Today’s marketing tip is this: Do something good in your community – your new and potential customers will appreciate and remember your business for it. It reminds me of a civic marketing event I worked on, in which a bank wanted to express goodwill to the community. It created a special Senior Class Ball – but not for high school students. Instead, it was for Senior Citizens.The local high school gym was decorated like prom night, and all the senior citizens from one particular nursing home dressed up and enjoyed a night of dancing. All the women got corsages to wear, and the men, boutonnieres. The Senior Class Ball was a huge success, and the bank that sponsored the event firmly established its brand in the community. To market your business, think about your community, who you would like to benefit, and a special event you could create. This can be a very effective marketing strategy for any business, especially a small business. Check out my website for Maxima Marketing,my business.

You see it time and time again – business professionals who attend networking meetings, and stick onto their lapel a nametag that says, ‘HELLO MY NAME IS.”

Boooooring.

A plain ‘ol nametag will not get others to remember you.

An effective marketing tactic, and a smart marketing strategy, is to create something you can affix to your jacket, which will not only help people to remember you, but which can be used as a conversation starter.

As the co-author of the bestseller OFF THE WALL MARKETING IDEAS, I take the cover of my book, have it shrunk down, laminated, and made into a little nametag with a small clip, so I can attach it to my clothing. It definitely stands out from the crowd, and entices others to ask what this nametag is all about, thus setting the stage for a conversation. If you’ve won an award, shrink it down and do the same thing – people will definitely notice. Likewise, if you have a hobby that pertains to your business, think about how you can morph that idea into a nametag. Let’s say you’re a travel agent and your favorite destination is Maui – why not create a small tag with a palm tree on it along with your name? The options – and the marketing strategies they offer – are endless.

With a unique nametag used as your marketing technique, you’ll be the pro that everyone talks about, talks to – and remembers. That can very well impact your bottom line.
Check out my website for Maxima Marketing,my business.

It’s still cold outside, and I’m sure you’re waiting for spring and the warmer weather…and a nice warm beach. That reminds me of one of my very favorite marketing techniques, which was a marketing strategy used by the company Vacation.com. They purchased flip-flop sandals, and on the soles of the sandal, they had the words “Vacation.com” carved out. That way, everyone who wore those sandals in the sand, left an imprinted message advertising Vacation.com. Isn’t that clever? You can find such sandals at promotional products companies, such as Promotional Solutions in Melrose, Mass.. And if you’d like to do it yourself, what you can do is purchase bottles of suntan lotion – then all you have to do is create your own label advertising your business, with your contact information, which you can place over the actual label — then simply hand them out to existing or potential customers, as an inexpensive marketing technique that will help you to be remembered. After all, marketing is the art of making you – and your business – memorable. Check out my website for Maxima Marketing,my business.

I was flying on a plane recently, when the man sitting next to me woke me up with his awful snoring. I realized then and there, once again, just how much I hate to be rudely awakened by snoring. It got me thinking about, of all people, Dr. Jack Kevorkian. In a recent interview, Dr. Kervorkian explained how that when he was imprisoned, the worst thing about it was…….the snoring of all the inmates around him at night, each howling and cackling away in their cells. It got me thinking. What if the people in law enforcement, and corrections officers, used snoring as a marketing tactic — and a deterrent to a life of crime? As a Boston marketing consultant, I can tell you — if someone told me that if I committed a crime and went to jail, that I would never get a good night’s rest again — I would definitely stop dead in my tracks and think twice about breaking the law. Sure, the food is awful, the plethora of time is a killer, and just not being a free man is terrible — but I can’t function without a good night’s sleep. With a smile on my face I say this — This just might be the off the wall marketing tactic the world is waiting for.

Why do marketers at food companies and restaurants INSIST on creating unbelievably unhealthy — and caloric –creations, which I rate a full “10″ on the Disgust-o-Meter? As a Boston-based marketing consultant, and the author of the bestselling book OFF THE WALL MARKETING IDEAS, I love a creative idea when I see it — but these creations are truly revolting.  Take a look:

• DiGiornio’s packaged pizza with chocolate-chip cookies
• Denny’s new fried-cheese melt-in-a-grilled-cheese-sandwich, served with fries
• The KFC sandwich that uses fried chicken instead of bread
• Paula Deen’s fried macaroni and cheese revulsion made with bacon and bread crumbs
• Krispy Kreme’s Bread Pudding made with you-know-what, condensed mlk, raisins, and butter-rum sauce
• Marini’s in Santa Cruz., Calif., which creates chocolate-covered bacon
• Arizona’s Heart Attack Grill Menu that “boasts” the $12.95 “Triple Bypas Burger.”  The marketing here?  If you weigh more than 350 pounds, they’ll give it to you for FREE.

I wonder how these marketers sleep at night. Check out my website for Maxima Marketing,my business.

