The Summit of Success - Marketing for Results

Don't Inject Me - Swine Flu Song

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:45:00 +0000

Great stuff. Very educational too! Pass it on!

Edible Cocktails the new rage?

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:04:00 +0000

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything. I think I was just waiting for the right thing to write about. Well, low and behold today I found it. There is a hot new trend called edible cocktails that are gaining great notoriety. From artistic jello styles and frozen treats - this new trend is very innovative and fun. The craze may not catch on everywhere right away but in Los Angeles and Europe we are seeing the edible cocktails pop up slowly. So the next time you are looking for a fun idea for a party think about hosting an edible cocktail party. Check out these links for more info and ideas.

Edible Cocktails Gallery
LA Times - The Cocktails You Eat
Blueberry Martini Jello Shots
How To Make Edible Cocktails

Innovative and Eco-Friendly Advertising

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:31:00 +0000

I love finding new innovative companies and ideas. CURB is just one of those companies. CURB is the world's first natural media company. CURB offers a unique portfolio of sustainable media, with a proven track record of generating enormous awareness at minimal cost to the environment. CURB's natural experts use only sustainable earth elements to create everything from national advertising campaigns to astounding corporate art.

Some of their innovative marketing includes mediums such as: snow, sand, plantlife, water, solar, wood and compost. Check out their work and their web site: http://www.mindthecurb.com

Art in Video Form

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:23:00 +0000

I love this video from Vimeo. Beautiful animation and music! There are some very talented people on Vimeo. Watch this video and check out the site for more. I know where I am going next time I need to hire a videographer.

Firekites - AUTUMN STORY - chalk animation from Lucinda Schreiber on Vimeo.

Using Linkedin.com - A Great Way To Do Business & Meet People

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:40:00 +0000

Stay On Top Of The Latest Trends & Leverage Them For Business

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:19:00 +0000

Marnie Settle and Summit Creative are proud to introduce Trend Patrol, a new group on Linkedin.com. Trend Patrol offers the latest news, information and discussions about new, emerging trends and innovative ideas. Join our group and join the conversation. No matter what kind of business you are in you need to stay on top of the latest trends!

Join our group at: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1895236&trk=hb_side_g

Also, follow Marnie on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/marniesettle

Water Packaging Gets Creative

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:27:00 +0000

I just love innovation and company's that look for ways to differentiate themselves. Soon, bottled water could be a thing of the past. Many bottled water manufacturers are looking to package in more eco-friendly ways and other companies are just looking to stand apart from the competition. Read the full story.

Wrapping Your Head Around Twitter

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:13:00 +0000

It wasn't that long ago that many of us had a hard time wrapping our heads around the concept of the Word Wide Web and its vast uses. Today, we have Twitter. Right now there are an estimated 3 million Twitterers. Still the average person I speak to on daily basis doesn't know what Twitter is or how to use it.

The fact is that Twitter can be used for many different this such as staying connected with friends or customers, giving updates on a particular event, following current trends and much more. Check out the NY Times article about the usages of Twitter.

Why You Need A Corporate Blogger

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:07:00 +0000

As companies try to build their online presence and customer loyalty, more are turning to blogging. Blogging allows companies to voice their expert knowledge, build customer and media relationships, test ideas and/or products as well as help search engine rankings.

But, is it really possible for just anyone to build a successful blog and following? As business owners are becoming interested in blogging and learning how to harness it's power, many top executives are trying to determine how to handle blogging within their corporate structure.

To be effective, blogging should be done at least 5 times a week, if not more. Most executives don't have that kind of time, nor do they want to be bothered with the task of blogging regulary. So how does one leverage the power of the blogosphere without the time commitment? Easy. Hire a blogger for your company. Whether you hire an in-house employee or a contracted professional, a blogger of your own can be well worth the investment. Imagine, you could have a dedicated blogger who is constantly writing, sharing and answering back to your customers. Your blogger can interview key personnel within the company or they can develop their own content to post. Not only can your blogger write and post content for you but that person could also double as your in-house Social Network Community Manager. Did I loose you there? What I mean is, your blogger can also manage your Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Youtube and Linkedin social networks. Having a dedicated person who can really focus on your online marketing and branding is worth its weight in gold.

