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4 Resolutions Marketers Should Make & Keep in 2011

January 14, 2011 in Business Development, Marketing, Sales, Social Media with 0 Comments

Got a great little packet of info in the mail today from Exact Target with some New Year’s resolutions anyone in Marketing Should Adhere to. Since I agreed with them whole heartedly, I decided to save myself the time of rewriting and just share them directly with you.

Find out more about how Exact Target can help you with your marketing needs today. Call my boy Greg Price. He’ll hook you up!

4 Resolutions:

1. Make Data the Foundation of your Marketing. Assess Your Data. Implement a Program. Measure Often. Investigate.

2. Use Mobile to Connect with My Customers. Add text. Be Mobile Specific. Create Mobile Vision.

3. Market to Your Customers Like the Individuals They Are: Custom marketing. Listen Via Social Media. Add Value.

4. Make Social Media a Real Part of the Marketing Mix.

There you have it. Get started.

 

 

8 Mistakes People Make While Leading Change

January 9, 2011 in Business Development with 12 Comments

This is a book review of the Harvard Buisness Review on Change. Since I’m about ready to change jobs and am a part of new ownership, I found this book very interesting.

It states there are 8 errors companies make when attempting to Lead Change. They are as follows:

1. Not Establishing a Great Enough Sense of Urgency. It states that IF 75% of the company’s management is not convinced that business as usual is totally unacceptable then change will not be successful.

2. Not Creating a Powerful Enough Guiding Coalition. Meaning people across the board need to buy in to what you are doing.

3. Lacking a Vision. You must be able to communicate your vision in 5 min or less.

4. Undercommunicating the Vision. People who do this well, do it daily. Not just at the press conference or all staff meeting.

5. Not Removing Obstacles to the New Vision.  Bottom line, if people aren’t on board with the new vision they should be removed.

6. Not Planning for Short Term Wins. Self explanatory. Let people see some success of the new vision in the short term.

7. Declaring Victory Too Soon. Instead of declaring victory, use the short term wins to tackle even bigger problems.

8. Not Anchoring Changes in the Corporations Culture. Two factors are important in initializing corporate change. First, show people how the new approaches, behaviors, etc have helped performance. Second, take time to make sure the next generation of top management really does personify the new approach.

Good news for me. I’m going to an Organization that will NOT be making these mistakes. The new owners and leadership team are well on their way to implementing a vision and people are on board.

I’m expecting to be a part of BIG THINGS and am very excited about it.

Action

January 7, 2011 in Business Development, Marketing, Sales, Social Media with 1 Comment

As with anything your strengths are most likely to become your weaknesses. One of my strengths is action. I do not sit around and wait. I do not overanalyze. I make a strategic plan and then I act.

My Dad always likes to give me advice and recently when I was home, he repeated this quote “You can’t plough a field by turning it over in your mind”.

Good advice. Think about it.

I also recently read the following blog by @mikemyatt called the need for speed. In it, he describes why action is more important than perfection. He also quotes:

“A good plan violently executed today is far & away better than a perfect plan tomorrow.” General George S Patton 

I couldn’t agree more.So, the reality is you need balance. Have to plan before you act. But, once you have a plan, let’s do it!

We live in a world where people’s attention spans are short. Waiting too long = missed opportunity.

So quit thinking about doing that next thing and Just Do it!

Operating in Your FastBall

December 29, 2010 in Business Development, General, Marketing, Sales with 3 Comments

First, what do I mean by Fastball? Well, since I was a softball pitcher my fastball was my best pitch. I could throw it harder than anyone else in the state. In business I mean, your area of strength. The stuff you are best at and the stuff that comes the most easily to you.

Second, if you haven’t read the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell then you are an idiot.

Well, ok just getting your attention. Your most likely not an idiot but my point is, it’s a good book and he’s basically talking about finding your fastball.

I just read Blink again. What prompted me to read it was a conversation I was having with my mother about real estate. She’s been doing real estate for 25 years and is at the top of her game and I asked her a question and her response was “Well, i just know”.

I totally understood that. Often, at work someone will ask me how i know something about selling tickets or marketing and it’s hard for me to explain. I just know. I’ve been doing it for 15 years. I see things others dont when it comes to selling tickets & marketing sports.

So figure out what your ”fastball” is or as Gladwell says “The Power of Thinking WithOut Thinking”. Or if you are just starting out in a career or finding your passion, figure out what you want ”fastball” to be (in the book there are examples of everything from an art curator to a baseball player).

The point is get where you are answering ”I just knew” to the question “How did you know that?” bc it comes naturally to you.

So, if you are currently a lawyer and your dream job is being a photographer, what are you waiting for?

As we close down 2010 and head into a new year people always want to make changes. Well, real change seldom happens overnight but if you don’t start now, when will you start?

Hiring

December 29, 2010 in Business Development, Marketing, Sales with 3 Comments

I was out with some highschool friends this week and one of them asked me “What do i look for when I’m hiring?”

Answer was simple (and since I’m asked alot I thought I’d share)

First, it depends on the job.

Since I’m in Sports Sales & Marketing, i’m often hiring entry level sales/marketing jobs. For these jobs I mainly look for a person’s desire to learn and to be a part of a team that is about to do something people say can’t be done. Of course, a few years experience helps but I’ll hire someone right out of college or looking for a career change if i like them. They have to want it though. I’ve seen alot of entitlement out of recent graduates and I want people that are hard workers. Smart workers. Diligent workers.

Besides, I’m not 100% certain that Academics aren’t a waste (even though I’m a proud FSU graduate).

Second, if the job is overseeing an area that is not my “fastball of expertise” then i definitely look for experience first. I’m not afraid to hire people smarter than me. In fact, I want people smarter than me. Specifically in areas where I don’t have as much experience but still oversee it. An example of this for me is “research”. Although I like data, i don’t like the boring research, numbers, etc so in that case i have to hire someone with a completely different makeup who likes that and has proven experience.

Of course, there are other small factors but in alot of cases, you can teach the job. What you can’t teach people is personality.

Change

December 24, 2010 in Business Development, Marketing, Social Media with 3 Comments

People attack change.  I don’t even think they realize it sometimes. But, they do. You see it all over business. Corporate culture attacks change in the same way one might attack a virus. And in most cases, this is not good. Not good for business and not good forthe people that make up the business.

Today, i am asking myself the following question:

am I embracing change?

b/c if your not embracing change you are just delaying the inevitable. Because there is one thing I know – Change happens regardless. You can sometimes slow it (but it’s often to your own detriment)

Change happens. So get on board or get out of the way.

What do you think?

Twitter Checklist by Jack Dorsey

December 24, 2010 in Business Development, Social Media with 0 Comments

Disclaimer: None of this list is mine. It’s from the guy that is in Charge of Twitter so it’s WAY better than anything I could write. Follow @jack on Twitter & read this. I think it will make him happy if people start tweeting more effectively so I hoping he’s ok with this post.

Tweet checklist

A pre-flight checklist before you hit the “Tweet” button.

1. Has correct spelling, grammar, & abbreviations
Common and friendly SMS abbreviations are OK. Look to @MargaretAtwood for best practices.

2. Contains a URL
Tweets should be clickable, leading to an image, video, or page describing more.

3. Uses an active voice
Communication that is direct and frank is the simplest to understand (and remember).

4. Uses a friendly and approachable tone
Don’t be bland! But don’t overdo it.

5. Encourages interaction
Encourage the reader to take action immediately. Click a link, view a picture or video, retweet and share, or answer a question (e.g. “What do you use @Square for?”)

6. References other Twitter accounts (if applicable)
Seek out official accounts to link to with @ syntax. If it forms a greater name, make it fit (e.g. “@Jack Dorsey”, “@VirginAmerica Airlines”).

