You’re even accepting guest posts from industry influences and others, and your web traffic is growing as a result. You are ranking in Google for keywords and long-tail queries, and things are going well.  In short, you have embraced your brand as a publisher and created your own content kingdom.

As you survey your newly created kingdom, you realize you need to do something more. Like all good kingdoms, you want to expand your influence.You need to turn as many of the followers of your content, the subjects in your content kingdom, into conversions. But you need to ask yourself some questions. Where are they and what do they care about? Now that you have their attention, what is it they want and need to hear from you?

Location, Location, Location

Even if your business is entirely web based, your kingdom has a geography, and it is useful to know what that is for a number of reasons. Location has resurfaced as a marketing buzzword of late because of Location Based Marketing.

Customers are constantly sharing their location through smartphones, fitness devices, and an number of other ways. This information can be leveraged to customize marketing messages related to where the customer is at that particular moment in time. Apps customers use to connect with you are a part of your content. But it can go deeper than presenting them with a local deal or coupon.

Responsive Websites

More often than not, you customer is accessing your website on a mobile device, whether that is a phone, tablet, or laptop. The location data that device provides enables you to customize what content that user sees first.

Having enough rich content to present them with something relevant to their location lets them know you are engaged, and interested in developing a relationship with them.

Content Related to Interests

It is more than where you customer is geographically, but rather what they are actually doing. Is your customer at a restaurant, a sporting event, or attending a movie? Do you have content related to those interests?

Not only is content presented to customers in a timely and relevant manner more likely to get a positive response, but it also shows them you are listening.

In order to respond to customers in this way, you need to know what areas and interests to create content for. The way to learn this information is to engage in social listening. This is the practice of hearing and acting on what your customers are saying and doing on social media, even if it is unrelated to your brand.

Use Social Mapping Tools

There are tools to help you figure out where your customers live. This gives you the first clue of where to prioritize and focus your geographic efforts.

Analyze

Apps like Tweetsmap let you see where your Twitter followers are. Below is the Tweetmap for @tlambertwrites. As you can see, most of my followers are from the United States. But I do have followers scattered all over the world.

However, it is not quite enough to just know where they are. Who is actually mentioning you in their tweets? This is one of many ways to analyze who is engaging with your content and sharing it.

You can go even deeper, looking at percentages by state and even city.

This is just an example of the kind of social mapping you can do to analyze your audience. Twitter analytics itself offers some great insights which, when combined with the information from Tweetsmap, gives you a better picture of your Twitter followers.

This data allows you to look at everything from gender and household income to occupation and interests. You can even look at what they are sharing, and what your most popular content with them has been.

Of course, Twitter is only one of the multiple social media networks, and you can analyze them all using different tools. But don’t get too caught up in analytics. Instead, look at general trends and set targeted content goals based on what you find.

For instance, a sudden spike in interest from my Twitter followers who are in the Western United States regarding an article I wrote about outsourcing content marketing shared with the hashtag #contentmarketing tells me I need to focus more on that topic, and if I can make it relevant to where they live or things they enjoy, that’s even better.

For instance,in Washington and Oregon, an article on content marketing for the new marijuana industry will not only go over well because it is relevant and timely, but may also result in conversions since customers will see that I understand their industry and the challenges they face.

You have now determined something about at least some of the subjects of your content kingdom. There are now some questions you need to ask of the data to determine which direction to take your content going forward.

Do your followers look like your marketing persona?

At some point in the business process, you likely developed an ideal customer, or persona. This defined what you thought your customer looked like and was interested in, perhaps even where they were from.

If your followers do not line up with that persona, you need to adjust your marketing strategy to align with who your customers actually are. The good news is, your content already appeals to them, and you can use this information to inform future decisions.

However, use caution. Any analysis of social data is only a snapshot of that moment in time, so look for overall trends. Don’t make major adjustments based on what might be a passing anomaly.

Can you leverage their other interests?

Your customers likely have more things in common than just an interest in your business. What are those things, and can you structure content to relate what you do to to those interests? The likelihood is that you can.

Leveraging this interest not only solidifies your relationship with your customer base, but also allows you to reach beyond them to a new audience.

What are the causes your audience is passionate about?

Are your customers driven to do business with companies dedicated to sustainability? According to a 2014 study, a whopping 55 percent of them are. Not only should your company adopt sustainable practices, you should tell your customers about them through your content.

As concern for the environment grows, balancing sustainability and profitability becomes even more important. Customer bias toward green-thinking companies means it may be more expensive to ignore environmental concerns than to invest in more sustainable practices even if they cost more initially.

Can you sponsor events related to their charitable interests? Not only is this good for your image with your customer, but it shows another level of corporate responsibility, another thing customers are increasingly looking at before doing business with a company.

Any event you sponsor is news, which should be a part of your content strategy. But be sincere. Users can spot a corporate ploy a mile away, so be sure whatever you sponsor lines up with the rest of what your company is doing. Don’t be hypocritical, or the results could be disastrous.

Once you have created a content kingdom, it’s time to determine who the subjects of that kingdom are, and how you can best serve them to earn their loyalty and respect. Social mapping, social listening, and analyzing the information you get from those two sources can help you turn your kingdom into an empire.

The post The Subjects of Your Content Kingdom appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

“I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship.”
Louisa May Alcott

Leading during difficult times takes everything you have, but the truth is, you will be better off because of that experience. In a great article called 9 Things Great Leaders Do in Difficult Times, Bill Murphy Jr. says,

“Great leadership seems easy when things are good and everybody’s happy. When times grow tough, however, a leader’s true colors are revealed.”

Murphy suggests that in difficult times, great leaders:

1. Control their fears
2. Focus on the mission
3. Put the mission ahead of themselves
4. Rely on their training and preparation
5. Are tough, but human
6. Encourage their people
7. Communicate effectively
8. Use their resources wisely
9. Imitate the leaders who inspire them

Having led both military and business organizations through some pretty difficult periods, I would agree with Murphy’s thoughts on this subject. I also think there is another side to tough times that he did not consider. As my friend said to me, tough times make you a better leader.

Celebrate the Tough Times

Tough Times Require You To Operate at Your Highest Level

Operate at Your Highest Level

When the seas are calm and the weather is nice, you don’t have to be on the top of your game. But tough times require an intense, 24/7 focus on the problem. As a leader, everyone in the organization is watching you and depending on you to make the right decisions to lead them out of the situation. It requires focus, determination, decisiveness, courage, intensity, and perseverance. It will take your absolute best.

You Learn a Lot About Yourself During Tough Times

Woman Deep In Thought

The challenge of leading during difficult times is learning to deal with those voices of self-doubt, fear, and worry while your team is depending on you for confidence and strength. Tough times are the ultimate test of a leader’s character and resolve. There is nothing that will boost confidence more than facing the toughest challenge in your career and coming out on top.

You Build Strong Bonds With Your Team During Tough Times

Strong Team

When you stand shoulder to shoulder with your team through a crisis, you build a bond that can last a lifetime. When a leader and their team step up and work together through a tough situation, it builds a powerful new level of trust and respect. The overall capability of the organization is forever enhanced through this experience.

Tough Times Give You a New Perspective

A View To The Sky

Your perspective forever changes from having withstood a difficult period. You have a much greater appreciation for when times are good. You also are less likely to let people, politics, and minor issues get you down. Tough times help build your maturity as a leader.

Tough Times Become An Anchor Point For The Rest of Your Career

Graph

Great leaders can almost always point to a time in their career when they became great. In most cases, it was leading an organization through a tough situation and coming out on top. The most difficult situation you face may actually be the defining moment in your career.

Conclusion

Most of us don’t want to go through difficult times. It’s human nature to want things to be easy. The problem is that when things are easy and you aren’t challenged, you don’t grow. Confidence and maturity as a leader come from dealing with your self-doubt and fears while overcoming adversity. Tough times require your best, you learn what you are capable of, you learn what your team is capable of, you build strong bonds, you gain a new perspective, and your performance will define your career. So why not celebrate the tough times? It may be the best thing that ever happened to you.

So what do you think? Can you grow as a leader without experiencing difficult times? Does your learning accelerate when facing a crisis? Should we seek out leaders that have proven themselves in tough trials? Are there other ways our perspective changes by enduring tough times?

The post 5 Reasons to Celebrate the Tough Times appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

It’s important to take care of yourself, mind and body, now more than ever!

You run a business, but you also may have others who depend on your right? Family, friends, clients and loved ones.

Sometimes things occur with our health that we have no control over. But we can also be proactive in our approach to our health by taking steps to try and prevent anything bad health wise from occurring. Unlike working in the corporate world where we can rely on several others to pick up the slack, we are mainly responsible for carrying the workload. Sick days or injuries can be a critical blow to an entrepreneur’s business.

Here are things we can do as preventative measures so that we continue to keep doing what we love to do for years and years to come.

How To Stay In Good Health As An Entrepreneur

1. Diet

Watermelon

I get it; you love what you do daily, so do I! But don’t love it so much that you so wrapped up in your work and you forget to feed yourself. And no I’m not talking just a snack, you must stop what you’re doing for meals.

We can’t forget, that our bodies depend on food for fuel. So make sure you stock your fridge with extra good healthy snacks.

Oh, and don’t forget to drink plenty of water, staying hydrated is key to a healthy mind and body as water helps cleanse our system of toxins.

2. Breaks Are A Must

Clock

Does 1 hour quickly turn into 3 hours when you’re working on a project you’re really tuned in to what you’re doing?

Stop, don’t do this to yourself. You need to take breaks, if for nothing else but to just grab that snack I just talked about in the previous paragraph (ha, ha).

Some entrepreneurs find that the Pomodoro Method works best, working for working for 25-minute increments, then taking a quick 5-minute break and starting again. By using the Pomodoro Method, It will increase your productivity and boost your attention span.

3. Get Some Air

Walking Dog

With the harsh Winter months ahead, taking a break and going somewhere can be hard.

If you have a balcony, front stoop or patio try to step out for a moment inhale some air. Being cooped up can not only be bad for your health it can also lead to depression.

Things like making sure you’re working in a well-lit area or sitting by a window can help too.

It’s so important that we keep moving and stay active, and I know what you’re saying, I don’t have time. Oh, but you do, so why not try these exercises at work or chair exercises if you just simply can’t get away from your desk at all.

Here is one to get you started from this recent article 5 Quick & Easy Ways You Can Exercise At Work.

Curls

4. Schedule, Schedule, Schedule For Balance

Schedule

When you’re an entrepreneur time is important. Keeping a well-balanced work and life schedule should also be a priority. Work-life balance is something we all struggle with. We not only want to be diligent in our time working, but we also do not want to overwork ourselves. Keeping a schedule and being careful about our time, allows us to create a balance so that we don’t stress ourselves.

We all know that excessive stress can lead to some pretty devastating diseases like high blood pressure and hypertension, which we don’t want or need.