For more reasons why you should hire a blogger (and Social Networking Manager) check out the following books: The New Rules of Marketing and PR and World Wide Rave.

If you are ready to hire a blogger contact me directly: marnie@summitcreative.net.

Reactee.com For Cool T-shirts With A Message

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 03:27:00 +0000

Here's a cool and affordable way to get your message across. A site called Reactee.com let's you create your own personalized t-shirt online with your unique message. The site gives you a unique keyword and when you wear the shirt and others see it they can text your custom keyword to Reactee.com which then triggers an automated response you set up. You can also get notifications, create alerts, update responses and more. All of this for between $20 and $27, depending on size and color. What a fun and unique way to get your message seen and build a community around it. For more information check out the web site: http://reactee.com

Advertising and Cool Free Stuff!

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:14:00 +0000

Free is the new trend in advertising. Due to an all out war to get the consumer's attention some companies are opting to give products and services away for free (some for a limited time, but hey, beggars can't be choosers). Check out some of these cool freebies that are being offered by companies to advertise their products.

FedEx Office (formerly known as Kinko's) is extending a helping hand to job seekers today: free resume printing. Customers can print up to 25 black-and-white copies of their resume at any of the company's 1,600+ stores across the United States. www.fedex.com/us/office

Gitchers is essentially a database of people who want free T-shirts, either for themselves or for their dogs (special canine T-shirts are distributed through the site as well). To sign up, consumers tell Gitchers what type of shirt they're interested in--featuring the logo of a favorite brand or website, for example--along with key demographic information such as their birthday, gender and location. www.gitchers.com .

Shadow Notebook is a five-subject notebook that gets cobranded with participating colleges and universities across the US and distributed by the school at the start of each semester. The university's logo appears on the cover, and pages of school-related maps and information get included within. Thirteen four-colour, full-page advertisements, meanwhile, act as subject dividers in each notebook, giving advertisers the means to engage students while they are a captive audience in the learning environment. www.absnotebooks.com

FreeHand Advertising distributes free note-taking paper to students on their way to class. Each page is branded with the same type of horizontal ad you see on websites, only these are visible for at least the duration of a college lecture, and longer if students refer back to their notes. www.freehandads.com

Everystockphoto.com is a search engine for free photos. These come from many sources and are license-specific. You can view a photo's license by clicking on the license icon, below and left of photos. Membership is free, without advertising, and allows you to rate, tag, collect and comment on photos. www.everystockphoto.com.

Another great free stock photo site is www.stockvault.net

How can you offer free products or services to entice customers? Are there target markets like students or Mom's that you want to have eyeing your products everyday? Think outside of the box about the items they use daily and come up with a new way to market to them. Maybe advertising on free diapers to Moms or advertising baby formula on free baby bottles? There are endless options! Get creative!

Hot Trends On Google

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:13:00 +0000

Want to check out something really cool? Google has a nifty feature called Google Trends that lists each day's current hot topics and trends that are being searched for on Google. I find it interesting to see what the rest of the World is interested in and what they are "Googling." Check it out for yourself:

http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends

Staying on top of the latest trends in society is so important. This allows you a real time way to check the pulse of the World and find out what the hottest and newest topics are.

How To Use Twitter For Your Business

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:43:00 +0000

What is all this Twitter business all about, you ask? How can I use Twitter to build my business?

Well, here's MY list of the benefits of Twittering for Business:

Build relationships with people new contacts worldwide
Finding new clients by commenting back on others’ Tweets
Follow current trends and topics worldwide and use them to leverage your business
Follow businesses you want the latest updates from
Provide clients with timely and regular company news and updates
Improve your Google rankings
Gain access to new clients by following and commenting on their Tweets
Allows more personalized contact between people with common interests that did not know each other before
Generate buzz about you, your company or product
Direct traffic to your Web site by offering valuable information and links
Poll followers, ask questions and get instant feedback
Use as way of delivering your press releases and break news
Stand apart from the competition and build your online presence
Discover your clients and followers needs and concerns
Great way to develop a community and following for your business or brand

So to all you Twitter-Nay-Sayers, put that in your Twitter pipe and smoke it.

