Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with promotion

I'd like to give my year notice, please.

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:20:35 -0800

My employer is impressed enough with my work that they want to promote me into a position which would ordinarily make for a great career move. I, however, am planning on leaving in a little over a year to earn a degree in a completely different field, and thus have no interest in the job (for reasons explained after the jump.) How do I diplomatically tell them no without jeopardizing my current position, and how much, if any, of my future plans do I mention to them? I work in the IS department for a large company and, at the moment, am lucky enough to do decent work and still leave at 5:00 PM most nights (with a small amount of occasional night and weekend work that everyone is expected to do.) Later this week, I'll be having a meeting with my boss where she's essentially going to make a sales pitch for another job which under normal circumstances, would be ideal for someone in my position (far more visibility among the higher-ups, greater responsibility, increased salary, etc...)

The problem is that I don't want the job, and (other than the truth, of course) I can't think of a legitimate reason to explain why. In a little over a year I hope to be in school full time pursuing a nursing degree. At the moment, I'm taking all the prerequisite courses needed to even apply to these programs, and much of my nights and weekends are spent in class and/or studying. I have been doing this for the past year or so (taking one or two classes a semester) and have thus far done a pretty good job of managing both school and work. However, with this new job comes a lot more responsibility as well a good deal more after hours work. I wouldn't be able to accept the position and not have either school or work suffer.

I already know I'm not going to accept the position. I have no desire stay in the IT field after ten years in it (two and a half at this job), and the idea of being a nurse really appeals to me on many different levels. I'm just not sure how I should tell my boss no. Assuming, for the moment, that I wasn't planning on going into nursing, and that I was an upwardly mobile worker bee with high ambition and a desire for a larger salary, there should be no reason for me not take this job (aside from the increased hours, which I can assure you, are seen as necessary growing pains for future rewards down the road. They aren't really, but that's how it'll be portrayed.) I'd thought about telling her that I really like the work I'm doing now, and that maintaining a work/life balance is important to me, but then I keep thinking if I were a manager, is that what I'd really want to hear? Does a manager/director really want an employee on their team who, while doing good work, is content to stay exactly where he is as long as things remain status quo, especially if that person could be of greater value to the company elsewhere?

So, I guess my question is, how do I tell my boss no without jeopardizing the position I have now? Do I *gasp* actually tell them about my future plans? On the surface, that would seem (to me at least) to be a pretty stupid thing to do. It's essentially telling them that I have no real interest in my job or the company, and that I'm using them for a paycheck. On the other hand, my position will be a tough one to fill (similar positions have taken them months to fill, even in this economy) and, although I don't owe it to them, I'm sure they'd appreciate the extra notice. Or, do I simply say, "I'm flattered that you're considering me for this position, but for personal reasons I really have to decline" and just leave it at that, essentially making them guess?

What say you, hivemind? If you were a manager, what response would be least likely to raise your suspicions and allow me to stay where I currently am?

Thanks in advance.

Need creative ways to promote live bands upcoming appearances.

foodybat — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:27:47 -0800

I need some 'out of the box' thinking on some different ideas to promote a local (to Clearwater) band's upcoming live performances. They have myspace & most of the band members have Facebook. They also have a website as well.

They are The Black Honkey's... They play funk, soul, & rock. Amazing live band & have been doing it (performing) either together or in other bands ... for many years...

They have 1 album...but they aren't too interested in 'doing albums'... but rather ongoing live performances at some venues they play at regularly.

They are a spectacular live band, and 2-3 songs into their first set, people dance through the rest of the night....

Any thoughts on different ways to spread the word?

How Do I Promote My YA Fantasy Novel?

musofire — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:33:51 -0800

I want to promote my Young Adult fantasy novel about Morgan le Fay on the web. The biggest audience should be young women and libraries; Wiccans, medieval re-enactors and King Arthur fans would dig it, too (I hope). How can I best promote the book myself? What sites and blogs should I contact? Are author's tours effective? What should I definitely put my efforts into and what's not worth my time? I've written a fantasy novel about the childhood of Morgan le Fay which is coming out next year. My publisher probably doesn't have huge resources for promoting the book, and I want to do my part.

