Drew McLellan, Author at McLellan Marketing Group

7 things you didn’t know about me meme (sort of)

January 11, 2009

I swear, I must be the slowest runner on the planet — I keep getting tagged! ;-}

Daria Radota Rasmussen tagged me with the 7 things about me meme.

Now, I’ve already told you plenty of things about me in the previous taggings…and only 2 of those were even remotely interesting.

So rather than bore you with more things about me, I thought I’d tell you 7 things I haven’t done yet but really want to do so I can use them in the next meme.

The “I haven’t done them yet, but some day these things will be about me!” list

I want to see a baseball game in every major league ballpark (I’m about half way there.)
I want to write a mystery novel (I have it in my head…even the opening sentence.)
I want to visit every Disney theme park in the world (I’ve got Disney World, Disney Cruise and Disneyland covered. Still have Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and Tokyo Disney Resort to go.)
I want to visit Scotland with my Dad (this is in the works — should be able to cross it off the list in 2009.)
I want to own my house, free and clear. (No chance of crossing this off in 2009!)
I want to be the cool grandpa (Okay…I don’t want to cross this one off for a LONG time!)
I want to launch a podcast/CD feature…interviewing all of the smart and cool people in marketing that I’ve met along the way.

So that’s it, kids. Hopefully a few of these will get shifted to the got it done column in ’09 and a few that are definitely a longer-term goal.

How about you…what’s one thing you deeply aspire to do that might surprise us?

How do you tell if your social media consultant is the real deal?

January 9, 2009

Image via Wikipedia

Awhile I ago I suggested that it might not be a brilliant plan to hire a consultant or agency to help you with your social media strategy if they can't document that they've done more than learn the buzz words.

Would you want to be a surgeon's first patient? On a pilot's first flight? So why should you be someone's social media guinea pig?

But if you're new to social media, how do you determine who's blowing smoke up your skirt and who's the real deal? Beth Harte put together a remarkable checklist of what you should be looking for and you're going to want to read her whole list.

But here are some basics, in my own words:

Does not believe that every company should (or can) blog. Nor do they believe that the blog is the be all and end all.
Constantly reminds you (if you need reminding) that social media is a tool, a medium. Marketing basics like understanding your brand and having something of value to share/say still apply.
Have a proven, successful social media strategy for themselves/their agency. If they can't or haven't done it for themselves, why in the world would you think they can do it for you?
Helps you weave your social media strategies into the rest of your marketing plan. Social media should be a part of the whole, not a whole new thing.
Doesn't promise that social media efforts are so incredible they're going to protect you from the recession, a mediocre product or male pattern baldness.

Bottom line….you want an agency or consultant who is bullish on social media but doesn't believe it's the holy grail. They can integrate these tools with the rest of your marketing efforts and you know they can do it for you….because they did it/are doing it for themselves.

I just scraped the surface. Check out Beth's post for the drill down.

Is this the year of the customer?

January 8, 2009

I've long lamented the fact that companies find the idea of marketing/talking to their current customers as less sexy or valuable than the chase for new business. The reality is, most companies spend backwards.

They invest the most money on strangers they hope will become customers
They spend a little money on current customers — taking their business for granted
They spend little to no money on their employees, who either deliver the brand promise and delight the customer…or not so much.

Looks silly, when you see it spelled out that way, doesn't it? I believe the recession, the employee shortage (which has been temporarily delayed because of all the layoffs) and the new consciousness in terms of fiscal responsibility may finally make this the year when organizations begin to recognize the value in investing in their current customers and employees.

Around the internet….I have been initiating some conversations around this topic.

What will be different in '09? Over at Small Business Branding, I offer up the idea of surveying clients you lost in the course of '08. It's a tough love sort of assignment, but it can really open your eyes in terms of what needs to be different in '09.

How long will it take? At Marketing Profs Daily Fix, I worry that business owners are going to be so anxious about their spending that they're going to expect results that just aren't achievable or they're going to expect the results instantaneously, rather than giving their marketing time to grow roots. The comments section really digs into the talk to your current customers aspect so don't miss that part.

Dance with the one who brought you. One of the comments by James Hipkin in the "how long will it take" post inspired me to dig deeper into the idea and value of focusing more of your marketing efforts on your current customer.

