Would Anyone Care If You Disappeared?

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Sometimes when I was in a snit about an argument I had with my family, I’d slink into a corner and fantasize about just running away (not to the circus but you get the idea). I wondered if anyone would care if I disappeared and how long it would take for them to notice. Of course now, I know that would’ve given the Dincoys a coronary but don’t you sometimes wonder that about your own business?

Well, big businesses are wondering that very same thing and here’s what they did to find out:

In a first ever attempt at ranking all global brands on the same footing, a research done by the Havas Media Group looked at how a brand affected people’s wellbeing.

In determining this link, they asked questions around how a brand affected everything from the personal well-being to the collective one. Factors such as physical, financial, emotional as well as economic, ethical and environmental were rated against a brands’ ability to influence a person’s well-being.

Show Me the Money

It turned out that meaningful brands beat the stock market average performance by a whopping 120%. In other words, if people’s wellbeing is influenced greatly by a brand, then naturally they value it more.

Only 20% of worldwide brands were found to significantly influence wellbeing. Top of that list of course, is the brand: Google, followed by Samsung, Microsoft, Nestle and Sony.

Crazy that all but one of those are technology companies, isn’t it? What would we do without our gadgets?

Nobody Cares About You

On the other hand the research also revealed that a surprising 73% of brands can DISAPPEAR off the face of the earth and nobody would care about the loss.

People felt that while they think 71% of brands should be solving our problems, they only thought that 34% did this.

What are the implications for you and your small business?

If giant multimillion dollar brands who pour tons of money into ad campaigns can only inspire 46% trust, what can the little guy with so much less ad dollars expect?

How to Matter

When it comes down to trust and relevance, your only ally is to understand your client’s pain and speak their language. Be perceived as one of them and not be lumped into a crowd of others who do exactly the same thing as you do. Stand out. Be bold and be authentic. Stand for something you believe in. Listen to HOW you can matter to your client’s life and business. Then do what THEY tell you to do, not what YOU think should be done.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk

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The Beatles were right – you can’t buy love

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beatlesA lot of small businesses are pouring dollars into campaigns to win the hearts, minds and wallets of their clients. I’m here to make a bold statement (as I am known to make) that often, they are wasting their money.

You Can’t Make People Love You           

In high school, I always wanted to be friends with the ‘cool’ kids. I bought them lunch, told them racy stories or just clowned around trying to win their approval and friendship. Strangely enough, the people I attracted were much different from the ones I thought I wanted to attract.  The lesson was that friendships can’t be bought or coerced. Attraction has to happen on its own.

Businesses Need Client Love

As a small business owner with a tight marketing budget, I knew that I couldn’t spend enough money, buy enough ad space, or send enough flyers to my potential customers to buy their love. All that marketing spending would buy me would be AWARENESS not love.

All around me, I see businesses spending their marketing dollars on ways to make people aware of them. The critical thing they don’t get is that awareness doesn’t equal love.

To Know You Is To Love You

Now, granted once I get to know you, I might fall in love with your message and your personality but the critical piece that’s missing is that small businesses are expecting their awareness campaigns to buy them immediate liking, trust and buy-in. This just doesn’t happen.

How potential clients truly get to know you is to get an experience of how you help them with their pain.

For example, I coach at conferences. I publicly speak about my clients’ pain and their results. I blog about my thoughts and opinions. I send newsletters about my life, my work and my heart.

If you want your clients and potential clients to fall in love with you—just remember you can’t buy their love. You need to show yourself and allow them to get to know you. Then, you will be in their hearts and minds forever.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk

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The Best Marketing Advice You’re Forgetting to Follow

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I loved this article in the Entrepreneur Magazine by Colleen DeBaise about good marketing advice that we’ve just plumb forgotten! I am constantly remembering really basic things I knew to succeed in my marketing. For example, sometimes I get too busy to look at who’s following me now on social media. Other times, I leave money on the table when I don’t call back my leads that my website generates. Come clean, you’ve all been there. Here’s what another expert says:

Too often companies throw together “About Us” sections that are sterile and  less than compelling. Businesses need to spend time and resources putting up  pictures that reflect their team and culture, and shaping the “why” behind the  company for everyone to consume in a beautiful way.

Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226812#ixzz2VvrPZdEn

That is a GREAT one. I can’t tell you how many ‘About’ sections have no picture of the owner of the company. Why are you hiding? Remember, a good brand character depends on your character.

Other great marketing advice I’ve given that have been forgotten by clients have been:

  • To keep their focus on their niche and not to wander off the target
  • To send timely and regular communication to their followers, like a newsletter or at least an email
  • To thank people for their referrals in a BIG and over the top way
  • To joint venture with only strategic partners who serve the same target as yours
  • To stop partnering people in your business or in your keynotes because you’re afraid to do it on your own

If any of those sound like you, well I hope this was a good reminder of what you should be doing instead.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk

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Are you being too clever for your customer?

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A good friend bravely took the plunge into entrepreneurship after over a decade spent working for “The Man”. The first thing she did like any business owner was not to get a business strategy or to make a marketing plan. She went and got a graphic designer to design her brand, spanking-new company logo. That’s the exact moment in time that she started strangling her newborn venture at conception.

The Silent Killer

My friend decided to shorten the industry in which she would be working and incorporate it into her brand name. For example, Janice’s Project Management became JPM.

I can’t tell you how many businesses I come across everyday do this very same thing. I’m not sure where we learned that companies with acronyms for brand names were cool.

If this is you, you’re KILLING your business with that brand name.

The death of your beloved baby business comes about due to several factors that stem from this awkward acronym.

1. Nobody understands what it stands for except for you

I chuckle fondly every time I remember the name of a meeting between our production and marketing teams at my last job. The name PMS (production, marketing status meeting) had been coined by some boss who didn’t even survive half as long as the name did. I’ve heard PMS used for so many other things since then. The point is, no matter what it means to the person who coined the name, if it’s an acronym, it’s meaningless to others.

2. You’re missing a Search Engine Optimization Opportunity

I still tell the story of a business I met who 20 years ago, with zero knowledge of the internet named their company Stenogropherstoronto and bought this same URL. To this day, where SEO has become crucial to success in her industry, she still ranks top of the search pages. No potential client is searching for your acronym. I guarantee it.

3. You’re missing a Memorability Opportunity

The reason you branded in the first place was to be remembered. Otherwise people would say ‘oh, Kim Dickson does interior design for lofts, you should call her’. People still do use their own names as their brand names and for those who are established and have lots of equity in their industry, that’s absolutely ok. However, if you’re a newbie and need to get traction in a crowded marketplace, your brand name needs to stand out and be memorable. Here’s a story to demonstrate:  I needed to get a quote from a new maid service and remembered that one of the ladies in my bootcamp fitness class owned a business called Bubbles and Squeak. I absolutely didn’t remember HER name or anything else about the business but just remembering her brand name allowed me to seek her out and hire her.

Save That Business

To save your brand, if you have an acronym or if you’re using your own name and you’re still relatively unknown—change it. Change it to a regular word in the English language that relates to something in your industry. The best in class example of all time of good branding is the brand name Staples. Do you wonder what they do for a living when you hear that brand name?

That’s what I want for you. I want people to stop scratching their heads or even worse, forgetting about you two seconds after hearing the name of your brand.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk

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When My Husband Cheated!

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bootcampWait—My Andy would never cheat on me. But he did cheat on his bootcamp class. Here’s the story:

My darling hubby and I had been faithfully going to the same bootcamp fitness class for over 5 years.

That’s when things started to go wrong.

New Kid In Town

One week on a break from the classes, my husband tried a new local bootcamp and LOVED it. When asked by his friends back at the old bootcamp what he’d done on his week off, he happened to mention the competitor and how it was a lot more fun, more physically challenging and a good change from routine for him.

Big Mouth Friend

One of his classmates apparently blabbed about this new competitor to the owners of our bootcamp and then it got ugly.

My husband got a call from the owners that same night asking him to cease and desist stealing clients from them.  They never once asked him why he was going somewhere else never wondered what was so great about this new place. They were plain mad about the betrayal.

Turn-Off City

Well, were we ever turned off, ticked off and just off in general when it came time to renew our membership with our bootcamp.  Now, even though we’re locked into a contract with the old bootcamp, we often SKIP it to take classes at the new one. We are literally cheating on one with the other and wild horses couldn’t hold us there past our contract date.

Experience Your Competition

What would it have been like, if instead of berating us for switching camps, the bootcamp owners asked us about it. Even better, what would stop them from taking a class there to find out what they offered so that they could also enhance their own game?

As a small biz marketing coach, I have hired numerous coaches to learn about their methodology. I regularly subscribe to my competitors’ newsletters, webinars and attend their seminars. I’ve changed some of what I offer or made a bigger deal about my differences as a result.

What’s possible for you if YOU spend some time getting to know your competition from the INSIDE?

So go ahead and pay good hard-earned money to your competitors.  Your business may experience a tremendous paradigm shift.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk

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6 Ways to Track Your Competitions Marketing Strategy

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I don’t really believe that there are competitors in my industry of consulting. We are all so individualized and so different that we can’t help it. We have NO real competition. Of course, in order to be even more memorable and differentiated, you have to work on your brand (see how to do that here). Here is a great article from Jim Joseph about how to keep tabs on your so called competition.

1. Sign up for Google Alerts. Getting updates on your competitions’ activity online is absolutely free.

2. Connect with competitors on social media. “Like” and “follow” your competition on Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels.

3. Enroll in your competition’s mailings and promotions. Sign up for your competitors’ e-mail and direct marketing campaigns, commonly known as Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) programs.

4. Become a secret shopper. Conduct shopping trips to try out your competitors’ customer experience, both online and in-store.

5. Visit their trade show booths. When you go to trade shows, be sure to pick up your competitor’s materials.

6. Monitor your competitors’ websites. You can learn a lot about your competition by keeping an eye on their website.

via 6 Ways to Track Your Competitions Marketing Strategy.

Competition grows our market, it gives us ideas (not to copy but hopefully to inspire us to do equally cool but different things). A world without my competitors would be a  lonely one. So get to know them, follow them and make them your best friends.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk

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Abercrombie &Fitch CEO – Brilliant or Bastard?

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a&FIn recent news, outraged critics have been blasting Abercrombie &Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries’ comments about what the A&F brand stands for.  Here’s what he said:

“Candidly we go after the cool kids.  A lot of people don’t belong (in our clothes) and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.  Those companies that are trying to target everybody young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody either.”

The Good

1. Clear Brand Character

You really know what this brand looks like, sounds like and thinks.

2. Clarity Around Who The Brand DOESN’T Attract

Anyone that has issues with polarizing statements or can’t naturally fit the clothing need not apply.

3. Standing For 1 Thing

The CEO is very smart when he says that standing for ALL things makes brands “totally vanilla”. Amen to that.

4. Being Controversial

I’d never even heard of Mike Jeffries before. Now me and millions of others have and the A&F brand is big news as well as a viral sensation.

The Bad

1. Alienation

When you’re teeing off a percentage of the population just make sure that the remaining portion is big enough to keep your biz afloat.

2. The Inhumanity

Hey, I considered myself a “Fat Chick” in high school so need I say more about how hurtful just the words are?

3. Botched Positioning

One could argue that the same point could’ve been made with more tact and finesse by stating that the A&F brand embodied natural young leaders who attracted attention and liking based on their God given talents, abilities and personality. To me, that still describes ‘cool kids’ but in a much more empowering way.

So there just might be a few marketing lessons to be learned from this dude, even if said dude will never win any Nobel Peace Prizes.

As a small business coach, I ask you the small biz owner, what’s the lesson in this for YOU and your brand?

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk

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