Virtual Impax

Effective Strategic Digital Marketing

Building your business

First Impressions and the Placebo Effect

by

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.

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

by

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.

Everything’s relative… setting your life thermostat

by

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?

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

by

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?

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

by

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!