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Archive | May, 2010

What’s wrong with this mall?

Take a look at this pleasant-looking outdoor shopping mall. The awnings don’t connect. So when it rains, you’re trapped in a store, or have to make a mad dash to the next one. Instead of creating a place where people can go during bad weather, they’ve created a place people will avoid. Lesson: The little […]

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Lessons of the free umbrella

There’s an employee standing in a torrential downpour outside the Publix grocery store in Ft. Myers, FL. She’s loaning people umbrellas so they can get to their car. Then folks drive around and return it. That simple courtesy changes the story of the shopping experience, from a crappy rainstorm disaster to a surprisingly pleasant moment […]

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Word of mouth marketing advice for tourist destinations (and everyone else)

An interview I did after my keynote to the American Resort Development Association conference. Alan Schlaifer does the great interview. Thanks, Alan. More from AskMando.com. For additional ARDA convention highlights, visit ARDA Live from Convention. Here’s another bit I did at the show (pay attention to the part about dealing with negative word of mouth):

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Newsletter #784: The “Make It an Event” Issue

[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.] Great events can help you launch new products, celebrate your great work, and meet your biggest fans. How a few […]

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Give EVERYTHING away

Setting up a router is a pain in the butt. PortForward.com sells software that will set up your router for you. But they also give away the complete instructions to do it yourself. For free. They give away instructions for every router, every model. These are the complete instructions with no “gotchas”. Why? Because they […]

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If you’re not monitoring Twitter, you’re going to get nailed

Someone is running a fake Twitter account claiming to be the BP global PR team. It uses the BP logo. It’s rude, funny, and embarrassing to BP. And it has 20,000 followers. (BP’s real twitter account has fewer than 5,000 followers) BP could shut this down with one email to Twitter on trademark grounds. This […]

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Who’s next door?

A brand-new diner opened in our neighborhood. Word is that they have good food. But it’s empty. They should start a word of mouth campaign to the neighbors: A free pancake breakfast for the 100 families at the day care next door. A free lunch for the teachers at the high school across the street. […]

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Advice for students on social media careers

A student reporter asked for advice for students looking for a job in social media. Here’s what I said: Social media is changing every department at every company. It’s not just marketing — it’s all communications, HR, customer service, and everything else. Which means every department needs to hire for social media skills.  You have […]

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Transparency = Support

How do you get people to care about their local government? Show them how it really works. Lee County, FL gives a 5-day free course/tour where residents can see every major department of the local government. Recycling plants, court offices, transit department, morgue … everything. It’s one thing for people to complain about the cost […]

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