Raleighwood Media Group + Raleighwood Event Group

What Can NC Offer Than Tax Incentives?

Lisa Jeffries Nobling on January 2, 2015

I loved reading this article in TBJ today about how EUE/Screen Gems’s lengthiest NC veteran, Bill Vassar, believes the film industry is here to stay, regardless of the expiration of tax incentives at the close of 2014.

TBJ: EUE/Screen Gems exec: Here’s why North Carolina’s film community will live – incentive or no incentive

According to 18-year Screen Gems veteran Vassar, the operation is thriving, adding additional stages and facilities, including on-set Wi-Fi access that Marvel called “the best Internet set up they’d ever worked with” while filming “Iron Man,” Vassar says.

It’s just my opinion, but I would think that quality Wi-Fi would be a standard on movie sets in California, so I was impressed to read that Marvel noted the Wilmington studio offered the “the best [they’d ever] worked with”.

North Carolina is undoubtedly a tech-leader, and with the promise of high-bandwidth fiber internet connections becoming a norm in the next 5-10 years, I believe that efficient access to internet is just one of the many amenities our businesses can offer.

Thinking about the last time I was left without internet when traveling, especially in the form of wi-fi, it’s certainly a high-demand, and greatly appreciated, value-add for me. It certainly doesn’t replace millions of dollars in tax benefits, but the quality of work-place experience is a great experience driver.

Babylon Holiday Party Recap – Via Social Media

Lisa Jeffries Nobling on December 16, 2014

Save the Date: Merry Mingle

Lisa Jeffries Nobling on November 18, 2014

Triangle Merry Mingle – Save the date and buy your tickets for Tue., Dec. 2!

It’s the 5th Annual Merry Mingle, proudly (and jointly) hosted by AAF-RDU, AIGA Raleigh, Triangle AMA, TIMA, and Triangle UXPA and it’s your chance to network with members of the Triangle’s top advertising, marketing and communications organizations all at one time – while also contributing to a very worthy cause!

What? Festive hors d’oeuvres, cash bar, and a chance to mingle with your favorite industry professionals – plus some you’ve never met but will be glad you did! All held in Downtown Raleigh at The Stockroom.

Who benefits? The Merry Mingle 2014 benefits the Triangle Spokes Group, which has been pedaling joy to the Triangle since 2006 by giving away bikes to kids in need. We’re doing our best to help them reach this year’s goal of 500 bicycles—all brand new, and all guaranteed to bring ear-to-ear grins to faces throughout the area. To find out more about this fantastic non-profit, go to www.trianglespokesgroup.org.

Cost? RSVP early online at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-5th-annual-merry-mingle-tickets-13536585291 and it’s just $20 for members of hosting organizations and $25 for non-members. At the door, it’s $35 for everyone.

You’re Making Us Blush! A Raleighwood Review from Carmon’s Curl Up & Dye Salon

Lisa Jeffries Nobling on November 17, 2014

Thanks to Beth and Carmon from Carmon’s Curl Up & Dye Salon in Garner for the kind words:

It’s always nice to hear from old friends, but it’s a shame when they come calling because their former website designer is holding them hostage! Unfortunately, there are some less than stellar designers out there who give the rest of us a bad name. Luckily, we were able to work with the salon’s prior web designer to reclaim the domain name and create a new WordPress website based around the concept of a “content management system” (CMS). The big benefit of using a CMS is that Beth and Carmon are now able up post updates to their blog and update their website in just a few clicks – almost instantly! And when they need some help with the “heavy lifting” they know we’ll be around to help.

This model doesn’t work for every design firm, but we love giving our clients the ability to have a little freedom with their websites. Check out our website packages and let us know if we can help you out, too. And if you find yourself in Garner, NC and in need of a cut and color, visit the gang at Carmon’s Curl Up & Dye!

Now Offering Email Marketing Packages

Lisa Jeffries Nobling on October 14, 2014

Did you know that 91% of consumers check their email daily?

Raleighwood Media Group has always offered email marketing services to our clients, but this month we’re introducing a new way to plan and budget for your email marketing needs: fixed-price frequency packages.