I've thought of doing a virtual author's tour, contacting blogs and websites for (a) young adult readers (b) Wiccans (c) medieval fans (d) King Arthur fans. What are the blogs and websites I shouldn't miss?

Also, here in Canada, publishers can get grant money to send authors on real live book tours. If I hit four or five major cities, how can I get the maximum buzz out of being physically there? It's not worth traveling to Calgary to sell ten books, unless I can leverage that somehow into radio interviews or ... what?

I'll work up some sort of website about the book and about Morgan le Fay, of course. What sort of content might be the most interesting to readers?

What have I missed?

Ideas for promoting a band at SXSW?

malocchio — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:29:18 -0800

The singer I've been working with is travelling to the US from Europe in March, and I'm submitting an application to SXSW. I'm stuck on this question: "How do you plan to promote your show if selected?" We have a very short window to book some shows, and it happens to coincide with SXSW. I know it's a long shot and I don't expect to be selected, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

So of course there is MySpace, Facebook, etc. Flyers seem fairly useless for this. What else could we do? What kind of marketing ideas might make the organizers take a chance on an unknown band?

Bonus points to anyone that has successfully gone through the SXSW selection process!

How to be young again?

colgate — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:19:09 -0800

As an 18-year old male I received a free razor from Gillette. Internet digging tells me Gillette uses an outside source to determine men's birthdays, but no one actually knows. There are tons of blog comments, all of which can be summarized as either "Maybe it's Selective Service" or "Yeah, I got one too, X years ago!" How do I get myself back on the list of 18-year olds for the next razor shipment?

How can I increase traffic to a porn site?

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:43:22 -0800

How does one go about promoting a porn site? I do freelance work, and recently received a proposal from a client who wants me to do promotions work for a porn site; my commission would be based on increased traffic. I have to admit total cluelessness in this arena, so I'm hoping Ask MeFi can help. For example, I know for a food site I'd submit pics and links to TasteSpotting, FoodGawker, etc. I'd use Twitter a little, and because food is an interest of mine I'm already a member of lots of communities where recipes are discussed. Porn? Not so much; I've never been into it. A friend already mentioned Fleshbot, so I'm trying to figure out how that works, but any and all other suggestions are welcome. The site, if it matters, has a BDSM leaning. This should all stay legal and above-board; any SEO will comply with search engine rules, I don't want to spam, stuff like that. Help a girl out? You can also email me at heyboyhowdy@gmail.com.

Now that I have my red nose, how do I get paid to wear it?!

iliketolaughalot — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:25:52 -0800

After a year and a half of teaching myself to do balloon art, I bit the bullet and went to clown school! It was a ton of fun, and I am now officially a clown! The problem is that now I have to book some gigs! I have a website, a Twitter account, aFacebook page, and business cards on the way. Still, I don't really know how to market myself effectively. It's a competitive market (NYC) so I'm wondering what I can do to get the word out! I've posted on Craigslist, but I'm competing with big companies that have hordes of clowns and other entertainers. While I'm new to clowning, I have been working with kids forever and have tons of experience in that. I've also been a pre-clown for some time, working at birthday parties of friends' kids, which I can use on my resume.

While I have applied for some jobs with existing companies, they pay really poorly compared to what I could make on y own. Of course, in order to make that money on my own, I'd have to get some jobs.

I joined the NY Clown Alley to try to network, but it hasn't gotten me very far.

Help me clown around! Will provide silly jokes in response to your suggestions of course!

web promotion for architecture?

ebesan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:30:51 -0800

How to promote my work online. I am an architect. NY and Mexico. I am trying to figure ways to build myself/my work. How to submit your work/name to design blogs, etc. w/out being a jerk? No name here; I'm not using this place for that purpose.

They got a rise out of me, but I wanted a raise.

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:31:51 -0800

Recently, my boss promised me a performance bonus that he did not make good on. I need help with how to both deal with and get over this tricky bonus/work situation. Recently, my boss promised me a performance bonus that he did not make good on. Needless to say, I am very disappointed, but I want to not be. That's not the whole story, though. Please bear with me. I am trying to give all the facts because I am anonymous and I also am trying not to give away any identifying details.

