Category: Ideas

Simple Effective Tips for your Office Return

Photo by Philipp Birmes on Pexels.com

Poised to return to the office? Ready or Not, here it comes! Whether you’ve returned to the office or are getting ready to do it. Listed below are some useful & tested tips upon your return to the “real” office.

  • BRING CASH/DON’T FORGET YOUR DEBIT/CREDIT CARD: Some Bodega’s only accept cash now. While some trendy coffee curators only take cards. It’s a bit strange where I work in Downtown, Honolulu, but it’s usually one or the other not both. And you may need your cash, to split the bill if you go out to eat with friends or co-workers. Or a Card if you are treating your customers. So, Bring them both, cash and card back to the office.
  • WATER: Prepare your Hydroflask the night before with ice cubes. Or buy a bulk batch of bottled water. You are gonna’ need it at the office. You don’t want to waste $2.50 a day getting it from your cash only bodega. And wearing a mask all day makes you extra thirsty, you gotta stay ahead of the game and hydrate all day from daylight til dusk. Unlike my home refrigerator, there’s no free water where I work. *My doctor has recommended I drink 2 of the big Hydroflasks each and every day. I’m doing my best by bringing water to the office.
  • JACKET/HOODIE/SWEATER: This isn’t your home where you set the thermostat exactly where you like it. The office dictates the temperature. It can on occasion get a bit warm, but it’s mostly cold. And now, colder than before since they think that colder air brings less germs. The office is more frigid than it was pre-pandemic. Be prepared with appropriate attire. *Pro Tip: Bring it once and use as needed, then change out each month or as you would your gym bag.
  • FLEXI SCHEDULE: Returning 100% to the office can be a challenge for some. If you can, see if its ok with your boss to do a combo of in office and outta’ office or work from home (WFH). Personally, I know I can get all my work done from 9a-5:30pm at home. Many times at the work office it takes me from 8:45am-7:30pm to get the same amount of work done. The Flexi Schedule is Nice if you can procure it.
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com

I’ve been back in office and Flexi-Schedule/WFH for a few weeks. It was awkward and strange at first. Then was fun to see people, catch up with folks and be in a social setting. Now, at times it seems weird and useless. The time it takes to get there and back. The abrupt interruptions. ETC. After what was it? 16 months of WFH, a lot of it just doesn’t make sense anymore. I personally like the Flexi-Schedule. A portion of work in the office, like weekly meetings and free food days make sense. And a portion of outta office to get paperwork done, do proposals, go on meetings and the occasional “safe” lunch.

The world we were in is gone. Change is Good. I vote for the Flexi-Schedule to stay way down the line. I remember some nights in 2018-19 staying till 9:00pm and thinking that was normal. In 2021, that just doesn’t make much sense. Turn the computer off at 5:30 or 6:00 and binge some shows, go exercise, or cook a nice healthy dinner. Well, Unless it’s the occasional Large Project to Earn the Big Bucks, to stay (very) late on occasion is still ok with me.

How has it been for you? What tips would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments section below.

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It’s not Just July

Trippin’ into July like…whoa!

Here’s this week’s summation of the World as of July 15, 2020 from the World of Advertising in Hawaii:

