RSS Today and in the Future

Posted on 8/14/2008 @ 11:53 AM in #Technology by Justin 0 comments

The power of "Real Simple Syndication" or RSS ishow it essentially asks prospects to opt-in to having your marketing message interrupt their day. This goes a long way toward having a truly interactive, value-exchanging conversation with your target buyers. This will quickly differentiate you from your competition, help you to retain customers, and shorten the sales cycle.How can RSS be used today and in the future? Primary delivery channel for newsletter content Contextual Advertising based on the feed’s channel Sponsored Items in the feed Press Room Subscription for Journalists Software/Policy Updates Technical Support Notification (scheduled maintenance, etc.) Unfortunately there’s nothing "simple" about "real simple syndication." In fact, beyond the technology knowledge needed, you need to start with something worth syndicating. Learn more about how there's nothing simple about RSS on JDM's blog: Big Marketing Ideas: Marketing as an RSS Conversation

Marketing Differentiation

Posted on 8/14/2008 @ 11:48 AM in #Marketing by Justin 0 comments

Differentiation is a process of discovering what your business and its products can say that no one else can. Ease-of-use or customer service, for example, is what everyone says. The key to successful differentiation is to look for the "Capo d’astro Bar." Check out JDM's blog posting: Big Marketing Ideas: Look for the Capo D'Astro Barto get the full story of the Capo d'astro Bar. This and othermarketing tips and campaign strategies can be found on JDM's new website.

Buy Bear; Sell Bull

Posted on 8/6/2008 @ 5:25 PM in #Business by Justin 0 comments

Buy low and sell high. Could any investment strategy be more simplistic? In times like these, many forget this basic principle. Here we look at how a Bear market is really a lamb in wolf’s clothing. The terms "Bear" and "Bull" markets come from how these animals attack. Bears stand to attention on their hind legs and attack downward using their tremendous weight as leverage. A bull, conversely, attacks upward with its sharp horns and powerful neck. The definition of a Bull or Bear market is cause for debate. The definition I use regards perception and perception is what really drives any market. In a bull market, investors buy because of a perception that the price will continue to rise. In a bear market, investors hold or sell but don’t buy as they perceive the market to continue to fall. What’s interesting is that these are self-fulfilling prophecies. If investors believe the market to fall into decline, then the market will decline. The inflection between a Bear and a Bull market comes when perceptions

10 Things You Must Know About Sales People

Posted on 8/6/2008 @ 5:22 PM in #Marketing by Justin 0 comments

1. ALWAYS keep in mind that sales is about closing deals, not about getting leads! If leads turn into sales you win with sales. But they don't get paid for working early pipeline leads, only for closing deals!2. Sales will ALWAYS focus on the latter stages of the sales pipeline. If you want to get sales support, make sure you clearly state how you will help them build their EARLY pipeline so they can FOCUS on the latter stages of the pipeline.3. You only get one bite at the apple! This is absolutely true in larger sales organizations. If you roll something out to the sales team and a couple of the top performers don't like it, it has bugs, or it is not supporting by the VP, you risk losing traction on the whole initiative before it even starts.4. Sales people like spiffs! Just like gifts at Christmas time, sales people like to be given things. Just look at the rewards structure set up in most sales organizations. Don't expect a sales force to just jump on board unless there is something in it for them

Search Engine Innovation - Who Knew?

Posted on 8/6/2008 @ 5:18 PM in #Web Related by Justin 0 comments

Ask anyone which search engine they use to find information on the Internet and they will almost certainly reply: "Google." Market research tell us that people actually use four main search engines for 99.99% of their searches: Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask.com (in that order). What could be holding out the .01% of the market? What’s interesting is that there are actually hundreds of thousands of search engines holding on to the last 100th of a percent of the market. They have stayed alive because they are the innovators. Let’s take a look at one. Wow, Ms. Dewey! The first thing that almost everyone sees when they go to search the Internet - the ubiquitous Google homepage. That famously sparse, clean sheet of paper with the colorful Google logo is the most popular Web page in the entire World Wide Web. For millions and millions of Internet users, that Spartan white page IS the Internet. Staring at an almost blank sheet of paper has become, well, boring. There’s room for innovation. Take Ms. Dewey, an

