Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

A Whole New Way to Market: Friend-of-Mine Awareness

youtility marketing bookGuest post by Jay Baer, author of Youtility

Today, companies must compete for attention against consumers’ friends and family members. Each day as people log on to Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest they see a variety of messages in their newsfeed or timeline, some of these messages are from their friends and family and some are from companies on social media. How can marketers compete in this environment successfully?

Friend of mine awareness and Youtility are the answer. Friend-of-mine awareness is predicated on the reality that companies are competing against real people for the attention of other real people. To succeed, your prospective customers must consider you a friend. And if, like their friends, you provide them real value, if you practice Youtility rather than simply offer a series of coupons and come-ons, they will reward your company with loyalty and advocacy, the same ways we reward our friends.

Youtility is marketing upside down. I call this Youtility, not “utility,” because a utility is a faceless commodity. Instead of marketing that’s needed by companies, Youtility is marketing that’s wanted by customers. Youtility is massively useful information, provided for free, that creates long term trust and kinship between your company and your customers.

As marketers, we’ve always tried to build loyalty with people, and now we must build loyalty with information. Social media marketing has changed the landscape of marketing by putting us in the mix with photos from our block party, our cousin’s baby and other companies trying to reach people as well. What you have is an intermingled mixture of information that matters to you because of personal relationships, and information that matters to you because of commercial relationships. It’s not just Facebook, either. Twitter works the same way, as do YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, e-mail, blogs, and podcasts, too. For the first time, companies have to compete on the very same turf as our family and friends, using the very same tools and technologies and media and messaging as consumers.

My wife doesn’t buy radio ads to try and get my attention. My friends don’t buy newspaper ads to make sure I know what’s going on this weekend. But the opposite is most definitely true. Companies are now invading the spaces and mechanisms that we’re using to connect personally. The companies that will connect are the ones that are a Youtility in the social space, providing massively useful information that people want to see.

If your company and its marketing are truly, inherently useful, your customers and prospective customer will keep you close, as they keep their friends and family close. Making your company useful without expectation of an immediate return is in direct opposition to the long standing principles of successful marketing, and that’s a good thing.

Excerpted from Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is About Help not Hype by Jay Baer. See YoutilityBook.com for other resources.

jay baerJay Baer’s Bio: is a hype-free social media and content strategist & speaker, and author of the Amazon #1 bestseller, Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is About Help not Hype. Jay is the founder of http://convinceandconvert.com and host of the Social Pros podcast.

What do YOU think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on these ideas and join the conversation... 

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Tags: marketing speaker, marketing strategy, marketing success, thought leadership marketing, social media, word of mouth marketing, marketing professional services, trusted advisor marketing, marketing expert, marketing professional services firms, marketing ideas, marketing strategist, social media marketing, becoming an expert

3 Secrets to Great Conferences

conference oldI go to a fair number of conferences, both as a speaker and as a plain old participant. 

Some conferences are great - and some... well, not so much. 

In my experience, a great conference combines three secret ingredients for success. 

What are they? 

Glad you asked. 

Here they are... 

1. Speaker management - Give me high-energy, high-content speakers who deliver the goods. Strong content delivered with authenticity, enthusiasm, and with a clear point-of-view. I don't want to hear speakers who deliver same-o, lame-o information (i.e. crap that I could just as easily read in a book or find in a Google search). I want to be shaken, stirred, riled up, smacked down, and taken for a ride. No vanilla speakers. I want you to bring the mango gelato, the sriracha sorbet, the oddballs, the freaks, the wild ones. 

2. Engagement management - Don't (please don't) make me sit in a theater, an auditorium, or a meeting room and watch from my seat. I want to interact. I want to engage. I want to collaborate, communicate, and cross-pollinate with the speakers, the audience, the organizers. I want you to put the CONFER back into the word CONFERENCE. I want to strategize, conspire, and confab with all the amazing people in the room. Not just the gal to my left and the guy on my right. Not just during deeply misguided Q&A sessions that ruin even the best talks. All. The. Time. Mix it up - mini-seminars, peer-to-peer jam sessions, strategic mastermind roundtables. Put the intellectual talent of the room on stage and let's REALLY dig in.

3. Time and experience management - Never start late. Let me repeat that - never, EVER start late. No session or panel longer than 20 minutes. Less and faster is the name of the game. Take the sage off the stage and put the guide on the side. Move me around the theater - into the lobby, up on the platform, out in the hall. Mix, mingle, shake up the stale conference format. No more 1-to-many. Make it many-to-many. Or 1-to-1. Manage my time. Manage my experience. Connect me. Inspire me. Fire me up. Let me feel important. Let me plug in to the event and the people you've brought together. Stir my pot. Season my soup. I want to leave your event feeling like I'm a rock star who just played a set with the best musicians on the planet. I want to feel LUCKY to have been part of your event. I don't want to leave with information. I want to leave with insights specifically designed to help me kick some serious ass. I want to leave with my action plan for global domination AND a whole army of new friends whom I can call on to make it happen. 

