January 28, 2009

First Impressions and the Placebo Effect

It turns out that first impressions may be the ONLY impressions that matter – which is why when one of my high school chums wrote on my wall at Facebook “I visited your website and I was impressed” it made my day.

YEAH!  Mission accomplished!  I can now attend my high school reunion even though I’m a LOT older and fatter than I was in high school!

Seriously – I’m very grateful for that input because it lets me know that my little corner of the web here is making a good first impression.  Of course we all know that we should try to make a good first impression because we all know that presentation has a HUGE impact upon the first impression people form of us personally and professionally.  However – if you’re like me – you want to believe in your heart of hearts that if you DO screw up and make a bad first impression that time and experience will help the other person overcome a poor first impression.

First impressions are probably the ONLY impression you’ll get to make

Don’t you hate reading that?  I do but it’s true.   First impressions are the ONLY impressions that count – and the study that illustrates this was done BEFORE the days of Twitter and the myriad of other ways you can screw up the first impression you make online!

If you’re like me, you desperately WANT to believe that if you screw up and make a bad first impression that you’ll get a second chance.  It’s nice to think that once someone “gets to know you” that their perceptions will change.  However,  Harvard psychologist Nalini Ambady did a study which seems to show that the first impressions make an indelible effect on people’s perception – and perception is EVERYTHING!  Ambady asserts that your first impression will be your only impression, regardless of the “accuracy” of your first assessment.

To measure the effect of first impressions, researchers divided a group of  students into two separate groups.  One group watched video clips depicting the professor as a warm, caring and knowledgeable educator. The second group watched video clips which depicted the professor as cold, uncaring and incompetent.  After watching the clips, the students were asked to record their first impressions.

Here’s the kicker – the students then took a class with the professor.   They spent three or more hours each week being exposed to the “real” professor.  At the end of the course, the students were asked to fill out another evaluation.

What we all want to believe is the first impression of the students would change once they actually experienced the professor’s teaching style.  By experiencing the professor in person over an entire semester, we want to believe that experience would change their evaluations.

I know that I personally desperately wanted to believe that despite being fed a “wrong” first impression, people would  use their own personal experience to overcome a negative first impression.  I wanted reality to overcome perceptions.  Unfortunately, that’s not what happened in the study.

It turned out that more information didn’t change the student’s perceptions of the professor.  Despite the passage of time and the opportunity of the students to gather and experience  better and more accurate information, the student’s impressions of the professor as they completed the course was almost identical to their first impression.

First impressions are embraced more fiercely than anyone ever suspected and it appears that first impressions actually become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Which brings us to the role first impressions play when it comes to your business.  You can see why first impressions play a powerful role in the success of your online marketing strategy.

However, there’s another psychological factor at work when it comes to first impressions, marketing and your business – the placebo effect.

When you combine the law of first impressions with the placebo effect, and you’ll see how first impressions not only will determine whether or not someone chooses to do business with you – but you’ll also see how those first impressions form the literal foundation for your relationship with your clients/customers!

The placebo effect is a well documented phenomenon where expectation shapes our experience.  Give people a pill and tell them it will make them feel better and even though there’s no medicine involved, in the majority of cases people do feel better.  The placebo effect is so powerful, cancer can even be cured when a placebo drug is combined with the right first impression!

The placebo effect extends well beyond the realm of medicine. In the case of your business, the first impression your business makes upon a customer will literally create the expectation of the level of service your potential clients/customers come to expect.  First impressions help to create an expectation of the quality of the products/services you provide.

Again there are studies to support this claim.  Science news reports on one in the price tag can change your perception of a wine’s quality.

According to researchers at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the California Institute of Technology, if a person is told he or she is tasting two different wines—and that one costs $5 and the other $45 when they are, in fact, the same wine—the part of the brain that experiences pleasure will become more active when the drinker thinks he or she is enjoying the more expensive vintage.

The placebo effect extends well beyond wine and into every facet of your marketing because that is where your customer’s perceptions are established.

