Chad Wiebesick's Official Blog

Featured eBay Item: Entertech AK-47 Fully Automatic Water Gun

2011-03-28T01:19:21Z

Do you remember this as a kid in the 80's? It's the Entertech AK Centerfire Motorized Water Sub-Machine Gun. Includes two water clips. Fully automatic with rapid fire action. Shoots up to 30 feet! Eventually outlawed in the US because it was too "realistic". You can view more photos on eBay.

Five Tips in Choosing a Perfect Domain Name

2011-02-10T18:51:42Z

For most of our assignments at PWB Marketing Communications, a domain name is already part of the equation. Sometimes, however, we get a project where we have the chance to invent a domain name for a website, blog, or a new product launch. The problem with coming up with a domain name isn’t the registration process. It’s fairly inexpensive and straightforward to purchase one. The challenge really is coming up with a domain that is memorable and appropriate for your business and brand.

Domain names play a key role in online (and offline) visibility and popularity. A few things to consider: Avoid hypens, shorter is better, make it easy to spell, stick with “.com” extensions, and use a domain name generator. Read our five tips in choosing a perfect domain name.

Gain More Twitter Followers Today

2011-01-11T19:00:00Z

Want more Twitter followers? Use these tried-and-true methods to gain more followers today. First, there are written and unwritten rules for using Twitter. One of the unwritten rules is to follow people who follow you. So, carefully choose who you follow (making sure you share common interests) and begin building a rapport with them on Twitter. People follow people who like them.

List your Twitter name in directories like Twellow, which acts as a Yellow Pages directory for Twitter accounts. It’s a great way to get your name out there and be found when people are looking for others to follow. You can add yourself to 10 categories, relevant to either yourself or clients and make yourself visible within the marketplace. Read more tips.

Paris Hilton Learns a Lesson in Las Vegas

2010-12-14T15:13:01Z

The highlight of our trip to Las Vegas was running into Paris Hilton. She spent about an hour playing (er, rather, learning it seemed) roulette at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas Sunday evening. Paris Hilton was at the casino with her friends and a film crew doing a taping of a reality TV show. The gentleman standing behind her was one of her body guards.

Want to Win $500,000 to Grow Your Business? Here's How To Get Funding, Gain Visibility, and Access Resources to Grow Your Business Now!

2010-10-03T22:13:03Z

For the first time, Michigan is hosting the world's largest business plan competition - offering $1,000,000 in cash, consulting, and more to entrepreneurs with innovative businesses and Michigan college students with new business ideas. It's called the "Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition" and it's an international business and student idea competition designed to bring attention to Michigan's top early-stage companies and brightest college students.

ANY innovation-based start-up is eligible to apply. They're looking for start-up businesses that have products or services that are past proof of concept. If you think that your company has the potential to get to $10 million in revenue over the next five years - and that $500,000 would give you the boost to move it to the next level - apply to compete today.

Students must be enrolled in a Michigan college or university with at least two classes. There is no application fee for the student competition. Submit your best new business idea for a chance to win!

The competition is available to 9 different sectors: Advanced Materials, Advanced Transportation, Alternative Energy, Defense & Homeland Security, Information Technology, Life Science, Medical Devices, Next-Generation Manufacturing as well as Products & Services.

This is a once in a company's lifetime opportunity to get funding, gain visibility to investors and access the resource to grow your early-stage business. Your executive summary will be evaluated by investors and business leaders. Semi-finalists will present their businesses to Midwest and coastal venture and private equity investors.

Submissions for the entrepreneur competition are due October 13, 2010. Submissions for the student competition are due October 22, 2010.

Three Unbelievable Ways Internet Marketing Has Been Used By The Military

2010-09-07T14:21:00Z

A couple years ago the Navy took a black eye for advertising on gay Web sites. Gays are not allowed to serve in the Navy if they are open about their sexual orientation. Campbell-Ewald, the Navy's advertising agency responsible for the campaign, quickly came under fire. Apparently the agency was not aware that Glee.com (a well-known social networking site for gay and lesbians individuals) was added to the campaign by a network provider. Subsequently, the Navy promptly put their account up for review. Ultimately Campbell-Ewald was able to keep the business.

