Marketing Communications Blog

How important is your pitch?

The elevator pitch is very important for the success of your company. Doesn't matter the size of the company, from huge to one person, if you can't tell someone what you do in an elevator, then, you are failing as a business.

Two questions that you should be able to answer within 30 seconds (each):

1) What does your company do?

2) How is your company going to do it?

Let's take the first question first, what does your company do. This must be answered in three (3) sentences or less. You offer a solution to what?

Some examples:

"We offer a software solution that will secure a users data in case it is lost or stolen. No one will be able to access the data and "see" what is on their lost device - either it being a USB Flash Drive, a laptop, or a cell phone."

"We offer a service that allows brides and fiancee's to be worry-free about their upcoming wedding. Our professionalism takes the stress out of the wedding day, allowing the participants to enjoy the day it was meant to be."

Doesn't matter what the company does or is, the short elevator pitch should be no more then three sentences in length.

As to the second question, how is your company going to do it. Again, answered in three sentences and 30 seconds. What or how is your company going to grow or maintain its business? Who are the markets? What is the potential? Who are current or future partners/clients?

For example:

"We are targeting males, 30-55 years old, who golf. There are currently eight million golfers in this market and with our solution, we are confident that they will understand that our golf ball will improve their game by three strokes, making it the best golf ball on the market"

"We will target those individuals who make over $1 million a year, providing them the incentive to donate to our non-profit, allowing us to build our new annex and thus insuring that the community and tourists will be educated about the cultures that have been in our area for the past 10,000 years. Targeting will include direct mail, personal visits, personal phone calls, and advertising in our community. With these targeted efforts, we are sure that we will reach our $600,000 goal."

Be positive. Be confident.

Posted by blaine at 06:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

You tell me the truth and I will tell the lies

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GREEN!!!!

You know, you see everyone advertising and marketing that they are a "green" company, that they are going green, that their product is green, that the company is green, and so on and so on.

This is marketing at its purest.  A perception exists that the world is ending (you can debate what you believe on an environmental blog/web site, not here), the media consistently "hypes" that the world needs to go green, and you, yes you, the marketer, are jumping all over it.

Everyone wants to contribute (not to greenhouse gasses, but to saving the planet), so, if "I" can buy a product that was made in a "green" fashion, or buy from a company that has gone "green", I am helping the environment.

I have wanted to write about this for quite some time, because I am watching how companies and products are "adapting" the perception out there.

If you don't think that "global warming" isn't marketing, then, you shouldn't be in marketing. Again, the marketing campaign behind this "movement" is truly marketing at its best.

By the way, have you noticed how Wiki's are taking off? How everyone is now using one? Do you remember my entry about Wiki's last year? Where I stated that Wiki's are perfect for corporations and people who need to share info, to contribute to other divisions, and how it should not be exposed to the public? Well, if you are following any of the news on Wiki's and how companies are jumping all over them and using them to help themselves, it will prove that I was right, again (lol - if any of you know me, I don't have a big ego, but, this time, I had to brag a little about it).

Wiki's are WONDERFUL, in a corporate setting, for a corporation. But, sharing that info to the outside world and letting outsiders (who don't know your business) comment and change your information is (or I guess, was) a big mistake. Use them, they are wonderful tools (but remember, tools are best used by those who can use them).

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Was reading an article about how tv ad's are going to be replaced by internet advertising as "the" place where all the money is going to go (for your marketing dollars).

I have to disagree. Yes, internet advertising is definitely a place that you "have to" advertise on and that you need to get those eyeballs to see your brand. But, how effective has it been? Look at all the research (and articles) about how billions are being spent (and much of it being wasted) on internet advertising and how advertisers don't understand why there isn't any ROI.

I don't want to go into all of that, I just want to mention that tv advertising won't be dissappearing - as long as there is March Madness, the Superbowl, Dancing with the Stars, and so on, all on tv, money won't stop going in that direction.

Until advertisers learn HOW to advertise (& communicate) to their web-surfers, the money will always go to the TV...and don't be surprised if you continue to see money leaving the web and going back into more traditional advertising.

