Curious about what folks are thinking and talking about as they go to the polls today? Check out this handy Twitter / Google Maps mashup and see up-to-the-minute thoughts, rants, ideas and stories.
It is no secret we at Schipul LOVE the Houston Art Scene, so of course we’re super excited about one of our artsy client’s events! Join the Schipulites from 5:30- 7:30 pm to help The Houston Arts Alliance kick off their inaugural viral video campaign THIS Wednesday at the Space125Gallery.
At the Art-the heART of Houston event you’ll be elbow to elbow with some of the best artisits Houston has to offer and you’ll get to enjoy some awesome wine from 13 Celsius. You’ll even be home in time for the debates! And did we mention it is all FREE??
You’ll also get a head start in taking part in the heART of Houston viral video campaign. What does that mean? It means that anyone and everyone can submit a 60-second video of their favorite local artists and share why they’re “the heART of Houston.” You’ll vote on the best, and there’ll be rockin’ prizes for the winners!
For more details, come play with us this Wednesday from 5:30-7:30 pm at the Space125 Gallery. We hope to see you there!!
I think I’ve seen the book before at Barnes and Noble and pretty much overlooked it because it was a book about sales so it didn’t really apply to me.Going into the seminar by Gitomer I definitely was not very excited and had really low expectations.I’ve found that most speakers have decent but unoriginal speeches (except for Ed Schipul’s speeches-you never really know what he’s going to say!).The speaker will tell some cutesy anecdotes, then spout out some inspiring quotes from people like Winston Churchill , or Viktor Frankl .Of course I am inspired by those great men.While I love hearing stories I also love to hear speakers who truly make me laugh and think with their own original ideas.
I was pleasantly surprised when Gitomer told the hilarious story of how he cold-called Roger Staubach’s office and told Staubach to his face how much he hated the Dallas Cowboys.After that incident, Staubach now uses Gitomer’s sales seminars to teach over 3,000 of his sales employees.Now that’s cool!
After that story, I decided that Gitomer was worth listening to.During the presentation, I was thinking yeah this is great, but how does that apply to my clients who are marketing their businesses online and how can I help them use these very same principles that Gitomer is telling us?
It’s apparent that a lot of people are going to be tightening their financial belts after everything that is going on in the economy right now like the Bailout and Hurricane Ike recovery.So I came up with a few ideas and strategies on how to get the most out of your Internet Marketing campaign while our economy gets sorted out.
1. Stay in front of your audience with newsletters‘ Gitomer said if you aren’t sending out a newsletter once a week then you aren’t staying in front of your audience.Your newsletters should be filled with information that your audience can use.For example, if you are a home builder you can write in your newsletters weekly do-it-yourself tips.You know, stuff that is actually helpful!After all, it’s really all about what your customer wants anyway, right?
2. Connect with your customers using Social Media (Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube)‘ Just having a standard website can be pretty impersonal.So why not let your customers find out a little more about you and engage them on a personal level? I know that’s directly against what I just said about newsletters, but the truth is your audience does want to know what you can do for them. Next they want to know your expertise and if you actually know what you are doing.
Here’s what Gitomer suggested: Get some of your top clients and record them giving testimonials about your company.Let your clients speak for you. Gitomer said to make DVDs and slide them under doors.But my idea is better.Post your video on YouTube and put the video on your website.Not only are you letting your customers learn about your, but you’re also creating a stronger web presence by linking to other websites.Remember to keep it light and fun.Don’t be to promotional.Use these tools to meet and interact with people.
3. Update the content on your site ‘ If the content is the same as it was three months ago it’s time to refresh!Adding new content to your site keeps your site visitors interested so that they will come back for more.Stale content is the equivalent to turning off the open sign and the lights and locking the doors.People are going to think you’re out of business.Plus, fresh content will help you get found in the search engines.Gitomer said, ‘Get Googleable.â€Gitomer said post white papers, articles you have written or that have been written about you, and let people know when you’ve won awards and achievements.I have nothing to add. He’s right.This guy knows what he’s doing.Type in Jeffrey Gitomer and he’s listed on the first 78 page results.