Six Tips to Writing Effective Press Release Headlines

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 17:52:00 +0000

Great Article I Found and I am Sharing:
By Doug Farrick

If your headline fails, your press release will never see the light of day. Here's how to write headlines that will get in print - with examples.

A press release that actually is picked up and printed in a national publication reaching your target market can pay off big time.

Not only can it bring many new customers, it can also catch the attention of larger companies that might be interested in either licensing your product for resell, or approaching you with a buyout offer.

For these reasons, it is definitely to your advantage to write the kind of press releases that actually have a chance of getting printed.

To do that, start with the headline.

The Press Release Headline

Typically, the editor responsible for choosing which press releases will be published doesn't have time to read all the press releases he or she receives. So instead of reading the entire release, the editor has learned to scan the press release headline looking for something of interest to their readers.

If the headline is appealing, the editor then scans the first paragraph (also know as the lead paragraph or 'teaser copy') to see if the press release bears further reading.

But if the headline is boring, the editor usually passes on the press release - he has too many other things to do to try to figure out if the press release is worth pursuing.

This means if you fail to attract interest in the headline of your press release, and fail to keep the attention in the teaser paragraph, it is unlikely your press release will ever be published.

There are some things you can do to increase the chances of your release getting the attention it deserves.

Here are six tips to get you started down the right road.

1. Write for editors - Your job is to write a press release that makes writers/editors (those people who review and approve press releases), want to read it -- and use it. If you fail to do that, there is no chance for your press release to see print. So try to understand how these people think.

They read hundreds of press release headlines a week, and quickly learn to filter out the BS and egocentric ones from those that might merit additional attention. Understand that these people are looking for something interesting to print - but they have a lot to choose from.

Make their job easier by giving them what the want, and leaving out what they don't want.

2. Cut the hype - Editors and writers are a cynical bunch. When they see hype in a press release headline, they usually don't bother reading the rest of the press release.
If you write a headline like, "Fantastic new product solves all life's problems," the editor/writer will quickly toss the press release into the trash.

But if you write, "Survey shows most adults have allergies to five common foods," then the editor might say, "My readers will want to know about this!"

3. Cut the buzzwords - Don't include industry specific jargon and insider buzzwords in your press releases - unless the press release is being submitted to a tech savvy person writing for a tech savvy publication.
In most cases, if you write a press release headline like: "PENCILSOFT, INC. announces interactive, interoperable, cross-platform, multimedia solution", it will be over the head of the editor/writer - and over the head of their readers.

But if you write, "New microphone lets anyone sound like favorite singing star," you have something the editor knows his readers will be interested in.

4. Drop your ego - Unless you are a famous person with a big following of people eager to read about your adventures, don't include your name or your company name in the headline of your press release.
Including these names might pump up your own ego, but it generally has a negative effect on editors and writers. They don't care who you are - they just want to know what you have that might interest their readers.

So don't write, 'PENCILSOFT, INC. AND JOSEPH BLOWHARD ANNOUNCE THAT JANE BIGHAIR HIRED AS LOAN OFFICER'.

Instead write, '7 reasons why those over 70 should consider a reverse mortgage.'

5. Think like a reporter - A newspaper reporter knows that headlines sell papers. The headlines must quickly convey the kind of information needed to capture the readers attention.
Newspaper reporters know the headline should express in just a few words, what is being announced and why should anyone care.

When it comes to press releases, instead of writing, "LTEG HOLDINGS, A SOUTHHILL CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC BACKED COMPANY, ANNOUNCES POSITIVE EBITDA", write "Good news for investors in LTEG Holdings".

6. Pitch "lists." The media love stories that can be presented with clear, concise bullets.
And nothing fits this structure better than a "Best ..." or 'Six ways...' list - especially a list with a twist.

When thinking about your press release, think about how you can use the information you want to covey in a bullet list.

Example: "Six Best Places To Retire on a Budget". Or, "Six tools no web site business should be without," or "5 great products for desktop video producers."

Using the above six tips when writing headlines for your press releases will give you an advantage when editors and publishers review them for potential publication.

Checkout this automatic press release tool called Press Release O Matic.