NOTE: Yes, there are millions of teens on Facebook, yes, there are millions of potential purchasers of product on ESPN's site, and so on (especially being forced to "watch" ads before watching video or playing a game or whatever). I, like so many others, don't look at an ad and search for the "skip" button (if forced to see an ad) faster then the ad can be ran.

Don't forget TV - yes, Tivo has hurt the ad business, but, remember, if your ad is upbeat and on-target, people will watch it.

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What you say, stays here - NOT

What you say is never off the record, no matter what is said.

Let me repeat, you are NEVER off the record.  There is never any occasion to ever  believe that you will be off the record.

Something I say to all the trainee's when I am media training them:

Expect that whatever you say will be on the front page of the Wall Street Journal the next day.

Even when having a lunch or dinner with a reporter, you are always on the record. Riding in the elevator and talking, you are on the record.  Waiting for the taxi to pick you up, you are on the record.  The reporters/editors job is to get the story and they get paid to GET the story, so whatever you say, if it helps them get a raise or keep their job or "look good", they will print it.

And just so we are clear, you are always on the record when you are at a bar, or out eating dinner with your boyfriend or girlfriend, or whatever you are doing.  You never know who is sitting next to you and listening.

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How far should you go with Social Networks?

There is a lot of discussion about "if" or "when" a company/business should start a social networking site.

A social network is a place where people can come and a) post comments, b) read stuff about your business/company, c) speak with others, real time (IM) about anything, and d) post comments.

Why do I have the same points twice - because by having a site like this, people can post positive as well as NEGATIVE comments about your business.  As I stated in a previous post, negative comments are good to have, as it is instant feedback on areas that need improvement, as well as showing that you believe in freedom of speech. 

You can always remove any negative comments (but then, why have a social networking site?).

This is the issue of having a site like this. The blogs, you can control.  The content, you can control. But, by allowing your customers to speak with each other and post what they think, that is, again, the issue of having this technology on or as your website.

Think it through before you put up a social networking site. It does cost some money, but, the damage can be incredible if you don't watch yourself (and the site!). 

Let's take the dogfood recall as an example.  Would you, if you were one of the major brands, have fared better if you had a comment area on your website? Would it have been beneficial to have a blog so your customers can read about what you are doing?

As all of you know (if you are a follower of this blog), I absolutely believe that it would have been beneficial.

The first would have been to issue apologies through the blog.

The second, would have been to issue next steps through the blog.

The third, would have been to get customers to talk to each other about what they are going through with their pets.

And the fourth, to respond to the customers about their concerns. Yes, you would have had customers say "I will never buy from you again".  But, if you were the dogfood manufacterer BRAND, then, you could have laid out next steps on how you will never allow this to occur again (we didn't see that anywhere, did we?).

Think it through if you are going to get into a social site - I think it is worth it, no matter what, but, sometimes, your management may not think so. 

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Crisis Management

Yes, we can go back to the pet food and continue, but, I want to speak more generally about Crisis Management.

In my experience, there are only two kinds of crisis' that occur:

1) Those that you were unprepared for,

2) Those that you were prepared for.

Yes, who would have thought that a supplier of yours would now start shipping poison instead of their regular product, or that your CEO died in a car crash, or that an earthquake would shut down your assembly plant.

The ones that you are not prepared for are truly a crisis.  Everyone turns to everyone else for answers, which of course moves up the chain of command (and time is wasted) until the CEO is called upon to make a final decision as to how to respond, if a response is necessary, when to respond, and who will be the one in front of the camera's (or quoted in the press release, etc.).

The biggest issue when a crisis occurs - and one that you can't get back - is time. Every second that is lost can be perceived as "inattention" or "inactivity", and worse, that you don't care or were totally unprepared.

So, become prepared.

When I lived in Israel, I prepared "pre-packaged" press releases; that, yes, were pretty morbid. One was if a homocide bomber hit our building (and some employee's were killed), another was if our CEO or CFO died by a homocide bomber, and another was if our building was hit by a rocket.