Excerpts from "The Psychology of Marketing" White Paper

Posted on 7/25/2008 @ 5:55 PM in #Science by Justin 0 comments

Fact is, marketing is by definition is psychology applied to business. Customers make purchase decisions based largely on the messages they receive. However, are our marketing efforts crafting that message carefully enough? What are the psychological and physiological factors that influence how we receive and retain a marketing message? The following excerpt from "The Psychology of Marketing" covers the power and psychology of intrigue. Human eyes don’t see everything at once; the mind fills in the gaps. We are unable to remember every explicit detail so our mind manufactures the details tying the notes our mind took at the time together. The human mind is an eight pound guessing machine, so what happens when it receives an incomplete marketing message? It goes to work trying to solve the puzzle. Teaser campaigns play on our interest in solving the partial message. The key is to make that partial message so strange or provoking that the mind can almost make out the answer but never does until the

Underdog Marketing in a Down Economy

Posted on 7/10/2008 @ 3:07 PM in #Marketing by Justin 0 comments

Mark Willaman recently wrote a posting about marketing in a slow economy. You can check out the post on his blog, HRmarketer Blog. In it, he mentions investing in your company when times are tough, because things will eventually get better. That’s the whole idea of "buy low and sell high." It got me thinking. In an economic slowdown (dare I say the “R”-word) businesses usually look to the far future and in the meantime, hunker down and weather the storm. They fire all but a few of their accounts, eliminate in-house IT support, and especially look at marketing as a financial open wound. HOWEVER, there is a real opportunity for outsourced marketing, IT and Accounting businesses in this economy. An outsourced services firm can offer an entire firm of expertise for the price of a single new employee. In regards to marketing, specifically, as marketing budgets for large competitors shrink, the playing field is beginning to level. Imagine actually being able to out-spend and out-market your larger

Justin Downey Marketing is now "JDM. Marketing Evolved."

Posted on 7/7/2008 @ 2:33 PM in #Marketing by Justin 0 comments

JDM is now a full-service marketing firm providing our Texas-based clients marketing services that combine proven strategies, innovative tactics and emerging technology. We're developing cutting-edge marketing activities that not just revolutionize marketing, they evolve it.The traditional agency model can be painfully inefficient and teeth-grindingly—well traditional.We characterize our approach as Marketing Evolved™ because like evolution, we're not reinventing what's already working. We innovate what could work better or differently, test it based on hard data, and then incorporate it.By combining marketing strategies proven by testing, incorporating creative and innovative tactics and utilizing the latest emerging technology, JDM is able to provide our clients (and sometimes agencies) more than just traditional marketing, but evolved marketing.Need examples? Check out our marketing portfolio & case studies and see how even the most traditional marketing activities can still leave room for JDM innovation.

Rebranding is not for Governments

Posted on 6/30/2008 @ 1:14 PM in #Politics by Justin 0 comments

In September of 2007, the Scottish Executive decided to change its name to The Scottish Government. Apparently, they read too many references like "The Scottish Executive (Scotland’s Government)."Obviously, naming a legislative authority, "The Scottish Executive" was daft. Attempting to rebrand a government for the sake of a citing symptom is dafter still.Rebranding is about changing for the better in a relevant way. It's about reconnecting with who you really are as a company, as a Brand and as a group of talented, passionate people. The French call it a "retour aux sources" or a return to your source.For a rebranding to work, it has to come from the inside. Superficial changes won’t work by themselves. As far as the Scottish go, did you hear the Irish originally gave them the bagpipes? The Scottish never got the joke.More on JDM’s rebranding in the next special edition of ipsumNEWS.

Is TV Commercial Skipping via DVR Piracy?

Posted on 6/11/2008 @ 3:46 PM in #Television by Justin 0 comments

We all wondered what would happen to traditional TV ads when DVRs finally caught on. The big question was, "Won't everyone fast-forward through the commercials?" This was of course the same question everyone was asking when the first VHS recorders hit the market in the 80's. In 2003, ReplayTV (a manufacturer of DVRs like TiVo) announced they are stripping the ad skipping feature out of their new DVR models because they are scared of a copyright law controversy. [ReplayTV strips ad skipping in new DVR models] We asked L. Ray Patterson, Professor of Professional Responsibility at the University of Georgia school of law, to weigh in. The competitor obeys the copyright; the consumer uses the work. The copyright owner, by reason of the Copyright Act and the copyright clause, has not only no right to interfere, but a duty not to interfere with the consumer's use of a publicly disseminated work. According to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House subcommittee overseeing copyright

