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Why I Tried Something I Wasn’t Sure I Could Do

August 27th, 2010 by @patstrader

Yesterday, I rode my mountain bike more than 35 miles in the New River Gorge. 35 miles. Ouch.

As you might imagine, I’m a bit sore, but in a good way.

I have been riding often, trying to get myself into better shape. As I barrel head-first into middle age, it has become glaringly apparent that I need to take a little better care of myself. Riding my bike is helping me do that.

My rides generally consist of anywhere from 7 to 14 miles. Some are hilly. Some are not. While the rides aren’t necessarily easy, they have all been very manageable.

So, you might be wondering, “why the hell did you decide to ride 35 miles?”.

Simple. I wasn’t sure if I could.

My inspiration to try, came from my oldest step-son Will. His story is worth telling.

Meet Will
Will is a sophomore at West Virginia University with aspirations of becoming a graphic designer. I first met him when he was 9.

Will was a bit shy when he was younger, something that folks that know him now may never believe. When his mother and I married, and we all moved into a new house, he moved to a new school.

He knew no one.

The combination of unfamiliar surroundings and faces had to be a bit intimidating. Especially for a shy kid. It made no difference. It wasn’t long before he made plenty of new friends, seemed like they would call for him every 5 minutes. For a time, I thought we might have to surgically remove the phone from his ear. He made many great friends and went on to become Homecoming King among other things. Not bad for a shy kid.

School
This is a matter of great debate in our household, but I believe in my heart-of-hearts that Will is dyslexic. Some half-baked tests were performed that say otherwise, but it is my belief. No matter, fact is, it takes Will a bit longer to read things than most. He’s a very smart kid, just takes a bit longer that’s all.

Too often people use something like that as a crutch. It’s much easier to say you can’t learn, than to put in the extra effort. He put in the extra effort. He also made National Honor Society and graduated with a G.P.A. over 3.5.

Learn a Lesson From a Kicker
As a boy Will loved to play soccer. Still does. He had the make-up of a soccer player. Speed, agility, endurance, legs like tree trunks. He was good. Unfortunately, when he entered high school there was no team for him. A by-product of living in our neck of the woods, no soccer team served to create a new opportunity.

High School
Knowing there would be no soccer, Will decided he would become a kicker. Comically, some now know him by no other name than “Kicker”.

Having no experience kicking a football, we signed him up for a kicking camp, with NFL legend Ray Guy. He found himself on a football field with some of the East Coast’s elite high school kickers. It would have been easy to tuck-tail and walk away. Instead, he kicked.

I remember watching him tee up the first football, and take a run at it. Nice looking approach, his big leg swinging towards the ball with speed. It all looked pretty good, to me at least. Except for the kick itself. The ball barely made it off the ground and had a flight pattern which reminded me of a wounded duck. I was worried. He was not.

He kept kicking. Working at it every day.

Several games into his first high school season, his team found themselves in a tight game behind by 2 in the 4th quarter. They had a big running back that plowed his way down the field, destined for a touchdown. Inexplicably, the drive stalled well short of the endzone. Behind by 2. Fourth Quarter.

I looked at the sideline and watched Will grab his tee and trot onto the field. My first thought was, “Holy Shit they are sending Will out to kick!”. My second thought was “Holy Shit they are sending Will out to kick!”. Yeah, it was a bit nerve wracking. I don’t think I exhaled for what must have been an hour.

He drilled the kick. I stood and cheered. They won. He went on to have a great high school career as an All-State kicker.

College
Kicking presented several opportunities for Will to attend school and play football. This was a goal of his. He told me so years earlier. However, he didn’t just want to kick in college. He wanted to kick for West Virginia University.

For those that don’t know me, I’m a bit of a WVU sports fanatic. I myself am a third generation graduate of West Virginia University. It’s in our blood. It made me proud that Will wanted to go there too.

So, instead of kicking at a smaller school, he decided to enroll and try walking on as a Freshman.

Making a college team as a walk-on is not easy. Making a college team as a walk-on kicker is WAY not easy. But he tried.

Kicking, running, kicking, running. He prepared for his chance and gave it a shot, yet did not find his name on the call back list. So he kept kicking. Visiting Mountaineer Field to kick on his own, he eventually met Head Coach Bill Stewart. My guess is, Bill also calls him “Kicker”.

