If you ever wanted to know what was so special about a brand, just think of those Golden Arches or Nike’s Swoosh. A simple logo calls to mind everything that these brands stand for, and while a lot of that has to do with the massive amounts of money spent on advertising, it’s actually mostly because these brands have always delivered a consistent message.

Consistency is key when it comes to branding. And when dealing with social media sites, consistency is something you definitely need to ensure that your brand thrives and flourishes.

Define Your Brand, Agree on it, and Stick to it
Defining exactly what your brand is about will help it remain consistent throughout every social media site and every interaction. Of course, if you have employees and other people working with you, this is something you’re going to have to figure out together. The idea is to decide on a brand image and a plan of attack, and this image is something you want to stick to. Any tweaks or changes subsequently need to be made across the board, so if the brand moves in a new direction, everything moves at once.

Make Sure the Engagement Starts In-House
Before you can be expected to release a consistent brand to the world, you have to develop a consistent brand in-house. This is often more difficult than it seems, as people may have completely different ideas about how your brand should be presented. Make sure these issues are resolved before you start creating a larger public presence. Trying to change after the fact may be too late.

Use Different Tools to Dialogue
You’re not always going to be in the same room with one another, so using different social tools to dialogue with other employees is important. And if you don’t have employees, you can still dialogue with your members via social media and collect some input about your brand from your engagement. You can use tools like Sprout Social in order to monitor your brand and to check feedback to make sure you’re on the right track. Sprout Social is a social media management tool created to help businesses find new customers & grow their social media presence.

Use Your Main Business Site as a Template
Most brands with an online presence actually start out with a website. If this is the case, use your website as a template. Make sure that each social presence you create is a presence that’s consistent with your main business site. Or use your business logo or business in general, if you don’t have a site to act as a template. You can still show a lighter, more personal side on social media, but you want to adhere to your brand’s mission and never stray away from your professional goals.

Make Sure Campaigns Reflect Your Brand Image
Any social media advertising campaign you’re operating should remain true to your brand’s image. The best campaigns in social media make sure that they’re never stepping outside of their brand in order to draw in more people. If your brand is strictly professional, don’t suddenly change things around just to get a few more people into the fold. Remain true to your brand and to your image.

Periodically Ask for Feedback
Do you ever wonder whether or not your branding has some gaping holes in it? Well, you can always ask. You could run a promotion along the lines of: “The best brand suggestion will get used on our site, and the winner gets a 50% off coupon for any product.” This will bring any questions or complaints to light without people even realizing they’re helping you gauge the congruity of your brand image.

Don’t Hand Over the Keys to the Kingdom
Well, you may want to hand them out to help you save some work. But you definitely don’t want to hand them out to just anyone. Before you allow just anyone to speak for your brand, whether it’s a copywriter you’ve hired or one of your employees, they should know definitively what your brand stands for. And they should be more than willing to adhere to your brand’s image. You don’t need any abstract or free-styling here with your advertising or advocacy. You need consistency, and that requires people who you can trust.

Your brand is a very important part of your business, especially when dealing with social media sites. Think about the top businesses in the world today and you will see that their brand is not only synonymous with quality but that it’s also very consistent across the board. There is no confusion about what a quality brand stands for. So you need to use this information to ensure that your brand is consistent throughout the realm of social media.

Craig Robinson, is one of the Editors of Qwaya – a Facebook ad management tool. Besides writing about social media strategies, Craig covers topics within social media context and advertisement.

Do you “spy” on your competition? No, we’re not suggesting you bug any corner offices or install hidden cameras. But gathering some competitor “intel” can provide you with valuable information.

Here’s what to look for and what to learn from your competitors.

1. Sign up for their newsletters and promotional offers.

Why this is valuable: Most businesses “touch” their audiences at least once a month. Being included on your competitors’ mailing lists is a good way to learn about your competitors’ latest products and services, its positioning, how it “talks” to its audience, and breaking news.

What to look for: What do you like/not like about the copy, the design, and the message? Are the article topics interesting? Do you agree with the content and find it to be factually accurate, or is there room for debate (more on what to do with this below)? What products/services are they highlighting?

What you should do with this information: Look for opportunities to differentiate your business. For example, if you disagree with the content in a newsletter article, take out your frustration in the form of a series of articles that you might call “debunking industry myths.” Publish these articles on your blog, in your newsletter, and throughout social media.

