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Nearly everyone has suffered this at least once in his career—the boss who makes each workday a living terror. You can find the Boss from Hell in any industry or occupation. Even the best companies slip up from time to time, allowing bullies to rise through the employment food chain to management.
If a national survey were taken to find out the reasons people change jobs, by far the number one reason for job dissatisfaction would be bad management. As a career coach, surprisingly, I’ve found that increased earning potential usually ranks far below the desire to leave a mean, unreasonable boss. If you wake up each day dreading the next eight to ten hours, your problem might be your supervisor.
You’re working for the Boss From Hell if: Read the rest of this entry »
Within the next few weeks, many college students who have spent the last four years (or in some cases, there are those who completed an “extra lap” or two) will enter the job market. During this time, the majority of these bright individuals will be gearing up to enter the workforce.
However, there are plenty of other job seekers out there looking for employment in addition to the graduating class of 2011. A year ago, I faced a similar challenge: how to overcome the increasing unemployment rate and add myself as an employed professional. Throughout the last few years, I’ve come up with a number of tips and tricks that I have used for every company that I’ve interviewed with to date. Below, I’ve outlined these with some notes next to each one. Read the rest of this entry »
A Word From One of Our Board Members, Director of Web Development: Andy Stratton
I will be speaking with many other great web professionals at A Day In The Life Baltimore Design Conference, hosted at MICA on April 9th, 2011 (register here). My presentation will be on current and upcoming trends in web design. The session is titled TRENDSETTING: WEB DESIGN AND BEYOND and is described as:
As our industry changes and evolves, what are some of the current and future design trends on the rise with web design and how can you leverage them for your benefit? This session will discuss what’s new and current with web design, what works and what’s effective. Learn how to think creatively when it comes to web design, deliver stellar websites and offer real time solutions for your clients. Also discover the importance of trends on the industry and their impact on the user experience. Read the rest of this entry »
A Word From One of Our Sponsors: Blue Sky Factory
According to the DMA, email marketing provides the highest return on investment of any other marketing channel ($43.62 per $1 spent).
If it was up to me, that statement would actually read: effective email marketing provides the highest return on investment of any other marketing channel. If done right, email marketing is timely, targeted, relevant, and valuable to subscribers. But, unfortunately, many marketers don’t know where to begin.
When it comes to producing an effective email marketing program, what is the first step you should take? Building an engaged, permission-based email marketing list. Read the rest of this entry »
Many years ago, I attended a conference outside the area and heard the presenter, a marketing professional for a well-known, consumer product, refer to our area as the “Washington-Baltimore”market. During the Q&A session, I asked the presenter how he came to the conclusion that two Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) could be defined as a single market. His response was surprisingly simple, “Well, I’ve traveled the northeast corridor on Amtrak and I know that it’s only 35 minutes between downtowns.”
Of course, I held back in sharing my knowledge of the markets, plural, and I hope someday the presenter will thank me for not fully embarrassing him. Indeed, Baltimore and Washington, DC are close in proximity, but they are different in so many ways. Read the rest of this entry »
By now you have surely heard about last week’s controversial tweet by designer Kenneth Cole. He, of course, used the unstable situation in Egypt to get some attention for his brand, tweeting:
Millions are in an uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is nowavailable online at http://bit.ly/KCairo -KC
By the end of the day, Kenneth Cole (who personally wrote the tweet) had issued and apology on the company’s Facebook page. At least two fictitious Twitter accounts (@KennethColePR and@FakeKennethCole) were created on the same day as Cole’s tweet to mock the situation. (For example from @KennethColePR: Twitterverse: Off to Chinatown elementary school for recruiting event, that spring line won’t sew itself! #KennethColeTweets) Read the rest of this entry »
A Word From One of Our Sponsors: Blue Sky Factory
Ready or not, 2011 is here.
A new year brings a time for reflection and planning, so take this opportunity and use it to analyze your email marketing strategy, figure out what’s working and what’s not, and how you can improve and build your business.
When reflecting on your email program in 2010, ask yourself these questions:
- Did you continuously build your list?
- Were your open rates consistently at or above the industry average (15%-20%)?
- Were your click-through rates consistently at or above the industry average (3-4%)?
- What were your program’s unsubscribe, opt-out, and complaint rates? Were they proportionate to your list size, or did they end up being outlandish?
- Did email marketing help build your business, or did it end up being an unnecessary expense?
- Did you share new, fresh content with recipients, or were you scrambling to “throw” your emails together at the last minute (aka, are your emails providing value)? Read the rest of this entry »
The world of local online and mobile marketing has changed a lot in the past 12 months. In 2010 local businesses were presented with many new and powerful digital marketing channels. The biggest trends were in local group daily deals, like Groupon and Living Social, location based services like FourSquare, Gowalla, Yelp and Facebook check-ins and local social business listings like Facebook Places and Twitter Places. So what’s a busy local business owner supposed to do to market their business digitally without spending too much precious time and money learning about all of these different online and mobile local marketing channels? Read the rest of this entry »
For hundreds of years, all the way back to the town crier, marketing has been about yelling. As marketers, we are trying new ways to rise of above the noise and be heard. Frankly, we have gotten a little hoarse, and consumers have grown quite weary.
For decades, advertisers were in control of the conversation. Commercials on TV, Ads in newspapers and emails online. Consumers couldn’t really opt out of marketing conversations, unless they also chose to opt-out of the content conversation. We as consumers accepted that commercials and advertisements were the price paid for content. And we as marketers looked for more places to put our message, increasing the noise for all marketers. Marketers respond by increasing the value of the coupon, throwing out a BOGO, or offering the always unique President’s day sale.
We’ve all seen him. He’s that guy, the pompous man at the dinner party who spends the evening bragging about himself and his accomplishments, rather than engaging others in conversation. By the end of the night, he’s alienated almost everyone at the party, and has left the other guests wondering, “Who invited that guy, anyway?”
Or maybe he’s the guy who shows up to the Chamber of Commerce socials – shoves a business card in your hand before you can even put your drink down - and explains why your business can’t live without his.
With over millions of tweets, facebook posts, or other conversations going online each day– how can a brand be sure not to be labeled “That Guy”?
marcidevries
Dov Hoffman
Amy Garland
Jennifer Glass
Megan Campbell
Katie Roberts
