The 2nd most talked about Superbowl 2012 ad, according to Gnip, was the “It’s halftime in America“ spot featuring Clint Eastwood for Chrysler . It was a rallying cry, not a commercial bestowing Chrysler’s many features. It was a fine example of a manifesto.

Be yourself, everyone else is taken

Last week I wrote about the importance of building a business based on sustainable ideas, not on a comparison to your competitors. With an explosion of consumer choice and a post-recession mentality, we’ve seen a rise in what has been coined the Spend Shift Movement – consumers are shifting from “mindless consumption to mindful consumption”, choosing businesses that don’t just meet their needs, but reflect their values.

Standing for something has never been more important than it is today. And that begins by defining the ideals, beliefs and philosophies that govern your business.

Build Your Manifesto

A manifesto is a declaration of your principles, policies, or intentions. In business, it’s your rallying cry – creating clarity for your customers and employees on what you stand for and reminding you what’s truly important. It pulls everyone in your organization together with a set of ideals that allow you to work as one.

It’s often the place I begin with my customers so that I can understand them, who they serve and where they do their best work.

To build your manifesto, answer the following questions:

1. What do you believe / what drives you?
2. What do you NOT believe?
3. What were some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned in the past few years?
4. What do you wish your customers would learn?
5. What do you do consistently, even if you have to fight for it?
6. What do you wish every employee in your organization focused on?

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This article originally appeared in my Event Solutions ‘Sparks of Attraction’ column.

The tyranny of ‘er’ and ‘more’

So, what makes your business different?

Most often I hear answers like: “We have better customer service.“, “We’re bigger.” and “We are more creative.” The problem with defining your business with ‘er’s and ‘more’s is that you are creating a comparison to someone else and, by doing so, you’re differentiating on degrees, not on sustainable ideas.

Why blend in when you can stand out?

No one could have imagined back in the 90s that consumers would pay $4 for a coffee. But they did. It certainly wasn’t just because the coffee was tastier. No, it actually had very little to do with the the coffee at all. What Howard Shultz, Chairman and CEO of Starbucks, set out to do was create an anomaly — when everyone else was selling coffee, he sold an experience. His vision was to create a third place, between home and work, where people could connect, relax and converse. He renamed coffee sizes. It wasn’t small, medium and large; it was short, tall, grande and venti. The names of his coffees were exotic. He brought the concept of Fair Trade to the masses. The stores were outfitted with comfortable chairs, warm colors and even fireplaces. Things that sound commonplace today, yet were anything but back then.

He made the experience so different that you couldn’t possibly draw a comparison to others.

So, what is the experience you deliver to your customers that defies comparison? If I were to call your office, who would answer the phone? What would they say? When you submit an RFP, how does it stand apart from every other? When you walk into a sales meeting, how do you present your company? If I were to go to your website, would it sound just like your competitor’s?

Let me put it another way…

One day, a number of years ago, I walked in to my office from lunch to find a beautifully wrapped package on my desk. I was perplexed why anyone was sending me a present, but that didn’t stop me from tearing it open to see what was inside. Laying delicately amongst a bed of tissue was an egg. Also in the package was a letter that, in essence, said: “We know how much care and attention you put into every package that leaves your company. If this egg is fully intact, you know how much care and attention we put into delivering packages on behalf of our clients.”, signed Shepherd Couriers. In the world of courier businesses, every company either says their faster or cheaper…in fact, we had dozens of sales letters from courier companies, fighting to get our business, singing that very hymn. But none were successful. That was until we received the egg. That company was the antithesis of fast and cheap. They stood for care and attention. And, that was a message that meant something to us. We gave them our business almost immediately.

Starting today, be irreplaceable.

Discover what you do differently today:

Finish this sentence – Our customers pay more for, and choose, our product and / or service because _____________. Another way of thinking about this is to identify what you’re doing that your customers love and your competitors find difficult to replicate.

Identify what others think you do differently:

Ask your customers, employees, peers and partners:

1. Why did you choose to hire/work for/partner with us?
2. What do you get with us that you can’t get anywhere else?
3. Once you began working with us, how did we surprise you and exceed your expectations?

Uncover what you could do differently:

What untapped need, problem or pain do you see facing your customers, and how can you use a core strength to resolve it?

Coco Chanel once said, “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.” When everyone around you is singing in auto-tune, why on Earth would you want to join the choir? Stand alone and sing your heart out.

(photo via ktpupp)

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In a recent advisory board meeting I attended, the topic of award entries came up. The perception is that the same names win in their category year after year after year. What do they know that you don’t?

How to win an award

I asked 4 judges, who are also award winners themselves, and 2 writers, who create award-winning entries for their clients, what you need to know. The answers might surprise you…

What are the biggest mistakes companies make when submitting an award entry?

Not reading the rules!

Colja: Most award entries are turned down even before the jury gets together because formalities are missed.

Janet: Submissions that do not provide all information requested, are thrown together carelessly or are not written within specified guidelines (word counts, layout, etc.) may result in a reduction of points awarded. It is best to read and reread and then go back point by point through your submission to ensure all elements required are included and that any directions provided have been followed perfectly.

Missing the mark

Andrea: Not paying attention to what is really needed vs. the egotistical need to praise yourself into winning, because of course you are the most original, the most cost effective, the most creative and all that bullsh*t.

Ruth: Understand why your entry should be considered to win.  What’s the angle – what sets apart your project from the others? If you can’t answer those questions with something other than “because I want to win an award”, it’s back to the drawing board.  If you don’t understand why your project should win, most likely a judge won’t either.

Underestimating the power of photography

Michelle: No matter how minute the picture, or even how bad the picture may be, an award entry’s sole purpose is to tell the story about the event. Pictures are really worth a thousand words.  As soon as you start planning an event, hire an amazing photographer and, if you can, also get a videographer. Give them specific direction on a shot list – from setting up, challenges, and during the event. Also be sure your photographer/videographer captures the emotion of the event and the artistry, yes that may be a little vague, but get them to capture all the details that went into planning the event. No detail should be left uncovered!

