Bring Your Own Lunch Recipe: Sweet “Chick-Fil-A-Style” Nuggets #BYOL

    Every week, we suggest a fascinating, unique and delicious dish that is easy to reheat at your office lunchroom. This week’s #BYOL recipe: Sweet “Chick-fil-A-Style” Nuggets.

    There’s no interesting backstory to this recipe. Apparently, Amy at My Name is Snicker Doodle has a deep love for nuggets that come from a certain fast food chain that does not sell cow meat, and she also loves to reverse engineer recipes for fun. Now, let’s get started on this week’s #BYOL recipe.

Step 0 - Gather Your Ingredients

+ Skinless and boneless chicken breasts

+ 1 cup milk

+ 1 egg

+ 1 1/4 cups of flour

+ 2 tbsp powdered sugar

+ 2 tsp salt

+ 1 tsp pepper

+ Peanut oil

Step 1 - Cut & Marinate those Nuggets

+ Whisk the egg and milk in a bowl.

+ Slice the chicken into bit-size cubes.

+ Place chicken in milk mixture. Let the chicken marinate for 2-4 hours inside your refrigerator. 

Step 2 - Flavor Infuse those Nuggets

+ Mix the flour, powdered sugar, pepper and salt in a large (gallon-size) zip-lock bag. Throw the chicken into the bag, and shake it up. 

Step 3 - Fry those Nuggets

+ Heat up two inches of oil in a medium pot over a medium-high flame. The oil will be ready at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. 

+ Cook up to eight nuggets (or whatever fits comfortably) at a time. Turn them when they’re half done. You’ll know when they’re half done when the edge of the chicken whitens. You only need about a minute for each side, but double check each batch by cutting a nugget to find any pink (under-cooked) meat.

Step 4 - Eat & Enjoy

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Three Critical Tips to Write Better Marketing Copy (Slogans, Email Subjects, Ad Copy, Etc.)

By Fausto Mendez

    Whether it’s a brand slogan, a promotional giveaway, a marketing email or a highway billboard, the best marketing copy is rather short and simple, but it can be far from easy to write. Effective marketing copy can take a long time (maybe even several days) to produce and revise, and it sometimes requires a draining amount of frustrating effort. But improving your copywriting skills can add a significant boost to your business’s success, so it’s important to continuously refine and hone your work.

    I’ve recognized three key principles throughout my career that have helped me improve my copy over time. Keep these principles in mind the next time you write to help you boost the quality of your work (see the #copywriting tips page for more). 

Don’t Start with Words

+ Don’t start with words; start with a feeling. You shouldn’t write if you don’t know what feelings you want to evoke, but if you identify and target a specific feeling, such as relief or confidence, you’ll have a much better idea of what you are really trying to say. After all, that’s the point of marketing copy (to evoke or sell a specific feeling, not really the product itself). People don’t care much for products or services, but they love the good feelings certain products or services bring them.

+ The example above doesn’t feature any marketing copy, but it does a good job of evoking the the childish joy and wonder of one’s imagination. Actually, the intentional lack of marketing copy amplifies the feeling, so it’s also a good example of the “less is more” principal described later in this article. 

Short Verbs Are Safe Bets

+ Get in the habit of starting your copy with an action word; it’s beneficial to your writing process to start your copy with a short verb, such as “win” or “boost”. That’s because good marketing copy gets to the point fast, but the practice can also direct your writing process in a positive direction. You may find that this rule is too formulaic in certain situations, but most of the time, it’s a safe bet - especially if you’re pressed for time and not feeling super creative. 

+ The example above is a perfect illustration of this concept, and it gets right to the point. The feelings being evoked are joy and laughter, and that emotion leaves a positive impression with you as it associates joy and laughter with the name “Chick-Fil-A”. Furthermore, when a customer creates an emotional association to a brand, it makes the brand more memorable. 

Less is More

+ I can’t stress this principal enough: use less words whenever you can. The shorter your message, the more people will consume it and understand it. It’s not a difficult concept to understand, but it seems to be a difficult concept for newer writers to apply. 

