"Wow. The week really flew by in a hurry. I don't feel like I accomplished anything." Sound familiar?

MITTONMedia shares these tips from author Thomas J. Leonard to help you begin "transforming your effectiveness" today:

1. Expect twice as much from others as you expect from yourself.
2. Ask for EXACTLY what you want when you want it, not what you think is reasonable.
3. Have a list of people to whom you can immediately delegate tasks, problems, and ideas.
4. Get the information you need immediately.
5. Cut your normal appointment block time in half.
6. Respond to problems with three times as many resources as are needed.
7. Stop tolerating what you don't like.
8. Keep your word.
9. Beef up systems.
10. Decline requests.

MITTONMedia will help you immediately transform the effectiveness of your advertising and employee recruitment advertising programs. Email us today at jmitton@mittonmedia.com.

MITTONMedia suggests taking the "Baby Step" approach. Trying to map out effective, affordable advertising strategies can be overwhelming at first but, like any large project, can be successfully accomplished after breaking everything down into small manageable pieces.

As a first step in creating an advertising strategy for your business, take time to write out and answer questions like these:

1. How does your business help people?
2. Who are your competitors in the area?
3. What do your competitors do better than you?
4. What do you do better than your competitors?
5. Describe the person most likely to need your products and services AND can afford to purchase your products and services?
6. Where do these people go to get their news and entertainment information?
7. Where are your competitors currently advertising?

Take the baby step approach when it comes to advertising your business and soon, like this little guy, you will begin to get more comfortable with the process and ultimately enjoy success!  Contact MITTONMedia for more ideas about how to successfully advertise your products and services.

POSTED ON FEBRUARY 20, 2013 @ WWW.SEO411.COM

What makes the ideal choice from all of the available online marketing companies? How can the consumer save money while maximizing results? What is most important when searching for a better page ranking?

Ask about the experience of the proposed service provider. If the provider hires employees, are those people trained and experienced? Is their work reviewed, checked, and edited? Experience is a must for a successful provider.
Ask about a warranty or guarantee. Most reliable and trustworthy providers will give the customer some sort of guarantee whether it is result-orientated or time-orientated. There may be stipulations to the contract. Be sure to get the warranty in writing along with the agreed upon contract.

Ask whether or not the work completed is provable and tracked. Most providers can easily allow the client to have access to the logs and results of their hard work. Getting positive results means exploring those records and logs to find out if they are consistent and going in an upward motion.

Finding a reliable and better provider means a lower investment over time. The organization gives results that continue working for a longer period of time. The page ranking will improve at a slower rate because the organic results happen slowly and continue growing. The best choice for the job is one that will continue working with the business as long as the services are needed.

Not all online marketing companies are created equal. Finding the best organization for the money means exploring how those businesses can better cater to a website owner while still providing the desired results via a long term campaign.

"Nothing personal: Why recruiters don't get back to you

By Suzanne Lucas / MoneyWatch/ March 25, 2013, 1:30 PM

If you've been on the job hunt in the last few years, probably more than once you've cleared your schedule, taken a vacation day or hunted down a last minute babysitter in order to attend an interview. Everything seems to go well, but you never hear from the recruiter again. Ever. Not only do you not get the job, you never hear anything from the company and sometimes your calls and emails are not returned at all.

I find this appalling behavior, and have written expensively on how this is unacceptable behavior. I've challenged recruiters to justify their behavior and finally got a response from a former large company recruiter, on the condition that he remain anonymous. His job was going well, he wrote, until there was a reduction in force, which cut HR staff and added additional responsibilities to the staffing department. He has since moved to another HR position. Here is his account:

"Days to fill" became the defining performance metric (excuses for why some positions were harder to fill than others such as location, or the job having the wrong pay, were considered irrelevant).

In addition to recruiting, recruiters are responsible for background checks, drug screening and all other onboarding processes. Each recruiter had around 15 people onboarding at a time (on top of 60 open positions). Keep in mind that recruiters are hired for their sociability/energy levels more so than their ability to be organized... so, there were recruiters trying to keep track of where each new hire was on dozens of sticky notes (and even in one case napkins). Organization and detail orientation was not their strong suit.

Recruiters were also hiring for positions that they knew nothing about (i.e. recruiters that knew nothing about IT were phone screening Senior Technical Analysts and Computer Programmers in 30 minute conversations that determined who was flown in from around the country for face to face interviews with hiring managers). Requisition loads nearly tripled to an average of around 65 (with highs of 85 open positions).

The applicant tracking system was (and still is) a mess. Before a bulk communication could be sent out to every candidate in the requisition, each one had to be set to the same status (i.e. submitted/phone screen/1st round interview/2nd round interview etc.).

There was no batch process that set every candidate to the same stage unless a hire was made, in which case a message was sent out.

For positions where the job was put on hold (or where there was a special circumstance for one or more candidates that required a different message), one had to manually change every candidate to "Company Not Interested" or "Position on Hold" etc. before a batch e-mail could be sent out.

In practice, the process of sending out an update that a position was on hold could take 15 minutes to complete for external candidates alone if the candidate list was large enough... and this was once the recruiter finally got confirmation that a job was on hold (they would go weeks at a time not knowing and having to develop a candidate slate that was ultimately often discarded).

Everyone was overworked, not adequately trained to do their jobs, and they'd just seen some of their closest co-workers fired. So, they started showing up at 8am, leaving at 4:30pm, focusing strictly on days to fill and letting everything else suffer. Recruiter turnover was through the roof.

Once a position went over 45 "days to fill" your manager sat down with you to "counsel" you on how you could improve your performance. At 60 days there were daily calls with your manager to discuss the position and how to fill it quickly...keep in mind these were for recruiters sourcing positions they knew nothing about.

The department took a credibility hit as managers spent several hundred of dollars flying candidates in for interviews only to quickly asses the candidate was an awful fit. In the past recruiters understood the jobs they sourced... the new normal had changed this dynamic, and so recruiters eventually went from being "Business Partners" to note takers/phone screeners.

Recruiters invented "tricks" to fool the system into stopping the "days to fill" clock. They would un-post positions they couldn't get to for the day -- because if a position wasn't posted to the company website it didn't count against days to fill. They just hoped they didn't get caught. They would negotiate closing and re-opening positions as new (thus resetting the clock) if the manager wanted to make a minor tweak to the job description. It's a new job, they would say.

Leadership wanted low days to fill, so low days to fill is what they got.

Candidates see their resumes go into the black hole that is an applicant tracking system, the recruiter never getting back to them. Then they have a sour taste in their mouths -- "How rude!", they think.

Having seen firsthand the behind-the-scenes process of what goes on in recruiting, however, I now 100% understand why a recruiter would rather interview someone they may actually hire as opposed to reaching out to a candidate and updating them on their status instead.

Recruiting turnover (not just at my company) is insanely high in the U.S. for many reasons. One of them is that most managers don't really understand what goes into recruiting, and subsequently undervalue the emotional capital and relationship building that is part of sourcing strong candidates.

Instead they focus on the sorts of metrics they can bring to the board of directors (turnover, days to fill, average cost of hire etc.) and design the performance metrics of the recruiters jobs around these criteria.

And that is why, even after you've been interviewed, you never hear back from recruiters."

Growth in the energy sector is one of many factors contributing to a healthy jobs report. Unconventional oil and gas production have created more than 1 million jobs with 800,000 more expected by 2015.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2013/0309/Jobs-report-the-energy-connection-to-growth 

MITTONMedia is known for our cost-efficient, effective recruitment programs for energy sector jobs around the world. For more information send an email request to John Mitton at jmitton@mittonmedia.com. Or call/text John at 832.969.5627.

Lose an Hour and You Will Hunt for it All Day

"Early to bed, early to rise; use time right or be ready to die," says the clock.

Remember the times when you were growing up.

You were always taught to wake up early and you were also made to make it your motto.

I remember the nursery rhyme. "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."

But as it is, my clock has started singing another version; "early to bed, early to rise; use time right or be ready to die."

I am sure everyone wants to live longer and no one is ready to die.

There is a reason why it is important to wake up early.

One reason is that when you wake up early, you get enough time to rest between tasks. For example, you have something to do and it must be accomplished by 10AM.

You are so used to waking up at 8AM and before you know it, it's 11AM. So, the best thing to do is to wake up at 5AM, and do the usual rituals you do before setting out to accomplish that task.

