Category: Blog, Branding, Marketing Tactics, Credibility, Digital Communications, Marketing, Media Relations, Partnership, Book Publishing (Page 1 of 23)

Architects don’t give away their blueprints.

Restaurants don’t fork out FREE meals hoping you’ll pay for it only if you think it is good.

Painters don’t paint your house for FREE hoping you’ll “like” the color—then pay for it.

A landscaper won’t mow your lawn for an entire year for FREE—hoping you’ll like the work + actually “hire” them.

Professional personal trainers don’t sign over their intellectual property on “SPEC.”

SPEC means “speculative work.” What really does SPEC encapsulate?

It basically means working for “FREE.”

If you are trying to earn a living, why would you risk giving away physical property, human capital or intellectual property?

Would you be happy if you learned a loved one risked working for nothing?

Of course not.

So why would you expect someone else to surrender intellectual property to your business or municipality?

That’s the ethical question + it says a lot about the requesting party’s (asker’s) character if they request that you to submit an RFQ … or perform SPEC work.

There’s nothing but red flags all around. Not a great way to begin any relationship.

SPEC work or Request For Proposals (RFQs) usually comes in two forms in our marketing + advertising industry:

1) A client asks several “commercial artists” i.e. marketing people, photographers or graphic designers to complete parts of a project (basically they’re asking for FREE work).

The client picks one winner—gives them the job—and all others go home with nothing for their hard work. (In our marketing business, every RFQ is unique + must be customized, therefore we invest up to 40 hours creating the document for submission. We’re risking 40 hours of billable time for a “hope.” That’s basically working for FREE for an entire week.)

Or

2) A client starts a contest and gathers submissions from dozens, if not hundreds of marketing people, photographers or graphic designers. They pick one winner and pay a modest—often way under “industry standard” fee—and the rest go home empty handed with nothing to show for their time + hard work. Many “askers” have a “smug” attitude—they feel you should be honored to help them achieve their goals.

SO WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PRACTICE?

If you are the client, the best work you can expect will come out from a healthy relationship with an experienced, award-winning marketing company, a seasoned professional photographer/videographer or an accomplished graphic designer. Basically it’s WIN-WIN when your needs, wants + desires are understood … and a proper plan is developed, then expertly executed by a “commercial artist” who is compensated fairly. As a client you will WIN BIG when together—you + the person/company you hired develop exciting ideas from the ground up.

FREE is good isn’t it?

Just because you get FREE designs, doesn’t mean any of them are effective and will achieve the goals you want to achieve. In fact, in the case of working with an unproven graphic designer, you may learn they blatantly ripped off another design.

How exactly?

Design contests have created an underground process where some unscrupulous graphic designers, photographers or marketing people will quickly enter contests with as many solutions (designs) as possible. They swiftly copy work from the web and present it as their own. So that new logo of yours—it might actually be somebody else’s. Is that what you, the client expect? I didn’t think so.

One more thing:

Some RFQs (Request for proposals) are so bold that within the documentation, it clearly spells out that your submissions become the recipient’s intellectual property. This means that any ideas you submitted are no longer yours and they can do whatever they want with them without having to compensate the creator. Basically they can profit off your ideas and you get nothing. Don’t believe me? I’ll show you several examples from businesses and municipalities alike.

If you are in the “commercial arts,” i.e. a marketing person, videographer, photographer or graphic designer, you should NEVER, EVER work for established companies for FREE.

And yet … if your goal is to build up your portfolio, there are other ways to protect yourself + accomplish your goals.

A) Design for a local charity.

B) Create something for a personal friend’s business.

C) Better yet, invest time creating your own customized projects.

That’s exactly what I did over 40 years ago and when I went in with my portfolio—it was my own original work that I produced.

The result:

Rival advertising agencies fought over my skillset. They could clearly see my “out of the box thinking” was ridiculously unique. The best part was that none of it was obscured by a client’s need to “make changes for the sake of making changes” or worse … “put their thumbprint” on the work.

TAKEAWAYS:

Spec work would seem absurd in most other professional industries …

Would you ask several chefs to prepare your next meal for FREE?

And then only pay for the best one?

