December 17 is Clean Air Day ~ marking the 1967 passage of the U.S. Clean Air Act, a set of laws enacted to protect the nation from air pollution. It was the first law to place pollution controls on the auto industry. This is a day set aside to honor our clean air and to raise awareness of the many environmental issues that are changing our climate on earth. This is one of several official days to pay attention to your environment and the air we breathe. However, we should pay attention and do our part EVERY DAY.
Did you know that flowers and plants freshen the air? And it’s getting close to Christmas, Hannukah and Kwanza. Send flowers to honor the holidays and the environment.
December 17th, 2008
The calendar can be an excellent resource for inspiration! The “holidays” listed can give you ideas to creatively market your business using little or know money. Here are 3 celebrations during September worth considering:
Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month – Now is a great time to write to your favorite editors and writers and thank them for all they do – in fact, why not write a letter to the editor? Who knows your comments could end up in the next issue. Talk about subtle marketing…
Self-improvement Month and Library Card Sign-up Month - READ, READ, READ! Chances are your competition doesn’t so this will put you miles ahead of them by reading all you can about your industry and your community.
National Organic Harvest Month – Promote the use of “green” products. For a list of green resources, visit: http://www.wecai.org/WomensGreenResources.pdf. This list consists of Information, places and things to help you achieve your green lifestyle goals (personally and professionally). It is a great starting place for making online connections and seeing what resources are available that you too can pass on to your small business customers.
In addition, you can read the special report: Purses, Peers, Posts and the Power to Move Green Markets by Mary Clare Hunt.
September 2nd, 2008
Recently I attended the Florida Direct Marketing Association (FDMA) Luncheon . The topic ~ Catalog Marketing. Leslie Linevsky, Co-Founder of Catalogs.com and Bonnie Levengood, Director of Marketing with 1-800-PetMeds were the speakers.
Leslie spoke about the history of catalogs.com, and their business model which is promoting catalogs online. For over a decade, Catalogs.com has been helping shoppers find and order the perfect catalogs for the products they want - all free of charge.
Their Mission Statement: Imagine a world where the only catalogs you received are the ones you requested. Now imagine one starting place to find and preview the world’s best catalogs and either request the ones you want or shop at their online stores - plus find special savings offers too.
Leslie talked about the challenges, opportunities and pet peeves she has. Some of the challenges were delivery of catalogs until they partnered with DHL to house and deliver every catalog ordered by their visitors. And what makes Catalogs.com unique is their ability to capture the order, transmit it to DHL by midnight of the same day at which time DHL process the order the very next day! Their sign up process is also unique in that they pre-qualify prospects because they only get catalogs they request so catalog companies don’t mail thousands and even millions of catalogs to people who only end up tossing them into the round file. Most of the catalogs featured on Catalogs.com also provide great savings specials which are exclusive to shoppers of Catalogs.com.
Leslie also talked about their newest initiative which is OnlineCatalogs.com which allows visitors to peruse the catalogs online and then purchase on the spot. Leslie also spoke about some of her pet peeves in online marketing which included a. requiring a customer to register before being able to order, b) asking for the credit card or payment information before giving the total and c) not showing an item as “out of stock” before the order process – each of these increase abandonment of orders and decrease the confidence of the consumer.
Bonnie shared 1-800 Pet Meds experience implementing the “Worlds largest 1 to 1 personalization campaign” including the pros and cons of going to such lengths in personalizing 3 million individual catalogs. She talked aobut how they personized each piece with their customers names, the pet’s name and a photo which they put on the cover of each individual magazine at a cost of roughly 3 times that of traditional catalog marketing campaigns. While it garnered them lots of publicity and an endearing rep among customers the bottom line is that it was cost prohibitive in terms of ROI.
Bonnie made a few recommendations regarding 1 to 1 customization including a) testing the campaign on a smaller basis, b) testing variables of each campaign such as placement of personalization – less personalization – use of photos, etc.
Bonnie and Leslie also spoke about how the rising cost of printing and postage and forcing many catalogers to go to a smaller (slim jim) size to offset the rising costs. The USPS (post office) is feeling the results in less revenue as well.
Bonnie ended with her suggestions to get green and lean by:
1. Implementing the slim jim catalog model and driving more sales to purchase online
2. Create email marketing campaigns that drive traffic to your online catalog. And make sure your entire catalog of products is available for customers to peruse and purchase via your website.
3. When you must print, be environmentally conscientious using green materials and processes to lesson your carbon footprint on the planet.
For more green ideas visit Sustainable Life Media, read the article Mailers work to ‘green’ their Marketing and check out the list of Green/Environmental Marketing Resources at Direct Magazine Online.
July 21st, 2008