I have hundreds of emails per day, fliers in the post, advertisements blinking at me from every angle.
We are inundated with marketing. Your message had better be good, and succinct, and add value, or your shouting will get lost in the clamour.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Business Courses valuable
I just attended a business planning course at a local business training provider - Business Training Marlborough - and it was invaluable. It's so important to make time to upskill yourself and take a 'step back' from your business to attend these types of courses. Not only because they're good networking opportunities but it's also time out, from being "head down" in your business, so that you can take a strategic view and guage where you're at currently in line with your business and marketing plan.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Peeps ‘n Tweeps Changing the Marketing World
How many of these Social Media acronyms and word-mushes can you get? SM, IM, DM, FB, Peeps, Tweeps, RT, CGM, SMO1
It’s both scary and exciting to think how short a time Social Media has been around and how massive its impact is having on our lives and businesses.
To put the Social Media (SM) scene in perspective, let’s look at a few stats. There are over 300-million active Facebook users, well over 80-million Twitter accounts, and as at July last year, LinkedIn was valued at around $1b USD.
From a marketing perspective, Social Media is blowing traditional media out of the virtual water. There are lots of opportunities and a few pitfalls as well.
So what are we to do with all this new interactivity and global connectedness? And how can we use it to build our business? These are fairly big questions, so let’s start with how Social Media actually works ...
Living in a small town like Blenheim, you can physically walk through town and bump into half a dozen people you know. You can go to a function, and know more than half the people in the room. If you need a service, you just ask someone you know, and get a recommendation.
SM is sort of the online equivalent, but it’s a very big global ‘small town’. SM provides a (free) platform and an environment to interact with people anywhere in the world, anytime.
The smart 'peeps' are incorporating SM into their business, as a communication - and dare I say marketing tool (a dirty word in the new friend-based world). For example you can ‘tweet’ a link to a YouTube video promoting something new, which in turn drives traffic to your website. If the video is really cool it can ‘go viral’, meaning thousands or even millions of other people will tell all their friends and followers to go check it out. And in the process, not a dollar was spent on press, radio, TV or magazines.
There are people all over the world interested in what you do, so the SM space simple enables you to engage with those people. The interaction may result in business, or it may just teach you something interesting. Either way, it’s a win.
Facebook is so popular because it brings people together, and we are all naturally wired to connect with other people. My own Facebook page has friends I would probably not otherwise communicate with. But I chat with, ‘like’, and comment on their posts all the time. So there's a whole network I'm more connected with than I was before.
Twitter is a different environment again. If Facebook is like a cafe, then Twitter is a crowded, chaotic carnival. It’s noisy and crazy. Some people are standing in the middle of it all yelling about themselves, while others are in quiet areas having private conversations.
Then there's Digg, Linked In, Delicious, MySpace and many others, not to mention YouTube, Flikr and many million blog sites.
So back to the question how do I make SM work for my business?
Ironically, the same way as traditional media – have a strategy, know what your gunning for, trial and refine tactics, commit time to making it work, and don’t write it off too quickly.
1. Answers: Social Media, Instant Message, Direct Message, Facebook, Online People, Twitter People, Retweet, Consumer Generated Media, Social Media Optimisation.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
SM IM DM FB Peeps Tweeps - Wot?!
How quickly the world changes - the acroynms in this blog's title were all new to me in 2009.
For those old and young fogies (no offence!) reading this, lets get them out of the way then - Social Media, Instant Message, Direct Message (not Direct Mail!), Facebook, People, Twitter People. And "what?!".
Like everyone else in the social media space, I'm learning really fast.
There's a pile of new jargon, but there's also a pile of really cool apps (applications) to help make life interesting and maybe a little easier. And a lot of it is free, if you make the time to figure it out.
In a small town like Blenheim (Marlborough, New Zealand) you can physically walk through town and bump into half a dozen people you know. You can go to a function, and know more than half the people in the room. If you need a service, you just ask someone you know, and get a recommendation.
