Promotions – when done well and marketed properly – can provide a large bang for your buck. But the key is to hit the right people at the right time in the right way. So how do you do that?
• Determine your target audience. This audience can be broad (everyone on Twitter), or very targeted (people driving down College road in Wilmington, NC who like free cookies). Once you know who you are selling to, it will be infinitely easier to find the right time/place and method to grab their attention.
• Map out their routines. Stalk your audience (not in a creepy way, of course) to determine their habits. Find out when they are on Twitter or how often they drive down College Rd. to understand when your message will be most effective.
• Learn what they want. Research online, hold focus groups or conduct a survey to better understand their likes and dislikes. Even an informal interview with employees, family and friends can tell you a lot about what people pay attention to.
If you’re looking boost your company’s visibility, take a page from these successful promotion playbooks:
Squarespace – This software company targeted Twitterers with a free offer of 30 iPhones in 30 Days. All you had to do to enter was send a daily tweet about the company using the hashtag #squarespace. Halfway through they had to change the rules to one tweet total to enter because they were inundated with so many entries.
Priddyboy’s Sandwich Grill – This local Wilmington Sandwich shop gives away a free cookie with every meal purchased all day long on Fridays. After a few weeks of mediocre sales, they posted a sign announcing Free Cookie Friday by the road and within fifteen minutes received one order for more than $75.
Thanks again to everyone who attended our Blogging webinar! If you have any additional questions that we didn’t get a chance to answer, please feel free to leave it in the comments below and we’ll respond how we can there! Check back later today for a video of the presentation.
One of the best ways to increase interest in and attendance of an event is to choose an event venue out of the ordinary. Choosing a new and interesting venue can make a significant impact on an annual event that over the years has become somewhat monotonous. So scrap the traditional hotel ballroom and consider the following options:
• Aquarium
• Planetarium
• Sports stadium
• Boat, yacht or ferry
• Art gallery
• Museum
• Historic home or mansion
• Barn
• Botanical Gardens
• Theatre
These non-traditional venues provide many rich visual elements that could save you money on décor or can be tied to your theme. Not only can you carry out the purpose of your event, but you will also give your guests a unique experience that they will remember and reflect back on for years to come.
Debbie loves www.wordfinds.net – A free application on this site allows you to create a custom word finder puzzle. I created one for our Sayce family reunion that featured words from our family folklore. Just put in the words you want included, hit submit, and voila, you have a word finder puzzle. The Sayce word finder generated a lot of discussion because the in-laws and children didn’t know the meaning behind many of the words. A custom word finder is also a great way to enliven your company newsletter or an event invitation too. Give it a try. It’s fun!
Jennifer loves Home Depot – I recently paid a visit to our local Home Depot for some items we needed at the office. Two special sized light bulbs were on my list, and as I entered the store, I faced an entire aisle of light bulbs. Lucky for me, a helpful employee approached me to ask if I needed help. I took him up on the offer, and he had me in and out of that section in no time. Next on my list was a step ladder. As I wandered around the tools section with a bewildered look upon my face, yet another helpful employee approached me to offer assistance. I was shown some different options, as well as the highlights of each. I made my selection, and was on my way back to work in record time. If only we were greeted with such great customer service everywhere we go!
Nathan loves Facebook Vanity URLs – I was pretty boring with mine, just using Nathan Snell, but it’s great to have a convenient way to link to my profile now versus having to remember my profile ID number like before. Although one downside of the vanity system was you had to have a vanity url over 4 letters. While there are obvious reasons behind this, it prevented some good ones like wine, or cool, and so forth. Never the less. I love the new Facebook Vanity URLs. My favorite so far has been default.aspx.
Susan loves Take Your Dog To Work Day – Though I don’t have a dog, National Take Your Dog To Work Day is always a fun time. For those of us who don’t have or don’t plan on having kids it’s a great way to celebrate the “children” we do have. And having a pooch in the office always make the day a little more enjoyable. Too bad cats are such reclusive creatures or I’d start a Take your Cat To Work Day and force Chaucer and Pippin out of the house!
