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Grow Smart Business Pre-Event Interview: Anthony Pappas of The Pappas Group

September 28th, 2009 ::

Pappas_Anthony_headshotI recently had the opportunity to talk with Anthony Pappas of The Pappas Group. He is a really friendly and knowledgeable guy who is a brand expert in not just the “how” of creating a brand but what he calls “the why” of creating a brand. We sat down and talked about branding and entrepreneurship plus we got him to share his five favorite brands. Here is the transcript of the interview:

Steve: Anthony, thanks for being here today. I guess the best way to get started is to ask you how you got your start and what lead you to start the Pappas Group.

Anthony: Thanks Steve. Well I got my start as a designer in college and worked in ad agencies in NY as an art director and was always working on brands. I joined a local firm in the 90′s called Proxicom and eventually worked my way up the ranks over 10 years to become Senior VP of Creative globally for the company. During that time I not only advanced my design skills but alos got really experienced at building teams. When Proxicom was acquired I looked at NY and DC and around here saw many boutique shops but no one focusing on helping a client build their brand. Let’s face it, these days brand are built online. They are built in other ways, but for the most part today they are built online. So I decided to go out on my own and start the Pappas Group.

Steve: Your firm approaches clients as a branding company where it used to be traditionally the domain of advertising agencies. Why this type of differentiation?

Anthony: Because the boutique firms where most design agencies the first thing we identified was that we were not first and foremost a design agency. Let me explain why. You can’t come at a brand strictly from a design perspective. You must start with the strategy. I learned this firsthand when I was at Proxicom and we worked with large ad agencies that owned the brand and dictated how they wanted their sites built. Unfortunately, there was a large conflict of interest because what they wanted wasn’t always beneficial to the client, especially in an online space. So what I wanted to do was help companies “change”. We want to help them reach a goal or launch a product. How you execute is not the point but rather how a company wants or needs to evolve. Every company’s brand is different and there is no perfect service mix.

Steve: Being here in the DC marketplace, what are your hopes for bringing a bit the flare of the brands that are in places like NY?

Anthony: Place like New York have big brands that take risks (i.e. Nike, Liz Claiborne) and while we have great firms here, there is not the same sex appeal which makes it hard to retain the talent here in the area. So I want to help the DC market get awareness and tell the rest of the country that we have the skills here to do it. We start by working with the brands that are here in town.  This is kind of my soapbox right now.

Steve: You will be presenting at the Grow Smart Business conference next week. What should we expect to see and hear from you?

Anthony: One of the things I am going to talk about is that for any company to create a strong brand, it has to come from the inside.  You can’t just build a brand from the outside, it has to come from the people inside the company first. Strong companies are strong companies because their employees are living the brand so people believe it. If they are faking it, people will see right through it.

Steve: I like to wrap up interviews with a top five list. In this case, what are your top five brands?

Anthony: Hmm, let’s see…

1.) Apple – They are really intelligent about marketing. I use their products and I knew they were good. They said they were going to break convention and they said they would do it their way and people would follow. And they have, which is why I really like that brand. They are a serious brand that is making money.

2.) Porsche - The brand that they have built, beyond their cars being excellent, is that they have built a brand that is a good reflection of their product. They hired a great firm and the brand exudes a certain essence about the drive. It is understated which is elegant and powerful.

3.) Target – They have done an amazing job breaking out of the mold of low-cost warehouse store. Target just raised its awareness and said they aren’t playing the game that has been done in the past. People believe that Target doesn’t have the same stuff as other stores and their brand has been the factor that convinces people.

4.) Nordstrom – Their experience is fantastic and the people that are there actually seem like they want to be there which shows that people live the brand.

5.) Zappos – The brand is still new and they are doing the right things like Nordstrom does and is trying to build that it is about quality and service.

Steve: Thanks for the time today. Great interview.

Anthony: Great to be here. See you all next week at the Grow Smart Biz conference.

Register for the Grow Smart Biz Conference and See Anthony Speak

GSB-ConfComing next week on September 29, in Washington, DC, Network Solutions is hosting the Grow Smart Biz Conference where you can see Anthony Pappas speak along with keynote speaker Chris Anderson and Governor Mark Warner. The Grow Smart Biz conference is a premier one-day event featuring renowned small business leaders and well-known industry experts. If you haven’t registered, then click here to learn more and register now. Tickets are going fast!

