Year: 2010

By Josh Sommers Published: 05/21/10 The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is now considered the nation’s worst environmental disaster in decades and will have devastating consequences for years to come. Ever since the April 20th fire on an oil rig that killed 11 people, an estimated 210,000 gallons of crude oil a day … Continue reading “Focus on Marketing: Lessons from the Gulf spill”

By Josh Sommers Published: 05/14/10 Marketing is about presence. Are you the company that the marketplace thinks of for your product or service? Well, that certainly is where you want to be. Part of creating that top-of-mind awareness is event marketing. A great place to do that is at trade shows and consumer expos. Expos … Continue reading “Focus on Marketing: Trade shows can be key tool!”

By Josh Sommers Published 05/07/10 When marketing your business, you have to think big. Part of thinking big is investing marketing resources to create “buzz.” While traditional advertising always remains important, many companies enlist event marketing to generate that all-important buzz in the market. Do you now have a new product or service you are … Continue reading “Focus on Marketing: Create buzz with market events”

By Josh Sommers Published:  04/30/10 Marketing and positively positioning your firm in the market starts at home. You can have the best business-development program, but if your team isn’t equipped to serve the new clients you earn, you’ll go around in circles. A good marketing plan includes equipping your service team to succeed. That’s why … Continue reading “Focus on Marketing: Put high priority on training your staff”

Focus Media CEO Josh Sommers told the Orange County Chamber of Commerce Marketing Seminar attendees to put any lingering Great Recession bunker mentality behind them, and go forth and pursue new business. In a presentation at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel in Newburgh NY, Sommers gave numerous examples of how carefully targeted and well developed creative … Continue reading “Josh Sommers tells Marketing Seminar it’s time to gear up efforts”

By Josh Sommers Published 04/23/10 Most often, 80 percent of a company’s business can be attributed to 20 percent of its customers. OK, that’s no big revelation. But when developing strategies to grow your business, it’s vital to market with the 80/20 rule in mind. Going after new business through advertising is important. But the … Continue reading “Focus on Marketing: Devote time to your biggest customers”

By Josh Sommers Published: 04/16/10 As a “PR man” and marketing strategist, I’m an optimist and positive thinker. I try to bring that vibe and culture to the companies I work for. Late last year, I wrote, with some level of prematurity, that the worst was behind us. This was part of my advice that … Continue reading “Focus on Marketing: Post-recession marketing begins with your image”

By Josh Sommers Published: 04/09/10 No business, whatever its size, has unlimited resources for marketing. That’s why every dollar spent on promotion has to count. If your company was advertising accounting services, you wouldn’t buy ads on MTV. Similarly, promoting auto parts in a magazine focused on early child years also would not be the … Continue reading “Targeted advertising can yield top results”

By Josh Sommers Published: 04/02/10 Social networking is sweeping across all industry sectors in the Hudson Valley at a speed I’ve never seen before. Over the last three weeks, we’ve created six Facebook pages for clients, and coached many others on Twitter and other forms of social media. It’s a fascinating time as businesses rush … Continue reading “All sectors gravitating to social media”

2010 represents a major milestone for the Villa Roma resort in the Sullivan County Catskills. Villa Roma is celebrating its 40th anniversary! To commemorate the occasion, Focus Media designed a special 40th anniversary logo for the resort  which you will see in Villa advertising and e-newsletters. Focus Media will assist Villa Roma in leveraging its … Continue reading “Villa Roma Celebrates 40 years in 2010”

March 26, 2010 Walk down any main street and ask people to name their representatives in Congress, the state Senate or the local municipal board. Most people won’t know, or are simply confused about who sits in what seat. I’ve run my share of political and public perception polls. In general, people are unengaged, don’t … Continue reading “Focus on Marketing: Health care needs education campaign”

By Josh Sommers Posted: March 12, 2010 If you lay Toyota’s image issues on the line, it’s not pretty. In the eyes of the public, Toyota put bottom line over safety and clung to information rather than favor disclosure for the benefit of public safety. Toyota screwed up — big time. They know it. Worse: … Continue reading “Focus on Marketing: Toyota must rev up image campaign”

By Josh Sommers Posted: March 05, 2010 Sometimes gifts, or a really great deal, is what it takes for people to try, or retry, a product. Banks offer free kitchen gadgets or promotional products when you open certain types of accounts or sign up as a customer at a new branch. Casinos often offer free … Continue reading “Focus on Marketing: Well-chosen freebies can lure old, new customers”

By Josh Sommers Posted: February 05, 2010 – 2:00 AM My brother, David, was working in the north tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. After watching, in horror, as the towers fell, we didn’t hear from him for several hours. My family was lucky. We eventually heard from him. Two of … Continue reading “9/11 trials in Newburgh? Mayor missed key step”

by Josh Sommers Posted: January 29, 2010 Successfully marketing yourself and your business is all about multiple touch points. With so many marketing vehicles — like direct mail, print and broadcast, e-mail is a medium that can be part of a winning marketing program. But the initial steps of setting up your program are the … Continue reading “Focus on Marketing: Design an e-mail marketing plan”

By Josh Sommers, Posted: January 22, 2010 – Do you want to increase awareness of your business in the marketplace? Would you like to position yourself as an expert in your industry? Are you looking for a new way for prospects to find your Web site? If your answer is affirmative on just one of … Continue reading “A blog can be a great tool for your business”