At my job, upper management launched a competition amongst its managers where bonuses were paid out quarterly. Each week, us managers are evaluated by 3 criteria, and we would receive emails detailing our rankings by these criteria. For the whole quarter, I was number one. This was no small task. I'm omitting the industry, but this was very hard to do, given how this industry was affected by the economic slump. Further to that, I was the only manager who generated a profit every week, while *all* of the other managers were in the red every single week. During this time, I broke two sales records, and received so much positive customer feedback.

So, the bonus structure works such that the #1 manager would get the largest bonus and #2 would get the next biggest, and so on. #1 and #2 are very big amounts. The one caveat is that if you do x, you are disqualified from being #1. This one thing is sort of like a report not being submitted on time or correctly. The downside is you are indirectly responsible for the report, because it's part of your job to manage everyone, and it falls under the duties of your third-in-command.

Well, my third in command failed me. To be fair, I knew this was the disqualifying behavior and had been on top of it, but he dropped the ball on this one week before the end of the quarter, thereby disqualifying me from what I had worked so hard for the prior 12 weeks.

All of upper management was extremely sympathetic. When it happened, I was so appreciative of the outpour of support from people who I didn't think cared or even knew me. It turns out I had been a hot topic because I had performed so well, and it was unprecedented. Further, one coworker (not a manager, but someone who works in the office) let me know that without my sales profit, it was likely that no one would have received bonuses (managers and upwards). The president of the company and my boss both came to me straight after the upset and said they would make up for it, because while they (and I) understood I couldn't get the #1 bonus, they still wanted to do something to honor my hard work and effort. Specifics did come up in terms of numbers, and I thought what my boss threw out was a fair compromise. It was a halfway point between the #1 and the #2 big prizes. I didn't get it in writing, because I didn't ask/fish/pout for this action, and didn't want to seem like I was looking a gift horse in the mouth. Clearly a big mistake and lesson learned. A lot of their reasoning and actions seemed to be based on the fact that they didn't want their top performer to get de-motivated or be demoralized. Fair, I thought, because I was headed that way.

Bonuses are given out a month after the end of the quarter at our formal quarterly gathering, and I was disappointed that I wouldn't receive the honor of being #1, and also a little embarrassed because other managers definitively expected that I would be the #1 (usually there is a little bit of guessing who would be #1, but since the weekly results are distributed and I had been #1 every week, there should have been no surprise this time).

But I was surprised because my bonus was $7,000 short. It was less than half of what was promised. No follow up ever came from either the president or my boss.

I stewed for weeks. I was upset because I worked so hard to achieve what I did, only to have it thrown away for something that had not happened before and was sort of out of my control (I go back and forth on that - to be honest). But, I am really upset because my cohorts did nothing to deserve the #1 and #2 bonus really other than submit the report on time (again, it's not a report, but trying to not list anything identifying). They were all (15+ others) in the red for the whole quarter, and I was subjected to weekly meetings and emails where the managers were given a talking to about their underperformance. I mention this to show that performance is the key and the report/technicality is sort of a small thing, and at best negligible to the actual goal. It would be like if you were disqualified from being valedictorian because you were late to school once, in the way that attendance contributes to the student as a whole, but the grades and effort are obviously the key component to being considered for the honor in the first place, ya dig?

I admit that I despise confrontation, and so I was slow to bring this up. I'm even afraid that my boss was banking on that. When I finally did talk to my boss, after weeks of dodging (I believe) my email requests to speak about this, he finally came back last week with the bonus amount being discretionary, which is funny because this is the line he gave in support for the promised bonus. He also mentioned that they did promote me one month after. I take issue with that because my performance gained me that. They didn't do me a favor by promoting me. And, it was sort of a lateral move – I am still a manager, no raise or title change, but for a new business unit. To be fair, in this company, that is considered a promotion. He also mentioned how they consider me for all sorts of opportunities within this company (being made partner, moving to the next level of managers, etc), but I now take this with a grain of salt, because I was already promised something, and looked how that turned into this long anonymous metafilter post. I am angry, and I do feel that any attempts to explain why I didn't get my promised bonus is really him minimizing my efforts and unprecedented accomplishment . Is that irrational?

