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Duct Tape Marketing

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Where to focus in 2012

by Cidnee Stephen on December 16, 2011

The common tone going into 2012 is cautious optimism. Economies remain very fragile and so lavish spending on your marketing would be a high risk activity. Instead, focus in 2012 on your high payoff activities and leverage the abundance of low cost, no cost marketing tools available to you. From a budget standpoint, try to secure a monthly amount that won’t increase debt (i.e. avoid ramping up credit lines or credit cards) and instead look at what you can realistically spend to acquire a new client. If this is less than what you have spent in the past, then you should really be reaching out to a strategist, like me, to help you figure out how to get a bigger bang for your buck.

Video – video marketing is becoming more and more mainstream. Use them for testimonials, to explain a concept on your site, for product tutorials, or even to share great content on your area of expertise. The good news is you don’t need to necessarily invest in high cost camera work or production. Instead you can use a good webcam or video on your phone and edit with low cost software yourself.  You can house your videos for free on your own You Tube channel (also the second largest search engine after Google) and embed from there onto your site or blog.

Engagement - with the economy still being vicarious, solidifying relationships with your network, prospects and clients is key. It’s not enough to just have a Twitter account without posting, following and engaging others. Plan ways to get people to truly connect with you – ask questions, respond to comments, hold contests, and automate some of your communications to ensure you don’t drop the ball.

Leverage Mobile Technology – it’s interesting to look at your Google Analytics for your site and see how much traffic is coming these days from mobile devices. Converting your site to operate correctly on smartphones should be your next major web development. Consider creating useful apps and make sure you take advantage of QR codes to share information, not to mention for better tracking of your marketing initiatives.

Moving the Free Line – if giving something for free has become the norm in your industry, consider upping your game. Look at your products and services. Are there some low cost opportunities that you can now give away, something your competitor’s would actually charge for? Consider giving this away for free and offering an even better quality paid product or service. Crazy, I know, but effective!

Whatever you do, make sure, as usual, you focus on your sweet spot and you differentiate yourself from the competition. Strategy before tactics is like an ounce of prevention for a pound of cure!

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300px-Open_landscape_on_track_from_Swaffham_Prior_to_Reach,_Cambridgeshire_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1476679

Thinking Outside The Box

by Cidnee Stephen on December 8, 2011

English: Open landscape on track from Swaffham...

Image via Wikipedia

Do you ever find yourself lacking creativity in your marketing? Let’s face it, it’s always easier to follow the leader, or the masses rather than come up with some form of originality. The great thing about mavericks such as Steve Jobs or Richard Branson, is that they show us what the power of creative thinking can do! Of course, the challenge lies in figuring out how to tap into your inner creative genius. Here are some great tips that can hopefully help inspire you to think outside the box.

  •  Look outside your industry. I love the story my friend and peer Troy White once told me about a lobster ranch in Maine. Instead of competing against all the other lobster ranches to get local business they adopted an unheard model of membership. That’s right you bought a membership and a share of your very own lobster trap. You could receive updates on how your trap was doing and of course you received your share of lobsters. Now of course, memberships aren’t new….think time shares as a great parallel. What made this is so original was integrating this great experience into a new market.
  •  Create services for your products or products from your services. Are you limiting what you offer as a small business? A great creative way to not only wow your customers but to continue to engage them is by offering that complimentary service or experience to a product, or a product to a service/experience. Look at Starbucks. Do you really think it’s their coffee that made them successful or was it the atmosphere and flexibility around the product offerings that make it so popular? Of course you have to look at Apple as well. Think about the commercials you have seen lately. Do they focus on the features of the iPhone or more about the apps you can use to make your life easier, more productive or just plain old fun? This same principle can apply to a small business. Remember these companies started out small too!
  • Throw in the Kitchen Sink. I love this simple yet effective concept from Martha Beck. If you are trying to solve a problem and can`t come up with a creative solution, stop thinking about the problem. Instead engage in random activities. Read blog posts on the arts, business and medicine. Take your dog for a walk and then start knitting that sweater. When you get those great epiphanies they usually come when you start focusing on something else.
  • Get outside feedback. I recall hearing Malcolm Gladwell speak and someone asked him how he came up with his brilliant ideas. He stated that quite frankly his original ideas weren`t all that good. But when we share our ideas with others and get their insight, our ideas become great. The problem in business is that we are scared to share our ideas in fear that someone will inherit them. Get over it and start asking for feedback and turn your ideas into gold.

