Marketing Virgin

Because I earned it!

See you back here on September 8th.

Last week I sent out an email to a specific group of partners in Europe. I needed a subject line that would grab their attention, without sounding like a Sales call.

“See You At Symposium Europe” was the line I tested. I figured the term “See You At” may catch the attention of the reader who will think, “what did I sign up for?”

Well, it worked. The email had a 54% open rate, which is amazing.

A few tips, from my experience…

1. Use an off-site AV rental company and make them bid for a job. Don’t accept the first offer, they have bargaining power.
2. Rent basic carpet. If you’re in a basic 10×10, you can afford to scrap the prestige carpet. The standard cut carpet will cost you 100%-150% less.
3. If you can’t afford giveaways for everyone, raffle off one good prize like a Wii or iPhone.
4. Place your literature on CD’s. For about $1, you can place all of your literature on one disc. Printed materials are expensive and 80% of it is left behind in hotel rooms.
5. If you must ship to the show, ship in advance to the warehouse, not to the convention center. The best possible option is to ship to your hotel room and carry your boxes onto the show floor.

Three of my closest friends are newly engaged…congratulations Emma & Art, Travis & Carrie, and Kara & Will! I think this means I need a raise in preparation for next year.

Carrie & Travis - engaged in Austin

Will & Kara - engaged in Oahu

Emma and Art - engaged in Buffalo, NY

Need to outsource web, graphic or programming design work? Are you on a tight budget? Try elance.com. It’s a website where freelance artists bid on jobs. Genius!

 Don’t forget to check out the freelance designers in my blogroll: tinavaziri.com and conquestmedia.com.

Last Wednesday, our Marketing Communications and Product Marketing teams took the day off to go on a hill country wine tour. We classified this as a “marketing teambuilding activity”.

We tasted olive oil at Bella Vista Ranch, sampled eight varieties of wine at the beautiful Driftwood Vineyards, and capped off our trip with fine Italian food and a wine tour at Mandola’s Estate Winery in Spicewood.

It was the perfect day…which required the perfect nap afterwards.

Interested in a RSS feed that’s user friendly? Try Google Reader. I just setup my subscriptions for my favorite blogs. Don’t forget to add Marketing Virgin to yours!

Genius!

That’s all I have to say about the Nike Human Race 10k, taking place August 31st. Is has all the makings of a great program. Nike hand-selected 25 cities world-wide based on their geographical locations, landmarks and their unique race courses. In Austin, Texas, Nike is preparing runners for the race six weeks in advance. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, runners can meet with instructors and test out Nike products while they run three or five mile courses. I went with a group of friends and we had a great time. On August 31st, Lance Armstrong will be running in Austin for his foundation (the race benefits one of three charities), and Ben Harper will play a free show afterwards. Anyone who runs is encouraged to visit nikeplus.com to track their progress and network online with other runners.

Why this event is so great…
1. It’s built heavily on word-of-mouth marketing
2. The online community they are creating is a fantastic way to collect data on their top customers
3. Each person who runs in the race, or participates in the training has to give Nike their information - including home and email address information. What a great way to build a prospect list!
4. It benefits three great charities - Lance Armstrong Foundation, Ninemillion.org, and WWF.