Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

Top 5 Tips for Twitter:

1. Listen and learn. As with other social media, the most important first step is to listen to the conversations. See what people are talking about in your industry on Twitter. The daily thoughts of so many people can be an incredibly rich source of new ideas for products and services.
2. Publish valuable news and information. Only after you've listened and understand the style and etiquette of Twitter communications should you consider creating an account and posting content. An easy starting point is to publish regular news and updates that you already distribute via other channels.
3. Distribute promotions. Some companies are finding that Twitter is an effective channel for sending out promotional messages. Timely sales and coupons are easy to distribute on Twitter, and the fast nature of the Twitterverse means that people can respond to the promotions quickly. Note: Keep offers and promotions to LESS than 20% of your tweets, otherwise you'll come off like a sleazy peddler rather than a trusted partner. 
4. Create or extend your brand personality. Ultimately, Twitter is far more valuable for distributing your brand personality than it is for merely delivering your content. Social media is social. Be a person first. 
5. Engage in conversations and customer service. Twitter is about conversations, not monologues. Twitter is about talking with people, not merely at them. Engage, thank, respond and reciprocate.
    

Top 5 Tips for LinkedIn:

1. Use LinkedIn Groups & stimulate new leads daily with value-first outreach.
2. Ask questions & build your credibility using LinkedIn status updates.
3. Create powerful events and promote them to relevant groups.
4. Run an advanced search to find buyers, prospects, and advocates in your target market.
5. Once you find leads, send personalized messages and connect 1-to-1 as real people, not as “targets.”
    

Top 5 Tips for Facebook:

1. Define your target market. Every online effort that will actually get you results starts with knowing exactly who your perfect clients are.
2. Connect with people in your target market. For every action you take on Facebook, ask yourself how doing this helps you connect and network with people in your target market.
3. Get and stay active. Facebook marketing will only work for you if you are active. Don't engage in "drive-by" activity and expect long-term results.
4. Share valuable tips and ideas. A big part of your Facebook marketing should be promoting and sharing your expertise – not pitching and peddling your wares
5. Start a Facebook business page. Start one if you don't have one yet. It's a great forum for discussion, answering questions, and building community.
    

Your Simple Social Media Marketing Plan:

Here is exactly what you need to do - step by step - to help you and your organization maximize the basics in your social media gameplan:

• Calendarize your social media tactics in less than 30 minutes a day
• Organize your social media priorities behind one of three main purposes (sharing resources, building relationships, engaging in reciprocity)
• Operationalize your social media game plan with time-saving tools such as TweetAdder, BufferApp, and ping.fm
• Leverage and grow the impact of all your social media efforts and assets

Remember – if you start small, stick to your plan and your calendar, learn as you go, and adjust your game plan based on your results, your social media strategies WILL pay off for you and for your organization!

Tags: Marketing speaker, marketing coach, social media gameplan, top 5 social media tips, marketing for speakers, marketing for authors

What do YOU think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on effectively using social media WITHOUT going bonkers...

Imagine a new and different kind of professional gathering focused on bringing together GOOD people doing GREAT work... to collaborate, cross-pollinate, get connected and get inspired with each other.

The BADASS Conference:

BAD: For Top Dogs in Business | Arts | Digital

ASS: Audience = Speakers = Sponsors

That's the BADASS Conference. And YOU are warmly invited... soon. The Kickstarter campaign is just now getting its finishing touches and we should be ready to launch by Nov. 1... the event itself will be right here in Philadelphia, the Cradle of Liberty. It's a 2.5-day collection of AWESOMENESS happening in March 2013.

Meanwhile, you should know where this is all coming from.

Our foundational curiosity is...

What if we re-invented the conference format using the notion of "theater for business"?

More excitement, more energy, and one hell of an ensemble (starring YOU) giving it their all.

Or what would Comic-Con for business look like?

More possibilities... but the risk is that you won't "get it" or that you'd feel safer with a pre-set agenda filled with talking head keynote speakers and random breakout sessions that 99% of other conferences have. We don't do that. So you might not come.

