Or, if you don’t make it to RIITA, but would like my slides, just e-mail me at missy@pojemarketing.com and I’ll be glad to e-mail them to you!

Of course here are many factors that you should  consider before such a major undertaking. However, if your logo doesn’t accurately represent your company, why not consider a fresh new logo to breathe some life into your branding and marketing efforts?

A great case study is KTC, or Kaplan Telephone in Kaplan, Louisiana. Carl and I have been talking about consolidating their two vastly different company logos into one for years (or rather, I’ve been pestering him for years and he’s been patiently helping me down off my soapbox). We finally came together a few months ago (I must have finally worn him down) and I am very excited with the final results. Carl and his team have, with one fresh new logo, consolidated the branding of their traditional and cellular companies into one, and given both companies a clean, professional, and friendly face that they can carry through into all their new services, programs and materials in 2010.

Here’s to YOUR 2010. I hope it’s a great one.

If you know you need to take Internet marketing seriously but don’t have a clue how to go about it, these 44 slides will get you well on your way. 

There are loads of hyperlinked sites and resources that won’t show up if I attach the slides here, and slideshare won’t seem to take my file (GRRRRRRR!)  but do not despair! Just e-mail me via the contact page  and I’ll be glad to send you the original powerpoint with all links intact. Enjoy!

To get started, check out these links:

• What social media sites are out there and what do people use them for? This article from insidecrm.com gives you 50 sites that are good for business.
• Want to know how to use Twitter effectively for your business? This article from elance.com will tell you how.
• Interested in business facebook applications? This is a great article from mashable.com that will give you 30+ apps to get you started.
• If you’re curious about how different generations of your customers are using the Internet, this is a great report from PewInternet.org.
• Finally, I searched high and low for a local communications company that is effectively using video to communicate with customers. Bravo to Tom Vitt at HTC (Horry Telephone) and their “Media Minutes.” This one on landline phone service is pure genius.

All of you have a web site, and most of you are using some sort of monthly customer e-newsletter, usually sent to Internet customers, usually providing fairly generic web-related information (good web sites to visit, tips on digital photography—stuff like that). Unfortunately in many cases, that’s the extent of your online marketing efforts.

For the last two years, I’ve been on the road speaking about Generational Marketing—explaining how younger telecom customers think, why they buy, how they use technology, what messages appeal to them and HOW TO REACH THEM.

Social networking is now the most popular web activity, surpassing even e-mail according to a new study from Nielsen.

Among all Internet users worldwide, two thirds visited a social networking site in 2008. In fact, three out of every 10 web users visits Facebook at least once a month! This is where your younger customers live and breathe—and this is where you will reach them. And it’s not just the younger customers. Facebook estimates they have several million members over the age of 65 who primarily use the web site to keep track of their families and grandchildren.

For a good laugh, read this Time Magazine article “Why Facebook is for Old Fogies.” Do you know how I first saw this article? Doug Pals of Re:Sourceful Communications (who happens to be one of my Facebook friends) posted it on his Facebook page, which in turn showed up on my Facebook page and that’s how I saw it. I rest my case.

I am astounded by the possibilities of online marketing for telecom providers and have spent a good part of the last 18 months immersing myself in all things Web 2.0. Blogs, Facebook, Adwords, Twitter—your opportunities to build community, create new revenue streams, and strengthen customer relationships have never been easier.

I am honored to have been asked to speak about Web 2.0 Marketing Strategies for Telecom Providers  at the AMTA Meeting in Alabama in late October. During the process of putting together my slides, I will be posting additional links and resources that can help your company get started with its web strategy. For a jump start, I highly recommend the six books in the right side bar. I have read every one of them (sometimes several times) and they are a great place to start!

[Insert visual of me shuddering in horror here.]