Hint: Use a benign, unidentifiable email address—such as Hotmail or Gmail—when you sign up. In fact, you could create a separate email account that you use only for this purpose: receiving info and offers from your competitors. This way, it’s not muddying up your main inbox and your competitors won’t know it’s you.

2. Follow them on social media.

Why this is valuable: Social media tends to be more informal than a newsletter or website. Following your competitors on platforms like Twitter and Facebook will allow you to see how your competitors speak to customers and deal with negative comments in real time. You’ll also get wind of special promotions/sales.

What to look for: Note the posts/updates that garner the most comments, likes, shares, re-tweets, etc. Since your own fan base will be comprised of similar people, seeing what works for your competitors’ audiences will provide a reference point for the types of things to try out on your own social media platforms. Also note how your competitors deal with complaints and criticism.

What you should do with this information: Social media is more art than science, at least when it comes to figuring out what audiences respond to. We’re not suggesting you copy your competitors’ tweets or status updates, but if you’ve observed that their audience responds well to video, for example, then experiment and see how adding more video to your posts and tweets works with your audience.

If you witness your competitor responding poorly to criticism or negative reviews, use this as an opportunity to highlight how well your organization handles negative reviews (if it indeed does!). Likewise, if your competitor does a fabulous job of dealing with customer complaints, study how they do it. Do they actively ask customers to send complaints and questions via Twitter and Facebook? Would this be a viable solution for your business? Again, the goal isn’t to copy everything your competitor is doing, but rather to learn from what they’re doing right and wrong and see what you can implement in your own organization.

Hint: Some businesses are hesitant to follow their competitors on social media. We can appreciate this. For Facebook, “like” the page using your personal profile or ask an employee to be your mole. For Twitter, check out this article on how to follow your competitors without them knowing.

3. Do a website audit at least once a year.

Why this is valuable: Messaging, positioning, design—all these things can and do change. Make sure you’re up to speed on how all of this is evolving for your competitors. While following them on social media and receiving a monthly newsletter will likely alert you to any changes, conducting a full website audit at least once a year will allow you to see the depth and breadth of these changes.

What to look for: When you look at your competitors’ websites, you should expect to see some overlap with your own site. After all, you offer the same products/services. What you want to note is how the competitor presents the info (both visually and through the copy). Keep track of any offers, such as ebooks, white papers, checklists, coupons, and fill out any forms using your alias email address. Note the follow-up process: do you receive an auto responder? An email later in the week or month? A phone call?

What you should do with this information: Is your competitor using a messaging point that you had never considered before or that you overlooked or somehow took for granted? If yes, then determine whether you should weave that message into your marketing. Is there something your competitor’s site does particularly well, such as leading a visitor through the sales process? There’s no reason you can’t use their strategy as a guideline. Again, we’re not suggesting you copy or plagiarize, but it’s natural to look at a competitor’s site and to then be inspired to make changes to your own. Is there something your competitor is overlooking or has buried on his site that you feel is important? Is there a way you can highlight that particular piece of information more clearly on your own?

Hint: This can be a great intern project. Give the intern 3-5 competitors to audit and have her create a report, complete with screen shots, of what she found along with recommendations for your site.

4. Subscribe to their blog.

Why this is valuable: Seeing what your competitors are blogging about will likely inspire ideas for your blog/newsletter.

What to look for: Keep track of posts you disagree with or that don’t adequately tackle the subject at hand. Read the comments. Comments can be a goldmine, since they often include questions, observations, and opposing viewpoints, all of which can lead to article topics for your own blog or fresh content for your FAQ page on your site.

What you should do with this information: Use your competitors’ blogs as a brainstorming springboard for your own blog, newsletter, and website content.

Hint: Should you ever comment on your competitors’ blog posts? Only if you’re prepared to have your competitors comment on yours. While this is ultimately your decision (and will depend a lot on the industry and your relationship—if any—with your competitor), it probably makes sense to keep your distance.

Bonus idea: Request a sales call. This tactic isn’t for everyone or every business, which is why we didn’t include it in the main list of strategies. But if you’re comfortable doing so and if you have someone (an employee, a consultant, or even a family member) whom you trust, you could have the person create a “fake” persona and, using this persona, request a sales call from your competitor. It’s a way to gather more intel on the competitor’s sales process so that you can learn what works and what doesn’t…and how you can improve your own process, based on the experience. And, yes—if you can do it to your competitors, it’s possible they could (or already) have done it to you.

What strategies do you use for evaluating your competition? We want to hear them. Share in the comments!

