Sometimes, people seem to regard marketing pros as saviors, turning to them for restoration from the scrap heap of business. Though it’s true we have, on occasion, ourselves been cast in that role, our preference as a marketing company is to help take viable entities to the next level. turnaround artists.

That said, though we are not turnaround artists, we couldn’t help being fascinated by the prospect of tackling the irascible Mr. Sheen’s formidable “PR challenge” as a personal project. Indeed it might be stimulating for our eager-but-humble marketing and public relations agency to approach the grumpy Hollywood Hooligan with an offer to attempt to resurrect his flagging career.

Certainly, the task would require more than crafting and distributing a few positive news releases and setting him up with appearances at women’s clubs, small-town fairs, rural dog shows and the like. But, it does seem to be doable.

Imagine the challenge

I can picture us now, begging Sean Hannity for a guest spot for Chas. on his Fox Network show, all the time proclaiming through our most sincere straight face, “Honestly, Sean, Charlie really is a nice, sweet guy, and he even is a big fan of Sarah Palin!” Not to mention, of course, the fact that we even have taught him to string together an entire sentence sans snarling.

Tough sell, you say? . . . maybe not so tough in this, the age of selective memory. After all, we seem to have forgotten and forgiven the fact we still are saddled with the “temporary” tax increases of the Sixties. We seem to retain our trust in those New York brokerage houses and other financial experts who have deep sixed our economy. And, don’t we still admire The U.S. Congress, even though its ranks have been exposed as being infused with phonies, frauds and crooks?

Considering the contemporary state of affairs, permissive to a fault, is it any wonder that one of our more creative young staffers even has suggested we take the easy way out: “Slap a blond wig on Charlie, change his name, and pass him off as the male Lady Gaga, or, even, a latter day lip-synch sensation, a la Milli Vanilli. “He’d be a smash, “ she insists, “and people would soon forget that lowlife son-of-an-actor that snorts more than any nose was ever designed to tolerate,” she gushes. Ah, the idealism of youth!

The tragedy behind the tittering (notice, we didn’t say Twittering?)

If it’s true we like to see our pop idols crumble upon their feet of clay, we guess this Sheen Shambles will, at least, provide some good laughs and an abundance of fodder for the gossip shows and columns But what, we wonder, will it take on the part of some PR wizards to bring some significant sheen to that dulled Sheen image, and restore it to its normal state of abnormality? More than we at our marketing outfit care to offer, you can be certain.

Then, again, we are a forgiving people, as recollections of Chappaquiddick, Watergate, Monica Lewinsky and assurances of “change you can believe in” have demonstrated, the latter still wringing in our more recent memory. Yes, time – lots of time, perhaps – and some public relations mastery, should be able to do the trick.

But it won’t be with the help of this PR agency. After all, we keep busy enough with the chore of positioning truly worthwhile clients to a public ever more desensitized by over-communication and constantly distracted by the more-than-occasional theater of the absurd.

It might seem like a lot of pressure but remembering the things you shouldn’t do will help make networking a bit easier. Here are seven of networking’s biggest no-no’s:

1. Don’t Arrive Late

To make things easier on yourself, time your arrival so you can maximize the interactions you’re most interested in having.

“Especially for people who typically shy away from networking, the inclination is to arrive on the later side,” says Zack. “The opposite is a much better strategy: Being the first person there, it’s calmer, laid back, and people haven’t yet settled into groups. You won’t feel like there’s no one to talk to.”

2. Don’t Just Stand There

This is not the time to wait around for people to approach you. You need to work the room — even if you’re on the shy side. There are ways for anyone to step outside of your comfort zone and avoid awkwardness.

Start off by asking questions, says Zack. And don’t worry about impressing who you’re speaking with — just act naturally.

“Many people think they’re bad at networking,” says Zack, “But when you work with rather than fighting against your natural communication style, what were liabilities become your greatest strengths.”

3. Don’t Feel Like You Need to Talk to Everyone.

When looking for a job, you might enter a networking event with a “more the merrier” mentality. However, it might be advantageous to take a “less is more” stance, instead.

“It’s better to meet fewer people and create a deeper, lasting connection than simply talking to everyone in the room,” says Zack.

