IT GETS YOUR ATTENTION It’s kind of like being on vacation with your wife and stumbling upon a topless beach. Even if you have no interest, you gotta look when you see the word FREE. WHY DOES FREE STILL WORK? Nothing has been more overused in ads than the word …
If you don’t conduct research, if you don’t ask the “dumb” questions…YOU are dumb. Ordinary organizations don’t ask the questions they should be asking. Why? Because they believe they already know the answers, or the answers are not important, or it’s too difficult to get answers, or it’s too expensive. …
I was on the therapy table of my favorite chiropractor, Dr. John Clendenin. He was helping me with an injury I sustained during one of my athletic “misadventures.” This kind of injury is common among males who get older but never actually grow up. One of my vertebrae was out of …
MEDIA SCHMEDIAI’m as guilty as any communicator out there. Everyone is all lathered up about Social Media, WOM (Word of Mouth) and other buzz-word/new techie tools of the day. All the focus is on MEDIA. Somewhere along the line, marketers have forgotten that the MOST IMPORTANT element in a campaign …
Big Shot Beat Down So I’m showing a prospective client some streaming video on a website we built. “That’s cool,” she says. “Who built the website?” Ha ha…we did, of course. “You build websites?” she asks. I stare. I’m shocked. For once in my life, I’m speechless. She beat down …
Someone asked what I wanted for my birthday. “One perfect day,” I replied. 5:00 a.m. Alarm radio comes on playing my favorite jingle. I smile, then I smash the alarm and go back to sleep softly singing, “If I were an Oscar Mayer wiener, everyone would be in love with …
So we’re heading toward the office of a client for a meeting. We were in the historic Halle building in Cleveland. It was a beautiful fall day, and Jeff Mamula, our Director of Business Development and I had just walked up to the third floor on the open sweeping staircase …
Maybe the time for these ideas has come. Or maybe not. What if we had no limits? I was watching the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebrations on TV. Everyone was wearing top hats that had a huge NIVEA logo on them. They were being interviewed under a NIVEA banner …
2000–2009 BROUGHT BIG CHANGES Every decade has events and developments that have significant impact on society in general and business specifically. Who would have thought that after the “dot-com” boom of the ’90s, this decade would bring even bigger changes? DECLINE OF NEWSPAPERS Rarely has an industry seen such a …
I was cold, muddy and tired as I stood on the sideline next to Don Bucci, the head coach of our football team. He surveyed the situation; it was 3rd down with 4 yards to go.Then, in the ear hole of my helmet, he said, “Sweep right.” I ran in …
Show ’em the down side — and sell more WE DON’T LIKE CHANGE Most humans avoid change. We only change when we must. When we do change, we change as little as possible.For example, let’s say you love pizza and wings. But every pair of pants you own is so …
FOCUS can be your most effective marketing tool Former head coach Sam Rutigliano was asked why his Kardiac Kids were one of the most successful Browns teams ever — even though they didn’t have the most skilled players. I heard him tell this story at the Valley Impact Awards. BLUE …
TO FIND ANSWERS, SEEK ACTION In the past few weeks, we’ve worked on some challenging projects at Farris — helping people make tough decisions and get their messages out.An Austintown healthcare pioneer retired from a business he had built and loved. In doing so, six beloved employees had to be …
BOARDMAN RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES ARE GOING TO TRY“A Nice Place to Call Home” proclaim the signs entering Boardman Township. “A traffic nightmare,” proclaim some holiday shoppers. “You must have a location there,” say most retailers. “The Valley’s new center of healthcare,” say medical experts. So which is it? What captures …
It’s quiet. Chilly. And still kind of dark. Most of the Valley is still asleep. But I’m at Mill Creek Park sipping the last of my wonderful hot coffee and getting ready to run one of the trails around the lake. I know the next 10 or 12 hours will …
“I remember when my friend ate 30 caramel apples at the Fair.” said Matt Baird. “Has to be a record.” Well, that would have been a sight to see (OK, at least until the friend got sick) — but it took place many years ago, and the only people who …
YOU NEED SOMETHING NEW Let’s face it, we all do. You have the same website for years and even if you update it, so what? If you want people coming back and buying pro-ducts or services from you, you have to give them a reason to come back. You also …
MARKETING TO SIMILAR MARKETS? Go to a home and garden show, and you’ll see landscaping firms right next to window replacement companies. Go to a church festival and you’ll see sausage sandwich trailers next to ice cream trailers. Go to the mall and…well, you get the idea. These are examples …
