I have the good fortune of being lifelong friends with someone who works at Simpson Housing Services, an organization in Minneapolis that provides transitional housing for families with children, as well as emergency shelters for homeless adults.

Eradicating homelessness is always a cause worth supporting. However, we find ourselves at an impasse, with the need for housing services stronger than ever; and the state facing a serious budget deficit that will likely lead to reduced funding for these programs.

You may be surprised to know that you can support this organization with as much or as little involvement as you would like. These efforts can range from helping cook dinner one night at a shelter, to becoming a regular volunteer, to making in-kind donations.

In fact, with the brutal winter we are experiencing Simpson has urgent needs for:

I encourage you to learn more about Simpson Housing Services. Volunteering can be a great family or corporate bonding experience. And like most good deeds, you’ll likely get more out of it than you put in!

-Jeron Udean

When Twitter was launched as the newest social networking tool back in March of 2006, it was a type of micro-blogging to see what friends, family and co-workers were doing at any given moment. Today, Twitter has also become an important tool for marketers, as brands have the opportunity to connect with their audience on a more personal level and reach consumers in real time. Twittering about upcoming sales or building buzz about a new product can work to the marketer’s advantage. Companies such as Apple, GAP and Motorola are taking advantage of Twitter to connect with their customers.

There are now a couple of new tools that make Twitter even easier to use. TweetDeck is a desktop application that allows users to organize their main feed into several different criteria such as time, usernames, topic or keywords. This allows for more efficient use and better organization of Twitter profiles.

BrightKit is considered the “ultimate Twitter toolbox.” This application allows marketers to manage multiple Twitter profiles, add multiple editors, pre-schedule tweets and even measure success.

With TweetDeck and BrightKit proving that social networking is expanding at a rapid pace, it is in the best interest of business to join the conversations. Or in this case, get tweeting.

-Jamie Shubatt

New daddy with daughter Luella

It began on December 20th, 2008 at 3:05 a.m.. At that precise moment my name changed from Trevor to Daddy. My wife and I were no longer a couple but now a family. On that snowy December day we welcomed our beautiful daughter Luella Kathleen and we began a new life together – just the three of us.

When you’re expecting a baby, people always say two things – “it will change your life forever” and “you can never prepare yourself for how much it will change.” Here’s my perspective.

How it has changed my life so far:
- I have fallen in love all over again in such a different way. The first moment I saw Luella – our perfect, innocent, shivering and helpless baby, my heart warmed and melted into a big mush of emotions.
- I was confronted with a new love to understand and define. The closest definition I can muster at this moment is “complete and total pride, protective of her at every moment, and an unconditional love that surpasses all others.”
- I was a boy pretending to be a man, but now I’m man with purpose to my life.
- I have a new priority in my life and that is Luella – first and foremost. Sorry Lisa (my wife).
- Every thought and every decision includes my baby girl.
- And finally, I have a whole new set of vocabulary words I use daily.

Words of newfound wisdom to first-time expectant fathers out there:
- Never argue with your pregnant wife. Period. Do it once just to see…I dare you!
- Get used to doing more things around the house. And do them without being asked.
- Get back to the basics. As an Eagle Scout, I run my life by the motto of “Be Prepared.” Take that idea and run with it. Read the books, watch the documentaries, attend the classes, listen to the horror stories and then realize that most likely everything will be just fine with your wife and child.
- Take the pressure off your pregnant wife. Finish all the projects around the house and get the baby’s room ready early.
- Once your bundle of joy arrives be sure to keep your composure and stay calm for your wife. Most importantly, embrace and enjoy your new role as a father.

-Trevor Nolte

The most common mistake we see in business-to-business direct marketing is
inadequate frequency. Companies often try a direct mail piece or two and find
the results aren’t worth the cost and just suddenly stop. They may try it again
later with a similar result and conclude that direct marketing is expensive,
doesn’t work in their industry or isn’t right for their product.

At SCG we believe direct marketing is one of the best, most cost effective
weapons a marketer has, especially in this challenging economy. It allows for
precision targeting of key audiences qualified to buy, and also creates an
ideal opportunity for measurement. This measurement benefit can change direct
marketing from an expense to an investment, especially if you look at it as
a strategy rather than a tactic. Companies that under invest in direct marketing
are generally just wasting their money. Companies that optimally invest in
direct can steal share and build their brand while they’re at it.

A key element in converting a direct marketing campaign from a failed tactic
to a successful strategy is to consider cumulative effect. If you have a well
targeted audience you can determine their readiness-to-buy and focus your messages
accordingly. It takes a different, often more aggressive approach to shift
someone from unaware to aware; for that jump we have found the best way is
through the use of creative
leverage. Once they are aware they are ready to become interested, get
informed (more on that in a later blog), and ultimately try the product.

A simple way to summarize this is that each wave of your direct program has
a cumulative effect. For example, though a recipient may not respond directly
to your latest direct marketing wave, you may have made them interested and
ready to begin the process of getting more information about your offering.

Looking at cumulative effect from the standpoint of the consumer adoption
process makes the concept easy to understand. Used properly, direct marketing
can contribute substantial new revenue to your business at a manageable cost
that is a sound investment with a measurable return. A key ingredient to all
of this is paying attention to cumulative effect.

-Patrick Strother

Facebook says it now has more than 150 million users. Perhaps even more astonishing – it is growing at a rate of 600,000 new accounts PER DAY. With so many recent additions to Facebook nation, I thought it would be appropriate to create this list of the most common Facebook offenses:

1. Making plans on walls. Facebook walls are public. Social plans are generally private. Unless everyone is invited, you should make plans through private messages or emails.
2. Embarrassing pictures. Believe it or not, many employers now check Facebook to learn more about job applicants. If you see an unflattering picture of yourself on Facebook, untag it. Or better yet, kindly ask the person who posted it to remove it.
3. Allowing anyone to see your profile. Make sure your privacy settings allow only your friends to view your profile. This way, strangers can’t access your information.
4. Listing contact information. Your friends should already know how to contact you, so listing cell phone, home address and place of work can be a little excessive, not to mention unsafe.
5. Language. It’s easy to let words fly when talking with friends, but when making inappropriate comments on walls, keep in mind all who might see it.

-Jamie Shubatt

Scratching his head, a friend recently asked me how we at SCG can possibly do all we do: advertising (creative and media buying for print and electronic), public relations (optimized press releases and technical articles), web (site designs, SEO, and analytics), research (B2B calling and survey analysis), direct marketing (conventional and e-direct) and sales support (print brochures and e-newsletters). For me, it’s second nature to write ad copy one day, analyze SEO keywords the next and round out the week digging through research to find that nugget that will help a client distinguish its brand.

But this is foreign to my friend who works for a company that still relies on a roster of specialized boutique firms for its various marketing communications needs. When they need something for web, they call the “web guy.” When they want a new ad campaign, the ad firm pays a visit. Media relations, well, that’s left to the PR pros. This silo mentality, born in the ‘80s and still taught in most colleges today, leaves me scratching my head.

Integrated communications clearly makes more sense. Your brand is communicated consistently no matter what the tactic. Costs come down by using one firm that already knows your strategy and story. Plans can be shifted easily from one tactic to another to address changing customer dynamics and buying behavior.

Need further proof? Just look at all of the traditional one- or two-tactic firms around town adding web and graphic design talent or merging with other established agencies to bolster their capabilities. And while only a handful of colleges now have integrated communications curriculum, students in these programs will certainly be better prepared for the transition from classroom to the real world.

-Steph Haugan