While many of the examples or individuals mentioned here are famous or have gone on to achieve considerable success, this doesn`t mean that you have to hit a creative ball right out of the park. But I do know this. If you stop trying to think out of the box, your business is highly unlikely to get to that next level. Success is about growth and growth is about change and change comes from adapting a different approach. So it`s time to put on that thinking cap.

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SIFTING THROUGH THE MARKETING CHAOS

by Cidnee Stephen on November 29, 2011

I was having lunch with a peer the other day and we were talking about how incredibly different today’s marketing tactics are from even 5 years ago. Quite frankly all these new shiny objects seem to be overwhelming small businesses instead of helping them grow their client base. This isn’t because they are in ineffective, but because there are so many, and business owners are unclear as to what the heck they are supposed to be doing with them. Here’s what I hear a lot lately. Do any of these sound familiar to you?

Do I need a Google+ Business page now? I don’t even know what Google+ is.

I’m on Facebook and posting regularly but not seeing any results.

I hate my website! Should changing it be my main focus?

I am 10 pages away from the first page of Google – I need to fix this now!

Direct Mail is dead.

I will NEVER Twitter.

I’m on LinkedIn but I really don’t want to connect with ½ those people approaching me!

I’ve tried EVERYTHING and NOTHING works!

It’s sad. There have never been more affordable and effective marketing tools at the fingertips of small businesses, and yet here we are – overworked, overwhelmed and feeling completely FRUSTRATED!

You know I’m going to tell you to start with strategy. Strategy always pays off. You know I’m going to also tell you to get your branding and content strong and consistent so you are effective in converting leads. ONCE you have done this and are READY for TACTICS then…..

Take a deep breath, relax and regroup. There is a great analogy you may have heard. “How do you eat an elephant (or for you vegetarians, think an entire vegetable patch)?” The Answer – “One Bite At A Time.” It’s time to stop trying to eat the elephant for tonight’s dinner and determine what bite you want to take first.

In other words you want to avoid being the Jack of all Marketing tactics, the master of none. You don’t need to master them all to be successful. Pick 1 – 3 you want to master this year – that’s it!

So where do you start?

Start with one(s) that you enjoy

 and

one(s) that provides you a big bang for your buck (and your time)

You might be thinking okay I know what I enjoy, but how the HECK do I know if it’s going to pay off?

Ask yourself this:

Do I feel I have control over the results (in other words, where I do it, how much I do, when I do it, etc.)?

Can I afford to do it consistently both in time & money – day or week in & day or week out?

Do I know other business owners similar to me who have had results doing this activity that I can glean advice from or pay to help me?

If you can answer yes to these 3 questions…you are on the right track to finding a high pay off activity. Start there, stick with it and let the other shiny objects sit in your toy box for now!

 

 

Feel free to use this article as long as you include the following:

by Cidnee Stephen of Strategies for Success www.strategiesforsuccess.ca

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winning

Are You Stuck in the Mediocrity Trap?

by Cidnee Stephen on October 7, 2011

It’s funny.  When we start a business most of us have dreams of becoming #1 in our industry and taking the world by storm.

Then as the months and years go by our focus becomes first on survival and then on sustainable growth.

As we grow, we might add some different service or product offerings, change our pricing, hire more staff, and even make operations more efficient. As a result of our efforts, our companies continue to tick along nicely.

Except for two things:

  1. Our company still isn’t #1, and
  2. We still aren’t taking the world by storm.

Typically at this point, we find ourselves stuck in the mediocrity trap, frustrated that our businesses aren’t making the money we feel they should be for the efforts we are putting in. So how can you shift from blasé to brilliant? For a start, you need to take a closer look at how you are servicing your customers and what you can do to enhance the “Wow Factor.”

Now, you might be asking how this relates to marketing. After all, I’m suggesting you focus more after the sale takes place and marketing is typically considered a pre-sale activity. Yet think about the amazing success stories you know about businesses out there. Maybe it’s Starbucks or a particular business book? Did Starbucks really become successful because of their coffee or was it the great experience people had… lounging around on comfy couches or being able to order their own customized version of what can only loosely be called a cup of coffee? Did you buy that last business book because of the content or because two or three people found it impacted them in a positive fashion?

According to Economy Watch one of the leading successful characteristics amongst industry leaders is brand awareness.  They explain that the brands of industry leaders are requested more often because of their acceptance and popularity.  In other words, there is a belief that these products or service will better fulfill their customers needs. While certainly some of this brand support comes from advertising channels, think about your own buying habits.  Aren’t your most powerful influences coming from what OTHERS have to say about their experience with that product or brand?

