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The Age of Conversation – share your pricing strategy

June 9, 2007

About 8 weeks ago, Gavin Heaton and I conceived the Age of Conversation and put an ALL CALL out for chapter authors. In less than 7 days, 106 people initially responded and 104 actually followed through and wrote a chapter.

We’re shooting for an end of June release (we’re knee-deep in editing, design and author wrangling as we speak) so we need to make some big decisions. One of the biggest is price.

Here are the salient facts:

104 authors – all writing on their take/unique view of the Age of Conversation
Remarkable content (you’re going to be delighted)
All original content (will not be released elsewhere for at least 6 months following launch)
All proceeds donated to Variety, the Children’s Charity (monies will be given directly to the countries that align with our authors when there’s a Variety chapter there)
Downloadable e-book
Dedicated to the life and spirit of CK’s mom, Sandra Kerley

So…help Gavin and me. Tell us how much you think we should charge for the book and give us some rationale. (We’ll take it all in and then make a decision.) So, show us some pricing strategy smarts.

We’re listening and the comment box is open!

Here’s the stellar cast of authors (To help you valuate the book and to give them their due credit.)

Gavin Heaton
Drew McLellan
CK
Valeria Maltoni
Emily Reed
Katie Chatfield
Greg Verdino
Mack Collier
Lewis Green
Sacrum
Ann Handley
Mike Sansone
Paul McEnany
Roger von Oech
Anna Farmery
David Armano
Bob Glaza
Mark Goren
Matt Dickman
Scott Monty
Richard Huntington
Cam Beck
David Reich
Mindblob (Luc)
Sean Howard
Tim Jackson
Patrick Schaber
Roberta Rosenberg
Uwe Hook
Tony D. Clark
Todd Andrlik
Toby Bloomberg
Steve Woodruff
Steve Bannister
Steve Roesler
Stanley Johnson
Spike Jones
Nathan Snell
Simon Payn
Ryan Rasmussen
Ron Shevlin
Roger Anderson
Bob Hruzek
Rishi Desai
Phil Gerbyshak
Peter Corbett
Pete Deutschman
Nick Rice
Nick Wright
Mitch Joel
Michael Morton
Mark Earls
Mark Blair
Mario Vellandi
Lori Magno
Kristin Gorski
Kris Hoet
Kofl Annan
Kimberly Dawn Wells
Karl Long
Julie Fleischer
Jordan Behan
John La Grou
Joe Raasch
Jim Kukral
Jessica Hagy
Janet Green
Jamey Shiels
Dr. Graham Hill
Gia Facchini
Geert Desager
Gaurav Mishra
Gary Schoeniger
Gareth Kay
Faris Yakob
Emily Clasper
Ed Cotton
Dustin Jacobsen
Tom Clifford
David Polinchock
David Koopmans
David Brazeal
David Berkowitz
Carolyn Manning
Craig Wilson
Cord Silverstein
Connie Reece
Colin McKay
Chris Newlan
Chris Corrigan
Cedric Giorgi
Brian Reich
Becky Carroll
Arun Rajagopal
Andy Nulman
Amy Jussel
AJ James
Kim Klaver
Sandy RenshawSusan Bird
Ryan Barrett
Troy Worman
S. Neil Vineberg
C.B. Whittemore

The shirt off my back as a new marketing tactic?

June 7, 2007

Which one of these shirts inspired my latest post at the Marketing Prof’s Daily Fix?

A bagful of ideas: 06/07/07

June 6, 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 pumping my fist in the air: Tom Vander Well hit the nail on the head when he said okay does not drive customer loyalty or word of mouth. Right on Tom! Why are so many businesses slow to understand this?

This one had me applauding my peers: Sabina shares some really creative work. Reminds us all to stretch a little.

This one had me taking notes: Get it in Writing shares the top 20 words that when/if you misuse them make you look stupid. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t need any help in that arena!

Marketing Tips from a Marketing Agency: Be disruptive

June 6, 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.

Be disruptive

Marketing isn’t always about the big campaign. Sometimes it is taking something simple or expected and turning it on its ear. Earlier in this series, we talked about how we approach business cards. Being disruptive seems to be an MMG given. It’s certainly what we do with our voice mail. If you call our office, while we’re transferring your call — you’re going to be asked a question.

