Marketing Archives - Page 33 of 67 - McLellan Marketing Group

Want a beer with your Wall Street Journal?

June 26, 2008

Two very nice things happened over the past couple weeks. This blog was named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the 15 Entrepreneur Blogs Worth reading.

Then….as if that wasn’t cool enough, a blogger I have just discovered, Mark Nagurski from Really Practical Marketing wrote about a Marketing Minute post on his blog. He said, in part, "The more I read from Drew McLellan the more I want to buy him a beer…"

So of course, I commented on his blog, saying that I was printing off his post and if we were ever in the same place (he’s in Ireland) I was totally calling him on the beer offer. Come on…the man said free beer.

Mark goes one better and finds YouGotBeer.com. He was literally able to buy me a beer over the internet. I got an e-mail notice that he had bought me a beer. I go to the site and choose which restaurant (and there are several) I’d like to get my beer from and voila, they send me a gift card!

Being mentioned in the Wall Street Journal AND a free beer. It doesn’t get much better!

The other blogs mentioned in the WSJ article are:

The Eco-Capitalist
Get Elastic
Seth Godin
Guy Kawasaki
Lifestream
Malcolm Gladwell
WorkHappy.net
Small Biz Trends
Duct Tape Marketing
Drew’s Marketing Minute
Holly Dunlap
Justine Ezarik
Honest Tea
Craig Newmark
Mark Cuban

FREE e-book on word of mouth marketing

June 19, 2008

Dave Balter, of BzzAgent (which I have written about before) has written a new book, The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II.

His book and how he’s promoting it is an embodiment of Word of Mouth itself. As Dave’s site says "Every aspect of it was conceived as an illustration of how to get people talking. There are dozens of elements of WOM in action which will become entirely obvious once you see it, read it and hold it. For example, the title begs people to ask, "Where’s Volume I?" which is as good a way as any to get a dialogue going. The same goes for the monkey on the cover (and how that guy eats bananas, of course)."

You can buy the book on Amazon for $45 or you can download the PDF (full content) version for free.

Your call. I went for the free one myself!

Thanks to John Jantsch for asking me to pass this along to you.

6 tips for creating a print ad that actually works

June 19, 2008

Let’s be honest. Most print ads in newspapers and magazines stink. We flip through the publications without a glance at the ads or their offers.

How can you avoid being nothing more than a blur?

Make sure your headline has stopping power

If your headline is a snooze, your ad will go unread. It’s that simple. Intrigue them, challenge a common belief, ask a question or throw your offer up there – but do not be dull.

Your ad is not about you

Consumers care about their lives and their needs. Not you. So don’t waste valuable ad space talking about you. Help them understand how or why you can help them. Talk to them about what matters to them.

One message

If your audience can only remember one thing from your ad what do you want it to be? Don’t overload the ad with every benefit and feature to your offering. Stay focused on your main point and don’t take the readers off on a bunch of tangents.

Short and sweet

Write the copy that you want to include in your ad. Now cut it in half. It’s a painful process but it forces you to really think through your message. After you cut it in half, cut it again by a third. Now…you have boiled down to the bare essentials.

Say it visually

The visual you select for your ad is critical. It should help advance the story. It should not be trite – the same photo everyone else would choose. You don’t always have to be literal. If you’re going into a trade publication where everyone used a set of trite images to convey the same message, avoid those images like the plague! Ask yourself "what visual would communicate the message but also surprise the reader?" That’s a winner.

Make your offer clear and compelling

Every ad has one job. To advance the reader to the next step. Visit your website, call your 800 number, clip the coupon. Whatever it is you want them to do…be clear. And give them a reason to do it now, rather than a few weeks from now.

Print advertising can be a very effective tactic. But most people don’t make the most of the ads they buy. Don’t waste good money on bad ads.

Seth Godin’s TED talk

June 10, 2008

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

Here’s Seth Godin’s shot at it. Yes, it’s 18 minutes long…but you’ll be glad you watched. He’s a master storyteller. Which as you know, is what marketing and branding is all about.

What did you think? Takeaways?

What are your customers tolerating?

June 9, 2008

The buzz today (and for the past few weeks) is that Twitter will be down for much of the day.
When you pull out of the fast food drive thru, you check the bag to see if they got the order right.
Your accountant takes two days to return your call.

We’re surrounded by mediocre service. It’s annoying. It frustrates us. And yet we tolerate it. And typically we tolerate it in silence.

That silence kills.

It kills trust. It kills loyalty and eventually, it will kill the relationship altogether. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that this is everyone else’s problem.

Do you know what your customers are tolerating? What do they find frustrating? If you don’t know the answer to that question (and aren’t repeatedly asking it) then you have customers who are slowly stepping towards the exit.

What are you going to do about it?

5 ways to market your business for little to no money

June 6, 2008

No matter where I speak, who the audience is or even the topic I am supposed to address, this same question comes up:

How do you market your business if you don’t have a lot of money?

Well, the short answer to that is….you’d better find some resources for marketing or you are in a lot of trouble. But, that doesn’t mean they all have to cost an arm and a leg.

Here are five of my favorites and none of them will break the bank.

Hang out where your potential customers hang out and be helpful. Do your clients read certain blogs? Then be there and share your expertise. Do they all run in local marathons? Be there, handing out clean, dry socks with your logo on them. Do they go to industry trade shows? Be there and host a free Q&A about their biggest problems. Don’t wait for them to come to you. Go out and find their watering hole.

