Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

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 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.

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...

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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.

In my marketing seminars, we spend about 10 minutes talking about what I call "canvas size." And my point is that most people's canvas is too small. Sometimes WAY too small.

To indulge the analogy for a minute, most folks can fingerpaint just as well as others... they just limit themselves to those small little 3x3 canvasses you can get at the art store.

Now, let's say you have big-canvas talents. For example, let's say you're a Chuck Close or a Jackson Pollock.

You could certainly paint on a little 3x3 canvas, but you wouldn't have the space or capacity to express YOUR message in YOUR way.

You'd be constricted, small, and tight. You certainly would not be considered a master of modern art. You're working on the wrong canvas size - it's too small for you.

Or worse, you'll make a mess on the rug and the table as your paint spills over the edges. You need more space.

Are YOU working on a big enough canvas?

Are you SURE?

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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.

'Ideas are flowing much faster now than they ever used to.'
-- Pradeep Sindhu, Founder, Juniper Networks

This snippet from a FAST COMPANY interview got me thinking that one good metric for corporate innovation is fairly simple to measure: I call it IDEA FLOW.

Here's how to measure it - right now!

Answer these 8 questions:

1. How many ideas have come across your desk in the last 30 days from anywhere in your organization?

2. How quickly did you respond to them with either:
   a. feedback
   b. discussion
   c. implementation

3. How many ideas did you personally contribute anywhere else in the organization?

4. How many got one of the three responses in question 2 above?

5. Where do most of the ideas that are ACTED UPON come from in your organization?

6. What formal or informal structures are in place to harvest, encourage, and reward business ideas - even crazy or offbeat ones?

7. Are managers rewarded for not only the ideas they come up with, but others' ideas that they credit, promote and implement?

8. What is the path of the typical IDEA FLOW in your organization? Are there many stops along the way or is there a streamlined process?

Do you remember the public TV cartoon on "How a Bill Becomes a Law?" - connect that to "How Do Ideas Become Profit?"

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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.

Almost 10 years ago, I wrote an article for the Philadelphia Business
Journal (and an abbreviated version for WallStreetJournal.com) entitled "Marketing is Everyone's Business."

Upon re-reading it recently, I came to the sad conclusion that the article wasn't that strong although the concept behind it was HUGE then - and it is still HUGE today...

It was inspired by my 10-minute conversation with Susan Bach
of Adolor Corporation in Exton, PA. Susan gave me more
information about her company and their positioning,
products, and future plans for new drugs than most brand
managers at competing companies could have done. The catch?
She's the HR Director.

The bottom line: You gotta KNOW the business and MARKET the
products, services, and value prop no matter what the title on your business card. Great companies KNOW this and TRAIN for it. Does yours?

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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.

Guest post by Karl Bryan

Here is a laundry basket of word of mouth small business marketing initiatives I have used over the years for retail clients that have worked successfully.

I’ve done it in a list form, so you can go through and highlight the ones you want to put into action.

These are offered by George Silverman who wrote the amazing book, The Secrets of Word of Mouth Marketing.

Put your seat belt on... because here they are...

1. Give them something worth talking about
2. Cater to your initial customers shamelessly
3. Give them incentives to engage in word of mouth
4. Ask them to tell their friends
5. The customer is always right
6. Always tell the truth
7. Surprise the customers by giving them a little more than they expected
8. Give them a reason to buy, make them come back and refuse service from anyone else other than you
9. Make eye contact, and smile, even through the telephone
10. Find ways to make doing business with you a little better: a warmer greeting, a cleaner floor, nicer lighting, a better shopping bag, extra matches, faster service, free delivery, lower prices, more selection.
11. Never be annoyed when a customer asks you to change a large bill even if he doesn't buy anything.
12. The customer is your reason for being. Never take her for granted. If you do, she will never come back, and will go straight to your competition.
13. Always dust off items, but never let the customer see you doing it.
14. Never embarrass a customer, especially by making him feel ignorant.
15. Never answer a question coming from a desire to show how smart you are. Answer with a desire to help the customer make the best decision.
16. Never shout across the store, "How much are these condoms?" or anything about the personal items a customer is buying.
17. When you don't know, say so. Do whatever you can to find out the answer.
18. Every customer is special. Try to remember their names.
19. Don't allow known shoplifters into the store.
20. Don't ever let two sales staff talk when a customer is waiting. The worst thing you can do is count your cash while a customer is waiting.
21. If you can suggest something better, they will be grateful. Always respect their choice.
22. Never pressure anyone into buying anything.
23. Never knowingly give bad advice. Just help people come to the right decision.
24. Personally visit the store of the competition or assign people to visit and report back to you.
25. Hire a shopping service to prepare periodic reports on how your people are treating your customers.
26. If you hear of a store where the management is insulting the customers, buy it, then put up the sign "Under New Management" outside. Then sell it later based on the increased sales.
27. One expert (in the drugstore's case, a nurse or physician) who is convinced you are better brings hundreds of customers and their friends through word of mouth.
28. Always look for ways to make a stranger a customer.
29. People will walk several blocks to save a dollar, or see a smile, or be treated right.
30. Always run a sale promotion or an offbeat event. Make them come back to see what you are cooking up next.
31. Use the best sign-maker you can find and pay him more than anybody else.
32. If someone is mad at you, they will tell everyone who will listen for as long as they are angry, maybe even longer. So correct any dissatisfaction, and ask customers to send their friends.
33. Treat your employees and salespeople who sell to you the same way you treat your customers.
34. Have a zero error system. There may be terrible consequences for example, if a mistake is made filling a prescription. Have people check each other's work for safety.
35. Occasionally make intentional mistakes to see if people are checking.
36. Always measure your performance.
37. Always ask a customer to "come back soon"
38. If customers say they are moving away, offer to send them their favorite items by mail.
39. Tell jokes.

This is a lot of information to digest, so we’re going to wrap up this list and leave you with the homework of going through and taking a look at the tips and tricks you like best.

Also, look for tips that fit your company, products, services and target customers to maximize their effectiveness.

As a marketing speaker and marketing coach, I've seen small businesses at both ends of the spectrum - from the very successful to the very NOT successful (and, of course, a lot in between).

Of particular interest to me has always been the small business marketing challenges of the solopreneur.

You too may have come to the realization that running a successful solo business is a real F.E.A.T. -- and here's what that means to YOU: 

Fee - Demand high fees. Right from the get-go. Why? Because if you're a solo business owner, you live or die on your margins. Profits are not optional, they're required for survival. Early on, they help you stay afloat and that's even more important at the outset than later.

Wanna be cheap or affordable? Terrific. But wait til you're successful and your retirement fund is in the bag!

Starting out at the shallow end of the money pool is a fast way to drown!

Enthusiasm - Energy and drive and fun are REQUIRED to keep you going. You won't always be up and happy, but your core enthusiasm is the deep-rooted foundation that will help you get back up just one more time after you're knocked down. Again and again. And again.

You gotta love what you do - or do what you love. This is a decision, by the way - not a circumstance and not a "woo-woo" pile of nonsense. If you need a personal "live-with" or mantra to keep you on track towards enthusiasm in your business, then so be it.

I'll share mine with you if it's helpful:

"Do work you love WITH those you love and FOR those you love." 

That's it - pretty simple. But if a project, task, client, or intitiative comes across my desk and it's NOT in line with my personal live-with, I DON'T do it. And you shouldn't take on people or projects that violate yours, either.

Altitude (aka what I call the "Alpha Dog Effect") - Your ambitions and accomplishments ALWAYS gravitate to the same level as that of the people you hang out with.

What does that mean for you? Easy: Hang with the cool kids, successful kids, optimists, drivers, movers, shakers. Seek out the people who are doing more of what YOU want to do more of.

Hang with people who earn more than you - and you'll soon join their ranks.

Make friends with people who are dedicated to bringing MORE to their business, their clients, their prospects, and their marketplace. And you'll bring more to yours.

Do NOT waste a moment of your time with the brokeass losers, whiners, coulda-beens and excuse mongers ("It's the economy, it's the banks, it's the government, it's the weather, it's the market, or my favorite - it's the stupid prospects")

Tenacity - Like a dog chewing on a bone, you have to stick it out.

If you are able to get up in the morning and just as happily work for someone else - you're MUCH better off if you just go do that. Entrepreneurship might not be for you. 

If you're like most of us, then you're in business for yourself (and for YOUR specific business) because you don't know how to wake up and NOT do it.

Bust through walls for your business and soon you'll be sitting on an empire.

Not because you read it on some marketing guy's blog -- but because you're on your way to doing it anyway. Long before you landed here to get my encouragement, respect, and congratulations!

Guest column by Nick Usborne

The Rule of One falls into two areas...what you write about, and who you write to.

Here’s the first part of the rule...

Confine each communication to a single topic

This is a battle that has been raging between copywriters and their clients for a very long time.

Twenty years ago I remember trying to discourage clients from wanting to say too much in a single ad or direct mail letter.

I think they felt that if they were going to pay the media costs, they would get “more for their money” if they used every opportunity to say as much as possible about their products, services and company.

My counter-argument was that they would communicate much more clearly, and with better results, if they stuck to a single topic and a single message. The same problem persists today on the web.

