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Need Something to Read? Take Some Time to Learn

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Placing importance on learning and education has been an important part of my life. I didn’t really have a choice; Both of my Grandmother’s were teachers. My Grandfather, a principal. Likewise for my mother and father….and countless other family members.

Learning and education, are on-going. It never has a true conclusion, and now more than ever, those in marketing need to study and learn from one another. Some learn from reading, some from watching, some from experience.

In compiling this list for some of our partners, I thought best to be nice…and share.

Let me know what you think and what should be added…and I will continue to bolt-on more of my other favorites.

Blogs:
Just a handful for you to throw into your reader, skewed towards social media, also take a look at our blog roll. (psst…its over there ->>> )

Social Media Today: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/

Chris Brogan: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/

Scott Monty – Ford: http://www.scottmonty.com/

Online Marketing Blog, (PR and Social): http://www.toprankblog.com/

Here are two strong lists for you to decide what appeals to you specifically: The Ad Age Power 150, and Top Rank Big List.

Social Media Explorer
More solid, social media information.

Books: (yes..of course these ARE affiliate links!)
Groundswell – Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff
If you are familiar with Forrester, you know what this is. If not, this book will help you wrap your head around the changes in marketing, and the emergence of social.

The New Rules of Marketing and PR – David Meerman Scott
A must read for those that still are not convinced that marketing is/has changed.

Call to Action – Bryan & Jeffrey Eisenberg
One of my all-time favorite marketing books. I have read, and re-read this one…and I think you should too.

Social Media is a Cocktail Party – Jim Tobin, Lisa Braziel
A good, easy (and quick) read to get you thinking about implementation and strategy.

Trust Agents – Chris Brogan
I have not even completed this book, but am recommending it. So far, a great read…some great stories to really help make the points have meaning.

Tags: marketing blogs, marketing books
Posted in Digital Marketing, Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

Checking In On Change

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Reward doesn’t come without risk. Unfortunately, fear of failure prevents most people from taking any risk at all. And also from obtaining any reward.

Does taking a risk, and falling short, mean that there’s no reward to be had? Of course not. change

Back in late December, I issued a dual challenge to you and to myself. You were going to change the way in which you approach marketing. I was going to change my diet and exercise, and participate in the Captain Thurmond’s Challenge.

How’d I Do?
Unfortunately, when it came time to race, I wasn’t ready. I set a goal and fell short. Still, I’m not deterred. And I actually have lots of positives to report.

Like many people undertaking a great change, I began my journey full-throttle. Drastic change, drastic pace. The first signs of change came quickly, giving me some positive reinforcement. However, I wanted big changes. Fast. That’s a rare occurrence in any situation.

Setbacks were expected and came along right on schedule. Distractions crept in, so did doubt. A series of stops, starts, gains, losses. Frustration, jubilation.

At this point, I am eating better yet still dealing with ups and downs with my exercise program. Kids, work… not excuses but reality, make things tough to always find time for a workout. Yet 8 months in, I am continuing to find ways to do so. So far I have lost 20 pounds. To me, that’s a big deal.

I didn’t reach my goal, but I’m continuing to work, and continuing to make subtle changes with the intent of those changes becoming permanent.

Positive change.

How’d You Do?
Does my story sound similar to yours? I issued the follow challenge:

My challenge to you, is to change the way in which you approach your marketing efforts. Put the bullhorn down, quit yelling at your customers and quit trying to find needles in haystacks. Listen for a change. Study for a change.

It appears that more and more folks are accepting that change in their marketing mindset is not an option, but a requirement to move forward. Positive change is happening for many. How about you?

Tags: business relationships, marketing mindset, marketing strategy, Pat Strader
Posted in Marketing | No Comments »

The Catch-22 Of Marketing Strategy

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Alright, here we go. I’m going to write about my favorite, favorite subject in the world (next to my kids, gravity sports, and layman-level physics. Seriously.) Ready? Here it is: Paradox.