Can your event do that for me? 

'Cuz if it can't... I won't be there. I'll just stay home. And read a book. Or jump on Google. Or watch videos on TED.com.

I don't need to travel and use up my time, money, effort, and energy going to your old school conference with a string of speakers who talk at me while I sit with a random bunch of strangers who'll never even get to know my name.

The bar has been raised. Those events are so past their expiration date that they're starting to stink like an old bucket of yogurt.   

Want to experience something new and better? 

Join me for the America Talks Business conference in Philadelphia on July 25, 2013. 

The future is here. Now. 

Join us?

What do YOU think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on this topic and join the conversation... 

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Tags: marketing speaker, marketing concept, word of mouth marketing, conference, small business conference, America Talks Business, viral marketing, entrepreneurship, marketing coach, small business marketing, thought leadership, small business marketing speaker, conference speaker, marketing conference

10 Blogging Lessons from Your Dog

woofie wheres woofie dog blogDoes your dog blog? 

Yes? No? Not sure? 

Well, don't worry because mine does.

You're about to get 10 blogging lessons from my black Labrador retriever, Woofie, who turns 10 soon. (FYI her birthday is April 29 and she loves getting birthday notes by email. And she replies to every one!)

What makes Woofie such an authority on blogging? Well, it's simple really - she gets a TON of traffic. Every month, I get emails from GoDaddy, where her website is hosted, to the effect that her website bandwidth (5GB/month) has been exceeded. Sometimes by a factor of two or three!

Put simply: there's a chance that this dog's blog is more popular than yours. 

So to help you fix that, here are Woofie's guidelines for blogging.

  1. Post  regularly. Woofie posts updates once a year - usually on or before her birthday. It's regularly scheduled. You should post more often than that - but the point is the word REGULARLY.
  2. Don't ask for much. Woofie doesn't sell on her blog. She doesn't beg. She doesn't collect email addresses. She offers value (if doggy cuteness has value to you) and she invites engagement (by email or social media). That's it. And it works. 
  3. Be cute and relax. Be the real you on your blog. People ask me the secret to success in presenting yourself online. My answer: it's two things. 1. Authenticity and 2. Enthusiasm. Woofie freely shares both of these traits on her blog - and so should you.
  4. Let people come up to you first. Pretend you're a dog... you have no opposable thumbs... you can't do much. So you better be the online equivalent of an adorable little puppy who people want to stop, pet, interact with, and give treats to. Do that, and you win.
  5. Use more photos - visuals sell. Much of Woofie's website is made up of photos of her adventures from the previous year. Photos and videos are where it's at. In the wise words of my digital marketing pal, Jay Baer of Convince and Convert, "Text is going away online. Everything is moving to pictures and video."
  6. Be easy to reach. Woofie has a whole host of digital communications tools in her arsenal (Here's how to connect with her on Twitter, LinkedIn, email, blog, Dogbook.) The short story is she is reachable in ways that YOU want to reach her, not in ways SHE prefers to be reached (which all happen to involve bacon and/or cheese.)
  7. Depend on other people to sell for you. In addition to having no opposable thumbs, Woofie has never made a sales call and has never sent a marketing email. She has people do it for her. Third-party endorsements, referrals, recommendations, and word of mouth from her human friends do the trick. How about you?
  8. Make people feel better about themselves after engaging with you. Let's face it - this dog is cute. But what's beyond that to make interacting with her worthwhile? Well, if you came over to our house, you could answer that for yourself. But we're talking about online. So each interaction needs to be fun, special, and rewarding in and of itself. Want to try one? Click here to send Woofie an email and see what you get back in a reply. 
  9. It's OK to be silly. Sometimes it's even more than OK - it's required. Self-deprecating humor is the best kind. It puts people at ease and makes them feel better about themselves, too. Plus it's an indicator of expertise if you can portray yourself "as you are" - mistakes, warts, and all. The fearful, the incompetent, and the weak don't have the guts to do that. Woofie does. And you do, too. 
  10. 10 kisses, one bark - keep it positive. Nobody likes to read the blog posts of a perpetual whiner, negative nelly, or always-ranting loon. Woofie has never posted anything negative. And even I, her humble human, try to keep my blog posts 90% positive, aspirational, and fun -- and only 10% critical or "calling out the crazy." It's like the old bumper sticker of doggie wisdom - "Bark Less, Wag More."
Grab your FREE copy of the Social Media Traffic Boost Cheat Sheet!