When we listen to or read about successful business people, from GE’s Jack Welch to Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, we often hear them mention and thank the mentors they had along their journeys to greatness. In some ways, mentoring sounds like a magical thing, something the business fairy sprinkles over worthy subjects. But the concept of providing counsel and guidance to others has a long and storied history. In fact, the term “mentoring” derives from The Odyssey, where Mentor served as an advisor to Telemachus, Odysseus’s son.

All that said, what exactly is business mentoring and just how effective is it? Are there different types of mentoring, and, if so, what should your organization consider? This post will attempt to answer some of these questions.

Why Business Mentoring?
While it can be challenging to always quantify whether a mentoring relationship is successful (e.g. how do you measure things like “increased confidence”?), some studies and statistics do exist and are encouraging. Many in the mentoring field often point to a Sun Microsystems study conducted in 2006. The study compared the career progress of 1000 employees over a 5-year period, and the results showed that those who participated in a mentoring program experienced many more benefits than those who did not. An article in Forbes that talks about this study notes, “Both mentors and mentees were approximately 20% more likely to get a raise than people who did not participate in the mentoring program” and “25% of mentees and 28% of mentors received a raise – versus only 5% of managers who were not mentors.”

Mentoring can also help reduce employee turnover, as this article in the Harvard Business Review notes: “One of the most critical elements in retaining great people is effective mentoring.” By investing in mentoring, you empower senior-level employees (who serve as mentors) and bolster junior-level employees who typically welcome (and thrive from) the increased guidance, support, and insight that mentoring provides.

How is Mentoring Different from Coaching?
Mentoring is relational, while coaching is functional. Coaching focuses on developing a specific skill, such as proficiency in Excel or public speaking, while a mentoring relationship focuses on professional development as a whole. Some coaching may take place during the mentoring relationship, but that’s a byproduct rather than the goal. As this article in Forbes states, “Mentoring focuses on the individual and the conversation transcends more broadly into the general work life.”

What Makes for an Effective Mentoring Program?
The keys to a successful mentoring program include oversight, training and guidance, and the embracing of a mentoring spirit throughout the organization.

Mentoring programs typically operate under Human Resources or Training and Diversity departments. For a program to be effective, it’s essential that the department leaders embrace mentoring and take some time to learn about it. The good news? Many online resources exist, including training for mentoring program managers and training for mentors and mentees about to enter programs. Just do a search on “business mentoring” in Google or on Amazon, and you’ll find plenty of these resources (and some are free).

It’s important for the whole organization to embrace the mentoring concept, but especially upper management. This might mean allowing time during work hours for mentors and mentees to meet, or it might mean providing funds for training. This support will not go unnoticed by employees. A company that invests in its people often ends up having happier, more loyal, and more productive employees as a result, which can only help a company’s bottom line.

What Types of Mentoring “Models” Can You Choose From?
Various mentoring models exist. Formal, one-to-one programs match a mentor and mentee who typically work together for nine months to a year. Group mentoring involves having one mentor for a small group of mentees. Self-directed mentoring is an informal mentoring model where a gung-ho mentee who understands the benefits of mentoring goes out and finds a mentor on his or her own (either within or outside of the company).

As the business landscape changes, other mentoring models form to adapt to these changes. Reverse mentoring is one such model that’s growing in popularity, especially with millennials. An article titled “Reverse Mentoring Cracks Workplace” in The Wall Street Journal notes, “In an effort to school senior executives in technology, social media and the latest workplace trends, many businesses are pairing upper management with younger employees in a practice known as reverse mentoring. The trend is taking off at a range of companies, from tech to advertising.”

The model you choose will depend on a variety of factors, including the number of mentors/mentees interested in a program and the amount of support you’re getting from upper management. A company whose upper management doesn’t embrace the mentoring concept just yet might do better promoting a self-directed program (and keeping track of results, which can serve as “evidence” to upper management that mentoring can be effective/helpful). If you have more mentees than you do mentors, a group program might make sense. There’s no right or wrong answer; develop a program that works with your people and their specific needs and the resources you have available.

Do you use business mentoring in your organization? What’s the experience been like for program participants and for your business? Share in the comments.

Hello, June! So good to see you again. We’ve missed you. We’ve REALLY missed you. To celebrate our enthusiasm for this sun-shiny month, we thought we’d share some of our hottest summer-themed promotional products. Stock up now!