This will make you more active and you will have plenty of time to rest.

With that said, let's jump into the reasons for waking up early.

5 Reasons for Waking Up Early

Here are five simple reasons for waking up early and getting your work done:

1. Better safe than sorry: if you wake up late, there is always a probability that you will get to work late and this will definitely not be pleasing to your boss. It is better to be on the safe side by arriving early than for you to have a routine of saying, "I'm sorry," every time you arrive late.

2. Leave a good impression: being early will make people see how organized and also disciplined you are. Everyone has his or her late days but don’t use that as an excuse to become a late person. Using myself as an example, there were times when I'd arrive late to work and it made me feel miserable. Hey! Don’t blame it on traffic because that is everyone's excuse. If you want to beat traffic, it is very easy; wake up early and get going!

3. Reduce your blood pressure: yes! Being early has an effect on your health. You might not believe me, but try this out; have something to do by 10AM and wake at 9AM, mistakenly. See how you react to it. Well, let me tell you if you don’t know how to express it in words; you will be shocked to see that you overslept, your heart will beat like you ran a 500 meters race in 1 minute. You will be disorganized, confused and you might end up having an accident while trying to rush to work. Do you want that for yourself? Of course not. No human would want to take his or her life.

4. Reduces stress: what does stress do to the body? It breaks it down. So, waking up early gives you time to get yourself. One thing that leads to instant death is over-stressing the body. The body can be stressed in diverse ways. Using this as an example; you are supposed to be at work by 8AM and you wake up at 7AM, with the hope of getting there in an hour. Unfortunately, you get there at 8:45AM and you have to get things done by 6PM. Unfortunately, you aren't able to finish up even by 7PM. You then go home with little rest and wake up that same time to go to work. Making the things to be done, pile up.

5. Makes you stay healthy: now, this is self-explanatory, so I don’t need to go into details.

The Consequences

Now that we have seen the reasons for waking up early to get the job done, let's look at some of the consequences of not being an early riser.

1. Stress that can lead to sickness and death

2. Poor health

3. Increase in blood pressure: this is one example of health problem that may happen if you don’t wake early and save yourself the trouble of rushing to meet up.

4. Disorganization: when you wake up early, you get enough time to do what you want, take whatever thing that needs to be taken without being in haste. But when you do otherwise, you forget things, if not one thing and you won’t be yourself for the rest of that day.

With all those things noted, here are some short and inspiring quotes on early rising to get you going.

Short & Inspiring Quotes on Early Rising

1. "A stitch of time saves nine."

2. "Time once lost can never be recovered."

3. "To use up the best times in life, be punctual."

4. "Opportunity lost (time) can never be regained."

5. "Time is precious."

6. "...tick says the clock, what you have to do, do quickly."

7. “Lose an hour and you will hunt for it all day."

Take this into consideration, and start waking up earlier.

It doesn't have to be by much. Just a few minutes earlier each day will yield results in the weeks and months to come.

Think small steps, not quantum leaps."




.

Employee Recruitment Programs

Recently MITTONMedia was engaged by a Fortune 500 client to produce and conduct an internal survey regarding their Recruitment Department. Including Senior and Departmental managers, the purpose of the survey was to determine if there were any disconnects in the company’s recruitment processes and performance.
 
The survey feedback we received from managers provided the company with the information they needed to target problem areas and make minor changes to their policies and procedures.

As a result, the company soon enjoyed enhanced performance and a stronger sense of the recruitment process being a team effort. For example, managers who participated in the survey felt better about their leadership roles. Not only because they were asked for their input, but because managers were also able to see that their impressions and opinions were valued by the employer.

Customer Service Survey

Conducting an in-house survey about perceived levels of Customer Satisfaction for your business often leads to higher productivity and increased profitability. Here are a few questions to help you get started creating your own in-house survey:

1. How do you define customer satisfaction?
2. How do your employees define customer satisfaction?
3. How does your sales department define customer satisfaction?
4. How much time and money should your company spend on retaining average customers?
5. How much time and money should your company spend on retaining top customers?
6. Why do customers leave?
7. What are some of the needs that your customers haven’t even thought of yet that you can help fulfill?
8. What are some of the needs you fulfill for customers on a regular basis?
9. What kind of weekly reports or measurable goals do you need to put in place to track your Customer Service progress?
10. How quickly do you respond to customer questions and take care of problems?
11. Do customer questions and complaints get routed to the correct department?
12. Are your customers just satisfied or do you blow their socks off?
13. Do your customers promote you and your products/services to their friends?
14. If you were your own customer, what things would you ask the company to improve?

Do you have a program in place that provides you with regular feedback for your programs and processes? If not, give us a call. MITTONMedia can help you implement effective and cost-efficient in-house surveys that will give you the information you need for peak performance in every area of your company. 

Here is how to get in touch with me personally:

• John Mitton
• Email: jmitton@mittonmedia.com
• Phone/Text: 832.969.5627

Remember. At MITTONMedia we do the work. You get the credit…and results!

A strong ego paired with high self-esteem are often necessary qualities for starting and growing a small business. However, these same qualities can sabotage an effective advertising campaign for that same small business if they lead to a self-focused instead of a customer-focused advertising message.

I'm sure you've seen some of those "advertorial" magazines in your local suburb. Slick publications that often appear more interested in catering to the ego of the business owner than getting out an effective advertising message.

For example, an orthodonist opens up a new practice in the local community. He/she buys a full-page, 4-color, advertorial spread in one of these magazines. The accompanying self-focused picture shows the orthodontist posed in front of a book shelf full of medical textbooks or an "ego wall" displaying all his/her degrees. Also includes a couple of those alarming "Before/After" pictures. Kind of leaves you cold, right?

What if, however, the orthodontist decided to do a customer-focused pictorial layout?. A picture showing him/her surrounded by a group of happy, smiling teenagers?  Or a beaming family? A portrait that communicates, "Here is what our practice has done for others and we can do the same for you and your family, too!" Think you'll agree this approach resonates a hundred times better with potential customers than the self-focused, ego-driven approach.

When it's time for your next advertising program, think about replacing me-focus with customer-focus. Your bottom-line will thank you.

"People don't care how much you know...until they know how much you care."

In case you're curious, I don't just write about having a customer-focused attitude. I make sure we put it into practice every day of the week in our workplace. Customers notice. They tell us working with MITTONMedia is like having their own PhD in Advertising and Creative Problem Solving:

1. Customers appreciate our innovative ways of getting things done.
2. They trust our 25+ years of experience and expertise. 
3. They love being spoiled by an exceptional level of customer service. 
4. Businesses enjoy their new competitive edge gained by putting in place MITTONMedia's customized solutions that deliver targeted, cost-efficient, and effective advertising programs.
5. They are pleased with MITTONMedia's customer-focused advertising messages and collateral materials that get immediate attention and generate a qualified response. 

Like MITTONMedia has said from the very beginning, "We do the work. You get the credit."®  Contact John Mitton today for more information about our Local, Regional, National, and International capabilities and services: jmitton@mittonmedia.com; 832.969.5627 (Direct.)

MITTONMedia® designs QR Codes and enhanced QR Code “Internet experiences” for business advertising and employee recruitment programs. A Quick Response (QR) Code is a two-dimensional code that can be scanned by smartphone cameras to automatically pull up text, photos, videos, music and URLs.
 
These codes have become mobile-friendly ways to point people in the offline space to online resources.

QR Codes: Getting Started

As we share with businesses that are “first-time users,” if you're going to use QR codes for business advertising you'll want to keep in mind that QR codes -- and the apps that scan them -- are still foreign to many people.
 
While it is true that more and more people are starting to associate the codes with action, we never assume that customers will know what to do. So we make it a point to spell out how to scan the QR code, and help instruct customers on where they can grab scanner apps.
 
One of the most important things to remember is that QR codes should provide some kind of value to the scanner. It may be easiest to direct QR code scanners to a website, but that's likely not the most engaging place to send people.

QR Code Scanners:
 
 Apps that can scan codes are available for most smartphones. Search your app store for "barcode reader," or "QR code scanner," and you'll find several to choose from.
 
On the iPhone, options include QuickMark and Optiscan. On Android, Barcode Scanner is a popular QR code reader.
 

Put QR Codes to Work
 
Here are a few ways that you can use QR codes for business advertising and employee recruitment programs:
 
On business cards: A fast and simple way to use QR codes for your own professional purposes is to place them on business cards. Generate a barcode that directs scanners to your online resume, small business Facebook Page or your website to help new contacts find you or your business faster.

