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A bagful of ideas: 04/30/07

April 30, 2007

From time to time, I’m going to share a mixed bag of ideas, marketing tips, brilliant writing and sometimes — something that just made me laugh out loud. Here’s today’s offering:

This one had me nodding my head: Steve Woodruff has harnessed the power or PageFlakes to create a remarkable quilt of marketing, branding and business blogs. Talk about an incredible library of ideas!

The Marketing Blogger Portal

This one had me connecting with my own purpose: Steve Farber who you know as one of business’ most profound and real authors is asking a very important question on his blog. He’s asking about giving back. I saw his post a couple days ago and haven’t gotten over there to reply, but I sure am going to. You too?

Greater than yourself

Enjoy!

Marketing Tips from a Marketing Agency: Celebrate your work as fine art

April 29, 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.

Celebrate your work as fine art

It’s easy to take the work we do for granted. A successful campaign. No biggie. We do it every day. A delighted client. Great but no time to slow down to celebrate — we’ve got work to do. Lands End calls and asks if they can use on of our logos in the catalog because they like it so much. A quick "wow, that’s cool" and its back to the next project.

We take it for granted because we do it every day. But our work is the magic of what we do. It’s what creates the oohs and ahhhs. It’s one of the reasons prospects are drawn to us. And we should celebrate that.

What’s in your lobby? A Grant Wood painting? An abstract sculpture? What do you have laying around for your clients and vendors to look at while they wait? Could you make those opportunities for a subtle sales message?

At MMG, you’ll find our walls covered with art. Our art. Our clients’ art. We celebrate our work, our clients’ faith in us and our creativity. (the photography doesn’t do it justice) A side benefit of our work hanging around the office is that clients, guests and vendors ask questions. Which lets us tell the story of the project — challenges, ideas, execution and results. It’s a beautiful thing.

No matter what you do — there are elements of your work that are fascinating to other people. You probably don’t notice it anymore because you take it for granted.

When was the last time your client asked you to tell them about one of your successes? What could you do to inspire that sort of opportunity?

Hows strong is your brand’s voice?

April 28, 2007

Consistency is one of the immutable laws of marketing and branding. Inconsistency will erode awareness, loyalty, and trust.

When most people mention consistency, they mean visual consistency and there’s no doubt that is critical.

But today, I want to focus on a different kind of consistency. Voice.

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 does 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 and strong is your voice?

Does my facelift make me look younger?

April 27, 2007

Eight months ago next week, I launched this blog. I didn’t really have any sense of what I would or wouldn’t want in terms of widgets, tools, archives, categories etc. So as the months have gone on…we’ve just sort of tacked on this or that.

A few weeks ago we decided enough was enough…and have completely re-designed the blog with the user interface always front and center.

We went down to two columns, so the content is easier to access
We shifted to a category drop box so we didn’t tie up so much real estate but the readers could still find everything they need AND see how many posts are in each category
We greatly expanded the blogroll so my readers could even find more smart writing
We’ve fixed the column widths so you can re-size your browser without the text getting all funky (a technical design term that David Armano taught me!)
We’ve also jazzed up the banner etc.to be more consistent with other materials so our blog readers who come over from the e-newsletter etc. feel right at home

I’m hoping these changes make the blog even easier to access, more fun to read and will lure you back time and time again.

We’ve still got a couple surprises and tweaks coming up…but for the most part, this is it. I’d love your feedback. But be gentle. After all, I am a delicate flower.

As with all things on my blog — my continued gratitude and appreciation to Mike Sansone. He is all things blog for me.

Blog roll exploded!

April 27, 2007

There are changes afoot at Drew’s Marketing Minute…so be on the ready. The first change is already in place.

The longer I’m writing and reading blogs, the more incredible content I discover. My blog roll kept scrolling further and further down the page. At the rate I was going, my page was going to scroll down 5 feet before you got to the end of the list.

So, the blog roll is going to be moving to its own page. Enjoy the expanded list. And now that I have a whole page — watch out! More great blogs are on the way!

Marketing Tips from a Marketing Agency: Make the invisible visible

April 26, 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.

Make the invisible visible

Let’s face it — there are many elements of business that are pretty ordinary. Not only are they ordinary but 99% of businesses do them the same way.

Think of all the communication elements that you pretty much ignore because everyone’s looks and behaves the same. Posted hours of operation, fax cover sheets, privacy disclaimers, e-mail signatures. And on and on the list goes. We’re so used to them being ordinary that, as consumers, we don’t even notice them.

Which makes them invisible.

A smart marketer will use the element of surprise and make the invisible visible. An agency friend of ours in Denver (AOR) sends out a quarterly newsletter. At the bottom of the newsletter, just like everyone else, they have a privacy disclaimer. But theirs reads something like:

We’ll never sell or give your e-mail address to anyone. Because that wouldn’t be nice.

They turned the invisible visible and gave us a hint of what working with them might be like.

At MMG, one of the invisible things we make visible is our titles. Could I be CEO or President? Sure. But yawn.

But by being the Top Dog, suddenly we’re visible. When was the last time someone looked at your business card and make a comment? It happens to all of us at MMG every day. Along with the Top Dog, some of the present and past MMG titles have been:

The Warden (are you going to risk not giving her your time sheets?)
Girl Wonder
Sgt. of Strategy
Brandologist
Chaos Curator
Conductor
Go To Guy
Dr. Designo

Do our titles say much more about the agency, our work style and our attitude than CEO, CFO, Art Director, etc. would say?

What’s invisible in your world that you could make visible?

Want to know the SOBCon secret?

April 25, 2007

As one of the presenters at the SOBCon event next month, I was invited to do a brief interview about the conference and got to talk about what I think is the coolest aspect of the whole weekend.