Getting lazy

Ruth: Pushing timeframes to the wire, and then writing in a rush is a big mistake. If you’re writing for yourself, give yourself time. If you’re having a writer do it, give them even more time.  Editing is a part of the natural writing process. When you don’t give yourself enough time to write, then you’re cheating yourself.

Janet: It is imperative to write the submission specific to each award and focused on the elements pertinent to that individual award.  You may develop an incredible submission for one award but use the same thing for another and you may miss key items that the second award calls for or the judging panel may feel that you are just dialing it in rather than truly investing in the submission process.  This is also true when submitting an event to different publications, organizations or award presenters.  There is an opportunity for cross over in judges and the requirements of submission for one may not match the requirements for another.

Writing a sales letter

Michelle: A big mistake I’ve seen is positioning entry content like a sales letter or promotional piece. This is not an ad, nor a sales campaign, this is an award entry, judged by fellow event professionals and veteran judges. The’ve  seen it all, been through it all.

Talking facts, not stories.

Ruth – They should be able to transport me to the event so that I can imagine experiencing everything first hand.

Tell me about an entry that stuck out in your mind, either really great or really bad.

Andrea: I want to be amazed. And there are so very many examples (I’m talking about great right now). Last year for Gala I saw an entry for Venice, Italy where the visuals were so incredible and the scope of the job so amazing, nothing could compare. The film they sent, the photos they took were incredible…you felt the event come alive.

And the bad and ugly? One entry on floral was about three paragraphs which told no unusual story, and a few small photos loosely put into a binder so they were falling out. If the entrant felt so little commitment to the award I didn’t think the entry could possibly be worthy.

Janet: One great entry that stands out for me is one I have seen from Thailand.  I feel like sometimes we in the West a bit arrogant about our belief in the ability to produce cutting edge, award worthy events with our access to premier technology and décor as compared to other places and we forget the beauty and creativity that comes from other countries and other cultures.  The event I am thinking of was spectacular – starting with great depictions through quality photographs.  The event showed the company’s complete attention to detail displaying beautiful work that incorporated creative fabric colors and designs in unique formats while tying in stunning floral elements to enhance the overall look.  That detail also showed in the submission of their entry – it was thorough and well organized.  Everything supported a central theme and provided multiple interesting visual experiences both for those looking at the photos as well I assume for those who actually attended the event.

What opportunities do you think businesses are missing out on?

Leveraging the nomination.

Tony:
1. Market not only your award win but also your entry and nominations
2. Use social media to share the news with your connections
3. While at the awards ceremony:

• Share a few highlights about your award nominations
• Thank your clients for allowing the event to be nominated

Janet: It is important to have press coverage of any kind – the more exposure, the more opportunities your business will have.  Take the time to submit press releases, photos, blogs, award entries, etc. on all interesting o unique events you are involved in – even if you only produced a portion of the event.  Explain your participation and the aspect that your company produced, include photos as applicable.  Take advantage of any opportunity where you can display and be acknowledged for your work.

What would you say to someone who says they don’t think their event or business is award-worthy?

Tony: You never get nominated or win if you don’t enter. All business is award-winning if you write it well and submit great photography.

Janet: Let someone else be the judge. If your event or business has any element that is unique, creative or newsworthy it is worth the attempt. Even if you do not deem what you are doing as award worthy, consider turning your submission into a blog contribution or article for a magazine. Remember, press coverage and exposure makes for good opportunities.

Colja: If you don’t try – you will never win.

Andrea: Like everything in life it’s a numbers game and you will never know what judges are looking for. Enter, enter, enter and you’ll each time learn how to write better and produce better photography. And all of us who work at this crazy industry are worthy of an award. And if you don’t think anything you do is “worthy” then start changing what you do.

In order to create an amazing entry, what processes do you recommend a business implements?

Janet: Take a personal approach to each entry, share the mood, the feelings the event was intended to engender.  Set the stage that draws the reader in to help them share the experience that the attendees had.  The judges may review a large number of submissions, if yours is well written and memorable you have a better chance of standing out.

And, submit it in advance of the deadline just in case there is a foul up to give yourself enough opportunity to make sure it gets there in plenty of time.

Colja: Work on it while it’s still fresh – and make sure you get the pictures needed.

Andrea: Take notes on site so you don’t forget anything memorable. Do a careful outline of everything you want to include. Write the entry then put away. After a while rewrite and put away again. When you think you have the final fabulous entry send to someone to read who has no experience with that event and ask them to tell you everything that could be improved upon. They are reading for content, just like a judge will. And invest everyone on the team who worked on this event to help you with the entry, adding their personal anecdotes. I also recommend making it a light hearted read so judges can have some fun reading it.

Michelle: If you can’t hire a writer to do your award entry, work out a reduced fee for them to proofread it and make the due diligence review to make sure you have all your ducks in a row. At the end of the day, 90% of the process is following the award entry rules to a T, a minor misstep can disqualify you despite how amazing your content is.

Ruth: I believe that you know early on in the process if an event is going to be award worthy from a uniqueness angle.  You may not know all the challenges that are going to arise, but to me those are the icing on the cake.  When I used to produce, I always knew ahead of time that I’d be entering – or least 99% of the time.  The “it” factor would pop on my radar and I’d start paying attention, writing notes, funny stories. Write down notes right after the event while you’re still emotional about it.  Or call me and tell me about it so that I can write them down.  I prefer to write an event when it is exciting and fresh in everyone’s mind. It makes for a better entry.

Get away from the office when writing.  Go somewhere that you are comfortable and relaxed.  Grab a glass of wine or a beverage,  write from where you feel creative.  It should be quiet and solitary so that you can concentrate well. If you like music, turn some on in the background. The key is to be comfortable.

