LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, with over 120 million members and growing rapidly. LinkedIn connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals.

In other words, LinkedIn is Facebook for business people.

Like its cool cousin Facebook, LinkedIn is growing at an astounding rate:

• LinkedIn counts executives from all 2011 Fortune 500 companies as members
• Its corporate hiring solutions are used by 75 of the Fortune 100 companies.
• More than 2 million companies have LinkedIn Company … Continue Reading
  
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The advent of social media as a way-of-life has created a new reality in marketing: word-of-mouth, peer based reviews, testimonials, and complaints now carry an unprecedented amount of weight.

All it takes is a quick stroll through Facebook, twitter, Google, Yelp, and countless other sites to see the staggering amount of content & conversation dedicated to brands.

In fact:

• 92% of buyers have more confidence in info found online than they do in anything from a salesclerk or other source
• 90% of online consumers trust recommendations from people they know; 70% trust … Continue Reading
  
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Flashy navigation? Cool big pictures? Hold on!

Before the dog-and-pony shows of complicated flash intros get too alluring, take a few minutes to sit back and really think about it. The most important question to ask yourself in the development stage is “Is it functional?” Will users be able to navigate your site easily?

Put yourself in the visitor’s shoes. People viewing your site may range from the tech-savvy 19 year-old to the grandpa that got a Dell for Christmas and just … Continue Reading

Stream Companies is proud to announce that we’ve won 2 Silver awards in the 2011 W3 Awards!

The W3 Awards recognizes creative excellence on the web and the creative and marketing geniuses that made it all happen. Stream Companies is proud to be a part of a group of such outstanding winners. We’re a modest team and don’t like to toot our own horns, but we are very happy to say congratulations to the creative and production teams!!

…Now where are we going to put … Continue Reading

I will admit it.

I watch a lot of television.

No, really, A LOT.

And, as many of my family members and friends know, I am that (annoying) person who moans and groans after seeing certain spots. But instead of ranting and raving about bad ads, (copyranter and AdScam/The Horror! already do that incredibly well!) I want to do a series of “Spot-on Spots” – ads that are just standouts among the extremely professional term–“crap”.

First up – When Weird Works

We’ve all seen them, laughed at them, cringed while watching them, and … Continue Reading

Front and Back of 2nd Direct Mail Piece and E-mail

As an approved vendor for Motorola co-op advertising, Stream Companies works with radio dealers nationwide. Commenco Inc., an elite authorized Motorola service facility in the Kansas City metropolitan area, needed to promote its upcoming expo in a fresh and exciting way. Having worked with Stream Companies many times before, Commenco knew that Stream could jazz things up like no other advertising agency around. Stream used direct mail, print, an online landing page, e-mail and online video to … Continue Reading

Contrary to many people’s beliefs, there is more substance to the world of online videos than the following:

Online videos also have the ability to educate and inform consumers, and more importantly, they can motivate these consumers to work with your company.

People spend a considerable amount of time watching videos, probably more than they’d like to admit. According to Arbitron and Edison Research, the weekly audience for online video has tripled in the past five years. Research also showed that the typical respondent spends 3 hours … Continue Reading

Right now, we live in an age where things are constantly changing. We can’t go more than a year until our computers or cell phones are passé, and their technology is nearly obsolete. In the world of advertising design, things are just as much on the move.

So, let’s get down to the brass tacks – How do we stay on top of these constant changes, or better yet, ahead of them?

Two words: adapt and innovate.

“Old media” (TV, radio, print, direct mail, tradeshows, etc.), unlike our outdated iPhone 4s, are actually still relevant, very much so. The trick is to … Continue Reading

Facebook marketers were thrown into a tizzy last week by the suggestion that using 3rd party apps can be detrimental to your post’s EdgeRank.  If that sounds indecipherable, you are not alone.  There’s a lot to know when it comes to making your brand voice heard on Facebook.

Let’s look into the brouhaha more deeply.

Last week, EdgeRank Checker released a study outlining the influence of 3rd party application programming interfaces (“APIs”, more commonly referred to as “3rd Party Apps”) on Facebook engagement.  These apps are commonly used to schedule … Continue Reading

To create an effective, multidimensional campaign, there is one aspect of the campaign that is absolutely crucial: salesmanship.

Real face-to-face interactions with a company representative make all the difference. True salesmanship requires someone who not only knows the product inside and out, but above all, truly listens to the client and reacts in “real time.” It’s not just about the pitch — well-rehearsed, cookie-cutter answers and a snazzy PowerPoint presentation — it’s more than that.

Real salesmanship involves ongoing give-and-take conversations … Continue Reading