September 3rd, 2010
If you haven’t heard, it’s our 10th anniversary. I’m pretty excited about it; a little because that’s a nice milestone and I’m proud of our work, and a lot because it gives us a very good reason to host a big bash party (of which you’re invited so get in your R.S.V.P.). However, I happen to be thinking about all of the things we could have done had we planned a bit better for the big year. So learn a little from my mistakes and take some advice: make time to plan for yourself and your business.
One of the things I was thinking would have been fun to include in a 10 year marketing activity was a microsite. Oh the fun we could have had. We were brainstorming today on some crazy, outlandish goals for the next 10 years (loved Clay’s idea of rebranding the White House seal…cracks me up) and we could have shared such fun via a microsite. Then my brain hopped to wondering: Do people really know how to utilize a microsite? I think we all get it’s a site (hence the name) but maybe not exactly it’s purpose or potential. I’ve come up with eight ways off the top of my head to get you started on how you can intertwine a great microsite presence to your marketing mix.
- A Special Offer – You want to create a site that hosts your special offer. The special offer does not live on your home site and no one knows about it unless you drive them to or they find this special offer microsite.
- Speaking Spanish – Want to branch out to a specific culture or group? Speak their language! We were recently talking to the International Center of Indianapolis and it made me think of all the global families that find their home here in our communities. What if we welcomed them, initially, via an entry point that was all known and comfortable to them?
- Social – If you’re a social networking maniac and involved with more than a dozen social media sites, maybe it’s time to make your own social site.
- Anniversary – note above. This would fit under the short-lived microsite type, but, it would have been relevant, had a great purpose and provided some history and facts that would have helped our clients and prospects learn a bit more about us.
- Expertise – if you’re an expert in your area but you’re lost in the corproate world shuffle, get yourself a microsite. Your niche can win some SEO battles and help put you on the map a little faster when someone google’s your name.
- Campaign – If you’re running a special campaign or fundraiser type tactic, great use of a microsite!
- Product – this makes total sense if you’re selling a unique or special product, or, if you’re trying to education an audience. Help visitors learn what it is, what it does and how to get it.
- Co-Branding – if you’re partnering with someone or want to jointly do something as two brands, a microsite may be your best bet.
I’m sure there are other great uses, but these quickly came to mind based on what’s going on in our world right now and what may be the most relevant to our subscribers. Please share your microsite thoughts in our comments.
August 9th, 2010
In our new office, I’m very heavily weighing toward placing a quote, rather largely, on the wall you first see upon entering our suite. I love quotes that do something for you, whether that’s inspire you, make you think or get you to act in a different way than usual. I think having a quote on the wall would serve lots of goals I have for this project: 1) It’s art without a triple digit price tag, 2) It’s easy to change if we get sick of it down the road, 3) It speaks to the people you’ll find and work with inside these walls and 4) It may just inspire others as they enter our office.
So, as with most projects of this magnitude, I stew for awhile and think. I’ve come up with some top winning quotes that may make it on the wall. My all-time favorite quote is probably going to win over all of these below, but I thought I would share them all with you and see what you think. Do chime in on these options or submit your own and open my eyes to your quote bank!
- Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.–Edward de Bono
- Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.–C. S. Lewis
- I never met a color I didn’t like. – Dale Chihuly
- I think there are two keys to being creatively productive. One is not being daunted by one’s fear of failure. The second is sheer perseverance.–Mary-Claire King
- There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.–Edward de Bono
- Yes, of course [this age] is materialistic, but the only way to counteract it is to create spiritual things. Don’t worry yourself about the materialism too much. Create and stir other people to create!–Robert Frost
- Little surprises around every corner, but nothing dangerous. – Willy Wonka
- If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it. – Willy Wonka
- Where is fancy bred? In the heart or in the head. – Willy Wonka
- “If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.” — Fred Rogers
- “You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.” — Jack London
- “Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” — Walt Disney
- “Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” — Albert Einstein
- “An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.” — Victor Hugo
- “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” — Maya Angelou
- Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.–Lou Holtz
And my all-time personal favorite:
Energy, confidence and focus…. these are the elements to making creative things – Dale Chihuly
June 30th, 2010
Yeah, I am not sure what that sentence really means, but it’s some advice I gave recently. How many of you wonder if I’ll be asked for advice ever again? Really, though, I do have a point.
Different is good.
