Tag Archive for: Michael E. Zimmerman

Barista making coffee at a typical local business

Guerrilla Tactics for Local Businesses

We seem to get a lot of questions from local businesses about Guerrilla Marketing: how it works, how much it costs, whether it’s “beneath” a reputable business, and so on. So we thought we’d take a moment to answer some of those questions and maybe expose a few myths.

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Parking garage striped with white paint

A Marketing Dilemma for the Striping Paint Industry

Last week, we hired a contractor to spray a thick coat of tar on the small parking lot we share with a neighboring business. The prep work was substantial, as the two lots had fallen into disrepair under previous owners. Weeds had taken root in small cracks and in the crevices that mark where the original macadam was laid in sections. We completed the necessary pre-work, applying a bay-safe herbicide to kill the weeds at their roots, and scraping away the dead remains of the weeds. The new tar adhered beautifully, and provided an even black surface for the entire lot. Unfortunately, it also covered all of the parking lines.

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test your email before sending

This is Not a Test

Early this morning, we emailed our first quarterly marketing update to a patch-worked list of friends and clients. As with any first edition, the road to “ready” had been long and bumpy. But having worked through several test rounds with our freelance designer, we felt confident in the product, and it felt good to finally say, “Send it!”

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500 LinkedIn buttons

The Magic 500

Five Hundred. It seems to be the magic number on LinkedIn. At 500 connections, the site stops counting. “500” means “you’ve arrived” – you are part of the elite, those who constitute the upper crust of business’ primary social media site. When you pass 500, your number freezes at “500+.” You may have 501 connections, or five-hundred-thousand. It doesn’t matter anymore. Up here, you’re all equal. The competition ends.
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Blogging can be traced back to Benjamin Franklin!

The Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Blogging

According to Blogging.org, more than 42 Million blogs are published in the United States. Given the current U.S. population (315 Million), that means if you can count to eight, you can find a blogger. Cumulatively, these blogs generate more than half-a-million posts, every day, and attract more than 25 Billion page views per month. Yes, that was billion with a “B.”
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malaprops and other gaffs

Malaprops – When Words Say More than We Intend

We all misspeak. And sometimes, it’s comical. From Yogi Berra to George W. Bush, no one is immune to gaffes. But when the words we choose take on more meaning than we intended, it can be ironic, and maybe good for a few laughs, in which case, we call them malaprops.
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Bargain brand Dinty Moore in a Can

A Bargain at Half the Price

I admit it. I’m a Craigslist addict. It’s not that I expect to find anything on Craigslist that I actually need – that’s not the point. It’s the dream of finding something of great value at a ridiculously low price. Years ago, it was flea markets. I seldom found anything of value at the markets, but again, that wasn’t the point. I was addicted, and had been since childhood. When I was young, I would accompany my father on Saturday morning trips into town. Dad had a penchant for bargains. He once brought home an entire case of Dinty Moore Beef Stew, not because anyone in the house actually ate beef stew, but because it was a bargain, at less than ten cents per can. That’s how my father shopped, as if at a restaurant, reading every line from right to left, in search of the best deal.
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cubicle workers in a 40-hour environment

End of Another 40-Hour Work Week

According to the BBC, the tiny nation of Gambia has shortened the work week to four days, making Friday a day of rest. Of course, workers still log 40 hours per week, they just do it in four days. And where are we, by comparison?
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German cars inspire enthusiasm

Enthusiasm Out the Wazoo

There was a time when enthusiasm was all you needed to get by. Things were less technical, then. Selling was done door-to-door. And “word of mouth” happened over coffee cake, at a friend’s house, or at the church social.
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