| Radius Advertising's Blog

The first thing you do when you sit down at the computer

On January 12, 2012, in Uncategorized, by Mike

Let me guess: check the incoming. Check email or traffic stats or messages from your boss. Check the tweets you follow or the FB status of friends.

You’ve just surrendered not only a block of time but your freshest, best chance to start something new.

If you’re a tech company or a marketer, your goal is to be the first thing people do when they start their day. If you’re an artist, a leader or someone seeking to make a difference, the first thing you do should be to lay tracks to accomplish your goals, not to hear how others have reacted/responded/insisted to what happened yesterday.

original article by Seth’s Blog

If you’re going to work…

On June 3, 2011, in Uncategorized, by Mike

work hard.

That way, you’ll have something to show for it.

The biggest waste is to do that thing you call work, but to interrupt it, compromise it, cheat it and still call it work.

In the same amount of time you can expend twice the effort and get far more in exchange.

original article by Seth’s Blog

A marketing lesson from the apocalypse

On May 22, 2011, in Uncategorized, by Mike

If you’re reading this blog, then the world didn’t end, at least in my time zone.

How does one market the end of the world? After all, you don’t have a big ad budget. Your ‘product’ is something that has been marketed again and again through the ages and it has never worked. There’s significant peer pressure not to buy it…

And yet, every time, people succumb. They sell their belongings, stop paying into their kid’s college fund and create tension and despair.

Here’s the simple lesson:

Sell a story that some people want to believe. In fact, sell a story they already believe.

The story has to be integrated into your product. The iPad, for example, wasn’t something that people were clamoring for… but the story of it, the magic tablet, the universal book, the ticket to the fashion-geek tribe–there was a line out the door for that. The same way that every year, we see a new music sensation, a new fashion superstar. That’s not an accident. That story is just waiting for someone to wear it.

And the some part is vital. Not everyone wants to believe in the end of the world, but some people (fortunately, just a few) really do. To reach them, you don’t need much of a hard sell at all.

Too often marketers take a product and try to invent a campaign. Much more effective is to find a tribe, find a story and make a product that resonates, one that makes the story work.

That’s the whole thing. A story that resonates and a tribe that’s tight and small and eager.

I hope you can dream up something more productive than the end of the world, though.

original article by Seth’s Blog

Safari, IE hacked first at Pwn2Own

On March 9, 2011, in Uncategorized, by Mike

Computerworld – Apple’s Safari and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) both fell to the first hackers who tried their luck on the browsers at Wednesday’s opening day of Pwn2Own.

The hacking challenge kicked off at 3:30 p.m. PT, slightly later than scheduled, at the CanSecWest security conference, which runs March 9-11 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

A team from the French security company Vupen walked off with $15,000 and a new MacBook Air after exploiting an unpatched vulnerability in Safari. (more…)

The worst moments are your best opportunity

On March 4, 2011, in Reader Comment, by Mike

That’s how we judge you and how we remember you.

You are presumed to be showing us your real self when you are on deadline, have a headache, are facing a customer service meltdown, haven’t had a good night’s sleep, are facing an ethical dilemma, are momentarily in power, are caught doing something when you thought no one else was looking, are irritable, have the opportunity to extract revenge, are losing a competition or are truly overwhelmed.

What a great opportunity to tell the story you’d like us to hear about you.

via sethgodin.typepad.com

Try Cleveland Heights-based Mitchell’s Fine Chocolates this Valentines Day

On February 10, 2011, in Uncategorized, by Anne

Locally owned Mitchell’s Fine Chocolates was founded by Greek immigrant Chris Mitchell, in 1939. His widow, Penelope, and son, Bill, continue the chocolate making tradition he established, creating handcrafted chocolates to old-word standards of craftsmanship, while keeping pace with changing trends and evolving palettes. The Mitchell family store is located at 2285 Lee Road in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information, call (216) 932-3200 or visit their website for tasty treat ideas! And Happy Valentines Day

The New Wave of Mobile Marketing

On January 18, 2011, in Uncategorized, by Anne

Yes – our experienced staff of “mobile geniuses” can guide you through the most important mobile marketing initiatives for your company! Call us – and ask us how!

The Power of Direct Mail

On December 16, 2010, in What's good for your business, by Mike

“Direct Mail can give your business advantages and opportunities you won’t find anywhere else.”

This is a quote from the inside front cover of a guide provided by the United States Postal Service on direct mail. It had my head shaking affirmatively when I read it. Yes, direct mail can do so much more than any other advertising media. More businesses should use it. When we suggest it to our clients, often times their response is that it is too expensive.

Direct mail can be expensive, if you use it incorrectly. But the beauty of it is, that you can easily control your costs, unlike many other forms of media.

As an example, let’s look at TV commercial. It costs X dollars per spot based on the time of day it runs and the popularity of the television show. Your spot may have a wide reach in your market area, but when it airs you are ‘crossing your fingers” and hoping that all the right people are seeing your ad. Your ad does not come onto the television screen addressed to the person viewing it, calling out their name, like a letter does when it lands in the mailbox.

Here are some stats from the USPS book I cited above on advertising mail readership.

81% of households read or scan some or all of the advertising mail they receive.
Of the 81%, 48% read it, and 33% scan it.
19% said they don’t read it.

Source: 2007 USPS Household Diary Study.

With direct mail, you control the format, the quantity, the postage, and the timing, and can work all of these factors to fit your budget and control your costs. You can target exactly who you want by buying lists based on specific criteria that identifies who your customer is. (more…)