A trade mark symbol, ™, designates a word, phrase or symbol proprietary to a product. A service mark symbol, ℠, designates a word, phrase or symbol proprietary to the source of a service. Anyone can add the tm symbol or the sm symbol to any word phrase or symbol he…
A recent commercial was a huge hit in my household. It shows a husband and a wife looking over the paperwork to purchase a vehicle, and the salesperson tells them that they are going to love their deal. The husband responds by stating that he has a great poker face,…
The key to proofreading is to detach yourself from the piece – to look at it from a different perspective. The reason for this is that the brain likes to fill in the blanks for us and sets us up to miss mistakes that are right in front of us.…
Turning an idea into a product is a process. It takes effective communication and useful feedback to help a designer understand what you want and to ensure the right result. Here are some guidelines for building a solid foundation with a graphic designer: Be Realistic with Deadlines Work with the…
Last month I had professional headshots taken at diSogno Photography for use on my website, in membership directories and for bylined articles. This week I received a postcard from the photographer. He used my images as the art on the face and included a thank you on the back. Thi was…
In Ed Schipul’s Personal Brand Era presentation to the PRSA Georgia crowd yesterday, he cited stats about the of success of small business owner Gary V’s venture into social media marketing as highlighted in popular Social Media ROI: Socialnomics video. The issue I discussed with Schipul afterwards is how the example…
The WSJ made an excellent point in a piece posted last week about the continued importance of direct mail in the marketing mix of the average small business owner. The article goes on to cite examples of real small businesses who after briefly succumbing to the lure of saving money…
When you submit a mailing to a direct mail house, they run your list up against something called the NCOA (national change of address) database. This list of physical addresses is updated quarterly using the information that mailing recipients provide when they move to a new home or office. In an era…
In honor of the death of John Jay Daly, former president of the Direct Marketing Association and founder of the program that allows consumers to opt out of direct mail marketing campaigns, I thought it be valuable to revisit the topic of email and direct mail marketing preferences. The most…
Yesterday I overheard the 6AM broadcaster on NPR talking about what the venture capitalists would be looking for at the business show going on in San Francisco this week. The point he drove home, no big surprise, was that strategist who were coming up with ways to businesses do more…
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