The Marketing Mix | official blog of the Marketing Mentor community

Mailing list marketing made (a little) simpler

As a gigantic nerd, I have a profound weakness for mailing lists. I'm forever signing up for Yahoo! groups, listservs and other virtual correspondence groups.

While they run the gamut from design business to employment issues to woo-woo practices, they have one thing in common: me. On every list where I read and post, I'm presenting myself to a whole bunch of people who don't know me from Adam, but who are forming an opinion of me by what I respond to and how I do it.

With rare exceptions, I'm not a fan of explicit marketing on lists. But the reality is that when I respond to a question in my area of expertise, I'm marketing myself. So are you. So is everyone.

And so, in my roles as both participant and observer, here's what I've seen works--and doesn't--when posting/replying to mailing lists.

1. Know the difference between facts and opinions and make it clear which you're offering.

I've seen raging flame wars start because of the way information is delivered.

Unless you are a trained mental health care professional, that "information" you're offering on how to treat co-workers/clients/vendors/kids/etc. is your opinion, not fact. Even then, you're on shaky ground.

It's fine to offer advice in the form of stories and opinion, as long as you serve it up that way. You really cannot be clear enough or humble enough when doing this. If you're unclear, stick to information. As in, "I've used this vendor and they offer these six products."

A related bugaboo is...

2. Watch your tone

It is very, very easy to come off as a jerk on a list. And once you're tarred with that brush, good luck getting anyone to pay serious attention to anything you say.

Bend over backwards to be gracious and polite. Take excruciating pains with your posts until you're sure you've got the tone thing down. Even then, if it's a hot topic, take extra care. Or don't post. Someone else will, trust me.

3. Be judicious in your use of email signatures

While a tasteful URL can work in your favor, the whole Ringling Bros. Circus of crap--offers, taglines, newsletter/blog links, etc--can make you look like the online equivalent of a used car salesman (with all due respect to the TASTEFUL used car salespeople.)

Remember, if you are even a little bit active, people are seeing that sig over and over. That biiiiig sig. Less really is more--as little as you can get away with, I think. (Oh--and this is an opinion, by the way!)

4. Offer incredibly useful information consistently

This should be a modus operandi, period, but it's really important on lists, where people only know you from the words you're sharing.

Be generous. Do it often. It will work for you.

This brings us to the final point...

5. Mailing list "marketing" is for the long haul

It's fine to meet people on this list. It's great when they turn into clients, or people who send clients your way. But the primary objective of most mailing lists is to share useful information. If your content is good enough, long enough, your stock will rise. Period.

If you can't look at a particular list that way, probably best to limit your exposure on it. Lurk and gain information. Over a long haul, see whose posts you like reading and whose ignore (or worse, that you read for a laugh of the not-so-nice kind.)

What have you learned from being on mailing lists? Have you begun any interesting relationships from your involvement with one?

5 ways to make time for marketing

Time continues to accelerate, with no signs of slowing or stopping. It's hard enough to keep up with the things you must do; when the crunch is on (and really, when is it not?), how do you find the time to handle the so-called lower-priority stuff: the promotion and marketing and suchlike that never seems to present itself with the kind of urgency your other "fires" do?

I say it's time to look at marketing differently. Slice it small and think creatively: can you steal a minute or two to call a client whose name pops in your head on the way from the grocery store line to your car? How about forwarding a cool link you stumble upon, or posting it to your del.icio.us, your Stumbles or your own blog/website?

Here are five quick "marketing" tricks to keep a hand in:

1. Send a postcard.

I keep a variety of them (and small notecards) on hand for this purpose. People love getting mail, and a short note is a nice, simple way to keep in touch...for both of you!

2. Post to your Twitter.

What's Twitter, you ask? It's enforced short communication: a combination of mini-blog and social networking. (Here's mine, so you can get the general idea.) You get 140 characters to say something--that's it! Good discipline, great way to stay in touch.

3. Call right now.

The best time to call someone is often when you're thinking of them. Yes, it happens at odd times. If they're too odd, call yourself and leave a message to call them at an appropriate time the next day. Sure, it counts: like your client/contact/friend is going to know they popped in your head at 11pm instead of 2pm?

4. Forward a link.

Sending an email is marketing? Yes, if contains content that's useful to the other party. We all spend time surfing, catching up on blogs--all kinds of online stuff. When you find something cool, forward it on with a little message. Yes, right then. Or save it to your drafts folder if you don't want people to know your surfing habits. 