Living in a small town is sort of like living in the Social Media space, in real time, but not online! So you'd almost be forgiven for thinking you don't need SM if you live somewhere tiny. But not quite ...
Forgetting all the cool new words, the role of Social Media is to provide a platform and an environment to interact with people anywhere in the world, anytime. And that's it, nice and simple.
The really clever 'peeps' have worked out how to use it to make loads of money directly from Twitter and the like. The slightly less clever, but still quite clever ones incorporate SM into their business, as a communications - and dare I say a marketing - tool.
There are people all over the world interested in what you do, so the SM space simple enables you to talk with those people. The interaction may result in business, or it may just teach you something interesting. Either way, its a win then.
Why is Facebook so popular? Because it brings people together, and we are all naturally wired to connect with other people.
My own Facebook page has about 35 "friends" - many of whom I would probably not otherwise write to, send cards to, or pick up the phone for a chat. But I chat with, "like", and comment on their posts all the time. So there's 35 people (and growing) I'm more connected with than I was before.
Twitter is a different environment again! If Facebook is like a cafe with friends and family sitting at all the tables, then Twitter is a crowded, chaotic carnival. Still lots of people and interaction going on, but its noisy and crazy! But for some 'tweeps', it's the perfect environment for doing business.
Then there's Digg, Linked In, Delicous and all the others! And Google Wave is in test mode too, so its all only just started.
If you read my last blog about keeping up with new stuff, and being open to learning, then that applies here. Social Media is here to stay. Get on board, and dont' be left wondering where the party is!
For those old and young fogies (no offence!) reading this, lets get them out of the way then - Social Media, Instant Message, Direct Message (not Direct Mail!), Facebook, People, Twitter People. And "what?!".
Like everyone else in the social media space, I'm learning really fast.
There's a pile of new jargon, but there's also a pile of really cool apps (applications) to help make life interesting and maybe a little easier. And a lot of it is free, if you make the time to figure it out.
In a small town like Blenheim (Marlborough, New Zealand) you can physically walk through town and bump into half a dozen people you know. You can go to a function, and know more than half the people in the room. If you need a service, you just ask someone you know, and get a recommendation.
Living in a small town is sort of like living in the Social Media space, in real time, but not online! So you'd almost be forgiven for thinking you don't need SM if you live somewhere tiny. But not quite ...
Forgetting all the cool new words, the role of Social Media is to provide a platform and an environment to interact with people anywhere in the world, anytime. And that's it, nice and simple.
The really clever 'peeps' have worked out how to use it to make loads of money directly from Twitter and the like. The slightly less clever, but still quite clever ones incorporate SM into their business, as a communications - and dare I say a marketing - tool.
There are people all over the world interested in what you do, so the SM space simple enables you to talk with those people. The interaction may result in business, or it may just teach you something interesting. Either way, its a win then.
Why is Facebook so popular? Because it brings people together, and we are all naturally wired to connect with other people.
My own Facebook page has about 35 "friends" - many of whom I would probably not otherwise write to, send cards to, or pick up the phone for a chat. But I chat with, "like", and comment on their posts all the time. So there's 35 people (and growing) I'm more connected with than I was before.
Twitter is a different environment again! If Facebook is like a cafe with friends and family sitting at all the tables, then Twitter is a crowded, chaotic carnival. Still lots of people and interaction going on, but its noisy and crazy! But for some 'tweeps', it's the perfect environment for doing business.
Then there's Digg, Linked In, Delicous and all the others! And Google Wave is in test mode too, so its all only just started.
If you read my last blog about keeping up with new stuff, and being open to learning, then that applies here. Social Media is here to stay. Get on board, and dont' be left wondering where the party is!
Learning is a Competitive Advantage
August marked the fifth birthday for The Marketing Department NZ. And what a journey its been! It seems a very long time ago I was knocking on doors asking for work.
