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About Eiler
Eiler Communications is a public relations and marketing communications firm in Ann Arbor, MI. We specialize in new and traditional media marketing, serving established and emerging companies in the communications
technology, financial services, biotechnology and healthcare industries. |
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Michigan - The Helping Hand State. Find out how your business can apply for recovery money!
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ONF: A Salute to the Troops
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Operation Never Forgotten (ONF) helps connect our military and civilian worlds through national non-partisan public service awareness advertising. ONF creates daily recognition and remembrance for deployed troops, wounded warriors, fallen heroes and their families. Lee Greenwood is proud to be the spokesman of this non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization. ONF was launched on September 11, 2007 with billboards in Times Square. Today, they have thousands of digital billboards up in nearly every major city across the nation!
ONF is a member of DoD's "America Supports You." Together, they have truly captured the meaning of patriotism, gratitude and generosity- defining our American way of life. Eiler Communications is proud to do pro-bono work to create public awareness for the organization.
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Be Near to Your Peers
By Case Ernsting
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Hey you! Business owner! Come in off the ledge. It's going to be okay. Granted, the economy has not rebounded the way we hoped but that's no reason to give up. If there's any silver lining in plunging stocks or inevitable layoffs, it is the fact that we are in this together; especially small businesses. In these tough times, peer groups are a great place for business owners to turn for inspiration, support and groundbreaking new ideas.
Peer groups consist of a group of business owners from similarly sized organizations from diverse industries, which get together on a monthly basis to share problems and create solutions. These groups are also referred to as peer advisory groups. Peer groups serve as an informal board of directors or sounding board of friends for ideas and discussions on current problems. When many experienced, intelligent heads collaborate, viable solutions are easier to come by.
Recent research performed by Rick Spence and Ajmer Mehmi of Vancouver Island University reveals the formation of a peer group to be quite difficult. They suggest a few simple steps to help you form your own peer group:
1. Identify your goals
2. Determine a measure of the group's effectiveness
3. Distinguish which qualities you want in advisors
4. Select peers through your personal networks and those lll in your field
5. Establish meeting procedures and agendas
6. Prepare meetings months in advance
Of course, peer groups need not be formal. The only requirement of peer advisory groups is to assist business leaders in achieving their goals. And in these tough economic times, we all need a little help from our friends.
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Marketing EMU Football
By Christian Bittner
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I'm Christian
Bittner and I currently attend and play football for
Eastern Michigan University. I had Larry
as a professor in my marketing class.
A marketing paper I wrote considered the different
tactics the football teams and athletic departments use to bring
more fans to the games.
Every
year EMU is at the bottom of the attendance in NCAA Division 1. Not
only does this mean less money and support for the program but could
also mean the program dropping down to Division 2. I talked about some of the good things the program is doing, and
also added some suggestions. Here are two of them.
They both
involved giving away tickets. When you give away tickets you create a
more personal relationship with the ticket holder.
I
suggested teaming up with area school districts and giving away free
tickets to deserving students. This could be for good grades,
attendance, behavior, etc. This would encourage community support for
the program. Giving away tickets to students and their families shows
that EMU cares about the community and wants to reach out with a
helping hand.
The other suggestion was to give away
tickets to the children's ward at the local hospital. St. Joe's Mercy
Hospital is right across the street from the stadium, and the team once
a week during season will go and hang out with sick children. We would
read to them, talk with them and their family and drop off EMU
apparel. I think it would be great if we were to give the children
tickets as a award for their bravery.
With a
college football program, just as with small businesses, it's important
to connect with the community. When a community feels as if they are a
part of a business or in this case a football program they tend to
support the team and will turn into recurring customers or fans. I
hope that you can take these ideas and some how use them to promote
your company and connect with your commmunity. |
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A Word from Larry... |
 "Where new media fit?"
"What will replace newspapers as the watchdog of
government and society?"
"Why all the fuss about social media?"
Professors and communicators brought up these themes at my
"Demystification of Social Media" presentation at the Tri-Continent Communications Conference at Eastern Michigan University's
College of Business.
A vigorous discussion followed what I have dubbed "The Fifth Era of Marketing: The
Wired Era." Earlier eras are widely known as production, sales,
marketing and relationships. (Boone and Kurtz, "Contemporary Marketing")
This new era is characterized by people's "instant
gratification of information," meaning people want immediate and
reliable access to information virtually as it happens. "And they want
it at their fingertips."
Ninety percent of the U. S. population
knows little about the new and social media (Paul Gillian, "Secrets of Social Media Marketing"), which are cheaper and faster than traditional means of delivering information
have been. "No cables, no wires, no postage."
"In this new era, consumers want low or no cost, rapid response, no
time waster, instant delivery and retrieval of information and a high
return on value."
Elements of new media that individuals control: targeting
groups to reach, key words, news sources you use, messages and
content, timing. Individuals do not control the ways
people get information they disseminate and which of the new social
media will succeed. The monetization issue is huge for all social
media because they require a sound business model that generates
revenue while keeping costs in control for profit. Such models do not exist yet for most social media.
The group focused on the traditional "watchdog" function of newspapers
and where it will survive given all the new media and new methods of
online delivery for news. "People need to have believable sources and
writers from news brands they trust," said one leading educator. |
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SEO and You
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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is vital to getting a company websites to the top of Google searches. When people search for certain terms they are more likely to click on the links on the first page versus spending time and looking through several other pages. This is why it is important to be at the top.
There are a great deal of articles/blogs regarding this subject. Many of them provide valuable information that we can all use.There are also sites that don't give very good information that in the long run can actually hurt you. We suggest taking a
look at as many articles as you can find, much of the information is similar. This way you'll know the difference between what will help and what will hurt your site.
It is important to know what you're doing, in some circumstances doing the wrong thing can actually decrease your ranking in Google.
The following is a blog from a site called Blogger Tricks that gives you information on how to correct mistakes or beliefs you might have made.
Top 5 SEO Mistakes You Should Avoid
Enjoy and Good Luck. |
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Larry Joins SBAM Board of Directors
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The Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM) announced its new officers and direcotrs at the organization's 40th Annual meeting and networking luncheon June 18th in East Lansing.
SBAM, 5500 members strong, helps small businesses throughout Michigan succeed by
promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging buying power and engaging in
political advocacy.
Larry was elected a director for a three year term through 2012.
 Please visit the SBAM website: www.sbam.org. The site will relaunch on July 7 with exciting renovations. |
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