I'll never forget the excitement when I worked in broadcast journalism...and we figured out how to set up a live stream WITHOUT needing a sat truck. Cool stuff. Lousy signal...terrible video quality...but still, cool stuff. My, how times have changed. For those of you who follow the latest trends in all things social, you're probably heard of Meerkat. It technically rolled out in February and made a big splash when it popped up at SXSW Interactive in March. Meerkat developers say the number of users has been climbing by 30% daily since the reveal, and is now well over 300,000 users of the app. The concept is simple. You can stream live video from your phone or your iPad directly to Twitter. But it's not just about broadcasting the video - people can then obviously have a real time inter... 03/26/2015

I drive a Chevy. I always have. I come from a long line of Chevy drivers. I also come from a long line of people with a sense of humor. That's exactly why I'm in love with this marketing campaign that a Ford dealership in Connecticut has launched. They rolled it out through Facebook today and are having a little fun at the expense of the "other" domestic dealerships. Here's what they did. They created a series of short videos and are uploading them to Facebook one at a time. They're talking about it on social - #ChevyIntervention. They've purchased www.chevyintervention.com and have redirected the traffic onto their own website. When you get there, you can see the intervention videos. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a story in social media marketing on steroids.  Check out the rest of the... 03/25/2015

  Who Do You Know?       The grand daddy of all referral questions is JUST as relevant today.  I was reminded of this when I read an article recently.  Here are some quick facts and ideas taken from that article that may remind you of the simple things that often get overlooked.        66% of all business generated by 95% of the successful agents come from 4 sources: friends, family, acquaintances, or a co-worker.  That is 2/3rds of all business.  How much money and time do you spend mining THOSE targets?  Probably less time then you spend on your internet presence yet almost all your business likely does NOT come from the internet!        According to the Direct Marketing Assoc. (DMA), it is 16 times MORE profitable to market your existing sphere of influence then it is to find new bus... 03/25/2015

One of our clients forwarded an email to us this morning. "Hi, I'm from a local radio station. I'm excited to hear about your expansion. I wanted to get together and talk with you about some marketing options." Seems innocent enough, right? Sure - but it's also a waste of time. First of all, this woman doesn't want to get together with them to talk about "marketing" options. She wants to get together to talk about "advertising" options. And until business owners and media reps all understand the clear difference between marketing and advertising, there will always be a disconnect between the two that will negatively impact the business. Second...marketing is alive and well, but mass marketing is now the single most ineffective way of driving sales. So how do we drive incremental sales i... 03/23/2015

I've written a number of articles about how innovative Starbucks is. But even the most innovative companies can sometimes get burned by their own moves. Case in point: #RaceTogether. Less than a week after launching what they described as a "U.S. race relations campaign"...Starbucks pulled the plug after being served up a big steaming mug of "just make my damn coffee" from America. The campaign kicked off when Starbucks published full-page ads in major U.S. newspapers with the words "Shall We Overcome?" at the top and "RaceTogether" and the Starbucks logo at the bottom. Employees were encouraged to write "Race Together" on customers' cups and start conversations about race relations. Starbucks succeeded at one thing - getting people talking on social media. If the goal was to bring toge... 03/23/2015

The decision to move the New Britain Rock Cats to Hartford, Connecticut fired people up and effectively divided the state between people who thought it was a genius idea and people who thought it was a royally stupid idea. But nothing seems to bridge the gap between people like a common enemy. Or, in this case, what appears to be plain old stupidity. It was announced today that the team will be named the Hartford Yard Goats. Team officials sent out a news release explaining the decision. A Minor League Baseball player is like that humble Yard Goat, not a glamorous job but working hard day in and day out away from the big city lights to assure that the Major League affiliate is kept on track. They stressed that the name references Hartford's history. A yard goat is a locomotive that shif... 03/18/2015

My attorney is sick and tired of taking my phone calls. My business insurance guy sends my calls right to voicemail. My wife is going to have to start seeing a therapist soon. My business partner suggested we set up a mutual bank account with bail money in it. And that's just in the last week. So it's official. I'm going to scale back on outrageous make my mug shot my profile picture when I get busted for outrageous marketing. Here's the thing about marketing. The only way you're going to innovate is by taking chances. And every once in a while, after a particularly ... intense... pizza, beer and brainstorming session with our team, the outrageous marketing really explodes. The first time I heard "you might be arrested for this" was when we were promoting this massive zombie block party... 03/17/2015

