August 1, 2010
I don't know about you, but printing off a web page can be a royal pain the rear! But not any more. With the CREATE PDF handy tool, you can cut and paste any URL and voila — you have a PDF.
I've already used it a half dozen times since I heard about it. Check it out!
And a hat tip to Karen Hochman from The NIbble for sharing the tool via the MENG network.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com
July 29, 2010
I'm a fan of loyalty programs…if they're done right.
The truth is, most companies aren't willing to make the reward equal to or worthy of the effort they're asking from their best customers.
But when you do (when the juice is worth the squeeze) — they can be potent. But what if yours is missing a key ingredient? What if it could have an even more significant impact on your bottom line?
Check out my IowaBiz post to find out what you might be missing.
MoreJuly 28, 2010
I'm ashamed to admit it, but my blogroll has some cobwebs on it. Some of the blogs listed there are dormant and boy do I have a bunch to add. And before Labor Day (my self imposed deadline) I'm going to get in there and clean house.
But there are a handful of blogs that I want to call to your attention and I don't want to wait another month.
Mary Kramer: Mary Kramer is a mom, grandma, and wife…and in her spare time, she was the president of the Iowa Senate, an Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean and one of the most interesting women I have ever met. You cannot help but be captivated by her. And completely charmed.
She's launched a very thought provoking blog called Madame Ambassador about civil discourse, politics and real citizenship. I promise you will learn, laugh and hopefully look at politics and your role in them a bit differently.
Lisa Petrilli: You know how you meet someone and you immediately are drawn to them? You just know they're someone you need to stay connected with. That's how i felt when I first met Lisa. Boy was that instinct right on the money! She's one of the most insightful writers I've read in a long time.
She just launched a blog about C-level strategies and a ha moments. Smart writing with plenty to sink your teeth into. Check out C-level Strategies and Awakenings.
Mary Stier: Have you ever walked into a meeting expecting to a little intimidated and instead found yourself completely intrigued and in awe of someone? A few years ago, I had the opportunity to meet the very powerful Mary Stier, publisher of the Des Moines Register and one of Gannett's biggest players.
She could have been imposing but instead she was fascinating, smart and completely welcoming. Mary has since left Gannett and is knee-deep in consulting projects. Her blog, Mary Stier Connects, is about leadership and sometimes, specifically women's leadership. But, boy or girl…you need to check it out!
MENG: In case you were wondering if I read any blogs written by men…MENG (the Marketing Executives Networking Group) has just launched their brand new blog — MENG Blend and it's got a dandy line up of male bloggers (and some smart women too!) covering topics like marketing, online and social media and career issues like networking.
Looks like you'll get 3-4 new posts a week, so you'll want to subscribe now. And yes…I am one of their bloggers.
That should give your RSS feed reader some new morsels to enjoy! I'd love to hear what you thought of these new efforts and please leave them a comment — it will make their day!
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com
P.S. In the spirit of full disclosure, McLellan Marketing Group is fortunate to work with both Mary and Mary. We'll take credit for building their blogs but the smarts are all theirs!
July 20, 2010
Let's face it, we're a lazy people. The idea of actually getting up to change the TV channels or hand crank open a car window is almost offensive to us.
We are used to our conveniences. And we don't expend a significant amount of effort without getting something of note in return. And yet, we seem to forget this human truth when concocting some of our marketing efforts.
As you are crafting a new campaign or gimmick that you hope will go viral — always ask yourself, is the juice worth the squeeze for my audience.
Let me give you an example. These photos are the pizza box top from a place called Ciro's. It's a fun idea and an eye-catching, almost handwritten design. Here's what they want their customers to do:
What's in it for you? A free pizza.
For a poor college student, this is probably just the thing to do on a Friday night. Especially after a couple beers. God only knows where Ciro has appeared.
But for a busy mom or harried business guy ordering pizza from his hotel room, probably not going to happen. A free pizza just isn't worth the hassle.
Whether you want your customers to fill out a survey, prospects to play a scavenger hunt, or want to try some variation of the drive them to a website, 800 number or bounce back card — always remember that you need to make the reward worthy of the effort.
And not everyone will judge that through the same lens. So decide who is most important to you and design the reward for them. Hopefully Ciros wanted to capture the college crowd.
What do you think…do most marketers ask themselves this question before launching a new initiative?
July 14, 2010
I was speaking to a college class on Monday night and our conversation reminded me of this tip. Handwritten notes are practically unheard of today. Everyone fires off an e-mail or texts a quick thought. But for someone to sit down and take the time to actually write a thank you note (or any sort of note) is an almost forgotten art.
Which is why it is so noticeable and memorable.
The photos to the right are a thank you note that I received nine months ago from a developer at Wufoo. (Wufoo is an awesome online tool that lets you create interactive, HTML-based forms on the fly). We've been a happy and loyal customer for a few years now.
Anyway — for no special reason and on no special occasion, I get this homemade handwritten card from Chris, one of the Wufoo developers.