  • Open for Business:  Let people know that you are open for business. Whether it’s in a radio ad, digital ad, TV commercial, billboard or even a big sign on your door.  When I walked the neighborhood last week, it was hard tell who was open or closed. Even when I walked right up to the doors, still hard to tell, due to less people inside, dimmer lighting, buzzer systems etc.  Maybe, cover a window with a big sign  WE ARE OPEN and if there’s enough room, mention the hours you are open. It’s pretty confusing figuring out who is open and closed nowadays.
  • Hopeful:  Feed your mind with positive messaging. Watch YouTube shows of Wayne Dyer, Joel Osteen, Sky St John, Bishop Jakes, Richard Levy, Teal Swan, Justin Epstein, Les Brown,  Abraham Hicks, David Goggins, Alan Watts. Those are just some examples. Find someone on YouTube that you can resonate with and listen to them in the morning and as you go to sleep. Right down positive affirmations and repeat them often throughout the day.  I am Hopeful, I am Helpful, I am 100% Healthy, I am Prosperous, I am Safe, I am Alive Awake Enthusiastic. Again, use some of these or make up your own, but use them all day everyday.  Especially if you watch the news everyday.  It’s important to balance out what you see and hear in the news, on Facebook even on IG sometimes. In my opinion IG should be sacred ground for positivity and happiness. Or if FB is getting to negative and strange, find a new social network to join. Or make your own social media for others of like mind to join.  Now is the time to be creative, confident and to do things you never thought possible.
  • Helpful:  This can take so many forms. I personally could use help shopping. When I go to the grocery store every synapse in my body tweaks. It’s like a rush of a nasty storm floods my body. I could use some help shopping.  If you see someone having trouble in a store, help them. Show them where things are, help them carry things to their car or even just a quick eye smile. In your adverting be helpful, let them know you are open, that you have special accommodations set up, maybe some tips on how to buy on line.  If you want to help the 55+ crowd, help them with your on-line buying structure. In your ads or on the phone on how to do some things that come naturally to the 12-30 year olds. Especially tips on how to use your phone for E-Commerce. For some reason not every mobile check out is the same. Some are pretty hard to navigate. Completely different idea: A super easy, helpful thing to do is to bring your neighbors some home cooked meals or that new gluten free cookie dough bread you made last night. Not everyone is equipped to continue to make all these meals everyday. Or get some take out or delivery and share it with the building manager, door person, people across the street, your favorite store merchant.
  • Stay Healthy:  Eat veggies, blend a drink, eat some fruits. Exercise, get some safe-sun. Take an Airborne chewable. Down a multi vitamin each morning. Get some Elderberry chewables. Drink some echinacea tea.  Continue to do whatever you were doing back in March. Get it all out again in July.  Or continue your good healthy plans.  Me, I thought back in March that July was gonna’ be the month. But it’s not.  Somethings have opened back up, some have closed for good.  It’s a bit far from a “New Normal”.  Hopefully in October we will see some change, maybe some new pills before the election. Thinking someone might have some sort of handy helpful pill or drink to take in October.  Next month to look forward to is January 2021, when the vaccine is here. Hopefully.

Today’s blog not all positive, but full of hope, help and a big punch of the “New Reality” not the new normal … yet. And I’d say wear a mask if you can.  Even if you read some negative FB stories, if it helps it helps, if it doesn’t at least you tried. Some are actually pretty fun and can be quite matchy-matchy with your kicks and clothes.

Retail Tips from RAB

Here’s some fun, helpful tips from the Radio Adverting Bureau.  Just make sure you wash your leggings before using them as a mask..LOL

Retail Tips from RAB jpeg
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Donut Day’s of the Year

DonutDayHawaiiJune2019-AdvertisingInHawaii.com

Every Day’s a Celebration!

Today (6/7/19) is National Donut Day! Earlier this week, the Salvation Army and Regal Donuts stopped the 4 radio stations with over 82 donuts for the Dj’s and staff.  We did some interviews. Pre recorded them and played them on National Donut Day.  The Salvation Army and Regal Donuts received some nice promotional time on 4 great radio station morning shows.

Doing National Donut day here at the radio stations, reminded me of how easy it is to go to the Days of the Year website to get idea starters, do some tie ins or just to get something to post on my social media each day.  It’s a super easy way to get ideas flowing or to make money for you or your clients!

Here is the best site, I’ve found for the list of Days and Dates and even has extra info on each of the fun & festive days of the year! Did you know that the Salvation Army is the founder of National Donut Day!

Every Day of the year, is a special day and if it’s not a special day already, make up a new one!

Here’s some ways to utilize these days for fun, exposure and extra dollars for you or your clients:

  • Social Media Content:  You can instantly take almost any day of the year and use it for your social media content.  Today is Donut Day, yet it’s also Fish & Chips Day and Chocolate Ice Cream Day. That’s 3 food related idea starters for your social media all in one Day! Throughout the year, take lots of pictures, just scrolling thru your photos, you’re bound to find something that fits the day. Keep your eye out all year for pictures you can use on these special days of the year.  Or, you could easily take a few boxes of donuts out to Police, Fire departments, schools or non-profits, give them some free Donuts and get some great pictures for your Social Media Content.

 

  • Special offers: If you sell something that matches the day, give special offers, discounts or free offers. Today, you could give free donuts, fish or even easier chips/fries, or ice cream free or with a purchase.  For Donut Day, many places are doing both, free donuts just for walking in or buy a beverage/coffee and get a Donut free.

 

  • Brainstorming Meeting:  Do you have a brainstorming meeting coming up? Bring in the list of days, mention them, post them on the wall. It’s a really easy way to get the ideas rolling in a brainstorming meeting. And it’s sure to make your meeting more fun! Today, bring the list, but don’t forget the free donuts!