I think I need to put in a disclaimer. If I explain why I love circular dilemmas so much, it loses it’s appeal. The explication of it gets so big and intense that the delicate simplicity of the situation just breaks down. What makes them work, stops working.

See what happened there? So, there’s that.

But on to how this effects marketing. Here’s what I see as the big Catch 22: Less-Is-More. It’s a familiar phrase that gets overlooked quite a bit, and could stand a little love and attention.

What It All Means

Less-is-more means don’t shout. It means help others, even if it doesn’t benefit you directly. It means forget competition and be yourself. It means do something amazing without seeking credit. I’m sure you can add others.

So, here’s the dilemma- companies that do less-is-more well are very successful. They can use that success to make “less” effective, because they don’t have to do “more”. Tiny companies that are struggling to start in their vertical feel as though they have to do “more”. But if that’s the route they go, they: create spam, appear selfish, play catch up, and toe the line. And other consequences.

When Less Becomes More

It’s much better to embrace it. Use less-is-more as a central tenent of marketing strategy, even though it’s tough.

And why is that? Because it feels on the surface like: no one will hear you, it’s not worth the effort, you’ll appear inexperienced, you won’t get noticed. And other fears.

That’s what it feels like. But, of course, the opposite happens. It takes time -more time than spamming, anyway- but eventually less-is-more. And as that happens:

Your voice becomes more important.
You reap big benefits from those you’ve helped.
Competition become de facto partners.
People seek you out to bestow credit upon credit upon you.
And many, many other boons and blessings.

Have an opinion, young grasshopper? Too much philosophy and not enough juice? Reply, and reveal your innermost thoughts…

Tags: business trust, content, Copywriting, marketing strategy, Social Media
Posted in Marketing | No Comments »

5 Things I Love About Seth Godin

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

If you read this blog regularly, you know that I like to link to Seth Godin. A lot.

That might equal points off for me from some of you, which is fine. There are plenty of other passionate marketers out there, and one size doesn’t fit all.

And, if this is a little too much for you, so be it. But as far as marketing and business thinking goes, I believe Seth is the best. Here are five reasons why:

1. Seth’s a paradox. He writes quite a bit about ideas that seem contrary to business, yet work effectively. They’re also ideas not easily put into practice by most people, but they’re simple to understand. At the heart of it, he recommends acting in a way that appears backward, but isn’t. Life’s like that. Why shouldn’t business be?

2. Seth’s honest. I also like his willingness to cut out large parts of the market for the sake of better business, clearer messages, and truth in marketing. Seth says don’t be all things to all people. Just be you, and be you really well. I like telling customers exactly what I don’t do; I think it gives more credibility to what I do do.

3. Seth’s blunt. Every book and every blog post gets right to the point. If you’re going to get offended by someone exposing what’s wrong in your business, Seth’s stuff probably isn’t for you. It’s all constructive, but it’s not sugar coated. There’s no time to pretend the emperor has no clothes; there are too many opportunities for greatness around for that.

4. Seth’s selective. Seth remarked in his blog a while back that the best review he got for one of his books was something from the New York Times that was along the lines of, “The book is written for and will only appeal to the most motivated people out there” (not an exact quote). So, his ideas appeal to me because I’m in that group. My education has been out in the field; my degree honestly hasn’t helped me much. Seth tells me that’s a positive, and I believe him.

5. Seth’s right. There’s example after example of businesses that do exactly the kinds of things Seth talks about, and they’re thriving. They’re Purple Cows, they go through The Dip, they get Permission, they form Tribes. Sure, there are financially successful businesses that do exactly the opposite of what Seth says to do. But which ones would you rather participate in?

Me? I’d rather start something great. Thoughts?

Tags: business relationships, business trust, content, marketing strategy
Posted in Marketing, Partnership | 2 Comments »

Marketing Failure

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

I read the word “transparency” what I would quantify as a lot of times each day. I see examples of it less than that. Here’s a good one that explains what transparency doesn’t mean.

I think that what good marketers mean when they talk transparency is different than a warts and all approach. In other words, don’t put everything you do online.

