21 May 2008

Knowledge is portable.

If you don't read Seth Godin's blog already, first I'm going to hang tight while you go there and bookmark or feedburn or otherwise connect to it.

Done? Ok good.

Seth says a couple of things today that made me go YES! loudly, in my office, to the confusion of Riley, my dog.

#1) Knowledge workers should not have to go to the office every day. I've long been amazed that we marketing -PR-creative type people are "required" to be in an office for a corporate job where we add little value to our surrounding environment in a typical day because we're in a) unnecessary meetings or b) buried behind a phone or computer screen. I can say personally that I have the most productive work sessions when I'm around other people actually - gasp - producing, or when I'm in an environment of my choice that stimulates creativity. I'm oddly productive at the library. But that's another story for another day.

#2) Knowledge between experts is better shared than kept as some holiest of holy secrets. Look. People who hire me know that I'm one of many people that can do what I do. I make no mistake about that. What people love about working with me is completely different for everyone. And THAT is what keeps them coming back, not the illusion that I harbor some secret holy grail of knowledge that has never before been seen on the face of the planet. Silly, silly. It's why Seth has no problem posting about other great marketing minds, or sharing links to other people's brilliance. Me either. Share and share alike, and we shall all be the better for it!

Communication is Key



Recession or no, don't make the mistake of thinking that an economic downturn means that you should put the brakes on everything you do that's considered "marketing".

Marketing is sometimes construed as a dirty word. So let's clean it up and consider the most basic of all marketing principles - communication.

Every business feels the symptoms of economic strife a little differently. In my neck of the words, for instance, clients are super focused on targeted, economic methods of communication. Which is a beautiful thing, because that's what we advocate anyway. But there are also those people who say "Amber, I'm halting all marketing spending right now." Yikes.

Especially for growing businesses and non profit organizations, there's a lot of noise in the market on a GOOD day. When it's a dog-eat-dog environment where every last customer or donor or volunteer is a gem (they should be anyway, but that's another post), I think the worst mistake you can make is to stop communicating.

Marketing, done well, is a dialogue. It's an ongoing communication with your clients and those you wish to be, and you need to be talking to be heard. In fact, when the frantic sales cycle is cautious and slowed, it can be an incredible time to spend developing those relationships with your customers and reminding them of how you're there to help them, serve them, provide them with a valuable product or service. Now is not the time for the hard sell - it's the time to have a conversation and be great at the most important part of all - listening.

And the bonus? Great dialogue with your customers doesn't have to be expensive. Pick up the phone. Launch a blog. Send out a handful of handwritten notes.

How can you spend a few minutes building relationships with your customers and clients so that when the sales cycle picks up pace, you'll be top of mind?

21 May 2008

Knowledge is portable.

If you don't read Seth Godin's blog already, first I'm going to hang tight while you go there and bookmark or feedburn or otherwise connect to it.

Done? Ok good.

Seth says a couple of things today that made me go YES! loudly, in my office, to the confusion of Riley, my dog.

#1) Knowledge workers should not have to go to the office every day. I've long been amazed that we marketing -PR-creative type people are "required" to be in an office for a corporate job where we add little value to our surrounding environment in a typical day because we're in a) unnecessary meetings or b) buried behind a phone or computer screen. I can say personally that I have the most productive work sessions when I'm around other people actually - gasp - producing, or when I'm in an environment of my choice that stimulates creativity. I'm oddly productive at the library. But that's another story for another day.

#2) Knowledge between experts is better shared than kept as some holiest of holy secrets. Look. People who hire me know that I'm one of many people that can do what I do. I make no mistake about that. What people love about working with me is completely different for everyone. And THAT is what keeps them coming back, not the illusion that I harbor some secret holy grail of knowledge that has never before been seen on the face of the planet. Silly, silly. It's why Seth has no problem posting about other great marketing minds, or sharing links to other people's brilliance. Me either. Share and share alike, and we shall all be the better for it!

Communication is Key



Recession or no, don't make the mistake of thinking that an economic downturn means that you should put the brakes on everything you do that's considered "marketing".