5. Get Dressed, Reward Yourself

Coffee

You’ve been working hard, and that’s great! Why not try to reward yourself at the end of the day or the end of each week. The reward can be as simple as a hot spiced pumpkin latte from your favorite coffee shop or a nap.

Speaking of naps, are you getting your 8 hours of sleep nightly? Sleep is equally important as our diets and a part of a balanced lifestyle. We need 6-8 hours of sleep for our minds and bodies to stay sharp and prepare for the coming day. Sleep also helps fight off many different health issues.

On a daily, it’s also helpful to get up and to get dressed.Getting dressed can make you feel more productive and professional, instead of being in pajamas. In case you have to run out somewhere or meet someone you won’t have to get ready, you’ll already save time by being ready!

Maybe taking care of yourself need to be a goal you include for yourself for 2016.

Being an entrepreneur is all about balance, so here’s to your good health.

The post 5 Ways To Stay In Good Health As An Entrepreneur appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

Monica Rosenfeld

Nine out of ten startup companies fail, due to ineffective strategic management, poor financial control and a bad business model. Founder and Managing Director of Sydney-based public relations company, WordStorm PR, Monica Rosenfeld defies the odds as she celebrates 15 years of WordStorm PR this year. Monica attributes her success to her commitment to honesty and integrity and being ethical in her work.

“Starting a business from scratch as an entrepreneur can be difficult, as many businesses don’t ‘plan to fail’, they just ‘fail to plan’,” says Monica. “We are currently celebrating 15 years of WordStorm PR, and from my experience over the years, I have found that the success of a business relies on ambition, consistent hard work, a supportive team and most importantly, being passionate about what you do. If you enjoy what you do, it will never feel like work. With three kids under ten, I have also found it’s vital to find the right balance between work and family.”

Monica’s top 10 business & leadership tips to help you grow a PR agency from working in the industry are:

1. Hire Slow, Fire Fast

Take the trial period VERY seriously and incorporate the possibility to extend the trial period into your employment contract. Dismissing someone once they’ve passed the trial period is complicated and messy.

2. Take Time Out To Gain A Bird’s Eye View Of The Business

It will give you clarity about opportunities and possible weaknesses that need to be dealt with.

3. Employ a Business Advisor

More experienced people will always have something to teach you and they will be able to show you a different perspective which is likely to benefit your business.

4. Learn to Delegate and Trust Your Team

If you have to remain 100% in control of every element of the business, you do not have a business but rather a job (and a very demanding one at that).

5. Take Holidays

Some business owners take pride in the fact that they don’t go on holidays. It’s not smart and it’s not good for business. Everyone needs time to recharge and the best ideas usually come to us while we are disengaged from the day-to-day routine of running the business.

6. Fake It ‘til You Make It

If you are just starting out, have confidence while pitching your services/products.  After a few successes, you won’t need to fake your confidence anymore.

7. Create an Office Culture That Appeals to You

It is the culture that will resonate with your clients and it should be authentic.

8. Find Solutions to Manage Cash Flow

This is central to the survival of small businesses.

9. Be Prepared to Adapt

In particular, be ready to adapt to changes in the world that will affect your business.

10. Don’t Take on Clients That Aren’t Suitable For Your Business Out of Desperation

This usually comes back to bite you.

The post 10 Important Leadership Qualities Needed To Build & Grow A PR Agency appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

But if one is not in show business, what can the Donald Trump brand teach us? Here are Ten Particulars that we can learn from The Donald and apply to our respective businesses.

1. Promote Your Brand With Confidence

Confident Looking Trump

As New York Mets, baseball fans used to like to say: “U gotta believe!” This means you have to believe in your brand and publicize it with conviction if you want to succeed. Equivocation can work in some circles, but never in business. If you do not believe in your brand, engage an executive coach who can assist you to resolve this critical issue. Remember: “You gotta believe!”

2. Be Passionate About Your Message

Trump Giving Passionate Speech

Nothing is more infectious than passion. Barbara Corcoran believes that “you can’t fake it” and the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre says, “We must act out passion before we can feel it.” Trump’s repeated use of adjectives whenever he delivers a speech, his energy when he interacts with people, his thirst to garner support for his positions are all qualities that can assist us in our quest to become a successful business brand. If we are passionate about what we are selling, then we too can become a brand that is noticed in the marketplace.

3. Be Yourself

Be Yourself

Corcoran’s adage that you cannot fake passion dovetails with this idea of being yourself. It is part of the confidence/passion message that Trump promotes about his brand. To thine own brand be true is so Trump that it does not even need clarification. One thing you cannot say about DT—he is a phony. Whether you like him or not (warts and all), he says what’s on his mind, and you know what you are getting. However, do remember that he is a TV personality brand who can get away with outrageous statements, which we mere mortals cannot execute with the same kind of response. The lesson here is not to be something that you are not. If you are a quiet type personality, then never try to be a backslapping, joke-cracking type. It is not your brand. Emphasize the knowledge quality of your brand where customers come to you for product/service knowledge, not for the joke of the day. There are enough websites that can provide humor for your clients; feel free to refer your clients to them. It is part of your brand (information provider). The takeaway, be yourself, and good things will happen. Just look at Trump. And, oh yes, then “Go Brand Yourself!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShrrnsdhVy8

4. Confront The Competition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdq2PdwzKR8

Part of the fun watching Mr. Trump is when he “goes after” his competition after they attack him. Once again, most of us are not reality show personalities, but there is something that we can incorporate into our business lives. This means promoting our value-added and benefit differences. In marketing, it is referred to as brand differentiation. Brand differentiation is the tactic where we, as a brand,  underscore how and why we are different. We do this so that present customers will continue to use, or new customer will sample your alleged benefit. Time after time, Trump communicates how his brand is different from his competition. It is his direct style that keeps his brand from getting past a defined customer ceiling. Try to think how best to convert as many clients as you can. This leads to the fifth item.

5. Don’t Attack But DO Confront Your Competition

As marketers, we must find the right balance of taking on your competitors with a positive benefit message rather than a frontal attack. But make no mistake, at one point you will have to confront your competition, especially if you are successful at what you do. We should be reminded that “the higher you go up the tree, the more your backside shows.” With that said, once you are a player within your industry, you eventually will have to deal with competitors’ attacks. But never take an attack personally—it is business, and one should respond in a tough but appropriate manner. Emphasize your benefits and why your brand makes the case for your present and future customers. Nothing works better than playing to self-interest, and if there are more benefits for customers to use your brand, then you will win the battle of the brands.

6. Don’t Underestimate Your Competition

Trumps Competition

Group think can kill your business. Consider the pondering (or perhaps lack of) that went on with the Blackberry handheld device that virtually no one uses today. Blackberry management never saw the iPhone coming and thus lost market share overnight. If there is any lesson we can learn from Trump, it is underestimating the competition. Jeb Bush thought that Trump would be finished in a few weeks after making remarks against Senator John McCain regarding the senator’s POW “loser” status. Mr. Trump is still around, and Mr. Bush is just hanging on in the polls, even with a significant campaign war chest. You should heed the warning: “always be assessing,” (ABA) your competitors. Otherwise, you could be the “also-ran” of your industry.

7. Know Your Target Market (TM)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0euhRxQCNzs

Marketers often say: “sell them what they want but give them what they need.” Mr. Trump certainly knows how his talking points resonate with his Target Market. This is key to developing your brand. The issue is, how do you increase your Target Market without alienating your current customers? In other words, how do you continue to know your current TM and then expand to another market that may not need your particular brand.

The answer is to create another brand that will attract a different market segment. Think Ford, the everyman brand, with The Lincoln brand as its upscale alternative or even Toyota and the Lexus brands. The message here is to know your customers so that you can satisfy their needs. Perhaps Trump has the selling part down and is struggling with giving his present and eventually future Target Market what it needs.

8. Don’t Be Arrogant

Well, there is no denying it: Donald Trump is arrogant. This rarely works long-term for TV personalities and never works in general business. The issue is that there are many options to choose in business, so when arrogance shows its ugly head, there is always someone or another brand to turn to. Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi, the character who screams at his customers if they do not follow the rules when ordering the BEST soup in the world, may be a rare exception. The problem is that this arrogant attitude gets tired very quickly, and guess what? No matter how good you are, there is always another brand around the bend that can knock you off. It is called a fad and the ninth item to consider.

9. Don’t Be A Fad! Think Long-Term

A fad can best be defined, according to Google Search, as “an intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived and without basis in the object’s qualities; a craze.”  

Some would say that Donald Trump is a fad, but for now he is a brand force that his Republican colleagues must engage. Many restaurants are fads, and this is why your business, like restaurants, must “always be branding,” to avoid long-term failure. Always branding means assessing why your customers like your business and how you can continue to offer real benefits to them.

For example, if you offer a product, let’s say NYC hot dogs, and your competitors do the same, there must be other featured products, e.g., perhaps a jelly donut that has peanut butter as well as jelly inside that give your customers another reason to come back to your place. This avoids the boredom effect. As you must know as a marketer, the danger in any business is for your customers to get tired of your brand. You do this by always giving the same consistent positive experience every time they buy from you, along with giving them a unique experience so that they return. So, don’t be a fad! Always be branding, which means be consistently satisfying the needs of your customers.

10. Don’t Be The Center of Attention

Lots of Attention on Donald Trump

When one is in the company of TV personalities, they are always the center of attention. If you are not hosting a TV game show, here is what you must do to ensure success.   Repeat this every day, and if you do so, you will never go wrong: “It is not about you, It is all about your customer.”

Quote

The greatest compliment that this author ever received was from a client who told me, “The impressive thing about you is that you listen!” LISTEN to your customers. If you do that and remember that is it is not about you but about them, then maybe you will be even more successful than Donald Trump’s Republican presidential bid. And, oh yes, it is always easier when you have marketing and branding in mind.

The post 10 Unusual & Shrewd ‘Donald Trump Brand’ Strategies, For Magic Growth appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

Wikipedia defines a budget as:

A budget is a quantitative expression of a plan for a defined period of time. It may include planned sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities, costs and expenses, assets, liabilities and cash flows. It expresses strategic plans of business units, organizations, activities or events in measurable terms.

Working without a Budget worked for me… then I decided to try it out.

As Kristina Plimer of Wealth Tutor says:

Working without a budget may be fine and dandy, but it’s a bit like going for a drive without a destination in mind. You won’t know where you’ll end up until you get there…A budget is your sat nav to wealth, abundance and fun!

And I have to agree with her. Budgeting has helped me grow my savings while making me more aware of my spending.

Though it’s not an easy task, I believe everyone can benefit from putting together a simple budgeting plan. Here are a few tips to help you along the process.