Believe me if there is an area where most people miss a big and inexpensive marketing opportunity it’s finding ways to WOW their customers.  So why not spend some time asking yourself,

“What can we do in the next year to be EXCEPTIONAL?”

  • Start by asking your customers where they feel you could improve or, if they ran your company, what changes would they incorporate to take it to #1?
  • Look for more ways to thank your customers and show your appreciation.
  • Enhance your communication strategy to stay in better contact long term with your customers even after you finish servicing their needs.
  • Look for ways to hone your offerings to provide a better and unique experience.
  • Look for ways to pleasantly surprise your customers.  In other words, what can you do to OVERDELIVER and then OVERDELIVER again?
  • Have another look at your competitors and other innovators in your industry and grade yourself against what they are doing?
  • Look outside your industry for something truly creative?
  • Bone up on books or blogs about enhancing the customer experience.

You can see there are a myriad of activities you can do to pull yourself and your company out of settling for “just average.”  Even if you were to focus on incorporating one improvement every quarter you would be well on your way to that number 1 spot.  The challenge you need to put forward to yourself is am I willing to take a few steps towards excellence starting now?

After all…

“The most splendid achievement of all is the constant striving to surpass yourself and to be worthy of your own approval.”

Denis Waitley

 

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todo_courtneyriancom

10 Effective Ways To Use 1 Piece of Content

by Cidnee Stephen on September 30, 2011

This article is meant to be a hands-on exercise. Why? Chances are you already know that you need to be submitting more content into the marketplace to grow your business, but you find this thought overwhelming. So I have a challenge for you, here today.  Take one piece of content you have already created (this can be stats in your industry, a newsletter article, blog post, case study, etc.) and ACTION each step below as you read them.

Step One – Let’s start with an easy one. Put it up on your website. Make sure you have some common search terms in there so Google can index it and increase your relevance for these terms.

Step Two – Send it out in your newsletter. Don’t have a newsletter? Set one up now. Constant Contact offers a free 30 day Trial and has templates pre-built.

Step Three – Post it on your blog.  Don’t have a blog?  Set one up now. WordPress is by far the leading blog software and will allow you to set one up for free in 5 minutes. You can also get some help and have it integrate right into your site.

Step Four – Submit it your industry or regional publications and to the media. Don’t have a list of relevant publications or media contacts? Call up your library and ask them if they carry a recent copy of the Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media or if they have a local list of such publications (if your focus is the local market). Gale Directories cover media and publication listings all over the world. See if the library can create a list otherwise make time now in your calendar to go down there and compile the list yourself.

Step Five – Submit it to online article sites like www.ezinearticles.com. It’s free to sign up and takes only minutes to submit and link the article back to your site.

Step Six – Take out 5 – 10 little one sentence snippets and create small posts. Post these snippets on Facebook and/or your Facebook Business Page, Twitter, Linked In and Google +. If you don’t have any of these of profiles, set them up.  If you want to make posting to these sites easy, set up a tool such as HootSuite (again free) to submit posts to all your social media sites in one click of a button.

Step Seven – Insert into a Word File titled “MY Book” or “MY e-Book” or “Another great free report”. Place it into the chapter where it would belong so that over time you have created a larger publication and also so you start to put themes around future content (to fill in blanks).

Step Eight – Create an online Ad – This could be on a Chamber online newsletter, Google, Linked In or Facebook.  Link back to the article on your site and have a call to action at the top and the bottom such as subscribing to your Free Tips or a Free Assessment or a trial product or service.  Set it up for one week only and put a small budget on it like $40 – $50 and then watch the traffic to your site and measure results.

Step Nine – Send it out in the mail to prospects.  Include a nice introductory letter outlining your interest in servicing business like theirs, a special offer and this very helpful article. Don’t have a mailing list? Try InfoCanada or InfoUSA and create one today. Dun and Bradstreet also has great lists.

Step Ten – Use it at your next live event (networking, tradeshow, sales presentation). Think of it as a large business card and include your contact details and a call to action on the back.

Content is valuable.  It takes you time to create and is designed to help both your present and future customers.  Make sure you take advantage of ALL the avenues available to you or you aren’t marketing as effectively as you can.

(Photo Credit: Courtney Dirks)

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google

5 Business Reasons to Be on Google+

by Cidnee Stephen on August 16, 2011

Early adopters are showing enough cautious optimism that it’s time you become aware of what all the hype is about with Google+, that’s if you aren’t already “building circles” and “hanging out.”

If you think “Why? It’s less than a month old. How big can it be?”