4. Keep statistics’ If you’re not using Google Analytics on your site, why not?Sign up now for Google Analytics and track the visitors on your site. This is where you actually get to see the real numbers and ROI.
The amazing thing about all these options is that, for the most part, they are free! All you’re really spending is your time and it could really payoff in the end.I don’t want to be a doomsday prophet, but the business that are able to keep their customers happy and loyal are the ones who are going to thrive.
So build your connections with your customers and stay in constant contact.Maybe you won’t see results right away but you will eventually.Gitomer told us, ‘Small errors in judgment can cost you your entire career.â€As an example he used Peter Best, the original Beatle’s drummer who quit three months before the Beatles went on their first world tour.Gitomer estimates that that error in judgment cost Best $2 million dollars.Gitomer’s encouraging words were, ‘Be your Best, not Peter Best!â€
We’re mixing things up a little this year thanks to all of your feedback, with a lot more Q&A and hands-on-training. No matter the subject or speaker, we want your input!
Day one will feature a crash course in Tendenci on both the beginner and advance levels. We’re going to show you how to best maximize the various Tendenci Tools and integrate Social Media applications to enable the community you already have and expand it. Day two will be packed with panels to really help you grow your story and captivate your audience.
We’ll also have a group from our production and programming team constantly available to you in our Tendenci User Conference Louge… feel free to pick their brains!
A list of presenters and panels will be coming soon. Check back here or on the Tendenci Blog for more info!
We know a lot of companies are into the whole green thing these days, and why not? It’s awesome for the environment. We at Schipul are a bunch of “green folks” at home, but are finding it hard to get things started in the office. We’ve decided to take our recycling issues to the interwebs and outline our journey to a greener office right here! Please feel free to leave suggestions in the comment box.
Here are some of the biggest issues we’re facing:
Our building does not offer recycling at this time… and apparently we are the only tenants interested in said recycling. We would gladly pay for this service and contract it ourselves, but we’d really like to start something building-wide so the movement is bigger than just Schipul. Thankfully, our building is working on the recycling issue with us and we will head up the coalition.
How exactly should we go about recycling paper when so many of the paper we get rid of needs to be shredded because of “sensitive information?” We could shred the paper and then recycle it, but a lot of recycling companies won’t pick up shredded paper. There are quite a few companies that will come out to the office and actually shred your paper for you (then recycle it), so that is a solution we’re thinking about too.
Getting everyone involved in the recycling issue could be tough too. Yes, everyone says they’re green, but in the office it’s too easy to throw that coke can in the trash or waste countless sheets of paper on a test print. This cool article by the California Integrated Waste Management Board suggests managers must be involved from the get go so that is something else we are exploring.
These are just our initial observations and it’s almost a given we’ll encounter more stumbling blocks along the way, which you can read about here!
In the mean time, here are some cool resources to help you go green:
If you have visited the Schipul office in the last five months, you’ve probably noticed all the construction around here. Thanks to an office flood in early March we have been tiptoeing around torn up walls and tape but FINALLY we are almost back to our old selves.
(Insert collective sigh of relief here…)
In typical Schipul fashion, we took this lemon of a situation and added some sugar. When the rebuilding began we decided to convert five offices into seven; which gives us more room to serve our awesome clients.
Thanks again for being with us through it all guys!
The Schipul office is pretty diverse, but one thing we have in common is our love for the Arts, especially the homegrown stuff. So we thought, what better way to celebrate the inaugural Schipul blog post than with a celebration of the Arts Community in Houston.
Oftentimes, Artists just don’t get the recognition they deserve, so we wanted to create a Schipul page just for them! We try to hit up as many of the events hosted by the artists on this list as possible (from shows by our fav graffiti beat boys to events hosted by a Houston staple, the Orange Show) but it is easy to lose track of what’s going on in such a busy city.
To cut down our frantic end of day gtalk messaging and Twitter DM’s searching for something cool to do, we created this page and wanted to make it public to you. what is wrong?
Check out the Schipul Page for a comprehensive list of who’s hot in Houston Arts… and PLEASE if we left anyone out, tell us about them in the comments section!!! We know there is a ton more aweseome artists our there and we would love to hear about them.