Manageable Marketing Maven

Bad Marketing for Yogurt

2012-07-11T21:57:00.000-05:00

One recent Saturday, I walked out of a massage session to find this on the windshield of my car. I spun in circles looking for the culprit. Then I looked at the card...And felt doubly violated...

Appealing to my greedy needs and gluttonous guts...

Are you seriously trying to sell me frozen yogurt using electronics?! Perhaps bad marketing like this is the reason frozen yogurt shops continually pop up and fall down in shopping centers all over America.

Word to the wise small business owner who is probably NOT reading this blog. DON'T play to my primeval need for technology just to get me to buy a $5 ice cream. I will just think you are an idiot. And you are.

How about a year membership at the new Gold's Gym across the parking lot to burn off all the calories you'll be helping me pack on?

Your location is right next to Pei Wei, Cheddar's, Red Robin, Texas Roadhouse, KFC, Walgreen's. Wait, maybe that's why you thought papering my car with this bribery - the availability of cars.

With all this money you've spent printing these gaudy fliers you could have sponsored a kiddie league sports team or donated frozen yogurt to a local non-profit or giving free sweet treats or extra scoops or toppin's to kids who come in on Tuesdays.

You can do better. You can do better than this bad, bad marketing.

End rant.

Updates from My Neglected Hubspot Site

2012-02-24T09:30:00.000-06:00

I told myself that if I was going to blow $200/month on a Hubspot inbound marketing web platform, I'd get everything out of it I possibly could. Oh, how life happens...Despite my neglect, check out this progress.

Hubspot is known for its success in getting sites to rank organically. I've kept up blogging once or twice a month and made very minimal tweaks to my site since December, but look! Nearly a 200% increase! For a site that started at ground zero, I am pleased.

I thought these analyzitics were interesting because I did low budget, paid advertising on Yelp and StumbleUpon in December for the holidays. I am rarely disappointed by Yelp. I was less excited by StumbleUpon. Though I did see a significant boost in traffic, traffic was all it was.

More to come - I promise...

Case Study: WinePassionate.com and Web Content

2011-11-21T23:22:00.001-06:00

WinePassionate.com is a in-the-works web site that focuses on - or will focus on - selling wine online. I stumbled upon the project on a freelance writing web site, and as a part of the application process, I evaluated the site for web content possibilities. Might as well share the work I did...

Right off the bat, we could do a lot with SEO in regard to urls, page titles and h1 tags.

URLs: Making some changes when naming URLs would absolutely affect the site's search rankings. For example, by changing "the whites" URL from http://www.winepassionate.com/c/2/the-whites to http://www.winepassionate.com/c/2/white-wine allows the keyword "white wine" to be included in one of the most important parts of the web site - it's address! Who is going to search for "the whites?" Maybe if it were a band...
Content Placement: I am interested to know where the site designer would like place page content, since many of the pages are category product pages contain very large product widgets. On these pages, I'd recommend adding a keyword rich H1 tag before the widget with two sentences (at a minimum) of keyword-dense text. Adding too much content at the top of what is essentially a category page would push the products "below the fold, so to speak," but would still be able to have actual content on the page. On individual product pages, I would take more space to expand on the content to provide more valuable information to readers and search engines, alike.
Dedicate a Place: I'd also recommend having a blog for content purposes, since the web site is product/picture/widget driven (which is certainly NOT a bad thing) and using an RSS feed to distribute important content to more trafficked pages on the site. Having a dedicated place for content - like a blog - would take the edge of trying to force it onto product pages.

What do you all thing? Do you have any other web content ideas for this site?

Marketing High or Low? USPS Advertises Paper Receipts

2011-11-17T09:44:00.002-06:00

I was on the elliptical this morning with my ear buds in doing my best to make up for the bowl of queso I took down at Maudie's on 360 last night when one of the most absurd and fascinating commercials came on the TV in front of me.

Did you know the US Postal Service is officially advertising the mailing of paper receipts? I saw it! It's on TV, I swear!

Elliptical Reactions

My first thought was, Wow, that's a well done commercial. It was - it was pretty and the message made complete sense to me as both a small business owner and consumer. Remembering my recent experience with my Facebook account being hacked, I thought, You're right, USPS. My fridge door has never been hacked. It's much safer than my inbox. I should mail all my clients receipts.

My second thought was, Are you kidding me? Advertising the act of mailing stuff?

Evolve or Die, USPS

If I took a stand for my clients and the security of their private information by mailing their invoices and receipts, respectfully, I would still have to explain to them why I was spending so much on postage and making them wait by the mailbox three days after their service was completed instead of taking a peek at their smartphone on the way out of my office door.

