Just a quick note in case you're involved in any way, shape or form with website design (yours or anyone else's):
When you code a website to automatically resize my web browser window to accommodate your site, it sends the message that your site is far more important than my own personal preferences.
And are you really, absolutely sure that this is a message you want to send to your site users? If you're an ultra luxury goods brand, of course, then perhaps that message isn't so far-fetched. But if you're trying to establish a little rapport with your visitor, trying to strengthen a relationship and build loyalty, taking control of my computer just to showcase your site isn't the best way to do it.
Trying to find the perfect marketing resolution for 2008? Try any of the ideas below to strengthen and grow your business through the coming year. Some of these ideas are simple to implement, while others may require investing a bit of effort and even money. But investment is all about ROI; everything on this list offers at least one significant benefit for organizations of any size.
Words of warning! Not all of these techniques may be right for your business, and almost all of them will be far more effective if you hire the right professional to help. And while that may sound like just a little bit of a pitch, it's also very true.
Brand Builders:
Create or update your logo Benefit: Creates an immediate visual connection with prospects and customers. Sums you up at a glance.
Create or update your identity collateral Benefit: Sends the message that you're a legitimate, professional business. Unifies your brand image.
Define your core values Benefit: Focuses your business, aids in decision making and strategic planning, and provides customers a point of connection.
Write a blog Benefit: Develops a consistent voice for your company.
Issue a press release Benefit: Enhances reputation, increases company exposure to the public.
Update your packaging Benefit: Creates a cohesive look and association with your company. Can also increase sales.
Create a marketing budget and feed that kitty Benefit: Enables you to actually afford to market your business, saves headaches when it comes time to implement your marketing plans.
Relationship Builders
Start an email newsletter Benefit: Keeps your business front-of-mind, educates prospects and customers about your company and offerings, opens the lines of communication between your business and your audience.
Network off-line Benefit: Creates real-world connections with prospects.
Network online (in forums, user groups, and on blogs) Benefit: Increases public awareness. Builds online connections and resources.
Conduct a survey with a prize drawing Benefit: Opens the lines of communication with your audience, solicits useful information for strategic planning, builds goodwill.
Offer something useful (product sample, e-book, white paper, etc.) for free Benefit: Builds goodwill, creates demand, engages prospects.
Write your policies down—all of them (if you don't have specific policies, create them) Benefit: Minimizes mistakes, creates a clear framework for customers to work within.
Sales Builders
Build/update your website Benefit: Too many to list! Strengthens reputation, builds legitimacy, informs prospects, offers customer support, increases sales (particularly with shopping cart functionality).
Conduct a highly targeted direct mail campaign Benefit: Reaches only those who are prequalified to buy from you.
Exhibit at a trade show Benefit: Puts you in direct contact with those who want your product or service; personalizes the business.
Solicit referrals from current customers Benefit: Leverages your current customers, automatically establishes trust with prospects.
Explore a new demographic Benefit: Expands your market reach.
Run a print ad in a consumer or trade publication Benefit: Reach a large audience in one shot.
Design an easy-to-use product catalog or service brochure Benefit: Informs prospects and encourages direct sales.
Do you have ideas of your own that can be added to this list? Post them in the comments below and I'll add them as they come.
Ike Turner died a couple of days ago. When you think of Ike, I bet you think immediately of Tina. And how he hit her. And all that cocaine he did. But Ike Turner also played an integral role in the history of rock 'n' roll, funk, r 'n' b, soul and blues. His guitar, his ear, and his writing all shaped American music. "Rocket 88" came from him and his band.
Despite his musical contributions—well recognized by any professional musician around—Ike's reputation hangs static thanks to his abusive behavior. They made a movie about it, and his ex-wife wrote about it. No matter how much he tried to dismiss it or overwrite it, it's the image the general public keeps coming back to. It's just too heavy to forget, and he was so cavalier about it we don't have any inclination to.
Doing drugs and smacking people around aren't the only ways to destroy the positive work we do, though. A rude comment, or a refusal to cooperate, or a simple mistake gone unnoticed are all it might take. People are quicker to judge than to forgive these days and with the immediacy of our current market, it's unlikely that they'll give us a chance to fix things if they feel we've screwed them over. That is, if they even let us know how they feel (most customers don't bother complaining, they just go elsewhere).
