Pitney Bowes wanted to reach out to the younger consumer, wanted to have some fun, and let consumers know about one of their products, the personalized stamp. Angel, who works for Pitney Bowes did a great job telling her story…and it’s true too!

If Sarah Palin has as many questionable moves as I think she does, time will only bring them to the surface.  The latest?  Rumor has it that she scrubbed her own Wikipedia entry.  More here from Social Media.  For more facts on Sarah, go here. 

Is there even a race here?

I had a photographer that I lost touch with.  I had another photographer who decided to step away from her business.  I needed a photographer to take pictures of my family….and of course it couldn’t be just any photographer. 

In true social/internet networking fashion, I found a site called SuzySaid.  It is all the rage in Fairfield.  Why?  Because they report on everything that is local and the content is top notch.  I liked them so much I signed up for their email blasts.  I began to trust their content and well Suzy whoever she is (I have heard that it is a bunch of very talented women behind the homepage :)).  Because I trust Suzy, I pushed a client their way to advertise (I don’t like advertising and rarely suggest this road but again, I trust and value SuzySaid).  They handled my client so well that I thought all advertisers on the website must be top notch.  Because of all of these experiences, I began to trust everyone and anyone associated with SuzySaid (did I tell you about the 2 amazing restaurants I went to because of SuzySaid restaurant reviews?).  Having said all of this, I saw regular advertisements for a photographer.  The combination of her great photos, she was a regular on SuzySaid, and she had a blog that was updated regularly made me hire her immediately via email, no quesitons asked.

Guess what?  I wasn’t wrong about her, Char from Wink Photography was professional and amazing at caputuring the essence of my family.  Guess what?  SuzySaid has done it again!

Ahhhh, the power of the internet!

For some great pictures of the family, go here.

Have I told you recently how much I love the interent and social media…it just makes sense to me.  Check this out, a social network filled with other people in the same boat (or car as you will see) along with expert advice and many service options to chose from based on your needs.  This is for every driver who needs to know a thing or two about their car.  Check out DriverSide…I love it!

Bigelow Tea, our client, has been featured in John C. Havens’ and Shel Holtz’s book Tactical Transparency.  It’s not out yet but the two authors spoke about it at the most recent New Media Expo in Las Vegas.  Attendees were more fired up than ever to get their clients or themselves into the social media mix.

Read more from the Trafcomm News blog by Donna Papacosta here.

I am happy to report that the Creative Concepts blog has been nominated for the 2008 Bloggers Choice Awards for Best Blog Design and Best Marketing Blog.  Cool huh?

We were recently meeting with a potential client who has a strong consumer base, a solid history and great products.  They approached us because we know how to guide corporate through the social media maze and we can help build community with their most valued present and future consumers.

They were excited to get going, they had already worked with an agency that said they could build up MySpace, Facebook and a blog but couldn’t and they seemed pretty savy about social media and their need to use these tools to help broaden their reach.

We got into the meeting, presented all that we could do and the value that social media brings to any company and suddenly and without warning the conversation turned to ROI.  Now I love ROI and believe in trying to track ROI and I appreciate the conversation.  We have amazing reports that we have built that can show the story of these online channels so the client can understand what is working and what isn’t.  Couple our reports with their website and sales stats and you have the whole picture. 

Somehow, the message was lost, though, and the fear set in that these efforts won’t help their bottom line numbers.  I hope and believe that despite their fears, they will take a chance and jump in (or fear more in the not so distant future that they will be left behind)! 

Social media is an amazing tool that every company can and should utilize.  Not every moment may be linked to a sale but the last phone call with your client where you asked them about their family may not be tracked either but it has great value! 

Mashable also talks about the ROI of social media for business here.