Communicating with the American workforce through brand design, marketing and social media.

Some big-ticket products like boats, RVs and other recreational toys offer unique challenges for marketing. While fun for guys, changing the message to include families can make the proposition more receptive.

Take a look at this simple video Locomotors Brian, Lee and Tom put together.

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S. A. Habib is the founder of Locomotion Creative, a brand marketing and design company in Nashville, TN.

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Back in the day, before 1977, when lawyers were not permitted to advertise, attorneys generated leads by word of mouth, speaking engagements or belonging to civic organizations. In other words, through social interaction. No mass media, TV, ads, etc. Just the slow, methodical communication that takes place when people build trusted relationships with each other one-on-one.

Today, we call that Social Media. Blogs, comments, Facebook, Linkedin, SlideShare, YouTube, Flickr. These tools, and hundreds of others, allow us to share our thoughts and experiences with each other. Just like in the old days.

Carolyn Elefant of MyShingle.com writes; “for lawyers interaction through social media — answering questions, blogging, doing great work and sharing information — comes naturally.  More importantly, social media platforms are powerful enough to ensure that lawyers’ efforts to educate clients or build relationships with colleagues can compete head to head with the kind of advertising hype that put many good lawyers at a disadvantage.”

Setting up the tools is fairly easy. Taking the time to build the relationships is an ongoing, rewarding endeavor.

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S. A. Habib is the founder of Locomotion Creative, a brand marketing and design company in Nashville, TN.

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It’s the season. And I’ve noticed in an effort to “green” up everything, including Christmas, people have been sending more e-mail Christmas (I still call it Christmas, not holiday) cards. It’s also cheaper, I know.

I like the sentiment but they don’t work for me. Not that I don’t appreciate people thinking about me…clients, vendors, friends. Love them all. But something about it leaves me short. This year I’ve gotten one card in the mail to every 7 ones via the Internet.

I suppose that’s just natural though. When was the last time I wrote a business letter on paper? Can’t remember. Greeting cards are next.

Thanks for the vine…sent via the Internet. And Merry Christmas.

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S. A. Habib is the founder of Locomotion Creative, a brand marketing and design company in Nashville, TN.

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As blue collar reinvents itself in the next 10 years, many traditional heavy industries will become more and more Green oriented. Just makes sense. We’ve got to rebuilt America and it will be done with a greener thumb.

I look for changes in blue collar so that means it will change in how we market to industry too. While we will still market heavy industrial products, the tone with which we speak to our audiences will shift.

Along with that shift will come the transformation of skilled workers learning how to fit in this bold new world. Finding jobs in those industries for skilled blue collar workers is of interest to all of us.

The Go Frugal Blog from FreeShipping.com has compiled a nice list of resources you might find helpful.

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S. A. Habib is the founder of Locomotion Creative, a brand marketing and design company in Nashville, TN.

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You gotta love this guy. Joe Lamacchia shows that you can be blue collar and be really smart and well-read. And it shows that many blue collars are passionate about what they do. He’s wicked good.

And as Joe says in the video piece, blue collar jobs are plentiful and can’t be outsourced overseas. There’s billions in stimulus money going towards the industries that provide jobs for hard working people.

Blue collar workers make good money, buy products and keep the money in America. Marketers, wake up and reconnect with this priceless audience.

Gene Lavanchy’s interview from Fox 25 in Boston is worth the listen.

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S. A. Habib is the founder of Locomotion Creative, a brand marketing and design company in Nashville, TN.

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How do you define blue collar? Is it defined by level of education or income bracket? Is it defined by labor or management? Do you think of blue collar as those jobs where you don’t take clients to lunch and get your hands dirty all day?

By all those definitions, I’m not blue collar at all. Yet, I consider myself blue collar to the core.

Steve Knox takes a stab at this concept and I agree.

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S. A. Habib is the founder of Locomotion Creative, a brand marketing and design company in Nashville, TN.

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As we continue to slug through this economic downturn, a well written resume might be a handy tool in your job search. Even for blue collar jobs. Typically, we don’t think of resumes for working class jobs but it might just be the thing that sets you apart and allows you to tell your story better.

Bob Weinstein, Monster contributing writer, has some great ideas in helping build a powerful resume tool.

If there’s one thing we’ve all learned in the past couple of years, it’s that what we knew as our jobs are now different. With layoffs, downsizing and shifting responsibilities, every worker has taken on duties that we never through we’d have to do. But with fewer people to do the same work, we’ve had to take on new skills.

A friend of mine who is a master electrician working for a contractor is also doing carpentry, stucco work and interior finishing to fill in for workers that were let go. Resume writing is just another skill that will help him later.

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S. A. Habib is the founder of Locomotion Creative, a brand marketing and design company in Nashville, TN.

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Are blue collar jobs reinventing themselves as green collar jobs? J. Luc Marcoux writes about the transformation happening in the workplace.

Many of the skill sets are the same and there’s plenty that needs to be done to make America more self-sustainable and energy efficient. It’s better for the economy and job creation and it makes for a better place to live.

Marketing to green industries may just be another spin on blue collar.

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S. A. Habib is the founder of Locomotion Creative, a brand marketing and design company in Nashville, TN.

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I’ve seen Bruce Springsteen in four different decades and most recently in Nashville during is 2009 tour. It was the usual part concert, part revival, part awakening his fans have come to know. Early in the show, the Boss referred to his concerts as “part of the conversation I’ve been having with many of you for years”.

He’s been writing and singing to us and we’ve been responding and talking back to him. It’s been a two-way conversation and, through it, Springsteen has built his blue collar brand with working people. There are always plenty of people who don’t fit the blue collar label but for one night we are all drinking the same Kool-Aid. We relate to his come-from-behind story.

Bruce has been conducting the conversation in a very social way for decades. His own Social Media, if you will. He’s built a following because he has stayed consistent with his message and true to his audience. Today, we have the media tools to enable us to do much the same in building our own brands, be they products, services or music. Through blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other SM channels we can reach out to customers and allow them to reach out to us.

Through Social Media, we can generate conversations with our customers, hear what they have to say, respond to them quickly and ultimately enlist evangelists. The tools are inexpensive. They simply require a little time to start the dialogue.

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S. A. Habib is the founder of Locomotion Creative, a brand marketing and design company in Nashville, TN.

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People try to define Blue Collar by income, education or job type. They’ll say if you drink Miller High Life, drive a Ram truck or like NASCAR, you’re blue collar.

I don’t think it’s that simple. While there may be some commonalities, we all buy a variety of products and find our own way through the consumerism maze. Blue collar is about honest, hard-working values. It crosses every social, educational and economic line.

Bump-drafts.com makes a passionate, sometimes funny and somewhat contentious case for the cross-over sensibilities of blue collar (and particularly NASCAR) fans in Actually, Starbucks Has Met Several NASCAR Fans.

Next time you try to fence in blue collar, think twice.

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S. A. Habib is the founder of Locomotion Creative, a brand marketing and design company in Nashville, TN.

Follow Habib on Twitter