We all want to be liked. We all want to be the coolest and we all care what others think of us. This is true in the corporate world, as well as in our personal lives. But how do you know when to take peers’ “advice” and when to ignore it? In a previous business life, I worked in retail. Fast-paced, exciting, challenging – and Brand centered. One day, a “Secret Shopper” came into our store, quietly sizing us up, checking our customer service skills and the overall shopping experience. His “findings” were then written into a not-so-nice blog post
More Marketing News →Trying to control social media is like trying to drink the ocean one cup at a time. For successful marketing and communications, companies need to TARGET their social media efforts to their local level to better engage with their audience. Using Twitter Hashtags, Facebook Groups and Events as well as some common sense, the following video explains how to create a more focused social media marketing approach. Focus Your Social Media Marketing Hat tip to our friends at The Des Moines Social Media Club, including Tom Brazelton (@TomBrazelton on twitter_ and the whole @SMCDSM crew as well as a BIG
More Marketing News →The marketing communications business is often misunderstood in terms of value, benefit, and, unfortunately, getting paid. As a creative services firm, prospects often ask communications professionals (us) to do work for free – also known as “speculative creative” or “pitching” in order for the client to determine whether or not they will hire us. It’s the old “try the milk before you buy the cow” scenario and it happens in the marketing communications profession on a daily basis. While some marketing professionals succumb to this dog and pony show in the hopes of getting paid if their results are satisfactory
More Marketing News →If you didn’t realize it, AGRICULTURE is big business – not just the growing of plants and livestock production aspects, which luckily has seen an uptick even in the struggling financial economy as of late. We’re talking the business of being involved in the “Ag” world. Agritourism, Ag education, Ag sciences and others have all seen a huge surge of interest and involvement in the past decade. No longer do we drive through the green fields of Iowa, Nebraska and other Midwest states and just see corn, beans, pigs, cows, more corn, more beans, more pigs… well, you get our
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A business blog is a key part of any inbound marketing program. There are 5 fundamental benefits to business blogging: 1) Promote and Position Yourself / Your Company as a “Thought Leader” Each well-written post on a business or personal blog is a public declaration of your thought leadership, integrity, humor, and professional insights. You don’t have to debate the laws of physics (unless that’s your bailiwick) to get recognition. For example, a summary of recent changes in your industry, or a reaction to a recent news article can be extremely effective blog posts. Set up Google Alerts and feed
More Marketing News →Some days I sit back in my chair and wonder, “Why the heck isn’t anyone posting?” It’s not for a lack of information. It’s not for a lack of inspiration. It just falls on that blank page! It’s too intimidating. It’s too… blank; so your mind goes blank. In attempts to alleviate that, I’ve coached my clients to keep a journal, either digitally in EverNote, or the “Old fashioned way” in a notebook, of ideas, snippets, quips or even a doodle that would later inspire a blog post (and I’ve changed “blog post” to “article” for most clients – that’s
More Marketing News →Growth is a positive thing. I mean growth that produces great things: Business opportunities Professional credibility Community ties Industry stability Economical security ALL good things, right? YES! So why not join the CreateWOW team and grow with us (me)? If you have a desire to join a nimble, progressive marketing and communications company with a drive to change how companies use media, then I want to hear from you. CreateWOWmarketing, LLC has brought on a handful of new clients that will require talent and support from: Public Relations Professionals Media Buyers and Managers Account and Marketing Managers Creatives and Multi-Channel
More Marketing News →Entrefest was such a HUGE success this year that we just HAD to show the world how much fun we had. The EntreFest program covered workshops and seminars for small to medium sized businesses (SMB) and entrepreneurs covering everything from social media, marketing and search engine optimization to financial structuring for small business, sales and networking. It was a VERY full few days, but we ALL took something valuable away from it.
More Marketing News →I had the honor of working with the marketing panel and producing media for Entrefest 2011 last week. We had some spectacular speakers and some break-out sessions on marketing, sales, technology, finances and management for entrepreneurs. But as always, there were some standout sessions. Adam Steen’s (from 25 Connections) session on Networking was one that got a LOT of positive reactions. Below, thanks to Adam and the Entrefest crew, we’ have captured and re-posted the session! (sorry for the typing and my loud laughter… I was right behind the camera and couldn’t resist being involved!)
More Marketing News →With some encouragement (pleading) from our clients, we’ve gone ahead and put together some tips and tricks for organic search engine optimization using the WordPress plug-in called All in One SEO Pack. This is a general overview and just the beginning to the organic SEO process. Future videos will go into further detail on writing for SEO content and working with local search for optimization. We will have more “How-To” video tips, trick and techniques for organic SEO, marketing, brand management and more in the future. If you’d like to see something specific, please feel free to comment below OR
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