Will you be participating in an upcoming award entry? Don’t miss the upcoming Canadian Event Industry Awards and the Event Marketing Awards (entries are due soon, but you still have time).

(photo via Vitó)

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Google Business Photos should be on the radar for hotels, retailers, restaurants, event rental companies and any other business that has a storefront.

Last year, I wrote on how to set up you business on Google Places, a critical step for being found in local searches. To enhance your listing, Google also introduced Google Business Photos. These are like Google Streetview for interiors. Google is working directly with local store owners across the US, Australia, UK, New Zealand and France to take complimentary professional interior photographs.

To find a Google-approved local photographer and get your Google Places set up with interior photos, visit Google’s Business Photos site.

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We have a tendency to cling to what is familiar, even when it can have a detrimental impact on us and our businesses.

Most event planners I’ve talked to have been very hesitant to embrace Google Plus, Google’s social networking site. The key reason? It feels like Facebook, without your established network, a few unfamiliar tools thrown into the mix…and, let’s be honest, who needs yet another social network to worry about?

Well, Facebook has a pool of about 800 million users, but billions of people perform billions of searches every single day. And that’s precisely why it would be a mistake to ignore Google Plus.

The Tipping Point

2 weeks ago, Google announced ‘Search, Plus Your World‘ a controversial revolution in the world of search that will have a major impact on your brand’s online presence. As Google states on their website:

“Search has always brought you information from across the web. Now, search gets better by including photos, posts, and more from you and your friends. When signed in with Google+, you’ll find personal results and profiles of people you know or follow. You can even expand your world by discovering people related to your search.”

It looks a little like this:

The World of Search has Changed

Search was once a competition of keyword relevance. Brands would hire an SEO expert to optimize their sites and find other ‘relevant’ sites to link to theirs – all to have their site ranked higher than their competition.

Google aims to change this by making search socially relevant. In other words, when someone within your social circle shares something, Google believes this content is likely more contextually relevant to you.

What This Means for Your Business and Google Plus

If you google yourself or your brand right now, it’s very likely your Google Plus profile (if you have one) will be on the first page and, in many cases, the first result. That’s because Google is giving priority to content from their social network (just like Google gave priority to YouTube videos and pictures from Blogger blogs – two platforms they own).

Connect the dots and that means:

• the content you share on Google Plus can appear higher in search results than even your own website.
• the larger the pool of people exposed to your content in Google Plus the more likely it is to get shared.
• the more people sharing your content, the more probable it is that you will be discovered by someone performing a ‘search, plus your world’.
• it’s not hard to imagine how much more powerful it is to have an endorsement of your brand from people your prospects know than it is to get random results from a search engine.

There are now over 1 million business pages and 90 million users on Google+. Will you be one of them?

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It launched in December of 2009, but many small businesses have just started hearing the buzz about Pinterest in the past few months. Still officially in Beta (and invitation-only), Pinterest has joined the weberatti, sitting alongside Facebook and LinkedIn, as one of the 10 most popular social networking sites. It now boasts over 5 million users and has been touted as the fastest growing social network in history. Have I piqued your interest?

Brides, wedding bloggers, fashionistas, graphic designers and artists have embraced the site. And more recently, I’ve seen real estate agents, television brands and teachers jumping on board. At a time when nary a person would say that they need another social networking site, Pinterest has flourished. Why?

The compelling features

In my opinion, they have the magic formula for an over-stimulated and time-starved internet user:

• Simple – It is immensely easy to use. Click to pin, put it in a category, add some keywords, et voila. A great user experience, clean design and devoid of ads, interacting with Pinterest is a breath of fresh air. And, as easy as it is to pin, it’s just as easy to repin. In one click and a matter of seconds, thousands of people can share something that’s been posted.
• Visual – We see well before we read. Pinterest is all about sharing visual images and ideas. No laborious reading here.
• Controllable – Unlike many other social networking tools, YOU choose what’s shared with you.
• Scannable – Pinterest is like window shopping. At a glance users can get inspired and see what’s hot. You don’t need to dedicate hours to Pinterest. In fact, you’ll find yourself scanning during lunch, before you put the kids to sleep, while you’re watching TV, etc.
• Serendipitous – Pinterest is about discovery. Log in and find all the things you love that you didn’t even know you were looking for.

Is Pinterest Right for Your Business?

What makes Pinterest so interesting are the users behind the tool. Grandmothers, stay-at-home Moms, husbands, students and everyone in between. The thread that binds is that they’re looking for visual inspiration or to inspire others visually. In fact, there’s very little discussion altogether, which makes this tool totally unique to any other social networking site.

So, if you’re products or services aren’t visually compelling, this likely isn’t the site for you.

That said, as this tool quickly becomes the place to collect and bookmark things we love, we may see the way it is used shift over time.

20 Ideas for using Pinterest for Your Business

For the inventory-rich business

• Promote your products / inventory – Add a ‘Pin It’ button on each product page to allow customers and prospects to share and catalogue your images.
• Product popularity – Track which products/ideas from your site have elicited the most shares.
• Product ideas – Rather than simply show a photo of your product (like a chair, for example), create Boards by theme (i.e. Winter Wonderland) and show the chairs in different thematic environments. Showcase your knowledge of trends and catalogue products by trend types (i.e. color blocking, stripes, metallics, etc).
• R&D – Test new product ideas by pinning them on Pinterest. Ask customers to vote on the ones they like most by repinning them, liking them or commenting.
• Create an e-commerce board – With Pinterest, you can not only showcase your individual products, you can also attach a price to the item (by putting a dollar figure before the price). When you do this, your products are automatically added under the “Gifts” tab, which allow users to browse products by price.
• Crowdsourced photos – Ask customers to pin photos of themselves using your products and tag them with your company name or a hashtag.
• Weekly offer / sale – Deal of the day sites begone. Why not host your own flash sale site by creating an ‘On Sale’ board and posting sale items. Or create a weekly offer that you promote on Pinterest only.

