“Spring Cleaning”. We have all heard it, it has been used in advertising, marketing, promotional materials and in homes across the country. It really means “since the winter we have accumulated a lot of  junk and dust we need to get rid of”. As a result, once the window opening weather returns, we air things out, sweep out behind the couches, donate winter clothes that no longer work for us and organize our lives to some extent.

It is not a coincidence that come March newspapers pump out coupons for every new and improved cleaning product. “New” detergent, “Spring Fresh” fabric softener, “Green Friendly” all purpose cleaners. Peruse the aisles in a home improvement store and you can find cleaners for extremely specific surfaces. They make a “Stainless Steele Sink Cleaner” a cleaner JUST for darkwood flooring, a cleaner for fake wood flooring, cleaners that claim to remove allergens from the house, dye free, scent free, ammonia free and a plethora of other choices; all geared to get you to spend your hard earned cash on their wares so you can go home and spend your hard earned downtime using them. Do they work? Do we need a specific cleaner for pleather?

Overwhelmingly…. No. Steam, pure water vapor with no chemicals is one of the most proven effective cleaning “agents” we know of. It is used in professional cleaning companies on glass shower doors, tiles, carpets, furniture, clothing and almost everything else. So why do we get lured into buying and trying so many different solutions? Marketing has a part in this. You see a beautiful sparkling (literally) countertop with a smear of little germy looking things all over it and then this magic product swipes those animated germs right off that countertop and you know you want your countertops to be as germ free and clean as that one. Scent is another tool used to sell us chemicals to clean our homes with. A pizza scented floor cleaner is not going to be nearly as appealing as a pine scented, or lemon scented cleaner.

Scientists have run thousands of test studies on scent, on what scents make humans think “clean” and what makes us feel like we have done a good job cleaning our surroundings. Even the unscented versions leave a slight scent of clean behind, by removing any perfume scent they have surfactants in them that trigger responses in our brain that think “clean”

So what do we really need to have a clean home or office or car? Surprisingly it is back to basics for this answer. Experts from a host of cleaning companies as well as many scientists say simple white vinegar is the most useful and effective cleaner you can use. Cost wise it is hundreds of times less expensive than its marketed counterparts and since it gets diluted before use can be tailored to whatever use you want each time you use it. Most of us know already that it is used to clean a coffeepot, washing machine and other appliances that we need to clean internally but gently. The acid in the vinegar removes mold spores, dust and water scale build up with no harmful residue left behind. For hardwood floors, as long as they are sealed, a mixture of a few tablespoons of white vinegar in a bucket of water will leave the wood, clean and streak free. The telltale scent of the vinegar disappears when it evaporates, leaving a fresh unscented clean behind. Vinegar can’t be used on natural stone however because of the acid content, and you don’t want to use it on fabrics because it wont totally evaporate and it will always smell like you are making a salad in your living room. But it can be used on glass, metals, plastics, ceramics, utensils, appliances, and almost everything else. So what else?

Baking Soda. It is widely known to absorb odors, so it cleans and freshens carpets and upholstery better than sprays and fancy powders. Sprinkle it on the surface, let it sit for a little while and vacuum it up. How many of us grew up with a box of baking soda kept in the fridge to absorb the odors from the food stored? It works!

What about the scent junkies?  Lemon juice. Fresh lemons (or limes) can clean and deodorize and leave the freshest scent behind if that is what you like. If you cut a lemon in half, rub it along a cutting board and let it soak overnight in the lemon’s juice- the board will be disinfected, clean and smell fresh. Lemon juice needs to be rinsed so it is not sticky.

Finally there is one common cleaning product for the harder to clean areas, like grease burns in the oven. Table salt. If you pour table salt into a dirty, greasy oven and leave it sit a few hours it can be fairly easily wiped clean. Anyone who has ever suffered through a can of oven cleaner or the four hours of super heating the oven to clean it out can appreciate the simplicity of this idea.  With these tips you can clean an entire home for under $4. Of course if you prefer lavender scented floors, or clean linen scented carpets, the products are abundant and will work as well, but at a price and with harsher chemicals being used.

Surfaces and surroundings are not the only things that need to be cleaned regularly. What about your contact data? As a home accumulates dust and debris over time, your files can become bogged down with unwanted debris and bad information. This “data dust” can impede your company’s ability to work most efficiently and cut into the time spent by salespeople going after viable and productive leads. OnTarget has proven methodology to cleanse your companies data. Let us be your “CRM contact marketing maids” by clicking here.

Now you know what “spring cleaning” CRM data cleansing solutions OnTarget has for your organization.

-Debra Bertolino-Waring is a Social Media Coordinator for OnTarget Partners.

