Digital Marketing Strategy, PR and Messaging
Being the victim of fraud is one of the most excruciating pains for the psyche. There’s not a moment that passes when you don’t think of yourself as stupid and dumb (probably the very same thing) for falling for it. Especially when the tells were there.
I am a marketing professional. I like to think I’m pretty keen on knowing when something smells rotten. But it was the perfect storm, so let me tell you about it so perhaps you’ll recognize the signs a lot faster than I did. [Read more…]
A long time ago, I had an idea for a small-business website. It would be oriented to the backbone of the business, the inside. Much like a blog’s backend, a business has one, too. It’s the toughest thing about being an entrepreneur; yet, it’s the most important.
By now, I’ve been out of the actual formal workforce longer than I’ve been employed inside a company. That trend is happening more and more with the onset of more small businesses vying for self-employment and successful companies. How you ensure that success depends greatly on the resources you tap for the how-to knowledge you need.
I’m going to share a few of those resources in this sponsored post for Cox Blue. It has published a bevy of small-business essentials to keep your SMB growing. I hadn’t known how in-depth Cox Media Group was with its helpfulness for SMBs until I started perusing its site and blog. Its website functions much like a walking encyclopedia of business resources. You can access any of those right here at Cox Blue. [Read more…]
The grad kissed the pig! via soulati
May is the month for Memorial Day, graduation from school, and a week to commemorate small businesses. What’s the common thread among these three?
Everyone knows someone in school. Every American knows someone protecting our country. Small business owners are so prolific and growing daily by the minute.
So often we small business owners get short shrift for what we accomplish as the engines of prosperity in America. There are days I feel that way, too, alongside the 600 brothers and sisters in small businesses surveyed and reported by Cox Media in the 2014 Small Business Barometer.
Cox Blue is a proponent of small businesses; you can see that theme throughout its website. In this sponsored post, I want to share some results of its study that hit home with me.
Look at that headline for name dropping, eh? Well, you can’t exactly call me a butter–upper because Gini Dietrich happens to be a really good friend who has starred in my videos and I in hers.
Now that we have that out of the way, here’s what this blog post is about:
Happy Birthday, February! Just how many people are born in February, anyway? It seems like there are 3-5 people daily with birthdays I know within my little network. How about yours?
Since the snail mail snafus with postage increases galore (who knows the price of a postage stamp right now?), the volume of personal mail has subsided to a dull meow. When it’s your birthday, the tried-and-true BFFs from college send a greeting alongside mom, but everyone now sends global greetings the easy way — prompted by Facebook, LinkedIn, Skype and Google+.
Credit: Jayme Soulati
BTW, thank you EVERYONE for my birthday greetings! I remember about three years ago when I sat in front of my social channels until noon thanking every single person for my birthday wishes; it was a grand feeling for the whole day. About three years ago, it was a huge novelty to say happy birthday to everyone online. Now, you can even send gifts, and my goodness, I got one to NOT Dumb Starbucks (watch Steamfeed for the post I just uploaded on that topic!!).
Several weeks ago, I began to get birthday cards and I knew from the tell-tale envelope it was a personal greeting. Alas, not until I more closely looked at the marketing promo did I see that my birthday cards were from Kohl’s, J.C. Penney, Sunglass Hut, and my financial adviser (who always sends the best home-made cards, BTW.
Inside the retail cards were discounts on goods and services in honor of my special day. I could come on in and spend some money while getting $10 off that $75.
The business of happy birthday has gotten wayyyyy out of hand, but is it smart marketing? Do you rush to the retailer to cash in on the little discount they’re sending, or do you file the coupon? I did manage to use a Chico’s coupon for $10 off only because I was shopping for a business trip — see, still business!
Do you use birthday databases in your business? Tell me if you’ve had success with that and whether you recommend it as a good marketing strategy. I’ve never been a good birthday-rememberer, so I know already it wouldn’t be a strategy I implement, but I sure do enjoy saying happies to everyone else online!
(Please do note the very interesting compilation of blog posts from folks I don’t know writing about anyone’s birthday.)
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