And of course I probably shouldn’t complain about paying $20 for the perfect high resolution image when the cost of buying stock is saving me (and my clients) thousands of dollars a year over shooting it ourselves. But still…these are tough times, and it’s important to cut costs wherever possible. Which brings us to this week’s Friday Freebie:

iStockphoto, one of my very favorite stock photo sites, offers one free image every week and one free vector image (illustration), video and audio file every month that anyone registered with iStock can download. We’re talking $30+ super high resolution images and $50+ HD video clips for FREE people! And they even keep the free stuff available for several weeks/months, so if you forgot to check last month’s freebies, you can still go in and download it today. Chuh-ching!

The drawback is that the images/videos are fairly random. You might get a graphic like this, which may be perfect if you’re designing, oh, say a Paula Abdul CD cover, but may not work for your High Speed Internet billboard design:

Doesn't this look like Paula Abdul circa 1984?

But, if you keep checking, you can find some good ones like this:

Wouldn't this be fun for a Christmas campaign?

Or this, which just may work perfectly for a Valentine’s Day promo:

For you, my love!

Or this loopable video that would work great on the landing page of a web site as a call to action (“Time is running out to get free HDTV. Click here to schedule your installation!”)

To  get your freebies, go to iStockphoto ’s FREE ARCHIVE page. You may have to set up an account before you can download. Happy hunting!

For the first time in my my life, I’m actually conscious of the miles I drive. I save up my errands and chart elaborate routes that would make Garmin proud just to save a few drops of precious fuel. Instead of joining my neighborhood gym a few months ago (like I usually do this time of year) I bought an exercise ball and a few DVDs on amazon.com (thus, conserving more fuel in the process. Victory!) I reached a new low when I actually smuggled two cans of Coke and a bag of microwave popcorn into the movie theater last week. And I’m not alone. (No lie–The woman behind me in the theater, noticing my contraband bag of popcorn whipped out a giant baggie of homemade chex mix and high fived me. Frugal moms unite!)

The bottom line is that everybody is cutting back. This can be a bad thing, which you’ve probably seen in decreasing numbers for certain services (namely, landline). However, it can also be a HUGE opportunity if you look at it from a different angle.

I saw a commercial last night for Pillsbury Savorings–flaky, tasty little appetizer bites. Mmmmm. The message? You, sad woman, are too poor to go out for happy hour so buy our delicious (and affordable!) appetizers and you can have happy hour at home. Aren’t you clever?!

Target has taken it one step further with their pure genius “brand new day” commercials:

Rather than worrying that people won’t have enough money to buy their stuff, they are repositioning as THE way to save money. Gas prices getting you down? Buy our $60 mountain bike. Can’t afford to get your kids’ hair cut? Never fear! Our $14.99 clippers will do the trick. No cash for your $4 Starbucks latte? No problemo. Invest in our $40 espresso machine and voila! Coffee house moments in your very own kitchen every day of the week. The catchy tune doesn’t hurt either. I swear, these commercials almost make me almost happy that I have to dig for creative savings ideas. And YOU have the same opportunity.

You sell lots of services that can help your customers cut costs–it’s all in how you position them.

Every one of my newsletter clients got a “Five easy ways to save $100 a month without even trying” type of article in last quarter’s newsletter.  (No money for the gym? Here’s a comprehensive list of channels and times you can work out to free exercise shows on our Cable TV service. Cell phone bill too high? Use your home phone to lower the number of cell minutes you use every month.) You are only limited by your own imagination.

So what are you doing to reposition your products and services as an integral and necessary part of the new 2009 frugal lifestyle? Discuss!

No, my point is not to use this video (solely) to encourage gratuitous gawking at my adorable children. I use it to make a very important point:

Many of you are considering, or are already in the process of launching or managing the delivery of local content… which makes perfect sense since you happen to be in the content delivery business.

People are REALLY excited about content these days. It’s why blogging and podcasting and RSS feeds have become such a phenomenon. It’s why you probably spend WAY more time than you should shaking your head at the crazy, annoying antics of FRED. And people aren’t just getting content on TV anymore. Content is on your laptop, on your phone—it’s everywhere. A recent study found that 70% of online Americans 18 to 34 years old have watched TV online at some point, compared to 36% who have viewed a show on a DVR or via TiVo–partially due to the wonder that is HULU.

