Alltop and Simple Marketing Blog: Yeah, Baby!

More wonderful news for Simple Marketing Blog! I received notification from Alltop.com that "we" are now listed on Alltop in Marketing. Yeah, Baby!

Are you familiar with Alltop? It's a fabulous resource for discovering new blog and news resources. I regularly refer to it in presentations.

It's user friendly, intuitive and comprehensive beyond belief.

Especially now that Simple Marketing Blog is included ! ;-)

Ok. Thanks for sharing this moment with me.

Back to work now.

Unless you are busy researching something for work. In which case, you definitely want to spend more time on Alltop!

Best,

C.B.

Happy Simple Marketing Blog Birthday #2!

Today - March 25th, 2011 - marks the two year anniversary of this blog and of Simple Marketing Now - a milestone I find amazing!

In thinking back on the past two years, I can't get over how intense the learning has been.  I never imagined meeting and interacting with so many wonderful and equally passionate marketers and business people. I never imagined having as much fun exploring, creating, discovering and trying new ideas and approaches. And I never imagined how rewarding it would be to guide others who believe equally in the power of social media and content marketing.

I'm ready for year three! Are you?

In anticipation, here are the top Simple Marketing Blog posts of all time:

1. Urban Outfitters: Be Where Customers Are
2. Sandy Carter Integrates Social Media
3. How Do I Craft a Blog Welcome Post?
4. Simplicity, A Dominant Trend
5. How Do I Evaluate a Blog?
6. Mayo Clinic's Lee Aase: Simple Marketing in Action
7. Fiskars: 360 Years Young & Innovating with Social Media
8. The Benefit of Facebook Fan Pages
9. BRITE Conference: Steve Rubel 11 Digital Trends To Follow
10. Wear-Dated Website Redesign Case Study

Which is your favorite?

Thank you, dear readers and subscribers, for being part of this journey. Long live Practical and Simple Marketing!

Best,

C.B.

P.S.: Today is also my Dad's 92nd Birthday.

Modenus Writes About New Friend CB Whittemore

What timing! Practically on the heels of posting about the wonderful Tweetup at Coverings 2010 when I met Veronika Miller from Modenus, she publishes this lovely post titled New friends – watercolors, Vivaldi and German beer – marketing maven CB Whittemore.

I particularly appreciate that Veronika has reserved for me a delicious watercolor as reminder of and inspiration for some of the creative activities that I've put on hold...

Meanwhile, I recommend that you go spend some time on the Modenus site, a social network and resource for design professionals, where you will find Before & After design solutions, fantastic on location design inspiration [the High Point images make me feel as if I were there!], and amazing ideas and resources.

I can't wait to see how Modenus grows as a social network and look forward to meeting Veronika again in person to hear about her successes and new Modenus developments.  Or, maybe we should just schedule another Skype session!

Thank you, Veronika!

eCairn's Top 150 Social Media Marketing Blogs

If you are looking for ideas about social media marketing blogs to explore, go no further than eCairn's recently released Top 150 Social Media Marketing Blogs: Sept '10 from September 29, 2010.

I am a big fan - and user - of eCairn Conversation  [see Social Flooring Blog Index - August 2010] and have experienced firsthand the robustness of the platform. This list definitely includes the finest thinking and most engaging content related to social media marketing.

It also makes me very excited to discover that Simple Marketing Blog, launched in March of 2009 in a crowded segment of the blogosphere, ranks #87 out of the top 150 most influential social media marketing blogs that eCairn Conversation tracks.

Pretty darn cool if I say so myself!

A major Thank You to all of you for subscribing, reading, commenting and being part of what's going on here on the Simple Marketing Blog!

That said, I do hope you will explore the other social media marketing blogs listed in eCairn's Top 150 listing.

Let me know which are your favorites.

PS: I'm partial to #18 MarketingProfs Daily Fix - not just because I'm a contributor ;-) - and many others written by friends.

The SIMPLE Marketing Now Framework

Simple and Simplify are mantras for me.  As I sift through details and information, looking to make meaning, I think of them to uncover what matters most and identify the simplest core idea with which to simplify and organize complexity.  For that reason, I created a Simple Marketing Now framework based on 'SIMPLE'.

