Archive for December, 2008
What does your photograph say about you?
By Mike Lake
Here’s a VERY subjective topic, but one that I see as increasingly important to life on-line. Go to forums. Look through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. Click through the contact, management or team pages of web sites. Now, as you’re doing all this, take a look at people’s photos. What do you see? More importantly, what do you feel as you’re looking at them?
I see a general neglect of people to display a flattering photograph of themselves, and as a result, my initial emotional impression of them is usually unfairly biased. I see obviously dated photos (so dated, often they are black and white), photos from a long distance, unflattering expressions, out of focus shots, poses of people looking away from the camera so that you can’t even make out their face, and the ever popular deer-in-the-headlight mug shots. And, surprisingly, I often see these types of photos from internet and media pros who should know better.
Now, before diving into a few tips for a good photograph, let’s first consider…
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An army vet, a visit to India, a marketing genius and a jazz drummer
By Mike Lake
WOW! What do they all have in common?
They all relate to my beautiful and talented wife, Christine, in an article recently written about her. Take a read through this brief biographical piece to learn a bit about the 24th M.I. Battalion in Desert Storm and the joys of world travel.
To read the piece click on: http://www.hvbiz.biz/proud/lakereganchristine.php
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The #1 way to build your brand – guaranteed!
By Mike Lake
Well, it’s 3 days after Christmas and all the gifts have been opened. But something remarkable has happened with three of them. Before sharing what that is, these gifts are three of the four “high ticket” gifts given within my family: A Kodak digital picture frame, a remote control helicopter purchased at a mall kiosk and a Zales precious gem bracelet.
What else do they have in common? They all were either broken within a VERY short time or came defective right out of the box.
Probably like you, over the years, I could make a fairly long list of things that…
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Writing effective advertising copy for the rest of us
By Mike Lake
Last night, as my 8 year old son was looking though that day’s stack of holiday mail, he stopped and shouted, “Hey, (the name of our heating fuel company) wants to help us!” I smiled as I immediately envisioned the source of his excitement and then thought to myself how invisible that same message had been to me as I had earlier poured through that same stack of mail.
A letter from our heating oil supplier had teaser copy that claimed that they want to help us. Honestly, I hadn’t even noticed it, and at the moment of my son’s innocent enthusiasm, I was reminded how jaded most of us adults are regarding advertising copy – and how important (and difficult) is it to write it well.
First, I must give kudos to my heating oil company for…
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The most important element of your brand
By Mike Lake
I was in my local bank recently making a deposit and was reminded of a key marketing truth that is critical to the success all of us, yet missed by most.
That day, I opted out of using the drive-through since there were three cars lined up waiting in both open lanes. As I entered the bank and took a first glance at the counter, I felt justified in walking in since there was only one person waiting in line. That assumption, however, proved to be wrong.
As I got in line, I saw that there was only one teller. Without a customer at his window, he was working on his computer, seemingly oblivious to the two of us waiting for him. As one minute grew to two, then five, I started…
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