How to Defuse a Potentially Dangerous Work Situation
by Mike Brassil

In a perfect world our employees would perform perfectly and act like well-behaved adults. All too often, bad behavior in the workplace is commonplace. The path of least resistance is to remain in denial by rationalizing bad behavior, and pretending it isn’t happening. You convince yourself that the issue isn’t important, or that you hope the matter will clear up by itself up in due course. This course of action is usually not very effective. A problem employee is often emboldened by non-action and the behavior often gets worse. In a very real sense, you lead by what you tolerate. By approaching the problem the right manner, you can often defuse a potentially dangerous situation.

http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/behavior.htm

Writing Effective Do-It-Yourself Advertising Copy
by Mike Brassil

The single objective of any advertisement message is to induce your prospect to take action, period! This article will guide you through the basic steps of writing effective advertising copy.

http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/adcopy.htm

Bummer. I missed one of my favorite commercials Sunday…a new one in the Mastercard Priceless series. Someone must have been calling or walking in the door (family had the worst timing Sunday…I was trying to pay attention and write an article. lol!)

Anyway, WSJ Online is running a poll on best and worst 2006 Super Bowl advertisements. To date, with 14,060 respondents choosing from 25 different ads, the five favorites are:

1) FedEx — Caveman, 20% (Where the boss fires employee-caveman for not using Fedex. “Note his problem” that Fedex didn’t exist yet. This is why I’m self-employed…my boss is unreasonable only if I let her.)
2) Budweiser –- Clydesdale, 15% (That’s the one with the cute baby clydesdale pulling the wagon.)
3) Sprint — Theft, 12% (Sprint cellular service has a new feature…crime detterent. This one has all the trappings of “mindless male” appeal: sports, locker room and stupidity. It disturbs - and slightly embarrases - me that I laughed out loud.)
4) Bud Light — Secret fridge, 9% (I laughed out loud at this one BECAUSE the guys were so stupid. Guess I’m not losing my female-ness after all!)
5) Ameriquest — Doctor, 7% (Fifth favorite is close between the two Ameriquest commercials at 7% and 6%. I personally thought this was one of the worst. It opens with A daughter and wife thinking they have just walked in on Dad’s/husband’s death…not the feeling they were going for, I am sure).

The five worst (9,190 respondents):
1) Burger King, 25% (A landslide. Is it just me or are BK commercials getting stranger and stranger? For a long time I thought it was that they were targeting young guy-types and I’m a middle-aged woman-type, but unless 25% of WSJ viewers who watched the Super Bowl are middle-age woman types…)
2 (tie) GM Cadillac, 12% (To me, this is a HUGE indication that the NFL and network are right that the viewer demographics are shifting away from you male dominated to family oriented. This ad - with beautiful, shapely women, chrome and cars - is clearly targeted to the young males.)
3 (tie) Diet Pepsi — Diddy, 12% (Hmm. Are we tired of Diddy?)
4) Emerald Nuts -– Machete Men, 9% (I like the Emerald Nuts commercials. They are so off the wall, they make you think - or at lease stop and gawk - and they get the brand across. Guess I’m weird that way.)
5) Nationwide –- Fabio, 5% (That one made me stop and go, “huh?!” Afterward, I couldn’t have told you the brand advertised or the message if my life had depended on it.)

As I did, most voters probably voted according to how well they were entertained by the commercials. That’s all well and good (and preferrable) from the viewer standpoint (or even from the ad agency standpoint). But, put on your marketer hat and you start wondering just how well high entertainment sells product.

A Basic Small Business Bookkeeping System
by Mike Brassil

The first step in responsible financial management is to set up your own basic bookkeeping system. Choose a simple record-keeping system that is easy to understand. It should be simple to use, reliable, accurate, consistent and able to provide information on a timely basis. It will help you see how well the business is progressing. Maintain two updated sets and keep one off the premises.

http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/bookkeeping.htm