Tag: marketing

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Verizon Says Their Phones Are “On”

Ever dream you’d see the day when a major telco goes on the defensive… over their basic phone service?

Verizon’s new “It’s On” campaign is directly aimed at those who have made the switch to VOIP (who hasn’t?). Defending POTS (“plain old telephone service”) as a viable option is just one more signal of how much technology is changing our lives. Not even the telephone company is exempt from being wiped off the map.

We made the switch to VOIP in business several years ago. My family made the switch at home nearly two years ago, and I must say, I don’t miss writing a check to Verizon every month. Sure, we’ve had a couple of blips in our service when the local cable provider experienced difficulties in service, but the reliability difference is not significant.

Continue reading “Verizon Says Their Phones Are “On””

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Family-Oriented Internet Marketing Conference?

**Update: recordings of this event are now available! -DGJ

I admit it.

I’ve always steered clear of “internet marketing” events… partly because of the sometimes less-than-scrupulous practices… partly because I haven’t wanted to subject myself to shady characters and content that may be of questionable morality.

But… let’s face it. We’re all marketing on the internet these days in one form or another. Even if you have a static, brochure-ware website that hasn’t changed since the Clinton administration, your business is doing internet marketing. So… why not make it effective & profitable?

That’s why I was excited when my good friend and expert sales trainer, Michael Pink, turned me on to a family-oriented event (read: no objectionable content, no unethical practices) designed to turn your website into a sales-generating machine!

Here are some highlights: Continue reading “Family-Oriented Internet Marketing Conference?”

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Marketing Value Update

Wow.

Give them something valuable. Now THAT’s marketing.

If you’re in business, or if you work in marketing, you need to be getting Alen Rosenspan’s e-mail newsletter. This month, you could’ve learned:

  • how to really get results using Strategic Database Marketing
  • the one word you should be using in all your marketing if you want it to really, really pull
  • why you don’t want to screw up your e-mail marketing
  • one important way not to screw up your e-mail marketing
  • why the subject line of your marketing e-mails should be 49 characters long
  • how many pixels wide the HTML design of your marketing e-mails should be (at least for the top portion that fits into the ‘preview’ of Outlook, Yahoo, and which will soon be adopted by AOL.

Sold yet? I am. And I’m not even a customer of his (yet). I got some valuable stuff.

Oh, and one more trick: turn your marketing campaign into something valuable. Staples has taken in close to $6 Million selling “Easy” buttons…

(If you’re still wondering, the word is “you”)

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Searching for Money

How easy is it for your future customers to locate you and do business with you?

Evidently, this is a big question on the minds of business people, if Google’s ad revenue for this year is any indication. They are, incidentally, on track to earn over $2 Billion this year from their ‘sponsored links’ business, which is becoming increasingly popular as companies struggle to promote their websites.

Forbes.com reported yesterday on the “Search Industrial Complex” and the (relatively) new flock of businesses which are built entirely around “search engine optimization” and other forms of internet business promotion, quoting Google CEO Eric Schmidt who said, “People are not aware of how big the opportunity is.”

Why does this matter to you?

In today’s digital society, it has become increasingly important for businesses to not only have a web presence, but to ensure that their websites are being found by the people who are searching. This means that your website must rank highly on the search engines – particularly for those search terms or keywords that are most likely to bring you business.

Gone are the days when it was good enough to simply have a website. Businesses are wising up to the fact that investing in an online presence without having it optimized for searchability is much like building a large retail store in the middle of a 100-acre cow pasture. If no traffic is going by, you’ve wasted your money. No one will know your store even exists . . . you can forget having them come in and spend money.

So, from a strategic marketing standpoint, how is your website performing for you? When was your site last reviewed for relevant content? Is it showing up on the search engines when people are looking for businesses like yours? How are you measuring your traffic to understand the return on your online investment?

If it could use some improvement (as most sites could) . . . is a company specializing in SEO (search engine optimization) the right move for you? Perhaps. But I challenge you to answer this question from a strategic vantage point. A better question might be: when was the last time your company evaluated all of its marketing initiatives to strategically determine where and how to invest?

The answer to that question might just determine how tomorrow’s revenue searches you out.

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Have Yourself an Epiphany

Epiphany Marketing - Early Graphic
Epiphany Marketing - Early Graphic

One question I get asked a lot is: where did the name (Epiphany Marketing) come from?

What’s somewhat humorous about it is that I broke some of my own rules. Ironically, this consultancy started out as a marketing practice. One of my big pieces of advice for clients that are starting out or are considering a name change: keep it short, easy to spell, and easy to remember.

Who knew that “Epiphany” would be so hard to spell?

So, difficult spelling aside (it wasn’t hard for me to spell!), Epiphany is a name that reflects some of the fundamental, philosophical aspects of why I’m in this business to begin with.

Epiphany – (from definition number 3)

a. A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.

b. A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization: “I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual flash that would change the way I viewed myself” (Frank Maier).

epiphany. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=epiphany (accessed: September 11, 2006).

This expresses the heart and soul of what this business is all about. We are interested in creating those situations for our clients where suddenly everything becomes clear — as if the challenges they faced were out of focus and we’re able to help bring them into focus. We live to help others gain perspectives that will facilitate success!

Now that we are focused on strategic work, we see this occurring with our clients even more frequently! The work we enjoy doing most now is something like what a chiropractor does — we focus on alignment. Most functioning businesses already have everything they need to get to the next level, but what they lack is proper alignment. Having a strategic consultant come in will help find the leverage points that need to be adjusted – much like putting a finger or an elbow or a shoulder back in its joint would empower your golf swing.

Do you need an epiphany?