Small Business Makeovers will be held Monday, October 22 from 8:30 am - 12:00 noon at the Glickman Library, 7th floor, University of Southern Maine, Portland. Click here for directions.

Being "very good" isn't good enough anymore. Businesses need to be remarkable in order to break out. There's simply too much competition, and too much media noise for a generically competent company to get any attention. Playing it safe may be the most dangerous position to take in today's environment. Find out how local companies are undergoing transformations in their struggle to dominate their market niches. Hear from a seasoned business broker about the stakes involved for these companies-and yours!

Marketing Makeover (company formerly known as New England Protective Coatings) presented by Yana Farrally-Plourde, President of Ateso. Yana brings 20 years of marketing and product-development experience from New York, Vermont, San Francisco, and Los Angeles working for companies like Burton Snowboards, ESPN, and Sega Videogames.

Market Makeover Catch a Piece of Maine presented by Carol Meerschaert, Marketing Director of Catch a Piece of Maine. How do you make a splash in the seafood market? Identify an underserved customer base, develop a new service proposition, and put out the right marketing bait to lure customers in. Sounds easy, never is. Find out how John and Brendan Ready are launching their futures into crowded waters.

Branding for Branders: How to Build Value for Your Professional Service Firm, presented by Glen J. Cooper, CBI, CBA, BVAL is President of Maine Business Brokers and Vice President of New Hampshire Business Sales. With over three decades of experience in sales, M&A, and commercial real-estate transactions, Glen is an author and frequent speaker on the factors that determine the current and potential value of a business.

Online registration is LIVE!

Please click here to register.

The cost to attend is $35 for MMA members and $50 for non-members and $5 for students with valid student ID. Registration and networking will begin at 8:30 a.m., and the seminar will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. Coffee, juice, water will be served along with light pastries and fruit.

Parking is Free with coupon at event! Valid at the Abromson Hall/Garage only

I leaned a new word this week - Wikinomics. That doesn't mean I know exactly what it means...but I'm told it is synonymous with 'Crowdsourcing'. Does that help?

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Turbo-charge your marketing efforts using leading edge internet tools and proven strategies. Learn what the most innovative and successful companies are doing – right now – to engage, interact with, build, and improve high value customer segments for bottom line results.

Consumers probably equate environmental sustainability with the sale of green products. The Body Shop, Patagonia, Tom's of Maine, and Seventh Generation spring to mind. Of course, greenness depends on much more than what a product is made of and whether or not it can be recycled. Much of a product's environmental impact comes from the manufacturing process and distribution.

Indeed, many firms that aren't thought of as green -- Coca Cola and Anheuser-Busch, for example -- have reduced waste and energy use by focusing on production processes and packaging choices. Why doesn't Anheuser-Busch actively promote that it developed an aluminum can that is 33% lighter than previous cans? Many companies recognize that they are only moving toward sustainability and don't want to set themselves up for criticism of their less than sustainable practices. This is even true of relatively green firms like IKEA, which are careful not to oversell their greenness. In extreme cases, companies may worry that customers might be turned off by a 'green' image -- perhaps that's the case with Anhesuer's Bud drinkers.

Have you considered using a Focus Group to gain a clearer understanding of your target market? Perhaps you are trying to uncover some unmet need that your customer or non-customers have?

The Maine Marketing Association will be hosting a Lunch and Learn on Thursday covering "Appropriate and Inappropriate Uses of Focus Groups".

MaryEllen FitzGerald, President and founder of Critical Insights will be leading this discussion on how and when to engage a focus group and how to get the most out of the experience.

Ms. FitzGerald conducts on average 150-200 focus groups nationally throughout the year. She has developed a national reputation for her expertise in public opinion polling, attitude and awareness studies and consumer sentiment assessments, utilizing a battery of qualitative and quantitative measures.

If you have ever considered engaging a focus group this is a great opportunity to learn from a research veteran.

The Maine Marketing Association Lunch and Learn will take place from 11:30 - 1:00 in room 424 of the Glickman Library at the University of Southern Maine, Portland.

The cost to attend is $5 for MMA members and $10 for non-members. Participants may pay at the door. Bring your own lunch. Beverages and dessert will be provided. To register, please contact the Maine Marketing Association at registration@mainemarketingassociation.com.

Gone are the days when professional service providers viewed marketing as nothing but unseemly advertising. Accountants, lawyers, architects, doctors are concerned with marketing or 'practice development' - - everything from to target marketing and prospect generation, to enhancing the firm's image with integrated communications, to monitoring and managing service quality and customer satisfaction, to networking, publicity, and on-line marketing.

This week's Maine Marketing Association BackLot tour as well as a Michigan consulting firm provide tips on professional service marketing...

The dearth of professional development opportunities is a long-standing complaint among Maine marketers. Is the problem actually the lack of opportunities or are we simply unaware of what exists?

As the Back Lot Tour Coordinator for the Maine Marketing Association, it goes without saying that I love touring local businesses and having a Q&A session with the firm's marketing manager. [Our next Backlot Tour, entitled "Exploring E-Commerce," is at Cuddledown on October 3rd in Portland - - www.mainemarketingassociation.com]

What is your favorite way to keep up to date in the field of marketing? Please add to the list of opportunities that I've started below. Let us know if your recommendation is better suited for someone who wants to learn marketing basics or an experienced marketer who wants to keep current.

Effectively communicating clear and memorable messages is becoming more and more challenging in this ever-changing and fragmented marketing environment.

Learn how to develop messages that will stand out and effective ways to reach your target market at the Maine Marketing Association's fall seminar. "Right on! Staying on message no matter what: Crafting and communicating effective messages that will break through the clutter" will take place on October 17th from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m. at the Glickman Family Library on the University of Southern Maine's Portland campus.