First, let’s explain what Pinterest is: A social media website that users post images and video instead of typed content. Users “pin” their interests (images or video) onto their virtual bulletin board. Their followers can see the pins and repin it onto their board, and/or like it to facebook.

Users can also organize their pins into multiple boards, allowing you to categorize your pins anyway you see fit. Currently, women are the largest participants, accounting for 87% of the entire user-base. One look at the site and you’ll see why. It’s visually stunning and many of the user boards I’ve seen are labeled categories like Wedding Plans, Decorating Ideas, Too Cute and Favorite Products.

So how do you know if you should be using Pinterest to promote your business? The first factor to consider is can your product or service be represented visually? It’s easily done for a Furniture Store, but this proves to be a greater challenge for a Financial Advisor.

Next you’ll need to consider if you have the resources to create images worthy of sharing. You’re going to want to post these images to your website, typically on a blog post. This is where the power of Pinterest comes in. When someone pins the image on your site, it includes a link back to you. So when people see that beautiful end table that Cindy pinned, they can click through to the website and buy one for themselves.

Finally, you’ll want to consider the demographics and engagement levels to determine if Pinterest fits your marketing strategy. Here’s an infographic that can help.

Infographicby MDG Advertising

The Hachiya is a beautiful fruit about the size of a medium peach, acorn-shaped with a shiny bright orange skin. It is strongly recommended that you each this variety only after it is fully ripe. If you eat it prior to the fruit being completely ripe, the taste will be very bitter and have an astringent

flavor. When ripe, the fruit has a sweet creamy taste. This variety accounts for about 20% of the persimmons sold in the United States.

The Fuyu, which makes up 80% of the U.S. market, is a squattier and rounder piece of fruit, almost like a tomato. It can be eaten almost immediately. It has a sweet, mildly spicy flavor.

China is the largest producer of persimmons, followed by Brazil, Japan and Korea. The United States grows very few persimmons compared to the other countries but virtually all the domestic crop come from California. Supplies are ample from October through December.

So be sure which variety you have before you take a bite. It could either be one of the best or worst experiences in expanding your fruit horizons.

Consider the slogan for Ryan’s Patio: Big Or Small, We Lay Them All. Sure it’s kind of funny, but their target market is homeowners. Is this the right slogan to entice a mother of three to call for a quote? (And good luck sponsoring a church event). What do you picture the crew is going to look like when they show up? How do you think they will behave while working in your back yard?

Writing a slogan can be an exiting endeavor, and as an ex-copywriter I’ve had my fair share of slogan assignments over the years. Oddly enough (insert sarcasm here), these assignments coincided with many sleepless nights. It’s probably because a good slogan is exceptionally hard to coin.

According to the top authority, the late Timothy R.V. Foster, a slogan should:

1. Be memorable
2. Recall the brand name
3. Include a key benefit
4. Differentiate the brand
5. Impart positive feelings for the brand
6. Reflect the brand’s personality
7. Be strategic
8. Be “campaignable”
9. Be competitive
10. Be original
11. Be simple
12. Be neat
13. Be believable
14. Help in ordering the brand

…and it should NOT:

1. Be in current use by others
2. Be bland, generic or hackneyed
3. Prompt a sarcastic or negative response
4. Be pretentious
5. Be negative
6. Be corporate waffle
7. Make you say “So what?” or “Ho-hum”
8. Make you say “Oh yeah??”
9. Be meaningless
10. Be complicated or clumsy

And of course…

1. You should like it.

That’s a lot to accomplish with only a handful of words — and it’s why there are so many bad slogans. A few of my favorite bad slogans include “The car in front is a Toyota”; “Chevy runs deep”; and BMW’s “Is it love?” (by the way, it’s not a coincidence that they’re all automotive).

These slogans define Foster’s don’t list to a tee.  So if you’re considering adding or changing the slogan for your company here’s my advice: Unless you can come up with something no-one else can say—and do it without drifting onto the don’t list—consider using the space below your logo for your web address. After all, this is prime real estate and your website is a more powerful tool for converting prospects then “Is it love?”

Next time you want a delicious snack, try a few stalks of crunchy celery. It is excellent when eaten raw or with vegetable dips. There are 2 main types of celery: Pascal and Golden Heart. Pascal, also know is green celery is the more popular in the United States.

Celery has been commercially grown for over 120 years. California produces most of the U.S. crop, accounting for 75% of the crop. Florida is second in production. Celery it is also grown in Michigan, Texas, Arizona, and Washington makings it is available year round. Currently the supplies and the quality are excellent. Now is a good time to promote.

Celery is good source of vitamin C. Two stalks have enough vitamin C to give us 15% of the daily-recommended allowance. Those same two stalks also provide 10% of the potassium-needed daily and account for only 20 calories.

Celery is excellent in stir-fry, salads, soups, and with a scoop of peanut butter. It’s great for the beach, school lunches and for picnics. So crunch and munch away!

Going beyond vehicle wraps is sure to make an impression.

Guerrilla marketing, like guerrilla warfare, employs unconventional tactics to gain a competitive advantage. But when most people think of guerrilla marketing, they think of crazy stunts like streakers and flash mobs.

While it is true these are guerrilla tactics, there are more realistic (and less fanatical) strategies you can employ. The fastest and least expensive of which is vehicle-based branding. No, it’s not as sexy as hiring 80 people to breakout into dance at White Marsh Mall, but it is a powerful tool nonetheless.

In a medium-sized city like Baltimore, a car wrap would get 1,000 to 3,000 impressions every hour on a busy street or highway, and thanks to specialty printers, vehicle wraps can turn any car, truck or van into a rolling billboard for as little a $2,000. This means that driving only two hours per day, five days a week will garner an average of 1 million impressions annually. (That’s two tenths of a penny per impression).

