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. Encourage everyone to get a physical and reward those who do with heart-shaped stress relievers. Use social media like Facebook to promote healthier eating and exercise. Engage clients, vendors and employees through Twitter and tweet about success stories. Contact your distributor partner, as she can help you find lots of great heart-themed promotional products.

February 2 
National Groundhog Job Shadow Day
Rather than fixate on the groundhog and whether he sees his shadow today, become part of a movement that has high school students shadowing your employees to learn more about business. Students will gain valuable insight into what they’ll need for their future endeavors, and businesses become important mentors for today’s youth. Reward all participants with imprinted products like backpacks or speakers for MP3 players. Your distributor can help you set up the program.

February 6-10
International Networking Week 
Since business doesn’t operate in a vacuum, you need to get out there and network. This week is the perfect time to set up and run networking events within your business community. Announce the event via social media like Twitter and Facebook. And provide imprinted products for all participants. Selections can include neoprene laptop sleeves, iPad accessories and leather portfolios. Your distributor is a valuable resource for putting the event together.

February 14 
Valentine’s Day
If you love your clients, let them know … today! February 14 isn’t just for red-hot lovers. Send boxes of logoed chocolates to clients with a handwritten note expressing your appreciation for their business. Consider throwing in a bouquet of imprinted roses to complete the sentiment. Your distributor partner knows where to get all the lovey-dovey stuff for you today.

February 21 
International Pancake Day
Take time today for a fun promotion. Visit clients with pancake kits that include mixes, aprons, bowls and spatulas as a way to say thanks for doing business with us. Host a pancake breakfast for all employees too. Your distributer partner can get everything for a logoed kit.

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 breathe…crazy! 

After my speech I had a few people approach me with questions about how to get better at social media. One person didn’t have a company, but wanted to work on his personal brand. I gave them a few ideas such as registering his name (URL), starting a blog and completing his LinkedIn profile.

I had another gentleman tell me that his company actually frowned upon their employees engaging in social media. I gave him a few ideas to bring back to his boss, and then showed him how to set his privacy on Facebook so that he can still mingle socially online, because let’s face it, with a boss like that who knows when he may be looking for a new job…of course that was a joke, but he understood the point, that you need to stay connected because you never really know, right?

So even if you don’t completely get it yet, start “social”-izing…it’s the only way to stay relevant…The Time Is Now!

John Zalepka

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 rocking, I thought I was going to be sick. I got up and walked to the front of my store at Adpro Imprints where I saw t-shirts and sweatshirts swinging all over the place.

Is this really an earthquake? In New Jersey?

After the shaking had stopped, I ran back to my computer…I needed to know what Mother Google had to say about what just happened to me…I was disappointed when I found nothing under the news feed.

Then I thought, of course, Facebook…Here was my post: “Ok, was that an earthquake or what?”

Within 8 seconds my friend Joe Leone from Social Media Monsters responded that it was indeed an earthquake, with a 5.8 magnitude and the epicenter was in Virginia.

Wow! I had just gotten the most breaking news possible in 8 seconds…and on Facebook no less!

I was also happy to know that I wasn’t going crazy as questions and comments about the quake from friends began filling my “news” feed.

And I thought…How cool is it that we get “news” from Facebook instantaneously?

John Zalepka

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.

Instead of finding a well-crafted social presence that you control, Google sends them a link to a blog post from that nightmare customer a few years back who had a less-than-reliable experience with you. In fact, not only are they are telling everyone how un-“reliable” your business is, they even have a link recommending someone else, your competitor.

It could happen, in fact it IS happening, EVERY DAY. And if you are not integrating your online and offline marketing efforts, you are doing more than just losing a potential customer - you are potentially damaging your brand.

People are talking on many different social media platforms, some you may not even be aware of, and they may even be talking about your business. There could be a conversation going on RIGHT NOW that you don’t even know about. Wouldn’t you like to be a part of that conversation, good or bad?

It’s not enough for YOU to tell people how great you are in your advertisements. People are very skeptical these days when they see what they know are “paid” ads, either online or offline. Studies have shown that only 15% of people actually believe advertisements…and those same studies show that over 90% of people believe peer recommendations.