For the event planner

Create an account for your event:

• Tell a story about the event – Imagine you’re planning a fundraising event. You could create a board of pictures from your events, a board on inspirational quotes, a board showing who you’re helping, a preview of products you’re auctioning, etc.
• Speaker videos – Ask speakers to create a video promoting their session, upload them to YouTube and then pin them on Pinterest. Don’t forget to add annotations to your videos about your event.
• Crowdsourced photos – Ask attendees to pin their photos to Pinterest and have them tag photos with your event name or a hashtag.
• Invitations – Create an invitation image for Pinterest and include the event details in the Details.
• Portfolio – Show transformations & before and afters. As I reported in my last blog post on How to Get PR for your Event Business, editors are scanning social media sites to find events and ideas to feature in their publications.

For all

• Find fans – Find out who has pinned content from your site. Simply type http://pinterest.com/source/yoursite.com into the address bar in your web browser and it will show you who has shared your website’s information and what they shared. Click on their profiles to learn about them and their interests. Consider commenting on their pin, providing more information, answering questions, etc.
• Humanize – Tell a story about your company by way of your pins and boards. For example, an event planning company could have boards for their favorite design books, office photos, style trends, quotes, employee photos, work samples, other interests (like favorite foods / recipes), other inspiration (like favorite decor ideas)
• Insights – Spend time looking into your followers to understand who wants to stay on top of what you’re pinning. Follow them back and track what their interests are. This can give you deeper insight into who they are.
• Contests – Hold a contest asking customers / attendees to pin photos – the one with the most repins, likes or comments win a prize. I.e. Event organizers, hold a contest asking attendees to pin their favorite moments from your event.
• SEO - Currently, when someone attributes a pin to your website (by including a link), this actually counts for SEO value.
• Research – Follow influencers and find out what they think is hot, important and interesting. A bonus is that a user is notified when someone begins following them. So, this can be like a tap on the back to let influencers know you’re there. You’d be surprised how many people research who’s following them.
• Seasonality – Match your boards with your business’ seasonalities. For example, a caterer might create a Valentine’s board to showcase great food ideas for Valentine’s day. A planner might create wedding boards during wedding planning season. A rental company might create a holiday wish list board to showcase products relevant to the holiday season.
• Think keywords – Many users take advantage of the search function on Pinterest, so ensure you’re thinking keywords when you enter your image/video description.

A Few Words of Caution

• Self-promotion – Every social networking site has its own etiquette. Pinterest is no exception. They discourage users from using the network as purely promotional. That’s just common sense.
• High quality photography needed – If you’re going to participate, recognize that if you want to be repinned, your images / videos need to be high quality and attractive.
• Open window into your thoughts, ideas & organization – Pinterest does not have the ability to make your pins private for now, although they have identified this is something they’re considering working on. So, be cautious about what you share. For example, you might not want to post ideas for projects you’re working on – for confidentiality and privacy reasons.
• Rules of conduct – As with any social networking site, there are specific (and legal) rules of conduct. Ensure you follow Pinterest’s Copyright, Privacy and Terms of Use Policies.

Update

What are your favorite ideas? How are you using Pinterest for your business?

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How would you like to get FREE exposure for your business? How would you like your latest event to be featured prominently in the glossy pages of your favorite magazine? And how would you like to be quoted as the featured expert in your field?

I recently spoke with 3 prominent special event publication Editors to understand, from their perspectives, what opportunities event businesses are missing and, more importantly, what they need to do to about it.

With all the pitches that come across their desk, what gets your attention?

Be relevant, be relevant, be relevant!

Liese – “Those that are relevant to the content and spirit of the magazine. It’s great when the sender sends an informative message – such as ‘We just produced an event we think is great for your tent issue. It involved X-number of tents, was unique because of XX, the challenges were X and the team included X, Y and Z. Here is contact information for them.  Attached are low res photos by (photographer’s name) for sending purposes, but we can get you high-res as soon as you need.’ Simple, to the point, informative. People get too caught up in what they may have learned about press releases and pitches. This is really all that is needed to get our attention!

Chad – “BizBash has a pretty specific audience and we like to cover things before anyone else does, so I’d rather get an email with a couple short paragraphs about why this would be interesting to my reader, not a press release that is more suited to a general audience—and that is going out to lots of other outlets. (That said, clear, comprehensive press materials are very helpful once a story is assigned.)”

Beyond context, think about content

Liese – “I can’t stress about the photos enough. Like so many publications, Event Solutions is photo-driven whether online or digitally, so that always will be a major consideration for inclusion.”

What is the most memorable way someone pitched a product/idea?

 Show, don’t just tell

Lisa – “This is so old-fashioned and of course doesn’t work for all pitches, but I am always impressed when someone sends me a sample (and no, I’m not asking for freebies, and I think it’s wise to ask an editor beforehand if they would like to see a sample). To me this says the person making the pitch believes so strongly in their product or service that they just know I will like it once I see it.”

Avoid Gimmicks

Chad – “If you have a product you’d like us to check out, of course we’ll want to see it, but sending a gift or overly elaborate packaging doesn’t make me more likely to feature something,” says Chad Kaydo, “Straightforward and targeted always beats fussy and overwrought.”

Social Proof

Lisa – “I also put a lot of faith into pitches that carry the endorsements of leading event planners.”

What tips do you have for becoming THE person that gets called for a quote? 

 Build Relationships

Liese – “Here is the bottom line on why someone gets quoted and it’s no mystery – they have been in touch with the magazine either by sending consistently good information or have been visible in other press (press begets press). I suggest sending a note to the editor outlining your area(s) of expertise and that you are available anytime as a resource for articles that concern that topic(s). It lets the editor know that you can be a resource on certain subjects. I recommend sending this type of pitch in addition to company news and event pitches.