I refer to it on my website. I describe it to you here.

SIMPLE stands for:

S = scope out the situation.

I = introspect

M = make a plan

P = perform the plan

L = look at the results

E = evaluate and re-scope

More specifically,

Scope out the situation refers to exploring the marketplace and assessing what I refer to as 'digital visibility': can you be found online?  Who are your customers? What are they looking for? What issues do they have? What are their conversations about? What other options do they have? What are your competitors doing?  What are you doing offline? How do offline and online integrate? This stage is about grounding yourself in what truly matters to your customers and listening to them. Because, if you want to connect with your customers, you want to understand their world and engage them in conversation as Lisa Petrilli explains in Why You Must Rethink Your Marketing.  The truth resides in the marketplace, not in our organization, not in our products, but rather with potential users. The more attention we pay to them, the better the insights and the greater the opportunity to successfully connect.

Introspect is how I characterize the analysis stage. Given the insights I've gathered while scoping out the situation, how does what I do add value to potential customers in my marketplace? What do I stand for? How do my strengths match up with the needs I've identified? What about my weaknesses and potential threats? How might I deal with those? How committed am I to customers? Simplifying plays an important role at this stage. So does honesty.

Make a plan addresses the need to develop objectives, goals, strategies and tactics that address the needs observed in the marketplace.  A plan takes into account what content you will need to create for which medium and how best to integrate your online and offline activities. It also identifies who does what when and how, what you plan to measure so you can determine whether you have met your goals.  It identifies a budget. Keep the plan simple and make it actionable. [You might also check out Minimalist Marketing: How a Marketing Plan Keeps Things Simple and Increases Your Profits.]

Perform the plan is just that, put into action the elements of the plan you have developed. Make sure you pay attention to details.

Look at results at regular intervals, both short-term and long-term.  What patterns emerge? Any surprises?

Evaluate and re-scope. Tweak, improve and add more relevance as you gain additional context and perspective so you can start the process over again.

Note how I group them together: Scope out and Introspect; Make a plan and Perform a plan; Look at results and Evaluate/Re-scope.

SIMPLE, right?

What do you think of the SIMPLE Marketing Now Framework? What would you add to it?

Simple Marketing Now Turns 1!

It's hard for me to believe, yet it's true. Simple Marketing Now celebrates its one year anniversary today 3/25/10!

Wow!

Special thanks go to inspiring friends, colleagues and clients who have given me the opportunity to engage in conversation about marketing, the customer experience, integrating traditional marketing with social media, and exploring new approaches to old problems.

To name just a few: Rob Jones, Rob Banks, Ann Handley, Shelley Ryan, Beth Harte, Matt Quint, David Rogers, Jeanne Byington, David Reich, Becky Carroll, David Polinchock, Drew McLellan, Gavin Heaton, Age of Conversation 3 co-authors [post coming soon], Andrea Learned, Rich Nadworny, Susan Abbott, Stephanie Weaver, Toby Bloomberg, Paul Chaney, Steve Woodruff, Anna Farmery, Scott Perron, Paul Friederichsen, Chelsie Thornton, Bethany Richmond, James Beach, Katherine Leon, Susan Negley and Jim Gould, Devon Valenti, Valerie Fritz, Dave Foster...

Thanks, too, to my faithful readers!

As a recap of the year, these are the top Simple Marketing Blog posts from the past year:

Sandy Carter Integrates Social Media
Simplicity Dominant Trend
Mayo Clinic's Lee Aase: Simple Marketing in Action
Fiskars: 360 Years Young Innovating
Urban Outfitters: Be Where Customers Are
BJ Fogg's Persuasive Bathroom Epiphany
Wear-Dated Website Redesign Case Study
Liana Evans Blends Social Media Search
Floor Covering Weekly Columnist
BRITE 09: Innovating During Downturns

Thank You for your support and encouragement! I appreciate that you are part of my simple marketing explorations and I look forward to sharing more with you over the coming year! If you think of topics of specific interest to you, please let me know and I will share them here.