5. Visit a favorite marketing blog and leave a comment.

Remember: you don't have to blog to get into social media. And look--you're on a blog right now. With enabled comments! Don't forget to leave your URL. And to add something useful to the conversation.

Like...other ideas for quickie marketing?

2 parts to a testimonial

Testimonials are great marketing tools because your prospects are more likely to trust what others say about you than what you say about yourself.

Often, after I do the free consultation with someone who's interested in the Marketing Mentor programs, they'll say, "I think I'll take a look at your testimonials page." So I'm glad I have gathered those comments from happy clients over the years.

One challenge when soliciting testimonials, however, is that some people or companies may not want their name or company name used in your promotional efforts. Sometimes the reasons are legal, sometimes purely personal. No matter.

But don't despair. Just because they don't want their name used doesn't necessarily mean you can't use their comment.

Because testimonials are made up of 2 things: what is said and who says it. Having both is great, especially if the "who" carries weight in the minds of your prospects. But sometimes one without the other is enough. You can use initials to identify or descriptions to clarify.

What do you think? If you were reading testimonials for a service you were considering, how important is the name and company name?

How to guarantee I won't write (favorably) about your product, service or message

I'll be the first to admit I'm a sucker for a good pitch. Probably a mistake, given I administer several blogs and write an advice column for actors (a.k.a. the Neediest People on Earth), but it's true: if you have a good story or question and I'm not swamped, I'll probably help you out. I enjoy being useful!

On the other hand, if you hit me up with a lame pitch--or worse, a lame pitch attached to a loser cover letter--look out, for you deserve no mercy.

I mean, really: you are sending out a pitch for advertising on people's appendages. Some part of you (no pun intended) has to realize this makes you at least a target for mockery, if not an outright idiot. On top of that, you don't even bother to customize the message? (Or, more likely, cough up enough to find decent outsourced help.)

Actual first paragraph of the query:

I found your site http://www.marketingmixblog.com/ and I wanted to know if you could Blog or write an article about how advertiser are now looking at your skin in a whole new way! You can write your own article; alternatively you may use this recent press release below. You also take a look at the [redacted product name] samples and information on our site at [redacted]. Thanks!

I don't know what I'm more impressed with: the terrioutstandingly creative pitch or the equally creative use of mail merge to customize the query.

But the best part of the email came at the end:

NOTE: INFORMATION IN THIS E-MAIL AND ANY ATTACHMENTS IS CONFIDENTIAL,  AND MAY NOT BE COPIED OR USED BY ANYONE OTHER THAN THE ADDRESSEE, NOR DISCLOSED TO ANY THIRD PARTY WITHOUT OUR PERMISSION.

Because there's nothing like telling me to quote you...without quoting you!

What's the worst pitch you ever got? Do you save them for a good laugh (or rant)?

The tyranny of busy-ness

"I've always been busy but I've never felt like a fire alarm is going off, like I do now."

That's what a client said to me last week and I knew exactly what she meant.

We all seem to be working fast and furiously, there's way too much to do and everything is an emergency. Why is that?

Has it always been like this or is it a recent development?

How do you slow it down?

Any ideas or thoughts would be most helpful to all of us, I'm sure.

Five essential tools for creating your marketing machine

Yesterday, Peleg and I gave the second in a series of 4 webinars on Growing Your Business From Your Desktop.

This one covered the 5 best marketing tools you can use to create your own Marketing Machine, which is basically the system that will keep your pipeline full of prospects, rain or shine, and ultimately prevent the "feast or famine syndrome."

Those 5 tools are: Networking, Cold Calling, Email Marketing, A Marketing-Smart Web Site and Promotional Materials and Samples. And they're the "best" because they're inexpensive and they work well together, supporting each other and creating a strong impression on your target market.

We're fleshing these ideas out in our new book, A Designer's Guide to Marketing and Pricing, (already available for pre-order from Amazon here.)

This all started with a 2006 article I wrote for HOW Magazine called (curiously) "How to Create Your Own Marketing Machine."

I'll send you a copy of that article if you email me (ilise [at] marketing-mentor [dot] com) and put "5 Tools" in the subject line.

Do you have to blog to have a presence in the blogosphere?