Budgeting 101:

1. Every Dollar Must Have a Purpose

Dollar Bills

This is the foundation of your budget. You must assign a purpose to every penny you have. For example, say you have 600$ this week, you will want to create categories and assign every dollar to a category. Maybe assign 150$ to cover the cost of food. If you love to eat out, assign 30$ to eating out. You have 420$ left. 40$ for your gas, 70$ for utilities and 100$ for car payment will leave you with 210$ for your mortgage.

Now that you have assigned each dollar to a category, when you go to the grocery store and wonder if you have enough for the nice beef cut, instead of checking your balance and see 600$, you will now see it as 150$ to cover your groceries for the week.

2. Save, Save, Save

Coins

We all have large but less frequent expenses in our lives whether it’s a vacation, Christmas gifts or insurance payments. Forget to plan for them and you could get into trouble. So instead of charging these expenses to your credit card when they come in, break them into monthly, more manageable amounts.

Everyone needs a vacation once in a while. You decided you’ve deserved yours and have planned a 1000$ vacation in 6 months. Not preparing for this expense could do nothing more that bring on more stress and ruin the time you’ve put aside to relax or even make you decide to cancel the vacation — you can’t afford it.

Instead, look ahead six months. You know you’ll be spending 1000$ more than you usually do. So instead of dishing out your 1000$ when the time comes, break it down into monthly  “payments”. At 167$ per month or 42$ per week, it’s much more manageable and will save you a lot of troubles. You’ll be able to buy your tickets to paradise without a care in the world.

3. Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff

Mediation

It’s Thanksgiving, and you’re making your famous supper. With all of the extra mouths to feed, you went over budget on food *gasp*!! Don’t sweat it! It has happened to the best of us, and it will happen again and again.

There are no budget police. You are the boss of your spendings. If you’ve overspent in one category, look at your whole budget and see what you can move around. Maybe reduce your clothing budget for this week to compensate (you know you have enough cute tops anyway). Or since you’re preparing a feast, you can reduce the amount in the eating-out category (you’ll probably have leftovers to last you a week anyway ).

If you can’t reduce from this month’s budget, you can always borrow from next month.

4. Be a Month in Advance

Calendar

Instead of living paycheck to paycheck, what I’ve finally started doing is living on last month’s paycheck. To do this, you must save up enough to live one month on your savings. After that, you are golden.

It may sound useless, but it has helped alleviate a lot of stress.

Instead of having my bills pile up while waiting for my next paycheck, I can pay them as they come in using last month’s money. This saves me from a lot of planning, and potential late fees.

5. Plan for the Unexpected

Expect The Unexpected

In my opinion, this is the holy grail of budget planning. If there’s one thing everyone should do is plan for the unexpected.

I have two dogs, a hockey-playing boyfriend, a baby on the way and appliances that break time and time again. Unexpected spendings are unavoidable. Whether it’s a sick dog, a hockey injury, or another appliance needing fixing, you can bet that most months require us to cough up a bit more cash than we planned for.

Which is why our budget consists of an “anti-panic” category. We assign a portion of our money for the unexpected and if it’s not used…great! It falls in our savings account. If something does happen, I eliminated all reason for stress by planning ahead.

Planning a budget is easier said than done. When starting out, it requires a lot of work and preparation. However, in my experience, creating a budget has helped me a lot.

So try it out! Take a bit of time and plan that budget! What have you got to lose?

The post Budgeting 101: How To Plan A Budget To Make More From Less In 5 Easy Steps appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

The Four Digital Pillars Of Online Marketing

In project marketing for real estate, there are actually more pillars than four if you include offline strategies. However, as I am a digital marketer my expertise lies in digital marketing and hence, my focus. Some or all of these pillars resonate with some small businesses that have a focus on sales. Here are the four digital pillars in project marketing, in no particular order:

1. Email Marketing
2. SMS Marketing
3. Social Media Marketing
4. Website

This article will introduce some tools for effective performance in each of these tiers.

1. Email Marketing

Email marketing is an essential staple for project marketing. Done correctly, it is inexpensive and has an extensive reach. In my experience sending emails to people who want your service, the open rate is about 20-30%. Because it’s measurable with email campaigning software, you can improve your email marketing with A/B Testing.

Now, many people do not realise that in the world of email newsletter marketing, your options are not confined to Mailchimp and Campaign Monitor. In fact, I would go so far as to say Mailchimp and Campaign Monitor are replaceable with cheaper options that are just as effective.

My recommendations are two-fold. Firstly, if you have high volumes of emails running into the thousands per month, choose Sendy. Sendy makes use of Amazon’s Simple Email System (SES). With Amazon SES, you can send thousands of emails at a fraction of the cost. We are looking at an expenditure of US$1 per 10,000 emails.

That is peanuts. All you need is a once off cost of US$59 to purchase, and if you wish, US$79 for installation.

Secondly, if you run a Joomla website, you have the option of AcyMailing. AcyMailing uses server resources. That means there is no ongoing cost, and you only pay for the program. There are multiple tiers in AcyMailing, including a free tier, though most of the reporting and extra functions are missing in the free version. AcyMailing comes with free templates in all versions.

That is all for my advice on running cheap but effective email newsletter software. Now, there is a question of how do you get subscribers. Designing a good landing page is an option. However, that does take some skill, practice and testing to get right. In the context of project marketing or certain sales organisations, holding regular physical events you can go to, like a trade show, may be an option to get those subscribers.

2. SMS Marketing

Normally, SMS marketing is done through an API in your Client Relationship Manager (CRM). However, there are a few companies out there that have the next best thing, Whatsapp marketing. Whatsapp is a very popular mobile messaging platform and has millions of users. Bee CRM is one of the few companies that has a robust Whatsapp system, see below:

The only issue is that you have to make a specific request to Bee CRM to have access to this function. However, I believe SMS still has a wider appeal than Whatsapp. Still, Whatsapp is a great replacement to SMS. It is probably easier to build up your phone numbers by a physical event like trade shows, as I find people are more careful giving out phone numbers on the internet.

3. Social Media Marketing

We live in the dawn of social media automation. This is great news for social media marketing. I will introduce to you two modern social media automation tools.

The first is Buffer. Buffer is a social media scheduler and covers major platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

There are also some similar apps out there like HootSuite and Everypost, but I use Buffer. And if you want to take your social media posting and analytics to the next level, there are services such as ZoomSphere that Fridge Magazine uses. Scheduling software is a valuable, time-saving productivity tool. You have to use multiple social media to maximise your results, so rather than post in each one, just post once through a post scheduler.

Next, you can generate leads through social media management apps like Unfollowers. The below is an example of how Unfollowers can search for users to follow, and in return, get followed back:

For example, you can search by Tweet.

You can also search by profile. Now, I use a more expensive app of this type, but Unfollowers is an inexpensive alternative. However, if you want maximum results, have a look at my Twitter toolkit recommendations here.

4. Website

We now reach the fourth pillar, and that is the website. The website is basically the end point for digital marketing. You want most digital marketing efforts to lead to visits to your site, and conversions. The fundamental principle of running a successful website with good SEO is creating content people love and giving them easy access to the content. Content is king no matter what industry you are in.

In the context of digital marketing, besides obvious design requirements, you have got to get social sharing and social media links done. This is essential for any website, not only in project marketing and sales teams as it helps people find your content.

These days there are plenty of free and paid options for social media sharing and links. I use a Joomla website, so I use JFBConnect. But there should be available options for WordPress, Drupal and other Content Management Systems (CMS). Every website should have a link to your social media accounts, such as below:

Furthermore, it should have sharing links to social media to share your content:

These are the fundamentals of website-social-media integration. The reason why I choose JFBConnect is because it is an all-in-one solution covering many genres of social media.

Conclusion

There is a myriad of sales and marketing tools out there that make digital marketing easier. It would serve you well to investigate and use some of these tools. Not all systems are equal; some are overpriced. Do not be afraid to shop around for alternatives to popular solutions – you may be surprised and find better returns with less popular software. They can assist you in many ways, such as building in automation and streamlining your sales process. I hope that this is a good primer for you to know what is out there besides commonly heard and over-hyped software like MailChimp, and I hope I have helped you in making a choice on what tools you want to add into your marketing toolkit.

The post 4 Remarkably Easy Pillars Of Online Marketing You Absolutely Must Never Ignore appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

Regardless of the size or nature of your business, if you are talking to a customer who has a problem, then this is a discussion that needs to be carefully and sensitively handled. The circumstances aren’t necessary and are not something you, as the provider, can judge the sensitivity of. Whether your customer is right or wrong is immaterial.

As a quick primer, here are five things you need to stop saying in customer service, right now.

Customer Service Words & Phrases You Need To Stop Saying

1. “Your Call Is Important To Us.”

The Great Lie. The first thing many people hear after dialling a complaint or customer service line is “Your call is important to us, please hold”.

Just don’t say it! If the call were genuinely important, you’d have thousands of available customer service people on standby to answer the phone on the first ring. The fact is, with cost pressures being what they are, most businesses hope customers never call. Queries are diverted to FAQ’s, social media, community forums or chat bots. If the client wants to speak with a human being, the system has failed.

Your customer does not believe their call is important to you and stating it puts them in a negative mind frame.

2. “There Has Been A Computer Error.”

Let’s be clear. Computers do not make mistakes.

Computers do what they are instructed to, and they do it perfectly. An erroneous outcome always involves human error either in the data input or the creation of the software. And before the engineers riot, the creation of software error probably stems from unclear user stories in the first place.

So what happened? We made a mistake. That’s it. Mistakes happen.

Just don’t follow up with –

3. “There’s Nothing I Can Do.”

“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this – you haven’t.”
Thomas Edison

There is always something you can do. If you don’t have a Customer Disaster Recovery Toolkit, then get one right now. You can’t go back in time, but you can soften the blow. Discounts, credits, movie tickets, or punching bags, but offer your disgruntled customer some solace.

But then, make sure you don’t say –

4. “I’m Sorry For The Inconvenience.”

Possibly the worst weasel sentence in the English language. The non-apology apology. You might as well say “I don’t care, and I think that you’re overstating how bad the situation is”.

I’ve never understood the risk in saying “I’m sorry”. And here’s the added benefit – it’s a powerful, emotive sentence that shows genuine empathy between two human beings. “I’m sorry” is a personal, vulnerable comment that resonates with people who are unhappy.

As a bonus, you’ve just set yourself apart from the customer service herd.

5. “Fifteen Minutes.”

I’m not sure what research this is based on, but there seems to be a theory that, regardless of how long the anticipated wait or delay is, if people are told “15 minutes” then they will instantly relax and will not care how long they actually wait.

Whether it’s the bank, a parcel delivery or a taxi, “there will be an approximate 15-minute delay” is the stock answer. The real problem here is that, by giving a cookie-cutter response, the person who has to wait loses all control of the situation.

