IBM’s Lessons Learned in Social Business

/in , /by
IBM’s Lessons Learned in Social Business

You can do social the hard way, or read these lessons learned by the IBM mid-market team

By Loraine Kasprzak, MBA

“I didn’t fail; I just found a thousand ways that didn’t work.” – Thomas Edison

In my previous post, I highlighted how IBM uses digital and social marketing to build its online eminence (think: Watson on Jeopardy), leverage the intellectual capital of its 400,000 employees, and provide deep-level content for its target audiences. This post resulted from my conversations with Leslie Reiser, Program Director of Worldwide Digital Marketing for IBM General Business.

Read more

Big Blue Blogs? IBM Goes Social

/in , /by

By Loraine Kasprzak, MBA

 

Big Blue Blogs? IBM Goes SocialWatson. Big Blue. Lotus. What comes to mind when you read these words? Most of us associate them with IBM, the Fortune 50 technology and consulting company. What you might not associate with IBM is social media, but the company is going social in a big way. By 2012, 90-95% of IBM’s marketing budget will be spent on social and digital tactics, including social and online media, blogging, online communities, and content delivery.

Read more

Tips from an Internet Entrepreneur for Running a Successful Online Business

/in , /by
Tips from an Internet Entrepreneur for Running a Successful Online Business

Deb Palacio started WebUndies in her basement, and grew it into a $1.5mm business. She shares insights for being successful online.

Entrepreneur and Advantage Marketing client Deborah Palacio was a guest recently on The Secrets of Success Women Entrepreneurs Radio program. Deb runs WebUndies.com,a business that she started in her basement in 1999, when few retailers were selling online. Today WebUndies is a $1.5 million business – and growing. The company sells licensed character underwear and loungewear at affordable prices with exceptional customer service.

Read more

Expand Your Sales Opportunities with Co-Marketing

/in , /by
Expand Your Sales Opportunities with Co-Marketing

You too can be a winner when you co-market your products and services with other businesses

Wouldn’t it be nice to expand your selling opportunities at low cost, and without hiring extra sales people? You can, when you co-market your products or services with other businesses.

When you cooperate with other businesses to promote your products and services jointly, you can reach more customers while sharing the cost. Co-marketing can also differentiate you from your competition because you can offer customers a richer buying experience.

Read more

I’ll Have the Special with a Side of Facebook Please

/in , /by

by Christian DeGobbi, PCM

I’ll Have the Special with a Side of Facebook Please

Simple tips for integrating Facebook in your company’s marketing

For businesses both large and small, integrating Facebook effectively into your marketing activities not only makes a lot of sense but can change the way your clients and prospects view your company.

Read more

Quick Start Checklist for Blogging

/in , /by

I had the opportunity to present “What’s the Big Deal about Blogging?” to the Institute of Management Consultants New Jersey Chapter. Many of the consultants who attended were new to blogging, so I shared the checklist below to help them get started.

Read more

10 Ways to Derail Your Marketing

/in , /by

by Loraine Kasprzak, MBA

10 Ways to Derail Your Marketing

Any one of these 10 marketing mistakes can derail your marketing — and your company’s growth.

$50,000 balloons and techies who can’t write are just two of the ways small business owners mess up their marketing, waste their money and then don’t achieve their business growth targets.

Here’s my top ten list of marketing mistakes business owners make:

Read more

Everything I Learned about Building Customer Loyalty I Learned from the Milkman

/in , /by
Everything I Learned about Building Customer Loyalty I Learned from the Milkman

The milkman knew that if you take care of the customer, the customer will take care of you.

by Loraine Kasprzak, MBA

My neighbor Stewart used to be a milkman with his own route through Westfield and the neighboring  New Jersey towns. He’d get up at 1:00 AM every weekday to load his truck and make his deliveries, returning home by noon to wash the truck and do paperwork. Stew worked hard.

Stew and I were chatting at a neighbor’s party one Saturday evening and over a few drinks we got to talking about the challenges of running a business. Turns out the guy who bought Stew’s route had run the business into the ground. “He didn’t take care of his customers,” Stew declared.

Read more

Social Media’s Dark Side: Phishing and Scams

/in , /by

Aujas, an Advantage Marketing client, is an information risk management firm knowledgeable about all things cyber-security related. I recently asked Karl Kispert, Aujas VP for Business Development, how social media users can protect themselves from scammers, especially on Facebook and LinkedIn. Here’s what Karl and his expert team had to say.

Read more

How Businesses Can Take Advantage of Social Media

/in , /by
How Businesses Can Take Advantage of Social Media

Technology Today host Rich Kazimir and I talked about how businesses can use social media to connect with customers

I was a guest last week on WDVR FM’s Technology Today radio broadcast. Host Rich Kazimir interviewed me about how small businesses can take advantage of social media. Here are some excerpts from our conversation.

Read more