Our core complaint is...

Most conferences and professional meetings fail to deliver lasting value. Still worse, they leave meaningful connections completely to chance. And they have no significant impact on the lives of attendees... and the role of those attendees is far too passive, too marginalized, and too much like watching bad TV without even the privilege of changing channels.

Perhaps you like watching late night reruns of COPS with the remote buried under those containers of old Chinese food on your sofa. Perhaps you're mouthing your words as you read this.

It's time to shake things up...

Our vision is a new kind of professional gathering: one that is for, by and about YOU, the participant.

Our risks are small, the challenges somewhat greater but certainly manageable.

The BADASS Conference is truly an UN-conference. Take your normal expectations and flip them upside down -- for example:

Most conferences have...

★ Glitzy website: We have www.Unconference.com
★ Overblown session promos: We don't know what'll happen til we get together for the Roundtable and Peer Session Signup.
★ Big name speakers: At our events, every participant is eligible to speak. The group decides. That's why it's called a PEER conference.
★ Ultra-expensive fees ($2,500-$7,500): We like deals so we're between 86%-95% off. Eat that, TED!
★ Elitist feel: Our audience (aka YOU) is always front and center. 'Nuff said.
★ Benefit the lucky: We benefit the Badass (aka YOU!)
★ All talk, no action: We build individual and group reflection and action steps directly into the event.
★ One-off vs. community: The relationships, connections and collaborations you start here will last long after you get home and will become a permanent professional asset.

You want in? If you're up for it, we'd love to have you join us.

Leave a comment in the COMMENTS section below and I'll let you know as soon as the Kickstarter campaign goes live...

And thank you in advance for spreading the word.  

Avish Parashar has just released a new book titled, "Say Yes, And!" and he has a great special offer for people who buy the book by midnight tonight, Feb. 28.  

The book takes a fundamental principle from improv comedy - saying "yes, and" instead of "yes, but" - and shows you how that one simple idea can help you improve your career, your business, your relationships, and your life.  

As a special promotion, if you buy the book today, February 28th, you'll get access to over $200 in free gifts, including PDF versions of two of Avish's other books and over 8 hours of MP3 recordings of some of Avish's most popular audio programs. That's over $200 in gifts in return for buying a $12.95 book.  

To get the book and the free gifts, visit http://www.SayYesAnd.com

p.s. Here's my review from amazon.com:

First I have to tell you - I'm a business book junkie. I read 'em all. Big ones, little ones, famous ones, and hidden gems. All topics including sales, marketing, leadership, strategy, the how-to, the what-to, and the why-to kind.

And this books stands out.

Plain and simple, Avish Parashar packages essential wisdom, insights, and practical advice into a small concentrated form factor.

But don't be fooled - this is life-changing stuff.

One small turn in what you think and what you say CAN and WILL make a huge impact. Example after example pours out of this book and will soon spark ideas and memories in your own mind of times you took charge and created success - and other times when you chose the "Yes but" path and created your own obstacles, limits, and barriers.

Whether you are a business owner, corporate executive, sales professional, association executive, or non-profit leader, this book is for YOU. Filled with immediately actionable insights and concrete take-aways, this little book may trigger the biggest and best changes your team, your organization, and your results will ever experience.

Tell you what - STOP reading Amazon reviews of this great little book, say "YES AND I'll buy it right now." In fact, you may want to buy three - one for yourself, one for your boss, and one for the significant other in your life. Yes (and) the ideas in this book work as powerfully at home as they do at work!!

A few years back, J.M. Smucker topped the list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" compiled by the Great Place to Work Institute and published annually in Fortune magazine.

Their extremely simple code of conduct (and the foundation of their strong corporate culture) is as follows:

• Listen with your full attention
• Look for the good in others
• Have a sense of humor
• Say thank you for a job well done

See, it's simple! No big words.

No "mission/vision/gobbledygook."

And what is most interesting to me is that the "corporate code" above is not corporate at all -- it's PERSONAL. It addresses the way each individual person is expected to BEHAVE (not think - but ACT).

