Siewierski Consulting Blog

Google+, is this really going to make it?

2011-07-19T12:35:00.000-06:00

I sure hear lots of buzz regarding Google+ and just last week signed up and activated an account. Not seeing much activity here that would suggest it could supplant twitter, or Facebook. Chris Crum's article today - Facebook seems worried About Google+, Should it be?, raises the point it appears twitter may take more of a hit than Facebook and discusses some of the obstacles along the way.

Are you using Goggle+? What are you discovering?

Google+, Facebook & Twitter

2011-07-12T11:41:00.000-06:00

Quite the buzz and lots of opinions with the announcement of Google+. Is this the Google effort that will make its true mark in social corners? Many have speculated it will take a chunk out of Facebook's shine and now some say it is twitter that may take the bigger shot. Check out comments from Chris Crum on this topic in. Do you think they can maim Twitter as discussed.

Me I just signed up for a test account and am very curious how well this will take off and work. Having used many of the google family of products it wold be nice to see it all come together in a clean and intuitive fashion.

Google to Rebrand Blogger and Picasa

2011-07-05T16:36:00.000-06:00

The word is out that Goggle will be re branding both Picasa and Blogger in the next month or two. The relaunch and branding effort to unify Google services and products is tied to the launch of Google+ coming in the next month. These 2 services will be called Google Photos and Google Blogs according to sources. Fore more details see related story.

NY Times Announces Digital Subscriptions

2011-03-17T14:37:00.000-06:00

With today's announcement that the NY Times will begin to introduce different versions of a digital subscription to have full access to all their online content, the discussion is surely to heat up as to whether this is a viable business model and will the consumer buy it. The Wall Street Journal has proven to be one of the few to effectively execute such a strategy. As old media continues to wrestle with the consumption change and corresponding carnage in their advertising another solution that is effective needs to emerge.

What are your thoughts? Will you subscribe? I will test to see how well it works.

Blogging still? Of course and also Tweeting, Facebook and more

2011-02-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

The ongoing debate on does social media sites like twitter or Facebook mean the demise of blogging or email. We continue to hear this as noise that distracts from reality. A very good summary and analysis of this discussion is found in this article - Is Blogging Really in Danger Because of Social Networks?

The following helps to put this discussion in proper perspective from our vantage point:

Qouted from referenced story on WebProNews.com - "Blogging has legs — it's been growing now for more than a decade, but it's not a 'new thing' anymore," says Mullenweg. "Underneath the data in the article there's an interesting super-trend that the Times misses: people of all ages are becoming more and more comfortable publishing online."

As is established every time this debate comes up, blogging and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter complement one another. End of story. Without blogs, people would have less interesting content to share on Facebook and Twitter. Without Facebook and Twitter, bloggers would have a harder time getting the readers.

Kopytoff does make a critical point, however. The lines aren't always crystal clear about what is truly "blogging" and what isn't. Even Twitter use is often called "microblogging".

We are seeing daily in the rapidly changing world how blogging and the various forms of social media are now working to drive change at every level in our world. Bloggers may very well be more powerful agents of change than any modern day army.

We need to continue to use an integrated approach to each of these strong communication tools in our business and daily lives.

Facebook Goes down and Twitter is the Outlet to Discuss

2010-09-23T14:57:00.000-06:00

I find it very interesting as Facebook is down midday that there are conversations starting on twitter regarding this and I am not seeing lead stories on old media web sites. As these titans of new media battle with ever emerging new forms reliability or performance will remain a key part of winners. What are your thoughts? Did Facebook going down impact you at all?

Twitter is Hacked Big Deal or not?

2010-09-21T12:37:00.000-06:00

With all the social media rage and discussions on how best to use and leverage the various options, such as twitter, it is no wonder the hack yesterday happened. It sure seems to have been rather quickly resolved. We are curious if it impacted your business. If so let us know how. Quick story at NY Times goes over the incident(s) - http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/twitter-hacked-tuesday-morning/?hpw.

Email still in the lead over Social Media for e-commerce

2010-07-26T11:40:00.000-06:00

Daily we here more and more on the ongoing debate of social media vs email for online marketers. Today we found more on this with the following, "A new report from Econsultancy suggests that email still beats social networks when it comes to marketing for e-commerce. The report says that over a third (37%) of consumers don't use a social networking site, and that those who have become a "fan" or "friend" of a company or brand online are still in the minority." For more on the story and report from Web Pro News.

The big number for us is that over a third are not even engaged in the social media marketplace. While growth and adoption is huge we know there is some drop out and soft engagement in the users numbers from the social media interests. Email is still easier to use and track with a larger user base. That being said integrating with a solid social media strategy adds value to each component.

Email - staying or going away debate vs Social Media

2010-06-24T11:15:00.000-06:00

I continue to find it interesting when I see various pundits, or more frequently those with a vested position supported by the claim, claiming email will be dead. Granted we are users and believers in email as a company, but we continue to work with more and more companies and organizations making sure email, social media. online efforts and offline are all integrated. None is the silver bullet all by their self. Leveraging and planning strategic campaigns with all continue to prove the be the most successful.

I am curious as to what the readers think on this topic that email is going away and it is all about social media. Interesting story on statements made by Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, at a Nielsen event. See comments in this article covering this mistaken position.

SkiGroup.net Selects Lyris Email Solution from Siewierski Consulting

2010-06-23T17:02:00.001-06:00

SkiGroup.net, a Boulder, CO based ski and snowboard wholesale tour operator has just announced selecting the Lyris email solution from Siewierski Consulting as the foundation for their new email marketing efforts. SkiGroup.net has used Siewierski Consulting to develop and assist in the launch of their social media strategy.

The increasing importance of social media and email marketing are foundational for success in today's marketplace especially among savvy online users that dominate the ski marketplace. By leveraging a new web site with an integrated email and social media strategy SkiGroup,net will make it easier for their customers, clients and prospects to stay engaged and informed.

For more information on social media strategies integrated with web, offline and email marketing contact Siewierski Consulting at 303.554.0222 for a free evaluation.

Social Media Increases in Search Importance and Overall Web Strategy

2010-02-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

With more and more companies using social media strategies to more effectively it is no surprise to see Google announce they are adding more significance to the weight of Facebook posts for corporate and business web sites. A recent article on this on web pro news highlights this recent shift.

At Siewierski Consulting we continue to help more and more companies plan and launch coordinated social media strategies. Recently I attended and participated in a panel in Chamonix France presented by PhocusWright at the International Travel Symposium. View the entire panel at at http://www.klewel.com/private/its10/its_2010_sample.html Use login - its and password xtPvf03z.

Another excellent resource and reading for any business team is the book Groundswell. It's a bestselling book based on analysis by Forrester Research filled with practical, data-based strategies for companies that want to harness the power of social technologies like blogs, social networks, and YouTube. We have found it to be very thought provoking and full of ideas for all companies to harness this new medium.

Ski TV Network Now live at Canon Mountain, Bear Valley and Mt Hood Meadows

2010-02-28T09:46:00.000-07:00

Recently Ski TV Network announced three new resorts coming live with their own channels. Bear Valley Resort in California, Mt Hood Meadows in Oregon and now Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire have joined the growing network of resorts in the United States that belong to the Ski TV Network.

In addition to new resorts this season has seen the Ski TV Network add new content partners RSN and TGR movies. For more information on having your resort join this HDTV placed based cable tv network contact Siewierski Consulting at 303.554.6555.

Ski TV Network Launches Web Site

2009-10-01T14:11:00.004-06:00

Ski TV Networked recently launched it's corporate web site as a first step to using the online medium as another element in their unique approach to resort partnerships. Now online at www.SkiTVNetwork.com resorts and consumers can get a sneak peak at the exciting and compelling content on this revolutionary and innovative HDTV network.

Now entering the third winter season Ski TV Network is now available at over 70 resorts nationwide and continues to grow their content partners. More andmore resort partners are now taking advantage of real time communication of snow conditions, grooing reports, weather impacts on operations and last minute specials. Call now to get more detail on how your resort can take advantage of the HDTV features and custom channel for your resort. Contact John Siewierski at 303.554.0222 for more information and details.

Ski TV Network Expands to Steamboat Springs and Bear Valley

2009-08-14T08:02:00.004-06:00

The HD placed based Ski TV Network continues to grow its network of resort partners with the addition of Steamboat Springs in CO, and Bear Valley Resort in California. This innovative service enables resorts to own the content and messaging in a compelling and dynamic medium for their resort guests. The resort partnerships is now at approximately 70 resorts in the US engages and entertains resort customers with exciting ski and snowboard content.

Search Engine Marketing tips on Google from Google

2009-07-20T12:00:00.002-06:00

Those of us living, working and playing in the digital universe do so in such a Google centric universe. Search continues to be more and more of a core component in the marketing and communication mix that staying on top of what is happening in search is a huge task. But like many efforts on life we need to remember to be true to the basics. One simple excercise we adhere to is making sure we pay attention to what Google makes available to us. Matt Cutt's as lead search guru at Google offers may tips on his blog. To the end we found the following very helpful and remindful of many of our key tenets in search.

Google engineer Matt Cutts on how to get a site to the top of Google with 5 basic tips.

Social Media Solution & Service - 2Dogs Winning Game Plan for Detroit Pistons

2009-06-30T17:55:00.006-06:00

Given all the attention and debate on what is the best way to approach social media and networks, the comment from the Detroit Pistons on their effort this past season may be enlightening. Having worked closely with 2Dogs.com over the last several years we knew it was only a matter of time before more and more key brands began to adopt our approach.

The following testimonial speaks to how well and on target the 2Dogs.com solution and service has worked for the Detroit Pistons in their online social media efforts.

Service and Execution...two words that best describe what 2Dogs brought to the table for the Detroit Pistons when we decided to develop the foundation of our social networking platform: Posting Up the Detroit Pistons Official Social Network.

All this social media stuff was brand new to us, but we knew that we had to get in the pool and start swimming if we were going to uphold our reputation for being an innovator in the sports industry. 2Dogs understood our reputation, as well as the urgency to be first in our field, and immediately started on a plan that would fulfill our expectations.

Giving us examples of their work and showing us a wide range of options -- from blogs to videos to photos to music -- 2Dogs helped us develop a completely customized social network that gives Pistons fans from around the country and around the world, everything they need to share their opinions, experiences and love for the team.

2Dogs was extremely attentive to our needs and took great care in understanding everything that we wanted on our social network. They developed the programs, tested them and then let us test them before making any decisions. When we had changes, 2Dogs made them quickly and efficiently. When something didn't work for us, 2Dogs corrected problems immediately. They made sure that we were completely solid before we went to market, and they did it in a very reasonable time frame.

Today, Posting Up has more than 10,000 members and is the fastest growing social network in the 2Dogs stable. 2Dogs continues to provide incredible service at a reasonable compensation and is always looking for ways to continue our growth.

2Dogs is an incredible organization and having them as a partner in our social media strategy has helped us perpetuate our reputation as an innovator and a leader in the sports industry. They continue to provide exceptional service and go the extra mile to execute our plans for having a dominating presence in the world of social media.

David M. Wieme
Director of Strategic Communications
Palace Sports & Entertainment

For more information on our services and solution call John Siewierski at 303.554.0222 to arrange a demo and quote.

Siewierski Consulting or email john@siewierski.com.

Planes, Travel, Wired, Print and Socialism

2009-06-19T17:39:00.001-06:00

The joys of flying and traveling for business are a far cry from what they once were, but I must admit that on a recent to my home town, where I combined work and pleasure, I finally made the point to block out time to simply buy a magazine to read and relax. This would prove to be relaxing and just the stimulus, albeit with no money from Uncle Sam unfortunately, for this post. In addition to conducting a quick email triage before getting on the plane, it was nice for there to be an easy to access free wifi with good connectivity at BWI airport. I must admit to also being partial to several airports that have good restaurants with good seafood and this is one of them . The BWI airport in Baltimore has a Philips Crab House – others airports of note IMHO are Boston’s Logan Airport with a few Legal Seafood locations and Houston’s Bush International airport with Pappadeux’s – provide incentive to get to the airport early and enjoy a real meal and treat before heading onto the plane where we all know the culinary experience is more of a punishment.

Not having read Wired for awhile, it beckoned from the rack. I will admit I found it interesting enough that I will reactivate a subscription. Yes even in the digital world where most prognosticators have announced the death of print there is still pockets of success. I found this issue very engaging with the article on Googlenomics and the role math plays for then in the own internal economy. I loved the article on how social media and digital media are leading to a new socialism even though they are rooted in libertarian effort to decentralize and liberate each and everyone one of us. I found it disturbing and amusing how the “socialism” word has been bantered about over the last 18 months and clearly the lack of understanding shown by the media and most of our citizenry as is evidenced in the rants of TV, radio and the blogosphere.

Often I have felt the great political treatise that needs to be written and articulated is how to reconcile the ontological gap between liberty, individual freedoms and the role of the state with respect to the social responsibility of large mass democracy and governments. The way society, technology, media and government has evolved lends that past understandings of social institutions and the traditional political ideologies obsolete and inadequate for understanding today’s world and building new working models to cultivate the best out of each of us and our communities and countries.

Spring thoughts on search - as in bing, and Google Chrome

2009-06-10T09:38:00.005-06:00

Some random thoughts on various topics as spring stays wet and cool in the Colorado Front Range, the weather is not always like this to start summer but I find it quite nice. Everything is green and in full blooms with wild flowers going crazy with color.

After having my laptop stolen at a trade show I have had the joys of getting a new computer and rebuilding and reloading the newest workhorse. It has truly been a pain. As I have been adding software and getting everything just right again I have experimented with the Google Chrome browser. I like Chrome, but it crashes too often when I have too many windows open. Not sure if anyone else has experienced this but I do hope they fix it. Speaking of Google, and yes I do profess to a google centric bias in many ways, here is hoping that bing - Microsoft's newest lob into the search market, is successful and then someone else can make a dent into search market share.

What are your thoughts and experience so far with Google Chrome or Microsift new launch of Bing?

Online Trends - Luxury Market, Social Media ....

2009-05-20T10:54:00.005-06:00

Given the current state of the economy a recent report showing the luxury market users growing online and looking for more value it is not a surprise. An article on eMarketer - "When the Going Gets Tough, the Rich Go Online. This is a shrinking market as more and more people has lost significant wealth. The market is also getting noisier requiring brands ot be more sophisticated in their online efforts.