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Posted in Branding, Interviews | No Comments »

Small Business Leaders to Address Staying Ahead In the Current Economy at the GrowSmartBiz Conference

September 24th, 2009 ::

Recessions result in unforeseen challenges and instill fear in businesses, especially small businesses. But have no fear, The GrowSmartBiz Conference is here!

Network Solutions® is pleased to announce Jody Keenan of VA Small Business Development Center, Christine Banning of SCORE, Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends, Charles Colby of Rockbridge Associates, Jake Weatherly of Palo Alto Software and  Mike Reed of Paychex as the as panelists for the GrowSmartBiz Conference topic session: Staying Ahead in the Current Economy.

These panelists will share how they differentiate themselves against other businesses and provide tips and insights on creative ways to thrive during a recession.

In addition to this topic, Wired Editor-in-Chief and author Chris Anderson’s keynote and Virginia Senator Mark Warner’s special note, the conference will also focus on the following topics:
•    Raising Capital with Effective Finance Strategies
•    Driving Small Business Performance with Marketing & Innovation
•    Integrating Traditional Marketing with Social Media

The GrowSmartBiz Conference will be held on September 29 at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C. The event was created as a result of the Small Business Success Index (SBSI) – an ongoing measurement of the overall health of small businesses commissioned by the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and Network Solutions. The conference will focus on key areas of business that small businesses view as critical to their success.

For more information or to register for the event, visit the GrowSmartBiz Conference site. Don’t forget to turn in your small business success story for the chance to have it posted on the GrowSmartBusiness Blog and to receive FREE admission to the GrowSmartBiz Conference.

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Posted in Events, small business, Small Business Success Index | No Comments »

What Sci-Fi Fans taught me about marketing…

September 22nd, 2009 ::

This should really be called “What Browncoats taught me about marketing”, but I was a little worried that the niche title might not be understood. It also makes me realize that maybe Gary Vaynerchuk was right when he said, “Love the process and the results won’t matter”.

As listed on http://blog.networksolutions.com/authors/, “In the interest of full disclosure, Steve Fisher and Mike (Dougherty) are both co-founders of a non-profit film production company called Big Damn Fan Films…” and have wrapped principal production of our film “Browncoats: Redemption”. Our film is an independent film set in the universe established in Joss Whedon’s TV show Firefly, and later as a film Serenity, where proceeds will go to five charities. The fans of the show and the film are called Browncoats.

I tell you that, not to gloat on our project and tell you about it, but get that out of the way to tell you about the greatest example of Crowdsourcing and marketing that I am honored to accidentally be a part of.  For those that need to know, Crowdsourcing, as defined by Wikipedia, is “act of taking tasks traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people or community in the form of an open call.”

Over Labor Day weekend, we were at the science fiction convention Dragon*Con to promote and show the teaser trailer for our film, to be released a year later, on a panel. The panel was on Sunday morning and was the first thing of the day. We were concerned because this is notoriously the time of the weekend were panels aren’t heavily attended unless it is a major attraction. We were just a little film that, we thought, had only been heard of by a handful of people. We expected, if we were lucky, that maybe twenty-five to fifty people would attend. What we expected and what we received were two different things, but I’ll get to that soon enough.

Before the convention we promoted our panel as best we could to what we perceived was an audience of limited awareness of our project. We printed seven thousand postcards with the information about the movie and the time, date, and location of the panel.

Once we arrived at Dragon*Con and began passing out the postcards we learned people were already aware of, and excited for, the panel. Keep in mind, until we arrived at Dragon*Con, we did not heavily promote the panel. The information about it had been passed by word of mouth, from one fan of Firefly to another, and we quickly realized we had no control over the message going out. It was in the hands of our intended audience and they took leadership of getting it out.

We found that, because of love of the TV show ‘Firefly’ and an interest in our project, people were willing to pass out our postcards for us. We learned that, without being asked to, during other panels, that we didn’t attend, some people promoted our panel to a room full of people that were there to see something else. I was constantly surprised when people, who didn’t know my connection to  the film, would ask me if I had heard about my own project, ask if I knew about the panel, and tell me that they’ve seen a postcard promoting it that I should pick up.

