your emotions. Discover what inspires you and what ticks you off. You can use these emotions to help you in expressing yourself and your ideas, with this you can grow creatively.
3) Create a working place that can inspire your creativeness. Your working place can be quite a hindrance if it doesn’t make you feel happy or relaxed. Creativity comes from being in a good state of mind and a messed up workplace that causes distraction won’t be conducive in firing up your creative flow.
Surround your working place with objects that makes you happy and relaxed. You may put up pictures, or scents, objects that inspire, or anything that can get your creativeness cranking. A clean and well organized workplace also rids of distractions and unwanted hindrances. With a good working place, you can work in peace and never notice the time pass by.
4) Set the mood. Setting the mood requires you to just go with the moment or to induce your self to feeling what makes your mind works best. Finding out what makes you tick could help you find ways to get your creative juices flowing. Set the pace and tempo for your mood and everything else will follow.
There are many ways to set the mood. Some writers have been known to use alcohol, a little sip of wine to stir up the imagination. Some would like some mood music while others let the lighting of the environment create the mood.
5) Go on a getaway and just do something unlike crazy. Letting yourself go and have fun produces adrenaline that can make your imagination go wild. Take an adventure or a solemn hike. Whatever it is that is unusual from your daily routine can take the rut out of your schedule. In no time at all, your creativeness will make use of that experience and get your imagination to go on overdrive.
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5 Must Ask Questions to Create Effective Advertisements
October 24th, 2009Are you ready to kick off a marketing campaign that will send your sales to the moon? Whether you’re ready to create a Web page, sales letter, or other sales copy, take a moment to ask yourself these important questions before you dive in. Think before you advertise.
1. Who Do You Want to Target?
Is your prospective customer an avid outdoorsman who likes to hike? Know exactly who you are talking to before you start. Once you know the characteristics of your ideal reader, it’s much easier to create a dynamic sales message that will address their interests and needs. Talk directly to the reader, and watch them respond.
2. What Action Do You Want Your Reader to Take?
Not all advertisements are intended to spur immediate sales. Are you looking for a list of prospective buyers, first time inquiries, or direct sales? Word your sales copy to stimulate the action you want the reader to take.
3. What Do You Have That Your Competitors Don’t?
Before you can expect your audience to head out for your place of business, you’ve got let them know why they need to do business with YOU. Do you provide faster results, a better guarantee, personalized service, easier to use products? What is it that makes your product better?
How important is it to identify your competitive edge? A good rule of thumb is that it should cover about one half of your advertising space. Pretty important, huh? Yeah, you’ll want to keep a close eye on the competition and continuously update to KEEP the competitive edge.
4. How Can You Verify Your Claims?
You don’t believe everything you hear…especially from someone wanting to sell you something, and neither will your prospective customers. You’ve got to make them believe that what you say is the gospel truth. Gather testimonials from current customers, dig up some reliable research that will back up your claims, and find someone well-respected to endorse your product or service. Just don’t expect blind faith from people who don’t know you.
5. How Do You Spur The Readers to Action
Let’s face it…procrastination has a good foothold in the lives of many of the people we are marketing our products and services too. Yeah, they’re a lot like us. They see the ad, think “Hey, I need to get one of those,” and go on about life without every getting around to making it to your place of business.
Deadlines can spur action. Hey, if you know you’re going to pay 25 percent less if you buy it by Saturday, you’re not likely to wait until Sunday to do your shopping. Put together a list of sales you want to introduce, specify the end dates, and your set to put a little motivation in your copy. Hint: You don’t have to have new sales every time – recycle the ones you have every so often…especially those that bring good response.
Motivating sales copy doesn’t have to be written by professional marketers. Implement these questions in your sales page and you’ll have high-quality copy the produces top-notch results.
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