The Los Alamitos Varsity Song are on their way to the UDA Nationals, February 6-7 in Orlando, FL!

“My Aunt Does the Best T-shirts”
Ah, the coveted 18-24 demographic. What if I told you that I have a lock on this slice of heaven on a micro-level, nationally! Shocked? Don’t be. I have honed these connections since their birth and now my notoriety is viral. I’m talking t-shirt designs! Sure, I’d like to be the go-to in brand marketing on the web, but in the 18-24 demo in my family, this is my rep. My nieces or nephews can’t resist to raise their hand and say: “My Aunt does the best t-shirts!” Hey, I’m not putting this all on them: give me a Peer Leader Group with the theme of super heroes and I’m all in!  We begin with a bit of brainstorming. As we sit around the table, we talk about their group and get to the heart of the look. I’ve been told this is considered a form of torture at times, but it produces great results.

Here’s how it usually rolls out:

• What’s their message,
• Why did they join,
• What type of members are there,
• Who is their audience,
• What is the outcome they would like from the new look.

Does this list look familiar to any of my clients?
That’s right. It’s my tried and true interview style to get to the answers I need to be effective in marketing. It’s such a simple list but so many will lunge into a project without answering these simple questions. People can envision their business thriving and successful, but they all too often forget to create and execute a plan to get themselves to the goal. With just a little brainstorming, planning and project management, the successful result will be all you hoped for!

Back to my thriving t-shirt business.
Last month, I undertook a long distance assignment for my niece in California. Her group is the Los Alamitos Varsity Song group. As I went through the paces, I could tell there was great passion to  creating this shirt. As a senior, she and her co-captain got to decide the look for this years shirt. Big doings. I could hear in her voice the excitement of how extra touches would be impact-ful, but most importantly, the group’s name needed to scream out. I thoroughly enjoyed the back and forth and, in the end, the look was connected and fun. The best part is I got a shirt! Go LOS AL!

Happy 2010 everyone!

We are off to a lovely holiday luncheon at Sole. Many  thanks to the Masconomet Soccer Boosters. The food is awesome!

The holiday season is in full force and we are ready for a bit of a break to recharge, take in a bit of skiing, paint, relax and rejuvenate. We will be on an “email/phone only” schedule for the next two weeks. Feel free to contact us with questions that arise. We’ll keep all of our current projects moving forward and we’ll be back in the office on January 4th to kick off a brand new year.

2010

For the past several weeks, we have been working with clients to develop marketing and branding plans for 2010. Our 30 clients inspire us daily with their passion, perseverence, and vision for the future.

Whether entrepreneurs, small businesses, or growing corporations, our clients’ view of successful growth goes beyond traditional headcount. Nurenu clients share a desire to grow cost-effectively through innovative and engaging communications. This approach opens up new paths and business opportunities.

With 25 websites in our portfolio, we understand how web-centric communications can be a game-changer. To help our clients realize their visions and dreams, Nurenu is committed to staying at the forefront of the industry, serving as an active, innovative sounding board and marketing partner.

In 2010, we’ll be changing and growing as well. How? By….

• Expanding our content management offerings to include Drupal development and Joomla CMS. These two technology platforms provide clients with new kinds of self-serve flexibility in website content management.
• Streamlining our office processes to better serve our clients. This means taking advantage of the latest time-tracker and project management software to make sure we are working not only creatively, but cost-effectively.
• Helping more clients establish and maintain mindshare through e-blast campaigns that integrate with CRM software such as Salesforce.com.
• Exploring Google Wave (now in beta) to see how we can use this new collaboration tool for maximum benefit to clients and Nurenu.
• Pursuing the latest SEO techniques in order to make our websites work even harder for our clients and using even better Analytics to help us track and continuously improve client website activity.
• Incorporating social media techniques wherever it makes sense for our clients’ marketing goals. In 2010, we will see a maturing of this marketing model. More will join, many will consolidate, and a few will be highly successful at benefiting from this marketing component. We will be an active participant!

As I wind up this blog and this year, I want to thank everyone who made this year so memorable. To our wonderful clients, vendors, friends, and families, I offer our sincere appreciation for your business and support.  Come January, lets do it all again! Here’s to a 2010 filled with brand new opportunities for all. Cheers!

I went with the latter and for the next hour we talked about her business, my business and the amazing landscape of social media. She confessed that she used no social media whatsoever – no blogging, no twittering, no witty fan page on Facebook. She didn’t even have her “face up on LinkedIn.” So, slowly I explained how it can all come together and how, with very little time and money, she can integrate social media into her marketing plan. I would be lying if I said by the tiramisu she was all on board, but I did see a glimmer of hope! We were about to leave and she came up to say goodbye, “Good luck, BJ, with that social media thing!” Made me smile.

Tomorrow, I get to present with Rich Gee, owner of the Rich Gee Group. He is a consummate speaker and his use of social media is just the best. We will speak briefly about how we use social media but mostly we’ll ask the question: “What do you do?” and tailor our talk to their specific businesses. This will be more of a conversation, just like social media! The most important take away will be: “Just do it. Just jump in and begin communicating.” It will be a great talk!

We seem to know this intuitively when it comes to visual communications. We see the same Nike logo on applications from print, to TV, t-shirts, and Serena Williams’ tennis wear so we know that’s the goal for our brand as well. Even in the smallest enterprise, someone watches over the company’s logo to make sure it’s consistent each time it’s used.

But the words we use to talk and write about our brand need to be consistent as well. This is harder to control, but equally important. Craft the message about your brand and institutionalize it. Get everyone in your company using the same words to describe what you do. This holds true for the elevator pitch you make to a contact, the company descriptions you post on the web, or the way you talk about your service offering in an email.

With today’s Web-based marketing tools, keeping your e-communications consistent is critical. Search engines reward consistent messaging. Agree on the main words and phrases you’ll use to communicate about your company, and find lots of places to use those on your site. Find ways to emphasize these same words on social media sites. When prospective clients search the web, they’ll find a company with a clear, memorable message.

Being consistent is smart marketing.