Archive for January, 2009

In the world of woman-owned businesses, it’s rare for a fierce entrepreneur to also act as a hub for everyone and everything cool in about a million-mile radius.

As will surprise nobody who knows her, Heather Clark of Calluna Events does just that.  Not only does Heather conceive of and design incredible parties, weddings, anc corporate events, but she connects people with vendors, resources, and each other to create a truly noteworthy experience.

I first met Heather through we2e, a women’s networking group for female entrepreneurs founded by Heather herself.  In a smart move, she decided to up the ante and capitalize on her great social networks to bring together women who have something major in common.  In the years since I’ve met her, I’ve found Heather to be a complex personality and a class act.  When we eventually get around to our ribbon-cutting/very belated grand opening, Calluna will most definitely be the company we turn to.  Meanwhile, feel free to contact her if you need a classy, cutting-edge, or just plain fun celebration!

There’s a lot in this economy that prompts fear, inaction, stagnation, and a bunch of tire-kicking.  People are grappling with this fear at the same time they’re searching high and low for marketing tips that won’t further deplete the nonexistent contents of their wallets.

It’s time for today’s best free marketing tip:  ask questions, already!

Forgive me if this is a no duh, but I am always shocked at the number of times I ask clients or potential client when the last time they asked a new lead how they heard of them…and get a blank stare, complete with crickets.

Chirp…chirp…

Here are my five favorite questions to help you expand and grow your business:

• How did you hear about us? Simple to ask, this question can deliver HUGE marketing results.  If you suddenly find that 10 out of 20 potential leads have heard from you from a friend, it may be time to kick that person a referral bonus or develop an ongoing referral relationship.  If none of them came from the Web, maybe it’s time to retool that site or look into SEO.  With a bit of tracking and a ton of consistency, this question can be the #1 tool in your marketing arsenal.  See today’s SmartBlog on Social Media for more info on measuring your word of mouth.
• So…Do you want to buy? So many people make a great pitch…and never get around to actually asking for the sale.
• What do you need? This could seem like a no-brainer, but all too often I see companies that offer a product or service that nobody needs.  Let this question guide your marketing and you’ll be directed to results.
• How will I measure return on investment? This one can save you some major marketing moolah.  If you don’t know how you’ll measure the results, how will you know if your marketing dollars have been spent wisely?  If you don’t have tracking systems in place now, get them.  In this economy, you should know the direction of every marketing dollar you spend.
• How can I help? Have you ever had that friend who hijacks every conversation with their latest saga?  Don’t be that friend.  Make yourself helpful to others and you can’t help but increase the reputation and stature of your business. You might even make a few friends along the way.

Photo courtsey of Orin Optoglot.

VOCO is proud to be a woman-owned business, and we’re even prouder to have made so many amazing friends and business connections in the area.  In an attempt to spread the online love, we’re highlighting the woman-owned businesses we love every Friday.

Today we’re featuring a woman-owned business that truly rises above the rest.  BirdDog Press is a custom letterpress studio that dishes up to-die-for design in a gorgeous, handmade and woman-powered package.

Proprietress Allison Bozeman is a true class act and a real artist…there’s a reason the best of the best in Denver, Boulder, and elsewhere turn to her for custom wedding invitations, calling cards, and stationery.  Furthermore, Alli has a beautiful blogging voice and an eye for every thing of beauty…be it the timeless appeal of a Mason jar or the du jour trend of citron Pantone a la Michelle Obama.

Recently Juli celebrated the Christmas season…and her exciting new family addition…with a splurge:  Christmas cards designed and hand-pressed by BirdDog.  The result was breathtaking.  Talk about a memorable announcement!  Are you planning a wedding or special event?  Looking to enhance your personal brand?  Visit Alli and tell us what you think!

What do you do when marketing your business sucks?

I’m not talking about sucky collateral or a poorly executed website (though many people who claim to wish to market themselves and their businesses more effectively are guilty of just that).  I’m talking about when you feel blah, bored, and unmotivated.  I’m talking about when the act of marketing sucks.

Novelists talk about the mid-book slump, that point during writing when you want to throw the computer at the wall, drive away in your car and will yourself away from the dullness and drivel of a task you know all too well, but can’t possibly muster up the stamina to complete.

So…what do you do when you feel that way about your marketing?

The easy answer is do it anyway.  Yes, this is the boring answer.  But it’s the one that will get your marketing done and yield results. Here are some strategies I’ve learned from working with people who hit the marketing wall.

Unsuckifying Your Marketing

Ask questions. Why are you feeling this way?  Has it been a bad week?  Is marketing taking up too much time and energy?  Is it just boring?  Do you need more return on investment information in order to feel like your work is paying off?  Are you having a hard time sticking to a to-do list?  Don’t judge, just ask.  Then use the information you gain to create marketing that doesn’t suck.