One of the questions I get asked most is “How do I drive customers to my web site?” The answer? Content.

There has to be something on your site that your customers want, that they can only get on your site, and that they’re going to come back for repeatedly. That thing can be local content. We all know that Jake’s three point shot at the buzzer in Friday night’s basketball game is good stuff. Or maybe, just maybe, you have a FRED in your service area. And if your site is where people can see him—that’s where they’re going to go.

I can already see some of you shaking your heads and thinking “Are you crazy? I’m just one person! Who the heck is supposed to shoot basketball games/school plays/annoying FRED footage, edit the video and get it up on the web site? Plus, we don’t have the funds to buy a bunch of expensive equipment!”

So back to my video. I made a fairly professional, decent looking video in minutes with extremely inexpensive equipment—and I wasn’t even trying. People, this is bleary eyed Christmas morning stuff shot before coffee, and it doesn’t look that bad.

With the proliferation of YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook, more kids than ever are making and editing professional quality videos. And I’m willing to bet that one of these kids a) lives in your town and b) has their own equipment and c) would be thrilled to record, edit and upload Friday night’s game to your site for less than $50.

And this is the tip of the iceburg. You could drive cable penetration by making free local online content ONLY available to cable customers. Or, you could sell 30 second ads that run during the basketball games you broadcast on your web site… and BOOM! You’ve got an instant new recurring revenue stream.

So talk to me. How does your company approach local content?

*I think the Flip Video Camera is one of the greatest inventions ever made. They make a 60 minute HD version for around $200 that rivals the quality of cameras that cost 3X as much. And the ease of use? Don’t even get me started. You literally zoom, shoot, flip out the USB, plug into your computer, and download the video in seconds. It even comes with free video editing software. If you need a camera to shoot simple, high quality stuff (customer testimonials, promotional videos, etc.) this is the camera for you.

Yes, that's Nicole Kidman in the metallic silver suit.

So how do you stand out from the crowd? Here’s a thought: Imagine attending a big party where everybody is wearing black—except one person who happens to be wearing a shiny metallic suit. Obviously, you’re going to notice that person first. Now, depending on the rest of the package, that person may not hold your attention for long–but at least they are guaranteed to get a look.

So, why not apply the same idea to your direct mail campaign? Yes, you heard me correctly—I want to dress your direct mail in a silver metallic suit.

Using spot metallic ink can give your piece a little extra flash, guaranteeing it gets noticed. And it’s surprisingly affordable. I can get 1,000 oversized 6 x 9, 4-color postcards (both sides) with either spot metallic gold or silver on the front for (drumroll please….) under 300 bucks. I can get 2,500 for around $360. Affordable? Heck yes. Effective? Why not try a split mailing and test it for yourself?

Or, give rounded corners a try. When every postcard/businesscard/newspaper insert I get is the usual plain boring square, but yours is round? Well….that’s the one I’m going to notice. And rounded corners are also incredibly affordable (my printer offers 1 to 4 rounded corners on any piece for about $20/thousand). Have you seen my business card? Yep, rounded corners.

So next time you do a postcard mailer, a brochure, or even your business cards, try a shot of shine or a rounded corner or three. You just might find that for $20 more, rounded corners pull twice as many sales.

This week while I’m on vacation in the Big Apple I’ll be taking a break from the giant stack of Web 2.0 books on my nightstand and re-reading the classics (and, okay, probably a little People magazine too). My two favorite marketing books of all time which I’ve kept since college, are Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, 20th Anniversary Editionby Ries & Trout, and Confessions of an Advertising Man
by David Ogilvy. They are both required reading in any entry level college advertising class, for good reason.

So what are your favorite marketing books of all time? What do you read when you need a reality check? Please share!