On marketing materials: You've got fliers, brochures, programs, handouts, whitepapers and a myriad of other materials in your media kit. Add QR codes to direct viewers to a particular area of interest.

In storefront windows: Generate a QR code to place in your office or storefront window. You can use this code to inform customers of upcoming in-store events.

For freebies: If you really want people to pay attention to your QR codes, make them good for something fun. Say you've placed a QR code decal in your storefront window; why not reward those who scan it with 10 percent off their purchase or a free pastry? Give them something small to thank them for their patronage. Simply create a custom QR code for the freebie you want to offer. You could even get creative and hide the QR code offers online, like on your Facebook page or website, or somewhere inside your store.

For employee recruitment programs: Recruiters are the HR department's "sales force." QR codes help recruiters put the "human" touch back into the recruitment process and provide "What's-In-It-For-Me" information that helps close the deal. Candidates don't care about a traditional corporate website. They want a career-related landing page designed just for them. A place loaded with pertinent information including: current employee testimonials; video tours of the workplace; guides for different career paths within the company; examples of how the employer makes employees feel relevant and challenged; opportunities to travel; opportunites to move within corporate divisions; and examples of the employer's social involvement in the community. In addition, potential employees, especially college students, also want a point of personal contact within the company. A name, telephone number, and email address of the recruiter who will serve as a "personal portal" within company.  All of this can be accomplished using QR codes paired with a vibrant, career-related corporate landing page. 

More information:

For more ideas about QR Codes and how to use them for your business, get in touch with me today by scanning this "Contact" QR code with your smartphone:

Or, for non-smartphone users:

• John Mitton
  • john@mittonmedia.com
  • Office: 281.242.4473 ext. 107
  • Direct: 832.969.5627

Pepsi aired a TV spot during the 3rd Quarter commercial break promoting a site where you could download a copy of the favored New England Patriots “Official Team Anthem,” as performed by Aerosmith. 

The wheels started turning. Suppose an ad agency person had gone to Pepsi before the game with a great idea to save Pepsi hundreds of thousands of dollars. Pre-game predictions had the Patriots as prohibitive favorites. The game was being played on the Patriots home turf, Gillette Stadium. Bill Belichick’s game plan and Tom Brady’s arm ensured a crushing defeat for the Ravens.

Given the overwhelming odds of a New England victory, the ad agency person would make the case that Pepsi could save hundreds of thousands of dollars by only airing the Patriots version of the team anthem download commercial. No need to pay additional air time for the Ravens version of the commercial because the audience wouldn’t care. They would be totally focused on enjoying the Patriots coronation as new AFC Champions!

As it turned out Ray Lewis and the Ravens beat the Patriots 28-13 and advanced to Super Bowl XLVII to face the San Francisco 49ers in New Orleans. Patriots’ players and coaches started their offseason earlier than anticipated and some fans went home happy while others started talking about next year.

What do you think would have happened if my "What if?" scenario had really come true?

During MITTONMedia’s 25 years of creating advertising and marketing programs for a variety of companies, we sometimes have to deal with a client’s own “What if?” scenario:  Fear of Failure.  What if the “Big Idea” they take to their C-Suite ends up failing miserably?

In our “Beyond Post & Pray” advertising workshop we sometimes share a tongue-in-cheek example of what happens if a great advertising idea should happen to backfire:

1. There is a giant wave of initial Enthusiasm for the idea.
2. The ad campaign starts, the fantastic idea backfires, Disillusionment.
3. Immediately followed by Panic.
4. Leading to a Search for the guilty.
5. Followed by Blaming the innocent
6. Concluding with the uninvolved receiving an undeserved Reward.

There are no guarantees every advertising idea will work every time.  The flip-side, however, is that there are strategies designed to help ensure success for your advertising dollars. Here a few ways we help our clients stack the odds in their favor to enjoy a healthy return on their advertising investments:

• Establish goals
  • ­What do you want to achieve?
  • ­What are the obstacles you need to overcome?
  • ­What happens if you don’t overcome the obstacles?
  • ­What is the starting point and where do you want to go from here?
• Locate your audience
  • Market research
  • ­Consumer surveys
  • ­In-house surveys
  • ­Residential and corporate database mining
• Determine the most effective, cost-efficient ways to share the advertising message
  • ­Do the Research
    • For example, media usage surveys help determine most effective ways to target:
      • The right people
      • At the right times
      • With the right message
  • ­ Lean towards trusting the research more than personal opinions and feelings
• Craft a “What’s-In-It-For-Them” advertising message
  • ­Use your advertising message to answer some or all of these questions a prospective customer might have about your products/services:
    • How will a person’s life be better if they use your product/service?
    • Why is your product/service better than the competitors?
    • What are the significant differences?
    • Who else is using your product/service?
    • What is the best way to obtain your product/service?
  • Analyze your answers by asking “So what?” after each one.
    • This is an industry secret used by the most successful advertising copywriters so be careful with whom you share it!
  • If you don’t like the answer scrap it and replace with a more targeted benefit statement.
  • Examples of Right and Wrong answers:
    • “Q: Why should I let you do my open-heart surgery? A: Because our practice has been open for 15 years.” Wrong answer!
    • “Q: Why should I let you do my open-heart surgery? A: Because we have NEVER lost a patient.” Right answer!

If you are struggling with “What if?” advertising issues for your business MITTONMedia can help you identify and create effective, targeted, and cost-efficient solutions:

• John Mitton: jmitton@mittonmedia.com; 832.969.5627
• David Foster: dfoster@mittonmedia.com; 713.594.1947

Remember at MITTONMedia we do the work, you get the credit…and results! ®

"Julie Murphy aspired to the classic kid summer job after watching the cartoon pig Olivia run a stand on TV. Instead of setting one up in the front yard, her mother Maria Fife thought she'd have more customers if Julie waited for the Last Thursday monthly art fair in Portland, a grassroots fair that's something of a free-for-all.

So Julie made a list of supplies (this is the 21st century, so hers included hand sanitizer) and a hand-lettered poster that read "Yummy." She set up shop in a wheelbarrow, and the customers came for 50 cent glasses of lemonade even before she'd finished making the first batch.

Twenty minutes later, it all went sour.

According to The Oregonian, a woman with a clipboard approached Julie and her mother, asking for the state-required $120 temporary restaurant license. When Fife said they didn't have one, the woman told them they needed to leave – or possibly face a $500 fine.

Supporters – the people staffing booths near Julie – rallied for the little girl's cause, even making an announcement to the crowd to support the stand. Business boomed. But the inspectors came back and shut the stand down.

"It was a very big scene," Fife told The Oregonian.

"I understand the reason behind what they're doing and it's a neighborhood event, and they're trying to generate revenue," said Jon Kawaguchi, environmental health supervisor for the Multnomah County Health Department. "But we still need to put the public's health first."

Would Julie have run into the same trouble if she'd been a little less ambitious and confined her stand to her front lawn? Probably not, said Eric Pippert, the food-borne illness prevention program manager for Oregon's public health division.

"When you go to a public event and set up shop, you're suddenly engaging in commerce," Pippert said. "The fact that you're small-scale I don't think is relevant."

After a public outcry (and plenty of donors willing to fund a license for Julie), Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen this week apologized to the girl and her mother and told county health department workers to use "professional discretion" in doing their jobs.

"A lemonade stand is a classic, iconic American kid thing to do," he said. "I don't want to be in the business of shutting that down."

As for Julie, she refers to the shutdown as "a bad day." But it hasn't broken her entrepreneurial spirit -- or put her totally out of business: Her mother has said she can set up shop again at a neighborhood garage sale."

Is that what we have come to these days? Crushing the entreprenuerial spirit of grade school children for the betterment of society?  Let's hope not. As a matter of fact my kids are looking for a weekend project. Lemonade stand and hot dog bar? Oh yeah. We're doubing down this weekend!

"In Wheel Time" rocks the radio airwaves as one of the most entertaining car shows you will ever hear!

The MITTONMedia office staff hasn't seen much of me around the office lately. Not that they are complaining, right?

Going AWOL has been in large part to the unbelievable success of our radio "car show," In Wheel Time. Hosted by veteran TV automotive reporter Don Armstrong and Mike Herzing, President of the Texas Automotive Writers Association (TAWA), ITW has redefined radio car show in this area. It truly is one of the most entertaining radio car shows you will ever hear.