Instead of going to a networking event and grabbing 40 business cards in two hours, speak with fewer people for a longer period of time. Give each person you talk to at least five minutes to get to know you — and you them — before you move on, Zack advises.

This way, you’ll leave networking events energized by new, true connections rather than overwhelmed and tired from meeting too many people.

4. Don’t Come Unprepared

Most hosts of networking events publish a list in advance of companies and people attending.

“Find a couple of companies that stand out to you, and look up the hiring trends there over the past three months to see if your skill set matches what they’ve been looking for,” says Frank Dadah, general manager of financial contracts with Winter, Wyman, a Boston-based staffing firm. That will give you a great lead-in in a conversation, and show you came to the event with a purpose.

You should come armed with questions for company reps — but remember, it’s not an interview.

“You want to talk to them about what they’re looking for and what’s important to them,” he says. “The more you can engage them and get them talking about themselves, the more they’ll remember you.”

5. Don’t Read Them Your Resume

Simply having questions for reps isn’t sufficient — once they’ve told you what kinds of skills they’re currently looking for in job applicants, you need to be ready to tell them how your experiences line up with their needs.

“You should know [your resume] inside and out without needing to look,” says Dadah. You’re trying to maintain a conversation — and generally, conversations aren’t based upon concisely written bullet points.

“Your goal is to land an interview,” says Dadah, “and to do that, you need to stand out from the hundred people that just dropped off their resumes.”

6. Don’t Try to Multi-Task

Within the first few minutes of meeting someone new, you probably don’t whip out a notebook to write down what they’re saying — and that should be a rule for networking events, as well. Instead of being distracted by a pen and paper, focus intently on the conversation you’re having. After you’ve grabbed a business card and stepped away, jot down a few things that will help you jog your memory when you follow up with them later.

7. Don’t Forget to Follow Up

“If you’re not following up, you’re not networking,” says Zack. “You should stay in touch, without thinking about what you’ll get out of the relationship.”

Within 48 hours of your first meeting, you should send an e-mailed note that pinpoints the most important parts of your earlier conversation, so they remember who you are specifically. A timely turnaround will show that you’re both interested in them and available to continue the conversation.

“Send them a link to a project you discussed, or ask them how the game they were going to that night ended up,” advises Zack. “Give them something that is useful to them.”

Thanks to Kelly Eggers

This blog post is a “pass-along” of an excerpt from a New Year’s message sent out by our friend and noted business and financial advisor Somes H. White:
“. . . I explain to my clients that they do not really have a borrowing problem, they have a marketing and selling problem . . . Business owners need to obtain outside counsel which can bring new ideas, strategies, tactics, improved business models, so that the staff and organization are re-energized and are made more productive on multiple levels. If sales and profits improve, it is stunning how quickly the financial problem goes away. . .”
Somers, we couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

With the end of the year comes the compulsion to synthesize what we’ve learned about the ebb and flow of social media in 2010. Toward that end, John Antonios, writing at the Social Media & Personal Branding blog, has made a list of 100 social media tips to ponder for 2011.

Some of the tips “might sound generic and applicable beyond the scope of social media,” Antonios acknowledges, “but that’s exactly the point. Social media is an extension of real-life engagement.”

Here are a handful of his tips that illustrate that point:

•Don’t plagiarize your identity; find what’s unique about you and share it honestly.
•Work hard to ensure that your branding is consistent online and offline.
•Express gratitude.
•Be consistent and committed.
•Make sure to add value in your communications.
•Don’t fear negative feedback; instead, embrace it, learn from it, deal with it.
•Define your social media objectives and align them with your overall goals.
Above all, keep in mind that what users want most is a sense of your brand’s humanity—how you treat employees, whether your character matches your corporate philosophies, and whether there’s pride in the origins and crafting of your product or service. Social media is the perfect medium for expressing that passion—with those who are looking to share it with you.

One final reminder: Some brands avoid social media for fear of the dreaded public reaction to a faux pas. But customer criticism can be constructive. When a mishap occurs and people react, see it as users’ simply looking for a reason to trust you again. Honor that need for a renewed relationship swiftly and sensibly.

The Po!nt: Face the new year with a smile—and a little genuine social media outreach. Based on what marketers (and users) have learned over the past year, 2011 could be quite a productive one socially, with companies and customers sharing in an ongoing creative process. Good luck in the new year!