1. Sunsplash Tumbler. Bright, cheerful, and re-usable, these tumblers are the epitome of happiness. Seriously, what more could you want? Oh, yes—plenty of room for your logo and message. No problem! We got that covered as well. But don’t take our word for it. Here’s just one of many happy reviews on this promotional product: “We got these cups for our staff and they LOVE them, in fact, the majority of them bring a drink to work in them every day.”

2. Neon Classic Sunglasses. What’s something everyone, from kid to grown-up alike, wears in the sunshine? If you guessed sunglasses, you’re correct. Now your customers, prospects, and employees can protect their eyes (thanks to UV protected lenses) while sporting your company name on the side. Think of all the exposure you’ll get at the beach, BBQs, July 4th parades, and more!

3. Cool Flex Cooler 6. For all of your chillaxing needs, this cool flex cooler for six will serve you well. It’s durable, it comes in a variety of colors, and there’s plenty of room for your imprint. BONUS IDEA! Use these for a hot marketing promotion: fill ‘em up with goodies and hand deliver them to some of your top clients. They’ll be grateful…and impressed.

4. Ten Tall Tees Pack. If you conduct a lot of business on the links…or if you know your prospects and customers do…then these golf tees are a MUST. These are also the perfect promotional items to hand out at any golf events or tournaments you or your business is involved in.

5. Flying Disc. The best kind of promotional products are functional ones, and flying discs always get a lot of use during the summer among kids and grownup kids alike. People who’ve bought this item agree. Here’s what one reviewer had to say: “These discs are very affordable and as effective as any other promo item available. They have been very popular with adults and kids here at our store. The plus is it keeps our info in the customers’ hands.” Sounds like a winner to us!

6. Koozie. Keep canned beverages super cool, even under the gaze of the summer sun with these super cute Koozies. They’re perfect for the beach, the car, the backyard BBQ, and more…which means these puppies are bound to get a lot of mileage and your message will be seen by many eyeballs before the season’s over.

7. Hercules Tote. It’s true: this bag is fit for the son of Zeus, which means us mere mortals will get a lot of use out of this extra roomy tote. It’s perfect for weekly runs to the store or summertime events like camping trips, weekends away at your cabin up north, employee or family picnics, and more.

8. Folding Chair w/carry bag. Your customers and employees will be able to hit the beach, the game, the BBQ, the parade, the picnic (OK, you get the idea) in comfort and style in these super convenient folding chairs with carry bags. Seriously, whoever sits in this will feel like she’s on the set of her own summertime movie. Of course, the name people will remember will be your company’s name, thanks to the large imprint area.

9. Striped Accent Boat Tote. This bag’s timeless design (who can say no to nautical stripes?) is what makes this bag so special. You can rest assured people will use it over and over, season after season, all the while sporting your company message. Now that’s the type of free advertising we all seek, right?

Which promotional item is your fave? Share in the comments!

As we head into summer and become busy with BBQs, the beach, and some much-deserved time off, we can also get a little stressed thinking about everything that needs to get done…even when we’d rather be out playing and having fun. The key, of course, is working smarter, not harder and learning to manage our time better (instead of it managing us). Here are some strategies that will help you do just that.

1. Delegate, delegate, delegate. This can be hard—at first!—for business owners who feel especially close to every aspect of their business. But in order to reclaim some time for yourself (and, by extension, for your friends and family), it’s important to let go. Consider outsourcing certain tasks, giving your employees more responsibilities, or implementing a summer internship program. One important note: when you delegate, it’s critical to let people do the task at hand, even if they complete the task in a different manner than you would have done it. As long as it’s not wrong, let it go and don’t interfere.

2. Create a summer schedule. Maybe you close at noon on Fridays or you don’t come in until 10 on Mondays. Even if you don’t use this new-found time to play hooky, you could use the time to complete the projects you normally struggle to finish and that spill over into your weekends.

3. Stay organized. Today’s smart phones, of course, include calendar options, but there’s still something special about a physical personal organizer and custom calendars (like the one pictured) that you can open, touch, and see (and take pleasure crossing off tasks and blocking off times for fun activities).

