Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

Case in point - a Philadelphia area communications and design firm whose list I have been on for more than 7 years. They have never - NEVER as in NOT ONCE - sent me a single solitary message that was relevant to me, my business, my marketing, my design needs, or my ANYTHING. Not a shred of value in sight. Zilch. Nada. None.

Every single flippin' email blast they send out is about THEM, THEIR awards, THEIR staff, THEIR media mentions. I mean it's over-the-top ridiculous. I could go on and tell you - but I'd rather SHOW YOU...

For some bizarre reason, I'm removing their name to protect the guilty. I dunno - maybe it's the holiday spirit of thankfulness that I'm not this big of an IDIOT myself. (See previous post on the Real IDIOT's Guide to Social Media for the backstory on this acronym.)

I've used green bold text to show each instance of "I, me, my" syndrome in this incredibly self-centered, years-long and completely ineffective email marketing approach.

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Subject: Good things come in three for IDIOT Design+Communications 

Good things come in three for IDIOT Design+Communications
25th Anniversary, ranked 7th and scholarship winner 

[Unnamed town], PA - November 21, 2011 - IDIOT Design+Communications (ID+C), a brand design firm, is proud to announce three major milestones for the company. 

ID+C celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2011.  What started as a freelance graphic design job in 1986 has grown into a full service design agency serving the Northeast corridor from Virginia to New York. Their expertise includes integrative brand campaigns that span internal and external audiences. Branding initiatives include brand touch points that create and spark perception of brand positioning. ID+C specializes in employee communications and internal branding. According to President and founder, Susan Idiot, "I would have never imaged owning my own graphic design and communication business. It is the support of long-term clients and friends that has allowed me to do the work I love and for that, I am grateful." ID+C built their reputation in the industry on strong partnerships and would like to take this opportunity to thank each of their clients. 

Ranked 7th Among Philadelphia Design Firms  In July, the company was ranked Number 7 in the 2011 Philadelphia Business Journal among Graphic Design firms in the Philadelphia region.    

[Blah blah Name Changed here too] Executive Scholarship ID+C wishes to extend a special thank you to Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) for their continued support and for awarding Susan Idiot the [Blah blah Name Changed] Executive Scholarship. Idiot used the opportunity to attend Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management's Executive Program on Branding. From elite scholars in marketing to an international contingency of fellow business owners and branding professionals, Susan Idiot gained invaluable insights into branding strategy. As a result, ID+C can assist its clients to discover and express their brands' positions and future direction in a dynamic, global marketplace.         

IDIOT Design +Communications
address block
website
phone number
Susan Idiot

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Questions for YOU:

• Is this the kind of email you would pass along to your best business colleagues?
• Would you be motivated to go through your database and see who else could benefit from such a terrific email newsletter?
• Would you rush to your web browser and immediately check out their site to see what OTHER valuable resources they have to offer you?
• Finally, would YOU give these people your email address so they could spam you with their accomplishments, awards, milestones, and anniversaries and spend nary a second in 7 whole years talking about branding, advertising, communications, or marketing ideas that might help you, your organization, or your career?

Yeah... me neither. Click. Unsubscribe. Bye, bye.

BOTTOM LINE: Don't let this happen to you.

What do YOU think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your thoughts on "I, me, my" Syndrome or share a success story of more prospect-centered email marketing! 

Every day here at Do It! Marketing HQ, we work hard to make sure the clients we love are extremely happy with our work and our results. At the same time, we work hard to keep OUT clients who will make us nuts, sap our energy, or for whom it will be impossible to do our best work.