It’s a great path to take in your marketing and maybe even in life. We all get caught up in what someone else will think of our campaign, what if our competition does something or learns too much info, or whatever that risk is that is holding you back from being different… or even wonky… I’m willing to bet if you think through a worst case scenario of what would happen if you were ever so brazen to be so strange that you arrive at a place that’s really not all that bad. Give yourself, your company, your brand a chance to be unique, strange, funny, wonky; whatever name you want to call it, and see where it goes. You may make yourself more remarkable than you ever dreamed.
This chair is a little strange, but I love it and took the snap for just that reason.
June 23rd, 2010
When I think about legs, I don’t think about inseams or wine quality. I think about what makes a story compelling, how a person or thing or event can engage my audience, what gives a subject enough life to last at least a few days in the hearts and minds of copy consumers — and that’s a long time in this age of information overload.
Keeping a reader’s attention and making an impression can’t happen if your story has no legs. But oftentimes, the hardest part is recognizing the angle or detail that gives it those legs. OK, enough anatomy talk.
Part of my strategy when approaching any subject is seeking out what sets it apart to make it interesting. It can be something quirky (a farmer who modified a clothes dryer to ready hundreds of pounds of organic lettuce for sale at local markets), colorful (a restaurateur who turned a rundown biker bar into a thriving dining spot) or exclusive (a behind-the-scenes tour of a marble company showing how craftsmen perfect countertops).
Despite what you may think about your product or service, your story has legs that will attract a range of audiences. Here’s an example. Your company makes paintbrushes. Think about where the paintbrushes are sold, who’s buying the brushes, what they’re painting, how that painted item is being used to enhance a community or neighborhood. Think about all of the different parts that make up one brush, how the brushes are manufactured, who are the people behind the scenes — are you finding legs in those stories?
As a businessperson, take a step back and try to see what an outsider would find interesting in your product or service. When you find it, you can treat yourself to that nice glass of wine.
February 5th, 2010
Who is your customer? You’ve given some thought to this question. How old are they? Male or female? Are they tech-savvy? Where do they spend their free time?
Your customer and how they think should be the driving factor in all of your marketing decisions. You may love reading The New Yorker, but if your customers prefer People, there isn’t any reason to spend your marketing budget on ads in The New Yorker. Nothing shocking here, right? We all understand this.
Here’s where it gets tricky: do you think you are your customer? You’re wrong. Disagree with me? Perhaps you’re thinking, “I’m just like my customer. I am my target market. We’re the same in every way.”
- same taste in music
- same age
- same income level
- same hobbies
- same politics
- we read the same magazines
- we watch the same TV shows
- we like the same celebrities
- we care about the same news
- we live in the same kinds of neighborhoods and shop in the same stores
All of these things will help you understand your customer. You are a part of your target demographic. This will give you extremely valuable insights for growing your business, but you still aren’t your customer.
What’s the difference? Your expertise. Your solution. Your business.
Your product or service addresses some pain. Maybe you used to have that pain, but you don’t today. Your customers still have that pain. Every time they decide to hand you their hard-earned money, they are thinking about that pain and deciding you are worth the price you set.
Why am I making such a big deal about such a subtle difference? (And it is subtle.) It doesn’t matter if you like your website. It doesn’t matter if you like your logo. Or your copy. Or your business cards. It doesn’t matter unless they motivate your customers to buy. Sometimes the small difference between you and your customer is why you like one logo when a slightly different one would resonate better with your customers.
Obviously you don’t want to be embarrassed by any of your marketing pieces. (If you grimace when you hand someone your business card, that will ultimately hurt your bottom line.) The opinion that really counts, though, is the one of someone who needs your solution and has money to pay for it.
Sometimes that’s easier to see as a business owner when you don’t have anything in common with your customer. But it doesn’t matter if it’s easy or not. Either way it’s critical to your success.
October 13th, 2009
The last couple of days I have watched as a promotional campaign has gone wrong with Pepsi. They released an iPhone app for helping men ‘score’ with the women, but really, it didn’t score anywhere.
You can do your own reading up on all the routes and comments consumers everywhere have posted, but what I would like to point out is Pepsi’s handling of this situation, particularly their use of Twitter in doing so. Most of the buzz on this topic has been passed around on Twitter, so it was only applicable Pepsi release their comments via this medium too, but, we all know corporate brands sometimes miss this mark. Not only have they correctly used the medium to voice their apoloogies and rationale, they have attached the #pepsifail hashtag to their remarks. I give them big, big kudos for realizing their mistake and using the word fail – on their own behalf.
