What We Offer
Sterling Communications provides a broad range of services to clients, with a focus on strategic thinking, quality work and achievable results.
Public Outreach/Involvement
Qualitative Market Research
Marketing/Advertising
Public Relations
Call or email me if you have needs in these areas, and let's talk.
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Career Highlights
Case Study
What Clients Say
Get away
Okay, what does “getting away” have to do with marketing? Well, it has to do with a fresh perspective on what you are trying to accomplish. About this time of year, everybody is sick and tired of being sick and tired, even.
Getting away for just 24 hours—out of your five-mile radius—as my mother said to me recently, does your brain a world of good.
I drove down the Natchez Trace this weekend with my best friend from 8th grade. We had a nice dinner in a local downtown Italian restaurant with exposed brick walls and a bustling atmosphere. We slept in a B&B in a comfortable bed, and had carrot cake pancakes for breakfast while the snow fell outside.
I’m back. I’m refreshed. I’m ready to go to work again. Try it.
February 7, 2011 @ 12:36 pmLeave a Comment
Tags: Alabama, B&B, carrot cake pancakes, mini-vacation, refreshed
Using Facebook
A friend at a party last night was telling me how happy she has been with her new Facebook page. She is an interior designer and she has been posting “finds”, new designs, photos of completed projects and other happenings in her small firm.
She gets it about Facebook. You just publish what’s happening in your organization, company or firm. Trends, finds, actions you take, client news, stats, photos, links…etc.
Tips:
1. Publish at least three times a week.
2. Keep the tone personal and casual.
3. Take pictures of what you’re doing and add those.
4. Add stats and trends—show you know your stuff.
Keep it simple, and keep it going.
January 1, 2011 @ 2:42 pmLeave a Comment
Tags: Facebook, photos, pictures, posts, trends
You gotta have position first
Before creating a new tool—-like a Web site, an ad, a blog, a leave-behind piece—to tell your company’s story, first, you need to determine and demonstrate your company’s positioning in the marketplace. This is packaging and positioning.
Determine: What problem are you solving? What need are you filling? How does your product or service make people feel? Where do you fit in? What’s lacking if your product or service isn’t there? What makes you different?
Demonstrate: Wrap your product or service in this “packaging”. Don’t assume people will just “get” what you do and automatically know how you’re different. You have to spell it out.
When you make time to perform these necessary steps, you’re elevating what you do to a solution, instead of just a business.
December 8, 2010 @ 4:54 pmLeave a Comment
Tags: ads, Facebook, position, problem, solving, Web site
IBM continues to set the pace
IBM interviewed some 1500 CEOs from 60 countries and 33 industries worldwide as its 2010 edition of an ongoing research project. They also interviewed some 3600 college studies at 100 major universities. Their subject: the world economy and business stage.
The findings are fascinating. Among them are the incredible changes facing business in the wake of the recent world recession. It’s never going to be the same again. So much more is going to be required of all of us.
The #1 valued skill by CEOs worldwide:Â Creativity.
The #1 recognition of CEOs worldwide:Â Increasing complexity.
The #1 mission:Â focus on/interact with the customer
The #1 challenge:Â The need for action on opportunities and challenges
The business marketplace has irreparably changed. What are you doing about it?
Click here to read the entire study:Â ibm ceo survey
November 24, 2010 @ 6:47 amLeave a Comment
Will taking away Facebook make people act better?
Today, a New Jersey pastor advised the leadership of his church that they have to delete their Facebook accounts in order to remain in leadership. This, because he has been counseling multiple couples in his congregation who have had extramarital affairs with people they have connected with via Facebook.
This is an interesting development. Social media is growing exponentially, both for personal use and business use. Determining responsible usage and appropriate boundaries is important with any tool. I’m going to suggest that adults who want to have extramarital affairs are going to have them somehow and someway, and banning Facebook is not the answer. It’s like blaming the car because the driver drove drunk.
November 18, 2010 @ 5:33 amLeave a Comment
It’s all about packaging.
Taking the message and packing it in a bag so it can travel well to its destination(s)—its key audiences. When it gets there, it needs to burst out of its package with a clear call to action. What do you want your customers and prospects to do? Make sure you spell that out so your offer is compelling and your request is clear. Pack it up right, and you’ll get results.
November 16, 2010 @ 11:24 amLeave a Comment
Communication
Is there such a thing as over-communicating in this day and time? Information is flying at us so quickly we can’t lift our hands fast enough to deflect it or grab onto the things that interest us. Â We’re missing a lot, simply because we just can’t take it all in. Â So…to those who are attempting to reach us, how much is too much?
The responsibility is on the back of the message sender: Â be clear, specific, personal, attractive, frequent and repetitive. Â Maybe today your audience is absent or overloaded and just can’t receive one more message. Â But, tomorrow is another day.
Do your homework. Â Make sure the receiver is part of your audience mix before you start messaging. Â Put the time in to make your message clear, attractive and compelling. Â Then repeat it until you get a response. Â Be persistent.
November 14, 2010 @ 11:24 amLeave a Comment