So go check out those conversations and then come on back and let's talk about how we can communicate more often and more effectively with our current clients.

When a blog is not a blog

January 5, 2009

In the comments section of my recent post 5 musts of business blogging, Justin Brady asked a very interesting question. He asked:

What if someone's reason for adding a blog is to simply keep their site updated
and increase their Google ratings?
What if they don't care for loyal readers, or comments?
Is this still a good reason, and if not, what are the risks?

The answer…there are many great reasons to add a blog to your website, even if you don't really intend it to be a blog per se. It's a strategy we employ all the time for our clients. Let me show you a couple examples from the MMG client roster.

Mary Stier Connects (visit the site)

Mary Stier is the former President and Publisher of the Des Moines Register and was one of Gannett's youngest publishers. She retired from the Register in 2007 and has now launched her own business, The Brilliance Group. The vision for her new company is a lofty one — her profound passion is to bring the wisdom, strength and grace of women's leadership into the world.

Mary's offerings include individual coaching, consulting, workshops for companies/organization, public speaking,and teaching some classes at the college level.

With Mary's site, we wanted to accomplish several goals including giving prospects a sample of how Mary thinks and inspires women. We also wanted to organically impact the search engines. So twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) Mary publishes a new blog post.

Her site's home page holds her three most recent posts and then her blog in its entirety is deeper in her site. We wanted a very clean look for her site, so the only "bloggy" thing you'll see on her home page is subscribe links.

You can comment on her posts but other than that…it's kind of a non-blog blog. We'll probably add a blogroll to her full blog, but other than that…we're keeping it very simple.

Shirley Poertner (visit the site)

Shirley is one of a select group of Master Trainers for Crucial Conversations® and Crucial Confrontations™ and Influencer. All three training programs are based on New York Times bestselling books. She works with corporations, associations and individuals — training them on the principles of these books.

Her website is the primary sales tool for her courses and she drives traffic there in a variety of ways. Shirley is also on the blogging team at IowaBiz.

To get Google's attention and to keep her site's visitors engaged, we decided to re-publish one of her IowaBiz posts every month. Hardly enough to call it a blog, but it serves our purposes.

Visitors to her site can subscribe to her home page's feed and can read the old posts by clicking on the archives but it's not really set up as a blog.

So that's the long answer to Justin's question. There are many types of blogs, many reasons to blog and many ways to measure a blog's success. In both Mary and Shirley's case — their blogs become a significant aspect of their brand and sales process.

How about you…know of some others?

Grow or die?

January 4, 2009

January is the goal-setting month. But, the truth is, most companies don't do it very well.

They look at their numbers (gross sales, # of employees, profit margins, etc) and with a mix of industry knowledge and wild assed guess – they project a percentage increase.

We will increase our gross billings by 7% and our profits (through additional efficiencies) by 10%.

And then they scramble to figure out how to get that done.

Sound familiar?

How are we defining growth?

We've all heard the phrase "grow or die." But maybe grow doesn't mean grow bigger. Maybe it means grow better. Move from good to great. Refine and define your brand. And then figure out how you are actually going to live and honor it.

Jay Ehret wrote a very smart post about this topic at his excellent blog, The Marketing Spot. Please make time to read it.

So if you're still with me – answer these questions.

How do you grow better in 2009?

Define (if you haven't) or revisit (if you already have defined) your brand. How are you actually bringing it to life?

How are you going to invest in your employees this year? How will you get the brand from your brain to their hearts?

How can you involve your customers in your pursuit of better?

What do you think? Could this be the year you get better? If so…how did you answer some of the questions above?

100 best kept marketing secrets – free ebook

January 3, 2009

Small Business Trends has put together 100 of the best kept marketing secrets, dished out by 100 marketing experts (they could only find 99 experts, so my tip is on page 12)

Anita Campbell, the publisher of Small Business Trends, made these observations about the secrets revealed in the book:

Throughout the submitted tips, I noticed three themes over and over:

Simple and inexpensive tools are more popular than complex or pricey approaches. “Duh!” you might be thinking. “Isn’t it obvious that entrepreneurs and small businesses, being on tight budgets, would favor low-cost approaches?”