The U.S. Navy used social media to connect proud Moms of enlisted soldiers with anxious Moms who are apprehensive about having their sons and daughters join the Navy. The effort was conceived by Campbell-Ewald and launched into NAVYforMoms.com - a social networking site that allows frank discussion between loved ones of Navy members. The site won an Effie Award for it's effectiveness in delivering results. Effie Awards are given to marketing campaigns that have proven to drive results.

The Army has a Facebook-like social media site called milBook. It's a social networking tool for Army personnel that allows them to share news, photos, and comments with fellow soldiers. The site is hosted securely behind a firewall, so Army soldiers can discuss sensitive information without civilians reading it. MilBook was launched in late 2009.

Five Insane But True Things About Detroit-Based Quicken Loans

2010-09-06T23:19:00Z

Detroit added another company to its city. Quicken Loans moved there from Livonia, Michigan in late August. This new development peaked my interest, so I looked to see what else I could learn about them. Here are five things that surprised me about Quicken Loans:

Ranked among the top 30 on Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list for seven consecutive years, ranking as high as No. 2 in 2008. And, they're hiring!
Named one of Computerworld Magazine’s “100 Best Places to Work in Technology” for the past five years, ranking No. 1 in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Quicken Loans can process most loans in as few as 15 days. When we closed our loan using another lender, it took twice that long.
Quicken Loans has more than 150 loan programs, making it easy to choose the best fit for your situation. Who knew that there were even that many loan products available?
Quicken Loans is the preferred mortgage lender for several of America’s top companies, including AT&T, Google, Yahoo!, Compuware, EDS, Penske, and more.

Ann Arbor Marketers Benefit From Growing Michigan Film Industry

2010-08-18T00:29:28Z

Hilary Swank. Minnie Driver. Clive Owen. Drew Barrymore. Michael Cera (“Superbad” and “Juno”). What do these actors have in common? They all starred in films shot here in Washtenaw County this year.

The state of Michigan is building a burgeoning new film industry to rival Hollywood. Michigan offers the biggest film incentives in the nation, up to an incredible 42% tax break for films produced in the state. It’s a gamble that’s paying off.

Before the film incentives were passed, two movies were made in Michigan in 2007. In 2008, that number grew to 35, generating approximately $120 million in revenue for the state. Nearly $60 million went directly to Michigan residents who worked on those films. And this year - that number of movies has so far skyrocketed to 85. The film industry has created 3,000 new jobs for Michiganders, according to the Michigan Film Office. The trailblazing film incentives are clearly working.

Want to know how Ann Arbor marketers can get a slice of the pie and take advantage of Michigan's growing film industry? Read more at my blog for Concentrate Media.

Four Pratical Reasons to Buy an iPad

2010-08-13T15:47:00Z

Reason #1: 80% of the time I use my laptop is for surfing the web. The iPad was built exceptionally well for surfing the web - and making it fun.

Reason #2: My wife said "Wow" the moment she picked it up and held it in her hands. I didn't even have to sell her on it...that's a big plus for a tech gadget geek like myself.

Reason #3: It has an amazingly long battery life - something like 10 hours. That alone makes it far more portable and more web-surfable than my laptop.

Reason #4: The iPad boots up instantly. No more waiting half a minute to fire up Internet Explorer. With its great looks and form factor, the iPad deserves to be placed in the living room right next to the TV remote control. It'd be a disservice to shove the iPad in the office. Imagine watching TV and having something spark your interest and being able to reach over and get to the Web immediately.

Four Popular Logos You Think You Really Know But You Probably Don't

2010-07-28T14:51:00Z

A friend of mine forwarded me an email I found interesting -

This simple looking logo actually carries a lot of information. First of all you can see the letters N and W, the first two letters of the brand name. But what most people don't see is the compass that points to the Northwest, another reference to the brand name.

Do you see any arrows on FedEx’s logo? I saw it a few times at other site saying that there’s an arrow hidden in the FedEx arrow, but I couldn’t find it. I have now know where it is, it’s your turn to find. The clue is that the arrow is located in between the alphabet E and X, and the arrow is white, acting as a background.

Toblerone is a chocolate-company from Bern, Switzerland. Bern is sometimes called ‘The City Of Bears". They have incorporated this idea in the Toblerone logo, because if you look closely, you'll see the silhouette of a bear.

Sony Vaio is a well known brand of laptops. But did you know that the name Vaio logo also had a hidden meaning? Well, the first two letters represent the basic analogue signal. The last two letters look like a 1 and 0, representing the digital signal.