That, at least, is one conclusion to be drawn from research by Experian Simmons that supposedly delineates the TV preferences of “liberal Democrats” and “conservative Republicans.” You can see the top 25 of each here, but keeping it short, here are the Top Five for Democrats:
1. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
2. The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)
3. Masterpiece (PBS)
4. 30 Rock (NBC)
5. Parks and Recreation (NBC)
And here are the Top Five for Republicans:
1. Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction(Speed)
2. This Old House (PBS)
3. The 700 Club (syndicated)
4. Swamp Loggers (Discovery)
5. Top Shot (History)
“Swamp Loggers?” So now we see who is watching all that “Redneck TV,” huh? And on the other side, I know whom to blame for the fact that it’s increasingly hard to tell news from satire.
But if there is anything of significance here, anything with policy implications, it’s that both left and right depend on PBS for some of their favorites shows. (Meanwhile, the liberals are so busy pursuing laughs that they have time for only two PBS faves, “Masterpiece” and “American Masters.” Apparently, as long as it’s got “Master” in it, they like it.)
How about that?
Maybe next time Republican lawmakers go to reflexively deep-six public broadcasting, they’ll stop and think how they’re go to explain to their base what they’re doing to “This Old House,” “New Yankee Workshop,” and “Antiques Roadshow.”
Sure, it’s necessary to let potential customers know something about you, which is why we have “About Us” pages. But how much do you need to dwell on yourself?
Adam Kreitman at The Daily Egg recommends being more focused on what the customer wants and needs from you. To accomplish this, he suggests an “About You” page as a better use of your potential client’s attention span:
There are a few main benefits an About You page provides.
1. It ensures at least one page of your website has copy that puts the focus right where it should be…on your customers!
2. The process of writing an About You page for your site forces you to think about who the ideal client for your business really is. Many small business owners, especially those just starting out, try to be everything to everybody. That often results in you wasting time chasing bad leads as well as servicing clients that can suck the life out of you and your business.
Writing copy for your About You page helps you clarify exactly the kind of client you’re looking to attract. You know, the ones that if you had 10 or 20 or 100 of, you’d be on Cloud 9.
(And even if you don’t want an About You page on your website, going through the process of writing out a profile of your ideal client is still a very worthwhile task!)
3. Prospects who aren’t a good fit for your business can disqualify themselves. When a prospect gets to that About You page, it should be crystal clear whether or not your business is a good fit for them. And if it’s not, they can move on, saving both of you the time of figuring that out later.
4. There’s a powerful psychological aspect to having an About You page on your website. When that ideal prospect comes to your site, you want them screaming out loud “Yes, that’s me!” when they read your About You page. You want to make them feel like that page is speaking directly to them and you understand them perfectly.
When you can give someone a feeling of excitement that they’ve found their Mothership, you’ve got a great shot of landing yourself a new client!
5. It makes you stand out from the crowd. I did exhaustive research (i.e. a few Google searches) and few websites have an About You page. In a web full of sites with the same Home, Products, Services, About Us, Contact Us, etc. options in the nav bar, the About You page is a great way to be different and set yourself apart from the competition.
We liked this autorespond message that a guy named Josh Kopelman left for his customers while on vacation, according to Ragan’s PR Daily:
“I am currently out of the office on vacation.
I know I’m supposed to say that I’ll have limited access to email and won’t be able to respond until I return — but that’s not true. My blackberry will be with me and I can respond if I need to. And I recognize that I’ll probably need to interrupt my vacation from time to time to deal with something urgent.
That said, I promised my wife that I am going to try to disconnect, get away and enjoy our vacation as much as possible. So, I’m going to experiment with something new. I’m going to leave the decision in your hands …”
Nothing like honesty. Sure, you have the power, but really — would you want to interrupt this guy when he’s trying to wind down? After all, he’s thrown himself on your mercy. Can’t you spare a bit of that?
Wow! We knew Mary Pat Baldauf, sustainability facilitator for the city of Columbia, was smaller than she used to be (here’s where she blogs about her successful reducing campaign), but this is taking things to extremes.
OK — truth be told, it’s the recycling bin that’s out of proportion here.
The giant bin was on display in the Bi-Lo parking lot in Parkland Shopping Center in Cayce today. Mary Pat and others were on hand to announce that the city is entering into a public-private partnership with Coca Cola and Bi-Lo called “Recycle and Win” — a program to increase public awareness of recycling and boost recycling collection.
And what better way to emphasize that than to have on hand what organizers billed as the “world’s largest” recycling bin.
Doubt that claim? Well, let’s see you come up with a bigger one…
Brought to our attention by the Center for Media Research:
Email Delivery Up, Open Down
According to the Harte-Hanks Postfuture Index 2009-2010, email open rates declined to an average of 17% last year, down from 26% in 2009. The report examined metrics for over 2.8 billion email messages sent by about 100 companies in nine vertical industries. The company says that “… changing patterns in use of text and imagery… is having an impact on open rates, without necessarily having an impact on response.”
The study indicates that:
- Delivery rates increased to 95% last year, up from 93% in 2009
- Click rates were steady at 3%
- Unsubscribe rates dropped from 0.32% to 0.19%
- Bounce rates declined from 7% to 5%
- The pharmaceutical and government sectors had the highest open rates, with both topping 25%
- The technology industry had the lowest open rate at just above 5%
Retail continues to enjoy one of the highest delivery rates, says the report, with over 98% in 2010. Automotive has the lowest delivery rate at 90% in 2010, affected primarily by list quality. Since consumers are usually in market for a new vehicle after a number of years, automotive manufacturers and dealers are often sending to email addresses acquired one to three years ago, many of which have changed, observes the report.
Read more at this link.