Recently, Will headed to the student body tryout for a second time knowing the odds were stacked heavily against him. Yet he tried.

While I would love for this post to conclude with a storybook, Rudy-esque telling of Will making the team, it won’t. Not yet at least.

However, there is lesson for us all.

Be Like Will
Too often we find ourselves faced with adversity and use it as a crutch to stop trying. Too often people are afraid to attempt something, not knowing if they can actually do it.

It’s easy to only do things you know you can accomplish. It’s not easy to work hard and take risks. It’s not by chance that those which do, are the ones that eventually realize great success.

If I were the Marketing Director for Nike, I would use Will in my campaign.

‘Be Like Mike’? Nope. ‘Be Like Will’.

‘Just do it’? Nope. ‘Just Try!’

I am proud of Will. He inspires me, and I hope he does you too. I challenge you to ‘Be Like Will’. Try something you have been afraid of doing, you never know what might happen.

Posted in Inspiration | 4 Comments »

3 Simple Ways to Track Offline Marketing

August 19th, 2010 by @patstrader

Often, while discussing digital marketing, the conversation turns to tracking and conversions. As it should. After all, tracking is very important and the inherent ability to track digital is part of the reason so many are shifting their marketing efforts.

What is not often discussed, and more often a complaint, is how to track offline marketing. Fact is, it’s not easy. It’s downright difficult. However, that difficulty doesn’t change that your marketing budget is shrinking, and the need for accountability is more important than ever.

Some businesses have completely shifted from print to digital, many adamantly because, “it doesn’t work”. While I am a digital-guy at heart, I feel that traditional/print is still relevant, and often wonder, “does it not work? Or do we simply not know how to track it?”

For many small businesses, the primary form of tracking consists of asking people how they found them when they call or visit. Using anecdotal data such as this to make decisions on marketing spend is dangerous, yet is a practice that is in wide-use.

This doesn’t have to be the case. There are some simple, effective ways of tracking your offline marketing, which will enable you to make better decisions when planning time rolls around.

Unique Website Addresses
By using unique website addresses for every ad, with an accompanying landing page, you give yourself great opportunity to not only track the ad, but create a quicker initial conversion. Something as simple as yourdomain.com/adname with a call to action that is supported by the ad can work very well.

Pros:
Very easy to implement, ability to create a target landing page instead of simply sending them to your homepage. Low cost.

Cons:
It has to be memorable. If you have a long domain name, or one with tricky spelling, dashes or a .net instead of a .com the odds begin stacking against you. What are the chances of someone viewing your ad, remembering the url, and then subsequently typing in the address?

QR Codes
Simple 2D barcodes, which allow you to embed all different types of data making your offline placements interactive. Spec sheets, maps, web address, video, photo gallery, Text messages all can be sent to a viewer once they use their phone to “scan” the code.

Pros:
Great flexibility in what you can have the code “do” once it is scanned. Relatively inexpensive to get started, some additional resources are required for higher end versions that come with tracking data, and analytics. Also, in a print piece, it takes up less than a square inch of space.

Cons:
The use of QR Code readers is growing, but has yet to reach a tipping point here in the U.S. Requires an area of the ad be dedicated strictly to the code.

Call Tracking
The sophistication of call tracking has reached impressive levels. There were times in which businesses would buy banks of 800 numbers, and then move them around from ad to ad, and sift through call logs to glean tracking information.

We now have the ability to create temporary toll-free (and non) numbers which provide data about call duration, call origination and much more. By including these within your ads, you significantly increase the odds of successful attribution.

Not only is this one of the best options for offline, it also offers great value online. Your web developer can embed javascript which will detect the referring source of the visit and display tracking numbers accordingly.

Pros:
Inexpensive, easy to implement and provides a great deal of data. Can be used as “throw-aways” for radio, tv or other short-run spots which decreases the costs incurred.

Cons:
The longevity of print publications is widely debated. For example, how long to keep a magazine tracking ad live? Some (not I) feel you lose some of the branding imparted by using your standard vanity numbers.

What are some ways you track your offline marketing?