But, I didn't stop there.  I prepared for an earthquake in China and our fab was shut down (investors would be asking "how can you make product?"); or our European office was closed down because of a general strike in France; or, a plane crashed with all of our sales people on it (coming back from a trade show).

These weren't all press releases.  These were plans laid out as to what we would say or not say, when we would say it, and so on. Just one page documents on the plan.  If we knew that a press release was required, then, we had a draft made up - and yes, there were some blanks in it, but, the "meat" was there.

In a crisis, if I was on your team, and a crisis occured, at ANY time of the day or night, all I did was pull up the plan (or the one that closely resembled it), pulled the people listed in the plan together, and supplied them with the next steps (or draft of press release or speech).

It has occured to me in the past, and you know what, it saved me time, which saved my company time, which saved embarassment or perception that wasn't needed.

Posted by blaine at 06:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Basics of Advertising

Met with a client yesterday and walked away amazed.

First, the client has been in business for 10 years.

Second, they advertise the same way, month after month, year after year.

Third, they are a franchise, so their corp. headquarters provides them with all the ads, pre-made.

Fourth, they never thought of taking the ads that were provided to the next level.

Fifth, they were in the rut of "we have always done it that way".

So, in this short meeting, here is what we discovered.

1) That the yellow pages, even though mandated by corporate, doesn't mean that you have to take a 1/4 page ad (and yellow pages are still very very expensive).

2) That the two newspapers that she advertised in may or may not be the best means on her ROI. She has never measured their success rate through ad counters or promotions (like "bring this ad in and receive 10% off).  She has always done it this way and "knows" that it is successful because she has clients who say "I saw you guys in The New York Times" (but, even when she was telling me this, she didn't know if it was true or not - since they run their ad every week in it - so they could have seen it three years previously).

3) That she could add copy to her existing corporate advertisements to "hone in" on the clients that she wants.

4) That she was more concerned with the other franchises in the area and what they may think then in making more money for herself (she wasn't that confident in her successful business).

5) That the other franchises could also be friends for her - that they could all get together and "pool" their moneys and buy bigger and better advertising (like TV).

So, we scheduled another meeting to discuss the above and many more facets of pulling in the right ROI. That an outside perspective is good for the business.  That paying a few hundred dollers could bring in a few thousand dollars (you have to invest money to make money).

Think things through. Are you currently doing things the same because it is "easy"? Because you have always "done it that way"? Because you don't have time to try something else? That maybe, putting in that extra two hours will save you 10 hours in the long run?

Look at what is in front of you - just because a local radio hits your target audience, does it bring in the clients? Should you change to something else? Direct mail? Newspaper? Internet?

Figure out your ROI on your current advertising - Run some promotions of "bring in this ad and get 10% off" in one newspaper and another promotion, in another newspaper, offering 20% off. See who brings in what?

If you do just these items, you may be surprised about how you are spending you money unwisely and that there may be better ways to use it.

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Lawsuits - Who Talks???

Was watching the continuation (second month now) of the dogfood controversy; who poisoned what, who was at fault, and, more interesting to me, was who is going to have the lawsuit??

Watching the various spokespeople for all the various companies, it was amazing how NONE of them have communicated with each other. Especially the brand(s).

Yes, they are competitors, but, they also have one thing in common - they are the brand(s) that are killing peoples pets (of course, not the manufacturer of the food who supplies the brand).

Why aren't they speaking with each other? Why aren't they getting together (over the phone would be easiest) and discussing what to say and what not to say - why aren't they showing a united front.

As I previously mentioned in a post, they are waiting for the other to make a mistake and everyone (lawyers) focus on that one company - and then, let the feeding commence.

With just 30 minutes of time, they can have this all figured out and show that they are all together, that they are remorseful for what their suppliers did, and that they will do everything in their power to help the owners of pets get through this difficult time.

Simple isn't it? I bet there are some angry and confused marketing people in these brand companies.

Get together now, because when the lawsuits really start coming in, then, it may have been very good forethought to have had your spokesperson speaking from the first day (everyone will turn to him/her for info) then demanding that the CEO get out in front of the firing squad.

Posted by blaine at 09:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

How important are looks?