 

  • Pick a Day/Make it your Own: Monthly or quarterly:  Look at all the many days, pick out the one’s that match you best. and Own them.  You could bring free food of the day to the those in need.  Discounts on the various items of the Day.  Tie in a Non profit with portion of all sales this week going to the charity of your choice. Cross promote with a neighbor store down the street. They may have food and you may have clothes, help each other out on the various days. June is Guitars on the Beach Month. You could do a meet up with musicians, do a picnic with free food and drinks.  Get Guitar Center involved or local bands could make a surprise visit and do a free on-site mini concert or tutorial.

 

  • Make up Your Own Day:  Look at all the days that already exist, then find something unique to call your own. Submit it to the Days of the Year folks. Or just start doing it, make it an annual event. Each year, getting bigger and bigger. Promote it on social Media, advertise on radio, TV, Print or Outdoor.  Maybe in 3-5 years, many other people will be doing it as the special day of the year.  Many of the days started small at the grass roots level and have grown year after year.

Sunset on the Beach 2019
Moana at the Beach
Sunset on the Beach
Before Sunset on the Beach

  • Take a Day/Any Day/and Do something Fun:  Today, I will randomly pick June 23rd.  It’s Let it Go Day.  Here’s just a few things you could do:  Play the Frozen Movie in the park, beach or waterpark. Do it free, with a discount or giveaway tickets in May and June tying it in as a Gift with Purchase (GWP).  Do the City’s Largest Garage Sale.  Get people to Let Go of their clothes, shoes, etc.  Rent out a parking stall for $50. Rent out all the stalls at the mall, let the people keep their share of the earnings, after costs, give a portion of each of the $50 fees to a charity. A Let it Go Singing competition. We all know many people who’ve memorized all the words perfectly for this song.  Do a singing comp at the mall, in front of a bank, at a Fair or Amusement Park…anywhere really.  Get some prize sponsors & some free shave ice and the crooners + crowds will be there. Do an Instagram promo: Have people list what they want to Let Go and why, get the longest list of things to let go. Maybe pick one or two and give them some prizes. Make it a Let it Go Month of June. Have people come to your store locations and Let Go their slightly used shoes or sneakers, give them a Coupon for 25% off.  Take their pictures for social Media, post their pix in your store, give the shoes and sneakers to those that need them. Maybe for Job interviews or a High School sports team or 2. June 22nd is the Great American Backyard Campout Day.  You could piggy back on this and have a giant camp-out on June 22 and 23. On the 23rd you play the movie Frozen! You could also do the song competition on this day. Or even build in a Let it Go Rummage sale. Oh, so many things you can do with just one day.  Have fun!

Hope this may spark some ideas for you and your favorite upcoming special day.  Let me know if you want any additional ideas. If you do, just email me here.

Have a Great Day!  On whatever day you may read this blog posting.  🙂

February is…

Monthly  & Daily Promotion Idea Starters

February starts off Big with the Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day & The Hawaii Pacific Health Great Aloha Run! I have no idea how we ever fit the Pro Bowl in. But we did for 20+ years!

Have fun using these as idea starters.  I made some comments next to some, not all.  Have a nice Week!

All Month Long

Hot Breakfast Month
National Chocolate Lovers Month
National Grapefruit Month
National Potato Lovers Month
American Heart Month
Library Lovers Month

Days

1 – National Baked Alaska Day-If you don’t know what this is, it’s sponge cake and ice cream in a meringue covering, cooked for a very short time.
1 – Decorating With Candy Day
1 – National Dark Chocolate Day=Eat as much as you like, they say it’s great for your Heart.
2 – National Tater Tot Day-Yum. One of my favorite meals, Sloppy Joe’s and Tater Tots.  Used to cook this on Sunday nights. Now, Tater Tots can be the entire meal with all the fun things people put on top and into them.
2 – National Crepe Day-Have a make your own crepe station set up at your restaurant.  A stack of Crepes, whip creme, stawberries, brown sugar, powdered sugar, maple syrup, chocolate drizzle, melted butter, and more.  Then have a camera at the end of the table, people will take pix of their creation and you will post em’ on line. Or go Ol School and have people take the pix with their phone and upload them to Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Hashtag #Delish or #Mycrepe or #DIYcrepe or #Crepecreation or #CrepeHI/NY/LA  Just make sure it’s easy.  Use one simple hashtag and no @ signs or other hoops to jump through.
2 – Groundhog Day-Not a big deal in Hawaii.  LOL.
2 – National Wear Red Day-You’d think this would be closer to February 14th.
3 – National Carrot Cake Day
3 – Ice Cream For Breakfast Day
4 – Super Bowl Sunday-This should be a Holiday…on Monday.
4 – National Homemade Soup Day
4 – National Stuffed Mushroom Day
4 – Thank A Mailman Day
5 – National Chocolate Fondue Day
5 – World Nutella Day-Do a Nutella Recipe contest. A Nutella Art or sculpture contest. Or an easy Social Media contest, like What do you Nutella with? (Nutella and Fill in the Blank).
5 – National Weatherperson’s Day
6 – National Frozen Yogurt Day
7 – National Fettuccine Alfredo Day
7 – Send A Card To A Friend Day-Do this.  Not many people get mail other than bills in 2018. So, you will stand out and make someone’s day.
8 – National Potato Lover’s Day
8 – National Molasses Bar Day
8 – Boy Scout Day
8 – Kite Flying Day
8 – Opera Day
9 – National Pizza Day-Usually some good deals on Pizza on this day.  See what you can find.
9 – National Bagels & Lox Day-I like to eat this in NY or Chicago, the portions are 2-3x bigger than in Hawaii.  And they give 5x the amount of capers in Chicago!