Also: shortly after I received my bonus letter, I received really good tickets to an event from my boss and the president (unclear who was doing the giving) that I have repeatedly expressed interest in, but no reference to the disconnect in what was promised vs. What was given. The tickets were not paid for. They told me that a business partner had them, and they passed it along because they knew I liked it. In fact, when I went to the event, another one of my colleagues was there. Since they didn't mention it in reference to my bonus, I took the gift as a nice thing, as a prior boss in the same company had once *purchased* tickets for me to an outing as a thank you. Now, I'm worried they think they were making up for the missing money OR doing something nice to prevent me from asking about the bonus. Again, no mention of the promised bonus, and that infuriates me because I wouldn't have accepted them if there was some ulterior motive.

I apologize if I sound entitled. I know a bonus is just that - a bonus. I am thankful to have a job during a time when others aren't so fortunate or even certain about the future of theirs. But this is a very demanding industry in the most demanding city, and i worked 18 hour days, never took vacation, neglected my partner and myself, not for the bonus, but to keep my momentum going. I also feel some kind of way that they never communicated that things had changed, and instead left me to be disappointed and follow
up with them (in essence begging for the money).

So, my question is two fold:

A) How can I get over this and be motivated again to work hard, when I believe in my heart of hearts that any reward could be taken away from me because of a technicality (even if it is explicit)?

B) How can I best appeal to my boss and get what I think I deserve?

When’s the best time to ask for a raise?

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:29:50 -0800

There have been a lot of shakeups at my work lately, and now they seem to be working themselves out, leaving me with more responsibility. No word yet on more compensation or a title change, so when should I ask for it? To sum: Last month, Department Head G announced that he was leaving to start a new division in our company. He was quickly replaced by S, who seems great. I’ve been working with S for about 3.5 weeks now—long enough for her to know who I am, but not really know my work.

My direct supervisor, C, announced this week that she is leaving for another department in our company. Her last day will be 6/22 and she will be replaced soon, I hope. My job functions as an assistant to her position, among other things.

My superior colleague, M, was promoted out of my unit today. She will NOT be replaced. In her new position, she’ll retain some of her current responsibilities but some (most?) of them will be shifted to me. So my new job will be a combination of entry level assistant with more senior responsibilities.

No one has mentioned a title promotion or raise to me at this point, which seems strange given the amount of work I’m about to be given. I’m not sure who/when to approach about this.

C, my current boss, who loves me but is leaving in less than two weeks.
S, her current boss, who could probably see my reasoning but doesn’t know me very well. OR
My unknown new boss, after a few weeks/months demonstrating my work for him/her.

A few other tidbits: I love my job and am excited for the new stuff coming my way. I will not leave if my request for a raise isn’t met, at least not any time soon (grad student, company paying for half). I tend to sell myself short, so it would be pretty easy to talk myself out of asking for this raise only...it doesn’t seem very fair to give me lots of additional work without at least a title change, much less some extra cash.

Bonus question: I currently make around $35,000. M was making between 45,000 and 50,000, I think (given similar title postings at my company in the past). How much would be reasonable to ask for, if I have to ask?

That was... unexpected.

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:40:02 -0800

I got promoted with a raise less than six weeks into the job. I need to know what else to expect, aside from having the standards raised way up. I guess this is mostly a case of disbelief at this happening to me. Maybe my boss is a bit too quick to the draw, but I'm thinking that his optimism has already been tempered by the failures that come with being a businessman. I don't know.
I'm a fresh graduate, this is my first job, and in college, I was really never the overachieving type, I was never even really involved in organizations. At this new job, I've definitely put in some effort, but I still feel like a total newbie so I wonder how my boss could place so much faith in me.
So how do I make good of this? Have there been others who have gone through the same thing? I'd like to know what comes next.
Apart from that, I just need to know if there's a bigger chance of me not getting regularized. More responsibility with less experience = more chances of making bigger mistakes. Getting fired after this would be a big blow.
Since I got a raise too, I'm also wondering if this wipes out the chance of me getting a raise if ever I get regularized, and if that increase will be substantial. I don't know yet if the raise is a significant amount, so I'm keeping my expectations low. Given the current economic situation, I was already embarrassed to have (successfully) negotiated my starting salary at a higher amount to begin with.
I don't know if I need a throwaway account, but just in case: kerplunk24@gmail.com
Many thanks.