Making your entire process available digitally isn’t transparency. Let’s face it- that information is going to be edited and selected and weeded. That’s behind-the-scenes. Interesting maybe, but not transparent.

Instead, deal with mistakes. Talking openly about that kind of thing is attention grabbing and sticky.

I’ve written before about how much I like the Heath brothers’ Made To Stick, because it breaks marketing ideas down into their essential components. In a way, it turns language to math. It works great for understanding mistakes.

-Businesses that openly dissect mistakes are doing something unexpected, because not many businesses are doing it.

-They’re using a concrete idea -a mistake- that everyone can identify with, one that hooks into people’s memories.

-They’re credible; what’s more honest than admitting you were wrong?

-They’re emotional, because mistakes are ultimately linked to the people that make them.

-Mistakes tell stories, which are memorable. Comedy, for instance, is all about failure and mistakes.

Everyone makes them. It’s unavoidable. Sooner or later, process of elimination, it has to happen. It will happen. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about…

Michael Jordan Failure

Marketing a mistake is mental tai chi, I think. It uses the audience’s natural resistance to marketing against them. It’s winning people over through honesty. To me, that’s really appealing.

Recent mistakes? I’m going to work on letting fewer typos slip (I know- Me? Typos? It’s true.) You?

Tags: business relationships, content, content marketing, marketing strategy, social media mistakes
Posted in Content Creation, Marketing | No Comments »

What’s The Message In Word-Of-Mouth Advertising?

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

rain_on_the_windshield I really like to hear stories about word of mouth advertising. To be honest, it always seemed like a geek quirk until I started getting into marketing. But really- when someone starts talking about a great product or great service, my ears perk up. Doesn’t matter what product. I’ve been that way forever.

For instance, I love Rain-X, the stuff you put on your windshield to bead water. A friend, years ago, stopped at a gas station during a storm to put some on, telling me about how great it was. Then, we drove down the highway, with 18 wheelers passing us, without using the windshield wipers. I was sold. And now I tell everyone about Rain-X (seriously). They don’t pay me, or give me products. It’s word of mouth.

Why does word of mouth work the way it does?

1) Honesty The truth is rare enough to create attention. It stands out -way out- from everything else, and that’s worth talking about.

2) Surprise If there’s something genuinely surprising about a product, it’s worth talking about. Marketing that leaves a surprise to the customer is brave.

3) Lagniappe This is a creole word that means something like “gift”. Businesses that give the customer something extra often get word of mouth back.

4) Service Just being friendly is worth talking about. It gives us an idea of just how many people are phoning it in.

What those 4 characteristics share is that they exceed expectations. For people to talk about a product of their own volition, it’s got to be pretty far outside the norm. No one’s going to talk about the used car commercial. In fact, almost all marketing does completely the opposite.

It’s bold to be honest. It takes restraint to create surprise. You must be generous to give a little lagniappe. You have to care to create service worth mentioning.

What’s missing? Do you have some good word of mouth examples?

Tags: business relationships, business trust, content, marketing strategy
Posted in Marketing | No Comments »

Blogger Outreach: The Dos and Don’ts List

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

After spending a day at the wonderful Blog Potomac a few weeks back, we started thinking about how to best reach out to bloggers on behalf of clients.

Here’s the thing: It’s not terribly hard. If you do good research, read up on the blogs you’d like to pitch, and make sure you’re a good fit, you should have some success in collaborating with bloggers for PR.

Here’s the other thing: It’s kind of hard. You have to be willing to give up control of your information or product, and you have to make yourself very transparent about what you want.

But the payoffs can be great. If you want exposure in a targeted community of people, and you want to participate within that community, blogger outreach can really help.

For instance, we partner with small businesses. There are tons of opportunities for our clients to get involved in the literally thousands of conversations happening all the time in the blogosphere. The scale is just right, and the personal level of attention fits, as well. Small or large, there’s a way for everyone to participate.

