The Joy of watching a New Year hatch…like a chicken.
In December, we sent out a painting of a chicken on the front of our holiday card. It was painted by my friend Donald, as he said that the new year means “new beginnings”, new hope and a fresh start. To us, it also symbolized our new company, Lois Geller Marketing Group, after 14 years of being Mason & Geller.
Many of our friends told us they loved the chicken, and named him Chicken Karma…(send out good things, and good things come back to you).
Then one of our creative people found an egg. He said the egg (when submerged in a glass of water) will crack, and then a chicken will emerge and grow bigger and bigger. When it is out of the water, it will then shrink down to a smaller size, and be hard as a rock. 
I was doubtful about all of this, but we bought the eggs, and then watched in amazement as they hatched. The large one in this photo, is after he’s been in the water for about two days, and the little one is after he’s been out of the water for a while.
He/She is not a sponge, but made of some hard substance, and I have no idea how this works. I just know that it is a great little chicken, and a symbol to stay positive as this New Year begins to unfold…and great new things will begin to happen. 
Let me know about the good things happening in your world, and we might send you one of these magic chickens!
In the meantime, we are launching our brand new Idea Incubator for companies who want to lift response to their email programs, websites and direct mail.
Email: loisgeller@loisgellermarketinggroup.com for more information.
February 2, 2009 1 Comment
The Joy of Email Marketing
Direct mail has always been the work horse of direct marketers. Over the years, we have mailed all kinds of offers for our clients, from insurance to books, and coins, and stamps, and vitamins and health newsletters, spa visits, and even home cleaning products.
Now, clients are calling us for email marketing programs. I encourage them not to use email for acquisition, only for existing customers or opt-ins.
We’ve done many programs now, and one for a cookie and gift company out of Atlanta. The first few efforts were amazing, as I could see (virtually) how many people were clicking through, and the numbers that were ordering on the spot. And, we could see the spikes in our client’s phone room. We also measured the numbers who were opting out.
It was like a fast-paced, warped speed direct mail program.
Our lists were kept separately and we could instantly see which list was performing the best, an which lists needed more or richer offers.
So, now all of our clients are asking if they can replace direct mail with email efforts. You know the answer, in direct marketing, we always test, test, test. Some offers will always do best in direct mail, especially now when mailboxes are really pretty empty. And, after all, you can’t hold an email catalog in your hand, or read a long offer in email, or see a product in a glamour shot.
What are your thoughts? Let me know.
November 13, 2008 1 Comment