There is no such thing as “reality” – there is only perception of reality.

You never have a second chance to create a great first impression.  You must pay close attention to every contact point your business has with the general public.  From business cards to stationary to your web site, there’s no getting over a poorly made first impression.

Filed Under: Online Reputation Management Tagged With: ,
January 23, 2009

The REAL reasons why you should be using “social media”

The REAL reason you should be blogging (instead of having a website that does almost nothing)….

The REAL reason you should be using Twitter….

The REAL reason you should be using [insert name of Social Media application you’ve recently read is the instant path to wealth a riches]…..

It’s not because you want to sell something to someone – though that may be a happy “by product” of your use of social media.

It’s not because you want to “network”  and meet important people- though that too may also prove to be yet another happy “by product” of your use of social media.

You most certainly shouldn’t be using social media because everyone else is doing it.

The REAL reason you need to be using  [insert social media application of choice] is to establish TRUST with other human beings.  An important part of establishing that trust is demonstrating the fact that you’re real.

If you’re blogging – your primary goal should be to connect with your readers and convince them that you’re real.  (Lance introduced me to Jamie’s blog where she gets real unplugged.  There’s no doubt that Jamie is “real”.)

If you’re “tweeting” – again, your goal should be to connect and convince people that you’re real.  An essential part of being real is being curious and engaging in two way conversations.

A natural “by-product” of being real  is that  you begin to build a relationship with other “real” human beings. That’s why it’s called “SOCIAL” media.

You should be using social media – not sell product – not to increase your profits- but to increase your CONNECTION to reality.

When you try to shortcut the process – when you forget why you’re there -when you add “marketing” to the “social”  and forget that marketing is just another way of saying “communication…. that’s when you start to run into problems.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: ,
January 16, 2009

Everything’s relative… setting your life thermostat

Today in my little corner of south eastern Florida – it’s 60 degrees today.

BRRR!!!

I don’t expect you to cry me a river – especially if you’re living in the path of the bitter cold that is blanketing much of the northern United States. However let me assure  you that temperatures in the 60’s feel positively FRIGID when you’ve spent a few summers surviving “surface of the sun” heat indexes in the mid to upper 120’s.

Meanwhile, a check of the weather back in my hometown in Indiana reveals that the current AIR temperature is currently -11 and the wind makes it feels like -29 … and those temps are °F by the way!   It’s even worse where my in-laws live.  It’s -20 and it feels like it’s -40 below just an hour north!  (Yes, I’m deeply concerned about the state of the plumbing in my Indiana property!)

But this whole weather thing has got me thinking about how where we are (and who we’re with) affects us and how our experiences shape our view.  In other words – there’s more than one setting on your life thermostat.

For example, I know that the weather today at my house would have felt positively tropical in January when I was living in Indiana five years ago.  Unfortunately, KNOWING that doesn’t make it FEEL any more tropical today.  Living down here for four short years has reset my thermostat – without my “permission” I might add.

That’s right.  I didn’t make a conscious decision to TRY to reset my body’s  thermostat.   I didn’t attempt to use “positive thinking” to change my body’s physical reaction to temperature so 60 degrees would feel cold to me.   As a matter of fact,  the opposite is true.  I desperately didn’t WANT to be a “Flor-idiot” who complains about being cold when it’s 60 degrees outside.

It didn’t matter what I desired, by moving to southern Florida, I changed my physical environment and as a result, my body’s physical responses have been altered.

Setting your Life Thermostat

However, there are other aspects to setting and regulating your life thermostat – beyond that of your physical perceptions of hot and cold.  Call it self help, call it self awareness, call it authentic expression or call it creative productivity –  the input you allow into your mind greatly affects your life thermostat settings.  (Oh, and if you think you can separate your “business” from your “life” ….. good luck with that.)

Just as your body will get “adjusted” to your physical environment – your mind will also get “adjusted” to the environment you create there as well.

