15Jul 2016 by Kevin Walker No Comments
The First Tee Program Teaches More Than Just Golf

The First Tee Program Teaches More Than Just Golf

Clients
Golf is a sport that you can play all your life. The First Tee Program in Davenport not only teaches the sport, but also teach life lessons for the young up and coming golfers in the program.  Brant McGivern, director of the First Tee Program tells QC Family Focus that the program is about more than just golf. "The program isn't only about golf but also about life skills and also nine healthy issues. So we are trying to teach kids not only how to play golf but also life skills through golf. It's not only just about golf, but it's learning about judgement and making good decisions. And honesty and integrity, things that you would use every day that golf teaches you." The program isn't just for inner city…
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12Jul 2016 by Mike Mickle No Comments
Quad City Instagrammers to Check Out

Quad City Instagrammers to Check Out

Social Media
[et_pb_section admin_label="section"][et_pb_row admin_label="row"][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text" background_layout="light" text_orientation="left" use_border_color="off" border_color="#ffffff" border_style="solid"] Many of us already turn to Instagram to share, explore, and connect with others, but may not be aware of the Instagramers based in our own area that have gained a prominent following online. These Quad-Citians have found an online platform, with followers both near and far, in which they can regularly express their creativity and skill. Their Instagrams will improve your social media experience in a variety of ways and are definitely worth a follow. @twistinbangs //Followers: 66.2k Corie Willet’s account contains regularly posted photos of herself with body-paint carefully applied to her face, neck, and sometimes body. Many things, from zombies to outer space, inspire her always creative and visually striking artwork. [/et_pb_text][et_pb_code admin_label="Code"]<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="7" style="…
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08Jul 2016 by Mike Mickle No Comments
Social Media Takes Us to Places Live We Might Not Want to Go

Social Media Takes Us to Places Live We Might Not Want to Go

Social Media
The nation is trying to come to grips with what has happened in the last few days. Many of us sat in shock and disbelief last night as we watched the Dallas sniper attack unfold live on social media. The gunmen were reportedly upset over recent shootings of two black men. 37-year-old Alton Sterling was shot several times while being held down by two white police officers outside a convenient store in Louisiana. A very graphic video taken by a bystander hit the internet shortly after Sterling’s death causing uproar across the nation. You can watch the video here. Warning! This video contains graphic images. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckuUk9R5ES0[/embed]   Philando Castile, a 32-year-old black man, who was shot during a traffic stop in Minnesota. Castile was with his girlfriend and their two-year-old…
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30Jun 2016 by Mike Mickle No Comments
Five Social Media Apps to Check Out

Five Social Media Apps to Check Out

Social Media
The content we consume on social media plays an increasingly prominent role in our daily interactions. Applications and websites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are now used frequently as tools for communicating and connecting with others. The growing importance of social media in our lives has led to the regular creation of new social media platforms, each hoping to become the next Facebook, but only a few gaining widespread traction. Here are a few emerging social media platforms that you will want to pay attention to as they begin to find a wider audience.   Periscope Periscope is a video-streaming app that allows users to share presentations, conversations, and other important moments live. It can be used in a variety of ways—from product demonstrations, interviews, behind the scenes tours, to…
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29Jun 2016 by Mike Mickle No Comments
Things You Might Not Know You Can Do On Facebook

Things You Might Not Know You Can Do On Facebook

Social Media
Let your friends know how to properly pronounce your name Finally a way to avoid mispronunciation! Go to your profile page, click About, click Details About You, then click “How do you pronounce your name?” and select or write in the proper pronunciation.   Access your second Facebook Messages inbox There is a second Facebook inbox for messages from people you are not Facebook friends with. To access it, click on the messaging icon in the upper right hand corner of the homepage and then click on Message Requests.   Look for a specific post If you ever accidentally close a tab, it can often be difficult to find the specific post you were looking at again when you scroll back through your newsfeed. Luckily, you can type a few…
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27Jun 2016 by Kevin Walker No Comments
What to Put in a News Release – and What to Leave Out