But this post is not about how to get a start-up business off the ground (I'll save that for another time!).
I've been pondering a lot lately about my (and therefore people in general) capacity to learn.
In the five years since I set up this marketing business, it seems like I have learn to drive a million different software applications and technology gadgets.
Just for fun I'll list just a few of the new applications I've had to get my head around:
Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator
Website Content Management Systems
Accounting package
Project Management software upgrades
Publisher
Office's basic 2007 upgrades - Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook etc.
Skype
Blogger
Twitter
Zoombrowser
HTML
Mozilla
Filezilla
Online survey tools
Google -Analytics, Adwords, Adsense, etc etc
And thats just the stuff I can name top of mind before I go and check my "all programmes" tab.
Then there's all the technical back-end things that make marketing's 'front end' look fantastic - design, composition, photography, copywriting, styles, CMS, digital printing, offset printing, PPC, Adsense - all the things that as a corporate buyer of creative marketing services I never had to worry about.
I'm resigned to the fact that stuff just keeps changing, and if you don't keep up, you get left behind.
So what's my point?
The only real competitive advantage we have as individuals or enterprises, is the ability to learn, adapt and apply.
The world WILL keep changing. We can either go with it, or get left behind.
To be successful in business - or successful in any chosen pursuit - then it's just a fact of life that you will be constantly coming up against things you need to understand, learn, and incorporate into how you do your stuff.
So get over it, and start learning!
But this post is not about how to get a start-up business off the ground (I'll save that for another time!).
I've been pondering a lot lately about my (and therefore people in general) capacity to learn.
In the five years since I set up this marketing business, it seems like I have learn to drive a million different software applications and technology gadgets.
Just for fun I'll list just a few of the new applications I've had to get my head around:
Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator
Website Content Management Systems
Accounting package
Project Management software upgrades
Publisher
Office's basic 2007 upgrades - Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook etc.
Skype
Blogger
Zoombrowser
HTML
Mozilla
Filezilla
Online survey tools
Google -Analytics, Adwords, Adsense, etc etc
And thats just the stuff I can name top of mind before I go and check my "all programmes" tab.
Then there's all the technical back-end things that make marketing's 'front end' look fantastic - design, composition, photography, copywriting, styles, CMS, digital printing, offset printing, PPC, Adsense - all the things that as a corporate buyer of creative marketing services I never had to worry about.
I'm resigned to the fact that stuff just keeps changing, and if you don't keep up, you get left behind.
So what's my point?
The only real competitive advantage we have as individuals or enterprises, is the ability to learn, adapt and apply.
The world WILL keep changing. We can either go with it, or get left behind.
To be successful in business - or successful in any chosen pursuit - then it's just a fact of life that you will be constantly coming up against things you need to understand, learn, and incorporate into how you do your stuff.
So get over it, and start learning!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Shake The Dust Off Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is a bit like smoking... In the old days it was something that cool people got into habit of doing - it was quite sophisticated, if not that useful or good for you.
The task of strategic planning old-style is - thankfully - on its way out ...
Not quite "gone", but going are the tomes of crusty strategic plan documents, spiral-bound and gathering dust. Going are the long winded market analyses, competitor analyses, environmental analyses, swot analyses, gap analyses and whatever-else analyses that do little to help move business forward.
By way of history, back in the 50s and 60's strategic planning became a tool to support market share growth. Those were the days when mass-marketing was born, thanks to the broad uptake of television, and post-war consumers wanting to "buy stuff". This was also the era of corporate growth where big companies soaked up portfolios of non-related businesses and product lines to supposedly diversify their risk.
So back in the old days strategic planning was designed for the big-guns, and it was all about analysing industries and markets. Businesses and even products were eloquently defined as "cash cows" (to milk), "stars" (to invest in) and "dogs" (divest). And a lot of analysis was undertaken to figure out which was which. This stuff was still being taught in the 90's.