In this spirit, here is today's marketing concept: Your Client GPS tool (Goofball Prevention Screening)

A client may well prove to be a Goofball if they…

1. Lack high standards of excellence – Good enough is good enough…
2. Don’t care about increasing their knowledge – Not committed to becoming valuable resources to their own clients and customers…
3. Refuse to work hard and commit to their own success – Lack persistence and are unwilling to try new things to achieve results…
4. Think they already know everything – And are unwilling to accept help in expanding their skills, expertise, or capabilities…
5. Resist investing in themselves and their business – They fail to understand that this is the best investment of all…
6. Operate from a mindset of fear and scarcity – They can’t make good decisions long-term because they are so risk-averse in the short term…
7. Won’t (or can’t) pay their bills – Their lack of financial responsibility spills over onto others in the form of late payment, non-payment, and endless excuses…
8. Exude negative energy – Negative self-talk, pessimism and cynicism repel new opportunities, new partners, and new ideas (all vital to success)…
9. Can’t commit to mutually supportive relationships – In business and in life, the most successful people don’t make it alone…

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!

1. I'm scared to...

2. They won't let me...

3. It sounds too simple...

4. It sounds too complicated...

5. I'll never find the time to...

6. Sounds crazy...

7. I've never done anything like that before...

8. I've done that a bunch of times...

9. It'll turn everybody off...

10. I don't know how...

11. That's not the way we do things around here...

12. It's too expensive...

13. It's too far-fetched...

14. I need another 6 months to test it...

15. I need to be 100% sure...

16. It's not perfect yet...

17. People will say I'm foolish...

18. People will say I'm crazy...

19. I would never buy something like this myself...

20. I don't know...

21. I'm not ready...

22. I'm not smart enough...

23. I don't have the right degrees and certifications...

24. What's the exit strategy?

25. The competition is already way ahead of us...

26. We can't just pick up and start...

27. The other guys are bigger...

28. The other guys have more money...

29. The other guys are so well-connected...

30. It'll never work...

31. Maybe next year...

Which one(s) of these scare YOU the most? Please use the comments area below to share your SCARIEST source of fear, uncertainty and doubt... so we can overcome them TOGETHER!

Want to blow past all these scary excuses and tackle your most important marketing, sales and business growth TO-DO items all in a single, super-focused day? Check out DO IT DAYS and join us for the next one.

Welcome to the first in a series of powerful marketing concepts... you can call them riffs, sound bites, or guiding principles.

When folks come to us for marketing mentoring, marketing speaking, or our done-with-you marketing services, the first place we begin is to help them operationalize one or more of these marketing concepts.

If YOU try them, you'll be amazed with your results. (And when that happens, please stop by here again to leave a comment and share your success stories!!)

The first one is among the most powerful - and it's the marketing concept of overcoming inertia.

Marketing Concept: Get Started - Now!

Starting.

Moving.

Implementing.

Executing.

DOING!

As my motivational speaker friend Scott Ginsberg likes to say, "You don't need an idea - you need an I DID."

No matter how small the action - stop planning and start DOING. Only action creates results.

Scottish mountain climber W. H. Murray wrote:

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way."

Whatever your big idea happens to be - writing your book - launching your product - kicking off your new service - shipping your insanely great software - putting on your amazing conference - reinventing your career - birthing your awesome project - embarking on your new adventure...

Get Started - Now!!

I got a phone call a few days ago from my friend Steve who is a fellow independent professional. He said to me at the beginning of the call, "David, I'm calling you as a reference."

So I'm thinking, "OK, he wants to hire someone I've worked with or someone I know - perhaps even a client of mine whose testimonial he saw on my website."

I say, "Steve, what can I do for you?"

And then he mentions someone's name. Let's call this person Larry. Now I like Larry and he's a good guy - perhaps a little confused about his marketing and messaging... and frankly that's OK because Larry is NOT a client of mine (although I've given him plenty of chances!)

Steve stops me and says, "No, no... I don't want to hire Larry. Larry wants to hire me. I'm calling you to ask you what kind of client do you think he would be?"

Wow. It's not a consultant reference, speaker reference, or service provider reference - Steve was asking me (essentially) "Would this guy be a good client?" FYI Steve saw me connected to Larry through LinkedIn and some other social media sites.

Lessons for YOU:

• We live in a hyper-connected world
• People DO read your social media profiles
• People DO judge you on the "company you keep" both online and off
• If you're a pain in the ass - as a consultant, speaker, vendor, partner, OR client... word will spread faster than you can imagine
• The top people in their field (ahem, YOU) do not have the bandwidth nor the interest to work with folks who are a pain in the butt
• YOU can't afford to be a pain in the butt on EITHER side of the professional services buying equation

Comments? What do you think? Have you had some experiences to share along these lines? Would love to hear from you in the Comments section below...

