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Marketing Information
The Newest Marketing Course
Certainly the newest earth quaking event in Internet Marketing insider circles is the release of John Reese's New, Traffic Secrets marketing course.
A Point in Every Direction is the Same As No Point At All
Ever try to be something for everyone and find no one wants it? Do you have trouble finding the time to focus on your business? Do you do so much for so many that you find it's difficult to make any financial progress in your business; much less make an indelible mark in the mind of your potential customers? I found myself on that road so many times, that I could be a tour guide for Please-want-me-ville.
Looking for Sky In All The Wrong Places
Ever sit with a single puzzle piece of clouds and wonder how you will ever put the entire sky together? Life as an entrepreneur is often just like that-- lots of the little pieces, creating products, taking care of clients, wrestling with computers, finances, taxes, etc.-- and a whole lot of sky. The big open space where you create a successful and enjoyable business. There were many pieces of 'puzzle sky', I was drowning in an ocean of sky blue. After over a decade of struggling with my own company to fit all the 'pieces' together, I have finally put together the big business puzzle-- and it's not what I thought it would look like.
Most Wanted Response... How To Make It Work
"When I walked into the grocery store last Saturday, I was just 'browsing.' But... their MWR was obvious. Because,... I could smell the 'hot fresh baked bread' in the bakery department. They must have arranged to circulate that aroma all over the store. Yep... I knew at that moment, their MWR.
Determining Visitor Types
The trade show floor is full of different types of people with different agendas. Some people have specific goals for attending the show; others do not. As an exhibitor your observation and questioning skills will be your key to determining who may be a viable sales prospect. Familiarize yourself with the various visitor types likely to frequent the tradeshow floor.
1. Definites. If you have done a thorough job of preshow marketing, definite prospects and customers will visit your booth.
2. Demonstration Junkies. Watch out for passers-by who are attracted to your booth by a demonstration or other activity. These could be valuable prospects or time wasters. Ask a few short, open-ended questions to find out.
3. Curiosity Cats. These types could be curious about anything ? what exactly your company does, a graphic, who designed your booth, and so on. Do not spend too much time with someone who is just interested in the design and construction of your booth or intricate details about your graphics.
4. Paper Lovers. Some people love to collect literature or just take any piece of paper no matter what it is. Are they attending the show to research the market for a boss? If so, they may be an influencer worth pursuing.
5. Eyeballers. These types are usually extremely friendly; they smile and their whole body language says, ?please talk to me.? Questioning will determine whether or not they are prospects worth pursuing.
6. Jeopardy Gigolos. Winning contests is their passion. They are always ready, willing and able to drop a business card into a fishbowl for any kind of drawing. Contests that require more than just a business card to enter will help deter these types from finding their way onto your follow-up lists.
7. Keepsakers. Any kind of giveaway attracts these types. They may even want more than one for family, friends and colleagues. Keen questioning will ascertain if this visitor has potential.
8. The Disinterested. Some people in the crowd will simply not be interested in what your organization has to offer. They often let you know in no uncertain terms through their body language; for example, walking by purposely avoiding eye contact or chatting with a colleague. Waylaying these types will only upset them.
9. Hawks. These people attend shows for the sole purpose of selling you their products or services. Publication advertising representatives are a prime example. They are unlikely to be prospects, but you never know. If floor traffic is slow, it may be worth asking a few questions, if only to find out who they could refer you to.
10. Job Seekers. Trade shows are an excellent place to network and look for organizations who may have present or future job openings. As with Hawks, you may want to spend time with them during slow, unproductive periods.
11. Nonentities. These types could be underlings in their organization sent to do some specific research. Never underestimate them. They may be extremely strong influencers. In addition, they probably know whom in their organization you need to contact. Time spent with them could be invaluable.
12. Snoops. Beware of the competition! These types often give themselves away by knowing too much or asking precise questions. Make sure that you do more questioning than talking so that you lessen the chances of giving away valuable information.
