The Marketing Mix | official blog of the Marketing Mentor community

Hitching a Ride on the Social Media Bandwagon

While I haven't jumped on the bandwagon myself, I don't mind hitching a ride from time to time, as I did last week when I met Dave Kerpen, fellow speaker at Smart Business Moves Small Business Expo in Stamford CT.

Dave is "Chief Buzz Officer" at theKbuzz, where he manages the social media campaigns for companies like 1-800-Flowers. He had his Flip camera ready and we did a quick interview about self promotion that he posted immediately on all 10 of his social media outlets.

While I'm not sure if Self Promotion can be tackled in a minute and a half, here’s the buzz-ified version on his Facebook page.

Moving a pebble is easy - Part 1

Welcome to Week 19 of my adventure as a member of the Marketing Plan Group. In my posts, I talk about my voyage down the road of self-employment as a website copywriter, my achievements and roadblocks along the way, and what I’m learning from my group experience.

I have a tendency towards all or nothing. But this marketing journey proves to me, more and more each day, that slow and steady wins the race. Regular effort gets you where you want to be. And most of the time, you don’t need to move the earth… you just need to move a pebble.

On this week’s Marketing Plan Group call, we looked at each other’s websites. We shared questions and suggestions for making them better, and it was so helpful. It demonstrated how little things make a big difference.

Here are a few tips that I got from the call that can help you improve your website:

• Find outside inspiration. Stumped on how to make your website most effective? Not sure how to best display your portfolio? Fortunately, self employment is not like high school! You’re allowed to look at the paper of the kid next to you. There is a plethora of really great websites out there, and we have free-reign to learn from them all. Look at the websites of other businesses in your industry to get an idea of how they say and show things. It might give you a good idea for your own site.

• Get outside input. We all know when you’re too close to something, it can be harder to see. If there’s one thing I’m learning during this group experience, it’s how important it is to have a confidant (or 5)… having eyes and ears you can run things by and ask for input. Our group call was great because by opening your marketing (in this case your website) to others, you immediately broaden your learning and gain new ideas.

• Make it aspirational, not historical. I smiled from ear to ear when I read Ilise’s latest Quick Tip about this topic. As someone who is relatively new to self employment, I don’t have 20 years of experience and tons of work examples to show for it. And sometimes, this can be easy to get hung up on. In the tip, Ilise says it’s ok for your website to be about the future, not the past. Who do you want to work with in the future? What can you do for them?

So, when was the last time you made your website a little better? Is today the day?

If you’re ready to move on your marketing, but need support, there’s a new Marketing Plan Group starting Feb 12th.

And if you don’t have a website yet, but you need one fast, check out the new Website in a Week group. The next one takes place from Feb 15-21.

P.S. Tune in next week for more tips on making your website as effective as possible (without doing an overhaul)!

"I” vs. “we” on your website? How to decide.

You might have heard me say that “everything flows from the market.” I feel this statement is true in most areas of business, and especially in the “I” vs. “we” dilemma.

Here’s a question I received this question from a client today:

What are your thoughts on using "we" vs. "I" when speaking about yourself on your site? I keep flip flopping back and forth with my copy. I originally had it written as "I,” but now I'm not sure what to do. When is it appropriate to use "I" vs. "we"?

How do you decide which is the best way to go?

In my book, The Designer’s Guide to Marketing & Pricing, here’s what I say:

How you present yourself should balance the reality of who you are with the knowledge of what your clients need from you, or who they need you to be… If you’re a sole proprietor, referring to yourself as “we” won’t make you seem like a big corporation. It will, however, make you seem bigger than yourself. If that’s important to your prospects, then it helps to get into the “we” habit.

What do you think about “I” vs. “we”? Which approach have you taken, and what results have you seen?

(And just a little plug for our next Web Site in a Week Group starting Feb 15. If you don’t have a website, and you’d like to complete the content for your marketing-smart website in just a week, click here for more details.)

Webinars are all the rage as a marketing tool

I attended a webinar last week on how to give a good webinar, hosted by my friend Aaron Joslow of Rally Point Webinars who recently started a business to capitalize on this trend. The most challenging aspect seems to be mastering the technology. You almost have to become a geek in order to do it right, or else hire someone to take care of that for you, which is what Aaron's company does.