Could you hold a contest and get hundreds of lawyers to write your will …

And then only pick and reward one?

I didn’t think so.

This is why you shouldn’t treat marketing pros, photographers/videographers or graphic designers any different.

If you own a business and are considering a SPEC approach … do the right thing … do the decent thing.

Find a competent professional, negotiate an amicable fee + compensate them fairly.

And for all my creative brethren, which include, but are not limited to marketing professionals, videographers/photographers + graphic designers:

SAY “NO” TO SPEC + RFQs!

… hope you enjoyed our take on this ancient practice. Have a blessed day.

You’ve been desperately trying to get to the big Kahuna. Chasing your great white whale. You think you’ve tried everything that’s ethical. You’re getting impatient.

NEWSFLASH: C-level executives care about other things within their organization that others do not. So if you want to work with this upper echelon client, YOU MUST elevate your sales game by understanding these four levels of value.

The four levels of value are defined as:

Level 1 Value

Anytime you come in talking about your product … your service … your solution … your company … your board members … or what you do … That’s level one and it’s as basic as “sales” gets. You must not be surprised that you are certainly NOT interesting to C-level decision makers. Why? They could care less about any of those things because it ain’t on their radar. It’s not how their performance is measured.

Level 2 Value

Anytime you come in talking about the use of what you sell, C-level execs could care less about any of those things. C-level execs are NEVER going to look at what you do because it’s just not interesting to them. They will not be a user of your solution, so they won’t look forward to meeting you. Got it? Don’t expect a face-to-face meeting.

But wait! You think you offer the highest level of SUPPORT! As far as “support,” the C-level executive expects you to take care of those things. They are a “gimmie” and certainly not interesting to them. An intermediary management stakeholder might care about these incidentals—but definitely not a C-level exec. It’s not how a C-level executive’s performance is measured.

Level 3 Value

A lot of people sell in this arena:
We, you, us … almost all of us speak about ROI (Return on Investment). Yeah, that’s it! ROI! Who doesn’t love ROI?

Many of us are waaaaaaay comfortable here because we can show how we can produce tangible results. It’s familiar territory because we can prove an ROI with measurable, trackable results. It’s not how a C-level execs performance is measured. However, this position is very interesting to the management stakeholder who reports to the C-level executive you are wishing to work with. Most notably because the management stakeholder is trying to execute and make a difference by bringing initiatives to their company.

In order to get to the C-level executive, you gotta get to the highest value level! The one that matters most to them. That’s …

Level 4 Value— THE LEADERSHIP LEVEL

To attain this level and capture the attention of the CEO … YOU have got to talk about STRATEGY because leaders care about STRATEGY.
YOU have got to talk about GROWTH because leaders care about GROWTH.
Leaders care tremendously about EXECUTION and how you can make sure they EXECUTE.

C-level leaders care about CAPTURING MARKETSHARE. They care about SERVING THEIR CLIENTS AND DISRUPTING THEIR INDUSTRY. They’re looking for MASSIVE CHANGE rather than incremental change—the kind that’s down at the bottom at their product level. They could care less about any other solution that doesn’t align with their value system.

So if you want to secure yourself as a “TRUSTED Advisor” that’s aligned with their value system, while positioning you & your company as a “consultative sales person/organization,” you have to move all the way to LEVEL 4!

You will be interesting to the C-level executive when:
You can share strategy because you understand what the C-level exec experiences and needs. You must possess business acumen, employ situational knowledge and offer leadership solutions that will elevate their game. C-level execs are looking for people who deliver those strategies. You MUST have a set of experiences with which you can talk about with or above the C-level executive. And if you don’t …

ALL IS NOT LOST.

What you really need to do is connect with is the “CEO of the problem you can solve.” The “CEO of the problem” is likely the one who reports to the C-level executive. This “CEO of the problem” is most likely someone who cares deeply about ROI, the experience … and giving their people something they can execute with. Tools that their people will want to embrace and use. So you might wish to stay at level 3 … unless you need to move up to level 4. And I’ve just shared with you how to get to your C-level executive.

Have a blessed day!

“Success is in your hands, not in the whims of others.”