We are all negotiators; with our customers, our vendors, our employees, and our families.

Negotiation traditionally boils down to each party taking a firm stance on an issue. Each side states—and re-states—their position, until one side makes concessions, or they come to an impasse and give up.

The problem with this is that the more we clarify our positions, the more committed we become to them. Our identity becomes tied to the positions we take. So when one party compromises their position; egos are bruised, and relationships are damaged.

There is a more effective approach.

When Negotiating, Focus on Interests, Not Positions

Avoid making statements about your positions at all if possible. Instead, focus on what each party really wants, and what they are really concerned about.

Often you can find a solution that meets both parties interests, which may not be so incompatible with each other after all.
With thanks to The Startup Daily

As 2010 draws to a close, B2B teams are sharing what they’ve learned from the year’s challenges, and forging tactics for 2011.

What lessons have we learned from the struggle that was 2010? And what new wisdom are we applying to 2011?

From the myriad reports circling the Internet, here are a few points to consider.

Results from a recent Fusion b2b survey show that:

•A full 66 percent of respondents plan to increase their marketing plans and budgets for 2011.
•Lead generation is the top marketing priority for 2011.
•All respondents plan to increase their Internet, social media and PR tactics.
Michael Brenner, writing at the B2B Marketing Insider blog, predicts that:

•Marketing automation and automated lead nurturing will become foundational B2B marketing activities.
•Traditional communications media will have a tough time competing with mobile devices for buyer attention.
•Marketing and sales alignment will continue to be the number-one issue impeding marketing’s ability to be perceived as a major driver of B2B business value.
John Neeson, writing at the Sirius Decisions blog, offers some tactical advice on better aligning B2B sales with marketing in the new year. He suggests you:

•Create a menu of marketing programs for your sales team. Include a description of each marketing program showing what sales problem it solves.
•Then reverse it. With your menu created, determine the marketing requirements needed to achieve each new sales goal.
•Formulate a dollar-to-demand ratio. Determine the ratio between dollars spent on advertising and demands generated. Add that metric to your ongoing sales/marketing dialogue.
The Po!nt: Tough times create new wisdom. Research the range of B2B marketing insights developed during the downturn, and consider applying a few of them to your 2011 plans.
With special thanks to marketing profs.

Excerpted from PR Daily News Feed
Companies disappear all the time. Sure, it may be news when large corporations with well-known brands go belly-up. But think about it: Businesses like Circuit City, Northwest Airlines and Countrywide are gone now.

24/7 Wall St. recently looked at a number of large American companies, some of which are owned by foreign companies, to see which will disappear in 2011. A vanishing firm may go bankrupt and its assets sold off, it may be closed after being bought by another company or it may cease to exist due to a merger.

The website looked at a variety of companies: those that are in deep trouble, the merger and acquisitions targets, firms in industries that have too many competitors for any to become highly profitable or corporations that Wall Street believes are worth more in parts than as a whole. The 19 companies below were picked from this universe, because odds they are they won’t exist a year from now:

Saab USA
Saab has tried to create a renaissance of sorts. The company was sold to Netherlands specialty carmaker Spyker last year. Spyker took an awful risk, particularly in the U.S. — because Saab is one of the few car firms that did recover when the U.S. car market expanded last year. The total number of cars and light vehicles sold in America in 2010 was up 11% to 11.6 million.

Sales of some niche brands surged. Porsche sales in the U.S. were up 29% to over 29,000. Audi sales rose 22% to over 101,000. But Saab sales collapsed — falling 37% to 5,445. American car companies have also created new lines of vehicles that have begun to sell well, particularly in the middle market where Saab operates. The Japanese still control the lower-price, high-quality portion of the market. And Korea’s Hyundai took share from nearly everyone else last year, as its sales rose over 24% to just above 538,000. There’s no room in the American market for tiny operator like Saab.

Office Depot
The company is running third in a three-horse race with Office Max and Staples. Office Depot also has to compete with small business centers in Sam’s Clubs and Costcos. The firm operates on razor-thin margins, while managing 1,150 locations — which are very costly due to employee and real estate expenses. Office Depot is a strong candidate to be taken over by one of its rivals or a broader retail chain like Target.