-------------
Photo Credit:
Colourful First Birthday Cupcakes originally uploaded by clevercupcakes.

Happy Holidays! from the Chief Simplifier...

Holiday Message from the Chief Simplifier & Elf!

Happy Holidays! The Chief Simplifier [a.k.a. C.B. Whittemore] has become the Chief Elf with intense yet simple words of wisdom that she intends to apply to herself this Holiday Season!

1. Simplify!

Focus on what's essential this Holiday Season.

2. Recharge!

Focus on the positive sources of energy around you. If you can't come up with constructive solutions to the negative, then take a break from it. Once recharged, I bet constructive solutions will appear immediately!

3. Refocus!

What's essential to your customers, your business, you? What are your positive sources of energy? When you look back over the year, what worked? What offered you valuable insights and generated those Aha! moments that led to successes? Can you recreate more of those moments?

That said, how do you plan on making the most of the Holidays so 2010 becomes not just filled with possibilities, but also marvelous realities?

How will you Simplify, Recharge and Refocus!

What would you add to the list?

Happy, happy Holidays and all the best for 2010!

Intensely Positive & Simple Regards,

C.B.

aka Chief Simplifier
aka Chief Elf

Christine B. Whittemore Presentation History

This post provides backup for the background information I share on Simple Marketing Now LLC in the About Us section: a history of presentations I've shared. You see, I regularly speak about the Retail Experience and Marketing To Women. Although I've started to address marketing with social media as a standalone topic, I consider it part of the consumer experience and introduced it as such in my 2009 Surfaces seminar.

Here follow details of the formal presentations I have conducted. As new opportunities come up, I will add them to this post.

My audiences consist of industry leaders, professionals, manufacturers, retailers and retail salespeople, designers, builders, marketers and managers from the home furnishings industry [residential upholstered furniture, floor covering] and other industries. I've addressed groups ranging in number from 5 to 500, and I enjoy sharing my passion for these topics...

Presentations Christine B. Whittemore has given

2011 Presentations

10/25/11 - Columbia Business School and Social Media, Uris Hall, Columbia University, NYC

7/20/11 - Social Media Series at the Kinnelon Public Library: Facebook and Twitter, Kinnelon, NJ

7/13/11 - Social Media Series at the Kinnelon Public Library: Blogging and LinkedIn, Kinnelon, NJ

7/6/11 - Social Media Series at the Kinnelon Public Library: Overview, Kinnelon, NJ

6/14/11 - MarketingProfs B2B Forum 2011, Boston, MA: Generating Lower Cost Leads With Social Media

6/4/11 - National Tile Contractor's Association Annual Meeting, Crossville, TN: The Web is Your Best Marketing Tool and moderated NTCA Five-Star Contractor Marketing Forum panel discussion

5/10/11 - New Jersey Chapter of the American Marketing Association, Whippany, NJ: 'How To Manage Your Company’s Reputation in a Social World'

4/4/11 - New York Law School, half day lecture series conference entitled “Advertising & Media Law ‘Spring Rush’: Are YOU In?”, New York, NY

3/28/11 - FCA Network Annual Convention, Chicago, IL: Reaching Women Customers and Social Media 101

3/17/11 - Coverings 2011, Las Vegas, NV: Connecting with Customers Online & Offline: Business Survival Guide
3/16/11 - Coverings 2011, Las Vegas, NV: Practical Marketing for Small Businesses: Improving Your Digital Visibility
[Note: For release about Coverings 2011 presentations, see Practical Marketing & Business Survival guide to be Highlighted at Coverings 11]

3/10/11 - MarketingProfs online seminar: Managing Your Reputation in a Social World

1/26/11 - Surfaces 2011, Las Vegas, NV: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer: WOMEN
1/25/11 - Surfaces 2011, Las Vegas, NV: Social Media 101
1/24/11 - Surfaces 2011, Las Vegas, NV: The Basics of Competitive Marketing
[Note: For release about Surfaces 2011 presentations, see Whittemore Surfaces 2011 Sessions Focus on Connecting with Customers]

2010 Presentations

9/11/10 - Canada Nufloors Group, Kelowna, BC: "Retail Hospitality or Customer Service Before, During and After the Sale"

5/25/10 - Social Media Club North Jersey, Secaucus, NJ: "I love you. I hate you. Customer Feedback in a Social World"

5/12/10 - Right Management, Parsippany, NJ: "Simplifying Social Media. For Research, Connection & Differentiation"

4/30/10 - Coverings 2010, Orlando, FL: "Marketing In a Recession 101"

4/28/10 - The Luxury Marketing Council Orlando, Orlando, FL: "Flooring The Consumer: Developing Community & Delivering Wow!"

