Please Note: This is only an effective way if you want to utilize a web-based presentation or application.

Around a year ago, a client of ours sent two brand spankin’ new 24” iMac’s and wanted to use them as secure browsers. So, we got to work on figuring out how to implement this sort of thing on the Mac platform. Our company before used to build .NET applications specific to an event and windows based machine; this process wasn’t the most streamlined, seeing as how a simple web app for data capture would work just as well. So after some searching, I found a method that would work out perfectly for this and it’s even cross platform compatible!

Step 1:
Download Opera’s latest and greatest. (opens in a new window)

Step 2:
Open up Opera and get into the settings preferences.

Under the General Tab set your Starting Preference (Start with home page). Then set the home page appropriate to your event; I chose a local file to accomplish this.

Then click the Wand Tab and uncheck the “Let the Wand remember passwords” box.

Now head over to the Advanced Tab and find Security (highlighted) and click Set Master Password …
This will ensure that you can get the computer out of Kiosk mode in order to utilize it later on as a computer again. So this step is fairly important!

Under the same Advanced Tab you need to locate Shortcuts and uncheck the Enable mouse gestures. This will prevent anyone who may know Opera mouse gestures from being able to try any funny business.

Step 3:
Now that those settings are out of the way, we can move into the more nitty gritty stuff. As we are using Mac as an example, go ahead and fire up Script Editor.app from your Applications/Applescript folder. This will be a very basic script, one line of code.

do shell script "/Applications/Opera.app/Contents/MacOS/Opera -kioskmode -noexit"

Of course if you stuck Opera.app into another folder, the part in between the ” may slightly differ.

Save that script somewhere in case you want to edit it sometime, then do a Save As … You will select Application as the File Format. I usually save something like that onto the Desktop so an Event Staffer can locate it easily.

So is that it? Not quite, but we’re close. For it to actually be secure, you still need to filter out sites, or in a better case, only allow certain ones blocking all others.

Step 4:
Since Opera has been run, there will now be an urlfilter.ini file that should be edited. On the Mac you can find this at: /Users/yourusername/Library/Preferences/Opera Preferences/ if the urlfilter.ini file is NOT in there, you need to create it (sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t, no rhyme or reason to it). Okay, so you have the file, let’s open it up in a text editor and fill it with something similar to below.

Opera Preferences version 2.1
; Do not edit this file while Opera is running
; This file is stored in UTF-8 encoding

[prefs]
prioritize excludelist=0

[include]
file://localhost/Users/user/Sites/kiosk*
*.somewhereelse.com*
*.thatsite.net*

[exclude]
*

The *.domain.com* are sites that you will allow the browser to visit and the * are there as wildcards, in case one of those sites sends the user to a different subdomain or folder.

Step 5:
You just have to set up the computer at that point to automatically log in as the Kiosk User (or whatever user you just set this up for) and ensure that they have the Applescript Application in their Login Items path.

There are a lot more rules that can be applied; however, these should take care of most needs for most circumstances. If you are doing something for the military or another government branch, you may want to write an actual application.

A few tips to consider:

• When someone enters a meeting room, stand and greet them
• When in a room of strangers, extend a warm handshake and introduce yourself, especially to those standing solo
• When dining, don’t chew with your mouth open
• Don’t chew gum during meetings
• Never put your bags on the conference room table; sit them next to your chair or on your chair and unload from there
• Always bring paper, writing utensil and your calendar to ANY meeting
• Always arrive a few minutes prior to a meeting - don’t make everyone wait on you
• Hold the door for others - male or female
• Clean up after yourself; don’t expect someone else to pick up your dirtied glass or trash
• Send a handwritten thank you note after meeting a new person and enclose your business card … not only good etiquette, but also good networking!

For more great tips, check out Emily Post.

PR isn’t just about picking up the phone and calling a reporter. There is a ton of strategy involved in what we do. So before you pick up the phone or send out a “PR release,” listen to what I have to say

But STOP! Before we go any further, IT IS NOT CALLED A PR RELEASE. I repeat. It is not called a “PR Release.”  We send out news releases

Now, on to the good stuff

DO NOT MASS DISTRIBUTE. Don’t blast emails or faxes. Don’t do a generic pitch that blankets a ton of reporters.  It’s important that you do your homework and get to know each reporter you’re planning to pitch. There is nothing more embarrassing than sending a pitch to a reporter that doesn’t cover your topic. Example: my client is launching an exercise video. Over my dead body will I pitch the financial editor on this topic. UNLESS there is a financial angle

Further, mass distributing your news releases is just like spam. You know how annoyed you get when you receive those Australian lottery winner emails or the African prince that is looking for his soul mate. DON’T SPAM

Customize your outreach. Refer to previous coverage by that particular reporter. Open up with a brief remark that gets the conversation going … and personalize it.