So, let’s say you hit my extension (17 by the way) and you expect elevator music, silence or a sales pitch. Instead you’re going to hear me asking…"while we transfer your call, ponder this. What tagline best describes your personal brand? Be ready to tell us why…"

Not only do we learn quite a bit about our callers, but the Q&A helps define our brand. We ask a lot of questions, so we might as well set the expectation now.

But the biggest value in our voicemail tactic — it’s disruptive. It surprises people and it’s something they talk about. It says, "these people do things differently."

Now maybe you can’t mess with your company’s voice mail system but come on, you can be disruptive some place, some how.

How can you cause a buzzworthy disruption?

Marketing Tips from a Marketing Agency: Make a good first impression

June 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.

Make a Good First Impression

Retail brands like Apple and Barnes & Noble get this. Just by walking into their space — you are enveloped into an experience. They begin their brand story at the front door. But B2B companies and service providers have been much slower at recognizing the power of maximizing that first impression.

At MMG, we don’t even let them get into the front door before we begin our brand story. I’ve enhanced this night time shot, so you can get a sense of what our building looks like — day or night. The upper panel shows our tagline (where strategy and passion collide) and logo in a can’t be missed size. Then, the display window below is filled with our work. Often times, people show up late to meetings at our place, because they’ve stood and perused our display and lost track of time.

And clients love to see their work in the display case.

Using your exterior or lobby to create a brand impression can really set your company apart. It’s not uncommon for prospects to scout a few companies before they choose a new partner.

John Roberson the president of LobbyMakeover.com, a division of Advent based in Nashville offers these 7 elements to consider for your lobby makeover.

A high-impact logo—Reflect your brand with a tastefully fabricated logo that is appropriate to the space.
A clear key message—Differentiate your company with a positioning statement that lets folks know what you do and how you do it differently.
An effective color palette—Use colors that are evocative of the brand and show contrast, but are not a literal application of your brochure.
An engaging group of images—Choose images that reflect your company and the way you do business.
Success stories and awards—Artistically include customer testimonials and accomplishments.
Mission/value statement—Share where you are going and what you value because it is meaningful to customers, employees and vendors.
A user-friendly information and media center—Offer presentations, information, brochures and business cards to guests in a purposeful and attractive manner.

Be honest — what does your exterior/lobby say to your visitors? What do you suppose that first impression costs or earns you?

Do you inspire joy?

May 28, 2007

We spent the weekend in New York City. While we were there, we saw the new play, Curtains. It’s a whodunit musical and well worth the ticket price. The performances, singing, dancing and choreography were really something to behold.

As I stood watching people spill out of the theatre, a young girl about five years old literally came dancing up the aisle. Her face was one of pure joy. At that moment, she *was* on that stage, dancing to the roaring crowd. You could see it all in her eyes.

My first thought was, "I wish the cast could see her. They’d be reminded why they chose this profession. Because they inspire joy."

My second thought was for you. (And me.) Do we inspire joy in our work? Does our product or service make our customers want to dance?

It’s really easy to dismiss that question with a "We don’t sing or dance, we build websites. Or we sell checking accounts …or we insure their families." But that’s a cop-out.

Every one of us has the capacity to create a joyful experience. Haven’t you ever hung up the phone with a big smile on your face because someone exceeded your expectations? Haven’t you ever finished a meeting with a business partner and felt so good about the work you’re doing together that you wanted to do a little jig? How about that little song of relief that wants to burst out when you realize that someone really and truly "gets" you and your work?

If not…you need to find new business partners. And if we’re not inspiring our clients, so do they.

What could you do that would inspire joy in your clients this week?

And now, for your viewing pleasure…some shots (off their official website) of Curtains. The lead in the play is David Hyde Pierce (Frasier’s brother Niles).

Seeing the other side

May 26, 2007

Think about it for a minute. There’s the work you. The family you. The buddies at the pub you. The girls at poker night you. The I’m so tired I could cry you. The blogger you. The marketer you. The consumer you. The son you. The trying not to laugh during church you.

So many faces. All of them you. Each honest, real and unique. But each one slightly different because of the circumstances, surroundings, or people involved.

That’s a very important thing to remember as marketing professionals. No one is just a 35 year old Caucasian man, with a wife and 2.3 children. Many faces. Many passions. Your marketing needs to push beyond assuming you know what the aggregate whole wants. You need to let your audience help you define why they need you. Because each 35 year old Caucasian man may want something slightly different.

See their many faces.

That’s what intrigued me about David Airey’s Face Behind the Blog post. Basically, he is reminding all of us that we’re more than the face we hold out as we author our blogs. He’s suggesting it would be interesting and insightful to share a photo of ourselves that puts us in a different light. That shows another face.

So far, several others have jumped on board.

Gayla at Mom Gadget
Char at Essential Keystrokes
Paul at Reflections
Rob at 2Dolphins
Zep at The In-Sect
Ingo at Stixster
Stevie at Lost In Cyberspace
The Paper Bull at (oddly enough) The Paper Bull
Lisa Sabin-Wilson at Just A Girl In The World
Dawud Miracle at dmiracle.com
Wendy Piersall at eMoms at Home
Dennis Bjørn Petersen at Petersen Inc.
Randa Clay at Randa Clay Design

I first read about it at Dawud Miracle’s blog and decided to join in.

So….step aside Blogger/Brander/Marketer Drew and make room for…

Table for One Drew?

I love this picture of my daughter and me. We’re at (wait for it….) Disney World and we’re waiting for a show to begin in front of Cinderella’s castle. This is us at our most comfortable, compatible best. And apparently my head is indeed flat enough to rest a popcorn bucket on!

So what do you say? Will you show us one of your other sides?

Update: Here’s who has jumped in since my initial. Is your name there?

Drew McLellan at The Marketing Minute
Becky McCray at Small Biz Survival
Phil Gerbyshak at Make it Great!
Steve Woodruff at StickyFigure
Dave Olson at Live the GREAT life that you desire
Greg at Become a Remote Control SEO
Ariane Benefit at Neat Living Blog

Do you go where everyone else goes?

May 26, 2007

When you’re planning on marketing to a specific audience — do you go where everyone else goes? In other words, if all your competitors advertise in a specific trade pub or in Times Square, do you go there too? Or do you think it’s smarter to find a quieter street corner?

If you decide to go where all the noise is — how do you make sure you get heard?

If you decide to go to the quieter street corner, how do you make sure the audience knows you’re even there?

Make sure your mail isn’t junk mail

May 25, 2007

Direct mail, be it the old fashioned kind – snail mail or that new fangled e-mail, is still one of the most effective marketing tools around. If you do it correctly.

So let’s look at how to do just that.

Right Audience

Sending your direct mail piece to the wrong set of people is probably the most common (and most costly) error made in mailings. Spend as much time on researching your list as you do on the creative aspects of creating your piece.

Unless the people on your mailing list have a desire or need for your product or service, they’re going a pretty tough sell. Offering Marlboro products to non-smokers just won’t work. I don’t care how great the copy is!

Right Message

Before you start writing a direct mail piece, make a list of the three things you want someone to get from the contact. No more than three. Rank them. Now, eliminate one.

At best, people are going to remember one or two things. If you want them to take action or remember a benefit – don’t muddy up your message by hiding it among many messages. Be clear about the result you want. And then, don’t get in its way.

Right Timing

Naturally, you need to tell them how much it’s going to cost. And you think the price is a real steal. But, make sure you share the price at the right time.

No matter what you’re selling, a price has no meaning until your audience knows what they’re getting and why they would want it.

Once you are ready to talk money, you need to tell readers what makes your price so great – in terms of benefits to the reader. Remember, all they care about is what’s in it for them. So tell them!

Right Call to Action

As you create a direct mail piece, you should know exactly what you want the recipient to do. Call for more information, log onto your website, bring the postcard in for a 20% discount – whatever.

But be reasonable. No one is going to call up and buy a $50,000 car after one postcard. Match your call to action with where the audience is, at the moment. Good direct mail is about getting to the next step (asking for a sample, coming in for the test drive, answering a 5 question survey, etc) but to do that…you need to identify what the steps are and strategize how you are going to systematically move from one to the next.

Also, don’t assume they know what you want them to do. You should tell them several times exactly what you want them to do. Be specific. Let readers know exactly what action you want them to take — tell them, and tell them again.

Where do you need to improve your direct mail offerings? Which one of these could have the most impact on your ROI?

Is your tagline part of your brand?

May 24, 2007

That’s the question I posed over at Marketing Prof’s Daily Fix and we are in the midst of a pretty lively discussion. Come over and either add your two cents or just learn from the diversity of opinions.

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