Public Relations giant Edelman recently published a study that starts the tolling of the death knell for social media and word of mouth. In their report, the Trust Barometer, the agency found that the number of people whose friends and peers as credible sources of information about a company dropped from 45% in 2008 to 25% in 2010.
Also declining in credibility were consumer and customer employee testimonials. The credibility of CEOs, Academics and Financial Analysts all increased. Read More »
This should be your mantra when email marketing. Measuring your results is more important than the results you actually get. With accurate statistics about your email marketing campaigns, you are armed to successfully improve your campaigns. And improvement is the name of the game. Let’s look at what type of things you can track and what each statistic means for your campaigns. Read More »
This is the easiest phone call you’ll ever make. It’s your “Reason To Call.” It’s what you DIDN’T tell them in your letter, post card or your last phone conversation becomes important.
Sure, you’re mailing your best prospects to get them to call you, or at least that’s the objective of the mailing pieces I create for my clients. Read More »
Mary called from Baltimore with a question about her web site. She wanted to know what was wrong with it. She had worked hard to put up a site to promote her business but she wasn’t generating enough revenue with it.
Mary had made the mistake that almost every small business owner makes; she was focused on the wrong numbers and it was keeping her from reaching her business goals. Read More »
In 2008, I began incorporating stories in communications with my subscribers and customers. As it turns out, stories are an incredibly powerful way to communicate – especially in today’s age of marketing communications saturation, where everyone is so fatigued by the constant bombardment of ads.
So, I decided to try a few story-based campaigns back then – tests designed to Read More »
Stuart from Colorado had talked to a number of marketing firms and gotten estimates for designing and printing his marketing materials and building a web site for his business producing promotional cds. One firm quoted $100,000 to build his web site alone. He sensed something was missing or wrong, but couldn’t put his finger on it, so he called me. Read More »
It was the tweet heard around the nation. Movie Director, Kevin Smith, tweeted that he had been booted off an Southwest Airlines flight. He was mad because flight personnel said he was too fat to fly.
He tweeted during the ordeal and posted pictures of himself. It happened faster than any news crew could have reacted without being on the flight poised for the story. Twitter is a PR liablity to be reckoned with. Read More »
We each have both strengths and weaknesses in every job we do. Our strengths are the things we are naturally good at and the weaknesses are the things we can only ever make limited progress in. For managers and team leaders, the aim of understanding people’s strengths is to help people excel.
Here are 7 ways to use people’s strengths: Read More »
“Who was that?,” my son Evan asked. We were standing out on our front lawn, throwing a football, and Evan had just seen me smile and wave to a passing minivan.
“I have no idea,” I said. “I don’t have my glasses on, and I can’t see through the tinted windshield anyway. I wave at everyone who drives by.”
Evan gave this some thought, and then, with the precise blending of disdain and amusement that teenagers reserve exclusively for their parents, said, “So, are you getting to be an old guy now?” Read More »
One of my favorite places to go is my printer. Tony Grech and Paul Degrazia, co-owners of Grecko Printing in Plymouth, MI make it a point to create an upbeat and energetic atmosphere for their clients and their employees.
When you walk into their lobby, it is alive with activity, sound and eye popping color displays. Everything from the mascot, a live gecko by the name of “Grecko”, to their clients laughter that echoes throughout the building. Tony, Paul and crew do their best to make it an enjoyable experience to do business with Grecko Printing. Read More »