Well, yes and no. What was surprising is just how many of the tips cost literally nothing but your time. A large proportion of others, such as those that focused on using business cards or blogging, can be done for hundreds, not thousands, of dollars. So don’t be tempted to throw up your hands and say “I can’t afford marketing.” You can.

Authenticity, friendliness and relationships matter. When you count your customers in the single or double digits, as opposed to the thousands or hundreds of thousands, relationships tend to matter much more deeply. The importance of smiling and being friendly was brought up again and again. Doing something nice for others and being yourself were common themes.

Most small businesses are NOT about mass marketing campaigns. Instead, we rely on attracting and retaining a relatively small number of customers to be successful. A solo consultant or small Web design firm may have as few as five or six regular customers. For small businesses, investing in relationship building goes a long way.

Creative online marketing plays a key role. We drew tips from those who are active online, so on the one hand you might think that the results would naturally be skewed toward online marketing. And to a degree I suppose that’s true. But I was surprised by the sophistication of the online marketing—especially on limited budgets.

Some of the online approaches are very detailed and go far beyond the plain-vanilla “create a nice Web site” type of advice. A number of the small-business marketing techniques represented in this document get into advanced online marketing, including social media marketing.

While you're certainly read some of the tips and think…well, duh…there's plenty of good thinking among the 100 tips. If you get just a handful of new ideas, it's well worth your time.

Download the e-book for free right here.

The best kind of marketing (Karl Staib)

January 2, 2009

Drew's Note: As I try to do every Friday, I'm pleased to bring you a guest post. Meet another thought leader who shares his insights via the blogosphere. So without further ado…Karl Staib. Again. Enjoy!

What's the best kind of marketing? Easy. Word of mouth marketing. The reason it's so good… it's relevant to the consumer. We relate to what our friends like.

We want to own what makes our friends happy because we believe it will make us happy too. If my friend buys the latest U2 album from iTunes, I'll be more likely to hear it in his car, enjoy it and want it too.

The Wii

I recently played the Wii over at my friend's house and fell in love with the active style of play. You move your arms, legs, and hips and there is always some laughter and excitement occurring in the room.

I'm adverse to television, video games, and anything that doesn't keep your brain or body active. Don't get me wrong, I watch the occasional stupid sitcom (love Scrubs), but most of my free time is spent building content for my blog, walking with my wife at the local park, or having a good conversation over a meal with friends.

Now that the disclaimer is over…I went out and plunked down $320 for a game system, extra game and a controller. I haven't owned a game system in over twenty years! I did this because my friend raved about it after I spotted it under his TV; we quickly ate dinner then played Mario Kart and Wii Fit (an exercise game). I was sold by its easy to use platform and the physically active nature of the game.

Restrict Access and Get More Word of Mouth

I don't know if they restricted the number of units that are shipped to the US on purpose, but the Wii is still hard to find. On-line stores are selling them in bundles (the game system with 4 games you don't want) to make extra money.

This only got me more curious. Why was everyone so excited about this game system? I kept hearing good things and everyone knows the old adage. It takes 12 to 18 repetitions before convincing someone who is a good prospect to buy your service or product.

Be Like the Wii

I haven't been so excited to throw down a chunk of money since my honeymoon to Italy. So the moral of the story is keep yourself out there. Give your customers a reason to tell their friends about you and when they call, don't give them instant access. When you appear too eager you'll lose their interest. Because the Wii was hard to get, it made me pine after it even more. Don't make them wait weeks to see you or buy your product, but make sure they know you are a popular company that is sought out for its quality work.

Nintendo created a system that made me so excited that I was guaranteed to be happy just to play it in my living room. Now that I own it, it's even better than I hoped. So the cycle has come full circle. I'm continuing the wonderful cycle of word of mouth marketing that sells products faster than Nintendo can make them.

Karl Staib writes about unlocking and kicking open the door to working happy at his own blog: Work Happy Now! Check out one of his most popular articles, Give Employees the Power to Impress Customers.

Every Friday is "grab the mic" day. Want to grab the mic and be a guest blogger on Drew's Marketing Minute? Shoot me an e-mail.

Erma Bombeck is my New Year’s inspiration?

December 31, 2008

A few weeks ago, Lewis Green wrote a post about his commitments for '09. He challenged a handful of us to do the same.

