As 2012 begins, many people’s fresh New Year’s resolutions are already being challenged by the old realities of our everyday routines. If work, school, family and other activities continue to chip away at keeping your resolutions, I’d like you to consider a simple question:  Are you living your life backwards?

You can see this is not a typical blog post intended to educate you on ways to grow your client base or build brand loyalty. This one is aimed at your heart and personal wellness.

As I said, the New Year can get busy quickly – rushing to secure new business to meet this year’s budget, getting the kids back into the swing of school and homework, doing the taxes. Add this to our usual list of responsibilities, and the struggle to take

care of ourselves seems overwhelming. Finding time to take care of ourselves – go to the gym, prepare a healthy meal, read a book with your child, make an appointment with the doctor or even get a full night of sleep – seems impossible. The key word here is “seems”.

The Dalai Lama summed it up when asked what surprised him most about humanity. “Man,” he said. “Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. Then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die and then dies having never really lived.”

As you are rushing through new assignments at work or helping the kids with their latest “independent study” project and you find your stress level rising, ask yourself this question:  Am I living my life backwards?

If your answer is “yes,” then perhaps it’s time to make yourself a higher priority. Remember that without good physical and mental health as a base, the rest of your life suffers. If you really want to live, create some balance and schedule your “me” time as carefully as you’ve been scheduling your client meetings. If you’re worried about the impact on your work, don’t. For in the end, your effectiveness and productivity will rise along with your mood and energy.

Wishing you good health and happiness in the coming year!

Whether it’s for B2B or B2C communication, an app is a powerful tool that, if used properly, can help you to promote your business, services, products and solutions to your customers.

As a consumer myself, I use an app that provides great value to me and leads me down the purchasing path every time, which can be dangerous! I have the passion for fashion, and I happened to find an app online that is geared specifically towards men. It’s from Valet, the modern men’s magazine, and best of all, it’s free to download on your Apple^® products.

Here are different ways Valet helps to promote and market fashion labels, vendors, etc., to consumers:

• Features the latest designers and previews of their clothing
• Features a daily morning report on a style of clothing, accessory, etc.
• Directs the consumer to website links where previewed clothing can be purchased
• Provides daily tips related to fashion, grooming and culture, and directs customers to the vendors being promoted
• Delivers concierge-like service for tailoring services, dry cleaners, etc., in nearly 100 cities

This app is at my fingertips and provides me with access to the latest and greatest in men’s fashion. Without it, I wouldn’t have a simple way to purchase unique clothing/services/accessories from these non-traditional designers, who don’t offer their lines at major retailers such as Nordstrom or Macy’s.

To access this free app, go to the Apple App Store, type ‘Valet’ in the search field, and then simply download. In addition to the iPad^® version, an iPhone^®/iPod touch^® version is also available for free.

“If you want your car to last for a long time, never EVER miss an oil change.”

That advice was embedded in my head by my parents ever since the day I turned 16. Thirteen years later I have yet to miss an oil change on any of the cars I’ve owned, and honestly, I have to say that my parents were right.  All of my cars have needed minimal maintenance and remained in tip-top condition for years at a time.

Cars and Marketing engines alike need regular maintenance

I believe that clients also need “oil changes” to their marketing approach every once in a while.  Too many times marketers, myself included, can become overly comfortable with how we’ve been marketing for our clients. Sometimes, it seems easier to slightly tweak pieces that showed positive results in the past than to develop new tactics.

Truth is, the environment, people’s behaviors, and much more change every year, sometimes every month. If you’re basically using the same marketing tactics year after year, you can’t always count on the same results that you received from those initial attempts.

If you’re struggling with ideas of how to freshen up your marketing, check out this blog: “Five Simple Ways to Refresh Your Marketing.” It’s short and sweet, and it will get your brainstorming wheels a-turning! Or if you’re looking to rejuvenate a specific campaign, check out this article.

Really, there’s no excuse. Having limited time doesn’t cut it. Focus on what’s best for your client and keep their marketing engine fresh and in top-notch condition.

Tis The Season…To Email Your Customers

Well, it’s that time of year again.  The decorations are out, cards are cluttering mailboxes, festive cheer is in abundance, shopping malls are packed to max, people are driving crazier than ever…yep, tis the holiday season!

During the final few months of the year, peoples’ lifestyles seem to change drastically with everyone focusing on the upcoming holiday festivities. I think that most B2C marketers would agree that the holidays are a prime time to market to consumers seeing as how consumer spending increases so drastically in December. But what about for B2B customers?

Actually, there are many reasons why the holidays are the perfect time to market to B2B customers as well:

-          End of the year is a perfect opportunity to help B2B customers meet their Q4 and end-of-year business goals.

-          December usually sees the number of business trips and meetings decline, so B2B customers may be more receptive to receiving ads.

-          There may be some budget left over that B2B customers are looking to spend.

-          The B2B sales lead generation cycle can be long, so businesses won’t want to start the new year poorly. As noted in the article, “Christmas ideal time for B2B marketing, expert claims,” most sales (16 percent) come three months after the original lead generation and businesses that don’t market around the holidays may find that sales conversions don’t happen until well into the new year.

Image courtesy of Indiandiary.wordpress.com

So what types of marketing communications should you focus on in December? That’s simple; emails, emails, emails! According a study conducted in the month of November by Experian CheetahMail, a provider of integrated email, social, mobile and display marketing, emails significantly outperform other types of offers or campaigns during the holiday season.

Having said that, it is important to note that email volume increases significantly during the holiday season, making it more challenging to break through your targets’ inboxes.  In fact, according to the article, “Email Marketing Companies: Should B2B Marketers Celebrate Christmas?” by David Sims, there was a 20 percent increase in email volume last year and this year is showing additional incremental change in volume as well. This makes it even more challenging for B2B marketers to get through to their end users who are already seeing an influx of extra messages.

So how do you break through the proverbial holiday clutter and mass of Black Friday and Cyber Monday blasts? Be creative! Try sending emails later in the day so they are not deleted with the others, or perhaps changing the distribution schedule and frequency of your email marketing. As always, the goal is to get your customers to opt into your program.  This not only engages your customers, but also gives them the option to customize the emails they receive from you, especially during the holiday season.

Are you engaging in email marketing this holiday season? Do you find December a good time to market to your customers? What is your favorite holiday tune?