Way back in 1997, I taught myself to code in HTML.  When word got out around town that I had acquired this skill, local business people started hiring me to create websites for their businesses.  One day about a year later, a very progressive woman who called herself a “life coach”  hired me to create a website for her business.  This turned out to be a significant “life thermostat altering” event.

What you read – what you watch – and the people you choose to accompany you on this journey called life – all have a dramatic effect on where your “life thermostat” is set.

Because I started working with forwarding thinking, successful people, my life thermostat settings changed… to the point where I find it difficult to relate to people from my “previous” life.

I recently was contacted by a co-worker from my past.  She was laid off from a subsequent employer and worrying about what she would do when her unemployment ran out in a few weeks.  She contacted me in hopes of landing a “J-O-B”.  However, her passions don’t lie in administrative work – and as much as I would have LOVED to have a passionate virtual assistant, it was easy to see that she was not that person.  So, in the course of the conversation (which lasted less than 40 minutes), we came up with a plan for her to start her own business based on the very things she was passionately devoting her time to during her unemployment.

I was surprised at how blatantly OBVIOUS what she SHOULD be doing was – and then I realized that my life thermostat settings have changed DRAMATICALLY since we last worked together.  She’s been punching a time clock, rubbing elbows with other “wage slaves” over the past decade.  Meanwhile, I’ve been spending the last decade connecting with other people who breath “rarified air” on a daily basis.

I am honored and feel privileged to be surrounded by such an amazing group of successful business owners.

Don’t underestimate the power of your surroundings to impact your perceptions and thinking.   What changes have you made (or do you need to make) to change your life thermostat?

Filed Under: Blog, starting a small business, Web Site Success, Word Press Blogs Tagged With: ,
January 12, 2009

Do Small Business Social Media Blunders = Small Business Marketing Blunders?

When you’re a small business owner, do social media blunders automatically translate into business marketing blunders.?

No matter what size business you run, business marketing blunders are what happens when we, as business owners, take our eyes of the road – and sometimes take our hands off the wheel.  (Ah – there it is again.  Another example of how marketing a business is like planning a trip. )  However, when you add social media into the marketing mix, the chances for missteps increases exponentially!

In the past, some of the most spectacular marketing blunders have happened when otherwise smart business owners agree to allow someone else  to take control of the marketing strategy. As a result, the business owner takes his or her hands off the wheel and leaves the driving up to a professional (or group of professionals).   Sometimes, that trust is horribly misplaced.  A case in point is the notable Motrin Viral Marketing Mess of 2008.  However, unfortunately this mess does not stand alone. There are a surprising collection of marketing blunders for 2008 – almost all are centered around companies with six figure monthly ad budgets being managed by marketing professionals who should have known better.

Collateral Damage has compiled a list of the top 10 marketing blunders of 2008 with the number 1 marketing blunder being declared a tie between John McCain and GM. (Personally, I don’t think John McCain’s marketing blunders can in any way compare with the scope and magnitude of GM’s mea culpa ad.  GM’s dedication to disappointing customers without remorse – until the handouts begin gives it TOP marketing blunder billing in my book!)  Meanwhile the Otherside Group has their own nominations in 8 Noteable Marketing Blunders.  Their top pick – the Microsoft’s ads which attempted to be “fun”and “cool” “just like Apple”.  Unfortunately, when Microsoft tried on that persona, the result was anything other than “fun and cool”.

It’s easy to sit back and feel smug as you watch the big guys go out and stub their toes as they attempt to build “a brand” for thei business – but what about the small business social media blunders that are going on every day?  Do those count as small marketing blunders?

Marketing Pilgrim touches upon this topic in a comic reminder to avoid social media blunders.  The post features an illustration which shows three unemployed people who confess that they are “unemployable” because of things they put on their social media profiles.  However, it’s not just the “wage slaves” who are making epic missteps in the world of social media.  From Facebook to Myspace to YouTube – small business owners are making social media blunders daily.

When you’re a small business, I don’t think it’s possible to separate the sharing and communication that goes on in social media from the marketing of your small business.  The two are just opposite sides of the same coin in my book. However,  Beth Harte in her post Is social media the same as marketing? respectfully disagrees.

