January 2012
1 post
17 tags
Need a promotional idea for February? Check these...
February is American Heart Month Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S., and February is the perfect month to run a healthy heart campaign. Businesses needn’t be in the health-care industry to run such a program. Anyone concerned with the wellbeing of its business partners, vendors and employees can launch a campaign. Healthy employees result in lower health-care premiums....
November 2011
2 posts
9 tags
Random act of kindness
Last night while waiting on the “express lane” I was stuck behind two ladies who seemed to be taking an awfully long time checking out. I started to get irritated and wanted to say, “Hey, what’s the hold up ladies?!” But then I saw something that broke my heart. It seems the one didn’t have enough money for some of her groceries. I saw her look to her...
14 tags
Image Is Everything
It’s been said time and again that you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and this axiom is particularly true in the business world.
The first impression that prospective clients get of your business most often comes by way of your logo. Your logo symbolizes your company and plays a crucial role in promoting your business in the marketplace. A great logo design is the foundation...
September 2011
1 post
10 tags
Social Media: The Time Is Now
Last week I gave a speech at the Red Bank Toastmasters club about social media. I started by asking the audience a simple question, “Who here is involved with social media?”
Now, how many questions outside of, “Who here breathes air?” do you think you could ask where every single hand in the room goes up?
Apparently social media is as common these days as the air we...
August 2011
2 posts
12 tags
Earthquake rocks Facebook!
It seems that everyone has a story about where they were and how they felt when the Great Quake hit today. Personally, I felt like I was back at Bar A around 2am during my Belmar years.
I really didn’t know what was going on, I just knew it was weird.
I had just popped a couple of Excedrin and I was starring at my computer screen… when all of the sudden my entire building started...
15 tags
Are you integrating your online & offline...
Let’s say you were advertising your brand as the greatest, most reliable HVAC contractor in all of the land. But you never connected with past clients that would have been more than happy to post on your Facebook fan page just how great, and reliable you are.
And let’s just say that someone does a Google search because they are in the market for a great, reliable HVAC contractor.
...
July 2011
9 posts
9 tags
Scared Shirtless?
Learn to Sell Apparel Like a Pro!
I got an email the other day with “Scared Shirtless?” as the headline from a supplier in the promotional products industry.
After a quick chuckle surrounding the play on words, I found myself more than a little curious so I clicked through. I opened the email and was invited to a webinar where I could “Learn to Sell Apparel Like a...
9 tags
No new content = No new traffic
One of the first things that I did when I started this blog was to link it up with Google Analytics. I wanted to see just how much traffic my site would get and from what referral sources the traffic was coming in.
I have learned a lot in these past two weeks about how people get to the site, how long they stay, and how many pages they view just to name a few. And with great pride, I watched how...
25 tags
Social Media...Still don't know where to start?
We have all heard the many success stories about how average everyday people are just crushing it (you know making million$) with social media. The great news is that these average everyday people are using the very same social media platforms that we all have access to, and the best part is that most of them are FREE!
However, just having access to them for FREE! does not guarantee you...
12 tags
A 280% response rate on a direct mailer?
I read an article today about how a fast-food chicken franchise was able to garner a 280% response rate on a 5,000 piece postcard mailing. For perspective, in case you were wondering, the “typical” or “average” response rate for direct mail is 2%.
So how, you might ask, is it even possible to get more responses then the number of pieces sent?
The answer is quite simply...
10 tags
"We have enough business already"
As a marketer, this comment from prospects and clients has always baffled me. I have always screamed in my head, ‘What do you mean you have enough business already?!’
Tonight as I presided over our biweekly meeting as President of the Freehold Phrasers Toastmasters Club, as is customary at the end of the meeting, we took volunteers for the different roles for upcoming meetings;...
18 tags
Toastmasters: Skills for everyday life
Do butterflies attack your stomach whenever you’re asked to speak before a group?
Can you confidently express your thoughts and ideas?
Do you have the nerve to ask your boss for a raise?
Whether you’re speaking to one or one thousand, Toastmasters can help you speak clearly and confidently. At home or on the job, Toastmasters will provide you with the confidence you need to get ahead.
I...
11 tags
The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth
Exactly 235 years ago today, our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence granting all Americans the “unalienable Rights of…Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Single-handedly the coolest mission statement ever!
And with that America was open for business…leave everything you have behind they said…your family…your home…your country…for a chance at the “American Dream”.
No...
5 tags
Excuses, excuses. Everyone has them, what are...
The sun got in my eyes…
…the #Trust30 challenge ended on Friday…
…it’s a holiday weekend…
…I never got to a computer yesterday…
…I was spending time with my family…
…I’ll just say I meant 30 business days.
Yesterday was a very busy day for me with the family. The beach in the morning, a dip in the pool in the afternoon, and a pig party in the evening.
The truth of the matter is...
4 tags
Push Yourself
“How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?” – Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog
Some of you have been following my progress this week (if you missed it, check me out at Zalepka.com) and I must say that my brain is exhausted. Not exhausted to the point where I...
June 2011
4 posts
6 tags
A Fantastic Marketing Tactic!
Here I am, 4 days into my commitment to myself to post for 30 days straight. I got the idea from the #Trust30 prompt of the day, which is basically a fantastic marketing tactic for promoting a book. The book, Self-Reliance, is in celebration of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 208th birthday.
When I received the prompt today however, I was having a difficult time trying to formulate an answer that somehow...
11 tags
10 Year Text Message
Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said today. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Imagine your future self, ie, you 10 years from now. If he/she were to send you a tweet or text message, 1) what would it say and 2) how would that transform your life or change something you’re doing, thinking, believing or...
10 tags
Overcoming Uncertainty
Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Write down a major life goal you have yet to achieve or even begin to take action on. For each goal, write down three uncertainties (read: fears) you have relating to each goal. Break it down further, and write down three reasons for each uncertainty. When you have three...
11 tags
Most Ordinary
Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
We are our most potent at our most ordinary. And yet most of us discount our “ordinary” because it is, well, ordinary. Or so we believe. But my ordinary is not yours. Three things block us from putting down our clever...