News from The Association: Creative Film, Video & New Media Solutions

I spend most of my days at The Association.  No, it's not part of any mafia.  The Association is literally a collection (hmmmm....maybe "association" is a better word!) of business, advertising and marketing professionals that work together to blow the doors off their client's doors.  We are looking for clients that can handle the number of leads we can get them.  So far we haven't found one! 

Anyway, I'm their Social Media Strategist and I've been developing some seminars and workshops based on my consulting work, to help business owners quickly learn to navigate this new landscape.  We try to keep it really simple.  Thus the name in the newsletter below, "Really Simple Seminar."

The central core of The Association is excellent creative, which they translate into very effective video as well as new media solutions.  Enjoy!

Really Simple Seminar Getting More Referrals Using Social Media Too busy servicing clients and customers to figure out Social Media for business?  Wondering where to start even if you did have time?  Need a quick overview on the topic?  Join us as Trevor Eisenman, our Social Media Strategist, helps take the confusion out of Social Media. This free seminar starts at 10:00am Saturday March 6th, at our offices located at 135 N. Screenland Dr. in Burbank. This is a biznik.com event, and you must be a biznik member to attend. Not a biznik member? It's fast and easy to join. Just go to: http://bit.ly/AssocNL We hope to see you here, as Trevor shows you how to get more referrals for your business using Social Media! This is Part 2 of a 4 part series of videos that simplify and explain where Social Media fits into the general marketing picture, and clarifies why it's vital to your company's bottom line.  Interested in related topics?  Become a fan of our Really Simple Social Media Fan Page   or The Association Fan Page   and let us know your thoughts and interests.  We'd love to hear from you! Trevor Eisenman trevor@theassociation.tv 626-975-6726 Cell "The Dick and Jane Show" - Episode 2 Is the new guy a mass murderer? A foreign exchange student?  A mail-order bride? Tune in to episode 2, "Revenge of the New Guy" to find out. Join Elvis, Katie and Houston as you also discover that Dick gets more than he bargained for with his scheme to acquire a  Meerschaum pipe of his own. Who'd a thought??? Tom Myrdahl Wins a Mantleful of Tellys In 2009, Lockheed Martin took a radical step to create T.V. and Internet spots "faster and cheaper", without compromising quality of image or message.  Eric Schulzinger, Corp. Director of Digital Media at Lockheed Martin, took the creative reins as Producer/ Director and assembled his talented production team to include Tom Myrdahl, DP, Nick Alvarado, AD, and Simon Rex-Lear, Post Production. Together they created an award-winning series of Cable T.V. Commercials and Internet Mini-Documentaries showcasing several Lockheed Martin products. Check out this one for  HULC  , an anthropomorphic, (having the characteristics of a human being) exoskeleton, (external skeleton that supports the body), that gives users the ability to carry heavy loads of up to 200 lbs. for extended periods of time over any terrain. These videos were very well received, and Tom won eight Telly Awards as Director of Photography for his work with Lockheed Martin. Rumor has it that Tom actually used the HULC system to carry home all of his awards. If you want an award-winning DP on your next production, contact Tom at tom@theassociation.tv   Marketing and Business Digi-Techno-Strategist-Provocateur  The Association has added John Brewer to our team as a Marketing Consultant. John has over 20 years of senior management and marketing experience in technology with a focus on software and Internet industries. His management and marketing blend have involved him in a wide range of engagements, from some of the more premier sites on the internet to technology start-ups. John's teams have rolled out leading edge web technologies. John's strengths as a product developer and marketer range from strategic to tactical and have resulted in industry awards in very crowded markets. He was an exclusive speaker at Unix Expo `96 on the subject of commercial web servers. John has been involved in Internet focused companies and Web marketing since 1994. He co-founded one of Southern California's earliest Web site development companies.   With experience in all aspects of marketing from research to collateral and packaging development to managing campaigns in print, online and trade shows his teams created one of the most well known brands in the early Internet product industry. John placed some of the largest online ad buys in the first years of the internet advertising explosion. He has a passion for the cutting edge and has developed business plans and go-to-market strategies for Smartphone applications, streaming video, digital-out-of-home advertising, music and entertainment portals and was a pioneer in the digital music revolution of the last decade with innovative technology for the use of MP3 files. John can be contacted at jbrewer@theassociation.tv   Fletcher Murray The Association: Creative Film, Video & New Media Solutions 818 841 9660 fletch@theassociation.tv

Posted via email from Really Simple Social Media

Instant Website Visibility: Online Optimized Press Releases

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One of the primary challenges business owners face in current times is a 1st page presence on search engines.  Consumers tend to conduct an internet-based search to validate a decision to purchase (or not to purchase).  If a business cannot be found online, with decent reviews or some kind of conversation happening about it, there are a few assumptions that may be made (assumptions are not necessarily based on truth!):

1) The company is no longer in business
2) The company doesn't care about it's customers so hasn't bothered with an online presence.
3) The product or service must not be that great as "no one" is talking about it.

Oddly enough, it is possible that companies with the best service and best products haven't relied on advertising or marketing  because they live off referrals from happy customers.  The only problem is that once a potential customer gets referred by a friend, it's very likely that potential customer will still Google search anyway.  What will they find? For businesses relying on referrals only, probably not much. 

Building up a large enough community to dominate search results and appear on the 1st page can take time, but should be done anyway.  However, while that's underway, there is another option.  Online Optimized Press Releases.  A Press Release is news, and is indexed into search engines right away.  After all, news isn't very useful if it appears 3-6 months later, is it? 

Great, so that means anyone could write a quick article, submit it to a couple of Press Release sites and instantly end up on the 1st page of a Google Search, right?  Not even close!  A lot of skill and experience go into properly done, optimized online press releases.

While there are lots of options, the only real option is the one that gets results.  Our press release specialist is a 30 year press release veteran, expert at Search Engine Optimization, writing, research, interviewing and has a proprietary blend (our secret sauce, if you will) of sites geared towards press release submission.   Like a highly trained hitman, she nails that 1st page 99% of the time.  The really amazing part:  she's super nice, with the bedside manner of that concierge you met at the swanky resort you frequented when business was still good (and you could afford vacations at nice places).  Her most recent press release was for 20/20 Financial Services (ex: http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/la-crescenta-federal-tax-return-help-requests-rise-reports-2020-financial). 

 

Creating a relevant, engaging presence online that allows a company to converse with it's customers is a must these days for most businesses.  It often takes a few months to make a significant impact on your bottom line.  How much business are you missing right now, today, as people search for your business and can't find it on that ever so important 1st page?  Might want to check that out.

If your business has an active cloaking device when it comes to online search engines, you might consider hiring a trained professional to "take out the competition for you".  Remember, the pen is mightier than the sword.

Trevor Eisenman
Social Media Strategist

Posted via web from Really Simple Social Media

What's Your Fav Online CRM Program?

Anyone who is selling anything probably is using (or needs) a good online Customer Relationship Manager.  There are many choices (probably too many to list).   What's your favorite online CRM program and why do you like it? 

Trevor Eisenman
Social Media Strategist

Posted via email from Really Simple Social Media