The Marketing Mix | official blog of the Marketing Mentor community

Etiquette, according to Oprah (and company)

If for no other reason than her amazingly consistent brand message across media, you must bow down to Queen Oprah. I finally caught up with my magazine reading yesterday and was delighted anew at what a wonderful job she does with O, the Oprah magazine—especially when you consider how little she probably has to do with the day-to-day (or even month-to-month) running of things.

But it stands to reason: two of Oprah Winfrey's strengths are (a) having a strong point of view and (b) finding the right people who either share it personally or know it well enough to spread the word. There's greatness in many voices, and she's brilliant at tapping into that wisdom of the many.

For example, this month's issue has an article on etiquette, with a host of 'expert'  contributors—from Tim Gunn to Nora Ephron—weighing in on various sticky situations. The multiplicity of voices makes it both a fun and useful read: if I don't like Nora's advice, I may like how she gives it, and there's someone else to offer up what may be less pithy but more pertinent-to-me advice. (Abbreviated version of the article online, here.)

It reminded me of an article on business etiquette that Ilise contributed to a month or so ago (here, at The Creative Group). It, too, is chock full of great tips on how to deal with sticky situations, and if one person's advice doesn't float your boat, there's always another way to go.

Although personally, I can't imagine Ilise giving advice that's anything but perfect :-)

Conquer phone fear

Q: I have a question that I have not seen addressed.

When I call somebody I do not know, or don't know very well, I get a little nervous and tend to talk too fast and gabble. The impression is less than professional (blathering idiot?), things I say are sometimes missed or misinterpreted, and usually a conversation does not develop. Useful tips?

—Judith Airey, Trenchant Web

A: The key is preparation.

There is nothing better than being prepared to make phone calls, whether it’s one tricky call or several calls of the same type.

Always carry cards!

I used to joke that everyone should bring their business cards everywhere they go, even when walking the dog. And today, a Marketing Mentor client, Heather Duggal-Wright, of Studio QED in Palo Alto, CA, told me about a new prospect they met, yes, while walking the dog. It's a neighbor who happens to be the VP of a company that needs their design services. You see -- you never know!

Do you have any crazy stories about where your clients and prospects have come from?

Giving thanks for good tips

I came across the website of the generous Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and it struck me that it was a perfect resource to share on this semi-official first day of the season of giving.

Have you found any resources that you've found especially helpful? Share them in the comments, and we'll start a collection of collaborative "Thanksgiving" links here on the site.

Thanks!

Referral etiquette

Question from a client: Can you ask for a referral from someone you never worked with?

The short answer to your question is yes, you can certainly ask for a referral from someone you haven't actually worked with. In fact, Peleg says most of the people who spontaneously pass his name along have never been actual clients. If you've been communicating with them over time, they probably have a strong sense of your work and you as a business person. You may however, want to finesse the language a bit. For example, you can ask them to pass your name along rather than cough up names of actual prospects.

Getting more for your networking dollar

From a networking standpoint, conferences that last a few days are much better than a luncheon or even a full day seminar. Not only do you get to meet people, but you get to spend a little time getting to know them -- and letting them get to know you. That’s what happened earlier this month for at the AWAI Fast Track to Success Copywriting Bootcamp.

Smart folks took advantage of the time in between speaker sessions (and there was plenty of it) to hang out in the lobby and bar area, making connections, getting to know each other, chatting about what they liked and didn’t like –- you know, just shooting the breeze. In fact, that’s what networking is: just shooting the breeze.

That’s also why going back from one year to the next is useful; you have an opportunity to solidify relationships that may have been tissue paper thin last year. At least, that was my experience. Last year I met several new people; but when I saw them again, we already had a bit of a foundation established and I was much more comfortable to let it all hang out.

So when it's time to choose which events to attend, consider how much time you’ll have to get to know people. It costs more to spend more time, but it’s a much better investment of both your time and your money.

Does your medium work for your message?

Like most of us doing business these days, I'm a big fan of the PDF. They're quick, fast and, if you're obsessed with slapping your logo on everything (fax cover sheets! invoices! estimates!), they're a cheap way to brand in four-color.

But sending everything electronically has a downside, too. I've noticed that emailed invoices tend to get 'lost' more often than snail-mailed ones. And then there's the sheer joy of getting mail: the postcard I got from Peleg while he and Ilise were doing AWAI in Florida made my week. Pretty as my PDFs are, I might have to take a look at doing more postcarding and mailing, especially with the holidays coming up.

After all, it's hard to send chocolate via email.

Related post: Go online to send postcards

Connect more easily with postcards

Here's a great resource we learned about from Roger C. Parker (author of Design to Sell), at the AWAI Bootcamp last week: amazingmail.com is a direct mail service that allows you to print and send personalized postcards. Send one card or one thousand. All you do is create the design, add your message, select the address and submit for mailing the next business day.

Ten Second Tip: Unstick yourself

I'm a huge fan of what I call "mind jogs": tools that serve as 'hacks' to stimulate creative thinking and get me out of my rut. I even keep a folder full of them on my browser toolbar (like the online version of The Creative Whack Pack, a wiki with one guy's summaries of great books he's read and NOTCOT.org, a really visual site chock full of great, current design coolios).

Add to that the Concept Trigger from AdCracker. It's a (free) collection of illustrated quotes on branding and marketing collected from consumers all over the world, collated and Flash-i-fied by Steve McNamara, publisher of an interesting item called AdCracker CD.

Worth a spin if you find yourself stuck. (Via Colin Brands's Building Brands newsletter.)

Ilise's Corner: Email Hijacking

A couple of weeks ago, in a comment on my post about pitching, Helena in Finland asked if she could use the email addresses she finds in the 'cc:' field of a friend's forwarded joke to promote her business. Since it's a question that comes up from time to time, I thought I'd talk about it here.

It is absolutely not appropriate to hijack email addresses just because they are there. If you want to use the addresses you find through someone else’s message, you must first ask permission of the person whose list it was if you can reach out to their list.

Then and only then can you send to those people.  When you do, you should send a personalized message to each one – not a bulk email message – and begin by telling them how you got their email address. Then go on to describe (briefly and concisely) what you do and what your request of them is.

Here is an example:

Dear Blank, I got your name through my colleague, Jane Smith, and I am writing in the hopes that you will be interested in my business.

Here’s what I do: (spell out how you help people).

If that is of interest to you, please reply to this message and I will forward additional details. Or, you can find those details on the web here: (insert your web address).

I do hope we can do business together at some point.

Optimistically,  blah blah blah...

Hope this answers the question!