When It Comes To Digital; “Be There or Be Square!”

Below is a link to the latest Scott Klososky blog article (Scott is a leading technology futurist and a frequent consultant to a company called “We Simplify the Internet” (WSI,) with whom RPM Marketing is teaming on a project geared toward helping low income older Americans to get online.  It’s a project that truly resonates for me personally because of its importance and potential to have universal impact not only for seniors, but for all underserved populations.  RPM is proud to be involved.

This article is speaking to business leaders, but the underlying message is relevant to everyone: “embrace and leverage the latest technologies or be at a staggering disadvantage to those who do.”  

“Since the caveman days, the species with the best use of tools has dominated. Many centuries ago technology (starting with the development of metals and gun powder) changed the political fortunes of the countries, or despots that wielded them. In the business world for the past 50 years, companies that adopted new technologies before their competitors prospered.”  “Today, while some companies are stalled with just a website or are still trying to figure out Facebook and Twitter, others are on to Online Reputation Management, Social CRM, Crowdsourcing, and building Rivers of Information.”

As Gary Smith, digital consultant at WSI, so aptly pointed out; “When it comes to the Digital World;” as the old saying goes, “be there or be square!”

http://www.technologystory.com/2011/06/13/trd-–-do-it-or-strangle-slowly-part-one/

10 Reasons Why Your Network Is Your Greatest Asset

An individual’s greatest asset is his/her network. The network that’s an asset is the one made up of real relationships.

Facebook and Twitter have no value if you don’t use them properly.  In looking at profiles on these social media for a number of large and small businesses, I’ve observed that most of them aren’t going about it in the right way. Businesses jump on the Facebook and Twitter bandwagons with the hope of generating sales. They load their news feeds with sales plugs and expect   “friends” to buy whatever they’re selling. They use Twitter to make announcements rather than to engage conversation.

The right way to use social media is to focus on building relationships. Wish friends and fans “Happy Birthday”; “Like” their statuses, share information and even provide  useful content that’s OUTSIDE of your business area of expertise to help them out (for example: share an interesting news item, a great sale on computer equipment, a super auto repair shop, great business tips, etc.). Show that your thread is useful and that you are there to connect with them, not simply sell them something and you will see results.

DON’T create a business profile and start adding people as friends – users hate this. Get to know your privacy settings and use your personal profile as the “face” of your company.

Below is a list from Steve Tobak of BNET on what you stand to gain from building a great network:

1. Introductions. Whether you’re an entrepreneur in need of venture capital or a marketing VP looking for the best PR firm, you’re more likely to find it through your network than by any other means.
2. Opportunities. Over a 30-year career, most of my major career and business opportunities came from my network. Business associates, friends of friends, casual conversations, business meetings, social events, whatever. But you’ve got to pay attention.
3. Sorting out thorny problems. Anyone who thinks they’ve never met a work problem they can’t resolve has never been a CEO. The problem with problems is that they keep getting escalated until there’s nowhere left to go. The buck has to stop somewhere. And getting a fellow exec to help sort out a monster problem is a big plus.
4. Recruiting. Perhaps the most critical job of any manager is to hire talented people, and the best place to find them is through your network. And not just for direct reports, but also for recommendations on peers, key employees, board members, you name it.
5. Ideas. I don’t know about you, but most of my best ideas come from bouncing them around with like-minded people.
6. Competitive intelligence. It’s a big, hairy global market and smart executives dig for competitive intelligence. Much of that info comes from sales and marketing, but where do you think they get it from? That’s right, their network.
7. Sensitive issues. Top executives often face sensitive issues they can’t discuss with others at the company. Sometimes they just need an outside perspective from another CEO. For example, some of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison’s friends are Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Mark Hurd (when he was CEO of H-P, as well). Makes sense, doesn’t it?
8. Seeing the big market picture. A huge component of any manager’s success is her ability to anticipate significant market changes. While nobody has a crystal ball, if you get enough anecdotal data from enough sources, you can get a pretty good picture of what’s going on.
9. Moral support. Business is full of tradeoffs. Rarely are critical and complex issues black and white. When top execs wrestle with gray issues, it’s nice to be able to pick up the phone for advice and support.
10. You don’t know what you don’t know. While there are exceptions, know-it-alls don’t typically get ahead. Smart managers know what they don’t know and that means they depend very much on comparing notes with others in their network.

