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Showing posts from October, 2020

How to Lead with a Level Head in Stressful Situations

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On January 15, 2009, US Airways flight 1549 ascended from LaGuardia Airport and had a chance encounter with an unexpected adversary. Shortly after take-off, the Airbus struck a flock of Canadian geese. Flames exploded before an eerie silence, and an odor of fuel filled the cabin. Both engines had shut down, and Captain Chesley Sullenberger and his team tried unsuccessfully to restart them. After turning back toward LaGuardia, the pilots quickly realized their only option was an emergency water landing in the Hudson River. As they passed less than 900 feet above the George Washington Bride, Sullenberger radioed the coast guard for assistance and barked “brace for impact!” Ninety seconds later, the plane crashed into the water with no bounce, followed by a gradual deceleration and a speedy deboarding. All 150 passengers were saved, and Sullenberger was the last to deplane after walking the cabin twice to ensure it was empty. Later, the crew was presented with “keys to the city” by

Shout Your News with Stylish Printed Announcements

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Have you recently won an award, reached a milestone, or done something pretty incredible? Whether you’re launching a product or expanding to a new market, your business or organization can share the news far and wide with printed announcement cards. In a world of digital noise, the medium is just as important as the message , so why not opt for something more personal and pristine with gorgeous custom announcements? Share Something Special and Significant Announcement cards offer a wonderful way to market your events, products, achievements, or stay in touch with your clients. These stylish notes are more than just fluff; they denote something of significance that boosts your brand and business. Want to put your news at their fingertips? Here are just a few catchy headers: Launching SOON Coming to a neighborhood near you We’re Hiring The Future is HERE You asked, we answered . . . Save 20% more time with _____! We’re growing. Find us at our new location ________

Drive Exponential Growth Through Omnichannel Marketing

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The more technology advances, the more it is integrated into our daily lives. From customized print ads to apps that help you find the kitchen section in your favorite IKEA store, customers are no longer confined to a single channel or platform as they interact with a brand. And as entrepreneurs become increasingly responsive to individual customers' needs, the lines between what we do on- and offline will continue to blur. Omnichannel Marketing in Action An omnichannel experience is a multichannel approach to marketing, selling, and serving customers that unifies many mediums to work together. Here your print marketing, onsite displays, mobile marketing, and testimonials all tell a consistent story while providing an integrated shopping experience. The focus is on building a stronger relationship between consumers and the brand by smoothing the customer experience, generating consistent content, and multiplying conversions. What might this look like? The possibilities ar

How to Ask for Help at Work

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Were you forced to work from home in 2020? What were your biggest challenges? Perhaps it was learning the necessary technology – or teaching it to others. Maybe it was forming a new business plan. Or perhaps you struggled to meet the workday demands while homeschooling your kids. If you weren’t stretched this year, you were probably in the minority! And as you reached the end of your abilities, you probably faced a question most people prefer to avoid: “How can I ask for help without looking weak?” Though an independent attitude is great, at some point, everyone needs to lean on others. And sometimes, a can-do spirit can push you to take on more than you can reasonably handle, leading to failure or burnout. According to a 2018 Gallup study , 23% of full-time workers reported feeling burned out at work very often or always. And one major reason for this burnout was an unmanageable workload. Examples of How to Ask for Help Do you need more help but struggle to verbalize this?

Command Results with These 4 Direct Mail Brochure Formats

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Ready to open doors and grab leads for your business? Direct mail brochures are a great piece of any marketing plan and are especially useful in building consumer confidence. According to the Direct Mail Association, 56 percent of consumers consider print marketing the most trustworthy form of advertising, and 65 percent of consumers have bought something from a direct-mail piece. When considering your next direct mail campaign, here are some reasons brochures might be best: Clear Comprehension The human brain is designed to understand more when something looks “real.” As a time-tested commodity, brochures offer an easy-to-follow layout that builds instant connections with all types of people. Brochures also connect well with memory because they engage people’s spatial memory networks. Increased Brain Response In this busy age of low attention spans, physical materials increase the brain response of every viewer. There’s something blissful in physical opening print pie

How to Use Normalization to Change Behavior

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If you grew up in the early eighties, you’re probably familiar with the “ Mikey likes it ” Life cereal campaign. This capstone commercial centered on three young brothers eating breakfast. Before them sits a heaping bowl of Life. Two brothers question each other about it, noting that it is supposed to be healthy. Neither has any desire to taste it (“I’m not gonna try it— you  try it”), so they test it on their brother (“Let’s get Mikey . . . he won’t eat it, he hates everything !”). Mikey briefly stares at the bowl, then starts devouring the cereal, as his brothers excitedly exclaim, “He likes it!”  Strategically Shaping the Internal Narrative If you are a professional marketer, your job exists to do one key thing: to make change happen. Finding an agent to trigger change – like Mikey demonstrating healthy cereal is delicious – is the key to persuasion. But this can be harder than it sounds because all people act in accordance with their internal narrative. You can’t get some

3 Companies with a Killer Brand Identity

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Trust builds confidence. That is why a strong corporate brand identity can make or break a business. Brand identity is more than key values or approved color palettes; it is the collection of all elements that a company creates to portray the right image to its consumer. When a company has a strong brand, it is easily recognized, which grows people’s trust. Trust builds confidence, and confidence begets loyalty. When a business has built superiority in a particular niche, repeat customers are more willing to buy in other areas. When you have loyalty from your base, you have space to increase prices or ask for bigger commitments.  Want to craft a style that is timely and relevant to your audience? Here are three inspiring examples of brands who have nailed it: Tesla Tesla is an electric vehicle and clean energy company with long-range, eco-friendly electric cars.  They are also very expensive. To build customer confidence, Tesla leaves price out of their branding and focuses

Shout Your Brand Identity with Strategic, Clever Imagery

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If a picture paints a thousand words, then brand imagery is one of the most dynamic means for communicating with your customers. From stained-glass church windows to the world-renowned Nike swoosh, images add immediacy, power, and clarity to your ideas, with a transformative effect on a brand’s overall impact. Colors and graphic metaphors have surprising staying power, so it’s important to consider every element you include in your brand imagery. Brand Identity vs. Brand Imagery So, what is the difference between brand identity and brand imagery? Brand identity is the image or character of your business as people relate to it. For example, the BMW image of elite luxury has grown naturally from customers’ repeated exposure to BMW’s ads, endorsements, and products. Brand imagery is the aesthetic appearance of your brand’s core identity and messaging. This is a result of all the visuals that represent your brand’s identity. These visuals may include anything from billboards to p

4 Reasons People Don't Buy from You (and quick-fix solutions that can help!)

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Your product is perfectly aligned to meet customer needs. Your doors are open, the sales team is ready, and your marketing is top-notch. Your employees believe in your mission and are passionate about coming to work each day, but . . . sales still seem a bit sluggish. Why? When people aren’t buying, you could have a range of possible problems. Here are four potential snags with tweaks that could make the difference: Problem: They Think the Price is Too High Solution: Sell the Value Is the price of your product too high? This is a subjective opinion. An item is only worth the price someone is willing to pay for it, and if some people are willing to pay your price, there must be a good reason. If you don’t make the cheapest product on the market, it’s your job to figure out why it is worth more. Do your homework. Find out in advance what your competitors’ prices are like, and what advantages your company brings. Instead of focusing on price, draw attention to the benefits o