Archive View (October 2007)

OK, I admit it.  I am not a branding specialist but in the world of marketing everyone gets involved with branding from time to time.   I am lucky to work for a business that carries the Trump brand which is well known around the world.  Even with our recognition we still pay close attention to our marketing look and feel. Everything we do needs to stand up to the Trump brand.  If you have a business you have a brand.  Do you know what your brand says about you and your company? To help our students we created a free report to more...

Last week before going to the DMA conference I mentioned I would share some interesting and creative uses of direct mail.  This is a picture of a piece I received (not sure how well you can see it) promoting one of the exhibitors. It would have been perfect for blog action day since it is the ultimate green mailing.  A fully recyclable card with plant seeds embedded in the paper.  What will they think of next? This is really a case where direct mail will 'grow' your business.  I have no idea how well the mailing performed but it stuck out in more...

You are probably aware that Mr. Trump has two new books out, Trump University Wealth Building 101 and another b0ok titled Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life.  Here at TU we refer to the Think Big book written by Donald Trump and Bill Zanker as the 'other book'.  I find it interesting that their book which has been heavily promoted on TV, Print, PR, Online etc. is currently ranked lower then the Wealth Building 101 book on both Amazon and BN.com.  The interesting marketing lesson here is that because the Learning Annex book and the Trump University book more...

We launched the new Trump Book and we are off to a great start in driving sales.  The book is in the top 20 on Amazon (of course this will change by the hour), number two in business books and number one in personal finance.  We are making waves on the Barnes and Noble's site too.  Our publisher has even reported increased sales for some of our other titles.  I guess marketing works... This was a real team effort to make sure all our marketing was executed just right.  The effort included online banners, email marketing, public relations, blogging, paid search and more...

Today is Blog Action Day.  A couple of weeks ago I committed to participate in writing a blog about the environment.  I decided to have some fun with the idea and posted a few additional related posts on the topic.  I am in Chicago today to speak at the DMA's annual conference about relationship marketing but didn't want to let the day pass without posting something for the big day.  Here are the last few posts related to the environment that I prepared for Blog Action Day. Marketing Tip for a Cause It is easy to be green Going Green Brings in the Green 5 more...

Here are a few tips to improve your direct mail and make it greener in the process. Direct Mail has been beaten up over the years by the press for being junk (a term I really hate) for  creating large amounts of waste and in general is considered less glamorous then say TV advertising.    Direct Mail is one of the most cost effective and efficient ways to reach your customers and has been proven to work more often then most other media.  Almost every business and organization I know of uses it whether they admit to it or not.   You would probably more...

Cell phone novels--they’re all the rage in Japan right now. And considering a majority of people spend a good chunk of their time text messaging, I can see why the concept works. Most of the novels have surface plot lines, use simple language, and tell a story in bite-sized, easily digestible nuggets--but they are hugely popular regardless. This of course, got me to thinking about marketing copy. Fair enough. When we are spinning our tales of sales, we are not creating Pulitzer-Prize winning literature. We are, however, writing to an audience who ... Is never without a cell phone Is always on the more...

One week to go until Blog Action Day... I read this case study in Marketing Sherpa that is worth sharing even if you are not thinking about the environment.  They highlighted a catalog company which understood that many of their customers were concerned with the environment and moving away from paper based catalogs.  To help boost response and maintain their customer base they put together a marketing strategy that addressed their users concerns and increased the company's bottom line.  You can see from this case study that going green can produce  "green" results. The key take away / reminders for me are: You always more...

In my lead up to blog action day here is another tip or tool for eco-marketing: If you sell or produce a product that is eco-friendly you should make sure you are listed in this new shopping search engine.  The Find Green shopping search engine would even make Kermit happy since it is easy to find green and eco-friendly products.  more...

I committed to writing one blog about marketing and the environment as part of blog action day.  I thought I would work up to blog action day with a few 'green' marketing tips.   My first tip is to find a way to reward your customers for helping the environment while doing business with your company.   A good example of this is Trader Joes (at least my local store).  They will enter you into a monthly contest for a $30 gift card every time your bring your own bag.  Sounds good,  right?  Here is what makes it better: They sell reusable bags at the more...

If you aren't convinced blogs and social media can help grow your business listen to this podcast.  This is one of the DallasBroadcast.com's first podcasts and is a little long for me but there is good info shared and best of all it is free... more...