Social Media

Face to face interactions are typically viewed as the single most valuable activity by any sales professional. However, opening the door and gaining a seat at the business table is tough. How does a sales rep in a highly connected, digital business world capture the attention of Read More

Please don’t take a profile picture like the one to the left. Just because you say “cheese” before you take a photo doesn’t mean you should be cheesy. Before jumping into content marketing and inbound marketing, I spent a few years as an online community manager and Read More

As sales rep, your brand is extremely important to your success in this highly connected, digital business world. You do have a brand. It is what people associate with you; it is why your professional and personal network seeks you out for information. Social media is everywhere. Read More

I ask that question because this month’s main feature focuses on mastering new marketing methods. That means we’re mostly talking about social media. Like any new technology, and we’ll call social media a technology for lack of a better term, there’s a learning curve associated Read More

It’s a new world and the old rules don’t always apply anymore when it comes to reaching new customers and retaining old ones. Social media is complementing and in some instances replacing traditional marketing for reaching out to customers and prospects. For some dealerships Read More

You can automate documents, but not your online marketing. Sorry, but it’s true. Until Skynet goes online and A.I. is real, online marketing and search engine optimization still needs a human touch, specifically an expert’s insightful eye and inquisitive mind. If you Read More

(Editor’s note: This article originally ran last August in The Week in Imaging. It’s still relevant today, especially as more dealers and resellers start thinking seriously about online marketing.) With every business having a Website (really it’s a must), the Read More

When Caitlin Cheevers joined Applied Imaging in Grand Rapids, MI as marketing manager last July after graduating from Central Michigan University in May, the dealership was struggling to figure out how to best integrate social media into its marketing efforts. It’s not that Read More

Last week I accidentally stumbled upon Coordinated Business Systems’ Facebook page. I was writing a column about the value or not of social media to the dealer community and just when I thought I could completely dismiss social media, here’s Coordinated Business Systems with Read More

In last week’s column I wrote about social media mediocrity and how the office imaging industry, at least on the dealer side, hasn’t done a very good job of leveraging these new tools. Count me in with that group. I admit I could be doing a better job. And after interviewing Read More

(Editor’s note: The following article excerpt on how the office products channel was leveraging social media was written three years ago for Independent Dealer magazine at a time when I as well as many office products dealers were bullish on social media.) At Garrigans Office Read More

There are three significantly interconnected trends that all office technology dealers should contemplate in 2013 as they look to the future direction of their dealerships. Certainly, each of these trends has captured the attention of dealers to some degree, but not all dealers Read More