Connecting Buyers to Relevant Brands
BMW gave us The Ultimate Driving Machine. Bounty is the Quicker Picker-upper. Meanwhile, companies like McDonald’s have had innumerable slogans, from I’m Lovin’ It to Put a Smile on. These slogans are memorable because they tell the value proposition of the brand, underscore the company’s mission and speaks these things clearly. If your slogan doesn’t accomplish the preceding then your slogan is terrible. [Read more…]
Alright, it’s not so much a manifesto as it is best practices. Manifesto just sounds so much better. The point that businesses need to control their message has been misconstrued as of late, though. On one end, some businesses haven’t resigned to the fact that their messaging is less powerful than the recommendations of others. On the other end is businesses that can answer every message and engage heavily in every forum, but forget that the internet isn’t the only place they interact with consumers. [Read more…]
So, you have a great idea and want to start a business – good for you! Along with everything else you have to worry about (products, marketing, accounting, employees, profitability) you also need to beware of the hidden entrepreneurial danger. It lurks in the shadowy depths of good meetings, hot ideas and the expertise of others. It’s lack of follow through and general apathy.
It’s easy to cure your own apathy, especially when paychecks rely on project and task completion. The true self-starter is able to get others, that show less urgency, to operate on a schedule consistent with their needs. Beware of your partners and suppliers holding up the show. If you want to be great, you’ll learn how to manage those relationships to work with the timetables that are needed for your business to be successful. It stinks, I know, because managing personal behavior is difficult enough – let alone someone else’s. But trust me, it’s necessary.
I believe it was Ben Franklin that said, “expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised when it doesn’t happen.” If we were in church I’d be yelling preach. But we’re not so I’ll yell chuuch to ol’ Bennie F. What he says (or what I think he says) makes fantastic sense. Instead of being happy when it doesn’t happen, though, I’ve decided to proactively start to sit on vendors like park benches. It’s not fun and I’d much rather allow people to do what they say they’re going to do, when they say they’re going to do it. Unfortunately, it’s rare when that happens.
Setting up a process for managing the completion of projects when most effective for your peak profitability is key. Part of that strategy may be managing the behavior of a partner/vendor/employee to get things done in the way and time your business needs.
It’s funny, we (me included) are often talking about Customer Relationship Management tools. Sometimes I feel like we need a Business Relationship Management tool, to effectively manage communications with our business partners.Seriously, this idea could save a business or three. I wonder who can help me get this launched? Hmmmm…
Inquiring minds want to know – do you have any tips for managing relationships and keeping people on task?
…marketers were able to control their message in all facets. As a business, you had 100% say over what messages about your brand were being received. Some (many) are still clinging to the idea that they can accomplish resonance via pushing messages out to consumers. Meanwhile, there are others out there that realize this is simply not possible. You can no more push messages and expect that to be a holistic view of what your receivers see, think or feel about your brand, than you can expect the telegraph to come back. Sorry, but the private business sector and general public have discovered the cell phone of marketing.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel though, so don’t despair! There are a multitude of ways to influence brand perception and still be effective at promoting your company. Let’s look at a couple of them. [Read more…]
Usually I write for businesses and since this is a small business marketing blog that would be appropriate. Today, I want to speak with some of my cohorts in marketing who focus on technology. The social media, web dev, app dev folks of the world apparently need to be reminded that they are often ahead of the rest of society in technology acceptance.
Think of technology as hip-hop and businesses as your parents in the late eighties-early nineties. Remember hearing, “this stuff isn’t music,” and the ever popular, “rap will never last”? Well, we knew what was up, but Young MC and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s mainstream hits were needed to get the late adopters to finally resign in acceptance. [Read more…]
Yes, this post is a play on Sir James Brown’s epic ditty. Yeah, I said “ditty” and I Knighted James Brown today. “Baby, Baby, Baaaaby.” Sometimes people don’t think that entrepreneurs need that extra kick when they get a feeling on something, as they are natural risk-takers. On the contrary – the more I work with entrepreneurs the more apparent it becomes that getting the ‘I got the feeling’ mojo needs to be followed up by pragmatic strategy with implementable tactics.
Too often excellent ideas are conjured but fall short of hitting the mark or driving revenue, due to a lack of follow-through. Follow through is the number one thing that can change the arc of an organization. Conversely, there is no greater feeling than taking an esoteric idea and turning it into a tangible product or service that can move the needle.
First, you need to take incremental steps to reach that larger idea/goal. Map out exactly what it will take to get you to the end which you seek. If necessary, form strategic partnerships to help map out the parts that don’t fall into your area of expertise. Don’t be so arrogant as to prevent yourself from seeking help. Also, go toward your goal in achievable and manageable increments. [Read more…]
I love social media. I have met many wonderful people that have become colleagues, friends, associates, and partners..jpg "Kleenex")
No matter how often we speak online through our various networks, the power of face-to-face old school networking is still very relevant. I see some businesses trying to go the easy route by focusing too much on making the ‘net work that they forget to network. More important, they forget (or were never taught) how to effectively network.
We hear about networking all the time. People often mistake it for something it is not, though. It is so omnipresent in the lexicon of America that the meaning has become watered down. It is sort of like a brand name that has become a commodity. Some good examples are Kleenex, Jeep or Coke – even Sea-Doo suffers from this affliction. Well, add networking to the pile of words/brands over-used creating meanings as eroded as the smooth water beaten pebbles on the beach. [Read more…]
It happens all the time. You’re late, or just in a hurry, flying through traffic. Maybe there’s even some horn honking as people are cut off by your intensity to reach your destination. You go left, you go right, and even slow down to change lanes and speed up. Then hear comes a light, and you’re stopped. All of the people that you were weaving through, while honking and cursing, come up to the same light after about 15 seconds. And then comes the, “you’re such a jackass” stare. I tell business people this all the time – stop weaving in traffic. You will eventually end up at the same place as everyone else. [Read more…]
Regardless of the technology that people invent to improve lives, make it easier to communicate & share or simply make a buck, the old tips from Dale Carnegie still ring true. Maybe even more so, now, because we have much more contact with exponentially more people via the social web. As a business owner and brand ambassador, this is especially true. How often do you actively implement these strategies? More important, if they were so important to implement with a limited sphere of influence, then why not utilize them in a social media message to gain positive affect for yourself, your brand, and your business?
There were four main points to Carnegie’s book, and they can be used, today, with technology. It may be just the thing you need to encourage dialog and enhance your brand image. [Read more…]
Therran Oliphant, the Chief Communication Strategist of Hand-Raiser Marketing is available for Integrated Marke
ting Communications Strategy consultation. Therran promotes strategies that create hand-raisers for your brand. Whether the methods are (re)branding, social media strategy, print strategy, media planning, public relations, message development or word of mouth marketing, Hand-Raiser can help you develop ideas that will generate ideas to help you fill your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool with likely prospects for you to message.
Therran L. Oliphant Email: therran@hand-raiser.com Phone: 313-720-4869 Twitterr: http://www.twitter.com/therran LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/therranoliphant We can't wait to … [Read More...]
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