7. Retweetable
Keep Tweets short so people can Retweet them without editing when retweeting with “RT”.

3 Steps for Getting #$%*& Done!

December 5, 2010 in Business Development, Marketing, Sales with 2 Comments

If you are anything like me your life can be described in one word: ACTIVE

I’m busy.

I have ALOT going on.

 Often I look at my list of things I NEED to do (NOTE: this does not even include the list of things i WANT to do) and I feel a little like this girl to my left.

Its alot to manage most days.

So, here the 3 things I do (when I listen to my own advice) to help me divide and conquer and actually be productive.

Step 1. Take Care of Yourself.

 I do truly believe the first step in helping others & being productive is to make sure you are first looking out for YOU. For me, this includes exercise, a good night’s sleep and trying to eat right while on the road.  If i’m tired, cranky (from lack of exercise) or start eating poorly everything suffers. Work, Family, Friends. Everything.

Step 2: Make a list

Most of the time my “lists” are random pieces of paper or sticky notes all over my desk. Sometime, i use the notes feature on my iphone. But, what i always do is try to write it down. The key is to do it WHEN you 1st think about it. Don’t wait. Write it down.

Step 3: Prioritize

This is the hardest task. You can’t do everything you need/want to do so prioritize what’s most important.

In business, i ask myself “What are the tasks on this list that will be most effective in me reaching my company’s goals?”

And then i divide and conquer. If i’m on a plane I’ll do some of the big project tasks as it’s normal quiet and i can think without interruption. If i just have a quick 30 minutes between meetings or in the car, i try to just knock things off the list. Return calls, answer the easy response emails, etc.

So, there you have it. In fact, i’m currently crossing “blog about how to get #$%*& done” off my list right now.

This is what works best for me. What about you?

Macau

October 28, 2010 in Business Development, General with 2 Comments

Well, i would love to give you a big old blog on Macau and how great it is. But, I can’t. I can’t  b/c I didn’t make it there. Here are the 2 reasons I didn’t make it to Macau:

1. Apparently you need a Chinese visa to get to that place and I don’t have one.

2. Read Hong Kong – the Interrogation. When i realized more customs/immigration people were involved and I might have to meet up with the Chinese GodFather again, I bailed out quickly. The way I’m going, I’ll be lucky to actually make it to Nepal.

So, for now the best I can do is this picture of Macau I got from Google.

Looks amazing right? Kinda like Vegas which we all know I love. I’m a little ticked I’m scared of the Chinese GodFather and didn’t risk it. Gonna have to come back to China I guess. Sorry people I know this is the lamest blog ever but that’s all I got. I don’t know much in this life but I do know you don’t mess with the Chinese GodFather.

Media Fast

October 24, 2010 in Business Development, General with 4 Comments

So, this week I had the pleasure of meeting a group of people you probably know. Or will know. They are soon to be famous. Well, soon-to-be famous if you are between the ages of 15-30 and/or into reality TV. Unfortunately, that’s all the info I can give you and it’s not relevant to this post anyway.

At some point in the week after talking to producers and cast, i had an eye-opening revelation. My prior opinion (which was formed solely upon the media i ingested) was completely wrong. And I’m pretty sure the end product will be completely different than the very real people I got to meet this week. After all, it is TV.

This has happened before to me so i’m not sure why it surprises me. I went to Jerusalem in 2006 and it was nowhere near the gun infested, bombing community the media would have us believe. Sure, there were armed guards everywhere but I felt no more in danger than I would in the States. It was one of the best vacations I’ve had but if i had believed the media I never would have experienced it.

My point is this. Between Twitter, the news and all the other media that is constantly brought to us I’ve reached my limit. I need a media break. Fortunately, I’m going to Nepal for 2 weeks and will get one whether I like it or not.

I’m hoping I come back with a fresh perspective (one without unwanted influence). Listen to these lyrics from John Mayer in Waiting for the World to Change

“When you trust your television, what you get is what you got. Because when they own the information, they can bend it all they want”.

How about you? Is the media unduly influencing you?

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