The Marketing Mix | official blog of the Marketing Mentor community

When hot prospects turn cold

Do you ever have prospects who are very excited to work with you, so you get excited too, and then nothing ever comes of it?

Is there something you do differently with these prospects? Maybe get a little lazy because it seems like such a sure thing?

I'm working on an article about this "excitability in marketing," so if this has happened to you, I'd like to hear about it.
Please post your story and/or comments.

Are you a specialist and no one knows it?

I was recently in Toronto where I had the privilege of speaking at the 9th Annual Design Thinkers conference put on by the Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario. During my talk, called "Design Your Niche," I evangelized about the importance of developing one or two or even three areas of expertise so you can position yourself or your company as the "go-to" experts and charge a premium for that expertise.

I sometimes feel like I'm on a mission to persuade my prospects and clients how much wider the world opens up to you as soon as you start to focus. It's a bit of a paradox.

But creatives are notorious for avoiding focus, especially when it comes to focusing on a market. Why? Here's what I see: 1) You don't want to alienate any potential clients; and 2) you don't want to get bored doing the same work forever.

One excellent point about specializing came out of a conversation I had over dinner with Marketing Mentor clients, Jennifer Neal and Norm Lourenco of K9 Design before the event started (which was good because that way I could integrate it into my presentation). Norm said he thought many people probably already specialize in one or two areas but don't know it or, if they know it, don't position themselves that way, don't demonstrate it in their marketing or on their web site.

That's so true. In fact, sometimes all it takes is a reordering or the categorizing of your client list to show your areas of expertise.

What kind of marketing materials are effective?

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to sit on a panel of design experts and talk marketing and self promotion at the big AIGA Promo Show. This Orange County event drew top talent from the area and was moderated by Bryn Mooth, editor of HOW magazine. Check out this 8 minute clip of us discussing what kind of marketing materials are effective and what works for leave behind? I promise some interesting ideas and insights. More clips coming soon!

Brand is behavior (and good news for solopreneurs)

You think you know more about marketing your small business than the big guys? PR and marketing guru extraordinaire Jonathan Salem Baskin thinks you're probably right. Baskin's new book, Branding Only Works on Cattle, is all about how the old model of marketing--building up a brand's "image" and selling it like crazy to the teeming masses--is beyond broken: it's irrelevant.

Full disclosure: Jonathan and I go way, way back; we've known each other since we were in high school, back in Chicago (although I could not find photo documentation of such...thank GOD). But frankly, that means less special treatment on the part of the interviewer, not more; I think you'll enjoy the results!

* * * * *

CW: You've got a pretty game-changing thesis about marketing in your book. Before we get to the meat of it--that brand is behavior (which I admit, I didn't "get" just by looking at it)--can you talk a bit about what branding used to be, and what started to change that?

JSB: Sure. The human mind has always been a 'black box' of swirling, changing thoughts and opinions. There was a brief time in the mid-20th Century when mass media could hope to influence it, if not sometimes manipulate what consumers might aspire to do. But those days are long gone, thanks to the Internet, mobile media, do-it-yourself culture, and the birth of successive generations who've been inured to the claims of marketing. If brands were 'shorthand,' people now can access the complete versions of things, with annotation, additional content, and reviews. And then add to them.

Yet people still make choices, and they attach meaning to what they do.  So what's the best model for getting your commercial interests into that equation? It's not the old approach to branding, which doesn't work anymore (and is the reason why trust in corporations is at an all-time low, people aren't loyal anymore, and even some premium products are finding that the only branding attribute that truly matters is low price).

CW: So the solution is...?

JSB: I say the way to address this reality is to redefine your brand as behavior.

CW: Ah! Or "duh." Can you break that down for us a bit? Into some practical, actionable things?

JSB: Definitely. Brand-as-behavior is all about action and results, not fluffy, unquantifiable stuff.

So brand as behavior can manifest itself as...

• ...a tactic (how you communicate and illustrate what you believe is best done with actual actions, not just declarations)
• ...a strategy (by focusing on behaviors, you can understand your customers or consumers by what they do, when they do it, what causes it, and thus better understand and forecast your branding efforts)
• ...an ultimate goal (sales is the only real behavior that matters, isn't it?)