“Luxury brand marketers must stay top-of-mind with wealthy Internet users by offering superior customer service, personalized products, and exclusive offers and invitations,” says Ms. Phillips. “Other marketers hoping to catch the affluents who are ‘trading down’ must raise the bar in their online efforts—not merely by advertising, but by explaining how their products or services fit in with the ‘new’ affluent lifestyle.”

For online retailers, keeping up with the Joneses will not be easy.

With the explosion in social media, continued fragmentation of traditional media with growing use of online technology as the primary communication vehicle, across demographic sectors marketers now more than ever need to be engaging and strategic on how they leverage assets, including content and knowledge to effectively maintain and gain customer business. While infatuation is currently a part of the social media landscape companies will be compelled to integrate with email, off line marketing efforts while being true to their brand. The luxury market may prove to be more demanding than most, but the rewards are significant.

Twitter Mania Still Growing. How do we measure???

2009-05-04T09:11:00.004-06:00

Starting the week today I cannot help but notice the growing groundswell or mania and adoption of Twitter. Twitter is clearly the new darling on the media and online world. Being rapidly adopted by sports teams, personalities, traditional media, movie stars it is on its way to mainstream adoption.

A truly unique service the challenge has been how best to to integrate to help drive meaningful traffic that one can monetize, measure and use to drive profits and brand. Siewierski Consulting and others view email as one of the tools to be used in building the followers - (twitterese for subscribers) - and extending the relationship one has with customers and fans.

Just a couple a twitter feature articles I saw just this morning of interest -

A side phenomena of twitter mania is the rapid use of short urls. Today's New Times has an article on short urls and how quickly they are being adopted as well as the critical assistance they play in tracking links results from twitter.

DM News weekly issue has a front page article on how sports teams and fan are using and being attracted to Twitter.

Looking for help in integrating and using Twitter and social media for your company? Make sure to contact Siewierski Consulting at 303.554.0222. Visit us online at www.siewierski.com, our blog and at Twitter. Check our recently released social media integration and kick start promotion now available.

Siewierski Consulting Tweaks Blog Design

2009-05-04T08:54:00.004-06:00

Yes, we recently updated and tweaked the design of our blog for Siewierski Consulting and client Mountain Sports Club. The new designs take into account the growing need to integrate social media and social network efforts and integrate them into design and navigation. The other goal has been to make the sites easier to use, making access to archived and recent articles quick and simple, as well as bring a new and cleaner brand image.

Twitter account, Facbook, My Space, blogs and Digg integration will become more consitent itn the branding and integration efforts with clients. The new Mountain Sports Club blog also has a new url representative of the base root url as well. The Mountain Sports Club twitter account is being used to anounce new posts of listings, deals and coupons as well as industry news and updates posted on the new blog.

Blogs, Forums, and Social Networking & Media Starter Package:

2009-04-16T15:29:00.006-06:00

More and more companies and organizations are rushing to launch efforts to harness the power of extending customer relationships and branding through the use of social media, web 2.0 and beyond. This was apparent in our recent workshop at the Mountain Travel Symposium.

In an effort to assist companies get started and kick start this effort Siewierski Consulting has introduced the following package.

Review current efforts and make sure to bring any current content into new launch. Set up and brand your 3rd party blog (Blogger or Word Press). Includes identifying critical keywords to be a basis of building labels and anchoring a keyword search strategy.

Set up and integrate blog within your site, by coordinating deployment with client’s web development and hosting provider.

Set up corporate branded My Space, Facebook, Twitter, You Tube Channel & Linked In sites integrated into existing sites, email templates and data collection.

Package price $1,500. Half down and balance upon completion expected turnaround 7 – 14 days. For more details call us at 303.554.0222.

New Group on Linked In For Resort Marketers

2009-04-10T10:03:00.003-06:00

I have found the new group started by John Clifford at Linked In, called the Resort Marketing Group to be pretty interesting. With the season coming to an end and preparation for next year well under way, I would suggest stopping by and joining in. There may be an informal gathering at the NSAA annual meeting and convention in Marco Island. Stay tuned.

Social media sure is all the buzz and a focus here as well.

Social Media Work Shops at Mountain Travel Symposium in Keystone

2009-04-03T13:21:00.006-06:00

Social Media Work Shops at the Mountain Travel Symposium in Keystone this past week highlighted the growing importance this growing element of the online world has become in the marketing mix. On Thursday morning, April 2, Bruce Rosard of PhocusWright moderated a panel on the topic of changes, tools and opportunity for resorts, tour operators, lodging properties and business targeting the traveling Mountain vacation and local markets using social media. Topics included Facebook, Twitter, My Space, Blogs, wifi and more with a panel that included representatives form Tavelocity, Google, wireless networks and GPS tracking technology.

The panel included John Siewierski, of Siewierski Consulting and Flaik, presenting case studies on how to successfuly deploy a social media strategy using the 2dogs.com solution and at resorts with new GPS tracking technology from Flaik. A case study on how GPtours.com has used the 2dogs solution to build a community of almost 8,000 Grand Prix enthusiasts and selling trips and tours that costs $10,000 to $15,000 per trip. Resorts using this solution include Stratton Mountain, Sugar Bowl and Monarch as well as resort associations and recently the Detroit Pistons.

Social media is becoming more and more important as seen by the packed room attending these sessions. Once example of how fats tis is happening is Travelocity's decision to hire a director for social media marketing. Panelist Cady Wolf, a vice president and partner with the company announced to the crowd.

Look for more and more companies to add this to their marketing teams or make sure this task is integrated into all makrketing efforts.

Stratton Launches New Social Media Network Using 2dogs.com

2009-02-09T11:08:00.004-07:00

Statton Mountain recently launched a new social network community - YourSpace@stratton.com - using the 2dogs.com social network solution and service. This vibrant community allows Stratton Mountain guests a place to share blogs, stories, photos, videos and create a larger community of friends that share their love and passion for Stratton Mountain resort and all they offer.

Stratton Mountain Resort is another in a growing list of mountain resorts and related retailers using the solution and platform to meet the growing needs and demands of their usets looking for a social network and community relevant to their passions. This year Sugar Bowl in California launched -The Switch Board - and Buckman's Ski Shops launched - B Space - as a part of their e-commerce and social network strategy. In the team sports world the Detroit Pistons launched - Posting Up - using the 2dogs.com solution.

For more information of 2dogs.com and how best to launch and effective social network strategy to effectively leverage your brand assets, contact John Siewierski at jsiewierski@gmail.com, or call 303.554.0222.

Ski TV Network Now at over 60 Resorts in US

2009-01-15T18:05:00.005-07:00

The Ski TV Network is now active at over 60 US resorts in its second winter of operation. With nearly 70 resorts under contract and new features being rolled out the world's first HD place based cable network offers ski resorts in the US a unique promotional and entertainment service at no charge to participating resorts.

Resorts receive free advertising and customized resort content through this exciting new partnership. For more information on sponsorships and resort participation call John Siewierski at 303.554.0222 or email jsiewierski@gmail.com.

Participating resorts include the following resorts:

California
Bear Mountain
Boreal Ridge
Dodge Ridge
Kirkwood
Mountain High
Snow Summit
Sierra Summit

Colorado
Durango Mountain Resort
Monarch
Sol Vista
Sunlight Mountain
Winter Park Resort

Connecticut
Mohawk Mountain

Idaho
Brundage
Lookout Mountain
Silver Mountain

Maine
Lost Valley
Shawnee Peak

Massachusettes
Nashoba Valley

Michigan
Cannonsburg
Crystal Mountain
Marquette
Ski Brule

Minnesota
Afton Alps
Lutsen
Spirit Mountain
Wild Mountain

Montana
Red Lodge

Nevada
Diamond Peak

New Hampshire
Cranmore
Gunstock
King Pine
Waterville Valley
Wildcat

New Jersey
Hidden Valley Resort

New Mexico
Angel Fire

New York
Catamount
Holiday Mountain
Kissing Bridge
Labrador
Plattekill
Song Mountain
Swain

North Carolina
Appalachian Mountain
Hawksnest
Ski Beech

Ohio
Snow Trails

Oregon
Hoodoo Mountain

Pennsylvania
Blue Mountain
Camelback
Liberty Mountain
Shawnee Mountain

South Dakota
Terry Peak

Utah
Brians Head
Powder Mountain
Sundance Resort

Vermont
Bromley
Jay Peak Resort
Smugglers Notch

Virginia
Wintergreen

Washington
Mount Spokane
Stevens Pass

Wisconsin
Granite Peak
Wilmot Mountain

Google Search Changes and Impact on Organic SEO efforts

2008-12-21T10:33:00.002-07:00

The growing importance of organic search and all search efforts continues to change and keep everyone dependent and focused on changes made at Google. The desire to incorporate an effective organic search strategy is at the foundation of more and more companies efforts.

A recent drive to enable personalized search results threatens many current efforts. The question of how much a downturn in budgets for pay per click ads on Googles Ad Words makes one wonder what is truly the driving force behind changes in how this is done. Given the Holy Grail position of Page rank in the Google universe this could signal a seismic shift in how companies apprach organic search efforts vs paid search for 2009.

Check out this article for more details and debate on ths topic:

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/12/17/what-will-google-serp-changes-mean-for-reputation-management

Why email? Now more than ever? Because it makes you money!!

2008-12-08T16:50:00.000-07:00

We continue to focus on delivering and growing email campaigns with our customers. The importance of email is more and more obvious in an economic downturn as we are experiencing because only tactics and approaches that deliver are growing as opposed to being cut. The following are several key take aways from a recent Whitepaper from our email partner Exact Target.

Perhaps no drum has been beaten as loud and proud in email marketing circles as the Direct Marketing

Association’s annual finding that email delivers the highest return-on-investment (ROI) of any directmarketing tactic—online or off.5 In its 2008 survey, the DMA found that email generated $45.06 for every dollar spent. That’s an ROI of over two times that of other online marketing tactics surveyed and over six times that of catalog direct marketing.

So, according to the DMA, email delivers the most bang for your buck. As Ken Magill from Direct Magazine recently said, “[W]hile e-mail’s ROI far outpaces every other
channel, spending on it lags far behind, possibly because it remains primarily a retention vehicle and its deployment costs are far lower than other channels.”
Savvy email marketers understand that email deployment is only a small part of the investment required to do email right. The other key components for success are:

Personnel: Hiring and retaining knowledgeable, committed email marketing experts who are in it to build long-term results rather than pad their resumes with short-term gains.

Data Integration: Investing time and personnel in a strategy that brings website, point-of-sale, CRM, and response data together in a way that can be leveraged to make all email and one-to-one customer interactions more relevant, personal, and timely.

With data integration in place, your company will be able to introduce increasing levels of segmentation and personalization into your email marketing program. This effort will translate into email capable of honoring what we call “The Four Rights:”

The right message

Sent to the right person

At the right time

Through the right channel

In explaining this to your C-Suite, it is imperative that you demonstrate that personalization is about far more than beginning your email with, “Dear [Subscriber].” It is about using the information your subscribers share with you, combining it with data you know about them from point of sale, CRM systems, and previous online interactions, and then delivering content that actually aligns with their needs and interests.

Examples include:

Delivering account status information

Tailoring product content inclusions based on predictive or behavioral modeling

Populating email content based on abandoned cart contents or site search and browsing history

Moving individual subscribers to a less frequent email schedule based on explicit subscriber requests or automated response analysis

For a copy of the whitepaper or more information on our email services contact Siewierski Consulting at 303.554.0222.

Loveland Ski Area, More terrain and $30 lift tickets

2008-11-13T17:54:00.000-07:00

The snow has not been huge but is continuing to happen in the mountains of Colorado and the western Rockies on a regular basis combined with great snow making conditions. Look for more and more resort openings and expanded terrain.

This just in from our friends at Loveland Ski Area"

Chair 2 Set to Open this Friday!

Not only is there snow in the forecast, but Chair 2 will be opening this Friday, November 13th, just in time for the weekend! The snow has been falling slowly but steadily all week, and when combined with our world class snowmaking, we are getting more terrain open very quickly. The weather forecast is looking good with the chance for several inches in time for the weekend. It's no wonder Loveland is the choice for great early season skiing and riding. Come check out what everyone is talking about!

Loveland Valley and Ski & Ride School Open November 21st

The Loveland Valley, our separate beginners area, and the Loveland Ski & Ride School open next Friday, November 21st. The Ski & Ride School offers a wide variety of programs for all skill levels and disciplines. We are still offering our popular 3 Class Pass program; take three lessons packages and receive a season pass upon completion, restrictions apply. Check out the details for the 3 Class Pass and all of The Ski & Ride School's great programs online.

Mountain Sports Club members are skiing and riding for $30 a day right now at Loveland. That is a $14 daily discount on your lift tickets. Join now and save all season long on lift tickets, gear, lodging travel and more. Half off early season special only $14.95, use promotion code pre08 to redeem offer through November 15.

Blogs & When to email

2008-11-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

The debate rages on as more and more business is conducted trough blogs. With Q4 and an economic downturn, the raging questions of where to place resources is underway. We believe and continue to see tremendous opportunity in blogs for b to c and b to b efforts.

Here is a recent headline in the topic: Blogs are Pervasive and Part of Our Daily Lives

"There have been a number of studies aimed at understanding the
size of the Blogosphere, yielding widely disparate estimates of
both the number of blogs and blog readership. All studies agree,
however, that blogs are a global phenomenon that has hit the
mainstream.

http://bestdirectory.com/Recommends/BloggingBP

The reported numbers vary but agree that blogs are here to stay" is the proclamation.

comScore MediaMetrix (August 2008)
Blogs: 77.7 Mil unique visitors in the US
Facebook: 41.0 Mil | MySpace 75.1 Mil
Total internet audience 188.9 Mil

eMarketer (May 2008)
94.1 Mil US blog readers in 2007 (50% of Internet users)
22.6 Mil US bloggers in 2007 (12%)

Universal McCann (March 2008)
184 Mil WW have started a blog | 26.4 Mil US
346 Mil WW read blogs | 60.3 Mil US
77% of active Internet users read blogs - Now that is a market I want a piece of. Brand loyalties are just being established.

After blogs our next most frequently asked questions are related to email. How much, when and what to whom are the questions.

So if you don't have the cash flow or you're just sick of spending your hard earned money on Google Adwords or other paid advertising then you need to look seriously at this affordable
and effective blogging and an email blueprint.