Guest column by Tom Marin, Orlando Business Journal

Brand marketing is facing a power-shift in today's marketplace. Customers want to be part of a brand's direction and development.

Listening to their expectations can determine your firm's level of success. To take full advantage of today's market share, companies will need to "lose" control of their marketing strategy to ultimately gain it, by embracing this powerful dynamic of customer expectations.

Fifty years ago, there weren't the number of brands or media choices there are today. The market is filled with brands, sub-brands, cross-brands, and strategic-brand partnerships. Add to that list the ever-increasing media choices, including Internet marketing, and it's difficult to make a minor change to a brand that will affect top-line sales significantly.

Investing in cutting-edge, no-cost and low-cost promotional tools for branding ideas will allow you to market your company profitably.

Consider these suggestions for energizing your brand in today's marketplace:

• Create uniqueness. Uniqueness is a brand's No. 1 asset. The greater the brand uniqueness, the higher its score in market share. And those brands that create a unique brand category usually become the leaders. What comes to mind when you consider: theme park, soft drink or overnight delivery? Most likely it is Disney, Coke and FedEx. They are the recognized leaders, though there are other brands in their categories. Your brand's uniqueness can be determined by completing this sentence: Our (brand name) is the only (product category) that (does what).

• Replace repetition with interactive promotions. A common branding strategy is repetition of the brand message to build awareness. This strategy is not as effective as interactive promotions. For example, a 30-day trial use, a sample pack, an on-premise presentation or a portion of the service you offer are all effective interactive strategies. They allow customers to discover the benefits of your brand and move closer to making a purchase decision than the repetitious sales pitch provides.

• Replace outbound marketing with inbound branding. Traditional methods of outbound marketing include telemarketing, voicemail campaigns, e-mails and direct marketing. These standard marketing strategies have become less effective because people use spam-ware, caller ID, firewall devices and the "circular file" to eliminate them. Internet searches have become a primary source for obtaining product information. Popular Web sites such as Google and Yahoo are tapping the exploding volume of today's online buyer.

To increase your potential customer base, consider using these methods:

1. Publish articles on Web sites that are relevant to your target audience.

2. Write book reviews on related topics for Web sites such as Amazon.com.

3. Publicize your brand on Web sites like prnewswire.com and prweb.com.

4. Increase your online identity with listings on LinkedIn, ZoomInfo, Ziggs, Naymz and others.

• Replace monolithic marketing with customer-centric branding. Don't be a follower. If you're trying to overtake a brand leader, don't emulate their strategies. Create your own. And let your strategy strike at the heart of what your key customers want. Of course, knowing what they want will be paramount to your success, so ask them.

• Don't plan for overnight success. If someone offered me $10 million to help them launch a successful brand tomorrow, I'd tell them instead to give me $1 million and five years to make their brand successful. Understanding this dynamic of time, I'll bring home the bacon based on what prospective customers want.

Accepting and using this branding power-shift between you and your customer will allow you to involve their needs in your strategy and, in time, will establish your brand successfully. Their involvement offers them new reasons for becoming a loyal customer.

As a marketing speaker and marketing coach, I've seen firsthand that there are three kinds of service business owners and independent professionals - which one are YOU?

1. You may have NO thought-leadership products and wish you did (audios, ebooks, high-value binders,client-pulling premium special reports, etc)...

2. You may have a published book through which you're selling your life's work for $20 a pop and you realize that's not smart professionally or financially...

3. You may have a mix of professionally published and self-published work both electronic and hardcopy but you want a NEW high-value information product that better reflects your current niche, expertise, or opens up an entirely NEW market for your services...and you want it FAST!