Creating the show we were sure to follow some of the basic rules for a successful show (and advertising campaign.) A couple of rules we followed:

Make it RELEVANT & ENTERTAINING

When Don and Mike first came to me and asked for help in producing a new car show on the radio my first question was, "Why do we need another stinking car show?" Don explained it was a new concept. Not about how to fix up an old car with a cheap part. Nope. More like one of those TV news glamour shows. (And if you know Don and Mike, you know why I am laughing so hard as I put them in same league as "Glamour" news shows.)

Not only did the show have to be relevant. It also had to have a pace that would keep listeners attention during the three-hours show was on the air every Saturday.

Solutions was to decide each of the broadcast hours into four different segments:

Wheel News

Lesson #1: Make sure the show doesn't suck.

You only have a few minutes to capture someone's attention and get them engaged in the process. Which is why  Don and Mike going a little bit screwy as they share interesting news of the week from auto manufacturers, discuss important trends like skyrocketing price of gas and who is selling it the cheapest that week. They also ponder about  will people ever buy another hybrid, or why did they ever buy one in the first place? Crazy Driver stories of the Week,that make your teenage driver look like a chauffer to the stars compared to some of these yahoos. Then there's interviews, audio AND video, with some of Kings and Queens of the industry and their many minions. Top it off with NASCAR and NHRA races, fiery accidents, and human interest stories and you have a very interesting and informative first 15 minutes of the program.

Keep It Running

Lesson #2: If they're laughing, then they are paying attention.

Don and Mike get bombarded with "every man" questions from "Mister Dipstick." Dipstick know absolutely nothing about automotive maintenance but he darn sure has no SHAME. Which means he asks Don and Mike the questions nobody else will for fear of looking a gear moron. Questions like: how do you replace the blinker fluid?; Is 5-quarts too much oil to put in a 1993 Honda Civic?; And why don't they put the steering wheel in the center of the dashboard?  One more? Why is it called a "Moon Roof?" 

Believe it or not there are legitimate answers to all these questions. Which means while you may be laughing at Mister Dipstick, you will probably also being learing something new at the same time.

Toy Time

Lesson #3: Variety is a magic elixir that reaches, engages, and entertains.

Like I said, this ISN'T a car show about fixing up old jalopies with smuggled parts. It is about wheels and the things that run on them. Cars, Classic Cars and Car Clubs. Motorcycles, including the 3-wheel kind like the Spyder from can-am, and Motorcycle Riding Clubs like the Toad & Cycle hosted by a nearby pub. Then there's the ATV's and RV's. Who is winning on the NASCAR and NHRA circuits? Swap meets, car clubs, charitable events and much more.

Drive It Home

Lesson #4: It is OK to tell the truth. Listeners respect that more than blowing smoke.

Of course EVERYBODY on the show gets a new car to drive and 5-Star review each week EXCEPT for Mister Dipstick. That's OK. Dipstick is angling for one of the "Toys" to drive during the week: a Spyder from can-am; an RV to drive up and down the Gulf Coast, an ATV to drive the a deer lease, which is different than driving it through a deer blind. Will it ever happen? What do you think... 

One of the hallmarks of their weekly car reviews is that both Don and Mike tell the truth. For better or worse if they like a feature of the vehicle, you know about it. If they don't like it, you get an earful about that, too. But as long as Don and Mike are keeping listeners informed and entertained, without upsetting the sponsors too much, then the show is doing its job.

And speaking of sponsors, the show has been really blessed to have national sponsors who were there in the beginning and will grow with us as "In Wheel Time" moves into national syndication in the next month or two. Thanks to:

• Jeep
• Ram Trucks
• Ford
• BG Products, Inc.
• Pamela Printing
• Zap Trap
• L3 Design
• All About Cakes
• MITTONMedia.

The journey has been great thus far. Why don't you come join us for the rest of the way?

You can listen to In Wheel Time on Saturday, 10a-1p (CST), on 1560 THE GAME/Yahoo Sports Radio Network. (Rumor is show is moving to 9a-12n the first Satuday in May, 2012.)

MITTONMedia introduced the concept of "QR Codes" to our clients nearly four years ago. We were definitely ahead of our time as many of them had a difficult time grasping the concept of a Rorschach-like bar code that could help sell products and services as well as recruit new employees. Within the last year, however, the QR Code concept has caught on fire for a number of different reasons including increased familiarity with the medium and smart phones that facilitate the process.

Jon Barocas is the founder and CEO of bieMEDIA, a Denver-based online marketing and media solutions company that specializes in video content production and distribution, mobile visual search, technology platforms, SEO, VSEO and more. He posted an article today on Mashable.com, sharing his thoughts and opinions about QR Codes, their durability, and what might be next in line to replace them: Mobile Video Search (MVS.) Given his background in video content production, his feelings toward Mobile Video Search are understandable. And he presents an interesting case supporting what he feels is a viable alternative to the use of QR Codes.

What do you think?  Please read Jon's article and then email your thoughts and opinions to me, John Mitton, at jmitton@mittonmedia.com.

Enjoy the article:

"Like most technology fans, I am always ready and willing to try any technology that promises to simplify my life. QR codes seemed to present an accessible and uniform way for people with smart devices to interact with advertising, marketing and media. Those little squares of code seemed to open a world of opportunity and potential. But after using them for a length of time, I shifted my perspective.

My initial honeymoon with QR codes was very short-lived. The initial rush that I had received from trying to frame the code on my device had lost its luster. I started to view QR codes as a barrier to additional information. And in many instances, the rewards (whatever I received as a result of scanning the code) did not measure up to the effort of the transaction itself.

Consider a recent study by comScore, which states that only 14 million American mobile device users have have interacted with a QR code. In essence, less than 5% of the American public has scanned a QR code. So where’s the disconnect?

Inadequate technology, lack of education and a perceived dearth of value from QR codes are just three of the reasons mobile barcodes are not clicking with Americans. But it goes deeper than that.

Humans are visual animals. We have visceral reactions to images that a QR code can never evoke; what we see is directly linked to our moods, our purchasing habits and our behaviors. It makes sense, then, that a more visual alternative to QR codes would not only be preferable to consumers, but would most likely stimulate more positive responses to their presence.

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The QR Alternative

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Enter mobile visual search (MVS). With MVS, you simply point at a product or logo and shoot a picture with your smartphone’s built-in camera. Within seconds, the MVS application will provide product or company information, or even the option to make a purchase right then and there on your mobile device.

MVS is a far more compelling and interactive tool to enable mobile marketing and commerce. In today’s increasingly mobile world, instant gratification is the norm, and taking the extra step of finding a QR code scanner on your mobile device no longer makes sense. With MVS, you are interacting with images that are familiar and desirable, not a square of code that elicits no reaction.

The opportunities are boundless with MVS. Unlike two-dimensional barcodes and QR codes, MVS will have wrap-around and three-dimensional recognition capabilities. Even traditional advertising will be revitalized with MVS. For example, picture an interactive print campaign that incorporates MVS as part of a competition or game. Marketers can offer instant gratification in the form of videos, mobile links, coupons or discounts as incentive for taking the best pictures of a particular product or logo.

The world has already started to migrate to MVS. For example, companies in Argentina and South Korea currently allow commuters waiting for subways or buses to view images of groceries or office supplies. Embedded within these images are recognitions triggers: Smartphone users place and pay for an order to be delivered or picked up within minutes.

Also, MVS can cash in on word-of-mouth marketing. Marketers will seamlessly link their campaigns to social networks so consumers can share photos and rewards, such as vouchers, coupons or music downloads, with their friends and followers.

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QR Code Security Risks

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In addition to being a more versatile medium, mobile visual search is also more secure than QR code technology. Cybercriminals are able to cloak smartphone QR code attacks due to the nature of the technology — QR codes’ entire purpose is to store data within the code. There is no way to know where that code is going to take you: a legitimate website, infected site, malicious app or a phishing site. MVS’s encryption modality will eliminate the opportunity for malicious code to download to your smartphone.

Recently, there have been documented cases of QR code misuse and abuse around the globe. For instance, infected QR codes can download an app that embeds a hidden SMS texting charge in your monthly cellphone bill. QR codes can also be used to gain full access to a smartphone — Internet access, camera, GPS, read/write local storage and contact data. All of the data from a smartphone can be downloaded and stolen, putting the user at risk for identity theft — without the user noticing.