Are you looking for that special someone?  More likely, you probably require a long list of special “someones.”  Our clients usually have a very good idea about which companies and targets they would like to connect with when offering a solution. We’re in the business of streamlining the time it takes to get them to their verified contacts.

There are plenty of contact/lead lists available for downloading or purchasing.  You can find them easily enough on the Internet, search for them on various databases, or by purchasing them through various vendors. There are significant discrepancies in the quality versus the quantity of these contact lists, though.  I’m not saying that all of the names provided on these lists aren’t valid.  At some point in time, current or otherwise, the connection with the name on that list and the company with which he or she is listed probably existed.  There may not be a guarantee that these are current contacts though, since who knows when they were last verified…or if they have ever been verified.

For example, your list may have Joe Smith as the Director of Marketing for the company you have been trying to reach out to for months.  Even better – your list has his email, direct phone number, and it’s looking like you’re going to have your foot in the door in no time.  Then…you call the number…oh, it has been disconnected.  You try it again to make sure you dialed correctly. No, it’s still disconnected.  You send an email which immediately bounces back.  You call the main number and the operator says, “No, Joe hasn’t worked here in 5 years.”  Well.  There went 10 minutes that could have been spent doing something more productive!

Our research team at OnTarget takes verification of our contact data very seriously.  We understand and appreciate how important it is to be able to make the right calls to the right people…many times a day, everyday.  The time invested by our research department and the contact generation strategy we follow ultimately results in more time returned to our clients in the form of quality contact data, pre-verified contacts, and a higher rate of potential closed deals (and revenue!).

You can learn more about our research services here: http://www.ontargetpartners.com/customresearch.html

-Jennifer Hanford is a Social Media Coordinator for OnTarget Partners.

There is a new movie out called “Limitless” where the main character ingests a pill that engages 100% of his brain. Makes for an interesting story, but how close to reality is this? Maybe closer than you think.

It has been a common school of thought that we utilize about 20% of our brains regularly but new technology is showing that we use much more of our brains than previously considered. Brain mapping technology is showing that we do in fact engage ALL of our brain. There are no inaccessible recesses or untapped regions. Many components of our brain are used subconsciously, mechanically or automatically and perhaps we only utilize about 20% cognizantly.  

Brain matter, as described by neurosurgeons, resembles Tofu, soft and formed. Intelligence is not measured as much by size or capacity as by texture, or topography. A highly intelligent brain is “wrinkled” more so than a new or underdeveloped brain. These wrinkles are technically called Sulci and Gyri (crevices and ridges). These serve to increase the surface area of the cerebral cortex which in turn increases the number of usable neurons without expanding the skull or actual diameter of the brain.

It has been proven that the human brain is actually getting smaller in mass, but more “wrinkled”  like any good technology; maximizing use while condensing the knowledge base, making the machine that much more efficient.

According to the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology our brains use about 20% of the oxygen in our blood and about 25% of the glucose circulating through our bloodstreams.  It is because of all these processes that the updated research on brain activity claims we use much more than 20% of our brains. In 2005 the journal “Current Opinions in Neurobiology” explained that only 10% of our brain matter is attributed to neurons; the thinking cells in the brain, and 90% is “glia” or glue. The “glue”, up until the 2000’s was considered as just that; sticky, perfunctory and dispensable. New technology has shown that this glue actually serves to provide immunity and protection to the all-important neurons, promotes the firing of synapse activity much like a copper wire transmits current, and soaks up excess neurotransmission.

The NZT represented in “Limitless” isn’t a real medication, and it appears to modern science that we already have all the tools needed to maximize our individual potential. Some chemicals we use currently enhance the brains clarity and function. Caffeine is the most widely used legal chemical today with brain sharpening results.  Maybe that’s why the coffee pots are always brewing here at OnTarget!

-Debra Bertolino-Waring is a Social Media Coordinator for OnTarget Partners.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m a dataholic, although I prefer the title of “Research Analyst,” which sounds much less offensive! 

I remember life before the internet, but I don’t know how I ever learned anything.  Okay, so we had encyclopedias and the men who used to come around every year to our houses to try and sell them to us.  The times have certainly changed.  Now everything you might be looking for is on the Internet – otherwise it just probably doesn’t exist, right?

According to ITU, which is the UN agency for information and communication technologies, there are 239,893,600 Internet users in the United States as of June 2010.  With the latest US population estimates to be around 310,232,863, the percentage of Internet users is approximately 77.3% of the population.  (Wow!)

The research department at OnTarget Partners collects, analyzes, and delivers top-notch bundles of data to our clients.  We strive to provide our clients with current and accurate information. 