Did I happen to mention we let go of the message? That is normally the scariest thing for any company to do, but because we loved the process of involving those who wanted to be…we couldn’t contain the message any more without doing damage to it. Thanks to the supporters of the film and those people we found knew about us without our influence, we moved 90% of our postcards by Sunday morning.

Sunday morning arrived and twenty minutes before the panel started we had, what was a 250 seated room, a standing room only panel. Additional chairs were brought in, but there wasn’t enough for everyone there. At the beginning of the panel we had to close off the doors and turn even more people away. We received 100 times more people that we ever expected…all because we let go of the message and let the crowd take over helping us get the word out.

A lot of valuable marketing messages were learned in this process.

We had created, in our postcard, a marketing piece that contained, from our mission statement to the date and time of the panel, everything the deliverer, and receiver, of that marketing piece needed to know. That postcard was sited, by several attendees, as one of the main factors, besides the enthusiasm of the person handing it to them, as their reason for attending.

We also learned that by stepping out of the way of those passing on our message, and by not overly managing them, they effectively, and passionately, spread the message of the panel for us. In that we created a greater connection to our project, and panel, than could have ever established if we held fast on to our message.

The most important thing learned from this is that you can apply this same strategy to promoting your business, your networking event, or whatever business venture you are trying to get attention for. All you need to do is be willing to trust those people that are extremely passionate about what you’re doing and give them all the information, and tools, they will need. The results will be a combination of efforts by people excited about something…which is infectious.

Gary Vaynerchuk said, “Love the process and the results won’t matter” and I agree, but I would also add “Respect the people who love, and support, your goal and the results will speak for themselves”.

Have you had equal success with a promotion or event of your own? I would love to hear your thoughts in a comment below.

You can also reach me on Twitter by sending a message to @wickedjava, or on Facebook at facebook.com/mcdougherty.

As all ways, if you have been reading, thank you and stay wicked.

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Posted in small business | No Comments »

Customer Service Through Marketing

September 15th, 2009 ::

I recently came home from a convention with some of the best, and worst, examples of customer service through marketing I have ever seen.  Let me preface this with the fact that I won’t name names, but I will give examples of both. I also want to clarify what I mean by Customer Service through Marketing, but before that, so we are on the same page, let me explain what Customer Service is as defined by, the great, Wikipedia:

According to Jamier L. Scott. (2002)[1], “Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_service)

When you provide a marketing piece that requires the user to follow an action, or call out, and somewhere on that marketing piece you provide clear, and helpful, instructions or tips…to me you’ve provided Customer Service through Marketing.

Personally, I believe that your marketing pieces, both physical and digital, have the ability go transcend the elevator speech type format they are traditionally used for.  When those geniuses of marketing decided to turn those pieces into a way to do more for the person holding them then just a sales pitch…they have gold. When they try too hard, and reach for the sun too soon, they end up leaving a bad taste in the potential clients’ mouth that ends up resulting in…well, you know, negative press. And unless you’re all ready a star…bad press is bad press.

So let me get the bad out of the way first. The hotel I was staying at recently touted that they had a fast internet connection in every room. They had signage at the front desk, in the room, when you turned on their TV, and on every marketing piece I got my hands on. After all this I’m seriously excited because, since it’s a hotel, I am expecting an experience greater than I get at home.

Now it doesn’t matter much to me that they didn’t offer wifi, paid or not. It also wasn’t that big of a hassle to reach in the cramped desk drawer push past their additional marketing pieces, and religious paraphernalia, to find the cable to connect my laptop to their…well…router.

Where they earned a Customer Service through Marketing FAIL was in their log in screen to sign up for the internet service. I try to log in and I’m having difficulty because the “Discount Code” they offer me for staying in the room, not that I would actually have access to their internet services outside the room, wasn’t working. Their Sign In screen offered a “Live Chat” service for help. I opened it and typed my concern. What came back was clearly automated. How do I know? After getting frustrated at the clearly pre-scripted as I began to type anything from “How did the chicken cross the road” to “Why can’t you help me” and the response back was “I don’t know the answer to your question. Please retype your inquiry”. The only thing “Live” about it was the human being sitting on my side of the laptop getting ready to rip the Ethernet cord out of the wall and run down the hall screaming to find a local Starbucks (located in their hotel lobby that does offer limited free wifi).

