Xplorecommunication

Project: Jersey City Dining Guide 2009

admin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:49:32 +0000

With the Barclays Golf Tournament gracing the Jersey City area (summer 2009) - City Of Jersey City wanted to get the 100,000+ visitors out into the city. For the initiative we created the city’s first Dining Guide. Small size makes it easy to carry and put in tourism centers. We managed all photography, copy and layouts to create an eye-catching guide that matches city signage and coordinates with the Destination Jersey City Website.

Project: Go Newark Restaurant Week

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:37:56 +0000

Xplore is excited to be a part of Newark’s renaissance by helping produce both the first and second Go Newark Restaurant Week program. The event is driven by the new Greater Newark Convention and Visitors Bureau. This summer the event returns with great Newark restaurants like Casa Vasca, Fernandes Steakhouse and newer trendy places like MiSaVi and Mompou. There are so many great places to try this time around that we’re not sure how we’ll make a decision on where to eat. The graphic design was spearheaded by Newark’s talented design team - Tritonic. Xplore managed restaurant relations, the marketing plan and designed the website.

Create a Facebook Page

admin — Sat, 23 May 2009 14:44:03 +0000

Why Facebook is GREAT!
Facebook is viral. It is a network of networks - every single person has their own network of their friends. If I become a fan of “XYZ company” then all of my friends find out about “XYZ”. So now another few hundred hear about your event or business. The more people you involve the more the buzz grows. And the best part of it all is its free and very interactive!

So how do you get started? Facebook recently started PAGES which are dedicated to businesses and brands. It’s relatively easy - no more than 1 hour is needed.

1. Personal Account: You will need to have a personal Facebook account to setup a business page. This is the account that will manage your page (though you can add others to help administer the page).

2. Start a Business Page. To create a page follow this link (first log-in to facebook). You’ll need some basic information about business - hours, contact info, etc. I would also have your logo and a few photos easily accessible on your computer.

Why use Facebook Pages vs. Groups? Facebook pages has alot of great perks - you have access to statistics of your fans; you can create ads that are directed to your page; pages are public and are searchable on search engines and viewable without logging into facebook; and whenever you change the page info/status all of your fans will know about it which makes getting information out very useful.

Now add yourself as a fan and invite your friends and customers to join!

Email Marketing Management

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 02:06:17 +0000

There are two companies I currently use and recommend for small businesses:

1. CONSTANT CONTACT
PROS: great for small lists, easy to use, good selection of templates, import your contacts easily
CONS: gets costly with big lists
Try Constant Contact - FREE 60-Day Trial.

2. AWEBER
PROS: bit cheaper for larger lists, easy to use templates; great webforms to build list - including pop-ups and hovers, integrate with your blogs and twitter accounts
CONS: after import - every subscriber must reconfirm - so you may lose some
Check out Aweber now

Build Your Email List

admin — Sat, 16 May 2009 01:37:23 +0000

Email marketing is a great tool - but if you do it - they won’t automatically come. You must think about building your list in all your other business activities and marketing. Here are some tips for increasing or starting your list for any small business:

On Your Website:

Sign-up Box: Have a sign-up box for your email list prominent and on every page. They are already on your site -make them stay connected with you.
Bribe Them: hold a drawing or contest once a week/month.
Discount: an easy way to get people to sign-up is by offering special exclusive discount for e-listers only
Web pop-ups: use pop-ups when people leave your site and ask to keep in touch. (Aweber.com is great for these pop-up lists.)
Forward-to-Friend: many email management tools offer a link forward-to-friend so people can spread the word for you. (Constant Contact
- has a great tell-a-friend type link in their emails.

At Your Location/Off-Line:

Sign-in Books/Comment Cards: have a sign-in book at your register or use comment cards with bill. Make sure to entice customers with prizes or email-only specials.
Contest Box/Fishbowl: Have a box for a contest and collect business cards or have entry forms (note: put a line that mentions they will be signed up for email list).
Receipts: add information about your website/email list on customer receipts.

Other Stuff:

Marketing & Advertising: always make sure to note your domain or email list on all your marketing and advertising.

Restaurant/Retail Promotions

admin — Sun, 03 May 2009 21:04:35 +0000

In a difficult economy you need to think out of the box to gain exposure and better yet build traffic to your establishment (which means more sales). Here are some ideas to spark that creativity:

Frequent Diner/Shopper: Keep customers coming back with a frequent diner or shopper cards. Provide each visit with a different discount or after a certain number of visit/purchases get a discount or a freebie (appetizer or small gift).

Incentivize Employees: Create a Family and Friends Night to entice employees to spread the word about your establishment. Offer a special discount or something different (live entertainment, giveaways at door, refreshments). OR You can provide employees with coupons/flyers that are marked with their name/employee number - employees receive a prize or bonus depending on how many are brought back!

Slow Night Specials: Create traffic on slow nights by providing an incentive with a discount or promotion.

Celebrate Something/Any thing: Celebrate a silly holiday (Ground Hog’s Day, Flag Day), create a themed night (Arabian Nights, Mardi Gras, Cinco De Mayo), or celebrate a landmark year/month for business. Have a birthday party once a month and give a discount for everyone celebrating birthdays! Once you have the idea call local newspapers to have it on their calendars or even invite them to the event.

Have an event: create your own Reality show like American Idol (music store) or Bachelor (singles night at bar/restaurant). Or simply host a BBQ or tailgate party.

For a good cause: Do some charity work: restaurants can donate to a shelter or even host a holiday party, clothing store can collect clothing, gifts/groceries can give gifts to families and hospitals, salons can provide services for people entering the workforce. One good thing will do wonders for free publicity.

Partner-up: Partner with local non-competing merchants to offer on-the-block discounts, host a special night, or just split advertising costs. Even consider partnering with the competition to create events like a Holiday Shopping Night, Taste of Town, Wine Tasting, or Romantic Evenings.

Crazy Contest: Develop a contest to bring traffic to your establish… run a coloring contest - bring in entry for a freebie/discount, have a photo contest - at the end send out invites for contestants and friends to pick winner, ask for recipes or have a cook-off.

Email Marketing Law

admin — Sat, 03 May 2008 20:57:01 +0000

Ok so not truly a law but legal standards you need to abide by for the Can-Spam Act of 2003. It was put into play to reduce the amount of spam and legitimize email marketing. While this law will not stop spam, it does make most spam illegal and ultimately less attractive to spammers.

The law has created requirements of how to send email and empowers the federal government to enforce the law. The penalties can include a fine and/or imprisonment for up to 5 years.

How you must change your email campaigns:

List must be a permission-based list
Email header information is not misleading
Email’s “From” address is verified and accurately identifies you
Include an opt-out feature of future email campaigns
Email “Subject” line is straightforward, not misleading
Unsubscribe requests must be honored within 10 days of the request
Must include a physical address in your email campaigns