Have a Plan

Liese – “In regards to all these different type of communiqué with the media, it’s a good idea to map out with your team what you want to get from media exposure. There are two approaches. One is the shotgun affect in which you are looking for any mention, anywhere. To me, that is not very effective. The other is a strategic placement and a careful campaign that puts you, your company, your work, your expertise, in front of the right publications that will in turn get you in front of the right clients.”

Be Easy to Work With

Lisa – “The number one rule for getting quoted is to reply-fast! We editors always seem to be putting things together at the last moment, and if I don’t hear back from someone I’ve contacted for a quote, I have to move on to someone else.” If an editor reaches out to you after a pitch, that’s like a little jerk on your line when you’re fishing. You got ‘em hooked! don’t waste this opportunity and get back to them as fast as you can. just two weeks ago, I got a great press release for an event product, which included the promise “photos available upon request.” but the PR person never got back to me, and so we wrote up another product.

Liese – “If you see someone quoted often, it also usually means that they are also reliable sources for the editor. Meaning, they will call or e-mail back within 24 hours if not sooner (editors are notoriously on deadline), they address the subject at hand in full sentences that offer little jewels of information (in other words – no “yes” or “no” answers).”

Have a Unique POV

Lisa – “If you want to be quoted, be brave. Speak in specifics, not generalities, and don’t be afraid to give an opinion.”

Chad – “Speak in soundbites—keep it short and interesting. Don’t just promote what you do.”

Mind your Ps and Qs

Chad – “Say ‘thank you’ after the story runs, regardless of how prominently you were featured—it’s a reminder to the writer that you’re still out there, and that you follow what they do.”

How is social media changing the way you find ideas / experts to feature in your publication?

Feedback & Ideas

Chad – “It definitely shows you who is engaged in a topic. We occasionally use @BizBash_News and our Facebook page to solicit opinions and suggestions for stories.”

Finger on the Pulse

Liese – “Because so much of what we do is photo driven, Facebook is perfect for looking in on what event professionals are doing. In this regard (photo wise) it’s a little more helpful than Twitter or Linked In. Myself, our editor, Ann Turner, and our Creative Director, Jean Blackmer, have all found stories and photos on Facebook because it is so rich with photo postings, albums or blog links. For business articles, staying in tune with Linkedin conversations has been a great way to find what people are talking about and find new experts. Personally, I find these three social media outlets to be a sea change in shaping editorial as well as keeping my finger on the pulse of the industry. I’ve found so many great new faces through Twitter, especially by following hashtag conversations such as #eventprofs.”

Make your own media opportunity

Liese – “I encourage everyone to be their own media through blogging. There are just so many stories out there and limited editorial space (this holds true of print and online media outlets). By blogging, companies are able to control their brand and message and consistently reach out to current and prospective clients. And, as I mentioned, the media will also look in on blogs to find stories, get more information about you, or educate themselves on your work or marketplace.”

What are the biggest mistakes you see companies make, and how should they fix them?

Sending content in unusable form

Lisa – “I’m always amazed at pitches that come my way in some graphic form that makes me have to retype the information in order to post or print it. This is not why God made computers.”

Making editors hunt for information

Lisa – “I highly recommend spoon-feeding editors. For example, I sometimes get pitches for new venues, and when I ask for missing basics such as capacities, the person pitching will tell me, ‘Oh, you can find that information on the venue’s website.’ No, no, no! Think about what info the editor needs and get it for them—even if that means just grabbing it off the website yourself. Make it easy for the editor to cover you, and you will get coverage.”

Pitching too frequently

Chad – “If you mass-email an irrelevant press release every week, when I see your name in my inbox, my brain says ‘delete’.”

Short-term thinking

Liese – “If you have something coming – say you are doing something large in the summer – I’d start reaching out to the editors now with other news, yet mention that tidbit as well in the ‘bio’ paragraph about your company. It’s about sitting down and creating a strategy so that all the pieces of your story are being conveyed in several different ways.”

Chad – “If yesterday’s pitch didn’t get covered, tomorrow’s might, and next month the writer might get an assignment that you’d be a perfect source for. And that might be a bigger story than what you were originally hoping for. Build a relationship over time.”

Waiting too long to reach out to the media

Chad – “Sometimes people take so long to create an elaborate pitch, the information gets stale. When we cover an event, we like to post the story within a day or two. If you take a week to put together a press release, it’s probably too late for us to do much with it. (That said, we always want to see photos of innovative work, and we often use those photos in other kinds of stories later.)”

What tips have you used for getting press coverage for your business?

photo via Shrieking Tree

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This time of year is rejuvenating because it gives all of us an opportunity to shed old skin and recalibrate our thinking. But the hype often gives way to habit. You only need to turn to your local gym to see this phenomenon in action. Throngs of people sign up in January but more than half don’t make it to swimsuit season. In fact, gyms typically anticipate a 20-30% drop out rate by April.

The Curse of Business Bad Habits

In their 4th Annual National Small Business Survey, Staples found that more than 80% of small business owners don’t keep track of their business goals.

Most of these companies are plagued with a dichotomy. They are either convinced that big challenges require complex ideas and end up building a plan that is too difficult to execute or become anxious at the thought of introspective thinking and instead focus on independent tasks that lack a unified direction.

Goal Planning is Business Sustenance

There’s a quote by Lewis Carroll that says, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” Goal planning provides a distinct path that takes you from where you are to where you want to go. It helps you know if you’re heading in the right direction, ensures that you spend time doing things that are most important to the business and aligns employees behind a direction. Establishing and maintaining goals are fundamental contributors to small business success.

A 3-Step Solution

One of the most useful tools I’ve developed for my business is a simple and easy-to-use 3-Step Goal Setting Worksheet.

Step 1 – Start with the End in Mind

• At the end of the year, what do you want you company to look like?
• With this in mind, list in the first column the three to six most important areas of focus for your business?
• In the second column identify specifically how you’ll define success.

Step 2 – Create your Path

• In order to achieve your Year End GOAL, next define the milestones you need to achieve by the end of each quarter.