Mobile visual search is a safer and more secure technology that can provide more information and content than a QR code, without as many security risks. By focusing on real-world objects and images rather than code, MVS lessens the risk of a virus or Trojan attack.

Safety, security and versatility — there are many reasons that MVS will supplant QR codes. However, there is one important, largely overlooked reason to favor MVS over QR codes: For the first time, we will be able connect with our actual surroundings in a truly interactive way. We will be able to provide a virtual marketplace that is familiar and accessible. Humanizing this interaction and making it more visual are the foundations of MVS’s imminent success."

Is your company getting ready to jump on the online advertising bandwagon?

Before you do, check out this article by Jon Mitchell in ReadWriteWeb: 

"U.S. advertisers spend nearly $40 billion a year for online advertisements, but 31% of their ads are never seen. That means $12.4 billion will be wasted on U.S. online ads this year. That's the average across all sites; on some sites, only 7% of the ads were "in-view," meaning 93% of them went unseen.

That sounds ominous for the health of Web content. But ad spending is up by over 20% this year. Online ad spending will exceed print magazine and newspaper ads for the first time this year. So, put another way, online ads in the U.S. are still worth enough to brands to waste $12 billion a year on them. But is all this waste necessary?

Dr. Magid Abraham, CEO of comScore, says that today's display ad market is "characterized by an overabundance of inventory, often residing on parts of a web page that are never viewed by the user." Online ads may be working overall, but the problem with out-of-view ads "dilutes the impact of campaigns" and puts a "drag on prices" for publishers.

31% of ads in the study were delivered successfully, but they were never seen by a consumer. The user either scrolled past the ad before it loaded or never scrolled it into view. On average, 4% of ads were delivered to viewers outside the desired geography, with some campaigns running as high as 15%. That means some ads were shown to customers in places where the product is not sold.

Even among ads that were seen, 72% of the campaigns in the study ran alongside site content that was "not brand safe." If you're advertising cheeseburgers, and your ad runs next to a news article about the obesity epidemic, you're not likely to get much value out of it.

Online ad growth is projected to slow down over the next five years, but the trend is still positive. It's a good sign for the Web that the ad market is healthy, but it could be much more effective with smarter technology."

Writing in the January 14, 2012 edition of The Washington Post, writer Michelle Singletary cautions college students and their families to pay attention to what different college majors are worth in today's workforce. As Ms. Singletary points out, "Not all college majors are created equal."

You may want to print out a copy of this article and save it for future reference. I know that's what we're going to do in our house!

"I have this game I play when I meet college students.

“What’s your major?” I ask.

The student might say, “English,” “psychology,” “political science” or “engineering.”

And then, in my mind, after factoring in some other information, I say to myself “job” or “no job,” depending on the major.

An English major with no internships or any plan of what she might do with the major to earn a living? No job.

A political science major with no internships that could lead to a specific job opportunity? No job, I think.

Engineering major with three relevant internships in the engineering field? Ding. Ding. We have a winner. Job.

Certainly a college degree is the ticket to many jobs. The unemployment rate for people with only a recent high school diploma is 22.9 percent, and it’s an astonishing 31.5 percent among recent high school dropouts. Nonetheless, the lack of career planning before a school is chosen, a major is selected and debt is borrowed is shocking to me. Not enough students — and their families who are also taking on student loans — are asking what their college major is worth in the workforce.

For years, long before the Great Recession and today’s almost 9 percent unemployment rate among new college graduates, I’ve been begging students and their parents to consider the fallout from their choice to borrow heavily to attend a school when the student has no clue about the expected career opportunities of a chosen major.

Too many students aren’t sure what job they could get after four, five or even six years of studying a certain major and racking up education loans. Many aren’t getting on-the-job training while they are in school or during their semester or summer breaks. As a result, questions about employment opportunities or what type of job they have the skills to attain are met with blank stares or the typical, “I don’t know.”

And don’t get me started on people who borrow heavily to get an advanced degree without really knowing whether it will lead to a fatter paycheck that can easily service the debt. In some cases it will, but for some academic disciplines, the salary bump isn’t as much as people expect.

Maybe a new report from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce will help encourage students to make better choices about which college and degrees they pursue. “Hard Times: College Majors, Unemployment and Earnings: Not All College Degrees Are Created Equal” answers the question that many people are asking in the aftermath of the recession. Is college still worth it?

For most, it is. But it all depends on your major, the report concludes.

“It was true in the 1970s that the purpose of going to college was to get a degree because you could move through a lot of occupations,” said Anthony P. Carnevale, director of the Georgetown center. “But since then, the difference among degrees has grown substantially.”

Median annual earnings among recent college graduates vary from $55,000 among engineering majors to $30,000 in the arts. Education, psychology and social work majors have relatively low unemployment, but their earnings are also low and only improve marginally with experience and graduate education.

“Today’s best advice, then, is that high school students who can go on to college should do so — with one caveat,” the report’s authors write. “They should do their homework before picking a major because, when it comes to employment prospects and compensation, not all college degrees are created equal.”

A series of reports released by the Georgetown center has focused on matching jobs with majors. In 2010, the center warned about the growing disconnect between the types of jobs that employers need to fill and the number of people who have the education and training to fill them. The report, “Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018,” argues that students should align their postsecondary educational choices with available careers.

In the “Hard Times” report, the center found that the unemployment rate for recent graduates is highest in architecture (13.9 percent) because of the collapse of the construction and home-building industry. Not surprisingly, unemployment rates are generally higher in non-technical majors, such as the arts (11.1 percent), humanities and liberal arts (9.4 percent), social science (8.9 percent) and law and public policy (8.1 percent).

A college education is not an investment in your future if you are taking out loans just for the college experience. It’s not an investment if you’re not coupling your education with training. It’s not an investment if you aren’t researching which fields are creating good-paying jobs now and 30 years from now.

I wouldn’t want to discourage people from pursuing a career they love, even if the pay isn’t very high. However, that choice should be made with the understanding of which job opportunities might be available and weighing what you can expect to earn annually against the cost of taking on debt to finance your education."

MITTONMedia has just launched a website for one of our new clients, L3 Design.

L3 Design is a landscape design and construction company which caters to a discrete clientelle in upscale neighborhoods around the Houston area. (If you've driven through River Oaks, you've seen their work.) L3's consistent growth, the majority of it coming through word-of-mouth referrals, can be partly attributed to the creativity of their designs, the quality of work performed, and unparalleled customer service.

Blair Michener, L3's Director of Design, has been recognized with 35 regional, national and international awards for his design work and was a judge at this year's Texas Nursery & Landscape Association's prestigious TEIL Awards for 2011. L3's Founder, Lauren Olenius, is the master of delivering customized solutions for individual needs and a delight to talk with about all things "landscaping." Lab's are her thing as you'll see when you visit their website. Lauren's motto is: "Every Client…Every Dream…Every Time."

To schedule a consultation with Lauren or Blair for your landscape design projects, call 281.974.2783. You can also email Lauren at Lauren@L3-DESIGN.COM or Blair at Blair@L3-DESIGN.COM. 

We are happy to announce that MITTONMedia has been recognized for our customized employee recruitment advertising strategies and award-winning creative production by being nominated in the "Best HR Service Provider" category for the 7th Annual HR IMPACT Awards!

Need help with your advertising? Call MITTONMedia!

Amy Chulik, a writer for CareerBuilder, recently shared her thoughts about Gen Y's impact in the workplace:

'"What words come to mind when I say Gen Y?" Aaron Kesher asked the many attendees at 2011's Society for Human Resources Management conference who were packed into the room. "Entitled!" shouted one person. "Job hoppers," chimed in another. Soon, many in the room (many of them non-Gen Yers, with some Gen Y members sprinkled in) were shouting things like "smart," "résumé builders," "technically savvy," "stereotype," "comfortable with change," and "creative."

Obviously, we all have specific words and phrases and ideas that match how we perceive Gen Y to think and behave in the workplace. Gen Y, made up of those born between 1980 and 2000, have their own notions of themselves, too. In Aaron Kesher's, "Why Y? Plugging Into a Generational Powerhouse" session, Kesher encouraged all of us in the room to rethink our notions of what we think Gen Y is all about, to consider the strengths they bring to today's dynamic workplace and to use this knowledge and understanding to more successfully recruit and retain Gen Y workers.

