How do you know when you have a problem or not?

Following this chart should help you know when you have a problem to worry about or not.

A Doctor in a Slovenian hospital recently complained about a piece of meat on his plate. He insisted it wasn’t chicken. Tests verified it was a human tongue.

Some “experts” say there is no such thing as bad publicity. Let me ask you this- would you eat at this hospital now?

Remember that creating a “buzz” can have both positive and negative results. Your public relations approach, whether outsourced or in-house, needs to be ready.

Does sex still sell?

If you show skin in your advertising, people will look. At the skin.
If you have innuendo in your Ad, people will remember. The innuendo.

Good advertising makes a point about the product. It’s aim is to increase sales and awareness. Using unrelated sexual content violates BOTH goals:

1. When trying to reposition or introduce a product in someone’s mind, you must not distract from your message. Period. Sex is a distraction.

2. The goal of an awareness campaign is to increase your “mental marketshare”. Alienating and offending half of your audience is a suicidal awareness campaign.

I am sure that in the last few days countless thousands of people who were supporting Hillary now find themselves in a position where they can do nothing but support Barack Obama… especially since Teddy Kennedy supports him. I am sure that so many people are now willing to jump ship because of the endorsement.

Does that sound like a stupid thought? I hope so.

Just because one politician endorses another, does that really change your attitude about where that politician stands on a particular subject? It shouldn’t.

I think that your customers have the same attitude about your business. Just because you might decide to get a paid, celebrity endorsement, it doesn’t mean that your customers will change their attitude.

Sure, there are a few people that will like your product because of a celebrity endorsement. But, the best endorsements that you can get are from your customers that love you. A friend will tell a friend to do business with you in a way that no celebrity can.

Barack Obama isn’t gaining steam and momentum because an endorsement. He is gaining momentum because some of what he says and who he is resonates with people more than the other candidates. That is the same thing that can happen with your business if you provide the best service at a reasonable price and have the goal to absolutely delight your customers.

Last year, I had a post titled, “Dear Candidate” where I related an email that I received for a job offer. I pointed out that:

When you are looking to fill a position, it is probably a good idea to at least read the résumé of the individual before you offer to schedule an interview

Since that time, I have received not less than seven emails from the same person at the same company offering me the same position. Since that time, I have responded every single time with my displeasure in receiving these emails.

What does this say about the Farmer’s Insurance brand if they can’t recruit the talent they want and have to ask the same disinterested people over and over again? Do you find yourself using these tactics to hire? If so, what does this say about your ability to find and hire the right people?

The thing that also strikes me is that I received this post from a résumé posted at Monster. That means that each time this recruiter has viewed my résumé this recruiter has paid to view that.

What a waste of money!

I love this.

Since when does anything being on TV make it true?

I was doing some work for a client and noticed on a web hosting company’s website that they are “the leader in web hosting.”

Wow, that is a pretty bold claim. So, I decided to do a little research to see if it was true.

I performed a simple Google search on the term “leader in web hosting.”

Some things I noticed right off.

1. There are a lot of web hosting leaders. (2,310 hits on my search)
2. The company that boasted the claim wasn’t number one.
3. Appearently there are different classifications (Global, World, World-Wide, The, etc)
4. There appears to be no controlling authority on who is actually the “leader in web hosting.”
5. They all seem to provide the same services.

Just saying you are a leader doesn’t make it so. Providing the same product and services definitely show that you are not a leader.

Oh… and the site that I was looking at… I had to log in to configure my client’s account and had to call tech support to figure it out. Doesn’t sound like a leader to me.

With January comes the resolution to lose weight. Of course, the weight loss centers, gyms and “nutrition” experts all know this. So, with January also comes the onslaught of advertisements… not to help you reach your goal, but to help lighten your wallet.

It just brings to light another advertising problem.

When you advertise based on atypical results, what are the expectations that you set with your customers. What happens when you fail to meet those expectations… since you will?

Okay… sometimes this helps people to move a little faster. But, if the time limit is too long, how can it possibly help?

I was watching the Celebrity Apprentice last night. (I don’t think the Trump has much more of this show left).

This is what I find interesting.

One of the contestants is Omarosa from Season One.

First thought… what is a “reality star?”

Second thought… if you constantly appear on reality shows, is it reality?

Third thought… haven’t you just taken your 15 minutes a bit too far if this is your profession?

How does this apply to business?

How often do you try to squeeze every bit of life out of your outdated product or service? How often do you think that your old product is so cool that you just keep trying to push it?

Refresh your products. Refresh your services. Refresh your marketing approach.

Then you can maintain your image and reputation as something more than a has-been.