Waiting for prosperity to strike your pocketbook? We decided to take matters into our own hands one fine day. It was a blend of three of the luckiest events on the calendar; two traditional and one new event.

We wanted to reward our hard-working friends so we decided if the government can give billions away to lame Wall Street firms and bumbling automakers, surely we could give hundreds away to the hard-working, productive people we know. And since the government seems to have no problem with printing money we decided to hurry up the trickle down process and print some ‘money’ for our friends and have a little fun.

We took St. Patrick’s Day, the Vernal Equinox and yes, the idea of the ‘Stimulus Package’ and created our own holiday! We had live shamrock plants, $25 gift certificates, gold chocolate coins and green M & M’s. We gave out hundreds of dollars! (actually promissory notes good for any work done by The Association) backed by the full faith and credit of The Association whose credit rating is substantially higher than the Fed.

But of course it was also a party so we had some fun games: Joke Telling, Speed Scrabble, and guessed it…Charades! And for those of you who still like to gamble, some ‘can’t lose’ Poker was provided by the luckiest Irishman we know, Jim Killeen.

All in all, everyone had a great time as usual. What does this have to do with custom video production or direct response TV ads? Nothing, really. Just a demonstration that to create prosperity, all you have to do is decide to have it. And you will.

There are several ways to go about creating an effective marketing plan. If you are a small company considering some kind of consumer analysis, sometimes it’s best to just market from the heart.

What is marketing from the heart? It’s developing a visual identity and recognizing and establishing the emotional impact that this identity has on you, your business, and your clientelle. Independent business owners and independent professionals benefit from this kind of marketing the most, and it doesn’t take long to do.

Larger corporations may still want to rely on primary and secondary research for their market development strategy, but in our experience, Optimized Market Research wins out every time.  Smaller mom and pop businesses, more nimble with their customers as a general rule, can get away with less work, but enough research to hone their message to something more effective.

Tracy E. Locke, our writer and market research specialist, is here to help you implement methods used by esteemed, thriving companies in order to develop your brand and unique market development strategy. There is more to discovering your niche than a hopeful guess.

Develop a heartfelt focus of your business and create an identity that people can relate to.

The Association added Charlie Hodge to our team as a Marketing Consultant. Charlie is the perfect addition because he’s a “hybrid” – he understands internet marketing tools as well as traditional marketing tools. Charlie was Director of Sales at Earthlink but also has extensive experience in non-internet marketing, i.e. printing etc.

So, Charlie is “bi-lingual”. He speaks internet and traditional. Charlie’s a pleasure to work with and the ideal person to escort people through the transition from traditional marketing tools to internet marketing tools such as corporate social media.

“What a breath of fresh air this is,” Charlie says. “Social media is very relevant and a part of everyone’s lives. But a lot of people just need a simple way to start.”

“Social Media has advanced to the point where companies and the individuals responsible for marketing are no longer asking whether it should be part of their marketing mix but how and where they should participate.”

“Most companies that are “awake” to the changing business climate know they need to look at new ways to attract new clients/customers. We are factually helping them do this! We are helping business owners craft and get started on implementing an effective marketing plan using social media that will leverage the power of this new way of creating.”

“In a nutshell, you know how business owners don’t take action with social media even though they know they should? We get them over the hump with an effective ‘word-of-mouth’ strategy, plus our one-on-one implementation service that also empowers them to take control. Part of that service is to get them pretty immediate results that shows then a demonstrable return on their investment.”

The Association has added John Brewer to our team as a Marketing Consultant. John has over 20 years of senior management and marketing experience in technology with a focus on software and Internet industries. His management and marketing blend have involved him in a wide range of engagements, from some of the more premier sites on the internet to technology start-ups.

John’s teams have rolled out leading edge web technologies. His strengths as a product developer and marketer range from strategic to tactical and have resulted in industry awards in very crowded markets. He was an exclusive speaker at Unix Expo `96 on the subject of commercial web servers. John has been involved in Internet focused companies and Web marketing since 1994. He co-founded one of Southern California’s earliest Web site development companies.

With experience in all aspects of marketing-from primary and secondary research to collateral and packaging development to managing campaigns in print, online and trade shows-John’s teams have created one of the most well known brands in the early Internet product industry. John placed some of the largest online ad buys in the first years of the internet advertising explosion.

He has a passion for the cutting edge and has developed business plans and go-to-market strategies for Smartphone applications, streaming video, digital-out-of-home advertising, music and entertainment portals and was a pioneer in the digital music revolution of the last decade with innovative technology for the use of MP3 files.

To take advantage of what The Association has to offer, visit us at our site or feel free to give us a call!

We’re smiling about a new set of TV spots we produced for local Lemon
Law attorney, Norm Taylor. In their first run, the spots aired 5 times and produced 216 leads for Norm in the Los Angeles area.

So we averaged about 43 leads each time a spot ran.

The cost per lead (CPL) is at a low, low $13.88.   Amazing when you consider some law firms pay $350 and up for a lead!

How did we achieve these fantastic numbers?

Well, it starts with knowing the target audience using a very through consumer analysis.  Our research specialist, Tracy Locke, in her surveying of the target audience, discovered unbelievable intellectual AND emotional data.  Thus, our Creative Director, Rick Rogers, was able to use this optimized market research to conceive TV spots for our TV Commercials Production Unit that connect with the viewer not only on an intellectual level, but on the emotional level as well.

Connecting on an emotional level is what triggers people to take action. We motivated them emotionally and intellectually. The phone rang. It’s that simple.

If you want your phone to ring, if you want leads coming in the door, pick up the phone and call us.

Or email me at fletch@theassociation.tv.