Step 3 – Define the Steps

• In order to achieve your Quarterly Milestones, define the specific tasks you need to achieve each month.

I schedule 1 hour every Friday planning my next week to ensure that I’m working my way through to my milestones. And I spend 1/2 hr at the end of each day planning the specific tasks I’ll be doing the following day. The important thing is to not get caught up in the monotony of bad habits and always keep your eye on the end game.

Click here to download the worksheet.

What tools and processes do you use to define and maintain your business goals? 

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In this, our final post of 2011, we’ve rounded up the most popular posts among readers this year. Read them today and join the conversation.

Ideas for Event Planners:

Are You Afraid of Competitors Stealing Your Ideas?

3 Lessons Small Businesses can Learn from Google+ Marketing

Why Event & Customer Satisfaction Surveys Fail

Customer Service Myths: The Customer is Always Right

Choose Your Clients Wisely (here’s why)

What Every Event Business Can Learn from a $2 Hairdresser

Do You Create Anticipation?

How to Deal with Negative Reviews

Tools for Event Planners:

A guide to Twitter Advanced Search for Event Planners

Event Planning iPad Megalist

Small Business Online Tools Megalist i & Megalist ii

QR Codes for Events – Do They Deserve the Hype?

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A friend of mine had worked hard for years and overcame tremendous adversity to build a successful event planning business. Then, one day, her empire crumbled. An unexpected flood ravaged her city and her offices were under 9 feet of water. She lost almost everything – her cars, her offices, her manufacturing facility. She was utterly devastated. So, what do you do when your bricks and mortar are washed away? What do you do when most of your clients are facing the same situation as you…and your source of income disappears? What do you do when insurance companies are backed up with thousands of claims, just like yours? She turned to the one place that was ready and willing to help – the Search Foundation. They wrote a cheque to my friend to get her started on her road to recovery…because that’s what they do. They help event planners in need. If you’re not familiar with the foundation I encourage you to watch this video, created by the uber talented Brett Culp.

This holiday season, my client Maggie Speaks and I are partnering to raise funds for the Search Foundation. We have put together a fun holiday video built off of The 12 Days of Christmas and every time it’s tweeted, we will donate $10 to the foundation. So far, we’ve raised $850. We are trying to reach our cap of $1,000 – so help us get there. Simply tweet the link to the video using the hashtag #searchfoundation.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1EaNiU8eAw

(please click here if you are unable to view the video)

Happy holidays.

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Sure, there are more opportunities for businesses like yours to market yourself. You have blogs, Facebook, email marketing, banner ads, mobile marketing, SMS marketing, and the list goes on and on. But what happens when everyone tries to leverage these channels? Noise. So, yes, you have more options than ever before…but those options have actually made it harder for your business to stand out.

As 2012 approaches, my goal is to not only create a resource for small businesses to go for information on how to market their companies in a new world, but provide clarity. There’s a ton of information out there. How do you know what makes sense for your business and how do you do it right?

Join me over the coming months and we’ll discuss the key things you need to know to stay ahead of the crowd, including:

• Building a killer website
• Blogging for business
• Getting Business via Twitter
• How to effectively use Facebook
• Optimizing your LinkedIn page
• Successful Public Relations strategies
• How to write awesome award entries
• Successful print advertising
• How to get started in Public Speaking
• Moving from wallflower to expert Networker
• Understanding Digital Advertising
• What is SEO (search engine optimization) and how do you use it for your business
• What is SEM (search engine marketing) and how do you use it for your business
• Understanding the power of Affiliate Marketing
• Leveraging Influencers
• Writing and publishing eBooks
• Is SMS marketing right for your business
• Why you need to understand Mobile Marketing
• Creating exciting videos that sell your products/services
• Creating E-Newsletters that customers look forward to
• Breaking down Banner / Display marketing
• Understanding Retargeting
• How to Measure your activities and ensure future ROI

See something you’d like to learn not on the list? Or do you have specific questions you’d like to ask? You can remain anonymous and possibly appear in our upcoming “Ask Lara” feature. Simply email me your question(s).

To a successful 2012!

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I’m often asked what are the best books on branding and marketing for small businesses. Now, if you don’t know me you might not know that I’m a voracious reader and over the past 16 years as a brand practitioner I have a amassed vast library of business books, audio books and ebooks. Picking favorites is a difficult task, but here’s where I would start:

The Branding & Marketing Stalwarts

There are 3 people who, in my opinion, have consistently created thought-provoking material:

Al Reis (he has partnered with both Jack Trout and his daughter, Laura Reis to publish a series of great books)

• Positioning: A Battle for your mind – This is often referred to as the bible for brand strategists, even though it was original published in the early 80s.
• The Origin of Brands
• The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding – Another fabulous reference book. Guaranteed you will go back to this book time and time again.

Seth Godin

• Purple Cow
• All Marketers are Liars
• Tribes
• Note: he also has a new book out that I have not yet read called, We are All Weird

Marty Neumier

• The Brand Gap – How to bridge the difference between Business Strategy and Design
• ZAG – The number one strategy of high performance brands

If you run a larger company, I would add David Aaker to the list who has published some great books on brand portfolio management and maintaining equity.

Other notables

Start with Why by Simon Sinek

Anything by David Ogilvy

Igor International’s blog

Brandchannel.com 

Again, this is just scraping the surface – it’s killing me not to turn this into a 2,000 word post ;) So, do you have a favorite I haven’t listed? If so, what would you add?

Note: Although the above links are affiliate links, this reading list is 100% based on my recommendations.

Photo via ciro@tokyo

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Google+ has recently released a slew of new features – but one of them outshines the rest. Google Ripples allows you to see how a public post gets shared throughout the social network.

What does Google+ Ripples mean for small business?

Visualized data - We understand what we see well before what we read. This is part of what makes Ripples so powerful – a way to very quickly visualize complex data.