In preparation for National Take Your Dog To Work Day this Friday, we’re celebrating dogs in the workplace. Here are 10 Dog-Friendly companies both locally and nationally:
1. Talk, Inc. (Wilmington, NC)
2. Google
3. PetSmart
4. Port City Java
5. 1st Trust Mortgage (Wilmington, NC)
6. Amazon.com
7. Phoenix Technology, Ltd. (Burgaw, NC)
8. Dartmouth College
9. ValueOptions
10. Cattail Cottage (Southport, NC)
There’s a lot of terms flying around in this new age of “social technology”, where companies like Facebook, Blogger, and Twitter are becoming household names. But what do any of these terms really mean and why should you care? That’s what I’ll be explaining in my weekly Tech Talk.
What are “keywords” exactly?
Keywords are the words people use to search for information online. For example, if you’re looking for information on how to blog, you might google “How to blog” or “What is a blog”. These are keywords, or what are sometimes referred to as key phrases (where the keywords make up a keyphrase).
Why are keywords and key phrases important?
The proper keywords and key phrases can drive significant traffic to your website through a method called search engine optimization. Think of the “traffic” that comes to your website in the same way you might think of the traffic that you get stuck in heading to the mall, or the grocery store - lots of people are taking a specific road to go to a destination (it’s why you’re stuck in traffic, after all). The same concept applies to the internet with search engine optimization and keywords.
Finding the right key phrase(s) is like finding the right road to have your business located on. It’s making sure when people drive by, or when people search, you’re currently at the location they’re looking. This is why the old adage of “Location, location, location” isn’t dead by any means. There’s just a different method for determining what the best location online is, a method where keywords are the road, and search engine optimization is preparing your business for display.
I am at the very tail end of redesigning Talk’s business cards. And by tail end I mean – they are being printed right now. The design process was similar to most. I explored three or four options that made sense for our specific needs. Then one of the ideas rose to the top of the list. Why? It offered a flexibility that the other options lacked – the ability to change existing employees cards, add new cards or even change the whole look without breaking the bank. An example of great timeless design couched in today’s most current trends. Speaking of couches, the concept is very much like buying the best couch you can afford knowing you’ll be living with it for years to come. All you have to do is switch out the pillows to reinvigorate and update the look.
Translate that to business cards and here is what you have:
The couch or “main card” is where we’re spending all the money. We are printing a large quantity with a few of the bells and whistles. A really thick stock with die-cuts, 2 sided printing with double hits of black, pms 139 (our signature color), a dull varnish overall and finally a spot gloss aqious varnish. Sounds like a lot but its actually relatively tame – safe even. We are intentionally only using the Talk logo and permanent Talk info on this part of the card. No updating and no reprints necessary.
Now comes the fun part – the accent pillows are labels that are applied to the “main card” in smaller batches. All employee and specific contact info goes on a label that has been customized for each employee. Including a variety of colors that correlate with our new website and custom illustrations of each employee. The best part – the printing will literally cost a few dollars since they are being printing in very small batches on a digital press. We can change and update the labels whenever we see fit without incurring the costs of traditional printing.
Great design. Cost effective. Flexible. I think my work is done so its time to kick up my feet and take a rest.
I’m sure you’ve had those days where, as you’re heading out the door in the morning and your pooch looks at you with those big doggy eyes, you think, “Man, I wish I could take her to work with me.” Well, next Friday, June 26, is your lucky day. It’s the 11th annual National Take Your Dog To Work Day.
More than 10,000 companies are expected to participate this year. And Talk is no exception. Camden works hard everyday so we’re holding a special open house from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. to celebrate all she does for us and our clients. Drop by for scrumptious “pupcakes”, organic dog treats and, of course, Camden kisses.