In life and in business, other people often make us uncomfortable … or nervous to the point of anxiety. It covers the spectrum of interactions: from our supervisors at work to people we don’t know at parties … popular people from school or the office, love interests, and even celebrities.

Understand, it is natural to feel intimidated sometimes. Often people we look up to—or those who we just don’t know who seem “calm, cool & collected”—can bring up feelings we harbor about ourselves that we are not good enough, smart enough, interesting enough. The good news is, you are. We are all made from the same source and the truth is—and this is repeated in many spiritual scriptures “we are all special and we are all not special.” We are all equal, my friends. BETTER YET: we are also beautifully different from one another, too—which means all of us have some unique value and flavor to add to a conversation or social setting. If only we really knew and believed this!

I’m asked to speak at high schools and colleges two or three times a month … and in some way, shape or form, young adults want to talk about how I approach “face-to-face” meetings. Many admittedly are deficient in this arena because technology has over ridden their lives and they’d rather “text” than talk. Understandably,  they look for tips and want to know how I have overcome any “fear of intimidation.”

I share with these young adults:

Here are some reasons why other people should NOT intimidate you:

1.       It’s YOU, not them.

The fear of others is generated within us, not by the person in question. And realizing this helps us release it.

2.       We all have faults, fears and insecurities.

The infamous Wolf of Wall Street Jordan Belfort said in his memoir, “I’m insecure and humble, and I embarrass easily… But I refuse to show it. If I had to choose between embarrassment and death, I’d choose death. So, yeah, I’m a weak, imperfect person.”

HOW ABOUT THAT? Even Wall Street wolves get scared!

3.       People are just people.

I really found this to be true on three particular, separate occasions. One was in New York City. I met Jeff Gordon. As a fan of any sport, something came over me and I introduced myself to him with little more than a smile, and a “Hey, aren’t you Jeff Gordon?” He was such a southern gentleman! He even answered my silly question—I asked “After a 500 mile race at 200 miles per hour, is it hard to drive the speed limit when you leave the track and drive home?” I was sincere, but it hindsight, it’s a dumb question. He said with a smile … “It sure is!” It was a dumb questions because he has a driver who drives his bus to the next race once the race he was in is over. Duh!

The other was at ESPN where I met Kenny Chesney. Similarly, I introduced myself and he was very warm and humble. It was quick, but very natural, and yet, his stage persona was the opposite of his off stage one. Most people—including famous people—are cool!

The third occasion was when I volunteered my time and phone number to a beautiful stranger in a mall. She is now my wife!

4.       Other people are nervous, too.

You might be the one that comes off intimidating. Ever thought of that? Shyness is misunderstood as aloofness all the time. A friend of a friend of mine who appears standoffish confided that he is introverted and loves it when people take the initiative and interact with him. When I shared that he does come across as a little aloof, he was surprised as it is the opposite of his intention. Sometimes, if you make the first social move and say “hello,” you might be eradicating two people’s nerves.

5.       You are giving power over to your ego when you worry or overthink the situation.

Intimidation/nerves/anxiety is your lower self talking. Or as one woman remarked, “tell the obnoxious roommate in your head that they have been evicted!”

6.       What is the worst that can happen?

Someone might have given you the brush-off. So what? ‘So what’ is one of the greatest things you can ask yourself in this world. As a business professional that goes to a lot of networking events, I have been given the brush-off more times than I can count. It neighbors in the hundreds. As far as I am aware, I am still alive and well (and certainly more successful as a result of still ‘grinding’ every day).

7.       What is the best that can happen?

You might establish a new friendship, build a new career connection … even get a date! The opportunities are abundant when you stop allowing fear to get the better of you.

Nothing made the need for this document more clear than when an old friend recently told my wife he thought I was intimidating. “Wait, me? Super friendly, interesting guy from a small town … ME?”

Like our values, the qualities that intimidate each of us vary for everyone. Well here is one universal truth, amazingly expressed by Eleanor Roosevelt when she remarked, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

And I don’t need to meet you to know that there is nothing inferior about you, my friends.       Be blessed always …

Here is a simple, yet effective way to elevate your game …

Scientific research has shown that there are over 150 different elements that determine whether a leader or speaker’s communication is effective. Let’s focus on the five that we believe can offer every leader or speaker an instant impact.

