I just read an interesting article. This article discusses the rise in obesity, focusing mostly on children. One of the findings is marketing. That junk food is now cheaper and highly marketed. I have to say I agree with this. In 1999 I was married to a guy who watched all sorts of television and we ate out almost everyday. We got divorced almost three years later and when I left I immediately stopped eating out. I realized later that I never watched television and never craved the fast food. For me, I never crave it unless I’m watching commercial television. I’d say 1/3 to 1/2 of the commercials are about some sort of food. I haven’t run statistics on it, that’s just an observation from me. Junk food is a huge industry and the marketing industry is sure spinning the crap out of it. What do you think? Why are we getting fatter? What role does marketing play in this?

This last week I took on a small project for a friend. Creating 32 corrugated signs that say “Fall is For Planting.” You guessed it! My friend owns a garden nursery called Millcreek Gardens. She handed me an old handpainted sign and said I want this! Go do it. So I dropped it off at the sign shop and had their artist redraw it and create the sign. I picked them up today. They looked great! It was fun dropping them off to her.

Here’s what I learned from the project.

1. Plan B’s are important. Halfway through the project the sign shops artist went awol. Our art was sitting there with a time crunch reigning overhead. I used my regular artist to finish the project. The sign shop gave me a discount on the price and we were able to stay on budget with the art.
2. When done correctly radio can be very effective. This client has used radio for several years–I kept running into people who knew Millcreek’s jingle–proof of the jingles effectiveness.
3. LaRene and I had an initial early morning meeting to discuss some strategy. We discussed what sets her apart from her competition–her purple cow. She said it was in customer service. Each of her employers knowing how to point out specials and tie the shoppers into everything they have to offer. When you walk in or out you are bound to hear, “It’s a great day at Millcreek Gardens.”
4. LaRene has a pretty decent grasp on what needs to be done. Her ideas are sound–she just needs help implementing the ideas. Everyone there already has tons of work to do. This is where I can step in, catch the lose ends. I’m the implementer.
5. There’s one thing that I noticed. LaRene has a pretty clear idea that the internet will be important to her business, but she’s not sure how. There’s some sort of pie in the sky internet marketing concept that she knows is important, but the how and why aren’t quite there yet. I think the consumer my age and younger is reached online. When used correctly this will be the most affective way to interact with the online generation. A huge market!

I was recently asked if I had a distinct advantage over my competitors. Seth Godin calls this concept the “Purple Cow.” I was glad to have an answer. Here it is!

Advantage #1: Competitive Pricing. DeWitt Inc.has been in business for over 40 years. Our sales force has brought in so much business that vendors have given us discounted pricing to make sure that we bring our sales to them. This means that we are working with discounted rates that in turn means we can pass better pricing to you that our competitors cannot pass on. We know where to go to get the best product for the best rate and vendors work with us because we have proven our value to them.

Advantage #2: Efficient Service. The advertising specialties industry is full of possibilities. One of the darker sides is the chaos involved. There are thousands of products sold by thousands of vendors. It takes a very efficient company to stay organized. In my past experience I saw orders get written that weren’t meant to be written, orders not get written that should have been written, invoices that took months to put together, no follow up, too many samples of the wrong item or no samples at all, the list goes on. I was thrilled to find that there was a company that kept control of the chaos–DeWitt Inc. DeWitt is an oasis in this industry. Before joining the sales team I researched the company and found that vendors and clients alike were impressed with their efficiency and ethical stance. I had also worked with them as one of their sales reps. for the company I was with at the time. I always knew that I could count on them to send P.O.’s and pay their invoices promptly. After talking to others that dealt with them I found that this organization permeated all of their business relationships. I have yet to be disappointed. My clients receive order acknowledgement with all the pricing and they receive timely invoices. This is such a simple concept–but vital! Very basic business.

 Advantage #3: ME! I’m running out the door to an appointment, but mainly. I love marketing, I love business–money is a means to an end, but it is not my motiviating power. I simply love the concept of business. If I were to choose anyone to work on my marketing team I would choose me. I know the produts, I know the industry and I know what will help you succeed. I will be back to finish this concept! Hold on!

Today, I rolled out of bed. Did some meditating while my laptop warmed up and here I am now–doing quotes for clients. Today I’m quoting bags. The client wants 50 or so leather briefcases as Christmas gifts–he’s narrowed it down to four options. Now it’s my turn to come up with a price he can’t get anywhere else, but still make some money. The other day I did quotes for architectural scales–now there’s something that’s technical. You have  to know the difference between architectural scales vs engineering scales. It’s all based on the calibrations–nothing else. Same instrument with different measuring calibrations. I never would have known this if I hadn’t done the research. I felt that much smarter and wondered yet again why I didn’t go into something more scientific in college. I was smart enough–oh well, English majors have their place–I’ll go write about an engineer and sell them scales.

I’ve been hearing that blogging is the way forward–so here I am trying it out. I’m a mother of two, work full time and am married to an English village lad–and he does the laundry. Five years ago I was a single mom with two babies and a recent college graduate. My first job out of college was with Connect Magazine, selling advertising. I took the job thinking that I could move into their editing department when a job opened up. However, I found I liked the actual selling work. Since then I’ve sold radio and promotional products. I’ve been indirectly involved with marketing since I left college. Now I’m half way done with a Marketing MBA at the University of Phoenix. And selling pens with DeWitt Inc. This is my third attempt at writing a blog. If this one works I will leave it and move onto the next blog. By the way, if you want some pens email me at anna_warne@dewittinc.com.