This week I joined the growing team of business writers at Corporate-Eye.com.  The goal of Corporate Eye is to provide information from business experts to help readers gain insight into best practices related to corporate communications. 

Stop by when you get a chance and read some of the great content, including my first three posts:

Branding in the Spotlight: What is Branding?

Branding in the Spotlight: How to Develop a Brand

The 6 Hats of a Chief Brand Officer (CBO)

I received an email about an interesting webcast that’s coming up later this month.  Aquent is hosting a free webcast, Web Design for ROI - How Design Impacts the Bottom Line, on Thursday, May 22nd at 1:00 (Eastern). 

The webcast will explain how:

• Design effectively for different types of Web pages
• Increase Web sales/leads 
• Increase overall site effectiveness
• Change your company’s perceptions of Web design

The webcast will be hosted by Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus from Closed Loop Marketing and will explain how design directly impacts your bottom line; identify which elements have the greatest impact on Web page effectiveness; and provide a practical, how-to approach to Web design.

You can follow the link to register for the Web Design for ROI webcast.

Small and medium-sized business owners might not know how to get celebrity endorsements for their products, services or companies.  I read a great article today on WomenEntrepreneur.com by Margie Zable Fisher, president of Zable Fisher Public Relations and author of the Do-It-Yourself Public Relations Kit that explains how anyone can get celebrities to endorse their products by using five simple tips.

In her article, Margie suggests you do the following to secure celebrity endorsements:

1. Send free samples.
2. If you see an opportunity, grab it.
3. Just ask.
4. Barter.
5. Donate to the celebrity’s charity.

You can read all of Margie’s suggestions in her complete article, You Can Get Celebrity Endorsements.  It’s enlightening and makes you realize that it securing a celebrity endorsement doesn’t have to seem unattainable.

The Age of Conversation 2 is underway, and the 275 blogger authors have been assigned topics related to the subject: Why don’t people get it?  I will be tackling a really cool topic - My Marketing Tragedy.  I already know what I’m going to write about, but I can’t tell.  You’ll have to buy the book when it comes out later this year.  Remember, all proceeds go to Variety, the Children’s Charity.

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Bridget Wright from BizChicksRule was kind enough to ask me to write a guest post that she published today. 

The post is called 5 Steps to Branding Your Business, and it’s meant to help business owners and marketers understand the steps to take to begin developing a brand strategy, including a brand position and image, for their companies.

If you have a few minutes, please stop by BizChicksRule to read 5 Steps to Branding Your Business as well as some of the other great content Bridget and her fellow blogger, Kristen King, publish for b5media.

If you’d like to learn to write compelling copy for your own advertising and marketing materials or if you’d like to transition into a career as a copywriter, then take a look at the new course I’m offering through the Absolute Write University: Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps.

The online course follows the steps I teach in my upcoming book of the same title, Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps, that will be published by Entrepreneur Press in September 2008. This course won’t teach you how to write a hard sales letter. Instead, it will teach you the fundamentals of copywriting in a linear way that you’ll be able to apply to any copywriting project again and again.

Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps (the course) will be offered on an ongoing basis, starting the first Monday of every month. The course will be open to just five students per session, so I can provide one-on-one feedback and discussion with participants.

Tags: copywriting, copywriting course, copywriting class, learn copywriting, online copywriting, copywriting in 10 easy steps, women in business, businesswomen, career development, women on business

In November 2007, I wrote a post about a new ad agency, Womenkind, that focuses on women using a unique business model. Now, another agency, Hoffman York, is launching a business unit dedicated to advertising to women called The Kaleidoscope Group. This new agency is the product of three years of research, interviews and reviews done by Hoffman York.

The Kaleidoscope Group released a press release yesterday stating the business unit will work to develop creative advertising that more effectively speaks to the female audience which influences more than 80% of purchase decisions.

Interestingly, despite being formed to address the disconnect between advertising and women, The Kaleidoscope Group does not advertise exclusively to women. The business unit also advertises to men claiming their messages focus first on women and then on men.

I also think it’s interesting that the 11-person team of agency professionals who work for The Kaleidoscope Group includes three men. While that number is not high and provides diversity within the team, what is significant about it is (according to The Kaleidoscope Group’s press release) two of the three leaders of The Kaleidoscope Group are men. In other words, only 33% of the leadership team of The Kaleidoscope Group are women. The middle-management and lower level team members are mostly women though - no surprise there.

While The Kaleidoscope Group sounds like a great idea, I’m still feeling a disconnect. Is it just me or are women not just under-represented in the advertising messages The Kaleidoscope Group claims it can fix but also in The Kaleidoscope Group itself? If women are so important, then why isn’t a woman heading this group? If a company is trying to position itself as understanding and catering to the needs of women, then shouldn’t women be in key positions?

You can read the entire press release about The Kaleidoscope Group after the jump (I couldn’t find a link to the press release on either the Hoffman York website or The Kaleidoscope Group website, so I had to copy and paste it from an email I received from the Hoffman York media department today).

Continue reading »

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) has a great contest going on for small business owners.  It’s open for entries through February 28, 2008.  It’s called the “What do you have to say?” Small Business Contest, and one small business owner in the U.S. will win an opportunity to build their brand and differentiate their business. Continue reading »

In January, I wrote a post on BloggingTips.com called 5 Tips to Create a Blog Plan for Long Term Success. Today, I received an email from Evan Carmichael of EvanCarmichael.com to let me know my post was included (and ranked #4) on the list of the Top 50 Business Plan Posts of the Year that was published on his website today.

If you need to write a business plan or revise your existing business plan, the 50 business plan posts of the year provides an incredible amount of information and resources to help you succeed. Some of the posts on the list of the top 50 business plan posts of the year come from well-known bloggers while others come from lesser known bloggers who have something valuable to share.

Take a look at the list when you have a few minutes by clicking on the link to the top 50 business plan posts of 2008. If you don’t need this type of resource right now, it’s the kind of post that you might want to bookmark and save for future reference.

Tags: EvanCarmichael.com, Evan Carmichael, top 50 business plan posts, business plan, create business plan, women in business, businesswomen, women business owners, women on business

The Women’s eCommerce Association (WECAI) is developing a Who’s Who Directory of Women in eCommerce for 2008. The directory will be published online and promoted via the WECAI website as well as through their WE Magazine for Women.

This is a new directory resource that will list women who have an online presence (website must have been live for at least one year). That online presence can be in the form of a website or blog which is used to promote a product or service or to make money via affiliate sites. The site does not need to include a shopping cart. It simply needs to be a way that clients and/or business finds you.

One URL may be submitted per person. Every submission will be reviewed before it will be included in the Who’s Who Directory of Women in eCommerce. You can get all of the submission details by following the link to the Who’s Who Directory of Women in eCommerce information post.

I’m disappointed that my blogs and websites have not been live for a full year yet. I’ll definitely submit in 2009! This sounds like a great resource.

Tags: WECAI, WE Magazine for Women, women in ecommerce, women in business, businesswomen directory, online business, businesswomen, women on business