Clearly they assumed an automated FAQ cleverly disguised as a chat feature was more than enough Customer Service, because their front desk was even less help giving me the same responses that the automated prompt gave.

The hero of Customer Service through Marketing ironically the airline I flew home on. This airline was offering new in-flight wifi, at a cost, but they were offering the first use free. I was met at the gate by a young lady wearing a t-shirt with the phrase “Ask me about free wifi on your flight”.

I followed the first activity, in a series, that the airline hoped would enhance the experience enough that I would to engage their product. Their hope paid off, because the attendant informed me about the new service. Once I said I would give it a try, she gave me a card, the size of a business card, which had all the information of the service on one side and the complete instructions, including discount code, which would allow me to use their service on the other.

Once we were in the air, I tested out the service. I was more than impressed to know that their instructions were more than crystal clear. The wifi service even had a chat based Customer Service feature that, surprise, had a human being on the other end. I got all of my questions answered about which flights carried wifi, terms of service, and, since I am not a regular flier, a list of their payment plans which ranged from per flight to monthly basis. Needless to say, but I will be using their service again once I fly out on that airline.

The main reason, if not obvious, that I chose these two to talk about is that they are polar opposite examples, of the same service, of Customer Service through Marketing. One showed that they were only willing to go so far to increase the level of customer satisfaction that their service offers. While the other showed they valued their customer every step of the way.

The question I leave you with is this, dear reader, do each of your marketing pieces increase the level of engagement, and satisfaction, that your customers have with your product, service, or brand? Or are you simply providing just enough information to get by.

As all ways, thank you for reading and stay wicked.

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Posted in Entrepreneurs, Generational Marketing, Marketing, Resources, small business, social media | No Comments »

Nine Reasons to Attend the GrowSmartBiz Conference on Sept. 29, 2009

September 9th, 2009 ::

Nine reasons to sign up TODAY for the GrowSmartBiz Conference in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 29! (http://tinyurl.com/gsbiz)

  1. Get an opportunity to network with small business owners and entrepreneurs – learn and grow your business at the same time!
  2. Gain insight – including tips and strategies – from more than 20 of the nation’s top small business experts.
  3. See Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and author of The Long Tail and Free, as the conference keynote.
  4. Walk away with executable, cost-effective ways to market, promote and grow your business.
  5. Find out what others are doing to weather the current economic storm – and pick up strategies and tactics you can apply to your own business.
  6. Learn how to navigate your way through what can be a financial maze from people who have done it – and succeeded.
  7. Expand your marketing arsenal – figure out how to enhance your current promotional efforts by integrating social media.
  8. Score lots of free stuff – including a free domain name from Network Solutions®, a copy of Chris Anderson’s best-selling book, Free, and business planning software from Palo Alto Software.
  9. TODAY ONLY, REGISTER TO RECEIVE TWO ADMISSIONS FOR JUST $99 TOTAL – A SAVINGS OF NEARLY $500! But, you have to act fast – the offer is only good on Wednesday, September 9 from 12 a.m. EST to 11:59 p.m. EST. REGISTER NOW by using the promo code: GSB999 and clicking here!

The GrowSmartBiz Conference will be held September 29, 2009, at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C. The event was created to highlight the findings from the Small Business Success Index (SBSI) – an ongoing measurement of the overall health of small businesses commissioned by the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and Network Solutions, and to provide small businesses with tips, information and network opportunities that will help small businesses thrive in the current economy. The conference will focus on key areas of business that small businesses view as critical to their success according to the 1,500 small businesses that were interviewed for the Small Business Success Index.

For more information or to register for the event, visit the GrowSmartBiz Conference site.  Don’t forget to turn in your small business success story for the chance to have it posted on the GrowSmartBusiness Blog and to receive FREE admission to the GrowSmartBiz Conference. For more details visit: http://tinyurl.com/gsbiz.