Over my years as a spokesperson for the various companies I have worked for, one overwhelming fact continued to be true - that looks to affect how people view you - and that is most important in your Public Relations activities.

A few years back, I was going on tour with one of my Marketing Managers in Europe. A couple of facts, a) my Marketing Manager had never done a tour before and was extremely nervous about doing it, b) she (yes, a woman) was absolutely beautiful, c) she was from Romania and liked to dress like a Romanian woman, and d) she knew French and English (along with other languages that were not important in Europe).

I knew that I had to address some of these items so that we could get the best response from the editors and analysts that we would be meeting.

First, we went through an extensive media training course so that she would be able to do the interviews (instead of me).

Second, we made her beauty an asset. Any man, and any appreciateve woman, would recognize the beautiful woman that she was - and I did not want that to be wasted.  She dressed, what I can only call, severly. She would pull her hair back into a ponytail, TIGHT!!! So that she looked "severe". Wore very little make-up and wore clothes with very little color.

It was extremely difficult for me to tell her that I did not like the way she dressed and that I wanted her to change her looks. In America, I knew that I would be sued in a second, and my many years of managing American's made me leary of approaching her, let alone discussing this. But, she took it the way I thought she would, as a professional and someone who wanted to improve herself and make a success of the tour.  But, I did, and she did.

We went on tour, and WOW, it was great, the sexist French editors could only stare at any part of her body below her face, but, she was good, making sure to remind them to "write this down" so that they would have a story when we finished.

I must admit, what I wrote above did not occur on the first day, but, by the third day of the two week tour, she had it down cold and was able to pitch the story as well as interact with any men that appreciated her looks.

I am not sexist, but, I am a realist and know that men appreciate having a beautiful woman in their office (or be seen walking one down the hallway of their office).

Another example of this, done a little more blatantly, was something one of my companys competitors did back in the early 1990's.

The year was 1991, the company I worked for - Nintendo, our competitor - Sega.

Sega, to get the story, and to get the sale, hired Playboy Bunnies as their spokespeople, as well as their "honorary salespeople". 

Not only did editors and analysts "appreciate" having Bunnies come in and speak with them, but, buyers from all the major toy retailers "demanded" to have meetings with Sega salespeople (as long as the other sales people came along - hint hint).

Sex sales. Yes, it is hard to accept (if you are a woman that doesn't appreciate what she has and how to use it). But, years ago, seeing a woman get an interview and me not, showed me that a) looks sale, and b) sex sales. 

As for you men, you still have to dress nice. Smell nice. And above all, be sincere.

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PR 101

Woke up the other night and remembered a nightmare that happened to me a few years ago working for a very young and immature Israeli company.

The company had hired me to do their marketing, which included their public relations activities. As usual, I did not just sit back and do it half-way. I went after Fortune, Business Week, Wall Street Journal, but, on the other hand, I also went after Playboy, PC Magazine, The Robb Report, Mac Home Journal, and anything else that would write about us.

The nightmare involved the Wall Street Journal and Walt Mossberg.  Two weeks before the WSJ ran our story, I had a great two page story from Business Week. The CEO and CFO were ecstatic - the investors were besides themselves with praise and excitement about the company and product.

So, two weeks later, there, on the weekly technology section that Walt puts out, was a picture of our product and how it was going to change the world (I did the interview with Walt while on vacation in D.C. - don't EVER think that an Israeli company will reward you for going the extra mile).

In the article, Walt spoke about how small our company was (only 100 people and less then $100M in sales) and that some other company would probably take ownership of the product and own the market.

My CEO and CFO were livid. Now, I worked and lived in Israel. My CEO and CFO lived and worked in Israel. I walk into the office (I lived 15 minutes from the office, had a cell phone, etc.), and there, on my computer, was an email from my PR agency (in Los Angelas), saying that the CEO and CFO were trying to get ahold of Walt and can I do anything about it.

Of course, I had NO clue what was going on. And in short order, I found out what the h**l was going on. And calmed them down (they wanted Walt to put a retraction in the next days paper saying that he was speculating and was sorry for saying what he did).

