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A Little Inspiration

April 5, 2009

Tags: Albany marketing, Blogs, saratoga marketing, Social Media
Categories: Brand/Reputation, Decision Making, Lead Nurturing, Social Networking, Uncategorized, Websites

There are a number of good reasons to create and maintain a business (or personal brand) blog.

You give readers a chance to get to know what you’re about and provide them a forum for discussing your ideas. Posting regularly (at least once or twice each week) offers search engine spiders the one thing they crave most: new content. So it helps with SEO.

The best blogs try to provide a service to readers. Good information, insights, and tips. That’s what keeps them coming back and builds your credibility.

Blogs also provide an essential service to its creators…it lets them think out loud.

We take in so much information that it’s hard to remember all of the little observations that can turn into big ideas each week. So writing is a chance to noodle through your thoughts, organize them, and pick out a few gems.

Panning for gold

This process goes on all over cyberspace. And readers are the big winners. You can mash up your favorite blogs using your reader. This allows you to decide which “gems” have value to you.

My fellow bloggers are some of the most brilliant and creative people on the Web. I use their ideas in my business and for my clients almost every day.

I’d like to share a few of the best resources I’ve found on the web for marketing ideas and information in hopes that you’ll find a little extra help in these difficult times.

• • • •

(the brief descriptions are by EvanCarmichael in his post last year)

• • • •

Duct Tape Marketing Blog – The award-winning John Jantsch offers his astoundingly practical advice, tips and tricks for small business marketing.

Seth Godin’s Blog – One of the most famous names in the industry, Seth Godin’s blog has long been a favorite for all things small business marketing. As the author of the most popular ebook ever, his blog never fails to give you advice you need.

Marketing Profs – What started as a simple blog by marketing professor Allen Weiss in 2000 has today turned into a fully-staffed venture that provides marketing know-how and offers valuable B2B articles and event information.

Brand Autopsy – How do you conduct a marketing physical for your brand? Check out John Moore’s blog to find out.

Marketing Sherpa – Using case studies, surveys, and other techniques, Marketing Sherpa researches what works – and what doesn’t – in all things marketing. (BMB note: Emarketers and online merchants will find studies by affiliate Marketing Experiments extremely useful)

• • • •

This list is by no means complete. In the future I’ll try to add to it so you can extend your own blog library.

…your comments on the burstmarketingblog are always appreciated.

Posted by: Steve Banis

Want to Know More about Albany Marketing firm Burst Marketing?
Visit us at www.burstmarketing.net

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Survive and Advance

March 22, 2009

Tags: albany advertising, albany lead generation, Albany marketing, saratoga marketing
Categories: Business Development, Courage, Customer Focus, Lead Nurturing, Sales Process, Strategy

I don’t know if you’re a college basketball fan, but in case you missed it (hard to do); it’s March Madness time again.

Each year as the calendar points towards spring, a field of 65 college basketball teams square off to determine the national champion. And every game is sudden death. Win and you play on, lose and you’re season is over.

It’s a fine, if dramatic, metaphor for what you face every day. Jim Valvano, the late coach of North Carolina State coined the phrase “survive and advance.”

No kidding.

Where are they coming from?

Even as some competitors are shutting their doors, others are still advancing. And some of the survivors aren’t the same competition you’re used to seeing.

The CEO of Dollar Stores recently said that he is seeing customers in his stores that were once regulars at Target. Former Macy’s customers are now helping to create big sales at WalMart.

Seen the deals at Caribbean resorts lately? They’re cheap. That’s because Wall Street execs are staying home or loading up the Volvo station wagon and crying their way to the dude ranch. It’s creating business for more cost-effective lodging such as owner rentals.

And that doesn’t count new competitors from around the globe showing up on customers’ desktops.

Even as the field of traditional competitors narrows, the overall competitive landscape is actually getting more crowded. That puts a premium on focus.

Among many other factors, advancing depends on your ability to:

protect and defend your customer base,
finely tune your target prospects and your marketing message,
choose your allies wisely. It’s never been more important because the margin for error has narrowed.

Focus on your sales funnel. Recognize that the number of steps to completing a sale have increased…and take longer. Have a plan:

- Define specific target names and locations: attack your competitors
- Fine tune your relevant message and call to action
- Be ready to “welcome” inquiries
- Use a series of messages to move them closer to a meeting or visit
- Make targets an offer and ask them to take action
- Ask for the business and be ready to adjust
- Make a client – and nurture the rest
- Continue to communicate to your clients
- Thank clients for their loyalty and ask for referrals

Keep focused. Keep moving forward. Survive and advance.

Want to Know More about Albany Marketing firm Burst Marketing?
Visit us at www.burstmarketing.net

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What’s working?

October 26, 2008

Categories: Business Development, Courage, Decision Making, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Message, Social Networking, Strategy

During a recent session with my creative team, we were debating the merits of offers designed to make the phone ring for a potential new client. It’s tough these day, isn’t it? I meet many business owners, and the economy is driving many of them to ask for advice on what’s working out there.

While every situation is unique, here are a couple of ideas to think about. They use two different strategies: One is already a well-known community builder – bringing millions of people together. The other is a recent direct sales promotion with a titillating offer.

[For greater detail on the sales promotion example below click here]

An American Social Network

There’s one thing that’s tried and true in America. It’s even considered recession proof. Offer an opportunity for a little entertainment, keep it free or extremely affordable, and make it easy to access. And as I write this I’m preparing to engage in one of the greatest social networking activities in the country that encompasses all three of these characteristics.

Need a hint? Today is a late October Sunday in America.

On fall and early winter Sundays in America, millions of professional football fans (and some who aren’t even fans) sit down with their picks. They watch upwards of 6 hours of football on TV; eat wings, subs, and chips; and drink beer, soda or other beverage of choice. They want to win this week’s football pool (for entertainment purposes only of course.) And on Super Sunday in February, the number of people in football pools reaches the tens of millions.

It’s entertainment folks, and it fits their lifestyle. The NFL has legions of fans who have incorporated football on Sunday into their lives. It’s part of their “cause” called life.

Is their something about your organization, industry, its participants, or the environment in which it operates that a certain segment of the population will care enough about to incorporate as a regular part of their lives? A recession doesn’t kill a person’s passion. Oh it may get in the way or dampen it sometimes, but it won’t kill it. People need to feel alive. And connecting with people, events, and things they like is an important way they stay energized.

Made you look

A good, old fashioned direct sales pitch seems rare to me these days. Recently I got an email with a very intriguing subject line:

How to Make Millions in a Bad Economy

OK, I’ll bite. I clicked and learned that InfusionSoft, a CRM vendor I’m interested in, is offering me an “Economic Stimulus Package”. Seems they’ve helped hundreds of small businesses, and to help me in these tough times, they’ve established a package that only 19 businesses will qualify for. Then, an email 2 days later, offered “Proof: InfusionSoft Doubles Sales in Any Economy”. It’s a pretty good email campaign.

I’ll bet lots of targets on their lists are intrigued, and at the very least, are taking some action. They made me look and that’s the highest compliment I can pay a direct marketing campaign.

[Again, if you want more detail on this campaign, see this article]

What’s timely in your business? What’s the biggest objection your sales effort is running into? Can you craft an interesting promotion that addresses that main objection and is relevant?

Remember, recession or not, good marketing still works.

Posted by: Steve Banis

Want to Know More about Albany Marketing firm Burst Marketing?
Visit us at www.burstmarketing.net

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Social Networks have become “anti social”

October 1, 2008

Categories: Ad/Marketing Agencies, Lead Nurturing, Social Networking, Startups, Strategy, Websites

Once upon a time, going to a party or having a drink at the end of the week was considered social networking.

Today, too many marketers, agencies, and advisers think that setting up a Facebook or Myspace page, a Linkedin profile, a Squidoo Lens, or tweeting on Twitter makes them a social networking expert.

Social networking sites and applications are designed to bring people together online, and, employed wisely, they can be good tools for building online communities. However, this is only one element of an effective “social networking” program.

Excepting a few very unique business models (amazon perhaps) – all social networking programs, and in fact ALL marketing programs, must ultimately involve human interaction. Facebook and others are good at sorting people and helping similar birds of the same feather find their flock.

Bringing people together online is an important step, but the next step is to create opportunities for touchpoints. Principals and/or their representatives need to meet, diagnose problems, propose solutions, build relationship, and establish trust.

Trust, is required to inspire action.

It’s fun and easy to join online groups, post comments on blogs, and share thoughts and ideas. But the proliferation of spam filters, firewalls, and virus scanners are evidence that while cyberspace is fun, good sense dictates that you’re not taking anyone home to meet your mother until you’ve checked them out first.

So go ahead, get social. Just don’t forget the feel of a firm handshake.

Posted by: Steve Banis

Want to Know More about Albany Marketing firm Burst Marketing?
Visit us at www.burstmarketing.net

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It is what it is

September 17, 2008

Categories: Advertising, Courage, Customer Focus, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Message, Strategy

So after Bear Steans, Lehman Bros., and Merrill Lynch (that’s just this month), today we all woke up to the news that the United States government took control of American International Group (AIG) for a loan of $85 Billion.

For those of you who aren’t agog at this news, picture this: The government takes over the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, and the NHL because of all the stupid trades and draft choices each of the individual teams made. While the fans sit with their mouths hanging open and wondering what to do on Sunday, “commissioner uncle Sam” will sell each team to a new owner – one at a time.

Some teams might end up in Europe, Asia, India, or even the Middle East (not Iran of course.) The NY Yankees might even end up in Dubai!

Afterwards, sports in America will never be the same. How’s that grab ya?

Of course, John McCain says the fundamentals of the Economy are sound. The Bush administration has been saying it for years. (oh, the national debt just ran past $10 Trillion – remember when Ronald Reagan tried to explain what $1Trillion was? ‘It’s a pile of $1 bills reaching all the way to the moon!’ Where’s does $10 Trillion go? Mars? It’s a good thing Bush made it a goal to get there then.)

No, Obama’s work as a community organizer doesn’t qualify him to be the President any more than Sarah Palin’s being across the Bering Strait from Russia makes her a foreign policy expert. Distorting or denying reality has become something many American and World leaders have become too good at.

Dick Fuld, head of Lehman Bros recently reassured everyone by saying that “Lehman is well capitalized.” Before filing Chapter 11, it’s stock fell to 24 cents and employees were drinking tequila and passing around resumes in the trading room.

Customers – the public – employees – will accept reality if you tell the truth and you’ve acted honorably. They may not like it, but they’ll accept it.

When mistakes are made, say sorry and do better. Really do better. Make amends. Tylenol did it right when someone in the Chicago area used their pills to poison people 25 years ago. They took responsibility even though they were never found to have done anything wrong, and in the long run, remained a market leader.

Integrity, honesty, continuous improvement, and communication, communication, communication. If clients can afford to, they’ll stay with you. If they can’t, there will eventually be a line around the block of customers to take their place who want to deal with a company of integrity. Integrity is a part of your product. Bake it in.

If you’ve always run your organization this way, now’s the time to tell people. It’s not bottom feeding, it’s a public service! If you’ve been around for 10 years, 50 years, or 150 years, and have always treated your customers well and run things conservatively – now’s the time when the tortoise beats the hare.

Tough times. It is what it is. Let your character shine through.

Posted by: Steve Banis

Want to Know More about Albany Marketing firm Burst Marketing?
Visit us at www.burstmarketing.net

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Chaos is an opportunity

September 15, 2008

Categories: Courage, Customer Focus, Lead Nurturing, Strategy

This morning, people who are tuned into the financial markets (the economy is making most people tune in) are waking up to hear several pieces of BIG news:

On the good side, hurricane Ike didn’t pummel the oil rigs as bad as feared so the price spike in oil seems to have abated. On the negative side, 3 mega financial companies have put the fear of god into investors as Lehman will be filing Chapter 11, Bank of America is buying Merril Lynch, and AIG sought $40 billion from the government to stay liquid.

It’s chaos. War, a mortgage crisis, oil up and down (mostly up), mounting national debt, the cost of healthcare and college rising with no end. And in the middle of a presidential election when people are forced to think about these things, fear and anxiety can cause major paralysis in your customers and potential customers.

So what are you to do? Offer comfort. Offer hope. I was deep in the muck when the stock market crashed in 1987 and again in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. These were a times of sheer chaos and fear. Many, many financial advisers ran and hid under their desks rather than calling their customers to provide perspective and a calming voice. Not surprisingly, they lost many, many clients. A few truly customer focused financial advisers picked up the phone. Even though they were also scared, they spoke to their customers.

The ones that stood by their customers were the big winners. Today, your customers are fearful. Take the opportunity to talk to your customers. Send out letters with your vision and an optimistic voice to potential customers. In chaos, change occurs.

Posted by: Steve Banis

Want to Know More about Albany Marketing firm Burst Marketing?
Visit us at www.burstmarketing.net

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John McCain is Nurturing

September 8, 2008

Categories: Courage, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Message, Strategy

Who says the Republican nominee isn’t warm and fuzzy? With all respect to his hockey mom running mate, in my book, John McCain gets the award for being the most nurturing man this side of the late Fred Rogers.

In previous posts, I discussed the research pointing out that the majority of your new customers are likely to come up to 24 months after you first connect. Nowhere is this borne out better than in the McCain campaign. He is the epitome of the saying ‘90 percent of winning is just showing up!’

Every political expert you’ve heard of had written McCain off over a year ago. Underfunded and unloved by the party’s conservative base – Senator McCain was a distant 3rd to Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney and occasionally even to Mike Huckabee. Even Ron Paul seemed to have more passionate supporters.

But along the way, the Senator from Arizona just kept going. First Guiliani destructed before he even began. Then Romney pulled out leaving, amazingly, Huckabee as his last remaining challenger. McCain coasted across the finish line to secure the nomination. How could this happen?

It happened because when the others were in front, the public wasn’t yet ready to buy. Guiliani looked good in the window when voters were window shopping but was obviously never seriously considered. Romney took off but peaked too early. Huckabee was always a back up choice. But there was McCain, plodding along with his message, staying off the radar, but never completely out of sight. Voters always knew he was there.

So when they were ready to buy (vote when it counted), McCain’s message was familiar, not glitzy. Voters felt he was a known quantity and people always feel more comfortable with buying a brand name. McCain stuck to his message, withstood all the jokes, turned a deaf ear on the cool reaction he received from the right wing, and in the end was the last man standing.

Now he’s turning it on – peaking at the right time. Going for the close, because the voters are ready to buy. No matter the outcome, McCain’s candidacy is a textbook study of nurturing your prospects and being right there when they’re ready for you.

Posted by: Steve Banis

Want to Know More about Albany Marketing firm Burst Marketing?
Visit us at www.burstmarketing.net

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“Tweener Systems”

August 18, 2008

Categories: Decision Making, Lead Nurturing, Product Development, Strategy

One of the essential tools needed to execute a lead nurturing program in your organization is some form of contact management / lead management system. I’ve spent hours on end trying to decide on the best system for Burst Marketing.

I’ve spoken to a number of people who’ve tried to tackle this challenge themselves and we are all coming to the same conclusion: there is no perfect choice for anyone. It shouldn’t be a surprise, but c’mon folks. The rush to market has created a mosh pit of offerings and a fog of sameness is settling in.

It seems that this industry is in that awkward and confusing “tweener” phase. That’s somewhere between startup and maturity. It’s where the market has proven that the industry has a bright future and there’s a stampede to make sure your company has an offering.

The result is customer confusion and often long-term dissatisfaction. If your industry is in this tweener phase, then how should you market your product? There answer is, as usual, in seeing it from the customer’s point of view. In the rush to get a “me too” product to market, all the offerings start to look the same to the customer. So to make a choice, they have to prioritize the features and benefits they want from their purchase.

Product and service providers have to recognize that their customer is narrowing down their “gotta have” lists. Therefore, you must even more clearly define the strengths of your offering. Take a stand. (check out Seth Godin’s classic Purple Cow to see what I’m talking about).

Sure you’ll turn away the customers who are primarily seeking a different benefit than the one you’re touting as your strength. But in the long run, you’ll have integrity, and when the market shakes out, you’ll have a better chance of being one of the lone survivors than a provider that faded into the herd.

Posted by: Steve Banis

Want to Know More about Albany Marketing firm Burst Marketing?
Visit us at www.burstmarketing.net

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24 in 24

August 6, 2008

Categories: Lead Nurturing, Strategy

When you connect the dots of information in my last several entries you come up with a basic formula for turning your lead database into clients: 24 in 24.

The first 24 is the number of exposures it takes to turn over every possible rock when trying to do business with a particular targeted relationship.

The second 24 is the number of months that it can take for 80% of your leads to buy your product or service – from you or your competitor.

Put them together and you realize it comes down to maintaining focus on your marketing priorities and perseverance. This is the essence of a relationship nurturing program.

Posted by: Steve Banis

Want to Know More about Albany Marketing firm Burst Marketing?
Visit us at www.burstmarketing.net

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The 90 day clock

July 31, 2008

Categories: Lead Management, Lead Nurturing, Marketing ROI, Strategy

Last week I attended a live webinar by Marketing Experiments, the research affiliate of MarketingSherpa. They were presenting data from their B to B Lead Generation Handbook on Lead Nurturing. I came across this in my notes:

Typical sales lead database breakdown

7% – Sales ready; buy within 90 days

9% – Duds; competitors, perpetual tire kickers

84% – Mid to long range prospects

If you’re focused on sales, you’ll most likely lick your chops over those 7% ready to buy now. But if you’re like many I’ve come across, those 84% longer term prospects may get a newsletter or a nudge here or there, but they’re not a real focus.

Here’s the killer though: 80% of them will buy your product or service – either from you or someone else – within 24 months. Will you be right there when that 90 day clock starts ticking?

Posted by: Steve Banis

Want to Know More about Albany Marketing firm Burst Marketing?
Visit us at www.burstmarketing.net

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Why choose us?

Get In Touch

Burst Marketing

Survive and Advance

Where are they coming from?

It is what it is

Chaos is an opportunity

John McCain is Nurturing

“Tweener Systems”

24 in 24

The 90 day clock