Is your network your biggest asset?

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Once Again, Seth Godin Says It Perfectly!

THE INEVITABLE DECLINE DUE TO CLUTTER

by: Seth Godin

Digital media expands. It’s not like paper, it can get bigger.

As digital marketers seek to increase profits, they almost always make the same mistake. They continue to add more clutter, messaging and offers, because, hey, it’s free.

One more link, one more banner, one more side deal on the Groupon page.

Economics tells us that the right thing to do is run the factory until the last item produced is being sold at marginal cost. In other words, keep adding until it doesn’t work any more.

In fact, human behavior tells us that this is a more permanent effect than we realize. Once you overload the user, you train them not to pay attention. More clutter isn’t free. In fact, more clutter is a permanent shift, a desensitization to all the information, not just the last bit.

And it’s hard to go backward.

More is not always better. In fact, more is almost never better.

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Type Tells a Story…once again Seth Godin hits a homerun

The typography you use sends a message… that’s Seth Godin‘s message today. I can’t make that point often enough or better than Seth did in his message today, so I’m sending you there:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/type-tells-a-story.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29

or if you’d rather just read his message here:

Type tells a story

If you write it down, we’re going to judge it.

Not just the words, we’re going to judge you even before we read the words. The typography you use, whether it’s a handwritten note or a glossy brochure, sends a message.

Some typefaces are judged in a similar way by most people you’re addressing (Times Roman in a Word document or Helvetica on a street sign or Myriad Pro on a website) but even when you choose something as simple as a typeface, be prepared for people to misunderstand you.

If you send me a flyer with dated, cheesy or overused type, it’s like showing up in a leisure suit for a first date. If your website looks like Geocities or some scammy info marketer, I won’t even stay long enough to read it.

Like a wardrobe, I think a few simple guidelines can save amateurs like us a lot of time:

1. Invest some time and money up front to come up with a house style that actually looks the way you want it to, one that tells the story you want to tell. Hire a designer, put in some effort. A headline font, a body font, one or two extras. That’s your outfit, just like the four suits you rotate through your closet.

2. “What does this remind you of?” No need to be a pioneer (unless that’s the story you want me remember). Find a combination of typefaces that remind your chosen audience of the sort of organization you want to remind them of. Hint: italic wedding invitation fonts in the body of your email remind me of nothing except other people who have wasted my time…

3. Be consistent. Don’t change it when you get bored. Don’t change it when your staff gets bored. Change it when the accountant and marketing guys tell you it’s not working any longer.

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Delivering a Great Presentation — Ten How-to’s

Image via Wikipedia

Finding a personal style and feeling comfortable as a presenter comes with experience. Nothing can boost your business like being able to present well. Unfortunately, most of us aren’t born without the presentation gene. I have no idea why, but for me and many others, getting up in front of folks to talk isn’t easy!

 If you’ve ever sat through a presentation that was so bad it felt like torture, you understand how painful a bad one can be….you know those with a bezillion PowerPoint slides that the presenter just reads?

At the opposite end of the spectrum, however, if you’ve ever experienced a presentation that was so good it motivated you..maybe even changed your life, you know that’s the kind of presentation one should strive to deliver!  As a presenter, you can either open a door or set up a roadblock to growth – your growth, that is!

So what should you do?

