OMG, glad to say that it wasn’t WalMart who did this – it was actually a Greenwich Village gourmet grocery store, Balducci’s, that has become the butt of the Jewish holiday by advertising its boneless hams as “Delicious for Chanukah.”

Doesn’t anyone proof read their marketing anymore ?  Perhaps the wrong target audience on this product…  And good reminder to me as well, to fact check – I’d originally seen this & reported it as Wal-Mart’s mistake

Blogging is a great way to get your website ranking higher on targeted keywords.

How do you know if you should blog?

Start off by asking yourself these questions: Am I a thought-leader? Do I have the ability to write posts regularly?

If you answered yes to both of those questions, start blogging.

If you’re not interested in leading discussions or don’t have any time to update your blog, don’t bother. It will just become another item on your to-do list and it won’t get the attention it deserves to actually be worthwhile.

When blogging it’s important to post often, and create posts that are short enough so that people can get through them quickly or that have strong content that is compelling. Keep your entries to–at the very most–500 words. Anything more is too long, and people won’t read it.

Also, make sure you’re using your targeted keywords in your blog posts so that when search engines spider the pages, they’ll find the terms.  As an entrepreneur coach & mentor, blogging has been a way for me to share my ideas with a lot more than the 10 CEOs that I’m mentoring today.

What would you like me to write about ?

WordPress.com is the best and easiest format for free blogging.

Look at this massive BMW ad right over top of an Audi dealership in Hong Kong

During recessions, consumers are extremely cost and service conscious.  Customers will switch from your competitors right now for the smallest discounts or friendly nod in their direction.

You can’t go so far as predatory pricing, but in a slowdown, virtually everyone is looking to save a buck.  So target your competitors’ customers and start offering them what it takes to get them to move to you.

Cable and phone companies do this ALL the time, so don’t think this is something new.

Go ahead – steal them away.

pic Jalopnik

David Siteman Garland

David Garland from The Rise To The Top just blew me away.

On a 45 min call he was one of the most understated guys I’ve talked to in ages.  Perhaps that’s the St. Louis boy in him.

I now have his blog The Rise To The Top as one of my MUST reads.  When 785 people re-tweet one of his posts, I’m interested in knowing why.

He’s the #1 Non-Boring Resource For Building Your Business Smarter, Faster, Cheaper.

I’m watching him – closely.  He’ll be up there with Seth Godin soon.  His speaking fees will be as high too.

If the rate of change outside your business, is greater than the rate of change inside your business, you’re out of business.

I was in Austin, TX this week at an EO Member’s company.  At lunch we went for a drive and they showed me a HOT trend in Austin.  Food Trailers.  And these are not your dad’s hot dog stands either.

Some of the hottest, trendiest restaurants & chefs in Austin are setting up remote restaurants in food trailers.  This is upscale fast food.  Upscale food trailers.

Think NO overhead. LOW cost. CLOSE to your customers.  And great expansion strategy that’s way out of the box.

How is your industry changing ?  I’d love to hear…

Imagine if your customers got as excited about your products or services as
this guy on magic mushrooms does about a simple rainbow.

What are you doing to get your clients to RAVE about you ?

What’s your personal brand?

Three years ago when I wrote my Painted Picture it was a mix of Brooks Brothers confidence & J. Crew casual.  Ummm that’s kind of changing. As a business coach, I make sure that I look presentable whenever I talk to different CEO’s all over the world.

When I did speaking events I’d always be wearing a Brooks Brothers button down shirt.  Ya, I’ll still wear them once in a while.

However, I’ve recently discovered Robert Graham Designs – and his shirts are REALLY working for me.  I expect that I’ll be wearing these more and more going forward during my speaking events too.   They feel like the real authentic me too.  I sure know that I’ll be wearing them out & about a lot.

There is certainly a buzz about Robert Graham shirts building but I’d like to think I was pretty early at finding out about them.  Certainly early at shouting about them.

Who do you wear that makes you feel like you ?  What clothes will you rave about ?

Parketing, which is parking branded vehicles at high traffic locations has been around forever yet many companies still don’t leverage its power.

My dad used to have his company logos and lists of the products he sold on our family car! It served as a rolling billboard, and he parked it strategically: no matter where we went, he found the spot that would garner the most views from passing pedestrians and other drivers.

Later, with College Pro Painters, many of us painted our old, used vehicles in a bright yellow color with our huge red and white company logos.  These “big bird” vans, as they were called, attracted attention and got us clients.  Some franchisees even “bartered” with gas stations: in exchange for parking their vans at the stations overnight, College Pro Painters would buy gas from the proprietor all summer long. The arrangement benefitted all those involved, and put College Pro Painters front and center at all times of the day.

To this day 1-800-GOT-JUNK? branded trucks and wrapped cars are a huge percentage of how people first heard about the company.  And even if you have to park your vehicle in a questionable area, potential repair costs due to vandalism are far outweighed by the free marketing exposure you’ll get.

Last time I checked, your prospects aren’t walking around your parking lot.  They are driving down the streets in the areas near their homes and offices.  Where are your company cars & trucks parking tonight? This is one great and effective way of getting you FREE PR!

People won’t think to use your product or service if they don’t know your brand.

Since you have to wear clothes, why not put them to work marketing your product or service? It’s an easy win for your company, and in some instances, such as networking events and conferences corporate clothing will help you stand out in a sea of suits.

Every time I wear branded clothing, someone comments and asks me about my company.

Even as far back as College Pro Painters, our painters wore shirts emblazoned with our logo, so that while they were up on ladders people would see our brand. This also proves helpful when recruiting for new employees: one summer I had my painters wear their painting shirts with huge logos to the university pub.  I bribed them with free beer to do it, and needless to say, it helped me find new painters every time.

While building 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, I would place my branded jacket on the outside of chairs so it would be seen while I was sitting down. On planes, I’d fold it in such a way that the logo stood out even when placed in overhead bins. I was relentlessly getting my name out to prospects.  I even made license plates with my company name on it for two companies I built.  At conferences of sometimes 2,000 people there were four of us in 1-800-GOT-JUNK? fleeces with huge logos on our backs. People thought there were at least 20 of us walking around because they saw our logos so often in the middle of all the suits.

Ashton Kutcher A+ Video List

If you doubt the power of Twitter, here is one example of how it has helped me this year.

I wanted people to know about & share my TEDx Video with all their friends. Here is the link.

So I decided to send that link to everyone I’m connected to on Twitter.  I also sent the link to some of the Top business people on Twitter like @tferriss I also tried sending it to Oprah – she hasn’t sent it out yet – she will

Two weeks ago I noticed a tweet from Ashton Kutcher asking for recommendations of Videos to add to his A+ Top 10 Videos of the Week to Watch.  I sent him my TEDx talk.  And yes.  He added it to his list.

You’re right.  Twitter is a waste of time.  For MOST people and companies. It’s a waste of time because they haven’t figured out how to use it.

However, when you spend two years building relationships with & helping people on Twitter.  Others on Twitter begin to help you.

Thanks Ashton @aplusk on Twitter.  23,000 people have now watched this video in its first 2 weeks live.  I want people to see Entrepreneurs differently.  And help kids aspire to be entrepreneurs.  Your video mention helped.