Our brains don't speak slow anymore. Snail mail is dead. I am so sorry, but you missed the mark. Evolve your or kill your business.

Marketing High or Low?

I know the United States Postal Service has had a tough go of it recently, which probably really started with the advent of the fax machines and was certainly further pummeled by the internet and email. The recent buzz was that the organization was running out of money and may cut back on Saturday postal services. Poor USPS. So I understand what it is trying to do - reviving an old product and all. And from a professional standpoint, I also think that "mail is safer" is a pretty creative and viable approach to promoting its product.

But I also feel sad for marketing. From the Black Friday wars to the Panda scramble - what is next in marketing? Clearly, marketing snail mail to the busy small business owner is the answer.

What do you think?

The Best Internet Marketing Secret Weapon There Is

2011-11-14T19:36:00.000-06:00

Writing.

Writing is the best secret weapon available to you as an internet marketer. Learn to write, and you can do anything. There are some general rules for SEO and webinars out the wazoo for social media. You have to be persistent and committed to master those things but not overly talented.

Writing is a bit harder - takes practice plus persistence and commitment. And people in your industry want it. If you can write, you can helpfully and knowledgeably blog for product wholesalers, clients, magazines, industry affiliates and on and on and on. And they will all link back to you, your product, your company's web presence.

Learn to write. Then write a lot. Then share what you write, and offer to write for others.

Your writing, locked and loaded with strategic links and helpful content, is the best place to invest your time and start an internet marketing plan.

Love What Hubspot Does for My Mobile Web Site

2011-11-11T15:30:00.001-06:00

As you know, I've recently signed up for Hubspot's basic inbound marketing software package. My site is live, and I'm addicted to fiddling with it. I never doubted I would be, but I am really enjoying the freedom to do what I want when I want without doing too much html or going to a zillion different web sites for my social media, analytics, etc.

But my new favorite part about Hubspot's inbound marketing software is what it does for my mobile site!

If you even think for even one second getting your site functioning well for mobile is not a priority, think again. There are a ridiculous number of studies done that prove otherwise.

I love this mobile marketing stat: There are 6.8 billion people on the planet. 5.1 billion of them own a cell phone, but only 4.2 billion own a toothbrush. Or this one: Many mobile web users are mobile-only, i.e. they do not, or very rarely use a desktop, laptop or tablet to access the Web. Even in the US 25 percent of mobile Web users are mobile-only.

The problem is that, according to recent marketing research, nearly 50 percent of survey respondents said that a "poor experience on their initial use of the mobile web made them "reluctant to access" either the site - or the Internet in general - on their mobile phones again."

I'm with the 50 percent. I HATE surfing the web on my smartphone. While the web is easier to access on my iPhone than my Blackberry, it's still often frustrating and squint-worthy.

But Hubspot is magic. My site is clean, the font is big enough to read, and instead of a menu bar rendered as it would be on a computer, visitors are able to use simple, iPhone-inspired menus.

The best way to demonstrate how great Hubspot's mobile sites are is to send you to see one. Grab your iPhone and go to my massage web site. Got a Blackberry? I'd love to hear about your user experience.

Great Tagline Sighting!

2011-11-03T09:35:00.003-05:00

Saw a landscaping truck at a stoplight this morning with a tagline I could appreciate. The side of the truck read:

PS Landscapes

Our Reputation is Growing!

I went for my iPhone to take a picture, but my trigger finger isn't fast enough - the light turned green. Having said that, I think my not being fast enough but still having time to recognize a witty and effective tagline - and want to blog about it - gives a lot of credit to PS Landscapes.

That one tagline had me eyeballing the men in the truck, looking at the landscaping equipment in their trailer and going for my iPhone with visions of blog articles swimming in my head. At a stoplight!

Taglines - Lasting and Powerful

According to Gweneth Dwyer, Director of Marketing Services at Larsen, a good tagline is lasting, powerful tool that communicates value. They can be explanatory, competitive, emotional or commanding - but it's the lasting part that makes it work. Our reputation is growing, was just punny enough to make me laugh a little and think a lot about this truck sitting next to me at the stoplight. The fact that it mentioned reputation didn't hurt, either.

Do I need a landscaper? Probably. Am I going to hire PS Landscapes right now? No, probably not. But the likelihood that I will remember PS Landscapes as a landscaping company that services my part of town is greater because it gave me - in just four words, in a fraction of a sentence - something to think about. And now I've shared it with you. Powerful.

365 Days with Hubspot

2011-10-27T13:52:00.000-05:00

I did it. I signed a contract with Hubspot.

Hubspot is an inbound marketing content managent system that allows small businesses - and some. big ones - to manage their web marketing efforts with one platform. I've worked with the software since 2008 and really believed in the principles and the overall product. I've taken bad jobs and paycuts just to be near the Hub'.

