Theatres New Twist on Luxury

In The Hollywood Reporter's "The Crazy Ways Theaters are Luring Moviegoers," Pamela McClintock gives us a preview of how theatres are tantalizing taste buds and upping the ante on the luxury experience. Plus, Caesars Palace rolls out the royal Roman carpet for CinemaCon 2011. Industry experts will get a taste of what's to come. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/crazy-ways-theaters-are-luring-171683

Avoid These 6 Common Email Marketing Mistakes Small Businesses Make

If email seems a little old school to you, you’re right. Email turns 40 this year, and it’s being outpaced by texting, instant messaging and Facebook messaging. As Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pointed out last year, email is too much of a “cognitive load” for younger people.

Yet you probably haven’t given up your Gmail account yet, have you? That’s because, despite the stigma of being a middle-aged technology, email is still useful and universally accepted. In fact, those who make a living from email marketing say there’s never been a better time to do what they do.

“Email marketing is getting more exciting because of some of the things you’re able to do with it,” says Chip House, vice president of relationship marketing at ExactTarget, “because of the ability to bake in social sharing. You can follow me on Facebook or tweet about this.”

For small businesses, email still represents a cheap, effective way to establish or maintain a relationship with clients. But there’s the rub. While the medium is fairly neutral-to-positive, the content has the power to either attract or repel. So before you hit “send” on your next batch email newsletters, take heed of these six common email marketing mistakes.

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New Keys to Buyer Loyalty

Buyer loyalty is the mysterious dance of turning occasional customers into brand champions. While one of the solutions is to make every customer feel like a VIP, social media has created a new trend that focuses on the "spenders" and the "senders."

Carol Roth discusses where we are heading and some of the keys to unlocking this tricky new territory. Read more on SmartBlog on Social Media.

Open Houses Make Money

Today is the start of our two-day open house. Concessions are a fun business. That’s why we call ours Fun Food Festivals. It’s our chance to share the passion for all the tasty treats, and invite buyers to test the equipment and speak to industry experts.

Whether you are in the concession business or any other direct sales business, open houses are one of the best ways to get the word out and encourage new business. But don’t think they have to be boring or bland.

Excitement is contagious. Celebrate what you do and create a fun atmosphere. Your guests will pick up on the energy, feel more connected to the business, and are more likely to trust someone that opens their “home” to them.

It’s also important to have something for guests to take. Standards like business cards and any reference materials are essential, but people also love anything free like gifts, samples, food, balloons, etc.

Lastly, never underestimate the power of a smile. Make sure you have someone to welcome guests. Creating a welcome atmosphere from the go can turn Looky Lous into buyers that recommend you to their friends.

Optimize Your E-mail Marketing for Social Media Results

Marketers plan to increase spending on e-mail and social media marketing more than any other tactics in 2011, according to a recent survey.

As marketers find opportunities to build audiences, conversation and conversions with clever cross-promotion between the two mediums, e-mail and social media tactics are becoming increasingly popular and intertwined.

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Sometimes, a marketing opportunity just falls into your lap!

Sno-Kone syrup comes in a wide variety of flavors. From your typical like strawberry and grape to the more exotic Blue Hawaiian or Kiwi. And unless you’re under the age of 14, you probably pay very little attention to it. That can make it a somewhat difficult product to market. At Gold Medal, we’re no exception. We’ve been making the stuff for the better part of 50 years, adding and subtracting to get flavors that appeal to a wide variety of audiences. Course, it can be hard to relate the appeal of a mango or fuzzy navel concentrate to someone who has never tasted. But, we keep making them and looking for ways to stand out in the Sno-Kone crowd.

...and then, Charlie Sheen falls into our lap!

See, we’ve been producing a cherry/coconut syrup named…you guessed it…”Tiger’s Blood” for more than 40 years. And suddenly, thanks to people’s interest in one eccentric Hollywood celebrity, we’ve got a hot seller on our hands.

So, from everyone here at Gold Medal Products, we’d like to say “Thanks, Charlie.” You’ve done for our marketing what it would have taken two and a half men to concept and create!

The Mistake That Can Kill Your Business

Too many times, as entrepreneurs, we get consumed with trying to do it all. We cram in one more email, one more blog post, one more sneak peek at Facebook or Twitter. We stay up late into the night tweaking one more ad, putting one more image on our website, or adding one more item to our to-do list. Sound familiar?

And pretty quickly, we go into overwhelm mode, where we’re busy putting out fires instead of believing in ourselves. We begin to crumble under the weight of our growing business, and we lose ourselves in escapism. We focus on only what has to be done today instead of looking forward to tomorrow, and we’re just relieved when our inbox finally gets to zero.

But is that what really matters most? Our inbox getting to zero? All those piddly things getting done?

No.

What matters most is to keep moving forward with our business. To block out the tidal wave of new emails, new Tweets, and “one more thing” and to remember, instead, to create every day. To bring something new into the world.

The Sales of a Smile

The other day I was walking my dog when a somewhat poorly-dressed man approached us. Normally, I would have avoided him, or at least tried to hurry past any encounter we might have. But, because the dog is a friendly type, we stopped. He smiled, petting the dog and inquiring about his name, breed and disposition. After a short conversation, he hit me with the sales pitch: he was trying to drum up business in the area for any handyman work. I apologized and told him I didn’t need it, but I would certainly pass the information on to a few friends who do.

Why would I go out of my way for a complete stranger like that? Simply because he figured out the number one rule in marketing: sell yourself with kindness and a smile. He showed an active interest in something that was important in my life (the dog) and was…well, friendly. Had he approached and immediately launched into a sales pitch, I would have ignored it, or at least forgotten it as soon as we moved on. And, as a marketing professional, I’m the most jaded of people when it comes to “falling” for the pitch!

No amount of slick advertising, or database research or gimmicks will ever replace the true, heartfelt friendliness of one-on-one interaction. Remember that when approached by customers. They don’t congregate in groups, or fit stereotypes, or fall into demographics. They’re real people, who approach you on a one-on-one basis, and like nothing more that to be valued, heard, and appreciated.

So give them your attention. Your smile. Your ear. If you do that with sincerity, they’ll buy…and keep buying…and tell their friends to buy. And that’s more valuable than any direct mail or email campaign.

Now, I need to go tell my friends about this terrific handyman Rascal and I met…

Keep These In Mind When Launching a Startup Business

These points may come across as basic, but these are the small points you should keep in mind when launching a startup business:

1. Start by thinking small and extend your thinking from there. Small and simple thinking will allow you to concentrate on what is important
   


2. Financial reward is good, but aspiring entrepreneurs should first look out for opportunities where they can learn. Allow employees to take on projects even if they don’t have the qualifications.
   


3. Don’t manage profit, but cash flow. Money in and money out should be the only two financial yardsticks that matter.
   


4. Perfection is the enemy of success (in case of startups). Speed is better than perfection.
   


5. Sell, sell and sell. Selling to everyone including business world, employees and suppliers. Sell yourself, sell your product, have a sales professional in your team.
   


6. Start NOW. Don’t wait.