1. Speaker/leader must always convey passion and enthusiasm.

Whether it’s a speech … speaking engagement … a Powerpoint® presentation … business meeting … testimony … or a less formal meeting—speakers or leaders must clearly display “passion” and enthusiasm to their audience.

TIP: A speaker who clearly and concisely communicates an honest belief for the subject matter he/she is conveying is certainly going to “connect” with his/her audience. Conversely, a lack of passion and enthusiasm is one way to ensure your audience will “tune out.”

2. Leader/speaker must display energy.

I’m not talking about the Robin Williams, Jim Carrey whirlwind energy that’s chaotic, raw and untrained. I’m referencing the type of energy that comes from within the specific individual who’s speaking. Each individual is responsible for finding what suits him/her best. When crafted well, it’s an effective tool to consistently peak and retain the audience’s interest. After all, if the speaker’s energy is not as great as that of the audiences energy and expectations—NO speaker is going to take command of the room. And worst of all—a speaker could miss a golden opportunity to inspire someone in the audience … thus, adding to his/her legacy.

TIP: Make the most of every opportunity and BRING IT! Do not give a “talk” and “just go through the motions.” A lack of energy subliminally gives the audience permission to disengage. Compelling leaders are those who display a consistent, “controlled energy”—not just from their opening statement—but they maintain momentum to the very last moment.

3. Speaker/leader should employ the use of devices or techniques.

“Stories” are the most common, yet underutilized device or technique to convey a crucial point. It’s amazing how many leaders miss out on the power that an intriguing story can have on their audience. Delivering a truthful, compelling narrative ensures he/she will inspire, engage and educate his/her audience. Stories not only put things in perspective for attendees—importantly—humans are hard-wired to make associations through the use of stories. It’s imperative that any stories shared with an audience must be relevant to the audience’s interests. Tales that resonate with the attendees is a sure way to “connect” with each member of the audience. ONE MORE THING: A story that connects emotionally offers a dramatic impact!

TIP: Story telling is not the only technique that one can employ—there’s always “object lessons.” Object lessons are a dramatic physical demonstration that can be “acted out” in front of the audience. This may include roll play with volunteers from the audience. This strategy is a surefire way to put valuable points of emphasis in perspective … and when performed with tasteful humor, it will often result in the audience taking a speakers “most desired action.”

4. Leader/speaker must be empathetic to his/her audience.

Top notch speakers devise methods to show their audience that they “care.” They demonstrate this in unique ways—proving to their audience that they care. How? By showing authentic interest in their audience’s needs, wants & desires. Great speakers and leaders have a way of engaging and connecting with their audience emotionally.

TIP: A great speaker never, ever talks down to his/her audience, but rather, they demonstrate to them that they are “equals.”

5. Speaker/leader must convey confidence.

There’s no substitute for a tremendously confident speaker.

TIP: Audiences disengage when the audience suspects the speaker is shoveling B.S.—or isn’t confident in the message they’re conveying.

TIP: And if at first you don’t succeed     ……..     practice, practice, practice and
TRY … FAIL … TRY … FAIL … TRY AGAIN … and again until you find what resonates with your audience!

Be blessed always …

One of the most common complaints heard today … specifically from leaders … is that they just don’t feel like they’re message is being heard.

Sounds more to me like “they believe they’re not really being listened to.”

No matter … let’s talk about some of the things that might deter people from listening … and what steps you can take to correct it.

But I digress for a moment …

According to experts, the majority of speakers tend to project our voices from the throat area. Voice coaches suggest it’s when you get your message to be projected deep (below breastbone), you reach maximum effectiveness. History (modern era) has shown the masses vote for political leaders who utilize this technique. Hence, we associate depth & weight … with power and authority.

Is there a quick & easy solution to boost “LISTENABILITY?”

The experts say “In order to enhance your LISTENABILITY all the more … you would all be wise to AVOID these seven deadly sins” …

AVOID:

GOSSIPING – (If someone is gossiping about someone TO you—suffice it to say—“What are they saying about you when YOU leave the room?”)

