VUE MEDIA GROUP (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) March 4, 2009

Greetings, My name is Shawn Welk; I am the New Media director for VUE Media Group. I would like to take this time to share some valuable information in regards to our services and marketing. VUE Media Group provides customized professional design and website management tailored to fit any client or artists, from small to medium businesses and corporate America. Expert Web Design and Marketing! Whether you want us to build your website or you wish to do it yourself, VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) has the solutions you need at the best prices you’ll find. VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) is not an overseas company. VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) is located in beautiful Southern California & Atlantic Beach, Fl USA. Questions? Pick up the phone and ask us!

Custom Website Design!

Our web sites are perfect for businesses of all sizes. Each website comes with it’s own content management system allowing you to manage, edit and modify your website from any Internet location without any special programs. VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) can also expand your website with any type of features your business needs from Social Networks (similar to Facebook and MySpace) to shopping carts to media galleries. But VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) does not stop there! Our website packages come with 1 year free hosting, personalized training so you can manage your website and as always direct access to your project manager. In addition, VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) can increase traffic to your website with our highly experienced search engine optimization team.

Build Your Own Website!

VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) offer two methods to become your own web designer. Professional website Design Templates and our easy to use Online Web Site Builder. Web Design Templates are pre-websites recommended for those who already have some background with web design and web development programs like Photoshop, Flash and HTML editors. Just make your modifications and upload the files to your server. VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) carries templates for Flash, HTML, Open Source CMS, Ecommerce, Forums and many more. Over 10,000 designs to choose from! These design templates make it easy for the novice or professional to complete their project on time and with amazing visual results.

Online Web Site Builders allows the beginner webmaster to choose from over 1,500 template designs and using our online management system you can build your first webpage in as little as ten minutes. Our site builder comes with dozens of features included like shopping carts, photo galleries, newsletters and more. For as little as $24/month you can have a website up today.

Mobile Marketing!

VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) enables cost-effective, customized mobile marketing and communications for any brand, media company, marketing agency, or content owner. VUE Media Group (www.VUEMediaGroup.com) is an industry leader in advanced mobile technology and solutions for clients across all industries. Our solution is built on a multi-functional patent-pending web-based software, custom integrated campaigns, and exceptional support to our clients. VUE Media Group, Keeping Internet Solutions Simple! Once again, thank you for your interest and I look forward to speaking with you soon. Please send me two times you might be available for us to further discuss your needs and how we can help. To Your Success, Shawn Welk 904.545.3928 ShawnWelk@gmail.com www.InSocialMedia.com Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement. Economic wounds must be healed by the action of the cells of the economic body – the producers and consumers themselves. Herbert Hooverar future. My dept works in the Internets social world. Check outMyspace.com/NUSwerve, Myspace.com/Interchanges, Myspace.com/VWDUBClub, MySpace.com/CaitlinBrunell,Myspace.com/LiveVolvo

www.LiveVolvo.Com

www.VWDUBClub.com

www.CaitlinsCloset.org

Stay tuned for some Pop Culture Living. I am all about endorsing life thru Pop Culture Marketing….

Shawn

HOW USING SMS SHORT CODES CAN HAVE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT ON BRAND AWARENESS IN 2009 January 23, 2009

Almost every company that has embarked on mobile advertising and outreach efforts

has said that the most effective way to understand the power of mobile and what it

means to a company is to simply jump in and do it.

 

Key ways that SMS SHORT CODES are being commonly used to reach and engage audiences, some of which are discussed in greater detail below:

 

Creating a dialog and a relationship. SMS SHORT CODES are being used effectively to create

 

a dialog with mobile users. Voting, polling, requests for feedback, sweepstakes,

and contests all require interactivity with the consumer and the brand. This

interaction through SMS SHORT CODES provides valuable information about target audiences,

allowing organizations to even more closely tailor their products and associated

marketing to evolving marketplace needs.

 

Customer and employee communications. SMS SHORT CODES and text messaging are

being used by companies and even schools to distribute information, such as

employee alerts, school closings, airline reservation updates, and sales alerts.

Catalog companies and direct-to-consumer mobile commerce companies are

using SMS SHORT CODES  along with keyword item numbers as a way to allow customers to

order products without calling into a service center. This approach reduces the

number of calls handled by operators, which in turn reduces costs and can

increase customer satisfaction. 

 

Increasing brand reach. SMS SHORT CODES  are also playing a key role in increasing the

 

reach of brands and organizations. For instance, groups in the United States that

may index low for home PC penetration conversely often index high for mobile

phones. Through SMS SHORT CODES, they can now be reached with electronic media. In the

developing world, national short codes allow consumers to be cost-effectively

reached on an individual basis for the first time ever, whereas previously,

advertising campaigns were limited to mass-market radio and billboards.

 

Sales lead generation. U.S. companies of all sizes are using SMS SHORT CODES  in their

marketing efforts to generate interest and engagement with brands, which

immediately or eventually turn into sales leads. For instance, Lexus successfully

used SMS SHORT CODES to develop self-qualified sales leads. And it has been reported that

Denver-based Clarion Ventures is planning to launch the SMS SHORT CODES that spells the word

“House” on the cell phones keypad as a way for users to request that more

information be sent to their cell phones on houses that are for sale. Brands have

reported that potential customers who signal their product interest through SMS SHORT CODES  

are often highly motivated, which can result in SMS SHORT CODES response rates as high as 10%. 