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

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Tags: marketing speaker, thought leadership marketing, word of mouth marketing, web marketing, marketing professional services, blog, trusted advisor marketing, blogging for business, marketing coach, marketing strategist, blogging 101, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, content marketing, marketing tips

Marketing Coach: There Is No Blue

doitmarketing out of the blueWhere did that lead come from?

"It came out of the blue..."

How did that customer find you?

"They found us out of the blue..."

What made them call?

"They called out of the blue..."

How many times have you heard yourself give these types of answers?

Hmmm... me too.

Until last night when I was having dinner with The Hot One™ - aka my lovely bride of 27 years.

I was telling her about a brand new client and she asked me, "How did they find you?" and I instinctively answered, "I dunno - they found me out of the blue."

By the way, this is a terrible answer for a marketing guy to give.

I should know exactly how and why my specific marketing activities attract specific clients but I must admit things have been going fast and furious around here lately so I've lost track. A good problem to have - but a problem nonetheless...

Back to dinner with The Hot One™ - she looks over at me, pauses meaningfully and says... 

"There is no blue."

Ouch. And she's right. So she made me think harder - look harder - connect the dots - to where and how this client came to me. 

This is a terrific reminder for YOU, too... 

There is no blue.

So here are 12 potential sources of "blue" -- inbound leads, prospects and referrals. You need to work harder at identifying, specifying, and inquiring about these when GOOD prospects come your way. And even more so when - like in my situation yesterday - good prospects become clients!

  1. Google (or other search engines)
  2. Your articles in hardcopy publications (industry magazines, trade journals, association publications)
  3. Your articles posted online (guest blogs, contributed columns, niche industry websites)
  4. Your social media accounts (Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, etc.)
  5. Your blog
  6. Your personal network (friends, family, colleagues)
  7. A referral (current client, past client, or non-client fan/influencer)
  8. Directories and listings (online, offline)
  9. Your speaking engagements (local, regional, national, fee or free)
  10. Your videos (on your website or sites like YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)
  11. Your teleseminars (the ones you host or where you're the guest)
  12. Your media interviews (TV, radio, print)

Become fanatical about connecting new customers and clients to specific marketing channels. 

Put a sign up on your office wall to remind you if necessary... 

There is NO blue!

Tags: Marketing speaker, marketing coach, thought leadership marketing, lead generation

Grab your FREE copy of the Platform Promotion Checklist!

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!

Tags: marketing for speakers, consultant marketing, thought leadership marketing, word of mouth marketing, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, professional speaker, professional speaker marketing, marketing mix, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, content marketing, referral marketing, business strategy, networking, public speaker marketing

Gifts that Help You Be Remarkable, Remembered, and Referred

marketing speaker marketing coach personalized giftsForget about your cheap company pens... 

Trash your company logo coffee mugs...

Your personalized gift strategy is about to get a MAJOR upgrade so that YOU get 100 times more bang for the buck than you're getting now... 

And it's all about ONE simple shift... 

Watch the video to see how it works - PLUS you'll get three smart examples YOU can model from starting right now...

Tags: Marketing speaker, marketing coach, marketing tips, personalized gifts

What do you think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share the most meaningful business gifts you've received - or sent!

doit marketing speaker david newman

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing for coaches, thought leadership marketing, word of mouth marketing, small business advertising, marketing professional services, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, marketing professional services firms, small business marketing expert, professional speaker marketing, marketing ideas, motivational speaker marketing, small business marketing, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing

Marketing Coach: 11 Lessons from 101 Tips in 3 Words

The awesome Yosef Klein who works at Click and Market in my old stomping grounds of Brooklyn NY sent me the following picture of the poster he created from my blog post titled 101 Success Tips in 3 Words

Check this out: 

doit marketing 101 success tips in 3 words

Isn't this what we are all after when it comes to marketing YOUR awesomeness? 

Don't YOU want people putting posters up in their offices of YOUR ideas, tips, content and inspiration?

Damn... I know I do... 

I know Yosef does...

And you probably do as well. 

So here are 11 observations, learnings and ideas for YOU to make this happen in YOUR business.

  1. People love lists. 
  2. People love encouragement.
  3. People love brevity.
  4. People love audacity.
  5. People love connection.
  6. People love visuals.
  7. People love quirkiness.
  8. People love insights.
  9. People love personalization.
  10. People love specificity.
  11. People love fun.

And thank you, Yosef. 

Dude - you made my day, my week AND my month.

You rock.

I appreciate you. 

_______

Tags: Marketing Speaker, Marketing Coach, Word of Mouth Marketing

What do YOU think? Use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on how YOU create content that is more shareable, more spreadable, more findable and more poster-ific!