What's the corporate code where you work?
Is there a difference between the written code (on the wall in the lobby, perhaps?) and the way people really treat each other? Click in the COMMENTS section below and let's discuss...

===
David Newman is a marketing speaker and marketing coach who works with professionals who want to do a better job of marketing so they get more leads, better prospects, and bigger sales.

• Building a coaching culture that promotes candor and dialogue
• Linking strategy, structure, processes, values and human resources
• Balancing strategy and tactics
• Developing road maps for strategic planning and implementation at all levels
• Identifying and developing future high-potential leaders ("HiPos")
• Business literacy and management skills for new managers
• Performance-based coaching and feedback skills for managers and execs
• Persuasion, political savvy, managing without authority, managing upward
• Building "bench strength" in anticipation of the next labor shortage as the economy recovers
• Developing a bottom-line accountable culture
• Motivating workers in uncertain times

What's YOUR take on the list above? Please SHARE and DISCUSS in the comments section below...

The Challenge

Too often, professional services firms:

• Do marketing “by accident” or don’t do outbound marketing effectively
• Hope that “prospects will call us when they need us”
• Never know where their next lead is coming from
• Don’t market using their best asset – thought leadership
• Throw too many dollars into a “marketing black hole”

The Opportunity

Independent research with over 700 professional services firms proves that the #1 source of new business is “Making warm calls to existing clients” – and #2 and #3 are “Speaking at conferences and trade shows” and “Running our own seminars and events” yet if yours is like the majority of firms, you haven’t yet cracked the code on how to make this work for YOUR people to attract YOUR clients.

More research shows that 52-72% of B2B professional services BUYERS are willing to switch to new service providers across a spectrum of specialties. (Wellesley Hills Group, 2009 What’s Working in Lead Generation professional services market study)

Meaning: You’re always ONE good presentation away from closing new business.

The Payoff

Professional services firms and thought leaders within large companies can often do a MUCH better job in the following areas:

• Design and deliver a client-magnet presentation

• Generate leads without being salesy

• Use Before-During-After marketing to stay top of mind

• Maximize profits on a shoestring marketing budget

• Generate more leads, better prospects and bigger sales using irresistible offers and high-integrity techniques

...and in my experience working with clients like this, it does NOT take huge amounts of work; small, targeted shifts in your packaging, promotion, messaging, and followup makes all the difference (which we usually nail down over the course of 1 or 2 days together and then the floodgates open!)

Last Word: Marketing Skills vs. Presentation Skills

A decent presentation built for marketing and sales results will outperform a brilliant presentation built for a “standing ovation” or praise from your local Toastmaster’s club or high marks from a presentation skills coach.

Bottom line: I don’t care if you become a great speaker. I do very much care that you become a good speaker who consistently generates more leads, better prospects, and bigger sales each time you present in front of a roomful of potential buyers.

What do you think? Fire off some thoughts, comments, or questions in the COMMENTS section below. Let's talk about this one...

As a motivational speaker in the area of marketing and business development, I'm often asked by CEOs and business owners about how they can be better leaders of their internal marketing efforts. 

My answer is you can't be a great marketing leader unless you're first a great leader.

Here are some guidelines that the best leaders across all disciplines have come to recognize as foundational to their leadership success and that I share with you for the benefit of your own marketing success:

1. Expect the best from people you lead.
2. Become fully aware of others' needs.
   
3. Establish high standards of excellence; communicate them
   clearly and often.
4. Create an environment where failure is not fatal.
   
5. Climb on other people's bandwagons if they're going
   anywhere near the neighborhood you want to go.
6. Employ stories, examples, analogies, and models to
   encourage success.
   
7. Use a balanced mix of positive and negative feedback in
   a constructive spirit and with specific substance.
   
8. Appeal sparingly (or not at all) to competitive or
   aggressive impulses.
   
9. Encourage and reward collaboration.
10. Build into the group an allowance for healthy conflict
    and "fights" around issues, not around personalities.
    
