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Marketing 101

Creative Director Todd Palmer of Virtual Farm Creative, Inc. offers marketing tips and advice.

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Published in Marketing 101

  • Article

    Every Business Tells a Story — Your Customers Want What You've Got

    In one form or another VFC develops a newsletter for just about all of our clients. It could be an annual collection of content developed for an annual report, a monthly printed piece or a periodic graphical email but they all understand one thing— staying in front of potential customers leads to business growth. In f...

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  • Article

    Top Secret Tip— Making Yourself Available for Marketing Success

    "Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity." – Karl Marx We were recently asked to contribute some content to a trade publication by one of our clients who are a regional leader in their industry. This client so appreciated one of VFC's standard...

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  • Article

    The Million Dollar Idea — New and Old Promotions to Pilfer

    In the early fifties a long forgotten television executive wearing a super thin tie had an epiphany that would spark a groundbreaking promotional idea. Legend has it that New York City affiliate WWOR first exploited the concept of the Million Dollar Movie to promote the television broadcasts of cinematic efforts that...

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  • Article

    If You Build It, Will They Come? Optimize Your Mousetrap to Catch More Mice

    A client once asked my opinion of advertising in the commercial phone book. You know the pages by their color and their once ubiquitous and meaningful tag line... but, these days, people whose fingers used to do the walking are choosing to let their mice do the searching. I asked him back, “Where do you go to find a [...

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  • Article

    Not-For-Profit Marketing — Think Big With Micro Philanthropy

    Odds are that a decent percentage of the readers of this column are directly involved in the direction of a not-for-profit organization. I know this because a decent percentage of our clients are non-profits and an even higher percentage are involved as board members or volunteers to non-profits while excelling in the...

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  • Article

    Targets Getting Tougher to Touch? Blast Away With Effective Emails

    In and around the Route 422 Corridor, higher fuel prices are affecting everything from production to postage, making direct mail less desirable every day. What's a company gotta do to reach the consumer? Well, you could advertise in well-read, well-distributed and extremely affordable vehicles like the Route 422 Busin...

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  • Article

    Greenwashing — Be Honest in Your Ecomarketing

    Wired Magazine features, each month, a fun little feature called “Jargon Watch.” In that interesting editorial the enterprising writers of the leading-edge technology journal scour the ever-changing global lexicon for new terms that are being invented to define and describe our lives. The new terms – actual words, act...

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  • Article

    Marketing's New Language — From the Four P's to the Four R's

    Consumers have become turned off to PUSH marketing as they are bombarded with as many as 3000 messages hitting them every day. The company saying how great they are in a display ad doesn't cut into all of the other marketing noise out there. Besides, consumers trust each other more than someone trying to sell them som...

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  • Article

    Quintet of Tips for Better Banners — Getting the Clicks

    Adages don't become old unless they have more than a modicum of honest to goodness, time-tested truth at their core. The old adage that you never get a second chance to make a first impression is no exception and it’s especially true and especially true in business. The best offerings, the best pricing, the best prese...

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  • Article

    Is Green Marketing Dying on the Vine?

    Believe it or not, environmentalism has been tied to marketing since the middle part of the 1970s. America’s economy was the undisputed champion of the universe and the advertising industry was steamrolling messages into the hearts and minds of a fairly recently captive audience when rumors of an oil shortage created...

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  • Article

    Knock 'em Out With Punchy Ad Copy — Write Right to Your Customer's Motivations

    Often overlooked in the scheme of marketing development or relegated to an afterthought— copywriting is an important detail that should include as much planning and strategy as the rest of your marketing platform. Crafting effective advertising copy is as critical to your campaign as the message, image and layout of y...

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  • Article

    The Internet Is Not Fair— Get Over It and Get Creative!

    Dearth isn’t a word you hear used very much. More often than not people say, “there’s not enough of” something to describe something of which there is not enough. However, dearth is much more negative and final and is a much better way to describe the current reality of Internet domain names. It’s not that there are n...

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  • Article

    When Bigger Isn't Better — Getting Small Ads to Effectively Work for You

    Small business owners in and around the Route 422 Corridor have multiple reasons for not running full-page ads in every publication that touches their target markets. Chief among them is usually budget, but there are other reasons that decision makers throughout the region might opt for smaller formatted display adver...

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  • Article

    Requesting Excellence for Your Enterprise — Make Their Proposals Part of Your Plan!

    My firm gets the call almost weekly — "Hello, my company needs a website and some revised marketing materials. Can you tell me how much it will cost?" Clearly these inquiring minds are just kicking tires — not to mention diverting resources away from current client work. Unlike an automobile, your company’s marketing...

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  • Article

    Become a Highway Star — Fabulous 422 Fleets Accentuate Awareness

    It’s easier than ever for your brand to get traction along the evolving corridor between King of Prussia and Reading particularly if your company uses vehicles to do business. Until quite recently only skilled craftsmen, sign painters who deftly wielded fine artist brushes or even more challenging air-brush machines c...

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  • Article

    Hold Up Your Own Marketing Umbrella

    In our ongoing mission to help businesses in and around the Route 422 corridor execute more effective marketing that will generate leads that develop into sales, we’re hopeful that some of our advice is being implemented directly by the person who will benefit most — you. You — the busy business owner somewhere betwee...

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  • Article

    Marketing to DIY'ers? Better Do It Right

    Since the terrorist attacks of 2001, spending on home improvement has trended progressively upward as homeowners attempt to increase the comfort and value of their real estate rather than traveling. Whether the decrease in distance vacationing, to fear of terror, or the increased difficulty traveling now presents, the...

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  • Article

    Are They Talking About You? Positive Chatter Matters Along Route 422

    Birchrun Hills Farm, a small dairy concern in— you guessed it— Birchrunville, started making artisan cheeses of Alpine and Blue with no logo, label or detailed marketing plan. Cinemaplex Technologies in Spring City began enhancing the lives of affluent homeowners with completely automated theaters, lighting and securi...

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  • Article

    On Your Mark — Get Set to Go Legal With Your Brand

    Many locally and regionally owned and operated businesses along the Route 422 corridor—businesses just like yours—have survived for years with a vulnerability that could adversely effect their path of success at any time. This silent predator pops up when you least expect it, costing you thousands of dollars and a lot...

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