Have you made any decisions that have have a positive impact on their business?

Inquiring minds want to know.

This post is from Stephanie M. Cockerl's blog, From the desk of next STEPH.

Peach uniform,
originally uploaded by i_am_jared.

Sports is a topic that I normally, don’t cover here, but when it intersects with advertising, well, that’s something else.

There was an article in yesterday’s Daily News about the speculation of baseball uniforms being laden with corporate sponsorship. When I first saw this, I was miffed to put it mildly. In my opinion, in this age of sponsorship being nearly everywhere, shouldn’t baseball, the scared all-American sport remain sacred? Players should be focused on the game, not be in competition to see who has the most patches on their jerseys like kid scouts.

Read the article, and let me know what you think.

This post is from Stephanie M. Cockerl's blog, From the desk of next STEPH.

Serveral people online have embraced some good tips and tools to protect your brand.

Michelle Goodman of The Anti 9-to-5 guide had a good idea by having a WordPress.com page that redirects to her website.

So what do I do? Get nextsteph.wordpress.com of course! Don’t expect any bells and whistles there, I’ll just be mostly playing around with themes for inspiration.

It was also mentioned in a John Jantsch’s Small Business Marketing Podcast to also claim multiple Twitter identities. Some people have even registered their personal names and protected their updates.

So what steps are you taking to maintain your online brand?

This post is from Stephanie M. Cockerl's blog, From the desk of next STEPH.

Its still conference season in the Big Apple. So much so that there have been various events on the same day, if not back to back.

Whether its a conference or networking opportunity, one needs to know how to make the most out of a small area, the nametag.

I was at a conference and I was surprised at the number of people who don’t have a company name or a title on their nametags.

As a sole entrepreneur or solopreneurs (as the kool kids call it these days) I understand that your name is your identity. Trust me, I’m there. However, the brutal truth is that your name doesn’t have meaning until you start with you do or where are you from.

At some conferences, the name is already printed for you, but when you are presented with a blank nametag, that’s your opportunity to brand yourself.

Besides your name, write what you do in the fewest words possible, according to the event you are at, and what you are trying to accomplish there. When you meet people, they are then able to match a name to a face to a function (what you could do for them or for someone you know.)

This post is from Stephanie M. Cockerl's blog, From the desk of next STEPH.

This is what it said:

“Bonus Chance to Instantly Win

Visit *www.FirstName.LastName.winwithRadioStation.com

Your personal instant Win Code: *********** ”

If you are in the NYC Area, you probably know which radio station(s) I’m talking about. I immediately thought, “Hey, I’ve seen this before!”

I then contacted Queens Artists told her about it and she said “Yeah, another radio station sent me a postcard too.”

So this is not something to write off. Has radio gone back to school and took a course on “Getting Too Personal too Soon Marketing 101?

• Names have been changed to protect the guilty

This post is from Stephanie M. Cockerl's blog, From the desk of next STEPH.

This post is from Stephanie M. Cockerl's blog, From the desk of next STEPH.

First, the meaning of Stephanie, means “crown”. I would like to translate it for today’s audience into being empowered and charged to accomplish great things. One doesn’t need a crown or be named Stephanie to accomplish great things. I like to think that I am helping people to be empowered through their websites, but enough about work.

When I was born, it took my folks a week to come up with my name. Stefanie Powers, (from Hart to Hart fame in the ‘80s) was on TV, and that’s how I got the name, without the “f” but the “ph” instead.

In addition to famous Stephanies, I also want to acknowledge a few notable Stephanies who I am proud to share the name.

Stephanie Agresta, (who also has a birthday soon) I met virtually online several years ago. We have seen each other online and then finally met in person at a product launch event. I refer to her as the “Affiliate Diva” as she literally built multiple affiliate program for many companies.
Stephanie Fierman, who was recently profiled in ClickZ, I have met through a client and good friend of mine. She has a breath of knowledge in media and marketing and her insights make me think about my own marketing strategies.

Last but not least, there is a former co-worker of mine who is also named Stephanie. You can read about here in a post I did about networking.

So let’s get today started.

Tags: stephanie, stephanieagresta, stephaniefierman, stefaniepowers, birthday

This post is from Stephanie M. Cockerl's blog, From the desk of next STEPH.

I then reflected back on certain challenges I had with a couple of websites when attempting to submit support requests via their websites. I kept getting error messages because of my last name.

I decided to submit a complain online to the Better Business Bureau. Within a week, I received a letter stating that they would look into the problem.

There are times when your identity or brand is tested. One has to make the choice to stand up and protect your brand.

Tags: emom, bbb

This post is from Stephanie M. Cockerl's blog, From the desk of next STEPH.

Read the Press Release here.

This post is from Stephanie M. Cockerl's blog, From the desk of next STEPH.

This post is from Stephanie M. Cockerl's blog, From the desk of next STEPH.