There are several ways to read that question. To clarify, I speak of your local Chamber of Commerce. I know. They don't seem huggable. But think of a virtual action that says, "I like you, and I want to thank you for all you do." So what would that look ... more

Two keys to transparent marketing (which is the main concept in my book, Don't Think ) are narrowing your focus and getting to know your customer community intimately. I tend to assume that this is a lot easier for businesses to follow through on than it might be for larger ... more

Most working journalists have to deal with hundreds, if not thousands, of press releases that cross the transom every year. That's more than they're going to read, of course. And of the ones they "read," all but a few are destined to receive a half-hearted skimming, followed by a click ... more

When last week I uploaded a endorsing the importance social media, David pointed out - tongue in cheek - that someone had forgotten to send me the memo that Web 2.0 was going down the drain. With this post on Daily , I'd like to broaden the debate and get ... more

Sunday, April 22nd was Earth Day. Time for companies to take stock of what can be done and to applaud what's already being done This year's Fortune 500 Ranking of America's largest corporations has been published. What I focused on is the "Most Admired Companies of Fortune's survey was conducted ... more

It's and you've leisurely rolled in the office, with your coffee in hand. Suddenly your boss pokes her head in your office and says, "Charlie called in sick today and he's supposed to give a customer presentation this morning in the briefing center. Can you cover it?" Are you ready ... more

More than 25 percent of critical data in Fortune 1,000 companies is poor quality because organizations have little experience in managing content. Gartner believes that very few organizations are making progress towards professionally managing their most important data. Research Vice-President Andreas Bitterer said that "dirty data" is often overlooked as ... more

I flew to Dallas this past week, and man, are my arms tired. Well, actually American flew me there and back. Just wanted to tell a bad So anyway, there I am in St. Louis on a layover, and I started thinking about how much I love people watching, and ... more

One of the truths about how women buy involves the "inside scoop" factor. All things being equal experience), the smaller the perceived "club" of existing buyers, the hipper the brand will seem and the more those in-the-know will want to tell Yeah - that's women are attracted to the idea ... more

I had to buy new tires for my Subaru last year, and one of the biggest things on my mind where will the old ones end up? And, here along the Vermont side of Lake Champlain, we recently had much about a possible tire-burning plant just across from us in ... more

It's not a typo. For the last nine years, I've been engulfed in permission-based marketing and I've finally come to the conclusion that it's more about a relationship -- not necessarily trying to From a technology standpoint, Customer Relationship Management is still fitting. However, I believe it's no longer appropriate ... more

Let's face American car manufacturers are in a major funk, and have been for some time. Cadillac, though, has been a bright spot. Talk about an iconic American brand that had been dying a slow, dignified death for the past few decades... only to make a dramatic U-turn at the ... more

I read Joe Sharkey's New York about American Airlines new women-specific web yesterday, rolled my eyes at all of the obvious blunders on said site, and put it on my "to blog about" list. As a "female business traveler" myself, this is one topic that merits a little further "Pink ... more

It might surprise you to know that, of all the workers in the world, hairdressers are the happiest. Hairdressers are happier than lawyers, doctors, accountants -- and marketers. "How come?" you ask. "What do they know that I I don't cut hair for a living, but I have been getting ... more

From of the 1980s to , Second and Daily almost 30 years later, people have created valued relationships online. When blogs entered the virtual scene they provided an opportunity for anyone with an internet connection to build their own Ann Handley, the fearless leader of Daily , makes it seem ... more

Dylan was The times they are a changin'... And he was prophetic, too, at least as relates to marketing. What was true then is also true There have never been more tools in the Marketer's tool shed for finding and keeping Today's techniques and tools make it easier than ever ... more

How many times have we seen a company do this? They start blogging, and their initial efforts are less than spectacular. We forget that many of us had the same hiccups when we started our own blogs. It takes time and quite a bit of trial and error to run ... more

Exporting offers all sorts of advantages, from increasing sales and profits to creating jobs and fostering wealth. But there are other ways in which exports help our For example, global economies of scale and competition lowers prices for consumers, increases the variety of goods and services available, and gives the ... more

Simplicity is highly overrated, according to Donald , a design thinker I very much "I'm a champion of elegance, simplicity, and ease of use," Norman writes. "But, as a business person, I also know that companies have to make money, which means they have to deliver the products that their ... more

If, as good info-gathering marketers, we were to evaluate another brand's marketing efforts solely on their big-picture imagery in glossy magazines, we'd probably miss the point -- for luxury brands (and on down the line, I'd A new study by Echelon Marketing found, among other things, that of luxury goods ... more

A new idea has taken root in Chicago–bully for that city! According to Business Week, Chicago's Green will be the first shopping center in the U.S. for environmentally responsible and socially conscious businesses." What a great Get not only will the first "green mall" in America be located in Chicago, ... more

We talk a lot about Word of Mouth. Usually it is in the context of Web 2.0. Whether you believe Word of Mouth is just being discovered as a marketing strategy, or whether you agree with me that marketers have been strategizing and measuring word of mouth forever, doesn't What ... more

As I entered my hotel suite on last week's business trip to Lincoln, Nebraska, I discovered the nicest note on my pillow. It was a simple message, but one that made the brand experience so positive. And it didn't cost a ton of money What it do was send a ... more

Recently I had a marketing group contact me about helping their client with a music promotion. They were working with a band that wanted to give away CDs to music bloggers in order to boost exposure for their client. Since I frequently blog about music marketing, it might have seemed ... more

The other day at a networking meeting one of the attendees suggested that we need to be more business-like. I replied, "I like it that we are not so structured and that we can have fun while still getting our business done." "What can be more fun than making money?" ... more