Tags: conversion, offline marketing, QR Codes, tracking
Posted in Marketing | Have Your Say, Click to Comment »

Why Aren’t You Listening?

August 12th, 2010 by @patstrader

First, let’s just get this out of the way. This is not a post about what listening is, or how to do it. This is simply about why you should, and why some people don’t.

The question which needs to be answered before going any further is this: Do you care what your customers think?

This is, hopefully, a rhetorical question, however, it seems that far too many companies simply don’t care anymore. They might say they do, but their actions tell a different story.

Hopefully, you care. You should. If you hope to have success in today’s trust-fueled thank-you economy, you need to.

Traditionally, businesses use comment cards, or surveys to obtain feedback. These are still widely used, with success. Through the ubiquity of smart phones, and sharing through social media outlets, the comment cards have become real-time.

Visitors are posting to Facebook, or Twitter, or sharing photos while they are using your product, visiting your location or making plans.

By making use of simple listening tools, you create an opportunity to answer questions, share information, or simply say “thanks for stopping in”. Your customers have choices now more than ever, and they will be spending their money with those businesses which value them and listen.

Why Some Don’t Listen
“I don’t know how”
A common way to rationalize not listening, is not knowing what to do. While often an accurate statement, it is not a legit excuse. Folks, Google can be your friend. It can teach you how to juggle or tell you how to raise a pet monkey. It can also help you find lots of useful information on how to listen.

“I don’t have time”
Fact is, none of us have enough time. For anything. I’m not sure if we are busier, or if the time-space continuum kicked it into overdrive. Either way, we know, you don’t have time. That being said, you need to make time.

Remember way back when? I call it P.E. No, I’m not meaning the class where nerds got drilled with screaming-fast dodge balls (sorry if that was you…getting drilled). I am meaning Pre-Email. When email became a standard part of daily business, you didn’t have time for that either. But you made time, and eventually it became part of your daily routine. Same thing needs to happen here. Make time. Listen.

These are just two, I’d love to hear some more. However, I’d really love to hear about how you are integrating listening.

Posted in Digital Marketing, Social Media | Have Your Say, Click to Comment »

What’s Different?

August 12th, 2010 by Ben Curnett

I was clicking through my Facebook today, and re-watched this excellent, short, and neatly presented vid by Derek Sivers (thanks, Tripper). Here it is:

I love stuff like this. And I love talking to people that love stuff like this. Thinking differently is refreshing, no?

One of the requirements to thinking differently is the willingness, even the delight in, being proven wrong. I like it.

When it comes to marketing, the most successful campaigns happen when our assumptions are challenged, exposed, and overturned. Blow expectations from the water, and you’re probably doing something worthwhile. If enough people of the “please change everything” crowd buy in, followers probably will too.

Which means some people will hate it, because most buy ins of that ilk are small. People from that other side of the fence consider themselves the norm; their expectations are set according to the simplest, most probable outcomes. Anything that doesn’t fit is too weird, exotic, or obscure.

If that’s the kind of people you need to market your business to, you’re pretty much set. Deliver what’s expected, and you’ll keep those customers, until something more mainstream comes along.

If those aren’t the kind of people you’re marketing too, then it might be time to ask: “What are we doing that’s different?”

Tags: Ben Curnett, business trust, content strategy, ideas, marketing blogs
Posted in Digital Marketing | Have Your Say, Click to Comment »

Writing For Your Life

August 11th, 2010 by Ben Curnett

“To succeed in marketing, you have to have a story.” -Me, just now (paraphrasing about a million others since time immortal).

It comes down to this: are you going to tell a story, or are you going to post a sale?

That’s it. That’s the only question that anyone who’s involved in content marketing right now has to answer. Black or white, yes or no.

Want to push products? Fine. I don’t care about you. Want to wow me with your discount? There’s a better one a few clicks away. Your sale is the least unique thing about you.

Go ahead, though. I’m not going to stop you; I’m not even going to try. You’ll find plenty of company. The autotweeters. The push posters. None of you care about me, your customer. You only care about a number. Hits. Jeez. Good luck with that.

But…

If you have a good story, that’s something I can get with. Do you have a million ways to tell it? Is it interesting? Does it involve me?

Sounds like a good start.