15 minutes isn’t that long. I can wait 15 minutes for a haircut. But if that 15 minute turns into 25, I’m now wondering what I could have done with that time. A quick espresso, posted a letter, gone for a walk.

Being honest about the anticipated delay empowers the customer. 45 minutes? Okay, I’m not happy, but now I know that the delay is long, and I’m not going to sit and slowly become angry and frustrated.

Conclusion

And one thing you need to start doing in customer service:

There’s a constant theme through these 5 points. In customer service, be honest. Treat your client with consideration and respect. It will be reciprocated, and both you and the customer will have a more enjoyable experience.

Are there other customer service words you think we should add to this list? Add your comments below or tweet @fridgebusiness with your ideas.

The post 5 Popular Customer Service Words You Need To Stop Saying appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

Young entrepreneurs are obsessed with funding. Yes – sometimes it’s necessary, it accelerates your growth and it often earns you lots of free press. But new founders often fail to realize that it can also distract from your core objectives, cripple your autonomy and ultimately cause you to crash even faster than you grew. Securing funding is a full-time job that too often distracts from your essential CEO duties.

I challenge you to seriously ask yourself if your startup idea requires funding to deliver.

If it doesn’t – then wait. All you need to develop a successful self-funded startup are these three essential ingredients (spoiler alert: none of them involve investors).

1. Dream Team that Delivers

Congratulations to our champions! Great work completing #TheFondo in just over 4 hours. We're very proud.

A photo posted by Tradable Bits (@tradablebits) on Sep 12, 2015 at 12:50pm PDT

We're having a blast at the #TBITS booth! Come join us at the break. #SMCamp

A photo posted by Tradable Bits (@tradablebits) on May 22, 2015 at 2:46pm PDT

Everyone has an idea; only a select few can actually execute. Making your idea a reality requires a dedicated, talented team. You won’t succeed without one. As ego-boosting as it is, you can’t be a one (wo)man show. Find a partner that complements you – if you’re a big ideas optimist, find a critical, detail-oriented doer.

Once you’ve found your partner, you’ll need supporting staff: design, marketing, and extra development as required. These people don’t have to be experts in their fields – they need to be self-starters that genuinely believe in your company.

If you hire people with experience that only care about a pay check you (a) will bankrupt yourself trying to afford them in the first place and (b) will lose them as soon as a bigger offer comes along – both of which seriously cripple your growth. Learn more towards passionate recent graduates over industry superstars for your supporting staff.

2. Real (Free) Customers

These cannot be your family and friends. Your first customers must be objective companies with real business problems. This guarantees your product will actually solve industry challenges – and when it does, they’ll be so grateful that they’ll be personally invested in your startup success.

Pick a few key companies that suit your target audience, and give them an offer they can’t refuse (likely everything you have, for free). I can’t emphasize enough that in these early stages, you must under promise and over deliver. When looking for funding, entrepreneurs often do the opposite. Although this may work for VC’s, it absolutely won’t work with customers.

Give them your product and listen to every single piece of feedback you receive. You don’t have to implement it all – but you must listen with great appreciation. When you both agree your product is acceptably complete, ask them honestly what they would pay for it. Pricing is hard in SaaS – it’s not like a burger shop where there’s a standard. Associate the price of your solution with the cost of the business challenge you solve.

3. Built-In Brand Awareness

No one knows the balance between audience segmentation and awesome execution like @flightcentreca. This Tug of War campaign had us dreaming of Christmas vacations…

A photo posted by Tradable Bits (@tradablebits) on Sep 15, 2015 at 4:54pm PDT

We live in a connected world. Development in the 80’s to early 2000’s was all about the individual. Today, new technologies are about communities. Build your product to be shared, seen and sent to others – even if it’s B2B. Positioning yourself ahead of this wave of connected businesses is the easiest and cheapest way to gain major traction.

One of the biggest struggles we had at Tradable Bits when we moved from freemium to the enterprise was we lost much of our “built-in brand awareness”. When you give products away for free, you can justify putting your logo all over them. People stumble upon you much more easily when every product isn’t customized and white labeled.

Now we must rely on our crucial mantra: under promise and over deliver. When you exceed customer expectations, even major brands are happy to sing your praises. In a saturated space like B2B SaaS, you have to work extra hard to gain credibility. Quotes from the VP’s of happy clients are worth millions in paid search and social ads.

Consultation

If you can secure these three must-haves without funding, you’re set for a much more successful business long term. You maintain complete control of your direction, you have the time and power to develop a great product, and future investors will love you because your cap table is clean. You’ll be in a much better position when finally negotiating investment because you own your entire company and can demonstrate proven success.

Contrary to popular belief – it takes a long time to become an overnight success (did you know Slack is actually over five years old?) Be patient, work hard and I promise organic growth will pay off… in 100% ownership of the company when you eventually exit.

Don’t believe me? Chat with Markus Frind – the recently very rich owner of Plenty of Fish.

Now over to you, apart from investment what other must have’s do you think is needed to have a successful self-funded startup? Add them in the comments below.

The post 3 Key Ingredients for a Successful Self-Funded Startup appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

“Someday I’d love to work for myself.”

“This isn’t my real passion.”

“I just don’t have time to start.”

Do any of these statements sound familiar? More and more these days people are trying to escape the daily grind and branch out on their own. We’ve all done it; thought about new apps or businesses we’d like to see in the world. So many people talk about starting their own business and one day working for themselves. But that’s all it ever is – talk. What if instead of just talking about your idea you could start building a business that can support you and your family? What if you could build a company that allows you to escape the 9 to 5 and live the real 4 hour work week.

Some people are afraid of what others will think. Others just don’t know where to begin, and that’s why starting is the hardest part. Once you take those first few steps, you’ll notice yourself quickly picking up the pace. Next thing you know you’re running full speed and your business has turned into a real thing.

I work a full-time job and have been building my business on the side. I’m currently working on my first product, the Personal Productivity Toolkit and will be releasing it in the next few months. I know how hard starting a side-business can be. But I also know how rewarding and exciting it is turning an idea from a mere thought into a real thing that exists and is helping people.

In this blog post, I’d like to outline a simple 3 step process for helping you bring your ideas to life.

Step One: Set Clear and Actionable Goals

Goals

One of the primary reasons people don’t get started on their new idea is they don’t have clear goals or expectations. Here’s why that’s a big problem:

By setting clear and actionable goals, you can determine how you’re going to measure your productivity and success. You’ll be more motivated to start working on your business. And when you put deadlines on your goals you’ll be less impulsive and more likely to get started.

When you’re creating your goals, create a vision but also try and break them down into smaller projects as well. So instead of having one massive goal to create a $10,000 a month business, create smaller goals that contribute to this. For example, setting up a website or launching an ebook.

This is the first step to getting started; to get very clear on your goals and define the purpose of your business. I find that when you include real meaning and passion into your business goals you’ll want to work on it more than anything else. It’ll consume you, and you’ll want to spend every spare second working on bringing this vision to life. When you feel like this, then you’ll know that you’ve created good quality goals.

Building your business is going to be tough, so make sure your goals excite and energize you. When they do, getting started will be easy. It’s slowing down that becomes hard.

Step two: Plan Your Tasks

Planning

When you’ve established a clear and actionable goal that you’re working towards, it’s time to dissect these goals into the smaller steps that you need to complete to reach this goal.

You’ll want to use a task management app like ToDoist or Asana (the project management tools Fridge Magazine uses) to plan out the different areas of your business and define the steps you need to take. Set up different projects for the various areas of your business. For example, I have a project called “Content Calendar” which is where I plan out when different blog posts, podcasts and emails are going live. I have another project for “Products” which is where I list everything I need to do before I can ship my Personal Productivity Toolkit.

When you have your projects ready, start getting everything out of your head and into the projects. Don’t leave anything out. Create tasks for everything you need to do, even the tiny jobs. This is key! There’s no way you’re going to remember everything that needs to be done.

Organise your tasks and add due dates that reflect when you would like to have certain jobs completed by. This will make it easier to schedule your time in the next step. I also like to use models to categories different tasks. For example, you can have “high energy” and “low energy” modes. This means you can decide what to work on based on how you feel during the day (credit to Mike Vardy for this great advice). You can add modes to your tasks by using tags if you’re using Asana or labels if you’re using ToDoist.

When you start organising your tasks, it gets easier to work out what to do next and in what order different things need to be addressed. It also reduces your stress as you no longer need to remember to do things. Just emptying your head like this relieves you of a lot of unneeded pressure.

Step three: Schedule Time To Do The Work

Scheduling Time

When you have a good list of tasks ready to go, grab your calendar and schedule blocks of time to start working on these tasks. This means what it sounds like; block out chunks of time for specific tasks. For example, from 5 to 6 pm you might schedule some time to start planning an ebook.

Chunking your time like this requires you to think about how long tasks will take meaning you plan your days much more realistically. So instead of planning to do ten things and only achieving three you can chunk your time and create a daily to-do list based on how much time your different jobs will take.

If you’re working on a side business while working a full-time job, why not schedule some time from 6 to 7 am and get an hour of work in before your day job? I get up at 5 am each day and use this time to work on my business before going to the gym. You can also chunk out sometime in the evening to work on your business before dinner. The key here is to get everything else you’re doing into your calendar as well. And that does mean everything; all social events, appointments, exercise, time for work – everything. When you fill your calendar like this, you can plan time for your side-business while avoiding clashes.

Now over to you, It’s your turn to find time to start a business

And that’s it. Getting started with an idea is quite easy when you have a process like this guiding you. By getting clear on your goals, listing everything you need to do and scheduling the time to do the work getting started will be easy.

The post How To Easily Find Time To Start A Business appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

While the ability to wear many hats and juggle a variety of tasks is a typical job requirement, it doesn’t have to be stressful or impede on our achievements.

I often ask my clients how they structure their working day and I get the same response every time:  “I book every minute that I possibly can.”  When I follow up with “what happens if something unexpected happens?” there is always silence.

The reality is that most of us consistently over schedule our time.  We work outside of the margins and leave absolutely no room for the daily things that pop up, or for the emergencies that come down the pipe.

The 80% Rule

In a nutshell, the 80% Rule is the amount of time that you will work on anything related to your business.  This includes (but is not limited to):  social media postings, blogging, marketing, relationships with customers and clients, and product management.  This means that 20% of your available working time will now be free to put out immediate fires, respond to urgent customer / marketing / product situations, or get a head start on tomorrow’s to-do list.

Applying The 80/20 Rule To Your Work Calendar

To apply the 80% Rule, determine how many hours you can work in a day (do not include your lunch or any breaks) and multiply that time by 20%.  For example, I start work day at 8:30am (when my children leave for school and work straight through until 3pm (when my kids come home).