Meetup group organizer needs promotion tips

abdulf — Sun, 24 May 2009 23:32:20 -0800

What steps can I take to make my meetup group appear legitimate so that membership can continue to grow and improve? This might involve fixing the meetup or building my promotional skills. I run a meetup in Amarillo, Texas called the Amarillo Stuff Meetup. It's a "new in town" type meetup group that doubles are a general activity group.

Things have been going fairly well. We've grown to over 160 members in the past 5 months. However, only about 20 of those 160 are active.

I think part of the problem is the method by which most people join. I have a Facebook ad that promotes this group and it seems to do well in getting Facebook users to join the group. However, it also seems people who use the internet to socialize also tend to like to stay at home.

I'd like to attract a new demographic and at the same time help give my group some credibility. Namely, I need more women to join the group since the current membership is overwhelmingly male. Having women RSVP to events causes men to RSVP. Not sure why, just does.

Flyers and Craigslist haven't worked too well. People don't seem to trust flyers and Craigslist. I've tried handing business cards, but people then suspect it's a marketing ploy and that doesn't get anywhere or they simply lose the card.

I'd like to get local radio, tv or print media to cover the group. I think it would lend the meetup some credibility, but I have no idea how to pitch the concept of meetup to them and how to talk to radio/tv people.

Perhaps you have some suggestions on what I can do to improve the meetup or just some thoughts in general what motivates people to go to meetups.

Career Advice - How do you seek a demotion?

Dolan — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:30:14 -0800

Career Advice - How do you seek a demotion? I work in a "customer service" industry, and enjoyed and was very good working directly with customers. After our "Director" and "Assistant Director" left the company, a peer was promoted to Director and I to Assistant. We "cleaned house" to begin turning around our "branch" of the business, and so our first nine months on the job was sheer hell. After this, my Director was promoted to a "Regional Director," and I reluctantly became acting Director. For six months, I continued and expanded what we had started. After this, we hired a new Director with great experience and leadership skills, and I happily returned to Assistant. A year later, we've moved from being a "problematic branch" to one that meets targets, performs very well on critical indicators, and creates improved processes that other branches adopt.

Despite the "happy ending" you'd expect, on a daily basis, the job becomes more and more impossible due to long-standing weaknesses in the company's infrastructure. Directors and Assistants from many branches have tried for several years to prompt resolution, and failed. Recent events leave my Director and me expecting the resulting problems to get worse. We both fear burning out if we stay in these positions much longer.

So, my Director is going to retire. Since, in the grand scheme of things, my company is successful and I like both what we do and the people I work with, I want to return to my previous direct customer work. The Director and I both are willing to remain in our positions for up to 12 months to train our replacements (my future bosses) and ensure a smooth transition.

What advice would you give on how to seek, and manage well, a return to a lower position in the company?

Help us add music to our video show!

MeetCleaverTheatre — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:41:22 -0800

Where can we get our hands on some music videos for use in a non-profit college-style media show? Hi Gang, We've been knocking around the idea of creating free, online/closed-campus variety show and were wondering if anyone knew of any sources for music videos to use as fillers and for band promotion?
We have already put out feelers to the indie/no-label scene and asked for submissions, so we're wondering if there is some company or entity out there that can send us small bundles of signed bands and/or big label acts. Ephemera or interview footage of bands, celebrities and other things of interest to the college demographic is a plus.
Back in the halcyon days of DJ-ing, I remember the station getting boat loads of demos and tapes from a variety of sources.... is there a visual media source we should look into? Do we need to seek membership with one of the large music entities to legally acquire/promote these things (ASCAP, BMI etc.)?
This is still in the pre-pro phase, so we can ditch it if it turns out to be a huge hassle or if there may be legal repercussions.

