Posts Tagged ‘marketing’

Posted on November 2, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Strategy for News Sites: The Rest is Still Unwritten

I was driving the other day when my 13 year old said, “Mom, what is black and white and red all over?  A newspaper!”  My initial thought was …well not anymore…
It is refreshing to read an uproar on blogs, and healthy as well.
So, journalists, you got your butt whooped by innovative marketing that disrupted your industry [...]

Posted on October 29, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Tough love for Newspapers: Will They Embrace Change?

The infrastructure of a business model is evaluated one niche market, one customer segment at a time.  It’s hard work.  It takes quantifiable research.  It takes experience to know when to proceed with the analysis and when to cut bait. 
But the first requirement is objectivity.
This may be a little tough for passionate, dedicated intelligent journalists [...]

Posted on October 22, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Is Green Advertising Overload Blocking Successful Value Propositions?

People are busy, consumers are fatigued with too much advertising and really don’t get how their vacuum is now, “Green!” No doubt, high caliber advertising can deliver valuable information creatively, but the past economic prosperity has created advertising overload.  
Overload becomes lack of action and lack of action creates more advertising attempting to justify a premium price for [...]

Posted on October 19, 2009 - by Janet Smith

New Business Models for Newspapers: Let the old one R.I.P.

Unfortunately, there are many intelligent, experienced, passionate professionals who are casualties of newspapers, many who recognize that the existing business model has been outdated for over a decade.  The old infrastructures’ revenue model is dying and should be; it is time to pay final respects, and allow the old model to rest in peace.  For [...]

Posted on October 13, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Are Corporate Social Responsibility Programs Increasing Shareholder Value?

More and more, executives in mega-enterprise-wide companies are doing the right thing: diligently implementing processes to measure and manage carbon emissions, not an easy feat in a worldwide supply chain. Energy efficiency, reuse and water conservation are hitting top-of-mind-awareness for many CEOs and their efforts are packaged, positioned and presented in corporate sustainability reports (CSR).

Posted on October 6, 2009 - by Janet Smith

‘Sell News Online’: Three Words that Do Not Go Together

Remember the scene in Blazing Saddles when the sheriff installed a toll booth in the middle of the prairie, and all the bad guys lined up on horseback to pitch a dime in the turnstile rather than ride around the gate?  Classic 1974 Mel Brooks; revisited with a twist of 2009 irony.
After the U.C. Berkeley Media [...]

Posted on October 5, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Firms Invest in Carbon Counting, but what Marketing Gain is Achieved?

Corporations like GE have spent the price of a small country on programs like Ecomagination, but are the investments generating brand loyalty and top of mind awareness commensurate with their green efforts?
Three interesting reports were issued recently: 

Quarterly update of the EPA’s National Top 50 Green Power Purchasers.
The 2009 ImagePower Green Brands study, an international study conducted by WPP agencies [...]

Posted on October 2, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Counting Emissions: One Product Line, One SKU, and One Supply Chain Vendor at a Time.

Public reporting companies live every day, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” They also know that capturing these carbon metrics is about as much fun as calculating mark-to-market, required by Sarbanes-Oxley.

Imagine having to answer the probing question, “What are your emissions, your forecasts and how are you improving the numbers?”

Posted on September 25, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Demystifying Green Power: Benefits of Clean Energy are Available to All

Green Power, like telephones has evolved. The EPA had to think out of the box, and came up with this cool way to have the benefits of clean energy available to everyone everywhere just like a cell phone. Green Power is available to those who live in a site physically ‘connected’ to a renewable energy source like wind, solar, biomass or hydro, or not.

Posted on September 25, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Advertisers Are Customers, How Newspapers can Win Our Business

Dear Newspapers:
We know you need us and ironically we would like to work with you.  No, I’m not a big box store like Macy’s or even Toyota or BofA.  I’m not representing restaurants, hotels, convention centers or classified advertisers.  I’m the voice of millions of small businesses in Every City, USA that needs you to [...]

Posted on September 24, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Advertising Fatigue: When E=mc squared Generates Negative Energy

 
Do ads fail because of the wrong medium, product, price or timing?
One of the above…all of the above or …. none of the above…?
Our greatest gift is our attention and our greatest commodity is our time; we are just plain busy; we have a lot to do.  What if the mass of advertisers vying for [...]

Posted on September 24, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Business Strategies for Renewable Energy

I attended the Renewable Energy Markets (REM) show in Atlanta in September where influential key players in renewable energy including power marketers, developers and manufacturers, large purchasers, retail and wholesale green power suppliers, electric utilities, and government agencies have gathered annually for 15 years to discuss the major issues facing the industry. I also took [...]

Posted on September 21, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Does Quality Differentiate your Business?

 
Small businesses live everyday what Harvard and Stanford recently reported: advertising and signage extends brand awareness but does not address perceived quality.
As a consumer, I don’t want my time wasted with low quality or worse, high priced low quality.  So what quality metrics can businesses strive for?
How good is 99.9%? is asked by authors [...]

Posted on August 30, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Earn my Trust and I will Give you my Loyalty

 The following addresses today’s attributes of consumers making buying decisions online:

Buzz can be bought –> trust issues are rampant
A person’s attention is their gift –> time is our most precious commodity
The internet is a 24×7 price check –> online searches are online finds
Vet, parse, get to the point! –> deliver quality quickly
Build relationships with helpful [...]

Posted on August 20, 2009 - by Janet Smith

The problem is not being in trouble, the problem is not knowing it

There is only one way to know what your customers think of your customer service and the overall experience you offer and that is to ask.  Most people are flattered that you care enough about their opinion to ask.  But be careful of the medium, many customer surveys generate negative reactions.  If one a scale [...]

Posted on August 17, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Make the Jump

The 4 blog categories appear very different but have similar threads.  People are busy, consumers are fatigued with too much advertising and really don’t get how their vacuum is now ”green!”.  
Owners and GM’s want to differentiate their businesses and consumers just want to find reliable reputable businesses to get the job done.  
Advertisers are weary as repeated advertising generates few [...]

Posted on August 14, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Measuring Customer Satisfaction, the Inverse View

Congratulations, regardless of what business you are in, you are in the service business.   Keep the concept of, “What does my customer value in my overall service?” in mind while building your marketing plan.  Delivering what your customer wants and needs generates referrals and customer loyalty, key contributors to your long term success.
The following is [...]

Posted on August 6, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Vet me, please! Businesses Differentiate on Quality by Having their Reputations Validated

 
Are you confident that your quality and reliability should set you apart from the pack? Are you frustrated because you are an expert craftsman but just another card in the mail, ad in the paper, radio spot, internet search or yellow page listing?
RHS Certified™ is a nationally recognized social network of small businesses that differentiate [...]

Posted on July 31, 2009 - by Janet Smith

CarFax for Contractors? Why Homeowners Need more than Referrals

 
 Most people have no time to vet contractors and just want to get the job done right the first time.  Gone are the days when everyone knew the best plumber and builder by name. For many people, finding a good local business quickly is part of everyday life.  Consider that your best friends cousin’s ex-wife [...]