4. Designate work time and stick to it. You have to complete Project ABC, and you’ve designated a healthy chunk of time to get it done. So you sit down to get started, but since you have plenty of time to get it done, you check your email first. Then you hop onto Facebook to see what people are up to and to play your moves in Scrabble. Then you check out news sites and get caught up reading the latest articles on this and that. Next thing you know, that chunk of time you had has dwindled away to nothing and now you need to move Project ABC into some other time slot, like after dinner or early in the morning. Sound familiar? It’s amazing how much time we waste when we sit down to be productive, which is why it helps to employ some techniques that keep your butt in the chair and your mind on the task at hand. Here are two strategies:

• Use the Pomodoro Technique. Set a kitchen timer for 25 minutes, do nothing but the task at hand, and then stop. It’s amazing what you can accomplish in short 25-minute bursts. The technique involves six objectives to help you master time management, which you can read about here.
• Install social media blockers. Known as “Internet restriction programs,” these apps can help make sure you remain focused and that you don’t lose half a day watching videos of adorable cats on YouTube.

5. Be realistic with your time and learn to say no. OK, so maybe this strategy isn’t easy, but once you master it, you’ll be amazed that you once allowed time to control you rather than the other way around. There are just so many hours in a day, and there’s just so much time you should earmark for work. By understanding exactly how much time specific tasks take (see the link to the Pomodoro Technique above, which will guide you in calculating this), you can figure out what you can say yes to and what you should say no to. (And remember that some of the items that YOU say no to could be delegated to someone else.)

6. Rinse, lather, repeat. In other words, create systems, templates, agendas, and documents that you can use over and over again. This is also known as “don’t re-invent the wheel.” So, for that weekly Monday morning meeting, create a template with the sections you cover at each meeting and then simply update that document. These shortcuts help save time (and will help you delegate since you can say to an employee, “Hey, can you run the Monday morning meetings…here’s a document for the agenda, which outlines what we typically cover”).

7. Don’t let “perfection” be the enemy of “good enough.” Some projects require more time and energy than others. You know what those projects are: they’re the ones that have to be closer to perfect. But there are plenty of other projects where perfect is the enemy of good enough. Know the difference, and learn to live with good enough.

What time management strategies do you use? Are you a fan of kitchen timers, Internet blockers, and learning how to say “no”? Share your tips in the comments!

The history: Founded in 1958 by a retired high school principal, AARP describes itself as a “nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with a membership of more than 37 million, that helps people turn their goals and dreams into real possibilities, strengthens communities and fights for the issues that matter most to families such as healthcare, employment security and retirement planning.” Note: the bolded emphasis is ours…we’ll come back to it in a moment.

The challenge: Anyone who’s reached the half-century mark has probably experienced jokes and jabs that poke fun at this milestone age. (Think “over the hill” cracks accompanied by party-store gag gifts.)

So how does an organization that focuses on the 50+ crowd market to these folks without sounding like old fogies themselves (and making their members feel like old fogies)? By embracing and promoting all the benefits, wonders, and wisdom that comes when you reach this age. And that’s exactly what AARP has done with its recent re-branding campaign.

The re-branding process: In an effort to appear more contemporary, AARP launched its new campaign during the Grammy’s in February. According to this article in The New York Times, the re-brand cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 million to $30 million and the focus is on the theme “Real Possibilities.” In addition to ads, you’ll see this theme play out in social media, digital media, print materials, and the company website (including the text we bolded above, which was taken from the “about” section). AARP also has a microsite dedicated specifically to this theme.

The idea behind real possibilities is that age is just a number and that many, many people (i.e. AARP’s audience) don’t necessarily peak in their 20s but rather later in life when they have more experience and wisdom under their belt. In other words, the possibilities don’t decrease with age…they increase. In a press release issued by the organization in February, Emilio Pardo, executive vice president and chief brand officer of AARP, said, “Possibilities are critical to this audience and millions of people in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond are living in a new life stage—the age of possibility.”

For one of the TV spots (embedded below), AARP quickly gets this point across by citing well-known names (e.g. Julia Child, Picasso) and noting that their greatest work occurred after 50. The voice-over plays over images of a 50-something woman running her first marathon.

From there, AARP does something clever: it commits itself to helping members achieve these real possibilities by saying, “An Ally for Real Possibilities.” Notice the acronym there. Yep: AARP. Brilliant! (Kudos to AARP’s advertising agency Grey New York.)

This re-branded acronym helps combat some of the other negative image problems that AARP has faced over the years, specifically around the word “retired” (it’s one of the reasons why AARP only uses four letters as its official name now; it stopped using American Association of Retired Persons in 1999). Some of the more positive images for the “R” word include “richer,” “realizing,” and “rewards.”

