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Hi, I'm Jeph. I love helping people make smarter business decisions. I help companies stand out. I consult, speak, facilitate and do project work on new marketing strategies (word-of-mouth, customer service, and social media). My consulting company is JephMaystruck.com Research & Consulting. The marketing industry is changing very rapidly and the only way to stay on top of it is by a philosophy of continuous learning. Do you have an information strategy? Are you learning faster than the world is changing? If not, we should talk. Learn more here: http://jephmaystruck.com/marketing-strategy/ Follow me @JephMaystruck

Defying All Logic

Sasktel, one of our local telecommunication companies introduced a new feature they called ebill. I’m sure you already took a stab at what “ebill” is, an online way to look at your monthly statements thus saving postage, paper and the company money in the long term. Great idea right?

It was a great idea until two months down the road my ebill account had been deactivated. Deactivated? Why? What reasoning did they go through to come to the conclusion that after 35 days of access to this online account they would need to deactivate it?

The first time I gave them the benefit of the doubt, maybe it was a security issue. I called and asked for them to reactivate my ebill account, they did and when I checked, it said “Expires in 35 days”. WHY? This defies all logic. Researching further I found that I need an “activation” code to activate my account, an activation code? I just got off the phone with the help desk guy and he didn’t think to tip me off about this activation code I’m going to need? I know it’s not his fault, someone has made a process that defies all
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Challenging the Impossible

Jeph Maystruck October 26, 2009 1 comment

Just because no ones done it before doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Our world loves to conform to what is proper and what is right. I say standout, don’t conform, try something new, be different, challenge the impossible. Why? Because everything was impossible at one point before someone challenged it and prove it to be possible.

It can be very discouraging on the impossible path; it isn’t the norm so those that choose to challenge mediocrity are bound to face much ridicule. Trying something new is always scary but to those who dare to push the limits await a substantial reward. They are the trend setters, the leaders, the people that aren’t afraid to be wrong and without them our world would never progress.

If you’re one of these people good for you and good luck, if you’re not, maybe think twice about putting someone down for trying something new next time.

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Why Twitter?

Jeph Maystruck October 23, 2009 2 comments

@JohncMayer: That cat from the “hang in there” poster just died. Makes a man just wanna give up.

11:33 PM Oct 15th from Twittelator

Twitter’s worth taking a look at just to hear what John Mayer has to say, yes it’s really him and he’s one of the funniest on Twitter (the “tweet” above is my personal favorite).

Twitter, the overnight sensation is quickly becoming the most popular social media platform out there. I am sure many people still see it as a waste of time, and it can be, but it can also be a very useful tool. Twitter is the fastest method of transportation for information. Every “twitterer” wants to be the best and the best, tweet the most interesting, helpful stories or links the fastest. So the most popular people on Twitter are the people with the best tweets, you get the picture?

To get you started on Twitter I have compiled a list of the people you should follow. These are the people I interact with most often. Set up an account and start following this list, it’ll sure bring some amusement to your day, also don’t forget to follow @FraserStrategy

Funny tweeps

@
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Tell Me a Story

Jeph Maystruck October 22, 2009 2 comments

If you want to get your point across tell me a story. Stories, fable and urban legends have all been around for years for a reason, they are easy to remember. History’s told in stories; our ancestors told parables to pass on knowledge. Think about how a chilling urban legend will be remembered for years, how does this happen? It’s a story.

When we’re told a story we actually go through a metal simulation in our minds, this is why it is much easier to remember than random fact, it’s like we’re actually there. From Chip and Dan Heath’s book Made to Stick it says this; “Why does mental stimulation work? It works because we can’t imagine events or sequences without evoking the same modules of the brain that are evoked in real physical activity”.

Our minds have a difficult time piecing random fact together, but put in our minds a vivid picture of the story you are telling and we can recite it almost word for word as if we were there. So if you are an educator, manager, or anyone that needs to make a point stick in some ones mind (which we all should be striving
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Goodwill on a Billboard

Jeph Maystruck October 21, 2009 2 comments

SaskEnergy has put up billboards all over Regina about their latest offering. If you need a furnace you can get a loan from SaskEnergy for prime plus two percent. Seems like a normal billboard right? Wrong.

SaskEnergy obviously understands that many households are in need of a new high-efficiency furnace but can’t afford one. How do you help out low-income homeowners and create some goodwill for your organization without spending thousands of dollars? Offer an affordable method of obtaining a furnace. The two percent covers the cost of advertising and admin work so they are probably breaking even financially, but in the eyes of the community SaskEnergy looks great.

SaskEnergy went out to advertise their newest offer and came back with some goodwill. If only more of our crowns would set out to attach some goodwill to their advertising.

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Who Are You?

Jeph Maystruck October 20, 2009 0 comments

Transparency on the internet is becoming more and more important, if I can’t put a face to your company’s name the chances are I don’t trust you. It’s not difficult to write a little blurb about yourself and why you started the company in the first place, so why don’t you do it? To me it looks like your hiding something, you don’t want me to see who is behind this new company and therefore I don’t trust you.

Websites can be built within hours so how do I know this isn’t just another larger companies subsidiary entering the market? If you’re just a new company, great, tell me about yourself, tell me who works for you, tell me what they’re good at. The people working for you should be an asset, showcase what their strengths are. The more talent I see working for you the better chance you have to garner my business.

Gone are the days of phantom companies on the internet, we want to see who’s behind all your good ideas. Finally, if you don’t want to disclose who works for you because it might hurt your brand maybe they shouldn’t be working for you in
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