Good news...The NEW Product Development Toolkit 8-week group coaching program kicks off on May 10 and you're among the first to hear the details...

http://www.ProductDevelopmentToolkit.com

Somehow, some way, you want to grow your business so you get:

• MORE Leads
• MORE Clients
• MORE Consulting Work
• MORE Professional Services Engagements
• MORE Profits
• MORE Passive Income
• and 100-300% MORE Revenue...

Which will in turn, help you generate:

• MORE Cashflow
• MORE Control
• MORE Products and Services
• MORE Subscribers
• MORE Time Off
• MORE Leverage
• and dramatically MORE Freedom...

Just like YOU, I know what that feels like!

And as a marketing speaker, marketing coach,and former VP of Product Development for a $5 million revenue infopublishing company, I want to show YOU how to enhance your cashflow, grow your client base, and increase your leverage by helping YOU create your NEXT information product FAST.

http://www.ProductDevelopmentToolkit.com

The Product Development Toolkit is perfect for:

1. Experts who have finally realized that givingaway all their information in $20 books iskeeping them broke;

2. Executives fed up with the rat race, who want to start a business built on their personal orprofessional experience and expertise;

3. Professional speakers who are stuck in thebroken business model of chasing after a different audience for speeches every week;

4. Consultants who are stuck in the trading-hours-for-money trap;

5. Independent professionals who want to build their practice, establish their brand, and break away from the pack of "Same-o, Lame-o" competitors.

You'll get a customized product CREATION *and* product MARKETING toolkit that FITS, WORKS and LASTS... and you're also getting the help and support you need over time to IMPLEMENT it to create RESULTS.

Details and application information is onlinefor you here...

http://www.ProductDevelopmentToolkit.com

I look forward to hearing from you if you're one ofthe FEW smart, brave, and committed entrepreneurs who want more leverage, more momentum, more clients, and more fun in your professional services business...Not someday - but right now.

SPECIAL DEAL: As a reader of this blog, you're also getting a $100 discount on Dan Janal's Guaranteed Press Release Service where he will make sure your press release appears on at least 40 media sites with links pointing back to your site -- or its free! Normal price: $795. Your special price: Only $695.  For info, go to www.PressReleaseSender.com and put "David Newman" in the "referrer" box and you'll be mailed a check for $100 for your discount.

Not sure about sending a press release? Get Dan's free report on "How to Get Guaranteed Publicity with Press Releases" at http://www.pressreleasesender.com

What better way to position yourself as a thought leader than to have 40 or more high-traffic media sites SHOWCASE your expertise?

Hope you'll take advantage of BOTH of these opportunities to significantly boost your thought leadership platform!

Recently, two additional Do It! Marketing team members earned their Inbound Marketing Certified Professional designation - Catherine Bernard and Dusty Meehan.

In order to receive the Inbound Marketing Certification, the recipient must attend a variety of courses and pass a comprehensive certification exam, demonstrating subject matter expertise in the following areas:

• Advanced Search Engine Optimization and Ranking Improvement Strategies
• How to Blog Effectively for Businesses
• Social Media and Building Community
• Business Applications for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other Social Networks
• Viral Marketing and World-Wide Raves
• Creating Strong Calls to Action and Effective Landing Pages
• Inbound Lead Nurturing (Turning Leads into Sales)
• Successful Email Marketing
• Analyzing Results and Demonstrating ROI

This certification demonstrates our expanding commitment to serving our community of professional speakers, consultants, coaches, trainers, experts, authors, and thought-leading service business owners as their "instant infrastructure" team combining:

• Inbound marketing services to make the phone ring and fill your calendar in the best possible way (when you get THEM to call YOU!)
• Offline thought-leadership marketing through article placement in leading trade, professional, and industry publications of your target market, webinars, teleseminars, guest interviews, and other hand-selected opportunities
• Admin/backoffice service and support for upselling, cross-selling, and stimulating repeat and referral business from buyers, audiences, and past clients

If you'd like to learn more about how we can help YOU generate more leads, better prospects, and bigger sales - visit Done-for-You Marketing for Speakers, Consultants, and Experts.

p.s. It's also a great way to fill your calendar with LESS time, effort, energy, and drudgery.

Guest post by Rick Burnes

Inbound Marketing is marketing focused on getting found by customers.