Lox-&-Capers
10 – National Cream Cheese Brownie Day
10 – National Have a Brownie Day
10 – Umbrella Day
11 – National Peppermint Patty Day
11 – Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day
11 – Get Out Your Guitar Day-Or Bring Back Guitar Hero, that was always fun to play at remotes.
11 – Make a Friend Day-Say “Hi” to your fellow elevator passengers.  Try and say Hi to at least 5 people today.
11 – Satisfied Staying Single Day
12 – National Plum Pudding Day-Wonder how this ended up in February. We eat this for Good-Luck on December 25.  No one really likes it much, they fuss all over it, but it does bring Good Luck to all who partake.
13 – Mardi Gras-Good we have a few days notice on this one. It seems to come up out of nowhere every year.
13 – National Tortellini Day
13 – National Italian Food Day-Spaghetti Eating Contests! Sometimes I go to Buca De Pepo and get the giant Spaghetti and eat it for 3 days. Saves on cooking for a bit. Cafe Sustina and Macaroni Grill my fav’s to eat at in HI.  Little Italy or the place near Union Square if I’m in NY.  The place near Union Square has the best food in the world. Little Italy is super fun to hang at, food is secondary, although still good.
13 – Madly In Love With Me Day
14 – Valentine’s Day-Concerts, Candy, Flowers, Hotels, etc. Couple of my Favorite Promotions.  Singles Night at the Supermarket. And The Nuts and Bolts Booze Cruise.  All the Nuts need to find the Bolts to match.  Can also do with famous names taped to the backs of the participants.
14 – National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day
14 – International Book Giving Day-Nothing says I Love You more than a book. Hmm
15 – National Gumdrop Day-If you can find these, have fun.
15 – Singles Awareness Day
15 – Hippo Day
16 – National Almond Day
16 – Do A Grouch A Favor Day
17 – National Cafe’ Au Lait Day
17 – My Way Day
17 – World Human Spirit Day
17 – Random Acts of Kindness Day-Start on this one now. So easy to do & doesn’t cost a dime.
18 – National Crab-Stuffed Flounder Day
18 – National Drink Wine Day
18 – World Whale Day-Giveaway trips to Maui to see the Whales.
19 – National Chocolate Mint Day
19 – Presidents Day-Also the Great Aloha Run.
20 – National Cherry Pie Day-Pie Eating Contest Time. The trick to winning a pie or especially a watermelon eating contest. Smash your face directly into the middle.
20 – Love Your Pet Day
21 – National Sticky Bun Day
22 – National Chili Day-A good day to start a Chili Cook-Off event.
22 – National Cook A Sweet Potato Day
22 – National Margarita Day-Straight up or Blended. With Salt or Without.
22 – Be Humble Day
23 – National Banana Bread Day-With Nuts or Without?
23 – Play Tennis Day
24 – National Tortilla Chip Day
24 – Open That Bottle Night
25 – National Clam Chowder Day
25 – National Chocolate Covered Peanuts Day
26 – National Pistachio Day-Guess how many Pistachio’s are in the Jar to win $$.
26 – Tell A Fairy Tale Day
27 – National Kahlua Day
27 – National Strawberry Day
27 – No Brainer Day
27 – Polar Bear Day-My favorite animal at the Zoo. I can watch Polar bears for hours.
28 – National Chocolate Souffle Day-Better order it now, so it’s  ready by the time dinner is done.