Recently, I got frustrated at work, and somewhat impulsivly but not regretably signed myself up for 365 day, basic Hubspot package at a whopping $200/month. I say whopping because I don't actually HAVE much of a small business to run. I have a very dead massage website that hasn't been updated since 2009 when I went into marketing full time. And it's terrible.

So that's the challenge. For the next 365 days, I have to make $200/month doing massage to cover the cost of this software. At least. (I'd like to quit my desk job, too, of course.) I plan to post regular updates, screenshots and more to track my progress and to entertain whomever is out there reading.

Here goes nothin'...

Don't Advertise Your Dumbness to Sell Your Car

2011-10-26T23:42:00.003-05:00

Okay, I'm cheap. I admit I was looking for a $9000 (yes, $9000 or less) car on Craigslist, so I probably deserve what I get. But when I saw this post, I just had to stop and spaz out about it.

Find the idiot-post in the screenshot above.

Here's what I have to say to you, "Johnny." Do me a favor, homeboy. If you want to sell me your car, don't be cool. 'Cuz I don't have bad credit. I have great credit. I'm just lookin' for a point A-to-B mode of transport to get me around my 'hood - one that I can pay for in cash. Your attempt to target what you thought was your audience's marketing persona failed. You got me. And now you look like an idiot.

Click through on the "dont pay more just cuz you have bad credit" ad, and you'll find some beautiful vehicles that I'm sure are more than $9k. I won't be buying from Johnny, though.

Tell a Story with Marketing Case Studies

2011-10-21T10:28:00.003-05:00

Most of us have read at least one case study in our lives, and I'll bet it was most likely a medical trial report or an academic paper. It's for this reason, the term "case study" gets ball-and-chained with the identifying words like "clinical" or "didactic." But marketing case studies are different. Effective marketing case studies - the ones that move prospective clients down the sales funnel - should tell a story.

Marketing Case Studies and Story Structure

My earliest memory of story writing was in and around fifth grade when I really got into character development and plot. I remember writing pages and pages about the sorted histories of the characters in my "books" and twisting plot outlines just as long. But you can't do anything for a story without the foundation of a beginning, middle and end. Marketing case studies are no different. Make sure they start somewhere, have somewhere to go and wrap up nice and neat at the end - even if the end ends with a big fat question mark.

Get Emotional and be the Hero

Leave the stilted language at the door, and go instead for the emotional jugular. Case study readers need to connect with a story on a level they may not even be aware of. Readers should be able to empathize with and feel the pain, panic and terror of the damsel in distress, so when the hero (aka your company, your product or you) is introduced and slays the dragon (otherwise known as your reader's problem), they also feel the relief, the gratitude and the loyalty of the damsel.

Let the Stinky Feet and Glass Slippers Do the Work

Things didn't go as planned in your case study? Had a few bumps along the way? Don't leave the messy parts out! Prince Charming still had to try that glass slipper on every stinky foot in the kingdom. Had he just met Cinderella at the ball, married her and run off to make babies, we could have just had Barbie and Ken story full of cute clothes and lots of accessories. With the glass slipper plot twist, the reader is able to vicariously experience struggle and anxiety then hope and victory and the joy of a happily-ever-after. That is more effective, emotive, inspiring story. And applied to a marketing case study, it's the kind of story that stays with a reader.

A good marketing case study will sell itself, so leave the advertising out. A little link won't hurt a thing, but if you've done it right, a purposeful, well-built, emotional story will do volumes more for moving your prospects through the sales cycle than a glossy but sterile graphic and a bossy call to action.

Learn How: Marketing Prof's Marketing Writing Bootcamp has a great course by Gail Martin about writing marketing case studies - highly recommended.

Form or Function | Content-Centric Web Site Redesign

2011-10-18T11:03:00.003-05:00

A couple weeks ago, I posted a website redesign SOS for a small business client I'm providing marketing consulting to. The company's goals were to clean up the web site, funnel leads and provide easy-asses to educational content. Here's the quick mock up I promised.

Easy-to-manage Content-centric Design

While the Marketing Manager called this look "archaic," and she may be right, what I see here is more balanced, easy to update design that is content-centric but focuses on user-driven accessibility. (As opposed to company ramrodded content.) Do you see what I see? Let me elaborate.

Forever Changes

There were some things I would change forever about this web page for good. They should be rarely updated, as they will play apart in navigational role for first-time and repeat visitors.