IpsumNEWS released tomorrow

Posted on 6/5/2008 @ 5:00 PM in #Marketing by Justin 0 comments

IpsumNEWS is schedualed for release tomorrow. Here's what they had to say on Big Marketing Ideas: In "Creative Excuses", I explore the theme of this edition and in the spirit of creativity, relay some of the most creative excuses heard around JDM HQ offices.Our featured article, "Da Vinci versus Picasso", delineates (good word) the subtle differences between designers and artists.Our industry news article explains the controversy around DVRs and ad-skipping. Some say it amounts to piracy. We asked the legal experts.Finally, Justin Downey Marketing is announcing their intention to announce their rebranding initiative. It's more interesting than you think. Look for it at: www.IpsumNEWS.com. Origionally posted by Ian Ipsum for Big Marketing Ideas.

The Keys to Your New Hybrid Website

Posted on 5/9/2008 @ 5:35 PM in #Marketing by Justin 0 comments

Organizations around the world spend untold sums of money driving traffic to their corporate websites but few stop to think about what to do with all that hard-earned traffic. Why don't websites directly support sales activities? It has something to do with the troubled marriage of design, technology and hybrid cars.Take, for example, hybrid autos. The internal combustion engine and the electric motor are both decades old technologies, but it was an exciting innovation when they were put together. But what does this have to do with your website? There are just three keys to understand in order to ensure this marriage of design and technology will succeed in turning your website into a lead-generating machine.1 :: Demonstrate Don’t DebateOften corporate websites aim to convince the audience of their marketing message. Understand, however, that an enormous amount of content bent on debating with your audience is a sure-fire way of getting them to close the window and go elsewhere. Instead, demonstrate your

Backwards Marketing Budgeting

Posted on 5/2/2008 @ 1:05 PM in #Marketing by Justin 0 comments

When putting together your marketing budget, starting with a percentage of revenue, or building complicated SLAs or distributing detailed RFPs are all inefficient ways of determining your marketing budget and finding the perfect marketing firm for the job.Let’s work backward.Start with a final goal. This goal should be one that impacts you’re business greatly in some way. For example, let’s say that 10 new customers in a 12 month period will both generate a significant growth in your business but not overwhelm your resources.Let’s also say that 10 new customers are worth $10,000 per year (every year) in profit for your business.When setting your marketing budget, determine what reaching that goal is worth. In other words, what are you willing to invest (or gamble) to achieve that goal? That’s your marketing budget.Sound easy? It is. The hard part is discovering the firm that can confidently achieve that objective for a price that will generate a positive return on that marketing investment and will fit snugly

IpsumNEWS Volume II Released

Posted on 5/2/2008 @ 1:04 PM in #Marketing by Justin 0 comments

The second issue of IpsumNEWS is now available at: www.IpsumNEWS.comIt's been a month since our last issue and we're pleased to announce this latest version's release. Thanks to those of you who confirmed your subscription and a special thanks to those of you who pointed out the mistakes in the first issue. I have since learned how to use Spell Check.In this edition :: Marketing Jargon Heard Around the Office 3 Keys to a Sales & Marketing Hybrid Website Tax Tips for Procrastinators Business-Building Website White Paper Available IpsumNEWS will continue to be published monthly and sent to subscribers. If you haven't already, ensure you continue to receive IpsumNEWS by confirming your subscription.

Personalized TV Ads?

Posted on 4/9/2008 @ 7:27 PM in #Marketing by Justin 0 comments

We’re closer than you think.Currently, digital cable/satellite TV allows for user interactivity, specifically on-demand movies. There is an opportunity here for some technically-minded advertisers. What if TV ads we’re allowed the same level of interactivity and personalization?Some people think this is intrusive or technically impossible. I think they lack imagination.Technically, the technology already exists. When you order a pay-per-view movie and it already knows which you’ve watched and can display your account balance, your interacting on a 1:1 basis with your TV. Instead of the signal going to the cable company to display the movie you requested, the signal goes to the local pizza hut.Intrusive? A little too ‘big-brother’? Please.Think about why people hate commercials. Primarily, it’s because they speak to an over-generalized market of which you, the individual, is barely, if at all, a part of. Personalizing TV ads content will go a long way to keeping you from ‘switching that dial’.There is another,