QR Codes vs Blippar

Well, a few weeks ago I was thinking what would be a great way to make a QR code look cooler? Mobi has some that are colorful, Macy’s put a Star around theirs, But these guys at Blippar have taken the concept to a whole new level. I received this tip from springwise.com then went to Google-Ize the word blippar and I found us this awesome video.

The video has some slow portions, but I’d advise staying patient through it until you at least see the Omega watch portion. What happens here is he puts the phone on a print ad for Omega and within seconds the man in the video has placed 3 or 4 different Omega watches on to his own wrist! Not real watches, but virtual watches and they do look like they are on his wrist. Blippar is Pretty happening. Congrats on the cool concept to all the folks who work over at blippar. I can’t wait until you get Nike as a client and I can wear all the Jordans I could ever imagine! I wont have to buy another pair of shoes ever again. I’ll be able to virtually wear whatever I want-whenever I want. Too cool!

What Day is It?

What Day of the Week is the 24th?

In the Late 80’s, when I was first in radio, I remember writing a :10 Live event commercial for the DJ’s. It said something like “Join us on January 24th at Masquarade to see…” Well, within a couple of days I got called into the bosses office. He told me some of the best advice I’ve ever heard when writing copy and some of  the best advice that I still use to this day, but has not been passed along to enough people.Its a pretty simple, yet mostly overlooked “RULE” in copywriting. here it is:
PEOPLE DON’T THINK IN DATES, THEY THINK IN DAYS” Especially for people like me who think in pictures, I can barely remember what day it is let alone what date it is. And I am not the only one who doesn’t always know what Day a certain Date is. Thus, if a print ad, TV or Radio commercial is telling me to be somewhere on November 24th with no Day listed next to it, It’s going to be extra hard to advertise to me.  I actually just mentally tallied it up and came up with Thursday.  Not totally sure if that is correct, but pretty sure.

This poster is an example of someone who didn’t use a Day. It only says the date.  And they have been putting ads like this in my elevator for months, DATES with no DAYS listed. It’s pretty frustrating for someone like me and probably you too? It’s really not their fault, no one mentored them or called them into their office to explain this easy “trick” to better remembrance of when to be somewhere. Please use Days to help your advertising in Hawaii or around the world become more effective.

Even today which is Halloween I was listening to the radio and a couple of the commercials  didn’t say “Join us Tonight” Or even “Join us Monday October 31st”. It was playing today and just said “join us on October 31st” ugh! Yeah-I know,  it’s a bit different since most people know October 31st is Halloween, but you get the point, if it was next Monday and it said “Join us November 7..” it would have been pretty easy not to know that it was That Monday night and not some other day since Tonight nor This Monday Night were not used in the commercial.

Here’s how I take care of updates for all of my clients.

1.  A couple weeks out:   Join us Thursday November 24th

2.  The Monday before the Thursday:  “Join us This Thursday” or “Join us this Thursday November 24th”  Up to you on that one. I personally go for the simpler “Join us This Thursday”

3.  Wednesday all day:  Join us TOMORROW NIGHT ..How many radio spots do I hear on a daily basis that are still saying “join us November 24th EVEN the Day before the event!  double ugh!

4.  Thursday November 24th:  “Join us Tonight” People think in days and even simpler-use tomorrow night the day before the event and Tonight the day of the event. Totally throw your dates out the window now!

People think in days not dates and this also goes back to the KISS principle..”Keep it Simply Simple” or as us Ol’ Schoolers used to say the politically incorrect KISS principle: “Keep It Simple Stupid”..LOL

You May not want to get this involved in your copywriting, In Such a fast passed world, many get lazy on these simple updates. But it really is the right thing to do. It’s what I do to be as effective as I can for my clients. However, if you remember one thing from this blog, remember that people remember DAYS much easier than DATES. I would recommend adding in Days to all of your print, TV and Radio Commercials.  Even if you forget to all the different updates, for a better remembrance of your event ad, please add the day to your commercials, promos, and Ads.  Have a Great November!!

If you need any ideas for upcoming events or promotions, send me an at scott.mackenzie@coxradio.com and I’ll get you a bunch of free ideas for your upcoming marketing dilemma.

50500-Instant Electronic Business Cards!

On Saturday I went to another Pacific New Media Class.  The class was entitled:  “How to Use Social Media to Build your Professional and Personal Brand” taught by “Neenz” Faleafine. Neenz was the social media director for Governor Abercrombie, now works at Oceanit, and is the chief evangelist for Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop Website.