Marketing takeaway and how you can leverage this strategy in your own business: Revisit those “negatives” about your business and see if you can re-position them as something positive. For AARP, it involved embracing the collective ages of its members and steering reactions away from the typical adjectives people might use, such as “old” or even “retired,” and re-positioning the concept of age as something cool, enlightened, and hopeful.

If you’re able to turn a negative into a positive, it could be a great way to breathe new life into your marketing strategy. But note that it’s a full-on commitment: you can’t just talk about it once. It’s something you’d need to embrace across all media and in all of your marketing and PR efforts.

What do you think of AARP’s new campaign? Have you ever used this strategy of re-inventing a “negative” and turning it into a positive? Share in the comments!

Gone are the days of summer interns fetching coffee or sorting the mail. In our 24/7 world where we’re constantly trying to squeeze a 25th hour out of the day, businesses can—and should—take advantage of the extra, cost-effective help.

That said, too many businesses don’t know how to use interns effectively. Interns are typically young and eager to learn, and they often bring valuable skills to the table, such as proficiency in social media. Leverage their eagerness and skills into helping you and your organization. Here are seven strategies for doing just that.

1. Teach them about your company. Sure, you’ll expect an enthusiastic intern to take the initiative and learn about your business on his or her own, but it can’t hurt to guide this process by providing access to the key points about your company. Plan some sort of “briefing” where you educate your intern on the 411 on your company: its history/background, its products and services, its ideal customers, its values, and its goals. You can do this verbally and/or you can provide written info (offering some sort of “internship packet” to all incoming interns is a smart practice, and once you create it, it’s easy to update and use again with the next batch of interns).

2. Create a specific task plan for each intern. The worst thing you can do is hire an intern and then “wing it” from there. An internship should be treated like any other position within your company, complete with an outline of job responsibilities and expectations. From there, you should also create a specific task plan. Internships can last anywhere from one semester to a summer to upwards of six to nine months. Create a list of the tasks you want to accomplish (be realistic), complete with an overview of the goals and the expected results.

For example, if you want your intern to create a three-month editorial calendar for your blog, you’d want to point him or her to the existing blog, discuss the types of topics you’re looking for, provide information on keyword phrases (or make this a task for your intern to research), and let the intern know what the final document should entail (e.g. simply a list of topics and dates, or do you want more details, such as blog titles, topic summary, keywords, and calls to action?). By giving the intern enough information up front, he or she can complete the tasks without having to constantly go to you with questions.

3. Ask about their specific interests, too. It’s important to ask what the interns are hoping to learn and what they’re interested in. Does the intern have an understanding of and love for social media? Work this into the task plan. You want the intern to learn about new areas, of course, but also giving them tasks in areas they’re interested in and/or proficient in will help build their confidence…and it can benefit your company as well.

4. Remember: it’s not your way or the highway. The key to having success with interns is allowing them some latitude in figuring things out and executing certain tasks. This doesn’t mean you should give them complete freedom without any oversight on your part. Instead, it means providing them with enough direction to allow them to “run with it.”

5. Don’t take advantage of the “you need to earn your stripes” philosophy. Sure, interns recognize they’ll sometimes be saddled with tasks that aren’t too exciting, such as getting lunch for the noon conference meeting. Just don’t take advantage of your interns by only giving them menial tasks. It doesn’t benefit them or your company.

6. Provide mentorship/training and regular check-in meetings. This is critical. Interns do need guidance, oversight, and training. Just as you’d meet with your new hires on a regular basis, you should do the same with your interns. Make sure you’re accessible to them (or assign someone in your company to serve as the intern’s mentor/advisor). Meet with them regularly, ideally once a week if you can manage it. These meetings needn’t be long: use it as a time to provide feedback on work they’ve done, to answer any questions, and to recap the work they’ll be doing for the next couple of weeks. Internships are meant to be mutually beneficial: the intern is supposed to learn and to grow, and your company benefits from having another skilled and motivated person to help with the workload (a word of caution regarding paid vs. unpaid internships: not paying interns may put your company at legal risk.)

7. Have a post-mortem strategy in place. After the internship is over, you should meet with the intern to provide final feedback, and you should ask the intern what he or she liked best about the experience and what could be improved upon. Listen to their feedback and see how you can improve your program for the next batch of interns.

Does your business use interns? What strategies do use to manage them successfully? We want to hear about your experiences. Share in the comments.