On the question of the following, "Emails sends. When is best. Key to know for Q4" this is a piece we found interesting and we plan to test with clients in the coming weeks.

So if you don't have the cash flow or you're just sick of spending your hard earned money on Google Adwords or other paid advertising then you need to look seriously at this affordable
and effective blogging and an email blueprint.

Sunday-night anxiety. It's that nervous feeling that creeps up on you when you can picture all the work piled up on your desk for Monday morning. Fortunately or not, depending on how you look at it, people seem to be channeling that anxiety into action by using Sundays to check their e-mail before the official start to the work week.

The newest e-mail metrics report from MailerMailer confirms this new trend: e-mails sent on Sundays garner the highest open rates. From looking in my own inbox, I can only guess that the higher Sunday open rates are due to the lower overall e-mail volume. Typically, I don't get a lot of work-related e-mail on Sundays (yet!). If I were to check my e-mail on Sundays, which I try to refrain from doing, I would probably have more time to do online shopping.

Call us or email us for assistance in your blogging, social network, email and online strategies.

The eve of the election, Social networks and twittering away...

2008-11-03T20:17:00.001-07:00

As the country engages in the last rites of this presidential election we have one thing to say to
everyone. Go vote. Make your voice be heard as it does and can make a difference. We are fortunate to live in the American democracy.

As we continue to spend more time with various social network applications for our businesses and those of clients here are some interesting observations and morsels uncovered today.

Guy Kawasaki's use of Twitter is a great living example of how the new Twitter phenomena is driving the success of his online property alltop.com.

This is a great interview with Guy Kawasaki on his efforts and project:

http://www.vator.tv/news/show/2008-11-02-guy-kawasaki-on-why-twitter-is-key-to-alltop

We continue to be pleasantly pleased with the combined effort of our blogs, Facebook, MySpace, Linked In, Twitter and 2Dogs effort. The combined strength we are seeing continues further time and resource commitment. Observation: it is not one silver bullet but a synergistic strength to reach the market very effectively. It needs to be ongoing and thought out. This entire space allows lots of testing and quick response.

I have been using Twitter for the last couple of weeks and keep finding great resources and making connections. Very surprised. Let's share tweets...

For more detail on Digital Marketing solutions and support contact us at www.Siewierski.com. be sure to follow and join us at MySpace, Facebook, Linked In and Twitter.

Tips and Concerns for Holiday Shopping and Online Marketing

2008-10-28T17:37:00.001-06:00

As the election nears and everyone is looking and hoping that bottom has been found in the marketplace we find it imperative to keep topics alive to help you make the right decisions to keep your business thriving.

One question we are asked everyday is, "Will online sales continue to grow in the face of the economic downturn?" If so how much and will it be across the board. Our expectation is that online sales will be up, but there will be winner and losers. Not everyone will show an increase even past stars may very well stumble.

The word form the experts varies. Here is one analysis that states "Good but not great"

http://blog.shop.org/2008/10/24/holiday-08-good-but-not-great/

Now on the email front with increase cost of direct mail more and more marketers are using email more often. The tendency is to send more Q4. Will this strategy help or hurt? What are the costs long terms vs short term gain? See this analysis. While during the holiday stretch there is more tolerance for increased frequency, one must segment, personalize and target. Mass batch and blast over time erodes your brand and business loyalty. This is a time to stand out and spend time making sure your campaigns have relevance and speak to the needs and wants of your audience.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2008-10-24-online-discounts_N.htm

Email, video & Social networks

With Social networks and video still all the rage, where does email fit? As we have proposed to
clients, use email to drive customers to video and social networks. Coordinate all three elements together in a synchronized fashion to truly drive results and interactivity. Contests and then celebration of the winners and their user generated content that engages and tells your story for you will ensure success on all three fronts and a larger aggregate share of market and brand awareness.

http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3631272

Tell us your thoughts and let us know what is working for you.

October 28, 2008

Ski Washington Selects Siewierski Consulting Email Service

2008-09-19T16:36:00.009-06:00

Ski Washington the trade association for the state of Washington ski areas has selected Siewierski Consulting and the email solution Mail I Want as the vendor for their email marketing and messaging campaigns for the winter 2008.09. Siewierski Consulting's Mail I Want email service will be used to effectively deliver Powder Alerts and marketing messaging to ski and snowboard enthusiasts to keep them informed of changing snow conditions,

The challenging and rapidly changing world of sophisticated email marketing and delivery is an area of expertise for Siewierski Consulting. The Mail I Want solution has been used since 1999 by ski resorts, newspapers, media companies, trade associations and retailers to deliver time sensitive and critical marketing messages. One of the first permission based email solutions, Mail I Want delivers millions of emails to customers requesting timely news and specials on a daily basis.

For more information on how these services can help your company or organization increase your bottom line contact Siewierski Consulting at 303.554.0222.

Ski TV Network Now over 50 Resorts Nationwide in 2nd Year

2008-09-19T16:36:00.008-06:00

The groundbreaking Ski TV Network continues to build an extensive national network of participating ski resort partners nationwide. In just over one year, the world's first placed based High Definition TV network will be available at over 50 resorts. By the time the snow flies and resorts open there are expected to be over 70 ski resort partners in the US.

In the last few weeks new resorts include - Shawnee in Pennsylvania, Swain Mountain in Western New York, Stevens Pass in Washington, Lutsen Mountain in Minnesota, Waterville Valley in New Hampshire, Brian's Head in Utah, Lost Valley in Maine, Jay Peak Resort in Vermont and Granite Peak and Wilmot Ski Area in Wisconsin.

The following is a list of current resort partners for the coming year. Look for more resort partner announcements in the coming weeks and months. For information on joining the Ski TV Network of resorts, or advertising options, contact John Siewierski at 303.554.0222.

California
Bear Mountain

Boreal Ridge
Dodge Ridge
Kirkwood
Mountain High
Snow Summit
Sierra Summit

Colorado
Durango Mountain Resort
Monarch
Sunlight Mountain

Idaho
Brundage
Lookout Mountain
Silver Mountain

Maine
Shawnee Peak

Massachusettes
Nashoba Valley

Michigan
Cannonsburg
Ski Brule

Minnesota
Lutsen
Spirit Mountain
Wild Mountain

Montana
Red Lodge

Nevada
Diamond Peak

New Hampshire
Cranmore
King Pine
Waterville Valley
Wildcat

New Jersey
Hidden Valley Resort

New Mexico
Angel Fire

New York
Catamount
Holiday Mountain
Kissing Bridge
Labrador
Plattekill

Swain

North Carolina
Appalachian Mountain
Hawksnest

Ohio

Snow Trails

Pennsylvania
Blue Mountain
Liberty Mountain
Shawnee Mountain

South Dakota
Terry Peak

Utah
Brians Head

Powder Mountain

Washington
Mount Spokane
Stevens Pass

Wisconsin
Granite Peak
Wilmot Mountain

Ski TV Network Grows with New Resort Partners From California to New England

2008-08-03T17:06:00.003-06:00

Ski TV Network national foot print of ski resorts participating in the second season of the world's first high definition placed based cable network has grown with new resort partners from California to New England.

In the past month California resorts Snow Summit, Sierra Summit, Bear Mountain, Kirkwood have committed to become network partners. Further east Blue Mountain in the Poconos, Cranmore Mountain in New Hampshire's White Mountains join Kissing Bridge and Catamount from New York as new eastern resorts. Additional resort additions in the last month included Terry Peak in South Dakota and Silver Mountain in Idaho.

The following is a list of current resort partners for the coming year. Look for more resort partner announcements in the coming weeks and months. For information on joining the Ski TV Network of resorts, or advertising options, contact John Siewierski at 303.554.0222.

California
Bear Mountain
Boreal Ridge
Dodge Ridge
Kirkwood
Mountain High
Snow Summit
Sierra Summit

Colorado
Durango Mountain Resort
Monarch
Sunlight Mountain

Idaho
Brundage
Lookout Mountain
Silver Mountain

Maine
Shawnee Peak

Massachusettes
Nashoba Valley

Michigan
Cannonsburg
Ski Brule

Minnesota
Spirit Mountain
Wild Mountain

Montana
Red Lodge

Nevada
Diamond Peak

New Hampshire
Cranmore
King Pine
Wildcat

New Jersey
Hidden Valley Resort

New Mexico
Angel Fire

New York
Catamount
Holiday Mountain
Kissing Bridge
Labrador
Plattekill

North Carolina
Appalachian Mountain
Hawksnest

Ohio
Snow Trails

Pennsylvania
Blue Mountain
Liberty Mountain

South Dakota
Terry Peak

Utah
Powder Mountain

Washington
Mount Spokane

Silver Mountain, Bear Mountain, Catamount and more resorts Join Ski TV Network

2008-07-21T05:58:00.001-06:00

The second season of the SKI TV Network, will feature a much larger network of resorts. In the last month resorts from coast to coast have committed to this growing HD place based TV network. The follwing resorts have committed and installations are under way:

Durango Mountain Resort, CO
Kirkwood, CA
Bear Mountain, CA
Snow Summit, CA
Sierra Summit, CA
Catamount, NY
Silver Mountain Resort, ID
Ski Brule, MI

With over 30 resorts and growing skiers and snowboarders will be enjoying premium TV programming in partnership with resort partners. Resorts will blend their content and local content with weekly updates for the coming season. For more information on advertising or adding your resort to this network contact John Siewierski at 303.554.0222 or email at john@siewierski.com.

Peak Pilates Debuts New Online Newsroom

2008-07-10T17:34:00.001-06:00

Local Boulder company most recent Siewierski Consulting client to use the TEKMedia Newsroom. More details below in the press release from Peak Pilates.

Peak Pilates Debuts New Online Newsroom

Peak Pilates has announced its relationship with TEKgroup International, Inc. and the launch of the new Peak Pilates Newsroom. Available within the Peak Pilates Online Newsroom are catalogued press releases, media kits, images, company bios and media contact information.
“We believe this partnership will allow us to effectively communicate the depth of what Peak Pilates has to offer our customers and more easily distribute news, announcements and events to journalists within the community,” said Denise Anderson, Peak Pilates Director of Marketing.
The newsroom may be accessed by visiting http://news.peakpilates.com/.

TEKgroup is an award-winning Internet software and services company, develops E-business software solutions for the public relations industry. TEKgroup clients include Accenture, Best Buy, Carlson Hotels Worldwide, CIGNA, Delta Air Lines, Inc., Detroit Lions, Ford Motor Company, Prudential Financial, VMS, Volkswagen, Walgreens and the Public Relations Society of America.

Siewierski Consulting a Boulder based Digital Marketing agency represents the TEKMedia Newsroom in its suite of digital marketing solutions. For more details on services go to http://www.siewierski.com/.

Eschels Financial Group Selects Selects Siewierski Consulting Email Solution

2008-06-17T10:08:00.000-06:00

Eschels Financial Group located in Birmingham Michigan has selected the team at Siewierski Consulting and the email solution Exact Target to upgrade and improve their email communications with customers and agents. For over 50 years Eschels Financial Group has offered financial services to their customers.

Siewierski Consulting continues to offer full email and digital marketing agency services and support with the accompanying email delivery solutions and tools.

Ski TV Network Resort Comments Laud Service

2008-06-12T17:14:00.000-06:00

As placed based digital TV Networks launch the team at Ski TV Network already has 30 plus resorts committed to their service as they look forward to their second season. Below are two resort testimonials form this past season.

"SkiTV is so easy to implement! John and his staff take care of everything! Our customers love seeing high-quality extreme ski video combined with locally-shot Shawnee Peak video. We would never have the money or time to do a similar program. With SkiTV, we don't have to!“ … Melissa Rock - Shawnee Peak

"Hi, We have GREAT feed back.... They love it........."
Rick Brunnell - Labrador Mountain

New resorts continue to commit to the new service for the 2008.09 winter. Just this week Kirkwood Mountain Resort and Ski Brule joined the growing Ski TV Network.

For more information on this service for your ski and snowboard resort contact John Siewierski at 303.554.0222 or email us at info@siewierski.com.

Social Network Solutions Made Easy - 2 Dogs Software

2008-05-14T13:51:00.000-06:00

2 Dogs Software Social Networking Service & Solution

The 2 Dogs Software social networking solution continues to add more and more clients and features to its service. This innovative approach to social networks was initially deployed and implemented during the winter of 2006.07 with the Pennsylvania Ski Areas Association at www.skipa.com. This launch and others have proven to be popular and successful for clients looking to build social networks and community within their established brands. The audience is very active posting pictures, videos, snow reports, music, blogs, inviting friends and increasing traffic to the site.

The new application is simply and easily plugged into clients existing site, keeping the look, feel and traffic within one’s existing site.

Features and functionality include: photo galleries, videos, games, blogs, events, groups, music and more. Simply put, this is the first application to blend so much functionality of social networking and enable a brand to present to a community a clean design replicating their existing brand message.

Below are links to some of the current networks and communities that are live using the 2 Dogs Software solution and service in the marketplace:

Grand Prix Tours success now has over 8,000 registered users in a vibrant community driving sales and business at - http://services.2dogssoftware.com/yourspace/home/index.php

Man Cow at www.mancow.com - talk radio station launched Cow Place at - http://cowplace.mancow.com/home/index.php? using 2 Dogs software and had over 7,000 users in three weeks…

Pennsylvania Ski Areas after two winters continues to have members posting stories, photos and videos at www.skipa.com under the tag line of My Ski and Ride Space located in the top navigation bar of their web site.

Ski Maine http://skimaine.com has promoted My Ski and Ride Maine site under the click links on top toolbar.

SANY launched their Ski and Ride NY Space with 2 Dogs software and implementation late in winter of 2008.

Monarch Ski area in Colorado had a very active online community at http://www.skimonarch.com/ click MyMonarchSpace along the left side of the home page.

http://mojo.sunandski.com/ My Outdoor Journey Outpost for Sun and Ski and Ski Chalet. They are one of the largest retailers in the ski, cycling and outdoor industry for specialty items. This site has proven to be very popular for promoting events and engaging their enthusiastic customer base.

www.MountainSportsClub.com Mountain Sports Club of North America launched My Mountain Sports Club in September 07.

www.snowsports.org – Snow Sports Industries America’s WinterFeelsGood click MySnowPlace along the right side of the home page.

Buckmans.com – click Bspace on the top navigation bar

With more and more options and choices available in the rapidly changing social networking space, companies are asking how many different applications can they manage and how do they most effectively bring these options and services into their brand experience. Businesses looking to utilize the features and large audience associated with social networks continue to add our service. New advertising opportunities abound in this rapidly growing network of sites.