So giving folks information, or crafting "brand experiences," is only a small portion of this new definition of brands.  It's far bigger than marketing, and far more substantial than a creative campaign. It opens up a lot of resources within a company, not to mention mind power, to come up with newer and more effective ways to get and keep people buying your stuff.

And it provides a simple, obvious litmus test for every expenditure: if it prompts an action, it's worth considering; if all it does is propagate something "out there" that is important to people's thoughts about your brand, think again.

There's no "there" there.  Behavior is what matters. 

CW: How does that work lower down on the marketing food chain? What actions or processes should a solopreneur or small business owner be focusing her marketing efforts around?

JSB: Interestingly, small businesses are naturals for this approach; they do it almost unconsciously, or at least by necessity.  I like to refer to it as "one room marketing," where every member of the company sits around the same table and participates in every decision, irrespective of 'silo' or 'area of expertise' (for solopreneurs, that's easy).  What results is 1) a focus on getting things done, 2) an awareness that unless it not only 'touches' a customer/consumer, but moves her or him closer to purchase, it probably isn't affordable, and 3) an ability to change based on the behavioral reality of the business or the marketplace.

The challenge is to resist the siren call of 'branding' that might redirect some of that focus and money to nonsense ideas like 'building brand equity.'  Small businesses know that brands exist in real-time, and that they have little to do with image...and lots to do with products, services, and relationships.  Lead generation is all about awareness, but to call it 'branding' is a reach. 

CW: So I'm actually being a responsible design consultant when I tell some potential clients they don't need a professionally designed identity or website yet?

JSB: Totally. In a behavioral model, the 'identity' is a culmination of a deep understanding of behaviors (extant and desired, plus a causal map of real actions to move people along to purchase and re-purchase).

A website is a tactic, although a gloriously cool one. I'm sure you've had clients who expected a newly-designed web site would somehow tell, convince, inspire, and sustain a new relationship with customers...and it never works that way, SEO notwithstanding. Really ugly design on top of entirely beautiful behavioral strategy can still work (Amazon, or Google search for that matter). Great design is all the better, but it's not a first step or substitute for smart business strategy.

CW: Can you elaborate a bit on some potential sales closing processes, or even post-sale processes, that might help boost numbers long-term?

JSB: Lead generation and sales conversion are really interesting subjects when it comes to the role of branding. Once you start with the proposition that your customers have no relationship with 'your brand,' per se, it starts you on a very useful path.

Consider closing sales: in the traditional brand model, price is somewhat external to the brand proposition...it's the valuation of the benefits, many of which are associative or intangible, that accompany the brand 'promise.' In reality, of course, price is actually what a lot of people care about most, and it usually stands out as one of the only apples-to-apples points that would-be purchasers can compare between choices. Further, in the old model (I'm thinking of the tactic of direct marketing specifically), the idea is that you name a price and hope that it will, with the brand vaguely in the background somehow, prompt a sale.  

I think that's tantamount to asking somebody to marry you the moment you meet them.

CW: Not a very compelling scenario. So as small business owners, how do we rewrite that scenario?

JSB: Closing sales means giving purchasers real, compelling, substantive reasons to buy, and to buy 'now' vs. 'later.' 

If you define your brand as a set of behaviors -- those that you take for your customers, and those which your efforts enable by them -- your branding can be made far more relevant to registering actual sales. You've skipped all of the imagery and ephemera that links your product or service to some abstraction, or claimed things that you hope somehow, someway, sometime your purchasers will remember, care about, and apply to their decision-making. Behaviors are your tools to truly differentiate what you sell, and allow you to integrate price far earlier into your sales close conversation. 

CW: Which translates into action how, exactly?

JSB: Skip 'buying the vague brand promise' and focus on communicating...no, demonstrating...the actual brand value of a relationship with your business, as defined by doing real things that have real value.

