Cupid Marketing Solutions

Happy Valentine's Day?

I hope so; I hope you weren't too consumed with recession doom and gloom to enjoy a day of peace with the people you love. In fact, I hope the holiday inspired you...

Selling is a lot like dating. Here's how we could help.

First, we'll introduce you through mail. We don't recommend blind dates due to their low success rate, but 1-to-1 marketing allows you to court your prospects individually without inconveniencing them. In fact, people will welcome and respond to your message. Through creative design, proper mailing techniques, and an enticing offer we can help you make an effective impression. Done right, your postcard will likely be set aside for later use or even hung-up on the refrigerator. Be prepared they may check up on you through your website or their friends, but soon they will begin to trust you enough to give you a chance. If the sale/first date goes according to plan, this is where they'll start to fall in love with you! Once they've had a pleasant experience they'll be ready to commit. You are their brand and they are telling everyone about the relationship. They are all yours; unless you fall back on your promise or someone else tries to steal them. No worries, CMS is always here for you. Our 1-to-1 marketing capabilities can keep the lines of communication open throughout the entire relationship especially when that relationship is in a rut or a bad economy. Who knew a few postcards done correctly could lead to such an intense relationship?

Cupid Marketing Solutions.

New Year - New Economy - New Opportunities- and Grizzly Bears

Well, everything we hear in the news is that the economy is down and will be getting worse before it gets better. I have to think those experts on the news are right, considering this is what they study for a living.

But, I also know that with every turn in the economy, new opportunities emerge. Those companies (and employees) that spend their time wishing for the good old days when business came easy will be destined to take a front row seat for the downward spiral. Let’s be frank, if the way we did business a year or two ago still worked, than all this recession stuff would simply be hype...

The way out of the economic downturn is to focus on those things you can control and stop worrying so much about the stuff that is out of your control. Bad news happens. It is a fact of life. If you sit around, depressed over the bad news and wishing for better days, you are agreeing to be a victim of the downturn.

But, if we determine that even though things seem bad we are going to be more proactive, more creative, and more enthusiastic about seeking opportunities than the next guy, we will come out on top. Now, this does not mean that if we simply go around pretending things a wonderful, the results will follow. This means that we have to set goals, understand what outcomes we want in business and in life, and then step up to the plate and get to work.

We are each responsible for our own accomplishments each day and we are all accountable to each other for results. This New Year brings with it those same feelings that come each year… a chance at renewal, a motivation to do better. But, so often those feelings subside within weeks and old habits take back over. Let’s compete and win. Just imagine, if you can beat the competition and prosper when all of the experts are telling of gloom and doom, think where you will be when the economy rebounds.

I’ll end with a little story…

One day while hiking in the forest two young boys came across a grizzly bear. One boy was understandably frightened, but he immediately sat down, pulled his running shoes from his backpack and put them on so he could run from the bear. His friend, who was somewhat of an outdoor expert, just stood there and said, “We have had it! I have read everything on bears and we cannot outrun him…we are doomed.” The first hiker stood up with his running shoes on and said, “I don’t care about outrunning the bear. I just want to outrun you!”

This bad economy is like the bear. It may affect us all, but as long as we get ahead of the competition, it will take them down instead.

Post Submitted by: Ed Warren

Vice President Creative Marketing Solutions

12 Productive Things to do at a Red Light

1. Take a deep breath- it's good for your health and relieves stress
2. Check your mileage- it’s important that you get your oil changed on time, it will help your gas mileage and helps your car live longer/stronger
3. Brainstorm- work those brain muscles, it might not be the next Facebook, but it could be
4. Dust off your dashboard- a clean organized environment will relieve stress
5. Sit up striaght and flex your stomach muscles- give your abs a little workout
6. Change your radio settings- spice up your drive-time with some oldies or something you haven’t listened to in a long time, have fun and get your heart rate up
7. Plan dinner- whether it is tonight’s dinner or tomorrow’s by planning ahead you will begin to crave what your having, leading up to a more meaningful meal
8. Quickly check yourself out- who knows what the wind has done to your hair, give yourself a second glance just to be sure your ready for anything/anyone
9. Laugh at yourself- have the courage to laugh off a stupid mistake you made and get a kick out of it
10. Text someone something important- no time to return a call, let them know with a simple text or send a quick hello, how are you to someone you haven’t talked to in a while
11. Clear your head- take a moment for yourself, no worries, no work, no rush -its not like worrying about the red light will make it change any faster
12. Think of a list of things people may be interested in reading- later expand on the list and blog about it

Thank Our Troops

Xerox has set up a website and program that allows us to say thanks to our troops through greeting cards!
http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1024.html

The site allows you to choose from numerous designs, drawn by children, and several pre-written messages or you can write your own message. It only takes 2 minutes and I promise you will enjoy doing it!

We are proud to be a Premier Partner with Xerox.

SNL & Mailing

Saturday Night Live takes a stab at the mailing business!

Although we find the mailing industry interesting, most people aren’t as enthused by it. However, Kristen Wiig can make almost anything funny and amusing to SNL viewers. If you watched SNL this past weekend and you happened to catch this clip we hope that you were as amused as we were, but if you missed it you have got to view it now! We’ve been in the mailing business for over 25 years, and if the best way to deliver your message were on horseback we would be doing it.

(I wonder if we did a spoof of this video for marketing purposes if it could attract any attention? Hmmmmmm, please comment!!!)

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/digital-short-pony-express/866402/

Decreasing Marketing Budget

There seems to be a theme among businesses in a downturn, obviously reducing costs, but in particular the marketing budget seems to be the first budget to get slashed. Coming from a huge fan of marketing that hurts my feelings and aggravates me! It takes seconds to google why you shouldn't cut your marketing budget, but I thought I'd bring it to your attention in case you haven't googled it yet.

CUTTING YOUR MARKETING BUDGET WILL HURT YOU MORE THAN IT WILL HELP YOU!

• Numerous studies have shown that cutting back on marketing efforts and budgets during an economic downturn will not only hurt sales now, but will also in the future.
• If your marketing is standing still right now, it defeats the purpose of your past marketing efforts.
• Losing customers now, could mean they are gone permanently. In the past during a downturn, customers that switch their brand loyalty tend not switch back and when they do come back it is very costly to you.
• Your competitors have also cut back on their marketing budgets, so why not take advantage and gain that potential market share?
• Studies during the 1981-1982 recession show that firms maintaining or increasing their advertising experienced an average sales growth of 275% over the preceding five years.

Check out these links for more fun facts and opinions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yE_RvhH9XY&feature=related
http://marketing.about.com/od/marketingtipsandadvice/a/mrktrecession.htm
http://luxuryexperience.com/publishers_notes/publishers_monthly_notes/is_it_time_to_cut_the_marketing_budget?.html
http://brandandmarket.com/when-do-you-cut-your-marketing-budget/

About us and what we wish to accomplish by blogging

Hello! We are Creative Marketing Solutions, we specialize in direct mail, digital printing, and fulfillment. We are very excited to announce that we are beginning to blog. Through this blog we hope not only to become more in touch with current and potential clients, but to also offer insight into our industry. Any advice you may have regarding blogging, business, or life in general is very welcome. If there is ever anything you would like us to help you with or us to blog about please let us know! We apologize if this blog is to businessy for you, right now we are in the learning phase (again advice is welcome). Learn more about us at http://www.creativecms.com/

Did you know that there are 146 million addresses in the U.S, 1.8 million new addresses every year, and 41 million move every year?