For more information on setting up your resort’s own ski and ride community contact us at:
Siewierski Consulting - 825 S. Broadway Suite 25
Boulder, CO 80305
303.554.0222

Stupid.com Selects Siewierski Consulting as Email Agency

2008-04-01T12:23:00.001-06:00

Stupid.com one of the original e-commerce sites has selected the team at Siewierski Consulting and the Exact Target email solution to lead them into the forefront of email marketing and communication.

Recently acquired by the Lotus Internet Group Stupid.com will now send timely and personalized emails to their customers requesting the funniest merchandise available online.
Their goal is to make shopping funny.

Stupid.com offers one of the most complete selections of politically incorrect gifts.
Stupid.com is a must online shopping destination this political year and for all your stupid shopping needs.

Mountain Action Network Launches Resort Marketing System

2008-03-16T20:36:00.000-06:00

The Mountain Action Network, a growing advertising and content delivery network for the mountain sports industry, has launched a series of enhancements which now provide ski resorts, lodging suppliers, retailers, and gear suppliers with a single interface to place advertising and content across and entire network of targeted web sites.

The Mountain Action Network represents a collaboration, between industry leaders Action Sports Interactive, which operates popular winter sports sites SkiSite.com, RealConditions.com, and ShredSite.com, and the Mountain Sports Club of North America, which operates MountainSportsClub.com. Along with a number of other partnering sites, the Mountain Action Network delivers millions of visitors and page views to a series of highly targeted sites, each focusing on specific segments of the audience.

Launched this past month, these new enhancements enable ski resort owners, retailers, and suppliers to control content syndicated across the entire network while also being able to purchase targeted advertising - all from a single system.

"Resorts have come to us for years complaining about the difficulty and inefficiency in maintaining their brands across the internet. They had to login to 20 different systems, fax another 25 forms, and then use an agency to make targeted buys." said Greg Gantzer, owner of Action Sports Interactive. "With the launch of this new system, not only can they control the information, they can also monitor traffic and track effectiveness - all in one place". The system allows resort owners to control advertising and content for all of their business units, from ticket sales to lodging and retail, across an entire spectrum of targeted sites.

"It’s really all about making it easy to reach a large, targeted audience" said John Siewierski, a 28 year veteran of the mountain sports industry and Mountain Action Network partner.
The new couponing systems that have been added and launched enable the partner to not only drive incremental business but also capture critical customer information such as email and mail address for future marketing and communication efforts.

Mountain Action Network principals and staff will be in attendance at two upcoming shows and events. Arrange a demo and meeting at either The Mountain Travel Symposium in Vail Colorado April 4 – 10, or at the National Ski Areas Association annual meeting and trade show in San Francisco May 28 – May 30.

“Reaching Active Affluent Mountain Enthusiasts – Mountain Action Network”
2 million visits, 10 million page views and growing…
Proven traffic, proven results…

For more information on how to leverage your brand and business most effectively across our network call us at either:

John Siewierski – Mountain Sports Club - jsiewierski@gmail.com, or 303.554.0222.

Greg Gantzer - Action Sports Interactive
SkiSite - ShredSite - RealConditions
info@skisite.com
(216) 916-0507 office
(216) 244-2287 mobile

Alyeska Resort Selects Siewierski Consulting and Mail I Want as new Email Marketing Partner

2008-01-16T23:45:00.000-07:00

Alyeska Resort in Girdwood Alaska is the most recent mountain resort destination to select the team at Siewierski Consulting and their widely used email marketing platform Mail I Want for upgrading their email marketing efforts. More and more companies continue to look for the ease of use, targeted marketing, and essential business reporting that is found in the Mail I Want email solution to deliver targeted marketing messaging via email.

With a high ROI compared to other marketing options email continues to grow in use and adoption by sophisticated marketing teams. Other resorts using the Siewierski Consulting and Mail I Want email solution include: Sun Valley Resort, Idaho Ski Areas Association, Camelback Ski and Beach Resort, Wild Mountain, Wildcat Mountain, Shawnee Ski Area, Solitude Mountain Resort, Spirit Mountain and many more.

For details and a free demo on this profitable and success producing email solution contact:
Siewierski Consulting
825 South Broadway, Suite 25
Boulder, CO 80305
303.554.0222

My Ski and Ride Space Social Networking Sites Grow for Winter 07/08

2007-12-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

With the Christmas Holiday upon us many are wrapping up shopping and gifts while millions head to the slopes to share a winter vacation, filled with memories of skiing and snowboarding with family and friends. Once done, more and more use the web and features of social networks to share stories, experiences, photos and videos with the ski and snowboard friends.

2 Dogs Software provides an easy to use application for resorts, retailers, resort associations and anyone with a passionate user base with the tools to make this easy and enjoyable. Last winter the My Ski and Ride Space concept was introduced in partnership with the Pennsylvania Ski Areas association. The 2 Dogs Software powers this site, and a growing number of online enthusiast cummunities. Siewierski Consulting acts as the sales marketing and rep team in the ski, snowboard and outdoor recreation community.

New active and dynamic sites and communities are now online at the following sites:

retail:
http://gptours.com/ - Grand Prix Tours
http://sunandski.com/ - Sun and Ski Sports

ski:

http://skipa.com/ - Ski Pennsylvania
http://www.skiinlandnorthwest.com/ - Inland Northwest Ski Area Association
http://www.skiwashington.com/ - Ski Washington
http://www.visitidaho.org/winter/ - Ski Idaho
http://www.skimaine.com/links/ - Ski Maine
http://skimonarch.com/ - Monarch Mountain
http://winterfeelsgood.com/ - Winter Feels Good by Snowsports industries of America
http://www.mountainsportsclub.com/ - Mountain Sports Club of North America - click on My MSCHome tab

For more information, a demo and quote, contact:
Siewierski Consulting
303.554.0222
email: john@siewierski.com

Ski TV Network to Launch with Over 25 Resorts Nationwide

2007-11-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

The Ski TV Network is scheduled to go live this season launching the new on mountain service at resorts nationwide. Most major ski states and regions will be represented in the launch. The following resorts are initial launch partners:

California
Boreal Ridge
Dodge Ridge
Mountain High
Sierra at Tahoe

Colorado
Monarch
Sunlight Mountain

Idaho
Brundage
Lookout Mountain

Maine
Shawnee Peak

Massachusettes
Nashoba Valley

Michigan
Cannonsburg

Minnesota
Spirit Mountain
Wild Mountain

Montana
Red Lodge

Nevada
Diamond Peak

New Hampshire
King Pine
Wildcat

New Jersey
Hidden Valley Resort

New Mexico
Angel Fire

New York
Holiday Mountain
Labrador
Plattekill

North Carolina
Appalachian Mountain
Hawksnest

Ohio
Snow Trails

Pennsylvania
Liberty Mountain

Utah
Powder Mountain

Vermont
Bolton Valley

Washington
Mount Spokane

Ski TV Network Announces Resort Partner Content Upgrade

2007-10-03T16:13:00.000-06:00

October 1, 2007 (BOULDER, CO.)---Ski TV Network, a leading national place based media company, announced today an upgraded service offering for their US Ski and Snowboard Resort Partners. This formal announcement comes on the heels of the initial industry communication about the new HD TV national network system launched in the marketplace six weeks ago.

“After announcing our upgraded digital service offering to our current and prospective US Ski Resort partners only six weeks ago, we have received national distribution agreements covering the vast majority of states that make up the Ski industry,” said David Nicholson, Ski TV Network president. “As we look for ways to enhance our TV Network for the benefit of our Resort Partners, we are making available for each resort the opportunity to provide localized TV content to be included in our broadcasts.”

Ski TV Network made the decision to allow individual resorts the opportunity to intergrate their proprietary content into the broadcasts based on the feedback from early adopters of the new technology. Always looking for ways to improve upon the relationships of the Network with Resort operators, company management listened to the feedback from their partners and has instituted this upgrade effective immediately.

“It is very important for Ski TV Network to listen to our Resort partners and work with them to make our Network truly a working partnership,” said David Nicholson, Ski TV Network president. “We are pleased to offer each of our Resort partners the opportunity to integrate local content offerings into our broadcasts which will only enhance each individual resort’s guest experience.”

About LG Ski TV Network

Headquartered in New York, with offices in Atlanta and Boulder -- Ski TV Network is a High Definition Television Network media offering from Ski Impact/National Leisure Marketing – a leading media company having a national presence in the US Ski Industry since 1964. For more information about Ski TV Network contact John Siewerski, Siewierski Consulting, at 303-554-0222.

Premity Launches Beta of New Enterprise Online Coupon System

2007-09-27T10:50:00.000-06:00

Premity in California recently launched a beta version of a new online couponing system. This systems previous generation is the foundation of Mountain Sports Club and City Vantage online services. The following is an example of a new embedded coupon for a Mountain Sports Club promotional offer. As more and more companies look to offer incentives and collect more relevant information on their customers this becomes a more attractive plug in solution.

Lifestyle Digital TV Networks Target Mountain Resorts

2007-09-21T08:51:00.000-06:00

It was just several months ago our organizaton jumped into a new space in the marketplace. I am beginning to call this a lifestyle/special interest targeted digital TV network. With the advance of digital programming more and more different types of content is beng delivered via digital TV networks. They range form topic, sport or activity based, retail driven and are both local and national.

Siewierski Consulting is representing the new Ski TV Network based in Atlanta, New York and Boulder. Other new entrants include Plum TV, Ski Channel and our Ski TV Network.

The following is a brief analysis of features differentiating Plum TV and Ski TV Network. Look for more to come in the next several weeks.

Plum TV conceived in Nantucket, brings forth the idea of providing a unique resource for residents and visitors, an inside look at the people, places and events. Today Plum currently is in Aspen, Vail, Hamptons, Martha’s Vineyard, Miami Beach and Sun Valley. The content is unique to each place, including live, locally-produced programming and web content.

Check out this link to view their local programming. http://aspen.plumtv.com/ Plum comes into a resort town, purchases a local cable affiliate and renames and reprograms the station. It is akin to buying a public access channel.

The SKi TV Network approach to the resort market is decidedly different. Whereas Plum is a local cable network in each market they service, we are a place based HD TV network with programming pushed nationally from Atlanta. Our local partners have the opportunity to have the content developed to look as though it is produced by the resort as a guest enhancement. Each resort will receive free LG TVs to be placed in high traffic areas for their guests – important to note it is of no cost to the resort and actually will serve as a revenue vehicle.

The programming will start each day with a “Welcome to Aspen” (or Telluride etc) reel, followed by a calendar of events that can be programmed by the resort marketing personnel, local weather content, sports content, house and garden, business segments, food segments and exciting snowboard/skiing content. We can work with the top mountains to do weekly segments that they produce locally and we can ingest them into our content reel. In addition we allocate them advertising time to promote their revenue points (F&B, Ski School) or to sell to their local or national marketing partners. Our national content will be updated weekly where local content can be updated daily. All local revenue generated by the resort – stays at the resort!

For more information on SKI TV Network contact John Siewierski at 303.554.0222 or email to john@siewierski.com.

Ski TV Network Announced, Siewierski Consulting Partner for Sales & Marketing

2007-08-02T17:33:00.000-06:00

Siewierski Consulting is pleased and excited to introduce the new and innovative Ski TV Network. The introduction of this new service to resorts raises the bar in terms of providing dynamic and engaging entertainment, reinforcing the excitement and value of a day skiing and/or snowboarding at your resort/area. This new partnership with Ski TV Network is another step in Siewierski Consulting's commitment to providing the best e-business and digital era solutions to our clients.

The Ski Impact Network was originally established in 1964, providing and supporting "Weather Boards" at resorts across North America. The new offering brings particpating network resorts into the digital age with a state of the art world class digital HDTV program that is customized to ski and snowboard resorts.

In the new format resorts are able to provide resort guests with timely weather information. Update resort guests with on mountain activity happenings. In existing weather board locations the next step will be to replace the existing kiosks, where they are currently installed, to the next level and provide a high quality dynamic service for resort guests. New network resorts will be installing the TV's and programs this fall in time for the 2007/08 ski and snowboard season.

This new program has been made possible through the collaboration and partnering of LG Digital TV's, Convergent, techology from Technicolor and National Leisure Marketing. With a world class operations and control center in Atlanta and a nationwide suport network, the Ski TV Network proves to be a ground breaking venture.

For more information to participate as a resort partner or advertiser or sponsor contact:

Siewierski Consulting
825 South Broadway, Suite 25
Boulder, CO 80305
303.554.0222

More of 2 Dogs and Social Network Options

2007-07-31T09:53:00.000-06:00

The howl of the 2 Dogs is slowly making its way out into the social network corners. Lots of questions are being asked of this new service. Below is a summary and introduction.

2Dogs Software is a full-service hosted white-label social networking solution for large, passionate communities. The 2Dogs solution enables companies to create a personal, customized space for its members to meet others that share their passion for specific activities and interests.

Social networking, by its very nature, strengthens the bond between your customers, increases their loyalty to a company, service or organization, invites new users into the fold, gives them multiple reasons to return to your site more often and stay longer.

The 2Dogs solution is virtually transparent to your customers and meets the same high standards that your customers have come to expect from your company/brand/organization. Our product offering includes UI customization, data integration, and localization in your choice of languages. Additionally, we provide your community with 24/7 IT support and community moderation (optional).

The strength of the 2Dogs solution lies in its easy to use user interface. Our Standard Product is easily used by those familiar with social networking and those new to it, and includes personal profiles, blogging, messaging, photo sharing, video upload, groups, forums, search, event listings and administrative controls.

Like our product, our pricing model is designed to meet your company’s needs. We offer our solution on a pure monthly service fee basis or on a combination monthly subscription fee and advertising revenue share basis. For companies looking to diversify their revenue streams and capitalize on the exploding online advertising marketplace, the combination monthly fee/ ad revenue share model is an attractive alternative.

Both the revenue share model and the monthly service fee include:
· Hosting
· Maintenance and support
· Upgrade
· Community moderation (optional).

Our pricing model requires an additional one-time set-up fee. This fee covers:
· UI customization
· Localization
· Data integration
· Customized email invitations, profile surveys and forums topics

In summary, implementing 2Dogs’ social networking solution is a cost-effective way of increasing your members’ passion for and commitment to your company. They will come more often, stay longer and spread their enthusiasm.

