As "everybody" is jumping on the bandwagon, Social Media and web 2.0 is all the rage in Silicon Valley. With Social Media gurus touting thousands of followers on Twitter, and thousands of friends on Facebook, one wonders if anybody out there is really doing any work, or are we busy thinking of things to tweat about (which no one really cares about). If Twitter gives us the up to date happenings of our "closest" friends or interested parties, how can one read the thousands of tweats a day let alone "learn from it" or enrichen our lives? Is it all about adding to the clutter? Throwing "mud" on the wall and see what sticks? Have we lost sight of what Social Media is really all about?
Building relationships, strengthening our community, sharing experiences. Fundamentally, these advance technological tools can enhance our lives. But along the way, we went overboard, got greedy, and over consumed like we always do.
Sometimes it's important to just stop. Set things aside. And re-evaluate. "Is it really making my life better? Is it adding value to my friendships? My relationships?"
How does it help my small business? Is it draining resources? Or is it adding value to business relationships? Am I learning from others? Is there a healthy exchange.
In the process of redesigning our own website, these are questions that we are going to have to ask ourselves. And design a process that will really add value... not just clutter.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Increase qualified leads at tradeshows
We all know that the goal of a trade show participation is generating new leads. Yet we almost treat the lead generating activity as a last minute low priority item. Much of our time is working on our "sales pitch", the new features of the product, how much it costs, etc. When it comes down to getting the lead (much less qualifying the lead), we ask for a card, or "can I scan your badge". If we took time to fill out the standard form on the lead scanner, it usually is a last minute guess at what information we are looking for.
What we don't do is plan ahead. When was the last time you had a "lead generation" work session? Asking the questions that a prospective customer may have? Role playing? Getting to know and understand the prospective customer, what the issues and hot buttons are?
• A good brainstorm session will bring up situations or questions that may have arisen at a previous show. It can give light to how to handle a situation. What to look for at the next show.
Many times, the visitor may not be the purchaser of a product. Or even the influencer.
• Asking leading questions to find out who the decision maker is and how to get to them is more valuable that doing your sales pitch on every visitor that comes by.
• Asking questions about their work environment, their team, and what their challenges are will help you determine if your product is the right solution for them. How can your product make their work easier, faster, more cost effective, etc.
It's not just about trying to "SELL" your product to every visitor that comes by, but really, trying to find the right customer that needs your product. Once you do that, your selling process will become much easier. For more tips on increasing your performance at a tradeshow, goto: http://www.design2marketinc.com/solutions/solutions_goexpo.html
What we don't do is plan ahead. When was the last time you had a "lead generation" work session? Asking the questions that a prospective customer may have? Role playing? Getting to know and understand the prospective customer, what the issues and hot buttons are?
• A good brainstorm session will bring up situations or questions that may have arisen at a previous show. It can give light to how to handle a situation. What to look for at the next show.
Many times, the visitor may not be the purchaser of a product. Or even the influencer.
• Asking leading questions to find out who the decision maker is and how to get to them is more valuable that doing your sales pitch on every visitor that comes by.
• Asking questions about their work environment, their team, and what their challenges are will help you determine if your product is the right solution for them. How can your product make their work easier, faster, more cost effective, etc.
It's not just about trying to "SELL" your product to every visitor that comes by, but really, trying to find the right customer that needs your product. Once you do that, your selling process will become much easier. For more tips on increasing your performance at a tradeshow, goto: http://www.design2marketinc.com/solutions/solutions_goexpo.html
Thursday, March 19, 2009
SXSW 2009 Panel on Spec Work Comments
There was an interesting panel on Spec Work in regards to designers and the creative industry at the SXSW conference last week.
It is a very hot topic.
Spec work is neither good or evil. It's the motive behind it. Too often it's the buyer trying to get the cheapest price and is not considering the value added of a relationship. A good designer needs to understand the client in order to do their best work. I don't think the current model of spec work is a sustainable model as it does nothing to build relationships. It's oxymoronic to talk about "creative community" when these models destroy relationships and therefore community.
It is a very hot topic.
Spec work is neither good or evil. It's the motive behind it. Too often it's the buyer trying to get the cheapest price and is not considering the value added of a relationship. A good designer needs to understand the client in order to do their best work. I don't think the current model of spec work is a sustainable model as it does nothing to build relationships. It's oxymoronic to talk about "creative community" when these models destroy relationships and therefore community.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Small Businesses need to get on the bandwagon
The Obama administration has approved a $15B loan program targeting small businesses. Yes!!! But that alone is not going to "bail us out". It's a start.