I've been ruminating on it since then because I don't hold a lot of stock in resolutions. A resolution is a "I'm going to try to…." which almost always results in a week long or month long effort…and then back to the old bad habit. Typically, resolutions are just wishful thinking.

But a commitment feels more solid. It's a promise, not a wish. And so, rising to Lew's challenge…here's my commitment for '09 inspired by all people, Erma Bombeck.

When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I would have not a single bit of talent left and could say…."I used everything You gave me."

~ Erma Bombeck

What does that actually mean for me in '09? In a nutshell, it means serving/helping/teaching as many people as I can, both in person and through technology.

But specifically in my work world, it will mean:

Keeping this blog laser focused on helping business leaders market and brand their business better and smarter
Continue to travel the country, speaking at conferences and conventions
Launching a teleconference series that will allow readers to listen, learn and ask questions about marketing and branding
Introduce a new way for businesses to interact with me and build their own marketing program (more on this in early '09)
Look for more collaborative projects like Age of Conversation and Bloggers Social that give all of us a chance to learn from each other

And specifically for my soul, it will mean:

Being present and in tune with my family and friends
Continuing to be available to speak to college classes
Continuing my service to the non-profit boards I'm fortunate enough to be on
Giving myself permission to slow down and find an oasis to soak up now and then
Remembering that laughter, music and solitude are not wants, they're needs

How about you…what commitment are you making to the new year and yourself?

Juicy words stimulate the senses and the urge to buy

December 29, 2008

I have to credit my daughter's 2nd grade teacher Bonnie Brockberg (many moons ago) with the phrase "juicy words." She was teaching the class about adjectives and that's how she described them.

I've stolen the phrase and used it ever since.

Juicy words. Succulent words. Words that add both a flavor and a sound (or smell, or vivid visual) to your copy. You know what I'm talking about. Ad copy or a letter that you have to read out loud to someone. It's almost musical.

That kind of copy writing is mesmerizing. It captures our imagination. It's memorable. It generates buzz. It should be the kind of writing you work your tail off to create.

There was quite a lively discussion in the comments of my recent post about words to avoid in 2009. One of points made was that most people are lazy writers. They use the same common words that everyone else uses and they wonder why no one listens.

I want you to promise to seek out juicy words. Weave them into your communications. Don't be heavy-handed about it. It's a delicate art. A hint of juicy is plenty. How do you start?

Read masters of the juicy words: The J. Peterman catalog and blog are lyrical, entertaining and incredibly juicy.

Find tools that will help you get juicy: The Visual Thesaurus is my trusty writing sidekick. When I'm searching my brain for just the right word, it offers me many to choose from.

Get some juice on you: Jump in and squeeze! It's going to be sticky but there's no other way. You have to just practice. Give it a shot in the comments box if you want. We'll support your efforts!

Want to earn your audience's attention? Want to get them reading your words aloud? Then, take the pledge. Come on, raise your right hand and repeat after me:

"I promise to be a practicing juicy word wizard. I'll avoid words that are dull, mundane or ordinary in any way and replace them with language that stimulates the senses and the sales."

How consistent is your company’s voice?

December 29, 2008

I have long preached the gospel of brand consistency. (I've also questioned if you can take it too far) But I want to remind you about a more subtle but often forgotten about aspect of your brand where consistency is sometimes lost.

Often times, how you say something is more important than what you say.

You should have a clear idea of what your company’s “voice” is. And regardless of how many different writers are involved, your materials should always be in the same voice.

How do you “sound” in your communications pieces?

Are you formal? Conversational? Do you use short, choppy sentences or long, descriptive paragraphs? Do you strictly adhere to grammar and style rules or do you take some liberties? What about slang or industry jargon?

What do each of those choices say about you?

Don’t assume the right answer is based on industry stereotypes. Imagine the tone and style differences between a corporate law firm and a law firm that specializes in family law.

Your voice goes beyond the written words. What is the attitude of your radio spot? How about your signage? Is your voice consistent in how you answer your phone? The signature line on your e-mail? What about your press releases and sales promotions materials? Your on hold message?

Think of all the ways you communicate to your customers, potential customers, employees, and vendors. How consistent is your voice?

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