Here are five things I’ve learned about data as a result of my constant contact with data:

1)     Just because you found your data on the Internet does not make it true.  Or right.  Or good.  You get the idea.

2)     Data is only as good as the minute you get it…that’s why it’s important to verify, re-verify, & over-verify it.

3)     A misspelled name is not okay.  Would you like it if you received correspondence with your name spelled incorrectly?  The same applies for titles and addresses.  And websites with typos?  There oughta be a law.

4)     With all the data out there, it really needs to be filtered so it is something that’s useful for your intended audience – otherwise, it’s just excess information.  Kind of like “Too Much Information.”  Okay, maybe not. 

5)     Sometimes you just don’t know what you’re really looking for…until you find it!

-Jennifer Hanford is a Social Media Coordinator for OnTarget Partners.

Welcome to 2011. “Social Media” (as it is now defined) has come a long way in a fairly short amount of time, and it has been very intriguing to observe the many permutations this particular medium has made:

• In 2002, Friendster was launched and the potential of networking with friends and associates online was conceptualized.
• 2003 saw LinkedIn hit the web, and this offering marked a definitive change in the way professionals networked.
• MySpace also launched in 2003, changing the way youth communicated worldwide; it was with this site that we really started to grasp how much “hipster” marketing might mean to a business, making the world exponentially smaller one thumbnail picture at a time.
• In 2004, Facebookblurred the lines of definition between LinkedIn’s professional use and Myspace’s casual communication, making a platform available for all walks of life. Kids could log in and chat, “real-time,” about the day’s homework; their parents could log in to the same medium and catch up with a college classmate or former colleague.
• Twitter followed in 2006, and so did a wealth of other pages: all designed to “pump up the  volume” and bring in media dollars by the use of sheer numbers.

But everything changes. Things evolve, progress takes its natural course and today, Social Media is as serious a contender in the marketplace as the “dot com” blast was in the mid-90’s. It isn’t just for casual chat and nosy ”remember when” conversations anymore.  It has become nearly impossible not to hear a company or organization reference themselves with regard to Social Media: “Follow us on Twitter,” “Like us on Facebook,” etc.  It’s the new form of instant gratification. One-click blasts of your message, and you can be seen by thousands upon thousands of eyes in seconds.

So how can this be used (effectively) by an organization? How does a company leverage this technology to its advantage without being considered “white noise?” Is there even a correct answer to these questions?  With seminars presented almost daily, webinars by the thousands, books, online tools, click-thru tracking, word tricks, and all manner of devices in place, IT IS POSSIBLE to make the most efficient use of Social Media for marketing purposes. Now it’s just up to us to use the tools at our disposal and get it right.

We at OnTarget Partners are taking a solid, professional approach in how we’re using “Social Media.” We plan to stay one step ahead, to use these remarkable tools to promote our successes (through our clients’ successes), to stay in touch with the pulse of the communities we work with, to provide a “best practices” community, to teach, and (most importantly) to learn. Follow us on Twitter. “Like” us on Facebook.  Join our LinkedIn discussions and be a part of our community. By doing so, you will see into the world that is OnTarget: our innovative, forward-thinking management; our proven methodology; and our dynamic, customized approach to your company’s marketing and data needs. Ask us how we can work with your organization to maximize the potential of your own sales people and make the most of your marketing budget.

It’s just a “click” away .

-Debra Bertolino-Waring is a Social Media Coordinator for OnTarget Partners.

My eighth grade son reminded me of something I learned a long time ago over the weekend.  We were working on a school project.  He was creating a poster board advertisement for a made up product (i-solar — the coolest recharger for your i-phone ever!).  His teacher requested that the advertisement contain each of Aristotle’s appeals — Ethos, Pathos and Logos.  Most of you probably know that these break down to mean credibility, emotional and logical means of persuasion.

While he was working diligently to create the (paper) solar panel to connect to his cardboard iphone, I was doing research.  I read several articles on ethos, pathos and logos.  I stumbled upon what I had learned a long time ago, but forgotten.

Pathos, or emotional appeal, has a double meaning in the Greek language of Aristotle.  The first definition, which is easy to understand, is ‘experience’.  The second definition, a bit more complex, is ‘suffering’.

Isn’t it funny how one of the great communicators and thinkers of the past chose such a word?!?!

In many ways, experience does come with a great deal of suffering.  I know for a fact that the experience we have at OnTarget has been earned…and we have the scars to prove it!

Last week, I put together a short video on our experience.  Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9A2K9gIZqU

I hope you enjoy hearing about some of our Pathos.

-Ed

Ed can be reached at 214-618-4960, or via email at trachier@ontargetpartners.com.