The Marketing Mix | official blog of the Marketing Mentor community

Wake up and start your marketing plan

While some were busy on Christmas Eve doing last-minute shopping, I spent a few minutes chatting with Jim Blasingame of the Small Business Advocate about this "thing" he refuses to acknowledge as a recession (and his pathological optimism) and about the tools and strategies I am recommending to my clients for 2009 -- with a subtle reference to our new, improved, upgraded and updated, Grow Your Business Marketing Plan + Calendar.

You can listen to our conversation here (you'll hear Charlie chiming in too).

Growing Your Business with Marketing: A Real-Time Experiment

We all know we should be marketing; we even know a lot about how we should go about it. But actually doing it—day after day, week after week, month after month? That’s another story.

You can’t make me market myself...

I’m not immune to “I Don’t Wanna” Disease, especially when it comes to certain aspects of it (cold research calling, I’m looking at you.) Yet I’ve never been more aware of how important it is to be out there like clockwork, with a consistent message. The stuff I managed to do well in 2008—networking, primarily, both in real-time and via social media—really helped my business. I started landing the speaking and consulting gigs I was interested in, and it’s given me hope that I can fully transition my business from one thing (primarily design) to another (primarily helping people become better communicators).

...or can you?

As many of you know, Ilise is not only one of my co-authors on the Marketing Mix: she’s also my coach, and has been for over two years. She knows me well enough by now to understand what floats my ChrisCraft: I love solving problems, creating order where there was none, and illuminating stuff along the way. So I should not have been surprised when she came up with this genius idea:

“Why don’t you do the Grow Your Business calendars out loud, as a project, here on the blog?”

Love! It! And for a whole host of reasons.

How YOU are going to help ME (and vice versa)

First and foremost, this project will provide personal accountability to keep me on track with my goals. I’ve got a business to get up and running, and I do better when I know people are looking. Sad? Maybe. But true, so I might as well get down with it.

Next, it’s right in line with my personal credo: live out loud; help other people do the same. My writing, my volunteering, my one-on-one work are all about throwing a light on something I’ve been through, to make it a little easier for the next person. I’ve got a lot of good company in the self-as-experiment department, from my friends Gretchen Rubin, Matthew Cornell and Jason & Jodi Womack to the founders of NaNoWriMo to...well, a host of famous pundits.

Finally, it’s a new project! And I’m a nerd—nerds love new projects! I’ll be seizing this golden opportunity to put up a new WordPress site under a sort-of-new imprimatur. Articles will post here every Monday through 2009, and be cross-posted to The Virgo’s Guide to Marketing. Dig it!

Aaaaand...a pitch! (Hey, it’s MARKETING, remember?)

Of course, with any luck, we’ll also sell a few calendars along the way. (Or rather, Ilise and Peleg will.) There are two, so you know: the Start-Up Plan and the Veteran’s Plan (that link again). Each takes you step-by-step through a plan that will get your marketing in place, running 24/7/365, to help you avoid “feast or famine” syndrome.

Since I’m in the unique position of being both a veteran at some things and a newbie with this consulting start-up, I’m going to be drawing on both. You can choose whichever you like, or roll your own. But I’m telling you, the calendars are great. I get nothing for saying this (other than a warm, fuzzy, Virgo feeling of righteousness), so you know I’m not shilling, here. If you'd like some hands-on kinda help, Ilise can provide that a number of ways, as well. For details, click here.

Please let me know if you’re going to play along. It’d be great to have some company. Or just stay tuned and cheer me on. (It’d be seriously great to have some cheering.)

NEXT MONDAY is STEP ONE: Getting your contact database in order!

How wrapping up a project can become a useful marketing tool

Completing a project for a client, big or small, is a perfect opportunity to engage in a marketing activity that can only make you stand out of the crowd. Ask for client feedback through a “project wrap up survey”. Whether your project went as smoothly as it could go, or had some bumps along the way, asking your client for feedback send a message that you are listening, you care and that your goal is to provide the best service possible. And that’s marketing. That will set you apart from your competitors.

The wrap up survey should be done fairly soon after the project is complete and delivered. The momentum is important. Don’t wait too long or small details may be forgotten. Ask open ended questions only, make it safe for your client to share. Here are a few examples of questions you can ask:

• Did we meet your expectations?
• Describe the experience of working with us on this project.
• How professional have you found our staff to be?
• How have you found the value of our services?
• How efficient did you find our team to be?
• What do you suggest we could have done differently?
• What areas could we improve in the future?

