Customers see your true colors at these times more than at any other. How you explain, react, remove the pain, and take accountability for your actions, clearly signals your sentiment toward customers and reveals the collective "heart" of your organization.
10:58:17 PM    

With its sponsorship of "The Starter Wife," Pond's gets its name linked to the show in all online and offline media, plus product placement in the show, integrated marketing, and promotions—and most importantly, a new brand image.
10:58:16 PM    

If you're thinking about podcasting, here's the second installment of an insider's peek at the creation of a podcast series, complete with professional tips from a talented audio team.
10:58:16 PM    

Unfortunately, that's because most marketers don't get it either. And, as long as we don't get it, we also won't get the boss's ear long enough to get the resources we need.
10:58:15 PM    

But should you give away your product? That's another question entirely.
10:58:14 PM    

Joel argues that there is more than meets the eye in Second Life. Indeed, there is genuine value to be extracted for brands that are willing to learn the dynamics of the "metaverse" and play by its rules.
10:58:13 PM    

For some summer can spell a business downturn as clients and prospects head for the beach, take time off with the kids, or just sip some saki at sunset.

Logically, it's a great time for a sale, right? Get that phone to ring! The problem is that many small businesses go about conducting a sale in a manner that's actually harmful rather than helpful. Most people look at a sale as a way to lure in new business and promote trial of new products and services by slashing prices and screaming come and get it.

This approach however, can have the impact of penalizing the very customers that got you here in the first place - the ones that lined up and paid full price. Much better to focus a "sale" on your very best customers in an effort to get them to do more of what generates the best kind of profit. A sale, conducted in the typical manner, also trains customers to wait until everything gets marked down - effectively the real price.

If you want to really create a powerful summer sales approach, don't simply discount stuff, think some combination of the following offers:

• Exclusive and private members only discount sale days
• Community building events that include the entire family
• First crack at the newest stuff hours just for current customers
• Earn credit and discounts for referring and passing out gift certificates
• Promotion with your non-profit partner that donates a portion of sales during an exclusive event (you can probably find a way to work this into one of the non-profit's events)

The net result of approaching summer this way is that you reward your best clients and give your prospects the sense that when they become clients then they get lots of unique benefits.

This may seem like a retail play, but this is true of any kind of B2B or even service business. There's no reason you can't use a sale in this manner as well.

3:00:13 AM