Green, like hope, is not a good marketing strategy (yet).Joe Bananas and I were staying at a hotel near Chicago. We’d just come back from a golf outing reunion with our high school football team. Neither of us golf, so we played demolition derby with the golf carts while our …
It was 1985. My sales territory was the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta in western Alaska, along the Kuskokwim River. The Yupik people — commonly referred to as Eskimos — were my prospects. For centuries, they had built igloos with square blocks of ice, formed with crude wooden boxes. I was selling a …
American Idol uses the proven strategy of getting customers.Me and Joe Bananas were sitting in a booth at the MVR restaurant, eating some stuffed hot peppers and waiting for our pasta dinners. The TVs on the walls usually carry sports only, but this night, American Idol was on about half …
OUR CUSTOMERS ARE DIFFERENT “They don’t respond to the same things other people do,” said my new client Henry. Henry’s firm sells maintenance services to malls and industrial plants. “How are they different?” I asked. “They’re a different breed,” he replied, as if mall managers were misunderstood loners. To be …
I was in the office on a cold February afternoon. My mind was mush. That’s worse than the oatmeal consistency it usually has. I needed inspiration and motivation. So as usual, I made popcorn. No, not that microwave bag crap. REAL popcorn, MAN-style popcorn with oil and salt (but no …
…and what can businesses learn from them.Marketing is the art and science of selling. So why does a non-profit organization need marketing? After all, in many cases a non-profit is giving away its services, not charging for them.Non-profits use marketing to:…INFORM THE USER of their services. Many times the target …
FOREWORD: Recently, my eldest son, George Phillip Farris went into business for himself. George and his new bride Jennifer returned from their honeymoon and used their wedding gift funds to buy a used septic tank truck and start an environmentally-friendly portable bathroom business. I’m sure that my wife and Jennifer’s …
Yes, the Donald Blogs. So how hard can it be? One of my guilty pleasures is watching Celebrity Apprentice. During the first show this season, Trump’s blog (aka web log) was promoted. One entry was titled “Trump’s Economic Survival Tips.” Some of The Donald’s “valuable” tips: Pay attention to…news and …
I was on the phone with a client. And she had a complaint. At my suggestion, she and other key communicators in her company set up Facebook profiles. And my firm, Farris Marketing, had already set up a Facebook page for her firm. But in the middle of the discussion, she …
ONE SUMMER NIGHT in my 16th year, my best friend Joe Bananas persuaded his older brother to lend him his classic Plymouth Road Runner. It was orange with black racing stripes and had a big engine. Joe put his dog in the back seat and we headed over to Market …
Business owners and sales managers often use one or more of the following phrases to explain poor sales:“They customers don’t understand what we offer.”” They don’t get it.”” They don’t see how much we can help them.”I ask the owners and sales managers: “Do you truly offer a distinct VALUE …
THE CARPENTER GETS PAIDI know a homeowner that had a persistent squeak in a floorboard. No matter what he tried — glue, nails — nothing worked. After months of aggravation, he called a carpenter who friends said was a true craftsman. The craftsman walked into the room and heard the squeak. …
ONE GIANT STEPMany thought putting a man on the moon was impossible. But nearly 40 years ago, on July 16, 1969, we did it. “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” are words we all remember.Today, we’re facing a global economic crisis, and many businesses think that …
AND ITS A MARKETER’S DREAM COME TRUEI have the cure for this sick, sick economy. And it’s surprisingly simple. This solution will have our economy so strong that in 30 days, every U.S. citizen who wants a job will have one. Demand for consumer goods will be off the charts. …
MY NUISANCE CALLSMy friend Joe Bananas owns a small business. I called him yesterday and he answered on the third ring. “Bananas Unlimited. Joe Bananas speaking, how can I help you?” I used my well-worn greeting, “Hey Joe, whaddaya know?” In response Joe says, “Do me a favor and call …
A hapless hiker stops to enjoy the view from the top of a high mountain. Suddenly he loses his footing and slips off the cliff.As he tumbles to a sure death hundreds of feet below, he reaches out and grabs a tree root that’s sticking out of the side of …
HER FACE SAID IT ALLThe pained face of this retailer was all too familiar. “People are coming in less… sending less, ordering cheaper stuff online.” Barb explained. Like many business owners, she was experiencing lower sales as a direct result of the credit and stock market crunches. “I can’t do …
AT THE GYMIt’s 6:11 a.m. on a weekday. I’m at Creekside Fitness Center. I’ve just finished some warm-up cardio on the elliptical thingy. I shuffle over to the free weights while waiting for my “adrenaline rush” energy drink to give me enough adrenaline or energy to avoid being embarrassed by …