My PR agency and I were besides ourselves, on EACH SIDE!!! On one side, because we had our company and a picture of our product reviewed by Walt. On the other hand, because our CEO and CFO pissed on all the groundwork that we had laid with Walt (for future products) because they didn't understand what Public Relations was and how it works.

Never, EVER, let your CEO, CFO, or anyone sacrifice a contact of yours. Never ever let someone who was NOT involved in the interview process become involved, after the fact.  When you are promoted into a marketing postion or come into a company as a marketing executive, make sure that you get buy-off from the C-level management that you can do what you need to do to make the company a success - without their interference.

Would love to hear some of your horror stories out there.

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Wiki's - How important are they?

I have been, as I am sure you have been, reading and seeing all this controversy, discussion, and issues with having and doing a Wiki - either inside your company or one outside your company.

As usual, I have a comment on this.

Wiki's are great!!! Internally. Let your workers and employee's educate each other with a Wiki.

One company I recently worked with would have monthly training classes for non-division employee's. Meaning - divisions would attend a meeting, put on by another division, to learn about the product that that division was working on/in. Two to four hours a month in these meetings may have helped morale or understanding, but, loss of work was also high (to many of the meetings were attended by people who didn't want to do their existing work and this was an easy approved out of doing it).

In hi-tech, this is very common, where one division does not know what the other division does or has with its similar product and cross education/training is done.

My point is is a Wiki can do that same education in "real time" and everyone can contribute and add details and info, so the whole picture is understood by all.

But, a Wiki outside? To the general public? I can see it happening if you want to do it as "fun" or as a "joke" - which Wikipedia is quickly becoming. When Wikipedia begins to turn political (more then it is now), it will quickly lose it's luster as a "general" information base - it will fall into a label, where it will be difficult, if not impossible to get out (i.e. if it is labeled a "right wing conspiracy site", then, only those that believe they are part of the right wing conspiracy will go there).

I appreciate the value of a wiki and what it means for free speech and free collaboration. But, without safeguards in place (i.e. review of content in some way), then, they will quickly become the way of the street corner preacher (you don't see them as much anymore do you? They realized it is easier to preach to captured audiences then to people who don't care).

Think this through, if you are going to do a Wiki - understand that the content that may be posted may not be what you want. That the content may hurt your company - and be prepared for it.

Don't get me wrong - a Wiki can also bring someone or something "back from the dead", like Wikipedia did with Sinbad - BRILLIANT move by his agent to bring an actor that has dissappeared back into the limelight.

Make sure that you, the leader of your marketing, are part of the decision making process AND that all of your concerns are brought up AND understood by all parties who will be administering it.

Just because having/doing a Wiki today is the "hot" thing to do doesn't mean it is the RIGHT thing to do.

Posted by blaine at 05:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Presentations

I'm sure that I spoke of this before - maybe in parts, here and there - but, wanted to bring it up again.  Was reading an article the other day on how to make a presentation (like PowerPoint).

It amazed me how still, to this day, after years and years, people still don't know how to make and do a presentation. I don't want to discuss how a presentation should be made or not; I want to discuss the other elements of a presentation.

What other elements?

In a past posting, I mentioned that I do NOT do presentation when I go on press or analyst tours. Why? Because I want the other individual focused on me, not on anyone or anything else. When they are looking at me, I know when they are paying attention and when they are not.

Was at a job interview the other day, and one of the questions I was asked was: "If, in the middle of your presentation, you notice that your audience is not paying attention as attentively as they should. What would you do? a) Start over, b) Ask if they need me to repeat anything, c) Ask if I am going to fast and they are lost, or d) Ask if they don't understand anything".

What amazed me, if you have done over 50 presentations in your life, is that there was no "e) Skip ahead to the meat of your subject, worry about the details later".

When I lived in Israel, I was reminded that what I had always been doing was welcomed, as I always would present "e)", which the the Israeli culture demands. Get to the meat of the subject and cover the details later.  In other words, get to the strategy and go over the tactics at a later time/date.

I know, I know, it depends on your audience - a CEO wants strategy, where Product Managers want tactics first and then strategy. In other words, the CEO wants "what", and the PM wants "how & when".