JUDGING – (Forming an opinion or conclusion about someone without really getting to know the person … or their position. Avoid confusing “confidence” with “arrogance.”)

NEGATIVITY – (Hard to listen when a leader finds the negative in everything. For example: You say “Glorious weather we’re having.” Their reply is “Yeah, but we need the rain … my grass is taking a beating … blah, blah, blah!)

COMPLAINING – Too much complaining about situations, circumstances and others is a cancer that ultimately promotes viral negativity.

EXCUSES – Specifically those that pass “blame” onto everyone else BUT themselves … My friend refers to these types as a “blamethrower.” The person who affects everyone in their path. I’m referring to the ones that don’t take responsibility for their actions.

LYING – That artform of exaggeration … unsubstantiated exaggeration demeans credibility and language.

DOGMATISM – Those people who confuse “facts” with their opinions.

Here’s four foundations to boost LISTENABILITY …

To help you remember, let’s use an acronym … HAIL. As in “greet or acclaim enthusiastically” … not the frozen, hard stuff that falls from the sky.

The properties of HAIL—when employed judiciously—will help your delivery and put you on a path to getting your message heard!

HONESTY … project your “true blue-ness,” practice being “tactfully straight and clear” … and employ tasteful humor when possible.

AUTHENTICITY … “Be yourself” … stand in truth. You don’t have to put on an “act” to impress anyone.

INTEGRITY … “BE your word … be someone you can trust.” Here’s where discretion comes in: it’s all about ACTIONS! And yet, INACTIONS can be just as powerful! Choose wisely.

LOVE … “wish people well—always … root for them.” When you really mean it, you’ll BLOW SOME MINDS!

By employing these tools, the next time you have something to share … like reading the phone book or reciting your ABC’s … your audience will jump at the chance and LISTEN!

One more thing …

To achieve insanely great results: always be prepared … measure your words … speak with enthusiasm … be deliberate … and always “sign off” on a high note.

Be blessed always!

Create a compelling value proposition will get your buyers (peoples) attention.
It answers the question … “What value will I realize if I do business with you?”

YOU want to make it absolutely clear to your buyer how they will benefit from your products or services. Particularly if you want to be a part of their conversation and be on their “A” list of potential vendors. If you want that, then deliver a compelling value proposition.

There are 4 essential elements to creating an effective value proposition:

1) Clearly & concisely state whether you will help your potential prospect either increase … or decrease one of their company drivers.
For example: increase revenues, increase production, increase turnaround times, increase customer traffic, increase sales or decrease time to market, expenses, etc …

2) State the specific driver to focus on
i.e. increase revenue or decrease costs, expenses, time to market, etc.

3) State the amount that they can expect—in other words—by how much (percentage)?

4) Give them an exact timeframe that you’ll accomplish the assignment … 30 days … 60 days … 6 months?

For example:
“I help my clients increase the number of pre-qualified opportunities in their pipeline by 33% in a 3 month period.”

Valuable information?

Of course this is. And yet, maybe you’d rather not go it alone. After all, execution of a marketing plan is 99% of the equation.

Do YOU desire expert HELP elevating your organization to the next level?

We will propel your business forward—you can be FREE to do the things you’ve always wanted to do.

Call JC Marketing Communications • 360 degree marketing
Insanely great marketing that’s measurable & trackable—RESULTS are EVERYTHING!
860.621.8866
www.jcmcom.com

Are you interested in online advertisement and would like to learn more about PPC Marketing? Then this is exactly what you are looking for. It’ll inform you what exactly a PPC is and how to make it work for you and your growing business. But most importantly it’ll teach you about PPC drawbacks and how to avoid them.

Read the full article here:
PPC Marketing – Popular Method of Advertisement on the Web – Business 2 Community

Do you own a Self-Storage operation? Would you like to learn some easy ways to increase you business? Then this is perfect for you. It’ll inform how to generate more money and profits in a few easy steps. It’ll also give you some insight on how to continue to drive your business forward.

