10 Tips for Networking During the Holidays

There are a number of seasonal strategies that you can employ to enhance your business relationships, boost your personal brand and strengthen your bottom line. As people tend to be more relaxed during this time of the year, take advantage of these circumstances by reaching out and interacting with various individuals.

A winning formula in luxury branding design

We all know the names and the spokespeople endorsing the “blue blood” logos. We breathe heavily at their platinum window displays, not daring to venture through the doors into these temples of conspicuous consumerism lest we be discovered to be browsing and be punctually ejected onto the pavement. What is it about the Louis Vuitton monogram and the Hermes orange bag that gets us all so excited? What mystery constitutes the essence of a luxury brand?

A pay-as-you-go PR service that works

In response to a growing demand for short-term, ad-hoc PR services, Microzone PR now offers a customisable solution based on the ‘pay-as-you-use’ concept.

Do I really need a digital strategy

The digital revolution – in which technologies have added enough value to users’ processes to earn their adoption – is forcing most industries to rethink their communications, their supply chains, their competitive strategies and even their business models.

But because the digital field is constantly shifting and frustratingly ephemeral, senior executives are required to do two things they are far from comfortable with: climb steep learning curves and acquire an appetite for risk.

Relationship marketing in this strained economic climate

It seems as if the money or organisation is spending on mass media is just not earning the same return on investment as our one-on-one efforts which yield far greater (and long term) results.

Top tips for identifying spam and phishing mailers

The recent resurgence of spam and phishing emails has left SA’s online community scared and confused. “Justifiably so,” says Chemory Fick, Group Marketing Manager with Vibrant Media and the Decision Makers database. “Many of these spammers are out to trick you, and get your money - and are getting smarter by the day.”

Social networks transforming word-of-mouth communication and business

A few years back, who could have predicted that adult conversation would be laced with words such as Twitter, Facebook, Ning, and Plurk, Friendster, MySpace, Hi5 and Tagged, Digg, Stumbleupon, Flickr, ePinions, BizRate, Behance and GoodReads?

Digital marketing trumps the recession

According to new research, online marketing is set to grow despite the global recession.

The latest study from Forrester Research, one of the leading researchers internationally on online trends, shows enterprises will increase their focus on online marketing in 2009 and build on the collective growth and adoption of social media sites and consumer interaction.

Grab customers through innovative packaging

“Packaging has to grab the consumers’ attention, relate to their own identities and create an emotional connection – in a matter of seconds,” states Jason Kempen, Creative Director at Fountainhead Design. Fountainhead is a boutique design and communication agency established in Cape Town in 1995, specialising in premium packaging, corporate identity and brand collateral.

Twitter for your business? Just say no!

Experts in online presence and website development may or may not share this view, but our contention is that Twitter adds little or no value to online business presence.

Time is your most valuable business asset. Working on Internet marketing voraciously consumes time. Spend what little time you have for Internet marketing, updating your company website, drafting press releases, writing blog posts and articles or answering questions related to your industry.

Don’t waste valuable time tweeting.