2008 March

Oh, those privacy whiners. Don’t they know that entire neighborhoods of the Online Marketing village are built on Internet behaviors – subject preferences, web browsing habits, search requests? Don’t they realize that behind-the-screen behavioral targeting is for their own benefit, to save them time and match them up with the most relevant products, services and information on the web? To better serve them? Privacy Is In the Eye of Beholder …

One of the best strategies for growing a business, launching a new product or building your customer base is to give away valuable stuff. Such freebies might be a test version of your product, a trial product sample, an insider’s look at how your product lines get to market, hot tips on latest trends and up-to-date training for sales reps. (More suggested giveaways-to-get-customers below.) Offline merchandisers use this giveaway-to-get-customers free …

The Old Time Marketing Music — wisdom from direct marketing gurus, offline and on — is that hot-hot-hot trends get kick-started by an Elite Crew of Early Adopters (like the rebirth of Hush Puppies among NYC hipsters that brought the comfort shoes back from near-death in 1994 to 5,000 percent sales). Another Old Time Marketing Motif is that fashion and lifestyle trends are birthed by big-name celebrities, like Madonna long …