I personally think many of you would enjoy taking her class in the Spring, thus I won’t tell you everything I learned, but I will tell you a few pretty cool things:

1.  the Hottest, Newest social media site is called Chime.In.  It’s where all the cutting edge Techies are going to last week and this week. And did you know that there are over 500 Social Media sites in existence!!!  OMG! But Facebook still rules with over 800 Million people on it! So, for marketing purposes, if you only choose one SM avenue, I would still advise using and getting good at FB.

2. Check out contxts.com.  At this site you can set up your own electronic SMS business card.  First just go there. Then after you are set yours up, you just take a new friends phone, put 50500 in the “To:” section then in the text section write your name. Then within 6 seconds, an electronic business card pops on to their smartphone screen. in plain English”text your name to 50500″.  I love it, it’s almost as fun as QR codes, but I’m still pretty attached to those!

3.  Set up Google Alerts for your name at Google.com\alerts, purchase your own domain name with your real name, check knowem.com to see how many you can still get using your own name, tag all your photos, tag your content relevent to your brand and as we learned before…Create Content because as  Dan Z said “Content is King” and @NEENZrecommends that when you create content make sure it conveys what you want your personal brand to be, spell correclty and be specific!

I just got home from work a little while ago, so I need to go now, time to relax a bit before the new day starts.  If you need some free ideas for any type of promotion or marketing campaign you are working on, feel free to email me anytime at scott.mackenzie@coxradio.com  or give me a call at 275-1106.  Take care and have a Great Mega Halloween Weekend!

 

 

QR Codes Go Up in Smoke!

Even though QR (Quick Read) codes have been around for a while, this is the year that I’ve personally really enjoyed them.  It started at Christmas When my friend Charles gave me a New York Times and it had a HUGE really colorful QR code on it and I sat at lunch trying to take a picture of it, which of course did not work.  From a Blog earlier, I mentioned that you would need a QR Code reader or scanner on your iPhone to get it to work. Since December, I have made QR code business cards, stuck QR Code Stickers up all over the world and made QR codes for many friends including Non Stop Travel, Power 104.3, and Oceanic Cable. 

Now, check out this video, I know it’s in Croatian, but even in Croatian it shows you how simple and easy it is to use a QR Code.  And as I’ve been studying the usage of QR codes in Advertising, I noticed that many take the customer to a website, which is cool and all. That’s what most of my QR codes do, but as we continue to use them, I love all of the really awesome things we can do with them!

For example this QR code is on the back of a Ronhill cigarette package and it takes you to a regional mobile website that gives the smoker current locations of where smoking is allowed.  And similar to Foursquare-users can also update the list of places themselves.  Thanks to Springwise.com for the tip and for more information on TDR click here.

On the subject of cool things to do with QR codes.  Feel free to use any of these ideas or use them as a springboard to your own QR code Fun,  Advertising, and Marketing!  (These arent real or if they are it’s a total coincidence because I just made them all up today 9/15/11)

1. Red Bull/Energy Drink/Soda Company:  The QR code could click to a site that shows all the cool places Red Bull events are being held this year and you’d be entered to win VIP access. Or even more fun, the QR code would lead you to Travis Pastrana’s backyard-where he could teach us some new tricks on Moto X or Subaru. 

2.Clearthesmoke.org/Lung Association: Since we did an article on cool things you can do with smoking, I figured I’d better add in some PSA type info on quiting smoking.    So,  instead of taking you their websites homepage, the QR code can take you to an entry form to enter the “Quit Smoking Today” art contest.  Here you would upload your art and then the next time you scan the QR code it would take you to the Clear the Smoke dot org Art Gallery where you could see all of the great works of art and vote on your favorites. Winner received a smoking HOT trip to the Bahamas.

3.  Broke2.com/Clothing Company:  Click on the QR code and it takes you to a fun interactive video game where you get to dress up Celebrities in some fun destination appropriate clothes to go on a road trip race all over the world. Changing clothes as you go to each destination. Racing against all sorts of people all around the world.  Fun to do, fun to race and fun to meet new people from around the World. You could get badges, points or money coupons each time you get to a new country and use them to purchase a special limited edition line of clothing designed for the game. 

4.  G-Shock/Watches in general:  Put the QR code underneath the crown or on the band. Wearers of the brand get the exclusive code to be in the VIP Watch Club.  Along with the usual cool VIP things brands like to give you. This Club would check the time and show you a video of the coolest thing happening at that moment in time.  Like an all night party in Ibiza, backstage at Fashion Week, a sneak peek at a celebrity partying in Maui, behind the scenes at a Victoria Secret’s Fashion show, on the set of Hawaii Five-0, Carnivale in Rio, St. Pats Day in Dublin etc. Whatever, wherever is HOT at this TIME, they will take you there!