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Posted in Entrepreneurs, Events, Small Business Success Index | 1 Comment »

Eight Things to Have Figured Out Before You Meet Your Designer

September 8th, 2009 ::

I was talking with Steven Fisher about a few projects we’ve been working on.  We realized that most people who start projects haven’t fully planned out what they might need before sitting down with a designer. This, inevitably, ends in the client, the designer, or both frustrated and annoyed with the process/project. This also usually results in the client not jazzed enough about the final product to want to market it effectively or the final product not being the best it could.

Now there are a ton of reasons why this doesn’t happen, but the most consistent, from what I can see, is just lack of education on the process. To elevate that, I’ve come up with the eight things I’ve seen that clients can think about prior to starting a project. Having most of these prepared, or planned for, a client and designer might find that they both get everything they need from the project.

  1. Be realistic about your goals, budget, and intentions BEFORE you get a designer. Just because you “think” you need, or are ready for, a brochure, website, or whatever, doesn’t mean you should just jump in without thought or planning. Just showing up and expecting the designer to have all the answers about your project is a sure fire way to have this fail. As far as your budget…be realistic. Just like the time you are taking away from your clients/projects, they are doing the same. You can’t get a Porsche for the price of a Honda without something wrong with it. You get what you pay for so treat your project as an investment.
  2. Be clear about your ideas UP FRONT in your initial meeting. Before I go into this, let’s start by promising me you will remove the phrase “I don’t know what I want, but I’ll know it when I see it” from your lexicon immediately. If you feel that you are getting talked into, overly pressured by your boss or staff, or see that other people in your industry have the marketing piece and you aren’t sure, or feel it isn’t right for you right now, stop where you are until you know YOU are ready and it makes some amount of sense to YOU. This is your marketing piece after all.If you know you need a marketing piece, but aren’t sure what it will look like…this is the opportunity for your designer to get creative and they love that. But you need to have some idea of what you are looking for, even in the most general sense. The best way to do this is to find some examples of other companies’ materials that you like and bring them to the meeting. This will help give the designer a visual idea of what you are looking for.
  3. Listen to what the designer tells you is, and isn’t, possible based on your goals, budget, and intentions. Unless your designer is as new to the process as you are, which may be cheaper but has major downsides, the designer you higher probably knows more about how to create the best possible outcome for your project. This might mean that your idea doesn’t fit your budget, but there are some creative solutions that designers can bring to the table if you are clear, up front, about what you want to do. Do you see a pattern?
  4. Make sure you understand what you are getting before you sign. I know this might seem like common sense. You’d be surprised how many people agree to a website, brochure, and etc. then realize what they signed up for was either more, or less, than what they needed. Just be sure that when you are ready to get started that you’ve asked all the questions you needed to. That’s your time to make sure you’ve got your I’s dotted and T’s crossed…on more than just paper.
  5. Just because it seems simple…if it’s not in your agreement don’t ask. What may seem like a “simple” change to you could actually be more labor intensive than you think. Often people will ask “That seems pretty easy for you. You can just add it in quickly right?” That, my friends, is the beginnings of scope creep. When you sat down with your designer and went over your contract things should have been pretty specific as to what you’ll get. Anything beyond that is a new project or an addendum. I went over Scope Creep in a previous post, which I encourage you to read, but here is a good question for you.If you go into a grocery store and, as the cashier is ringing up all of your items, you say, “You know it seems pretty easy for you to just add this other item into my bag without paying for it,” what do you think the reaction will be?A better question is, would you accept that from one of your customers?
  6. Be involved in the process from the beginning. All too often a project gets started and the client doesn’t give much focus or attention to it until it get’s close to the end or things are running behind. In those times, clients will really start taking a hard look at what they are getting and want to make changes because they “didn’t notice that before” or “were too busy to give it some thought” (actual things said to me).This is your companies marketing pieces. You need to be invested, from the beginning, so that the project isn’t delayed by changes like this, derailed by an over zealous designer or sales person, and stays on track…before it’s too late. Ask as many questions as you like. This is your time to make sure your marketing pieces turn out the best they can.
  7. Be sure you’re 100% happy before you sign off on the design. Long after the designer is gone, the project is completed, and the last payment clears…you are left with the piece you had designed. If you were negligent on any of the steps above, you probably aren’t too happy with your piece OR you got really lucky and your designer hit a home run without much input, or feedback, from you.If you were, you had every opportunity to walk away from the project, unless you got cramped for time and backed into a corner, because sometimes clients and designers don’t see eye to eye. That’s ok if you don’t. You don’t have to accept the first designer you see because you need something.If you are unhappy with a marketing piece, and you can honestly say you weren’t involved, clear on your intentions, or didn’t understand what was going on from the beginning, let me be blunt and honest, part of that is your fault. Before you fully lay all the blame on the designer, take a look at what you could have done from the beginning and do that next time.

