(To read part one of this article, please click here!)

Development and testing

With all of the planning and designing complete, the project team can now start to develop and build the components of the project output.

As part of this phase, you need to test these components thoroughly to confirm that they work as they should.

Training and business readiness

This stage is all about preparing for the project launch or “go live.” Do the following things during this phase:
Train users.
Put in place ongoing support.
Identify what’s required for the project to be effective from the launch date, and ensure that you adequately address this.

Support and benefits realization

Make sure you provide transitional support to the business after the project is launched, and consider what’s required before your team members are reassigned. Project teams are often assigned to other work too soon after the project has gone “live”, meaning that project benefits are often not fully realized.

Project close

Closing a project is not the most exciting part of the project lifecycle, but, if you don’t do it properly, you may obstruct the ongoing delivery of benefits to the organization. Make sure you do the following:
Complete and store documentation.
Carry out a Post-Implementation Review, so that you and your colleagues can use the experience you’ve gained in future projects.

Final thoughts

Project management is a pain in the rear. Why? Because of the project management BEHIND the project management. Whether it’s maneuvering internal politics or scheduling conflicts, these are nuances that are often not built into a timeline. Anything that makes project management easier and increases productivity is a win in my book. That’s why I use (and now work with) Tracky, an open social collaboration platform.

I use it to manage everything from assigning projects on various advertising campaigns to my team and pitches for this blog, to engaging audiences during speaking engagements to working with the Tracky team directly.

Tracky is an online open social collaboration platform that encompasses to-do lists, live chat, calendars, task management, people and project discovery, social accountability, cloud-based storage and more. We use it at Assurance Advertising, and we highly recommend it. Best part: it costs nothing to sign up.

Thanks for reading! Keep checking back as we’ll be delving more into specific processes as it relates to management in future posts.

Not only is the website pretty, its minimalist design helps foster the brand’s easy-to-figure-out business model: why settle for expensive glitz, when you can have inexpensive awesome.

Now it’s up to you to determine whether or not you truly believe their blades are f*cking great; and for just a $1 a month, what is there to lose?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Who Should Attend The Mashable Media Summit Meetup in Las Vegas?

The Mashable Media Summit attracts a diverse range of professionals in digital, tech, advertising, sales, marketing, mobile, and publishing. Whether you’re a brand, agency, strategist, entrepreneur, startup, journalist, community manager, blogger or a creative, the Mashable Media Summit is a valuable opportunity to learn from and network with leaders in the industry.

When it comes to the future of media, the possibilities are endless and a number of questions arise: How will we consume news and information? Can media companies be sustained? Is print truly dead? Come to discuss all of these topics and more!

Click here to RSVP

Wednesday, November 16, 2011, 5:00 PM

The Loft by Freevi (Downtown)
450 Fremont St, Suite 167 Las Vegas, NV 89104

Here are a few topics the Mashable Media Summit will spotlight that we encourage you to discuss at your local Meetup:

Reinventing journalism with social reporting
Advancing the relationship between news organizations and their communities
Reinvigorating advertising and creating new business models
Changing the way we consume media and entertainment
Redefining the way we view privacy and our senses of self

Make Sure you use the #MediaSummit #Vegas and #Vegastech hashtags on Twitter!

Watch it on youtube and set the settings to 480p for best resolution. Also make sure you take some time to pause on each slide to read the entire text as the voiceover does not read the slides verbatim. ENJOY!

Digital World Expo – Video Campaign Development presentation

Click here to view the embedded video.

When I think about advertising I think of the classics. You know the “Have it Your Way”’s or the “Be All that You Can Be”’s. The cause of success for these campaign slogans can be found both in the creative inspiration and the wording. Every brand needs to position itself in the mind of the target market as the solution to a need. But the challenge is establishing this quickly and memorably.

In the two previous examples you can see that the first place to start is by looking at your consumers’ needs and discontentment’s.

Burger King unleashed “Have it Your Way” during a time when Mcdonalds and almost all other fast food venues only offered standardized menu options. This gave Burger King the inspiration to tell the public that at their establishment they could hold the pickle and onions if they wanted to.

The success of this idea not only forced their competitors to change their policies, it also brought about a change in the way the consumer looked at Burger King. And thus, a burger joint with an imperial name had become the people’s champion.

So now look at your consumers. What is it they feel is missing from your competitors? What happens if they don’t get your solution to a problem? Where would they be buying the product? For whom would they be buying the product? What perceived or real benefit does your product have?

Next put out a piece of paper and number it vertically 5, 3, 2, 6, 4, 1. Based on the answers to the above questions come up with a brief embodiment of the essence of your answers. The numbers represent the amount of words you can use for each phrase or slogan.

The possibilities are endless; you can create a list for each answer, or simply do one list as a collective of all of the answers. The more the better.

Try to make this part as fluid as possible with no going back and editing anything. Chances are you won’t actually use any of the ideas that come up, but they will act as a catalyst for creative thought and will lead to your own masterful slogan.

Happy marketing!

Digital World Expo debuts an annual forum for professional education in all forms of interactive marketing, media, communications and advertising. Attendees will learn, train and build awareness of technology application in media and what’s to come. Four areas are presented to meet the needs of today’s media professionals in digital advertising, marketing, public relations, development and strategy:

Will Assurance Advertising be there?

Our very own Shahab Zargari will be one of many choice speakers of the event! You won’t want to miss his session!

