by Gord Hotchkiss
“So, what is it you do?”
Oh, no! It was the question I dread. I froze.
The question was posed by a very nice woman in her mid-50s who was returning to Bellingham, Wash. from a one-month trip to Europe. She was my seatmate on yesterday’s flight back from Amsterdam.
Since I got into search, I’ve hated that question, mainly because I don’t know how to answer it. I’ve tried several times, and it’s never been a terribly satisfying experience.
There was my mom, who was trying to understand what her …

Story posted: May 20, 2009 – 12:27 pm EDT
Washington, D.C.—A study by Sage North America and AMI-Partners found that small businesses are embracing social media as a marketing tool.
The study was based on an online survey of 151 small-business owners, conducted in March. It found that 51% use social media to acquire and retain customers.
Also, 57% of respondents said tough economic conditions were “very” or “extremely” important in their decision to use electronic social media as part of their business strategy.
The survey found 65% of small businesses feel more comfortable …

By Paul Collins
Editor’s Note: This article was excerpted from 100 Tips for Consulting Firms to Survive and Grow in a Recession: Click here to download your free copy of Equiteq’s ebook.
Without clients there are no fees and no future! Finely-honed client relationship skills—knowing who our best clients are or should be and how we keep, nurture, and grow them once they become clients—are the hallmark of world-class consulting firms.
Not all clients are worthy of our service—we should choose the clients we wish to serve. This is particularly true in a …

By George Johns
Long before I started my career in radio and moved to America I had some other dreams. I dreamt about becoming a star running back for THE WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS and I also was dreaming about becoming a big rock star.
These were the kind of things I thought about most of the time instead of studying while going to high school at TCI in Transcona.
One fall while I was playing football for THE TRANSCONA NATIONALS and struggling with the 9th grade because I was too busy writing songs …

by Diane Mermigas,
Mediapost.com
The myopic vision and importance of the networks’ upfront would be permanently changed if marketers’ recession-induced pullback shifts ad dollars from television’s brand masses to select target audiences in all media.
Advertisers’ growing insistence to connect with the right audiences — not necessarily the biggest — could transform a projected 13% to 20% decline in upfront spending to as low as $7.5 billion (putting it on par with cable). That change of heart would be a financial disaster for TV networks and their corporate parents.
The $9 billion network prime-time …

Ceasing to advertise during economically challenging times could harm your business, according to recent research from Ad-ology Research.

by Helen Leggatt
bizreport.com
Going off the ad radar during a recession isn’t wise, according to Ad-ology’s recent study, “Advertising’s Impact in a Soft Economy”. In fact, nearly half (48%) of U.S. adults believe that a lack of advertising from a store, bank or car dealership during a recession means that business is probably experiencing difficulties and struggling.
On the other hand, when a business continues to advertise, throughout tough times, consumers see this as a …

By Jared Newman | Posted at 4:08 pm on Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Over the last few days, Twitterers — mostly writerly types, I’m guessing — were treated to the inner workings of the New Yorker thanks to Dan Baum, a one-time staff writer for the magazine who was canned in 2007.
For reasons unexplained, Baum told his story through a series of tweets, starting last Friday and concluding today (the whole thing can be read in the proper order at Baum’s Web site). Perhaps the 140-character limit is a …

Creatives Dissect What’s Wrong and Offer Solutions
by Andrew Hampp
Adage.com
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — For the last five years, national radio has done what few traditional media have been able to manage — gain audience. Radio gained an additional 3 million listeners in 2008, amassing a weekly audience of 235 million people, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau’s annual RADAR report. Yet the original ad-supported broadcasting medium lost ad revenue on a year-over-year basis during the same time period, declining 9% in 2008 to $19.5 billion, according to the RAB.
Where’s the disconnect? …

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