"Psychologists have long observed that our ability to discriminate among quantities is finely tuned when dealing with small amounts but quickly degrades as the numbers get larger. Our ears work that way, too. When a very quiet sound becomes slightly louder, we detect the difference right away. But once a noise is really loud, it has to increase dramatically for it to seem “louder.” The same holds true for our judgments of weight and, of course, less tangible quantities like money. [From WIRED: Clive Thompson Explains Why We Can Count on Geeks to Rescue the Earth.]

As Thompson aptly puts it, “We’ll break the bank to save Baby Jessica, but when half of Africa is dying, we’re buying iPhones.” Clearly, non-profit marketers need to make their marketing efforts as personal as possible - and not just on the donor side, but on the recipient side as well. This is real “one-to-one” marketing."

Yet another place that the Internet can provide a decided advantage - personalization.

Robert - 4:49 PM
"Don’t be deceived by the title. Advertising will never ever ever ever go away. Despite what Al and Laura say in their book, Advertising still works and is here to stay! However, social media is taking the market by storm for several reasons. I personally think its customer engagement. When customers feel engaged, they become loyal brand ambassadors with a strong emotion of belonging. This is something that can’t easily be taken away by a competitor. When a company can create that dynamic of two-way communication between a customer and a company, they are more likely to help foster long term, profitable relationships with them. Here are some recent headlines about companies that are adopting social media strategies as a part of their overall marketing mix."

Robert - 4:13 PM
Another great piece by Jeffery Gitomer; if you don't already subscribe to his newsletter you should. Below is a reason why...

"You just got a testimonial... GREAT!

It was from your BEST
customer, saying how GREAT you are.

Now all you have to do is learn how
to use it.


A testimonial is THE most powerful sales weapon in your
sales power utility belt. And the most misused -- or should I say misfired.

If you have the silver bullet, and you miss the target, no one will ever
know it was a silver bullet.

NOTE WELL: The testimonial is the ONLY
sales-proof that you have.

When you say things about yourself it's
bragging, when someone else says it about you, it's proof. And the testimonial
is the solid evidence to back up all your sales-claims.

The key question
is: WHEN do you use your testimonial?

The key question is: HOW do you
use your testimonial?

The key answer is: It depends. It depends on what
the testimonial says, and it depends where you are in the sales cycle, and it
depends the media format of the testimonial.

TESTIMONIAL LETTER: Get rid
of it. “Jeffrey, what the h-e-double-l are you saying?” you whine. I’m saying
that the letter format of a testimonial is great for a wall someplace in your
office. And a quote of two excerpted for your proposal is fine. BUT the most
powerful form of testimonial by far is...

TESTIMONIAL VIDEO: The modern
way. The new way. And, in my opinion, the ONLY way. The video is active, alive,
and believable. Video is power. Sales power.

Ever watch an infomercial?
Infomercials are FULL of testimonials. Infomercials sell product. Infomercials
make money. I wonder if there’s a correlation?

But there’s a secret to
the testimonial beyond the video -- it’s the CONTENT. What the testimonial
"says" determines its validity AND when it should be used. The key to successful
use is to time them perfectly. They are trump. Sales trump."

Robert - 8:58 AM

Does safe sex sell? Amid reports of security holes, Firefox partisans acknowledge their core sales pitch is under threat.

Eyeing the wave of bad press, Mozilla's marketing volunteers are staying on message with the security theme.

One campaign under consideration would associate the open-source browser with the security of a condom, showing a condom wrapped with the Firefox logo sticking out of the rear pocket of someone's jeans.

"Always use protection," the ad copy reads. "GetFirefox.com. Firefox is the free Web browser that offers greater privacy and prevents pop-ups, spyware and viruses."

The image was developed for a college poster campaign, but was scuttled because of concerns over offending people, according to the blog of Mozilla staffer Asa Dotzler, who manages Firefox and Thunderbird product releases. Mozilla said that volunteers, and not the foundation itself, planned to revive the image.

Mozilla insisted, as it has in the past, that it enjoys fundamental security advantages over IE.

Robert - 11:08 AM
Ralph Waldo Emerson is often quoted as saying, "If a man can make a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to his door."

No doubt that you've heard this gem before, but can you believe it? Well you shouldn't, for a number of reasons - not the least of which is that Emerson never actually said it! (But we'll attack that in a second...)

Want an example? When you think of a quality sports insole, what's the brand name that comes to mind? Most people will answer Dr. Scholl's, mainly because that brand is the market leader. However, there's a company called Spenco that produces the insole that a majority of podiatrists recommend.

But Spenco doesn't do a lot of marketing. Dr. Scholl's on the other hand does - through TV, Print and the Web, amongst other avenues. And therein lies the real story of why marketing isn't something that should be an afterthought; it is as essential as a formal business plan. (You do have a business plan, right?)

So what did Mr. Emerson actually say? His actual statement was written in a journal as follows:
"If a man has good corn, or wood, or boards, or pigs to sell, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles or church organs than anybody else, you will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house, though it be in the woods."

No mice mentioned. Not even a trap. That's because the mousetrap version of the quote was never written by Emerson, it was actually written by marketer. Elbert Hubbard, (born in Illinois in 1856), a salesman and author who never earned more than 500 dollars a month his entire life, wrote it and attributed it to Emerson 28 years after Emerson died! Emerson had the big idea, but it took a good copywriter to make it a memorable one.

Years later, Dick Woolworth, president of Woodstream Corporation, would take the adage to heart, and design such a better mousetrap. He distributed it through hardware stores across the US. The mousetrap, a plastic device that sold for 25 cents, was easy to set and caught mice with awesome efficiency. But much to Woolworth’s dismay, customers did not flock to his door - or to the hardware stores either - and the traps languished on the shelves. What went wrong?

Having heavily researched the habits of mice, Woolworth designed what was, from a purely functional perspective, the ideal mousetrap. But he overlooked the preferences and behaviour patterns of potential customers, who were mainly housewives. For one thing, most housewives at the time did not frequent hardware stores regularly and Woodstream Corporation did little advertising to inform them about the existence of the new trap, its superior features or where it might be purchased.

The lesson? Don't underestimate the value of marketing to your business, and don't ever let it be a budgetary afterthought. Marketing your product or services is the lifeblood of your business.

Robert - 11:04 AM