In traditional marketing (outbound marketing) companies focus on finding customers. They use techniques that are poorly targeted and that interrupt people. They use cold-calling, print advertising, T.V. advertising, junk mail, spam and trade shows.

Technology is making these techniques less effective and more expensive. Caller ID blocks cold calls, TiVo makes T.V. advertising less effective, spam filters block mass emails and tools like RSS are making print and display advertising less effective. It's still possible to get a message out via these channels, but it costs more.

Inbound Marketers flip outbound marketing on its head.

Instead of interrupting people with television ads, they create videos that potential customers want to see. Instead of buying display ads in print publications, they create their own blog that people subscribe to and look forward to reading. Instead of cold calling, they create useful content and tools so that people call them looking for more information.

Instead of driving their message into a crowd over and over again like a sledgehammer, they attract highly qualified customers to their business like a magnet:

The most successful Inbound Marketing campaigns have three key components:

(1) Content - Content is the substance of any Inbound Marketing campaign. It is the information or tool that attracts potential customers to your site or your business.

(2) Search Engine Optimization - SEO makes it easier for potential customers to find your content. It is the practice of building your site and inbound links to your site to maximize your ranking in search engines, where most of your customers begin their buying process.

(3) Social Media - Social media amplifies the impact of your content. When your content is distributed across and discussed on networks of personal relationships, it becomes more authentic and nuanced, and is more likely to draw qualified customers to your site.

Why Inbound Marketing Makes Sense in a Recession

As the economy slows down, companies are turning to Inbound Marketing because it is a more efficient way of allocating marketing resources than traditional, outbound marketing. As our CEO, Brian Halligan, puts it, when you're inbound marketing, the thickness of your brain matters a lot more than the thickness of your wallet.

There are three specific ways Inbound Marketing improves on the efficiency of traditional marketing:

(1) It Costs Less - Outbound marketing means spending money - either by buying ads, buying email lists or renting huge booths at trade shows. Inbound Marketing means creating content and talking about it. A blog costs nothing to start. A Twitter account is free, too. Both can draw thousands of customers to your site.  The marketing ROI from inbound campaigns is higher.

(2) Better Targeting - Techniques like cold-calling, mass mail and email campaigns are notoriously poorly targeted. You're reaching out to individuals because of one or two attributes in a database. When you do Inbound Marketing, you only approach people who self-qualify themselves. They demonstrate an interest in your content, so they are likely to be interested in your product.

(3) It's an Investment, Not an Ongoing Expense - When you buy pay-per-click advertising on search engines, its value is gone as soon as you pay for it. In order to maintain a position at the top of Google's paid results, you have to keep paying. However, if you invest that money in quality content that ranks in Google's organic results, you'll be there until somebody displaces you.

p.s. If you'd like some personalized help - and your very own customized marketing and sales toolkit PLUS an easy-to-implement inbound marketing game plan with 1-on-1 guidance for 90 days, get all the details here.

• Leadership Skills
• Teambuilding
• Motivation
• Supervisory Skills
• Customer Service
• Meeting Facilitation
• Process Improvement

• Healthcare
• Corporate
• Financial Services
• Small Business Owners
• Entrepreneurs
• Non-Profit
• Faith-Based Organizations
• Anyone who wants to maximize potential, overcome obstacles & achieve goals

• Architectural drawings
• Building plans
• Hammering
• Screwdriving
• Framing
• Drywalling
• Plumbing/HVAC
• Roofing

• Tall people
• Short people
• Families
• People who want a new house
• People who'd like to move
• Caucasians
• African Americans
• Asian Americans
• Latinos
• Anyone who wants a house they can call a home, a roof over their heads, and to obtain housing

MARKETING TIP: Nobody CARES about YOU and what YOU do! They want to hear about the outcomes. Outcomes go way beyond features, benefits, processes, and methodologies.

Sell me on the HOUSE and what my life will be like when I've moved in, or have guests over, or have a picnic, or retire.

Talk about ME, MY life, and what MY experience of your product/service will be. That's all I really care about!

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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.