You need to know that in its tiny life span it has already exceeded 20 million users (something that took both Facebook & Twitter 3 years to do). That means Google+ might be the newest entry in the social media ring, but it’s definitely in the “heavyweight” division. It has created a platform that quite frankly melds the worlds of Facebook, Twitter, and Skype.

So why would a business look to jump on the Google+ bandwagon?

Reason #1 – It’s another place to claim your online real estate. If you haven’t already, you should start by setting up a Gmail account and then your personal Google Profile and make it public. If you have one and it’s private, Google may have already deleted it. Not only does Google+ revolve around your Google profile, but once you set it up, it will probably rank at the top of the first page of Google with links to your site, blog, etc. How great is that!

Make sure to fill your profile out with a ton of valuable information about you and your company. By the way, at this point Google+ is set up to work with People profiles only…their business version of this tool is expected to hit later this year, so you need to start by creating a personal profile first.

Reason #2 – Getting in early makes it easy for people to find you. When you launch Google+ you will see that it immediately lists a ton of possible people you might know and within seconds you can drag and drop them into groups called “Circles.” These mean you can segregate and communicate with different sets of contacts from Family, Friends, Co-Workers, Acquaintances, etc. If you join late and people don’t see you or can’t find you, you’re going to be the one doing all the legwork to find them later on. Right now, Google+ has made connecting with contacts even easier in that you can upload contacts – up to a 100 at a time per day. 

Reason #3 – It’s a haven of business minded individuals. Google+ is attracting an incredibly high percentage of business people and entrepreneurs. This makes it a great arena for B2B companies and for online networking. I certainly don’t just mean small business owners either. I was immediately able to connect with the likes of Michael Dell and Mark Zuckerberg (Not surprisingly, he isn’t saying much, not to mention that Google+ hasn’t started to verify famous profiles so who knows if it’s really him). Unlike Facebook where you have to put out a friend request and then be accepted, Google+ works more like Twitter, where you can add anybody to your Circles. When that person provides updates, they can choose if they want the world to see it or only certain circles. So it’s a nicely structured online networking haven.

Reason #4 – Your Own FREE Virtual Soapbox and Meeting Space – Google+has a function called a Hangout. It’s got some glitches, so you will definitely want to have a test run before you get too carried away with this. But let’s say you want to share a concept about your business (think webinar) – you can start a hangout and either invite people in your circle or publicly. You can only have 10 people on a hangout at any time, but it’s free and it is video chat. Talk about an inexpensive conference call tool.

You can also use it for meetings with collaborators or to present to prospect. It’s not perfect yet, so be careful on the importance of the presentation, would hate to rely on it for a million dollar deal just yet!

Reason #5 – MOST IMPORTANTLY – It can drive a ton of traffic to your site – Since joining Google+, John was saying he’s astounded with the amount of traffic it’s bringing to the Duct Tape Marketing site. Ventureweb.com noted that 67 percent of its online referrals came via Google Plus in one day. The beautiful thing about this is it’s free! Of course it doesn’t just happen. You need to be active on Google+ in terms of posting, and following people and adding them in your circles to see the results.

So I hope if you are completely new to Google+, I have convinced you to a least take a look at it, and for those of you heavily entrenched, I look forward to connecting and hearing about your discoveries.

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Does Your Marketing Lack Personality?

by Cidnee Stephen on June 28, 2011

Official logo of Knorr.

Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes we get so caught up in following the rules with marketing that we forget its entertainment value. However, with marketing becoming more community based than ever (thanks to the onslaught of social media channels), you ‘gotta’ inject some personality or you are going to have a much tougher time engaging your prospects.

Without some personality:

  • You won’t get their attention in the first place
  • They won’t forward it on or tell others
  • They will remain neutral about your product or service.

At a recent social media conference, I had the pleasure of hearing the story of Knorr’s recent Sidekicks campaign, created by Tribal DDB Canada. It’s such a great example of how a bit of personality can go a long way.

Knorr had just introduced their new Sidekicks with less sodium and wanted to take over the #1 spot in the marketplace. Tribal DDB introduced Salty – the lonely and dejected salt shaker. The ad and Salty were an instant hit, and they soon created a Facebook page for Salty’s Life and a Twitter feed as well. On Facebook alone Salty has 12,777 Likes (note: Knorr’s Facebook page has only 1,416).

Salty became such a hit that Knorr even created salt shakers of Salty and his buddy Pep. In less than 25 days the first shipment of 20,000 shakers sold out. In fact, people were selling them on eBay for $200 a set! People started launching YouTube videos of them and their Salty and Pep shakers. In fact, Salty is quite the hit on YouTube as well. Check this out.