    If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been expressing a great sense of ownership on the clients’ part to this project. This is the marketing piece YOU are paying for after all to market YOUR company. Shouldn’t you want to be involved?

  8. Remember the marketing piece ultimately isn’t about you. Last, but not least, when working with a designer, remember who your target audience is. You aren’t buying your own services so just because you love it…doesn’t mean your clients will. It’s ok to have a different style than your clients, but if you are a Dentist and you love the designs of Horror flick posters…you can see where I’m going with this.Go to your local networking group, current valued customers, or people you explicitly trust to be brutally honest with you, and create your own mini focus group. Share the design with them and get their feedback, but make sure that you aren’t abusing the review time you and the designer agreed upon in the contract. If you do…you can’t blame the designer if the project goes beyond your expected completion date.

The list above is vague enough to fit both print and web based projects. I know, if we put our collective contractor thinking hats on that we could come up with more than eight, but here’s where I ask for your contributions. What other things do you think need to be thought of before you sit down with a designer?

Thank you for reading and, as all ways, stay wicked.

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Posted in Entrepreneurs, Generational Marketing, Marketing, Resources, small business, Web Design | 9 Comments »

Happy Labor Day and Some of the Best of Grow Smart Business

September 7th, 2009 ::

Here in the United States we are celebrating Labor Day which is the “unofficial end of summer” and when everyone is heading back from summer vacation ready to get back to work. We won’t be publishing anything else today but in the mean time there are two things we wanted to share with you:

Grow Smart Business Conference – Register Now!

Don’t forget to register for the first Grow Smart Business conference coming up on Sept 29 in Washington, DC at the Renaissance Hotel. Here is the summary on the event:

Join us for a premier one-day event featuring renowned small business leaders and well-known industry experts, including keynote speaker Chris Anderson.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs should attend to learn how to overcome challenges that all small businesses face. Attendees will hear from an outstanding group of panelists for concrete takeaways including:

  • Proven strategies for business growth despite the current economy
  • Executable, cost-effective ways to market and promote their businesses
  • Knowledge of what banks believe is the key to securing small business financing
  • Actionable ideas for integrating and leveraging social media into existing marketing and communications efforts

Presented By:

Great Content from the Grow Smart Business bloggers and contributors

Many of you come to the blog on a regular basis and know that Michael Dougherty recently joined the blog team on a regular basis. You might not be aware that we have a growing group of “Smart Business Contributors” who write on their specific area of expertise in small business. This is why we thought we would share some great posts from Grow Smart Business that you might have missed:

A Parable On Getting Your First Website by Michael Dougherty

The Entrepreneur’s Handbook – Start with these 10 Resources For First Time Entrepreneurs by Steven Fisher

What to do if you are downsized by Lorne Epstein

Evian babies in your face. Just like their GenX parents by Jessie Newburn

Email Marketing and You: So Happy Together by Monika Jansen

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Posted in small business | No Comments »

Did Social Media Kill Traditional Media?

September 3rd, 2009 ::

I was listening to that great song by the Buggles “Video Killed the Radio Star” as I realized, I love sitting in on meetings where you watch to two big factions of today’s marketing department sitting in a room together discussing the future of the marketing tools of their company.

I want you to picture a boardroom with a large rectangular table. Crowded around it are various business types for…let’s call it Company X. At the head of the table is the VP of Marketing/Communication or Marketing Manager. Now we’re not going to get into the ages of these people, because for the purpose of this post…just picture everyone at the table is your age, but just has different opinions. If you really need to picture ages of the people at the table read Jessie Newburn’s two part Generational Marketing Series. It might give you a greater scope, or help you relate more to this post, and if it would, please take a minute and read both parts one and two.