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Online-Marketing Tips to Help Self-Storage Operators Improve Visibility and … – Inside Self-Storage

Most modern companies do some type of online marketing. This can include paid, search, and social media, as well as email marketing and using SMS. No matter the format, all of these forms of marketing involve content. This content comes from your website, which is going to be the binding of any good internet marketing. SEO is an important strategy, but your website also needs to be able to call people to action and get them to buy. Additionally, any campaign needs its own home page within your site, and it needs to be targeted properly to the audience.

Read the full article here:
5 important ways your website impacts your online marketing efforts – Memeburn

Hashtags might seems simple and trendy, but they are also useful marketing tools Small businesses especially would benefit from using for hashtags in content, allowing them to focus content and branding in their Twitter feed and connect to more customers. Hashtags can be a call to action or a way to aggregate content; either way, they can help bring customers to your twitter feed.

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Your Hashtags Should Be the #FocusFeature For Your Online Marketing – Firmology

86% of small businesses do not use data to help them make decisions—limiting their chances at making good choices. Additionally, nearly as many small businesses create separate content on all their marketing channels, wasting time. 74% have never partnered with another business; and 35% are no longer using email, one of the cheapest and most effective forms of communication. Learn more …

Read the full article here:
Use Data and Be Smarter With Your Online Marketing – Business 2 Community

Your marketing gets to online eyes and into those minds by keeping a ready stable of social media. Pinterest is the focus of this article. After briefly explaining the basics of Pinterest, we launch into six explanations of how to apply Pinterest: 1. Engage New Audiences, 2. Create Great Content, 3. Create User-Generated Boards, 4. Use As Part Of Your Market Research, 5. Interact With Followers, 6. Fill Your Profile. Learn more …

Read the full article here:
Six Ways To Use Pinterest As Part Of Your Online Marketing Plan – Search Engine People (blog)

Three Online Marketing mistakes you should avoid provides an overview of common mistakes startups make when it comes to investing in online marketing. These three mistakes include: expecting overnight success … focusing all your energy and resources on one source and lastly, getting caught up in busy work. This resource is a great guideline of what not to do when investing in online marketing and can prove very helpful in the long run.

Read the full article here:
3 Online Marketing Mistakes you should Avoid – JOSIC: News, Sports, Style, Culture & Technology

Every online marketing team needs to develop a strategy that will help them monitor the performance of any website. Most business people will be interested in learning more information about the services that they can secure through hiring a marketing team. This topic covers some basic metrics that you may be able to secure for themselves going forward.Learn more …

Read the full article here:
Three Metrics To Consider To Determine if Your Online Marketing Is Working – Business 2 Community

If you are interested in learning more about how online marketing and social media can improve your business, you are invited to join an industry expert for an educational session filled with online marketing tips.

Read the full article here:
Online Marketing Tips – My Sunshine Coast (press release)

Learn who is sweeping the internet with its broad basis of knowledge in various subjects such as online marketing in an attempt to help the success of small businesses. statistics, tips, and recommendations are all available to help the small businesses of america succeed in their ultimate goal of making money.

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Infographic: Online Marketing Trends and Tips for Small Businesses – PR Newswire (press release)

There are quite a few different types of issues that internet marketers may face when they want to develop websites. If they miss out on some of these basics, their failings may be reflected in the quality of their services. This is why many marketers will want to read through this report to understand how they can improve. Just about every internet marketer could stand to be more original in the way that they approach some of their problems.

Read the full article here:
Five Failings of Internet Marketers – Business 2 Community

Creating online marketing doesn’t have to be difficult, which is especially important for anyone new to this field. Most people will want to check out how they can generate interesting content that will simply help people stay focused. Blogging and feedback can help direct creative teams to adjust the content that they produce. This will make it easier than ever for people to think about the basics of how this can work.

Read the full article here:
Easy Online Marketing Strategies That Work – Business 2 Community

The Reykjavik Internet Marketing Conference (RIMC) will be held in Reykjavik soon. This conference is a good oportunity for marketers and web designers to interface. The purpose is to focus on big brands online marketing presence.

Read the full article here:
Iceland’s leading conference on internet marketing and social media to hit … – IceNews