For some weird reason, strategic planning for smaller businesses largely followed the same format. Lots of analysis and "interesting information" with little vision and forward thinking.
In addition, setting budgets and sales forecasts was largely about adding a predictable 10%ish to last years result.
But a lot has changed in the last couple of decades, and business in the modern world is fast and unpredictable. Mega companies like Google didn't even exist ten years ago. Ditto for clever New Zealand businesses like TradeMe and the likes of Digitalmax (online photo processing).
You can bet these new companies did not emerge from some formal strategic planning exercise.
With the need for modern businesses to be fleet footed and clever, the old model of strategic planning with its lengthy descriptions of "how things are now", is way past its use-by date.
...So where-to now for strategic planning?
This article does NOT mean to suggest business planning is dead - far from it. Planning is ever more important today, to sift through the multitude of ideas and opportunities and focus on the few priorities that will turn a vision into reality.
Business planning now-days needs to be fast and focused, with one eye on the future (where are we taking this business?) and one eye on the immediate (what can we do right now to start making that future a reality?).
Using the following 6 tips you can prepare a strategic plan with vision, in just a few hours...
So to sum up, strategic planning the traditional way does little more than describe what has already happened. Not very useful in a world that keeps changing!
Planning these days must facilitate business managers to take their enterprises forward into the unpredictable future.
Copyright Virginia Watson. Virginia runs The Marketing Department in New Zealand, helping businesses with business & marketing strategy (and related services).
The task of strategic planning old-style is - thankfully - on its way out ...
Not quite "gone", but going are the tomes of crusty strategic plan documents, spiral-bound and gathering dust. Going are the long winded market analyses, competitor analyses, environmental analyses, swot analyses, gap analyses and whatever-else analyses that do little to help move business forward.
By way of history, back in the 50s and 60's strategic planning became a tool to support market share growth. Those were the days when mass-marketing was born, thanks to the broad uptake of television, and post-war consumers wanting to "buy stuff". This was also the era of corporate growth where big companies soaked up portfolios of non-related businesses and product lines to supposedly diversify their risk.
So back in the old days strategic planning was designed for the big-guns, and it was all about analysing industries and markets. Businesses and even products were eloquently defined as "cash cows" (to milk), "stars" (to invest in) and "dogs" (divest). And a lot of analysis was undertaken to figure out which was which. This stuff was still being taught in the 90's.
For some weird reason, strategic planning for smaller businesses largely followed the same format. Lots of analysis and "interesting information" with little vision and forward thinking.
In addition, setting budgets and sales forecasts was largely about adding a predictable 10%ish to last years result.
But a lot has changed in the last couple of decades, and business in the modern world is fast and unpredictable. Mega companies like Google didn't even exist ten years ago. Ditto for clever New Zealand businesses like TradeMe and the likes of Digitalmax (online photo processing).
You can bet these new companies did not emerge from some formal strategic planning exercise.
With the need for modern businesses to be fleet footed and clever, the old model of strategic planning with its lengthy descriptions of "how things are now", is way past its use-by date.
...So where-to now for strategic planning?
This article does NOT mean to suggest business planning is dead - far from it. Planning is ever more important today, to sift through the multitude of ideas and opportunities and focus on the few priorities that will turn a vision into reality.
Business planning now-days needs to be fast and focused, with one eye on the future (where are we taking this business?) and one eye on the immediate (what can we do right now to start making that future a reality?).
Using the following 6 tips you can prepare a strategic plan with vision, in just a few hours...
- Set aside a good couple or three hours. The beginning of the calendar year (now) or financial year end is a good time to review and refocus for the year ahead.
- Define your business mission. The "mission" affirms why your business exists. Sometimes this can get muddled as new product lines are added and new markets tapped - all the more reason to revisit and redefine.
