We have a very small target audience – maybe 50 organizations with 1-3 contacts in each company – that we want to establish lines of communications with and build relationships leading to sales.  Is direct mail or e-mail a better bet? Founder & President of Midwest Mechanical Contracting Firm ________________________________________________ By Jim Sweeney As you might imagine, there are pros and cons to both tactics.

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For as long as I can remember, publicity (a primary tool in the public relations toolbox) has been positioned and/or referred to as an efficient, if not inexpensive way to promote a product or service or organization or person.

The day after Halloween, I started seeing Walmart and Kohl’s holiday television ads. Pottery Barn already distributed its 1st holiday catalog, Target featured a toy guide in Sunday’s paper, Santa is already appearing in the malls, and just this week I started seeing direct response televisions ads for holiday music CDs.  It is like we skipped Thanksgiving and went straight to the holiday season.

With interactive/social media gaining in popularity for marketing messages, do you think traditional marketing mediums will ever disappear completely? How do you think this shift in media has affected the way we market our brands? Will traditional marketing ever be at the forefront of marketing again?

You know that Beyonce song, "If I were a boy"?Anyway, I've been thinking a lot lately about clients and the decisions they make, as well as the decisions they don't make. Having been on the agency side my entire career tends to put me at a disadvantage when it comes to understanding what goes on behind closed doors on the client side.

From your experience what are the best times to distribute email marketing campaigns? President at ProNetworkMedia ___________________________________________ By Jennifer Manocchio The answer to this question is not black and white.  While there are studies conducted on the best day and time to send business-to-business and consumer emails, the answer really depends on your subscriber base.

This past weekend I ran the Marine Corps Marathon in D.C.  In our race day packets, runners received a sample of KT Tape.  The tape claims to relive muscle soreness.  Even though I had never heard of this product before, with both my IT bands hurting beyond belief, I was willing to try anything.

I was watching the Antique Roadshow on PBS last night and saw the most unusual early 20th century invention. It was a heat-powered house fan. For real. There was a kerosene lamp at the base of a fan that was lit and emitted heat through a series of turbines that powered the fan to begin rotating and cool the room.

We recently hired several new employees and have written a news release announcing the growth. What media outlets and journalists at those outlets should I send the news release to? _____________________________________________________ By Kayleigh Fitch, Guest Blogger When announcing corporate news (i.e.