I take that amount of working time (6.5hrs) and multiply it by 0.20.  Now, because I’ve been practicing this rule a long time (combined with knowing how my home routine runs), I am able to push that number into 1hr of “Emergency Time” a day instead of increasing it to 1.5hrs per day.  Clearly an emergency won’t come up every single day, so I take this extra time to get caught up on tomorrow’s assignments.  Following the 80% Rule also allows room for movement to rearrange my day or add in an extra appointment if necessary.

The key to making this rule successful is that it must be applied to every working day.

“But, but, but….”

After coaching the importance of this, my clients’ main concern is always that using the 80% Rule takes away from making money during the designated Emergency Time-slot.

But does it really?

The Reality

If you can’t effectively handle emergencies or seem flexible in front of clients and customers, what price are you paying?  Are you losing business?  How many stress-days have you taken because of all the tasks you are required to juggle with seemingly little time?

Now I’ll admit that the math is the easy part; it’s consistently applying the 80% Rule that’s difficult.  It does take practice and commitment, but I can tell you firsthand that it significantly benefited my business.  By applying the 80% Rule to my work calendar every day, I consistently maintain a professional image in front of every client (I am never overwhelmed), and am able to maintain flexibility (“need to change meeting times?  No problem!”).

Feeling overwhelmed managing your time in your small business?  Do you have your own secrets-to-success in managing your day?  Please leave a comment below and let us know how you manage your own busy schedule throughout the day.

The post How To Save An Hour A Day By Applying The 80/20 Rule appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

Eric Donlan

In this week’s episode of BrandAid i speak to Eric Donlan author of the book The Art Of Living in Joy.

During the show we talk about:

• Tips on overcoming brand set backs
• What you can do when you had a bad sales call and presentation.
• How to deal with people who cheat in winning the bid

Enjoy!

The post BrandAid 001: The Art Of Living in Joy appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

Rainbird has been repeatedly been recognised as being one of the most promising digital companies in Britain (and in the world in my personal opinion). It has already been selected from over 1,000 global start-ups to participate in the Techstars Accelerator programme.

The Rainbird platform uses artificial intelligence to automate knowledge-work. It enables businesses to capture expertise that is locked-up in a small number of experts and scale it into tools that everyone can use, delivering high levels of operational efficiency.

Rainbird’s CEO Ben Taylor says, “Friday is going to be an amazing day. I am looking forward to pitching Rainbird to 900 investors, press and members of the tech community at the Techstars Demo Day and will then run to 10 Downing Street for the afternoon.”

Chairman James Duez says, “Rainbird is already being piloted by over a dozen organisations including a major government department. Businesses big and small are really captivated by how this technology can help increase sales and improve customer service.”

Rainbird originated in Norwich which has recently been named as a UK Tech City. However this is not the only technology hotspot in the UK. Cities such as Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and also of course London have thriving tech start up scenes. However it’s not only these tech hotspots that are thriving the whole of the UK is establishing itself as one of the world’s leading technology nations.

The company is currently running an open Beta program so if you want to see what all the fuss is about you can head over to Rainbird right now and check it out.

The post Artificial Intelligence Company Called To 10 Downing Street appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

This idea interests me because A) I was recently offered an internship in Hollywood, LA, with a sweet Youtube Production company and B) because, as a millennial and young entrepreneur, I see how powerful young social media influencers are, particularly from a business point of view. They have a massive amount of leverage and it’s causing some huge shifts in the marketing and business world.

Unfortunately, due to technical issues, this couldn’t be an audio or video podcast.

How FanBytes started

The idea for FanBytes stemmed from a previous startup Tim was working on. This idea was a niche crowdfunding platform. Tim and his fellow Co Founder, Ambrose Cooke, were trying to build a platform for individual artists and fans. So the fans would help crowdfund awesome experiences with artists. So fans would pledge money to get merchandise, and every pledge would enter them into a giveaway for an unforgettable experience with the artist/band. e.g. lunches with the artist. However, they soon realised they weren’t really solving a problem with this platform

But from all experiences in life, other opportunities arise. One thing they recently noticed was that millennials aren’t looking at billboards or tvs, essentially making this audience hard to market to. Essentially, they realised that celebrities are now becoming these teens on social media with massive followings. And brands want to reach the lucrative and influential millennial market. This was an opportunity Tim and his team saw – brands are needing to shift to get onto YouTube, Snapchat, Vine, Instagram, plus online video and TV.

Today you’ve got kids in their rooms recording gaming videos, makeup tutorials, fashion tips, and many other niches,  with hundreds of thousands of  people subscribed to their channel. This makes them incredibly influential when they have access to an audience of this size however, as many people may already know and as Tim mentioned in our interview, monetisation through ads on YouTube is extremely poor. When you have a huge audience and it’s not being monetised efficiently, then there is a great opportunity for improvement. In this case, both the influencer and brand can benefit.

1. Brands who want to market to this millennial audience need an efficient strategy to reach them
2. Millennials who had a large following needed a better way to monetise the large following they’d built up.

Storytelling

Storytelling is also a necessary step that more brands will need to take to increase their overall impact with millennials.  FanBytes saw that creating a unique experience that combined the brands product/service with the social media influencer was an interesting avenue to explore.

Here are some examples of just how powerful this avenue has been for brands and social media influencers.
Through their platform Go Ape partnered with Kiera Rose,whose audience of 88,000 young subscribers were the perfect audience for Go Ape. Kiera offered her audience the chance to win a tree top adventure experience with her. Fans around the country had to upload pictures of a time they did something good and share across social media to get votes using the hashtag #dogood across Twitter and Instagram. Her audience were also able to win voucher and discounts to use at Go Ape.

The results were incredible. There were 18367+Brand interactions with Go Ape. 39%increase in traffic to the Go Ape site during the campaign, 120000+ total YouTube video views for the Go Ape/Kiera Video, and a 700+ Increase In Facebook Likes

More case studies

Through the FanBytes platform, they connected with the awesome Beckii Cruel a global YouTube star with 98,000+subscribers. Beckii made a “Wear It In Four Ways” video where she took an item of New Look’s and wore it in 4 different ways. She challenged her audiences to do the same and upload and share pictures of them in their best outfits. The unique hashtag was #NewLook4WAYS. The winner went to the heart of London to shop at New Look’s flagship store with Beckii.

The results were as followed: 20,231+ Brand interactions with New Look, 29% Increase in traffic to the New Look site during the contest, 20,000+ total YouTube video views for the New Look/Beckii Collaboration, a 29% increase in traffic to the New Look site during the contest, and a total of 800+ of contests entries.

Another example. An Unboxing review video

To increase awareness of Fuelify’s monthly subscription box, Fuelfy used FanBytes to reach Scola Dondo a YouTuber with 150,000 subscribers to run an unboxing video. The campaign although starting on YouTube was also branched out to Instagram in a branded post.There was a total of 19,000+ brand interactions with Fuelify, and 9,000+ total YouTube video views for the collaboration.

Not only are these collaborations beneficial for brands, but YouTubers and other network influencers get the chance to monetise their audience in an effective way and also increase their subscriber base.

So from this, it is clear that influencers on Snapchat, Vine, Instagram, and YouTube can monetize the platform well if done it in the right way. What is also great about the way FanBytes does it is that the social media influencer isn’t ‘selling out’. They are showcasing brands in a different way with unique video content.

The future of marketing

What I also found fascinating is how the future of marketing, even for large brands, is starting to change dramatically due to this shift in online influencers.

Tim mentioned in the interview, and I absolutely agree with this, is how in 2015 we will see more brands moving to online video as they are beginning to notice the power and effect it is having. They are seeing that millennials are communicating with apps like SnapChat, Vine and Instagram.

The rules are changing drastically. 5 years ago consumers had to watch TV programs and movies at set times. You would have to . They told you what to watch. Now, teens are telling the brands where they need to go. The brands are in the creators playing field now. They need to listen to these young content creators.

Recently, Instagram has started to introduced advertising. The problem is, it will likely take large brands 2 – 3 years to recoup the cost paid in that advertising. Yes, they can bring in influential social media people to take over their account for a day and spend tens of thousands of dollars, but it is unclear how effective the return on investment will be.
So in conclusion, what Tim thinks we will see even just over the next year will be:

1. brands will engage more in storytelling
2. Brands will be respecting the fact they have to communicate well with millennials to get good results from marketing campaigns.
3. It’s going to take a long time for established brands to make a big impact on networks such as Vine, SnapChat, Youtube and Instagram.

We are definitely living in an exciting time with some dramatic changes happening in the content creation and marketing world, and I’m interested to see what happens over the next 3 – 5 years with brand and content creator partnerships!

The post Meet The Guys At FanBytes Who Control Social Media appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

Technology will soon disrupt previously non-technological industries

An incredible field that we’re only seeing the birth of is the field of robotics and automation, specifically where transport, work and logistics is concerned.

In the past machines needed human supervision, especially when it came to transportation. Vehicles of the past were useless on their own and needed full human supervision, but this isn’t the case anymore. Automation through the use of smart algorithms and robotics now allows vehicles to control and drive themselves…not only that, but they’re actually becoming much more efficient and calculated to perfection, unlike human input.

This will affect the transportation industry in every single field, from self-driving consumer cars that can drive you around (I’m sure Uber are very excited about this!), to self-driving trucks and vehicles in the construction and mining industries to self-driving combat vehicles in warzones.

Although in many ways this advancement is positive, it does beg the question…what will the current workers who drive these vehicles do in a future where they’re not needed? Transportation is the number one employer industry in the world, so what happens when the these jobs no longer require humans?

Although of course there will be new jobs created through this industry, they will shadow in comparison to the mass job loss that automation will bring.

Want to know the scary part? Transportation is just one of many areas where technology is taking over…

We’re slowly becoming cyborgs…

One thing I’d really love to see soon is a real augmented version of Google Glass.

I’ve used Glass a lot and I have to say, the novelty wears off pretty quickly — especially when you realise that you need to look up and to into the right hand corner at a small 2cm squared piece of perspex with a little projection on it. Somewhat cool, but a little bit of a disappointment.

Although I’m pretty critical of a technology that has sparked so much interest in the consumer technology world, I DO think Glass will have a huge impact moving forward. Think of it as the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) for a truly augmented wearable. I’m certain Glass 2.0 will be a whole lot more impressive, maybe enough to warrant a purchase. Currently I see the usage for Glass in the sense that a lot of our physical actions on mobile can be reduced down to voice commands or a simpler way of communicating without the need to pull a piece of metal out of your pocket.

One thing I’d really like to see, as a bonus, would be an augmented retina display, much like a contact lens. This would alleviate the need for a frame entirely, so we can have a more seamless connection between technology and our bodies.

The Next Step

One possibility that truly fascinates me, and this is quite a controversial one, is the development and application of brain-computer interfaces.

The area is somewhat rudimentary at present, with low-level applications and testing. An example of this is Neil Harbisson’s ‘eyeborg’, a chip implanted into his brain that allows him to convert colour into sound.

