15May 2005 by Bob Cargill 6 Comments

Top 6 Tips for Blog Design

Blogging
While waiting to unveil my blog's new look and feel, I can't help but think there's no better time than now to talk about good blog design. But, of course, that's more Lisa Sabin's bailiwick than mine. Owner and founder of E.Webscapes, Lisa's services include blog and Web site design, maintenance and hosting. I'm glad to comment on blog strategies and content development, but when it comes to the layout, functionality and actual installation of such a newfangled, Web-based, self-publishing platform, I defer to Lisa. So without further ado, here's what she has to say: Top 6 Tips for Blog Design by Lisa L. Sabin Owner/Founder of E.Webscapes 1. Don't underestimate the power of your blog's logo. Site branding is popular terminology that basically means just what it says --…
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09May 2005 by Bob Cargill No Comments

A New Marketing Commentator

Blogging
After 15 months and some 33,000 words, A Fine Kettle of Fish is finally getting a makeover. That's right, in just a few days my blog will have a brand, new look and feel (thanks to Lisa Sabin of E.Webscapes), not to mention a number of bells and whistles that are long overdue. Call it a redesign. Call it a relaunch. Call it A New Marketing Commentator. Yes, I’m even giving it a new name. While it’ll still be comprised of insightful, candid commentaries on direct marketing and advertising trends, developments, topics and issues, this second incarnation of my blog will not only be more visually engaging, but it will also incorporate the functionality of some of today’s most sophisticated blogs. See for yourself. Come back soon. It should be…
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04May 2005 by Bob Cargill No Comments

Why Nonprofits Should Blog

Blogging, Fundraising
A few months ago, I read an article in The NonProfit Times suggesting that most nonprofit organizations don't collect enough feedback from their constituents. I couldn't have agreed more, and said as much in a letter to the editor of the publication. It's as clear as the day is light that many organizations, nonprofit and commercial alike, don't engage openly enough with the marketplace because they're reluctant to leave themselves exposed to the possibility of negative comments and criticism. By not even attempting to close the loop, however, they don't know what people really think about their services, products, mission and values. By keeping their donors and customers at arm's length, they're fostering relationships that, in effect, can't possibly live up to their full potential. ...which is one very big…
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28Apr 2005 by Bob Cargill No Comments

Premiums as Good as Money in the Bank

Advertising, Direct Marketing
Experienced direct marketers know that an effective way to optimize their offers is to give away premiums as incentives to buy. Subscribe to this or that magazine and take delivery of a calculator or compact disc, compliments of the publisher. Give to such and such nonprofit organization and receive a free umbrella or tote bag. Buy something from us and we’ll give something to you. It’s only human nature, after all. People are more inclined to try something new if you can dangle an attractive, appetizing come-on as a reward for their business. You have to think quid pro quo. Which is precisely what banks in the Boston area are doing a lot of lately, according to an article appearing in today’s business section of The Boston Globe.“Banks have been…
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21Apr 2005 by Bob Cargill

26 Tales of Triumph, One Winning Campaign

Advertising, Boston Marathon, Cause-Related Marketing, Public Relations
Some 20,000 people ran the Boston Marathon just a few days ago (I was one of them, plodding my way along the legendary, 26.2 mile course – all the way from Hopkinton to Boston – in a painful, interminable 4:24:51), but only 26 of them had been selected to tell their stories prior to the mother of all road races and heralded as one of the Saucony 26. For the chosen few, it must have been a tremendous honor to be able to personify the marathon as such pillars of inspiration. From a marketing standpoint, of course, putting a warm, identifiable face on the company and its products was a brilliant way for Saucony to connect with its constituency. “While each person will have a very real and very intense…
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12Apr 2005 by Bob Cargill

Running the Boston Marathon for Charity: A Personal Fundraising Initiative (Update)

Boston Marathon, Direct Marketing, Fundraising
With only a few days to go before the 109th Boston Marathon, it's a good time for me to follow up on the four-part, 2,637-word article I posted here in A Fine Kettle of Fish a couple of months ago on my experiences running this legendary race for charity. If you read my original piece, you know that I’ve participated in the Boston Athletic Association’s Boston Marathon Charity Program three times already, once for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (in 1996), and twice for The Home for Little Wanderers (in 2002 and 2003). And less than a week from now I’ll be doing everything I can to successfully complete the long, laborious 26 miles and 385 yards from Hopkinton to Boston once again, but this time around for a different charitable…
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04Apr 2005 by Bob Cargill No Comments

Direct Mail is Alive and Well

Direct Marketing
Despite all the attention being paid by marketers today to exciting, newfangled online channels and strategies, traditional direct mail is very much alive and well and more effective than ever in reaching individual customers and prospects. That appears to be the premise – which, as much as I’m enamored with the Internet, I certainly couldn’t disagree with – behind the U.S. Postal Service’s recent launch of Deliver, a free, bi-monthly magazine that, according to the March 14 issue of B to B, “explores how the U.S. mail can play a key role in companies’ overall marketing.” If you weren’t one of the several hundred thousand to receive the March issue, you can apply for your own complimentary subscription here.Creative Directors Take Note In the March 28 issue of Adweek (where,…
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31Mar 2005 by Bob Cargill

A Smorgasbord of Boston Restaurant Ads

Advertising
Before I got married, like most 20- and 30-somethings, I did my fair share of wining and dining and painting the town red. It was fun while it lasted.Today, with a home in the suburbs and four children under the roof, my wife and I are certifiably too encumbered to get into Boston for dinner, drinks and dancing. It’s just not our time to party. Sure, we still enjoy the night life and we’re certainly not housebound, but it’s a lot easier for us – and frankly, more affordable – to eat out nearby instead of venturing into town.Every once in a while, though, I’ll open up one of those roadside newspaper boxes and pick up a free copy of The Improper Bostonian, where we’ll read all about how –…
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25Mar 2005 by Bob Cargill No Comments

Marketing Miscellany III

Blogging, Direct Marketing
If you haven't gotten around to it yet, don't hesitate any longer to pick up a copy of The New Marketing Conversation: Creating and Strengthening Relationships Between Buyers and Sellers. Written by Donna Baier-Stein and Alexandra MacAaron, both past presidents of the New England Direct Marketing Association (NEDMA), it’s a comprehensive model for marketing in the new millennium, an indispensable guide for anyone selling, well, anything.Speaking of NEDMA, those who attended the association’s 26th Annual Paul Butterworth Copywriting Seminar the other night in Boston heard from a trio of illustrious direct marketers, all previous winners of the New England Direct Marketer of the Year award – Steven Tharler (Tharler/Opper), Nancy Harhut (Hill, Holliday) and Tracy Emerick (Taurus Direct Marketing). This free seminar – named after the late, great copywriter whose…
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