"Do not doubt that this generation will change the face of the American workplace as their parents did," Kesher said. "In the next five to 10 years, the number of Gen Yers in the workforce will increase dramatically."

As the number of Gen Y workers is only getting larger, it's about time we as a collective workplace learn more about Gen Y so that we can understand them, appreciate their unique strengths, and more successfully integrate them with other generations in the workplace.

What is work from a Gen Y perspective?

• Work ethic: Job loyalty, for a long time, was shown by how long you stuck around and paid your dues -- and older generations still think in line with this. Gen Y, on the other hand, says, "I show you love by how hard I work, not how long I stick around."
• Tech savvy: It's not so much that Gen Yers are tech savvy, Kesher pointed out -- they're tech dependent. They're the generation that's come of age with the explosion of technology, so it's natural that they would be comfortable with it.
• Communication and teamwork: Gen Y is not necessarily entitled; they just feel comfortable asking for what they want. When it comes to communication, you can often count on Gen Yers to spread out the message fast and often. We need to realize, Kesher said, that throughout Gen Y's public education, the majority of the work was done in groups, and that their role wasn't usually as the leader of a group -- instead, many were "equal" team members. Therefore, many Gen Y members function fairly well as a group and as "team players," but some struggle in standing out as individual, assertive leaders.
• Money: Employers, listen up: Gen Y is talking to each other about the money they are (or aren't) making at your organization. They are comparing how competitive your salary is with your competitors -- and they're not afraid to share their findings. One audience member mentioned recently hearing Gen Yers discussing openly the job offers and bonuses they were getting -- and she was shocked. After all, discussing how much money you make is one of the last great American taboos -- yet Gen Y seems more comfortable with discussing this sort of information.
• Recognition: Gen Y is a generation of the "there are no losers -- everyone's a winner" mentality. "But they didn't make that up (boomer parents)," Kesher pointed out, to a round of laughter. Gen Yers don't care how it gets done --they just want to get it done. And they want to be told they did a good job once they do it; recognition is very important.
• Diversity: "Why do only white people work here?" might be something a Gen Y worker thinks while viewing a company site or sitting in the lobby while waiting to be interviewed and noticing the lack of diverse employees. Gen Y doesn't embrace diversity -- they expect it -- and if your company says you believe in diversity, but then a Gen Y worker shows up and all workers look the same -- they will think you're not living up to your diversity message. This generation has grown up with a greater awareness of and comfort with diversity of all kinds. From home lives, to school experiences, to messages absorbed from pop culture, they often don't see what all the fuss is. This can manifest as difficulty in understanding why others struggle with issues around differences. A question of whether gay marriage should be legalized, for example, is a non-issue for many Gen Y individuals -- and this shift ties into a larger cultural shift in general.
• Work versus life: "I love my job, but I love my life more" -- that's something you may hear a lot of Gen Yers say. One of the critical issues that will need to be ironed out at work in the future, Kesher said, will revolve around workplace flexibility. We're increasingly seeing workplace flexibility issues evolving in the workplace, and Gen Y workers in particular (though they're not alone) want to know how they can maintain their relationship with work while still having the flexibility to live the life they envision. As mentioned above, Gen Y has no problem with work or with the idea of working hard -- it's just that their job will never be the whole of their identity. They were raised with the imperative to "follow your dreams!", and their job and life may intersect in new ways than we've seen in past generations. "Gen Y," Kesher stressed, "doesn't want a job -- they want a life that hopefully includes a job."
• Being green: This is the generation that's leading the green movement -- so give them the power to build, make changes, and become leaders in your organization's (existing or non-existing) green movement.

Why worry about Gen Y?

Ensuring that the different generations working together under one roof actually work well together is a big concern for many employers. After all, if knowledge isn't able to be sufficiently shared from generation to generation, older generations will eventually retire -- taking with them decades of experience. In addition, workers who work well together are likely to be happier, more productive and better brand ambassadors for companies."

Google makes a lot of money from online advertising.

In the twelve months ended June 30, 2011, Google made $33.3 billion in revenues. Of that, 97 percent ($32.2 billion) was from advertising.WordStream, a provider of software for keywords and pay-per-click marketing campaigns, has done research to discover which keywords receive the highest costs per click (CPC) in Google AdWords.

WordStream compiled the data using its own Google Keyword tool to determine the top 10,000 most expensive keywords over a 90-day period. The keywords were organized into categories by theme. The largest keyword categories were determined by the number of keywords within each category, as well as monthly search volume and average cost per click of each keyword.

Here are the top 20 keyword categories that fetched the highest costs per click:

1. Insurance - $54.91 per click
2. Loans - $44.28 per click
3. Mortgage - $47.12 per click
4. Attorney - $47.07 per click
5. Credit - $36.06 per click
6. Lawyer - $42.51 per click
7. Donate - $42.02 per click
8. Degree - $40.61 per click
9. Hosting - $31.91 per click
10. Claim - $45.51 per click
11. Conference Call - $42.05 per click
12. Trading - $33.19 per click
13. Software - $35.29 per click
14. Recovery - $42.03 per click
15. Transfer - $29.86 per click
16. Gas/Electricity - $54.62 per click
17. Classes - $35.04 per click
18. Rehab - $33.59 per click
19. Treatment - $37.18 per click
20. Cord Blood - $27.80 per click

“Soliz Casa de Tacos” is the name of a legendary breakfast taco place in our neighborhood. “Soliz,” as it’s known by the locals, is perched on Dulles Avenue directly across from the Ft. Bend Community Library. Soliz’s smiling faces and “Pancho Villa Meets Houston Sports Teams” décor has welcomed and fed generations of starving students, blue collar workers, city officials, commuting business professionals and members of the Mitton family.

As I sit waiting for our Saturday morning bag of egg, cheese and bacon or chorizo-inspired goodness, I’m sometimes fascinated by the different types of questions people ask when ordering their breakfast tacos. Especially the “Soliz Newbie’s,” unfamiliar with the menu and rhythm of the restaurant.

Eric, Soliz’s MBC (Man behind the Counter,) says he doesn’t mind answering questions. “Answering questions is what helps us make sure the customer is getting exactly what they want, “says Eric. “A happy customer is a repeat customer and we love happy customers!”

Lack of Advertising Satisfaction

Being in the advertising business, Eric’s answer caused me to come up with a question of my own:

“When businesses plan and place advertising campaigns, are they asking the types of questions that lead to a satisfying experience?”

Can you imagine someone walking into a restaurant, telling the wait staff, “Just bring me what everybody else in the room is having tonight,” and leaving fully satisfied?  

Yet this is exactly what happens with advertising budgets for hundreds of companies each year. Instead of asking questions that would lead to a successful experience, businesses default to doing exactly what they’ve always done and/or doing exactly what their competitors are doing to advertise products, services and/or employment opportunities!

Embracing “Good, Cheap & Easy”

When speaking to business groups about how to build effective advertising programs supported by creative messaging, I start by introducing our “MITTONMedia Value Pyramid.” One point of the pyramid is labeled “Good,” the second point “Cheap,” and third labeled as “Easy.”

As a group exercise, I ask participants to make a list of all the advertising tools and resources they use on a consistent basis. Then we take each one of the tools and resources and examine them from the standpoint of the Value Pyramid. We ask:

·         Is it “Good?” (Effective)

·         Is it “Cheap?” (Cost-Effective)

·         Is it “Easy?” (Doesn’t take much of a person’s time to implement.)

·         Why did you use it? (Rationale behind their decision making.)

Audience members are often surprised by the results of the exercise. Many look for a place to hide! Why?  They just realized, perhaps for the first time, and admitted to the world that most of their advertising decisions are not based on effectiveness or cost-efficiencies but because they followed the path of least resistance.

Instead of asking the questions that help identify effective, cost-efficient resources and solutions, their decision making process is based on making a quick phone call and getting the project off their plate as quickly as possible. When participants are asked to explain their behavior, answers usually fall under one of three categories: “I don’t have time to think about it.”; “Because our company has always done it this way.”; “Because that’s where all of our competitors put their advertising.”   

“Waiter, just bring me what everyone else in the restaurant is having tonight. I’m sure it will be fine.”

Use Questions to Create Your Own Success:

Many have described an effective advertising program as one that:

·         Puts the right message…

·         In front of the right people…

·         In the right places…

·         And at the right times…

The challenge becomes how to put an advertising campaign together that accomplishes these four goals.

