Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Happy Anniversaries!

Happy Anniversary to...

...My old pal Brigham Pendleton, who is celebrating his 10th year of operating Brigham Pendleton Design. Brigham and I go way back to Flywire days, back when it was still VisuaLink Technologies, where he was employee #2 and I was employee #3. Good to see he's learned a thing or two from me about the value of PR; his press release was picked up in a nice blurb in the Portsmouth Herald. The new site looks good, too, with a distinctly 2.0 look and feel to it.

...The crew at PixelMedia, who celebrated their 15th anniversary this week with a soiree at their new digs on Pease. Of course, 15 years is like 60 in Internet time, so this is no small feat. Congrats to TJ and Erik and the whole gang. I'm waiting or the looking-back video to hit YouTube so I can link it; it was historical and it was hysterical. Great to see Evan Karatzas and Tom Cochiarro there, too.

...My new friend Kevin Hallenbeck, who has been training the best sales people in New Hampshire now for 15 years. In fact, that's his web URL: www.bestsalespeople.com. Kevin will be celebrating his crystal anniversary by launching a marketing campaign (with help from yours truly) and by moving into a new, larger space in Manchester.

Of course, marking an anniversary is an excellent publicity hook for companies, especially those that tend to work behind the scenes and out of the spotlight. To celebrate an anniversary immediately generates buzz about your company, and it validates you as a legitimate player in your market because you've stood the test of time. Business newspapers and magazines are likely to give you a blurb marking the occasion, and sometimes you can parlay that interest into a feature story. Your 5th, 10th, 15th, or 20th anniversary is also a great time to throw a little party for your staff, clients, etc. Ideally, you hold it in your office space, like Pixel did, where you can casually show off your people and your work. Don't be afraid to get creative with it, either; my dad, AKA The Wine Guy at Ceres Street Wine, made up special t-shirts that celebrated his "10th Wineversary."

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