I agree that social media plays a different role in the business where “marketing” is a department and the advertising budget is a six figure proposition than it does in a small business.  In the small business though, marketing is not a department and often it’s not even a job title.  More often than not, marketing in the small business is that thing that you do when you’re not busy doing what it is you do to make the mortgage payment every month.  (Try saying THAT ten times fast!)

However, there’s another important difference between the social media blunders of the “big boys” and the social media blunders small business owners make.

In the case of a small business – a social media blunder doesn’t have any possibility of an upside.

See, when a small business owner makes a social media or marketing blunder, it rarely generates the ensuing media coverage which accompanies larger scale social media and marketing blunders.  When Microsoft or GM makes a  blunder – everyone from Seth Godin to the most obscure blogger jumps on the bandwagon to report the tragic, misguided effort.   The ensuing public dissection creates a lot of activity and attention which brings to mind the axiom that there’s no such thing as bad press!

All those mentions – all those links – all that discussion usually end up doing little to do long term damage to the reputation of a well established business.  (The effect on a start-up is significantly different by the way – case in point – Cuil.  Turns out when you’re a startup there IS such a thing as bad pubilicity.)   When you’ve got a long track history in the public eye – a “negative” mention here or there only heightens your visibility and therefore reputation over the long run.

Meanwhile,  when we small business owners make a social media or small business marketing blunders – there is no upside.  More often than not, a botched attempt at shameless self promotion in a graceless age won’t end in a thrashing at TechCrunch and the accompanying increased links, buzz and notoriety.  On the contrary, when a small business owner makes a social media or business marketing blunder, there is no press coverage and therefore no positive effect.  Instead, potential customers and clients just quietly unsubscribe from our RSS feeds, stop following us on Twitter or simply ignore our message in the future and move on with their lives.  While they may forget about us, their search for another provider of the products and services we so lovingly provide will continue.

What do you think?  Is it possible for social media communications to be distinct from small business marketing communications?

Also, does the size  of the business matter when making that distinction?

Filed Under: Business Basics Tagged With: , , ,
January 1, 2009

Here’s to a Better [insert object of resolution here] in 2009

Tis the season to make resolutions and a time for celebrations.

On the celebration side -some are celebrating blogging success – while others are celebrating a new blog and a new attitude.

Tom Volkar is encouraging you to celebrate by parlaying your wisdom with others.

On the resolution side, traditionally resolutions focus upon how we’re going to stop [insert destructive or self defeating habit here] and start [insert healthy and or edifying habit here].  Sara Healy shares the burning bowl ritual in her post Happy New Year: clean your life closet!

Bloggers being what they are, tend to share resolutions with their readers – as Brian Gardner has done.  They also share their accomplishments as well.

Some resolutions are more competitive in nature, such as to be named a top 100 online marketer in 2009.   Meanwhile, other bloggers are focusing on creating permanent life change  – like creating your very own personal bucket list (the things you want to do before you shed your mortal coil).   Your bucket list might linclude taking a photo like the one featured in Betsy Wuebker’s blog post BEHOLD.  Amazing!

Sometimes the new year brings on posts which examine the best the previous year has to offer.   Some blogs revisit their own posts like the Best of Problogger 2008 while others use the end of the year as an chance to look outside your own blog as David Airey did in his post 25 fantastic design articles of 2008.  When you create such a list, you just might make someone’s day like when Evan Carmichael created his blog post, The top 46 SEO posts of 2008 , Gary Conn discovered that he was a top SEO expert.

Of course, the new year also brings predictions. Darren Rowse is predicting Twitter will go mainstream in 2009 and I’ve already seen evidence that his prediction will come true.   In my blog post Twitterpated by Twitter I made the observation that while the average number of searches reported by the Google Keyword Tool is usually 550K, that number jumped to over 1.2 Million in November.    If you’re not already using Twitter – pick up a copy of David Risely’s free Twitter Manual.