Summit Creative Social Networking for Business Training

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 17:38:00 +0000

Press Release: Summit Creative Trains Clients How To Find Business On Social Networking Sites

Sellsumers - The Consumer is Now The Merchant

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:05:00 +0000

Interesting new article from Trendwatching.com about "Sellsumers," how consumers are now the sellers of goods. Check it out:

http://trendwatching.com/trends/sellsumers/

World Wide Rave

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:07:00 +0000

I just got my copy of David Meerman Scott's new book, World Wide Rave and already it is turning out to be another page turner from Scott. If you missed his last book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR, you may want to pick that one up too. Both books are great and go into detail about how to use the Web to get your message heard. In WWR Scott goes into detail about building a fan base and creating buzz on the Web. Scott's philosophy tends to learn towards "why spend money on advertising when you can create brand evangelists" - a great way to do business in today's tough economic times. WWR is very timely and anyone in business should read this!

Get your copy today!

http://www.worldwiderave.com/

How To Be A Twitter Power User

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:31:00 +0000

Great little video about Twitter and the Twitter apps that explains how to be a Twitter pro!

Blogging For Business

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:19:00 +0000

Many of my clients are looking for less expensive ways to market and advertise these days. I always tell them to learn more about the Web and the tools out there to leverage their business', get noticed and to bring in new clients. Anyone who knows me constantly hears me tell clients of mine that they "should be blogging." For some reason many people don't understand blogs, what they are, how to use them and most importantly what they should be blogging about. I like to explain blogging for business like this:

Blogging is just an easy way to communicate online with readers and followers about topics you know about or you are passionate about. Simply put, if you own an air conditioning company you can start a blog about home air conditioning. You can write posts such as tips on maintaining your A/C, remind people when to service their A/C's, what your company is doing to be more eco-friendly, how customers can reduce their energy costs.... the list goes on and on.

Ideally after you have been blogging for a little while you can send a link to your blog out to your e-mail contacts (your customers) and ask them to subscribe to your blog. Some will, some won't. That's okay though. The great thing about blogging is it helps you to be found within search engines. So if you sprinkle keywords within your posts that are phrases people are searching for they will find your posts. The other great thing is that your blog can also link to your company web site. This allows readers to visit your web site right from your blog.

Look, blogging is easy. Business is tough! So what are you waiting for? Educate yourself about blogging for business and start today.

Twitter Explained

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 02:39:00 +0000

Twitter co-founder, Evan Williams explains what Twitter is and how incredibly powerful this application is. See why the World is so excited about Twitter.

Study on Simplicity In Messages

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:48:00 +0000

Siegel + Gale recently completed a study of 1,214 American homeowners and investors that shows huge demand for simple, plain English communications. All business owners should read this! If you are advertising and marketing right now, during these difficult economic times you should be paying attention to what consumers want:

Click here to read this article

Social Media Explained

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:37:00 +0000

Not sure you understand what the heck "Social Media" is. Well, worry no more. Check out CommonCraft's new video that explains it.

Blogs Explained

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:31:00 +0000

Many of my clients have heard of Blogs but they don't understand why they should use them or how to leverage them for business. Check out this video that explains blogging. After you have watched the video sign up for a free blog with Blogger and start your own.

Twitter Explained

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:29:00 +0000

Found this cute video explanation on Twitter. Not only is the video great but it helps you understand why you should be using Twitter. After you watch the video go to Twitter, sign up for an account and link up with me.

Trends To Watch In 2009 - Trend # 6

contact@marniesettle.com (Marnie Settle) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:20:00 +0000

More “Connected” Than Ever

Despite the Recession we do live in an exciting time of technological advances. Just a few years ago there was no such thing as an IPOD and now everyone knows what they are and probably owns one. We will continue to see major advances in technology and the Web. With American’s living on limited budgets, travel and vacations will be hard for many. Those affected will turn to the Internet and technology to take them places as well as entertain them. The rise of social networks on the web will continue to grow in 2009. The difference is now that people around the world have begun to understand the value of these social networks and have started using them to connect with old friends, make new friends and find a mate.

The big trend in 2009 will be more professionals utilizing these social networking sites to meet new contacts, make deals and communicate with one another. Linkedin.com is the cream of the crop but expect more of these types of sites to pop up. Some other newer sites of interest are bigthink.com and xing.com. I foresee more niche social networking sites popping up to serve even the smallest demographics.

How can you leverage technology, the Web and social networking to boost your business and make new contacts?