I call it the SOBCon secret because it’s what the conference is all about. It demonstrates the heart and the difference in this event. Of course, to find out what it is, you’ll need to listen.

Even more fun for me, I was interviewed by Des Moines own Mike Wagner. Mike is one of my two (Mike Sansone is the other) co-presenters at the event.

There’s still time to register and join in the sharing, learning and join Mike, Mike and me and all the other SOBCon attendees.

Special thanks to Zane Safrit for hosting the podcast series.

Marketing Tips from a Marketing Agency: Be a drip

April 25, 2007

It would only stands 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.

Be A Drip

The natural urge it seems is to deluge our potential consumers with information. How often have you seen one of these:

A brochure with no white space and so much copy that your eyes blur
A company who explodes onto the marketplace and you see them everywhere – TV, radio, print for about 2 months…and then you never hear of them again
An e-mail campaign that floods your in box with multiple messages in a short period of time
A 12-page newsletter (white space or no)
A corporate website’s homepage that is packed with copy, starbursts and news items galore

Some marketers are compelled to shove as much information at their consumers as possible. Perhaps it’s a concern that they’ll only get one shot at them. Or the misconception that if they don’t explain every nuance of their product/service, the audience won’t get it.

I think in most cases, it’s a mix of insecurity and not really understanding the audience. It’s as though they’re saying "I’m not confident in knowing what my audience needs/wants to know and I don’t trust my own instincts…so I am going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at them."

Bad marketing strategy.

Here’s the analogy we use to help clients understand this concept. When there’s a hard, driving rain, the ground can only absorb so much of it before the water just runs off. Consumers are the same way. They can only absorb so much information before our well-crafted words just run off, falling on deaf ears.

But a gentle all-day rain has a different result. Because of its slow and steady pace, the ground can easily, over time, absorb all the water that comes.

We need to be a drip, not a downpour when it comes to our marketing efforts. Want an example?

Since 1999 at MMG we’ve been producing a weekly marketing e-newsletter called (wait for it…) the Marketing Minute. Never more than 300 words and a few links. Drip, drip.

Every week. We’ve never let anything keep us from getting it out. Not kidney stones, internet connection problems, or client deadlines. Drip, drip.

People have said we should charge for it or discourage people forwarding it along. Never going to happen. Drip, drip.

We’ve had some readers for over 8 years. We get new additions every week. Drip, drip.

We’ve gotten RFPs and business from subscribers 2, 3 and 4 years after they started reading it. They hadn’t needed us or been in a position to hire us until then. Drip, drip.

How can you be a drip when it comes to marketing your company?

Screwing up STINKS!

April 23, 2007

Three quick facts about making a mistake.

You’re bound to do it.
It can cost you a customer.
Most people don’t handle it well.

In fact, disappointing a customer stinks. Fortunately the solution does too.

S — Shut up. When a customer begins to complain, just shut up and listen. They need to vent. You need to understand what has them upset. To accomplish both, shut up.

T — Take ownership. Your fault, someone in shipping’s fault, the customer’s fault. It doesn’t matter. Once the customer hands you the problem, make it yours.

I — Investigate the problem. Your customer wants to know they’re getting more than lip service. And, you want to avoid having to do this again, don’t you?

N — Never offer an excuse. It doesn’t matter why it happened. It just matters that it happened. Once the situation is defused and you’ve done your investigating, then you can offer an explanation. But never an excuse.

K — Keep your word. If you say you’re going to call them back that afternoon, do it. If you say you’re going to mail them some coupons or pick up the tab for dinner or deliver the corrected report by Thursday — do it.

S — Say you are sorry. Use those exact words. "I’m sorry this happened." "I’m sorry we kept you waiting." The customer wants to hear that you feel badly. They do and they do not want to feel it all by themselves!

I can see you, you’re shaking your head at me and saying "well duh, Drew." But you know what…it’s not a duh. Otherwise more companies would actually handle problems this way.

So print this off and post it somewhere that your employees can see it. Better yet, go over it with them at the next quarterly meeting. And then walk the talk by demonstrating how it works next time you make a mistake.

Think you won’t? Refer to the top of the post!

What should the “freebie rule” be for bloggers?

April 22, 2007

For years, journalists have maintained a "no gift" rule because they never wanted their credibility be put into question. While I am sure some journalists bend/break that rule…it’s pretty much the industry standard.

But most bloggers are not journalists by trade. They aren’t employed by a media outlet and they certainly aren’t objective observers. Most bloggers infuse their opinions into their posts.

So is it wrong for a blogger to accept freebies? There’s a pretty broad spectrum of opinions out there.

Lewis Green raises this issue and takes a very clear stand in his post Does taking a freebie mean you can’t trust me?

Tim Almond talks about Microsoft sending out laptops and his opinion of accepting gifts.

Robert Scoble say as long as you disclose you received the product (in this case…the laptop) for free, your ethics are fine.

Joel Spolsky calls it a bribe that is corrupting the medium.

B.L. Ochman makes her take on the question pretty clear in a post from late December where she called PR agency Edelman’s ethics into question.

What do YOU think?

A laptop or a trip to Seattle to meet Bill Gates (examples in the above links) seems like the extreme that only the most influential bloggers will be tempted by. But what about a free weekend at a bed and breakfast? Or an advance copy of a book? Or a pair of sunglasses? How about a marketing white report that will later be sold? Tickets to a show or concert?

Should a blogger ever accept a gift? When is it okay? If a blogger does accept a freebie — how should they handle that fact if they post about it?

UPDATE: Some additional opinions…

Chip Griffin has this to say.

David Reich adds his always valuable and insightful 2 cents.

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