Don’t let 2010 get the better of you. Take action right now.

Despite the fact that the media is trying to whip us all into a frenzy about the economy, we don’t see a lot of people freaking out. Most of the people we know are just going about their lives and working hard.

Here at The Association we took a deep breath and stepped back a little bit to get the lay of the land. It seems like there is a lot of bad economic “news” out there, but looking at our immediate surroundings things seemed pretty much the same! The local Mall is packed on the weekends, traffic hasn’t eased noticeably and it’s still hard to find a parking spot at Whole Foods Market. What’s up with all that?

Maybe we are just lucky, but almost all of our good clients are remaining just that: good clients. Of course we value them even more now when it seems like the business world is ready to fall off a cliff at any moment. Yet, they still keep hiring us and we still keep producing effective marketing plans and custom video productions for them.

So we’ve decided it doesn’t really matter what’s going on with the “economy”.

People still have to do business. They still have to market and advertise and promote and we still can help them. Maybe we have to be even more cost-conscious on some jobs, or find some creative way to utilize what resources are available, but we’ve been doing that for 23 years now.

So our advice is:

Do this and it won’t matter what’s going on with “the economy”.

We are still here cranking out creative, award-winning, effective media. Everything from TV commercials to website construction. If you’re freaking out, give us a call. We’ll talk you down.

At the risk of being chased by Ms. Piggy for such a title, it’s true.  Kermit the Frog sang, “It’s Not Easy Being Green” before organic search results were important.

Ok, cheeky semantics aside, life as a business owner IS a lot easier if leads are banging down your door, especially in today’s economy, right? If you had a choice between less leads or more leads, assuming the cost is the same either way, which one are you going to choose?

What do more leads and green have in common?  Organic Google search results. If you aren’t sure what organic search results are, it’s pretty simple.  It’s the user-generated content vs. the sponsored advertisements.  You know, the ads on the right side and the top of a Google Search Engine Results Page (also known as a SERP) that most people generally ignore.

The picture above shows where the eyeballs mostly go.  The more “intense” the stare, the redder (hotter) the color. The sponsored ads area on the right is pretty cold. The 1st three search results on the left side get most of the attention.

See that red line across the bottom half?  That’s called the “Fold Line”, and it shows where the computer screen ends.  This picture shows that the person has paid relatively little attention to the results below the line. So the best bet is to show up in the top 5 results of a Google Search.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with a Pay Per Click Campaign. I’m just pointing out it might be easier to get leads if you are in a room with more people in it. And companies who have their websites showing up in the organic research results are in a really big party. The Pay Per Click party is still going on, but it’s an exlusive, expensive party with a lot less people in it.

Considering that as much as 80% of all online activity starts with online search, there’s a whole lot of searching going on. Think about it. The last time you were trying to figure out the solution for a problem, how did you find the answer? The encyclopedia? I bet it was the online version.

There’s a variety of organic content to create. To be really effective, work out a market development strategy that includes market research data collection and relevant visual content, such as custom video production. Without the market research data collection, you risk creating content that might eventually turn off your potential leads. Take the time and invest in good research, it will pay off tenfold in the long run.  Short-term thinking can turn into long-term disaster.

In short, if you want more leads, go green and be organic.

So I’ve been able to get around and check a few things out and so far I’ve found some pretty cool things in terms of DSLR production.

Probably one of the coolest things is a 3D rig made with Canon DSLRs (seen below). The problem is that, so far, no one has been able to sync images from the DSLRs, a process which is mandatory in 3D production. However, manufacturers of 3D rigs are expecting someone to figure out how to to use a camera such as the Canon DSLR 5D for 3D production.

Another cool thing that I came across was an electronic viewfinder (pictured below) that is able to tap into the DSLR camera’s HDMI output. This allows the camera to be easily focused. The demo was, in fact, extremely informational.

Another amazing thing I came across was Marshall’s new portable, 5 inch HDMI monitor (as pictured below) for mounting on a Canon DSLR 5D or 7D camera. And it’s powered by AA batteries. Not only that but it was incredibly light weight. I can’t wait to put it into action at my Canon DSLR 5D and 7D Boot Camp.

The final thing that I came across that was extremely interesting was the WristShot from Hoodman. I tried it out and it really impressed me and I could feel the relief in both my wrists and hands while shooting. We are going to have Hoodman accessories, such as the WristShot and RAW CF cards at our Canon certification Boot Camps.

The 2010 NAB show in Vegas was quite an event this year. Essentially it is the biggest gathering and event for “toys” for the film and television industry. This past year the focus was primarily on 3D, however, the other big topic was simplifying and cutting costs of work-flow in film, television and commercial productions. That is why the Canon DSLR 5D and 7D technologies were discussed at great length by almost everyone.

At the convention, the Canon booth played a show-reel of various projects. One of the videos that was part of their reel was one of my projects, “Indian Gangster.” My little film was made with the Canon DSLR 5D and was a part of the reel, so I had to stop by so I could check it out. It was really cool to view my little film cut together with a few of some awesome projects from around the globe that were made by various talented professionals.

Rodney Charters even spoke about “Indian Gangster” and showed the trailer at the Canon booth as you can see below.

If you are interested in learning more about how to use the DSLR and are possibly interested in taking Canon camera classes, check out the The Association’s Canon Boot Camp below.

The Association’s Canon Boot Camp certification continues to be a success and teach new people how to use and manage Canon’s DSLR 5D & 7D cameras. The classes take place every few weeks and teach people both the basics in the Level I workshop, and more advanced hands-on use in the Level II workshop. If you’re interested in the workshop you can check out the video below and then sign up for it at The Association’s Boot Camp site: