An Agency Roadmap for 2015
As we kick off 2015, I am excited to introduce a series revolving around the success of your agency. Over the next 6 weeks, I will be delivering real advice for agency owners and independent consultants. My true passion is helping others unlock their passion. I believe when you are aligned with your calling, there is a unique fulfillment that cannot be manufactured. It comes only from living out your calling. Going forward, I will be talking about unshackling the chains that hold us back as agency owners and consultants. Ultimately, we are called to be leaders for our employees and families; with that in mind, we need to be…
10 Timeless Marketing Resolutions for Agencies
Around this time of year, it is easy to make “New Years Resolutions”, but what about resolutions in general? Here is a list of 10 marketing resolutions agencies should consider regardless of the time of year. 1. Make your agency website the authority for prospective clients. 2. Create a content marketing strategy that centers around the client, their needs, their business, and their problems. 3. Get out of the traditional agency advertising mentality. If you need to try something new, do it. Experiment. 4. Always be thinking mobile-friendly (seriously, we still have to talk about this?) 5. Explore new platforms: video, podcast, interviews, skywriting, book publishing, or collaborations. 6. Always be…
27 Metrics for Monitoring Your Agency’s Health
How are you doing? No, really. How are you doing? How is your agency doing? Here are 27 metrics for measuring the health of your agency going into the new year: Sales revenue Referrals Pageviews Time on page Bounce rate Page load time Conversion rate Ranking key-phrases Social media advocates Customer attrition / churn Number of blog posts published Mailing list subscribers Premium content offers Employee satisfaction Cost of client acquisition Operating productivity Gross margins Monthly profit / loss Overhead costs Inventory on hand Hours worked per process Client lifetime value Product metabolism (how fast you release updates) Customer support / helpdesk scores Year-Over-Year sales Product revenue percentage Accounts Receivable…
What Is Your Story
Every business has a story; a unique tale of how you achieved what you achieved. A compelling story of why you focus on the particular subsection of the market. The reason you get up each morning and what motivates you. The key is to perfect the telling of the story; to deliver it in a way that resonates with your audience and transfers the passion you have to them. The primary differentiating factor among most competing brands is their ability to convey their story in a way that attracts new customers and solidifies the loyalty of existing customers. Tell your story with such conviction that people begin lining up to…
Merry Christmas
Wishing you and your family a happy holiday season! I hope you’re able to take some time to reflect on 2014 and look forward to a prosperous 2015. “Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” ― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings Thank you for being a part of a fantastic year for me and Never Mind Marketing! Merry Christmas, -Shaun
If Everything Is Expedited, Nothing Is
Overheard: “Our rep just told me that we have over 2000 expedited cases right now … ” In the mad rush to close sales opportunities, and hit the aggressive year-end goals, salespeople are promising to “expedite” the sale to slip in before the deadline. While this sounds great, as a customer, the problem becomes evident when too many people are allowed into the express lane. Even in a restaurant, there is an “expedite” button; one that moves the order to the front of the line (usually reserved for incorrect orders). When sales reps use this as their hard close, the “front of the line”-line gets very long. If you can…
Habits of Unsuccessful People vs. Successful People
Success is not defined by your socioeconomic status, race, gender, location, or bloodline. Rather, success is often found in traits within. The decision to exercise healthy habits is what differentiates successful from unsuccessful. Here is a look at the Habits of Unsuccessful vs. Successful People [one_half] Habits of Unsuccessful People Easily give up Fear change Act before they think Think they know it all Criticize Waste their time Horde information and data Talk before they listen Try to bring others down to their level Stop learning Never set goals Get distracted everyday Blame others Take the easy way out Secretly hope others fail Think, say and do negative things Don’t know what…
The Definition of Success
Some extremely worthy causes (saving the environment, world peace, or efficient public healthcare for example) will never succeed; simply because the definition of their success is undefined. [Tweet “Some extremely worthy causes will never succeed; simply because the definition of their success is undefined.”] Your ability to accurately articulate “success” directly correlates to its achievement. Moreover, your ability to empower your tribe to spread such a message enables you to reach your goal faster. All that to say, clearly define what you want and how you want it shared. To your success. About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014.…
Proposals? Statement of Work? Quote? Agreements?
What does your agency call the document you send to clients before starting work? According to a survey of agencies by the team over at Podio, the actual terminology varies greatly, but “Proposal” took the lead with 73% of the votes. Does it matter if the document is called a proposal? Quote (44%)? Statement of Work (23%)? Recommendation (8%)? Agreement (26%)? Contract? Something else entirely? The varied responses point to a “sense of an organic, evolving process that varies from agency to agency, client to client, and project to project” the Podio team reported. I hope agency owners can take away a key lesson here: There is no right or…
5 Key Elements to a Winning Sales Pitch
When creating a sales pitch or slide deck, it is easy to start with information about your company. It is natural, since we want to convince the prospect that they are in good hands and can trust us. Scratch that. You must understand the client’s hierarchy of needs and create a succession of ‘yeses’. 5 Key Elements to a Well-Structured Sales Proposal 1. Emphasize The Client’s Needs, Goals, and Objections Clearly repeat the needs of the client to reinforce that you have their interest in mind. Articulate the goals, as you understand them, and the objections they are facing. This establishes the issue and sets a clear starting point for your…
How I Blog: Trips & Tricks I’ve Learned From Publishing Every Day
Writing a blog post every day for 90 days is not an easy task. It is one I set out to do for a number of reasons, the primary reason, however, is probably to prove to myself that I could do it. Creating original, high-quality content on a consistent basis is the best and most effective way to attract new visitors to your website. Search engines like Google and Bing are in the business of getting visitors to the best resources available. Consistently publishing content that centers around a particular topic is a huge signal to those search engines that your website is an authority on that topic. Gone are…
Asking a random person…
…for a shoutout/follow/like/RT on any social platform is like walking up to a stranger on the sidewalk and asking them to tell all of their friends how amazing you are. Just don’t. First, build a relationship by adding value to them. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy to lose track of why you do what you do. Ultimately, I believe that relationships will transcend the daily grind we face in sales and marketing.…
Strive To Be Better Than Average
You will not get ahead at work by simply showing up. In your career, client pitch, consultation, or calendar; you must outperform the competition and those around you. Be better than average and let your results speak for themselves. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy to lose track of why you do what you do. Ultimately, I believe that relationships will transcend the daily grind we face in sales and marketing. Every day,…
Don’t Make My Product Launch Mistake
Twice I have made the same mistake. The third time, I am learning. 🙂 In two different businesses, in two different places, in two different markets, I made the same mistake. That is, not talking about the project soon enough, loud enough, or often enough. There is a balance between keeping a lid on a project, leaking just enough information at just the right time, and operating in stealth mode. When you are working on your next project — whatever it may be — consider your realistic timeline for announcing it. If prospective customers don’t know you exist, they won’t know to buy. Jeff Walker, Michael Hyatt, Seth Godin (here,…
How To Be Intentional With Your Time
I believe time is our most valuable asset. I feel fortunate to have realized this at such a young age. It seems that each day brings on new challenges, demands, and pressures that divert our attention from the things that really matter, like family, friends, and enjoying life around us. Each day, we are given an allotment of time that cannot be stretched, saved, rolled over, or repeated. Our time is a finite resource and our responsibility is to spend it the best way possible. As business owners, the demands on our time seem to be more amplified. For that reason, we must be intentional about how we spend our…
What Will Kill Your Agency
Most agencies have likely performed a SWOT analysis; it seems almost like Business 101, by now. But what about answering the question, “What will kill us?” What does your business truly depend on? What is the root source of your success? While reading Arun Sundararajan compare and contrast the cultural differences between Airbnb and Uber, I was reminded of insane lengths Airbnb will go to for their customers. Adam Jackson discovered that one of his guests had stolen a pizza cutter from his kitchen, so he tweeted about it and Airbnb overnighted a new one to him with this cute apology note. You see, Airbrb understand that their business relies on…
The Invisible Gorilla
If we are paying very close attention to one thing, we often fail to notice other — even very obvious things — in our field of vision. Research physiologists, Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, explain this phenomenon as “unintentional blindness” in their book, The Invisible Gorilla. For example, when searching for reading glasses, we become so focused on the search, that we fail to notice that the glasses are on our head. Or that our car keys are not where they are usually placed. We overlook them in obvious places because we are not expecting to find them there. In marketing, it is possible to become so fixated on the problem (or, more…
Hope For The Best
“It used to be, you would take an ad out in the Yellow Pages, get a few signs, and hope for the best.” Except times have changed; and ‘hoping for the best’ is not a strategy. Any marketing strategy, regardless of your marketing budget, product, brand, reach, or target, should be: Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Timely What is a SMART Goal? Specific includes what you want to accomplish and how you intend to accomplish it. Who, what, where, when, how, and why? Measurable means a quantifiable unit to gauge the overall success of the campaign. How will you demonstrate that the goal was met? Attainable means understanding the current limits of…
Sincere and Sincerely Wrong
The world is flat Bulls hate the color red Goldfish have a 3-second memory The sun revolves around the Earth Each of us views the world through a unique lens. Our perspective is made of a culmination of our experiences, likes, dislikes, habits, biases, pleasures and hurts. Naturally, we view our perspective as the truth. In fact, we sincerely believe our view to be the truth. Yet, our perspective can be wrong. Sincerely wrong. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy…
The Last Chapter
Today marks the beginning of the final chapter of 2014. What legacy did you envision? What goal or challenge did you accept 11 months ago? Today, I challenge you to look back on the home runs of 2014 — the big wins. Where did you and your team crush it? Additionally, where did you do alright? Where did you hit solid singles? Lastly, perhaps most importantly, where did you strike out? Where did you fall on your face? For 2015, the last column holds the most opportunity. How can you do better? How can your agency set up your game to win 2015 and achieve a record-breaking year? If you haven’t…
How Answering Frequently Asked Questions Can Be A Sales Asset
Likely, in the course of your daily business, you answer the same questions over and over. Perhaps you have answered them on the phone or via email to customer inquiries. Take a few moments to format these responses into blog posts and publish them on your website. These new frequently asked questions will serve as entry points for new sales prospects as they search the web for answers; the posts also serve as a quick resource to send to customers – freeing up you and your staff to keep the business moving. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of…
An Attitude of Gratitude
With the omnipresence of smart phones, social media, tablets, and computers, it is easy to get wrapped up into the electronic world and miss things going on around us. [Tweet “This Thanksgiving, spend time focused on the real life emotions, events, and relationships surrounding you.”] This Thanksgiving, spend time focused on the real life emotions, events, and relationships surrounding you. This is a season to reflect upon what is important to us. I encourage you to make a list and be intentional this holiday season. Happy Thanksgiving! This year, I am most grateful for: – God’s continued faithfulness and provision – Family & friends – Financial freedoms – Restored relationships…
Write First For Humans
When thinking of SEO (search engine optimization) on your website, speak to the human readers about topics and ideas. Don’t get bogged down with specific keywords. Conceptual websites will always outlast and out-perform sites dedicated to a specific keyword. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy to lose track of why you do what you do. Ultimately, I believe that relationships will transcend the daily grind we face in sales and marketing. Every day,…
The Job Only You Can Do
Seth Godin talks about doing the job only you can do. I could not have said it better myself. One of the milestones every entrepreneur passes is when she stops thinking of people she hires as expensive (“I could do that job for free“) and starts thinking of them as cheap (“This frees me up to do something more profitable.“) When you get rid of every job you do that could be done by someone else, something needs to fill your time. And what you discover is that you’re imagining growth, building partnerships, rethinking the enterprise (working on your business instead of in it, as the emyth guys would say).…
Are You Marketing to a Prospect or a Person
When we design any marketing campaign, it is easy to de-humanize the prospect. Consider the person to whom you are marketing. Better yet, consider the person you are marketing for. Don’t fall into the trap of marketing to prospects; intentionally personalize your marketing. Would you respond to the marketing you are creating? Would your mother? — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy to lose track of why you do what you do. Ultimately, I believe…
Why Blogging Generates Quality Sales Leads
A buyer has made almost 70% of their buying decision before they talk to you. Seventy percent! Todays buyers are self-educating; they are coming to the table armed with more product knowledge than ever before. For sales teams, this means that the prospect is almost ready to buy, you just have to answer any last minute questions and close the deal. But what about the process that leads to that 70%? A large part of that comes from the consumer self-educating and researching the product or service they intend to buy. Brands who embrace sharing content can control the narrative. Blogs work to generate sales leads because buyers are already…
The Importance of Client Onboarding
Onboarding, the “getting started” process of bringing on a new client, user, or member, is perhaps the most critical element to the long-term success of that user. As agencies, we spend a considerable amount of time focused on acquiring leads, nurturing them to prospect, and closing them as a new customer … … then what? The Onboarding Phase of your organization sets the tone for the balance of the relationship. The client deserves to know what to expect next. What are the expectations? What do they need to do? What are you going to do? What happens if someone fails those expectations? [Tweet “Onboarding a client sets the tone for…
Don’t Build Your Castle In Another Man’s Kingdom
Online, it is easy to chase the latest platform. For brands, it is especially easy to drop everything to explore uncharted territory to be the first to market. This exploration, however, often causes brands to abandon their previous outposts in search of a new promised land. [Tweet “Social media platforms are outposts. Use them to reach new lands, new markets, and new followers.”] Worse still, is building your entire castle where an outpost ought to be. An outpost is a listening station; used to observe and report back to the main castle. Outposts can be won and lost in the changing tides of war. Castles are controlled and owned for…
Tell Your Story: How to talk about yourself in a way that makes people care
There is a fine-line between too self-promotional and delivering a powerful, well-deserved description of yourself. For professionals, self-promotion is critical to success, but doing it wrong can drive away partners, customers, and prospects. To maintain promotional balance, consider the following exercise: Step 1: Set the Stage Before you start, know what you want you to communicate. Specifically, who do you want to target? Who is your ideal audience? What do you want them to learn? What do you want them to do? How do you want them to feel? I recommend taking the time to answer each of these. The writing process will help unlock what you really want to…
The Single Biggest Mistake Brands Make On Their Blogs
“I wanna talk about me.” More than just a song by Toby Keith, “I wanna talk about me”-mentality is the number one mistake brands make on their blog. Take a step back, read your last 5 blog entires. Are they brand-focused or buyer-focused? When you write for your audience, you transform the relationship from buyer-seller to buyer-advisor. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy to lose track of why you do what you do. Ultimately,…
5 Quick Wins for Brand Leaders on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the social hub for B2B networking. In fact, it is the number one source for referral traffic to the Never Mind Marketing site. So how can you use your LinkedIn profile to attract new visitors, close more sales, and build deeper professional relationships? Look at these five LinkedIn tips that you can tackle before lunch: 1. Profile Picture Members with a profile picture get 14x the number of views. Have a crisp, clean headshot that shows the real you — not some posed, awkward, fake smile. People want the real you and, as humans, we are able to detect deceptive smiles in an instant. 2. Accurate Headline Use…
The Invisible Link Between Social Media and Sales Conversions
For modern marketers, simply being on social media is not enough. There are too many gimmicks; too much noise; too much drama. Instead, ask yourself, “What are we going to do with social?” The answer is to introduce call to action to drive intentional outcomes. Using social media with measurable purpose is the invisible link between social and sales. Without a purpose, and a way to analyze your efforts, you are adding to the noise and drama. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy…
9 Quick Ways To Segment Your Customer List
One size does not fit all. Customer segmentation is an incredibly powerful way to nurture your existing list. Segmenting your customer base is like classifying each customer in a bucket with other similar customers as a way to tailor your marketing message to each group. I’ve spoken before about how my friend and I match many of the same basic demographic criteria, but are worlds apart in our marketing triggers. Here are 9 quick ways to segment your customer list 1. Demographics The gender, age, and geographical location are important to segment. Marketing snow shovels in January in Hawaii doesn’t make sense. Nor does promoting women’s fashion accessories to me.…
What is Keeping You From Shipping?
Of course, shipping is just a placeholder for: Publishing your work Calling that client Requesting the referral Writing the blog post Sharing your expertise Booking that speech Asking for the promotion Enrolling in continued education Creating your own learning series Seeking out the ideal customer Reaching out for a donation What are you waiting for? It is easy to come up with excuses and many reasons why not — but they are never the root cause. They are innocent victims easy to pick on. They don’t fight back. They are vague. They are opaque. No, ultimately it is the fear of not being perfect that holds us back. If you…
How To Solve The Biggest Problems For Your Ideal Customer
“How Have We Helped You, Today?” That is the question I ask each time I see these faces. They represent our customers. The people we exist to connect and help. It’s a big mental shift to adjust marketing from “about us” to “about them.” The customer. More specifically, your ideal customer. Consider challenging yourself for 6 weeks to look your ideal customer in the face each day and become obsessed with making their biggest problems disappear. The transformation will be evident in both your organization and theirs. How have you helped your ideal customer today? Have you defined your ideal customer persona? If not, join my free email course to do just…
Getting Serious About Your Email Marketing
Sixty-six percent of American consumers over the age of 15 say they made a purchase as a result of email marketing. For you, this means your email marketing efforts need to be optimized and finely tuned to elicit a positive response from your followers. To fully optimize your email marketing, consider these essential elements: Optimal Subject Lines Nearly 30% of emails are opened because of the subject alone Fresh Subject Lines Don’t repeat subject lines, otherwise, your open rate drops with each message Compelling Message Clearly convey how your offer benefits your readers Personalized Messages Nearly half of email marketing messages are marked as spam because they are irrelevant Enticing…
What Is Inbound Marketing
Inbound Marketing is a process for generating leads and nurturing them to a point of sale through content and automation. It’s not magic, it’s just a very efficient and human way of connecting with customers at the right moment. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy to lose track of why you do what you do. Ultimately, I believe that relationships will transcend the daily grind we face in sales and marketing. Every day,…
We Hate Interruptive Marketing
It is hard not to hate someone who constantly interrupts you with irrelevant messages; one who assumes they deserve your undivided attention at all times. It is easy, however, to love someone who always says the right thing, the right way, at the right time, in the right place. Which are you? — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy to lose track of why you do what you do. Ultimately, I believe that relationships…
Are You An Authority
Heard on the news report: “Authorities recommend …” Almost without question, we follow the directions given to us by “authorities”: Authorities recommend residents continue to boil water … Authorities recommend drivers call 911 … Authorities recommend avoid waking grizzly bears … Authorities recommend consulting your doctor prior to … Authorities recommend applying sunscreen … When the “authorities” recommend it, they have the best interest of the tribe in mind. We can choose to ignore their recommendations, but at our peril. What are you doing to establish yourself as an authority of your domain? — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014.…
Blogging: Get Started
Consistently publishing original, quality content on your website has two huge benefits. First, it excites search engines. It shows them that you are well-versed in the topic you are discussing and signals that they should send visitors to your website who are seeking information on such topics. Secondly, it attracts new visitors to your website who are seeking information you are publishing (i.e., new customers). The concept is simple. Plant seeds, reap harvest, repeat. The hard part is overcoming the many excuses we pile on to avoid getting started: I don’t know what to write I don’t have time I don’t know where to start I don’t know if I can…
Are You Running a Sprint or a Marathon
Wedding pins are one of the most popular categories on Pinterest. With so much planning going into the big day, it is easy to forget about Day 2 – the day after the wedding. And the 18,250 days after. When it comes to your marketing strategy, are you preparing for a sprint or a marathon? It is easy to get caught up in trying to close the deal now; but prospects need to be nurtured. Beyond the prospect phase, customers need to be nurtured. Don’t spend more time on the wedding than you do on the relationship. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the…
This Point is Super Simple
Remember, it is the little things that count. When speaking with a sales prospect, a colleague, a customer, or an advisor, this point will always be inherently important — and for this reason it cannot be overlooked. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy to lose track of why you do what you do. Ultimately, I believe that relationships will transcend the daily grind we face in sales and marketing. Every day, I’ll share…
Uniquely For Me: Mass Market Personalization
A follower who always retweets your brand’s messages A frequent website visitor who reads nearly every blog post A one-time customer who takes to Facebook to lambaste a recent purchase from you An anonymous visitor who has looked at your pricing page 7 times in two days A known customer who spends thousands with you each year A hot prospect who is reading your blog post at 10:30pm Would you market to these folks the same way? With the same message? Marketing today requires an adaptation to personalize the user experience. For too long, we have not had the technology to personalize content based on what we know of the visitor.…
Measure, Adapt, Repeat
Pop Quiz: do you know how effective your marketing is? With access to tools that provide granular statistics, no marketing department should ever wonder the reach, impact, and influence of their efforts. A few key points to measure: How many visitors are coming to your website? Which version of a blog title generate the most clicks? Leads? Customers? (A/B testing) Which social media platform drives the most interaction and downloads? What day and time is our audience most engaged with us? Today’s marketing programs are driven by data and insight, not assumptions. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014.…
S is for Social Listening – Part 2
Just the other day, I encouraged brand leaders to look at social media as a listening platform. This is an area that many small businesses think larger, more established brands can outperform them. Quite the contrary. As if on cue, I witnessed the following transpire in real time, and was disappointed at the (lack of) response by a national brand. Exhibit A: [email protected] lost a lot of respect 2day. Took today off, scheduled service repair never showed up. Called 800 # & no one can help either #fail — Bryan Kramer – Keynote Speaker (@bryankramer) October 22, 2014 https://twitter.com/adamf2014/status/524743162347008000 @bryankramer @SEARS they also seem to pay a lot of attention to their…
Attention, Chief Marketing Officers
Attention, Chief Marketing Officers, There are changes in your industry that you need to be aware of. These are transitional moments that will define the next generation of marketers and separate the prosperous from the lacking. Your buyers are mobile: They access your content on multiple screens and from multiple geographical locations. Your marketing campaigns must be responsive to the viewing device (phone, tablets, desktop, etc) and physical location (think of the opportunities for brick and mortar stores) Your buyers are ready to meet: Your marketing plan needs to meet the needs of the buyer where they are. Intimately understand your buyer’s decision-making cycle(s) and know how to reach them at each level. One-size-fits-all…
The First Step of Your Marketing Strategy
Your primary marketing mission should be to add value to your customers. Everything else will fall into place. When the focus of your marketing strategy is to add value, you naturally align with the needs of your customers. No longer is your sales department the ‘enemy’, but a team of trusted industry advisors. When a customer or prospect feels valued, they seek you out. What a powerful position to be in. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world,…
How Closed Customers Can Help Craft Your Marketing Strategy
Notice I didn’t say new customers. Or prospects. Closed business – people that actually pay you money for your products or services – should have the biggest impact on your go-forward marketing. Those who have opened their checkbook, signed the dotted line, and accepted the handshake have great insights that you need to acknowledge. Why did they choose you? Where did you hit a home run? What made you stand out — good and bad — from your competition? This is one of the most treacherous times and one of the best times to let your closed customers influence your marketing strategy. But (and it’s a big but) you have…
This Line of Advertising No Longer Exists
The line between traditional advertising and digital advertising is beyond blurred — it no longer exists. And you don’t have to choose between traditional and digital. They should support and promote one another for greater impact. Regardless of platform, your marketing strategy is to strengthen your brand’s relationship with customers. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy to lose track of why you do what you do. Ultimately, I believe that relationships will transcend the daily grind we face…
Better Ways of Connecting with Customers
“One way or the other, we’re in the ideas business.” – Peter Coughter, author of The Art of the Pitch As a brand, you must continually find better ways of connecting with customers: Tell stories and make it personal Defy conventional and create an exceptional experience Show up when things are good The “customer service” department should be called “Customer Experience” and be obsessed with it Focus on simplicity At the end of the day, the customer does not care about you. They care about them. The sooner you accept this, the happier you will be and the more money you will make. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is…
Long-form Content is the New Ad
Long-form content is the new ad. Brands are content creators now, and they could learn a thing or two from the film industry. Content creators are actually storytellers. They give the viewer/reader/customer a reason to stop what they are doing and focus. They give a reason to care. Focus your efforts, not on advertising, but engaging the customer through vivid stories and experiences. Your brand message will resonate much deeper. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world,…
Unsatisfied is Lazy
Services like Netflix and Amazon offer so much streaming content, they’ve changed everything about how we pick what to watch. It’s smart to click through videos until you find something you’ll love, and it feels inexcusable to spend time and money on anything you won’t. There are so many reviews, ratings and recommendations out there that getting stuck watching something unsatisfying seems not only tough, but lazy. There’s a simple reason for this: Expectations shift when we feel we can make more informed choices. And there are so many reviews, ratings and recommendations out there that getting stuck watching something unsatisfying seems not only tough, but lazy. – Mónica Guzmán Likewise,…
Personalized Marketing: Opportunities Abound
We live in an exciting era. As humans, we still want to connect and share our experiences, meet new people, and deepen our relationship with those already in our circles. We must balance our privacy (which is unique to both users and publishers), as well as our desire to be accepted and approved of. Marketing will continue to become more personal. Brands must adapt a scalable 1:1 marketing strategy and consumers’ needs will continue to evolve. These are real human needs and, as a result, creates limitless opportunities for technology and online marketing to connect. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the…
Hello, My Name Is…
To introduce yourself to an individual of perceived power, work to quickly show interest in his wellbeing. The first step is to show you care. Don’t sell yourself, give of yourself. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy to lose track of why you do what you do. Ultimately, I believe that relationships will transcend the daily grind we face in sales and marketing. Every day, I’ll share insights and tips to grow your…
How Much Time Does It Take to Find a Solution
When your ideal customer has a problem, how long does it take for her to find a solution? Does she know whether you offer such a solution? Does she go to Google? A phonebook? A friend? Regardless of the needs of your prospect, you should work diligently to sympathize and give her the answer as fast as possible. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy to lose track of why you do what you do. Ultimately, I believe that…
S is for Social Listening
Interruptive sales strategies suck. No one wants to get your generic, unsolicited email or phone call. You don’t need to wish for a way to gauge interest in your product or service. Social media was made for listening. It offers a gold mine for sales people to listen for folks who need their services. Prospective buyers are taking to social media to talk about their interests, pain points, frustrations, wants, and needs. Start listening for leads. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an…
Battles Make You Better
In business, the battles are many. You will be tempted. You will be tested. Finances. Plans. Products. People. Partnerships. They will all create friction. The beauty, though, is the strength of the plan that emerges at the end. Don’t fight the friction. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy to lose track of why you do what you do. Ultimately, I believe that relationships will transcend the daily grind we face in sales and…
We Use Only The Worst Quality Ingredients
These words have never been used in any marketing campaign promoting goods. Who would use the worst? In a world where your competition uses “the best quality ingredients” and offers the “best customer service” or provides the “best value”, you must position yourself as the natural alternative to “the best”. Interview your existing customers, they have great insights on why they chose you. Do more of that. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy…
Starting With a The End in Front
“Everyone is our customer.” These words are figuratively inscribed on the hearts of nearly every client I’ve worked with. The problem, however, is that not everyone is your client. In fact, a very small subset of ‘everyone‘ is even eligible to buy from you. Define your exact ideal customer and remove every possible objection they have. Be their best friend and most trusted advisor. Bonus points for creating your anti-customer. Know who isn’t a good fit for you and move on. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales…
Your One Thing
Steve Jobs famously concluded Apple release events with “One more thing.” Where the tech giant would often introduce a revolutionary product that upended the existing market (the iPod was a “one more thing”) Rather than attempt to duplicate Apple’s one more thing, focus on your one thing. What is your reason for being? Choose your one thing and beat everyone else at doing it. Whether you bake biscotti, sell magazines, or create head wraps, build the best freaking one thing you are capable of. About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized,…
The Value of Values
The topic of core values, mission statements, purpose statements, etc has been beaten to death; and I am sure your organization has some semblance of these tucked away somewhere. More important to the actual values, however, is the alignment to those statements. Without a unified vision, your organization will fall into the trap of trying to hit multiple targets with one arrow. About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy to lose track of…
Set Yourself Up For a Successful 2015
Next week marks the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2014. Wow! It is hard to believe that 2014 flew by with barely a wink and a nod! For the final quarter of the year, I am focusing my efforts on delivering daily, bite-sized nuggets of inbound sales and marketing insights for busy business owners and managers. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world, it is easy to lose track of why you do what you do. Ultimately, I believe that relationships will transcend the daily grind we face in sales and marketing. Each day, I’ll share insights and tips to grow your business and connect with your customers…
Beginners Guide to Content Marketing
There is a tremendous amount of buzz surrounding content marketing and its need within a brand’s overall marketing strategy. Doing content marketing is much more than publishing on your blog occasionally and posting your thoughts on social media. “Do stuff and maybe it will work” is not a strategy, it is a gamble. A risky and expensive one, at that. Even so, many brands have yet to create an effective content marketing strategy. What does such a strategy look like? Where are the examples of brands doing it well? This week, I will show you examples of an effective content marketing strategy and offer ways for you to craft your…
How To Reach Twitter Users Who Need You
Twitter is a great prospecting tool, but how do you use it to connect with new customers without coming off as spammy? According to a late-2013 study, 67% of customers were more likely to purchase from a brand they followed on Twitter. But what about connecting with those customers who are not following you? In a sea of noise, sometimes it is hard to stand out and not turn off prospective customers. Still, business owners seeking to build relationships can take advantage of the 271 million monthly active users on Twitter. This week, I’ll share some keys to reaching new, qualified prospects using Twitter. Service Over Sales The first key to reaching prospective…
4 Alternatives to Unnecessarily Hard Work
Here in the US, this day serves as the unofficial end of summer. Where school buses and shorter days wait just around the corner. Labor Day was first introduced to recognize the hard work – the actual labor – of the industrial revolution. Days were long. Work was hard. It was laborious. Seth Godin puts it well: In the old days, we could measure how much grain someone harvested or how many pieces of steel he made. Hard work meant more work. Now, we have confused the act of laboring in the field or factory with “hard work”. Often, work made harder through our own internal motivators. He goes on to say:…
Are You The Right Fit For Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing has radically changed the traditional sales process. The basic premise of inbound is reaching the right people, at the right time, with the right content. The idea of a sales funnel has been around since the late 1800s, we have adapted several iterations of this model; which maps the process a theoretical customer journeys through before making a purchase. The process, however, assumes that all prospective customers loosely take the same route. We know that not to be true. With the introduction of social media and the huge influx of technology, we now know that consumers and prospects are entering the buying process from many different channels and…
How Buyer Personas Help You Connect with More Customers and Close More Sales
Wouldn’t it be better if you knew what your buyer wanted even before they did? To be successful with inbound or content marketing, your brand – whether it is the sales team, marketing team, or social media team – your brand needs to deliver the right information to the right people at the right time. This requires an understanding of the specific process they will go through to make a purchasing decision. Such understanding will help you attract leads that are already in a purchasing process, increasing the number of leads that convert to paying customers. What is a Buyer Persona A buyer persona is a fictional representation of the real…
3 Tips to Convert Your Existing Website to a Sales Machine
In my conversations with brand owners and marketing VPs, many of them have indicated that their website is listed as an expense line item rather than an asset. Why? In today’s market, a website should be the most valuable salesperson on your team — and certainly listed as an asset. A strong, highly-optimized website is always available, always selling, and always attracting new customers. Here are three power-packed tips to making your website a sales machine. Website Visitor Flow When was the last time you took a serious look at your website? What about through the eyes of your visitors? I encourage you to spend time walking through your website…
How to Convert Your Sales-Oriented Pipeline to a Customer-Oriented Pipeline
Today’s consumers are entering the buying process much more educated and from a number of entry points. Some will come to your brand based on the recommendation of a friend, others will see a sponsored social media post, others will come in “cold” from a generalized search engine query. Your sales process must be able to accommodate these various entry points and anticipate the needs of these folks. The hardened sales process of yesterday will not work for today’s buyers, and certainly not for tomorrow’s. With some simple steps, such as defining your customer’s buying process, behavior monitoring, and measuring; you can begin to create a sales pipeline that is more…
How I Work: My Toolbox For Marketing a Modern Business
Running any business is challenging. Running an agency like Never Mind Marketing is even more complex. We essentially help 21 different companies run their marketing departments at any one time. Keeping track of campaigns, goals, challenges, personas, communications, and upcoming projects for 21 different teams means we need to have our own internal process locked down. Add to that my self-diagnosed OCD and tech-ADD (meaning I want to try everything to see if it will make our process more efficient), my team has their work cut out. I regularly get inquiries from our clients about how to improve on their own internal business processes. The questions range from managing email…
A Stellar Example of Inbound Marketing Practices at an Offline Event [Interview]
As you can imagine, my excitement and passion for effective marketing does not stop at the door or at the end of the work day. As my family can attest, I am always looking at creative and efficient marketing tactics. I love understanding what works and what doesn’t. The other day, I was speaking to a very good friend (and loan officer whom I highly recommend, by the way), Mandi Atkins, about an event that she participated in. The event was a Veteran’s Resource fair specifically designed to provide area veterans resources available to them. Mandi was asked to participate because of her knowledge and experience helping veterans qualify for…
Blueprint for the Perfect Blog Post
Blogging is one of the easiest and fastest ways to build a loyal following and increase revenue for your brand. However, many folks find it hard to get started because they don’t understand all of the elements of effective blogging. The truth is, we are uncomfortable in the uncertain. I’d like to help take some of the discomfort out of blogging and show you the perfect structure for your blog post. The Perfect Blog Post Blueprint Post Title Your blog post title should always contain your targeted keyword or phrase. In this post, for example, the targeted phrase is “Perfect Blog Post” because I know many of my readers are…
7 Tips for Writing Blog Headlines
As I’ve talked about before, blogging is – by far – the best way to gain new website traffic, capture new sales leads, and better the business relationship with your existing customers. One area I see every blog writer struggle with, however, is writing good headlines to break up their blog posts into manageable chunks of information. Studies have indicated that a reader will make a decision to keep reading within 8 seconds of landing on your page. That’s not a lot of time! To get their attention in the first place, you must have a catchy blog content divided into easy-to-digest sections. Here are some tips on how to…
How Writing Your Blog is like Driving To The Gym
When thinking about how to market your business, the options can seem almost endless. Between the constant wave of information about when and how to post to social media, blogging, automated marketing, providing excellent customer service, plus the many other facets to go into building a strong brand, it is easy to get overwhelmed. So where do you start? What should you do? Don’t get discouraged, becoming a proficient marketer can easily be broken into smaller, more manageable steps. Marketing your business is much like starting any new habit. It requires intent, purpose, and discipline. I once heard a great phrase about staying motivated to working out: Put your workout…
How to Start Your Professional Social Media Presence
By now, I’m sure the need for social media in your business is apparent. That said, a recent survey indicated that only 6% of businesses were successfully using social media to generate sales leads for their brand. If you are a part of the staggering 94% not using social media (or not using it efficiently) to generate sales leads, there is still time to create a plan and expand your reach. Social is a platform that has completely changed the marketing landscape for both large and small brands. Never before have businesses had the opportunity to experience a two-way street of communication between themselves and customers. Q: Why should we…
11 Essential Business Survival Tips
Business isn’t easy, here are 11 business survival tips for young start-ups or old pros. They serve as good reminders to keep the plain things the main things. Happy Friday 1. Be Willing To Learn Everyday 2. Have the Desire to Make A Real Difference 3. Dedication Runs Deeper than 9-to-5 4. Resist the Urge to Sell. Be Helpful Instead 5. Connect With the Right People 6. Embrace and Be Comfortable with Change 7. Take a Consultative Approach 8. Differentiate From the Pack 9. Always be Ready to Negotiate 10. Inspire Everyone Your Speak With 11. Tell Great Stories Slideshare 11 Essential…
8 Simple Leadership Values
11 Essential Elements of a Website Redesign
Whether your navigation is too complex, your design is dated, or you are not getting the results you want, a website redesign seems to become the topic of discussion every two or three years within many organizations. Any change in your marketing — of which your website is likely a large part — requires thought, time, and planning. Knowing the reason behind your desire to redesign your site can shed a lot of light on the project goals. There are two schools of thought when it comes to redesigning a website, the first is agile design, where several small changes are made in iteration, over time. The second is a…
How to Generate Business Leads from Pinterest
Pinterest is one of the more popular social media platforms today. In fact, if you are not careful, you can find many hours of a lazy Saturday afternoon consumed by it…. not that I am speaking from experience. Pinterest is popular because it gives users the ability to quickly and visually categorize things they like. The psychological cues are powerful and will help keep the social network pinned to the top of our minds for quite some time. Who Should Be Using Pinterest Both B2B (Business-to-Business) and B2C (Business-to-Consumer) brands have struggled with how to use Pinterest in their social media and online marketing strategies. Rather than trying to shoehorn…
A Love Note to Entrepreneurs
This is a slight deviation from my normal column about content marketing, but I am even more passionate about helping entrepreneurs and could not resist sharing this fantastic piece from thestoryoftelling.com A Love Note to Entrepreneurs Don’t wait for permission Change something you care about Touch one person Make a difference to a handful Launch ideas from the heart Build a legacy, not just an empire Keep your values front and center Understand why you’re doing this Remember, it doesn’t have to matter to everyone Learn how to see the world as it isn’t Allow possibility to feed your soul Embrace failure alongside success Make people your inspiration Make meaning…
Why I am an Unapologetic, Raving Evangelist for Inbound Marketing
I don’t just like inbound marketing. I believe in it. I’m a raving fan of it. An ambassador. When I started Never Mind Marketing, the now-pillars of inbound were only loosely connected. We knew web design and layout were important, we knew search engine optimization was important, and we knew that social media was important. Beyond that, there was no formal name for what we were doing, it was just called “internet marketing”, which many people thought was scammy affiliate marketing garbage. I’m pretty sure my mom thought I worked for Google. In The Beginning I started in the wild wild west in internet marketing at the age of 13.…
Time Management Tips for Social Media Brand Managers
One of the top concerns with any brand owner or manager is the time suck that is social media. It seems that any “quick update” on Facebook results in the loss of a week’s worth of productivity as you mindlessly check out pictures of cats, food, and your friend’s children. That said, social media is critical for the overall success and expansion of your brand, so we cannot ignore it completely. For that reason, I have made a list of time management tips that we use internally to keep social media from taking over our lives on a daily basis. Time Management Tips for Social Media Managers Be Intentional From…
6 Critical Steps To Master Before Using Social Media for Your Business
Social media remains a hot topic in the world of business – and rightly so. No other marketing platform gives brands such direct access to consumers and vice versa. Consumers love following their favorite brands, seeing what their friends are interested in, and finding new brands or products. There are some basic stepping stones brands should keep in mind when starting their social media strategy. Here, I’ll outline 6 key steps every company should make a priority before using social media to reach their customers. 1. Know Your Audience It may sound simple, at first, but do you really “know” your audience? Do you know if they are primarily male…
$10,000 Worth of SEO Advice: Free
Here it goes, advice I charge companies $10,000 to receive – available to you for free. How do I rank #1 in search engines like Google or Bing? How do I attract more website visitors? How do I convert more visitors to leads? How to I show up for more than just one keyword in search engines? How do I demonstrate authority and expertise within my industry? How do I attract more interest from news organizations and media outlets? How do I demand top-dollar for my products or services? How do I get more fans on Facebook or more followers on Twitter? How do I combat negative reviews? How do…
Content Marketing Statistics for 2014
The world of marketing has changed drastically in the last decade. We are experiencing a full-scale assault on traditional marketing tactics. The weapon of choice: content marketing. Content marketing is a powerful tool for building a brand following, capturing sales leads, and driving your website to the top of search engine rankings. The basic premise behind a content marketing strategy is to attract visitors who are already, at a high-level, interested in your brand, product, or service. The visitor may not know specifically of you, but they are aware of their need — their “pain point” — and are actively seeking a solution. Through educational and informational content delivered to…
How B2B Trade Shows can Benefit from Social Media
Some of my favorite speaking gigs are B2B trade shows. Most often, the attendees of my sessions are business owners themselves, or a representative tasked with learning “how to do social media”. It is exciting to me to see the “Aha!” moments on the faces of those who realize social media isn’t just for sharing stupid cat pictures, memes, or drunken photos of the weekend’s transgressions. The point that usually causes the most enlightenment is that there really is no “B2B” marketing. In reality, business decisions are made by humans. A business does not determine sources, vendors, or emotional connection – humans do. Social media, at its core, is a…
How To Use a Buyer’s Journey to Increase Sales
It pains me to see sales professionals doing the right thing, yet missing the mark when it comes to their monthly or quarterly sales goals. I’ve watched as brands dump money into their sales and marketing budgets to expand their brand awareness, increase sales, and decrease the workload of these departments only to be met with disappointing results. The problem is not the level of their effort, it is the efficiency of their effort. This is often evident by the sales team wasting their time (and your business dollars) continually following up with leads that are unqualified or otherwise not ready to make a purchase. How do you know? Answer…
The Best Guide to SEO for Beginners
We ran across this infograph by DigitalHawkins; it is probably the simplest way to explain SEO (search engine optimization) to the utmost beginner. Keep in mind that this isn’t the whole story, but it is a great start to understanding the overall idea of SEO. Cheers! The Beginners Guide to SEO All online marketing campaigns begin the same way, you must understand your audience and have a thoughtful approach to reach them. How to Reach Your Customer Online First, identify your target audience and develop a Persona around them (their values, their interests, pain points, and what social networks they use). Next, do keyword research to identify what your targeted…
The Most Important Customer Review of Bidsketch You’ll Ever Read
As a small business owner — and a nerd — I am always seeking out new technologies that will improve the efficiency of the Never Mind Marketing process, both internally and for our customers. When it comes to drafting proposals and estimates for clients, many agencies simply slap a new client name on the coversheet and call it good. Very little thought goes into the actual content and salesmanship of the document responsible for securing growth within your company. This is a horrible way to approach getting new clients and referrals! For a long time, we were using an outline found within the book, Getting Started In Consulting by Alan…