11. Recognize and celebrate achievement.
    
12. Take steps to keep your own level of motivation genuine
    and high

You could pay a marketing coach or ad agency or brand consultant BIG bucks to create (or recreate) your brand. A word of advice: DON'T!

You need a snappy name. Something sharp, clever, clear, and concise. Something you’d be proud to have your fans and customers display on a t-shirt, coffee mug or bumper sticker. You want to be the go-to resource – no – you want to be the rock star in your profession or industry. And you’re just one strong branding step away – you can almost TASTE it!!!

But you’re not smart enough to do it yourself.

Oops, wait a minute… yes you are.

Fact is, a lot of advertising agency types and “branding gurus” are simply overpriced hacks. Shocking, I know… you’re stunned that coming up with a cool name for your new services, programs, and products could be simple, straightforward, and easy.

Well, sit down with a nice hot cup of your favorite caffeinated beverage and strap in – ‘cuz you’re getting my secret stash of branding whoop-ass.

Take your topic or product or service (Leadership or Cookies or HVAC or Recruiting or Plastics) and add one or more of these brand building blocks. Some stand alone – some work in combination with others. Sometimes you’ll want to put the building block BEFORE your service/product and sometimes it will sound better AFTER. Play with these – they’re my gift to you.

Instant Branding Toolkit

Market
Exchange
Zip
Zap
Focus
Momentum
Fun
Power
Professional
Savvy
Smarts
Sense
Action
Pyramid
Dive
Redline
RPM
GPS
Roundtable
Summit
Slide
Swing
Sandbox
Playground
Monkey
Chimp
Rhino
Hippo
Gazelle
Tiger
Lion
Shark
Dolphin
Insights
Forum
Café
Center
Storm
Success
Life
Mojo
Club
Hub
Lounge
Launchpad
Library
Archive
Free ____ tips
Free ____ tools
Tips
Tools
Toolbox
Toolkit
Club
Network
Posse
Bakery
Mashup
Focus
Resource
Queen
King
Flyer
Circle
Gameplan
Blueprint
Treasure chest
Strategies
Tactics
Secrets
Profits
Revealed
Disco
Party
Pantry
Bakeshop
Factory
Foundry
Vortex
Nexus
Universe
Galaxy
World
Planet
Star
Done right
Made easy
Cocktail
Bar
Game
Advise
Monitor
Puppy
Daddy
Mama
Baby
Zoom
Boom
Direct
Show
Thunder
Undercover
After hours
After dark
Agent
Sauce
Juice
Jazz
Page
Letter
Book
Cruise
Action
Roadmap
Max
Navigator
Gps
Master
Accelerator
Advisor
Lightning
Bullseye
Profits
Revenues
Hang out
Shout
Scream
Bam
Mall
Feast
Meal
Lunch
Zone
Poop
Scoop
Machine
Force
Onramp
Route
Highway
Express
Check
Box
Square
Speed
Accelerate
Compass
University
U
College
Academy
Institute
First
Prime
One

I'm looking forward to buying from the following businesses in the very near future... maybe one of these will be yours:

• The Cookie Machine
• The Video Advisor
• CareerNavigator
• SalesGPS
• Coffee Hangout
• Guitars After Dark
• The Fitness Foundry

And if you end up using something you create with this list as your new brand, do me a favor – please make a generous donation to your favorite charity. Even a tiny fraction of what you would have paid the “ad agency” will make a BIG difference to the non-profit of your choice. If you don’t have any particular good cause in mind, here are three I recommend:

http://www.acumenfund.org     
http://www.roomtoread.org
http://nsafoundation.org

Rock on, you do-it-yourself brander, you!!

Do you like this list? Want to Tweet it? Quote it? Add to it? Use the comments area below and let's hear what's in YOUR can of branding whoop-ass!!

And then leave a comment below with your questions, thoughts, and advice on the ideas above.

Are you a DO IT freak? Welcome to the club!! Please use the social media buttons at the top of this post to share it with your network. YOU are a rock star!