Know your perfect customer and only take work from them. This requires incredible discipline but pays big dividends. Rather than taking clients for cash flow, ONLY take on those clients that you can delight. And who delight you by paying you a fair price.

Create a referral network by delivering the first referral. When you help someone, it is human nature that they want to return the favor. Why not set the example by making an incredible referral. Now of course to do that…you need to know who their perfect customer is. Which means you get to have a very meaningful conversation that’s all about them. See how the human nature thing is going to work?

Use handwritten thank you notes to show your appreciation. In today’s high tech world, a personal gesture like a handwritten note means a great deal. It doesn’t have to be long or fancy. Just from the heart. And if you can’t thank a client from the heart, you should fire them before they fire you.

Let them have a taste. Sampling is one of the most effective marketing tactics around. There is no substitute for actually experiencing your product or service. And don’t give them a dumbed down version. This is your greatest opportunity to earn their trust and their business. So do it right.

Want more? Check out Lewis Green’s Marketing for Consultants on a Shoestring post.

Who is doing a stellar job of harnessing the power of their client base?

June 1, 2008

I gave a presentation on branding in Marco Island, FL (not a bad gig in January) and have since struck up an e-mail conversation with a gentleman from the UK who was there.

He asked me a question that I’m not sure I know the answer to….so I thought I would ask you. I am confident that you’ll know.

Do "we" know of some other B-to-B companies who are doing a stellar job of marketing to their existing client base to generate additional projects/revenue (in other words…turning clients into a referral source)?

What say you? Do you have some examples of work you’ve done for a client? Case studies you’ve read? Other blog posts you could point us to? Something you are doing inside your own company?

The elasticity of price

May 26, 2008

Gas prices are scooting over $4/gallon here in the states and yet consumption has not shown signs of significant reduction. How can that be?

That’s the question that reporter Gail Rosenblum of the Minneapolis Star Tribune posed to me late last week. Her article, Paying a lot for gas, changing lifestyles a little" appeared in Friday’s edition of the Star Tribune.

While I know this specific topic (gas prices) is on everyone’s mind, it seems to me that the conversation Gail and I had is even more interesting when you step back and look at consumer attitudes about prices in general.

Two years ago, we were in a tizzy over gas prices. We couldn’t believe they were going to be $2/gallon. We were outraged. We were going to cut back. (Of course, we didn’t) Fast forward to today. Imagine if I stopped people on the street and asked them what they would think of paying $2/gallon for gas. They would weep for joy. In fact, it would sound too good to be true and they’d ask me "what’s the catch?"

Ahhh, the elasticity of price perception.

Why do I think this is worthy of some thought? A few things to note:

The elasticity of price is a one-way street (we are never happy about going higher in price after the marketplace reduces costs.)

The elasticity of price is fast-acting (we get used to the higher price pretty quickly.)

The elasticity of price works best for necessities (we can cut back on stuff we don’t "need" but endure price hikes on stuff we think we do need.)

So how could you apply this thinking to how you set prices? If everyone in your industry is lowering prices because of the recession — how will this hold them back when they’re ready to re-raise their prices? How will it affect you if you resist the urge to lower prices now?

Are your actions drowning out your words?

May 19, 2008

We’ve all been pretty impressed with LifeLock’s marketing. The CEO publicly shares his social security number to prove his confidence in LifeLock’s ability to guarantee protection from identity theft.

It’s very bold and attention-getting. So I decided I wanted some more information. After all, I don’t want anyone stealing my identity. (Although a teen-aged daughter makes you wonder if some bad guy could really do more damage than a trip to the local DSW store!)

I went to their website and found the member services e-mail address (easily accessible under Contact Us) and fired off my relatively simple questions.

No reply.

So, I repeated the steps and re-sent my questions.

No reply.

Because I am a stubborn cuss — I actually did it for a third time. Guess what happened.

No reply. No automated — "thanks for your e-mail, we’ll get right back to you." No canned "have you tried our FAQ section." Nothing.

Hmm. These are the people who promise me diligence in watching over my identity? These are the people who I am going to try to contact if there’s a problem?

I had bought the promise — hook, line and sinker. I was ready to buy. I practically had my credit card out of my wallet. But now, I’m not so sure. Now, their actions have contradicted their words. And the actions are much louder.

How about your business? You’re making a bold brand promise, right? Are you sure that your actions match that promise? Is there a weak spot?

Could your actions, reactions or lack of action be drowning out your words?

UPDATE: Several of you have shared the breaking news story that Lifelock’s CEO has just had his identity stolen. No wonder they’re behind in answering their e-mail!

I don’t know much about that…

May 18, 2008

Marketing and marketing tactics are changing at the speed of light. Have you caught yourself saying "I don’t know anything (or much) about XYZ?"

What happens next? Do you accept that you just aren’t that familiar with it? Or do you recognize you’d better fix that situation?

I think how you answer that question says a great deal about you and how well suited you are for a marketing career. You can’t afford not to know. I don’t care how many years of experience you’ve got. I promise you, you’ve got things to learn.

If you don’t have the curiosity or the drive to keep learning how to help your business or your client’s business grow and communicate — then dust off the resume, my friend. Because you need to get out of marketing.

How can you learn? Lots of ways.

Find someone who does know and ask them to teach you. They’ll be flattered.
Take a class or pay someone to teach you.
Find a blog written by an expert in the field. Do more than read it — participate.
Read a few books on the topic.
Wade in…and try it. Most of us learn best from doing.

If you hesitated when asked the question, remember this. Do you suppose your co-worker who is climbing up the same ladder you are hesitated? How about your competition?

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