Where you spend your hard earned dollars

AMERICANS CAN NOW DETERMINE WHERE TO SHOP AND SPEND THEIR MONEY        

Election Cycle political donations, as reported by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Shopping

Price Club/Costco donated $225K, 99% went to Democrats

Rite Aid donated $517K, 60% went to Democrats

Magla Products (Stanley tools, Mr. Clean) donated $22K, 100% went to Democrats

Warnaco (undergarments) donated $55K, 73% went to Democrats

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia donated $153K, 99% went to Democrats

Estee Lauder donated $448K, 95% went to Democrats

Guess, Inc. Donated $145K, 98% went to Democrats

Calvin Klein donated $78K, 100% went to Democrats

Liz Claiborne, Inc. Donated $34K, 97% went to Democrats

Levi Straus donated $26K, 97% went to Democrats

Olan Mills donated $175K, 99% went to Democrats

WalMart donated $467K, 97% went to Republicans

K-Mart donated $524K, 86% went to Republicans

Home Depot donated $298K, 89% went to Republicans

Target donated $226K, 70% went to Republicans

Circuit City Stores donated $261K, 95% went to Republicans

3M Co. Donated $281K, 87% went to Republicans

Hallmark Cards donated $319K, 92% went to Republicans

Amway donated $391K, 100% Republicans

Kohler Co. (plumbing fixtures) donated $283K, 100% Republicans

B.F. Goodrich (tires) donated $215K, 97% went to Republicans

Proctor & Gamble donated $243K, 79% went to Republicans

Spirits

Southern Wine & Spirits donated $213K, 73% went to Democrats

Joseph E. Seagrams & Sons (incl. Beverage Business and considerable media interests) donated $2M+, 67% went to Democrats

Gallo Winery donated $337K, 95% went to Democrats

Coors & Budweiser donated $174K, 92% went to Republicans

Brown-Forman Corp. (Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Bushmills, Korbel Wines, Lenox China , Dansk and Gorham Silver) donated $644 K -- 80% went to Republicans

Hungry?

Sonic Corporation donated $83K, 98% went to Democrats

Triarc Companies (Arby's, T.J. Cinnamon's, Pasta Connections) donated $112K, 96% went to Democrats

Pilgrim's Pride Corp. (chicken) donated $366K, 100% went to Republicans

Outback Steakhouse donated $641K, 95% went to Republicans

Tricon Global Restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell) donated $133K, 87% went to Republicans

Brinker International (Maggiano's, Brinker Cafe, Chili's, On the Border, Macaroni Grill, Crazymel's, Corner Baker, EatZis) donated $242K, 83% went to Republicans

Waffle House donated $279K, 100% went to Republicans

McDonald's Corp. Donated $197K, 86% went to Republicans

Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama Breeze) donated $121K, 89% went to Republicans

Heinz Republicans $64,000 Democrats $21,300! John Kerry's wife's company!!!

Traveling and/or dining

Hyatt Corporation donated $187K of which 80% went to Democrats

Marriott International $323K, 81% went to Republicans

Holiday Inns donated $38K, 71% went to Republicans

Email Newsletters Credited in Campaign

This is aninteresting read and even though the election didn’t go the way I wanted I’m proud to know that email newsletters have been credited to bring in millions by a simple word like “hey”!
 

If you’re not into reading this article here are the cliff notes:

It quickly became clear that a casual tone was usually most effective. ‘Hey’ was probably the best one we had over the duration.”

That’s how we arrived at the ugly yellow highlighting on the sections we wanted to draw people’s eye to.”

Another unexpected hit: profanity. Dropping in mild curse words such as “Hell yeah, I like Obamacare” got big clicks.

Most people have a nearly limitless capacity for e-mail and won’t unsubscribe no matter how many they’re sent.

The bottom line: Obama’s e-mail fundraising team tested hundreds of grabby subject lines. The most successful—“Hey”— brought in millions of dollars.

Twitter - I'm hooked but what do all these numbers really mean?

 

I have a business affiliate who doubles in the night life as a great friend. She is really into Twitter and has been encouraging me for over a year to get more into it.

I'm hooked!

 

I began to follow people who have great marketing tips and they began following me. I searched the words "email newsletter" and started following businesses that mentioned those key words. Then I took it a step further and thought that I should follow different groups that I want to market to...so I started following those associations, too. As I clicked "follow" more and more I saw my followers shoot up. I gained over 50 followers in only a few days.

 

I'm even more hooked!

Then as I'm building my followers more and more I begin to notice that the followers I'm getting aren't retweeting my posts which makes me think...are we in a social media state of kind where it's not about what we say but how many numbers are next to our name?

What do you think?

Holiday Email Newsletter Tips

Holiday Email Newsletter Tips

Listen for tips on how to make your email newsletters and marketing work for you this holiday season! The Callan Group offers several examples on how to capture your audience and set your business a part from the rest!

Helping Hurricane Sandy Victims One Click at a Time

Helping Hurricane Sandy Victims One Click at a TimeLocal business encouraging a viral campaign to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Sandy

ORMOND BEACH, FL (Saturday, November 3, 2012) - With relief efforts happening from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, The Callan Group wants to help by donating $1 for every LIKE on their business Facebook page or Twitter page. "The idea is to drive traffic on social media sites so more people see the post and possibly do the same thing," said Diane Michael, owner of the custom email newsletter company. "We were trying to find a way to raise funds for this immediate need and felt a viral campaign would be the best way to gain the most exposure."

 
About The Callan Group
The mission of this Veteran/Woman owned firm is to assist the business community by bringing experience, innovation and training to help further economic growth through custom, personalized electronic marketing. The Callan Group was awarded a Bronze Addy Award by the American Advertising Federation for exceptional work in electronic marketing and all their employees are active in several non-profit organizations in Volusia and Flagler counties.

More Ideas How To Build Your Email List

The Callan Group gets asked often the best way to build your list. Hope you can take some advice from these ideas and an article from Street Fight.


Email marketing is incredibly important for both customer retention and acquisition. Although social media and mobile messaging get the bulk of the attention these days when it comes to notifying people about limited-time discounts and events, 64% of customers still say that email is their favorite channel for hearing about a retailer’s upcoming sales and promotions.

Of course, email newsletters are only effective if they’re being seen by consumers who are interested and engaged with the content a business is sending out. Many businesses struggle with finding ways to grow their email marketing lists, especially businesses that haven’t developed methods for acquiring their customers’ contact information during transactions that occur at the point of sale. Here are five tips from email marketing experts about how merchants can grow their marketing lists and deliver more effective email messages.

Read more from Street Fight

Five Ways to Build a Solid Email Marketing List

Email marketing is a powerful tool that can extend your reach beyond your website and create new sales opportunities. If you simply sell to customers when they happen to visit your site, you have an all-or-nothing chance of making a sale. Should they leave without making a purchase, there's no guarantee they'll return later. 

But when you build an email list of current and potential customers, you can reach out repeatedly to your prospects with targeted messages. 

Here are five ways to integrate email marketing into your website and stay in touch with your best prospects: 

Read full article from Entrepreneur Magazine here