July 2009 – Page 3

Repetitive Task Games

There are some repetitive tasks
managers and business builders
can’t delegate.
These can be tedious.
These can be creativity suckers.

Or these can be the exact opposite.

I tend to look at them like a game.
Some people time themselves,
trying to beat their personal bests
for completion.
Some people find
a different spot
in the office
to complete these tasks
(taking them outside if possible
during the sunny days).
Being a systems girl,
I tend to look for patterns
(if you look closely enough,
you can find a pattern in anything).

As my Mom always tells me
‘there are no boring tasks,
there are only boring people.’

Entrepreneur has some more suggestions
for repetitive task games.

Flash Free Websites

When I go to a website,
nothing irritates me
more than
a flash filled landing page.
I ALWAYS skip the intro
(if I can.
if I can’t
and I desperately need that site,
I’ll open another browser
while I wait).

I’m not the only one.
Entrepreneur.com lists
ditching Flash
as one of the top 6 Website Fixes.

Internet users value speed.
Much like clientk readers,
they want to get information quickly
and then get on with their day.

Anything that slows them down
while not adding value
should go.

The Quiet Sponsor

Thursdays and Fridays during the summer,
Target sponsors free evenings
at
The Art Institute Of Chicago.

You wouldn’t know the sponsor
unless you really looked for it.
There are no signs at the gallery.
On the Art Institute site,
the only Target logo appears
at the bottom of the info page
and it is tiny.
Yes, the event is called
Target Free Summer Evenings
but Target could mean anything.

In a time of blatant promotion,
this sponsorship act feels genuine.
When people do make the connection,
they wonder
(as I did)
what else
the company sponsors
that is never advertised.

Is it as effective short term
as splashing the Target logo everywhere?
I doubt it.
But it DOES send a strong branding signal.

Zombie Projects

I do NOT like zombie projects.
When I hear of
a project rising from the dead,
I immediately become ‘busy’
with something else
(like filing invoices or painting my toenails).

Zombie projects are rarely successful.

Why?

Because
usually
a project gets brought back to life
due to no one having a ‘better’ idea.
That’s not reason enough
to see a project
over the many obstacles
a normal project has to overcome.

And a zombie project
isn’t a normal project.
It has many more obstacles.
This project has already failed.
No one likes to associate themselves with failure.

The second time around,
most of the people who were so enthused
the first time
are now bitter and negative.
The project team is fighting history.
It is not a new never-been-done-before project.
It is a tried-to-do-and-failed project.

Does this mean a zombie project
won’t be successful?
No.
But the odds are not in its favor.

The Tie Case

Always on the look out
for high end presents
for a loved one,
I was thrilled to find
tie cases now available.

Here was a perfect present
for that businessman with everything,
a dedicated travel case
so his expensive and often delicate ties
didn’t get rumpled.

Unfortunately,
the manufacturers forgot
they were making a luxury product.
Even the Brooks Brothers case
had nylon on the inside
and metal connecting with the tie fabric.
The zippers were inexpensive looking
and felt cheap.

Yes, I know that this is
value oriented times
but a luxury product
should still be a luxury product.
Charge a bit more
and
use quality materials and design.

Counting On Viral

I sat in on a meeting
in which
an ‘expert’ said
“You can’t count on a viral marketing.”

True
but if your product doesn’t,
at some point,
go viral,
it won’t ever be successful.

If the only reason someone tries your product
is because you asked them to
directly
through marketing
(the seven to nine times on average needed
to convert a prospect to a customer),
the cost of the product is too high
to make a profit on.

You NEED that viral marketing,
that word of mouth recommendation,
to decrease your selling costs.

So yes,
don’t count on viral marketing
but please
design your product
to make viral marketing easier.
(Including designing tools
to help your existing customers
sell your product.)

Product Development IS Marketing

In the good ol’ days,
product designers would sit in their caves
and design products.
Then they would approach marketers
and marketers would put together
campaigns
to help sell those wonderful products.

Or so the myth goes.

Today, that won’t work.
Marketers have to be part
of product design.
Packaging is marketing.
Site design is marketing.
The flavor of juice is marketing.

This is especially true
of any online business.
A site is often both the product
AND the marketing.
The site should be designed
with social media in mind.
It has to consider SEO.
The list goes on.

That’s why I talk about
project development teams.
Product development teams include
both
product designers
AND
marketing
(plus finance, sales, tech folks, etc).

Vanity Advertising And You

In all my years
in new business development,
I have never been shown proof
that bus shelter ads
convert into sales
(yes, even with my stint
in the film business).
They may boost awareness
(a number very easy to manipulate
so I don’t have much faith in it)
but sales?
Nope.

So why do companies,
including the ones I’ve worked for,
advertise at bus shelters?

My theory is…
because executives like
bus shelter ads.
They’re big and glamorous
and high profile.

That’s fine if you’re a Fortune 500 company
with cash to burn.
Not so great if you’re a start up.

Don’t simply follow the marketing programs
of the big guys.
And when marketing companies pitch to you,
ask for SALES numbers,
not awareness.

Why Traditional Advertising Doesn’t Work For Online Companies

I’m working right now on a business plan
for an online company.
What do the founders have
in their marketing budget?
Money for bus shelter ads,
print ads,
television spots,
everything other than online ads.

None of it will convert into traffic.

Why?

Because they are asking their marketing
to do two things.
First, they need to sell prospects
on going online.
THEN, they need to sell prospects
on going to their site.

It is damn difficult to get prospects
to do ONE thing.
Impossible to get them to do two.

There is a reason Coca-Cola’s slogan was
‘Within an arm’s reach of desire’
and that is because
advertising works best
when it is closest to the product.

If you are an online company,
advertise online.
If you’re a restaurant on a busy freeway,
buy a billboard on that freeway.
If you sell beverages to grocery stores,
put up a shelf talker
or take out a flyer ad.

Make it EASY for your marketing dollars
to work.

Getting Promoted Using Ice Cream

Many companies usually have
a summer employee appreciation event,
a BBQ or an ice cream day
or a day at an amusement park or zoo.

This year,
due to layoffs and cost savings,
many of these events
have been canceled.
Companies can’t layoff on Thursday
and have ice cream day
the following Friday.
It doesn’t look right.

This creates an opportunity
for ambitious employees.

A loved one hosted ice cream day
last Friday.
He brought in ice cream
and toppings,
using his own cash,
and then dished it out
over his own lunch hour.
The response was terrific.

It cost him less than $50,
was easy and quick to organize,
yet it immediately put him
in the leadership category.

Could you do the same?