I have done a lot of work recently on the idea of 'customer loyalty,' and how it's so fleeting in this day and age. If we see re-purchase/post-sale processes as a set of behaviors, and not the domain for creative content or other intangibles, we are again handed the tools to make long-term relationships with customers meaningful and somewhat sustainable. Think about how many post-sale 'relationships' with businesses default to nothing more than 1) more cross-selling nonsense sent to the customer, 2) thinly-veiled sales promotion campaigns, always trying to upsell good customers, and/or 3) qualitative surveys, frequent purchaser points, or other activities that make the quid-pro quo of selling terribly obvious.

CW: Whereas...?

JSB: A behavioral model would allow you to define your post-purchase relationship in terms of actual things you do for your customers...you could almost quantify these activities and market them up-front as reasons to buy from you. Personal service. Quick issue resolution. Random discounts. Whatever.

CW: You worked for some really big, fancy organizations—Edelman, Grey, Limited Brands—before hanging out your own shingle. What would you say are the most important things to have in place before making the leap to working for yourself?

JSB: Be crazy. Lol...well, actually, be crazy about what you love to do. I'm convinced that going out on your own is dependent on your love for, and the reward you get from, doing whatever it is you want to do. Know it. Believe it, don't just aspire to some ideal future or lifestyle. So talking about having 'passion' is not enough; you really need to have an intimate, real understanding of what makes you tick, and be at peace at the prospect that you could do your own thing, not make a ton of money, and still be very, very happy because of the mere fact that you're doing it.

After that, you need to be very realistic about that money situation. My brand is behavior paradigm suggests that you can't afford to contemplate what would-be clients or customers "should do," or what you intend to tell or "educate" them to do. Understand what they do, pure and simple, and figure out the way(s) your product or service will fit into those behaviors. I've had a lot of start-up clients who were shocked that people didn't grasp (or buy) their newly enhanced whateveritwas they sold. Your marketing will need to communicate not why people should be your customers or clients, but why there's absolutely no good reason why they SHOULDN'T be. SO your plan should be material and obvious, not aspirational.

CW: Fantastic advice, and all too easily ignored in the throes of launch fever. Any parting words of wisdom?

JSB: My last bit of advice would be to remain flexible. If there was one thing I underestimated when I decided to go solo, it was the amount of surprise, if not outright chaos, that would become a regular aspect of my life. If you're the kind of person who doesn't like that, you shouldn't try to be your own boss. On the other hand, the flip-side of that chaos is that you still have control over how you respond to it (or anticipate the next surprise), and it's a very empowering feeling.

* * * * *

Jonathan Salem Baskin, "chief heretic" at Baskin Associates, Inc., has provided branding and marketing consulting to clients across four continents, specializing in translating business strategies into programs that involved more than words and images. You can read more of his fascinating (and insanely well-written) takes on marketing at his blog, Dim Bulb. A practitioner of all he preaches, he also has a business website and actual MUSIC VIDEOS he created as part of the promotion for Branding Only Works on Cattle.

Are you feeling it?

Last week, when I gave a talk for the Freelancers Union called "Marketing in an Economic Downturn," I started the session by having each of the 30 people in the room stand up and tell not only what they do but also how they are experiencing this "economic downturn."

You know what? Most people admitted they weren't actually feeling it yet. Moreover, those who were feeling it acknowledged that it was probably because they hadn't really ever done any marketing. And, they agreed that what they're "feeling" might be mostly the media "infecting their brains" with panic.

My advice, of course, in all circumstances is, "Don't panic." Do something instead. And what I advised everyone one to do is get out there. Networking is the number one recession marketing tool. Why? Because when people need help, they go out looking for it. So you are most likely to meet people with "needs" if you go out looking for them .

So double up your networking efforts. If you usually attend one meeting a month, attend 2 in October. If you usually do 1 event per week, find 2 this week. It can only help. And it's better than staying home.

Anyone else not feeling it but worried anyway?

P.S. I did a radio interview with Barbara Weltman recently on this topic during which I outlined the 5-Step Marketing Machine. She's posted a summary of it here.

Good moves in a not-so-good economy

In case you missed this week's Quick Tip from Marketing Mentor, I offered a copy of an article I wrote recently called, "Marketing in an Economic Downturn."

Here's the beginning...