For more information contact:
Siewierski Consulting at 303.554.0222 or email us at jsiewierski@gmail.com.

Social Networking Solution 2 Dogs Software & Siewierski Consulting

2007-07-21T14:49:00.000-06:00

The rapid pace and many options are leaving many bewildered as the new frontier of social networking options explodes around us and our business. We have continued to experiment with the various forms and continue to have success with sites and services such as Blogger, You Tube, My Space, Flickr and others. Recently we were introduced to a new concept from 2 Dogs Software. This software plugs into your existing site and keeps the community and traffic within your site.

Several of our clients have been first to adopt this new approach and we will also use this as the foundation of My Mountain Sports Club which will launch later this summer as an extension of the Mountain Sports Club. WE so likes the service we are now proud to announce we will be acting as sales agents and representatives for 2 Dogs Software targeting the snowsports, travel and leisure and recreation market place.

Siewierski Consulting announces an agreement to act as sales agent and representatives for 2 Dogs Software. With an initial focus on the winter sports market, 2 Dogs deployed and implemented their new service last winter season with Pennsylvania Ski Areas Association at http://www.skipa.com/. This link was promoted off the site to My Ski & Ride page. The new addition has been a rousing success with a very active audience posting pictures, videos, snow reports, music, inviting friends and increasing traffic to the site.

The new application simply and easily is plugged into clients existing site, keeping the look and feel and traffic within one’s existing site. Features and functionality include: photo galleries, videos, games, blogs, events, groups, music and more. Simply put this is the first application to blend so much functionality of social networking and enable a brand to present this community opportunity in a clean design replicating their existing brand message. Below are links to the newest sites we are releasing.

http://gptours.com/ click YourSpace
http://skipa.com/ click MySkiandRideSpace
http://skimaine.com/ click links on top toolbar and see MySkiandRideSpace
http://skiwashington.com/ MySkiandRideSpace under announcements
http://services.2dogssoftware.com/skiidaho Idahowinter.org
http://ekron.2dogssoftware.com/mojo This is Sun and Ski. They are the second largest retailer in the ski industry for specialty items. Working on graphics and finalizing styling; launching this week.

With more and more options and choices available in the rapidly changing social networking space, companies are asking how many different applications can they manage and how do they most effectively bring these options and services into their brand experience. Businesses looking to utilize the features and large audience associated with social networks continue to add our service. New advertising opportunities abound in this rapidly growing network of sites.

Preview a demo at: http://demo.2dogssoftware.com/demo/proddemo.html or
Preview the Grand Prix demo: http://demo.2dogssoftware.com/demo/gpdemo.html

For more information on setting up your resort own ski and ride community contact us at:

Siewierski Consulting
3360 Dover Drive
Boulder, CO 80305
303.829.1699

More Ski and Snowboard Resorts commit to Siewierski Consulting Mail I Want Email Solution

2007-07-02T17:36:00.000-06:00

Over the past three months more resorts nationwide continue to commit to The Mail I Want Siewierski Consulting emails agency solution. Continued inprovements in the permission based email solution enable clients ot include viral marketing features such as forward to a friend and personalized email messages with SC's Mail I Want Solution.

Continued clients who have renewed for the coming winter season and new cycle include Wild Mountain in Minnesota, Sunburst Ski Area in Wisconsin and Wildcat Mountain in New Hampshire. Siewierski Consulting continues to provide self serve options and agency style support for their clients.

More and more clients see and acknowledge the need for more targeted emails and strategic plans, yet do not have the man power or experience in house. Siewierski Consulting continues to add value to all email solutions by bringing the wealth of over 12 years engaged in permission based email marketing. This service includes strategic consulting services, the ability to append and perform email appends as well to grow a better understanding of your customers and build one's email assets.

Alpenhof Lodge in Teton Village selects Siewierski Consulting's Mail I Want as Email Solution

2007-05-06T08:44:00.000-06:00

The Alpenhof Lodge in Teton Village at the base of Jackson Hole has selected Siewierski Consulting and the Mail I Want email solutions as the team to guide and deploy email marketing to past guests and prospects. The Alpenhof Lodge joins the growing number of lodging properties and tour operators using the Mail I Want email solution with Siewierski Consulting providing the strategic guidance in creating, deploying and executing the email communication.

The Alpenhof Lodge has been a mainstay at Teton Village for decades and provides a unique and disinctive lodge and alpine style environment for their guests.

Siewierski Consulting and Mail I Want team to provide email marketing services, email append and strategic guidance and consulting services to ensure companies maximize the power of email marketing. The principals at Siewierski Consulting have been using permission based email communication and marketing for over 12 years.

Siewierski teams with Ryan Solutions to Offer Leading Edge Database Solutions

2007-05-06T08:39:00.000-06:00

We are pleased to announce agreement with Ryan Solutions to combine their services into our suite of offerings. Ryan Solutions is a world-class marketing services agency focused on the integration of leading edge database technology, marketing strategies and creative development. Our goal is to help you build relationships with your customers and maximize incremental profitability.

RYAN SOLUTIONS SERVICES
We believe that your number one asset is the information your customers provide. Information that provides you the ability to identify, retain and acquire more of your most profitable customers.
Host and Manage Customer Database
• Ensuring your database is de-duped, householded & clean and your contact information is up-to-date.
• Storing purchase detail and history.
• Profiling behavior patterns to predict future behavior.
• Enhancing your data with third-party variables such as demographic, attitudinal, lifestyle and financial information.
• Custom integration to your data sources, including PMS, POS and e-Commerce applications.
Email Service - We work with the best email service providers available today. Our services range from:
• Providing you with the tools to manage your email campaigns.
• Managing your entire email program including strategy, creative, testing, execution, reporting and refinement.

Strategic Services - How do you use your database to generate profits? We can help by:
• Telling you about your customers, their behaviors and their needs.
• Making recommendations that include a multi-channel contact strategy.
• Implementing test procedures that account for offers, timing, channel, frequency and audience.
• Isolating the incremental results of your direct marketing efforts and making these results profi table and repeatable.
Agency Services - We have existing relationships with several full-service printers and mail shops. Our team can help by:
• Coordinating all of your collateral production, printing, mailing and interactive needs.
• Providing multiple estimates and bids for each job for a better product and pricing.

WHY RYAN SOLUTIONS & SIEWIERSKI CONSULTING?
We have the best marketing database capabilities in the destination resort and hospitality industry. We know your customers and know them better than anyone else. In addition, Ryan Solutions/Siewierski Consulting can be your one-stop, full-service direct marketing agency.
CLIENTS for Ryan Solutions Database services:
Vail
Beaver Creek
Keystone
Breckenridge
Heavenly
Snowbird
Star Resort Group
Springmaid Beach Resort
Durango Mountain Resort
Kirkwood Mountain Resort
Durango Mountain Realty
Specialty Sports Ventures
Big Bear Mountain Resort

CONTACT US
For more information about Ryan Solutions/Siewierski Consulting,
visit www.ryansolutions.com & www.siewierski.com.
John Siewierski – 303.829.1699

Ski The Rockies Selects Siewierski Consulting for SEO Effort

2007-05-02T15:01:00.000-06:00

Siewierski Consulting announces they have been engaged by Ski The Rockies to oversee and implement a search engine optimization effort and site refinement. The project is designed to improve the organic search results of Ski The Rockies content related to ski packages, vacation planning and online booking on destination mountain travel.

Ski the Rockies is a leading wholesale tour operator based in Chicago. Serving skiing and snowboarding vacationers for decades, Ski the Rockies are known as the "Ski and Ride Travel Experts".

Recently Siewierski Consulting was featured in the Boulder Camera's business briefs as a company specializing in multi channel marketing with an emphasis on email marketing and search engine optimization.

"While no one can guarantee results, we are accomplishing page 1 Google results on competitive terms for several clients," John Siewierski states. Contact us for a free evaluation and to explore how we can help you rank better on Gooogle and other search engines.

Search Questions - What is best Pay per click or Organic Search Engine Optimization?

2007-04-27T14:58:00.000-06:00

This is a quick rant on a topic that I fell compelled to put some comments down and make a statement regarding. The debate on how best to approach search for best business results continues to rage on. Last week I attended the Mountain Travel Symposium in Whistler British Columbia and was intrigued at some of the speakers and a follow up article this week in a news letter I recieved today - Site Pro Search.

The are several sides to the issue that merit discussion in my humble opinion. The first one was an expert running a pair of work shops, telling everyone that the next Monday if they did not have an active pay per click campaign on the major search engines - Google, Yahoo and MSN were the ones he referenced - they needed to do it first thing. I bit my tongue. While I agree it is good to begin to understand the lay of the land this should not be one's first step into the search landscape. He happens to be a principal for a company that offers a service of managing pay per click campaigns. So he may be a little bias. It is a widely known fact that over the last 12 months pay per click return on investment has gone down in many corners especially business to consumer side. There is a lot of dumb unsophisticated money chasing traffic and driving more and more terms costs too high and past an effective use of marketing dollars in terms of maximizing ROI.

That being said I know there are areas and in travel and B to B where companies still are generating good return on investment. It is not so easy and one should take the time first to better understand the process and use professionals or hire someone who has done this effectively in the past and recently.

I have initiated and managed pay per click campaigns and will again in the future, but in most instances it is not where I start. I would especially not use the lion's share of one's resources - time and money on this segment of the market opportunity. One topic that was ignored is looking at your own internal search results to see what words and keyword strings your existing customers and visitors are using to find items/services and buying products or services. If you do not have a good search functionality get one first. Then do some research on terms and word strings with sizable traffic that apply to your business. See what the costs of these words are, the number of competitors playing in this arena and try to best understand where market opportunity exists. We have done this to help us buy the right products, build inventory, create internal promotions and make optimization and paid campaigns decisions for clients. Watch your customers behavior and actions and listen to them in your planning.

First and foremost you MUST make your site search engine friendly. Once done this investment will pay returns greater than any other expenditure over and over again. It also will require research on the competitive landscape, some white board work on various terms and phrases that relate to your business and services. Then write compelling copy that ties to the terms and phrases you are attempting to improve your search results.

I will not attempt to go into this in detail here, but remember what the meaning of words are as it relates to your business. How would you and others(customers and prospects) begin to search for these products and services? Ask yourself this for every market segment, product line and service you offer. Is it related to your url string? Is it in your title page? What is the frequency, without trying to spam the search engines, they exist in the copy?

Another important part of an effective strategy is an effective link strategy internally and with the rest of a relavant internet. Do you know where you can utilize free relevant links?? Notice the word relevant I keep mentioning. The bots that drive search algorithyms are designed to understand the meaning of words within context and relavancy. They are smarter than most of us so there is often danger in trying to trick them. Some have done this and then been simply removed. A very costly mistake. There is much to learn and it is an ongoing organic process. Make sure to have a reliable and credible professional/expert lead you in this process. As Mr Kawasaki said at the MTS conference last week, " beware the Bozo's. Some are obvious, but the dangerous one's are those that appear to be successful, have all the looks and appearances of success but are really Bozo's."

A couple of interesting sources that I go to regularly include the following:
- www.searchengineland.com - here is an interesting link to an article by Danny Sullivan on a raging debate regarding how Google is treating paid links.
- It is also wise to check in with Matt Cutts Blog - he is the man at Google and drives much of this debate and what is happening in this space.
- Then again in a world where Google is probably the browser most are using to look at the web, visit their blogs, discussion groups and use the free tools they continue to provide.

The observation of Google as a browser was presented to the audience by Phillip Wolfe from PhocusWright in his work shop. I found it intriguing and the reason that he used is that it is how we look at the web. I would agree with him in this regard and it helps us step back and think about how we should approach our next round of marketing.

This session, which to me was worth the trip all by itself, also covered the social networking landscape, web 2.0 and introduced to the audience that if are a marketer and you do not think you are a very good web/internet marketer, then you are not a very good marketer in today's world. Next question why do students, youth and college students go to the My Space or Face book account before checking email? Spam baby... No one can spam them in these permission based communities.

Send me your thoughts and comments and let's get it going. Look for next post shortly. Enjoy the spring time and go outside and have fun.

Siewierski Consulting announces new Boulder Weekly Web Project

2007-04-12T13:45:00.000-06:00

Siewierski Consulting is pleased to announce a new project that our team will be leading and overseeing. Boulder Weekly, located in Boulder, Colorado, an alternative weekly newspaper mainstay in Boulder for close to 15 years has selected Siewierski Consulting to review their current web presence and and lead the company to an online rebirth, site relaunch and integration of all assets into a vibrant online community complimenting the existing weekly.

More details on the exact timing and nature of this new effort will be released over the coming months. Viewers and customers will see the launch of a blog for daily updates and commentary, a weekly email anouncing local specials, unique offers, feature highlights and more.

A new design targeting social networking, reader feedback and interactive elements will be part of a summer site relaunch. Currently delivering close to 400,000 page views monthly, the online version of the Boulder Weekly is another medium to reach the alffluent and highly educated Boulder market.

New Site Launch for RebelBoardSports.com

2007-04-07T11:21:00.000-06:00

Retail Concepts in Houston Texas quietly, announced the launch of their first pure play e-commerce site - www.RebelBoardSports.com . This new effort and site targets the 13 - 25 action sports board and lifestyle market. Heavily dominated by young males this site will focus on the lifestyle and boardsports of snowboarding, skateboarding, wakeboarding, water skiing and the accompanying culture.

To promote the upcoming launch, targeted for May 2007, they have started with a promotion titled the "Great Rebel Schwag Giveaway". They are giving away gear to registrants for their My Space friends list and email list each week up till launch. To help promote this new effort and site they have launched a site on My Space declaring - "Join the rebelution" and encouraging this audience to join in the fun. Comments are flowing into their site as are new friends like Burton, Billabong girls, Spy Optics, Transworld Skateboarding, Wakeboading Magazine and a rapidly growing list of notables in this space.

This weeks first giveaway is an Adio Shaun White Skate Shoe. Make sure to join and win some free gear.

Check this site and effort out. It will worth following how they use the new medium to launch their first pure play brands with out an accompanying store. Retail Concepts currently operates two online e-commerce sites - Sun and Ski Sports at www.SunandSki.com and Ski Chalet at www.SkiChalet.com . This summer they will relaunch the Ski Stop site at www.skistop.com to be a fully functioning e-commerce site to compliment the brick and mortar presence of each.