Potential Influencers – With this visual tool, you can quickly identify users who have compelled other people to share your information (one indicator of potential influence). Arrows within Ripples show the direction of resharing and circles within circles represent the resharing sequence, so large circles indicate heavy resharing.

Post shelf-life – Ripples can help you understand the lifespan of a post’s shares. Does your post die out after a day? Or does it have shares spread over a few days? These types of insights could indicate whether your content is time- or event-sensitive, novel or sustainable. Note: Ripples only shows data for the previous 53 days.

View tipping points and long tails of a post's lifespan

Time-lapsed insights – By clicking on the play button, you can view how often the post was shared and by whom, sequentially, over time.

Simply click play to see how a post is shared over time

Niche communities – Not only can you identify potential influencers based on the size of circles, but you can begin to identify how people are related to one another. Are they connected, purposefully or not, based on shared likes, interests and beliefs? Uncovering these insights can lead you to niche communities that exist within and (potentially) outside of Google+.

Experimentation – The power of understanding these analytics is the ability to experiment, like test posting factors such as time of day, day of week, titles, visuals, etc to understand how they impact shares.

How to view Ripples

To witness a Ripple, simply click on the right arrow on the top right of a public post and select “view ripples”. See below for a demonstration of the feature.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j0I1a_Aw4g

An important note: as Google states on their support site, “While Ripples displays a lot of cool information, you’re not actually seeing all the action that’s taken place. For starters, Ripples only uses public shares, so there may be a discrepancy between the number of shares that you see on a post in the stream and the number of shares that Ripples displays.”

And, Google has been very clear that Ripples is categorized as an experiment – meaning that they may evolve or dismantle the tool over time.

Is this really a game changer for small business?

The short answer is only if you’re using Google+ as a part of your communications strategy (and most are not). That said, new ideas in the technology space are rapidly replicated. Although Facebook already has their own visualization tool called Touchgraph, it pales in comparison – if Ripples is a success, I wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar in other social media sites.

The second key issue is that, based on privacy rules, we will only ever be able to track public posts and shares. This significantly affects the intent behind sharing content and, ultimately, true data collection.

So, what do you think – is Ripples an exciting advancement in analytics? Will you be using this tool?

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What is influence?

There are many different schools of thought on the topic, but the best definition I’ve seen pertaining to social media influence is by Brian Solis:

Influence is the ability to cause desirable and measurable actions and outcomes.

What is Klout?

Klout is an online tool that claims to measure social influence by defining it in the form of an influence score. They use a host of algorithms and it’s a recent change to those algorithms that has caused many to see a drop in Klout scores. The result is a lot of disgruntled Klout users.

Are you really less influential?

The short answer is no. But the better question is ‘were you really that influential to begin with?’

There is no single tool that will tell you who holds influence within a certain community – so even if you had a high score to begin with you might not have been that influential after all. Influence is social behaviour and can’t be defined by algorithms. Tools like Klout can measure data like the size of your social graph, the number of RTs you get, who RTs you, etc. But they can’t understand the intent behind these actions: how others feel about you and what motivated them to share your content.

Rather than focus on a score, think CREST:

• CREDIBILITY – How credible are you within the community.
• REACH – What is the size of your direct & indirect social graph: 1) The number of connections you have + 2) The number of connections your connections have + 3) The number of connections your connection’s connections have.
• EXPERTISE – Have you demonstrated subject matter expertise.
• STRENGTH – What is the strength of your connections. Remember, there are plenty of people with large social graphs that don’t invest on building relationships. These people are popular, but may not be influential.
• TRUST – How trusted are you within the community.

My friend, Jessica Levin, challenged her readers to think about better ways to measure success in social media and I echo her sentiment. Spend less time worrying about how a flawed system scores your influence and more time thinking about how you want to be known and how you’ll measure success. 

What do you think?

(Photo via Gipsy Art)

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“Here’s to the crazy ones,

the misfits, the rebels, the trouble makers,

the round pegs in square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules,

and they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them,

because they change things.

They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones,

we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,

are the ones who do.”

I once read that these words from Apple’s 1997 ‘Think Different’ ad along with their powerful visuals made Steve Jobs cry. They summed up Steve’s vision of the brand and in many ways the man himself. I believe that Steve Jobs set out to change the world the way he knew how…and he did. He’ll be missed by many.

(this post was written on a MacBook Pro)

Original source:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oAB83Z1ydE

Image via source

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As I write this post I’m watching the sun set over the expansive white sand beaches from a catamaran in the middle of the Australian Whitsunday Islands.

Why did I choose this catamaran and not one of the hundreds of others that sail the exact same waters? The answer is risk, research and recommendations.

A two night sailing excursion is a big investment. Not to mention, you really only have one chance to get this trip right. There was a lot of risk in my purchase decision. But after some extensive research, namely through Tripadvisor.com, I gathered enough information from people ‘just like me’ who thought this was the best boat, personnel and experience the Whitsundays has to offer. I trust what these people have to say, because they have nothing to gain from sharing.

How do risk, research and recommendations affect your customer’s purchase decisions? The more risk your customers have before they buy, the more they will rely on research and recommendations to help them decide. 

Research

1. Can your business be found when a prospective customer searches for you?

2. What do they find when they do a search?

3. What are their key resources to do research about your industry or segment and is your business represented there?

4. Does your website feel trusted, does it answer their key questions and will it compel them to take action?

Recommendations

1. What is your business doing to encourage or incentivize recommendations?

2. What percentage of your existing customer base are actively promoting your business?

3. What percentage of your customers are unhappy with your business? What are they saying about you? What are you doing about this?