Since you have that vivid picture, now picture traditional media team on one side of the table and the “new media” team on the other both arguing why they are viable and worth the main focus of attention of the companies marketing budget. The VP or marketing manager stuck in the middle mediating the argument and seeing the good in both but fearing of wasting the all ready stretched budget.

Traditional media team is so entrenched in the way they’ve always done things and unwilling to change or flex. They passionately argue that “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. They have a personal investment in wanting make sure their job isn’t swept under the rug of these new tools they haven’t fully taken the time to understand.

The “new media” team is happy to point out the poor ROI and how these new tools are the future and the other team should just accept and adapt. They passionately argue that this is the their target audience and they ignore old marketing tactics so these new tools shouldn’t be ignored. They have a personal investment in wanting to prove these new marketing tools are valid and useful so their job isn’t passed onto an intern or a secretary who may not fully understand what is needed to do the job effectively.

What I love about this is that, rather than talk about how they can effectively merge their communication, they argue sides like the marketing version of West Side Story (Don’t faint, but I’ve seen a musical or two). I really enjoy these “discussions” because it goes round and round, both sides arguing their strengths, until either the time has come and gone for the meeting to be over or someone waves the white flags and gives up the meeting to get lunch or a break from the arguing. This person is normally the one at the head of the table torn between the legacy of traditional media and the freshness of the “new media” tools.

I don’t think social media has killed traditional media, yet. I think it might be a few years away, but I think what will kill traditional media won’t be social media but a failure to adapt. I think that those staunch “new media” team members only users are so entrenched into their tools they aren’t inclined to invite the traditional media members to the party.

How can the two play nicely together?

In my opinion, we all know that most traditional media is a one way conversation, but what if that conversation was more giving directions to the tools on social media? What if an engaging blog, Twitter post, or Facebook comment referenced a clue to a discount in the companies’ print ad or news article? If advertisers can seep real world ads into video games, why can’t the two forms of media we have in existence find better ways to share the space?

There are a few really good examples of this done out there, but I would love to hear from you on what you’ve seen. What company, or organization, out there has cleverly caught your attention with the blending of traditional and “new media”?

And as all ways, thank you, if you’ve read this far, and stay wicked.

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Posted in Generational Marketing, Marketing, small business, social media | No Comments »

Not Everything That Can Be Counted Counts

September 1st, 2009 ::

Albert Einstein was known to keep, and quote, a sign on his wall: “Not everything that counts can be counted; not everything that can be counted counts.”

This got me thinking about the obsessive search for a Return On Investment, or ROI, in Social Media. This is mainly sought after by either people, or companies, wanting a quick fix to their marketing pains or the executives/manager who only know that you should track every marketing initiative to the Nth Degree.

I have watched as social media halted midway are abandoned and social media tools are abandoned, because there hasn’t been the immediate gratification of a high number of a return. I listen as these seekers of the magical silver bullet of marketing success cry when they only have 100 followers on Twitter, 250 Facebook Page fans, and insert a fairly conservative number of followers with a social media tool and this could go on and on. “Our competitors have [insert number far greater] followers on [insert social media tool]” is often the cry. “How are these tools effective if we can’t amass a large number of followers to do our bidding and pass on our one directional message?” Ok, that last one was overly dramatic, but it’s far more an honest question than the ones that are often asked.

Social media tools, and campaigns, take time to grow organically, because what is truly viral is lightning in a bottle. What those of us who use social media tools want is honesty in your intentions of the tools, a conversation, and to grow to trust your message if we have never heard of you before. If we have heard of you, this is your chance to shine and show us that we can/should believe in your product/services/etc. In my previous post “10 Ways To Get More Followers Using Social Media”, I gave some good tips for using social media tools effectively to get results. I invite you to take a minute and read it.

I come back to Einstein’s sign. Ok, maybe you only have a very small number of followers, but I have a question for you. If you’ve gained passionate small group of followers who believe in your message and want to help you get it out…is that less valuable than four times that many people who don’t care nearly as much about your goal/product/message/service/etc.? Using social media tools, you have the ability to grow long term connections that could reap you great rewards down the road, but may take nurturing and patience before you see the results from traditional media.