Lots of us find it easy to point out a fail when it comes to someone else. A lot less of us are able to do it when it hits our own stuff. Follow the hastag to see what else develops and write down some lessons learned from Pepsi on this one. I am guessing this will all work in their favor in the end.
September 11th, 2009
One of our services is the Market Snapshot. This service builds up to an hour presentation of recommendations our client should do to propel their business forward with marketing – to ultimately be the market leader. We did one of these presentations yesterday with Meridian Design Group, a 25 year old salon with locations in Carmel and in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. Most of their main business IS an experience service that each client gets once they walk through the Meridian Design Group door. To hit home on this experience approach, we used two specific items in our presentation to bring home the idea.
First, we took a trip to Target and found little hair clips. These clips worked as the base to hold name tags for the six individuals coming to the presentation from their management team. On each of their name plates, we placed an experience we wanted each of them to individually embrace and work on each day of their job. That way, among the six of them, the full experience they want to ensure happens in their salons will take place. One will work on beauty, another laughter, and yet another relaxation. It was a nice way to bring home a big point, and, hopefully add to their experience.
Next, one of our presentations was to begin a Hair TV project where the stylist’s introduce their personalities and passion in to the history of hair. Typically people are a little hestitant when it comes to video, so we pulled out our Flip camera, took a minute video of each of them telling what they enjoyed most about Meridian Design Group, and then immediately showed them the result. They were suprised at the level of quality and realized, hey, this is doable and really fun.
So next time you’re thinking about what you want your clients to experience, try to go one extra step and make that experience happen for them. It will be noted and make the result much, much better.
Experience name tags for a market snapshot presentation.
August 16th, 2009
The bigger the news in social mediaville, the grander the assumptions for what social media is and isn’t. For example, there was a recent reporting saying 40 percent of the tweets on Twitter were pointless. Pointless for what audience? Who decides?
When it comes to your social media activity, or any marketing activity for that matter, your audience decides what’s pointless, what’s important, what’s fun to know and what’s unnecessary. You learn by the activity, comments and links generated from your efforts. That’s the bottom line and that’s what’s important to know and understand out of this whole social media hairball. You have to figure out what marketing activity is right for your mix, and how and what those right mixes are in your strategy.
Here are two areas of advice to get you started right. You figure out these two things and the rest will flow.
- Decide what’s important. Take this opportunity to talk with your clients and prospects about what they would like to know about the area in which you are the expert. What is important for them to know? How can you help them filter all the information that’s out there and learn what they need the most? Now deliver the goods and keep asking regularly.
- Decide if it’s personal. What voice does your marketing deliver? Is it funny? Is it uber serious? Don’t be something you’re not and don’t make your company’s marketing message something it’s not. If social media is forcing anything at the marketing table, it’s authenticity.
July 28th, 2009
This one is going to be short and sweet – but the message is as solid as they come:
Tearing others down is never as helpful to a movement as building your followers up. – Seth Godin in Tribes
We have been working on a book for a client and thinking of an array of subtitles; some good, some really bad, some jabbing fun and some very matter-of-fact. I think I must be more sensitive than I let on, because when I read about bad things, even when they are suppose to be funny or trendy, I just cannot feel good about them. Something in my core says woah, that just isn’t nice and therefore it never sits well.
Next time you’re brainstorming a message, copywriting or theme for a project, remember that statement. It will work in your favor and sustain your efforts far beyond a quick-jabbing line.
July 27th, 2009
I just love that headline. It’s so true. Please say the word wretched like an evil villan, like Cruella Deville…
Why do I think, feel and believe these two words are wretched? Well, because they are overused and possibly even misused (makes me kind of remember another thing I ranted about that is overused and misused!) is a good place to start. Think about your last networking event. Who did you meet? I bet big dollars someone told you they care the most, have the best quality or provide the best service. Ech. Plf. Ugh. I hear those words when I’m out and about now and it truly makes me cringe. The only places that are allowed to talk about their amazing service would be places like Zappos or Nordstrom; those who ARE really known for their service.
Sit down with your clients, sit down with your employees and make time for figuring out what makes you unique. Something is there in that mix of conversations and discussion that will help you find your key market message.