Beginning this month, we are offering fixed price frequency schedules for email marketing. You can read the details at here, but the short and sweet is that our offerings start at $49 for a monthly email campaign and increase to $156 (which includes a 20% discount over the cost of an individual email) for a weekly campaign.

We look forward to welcoming new clients to our email marketing program this fall and are confident that each client will see measurable results that they can look forward to benefiting from all the way into their 2015 marketing plans.

Now Offering Social Media Management Packages

Lisa Jeffries Nobling on July 22, 2014

Raleighwood Media Group is pleased to offer a new service, designed with small business owners and c-suite executives in mind: monthly social media management packages (click the link to find out more, including pricing).

Is your time better utilized managing your business rather than posting to Twitter — although you know it’s something you need to do every day to remind your audience that you’re in business and ready to fulfill their wants and needs? Read what Fred’s Beds president Lisa Stansbury had to say about the month of posting we took off her hands recently:

The month of June was so hectic for me that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to tweet much at all. Raleighwood Media Group provided me with quality content that was exactly what my customers needed to see. The content was much higher quality than what I normally produce myself. It was one less thing on my plate that allowed me to focus on other pressing matters. Social media is something that is easy to drop by the wayside when you have customers that need attention. You cannot make up for lost time. If you don’t send a message, no one receives a message. Raleighwood Media Group filled a much needed niche for me.

Social media management package begin at only $189/month and are scalable to fit your unique needs. Send us an email at Info@RaleighwoodMedia.com or call us at 919-229-9725 to get started today!

Email Never Went Anywhere

Lisa Jeffries Nobling on June 30, 2014

It seems like at least once a week I read a really well-written and well-thought-out article or blog post about how “email/email marketing is back” or that suddenly interest is surging in the “what once was old” medium of communication. I’m here to reassure everyone that not only is email not dead – it also never went anywhere.

Sure, social media has been the darling of all online marketing communications for the last seven years or so, but I personally cannot remember a single instance where I’ve seen the use of Facebook or Twitter alone out-perform the use of an integrated marketing communications (IMC) campaign that included email. As any marketing professional will tell you, it’s highly unlikely that anything you produce will ever go “viral” and even when things go viral, they’re still often shared via the original social media channel: email.

As Facebook continues to limit what shows up in users’ feeds, the ability to actually communicate directly to users who have expressed an interest in our products and services without fear of a filter will continue to prevail. Who wants to spend their hard-earned time and investment to build an audience they aren’t guaranteed of being able to communicate with?

While the currently under-25 crowd may not be strong users of email, I believe that trend changes as they become career professionals, where the modern workplace still depends heavily on the use of email as the primary form of communication.

I’m proud to say that consistent, well-branded email marketing has always been a staple product and service provided by Raleighwood Media Group to our clients. It has a high ROI and is very trackable when it comes to finding out what’s working and what’s not in regards to subject lines, content, list segmentation, and other variables.

For your reading pleasure and if you’re so inclined, here are some of the articles I’ve read about email (and the “return” of email) lately… and often replied with the simple statement, “duh”.
The NY Times – For Email Newsletters, a Death Greatly Exaggerated
BiZReport.com – Email newsletters top news source for business executives
EmailOnAcid.com – Is Responsive Design Really Effective?

I would love to hear your thoughts on where you’re getting the most bang for your buck when it comes to online marketing efforts in the comments below.

Cheers!
–Lisa

Submit Your Social Media Engagement Questions Before #BizExpo14 on Thursday, May 1st

Lisa Jeffries Nobling on April 18, 2014

Raleigh Chamber 2014 Business Expo

I’m excited to have been invited to lead one of the four need-to-know Show Day Social Media Seminars planned for the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce 2014 Business Expo coming up on Thursday, May 1, 2014 on behalf of my WRAL.com team!