New 2 for 1 Lift Ticket Deals, New Lodges and Resort Offers to kick off Spring Skiing

2007-03-07T15:51:00.000-07:00

The Mountain Sports Club keeps growing with more new members joining and a steady growth in new resorts and vendors offering special deals to our members.

Some of the resorts adding benefits for members savings on lift tickets and lodging are:

New Hampshire:
Gunstock - Members now save midweek until season's end. Two new offers. Buy one day and the next day is FREE. Valid 3.11 - 3.15,2007 and starting on March 18 it will be 2 for 1 lift tickets, valid midweek.

Nordic Inn Condos in Lincoln New Hampshire. Convenient to Loon, Cannon and Waterville Valley ski and snowboard resorts. Members save 10% on direct bookings and discount lift tickets are available to guests for Loon Mountain Resort, Cannon Mountain and Waterville Valley.

New lodging offers:
Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia - Save now up to 50% at Crystal Lodge. In the heart of Whistler Village. Book direct and save...

Near Sunlight Mountain and Aspen Resorts, Mountain Sports Club members now save when staying at the Red Rooster Inn. Recently voted on of America's Top 10 B & B's in USA Today. Go ahead and spoil yourself.

A series of new rafting and kayak offers for trips, clinics and instruction with RiverRaftTrips.com and in the Lake Tahoe area, Kayak Tahoe has offered discounts on day tours and kayak rentals.

Use your membership once and it's paid for. Use it often and save hundreds. Special half price offer, now one year membership only $9.95 - register now. Use promotion code- Blog07 and redeem offer and start saving.

New Clients and New Projects Q1 2007

2007-03-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

The following is a quick update of new clients and projects that have joined the growing list of Siewierski Consulting clients.

PhocusWright Inc. makes the decision to use the Siewerski Consulting Exact Target email solution with a Sales Force integration to improve deliverability, customization and ROI. - January 2007
Solitude Resort transfers the existing Mail I Want email account to Siewierski Consulting agency. - February 2007
Egan Entertainment and Ski Clinics.com transfers the existing Mail I Want email account to Siewierski Consulting agency. - February 2007
Egan Entertainment and Ski Clinics.com engage Siewierski Consulting to assist in Search Engine optimization efforts to improve the traffic and ranking of their web sites in organic search results. A review and revamping of email messaging will also be another component of this process. - March 2007.
Mail I Want announces Siewerski Consulting as agency of sales and support for entire snowsports, outdoor and hospitality industry. This results in up to 8 additional clients migrating to the Siewierski Consulting agency.

Project updates

Retail Concepts - The new year sees continued focus on improving the operations, search engine results, building the affiliate network, preparing to launch new sites and update existing ones as we move from winter to spring. Organic search engine results have been good to excellent. From broader terms like skis and snow skis we show up well (First page) on Google and MSN. Individual products pages are also pulling first page results on Google and MSN at a high percentage. Current sites are www.skichalet.com and www.sunandski.com with live ecommerce. Other sites that will add e-commerce functionality this year include - www.skistop.com , www.patioplace.com and www.patiostop.com.
Mountain Sports Club of North America - the launch of this new service has been a success with accomplishments like over 50 resorts offering lift ticket discounts, online travel service with major resorts and over 1500 lodges available. Resort info for over 650 resorts. User reviews and membership grows rapidly every day as well as readership. Test drive a FREE membership and use promotion code blog07. Register here and use the code to upgrade to Premium at NO charge. Look for summer activities being added including deals on lift serviced mountain biking.

For a free quote on any services contact us at 303.829.1699 or email me at jsiewierski@gmail.com.

John Siewierski

Mail I Want Announces Siewierski Consulting as Snowsports, Outdoor & Leisure Market Sales and Support Agency

2007-03-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

March 5, 2007

Superior, WI –

Charles Johnson, President, Mail-I-Want announces the selection of Siewierski Consulting as the new agency of record for sales and support of clients using the Mail-I-Want email solution.

Siewierski Consulting has acted as an agency since May of 2006 and continues to bring new clients (Camelback Ski & Beach Resort, Scribner Hollow Lodge & Whitewood Tours) and features to the Mail-I-Want solution and service.

“I am very pleased and fortunate to have John Siewierski as an agent for MIW. He is well known in the industry as someone who gets results and achieves success for his clients.” Johnson said.

Several of existing/previous clients (Sun Valley Ski Resort & Solitude) have already migrated to the Siewierski Consulting agency and the balance will be migrated over the spring and early summer months.

About Mail-I-Want: A leader and innovator in permission based email marketing and communication since 1999. The company delivers over 15 million emails monthly for clients in industries as diverse as Food and beverage, Tourism, Retail and manufacturing. Located in Superior, MN. www.mailiwant.com.

About Siewierski Consulting: Siewierski Consulting provides strategic consulting and agency service for companies focused on developing e-commerce and e-business in concert with multi-channel strategies. Areas of service and expertise include: email marketing, delivery and strategy, all facets of e-commerce, web design, affiliate marketing, Search Engine Optimization, data hygiene, management and append services and e-business solutions.

For more information contact:

John Siewierski
Siewierski Consulting
3360 Dover Drive
Boulder, CO 80305
303.829.1699
www.siewierski.com

New Service, Importance of Email and Start of the New Year

2007-02-23T16:18:00.000-07:00

The start of the new year and first quarter of the new year has seen Siewierski Consulting add an additional email option with award winning Exact Target, and our first ET client PhocusWright. This underscores the continuing importance of email in the marketing mix. A recent DMA report shows email marketers with an ROI of over $50 for every dollar spent. When this is looked at closer the Return On Investment is even higher for those marketers who are segmenting and targeting their messages. More and more of our clients are taking a closer look at email as a critical component of their overall marketing mix.

The effort to segment and taget is becoming increasingly inportant as more and more retailers and companies enter the space and comeptition heats up. This is requiring more and more companies to invest in solutions that are able to integrate with web analytics and customer database efforts. The old days of simply blasting away emails is long gone.

Please think through this onclusion from a recent study by Marketing Sherpa shows that "the percent of traffic driven from email house lists(campaigns sent to your ownopt-in list of buyers and prospects) is remarkably steady across all sectors and sites. ... House emails can get extremely high ROI, often better than search campaigns(... they are past purchasers)..... Sites willing to push the envelope aggressively and get email response beyond the norm can stand out in the field where everyone appeasr to be average." This what we are accomplishing wiht our clients.

One area that is showing great returns is for retailers and any business focussed on targeting large metro areas where costs of mass media are prohibitive. Targeted email to previous customers and prospects who ask to recieve email notices of sales, special offers, new arrivals and events is outperforming virtually any other marketing and advertising/communication medium.

In addition to adding the Exact Target email solution as an option for clients, we recently were selected as the agency of record for all sales and support of Mail I Want for the snowsports, outdoor and travel industries. See recent press release on this announcement. Shawnee Mountain Ski Area, SkiClinics.com/Egan Entertainment are the most recent new clients to start using our Mail I Want email solution.

Email append continues to be another key component of the overall email strategy. Many of our clients are using this as a way to grow the email opt in list with permission from existing customers who may have not chosen to do so at original point of contact. For more information on any of these services contact us at info@siewierski.com or visit our web site at www.siewierski.com.

Mountain Sports Club of North America and Shell Gas Joint Promotion Targets Skiers and Snowboarders

2006-12-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

Boulder December 29, 2006

Mountain Sports Club of North America is pleased to announce participation in the Shell Ski Free promotion. This promotional program builds on our effort to not only drive incremental skiers and snowboard visits to resorts and corresponding merchants, but to help them build a database of who these skiers and snowboarders. By sending participants to the web to register for the valuable savings vouchers, resorts now have the name, email and mailing address of those who redeem the vouchers and visit their resort.

The marketing budget for this promotional program includes $500,000 of media, 550 Shell Stations and 1 million vouchers are being distributed throughout Idaho, Washington, Colorado and Oregon to encourage folks to go out skiing and if additional information is required go to the skifreedeals.com website.

"We are pleased to collaborate with the Mountain Sports Club in providing
more value for our clients in the Pacific Northwest - Estelle West,
SkiFreeDeals.com".

A promotion that targets vacationing, regional weekend and destination market skiers and outdoor enthusiasts. Strong in season promotion, now with email messaging.

This program builds on existing promotions where the Mountain Sports Club membership is featured and included as part of the 4th and 5th Grade passport programs in the Pacific Northwest and Ski New Hampshire. By encouraging more participation to these target groups with incentives there is a higher likelihood of converting the users to more frequent participation in skiing and snowboarding.

The Mountain Sports Club program provides skiers and snowboarders extensive discounts and savings on lift tickets, lodging, travel, shopping and more. Members register for this new online service at www.MountainSportsClub.com. The service is also being provided as a gift on purchases of $50 or more through specialty retailers – Sun and Ski Sports (16 locations in 7 states across the South), Ski Chalet with 3 locations on the DC and Northern Virginia metro region and The Ski Stop in Long Island, New York.

For more information contact:
John Siewierski
Mountain Sports Club of North America
3360 Dover Drive
Boulder, CO 80305
303.829.1699 phone – 303.499.9553 fax
http://www.mountainsportsclub.com/ - john@mountainsportsclub.com

Happy Thanksgiving - New Customers and A Mountain Sports Club Invite.

2006-11-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

November 22,

Happy thanksgiving to everyone. There is great snow in the the central rockies with resorts opening nationwide.

We are very thankful for all the support and encouragement as we started Siewierski Consulting this past year.

Recently we launched Mountain Sports Clubs new functionality with live coupons and user reviews of resorts.

Test out this service for FREE this next year - use promotion code rjs2006 - and enjoy a premium membership on us and push this to as many friends between now and December 31, 2006.

Special thanks to all of our new clients this first year.

We wish to extend a warm welcome to new clients - Sun Valley Resort - Mail I Want Customer and The Colorado Ski Museum. This new relationship will be Siewierski Consulting overseeing the deployment of a new e-commerce effort and will be live by years end.

Get out and go skiing or riding.

New Customers, New Deals and a Live Mountain Sports Club Debut at Denver Ski Show

2006-11-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

Boulder, Colorado November 2, 2006

With the winter season pushing to kick in we continue to add key accounts. Just this past week Siewierski Consulting landed the Sun Valley Resort email marketing account. We will continue to work with them in their use of Mail I want for delivering snow reports and marketing messages.

Just this week, Siewierski Consulting was selected by the Colorado Ski Museum to oversee implementation of an updated e-commerce effort. The plan is to use a basic Yaho store, integrate with their current site and content and start generating sales online of their most popular items. Target date to be live is December 15.

On the Mountain Sports Club front deals are starting to come in quickly wiht the start of the season here in places and rapidly upon us in other parts of the country. The new fuctionality will be live next Friday November 10. Members will be able to download personalized savings vouchers at more and more merchants and resorts. We just announced a monthly members only gear and lift tcket giveaway. This months free stuff, includes 2 FREE Lift tickets to Loveland Ski Area, 2 nights lodging in Colorado and a Volant Ski from Terry Sports of Steamboat Springs Colorado.

New lift ticket deals for this past week inlcude:

Mad River Glen in Vermont - Ski it if you can... Mountain Sports Club members ski for only $29 during midweek nonholidays. This is a lift tickets discount/savings of $26 daily.
Ascutney Mountain In Southern Vermont checks in with 2 for 1 midweek non holiday lift tickets, Savings of up to $58 daily and weekend non holiday savings of $15 daily.
Powderhorn Colorado on the Western slopes offers members daily savings of $6 all seaosn no blackouts or restrictions.

Kicking off 2006/07 Ski Season at Loveland

2006-10-30T15:22:00.000-07:00

Monday October 30, 2006

Dateline Boulder, Colorado

Friday was the 24th time out of the last 28 October’s that I have had the good fortune of skiing and making turns in Colorado. I had the opportunity to get to Loveland Ski Area and check out the incredible early season snow. The ski season began early this year in the Colorado Rockies. Arapahoe Basin was the first to open Friday October 13 th, followed by Loveland Ski area the next day. Since then the state and central mountains have received several snow falls. The one that kicked the season into a higher gear was the middle of last week when most of the mountains received 18 – 14 inches of snow.

Loveland reported 22 inches of new snow last Thursday and opened an additional chair. On Friday under blue skies it felt like mid winter. The snow was soft and there were soft bumps appearing on blue and black runs. There are now 3lifts with 21 trails open. I have never skied such good winter soft snow and seen so much terrain open this early. It is time to wax the skis or snowboards and get a jump on this season. Loveland Ski Area will be offering a daily $7.00 lift ticket savings/discount on full day lift tickets this season to Mountain Sports Club members.

Arapahoe Basin reports 2 lifts open, 7 runs and top to bottom skiing and snowboarding. This week will see both Keystone and Copper Mountain open one week early for skiing and snowboarding. In Southwest Colorado Wolf Creek opened this past Friday.

See you on the hill,

Ski area Openings, More Lift ticket deals and St Mary's Glacier

2006-10-16T09:11:00.000-06:00

Fall sure is trying to move quickly into winter in the Colorado high country. The early snows and cold temperatures provided enough foundation and for good snowmaking weather to enable both Arapahoe Basin ( first in the nation on Friday 10.13) and Loveland Ski Area ( next day Saturday 10.14) to open for skiing and riding. This is one of the earliest I can remember having 2 areas open. It sure builds the excitement and enthusiasm for a good season.

We took a hike up to St. Mary's Glacier yesterday as well to get our legs ready for some high country winter treks and to take in the sites. This is and has been one of my favorite hikes and access points to the high country for almost 30 years. To get there take I-70 west to exit 238 Fall River Road. Take RD 275 about 11 miles to you past the sign that you have gone over 10,000 feet. From there you will shortly see several parking and trail options. It is 3/4 of a mile to the base of the Glacier (tecnically a snowfield) and the lake.

With recent snows of up to 2 feet in parts of the mountains, the glacier offered a significant, but narrow in places, run. At the top of the glacier there were kickers and rails that had been built with an very active backcountry park and jumping scene. There must have been 30 - 40 skiers and riders we saw making the hike and earning turns and jumps. It was sunny and warm making for an awesome October day of playing in the high country.

New deal this week included daily savings of up to $6.00 valid everyday of the season at Shawnee Peak in Maine.

