As I was thinking about my role with our clients in social media and other services, the word “shepherd” jumped out at me. My job is to protect, guide and watch over our clients… whether it’s with social media or any other area of services we offer to our clients.

If the opportunity at hand is not a good move for the client, I say no.

So, there you have it. I am officially a Social Media Shepherd for our clients, a Direct Mail Shepherd… okay, you get the idea.

When mail is relevant to the voter you need to reach… it’s not junk mail!  Political mail needs to be compelling, creative, on-message… but most of all, political mail must end up in the right hands.

Political direct mail that is well-crafted will:

• Convey a specific message pinpointed to unique voter groups.
• Build personal rapport between the voter and the candidate.
• Inspire voters to take action.

Since 1997, YourAdTeam has produced and mailed nearly 4 million pieces of direct mail. What can we mail for you?

Decisions we make every day are determined by our influences… peer pressure; advertising; needs; wants, image; etc. But, somehow we manage to figure out where to eat and where to shop. And if it doesn’t fit we take it back.

Social media: Who should I hire? Should I do it myself? What tools and platforms should I use? How much should I spend?
In the words of one of my favorite brands: Just Do It

Don’t just “try” social media, though. Be determined that it will work for your brand… just find the right fit.

If the social media package you try on first doesn’t fit, take it back and find another.

In a recession, the first dollars that a company usually cuts come from the advertising budget. Advertising in a recession is actually a smart business move to grow your business now and for the future.

Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead.  It’s discomfort that creates the leverage that makes leadership worthwhile and valuable.

In other words, if everyone could do it, they would, and it wouldn’t be worth much.

It’s uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers.
It’s uncomfortable to propose an idea that might fail.
It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo.
It’s uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.

When you identify the discomfort, you’ve found the place where a leader is needed.

If you’re not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it’s almost certain you’re not reaching your potential as a leader.

In nature as in business, the eternal rule is “adapt or die.”

Don’t over think your change strategy…

Keep your customers, but change what you sell to them.
Keep your staff, but change what you do.
Keep your products, but change the way you market them.
Keep your customers, but change how much you sell each one.

Are you adapting?

Grab The Voters’ Attention

Remember, your mail piece is competing not only with every other campaign direct mail piece, but with catalogs, bills and business advertisements that clutters up a mailbox.  To avoid being dumped in the trash with the latest supermarket circular, your mailing needs to stand out.

Use graphics that are unexpected and headlines that grab voters’ attention.  Use sub-headings appropriately throughout the piece to further entice the reader to read more.

Visuals Tell a Story

Your text is important (especially for the press who read your piece), but the most important parts for the voters are the visuals.  Use powerful graphics and pictures.  Make the direct mail piece easy to read by using “white space” around the text. And don’t overdo the amount of text in your direct mail piece.

Standard is Boring

Be careful about using the traditional political colors and canned logos.  You need a political direct mail expert to help create a direct mail piece that will get noticed. Keep it simple. Keep it professional. Keep it targeted.

“We love our ad agency, but we don’t always need every department at the agency touching every project we need completed.  With every touch comes a higher price tag.

We need a smaller agency who can fill the gap by providing excellent service and products in a shorter amount of time and more cost effectively.”

YourAdTeam slogan since 1997, “Corporate experience without the corporate overhead.”

Maybe we’re on to something.

Caffeine
This is why the world produces more than 16 billion pounds of coffee beans per year. It’s actually an alkaloid plant toxin (like nicotine and cocaine), a bug killer that stimulates us by blocking neuroreceptors for the sleep chemical adenosine. The result: you, awake.

Water
Hot H2O is a super solvent, leaching flavors and oils out of the coffee bean. A good cup of joe is 98.75 percent water and 1.25 percent soluble plant matter. Caffeine is a diuretic, so coffee newbies pee out the water quickly; java junkies build up resistance.

2-Ethylphenol
Creates a tarlike, medicinal odor in your morning wake-up. It’s also a component of cockroach alarm pheromones, chemical signals that warn the colony of danger.

Quinic Acid
Gives coffee its slightly sour flavor. On the plus side, it’s one of the starter chemicals in the formulation of Tamiflu.

3,5 Dicaffeoylquinic Acid
When scientists pretreat neurons with this acid in the lab, the cells are significantly (though not completely) protected from free-radical damage. Yup: Coffee is a good source of antioxidants.

Dimethyl Disulfide
A product of roasting the green coffee bean, this compound is just at the threshold of detectability in brewed java. Good thing, too, as it’s one of the compounds that gives human feces its odor.

Acetylmethylcarbinol
That rich, buttery taste in your daily jolt comes in part from this flammable yellow liquid, which helps give real butter its flavor and is a component of artificial flavoring in microwave popcorn.

Putrescine
Ever wonder what makes spoiled meat so poisonous? Here you go. Ptomaines like putrescine are produced when E. coli bacteria in the meat break down amino acids. Naturally present in coffee beans, it smells, as you might guess from the name, like Satan’s outhouse.

Trigonelline
Chemically, it’s a molecule of niacin with a methyl group attached. It breaks down into pyridines, which give coffee its sweet, earthy taste and also prevent the tooth-eating bacterium Streptococcus mutans from attaching to your teeth. Coffee fights the Cavity Creeps.

Niacin
Trigonelline is unstable above 160 degrees F; the methyl group detaches, unleashing the niacin—vitamin B3—into your cup. Two or three espressos can provide half your recommended daily allowance.

1. Find a Local Company

2. Don’t Get in a Hurry

3. Research Your Options

4. Request & Share Specific Information

5. Get To Know Each Other

6. Are You Compatible?

7. It’s Time to Make The Decision