At MITTONMedia we use our own SPOT-ON ASSESSMENT® IN-HOUSE SURVEY as a starting point with customers. Each survey contains a list of questions customized for the individual client’s industry, situation and unique needs. Answers to the questions usually reveal a path to follow and validate our recommendations for both media placement and creative messaging hot points.

Either on your own or with a group of colleagues, take out a sheet of paper and write down as many questions as you can about your company, products, services, and/or workplace. Begin with the “Good, Cheap & Easy” questions and go from there. Your goal is to come up with a list of questions that, when answered, will give you the information you need to create an advertising campaign that: puts the right message; in front of the right people; in the right places; at the right times.

 If you need assistance getting starting, I’d be happy to help. Send me an email at jmitton@mittonmedia.com or pick up the phone and call 832.969.5627.

John Mitton is President of MITTONMedia®, a proactive advertising firm in Houston, Texas. Working with a number of companies across a variety of industries, MITTONMedia’s strengths are: knowing people; knowing where to find specific target groups; reaching target groups in an effective and cost-efficient manner; and crafting creative messages that engage and compel a higher number of qualified responses. Reach John by sending an email to jmitton@mittonmedia.com or by calling 832.969.5627.

"In Wheel Time," a radio car talk show produced by MITTONMedia, recently did a live broadcast to help support the 2011 MD Anderson Children's Cancer Center Toy Drive. Coffee & Cars, a Houston automotive club, hosted the event at Vintage Park.  Gearhead Flicks produced this video which captures the spirit of caring and sharing felt by the crowd that day.

It is comforting to know, despite my own painful embarrassment that day, that I'm not alone in having lived through what others saw as a hilarious workplace experience. Kaitlin Madden, a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz, recently wrote about similar humorous situations in other offices around the country:

 "Everyone has experienced embarrassing work moments that they'd rather forget: inopportune trips and falls, unfortunate typos, Freudian slips. But admit it. Once the initial humiliation wears off, workplace mistakes are actually kind of funny.

Still, while it's virtuous to be able to laugh at one's own embarrassing moments, it's much more fun to laugh at those of other people. To that end, six workers confess their or their co-workers' most humbling workplace moments.

Sticky situation

'I was giving a speech onstage to a group of conservative bankers. I didn't want to perspire through my jacket, so I put self-stick panty liners in my armpits -- thinking they would stay and absorb.

'Turns out they aren't as sticky as they advertise. One crawled down my sleeve and fell on the floor. When I saw it, I immediately picked it up and scrunched it up, hoping no one noticed. Then the other side did the same thing. So I stopped mid-speech and asked if anyone saw. Some nodded yes with a perplexed look, so I explained what I had done and there was lots of laughter, deservedly, at my expense. I asked the audience, 'What did you think was going on?' and one man raised his hand and volunteered, 'I thought you were doing a magic trick.'

'We all had a good laugh; they appreciated my honesty and humanness. I proceeded with my speech. Years later I still occasionally see the man who said he thought I was doing a magic trick.'

Watch out for elephants

'When I worked as a young copywriter for a fairly large ad agency, they assigned me the local municipal zoo account.

'There was a young, prim and proper female copywriter who had been hired around the same time as me, and after my second or third research trip to the zoo she asked if she could come along. We were having a pleasant afternoon stroll through the zoo and she stopped to linger at the elephant exhibit as I rounded the corner to check out the baboons.

'A few minutes later, I heard her scream. I ran back toward the elephants to see her dressed-for-success suit covered in muck and straw. One of the elephants had hosed her down from head to toe! As I realized what had happened, my knees buckled and I collapsed in laughter to the ground. I had to make a couple more field trips to the zoo, but she declined my invitations to tag along.'

 Pepper sprayed

'In an attempt to be frugal, I made roasted red pepper soup to take to work for lunch. When it came time to enjoy my fat-free soupy goodness, the Thermos I placed in the microwave exploded open with a gunshot sound. Naturally the secretary ran over to see what the gunshot was and saw a thick, bloodlike substance all over my face -- so she started screaming.

 'The day ended with my hopelessly trying to scrub red pepper from the ceiling while all of the employees watched me, discussing the physics behind my red pepper soup explosion while my boss paced around assessing the damage. Apparently pepper releases gases when heated and cooled rapidly. That's what I get for skipping chemistry for that extra art class.

 'My attempt to save 49 cents on soup cost my company a freshly painted wall and two of those extra-fancy acoustical ceiling tiles. They didn't fire me. They just call me 'Pepper Spray' now.'

 A vintage mishap

'Drinking with colleagues is rather like watching a hippo try to ice-skate. It's all fun and games until someone gets slammed. Now I'm not a big drinker, but I do have a tendency to be very clumsy ('Is that a fragile item? Smash!'), and this time was no different.

'In a heated exchange ... over the meaning of the word 'bar-tab,' I swung my arm around to gesture pointedly toward the table of my colleagues. What I didn't realize at the time was that my boss was standing right behind me with a glass of wine in her hand. My sudden movement slapped the glass into her face, causing the contents to spray all over her newly permed head.

'Although I've never personally experienced what it's like to get wine in the eyes, her screams of 'It burns! It burns!' led me to believe the experience was rather unpleasant. Talk about an 'acidic vintage.' Let's just say that it's quite hard to recover when you throw a glass of wine into your boss's face. Luckily she had a sense of humor and my only punishment was dealing with recurring jokes from my colleagues.'  

Split decision

'I had just hired a young man for my office. It was his first day on the job, and in his first hour one of the fluorescent lights went out. I asked him if he wouldn't mind changing it, and of course, he didn't. He hopped up on a desk, switched the bulb, then promptly jumped down.

'It was as he landed that the seam of his pants blew out. 'KRRSCHW!' He looked mortified at the sound of tearing fabric. I, ever the professional, cracked up. With tears in my eyes I told him to go to the bathroom, take off his pants and give them to me. I sewed up the seam for him. Could you imagine having your new boss sew up your pants on your first day of a new job? I knew from that moment on that he was going to be a great employee.'

 Nature calls

'The queen of multitasking, I was sitting in the back of the room observing a training I was hosting while simultaneously working on my annual operating-plan budget and listening in on a conference call.

'Nature called, so off to the bathroom I went. Working on autopilot, the phone and the coffee cup came with me. I went into the bathroom, put the cup down, and went into the stall still listening to the conference call.

'Finished, I opened the stall door and found myself starring at a urinal. I was in the men's room. About the same time, the stall next to me opened and out walked a vice president who worked for me. 'Boss, what are you doing in here?' he asked.

'I grabbed my coffee cup, phone still in hand, and looked to make a quick exit. As I came out of the men's room, there were two men on a ladder changing a light bulb who burst out laughing. They had seen me, head down, phone glued to ear, coffee cup in hand, mistakenly march into the men's room. They had also seen my direct report go in 20 minutes earlier and knew that we would probably have a head-on collision in front of the urinal. When I asked them why they didn't stop me, their only response was that they weren't going to get in the way of a woman!'

Do you have your own funny workplace story to share? I'd love to hear it. Send your story to me, John Mitton, at jmitton@mittonmedia.com. Please indicate if I have permission to use the story and your name and/or company name in a future article on our MITTONMedia blog at www.mittonmedia.com.

What can you do to ensure your business doesn't get lost in the shuffle? My good friend, Sean Luce, recently shared three ideas in Radio Ink magazine article. Sean is the Head National Instructor for the Luce Performance Group and, like MITTONMedia, is a strong proponent of consistent advertising paired with a compelling message as key factors in delivering successful outcomes. 

Here's what Sean has to say about why a business should be advertising day in and day out, 365 days a year:

People Move  

Here are some interesting facts from a study conducted by the United States Department of Commerce: The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 11.6 percent of Americans changed residences between 2010 and 2011. Of those who moved, seven in 10 relocated within the same county, nearly two in 10 moved from a different county within the same state, and approximately one in 10 moved from a different state. So in an area of 150,000 people, expect that 18,000 of those people will have recently moved, and many of them are new to the areas. 

What happens to their shopping habits? They change, of course. These new residents are looking for a business they can trust. They are also searching for the same quality and customer service they found in their previous location. A business owner can no longer say, "I've been in business at this location for 48 years, and everybody knows about me." Yes, some will remember the business. But the establishment has not advertised recently, there is an even better chance many people won't know about it. The point is, there will always be new people in the area who need to know about local businesses.

People Forget 

When it comes to advertising, what people encountered a month ago, a week ago, or even yesterday is mostly forgotten. At a recent advertising seminar, I asked 300 business owners who advertise regularly what advertisements they remembered from the previous day. Just 3 percent could remember one advertisement from the day before, and only 1 percent could remember more than one. 

According to Advertising Age, the average consumer encounters between 254 and 5,000 messages per day. The magazine points out, "The ability of the average consumer to even remember advertising for 24 hours is at the lowest level in the history of our business." And that was written in 2007, at the beginning of the Internet shift. 

Who stands a better chance of being remembered? Is it the business that advertises once a day? Or the business that advertises with frequency, day in and day out? ROS (run of site) on a strong local website will make a difference also. The best remembered business is the business that is consistently present and has a great message.

People Don't Make Decisions Overnight 

How many people woke up  today and decided to buy a Harley-Davidson motorcycle? Just decided to go to their nearest Harley-Davidson dealer and write a $20,000 check for a new Harley? Answer: Zero. 

What did they do? They thought about it. It takes those potential buyers about nine months to go from first thinking about buying a Harley to actually going inside a store and seriously considering purchasing one. Where was the Harley dealership over those nine months? I am not talking about advertising a special event or July 4th promotion. I am talking about being there all the time, in front of the consumer. 

A 2003 LPG survey, updated for 2011, found that there are four stages to the buying cycle. When it comes to products and services, with the exception of groceries, consumers take a long time to make a purchasing decision. Hit-and-miss advertising means your ads will hit and miss. Being present all the time means the advertiser will be in the consumer's mind when it comes time to make an important buying decision. 

A successful advertising program needs both a compelling message and frequency of message to get results. Be there with a good message, and be there all the time!

1. Make sure spouses can come. I’ve had jobs where the spouses were not allowed. That is an instant buzzkill.
2. Hold it a few weeks before Christmas. You hold it on the 18th of December, and very few people are going to come.
3. Make sure the executives are into it. Nothing kills a party faster than management members who aren’t excited.
4. Hire a DJ or a live band instead of someone’s kid who owns a lot of MP3s.
5. Form a “Christmas Party Committee” and give them the freedom to really think up some fun ideas.
6. Survey the staff and see what they really want this year. Don’t assume.
7. Don’t try to execute a live nativity scene. The donkey always bites someone. Always. You don’t want a donkey liability this year.
8. If possible, don’t hold it at work. In a conference room. On a Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. That’s not a Christmas party, that’s a Christmas meeting.
9. Have fun. Don’t turn it into a “year-end review party” where you go over all your financial statements. There shouldn’t be any PowerPoint at this event.
10. If you have promotions or bonuses or anything else good happening in December, save it for the Christmas party. Combine your awesome into one big night.

Send us your ideas and suggestions about how to create a successful office party: jmitton@mittonmedia.com.

Sometimes "simple" is the best approach.

When helping clients plan monthly, quarterly or annual advertising budgets, one of the first things we do is pull out our "MITTONMedia Value Pyramid." It's used to measure the return-on-investment being delivered by various advertising tools. We ask three questions:

1. - Is the advertising resource Effective? (Good)
2. - Is the advertising resource Cost-Efficient? (Cheap)
3. - Is the advertising resource Simple to put in place? (Easy)
   

Businesses new to the MITTONMedia Value Pyramid are often surprised to discover they have been choosing their advertising tools for all the WRONG reasons:

• Not because they were "Good." (Effective)
• Not because they were "Cheap." (Cost-Efficient)
• No, they find they have been chosing their advertising resources primarily because they were "Easy." (Simple)

Not good. Lacking sufficient advertising knowledge or expertise, the decision maker defaulted to following the path of least resistance. A choice that wasted time and squandered company dollars.

While addressing an HR Staffing luncheon a few weeks ago, I took them through the "MITTONMedia Value Pyramid" exercise. We applied it to the different media resources members of the group said they were currently using for recruitment advertising: (My questions/their answers.)

Newspaper:

• Has it been Effective delivering quality candidates in a timely manner? "No. We keep getting responses from candidates who are not qualified to do the job but hope we have other openings which might fit them."
• Is it Cheap? "No. Price keeps going up."
• Is it Easy to implement? "Yes, just pick up the telephone or send an email."

National Job Boards:

• Are they Effective delivering quality candidates in a timely manner? "No. We get hundreds of unqualified resumes."
• Are they Cheap? "No."
• Are they Easy to implement? "Yes, just send the job postings."

Outdoor Billboards:

• Are they Effective delivering quality candidates in a timely manner? "No. It usually takes up to 6 months for our board to get noticed."
• Are they Cheap? "No. Heaven's no!"
• Are they Easy to implement? "Yes. Send the artwork and sign-off on the layout."

As we continued the exercise, different members of the audience suddenly began to blush. After laughing at the poor souls I'd given as examples, it gradually dawned on them that they too had been drawn into following the path of least resistance instead of using tools that were effective and cost-efficient!

When you sit down to formulate 2012 advertising budgets, it might be a good idea to ask the "Good-Cheap-Easy" questions about the tools you used this year. Be brutally honest in assessing effectiveness and cost-efficiencies because you know your bosses are going to be brutally honest in their assessments of performance, too.

If you need some help or would like more information about the different ways MITTONMedia can help, please call me at 832.969.5627 or send an email to jmitton@mittonmedia.com.

Thanks for listening!

John Mitton

President/MITTONMedia

According to the article, the outlook for consumer holiday spending isn't particularly strong this year, with forecasters predicting growth of 2.5 to 3 percent over 2010, about half last year's growth rate. 

So why is local TV advertising so heavy?  

The reason is simple. Shoppers still feeling the pinch of a down economy are looking for the lowest prices, and retailers are competing fiercely to reel them in with gimmicks like midnight openings on Black Friday. They're willing to use any means to get consumers into the stores.

 Many retailers, including department and discount stores, have already been advertising their holiday sales for weeks. Pre-holiday sales have also been more popular this year, prompting more spending to advertise these new offers.

 Clothing retailers have been particularly active, note buyers, and electronics should be growing as well as retailers battle to offer better prices on holiday must-haves like tablets, smartphones and TVs.

 If you need help with your local holiday TV advertising or radio advertising, pick up the telephone and call MITTONMedia today: 832.969.5627. Time's running out so do it today and make sure your business gets its fair share of consumer dollars this Christmas season!

MITTONMedia planned and placed an integrated support campaign for a Stewart & Stevenson job fair last week. Elements included targeted radio recruitment ads, social media, email blasts and other tools.

Over 700 candiates attended the job fair. Stewart & Stevenson hired 40 people on the spot and collected a data base of qualified personnel which is being used as a source for interviews over the next couple of weeks.

Please share this with family, friends and colleagues in the Houston area.

MITTONMedia and the radio car show we produce, "In Wheel Time," are proud to part of the leadership group promoting this year's "Toy Drive for the MD Anderson Children's Cancer Center." Additional beneficiaries   include the Harris and Montgomery County Women's Shelters and victims of the recent Tri-County Wildfires.

Here are some ways you can help:

•  Drop off new, unwrapped toys between now and December 2 at any John Eagle dealership in the Houston area.
• If you are in the Sugar Land area, drop off the new, unwrapped toys at our MITTONMedia offices by December 2nd. Our address is: 12946 S. Dairy Ashford, Suite 250, Sugar Land, TX 77478. (Texan Bank building.)
• Or bring the toys with you and join us Saturday, December 3rd at "Coffee & Cars" at Vintage Park. Goes from 7am-11am. "In Wheel Time" will be broadcasting live from the event from 7a-9a. All the details are available at www.inwheeltime.com and on the show Saturday mornings, 7a-9a, on NewsTalk 1070AM/KNTH.

 Please remember, for health reasons of the children, all toys must be new and unwrapped. They also ask there be no toys that promote violence and/or shoot projectiles.

 Thanks to BG Products, Houston Performance Driving (HPD), and "Coffee & Cars" for making it possible for this event to happen. A big "Thank You" also goes to the John Eagle Group of Dealerships and Amegy Bank for their generous support of this program and making this holiday season a special time for the children and their families.

 For more information, contact John Mitton:

• Email: jmitton@mittonmedia.com
• Telephone: 832-969-5627.