Thanks for your advice and input!

What are the best internet events for start-ups to attend?

remcobron — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:54:53 -0800

What events should an internet start-up attend in the US and in Europe in order to get know and gain recognition? My European start-up let's you search video from over 30 video sites, collect them, and publish video channels. We are looking to promote ourselves at different events like Techcrunch50 and LeWeb.

I've searched for websites that index these events but didn't find one that listed them all.

So what are the events we should attend? And is there a website that indexes all thexe events?

Thanks for your help!
Remco

You scratch my ticket, I'll scratch yours...

le morte de bea arthur — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:55:06 -0800

How should I approach programming a prize draw? I've been given the job of putting together an online prize draw scratchcard for a promotion on a website. The draw will run between two fixed dates. There is one grand prize and there are fifty runner-up prizes. The front-end is Flash; the back-end is PHP/MySQL.

I'm aware that I should do pretty much everything on the server; the Flash movie will be fed a particular scratchcard, collect the details of each player, reveal whether they have won, then send their details back to the server. The allocation of the cards will be done entirely on the server-side.

But how do I allocate the tickets? Is there a 'best practice' way of doing this sort of thing, given that I have no idea how many people will play (I'm guessing tens of thousands)?

And what simple precautions should I take to ensure that prizes are won fairly?

It's not what you know, it's...

Lutoslawski — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:34:07 -0800

How do I go about inquiring about working for a company who's Director of Communications is on the executive board of the non-profit I currently work for? I am currently working for an arts/culture non-profit. I'm young (recently out of college) and work in development. I feel that my background/skills/interests are perfect for a much larger, for-profit company whose Director of Communications (and thereby official spokeswoman) serves on the board of directors of my current employer. Is there an appropriate way I can use this connection to get a job at the larger company? Without my current employer finding out about it?

I have considered approaching our own rather well-connected Director of Communications, who is not my boss in any capacity, to see if she might discreetly inquire about a job at the larger company. Or is this just horrible form? I don't want to lose my current job and my shot at a new job. Do I just send off my resume and cover letter, unsolicited? I feel like I'd be shooting myself in the foot by doing that.

Advice? Experiences?

Software Marketing Ideas

jasondigitized — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:43:02 -0800

I have created a website and software that I would like to promote and market. What are some creative ways to drive more traffic to my website and get people to buy my software? How does one go about getting write-ups in industry trade mags, ezines, and blogs? I am interested in learning more about ethical SEO, PR Campaigns, Affiliates, Guerilla Marketing, etc. If you created a piece of software, how would you get the word out?

How do I politely decline this "promotion"?

haplesschild — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:46:26 -0800

How do I politely decline this "promotion"? I work in a small office that is small on corporate professionalism and big on secret meetings and sometimes drama. I usually stay out of this, and over my 3 years of being there I have branched out and taken on new (mostly creative-based) projects. I have some accounts that I help out with, but I am not salary and no one reports to me. My main position is admin with a heavy dose of design work, and I am happy and well paid.

I have never had an interest in the collection/financial side of things, but the owner of the company has come to see me as a go-to person for new tasks. He does not hide the fact that he hates my direct supervisor, but the co-owner of the company likes her and thinks she does a great job.

On Wednesday the owner (who hates my boss) comes and talks to me about "what would I think about them adding a new position" and this position would essentially be the new office manager and oversee a lot of the financial things. Schooling is waved in my face, but also the issue that I would now be my supervisors' supervisor. I would also be supervising someone who I think is the real issue in the office. I listened to him talk and gave him my experience on the subject. He said he would be thinking it over.

Today I got called into a meeting and he basically offered me the position. The more he talked, the more my stomach dropped, and by the time I walked out I realized that I really did not want the position. Not only would it come with no raise (this was stated to me), but it would include the drama of my current (and in my opinion, more experienced) supervisor having to be told she now answered to me. On top of that I am just not interested in doing that position.