I know I am rambling again, but, I am a member of a board of advisors for Dell Computer. They send presentations out, from one of three individuals. Two of them present as if I am a PM, while the other presents as if I am a CEO - AND, that same individual, in later slides, gives the tactics if I have further questions or issues.

Okay, an analogy. If you have kids, or nephews, nieces, etc., you probably have been in the position of one of the following:

1) "Owww, it hurts, it hurts. Help me."

2) "I bit the inside of my mouth. It hurts. Help me."

Which one would you prefer? Of course, #2. Gets right to the point, huh?

To close this, back to them paying attention or not. Do presentations when you have a technology that can't be seen with the naked eye, or have to display large images, sketches, etc. to numerous individuals. When I have one or two people that I have to give a presentation to, I do not do a presentation. When more then three, then, do a presentation.

Posted by blaine at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Media Training 2

I spoke before about the need for media training. So, nothing new about it, but, just want to bring it up again and discuss why and what the value is of media training.

You and your employee's need to make sure that they understand that they are always in the publics eye. That whatever they do, they reflect on the company.

You may not or cannot afford to "train" everyone in your organization, but, there are always the people who are the "face" of your company. Like your CEO, CMO, CFO, and pretty much anyone in your marketing, public relations, and communications divisions. It doesn't have to be a formal training session with professional media trainers, but, if you know how to speak with the media, and have done it for many years, then, you pretty much know the in's and out's of what is needed to reflect your company in a positive way.

Sit down, write down everything that you have learned over the years in dealing with the media, and think of how you can teach others what you learned. If you are a good manager, then, you already know how to teach; so, just write down 10 points, and try and teach your people those 10 items. Do this once a quarter, and soon enough, your people will start to handle themselves appropriately when in public.

People LOVE to talk about themselves or let others believe that they "know" everything. You usually have no alternative if someone speaks with the media, and they aren't authorized, then by firing them.

So, what I am trying to say, is that, instead of firing them, teach them what to say, how to say it, and then, when they speak to the media - even if they aren't supposed to - you may not have to fire them, but, reprimand them; why the reprimand? Because they didn't hurt your company, they just spoke when they shouldn't have.

Hope this makes some sense. Everyone wants to talk about themselves. Try and contain it with proper training.

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The Analyst

Was speaking with an analyst the other day about a new product for a company that I am consulting with. When my client and I got in the car to drive back to their place of business, I heard the usual & typical statement "We really don't need analysts, they don't sell our product or even influence the sales of our product. This is a waste of money."

I have heard this statement from various clients and bosses for 20 years now countless times.

Why DO we need an analyst? What value can they bring a company?

Here are just some of the many points that an analyst can bring you and your company - remember something, ALWAYS step back and look at the big picture - i.e. the world in which we live and do business.

1) Does your company want recognition in the market? Many CEO's and CMO's have said "We already have it; we have customers who know that are products are the best and that's why they buy from us".  How many times do we read in the weekly and monthly business journals about the huge amount of information that is out there and how companies can't even begin to sort through all the information that is relevant to them? Yes, almost weekly we see a story on knowledge management of one sort or the other. But, companies do read analyst reports and often find out about a new product, a new company, OR a new use for an existing product.

At one company, I fought and fought to do an analyst tour, and of course the CMO saying that we didn't need to do it (see above). I was able to do the analyst tour, and because my company was now being mentioned by analysts, customers that my company hadn't even thought about or KNEW about started calling on them for business.

2) Many companies want to build their brand and get brand recognition. Analyst's, by placing your company name or product name in their reports, give instant credibility to your company and product. Remember, this is FREE (besides the cost of the hotel and flight to meet with them). You cannot get a bigger bang for the buck then having an analyst talk about you.

Remember something, a Press Tour will get a mention of your company or product in a story (either paper, magazine, or webzine), but, they are writing about now and won't write about it again until something new comes from your company. An analyst, if your company or product is affecting the world, will continuously write about the company and product. Even if you don't meet with them again for another year.

NOTE: Of course, you must keep up a dialogue with the analyst during that year. Let them know what your product is doing and how the company is going to affect its customers. An email or phone call will suffice.

