A few weeks ago, I presented a new technology to a group here at Godfrey. I started off by asking if any of them were twittering? A few (mostly under the age of 30) were, but the majority of those in the room had not heard of Twitter.

So what is Twitter? It is designed as a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent "updates".

Text based posts or “tweets” are limited to 140 characters and can be sent to the Twitter web site, SMS, to your mobile phone, instant messaging or a third-party application such as Facebook.

USA Today recently ran a good article summarizing the history and craze of Twitter. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2008-07-20-twitter-tweet-social-network_N.htm

Sounds like another way to stay
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The economy is creeping towards a recession. The DOE’s 13 SEER mandate has helped level the playing field, household buying habits have changed dramatically since the popularity of the internet, and media options have drastically fragmented. With all of this going on, how can a low to mid level HVAC contractor compete against the big guys? While there is no perfect answer to this question, there are some suggestions to help you spend your precious marketing dollars wisely.

Start by looking to your manufacturer and distributor advertising programs. There are literally thousands of dollars available to dealers who agree to use branded and sometimes pre-packaged advertising programs. In fact some manufacturers offer up to 4 times a dealer’s advertising investment!

Next, think about timing and placement of your advertising. What are you really getting out of your investment? Case in point: if you put all of your dollars into yellow pages advertising then you
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The American Marketing Association recently released a new definition for the word “marketing’.  (http://www.marketingpower.com/content2653039.php)

The new definition reads:

“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

The previous definition stated:

“Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.”

I think the biggest addition to the definition is the word “exchanging”.  In this new media landscape of social networks, blogs, mobile and consumer generated
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When should B to B marketers start thinking about mobile technologies? 

The answer is now. Think about it. There are nearly 200 million subscribers in the U.S., which is about 65% of the population. And thanks to advancements like PDA’s, smart phones, Blackberrys and most recently the iPhone, cellular technology is narrowing the gap between phones and PCs. In fact, with more stringent security for air travelers, many executives have set aside their laptops in favor of their favorite web-enabled hand-held device. 

So how should B2B marketers take advantage of this newest medium? There’s no one perfect answer. The best thing to do is start understanding and implementing the basics. 

Text messaging was one of the first and most elementary forays into mobile marketing. We’ve all seen text messaging promotions using short codes on popular TV shows like "American Idol" or
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