Did Knorr achieve their goal to dominate their market? Yes. Did they end up creating enormous buzz for the product? Yes. Heck, they even created a new income stream (Salt & Pepper shakers). Just because of a little bit (okay a lot) of personality.

Sure, as small businesses, we might not be able to go to this extreme, but personality still plays an important point. One small company I know simply played with his Facebook ad. His first ad, presented his product in a serious tone and got a decent number of click-throughs, but when he added a fluffy kitten and some fun to his business page, his results tripled and his leads became way more engaged with his company.

Marketing should be about having some fun. Enjoy it and make it enjoyable for your prospects, too.

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The Customer is Always Right, but the Client, Not Necessarily

by Tim Berry on March 17, 2011

Yesterday morning I discovered Econsultancy’s The five clients you should avoid like the plague, which rings true to me.

Particularly this part, from the introduction:

One of the lessons learned through experience: profitability often has a lot more to do with avoiding the wrong clients than it does finding a never-ending stream of new clients.

Frankly, I don’t know that I’d go that far. But these lists of types are fun, and even though it’s been years since I’ve been doing this kind of consulting, I definitely recognize all five types. If you’ve survived in the expert business for any time at all, you’ll be able to spot these. See what you think:

  • The fisherman.
  • The mime artist. This one was a bit less obvious for me, but when you read this quote: “communication is a crucial part of any client relationship,” it’s very clear.
  • The deluded. That’s “the client who wants you to build a site that will combine the features of Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, Napster and every other popular site ever built since 1998…”
  • The spouse. They “expect a little bit too much. You probably have some experience with these clients: they send emails for the sake of sending emails, like to phone you a few times a day just to see how things are going, and want you to meet frequently on-site because they ‘like’ interaction.” (Hey, we’re giving spouses a bad name here. If I were the author’s spouse I’d be mad. I’d rename this type the clinger, or something like that.)
  • The cheapskate.

This list reminds me of something I heard a couple of years ago, I forget where, that struck me as very wise. It came up in the context of professional expert businesses:

The customer might be always right, but the client isn’t.

(Tip of the hat to Duct Tape Marketing for this one.)

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Watch Your Reviews–or Else!

by Tim Berry on September 8, 2010

True, good reviews are a very powerful marketing tool, and the new web makes them more accessible to entrepreneurs everywhere. Try any of the major search engines or any of the major mapping tools, search for a business–and watch the stars pop up. It’s cool, a great advantage to the user, customer and prospective customer, and potentially a nice marketing tool for all. But there are problems in that world, too. It’s not all fun and games.

For a good review of how to deal with reviews, I suggest three good posts on the subject by John Jantsch on his Duct Tape Marketing blog, in this order:

  1. First, from last February: “5 Ways to Rock Customer Review Sites”
  2. A follow-up post, from just a couple of weeks ago: “5 Ways to Get Rockin Reviews”
  3. And this one, about dealing with bad reviews: “Your Pizza Sucks And …”

A good reminder about what not to do came up recently with news of a PR firm getting caught seeding Apple’s iTunes store with fake reviews. John has some good advice for you on how to influence reviews without crossing ethical lines. And I want to add that trying to fake things is very dangerous in the long run. Not just ethically dangerous, but business dangerous, too. If you do a good analysis of the risks and rewards, what you lose in reputation when you get caught faking reviews is much worse than what you gain by doing it.

It’s a new world. If you’re marketing to consumers, don’t ignore review sites and reviews. Do it right.

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$20K Open Business Plan Contest Closes Soon

by Tim Berry on August 10, 2010

Yes, you could win good money and travel benefits, but you have to get your act together soon. Entries close August 20. Click here to enter.

This is the Marriott’s Fairfield Inn & Suites $20,000 Small Business Challenge, which is, apparently, exactly what the headline suggests: a chance to win some money, plus some travel benefits, for your business. Fairfield Challenge

I’m impressed with the judges, featuring John Jantsch, of Duct Tape Marketing, plus writers from Business Pundit and Inc Magazine, and an executive of Fairfield Suites.

It’s also an interesting competition. I like the way this goes:

We’ll select 10 small business finalists and follow them not only as they travel around the country, but also as they strive to meet their business goals. Finalists will publicly share their journey by blogging, tweeting and posting photos. Finalists will be notified by September 9, 2010 and the program kicks off on September 13, 2010.

About the Grand Prize

After three months of traveling the country and working through set business challenges, our judging panel, comprised of small business experts and Marriott International executives, will award one of the 10 finalists the grand prize of $20,000.

So good luck. I hope you do it. I hope you win.

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