« June 2007 | Main | August 2007 »
In our August issue, we posed the question "What technology are you waiting for?" to the members of our editorial advisory board. Their answers, whimsical, futuristic, and provocative appear in the August Pulse of the City. Post a comment here and tell us what technology you are waiting for. For example...
Recently a potential customer called me to ask "Why isn't my web advertising working?"
He was spending around a hundred dollars a month on targetted Google Advertising, and had actually done a pretty good job of working out what keywords were the right ones for his business. But he was getting no results - no new calls, no new orders, no new sales. What was he doing wrong?
In analyzing his situation we looked at two things - the advertisements themselves, and the website. The ads weren't all that bad - but they were very sales oriented. This is a common error that marketing people make when they create an online ad - they think in terms of print advertising. In print, radio, and TV advertising your goal is to get the advertisement reader to buy your product NOW, or remember you and buy your product LATER.
In search-based web advertising the ONLY GOAL is to get the user to click your link and go to your site. You can sell them all you want on the site but you need to get them to click through first.
Click through on the post continuation to see what to do to optimize your web ads, and what this customer's second mistake was...
Continue reading "Are you throwing your money away on web advertising?" »
This week Greater Rochester Enterprise (GRE) and the Small Business Council (SBC) will announce some conclusions and the next step in the Eyes on the Future program. In the meantime we'd love to get feedback on the event. What did you feel was great about Eyes on the Future, what could have been improved? Leave your comments here.
Things are looking up for Rochester. Being declared number 1 for quality of life in the country by EM Magazine is a bigger deal than you might think - thousands of business owners looking to locate their businesses read EM Magazine. In addition, our 70 page insert in US Airlines magazine means thousands of travellers a day are seeing the best of our city and region.
How are you and your company going to take advantage of this momentum? Are you reaching out to companies outside the region - as an ambassador, a dealmaker, a recruiter?
According to Expansion Management magazine, a top magazine for executives looking to relocate their companies, Rochester, NY is number 1 in quality of life out of over 350 other cities in the "large metropolitan region" category. Cities were evaluated on 50 different criteria. See this link for the article, which shows how they evaluated cities. You can check out how we ranked in the top ten at this link.
As a company you want to look for places to locate that allow you save money on salaries, while still allowing your workers to have the quality of life they need and deserve. Rochester gives you that - in spades!
Basically EM magazine is looking for places where the average worker can have a comfortable home, in a safe neighborhood, with excellent schools, for a reasonable proportion of your salary. The importance is not so much what salary you'll be getting, but what that salary will buy in terms of a lifestyle. Overall in Rochester you get the best combination of quality of life at a low price, and reasonably good salaries to afford that quality of life.
Criteria included affordable housing, good public schools, low crime levels, adult education level, standard of living, traffic and commuting, continuing education opportunity, commercial air access, and the general labor market. The quality of life ranking was for middle class lifestyle. Here's how we faired in each category:
Affordable housing - #4 behind Oklahoma city, Buffalo, Louisville
Public Schools - #6 behind Washington DC, Austin, TX, Phoenix, Baltimore and Richmond
Low Crime - #6 behind Boston, San Jose, Providence, Pittburgh and New York City
Adult education level - we did not rate in the top ten for large metros, or overall
Standard of Living - Rochester did not rate in the top ten for large metros or overall
Commute to work - Rochester was #2 behind Buffalo
Continuing Education opportunities - Rochester did not rank in the top ten
Commercial air access - Rochester did not rank in the top 10
Labor market - Rochester did not rank in the top 10
Our overall ranking put is in the "5 star Metropolitan Service Area" category
- Lee Drake
CEO OS-Cubed, Inc.
Join the dialog about how to improve our rankings in some of the categories we did not rank well in by checking out the Eyes on the Future site at www.eyesonthefuture.biz.
A popular axiom states “If you continue to do things the same way, you will always get the same results”. Too often advertisers adhere to marketing strategies that foster marginal or no results. It is essential at this point to take a step back to decide if new ideas and tactics should be implemented. Even the best marketing approach can become passe' and in need of refreshing. Here are some top tips on effecting positive change...
Continue reading "Effecting Positive Change in Advertising" »
Can't resist adding my voice to the many touting Katie Couric's failure at CBS.
I wasn't pleased or happy when they announced her addition to the nightly news. She's never been a favorite of mine. I didn't get her "perky" front and I didn't buy into her "I'm just like you!" facade. She's a second rate reporter, as far as I'm concerned - and it was a big, big mistake to give her the anchor job at CBS.
Well, lo and behold! I'm not alone. (and here I was feeling lonely - like I was the only one who saw the 'real' Katie - how wrong could I be!)...
Recent Comments