Site relaunches and New Projects

2006-10-16T08:56:00.000-06:00

With the fourth quarter in full swing, the rush to get reworked web sites launched is at feverpitch effort. I know for several clients and myself the same has been true. This past weekend Retail Concepts relaunched www.SunandSki.com with a new look the resultof efforts with the team at TEKGroup International. The site was launched in coordination with the Ski Fest promotion at the Dallas Texas stores. The redesign goal was to maintain the unique branding of Sun and Ski Sports with a specialty sportings goods look that promoties online and instore shopping. The site offers buy it online and pick up in the store service and really has strived to offer balance in terms of key content, information on retail services and be effective in new ecommerce efforts. Let us know what you think. A similar relaunch of www.SkiChalet.com will also occur this month.

Additional site relaunches include:

Siewierski Consulting's own site www.siewierski.com. The site and design was the result of efforts with the team of TEKGroup International and includes a new logo for Siewierski Consulting. Early feedback has been favorable and clearly acknowledged the need for a new and cleaner look.
Beta sneak preview of the Mountain Sports Club of NOrth America online service at http://beta.mountainsportsclub.com. This is also being promoted and linked to from www.MountainSportsClub.com, where FREE memberships are still available. There are many new features, functionality and content sections being added daily and weekly. It is expected that live online couponing will be working by early to the middle of November. More and more member benefits in the form of lift ticket, lodging, shopping and travels discounts continue to be offered at the site.

We would like to welcome new clients Phocus Wright and The Scribner Hollow Lodge in Hunter Newy York and thank them for their support and confidence in our abilities.

With resorts openings already in place as Arapahoe Basin (Friday, October 13) the first and then Loveland Ski Area (Saturday, October 14) the next day the 2006/06 winter ski and snowboard season is underway. Yesterday we hiked St Mary's Glacier and there must have been 30 - 40 people up there hiking for their skiing and snowboarding fix. Visit the Mountain Sports Club Blog for more details and new lift ticket deals at the Mountain Sports Club.

Hope to see you on the hill soon.

Turning 50 Reflections on Aging

2006-10-06T16:20:00.000-06:00

Just this past week I turned the big "50". Truly a milestone. I had more calls from long time friends around the country than the usual annual greetings. Passing this milestone provides a good time to reflect on the first half century of living.

The current pace is hectic with the relaunch of each of our sites - www.Siewierski.com and Mountain Sports Club and new conculting and email clients coming on board it was nice to take time to spend with family and friends this past week.

I did not realize all the historical events that coincide with the year -1956 that I was born, but the various informative gits and gag gifts made sure I was mad eaware of such things. One of the more interesting events was Allen Ginsbergs inital reading of "Howl" his landmark poem that has been a reference point for many groups and movements over this last 50 years. It also provide a launching point for Beat writing and culture.

It was an interesting counterpoint to the realities of the Cold War post World War II that was punctuated with the US exploding the first airborn hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll and Fidel Castro launching a revolution against the Batista regime.

Other factoids that I have become awar of include:

John Lennon and Paul Mc Cartney first teaming together as The Quarrymen.
Martin Luther King organizes the boycott of Montgomery Alabama public busses.
Average cost of a new house - $11,725
Average income - $4,454 per year
Gasoline - $22 per gallon
Top movies - The King and I, Around the World in 90 Days, The Ten Commandments
Top Tunes - dominated by Elvis Presley - Don't Be Cruel, Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, Love Me Tender and Dean Martin's Memories are Made of This, The Great Pretender by the Platters.

The world was in an early state of accelerated change that has continued on all fronts at what appears to be an ever increasing rate of change. In spite of that the fundamentals of right and wrong and the role of friends and family is still an anchor for me in terms of navigating life and looking forward to an eventful and rewarding next half of life.

A big thank you for all the greetings recently and the opportunity to share in life great adventure. Remember to appreciate all your dear friends, family members, passions of life and be open to continually adding to them.

Hope to see all of you soon.

Why Blogger as a Blog and a Good Blogger Guide

2006-08-30T21:22:00.000-06:00

Today we received the following response to our blog and I thought it would be interesting to see and a response I made.

The questions was: So I've been searching around looking at blogs because I want to start one at my site ( golf schools ). But I'm not sure how I want to go.... blogger, wordpress, drupal... not sure, and I don't know that much about them. I like the look of this site. If you have time could you email me what you like/dislike about your blog? Thank you if you decide to take the time to help me out, and I understand if you don't. Ultimately I want it to look good with being "hands off" as much as possible. Anyway, keep up the good work.

My response was:
I like this blog format - Blogger.com - as it is easy to use and a clean layout. Those who are reading it do click through to other articles we link to on the referenced web sites. It has been good for other web traffic. I am also starting to use some of the tips from "The Rational Guide to Goggle Blogger" as a reference and marketing and promotion aid. It has proven to be useful. Here is a link to purchase the book if this is something you are interested in using.

Siewierski Consulting is to help you find the right answer and solutions to these questions and issues, and identify the solutions that work best for your business.

Please note we are starting to see more and more questions as we continue to send out our emails and newsletters. Thank you for joining us, reading and sending your questions. To receive our e-newsletter go to our site and register here.

Ski NH Selects TEKMedia as New Media Center Solution

2006-08-23T15:01:00.000-06:00

We are pleased to release the following news release:

TEKgroup Online Newsroom selected to handle media center for all resorts within Ski NH destination site

FT. LAUDERDALE, FLA. AUGUST XX, 2006 – Ski New Hampshire (Ski NH), located at http://www.skinh.com/, is a destination site for obtaining vacation information on multiple mountain resorts within the state of New Hampshire. The Ski NH consumer site contains resort facts on hundreds of lodging properties, restaurants, retail shops and other services.
The media center of Ski NH will soon be managed with the TEKmedia Online Newsroom software developed by TEKgroup International, Inc. The supplemental site will specifically address elements desired by journalists, such as press releases, press kits, photographs, logos, staff biographies, public relations contacts, media request forms and audio/video clip snow reports.
The statewide association represents 37 alpine and cross country resorts and more than 200 lodging properties throughout New Hampshire. Resorts within Ski NH include Attitash, The Balsams Wilderness, Bretton Woods Mountain Resort, Cannon, Cranmore Resort, Dartmouth Skiway, Granite Gorge Ski Area, Loon Mountain, Mount Sunapee, Pats Peak, Tenney Mountain, Waterville Valley, Jackson XC, Great Glenn Trails and Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa.
"Technology is constantly changing in regards to how members of the media find their facts and information, after researching many potential avenues we felt TEKgroup was at the forefront of recent developments and we look forward to utilizing their tools and technology," said Karl Stone, Marketing Director, Ski New Hampshire.

“Sports-related information sites are a line that we do focus on at TEKgroup,” said Steve Momorella, partner and co-founder for TEKgroup International, Inc. “Adding Ski NH to a growing list that includes the Detroit Lions, Vegas Insider, the Specialty Sports Venture family and others only expands our knowledge of what sports journalists want to access.”

About TEKgroup International, Inc. - http://www.tekgroup.com/ TEKgroup International, Inc., an award-winning Internet software and services company, develops E-business solutions for the public relations industry. TEKgroup clients include AOL, Delta Air Lines, Inc., Audi, Volkswagen, Detroit Lions, Ford Motor Company, VMS, Best Buy, Carlson Hotels Worldwide and the Public Relations Society of America.

In June Siewierski Consulting announced the representation of the TEKMedia Newsroom service in our suite of e-business solutions. Siewierski Consulting is focussed on the leisure, travel and recreations markets. SKI NH decision to utilize the TEKMedia Newsroom is validation of our decision to represent this state of the art solution. For more details and to arrange a demo contact John Siewierski at 303.829.1699, or via email at jsiewierski@gmail.com.

Email Append - Details and why??

2006-08-14T16:22:00.000-06:00

In a recent email we had broadcast to our clients and prospects one of our readers sent an email asking us what was an email append service. She stated that she did not know what it was and felt there were most likely others in the same position. It was a classic example of us thinking you knew what we were talking about, and we came to discover this was not the case on this particular topic for a good number of the people we are communicating with via these emails.

Therefore, here we go in trying to bring better light and understanding to the service email append. The service is when a business has a mailing list of previous and exisiting customers and/or prospects that do not have corresponding emails to send permission based email and they wish to acquire that email and permission to communicate with the customer/prospect. The email append service takes your file of physical addresses and matches valid emails addresses that have agreed to be contected when a comnpany that has their mailing address requests to add their email address to the company's email subscriber list. They person receives an email informing them that you/the business has requested to add the email address and they then have the option to say NO, or opt out. Once this process has played through - usually 7 - 10 days, the list is updated with matched email addresses. The range of match goes from 15% to 30%.

We avereage around a 20% match rate. In this scenario if you had 50,000 mailing list records, you should be able to match close to 10,000 vaild emails. Costs run $250 per thousand matched records andthere is a minimum fee with a set-up charge. In the example above total costs are $2,800 or net $.28 a record. This leads to the question , "How much is a valid email address of your customer worth??" In most cases quite a bit more than $.28.

Please call us, at 303.829.1699, for any additional questions on email append, and to schedule your next append and build your email asset.

Wow, More Mountain Sports Club Deals, Email Clients and Email Append

2006-07-28T14:56:00.000-06:00

Wow is the feeling at the end of weeks like this. It is a good wow. The Mountain Sports Club is taking off as well, adding a variety of new resorts, vendors and merchants extending offers. Jackson Hole and soon to be Hunter. NY and Lake Tahoe. Next week we will turn live a profile registration process and soon sart promoting the service to consumers. I am running a more detailed blog regarding that community and project at - http://mtsportsclub.blogspot.com/

MSC is successfully using the affiliate networks to build more vendors/merchant relationships. We have started with Share a Sale and have found them easy to work with and professional. Next week we will start working through the Commision Juction network and add merchants there. This is part of the strategy to blend commerce throughout the site in a relevant and contextual manner. I realize there are those who have down played the affiliate efforts, but in my expereince they have always proven to be valuable and a profitable efort. They really enable faster growth from both sides of the relationship - publisher or merchant. Send us your thoughts.

Several new Siewierski Consulting projects include an e-commerce effort with Skiers Peak an new online specialty retailer focussed on high end race products. The other exciting new project is a test project with the Van Heyst Group - a Boulder based think tank and events/conference company. We are working with them to improve email efforts - delivery, opens, follow up and lifting of conversion rates to conference/event bookings.

Several new email clients are also coming on board. I will post next week a more detailed description regarding email append. This has been prompted, as one email subscriber mentioned they did not know what the service and process was, and felt there were others readers in the same position. Given this response and how important I believe this is I will be posting in advance of an email on this and other topics. Stay tuned.

Now off to the mountains to escpape the heat. Steamboat here we come.

Have a great weekend,

John Siewierski

More deals and programs at Mountain Sports Club

2006-07-20T17:51:00.000-06:00

Well it has been a scramble getting first segments of the service and site up and running, but we are making significant progress. Deals from lodges and shops have started to flow in and they are appearing with new resort and town listings on the site. The mountain Sports Club is also receiving early committments from resort areas for lift ticket discounts. Most of the resorts will lock down their pricing in the coming weeks and then release offers for members of the Mountain Sports Club program starting later next month (August) and in the follwing months.

One new promotion we are pleased to announce is our partnership with the Northwest Ski resorts through INSA - Inland Nortwest Ski Association - whereby we will be including a FREE Mountain Sports Club membership to all 4th and 5th Grade passport participants. This is a long term partnership and provides a great foothold in the NorthWest market. We expect to announce a major partner in the Northeast in the coming days as well with a similar partnership. These shold encourage further resort participation, builds the memberhsip base and exposes us to many merchants who should be joining and extending offers as well.

New participants on the shopping side include the following e-commerce and shop partners - Sun and Ski Sports in their stores and online, the same for Ski Chalet and Alpine Sports Outlet and next will be the Mountain Chalet with their unique collectibles and posters.

Resorts and shops are responding well to the program concept. We expect to be live with membership registrations for purchase within the next month. Stay tuned as we open new resort areas and offer new services. We will have many promotional memberships in the market this launch season, but also will start selling memberhsips at an introductory price of $9.99 now that value is being established with our new partners.

We are pleased at the response we have received from summer activity vendors as well. There will be bike rental and service offers - first offers are now actually online, rafting, flyfishing and many more offers to come for the balance of this summer/fall season and next year. This will add significant value to the Mountain Sports Club membership and offering.

Rumor has it our initial press efforts will result in the first articles on our service in early September. We will start to run ads in the National ski and snowboard magazines starting in October or November. The one ski show we are comitted to attending is the Denver show. We will anounce others as decisions are made.

Drop a line with thougths, comments and questions.

Yours in Mountain fun and living,

John Siewierski

Steamboat Restaurant Reviews

2006-06-28T16:22:00.000-06:00

Back in Steamboat working with clients and prospecting new participants for the Mountain Sports Club. On the ride up I remind myself why we are so fortunate to live here. Blue skies with temps in the 80's and cool nights. All the mountains are green with the reservoirs and streams being full of water from peak run-off. Lots of fishing, rafting and kayaking taking place.

While in Steamboat I dined at one old faithful restaurant - The Steamboat Pub and Grill for lunch and one I had not been to before - Antares.

Both are located downtown. The Steamboat Pub and Grill is located on Lincoln Street, the main drag and has been there since I have been visiting starting in 1979. Good pub food with big screen TV's made for a great environment to watch the France/Spain World Cup soccer match. The one item on the menu that I sampled was an Elk Sausage with an jalapeno sauce. It was excellent. While most of the menu had classic pub sandwiches I wanted to try something different and the elk was what I was looking for. I will return again to watch sports events and enjoy good pub food and atmosphere. Service was friendly while not be over eager.

Antares is one block South off Lincoln just across the street from the Eighth Street Steak House on 8th Street. A little more upscale with a great selection of seafood, pasta, Thai and varied cuisine. I ordered the Routt County Leg of Lamb with the house salad. The salad included apple, romano cheese, lettuce and fresh greens and was delightful. The rack of Lamb was good as expected but done a little more than it should have been, resulting in it being dryer than desired. The Martini was too dirty and the service help did not offer to tell me any of the specials and after dinner went right to the check as opposed to offering desert. C for average service. Food and ambiance was nice but service and attention to detail should have been better. I did order desert, flourless Chocolate torte with rasberries. Delightful to say the least.

The menu selection was interesting an I may try again.

Please provide your dining experiences at these and other restaurants in any mountain town and we will post online at www.MountainSportsclub.com. These reviews will be posted on that site in the respective town and dining sections. Email reviews to reviews@mountainsportsclub.com.