What to Put in a News Release – and What to Leave Out

Publication
When you want to share important information with the media, the time-honored way to do so is to send out a news release. A news release is a written or recorded communication sent to members of the media to announce a newsworthy development. Please note, the operative word in the second sentence is newsworthy! To send producers, editors and reporters information that isn’t newsworthy is just wasting their time. The question is, how does one decide if information is newsworthy? Basically, the term means that the information in question is of sufficient interest to the public or a key audience to deserve coverage. Let’s say your business is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Is that newsworthy? By itself, no. A lot of businesses have been around for ten years. But, if…
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27Jun 2016 by Mike Mickle No Comments
Marketing to Millennials in the Age of Social Media

Marketing to Millennials in the Age of Social Media

Marketing, Social Media
Attracting the millennial market is becoming increasingly important for the success of products, brands, and services. As millennials, currently in their mid-teens to mid-thirties, gain spending power in the consumer marketplace, their influence will progressively extend to influence other generations, making the emerging marketing techniques associated with the millennial generation increasingly important to a company’s success. The marketing and advertising strategies that thrived among past generations of consumers do not have the same influence among millennials, as millennial consumers are more likely to respond to campaigns that align with the channels they gravitate towards, social media and other online platforms, rather than the traditional marketing methods of television and print. This online approach is essential to the successful marketing of a company’s product, brand, or service to millennials, who find…
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27Jun 2016 by Mike Mickle No Comments
What Business Owners Can Learn from Country Music

What Business Owners Can Learn from Country Music

Marketing
[et_pb_section admin_label="section"][et_pb_row admin_label="row"][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text" background_layout="light" text_orientation="left" use_border_color="off" border_color="#ffffff" border_style="solid"] Go to any country music concert and you’ll hear at least one reference to God, several to our men and women in uniform and an encouragement to have a drink. The reasons are simple. Country music stars know who their customer is. Any mention of the U.S.A. and our military brings the crowd it its feet. Giving glory to God leads to cheers erupting throughout the stands and the suggestion to drink will lead to droves of people heading to the concession stand. The bands not only play music but they play to their audience. Recently at Country USA (a five-day country concert in Oshkosh, Wisconsin) the band LoCash showed up two days early and held a seemingly impromptu concert…
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27Jun 2016 by Kevin Walker 1 Comment
Five Paths You Shouldn’t Follow If You Want To Be An Author

Five Paths You Shouldn’t Follow If You Want To Be An Author

Publication
  Over the years, I’ve written a variety of books for different publishers. And, I’ve also received a lot of advice about writing and the business of books. Some of it was great and some was … well-intended but not-so-great. An older author once told me, “Never release a book with a green cover!” That same year, a national publisher released a book of poetry, The Gossamer Eye, by three authors (one being me), and it did well and won a Bram Stoker Award for Excellence in Poetry. And guess what? It had a bright green cover. Since then, most of my books have had some green on the front. I consider it my lucky color. Rather than give you random bits of advice, I would prefer to steer you…
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27Jun 2016 by Mike Mickle No Comments
5 Reasons You Need a Marketing Video

5 Reasons You Need a Marketing Video

Marketing
[embed]https://vimeo.com/133688480[/embed] I've searched the web. I've found info on your company, but nothing that made me stop and learn more.  I searched YouTube and didn't find anything.  Vimeo?  Nope.  The fact is, we live in world where we have short attention spans, we are in a hurry to get things done and if we are not giving our clients a high energy, yet concise video to showcase our offerings, we are missing out on opportunities. Digital marketing giant Cisco predicts by 2019, video will account for 80% of all global internet traffic. YouTube now has more than a billion users.  Viewers watch hundreds of millions of hours of video, generating billions of views. Snapchat had more than 10 billion views per day in April of this year.   Here are…
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