After initiating our own blogger outreach efforts, I created this list of dos and don’ts. Super helpful was reading a couple of different posts at Krishna De’s Biz Growth News, as well as reading the excellent Blogger Outreach Code of Ethics from Kaitlin Wilkins at Ogilvy PR.

Here’s the list below. I hope you find something helpful here. Feel free to share this- just please link back to us so we can see where the conversation goes.

Blogger Outreach: A Primer

Bloggers are people who publish. If the man-on-the-street had editorial control over what showed up on the news, it would resemble a blog. For marketing, think of blogs as digital, scalable word-of-mouth.

In a PR sense, many of the same rules apply to blogger outreach that apply to distributing a press release. You must be courteous, establish a relationship, and understand the blog you’d like to connect to.

But there are significant changes, too. Bloggers are researchers, stringers, and editors-in-chief. They make the decisions, including the decision to write about you in an unfavorable way, if they so choose. New rules exist, and you must understand them before using blogs as media sources for marketing.

What follows is a Do and Don’t list for blogger outreach:

-Do get to know your blogger. This is a lot easier than it was traditionally, as most (good) blogs are highly, or at least somewhat, personal.

-Do read your blogger’s posts. It’s the best way to get to know your blogger (see above).

-Do respect a blogger’s posted directions for PR. Contact them in whatever way they prefer.

-Do acknowledge the blogger’s influence and expertise. You want to give them information for exactly this reason. Saying so is polite and helpful.

-Do be transparent. Tell bloggers exactly who you are, who your work for, who you are representing, and the purpose for which you’ve contacted them.

-Do encourage the blogger to be transparent about you, and their relationship with you.

-Do be clear about why you think they might be interested in the information or product that you’re presenting.

-Do relinquish control of your information from the beginning (yes, even if the blogger decides they hate the product).

-Do leave bloggers alone if they don’t respond or don’t want to participate.

Don’t

-Don’t feel as though you’re giving a blogger a gift. There’s plenty to write about without you. You’re asking for a favor. Sure, it’s something you believe would help the blogger. Still, be personable.

-Don’t pitch a blogger that’s not the right fit. You have to be able to provide value to their audience, so make sure that that’s your audience, too.

-Don’t forget who you’ve pitched- make yourself available to bloggers that respond. Make sure there is contact information in your correspondence.

-Don’t pretend to have read a blog that you haven’t read. Be upfront, clear, and honest about it.

-Don’t pitch bloggers if you are going to try to control what you’d like them to say about your information. Bloggers have a responsibility to their readers, and not to you.

-Don’t make bloggers search for research material about your information. Try to provide everything they need in the first email without making them have to click through to somewhere else.

Tags: blogs, business relationships, content, marketing strategy
Posted in Marketing, Partnership | 1 Comment »

The Best Of Simple

Monday, July 6th, 2009

Did you ever read any stories about Simple? He was a character created by Langston Hughes, and the stories were published in a segregated black newspaper in Chicago in the 30′s.

The stories are important, but not any more than Simple himself. He is the story, breaking through everyday life’s roadblocks with that particular brand of common sense that makes the rest of us say, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Simple could teach marketers a lot. A message that appeals to the “well, of course” reaction in us all. Something simple- that’s what’s called for. Here are 5 reasons why that works.

1) Simple messages are easy to understand. If it requires explanation, we’re lost. A clean page sends a powerful message. Get to the point already.

2) Simple messages are easy to read. This is the difference between you average local law office spot and a Nike ad. Everyone knows what both are, but who’s really leveraging that preexisting knowledge?

3) Simple messages are clever. People hate change, but they really appreciate something different. You can say a lot with a little, but you have to choose your words wisely.

4) Simple messages introduce complex ideas. Go back to the google example I linked to. The algorithm they use might be one of the most complex pieces of code ever engineered. How did they present it? With their name, and a search box.

5) Simple messages are sticky. I recently read Made To Stick again (pick it up- it’s required reading on this subject). As the Heath brothers put it, simplicity isn’t about dumbing down- it’s about getting to the core of your message. People are more apt to remember you if you can simply convey who you are.