These reviews are also posted at www.MountainSportsClub.com resort and members benefits guide, located in the Steamboat Springs, Colorado - Dining section of the guide.

Yahoo store update, Mountain Sports Club and related topics

2006-06-23T15:36:00.000-06:00

It is Friday and the week like the month seems to be racing by. The plan to post several times a week just keeps getting lost in the multitude of tasks that keep flowing.

The pace is quickening and significant accomplishments are being posted. This week much of the time was dedicated to working with Lauren Goldberg and getting Brave New Kids launched using a Yahoo store e-commerce platform. If all goes well we will launch on Monday the 26th. Currently we have 3 departments and about a dozen products ready to go. Dealing with converting the old paypal account over was probably the biggest inconvenience and the one support person at Yahoo who did everything he could not to help us and push us on to other departments. The experience of dealing with the support teams has been good overall, whether it has been Go Daddy on other projects, or with Yahoo store except the one individual. I guess it gets easy to hide in a company the size of Yahoo.

The Mountain Sports Club continues to get some traction, more deals and commitments each week. I was able to get sample screens of the Value Vouchers , a Lodging Listing , resort page and sports store posted as well as Online shopping vendors and enabled Goggle Ad sense program to start running ads and generate some income. Google and Yahoo each started to crawl the www.mountainsportsclub.com and www.siewierski.com sites, with new referrals boosting traffic.
Each week new towns, merchants, content and services will appear.

We would like to welcome Aaron Bailey and his team at Whitewood Tours and SkiVacations.travel as a new Mail I Want and consulting services client. We look forward to working with his team to have permission emails being sent by next month and to grow the email assets and profits.

Next week lookfroward to the official announcement of the launch on www.BraveNewKids.com online store and several new announcements.

Have a great weekend.

Front Page, Yahoo Stores, Go Daddy and online tools

2006-06-15T13:33:00.000-06:00

The past few weeks have been spent building the basic web sites for www.siewierski.com , www.mountainsportsclub.com related blogs, a My Space page and preparing for the launch of Brave New Kids using the Yahoo store solution. Mixed with this has been working with Volutions e-commerce solution for www.sunandski.com. I find it amazing how far these tools have come to enable non programming people to build sites quickly, that work and convey the basic tasks needed for an online presence.

This change in the marketplace enables small and medium businesses who do not have an IT department to begin to take advantage of the web and e-business solutions to extend ther brand and commerce opportunity. They all are relatively easy to use. Granted I did need to buy Front Page for Dummies to help me on that side as well as several hours with the technical support team at Go Daddy. My grade for the Go Daddy support team is an A. They were patient and helpful. My basic understanding of fie stuctures and HTML helped get through this easier. Their starter package with up to 5 pages free and hosting for simply registering my url's with them was very easy to use. They have several options that are so cost effective and easy to use no business should be withtout a basic web presence.

I decided to go to Front Page for www.MountainSportsClub.com as there will significant content and the basic Go Daddy options do not work. The thought process was to get to know how to use Front Page and begin coding and optimizing my pages as well. Given this is a Microsoft product and free, only made the choice easier. Setting up in the shared hosting environment took half a day to work out kinks, but we are ready to roll. Look for registrations forms and database set-ups to appear in the coming weeks.

More to come on Volusion and Yahoo store Solutions. Bottom line it is sooo easy and cost effective if you are willing to invest the time. I rememeber how daunting it was 10 years ago to get effective sites built and working. We did not even know about site optiization either and how important this would be.

Please post your comments and experiences. What are other e-business, publishing tools out there that others are using and peased with?

Siewierski Consulting Announces TEKmedia Online Newsroom Agreement

2006-06-01T14:24:00.000-06:00

May 31, 2006

Boulder, CO - Siewierski Consulting announces distribution and sales agreement with TEKgroup International, Inc. promoting and offering the award-winning TEKmedia Online Newsroom and the full range of e-business solutions offered by TEKgroup International, Inc.

TEKgroup International, Inc. is an award-winning Internet software and services company that develops content management, interactive and E-business solutions for the public relations industry. TEKgroup International was officially formed on June 1, 1998 and has provided content management and E-commerce systems, along with specialized industry solutions, for Ford Motor Company, Delta Air Lines, Detroit Lions, the University of Michigan and others. The core management team of TEKgroup International has more than 30 years of combined interactive Internet application experience. Our core technical team has direct experience at IBM, Andersen Consulting, EDS, AOL Time Warner and Interpath.

The mission of Siewierski Consulting in partnership with TEKgroup International is to offer the best e-business solutions.

A sample of some of the current users of TEKmedia Online News Room include:

Ford Motor Company
Detroit Lions
Universal Studios
AOL
Audi Motors USA
Delta Air Lines
Jaguar
Best Buy
Carlson Hotels Worldwide
Radisson Hotels

“I am pleased and excited to announce this new partnership. It will serve our clients and industries well. I have personally worked with the team at TEKgroup International, Inc. on numerous projects since the early days of the Internet and e-commerce over the last 10 years.” – John Siewierski

“We welcome Siewierski Consulting into the growing TEKgroup family of resellers and sales agents for the TEKmedia Online Newsroom product and additional E-business solutions,” said Steve Momorella, partner and co-founder of TEKgroup. “We consistently receive requests for our software and services from companies within the Colorado area as well as the Outdoor and Tourism categories; therefore, a synergy with such an established and well-respected organization as Siewierski Consulting was an ideal alliance.”

For more information on our services contact:

John Siewierski
Siewierski Consulting
303.829.1699 phone
303.499.9553 fax
www.Siewierski.com
info@siewierski.com

Thoughts on Search Engine Optimization Focus and Ramblings

2006-05-18T17:04:00.000-06:00

Recently their is continued focus on organic search engine optimization as cost per click campaigns continue to be more expensive. Companies are in the middle stages of redesign and preparing for the critical 3rd and 4 th quarters. Given the myriad of different approaches one of the most frequently asked questions is where does one focus ones efforts?

Start with Google, they continue to dominate market share and are growing in the marketplace. Their influnce cannot be denied. There market share grew another 5% to over 45% of all individuals making searches and the total number of actaul searches they served was up close to 50% from the previous Dec. Stats are from December 2005 to December 2004. Search much like email is a killer app and all business flow and marketing must take these two into account.

Use the FREE services available at Google from data feeds on Froogle to Free Catalog submissions and Free Site map submissions.

More Google to come. An upcomng discussion will cover how much Google do you want in your business vs your personal life. A recent Book that has been published that is a great introduction to Google is from Dave Taylor - The Complete Idiot's Guide to Growing Your Business with Google.

Random thoughts while making transition. The support from the community has been very positive thank you. Mountain Sports Club interest continues to grow. We expect over 50,000 registered users for the coming season. New distribution partners will be announced in the coming weeks. Initially we are offering lodging and activity services/business listings on a trade out basis. No cash outlay. We will prove the value offering first. Resort offers and other property committments are coming in as we speak.

Need help with your PR efforts. Exciting onlione solution to become available through Siewierski Consulting. Final details will be available by Memorial Day. Let me know your thoughts and fire the questions. Email me at jsiewierski@msn.com.

Have a great day,

John

Siewierski Consulting Offers Email Solution Mail I Want

2006-05-03T17:08:00.000-06:00

Siewierski Consulting announces distribution and sales agreement with Mail I Want, offering the permission based email publishing solution through the newly formed agency.

Mail I Want.com is an outsource email marketing company specializing in permission based (opt-in) email direct marketing services. The Mail I want service provides an easy to use system for businesses and organizations to communicate with and market to their customers/members through personalized and targeted email messages.

The mission of Mail I Want.com is to offer an affordable web based system to help companies develop and maintain lifetime relationships with their customers using the power of email and one to one permission marketing.

Mail I Want is a proven winner. Now in the marketplace for over 4 years, there are currently several hundred clients that currently are users of Mail I Want sending out over 10,000,000 emails monthly

For more information on our services and to get started harnessing the power and value of email marketing contact:

John Siewierski
Siewierski Consulting
3360 Dover Drive
Boulder, CO 80305
303.829.1699
http://www.siewierski.com/
info@siewierski.com

Spring Cleaning Data Collection, Append and Hygiene Tasks

2006-05-02T10:46:00.000-06:00

Many businesses and clients we work with traditionally take this time of year to catch their breath and get ready for the all important 3rd and 4th quarters. Then again many of our clients are also in the winter sports business, which entails having a complete marketing plan in place through Q1 to ensure success and profitability.

The number one directive for our clients is to perform an annual customer data audit:

Identify all customer data collection points and fields your organization wishes to store and mine within your database. Once these different sources and lists have been identified, the next task is make sure a hygiene step is conducted for valid mail and email addresses, complete a merge purge and de-dupe. The next step would be to identify data fields to be appended and added to the master database.

Email append is rapidly becoming the one append service clients are performing one to two times a year. The value of the email address in a permission based environment has proven too valuable to ignore. The costs to acquire these customers drives the value proposition for performing an append.

For more information on assistance in organizing your customer data, performing hygiene, de-dupe and append services contact:

John Siewierski
Siewierski Consulting
303.829.1699
jsiewierski@msn.com
www.siewierski.com

Siewierski Leaves Leisure Trends - Siewierski Consulting

2006-04-28T12:38:00.000-06:00

Today I have announced I am leaving The Leisure Trends Group effective immediately. It has been an exciting 20 months, but it is time to move on. I will operate under Siewierski Consulting, providing a variety of E- strategy consulting, email marketing and data append services for clients throughout North America.

New projects will include:

A permission based email service complete with additional services providing email appends and data appends.
The launch of The Mountain Sports Club - a promotional membership and marketing service targeted at all mountain sports enthusiasts and related businesses. Look for the formal launch of the site to be in early July. A shell with more details will be available by the middle of the month.
Working with the owners of Brave New Kids - a boutique children's clothing company offering organic clothing to launch their e-commerce initiative at www.BraveNewKids.com.
More details on these and future projects and service offerings will be provided here and at www.Siewierski.com - this new Siewierski Consulting site will begin to come to life over the coming weeks.

These are just a couple of the projects that will spring to life through Siewierski Consulting. I would like to thank all of our friends and business associates for all the kind words and encouragement as we proceed onward to the next phase of lifes journey.

Please feel free to email me at jsiewierski@msn.com or call me at 303.829.1699 with any questions.

Presentation at Mountain Travel Symposium

2006-04-11T21:40:00.000-06:00

I just had the opportunity to attend the 32nd Annual Mountain Travel Symposium in Squaw Valley, CA and conduct a workshop on Multi Channel Marketing. Once again the event was a dynamic and exciting event combining a Trade Exchange and show format with a Symposium includers speakers and workshops for the attendees. Given the setting and new snow the week would not have been complete without some great skiing and riding. Squaw Valley had over 200 inches of snow in March alone.

The Mountain Travel Symposium was attended by over 1,000 of the movers and shakers in the mountain travel industry. Key note speakers included Robert Kreiger, author of Inner Skiing and consultant. His depiction of the " gaddas" was not to be missed. The second day Phillip Wolff founder of Phocus Wright captivated the audience with his history of online travel and a look into the rapidly approaching future.

Leisure Trends Group involvement in the Symposium and Trade Exchange included:

Attending as an exhibitor, LTG provided a White Paper on 2006 Top Email Trends to attendees who came to our booth during the event. A copy is available for you on the Leisure Trends Group site at http://www.leisuretrends.com/local/consumer/reports.asp?report_id=2006%5FEmail%5FTrends as well as our recently released Data Base Management Best Practices.
Providing research services for MTS 's on location satisfaction surveys and will entail the event follow up survey as well.
Joy Spring COO/VP was on a panel representing the voice of the consumer. The topic was Central Reservations Direct and its Impact on Distribuiton Partners.
Break out workshop run by yours truly John Siewierski - Choosing your channel in A Multi Channel Marketing world. Great attendance and unfortunately we ran out of time.

We will be posting the entire Power Point presentation for your convenience over the coming days. At that point we will start to request comments on any issues and begin to post topics and ongoing dialog to those in attendance and new prospective invites.

Multi Channel Marketing and Budget Challenges

2006-03-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

Selection of media channel options consiunes to impact marketing budgets dramatically. The days of spending the lion's share of dollars in mass media vehicles such as vertical magazines, newspapers, radio, Yellow pages and TV is dramatically changing. The web has changed the landscape forever.

However, the challenges within the larger context of the web has its minefields and challenges as well. The following offer opportunity and pitfalls to the unsophisticated company venturing forth with out sound knowledge and guidance directing their efforts.

The search engine category is one prime example. Companies are rushing to CPC - Cost Per Click - campaigns and driving costs upwards and compromising ROI. How does one structure and design a site to take advantage of organic search engine lists vs using third party SEO - Search Engine Optimization - firms. Algorithymns change over night and yesterdays campaign(s) do(es) not work as well.

Some of the questions include:

Is my internal search functioning properly?
Are my paid campaigns driving trafiic to the proper landing pages and are my conversions to sales generating profits or just traffic?
What should I be paying per click?
Am I generating a profit and what kind of profit in my email campaigns?
What is the monthly and annual value of each email customer vs prospect worth?

These are some of the questions and issues we will continue to explore and expound upon.

For assistance in these areas contact me @ jsiewierski@msn.com

My work contact is jsiewierski@leisuretrends.com and the company is located at www.leisuretrends.com.

Search Engine Optimization

2006-03-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

Over the past several years the need to make sure your web site(s) is properly optimized to maximize traffic and business from the major search engines has only gained in importance.

By focusing on the content - editorial narrative - and making sure the copy is concise, descriptive and complete with keywords laced in the body of each page/screen sites are able to move quickly up in their rankings

Employing this type of approach to the url building, construction of titles for pages and meta tags companies have been able to accelerate their online traffic, revenues and profitability. To learn more about employing these techniques for your business contact me at jsiewierski@msn.com.

This is a proven approach I have used with multiple clients over the last 5 years.

Weekend of March 4th and 5th

2006-03-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

Another busy weekend at the Siewierski household.

Nicky and Laura skied at Abasin on Saturday, Jarid and Sam stayed and played with Kevin. John Siewierski aka, Dad spent the weekend skiing at Vail and A-basin with some friends.

Skiing conditions were hard packed snow early in the days and loosening up after lunch. The mountains need snow but the clear blue skies and warm days are a welcome change from Winter. It feels like spring time.