Listening To The Little Voices

Your customers are talking! Are you listening?
Every where you go you find user reviews about everything from apricots to zoos. You can even review other people's reviews. Everyone has an opinion they want to share, but does it matter if you're not listening?

Companies spend millions of dollars every year trying to get customer ratings and feedback on their products, but they've missed the freebie in their own backyard.

Do a search on your product or company, set up a blog and ask for reviews, list your product on Amazon and then take advantage of the time other people have put into reviewing your product. They are probably more realistic than putting someone into a dark room for hours before bombarding them with questions in the hopes of generating an unbiased response. Whew! That was a long thought... maybe more of a rant. *smile*

A Doggie Dog World

I walked into my favorite groomer's the other day and as I was presenting my little beast for his nail trimming I noticed that my groomer was reading an article about branding.
I realized when your dog groomer starts talking about branding you know that word is no longer just an ad agency buzz word, but a word that deserves some attention.

So branding. What is it?

dictionary.com defines brand as: kind, grade, or make, as indicated by a stamp, trademark, or the like.
Of course it also defines brand as: a mark formerly put upon criminals with a hot iron.
Considering that branding seems to have originated out of the ad world, that second definition probably isn't that far off the mark, but I think we can look a little deeper.

Your brand is how other people see you, it is your worth in their eyes. Take the Starbucks brand - for all of the ups and downs, this is a multi-million dollar company based around a slightly exotic cup of coffee. When you think about Starbucks you think about their logo, that distinctive green you see in all of their shops and depending on how you feel about the company, a few other adjectives will come to mind.

When you go to build your own brand you need to consider what you want it to say about your company. The first step is choosing a good name. There are thousands of books written just about picking a good name. My suggestion? Don't stress over it, just think of it as a tattoo. This is something that you are going to have for the rest of your life, so make certain it is what you want.

The next thing you want to consider is what your overall feeling is going to be. Are you a straight laced, business suit kind of company? If so, you'll probably want to consider more conservative colors, such as gray, maroon, dark blue. If you're a jeans and flip-flops place than consider something a little more festive.

And once you pick your colors, use them! Everywhere! These are the steps towards creating your brand. There are more and there will be more posts in the future, but this should give you enough to think about for now.

Plan of Attack!

"You've got no direction with your lives.
No plan.
When there's no plan, there's no attack.
No attack, no victory!"
- One Crazy Summer (1986)


One of the biggest mistakes most companies make is not having a well-defined plan of attack for their advertising. I write about this concept frequently because I see it almost everyday.
A business owner doesn't want to commit to a plan for advertising, doesn't want to spend the money and yet he still thinks that customers are going to magically appear. Well, I hate to break it to you, but the advertising fairy doesn't give a crap about your company unless you're ready to hand over some cash and be very creative in doing it.
If you have no direction in your company, no set branding practices, no plan, you cannot "attack" your rivals, you cannot "attack" future customers with your amazing product or service. And if you can't even attack (INFORM PEOPLE!)in the name of your business, there can't be any victory (MORE SALES, MORE CUSTOMERS!).
In case you missed the point here, let me be clear - If you don't have a solid advertising plan designed to inform people about your business, you won't be able to attract new clients and customers in a manner that will not only ensure success, but will also be the best use of your money.

So the next time you're thinking of spending that $5,000 on an ad in the Yellow Pages, Stop! Plan first! Attack next! And achieve victory!

As for the advertising fairy - he does exist.

Word Soup

I'm reading a chart filled with a lot of terms I don't understand and probably never will - I've recently started a job helping to improve patient retention and to manage overall operations. I have no real need to know popular vernacular at the job, I just need to look at a few key words - recommended treatment, follow-up, suggested shots, or anything that will help me re-schedule that patient while they are standing in front of me at the desk. Now this isn’t a hard sell, this is necessary treatment that will help promote the business while protecting the patient from very expensive future problems.
My first goal is to help everyone notice these important words. Once the office staff notices these words, they are now equipped to move to my second goal. Using the correct phrase to optimize scheduling.
Instead of asking, “Would you like to schedule your next appointment?” I will encourage the staff to say, “I see the doctor has recommended (appropriate treatment). Can you come in two weeks from now on Tuesday at Noon?” Or any combination that requires the client to stop and think, to make a distinct effort to say no.
I would even go a step further and suggest that the staff carefully explain to each client the need for the treatment. The more your customer knows the easier it will be for them to make an educated decision.
And the next time you make that cold call, or that follow-up call remember to use your words. A good explanation and a well worded question will generate better responses.