The Expo itself takes place at the NC State Fairgrounds in the Jim Graham Building (free, ample parking!) from 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. The event is free for all to attend (but you can pre-register here), as well as the social media seminar sessions. Social media seminar sessions include: Where do I start?, ROI and Conversion, Engagement Strategy, and a panel on Success Stories. I’ll be leading the Engagement Strategy session that will cover topics such as:

Relearning how to talk with people (and not at them)
How conversation changes across platforms
How conversation is broadly evolving
Why people follow certain pages
What your audience expects

In addition to attending, I’m seeking your participation in one additional way – I’d love to know what questions you have that you’d like to have answered! Leave a comment here, email me, send me a tweet, or ask away on Facebook.

See you at #BizExpo14!

Cheers,
Lisa

New Facebook Feature: More Local Pages You Might Like

Lisa Jeffries Nobling on February 4, 2013

To be honest, this may not technically be new, but it is the first time I’ve seen this feature, personally. Facebook often rolls out new features and functionality in waves to different users, so I’m curious – has anyone else seen it, yet?

Facebook Feature – More Local Pages You Might Like

A few thoughts follow – as scattered as they might be:

Anytime I see something “new” on social, I wonder, “what can we (marketers, publicists, online marketing people) do with this?”
Can we do some positive PR and leave a nice comment on the wall of a new page we found and say “Hi, I’m here because Facebook thought I might like you since I liked (insert name of other local business here)!”
- Does that open the door to a nice note becoming a nasty-gram if that other business is actually a competitor? (We can’t really expect Facebook to NOT suggest direct competitors, can we?)
Do we leave just leave it alone and hope Facebook doesn’t start suggesting that we like “Target” when we’ve just liked the neighborhood independent gift shop?
This rogue thought still burns me up and I think of it every time I think “Facebook Marketing”: when is Facebook going to finally stop so heavily throttling how many people see page-created content? These are the Facebook users who have opted-in to liking the pages we heavily invest time and effort into promoting (you’re welcome, Facebook). Facebook is forcing us to buy “sponsored” visibility to improve the chances that more than 10% of page subscribers will see the posts we take the time, and have been trained to, create. {Read more about this on NewMediaRockStars.com, if you’re so inclined.}

Ending today and this post on a positive note: big “thank you” goes out to Kim Adamof for the referral that came my way today in need of public relations services!

Happy Mondaying,
Lisa

Feeling Creative? Feeling Festive? Submit a Design for this Year’s Raleigh Christmas Parade!

Lisa Jeffries Nobling on August 30, 2011

The Greater Raleigh Merchants Association (GRMA) and Shop Local Raleigh (SLR) are looking for local artists to submit design ideas for the 67th Annual WRAL Raleigh Christmas parade. The WRAL Raleigh Christmas Parade Contest, sponsored by GRMA/SLR, will be accepting submissions from area artists from August 29, 2011 – September 26, 2011.

The winning design will receive $300 in cash, sponsored by Frameworks Gallery & Frame Design, Inc., member of SLR. The winning design will be used on the organization’s first official parade t-shirt, poster, and promotional items. The t-shirts will be worn by volunteers and sold to the public on the day of the parade held on Nov. 19 in downtown Raleigh.

“The Go Local message is a great unifying message for the Raleigh community and the new t-shirt will be a fun way to show your support,” says Emily Younger Wells, Board Member of GRMA/SLR.

Artists are asked to visit https://www.facebook.com/RaleighChristmasParade for rules and for submissions. The winning design will be selected by the GRMA parade committee.

For more information on the contest or to become a member of GRMA, log on to www.grma.org or contact Jennifer Bradshaw, GRMA Director at 919-755-9235 or info@grma.org.

About the Raleigh Christmas Parade
The Raleigh Christmas Parade will feature three giant helium balloons, approximately 35 floats, 20 marching bands and a number of other entertaining acts.

Drawing an estimated 60,000 spectators from across the state to downtown Raleigh and reaching more than 250,000 through television and live video streaming on WRAL.com, the parade is the largest single-day event in Raleigh each year. It is the largest parade between Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

About GRMA
The Greater Raleigh Merchants Association promotes the growth and sustainability of local businesses. For more information, visit www.grma.org.