Category Archives: Content

A ‘Political Force’

March 9, 2010 – 12:40 pm

As we’ve posted about before, we are honored to work with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on their national online grassroots program.  This morning, the program was highlighted in the Los Angeles Times in an article, entitled, “U.S. Chamber Grows into a Political Force”:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is building a large-scale grass-roots political operation [...]

By curtmerc | Also posted in Clients/Case Studies, In the News | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

The Secret to a Successful Company Blog

March 3, 2010 – 12:58 pm

Thanks to Rick Stratton at Feed.us, who forwarded me this Inc. article discussing the secret to successful corporate blogging.
The secret (which will shock many) is to avoid the hard sell. Avoid talking all about yourself, your company or your services. As the author, Joel Spolsky of Fog Creek Software, writes:
An entrepreneur’s blog has [...]

By curtmerc | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Getting started on Twitter

February 25, 2010 – 9:41 am

by Curt Mercadante
The following post is taken from our new, free booklet, The Press Release is Dead: Using New Communications Tools to Build your Business, Non-Profit or Campaign.
Have you ever walked into a cocktail party full of people you don’t know and cringed at the mere thought that you’d have to break into one of [...]

By curtmerc | Also posted in Technology/Tools, The Press Release is Dead | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Email as social networking tool? Absolutely.

February 23, 2010 – 1:23 pm

by Curt Mercadante
The following post is taken from our new, free booklet, The Press Release is Dead: Using New Communications Tools to Build your Business, Non-Profit or Campaign.
When we use the terms “social media” or “social networking” most people immediately think of Facebook or Twitter or MySpace.
They rarely think of email.
But the truth is that [...]

By curtmerc | Also posted in Technology/Tools, The Press Release is Dead | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Conversation First. Sales Second.

February 10, 2010 – 9:26 am

by Curt Mercadante
We were fortunate to do a small, online lead generation project last year for a company called K9Cuisine.com — online purveyors of premium and organic pet food.
This is a great, family-run company based in rural Southern Illinois — started by pet owners who saw a lagging niche market and built a very successful [...]

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How techno-savvy does one have to be to start a “social media” program?

January 28, 2010 – 9:47 pm

by Curt Mercadante
This is Part III in a series of answers I provided to the Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce in advance of my keynote address at their February Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce Business Expo.  You can view Part One here and Part Two here. Following is my answer to the question, “How techno-savvy does [...]

By curtmerc | Also posted in Presentations/Keynotes, Technology/Tools | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

How much time or resources does a strong “social media” presence require?

January 26, 2010 – 5:47 pm

by Curt Mercadante
This is Part II of a series of answers I provided to the Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce in advance of my keynote address at their February Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce Business Expo.  You can view Part One here.  Following is my answer to the question, “How much time or resources does a [...]

By curtmerc | Also posted in Conferences | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

The Changing Face of “Earned Media”

January 22, 2010 – 9:39 am

by Todd Schorle
I’m pleased to be the newest member of the Merc Strategy Group Team — and to building successful communications campaigns for our clients using a comprehensive array of modern media tools.
As someone who has worked in the world of “traditional media relations” over the past decade, I’ve been able to see firsthand how the [...]

By toddschorle | Also posted in Technology/Tools | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

How Would You Define “New” or “Social” Media?

January 21, 2010 – 2:03 pm

by Curt Mercadante
On Feburary 18, 2010, I will be the keynote speaker at the Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce Business Expo, delivering a presentation, entitled, “The Press Release is Dead: Using New Communications Tools to Build Your Business, Non-Profit or Campaign.”  As part of the pre-promotion of this event, the Chamber asked me to participate [...]

By curtmerc | Also posted in Conferences | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

Reality Check on the ‘Money Bomb’

January 19, 2010 – 1:15 pm

by Curt Mercadante
Over the past few years, a handful of political candidates have utilized online “money bombs” to raise significant sums of money for their campaigns.
The first high-profile money bomb occurred for 2008 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul, who used the tactic to raise millions of dollars online for his insurgent campaign on a single [...]

By curtmerc | Also posted in Technology/Tools | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)