Steve Tobak, a 20+ year high-tech industry veteran and former senior executive of a number of public and private companies. has been professionally trained as a presenter and he has had a few decades of practice. Here’s what I learned from him:

1. Developing the pitch. Start with your main point of view and a handful of take-aways. Then build a storyboard around that, one slide per thought. Keep the number of slides down and allow a few minutes per slide.  
2. The icebreaker. Start with something to break the tension (yours and theirs): a welcome gesture, an engaging or humorous anecdote, graphic or video, or some combination of those. Keep it relevant and appropriate. Don’t tell a joke.  
3. The old axiom. Old advice, but it works: First tell the audience what you’re going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them.
4. If you Use slides, Don’t read what’s on the slide. Know the pitch cold (without having to look except for a brief cue) and speak in your own words. If you actually want the audience to read what’s on a slide, look at it and read silently along with them (only rarely.)
5. Engage the audience. Ask questions. If they don’t respond, try offering an answer and asking for a show of hands. Make the audience part of the experience.
6. Be accessible. Don’t stand behind a podium. Use a wireless microphone if one is needed. Get close to the audience and move from place to place while maintaining eye contact. Don’t overdo it and bounce around like a ping-pong ball. This will be distracting!
7. Pause for effect and emphasis. Practice being comfortable with silence for two or three seconds. It’s the most dramatic way to make a point. Avoid “ahs”,” uhs”, and other verbal crutches used to fill uncomfortable silence; they’re annoying and detract from the message.
8. Make eye contact. But only for a few seconds per person. Too short and you’ll fail to engage; too long and it becomes uncomfortable. Don’t bounce your eyes around constantly.
9. Use hand gestures. They’re engaging and interesting. But when you’re not, keep your hands at your sides. Don’t fidget, hold onto things, or put your hands in front of you, behind you, or in your pockets. Avoid nervous habits.
10. Don’t block the audience’s view. Don’t step in front of the screen or block it from view, except for the occasional walk-across. Gesture with your hand, but don’t touch the screen. Don’t use a pointer unless you must.

Very few of us are natural presenters; it takes practice. So stand in front of the mirror and practice, videotape yourself presenting to an empty conference room, or get someone with experience to watch you and provide feedback. If you can afford to hire a coach, do it. 

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The 7 Best Tools Used by Top Social Networking Sites

Image by Stabilo Boss via Flickr

Following are some great features that the top Social Networking (SN) sites currently use to stay on top:

 

1.) Ajax based tag suggestions – Fluther.com

This is where when you start typing something into an input box, a little drop down window immediately appears which basically shows some suggested tags which it pulls from its database of existing tags as you type each letter. The more you type, the more accurate the suggested tags get.  

Fluther.com uses this feature. The reason the feature is so useful is that most SN sites use tagging but very few offer tag suggestions. example, if I’m posting an article about “Web design”, I might add the following tags: webdesign, Web design, website, websites, web-design, Web development….Anyway, you get the point!

Fluther suggestions help eliminate the guess work over whether you’re using the best tags, over-tagging or  under-tagging to ensure search engine optimization.

2.) Get users to promote for you – Stumbleupon.com
StumbleUpon is an Internet community that allows its users to discover and rate Web pages, photos, and videos. It is a personalized recommendation engine which uses peer and social-networking principles. Web pages are presented when the user clicks the “Stumble!” button on the browser toolbar.

 StumbleUpon chooses which Web page to display based on the user’s ratings of previous pages, ratings by his/her friends, and by the ratings of users with similar interests. Users can rate or choose not to rate any Web page with a thumbs up or thumbs down, and clicking the Stumble button resembles “channel-surfing” the Web.

Install the Stumbleupon toolbar and start stumbling!”

3.) Sell limited positions as category sponsors to marketers – Blogcatalog.com
This is a way that sites can monetize traffic. It’s a tactic that it provides a service to site users by providing ‘validated’ listings as well as makes the continuation of site services more viable.  