While searching for an article about blogging in the NY Times' (now free!) archives, I came across an equally interesting article about commenting on blogs (free registration required).

The article talks about a number of people who have become famous (well, relatively speaking) not by having their own blogs and initiating conversation, but by joining in the conversation on other people's sites.

It leads with the story of "DaShiv," a part-time wedding photographer who hit the big time (again, relatively speaking) because of prolific and excellent commenting.

It makes sense: some people are better at initiating conversation, while others excel at dissecting--the old artists vs. art critics thing. And critics aren't a bad thing, necessarily--a lot of times, they illuminate points for others of us who are a little behind in the subject.

Plus, often, they are profoundly hilarious/brilliant in their own right: the comments on salon.com articles can be as good or better than the articles themselves.

In short, if you're not blogging, maybe don't worry about it. Getting out there and just commenting is not only a great way to get the lay of the land--it can also be a great way of leaving your mark.

Any thoughts on this? Comments are open!

Do you miss peer-to-peer contact?

Last week, Peleg and I gave our new workshop, Proposals That Get You The Job, in New York to a group of 15 small business owners. (We're giving it again in LA this Monday, Oct 22 and there are a few spots left. More info here.

We covered a lot of material and the group answered lots of questions on topics that ranged from marketing to pricing. But what surprised us most -- what almost all participants said when we asked them why they had attended -- was that they craved the experience of sitting with a group of peers and discussing their business issues. In fact, one of the participants commented on how open everyone was sharing proprietary information about their prospecting and proposal process; there was no competitive feeling in the room, and that's unusual.

What about you? If you work independently, what is missing for you and how do you satisfy that craving?

Guest post: Exactly who are you LinkedIn to?

We've talked about LinkedIn here on the Marketing Mix before, but since it's a new and evolving technology, there are always new questions, techniques and protocols to be explored. Marketing Mentor's own tech wizard, Alan Seiden, isn't immune--today, he poses the perennial question...

Do you accept LinkedIn invitations from strangers?

Lately I've been getting LinkedIn invitations from people I don't know. They either don't introduce themselves at all, or say, "I saw your name on so-and-so's mailing list."

Till now, I've linked only with people I've worked with and know well. When I look at my LinkedIn connections, I see people whom I'd instantly recommend to others, and who would recommend me.

That's the way the system is supposed to work. When I accept someone's invitation, I tacitly say, "You may contact my other connections with my blessing." The opposite is also true: my connections would vouch for me. If, however, I tried to contact a connection of someone who didn't really know me, and who didn't know his other connections either, I might be wasting my time.

LinkedIn's user agreement prohibits "Using LinkedIn invitations to send messages to people who don’t know you or who are unlikely to recognize you as a known contact."

Clearly, the founders of LinkedIn would like us to limit our networks to people we know well. Should we do that--maintain a smaller list of high quality connections--or seek a larger list of questionable ones?

Also, when strangers invite you, do you try to get to know them? If so, what do you say?

In other words, could today's stranger become tomorrow's valued connection?

Colleen's note: I only add people I know, but I use the word "know" loosely--basically, people I've worked with or communicated enough with off- or online to feel comfortable recommending them to a third party. If I don't feel comfortable with an add, I email the person back, explaining my policy and asking that we keep in touch and add when we're both comfortable. So far, no one's been really offended (that I know of, anyway). So, we're back to Alan's question...what do you do? What's your personal policy?

Your prospect list is waiting for you online

One of the reasons I feel so strongly about the need to choose a target market is because it really makes your marketing easy. Once you've chosen that market, all you have to do is find a list of prospects.

And surprisingly, many of these lists are available online. I mean, they're literally sitting there waiting for you. You'd be surprised by what you can find. (I know the solopreneurs in my current Bi-Weekly Marketing Plan Group were when we did this research together last week.)

At the very least, you can find a list of company names to reach out to, like this one on the web site for the Association of Educational Publishers. If that's your market, you can either join the group and access the member directory or use this static list and do the legwork yourself to find contact information for your prospects. Either way, it's a goldmine.

But wait, there's more. If you're lucky (and many people are), you'll find a veritable bonanza of data, like the member directory for the Florida Healthcare Association which lists nursing homes and elder care facilities -- with complete contact information!

And if you can't find it yourself, your public librarian can help.

Do you have any links to prospect lists to share? We could build a treasure trove right here on this blog!