4. Are you tracking the sentiment of your brand online?

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It’s true, I’ve been behind on my blog posts. Not for lack of want. Simply because I’ve been preparing for a month in Australia. I’m delighted to be keynoting two events here in Oz:

ATA National Conference – Sydney

Australian Event Symposium – Sydney

Over the next month, I will do my best to post during my time here. If my flight here was any indication of what’s to come, it’s going to be a very interesting trip (think massive turbulence, burning hot coffee and the news media racing to interview me and others as soon as we exited the airport) ;)

Photo via wilf2

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Myth #2. The customer is #1

It’s very common practice to train employees that the customer is numero uno. It’s also common practice to spend the vast majority of time, resource and financial investment on those customers. But where does this leave your employees?

In a world where products can be replicated in record time, what often sets businesses apart is their culture, their mind-share and the intangible values they provide their customers. The power of a brand is built off of the sum of all experiences they have with you, but it’s the high-touch experiences (sales, customer service, project management, after sales support, etc) that trigger emotions – either good, bad or indifferent. Your employees can drive delight, create ire, or a whole host of emotions in-between. So, no matter how much time and money you invest in the customer, if your employees aren’t happy, it’s likely your customers won’t be either.

How do you create happy employees?

In the following video, Dan Pink breaks down what motivates employees to perform better. Contrary to popular belief, the answer is not financial incentives (although it is important to pay people enough so the subject of pay is off the table). It comes down to autonomy, mastery and purpose. My personal favorite, purpose, speaks to the desire for all of us to be inspired by our work. If we feel like we’re contributing to something, it simply makes work more enjoyable.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

Businesses that have built employee-centric organizations

Herb Kelleher, the co-founder and former CEO of  Southwest Airlines believed that employees should come first. In his book, “From Nuts!”, he writes the following:

“…employees come first — even if it means dismissing customers. But aren’t customers always right? “No, they are not,” Kelleher snaps. “And I think that’s one of the biggest betrayals of employees a boss can possibly commit. The customer is sometimes wrong. We don’t carry those sorts of customers. We write to them and say, ‘Fly somebody else. Don’t abuse our people.”

Howard Shultz, the visionary of Starbucks, famously said:

“We built the Starbucks brand first with our people, not with consumers. Because we believed the best way to meet and exceed the expectations of our customers was to hire and train great people, we invested in employees.”

And then there’s Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos. He pays call centre employees a conservative $11/hr and does not have a 401K  match. Yet his employees are extremely happy (one only needs to take a tour of his Las Vegas facility to see this first hand). Hsieh has created a corporate culture that is evangelized by employees with religious fervor. As he says, “I just want to have a company where people can hang out together and then come in to work the next day and not worry about whether they’ve done something stupid.” It sounds so simple, but the culmination of his unique corporate culture, philosophies and purpose-driven organization has resulted in some of the most amazing tales of customer service I’ve ever heard.

So, what do you think? Should the customer be #1 or the employee?

Photo via mrkumm

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Myth #1. The customer is always right

Stew Leonards has a very famous customer service story (circa 1969) that resulted in a giant rock that sits outside of his stores inscribed with the following:

Rule 1: The Customer is Always Right
Rule 2: If the Customer is ever Wrong, read Rule #1

This mantra is probably one of the most debated topics in the world of customer service. Is it better for business to satisfy every single customer or is it better to delight your good customers and sever ties with those that aren’t a fit?

The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a movie theatre located in Austin, TX, opted for the latter. One day they received an irate voicemail from a customer who’d been thrown out for using her cell during a film. The response from the theatre didn’t include begging for forgiveness, issuing a refund or a letter of apology. Instead, they turned the customer’s message, laden with f-bombs, into a public-service announcement shown to audiences before the movie commences.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVz-fO7kxcQ

There are a number of reasons why bending over backwards to satisfy every single client can be a flawed system:

• Some customers can never be satisfied
• Some customers aren’t profitable
• Some customers weaken employee morale
• Some customers are not an ethical, moral or value-based fit for your business

When you invest time, energy and money into trying to satisfy the wrong customers, you reduce your ability to attract the right ones.

That doesn’t mean that we, as businesses, should throw out the notion of amazing customer service. On the contrary. In a time when one tweet can cost a business millions, delighting customers is simply the cost of doing business, not a value-add. However, it also emphasizes the need to do business with the right customers. Work with enough people who don’t get you, don’t appreciate what you do, don’t like you, and you’re creating your own detraction engine.

Now it’s time for you to weigh in. What do you think?

Photo via mikkime

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“Why should I care about you?”

You’ve probably never heard this question asked of you. In fact, you’ve probably never even asked this question of anyone else. Yet it’s the single most important question every small business marketer needs to answer, consistently.

Why?

Transparent Marketing Tactics

Your competitors now have instant access to your business and marketing tactics. They can see your contacts and “friends”, they can monitor what you say and how you say it, they can investigate how people are responding to you, where you ‘check in’, who you’re speaking to, what ads you’re running, how much traffic you’re getting…online. This insight can be used to make your competitors think and act smarter than you.

Low Barrier of Entry

Advertising used to be reserved for those with ample budgets. You would pay to play. An explosion of communication distribution channels, like email marketing and social media, means that your target customer is exposed to more messages from brands than ever before.

That equates to more noise. It also creates a greater desire to tune out what’s not important and hone in on that which offers the greatest value.

Customers have their finger on the volume button

Your target market chooses whether or not to subscribe to your mailing list, opt in to your SMS campaign, friend you, follow you, read your message, forward it on to friends, tweet it to their social graph or blog about you.

Your target market can choose to tune into your message, turn up the volume or mute you.

But getting your market to tune into what you have to say isn’t a one time task. You have to consistently commit to creating value. According to EdgeRank, 96% of users who ‘like’ your Facebook page never visit your page again, and 91% of email users have subscribed to a company’s email and then later decided they no longer wanted to receive the emails, based on ExactTarget research. This trend is seen across the breadth of marketing channels.

Age of Customer

We have now entered the Age of the Customer. A time when they have access to more choice, cheaper prices and better offers than ever before…when a plethora of businesses are vying for their attention…when they are in control.

So, why should they care about you?

Answer this question and answer it consistently.

Photo via Danielle Page

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