+ In the above Nike ad, the writer could have written: “It doesn’t matter what you do. It doesn’t matter how or why you do it. It doesn’t matter how good you are when you do it - as long as you do it and you do it for yourself.”  But the standard Nike slogan, “just do it”, works much better. It communicates the same message in a fraction of a second, so the team that designed the ad effectively maximized the audience that will consume and understand the ad. 

    Here’s an extra bonus tip that can apply to any creative professional, not just writers: develop amazing, outstanding taste. Simply by improving your taste (for example, learning to enjoy more sophisticated books or higher-quality blogs), you will improve your creative work. That’s because you can more easily and quickly identify bad ideas, so you can trash those ideas before you finish them. The best creatives kill almost all of their ideas, and they only keep a few shining gems to refine. Similarly, you should find a thick pile of unused ideas in your trash bin at the end of any writing session.

    For more copywriting advice, check out “10 Ways to Improve your Marketing Copy.”

    Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ or Linkedin, and stay ahead of the game with an occasional laugh and non-stop marketing & business advice, news and analysis. Brought to you by AnyPromo.com.

Bring Your Own Lunch Recipe: Bourbon “Crack” Chicken #BYOL

By Fausto Mendez

    Every week, we suggest a fascinating, unique and delicious dish that is easy to reheat at your office lunchroom. This week’s recipe: Bourbon “Crack” Chicken (Crock-Pot Style). 

    This recipe is called Bourbon “Crack” Chicken because once you start eating it, you can’t stop. It’s relatively easy to throw together. Let’s make some; shall we?

Step 0 - Gather Your Ingredients

+ 2 lbs boneless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
+ 2 tablespoon cornstarch
+ 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (evoo)
+ 1 garlic clove crushed
+ 1/4 teaspoon ginger
+ 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
+ 1/4 cup light apple juice
+ 1/3 cup light brown sugar
+ 2 tablespoons organic ketchup or chili sauce (depending on how hot you like stuff)
+ 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
+ 1/2 cup water
+ 1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

Step 1 - Mix & Cook

+ Mix the above ingredients into your favorite crock pot, and set it on low for about eight hours. If you’re pressed for time, you may cook it on high for four hours, but we recommend the slow cook for best results.

+ While you wait, cook up a nice side of rice. I prefer white rice with this style of chicken, but to each his own. The original recipe also recommends adding a side of ginger glazed carrots.

+ That’s about it. Just serve the chicken over rice. I prefer to keep the carrots off to the side. 

    Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ or Linkedin, and stay ahead of the game with an occasional laugh and non-stop marketing & business advice, news and analysis. Brought to you by AnyPromo.com. Thanks to My Time Passages for the original photo.

#MarketingMonday - How Refinery29 Launched a Multi-Million-Dollar E-Commerce Store Built Around Content Marketing

By Fausto Mendez

    Content marketing is a powerful but often underestimated tool in the world of business, and despite being misunderstood, it is the vehicle that is turning average Joes from all walks of life into millionaires.

    Justin Stefano and Phillippe von Borries are the owners and founders of Refinery29, a fashion content and e-commerce company out of New York. It’s raking in multimillion-dollar sums every year, but it didn’t start out that way. About eight years ago, the website could barely pay a $28,000 salary to each member of the founding duo, but thanks to a smart and evolved approach to content marketing, it pulled in $14.2 million dollars last year. Stefano and Borries expect that number to increase by another ten million for 2013, according to Business Insider. 

    Prior to launching Refinery29, both Stefano and Borries held down relatively cushy jobs in law and politics, but they quit their careers to launch the website in 2005. It started out as a somewhat traditional blog on fashion, music and design in New York City, but their dedication and taste finally paid off after three years. Riding on a $28k salary purely from ads, the blog took off around 2008 as smaller, niche brands found a growing and receptive audience at Refinery29. 

    Oddly enough, Stefano and Borries know nothing - and continue to know mostly nothing - about the fashion industry. But Refinery29 eventually became the place on the Web to talk about emerging fashions and up-and-coming brands. What they didn’t realize at the time was that they were perfecting the practice of content marketing, which would set the stage for an e-commerce store that would launch Refinery29 to new heights.

