Tag: marketing


Upcoming marketing workshop is a tasty combination of my passions

Upcoming marketing workshop is a tasty combination of my passions

I’m planning a day-long marketing workshop with a friend who is, among other things, an improv actress. If you know nothing else about improvisation, you might recognize the foundational concept of “Yes, and,” which encourages actors to accept what others do on stage and build on it. Everything about the creation of this marketing workshop we’re calling “Learning to market yourself…

Marketing Monday: Nuts and bolts tips for networking

Marketing Monday: Nuts and bolts tips for networking

Last week I wrote about some of my strategies for making the most of conferences. But once you’re done thinking big thoughts like “Which conferences are the best fit for me?” and “What message do I want to convey?” there’s practical matter of executing well. A few pointers I’ve picked up over the years: 1. Keep your business cards in…

Marketing Monday: Making the most of conferences and trade shows

Marketing Monday: Making the most of conferences and trade shows

I’ve just come back from a conference where I had more good conversations than I could count, got good ideas and business leads, and came away reinvigorated. That wasn’t an accident. I’ve been to enough conferences that I’ve developed some strategies about how to make them work for me: 1. Choose conferences carefully — I’m not a highly sought after…

Marketing Monday: Sales pointers gleaned from author Michael Port

Marketing Monday: Sales pointers gleaned from author Michael Port

Entrepreneur magazine hosted a half-day workshop on selling professional services last week, anchored by Michael Port, author of “Book Yourself Solid.” I took away several helpful ideas and pointers so today’s Marketing Monday is some highlights: 1. There are certain people you are meant to serve. Your job is to find them and push away the people you are not…

Marketing Monday: It's important to know what you're not

Marketing Monday: It's important to know what you're not

I’ve worked with three different clients in the last week where at some point we talked about who they are — and who they are not. While we worked on social media planning, one set of clients were very direct in saying they don’t think their target customer is using Vine and they don’t think Pinterest makes sense for them.…

Marketing Monday: Does your marketing plan work with your sales process?

Marketing Monday: Does your marketing plan work with your sales process?

Marketing means many things to many people, but the traditional definition generally includes what products you’re selling at what price, in what place and with what promotions. Depending on your business, you might translate that to anything from what your slogan and logo are to what kinds of brochure or website you use to communicate with customers and prospects. However…

Marketing Monday: How to build a better relationship with the media

Marketing Monday: How to build a better relationship with the media

I’ve been on both sides of the media relationship — I’ve been a reporter and editor getting pitched every day and I’ve worked in public relations trying to get journalists interested in covering University of Michigan. Like any relationship, when it works well, everyone wins. The journalist gets to tell an interesting story she might not have otherwise known about,…

Marketing Monday: 5 tips for better do-it-yourself market research

Marketing Monday: 5 tips for better do-it-yourself market research

I’m starting a series called Marketing Monday, with tips and tricks on more effective marketing, from market research to social media, from public relations to branding. Eventually I plan to move the series to a new website at colleennewvine.com, but in the meantime, I think improving sales and customer communications is close enough to improving your personal and professional life…

Crowdsourcing the next step in my business — would love your input

Crowdsourcing the next step in my business — would love your input

Earlier this year, I launched Newvine Growing as a marketing communications consulting firm, with offerings including media training, social media coaching and strategic planning. One of my next steps is providing coaching to those who don’t have the budget for one-on-one consulting but would benefit from a cookbook with guidance on press releases, marketing materials and email newsletters, for example.…

An idea worth stealing: Sponsor A Day

An idea worth stealing: Sponsor A Day

MediaPost recently had an article about a Florida guy named Jason Sadler who is making money from a simple but compelling idea: The idea was simple, if sartorially limiting: Sadler, 27, decided that on Jan. 1, 2009, he would wear a company’s logo t-shirt all day, broadcasting video and photos of himself on various social media, including ustream.tv and Twitter…

A focus group of one and the dangers of data

A focus group of one and the dangers of data

I don’t know if I’m a scientifically valid sample, but recently I had an a-ha moment recognizing my own behavior with my blog and the implications it might have in the media business. I’m a data geek and WordPress enables this compulsion by giving me access to who has clicked on which postings, where they came from, what search terms brought…

"Editing Letter" becomes YouTube hit

"Editing Letter" becomes YouTube hit

Lara Zielin is my sparkly, cute author friend. I think that’s a big part of why her silly YouTube parody, Editing Letter, has become such a hit — she’s just doggoned likeable. Lara’s first novel, Donut Days, is due out this summer. She worked hard on lengthy revisions to get it ready for publication and poked fun at the writing…

Letting the economy nudge you into chasing your dream

Letting the economy nudge you into chasing your dream

I’m a big believer in the silver lining — that what initially looks negative can turn out to be a real positive. You might just need to be willing to accept that disguised gift. The New York Times recently ran a story headlined Weary of Looking for Work, Some Create Their Own. Part of the story says: Plenty of other…

Joel Zeff, journalist-PR guy-comedian-speaker-author

Joel Zeff, journalist-PR guy-comedian-speaker-author

Remember in high school art class, when you learned that two parallel lines like railroad tracks converge in the distance? Joel Zeff’s career path looks like that, with his day jobs as a reporter and PR guy merging with his hobby as a stand up comedian and improv troupe member in his current incarnation as a motivational speaker. The beauty…