Navigation and Links, Before and After | In the old version, the navigation was limited to the top navigation bar. This design honors that, but also adds key content items along the left sidebar, which (though you can't really see it in this shot), shortened the overall length of the page and thinned out the text in the body of the web page. Doing this, also freed up the visitor to determine his own path to the content he wants most instead of being overwhelmed by everything available on the original version. I do wonder if there are too many links in the left sidebar, and may in a later revision consider doing some more trimming to better control traffic from this page.

About Statement | Honestly, the body text is pretty much what it was before for graphic purposes. However, I would rewrite the first paragraph to be a bit thinner, more customer focused and keyword rich.

Blog Feed | This is a no-brainer. If the company took the time to write it, it needs to make sure people read it. Since the home page is often the most visited page on a site, and we were striving for a content-driven page in this redesign, this fits.

Make the Changes, Rinse Repeat

One of the things search engines like to see on a web page is FRESH CONTENT. People do, too. It's for this reason that I "built in" (at least) two, easily editable areas that should be updated weekly or more often. Editing these two areas should take no more than five minutes per week, provided the content is already created.

Call to Action Articles | Under the slider, there are three burgundy text paragraphs. They were there before but had never changed. In this design, these should be updated regularly with featured articles that included strong CTAs. Fresh content, of course, is ideal for these, but the company also mix in one or two recycled blog articles that performed really well for it before.

Featured Product | On the right sidebar, are three buffalo nickles that represent an area that could also be changed weekly to honor featured products or sale items. This company has Best Buys (one or more undervalued products in the current market) and Monthly Picks (monthly recommended products) programs they update pretty regularly already. Why couldn't those be featured here?

Slider Bonus | The slider is harder for this company to edit - they outsource it. But built into a solid content marketing plan, it could easily be done quarterly.

This company's challenge was not whether or not it had content, but rather how they were sharing it on its web site. Part of their challenge, as I saw it, is that there wasn't a good design that made it easy to do and supported frequent updates. What do you think of this "archaic" redesign?

From MarketingProfs | Devices Used to Tweet about Steve Jobs

2011-10-13T19:00:00.002-05:00

With the news of Steve Jobs's death on October 5, 2011, the Twitter universe exploded with tributes to the visionary co-founder and former chief executive of Apple, and more than half of those tweets were generated via Apple devices, according to a study by Visibli.

Among more than 3 million tweets analyzed related to Jobs's passing, 51% were generated via Apple devices. Within the Apple family, the iPhone was by far the most popular device used with 83% of tweets issued via Apple phones (42% overall). That was followed by Mac products, with 9% of the Apple share (4.6% overall) and the iPad with 8% (4% overall).

RIM BlackBerry was the second-most popular platform with roughly 23% of tweets issued via that platform, followed by Google Android (11%).

President Barack Obama's blog post on October 5 reflected a similar sentiment: "The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."

I blatantly stole this article from MarketingProfs because it was so cool and because I am still too profoundly shocked by the death of Apple's champion to write about Steve Jobs myself. See the real deal at
Half of Tweets About Steve Jobs's Death Sent via Apple Devices

Optimize Your Blog with Calls to Action

2011-10-13T10:14:00.000-05:00

A basic inbound marketing rule is to provide valuable content. Make valuable content available everywhere from your website to your lead nurturing campaigns to your customer service and sales cycles. But to get the most out of your content, you have to call attention to it. You need pair your valuable content with a call to action!

A call to action (CTA) is exactly that. It makes your blog reader, applicant, shopper want to do something - and in an ideal situation, do it with a sense of urgency. Your blog is an excellent place to use CTAs. Putting a small CTA at the end of a brief article about related, valuable content will generally be received as helpful, not pushy.

When I post mortgage rate updates on a mortgage broker client's blog, I always include a variation of CTA like this one at the bottom of each article:

Rates for every home loan type listed above are under 4%! Now is a great time to refinance. Request a free home loan consultation to learn more about your mortgage options.

On text-heavy articles, I include graphics to draw attention to the CTA. Fiddle with it. Do some A/B testing. See what works best for different types of articles.

However you do it, dropping a call to action in the bottom of a blog article rich with valuable content is a quick, easy way to helpfully encourage your target audience to take action. Give it a try! And check out Hubspot's recent article 5 Locations You Must Add Your Calls to Action for other great ideas.

Chris Brogan: Sloppy Blogger?

2011-10-12T09:48:00.000-05:00

I love Chris Brogan. I love his authenticity and cannot deny he knows his small business marketing stuff. But I'm concerned. Chris, are you becoming a sloppy blogger?

Sloppy Blog Post Sightings

In Location Based Marketing for Dummies - Video Interview with Aaron Strout, Chris Brogan had dead air for several minutes at a time when he muted his mic to block out his child in the background. The problem was somehow he didn't just mute his mike - he killed all audio. Several people commented, but the post is still sitting at the top of his video blog page, unedited. Just clip out the failed audio, Chris! You still had great content there.