I’m the author of a brand new book, The Globetrotter’s Get-Gorgeous Guide: Diet and Beauty Secrets of Travel and Beauty Pros, Traveling Executives and Celebrity Travelers>. It made Number One on Amazon.com’s Bestseller List and is the world’s first beauty book for traveling women. As a marketing expert in the Boston area who is also the author of a bestselling marketing book (Off The Wall Marketing Ideas), I have a fabulous marketing technique for my new book which costs me practically nothing: free postcards from Vistaprint. (I just paid for the shipping.)
I simply uploaded the  book cover to the front of my postcard, and then on the back, wrote  descriptive copy about my book and included my contact info and website. But here’s the million-dollar marketing idea: I bring my postcards with me when I travel, and hand them out as I would do with business cards — to flight attendants, pilots, and passengers that I meet. I recently took two luxury cruises, and carried the cards with me everywhere, which I also distributed to some of the lovely people I met and connected with on the ships. All told, I handed out about 100 postcards on this last trip, and many of those people told me they would not only buy the book, but would post a review of it on Amazon.com. I know I’m on to something, and that the word-of-mouth and grassroots marketing that I have done with my postcards has really paid off. You can do it too! Vistaprint offers a wealth of promotional items for your business — or book — and I love ‘em all! I have purchased tote bags, T-shirts, notecards,notepads, stationery and more, all bearing my book’s cover and other affiliated artwork. Now go make yourself memorable!

Want to stand our from your competition? If you want attention and want to be remembered, try this advice:

When everyone else zigs, you’d better zag.

As a Boston-based marketing expert who also writes a wealth of travel articles, and is an expert in the travel industry, I know memorable marketing when I see it. That’s why when I recently sailed on The Yachts of Seabourn I was instantly impressed. Instead of the typical reception desk you find in hotels and on cruise ships, the new Seabourn Sojourn cruise ship boasts “Seabourn Square.” This town-square-type environment is the nerve center of the ship, where everyone loves to meet, get-together and hang out. It completely obviates and eliminates the traditional Reception Desk atmosphere, with waiting line and physical barrier (in the form of a Front Desk.) The cafe (with a wealth of complimentary coffee and pastries, of course) is always well-attended. In addition, there is also ample and comfortable seating with TV monitors; a special area with lounge chairs and many current magazines; a bank of computers for passengers to use; and in the middle of it all, a private check-in reception area. This brilliant idea is the brainchild of Micky Arison, CEO of Carnival Corporation, which is the world’s largest cruise operator. Everyone we talked to aboard the Sojourn loved Seabourn Square, and it’s easy to see why. It’s unlike anything else you’ve ever experienced on a cruise ship — and it’s dramatically different, and totally fabulous. Check out my website for Maxima Marketing,my business.

I love Maui (www.visitmaui.com). Every time we visit the Magic Isle, my husband Bill and I head to Warren and Annabelle’s Magic Show, which is the best show on Maui (next to Cirque Polynesia, that is). Owner and master magician Warren Gibson offers a fantastic up-close sleight-of-hand show that’s hilarious –and good clean fun — which is a treasure to see in the increasingly vulgar society we live in.

What does this have to do with marketing? Well, Warren, who hails from the South, but lives and works in Hawaii, has created his own “signature tag line” that he constantly says, and which is displayed in all of his marketing materials:

“Aloha, Y’all!

As a Boston-based marketing expert  who is skilled in signature tag lines, I believe that Mr. Gibson has truly found the unique verbiage that makes him memorable, which is exactly what I advise in my best-selling book OFF THE WALL MARKETING IDEAS. Warren, and his snappy salutation, are smart marketing that you’ll always remember.

WHAT THEY DON'T TEACH YOU AT HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

In my bestselling book OFF THE WALL MARKETING IDEAS (www.Marketingauthor.com)  I tell my readers that if you want to become known as an expert, one of the best ways you can do it is to write a book.  (In fact, I did just that three times and followed my own advice. My newest book is the bestseller THE GLOBETROTTER’S GET-GORGEOUS GUIDE, www.GorgeousGlobetrotter.com). Writing a book is a great, effective and smart way to differentiate and distinguish yourself in your profession. My Westwood, Mass.-based business, Maxima Marketing (www.marketingauthor.com,) assists all kinds of businesses with marketing and public relations so they can “make themselves memorable.”

And now, unfortunately, we have  reality star Snooki of JERSEY SHORE, who “wrote” a new book called A SHORE THING that is available on Amazon.com.  Her book was published by Gallery Books and costs $24.95. It’s insulting to all credible, hard-working, established authors when a reality star whose website is loaded with profanities, and who admits she’s only READ two books in her life, is deemed the “author” of a book — a book that in all likelihood she never even wrote a single word of. At least Amazon has some salient reviews of her book that say, essentially, “Steal This Book. Then Burn It” and “Finally, something worse than cancer.”