Oh-What fun to be had with QR codes and just think I couldn’t even download one of these things 8 months ago. The World sure is moving fast!  Best way to get a hold of me this week and weekend is by text at 808 479-9928. Cheers and Aloha! SM

Smart Phone Shopping in Korea

  • I was just talking to someone last week that was in Asia and he said he saw businessmen buying beer with their smartphones before getting on the train! I had heard that the Japanese had been purchasing their train tickets for a while now with smart phones, but Beer!   And now,  just today trendwatching.com released this picture and short article about purchasing beverages with smartphones in Korea.  The other  interesting thing here is on-line sales also increased.  Looks kind of fun, but I would miss the funny faces the cashiers make when I ask them:”Hey those fish things are gone! (they responded..eh?!?!) So I said: Where are the fun fish things with the reddish sweet bean paste in them that are usually in the frozen section”  Yep, I really did ask them that about two weeks ago at 7-Eleven on Piikoi.  It’s my favorite food to eat when I work too late. I couldn’t find them that night and neither could the clerk..Go figure! But I sure wouldn’t find them at a store without a cashier.  Me, I personally like shopping and seeing cashier, sales people etc.  Although, this would be a good idea for the downtown Longs Store. That place always has a line and that is one time that I am in a HURRY! So, It could be a good thing for certain places, but PLEASE dont do this at the shoes or clothes stores!!!!
  • What do you think of the new stores?  Fun? Fast? Lame? the future? or not? LMK

Home plus, the Korean branch of Tesco, recently launched a series of virtual stores on subway platforms, enabling customers to make purchases using their smartphones while they wait for a train. During the campaign, Home plus online sales increased by 130%, with over 10,000 customers trying the stores.  trendwatching.com   

 

No Cashiers here! just click and go!

 

 

Fuel your Engines-GetfoundontheWeb!

Getting your website, blog or whatever you’re trying to promote on the first page of Google takes some time and effort.  Here’s a bit of the basics, after a bit more testing of something’s I’ve been learning over the last few months, I’ll add some more advanced SEO information to this blog in about 3 weeks-I just want to make sure that they work first. So for now, let’s look at some things we all need to know to fuel the Search Engines out there!

First: What is a Search Engine:

An article on bbc.co.uk states that: “A Search Engine makes it possible to find a specific bit of information in the huge mass of data stored on the web”.

Second:  Who are these Search Engines that we should care about:

According to Rob Croll there are actually thousands of Search Engines-Who would know that there are that many! But, to get found on the web as of today August 26, 2011, we should concentrate on having Google, Bing and Yahoo! find us. And Google is by far the main Engine we want to feed most of our fueling efforts towards.

Third: What do the Search Engines Do? as of today I gotta say.

The Search engines like Google and Bing are known as crawler based engines and at the moment operate similarly to each other. These engines do three things to find our blogs and websites:

A. They use Spiders also known as Bots and Crawlers that search the web for content by finding links and getting directed to in a few other ways-that sentence it a bit vague, but don’t worry or get confused. Basically Spiders, Bots and Crawlers are all the same thing and what they do is look for you and me. I’d draw a fun picture if I didn’t need to sleep tonight. Maybe I’ll draw it another day and add it in here.

B. Once the Spiders find you or me, the information is indexed into a database to allow for future retrieval for the time when someone does a search-Types a word into the Google search box or as some people call it the google rectangle.  the Google search box Which BTW is on the top right or the middle of your page. The top middle area where the web address is called the browser.  I’m sure many of you know what a browser is but For many years our IT guy would ask us to copy and paste things into our browser and for the life of me I could never find it on my email-duh it appears when I turn my internet on. So I never did anything, but I managed to get by for many a year. I think learning to copy and paste and what a browser actually is, was the best thing I’ve ever learned on the computer-it now saves me tons of time and frustration and gives me more leisure time and how super easy is it? OMG!

C. Now when someone goes to Google, Bing or Yahoo! and types in a word, a sentence or question into the “search box”(ah I like that name-easy to remember and use) an algorithm tries to identify the most relevant results from their indexing.

Fourth:  What do Search Engines look for?

Each search engine has its own criteria and their own algorithm but they all basically look to see if there is a relationship between your page and a searchers inquiry. The closer your page fits what the person is looking for, the easier you are to find. After you’ve read this simple explanation, look to the bottom of the page for many of the helpful things to learn about to increase your Search Engine Optimization.