For true computer-brain interfacing, I think we need to reach a level where our brains are connected to ‘The Cloud’, allowing our thoughts to be intertwined with our increasingly rapid access to information. In the past, if we were to reference information, we needed to seek a source from physical texts, or converse with others. With the development of the internet we can now access information at an unprecedented rate. At first, we could access a limited amount of information online, with limited connection speeds, limited to a wired connection. This would usually take a few minutes to find the right answer to a query. With our access time to information exponentially decaying, and the advancement of technology, moving from the wired desktop to our wireless handheld devices, the time to access information has decreased from minutes to seconds.

It’s thought that we’re now exposed to as much data in a single day than the average person in the 15th century would be in their entire lifetime. That’s an absolutely astounding fact that truly defines how far we’ve come.

The potential in computer-brain interfacing could see our access to information become almost instantaneous, with our every thought being supported through a rapid referencing system, allowing us to essentially expand our own brain almost limitlessly. It’s a scary prospect that brings into consideration some very important factors such as class divide and limitations to who can access these types of future technologies.

Furthermore to the scary prospects of linking our brains to the cloud, there could be an even scarier prospect; uploading our entire brains to the cloud. The potential could lead to a world ran by cyborgs, controlled by our own brains – a world in which we only existed as strings of data, blurring the lines between The Cloud and the real world.

The post The Future Of Technology appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

Transcript

Brand Winner # Two US Soccer

Who would think that American Soccer would have such a year? With the 2014 World Cup on every millennials’ hand-held device or state of the art visual media receiver, even TV ratings exhibited record high numbers. An estimated 26.5 million people in the U.S. watched Germany’s defeat over Argentina the Nielsen company reported. The game had 17.3 million viewers on ABC and another 9.2 million on the Spanish-language Univision. In addition, just over 750,000 people were watching the game during a typical minute online through services provided by each network along with 1.8 million unique viewers on ESPN’s WatchESPN app.This is by no means an accident and is based on real behavior change data. It is no secret that almost every male and female below the age of thirty played soccer as children. So it makes sense that it would be simply a matter of time till this sport received the respect in the US as it has around the world.

The lesson here is that brands are dynamic which means that they must adapt to changes in demographics if they are to survive. The product life cycle model which outlines the introduction, growth, maturity and decline stages of a brand is a good way to keep current and vibrant. The secret is to know where your brand lies within the cycle and then make the necessary changes to avoid decline. For American Soccer, it was this attracting a younger demographic (through youth programs) rather than converting the older one. This contributed to this brand’s long term growth and current ratings gold. And for us as entrepreneurs it’s always thinking about different market segments and how our brand can satisfy their respective group’s needs. When one thinks strategically an amazing thing happens—Growth. And of yes, it is always easier when you have branding new segments and marketing in mind.

The post How USA Soccer Have Advantage Of Connected Devices To Widen Their Brand appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

Transcript

Brand Loser # Two Malaysia Airlines

The mishandling of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappearance in March 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the recent ‘Want to go somewhere but don’t know where?” promotional tweet are the two reasons for Malaysia Airlines designation as the number two brand loser for 2014.

Branding is all about your customer and this airline’s communication insensitivity to families who lost loved ones is something we can all learn from. If only this airline would have thought like their customers and considered their loss instead of worrying about their own, a great branding gesture could have been accomplished. Thinking like one’s clients is a basic branding tenet that is often overlooked by marketers and should be always embraced. By sincerely establishing a concerned outreach despite the airline’s embarrassment, this brand could have achieved a new found respect even in the emotion of the moment. True every culture has different ways of dealing with grief, but to be truly brand sensitive, we must look beyond our perspective and consider those outside our frame of reference. The mantra it’s not about you, but rather all about your customer makes the most sense and should have been implemented ASAP when managing this very sad incident. It’s only when we become client focused as opposed to ego centric that branding’s concrete properties can take effect and generate positive results. And of yes, it is always easier when you have branding and marketing in mind, even when it may be uncomfortable to do so.

The post What Branding Mistakes Did Malaysia Airlines Make In 2014? appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

Transcript

Brand Loser # Three
The National Football League (NFL)
The NFL is a brand loser for its handling of the Domestic violence incidents that have plagued players like Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, and Adrian Peterson. If there is anything that the NFL can teach us is how not to manage a brand crisis. Media types were quick to lay blame that resulted in major public relations gaffes that even the novice communicator would eschew. On the other side what the NFL did impart is how to build a brand so strong that even these seemingly aversive missteps can have little effect on TV viewership no matter what critics say.

The NFL has built this brand over time, first by creating the Super Bowl by making it an American holiday that almost everyone watches if not only for the game but for the commercials as well. By executing this seemingly benign tactic an event for everyone, the Super Bowl has shaped viewer behavior over time so that we can all appreciate this grand sport year after year. Talk about marketing!

When brands make mistakes, it is the Target Market who must decide whether it can live with the infraction. If there are two Target markets, the media and fans, for the NFL brand, then we have to say that the NFL has really failed as a brand to meets the needs of the professional journalist segment. The fan demographic is not so easy to assess. Fan decision making is visceral and based more on individual brand perception than corporate brand management. This means that People Buy Brands not Companies!” which translates into viewers caring more about their respective teams and favorite players than it does about the NFL. It is only when their favorite NFL teams and players make mistakes that the NFL Company Brand suffers.

So for this reason the NFL is not only a loser from a media perspective, but also a winner for maintaining market share and satisfying the need for providing their customers with exciting sports play (along with a popular yearly event, the Super Bowl) no matter what the critics say. And the lesson, worry about your customers and satisfy your customer’s needs and the hell with everyone else!

The post Only The NFL Could Recover From This appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

Block Out Downtime In Your Calendar

It is something that we get told in so many personal development books, but is rarely something entrepreneurs do. By blocking some time out in my calendar, titled ‘Henry Off’ seems to make me more relaxed and more able to enjoy time away from my business. Another nice thing I have always found is by writing it down on our calendar is no one seems quite as desperate to get hold of me. It tells the world ‘no I’m not working’ and means I have a relaxing time away from the business.

I will be off for seven days this year. But I do enjoy what we do and expect we will receive a few emails that may be of interest. So along with blocking out the 7 days i will be scheduling in 2 x 45 minute blocks to open up my laptop and see where things are at.

Hit The Do Not Disturb Button

It’s amazing, the iPhone has had this ability for 3 or 4 years now. But it’s only recently that I started to hit the do not disturb button. I thought it was cool that i was always connected. I always had emails flashing up on my phone, daily sales figures, and not to mention hundreds of social media updates. I have to say it made me feel important. Like our business was moving forward at 1,000,000 miles an hour but it did nothing for my social life, and relationships.

Then just recently I took that massive step and scheduled the do not disturb function on my iPhone for evening and weekends. It put me in control of when I want to see new emails, social updates and our sales figures. It’s so much more relaxing knowing that after a certain point each day i won’t get any more updates. There will be nothing else to respond to and my time is my time. So for the first time this Christmas the do not disturb function of my iPhone is going to be on. It is going to be on the same amount of time as I have blocked out in my calendar to relax. I am 100% sure so called top priority emails will come in, and our key metrics will be interesting. But in do not disturb mode I will get to choose the times I see the updates and respond to them.

Use Audio Emails

One of the biggest time savers, and productivity hacks I have learned over the years is to respond to emails with audio messages. I have no doubt that the few times i look through my email inbox over the holiday period it will be full with new emails. There is no way I’m going to be able to answer all these emails in the few 45 minute blocks of time i have decided to work during the holidays. But I will get through a lot of them using audio email replies. What are audio email replies? I hope the below video will help to explain how and why i do them. You can also get a full explanation on my website here http://henryreith.co/why-audio-reply/.

Play a Board Game

Even if you manage to stop working over the holiday period the temptation to get wrapped up in technology is still there. This general leads to you looking at your emails then getting lost in work. I love technology, but it all gets too much sometimes.

So to get away from it there is nothing like going back to the good old days, and getting a board game out. For me this is going to be chess. There’s nothing better than losing an afternoon or evening indulging in a hard fought chess match or two. Time seems to fly when you are playing a board game. It helps get some well-earned relaxing time in with something that reminds me of the holidays when i was a child.

If You Don’t Want To Get Involved In The Holiday Spirit Then Don’t

My last piece of advice Is completely counterintuitive. To maintain a good work life balance through the holidays get involved if you want to but don’t if you don’t want to. Last year I skipped the two weeks of running around, seeing lots of friends and family and all the rest. It’s easy to do, as you have all the abilities in the world to decide what you want to do. As far as I’m concerned if people are true friends they will support you. You can see anyone at any time of year so why cram it into a week or two around Christmas.

After two weeks relaxing last holiday season I started 2014 feeling fantastic. I had a clear vision in my head where I wanted to take our business. The business went from strength to strength from day one in January.  We were able to build on the momentum we gained in early 2014 to explode the businesses growth through the second half of the year.

Yet I do not propose taking the Grinch approach for everyone. Having a real break over the holidays that’s about you and not the rest of the world is what it’s all about. This should help you start off 2015 how you mean to continue.

Make It Easy In 2015 – Automate it

There are many tasks that we do in our day-to-day businesses that we don’t need to do. I believe ‘marketing is a commodity, and process is priceless’. Although i mainly apply the saying to marketing related activities it applies to all areas of business.

So with Christmas and the holiday’s just day’s away take a look at what you do every day and think if you can automate the task. I find something new to automate in our business on a weekly basis. It also seems that around holiday times i get even more creative when dreaming up what i can automate and how i can automate it. I now personally save over 60 hours a week vs this time last year having automated tasks. So to get more time off over the holiday period look at what you can automate in your business. Even if you can’t automate it this year, maybe you can automate it ready for a more relaxed Holiday season in 2015.

FREEBIE: Would you like to automate tasks in your business but don’t know how? For the first 2 people to email me at support@henryreith.co I’ll jump on Skype with you. We can go through how to automate at least one major process in your business.

Conclusion

In conclusion the holiday period is a great opportunity to enjoy yourself. But you should decide how and when you want to get involved in the holiday period. Be realistic, if it’s something you want to do, do it and if it’s something you don’t want to do don’t, that applies to both work and play.

The post An Entrepreneurs Guide To Surviving The Holidays appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

Transcript

Brand Winner # Four  Star Wars

Star Wars 7

The Star Wars 88-second clip with over 60 million views is on track to be the most-watched trailer of all time, according to the Hollywood Reporter. For any brand to have this kind of pre-purchase buzz is lesson for the business minded and is why it made the number four 2014 brand winner position.

The Star War’s 7 marketing team knew from the start that it would the brand loyal that would drive this promotional online tactic and for that reason created story lines on why the Star War’s originator (George Lucas) had not seen the film as well as the many parodies that are being cited on the web.  As they used to say,” no publicity is bad publicity, this PATA (People Are Talking About) clip only adds to the hype,  excitement and  the eventual ticket purchases when it comes to a theatre near you,  next Christmas—2015. Yes 2015.

