January 2009 – Page 2

How To Exhibit At Tradeshows 2009

2009’s Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas
was quieter than usual.
That was expected
with many regular exhibitors bailing
and companies sending fewer representatives.

During the Sunday wrap up,
I interviewed exhibitors.
There were two very clear camps
those that thought
this was the WORST show ever
and those that thought
this was the BEST show ever.

The difference?

The worst show booths were staffed
with trade show ‘professionals.’
As they were only tracking numbers,
they saw the decreased attendance
as a failure.

The best show booths were staffed
with company employees,
salespeople, engineers, new product developers
(my idea of paradise).
Yes, they agreed that
attendees were WAY down
but that was offset by the quality.
There were more buyers
(Wal-Mart and Costco buyers were HUNGRY)
and they had more time to talk to them.

No placeholders.
If you’re exhibiting at a tradeshow in 2009,
staff your booths with
people who are there
to sell.

Should I Skimp On My Wedding?

Ramit’s New Year post prompted a discussion
on weddings.
Many people talked about
how weddings were a waste of money.

I think otherwise.
I considered my wedding an investment.

When I married the hubby,
we had 300 people at our wedding.
All 300 guests cared about us,
they wanted us to succeed,
and on that specific day,
they were focused on us.
That doesn’t happen that damn often.

I consider our wedding
the best networking event
I have ever helped organize.

10 years later,
the connections made there
are still paying off.

So yes, save money
on areas the guests won’t care about,
but think carefully before
cutting that guest list.

And have fun.

Happy Birthday Edgar Allan Poe

200 years ago today,
poet Edgar Allan Poe was born.

Why is this important?

It isn’t…
unless you have a tie-in product
to market.
Then you should be promoting the heck out of it,
leveraging this significant anniversary.

It makes your product even more newsworthy,
increasing your odds
that the media will pick up
on your press releases.

Note: Remember to distribute press releases
well in advance of the actual anniversary.

User Intent

Marketing Jive has come out
with the top marketing buzzwords
for 2008.

The number one?

User intent.

What that means,
I have no freakin’ idea
and I’m betting prospects think the same.

I like these lists
because before sending out promo material,
I double check
to ensure I’ve used
NONE of the words on it.

Buzzwords are dead space.
Either they mean nothing
or they are so overused
readers skip over them.
Don’t use them.

Selling Paintings

What are all the ‘cool’ (i.e. selling) artists reading
this season?

Color Marketing Group’s hot color trends
for 2009

As Barney Davey states
“If you aren’t painting for the museums,
you are most likely painting
for homes and offices.
Nothing wrong with that approach.
Let’s face it.
There are far more of the latter two categories
than museums,
which makes being wisely informed
about future trends important.”

BTW….
Be prepared for a flood of purple.
It will be THE hottest color of the year.
My purple loving niece will be thrilled.

Apple’s REAL Success Secret

M.J. Rose has a great post
talking about how publishers
should let authors know
they’re slashing marketing budgets.

My response?

Publisher marketing should be gravy.
The core marketing should be author led
(led – that doesn’t mean the authors do it themselves).
The authors should always have a direct link
to bookstores and readers.

THAT is Apple’s success secret.
There are more innovative products out there.
There are better leaders than Steve Jobs.
But what Apple does right
is stay in direct contact
with a core group of users.

Contact lists are gold.
Customer contact lists are priceless.

The Artist Known As Prince And Product Launch Timing

Prince announced he will release
not 1, not 2, but 3 albums in 2009.
Regardless of how great the songs are,
I doubt these albums will do well.

It isn’t about the 3 albums.
Authors release 3 books a year.
Successfully.

It is about the timing.

Authors don’t try to promote or release
all 3 products at the same time.

They focus on one.
The publisher focuses on one.
The reviewers focus on one.
The fans focus on one.

There is no choice required.
No splitting of effort.

Time your product launches correctly.

Know The Emotion You’re Selling

Emotion sells.
Every marketer knows that.

But it is important to know
what emotion sells best
with each target market.
Most times it is not the obvious answer.
(Why insider experience helps)

Many outsiders to the romance genre think
the emotion romance novels sell is
love.

It isn’t.

It is hope.
The hope that love can conquer all.
That problems can be solved.
That happiness can be found.
That one chance meeting
can change a life for the better.

Books missing that component
miss with readers.

Know your customer’s emotional trigger.

Kenny Chesney Fans And The Economy

Tickets for
country singer Kenny Chesney’s
August 2009 concert
went on sale in December,
a dreaded discretionary expense
selling
in the midst of an economic melt down.

The 60,000 seats sold out
in 10 minutes!

There’s no blaming poor sales on the economy.
Consumers have money to spend
and are spending it.

A decrease in sales
is a product/marketing/sales problem,
not an economic problem.

Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana And The Role Model

It is no coincidence
that Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana)
is 16
while her target audience
are tweens (ages 6-14).

Kids prefer an older role model.
As my 8 year old niece tells me,
anyone younger is a ‘baby.’

That holds for cartoon role models also.

I helped develop a kid targeted juice box
featuring a cast of fruit characters.
The target demographic was the lunch box group.
The fruit characters, however, were early teens.

When in doubt,
go older
(but still parent friendly).