I love Ike Turner's music. It was a backbone. Ike and Tina together were a force (of course, she'd be a forced even if backed by Lawrence Welk). I remember my dad playing "Nutbush City Limits" from a cassette I still have that hisses from being played too much, with that guitar stomping out of the speakers. It was unreal. But Ike screwed up bad, and he was so unapologetic about it that, as Rob Walker laments, his screw-up may forever overshadow his pioneering work.
No matter the talent, no one is perfect—in their personal life or in business—but I'd like to think that how we face our imperfections can be almost as powerful as what we do in the first place.
Ever heard of Seth Godin? He's a prolific blogger, author and all-around marketing guru. He also probably gets hundreds of emails a day from folks commenting on his blog, asking him questions, seeking advice, and generally vying for his attention. At a time when influential personalities take public offense to publicity efforts, how do you get through to someone like that?
I'll tell you how I did it: I emailed him.
While reading his blog post encouraging marketers to reveal truths rather than hide them, I immediately thought of my own reaction to Pennsylvania's recent ban of "growth hormone-free" labels on dairy products. What a perfect illustration of what he's talking about, I thought. I also thought that if he were to mention the ban on his blog, it would get a lot more attention than my little diatribe ever could.
So I sent him an email about my post, and he promptly linked to it from his own. The result was a spike in visitors to Blog! numbering in the thousands (they're still flowing in), as well as rss subscriptions. Given what I assume to be a huge volume of email coming into Seth's inbox from everyone and their brother, I certainly didn't expect a linkback; at best, I hoped he would be as interested in the story as I was and mention it on his blog.
The key to success? I kept my email simple, honest, and relevant.
Simple. My email was short and sweet: I briefly introduced myself and explained my reason for writing. I didn't reference my own blog post until the end of the email, and then I signed off. The entire email was less than 200 words.
Honest. My intention was never to get Seth to link to me. My intention was to get eyeballs on the issue of the Pennsylvania ban on "rBST-free" labeling, and I told him as much. I included a link to my post so he could read my own take if he so chose. Happily for me, he did.
Relevant. My email to Seth was right after he posted his "Conceal vs. Reveal" entry, and it referenced a story that was a direct illustration of his point. More importantly, because I'm a regular reader of his blog, I know that he values fairness and consumer respect—values that played a big part in this particular story. I come across things every day that would probably interest this guy, but I knew that this one in particular was exactly suited to what was just on his mind.
By sending a personal note rather than a generic "you might like this blog entry I wrote," I got what I wanted: Seth Godin made a whole lot of people aware of a dangerous legal precedent. The link to my own site was simply icing on the cake.
Last night The Captain and I thought we'd watch a Netflix movie, but as soon as we slid American Hardcore out of its envelope, we knew it wasn't going to happen. The movie was so scratched and worn there was no way our DVD player would even recognize it. Luckily for us, we had other options; we ended up watching the very weird but strangely captivating Thumbsucker instead. But what of our first choice, which we'd been dying to see since it was released?
Rather than go through an arduous process of filling out a return form, getting authorization, and waiting on a replacement which may or may not suffer the same fate of the first, Netflix has a system that removes all possibility of further disappointment. It's brilliant in its simplicity.
All we did was hop online and indicate the disc was damaged. Today, a replacement is being mailed to us; Netflix doesn't even wait for the damaged disc to be returned. But the crowning glory of their solution to what has to be a common problem is this: the disc they are sending out is brand-spanking new. This means that there is zero chance we'll have the same problem happen twice, a calamity that may not destroy our relationship with the company but would certainly annoy the hell out of us.
Of course, it would be wonderful if quality control at the warehouses were such that they could catch every scratched disc before it ever went out in the first place. But I suspect that checking the playability of each of hundreds of thousands of DVDs before mailing would undermine one of the main draws of Netflix: quick turnaround. Instead, they make damn sure that a minor, once-in-a-while inconvenience never has a chance to blow up into an all-out pain in the butt. They solve the big problem before it ever happens. Smart move.