The cards are stacked against us. We don't have the depth of funding, or the legal/financial/technical resources that guide and advise big business. And with the increase of the sales tax, many of us are having to "re-engineer" their invoicing system without the help of an IT staff or programmer. We do it ourselves.
In order to sustain our business, it is imperative that we continue to build relationships with other small businesses. We're in the same boat. We face the same challenges and uncertainties. And we all have limited resources.
In marketing, we know we have to appeal to both the intellect and the emotion. And it challenging economic times, it is hard to not make rash decisions that are based on our emotions of fear and uncertainty. We not only need financial support, but we also need emotional support. Networks, coaching, seminars, and peer-to-peer discussion groups are vital in this topsy-turvy world today. And the occasional outlet of blogging helps to get our thoughts out to the market in the hopes that some other small business owner can relate and respond.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Meet and Greet. The key to business relationships
With all the social media tools available today, it's easy to ignore one of the most fundamental MO's of doing business... that is meeting your customer in person. Challenging as it may, getting to know someone beyond the basic "buy and sell" conversations is really the heart and soul of building relationships.
All the social media tools are great: LinkedIn, Facebook, and others. It's part of my daily morning ritual. And with today's busy lifestyle, it saves time tremendously. But when we have a chance to meet in person, those are the precious moments that are so fleeting, and so valuable.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Challenges of Exhibiting in a Down Economy
Yikes! Now that we know we’re officially in a recession, we can go about the business at hand. Of course there’s the initial panic, denial and withdrawal, but how many times have we gone through this cycle? Business has and always will be a rollercoaster.
What can we do this time around? The same strategy as always… long term planning.
Business development is a process of ongoing research, planning, reviewing budgets, building relationships, negotiation, instituting metrics and reviewing, changing and starting all over again. “Steady as she goes”. As time, technology and market demands forces us to eliminate excess and maximize productivity and profits, we need to continually exercise a “lean and mean” modus operandi in an up or down economy.
Make do with less.
We need to continually look at cost effective ways of reaching our market. “Do you really need that many people to staff the booth?” What are the new technology tools that can help us sell? Are shipping, setup, and managing the booth eating up most of the budgets?
More often than not, outside consultants can be a most cost-effective way to assist in planning, strategizing, and executing a long term plan that will get you more “bang for the buck” than trying to manage with your internal team. Because of their experience with many companies, issues and circumstances, they can bring to the table a wider array of solutions and experiences as well as a broader network of resources.
Re-use, extend, repurpose
Before you trash that old exhibit, try to find creative ways to re-use and extend the life of it. There are many opportunities to take a custom sign tower, and re-engineer it to work with a modular system. Or reface booth walls with new materials and graphics. Large or small, with a creative eye, there are many possibilities to save costs by extending the life of your booth properties.
Ongoing training, planning
Too often, tradeshow activities in small companies gear up 2-3 months before a show and panic ensues dues to deadlines and rash decisions. Whether you exhibit once or year, or dozens of times a year, your tradeshow program should be a year-round, ongoing concern. Training sales and marketing staff on the ins-and-outs of how the shows work and understanding the system will go a long way in terms of efficiency and ultimate success. It also empowers staff to multitask, thereby reducing overhead by eliminating unnecessary personnel at the show.
There are many more options besides the general panic and budget slashing. Bottom-line, institute a long-term program to plan for the next market boom… or bust.
What can we do this time around? The same strategy as always… long term planning.
Business development is a process of ongoing research, planning, reviewing budgets, building relationships, negotiation, instituting metrics and reviewing, changing and starting all over again. “Steady as she goes”. As time, technology and market demands forces us to eliminate excess and maximize productivity and profits, we need to continually exercise a “lean and mean” modus operandi in an up or down economy.
Make do with less.
We need to continually look at cost effective ways of reaching our market. “Do you really need that many people to staff the booth?” What are the new technology tools that can help us sell? Are shipping, setup, and managing the booth eating up most of the budgets?
More often than not, outside consultants can be a most cost-effective way to assist in planning, strategizing, and executing a long term plan that will get you more “bang for the buck” than trying to manage with your internal team. Because of their experience with many companies, issues and circumstances, they can bring to the table a wider array of solutions and experiences as well as a broader network of resources.
Re-use, extend, repurpose
Before you trash that old exhibit, try to find creative ways to re-use and extend the life of it. There are many opportunities to take a custom sign tower, and re-engineer it to work with a modular system. Or reface booth walls with new materials and graphics. Large or small, with a creative eye, there are many possibilities to save costs by extending the life of your booth properties.
