Tom Funk's Blog, page 9
December 1, 2009
Top Ten Christmas Food Gifts
Food gifts are one of the most popular categories for the holidays -- and the leading category for corporate gift-giving. Recent estimates put the total market size of the mail-order food biz at $6 billion dollars.
Here are our ten favorite holiday goodies to send or receive:
1. Gourmet chocolate from Lake Champlain Chocolates. Handmade in small batches, and in beautiful season packaging -- go for the chocolate truffles, hot cocoa mix or if you want to splurge, Chocolate of the...
November 25, 2009
5 Tips for Maximizing Holiday Season Sales
In today's Multichannel Merchant newsletter I contributed a story on five last-minute priorities to ensure your website is firing on all cylinders this holiday season:
Social Media Marketing - More Companies Are Getting into the Act
"Social Media Marketing" is a bit of an oxymoron. There are purists who say social media is for people, not businesses -- yet the social network platforms themselves are so eager to monetize their sites (and the millions of eyeballs viewing them) that they have led the charge to give businesses more opportunities for publishing and advertising.
So it's not the mere presence of businesses on places like Facebook and Twitter that is a problem, it's just the term Social Media Marketing is ...
November 13, 2009
Best Practices for Corporate Twittering
On LinkedIn's Multichannel Merchant group, senior writer Tim Parry asks, "How Much Twitter is Too Much Twitter?"
How often do you use Twitter, and can too much tweeting be a turnoff?
We're interested in finding out how you're using Twitter. Are you a marketer/consultant who is tweeting every single thought in your head? Or are you a merchant who is using it to distribute coupon codes?
Also, do you see Twitter as an alternative to sending your customers/clients text messages, or as...
November 11, 2009
Getting "Man Caves" Ready for Winter
[image error]Garrett Wade Woodworking Tools was mentioned in a November 2, 2009 article in the New York Times.
Headlined "As the Thermometer Falls, ‘Man Cave’ Décor Is Warming Up," the piece by Tim McKeough profiled Douglas Wright, an architect whose specialty is designing and decorating man caves -- those macho sanctuaries all guys need.
"It runs the gamut, from beautiful men’s rooms down to the nitty-gritty of workbenches and tools,” Wright was quoted as saying.
That's where Garrett...
November 4, 2009
Liz Robert "Speaking from Experience" at Champlain College
BURLINGTON, VT (11/03/2009) -- Liz Robert, former head of Vermont Teddy Bear and now bringing a new company making bicycles for women, will be the featured speaker at Champlain College's Bring Your Own Business (BYOBiz) Speaking from Experience lecture series. The Nov. 17 talk at 7 p.m. in Champlain College's Alumni Auditorium is free and open to the public.
According to Bob Bloch, director or BYOBiz, "Most Vermonters know Liz for her successful leadership of Vermont Teddy Bear, where...
Food for Neighbors Food Drive
[image error]MIDDLEBURY Vermont Banks: Our friendly neighborhood bank, the National Bank of Middlebury, has teamed up with radio station WVTK 92.1 to conduct a Food Drive.
Food Shelves are seeing a huge increase in families looking for food assistance.
From November 2 through November 6 at all NBM offices: Anyone dropping off food donations at any National Bank of Middlebury office will be eligible to win a $50 U.S. Savings Bond.
More information: Food for Neighbors Food Drive
...
October 23, 2009
It's Only Temporary: A 302 Redirect Story
Any web geeks want a stroll down Memory Lane? A return to the good old days of 28K modems, animated gifs and 10-cent paid search clicks?
Just this morning, searching for "Yahoo Search Marketing," I had a blast from the past: The top result in Google is for the URL searchmarketing.yahoo.com/overture.php
Wow, Overture? Yahoo bought Overture six years ago! Everything Overture was rebranded Yahoo Search Marketing ages ago.
What's that URL still doing topping the Google results?
...
October 16, 2009
Only in a Jeep
Our friends at Kaiser Willys Auto Supply know their jeeps. In business for over a decade, they are the leading and most complete supplier of Willys replacement parts and accessories, covering not just the famous military jeep models but civilian Jeeps, Jeepsters, Willys and Willys Overland models made between 1941 and 1971. The company, based in Aiken, South Carolina, has become the go-to supplier to vintage Jeep enthusiasts and even automotive museums.
But as any Jeep-owner knows, a...
October 6, 2009
The First Sign of Autumn? Whoa: Holiday Emails!
The calendar just flipped to Autumn about two scant weeks ago. Vermont's famous fall foliage is just beginning its annual beauty show, and we're still enjoying indian summer "shorts weather."
Yet I just saw an unmistakable sign of winter: Garnet Hill's email today exhorted me to "Get a Head Start on Gift Giving." A head start? I'll say!
Only 81 shopping days 'til Christmas...