Memorial Day has come and gone, which means the unofficial start of summer is underway, and we’re on the march to July 4. Get a leg up on all your patriotic promotional product needs by ordering NOW. Here are five favorites.

1. Patriotic Mints. Mints are always a welcome treat, especially when they sport Old Glory like these yummy candies do. Use them in swag bags, bowls by the register, at a restaurant’s hostess desk, or in a variety of other ways.

2. American Landmarks Wall Calendar. Show your American pride with a wall calendar that features American landmarks as well as your organization’s message. This makes a great promotional item to give customers and employees.

3. Digital Bottle. Maybe you have a great shot of a bald eagle, the statue of Paul Revere in Boston’s North End, the White House, or some other patriotic image. Guess what? We can easily imprint it on this cool re-usable half liter stainless steel bottle. Just send us your pictures/art and message, and voila! It doesn’t get any easier than that.

4. Digital Mug. Is a coffee mug more your style? No problem. We can do the same cool digital customization with this mug as well. Dream up your own patriotic theme and get these great mugs now!

5. Nantucket Fashion Tote. Tote bags are all the rage, especially in the summer: think beach outings, day camps, weekend getaways, or even the weekly grocery shopping. People love their re-usable bags, and this one has a classic patriotic feel, thanks to the red, white, and blue. And yes, there’s plenty of room for your logo and message, which means your company name will be seen time and time again…by many!

By the way, if you love buying American-made products, we have a whole line of Made in the USA promotional products. Get ‘em while they last!

Do you like offering clients/customers patriotic-themed promotional products? Which one above is your favorite? Share in the comments.

Landing a customer is simply the beginning of the relationship. Think of it like getting that first date. You woo the person you want to date, and then you get the date. But do you stop there? Of course not. Problem is, that’s what many businesses do. Here are four ways to continue building relationships with customers so that they remain committed and loyal to you in the long term.

1. Regularly thank them for their business. When’s the last time you thanked your customers? Because you’re regularly getting new customers (we hope!), then this is a strategy that you need to do on a regular basis. Ideas for thanking customers:

• Send a handwritten thank-you note. Nothing says class like a note that’s been handwritten by the owner of the company. Of course, if you’re in a retail business or a business where you’re getting dozens of customers a day, this might not be feasible. So, instead, you can…
• Send a thank-you email. This works well if you’re in a business that’s all about volume. You can automate a thank-you email to go out every time you land a new customer. It needn’t be long or promotional—a heartfelt and genuine “We’re grateful for your business” is always appreciated (as is a special free bonus gift).
• Hold customer appreciation days—either in person or virtually. And for those in-person events, don’t forget to offer free promotional products.
• Shine the spotlight on your customers. Do you have a customer who’s done something noteworthy, such as building a home for Habitat for Humanity? Do a shout out to your customer on social media, your blog, or in company communications like newsletters and provide a special gift to the customer (or a donation to the customer’s charity of choice). This is a great way to give back to your awesome customers.

2. Make their lives easier. Have you ever done an audit of how easy (or hard) it is to do business with your company? Things to check: your phone’s voice mail system (is it easy to navigate, what is it like after hours), customer service (how helpful/friendly are your reps), FAQs (how often do you update these), contact information (do you have a phone number clearly visible on every page of your website, for example), etc. You want to make it easy for your customers to do business with you, no matter what stage the prospect or customer finds herself in. A yearly audit of these items is a task you should add to your marketing plan.

3. Ask for their feedback (and implement changes based on this feedback). Often times, happy and unhappy customers alike simply just want to have their voices heard and their experiences acknowledged. You should seek feedback from all customers and listen to the good, the bad, and the ugly. Then, you should create an action plan on how to address problems and maximize the good stuff. Once a problem/issue has been fixed, you now have a great reason to send some sort of communication to customers (like an email newsletter) alerting them that “We asked. You answered. We listened” and then outlining what’s changed. Most people, especially those who have been critical of your business, will appreciate knowing that your survey wasn’t simply for show and that you really listened to what they had to say.

4. Offer a customer loyalty program. There are two critical elements to any “rewards” program: constant promotion and ease of use. Create a program that’s easy to sign up for and follow, such as a points system. The more shopping a customer does, the more points he or she earns that can be applied to other items. You must promote this program everywhere so that your customers are aware it exists: your website’s home page should have a call-out box that leads people to a landing page that describes the program and allows people to sign up. You should talk it up on a regular basis in social media. If you have a brick-and-mortar store, make sure your cashiers are well-versed in the ins and outs of the program and that they can swiftly sign up people.