2/2/10 - Surfaces 2010, Las Vegas, NV: "Social Media 101"

2/1/10 - Surfaces 2010, Las Vegas, NV: "Marketing In a Recession 101"

1/23/10 - Big Bog's Flooring Outlet Annual Convention, Chattanooga, TN: "Flooring The Consumer: In-Store and Online"

2009 Presentations

7/14/09 - Right Management, Parsippany, NJ: Practical Social Media Knowledge

4/17/09 - ExecuNet Meeting, Parsippany, NJ: see "Blogs are now mainstream media."

3/27/09 - ExecuNet Meeting, Westchester, NY: A Social Media Primer

2/4/09 - Surfaces 09, Las Vegas, NV: Your Customer's Experience - What Is It Costing You? and announced in this press release: Wear-Dated® Surfaces 2009 Seminar Asks Retailers "Your Customer’s Experience: How Much Is It Costing You?”

2008 Presentations

11/19/08 - Jack Laurie Floors, Fort Wayne, IN: Color Me Beautiful, Let Color Be Your Guide to Sales Success.

11/12 & 13/08 - The WSFCA monthly dinner meetings in Seattle, WA and Spokane, WA, How To Improve Your Retail Shopping Experience announced in Wear-Dated® Presents Seminar for Washington State FCA and promoted in WSFCA's Newsletter.

11/11/08 - Associated, Seattle WA: Color Me Beautiful, Let Color Be Your Guide to Sales Success.

9/17/08 - Atlanta Flooring Design Center, Suwanee, GA, What Your Register Tape Doesn't Tell You and announced in Wear-Dated® Presents Seminar at Atlanta Flooring Design Center.

7/30/08 - Avalon Carpet Tile and Flooring, Cherry Hill, NJ: What Women Want... Women Get.

7/22/08 - Carpet One Floor & Home, Summer Convention Education Day, Nashville, TN: Color Me Beautiful, Let Color Be Your Guide to Sales Success and announced in Wear-Dated® Adds Color to Carpet One Convention.

2/1/08 - Surfaces 08: What Your Register Tape Doesn't Tell You and announced in Wear-Dated® Seminar Focuses on “What Your Register Tape Doesn’t Tell You.”

2007 Presentations

4/24/07: Carpet Exchange, Denver Colorado: Trading Up With Carpet, Truly A New Luxury Good and Wear-Dated Fiber Fundamentals [3 sessions of each].

3/7/07: Flooring America/Flooring Canada Winter Convention Retail Sales Professional Education Day in Anaheim, CA: What Women Want... Women Get. Announced in Wear-Dated® Seminar Focuses on Engaging Women Consumers.

2/10/07: Mohawk ColorCenter Convention, Nashville, TN: Why Amazing Shopping Experiences Matter

2/9/07: Surfaces 07, Las Vegas, NV: Why Amazing Shopping Experiences Matter. Announced in Wear-Dated® Seminar to Discuss "Why Amazing Shopping Experiences Matter"

2/7/07: Carpeteria, Las Vegas, NV: Why Amazing Shopping Experiences Matter

7/24/07: Avalon Carpet Tile and Flooring, Cherry Hill, NJ: What Is Blue? color presentation.

2006 Presentations

8/17/06 - FloorExpo Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, Aug. 17: “Marketing to Women – It’s a Business Thing.”

7/11/06 - Advance Carpet One sales meeting, St. Louis, MO: “What Woman Want… Women Get."

5/11/06 - Rufus Ashby Flooring America, Tampa FL, “Marketing to Women – It’s a Business Thing.”