Cupcake Heaven?

Once upon a time my friend told me about this amazing cupcake place in Beverly Hills. A place where the cupcakes are huge and tasty, where the lines stretched out through the door and people just can't stay away. I can't resist, so I visit this famed cupcake heaven. Sure it's cute, sure people are indeed lined up out the door and down the street. The cupcakes are rather large and well, we pay $5 for a cup of coffee, so a $3 cupcake isn't so bad.

I was almost convinced.

Until I added Sprinkles to my Facebook list and my Twitter account. I expected some cutsie little updates, some fun stories or incidents. Instead, every day I receive messages announcing free cupcakes. Who doesn't love free cupcakes, right?

But that's all I get. I don't get any other updates, no stories, no insights into the brand. I don't think I'd even buy a cupcake at this point, because I know if I hang out long enough I'll get a free one via a Twitter or Facebook update.

So many companies struggle with the latest in social networking, not knowing how to use this powerful medium. Some use it for shameless promotion, some for coupon distributing and some have actually figured it all out by using it as a combination of posts designed to strengthen a brand.

How people perceive your company is incredibly important. If you're known as a company with bad customer service, poor products or you just can't keep your word, it'll get around. If you never return calls or get back to people in a timely manner, people will know. The reputation of your company will carry a lot of merit.

Don't believe me?

Think about Target and Wal - Mart.

Target, with their open floor plans, bright colors and hip clothing designers is more frequently shopped by women than men. That's their rep. Now there might be a few other things you know about Target, but in general, women tend to shop there more often than men.

Now consider Wal-Mart. Blue and white colors invade the store, floor plans are closed and the tool and auto parts sections far outweigh the women's clothing division. Wal-Mart might also have a reputation for treating their employees poorly, but few people remember that in light of cheap prices.

If your just known as a great cupcake place that doesn't do anything but give out free cupcakes every day, that'll get around too. In fact, it might just boring after a while too. It might convince people that your brand is a little too easy.

Free cupcakes are great, right?

The Popcorn Button

I think the popcorn button on the microwave is one of the world's greatest inventions. I only eat popcorn maybe once a year, but I still think it's amazing. And for anyone who has ever put their popcorn in the microwave and wandered off in the 3 to 4 minutes it takes to pop and found their popcorn burnt or not fully popped, I encourage you to reconsider how amazing that little button really is.

And speaking of amazing inventions - what is so amazing about you and your business or your product? When you're starting your business the first thing you need to ask before you start your advertising campaign is "What makes this so amazing?"

Consumers today aren't stupid. They'll do their research and if your product isn't amazing, they'll tell you so. If there is a flaw, if there is a problem with poor customer service, you need to make changes. Immediately.

You don't have to be unique, you don't have to have the greatest invention in modern times, but you do have to be amazing! Just think of the Snuggie! That must be one of the most ridiculous inventions I've ever seen, but look at the views on this video! This became a cult phenomenon because it's creative, completely ridiculous and amazingly funny.

So before you spend thousands of dollars on your advertising, take a minute and write down what makes you and your business amazing!

When you're finished, call me! I'll help you take that "amazing" list and turn it into an even more amazing marketing and ad campaign!

And for some more amazing ideas - check out this list:

Top 100 Advertising Campaigns
The 101 Greatest Headlines Ever Written
Best Things Ever
Greatest Inventions ( I was disappointed to see the popcorn button didn't make it *smile*)
New Coca-Cola machine - This is just great! And I expect it to be on the next list of greatest inventions!