The lesson I learned this week in marketing came from a dog.  And this dog is going to teach you a little about Facebook advertising.  He's not just any dog.  He's a dog that wrote an autobiography, which, from my perspective, makes him a pretty damn smart dog. Rocky, The Autobiography of a Chipmunk Chaser, is actually the story behind a non-profit organization.  It’s about a dog who spent a lifetime chasing chipmunk. “Rocky” described his book this way: “Not only is it an incredibly funny book, it’s an invaluable people training book for dogs. If you are a puppy moving into a new home, then there are useful tips here on how to train your new owners, e.g. how to get to sleep on the bed, how to keep them calm at the vet, etc.. If you are a more mature dog, then you should get some satisf... 03/16/2015

The verdict is in.  TV is dying a slow death. And even though the court of public opinion has weighed in on traditional advertising…there are still those insisting that old school commercials are “making a comeback”. Sort of reminds me of my friend with the cheating boyfriend. “He’ll change.  He HAS to change once he sees what else is out there.” Then she heard that one of her friends saw him on a date with someone else. “Oh, no – that was one of his female friends,” she insisted. Then she saw him at Starbucks with another woman. “Oh, that was his coworker,” she said. She didn’t realize she was entirely wrong until it was too late. Nielsen’s fourth-quarter 2014 Total Audience Report was released this week.  The report found that adults watched an average of four hours and 51 minutes of ... 03/15/2015

Call it the “Penguin” update of Facebook. Finally the social media giant is getting smart about who it eats for lunch. Many of you may have woken up this morning and looked at your Facebook business page in shock. Some of you may have lost a few followers. Others may have lost hundreds. Then there are those businesses that lost hundreds of thousands. Why? Because on March 12, Facebook “purged” brand pages from inactive likes. Over the last couple of years, Facebook has been inundated with garbage likes and followers through external click-farms – usually that operate out of third world countries. As I mentioned in a recent article, not only is it a sign of insecurity for a company or an individual to buy “friends”…but it’s damaging. It reduces the actual organic reach and engagement tha... 03/14/2015

I need to stop swearing. It has nothing to do with the studies about cursing in the workplace. If you ask me, those are a load of … bull manure. It has nothing to do with my Catholic school education. I know people of faith who could f-bomb the road to heaven and still be handed a latte at the pearly gates. It has nothing to do with my clients. As a matter of fact, most of them can give me a run for my money. I need to stop swearing because we’ve got a five month old. Not that she’s anywhere near talking. But I figured it’s going to take some time to ease myself back. Truth be told, I bought her a oneside before she was even born. It’s pink and adorable. It says, “watch your mouth, @$$hole – I’m a baby.” Only the word is spelled out. For some reason, my wife won’t let her wear it out of... 03/09/2015

If you are looking for a reason to drink, I highly recommend you go shopping for a couch. It's perhaps the one consumer buying experience that has become progressively worse as technology has gotten better and better. First...let's talk stats.  In an interesting article by Dana French of "Furniture Today", there's an examination of a study of 1,608 consumers talking about furniture buying. According to this study, 78% of Millennials have purchased furniture and accessories online compared to 81% of Baby Boomers and 85% of Generation X. Looking further into the study, 65% of online buyers were happy.  39% of Generation X buyers weren't thrilled compared to only 28% of Boomers. 22% of all responding consumers said area rugs that they bought online left them the most disappointed. 47% of c... 03/08/2015

I'll never forget one of my favorite meteorologists.  I was producing for a small television station and he was perhaps one of the coolest guys I'd ever met.  Not a bad bone in his body. He was a man of routine, to say the least.  Every single day, when the 6pm news wrapped up, he walked to a little Greek restaurant for dinner...and proceeded to slurp down a couple of martinis. He'd come back with a nice healthy buzz and knock the 11pm news out of the park.  His ratings were spectacular.  His delivery was perfect.  And man...was he funny. A few clarifications now before some of the more... corporate people... attack.   A) We would never condone drinking and driving.  Drinking and walking...well, that's a slightly different story. B) Alcohol has ruined countless lives.  Some people can a... 03/02/2015

