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Taking the Age of Conversation and making it even better!

May 9, 2007

Don’t you love when someone takes a good idea and just adds value right on top of it?

Arun Rajagopal has decided to visit every Age of Conversation author’s blog and write a profile on each author. Between the two installments, there’s just about a fourth of the authors profiled already.

Check out the series and a big thank you to Arun! Hey Arun…don’t forget to tell us a little more about you too!

Profiles – 1
Profiles -2

Marketing Tips from a Marketing Agency: Express your brand simply and visually

May 8, 2007

It would only stand to reason that a marketing & branding agency would be pretty good at branding and marketing itself.

So I thought it might be fun to explore some branding & marketing concepts using our own agency, McLellan Marketing Group, as the guinea pig.

Express your brand simply and visually

At MMG, we help clients discover their brand so they can create love affairs with their clients.

That’s our brand in a sentence.

We understand that a powerful brand begets love affairs. For our clients. For the agency. For MMG team members. We call it a love affair in the round.

or….we can express our brand this way: This is what we do and how we do it.

Which one is more memorable for you? How could you do the same thing for your brand?

Are blogs more credible than traditional media?

May 7, 2007

David Meerman Scott says they are.

"Readers of blogs view the information shared by smart bloggers as one of the few forms of real, authentic communication there is," Scott says. "Audiences consume advertising with skepticism and consider pronouncements by CEOs to be out of touch with reality. But a good blog written by someone within a large or small company, a nonprofit, a church, or a political campaign commands attention."

Scott’s new book The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to use news releases, blogs, podcasts, viral marketing & online media to reach your buyers directly will be released by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in June. (Apparently short titles are passe!)

Scott goes on to say "For decades, only journalists held the power to make or break a story. But today the Web is like a huge online city teaming with individuals and organizations of all kinds. Corporate blogs written by employees are the sounds of independent voices just like the sports fan on the barstool or that friend of yours who knows everything about stereo equipment. Corporate blogs and business bloggers are now important and valuable alternative sources of information, not unlike your next-door neighbor or the helpful salesperson at your favorite shop."

Most of us know Scott from his blog Web Ink Now.

What do you think? Is this a chicken little yelling that the sky is falling (traditional advertising is dead?) or is Scott right on the money? How do you reconcile Scott’s premise with my recent post: Name a new product from 2006?

Name a new product from 2006

May 6, 2007

Advertising spending rose from $271 billion in ’05 to $285 billion last year. And yet, according to a survey conducted annually, 81% of consumers could not name one of the Top 50 new product launched in 2006.

Could you? (And saying Dr. Pepper Berries & Cream is cheating!)

The number of new products released in 2006 was 32,624. Surely we could remember just one. This 81% lack of recognition is an all-time high.

Here are the numbers:

2006 81%
2005 57%
2004 56%
2003 50%
2002 33%

The survey noted that most of the products were launched via traditional media. So not only is 2006 an all-time high. It is an all-time high in a big, bad way.

Why?

Do you think TiVo had anything to do with it?
Do you suppose the fact that most cable and satellite companies now supply DVRs had something to do with it?
Do you think the fact that magazine circulation is down has anything to do with it?
Do you think Sirius or XM Radio have anything to do with this?
Do you suppose 15 million active blogs influenced this number?

If you had a brand new product and a reasonable budget, how would you launch it today?

Are you an All Talk Tammy?

May 6, 2007

My teenage daughter came home the other day with a middle school dilemma.

Two of her friends, we’ll call them Tammy and Arthur had her in a quandary. Arthur told my daughter a story about something that happened during the lunch period involving him, Tammy and another girl, Cathy. When my daughter asked Tammy about the situation, she told a completely different tale. In fact, she said the incident never happened at all.

So naturally, my daughter came home, wondering who was telling the truth. We talked a little about perception versus reality but let’s face it, the incident either happened or it didn’t.

Then, out of the mouth of my 13 year old, came some sage marketing advice. She said, "Well, since I don’t know if what they said was the truth, I’ll pay attention to how they behave."

Tammy has a checkered past when it comes to telling the truth. Arthur on the other hand, has always proved to be a man of his word. Case closed. While she agreed that Arthur could certainly be exaggerating the truth, in the end she believed that the incident did occur.

Don’t disregard this as a middle school drama. There’s a very loud and clear message in there for anyone who’s crafting marketing messages.

All Talk Tammy: Your words are meaningless if you don’t live up to them. If you’re an All Talk Tammy, your consumers will ferret that out. Actions will always win out over pretty words. Especially if there is a pattern of inconsistency.