Too many web pages try to cover too much ground.

Think of it this way. Very few people arrive at your site wanting to hear about all of your different products or services. Most will have used a search engine to find information on a single, clearly defined topic.

Whether you bring them to a specific landing page or some other interior page, build your pages so that they focus on just one topic at a time.

Do that and you will stay focused and please your visitors.

As a side benefit, you will also please the major search engines, which consistently reward pages that are confined to a single topic. The more clearly defined the page topic, the higher the listing.

And now for the second part of the Rule of One.

Write to one person at a time

You have probably heard this advice before. But as I read web pages across a variety of industries, I see little evidence of writers following this simple rule.

Basically, you will write more clearly, more personally and with better results if you picture an individual prospect or reader as you write.

Don’t write to some amorphous demographic group. Write to one person within that group.

Don’t create a mental picture of “that kind of person”. Picture a real person with a real life. Think about that person’s life. Think about what they want out of life.

Now think about how your product or service fits that person.

If you do this well, if you can truly see an individual prospect in your mind, it will have a profound impact on what and how you write.

Your text will read and feel as if it is being written to a real person. The corporate-speak jargon and biz-speak nonsense will disappear, and you will suddenly begin writing more clearly, with a true empathy for the person who will be reading your text.

Keep one thing in mind. This is not a “copywriting trick”. This is writing pages in a way that corresponds to how they will be read. It may sound obvious, but so many people lose touch with the fact that every page you write WILL be read by individuals with unique lives and needs.

No “group” will ever read your page. No “industry” will ever read your page.

The web pages you write will always be read by individuals, one at a time.

Concluding thoughts

Stick to one topic and write to one person.

It sounds easy, but very few people do it. Sometimes copywriters fail to write in this way because they haven’t thought about it. Sometimes it happens due to unrelenting pressure from above.

Either way, sticking to the Rule of One will always help you. Discipline yourself and fight your clients and managers if you need to.

In the end, the results will speak for themselves.

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Note: Nick Usborne is the leading advocate of good writing on the Web. He is an 
author, copywriter, consultant, speaker, and the publisher of the Excess Voice 
newsletter for online writers. Read his articles at http://www.excessvoice.com  

A colleague recently said to me, “No one has found the top secret formula for successful online marketing yet.”

I disagree. A number of companies know exactly what works and are making small fortunes with it.

The primary concept is that online marketing works best when you e‐mail to people who ALREADY know you. Therefore, successful online marketers build their “house file” or “e‐list” (lists of prospects and their e‐mail addresses) using the process outlined below, and then sell to those people via e‐mail marketing:

1. Build a Website that positions you or your organization as an expert, guru, or leader in your field or industry. This is the “base of operations” for your online marketing campaign.

2. Your Website should include a home page, an “About the Company” page and a page with brief descriptions of your products and services (each product or service description can link to a longer document on the individual item).

3. You should also have an “Articles Page” where you post articles your company has published on your industry or area of specialty, and where visitors can read and download these articles for free (e.g., a home improvement contractor would have tips for small do‐it‐yourself home improvement projects).

4. Write a short special report or white paper relating to the problem your product or service addresses, and make this available to people who visit your site. They can download it for free, but in exchange, they have to register and give you their e‐mail address (and any other information you want to capture).

5. Consider also offering a monthly online newsletter, or “e‐zine.” People who visit your site can subscribe free if they register and give you their e‐mail address. You may want to give the visitor the option of checking a box that reads: “I give you and other companies you select permission to send me e‐mail about products, services, news, and offers that may be of interest to me.”

6. The more “content” (useful information) on your site, the better. More people will be attracted to your site, and they will spend more time on it. They will also tell others about your site.

7. The model is to drive traffic to your site where you get them to sign up for either your free report or free e‐zine. Once they register, you have their e‐ mail address and can now market to them via e‐mail as often as you like at no extra cost.

8. The bulk of your online leads, sales, and profits will come from repeat e‐ mail marketing to this “house” e‐list of prospects. Therefore, your goal is to build a large e‐list of qualified prospects as quickly and inexpensively as you can.

9. There are a number of online marketing options, which can drive traffic to your site, that I can help you with. These include free publicity; e‐mail marketing; social media advertising; search engine optimization; direct mail; and e‐zine advertising.

10. The key to success is to try many different tactics in small and inexpensive tests, throw out the ones that do not work, and do more of the ones that are effective.

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Need a great marketing speaker for your next association conference, company meeting, or franchisee/dealer event? Marketing speaker David Newman delivers the goods - over 600 presentations since 1992. David's clients include 44 of the Fortune 500 and countless small and mid-size organizations, associations, and non-profits.
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