Does it look good? Have you planned out the ways you’ll tell it? Is there a way for me to participate? Will I want to?

Beyond that, is it relevant to me? If not, why are you telling me?

Is it written in my voice? Yours? Anyone’s?

Does your story have a hook? What, exactly, is it about what you’re saying that makes you different? What makes you you? (hint: it almost certainly isn’t your prices.)

I know you believe you’re better than your competition, but what are you saying to make me believe that? Because I can do business with anyone I want.

So why should it be you?

Answer these questions, and you’re on your way.

Because those answers are what your story needs to be about. You better write it like your life depends on it.

Tags: Ben Curnett, blogs, content marketing, Digital Marketing, motivation, Social Media
Posted in Content Creation | Have Your Say, Click to Comment »

3 Quick Ways to Build a Better Website

August 10th, 2010 by @patstrader

Every business wants to have a great website, right? Producing a website that 1) is aesthetically pleasing and 2) visitors find useful should be everyone’s goal.

However, it seems that quite a few websites become the victim of a disconnect between what the business wants a website to be and what your audience needs it to be.

The bigger the business, often the more difficult this task becomes. Trying to meet each team members requirements and desires can often derail the best of intentions.

Own The Project
Have a decision maker that is given the authority to take ownership of the project. Take input and recommendations from the team members, listen to the wants and desires of the boss or board, the VP of sales and the customer service rep, and make decisions that stick. Decisions need to be geared towards benefiting your audience.

Benefit Your Audience
Talk to your front line staff. What types of questions are persistent? That’s the information your audience needs to be able to find, and find quickly. Make it easier for them to complete their task. Information to help them needs to be easy to find and easy to understand.

Build With Purpose
Know what you need your website to do. What do you want people to do when they visit your website? Call? Chat with a customer service rep? Request a brochure? Align these goals with the information your audience is seeking.

(Then. Measure. Everything.)

Yes, you want a beautiful website, but if that beautiful website has no purpose other than being pretty, it ends up being pretty useless. Awards mean nothing without conversion. Putting thought into these three things will help guide you towards a more successful website.

Got other ways to build a better website? Tell us in the comments…

Tags: development, Pat Strader, usability, web design
Posted in Web Design | Have Your Say, Click to Comment »

Confidential Marketing

August 9th, 2010 by Ben Curnett

How much of your business is a secret?

In the way that many business owners separate their marketing from their actual day-to-day business, I think that most of what goes on at a place is secret. In other words, there’s the face of the business, the part that customers see. And there are the hands of the business, the part that does the actual work.

The hidden parts aren’t necessarily bad. They might just not be part of what the owner sees as the customer experience. But then, for almost every single small business in existence, why have them at all? Especially with the options that are available today. What you’re hiding, a competitor is showing, improving, and turning into marketing.

It makes me wonder what has to be hidden. If I wanted to find ways to improve my business, looking at what’s hidden would be a good place to start.

Tags: Ben Curnett, business relationships, business trust, Digital Marketing, ideas
Posted in Digital Marketing | Have Your Say, Click to Comment »

How To Write A Facebook Update For Your Business

August 4th, 2010 by Ben Curnett

So, you know there’s this thing called Facebook, right?

Of course. You probably have a personal profile. And a fan page for your business. Lots (and lots) of people do.

But how are you using it?

That’s the real question. And it’s worth asking, because what most small businesses have done is gone right out and started a fan page with no idea about what to use it for.

Because they don’t ask, they use it for the same thing they use everything else for: shameless self promotion. Which is great, if Facebook were direct mail. Which it’s not.

So what is it, then?

Well, for starters, it’s the most popular social network in the world. But you already knew that. It’s more worthwhile to think about what that means. Social Network. It’s people sharing their lives, sometimes with passion, and staying connected with one another.

Staying connected. For a small business, that’s a tall order. Just because the tools exist doesn’t mean anyone wants to hear from you. Especially if all you’re going to do is talk about yourself.

In fact, it’s probably best to flip that idea around completely: Facebook is a way for your fans to talk about themselves. If you make it that. And that’s how to stay connected.

Here are some simple ways to make Facebook updates that help you stay connected to your fans:

-Post everyday, or almost everyday. A great way to make a connection is to be consistent. If you post at about the same time everyday, all the better. People will start to be able to trust that their time is being well spent connecting with you, because you’re there.

