• services
• blog
• buzz
• home
• portfolio
• speaking
• resource center

Social Media My Way

April 9th, 2012 by Mardy Sitzer

If Social Media were a religion, and sometimes I think it is, I would not only be a believer but I probably would be a preacher or rabbi.

When it comes to Social Media Marketing, I am not an expert but I play one on stage and in a classroom from time to time. Okay I probably know more about Social Media than the average Joe or Jane but am far from being a Rock Star.

Now, with several years of experience under my belt, some success and failures, missteps and right steps, I have a lot of insight and am always willing to share, be challenged and shown something new.

So just for fun I’d like to share some of my views and how I manage my social media with you and hope that this challenges your social media views and elicits some push back or sharing of your own experiences. (PS this has nothing to do with social media marketing and yet it has everything to do with social media marketing.) Read more…

What Keeps Me Productive and Focused

April 2nd, 2012 by Mardy Sitzer

There are just those days when I feel completely overwhelmed – I’m sure you can relate. And then there are days where I feel like captain of the universe. It is all in the tools – yes, the tools that enable me to conquer clutter, trigger memory and help me keep on track.

Here are some of the tools that I use, most are free and some are for a fee.

Evernote
I have running lists of ideas, lists of resources, code snippets, inspirational quotes, a list of books I want to read, web pages, photos, videos, a book nearly written, workshop resources and all organized by categories that I’ve set up by related projects and interests. Evernote is my shoebox for life. These can be shared, kept private, accessed from any computer and from my iphone. It is free for personal use and if you require more storage and collaborative options and other additional features there is a premium option that is affordable at $45 a year. And another cool feature is if you are using ifttt service – you can create a task that drops certain things right into your evernote folder.

What is ifttt? I thought you might want to know. If This Then That is a very helpful online service that allows you to automate things like setting up wake up calls, notifying you if it is going to rain and automating tasks across a lot of your social media profiles. I’ve only just begun to use this and am awed by it’s cool factor and time saving service – I might write more about it later or go ahead and give it a try and let us know what you find and how you use it.

Lino
I’m a visual person and so if I don’t see it I don’t remember it. I had one of those desks for neurotics – you know, stickies that used to adorn the sides of my computer screen, line the lips of my book shelves, and just about anywhere else on my desk. This great little free online bulletin board that beautifully replaced all of that.  Now all of these miscellaneous notes are on my Lino bulletin board. Another great feature is the multiple color stickies you can use to color code projects and keep business and personal separate. You can even share some boards while keeping others private and you can access your board from any computer that has Internet access. Recently they introduced the free Lino App for the iphone and pad. I need to put up a stickie to remind myself to download that one. Read more…

Is Tightening Your Belt Going To Choke You?

March 26th, 2012 by Mardy Sitzer

The waiter stops at our table and asks ‘will you be having some desert this evening?’ and of course we all nod our heads and say ‘no thanks’. What are we watching – our waistlines or our budget lines?

Businesses have been experiencing the same ’no thank you’ response and owners are holding their breath – and their cash. They are murmuring questions like “Will I have to cut more staff?”  “How much are taxes going up?” “How can I set a budget when I can’t project sales or cash flow?”

Cash is king and many are still holding their cash with clenched fists. I’m hearing terms such as barter and installments still today even with reports of an improved economy. The new economy continues to unfold and like the dealer roared… “Round and round she goes and where she stops… nobody knows.”

Some of us old timers have lived through previous recessions and know what to do, others have only read about it in textbooks and are looking for guidance. But the challenge still remains that if you operate out of fear your decisions and choices will reflect that rather than being invigorating. Read more…

Having Answers Will Be Key To Search Success

March 19th, 2012 by Mardy Sitzer

I recently wrote a post about The Questions People Ask Will Help You Make the Sale – I actually have been ranting about this for a few years now as you can clearly see in this 2010 video. If  that isn’t enough motivation to re-think your web content towards providing answers to questions from people who want to know, need to know, then the upcoming changes to Google’s search results should be.

Google is about to incorporate another major round of changes that will impact search results. Google plans to start delivering facts and information to questions asked – and reliable and trusted sources will be their selected choices.

What does that mean for you as a company? March 15, 2012 The Wall Street Journal reported on Google’s shift to what is called ‘semantic search’ and you might want to read the article. My first thought of course is a concern for my clients – how will they get ranked now? While Google’s position is that this is better for the searcher, who else benefits and who gets hurt? Read more…

Sound Bytes: What’s Yours?

March 12th, 2012 by Mardy Sitzer

Elevator pitches, tag lines, party lines, what’s your line?

Does it ring a bell, strike a cord, elicit a response like ‘tell me more’ or ‘ahhaaa just what I’ve been needing’?

What is the anatomy of a solid sound byte?

The following is a process you can use to refine your tag line.

1. start with a simple definition of what you do or what you offer in 6 words or less with no adjectives
2. next in 6 words or less describe outcomes for your client – limit or exclude adjectives
3. then in 6 words or less describe how you are unique, different or better than your competition
4. finally, are there motivational reasons to buy or use your products or services – and if so write down 6 words for these motivations
5. take your 24 words and read it out loud Read more…