If your resolutions include improved social media use and blog improvement, Marelisa offers perhaps the most comprehensive blog improvement post ever in her 35 Creative Ways to Market Your Blog. Meanwhile, Yan Susanto over at Thou Shall Blog shares 101 Blogging Tips he learned in 2008.  Of course, link building is an essential part of blog improvement… check out  24 killer link Building Strategies

As you set your 2009 resolutions, I think every blogger should be sure to read The Difference Between Fame and Importance. It will literally change the way you view your blog.

Meanwhile, Ben Barden makes the case for not restricting your blogging resolutions only to when the new year dawns but rather to set resolutions all year round.

What’s your goal for 2009?  Is it to lose weight?  Is it to start a business?  Or perhaps your 2009 resolution is to break the rules…what ever your resolution – be sure to share it because that is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to making and keeping those resolutions!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , ,
December 19, 2008

Small Business Marketing- The Yellow Page Directory’s Place in your Marketing Mix

The recent post “Does your small business need to invest in yellow page advertising?” a comment was left stating that “the internet is for browsing – the yellow pages are for buying. ”

I’m sure that comment was left by someone who makes his or her living selling yellow page advertising.  It’s a GREAT line – but it exposes an essential “truth” .    It acknowledges is that people – in general-  are going to the internet FIRST to research their purchasing decisions.   When they don’t find the answers online that’s when they pick up the yellow pages to buy.

With that in mind, yellow page advertising does have a place in the marketing mix for many businesses.  However, the printed yellow page directories are making the death march to extinction and if that is the sole way you advertise your business – you might want to start working on a new marketing strategy .

I got my start in a  “traditional” advertising agency in the mid 1980’s because there wasn’t any other KIND of advertising agency way back in the stone age.   In those days we wore primitive clothing fashioned from animal skins and chipped pithy marketing messages onto cave walls and onto stone tablets by firelight. Even as we battled sabre tooth tigers along the way to client meetings, we still recognized the need for our client’s business to be listed in directories.

In those days (as now) the yellow page advertising representative’s opinion was that our clients needed a full page, four color ad in the yellow pages.  As the appointed keepers of the advertising budget – we at the agency held a different point of view.  The result were many heated and lively exchanges and as a result, I have few friends in the yellow page advertising industry.  😉

It’s my belief that a business (big or small) that is engaged in a strategic marketing campaign created with the target customer in mind doesn’t NEED a huge display ad in the yellow pages.   Those dollars can be much more effective when spent in other media.

In my book,  Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results, I recommend business owners devote about 7% of their marketing budget to listings in directories.  That’s not a lot but it’s more than enough if you’re spending the other 93% wisely.

For example, if you are a brick and mortar business owner who is in the heating and air conditioning business – then I would NEVER recommend that you stop advertising your business in the yellow pages.  However, I would also not recommend you spend the majority of your advertising budget there either.

Remember – by the time someone is looking for your business in a directory – they’ve already made a decision to purchase.   That’s why I recommend that the other 93% of your marketing budget should be spent influencing people to choose your business BEFORE they decide to purchase.

Wouldn’t you rather be talking to prospective customers BEFORE they’ve decided to buy?

The yellow page advertising rep desperately wants you to believe that the prospective customer who is picking up the yellow pages is operating from a “clean slate”.   In this fantasy land, your yellow page advertising rep will provide LOTS of “documentation” which “proves” your prospective customer opens the yellow pages and INSTANTLY picks the largest, most colorful ad. However, that’s not how advertising works in the “real” world. The example I use to get people thinking about how the yellow pages really work is to choose something they don’t need every day -like  finding a roofer.

The exercise goes something like this- pick up a copy of the yellow pages and start looking for a roofer.  Pay attention to what’s going through your mind as you scan through the pages.  Chances are you’ll notice that you’re searching for is a name that is FAMILIAR!!!