Do you use any of these strategies with your customers? What other strategies do you think are important for building strong relationships with customers? Share in the comments.

Podcasting is a popular way to reach a niche audience and to establish yourself as a thought leader. But what, exactly, is podcasting? How do you do it? What topics should you cover? What are the pros and cons? Read on.

What is a podcast?
Simply put, a podcast is a digital audio file that people subscribe to through an RSS feed and listen to on an electronic device like desktops, tablets, phones, iPods, and other MP3 players. The word itself is a portmanteau: it combines the words “iPod” and “broadcast” to form “podcast” (just like “web log” is better known as “blog”). And, yes, there’s such a thing as video podcasts, also known as “vodcasts.”

Who listens to podcasts?
According to The Podcast Consumer 2012, nearly three in 10 Americans have ever listened to an audio podcast, and one in six Americans have consumed a podcast in the last month. Podcasts skew slightly more male (54%), and half of podcast consumers are aged 12-34. The study goes on to say that “Podcasts continue to be effective ways to reach affluent consumers who exhibit ad avoidance behaviors.”

How does a person set up a podcast? Is there any special equipment required?
Basically, you need a microphone (either a standalone or one that’s built into your recording device, like your PC) and you need to record into something, typically a computer (although you could do the same with tablets or smart phones). From there, you need a way to edit content. It’s important to note that listeners don’t necessarily expect podcasts to be slick segments with lots of bells and whistles. So don’t stress too much over this task. There’s lots of editing software to choose from. For free software, you can use Audacity, which works on both PCs and Macs.

Once you have your final MP3 file, you need to tag it (so RSS feeds can easily identify it) and publish it. You can publish to your own website server or a separate, more robust server, which is recommended since a podcast can eat up a lot of bandwidth (especially if it becomes popular and a lot of people are downloading at once). Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is one option.

Note: What we’ve provided is a brief overview of the podcasting process. For a more in depth guide, check out How to Start a Podcast: Pat’s Complete Step-by-Step Podcasting Tutorial.

Why should a small business owner consider podcasting?
There are numerous reasons. Podcasts…

• Highlight your expertise in a compelling, yet thoroughly approachable way
• Make excellent marketing vehicles, and ones that you can use/promote in a variety of ways (e.g. blog posts, social media, newsletters, websites)
• Are fairly straightforward to create (and once you’ve created a couple, they become easy)
• Last forever—once they’re out there, they’re out there forever, so they will continue to work for you long after you put the work into them
• Encourage “repeat” listening, since people can subscribe (through RSS feeds) to the podcasts that interest them and, as a result, immediately receive the latest podcast once you’ve published it
• Exhibit your speaking style, which can lead to speaking engagements and/or interview requests with the media
• Can be fun to put together if you love talking about a specific subject
• Can be monetized – if you have a popular podcast, you could sell ad space, or you can become part of a podcasting community that does
• Are a great way to cross-promote your products/services. Releasing a new book? Announce it on your podcast. Offering a special on Awesome Product ABC? Announce it on your podcast.

Who should and shouldn’t podcast?
If you’re passionate about a topic and love talking about it or talking with others about it, then a podcast could be a good platform for you. That’s the most important criterion: you need to love to talk about the topic. Beyond that, a willingness to learn how to put one together, a commitment to creating podcasts on a regular basis, and the desire to deliver interesting, exciting content are also important.

OK, provide some practical examples of podcast topics that might work for small business owners.
Let’s say you work in the health sphere—maybe you’re a personal trainer. You could do a series of podcasts about health-related topics, such as nutrition, tips for managing stress, how to get more sleep, ways to fit in exercise, what to look for in a stand-up desk, how to boost your immune system—you get the idea. If you belong to a networking group like Business Networking International (BNI), you could even use the folks in your particular marketing sphere as interview subjects. So if you’re the personal trainer who’s putting together podcasts, you could interview the folks in the health “sphere” in your BNI group, like the acupuncturist, the chiropractor, the massage therapist, and so forth.

Here’s another example: maybe you’re a business coach. You could do a series of podcasts on relevant business topics, such as building leadership skills, what to look for in a mentor, how to ask for a raise, etc. If you’re a financial consultant, you could create a series of podcasts around investment and money topics. The sky’s the limit.

Do you podcast? If yes, do you have any tips you’d like to add here? Do you have any favorite podcasts you subscribe to? Share in the comments!