Ad Diner from Women Entrepreneur
Women Entrepreneur interviewed Cindy and myself for an article on their website. With the only problem in the article is they occasionally misspell the last name (we always tell people to get the “h” out of there), we otherwise thought it was a good article.
Holiday TV Commercial Using Motion Software
This is a commercial we created for the Ad Diner. It uses Motion software, where we can take photos and manipulate them in a 3-D space, and then add video on top of that.
This particular commercial is a “spec” piece, (the jewelry store in the ad is not real.) It can be sold to any business and is designed to be flexible enough to work for anyone from insurance agents to car dealers. If you are thinking of doing holiday advertising, check out the Ad Diner for other holiday spots from their “menu” section. (We also created some fun radio called Santa’s Workshop where the store owner talks to elves.)
Not to be antisocial, but…
The hype and the reality of social media
(Please note: this article is really written for the small business. For our larger clients, you may find it interesting, but there really is a different strategy for larger companies dealing with social media. Contact me and we can talk about those ideas.)
Everywhere you turn, it seems like people are telling business owners that they have to be working with social media. The latest buzz is all about Twitter and “tweeting”.
As a marketing person, I have a keen interest in anything that helps promote my customers’ business (or my business, too.) But with all of the hype, all of the articles, and all of the news, I have yet to see many concrete examples on how a typical small business can use social media such as Twitter as a marketing tool.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-social media. I just believe that there is quite a bit of hype and less substance when dealing with social media. There’s simply a lot of businesses that really can’t take advantage of Twitter and Facebook (other than placing ads on Facebook.)
UFOs in Wisconsin
We’re located on a bluff in the Wisconsin countryside, about halfway between the towns of Belleville and New Glarus, a couple miles south of Belleville, off of Highway 69.
About 25 years ago, there was a UFO sighting that received national press. It was the start of several sightings, and now the town of Belleville commemorates it with their UFO Day celebration.
Where was this sighting? The police officers that reported the UFO claimed it was on a bluff in the country, about halfway between the towns of Belleville and New Glarus, a couple miles south of Belleville, off of Highway 69…
Here’s a video where we interviewed author Noah Voss, who fills us in on the details.
Is traditional media dead?
When I talk to people, I hear all the time about how they don’t watch commercials. Then I ask them which Geico commercial they like best, “the money you could be saving”, the “cavemen”, or the “gecko”? Funny, they know exactly what I am talking about and have an opinion. They can name a lot of different versions of those commercials. How is that possible if they never watch TV?
Brian Banks, the owner of the upscale Lifestyles Furniture store based in Moline, Illinois, has seen a substantial increase in sales even during this down economy. He attributes it to an increase in advertising. His advice to other retailers?
“There’s a party going on, you’ve got to invite the guests.”
The Point of PowerPoint (White Paper)
Over the last several years, we’ve seen the word “presentation” replaced with the word “PowerPoint.” As in, “I’m going to give a PowerPoint on the new product to the board.”
The issue, of course, is that PowerPoint, the computer slide presentation software from MicroSoft®, should be used as a tool for making the presentation, it shouldn’t define what the presentation is.
That in itself isn’t the problem, the problem is that people misuse PowerPoint in a way that makes their presentations bad. They would have been better off not using PowerPoint at all. In fact, there are many people that would be much better off just talking without any visual aids whatsoever. Still, many people think it would be impossible to make a presentation without this software.
Growing your business in a recession
The sun is shining and the birds are singing this morning. The daffodils are poking out of the ground. Soon the grass will be growing, which is why I was working on my lawnmower last night getting it ready. All in all, spring is here.
Nature doesn’t know we are in a recession.
It just keeps doing what it always does. No matter how much we worry about money, the news, and everything else in the world, nature just keeps coming back.
Now I’m not saying we shouldn’t address money concerns, the news, and everything else. (Especially how we treat mother earth, we can’t expect nature to keep coming back if we abuse it.) What I am saying is that all the worry about money is man made.
Yes, recession is a man-made invention.
The Ad Diner Is Now Open
What is the Ad Diner? It is a new way for small businesses to acquire creative advertising, including TV, radio, print, direct mail, billboards.
The business goes to the site, picks their industry category, reviews the ads on the site, and if they like an ad or campaign, they make the purchase. The Ad Diner will then take their logo and their information and customize the ads to work in their market.
The idea is simple: an ad that works in Peoria would probably work just as well for a similar business in Jacksonville, or Chattanooga, or San Jose. The ads are sold to non-competing businesses in different markets, and licensed for one year.
Search Engine Optimization (White Paper)
Everyone wants their website to be one of the top listed results when people “Google” a phrase. There are workshops and seminars where you can spend thousands of dollars to learn about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). There are groups out there that will guarantee top placement on search engines if you hire them. Others will submit your web information for you to hundreds of different search engines. So what is the story on SEO and are any of these worth the money for your company?
First of all, let’s make sure everyone understands what SEO is exactly. Search Engine Optimization is anything you do to create or add features to your website to get higher rankings on search engines. And of course, search engines are the websites where you look up information online to find other websites that have the information that you are looking for. The most commonly used search engines are Google and Yahoo.
Holiday Gift Idea
For many, shopping for the holidays can be very stressful. Not only getting out and fighting the crowds, but just finding that appropriate gift for the person that seems to already have everything.
Here’s a fresh idea that you may want to consider…
Create your own photo book! With digital photography, it is easy to create your own hardbound or softbound book. If you’re on an Apple computer, go to apple.com and look up iPhoto books. Other sites that offer book printing for PCs and Macs include picaboo.com, shutterfly.com, and hp.com. Hardbound books start at around $30.