There are many other reasons to meet with analysts and do the tours. These are just two of them, and I'm sure that some of you think that there are more important ones out there (which there are), but, think, sit back, and always look at the big picture.

In parting words, I met with a Gartner analyst one time, who said, sounds great, but, come back to me when you have sales. The next week, I called her and told her how we had just locked in a three year deal with a major supplier. The analyst put out a report on our product and how it is going to affect sales in the market sector that we were trying to penetrate. You CANNOT BUY that kind of coverage. (And because of this report, we locked in two more multi-million dollar accounts.)

Posted by blaine at 01:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

An Email Name

What's in an email name?

No, not your name, but, the portion of the address after the "@" symbol. 

You have clients who have an address with xxx@aol.com or xxx@yahoo.com, right?  You worked for a start-up/small business that uses those free email clients, right?

What is your perception of an address like this? Mine is that “with an address like that, people think you aren't serious, that you work out of your home, that you don't have time to form a company/business, and that you are using your child's free email account" (or that your child set up your email account).  

After I inform people that this is what the general market thinks, they are shocked, and don’t believe it. 

Show your clients email address’ from small business’ in your area and ask them which ones they “take” or consider more seriously – those with a company name (like mine with blainep@xbrand.biz) or those with an xxx@aol.com or xxx@yahoo.com domain.

Once they realize how “bad” they look to the general audience and their initial shock and disbelief has worn off, explain to them the cost of setting up a company email (less then $100 a year).  

If they can’t afford that, then they shouldn’t be a client of yours. If they don’t want to do it because they know better, then, they also shouldn’t be a client of yours.

How much business is lost because people have this perception?

Presentations

There are many different kinds of presentations that you see in the business world today. PowerPoint, a speech, a pitch, collateral, and so on.

But what did we remember about them? Anything?

You were sent to hear this presentation, either internally or at an event (or somewhere), and did they impress you? Did they gain your attention? Hey, even a sales pitch is a presentation!!!

How many times did we fall asleep? Have to stab ourselves in the leg with a pen to keep awake?

If you have never figured it out, it is the person giving the presentation, and not usually the content of the presentation, that keeps our attention.  The person actively got you involved - either by asking questions, by being personable, by interacting with you.

When we give presentations, we are trained on quite a few things, but, the first and foremost is to get the audience to interact!!!  Either by asking questions of the audience (or feedback) or getting the audience to particpate (by calling on companies or divisions of companies to give the answer).

Get them involved - make them stay awake. 

There was one presentation that I attended, almost 20 years ago, and during the presentation, the speaker would throw potatoes (raw) to people who answered her question correctly. EVERYONE wanted a potato after the first few rounds.  They stayed attentitive through the whole day.

You know what they got at the end of the day? Nothing.  The speaker said "I have given you a start in XYZ (what the presentation was about) and a start on your dinner tonight".  What a let down, but, wow, did she have our attention the whole time!!!

Posted by blaine at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Communication

Was at a company recently; walked into the reception area, and heard the receptionist answer a question on the company, "Yes, we make the product XXX and that is our specialty; can I connect you to one of our salespeople?".

I then went to meet with the company's VP of Sales.  She sat down in front of me (we were now in a conference room), and said (after all the formal introductions, etc.), "We are specialists in providing back-end software to the enterprise market; even though the world knows us for the few hardware products we provide.  Our target is the enterprise market, bringing state-of-the-art software to their internal systems and integrating some of our unique hardware. How can we get the market to see what our company offers and get the market to understand what we do?"

Of course, I had to mention what I heard in the front lobby.  "You know," I said, "I heard your receptionist state that your company is a specialist in hardware solutions, product XXX.  When you just came in, you said that your company were specialists in a different product. Which one is it?  You called Xbrand because you didn't think that the market understood what you did.  I think the issue covers more then just the general market. I think your employee's also don't know what your company does and provides, and aren't coordinated with the messaging that you want to project out to the market."