Don't kid yourself. It's very labor intensive as far as marketing tools go, but can also be very effective. The way I've seen them work best is when you either present some content you develop for your market (tips, ideas, case studies) or you invite someone else to give a presentation (free is best) to your market on a topic they would find of interest. Either way, you are positioning yourself and your company as a resource and an expert in that market and that's the whole point.

Julia Reich, of Julia Reich Design, was asking recently on LinkedIn about the value of giving webinars as a self promotional tool. (See how people responded here http://tinyurl.com/ya4gvg4)

Are you thinking about hosting webinars for your target market? If so, what questions do you have?

Want to add webinars to your marketing strategy? Free webinar tomorrow!

My client, Jen Neal of K9 Design gave a very successful webinar (as part of her marketing plan) yesterday -- and I asked if webinars were part your strategy...

Well if they are (or you want them to be) here's the perfect tool to help you.

My friend, Aaron Joslow of Rally Point Webinars, is offering a webinar called: 7 Keys to Running a Glitch-Free Webinar. It's taking place tomorrow, Thursday, December 10th at 2pm Eastern -- and it's free!

So, if you're ready to make webinars part of your marketing strategy, this one is definitely for you.
Register here: http://events.rallypointwebinars.com/course/webinar.php?id=19
 

Smile For the Camera

In the last year, I’ve started appearing on video a lot more often…though not in the way you might think. I’m getting a growing number of requests from creative partners to replace phone conversations with videoconferences. I have several clients who regularly communicate this way, and have also used it to keep in touch with friends in Germany and Belgium.

Videoconference technology isn’t new, though until recently it’s mostly been seen in corporate boardrooms. In the last few years it’s become more common among creatives as video support has been added or improved in applications such as AIM, iChat, and Skype; and with the spread of inexpensive or built-in video cameras for computers. It’s free, doesn’t use minutes of my cell phone plan, and allows me to have a face-to-face confab with some of the folks I regularly interact with.

Yet at the same time, I’ve also noticed that it’s causing insidious changes in the way I work.

For example, even though I spend most of my on-the-job time in a home office, I’m finding that I’m less likely to skip shaving in the morning. I’ve become more careful about how I dress, how I arrange my office, and how often I clean my desk (or at least push clutter off-camera). Just this week I rearranged my desk so that my computer camera now faces a bookcase instead of a sunny window that I had to close whenever someone came calling on video.

I’ll be frank: as a recovering introvert, there are times when I resent people looking into my world this way. Didn’t I become a freelance creative so that I could have more control over my work environment? Yet I’m also finding that I enjoy the face time. I feel like I have a stronger working relationship with the folks who visit my computer screen. And while I’m not one of those people who goes bonkers from working alone all day, I’ve learned that the occasional video call can be very refreshing.

Though I’ve only been doing video for a few months, I’ve already realized that it requires a different approach than talking on the phone. Here’s a few tips:

Should I include ________ in my new website?

Danielle Baird, a designer who is revamping her site by taking my Create Your Web Site Now! Group had a question about what should be included in her new website. She asked:

What is your opinion on including fine artwork, illustration or photography as part of my business' site? Do you think it should be nested within the "about me" area? My dilemma is that I can offer illustration or photography services in addition to design, but they are not the primary focus for my business. I am currently doing a wealth of illustration for a school supplies catalog for my corporate client, and I've art directed a large variety of photographs for them... Even though I didn't shoot the images, is it relevant/appropriate to show photography I've art directed?

Here’s my answer:

As for your fine art, illustration, etc. the guideline I would use is this: If a potential client looking at your site would find the information/examples useful, if it adds to the reasons why someone should hire you, then go ahead and include it. But if it's a distraction and makes you look "all over the place" then leave it out or bury it somewhere (like a personal section or maybe in the “about” section).

Are you unsure about what to include in your new or revamped website? If you’re trying to get your new site up by the end of this year, join our group that starts next week, October 19th. Fill out this quick form for more info. Not sure if this group is right for you? Take advantage of my free mentoring session and we’ll figure it out.

Introducing: The Un-Newsletter

Even though I think email marketing is still one of the best ways to stay in front of prospects and clients (and I love MyEmma.com as an email marketing service, especially if you take advantage of our 20% discount, I am moving away from recommending that you send out an email newsletter.

Instead, I am recommending an un-newsletter.

