Monday, February 19th, 2007
Yesterday was Chinese New Year. For me, that meant celebrating the new lunar year with monks, my fellow martial artists, and lots of tea. This year we did something decidedly different and did a play, complete with martial arts demos and costumes. Next year will be a lion dance, but buying a the lion head and drums costs quite a bit of money. Thus, marketing skills must come into play to raise money for it. What can we do to raise money and spread awareness? Here are a couple of my thoughts:
- Do demonstrations and ask for donations
- Charity work
- Attend and participate in events such as health and fitness, martial, etc.
- Start a group online for raising money.
These are just a few of my thoughts so far. We’ve always faired well with demonstrations. Having the face to face contact with people combined with live, visual demonstrations really sends a powerful message. As such, that may be our best best. Do you have a group you work with on your spare time that you are trying to promote?
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Monday, February 12th, 2007
There is great new meme project by on the top 5 reasons you Blog making its way around the web. Mike Sansone of Converstations recently wrote his top five, and then some. Here are my top 5 reasons I blog:
- Learning - This works many ways. First, I learn more as I write, about what I know and don’t. You find out quickly what you do and don’t know when you try to put your thoughts into words. It is a true test of your own knowledge. Also, I learn more by reading other blogger’s posts and ideas, which leads to my next point…
- Community - Meeting other fellow bloggers and extending my network. Nothing like meeting new people to gain more ideas and get to know interesting people. Blogs are a great way of generating good contacts. You never know who you’ll meet.
- Visibility - As a marketer, I want to increase awareness of both myself and our company. Blogging gives me the opportunity to introduce myself to the public and extend my reach throughout the web rather than just having one site. The ability to mingle with other bloggers strengthens my visibility ten fold while also working on point 2.
- Ease of Use - Blogs make it easy to quickly update information. It only takes a moment to add new content to your page. Updating a webpage has never been easier.
- Use those tools! - Most of what I do for a living is on the web, and what better way to learn more about it than to work with something like blogging? This is only one of many tools I use to communicate with others and increase visibility on the web. I’m a self professed tech geek, so I love making use of what is out there.
What’s your top 5? Send your comments and trackbacks here. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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Friday, February 9th, 2007
How many times has this happened to you: You have a problem with a product/service. It’s giving you a hard time so you call for customer service. You give just a brief description of your problem and the supposed “help” tells you, “Sorry, it isn’t our fault. It’s someone elses and there’s nothing we can do. Go bother them. You do something, not me.”
This is the worst thing someone can do in customer service. Ignoring the problem and passing the blame. The problem isn’t solved, there was no help, and it leaves the customer with a bitter taste in their mouth. How can this be corrected?
- Listen! No matter how many times you have heard the same problem before from other customers, let the customer speak. The customer needs to know that you are there to help and that you care. Cutting them off sends a strong message that you don’t care and that they are bothering you. That is the worst thing you can do. Also, keep in mind that these people are frustrated. Let them work off their steam. It is nothing personal, they are just upset about the situation. Once they are done, then speak.
- Ask questions. Get what you can out of the customer without making it feel like an interrogation. Once again, this shows that you are serious about helping them. Also, it can provide valuable insight for fixing their problem. Just take care not to ask too many questions to the point that the customer is annoyed. Just enough to gather ideas for a solution.
- Explore options. Telling the customer there is nothing you can do is the very last thing you ever want to say. It makes you look incompetent and uncaring. Try to reason out other solutions first. If for some reason things are out of your scope then ask the customer if they would like to speak to a manager. That should be a last resort, but may be necessary if things are severe. Still, try your best to rectify the situation without having to pass the buck.
If the situation seriously is out of your hands, make every effort to guide the customer through the proper steps to solving the problem with the outside source. For example, if the problem exists with another company, provide them with the phone number and tell them exactly what to say to them. Better yet, try to take it to the next level by calling them yourself. This can lead to great customer loyalty by just this simple effort. Good customer service is a must if you plan on keeping your customers happy. Make sure they are a top priority and not just something shoved to the back.
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Monday, February 5th, 2007
I admit, I’m one of those people that watched the Superbowl yesterday for the ads. Save but a few ads, I came away disappointed. It seems like it was less of a spectacle this year. Also, it was interesting that only a few companies really had ads on it, and really just spread it out. Coke had around 3 ads. Two were entertaining, one sentimental. I can’t help but think what happened here?
The answer is likely that television advertising just doesn’t sell like it used to. Perhaps the cost benefit of Superbowl advertising just isn’t worth it anymore. Although it is true that television is a less used form of media now, the Superbowl is still the highest watched program of the year. Have times really changed that much? Somehow, the event that was once a spectacle didn’t really feel as special anymore. Perhaps it is just me. I ask you, the reader, your thoughts. What did you think of the Superbowl and its advertising?
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