The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882 , in New York City , in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883 .

In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a “workingmen’s holiday” on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

What does this all mean to you? Well, many businesses close for Labor Day but for those that don’t, you may have a fairly captive audience since there’s really not a lot going on. Getting a reasonably early start on your day means you can reach many businesses that are otherwise unreachable while still making it to your early afternoon Bar-B-Q.

By simply taking as few as four hours on Monday (mind you, a day you would normally be working anyway) you can get into the businesses that are normally too busy to set aside any time to see you. A side benefit to this is that a company that’s working while everyone else is taking the day to enjoy the beach or park is serious about increasing their business! By taking just a few hours to get in touch with companies like this, you’re letting them know that you share the same work ethic!

So, get some rest on Sunday. Have your business cards ready, and start calling on your prospects ! You may come face to face with more than a few locked doors, but those that are open will likely bring you a substantial amount of business.

Here is the official Google dance?website.

You may also want to visit CNN.com and read their article on the Google Dance.

Enter today for a chance to win a free website redesign from Wildfire Marketing Group! Be sure to tell your friends and associates too!

This contest is currently being offered to all businesses for their business websites. A winner will be chosen on October 1st, 2005. Screen shots of the winner’s prior website and new website will be posted on our website, as well as being featured in our design showcase (site wide in the right menu bar) for a period of one month. You can enter for your chance to win at:

http://www.wildfiremarketinggroup.com/contest.php

I’m sure it seemed like a really good idea at the time. You were probably walking through Office Depot and saw those packages of sheets for making your own business cards and though it would be a cheap and easy way to get your business cards printed. Before you run off and try to save a little money by printing your own business cards there are some things that you need to be aware of:

• You will pay more money per card when you print them yourself. Each pack of business card sheets runs about $15 (not taking into account the cost of your printer ink and your time) and contain 200 cards.
• The stock on these cards is flimsy and unprofessional looking.
• Many of these products have perforated edges rather than the clean edges of professionally printed business cards. This doesn’t present a good image to your clients.
• The ink from your ink jet printer will run when it gets wet.
• You are not a graphic designer.

By trying to save money on something as important as your business cards (which don’t cost much to begin with) you are sending a strong message to your clients/prospects and unfortunately it’s not a good message. Whether it’s true or not, you are giving the impression that your company doesn’t have the financial resources to utilize a professional to design and print your business cards. This will affect your credibility in a huge way. Think about how you would feel if you called the police and the officer that showed up identified himself using a badge that he made at home with construction paper and crayons…chances are you would ask for a different officer to be sent out immediately.

Invest a little extra money up front and present the right image.

We’re often asked “What makes Wildfire Marketing Group different than other marketing or advertising companies?” This is a great question because if you don’t know much about marketing it can be hard to see any difference between marketing companies.

On the surface it may seem that all marketing or advertising companies just make ads, brochures and things of that nature and are only differentiated by the price they charge. Nothing could be further from the truth. A true professional in any industry is almost always well worth their price while a sub par person or company is never worth the money you save. If you had a life threatening illness, would you call all of the local doctors to see who would give you the lowest price or would you check their qualifications and find the best doctor available? Marketing and advertising is no different ? you get what you pay for and if you look for the cheapest service you can often end up worse than you started off.

One of the biggest differences between us and other companies is that we focus on delivering results. An award winning ad has no value to you as a client if it doesn’t bring you any business. We take the time to learn what you need and then we take the steps to make sure you get it.

Is full color printing worth the price? To answer that you’ll have to ask yourself “Are better results worth the price?” Your answer to both should be yes, otherwise you’re reading the wrong blog.

Up front, full color printing is somewhat more expensive than black and white or single color printing but it’s been proven to return a much higher response rate, so it’s actually less expensive in the long run. When using full color printing your ROI will be higher, you will achieve it more quickly and you will create an image of a more professional company.

So how much more expensive is full color printing? Not much really, but the specifics will depend on the situation (finished size, quantity, choice of stock and time frame). With the advances in technology both in the printing industry and in the computer industry, the cost has come down dramatically. You can often print a full color job several times today for the same price or even less than it would have cost just five years ago.

If you’ve been using black and white or single color printing, make your next run full color and watch how much your response rate increases. The small increase in price will pay for itself in no time.

A lot of controversy has been generated lately over Dove’s campaign for real beauty. Some people feel that Dove should not have used non-model types in their ads because they don’t fit into the “perfect” image usually associated with advertising, while others feel that it’s a refreshing change. In a perfect world, the latter should be true. The problem however lies in the fact that we do not live in a perfect world.

Many people have stated that Dove launched this campaign knowing that it would generate this sort of controversy. That’s likely true but since their job is to effectively market their products, they have clearly succeeded.

Dove seems to be taking a responsible approach with this campaign though. It’s been a fairly well know fact that many women who are well within their ideal body weight often feel overweight or unattractive because they compare themselves to the models that they find in fashion magazines or on television. Dove has taken steps to help correct this problem by creating The Dove Self-Esteem Fund, and whether this is just a part of their marketing plan or honest attempt to help, I think it’s a classic case of the end justifies the means. If they can help improve the self esteem of young women everywhere, is it really a bad thing that they happen to be making money while doing it? I don’t think so.

Publishers Information Bureau announced that July’s ad pages totaled 16,236, up 3.1 percent from the same month last year, making this the sixth consecutive month that the pages have shown positive movement.

What does this mean for you? Unless you are advertising in national magazines, probably not much. However it is further proof that the internet is not going to replace traditional forms of advertising as many people seem to have thought.

Publishers Information Bureau is a membership organization that tracks the amount and type of advertising carried by consumer magazines. With a membership representing roughly 85 percent of consumer magazine advertising volume in the U.S. , PIB is recognized as the primary source for consumer magazine advertising data.

Do any of your clients know each other? They should if you want to expand your business. In an ongoing effort to create a win-win scenario, this is an area that adds a sizable benefit for all parties involved in a short amount of time.

Let’s say that your accounting firm handles various types of businesses. One of your clients happens to be a large seafood distributor and several of your other clients own and operate restaurants. It doesn’t take a genius to see the opportunity here. You simply meet with these clients in a group setting giving them the opportunity to network with each other. The seafood distributor may get several new clients, the restaurateurs may get a better seafood supplier and both will remember that you facilitated their meeting - and improved their bottom line! When their friends, family and associates ask them if they know of a good accountant, who do you think they’re going to recommend?

I believe it was Tom Hopkins that said “You get what you want by helping enough other people get what they want.”

We have recently launched a blog for VSS Sleep Systems that provides information on the company, their sleep systems, the bedding industry and sleep health. You can stay up to date on both this forward thinking company and the advances in their technology that will help you to get a better night’s sleep.

Be sure to stop by and see why the Hilton Garden Inn chose their Garden Sleep System for their nationwide chain of hotels.