- Dream out loud and describe your vision. The "vision" is about where you see your business in the future. Describe what you wish for, what you're aiming towards and what sort of business you want to create. But avoid getting caught in the vision statement trap. It's critical the wider team buy-in to a vision but don't waste even a minute agonizing (or worse - having the whole team agonizing) over some flowery "shared vision" statement. Instead, spend that time and energy on how to make it actually happen.
- Keep your vision and business plan customer focused. Remember if you are not serving someone, you're not doing business.
- Identify and deal with the big issues helping or hindering the vision.
- When it comes to action plans, less is more. Ensure you have only 1-3 priorities to implement. A page-long to-do list will only serve to overwhelm you into doing nothing.
So to sum up, strategic planning the traditional way does little more than describe what has already happened. Not very useful in a world that keeps changing!
Planning these days must facilitate business managers to take their enterprises forward into the unpredictable future.
Copyright Virginia Watson. Virginia runs The Marketing Department in New Zealand, helping businesses with business & marketing strategy (and related services).
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Confessions of an AWOL blogger
I first created my blog in 2004. I understood then, the value of being able to quickly write useful stuff and post it online, without having to create new web pages or squeeze the new content into my website's fairly rigid format.
But the best laid plans and all that!!!
Not once since that first foray (five years ago) did I log back in and write all those clever, useful tips and tricks of the marketing game. There always seemed to be something more important (or income generating!) to do with my precious work time.
I don't feel like I missed out on piles of valuable leads or new clients because I wasn't blogging. In fact, by not blogging I saved myself a load of time, got on with real work, helping real clients and making a real income! But just maybe my business would be quadruple its current size through more proactive online activities, and connecting with the world outside my own regional border.
That's the the thing - if you're not in, you don't know what you're missing.
If you're not in, you don't have the opportunity to explore, and try things out, connect with other people and expand horizons.
Now as a relatively new "Twit" (Marketing_NZ) I'm feeling like my tweets would be a lot more useful if they were linked back to a blog, with a bit more information.
So eventually the blog concept has caught up with me again, and there's no escaping it this time!
Websites were once leading edge, but now they're just the home base for a business. I was going to say home base for our "online presence", but that idea doesn't go far enough nowdays. Almost EVERTHING in business finds its way back to the web, dynamic content, and fresh stuff. And the social media elements of the web are best placed to facilitate new content and the conversations that occru around that.
So here' s to my new foray into the blogosphere, and my endeavour to build it in around my business, rather than something to tinker with around the edges, when I have spare time.
Virginia Watson
See www.themarketingdepartment.co.nz
Twitter: Marketing_NZ
But the best laid plans and all that!!!
Not once since that first foray (five years ago) did I log back in and write all those clever, useful tips and tricks of the marketing game. There always seemed to be something more important (or income generating!) to do with my precious work time.
I don't feel like I missed out on piles of valuable leads or new clients because I wasn't blogging. In fact, by not blogging I saved myself a load of time, got on with real work, helping real clients and making a real income! But just maybe my business would be quadruple its current size through more proactive online activities, and connecting with the world outside my own regional border.
That's the the thing - if you're not in, you don't know what you're missing.
If you're not in, you don't have the opportunity to explore, and try things out, connect with other people and expand horizons.
Now as a relatively new "Twit" (Marketing_NZ) I'm feeling like my tweets would be a lot more useful if they were linked back to a blog, with a bit more information.
So eventually the blog concept has caught up with me again, and there's no escaping it this time!
Websites were once leading edge, but now they're just the home base for a business. I was going to say home base for our "online presence", but that idea doesn't go far enough nowdays. Almost EVERTHING in business finds its way back to the web, dynamic content, and fresh stuff. And the social media elements of the web are best placed to facilitate new content and the conversations that occru around that.
So here' s to my new foray into the blogosphere, and my endeavour to build it in around my business, rather than something to tinker with around the edges, when I have spare time.
Virginia Watson
See www.themarketingdepartment.co.nz
Twitter: Marketing_NZ
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