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing speaker, marketing concept, thought leadership marketing, word of mouth marketing, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, marketing expert, professional speaker marketing, marketing strategist, success tips, marketing consultant, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants

Guerrilla Marketing from the Source...

jay conrad levinsonMy friend and mentor, Jay Conrad Levinson asked me to send this special invitation to you below... this program may be exactly what you need to kick off your 2013 with a BANG and generate the results you want in your business.
===
Learn Guerrilla Marketing from the man who invented it, Jay Levinson. Whether you are a small or medium sized business owner, in marketing or sales, or are a CEO, your business will be invigorated and you will gain fresh perspectives on moving forward after attending the Guerrilla Marketing Intensive. There is no better investment.

Jay is a winner of first prizes in all the media, he has been part of the creative teams that made household names of many of the most famous brands in history: The Marlboro Man, The Pillsbury Doughboy, Allstate’s good hands, United’s friendly skies, the Sears Diehard battery, Morris the Cat, and the Jolly Green Giant. He was a First prize winner at both the Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival. He is the best selling author of the Guerrilla Marketing series.

We keep the Intensive under ten people as they are at Jay's personal home in Debary, Florida.

The next date for live training with Jay himself is:
  • November 12th - 14th, 2012
We hope you can make it..

If you want to reserve your seat, please register as soon as possible here.


PS: Read what this year's attendees have said about the Guerrilla Marketing Intensive.

I must tell you, this week was one of the most informative and productive weeks I have had in a very long time. Jay and Jeannie were wonderful hosts and teachers. I left there revved up and ready to take my business to new heights through Guerrilla Marketing.
Tom Lemery, President & CEO
Creatacor, Inc.

I just wanted to say thanks again for a great 3 days. You've motivated, inspired and given me the tools to take the action that I have been procrastinating.
Kelli Hoskins, CEO & Master Business Coach
ActionCOACH /The World's #1 Business Coaching Firm

Amy, I should tell you that I am in love with your parents. Jay and Jeannie are so amazing.
Elayna Fernandez, The Positive Mom Foundation
Bestselling Author | Guerrilla Positioning Strategist

I would like to thank you for your wonderful hospitality at the Intensive. Jay was just fantastic.
Ashish Desai, Sujanil Chemo Industries
MaharashtraIndia

Click here to learn more.


Tags: marketing speaker, marketing success, word of mouth marketing, viral marketing, guerrilla marketing, marketing professional services, entrepreneurship, small business marketing expert, marketing strategist, small business marketing, small business marketing coach, marketing tips

Great Business Book Review: Rules of the Hunt

rules of the hunt book lgI love business books.

It's a bit of an addiction really.

Some are good, some are so-so, and once in a while a great one comes along.

This is about a great one - Rules of the Hunt by Michael Dalton Johnson. Michael is the founder, publisher and editor of SalesDog.com which is THE go-to resource online for salespeople, sales management and sales success.

Let's cut to the chase and get you fully up to speed - first a video book review, then an in-depth 35-minute audio interview with Michael. (The audio also contains "The Magic Email" that was a featured story a few weeks ago in the SalesDog.com newsletter. It has a 100% success rate to get you back in touch with prospects who have gone dark on you. You'll love it!)

Here's my video book review:

And then I invited Michael to chat with me about some of the key ideas in the book.

Listen in here.

NOTE: The audio will take a minute or two to load in your browser. If you prefer, you can download the digital audio file: RIGHT-click on this link and choose "Save Target As..." or "Save Link As..." or "Save File As..." and save the file to your desktop.

Here's to closing out your week with MORE Leads, BETTER Prospects and BIGGER Sales.

WOOF!!!

Tags: business coaching, word of mouth marketing, marketing book, marketing coaching, small business coach, marketing coach, success tips, small business marketing, doit marketing, small business marketing speaker, doitmarketing, sales and marketing, business book review, business strategy, business coach

Marketing Concept: Viral is for Morons (Here's Why)

Marketing Concept: Viral is for morons. In general, this is true - and with professional services marketing in particular, it is VERY true. 

How many times have you heard professional services marketing ideas like:

  • We'll make a funny YouTube video ...and it'll go viral!
  • We'll post a really controversial/ snarky/ edgy blog ...and it'll go viral!
  • We'll create a really cool ebook ...and it'll go viral!
Take a look at this well-done Slideshare from the smart marketing folks at espresso:
The Ugly Truth About Viral Marketing
So... What do you think? Use the COMMENTS area below and...
professional services marketing blog

Tags: marketing speaker, consultant marketing, consulting firm marketing, marketing concept, thought leadership marketing, word of mouth marketing, viral marketing, marketing professional services, professional services marketing, entrepreneurship, marketing ideas, speaker marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, inbound marketing

Marketing Speaker: Word of Mouth Marketing List for Retail

Guest post by Karl Bryanmarketing speaker marketing coach David Newman

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.

Tags: marketing speaker, marketing success, word of mouth marketing, retail, small business coach, small business marketing