Your client will be happy to give you feedback if you allow for him to do so in a safe way. Sometimes building in this phase into your process can strengthen the relationship and lead to more work. Try it, your clients will thank you. I promise.

Thank you to Eddie Hofmeister, principal of Hofmeister Design, for asking the question that sparked this blog post. If you have any burning marketing, pricing or procedural questions about running your small creative business, please feel free to email us, or just leave them in the comments!

 

Guest Post: Networking, holiday style!

If there's one thing I learned first-hand this year, it's that nothing beats getting out of your own, little space and meeting people in the flesh. Not that social media isn't great! It is; it's how I found all these awesome people to meet. People like today's guest author, Dave Hardwick, whom I met online when he posted a link to my blog, communicatrix, on his blog, then met in person on my trips up to Seattle this past fall.

Dave has a few interesting things to say about meeting people, as well. Enjoy!

A major snow system or two ago, Colleen invited me to write a guest-post.

What an honor!

I was humbled!

I had NO IDEA what to write. 

 

What could the self-employed readers of a marketing blog possibly need to hear from a recruiter in the tech sector? What could I say that would even begin to be helpful? And while we're at it, why would Colleen, whom I met randomly via our blogs and then in person up in Seattle, ask me to do this, anyway?!

Then it hit me: networking! We met...via networking! We became friends...via networking! And not in the usual, stand around at an event, handing out your business cards way, but in the strange, serendipitous, bonded-over-common-interests way.

So yes, I'm going to recommend networking, but an unusual kind. A holiday kind. It goes like this:

1. Look around the homes around your home. How many of them have people inside them that you know? Have you partied with them in a while? Create a list of 10 you don't know yet (and, for safety's sake, don't go visit someone who gives you the heebie-jeebies. That little voice in your gut is not to be dismissed!
2. Go make some gingerbread or holiday-appropriate cookies (6 or 7 dozen). If you're SERIOUSLY baking challenged, either try out sugar cookies ('cause they are simple beyond belief), or brownies (ditto), or get a friend to help you, or worst case, go buy them (but then, that would miss two key parts of this lesson, frugality and giving a gift that keeps on giving).
3. Decorate them. Again, holiday appropriate for your intended audience.
4. While you're waiting for them to cool, type out the recipe on your computer and title it, "Colleen's Christmas Elf Cookies". Ha ha. Actually, put your name in place of 'Colleen'. You want them to remember you. Then print them onto 3x5 cards.
5. Put them on paper plates and wrap them in saran wrap. Or, stick them into quart- or gallon-sized Ziplocs, depending on quantity.
6. Put a bow on your cookie container of choice. Also put on a nice tag that has your name on it so they know who it came from.
7. Get your party clothes on. Warm party clothes, as appropriate.
8. Go out and deliver the goods. In person. Knock on the door, TAKE A BIG BREATH, introduce yourself, get their names, wish them a happy holiday, etc. Maybe even get into a conversation with them! My guess is that because you just handed them a recipe, they'll give you all kinds of fun lines for you to play off of. Like, "Wow, my mom used to do this." Or, "Gosh, my favorite Holiday treat is rum balls." And, "Have you ever had holiday peanut brittle?"
9. Use your wit, intelligence, and most importantly the air you breathe and talk to them.

I bet this will end up be the most holiday fun you've had in a long while. And who knows what kind of doors it may open for you in the coming year?

Should you enter competitions?

This is mostly for the visual creatives out there, but might apply in other disciplines...

I never used to think much of awards and competitions as a marketing tool, but recently I've heard several buyers of photography and design talk about how they start with award-winners when looking for new resources. The fact that someone's work received an award or was "chosen" from amongst a group provides a first filter that saves time and helps prospects and clients separate the wheat from the chaff.

And I've heard creatives talk about the work they get as a result of being featured in a 'best of show' compendium. In fact, many "big books" seem to serve that purpose, including The Big Book of Self Promotion (from HarperCollins), which we wrote the intro for and which is coming out in the Spring.

So during these quiet holidays in the office, take time to research some upcoming competitions:

• http://www.howdesign.com/competitions/
• http://www.core77.com/calendar/
• http://www.id-mag.com/designcompetitions/
• http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/competitions
• http://www.commarts.com/competitions
• http://www.dexigner.com (search for competitions, there were 131 last I checked)

And what do you think of the competitions? Is it worth the time and money you invest? If so, why? Do your clients use them?

I broke down and joined Facebook. Now what?

