Are you wondering when the best time to post to social media is? How about whether or not you should automate? Are you still sending out auto direct messages on Twitter? Tune in for a social smackdown and a tiny bit of tool talk.
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Have you read the story about Marriott International’s “The Envelope Please” program?
It’s stirred up a bit of controversy and got me thinking about dumb things done in the name of marketing. Turns out, dumb marketing is not only the domain of big companies. Even small businesses sometimes fall into these traps.
Here are three of the most head-shaking mistakes and why you should avoid them.
PS: If you haven’t read the Marriott story, I include a link at the beginning of my article. Let me know what you think!
Guess what? Your marketing company can make things really simple for you.
They can pay for your hosting, your domain renewal, your email software, and your social scheduling software. They can itemize all of those expenses for you and then send you one bill.
Easy peasy. Lemon Squeezy.
But I want to share two stories with you that illustrate the downside of the easy-peasy-one-bill method so you’ll see why it’s so important to know who owns your accounts and services.
Are you as weary of this never-ending presidential campaign as me? Then let’s talk about what smart marketers can apply–online and offline–from political gaffes. Both the Romney and Obama campaigns have generously provided fodder.
Salespeople may be some of the most despised people on earth, and what a shame, because each and every one of us is a salesperson. Now combine “car” with “salesperson” and you’ve got yourself a stereotype that some people seem determined to reinforce every chance they get. Here’s a story of two very different experiences at car dealerships and what it can teach us about selling vs just being a salesperson.
Work is easy. I sit at my desk, jot down a few to-dos, get started and get things done. It’s the people who make life challenging. You know, those people we call customers? They want things. They ask questions. They forget stuff. They say things like, “I don’t like that color.” And, “I emailed you like, fifteen minutes ago, could you get back to me please????!!!!??” Yet as long as we’re in business we’ll always have customers to woo, coddle and make happy. The trick to succeeding in business is not to do things right (though it helps from time to time…) but to know how to deal with it when they go wrong.
I bet you’re familiar with the fairy tale about Goldilocks. She wanders into the forest and takes shelter in the home of three bears while they’re away. And everywhere she roams in the house she finds everything in sets of three: porridge too hot and too cold… chairs too big and too small… beds too hard and too soft… and in the end, one of each that was “just right”. Let’s forget for a moment the terrifying awakening of Goldilocks after she fell asleep in the “just right” bed and take a lesson from her instead. Here are some ideas and a few practical tips to get you started applying the concept of “just right” to your marketing.
Many business owners think they need just that one big break, that one mega-account, or with non-profits, one really generous donor, and they’ll be set. So they go fishing for that big white whale. Here’s why they’re wrong and why taking a “gardening” instead of a “fishing” approach can lead to your long term success.
So you’ve built a website! Spent anywhere from a few hours happily dragging and dropping some content around to a few days yanking at the roots of your hair trying to get your pages to display correctly. And now your new site is up and running, ready for the world to see so you can start raking in those millions. But is it any good? That’s a tough question to ask after the fact, but it’s an important one if you want a successful website. Here are some ideas for how to improve yours if you’re repenting a little late.
It’s one thing to try out an idea only to look back and think, “Wow! What a mistake!” Those are often “good mistakes” – the kind you learn from and can use as a springboard for your next endeavor. But it’s another entirely to make one of those “stupid mistakes” that are so pernicious and so avoidable that all you can do at the end of the day is slap yourself on the forehead and wonder why you did it. These are the kind of mistakes that you can correct almost immediately, if only you realized you were making them. Find out what they are and how you can quickly turn headaches into opportunities.
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