Now don’t misread what I’m saying. I am in no way saying you should track your social media tools, but I am asking you to be realistic about what you’re seeing. If you find that you are getting quality results out of a low number of followers then you are having thousands of followers who lurk around your blog, facebook, twitter feed, and etc., but never interact with your brand or share your message…why would you ignore these few, but faithful, followers?

It comes down to the age old question, is it quantity over quality?

I would love to hear which it is for you.

Thank you for reading and, as all ways, stay wicked.

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Posted in Customer Service, Entrepreneurs, Generational Marketing, Marketing, Resources, small business, social media, Technology, Thought Leadership | No Comments »

A Parable On Getting Your First Website

August 27th, 2009 ::

I was consulting last weekend for a lady in Ohio who was interested in getting a website, but wasn’t sure what she REALLY needed. You see, she had been bombarded with emails, and quotes from various web designers and firms. She was getting offered packages ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars that seemed to really have nothing to do with her actual needs. She was getting overwhelmed and wanted to hear from someone in the industry what the right course of action.

Now you might ask, Mike aren’t you a web designer? Why didn’t you offer her your services? To be honest, the greedy part of me thought about it for about ten seconds until I really took a look at my schedule. I could have taken the job and really done her a lot more harm than good by delaying the project while I worked on my other priorities.

So I opted to be the voice of reason for someone who knows very little about the services being offered to her. I listened as she read me the quotes, emails, and notes she had gotten. Based on the “advice” she was getting from these sales people, she was leaning heavily towards starting an online store, but had no idea what that really meant.

After hearing all of this, I asked a few simple questions.

  • How long have you been in business?
  • Do you have the financial stability to afford the design and the monthly charges you would get into with an online store?
  • What is your real goal with this website?

She explained that she was just opening her physical store front and she knew she needed a presence on the web to help promote, attract customers, and inform the interested about her business. She acknowledged that starting out her budget was extremely tight, as most start ups are, but she was really impressed with what she was told an online store could do for her. She was getting swayed by the possibilities and ignoring the reality.

That’s where I stopped her and stepped in.

I asked her to go through the three questions I asked her with me.

  • How long have you been in business? Not very long.
  • Do you have the financial stability to afford the design and the monthly charges you would get into with an online store? No. She was paying for the physical store front, supplies, and stock.
  • What is your real goal with this website? Just to inform people about her business.

With the reality of her needs and limitations firmly in place, I went with her through several hosting companies’ websites and showed her the monthly cost of what an online store would bring her if she chose this route. She was floored at the cost and was upset that some of the firms she talked with, that did the most convincing, never informed her of.  I advised her she could use services like PayPal or E-Bay in the interim if she was truly interested in selling products online, but with being a one person operation, and her main focus being on trying to build the physical store front, that it might be overwhelming for her to maintain both.

Knowing she had no client base to start with, the recommendation I had was for her to start with a basic website that could inform people about her business, give directions to her new store front, and, using a simple Content Management System like WordPress, she could keep her customers up to date by updating the website herself.

I armed her with some information to take back to these designers and firms who were offering to potentially give her the wrong product for her needs. She felt empowered and eager to get exactly the right services for her needs.

After we finished talking, she was happier to know that the idea of a store front is still possible, but only after she’s built the customer base and awareness of her store and products. She admitted that the “wow” factor of what a store front could possibly, and that is the key word in all this, do for her blinded her to what she actually needed to start out.

I see this time and time again. Start ups, and large companies, often become Icarus and ignore their wax wings, either made of a small budget or untested audience, to reach for the sun of profit only to be burned by their decision and blame the website, not their decision, for their failure.

As you go into your next web, or marketing, project keep in mind it’s good to dream, but it’s better to support that dream with a plan. You can reach for the sun, but get some sun block of knowledge and some nice shades first.

Maybe, just maybe, there is a post coming up about what the right web project could be good for you. Or maybe there is a post about how much is too much for web design.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment, or share this on twitter, and let me know what you think.

And as all ways, if you’ve read this far…thank you and stay wicked.

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Posted in Marketing, Resources, small business, Web Design | 4 Comments »

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