Ongoing training, planning
Too often, tradeshow activities in small companies gear up 2-3 months before a show and panic ensues dues to deadlines and rash decisions. Whether you exhibit once or year, or dozens of times a year, your tradeshow program should be a year-round, ongoing concern. Training sales and marketing staff on the ins-and-outs of how the shows work and understanding the system will go a long way in terms of efficiency and ultimate success. It also empowers staff to multitask, thereby reducing overhead by eliminating unnecessary personnel at the show.
There are many more options besides the general panic and budget slashing. Bottom-line, institute a long-term program to plan for the next market boom… or bust.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Marketing Operation - Revolution in the corporate landscape
There's a quiet revolution going on in the corporate enterprise arena. It's not on the forefront of new technological discoveries, nor the high rolling adrenalin-spilling merger/acquistion/IPO investment side of business. It's the re-alignment of all business units and personnel with the vision and mission of the company. Under the banner of Marketing Operations, businesses pain-stakingly realizing that the basic fundamentals of business, that of providing goods and services to customers is a customer-centric value proposition, is and should aways be the driving force for the sustainability of any business.
Marketing is no longer just the traditional "promotional barrage" of drowning the market with potent messages. It is all about building a dialog between buyers and sellers, resulting in a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship. On the surface, nothing revolutionary. But under the leadership of visionary Chief Marketing Officers and champions of Marketing Operations, marketing is gaining new respect from the top of the ladder through the rank and file.
"Marketing owns the voice of the customer." In today's business world, listening to the customer and responding immediately is key to building customer loyalty and retention. And the underlying mechanism that makes that happen is, of course, the Internet. Millions upon millions of dollars are going into the technological infrastructure that enables marketing ops to gain insight into customer's buying habits and thought processes. It enables customers to voice their opinion and actually "get heard". The internet enables meaningful metrics to be applied to promotional campaigns to measure performance. It also allows for data flow upstream and downstream so management can see front line customer interactions and respond to issues and opportunities quickly.
Where does this leave small business who don't have the budgets and the resources that global enterprise companies have?
The same business and marketing issues and challenges apply to the small and midsized companies as well. As technology advances and the costs go down, the tools of the trade will trickle down to the smaller organizations and businesses. But it's the people who understand the mission of Marketing Operations that will re-engineer the buyer/seller relationship to a more interactive dialog proposition.
Gary Katz, of Marketing Operations Partners, is a champion of this quiet revolution. After years of consulting and presenting workshops across the country and in Asia, Gary recently launched the very first marketing operations course in the country. Through the University of Santa Cruz Extension, Gary's mission is to re-educate and elevate the ranks of marketing professional and give them new tools and methodologies to empower a company's marketing efforts. I had the pleasure and honor to be a part of this inaugural course. Gary is a wealth of knowledge and a visionary in his own right. His enthusiasm in the subject matter is infectious. This revolution in the marketing operations arena may not make headlines anytime yet. But Gary is determined to make a difference... one class at a time.
For more info, goto mopartners.com
Marketing is no longer just the traditional "promotional barrage" of drowning the market with potent messages. It is all about building a dialog between buyers and sellers, resulting in a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship. On the surface, nothing revolutionary. But under the leadership of visionary Chief Marketing Officers and champions of Marketing Operations, marketing is gaining new respect from the top of the ladder through the rank and file.
"Marketing owns the voice of the customer." In today's business world, listening to the customer and responding immediately is key to building customer loyalty and retention. And the underlying mechanism that makes that happen is, of course, the Internet. Millions upon millions of dollars are going into the technological infrastructure that enables marketing ops to gain insight into customer's buying habits and thought processes. It enables customers to voice their opinion and actually "get heard". The internet enables meaningful metrics to be applied to promotional campaigns to measure performance. It also allows for data flow upstream and downstream so management can see front line customer interactions and respond to issues and opportunities quickly.
Where does this leave small business who don't have the budgets and the resources that global enterprise companies have?
The same business and marketing issues and challenges apply to the small and midsized companies as well. As technology advances and the costs go down, the tools of the trade will trickle down to the smaller organizations and businesses. But it's the people who understand the mission of Marketing Operations that will re-engineer the buyer/seller relationship to a more interactive dialog proposition.
Gary Katz, of Marketing Operations Partners, is a champion of this quiet revolution. After years of consulting and presenting workshops across the country and in Asia, Gary recently launched the very first marketing operations course in the country. Through the University of Santa Cruz Extension, Gary's mission is to re-educate and elevate the ranks of marketing professional and give them new tools and methodologies to empower a company's marketing efforts. I had the pleasure and honor to be a part of this inaugural course. Gary is a wealth of knowledge and a visionary in his own right. His enthusiasm in the subject matter is infectious. This revolution in the marketing operations arena may not make headlines anytime yet. But Gary is determined to make a difference... one class at a time.
For more info, goto mopartners.com
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