What can you do to think ahead and make sure the inevitable mistakes that happen to all of us now and then don't come back to haunt you forever?
What influences a drinker more than any advertising or promotion when it comes to buying drinks in bars? Their bartender, of course! This earth-shattering revelation comes from a recent survey by the Adult Beverage Insights Group. And although it may seem screamingly obvious to many of us, the fact is that too many bar owners overlook the selling power of their own human capital.
So how can an owner help his or her bartender sell more? Stop stocking crap, for one thing. Quality tools allow the bartender to do a quality job; and when a bartender is proud of the drinks s/he's mixing, s/he'll be more likely to get the customer excited about it, too.
The other—and most important—way to help your bartender sell more and up is to give them the information they need to sell product. The survey's respondents support this idea that "familiarity and product knowledge are key influencers in what they sell at the bar." That means training them on proper mixing techniques, setting up regular tastings, and getting them involved in menu creation.
Sadly, there was one thing this study revealed that sent a chill down my spine: it turns out that a lot of bartenders actuallyprefer working with "fewer ingredients and convenient mixers." But perhaps this is less of an indication of laziness, and more of a cry for help. Maybe with a little extra training and exposure to higher standards, these bartenders will learn to appreciate the joy of freshly squeezed juices and carefully prepped garnishes.
A recent study shows that rude waiters are the number one cause of customer dissatisfaction among guests when dining out. And as I wrote in the Restaurant Report's recent email newsletter, the number one way to improve service at your establishment is to empower your staff and encourage them to share a stake in the success of your restaurant. Doing so takes time, effort and a lot of training, but the results are happy customers who return again and again.
Yesterday I was pointed to a press release issued by Catalyst Papers, a Canadian paper company who seems to be taking their environmental impact quite seriously. Since the paper and pulp industry is the 3rd largest industrial polluter in North America (or is it the U.S., will have to check on that), it's fantastic to see larger companies commit to reducing their impact and offsetting the difference. Catalyst's news release was about Rolling Stone magazine's use of one of their papers. The release, however, featured a very misleading statement:
"Catalyst Cooled paper is manufactured carbon-neutral, which means during its production it adds no carbon dioxide to the environment... Catalyst was able to support the Rolling Stone initiative by...offsetting the few remaining direct emissions through a carefully chosen ecosystem restoration project."
I sent an email to Catalyst's press contact published with the release. In it, I explained that the definition of carbon neutral does not mean that no CO2 is added to the environment, but that any CO2 emitted is offset in some way. This is a significant difference, as the press release makes it sound like Catalyst's paper production is totally clean. It's not—and they reveal this contradiction by admitting that they do, in fact emit CO2 that they then offset.
The response I got (from someone else entirely) reveals a lot about how the company handles their green marketing. The email I got back was certainly prompt, but this was what it said:
Thank you for your interest in our company, and for your comments on the Catalyst Cooled paper news release. I have attached a fact sheet that may help clarify our approach to carbon neutrality.
Thanks,
That's it, in it's entirety. And the "fact" sheet? It describes how Catalyst defines carbon neutrality, which is a definition much different from what most would consider accurate. Catalyst spends untold amounts of money reducing emissions and offsetting those they do produce, but they completely undermine their efforts by greenwashing their marketing. This is not a small thing; they are positioning themselves to appeal to the very market who would be offended by such actions. If they're not honest with me in their marketing materials, how can I trust that they'll be honest with me in our business dealings?
There is another problem with Catalyst's response beyond redefining terms to suit their needs. My original email was six paragraphs long, and I took great care to provide a detailed and researched explanation of my dissatisfaction. I also closed with a direct question: "Can you please explain how a company that has claimed as much of a commitment to environmental stewardship as Catalyst has, can then disseminate such false information to the public?"
Their response not only ignored my question outright, but the company threw a "fact sheet" at me that also ignored my question, expecting me to do even more work to change my own mind. Now that's the perfect example of a company that doesn't care what its customers think. If a customer complains to you, or asks for an explanation of a policy they take issue with, you need to address it directly and honestly. A "Thanks for writing" just doesn't cut it and, in fact, makes the situation much worse. Consumers expect more from businesses these days, and the ones that recognize this are the ones who will succeed.