With today's perceived slip up, I sighed. Find the error in this paragraph from his post Fresh Start.

"Brands refresh all the time. Sometimes, it works well. Other times, we push back and decry the change. Beyond a new site design, which doesn’t hurt matters (and if you’re thinking a site design, might I refer you to these great premium WordPress themes – affiliate link?), what might also help is starting fresh with your audience, and retelling your story from the basics."

Unless I am misunderstanding how "affiliate link" fits into the sentence, that's an error. And a pretty glaring one, if I'm reading it right. I wouldn't want my blog readers to know I was loading my content with affiliate links. Sure, we do it sometimes, but we're also preaching about the value of customer-centric service and knowledge-sharing. I'm of the mind that we should do it, but not advertise it. You can live-edit your blog. Just fix it!

Slow down, Chris. We'll love you and your quality commentary - even if it's less frequent.

Beloved by marketers everywhere, Chris Brogan consults and speaks professionally with Fortune 100 and 500 companies about the future of business communications and social software technologies. He is a New York Times bestselling co-author of Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust, and a featured monthly columnist at Entrepreneur Magazine. He knows his stuff.

Small Business Marketing | "Rich, old men are not on Facebook."

2011-10-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

...said my client, infamous "Company A."

If one word came to mind to describe my reaction to this statement it would be incredulous. Of the synonyms I like best - disbelieving, show-me and negativistic, which I swear is in the dictionary, are most fitting. Helping very successful, small business owners realign their definition of marketing is often an inherent part of my job description, but in 2011 social media is a no-brainer.

If you've run a successful business for more than 20 years and agree with the statement rich, old men are not on Facebook, here's the skinny.

Who isn't on Facebook? | With more than 750 million active users, 50% of whom log on to Facebook in any given day, the question really is who isn’t on Facebook? The average number of “friends” any given person has on Facebook is 130-200, and users spend over 700 billion minutes/month the site. If just one person shares a Company A email special on Facebook, that one reader has the potential to reach at least 130 people with one click.
Grow - or at Least Prepare To. | Integrating with Facebook also means Company A’s reach doesn’t have to stay domestic. Approximately 70% of Facebook users are engaging from outside the borders of the United States.While Company A doesn't sell to international markets at this time, the company doesn't have box itself in on purpose. Facebook leaves the door open for growth in those markets.
Get Mobile Immediately. | Finally, 250 of the 750 million active users are accessing Facebook from their mobile phones, and those 250 million are twice as active as those who access the site from a computer. By engaging with Facebook users, Company A not only automatically gains immediate exposure it also reaches those most likely to be actively reading and sharing its content.

In an effort to de-incredulous my attitude, I sent an email to Company A acknowledging the owner's opinion that rich, old men are not on Facebook, but respectfully stating a marketing plan without a social media component was a dinosaur. I listed 12 other industry-related, credible organizations who were present on Facebook (and stop listing only because I got bored) as well as highlighted the opportunities I saw to be better than those organizations.

Here was his email response:

"Fantastic memo! That's what I'm struggling with and why I'm sharing my frustration with social media. SHOW ME!

Where is the needle in the haystack? It must be in there somewhere. How do we find it?

This email is exactly the discussion and evidence I expected someone to present, not a lot of b.s. I've seen and heard and read about from the gurus.

I want us to find an appropriate long-term strategy and media mix.

You might start by showing me, in person, what you see and feel as the experience at Facebook and Twitter. For me, I'm just looking at a bunch of dorky people who want to be my friends that I have no interest in spending 2 minutes a month reading about.

Perhaps looking at our Facebook page and competitors would be a great way to start.

Nothing in this discussion should stress anyone out. Please egg me, don't be frustrated because everyone doesn't see the world the way you do. That's what makes you special and unique. Finding the needle is the reason for my success."

I can only guess what "needle" I'll have to dig out of what haystack, but at least we're talking after I called his marketing plan a dinosaur. Don't let your consultant insult you - even if you do write an nice email back to her. If you're not in social media and have succeeded without it for 20 years, get in it anyway. It's way past time.

The Impact of Social Media Interfacing on Email Marketing

2011-10-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

(Excerpt from a persuasive document encouraging a small business to interface its social media efforts with the rest of its marketing plan.)

The Situation

Compnay A currently has a presence on LinkedIn with a business page, Facebook with both a standard profile and business page and Twitter. The company is not a member of any social media-based groups. Company A does not have a YouTube page or Digg account.