It’s fine to follow up with a reporter, but please don’t call and ask if they’ve received your news release. Chances are their desk is just as cluttered as yours.  Instead, lead with “Am I calling at a good time” and give them a couple of juicy facts to gauge their interest. They may ask you to send them a release; don’t be offended. Just keep your mouth shut and send it again. Be respectful of their time and courteous with your follow up.

Most importantly, develop relationships with reporters so that you become a resource for them.  A few reporters I work with contact me needing sources for stories that don’t apply to any of my clients. I don’t mind helping them because I know that when I really need them, they’ll be there.

I came across a great article last week in Ad Age, How Agencies Are Helping Their Clients Help The Environment. It really puts things in perspective … as individuals, it’s important to make wise decisions concerning the environment (recycling, buying locally-grown produce, etc.). As a corporation, it’s important to take a look at how we can eliminate waste during the manufacturing process, etc. But as a marketer what can we do? We can encourage our clients to create earth-friendly campaigns.

Example: Snackbox is working with a major consumer packaged good brand that has practiced earth-friendly production since the early 1900s. Before it was “cool” to be “green.”  We’re working with said company to create a public relations campaign that educates consumers about their practices in producing disposable tableware.  Most don’t automatically think paper plates = good for the environment. I’m sure demand for their product will increase once our campaign is complete, but more importantly, as consumers, we will know that we have choices. Choices that are actually good for the environment.

We’re also taking the environment into account in other practices: Doing away with paper press kits, emailing our invoices and presenting brand identity systems electronically rather than pasting to presentation boards.

Protecting the environment isn’t another fad. Let’s all do our part to protect and preserve.

But why stop with one project?

One of the more difficult things we encounter as business owners is the art of cold calling to expand our business. But why go through all of the effort when you have clients from your past who are perfectly capable of being your clients of the future?

I encourage you to dive deep into your Rolodex and remain in contact with ALL of your clients. Build conversation with them, create a database you can reference for years to come.

For example, I make note in my address book regarding important answers to my questions: does my client contact have kids, what is their favorite food, do they have pets, etc.  Those notes allow me to pick up dialog right away without missing a beat.  It doesn’t mean that I don’t value each of the people in my Rolodex … it just means that my Rolodex is too large to remember all of the details. My database allows me to keep up.

As you build your Rolodex, you can watch for patterns and have the opportunity to connect those in your network. Build Karma points by connecting a favorite package designer with an inventor looking to gain shelf space in local grocery stores. More than likely, those who have been helped by you are happy to return the favor down the road.

It’s all about who you know, but also what you know about them.

Okay, let’s take a step through this method. First off is the if(isset($_POST[‘submit’])), all that really does it tell the page to run the mail and spam checking functions if the user submitted the form. Then it gets the POST methods from the submission and we set the variables.

The if ($human != “123”) { business checks that the user is not a spambot.

In this case ABC is easy as 123, so if the user doesn’t type in 123 it will alert them and send them back to the previous page (I hate to click a back button, so I took that step out). If they do answer 123 the script will hit the next block, which is a basic PHP mail function. If they did not it alerts them and sends a history.back(1) script so they can take another whack at it.

If the user did answer the secret question correctly, the script can move onto the next step. In this step the users comments will be sent to you. So I set a variable for your email (in this example you@yourdomain.com, pretty basic I know). Then the subject and message body. Tip, you can inject the variables from the first step into your subject and message, in fact you need to somewhere or you won’t get any info. You do this by using the $name, $email, etc.

Cool, the form was sent and the user was informed of their success, and then sent to the site root. The } else { is fairly important, without this nothing will show up for the user to fill out.

Lastly, do not forget to put your } before the end of the script, I say that because I sometimes forget that.

So that’s it, if you want to download this script for reference click here If you just copy and paste the highlighted code you’ll have to replace all ’ with the proper single ticks.

One type of client may want to have their website up by the end of the week so that they can be ready to “make money” over the weekend. But I have found that if you sacrifice your time in testing and ensuring proper usability the website will initially flop. It is best to have a good plan of action and stick to it. The client like this I have found will normally want a large project done and wait until two days before their desired deadline to get you essential project information.