I was told to "mull over a decision" over the weekend. I am fairly sure I do not want this position, and I have been assured I will still have a job if I decline it. I tried to act enthusiastic in the meeting (my people-pleaser personality) but I have reconsidered to the point I am now a mess about rescinding my initial acceptance.

The owner is big on ambition and evolving, but I do not think this is the right fit for me. Do I go in tomorrow (on my off day) and tell him, or wait the weekend? How do I word this to save a little face? Am I being insane to pass up free training, even if it is for a position I would not enjoy? And lastly, do I mention any of this to my supervisor, who is now apparently on the chopping block?

What indie labels should my band pursue?

thedaniel — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:20:58 -0800

What indie labels should my band pursue? My band just finished an EP, and we're trying to figure out promotion / licensing. There are a million and ten labels out there, and it's hard to know just which ones to send copies of the record to. I won't link directly to the band in the question, because I don't want this to seem like a post to promote the band, but if you want a link, you can mefi mail me (or do minimal sleuthing).

Our sound is pop-rock, very slightly proggy, and fun. Some people have compared our sound to The Faint, Muse, The Killers, etc. If you have any suggestions for small indie labels that I should court, please share.

What do I need to know about club flyers?

iivix — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:47:54 -0800

From the point of view of a newby promoter, what do I need to know about night club flyers? I'm a newby club promoter and DJ, based in London. Along with a couple of other guys, we've done a few nights here and there, but just local things. Now though we're looking to up our game a bit, so we've booked a respectable small-ish venue for a friday evening in a couple of months, and we're looking to book a lower mid-card techno DJ or two as our guest DJs. The venue can expect to get a certain amount of regular customers and passing trade, but we need to fill the rest using promotion. We've got a website, a Facebook group and a mailing list with a couple of hundred people, and we should get our listing in Timeout etc.

So the question is, can someone tell me what I should know about club flyers? What do I need to know about design and printing them (we've got a proper designer on board to do the graphic design part of it). How many do we need to print to see decent returns? What's the best way to distribute them? How do flyer packs (like Don't Panic) work? In the web age, is worth printing up flyers at all?

Cheers in advance, being rather new to this all, any advice here would be greatly appreciated.

How to promote companies product with zero dollars online?

UMDirector — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 11:14:35 -0800

Having trouble getting promotional traction for new webservice, despite being an avid blog reader, possibly because of split audiences. Any suggestions? So we have a new site that combines AI with actual advice from experts to help people make decisions, especially on product purchases. I am having a very difficult problem driving much traffic as we have almost no promotional budget. I think this may be related to having to promote two websites.

1) Our corporate website is for business clients and partners. We would love for them to use our tech on their website to promote their product or create a new advertising platform for themselves.

2) Our actual guides such as our HDTV Buying Guide for actual end users.

The problem is it seems if we promote one it is at the expense of the other especially with our no budget advertising. You can get to the guides via the home page, but it is not as easy as posting just the guide link. My guess is this could also hurt our SEO.

Problem number 2 is that I can't seem to get any traction. Our product is truly far better than a normal filter as it helps people find what they actually need, not just what they think they want. As someone told me," Most other websites would be as if you went to the doctor as told him what medication you want whereas your guides are like going to the doctor telling him your symptoms and he, as a professional, telling you what to take". So we offer people a good thing. We also offer businesses a good thing as a new advertising platform for a portal or increased sales and brand interaction for manufacturers or online retailers. Yet I can't get any traction.

Most people I email simply ignore me. I am trying not to be that annoying Press Release PR guy and actually contact these people as a human but they ignore me. Even blogs I read religiously like Gizmodo, don't seem to be doing much. Sometimes they email me back but when I send more info I tend to not hear back. I would love to contact TechCrunch and the like but now worry I may waste my one shot.

We do have a sales guy, but he is only dealing with larger companies while I am trying to drive traffic to the website and guides themselves.

So questions:

1) What else should I try? We have a twitter feed and a facebook page.