So get moving…get your raving fans to talk about you & refer you to their friends…just make sure to give them something for their efforts so they will want to continue helping you out.

Stay friendly, my friends!

John Zalepka

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 anything.

It is the equivalent of having a FREE! gym membership and expecting to have six-pack abs because you go to the gym once or twice a month. You need to put in the hard work necessary to really get in shape.

Similarly, your FREE! social media membership will only benefit you in direct proportion to the amount of hard work you put in.

This is how I’m getting started…

I believe that the best way to get started is to concentrate on your core. Much in the same way it is important to have a strong core when working out, it is important to have a strong core when starting out in social media…my Core 4:

Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube

Studies have shown that people only believe about 15% of online advertising, while they believe 90% of their peer reviews.

Get your accounts up and running and start connecting with people. But whatever you do, don’t start selling (adverting) right away. Instead, start posting great information (content). Information that your customers and prospective customers will find useful. Try to become THE source for when people need information about something in your industry. Become the local celebrity expert! We’ve all seen people become famous recently just because of something “crazy” they posted on social media. But really aren’t they just positioning themselves as the expert of ‘how not to jump off your roof onto a trampoline while riding a bicycle’?

After you have connected and engaged your friends / readers / followers / subscribers by providing great content, they will start to give you back their information and hopefully start to refer you to others who may find your product or services useful by retweeting, reposting, liking, etc, etc, etc.

Make sure to put links back to your website where people can get more information and make a purchase; only then will you be able to capitalize on your hard work on the Core 4: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin & YouTube.

So let’s get started!

John Zalepka

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 by incorporating social media and the sharing element of this type of networking into the campaign.

From a cold list that they purchased from a list broker, they were able to get 14,128 hits (280%) to their micro-site that they set up specifically for the campaign, with 6,089 people providing some sort of personal data.

First, a postcard was sent which had perforated coupons that were redeemable in the store. The postcard also featured a PURL, or personalized URL which incorporated the recipient’s name, encouraging them to visit “their own” website for additional coupons and a “chance to win” something big. Once on the site, they were asked to “share” these great offers and chance to win with their friends via Facebook, Twitter, etc.

All told, in four weeks they had over 1,300 coupons redeemed and over 3,400 additional names and contact information for their data base.

This fully integrated multi-channel direct marketing campaign with viral components earned the agency the 2010 Direct Marketing Practices award from PODi (the digital printing initiative).

The simple fact that this direct mail campaign was more “social” then the traditional one-way communication of most postcards blew away any preconceived notions that direct mail is dead.

With the saturation of the market with email messages, right now is a great time to spend on direct mail. Coupled with the fact that many businesses are scaling back on direct mail, this is the perfect opportunity for a well-planned campaign to really stand out in people’s “actual” mailboxes…just make sure it’s “social”.

John Zalepka

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 promises were made, just a chance. Hell, we had just come out of a battle with the baddest nation on the planet, no one knew what to expect next.

But they came, and they came from everywhere. And now 300 million people and 128.9 million Facebook users later, we’re still in business.

Sure times haven’t always been easy, there have been battles and wars fought internally and externally, there have been changes to the rules and regulations many times over, and our leaders from ever side of the political spectrum have come and gone.

But what has stayed consistent over the years is our belief in the company (America) and the belief that we all really do have a shot to “make it”, whatever “it” is. 

Lou Gehrig knew it…72 years ago today he stood before a packed house at Yankee Stadium, suffering from a disease (ALS) that took his baseball career, and ultimately his life…and yet declared himself “The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth”. On what was probably the saddest day for Yankee fans he was telling people, ‘look, don’t feel bad for me, I have already lived Life & Liberty and had experienced a ton of Happiness’ (as any 6-time World Series Champion would). He closed by saying “that I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for. Thank you.”

So you see, we have been through a lot, as a country, as families, and as individuals, but the United States of America Company is still open for business. And the best news is you are already an employee…all you need to do is put the hard work in that it takes for any employee, in any company to climb the “corporate ladder”. 

How high do you want to climb? 

Happy Birthday America!!

John Zalepka 

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SERVE, WHO HELP KEEP OUR RIGHTS OURS!