Fifth: How do they know which blog or site is best for your inquiry:

They use their “secret” algorithms. Ahh, i love that word, its my favorite word when I explain how Pandora finds the songs you like, they use a complex algorithm. So, what’s an algorithm? It’s basically a pretty complicated mathematical formula. Google will even tell you it’s so complex it uses 200 different variables! And the search engines change these algorithms frequently. Actually, Google has admitted according to Rob Croll at Marlannah Digital Marketing to changing their algorithm at least once a day! Wow! now that’s pretty crazy, but I suspect they will change them more than once a day in the near future, who knows they probably already are doing this.

I really didn’t mean to write this much tonite and I do need to get some sleep, but before I go I’ll give you the list to increase your SEO that I promised you.

1. Content relevancy: Whatever your site or blogs name is, write about it.  Like today, If I was trying to increase my SEO rankings, I would have written the word “advertising” or “radio advertising” or better yet “advertising in Hawaii” in this blog. but today, I’m just writing to help out. Hah, but I did just write it, but not to increase My Ranking, but to tell a simple example.

2. Popularity: How many views have you had today, yesterday and over the years that your site has been around. Also, Who is following you or your blog. Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare fans and friends help you here too. Over the last year or so, your Social Media competency helps a lot with your popularity.

3. Inbound Links:  These are the links on other people’s pages that link to you.  In many of my posts I link you to various sites mainly to help you find the information, sources, people, places and things easier, but these outbound links from my site DO help others Inbound links, which helps one get higher on the Google food chain. Today I’m trying to go linkless, mainly to keep this all about learning and not about increasing my sites Google search ranking.

4. Outbound Links:  These aren’t nearly as important as inbound links.  But, I like to use them because they help you the reader find things easier and who knows, they may bring me an inbound link or two if people are using the spiritual law of reciprocity.

5. Title Tags: The words in your title tag are what appear in the clickable link on the search engine results page (SERP). They also can be seen in the top of internet browsers.  From what I gather, they are extremely important, some say if you don’t fix this, don’t bother with the rest. Others say this is 1 of the top 3 things to pay attention to for increased views of your page. I suspect I need to fix my title tag on some of my sites. From looking on the web, it seems most advise to put what you are selling/doing first, then keywords that make sense next to each other and end with your company’s name.  So Something like this would be a good start for a Pizza Joint:  Pizza, Eat in-Take Out, the best pepperoni Pizza in Hawaii, Hawaii Pizza Company. There’s a ton of good advice if you do a search in Google.

6. Page Rank: Google uses this to rank your site/blog. A link analysis algorithm. Basically doing all of these other things on this list will help to increase your page Rank. Which will in turn help you get found faster and easier.

7. Domain Age: From what I’ve read on the net, Google likes sites better that have either been around for a while or the name has been purchased for 3 years or more. Less than a 3 year lease on your site’s name decreases your ranking.

8. Useability: Attribute, description of how easy your site is to use. Method or technique to get things done easier for the user. People who come to your blog/site can use it easily with high satisfaction. 

10. Site Maps:  Visual or textually organised model of a websites content that allows visitors to find what they are looking for easily and make sure that all of your links and connecting words work!  A site map is like an interactable table of contents on your site. The bigger your site the better your site map should be, if you have a pretty simple blog, I’d work on some of the other of the top 10 first.

These 10 words come from “Epic Strategies for Small Business” How Search Engines Work written by Rob Croll on July 11, 2011 for marketingzeus.com  the information written after the 10 words, I wrote from mostly reading all sorts of things, seminars and of course by “doing” my various websites and blogs.  I’m a big believer in “don’t just think about it, wonder if its right or wrong, just jump in and start doing it”  No one’s perfect at writing a blog or getting their site to page one on Google, but its better to try things than wait around until you “think” you’re ready and/or perfect. If you do that, five years could go by as you wait, that’s a lot of lost practice time!

You can comment and I’ll add in your thoughts and recommendations and add a link to your site if you like on what they mean.  For more information on anything listed above, just google it, there’s a lot more information out there on all of these 10 items. We could do a whole one page blog on each of them if we wanted.  For additional information on Search Engine Optimization check out Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide or Bings blog has a post entitled Search Engine Optimization for Bing. Or check back here in a month or two and we’ll add new things. As we’ve all learned, it’s an ever-changing landscape, but just working on the basics will work wonders for  you and people searching for you.  The simplest thing I ever did was moved from Web.Me to WordPress and my views double in a week. That was so, super easy, should have done it years ago! Have a nice weekend-Stay Dry!.

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