2) Can anyone suggest any other blogs I should target? Less obvious ones than TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Engadget, etc?

3) What are your thoughts on the balance of human conversation versus a press release or story pitch?

4) Any other recommended resources?

Thanks!

Help me promote my baby!

mhp — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:42:53 -0800

We have a great opportunity to promote our fledgling video production company with a booth at a large concert. But we're not sure exactly what to do with it. We don't have much footage to show at this point, but we have a short film written, and a full length in development. We were trying to think of ideas in order to promote it.

The main problem we have is that we'll actually not really be able to hang around the booth, because we will have our hands full with actually filming the concert. We are filming a documentary documenting the project, from execution to promotion, so anything we do will have to speak on it's own.

We have a short spoken word audio piece that we were considering leaving looping with headphones on, with a little bit of info on it for people to read, along with a link to the website.

Some other ideas we were considering include:
Setting up a photobooth, complete with email capabilities, and an option to set up to subscribe to our newsletter. Our concern at this point is mainly getting awareness out there, so the fact that it doesn't directly relate to video is not such a huge problem.

Another option would be something along the lines of You Move You Interact, an interactive video piece developed using Processing. Basically, just a little something to catch people's eye, and get our name into their head.

But most of our ideas we really cannot execute properly because we won't be able to be physically present. So that, in essence, is my question: How can we best promote ourselves without being physically present in a memorable and relevant way?

Any ideas would be very much appreciated, but keep in mind we're trying to keep it relatively low budget, say $250 max

Thank you very much

Would you skip a step up the promotion ladder, if you could?

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:48:48 -0800

Would you apply for a job you felt underqualified for, even if it meant essentially skipping a step up the promotion ladder? Pros & cons inside. [On preview, wow, it's a day for job application questions!] I just discovered a job opening. The application deadline is rapidly approaching (uh, tomorrow!). I'm thinking of applying but have some doubts.

Getting the job would essentially mean skipping a step up the ladder. I got a promotion at my current job about two months ago. The next step up from this new position would be the job I'm considering applying for. It could benefit from me gaining some skills and experience in the job I just stepped into. Apply now, or not?

Reasons to apply --
* Nothing ventured, nothing gained; life is short; carpe diem; etc.
* It's the hiring committee's job to decide whether I'm qualified or not. Why give up without trying?
* It'd be a great career move, closer to my core interests, and at a higher level of responsibility.
* Most people in leadership positions probably felt over their head when they first got the job, right? People often spend the first month or so rapidly learning either new content or new areas of responsibility, right?
* My current job is okay, but with a shift in leadership, my interests and strongest skills (and my old department) are now somewhat outside the company's core focus. The promotion puts me in the favored department, where I'll strengthen other skills, so that's good. But the difference in interests means I might still not get much support or the most exciting opportunities. The new job would be a great match for those interests.

Reasons not to apply --
* The new job would really benefit from the skills that I will be strengthening in this new role I just stepped into. Should I just wait six months, get some accomplishments and experience under my belt, and hope that this position is still unfilled or gets re-opened?
* If I look underqualified on paper, will people remember that and look less favorably on future applications?
* I might look more qualified on paper than I really am. If I got the job, I'm afraid I wouldn't quite know what I'm doing and could let people down.
* How do I explain my desire to leave right after getting a promotion? Does that look disloyal or just ...weird? I wouldn't highlight it, but I wouldn't obfuscate it either.

Spasm and spam only differ by one letter

anarchivist — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:54:59 -0800

What is a good source of online etiquette for cross-medium self-promotion? I'm thinking someone might be going over the line, but I want something to back me up so it doesn't seem like I'm just overreacting. A member of an e-mail list I subscribe to posts about her/his blogs over frequently, to the point of always posting whenever there is a new entry up. I'm through ignoring it, and more than one person has suggested to him on list that if people wanted to read her/his blog that they'd do it. I'm not sure she/he is getting it. However, I can't really find any good sources for this sort of netiquette - I'm finding things only related to blogs or to e-mail lists, not both. I'd like something to point to if I (or others) choose to reach out to her/him.