Adapting Blog Technologies To Corporate E-Newsletters
Every January, trade publications put out a list of predictions for the coming year. They discuss products, services and trends that they think will change the way business is done, labeling these "disruptive technologies." The idea of disruptive technologies comes from Clayton Christensen's 1997 book, The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. A disruptive technology is a method, procedure, skill, device, or material that redefines the competitive standards. Note that the technology doesn't have to be a physical item and that it often forces us to re-examine the way we work. InfoWorld's list of disruptive technologies for 2003 included open source, self-service CRM, digital identity, and my personal favorite, Weblogs. How can a simple, Web-based journal be disruptive? For starters, it's worth describing what a Weblog is. Basically, a Weblog or "blog" is a personally created, online, time-stamped web page that includes the thoughts, ideas, and comments of the "blogger." The musings are usually brief, but they are published frequently and consistently. People can subscribe to receive the blog updates via e-mail. Often, the blogger is an expert on the subject he/she is discussing. At first glance, it doesn't appear that blogs would be at all disruptive. So why all the hype? If we look closely at the structure and intent of blogs as a communications tool, we can see some powerful ideas at work. Blogs are a direct, one-to-many vehicle for communicating ideas. They expand an individual's ability to communicate. They are fresh and timely. The blogger, in order to maintain interest, must communicate often. Blogs enable a single person to share ideas, insights, and useful knowledge with an audience. Thanks to the Web, the audience can be a global one. Whenever a new tool or process-such as e-mail- expands communications, the effects are far-reaching and dramatic. Even though blogs have been around for 3-4 years, they could be the next big thing. Blogs Are The "Real Voice"Two important characteristics of blogs are that they are written by a person who is knowledgeable and passionate about the topic, and that they are written in a "real voice." This is a cosmic shift from the marketing and public relations materials that are the staple of business communications. Often, when information goes through a formal marketing or PR process, the end result is an attractive, expensive, stale, diluted document written in corporate speak. This result is generally due to the processes that evolved to accommodate the costs and standards of print technology, rather than to the incompetence or malevolence of corporate communicators. The edge, the authenticity, and the voice of the professional speaking to his fellow professionals is lost. Blogs offer the human voice that can be loud, controversial, and even wacky. But the realness of the blog inspires trust and piques people's curiosity. A blog can create a community and a dynamic discussion. If you are a product manager working in the chemical products industry, chances are that you would rather hear about the real experiences of other product managers in your industry than read a glossy marketing piece put out by the marcom department. Blogs fit this communications requirement perfectly. Blogs Are SimpleWeblogs are easy for people to publish, read and respond to. They can foster a community of like-minded individuals and be the catalyst for spirited discussions. Blogs are an inherently proactive form of communications. Weblog participants can subscribe to receive scheduled postings to the blog. Weblogs are inexpensive to produce and they can include a variety of multimedia content (audio, video, files, etc.) and hypertext links that add value to the discussion. Blogs Empower The IndividualThere are a host of tools on the Internet that make blogging a snap! Blogs empower a single person to capitalize on the reach and ubiquity of the Web. And they don't require the investment or recurring costs of print technologies. Blogs Empower The EnterpriseBlogs empower the knowledgeable people within a company to share their insights, know-how, and expertise. The value to a corporation is that this knowledge can be organized, distributed, and leveraged to increase the value of different product and service offerings to the customer. If a corporation is going to use a blog, however, it should understand that controlling the content of the discussion is difficult. If you want an authentic exchange, you have to be willing to accept the stone-throwing and critical comments that often occur in a blog. This requires extending trust and giving up some of the control a company would normally have when it publishes a press release or hosts its own online forum, for example. The upside is that people will listen to a real voice. Adapting Blog Concepts To Your Newsletters You can adapt blog technologies to your corporate electronic newsletters by taking advantage of the underlying concepts. You can, for example: * Publish a small amount of well-organized information frequently and regularly * Include content from individuals who are knowledgeable and passionate about their work* Make it easy for your employees to communicate directly in their own, human voice* Respect the reader by making sure your e-newsletter provides value and that he/she wants to receive it. E-newsletters geared towards educating a marketplace, rather than those focused on advertising or marketing, turn out to be particularly effective. E-newsletters offer an affordable, direct way for the experts in a company to communicate with an audience. This means that a product manager or an engineer can enhance the flow of information and make it more accessible to those who want it. Think of your channel and the information needs of your partners. Your company has a wealth of information that would help them sell your products more effectively. There is much insight within your partner community that could be leveraged throughout the channel. And your technical experts and engineers have critical knowledge and understanding that everyone could utilize. What's often missing is an easy way for the "know-how" keepers to capture their knowledge, organize it, and deliver it. The best e-newsletters are written in a real voice, not in corporate speak. Two years ago, the book The Cluetrain Manifesto shook up the business community (see http://www.cluetrain.com/book.html). The revelation? That business is about humans. As Wall Street Journal columnist Thomas Petzinger Jr. writes in the foreword: "I was dumbstruck. There in a few pages, I read a startlingly concise summary of everything I'd seen in twenty-one years as a reporter, editor, bureau chief and columnist for my newspaper. The idea that business, at bottom, is fundamentally human. That engineering remains second-rate without aesthetics. That natural, human conversation is the true language of commerce. That corporations work best when the people on the inside have the fullest contact possible with people on the outside." It turns out that the human "voice" is an underserved or ignored need. In a world of 6+ billion inhabitants, the individual craves to speak and to be heard. References Blogs As Disruptive Tech: How Weblogs Are Flying Under The Radar Of The Content Management Giants, By John Hiler, CEO, Webcrimson, http://www.webcrimson.com/ourstories/blogsdisruptivetech.Htm Making Room For Disruptive And Emergent Technologies, By Hugh Blackmer, Science Librarian, Washington & Lee University, http://home.wlu.edu/~blackmerh/sabb/nitle2.html* Blogs As Disruptive Innovation: What A Brave New World Blogging Is Building!, by Dr. James V. McGee, Professor, The Kellogg School Of Management, http://www.mcgeesmusings.net/2002/05/15.html Weblogs At Harvard Law, Bookmark List For ABCD Weblogs Meeting, By Dave Winer, http://Blogs.Law.Harvard.Edu/Stories/Storyreader$199
Defining Moment
Do you know your audiences? I mean really know them. I?ve just been working on a project for a client to help him position his financial planning business and to determine who his key audiences are. Common traits and common media habits are a couple of the characteristics we uncovered. In this particular case, the audience was high net worth individuals who tend to be conservative, and who are not mainstream media lovers or consumers. When they do consume media, it tends to be conservative talk radio or FOX News. They trust opinions of friends and colleagues, not the media. So, advertising is not the way to reach them. We will launch a referral program and try to place the client?s editorial material in business-oriented media and on local talk radio in his key markets. Also, we are implementing a speaker?s bureau to get him in front of civic and professional groups. So, you can see how defining the audience using demographic, geographic and psychographic elements dictates our marketing approach from a tactical perspective. Your current customers hold the key to geographic, demographic and psychographic attributes of your key audience. Survey them to find out:Why did your clients buy your product? Why did they buy from you and not a competitor? What made them buy from you at a specific point in time? Was it an impulse decision or did they ponder it? What do they like the most/least about your product? What is the benefit of the product? Are they willing to refer others to your product? What is their age? Are they readers? What do they read? Do they watch TV; listen to the radio; read newspapers? What is their most trusted media source? These are just a few things you?ll want to learn about your audiences. If you delve into what makes them tick, it will put your marketing on steroids. And, as Martha would say, ?that?s a good thing.?
Mission Statement Impossible
Dant dant da da dant dant da da. Dant dant da da dant dant da da. (That's the theme from "Mission Impossible"...)FADE IN.
Are You Marketing Backwards?
Marketing is like rowing a boat. When you know how thepointed bow moves smoothly forward through the waterencountering the least amount of resistance. Rowingbackwards, the square stern of the boat pushes against thewater, requiring more effort and increases the risk ofhaving a wave come over the transom (back) and swamping it.Yet most people market backwards, trying to grow theirbusiness while pushing against the greatest level ofresistance.
Testing Your Way To Prosperity
I have always enjoyed talking to a Realtor friend of mine about his Father-in-laws business. His business is Gold Mining and he has been involved in it full time for nearly his whole life. My friend has a good relationship with his Father-in-law and often spends time helping him in this business and has learned a lot about prospecting and mining and the other facets of this extremely risky industry.
A Questionnaire for Businesses
As best you can, answer the following twenty-five questions. There's no scoring. But you?ll know whether you should be satisfied with your answers, or not. If you aren?t, perhaps you have some work to do.
Cave Paintings, Baseball and Connecting
There?s no such thing as a captive audience--any of us can tune out at will. It may surprise you, then, to know that keeping people?s attention in this high-tech age takes the same know-how we had in neolithic days.
Getting Into Marketing Momentum ... The Accelerated Way
GETTING INTO MARKETING MOMENTUM: The 5 Power Principles for Getting Your Business into High Gear
Self-Promotion on a Zero Budget
Recently, I?ve received a few e-mails from people asking me for advice on how to get started in the writing biz. When I stop to think about it, maybe I?ve been lucky to accomplish this much writing in a short time. I have accidentally discovered a way to self-promote my work. It starts with an interest in Web design and a friend who needs a Web site for her professional organization. I volunteer to do it to get Web design experience.
To Web or Not to Web?
Do I need a web site? That is the question often asked by business owners.
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