It is a derivative of the user-generated/rated content movement that’s relevant enough and provides enough of a service to keep it as a resource. Think of it in the same vein as Ebay’s sponsored listings or any other form of marketing – Successful Ebay vendoers (meaning those who are doing the right thing to remain successful) can afford to pay for advertising so, theoretically, this moderately ‘validates’ them.  It does, however, also provide an avenue for spammers.

4.) Force “legitimate” friendships – Stumbleupon.com
Let’s face it – none of us have 500+ real friends!  MySpace is notorious for “friend” abuse. My niece has a bazillion “friends” on MySpace!  In principle, I suppose one can understand the ideal, but the reality is that it waters down the value of the community  

Stumbleupon allows 200 friends, max. In order to become friends with someone, you first must find another user and add them as your friend.  But before you actually become their friend, you’re added as a “fan” of theirs….basically you become a groupie… until they confirm you as their friend. At that point you become “mutual friends.” Stumbleupon allows you to have unlimited fans but, as an individual, you cannot have more than a combined total of 200 “mutual friends” and you are a fan of. This forces you to be selective.  In the Stumbleupon community, it’s considered better to have more “mutual friends” than people you are a fan of.

LinkedIn guards against “friend” abusers to an even greater extent. Their friend system is very tight. You can’t send a message to someone or request they become friends with you unless you actually know them & have their e-mail address or someone can facilitate an introduction.  But it’s still up to the individual to respond and accept/deny the “friend” request.

5.) True integration with other web services – Facebook.com
Facebook’s new application platform has raised the bar – way up. Facebook’s popularity is growing at an increasingly greater rate than MySpace. 

There is a library of, literally, hundreds of unique applications available that integrate with Facebook.  My Facebook page is set up to automatically post my blogs and tweets to my profile.  They show up in my newsfeed as well as in all of my friend’s news feed pages. It’s quite effective.

6.) Allow filtering content through friends – Digg.com
Digg is, technically, a “Social News” site, there are, however, some features that are important. Digg actually has a reputation for being run by a handful of people who all dig each other’s stuff exclusively! This doesn’t mean that Digg’s ‘friend’ system isn’t useful. What seems to be the best approach on Digg in order to get fresh content that’s filtered more specifically for an individual’s interests is this:

1. find an article that appeals to you;
2. look at the profile of the person who submitted it
3. then look at the articles they have submitted in the past.
4. If they appeal to you, ‘friend’ them. 

What will happen next is that when you’re looged in and on any category page on Digg, you’ll see a link to view that “Friend’s activity in the last 48 hrs.”  If you’ve “friended” the right folks, you’ll discover a pretty specialized list of information and posts.

7.) Have a visually appealing website
I’m talking professional grade and geared for socializing. Pay attention to detail, but keep the design simple & fresh. Concentrate on usability if your goal is to out survive the competition.  

Allowing users control over their profile’s appearance is a great idea as long as it’s done properly. I’d advocate for less control than MySpace but more than Facebook. If you use embedded videos & music on your site, remember not to set the audio player default to auto play.

Have you discovered more tools that you like?  Please share by adding your comments.

BUSINESS APPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA OR…as a recent study by SocialMedia Today put it; “separating the Biz from the Buzz”

Image by luc legay via Flickr

The rapid rise in popularity of social media has been underestimated.  Companies have been using social media mostly as a general communication tool…primarily for public relations. But a shift is coming in how organizations use social media as businesses begin to discover the value of social media as an essential tool for generating leads and for keeping arms around customers through interaction with them.

In our current economic downturn where the customer pool is diminishing exponentially, finding customers and engaging with them have moved up the priority scale.  Social media is a powerful and persuasive tool.  What better example to cite than the recent election of the President of the United States?

There is, however, a glut of social media vehicles to choose from and all are getting lots of media coverage (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, My Space, etc.)  All are somewhat ubiquitous and I’d like to see demographic and psychographic data on users indicating the unique audience components to each service.  Each of them tout different features. That’s the researcher in me.  It’s not easy to understand which way to go or, for that matter, how to use them to advantage. 

