Recently, I was looking to get some work done on my house. Google all you want, but reputation is the only reason people buy — or don’t buy — anything. Ever.

It doesn’t really matter what a company says about itself; it’s what the customers say about the company. And when customers have good things to say, that alone will sell to other customers.

The contractor that caught my eye had a customer letter posted on their website. As a business owner, I know if a client takes the time to write a glowing letter filled with specifics, the company has to deliver. This testimonial had details on the day-to-day expectations, the quality of work, and the timeline. A bit skeptical, I asked for another testimonial. This, too, was a glowing review of recent work the company had done. These former customers were very appreciative and it showed.

From testimonials, I learned this company over-delivered, going above and beyond what was expected. They even did things that didn’t make additional money: like cleaning up each evening and taking home their own garbage. One customer wrote that they even brought their garbage cans to the curb! They just thought it was important to do to keep their customers happy and writing rave reviews.

The competition I had considered also had testimonials, but they were one or two sentences with no details, consisting of “they did a good job” and “very professional,” with a five-star rating attached. Ultimately, I went with the company with testimonials that didn’t look like generic, eBay feedback.

That’s what potential customers are looking for: in-depth, non-canned, honest testimonials. Get that and your reputation will do the rest.

JetBlue is getting very, very friendly!

JetBlue, long considered the social media maven with nearly 1.5 million followers on Twitter…but what’s this? A measly 60k on Facebook??? This can’t be! So what’s the popular airline kid to do when they have no friends?

Easy, bribe them!

JetBlue is doing just so, and dang it, everyone is wishing they did it first, but will undoubtedly follow suit. Sooner rather than later, but we, the wannabes frantically friending JetBlue will end up the winners regardless.

Here’s the deal: JetBlue Facebook wants more friends, and to get them, they’re offering a carefully engineered campaign to add more – a lot more, quickly and with as much PR as possible.

A fan focused campaign, named buffet-style All-You-Can-Jet Fan Sweepstakes thrives on the age old gimmick of FREE STUFF. What’s old is new again!

Become a facebook fan and you can win free round-trip tickets, comped airfaire and a vacation for you and — get this — three friends for 5 days and 4 nights. Or, the grand prize of unlimited free travel on JetBlue for a year. A YEAR!

Simple and easy: a marketing dream come true. Become a fan of JetBlue and submit a ballot via the JetBlue Sweeps Page tab (read more).

JetBlue gets the friends they’re looking for, and we get the chance to dream a little dream of traveling on someone else’s dime.

Hey, that’s what friends are for, right? (Up to 73k at this posting…and counting!)

The consensus of Westchester County business leaders is that — no surprise here — 2009 is a year best left behind.

So says the Business Council of Westchester (BCW), arguably the largest and most influential business organization when they released results (Click Here) of the fourth quarter 2009 economic survey, which tracks local business trends and overall confidence rating.

BCW member DataKey Consulting, LLC conducted the research and analysis, providing the results of nearly 150 local CEOs and business leaders on the state of the local economy, citing 68% of responding companies project flat to mostly declining sales for 2009 vs. 2008.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

The slide has stopped with 71% of respondents expecting their revenue to either remain the same or increase over the next six months compared to last quarter. Of those who anticipate growth, 53% have enhanced customer service, 53% reduced expenses, and 22% introduced new and improved products to battle the recession.

“Marketing and advertising are important,” said one business owner who projects growth. “I invest more wisely now than ever before, but delivering high quality output and focusing on customer satisfaction will lead to positive word of mouth, and can be the very best advertising possible.”

Since when is a 52 a good grade?

Overall business confidence has doubled since December ‘08. Out of a possible 100, the Westchester Business Confidence Index for the fourth quarter of 2009 scored a 52 (with 50 being equal number of businesses optimistic as pessimistic). Last year at this time, the confidence score was a dismal 27. In comparison, that 52 is looking better and better.

Recession? What Recession?

Here at InSight Marketing, believe it or not, we’ve seen a significant increase in business. Mostly new businesses ready to direct their marketing dollars wisely. Times are tough, so we offer excellent value; great, if not excellent, word-of-mouth marketing; and teach clients to harness the good in their local economy, which can only bode well for clients, and subsequently our local economy.

Now in shaky economic times, these businesses understand the need to aggressively market to keep their business stable, and more importantly, to be well-positioned for the significant growth when the economy turns around. And it will! Promise.