The market is too competitive for Office Depot to stand on its own. A consolidation in the sector would allow a merged operation to cut thousands of people and close hundreds of locations. Operating margins, then, would not be so modest.

Dean Foods
The maker of dairy products like Land O’Lakes and Silk has struggled as much as any other large public company this year. The costs of raw milk, butterfat, soybeans and sugar have risen sharply. Dean Foods has also been crippled by debt. The firm’s shares were down as much as 60% at one point during the last 12 months.

Despite all the bad news, hedge fund investor David Tepper bought a 7.35% stake in the company. Dean Foods shares rose 9% after the announcement. Dean has already sold its yogurt business to Schreiber Foods. And Tepper, one of the cleverest investors on Wall Street, has probably bet the balance of Dean Foods will be sold off in parts. Probably the Fresh Dairy Direct-Morningstar and WhiteWave/Alpro business units would draw the most bidders. Watch for Dean to be broken up, to satisfy debtholders and arge investors.

Frontier Airlines
The carrier is owned by Republic Airways Holdings and was bankrupt when Republic bought it in 2009. Republic recently merged another of its holdings, Midwest Air, into Frontier. Denver-based Frontier is simply too small to compete in the domestic carrier market — which has become increasingly dominated by large airlines that are growing due to mergers.

Wall Street has also become increasingly worried about Republic’s future. Its shares are down 13% over the last quarter, while shares in rival JetBlue are up 9% during the same time frame. Frontier’s Milwaukee hub, which serves the East and Midwest, and its Denver hub, which serves the West, the South, and Mexico, would be valuable to a larger carrier. Airline mergers and buyouts like the Continental/United deal and Delta’s takeover of Northwest are popular in the industry because they allow for personnel reductions and route cuts — as well as trimming the number of aircraft that have to be maintained. Two airlines together can have a better margin than separately. Frontier is a buyout target; its brand is not.

Sara Lee
The company that makes Ball Park hot dogs and Jimmy Dean breakfast foods is already being circled by corporations in similar businesses and by private equity firms — groups interested in breaking Sara Lee up. Apollo Global Management has recently considered a bid. JBS, the Brazilian meat processor, made an offer that was turned down.

Media reports say Sara Lee is in the midst of a plan to separate its coffee and meat businesses. If that happens, the new companies may be named Hillshire Farm and Pickwick Tea. A deal to sell off pieces of the firm will probably happen before midyear.

Borders
The large bookstore chain is almost gone already. The only question remaining is whether it will be dissolved or sold to a related retailer like Barnes & Noble. It appears Borders has little choice other than to go bankrupt, given its debt and cash-flow situation. Two ominous signs for the bookseller: It says it’s unable to pay some of its largest publishers for their books.

Border’s stock also dropped under $1 a share, a warning sign that the shares could eventually be delisted — that is, if Borders lasts long enough. The company’s 500 locations may have value to a buyer, but its name does not, being associated with little more than failure.

Gateway
Gateway was bought by Taiwanese PC giant Acer in 2007. Acer is currently the No. 3 PC company in the world after Dell and Hewlett-Packard. The buyout was not unlike the one that China-based Lenovo made of the IBM PC division. Lenovo found the IBM brand was useful for marketing in the U.S., but dropped the name in favor of its own. Lenovo saw no reason to support two brands any longer and wanted to be recognized by its corporate name in the U.S. market.

Acer, meanwhile, has become an established brand in the U.S. over the last two years, particularly for its netbooks and notebooks — while the Gateway brand has faded. Gateway is still a stand-alone corporation but will likely disappear this year.

DollarThrifty
Dollar Thrifty has a tentative deal to be bought by Avis Budget — but the FTC has not given the transaction final approval. If the buyout closes, then the Avis, Budget, Dollar and Thrifty car rental businesses will all be under one roof. Dollar Thrifty has lost any momentum in its efforts to expand. The company said in December that it would add 31 new franchises in the U.S. It has 1,550 locations in 81 countries worldwide.

Ironically, Dollar Thrifty is itself the result of a merger of two companies. Thrifty was owned by Chrysler and combined with Dollar in 1990. Avis should close its takeover by mid-2011

Answers Corp.
The online search firm’s stock is down 40% in five years. Google, in comparison was up nearly 40% during that period. The smaller company had third-quarter revenue of only $4.5 million, which means it barely has a reason to be a public company. Operating income for the quarter was only $379,000, and its total average page views daily are about 14 million.