For RPM Marketing, my company, it’s difficult to say that I get more value from one than the other, though. I’ve found that if you want to utilize social media successfully as a marketing tool to grow your business, then you have to use social media sites and tools in the same ways that your customers do, and for the same reasons. You also have to accept the community’s rules, you can’t make your own. Social media isn’t a one-way promotional channel, it’s a many-way interaction/communication channel. The key, as always, is Audience. You’ve got to know who you’re talking to.

I’ve been on LinkedIn for a while now and I’d say it’s where you go to network for business. It’s a great way to see who knows who so that you can leverage existing business relationships.

A couple of good ways to use LinkedIn as a tool are:
1. Answer Questions. The more substantive your answer is, the more likely folks will want to connect with you.
2. Ask Questions. By asking questions that generate a lot of responses you can identify “qualified prospects” in many arenas. It takes thought and creativity on the part of the asker.

I’m new to “tweeting,” (still making my observatons) and I can only offer initial impressions. On Twitter, the ability for an idea or thought or message to generate a huge following is fascinating. Since the emphasis on Twitter is brevity (A post can’t be longer than 140 characters) it’s important to learn the lingo—lots of abbreviations to become familiar with. Twitter is a world filled with sound bites that either capture your interest or not. I have found that it’s a great way to create a following, direct Web traffic, build brand recognition, and get feedback from all over the place.

I personally like Facebook and log into it every day, sometimes two or three times! I have found it extremely useful to keep in touch with and reconnect with my personal network. Creating an online profile to inform your personal network of what it is that you’re doing and/or creating “Groups” that you solicit your network to participate in can be a useful means of driving traffic and it can be a great publicity tool for a small business or for a specific business unit within a larger business provided that individual employees, NOT corporate officials are the ones posting.

I’m experimenting with Facebook now. Facebook traffic has been increasing steadily, currently taking the position as the ninth most popular domain in the U.S., accounting for 1% of all Internet visits —  Facebook has also moved the bar up…way up, with it’s integration of other software applications (at the user’s discretion) into its model!

A recent study conducted by Social Media Today ^1. endeavors to provide guidance to managers regarding which  functions of social media are actually useful in business by measuring which vehicles are being used right now and by whom. The survey was conducted of its members and visitors who are actively involved professionally in social media.

A look at what other businesses are doing can offer valuable perspective.  To read the full white paper:  http://www.socialmediatoday.biz/separatingthebizfromthebuzz

 

 

1.     Social Media Today is an online community focused on issues in the social media world.

 

SOLUTIONS THAT BUILD BUSINESS

Creating and delivering compelling communications in a world inundated with messages is one of the biggest challenges confronting organizations today.  Now, more than ever, it is crucial to break through the clutter to deliver your message and project your image.  The key is reaching your target audience with a cogent, engaging set of communication tools that accurately reflect your brand identity and your position in the marketplace.  In short, your message must get through.  In today’s marketing environment, it is imperative to engage in effective communications  with your customers if your brand is to enjoy a future of relevance and growth.

 

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Targeting Afro-American Consumers: don’t over/underestimate the differences

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Marketers and advertisers have for some time been aware that recognizing ethnic and cultural differences when designing a marketing plan for products or services that might be useful to the black community can be valuable. 

Recognizing and acknowledging ethnic and cultural differences, and crafting targeted messages to acknowledge their uniqueness as consumers can lead to new opportunities. The Afro-American market exerts an enormous influence on American culture. The increasing purchasing power of the community, coupled with its rapid growth and visibility, only make this market more valuable and attractive.  According to a study by Packaged Facts, “African-American buying power is expected to exceed $1.1 trillion in 2012.”   The U.S. Census predicts that the single-race African-American population will reach 61.4 million by 2050. 