Things don’t look good on the economic front, that’s true. But our business is thriving. And the clients we work with – designers, copywriters, consultants and other solopreneurs – are all continuing to get new work, new clients, new opportunities.

How? It’s not that we are not affected by the economy. It’s just that we aren’t letting it get in our way.  And, to be specific, we are ramping up the marketing. That is my best advice for an economic downturn: reach out to more people than ever, go to more networking events than ever, be flexible and find the places in the economy -- and in your market especially -- where there is growth.
What are you strategies for marketing in an "economic downturn?"

(P.S. If you'd like a copy of the entire (2 page) text, send an email message to ilise AT marketing-mentor DOT com with "downturn article" in the subject line and I'll send you a copy.)

Should You Use Your Web Site to Weed Out Tire-Kickers?

One of my articles posted on FreelanceSwitch last week recommended, essentially, that freelancers use their web sites to filter out bad prospects. Here's what I wrote:

Post a form on your web site that prospects fill out if they want an estimate or proposal. The serious prospects will take the time to fill out your form. Tire-kickers and those shopping for price will not. The form, once filled out, also will give structure to the request, help to focus your potential client and put in one place all (or most) of the information you need to get started preparing a proposal. Beyond that, this structure also gives your prospect a sense of how you work and some of the requirements of working with you. It’s part of your positioning as a professional.

There were lots of comments on this, a few questioning the idea of creating a barrier to entry.
What do you think? (Post your comment here or on FreelanceSwitch.)

August is for marketing

As soon as it hit August last Friday, things quieted down. Vacation is in the air (maybe it's just the quiet I notice).

This is my favorite time of year for marketing. This is me-marketing time. I get to do all those things I never have time for.

You want to know what I'm doing?

Here's what's on my big To Do list:

• Writing articles for MarketingProfs, Rain Today and a few other places my prospects visit when they're looking for marketing help.
  (Where can you submit articles that will be seen by your prospects?)

• Developing new ideas for topics I can speak on, which I'm doing in collaboration with a couple other experts, which makes it much more interesting and enjoyable.
  (Who can you collaborate with and where can you give a workshop or presentation?)

• Planning my post-Labor Day marketing push: identifying my best prospects, thinking about how to approach them, what to offer
  (How will you take advantage of the shot-in-the-arm productivity that follows a lazy summer?)

What are you going to commit to for the remainder of August?

Interested in health care marketing?

For anyone working in the health care industry (or marketing their services to the health care industry), check out this recent post from Lisa Neal Gualtieri, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of eLearn Magazine (and a reader of this blog) entitled, "Ten Things You Can Do in Ten Minutes to Become a More Connected Healthcare Professional."

(P.S. You might remember our recent post, also inspired by Lisa Neal Gualtieri, "Ten 10-minute Self Promotion Activities.")

Work-for-hire: easy money or the devil's handshake?

A new resource popped up via Spencer Cross, principal of L.A.-based design firm Tokyo Farm, and founder of KERNSPIRACY, a mailing list/meatspace mashup of graphic designers, illustrators, web developers and other creative solopreneurs.

It's called StopWorkForHire.com, and, as you might expect, it makes the case against accepting any work-for-hire agreements not just because they stand to screw you out of a lot of deserved income and recognition, but because they undermine the entire profession by devaluing the real work that graphic designers do when they develop designs for clients.

What's different about this site is the how starkly the case is made, and with what a level, clear-headed tone. I especially like the very explicit outlining of what work-for-hire is and, more importantly, is not: there are a lot of shady companies out there who will happily exploit your agreement via signature to a contract that otherwise would not be legally enforceable. Yowsa.

I railed on the KERNSPIRACY list about all this stuff and was kind of shocked that there wasn't more of a lively debate. Usually, people speak pretty passionately about this stuff, on one side or the other. I'm wondering to what I should attribute the radio silence: people thinking it's a non-issue?; not caring?; or maybe that in these especially shaky economic times, it's better to suck it up and take it?

I may be opening the floodgates, here, but hey—what's a blog for? You know where I stand on the issue (and if you don't, well, I signed the pledge against taking work-for-hire); where do you stand, and why?

Let 'er rip in the comments!