    The addition of an e-commerce component to Refinery29 enables the store to generate another $3-4 million per year, and it doesn’t cost the duo much time or effort to get the store off the ground. After all the, Stefano and Borries don’t even buy inventory. They just take a cut from the products sold by the smaller, niche brands that their audience loves to read about.

    What Stefano and Borries did with Refinery29 is what content marketers all around the world aim to do everyday, but content marketing doesn’t always produce such favorable results. Their success stems from a few basic principles: 

+ They are genuinely passionate about their jobs (as owners of Refinery29) and the content they produce. People are attracted to passion, and passion makes it easier to work harder and more effectively.

+ They write for the reader, not for search engines. Writing for search engines can help you boost traffic in the short term, but writing for real readers produces passionate, dedicated fans that love to come back to the site on a regular basis.

+ Like in TV, high-quality (entertaining and/or useful) content comes first because that what attracts people. Without the content, there is no audience.

+ Many e-commerce stores underpay content marketers, copywriters and bloggers in the belief that their contribution is not as important as, let’s say, a web developer. But to underpay your writers and bloggers is like ABC underpaying its sitcom-writing staff. The writers of a major sitcom at ABC are some of the highest-paid employees of the company. Think about that the next time you expect a minimum-wage employee to generate major traffic. Appreciate your content creators.

+ A content marketer should have (or at least strive to have) the same skills and professionalism as a staff writer for Time Magazine or Mashable.com.

+ Don’t forget to broadcast a healthy sense of humor. The Web is full of humor and people that appreciate a good joke. This is a fact of modern Web culture, and if you’re not in tune with modern Web culture, you won’t succeed as a content marketer.

    Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ or Linkedin, and stay ahead of the game with an occasional laugh and non-stop marketing & business advice, news and analysis. Brought to you by AnyPromo.com.

#Marketing #Infographic: The #Psychology of #Color

By Fausto Mendez

    Colors are a critical factor when designing ads, branding materials and marketing campaigns. That’s because, whether you know it or not, colors can evoke certain moods in most people. Colors can even stimulate your appetite!

    We stumbled upon this fascinating infographic on the impact of colors on consumer behavior. The whole thing is rather interesting, but we were really moved by the following facts (check out the full infographic below - click to enlarge): 

+ Colors can improve comprehension, learning and reading ability in individuals.

+ A significant majority of consumers make purchasing decisions based on color alone.

+ 93% of consumers buy products based on visual appearance.

+ Strategic use of colors increases the rate that people pay attention to ads.

    Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ or Linkedin, and stay ahead of the game with an occasional laugh and non-stop marketing & business advice, news and analysis. Brought to you by AnyPromo.com. Thanks to Web Page FX for the image.

Finished Work: Plastic Handle Bag for KSPR ABC of Springfield, MO

By Fausto Mendez

    Our partner AnyPromo.com is a promotional products retailer/supplier, and the company’s graphic artists love to show off their finished work. This is just another design of the many, many designs they finalize on a daily basis.

    We’re honored that ABC affiliate KSPR of Springfield, MO reached out to us this week for a fat stack of plastic handle bags. This inexpensive promotional item is currently item #668032 in our catalog, and they come in a variety of solid colors. The handles feature a fold-over, reinforced, die-cut design, and the front and back faces measure 12” x 15” with a depth of three inches. 

    Promotional handle bags function perfectly as custom gift bags (that hold other promotional giveaways), and they maximize brand awareness at industry events, retail stores, souvenir stores, music festivals, cruises, concerts, hotels, tourist spots and any place or event where members of your audience linger around each other for significant periods of time.

    AnyPromo is the low-price leader and one-stop shop for customized promotional products and personalized promotional products, and with a catalog of over 40,000 products, we guarantee you will find the promotional supplies that you need to launch the most effective promotional campaign - no matter your circumstances or budget.

    Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ or Linkedin, and stay ahead of the game with an occasional laugh and non-stop marketing & business advice, news and analysis. Brought to you by AnyPromo.com.

Download this Free Font: Chalkboard Effects (13 Fonts)

By Fausto Mendez

    Finding the best #free fonts isn’t easy (except when we post them here), but it’s always good for business to have some extra out-of-the-box fonts on hand. That’s why we spend an hour or so per week searching the Web for its best-kept-secret fonts.

    This week, we stumbled upon a set of thirteen fonts and a downloadable background that create a chalkboard effect. As usual, these fonts can be installed on any modern computer, and no photoshopping is necessary to use them. So they’re ready to go out of the box. Download them at Nest of Posies, and install them onto any Mac or Windows PC by double clicking on the downloaded file.

    We encourage customers to try new fonts for their artwork and logo submissions (when ordering custom promotional products on AnyPromo.com). Of course, the best font for any circumstance depends on a variety of factors, but if you find yourself itching for a chalkboard font, you now know where to find it. 

    Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ or Linkedin, and stay ahead of the game with an occasional laugh and non-stop marketing & business advice, news and analysis. Brought to you by AnyPromo.com.

Businesses and Advertisers May Not Use Google Glass for Ads

By Fausto Mendez

    Google Glass is the smartphone of the future, a wearable computer that sits on your head like a pair of glasses. Though it seems rather futuristic, the technology that powers Glass is hardly any different than the same stuff that powers your smartphone. Needless to say, advertisers and businesses continue to line up and compete for a chance to start using and building software for Glass - mostly programs and experiences centered around ads other types of marketing content (as is the custom in smartphone app development). There’s just one problem: no one is allowed to serve ads on Glass!

    Google recently announced that a set of Glass headsets would arrive at the doorsteps of some lucky developers and a few enthusiastic fans, and with that announcement, the company released the API (and guidelines) for developing software for Glass. It turns out the API specifically states that Glass and the user’s data connection may not be used to serve advertisements. Section Two of the API reads:

“No Ads. You may not serve or include any advertisements in your API Client. Data Usage. You may not use user data from your API Client for advertising purposes. You may not sell or transmit any user data received from your API Client(s) to a third-party ad network or service, data broker, or other advertising or marketing provider. For the avoidance of doubt, user data from the API Client(s) may not be used for Third-Party Ad Serving (‘3PAS’).”

    This development poses problems for businesses that have become accustomed to Google’s traditional business model: ads everywhere and anywhere, but whether or not Google will maintain this stance is unknown. It could very well be a temporary measure to ensure that only the most passionate developers jump on the bandwagon. On the other hand, Google may have a business model in mind that we’ve never seen before. 

    Google is no stranger to revolutionizing business models. After all, it is the company that shaped the modern Web and the way businesses to business on the it (with the help of the masses, of course). We look forward to seeing what Google has planned throughout the rest of this decade. It will certainly be an interesting ride.

    We’ll  watch the story as it develops, so stay tuned. In the meantime, join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Google+, and stay ahead of the game with an occasional laugh and non-stop marketing & business advice, news and analysis. Brought to you by AnyPromo.com.

Honda Leveraged Pinterest to Reach 5 Million Users With Tiny Budget - #MarketingMonday

By Fausto Mendez

    Every Monday, we analyze a successful marketing campaign, or we assemble a set of tips on a relevant marketing topic to help you boost your business to the next level. This week, we dissect Honda’s very successful #Pintermission campaign.

    Social-media marketing is a tricky landscape to navigate, but some out-of-the-box creativity can go a long way. Big brands know this well, and Honda knows this better than most. In fact, Honda’s #Pintermission campaign reached about five million users, according to Marketing Mag, including 5,000 repins and 2,000 “likes” so far. Overall, Honda measured 16 million impressions when the campaign (which included traditional advertising) was said and done, and that’s not including Facebook and Twitter conversations. But exactly how did Honda leverage Pinterest to such great effect? 