Say your job is print related, staring at the MAR+APR 2008 Create magazine sitting beside me I can see a ton of work going into some of the ads placed in here. So if I was designing for something like this; where obviously deadline is an issue. I may have to steer the client out of the target issue if their overall brand or idea wasn’t properly portrayed, suggesting the following issues print deadline for a more successful campaign.

How do others handle clients like these?

Who are these “emerging” consumers flying under today’s marketing radar screen? Why, they’re just our Baby Boomers. Consumers age 40 to 70, nearly 100 million strong, with annual spending power of more than $2.1 trillion — seven times the spending power of Generations X and Y combined.

Recent studies prove Baby Boomers still have what it takes in the spending department:

• People over 40 spend 65% more than any other age group
• The average household buys 13 cars in a lifetime - nine of them after age 40
• One of Nintendo’s fastest growing new products is Wii Bowling. Their biggest customers? Retirement homes. They call it “Wii-habbing”
• The 45-75 age group spent $97 billion in household furnishings and $32 billion in the drug category in 2004, 14% and 148% more, respectively, than consumers age 44 and under
• The average age of a Harley Davidson buyer is 48

Enter thirdgear, a Chicago-based marketing consultancy with a fresh new focus on the Baby Boomer generation. thirdgear, in partnership with Millennium, a UK-based advertising agency, is committed to its mission of bringing marketers closer to the millions of consumers over 40 who helped set the tone for today’s consumer landscape.

thirdgear has created a proprietary panel of consumers over 40 called gearheads. These active, highly involved, highly opinionated think tankers are not shy about sharing their ideas and opinions on about everything from product design to packaging to advertising.

And, in response to this booming market, thirdgear co-founded IMMN, the International Mature Marketing Network. The association’s mission is to champion mature marketing around the world and currently has members from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, England and the United States, including noted marketing consultants and authors such as Marti Barletta and Dick Stroud.

To learn more about thirdgear, check out their Web site, www.thirdgear.com or reach out to Jenna at 773.715.0879 or jenna@snackboxlabs.com.

Ever run across a good article on a website, but you were about to punch the timecard, or head away from the computer? What do you usually do, you can drag it to your overlowing bookmark bar where you will undoubtably forget about it for a few weeks. Maybe you post it to your del.icio.us account instead, or some other bookmarking site, where again you usually forget about it. I find it’s helpful to just hit command+p (ctrl+p for the PC user) and normally get just an awfully layed out print of the page, and normally it has some content cut off, well that was useless and not very green to waste the paper and ink right?

After a week of finding articles and not being able to get a decent print I aimed to fix it for our site, and then write about how others could do the same. If your a designer and your getting a lot of traffic it stands to reason that someone may at some point print out your article for later reading.

Step one: You can do this a few ways, the simplest may be making a copy of your style.css (in some cases the name may differ of course) and name that file print.css. Then fire up your favorite text or CSS editor and get to work on hiding your elements that have no need to print. (navigation, headers, backgrounds, etc. can usually get tossed out for this stylesheet) using a simple display: none; is normally quite effective.

Step two: Start to choose the selectors you want to hide for the print view, normally I set up, jot them down or directly edit the file. You’ll end up cutting out the dead weight before you finish your edits. A very simple demo below is an example of how to hide everything but the article for this site.

Put this line into your page head so that the browser will know to grab this stylesheet for printing. The main difference between this and main stylesheet is the media portion.

DO

1. Have other quality, relevant sites link to yours
2. Submit a site map using your Google Webmaster Tools account
3. Submit your site to quality, high authority directories in the appropriate category
4. Make a site with text links and a clear hierarchy, and make sure every page is reachable by at least one static text link
5. Create useful, unique and clearly written content
6. Make sure your title tags and ALT tags are descriptive and accurate
7. Maintain clean HTML code
8. Keep the outgoing links on a page under 100
9. Make it easy for search bots to crawl your site without error
10. Make use of the robots.txt file to limit crawling on pages that aren’t useful to visitors
11. Make pages for users, not search engines

DON’T

1. Don’t include broken links on your site
2. Don’t use hidden text or links
3. Don’t cloak or use sneaky redirects
4. Don’t load pages with keywords or phrases a.k.a spam
5. Don’t send automated queries to Google
6. Don’t create duplicate content
7. Don’t create pages that install Trojans, viruses, etc.
8. If you participate in an affiliate program, don’t provide duplicate, run-of-the-mill content
9. Don’t participate in linking schemes – bloggers are watching you!

Source: seonoobs.com