Answers will likely be sold to a company that could use its technology platform and unique visitor traffic. This might include one of the portals or large online content companies like News Corp. The company’s market value is only $65 million, which is pocket change for a really large Web company.

E*Trade
There are too many big discount brokers in the U.S. There have been persistent rumors that E*Trade will be bought by one of its larger competitors –Charles Schwab or TDAmeritrade. The rumors even caused a large move in E*Trade’s options early last month. Broker Collins Stewart downgraded E*Trade shares recently, pointing to problems with loan portfolio growth on the banking side of the online brokerage’s business.

Wall Street’s view of the other two discounters is much more positive. The brokerage business has been ideal for consolidation for years. Full-service brokers went through a large number of mergers and acquisitions in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. The reason for the rollups were compelling then as they are now for E*Trade. There are a number of expensive duplicate functions among these companies — which include marketing costs, trading platforms and administration. Either Schwab or TDAmeritrade will use those economies of scale to buy E*Trade, the weakest member of the sector.

If you are undecided about using social media for your business, etc., try taking this simple survey:

Ask three current users of Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter why they use it (them) and how – and why – they do (or don’t) like it (them).

Then, ask three-non users why they aren’t using social media. Comparing their answers may help you make a more informed decision on whether or not you belong in the social media picture, and (if you do), which media may be a good fit for you.

If you want to attract—and keep—eyeballs on your website, follow these simple steps.

Writing content for the Web is completely different from writing content for print consumption. People read differently on a computer screen than they do on a piece of paper. Not only do computer monitors make it difficult to read for long periods of time, but people who use the Web tend to be especially impatient, looking for the information they want as quickly as possible.

With all of this in mind, I’ve come up with a list of 10 commandments for writing Web content. Whether you’re writing a blog post, sales copy for your website, or a press release for online distribution, you should always keep these rules in mind.

1. Keep your headlines clear and catchy. The headline is often times the only thing a reader will first see from your Web content. Maybe they came across a link to a blog post on their Twitter feed, or maybe they’re viewing your headline in the search engine results. Your headline needs to be clear, memorable, and to the point. Put the most important information at the lead of the headline.

2. Get to the point. Web users typically give a new website eight seconds to capture their attention. If they can’t find what they’re looking for by then, they back out of the site. This means you need to get right to the point in your Web content. No long, meandering intros. Cut to the chase so the reader knows he’s in the right place.

3. Link to resources for further information. It’s always a good idea to include links within your content. This is a good way to help readers get more information on a particular subject, and keeps them moving forward on your website.

4. Keep paragraphs to a few short sentences. Online readers are easily overwhelmed. Whenever they see a huge block of text, they usually get scared away. Keep your paragraphs to just a few short sentences so that it’s easy to scan.

5. Use bullet points and numbered lists. People tend to scan content online rather than read it word for word. By using bulleted or numbered lists, you help to make your content quick and easy to scan. Consider this post. If you wanted to, you could scan over it in maybe 15 seconds and get the key information from it.

6. Include subheads to break things up. Subheads are useful for making your content easier to scan, and they help to keep your copy more organized.

7. Optimize your content for relevant keywords. No matter what type of Web content you’re writing, you need to remember that it’s going to be indexed by the search engines. The more search traffic you can drive to it, the better. So, always optimize your content for the right keywords.

8. Write like you talk. The Web tends to be a more conversational, less formal medium of sharing information than most print communication. With that in mind, it’s important that you write content that has a personality and engages the reader. Simply put, just write like you talk. No need to try to dress your content up or make it more complicated than it needs to be.

9. Double check everything. Whenever you put something online, it’s going to be up there forever. The Internet has a long memory. So before you publish anything, double check the facts, and make sure there aren’t any typos.

10. Encourage feedback. The Internet is all about interaction. Now, readers have just as much of a voice as the authors. And that’s a good thing. Just make sure you’re encouraging your readers to give feedback.

 Thanks to Mickie Kennedy for this article. Mickie is the CEO and founder of eReleases and blogs at PR Fuel.

“If your products aren’t good, effective advertising will only serve to run you out of business sooner.” – Advertising legend Bill Bernbach of Doyle, Dane & Bernbach