5/11/06 - The Mercedes Design Center, Tampa FL , in conjunction with Mohawk, “Marketing to Women – It’s a Business Thing.”

3/9/06 - Flooring America Winter Convention, Anaheim, CA, March 9 [2 sessions]: “What Woman Want… Women Get and described in Wear-Dated® & Flooring America / Flooring Canada Convention Seminar Focuses on Engaging Women Consumers.

2/22/06 - Carpet One Winter Convention, Anaheim, CA, [2 sessions]: “What Woman Want… Women Get" and described in Wear-Dated® and Carpet One Convention Seminar Focuses on Engaging Women Consumers.

1/31/06 - Surfaces 2006, Las Vegas, NV: “Appealing to Different Consumer Segments by Creating Amazing Buying Experiences,” a three hour workshop described in Wear-Dated® Workshop Focuses on "Amazing Buying Experiences" During Surfaces 2006.

2005 Presentations

Nov., 2005 - Wear-Dated National Sales Meeting, Pensacola, FL: “Trading Up – Carpet, Truly a New Luxury Good” and “Marketing to Women – It’s a Business Thing” - multiple sessions.

Oct., 2005 - The L&L Company Annual Wear-Dated Conference, Annapolis, MD: “Trading Up – Carpet, Truly a New Luxury Good.”

Sept., 2005 -Worldwide Wholesale Annual Sales Meeting, Princeton, NJ: “Marketing to Women – It’s a Business Thing.”

Sept., 2005 - Shaw/Wear-Dated Eastern Region Sales Meeting, Atlantic City, NJ: “Marketing to Women – It’s a Business Thing.”

Aug., 2005 - Georgia Carpet Industries, Kennesaw, GA: “Marketing to Women – It’s a Business Thing.”

Aug., 2005 - Carpets of Dalton, Dalton, GA: “Marketing to Women – It’s a Business Thing.”

Aug., 2005 - Beckler’s Carpet, Dalton, GA: “Marketing to Women – It’s a Business Thing.”

June 2005 - Wayne Wiles Floor Coverings, Wear-Dated Sales Meeting, Fort Myers, FL: “Marketing to Women – It’s a Business Thing.”

June 2005 - Design Center Solutions East Coast Conference, Miami, FL: “Marketing to Women – It’s a Business Thing.”

June 2005 - Einstein-Moomjy Annual Sales Meeting, Saddlebrook, NJ: “Marketing to Women – It’s a Business Thing.”

Jan., 2005 - Mohawk, ColorCenter Convention, Nashville, TN: “Marketing to Women – It’s a Business Thing.”

2004 Presentations

Dec., 2004 - Mohawk Floorscapes Convention, San Francisco, CA: Marketing to women/Its'a Business Thing.

Feb. 2004 - Wear-Dated Upholstery Fabrics yearly summit for key furniture retailers, manufacturers and fabric mills about the importance of change in the residential upholstery marketplace, Phoenix, AZ: "Expert to Expert: How to Make the Best Better/What Does It Take to Satisfy Today and Tomorrow's Consumer?" keynote address and presentation with Michael Payne.

Feb. 2004 -Surfaces 2004, Las Vegas, NV: participated in CRI panel discussion about consumer trends, consisting of individual presentation about consumer trends information [purchasing habits, marketing to women, product and color trends] and then Q&A.

2003 Presentation

Jan. 2003 - Wear-Dated Upholstery Fabrics yearly industry summit, Kaua'i, HI: "Expert to Expert: Romancing The Consumer" keynote presentation.

2002 Presentation

Jan. 2002 - Wear-Dated Upholstery Fabrics yearly industry summit, Puerto Vallarta, MX: "Make It Yours" keynote presentation.

2001 Presentation

Jan. 2001 - Wear-Dated Upholstery Fabrics yearly industry summit, Paradise Island, Bahamas: "Simply The Best" keynote presentation.

2000 Presentation

Jan. 2000 - Wear-Dated Upholstery Fabrics yearly industry summit, Syndey, Australia: "Walk In Her Shoes" keynote address and presentation with JC Penney's Robert S. Price and Kathy Wall [formerly with Klaussner].

