More and more companies are turning to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter as a new means of advertising their products and services, especially to those tough to reach young people. But if it’s showing up in this column, you can guess there must be risk involved.
The word “salesman” has earned the ill-fated reputation of being someone who can’t (or shouldn’t) be trusted. But business is based on sales, so what’s a business owner to do? My advice is stop calling them salespeople. Expert, advisor, or specialist are much better choices when it comes to labeling our employees.
The best of intentions can often lead to the worst of results. Technology can be a particularly problematic issue, especially when it comes to the areas of ergonomic issues and add-on (or aftermarket) equipment. If used incorrectly, these types of equipment can lead to sprains, strains, or even more serious injuries.
In his book, Confessions of an Advertising Man, noted ad expert David Ogilvy wrote, “The headline is the most important element in most advertisements.” To get the most out of your advertising dollars, you must make sure you give extra special attention to your headline.
In her confirmation hearings,
perhaps no part of Sonia Sotomayor’s judicial work received more attention than
her opinion in Ricci v.
DeStefano. This case illustrates the
problems employers face in trying to make employment decisions
without running afoul of Title VII - the law prohibiting employment
discrimination.
A fundamental truth that applies to improving employee job performance is that the degree of success improving any outcome, including the functioning of an HVAC system and employee job performance, is determined by whether all relevant interventions are used to achieve the desired improvement.
It may sound like the plot from a science fiction movie - through genetic testing, someone finds out she may develop a serious disease, her company finds out and fires her, and she can’t get health insurance because of this future health risk. Congress, though, took steps to ensure this scenario does not become reality.
The memory of consumers is short. Your customers and prospects will not remember an advertising message that they see or hear just once or twice. The message has to be repeated. For advertising to be successful, your message has to have sufficient frequency and continuity.
The changes to COBRA provide an employee with a subsidy from the government that covers 65 percent of the cost of COBRA health insurance coverage. The subsidy is a nice idea. But as always, the government decided to create a bunch of new administrative red tape for employers to deal with.
Before developing your advertising, you need to think about and develop a strategy. What is it that you want to accomplish? Just as you develop an overall marketing plan, you need to develop an advertising plan of attack. Once you formulate a winning strategy, you can employ it for years to produce effective advertising.