Intern Put Incharge of Marketing Newsletter

Posted on 4/3/2008 @ 4:55 PM in #Marketing by Justin 0 comments

Over the last few months Justin Downey Marketing has been preparing the launch of our marketing best practices newsletter. Today, the wait is over.JDM is proud to announce, IpsumNEWS (that’s how someone decided we write it out). http://www.IpsumNEWS.com The newsletter features :: Marketing best practice articles Industry News Affecting small to mid-sized business Special offers and discounts from JDM and our Strategic Partners The newsletter will also allow our readers to submit their own business news for inclusion in the next IpsumNEWS. Why in the world is it called “IpsumNEWS?” Read the letter from the Editor/Intern. The newsletter will be published monthly and delivered to subscribers on the first Friday of each month. Be sure to join the mailing list. There will be only a limited number of subscriptions allowed and you’ll make the intern’s day.

Recession Threats Spur Alternative Marketing Strategies

Posted on 4/2/2008 @ 12:00 PM in #Finance by Justin 0 comments

“The evidence is now beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Scott Anderson of Wells Fargo & Company for the Wall Street Journal. According to a study conducted by the Wall Street Journal in early March, 70% of economist said that the economy is in a recession. What does that mean for your business? “If you remember your macro economics classes, during a recession, extravagant luxuries are the first to be replaced with more efficient, lower-cost alternatives.” Said Justin Downey, Managing Director of Justin Downey Marketing, a full-service marketing firm based in Dallas/Fort Worth. “In other words, when things are going well, people buy steak. When economic confidence is down, people buy beans.” Traditional, broad-stroked advertising and marketing strategies such as television, radio and mass print are extravagant, inefficient luxuries that must be replaced with efficient lower-cost alternative marketing strategies. As seen in our latest article, “Taking Advantage of 2008 Marketing Trends”, alternative

The Slander Campaign Strategy

Posted on 4/2/2008 @ 11:57 AM in #Marketing by Justin 0 comments

Slander is usually a dangerous play for marketers and a profitable play for lawyers. If successful however, it can pay off huge dividends, but tread softly—you wouldn't like it if it were played on you... Although political smear campaigns made this strategy a household name, the Slander Play is a viable strategy if it's executed carefully. Take for example, the above Dyson Ad. In this Ad, Dyson runs a textbook "slander play". Some might not even consider it a "slander play" at all. Don't be mistaken. It is a slander campaign, but one in which they've walked the line very, very well. In order for this strategy to succeed in more than making the lawyers rich, there are a few things you must keep in mind. Mention your competition, don’t promote them. They say there is no such thing as bad publicity. There is a tendency to communicate entirely too much about your competition. This amounts to a promoting your competition. Instead, promote the fact that there exists a competition in marketplace. Mention the

Da Vinci versus Picasso

Posted on 3/25/2008 @ 3:25 PM in #Art by Justin 0 comments

A lot of people think that designers charge too much money for something just to “look pretty”. Being a designer is very different from being an artist and the two are often confused. So who do you look for when you need a website for your small business? You don’t want to pay an outrageous fee for something you don’t know if it will generate business, but you don’t want your business to look unprofessional. You are left with the questions: Can my website sell my product? Convey the integrity and expertise of my business? A designer can be your best friend when it comes to the branding of your business. We are trained to think about all of these different aspects and keep them in the front of our mind when creating anything, from a logo to a website. We create for others. We develop products based on ideas brought forth by the client and implement techniques, ideals and principles to create a piece that achieves their marketing objectives whether they are generating new sales leads or promoting a new service

Trouble Finding Marketing Best Practices?

Posted on 3/18/2008 @ 4:56 PM in #Marketing by Justin 0 comments

At Justin Downey Marketing, we believe that an informed small business owner is a successful small business owner. That's why our website is filled to the brim with small business marketing best practices. From high-impact, low-cost campaign strategies to top secret marketing tactics and best practice white papers, our site has it all. Problem is, that's a lot of content... Thanks to Andy Boyd, Jenee Oxley and the Google Help Desk, we've just implemented search functionality into our website. Give it a try: www.justindowneymarketing.com. If you can't find the small business marketing information you're looking for, feel free to contact us and we'll be sure to put it in. First came AOL, then Google, now Justin Downey Marketing...