Best of all, with a little added creativity you can take this frequently overlooked form of guerrilla marketing and turn it into even greater exposure. For example, depending on your target market you can park your branded vehicles outside sports venues during games or in front of the Baltimore Convention Center for suitable Events and Expos. Take it even further by strategically placing your vehicle where news crews will be; like near a courthouse for a big case or a fundraiser for a political campaign.

Marketing goes far beyond running an ad in the paper and creativity is the critical component to the success of your marketing efforts. Brand-emblazoned vehicles are a fantastic first step in your guerrilla marketing efforts.

04.23.2012

Rhubarb, which looks like a pink celery stalk, is botanically a vegetable, but it is used as a fruit largely in pies and sauces. In some areas it is referred to as “Pie Plant”.

Rhubarb comes in two main varieties. Strawberry Rhubarb or (Hothouse) has thin, pale-pink stalks and light green leaves and is typically smaller, less stringy and less course than field rhubarb. It is available from Washington State, California, Oregon and Michigan from mid-January to mid-April. Cherry Rhubarb or (Field) has dark-red stalks, with green leaves and is has a pronounced tart flavor. Field rhubarb is available from Washington State, Michigan, and California from February to June.

It is critical to remove the leaves from rhubarb stalks before using because they are poisonous and can be dangerous in large quantities. Since rhubarb has a tart flavor, combining it with other sweeter fruits is a preferred method of use in pies and muffins.  Rhubarb may take a little extra care in preparing but it’s worth it.

Frequency

Studies have shown that there is no maximum number of newsletters you should be sending –as long as the content is relative and compelling. I’m subscribed to hundreds of newsletters and there are a few I get twice a day. Don’t be afraid that you will annoy subscribers!

Of course, without a full-time copywriter on staff, 40 monthly newsletters will be daunting (to say the least). To start you should plan on sending one or two newsletters per week; but certainly no less than two per month. Why? Because it works! It works because you never know when prospects will buy, so you have to keep plugging away.

Newsletters are advertising; and as with all advertising, repetition is key. It’s through repetition that you will establish credibility, brand familiarity and ultimately become the first thought when the need for your products or services arises.

Quantity, layout and content

Don’t pack a newsletter with too much information. It’s an erroneous assumption that people care enough about you to scan through a barrage of topics to find an article that will interest them. Newsletters should be clean, easy to read and ultra-specific. Stick to one article per issue. There is much debate on this point, but I would urge you to consider your own tendencies before jumping on the “more is better” bandwagon. Especially if you’re just starting out and are concerned about frequency. If topics ideas are at a premium, you’re better off not blowing through them one mailing.

This format also allows for a more compelling subject line —which is arguably the most important part of the email (assuming you want it to be read). Another benefit to sending one topic per issue is the potential for forwarding. Subscribers are more likely to become your evangelists if the newsletter is a clear and specific. You want the opportunity for a subscriber to think, “Hey, John would love this,” and that will result in more subscribers and ultimately more customers.

Tone, personality and the missed opportunity

“You” is the most powerful word in advertising. In my experience, the most effective Newsletters speak to you, not at you. It should answer the “what’s in it for me” question each and every issue.

Ultimately, the newsletter is an opportunity to cultivate a relationship —not make a sale. The goal is to befriend the subscribers and maintain the impression that it’s a one-to-one communication. This lets them know that you’re not a company, you’re a person.

Most newsletters miss this one completely. They try to sound like big corporate machines. Writing in the first person will make the reader feel like you are speaking directly to her. This will make your newsletter a more personal and more effective communication.
Title Format
As I said earlier, the subject line is most important element in getting your newsletter opened and read. It should be compelling and less than 50 characters. Compelling is “6 tips to improving gas mileage.” As far as subject lines go, I think you’ll agree that this is highly more likely to be opened than “Honda of Towson March Newsletter”.

And, since you’ve taken my advice and decided to write in the first person, you’re certainly going to want the “from” email to be a person. Consider this: are you more apt to open an email from mark@example.com or newsletters@example.com?

Opt Out language

I said earlier you can never send out too many newsletters. Well, it should be noted that a recent study showed people who unsubscribe from good-quality newsletters cite the primary reason for leaving as delivery frequency. But don’t panic! This can be easily remedied by directly addressing the “high volume” objection on the opt-out page.

Consider this: someone wants to unsubscribe because you’re sending too many emails. They click the unsubscribe link and are directed to the following opt out page:

Please select your delivery frequency:
[ x ]   I would like to lower my delivery frequency to one email per month.
[    ]   I no longer wish to receive the coupons, tips and insights your newsletter offers at this time. Please unsubscribe me.

Assuming the only reason for leaving your otherwise insightful and entertaining content is the volume of emails, this option will save you from losing a loyal reader (and future customer). So as I said, don’t be afraid of over-mailing. The upside to high-volume newsletter delivery far out-weighs the downside.

When most Americans think of eating figs, they are probably planning to open a package of Fig Newton. This dried fig cookie is very popular and probably the most common way people enjoy eating figs. However, one of the best ways to eat figs is fresh out of hand, skin and all, after washing them.

Figs originated in the Mediterranean areas of Europe and were first brought to the United States, around 1575, by Spanish settlers. Today, California’s hot and dry Central Valley produces the largest amount of figs in the United States. California is also the number two largest fig producer in the world.

Although there are more than a hundred varieties of figs, only a few are produced commercially. They are the Black Mission, Kadota, Brown Turkey, Brunswick, Celeste and the Calimyrna.  Black Mission figs are the best-known variety grown in California.

Figs are highly perishable so it is very important to handle them with care and to consume them quickly. Figs can be frozen and stored for up to six months.

So the next time you’re looking for a delicious snack, put down the Fig Newton and try some fresh figs.