amg's blog

Support a great cause and get outside: Register for the 2012 Run for Orphans Race! It’s Saturday, May 12. Register online now to participate! www.runfororphansrace.org/

Have you been outside lately? It’s hot. Too hot, dammit. We need an Ice Age, people! If you are deeply, utterly, completely consumed and concerned with the increasing temperatures that face the planet (i.e. us), than read on. In honor of Earth Day, we’ve compiled a list of the ever-evolving steps we have taken to save the human race (after all, we need the Earth around to keep those Doritos factories running). Educate yourself, and  win over your hipster friends by reading Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

1. Everyday, we write inspirational messages to the planet, and then bury them in our organic dandelion garden
2. To save electricity (and prepare our bodies for the coming desert storms), we’ve removed all air conditioning units from the building
3. The previous step has dramatically increased our sweat production, which we will use to help restore the drought-ridden riverbeds surrounding our office
4. To encourage Mother Nature to “just chill out”, we are installing a massive speaker system in our parking lot, which we’ll use to blast calming tunes from our resident funk-star Mike Tallman’s band, Euforquestra
5. In an effort to combat heat waves, we’re installing wind turbines in the field behind our office building. Then we’ll truck in a few hundred tons of ice cubes, and enjoy the cool breeze everyday (…that it’s windy).
6. Every pen in the office is now green. Literally, not in the “we source our pens from organic pen farms” kind of way. That’s expensive.
7. We eat out at fast food restaurants everyday and save (some) of the grease to put into the gas tanks of our cars. Who said alternative fuel couldn’t work?
8. We’re starting a new “organic marketing” trend: Our office has been relocated. We’re now 50 miles away from all golf courses, supermarkets, hospitals, grocery stores, and paved roads. Sure, we’ll have to purchase massive SUVs to traverse over the rough terrain on the way to work, but getting away from all this pollution will really help us work at our best.

Have any more idea for us? Write on our Facebook wall, or send us a tweet! Unless you don’t care about the planet or something.

It’s 2012! YAY!

Okay, so it’s been awhile. We know. I know. It’s really all my fault. So here is my apology:

Dear blog,

I’m sorry. You may deserve better.

Love,

Tom

But today is also PIE DAY! I can’t understand why most people are forgetting the “E”…

What we’re doing to celebrate:

• Everyone in the office has had to memorize at least 23 digits after the standard 3.14
• The semi-annual “Make Tom a Pie” competition takes places this week
• First one to solve an “unsolvable” equation gets the day off
• All emails must be written with numbers instead of letters (translations optional)
• During lunch we’ll be coming up with as many pie recipes as possible

Worst. News. Ever. The joyful days of catalogs piling up on your kitchen counter, sifting through special sections of newspapers and flipping through coupon books may be nearing an end. Remember how fun it used to to be to sit around and go through every coupon, one by one, to find the few that were useful?

…Okay, so maybe not so much. But coupons have their benefits, and from time to time, they can save a ton of moolah. And they’re making a strong comeback, in 21st century form.

Sites like Groupon, LivingSocial, and Google Offers have become popular destinations for consumers wanting to get the best deals possible. Businesses have been lining up for a shot at these services, which offer a chance to expand their market share and brand.

The psychology behind these sites is nothing new, but it is interesting. Everyone wants to save money, but they are even more inclined to do so if there is some sort of limit on when and how they can achieve those cost-cutting measures. The tried and true concepts of scarcity, and social proof can be seen in these social coupon sites. By setting a limit on the amount of coupons available or havingg a countdown on the availability of the coupon, sales can skyrocket. And if everyone else is buying, why shouldn’t you?

Also of note is “transaction utility”, or feeling good about a good deal. If you are actively aware of the savings you are making by taking advantage of a certain offer, it is natural to consider yourself a savvy, forward-thinking consumer.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t some cons to the social coupon structure. Some businesses find that they can’t keep up with the increased demand of their product or services, and others worry that many of their new customers will never return.

These coupons aren’t guaranteed to boost you profits or make your business more successful. But they have potential.

As for dental labs, I think this business model could have some promise too. Does the future hold a potential social coupon offer for your lab or business? It’s certainly a possibility. Talk to us!

New notifications, wall posts, likes, and tweets. The internet seems to be constantly redefining and adding to our dictionaries. But what does it all mean? If you want to make a Twitter and Facebook for your company, what should you include? When should you update? How will you interact with customers?

With more than 800 million active users on Facebook, your business can’t afford to avoid a social media marketing strategy any longer. Fear not, AMG can help! With over 30 active business pages, and 47,824 (and counting) fans connected to those pages, our team of Social Media Ninjas is well-equipped to help you create a strong social media presence.

Start building a better relationship with your current & potential customers today. Call 800.264.7448 or email ben@amgci.com by 10/31/11 to receive two FREE Custom Facebook Tabs with any Social Media Starter Package!

Instead of the ridiculous (and frankly uninteresting) fads of planking and coning, we have started doing somethign much more entertaining: Freeze Frame.

The official office rules (as created by our soon to be famous copywriter, Molly) are as follows:

Anytime you catch a co-worker doing something odd or quirky or just downright goofy (see Molly), you can call Freeze Frame and snap a photo.

At the end of the week we will compile the pictures together and show the world.  Prepare for unimaginable levels of embarrassment. A sample from this week: