Growing & Learning Archives - Page 15 of 23

Who said talking back was bad?

March 31, 2007

Yesterday was a momentous day at Drew’s Marketing Minute. The milestone I have been waiting to celebrate.

1,000 comments.

One thing I learned very quickly as I entered the world of blogging is that there are A LOT of numbers.

My blog will be 7 months old tomorrow. This is my 246th post. At this moment, I have 590 blogs linking to me. Technorati says I’m #4,137. Mack’s Top 25 Marketing Blogs says I’m #7. My blogroll is about to get much bigger.

All of that matters.

But not as much as the comments. The comments are the interaction. The comments are the conversation. The comments are why I blog.

David Reich of my 2 cents posted the magic 1,000th comment on the But what if the blogger is lying post. I’ve invited David (a la Paul’s invite to Tim Jackson on his 1,000th comment) to write a guest post. I can’t wait to see what he has to say. I couldn’t ask for a more articulate, insightful blogger to invite in.

Thanks to each and every one of you who have shared a thought, an idea, a question or a link. You add the flavor and spice to this place. I am grateful to each of you. And I hope our conversations have just begun.

Aaron M. Potts, Adam Steen, Adriana, Al, Alex Bellinger, Alvin Borromeo, Amy, Andrew Clark, Andy Beard, Andy Brudtkuhl, Andy Drish, Ann Handley, ann michael, Anne Simons, Becky, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Becky-Joe, Bob Glaza, Bob LeDrew, Brett, Brett Rogers, Brian Clark, C. B. Whittemore, Cam Beck, Carolyn Manning, Char, Charles Brown, Chris Brown, Chris Cree, chris gribble, Chris Kieff, CK, Claire Celsi, Claire Walter, Connie, Copywriting Services, Cory Garrison, Craig Harper, Dan, David Armano, David Koopmans, David Reich, Dawud Miracle, Delaney Kirk, Derek Tutschulte, Designer Mike, DotMySpot, Doug Karr, Douglas Mitchell, Easton Ellsworth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Saunders, Erin Blaskie, Fran, Gavin Heaton, Hannah, Irene, Jaap Steinvoorte, Jack Hayhow, Janet Green, Jeff Morris, Jennifer Espeland, Jessica Colleen, Jim Kukral, Joan Schramm, John, Kammie K., Katie Konrath, Kevin Hillstrom, Kim Klaver, Kirsten Harrell,, Leesa Barnes, Lewis Green, Lisa, Liz Strauss, Lord Matt, Mack Collier, Madena M Burman</a >, Marie , Mario Sundar , Mario Vellandi , Mark Goren , Mark True , Mary Schmidt , Matt Dickman , Matt Hamilton , Michael Libbie , Michael Wagner , Mike , , mitch matthews , Nancy , Nick Rice , Patrick , Patrick Schaber , Paul McEnany , Phil Gerbyshak , Ray Edwards , Roberta Rosenberg , Robyn McMaster , Roger von Oech , Rosa Say , Rush Nigut , Ryan Healy , Sam Beckwith , Sandy Renshaw , Sean Carter , Sham , Sharon Sarmiento , Sherry Borzo , Simon , Stephanie Weaver , Stephen Denny , Steve Farber , Steve Harper , Steve Miller , Steve Sisler , Steve Woodruff , Susan F. Heywood , Susan Weiner , Sustainable is Good , Terry Starbucker , Tom Guarriello , Tom Vander Well , Tony D. Clark , V. Michael Santoro , Valeria Maltoni

(If I missed you, I’m very sorry. And, I could only list those who left a URL with their comment)

A bagful of ideas: 03/31/07

March 31, 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 laughing out loud: Kevin Dugan takes on an imaginary journey back in time. But we take Twitter with us!

What would Jesus Twitter

This one had me wishing I had come up with that business idea: Dan Heath talks about the power of branding. Even in personal ads!

Writing a more concrete online dating profile

This one had me nodding my head and thinking our clients need to read this: Matt Dickman shares some very valuable insights about user data collection via your web/blog.

Use it or lose me

Hope you found something in the bag to use!

Turning the goodie bag upside down!

March 25, 2007

We’ve been talking about giving quite a bit lately.

It shouldn’t surprise you at all that this focus on giving would be adopted by a conference focused on taking your blog to the next level by building stronger and more valuable relationships.

You give a little. You get a little. That’s the balance of a good relationship.

Unlike a typical conference where the speakers are the only ones who get to share, at SOBCon we’re turning that notion upside down.

Each and every participant is invited to bring something they’ve created – a book, a white paper, a podcast series, a visual tool – you name it for every single attendee and speaker. Imagine leaving the conference with a bag filled with knowledge, insights, laughter and inspiration.

And even better; imagine every SOBCon attendee learning more about your blog and passion, and being touched by your work.

There are only a few rules:

It has to be your original content.
You must bring enough for everyone.
You must be willing to give it away for free.

Hurry up to help a grad!

March 24, 2007

Earlier this month I posted a request. Help me help the newly emerging college grad .

Let’s save them from all those horrific mistakes that leave us shaking our heads.
Let’s guide them by sharing our own war stories.
Let’s inspire them with words of wisdom.

In short — let’s get them a job!

I am compiling all of the great comments (and tracked back posts if I can find them throughout the blogosphere) into a free e-book that we’ll make available to any grad who wants the download.

We’re going to start assembling the e-book at the end of the month, so you have a few days left to get your comments in.

Come on — someone helped you once upon a time. Time to return the favor.

Give a little

March 23, 2007

Go on… give a little.

I promise you — if you give generously, without asking what’s in it for me — you won’t believe the rewards that come your way.

Lewis Green of bizsolutionsplus shares his thoughts about giving back…and has some interesting research statistics on how being selfless might pay off for your business.

Want some recent examples of how good giving back looks?

Gavin Heaton’s Servant of Chaos. He’s approaching his 500th blog link and in true Gavin fashion, he’s made it about giving. If you’ve never linked to him before and you introduce your readers to his thinking (a good idea anyway) and make a comment on his blog you might be the lucky 500th blog! If so, you’ll get to a guest post on Gavin’s blog and have the chance to introduce yourself to his many readers.

CK of the infamous CK’s Blog is on round two of her incredibly successful book club via Marketing Profs. The book this time is Al & Laura Reis’ The Origin of Brands. Whether you have read the book or not, jump into the lively discussions. What’s amazing about this is that everyone is giving. CK moderates and orchestrates the whole thing. The authors participate in the discussions and share their insights (when was the last time you got to brand banter with two best selling authors?) and Marketing Profs makes it all possible.

So what do you say…what could you give?

You need to read You, Inc!

March 18, 2007

Harry Beckwith gets it. Marketing. Branding. Communications. Relationships. Not only does he get it — he helps his readers get it.

Short, concise 1-4 page chapters. Each one punctuated with a summary lesson/thought. Compelling stories. And not just marketing lessons. Plenty of people lessons too.

Harry’s most recent book, You, Inc.: The Art of Selling Yourself was just released. It’s as good as the rest (see links at the bottom of the post.) of his offerings but a little different. The earlier books took a more global, company-wide perspective. This book shrinks the focus down to the reader.

If you want to:

Communicate more clearly
Sell more — for the right reasons
Advance your professional stature and value
Improve your presentations skills and results
Find more satisfaction from your work life

then you need to read this book.

Beckwith is a master storyteller who never leaves the reader hanging. Together with his wife Christine (a much celebrated pro in her own right) he outlines very simple truths that can have a significant impact on your life. Professional or otherwise.

I’ve read some great business books already in ’07. This one tops the list.

Harry’s other books:

No business library should be without the complete set.

Is your brand acid-test proof?

March 18, 2007

I love (and try to live by) the famous quote "character is what we do when no one is watching."

I believe branding follows the same path. For decades, we (marketers) have been trying to craft and control all of our marketing messages. Now, don’t get me wrong. Consistency is critical to marketing success. That’s us standing tall and saying "here’s our story and our promise."

We need to know and believe in that story. We need our employees to know and believe in the story. But that’s only half the equation.

What happens when "no one is watching" is the other half. It’s the grace under pressure. It’s the acid test of your brand.

It’s the instinctual response to any situation. Especially sticky ones.

How does your organization respond when a reporter shows up asking invasive questions
What do you do when the homeless man takes up residence in your lobby
A competitor leaks a story that implies you are unethical
Misuse of your product results in a man’s death
You discover that something you own holds the key to another company’s success…or failure
What do you say when a former employee solicits a current customer
How does your employee manage an angry customer who is making a scene?
What’s the next step when you accidentally get copied on an e-mail from an employee lambasting you

This is where the "our brand is our logo and our tagline" philosophy falls flat. That version of branding is skin deep. And skin deep will not hold together when there is no brainstorming time or strategy bullet point in the marketing plan.

