Rosica did some in-depth interviews with the business leaders listed below. He mixes their comments with his own take on how these entrepreneurs developed authentic brands.
The book tackles topics like marketing strategies, leadership traits, and customer service practices from each of the entrepreneurs’ perspectives.
The aspect of the book that I appreciated the most, as a business owner, is that in many of the interviews, the big name entrepreneurs talk as much about their failings as they do their successes. I’ve always thought there was more to be learned from the mistakes than the triumphs.
I think you’ll find yourself quoting some of the stories and hopefully apply some of the lessons learned.
Drew’s Note:As I try to do every Friday, I’m pleased to bring you a guest post. Meet another thought leader who shares his insights via the blogosphere. So without further ado…Benjamin Wayne. Again. Enjoy!
The YouTube craze doesn’t just apply to consumers anymore. Video is rapidly becoming an essential feature on Web sites. Web video is particularly important for small and mid-sized businesses as they represent the largest percentage of online businesses in the US.
But, before a small or mid-size business can successfully dive into the deep end of the video pool, there are a few dos and don’ts to consider:
DO get your message out there
Just creating a video isn’t enough. You want people to find your videos, and through your videos, your site. Submitting videos to search engines is one way to help prospective viewers find you. A simple email button on your video player, or better yet, easy functionality that lets your loyal visitors re-post your videos on their blogs, Facebook page, or family website helps spread your message and your brand, attracting audiences and buyers to whom you would never otherwise get access.
DON’T only rely on YouTube
By using YouTube, you could be driving traffic away from your site if you don’t embed the video’s code. What’s more, the quality of free players can be somewhat poor, and they will not submit your video to search engines, which helps potential buyers find your goods and services.
DO showcase the quality of your brand
Fuzzy, poor-quality video communicates a negative user experience and reflects poorly on your brand. To avoid this, find a video service provider who can ensure razor-sharp video and a player that uniquely reflects your brand. It’s cheaper than you think and the results make all the difference.
DON’T shoot video like an amateur
Almost every digital camera today has an option that allows the user to shoot short videos. Remember to keep the camera steady, shoot in locations with lots of available light, and to move slowly when panning from side to side. Avoid zooming, and instead make sure to fill the frame with the image.
DO turn your visitors into contributors
Visitors to your site are passionate about your subject. Let them help you sell your online experience. A simple uploader can allow any visitor to contribute videos to your site. Those videos can become a gallery that creates more immersive experience and more page views, or become video testimonials that drive conversion and revenue.
Travelblog.org is one example of this DO in action. Travelblog.org has given its members the ability to easily upload daily videos of their travels abroad, sharing their experiences with other travel aficionados in near real-time. This service has been enthusiastically received by travelblog’s members, resulting in increased customer loyalty and satisfaction.
DON’T hide your video
As with any content, make sure your video is clearly labeled and placed on your home page, as this will tend to attract a lot of attention from your site visitors. A video gallery page gives users the opportunity to browse through multiple videos at a time, and some vendors can help you with sharing functionality that allows buyers to email videos to one another.
DO take as few steps as possible when implementing a solution
White-label video solutions have come a long way today in aiding the business owner in implementing a complete package. Take the time to research video service providers to ensure that they have everything it takes to roll out a robust and easy to use solution; uploading, encoding, storage, and high quality playback in a plug and play manner.
DON’T bog your small engineering team down
Your engineer’s priority queue is often overwhelming. Don’t give them yet another project that will cannibalize your project roadmap with a high-touch solution. A straightforward solution that a junior-level web master can implement in days rather than months will keep your engineers focused on other projects.
Benjamin Wayne is the President and CEO of Fliqz. Prior to Fliqz, Benjamin was President & CEO of Collabrys, a leading provider of outsourced customer acquisition and retention solutions for Global 1000 corporations, including Bank of America, Capital One, Visa, Estee Lauder, Clorox, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Target, New York Life Insurance, and Prudential. Collabrys was acquired by E-Centives in 2004.
Every Friday is “grab the mic” day. Want to grab the mic and be a guest blogger on Drew’s Marketing Minute? Shoot me an e-mail.
Last Friday a flaming headless horseman galloped across Chicago’s building facades between the Loop and Wrigleyville.
Who rousted him just in time for Halloween? Meijer, a 180-store big box retailer in the Midwest.
The store gave people a chance to win $1,000 if they texted the company directly when they saw the apparition.
Fliers were distributed to get people looking for the horseman and whenever the van projecting the Horseman stopped or idled in traffic, the horse would rear its hind legs and flash the message: text Meijer for a grand.
Not only did the company receive hundreds of text messages, but they also got TV, radio and print media coverage. Declaring it a success, the street team plans to repeat the work this Friday (October 24th) in Cincinnati.
I don’t know about you….but even as much time as I spend online, I love reading magazines. I like the way they feel, that I can rip out an article or dog ear a page. I’d think that my age was showing except for the magazine rack at Barnes and Noble. Every time I look, it gets bigger.
MagCloud, a new self-publishing magazine service from HP Labs, is bringing the ability to be a magazine creator to all of us. Now, anyone who can create a PDF can publish a magazine.
How does it work? Users can upload a PDF of their magazine for free, creating their own profit margins by calculating the difference between their cover price and MagCloud’s charge of 20 cents per page, plus shipping.
The concept builds on the success of companies that offer a simple, online method for consumers to self-publish books (like Blurb or Lulu) and on the understanding that members of Generation C are eager to share their creative output, and expect to be paid for their efforts.
No matter what the author’s "status" in terms of credentials or experience, MagCloud provides them with a no-risk business and communication opportunity, and the ability to tap into infinite niche audiences that will find their content relevant and worth paying for.
While the site is in beta, publisher accounts are by invitation only. Shipping is currently restricted to the US, but they’re working hard to open up its service to Europe and then the rest of the world.
What do you think? Could you/would you be a magazine publisher?
I get a lot of PR pitches, will you review my book requests and can you tell people about our conference sort of e-mails.
I appreciate getting them because it helps me make this blog useful to you, the readers. But, what I appreciate even more is when the person doing the pitch actually makes an effort to personalize the interaction which is in direct opposite to what happens most of the time – I get a generic e-mail (no doubt sent out to 100 of my closest blogging friends) and just filling in my name at the top.
This is NOT a post about how to pitch a blogger. I think it’s about PR and building relationships, as opposed to the mass production mentality of just doing a mass mailing and wondering why no one picked up the story.
I’d like to tell you a little about two pitches that stood out and the results of those pitches.
John Rosen, author of Stopwatch Marketing
A few months before John’s book was released, he started reading and commenting here at the Marketing Minute. He also engaged me in a genuine e-mail conversation about the work we both do, his familiarity with Des Moines and eventually his book.
By the time he asked me to review the book – we knew each other. So when I got his book – I read it right away (my review here) and shared it with my readers within the week. (Keep in mind, I get 2-5 books a week and am always struggling to keep up. Normally, he’d have had to wait a month or so.)
Then, John really proved that he was a savvy marketer. He didn’t need me anymore (in terms of his new book) but he continued to invest in the relationship. We e-mail, comment on each other’s blogs and stay in touch to this day. When we were looking for giveaways for Blogger’s Social – John was willing to donate copies of his book. Having your book in the hands of 100+ smart and vocal marketers is a wise strategy.
John understands the power of relationships and investing your efforts before you ask for the favor. Smart.
Bob Bloom, author of The Inside Advantage: The strategy that unlocks the hidden growth in your business
Bob Bloom is the former U.S. CEO of advertising mega-giant Publicis Worldwide. Suffice it to say, I had heard of Bob’s work. Pretty sure he had not heard of mine. I received a pitch to review his book and it came from Bob’s publicist. As you might expect, the publicist followed none of John Rosen’s techniques, so the book got tossed into the pile and I reviewed it about 2 months after receiving it. (My review here)
I thought it was an excellent and insightful book and said so. Bob is not just a marketing guy, he gets business. A valuable and rare combination, in my eyes.
Fast forward about a month after I posted the review. My desk phone rings and I pick it up. Who is on the line – but Bob Bloom. He called so that we could get to know each other a little bit and to thank me for the review. We ended up talking for about 15-20 minutes and much like my contact with John Rosen – it was genuine. We talked about clients and he told me about his new effort – working one on one with business owners.
Bob went out of his way to listen, comment thoughtfully and I completely forgot what a big deal he was…which just goes to prove what a big deal he truly is.
Two different approaches but some common threads:
There’s no substitute for you.
There’s no substitute for human interaction.
There’s no substitute for being genuine.
There’s no substitute for making the effort to connect and start a relationship.
As we continue to slog through the economic downturn – these truths don’t cost much but can yield long-term gains. How can you bring these truths to life in your dealings with customers, prospects and the media?
Want to significantly impact employee satisfaction? According to Tim Sanders, one key factor is whether or not your employees believe they can change the world through their work. And they want to do it with your help and support.
Tim, former Chief Solutions Officer for Yahoo! thinks its not only possible but necessary. In his new book, Saving the World at Work he explains how. This book is filled with memorable anecdotes and tangible steps for taking action.
This is a business book — don’t be fooled by the mission or the title. Within its pages, you’ll learn how to ignite your employees’ passions, earn their loyalty and turn them into your biggest evangelists.
Tim also has a website devoted to this topic and an excellent blog. If you recognize his name, you might have read his earlier Love is the Killer App. He truly believes that any individual can be an agent of change in the workplace and any workplace can be an agent of change in the world.
I understand the lure of just hunkering down and waiting out the economic lull. And I know you’re probably tired of hearing this….but if you are smart — this is a huge opportunity for you to capture market share and solidify your position in the marketplace.
