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Archive | March, 2011

Newsletter #825: The “Ideas from Beer” Issue

[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I’d 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.] Like all boys from Milwaukee, many of my best business ideas come from beer. Here are a few to get […]

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Let your fans EARN the right to wear your logo

One of the greatest endorsements of your business is a fan who wears your logo on their clothes. It’s more that just exposure, it’s exposure with the implied personal endorsement of the wearer. That’s why I love this promo from Freebirds World Burritos. Fans get clothes in exchange for eating often. “Dammit, Mom — Yes, […]

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Be totally different — Love the IRS

Want to break through the advertising clutter? You need to be totally different in every way. Not another ad, not another list of benefits — something that makes people say “whoa!” Love or hate the IRS, you’ll definitely have an opinion about this promo from Webroot. I’m not sure I get the connection to Webroot’s products, […]

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Give your fans the tools to share your story

Is what you do hard to explain? If it is, you need to give your fans the tools they need to relay your message — documents, presentations, videos, etc. Even more important in a word of mouth world, you have very few ways to control the second- and third-hand conversations.  But if you create the […]

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Awesome greenness from Columbia Sportswear

Reduce, reuse, or recycle? Most businesses ignore the reuse option. Smart thinking (and right-on for this outdoorsy brand) from Columbia — a checkbox in the shopping cart that lets you request a used box. Save a ton of money, help the environment. (Most companies would reject this idea immediately as being unprofessional. But by asking […]

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The worst place to put an email subscribe form

We have certain places that we expect to see things on websites. Search goes in the top right corner. That’s the convention that web designers have chosen, and web users have learned to expect. So don’t put any other form in that spot — especially your email subscribe form. If you do, you’ll have an […]

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Newsletter #824: The “9 Ways to Promote a Book” Issue

[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I’d 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.] Millions of books come out a year, and every week it seems there’s a new must-read business book out. How […]

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“Chocolaty” = Someone’s lying to your kids

If someone describes food as “Chocolaty” instead of “Chocolate” — they’re intentionally trying to trick you. It’s not chocolate, it’s not food, and it’s a word invented to deceive. Take your business elsewhere.

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You WANT people to unsubscribe from your email lists

You know that email newsletter that shows up in your inbox that you never open. That you’ve gotten for years, and always intend to read it. So you don’t unsubscribe. For a marketer, these non-readers are purgatory. They make you think you’ve got a healthy list. But they are never, ever going to open, read, […]

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