Jennifer loves Workamajig. After years of working in an office with multiple calendars, imagine my delight when I began working at Talk and was introduced to Workamajig. Now, I have access to all employee calendars, and can schedule meetings with a few simple keystrokes. No more double bookings or meeting overlaps. I’ve also enjoyed a single database for all client, vendor and contact information. With a simple click, we can add a contact or business to a mailing or email blast list. And, did I mention Workamajig also handles our invoicing, purchase orders, time sheets, bank account reconciliations, and reports galore? Workamajig is truly the best software I’ve ever used.
Nathan loves TweetDeck for iPhone. I’ve been using TweetDeck for my Mac/PC for a while now and love it. But I’ve never been overly fond of the iPhone Twitter apps available, especially when having to pay for them (the quality just wasn’t worth it in my opinion). However, TweetDeck for iPhone is downright sexy. Not only does it allow you to have a TD (TweetDeck) account, enabling the syncing of your TD application between your iPhone and your computer, it gives you all the same functionality as TweetDeck Desktop, wrapped up nicely in a super slick interface. My only complaints are if you’re not connected to WiFi or on 3G (some of us unfortunately are not) it gives you an annoying popup notification about low connectivity every time you open the application. I also find opening links via TweetDeck a little agitating. All in all, if you have an iPhone and you’re on Twitter you have to check out TweetDeck for the iPhone (especially because it’s free).
Shawn loves Photoshop Magnets – I rarely run across something online and say “Wow, I really wish I had that.” That is until I saw these clever refrigerator magnets that look like the windows in Adobe Photoshop. They are from an online store that caters to artists and designers with unique design products ranging from coasters, doormats and magnets to lamp shades and hard drive cases.
Susan loves SquareSpace’s iPhone giveaway – The website software company, SquareSpace, is running a “30 iPhones in 30 days” promotion on Twitter to build their brand awareness. It’s easy to enter, just tweet using the hashtag #squarespace. One winner will be randomly selected each day around 5:00 p.m. And so as to not gyp the winner with an “old” model since the new iPhone streets soon, SquareSpace will be giving gift certificates instead of the phones. I so want to win one!
The first time I sent out a cover letter and resume, I was exhilarated and full of optimism about all the possibilities that might result. Over time sending out resumes and cover letters has become much less exciting. I am a phenomenal job candidate, so why aren’t people responding to my resume? It could be sitting in a giant stack of awesome resumes. The state of the economy has made the job market much more competitive. I think it’s time to get fired up again about the job search by finding a new innovative approach.
It’s important to learn from the brave job-seeking innovators that have gone before me; so I want to share some ideas that have landed jobs or at least are very clever.
Chris Kahlescored his dream job at Crispin Porter + Bogusky by asking people to send Tweets to company executives encouraging them to hire him. He was successful because he found a way to show his genuine interest in the company not just in getting a job and he got the attention of decision makers.
I loathe writing cover letters so I am always searching for ways to make the writing process smoother and more enjoyable. I love the videotwo job seekers created that showcases their creativity and replaces a traditional cover letter.
Mark Leuner substituted a handmade sign for his resume and carried it at a busy intersection in front of his local newspaper. Two weeks after a reporter covered his story, he had a new job.
Job seekers should not get discouraged, instead get inventive. Think about creative ways to showcase your skills and gain the attention of decision makers.
• Determine your target audience. This audience can be broad (everyone on Twitter), or very targeted (people driving down College road in Wilmington, NC who like free cookies). Once you know who you are selling to, it will be infinitely easier to find the right time/place and method to grab their attention.
I am at the very tail end of redesigning Talk’s business cards. And by tail end I mean – they are being printed right now. The design process was similar to most. I explored three or four options that made sense for our specific needs. Then one of the ideas rose to the top of the list. Why? It offered a flexibility that the other options lacked – the ability to change existing employees cards, add new cards or even change the whole look without breaking the bank. An example of great timeless design couched in today’s most current trends. Speaking of couches, the concept is very much like buying the best couch you can afford knowing you’ll be living with it for years to come. All you have to do is switch out the pillows to reinvigorate and update the look.
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