If your company is considering marketing to Afro-Americans here are 10 distinct factors to consider when designing your marketing plan:

1. Leave Stereotypes at the Door- A stable family and a solid education were quoted by Afro-American consumers as most important to social standing according to a recent GMI Poll.  Clothes, jewelry and cars were all ranked at the bottom of the list.
2. Ask Yourself: What’s Black About it?  – Does this advertising depict something Afro-Americans can relate to or identify with, minus stereotypical images?   Does the ad depict something unique that Afro-Americans can relate to or identify with (minus stereotypical images?) It is essential for marketers to understand those subtle differences, so they can craft the right message for the right audience.
3. Look Beyond the English Language  – The rapid growth of the Hispanic & Latino market has led to decreasing marketing dollars being spent on targeting Afro-Americans.  The absence of a language barrier has become a major rationalization for reduced spending, generic messaging and inadequate market research when attempting to gain awareness, loyalty and purchasing power from Afro-Americans. Too many advertisers and marketers assume Afro-Americans will respond to any message simply because it is delivered in English.
4. Recognize the Value of the Afro-American Influence- The ability to generate significant influence beyond their own market segmentis truly a distinct quality of Afro-Americans.  As a group, Afro-Americans have been, and continue to be, one of the primary trendsetters of society.  Marketers who consciously establish a relationship with this lucrative yet undeserved market will reap significant long-term rewards from a loyal, influential customer base.  Afro-Americans exert a powerful influence on fashion, music, slang, sports, language and the overall perception of what is cool around the world.  The key is to understand the Afro-Americans as trendsetters and leveraging the value of that influencing power, is an essential step to tailoring ore effective advertising.   Blacks aren’t just more likely than the mainstream to be among the first to set new trends, they also want to be identified as cutting-edge. According to What’s Black About It,34% of Afro-Americans are likely to keep up with changes in trends and fashions (compared with 25% of Caucasians) and 71% say it is important to keep up with the latest technology products and services (compared with 65% of Caucasians.)
5. Understand Afro-American Living -Most Afro-Americans live, worship and socialize with each other and many do so by choice.  The desire to live black also means that many Afro-Americans read Afro-American newspapers and magazines, visit Afro-American Websites and listen to Afro-American radio programs.  A one-size-fits-all marketing approach signals many Afro-Americans that their lifestyle requires no particular understanding or consideration of their culture or distinct social history.  Some advertisers argue that targeted efforts merely separate consumers and support stereotypes.  The key is to target without stereotyping.
6. Acknowledge Afro-American Cultural Heritage: you’re not an insider – Most Afro-Americans agree that the opinion of society matters.  So when in public, they conduct themselves in such a way as to avoid reinforcing negative stereotypes.  Many Afro-Americans feel that certain situations, stories and expressions shouldn’t be shared outside of their community.  Culturally sensitive, positive and relevant appeals that celebrate the culture rather than reinforce stereotypes are more likely to gain the attention and loyalty of Afro-Americans. 
7. Build Loyalty Over Time- As with any ethnic group, building brand loyalty takes time, but when Afro-Americans listen to a well-targeted message and then buy, they do it in larger numbers than the general population.
8. Understand Your Own Internal Challenges  – Many marketers are still confused about multicultural marketing. A recent study conducted for Heidrick & Struggles reports that although 84% of marketers agree that multicultural marketing is critical to their business, nearly 40% say they don’t know how much minority groups contribute to their bottom lines. 
9. Understand Differences Within the Afro-American Community – Differences in values from class to class are the same among Afro-Americans as they are in the general market.  Aspirational messaging of success, education, career and family can all be used to make products and services appealing for Afro-Americans.  It is essential for marketers to understand those subtle differences, so they can craft the right message for the right audience.
10. Leverage Online Research- Like any success story, marketing to Afro-Americans should start with diligent market research.  One way to do this is online.   Publication eMarketerexpects Afro-American Internet users in the U.S. to total 21.7 million in 2010.  According to a new report from The Media Audit, 40.6 % of Afro-Americans now shop online compared to 27.1% five years ago.

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