Let's look at this "high end" card. He took thick construction paper and put a dinosaur sticker on the front. Then, with a pen, he created the "Thanks" on the front and wrote me a quick note on the back. He thanked us for our business and said that they valued our trust in them.
I still have the note. It sits on my desk. I get tons of e-mails and other electronic forms of communications. None of them are displayed on my desk.
Handwritten says you went out of your way. Handwritten says you have good manners, handwritten says it really mattered to you.
Handwritten notes are brilliant marketing. What if you wrote one thank you note a week to a customer, employee or vendor?
I think you'll be stunned at the response. Try it and let me know.
July 9, 2010
Do you want some free publicity?
The 2010 version of "let's get an article in the newspaper, because that's free!" is "we'll get bloggers to write about it!"
Not a bad PR strategy. In fact, when employed correctly — it can be an awesome one. It's the "employed correctly" part that people seem to bang their head against the wall on.
For many of you, this should be part of your marketing efforts. But, you can't and shouldn't just fumble around in the dark. You need to do it well and correctly. Otherwise — the blogger will give you what you don't want — bad ink. (Check out this blog…it posts examples of bad pitches! And show you how to do it better.)
A few years ago, the folks at Ogilvy PR created a Blogger OutReach Code of Ethics that I think is still incredibly relevant. Here's a bit of it:
OUR APPROACH
- We reach out to bloggers because we respect your influence and feel that we might have something that is “remarkable” which could be of interest to you and/or your audience.
- We will only propose blogger outreach as a tactic if it complements our overall strategy. We will not recommend it as a panacea for every social media campaign.
OUTREACH
- Before we email you, we will check out your blog’s About, Contact and Advertising page in an effort to see if you have blatantly said you would not like to be contacted by PR/Marketing companies. If so, we’ll leave you alone.
- We will always be transparent and clearly disclose who we are and whom we work for in our outreach email.
- If you tell us there is a specific way you want to be reached, we’ll adhere to those guidelines.
- We won’t pretend to have read your blog if we haven’t, and we’ll make a best effort to spend time reading the blogs we plan on contacting.
- In our email we will convey why we think you, in particular, might be interested in our client’s product, issue, event or message.
- NEW! As available, we will provide you with links to third party information/blog coverage of the campaign we are pitching to you. (via Web Strategy with Jeremiah and MC Milker)
- Our initial outreach email will always include a link to Ogilvy PR’s Blog Outreach Code of Ethics.
That's just the start of it…check out their whole code by clicking here and decide how much of it you can modify, use, and borrow. If you're going to reach out to bloggers — do it well and responsibly. You can gain an influential friend…and some valuable ink!
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com
July 7, 2010
Remember that one essay test you took in school. You meant to study. But for some reason you just didn't have the time. Truth be told, you didn't really read the book. But you skimmed over the Cliff Notes. And you did repent in the end — cramming the night before the test.
Sure, sure…you should have started cramming a few days earlier or at the very least, not so late that night. With the radio on.
Do you remember what you got on that test? I'll bet you weren't happy with the grade.
Shortcuts didn't work in school and they don't work in marketing either. I have yet to see a marketing department or agency that had a drive-up window.
I get why it happens. There's an almost constant demand on CMOs and marketing directors to produce results. And no agency worth their salt doesn't want that too.
But there are some pretty important aspects of your business and products/services that need to be understood before we just whip up a brochure or direct mail series.
We aren't doing the strategic thinking and planning just to get our jollies. We have a responsibility. We owe it to you. Because you're about to spend a lot of money. We want to make sure you spend it right.
This applies if you're doing your own marketing too.
Getting ready to produce something. Are you sure you're not taking a shortcut?
Whether you're working with your internal team or with your agency – don't short change the process. If you do some strategic thinking up front and make some of those key decisions, the tactics and tools actually get produced much faster and much more cost effectively.
Shortcuts are never going to yield the results you want. Better to do it right than do it again. Just ask your former teacher who gave you the C.
How do you ensure that you're not taking a shortcut?
Related posts:
~ SWOT: Your annual check up
~ Do you go where everyone else goes?
~ Product packaging – part of your brand or disposable?
Note: This post is a golden oldie reprint of something I wrote in 2007. Just thought I'd share it again in case you forgot the lesson!
July 5, 2010
This is one of the toughest marketing truths to swallow. Just because we have all these ways to connect — does not mean your audience wants to hear from you every hour. You're just not that interesting.
Check out this e-mail I got from a reader. Pay particular attention to the 4th paragraph:
"Perhaps you could write about how some people engage is relentless posts on LinkedIn–like once an hour, yet say absolutely nothing. I have a LinkedIn connection who works for a major ad agency here in Des Moines, touting himself as an advertising phenomenon, and always shows up #1 on my LinkedIn page every time I log on.