Is your brand deep enough? Would you survive the acid test? Would you and all your peers react in the same way to the situations above? Or do you only have a skin-deep brand?

Five minute sex tips?

March 17, 2007

One of the "learn more" about my readers exercises I routinely do is to examine the words that people enter into Google or other search engines to navigate to Drew’s Marketing Minute. Most of them are what you’d expect, but some of them just crack me up, so I thought I’d share.

I just have to say…some of them must be so disappointed when they arrive at a branding & marketing blog!

Five minute sex tips (I can hear this guy cursing up a storm — who cares about marketing! I’m down to 4 minutes!)
Kemp‘s maple ice cream
Plumbing (wow…I can hear the water overflowing out of the toilet and he’s now engrossed in some post!)
How to say lipstick on a pig in Italian (Why would you want to??)
Sex for money
Junkett custard
How do you spell posse (wouldn’t dictionary.com have been easier?)
Family guy phone ringtone

My point is two-fold. First — just to share a good laugh with you on the weekend. But second and more seriously — if you aren’t trying to learn more about your readers and what they want to talk about, you are missing a serious opportunity.

For every five minute sex tip entry, I saw plenty of branding, employee loyalty, market plans, authentic voice, copywriting entries. That does my heart good. it means I’m doing my job.

But obviously I am going to have to throw in a sex tip now and then! Who knew?

In lead generation — knowing your target matters

March 15, 2007

We’ve talked about it before — people don’t like to do business with strangers.

And they don’t like to be called "hey you!" or by the wrong name. Which means knowing who they are and what actually matters to them –should matter to us.

RainToday.com ‘s new research report’s (What’s Working In Lead Generation) 2nd insight is all about the customer. And how well we know them.

No big surprises here. The more you know about your prospect, the more successful you will be. So why do you keep sending out the "dear neighbor" or worse — "dear customer" communications?

Marketing isn’t rocket science. But it does require some sweat equity and effort. You need to qualify your lists. Is that some heavy lifting? Sure. But the chart above shows you that you’ll enjoy a 40% increase in lead generation if you actually know the name of the decision maker. Isn’t that margin of success worth the extra effort?

Note: The full RainToday.com report shares 6 key insights which I’ll be exploring over the next several days with you. In the meantime, if you’d like to download their free 21-page summary, you can grab it here.

You meet the nicest people!

March 8, 2007

10+ years ago, when I was a sysop (like a host with some "hall monitoring type" powers) in a CompuServe forum, there was always a discussion about if "on-line friendships" could possibly be as rich and long-lasting as friendships formed off-line.

I’m here to tell you the answer is yes.

So its interesting to me that we can fast forward to today and jump into the same conversation. DA raised the issue after spending the weekend with some old high school chums. Then, Gavin Heaton added his voice to the debate over at Marketing Profs Daily Fix.

Here’s my take. Relationships grow out of shared emotions, experiences and reaching out to one another. All of that is borne from investing time in one another. Listening to each other’s thoughts, responding to them, cheering on the days things go well and sending a supportive cyber hug when one of your favorite bloggers is having a tough time — all of that breeds intimacy. Connection. Caring. I’ve had conversations with bloggers who just welcomed their first baby into the world. I’ve also had conversations with bloggers who are overcoming alcoholism and other personal struggles. You can’t tell me that those connections are any less real because they’re made on-line.

One of the elements of blogging that I think is most significant (which I’ll write about in my 5 reasons why I blog post which is due any day) is the intimacy that can be achieved. I think that the medium is just symantics.

And it starts, just like it does in offline life, with a simple gesture. The other day I got an e-mail from Steve Manousos. We’ve never met. He’s never commented on my blog. A total stranger. Until the e-mail.

I read your blog every now and then, and when I do, I wonder why your photo is so dark. Here, I’ve lightened it up for you.

And with that, he attached a new jpg (see the lighter side of me to your right) What a cool and unexpected thing to do.

So, of course, I wrote him to say thanks and learned that he’s the owner of ImageSnap, an online store where you can personalize everything from basketball hoops to mousepads. I also learned that he used to be on the national desk at the LA Times and founded the company that made Painter, Dabbler and Poser.

Will we be lifelong friends? I don’t know. But the beginning of a connection has been made. And that’s how it starts. But first, I need to get him to read the blog more regularly!

So what’s your take? Are online friendships different? Does it matter if you ever meet in person? Tell me about a friend you’ve made via your online life. Or tell me you disagree.

But tell me something…after all friends don’t ignore each other!

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