Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

A friend of mine, known for his thought provoking, often amusing observations wrote this recently on twitter:  

“Green grass may be artificial.  Green grass may only appear to be greener.  Green grass may well be truly greener but inconsequential.”   

As usual, he struck a chord in me. 

We’ve all heard from childhood that “the grass is greener on the other side of the fence”… i.e. not YOUR side. 

Personally, I believe that even if the color is  artificial, or the real thing inconsequential, you can still greatly appreciate what you perceive, learn from it, and aspire to make your own grass green. 

(By the way, I love artificial grass.  Have you seen the new stuff?  It’s beautiful, looks surprisingly real, durable even for dogs, and feels great on bare feet.  It’s also pricey.  But we’ve used it in shoots, and I want some!  Sorry, had to toss that in.)

The truth is that all green grass, on your side or not, has some faded patches, some yellow and maybe some brown.  That’s actually desirable…some growth just needs to take place.  That may mean…

 -  a hefty dose of fertilizer, 

 -  pulling everything up and planting new seed,  

 -  finding totally new soil.   

In businesses, especially on the internet, the idea of “the grass is greener” is rampant.   Most of us continually chase after the next new “shiny thing” as my friend Lisa Angelettie put it.   Never really putting down roots on our marketing methods, we don’t wait long enough to see any results.  And then we skip off to the next method, and/or business, spend a bunch of cash, and hope that this will be the “magic” method. 

Part of the problem is, ( a really big part) is that we are such a microwave society:  60 seconds or less.  We expect magic.  This is the “grass is greener” syndrome; a back lash of living in a time when we can make everything happen now.  Or so we think.

It usually takes YEARS to build a business.   Restaurants take 5  years to make a profit, and might go out in 3.   Traditional retail brick and mortar businesses can take anywhere from 3 to 10 years to produce a profit, depending on the type of business.

Internet businesses can and do take off much quicker, but contrary to frequent hype, there is no magic button that you can push on your computer that will ensue a constant stream of dollars into your bank account.  It takes time and work, and I happen to see that as a good thing.

Why?  Because nothing in life is free.    It all comes with a price… either in time, energy or money.  A high price simply means that the thing worth pursuing is of great value. 

The good news is, everything you do for your marketing,

 - articles,

 - press releases,

 - videos,

 - blogs, and tweets, matters. 

Once you publish an article, it’s out there. The work is done.  You will continue to get leads from that one piece, if it has value for others, for months, even years.  You’ve planted some new seed.  Add to it with more, and you’ve fertilized, watered.

Another way to think of it is like buying a little piece of real estate in cyperspace.  You own it, and you can build on it.   

In your marketing, know there will be brown spots, just like in real grass.  (Glitches and setbacks)  That doesn’t mean you should quit or abandon it.  Unless the whole lawn is brown, keep going, watering and weeding; fertilizing.   If the whole lawn is brown from neglect or bad seed, re-evaluate, take action and change your direction.

We all want lovely, healthy green grass.  And the truth is, the color green is a reality, even if it’s not in our possession yet.

With a little work and focus, possibly change in direction, it doesn’t have to be out of our reach. 

 

   

 

 When you’re in a business such as consulting, where the business revolves around you, rather than company branding, you have to work on your personal branding. An easy way to think about creating a personal brand is to use the Queen of branding herself, Oprah. Oprah has created an entire empire – all based on her personal brand.

 

So what exactly is Personal Branding?

 

 

Essentially, personal branding is the way in which you market yourself to your target audience. A brand of a company is how the company, its products and services make its customers feel, the same holds true for your brand.

 

Your brand is how current and prospective customers feel about you.

 While you can control your personal brand to some extent, you cannot fully control what others think about you.  Don’t let this discourage you, however, because you can influence other’s thoughts of you based on your appearance and actions.

 Think of it this way:  When others interact with you, how do they feel?

 

  - what emotions do they associate with being in the same room with you ,  on your site or your profile?

 - what about when they are conducting business with you?

 

    Confident?   Not so sure?

    Excited?   Or not?

    Relaxed?  Tense?

    Cheerful?  Overly serious?

    Helpful?  Waste of time?

    Plenty of Info?  Not knowing what to do next?

    

These are all questions to ask yourself.

 

Now there are many, many other terms you can use as one-word positive/negative descriptions, but the point is….

 

The associations people make with you, or, the labels they assign to you become your personal brand.

 

So the question is, how do others feel when they’re around you?  Who (and what) are you attracting?   Attraction marketing is closely connected with this (more about that in a future post) so you have to realize that what ever “vibes” you portray when you interact with your customer is what you will attract back.  This can become your unspoken brand simply by default.  

 

Your customer will feel it, and respond, one way or another.  You want this to be a positive “vibe” or experience for them, not something that pushes them away.

 

Think about everything you do, every interaction point you have with prospective and current clients.

  

From sending out emails, tweets, and wall posts to designing your web site and shooting videos, everything has potential for an unspoken positive message, an attraction,  which can become your brand.  It’s the same for phone conversations  (not something to do when you’re tired)  and of course, in person.  (Look them in the eye with a smile!)

 

Decide how you want to come across to your audience. Write it down. 

 

Put it in action :  When you send an e-mail or have a conversation with these individuals, remind yourself of these things and make sure that you’re portraying the brand you want customers and prospects to associate with you.

 

 Until next time,

 

 

 

 PS.  Did you find this post helpful?  I would love it if you would leave me a comment, and let me know….Please feel free to tweet and share!