-Establish a tone. Remember that it’s social. Meaning, you need a voice. Be a person. Talk, don’t write. People are going to trust you a lot more if it’s you they’re trusting, and not just a logo.

-Be brief. Attention spans are short. Get to the point in a sentence. Two, tops. If you have more to say than that, write it in a note, then post the link to the note. Or better yet, blog. The people that trust you will follow your links. But shoving out big updates doesn’t do them any favors. Your big posts become a burden.

-Be interesting, and failing that, helpful. People want information, yes, but on Facebook, they want social information; what’s your business doing that makes them better informed socially? What kind of people do you cater to? (The answer better not be “everybody”). You know your business intimately, and there’s no one better prepared to answer that than you.

-Ask questions. Statements have endings; questions have openings. If the goal, as stated above, is to give your fans a way to talk about themselves, how better to do that than with a question?

-Follow up. If there’s a comment, or a long list of comments, on an update you posted, weigh in. Show people that you’re paying attention. Validate the fact that they’ve given you their time, the most precious resource any of us have. Yes, even on Facebook.

Some of that info is pretty elementary. But you also probably know just how many people are doing it wrong. And I really mean that. Spamming, pushing, shouting- that’s the wrong way to use Facebook.

If you want to give your fans something, that is.

Thoughts?

Tags: Ben Curnett, facebook, getting started in social media, how to, marketing strategy, writing
Posted in Social Media | Have Your Say, Click to Comment »

Instructions For The Triggerpuller

July 29th, 2010 by Ben Curnett

There’s a lot to be said for collaboration. It’s helpful to have another set of eyes and a different perspective.

But only one person can pull the trigger.

Go ahead and decide who that’s going to be before you start. You’ll save everyone on your project time and headache, which saves the business money (which is why we do this).

There’s a lot more to a marketing strategy now that in the past. The parts and pieces make it possible for there to be a lot of different places and ways to launch. Better be able to trust the person responsible for it.

Establish tone. Create style. Be consistent. You need to instill confidence in your co-workers just as much as you do in your clients. There’s no way to do that through constant consensus.

If you can do that with the people that you’re working with/for, your work is going to be better. No question. You’ll have eliminated micromanagement from your workflow, because you’ve trained yourself (and your team, and your customers) that your decisions are good ones.

Here’s a path to making that happen…

1. Workflow. Make sure everyone involved in the project understands that you’ll be the one hitting “publish”. Whatever path you need to take to get there, try to make it as straight as possible. Too many cooks spoil the copy.

2. Fight flexibly. Content marketing is a process, not an event. If consensus does move away from your direction, consider the reasons for that. There’s a lot of room as triggerpuller to include other people’s ideas while still maintaining the integrity of the piece. That’s one of the reasons the triggerpuller job is so great: you’re the ultimate ally. But be ready to fight for something you need.

3. Take responsibility. You make decisions based on how you see the marketing landscape, and guess what? You’re going to make a mistake. You’ll read something wrong, upset the wrong person, publish typos. Worse, you’ll do it on behalf of someone else. Oosh. When it happens, be ready. Own up to your mistake. Then get ready to pull the trigger again.

What do you think? Small biz trigger pullers out there, what’s your take?

Tags: Ben Curnett, blogs, business trust, content marketing, content strategy, relatonships
Posted in Content Creation | Have Your Say, Click to Comment »

Do You Believe In Your Content?

July 27th, 2010 by Ben Curnett

It’s easy to say so. Not so easy to actually do.

It’s all about trust. If you trust your customers to get it, you can do amazing things with content. You get to make it personal. You can use a shared language all your own. You can be brave. You can even fail, and try again, and fail, and try again. Content like that commands belief.

No trust, though, and there’s no way to create belief. You have to cover all the bases. You have to hedge. You have to play the devil’s advocate. You have to appeal to all sides. You have to dumb down and market to the largest common denominator. You have to tell only part of the story (the shiny part).

Can you really believe in something like that?

Tags: belief, Ben Curnett, blogs, content marketing, content strategy, writing
Posted in Content Creation | 1 Comment »

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