And when Catalyst Cathy comes along and creates a crisis (whistle blower, product recall, employee strike, bad customer service experience, etc) then you’ve got real trouble.

Authentic Arthur: When you’ve earned a reputation for being authentic, it is like having a full bank account. If you have trouble (see Catalyst Cathy’s list above) you can afford to make a withdrawal sand still have a little left over. Of course, that depends on you remaining authentic.

Here’s an interesting question. How many marketers out there THINK that they’re Arthur in this story, but their consumers know them to be a Tammy?

Good customer service can be MAGIC!

May 5, 2007

When you experience incredible customer service, it feels magical doesn’t it?

And isn’t bad customer service a teeth-gritting frustration?

It seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? Care about the customer. Own their problem. Make them feel welcome. And yet, so few seem to get it. And when they do — we trumpet it to the world. We herald them for being brilliant marketers.

How sad is that? That the simple courtesy of creating a positive buying experience is so remarkable that we react that way. But it is. And we do.

There’s a new book out that addresses this issue in a very compelling, hands on learning sort of way. How to Talk to Customers, Create a Great Impression Every Time with MAGIC is the newest offering of Diane Berenbaum and Tom Larkin.

The book is a quick, entertaining read. It tells some incredible stories of customer service do’s and don’ts. It focuses on one critical aspect of customer service. The conversations your employees have with customers every day. The authors have based the book on their customer service training program MAGIC which stands for Make A Great Impression on the Customer.

But once you’re inside the book, you’ll discover they have attached a different and more meaty meaning to the same acronym.

M — Make a connection: Build the relationship
A — Act Professionally: Express Confidence
G — Get to the Heart of the Matter: Listen and Ask Questions.
I — Inform and clarify what you will do
C — Close with the relationship in mind

One of the nicest features of the book are their MAGIC Maxims at the end of every chapter. They provide a nice summary of the key points of that chapter. There are also many "hands on exercises" that are worth thinking through and trying.

Good customer service. Seems like it should be a duh but it sure isn’t. If you don’t read this book and get some new ideas, make some changes and see an improvement in how you and your team deal with customers…then you weren’t paying attention.

You can also check out the authors and their customer service training and consulting company, Communico at their corporate website.

And added bonus — the authors know something about delivering an enjoyable customer experience. The book is a fun and entertaining read. You’ll hardly notice that you’re learning something!

Is improving your customers’ experience worth $18? Buy the book.

Jumping into the middle, Marcus Brown is dead, and Elvis loves cribbage

May 4, 2007

I jumped into the middle of this story, so that’s where I’d like to start with the telling as well.

Many of us have enjoyed Marcus Brown’s blog It Could Get Worse for quite some time. Smart, funny and willing to really take a chance. He had no fear and no pre-conceived ideas of what his posts or positions should be. He just went with it.

Think of this post as a very poor man’s Brownesque post. Just let me go with it and come along for the ride. This is an interesting study in viral marketing, social media and a brilliant but warped mind.

Here’s how my version of the story started.

Sometime in April, I went over to enjoy Marcus’ wit and I happen upon a post where he is soliciting ideas on how he can sell a painting. This painting.

I got the general gist. Marcus created the work of art because a buddy of his was somehow saved by some Mountain Rescue group. What caught and kept my attention were the hilarious suggestions about how Marcus could raise more money. Right in the middle of the comments, someone suggested that to truly get a good price for the work, sadly Marcus would have to be dead. Only dead artists commanded top dollar.

Then, I started laughing out loud at some of the suggestions as to HOW Marcus could meet his untimely death. I particularly remember the riff about him choking on a sausage. Funny stuff.

I didn’t think too much more about it. Then a week or so later, I read that Marcus has pulled the plug on his blog. I couldn’t believe it. I rushed over to see. No goodbye post to speak of. No explanation. No archives. Just gone.

Wow, I thought. Marcus must have been really burned out. To just pull the plug.

Boy, did I not understand how much of his plug was truly pulled.

Until I heard he was dead.

And not only is he dead, but he’s blogging about it. And he even sent a YouTube video to reassure us that he’s okay.

What I find remarkable about this is that I didn’t get it for quite a bit. I honestly thought Marcus had just called it quits. Which is one of the elements of a good viral marketing campaign. He let me stumble upon it and discover it. He didn’t package it or worry that I might not get it — so he had to lead me by my nose. He had faith in his audience and his idea — so he tossed it all in the air to see what would happen.

