If you enjoy leisurely reading, you probably know what you like. From Pride and Prejudice to Vogue, Mark Twain to Men’s Health, there’s usually a specific genre, author or type of publication you can count on enjoying. So when your company sends out a newsletter, is it intriguing enough for readers – who may also be creatures of [ … ]
PR Perfection: Rolling up your Sleeves for Nonprofits
When businesses partner with a local nonprofit organization, it may be because the owner or employees have some sort of special connection to the cause. But let’s not be naïve, ladies and gentleman – many companies are taking advantage of a great PR opportunity by positioning their brand with efforts that warm our hearts. Regardless [ … ]
Words that Sell – and Repel
When you hear the word “cheap” associated with a product or service, is your reaction a)”Wow, this must be a good deal!” or b)”Wow, this must be a piece of junk!”? When you hear the word “economical,” is your reaction one of the aforementioned options? Or perhaps something not so…definitive? Throughout advertising history, words like [ … ]
Designing for a World Gone Mobile
By Michael Kilmer With the recent influx of smartphone users, questions arise regarding how to design a website for all browsers. Do you design it as “flexible” so that it can fit on any screen? Do you develop a specific version for mobile phones? What about tablets? The answer may not be quite as cut [ … ]
Almost a Billion Facebook Users. But Where Are the Users You Want?
Yes, 800 million users is impressive. It would be a mistake, however, to spend even more than a second fantasizing about those 800 million users as a whole – and even worse, how you’ll attract them (let’s face it, even Facebook’s own Facebook page falls about 740 million “likes” short). Because Facebook has become such [ … ]
Cereal Aisle Verdict: My Eyes Are Spoiled Rotten
By Erika Scopino The other day I was at the grocery store having my usual cereal aisle dilemma. I’m not picky about my cereal and certainly wouldn’t call myself brand loyal. What I buy typically depends on whether a) I’m trying to eat healthy or b) something’s on sale. Often, the latter wins out. With [ … ]
Social Media Sparks A New Style Of Consumer Testimonials
Many of us use Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels to share our life experiences with our friends and followers. And since nothing is certain but death, taxes and the occasional bad customer service encounter, these channels are often a place for consumers to vent. Like an army of voices, we “like” and comment [ … ]
What Makes A Great Slogan
A slogan is a company’s clever little way of getting into your head – and potentially staying there. And although brief, good slogans manage to convey a hefty amount of valuable information. Whether at the end of a radio spot or at the bottom of a print ad, a company’s slogan can make or break [ … ]
How Pur, Hertz And Esurance Are Making Use Of Today’S Most Amiable Voices.
What do water, car rentals and car insurance all have in common? Wait. Hold that thought. What do Zach Braff (Garden State, Scrubs), Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers, Night at the Museum, Midnight in Paris) and John Krasinski (The Office) all have in common? Well, all three are funny, charming and downright quirky. Actually, they are [ … ]
Melting Pot Policies: How Will Social Media Fare In The 2012 Olympic Games?
In 1936, the Berlin Olympics featured 2,500 radio broadcasts in 28 different languages. The 1964 Tokyo games marked the first live Olympic satellite broadcast. 1996 was the first time the Olympics had a website with news, photos and event results. In 2012, London will be home to the “first social Olympics.” The International Olympic Committee [ … ]
How Will E-Commerce Work For Your Business?
Small businesses often face a hard question when it comes to their website: Are you going to sell online? E-commerce, the process through which you complete a sales transaction online instead of in a location, can be a daunting, stressful decision for many small businesses – especially since there are many different ways a company [ … ]
Mastering Mastheads
When you plug in a URL and find yourself on a website, you might not know that the creative feature typically found at the top of the page is called a masthead. The masthead has a pretty big job in that it not only has to catch the visitor’s attention, but also relay important information [ … ]
The Confusing World of Web Terminology: A Writer’s Perspective
Written by Erika Scopino As a writer and editor, it’s my job to know all the rules of the written word. Unfortunately for me (and my sanity), the rules are always changing. One the most wearisome battles I face on a regular basis concerns the World Wide Web. The dilemma? Nope, not citation. Try capitalization. [ … ]
Landing Pages Versus Microsites
What’s the difference between a landing page and a microsite? About $3,000… I’ll be here all weekend folks, and don’t forget to tip your waiters.A landing page is a singular page that helps a client complete a call to action. It provides a limited amount of information on a very specific product or service, and [ … ]
How important is People Talking About on Facebook?
On Facebook, I think everyone will agree that likes are good. The more likes, the better the potential to reach people. A goal of reaching a higher number of likes, or percentage growth of likes over a specific period of time, is a decent goal to have. Likes are a requirement on Facebook. If no [ … ]
Timelines for Business, Facebook Business Changes
In case you were overzealous on celebrating Leap Year, and missed the news on the many changes that are happening or have occurred on Facebook, we’re going to give you a brief summary, with some friendly advice. There’s a whole lot going on with the changes to business pages, and some of it can be [ … ]
Can You Sell on Facebook?
Gap, J.C. Penney, Nordstrom, GameStop are all national brands that opened a “Facebook Store” only to close it within a year, as reported by a Bloomberg report. The reason being seems to be that it wasn’t cost effective. The high development costs with low sales has led each of these large companies to determine that [ … ]
Are you Green Marketing?
There are certain buzzwords in any industry that some find bothersome. For example, the term, “Pre-owned” as a euphemism for used in the automotive business has always made me a little crazy. A pre-owned car is new. It hasn’t been owned yet, it’s pre-owned. If it is simply previously owned by someone else that isn’t [ … ]
Social Media is Leading From the Middle
One of the more prominent leadership models you hear about recently is this concept of leading from the middle. This is usually compared to two other leadership strategies, such as leading from the rear, and leading from the front. From the rear is like being a general in a battlefield, shouting orders of what you [ … ]
Flapping in the Wind: Pointless Banners
I was surfing through some different news blogs, and noticed some of the banner ads. Obviously, I’m a little biased about the quality of ads; although none of them were as bad looking as the design above, there were some that came close. What made many of these worse was where they pointed to, if [ … ]