It’s hard to imagine today utilizing any promotional tactic one year in advance; a no-no in a galaxy long, long ago.  The biggest challenge is to  keep this  brand fresh and still exciting so that sales are strong when released and continues over time.  This is where the SW Brand Managers must creatively ponder strategies by thinking like their targeted viewers and even perhaps segmenting the market into heavy, moderate and one-time ticket purchasers.  The secret here for the Star Wars team and us as entrepreneurs is to always be thinking—ABT about the best way to promote your brand, when everyone is excited about the next big thing you are about to roll out—SELL!

The answer for Star Wars 7 marketers and us
is to think like customers and then and only then
will the force be with us!

The post ‘Let The Force Be With You’ A Record Breaking Branding Exercise appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

At number 5 in my winners list, the Democratic Party.

Transcript:

It’s been said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.  As marketing professionals, we must constantly evaluate whether our products and services are resonating with the respective target market.  If they are not, changes must be made in order to generate positive outcomes.    The recent election results show that Democrats failed to understand this basic marketing and branding principle.  And, as a result, they lost the Senate majority here in the US.

The Democrat’s marketing failure was a function of not thinking like the majority of their customers.  Sure, the numerous brand loyal showed up to vote for their party, but this was not enough to win market share.  Democrats rather thought like “all-knowing”  experts who understood what the majority needed—not what they really wanted!   It was like a beverage company not offering a low sugar option to their customers, when all the data showed their consumers wanting healthy alternatives; or when American car makers in the seventies missing the need for small gas efficient autos,  that foreign car manufacturers were glad to provide.

The marketing and branding lesson here is always to be looking to satisfy consumer’s (and in this case, voters) needs rather than creating something that we think they want.  We must also remember those tactics that worked to get us where we are.   This is crucial for long term success.  If the Democrats used their successful 2008 and 2012 tactics, they would have had a better outcome.  We achieve winning goals by asking what our customers want either quantitatively through polls or qualitatively through focus groups.  Yes, research and knowing what worked in the past are the techniques that we and the Democrats can learn from and is a very elementary branding rule:  It’s not about you, but all about your customers.

The post How To Avoid Losing Focus Like The Democrats appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

One question I am frequently asked by potential clients is “What is a press hit worth?”  Meaning what is my expected Return on Investment (ROI) for your media relations services? This is a fair question. PR can be a considerable portion of a marketing budget and going in with some idea of what a company will get back can feel reassuring. Despite this legitimate reason for asking, I hate this question because there are two answers to give; The “Honest One” and the one “Many PR Firms” give.  Most potential clients are not expecting to hear the honest one, so it can come as a shock.

Answer Many PR Firms Give:

“By the end of the quarter you can expect a net profit of Ten Million dollars as a direct result of media placements. This is assessed through the use of our algorithm which we have based on location of hit, circulation of publication, timing of the media hit, and prominence within the publication. We then take that information and calculate the average percentage of turnover as mirrored by advertising statistics along with the cost of your product/service.”

As the British say, this is total bullocks. It sounds beautiful, scientific, based on fact and past experience. It is very tempting to believe. The one problem is that most of that information is totally made up. For one, this structure is based closely on how advertising agencies calculate the value of an ad campaign. PR is not advertising. A quarter estimate of ROI is half of the suggested length of the average small advertising campaign. Ads appear in the same spot of the same publication every month. Press hits have a wider and rotational reach.  History of sales success with one client has no causal link to the success of another client in the same spot. There are too many variables to legitimately prognosticate the success of any product or service through media relations.

When those original estimates inevitably fall short, PR Firms can then use these previously unmentioned variables to explain away why they fell short. The price point was off for the market, economy took a sudden dip, the publications’ readership dropped unexpectedly, a new competitor came on the market with more desirable features, etc. These are all honest and real reasons why that estimate was not met. The actual reason is that number given was entirely made up. If a PR firm hits their estimate it is pure luck and they look amazing.  If they miss it, well “it is not really their fault.” It’s a fool proof tactic with very little to lose; unless you are the actual client with inflated expectations, then you lose a lot.

The Honest Answer:

“Press hits are worth roughly, and this is an estimate based on my own very special algorithm, ZERO DOLLARS in immediate fiscal return.”

This doesn’t mean Media Relations fails at sales. It means Media Relations was never designed to be a point of sale (POS). The problem is, since the meaning of PR has become such a vague and spongy concept (see last article), rather than working at fixing these misconceptions, many in the industry have fallen into redefining concepts to better fit clients’ uninformed (again PR’s fault) expectations. So now many firms sell media relations as a direct sales tool, which again IT IS NOT.

Media Relations is designed to be a tool which helps sales through brand recognition and traffic flow over an extended period of time. I do realize this sounds like splitting hairs with actual sales, but it can best be related to the adage, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” Media Relations leads the horse and helps the horse recognize they are looking at water. It does not make the horse drink the water, that is what Sales is for.

This applies both to B2C and B2B Media Relations.

Business to Consumer

In many ways Media Relations success, when it comes to consumer products/services, is much easier to track. The immediate effects can be seen faster than B2B, especially around peak sales times, the holidays in particular. Still even with key media placements, Media Relations is not designed to sell, simply lead potential customers to the place where sales occur. I have two real life examples to illustrate this:

We were able to get “Client A” featured on Good Morning America (GMA). The price point of the product was specially discounted to about $100.  Due to a presidential speech scheduled at the same time, the segment did not air on the West Coast, losing an entire time zone of viewers. Within the 3 hours of airing, the client sold more than $10K worth of product. At first glance the conclusion would be PR directly resulted in those sales. The reality is PR enabled those sales by capturing a large population and directed them to the point of sale. At no time prior to Click and Buy could any of these people be considered a sale.

Which brings us to “Client B.” Client B had a price point of about $70. We had them featured in the first issue of a new spinoff publication of Sports Illustrated which directly targeted the client’s primary customer base. Not only were we pushing this inclusion on the client’s social media networks, but Sports Illustrated spent two weeks highly promoting the new pub on all of its own websites, even giving it away for free to anyone who wanted it. To make things even better the review called the product a “game changer.”

So here is a media hit in the highest tiered publication for the client’s demographic, the publication itself was pushing out issues for free, and the review was phenomenal. How many sales did this result in? Somewhere around 10. We know by the nature of the publication, and the fact that it was a digital copy with an embedded link to the client site, that traffic as a result was high. Why did this not result in reflective sales to the success with “Client A?” One reason could be that the Point of Sale, the website, was incredibly difficult to navigate and made purchasing very difficult. In this case, the efforts of media relations to drive traffic was not properly supported by the client’s sales efforts. The Media Relations aspect of the push was successful two fold in that it drove traffic and added an influential third party confirmation of the products’ value. Unfortunately those victories feel less victorious when immediate profit does not come with it.

With both Client A and Client B, media relations accomplished the same level of success in what Media Relations is capable of achieving in the short term. The results in sales were drastically different because of everything that occurred after Media Relations’ role in the transaction was complete. As much as I would LOVE to claim to potential clients that “we got a client on GMA and they sold 10K in 3 hours and we can do the same for you,” I don’t because that success in sales has nothing to do with any client other than the one who saw the actual sale. What I do say is we have landed clients on GMA, Ellen, The View, the Talk, etc. with viewership in the millions increasing the statistical likelihood that your POS will get a noticeable uptick in visits, which could translate into sales, just never a specific number of what those sales would be.

Business to Business
Media Relations for companies which focus on Business to Business sales tend to see fewer immediate indicators of campaign success compared to B2C companies. Whereas B2C can see fairly quick turnaround on website visits and active brand engagement, things with B2B Media Relations can seem quieter.

Why is there such a large disparity of immediate success indicators when the essential method to achieve those results is similar? To see why you need to do a Candy Bar Comparison.

A B2C sale is like having a candy bar (sometimes literally) staring at you in the grocery checkout line. It is put there because it is a last minute temptation accessible to nearly anyone who walks by it. Should you want it, it is easy to grab, throw on the conveyor belt, and purchase for a relatively low price. In every sense of the phrase, you are making a gut decision.

A B2C press hit “puts the product/service in front of a consumers eyes” that tend to be products or services which are tempting or accessible enough to justify a site visit or google search. From there, Sales takes over to either capture the sale in that moment or, for more expensive items, cultivate that desire until it translates into a sale.

With B2B this is not so simple. Even though many CIO’s may equate an RFID inventory system, or cloud based cyber security service, to a desperately desired or even needed candy bar, the process to turn desire to purchase is much more difficult. B2B purchase decisions for a potential customer tend to be much larger processes than “See, Want, Buy.” There are committees in place to discuss the need, budget approvals, alternate product/service research, and meetings. TONS of meetings. Even relatively low tech, inexpensive B2B purchases take time to go from interest to purchase. It is NOT a candy bar.

As a result, a PR Firm claiming to predict sales increases within a quarter due to media relations is something of pure fantasy. Even if they predict impact for a year’s time, it is still guess work. When it comes to new or emerging technology this is especially true. The result of a press hit may not even lead to a website visit for a few weeks or even months.

What Media Relations can do over a consistent and long term approach, is inform potential customers as to what that new or emerging technology is and why it is an improvement, so that six months down the road, when it comes time for writing up the next year’s budget, an amount is put aside for potential upgrades or adoptions of that technology.

This is a huge and invisible win for a media relations campaign. It is huge because the media hit with a company’s information on it can directly result to its inclusion on a potential client’s upgrade short list. It is invisible because there is no way to see a note being written down after an article is read, or a cut, paste, and forwarding of a paragraph with a company’s name through an interoffice email by a potential customer. Actual website hits may not be seen until weeks or months after “discussions” have been had at various internal levels of that potential customer. Here is a real life example of how that plays out.

“Client C” had an emerging technology launching at a crucial time within their target industry in terms of technological transition. They offered a medical solution to a problem virtually everyone in their market faced, and in this case, adoption would literally saved thousands of lives each year. Despite difficulties in attracting industry media attention in the beginning, within one year we achieved roughly 300 targeted media hits. We did not expect any of these hits to result in a sale. Why? Because the cost of what “Client C” was offering was in the millions. In fact, being only a few million dollars was actually a money saving measure for most potential clients, but regardless, spending that type of money on an emerging technology is not a “Candy Bar” type decision. There is an expectation that potential customers of this client would make decisions based on responsible due diligence and not on a whim. The important takeaway was that after all those media hits, during sales calls potential customers already were aware of what the technology and who the company was. From this point is where the Sales department can really do its job and convert that traffic into sales.