I have to confess that I don't tweet and can't be bothered with it. I am far from being alone in this, by the way. So his blurbs show up and they are mostly gobbledy-gook. Sometimes I click on them thinking they might lead me somewhere interesting, but they don't go anywhere.
So I emailed him saying I would like to be able to see what he has to say at a glance since he's a permanent presence at #1 in my LinkedIn hit parade. Maybe he could be clearer. He didn't answer, but I noticed he didn't post anything for several hours. When he did, he was slightly clearer. Then the more he posted, the more he went back to saying nothing.
So I decided just to hide his posts permanently so I didn't have to be bothered any more. Interestingly, I couldn't figure out how to reactivate someone's post once I turn off their lights. I suspect my reaction was the opposite effect he was attempting to have on people.
Goodbye ad genius–out of sight and out of mind."
Not only are you boring people if you blather on and on — but you gain a reputation for being all talk. Is that really why you're investing all that effort?
There's a whole lot of "talking at" someone going on in all forms of marketing — traditional and digital. It's a lot easier to just fire off a statistic, fact or link than it is to actually have a conversation, ask a question or connect with someone.
Confident that you're not guilty? Check yourself against these:
Are you tweeting, updating your Facebook status or LinkedIn account multiple times a day — spouting resources but never connecting with the people listening?
Do you only Facebook message people when you are having a sale, holding an event or in some other self-serving way? (Oh…and do you do that in a mass msg sort of way?)
Do you always initiate Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook conversations — as opposed to joining in someone else's? (In other words…do you only care about what you want to talk about?)
Remember — it's the cocktail party rule of social media that earns credibility and respect online. And no one wants to hang out at a cocktail party with someone who can't shut up about themselves!
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com
July 1, 2010
I’ve always believed that part of my job (and anyone who wants to work for me) is to keep feeding my brain. If you aren’t reading a new book, learning how to do something new, checking out a webinar or enrolling in a class — you are sliding backwards on an incline that is incredibly steep. And almost impossible to recover from.
I’ve always been a very fast reader — so I am able to consume at least a book a week. But there are so many out there that I want to read….the stacks by my desk and bed (not to mention what’s on my iPad) is crazy.
But there are a very small handful of books that I re-read at least once a year. They feed my brain and fuel my spirit. So when Mike Sansone, over at Converstations created the Fave Four book readers meme and tagged me — I knew immediately what my answer would be.
The meme asks — what are my top 4 cornerstone business books?
These are the books that I believe every business leader and owner (or those who aspire to be either) should read and re-read:
Radical Leap/Radical Edge by Steve Farber: I think of these two books as a single book — just parts 1 and 2. It is without a doubt, the best business/leadership book I have ever read. Enough said.
Becoming a Category of One by Joe Calloway: This is the book on branding that I wish I had written. It’s the how and the why — all wrapped into one very inspirational read.
Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith: Today, most of us do not sell widgets. We sell a service, our ideas or our counsel. This field guide will help you understand just how to sell what no one can see or touch.
The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann: This is a leadership book that, if you let it, can change everything. It’s about vision, generosity and the real truth.
My bonus/surprise best business book: The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I know you’re going to think I am crazy — but this series actually takes the lessons from the four books above and puts them into action. It’s a book about love, courage, knowing yourself and being true to that, knowing your audience, doing what’s right, and getting the job done. It is a wonderful business primer.
(To buy any of these books, click on the title.* To read more about the authors, click on their name)
All of these authors have written other books that I love as well. But these are not only their best — the are simply the best.
Jump in…and tell us (either in the comments or on your own blog) what are your Fave Four. If you tweet about it, use hashtag #fave4books.
*Yes, those are affiliate links.
June 28, 2010
One of the maxims of marketing is repetition. Maybe that's why most ad copy sounds the same. Everyone seems to take the same spin on the product or service…and end up sounding a bit "me too" when all is said and done.
Take the idea of encouraging seat belt usage. For years we've seen the test dummies slammed into dashboards and front windows. We've had traffic fatality statistics scroll by and we've been shown mournful family members express their loss.
Nothing wrong with any of it…it's just been done to death. Which is why this commercial is so powerful. Watch it and then I'll tell you the back story. (e-mail subscribers…click here to view)
Pretty impactful — wasn't it? An independent director in the UK, Daniel Cox, got the idea for this spot and went to the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership and proposed his idea. They let him shoot the spot and because of its completely different approach — it has become a worldwide sensation…and very effective in delivering the seat belt message.
Not only has the YouTube video been viewed over 9 million times, but the spot has always garnered significant news coverage, including this story on CNN.
So…. how do we create the same impactful, fresh kind of copy writing/concepting? We ask different questions and we view the "problem" from different points of view.
Try some of these on for size:
Being creative and fresh isn't a fluke. It's hard work. Perhaps because it's so difficult — it's rare. Which is why we are so enamored when it happens!
Share the Embrace Life spot with those you love… what better way to ask them to buckle up?
Hat tip to my Dad for sharing the spot with me!
