As a writer for a company that helps its dealer-distributor network communicate with the corporate office, I do a lot of phone interviews with subject matter experts for several reasons: background research, validation of facts—or sometimes they are the subject of the story. I’m a curious person, so I am not ashamed to ask questions [...]

My sister just had a baby. We’re all very excited to have the new addition to the family, but she’s not been given her name yet. It’s a big deal. It’s the first branding of a person. Setting aside a nature vs. nurture argument, she will spend her life living up to or rebelling against [...]

If you’re a dealer, how do you use social media to connect with and reach out to the community around you? What sites or services? How often? To what effect?
If you’re a distributor, what social media or social networking avenues do you use to talk and communicate with your dealer networks or sales channels?
- Kevin [...]

When I first started working as the managing editor and a writer for an automotive manufacturer’s owner communications publication, the possibility of putting it online was not even considered. Now, nearly 10 years later, the magazine has an online site that provides an extra outlet for reaching owners and prospective owners and has joined thousands [...]

From the team here at the LaBov Sales Channel, and everyone at LaBov and Beyond, merry Christmas! Thanks for spending some time with us. Now get back to your families.

When you’re out there promoting all the great things your company has to offer, often there are competing ideas: Who you think you are to your clients and who your clients think you are. Many companies we’ve worked with have a difficult time reconciling this dichotomy, and it can make it really hard to do [...]

My mother once drove a 1961 Oldsmobile Starfire convertible, white with red leather bucket seats. One of 7,000 ever made. It had red leather bucket seats, air conditioning, hydra-matic transmission on the console—a first ever—tachometer, power windows, steering, brakes and even a power driver’s seat. It had AM/FM with seek-and-scan function and speed-limit warning. She [...]

I just read this post about one person’s experience with customer service of a large bank using twitter. The article stands on its own, but here are the take-aways.

A person got an answer she didn’t like from a customer service representative over the phone.
She tweeted and the issue was resolved with a higher-up in the [...]

Those who know me well know I’m a proud and passionate Deadhead. My unbridled affinity for the Grateful Dead is obviously rooted in the band’s music, but the marketer in me also loves the way the Dead so deftly and brilliantly maintained control over its own branding, identity and consumer relations. That control – and [...]

One thing about having a three-year-old at home…you quickly learn the value of incentives. But it’s a tricky business. Too much incentivizing and your child won’t learn that good behavior is expected all the time, not just when she wants a reward. Not only that, you’ll go broke! Too little or infrequent incentivizing and you [...]