Cell Phone Use While Driving

MediaLoftBuzz

Winter 2006 ÐŽÒ' News and Reviews for MediaLoft Marketing Staff

News Bites

Web Marketing Solutions to be Theme for Annual Meeting

ÐŽ§Web Marketing SolutionsЎЁ will be the theme of MediaLoftÐŽ¦s 2006 annual meeting of marketing managers, which is scheduled for October 15-18 in Quebec City, Canada.

Presentations and discussion at the meeting will focus on MediaLoft Online, MediaLoftÐŽ¦s Web site. Speakers will address strategies for improving customer access, innovations in online and offline advertising, MediaLoft Online branding efforts, and market research strategies. Marketing Manager Alice Wegman will chair the meeting.

The meeting will be held at the spectacular Chateau Frontenac on the shores of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec City. All marketing management-level employees are invited to attend.

Looking for Event Ideas?

E-mail us at mle@media-loft.com and we will add your name to the mailing list for ML Events, our new weekly electronic newsletter for MediaLoft staff. ML Events will include detailed information on upcoming author readings, conferences, book groups, classes, concerts, and other events at all MediaLoft locations. The newsletter will also feature reviews of past events and advice from organizers who hosted a similar event.

We depend on you to make ML Events a success! We already know about your headline events, but we want to spread the word about your many innovative and successful efforts to encourage customers into MediaLoft stores and onto MediaLoft Online. Please e-mail us your event schedules, your feedback, and your lessons learned. We hope ML Events will become a forum for sharing new ideas and for creative brainstorming. All submissions to ML Events must be received by e-mail no later than 2 p.m. on Thursdays.

Customers Give High Ratings to the Book Department

In a recent customer survey, MediaLoft book-buyers gave the book department thumbs up. Customers rated the quality of book offerings as excellent, the quantity of titles as very good, and the subject coverage as excellent. MediaLoft sales staff also received equally high ratings from customers for their helpfulness, knowledge, and courtesy. Congratulations to all!

Who shops MediaLoft?

Who is the average MediaLoft customer? While we were polling customers for their views on our book department, we asked questions to develop a customer profile. HereÐŽ¦s a smattering of what we found:

„X 42% graduated from college.

„X 32% have a graduate level degree.

„X 26% have completed high school.

„X 60% earn more than $40,000 per year.

„X 8% earn more than $70,000 per year.

„X 60% are employed as professionals.

„X 20% work in clerical/service industries.

„X 20% work in trades.

„X 80% have purchased books online.

Career Corner

Polishing your public speaking and presentation skills

Did you know that only about 15 percent of an effective speech is content-related? The rest is delivery, style, and emotional involvement. How can you prepare for an important meeting or give a memorable speech? A few tips from the experts:

„X Always prepare for meetings. Make sure you fully understand the topic, are equipped with statistics or data to back up your statements, and have prepared copies of handouts for others at the meeting.

„X Rehearse out loud any speeches you are scheduled to give, using a tape recorder if possible. Take care to enunciate, use a conversational tone, and control your volume and speaking rate. Also watch out for repeated words.

„X Look for a creative angle on the topic you are slated to present. Begin your speech with a personal story, something the audience can identify with. A provocative quote, a statistic, or a story can help to establish a theme for your speech or presentation. The story, statistic, or quote should be relevant to the broader points you intend to make in your speech.

„X Break your ideas into separate points that support or expand upon your theme.

„X Avoid reading your speech or presentation to your audience. If you stumble, donÐŽ¦t repeat sentences or phrases unless they are critical to your speech.

„X Make eye contact whenever you are addressing a crowd, whether you are giving a speech or speaking at a meeting in a conference room. If you are speaking to a large crowd, pick out one person in the crowd and make eye contact with him or her. Others will feel as if you have connected with them too.

„X Be yourself when you are speaking before a crowd. The audience will understand if you are nervous, but will be turned off by a show of bravado or a performance.

„X Speak in the level of language that is appropriate to the occasion. If you are speaking at a formal dinner, your words should be addressed appropriately. For presentations given to co-workers in a conference room, you can afford to speak more informally.

„X Try not to use the podium when you are giving a speech. Instead, rely on a prop: a chair, charts, or perhaps an overhead screen. Take care to walk around the stage, gesture, and use