Pare down. It’s easy to vow to blog every day, make 100,000 tweets per hour, attend 3131535352 networking meetings, cold call for eight hours a week and speak during every lunch hour.  Guess what?  If you’re overwhelmed, it won’t happen.  Try paring down to the essentials.  Once you can do these well, you can branch back out to other, bigger, more exciting things.

Add on. If you’re not excited about performing basic marketing tasks, it may be time to add a new initiative…a carrot on a stick, if you will.  What about trying a new social media tool, dabbling in SEO or trying to add 10 reciprocal blog links?

Track it. Are you tracking the results of your marketing efforts?  If not, how can you have any idea where you are, where you’re going, or what return to expect?  Time to build in some tracking systems and a system for routinely checking in on your progress.  Marketing seems a lot less sucky when you know where you’re headed and why you’re doing it.

Get help. No man is an island…and most business owners have so many pressing tasks they can’t guarantee to be wearing two similar socks at a time, much less masterfully executing a marketing plan.  Whether it’s hiring an assistant for a few hours a week to take care of mailers or consulting with an expert who can take some marketing work off of your plate, there is no shame whatsoever in getting help.

Related articles and resources:

Chill out — Financial Anxiety and Marketing

Google Analytics — the grandaddy of low-cost tracking tools

Developing Good Marketing Habits

I was on the stationary bike at the gym yesterday flipping through one of those guilty-pleasure magazines when my name called out to me from one of those annoying little inserts.  “Hi Erin, look at these special bargains for _______ readers!”

This somewhat jarring experience certainly caught my attention…and reminded me of a growing trend I’ve been noticing:  personalized everything.  Unlimited budgets are a thing of the past…and savvy marketers are realizing that slipshod techniques should be, too.  Personalized marketing might be a bit more complex in the execution and even cost more on the outset, but its targeted nature makes it easier to track ROI and tweak for better results.

How are savvy marketers and salespeople taking advantage of the personalized trend?  This woman is creating “bespoke newspapers” and uses the personalized headlines as a seductive sales tool.  PURLs (personalized URLs) and personalized movies are also on the rise.

Remember, a personalized marketing attempt is only as good as the follow-through and tracking you pursue.  Make it memorable…it’s not often you have someone’s undivided attention.

It’s not enough for darling Gwynnie to document her Spanish food road trip with chef Mario Batali (truly one of the world’s more unexpected pairings).  The former better half of both Ben Affleck and Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow is pursuing personal branding in an unexpected…and quite weird fashion.

Enter GOOP, Gwyneth’s sporadic lifestyle newsletter.  In GOOP, Gwyneth does everything from interview her friends (Deepak Chopra appears frequently) to sigh over her favorite five-star hotels and restaurants to instruct her presumedly worshiping fans on a low-cal detox diet to get over the holiday slump.

In the process, oddly, she has been associating herself more and more with a ridiculously upscale yet surprisingly near-to-down-to-earth lifestyle that is at once vague (she prefers to eat macrobiotic yet loves to indulge in oily paellas and sushi; her religious views seem to waver between pop psychology and Kabbalah luv) and extremely specific (you can find the girl in Hermes, Barneys, and Chanel, everyone).

I still can’t figure out what brand she is trying to personalize, or what her ultimate goal is (tomorrow’s Martha Stewart, perhaps?), but I am finding her progression through some very aggressive personal branding to be amusing at the very least.

More on GOOP:

Back In Skinny Jeans’ awesome sendup, BOOP

Goop or Poop?  RealityRant

Jezebel on GOOP

You’ve learned how to assess your brand’s strengths and weaknesses.  What now?

Remember the DEVO song “Freedom of Choice”?  People can get really overwhelmed at the embarrassment of riches that is free choice.  I encourage my clients to start SMALL.  Eensy-weensy, tiny even.  Know why?  Because small = manageable in a real world full of real-world distractions and setbacks.

It can seem like a huge bummer to think small when you’ve just gotten the macro view of your brand health.  However, small steps are what will bring you to your destination.

Example:  You’ve discovered that while your Web presence rates a 95%, your sales is coming in at a mere 25%.  You’ve delved into the details and realized that your sales and marketing need to be better integrated, perhaps through the use of a CRM system, a double sales/marketing plan, or a weekly check-in meeting.

Instead of plunging in and doing all three, prioritize.  Which one looks like it will have the biggest return on investment?  How quickly can you get going?  Can it be broken down into manageable tasks?  Who will take care of each one?  Most importantly, how will you measure and evaluate your success?

If you repeat this process, calendar in hand, you should quickly get a feel for which baby steps you’ll take first.  Voila — a direction for your brand!

This sounds simple, but it’s really as complex as you make it.  Go focus on the here and now…just make sure you check in with reality and strategy on a regular basis.

Happy New Year!