See, the only way the largest most colorful ad in the yellow pages is going to “win” is if you have absolutely NO CLUE of what roofing company is reputable in your area.  Otherwise, the race is going to to go the business with the “best” reputation – the one that is MOST familiar!

For example, yesterday as I was driving to the grocery store, I heard an ad on the radio by a local roofing company.  Right now, I can’t tell you the name of the company – but if my roof started leaking tomorrow – that ad would be having an influence on me.  It would be working on my subconscious as I began my search for a roofing contractor.  That roofing contractor’s name is going to be familiar and I’m more likely to call him than anyone else in the directory.   If I hear his ad again today, that familiarity will be strengthened.   If I hear that ad another 120 times I’ll probably be able to recite the roofing company’s name off the top of my head.   (That is how advertising works.)

Here’s the rub: If I were to pick up the phone and call, if  the receptionist were to ask how I “found” their business – I’d say, “The Yellow Pages!”  While that would be true – but that wouldn’t be the WHOLE truth!   The roofing contractor’s radio ad would literally be the unsung hero of his marketing campaign.

FAMILIARITY BREEDS BUSINESS!!!!

Smart business owners will have a marketing strategy in place with the goal to build familiarity with their customers.  One way to breed “familiarity” is to create a website that reaches customers while they are searching for answers!  Grab customers at that point and they’ll rarely find their way to the yellow pages!

The problem is that most small business owners have websites that do NOT come up when people are searching for answers to their GDP – Goals, Desires and Problems.

As long as your competitors don’t have a website that provides answers to the GDP of the target audience, then it becomes a game of one upsmanship within the confines of the yellow pages.  However, if you discover how to reach customers BEFORE they head to the yellow pages – how to put your website in front of those prospective customers when they’re researching their decision – long BEFORE they’ve decided to buy – well – then suddenly  the size of the ad in the yellow pages really doesn’t matter at that point, does it?

Filed Under: Marketing Magic Tagged With: , , ,
December 12, 2008

Smart Business Blogging and the Smartest Dog Contest

This is a GREAT time to start a business, as long as you don’t create a bad product (Windows Vista anyone), and try to promote it with a poor marketing strategy and a website that does almost nothing.

Running a bad business poorly usually doesn’t make the news.  However, when it’s a HUGE company in the US which chooses to embrace a relatively recent phenomenon of expecting the government to come to the rescue them from their own bad business practices, the story definitely makes the front page.

GM’s recent holiday charity request of the US government was recently denied,  which brings to mind a joke which recently made the rounds.  This joke illustrates a truth we all embrace and that’s the difference between “government” and “business”.

The joke begins with four men who were  sitting at a bar one night.  As the alcohol flowed, the four men started bragging about how smart their respective dogs were.  One thing lead to another and before you know it, a challenge was issued.  The next night, the four men arrived back at the bar with their dogs to prove whose dog was indeed the smartest.

The first man was an engineer who called to his dog, “T-square, show these jerks what you can do.”

T-square took out some paper and pen and promptly drew a picture of a two story home.

The other men were impressed and all agreed that T-square was a pretty smart dog.

The next man,  an accountant thought his dog could do better. He called his dog and said, ‘Spreadsheet, show these guys what you can do.’

Spreadsheet went into the bar and returned with three dozen peanuts. He divided them into 6 equal piles of 6 peanuts, each perfectly stacked into a carefully constructed pyramid.

All the men agreed that Spreadsheet was pretty smart.

But the third man, who was a chemist thought his dog could do better. He called to his dog and said, ‘Precipitate, show these guys what you can do.’

Precipitate brought out a quart of whiskey from the bar, got a 10 shot glasses and poured each shot glass to the brim without spilling a single drop.

All the men agreed that Precipitate was pretty smart.

The fourth man was a government employee – and the pressure was on.  He called to his dog and said, ‘Bureaucracy , do your stuff.’

Bureaucracy jumped to his feet

  • pooped on the paper
  • ate the peanuts
  • downed all the shots of whiskey, one after another.