Last week a good friend of mine was in town from Australia for a few days. We only get to see each other about once or twice a year as pops into town on his worldwide travels. I was giving him grief for not doing a better job at keeping in touch and he said “if you were on Facebook we would always be connected”. 

I have been resisting joining Facebook for a while now. I’m not a big fan of social network sites because I don’t have the time to manage them and I don’t get what benefit they provide to my life. Earlier this year I joined Twitter and just a few days later I opted out as it was sucking away too much valuable time. Same with LinkedIn. I still haven’t figured out how to make the best use of that site. 

So when joining Facebook came up I was hesitant. But I’m an open minded kind of guy so I said to myself “Self, give this one a try”. And I did. And boy, am I glad. 

Within a few hours I got in touch with 3 long lost friends from Israel, Sweden and England. Good friends. Solid relationships that were missed. Although I tried to get in touch with these friends through traditional old fashion means (you know, phone, email) it’s been hard to pin them down. Facebook brought us back together.

I know that many people use Facebook for business networking. To me it feels like a sacred personal space. An exclusive, private area that I can nurture as much as I nurture the personal relationships in my life. Or so it feels only after being on there for less than 24 hours.  I guess time will tell. I’m curious to see who else shows up and what the connections I make here lead to. After all, connecting to people is number one marketing activity on my list. Hopefully Facebook will ease the process.

An ode to great notes

I wasn't familiar with Julia Reich's lovely holiday notecards until last year, when I received some as a gift from Ilise.

The simple, elegant designs, rendered in letterpress, which makes them feel extra-special, remind me very much of famed Washington State artist Nikki McClure's gorgeous woodcuts (I've been using her calendars for years).

Apparently, Ilise and I aren't the only big fans of Julia's work; her notecards were selected from among over 2,200 entries in STEP magazine's Reader's Choice awards competition. You can see the other entries (there are several categories, with lots of inspiring visual design) by going here, then creating an account, then browsing the entries until you see Julia's designs.

I'll warn you up front—the navigation is VERY clunky. But if you like to look at pretty, interesting things, you won't be disappointed. Plus you can do your part to bring Julia a little well-deserved publicity.

(And if you do like those Nikki McClure calendars, there's a two-fer special on them this week only through the BuyOlympia website!)

Holiday gifts for prospects?

I got a question this week from Jackson Foster of theID-entity.com. He writes:

Q: Is is appropriate to give a holiday gift (in this case a Starbucks $10 gift card) to potential clients; those I have called on but not actually received a project from yet?

A: It is definitely appropriate to give holiday gifts to prospects, especially if you really want to work with them. I'd say so in the card too. The holidays are a big-time marketing opportunity in my opinion.

Any other opinions out there?

How to keep selling when times are tough

Marketing and selling go hand in hand.

Many creatives don’t like to think of themselves as sales people but reality is – we all are. We have to sell our ideas, our services and our product. Selling is like a sport. The more you practice the better you get. And this sport can be a lot of fun because the rewards can be measures with dollars in your bank account.

I love to sell and have gotten pretty good at it over the years. But it didn’t happen overnight. It took me years of practice and education.  The education came from being out there talking to clients (and learning what not to do) and by turning to books, articles and inspiring people that taught me tools and techniques.

I’d like to share one of my favorite resources on the art (and sport) of selling.  I often turn to  “Savvy Selling” produced by Business Week and presented by Michelle Nichols. Check out one of my favorite episodes here with Olympian Ruben Gonzalez. You can hear what he learned in the Olympics and how he applies it to sales.

(Link to the podcast on Business Week's site)

Where I'll be tonight and next week

'Til I'm blue in the face, I'll just keep repeating how important in person, face-to-face networking is for strengthening relationships -- now more than ever! Come see me practicing what I preach:

TONIGHT (Thursday, 12/11) I still have free tickets available for the networking event I'm attending tonight in NY:

The last in the Taste of Technology Small Business Series: Security - Keeping Your Data Safe.

It's not sexy but it sure is important, more than you know, and the guest speaker is an FBI agent who knows a thing or two.

Sign up here for your free ticket.

And NEXT TUESDAY (12/16) I'm attending the holiday networking mega-bash put on by all the NJ marketing organizations, including ADCNJ, NJPRSA, NJIABC, MCAI-NJ, MENG, BMA-NJ, NJ AdClub, NJAMA, SCIP, AWCNJ, JSPRAA.

(And if you're looking for networking events for 2009, that's a great list to work from.)

Hope to see you tonight and next week!