Marketing is sometimes construed as a dirty word. So let's clean it up and consider the most basic of all marketing principles - communication.

Every business feels the symptoms of economic strife a little differently. In my neck of the words, for instance, clients are super focused on targeted, economic methods of communication. Which is a beautiful thing, because that's what we advocate anyway. But there are also those people who say "Amber, I'm halting all marketing spending right now." Yikes.

Especially for growing businesses and non profit organizations, there's a lot of noise in the market on a GOOD day. When it's a dog-eat-dog environment where every last customer or donor or volunteer is a gem (they should be anyway, but that's another post), I think the worst mistake you can make is to stop communicating.

Marketing, done well, is a dialogue. It's an ongoing communication with your clients and those you wish to be, and you need to be talking to be heard. In fact, when the frantic sales cycle is cautious and slowed, it can be an incredible time to spend developing those relationships with your customers and reminding them of how you're there to help them, serve them, provide them with a valuable product or service. Now is not the time for the hard sell - it's the time to have a conversation and be great at the most important part of all - listening.

And the bonus? Great dialogue with your customers doesn't have to be expensive. Pick up the phone. Launch a blog. Send out a handful of handwritten notes.

How can you spend a few minutes building relationships with your customers and clients so that when the sales cycle picks up pace, you'll be top of mind?

21 May 2008

Knowledge is portable.

If you don't read Seth Godin's blog already, first I'm going to hang tight while you go there and bookmark or feedburn or otherwise connect to it.

Done? Ok good.

Seth says a couple of things today that made me go YES! loudly, in my office, to the confusion of Riley, my dog.

#1) Knowledge workers should not have to go to the office every day. I've long been amazed that we marketing -PR-creative type people are "required" to be in an office for a corporate job where we add little value to our surrounding environment in a typical day because we're in a) unnecessary meetings or b) buried behind a phone or computer screen. I can say personally that I have the most productive work sessions when I'm around other people actually - gasp - producing, or when I'm in an environment of my choice that stimulates creativity. I'm oddly productive at the library. But that's another story for another day.

#2) Knowledge between experts is better shared than kept as some holiest of holy secrets. Look. People who hire me know that I'm one of many people that can do what I do. I make no mistake about that. What people love about working with me is completely different for everyone. And THAT is what keeps them coming back, not the illusion that I harbor some secret holy grail of knowledge that has never before been seen on the face of the planet. Silly, silly. It's why Seth has no problem posting about other great marketing minds, or sharing links to other people's brilliance. Me either. Share and share alike, and we shall all be the better for it!

Communication is Key



Recession or no, don't make the mistake of thinking that an economic downturn means that you should put the brakes on everything you do that's considered "marketing".

Marketing is sometimes construed as a dirty word. So let's clean it up and consider the most basic of all marketing principles - communication.

Every business feels the symptoms of economic strife a little differently. In my neck of the words, for instance, clients are super focused on targeted, economic methods of communication. Which is a beautiful thing, because that's what we advocate anyway. But there are also those people who say "Amber, I'm halting all marketing spending right now." Yikes.

Especially for growing businesses and non profit organizations, there's a lot of noise in the market on a GOOD day. When it's a dog-eat-dog environment where every last customer or donor or volunteer is a gem (they should be anyway, but that's another post), I think the worst mistake you can make is to stop communicating.

Marketing, done well, is a dialogue. It's an ongoing communication with your clients and those you wish to be, and you need to be talking to be heard. In fact, when the frantic sales cycle is cautious and slowed, it can be an incredible time to spend developing those relationships with your customers and reminding them of how you're there to help them, serve them, provide them with a valuable product or service. Now is not the time for the hard sell - it's the time to have a conversation and be great at the most important part of all - listening.

And the bonus? Great dialogue with your customers doesn't have to be expensive. Pick up the phone. Launch a blog. Send out a handful of handwritten notes.

How can you spend a few minutes building relationships with your customers and clients so that when the sales cycle picks up pace, you'll be top of mind?