When he finished the final shot, he then proceeded methodically to hump each of the other three dogs with enthusiasm previously unseen.  However, in the middle of the act with the third dog, Bureaucracy yelped and  then collapsed to the ground.  He immediately announced that he had injured his back.

Bureaucracy filed a grievance report for unsafe working conditions… applied for Workers Compensation… and went home for the rest of the week on sick leave with full pay.

AND THAT ILLUSTRATES WHY EVERYONE WANTS TO WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT!!

Jokes like this make us smile because we can recognize that the story perfectly illustrates what goes on when a “company” doesn’t have to answer to “customers”.   The business that doesn’t respect its customers is destined for closure unless that “business” is a form of government!

Unfortunately, GM has been operating their business like they’re a branch of the government for the past few decades.

The “problem” with this business model is that GM doesn’t have taxpayers which have no choice on whether or not to support the business.  Instead, GM has customers who cast their “vote” in the market place every time they purchase an automobile.

Unlike government, GM has competitors who are making cars that customers want to buy.   Unfortunately (for GM), they don’t have easy access to the US taxpayer’s tax dollars.

Fortunately, the representatives in Congress must face their own “customers ” a.k.a. the “voters” decided it was best to just say “No” to yet another charity request from a bloated inefficient business.

I personally think the uproar in Web 2.0 is part of the reason for the recent denial. I honestly think that if there hadn’t been a thousand voices speaking out in the blogosphere about the facts that the vote would have gone much differently.  Not only were blogs pointing out the fact that GM just received a huge sum as recently as in September 2008 – but they were also pointing out the fact that the unions weren’t participating in the proposed “bailout” at all.  I believe that bringing those “facts” to the public attention played a HUGE role in the vote.

If you’re wondering what all the “fuss” about blogging is all about – the information disseminated by tens of thousands of blogs may have actually changed the course of US history.

With that in mind – you might be tempted to think that perhaps a business blog, properly launched and leveraged,  might actually be a powerful and effective of a marketing tool.   Maybe your buisness blog won’t change the course of history – but it might just change the course of your business.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , ,
December 9, 2008

Disappointing customers without remorse – until the handouts begin

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could ignore, abuse and ridicule your customers and still make money?  Usually, the ability to “ignore” the economic realities of doing business is limited to giant corporations who keep running in spite of themselves.  However, a recent phenomenon is for these giant corporations to come begging for taxpayer money because they’re just too important to our economy to allow them to “go under”.

Reuters reported yesterday that GM has issued a HUGE “mea culpa” to the “American People” in yet another effort to secure more money from the government.   In the article at Reuters, GM says it “disappointed” and “betrayed” consumers:

General Motors Corp on Monday unveiled an unusually frank advertisement acknowledging it had “disappointed” and sometimes even “betrayed” American consumers as it lobbies to clinch the federal aid it needs to stay afloat into next month.

The print advertisement marked a sharp break from GM’s public stance of just several weeks ago when it sought to justify its bid for a U.S. government on the grounds that the credit crisis had undermined its business in ways executives could never have foreseen.

It also came as Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, who has led the automaker since 2000, faces new pressure to step aside as GM seeks up to $18 billion in federal funding.

GM has been making repeated trips to the government hand out trough.  Briggs Armstrong in a post at the Ludwig von Mises Institute blog points out:

It should not be forgotten that in September of 2008, Congress gave the “big three” automakers a loan totaling $25 billion. Now they are back. This time they say that with a mere $50 billion they can turn things around and become profitable in the future.

I can’t remember a time when GM cared about their pleasing their customers.   In the words of just about every business analyst on the planet – the reason GM isn’t making any  money is they aren’t making cars anyone wants to buy!

I love working with small business owners and this is why – because small business owners “get it”.  If they don’t, they’re bankrupt and broke in no time.  Meanwhile, it is going to literally take an act of Congress for GM execs to get it through their collective thick corporate heads that they need to start building cars people WANT to buy.