It’s important to note the word integrate at this point. While Company A does have presences with most of the major social media sites, those opportunities to connect are not offered in any of its efforts to reach clients - they are not integrated into the websites, blog or email marketing campaigns. This means instead of clicking a little blue Facebook button on a website, for example, a client or prospective customer would have to intentionally search-out a connection with the company.

The Impact on Email Marketing

Social and email marketing have significantly different natures – social media is often a reciprocal conversation tool whereas traditional email marketing is designed to efficiently “push out” information to a large group. With this in mind, the first thing to do when considering whether to integrate social media into Company A's email marketing plan is to decide whether an email’s content is share-worthy.

Company A will benefit from social media integration if it is used in its product-centric email marketing strategy specifically. For example in August 2011, Company A pushed an email featuring special offers on August 3^rd promoting the sale of two specific European gold coins. Had this email given the option to share across multiple social media outlets, the offer could have been exponentially spread to at least 130 more people per contact using the “share” function on Facebook alone. The initial email pushed would have also received the benefit of the “breaking news” email titled Urgent Red Alert Buy Gold on August 10^th not to mention the share-worthiness of the second email as a stand-alone.

With strategic link-backs to the Company A blog from both the social media pages and its email marketing efforts, the blog will benefit from increased traffic and will be better suited to direct traffic to a variety of client-relevant landing and product pages on the website.

Email Marketing | Use Your Good Content to Stay in the Inbox

2011-09-28T13:43:00.000-05:00

Click to enlarge view.

One of the owners of a company I consult for forwarded me this email (right) with the words, "Fantastic email" in the subject line.

I'm thinking, Well, it's kind of great. It's clean. There's some bullets and a call to action. My problem with this email is that it has missed at least one if not two additional opportunities to stay in the inbox of each person on its email list.

For example, when I look at the content of this email, I see the opportunity for three different emails.

An email featuring the “all star” speakers followed by a call to action to take advantage of the discounted product.
An email featuring the investment topics covered with a call to action to take advantage of the discounted product.
And a reminder email sometime before the product discount offer expires.

All of these emails should link to a landing page that includes comprehensive content, of course.

If you can justify emailing your list three times because you have new, valuable information - even if, and especially if, you are using the same call to action - why wouldn’t you?

Don't worry about the whiners. It is harder for a person on your email list to complain about sending three emails instead of one because you are giving them new, important information each time you "blast" them. The upside for you is you get to stay in their inbox on a regular basis without being spammy. (Having said that, yes, eventually you have to stop emailing them, so make a plan and be smart with your content.)

They need to know. If you're offering a generous product discount for a limited time about a topic many people are concerned about in this economy, no less, you should be making noise in people's inbox.

Don't waste your good content on a one-shot email. Break it down, schedule your email blasts and stay in the inbox.

From Funnel to Ferris Wheel | The New Sales Model

2011-09-22T10:11:00.000-05:00

From Marketing Profs Customer Advocacy and the New Purchase Funnel

Marketers and brand managers spend a lot of time, energy, resources, and budget trying to understand what messaging via traditional media will resonate with their target audiences (which calls to action will spark the most clicks, conversations, etc.).

Millions of dollars are spent on media that aim to create marketing messages in each of the phases—awareness, consideration, preference, purchase, and loyalty. And smart marketers also create metrics models for each phase of the purchase funnel to measure the effectiveness of those messages.

However, the purchase funnel is no longer a funnel. Customer advocacy is at the center of the model. It's meant to illustrate the power of social and how advocates are aiding and influencing their micro communities down the purchase funnel via authentic messages (or everyday conversation).

The model is now circular: As a brand invests and drives formal customer advocacy programs, they will in turn influence others at various phases of the purchase funnel—creating a cycle of influence and advocacy that the brand is facilitating.

Steps to Reeling in a Content Marketing Plan

2011-09-21T10:51:00.000-05:00

One of the companies I am consulting has at least six web sites - some e-commerce driven, some blog-inspired and several without a category at all. This morning, I met with one of the marketers for this company during which I did not say a word, but rather listened to a stream of theories about how to refresh and distribute old content across these (at least) six sites. At the end of the meeting, I had a stack of hand-written content to sift through, complete with notes in red ink, and an overwhelming sense of shock about what I'd just gotten myself into.

What just happened here?

If you're like this multi-site company and have more than one web site for your business, you need a content marketing plan. Without subjecting you to what I just experience in this meeting, let me just suggest the following steps for quickly sorting through this process.

Make a ranked list of all your web sites. | The list should take into consideration how each web site ranks in search engines, how much traffic there is to the site (and probably where it comes from), how each site collects and converts leads, what kind of content exists on each site already and what holes you can fill with new content.
Write down your goals. | If one web site is a top performer and ranks higher, converts better and has great content already, do not reinvent the wheel. If you must run (at least) six web sites, focus instead on using the new content and sub-par web sites to drive traffic to the best one or two web sites. Write down this goal!
Briefly analyze each site. | Take a deeper look at each web site - not your top performers but the ones you are going to use as tools to drive traffic to the top performers - and ask questions like these: Where does this traffic come from? What kind of person "lands" on this site? What are they looking for? And what do I want them to look for on my top performing site? What kind of content can I use get them where I want them to go on my top performing site?
Lay out the breadcrumb trail. | Evaluate the content you have and are ready to post. Answer these questions: How can you build a trail from one of your sub-par web sites to one of your top performers? What kind of holes might you need to fill to complete the trail? At what points in the content might you allow certain types of visitors to deviate from the trail - if at all? Lay out the content and consider making a plan for filling the holes.
Implement. | One of the things I struggle with most with my clients is that they "fall off the grid." They lose commitment to the plan, forget about it all together or blow it out of the water completely by not implementing then reinforcing our content marketing plans aka "trail plans." Do the work. You've made the plan. Now, do the work.
Analyze and adjust. | If it's broken, fix it. If it works, fill in the holes, but otherwise LEAVE IT ALONE until it breaks. Just keep an eye on it. It doesn't have to be hard.

Having multiple web sites is not a bad thing. It can do wonders for inbound links on one of your partner sites, it can help direct the flow of traffic - it can even be powerful in lead nurturing and generation if you can get into that deeply. But you must have a content marketing plan.

Wish me luck with this stack of papers - and with staying on the grid.

Help! Busy Website Needs Redesign

2011-09-20T12:49:00.000-05:00

In an effort to visually clean up the web site, balance product-centric content with customer service and educational content, and efficiently funnel leads, this ecommerce site is about to undergo a redesign. Here's a bird's-eye view of the current look. (Static is hidden content placed for privacy.) Want to throw in your suggestions?

Click to view full-scale.

I will post the mock-up of what I've worked out so far later to show the steps I feel need to be taken (within the guidelines I've been given by the site owner), and how it lines up with what you've suggested.

A Half Thought | Do You Think in 140 Characters?

2011-09-19T12:35:00.000-05:00

Early in the month of August something terrifying happened to my Facebook profile. First I lost all my friends and lists. Then, I got locked out. Completely.

As an eMarketer, one who runs several business pages on Facebook, "the crash of 2011" was crippling - and quiet. In the quiet while waiting for my page to come back up, one of the most interesting things I learned about myself, was that I think in 140 characters and share-worthy links and family pictures. And research says I'm not the only one.

I like how Jolie O'Dell put it best in her article about Facebook obsession when she said, "Facebook profiles are like belly buttons: Everybody's got one." With 48 percent of 18-34 year-olds checking their Facebook before they get up (and 28 percent of those before they even get out of bed), I know my brain is not only one affected by our culture's social media dependency.

I've taken social media sabbaticals and gone through periods of removing apps from my smartphone, but the damage is done. Standing in the kitchen, barefoot after more than a week cut off from my news feeds, church ministries and out-of-state friends, panic ensued. While people were still emailing and texting and calling me - mostly to ask why I defriended them - it felt like all of me had folded inward. Had I become an introvert again?

After nearly three weeks, my profile is back up, my business pages secured, and I am, admittedly, feeling a little more stable. While I have not reloaded social apps on my smartphone or checked my wall before rolling out of bed, I can say I have gained a profound perspective on how intense my need to share my life with those I am in community with is. And while the statement that social media relationships are superficial is often made, I can say without hesitation my pervasive digital connectedness directly impacts the quality of my life - and for the better.

Happily obsessed.

Your Blog | It Doesn't Matter Who Reads It

2011-08-01T13:00:00.000-05:00

Straight from Seth Godin's mouth.

How to Write Reviews Online to Get More Massage Clients

2010-01-07T23:51:00.000-06:00

Originally posted on TLCschool.com

If you are a massage therapist reading this blog, you are probably familiar with review sites like Yelp and how to submit reviews to them. But as a massage therapist, do you know how to use them to grow your massage therapy business?

The answer might seem overly simple - it's the Golden Rule.

How to Selfishly Review Other Businesses (and do good for all mankind)

1. Do It Completely

This is the most important step for your massage business! When you join a review site, be sure to complete your profile. If you have a business page, say on Yelp, you can (and should) review as a business. Just make sure your business profile has "you" all over it. For example, Yelp has a page on which you can fill out business owner info and include a photo. Do it! While it is important to signify you are a business and while you want your reviewing efforts to generate more business, people trust humans more than logos. A business with a real human behind it is more powerful.