If you have to explain everything about what you do, your message is lost. People can’t remember everything about you. Make it simple.

What are your ideas about simplicity? Share your best example with us- I’m definitely interested in hearing about simplicity in all its forms…

Tags: content, content marketing, writing
Posted in Marketing | No Comments »

What The Heck’s Next?- How We Use Basecamp

Friday, May 29th, 2009

Like thousands of other folks, we use 37signals Basecamp (aff link) for online collaboration and project management. It’s a great system, if you’ve not seen it. Easy to use, intuitive, and covers all the bases for us.

We’ve had pretty good success getting the people we work with involved in Basecamp, which we’ve internally named “Projectpath”.

It’s pretty simple to use. But we wanted to write up a personal introduction from us to our clients, many of whom have not worked within a project management system.

And if they need start-up help, the Basecamp FAQs are pretty much focused on admin support, which is not really what we’re looking for. They do have a very good video how-to section, but that’s not quite what we need either.

What we need is…

A document that would help our clients buy-in to using the system.
Something that would assure them that this was easy to use.
A personal introduction that could be used as a reference, if needed.

So here it is. Feel free to use it if you think something like this would be helpful for you…

-What The Heck’s Next?-
Getting Around In Matterhorn Projectpath

A Quick Guide To How We’ll Manage Things Together

There are a million ways to communicate. We call. We email. We send DMs to an @ on Twitter. It can get a bit… overwhelming. With more people contributing more information about more ideas everyday, it’s very easy for communication to get buried, sidetracked, or lost.

Projectpath is a website that’s designed to keep everything -everything- in one place. Using this system will…

•    Keep all of our communication together over the length of the project
•    Organize each step of our process by topic
•    Archive all of our progress by date
•    Make our project accessible all the time, from any computer

Think of Projectpath as our project’s office. We use a system called Basecamp to run things, and it’s easy to use. Go ahead and be intimidated if you want, but the simple fact is this: If you know how to go to a website, send email, or use a mouse, you can use Projectpath.

Projectpath has 6 different sections…

•    Overview
•    Messages
•    To-Do
•    Milestones
•    Writeboards
•    Files

You can move between sections easily by using the tabs near the top of the page. Each section has a different function, and together they cover all of the things we’ll have to communicate during our project.

Here’s a quick rundown of each section…

Overview- The Overview shows everything that’s happening in our project. Here’s what you can see:

•    The name of the project
•    Shortcuts to the other 5 sections
•    A timeline for the project, if one applies
•    All recent activity in every section, arranged with the most recent at the top
•    An RSS feed for the project, so you’ll know each time something is added
•    The names of everyone involved in our project

Messages- This is email for our project. It works because everyone can share communication in one place (that way, we don’t have to go digging around in your personal inbox ?). To post a message…

•    Click “Post a new message”
•    Write something
•    Click “Post this message”
•    That was easy, wasn’t it?

To Do- The to-do list might be the easiest way to keep track of our project’s progress. Projectpath lets you add, cross off, and move around items in a way that, frankly, makes you want to get more done just to use the to-do features. It’s easy to make lists in Projectpath.

Milestones- This section is for keeping track of things that need to be done by a certain date. It’s divided into 3 parts: Past due, Upcoming, and Completed. There’s a calendar in the margin of the Milestones section that’s color coded to reflect each list.

Writeboards- If there’s ever a need to create a document collaboratively, we’ll use a writeboard. It’s an easy way to keep track of all the versions of a document that we might need. Because we create content using different software, we don’t use writeboards for most projects.

Files- Here’s where we keep any and all files pertinent to our project. Again, the big draw is that they can be accessed and updated by anyone in the project. We keep all content for projects in the files section.

That’s all. The way we’ll use Projectpath is very intuitive. It won’t take long for you to see how collaboration is simplified with this one tool.

We’re looking forward to getting started- thanks for going through this doc.

Tags: business relationships, content, project management, rss, rss feeds, using rss
Posted in Marketing, Partnership, Web Usability | No Comments »

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