Remember the blockbuster movie, Transformers – released way back in 2007?  Remember the ultra HOT Camaro featured in the movie?  Remember?  Gosh – I remember.  I haven’t been passionate about a car in DECADES, yet I really wanted to own a new Camaro when I walked out of that movie.  It’s a good thing I couldn’t walk out of the theater and buy one because there would be on sitting in my driveway right now if GM had played their cards right.

Instead 2009 is almost upon us and  you may be able to finally drive one next spring.  That’s right – spring of  2009.   Oh, and instead of featuring the 2010 Camaro in another blockbuster action movie (been there, done that) , the dolts in charge of marketing are giving you a sneak peak during a third rate network television show “My Own Worst Enemy”.  (Is that show still ON television?  Hasn’t it been cancelled yet?)

Can you imagine Naomi Dunford promoting her Online Business School and then waiting two YEARS to release it for sale?  If Naomi were to adopt such an idiotic marketing strategy, you’d seriously doubt her marketing acumen – yet that’s the rule rather than the exception over at GM.

Long live small business!  Long live the small business owners who “get it” and who product products and services that people want to buy!

Filed Under: Small Business Success Secret Tagged With: , , ,
December 1, 2008

Small Business Marketing Strategy & Tactics

Most of the posts Steps to Starting a Small Business series focus upon the marketing of your small business.  If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, the focus on marketing as an essential part of starting a small business may come as a huge disappointment to you.  If you were hoping to start a small business without spending a majority of your time and effort on marketing your business – um, well consider this your wake up call.

Creating a strategic marketing strategy is perhaps the most ESSENTIAL step in starting a small business.   Creating a marketing strategy is different than chasing marketing tactics.  A marketing strategy is essentially knowing what you’re selling and to whom you’d like to sell it.  A marketing TACTIC is nothing more than a way in which you’re going to achieve your marketing strategy.

Your marketing strategy is knowing what you’re selling and to whom you’re selling it to.  I know this sounds “simplistic” but it’s really surprising how often this most basic of business building steps is overlooked. (For an amusing illustration of a BIG company who really missed the mark on this one – read Cath Lawson’s Does Your Business Really Understand People? )

Which brings me to this essential point:

A blog can be a GREAT marketing “tactic” but it’s a LOUSY marketing strategy!

It’s why so many small businesses create websites that do absolutely nothing!  A website, whether it’s a blog or any other style of website, must be a marketing tool which you put to use to achieve your marketing strategy.

When you know WHO you want to sell your products or services to, then you need to find a way to let the people you want to sell your products and services to know that you have what they want or need.    That’s where a blog or website comes in!

In creating a blog or website that works, begin by finding a keyword combination people are actually USING to find products and services you offer.

This is frequently where the wheels fall off for most small business owners.    If you don’t know WHO your target audience is, there’s no way of knowing WHAT WORDS they are using to find solutions on the internet.

Talk about trying to find a needle in the haystack – try finding keywords when you don’t have a target audience in mind!

That’s why choosing a target audience is an essential part of crafting your marketing strategy.  When you have a target audience in mind,  you can then set out to find the words those people are using to find information on the internet.

Now comes the “easy” part.  This is where you create posts for your blog with your target audience in mind where you talk about the problems they’re having and how YOU offer the solutions they need.

Yes, marketing a small business is REALLY that “simple” – but if you’ve tried it you know that while it’s simple, it’s anything but “easy”.

If you’re struggling with the task of marketing your small business, it’s probably because you don’t have a marketing strategy in place.   I know, I know – you didn’t start your [insert your business product or service] because you wanted to spend your time on “marketing”.   However, marketing is an essential step to starting a small business.

Filed Under: starting a small business Tagged With: , , ,
July 28, 2008

A Day in the Life of a Designer

This is what it’s really like to work with clients, especially corporate clients.

Thanks to Alan Weiss who offers this video as the reason why he doesn’t do OD consulting. Obviously, when working with clients, we all face the same challenges whether you’re a blog theme designer, a graphic designer or an freelance writer.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU9YeOQm3Y0[/youtube]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , ,