Tornado Marketing

test

Adrianne-Machina — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:19:15 +0000

hello

hkhk

a asdsa assA

ASd

No related posts.

Do you have a Hail Mary Play in your marketing arsenal?

Adrianne-Machina — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:45:46 +0000

I’m a late-coming football fan. Truthfully, I’m a bigger fan of the football party than the football game, but that seems to work out for everyone involved. After all, someone needs to fetch the beer and snacks – and I’m more than happy to be that someone. This year, because the Packers and Badgers both did so well, I actually got into watching the game, especially when it was a close call in the fourth quarter.

The UW Badgers got killed by so many Hail Mary plays this year. (Yes, I’m talking to you Michigan State). With the SuperBowl right around the corner I started thinking, what about having a Hail Mary Marketing Play? While most of marketing (and football) is just making small forward movements— an email here, a website tweak there— sometimes you need to do something big and bold to stand out. A Hail Mary play requires big risk, but could also mean a much bigger reward. Do you have a Hail Mary Marketing Play? If not, could you create one?

Focus on Getting Results

Sometimes we see companies take gigantic, but often misguided, leaps of faith. The only reason a football team makes a Hail Mary play is because a touchdown will win the game for them – and they don’t have many options left. I don’t actually advocate draining your bank account to make one last grand stand. But we do see it happen.

In marketing, we see companies buy a 30 second SuperBowl ad. They rent a billboard. Then they go out of business because those ads usually won’t “win the game” for the company. I like that they are thinking BIG – but are they also thinking about LEADS? I don’t think I’ve ever bought something off of a billboard. Know your customer. Focus on what they like. Focus on what will get you the BIG results you want.

So if not SuperBowl Ads, what could you do?

Get booked as a speaker at a key industry conference?
Get a well-known person to endorse you?
Redevelop your processes so you are faster than everyone else?
Create a guarantee that your competitors can’t touch
Start a contest that gets excitement flowing?
Be seen on TV

There are a million ways to shake up your business, to make bold steps forward. You just have to think of them. Not all of them are going to work – but some of them might. No risk, no reward, right?

If you need help – either with marketing or just as fun person to have at your SuperBowl party, count me in!

5 Ways To Get The Most Out Of Business Networking Groups

Adrianne-Machina — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:03:06 +0000

Are you a member of BNI? Your local Chamber of Commerce? An industry association? If you are, you’ll quickly realize that all business networking groups are not created equal. Our local Middleton Chamber of Commerce events are outstanding, filled with fun, interesting people. But when I lived in California, I didn’t have that same experience.

So how do you get the most out of business networking groups? First off, find one that works for you. Don’t waste valuable time thinking “it’ll get better” – unless you are personally stepping up to a leadership position to make it better. There are lots of options out there.

When you find a business networking group that is suited for you, here are 5 simple ways to make the most of it!

1. Be prepared.

The first rule of networking is to bring plenty of business cards. But beyond that basic step, prepare yourself to create a great meeting. If you are shy or new to the area, get to the venue early. This will allow you time to meet people one-on-one as they stream in. You may consider doing a little background research on people you know will be there. With Facebook and LinkedIn, it’s easier than ever to find some common ground you can use to spark up a conversation.

2. Be interesting.

When we say interesting, we don’t mean “WOW, IN-TER-EST-ING!” Leave your crazy antics and wild get-ups at home. Contrary to the popular saying, all publicity is not in fact good publicity. What we mean is that we don’t want you to just show up and pitch your business.

People want to talk about their own businesses – and their real lives and outside interests. Sometimes, the organizer adds interest for you. The Middleton Chamber of Commerce has a meeting segment called “Face Time,” where everyone around the table answers a silly question. When people try to sneak in their pitch, the rest of the table almost flinches. It’s just such a newbie tactic. Relax. If you build a relationship, you’ll have plenty of time to earn their business. Be present. Come up with a creative answer. Often (if you don’t have a “Face Time” at your meeting), you’re the one who has to come up with the creative questions too.

Remember that we all hate to “be sold.” Find people that you want to know. Focus on building relationships, not just making sales. When I attend the Middleton Chamber of Commerce events I am continuously reminded of why I moved to Middleton in the first place. There are a lot of small business owners and nonprofits who genuinely care about helping each other and building a better and stronger community.

3. Be present.

Be fully present. You can’t do that if your phone keeps distracting you. I will be the first to admit that I am guilty sometimes ignoring this rule. As a small business owner, it is hard for me to trust that the shop is running smoothly without me. Arrange things so that you can turn off the phone and tune into what is going on around you. The same is true for so many other things in life as well.

4. Be involved.

Whether it’s Toastmastasters, Rotary Club or your local chamber of commerce, organizations need strong leadership. Don’t be the one who sits in the back and grouses about a poorly run meeting. Step up to make it better. Use the skills from your day job to add value. If you’re an accounting type person, volunteer to be the treasurer. Don’t be afraid to push a little past your comfort level. Organizations are a great place to learn leadership skills.

5. Follow up.

Many people show up to business networking events and then never follow up, which can be an advantage for you. You will stand out! Remember that timing is everything. When I’m travelling on business, I often go to my hotel room at the end of the night and send out emails or snail mail notes. Don’t assume people will remember you – especially if it’s a big event. Remind them what you talked about. Do your research so you have some talking points and know a little about their business. If the prospect is still warm after the first phone call or email, don’t be afraid to take the next step.

Content, Content Everywhere

Adrianne-Machina — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:36:21 +0000

As someone who strongly believes in SYSTEMS, I am always looking to perfect my own. I love my gadgets and software, but sometimes I have to remind myself that simpler is better. When I look at my highly organized friends, they use simple things like – notepad, their phone, tasks in Outlook. But oh no, those solutions aren’t robust enough for me. I’m on the quest for global unification! All my information, all my project billing, everything available from one central location. I’m I on a fruitless quest for Holy Grail?

Compounding the problem is that it isn’t just me who likes to have systems, all my clients like having systems too. So to meet their needs, and my own, I’m currently on:

One Note
SkyDrive
SharePoint
QuickBooks
Infusionsoft
Outlook Tasks
Intervals Online
DropBox
Taskos (on my phone)
Written Lists
And don’t EVEN get me started on all my inboxes….

Pfffew! Thank goodness I have a good memory. I almost need a list of where all the lists are. Small business collaboration isn’t easy – especially when it comes to sharing outside the boundaries of your office. Zen. I want Zen. Serenity Now! What’s your strategy? Any recommendations on how I can simplify my organizational strategy and therefore organize my life?

Business Blogging Content Strategies

Facebook For Business vs. Google+

Adrianne-Machina — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:36:03 +0000

If you are nervous about your business being left in the dust because you haven’t jumped on the Google+ band wagon yet, don’t be. As it stands, businesses are not welcome on Google+, at least not yet anyway. Google says that should change in the near future. And don’t bother creating a personal account for your business either, because chances are Google will disable it.

While you wait for Google+ to start accommodating eager (and now slightly annoyed) businesses you can refocus your energy on Facebook with their new product, Facebook for Business.

What is Facebook For Business?

Shortly after Google+ was launched Facebook for Business went live. Chances are if you have been on Facebook for a while and have a great fan base then you are already familiar with what is in the easy to use guide. Basically it breaks down the four main components for business success on Facebook. The step by step guide offers information on:

Pages – Your business profile.
Ads – Highly targeted advertisement.
Sponsored Stories – Showing users who of their friends like your business.
Platform – Plugins and custom application.

Just because Google+ isn’t ready for businesses to jump on board, doesn’t mean you should ignore it all together. We recommend creating a personal account and becoming familiar with Google+. Why? Because Google has over a billion users who could potentially join Google+. In comparison, Facebook has just over a half a billion users, but many of them haven’t been pleased with customer service and privacy concerns.

What is Google+?

It is Google’s newest attempt at going social. Although user numbers are quickly climbing on an invitation only basis, it remains to be seen if this new social networking site will compete with Facebook. Google’s other attempts – Google Wave and Google Buzz – didn’t even come close, but the new “project” certainly shows more potential.

How does it work?

Google+ incorporated Google’s already widely popular products such as Picasa, Google Maps, and others by making them more socially compatible. Similar to the Facebook news feed, Google+ has a Stream where user updates are displayed. There are four main components of a Google+ profile:

Circles – A way to keep friends, family, and work separate.
Hangouts – A virtual gathering for multiple people through live video chatting.
Huddles – A group mobile chat feature that allows you to make plans with multiple people.
Sparks – An aggregate of all the things you like and want to follow.

Are you on Google+? Tell us what you think!

How important is your domain?

Adrianne-Machina — Tue, 31 May 2011 14:33:31 +0000

Normally I wouldn’t talk politics, but when there is a marketing blunder on the campaign trail I simply can’t help myself.

Meet Jane Corwin. She was a New York Assemblywoman running for Congress. If her elegant website and well written copy on JaneCorwin.com is any indication of her character, then she seems like a nice enough lady. She says she wants to cut spending, reduce taxes and help people who need it. Very noble of her, but there is just one problem: She has an alter ego.

Jane Corwin’s alter ego – JaneCorwin.org – is clearly a spoof website. It’s well written pop up asks you to sign up for her campaign “make delicious soup from the bones of the poor” while divulging your social security number. I’m sure the .org counterpart has caused her quite a bit of embarrassment and annoyance. Both JaneCorwin.com and JaneCorwin.org show up on the first page of search results.

Even though the .com shows up first on Google, the .org site has FOUR times as much traffic. Because the.org site is so clever and funny, it’s fun to pass on, and likely to become a viral sensation. I know I wouldn’t be talking about Jane Corwin at all if it weren’t for this spoof site. The .org site is being successful at getting their message out there, having fun at her expense, and undermining her political agenda. It has the potential to have a big impact on her election. The embarrassment could have been easily avoided if she had simply purchased, at the very least, the most common domain names. Many marketers would recommend purchasing all available domains, and now I am sure Jane Corwin would as well. When you begin to build your brand online, choosing a domain name is one of your very first steps. Initially you might just buy one domain, but as you grow, it’s wise to purchase common variations of your domain. The other place you want to secure your brand name is on the social media sites. I love a product called Knowem. (And yes, I am an affiliate.) For free, Knowem allows you to go see the domain names and social media sites that you might want to secure. And then for a pretty reasonable fee (starting at $99) Knowem will help you stake your online claim so that no one else can pretend to be you. As a bonus, you’ll probably get some nice inbound links from some pretty reputable, high-page-ranked sites, potentially boosting your position in the search engines.

10 Major Marketing Mistakes in the Astoria University Ad

Adrianne-Machina — Wed, 04 May 2011 19:49:20 +0000

When I ran across this “stunning” Astoria University advertisement in SkyMall magazine, I literally laughed out loud. I’m shocked at my own self-control for not poking my seatmate in the arm so that I could ramble for 20 minutes about all the things that are so very wrong with this ad. Instead, for the first time in thousands of travel miles, I put SkyMall in my bag so I could share my rant with you.

Astoria University Ad, as seen in SkyMall

Judging by their ad, I’m guessing this prestigious (or as they creatively spell it “prestigeous”) university doesn’t offer degrees in marketing, graphic design or English. If they do, I advise you to stay away – a COSMOS away. This blog post will be a better marketing education. I’m sure Skymall isn’t cheap. The poor junior marketing intern who designed this ad (and logo) probably doesn’t realize just how much time, effort and resources Astoria University is wasting. Here are ten reasons why this advertisement is a complete bust (aside from snide entertainment value.) 1. Failure To Reach Target Market First of all, SkyMall? SKYMALL? On the page before the Astoria University ad, I can buy wart remover, laser hair therapy or an Etch-a-Sketch® case for my iPad. Travellers who can’t pull out their laptops until cruising altitude aren’t looking for their advanced college degrees in the same place they’re looking for their wart removal remedies. To get a return on your investment, you need to reach the right audience. You need to associate yourself with similar advertisers. They’d have been much better off advertising in the airline magazine. 2. The Cosmic Logo From which universe am I getting this university degree? Why, oh why, is there a solar system in the middle of this logo? When I came across this disaster, I thought this had to be a training program for psychics, astrologers or mystics. 3. Too many words, too little space It looks like they were trying to squeeze out every last drop of their marketing dollars by using every inch of space. White space isn’t wasted space. White space enables an advertisement to breathe so that viewers can focus on the core message. Cluttered ads have a low-end feel. 4. Secret codes & text that says nothing Why would they hide “astoriau” randomly in plain sight? TWICE! Is that a secret code? All these words they’re using to fill the page don’t actually say anything. “Our professors are carefully selected…” Is that really your differentiator? Are there universities that pull random people off the street to teach subject they know nothing about? Why are they talking about a t-shirt? Aren’t brochures always free? I just don’t understand. 5. A Mismatch Of Multiple Fonts When I showed this ad to one of my graphic designers, she not only laughed out loud – she guffawed. There’s a craziness of multiple fonts, multiple sizes, lists that don’t match. It’s a hot mess. 6. Typos It’s absolutely ridiculous to be paying for a half-page national color advertisement and be careless enough to misspell “prestigeous” and “doctorial” – especially when you’re selling EDUCATION! 7. Apostrophe Or No Apostrophe … That Is The Question What is with the random apostrophes? (Should it be apostrophe’s?) Instead of looking up the correct format, perhaps it’s better to just mix and match and sometimes use one and sometimes not. What??? NO!!! If you don’t know how to use these pesky little punctuation marks, find out! Astoria University marketing interns, here’s a link for you: www.google.com The worst thing you could do is cross your fingers, close your eyes and then pin the tail on the donkey, which is exactly what appears to have happened to this advertisement. 8. Random Lines & Formatting The top line appears to be a failed attempt at breaking up the header with the body of information. It failed because of, among other things, the giant “Enroll Now” running down the side, not to mention that it is smashed against the text below it. Also, I am still trying to figure out the purpose of line under “Our Professors.” I gather that someone was trying to put emphasis on the fact that Astoria University has highly qualified teachers, but I am not buying it – no matter how much random underlining and bolding they use. 9. A “Prestigeous” T-Shirt? I didn’t know that T-shirts could be prestigious. I’m assuming that’s what they meant by “prestigeous.” At $26, their t-shirts are pretty pricy, but the glaring typo is making me question how prestigious those t-shirts really could be. Besides, now you’ve distracted me. What exactly are you trying to sell me again – a crazy t-shirt with a picture of the universe on it or a college degree? 10. Misleading Statements Offering me something for FREE is a great way to get my attention. But a brochure? I’m pretty much sure every brochure in the universe is already free. I don’t usually pay to get sold to. Do you? Also, my understanding is that the so-called FREE brochure listed in the advertisement isn’t actually free at all. It’ll cost me $7.50 in shipping. I almost feel like the Astoria University SkyMall ad is one of those puzzles where you have to find the hidden shapes, or in this case, all the things wrong with the ad. I also noted that there’s no website or phone number, but that’s due to SkyMall’s policy of sending all inquiries through SkyMall. I did find the Astoria University Website, which looks exactly as I would expect it to look – except with less typos. So readers, what did I miss? Did this ad also catch your eye on your travels?

No related posts.

Malcolm Gladwell at Microsoft Convergence 2011

Adrianne-Machina — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 22:48:07 +0000

Author Malcolm Gladwell (photo credit: Bill Wadman)

Normally, I skip out of Microsoft Convergence a day early. Microsoft Dynamics Partners are busy with their customers, and I’m usually ready to be back in my own bed. This year, however, Malcolm Gladwell was scheduled as the closing keynote speaker. I’ve read (and loved) many of his books including Blink and The Tipping Point. So I stayed — and I’m so glad I did. I’m always surprised how well introverted writers do at speaking. I thought Malcolm (…er Mr. Gladwell?) was just brilliant. He talked about the role of technology in decision making, unwitting bias, and the astonishing inability of experts to deconstruct their own brilliance. But probably the topic that piqued my interest most of all is how the over abundance of information degrades the decision making process. My favorite Malcolm Gladwell story that illustrated that point was about emergency room doctors. When people come in to the hospital complaining of chest pain, it’s obviously pretty important to figure out as quickly as possible if they’re having a heart attack — or just indigestion. Typically doctors ask all kinds of questions, take a full health history — and still are only right about half the time. Then some smart market research company crunched all the data to figure out which pieces of data were the most important, and reduced all that time-consuming gathering of information into 4 simple data points — like looking at the EKG. By reducing the data points being considered, they were able to increase their predictions to be right over 80% of the time. Wow. This makes total sense, yet it’s so contrarian. Really, the process the ER doctors use isn’t that much different from us marketing consultants. And we both love to ride in on our white stallion and save the day! Just because we ask a ton of questions doesn’t mean we’ll always give the right diagnosis. Perhaps it’s not a marketing problem at all. I’ve experienced that a few times with clients, where I “fix” their lead generation problem — only to discover their products/services are way below par. Even if I get my client a few new clients, they don’t stay because there’s no knowledge or value. At that point marketing IS an expense — they need to quit marketing and go back to product development. For my own business and life, I realized that too frequently I deluge myself with information. Every nuance of a decision gets weighed, evaluated, measured and compared to see if it’s the “right” decision. When often, I could greatly reduce the complexity by keeping it simple. My actionable take away is to think through what data points I really need to look at in my business — and what I should ignore. If you made it to Malcolm Gladwell’s closing keynote, what did you think? What did you take away? Hope to you at Microsoft Convergence 2012 — if not sooner.

Lazy Writing Makes Me Crazy

Adrianne-Machina — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:07:12 +0000

Every person on the planet should be forced to read (and then be tested) on Strunk and White’s classic “The Elements of Style.” (For those of you who don’t want to shell out the $10 for the book, here’s a free online version.)

I was researching an article for a client this morning and ended up banging my head against the wall, so frustrated by the weak writing of so many bloggers. Their ideas may be strong, but if their writing is weak I won’t link to their blog. I end up finding a different source. Sad!

When I was a young writer, I absolutely devoured The Elements of Style book and many other books like it. Typos and poor grammar drive me crazy—especially my own!

What makes me even crazier?

I go nutso when you are a full-blown adult and you write like a third grader. “How are you? I am fine. I like cats. I hate dogs. I…” The adult version seems to overuse of “this, it, there, he/she/they.”

Moving off my rant and into positive suggestions that you can actually use, here are some tips for writing blog posts, articles, and other written materials that I’d be happy to share:

1. Sentences should rarely begin with “This” without a noun. It’s fine to say “This house is old.” But “This is the reason why…” forces the reader to go back and re-read the prior sentence.

2. “It” leads to confusion. Which it were you referring to? Find a different way to say the same thing — without the “it.” “It” allows you to talk in the passive voice. Active voice sentences are WAY more powerful!

BEFORE: It is used to promote enterprise 2.0.
AFTER: This marketing tool promotes enterprise 2.0.

3. Ditto for “there.”

BEFORE: There is a woman with 12 cats. She has to get a special permit.
AFTER: A woman with 12 cats has to get a special permit.

4. “He/she/they” which then often leads to overuse of “him/her/them.” Everyone needs a little he/she/they from time to time — but be sure to use lots of sentence variance to break up the monotony of your writing.

BEFORE: Jack is the CEO. He leads a team of 1000 people. They all seem to like him. He is a great leader.
AFTER: As the CEO of XYZ Corporation, Jack is a popular leader of nearly 1000 employees.

Whew! I feel better. Thanks for letting me rant a bit. I want to see strong sentence stucture from all of you from now on. OK? Thanks! You’re the best!
Adrianne

Make Your Email Signature Count!

Adrianne-Machina — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 20:28:52 +0000

In our efforts to be lead generation marketing machines, sometimes we forget to do the most obvious little things — like promote newsworthy information in our signature line.

If your company runs events, has a newsletter, has a blog, has a Facebook page, has a Twitter profile, has a sale, has a referral program, has demos that can be viewed – ANY AND ALL of these can be promoted in your signature line — but perhaps not all at once. Here are some tips for getting started.

1. Start with the basics. Make sure everyone in your company is using the same format for their email signature. Try to keep the basics (name, phone, etc.) to four lines or less.

2. Create a standard reply email too. I like to include just name, email and phone number. That way if your email gets forwarded to someone who doesn’t have your contact info — they’ll now have it.

3. Varying your signature line will make people notice it more. Once the baseline is standardized, play with varying whatever it is you are promoting. You might notice that some promotions work better than others.

4. Come up with a schedule to vary the promotions. You could make the changes weekly, monthly or quarterly. Having a schedule reminds you of when to start the promotions.

A simple schedule might look something like this:

Jan-April – Promote Microsoft Convergence
May-July – Promote Microsoft Fiscal Year End Promotions
August-October Showcase Your On Demand Demos
November-December – Promote Year-End Closing Events

5. If you want to show a picture in your email signature, make sure to host it on an external site. Don’t just embed it into the email — it won’t show up correctly. Instead, load your photo or logo onto your web server or any publicly available photo sharing site like Photobucket, Picasa, or Flickr.

6. Test all links and images to make sure they work. Send an email to your personal account, and check it from a different computer to make sure everything works as expected.

What do you put on your email signature line? I’d love to see some creative examples. Feel free to post them in the comments section (though pictures won’t show up) or email them to me!

Adrianne Machina, Chief Velocity Officer
Tornado Marketing & The Art of Online Marketing
608-588-6356 office | 608-213-0377 cell

Let’s connect! Email me ~ Read my blog ~ FB ~ LI ~ Twitter