Over the next few weeks, we put together a training and messaging program for the company, from the receptionist to the CEO. We came to understand, through the discovery process of what employee's understood to be the companies mission, that each division had their own idea of what that message is.  Within a month, the company was all communicating the same message to the outside world.

Don't ignore inside the company when you are trying to put out a consistent message. Many times, the trouble starts at home.

Posted by blaine at 09:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Advertising

There are so many different forms of advertising - tv, print, radio, web, billboard, etc.

We get asked which is the best for them and which one gives them the "biggest bang for the buck".

There is no easy answer.  Advertising is a discipline. It takes money, and in some cases, doesn't pay off, and in others, pays off tremendously.

Radio is cheap - hitting a large audience, but, very much a shotgun approach, not knowing if you are hitting your market or not.

Print is a little more expensive, but, can be very targeted to the market you are trying to capture (of course, direct mail can be very specific, but, can a) upset your market (who likes junkmail?) and b) go after a large audience that may still miss your market.

Television tells a story - much easier then print or radio - you get to use the eyes and ears of the audience, instead of just one of those senses. In some cases, if you are advertising locally, it is very cheap.  On the other hand, if you are going after a national audience, it can be very expensive - but, it can pay off, depending on the creative that your agency does.

Advertising can work wonders on your bottom line, increasing revenue and profits. It is also one of the first things that are cut when the bottom line needs to show more profit - which, sadly, in most cases, increasing in advertising (and more generally marketing) budgets can bring a company out of trouble much more quickly then a "wait and see" attitude.

Always be sure to put a complete marketing strategy together before spending any money on advertising. Make all your marketing programs work together to get an overall "biggest bang for the buck".

Posted by blaine at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Business Cards

What's in a business card? You would be surprised.  Some of our clients have so much information on them, you are unsure as to what their business is.  Some are so sparse, you have to wonder the same thing - "what is their business?".

Some points to be sure are on your business card - name (duh!), email address and website, and phone number. Okay, so, that's the basics, but, what is the next level after that - no, it's not graphics (okay, maybe, on one or two out of a hundred may be graphics); it's a statement about your business - like ours, Strategic Communication Solutions.  What is yours? Are you clear and concise? Is ours? Well, if you aren't in marketing, then, it isn't - but, then, companies that don't want marketing help aren't who I want to attract.  Is it too niche? Well, we have clients who are worldwide, as well as clients who are very local and niche (like our corner restaurant).

Does your card state your business - your specialty? Is it too busy - does it give off the feeling that you are doing soooo many things that you don't have time to focus on one thing? Another client of ours had three different business cards made up so that they could hand out the appropriate specialized card to that market.

Think about it - the business card is your foremost advertising tool - does it convey the right message you want people to perceive about you??

Posted by blaine at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Media Training

How many of you are a spokesperson for your company? Or, at times, represent your company to the press or media? I'm not talking about having your name in a press release, but, being interviewed by some type of media?

Were you media trained? Were you informed of what to say, how to act, what to DO in front of the media?

If not, then, you shouldn't be speaking to the media.

Time and time again, especially in todays world of Reality TV, I see "stars" being interviewed, or on camera, saying things and doing things that are embarassing, if not wrong.  They go to a party and get drunk.  They get in a fight with another individual (showing that they can't control their emotions). They say something that is ignorant or sounds ignorant (i.e. not informed). Have you ever seen this? Have you experienced it - where when you see yourself on TV or hear yourself on the radio, or read what you said (or was perceived to be said), you were embarrassed? Or did you not even care?

Media training is not expensive, usually a few hours costs less then a thousand dollars.  The benefit is that you can now represent the company (and yourself) in their (or your) best interest. It may be perceived as a "waste of time", as we have experienced so many times in training individuals or groups of individuals, but, afterwards, when they have finished an interview, a tough interview, they call and thank us for the work we did with them.

Being able to answer a question, or, avoid an answer, can provide the difference between being perceived as a knowledgeable person or one that is just a "talking head" for the company.

Wouldn't you prefer to be considered a "good" interview, to be invited to speak again, or to be interviewed again, because you were perceived as an expert?

Get media trained - it's worth the investment.

Posted by blaine at 09:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)