Please do not sit this one out. And I’m not even going to tell you not to cut prices or cut your budget, because we’ve beat that horse to death!
Review your brand values with each and every employee
Refresh your website to put your brand promise front and center
Ask your employees for ideas on how to bring your brand to life. Pay $50 for every idea used. Make that very public knowledge.
Love on your current customers: They’re the most likely to buy again and they are also most likely the audience you’ve ignored. Now is the time to appreciate them, remind them why they trusted you in the first place and over service them.
Tactics:
Do a customer only mailing, spotlighting some of your best offerings at their best prices
Hold a customer appreciation party and say "thank you" repeatedly
Offer a pre-payment discount (you get cash up front and their commitment to follow through)
Give it away: Demonstrate to the world that you believe in abundance by giving away some of your product or services to a worthy non-profit. But don’t do a drive by. Partner with them for the long haul and work your PR magic.
Tactics:
Give your employees a voice in which charity you partner with
Be smart – choose a charity that has an influential board of directors and make a point of being at those meetings to share your expertise
Trade your products or services for an event sponsorship so you get publicity for your efforts
Listen, respond, repeat: Now is not the time to be ignoring the marketplace. You need to be listening to your customers, your competitor’s customers and anyone else who is out there talking about your industry.
Tactics:
Do a customer survey (while you are at it, do a past customer survey)
Jump into conversations about your industry and offer value
Use content marketing: You’re good at what you do. You want your prospects and customers to be successful. Why not position yourself as the expert by sharing your expertise?
Tactics:
Create an e-newsletter (don’t start it if you aren’t going to consistently create/deliver it)
Build a robust How To series for your website
Launch a business blog (again…don’t start it if you aren’t serious about keeping at it)
What do you think? Most of these tactics will not cost you an arm or even a leg. And I’ll let you in on a little secret — they’re pretty effective, even when we’re not facing snug times.
What can you add to the list? What’s working for you that you can share with the rest of us?
Today is Blog Action Day ’08 — the one day a year that bloggers unite on a single topic. We hope to raise awareness, initiate action and shake the web.
This year’s topic — poverty.
Here’s the truth, if we’re willing to be honest with each other.
Most of us don’t think about poverty every day. Because we don’t have to. Sure, we might sponsor a child in a poverty-stricken country or donate canned goods to our local food shelter. We bring old coats and mittens to church every winter for the homeless.
But then we stop for brunch on our way home from church and poverty is the furthest thing from our minds.
While all of those acts are kind and serve to meet an immediate need — we fill a belly or warm hands — they don’t actually address the problem. As long as people are shackled to poverty, they don’t have the tools to break free. They are reliant on us to continue to put bandages on their problem.
In educating myself to write this post, I also discovered the End Poverty 2015 organization. They’ve identified 8 major goals that would make it possible for us to be the generation that ends poverty forever. Not surprising, universal education is one of their core tenants.
I don’t even begin to pretend I have the answers. But I do know today is the day for asking ourselves the tough questions.
We can’t help educate the world until we begin to educate ourselves.
"I once used the word "obsolete" in a headline, only to discover that 43% of housewives had no idea what it meant. In another headline I used the word "ineffable," only to discover that I didn’t know what it meant myself."
The brilliant David Ogilvy had that to say about his own copywriting. When was the last time you looked at your copy (brochures, website, sales sheets, radio scripts etc.) from your customer’s perspective?
There's a new member of the McLellan family. Maggie the mostly lab puppy. When you get a new baby, you need to take her to the doctor, right?
Our old vet is great, but 20 minutes away. And the last time I was there, we had to put our 13 year old lab to sleep. So, I thought maybe it was time to try someone new.
I got a reference from a co-worker. Word of mouth — check. This was going to work out perfectly.
I walk in to the clinic and I am acknowledged by Michael. It wasn't really a greeting. More like a non verbal sigh. So Michael leads Maggie and me into one of the exam rooms and begins to run through the intake questions.
We were in the room together for about 10 minutes, with Maggie sitting on the exam table. Michael never stopped to pet her or even greet her. He didn't say she was cute or sweet or even how lucky she was to be rescued from a shelter. It was like she wasn't even there. And if you've been around an 8 week old puppy — they're a little tough to miss. I don't know anyone who can resist a puppy. But do I want the guy who can providing care for my dog?
Total turn off. I called the old vet from the exam room as soon as he left.
When we got to the old vet's and the front desk tech (who I did not recognize or know) squealed "look at the adorable puppy!" I knew I'd made the right call. I didn't just want a competent vet. I wanted a clinic where they'll love her. Or at least scratch her behind the ears a bit.
Do your employees squeal when they see a prospect walk in the door? Do they give them a good scratch?
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I just finished the book The Authentic Brand written by Christopher Rosica, CEO of Rosica Strategic Public Relations. It’s a cotton candy sort of read. Lots of good stories and some sticky fun.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=5940da95-9be4-4a63-ac59-66f5657b6bd0)
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