    The campaign specifically advertised the new CR-V, which encourages the concept of enjoying life beyond the walls of home. The CR-V is also targeted at younger adults that are about to settle down, and these young adults grew up with social media. They are accustomed to making plans online, and a good chunk of this demographic are on Pinterest too. Now, here’s the tricky part. How do you reach all of these people with a minuscule budget?

    The name of the game is creativity. If you have it, you can probably be an amazing social-media marketer, and whoever’s working for Honda apparently has it. 

    Honda reached out to Pinterest users with profiles that have massive follower numbers, and a significant chunk of these followers are individuals from the target demographic. The company offered these users $500 each. All they have to do in return is to make or complete one of their pinned images. Honda calls this concept - taking a day off of Pinterest to give life to a pin - a #Pintermission. 

    Pinterest is a popular place for sharing how-to articles and images of places or activities that people would love to be a part of, so the rest of the campaign was rather easy. Honda created boards for these users to post their #Pintermission photos, and the company also requested that these users create their own dedicated boards for the campaign (with Honda’s Pinterest profile as a collaborator). In addition, Honda also posted and shared custom images that advertised the concept of a “Pintermission”. With the stage set: online discussions, viral shares and “likes” took off. 

    Most importantly, Honda understands that Pinterest is not the best place for marketing many of its other vehicles. The CR-V has a unique target audience. As a result, Honda found those users online, and then, it developed a plan to engage those users with the CR-V as the centerpiece for discussion. That’s the big lesson here: find the customers, understand them and engage them.

    Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ or Linkedin, and stay ahead of the game with an occasional laugh and non-stop marketing & business advice, news and analysis. Brought to you by AnyPromo.com.

Finished Work: 32 oz “h2go” Water Bottle for the Harrington College of Design

By Fausto Mendez

    Our partner AnyPromo.com is a promotional products supplier/retailer, and the company’s graphic artists love to show off their finished work. This is just another design of the many, many designs they finalize on a daily basis. 

    We’re more than honored, happy, and proud to serve the Harrington College of Design with a fat order of custom promotional water bottles to be distributed on campus. The bottle features one of the school’s more inspiring and motivating slogans, “I am a 100% designer,” and it’s topped off with the school name/logo at the very bottom . Below, you can see the same bottle with the Monster logo.

    Though water bottles are more of a sports or outdoors item, any recent college student can attest to the popularity of reusable water bottles on college campuses. They’re just as useful - if not more useful - outside of the gym as active and mobile students need to stay hydrated to push their minds and bodies to the limit.

    AnyPromo also carries a wide variety of education promotional products, or products that can be used for promotional purposes within an educational setting, and with a catalog of about 50,000 products spread out across several categories, we guarantee you will find a suitable promotional giveaway that is perfect for your circumstances.  Need help choosing the best promotional giveaway for your brand? All you need to do is to contact your Customer Care Representative for advice, and she will happily reply with a list of suggestions. 

    Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ or Linkedin, and stay ahead of the game with an occasional laugh and non-stop marketing & business advice, news and analysis.

An Email Marketing Tactic that Works Really Damn Well

By Fausto Mendez

    Email marketing is a tricky beast to tame. Effective tactics vary from business to business, so A/B tests and audience surveys can work wonders. But some basic strategies exist that can unlock big rewards if you execute them well - no matter your industry or audience. A recent EDM campaign by REI is a perfect example.

    This morning, I stumbled upon a great piece at Freelance Writing Solutions on follow-up marketing emails that seem to be working pretty well on customers that made recent purchases at REI. Below, I break down the story to the basic details, but the whole thing is worth a read if you have the extra time.

+ The author of the article recently purchased a pair of cross-country skiesat REI, an outdoor-equipment retailer with a lot of street cred within the outdoor-sports community.

+ Approximately three weeks after purchase, he received a follow-up email from REI. The message congratulated him on his recent purchase of skies, and it included some very helpful articles, including how-to guides on equipment cleaning & maintenance and a web-based tool that displays snow reports at your favorite ski spots.