But of course, what I’ve now discovered is that this lunatic is/was (guess we should talk about him in the past tense) willing to sacrifice what he had built in the blogosphere for the sake of an experiment. An experiment with a good cause attached. Could he in fact, raise more money this way?

How many of your successes are you willing to just walk away from to start from scratch? To see if you can be successful in a different way?

Are you brave enough?

Is the medium forgiving enough to tolerate this time warp/parallel universe existence? Will his audience support him even though what he’s now offering is completely different?

What, if anything, will be the cost to Marcus for "killing" himself and his alter-ego, Sacrum?

Will his readers help him reach his goal? And what happens after the painting gets sold?

Viral marketing takes guts and faith. Do you have enough of both?

The missing parts of the story:

Early in March, Paul Colman over at Life in the Middle posted a chilling story about how he and a friend were caught in an avalanche and had it not been for the mountain rescue squad, the end of the story might have been very tragic indeed.

Marcus Brown read this story and decided to raise some money by selling a painting. (start at the top now)

Stop selling!

May 4, 2007

I’ve had this conversation about four times in the recent weeks. All with different people, marketing different products or services. But they all started out the same.

"I’m not closing very many sales. What am I doing wrong?" In digging a little deeper, it was inevitable that what the marketer was doing wrong was pushing for the sale.

People will buy what they decide they want to buy. They will not buy what you’re selling. Your job as a marketer is not to sell. Your job is to help the customer want to buy. A distinct difference.

Sellers talk. They have a pre-ordained speech that they offer up to potential customers. They know how to weave in the features. They might even have a favorite customer success story or two to tell. They’ve got a great graph that clearly highlights the superiority of their product over the competitors. They’re sincere. They believe in their product and genuinely want to help their customers.

So what’s wrong with that?

One thing is missing. The customer. In that cavalcade of talking, there was very little listening. There weren’t questions asked. For the most part, it could have taken place without the customer being present. And that’s the key word. Present.

To be a good salesperson, which let’s face it, is what a marketer is – we must be present.

Being present means that you start by listening. And when you’re done listening, you ask a few questions. Which demands more listening. And you repeat that pattern until the person either says one of two things. They either say thank you and goodbye or they ask if you will sell them your product.

What would happen if you didn’t push for the close but instead let your customer push for it?

Marketing Tips from a Marketing Agency: Brand Your Interviews

May 2, 2007

It would only stand to reason that a marketing & branding agency would be pretty good at branding and marketing itself.

So I thought it might be fun to explore some branding & marketing concepts using our own agency, McLellan Marketing Group, as the guinea pig.

Brand your interviews

We brand ourselves so consumers can decide if we’d be a good match. We make a promise so that someone who isn’t interested in our promise just moves on. We should be using our brand to do that same kind of sorting/weeding for employees too.

Your interview questions should do more than tell you about the candidate. They should tell the candidate about you.

Here are some MMG favorites:

What rules do you break at work?
What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
In a team environment, are you a motivator, player, leader, or enthusiast?
If you were a salad dressing, what kind would you be and why?
Persuade me to move to Des Moines.
How do you manage stress?
What’s your personal motto?
You’ve got one seat left in the fallout shelter, family not included, who gets the seat?
What’s your definition of working too hard?
If I met one of your former co-workers at a BBQ and they’d had a beer or two, what would they tell me about you?
If you could have one super power, which would you choose?

I’m not suggesting these are the questions for you. These questions speak to the MMG brand. Each of these give a little clue about the company and the people who work there.

So knowing your culture like you do — what might your branded interview questions be about?

Good news for Iowa Businesses!

May 1, 2007

Today is a great day for Iowa Businesses! IowaBiz.com officially launches and boy is it packed with content!

IowaBiz.com is designed with only one goal — helping small businesses grow stronger and more profitable. We’ve lined up 12 incredibly smart and generous Central Iowa bloggers who are going to create new content every single day of the month.

Meet the Team

Accounting/Finance: Joe Kristan
Human Resources/Leadership: Shirley Poertner
Intellectual Property Law: Brett Trout
ESOP/Company Culture: Victor Aspengren
Life/Work Balance: Mitch Matthews
Insurance: Brian Honnold
Networking: Adam Steen
Social/Viral Media: Mike Sansone
Business Law: Rush Nigut
Call Center/Customer Service: Tom Vander Well
Project Management: Tim Johnson
Marketing/Branding: Drew McLellan

All of the authors are open to topic suggestions, so stop by, enjoy the high quality insights and ask a question or two.

Special thanks to Professional Solutions Insurance Services for being our corporate sponsor!

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