Classroom-Style and “How-to” Instruction

• Seasoned professionals and newcomers finding over 30 classes ranging from viral campaigns to virtual worlds.
• Digital media channels discussed with attendees walking away with applicable takeaways for “next steps”.
• Social Media, Viral Campaigns, Video Advertising, Display Advertising, Behavioral (and data) Targeting, Mobile Advertising, APPs, In-Game Advertising, Analytics and more designed in both “beginner” and “advanced” attendee formats.

Media Opportunities

• First-hand exposure to media placements offered by publishers, creative agencies and service providers.
• Interactive exhibits featuring today’s opportunities across all channels.
• New media channels and strategies presented in an exciting atmosphere.

The “Future” of Media

• Our “digital future” witnessed through special interactive exhibits and keynotes.
• High-profile brands and professionals engaging attendees in a fun, high-energy atmosphere as they experience what’s to come.

Entertainment and Networking

• Accents with special attractions and events appealing to all the senses.
• Specialty acts and casual game tournaments presented for everyone’s participation and enjoyment.
• Cocktail “Mixers” in unique venues during evenings of assembly.

DATES: Sunday, Sept 25th – Tuesday, Sept 27th, 2011

Digital World Expo’s mission is to bring more focus on education in an engaging and fun atmosphere. Classroom sessions, hands-on activity, and engaging media opportunities will arm attendees with tools and next steps for their business endeavors at an affordable price. Become a registered attendee today for the conference you will never forget!

PRINT and eBOOK editions out now!

The ultimate advertising survival guide!

The book features tips, case studies and easy to digest how-to segments for all business owners and marketing managers.

What’s In It For You?

Without this book, you will be hurled into the world of trial and error, which can be costly.

Consider the small price of this guide as a way to invest in your marketing, advertising and social media education. You’ll save yourself a lot of time and frustration in the process.

This guide will teach you the in’s and outs of gaining expert status in your niche or brand.

You’ll learn how to create a powerful campaign that people will not only be receptive to, but will remember and respect. You will have people beating down your door to buy your products and services.

ISBN 978-1-257-90685-7

Bring current events into your brainstorming sessions

The prince is getting married and the whole world was more than ready to soak up the sappy moments and luxurious décor.

Women were all focused on what the dress would look like and men were wondering what the wedding would ultimately cost.

The royal family even advertised the event all over their official website, twitter, and official flickr stream!

The entire globe was interested in what the big day would look like, and everyone is now more than obsessed.

Now that the whole world is thinking about weddings, this is a great time to figure out how to write an ad that taps into this renewed passion

Here are some ideas:

Fast food: There is a luxurious wedding and when everyone sits down to eat and the waiters pull off the lids we see the fast food under there.

Hotel: Church bells are going off and the bride and groom are driving away they get to their honeymoon suite. Once they get there they see that the hotel is nothing like the brochure. “Not getting what you paid for? At ___resorts you get….”

Landscaping: We see our couple pull up to their new house still in wedding outfits. The groom lifts the lady in his arms and opens the white picket fence to reveal a front yard that looks horrible and is filled with obstacles. We see the groom work his way up to the door with difficulty, finally when he is 2 feet from the door he steps on a rake and just as the rake is about to hit him in the face– cut to the logo of the landscape company “ _____landscaping, more than just nice lawns”

These are just simple starting points that would need to be polished and revised, but you can see how easily you can take a trend and turn it around to benefit you.

If you would like some ideas for your company leave a comment or contact us! We’re always happy to help…and we don’t look good, unless you look good! (Queue wedding procession music)

Whether you are an advertising professional or a business owner you must immerse yourself in your product to give it the advertising it deserves. Learn what it is that makes your products emotionally appealing to your various target markets and find yourself making the profits you never knew were possible.

If you are looking at your products and taking them for face value then it’s time for you to leave creative advertising to the pros and get back to your extremely important administrative work.

You can’t sell people on just straight-forward logical explanations of product benefits. The late sales guru Zig Ziglar said it best, “People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.”

Keep that in mind as you go over your product and try to find a pitch.

Science and advertising: Don’t take it from Me. Take it from the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex

What motivates clients to get up from in front of the TV, magazine etc. and to go buy your products?

Sure, you can tell your target market that your broom cleans things quickly. But if you demonstrate that the side effect of this quickness will be the extra time they’ll get to spend with their family… simply because they bought your broom, then you’ve stepped into their emotional zone.

As presented in this article by Jonah Lehrer, emotional ties in our advertising actually has an affect on the way people perceive your products. So much so, in fact, that it makes things taste better. Lehrer sites a study by Read Montague comparing Coke and Pepsi, where people actually liked Pepsi better when it was labeled as Coke.

Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t present logical information or that you must come up with completely hair-brained advertising schemes. Not at all.

Just make sure you give the people true emotional reasons to buy from you and that will be the edge you need to win the fierce competition in the marketplace!

Happy marketing!

Is your web copy sending people away from your content?

Get a free website evaluation

If you are the owner and operator of a business who feels you know everything there is to know about writing about your business, step back and take a moment to digest what I am about to tell you, as you could be losing customers every day simply based on the copy featured on your website.

No one wants to read long-winded essays on why you think your business is great

The people who land on your page need to know how utilizing your business will benefit them. They definitely don’t want to be lectured endlessly on products and theories.

Most business owners are educated and have experience writing essays or proposals, but very few have actual experience doing persuasive writing to consumers. These are two completely different things and should be treated as such.

As I’ve stressed in so many blogs before: know your target market and write to them. Better yet, get someone who has experience writing call-to-action rich content that is short and sweet to do it for you.

If you think your website can do better, or maybe you’re not sure but would like to increase revenues, maybe we should take another look at the writing. Submit your website here for a free evaluation.