+ The customer felt like REI was paying attention to him because REI knows that he didn’t purchase downhill, or mountain, skies. Also, the email marketing team at REI did a great job at guessing exactly the kind information a recent purchaser of cross-country skies might need. Actually, that customer didn’t even know he needed some of the information in the message, so it was a welcome surprise overall. 

+ This marketing email is not designed to immediately catalyze purchases. Unfortunately  a lot of marketers expect instant results out of every message sent to subscribers, but this message has a much greater, longer-lasting effect. The effect this message seems to have on the customer is that it builds a relationship with the customer, increasing brand awareness and brand appreciation in the process. As a result, his next outdoor-sports purchase will probably be at REI. 

    The story illustrates the importance of building long-lasting and close relationships with your customers - not just through email marketing but through any and all available channels. More importantly, email marketers need to exercise more out-of-the-box creativity to find the best ways to do this.

    It’s a great idea. No doubt. But we suggest a few more tips that’ll help you make the most out of every EDM:

+ Stay visual. Effective web marketing is always mixed in with amazing graphics, photography and lay-out design. Rely on a tried-and-true graphic designer to help you achieve the best results.

+ Though your graphic artist has a great eye for visual design, he’s probably not a great marketing manager. The same can be said about your customer service reps and salesmen. The EDM campaign as whole, including message and content, should be managed by a well-trained marketing manager that can easily see the world through the eyes of other people. 

+ The subject line is critical! This text is the first thing the customer will see, and it will literally determine whether or not the customer opens the email at all. It may even encourage customers to label your messages as spam, which can weaken your delivery rates in the future. In other words, you can build the best EDM emails that have ever existed, but if the subject line is weak, no one will even open it in the first place. 

+ Seek the opinions of an outside consultant with a fresh and unbiased view of your business. This consultant can offer answers to confusing issues that you would have no idea how to approach, such as: low deliverability rates, IP address issues, domain issues, choosing the best email service provider for your current circumstances, A/B testing, blacklists, whitelists, changing privacy laws, and much more. If a consultant is out of your budget, you may consider signing up with an email service provider, SEO firm or marketing company with an EDM specialist on staff that you can call upon when you need help. 

    Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ or Linkedin, and stay ahead of the game with an occasional laugh and non-stop marketing & business advice, news and analysis. Brought to you by AnyPromo.com.

Businesses Are Losing the Right to Ask Customers for Zip Codes? Yes, But It Doesn’t Matter.

By Fausto Mendez

    It’s expected that businesses make some kind of effort to obtain the personal info - including phone and address - of their customers. That’s why I was surprised to hear that it’s becoming illegal for businesses to ask for customer zip codes in the US. It was even more surprising to me when I learned that this has been illegal in California since 2011.

    Now that I think about it, a business hasn’t asked me for my zip code since my college days. That’s because California considers zip codes to be a critical piece of identifying information, and with just your zip code, they can accurately guess your home address and phone number. Whether you like it or not, it seems that as California goes, so does the rest of the nation. Massachusetts is the next state that’s outlawed the collection of zip codes during customer transactions, and there’s no reason to assume this trend will reverse itself anytime soon. Fortunately for marketers (and unfortunately for consumers), this isn’t a big deal. Consumer information is more available than ever.

    The rise of online marketing and social-media marketing makes these laws irrelevant. Let’s put it this way: if a marketer gains access to your Facebook profile, they probably have a lot more on file than just your zip code, phone number and home address. And by connecting with you on Facebook, they have a much faster and more convenient way of communicating with you than annoying junk mail or telemarketers. 

    As a result, these laws are generally perceived as good for the public, but they won’t protect consumers’ info from prying eyes - at least not in this day and age. The new laws may force marketers to rely on the online world even more, and in the digital realm, it’s much easier to get the same info and a lot more. In the end, these laws only coerce businesses to rely on easier and more effective web-based methods. Though that’s great for the marketing industry, consumers are not receiving any effective protection by the passage of these laws. 

    Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ or Linkedin, and stay ahead of the game with an occasional laugh and non-stop marketing & business advice, news and analysis. Brought to you by AnyPromo.com.

(Source: Business Insider)