1999 Presentation

Jan. 1999 - Wear-Dated Upholstery Fabrics yearly industry summit, Maui, HI: "The 85% Solution" keynote address and presentation with La-Z-Boy's John Case and Domain's Judy George.

1998 Presentation

Jan. 1998 - Wear-Dated Upholstery Fabrics yearly industry summit, Oahu, HI: "The Future's So Bright" keynote address.

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Would you like to have Christine B. Whittemore speak at your event? Click on this link to contact her.


Image credit: Shure SM58 Microphone originally uploaded by Gudmundsson.

Meet Practical Marketer Christine B. Whittemore

My name: Christine B. Whittemore.

My official title is Chief Simplifier for Simple Marketing Now LLC where I focus on bridging traditional marketing with new digital and social tools.

My mission is to simplify customer interactions, and get to the essence of what adds value to those interactions, ensuring the best possible customer experience. In other words, be practical and focused on customers.

That makes me a practical marketer, which - when I think back - is something I've always done. Yes, there's often a dash of whimsy added in, but it's always practical.

I've been fully engaged in the social media space since June 2006 when I launched my personal business blog, Flooring The Consumer, a marketing blog about the retail experience and marketing to women, off- as well as online.

I've also participated in a few 'memes' in case you want to learn more about me:

+ Five Reasons Why I Blog,
+ Half Full or Half Empty?,
+ Connecting Via 8 Random Things About Me,
+ Northern New Jersey and Me: Perfect Together!,
+ May's Child Is...,
+ 4x4 About Me...,
+ My Media Diet,
+ 8 More Things Meme - With a Social Media Slant
+ and most recently 7 Things About Me.

Getting back to my practical streak... I'm intrigued with how new marketing tools can extend the reach and relevance of traditional marketing. You see, I've had the luxury of limited marketing budgets where the only way to see results is via high creativity. Thanks to new and social marketing tools, the creativity factor now makes for intriguing business possibilities.

In my previous role as Director, In-Store Innovation for Solutia's Wear-Dated carpet fiber, I launched The Carpetology Blog, a consumer blog focused on all things carpet - particularly fun and inspiring ones like carpet style and design, and practical ones like carpet care and how to buy carpet - in December 2007 to support the newly redesigned and social-media friendly WearDated.com site [launched in June 2008]. [Here's my introduction from that site: Meet C.B. Whittemore.]

All of that came about because of what I learned from Flooring The Consumer. I also wanted to integrate social marketing with traditional marketing and improve the customer experience.

In late 2008, I inaugurated a social media series on Flooring The Consumer about Bridging New & Old with perspectives from some of the finest marketers engaged in new marketing. I encourage you to read these interviews. They are sure to spark ideas that you hadn't considered or possibly even validate ones that you have.

On the personal front, I launched The Smoke Rise Blog in July 2008 to explore, document and promote my local community. [Here's my introduction post: Meet C.B. Whittemore.]

That's it for now.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thank you for your interest in Simple Marketing Now LLC and in the Simple Marketing Blog!

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Floor Covering Weekly Columnist Christine B. Whittemore Articles

Since early 2006, I have been a columnist for Floor Covering Weekly, the premiere flooring industry trade publication.

Floor Covering Weekly Columnist Christine Whittemore

Flooring the consumer column about the customer retail experience

It all began when Kim Gavin, now Executive Editor, interviewed me in 2005 about marketing to women and the retail experience, two topics at the heart of Flooring The Consumer, my personal business blog. Part of that interview was published on 6/20/2005 in the 6/20-6/27/2005 issue of Floor Covering Weekly Online [registration nec.] in an article titled "Christine Whittemore on Marketing to Women" by Kimberly Gavin [see Marketing To Women]. The next part appeared in the 10/3-10/2005 print version of FCW in an article titled Marketing To Women - It's a Business Thing!