You see, the word "newsletter" seems to trip people up. It takes too long to write and too long to read. The "un-newsletter" is much shorter, doesn't require a lot of reading or writing (sometimes just a couple lines and a link to more, for those who want it) and still serves the main purpose: to remind everyone that you're out here and available to help.

My own newsletter, Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor, is gradually becoming an un-newsletter too. (If you don't already get that, you can sign up here: http://www.marketing-mentortips.com/)

What do you think about this idea of an "un-newsletter?"

Being #1

Welcome to Week 17 of my adventure of following the Start Up Version of the Grow Your Business Marketing Plan + Calendar.  In my posts, I talk about my voyage down the road of self-employment as a virtual marketing assistant, my achievements and roadblocks along the way, and I include a weekly recap at the end.
 
As part of the Grow Your Business Marketing Plan, we are supposed to check our search engine rankings.  This means typing relevant search terms into Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc… to see where our site comes up in the results.

My Google ranking for the term “virtual marketing assistant” was hanging out around 8.  This was pretty good, considering it was on the first page.  But at #8, there’s always room for improvement.

I’m happy to say that today my site comes up first in Google.  Why?  Because of the power of anchor text.  What is anchor text?  It is simply the text that is linked to your site.  Here’s an example.  The Marketing Mix is my favorite marketing blog.  In this case, marketing blog is the anchor text.

Maybe you’ve noticed that in the past 4 weeks, I added an introduction to my blog post where the words virtual marketing assistant link to my website.  Over the past 4 weeks, I’ve gone from #8 to #1 in Google.  Coincidence?  I think not. 

This is happening because by linking virtual marketing assistant to my website, it is explaining to search engines what my webpage is about.  My web page is about “virtual marketing assistant.”  If you use the anchor text click here, it is telling the search engines that your webpage is about “click here.”  Having more descriptive link text is a benefit to your reader, and to the search engine.

Search engines use many factors to determine where our websites rank for certain searches.  People dedicate their entire careers to getting high search engine rankings, but there are a few simple things we can do ourselves to improve our rankings:

• Understand what keywords and phrases your prospects are searching for (the Google Keyword Tool is a good way to do this). Remember to be specific with your ideal keywords.  You might not be able to get a first page ranking for “graphic designer,” but you might be able to get on the first page for a term like “logo design Kansas City.”
• Have descriptive title and meta tags in the html code of each page (that include your important keywords or phrases )
• Have keyword rich text throughout your website
• Remember the importance of incoming links to your website.  Exchange links with partners and clients.  When you post on a blog, remember to link back to your website if possible.  Just by keeping the idea of linking at the forefront of your mind, it will help you increase your website rankings.

Week 17 Recap:  Last week I said I was going to reach out to three contacts per day on Biznik, and I have been!  I’ve been commenting on articles and sending introductions.  It only takes a few minutes but I feel like I’m really making a vested effort to expand my knowledge, and my network.  Also, I completed last month’s promo piece—a list of services for web designers who want to offer additional services to their customers (such as content writing, blogging, article writing, etc.)   

Can Twitter be a marketing tool?

A few months ago, after resisting it for a while, I went ahead and signed up for a Twitter account. Frankly, it was mostly out of curiosity. What is this twittering all about? How can it improve my life? I started following my immediate group of contacts and people were following me as well. It was (and still is in my opinion) mostly a time sucker. Most people write meaningless information. Do I really care who that someone just ate a sandwich or is waiting in line somewhere? Not really. It was too much. I ended that experience pretty fast. I signed off Twitter and that was the end of that.

Last weekend I presented a new workshop here in LA called “Nuts and Bolts of Winning Proposals”. 12 interesting design and marketing business owners came from all parts of Southern California including one attendee that drove from Arizona.  When I asked him how he heard about this workshop he said: “I found it via Twitter." You can imagine my surprise. Twitter? Really? Apparently someone heard about my workshop and twittered about it. And then someone else twitted about it and so on and so forth all the way to getting this guy to drive from Arizona and spend the day at my workshop.

So this changes things. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not about to start twittering but it makes me rethink about the power of twitter and how it could be used as a marketing too. I don’t have to twitter but it may be good to know people who are active twitters with big following. And that’s a marketing tool right there.

So, do you twitter? Is it affecting your business?