This post has been brewing for sometime but it appears I waited too long to be the first. The Huffington Post wrote about this issue and linked to the Consumerist story of the same kind. I would like to give a first hand user's point of view. I am hoping we can all learn something about email marketing, customer service, social media, and the impact of a bad idea on all of those. OKCupid Email First, I want you to see the actual email I was ...

In a global and Internet-based economy, they [brands] build trust and reinforce value. - Strategy: A View from the Top Are brands dead? Have we killed traditional marketing? Are newspapers dead? Will television ads die? In a simple answer: No. I wish I could say that this topic has been beaten to death (it has, really) but people keep bringing it up. With the influx of buzz around new media (read: social media and online marketing) there is ...

Pubcon is always a great time. This year was no different - staying up until the sun comes up, crazy antics, and the best SEM information in one place. This year's PubCon was sponsored by Raven Tools - a tool that I use and talk about regularly. I am a fan of their product and their whole team. [caption id="attachment_952" align="center" width="300" caption="Raven Team"][/caption] A few weeks before PubCon, Jon Henshaw sent me the coolest ...

With the influx of online shopping is that people are looking more and more for vouchers (coupons) when buying things online. We all know that there are discounts and free shipping available in many places, but we don't always know about them when we are shopping. It is always after a purchase that we are let in on the secrets. Many online shoppers have been realizing that they can search for discount codes before they shop, or while they are ...

We had a debate in class about getting an MBA from a top tier school like The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business (that's a mouthful) versus Texas State University at San Marcos McCoy College of Business. There is the perception that the MBA from Texas is better, worth more, than that from a second tier school like Texas State. I can personally argue both sides. My undergrad is from Texas, and my MBA will be from Texas ...

No, this blog has not been hacked.  I do hereby solemnly swear, that I, Kristy Bolsinger, do have consent from one Kate Morris to be waxing poetic on her site. [yes she does, and welcome to any time she wants to! - Kate] Today was the first of the two day eMarketing Summit put on by Innotech in Portland, Oregon.  As hard as I tried to talk Kate into visiting me so she could cover it herself, I just couldn't tear her away from her beloved ...

As many of you know, I am working on my master's degree right now. In one class called "Services Marketing" we are reading a book called Branded Customer Service by Janelle Barlow and Paul Stewart (affiliate link). Now, business books have a tendency to bore me. They usually repeat the same thought a hundred times hoping to get that point to sink into the mind of the reader -- drives me up the wall. But I have found nothing but inspirational ...

Okay, when dating my last serious boyfriend I flew a lot on American Airlines. Got rather used to it. He was in Missouri and I in Texas, direct and cheap was American. So I used my Aadvantage membership a lot. I've joined every extra point program they have that makes sense short of the credit card (I don't open any more credit cards because I am set with the ones I have). So I get emails a lot about new programs. Some of them get deleted (I'm ...

In the past 10 years or so, I've seen my share of different kinds of spam. The banks, credit unions, PayPal, eBay, and the bills in the mail for SEO services. I got one today that was different. Two emails from the Arlington County Payment Portal telling me I had three parking tickets from December 15th. Arlington, VA. 5 days ago. I LIVE IN TEXAS! Okay, so that was the biggest thing, just like the banks. I don't live there and haven't been in ...

Being in school for an MBA, you hear the same companies talked about over and over again. That's the good and the "bad" ones. Worldcom and Enron are favorites for what not to do. Google and Sun Microsystems are the most recently talked about in my organizational behavior class as the "good kids." There has been a lot of buzz about the new search engine Cuil, including my own review, and many others. But now we have reached terminal velocity, ...