I started contributing articles in early 2006, and have them listed here. As new ones are published, I will add them to this list:

2006
+ Welcome To My Home! published 3/7/2006
+ How to Achieve an Inspired Environment published 5/1-6/2006
+ Women Hold The Power of The Sale published 8/21-28/2006

2007
+ Walk In Her Shoes published 3/26/2007
+ Feasting The Senses published 7/23-30/2007
+ A Consumer's Tale published 9/24/2007
+ In Search Of An Experience published 11/12/2007

2008
+ Buying Decisions: From the Heart or the Mind? published 5/12/2008
+ Integrate Your Retail Experience published 9/15/2008
+ The Meaning Of Green... To Me published 11/3-10/2008

2009
+ The Retail Experience Roadmap published 2/9-16/2009
+ Hide, seek, be found and connect published 5/18-25/2009
+ Ten tips to be found and connect published 10/5-12/2009
+ The greater green: How does it fit into your customers' lives? published 11/23-20/2009

2010
+ Have you adapted your retail experience? published 1/25-2/1/2010 [The Surfaces Edition]
+ "Powered by service" published 2/25/2010
+ "Are you different (& better) enough to make people care? published 5/17-31/2010
+ "Women call the retail shots... Is your store woman friendly?" published 5/7-14/2010
+ "Be social in-store and online" published August 23/30, 2010
+ "Customers want solutions" published October 4/11, 2010

2011
+ How to make 'social' meaningful in flooring, published January 3/10, 2011
+ Green should feel good, published January 2011
+ Surfaces 2011: Connecting with customers, published 2/21-28, 2011
+ Your marketplace: is it designed for experts or for consumers?, published July 4/11, 2011
+ Reenergize your store with digital, published October 3/10, 2011

2012
+ Facebook, Twitter and Trivers, published March 19/26, 2012
+ The Green Retailer-Consumer Dilemma: It's About Trust!

As you read these articles, please let me know if they inspire other topics of interest to you.

Thanks for reading!



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Welcome To The Simple Marketing Blog!

Welcome to the Simple Marketing Blog, the blog and newsroom for Simple Marketing Now LLC, a marketing communications consultancy focused on simplifying customer interactions.

This 'Simplify' sign hangs in my office. Jim Schnurbusch from Hughes handed it out during a presentation possibly in August of 2005? In any case, it resonated with me then. And continues to do so today. It reminds me not to get distracted with bells and whistles, but rather to focus on what's really important and how best to get that message across to core customers.

The notion of 'Simplify' lies at the heart of my experimentation with new forms of marketing and trying to figure out how to more effectively and efficiently connect with customers. That's what led me to launch Flooring The Consumer in June of 2006, and become immersed in the world of social media and social networking.

'Simplify' inspired me as I launched The Carpetology Blog in December 2007 and the redesigned Wear-Dated website in June 2008: How to simplify the carpet buying experience for consumers, how to make sense of a complex category, how to make finding relevant information easier online, how not to wear the consumer out online.

It continues to inspire me for Simple Marketing Now LLC and for this blog.

In this blog, I will share best practices about how marketers - particularly ones in traditional industries - are simplifying their customer interactions and bridging traditional marketing communications with tools that simplify and develop stronger connections with customers.

I'll describe tools that seem particularly relevant and practical, along with how to be successful using them. Yes, I'll be generally celebrating practical approaches to marketing.

I will also share with you news and releases relating to Simple Marketing Now. I expect that other ideas and topics will come up along the way and hope you will find them relevant.

In case it isn't obvious, you will be exposed to my views. You are more than welcome to respond, add comments and suggestions. Even disagree. I ask that we keep our comments relevant to the conversations taking place here so that we can maintain respect for all those involved and add value and depth to the discussion.

I moderate comments and will quickly remove any that are offensive, disrespectful or irrelevant. That means that if you simply come by to advertise your [irrelevant] website [n.b., often considered SPAM], your comment will be deleted. However, if you truly want to add to the conversation and engage, then I welcome your perspective.

Oh, and please don't post any private information as this is a public forum. I might repost your comments and/or try to reach you to add more depth to the discussion.

I encourage you to visit the Simple Marketing Now website and learn about us, about what we offer and who we are. And, do feel free to contact us for more information! Please consider subscribing and engaging in discussion around the notion of 'simple marketing' which I believe will become more important than ever.

Thank you for reading and visiting, and helping build a simpler world focused on what's truly important and relevant.


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