There are few positions in life that give you a better opportunity to learn about business than tending bar. I'm not talking about what you learn about inventory and slinging drinks. I'm talking about the deep, dark, tell-all that business owners will share with the friendly neighborhood bartender because it's SAFE. Talking to your bartender is like talking to a lawyer or psychologist for many...just a lot less expensive. Depending, of course, on what you drink. Tending bar in a former life gave me some remarkable opportunities to learn lessons about business - without having to experience them myself. And so in today's post...it's a tell-all from a former bartender...with some words of advice about business. Lesson #1: Don't Dip Your Pen In Company Ink So this guy walks in, sits at the... 03/01/2015

So we've spent a couple of weeks now dealing with this whole "RFP" application for a prospective client. A buddy of mine who is a business consultant sums it up nicely. "Request For Propaganda." Isn't that really all that it is, besides a huge pain in the butt? "Here - look at us - we are the best! Oh, pick me pick me pick ME!" Don't worry. I'm not worried that the team selecting the vendor is going to read this and gasp in shock. I'm not telling you anything that I didn't tell them. Because as I've said before, it's always best to be authentic. That's sort of the charm of working with The Silent Partner. We're actually not very silent. In the RFP, they wanted references. So we gave them references. All of them were people that I knew would give us rave reviews. Except for one guy. The ... 02/24/2015

Buckle up. Today we’re going on a ride of hyper-targeting. I’m going to challenge everything you thought you knew about advertising. You’re going to want to call your marketing team in after reading this. Last week, I was inundated with a mix of emails, phone calls and comments after I wrote a piece about Facebook Dark Posts. Some people wanted to learn more. Others called shenanigans, saying that Facebook advertising is a fail. To those naysayers I say this. Facebook doesn’t fail. YOU do. Let’s start really high level here. And let’s be fair. I’m not talking about targeting using the whole “boost post” functionality. We’re drilling down into Facebook Dark Posts to really get to the good stuff. Top tier you’ll find some basic demographic targeting. Relationship Education Work Financial ... 02/23/2015

It was a childhood classic. And one that might leave you considering Marcia Brown to be a marketing genius. You may not remember her name. But I’m pretty sure most of you remember her children’s book – “Stone Soup”. It’s a must-have for your kids AND your office. It’s the story of three soldiers who are on their way home from war. They are tired and hungry. They come upon a village and are told by the villagers that there’s no food and nowhere to sleep. The soldiers end up making “stone soup” in the center of town…and the villagers all decide they want to be a part of it. Suddenly the town with no food is contributing carrots, meat and more. By the end of the story, everyone is feasting together and the soldiers are offered the finest sleeping arrangements. The next morning, the entire... 02/23/2015

Just about every day, I start my morning off with a blog. The writing and distribution of it take on average 45 minutes. It's a great way of waking the body up before the gym...and postponing the list of a million projects I have to get done throughout the day. Some people would consider it a waste of time. Those naysayers are like those who told my wife and I we'd be crazy to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon. Those who had never been said don't go. Those who had made the journey said there was no better place on earth. The blogs I write are usually published in three different places - LinkedIn Pulse, ActiveRain and our website. Each of these respective sites have given us an opportunity to connect with countless business owners across the globe. It's brought in work from Connecticut to ... 02/20/2015

"Don't send out that press release, Reyes. I'm telling you. It's a royally bad idea." Usually, when a friend offers advice like this, it's a good idea to take it. But that wouldn't be outrageous marketing, now would it? Society is too damn politically correct these days. Everyone is afraid of the remote possibility of hurting someone's feelings. And that's why sometimes business owners - or in this case city leaders - get away with wildly stupid moves. Allow me to back up a bit here. Let me explain the backstory. For the past couple of years, the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and Manchester businesses have promoted a “Buy Local” campaign. But apparently the town’s idea of “local” is hiring a New York marketing firm to create videos for Manchester businesses. Confused? So were w... 02/20/2015

Are you the person that I'm going to trust to run this department? To take over my brand? To oversee my staff? Tell me why. They are the questions we seem to be hearing more and more frequently these days. We're not "recruiters". Yet we've somehow ended up helping our clients fill more than 50 positions in the past couple of months. We're not "business consultants". Yet right now, we're guiding seven of our clients through the transition of selling their business so that they can retire. We're not "human resources". Yet we're in the process of helping 12 clients understand how to deal with internal management issues. It seems that for every one good applicant...there are 10 that can't spell on their resume. We hear stories every day of employees who closed up the shop when the boss was... 02/16/2015