If it's not obvious: You can be a business with a face, and even on the Internet, people can know you...Ooooh-ahhhh.

2. Just Do It

When you have a great experience somewhere - especially if it's a local company you know could benefit from some word-of-mouth promo - make sure everyone knows (including the company) and not just the dude who happens to be standing next to you. The best reviews are the ones written while the experience is still fresh, so do it immediately, though very carefully, while you're still glowing. (Did you know Yelp has an iPhone app?)

If it's not obvious: With the Internet and review sites, it takes just minutes to tell the world about the bagel you just ate or the nice man at the car wash. And if you can say, "I just had the best happy-hour purple margarita under Christmas lights ever at..." your reviews will feel more alive.

3. Do It Actively

To be successful writing reviews, you need to remember two things. First, review sites are social by nature - they, especially Yelp, are communities. And second, you earn credibility and likability by being an active member of that community. Only reviewing companies who review you or posting a "favor" review for a start-up you want to schmooze is not being an active member of a community. It's playing favorites. Your reviews may even be deleted. Yelp's program is notorious for removing reviews posted by reviewers who are not actively using and reviewing on its site or following its guidelines.

If it's not obvious: The more you review others, the more chances you have for your reviews to be read. The more your reviews are read, the more opportunities your business profile has to be viewed. The more your business profile is viewed, the more likely you are to generate new clients.

4. Do It Fairly

There are many unspoken rules about fair reviewing practices, but the major one to follow is if you have a real issue with a company - one that you feel a little emotional about, perhaps - that would cause you to rate it, its service or its product less than middle-of-the-road or would cause you to write a review that might be called scathing if written in the New York Times, try to work it out with the company before posting.

If it's not obvious: The Golden Rule is really relevant here. Reviews usually stick around - unless you are on Yelp and you don't follow #3 above. Make sure the lady helping you in the fitting room wasn't just having a bad day before you bash the entire company on the Internet.

In the end, in addition to the Golden Rule, what goes around, comes around. Supporting the businesses and people around you can do not only good for mankind and all of that, but it can also generate attention for your company and its product. Get out there on the web, recognize good things regularly, mention the bad if there's no other way, and make sure everyone knows you are a a massage therapist in Austin, Texas, who is accepting new clients.

Happy rubbing (and reviewing).

Digital Native Hold-out: Succumbing to the "lol"

2009-12-10T09:47:00.000-06:00

For all intensive purposes, I am a digital native. Life without my laptop, Blackberry and netbook is crushing - pathetic, I know. I read more blogs than I care to admit, and am a shameless Facebook updater and serial texter.

But I have not yet drowned in the MP3 player craze or succumbed to the infamous lol. I've always been bad with music. Being happy with radio's power in my life, I never bought CDs or tape cassettes. But I have no excuse - as a Digital Native - for not adopting the text lingo. I just can't seem to make myself do it.

I still remember the first time someone ASLMH'ed me in a chat room. I was dumbfounded. If you're like me, you'll need a lingo translator.

Zappos: An Answer to Stale

2009-11-12T14:54:00.000-06:00

Zappos might be the answer to my recent ponderings about Starbucks' failure to provide a memorable experience and Apple's sleepwalk-inspired marketing.

PubCon 2009: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh Keynote covers customer service, the customer experience - Hello, Starbucks, you used to be good at this - and what Zappos does internally for and with its employees.

Check Yourself

Zappos core values are what I really got amped up about in the post. Notice how each value listed below is about what employees - people - can do, not about what Zappos should be doing as an organization or how Zappos management would like to see things run.

1. Deliver WOW through service

2. Embrace and drive change

3. Create fun and a little weirdness

4. Be adventurous, creative and open-minded

5. Pursue growth and learning

6. Build open and honest relationships with communications

7. Build a positive team and family spirit

8. Do more with less

9. Be passionate and determined

10. Be humble

Wouldn't you want to work here? If you did, wouldn't you have good things to say about your company? Would you want to invest more of your time and energy in a company like this? Would you be passionate about it? Would you do it willingly, eagerly? Heck yeah! A company will prosper through work rooted in the answers to these questions.

Zappos' emphasis on the individual as an individual from the hiring point, through its focus on passion, spirit, humility, WOW and adventurousness, will be its saving grace if it ever hits a wall like Starbucks or Apple. Why? Would a company that encourages its staff to "create a little weirdness" present a stale marketing campaign or hard-sell bagels at the drive-thru? I think not. The checks-and-balances system would kick in. Pushing a product on a loyal customer everytime they buy from you wouldn't be weird enough, WOW enough. It wouldn't breed positivity.

Employees would revolt. And thank God!