 

Content distribution. Short codes are one of the key ways that mobile content

providers distribute content directly to mobile users, which avoids reliance on

already-crowded wireless carrier “content decks.” Carrier decks are the screens of

content options that each carrier’s subscribers see on their cell phones. Getting

placement on a carrier deck is a costly and long process and must be done on a

carrier-by-carrier basis. While brands can get immediate access to all subscribers

on a particular carrier deck, carriers make frequent changes to their decks, offering

less control for brands. By using SMS SHORT CODES and other forms of “off deck” access, brands

can reach almost all wireless users, not just those of a particular carrier. 

 

Fundraising. Nonprofits are increasingly interested in short codes for fundraising

efforts, having successfully used them to raise relief funds for the 2004 tsunami

in Asia and for Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

 

Mobile advertising. Brands from almost every industry sector are beginning to

 

incorporate SMS SHORT CODES into their marketing campaigns such as on billboards, in print, and

even in TV advertising in order to deliver additional marketing information directly to

users. For instance, shows on MTV regularly include SMS SHORT CODES information to further

involve audiences and drive additional content sales. New mobile advertising formats

are coming onto the scene, including banner ads, sponsorships, product placement

and idle screens, and pre- and post-roll video. Like SMS SHORT CODES, each of these mobile

advertising formats is a sophisticated way to reach customers. In fact, text advertising

can be added to SMS SHORT CODES so that the confirming message the consumer receives from

the brand can also have a line of advertising in it. This not only allows brands to

engage with consumers through SMS SHORT CODES but also allows their closest advertisers to

advertise contextually next to the appropriate mobile content. However, unlike most

mobile advertising, SMS SHORT CODES require single or double opt-ins. Thus, brands know

consumers are interested and receptive to messages initiated by SMS SHORT CODES. 

 

Building databases. Information is power, and savvy organizations are using

SMS SHORT CODES to build powerful mobile information databases on existing and prospective

customers, such as what promotions they respond to, which mobile coupons they

actually redeem and when, and how often they respond to mobile alerts, by

integrating SMS SHORT CODES response data into existing databases. These databases can be

used to develop and support loyalty programs, coupon and direct response

offers, and Internet-like experiences with media ranging from print to radio.

 

Online connections can build customer base January 12, 2009

Online connections can build customer base

 

Jacksonville Business Journal – by Dolly Penland Correspondent

 

Many people get most of their information from the Internet, especially when planning to buy products or services. Consumers want solid product information rather than responding to traditional marketing techniques. However, one thing that hasn’t changed over the years is the value of advice and recommendations from friends before buying.

One way companies can find those most interested in their offerings and provide the information they want is to make customers into friends through social networking sites such as Myspace or Facebook.

“In the past, with traditional media, advertisers would just dominate the market by pushing their message through as many outlets as possible: TV, radio, newsprint, whereas now the buyer has control,” said Shawn Welk, director of new media at Interchanges.com. One technique the company calls “social droving” involves identifying and inviting likely “friends.”

Because many buyers avoid any hint of a hard sell, those who join a company’s network presumably have a genuine interest in the product. “You invite them to be part of the network and they choose to be part of that network,” said Welk, who works with businesses on social marketing strategies. “They can stay with you or opt out” at a later date.

Businesses and other groups can create networks of friends. “It allows for more information without being bombarded with heavy sales tactics,” Welk said. Businesses “use it as an information tool, to send information to prospective customers.”

Social networking won’t guarantee a sale, but it does give companies another channel to pass on information.

“Traditionally, Volvo and VW customers e-mail or call,” said Dennis Walters, Internet sales and marketing manager at O’Steen Automotive Group, which has two sites, www.myspace.com/livevolvo and www.myspace.com/vwdubclub. With computer-savvy clients, “I find them on Myspace and become friends only. They have to accept when they see [the friend request], and they say, ‘That’s the guy I talked to when I went down there or e-mailed.’ It actually works out a lot better.”

Businesses can market to friends via bulletins, blogs or comments. That information can range from offered specials to simple product updates.

“I don’t use Myspace as a sales tool,” Walters said. “I use it as a way to keep in touch, a contact tool to let them know if we’re having free car washes, or new accessories come in, or if we’re looking for certain trade-in cars, or an event going on. We use it as a communication tool more than anything else.”

Walters said being a friend, not a salesman pushing a product, pays off. “I’m getting a very favorable response. Several customers have bought from me [who are] friends.”

Social networking isn’t yet a stand-alone marketing tool, but rather a complement to a standard advertising campaign. “You can never get rid of television advertising, the radio advertising or even the newspaper advertising,” Walters said.

However, social networking offers a chance to target the most desirable prospects. “Our demographic for Volvo and VW are highly educated and 95 percent of [these car] buyers have broadband in their homes. They’re very Internet-savvy. If your demographic is an educated, Internet-savvy customer, go and advertise where the customers are going to be.”

Social networks also help raise brand awareness, whether for companies or other groups, such as nonprofits.

That’s why Caitlin Brunell decided in November to add a Myspace page,www.myspace.com/caitlinscloset, for her charity Caitlin’s Closet. Founded in 1996, the nonprofit collects new and gently worn ball gowns and donates them to girls who otherwise would not get to go to a prom or other formal function for lack of a dress.

“When it started, it was, ‘We’ll see how many dresses we can get and figure out how we can give them out.’ Now, it’s, ‘Where can we store them all?’ ” said Stacy Brunell, Caitlin’s mom.

The Brunells are getting as involved with their Myspace communities as with the real-life communities in which they live and work. Stacy’s husband and former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback, Mark, uses his Myspace page to draw friends’ attention to The Brunell Family Foundation, but he also has given the page more personal attention. For example, his social networking friends were the first to find out that he had signed with the New Orleans Saints for the upcoming season.

 

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