Conclusion

With both B2C and B2B Media Relations, the ROI is in visibility and POS traffic.  The time it is required to get that traffic moving and the brand message heard, varies not only between these two variants of business, but on a company to company basis as well.

When it comes to considering media relations as a method of increasing product or company visibility, it is crucial you walk into that decision with the right understanding of what the results could and should be. Whether it is for a B2B or B2C market, claims of being able to predict sales as a result of media relations in the short term are not real. There are too many variables at play and too many realities of the purchase making decision for anyone to be able to make an accurate guess. And even then those guesses are not about the sales which Media Relations makes, they are estimates on how much of POS traffic increases a sales team or system can convert.

Media Relations has a huge potential long term impact on the success of any business, but if you are looking for a short term sales solution, you better be sure to have a proper team or system in place to use those successes to convert that traffic and brand recognition into actual profits.

The post A Press Hit is Worth What? – The Truth Behind Media Relations ROI appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

At number 5 in my winners list, Macy’s Department Store.

Transcript:

Brand Winner  # Five

Macy’s The Department Store.

If you have ever attended the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or even watched it on TV, you understand the importance of branding and its impact on customers. Even if you are not a Macy’s customer, one can appreciate how they mesmerize children and their parents as well as then motivating them to shop Macy’s. This year  as a matter of fact, Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren estimated that 2014 had  more than 15,000 people show up at their NYC location which he characterized as

“more than the store has ever seen!

The Macy’s brand is synonymous with shopping. With their events driven promotions (Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,

Macy’s July Fourth Firework’s and

Macy’s Flower Show)

sophisticated shoppers are reminded of their name even when considering different ways to make their purchases and get the sales they want and need.

The takeaway for us here is – ABB

always be branding.

This means no matter how difficult  the challenge appears to be or how many competitors we faced with; we must always be memorable,

remind our customers of our name

address just what our name can do for them and

how unique we really are in their respective mind.

In Macy’s case,

it is making the shopping process a pleasure, by providing an atmosphere conducive to buying products either on-site or online.  All reinforced by events and associations that bring us back to their brand.

Yes, Macy’s give us a reason to remember their name.  And for us, we must Make our brand— client and customer friendly with associations that will resonate with them.  Find out what they want and then deliver it with attributes they will want to remember.   And when you give your customers a reason to buy from you or engage you, you too will find the secret to the Macy’s Brand.  Like Mayc’s you too must Go Brand Yourself!

The post How The Macy’s Department Store Brand Continues To Impress appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

At number five in my brand list is the multi award-winning musician Sting.

Transcript:

Sting is a brand that demands respect. With his estimated wealth of about 280 million along with his 25 American Music Awards, 11 Grammy’s and not to mention his 75 award nominations, it’s reassuring to know that even the successful sometimes miss the marketing and branding boat!

You see earlier this year Sting had this project he wanted to share with his fans—his life in song. A brilliant idea on paper. So he went to work writing songs for this exciting venue. What better way for this musical artist to tell his life story but through his medium— music. It was his brand. And oh yes, he would not perform. He did not want to distract from this personal experience. What could go wrong.

After writing the songs for the play,
surviving opening night and then getting mixed reviews
a great accomplishment for a Broadway outsider to receive,
audiences didn’t show.

A friend then told him the honest truth. He said,
“Sting, no one cares about your life, they want to hear you sing.”
You see, Sting got stung by what we all often miss
it’s not about you; it is rather all about your customer!

Many of us believe that we have thee answer in solving a consumer or business need. The real issue may be, that we, like Sting are the only ones interested in the product (or service) that we want to market and that others don’t care. Even Michael Corleone in Godfather II understood this when he said to his “consigliere, Tom Hagen: “Try To Think the way the people around you think and on that basis anything is possible.” Solid advice for entrepreneurs to heed.

The good news is that Sting has acted proactively. He will be appearing in his show, The Last Ship from Dec 9 through Jan 10. A smart marketing move which can remind us that it is always easier when you have marketing and branding in mind!

The post How To Avoid A Branding Sting appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

So it seems like the perfect time of year to bring in a images specialist to tell us a little more about images and how to use them. In this interview we talked to Amos Struck Of stockphotosecrets.com who has been in the industry for over 10 years.

During this interview we talk about:

• How to avoid the cliché stock image
• Why using Creative Commons images from Flickr could still get you sued
• How the industry has been changing over the last few years (see info graphic below the 2014 trends)
• And Amos reveals the top stock photography trends to look out for in 2015.

Also as Amos mentioned in our chat you for a limited time you can:

win a years subscription to his stock photo agency here.

Important Links From The Discussion:

To win a years worth of stock image’s click here: http://www.stockphotosecrets.com/win

2014’s Stock photo trends can be found here: http://www.stockphotosecrets.com/buyers-guide/50-trends-photography-2014.html

& You can scroll down to see the photography trends fo 2014 below and can see the full article here: http://www.stockphotosecrets.com/buyers-guide/50-trends-photography-2014.html

Infographic from http://www.stockphotosecrets.com/.

The post Flickr CC Images Can Still Get You In Trouble appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

In part one of this podcast series on improving your business life using NLP we talk to Frank Pucelik.

In this episode of NLP Revealed Podcasts with Frank Pucelik we find out:

• The co-founder of NLP Frank Pucelik’s definition of the field
• How to motivate the people you work with and how to find out what drives people
• How kids learn
• What 4 human traits were needed to turn around a drug rehab program
• And last off, of course we ask him the special Fridge Magazine question.

Would you like to get a greater understanding of NLP? If you are in Australia 3rd – 5th of October 2014 come and join us at the NLP SuperFest. You can find out more information about the event here.

However don’t happen to be in Australia don’t worry you can get involved online as well and come join in at the SuperFest Online as well here.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this podcast with Alistair Horscroft hosted by myself Aaron Morton. I look forward to catching you for the next episode where will you will discover more about NLP and how it can help us in business.

Just one quick question for you, how do you use NLP in your business?

Can’t See The Video? Click Here

The post [PODCAST] How NLP Helps You In The Workplace With Frank Pucelik appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

In part one of this podcast series on improving your business life using NLP we talk to Jamie Smart.

In this episode of NLP Revealed Podcasts with Jamie Smart we find out:

• What is Clarity & how it will help you in business
• Some real life examples of how you can get clarity in your life.

Would you like to get a greater understanding of NLP? If you are in Australia 3rd – 5th of October 2014 come and join us at the NLP SuperFest. You can find out more information about the event here.
However don’t happen to be in Australia don’t worry you can get involved online as well and come join in at the SuperFest Online as well here.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this podcast with Alistair Horscroft hosted by myself Aaron Morton. I look forward to catching you for the next episode where will you will discover more about NLP and how it can help us in business.

Just one quick question for you, how do you use NLP in your business?

Can’t See The Video? Click Here

The post [PODCAST] The Psychology Behind Clarity appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

In part one of this podcast series on improving your business life using NLP we talk to Alistair Horscroft.

In this episode of NLP Revealed Podcasts with Alistair Horscroft we find out:

• Alistair’s definition of NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming)
• What traits you should and shouldn’t model of the superstars you look up to
• The make up of a good personal development book diet
• And last off, of course we ask him the special Fridge Magazine question.

Would you like to get a greater understanding of NLP? If you are in Australia 3rd – 5th of October 2014 come and join us at the NLP SuperFest. You can find out more information about the event here.
However don’t happen to be in Australia don’t worry you can get involved online as well and come join in at the SuperFest Online as well here.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this podcast with Alistair Horscroft hosted by myself Aaron Morton. I look forward to catching you for the next episode where will you will discover more about NLP and how it can help us in business.

Just one quick question for you, how do you use NLP in your business?

Can’t See The Video? Click Here

The post [PODCAST] How To Model Superstars The Right Way Using NLP appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

In part one of this podcast series on improving your business life using NLP we talk to Richard Bolstad. Richard has a deep understanding of neuroscience and has also worked in many war-torn countries around the world. This is given him an unrivalled understanding of how people react to things not going to plan in their life. Using his understanding of neuroscience he has also worked out why people recover from these adverse situations, and how to

In this episode of NLP Revealed Podcasts with Richard Bolstad we find out:

• Richard’s definition of NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming)
• Why he thinks Poland escaped recession during the world economic crisis
• What he’s learnt from being in the frontline of war-torn countries and how that can help us in our business lives
• And last off, of course we ask him the special Fridge Magazine question.

Would you like to get a greater understanding of NLP? If you are in Australia 3rd – 5th of October 2014 come and join us at the NLP SuperFest. You can find out more information about the event here.
However don’t happen to be in Australia don’t worry you can get involved online as well and come join in at the SuperFest Online as well here.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this podcast with Richard Bolstad hosted by myself Aaron Morton. I look forward to catching you for the next episode where will you will discover more about NLP and how it can help us in business.

Just one quick question for you, how do you use NLP in your business?

Can’t See The Video? Click Here

The post [PODCAST] Using NLP To Recover And Move Forward In Hard Times appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

MakeMove App

MakeMove Co-Founders Jonathan Lindahl & Sam Englund

I Can’t see the video? click here: http://youtu.be/6O89B9-_utI

So what happens when two childhood friends decide to MakeMove. In one of the most action packed interviews we have ever done, l sat down with co-founders Sam Englund & Jonathan Lindahl of MakeMove to find out more.

In the interview we discover which song inspired the co-founders to make MakeMove app and how it helps people make moves in business. We come up with a all new business idea, that if you want to see come to life get in touch with me Henry Reith at editor@fridgemagazine.com and we’ll make it happen together. And of course we find out what they would have in their Fridge.

You can find out more about MakeMove & get the app at their website here: http://www.makemove.se/

& get the app and start making moves here: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id883667173

Would you like to download the audio of this interview? Download it here

The post Business Ideas and How To MakeMoves appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

As small businesses drive recovery in many countries they have been facing the same challenge, how to take on the big companies. This challenge has led to the rise of the social sharing. So to find out more about the subject we jumped on the phone with social sharing expert Robert Manea from Social Sharing platform Kungphoo to find out what it is and how your business could benefit from it.

We have been using the platform for a few months now and had lots of success so If you want to try it out take a look at Kungphoo now and tell us what you think of it?

The post The Small Business Revolution Is Here & Social Sharing Is On The Rise appeared first on Fridge Magazine.

The New York based team have created an app that allows like-minded people to meet each other and network.

Having thoroughly enjoyed using the app for the last week or so, I thought it was time to find out more. So last Friday I jumped on Skype with Nathan Bernard, CEO of Coffee The App for a chat. During that chat he told us what inspired him to create the app, his approach to customer service, his number one real word network tip i’m much more. Tap the play button above and find out how the biggest networking event in the world has been created.

PS if you are a iOS use you can download the app here, and you never know, we might bump into each other over coffee.

The post Would You Like To Go For A Coffee? appeared first on Fridge Magazine.