Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Cocktail recipes & other results from last Enewsletter

I thought that the results from our last Enewsletter campaign would be of interest:

1. Many of you enjoyed the cocktail recipes. So much so that is was the number one click to get to the blog over everything else. (I can see that your mind is on your work)

2. Most of you clicked the photos to get to the information you were looking for. (Pictures are the best!)

3. The text version of the newsletter is not being clicked by anyone. (This is not bad news.)

4. No one is subscribing to the RSS feed. (I think I'll do an article about this subject very soon)

5. Free lightbulbs are still available, click nrobbins@namaro.com to get yours.

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Namaro SEO standing

Search Engine Optimization is a slow and steady process. Painfully slow. However, if you continually work at it the results start coming in and hopefully some new business.

So after 4 months, Erica Darcy (our guest blogger and SEO expert/emhdarcy@gmail.com) looked over the webstats for our website www.namaro.com:

1. Search is currently driving about 50% of the referrals to the site this month, up from 15% in February. Good!

2. Gone up in positioning overall, so that is a good also.

3. Traffic overall has not been increasing. Not so good!

What can we do to drive traffic? Erica is suggesting some article syndication, both for the traffic boost, and the links. She believes that bringing the blog onto your domain will also help in that area, as will posting to the blog more frequently. She also wants us to play around with digg or other social media.

Yes, it gets confusing but this blog is about working through this SEO stuff to gain a better understanding for ourselves and for you the readers to take full advantage of the web.

The next post will cover some of the things we continue to do to increase the traffic.

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Friday, June 13, 2008

Get a free lightbulb!

Namaro’s corporate communication design campaign “Brighter ideas, more impact, less energy” is under way and we are sending out a free "energy smart" light bulbs to the first 100 to send us a request.

Don't forget to pass the blog along to someone who could use the information we post on the blog.

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Northern Dutchess Arts Explosion

The Dutchess County Arts Council received a grant to create an arts and cultural guide for Northern Dutchess County. Always ready to help the arts community, Namaro offered to develop a brand that would effectively promote the arts in our area. Thanks to the Northern Dutchess Alliance team and the Dutchess Arts Council for getting this guide off the ground. Go to artsnortherndutchess.org for more information or to be listed.

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Summer Cocktail Recipes

Looming recession, ridiculous gas prices getting you down? Need a vacation? A good summer drink can transform your backyard into paradise.

Sex on the Beach
1 oz. vodka
1 oz. peach schnapps
Juice from ¼ fresh orange
½ oz. melon liqueur
Fill tall glass with ice. Add vodka, then schnapps, then oj. Add melon liqueur last so it floats on top.














Frozen Margarita

2 oz. Tequila
½ oz. Triple Sec
Juice from ½ lime
1/2 cup ice
Blend all ingredients to slush, dip the edge of the glass in kosher salt and serve with lime garnish.

Frozen Daiquiri
2 oz. rum
Juice from 1/4 lime
1/2 cup ice
Blend all ingredients to slush and serve with lime garnish.














Frozen PiƱa Colada

2 oz. rum
2 oz. pineapple juice
1 oz. cream of coconut
1/2 cup ice
Blend all ingredients to slush and serve with pineapple garnish.

Mojito
2 oz. rum
Juice from half of a lime
3-4 spearmint leaves
Club soda
Add lime juice and 3 mint leaves to a tall glass. Stir to let flavor out of mint. Add ice to ¾ full. Add rum, top off with soda, stir well. Garnish with the extra mint leaf.

Mint Julep
4 mint leaves
2 oz. bourbon
2 teaspoons water
Drop 3 of the mint leaves in the bottom of a tall glass. Stir to let flavor out of mint. Fill with ice. Add bourbon and water. Garnish with the extra mint leaf.

Gin & Tonic
2 oz. gin
Tonic water
Fill tall glass with ice. Add gin, fill glass with tonic water. Squeeze lime around rim of glass. Garnish with a fresh lime slice.

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Reduce your marketing budget

• In exchange for a year’s worth of work, many vendors will discount their services—especially during hard times.
• Partnering. Dovetail your interests (and your ad expense) with a compatible company.
• Review your corporate communications and combine print and internet marketing. It reduces print runs, reaches larger audiences and can easily be updated and refined.
• Press releases are free. Come up with creative story ideas to drive attention to your company’s products/services.
• Reduce or discontinue marketing vehicles that have failed to bring in business.
• Hire a consultant to assist you in creating a systematic marketing plan for the year.
• If you sell a product, put your money into search engine marketing first. It will pay off.
• Ask your best clients to refer your company to others.

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Use down time constructively

• Develop a new corporate identity design system for your company. It could be ready for launch when the business cycle turns around.
• Consider new markets to approach that prosper during a recession.
• Brush up on your skills. Take a class or two.
• Develop a corporate blog and/or E-Newsletter campaign that offers your customers free information or advice.
• Network with new groups related or different from your existing clients base. You can differ yourself from others and offer fresh solutions.
• Take advantage of downtime to spend time with family.
• Develop flex-time program with employees.

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Your competition isn’t advertising, so why aren't you

Don’t slash the budget. Market smarter!
It’s common knowledge that companies slash marketing budgets during a recession. To us this is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. It’s a quick fix. The lower numbers look good briefly but the damage can be significant and prolonged. A lack of presence—even a reduced presence—raises concerns about a company’s stability. Clients may lose confidence in your company further impacting your receivables. This is serious business.

Here are some tips for marketing during a recession:

• Your competition isn’t advertising, so why aren’t you?
• When the recession is over, you’re well positioned.
• Consider changing vendors for better deals.
• Advertising rates can be negotiated more than ever.
• Work out payment plans with vendors and don’t kill your cash flow.
• Create better content for your website. Online video is the hottest thing.
• Create videos of staff working and engage your customers at to how things happen inside your company.
• Be creative. Stand out quickly, memorably and often.

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